it's friday, january 1st. right now on "first look," welcome to 2016. millions the world over ringing in 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 blockbuster. and then the surreal sign of fireworks surrounding that inferno. plus national college bowl bust blowouts. shocking comments from "star wars" creator george lucas. and burning up the internet right now, taylor swift's newest, "out of the woods." "first look" starts right now. good morning on the first day of 2016 i'm richard lui. around the globe people rang in 2016 with celebrations and grand displays but still under a cloud

of terrorism concerns. security was tight but spirits remain high. nbc's sarah dallof has a look at how the world welcomed 2016. >> reporter: new zealand, one of the first countries to ring in the new year, setting the stage with fireworks from the sky tower. a similar display but different backdrop in australia, this one set 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 and dancing brought a fresh twist to the forbidden city in beijing. the city's shopping and bar areas were watched over by armed guards, part of the holiday security alert. in paris, celebrations scaled back in the wake of the recent terror attacks and ongoing worries about safety. the annual fireworks show was replaced by a video presentation, along the champs-elysees. big ben and london eye featured

prominently in london's fireworks display, and perhaps the most famous new year's eve countdown of all in new york city. where more than a million people packed times square to watch the iconic waterford crystal ball drop. out with the old and in with the new year around the world. sarah dallof, nbc news. it may look like something from a hollywood blockbuster but this was the stunning scene late yesterday in downtown dubai of an enormous fire that tore through at least 20 stories of a luxury hotel. it's called the address downtown dubai hotel just a couple hundred yards from the world's tallest building burj khalifa. nbc's keir summons has more. >> reporter: the cities around the world prepared to celebrate the new year with ever more spectacular displays of fireworks, dubai put on an unexpected display. and one that many people were lucky to escape alive. >> oh.

>> reporter: flames, 20 floors high engulf the luxury building, chunks of debris falling, still on fire. >> within six or seven minutes, the entire side of the building was engulfed in flames. >> reporter: for more than two hours, dubai's 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 try to get to that location. >> reporter: inside there was pandemonium one survivor said. at least 14 people were injured. outside, others fled. >> there was debris raining down from as high up as 20 floors up, at least, in that building. and now you can see what they're trying to do is to try to get everybody out of the mall area. at midnight, dubai's world famous fireworks went ahead, to the disbelief of many. >> it's really surreal and bizarre. >> reporter: celebrations

through the thick smoke dominating dubai's skyline. and the dubai authorities say of the more than 14 people injured, some were suffering from smoke inhalation, others were injured simply trying to escape that building. back to you. >> keir, thank you. nbc's keir simmons with that report. the fbi said it has foiled a new year's eve terrorist plot inspired by isis. a man under arrest accused of planning to attack people as they celebrated in rochester, new york. it prompted the city to cancel its fireworks celebration last night. here's nbc's jonathan dean is. >> reporter: the fbi says this is the face of a man who was about to carry out a new year's eve slaughter. his 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 talks around christmas day with an isis supporter overseas. he wrote, he was ready to give up everything to fight with isis in syria. his handler answers, for now, do

what you can over there. take as many as possible out. just this week according to the fbi, he went to this walmart to buy two black ski masks, zip ties, two knives, a machete, duct tape, ammonia and latex gloves. prosecutors say he was planning to stab people in a restaurant or bar and possibly carry out a kidnapping. >> 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. >> reporter: the 25-year-old u.s. citizen has a criminal past serving five years for robbery in state prison. >> this was a person who was a muslim, was in the state prison system, but then became radicalized through the internet, swore allegiance to isil, spoke over the internet with terrorist organizations. >> reporter: investigators say he has a history of mental illness and was dangerously

close to carrying out the plot. lutchman lived along these streets. his grandmother spoke to nbc by phone. >> i believe that he was set up, he was lured in to doing this. >> reporter: brought to federal court and ordered held on the terror related counts. >> that was nbc's jonathan dienst with that report. police in munich, germany, evacuated and closed two train stations including the city's main one during new year's eve celebrations due to a serious threat of an isis attack. according to the munich police chief, 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 attack have not been disclosed the stations reopened shortly before dawn on new year's day. the threat of attack hung over new year's celebrations worldwide. in brussels a planned fireworks display was canceled over fears of an attack. you know, it was a stressful new year's for millions in the midwest as well, but for other reasons. as historic floodwaters along the mississippi river and its tributaries continue to rise,

