expect big security if you are heading out. will the weather cooperate? those details ahead. welcome to "early start." i'm marqualex marquardt in for briggs. >> i'm alison kosik sitting in for christine romans. it is christmas island, which is the first place to welcome in 2019. we will watch with champagne on the side. >> that line moves west across the globe. president trump may be hedging on his timeline to pull u.s. troops out of syria after meeting with the president on sunday. lindsey graham is suggesting the president has a better understanding and agreed to reevaluate. graham characterized the president's pullout as an obama-like mistake. >> 2,000 troops are supposed to leave syria in the coming weeks and months. mr. graham says the president is not pausing completely, but committed to a fresh assessment to see what happens on the ground in syria. >> i think we are in a pause situation where we are reevaluating the best way to achieve the president's objective of having people pay more and do more. after discussions with the president and general dunford, i have never felt better about where we're headed. we're slowing things down in a smart way. the goal is the same. to leave syria and make sure isis never comes back. our partners are taken care of and iran is contained. i think that is possible. >> those partners that graham is referring to is the kurds in syria. there is concern they could be attacked by turkey if u.s. troops leave. on friday, the kurds invited the assad regime to take back the territory with the hope of avoiding the slaughter at the hands of the turks. >> general mattis will make a phone call to his replacement patrick shanahan. as the head of the pentagon. mattis was supposed to leave at the end of february, but president trump moved his departure date up two months. the government shutdown. day ten and counting. expect to count for some time to come. according to sources, president trump is privately telling lawmakers he will not agree to a deal if it allocates $1.3 billion for border security. democrats take control of the house this week and there's no sign that they are willing to budge. it is 800,000 federal workers and families feeling the pain while lawmakers play politics and continue to collect their paychecks. >> we heard from tony reardon over the weekend on cnn. he is the head of the national treasury employees union. he says his members are anxious and angry. >> they have been cast in the middle of a fight, not of their creation and they do not have the power to resolve. they are fearful of not being able to pay the mortgage or rent or pay the college tuition bill for their children. they want congress to do their job. congress and the administration to do their job. we had an individual let us know that recently his wife died. he is unable at this time because of this shutdown to pay for her headstone. >> some banks like chase and wells fargo are willing to work with federal employees whose accounts are in good standing and as questions linger how far president trump may be willing to bend on border security, his outgoing chief of staff john kelly is publicly clarifying somewhat one critical point. for more on that, we have sarah westwood at the white house. >> reporter: alex and alison, president trump is holding out on the shutdown as it drags into the second week. the president's allies are muddying the waters with the wall and border security. it is not clear what the president considers an actual wall. outgoing white house chief of staff john kelly said this administration abandoned the idea of a concrete wall early in trump's presidency. he told "the los angeles times" to be honest, it's not a wall. the president still says wall. he will say barrier or fencing. now he is tending to steel slats. we left the solid concrete wall early on in the administration. senator graham came to the white house and said he pitched the president on what he described a breakthrough, should it gain traction, to trade $5 billion in wall funding for temporary protections for the dreamers protected by daca. >> the president did not commit, but i think he is open minded. i know there are democrats out there willing to provide money for wall border security if we could deal with the daca population and tps people. we hope to get serious discussions started maybe as soon as next week. >> reporter: keep in mind, mick mulvaney, the acting chief of staff and budget director, has signalled the president is willing to back down off that $5 billion number. vice president mike pence offered something in the neighborhood of $2.5 billion. half of that and democrats rejected it. keep in mind, democratic congressional leaders have not been invited back to the white house for further negotiations. talks are still at a standstill. alison and alex. adding insult to injury, executive order that freezes federal worker pay in 2019. the move follows through on a proposal he announced this year which nixes a 2.1% pay increase that was supposed to take effect in january. it also cancels a yearly adjustment of federal employee pay based on their region. president trump is blaming democrats for the deaths of two migrant children at the mexico border and he is facing criticism for it. the president claims democrats and quote pathetic immigration policies allow people to think they could enter illegally. he insists they would not even try to come if there was a wall. take a listen to kellyanne