. >> glad you're with us i'm frances rivera tributes continue to pour in for a giant in american politics bob dole has died at the age of 98 his family points out that he served his country for 79 years, as a world war ii hero, a politician, and advocate for veterans no funeral arrangements have been announced, but ceremonies are expected in kansas and washington, d.c. overnight, the kansas city chiefs honored his memory at their game for more on dole's life and legacy, here's nbc's dan sheniman >> reporter: senator bob dole spent his life trying to make a difference he was born robert joseph dole in 1923. they were a modest, hardworking family he was quite competitive as a teenager in 1942, dole joined the army. during world war ii, he was critically injured it would take him years to get back on his feet but he never fully recovered. after the war and law school, in 1960, he was elected to congress and the senate in 1968, where he served until 1996. dole had his eyes on the white house, and ran as the vice presidential candidate with gerald ford in 1976, the ticket lost also in the '70s

. >> i'm frances rivera. nearly $100 billion in pandemic relief funds have been stolen by criminals. according to the secret service, more than 100 suspects have been arrested so far the agency has been able to recover just $2.3 billion it currently has more than 900 active investigations. with just three days before christmas, covid cases are surging. the u.s. recorded over 201,000 new cases yesterday along with over 2,000 deaths. more than 51 million americans have been infected since the start of the pandemic. nbc's gabe gutierrez has more. >> reporter: good morning. the first of new federally run testing sites is set to open here in new york sometime this week this all comes as the biden administration is struggling to contain this rapidly spreading variant. with the omicron variant running rampant -- >> we should all be concerned about omicron but not panicked >> reporter: president biden with a direct message for the unvaccinated >> get vaccinated now. i promise you, it saves lives. i honest to god beli

i'm frances rivera i'm philip mena. >> bob dole's family revealing he passed away in his sleep at the age of 98. ceremonies are expected in dole's home state of kansas and washington, d.c. but arrangements have not been announced. >> president biden offered condolences saying, quote, may our nation draw upon legacy, decency and dignity. a true patriot george w. bush will always remember dole's late salute to his father >> president obama wrote, his sharp whit only matched by his integrity. >> bill clinton who defeated had him office said he remembered him. >> at the world war ii memorial, an old soldier reporting for duty >> thank you for your service. >> former second lieutenant bob dole in the final years of a lifetime of public service having lead the fundraising to build a memorial honoring all of those who served >> army, navy, marines, merchant marines. if i'm in town, i'll be here during the week, sometimes i come on wednesday, thursday. saturday is the big day. >> the young dole was a star high school football player from kansas, planning to become a surgeon. call to active du

. >> and i'm frances rivera. >> elizabeth warren of massachusetts and new jersey's cory booker announced that they have breakthrough cases. both are vaccinated and have had booster shots. senator warren said she is experiencing mild symptoms senator booker said his symptoms started on saturday but has been mild neither stated which strain they have they are not the only p politicians. senator crowe stated he has covid after a recent trip outside of the u.s many wondering if they should change their travel plans. >> predicting 100 million people could take to the road and sky that's up to 30% from last year. >> we are very excited to have the family back together again >> rivaling prepandemic numbers. >> i'm very concerned about it because the flights are full inside the lobby is full on the plane is full >> as only kron cases go up, bookings go down >> you can see the numbers and the level of confidence in traveling is dropping but not as steep as we've seen in 2020. >> the surge in cases scrambling christmas time tradition >> we found out somebody in the family tested positive for covid

i'm frances rivera >> and i'm philip mena powerful storms and the deadliest storm in the state of kentucky president biden saying they will provide whatever is needed for the state. jay gray on the ground, what is the latest there >> good morning to you the efforts are continuing in areas like this. you can see the devastation here where this tree was snapped over on to a house and truck in the area that at one point was a backyard you can see this playing out through out the entire zone. the damage overwhelming >> overnight, power and fiber crews pour in. the darkness can't mask the wreckage there is too much to hide. >> you stand in the midst of this, everything you see everything right, left, forward, backwards is gone. >> the initial shock giving way to the painful reality >> it is never going to be the same the neighborhood is never going to be the same >> what's left behind, a haunting reminder of the tragedy. >> it is immediate, up front, and devastating. >> the twisted metal, wood and glass doesn't come close to representing the real loss here. his wife is an emergency room physici

