Impeachment trial. So what does this mean for the president . And the support within his own party . All that plus, stunning death, rising 34yearold star at espn who died of pneumonia after covering the ohio state michigan game ready, set, return the postholiday rush to exchange those Unwanted Gifts starts this morning. What you need to know before heading to the stores or the post office. And christmas surprise fans happy to see alex trebek making a public appearance amidst his ongoing battle with cancer today, thursday, december 26th, 2019. 2019 with Savannah Guthrie and hoda kotb live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. And welcome to today on this thursday morning thank you for joining us Kristen Welker in for savannah how was your Christmas Christmas was fantastic spent some time with my parents and my husband how about you . My kids are at an age now that i can see christmas through their eyes it was magical special morning. I bet it was. Speaking of christmas, lets start there. That day after Christmas Travel rush the trouble spots that you could face as you make your way back home dylans going to tell us about a storm thats become cause for concern but first, nbcs kathie park is tracking postholiday travel from new jersey kathy, good morning to you. Craig, good morning to you. After the peace on Christmas Day, millions of americans are on the move again. But fortunately, Severe Weather ta has stayed away for most of the country. But if you plan on driving today, be prepared for delays. Travel times may double by this afternoon. Here we are enjoying this, you know, White Christmas. And its awesome. An unexpected holiday gift for Southern California. A White Christmas for some. Were so ready to sled down the snow and have fun. And of course, build up a snowman. Reporter in the angles national forest, residents getting into some frosty fun with up to two feet in some areas. Its a present for us. Heavy snow in the grand canyon and it was more wet than white in phoenix Christmas Day rain there for the first time in ten years. And in frequentlyfrigid chicago. I havent seen a christmas like this and im 60. Temperatures approached 60 degrees. Too hot. Coming close to being the warmest christmas in 147 years. I mean, its like like, this is too hot. I want to get rid of it. By the delaware river, thousands turned out for a reenactment of George Washingtons daring Christmas Day crossing in 1776. I was excited its a Beautiful Day its perfect conditions. The waters great. The unseasonal conditions, good news for the millions of americans traveling between now and new years. The days beautiful. 7 million are expected to fly. And more than 100 million on the roads this Holiday Season. And today is supposed to be the very worst for delays according to aaa. We need to get moving. With drive times possibly doubling or even tripling during the Late Afternoon traffic crush. Expect the rush expect the crowd expect a lot of people on the road reporter and if you are driving today, the volume of traffic is supposed to pick up around 4 00 this afternoon in major cities like atlanta, new york, and d. C. So prepare for delays. And it might be a good idea to head out the door early. Guys, back to you. Get on the road right now kathy park in new jersey thank you. The weather may be clear for much of the country today. But that system in california that kathy mentioned will soon make its way east. Hey, dylan, hows it looking it certainly will move east today, things are still okay so its a good travel day with actually above average temperatures keep the windows rolled down looking for nearrecord highs. Back through the ohio river valley back through the upper midwest, chicago. Should be close to 60 again today. Yesterday, with a high of 57 it is the second warmest christmas on record. Before that, it was set back in 1982 the warmest Christmas Day. Friday, were looking for temperatures to still be running about 10 to 20 degrees above average. Charlotte, 62. Nashville, 64. Cleveland, 65. Chicago, 44. Then as we go into the weekend, thats when we are going to see temperatures cool off white a bit. Nashville should drop to about 50 degrees by monday indianapolis, 41 by monday so it is back to reality minneapolis down to 25 on monday but lets look at the rain falling out in california. Its starting to lighten up a bit in l. A. But now its moving through the san diego area that is falling on an already saturated ground so that could lead to some issues this will turn into a bigger storm system for the midwest, especially as we go into saturday craig. Dylan, thank you. Now to some new developments in the impeachment showdown a key republican senator now says shes, quote, disturbed by Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnells vow to coordinate on a trial with the white house nbcs chief White House CorrespondentHallie Jackson is traveling with the president this holiday hallie, good morning. Craig, good morning to you. These are some interesting new comments from senator lisa mur murkowski. A key republican we havent really heard much from in this impeachment process. And it comes as president trump, overnight, blasts democrats for being what he describes as hypocrites for their insistence a senate trial be conducted fairly. A small but possibly critical crack emerging this morning in the gop wall of support for president trump. A key moderate republican, senator Lisa Murkowski of alaska signaling shes not satisfied with leader Mitch Mcconnells pledge to coordinate with the president s impeachment defense team. In fairness, when i heard that, i