good thursday morning. coming up on "early today" massive breach, the u.s. secret service investigates a credit and debt card theft dating back to black friday. we'll tell you about the hundreds of stores affected. one duck down. the pate tree yak gets yanked following anti-gay comments. stocks soar, what's behind new all-time highs for the major indices. and will dennis rodman ask kim jong-un about executing his uncle. the million dollar picasso for 140 bucks. penguins parading for the holidays. thursday december 19th. "early today" starts right now.

good morning. i'm richard lui. we begin with a black friday security breach at target during the height of holiday shopping. about 40 million credit and debt card accounts may have been impacted in this. the statement this morning, target saying, quote, we take this matter very seriously and are working with law enforcement to bring those responsible to justice. end quote. now the secret service has confirmed the agency is investigating. investigators believe the data was stolen through software on store machines used to swipe debit and credit cards as early as november 27th and recently as december 15th. american express says it put fraud controls in place. visa and mastercard have declined to comment. the star of "duck dynasty" is suspended indefinitely from his show. this after phil robertson made anti-gay remarks in jan's "gq" magazine. the 67-year-old reality star called homosexuality a sin and

compared it to bestiality and promise skewty. a&e suspended him wednesday saying in a statement, quote, we are extremely disappointed to have read phil's comments. his personal views in no way reflect those of a&e networks. "duck dynasty's" august premier was the top nonfiction series selly cast in cable history and also saying in "gq" we're bible thumb pers who ended up on television. your retirement plan and stock portfolio looked greener on wednesday. stocks soared. two major indices reached record territory. the dow climbing nearly 300 points. it's all thanks to federal reserve chairman ben bernanke and what he revealed about the economy. finance leaders say the economy is improving enough to take it off of the fed's trillion dollar life support program. starting january, the fed will roll back its support by about 12% from current levels.

now if you're looking to get a new home mortgage the next year could be key. though the fed will keep its rates low for now this moves signal higher mortgage rates in the future. a white house report calling for an overhaul on surveillance tactics but president obama is under no obligation to accept those recommendations. dama danielle lee joins us from washington wlp what do we expect the president to do? >> we do expect the president to implement some but not all. there are 46 in total and call for a scaling back of the government's ability to delve into people's lives both here in the u.s. and abroad. this report ordered after leaks by nsa contractor edward snowden calls for sweeping changes to the way the government ensures national security. the advisory package would end the nsa's ability to store massive telephone records or access without getting a court order. storage would be left up to the

phone companies themselves. the report also recommends allowing tech companies to reveal publicly what they've been forced to provide. senator patrick leahy says the report proves the nsa went too far. >> just because we can collect massive amounts of data doesn't mean we should do so. >> reporter: leahy proposed legislation to curb the agency's powers. security experts agree, certain checks and balances need to be restored. >> that is the deal we've struck here in the united states, that our intelligence communities have got to tell the congress what they're doing and the congress has got to provide a check. >> reporter: it's up to the president what recommendations to accept. >> even as we review our efforts and make some changes in how we do things, we will not harm our ability to face those threats. >> reporter: the white house says national security remains the top priority. the review also recommends curbing surveillance of foreign leaders. next month president obama is

expected to discuss publicly how he plans to move forward. live in washington, i'm danielle lee. richard, back to you. >> thank you so much. there's a resounding no to in-flight calls from two major airlines, delta and jetblue's announcement comes as the fcc reviews its long-time ban on in-flight phone calls. customers tell them in-flight calls would not enhance their experience but detract from it. southwest airlines signaled recently they're inclined to keep the ban even if restrictions are eased. it's ultimately up to the airlines to offer the service and make their own decision. it's been 20 years since the whack heard around the world. now the thug who orchestrated that attack on figure skater nancy kerrigan gives a rare interview. speaking with dead spin jeff ga lieuly claims tanya harding knew all about the attack on her rival nancy kerrigan. he said they decided to do something really stupid. any regrets here?

he says he only regrets ruining harding's promising career not kerrigan's. he did change his last name to stone after being released from prison. for a look at the weather, bill karins, that story keeps going on, some years. >> five olympics ago. >> yes. >> that's a long time. >> i think we were both like 5 years old. >> i was -- >> maybe. something like that. >> little older. >> 10. >> yeah. we have a storm going through the west this morning. if you're going to be traveling in areas of nevada and also if you're going through salt lake city today, good luck. we've had freezing rain changing over to snow. we expect you to get a couple inches out of this, enough you have to shovel and likely plowing. the storm system is going to kick through southern california today during the daylight hours and as that front goes through we may spark a few thunderstorms or two. cooler air rushing its way down from canada as i speak. temperatures have dropped significantly from earlier in the week. the radar is not overly impressive with the exception of northern utah where it's snowing hard there. the radar out of california doesn't look like a lot.

