good friday among, right now on "first look" parts of the midwest, northeast, still in the dark and cold. 1.3 million people face losing their emergency unemployment benefits. ice breaks race to antarctica after a distress call from a ship with 70 people on board. two massive highway pile yups in pennsylvania. and lucky travelers cash in on a web glitch. good morning, nice to see you. tens of thousands still in the dark and the cold and it could get worse. more snow is on the way, leading some this holiday season just

wanting heat and power. kevin tibls has more. >> reporter: across the midwest and northeast, crews are scrambling to restore power to those who lost it during last weekend's massive ice storm. >> going along. >> reporter: in lansing, michigan, the danzigers have been without power for five days and spent the last three nights in a hotel room. they spent christmas day shivering in coats at home opening presents. >> we were together. the other things don't mat person we still had a great christmas. >> reporter: in maine, 94-year-old grace has been in the dark since sunday. a friend came by with a generator and spend the nigtd. temperatures in her home dropped into the 40s. >> there you go, grace. >> reporte nothi >> nothing you can do.

keep a sense of humor. >> reporter: one of the biggest certains is carbon monoxide poisoning from poorly ventilated haerts. seven deaths and multiple people sickened by fumes in the u.s. and canada. >> we ask them to use it 15 feet away from doors and windows. not in an attached garage or basement. >> reporter: at least 100,000 people remain without power from toronto to the maritimes. electrical crews continue to work around the clock. in pennsylvania, those icy conditions are being blamed on several multivehicle pileups and crashes along the turnpike. >> it's winter. it's cold. we say lit get a warmup. we're talking just in the 30s. >> reporter: in spite of spending the holiday in the cold many are keeping their christmas spirits up. dozens of families spent the day

in this red cross shelter. >> it's a little frustrating. but it's definitely a lot better than being at home. >> nbc's kevin tibbles reporting there. 1.3 million people stand to lose their long-term enemployment benefits tomorrow. congress failed to extend the benefits as part of the fiscal frame work. democrats, aa few republicans, will push to reinstate them. but the outcome is not certain. danielle, a great human impact here. can it be resolved? >> hi, veronica. gnat's what everyone's going to be looking for early in the new year. on average, these benefits are about $30 to 0 a week for people not able to find work for more than six months. they rely on this for heat, food, other necessities. economists warn if these benefits end, it will not hurt the unemployed alone. it will likely impact the entire

economic recovery. some law mikers are hoping to push a bill through congress that would restore the benefits retro actively and restore the benefits for three months. many republicans say they're voting against it unless the spending is compensated by finding savings elsewhere. it's not looking good in terms of this bill right now. especially in you look at what happened with the budget debate throughout this year. the extension didn't make it into the budget compromise. it will be a tough road ahead. the president also yesterday signed the defense bill into law. that will crack down on sexual assaults in the military and make it easier to transfer people from guantanamo bay. u.p.s. and fedex are still scrambling to deliver late

christmas packages. companies blame poor weather and overcapacity. that left some customers without gifts. they pummeled the company on social media. one employ eye fired back on the today show facebook. i drive a u. puchlt s. truck and worked 10 to 14 hours a day. you people have no idea what happens inside that brown truck. the russian ship that has been stuck in antarctic ice since christmas eve will get help from a chinese ice breaker today. they have plenty of supplies. one of the passengers posted a picture of the snow dragon on the horizon. >> reporter: eastern antarctica, the coldest and windiest place on earth. an expedition cruise ship is

stuck in an ocean of ice. they radioed a distress signal on christmas morning. professor chris turney, 47 passengers and the crew of 20 are trapped. he reported on youtube. >> we were surrounded by sea ice. we can't get through. everybody is safe. the vessel is safe. we can't move guaforward. >> reporter: they set out from now zealand. they made their way to morrison's base. 100 years ago, the base camp was established that remains remarkably well preserved. on the way home, pack ice gripped them tight. ice fwergs size of ka need rals. penguins are stranded on the fast-moving pack ice. the iceberg has cut them off

from cape denison. passengers messaged family and friends that they had a wonderful christmas. the snow dragon, the chinese ice breaker, should arrive within 24 hours. major pileup about 50 miles west of philadelphia. 35 vehicles involved along interstate 78 causing a four-mile backup. officials say the crashes were likely due to a fast-moving band of snow coming through. here's dylan dreyer with a look at your forecast. >> not a lot of snow in that area. it came fast. just enough to make the roads very, very slippery in a short period of time. that snow is long gone. we're looking at lake-effect snow off lake ontario and steadier rain, heavier rain through southern texas. closer look at the snow,

cleveland through erie into buffalo. across the tug hill plat teau. that's where we'll see the heaviest snow. we have a lake-effect snow warning, 6 to 12 inches of snow possible on on the of the many inches and feet they have out there now. an area of low pressure producing heavy rain in southern texas. it will move east ward. the southeast will see heavy rain on saturday. it makes its way up here by sunday. it's inching closer and closer to houston. it will start to move east ward. we could see two to three inches through the southeast on saturday. heavy rain across the mid-atlantic. it will warm up. not a snowstorm. a rainstorm for the weekend the. >> the new year? >> it looks fairly quiet.

