/s they are prepared to shut down the government. over the issue of illegal immigration. >> the leader is looking to deflect blame, but it just won't work. >> democrats want to see a shutdown to get off this subject. >> hanging in the balance, 700,000 dreamers impacd by a daca decision and the government shutdown just hours away. >> chained, abused and allowed to shower only once a year. the 13 children held captive by their parents were fed just once a day. the parents appearing in court for the first time with new details emerging about journals kept by the kids. >> the flu emergency, 12 million americans may now have the flu. alarming headlines splashed across the news as new detection

and new vaccines may be on the way. >> dangerous dare, the so-called tide pod challenge, a trend among teens that has parents extremely worried. >> and a quick thinking shuttle driver narrowly avoids tragedy during a rock slide. "early today" starts right now. >> good morning. i'm phillip mena. >> i'm frances rivera. with less than 23 hours to go the government hertls toward a shut down. the president knows exactly who is to blame. >> i really believe the democrats want a shutdown to get off the subject of the tax cuts because they work so well. nobody thought, including the democrats, it would work this well. they've been so good that i think the democrats would like to see a shutdown in order to get off that subject. >> those remarks came as the president touched down in pittsburgh to tout recent economic gains and his tax plan just as the senate reached a major impasse that shows no signs of letting up. the central conflict, immigration. >> the reason we're here right now is our friends on the other

side say, solve this illegal immigration problem right now or we're going to shut the government down. >> we've simply ask the senate take up the measures we produced or produce a better one. and the leadser ship has refused. >> democrats don't want to shut down the government. republicans don't want to shut down the government. i believe that sincerely. the only person who has ever rooted for a shutdown, frankly, is our president, who said our country could use a good shutdown. >> that back and forth came after the house of representatives passed a short-term funding bill that would keep the government open at least a month while fuldly funding the children's health insurance program six months. an attempt to get democrats on board with their four-week budget bill. >> i think it is unconscionable the democrats would walk away from chip, from funding our military for something that is not a deadline. these states are running out of funding for chip and i can't

imagine why anyone would want to not do that. >> democrats are offering up a new ucnified opposition to the short term bill. at least four republicans now siding with the democrats against that short-term funding measure. the question is will this political game of chicken lead to the first government shutdown in over four years? for more on this let's go to nbc's tracie potts on capitol hill. tracie, good morning. >> reporter: philip, good morning. it's looking more possible by the hour. make no mistake. the key issue here is daca protection for those undocumented immigrants brought here as children. 800,000 of them, that republicans say they can wait to deal with that issue because the president doesn't want to wind down the program until march. but democrats and, as you noted, some republicans say it does need to be handled now. people like lindsey graham, who wants to see a compromise. >> to the white house, tell me what your plan is to end the

diversity lottery. i'm willing to end it. tell me how much money you want for border security and i'll tell you whether or not it's possible. the one thing i do know, we're not going to give 11 million people legal status and hope one day the democrats will work with us on the border, and they're not going to i have go us all we want on the border and one day hope we'll deal with the 11 million. >> so, where do we go from here? democrats say they've got the votes this morning to block the short-term measure that does not deal with the immigration issue at all. at least three, if not four republicans have indicated that they will also block that measure. so, it may go nowhere when those votes come up this morning. the other option is to perhaps extend the budget just a few days to try to get a compromise in place. so, where is president trump in all of this? literally headed out of town. tonight he goes to florida to his mar-a-lago estate for a massive gala celebrating his first year in office. phillip? >> no matter where he is, the

clock is still ticking. tracie, thank you. the flu outbreak continues its deadly grip on the nation with schools forced to close and some states to help stop the spread. up to 30% of students in one oklahoma district are out sick and that's prompted schools to close for the week. over the last month, schools have closed in texas, north carolina, idaho and others because of the outbreak. doctors say this season could last an additional 13 weeks with researchers desperately searching for a better vaccine as more lives are lost. nbc's kristen dahlgren has more. >> reporter: across the country -- >> the flu has claimed another life in massachusetts. >> it's getting even more deadly in california. >> reporter: the flu is hitting hard and fast. >> by tuesday morning he was gone. >> reporter: young and old, even previously healthy people, are dying. an aggressive strain circulating. a new thermometer that connects to a smartphone, the kinza records fevers and symptoms in real time. data showing more than 12 million people may now have the

