coming up on "early today," deaths. icy road caused treacherous travel for millions returning home. iraqi forces claimed key victories against isis in ramadi. is the islamic state in retreat neighborhood, they say has hillary clinton. plus, the force awaken, the fastest become dollars in movie history. a dangerous redalement down un, aparply it's fought fwoert give

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 were droid destroyed. the governors of texas have declared states of emergency. which have to deal with national flooding and a life-threatening 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

himself survivors, but victims of a monster storm and the massive tornado it unleashed. >> 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. in missouri, at least eight 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

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 on sunday. a pro. there is more unrest in chicago after another police-involved shooting leaves two residents dead. yesterday, a villagible was held for 55-year-old betty jones, a mother of 5 and a 19-year-old,

responsing to a domestic disturbance report. degreer's father called police after his son became agitated. >> the male caller said someone is threatening his rife. the 19-year-oldson banging on the his bedroom door with a baseball bat. >> according to police, they were confronted by a combative individual upon arrival, resulting in the shooting. jones downstairs neighbor was accidentally struck. mumtple reports say she opened the door when police arrived. the medical examiner ruled both deaths a homicide. her son was home on a break from college. 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 changes in how officers respond to mental health crises.

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 quarterback and american football ehsu ro peyton manning defending his legacy to espn against an al 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 hard way, insinuate anything otherwise is a complete and

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 wife 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 history. 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

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 force awakens" soared past 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

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. on fox and friends, trump 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 bill

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 i said, get that base supported. 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

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 to the east. 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.

wind advisory for a rough we've wave along maik lake michigan. we are looking at some snow as i mentioned there to michigan. picks. temperatures are much colder, 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 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. i'm like, huh? aren't they all the same? you know, i had to see for myself. so i went pro. with crest pro-health advanced. advance to a healthier, stronger, cleaner mouth from day 1. this toothpaste... p ...and mouthwash make my whole mouth feel amazing. and my teeth stronger. pcrest pro-healthpadvanced is superior in these 5 areas dentists check.

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great britain has also been hit hard by huge storms, issuinging over 30 severe flood warnings yesterday. british troops evacuated

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 fuel. the area was declared as an emergency site. three people 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. three good samaritans climbed 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

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 attractions and eaterys, to launch the largest expansion ever. the move comes as disneyland's biggest rival and universal studio hollywood plans to unveil a few harry potter attraction in the spring. undefeated no more the panthers

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>> this 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 with unwanted gift cards

sports, perfect no more. third quarter, falcons 3rd and long. >> looking, throwing for jones, double coverage, 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 first playoff in a proceedout victory over the fading new york giants 49-17. minnesota's when eliminates the falcons wildcard hopes. 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 cards also get a first week bye in the playoffs. heads is the call. heads is the call.

>> 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 hands. they capitalized with the game winning 6-yard touchdown pass. jets 26-patriots 20. st. louis was supposed to be an easy one for home team seahawks. the rams came to town with something to prove. they hadn't won in seattle in 11 years. but the rams' victory leaves a lot of question 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 are topping the box office? that's ahead.

sa baron coen and his wife isla fisher just did for syrian refugees. details on all those stories coming up next.

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13w9 interstellar is the most pirated movie of 2015, saying that 2014 film hagan downloaded nearly 47 million times. almost 40 >> kylie jenner is stirring rumors after the 18-year-old reality star povertied a photo to instagram showing a new diamond ring on her finger. she is currently dated rapper tyga but denies engagement on her website. shash sa baron cohen and 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

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>> this is 7news now. >> nancy: good morning to you. news today in new england starts in just a few minutes. >> sarah: an s.u.v. slams through the side of a bakery leaving behind a huge hole. the driver took off from the scene and police are now looking for him. >> nancy: preparations under way this morning for the first winter storm of the season. hardware stores were busy over the weekend as salt and shovels were popular post-christmas items flying off the shelves. >> sarah: hundreds of customers of the quincy credit union are closely monitoring their bank accounts this morning. hackers apparently used skimmers at atms to access dent card information over the weekend. dozens of people reported

new york. >> nancy: ands be's health inspector will be eating at the chipotle in cleveland circle today as a show of confidence. the restaurant he opened over the weekend after it was closed for several days because of a norovirus outbreak. >> sarah: welcome back on this monday, everybody. we're talking about the weather. we could see some snowflakes tomorrow. >> nancy: we've been putting it off for so long. but you can only push winter off for so long, bri. >> bri: exactly, nancy, sarah. there is sun today, but there is a chill in the air as our temperatures stay in the 30s. that messy mix arrives overnight tonight into tomorrow. 24 hours from now looks very different from this moment. 34 in boston. 30 in bedford. 33 in norwood. the heavy winter coat, hopefully you got a new one for christmas, coming in handy. again, i mentioned we do get sunshine today, which will help, but there is also a chilly breeze out of the northwest making our highs in the low to mid-30s feel a little painful, especially after the

had through christmas eve and christmas. here is our storm that we're looking for, amazing that it's so far away from us at this point. but it will start to cause trouble as we head into the overnight hours. the set up is the cold air is with us. you'll notice that today. has the system moves in, the two things collide and that's why we start off with this wintry mix. it will make for a messy morning commute. the details are still a bit tricky because of that temperature profile and timing. here's what we know for the roads tomorrow morning, things looking very messy through noon. starting off as snow for most areas except along the south coast. that could be a wintry mix. then we change over past 6:00 a.m. we'll talk about those snow totals coming up. today in new england starts right now. >> sarah: stocking up and getting ready. the first flakes of the year are on their way. what you can expect when the winter weather hits. >> sarah: houses leveled and neighborhoods littered with debris as deadly storms move through the south leaving communities destroyed.