breaking news ahead on "early today," reports of gunfire and hostages taken in france as a massive manhunt closes in on the two brothers suspected of killing 12 people. the dangerous weather blanketing much of america continues its onslaught. is there relief ahead for the weekend? the president's plan for free college for all and a preview of sunday's golden globes right here on nbc. good morning, everyone. i'm dara brown. we begin with breaking news. 1500 officers have surrounded a french town. they have cornered the charlie hebdo murder suspects cherif and said kouachi and a hoss stage situation is under way. nbc's ron allen is there this morning. what are you hearing there?

>> reporter: good morning, dara. this is a situation unfolding for the past few hours. we believe that there is one hostage, perhaps an employee of a company that was in that industrial park being held by the kouachi brothers who have made contact with authorities apparently and have said they want to die as martyrs. unclear what else the substance or tenor of the negotiations has been and, again, it has been going on for a couple of hours now. a situation that is a standoff. in the surrounding community, there is a lockdown situation. one school very nearby has been evacuated. others kids told to stay away from windows and essentially shelter in place. the police have put a cordon around the area. all of this is happening an hour outside of paris, about ten miles or so from charles de gaulle international airport where there is some concern about disruptions to flights, two runways are closed altering flight patterns somewhat but not a significant problem and to be clear, this is not the police operation or the suspects are not thought to be a threat to

the international airport. also today, one other clarification, authorities here are now saying that the murder of a policewoman yesterday in the south of paris, that incident incident incident isn't connected to the magazine killings. perhaps part of the same organization same cell same community that is blamed for this attack obviously. but the bottom line here an intense hostage situation unfolding now in the northern suburbs of paris. dara back to you. >> ron allen, thank you very much for your report. we want to go to former fbi profiler clint van zandt. clint, good morning to you. we know you're a former chief hostage negotiator. as an nbc news contributor, what can you tell us about what is going on over there now? >> well what is probably happening right now is french

gign that's their military terrorist team probably the equivalent of delta, you know because the french have their own s.e.a.l. team maybe a little like the fbi's hostage rescue team this is a group that i worked with as an fbi agent. they have both tactical capability and negotiations capability so they would ultimately be in charge of the scene. and, you know if you call this a criminal scene, take the terrible terrorist aspect out of it it is not too difficult to deal with. they have got -- they have got them contained in this building they have one hostage that we know of and this is the time the philosophy comes in you do three things. you contain, you isolate, and you negotiate. by contain we keep the bad guys in one place, don't let them escape get into a car, get into a plane, move around. we isolate them from any contact

with the outside world, but the hostage negotiator and then of course we conduct the negotiations. and that's what's been going on for a couple of hours. >> clint, reports are saying that the brothers want to go out as martyrs. what are the chances of them actually taking the two brothers alive? >> well they had two days to do that. if they chose to do it. now, what may be going on right now is they're writing their own script as they move. this is their own screenplay. they have the first part written very well as far as who they were going to attack how they were going to do it. but the second part they're just kind of winging it. their escape has been terrible. stealing cars back and forth, stumbling into hostage situations. this is no planning whatsoever so it suggests maybe they plan on dying in the initial contact and didn't do it. but, again, they had almost two days now to die as martyrs.

as far as the police as far as the military concern who now surrounds them you have to consider the possibility of explosive vests, explosive devices. obviously we want to get the female hostage we're told they have with them we would like to get her out. we would like to get these two guys out. apparently they're part of the cell. as ron just reported they're linked to the individual who killed the female officer the same day. there are multiple individuals likely in this cell. we would like to find out more about that cell who else belongs, and how -- why >> we hear authorities are in contact with the hostage takers. how is time going to work with this effort? >> well there is an old axiom, and it is time decreases stress

and anxiety. now, you and i would say, wait a minute these guys have been on the run, they have been shooting they have been stealing cars and that's true. they have been doing that for almost two days now. you can't do that emotionally. physically without resting now, we know for example, some terrorist groups like in mumbai these guys were taking drugs to keep themselves high. with these two brothers if they are not taking some type of amphetamine, something like that one is probably sleeping one is probably on guard. it is not hard to guard one hostage in this situation. and, again, the authorities on the outside are going to have two plans. they're going to have a deliberate plan which means when we have the time and if we feel the need this is how we're going to get into the building and rescue the hostage and eliminate the hostage takers and then there is going to be an emergency plan that if we hear shots of something fired or have

to get in this second this is how we're going to do it. the negotiator is going to be working to help facilitate that. number one, to try to get everybody out alive in a very honest straightforward manner and number two, to support that tactical team if they have to go in to do a rescue mission. and realize that you know, i'm on the east coast, france is five hours ahead of us now, so as -- it starts to get night and starts to get dark, that's going to become a consideration, both for the hostage takers as well as the authority who is going to benefit the most and that may drive the authorities to do something. >> right, as you mentioned, it is about noon time there in france as we're -- as this is all breaking. clint van zandt, thank you for your insight. very much appreciated. >> thank you. it is a busy day for lawmake lawmakers in the house. the bill is expected to pass and