some showing no signs of receding any time soon. nbc's miguel almaguer has more. >> reporter: the mighty mississippi, as rarely seen. the water level in st. louis, 12 feet above flood stage, surging, cresting, the flow so high, so powerful it's threatening to top levees and swamp homes. the u.s. geological survey recording this historic rush as it threatens to burst banks. an artery of rivers, including three major ones, all brimming. >> you've got 6.2 million gallons per second coming down right now. that's about ten times what niagara falls, on a typical day, flows over those falls. >> reporter: what makes this flood so 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 taking stock of the damage, it's

feared 150 homes are lost. >> carport's gone, deck's gone, couple cars. >> reporter: this family home is an island. they have no insurance. >> have to restart fresh. everything. >> reporter: with nine levees spilling over the merrimack river crested shattering 18 records. on the road, more than 100,000 have been stranded. sections of i-44 and i-55 are swamped and temporarily shut down. the water is still rising. the fight still under way. the housers have fortified their home one sandbag at a time. for now, the wall is holding, but the water is not receding. think you dodged a bullet? >> that gun's still pointed at me right now, so i can't answer that question yet. >> nbc's miguel almaguer there for us in the st. louis, missouri. the big national championship bowl games, all big bowl busts. unfortunately. first the orange bowl with number one clemson and number four oklahoma. the tigers' watson ran for a

suchdown then passed for another. accounting for 332 yards, as clemson remains perfect at 14-0 on the season, winning 37-17. in the sugar bowl it was a sweet blowout from top to bottom as alabama rolled michigan state 38-0. clemson faces alabama for the national championship in arizona on january the 11th. a bad new year's eve for tcu starting quarterback. boykin. he was arrested following a bar fight when he allegedly took a swing at a police officer. boykin was suspended for violating team rules and will not play in saturday's alamo bowl. the warriors and houston coming off a rare loss. thompson came up with 38 points as nba scoring leader steph curry sitting out his second straight game with a sore leg. james hardin put up a battle with 30 of his own but golden state may improve to 30-2 with a 114-110 win. ahead of sunday's football night in america right here on nbc it was a small army of

packer faithful, digging out the frozen tundra of lambeau field. a foot of snow had to be removed before sunday's big nfc north championship game between green bay and the minnesota vikings. later today, is the nhl winter classic between two of hockey's biggest rivals the boston bruins and the montreal canadiens. last night the veterans took their turn on the ice at foxborough's gillette stadium. the two teams with a combined 30 stanley cups, 990 meetings with thousands of punches no doubt in between and hundreds of penalty minutes between both of those teams. the winter classic today, 1:00 p.m. eastern, only on nbc. one of the most popular characters on the television series "mash" has died. plus the affluenza teen's mom starts the new year in a los angeles jail. details next.

welcome back to "first look," i'm meteorologist bonnie schneider. it's a brand-new year and the cold air is coming in. look at this, a big kind of

modified arctic air mass. you're going to feel the difference in the days to come. and one of the effects of this cold air coming through, especially over the warmer waters of the great lake, lake-effect snow. and we could see up to a foot in some areas. incredible. the winds will be gusting and blowing to about 35 miles per hour. that will create blowing and drifting snow. we're seeing snow light in detroit this morning. it will taper off. but this is the area where it will stick and accumulate. all the way from rochester to watertown into buffalo and erie, we're likely to see accumulation. heads up for the weekend, it's getting colder for the first weekend in january. temperatures are going way down, into the 30s across cleveland for highs. raleigh will stay in the 50s. and you'll see the cooler air even as far south as new orleans, where high temperatures will just hover right into the low 50s. so, getting a lot cooler. your forecast for today shows the cold air already well in place to the west. eventually making its way to the east. so, for big plans for the weekend, many people are still traveling this time of year. finally the weather is calmer.

