good wednesday morning, coming up on "early today," rescued, two adults and four children stuck for days in below-zero temperatures. how they survived by heating rocks to stay warm. black ice, one of the most dangerous factors facing commuters this morning. it's hard to see and almost nearly impossible to stop your car on. one step closer. google looking into putting computer microchips into our heads. plus, mary barra prepares to take over general motors. and the handshake that has tongue wagging across the globe. and the jackpot that would make anyone's christmas oh, all the merrier. it's wednesday, december 11th. "early today" starts right now.

very good morning to you. i'm richard lui. we begin with a story of survival in the frigid cold. a family of six, including four children, found alive in nevada. and remarkably, doctors are saying, there's no evidence that the family has frostbyte. . >> we were bracing for such worse considering the cold temperatures we have had. >> they expressed they are very happy and will enjoy this christmas more so than usual. >> and miguel almageur has the story for us. >> reporter: rescue teams gathered for a third day fearing they were running out of time. >> the temperatures are quite cold. it was 14 degrees below zero. >> reporter: the search for a family of six growing more desperate every hour. james, his girlfriend and four children, ages 3 to 10, have

been missing since last sunday. last seen in the mining town, the family was headed for a day of fun in the snow. the terrain is rugged, remote and this time of the year -- >> subzero temperatures. >> reporter: temperatures that can kill. rescue teams held on to hope. the family had a cell phone but the area was so remote there was no service. still, their last-known signal helped lead search teams to a specific area. the nevada national guard launched helicopters and chris montez spotted the family's overturned jeep. >> they had a fire going and jay was heating up rocks in the fire. and at night he was putting them in the jeep with him. >> reporter: air lifted to a local hospital, an entire community and family members heard the good news. >> i'm relieved that god answered our prayers. they told me that they found them. that was all i wanted to hear

they're alive. that's pretty much all i wanted to hear. >> reporter: a family of six in good condition after a sunday drive to play in the snow, a trip they will never forget. miguel almageur, nbc news. a few inches of snow can create miles of problems for folks. this truck, for instance, fell down an embankment. it was sprinkling sand to stop sliding on a massachusetts parking lot when it slipped on ice itself, crashing and going through the ice -- going through a fence. between two and five inches fell in cities from boston to washington where the snow prompted the nation's capital to close schools tuesday. most of the federal government was closed as well, except for the house and the supreme court. the weather snared air traffic. delays up to 5 1/2 hours in newark, new jersey, 4 1/2 hours in philly and almost 1,400 flights were canceled nationwide. bill karins is here with us. pretty much what we expected but still a lot to watch. >> yeah, travelers and airline

issues. our nation's capital has gone over three years now without two inches of snow. people think that d.c. gets snow. they didn't get it. only about 1 1/2 inches with the snow yesterday. >> you'll have more for us on what's happening in the west coast very shortly. >> yeah. >> now to the mega millions jackpot. it will grow $400 million this week and you have until friday to buy a ticket. are you going to get a ticket? >> okay. i'll buy you one, too. the south american country, hoping the plan will help control organized crime violence and addiction. lawmakers approved ground-breaking legislation aimed at approving a marketplace for grows, sales and consumption

of the drug. it's expected to begin next year. lawmakers are reacting to the deal of the long-awaited budget. they say they've broken through the gridlock to reach a compromise. the question is, what cost? danielle lee joins us live in washington. danielle, good morning to you. will the $1 trillion budget pass without that usual holiday hullabalu? >> lawmakers want to have a holiday break this year. this bill they're passing really represents a compromise on both sides. democrats are not getting the extension to the long-term benefits they're hoping for and republicans aren't seeing the savings they were hoping for. it calls for $$1.012 in spendin and a slight increase next year. to make up for that new spending

they save elsewhere, cuts to medicare payments this bill will get its first big test, richard, later this morning in a meeting with house republicanship and aides say the house could take a vote on it as early as tomorrow. time is tight. house makers are plau plnning t leave town for the rest of the year. >> also for you, you have some grim news, at least when we look at the new nbc news/wall street journal poll numbers for the president as well as for congress. >> richard, grim is a good word for it. latest nbc/wall street journal poll 54% of americans say they disapprove of the job president obama is doing. not the worst approval rating he has had in his presidency. when it comes to congress, 51% called them one of the worst congresses ever, the largest