go on to the gop controlled senate. but it is facing a certain veto from president obama. nbc's tracie potts is live in washington this morning. tracie are the battle lines being drawn? >> reporter: they certainly seem to be. and let's talk about the timeline because it is not quite as quick as the new republican leadership would like. the house vote is today. that will likely pass because they have done it nine times before. senate debate starts next week and they'll vote later this month. they expect to have enough votes to get it on the president's desk but not to override what the white house promised would be a presidential veto. they're four votes short of that. the game plan for republicans is to open this up to as many amendments from democrat as possible, try to get more democrats on their side one so far, joe manchin of west virginia. if that doesn't work and the president vetoes it their plan is to try to attach it to another spending bill something that the president has to sign off. remember the department of homeland security still is not

funded. that's what is happening here on capitol hill. the president on the other hand is focusing on education and trying to get everyone who wants it a free community college education. no word yet on how that would be paid for. >> very interesting. tracie potts in washington, d.c. two things to keep our eyes on. thanks tracie. and the deep freeze continues throughout much of the country, creating some pretty remarkable images. check out this blizzard that slammed northern iowa. it led to dangerous driving conditions. many had to shelter at rest stops, posted warning drivers not to travel in these conditions. the department of transportation had to shut the highway down just before 8:00 p.m. more from nbc's dan sheneman. the winter of 2015 is one for the record books, an arctic blast, from blizzard conditions in north dakota to as far south as jacksonville florida, seeing a rare fleury of snow and ice.

bone chilling temperatures have 200 million people bundling up. >> a sweat coat heavy jacket. >> layers. layer up. >> reporter: pensacola, bottomed out at 19. charlotte, north carolina, degrees. west virginia negative 2. >> interstate bridges, underneath the bridges. >> reporter: in nashville, patrols search for anyone needing shelter from the cold. >> you know it will be the coldest night of the year. we'll get you into a shelter. >> i'm all right here. >> you know how to get a hold of fuss you need us. >> reporter: schools were closed in chicago and minnesota. another blast of winter and snow is making its way toward new england, parts of the great lakes could see up to two feet of more snow. a big chill bearing down for first full week of the new year. dan sheneman nbc news. nbc meteorologist bill karins is here with your weekend forecast. good morning to you, bill. >> what a week it has been with the cold blast, the bouts of snow. one batch of snow going through. going through where we are here

in new york city. that's times square. you can see it even accumulates there on the sidewalks, plenty cold enough throughout the northeast. the snow is everywhere even in the midst of the urban jungle. let's look at the radar. you can see the snow coating the region. shouldn't be too bad at the airport. should be in and out of here in a hurry. we'll watch heavy lake-effect snow after that off lake erie and ontario, two to three feet in a few spots . the windchill still a story. we get the clipper system that goes by. behind it a huge high pressure system and winds just come right down out of the great cold north and we're negative 25 to the dakotas, negative 28 in duluth. as far south as kansas city negative wind chills one of those weeks in the midwest where you wonder how long it will take to get to spring. still kind of chilly. cooler air pushed eded itself to eastern washington state and eastern portions of oregon. nevada pretty chilly too. salt lake city windchill of 36. vegas, windchill of 43 not exactly warm. showers yesterday down around

tucson. looks dry now. slight chance couple of radar echoes around los angeles. 20% chance of seeing a shower. that's about it. looks like a pretty decent day out there. partly cloudy 60s. that's your national weather. now here is a look at the forecast. so as i said we will be watching colder temperatures we could be seeing freezing fog in the valleys. i don't think it will be too widespread. temperatures around medford, 53 not aople. >> keep your snow boots out. thank you, bill. right now on msnbc, or nbcnews.com, the headline bill cosby jokes that women should be careful drinking. it happened at a show last night in canada. he jokingly made the comments to a woman going to get a beverage

in the lobby. you can read the whole story on nbcnews.com. we'll be back with the breaking details on the paris manhunt. could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. yeah, everybody knows that. well, did you know that playing cards with kenny rogers gets old pretty fast? ♪ you got to know when to hold'em. ♪ ♪ know when to fold 'em. ♪ ♪ know when to walk away. ♪ ♪ know when to run. ♪ ♪ you never count your money, ♪ ♪ when you're sitting at the ta...♪ what? you get it? i get the gist yeah. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent more on car insurance.