conway making that case on cnn's "state of the union." >> i don't like some of the democrats using the deaths as political pawns. >> isn't that what the president just did? >> the president is not doing that. the president does not want these children to come on the perilous journey to begin with. many are paying the coyotes who don't give a wit about human life. congress needs to close loopholes that make people believe they should come as a family unit. >> meantime, all of the political posturing is doing nothing to solve the heartbreaking crisis at the border. we have video of shelter staff members pushing and shoving migrant children. now under review for possible criminal charges. two employees have been fired. with others disciplined. nick valencia has more. >> reporter: alex and alison, this story was first reported by "the arizona republic." this video was obtained by filing an open records request with the department of health services in arizona. before you see it, we want to warning viewers this may be disturbi disturbing. this shows three workers in the facility run by southwest key. this is an incident that happened in mid-september. it was reported to local law enforcement and federal officials. the maricopa county sheriff's office investigated and decided not to bring criminal charges. that has changed. a statement we got over the weekend says, quote, based on the evidence with the investigation, mcso command has made the decision to commit the case to the county attorney's office. the case will be submitted on monday and further questions should be directed to the county attorney. we should mention that the shelter closed in october. southwest key spokesperson said he welcomed the decision by the office. they did not go into the details. after seeing this video, we could perhaps tell why. we should mention this is another dark stain and ugly thread in what is a sad story involving migrants in america. alex and alison. >> sad and desk touching disturbing. thank you, nick. affordable care act will remain in effect while a ruling that found it unconstitutional is being appealed. the texas federal judge who ruled that obamacare is unconstitutional because congress eliminated the mandate penalty. since the individual mandate was upheld as a tax, the judge ruled no tax, no law. the decision has jeopardized coverage for millions on the exchange and medicaid. it threatens to eliminate popular protections like those with pre-existing conditions. breaking news. an american citizen detained in moscow for allegedly spying. according to the domestic security service. a man identified as paul wiehland was detained f for espionage. the case has been opened against him. we will keep you posted on the story as new details are posted. an intern mauled by a lion at the north carolina zoo. how that happened and what the victim's family is now saying. w? we know their rates are good, we know that they're always going to take care of us. it was an instant savings and i should have changed a long time ago. it was funny because when we would call another insurance company, hey would say "oh we can't beat usaa" we're the webber family. we're the tenney's we're the hayles, and we're usaa members for life. ♪ get your usaa auto insurance quote today. they seem to be the very foundation of your typical bank. capital one is anything but typical. that's why we designed capital one cafes. you can get savings and checking accounts with no fees or minimums. and one of america's best savings rates. to top it off, you can open one from anywhere in 5 minutes. this isn't a typical bank. this is banking reimagined. what's in your wallet? we'll be ringing in 2019 in less than 19 hours here on the east coast. as always, a massive celebration in new york's times square. for the millions there to see the big ball drop in person, security will be super tight. let's get more from cnn's miguel marquez. >> reporter: alison and alex, it is a party for 2 million people. safety is the priority for the nypd. the area around times square will be blocked off. entrances for the public to get in. magnetometers at the entrances. no alcohol, no large chairs or coolers or large packages or umbrellas or backpacks allowed. doesn't sound like a party. the pen will open at 11:00 a.m. it is like hotel california. you can check in anytime you want. if you leave, you can't check back in because you have to go back through the line again. basically. you have to have the restroom strategy worked out if you actually go. as for nypd, hundreds of officers and agents from over 50 agencies, local, state and federal. 1,200 cameras. officers embedded in the hotels. bomb squad on hand. bomb-sniffing dogs. hundreds of vehicle blockers to block off the entire area. one new thing this year, drones. >> deploying nypd drones for over-watch. we haven't done that before. that will give us a visual aid and flexibility to move a camera to a certain spot with a great rapidity. >> reporter: they will have counter drone technology. if you want to bring your drone to times square, you will be in trouble. they will take it down somehow. they are being tight-lipped on the details. alex and alison. >> will those drones work in the heavy rain expected in new york? for you heading to times square and elsewhere, the big question is will the weather cooperate? here is meteorologist pedram javaheri with the forecast. >> alison and alex, good morning. happy new year. take a look at what is happening across the east coast. serious weather shaping up across the east coast as it relates to heavy rainfall and strong thunderstorms and a wintry mix and snow to be had as well. to the northeast and new york city. this is what it looks like. 49 degrees at midnight. rain showers probable across the region. begins at 4:00 p.m. and continuing in the overnight hours of monday and tuesday morning. if it plays out as forecast, the first time since 1994 we had wet weather at midnight for new year's eve at times square. it will be one of the warmest ones as well. compare to the windchill on new year's eve last year as we rung in 2018. 