best new thing today by far. ball is in your court norway. we'll see you tomorrow. temperatures improve today but another storm is right around the corner. >> justin surrenders, first egging and dui and now he turns himself into toronto police for an assault case. happy meal heroin? a drug dealer busted for putting heroin in happy meals at a mcdonald's drive-thru. >> plus scarlet johansson takes a stand and resigns from oxfam. hello everybody. thanks for joining us. i'm betty nguyen. parts of the south are reeling from a paralyzing winter storm.

the worst was in atlanta. highways transformed into parking lots. people were stranded for hours or forced to spend the night in their cars. some kids had to sleep in their schools because the roads were just too dangerous. now critics say the state just wasn't ready. nbc's dan shinneman has the latest. >> reporter: wednesday evening traffic on the highways in the atlanta area. 24 hours and a world of difference from the miles and miles of cars and trucks going nowhere stuck after snow and ice paralyzed the 9th largest metro area. >> when it's going to be wet and cold get the salt trucks on the road around the clock. it's not that hard. >> reporter: frustration mounted for many drivers as the city resident tried to dig out from the harsh winter storms. >> the eyes of the nation are on the state. so i'm not going to get into that blame game. >> what i was referring to was that the national weather service continually had their modeling showing that the city of atlanta would not be the

primary area where the storm would hit. >> reporter: thousands of school children were reunited with their parents after being forced to shelter in place overnight. >> it's tough but as long as the kids are safe i'm fine. >> reporter: the story was the same for many parts of the deep south. drivers from baton rouge to birmingham stuck for hours along ice covered roads. but for many the rare southern snowstorm wasn't all bad. for college students in north carolina, it was a break from the books. we want you to look at this dash cam video from texas. this pick up truck spun out of control and hit an embankment. no word on the driver's condition but it gives you an idea of how bad and icy the roads are. bill karins is here with the latest on this deep freeze causing all kind of problems. >> a lot of blame game, people saying the forecast was wrong,

nobody was prepared. why did so much human suffering concerned. in some areas it was because of the government response, and in some areas the forecast wasn't as good. birmingham wasn't prepared for it but in atlanta, the forecast was accurate, they didn't make the correct calls early enough to get people home before the snow started. this morning things have cleared out. we are fine. but still very cold. a lot of ice out there. a lot of the secondary roads have problems. some of the main roads have dried out. 9 in birmingham. 16 in atlanta. by the end of today, a lot of it will melt. we should be better off it should be the end of our troubles. 38 in atlanta today. as we go into friday, up to about 49. so things will increasingly get better through the weekend. we have a snowstorm for you in minneapolis today, but at least it's warm. it's not negative 30 windchills. we will get colder on friday. chicago also some snow for you

over the weekend. again, the big story is what happened in the deep south. for people in the north, it's hard to believe it's only one to two inches of snow. how does that happen? it's the timing and just not used to driving in it. >> thank you. well, the legal troubles are piling up for pop star justin bieber. his fate in the u.s. now in the hands of the white house. but first a new assault charge in toronto for the 19-year-old. bieber turned himself in to police yesterday amid an army of security, fans and reporters. he was released and is scheduled to appear in court march 10th. the charge is connected to an incident with a limo driver back in december. police say bieber was part of a group that the driver picked up outside a nightclub. they say a man struck that driver on the back of his head several times, but fled the scene before police arrived. bieber's lawyer say he is innocent. the singer meanwhile pleaded not guilty to other charges he's facing in miami. his lawyer filed the paperwork yesterday. he's accused of dui, resisting

arrest and driving with an expired license. new police reports reveal bieber's alcohol breath test was under the legal limb. then there's that petition urging the white house to deport the canadian pop star and revoke his green card. well, now the oval office must respond because more than 100,000 people signed it. in fact, it has almost 177,000 signatures. new overnight the state of missouri has executed a convicted murderer. 56-year-old herbert smalls was put to death by lethal injection before midnight. he was convicted in the 1991 killing of a local juror. last minute attempts to halt the execution failed. the supreme court stopped the proceedings tuesday night but later reversed its decision without explanation. it's the state's third execution in as many months. here's a story you might be talking about today. a mcdonald's worker in

pittsburgh is facing charges of selling heroin in happy meals at a drive-thru window. shantia dennis was arrested wednesday by undercover police. she sold the drug to customers who drove up using the code words i'd like to order a toy. it costs $82. two for the meal and 80 for the heroin. police found 10 bags of heroin in a happy meal box and recovered another 50 bags from the suspect. she denies the charges. now new details on what has become the most memorable part of the state of the union this right here. new york congressman michael grimm caught on camera physically threatening a reporter. he said he would throw him off the balcony and break him in half all because of a question about an ongoing federal investigation into grimm's finances. an initial late night statement shrugged off this outburst, but then the congressman called the reporter to apologize and even