it's good for people traveling. not what you need is snow on the ground. now to sports. the green bay packers are prepping for sunday answer game with number 12. aaron rodgers and coach mccarthy announced that ronlers will be back for the final regular season game. this could be a big game for the packers leading to a playoff spot. >> we're in it. we have a chance against our rivals been what a better way than to go down there and get some redemption and host a home playoff game. michigan tate linebacker max bullough will not go to the rose bowl next week. t mark dantonio said max has been suspended for the game. male athlete of 2013 is lebron james. just the third nba player to receive the title since 1931,

the award's inception. joining larry bird and michael jordan. the pittsburgh panthers took a win in detroit with the help of freshman tailback james connor. the panthers won, 30-27, over the bowling green falcons. the houston chronicle reports that two members of the houston oilers 1993 team were homosexual. not widely known to the public, but the team knew and accepted them. bruno mars getting ready for the 2014 halftime show and the cold temperatures. he said recently in an interview, everyone is putting the fear of god in me like there is going to be a blizzard. i know it's going to be cold. hey, i gotta face it. business headlines ahead. plus, a swimmer's nightmare. carnivorous fish attack dozens

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good morning and welcome back. some stories making new this is morning now. we're covering breaking news overnight in lebanon. a car bomb exploded in the capital city of beirut, killing five people, including a former lebanese ambassador to the u.s. named mohammed chatta. the blast was heard across the city and sent thick black smoke billowing downtown. the u.s. has sent missiles to iraq's military to help. with use in the ongoing campaign against al qaeda forces. the missiles have proven successful and destroyed four militant camps. the man accused of the november 1st shootings inside the l.a.x. terminal entered a not guilty plea on thursday. 23-year-old paul ciancia is accused of killing a tsa agent and wounding three other people. more than 70 people were attacked by vicious biting fish in argentina on christmas day.

some swimmers suffered bites 3 1/2 inches deep. some children lost part or all of their fingers. the fish are believed to be a relative of the piranha. in one of the busiest travel week of the year, a man hopped a fence at the sky harbor airport. he caused a southwest jet to stop in its tracks. before running away from airport security. authorities say the man was most likely intoxicated and under the influence of drugs. and now for your first look at business, we go the hampton pearson. good morning. >> hey, veronica. we have futures higher after stocks hit record highs on thursday following reports showing a bigger than expected drop in the number of people filing for unemployment last week. the dow with the best six-day win streak since july of 2010. the head of the national retail federation tells cnbc he's confident that holiday sales will hit the group's target. of 3.9% despite challenges like bad weather and shipping problems.

mastercard advisers say stores used higher discounts to attract more customers and sales grow. delta says it will honor cheap fairs sold by mistake on thursday. among them a round trip flight for $25 that is normally more than $400. from cincinnati to minneapolis. veronica, back to you. >> i missed that one. all right. hampt hampton, thank you. now for your first look at this morning's dish of scrambled politics. neck and neck. hillary clinton and governor chris christie are dead locked in a potential matchup for 2016. a new cnn/orc poll shows christie leading 48 to 46. could anthony weiner be planning a comeback? the failed candidate posted a message on face book, quote -- i do want to take stock a bit of 2013. it certainly didn't go as i had hoped. i continue to be deeply sorry that my personal mistakes

undermined an amazing campaign. he said, what's next? i'll keep you posted on my plans but i hope we keep the band together. the denver post reporting that 2013 is a record year for gun background checks in colorado. all because of legislation that requires them for private firearm transfers. nearly 355,000 in the first part of the year. that's 19,000 more than last year. republican governor nikki haley says she must have been good because santa gave her a b beretta px 4 storm handgun. she believes focusing on mental health care, not gun control, would prevent violence. first lady michelle obama will ring in her 50th birthday next month. the white house is sending out save the dale e-mails for the january 18th gala. guests are being told the wear comfortable shoes and practice their dance movers. secretary of state john kerry and walker snoop dogg walk into a room. and what happens?