6 below is what it felt like. 45 degrees is what it will feel like this morning going into tomorrow morning in portions of new york city. that's the perspective. wet weather slated across the south here with thunderstorms embedded in the tennessee valley. generally going to be a threat here for rain as opposed to snow for a large part of the east coast. guys. >> pedram, thanks very much. a new year means new laws on the books. here are the highlights. 19 states increase minimum wage on or around new year's day. the federal minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25 since 2009. more women are getting a seat at the table in 2019. publicly held corporations must have one woman on the board of directors by the end of the year. >> in illinois, new moms excused from jury duty if they are nursing their babies. in new york, the drug take back act -- a mouthful -- will make the drugmakers take back their drugs. as well as preventing them from being flushed down the toilet to harm the water supply. the regular season is over and the playoff match ups are set in the nfl. andy scholes has the "bleacher report" next. he hea 're moving i a new apartme. yeah, it's pretty stressful. this music is supposed to relax me, though. ♪ maybe you'd mellow out a bit if you got geico to help you with your renters insurance. oh, geico helps with renters insurance? good to know. yeah, and they could save you a lot of money. wow, suddenly i feel so relieved. you guys are fired. get to know geico and see how much you could save on renters insurance. in america, the zip code you're born in can determine your future. the y helps fill the opportunity gap with education programs for all. for a better us, donate to your local y today. for a better us, hey, batter, batter, [ crowd cheers ] like everyone, i lead a busy life. but i know the importance of having time to do what you love. at comcast we know our customers' time is valuable. that's why we have 2-hour appointment windows, including nights and weekends. so you can do more of what you love. my name is tito, and i'm a tech-house manager at comcast. we're working to make things simple, easy and awesome. welcome back. tragedy at the north carolina zoo on sunday. a lion killed an intern at the center in burlington, north carolina. zoo officials say it happened during routine cleaning of the animal enclosure. one lion escaped a locked space and entered the public park area. authorities identified the victim as 22-year-old alexandra black. she was an intern at the zoo for about two weeks. >> this person's passion was the zoo ministry. this was not this person's first internship. this person wanted to spend a lifetime around animals. >> the male lion was euthanized. it is not clear how the animal escaped. in a statement overnight, black's family said she was a beautiful young woman who just started her career. there was a terrible accident. we are mourning the loss. new cases of the flu on the rise in the u.s. numbers from the centers for disease control and prevention show nine states with high flu activity as well as new york city. that there have been a total of 11 kids who died from flu-related issues this season. check this out. they say everything is bigger in texas. check him out. baby ally weighing in at 14 pounds and 13 ounces. breaking a weight record for newborns at arlington memorial hospital. his parents telling ktvt they were expecting a big baby since their daughter was more than nine pounds at birth. >> we heard an oh, my behind the curtain. i said oh, my what. i'm so blessed to have him. >> very sweet. >> more to cuddle. >> the baby is nearly twice the weight of an average newborn. at two weeks old, he is already wearing clothes for 3 to 6 month olds. i'm not sure his sisters hand me downs will work. not for long frmth. the quest for the eagles playoffs continue. >> we have andy scholes with the bleacher report. >> a couple of weeks ago, things were not looking good for the eagles. even yesterday, they needed to beat the redskins and the bears beat the vikings to get into the playoffs. philadelphia taking care of business and the legend of nick foles continues to grow. throwing two touchdowns and the eagles 24-0 shutout win. get this, foles was hit and bruised his ribs in the fourth quarter and had to leave the game. in the contract, he would get a $1 million bonus if he played 33% of the plays and made the playoffs. because of the injury, foles missed the bonus by four plays. philadelphia officially getting into the playoffs when the bears beat the vikings. it will be a long off season in minnesota. they had high expectations after getting kirk cousins. the giants watching the playoffs from home, but not because of the effort from the rookie running back saquon barkley. he set a rookie record with