in the morning with his dudes, . a very merry christmas to you. coming up on "early today" a state of emergency after tornado tears through servl veral states. j gun fire erupts sending shoppers running for cover and celebrations round the world as pope francis shares his christmas message that vatican. and santas take advantage of the unseasonably warm weather here at home. "early today" starts right now. and good morning to you on this christmas day. we start with the latest on the deadly weather which slammed

and a series of spring-like tornados killed at least 14 people. parts of mississippi are now under a state of emergency as crews continue to search for those missing. here with the latest. >> reporter: a devastating scene just before christmas after twisters tore through the midpart of the country p. . a possible ef three believed to have travelled more than 100 miles. mississippi was the hardest hit. seven lives lost, including a seven-year-old boy. >> looks like there's two. >> reporter: who died not far from where these twin tornados were spotted. powerful winds flipped this semi. 22-year-old hailey dikes hid under a mattress with her mother, grandmother and dog. >> just about every house around us is gone.

going to make it. >> reporter: search teams work night and day going house to house looking for victims. >> we're just trying to go through the mangled up mess and just the disaster. >> reporter: mississippi governor declared a state of emergency in seven counties. >> families have lost loved ones, funerals will be planned. this should be a joyous holiday season. >> reporter: in arkansas, high winds pushed a tree on to a house and killed 18-year-old mukayla miles and learned she was shielding her 18 month old sister, pected to be okay. and it's been battering georgia and alabama with hev heavy rain. and so many spending this holiday rebuilding homes and coping with heart breaking loss. and meanwhile in the north, strong winds knocking out power to a quarter million people in

the latest forecast in about five minutes. in charlotte, north carolina, fire erupted in a mall packed with shoppers on christmas eve and people ran for their lives. blake mccoy has details. >> reporter: gun fire on christmas eve causing chaos at the upscale north lake mall in inlet in charlotte charlotte, north carolina. >> it sounded like fire crackers for me and i heard people trampling each other. >> reporter: they say it start would an argument around 2:00. an officer working off duty heard gun shots and intervened. when he encountered one of the men with a gun, he opened fire. and she was at children's place with her twins and became separated from them in the chaos. >> people went running. they ran through the store and

the twins, grabbed thystwins and were gone. >> reporter: her kids are okay. a terrifying ordeal, the shoppers hadn't bargained for. there were no protests on the streets of chicago over the death of a teenager shot 16 times by police officer, an incident caught on video that sparked an uproar and for the first time we're hearing the police dispatched call and that a taser was repeatedly requested and minutes later, laquan mcdonald was dead. >> reporter: they marched in the heart of chicago. calling for the resignation of mayor rahm emmanuel over the shooting death of laquan mcdonald. >> it breaks my heart to see this and i couldn't stay home wrapping gifts. >> reporter: and they targeted an apple store trying to stop

on christmas eve, one of the bisiest shopping day tofz year, chicago's popular avenue shut down. laquan mcdonald who was carrying a knife was shot 16 times last year by chicago cop jason van dike and his attorney setz he feared for his life. and nbc chicago station obtained audio recordings from the night he was shot revealing a taser was requested. the dispatcher repeatedly asked for a taser. four minutes after the initial request for a taser, gun shots. whether an officer with a taser

mcdonald was shot is unclear. mcdonald later died. officer van dike is scheduled to be arraigned next week on first degree murder charges. nbc news chicago. it may be the holiday season but that does not mean presidential candidates are taking time off from greeting potential voters or taking last minute shots at each other. >> reporter: don't feel guilty about your last minute christmas shopping even presidential candidates are prokrastinating. >> normally i'm much better organized organized. >> reporter: jeb bush looking at board games and taking shots at donald trump who's focussed on his own feud with hillary clinton. trump's attacks, just getting started, he warns, cautioning

said this to the des moines register. >> this is not the first time he's demonstrated a pension for sexism. >> reporter: and he's under fire now for what plit ifact calls the lie of the year and determining three quarters of the comments aren't true and that's also not hurting. >> he's the only candidate i've seen in i don't know how many cycles that has been able to get away with what he gets away with. they constantly forgive him for the things he says. >> reporter: trump making plenty of noise but on christmas, quiet on the campaign trail. candidates spending time with families, sending greeters to supporters. and in rand paul's case, airing his annual festivus grievances,

rivals, at least some of them. >> quiet for now. you know last night, christmas eve was celebrated around the world. pope francis leading mass for nearly 10,000 pilgrims at st. peters basilica. he calls for a return to the essential values of life and calling for those intoxicated by consumerism to threat birth of jesus inspire their lives. and they had security tighter than usual and thousands of people are expected to flock to st. peters scare to hear the pontiff deliver his christmas day speech. and here at home many are taking advantager of the warm weather. like here, sanlt ta and his elves went skiong the potomac river.

