Today, with high winds and record temperatures. Huge fires creating their own twisters. Thousands of residents forced to flee their homes. Animal habitats gone. Were live on the fire lilines s morning. Supersoaker. A major washout today with a massive storm system bringing rain to a 1,500mile stretch the gulf to the northeast. That rainy weather, plus high winds, even snow, expect to impact people wrapping up vacations across the country. Were tracking the storms path. All that, plus tragedy on the high seas. A crew member of the doomed fishing boat that sank off the coast of alaska, speaks out about the horrific ordeal. You can die in those situations. I knew thats what we were going into. Byebye brady . Could today be the last time tom brady puts on a new England Patriots jersey . And all grown up. 6yearold Prince George poses beside his dad, grandfather, and great grandmother, the queen, in a portrait that has everyone marveling at how grownup he looks today. Saturday, january 4th, 2020. From nbc news, this is today, live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. Welcome to today. Thanks for joining us on this saturday morning. Were happy to have Morgan Radford this morning with us. Happy new year. Im excited to be here. No lack of news as we start the new year. Thats where were going to begin on this saturday morning, with the overnight developments. About 36 hours after the air strike that killed irans top general, at least 3,000 u. S. Troops are now headed to the middle east with tensions rising there in the wake of that attack. The president spoke out on friday, saying the u. S. Is ready and prepared to take whatever action necessary, if and when iran retaliates. Oil prices jumped on friday, rising to their highest level since april of last year. And the stock market took a tumble. The dow jones fall 2g 33 points. We begin with our chief foreign correspondent, Richard Engel, who is in irbil, iraq, this morning. Reporter good morning, peter. Looks like 2020 will be a busy year in the middle east. Were starting to see the fallout after that drone attack that killed irans top general and others with these angry demonstrations and the funeral in the iraqi capital. But this is likely just the start of the fallout, as u. S. Intelligence are trying to figure out right now, how, when and where iran will respond. Thousands of mourners poured into the streets of baghdad this morning, chanting death to america. Theres a mix of grief, anger and a celebration of the mart martyrdom of irans top general, soleimani, and a leader killed together. The Shiite Militias and the supporters are on the streets today, are a powerful and not universally Popular Force in iraqi society. The Prime Minister came out in solidarity, while iraqi leaders are urging calm. The u. S. Embassy is on the highest state of alert and readiness, with aircraft circling above, marines inside. The u. S. Military has ordered thousands of reinforcements into the region. The state department has warned americans in iraq to get out. And the u. S. Mens National Soccer team is cancelling a training trip in qatar, fearing possible violence. Soleimani wasnt just an iranian general. He was the countrys hidden hand. Directing, and to a large degree, creating, a network of armed groups loyal to iran lebanon to syria, iraq to afghanistan. He was the secondmost powerful and likely most powerful man in iran. But to americans, soleimani was a sworn enemy and a terrorist, blamed for orchestrating attacks on u. S. Bases, oil tankers in the persian gulf and a long and Deadly Campaign that killed hundreds of troops in iraq after the 2003 invasion. Iran paid respects to soleimanis family today. Iran has vowed to avenge his death. But its unclear how or when, or if iran plans to wait and serve its revenge cold. Iran has many options that it could use to try to avenge the death of qasem soleimani, including cyber. It can use a network of militias across the region. It can try to carry out attacks in the persian gulf against shipping lanes. But all these have the crucial word, could, could, could. Nobody, frankly, really knows. Richard engel is in iraq for us this morning. Thank you. Meanwhile, President Trump was defending the strike, saying it was meant to stop a war not start one. The move is becoming a hotbutton issue on the campaign trail. Nbcs hans nichols is traveling with the president and has more for us this morning. Reporter good morning, morgan. The president is waking up at maralago, waiting to hit iran if they retaliate for the killing of soleimani. The president insists he doesnt want regime change. But if hes forced to act, theyve already identified specific targets. President donald trump, topping off a Florida Campaign event, by touting the death of a notorious Iranian Military leader. Qasem soleimani has been killed and his bloody rampage is now forever gone. Reporter defending the drone strike that killed him as an act of selfdefense. He was planning a very major attack. And we got him. Reporter earlier, insisting that he ordered the strike to stop a war, not start one. But still warning of repercussions if iran retaliates. We have all of those targets already fully identified. Reporter meanwhile, the pentagon announcing the deployment of 3,500 troops from the 83nd airborne. Some are already en route to the region. The targeted killing, provokini criticism from congress, as lawmakers complain they were not told in advance. Whats the intelligence behind that . And what comes now . Reporter democratic senator mark warner telling nbc news, he worries about dangerous consequences for americans in the middle east. All that anger in the region will be directed against america, rather than against iran. Reporter but Senate Majority leader, Mitch Mcconnell, defending the president s actions. Countless innocents have suffered for it. Now, his terrorist leadership has been ended. Reporter and on the campaign