flu. the most cases around st. louis. according to the cdc, 78% of samples tested this year have been the most aggressive of the four known flu strains. h-3-n-2. >> our vaccine is probably least effective against h 3 n 2. slightly less vaccine immunity and slightly more aggressiveness, it ends up being a bad year. >> these are flu viruss. >> reporter: new york's mt. sinai hospital is one of the places looking for a vaccine that covers all strains and mutations. why is it so hard to find a vaccine that works across the board? >> it's always changing, and we need about six months to make a vaccine. >> reporter: the national institutes of health has designated a so-called super vaccine, a top priority. one vaccine you wouldn't have to get every year. it's being tested, but could still be five to ten years away. so, for now the cdc is pushing the vaccine it does have. >> protect your family. everyone needs a flu vaccine. >> reporter: and a lot of hand

washing. with as much as three months of flu season still to go. kristen dahlgren, nbc news, new york. >> the parents of 13 captive siblings appeared in court for the first time facing felony accounts torture, abuse and false imprisonment charges. new details on the alleged conditions inside the home. one official called it a torture chamber. nbc national correspondent miguel almaguer has more, and a warning many of the details are disturbing. >> plain and simply enter pleas of not guilty. >> reporter: pleading not guilty in court. >> you understand that right? >> reporter: david and louise turpin facing multiple counts of torture and imprisonment. david turpin accused of committing a lewd act on a child. >> this is severe emotional, physical abuse. there is no way around that. these defendants are facing up to 94 years to life in prison. >> reporter: the district attorney says the 13 children

lived in a home described as a torture chamber. they were chained, abused, and allowed to shower only once a year. the law enforcement official tells nbc news the children were fed one rationed meal each day. >> they began to be tied up. first with ropes. one victim at one point was tied up and hog tied. >> reporter: the victims are so weak they are receiving antibiotics and nutrition through an iv. so malnourished they could still go into shock. the turpins' 29-year-old daughter weighs just 82 pounds. >> these defendants eventually began using chains and padlocks to chain up the victims to their beds. >> reporter: the alleged abuse got worse over time. there were beatings and strangulation. >> this were not allowed to have toys, although there were many toys found in the house that were in their original package and had never been opened. >> reporter: the rooms inside

this home were urine filled. the children were not unchained to use the bathroom. >> the parents would apparently buy food for themselves and not allow the children to eat it. >> reporter: david and louise turpin shackled and hauled back to jail. a confinement say investigators more humane than what they subjected their own children to. when investigators arrived here, they say a 22-year-old was chained to a bed. they say some of the children didn't even know what a police officer was. hundreds of journals were also recovered. they could contain powerful evidence and the district attorney says the suspects, the parents in this case, used to eat cake and pie in front of their starving children as they were forced to sit there and watch. frances? >> can't even imagine. miguel almaguer, thank you. >> the deep freeze paralyzing the south has now killed at least 13 people. among them an 8 month old in lou louisiana after this car lost control on an icy rote. snow and ice are still coating

roads triggering crashes from north carolina to georgia. black ice shut down highway lanes and caused a traffic back up there. and the treacherous roads forced this man in north carolina to walk 7 miles round trip to check in on his 90-year-old mother. yeah, officials are scrambling to break up parts of rivers still frozen solid and posing flood threats. many schools remained closed today as more bitter cold expect the. >> let's talk about more bitter cold expected in other parts. we are getting a thaw, warm up. >> a cold morning then warm it up. good morning, everyone. today is warmer already than yesterday, but still frigid. in portions of the panhandle in florida, in the upper 20s than we had yesterday. still freeze warnings in place. still cold through the mid-atlantic through the northeast but not horrible. this is typical this time of year with temperatures dropping into the 20s. look what happens today. 64 in tampa. that's more like it.

