hope to see you tomorrow, everybody. [ cheers and applause ] ♪ this morning on "early today," paralyzing punch. the huge winter storm that's sweeping across the midwest is now heading east. pressure cooker. a voluntarily canic eruption lights up the sky in southern japan. and lost and found, incredible new phos of a never before seen tribe in the brazilian jungle. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry. today, we begin with the storm right now, a treacherous storm

system stretching more than 2,000 miles is roaring across the nation, tormenting folks from texas to maine. with more on how everyone is coping, here is nbc's kurt gregory. >> reporter: a massive blizzard brings the nation's mid section to a stand still. >> i can't urge enough for people to stay home and stay off the roads. >> reporter: up to 20 inches of blowing and drifting snow paralyzing oklahoma city and tulsa. the storm forecasters call missouri's worst in decades made even walking treacherous. high winds causing near zero visibility and closing interstates including i-70. and plenty of snow and driving headaches in st. louis. >> i like the snowfall a little bit. this is just ridiculous. >> reporter: chicago, bracing for its worst winter storm since the blizzard of 1967. >> we are prepared to use our

whole fleet of 274 trucks and 120 garbage trucks with quick hitch plows. >> reporter: more than two feet of snow expected in the windy city. airports closed from oklahoma to chicago. more than 6,000 flights scrapped nationwide. power outages from texas to michigan. more than 30 states affected by this mammoth storm. kurt gregory, nbc news. nbc meteorologist bill karins is tracking this huge winter storm for us this morning. what can we expect today? >> slow movement. chicago with 17 inches of snow. they're telling people from oklahoma city to much of missouri to stay off the highways today. they're still not clear. interstate 70 still closed between kansas city and st. louis, and it hasn't even snowed there in about eight to ten hours. it just shows you the winds are whipping around the storm system. now, we're still watching gusts of 30 in chicago, 26 in st.

louis, and it is cold on the back side of that storm. the snow is blowing all over. in new england a lot of airport problems from icy conditions in new york to snow in boston. it'sç a mess travel-wise today lynn. as i said, slow improvement. >> all right, bill. thanks so much. we'll check in with you in just a moment. on what's a half concession by egypt's president hasni mubarak. pro and anti-government supporters are clashing in that country's capital this morning. at least one aspect of normal life in egypt has already been restored this morning, the internet. nbc's jennifer johnson has our report. >> reporter: after days of protests involving millions across egypt, president hosni mubarak responded to his opponents. he intends to stay in office, but will not seek re-election in october. september. >> i did not intend to run for

another terms. >> reporter: after 30 years in power and support reportedly weakening from the u.s., mubarak made the announcement in an address to his nation late tuesday night. president obama spoke to mubarak after and spoke about the transition being peaceful and begin now. >> there will be difficult days ahead. many questions about egypt's future remain unanswered. but i am confident that the people of egypt will find those answers. >> as sympathetic americans held their own protests outside the egyptian embassy in washington, a u.s. senator sent a powerful message to voters in egypt. >> if you do have fair and free elections in september, i hope you'll be wise enough and brave enough to say no to forces within your country, radical islamic forces. >> reporter: over 1,600 americans have been evacuated from egypt, including these college kids from south dakota. now the state department has ordered all nonessential government workers to leave too.

jennifer johnson, nbc news, washington. now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. in california, security cameras recorded a violent jewelry heist. two armed gunmen used bridle force to take down a jewelry store. male and female employees were wrestled to the ground and beaten before the mad men made off with jewels. investigators believe this is the duo's second robbery in the area. in new york, neighbors are a little frightened, to say the least. several bats have invaded the complex. the creatures of the night come out at dusk and have actually attacked some renters. they say the landlord has offered no solution to the problem, which is making some tenants think about moving. finally, in texas, frigid conditions turned a stretch of highway into block of ice. but it wasn't a problem for one good samaritan in his dune buggy.

