opponent which happened to be her aunty. that w is today the first day of haesident trump's real challenges now t democrats led by nancy pelosi take over the house? plus the government shutdown hits the wall on day 13 as the funding fight drags on with more late nighthe tweets from president. >> a miracle rescue. hear how a woman trapped in her overturned car while in water was able to lead rescuers to her just in time. rethinking tsa is the dogs they use. pointy-eared dogs are out in favor of floppy ears. find out why. plus the streaming thriller that quickly became one of the most talked about movies of the year. "early today" starts right now.> ood morning. i'm marlie hall. >> great being with you on this thursday. i'm frances river just

hours, democrats will retake control of the house for the rst time since 2011 as the 16th congress officially convenes. minority leader nancy pelosi is poised to regain the gavel. she would be the first lawmaker to retake the speakership since 1955. he party plans to use their newfound power to present bills that would end the government shutdoit. they could wall in the senate. nbc's tracie potts joins us fitm d.c. wh the latest. tracie, what else is on the democrats' agenda? >> reporter: well, they want to investigate a number of things, of course russia, the ideaf collusion, and also protecting the job of special counsel robert mueller. but there's some other things as well. ey've put in document requests that haven't been responded -- they've gotteno response from the trump administration. that is something they want to follow up on. now, the democrats are in charge of these investigative committees. family separation, voting rights, hate crimes all on thei, agenot to mention the trump tax returns. but nancy pelosi, who you see

here, as housespeaker, is also looking forward to the 2020 'selection. he what she told the "today"sh about that. >> do you think in this day and iej, the democrats need toom nominatene who is a street fighter like a trump, somebody who can go jab for jab? >> i think that there are eno h enough -- in the democratic party. i do think our candidate for president has to be strategic but also unifying. >> reporter: now, pelosi is set to becomaker later today, but republicans have an agenda too. they want to phrhgh some of president trump's judicial nominees that have been on the back burner, four cabinet nominees, and they're also looking at making tax cuts permanent. frances? >> tracie, thank you. you can catch congresswoman pelosi's full interview with savannah later this morning on nearly two weeks into the government shutdown, a deal seems further away thanev .

president trump hosted democratic and repiolican congrel leaders at the white house for a briefing on border security, but neither side emerged any a closer to agreement. the president dug in his heels on twitter, saying overnight, sadly, there can be no real border security without the wall. caught in the middle of the impasses hundreds of thousands of furloughed federal workers. nbc's hallie jackson has the latest. >> reporter: a situation roombr fing on the border that went nowhere. >> the president asked us to come back on fridor. >> rr: neither side is budging. >> we would hope that they would reconsider. >> reporter: the president's reiterating he wants more than billion for a wall. >> the $5.6 billion is such a small number. literally it's a month -- it' one month in afghanistan. we're talking about national security. this isn't just a border. this is national security. >> reporter: but democrats don't want to give ann nancy pelosi with savannah guthrie. >> if you and the democrats don't meet halfway, if you don't

compromise, then why isn't the shutdown partially your respond? >> it has nothing to do with us it has the president saying, i will hold sixnc as of government hostage to my campaign promise that i was goingld to b a wall, and that mexico was going to pay fit that is so ridiculous, a. n mexico i paying for it, a. and, b, we have betfr use o funds to protect our border. >> reporter: if this standoff keeps going, so will the partial shutdown. >> as long as ittakes. i mean, look, i'm prepared. i think the people of the country think i'm right. hundreds of b thousands of federal workers won't see a paycheck until the government reopens, like this air traffic controller in north he has a savings account, but -- >> it's almost depleted. it was my rainy day fund and it rained. >> reporter: for his part, the president's focused on the border where this week u.s.

officials teaassed a groupf migrants. customs and border protection said agents aimed at people throwing rocks at n them, at migrants trying to cross into the u.s. multiple soues tell us democrats made clear to the president at the white house that they will make a move to reopen gov wnment todayn democrats take control of the house. but the senate plans to reject that. so ahis moment, we are left with not much progress and not much consolation for federal workers left in limbo. marlie, back to you. >> hall, thank you. we are only three days into 2019 but democrats have aiready had t eyes on 2020. the pool of potential challengers is growing quickly. one of the first big names to emerge in the race, senator elizabeth warren. she sat down with msnbc's rachel maddow for her first interview since announcing plans to explore a white house bid. >> we are building a movement across thiuntry. you saw it. you saw it in 2018. look at all the people whoame off the sidelines. look at all the people who said -- look at all the women

