coming up on "early today," the snow is piling up and frigid temperatures continue to spread as arctic air continues to push into the country. a city on edge. gun sales soar, businesses board up in anticipation of a major legal decision. and president obama strikes a huge deal for america with the president of china. it's wednesday, november 12th. "early today" starts right now. good morning. glad to be with you. i'm francis rivera. right now the country is coping with cold, dust and lava this morning. the central u.s. is bracing for the ice box. temperatures in the 20s and 30s.

by friday the east will be feeling it. >> i'm as prepared as i'll ever be. got the coat, got the gloves, got the scarves, the boots. >> in minnesota, the icy blast sent a semi skidding and sliding. reports of more than a thousand accidents since monday. four of them fatal. in colorado, an amazing picture. an arctic haboob. the winter dust cloud was picked up by high winds and a cold front pushing in from the north. on the ground, this tumbleweed, lots of them, 60 mile per hour winds causing them to pile up. in hawaii that red hot love va is on the move overnight, splitting into three breakouts. the next target, a home that is just 400 yards away. overnight, the biggest announcement yet from the apec summit. two countries that account for 1/3 of the greenhouse gases are taking drastic measures. the u.s. will slash the output by 26% by 2025.

china will increase its share of green energies. the combined efforts will result in $93 billion in net benefits. president obama spoke about the deal. >> as the world's two largest economies, energy consumers and emitters of greenhouse gases, we have a special responsibility to lead the global efforts against climate change. >> nbc white house correspondent kristen welker is in beijing. good morning kristen. what's the latest there? >> reporter: francis, good morning. in addition to the deal you just mentioned, president obama and president xi jinping of china also announced new agreements of trade and extending visas. a part of showcasing a stronger relationship between the united states and china. it comes as there are also reminders that these two world powers still do things very differently. one of those reminders occurred overnight at a news conference here. that's when a reporter with "the new york times" asked president

xi about the lack of media access here. president xi seemed to initially ignore the question, then only after answering the question from a chinese reporter did he circle back to the question from "the new york times" reporter and seem to blame the media for any lack of media access that exists. it's worth noting that it is very rare for president xi to participate in a news conference. he did it as a concession to the united states. this as the two nations work to find common ground on other issues like iran, syria, north korea. president obama also pressed president xi on human rights concerns. we expect him to do the same when he meets with leaders from myanmar, the country also known as burma, president obama on his way to that country where he'll spend two days. francis? >> kristen welker in beijing. ferguson, missouri, is once again a city on edge, bracing for a grand jury decision that

could come any day. there was a warning for anyone replicating what they saw after the michael brown shooting. >> exercising theirs first amendment rights, that ugliness was not representative of missouri and it cannot be repeated. >> this time local businesses aren't taking any chances. nbc's ron al eleven has the story. >> reporter: along ferguson's already battered main street, more businesses adding more protection worried about what will happen when prosecutors announce whether officer darren wilson will face charges for killing unarmed teenager michael brown in august. >> you really think there's going to be a need for this? >> we're preparing for the worst and hoping for the best. >> reporter: they're worried about a repeat of last summer's violent protests in the wake of the brown killing, heavily

armored police, random shootings, a terrifying time. at this gunshot and practice range, sales are three times higher than usual they say with many first-time buyers like marla orr. >> .9 millimeter shot. 17 shots. >> you'll use it. >> yes, without hesitation. >> reporter: missouri's governor tried to reassure a nervous public. >> this is america. people have a right to express their views and grievances, but they do not have the right to put their fellow citizens or their property at risk. >> reporter: he said 1,000 officers have been trained to deal with any disturbances. the national guard will be on standby and officers around the state will be on stand by. they've spend $170,000 on fresh supplies of riot gear, tear gas grenades, helmets, shields, handcuffs. organizers who blame the police

want 48 hours warning before the announcement and safe zones and moms like michelle perkins worry about keeping their kids safe when the news comes. >> if history is any indication of what's going to happen when this verdict or this announcement comes down, it's going to be pandemonium. >> that was nbc's ron allen. in about an hour from now michael brown's parents will hold a press conference at that time united nations human rights conference in geneva. yesterday they addressed a u.n. private session. a bizarre move by the democratic-led senate. it looks like they're too busy to approve the nomination for attorney general. if the democrats insisted on putting her up, she would be confirmed in all likelihood as attorney general. apparently they're not going to do it. instead they'll entrust mitch mcconnell with the approval progress. harry reid is pushing forth lake duck legislation.