an 89th pass on sunday against the cowboys. barkley showing off his athleticism in the fourth quarter. leaping over the line stretching out for the touchdown. this game didn't mean anything for the cowboys. they clinched the four seed. dak prescott played the entire game. four touchdowns. the last one there with under two minutes to go. they got the two-point conversion. cowboys win 36-35. ravens needing to beat the browns to win the afc north and steelers watching this one. they beat the bengals and stayed on the field to cheer on the browns in the closing minutes. baker mayfield threw three touchdown passes giving him 27 for the season which is the most ever for a rookie quarterback. mayfield trying to get the browns in field goal range, but gets picked off. ravens win 26-24 to win the afc north. with that, the steelers eliminated from the playoffs. like minnesota, a long off season for pittsburgh. texans and colts next week. 4:35 on saturday. that game followed by the cowboys and seahawks. on sunday, ravens and chargers. followed by the bears and eagles. today is one of the most dreaded days in the nfl. black monday. two coaches have been shown the door. todd bowles after the loss to the patriots. he went 24-40 in new york. bucs firing dirk koetter. you have four job openings. jets, bucs, packers and browns. there could be more by the end of the day. >> the last two minutes was amazing. thank you, andy. the president promised a rapid withdrawal from syria, but a key ally says the president could slow the timeline. and 800,000 federal employees left to answer for the government's failure to address border security. the shutdown now in its tenth day. i am a family man. i am a techie dad. i believe the best technology should feel effortless. like magic. at comcast, it's my job to develop, apps and tools that simplify your experience. my name is mike, i'm in product development at comcast. we're working to make things simple, easy and awesome. we're reevaluating the best way to achieve the president's objective. >> will president trump slow the withdrawal of u.s. troops from syria? he promised a rapid pullout, but a leading republican senator says the plan may change. it is about to get rough for 800,000 federal workers. remain unpaid through the new year as both sides refuse to budge. all on border security. we are ringing in 2019 today. expect big security if you are heading out. will the weather cooperate? we have details on that. welcome back to "early start." i'm alison kosik sitting in for christine romans. >> happy new year's eve. i'm alex marquardt sitting in for dave briggs. it is 5:30 a.m. on the east coast. president trump may be hedging on his timeline to pull u.s. troops out of syria after meeting with the president on sunday, lindsey graham is suggesting the president has a better understanding and agreed to reevaluate. graham characterized the president's pullout as an obama-like mistake. >> 2,000 troops are supposed to leave syria in the coming weeks and months. senator graham says the president is not pausing completely, but committed to a fresh assessment to see what happens on the ground in syria. listen. >> i think we are in a pause situation where we are reevaluating the best way to achieve the president's objective of having people pay more and do more. after discussions with the president and general dunford, i have never felt better about where we're headed. we're slowing things down in a smart way, but the goal has always been the same. to leave syria and make sure isis never comes back. our partners are taken care of and iran is contained. i think that is possible. >> those partners that graham is talking about there is the kurds in syria. there is concern they could be attacked by turkey if u.s. troops leave. on friday, the kurds invited the assad regime to take back the territory they held. with the hope of avoiding a slaughter at the hands of the turks. >> general mattis will make a phone call to his replacement patrick shanahan marking the end of his tenure at the pentagon. mattis was supposed to leave at the end of february, but president trump moved his departure date up two months. the government shutdown. day ten and counting. expect to count for some time to come. according to sources, president trump is privately speaking with lawmakers and he will not agree to a deal if it only allocates $1.3 billion for border security. democrats take control of the house this week and there's no sign that they are willing to budge either. it is 800,000 federal workers and families feeling the pain while lawmakers play politics and continue to collect their paychecks. >> on cnn this weekend, tony reardon, the head of the national treasury union, spoke out. he says his members are anxious and angry. >> they have been cast in the middle of a fight, not of their creation and they do not have the power to resolve. they are fearful of not being able to pay the mortgage or rent or pay the college tuition bill for their children. they want congress to do their job. congress and the administration to do their job. we had an individual let us know that recently his wife died. he is unable at this time because of this shutdown to pay for her headstone. >> some banks like chase and wells fargo are willing to work with federal employees whose accounts are in good standing and as questions linger how far president trump may be willing to bend on border security, his outgoing chief of