good thursday morning. here is what is coming up on "early today." senate standoff. working through the night republicans say they are not be obstructionist by delaying votes on obama nominees. finger pointers. new ntsb video released along with details on why this boeing 757 crash landed in san francisco this summer. a developing story aboard the international space station. as scientists scramble against time. plus to the scene of a subzero improbable rescue. it's thursday, december 12 and "early today" starts right now. and good morning to you, i'm richard lui. while you were sleeping your government was hard at work. take a live look at the senate floor.

republicans and democrats continuing an all-night showdown over presidential nominations. one of the first fights after democrats changed the rules. nbc's danielle leigh is live in washington with the latest. how long could this go on? >> a couple of things are at stake. for one, whether or not these people get confirmed. the other reality is this isn't the only thing the senate has to do before the year is up and it's going to affect the other things that they need to get done. this could least easily until saturday. but senate majority leader harry reid is determined to go as long as it takes. even if that means until christmas. if you take a live look at the senate you can see that john cornyn from texas is on the floor right now. they've been taking turns throughout the night. two big nominees they're trying to get through, one is nina pellard who was confirmed to the d.c. circuit court. the other is jay johnson. he would lead the department of

homeland security. no decision yet on him. whole reason this happening, last month democrats changed the rulings, a simple majority is needed to end filibusters to presidential nominees. the republicans are weakened, so they're using everything they have, every minute to consider the nominees and reid says they'll work through until it's done. >> also a vote on the bipartisan budget dealing we heard so much about on wednesday. the house is expected to take up the bill crafted by senator ryan and murray. outside hard lined conservatives say it stunts growth. democrats worry it does nothing for expiring unemployment benefits. a vote in the senate is expected next week on the bill, that would fund the government for the next two years, senate republicans are expected to oppose it, but won't have the votes to stop it. now to a mea culpa out of south africa. a cabinet minister admitting the government made a mistake in

hiring the sign language interpreter you see there at tuesday's memorial for nelson mandela, the man was labeled a fake by the deaf community. and in an interview he said he was experiencing hallucinations while on stage. those hallucinations include seeing angels at that event. he admitted to once being hospitalized in a mental health facility for more than a year. a probe into the asiana flight 214 crash is laying out a fatal cockpit combination. this as surveillance video shows the plane crashing into the sea wall and then cart wheeling around and slamming onto the runway in san francisco last july, three people were killed and more than 200 injured in that. investigators laid out several factors. pilots failed to notice air speed was too low. confusion over how the automated systems worked. even korean cultural sensitivities. one focus the automated systems.

the pilot who was flying told failed to acknowledge four separate warnings from a co-pilot that he was descending too rapidly. and he said his low-level position would make it very hard to abort a landing and he told investigators he was very concerned about manually land g landing. it is a story dubbed the miracle in the mountains. the nevada family who survived two days. call their rescuers valiant and nbc's miguel almaguer made his way to the accident scene for us. >> reporter: on our journey to retrace their steps we take you to the rugged and remote high desert where james glanton, christina mcintee and three four children ages three through ten, spent two nights trapped in negative 20-degree weather. we had to off-road about 35 minutes, this is 30 miles outside of town. you can see the footprints in

the snow. here is the overturned jeep we found the jeep leaking gas smelling of fuel. the family was dressed for the snow and was prepared in other ways. they had bottles of water. we found a machete, flashlight and used interior for shelterer add night. research teams say james glanton kept his family alive by keeping them together and staying with the vehicle. >> jay did one hell of a job keeping those kids safe. there's not a lot of people that would have been able to do that for two days in subzero temperatures. >> reporter: the family gathered sage brush and burnt a spare tire down to the bone to keep warm. we're also told they heated up rocks like this one and put it inside the vehicle at height to keep the kids warm. >> that was nbc's miguel almaguer reporting for us. a crippled cooling system could set the stage for another space walk on the international space station. nasa is currently mapping out a strategy to fix a cooling pump after a faulty valve.

forced a shutdown. the repair job could become risky if a space walk is the only way to fix it. the space walk last july was cut short after a leak in the astronaut's suit caused his helmet to fill with water up to his ears. the six astronauts are not in immediate danger but the repair job could become risky. a juvenile court judge sentenced 16-year-old ethan couch to ten years probation and rehab. reportedly the child's lawyer argued he had quote affluenza. the teen's family thought wealth brought privilege and no consequences. prosecutors sought the maximum sentence of 20 years in the june crash. the teen's attorneys argued for treatment instead of jail time. one prosecutor predicted the teen would be involved in another tragedy in the future. arctic blast of cold air triggered a band of lake effect