record with 648 jolly st. nicks taking on the waves p. s s s waves. owner holly are ringing in the holiday, they're slowing down the usual and bussal, reminding people of the true meaning of christmas. the true meaning is also not this stuff, generally speaking. new york city down right balmy. and record breaking warmth will go into the weekend and that's a whole different story in the west with snow. i 90 closed at -- you know i know this pass too. snoqual snoqualmie pass and

saying snoqual me and mie. >> and right now, they're looking at that risk for flooding. atlanta, for example, 3.67 inches and record amount of rainfall, it's still raining there. and look at alabama and mississippi, these are flood situation. and emergency officials are advising stay off the road in some parts of mississippi and the record warmth. look how warm we're exect pd to get. high temperatures in the 60s and 70s and in the south, we're expecting these warm numbers to stay with us through saturday. by contrast, get ready, a big winter storm is brewing out west. a blizzard watch now in effect saturday through monday for parts of texas and new mexico, two feet in some areas and into the upper midwest, look for snow in minneapolis and the northern

so, it will start feeling a lot more like winter over the weekend. that's a look at the national weather, now a look at the weather closer to where you are. we're looking at mild conditions across the east with a couple cold numbers in michigan. rain is brewing across a good portion of the region as well. and 16 degrees, the high today in billings. so, richard, definitely cold weather is starting to work its way in and we have a big pattern change. >> so, montana getting normal weather, the others are not. and breaking news from nigeria, scores dead in a gas explosion there. and it fandual and draftkings fire back at illinois's attorney genple. . eat well, live well, and take of what makes you, you. right down to your skin with aveeno aveeno daily moisturizing lotion with the goodness of active naturals

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announcement: this storm promises to be the biggest of the decade. with total accumulation of up to three feet. roads will be shut down indefinitely. and schools are closed. campbell's soups go great with a cold and a nice red. made for real, real life. coughing...sniffling... and wishing you could stay in bed all day. when your cold is this bad... ...you need new theraflu expressmax. theraflu expressmax combines... maximum strength medicines available without a prescription... ...to fight your worst cold and flu symptoms... ...so you can feel better fast and get back to the job at hand. new theraflu expressmax. the power to feel better.tm this morning. more than 100 people are

blaze at a crowded industrial gas plant in southeast nigeria. they were lining up to buy cooking gas for the christmas holiday when a gas tanker truck caught fire, one witness saying the fire exploded like a bomb. 36 years after they were hold hostage on iran u.s. victims of the iran hostage crisis will receive compensation from the federal government. each of the 53 americans will get up to $4.4 million. the madge crisis lasted for 444 days from 1979 to 1981 after the shah of iran was ousted from power. fantasy sports companies fanduel and draft kings are suing the state of illinois to declare their games legal. this comes a day after the state's attorney general outlawed them as gambling. both companies have said that they will continue to praut in illinois pending the outcome of their law use, nbc sports and nbc news' parent company are among the investors in fanduel. a mexican volcano put on

6,500 feet into the sky. the kolima volcano has erupted three times since wednesday. no evaluations can be ordered. there she is in full glory. bristol palin the oldest sour of sarah palin gave birth to her second child on wednesday, she named her newborn daughter sailor grace and tweeted out two photos. her mom followed up with a sweet christmas each note saying, oh, perfect love, the best gift ever. there was a mad dash for last minute gifts on christmas eve during a holiday shopping season like no other. warmer weather and new trends in online shopping meant big bargains for those procrastinators out there. nbc business correspondent olivia stearns. >> reporter: the race was on, retailers hoping last minute shoppers would finally come to their stores. >> i have to do it now. >> reporter: after a season where more and more americans

about 2 million americans estimated to be picking up at least one last present on christmas eve. >> the spring protector -- >> reporter: 17% of americans had not even started holiday shopping a week ago. and the procrastination has made off. >> we're actually seeing huge retailers, gap, old navy, ann taylor putting 50% off signs in their windows and really attracting customers using black friday-esque promotions. >> reporter: and if worst oms comes to worst there is always the gift card, you can have it delivered via e-mail before anybody knows you forgot. >> just ahead, a pair of tropical bowl games plus a thrilling christmas eve edition of thursday night football goes into overtime. you're watching early "today." rely on our courage. the kind of courage that shows up when we need it...