staff is publicly clarifying one critical point. for more on that, we have sarah westwood at the white house. >> reporter: alex and alison, president trump is holding out the funding for the border wall. this as the shutdown drags into the second week. the president's allies are muddying the waters with the wall and border security. it is not clear what the president considers an actual wall. outgoing chief of staff john kelly said this administration abandoned the idea of a concrete wall early in trump's presidency. he told "the los angeles times" to be honest, it's not a wall. the president still says wall. he will say barrier or fencing. now he is tending to steel slats. we left the solid concrete wall early on in the administration. senator graham came to the white house on sunday for a two-hour lunch and he pitched the president on what he described a breakthrough should it gain traction to trade $5 billion in wall funding for temporary protections for the dreamers protected by daca. >> the president did not commit, but i think he is open minded. i know there are democrats out there willing to provide money for wall border security if we could deal with the daca population and tps people. we hope to get serious discussions started maybe as soon as next week. >> reporter: keep in mind, mick mulvaney, the acting chief of staff/budget director, has signalled the president is willing to back down off that $5 billion number. vice president mike pence last week offered something in the neighborhood of $2.5 billion. half of that and democrats rejected it. the democratic leaders have not been invited back for further negotiations. talks do appear to be at a standstill. alison and alex. >> thank you, sarah. for more on this, let's bring in our brenna williams. the editor of cnn politics. >> thanks for waking up early this morning. >> good morning. happy new year. >> happy new year to you. day ten of the shutdown. sarah said things are at a standsti standstill. because we heard from senator graham there, he is the only one talking about a middle ground. could there be negotiations or a bargain struck to include daca or do you think president trump will get hung up on that one figure, dollar amount, for border wall funding? >> i think the first thing that stands out about where we are about the impasse is we heard pretty much nothing from congressional leadership. lindsey graham is great. he has been in the senate for a while with. he is not congressional leadership. it is interesting to look into the upcoming week and year, there is no motivation quite like optics. nancy pelosi as speaker of the house, maybe with the optics of reopening the government in the first week of democrat controlled house may be appealing and find wiggle room. of course, you need the senate on board. back in february of this year, it's been a while, a deal tying daca to an even bigger border wall funding, $25 billion did not go through. that is why we are here. i don't think tying daca to the border wall has been a success in the past and that is not the way forward now. >> i'll ask you to take out your crystal ball for all an of 2019. what do you see with the game plan for the democrats? general? focusing on legislation or policy or immigration or attack and go anti-trump or watch trump sabotage himself? >> i think the democrats need to come out of the gate strong. they need to make a point with taking control of the house. they need to kind of rally around something. the party is incredibly splintered right now. there's no frontrunner -- agreed upon frontrunner for presidential nominee in the democratic party for 2020 -- so i think they need to pick a few things and rally around that. they need to find things that will resonate with voters in the midwest, not just on the coast. outgoing senator joe donnelly said medicare for all will not play well in indiana. going into 2020, looking ahead, not only for the presidential race, but again, trying to take control of senate and hold control of the house, this universal medicare for all is not going to play well there. they need to rally around things that will play well from coast to coast. >> brenna, the other story you hit on there is alongside the shutdown is how that plays out in the coming days. the 2020 race. we saw a poll that listed the top contenders. biden and sanders and o'rourke. when do you think people will start an nonouncinannouncing? >> they will start making moves right out of the gate. the earnings quarter starts january 1st. no way to solidify yourself as a frontrunner than raise money. >> give us reasons to be optimistic for 2019 and 2020. go. give us something to look forward to. >> actually, the thing that we can, you know, maybe all be happy about is the fact this incoming congress is the most diverse it has been ever. there are a lot of firsts. a lot of women who are, you know, women in office for the first time. a lot of minorities. congress is starting to look more like america. look more like the people they are representing. we don't know what that means. maybe, maybe it will mean they will start to compromise. maybe it will mean fresh ideas will resonate with voters and with members alike. that's what i'm hoping for. we don't know. you know, let's be optimistic. >> i will take that and run with it. i like good optimism. i like the idea of fresh ideas. brenna williams, thank you for your time. happy new year. breaking news. american citizen detained