we don't have any big storms just yet. but by the time we get to sunday, we're going to be watching the west. that's right. rain is coming in to california, and it will be the beginning of a rain event from sunday night straight through tuesday. so, lots to keep track of this year, the first thing, richard, will be the rain. >> thank you so much, bonnie schneider. tonya couch the mom of affluenza teen ethan couch is waiting to be extradited from los angeles to texas, charged with a felony for allegedly helping her son flee to mexico after he missed an appointment with his probation officer. her son was under probation for killing four people while driving drunk in 2013. in a statement her lawyer said in part, quote, while the public may not like what she did, make no mistake, tonya did not violate any law. the state of texas, and she is eager to have her day in court. end quote. a hearing is expected early next week. ethan couch is being held, meanwhile, in a detention center in mexico city. his extradition to the united states has been delayed. the president of iran has ordered an expansion of iran's missile program.

in response to a u.s. threat to impose sanctions over ballistic missile test back in october. this comes after an international agreement was reached over the summer to curb iran's nuclear activities. it remains unclear if this dispute will affect that agreement. actor and investor wayne rogers who famously played surgeon trapper john on the hit show "mash" died yesterday in los angeles due to complications from pneumonia. he also starred in the popular shows "city of angels" and "house calls." rogers was also successful as a financial investor and over the last decade he was a regular guest on fox news channel's weekly program "cashing in." wayne rogers was 82. famed hollywood producer george lucas, who sold his "star wars" franchise to disney for over $4 billion has now apologized to disney for saying he sold the franchise to what he called, quote, white slavers, end quote. during a recent interview that he had with charlie rose. now in a statement he now says i am thrilled that disney has the

franchise and is moving it in such exciting directions. let's take you to washington state now. a three alarm apartment fire has killed one person and injured at least five people. that blaze started last night as a mattress fire and quickly spread to half of the apartment complex. 100 people have been displaced by that blaze. just ahead for you, one-time republican front-runner ben carson is now facing a crisis in his campaign. plus taylor swift is burning up the internet with this. her latest video. you're watching "first look."

they are the first couple of 2016. this couple from miami winning a contest to be married on the countdown 2016 stage in times square. they exchanged vows, rings, and a beso, nice kiss there in front of millions in the crowd and watching on tv. the ceremony was presided over by former men's warehouse ceo george zimmer. i do not know why it was george zimmer. but, there you go. on nbcnews.come this morning, martin o'malley fails to qualify for ohio's primary ballot. the democratic presidential candidate fell short of the 1,000 ballot signatures needed to appear on the march 15th ballot. the campaign spokeswoman saying the former maryland governor will still campaign vigorously in ohio. and in "the washington post," clinton aide made a flow chart for who could ride in a limo with the boss. now in the latest batch of clinton e-mails released by the state department, a senior adviser half jokingly wrote very lengthy limo instructions for clinton in 2012. some of the highlights, if an

ambassador is tolerable, he or she gets to jump in with the secretary of state. look at the flow chart there. but if the ride is ten minutes or more, clinton should ride solo. all right. for a moment retired neurosurgeon ben carson was the republican front-runner for president in 2016. now, ben carson is tumbling in the polls, and it appears a major rift is forming in his campaign. even as he raised $23 million in the fourth quarter. nbc's hallie jackson has more. >> reporter: a campaign in chaos. ben carson asking his top adviser not to resign. but campaign manager barry bennett had already made up his mind. >> i don't need to bang my head on the wall anymore. >> reporter: describing low morale, job insecurity, and infighting. >> i think we could still win iowa, but, you know, only if this internal strife stops. >> reporter: also out, carson's chief spokesman and deputy campaign manager. at it's core, an internal feud. constant disagreements between

carson's aide and his longtime friend, armstrong williams. >> chaos is not a bad thing. dissension is not bad. as long as the candidate comes out better, more well-prepared, and ready for this battle that is ahead. >> reporter: carson himself calling this a new phase, and necessary to invigorate his campaign with the strategy that more aggressively shares his vision and world view. after falling from first to fourth in the last couple months. >> out of chaos leadership rises. there's a new carson emerging, and you and others will see it. soon. >> what's it going to look like? >> a man who wants to win the white house. >> reporter: other advisers are now stepping in. the campaign trying to turn it around, with time running out. >> i love dr. carson. i'm going to vote for him. i just don't want to work for him anymore. >> reporter: hallie jackson, nbc news, washington. a lot of moving parts here. let's bring in ellis henican, political analyst and best-selling author. so carson doing well, surprised people, 23 million. >> yep. >> then we see two of his lieutenants going the other way.