meet him for lunch. and took a softer tone with kelly o'donnell. >> i'm a human being and sometimes your emotions get the better of you. the bottom line is it shouldn't happen. you shouldn't lose your cool. that's why i apologized. when you're wrong, you have to admit it and it shouldn't happen. >> the watchdog group citizens for responsibility and ethics is calling for a federal investigation into the incident. no word yet on that lunch date. we'll keep you posted. now the late northwest sports from richard lui. hey there. >> good thursday to you. the two best players in the nba facing off last night. what a game this was. lebron james two championship rings, durant with two straight 30 plus games. miami leading by five. durant gets two. in the third, the thunder take the lead. james, monster hustling. adding to his 34 points. the thunder get their 9th straight win, 112-95.

arizona needs no confidence, though. until maybe last night. stanford almost beating the number one team. 50 seconds left. game tied. arizona gets the three-point every for the lead. and later the win. 60-57. the super bowl countdown is on. three days to go. to super bowl boulevard in new york city i take you. the rockettes unveiled the roman numerals as the festivities began. so who had it worse in practice? the broncos, rumbling by the snow drifts, 9 degree windchill. the rubber face weather stuff, or seattle, indoor facility. yeah, you know they had the doors open, but a balmy 34 inside. >> still cold. >> windchill? >> no windchill. >> still not warm enough for marshon lynch. he didn't go to practice. he gets wednesdays off. he only spoke to reporters for seven minutes before getting up.

>> he doesn't like to speak to us. >> he doesn't. that's when teammate michael robinson became his spokesperson for a little bit. >> i'm going to slide up into this thing, right? to break the monotony. marshon not saying anything to you guys. you can direct your questions to me. check. >> how does marshon feel about skittles? >> he loves them before the game, boss. >> i wonder if marshon will pay him 10%. so the southeast snowstorm so bad it brought former atlanta braves chipper jones out of retirement. he's driving that atv. he got called by his friend, braves freddy freeman, who was stuck for hours. 11 hours later chipper and 24-year-old freeman, clutching on tight, got him home. >> this is lindsey vonn calling. >> oh, my gosh. really? >> yeah. how are you? >> while lindsey vonn is not competing in sochi, she still

took time out to call one of her biggest fans while visiting red bull headquarters. look at 11-year-old christina's surprise response all filmed by her parents. >> that's so classic. i love it. who is this? thank you. straight ahead, hillary hits a high note and toronto's mayor, rob ford, on the wrong side of the law again. and returning passengers on board that sick cruise ship describe their ordeal. >> it was violent for about 24 hours. the first 12, 14 hours of it was really bad. >> oh, some people were terrible. we really feared there would be some kind of activity. ♪

thoughtful combinations, artfully prepared. fancy feast elegant medleys. inspired dishes like primavera, florentine and tuscany. fancy feast. a medley of love, served daily. we've learned how to stretch our party budget. ♪ the only downer? my bargain brand towel made a mess of things. so goodbye so-called bargain brands, hello bounty basic. the affordably priced towel that's an actual bargain. watch how one select-a-size sheet of bounty basic is 50% stronger than a full sheet of the bargain brand. it takes a strong towel to stretch a budget. bounty basic. the strong but affordable picker upper. and try charmin basic. [ male announcer ] campbell's homestyle soup with farm grown veggies.

just like yours. huh. [ male announcer ] and roasted white meat chicken. just like yours. [ male announcer ] you'll think it's homemade. i love this show. [ male announcer ] try campbell's homestyle soup. ♪ ♪ [ female announcer ] with five perfectly sweetened whole grains... you can't help but see the good.

now for your first look at business, we turn to morgan. good morning. >> good morning. futures are higher following wednesday's selloff. disappointing earnings jitters, health over emerging markets and

more cuts to the fed's economic stimulus efforts adding to investors worries. the dow is at its lowest level since early november. google gets out of the business of making smartphones. it's selling it's motorola unit to lonovo. and you could face a higher heating bill. natural gas prices are at a four-year high now on worries about tight supplies due to the frigid weather. about half of u.s. households use natural gas as their primary heating fuel. back to you. some stories making news. scarlet johansson is stepping down as oxfam's global ambassador after signing on to work with soda stream international. the beverage company has come under fire for maintaining a factory in the west bank. the cruise ship that had more than 600 sick people on board returned to port in new jersey wednesday.

