crane atop a tower in london killing two people as its burst into flames. at least nine people injured. michelle kosinski is in london with the details. good morning. >> reporter: it happened at 8:this morning. a commercial helicopter carrying two passengers crashed into a construction crane at the top of a tall residential building behind us. cutting off a big chunk of that crane and sending the chopper hurtling to the ground, ending in a fireball that claimed the lives of the pilot and a person on the ground. someone nearby described the chopper as landing on top of a car which was also in flames. we know at least one person was trapped inside of a car and was rescued. another eyewitness said she was leaving a nearby train station and had been looking up at the

buildings in the fog marveling how she count see them at all. at that moment she heard an explosion that sounded like a bomb terrifying everybody in the area and than small meteor shower with debris raining down. nine other people were hurt. part of the investigation is whether the light on top of that construction crane was working properly. richard? >> thank you so much. bill karins confirming what we saw. very foggy weather there in london. >> democratic governor andrew cuomo signed into law a sweeping package of gun control reforms after it was overwhelming passed by the state assembly. >> i'm proud to be a new yorker because new york is doing something. because we are fighting back. >> the new law expands the band on assault weapons and allows from seven rounds to ten. it also increases actions to

limit firearms on the mentally ill and imposes stiffer penalties on those who use guns while committing a crime. president obama will offer new sweeping gun laws of his own. any proposal to ban assault weapons is likely to face some stiff opposition in congress. tracie potts has details from washington. what are some of the measures we're expecting? >> reporter: in a few hours the president is expected to push congress to pass an assault weapons ban not clear on capitol hill if that can pass. a ban on high capacity magazine clips. but on his own the president is also expected to pitch universal background checks that would close loopholes for people who buy weapons at gun shows or online and don't have to go through those background checks. he's also expected to suggest tougher penalties for people who lie on their background checks for retailers who don't do the background checks or sell

multiple weapons to felons and prostitute people who fail those background checks. mental health expected to be part of this. along video games that industry in talking with the administration last week. the president saying all of this is designed to protect children and keep them safe. richard? >> potentially 19 executive orders in that. tracie potts thank you so much. in the face of proposed gun control reform the national rifle association is fighting back. there's a new ad. it calls the president and elitist hypocrite. here's the whole thing and take a look at it. >> are the president's kids more important than yours? then why is he skeptical of putting armed garlands in schools when his kids are subjected to armed guards at their school. mr. obama demands the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes, but he's just another elitist hypocrite when it comes to a fair share of security. protection for their kids and

guns-free zones for ours. >> that's the ad. what do you think? we want to know. tweet us @earlytodaynbc. >> chuck hagel of nebraska may be getting closer to winning confirmation as defense secretary. he won the backing of two of the senate's strongest supporters of israel, senator chuck schumer are of new york and senator barbara boxer will vote to approve hagel. but senator inhofe says he and hagel have philosophical differences. boeing's newest passenger jet the 787 dreamliner has been grounded by japan's leading airlines. it made an emergency landing in western japan. a cockpit message showed cockpit

problems. japan airlines and all nip upon airways suspended all their dreamliner flights today. the faa says it's monitoring the incidents as part of a comprehensive review that the agency began last night. once safety checks are complete the planes could be back in the air on thursday. a big winter storm is working its way from the south to northeast this morning and expecting to be a travel nuisance for commuters all around the country. much of the southeast so you roadways coated in ice creating dangerous driving conditions. sleet and freezing rain spread into northern louisiana and arkansas. meanwhile the sleet and snow mix made travel a mess in the dallas-ft. worth metro area. hundreds of flights in the nation's fourth busiest airport were either cancelled or delayed. nbc meteorologist bill karins has more on that storm for us and the cold weather in the west. >> the west is quiet and cold. east is stormy. big storm going through new england. it hit mississippi yesterday. a lot of schools are cancelled.

airports are doing okay. old ripple effect across the country. so farther not doing too bad and the next couple of hours that snow will be gone. in the west barely a cloud in sight. just very cold. huge area of high pressure. it's like a big dome. doesn't allow any weather systems to come near you. at night with calm winds it gets very chilly. some clouds spilling into wyoming and montana. high pressure of idaho will keep all the stormy weather away for a long time. maybe for the foreseeable future. as far as temperatures go a little bit of wind chill in a few spots but for the most part just very chilly, temperatures like the last couple of days struggling this morning but with sunshine this afternoon it will feel a lot and the coast

with fog end up in the 30s. just taking a look at the extended forecast for seattle. five days from now still looking sunny and nice. 40. >> some of that stuff in the east coming from the west which they were experiencing earlier in the week. straight ahead a last minute death row appeal but not from the man facing the electric chair. duke and duchess are hiring. and a principal suspended forgoing terminator. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. here's some stories making news this morning. drivers of school buses in new york city go on strike this morning so 152,000 students have to find another way to get to class. the city plans to handout metro cards for the subway and reimburse families for taxis or car mile jab.