snow across the great lakes region, some areas expecting up to four feet of the white stuff by the end of the week. this video shows near white-out conditions on the roads. and billing cairns, when you got that stuff -- >> i don't know how they do it. >> stay inside, right? >> it's so cold, one spot reported 50 inches of snow in two days. >> 50? >> 50 inches. that's a lot. let's talk about the temperatures, because the cold air just came down, it's been with us in the west for a while. another chilly morning, san francisco is there at 39, seattle at 34. we're not as cold as chicago, who is at 2 degrees this morning. but the temperatures are still cold in the intermountain west. this is the end of it. we're starting to sew a warming trend, montana is 32 degrees, 61 in phoenix, 51 in l.a., the desert southwest has gotten rid of the bitter cold. look at phoenix, 17 degrees warmer this morning than this time yesterday. and six degrees warmer in medford. the warming trend, we're heading in the right direction. there's a weak storm pushing

down to the pacific northwest. it won't have a lot of influence, but it will bring a little bit of light rain. we mentioned the snow bands before. there's a look. they'll head up towards buffalo, new york later on today. as far as the snow in the northwest, this isn't a big ordeal with the storm. in the northern extremely northern portion of the cascades outside of bellingham could get a little bit of snow, enough to make trouble on some of the roads that weave their way inside the mountains. but none of the major highways seem much of an issue in spokane, washington, not much for you, either. a tiny bit of snow. enough to shovel or take a broo sunny will feel warm compared to how chilly it's been lately. who knows, this probably is a good chance this was the coldest air the west will see, the intermountain west in

california, maybe all winter. two major setbacks for same-sex couples. why is this man walking with 800 pounds on his feet. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. the former chief of staff of tennessee lamar alexander will be arraigned arrested on charges of distributing child pornography. australia's highest court struck down a landmark law to allow the country's same-sex weddings. dozens of same-sex marriages will have to be annulled less than a week before the ceremony. protesters demonstrated against a ruling for india's supreme court which struck down a lower court decision and will reinstate a ban on same-sex. a shocking discovery in colombia. an x-ray found a fetus inside an

82-year-old woman, the fetus was 42 years old. and a 52-year-old factory work anywhere china works out every day, with iron shoes, he walks up to 20 minutes. not very quickly. and says it's a great cure for back pain. somehow i think my back would hurt more. time for a look at the world of money. hilton returns to the ranks of public companies as it begins trading on the stock exchange. the ipo share price is at $20. trouble in hobbit world, bob and harvey weinstein filed a lawsuit saying profits are owe ed from "the hobbit." the weinsteins want $75 million. general motors announced it will stop making cars in australia in 2017 due to high cost and australia's strong

currency. and groupon is fighting back against amazon's strategy to use drones to deliver packages. groupon claiming catapults. >> i heard this whistling. >> this ominous whistling in the air like something was coming towards me. i thought it was a flaming bale of hay or hot coals, but it turns out it was my package from groupon, and i got 30% off my wireless headphones and i didn't have to come face to face with a flying scary robot. just ahead, rumors are swirling of a major coaching shakeup in college football, details, next.

facebook released its 2013 list of top places in the u.s. for people checked in. on the social media site. california's disneyland tops the list, followed by squimtimes sq epcot center, dodger stadium and at&t court. >> people are checking in at the right place. let's talk sports. he coached the celtics for nine years. many thought doc rivers would get boos returning as the clippers coach. instead he got an ovation. fighting tears rivers said he could not function for the first 18 minutes of the game. you wouldn't have known that.

l.a. had a close lead in the fourth and then l.a.'s jamal crawford robbing the gap with two three-pointers, he had 21 points for the night he got. clippers take it 96-88 for that homecoming for doc rivers. will texas football coach mack brown step down this week and alabama coach nick saban step in? director says saban is focused on the bowl game in oklahoma right now. saban is the highest-paid college football coach. but talk is his extension offer is even more and a potential texas offer could be astronomical. mack brown's attorney saying he hasn't decided on staying or not just yet. congratulations to auburn's gus malzahn who won coach of the year. he led auburn to the bcs championship game and the unforgettable iron bowl victory against alabama. a report from the "miami herald" suggests that richie incognito

and jonathan martin will not return. bring back richie incognito accused of bullying jonathan martin. a report for the miami herald suggesting incognito and martin will never play for miami again. . the throw of the game, base runners charging for home and colliding with catchers. now new rules are in the works. his first road bike stunt video got nine million views, now his sequel has two million, professional mountain biker ashton broke his back to make the sequel. the pirates andrew mccutcheon popped the question to his girlfriend of four years on the ellen show. after a short video tribute, he brought her to the stage, he knelt down, he said he proposed on national tv because he wanted to tell the whole world that he loved her and oh yeah, she said yes. just ahead, busiest holiday for car thieves is around the

corner. plus oprah winfrey never had children, but finds out why she thinks they would have hated her if she had. you're watching "early today."