trail, prize as 2020 front runner joe biden heralded the death of soleimani. No american mourns his passing. Reporter while expressing concerns about regional rep repercussi repercussions. And theres no doubt that iran will, in fact, respond. Reporter other candidates expressing their worries of a major conflict in the middle east. This must not be the beginning of another endless war. Reporter now, the white house is planning classified briefings for congress when they return next week to washington. On a separate matter, Senate Leaders are no closer to any sort of deal on a potential impeachment trial, with Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell saying the senate will continue with ordinary business, as the democrats, he says, continue to flounder. Hans nichols joining us from west palm beach. Thanks very much. Lets bring in nicholas, an Nbc News International security and intelligence analyst. Nick, good morning. Thanks for being with us. Thanks, peter. We heard from irans supreme leader, vowing revenge against the united states. To give folks a sense of who soleimani is. Hes their defense secretary, their joint chiefs chairman and their cia director all wrapped up into one. What type of retaliation, what type of threats should we be anticipating here . Well, the iranian apparatus has a different array of options it could get off of the shelf. As Richard Engel reported earlier in the segment, that retaliation could take the form of action inside the region, in iraq, in the persian gulf region. But it can happen any place around the world. Soleimani had the ability to have operatives in farflung portions of the world. While we can expect retaliation, where, when and how is an open question. I wouldnt assume it would have to happen in the next 48 or 72 hours. This is a story that will play out over many, many months and perhaps years. Does iran have the capability to hit us here in the u. S. . To hit us at home . I wouldnt rule it out. They certainly have, in the past, shown a willingness to try to develop an infrastructure in the united states, to carry out attacks against american targets. You may recall in 2011, we disrupted a plot that would have targeted the saudi ambassador to the united states. And that went back to the Iranian Regime at the time. It cant be ruled out that the iranians have assets they can bring into play in the united states. Nick, you were the head of the National Counterterrorism center under president s obama and President Trump. You served as a top counterterrorism official under president bush, as well. We heard from pmp saying this should have happened years ago, that the president s didnt have the guts to do this. We know that military leaders had an eye on soleimani in the past. Youve been in the situation room when Osama Bin Laden was killed. Why now and not then . I dont think the question of guts should enter into it. The question is where does this take us . Theres a measure of justice that attaches to the killing of soleimani. Theres a lot of blood on his hands, including american blood on his hands. The question is, where does this take us . What is step two, three, four in this story look like. Are we better off safer and more secure, with the step having been taken . Or are we entering into a spiral that we dont know how it ends . One of your folks in your old position at the counterterrorism center, what are they doing right now . They are scouring every bit of intelligence to get an indication of where the iranians might look to attack u. S. Interests. As i said, that could be either at home or in many places around the world. Theyre looking to activate collection agencies to gather more intelligence and working in concert with the rest of our Intelligence Community and our National Security community, trying to harden and improve our defenses so we are at least as wellprepared as possible for what comes next. Nick rasmussen, we appreciate your expertise. Thank you very much. Now, to the washout expected for tens of millions, as a storm makes its way east, covering at least 1,500 miles. It could mean big trouble for people trying to squeeze in those few final vacations days. Our maria la rosa is in this morning for dylan, out on maternity leave. Maria, thanks for joining us. Glad to be here. We have a farreaching system. A lot of rain. The Stormy Weather from the gulf coast all the way to new england, as rainfall. As messy as this looks, the weather map is equally as messy. Area of low pressure develops off of the coast. We have a front swinging in behind it. Rain is a mess behind it. Colder and snowshowers lingering through the great lakes. And the windchills will be back down into the teens and 20s. We have some of the snow and cold. It will add up for western new york, interior northeast, the green and white mountains, interior maine. Were talking about half a foot of snowfall potentially. With rain and snow on the map, there is some impact with the travel. Do expect potentially some slowdowns at the airport on a busy travel day from boston to new york, all the way to raleigh, into cleveland. And with the airports, you have the roadways, too. A lot of wet roadways. I95 included, from toptobottom, from boston all the way to jacksonville. Watch your drive along 64. Because of the snow heavy at times, i90 will be heavily impacted between boston and into cleveland. Thats a look at your weather. Peter, morgan, back to you. Thanks, maria. Well get the forecast for the rest of the country in a few moments. The weather in australia is expected to make a dangerous situation even worse today. Strong winds and extreme heat there expected to fuel the flames of those outofcontrol wildfires. One of the worst days yet is feared. Theres a state of emergency here. Temperatures today were well over 100 degrees. The wind has been picking up tonight. You add in the low humidity and the conditions couldnt be worse. Much of australia, bracing