a positive note on the xl pipeline is thought to improve democrats chances. mary landrieu has urged the administration to approve the pipeline. a florida sinkhole that has already swallowed an entire car could be much worse than first thought. it's on the right of the screen here. right in someone's driveway, six families had to evacuate because of it. now a second hole, this one in the street 25 feet away. geologists say both are connected. a third could soon appear as well. no injuries right now, but experts are watching it very closely. a thief at a chinese bank steals some cash but it doesn't mack it out the front door. the man swiped money from a woman about to make a deposit and runs for the door.

a crowd stops him. included in that group, two armed police officers who just happened to be there. the 27-year-old got out of prison last year for, you guessed it, burglary. well, former president bill clinton was on the ellen degeneres show on tuesday. the talk show host tried to use the new status as grandpa to find out the plan for 2016. >> i'm just saying if you only had one, if you could only -- i'm just -- if you can only pick one because like i can't afford to give you both. >> well, if i pick that one it would be best for the country. if i pick -- however, if i did that, then hillary would start taking me up to total strangers and saying, have you met my first husband. >> well played on both parts. nbc's bill karins is here with a

look at the forecast. >> he probably had no idea that was coming. >> that comedic timing on both their parts that nailed it. >> it was done well. pacific northwest very interesting forecast. of course, the rockies have the peak cold of the winter, maybe one of the coldest air masses of the winter. right now we're at minus 19 air temperature in casper. the windchill makes it feel much worse than that, at negative 29. at one point negative 39 last night. that's a little better. ten different states have negative windchills. we're down to one in spokane as cold air seeps into areas of oregon and washington state. this is setting the stage for an interesting event that will occur about this time tomorrow. then it will be sometime around thursday afternoon it will change over to rain. the cold air is moving in. now we have the storm that's off the coast. we've got the cold air in place. then we've got warm air that's going to overrun it. we already have winter storm warnings in effect for a good chunk of the southern third and southern two-thirds, i should say, of oregon. much snow are we expecting?

mostly from portland eastward. pendleton could get nailed by this. we or also watching, even in portland, snow and ice mix changing over to rain during the day tomorrow. keep that in mind. no problems today. but late tonight and tomorrow, it may be a very made it to you. not as bad as your friends in wyoming. you should stay in the 30s. nothing like the second week in november looking like the peak of winter. it looks like february out there. >> man, i hope now we get it heavy the first part of the season and maybe it will ease up. >> and warm all winter. >> wishful thinking, right. google is taking on apple's itunes and the car dashians may a major faux pas. first, last night's biggest stars honored the nation's

bravest with a free veterans day concert on the national mall. take a listen. ♪ ♪ ♪

stories making news this morning. more than a week after election day we finally know the results of the alaska senate race. republican dan sullivan beat out mark begich on election night. >> amid tension in the middle east, israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu says he will use a, quote, heavy hand to stop the violence. mahmoud abbas blamed the region on leading them towards a religious war. old navy is caught up in a price gouging of sorts.

take a look at this, side by side, women are paying $5.50 more than men are for larger sizes. 20,000 people have signed a change.org petition to get old navy to stop charging women more. a spokesperson for gap which owns old navy says, quote, women's plus-sized clothing costs more because it has special features that men's apparel do not. it is the latest kardashian attention-seeking stunt but it was quickly taken off of instagram and rightfully so. khloe kardashian posted this picture of her and her sisters with -- read the text right here, quote, the only kkk to ever let black men in. well, one twitter user tweeted khloe's brother-in-law is black, her ex-is black, her niece is partially black and her current bf is black and she jokes about the kkk. stocks hit another all-time high. the low gas prices could give shoppers an extra $100 for average for holiday shopping. when added up that boost could

give retailers an extra $40 billion. youtube has struck a deal to license music from thousands of independent record labels. this paves the way for the google-owned company to launch a subscription music service. marilyn monroe's lost love letters are headed to auction. there are intimate messages between monroe and joe dimaggio and arthur miller. it's expected to raise more than $1 million. the nba gets into the ugly sweater game. have you ever wanted to ride your bicycle that fast? faster than a ferrari, too. we'll bring it to you.