number since we started this poll in 1990. >> danielle lee, thank you very much. meteorologist bill karins is here now with weather. we'll call you dr. freeze. >> it's one of the longest cold snaps we've had. people in california say we just haven't seen it last this long. we've hit the peak of it. it will slowly warm up from here. it's another frigid morning out here. 40 in san francisco, you know in the hills we're a lot colder than that. coast to coast is the cold air. worst of it in the northern plains, windchills in the minus 30 range in minneapolis, northwards up to fargo and duluth. as far as the west coast, vegas is at 30. 29 in sacramento. a very chilly morning. we'll abe little bit warmer today than we were yesterday in most spots. even the 24-hour change map, we're slightly warmer. so we're trending in the right direction, albeit slowly. we're looking pretty good, pretty clear out there.

there's not a lot of clouds but there are the possibility of fog and freezing fog. watch out for that in oregon about 11:00 am, dense fog advisory for medford where it could be chilly and a little patchy iceeel nice considering how chilly it's been lately. new storm will be diving down into the northwest thursday, friday. some people will get snow. i'll tell you who, coming up. guess who time magazine's person of the year will be for 2013. we have a list of five of them. waterspout from an out of control car. we have the story for you when we return in two minutes.

and welcome back.

president obama has returned from halfway around the world early this morning and is now back at the white house. nelson mandela's body is now lying in state in the capital. his funeral will be held on sunday. it was a quick handshake but garnered world wide attention. before speaking at the mandela memorial on tuesday president obama stopped to shake hands with cuban president raul castro. the first contact with a u.s./cuban president in years there. t. looked like a scene right out of a cartoon. a car slammed into a fire hydrant, creating this massive geyser. no one was hurt. no word on what caused that accident. newly declassified documents show that leon panetta revealed secret information to the writer of "zero dark thirty." it happened during a speech he gave about the raid that killed osama bin laden.

he said he assumed everyone in the audience had proper clearance. "time" magazine released five finalists for person of the year and they are in no particular order, edward snowden, bashar al assa, senator ted cruz and pope francis. the winner will be revealed this morning on "today." how about a microchip implanted in your head? google's chief engineer tells "the guardian" he envisions the brain someday being able to interact with pieces of technology. another woman shatters a corporate glass ceiling. mary boris started at general motors at an 18-year-old intern where her father was a die maker. today she is the new face of gm and the first woman to lead a major car company. >> i've worked at general motors for 33 years. i have always known it is a great company. the men and women of general motors are so dedicated. and i truly believe we have the best team on the field.

so it's an honor for me to be able to lead this team. >> she was chosen unanimously by gm to take over. she takes over for retiring ceo dan atkinson. a new study found that hourly wages among women ages 25 to 34 were 93% of what men earn. also, women of all ages and 15% of women in the workplace say they have been discriminated against because of their gender. west jet set up a virtual santa. 240 passengers traveling to calgary were asked what they want for christmas. and while they were in flight airline workers scrambled to gather as many gifts as possible so that when the travelers gathered to collect their luggage, they also found the gifts they asked santa for. along with the gimmick is obviously a tv commercial. applebee's ordered tablets for

restaurants allowing to pay your check while your wait. the tablets should hit the tables and bars by the end of next year. up next in sports, high school buzzer beater, a tailgating let down and nascar star danica patrick as you have never seen her before.

american families could see

milk prices spike to $7 a gallon if congress can't pass a farm bill by the end of the year. >> oh, no! my precious white gold! no! >> can you imagine twice the price as gasoline there? now for some sports headlines for you. >> in the nba, struggling. it beats the shot clock. surprised the bulls 75-72 in that game. >> the number 19 florida gators extending their winning streak to 21 games. they upset kansas leaving florida crowd favorite senior with a career high 18 points. yeah, scream about that one. gators win 67-61. who will get the famed hi d heisman trophy saturday?

the possibilities are in. we have four quarterbacks, jameis winston, johnny manziel. we have car a.j. mccarron. two running backs in the running. andre williams and trey mason from auburn. sweet 16 may not have been so sweet. multiple sources say texas' football coach expected to resign as early as friday. matt brown's season was a disappointing 8-4. alabama's nick saben is in the talks for a replacement. fans will not be allowed to tailgate at super bowl xlviii on february 2. >> you can have food or drink next to your car but no grills or lounge chairs. reducing space there. you might remember half court shot when cameron rodriguez won $20,000. the prize money may have

destroyed his amateur status but now the ruling is that he can keep it as a scholarship. with seconds left at a pennsylvania high school basketball game talk about great shots. took a 70 foot desperation shot. it goes right in for a dramatic 44-43. >> as a kid, you wished see saw was an olympic event, right? so do these two british gymnasts. and oh, by the way, they are cirque du soleil acrobats. and move over miley. nascar racer danica patrick. she helped co-host the american music awards with trace atkins. she was in full show girl. lot of people probably liked that.