in moscow for allegedly spying according to the domestic security service. the bureau chief nathan hodge is live for us this morning. nathan, he was arrested on december 28th. we are only learning about this now. >> reporter: yes, alison. we are only just getting details about this. we have a name. the american citizen detained by the federal security service or fsb is paul wayland. we have not heard anything from the u.s. side about this. i think the interesting thing about this at this stage is the fsb is the russian agency doing the arresting here. we heard a lot in the headlines over the past year of the gru. russia's military intelligence service. they are the ones accused of being at the center of everything from the 2016 election meddling in the u.s., hacking, the salisbury poisoning. the fsb is another important intelligence service and they are the ones claiming to have made the arrest in this case. at this stage, this is pretty much all of the information we have to go on. of course, there have been tit-for-tat spy wars in the u.s. and russia. the fsb is the successor to the kgb. vladimir putin, the president of russia, is the former head of the fsb. only details are just emerging right now. we are awaiting for any further comment on what the individual was and how they made this arrest, alison. >> in that nathan hodge, thank you. we will come back to you if we hear anything more to report. >> that could be critical at the time of a fraught relationship with u.s. and russia. an intern mauled by a lion at the north carolina zoo. how that happened and what the victim's family is now saying. that's next. y fda-approved alli®. for every 5 lbs you lose, alli® can help you lose two to three more by preventing about 25% of the fat you eat from being absorbed. for the only fda-approved otc weight loss aid, try alli®. i've gwith the capital onehing. venture card you earn unlimited double miles on every purchase, every day. not just airline purchases? everything. hey, how'd you get in here? cross-checking. nice. what's in your wallet... oh, c'mon! has been excellent. they really appreciate the military family and it really shows. with all that usaa offers why go with anybody else? we know their rates are good, we know that they're always going to take care of us. it was an instant savings and i should have changed a long time ago. it was funny because when we would call another insurance company, hey would say "oh we can't beat usaa" we're the webber family. we're the tenney's we're the hayles, and we're usaa members for life. ♪ get your usaa auto insurance quote today. we will be ringing in 2019 in just under 19 hours here on the east coast. for the millions in times square to see the big ball drop, security will be as ever extremely tight. for more, we go to cnn's miguel marquez. >> reporter: alison and alex, it is a party for 2 million people. safety is the priority for the nypd. the area around times square will be blocked off. entrances for the public to get in. magnetometers at the entrances. no alcohol, no large chairs or packages or lawn chairs or umbrellas or backpacks allowed in. doesn't sound like a party. the pen will open at 11:00 a.m. it is like hotel california. you can check in anytime you want. if you leave, you can't check back in because you have to go back through the line again. you have to have the restroom strategy worked out if you actually go. as for nypd, hundreds of officers and agents from over 50 agencies, local, state and federal. 1,200 cameras. officers embedded in the hotels. bomb squad on hand. bomb-sniffing dogs. hundreds of vehicle blockers to block off the entire area. one new thing this year, drones. >> deploying nypd drones for over-watch. we haven't done that before. that will give us a visual aid and flexibility to move a camera to a certain spot with a great rapidity. through the tremendous crowd. >> reporter: they will have counter drone technology. if you want to bring your drone to times square, you will be in trouble. they will take it down somehow. they are being tight-lipped on the details. alex and alison. >> miguel, thank you very much. for you heading to times square and elsewhere, wonder what the weather will be like? here is meteorologist pedram javaheri. >> alison and alex, good morning. happy new year. take a look at what is happening across the east coast. serious weather shaping up across the east coast as it relates to heavy rainfall and strong thunderstorms and a wintry mix and snow to be had as well. to the northeast and new york city. yeah, this is what it looks like. 49 degrees at midnight. rain showers probable across the region. begins at 4:00 p.m. and continuing in the overnight hours of monday and tuesday morning. if it plays out as forecast, the first time since 1994 we had wet weather at midnight for new year's eve at times square. it will be one of the warmest ones as well. compare to the windchill on new year's eve last year as we rung in 2018. 