this morning on "today," jon stewart takes on a new role. serious film director. the daily show host opens up about his new film "rose water" and that's later on today. time for sports this morning. a 27-year-old swede is $10 million richer who won the texas hold 'em. in the end jacobson emerged victorious with three 10s beating a pair of 9s. along with the $10 million the winner also gets a coveted gold bracelet. to the hard court we go now, kobi bryant is the all-time

leader in missed field goal shots missing the night with 13,420 misses. >> yikes. >> yikes is right. he still led the lakers with scoring with 28 points in their 107-102 loss to the grizzlies. dirk nowitzki became the highest scorer borne out of the united states. he's in ninth place passing hakim olajuwon. a holiday classic out there, a movement, in fact, all about the ugly sweaters. clark toys are offering ten different player selections. the cost 65 bucks a sweater, but the photo is probably priceless. i can see those catching on and being a thing. on the ice, the rangers and the penguins seven-game win streak. rick nash had a goal and two assists in the rangers 5-0 victory. major league baseball's managers of the year includes buck showalter and matt williams who gets his first. check this out.

look at that speed that. is a rocket-propelled bicycle that set a new world record by going 207 miles per hour. beating a ferrari in nothing flat. very cool. >> definitely a bike you need a helmet with. ahead, holidays strict friend the calendar. one of the most vocal calories from the big bang theory has died. details next.

all right. so after taylor swift pulled her music off spotify, the streaming site is manging changing. the ceo says it's paid more than $2 million in royalties. he says the problem is the greedy record companies. "hocus pocus 2," sarah jessica parker and bette midler and kathy nah jimmy may be in for a see call. the crystal ball is not clear on this one yet. >> howard, the phone is ringing! >> howard's mom on "the big bang theory" has sadly been silenced. actress carol ann susi died on tuesday after a battle with cancer. the veteran actress was praised by the show's executive producers for her immense talent

and comedic timing. rock star bret michaels had to have surgery this week. the lead singer of poison was hospitalized for kidney-related issues. he ultimately went in for surgery to resolve the issue. sharon osbourne announced the series "the osbournes" is making a comeback. ozzy wants people to see him clean and sober. ozzie being ozzie, clean and sober, crazy fun. >> you think entertaining enough? >> i think so. the family is so endearingly whacked. >> half of the fun of watching the first show was trying to figure out what he was saying. >> it will make it funny either way. i'm francis rivera. this is "early today." we hope this is just your first stop of the day here on nbc.

leading the news in "the washington post" holidays' names stricken from next year's montgomery school calendar. the maryland county board of education voted to eliminate references to all religious holidays on its calendar. it's in response to a request for muslim community leaders. students will get the same holidays off, they won't be mentioned by name. and in "the boston globe" methuen school holds demonstration for active shooter system. sensors alert police and school officials within seconds of shots being fired. the system would then track the gunman. some other stories we're following, police are investigating a jewelry heist that took place in the diamond district on tuesday. a man posing as a delivery worker entered the jewelry store, he pistol whipped an

employee and forced him to empty a safe. no word how much he and an accomplice got away with. it all happened as a veterans day parade took place blocks away. a colorado man had to be rescued after getting trapped in the wall of a marshals store. employees told police they heard yelling for several days but they didn't know where it was coming from. officials say he was on the roof when he fell into a vent and became trapped. he could be charged with trespassing. and a glass walkway has been unveiled at london's famous power bridge. tourists can test their fear of heights by standing on the bridge which hovers 138 feet above the thames river. >> a lester holt of cars and bikes and people. >> it will give you the queasies by looking over there. to brazil, a king of all sandcastles. a team of artists created the largest sand castle. look at that. it's estimated to be more than 39 feet tall. made up of 20 truckloads of

sand. the team from the guinness book of world records will measure it. then it will face the same fate as other sandcastles. it will be destroyed. >> your kids all by themselves in that sandcastle, will they appreciate it? >> my daughter will love it and put a princess tower on top and my son will ransack and destroy it. isn't that the case with yours? >> actually, no. i think my daughter would go head first. >> you like to save it for the next family. now a look ahead. the european space agency will attempt the first ever soft landing of a robotic probe on a comet. it will take around seven hours to complete. touchdown is scheduled for 8:00 a.m. pacific time. scientists hope to stream images from the comet within hours of the landing. happy birthday today to oscar win nr anne hathaway, she's 32. actor ryan gosling is 34. i'm francis rivera.

thanks f

>> announcer: from nbc bay area, this is "today in the bay." >> good wednesday morning. 4:30, i'm sam brock. >> i'm laura garcia-cannon. first, check the forecast with meteorologist christina loren. a good wednesday morning to you. >> good wednesday morning to you. temperatures are little on the chilly side this morning but the big weather story of the day is the fact that we've got rain on the way. we're starting up kind of a rainy pattern that will extend well into your weekend and next week. this morning, though, pull out that coat. you won't be needing the umbrella yet. tonight, you'll be pulling it out in the north bay. we're all going to need it tomorrow mo