he rescued several drivers stuck on interstate 30. he pulled them off the road and out of danger. now for a look at your national and regional weather. here is nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. >> just proved everyone should have a dune buggy. >> i would love one. >> you need to today in new york. temperatures upside down this morning. behind the blizzard, it's one of the coldest air masses of the season. minus 11 in denver. look at san antonio. it's at 20 degrees. now, every on the west coast can thank the rockies. this cold airç can't move throh all the mountains and get to you. that's why you're protected from this cold blast. some of this bled through in a few areas. salt lake city is pretty cold, along with all of our friends in idaho. boise, 15. areas of the eastern portion of the state are in the negative numbers. look at the cold air. it's made it to seattle and portland. 32. even vegas, some of the cold air did make it to you this morning. 28 in phoenix at 37.

it's a little cooler than the last couple of days, but compared to the rest of the country, it really is nothing to complain about. we should see mostly sunny skies in much of the west, and with the cool air we have a little bit of clouds sneaking into washington state and also there around oregon. temperatures not bad. right aroundeugene. astoria, today around 50. crescent city, 50 degrees. lots of sunshine. that's a look at your wednesday forecast. >> thanks so much. well, coming up, stocks rise, the dollar falls, and the world is running out of ikea. that's straight ahead. plus, she's back. just when you thought lindsay lohann was going low profile,

she's being investigated for theft. >> coming up, the upsets continue in college hoops and the sights and sounds of super bowl media day. you're watching "early today."

good morning, and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are some of your top headlines this morning. senate leaders from both parties have agreed to hold a showdown vote possibly as early as today on repealing president obama's health care overhaul. the vote will be largely symbolic since it virtually has no chance of winning approval in the democratic controlled senate. residents in australia are bracing for a massive category 5 cyclone that forecasters say is shaping up to be the deadliest storm in generations. tens of thousands have been fleeing the path of the cyclone bearing down on the northeastern part of the country.

a volcano in japan roared back to life last week. the eruption this morning sank a huge plume of fire, smoke, and ash moving 6,000 feet into the air. officials have widened an evacuation zone around the peak, but dozens of flights in the area have been canceled. brazil has allowed the release of rare photographs, showing one of the world's last uncontacted tribes in astonishing detail. the images were handed out in the hopes that they would protect the tribe in the amazon since illegal loggers were spotted in the area. >> and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow oweses at 12,040. the s&p rose 21 points. the nasdaq shot up 51. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei zoomed up 182 points while in hong kong the hang seng soared 426.

a surge of optimism powered a rally on wall street tuesday that pushed the dow and the s&p into territory not seen since 2008. u.s. manufacturing grew at its fastest pace in nearly seven years last month, renewing hopes the economic recovery is gaining strength. with fears of spreading chaos in egypt waning, investors increased appetite sent the dollar to a three-month low against a basket of global currencies. healthy earnings also pushed gains. u.p.s. add 4% after it beat estimates and forecast record growth in 2011. pfizer picked up 5% on better than expected income and revenue. the drugmaker also announced it's buying back up to 5 billion shares of common stock. trucks and pricey suvs drove u.s. auto sales 17% higher last month with gm and chrysler ç beating the pack. shares of borders plunged 35% and continued to tumble after hours on reports the book chain is close to filing for bankruptcy.

the gap is replacing its president in hoping of breathing life back into the embattled brand. keep an eye on electronic arts today. shares of the video game publishing shot up in trade thanks to earnings. finally, ever wonder what would happen if the worldwide web ran out of addresses? well, the number of numeric addresses set up back in the 80s are almost gone. don't panic. authorities say a new system is in the works and the transition should be trouble-free. super bowl media day, a playoff loser whips a big nfl award. and the mighty fall in college basketball. plus, the trailblazers alley-oop past the spurs. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. an update on our historic blizzard with the freezing rain, the sleet and the snow is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, it's if january and february are any indication, this year's college basketball march madness will truly be insane. here is nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good wednesday morning. there were is 11 upsets in college basketball over the weekend.

that trend continued yesterday. we'll start in mississippi. kentucky had their hands full of unranked ole miss. defense led to offense in the second. reginald buckner with a huge block. that went the other way. the lay-up, the foul and this one went down to the wire. kentucky up one. drove along three with a man in his face. rebels took the lead with two seconds left. ole miss held on for a big win, 71-69. number 18 wisconsin, one of those teams upset over the weekend, but they got back on track in 10th ranked purdue. evans gave the badgers a lead. boilermakers needed something late, but they didn't get it. it's evans for the dunk. wisconsin knocked off purdue, 66-59. also an upset in the nba. trailblazers handed the spurs their eighth loss of the season. aldridge was a beast. scored a career high 40. port london beat the best team in the league, 99-86.