there's going to be some snow with this system in the northwest. the heaviest will be in british columbia. some of it will come down to the cascades and spokane. an inch or two possible, especially throughout the day tomorrow. the rest of the west, very cold morning. watch out for freezing fog in oregon. we go from 70 today, starting to warm things up a hill bit. even as we go toward tomorrow, we should be better. all the koelcold air, richard, leaving the west. >> what do you think of the new graphics at "early today"?

>> i like it. like the music i wrote for the show? >> i do. quite a conductor. good stuff. bill karins, you didn't know that about him, did you? the american film institute has released the list of the top movies of the year. how many have you seen? the best of the best includes "12 years a slave," "gravity" >> that's your favorite, right, "gravity"? >> i'll take "gravity" or "12 years a slave." and "wolf of wall street." metallica played in all continents, after playing in antarctica. the crowd listened through headphones and not amps for fear of causing an avalanche. yeah, i would rather do it that way, too. congratulations to kate winslet, who gave birth to a baby boy. a trailer for the upcoming "godzilla" has been released. take a look. >> your courage will never be more needed than it is today.

>> "godzilla" now 60 years old or something like that. and hollywood has listed the most overpaid actors in hollywood, with the likes of matt damon taking the list. adam sandler takes the top spot making a dollar for every $3.40 his movies make. >> are we supposed to be laughing at him or is he laughing all the way to the bank? >> he's laughing. i'm richard lui. you're watching "early today."

leading the news in "chicago sun times," after decades in prison, south side man's rape conviction overturned. stanley rice is being released after spending 30 years in prison for a rape he says he falsely confessed to after being tortured by police. >> and in the "san antonio express," tacos or death? police say a 28-year-old man brandished a sword in an attempt to steal tacos from a texas restaurant. when he left the building to take a phone call the waitress locked him out. >> two tacos, i would like that with guacamole or money. these are real stories, by the way. some stories you might have missed. democrat katherine clark becomes the fifth woman elected

to the house from massachusetts. clark will represent the fifth congressional district. edward markey vacated that seat when he won secretary kerry's senate seat. kerry is encouraging congress to hold off to imposing new sanctions because, quote, this is a very delicate diplomatic moment. >> and a man who provided sign language interpretation on stage at nelson mandela's memorial on tuesday, watch him. he was, quote, a fake. he had signed the same thing repeatedly. south african's government tells the associated press they're preparing a statement. i don't know. what do you think? if that comes out to be true, bill karins -- >> that's just mean. >> wow! the man, the myth, the legend. rhode island's favorite traffic cop is back in action. here he is, tony lapore is back by popular demand.

his role as the ultimate dancing king. it is a tradition that started in 1984. he retired in 1988 but he comes back during the holidays to the delight of most everybody who sees him. i wonder if he practices that in his off time. >> cars hitting him as they're staring at him the entire time. i'm waiting for him to do the dougie. >> he has his own routine. we're copying him. >> original moves. you're right, bill karins. time for a look ahead. a memorial in the u.s. for nelson mandela today. vice president joe biden will speak at a service for mandela in washington, d.c. let's say happy birthday to nikki sixx who is 55, secretary of state john kerry is 70. coming up on "today," wonder what that's going to look like. thank you for watching "early today." i'm richard lui, along with bill

karins. you have a great day ahead.

. good çómorning, it's 4:30. i'm carrie mcqueeny. >> i'm laura garcia-cannon. breaking news in the east bay where fireçó crews are battling massive fire at a commercial building. it iscfá happeningfá on stanwel drive next to the buchanon field airpj. >> christie smith just arrived on the t(scene. tell us? >> reporter: good morning. 70 firefighters are out hereq still fighting thisnb fire tha started atnb 12:30. here it is 4:30. you can see what's going on here. it is still burning from this two-storyçó building. four-alarm fire. we haveñi two ladderxd trucks spraying water from the outside.