who said, never thought i was going to be called on to do this. but they stood up, and they id, i'm part of this. this is my country, my voice will be heard.y and government will reflect my values. evat's what i be and i think the best place f toight that is right there from the presidency of the united states america. >> warren also accused president trump of pushing policy for billionaires and vowed to fight for the middle class. prosecutors i arizona are considering criminal charges over shocking videos thatppr to show migrant children being abused at a facil wy taskedh helping them. nbc's miguel almaguer has the disturbing tapes. >> reporter: the video of migrant children appearing to be dragged, shoved and manhandled is now in the hands of the incidents could lead to criminal charges. it happened a the youngtown h yen den del sol shelter ran by nonprofit southwest key, which

operates 24 shelters for unaccompanied immigrant minors. videoed in september, the was recently released by state health officials who blurred so of the images. the federal office of refugee resettlement, which oversees shelters for migrantchildren, suspended operations at the youngtown facility in october. southwest key tells nbc news it fired seral employees, adding they do not in any way condone d the behavior have taken appropriate action in response. but this video is in the hands of prosecutors. miguel almaguer, nbcnews. nasa is redefining what a distant outer space object could mean for people here on earth, and it's accomplishing what has eluded mankind for decades. on wednesday, the space agency released the first high resolution images of an objt nicknamed ultima thule. that's about 4 billion mh.es from ea it turns out the dark object is formed by two spheres which fuse together t create this odd

snowman shape. just days into 2019, nasa's new horizons missionngs revea details of a new kind of world. china has gone to theark side of the moon that is. acrding to state media, a chinese spacecraft has made the first ever landing on the far side of the moon. that side has bee relatively unexplored until now.t vinccvinny joins us with more from london. good morning, >> reporter: good morning, marlie. that's right. china is going where know man or in this case robot hasone before. four weeks after blasting off their unmanned chang e 4 probe touched down in the south polen baoughly six hours ago. now, the probe's carrying instruments tonalyze the unexplored region's geology. it's act olly in onethe biggest impact craters in the whole of our solar system. chinesecientists are hoping that by exploring this rugged terrain, we'll have new f formation on the formation our planetary system. now, the probe also has a

biosphere in it with potato and plant seeds as wel as silkworm eggs for some biological experiments. it has already started sending back the first pictures from the surface of the far side. you can seer those on y screen. because it's permanently turned away from earth, direct communications aren't poss so china's also had to put a relay satellite into lunar bit. now, this landing is being seen as a major space exploration milestone, and it has hugag prda value with chinese media carefully managing it and not actually announcing it until after it had successfully landed. h nasa congratulated them, and they're calling it an impressive accomplishment. marlie, frances, back to you guys. >> vincent, thank you. emergency crews were busy in jackson, mississippi, after a greyhound bus overturns. the accident happened on an entry ramp to i-55.rs responde say all the passengers were safely evacuated with no serious injuries.

and 22 people were taken to hospitals. the cause of the accident is under inveigation. now to a rare event for southern arizona. resints woke up wednesday morning to severalnches of snow. it's been several years since the area saw that much the overnight low for phoenix dropped to 30 degrees for the first time in fe years. while the kids may be having fun,rivers face dangero conditions and traffic delays. the department of public safety said tro kers weret busy with crashes and vehicles sliding off the roads. >>ha was in vail, arize'a. th some other spots, texas and oklahoma getting some snow as well. >> i'm sure there wile a lot of school delays and cancellatiel cations. winter weather advisories and winter storm warnings in oklahoma and central texas. this narrow band of heais snow till going to fall during the day today in twen oklahoma city. then those flash flood watches

are up for 21 million people.or still a chanceeveloping heavy rain for this afternoon and this evening, especially centralouisiana right through the southeast. that's a look at the big weaorer of the day. here's a closer look at your day tead. you can see where coldest air is. it's in between oklahoma city and the dallas fort worthea. that's where we have our winter weather advisories. the warm airf ahead it still in the 80s. 84 in orlando. we'll talk about the weekend forecast coming up. all this mess haso go throu the east eventually. >> thanks, bill. you may see morers labra next time you're at the airport. the tsa is looking to employ morefloppy eared dogs for airport screenings because th r canines with pointy ears scare children. they're training breeds like labs and golden rerievers becahey're viewed as less intimidated. however they will not be