>> form are south carolina governor mark sanford is expected to announce he'll return to politics. he resigned four years following revelations of an extramarital affair. >> robert gleason is expected to go the electric chair. the supreme court is being asked by gleason's lawyer to block the execution saying he's not competent to waive his appeals. the white house is changing the signature threshold from 25,000 to 100,000 for official responses to petition on its website. the other day a petition suggesting the construction of a star warriors death star got enough signatures for an official white house response. the s&p got a five year high. we'll see if that trend continues. goldman sachs and jpmorgan chase defend the best of their proceed titles with fourth quarter

earnings reports. bonuses for several morgan stanley workers will arrive in the form of an iou. they will pay out for high earning employees in installments over the next three years. the nation's credit ratings is heading downward. treasury secretary geithner warned the u.s. will reach its credit limit between mid-february and early march. facebook ceo mark zuckerberg unveiled a new search feature. the so calendar graph search allows users to mine their friends data for information they might otherwise google or yelp. critics are complaining from the strange name to its limited function. soon to be parents william and kate are sift through applications for a super servant to do just about everything. just how close are you to

your virtual system? apparently if you've made a personal connection to iphone siri or google now you're like 57% of one group of smartphone owners who not only name their virtual helpers but also enjoy their sass and sense of humor. finally google is wishing a happy 112th birthday to franco receive zamboni jr. sports highlights including a college basketball upset are straight ahead plus a high school principal uses the terminator to make a point with his students but not everyone is so amused about that. you're watching "early today."

here's a look at some other stories making news today early in america. we begin in colorado where rescuers race to pull a bird hunter from an icy river. the man crashed through the frozen surface attempting to retrieve a fowl he had shot down. he spent over 30 minutes in the freezing water before a firefighter was able to reach him. next to rhe island where opponents of same-sex marriage packed the state house to rally against the gay marriage bill. the anti-sex coalition assembled nearly 200 people at a hearing to spur lawmakers towards banning legislation that would allow gay and lesbian couples to marry. now, to massachusetts where a spoof on the terminator film franchise sent a principal home for suspension for two days. it came down as he showed

students a cyborg killing machine. that was on school grounds. in new york city, a skyscraper is one step closer to being the tallest in the western hemisphere. the tower was hoisted to the 104th floor of one world trade center. once completed, the building will stand 1776 feet high over manhattan. a beauty. and finally a detroit-based company is adding a little hollywood to the north american international auto show. the company is using the 007 aston martin as a prop to promote the innovative ways drivers can connect to the internet. cool stuff. >> in sports a couple of upsets in college basketball. indiana lost to wisconsin for the tenth straight time. the badgers led by as much as 10 points as they beat the hoosiers 64-59. in new york, st. john's staged a strong comeback against number 20 notre dame.

and the red storm held on to beat the fighting irish 67-63. now to the nba, blake griffin showed impressive moves as he scored 19 points for the clippers against the rockets and even without chris paul they beat them 117-109. this alabama catherine webb has been drawing a lot of attention since she stole the spotlight from her boyfriend. webb has tweeted quote, so excited to be chosen to cover the super bowl xlvii for @insideedition in new orleans. with the job she beats her boyfriend to the nfl. here's a half-court money shot four. a contest you have to see to believe. an atlanta hawks fan throws the shot over hand and it gets stuck between the back of the rim and the backboard but the judges awarded him the $1,000 prize anyway.

just because of that freak accident. >> announcer: "early today" sports is brought to you by just for men autostop. gray is over. just ahead, a not so fond mile high memory for actor tony danza. and a new man in elton john's life. plus, your wicked winter weather forecast. straight ahead. you're watching "early today."

sometimes even when there's no weather around it can be interesting.