well, diplomacy, of course, and a casual fist bump. snoop tweeted boss life. me and john kerry at the white house. john kerry responding from the state department's twitter, quote, between us, we have sold 30 million. what, what? that's going to do it for your morning dish of scrambled politics. and joining me now for our first look at politics, as he does every friday, kevin cirilli. reporter from politico. good morning, kevin. happy friday. >> happy friday, good morning to you too. >> we all know the clock ticking for 1.3 million americans who will lose unemployment benefits tomorrow. this congress is already widely disliked by so many people. is there any chance that they might reach a compromise here. >> this is hope, actually, senators jack reed and dean heller, a democrat and

republican respectively, have put forth a plan to extend this program, which was a temporary program first proposed as a result of the recession. now some libertarians and republicans say they would like end to this program because they argue it's no longer needed. that being said, it's about a $300 check to americans who need it the most. >> right. i mean are there any other options for these people once they lose those benefits? >> you know, unemployment is still at 7%. house speaker boehner says he would be able to get on board to fund an extension of this $25 billion program if they were able to find another way to fund it. i think that we could see more hope. but 1.3 million people are affected, but an additional 1.9 million affected by mid 2014 at the state level as the time ticks down on these crucial

payments to americans that need it the most. >> and kevin, we were looking at map. tell us about the states that would be hardest hit and what it could eventually mean for the economy. >> you're looking at swing states. i think that is interesting as a political move. states like ohio, florida, you know, where a lot of these folks, you know, like i said, the economy, perhaps, hasn't recovered as much as it needs to. and then you have a city like detroit, which has just gone bankrupt. a lot of these places still haven't inched out of the recession. the economy is not where it would need to be. like i said, these are the people that need the payments the most. >> all right, let's go ahead and look at our list. nbc's first read released the list of top political stars to watch in 2014. quickly. >> anthony weiner is not on it. >> he's not on it. but if you could pick just one

person who would you say the one to watch in 2014? >> the one to watch? i would have to go with -- i'm going to say senator rand paul. i think he's continued to have an interesting climb. i think he's been threatening to file a lawsuit against the nsa, which could keep him in the political spotlight. clearly, he's a 2016 contender. i think he has a compelling story to tell and a base to rally. it will be interesting to see how he inherits his father's legacy. as he inches closer to 2016. >> great to see you. have a great weekend. >> you, too. up next, dylan dreyer with your weekend forecast. plus, we're going to tell you about the race to solve a mystery involving an american icon. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. [ male announcer ] if you can clear a crowd but not your nasal congestion,

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welcome back. a mysterious illness is killing one of our country's most treasured icons. the bald eagle. a team of researchers are looking into the cause of the deadly sickness hoping to find a cure before it spreds. >> reporter: what began as a hike through utah's rugged back country turned into a rescue. the bald eagle, one of our country's most majestic creatures, was spotted in trouble by taylor and his father-in-law, bob. >> within seconds, you could tell it was a bald eagle.

the white head, the big yellow beak. it was almost immediate. that's a bald eagle down. clearly, it couldn't fly. >> reporter: using his new gopro camera, he recorded the experience. >> i've never seen a bald eagle that close. >> reporter: they delicately wrapped the bird, with its six-foot wingspan and razor-sharp beak, driving him to safety. >> how is he doing? >> reporter: keeping the eagle calm, at home, until wild life experts arrived. >> then it became our friend. we took it home and watched football. >> it was awesome. >> reporter: the eagle was brought here to the wild life rehabilitation center where it joined three other sick bald eagles. >> we don't have all the pieces of the puzzle put together yet. this could be the end of it or the tip of the iceberg. >> reporter: so far this month, 16 bald eagles have died from the same illness. bloodwork from the infected birds discovered in this region

have all been sent to a lab for testing. those results could be back in days or weeks. and could be the first clue into solving this mystery. bald eagles are no longer endangered but are still federally protected. >> i mean, it's a symbol of our country, foop the bald eagle is just what america stands for. to see one hurt, injured, that's not what you want to see. >> reporter: tonight in utah, something is killing this majestic creature. now the race against time to save them. miguel almaguer, bountiful, utah. and now for another look at the weather, here's nbc meteorologist dylan dreyer. it looks quiet for most areas, as we get into this friday here. 32 in new york city right now. 32 in washington, d.c. also across the west coast, temperatures around freezing. where it's very foggy. we're starting with freezing fog out there. we have heavy rain down through southern texas and lake-effect snow near syracuse. off and on showers in the forecast today through florida. tomorrow, the rain moves into the southeast. we could end up with a couple of inches of rain in the southeast

through the day on saturday. that's going to be a rainstorm that makes it way into the northeast by sunday. 48 as we start off in new york city the 54 in washington, d.c. 45 in chicago. it's nice that we're starting to see a warmup. >> i'll take it. looks good. thanks, dylan. i'm veronica de la cruz. this is "first look" on msnbc. ♪

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♪ good morning everybody. it's friday, december 27th. i'm brian shactman in for joe. in mika's seat. you're in for joe. how many inches, how many pounds, how many years. >> a few less, a few less, many less. >> sam stein, of course and white house dpoereporter for "huffington post." lee gallagher.