>> i'm a little nervous. i ain't going to lie. >> a winter storm smacks the southeast burying the carolinas and being noing out power to thousands. where is it going next? >> why the man to replace chief of staff john kelly is turning down the job. >> the trade truths in tunnel. china's stern warning ao the u.s.fter the shocking arrest of a top tech executive. an answer to the age-old holiday queswhon. happens to christmas trees that don't make the cut? "early today" starts right now. a massive wter storm h slammed the southeast. some areas of virginia and north carolina have faced as much as

18 inches of snow andez freg rain. >> officials across the region are urging people to stay put and not to try to drive in the extremely dangerous conditions. nbc meteorologist bill karins is tracking the storm. >> what a storm. two feet of snow in the mountains.ri mond, virginia, with a foot of snow. raleigh ended up with around inches.eight charlotte around four to six inches, and there was a lot of ice and sleet mixed in. the was a lot of power outages, too, throughout the reasonable. the main part of the storm is gone. we're left with a lot of rainshowers. a little freezing drizzle. north of raleigh. the way it plays out today, we have a m of wintry precip during the daylight hours. we warm it up for mostly somein just owers. what's left of this, and enthis the evening as we go towards

7:00 or 8:00 p.m., it could be cold enough to get sleet or snowshowers in south carolina. no completelyone yet, and, again, thousands of school cancellations today. >> all right, bill. as bill mentioned, this storm system has impacted millions of people across seven states, it has now turned deadly. blaming at least four deaths on this winter blast. nbc's tammy laettner in greensbo greensboro, north carolina, with the latest. in north marolina a killed when a tree fell on his car. the news coming as large parts of the south remain crippled. >> i'm a little nervous. i ain't going to lie. >> reporr: residents across the region being warned to stay home. >> don't put your life and thev li of first responders at risk by getting out on roads covered with snow and ice. d> reporter: a state of emergency declan north

carolina and virginia with some areas expecting up to two feet wrrn. >> reporter: north carolina has beenowetting pounded by leaving treacherous road conditions and snow have been working around the clock. >> reporter: more than 500 crashes reported in the state.el >> absol worse than i thought. >> reporter:grnow bringing greensboro to a stand still. >> we get more snow in one day than weigh normally get the entire year. >> reporter: rfghly a h million people are expected to lose power, and the new concern is that this snow will turn to ice making the roads here extremely dangerous. phillip. >> all right, tammy, thank you. the white house is on the hunt for a new chief of staff this morning. president trump announced over theeekend that john kelly is leaving at the end of the year and that he hoped to name a replacement in a f days. the search immediately hit a snag after the man tapped to replace the outgoing chief of staff turned down the job.

nbc ausz suz anl mcginnis is live with the latest. susan, ayers' decision seems like it was a surprise for the white house. >> mhi, goning, francis. tha that's right. it was a huge surprise. pretty mucht h settled on ayers to replace john kelly. kelly's circumstances of leaving are still not quite known. here's what larry kudlo said. the president's chief economic advisor about itn sunday. >> did kelly resign, or was he forced out? >> i don't know, to be perfectly honest. i tnk it was very ammicable. >> now, there is word that kelly's departure comes soon after kelly was interviewed bys special co robert mueller. now with ayers out, here are the top candidates that hearing about so far for president trump. there's a long list, but here's just a couple. congressman mark meadows. he is the chairman of the freedom .cauc also, steve ncn. the current acting attorney

general, the u.s. trade rep, although he is said to be quite busy with china right now. president trump tweeted he will be making aso decision , and it could end up being an interim person for now. elsewhere in trump's staff shake-ups we have a new pick for torney general. this is william barr. he was tapped for attorney bush sr.nder georg he is also another big advocate for very strong presidential powers. also, there's heather nowart. this is a former fox news anchor. she's ambassador. for u.n. she's being criticized widely for lacking the skills needed for that big job., alt looks like the president has been handing out offers of t job by kirsten nielsen, the homeland security head. no telling what happens next there, but it looks like yet another staff shake-up, franci coming soon. >> so many of knees positithese watch. thank you. >> james comey is firing backtrt presidenp this morning. the commander in chief targeted him over his testimony on f