right now temperatures are cold in the west just about every where. take your eyes and focus on los angeles. 40 degrees currently. could drop into the upper 30s. now during the day today with full sunshine and the breeze coming down out of the hills we're going to get up to 73. talking about a 35 degree temperature increase during january. very impressive. also getting warmer during the day most areas and as i mentioned taking a look at seattle, how is that for a nice upcoming weekend? mid-40s and sunshine. >> maybe not shorts but at least you can be outside. >> mid-january. >> might do that. now adding insult to injury for actor tony danza. "the new york post" is reporting he is telling travelers that he caught the flu after he vomited into an air sickness bag. well model kate upton was also there in first class. she had a different story. she tweeted, "i don't want to laugh, the guy next to her is hung over." well apparently kate upton missed reruns of "taxi" and didn't know who danza was.

>> interesting parts to that story. amanda vines has come up with cheek piercing. prompting fans to ask why? it's not too bad. charlie sheen is going to be a grandfather as his 28-year-old daughter cassandra is pregnant. cassandra's mother is sheen's high school girlfriend. elton john and david furnish welcomed a baby boy to heir family. the couple says their second son completes their family in the most perfect and precious way. river phoenix's last film "dark blood" will make its u.s. debut at the miami international film festival almost 20 years after the actor's tragic drug overdose. and finally, prince harry was named town and country's top bachelor. the prince topped that list with tim bebow and george clooney at number 23. jack nicholson he's still got it. >> don't know. >> we can only hope to make the list. >> there's always someone for everyone. and this comes from connecticut where members of the

talking heads and the tom-tom club put together a jam session with students who are still grieving over the sandy hook massacre. ♪ somewhere over the rainbow way up high ♪ >> proceeds from the group's recording of "over the rainbow" will benefit the newtown youth academy. >> i'm richard lui. this is "early today," just your first stop of the day on your nbc station.

a ukrainian zoo has two new adorable animals to its population. two new siberian cubs were born at the zoo. the orange and black felines were immediately cared for by the staff. there are about 400 siberian tigers left in the world. it was nearly extinct 50 years ago. one winter festival is all sugar and spice and everything nice. dozens came together to compete in kazakhstan's first national ice festival. participants used chain saws to create animals and fairy tale characters to try to scoop the $6500 top prize. once it was made a nighttime fireworks display showered the display. one way to keep warm. >> vatican city is home to a cover model. pope benedict's personal secretary has been promoted not only to archbishop but to the front page of italy's "vanity fair" magazine.

known by the media as gorgeous george. the headline reads "it's not a sin to be blufl." a magazine spokeswoman said the archbishop did not pose or interview for the feature. i love that. >> it's a good picture. >> and you can argue that beauty comes from god. works well. time for a look ahead and a look back. a hearing will be held today in new york for 37-year-old noelle alba. the woman accused of running a scam for what she called a funeral fund for one of the sandy hook victims. ten years ago today on january 16th, 2003, the crew of "columbia" and crew of seven blasted off from cape canaveral, florida. the shuttle broke up killing everyone on board. and one of the greatest tv shows of all time aired on nbc 40 years ago today. ♪ >> well, "bonanza" entertained viewers for 14 seasons from september 1959 to january 1973.

all day long you can stay on top of the very latest developments in those stories and the best political analysis on msnbc. and tonight be sure to watch "nbc nightly news" with brian williams. and, finally, here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. hear about a big check. a popular circus gets millions in a surprise twist over a lawsuit about elephant abuse. and talk about incredible odds. this morning, meet identical twins who married twins and then had twins. they're all in the studio. keep it on this channel for continuing local news, sports and more. >> i'm richard lui. thanks for watching "early today." this, your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. have a good one.

the search is on this morning. a mother holds off a would be kidnapper after a man tries to grab her child. >> a nightmare for the dreamliner and the san jose airport. boeing's new jet grounded by two major airlines and the impact could be costly. >> does bratton get the boot? an oakland committee approving everything but. the high profile consultant and the fallout this morning. >> a live look at our beautiful bay bridge. it's wednesday, january 16. this is "today in the bay." >> announcer: from nbc bay area, this is "today in the bay." >> happy wednesday, everybody. it is 4:30. good morning. i'm john kelli. >> i'm laura garcia-cannon. let's get to the forecast with christina loren. good morning. >> good morning. another cold start b