tom brady won the offensive player of the year award. what do you get when you combine 100 players and over 1,000 reporters? you get the madness that it super bowl media day. >> kim kardashian. that's probably the most exciting person, i would say. kim kardashian. >> do you all get this? the whole taco organization is empty and i dig that about them. >> you keep me warm. >> what's the dumbest thing you've been asked today so far. >> would i have sex with one of my teammates. >> more or less? >> i don't know. >> oh, that one? of course. i've never stopped watching it. >> and with that, that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. mariah carey spills the beans on her pregnancy and elton

john calls out billy joel. your early morning entertainment

welcome back. look at the temperatures. albuquerque, new mexico, will

have a high of 9 degrees. salt lake city only at 20. some of that is making its way to vegas and phoenix. that's very chilly for the desert southwest. not bad in l.a. at 62. in the pacific northwest it will be okay. thursday, you have the showers in seattle. 50s in most areas. we're still in that heart of winter. no big warmup this week at least. if you are watching us on krnv news 4 reno, nevada, see 15 water color paintings by john james audubon depicting birds. artists at the nevada museum of art. that's your pacific event of the day. sdhoo thanks so much. now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. elton john says he knows billy joel is going to hate him for this, but he needs tough love. john tells rolling stone that joel needs to get serious about rehab. and he his former touring

partner canceled many times. mariah carey confirms a life and style report that she's expecting both a boy and a girl. ricky gervais is back -- or not. first golden globe bloggers asked him to consider a third posting. next the foreign press association issued the snarky response, we have not asked him to come back. nice try, ricky. then gervais quickly clarified that he spoke with an nbc executive, not the press association. radar online reports police are seeking a warrant to search lindsay lohan's venice beach home to search for stolen jewelry. investigators have video of lohan swearing the jewelry. lohan is still on probation and faces possible charges from an incident last december. >> you understand, don't you?

>> i wish. can i just live in that for a moment, as if that were the case? that would be wonderful. >> i think your husband wouldn't like that. >> it would be a relief for him, trust me. and this comes to us from woio in lima, ohio, where ted williams' former tent mate is online cashing in on his story and giving back at the same time. victor went on ebay to sell his tent, but the winning bidder at $355 backed out. so it's up for bid again. victor plans to set aside 10% to donate to a local rescue mission. mission officials say although they've never met either man, they appreciate the gesture. i'm lynn berry, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

things are happening along for the chinese new year. celebrations officially kicked off in beijing starting with the temple fair. in anticipation of the year of the rabbit, the festival began with lion dancing and musical activities. it's packed with fully stocked shops for customers seeking out all things rabbit. here is one race where the winner might feel like they're on top of the world, literally. or at least at the top of the empire state building. athletes from around the globe come out to run up 1,576 steps. the champ made it to the top in just over ten minutes. that's his sixth straight title and a record-breaking run. with unrelenting snowfall across the country, these kids

may have found the silver lining. they've built the ultimate snow castle. it started with a single room three weeks ago, but with all the white stuff falling, the project began to really snowball. it has an entryway and a working cooler. how cool is that? and with all the snow, the group still had to run out and borrow uáj(juáy >> i've got some. >> what? >> snow. >> oh, in brooklyn, exactly. left over from last week, i believe, right? so it's a little brown and -- >> oh, no. now there's a nice shiny casing of ice on everything. it's so pretty. >> that sounds pretty. time now for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. in washington, nasa holds a briefing on the kepler mission's latest findings about planets that could harbor life outside the solar system. the smithsonian museum of history will receive a donation including the red swimsuit from farrah fawcett's iconic sports

illustrated picture. and on this day in 1953, the dutch incorporated new amsterdam. about a decade later, the country renamed the town new york city. all day long, you can stay on top of the very latest developments in those stories and others as they break on msnbc. and tonight be sure to watch brian williams with nbc "nightly news." and, finally, here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. al roker is live from chicago with his storm forecast and tips for dealing with the ice and know. and find out the latest details on halle berry's bitter custody battle. now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and more. i'm lynn berry. thanks for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. have a good one. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com