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all-in-one cold symptom relief from tylenol®, the #1 doctor recommended pain relief brand. tylenol®. three celebrity passings to tell you about this morning. actor bob einste, the funny man from curb your enthusiasm, has died of cancer at the age o 76. einstein was also known for his character super dave, whoan mad so laugh over the years with his own show and late night appearances. friend and curb your enthusiasms r larry david released a statement that said in part, there was no one like hi as he told us again and n.agai sad news for pro-wrestling fans, gene erlund, thewwe's backstage interviewer and announcer has died at the age of 76. nickmed mea gene okerlund held his hone beside some of wrestling's biggest personalities. vince mcmahon tweeting, it was impossible not to crack a smile

whenevn gene okerlund entered a room. and daryl dragon, one-half il the musical duo the captain and te, has died. he teamed up with his then wife toni tennille for 70s hits like love will keep us together and muskrat love. dragon was also 76 years old. leading the ws, a dramatic rescue after a woman became trapped in a car overturned in a watery ditch in florida. nbc's kerryrs sande has her harrowing 911 call. >> reporter: a moment of crisis. >> there's w ter getting in car, and i can't get out. >> reporter: 20-year-old amanda antonio o the phone. her car flipped over in a watery ditch. >> i'm freezing. >> okay. how deep of water are you in? >> well, now it's up to my chest. >> rr: fearful her 911 call might end at any moment. >> i'mo scared. >> reporter: her battery at 5%. >> it's gtingdeeper. >> it's getting deeper? >> yeah. >> reporter: deputies still don't know her exactlocation.

>> is someone here yet? >> they're getting close, ma'am, okay? >> please >> reporter: antonio realizes theyeaay notch her in time. >> i can't kick the window. >> reporter: then she has an idea. >> let me s if i can look on my google maps. >> reporter: she gives that information to the operator. >> hello! >> reporter: 16 minutes after the call began -- >> i can hear you. can you hear me? >> reporter: rescuersr. find >> i didn't think i was going to make it out. >> reporter: antonio credits the dispatcher with helping her stay calm. >> i definitely did not want to be the last person that she was able to talk to. >> reporter: she's safe with her family and grateful kerry sanders, nbc news. >> wow, are you so surprised how shockiorly calm she was most of that call? >> she really was, yeah. that call gave me chills. just ahead, coachella strikes a chord withts 2019 lineup. and senng a 400 mile long

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> the coachella valley music and arts festival in indio, califoia, is known f its nomadic style and star-studded performances. now in its0th year, thetw annual o weekend long desert concert has announced its jam-packed lineup for 2019. over 150 artists will perform

ranging in genre from hip-hop to country. ariana grande, childish gambino, and psychedelic rock band tame impala will headline. some others include sew lauj noelds and bad bunny. coachella takes place april 12th and 19th.ck s go on sale tomorrow, january 4th. >> time to get our instagramh flooded w crocheted outfits and fringe. school buses were used to send a powerful message in georgia. six dozen school buses lines the streets of atlanta to raise awareness of child sex trafficking. the s nonprofiteet grace partneredrgith the geo attorney general's office to bring attention t to issue. 72 buses represented a total of 0 children in georgia who are sold into sex slavery each year. the fight for women's equality tlfway aroundhe globe. female protesters in india ported to be as many as 5 human chain d extending across nearly 400

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tourists to behold on the diterranean island of cypress. that mesmerizing waterspouff tok shapehe coast, kicking off the new year. weatherntsiasts drove for miles to capture the column of water as it moved right across the sea. on the water and with the cloud, it's betiful. look how high it goes. >> that's pretty cool. waterspouts are gorgeous because they're not hurting an sne. they jus there over the water. let's get into the weekend forecast. on friday, that storm and flood risk will go from areas from nashville all the wayhrough atlanta. the heavier rain through charlotte and raleigh. by the time we get through saturday, we're taking that rain from philadelphia, new york city, southern portions of n england. the reward is sunday. sunday looks mild and nice all the eastern half of the country. >> bill, thank you. when we come back, the streaming sensation that's now a social media phenomenon. alexander's mom calls him "the most perfect boy in the world". she's right.lo your confidence. when diagnosed with cancer, alexander went to

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good morng, everyone. i'm eun yang. >> and i'm aaron gchrist. almo 4:00 a.m. right now. hilstoric day on capitol democratic leader nancy pelosi expected to once again become

speaker of the house. >> the last time a previous speaker of theouse was re-elected to the position was in 1955. the new house will hit the ground running too. a plan to end the government shutdown is expected to be voted on. we have all that covered this morning. first, though, we want wo begih a check on the forecast and the commute. we'll bring in melissa mollet, who's standing by for us. storm team 4 meteorologist lauryn ricketts here as well. ladies, happy new year. >> we're glad to see you. it's our first new in the new year. >> and we brought in lauryn for a ltle extra. >> wake everybody up this morning. when you wake uprnhis g, you'll be dealing with rain showers in portions of our ea, but nverybody is seeing them. everybody is seeing a mild morning. but look at this, a lot of rain along this moisture train. rain mainly to the south of us. buin it is tto get into the d.c. area.