>> you know the job of a campaign aide is the same as a job of a college football coach. you're supposed to keep winning. >> right. >> when you don't you don't get to keep your job for very long. >> you could go the other way. >> right. we got something else for you to do. >> let's talk about, which is very soon, just on monday, i like to call this, this, and i want to show this, this trailer really quickly. it's a -- it's a marvel movie. and it's going to come in a second. and it's not there. okay. so -- batman/superman. >> yeah. >> question for you. we have bill clinton out there against donald trump 20 miles from each other, i kind of equate it to the two biggies out there in communications. what do you expect to happen? >> what are they going to say about each other? >> first of all you know we're dreaming of is somehow they'll bump into each other in some physical way. probably we should dream up some scenario for that to happen. >> the batman/superman thing. >> exactly. that's what we really want. but no this is testosterone running fervently in both directions. and watch the digs and the old

days would have been subtle. they will not be subtle anymore. they'll take genuine pot shots. >> who's going to come out in front? >> you know what? never bet against bill clinton. never bet against bill clinton. >> the issue is that he will be able to pull facts out of his head, out of the sky, and, and, and make his arguments. >> that is right. and he has one ability, too, he can make people who are not inclined to like him kind of like him. donald is powerful but he hasn't achieved that trick yet. >> you've laid down your dollar on that bet. i've got a question for you. let's bring out the crystal ball, again, 2016, we've got trump, and we've got clinton. the two front-runners right now. let's -- they are the nominees. >> certainly possible. >> who would be in the basket of considerations to be their running mates here? >> oh, gosh. you know what, i'm not going to give you a bunch of names. >> you can, it's friday, it's january 1st. >> let me tell you what i will do. i will give you some archtypes. ask what their problems are. hillary's fundamental problem is that she isn't likable enough.

so get me somebody who is likable. one of those boys, or someone out there in democratic land that people just like. don't worry about what -- >> other side? >> other side on trump, i don't know. can you find me a woman? governor haley in south carolina, maybe? >> loved by the party. >> right. loved by the party. his biggest issue is that half of the population finds him kind of -- harsh. >> we're going to now shift it's not too different than what we're talking about. entertainment. >> no different. >> a judge says that bill cosby's wife camille will have to undergo a deposition involving her husband in massachusetts. this case is a civil suit brought on by several women accusing the comedian of sexually assaulting them. the lawsuit is unrelated to the criminal charges brought against cosby earlier this week in pennsylvania. ♪ >> it's the video burning up the interweb.

ellis, i think he's got an ear infection, she keeps on falling in this. i shouldn't say that. i'm not a disliker of her, i'm just saying just looking at some of the video right now. it hit just a few hours ago, already almost a million hits taylor swift debuting her newest music video for "out of the woods," shot in new zealand, "out of the woods" is the sixth music video swift has released from her 1989 album. this is going to blow up -- >> and she's selling. >> she's selling. >> come on. >> "saturday night live" has released it's most watched sketches of 2015 and the top three were the democratic debate, and a hilarious ryan gosling sharing his close encounter with aliens. but the number one spot went to a thanksgiving saved by adele. >> excuse me. >> she's a guest there. ♪ ♪ hello it's me

♪ i was wondering >> so the family wasn't getting along, they start playing the song, they're all like huggy, kissy. >> taylor and adele, do not tell me that music superstars don't exist anymore. >> exactly. >> they're coming back. >> i'm richard lui along with bonnie schneider. this is "first look" on msnbc. don't forget to like us on facebook. we hope you're having a wonderful new year's day.

happy new year. >> are you awake? >> i am awake. unfortunately, i slept in the same clothes i wore all day yesterday. >> new year's eve, time to get new clothes. >> i like to wear the same clothes all year. >> tell me a new one. >> bathe once a week. >> happy new year everyone. 2016 starts just like all of them for us. we have a big hour planned. we're going to bring you our exclusive interview with ash carter plus dick cheney and his ug