welcome back, waking up this morning, grab the winter gear, it's a little chillingy, but not as bad as the last couple of mornings, we have a little rain for the first time in a while, moving into the pacific northwest. we may see a little snow at the higher elevations, not a big ordeal, now pushing inland,

portland will have a chance to get into the showers. we're sunny and clear as could be from areas to l.a. to san francisco. phoenix with a little chance of rain action moisture coming on, with a southerly jet stream and tomorrow, it looks like a nice day, sunshine in the deep south, we'll be fine and 45 portland, showers left over as the front stalls over the region. if you want a nice forecast. i know you suffered through some really cold weather as of late, this looks nice, upper 50s to low 60s over the weekend and san francisco, that looks pretty ideal, doesn't it? >> i'll be there for pre-christmas celebration. >> are you? >> the 70s in the south -- >> should we do a meet and greet? >> yeah, come on out. come on out, we'll be there. we'll fly up bill cairns at the same time. let's talk entertainment. chanel has a new face for the 2014 campaign and it is kristin stewart best known for her somber expressions leading the country western themed prefall collection. a smart move some saying if they're looking for the young

"twilight" good-smelling vampire crowd, right? >> she disappeared off the radar for a minute. >> only for a minute. on the cusp of her las vegas residency the new album for britney spears debuted. brgs britney jean." it was the weakest opening of her premiere. her las vegas show. >> i didn't hear any buzz about this album at all. las vegas, planet hollywood. spotify has gotten the led out and added led zeppelin to their portfolio. lots of folks going to be listening to that on spodify. "12 years a slave" has the lead in the movie category. from the s.a.g. awards. "breaking bad" has the most nominations in the television category. why did oprah never have children? she says because, quote, my children would hate me. the tv mogul admitted she didn't

think she could balance having kids and hosting a tv show at the same time. and youtube's top trending video of 2013 was -- ♪ what does the fox say >> soent, bill cairns -- >> i was watching this video before we came object the set. >> i never watched the whole set. >> it is kooky. and that norwegian hit "what does the fox say" has over 278 million views and as we just showed you here, the list includes "the harlem shake" and the coffee shop surprise.

leading the news in the "new york times" fda restricts use of antibiotics for livestock. the new policy will phase out indiscriminate use of antibiotics in order to cush resistance to the drugs. >> a report call it is a misunderstanding. while google rented hangar space while purchasing subsidized jet fuel not offered to other businesses. that happens to us all the timing, doesn't it, bill cairns? every day. a 19-year-old college freshman is dead after suffering major brain trauma during a fraternity pledge haze ritual.

prosecutors say the college students was at a rented home and that pledges had to navigate a path while blind folded wearing weighted bags and repeatedly being knocked to the ground. roughly half of police officers do not wear seat belts, but 86% of americans do, according to a study on california's commission on traffic standards. are the leading cause of death among officers on duty. the national insurance crime bureau says the number one day for auto theft is new year's day. so experts recommend parking in well-lit areas, putting packages in the trunk and hiding valuables from sight or maybe just not driving. what do you think? you are having a hard time picking out a gift for the perfect feline fanatic in your life? you're in luck. youtube user flippy cat shows us the easiest way to prepare a cat for gifting. one cat, wrapping paper.

and a bow is all it takes. best of all, the gift will give your loved one a smile and provide a fuzzy kitty with a warm holiday home. cats are very chill. can't cats don't do that. >> no catnip needed. the cat looks good. >> the cat will be running around. you'll never find that gift again. a hearing on cell phones on planes today, the federal communications commission expected to revise rules of texting and calls. on flights above 10,000 feet. a late night supreme court ruling decided a presidential election. as reported by nbc's tim russert. >> going into tonight, bush had 246, gore had 267. the 25 in florida gives bush 271. gore's 267, you need 270 to be elected. >> that famous whiteboard. turning to birthdays. happy birthday to actor jennifer connelly. bob barker is 90. you have a great day, i'm

richard lui,

she wanted to scream but she was like frozen. >> frozen with fear as an armed gunman storms into a bingo night filled with families to support a south bay high school. witnesses tell us how it went down. plus -- >> sparks fly and tires screech as a chase comes to a dramatic end in the east bay. >> how the families of young men missing from san francisco will renew their fight for answers. >> step outside, looking around at the bay bridge looking fantastic and much warmer. i didn't say warm. warmer. it's thursday, december 12th, this is "today in the bay."