mid to upper 40s in d.c. and even new england goes above freezing today. icy dewalks, we cansi ds left will be long gone by the time we get to monday of next week. in the weekend forecast, features the big warm up also a big storm for the west for the rockies. details coming up. >> we'll hear from you a bit later. thank you, bill. tens of thousands are equity anded in washington for the 45th annual march for life. an antiabortion rally. and president trump plans to deliver a speech via satellite. this marks the first time a sitting president has ever spoken at that event. >> women's marches are planned in cities across the nation tomorrow. this year's theme is power to the polls launching a national voter registration initiative and supporting female candidates. >> this sunday the final four nfl teams battle it out to get to the super bowl.

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ask about enbrel. enbrel. fda approved for over 18 years. leading the news this morning, mcclatchy reports the fbi is looking into whether a russian banker with ties to the kremlin illegally funded money into the nra to help then candidate donald trump during the 2016 presidential election. mcclatchy did not report on how long the fbi may have been investigating that banker. alexander, the deputy governor of russia's central bank. the it comes on the heels of congressional testimony from glenn soimpson, the co-founder f gps the author of the dossier. it appears the russians, you know, infiltrated the nra the broadly speaking it appears the russian operation was dee signed to infiltrate conservative organizations. he added, targeted various organizations religious and otherwise and they seem to have

made a very concerted effort to get in with the nra. this could be one of the first reports we have that centers around money laundering during the 2016 election. >> it began with over 230 very hopeful cities now it's down to just 20. amazon released its new short list of contenders for its second headquarters. the 20 finalists are mostly in the east and the south, from big cities like boston, dallas and atlanta, to the midsize like columbus, raleigh, and nashville. toronto was the only finalist outside of the u.s.. and competition is expected to be fierce with bidders offering tax incentives and other perks. amazon says it will now examine each proposal more closely to determine feasibility. the decision is expected later this year. >> at least 15 people were injured including one child after a car drove into the crowded sea side board walk along copacabana beech in rio de janeiro brazil. the car lost control and mounted the pavement along the iconic beach. the car stopped in the sand after it apparently crossed the wide sidewalk that runs between

the beach and the busy road. officials claim the driver suffered an epileptic seizure. brazilian tv reports the driver has been taken into custody. >> vh 1 has revealed the guest judges for the third season of rue paul's drag race all stars. it's packed with names you might expect, but one you might not. house of representatives minority leader nancy pelosi confirmed her appearance on twitter saying, you better werk sharing had he had a fabulous time as a judge. the new season of the show appears on vh 1 thursday, january 25th at 8:00 p.m. with the season featuring a star studded group of guest judges including singer adam lambert, tight us burr jess, bee signer mark jacobs. >> and notice the spelling of werk from nancy pelosi, w-e-r-k. >> she's woke. >> still ahead, details behind this threatening narrow escape. .

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in michigan a terrifying close call was caught on a dash cav. it slams into a tow truck that went airborne. the tow truck driver barely escaped with his life. amazingly he was not injured. neither was anyone else. michigan state police released the video as a reminder to slow down in the snow and icy

conditions. >> he disappears. the truck driver. >> feels a little taller. >> didn't even nick him. chrissy tiegen was freaking out when she welcomed a guest at the live show. >> you guys, i'm freaking out. guess who came to support us at lip sync battle live? oh, my gosh. you guys, i'm freaking out. >> it's a robot with a supermodel. the meeting came weeks after the back and forth tweets between the two. even "early today" got involved tweeting our coverage about it. it was better to be friends, even prompting sophia, sophia the robot. the no word the pair made any future plans to hang out as you can see they're on the snap with their flower crowns. >> took me awhile to recognize it. that's right. speaking of social media, have you ever worried about how long ago someone saw a message that you sent to them? well, there is a new instagram feature that will help you do that.

