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 bust blowouts, 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, concerns. higher. we have 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 a sky tower.

sydney's harbor, where thousands 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 bringing a twist to 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 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 in new yorcity whermore tn a milln pele pack times sare wat the iconic waterford crystal ball drop. out with the old and in with the

nbc news. >> and now this is not something from hlywood block buster. this is actually the stunning scene lat yesterday in downtown dubai wn aireore through 20 stories of a luxy hel lled theddre dowown 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 floors high engulf the luxury building, chunks of fire falling. >> within six or seven minutes, the entire side of the building in flames. >> reporter: for more than two hours, the skyline lit up, and

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 from 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 smoke dominated the skyline, and authorities say over more than 14 people injured, some suffering from smoke inhalation and others injured trying to escape the building. back to you. >> thank you. nbc for us with that story, and

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 this 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 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 there, take as many possible out. just this week according to the fbi, he went to this walmart to buy ski masks, zip ties, two knives, duct tape, ammonia, and latex gloves.

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. >> reporter: 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, in the state prison system and 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 close to carrying out the plot. he lived along these street, and his grandmother spoke to us by phone. >> my leaf is that he was set up, he was lured into doing this. >> reporter: brought to federal court and held on the terror

now to police in munich, germany, closing two train stations in new year's eve celebrations due to a serious 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 attack have not been discolossiandis disclosed. the stations reopened shortly before dawn on 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 reasons. historic flood waters in the mississippi river and tributaries continue to rise, no signs of receding soon. nbc reports. >> reporter: the mighty mississippi, rarely seen. the water level in st. louis, 12

cresting, the flow so high, so powerful it's 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 taking stock of the damage, feared 150 homes are lost. >> carport's gone, deck's gone, couple cars. >> reporter: debris left family home an island. they have no insurance. >> restarting fresh, everything.

spilling over, the 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. water is still rising. the fight still underway. the houses fortified the homes one sand bag 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 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 orange bowl, number one clemson and no. 4 oklahoma. watson running for a touchdown, passing for another, accounting for 332 yards as clemson remains per

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 a horse 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 northern michigan, cold air coming over the warmer waters of the lakes, then over lands, it dumps it. the flood warnings persist for the mississippi. st. louis, river crested yesterday, but as water flows downstream, flood levels anticipated throughout the weekend, and certainly in the coming weeks. look at this, still rain in northern florida and southern south carolina. this front is pushing through, and it will dry out. here's your holiday forecast for new year's day. looking good, but things are changing. it's getting colder now that

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 rock. 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 freezing. temperatures stay 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. >> sounds good. >> thank you so much. one of the most popular

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with zicam. tonya couch, the mom of ethan couch, waited to be extradited from los angeles to texas, charged with felony for helping her son flee to mexico after missing an appointment 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 have 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 iran ordered expansion of the nuclear program in response to a u.s. threat to impose sanctions due to a

this deal is unclear whether the dispute affects the agreement. actor and investor, waneyne rogers, died yesterday in los angeles due to complications from pneumonia. he starred in the popular shows "city of angels," and "house calls," and successful as a financial investor 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 directions. in washington state, a three alarm apartment fire killed one and injured at least five people.

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this morning on "today," a live performance by pop singing sensation, andy grammer. sports now. 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 sunday football night in america on nbc, a small army of packers faithful, cold, too, digging out the frozen tundra of the field, a foot of snow removed before sunday's big north championship game between green bay and the vikings. lots of snow.

classic between two of hockey's biggest rivals, boston bruins. last night, the veterans took their turn on the ice at foxboro stadium, the two teams, combined 30 stanley cups, 290 meetings with thousands of punches and hundreds of penalty minutes between them and bruises too. 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 interpret at the moment.

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happy new year. 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. >> that's right, bonnie. we have videos now in entertainment news, and a video

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 joking, 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? she's a guest in our house. hello

i was wondering if after all these years you'd like to meet to go over everything >> that 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. i see you found the vitamints. new centrum vitamints.

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to qualify for the presidential ballot, falling short of the 1,000 valid signatures to appear on the march 15th ballot. the former governor 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 jumps 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 break-in. when they detained him and used pepper spray to subdue him,

to which one officer says, stop resisting. the police department saying any use of force was minimal 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 pennsylvania. a woman accused of stealing nearly $2 million from 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 cash. embezzlement almost brought the small bang to insolvency. she got away with it for quite some time. this couple from miami won a contest to be marryied on the countdown stage in times square, exchanged rings and vows in front of millions and the kiss, and all watched on tv. the ceremony was presided over by former men's warehouse ceo,

i don't know why he was doing that, but maybe they got free suits. >> absolutely. imagine the crowd. 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 ahead, 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

year's day.they've piled into pasadena... hoping for a hawkeye victory. but first fans will get to experience the pomp and circumstance of the