according to passengers, some people handled the situation better than others. >> some people were terrible. we feared there would be some kind of riotless activity, but the cruise line handled it so well. they sat down, they had sessions where they listened to peoples complaints. the captain listened to people threaten his life. he was so good about it. toronto's crack-smoking mayor, rob ford, is being sued for allegedly conspireing to have his sister's ex-boyfriend beaten up while in prison. the plaintiff says ford ordered a hit on him so he would keep quiet about the mayor's drug and alcohol abuse. and miley cyrus took to the stage wednesday night with an acoustic set for mtv's unplugged. the show's western vibe was driven home when cowboy miley was joined by cowboy madonna for the song we can't stop. unsurprisingly the two bump and

grinded their way through that song. donald said he would love to run for new york governor, under one condition. and that's heart healthy. ♪ [ dad ] jan?

time to stir the political pot with this morning's "first look" at scrambled politics. the numbers are in. and just over 33 million tuned in for tuesday's state of the union address. that is the smallest audience since president clinton's back in 2000. numbers for hillary clinton on the other hand are pretty

hot. the former secretary of state holds a wide lead over democrats heading into 2016. that's according to a new "washington post" abc news poll. a whopping 73% of voters say they would vote for her over vice president biden. but the republican race, that's still wide open. congressman paul reinholds only a slight lead over jeb bush and chris christie comes in third. someone else under scrutiny, white house press secretary jay carney. all because of that facial hair that stuck around after the holidays. white house communications director said even president obama had some not so nice things to say about it. good news, though, carney has shaved his beard at the advice of his mom. donald trump still mulling a run for new york governor, but he apparently wants it his way or no way. big surprise. the businessman tells an albany radio station he's ready, willing and able to wage a

campaign, but he doesn't want any other republican in the way. saying he wants a clear field to take on andrew cuomo. and super bowl fever is reaching new heights, literally. the colorado governor is renaming the state's highest mountain peaks after active members of the denver broncos. peyton manning gets the honor of having his name placed on the biggest mountain. and that is your morning dish of scrambled politics. always a favorite, bob franken joins me now for our "first look" at politics. good morning. >> good morning. when you were talking about colorado highs, i immediately thought you were going to be talking about the new marijuana laws. >> i knew you were going there. not this time. i want to talk about the democrats. it looks like they're being very strategic about midterms, concentrating on resources, really preserving the grip on the senate. could this be possibly admitting that the house just can't be won

and if that's the case s that a smart strategy? >> well, i think there is a general feeling that the house still just can't be won, particularly since most of the members are in safe districts. one of the strategies for the democrats now is to try to tie the senate candidates for the republican party to those in the house of representatives, where they're extremely unpopular around the nation. thinking that this larger venue that the senate runs in may be fertile ground for them to trash the republicans. the democrats are in a bit of danger of losing the senate. so about the best thing they can do is to run a negative campaign against the republicans. >> okay. you know, these new poll numbers show hillary clinton with a wide lead over democrats, should she run in 2016. are you surprised that 73% polled said they would vote for her over vice president biden? >> not particularly. i think that joe biden is

probably best known in the democratic party as plan "b." if she decides to run, and that's a real small "if" she would be the favorite. what's interesting is on the republican side. >> i wanted to get that it's even keel there. is it just because it's too early or is it just that no one is really standing out? >> well, nobody had been standing out until now. but i think there's going to be a new candidate, i think that he will shoot to the top. i'm talking, of course, about new york republican congressman michael grimm. for those who don't know, he's the one who threatened the reporter. i thought about what i would do if that happened to me, i think the answer is i would walk over to the balcony, stand defiantly and ask the question again. >> wow. you're coming hard. my goodness. >> the reason i say that he might be a republican favorite is that you know most of the

conservatives hate the media. i suspect there's probably a real wellspring of support for the suggestion that he made about how he would handle unfair questions or unfavorable questions. >> bob, how do you really feel? thank you very much. always fun talking to you. coming up, bill karins and richard lui will be here for "first buzz." we'll tell you how mother's day came early for one seahawks fan. and check out delta's totally new tubular safety video. natural gas? nuclear? or renewables like solar... and wind? let's find out. this is where america's electricity comes from. a diversity of energy sources helps ensure the electricity we need is reliable. take the energy quiz. energy lives here. take the energy quiz. my dad has aor afib.brillation, he has the most common kind... ...it's not caused by a heart valve problem.