6 below is what it felt like. 45 degrees is what it will feel like this morning going into tomorrow morning in portions of new york city. that's the perspective. wet weather slated across the south here with thunderstorms embedded in the tennessee valley. generally going to be a threat here for rain as opposed to snow for a large part of the east coast. guys. pedram, thank you. sears will close more than 80 sears and k mart stores. one at the mall of the america site in minnesota. it had been the only full-scale sears in the state that wasn't already earmarked closed. the brand will be erased from the state where the founder started in 1886. sears received a last-minute bid from the chairman to keep much of the business alive. the final decision on eddie lambert's bid will be overseen by the judge in the bankruptcy proceedings. sales have plunged 60% in years. verizon and disney with an agreement to resolve a high stakes fight over programming fees. the dispute threatened to knock espn and disney and abc off the fios network. these disputes are common. media companies are demanding more for content to make up for lost revenue. these battles are resolved before stations go dark. there are exceptions like last year's cbs fight that blocked out cbs and nfl games over thanksgiving. that was the leverage. >> no worse timing except for the super bowl. >> there you go. >> we'll be back with more. i am a family man. i am a techie dad. i believe the best technology should feel effortless. like magic. at comcast, it's my job to develop, apps and tools that simplify your experience. my name is mike, i'm in product development at comcast. we're working to make things simple, easy and awesome. it is going from bad to worse to much worse for louis c.k. leaked audio of standup shows him mocking parkland shooting survivors and advocacy for gun laws. >> testify in front of congress these kids? what are you doing? you're young. you should be crazy. you should be unhinged. not in a suit to tell you [ bleep ] you. interesting. you went to a high school where kids got shot? why sdoes thdoes that mean i ha listen to you? you didn't get shot. you pushed some fat kid in the way. now i have to listen to you talking? >> not funny. my opinion. in a longer clip that surfaced on twitter, he rants about people with disabilities and transgender people. last year, he pledged to step back and take a long time to listen after inappropriate sexual misconducmisconduct. tragedy at the north carolina zoo. an intern killed in burlington, north carolina. officials say it happened during routine cleaning of the animal enclosure. the animal escaped from the lock space. the victim has been identified as 22-year-old alexandra black. she interred for two weeks. >> this person's passion was the zoology industry. this person wanted to spend a lifetime around animals. >> the animal was euthanized. it is not clear how it escaped. the center will be closed until further notice. in the statement overnight, black's family says this, in part, she was a beautiful young woman who just started her career. there was a terrible accident and we are mourning. but she died following her passion. in california, the largest utility company could face murder or manslaughter charges if it is found to be responsible for the state's recent spate of deadly wildfires. court documents say pg&e could face a range of criminal offenses if the wildfires that broke out came as a result of the autility failing to maintai and operate power lines. the attorney general's office has not come to the conclusion of the pg&e responsibility. there is still no official cause of the camp fire which killed at least 85 people. pg&e says it is determined to do everything it can to reduce wildfire risk. the equipment was found to have caused 17 fires last year in 2017. flu cases on the rise in the u.s. the latest numbers from centers for disease control and prevention show nine states with high flu activity as well as new york city. that is an increase from the previous week when georgia and colorado experienced high activity. 11 children died from flu-related issues this season. two employees who asked a black guest to leave an oregon hotel after he stopped to take a phone call in the lobby have been terminated. it happened at the doubletree hotel in portland, oregon. jermaine massey was informed police were on the way to escort him off the property. his attorney says all his client is guilty of is calling his mother while black. the actions of the employees were inconsistent with the hotel's values. they say everything is bigger in texas. right? check him out. baby ally weighing in at 14 pounds and 13 ounces this month. he broke a weight record for newborns at arlington memorial hospital. his parents telling cnn affiliate ktvt, they were expecting a big baby since the first child was more than 9 pounds at birth. >> we heard an oh, my behind the curtain. i said oh, my what. it doesn't matter how big he is. i'm blessed. >> more to cuddle. so cute. at two weeks old, he is wearing clothes for 3 to 6 month olds. thanks for joining us. happy new year. i'm alison kosik. >> i'm alex marquardt. christine and dave are back on wednesday. "new day" starts now. pg&e. president trump is not going to talk away from this fight without border security funding. >> we are not wasting taxpayer dollars on a ransom note. >> our president decides to use the death of two children as a political tool. i was disgusted. >> this is a multi-facetted problem that requires a multi-facetted solution. this is "new day," and it really is a new day already in new zealand. look at this, the new year just sprung there. happy new year. i am alisyn camerota. i am here with erica hill. that's beautiful. oh, my gosh. it's so exciting. they look like they are having better weather than we will in new york tonight. let's take a moment to watch their

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