"early today" starts right now good morning, i'm frances rivera >> i'm phillip mena. >>> cases are climbing in at least 22 states. efforts are ramping up to slow the spread, including a sweeping new vaccine mandate for new york city and international travel restr restrictions now in effect here's nbc news' chris pollone. >> reporter: with cases of the new omicron variant growing in the u.s. and around the world, new rules are in effect for people coming to the u.s. from overseas travelers need a negative covid test within 24 hours of departure. pcr tests are send not all self tests are eligible a. teledoctor must witness the test. >> safe check everything, yes. they're very strict. >> reporter: in an attempt to head off a winter surge, new york is now the first city in the nation to impose a vaccine mandate december 27th. >> a lot of people said they believe in vaccination they're not quite sure how they can do it, themselves. now we'll do it. >> reporter: children under five need shots to entertain in the city. >> it's clear where you have high pockets of individuals, including people up t

. >> i'm frances rivera. >>> breaking this morning, the omicron variant has strengthened its position in the united states it is now the dominant variant of the coronavirus the agency says the highly infectious strain now represents 73% of all u.s. cases. just a week ago, delta made up 87% of cases to omicron's nearly 13% the rapid spread led the nhl to become the first sports league to pause its season according to "new york times", the league and player's union agreed to delay five games and begin its holiday break early. games are set to resume monday december 27th. president biden is about to address the surge. the speech will include a stark warning to americans who choose not to get vaccinated. and the latest surge comes as millions of americans are set to hit the road an the skies. the tsa expects 30 million passengers between now and january 3rd. tsa says 59 million plan to travel 50 pliels or more arc 30% increase from last year. gabe gutierrez has more from new york gabe, good morning. >> reporter: frances, good morning. last week, omicron made up 3% of cases around the coun

. >> i'm frances rivera. >>> six states are getting hit especially hard. according to hhs data, michigan, ohio, indiana, pennsylvania, new york and illinois currently make up 60% of all new covid hospitalizations the largest is in michigan, where the numbers jumped 70% since november 10k9. three out of four patients are unvaccinated nbc news' sam brock has more. >> reporter: just as it felt like you were making progress on cutting down on the number of cases of covid-19, new figures right now show the united states is over 100,000 new infections per day with concerns that the omicron variant could add fuel to that fire florida is potentially a cautionary tale here as of mount june, there were a few cases of the delta variant detected by early august, hospitals were flooded. right now marx other cities tomcat avoid that fate new york city specifically coming out with a swing mandate. mayor bill de blasio calling for mandatory vaccine for private workers in hearnperson, up to 1 million. they want to get in front of an issue that could explode certainly, we s

i'm frances rivera >> and i'm philip mena we begin with the loss of an icon in american politics. former presidential candidate bob dole has passed away at the age of 98. ceremony also be held in kabs whe -- in kansas and washington, d.c. the kansas city chiefs honored dole at their game >> reporter: at the u.s. capitol, the american flag that bob dole long served now flies at half staff in his honor >> at every stage of my life, i've been a witness to the greatness of this country. >> reporter: senator, presidential candidate, champion for veterans and people with disabilities >> the disability community is not large, but it's important. >> reporter: from a kansas farm, to fields of combat. bob dole carried grave wounds of world war ii through decades of public service remembered by presidents of both parties. joe biden writing -- may our nation draw upon his legacy of decency, dignity and patriotism for all-time president trump called dole a true patriot george w. bush, i will always remember bob's salute to my late dad at the capitol and now we bushes salute bob from barack oba

i'm frances rivera >> and i'm philip mena this morning, we're getting revealing look at the aftermath of one of the largest tornado outbreaks in american history. those tornados merslessly barreled through six states this weekend. it was the deadliest twister in history for kentucky joe biden saying the federal government will provide whatever is needed for the state. nbc's jay gray is in mayfield, kentucky >> reporter: i want to give you a firsthand look at some of the devastation here, and scenes like this playing out across at least five states. you can see the debris in along with the situation on the ground, a and the terrible loss of life is just overwhelming for dozens of communities, dealing with all of this right now. more and more recovery teams were pouring into areas like this one mayfield seems to be the hardest hit in a string of towns and communities that are dealing with remnants of the storm these teams are pouring through rubble, doing what they can, and trying to find anything that may help those most affected by what happened here. there are still dozens of people