was disturbed. Shes referencing this remark from mcconnell last week. Im going to take my cues from the president s lawyers well be working through this process, hopefully in a fairly short period of time, in total coordination with the white house counsels office. Murkowski, one of the few republicans seen as open to voting with democrats in an impeachment trial, citing the need for impartiality. To me, it means that we have to take that step back from being hand in glove with the defense. And so i i i heard what leader mcconnell had said. I happen to think that that has further confused the process reporter the process itself remains at a standstill. With House Speaker nancy pelosi refusing to send articles of impeachment to the senate until she says shes confident itll be a fair trial. President trump overnight tweeting pelosi is demanding everything the republicans werent allowed to have in the house. Dems want to run majority republican senate. Hypocrites his latest dig at democrats since his impeachment. I dont feel like im being impeached because its a hoax. That christmas tweet capping a day that started with a more topical message about the holiday. On behalf of the entire trump family, we wish everyone a joyous and merry christmas. Now, with negotiations stuck, it as for senator murkowski, her vote could make a difference when it comes to procedural things like whether to call witnesses. But keep in mind even if she were to break ranks with her party and vote, lets say, to convict and remove the president from office, democrats would still need at least 19 other republican senators to do the same thing and, craig, right now, that appears extremely unlikely. Hallie, while i have you, meanwhile, overnight, word that one of the president s closest allies, israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu apparently faced a major scare overnight. What more do we know about that . Boy, dramatic moment, craig all of it captured on camera take a look when netanyahu was essentially rushed off the stage during an election rally the israelis say a rocket had been fired from the gaza strip a siren went off you can see what happened at that point the missile was ultimatelycording military and netanyahu got back on stage but this is actually only the second time in just about three months Something Like this has happened craig. Hallie jackson for us this florida. Hallie. Meantime, funeral arrangements have now been made for the texas mother who was killed in a plot to kidnap her baby the child now back with her father as the investigation moves forward. Nbcs sam brock joins us with the very latest. Sam, good morning to you good morning. Of course, the holidays a time for family and this year, an indescribable void we were able to confirm her mother, the wake is tomorrow night. Funeral Services Saturday morning. All of it public so heidis story is told. New photos this morning of tammy and david brousered with their daughter heidi and granddaughter baby margo precious snapshots now prelude to an unimaginable picture of pain Heidi Broussard vanished from her austin apartment on december 12th along with her baby, onlyty in to be and well inside the house. Tammy broussard, christmas feels empty. She has a beautiful son beautiful family thats sitting here waiting on her. This morning, little margo reunited with her father shane, who posted this picture to his facebook account and asked for help getting his whole family to louisiana for the wake nbc news has confirmed with heidis mother, a viewing will be held on friday with Funeral Services planned for saturday in lake charles, louisiana. But the funeral comes with crucial questions unanswered like, if childhood friend megyn humphrey played a role in heidis death. Humphrey faces two charges of kidnapping and tampering with a human corpse the two met at church camp when they were 11 rachel west was heidis close friend. What has this done to heidis i mean, i say they lost their world. Thats their baby. Thats their only baby heidi is an only child for them to have to go through this, i would never ever want to feel the pain they feel. Investigators have not yet responded to numerous calls and emails about the case and a possible motive. Humphreys attorney has also not returned our calls. Pray for silus. Now, a Community Mourns the unexplained tragedy. Pray for baby margo. And turns toward honoring a Beautiful Life lost. Heidis mom says she does not want this to happen to another family and wants the world to know about her daughters life Tammy Broussard found out last night that its going to be a closed casket. She was telling me i was expecting to see my babys face one more time. Craig and kristen. Just so sad all right. Sam brock, thank you for that. We have a lot more to get this morning including an update on that fire that devastated frances famed Notre Dame Cathedral earlier this year. Because of the damage, the church failed to host Christmas Services for the first time in more than 200 years. And this morning, theres growing concern the building may nbcs molly hunter has more on that molly, good morning. Craig, good morning thats right a lot of disappointed tourists in paris this christmas and a lot of disappointed parisians who have celebrated Christmas Mass at notre dame for centuries. And theres no guarantee it will ever return to what it was for the first time in more than 200 years, the famed paris cathedral was dark on christmas. Its congregation, clergy, and choir decamped to a nearby church and it wasnt quite the same. Probably many, many families have that tradition of going every