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this morning on "today," cardinal timothy cardinal timothy dolan sits down with mat and savannah with a preview of his christmas message and a look back at the pope's visit to the u.s. a christmas eve edition of thursday night football, san diego chargers against the oakland raiders in what is future hall of famers charles wood son's last home game. the raiders will take it to the fourth quarter, the raiders take the lead on this td and go up three after converting the

catch, but josh lambeau hits a 46 yard field goal tying it up and forcing overtime. then seth sets up this 31 yards t would prove to be enough, that field goal. raiders win 23-20. college football, western michigan taking on middle tennessee in the bahamas bowl in an offensive bonanza. tennessee getting on the board first on this 46 yard run by ritchie james, but this one was dominated by western michigan's jamari bowingen who rushed for 215 yards, 4 touchdowns and western michigan goes on to win 45-31 for their first bowl victory. san diego state university by hawaii. shawn penny took the opening kickoff 100 yards for the score which set the tone for this one.

just ahead carson daily and his long time girlfriend make it official. plus california's governor gave actor robert downey jr. the best present ever. ex next, make it ke it just head around the corner to walgreens when you' re searching for that perfect little something. walgreens has great gifts like toys, beauty gift sets, and photo gifts, and it' s all just a hop, skip, and a bark away. most stores open ' til 10pm on christmas day. enough pressure in here for ya? i'm gonna take mucinex sinus-max. too late, we're about to take off. these dissolve fast. they're new liquid gels. and you're coming with me...

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"star wars: the force awakens" headed for $1 billion at the box office faster than any nil number history. it's brought in over $760 million globally. it is expected to reach the $1 billion mark by this week's end. jerry brown pardoned robert downey jr. for his late 1990s drug conviction and 15 month prison sentence. while mostly a symbolic move it will remove the blemish from his record. leonardo dicaprio stars as a hunter in the revenant. samuel l. jackson and kurt russell play a couple of bounty hunters in the hateful 8. will smith is a doctor who pioneers research linking pro football players and severe head trauma and concussions. es in early "today." this is "early today." coughing...sniffling...

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everyone's favorite jolly old elf is known by santa claus, chris kringle, and good old saint nick. as richard engel reports the real st. nick is a far cry from the santa we know. >> reporter: everybody knows santa's real name is st. nick, but you may be surprised to learn the real st. nicholas was born here, in what is now the town of demray in southern turkey, almost 1800 years ago, his statue still stands in the center of town where he served

saint. his present day successor this bishop is revered here, too. once a year he holds mass in the church where his famous predecessor was buried. >> and there is an icon of st. nicholas in every greek orthodox church. >> yes, of course. >> reporter: but old st. nick is nothing like the santa we know. those stories are fun, the bishop says and they would be even more fun if i was a child and had gifts coming my way. so how did st. nicholas go from a real life christian saint to a fairy tale gig figure, from a greek orthodox bishop to a toy maker with a staff of elves and team of flying reindeer? much of that happened in america. the 19th century poem 'twas the night before christmas describes st. nick as jolly and plump,

reindeer. cartoonist thomas nass came up with the familiar santa image and ads like this one from the '30s helped lock it in. of course, coca-cola has a bigger advertising budget than the greek orthodox church. do you try to tell meme when he see all of these little santas, that's not the guy, that has nothing to do with st. nick? >> exactly, he says, i've been doing that for 30 years now, but without much success, because it seems people like santa just the way he is now. richard engel, nbc news, istanbul. bony snider as richard engel was describing for us the history behind santa claus it's interesting. >> it was fascinating to learn how it trans nated and now santa we know comes from america. >> it's not just turkey, in prague st. nick does not look like santa claus. >> no. >> celebrating birth days annie

can, of 6, jimmy buffet 69. all right. i'm richard lui along with bonnie snider. "today." you. we are waking up to a gift from mother nature, the warmest christmas day ever.