there's a few showers popping up. even san diego you will see some rainfall today. rainfall amounts will not be a lot. but at least it will be a start. palm springs, the possibility of up to half an inch. most locations between a tenth to maybe a third of an inch of rain including los angeles. again without a lot of rain lately the roads will probably be a little slick. as far as our forecast goes, again light chance we could see a thunderstorm or two, but mostly it will be periods of light rain. the northwest is dry and chilly and we're cooler and a little wet in the desert southwest 57. any wet weather is good wet weather. >> just the right amount for l.a. just a smidgen like you said and that continues throughout. >> the snowpack, they issued

some advisories yesterday warning about the water supply. >> snowpack good for a lot of reasons. the nation's most valuable college football program, do you think you know the top five? bill, don't say it. don't say it. plus the worm, we're talking about dennis rodman meeting with north korean leader jim jong-un again. will they talk about the execution of his uncle?

welcome back. the u.s. sent two detainees from the guantanamo bay detention facility back to their native sudan. there could be more. congress is close to an agreement to lift most restrictions on detainee tran f transftran transfers overseas. mega millions say the win he of half of the $636 million jackpot is ira, a woman from stone mountain, georgia. cheers to you, that's right. she'll take home over $120 million after taxes. the other winning ticket from

california has not come forward yet. hello? new guidelines from a medical expert panel say many older adults with high blood pressure could be treated less aggressively. for adults 60 and older they recommend a higher treatment threshold prescribing medicine only when blood pressure levels reach 150/09 or higher. orlando, the hero guide dog who saved his blind master, who fell on to subway tracks, can keep living with his owner. originally the owner couldn't afford to keep orlando after the dog was retired next year. well the more than $75,000 raised means he can keep orlando and also get a new guide dog. former nba star dennis rodman has arriveded in north korea. he's there this time around to help train the nation's basketball team. rodman says he does not plan to bring up the execution of kim jong-un's uncle or any politics.

>> i mean, whatever is done and whoever got anything on north korea, i mean i have no control over that. if it happens he wants to talk about it, great. if it doesn't happen, i just can't bring it up. i mean that's because i don't want him to think that i'm over here trying to, you know, be an ambassador and trying to use him as his friend. all of a sudden i start talking about politics. it's not going to be that way. and the raffle for man with opera hat was won by 25-year-old jeffrey ganano from pennsylvania. the painting is said to be worth about $1 million and he won it by buying a $140 raffle it ticket. good investment, my friend. for business and those record highs we've been talking about, to cnbc's see ma mody. >> stocks rallied on the fed's decision to cut back on its

economic stimulus program. the fed said the economy is improving well enough but could pump money back into the system if it stumbles. holiday deals are proved to be a blessing and a curse for retailers. analysts say sales are up 2% this season but discounts are up 13%, the most since 2008. stores may have to offer more to spur consumers to shop. lastly, honda tops insurance industry's annual list of the safesest new vehicles. automakers must meet tougher standards to win a top safety rating including systems to protect cars in a frontal crash. back to you. >> thank you. just ahead, all your sports highlights and low lights, including this college basketball coach's outburst and verbal thrashing of his team. you got to stick around for this. it is shocking and that is next.

scientists now say the universe may actually be a giant hologram and everything we see is just an illusion. finally some good news for dallas cowboy fans. it never happened. it never happened. >> it's been a tough season for our friends down there in dallas, talking about the highlights we've got for you in sports. a dramatic finish to talk about in the nba. lots of them. first the rivalry. indiana at miami.

pacers sitting pretty at the half up by 11 but not with lebron james here. so frustrated, gets up, nasty, screaming at mario chalmers. could have worked. miami outscored indiana by 14 in the second half. led by three-pointers from chris bosh and ray allen. indiana jokes, miami survives 97en had 94. knicks/bucks. goes for three, misses, bucks get the rebound sending it to double overtime. then in the final minute carmelo anthony earns his paycheck and nails a three pointer. more overtime to tell you about, charlotte at toronto. walker hits it in the final seconds. charlotte in the squeaker 104-102. it was the helmet and the jaw play heard around the league on sunday. the nfl fining pittsburgh's terrance garvin $2500 for that play you saw there, leading with his helmet when blocking kevin huber. huber's draw is broken,

vertebrae cracked and season done. garvin is expected to appeal the fine. his team turned over the ball 18 times, had a dismal 42% game shooting percent, and a losing 2-8 season record. what does southern illinois basketball coach barry hinston do? this. >> marcus was absolutely awful. that's about as pg rated as i can say it. he was awful. our guards were awful. our three starting guards had one assist and seven turnovers. they must think it's a tax credit. my wife, my wife can score more than two buckets on 11 shots because i know my wife will at least shot fake one time. to me when you have a young team, it's a lot like house training a puppy dog. you know what? when the dog does something wrong, bad dog. well, i'm not going to hit them. i'm not going to swat them. but bad dog. get on the treadmill.