dad, it says your afib puts you at 5 times greater risk of a stroke. that's why i take my warfarin every day. but it looks like maybe we should ask your doctor about pradaxa. in a clinical trial, pradaxa® (dabigatran etexilate mesylate)... ...was proven superior to warfarin at reducing the risk of stroke. and unlike warfarin, with no regular blood tests or dietary restrictions. hey thanks for calling my doctor. sure. pradaxa is not for people with artificial heart valves. don't stop taking pradaxa without talking to your doctor. stopping increases your risk of stroke. ask your doctor if you need to stop pradaxa before surgery or a medical or dental procedure. pradaxa can cause serious, sometimes fatal, bleeding. don't take pradaxa if you have abnormal bleeding or have had a heart valve replaced. seek immediate medical care for unexpected signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising. pradaxa may increase your bleeding risk if you're 75 or older, have a bleeding condition or stomach ulcer, take aspirin, nsaids, or blood thinners... ...or if you have kidney problems, especially if you take certain medicines. tell your doctors about all medicines you take. pradaxa side effects include indigestion,

stomach pain, upset, or burning. if you or someone you love has afib not caused by a heart valve problem... ...ask your doctor about reducing the risk of stroke with pradaxa. ♪ yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah! ♪ we are one, under the sun ♪ under the sun... [ female announcer ] fiber and protein. together as one. introducing new fiber one protein cereal.

you have to see this, the toronto zoo is showing off the newest edition to its polar bear family. this little guy was born on november 9th.

his mother -- >> looks like richard when he wakes up in the morning. cute, cuddly. >> his mother had trouble nursing him. don't know if richard's mother had those troubles. >> we don't need to get into those baby issues. >> now he has grown strong enough for a trip outside. >> never can go wrong pictures there. >> no. speaking of our first buzz, here is something you can never go wrongdoing, that's getting your mother tickets to the super bowl. >> we are? >> yes. >> no way! >> mm-hmm. >> we can't do this. >> we can. we fly out saturday. >> i love that reaction. the dog is like -- >> she started shaking. >> he gave it to his mom as a gift to make up for the fact that she missed the playoff game in 1984 with the seahawks, and she was giving birth to him. she was giving birth to him at the time. >> nice back story. >> make good on that.

so they're flying to the game on saturday. >> makes you maybe want to root for the seattle seahawks. >> you're still sore over that. >> maybe. >> you have one good looking mom to discuss today. >> christy brinkley. >> i'll be the judge. >> you just want to seat picture. >> i do. >> turning 60 february 2nd. look at this cover. >> three kids? she could have grand kids. >> the question was put out is 60 the new 30. >> apparently so. >> look how great she looks. >> if people didn't know who she was, people should guess, upper 30s? >> you look at that picture and say mom, this is how you're supposed to look. that's a high bar. >> that's a high bar for a 20-year-old. >> "sports illustrated" will do a special on nbc, 50 years of beautiful. even the -- one of the editors was saying her legs look like they're from a 30-year-old. >> incredible. >> we'll go back in time. >> i put this on my twitter

account. this is delta going back to the '80s for that in-flight safety video. if you're a fan of the 80s, there's a lot of '80s pop references in here. some of my favorites, they end it with kareim abdul-jabbar. all right. "way too early" starts now. it's a solid sheet of ice out here. driving is -- it's impossible. >> drivers found shelter taking cover overnight in the nearest grocery store. we're at home depot where exhausted travelers sought shelter in the aisles. >> we're seeing backups as long as a mile and a half, sometimes two. >> some people stuck in this traffic, 15, 16, 17 hours, they will give the d.o.t. a grade of "f" for their handling of this situation. >> she told me she walked at least five miles to get off the road. >> 90 students and some 20 staffers spent the night at e.

rivers elementary school. mark nelson walked six miles in the snow to be with his daughter. >> the atl blame game, big questions remain over why atlanta commuters turned into the walking frozen. how political leaders are responding to the heat. and president obama hits the campaign trail to sell his state of the union address to the people. should he have stayed in d.c. to make the case on the hill? and justin bieber and mayor rob ford can't seem to catch a break. which one is accused of organizing a prison beating? this is "way too early." good morning. i'm thomas roberts. welcome to "way too early." this is january 30th, a thursday. this is the show that is never too frozen to show you topless photos of justin bieber. if you play your cards right, maybe vladimir putin, too. yeah. yeah. vladimir putin. speaking of