capitol hiday claiming that comey lied to congress. in an interview with nbc's nicole wallace, comey dbd that and called on the u.s. to hold the president accountable. >> we have to remind ourselves the president of the united states of america is publicly announcing that people are committing crimes, they should be iniv jail. e citizens, that's not okay, and if we become numb to it, with he risk surndering the norm. >> for more on this spat between comey and the president, let's go to jennifer johnson in washington. >> reporter: as the special counsel's russia investigation heats up, president trump again attacking former fbi director jamesomey w testified before house members friday behind closed doors. orakin james comey must have set a record f who lied the most to congress in one day, he tweeted. this asru formermp lawyer michael cohen is set to be sentenced on charges, including breaking campaign finance laws. when at the president's direction, he paid hush money in 2016 to two women who claim they

hadexual encounters with mr. trump. >> there's a very real prospect that on theay donald trump leaves office, the justice department may indict m. that he may be the first president in quite some time to face the real prospect of jail time. >> reporter: the preside denies any wrong doing. >> sir, did you direct michael cohent to com any violations of the law. >> no, no, no. >> reporter: serious allegations, but some members of congress say too soon to talk impeachment. >> if impeachment is moved forward on the evidence that we have now, at least one-third of the country would think it was just political revenge. >> reporter: the specialounsel also revealed that paul manafort violated his pleadeal. gop members now cautioning the president about pardoning manafort. >> i would advise against it. it would be a terrible mistake. i would not be supportive of it. >> reporter: he is scheduled ton be sentenced i march. jennifer johnson, nbc news,

washington. now to a troubling story city.new yor an officer seen ripping a 1-year-old from his mother's arms, aar a wng the video may be tough to watch. community members say they are disturbed by the video. the shocking incident. multiple officers surrounding a mother as she lies on the floor with social services office clutching her son. the one officer seeulling the child. she wasonted in an attempt to get her to vacate the facility following complaints. let's turn it back over to bill karins. still watching the refreeze? >> this time tomorrow morning this is what we're going to be taing about. just to give everyone a heads-up because obviously, a ot of schocancellations. today warms up into the 30s, and then tonight temperatures drop down in some cases evennto the teens in the mountainous areas. into the 20s from winston-salem to charlotte to raleigh. 'll have rea improving dramatically today, and then tonight we'll get the black ice problems out there throughout the region.ti once again, watching the

rain and snowshowers. those exit the rest of theoo country good for any of your travel concerns. that's a look at the big weather story of the day, and now here's a closer look at the day ahead. so you can see in areas of northern new england, still pretty cold for this time of year. highs only in the 2s in northern vermont and also through new hampshire and maine. that cold air remains in areas from minneapolis all the way to green bay. pretty nice day, though, in area from st. louis to kansas city. the theme ong the week is g to be a warmup. i think a lot of us have been waiting for that. >> theyeserve it in certain parts too, bill. thank you. ain combo carryver one million wreaths across america en route to arlington national cemetery. e wreaths will be placed on the graves of fallen soldiers on december 15th, which is national wreaths across america day. it's aannual tradition tha dates back to 1992. this year's convoy is the longest ever with over 11 truckloads. just ahead, cruising into cooperstown. the legends that landed a spot in the beball hall of fame. plus, the trade truths in the

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vicks sinex. breathe on. new tmorning, a major win for the windy city. former white s slugger harold laines and lee smith were voted into the baseball hall of fame.r baines played22 seasons and spent five years on the ballot. smith pitched8 seasons and was on the ballot for 15 years. the ceremony takes place in july of next year. lee smith, pretty good. u.s.-china news, trade war is intensifying followingf the arrest the chief financial officer with china warning there could be chief consequces if huawei is not released. she was aested over allegations of fraud in vancouver and is facing extradition to the.s. the arrest, part of an ongoing

u.s. department investition er whether huawei violated u.s. sanctions on iran. janis joining us with more. this will have major effects here. >> the financial markets are royal togain. asian markets down across the board. continuing that uncertainty triggered lasteek by the arrest of mung wong jo. officials are trying to show the right level of anger, and also recognizing raatle trade truths are hanging in the balance. >> reporter: china is condemning the arrest of a top executi uth tech giant huawei summoning the.n. ambassador to demand the united states drop its warrant against -- beijing calling her arrest unreasonable and nasty and threatening grave conseq cnces. >> child do many things,

which will cripple the u.s. economy. >> reporter: u.s. l are opposing bail for meng, arguing erher wealth makes h a flight risk, that she's had seven passports in 1 1years. prosecutors want to extradite her to the u.s., to stand trial on charges ofha fraud, she allegedly covered up deals through a subsidiary to evade u.s. sanctions against iran. in her sworn affidavit, smeg s she's innocent and in china fury at what's widely seen as a competitive swipe at her. the timing of itaw ard. meng's arrest came the same day president trump and china's president jing ping struck a truce in their trade wars. >> i think it's going to make the negotiations much me difficult. they must be seen to act. they can't be seen to be dng nothing about it. >> the dispute could implode that trade cease-fire, which would dderail talks tow a deal