year for Christmas Services that is quite a break in tradition. Such a revered monument for catholics like notre dame. I think its terribly sad they wont be able to have mass here. Eight months after that fire ravaged the 12 century landmark, notre dames towering speier crashed down during the blaze. The structure still isnt safe scaffolding supports much of the building calling it a heartache they couldnt celebrate Christmas Mass for the First Time Since the french revolution. He is saying they arent out of danger yet there is a 50 chance that the church can be saved. But theres also a 50 chance that the scaffolding falling on to the three vaults. In april, the world watched in horror firefighters risking their lives dangerously close to the flames. Our craig melvin was there in the aftermath. It is so hard to understate how much this cathedral means to the people of paris. How much this cathedral means to the people of the world. Restoration work isnt likely to begin until 2021. And one of the toughest parts is removing some 50,000 tubes of old scaffolding that crisscrossed the back of the edifice. It may take another three years to make it safe enough to enter. But years before we see Services Like this, if ever again and, craig, of course you were there. You saw the damage firsthand millions of dollars have been raised for the restoration not all of it actually delivered. French president Emmanuel Macron has said he wants to rebuild it by 2024, in time for the olympics but guys, experts say that they be too ambitious. Thank you, molly. When we were there, people were like that is optimistic. Now, it would seem as if its probably even more optimistic than it was a year ago. And you saw first hand how much it means to that community. People of the world. Absolutely. Incredibly sad for the folks there. Well, in other news, crowds gathered across asia today to see the last Solar Eclipse of the year the rare astronomical phenomenon also known as the ring of fire could be seen places like thailand, indonesia, singapore, and sri lanka. During the annular eclipse, the moon covers the center of the sun, giving the appearance of a bright ring. Theyre usually two Solar Eclipses on earth every year. How about a christmas surprise for fans of jeopardy . Beloved Game Show Host sitting courtside at that lakers clippers game last night at the staples center. There he is. Trebek, as you know, battling stage four pancreatic cancer took to social media to say the popular tv personality looked good others saying they were just happy to see him having a good time no word on whether trebek is a lakers or clippers fan he looked really good. He looked happy and healthy and that was so great to see. And relaxed not wearing a suit either. I know. It was so nice to see him in that. Yes no baby yet. No christmas baby. Lets take a look at the weather going on across the country where it is just really, really warm for december. Weve had record highs, close to record highs yesterday well likely see close to record highs again today across the ohio river valley. Its warm in the south because of all this warmth, we have a lot of fog around in the upper midwest, also down through feks texas. Heavy rain out in california, now moving to san diego. Eventually, making for some Severe Weather by saturday well get to your local forecast in the next 30 seconds tions and get scientifically matched with a proven weight loss plan. Find out which new customized plan can make losing weight easier for you the new program from ww. Weight watchers reimagined. Join for free lose 10 lbs. On us. Hurry offer ends january 6th good thursday morning. Im meteorologist kari hall. Still some clouds and spotty showers possible for the south bay as we take a look outside in san jose. Temperatures heading up to 55. We will get some sunshine by this afternoon and mostly some low to mid50s across the bay area. Well dry out and looking good, some cold mornings and mild afternoons afternoons. Another chance of showers in the forecast on sunday and dry weather continuing for the rest of 2019. Forecast. Dylan, thank you. Coming up, the sudden death of a young and beloved espn reporter who caught pneumonia covering the ohio state and Michigan Football game a few weeks ago. This morning, the new tributes that are pouring in. Also, what we all need to know about the signs and symptoms. And also ahead, for a lot of people, the day after christmas means a day of returns well have tips to limit the hassle if youre heading to the stores or to the post office but first, this is today [ electrical buzzing ] [ dramatic music ] ahhhh ahhhh elliott. You came back still ahead, how Prince George and Princess Charlotte made history and stole the show during the royal familys annual christmas. First, though, your local news is achievable. Dont use if youre allergic to otezla. It may cause severe diarrhea nausea, or vomiting. Otezla is associated with. An increased risk of depression. Tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts or if these feelings develop. Some people taking otezla reported weight loss. Your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. Upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. Tell your doctor about your medicines and if youre pregnant or planning to be. Otezla. Show more of you. Thirty seven minutes a day its the average amount of quality time we get with our families. So lets make the most of it. Lets come together over delicious homemade meal that the whole family loves. Make the most of family time with pillsbury. 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