. >> i'm frances rivera. the omicron variant has officially been identified in the u.s. >> the cdc says the first case was in san francisco on to have 22nd, adding the person tested positive november 29th >> the individual is self-quarantining and all close contacts have been contacted and all close contacts thus far have tested negative. the individual was fully vaccinated and experienced mild symptoms, which are improving at this point >> the news comes as the white house is expected to formally announce an extension of the national transit mask mandate through mid-march. source briefed on the matter told reuters mr. biden plans to discuss u.s. strategy for fighting winter today. a new study by the nba found people fully vaccinated and get a break-through case of covid have a shorter transmission window than those unvaccinated the study which examined nearly 20,000 viral samples from staff and household members in the league os occupational health program found they were unvaccinated >>> the biggest challen

. >> i'm frances rivera. breaking overnight, mark meadows has been held in contempt of congress the house voting to approve criminal contempt referral for mark meadows the former chief of staff to president trump stopped cooperating with the committee investigating the january 6 attack on the capitol. he cited executive privilege for more on what's next, we're joined by garrett haake. >> reporter: good morning. last night's vote to hold mark meadows in chapter a developing story about his conversations with the former president and with republican lawmakers in the days and even weeks leading up to the january 6 riots. and then while it was going on the committee still very much wants to talk to him, but now it looks more likely perhaps that we could see a prosecution of mark meadows instead of his testimony. it could take a few weeks for domg doj to decide what they're going to do. butprosecutor also decide if they will charge mark meadows with criminal contempt it's up to him to try to avoid that >>> the com

. >> i'm frances rivera. >>> an investigation is under way in clayton, georgia. two police officers were shot, one died after they responded to a domestic violence calm according to law enforcement, shots were fired from an unknown source as they were helping one victim and trying to locate another. police say two other victims died as the suspect was also killed after exchanging gunfire with officers a. child is in critical but stable condition. the georgia bureau of investigation has confirmed it was asition at the scene >>> also breaking, a michigan community still in shock this morning after a deadly shooting. overnight, authorities released the names of the three students killed 16-year-old tate miere and hannah st. giuliana and madison baldwin. last night a local church held a vigil lighting candles for each victim meanwhile the investigation is under way. according to police, the gunman was a 15-year-old student. and this tiktok video from inside the high school showed the panic amid the lockdown. students escaped through a classroom window into another bu

. >> i'm frances rivera. urgent search and rescue missions are under way after deadly twisters barreled through six states across the south and midwest. this is just some of the devastation in mayfield, kentucky homes flattened, neighborhoods turned into piles of debris. joe biden had approved a disaster declaration for kentucky, one of the hardest hit states and this is the kentucky candle factory. it collapsed with over 100 people inside. now a rescue team is helping those trapped with assistance from a group of inmates. nbc's kate snow has more >> reporter: volunteers going door to door >> anybody here? >> reporter: heavy equipment working all day long, cleaning up on a massive scale. you've got to tear down and rebuild. >> yeah, this is -- this town's going to look -- it's not going to be the mayfield that all of us knew. it's going to be a different town but we'll make it mayfield >> reporter: on a cold, sunny sunday across sunday, people picked through the debris of their lives. and at the candle factor