that would avert an all-out trade war.ov the next belongs to a canadian judge. a bail hearing will resume today to determine whether meng can go free. extradition could take months, but if it shappens, faces 30 years in prison.p. phil >> whatever the outcome it will have global consequences. janis, thank you. how states areng brancut with unsold christmas tes, skps tuba players hit a high note for the season. you're watching "early today." o thanks to you, st. jude children's research hl is changing how the world treats and defeats childhood cancer. we freely share our science to help find cures and save kids with cancer everywhere. and no family pays st. jude for anything... belduse all a family shouorry about is helping their child live. visit stjude.org or shop wherever you see the st. jude logo.

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>> hi, eric. don't be scared. it's just me, robert mueller, your dad'sriend from work. >> mr. mueller, pple say you're the worst thing to ever happen to my dad. >> no, eric. getting elected president was the worst thing that ever happened to your dad. >> another appearance. got to lot of him. k robert deny earo, ww he would be coming back as such a mega star to crack ond mueller rump. if you are oning what happens to all those unsold christmas trees, you may be feeling a bit like phoebe from "friends." >> no, no! >> they're alive! art to most of them are put to good use, according to usa today. evenof those trees end up in the chipper, many are turned

into mulch. their christmas destiny also depends on the region. louisiana us them to restore coastal marshes, while in illinois they become nesting structures for endangered herons, and san francisco even uses the spare trees to feed their goats. >> we allha knowhappens at the very end of christmas when we see all the christmas tree corps on curbs all across america, right? >> that's ao part of the landscape. wonderfulthe set of a tradition right here at 30 rock. ♪ he 45th annual merry christmas tuba. they usually sit in the back of the orchestra, but they're front and center on sday playing christmas carols for a packed plaz aza. >> about time the tuba got its due. >> it is their day to shine, and they did. >> they're, like, just get out of the way, skiers, for now. just ahead, mor magic from patrick homes. he makes a play that is insane. you have to see it to believe

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lead. chago helped goff to zero touchdowned, picked him off not once, not twice, not thrice, but four times. the bears win -6 zwloinchts now to thatdopaceship wn in arlington, texas. an nfc east showdown between the eagles and the cowboys. the birds picked off dak prescott fwies. the secd setting up an easy touchdown in th third quarter, but the big story amari cooper, the recently acquired receiver caught threewn tous for 217 yards, but the biggest catch of the gameas w his last when they were i rhe ball gets tipped here by an eagles defende and look what he found there. that is the game winner 29-23 cowboys. five-game win streak now. now the mirac in miami. this is craze where i. the dolphins needed a touchdown and a touchdown on this play if they wanted to win the game. ryan tan na ahill finds kenny ilz. he pitches to parker who laterals it to kenyon drake, and then he starts wving around

the defense. look at the last line of defense. that's gronk stumbling and falling. the dolphinsot their miracle, and they win the ge by one point. finally, theansas city chiefs punched their ticket to the playoffs with an overtime thriller against the baltimore ravens. patrick pahomes continues his mvp season and dn't even look where he was throwing across the body across the fold. he finds h l for 48yards. that was on fourth down. the chis went on to tie the game and then win it on a field goal in overtime. >> all right. let's check back in with bill karins to seeome of the mess that people are dealing with after a week of storms. >> giving them a niceelt and nice dry period here. today we're still dealing with the rain and the snowshowers out there. as we go throughout the week, ndght wintry mix in the middle of the country, thn a rorm heads to the east koers by friday. maybe we'll get rid of some of the rain and snow. stay tuned here for more on "early today." manual to an elec toothbrush. but my hygienist said going electric could lead to way cleaner teeth. she said, get the one inspired by dentists,

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a liv look outside. the snow has moved out already and anyone in district hoping for a snowy monday will be waking up sappointed. >> but plenty of snow did come down in other places. good morning, everyone. >> thanks for waking up with us. the snow was enough to cancel school in some tplaces. weather is causing a number of school closings and delays. virginia, prince william county, stafford, king george, page, culpepper, fredericksburg county public schools are all closed. >> in maryland, calvert county and st.mary'sounty public schools also