for disaster, with soaring temperatures and strong winds intensifying this weekend. On kangaroo island, a huge blaze created fire twisters. And near naura, a Massive Wildfire jumped the river, igniting new fires. Plumes of smoke blocking out the sun. Then, a warning from officials to seek shelter or get out. If we have to go, well go. We have sprinklers on the roof. Reporter not everyone is willing. Jamie and donna are staying put and hoping wet towels will be enough. We feel like were wellprepared. Reporter if you have to leave, youll leave . Were worried leaving, that we might not come back to our home. Theres only so much you can do. Reporter one of the worst fire seasons on record here, after years of drought linked to climate change. Communities along the coast ravaged. Images of koalas and kangaroos fleeing the flames have gone viral. Animals rescued from fire zones are ending up at wildlife sanctuaries across the state, where orphaned wallabies, woman b wham bats and other animals are rehabilita rehabilitated, but will struggle to return to habitats that are destroyed. It is. When they come out, theres no food around for them. Reporter thousands of firefighters, including some americans, are battling over 100 fires today, many of them out of control. And the hot summer is barely under way. To give you a sense of the scale of the emergency, the government, today, called up thousands of military reserves. Theyre going to help get supplies to communities that are isolated and there are more firefighters from the u. S. On their way. They should arrive here by early next week. Peter . Morgan . Janis Mackey Frayer in las vegas this morning. Thank you. And an end to a scary hostage situation at an Illinois Bank on friday. It started when an armed suspected barricaded himself inside Heritage Credit Union and held a female captive for six hours. After a tense standoff of law enforcement, the suspect surrendered to authorities. The man accused of stabbing at least six people at a new york hanukkah celebration could spend the next 25 years behind bars. He was indicted by a grand jury on friday. He faces six counts of attempted murder, as well as assault and burglary charges, all related to the machete knife attack at a rabbis home last saturday night. Thomas faces several hate crime charges. Maria is back with a look at the rest of the countrys forecast. Maria, what can we expect . One of the side effects of this big system, the warm temperatures. A lot of us feeling well above average. By 10, almost 20 degrees, from the east to the Central Plains and the midwest. That gets us to 44 degrees in chicago tomorrow. 50 in louisville. There is a cooldown in the forecast. But for a lot of cities, from buffalo to new york, its returned to average. Well see out of the 60s, back to the 40s in new york. Otherwise, it is quiet through the central part of the country. Its really busy across the pacific northwest. A lot of soggy, wet, and thats a look at your weather. Back to you. Maria, nice to see you on a saturday morning. Coming up, a crab fisherman who survived when his bank sank off of the coast of alaska, speaking out about what happened. Up next, a look back at the top stories and we are back on this saturday morning, with the weekly download, our look back at the week that was. At the stroke of midnight, billions of people said goodbye to 2019 and hello to 2020 with open arms. Partiers around the world welcomed in 2020. Happy new year. Celebrations from iconic times square, to berlin, to thailand, looking ahead to a new decade. What we all hope will be the Second Coming of the roaring 20s. A gunman opened fire at a church in north texas. Killing two worshipers before an Armed Security guard brought him down. The entire event was live streamed. Jack wilson who shot the gunman, now, a local hero. I dont feel like i killed a human. I killed an evil. A miracle near ft. Lauderdale, florida, when a 42foot boat slammed into an unlit jetty, sending one passenger flying on to the rocks. That woman and several other passengers were injured. But amazingly, everyone survived. Investigators say they do not know if alcohol was involved. But they are conducting tests to see if that was the case. Pope francis delivered his own mea culpa, after he swatted the hand of a woman tugging on him in st. Peters square. A pentetant pope apologized. Sometimes we lose patience, even me. And i apologize for the bad example. A mystery in the night skies in colorado and nebraska. Since a week before christmas, drones have been appearing at 7 00 at night and flying for hours. Sometimes theyre in groups of 0 and able to fly quickly, with witnesses saying some of the drones have wingspans stichesti to be six feet or more. Come of the weeks wildest moments caught on camera. A dashboard camera caught an suv speeding off a cliff in san mateo, california. Officials are searching for the vehicle and anyone inside. A huge wave swept this man off a rock and into the ocean in california. Luckily, he was rescued and doing fine. And a celebration that went awry, when Cincinnati Bengals player, joe mixon, swung his helmet with excitement, knocking a referee to the ground. Mixon apologized for the incident, which he called an accident. And a 12yearold boys Christmas Present gave him and his family a little more than they could handle. They burned the front yard. The boy was trying to burn a hole through paper with his new magnifying glass but ended up setting the lawn on fire in the process. Luckily, his parents came to the rescue, putting out the fire while dressed in their matching p. J. S. Like, happy holidays, everybody . I lit the yard. I like the matching p. J. S. The matching p. J. S save is the story. You cant be mad when theyre that cute. Getting your kid a science experiment. The thing to light the yard on fire. Still to come, could tonight mark the end of the road for tom brady and the new England Patriots . Plus,