a little number next to the last message sent in direct messages shows how long ago that person was last on the app. to be clear, all of your general followers won't be able to see when you were most recently on instagram. just people you have previously chatted with. so, if you're not a fan of letting people know this, this is a feature that can easily be turned off in the settings. but i don't know, mixed feelings about that. >> i turn mine off right away. if you're always on it will constant constantly show, two minutes ago, men a was on. >> never less than two minutes. >> still ahead, a royal make over as prince william embraces his baldness. you're watching "early today." ♪ so probably take it at night. and if you have any questions, the instructions are here in spanish as you requested. gracias. ♪ at walgreens, how we care will change over time, but why we care remains the same

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like wow, you're already asleep fast. when life keeps you up... zzzquil helps you fall asleep in as little as 20 minutes. welcome back. let's take you into your weekend forecast. we'll be watching a snowstorm developing throughout the inter mountain west. haven't seen a lot of snow in areas of colorado. welcome for the skiers. winter thaws on the east coast especially saturday afternoon. it will be gorgeous with sunshine. through colorado and nebraska it could be messy and snow pushing into areas of minnesota by the time we get into monday. that will be the story, the worst weather story of the middle to end of the weekend. >> all right, bill, thank you. still ahead, the dangerous craze sweeping social media that has parents baffled and teens really chrreally risking their lives doing this. whoops. sorry.

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in today's quick hits, a quick thinking shuttle driver in china narrowly avoided tragedy after saving his passengers from being crushed by falling boulders. the triefr first slowed down when he saw two small fallen stones then several larger boulders fell. >> school children adorably broke royal protocol while they lined up to hug duchess kate. prince william debuts a closer hair style. >> doink, it jumped out of the icy water onto the boat to see how the work was going. after a few seconds, all right, all good here? you all set? and then watch, he's like, i'm done. getting back in. >> yeah. he was on boat patrol hanging

out in his hood. he had to see what was what. he check it out all, make sure it's all good. >> now to a bizarre and dangerous trend that has parents and health authorities alarmed. teenagers daring one another to bite into those laundry detergent pods. >> in response youtube says it will take down videos that show kids doing that. we get more from nbc's blake mccoy. >> bite, bite. >> reporter: it is an the latest head scratching social media craze, and 16-year-old chris osagera has done it. >> i could taste the chemical. it is not a good thing to taste. >> reporter: teens intentionally ingesting highly toxic tide laundry pods, and posting the videos to youtube challenging others to do the same. now youtube says it will remove the videos because they encourage dangerous activities. >> no, no, no, no, no, no. >> reporter: it comes days after football star teamed up with tide urging kids to stop. >> what the heck is going on,

people? >> reporter: consumer groups are joining in. >> teenagers doing this need to understand this is reckless. this is a poisonous substance they're putting into their bodies. >> reporter: detergent pods already under fire for reismibling candy. last year poison control centers reported more than 10,000 kids under the age of 5 coming into contact with the pods. it's too early for numbers on older kids intentionally ingesting them. osegera's video has already been taken off youtube. >> why did you do this? what made you do this? >> it's just i really wanted the views. and i guess that i think i wanted to try it. >> reporter: he's now posted it to twitter. a quest for more clicks as social media cracks down on this dangerous new trend. blake mccoy, nbc news, chicago. >> stupidity in the youtube era. >> when you're a kid, what you do for the likes and all the followers, too. >> it's ridiculous. hopefully that ends soon.

thanks for joining us. i'm phillip mena. >> i'm frances rivera. more news ahead onad lib live p

francisco.. you may come upon someet we are looking out our window over san francisco this morning, you can see the clouds lingering in. you might come upon some wet roadways for your commute. we will show you the timing of some of the sprinkles that are sticking around. i'm kris sanchez in for laura garcia. >> and i am marcus washington. we have made it to the end of the workweek. >> friday. >> happy time. >> happy times. >> we still have a lot to do this morning. right now, vianey, a look at what's going on weatherwise. >> i'm sure you noticed or i don't know if you did anything yesterday, but it started raining into the evening hours, then we saw some rain move in overnight. here is the start of looking at the radar right there, you can see the majority of rain moving off to the east and behind it