>> wonder how his wife thought about those comments? >> good to be the king or pope in this case. argentine soccer club gave pope francis their championship trophy, a jersey and goalie glove used to block a shot in the final minute. according to "forbes" america's most valuable football team in 2013 is the texas long horns worth an estimated $139 million. the university of notre dame comes in second followed by alabama, lsu and michigan. and breaking up office monotony the red bull skate team turning a chicago high rise into a skate park, popping on rails, ramps and desks all in a day's hard work. just ahead, marvel, digging deep for their latest superhero. ant man. plus queen b continues making music millions and history in that order. details when "early today" returns.

welcome back. we're watching showers in areas that haven't seen a lot this year. not just this wet season, this year. you can see around san diego, dotting the landscape here, especially up in the mountains and there's a winter weather advisory because the cold air rushing in, the snow levels will be fairly low. not down in any of the cities, of course. as far as the forecast goes for the other areas, salt lake city, freezing rain, the snow probably the worst airport problems out there in the country today. okay in the northwest, we'll see

a return to maybe some winter type weather in the cascades too. not a big blockbuster storm. >> our salt lake friends, freezing, not fun stuff. >> no one likes to be caught in that, especially for a morning commute. >> you in the christmas mood yet? >> i'm getting there. >> look at this then. we got this photo. it may help you along to get in the christmas spirit. take a look at it. best buds ian and patrick paying a visit to santa on wednesday. >> they look happy. >> smiling ear to ear and yeah, they were giving him their witch list. >> planned their sweaters too. >> yeah. and the hats too. the "x factor"s lost its sixth judge in three seasons. simon cowell confirming demi lovato will not be returning next year. she will be on tour instead. hugh jackman looks to be trading the claws in for a sword in the upcoming peter pan film called "pan." he will star as the pirate black beard. >> not piecer. >> not peter. he would be an old peter. thanks to "less mis" he can grow

un. amazon releasing a most purchased list. adele the best selling artist of all time according to their list thanks to her album "21" and she's in retirement. paul rudd will be joining robert downey jr. and chris hemsworth, the film, let's just say that marvel is digging deep from its superhero roster. know what that is? >> i have no idea. bug man. >> ant man. i remember ant man. >> ant? >> yeah. >> beyonce has become the first woman to reach number one on the billboard charts with her first five studio albums entitled "beyonce" the newest album released without fanfare making her success all the more impressive there. this is "early today." we hope it's just your first stop here on nbc.

leading the news on flight.com this morning, virgin births are surprisingly common. one in 200 pregnant woman claim they didn't have sex and claim to be virgins. this information published by the british medical journal from a study of american women. in politico, epa's fake spy john biel gets prison. convincing even his wife he was working for the cia but he was skipping work and defrauding the government out of almost a million dollars. some stories we're keeping an eye on for you. the student at the harvard bomb hoax is released on bomb. eldo kim is accused of e-mailing bogus bomb threats to avoid a final exam. his attorney says his client was under a great deal of pressure. a federal judge banned him from stepping foot on the elite college campus.

kim faces up to five years in prison if convicted on that. new details on this weekend's spacewalks at the international space station. snorkel's homemade fashioned will be attached to the astronaut suits just in case they need emergency oxygen. ab sore want pads will be installed inside the suits to sop up excessive moisture in the event of a water leak. an astronaut almost drowned during the last spacewalk after water leaked into his helmet. they are to replace a faulty cooling pump. santa had snow aways on his sleigh this year, penguins and lots of them. waddling lieu a park today. kids are saying who's santa? little guy with little suits. kids in minnesota hospital are surprised when a doctor dressed up as a saint nick that stopped by there. florida drivers better watch out for the grinch. the dr. seuss character helping police stop speeders by handing out one or two things, a traffic

citation and you see there, an onion. >> an onion? >> yes, an onion. you have a joke about this? >> no. it's something about crying about -- it wouldn't be good. >> time for a look ahead and back. president obama is expected to sign the new budget bill. the senate passed the two-year bipartisan bill. last night by a final vote of 64-36. on this day in 1998 history was made in congress as reported by "nbc nightly news." >> on this vote, the yeas are 228 the neas are 226. article 1 adopted. >> bill clinton becomes the first elected president ever impea impeached. yes to two articles, no to two others, the case goes on to the senate. >> happy birthday jake gyllenhaal, 33, alyssa milano 41. cicely tyson. i'm richard lui along with bill

karins. thanks for watching. have

breaking news in oakland where a car slammed into a gas pump, sparking this fire. >> this is happening in the intersection of east 90th avenue. christie smith is live at the scene in oakland. crews say they have those flames contained now? >> reporter: yeah, that's what it looks like. when we first arrived, flames were pouring from the ground where this gas pump once stood. like a pilot like just shoot ou out. firefighters have sprayed what looked like flame retardant on it