. >>> let's check the other top headlines this morning fra frances rivera has the latest. >> reporter: a legal showdown this morning, mark meadows is suing speaker nancy pelosi and the january 6th committee investigating the capitol riot it claims lawmakers have no legal authority to demand testimony. he previously agreed to cooperate. the lawsuit came hours after the committee began moving forward with a criminal contempt case against meadows. >>> the list of countries boycotting the olympics is growing, justin trudeau an announced canada will not send diplomats to the game. boris johnson also announced british diplomats would not be attending the games following the u.s. and australia's announcement earlier this week new zealand said it would not send officials due to covid. >>> a pair of olympians are taking a victory lap after being named athletes of the year, suni lee, the 18-year-old won a silver in the teams gymnastics c competition. and caeleb dressel won five medals, including three in individual races congrats to those athletes as we look ahead to 2022 and the olympic games.

let's check this morning's other top headlines outside of business and money frances rivera is in newhe latest. good morning. >> good morning. democratic senators elizabeth warren and cory booker have tested positive for coronavirus. both have breakthrough cases of covid. the senators said they're vaccinated and have had booster shots. neither have identified which strain of the virus they have. >>> trevor noah is suing the new york based hospital for special surgery. he claims that dr. daniel riley iii botched an undisclosed operation in 2020. the lawsuit alleges the care noah was given was performed and rendered in a negligent and careless manner and he suffered permanent, severe and grievous injuries the hospital is calling the allegations meritless. >>> nearly 10 months after a tragic car crash, tiger woods is back on the golf course. tiger and his son took home second this is a major huge win for tiger. i know we knew this was coming but to see him out there is amazing. and his mini-me, his son there >> charlie got more attention i think than tiger woods did that kid's swing is r

fra frances rivera has the latest. >> reporter: we start with mark short, he's cooperating with the housemittee investigating the january 6th attack on the capital. according to sources familiar with the panel's activities short has been subpoenaed. the house panel is working to assess what information he may be able to provide >>> hawaiian residents are urged to prepare for extreme weather the governor declared a state of emergency until december 10th after a storm hit the islands monday morning they warned the heavy rainfall could develop into catastrophic flooding. >>> the patriots and bills battled for control of the afc east it was so windy mac jones only through the ball three times on the night but the run game for new england turned up the heat on buffalo the pats had the lead in the first. buffalo responded through the air, making it an 8-7 game one last chance for the bills in the fourth, down by 4 but josh allen's pass gets swatted down the pats are the afc's top team, they win 14-10 >> to some jolly old st. nick's in maine trading the sleigh for skis each of the santa's stuffe

frances rivera is in new york with the latest.py holidays and good morning to you, frank. we start with the new year that has arrived early after a cross country trip that started in california, the 2022 numerals are now in the big apple they'll be perched atop one times square later this week to help ring in the new year. and party goers are hoping the festivities won't be cancelled because of the latest pandemic surge. new york mayor bill de blasio is expected to announce the status before christmas >>> spacex is dealing with an employee employee covid outbreak in california the rapid spread of the virus has led the nhl to become the first professional sports league to pause its season. the league and players union have agreed to delay five games and begin the holiday break early. games are said to resume monday december 27th. >>> the vikings and bears rekindled their rivalry under the lights of monday night football it was a low scoring struggle, led by big defensive plays like the interception on kirk cousins. in a game resche

rivera >> i am phillip meta we begin with the after math of the deadly tornados tore across six states killing dozens. our jay gray is live in mayfield, kentucky, good morning. >> reporter: phillip and frances, good morning. what you are seeing is a under carriage of a transport van. this massive vehicle flip ped by the wind from the storm. part of the field of debris here that we are seeing not across the area but the entire strike zone >> reporter: crew repairing what they can an effort continues around the clock across six states. in some area, heavy equipment pulling out huge chunks of debris the process is slower. more deliberate. teams working by hand. >> target searches and dealing this particular structure. >> reporter: searching for potential survivors and more victims inside this candle victory where four employees tell nbc news that supervisor warned they would be fired if they left. the allegation is absolutely untrue we are also learning more of the heroes that emerged during the chaos. >> i said is everything okay she said no, everything is destroyed. >> reporter: six siblings trapped as their home fell on top of them. the 13-year-old rushed into help he did, carrying his thre