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governor gavin newsom and hedge fund billionaire tom steyer. check this out, it is a disintegrating meteor going through the sky. it was caught on several surveillance cameras. the passing of a gospel legend this morning. ♪ seven time grammy winning gospel performer, songwriter and choir director andre crouch died. he helped arrange songs for movies like the lion king and worked with madonna on her hit like a prayer and michael jackson's man in the mirror. he died of a heart attack at the age of 72. le ask me what i'm wearing, i tell them aveeno®. because beautiful skin goes with everything. [ female announcer ] aveeno® daily moisturizing lotion has active naturals® oat with five vital nutrients naturally found in healthy skin. where do i wear aveeno®? everywhere. aveeno®

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now to sports. knicks head coach derek fisher decided to give his players a pep talk during a time-out against the rockets last night. it might sound like one you'd hear at a youth league. >> just relax. it's basketball. all the rules of the game are the same. the basket's the same height. they put their shorts on the same way you put yours on. don't matter who it is over there. believe in who you are, all right? you can play the game. >> apparently they needed more of a boost. they lose 120-96 during their

14th straight loss. it got ugly during a pro basketball game in montenegro. a fan stormed the game and shoved a player. one of his teammates immediately responds. knocked him to the ground and a scuffle breaks out. the game was delayed for about 15 minutes. the fan was removed. the player who knocked him down was ejected. the u.s. olympic committee has selected boston to be in the running to host the 2024 summer olympic games. boston beat out washington, san francisco and l.a. it joins rome as the only other city that has officially decided to bid. the pro football hall of fame has announced its finalists for the 2015 class. first year candidates junior seau, kurt warner and orlando pace are among the 18 finalists. the new class will be announced on january 31st. >> announcer: "early today" is brought to you by just for men. just you and the look you want. well, still ahead, why women should avoid men who take selfies. plus, less laughs at the golden globes. what tina fey and amy poehler just admitted. you're watching "early today."

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we start with entertainment news. on what would have been his 80th birthday yesterday, elvis fans gathered to celebrate the king of rock 'n' roll. how about this for birthday presents? the first song he ever recorded "my happiness" sold at auction for $300,000.

that is a big one for them. in the latest installment of what do you think they talked about, angelina jolie and the pope met yesterday after a screening of jolie's movie "unbroken." odds are that tina fae and amy poehler are -- u.s. weekly reports the duo hasn't written any jokes or scripts yet for the show on sunday. listen to their strategy. >> it is going to be a best of. we'll take some of the show -- won't make a lot of sense. we'll talk about movies that came out two or three years ago. >> we'll show a 20 minute montage of the jokes that worked. >> any jokes that ever worked. >> i'm dara brown this is "early today." we hope it is your first stop of the day on nbc. ♪ [epic music] ♪ introducing aleve pm... the pm pain reliever.

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we're watching breaking news out of france. hundreds of officers have surrounded a french town where they have cornered the charlie hebdo murder suspects cherif and said kouachi. a hostage situation is under way. right now, i want to bring in nbc news analyst jim cavanaugh, a retired atf special agent and former hostage negotiator. thank you so much for being here. but let's start with the standoff. can you take us through what the police are doing? >> they set up a perimeter, they contain the suspects they have a command post on scene commander, the shot caller a tactical supervisor chief negotiator and made contact to try to save the lives of the five to seven people. >> we know all those things are in place. there is concern the two suspects want to go down as martyrs. how do authorities prevent that? >> you got to work with what

they want. they want to be seen to be known, want their message out. they want the theater of terrorism. that's what you have to work with. the people's lives are in there, they're hanging by the thread of a spider and you've got to work the negotiators have to work to strengthen that thread to make it stronger and stronger and stronger until you get them out. >> right now, we're hearing there is one confirmed hostage and how will that pan out? the longer time goes on is that benefiting the hostage or the hostage takers? >> well time is neutral. it is neutral for the commander. it swings back and forth. but at this point, if it is static and nobody is dying, depending how many hostages they have keep talking keep talking. if nobody is dying, the more time gets on your side drop the emotion, work toward getting relief of the hostages and try to get them out. you work the time, but it changes on you. changes on you fast. because if there is multiple hostages if they start killing the hostages then you might

have to act, you know within seconds. so time is not always your friend. it works for you. it works against you. the key is to read it. you got to read it and work t right now i think they're talking. that's smart. and they're squeezing, squeezing that perimeter down ever so slightly inside the building outside the building. they want them in the smallest possible space and they want to keep talking. >> we talk about time. these two have been on the run already for a while. now they're in this environment. how -- what is their mind set now. can you give us any insight into that? >> they want to sleep, they want to eat, they're tired, they're exhausted, probably take turns sleeping maybe eating. and trying to figure out their plan. they don't really have a plan. they're doing the plan as they go. >> yes. we'll stay on top of this as it unfolds. jim cavanaugh, thank you very much for your reporting and we appreciate your insight. keep it here now with nbc for the very latest on this breaking story. i'm dara brown. thanks for watching "early today." have a great friday.

good morning. it's 4:30. i'm sam brock. >> and i'm laura garcia-cannon. we begin with breaking news. the standoff is happening in the town of dammartin-en-goele. >> kris sanchez has the latest. >> there is a live picture from france in the area northeast of paris where this is all unfolding. it is a very ugly scene in a