♪ this morning on "early today," crew catastrophe. the death toll rises in last week's cruise ship wreck and the captain who abandoned ship. pacific northwest braces for what could be a wicked winter storm. and mighty mineral. feast your eyes on the world's largest emerald soon to be up for grabs. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello. good morning. i'm lynn berry. today, we begin with cruise casualties. the death toll is now 11 from

that grounded luxury liner off the coast of italy and it could go higher. in a dramatic raued yo tape, the captain who is facing criminal charges was ordered to go back to the ship he abandoned friday night. two dozen people are still missing. nbc's michelle kosinski has the latest. >> reporter: a loud blast mid-day was not an accident. but the fastest way inside the concordia's hull. this video was shot by divers urgently making their way. a hole, they punched. then deep inside the murky silence that friday night was the start of a vacation. they hammer their way through the dim maze of ruins under 30 feet of water at times, searching for victims. as the search continued, the ship's captain was in court charged with manslaughter, causing the wreck abandoning ship, which an audio recording

now reveals. in a heated phone conversation from off the ship friday night, a few hours after the accident, with furious port authority captain defalko. after days in jail, the captain was released and place under house arrest. his attorney claims he may have saved many lives by acting quickly to beach the ship. otherwise it may have sunk completely in deeper water. back to you. >> that was nbc's michelle kosinski reporting from italy. in the pacific northwest, folks are bracing for a winter storm. travel is already been snarled in cities like portland and seattle where the average annual snowfall is barely 6 inches. nbc's kirk gregory reports. >> reporter: old man winter is slamming into the pacific northwest. snow has been falling steadily

in parts of oregon and washington making road conditions hazardous. with the worst expected later today. seattle, more used to rain than snow, is preparing for a major winter wallop. the national weather service has issued a winter storm warning for much of the region, where up to two feet of snow is forecast in the cascade mountains. >> off on 34 and turn around. closed until tomorrow. >> really? >> yeah. >> reporter: interstate 90 was closed tuesday because of avalanche danger. >> the weather does what it wants to do so it's hard to predict. >> reporter: this is the scene about an hour outside of portland. major highways are slick and treacherous as snow plows work to keep up. >> we are expecting more snow so our crews are working 12-hour shifts, 24 hours a day jo around the clock work for a winter storm showing no signs of letting up. kirk gregory, nbc news.

elsewhere there was a security scare last night at the white house. the secret service locked down the building after someone apparently tossed a smoke bomb over the fence on the north side during a protest by members of the occupy movement. president obama was not there at the time. about a thousand demonstrators had marched to the white house at the end of a rally that started on capitol hill. earlier in the day, four people were arrested after skirmishes with police. here is a look at the stories making news early today in america. a shoplifting duo get-away attempt led to an all-out brawl in a new jersey store. the scuffle began when a male suspect attacked an employee who confronted him. the couple escaped with over $1,400 worth of baby formula. no arrests have been made. tennessee authorities rescued over 100 dogs just crammed into a truck and minivan for a cross -country trip.

police made the discovery after 25 dogs were spotted inside the minivan without any food and water. further inspection revealed other animals locked inside the cargo area of the truck. the owners were arrested for aggravated animal cruelty. finally, the pet of one louisiana artist may have a little picasso in her. look at that. video of the squirrel painting abstract art has gone viral when the animal's work is starting to get some attention. one piece has sold for 40 bucks which is being donated to a local animal shelter. it is kind of nice. probably better than what i could do. now for a look at your national and region weather, here is meteorologist bill karins who i'm sure has somethinto say with that that is filled with sarcasm. >> i'm sure you are very talented. >> oh, wow. mild this morning. it's wednesday, right? >> i feel a little gentle with you. >> take your time. good morning, everyone. seattle, of course, a lot of

attention on that location with the snow as we go through the morning. not just there though. . we are seeing sno in portland and sleet to the south and one of the first major storms in the northwest. one thing has changed a lot of heavy snow south of seattle and not get their epic winter storm that was maybe forecasted the day before. probably pick up somewhere 3, 4, or 5 inches. by that standards, still significant but not epic. the mountains are who will get nailed up to a foot of snow and maybe 2 to 3 feet by the ski aerns and eventually push through idaho and montana. yesterday, crazy day in the east. we had six tornadoes reported. numerous wind damage in the morning in kentucky. yesterday afternoon wind damage from erie and cleveland and rochester. thankful the storm system is about over with. thunderstorms in north florida. everyone else will be dry and

breezy in the northeast today as cooler air moves that's a look at the national forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. chance of lake effect snow showers during the day today as that cold air moves in and it will be cold, especially from chicago northward up to minneapolis, wisconsin, northern michigan. a very cold arctic air mass is settling in. some updates on expected snow eventually as the storm in the west will head to the east. >> all right. bill, thanks so much. also coming up, rocky times for cruise lines. yahoo! owner walks away. and burning trash, literally? six months before opening night of the next "batman" film and they are already selling tickets. coming up, the colts make a move. miami churns up the heat with a big third quarter and look out, mr. president, the first lady has a bat! you're watching "early today."

good morning. welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are your top headlines this morning. online protest is under way right now as many as 10,000 web sites are either blocking access or protesting in some manner trying to stop congress from passing online piracy legislation. one congressman who supports the act argues demonstrators are spreading misinformation about the legislation. new violence in syria has reportedly claimed 34 more lives. the government says it absolutely rejects any talk of allowing outside troops into the country. and in wisconsin, those behind an effort to recall governor scott walker were required to collect more than 500,000 signature to get it on the ballot. yesterday, they showed up with nearly twice that number. walker has been under fire for effectively ending collective bargaining for most state workers. cameras caught the president

and first lady heading into a washington restaurant last night to separate her 48th birthday. the couple were joined by friends at a d.c. steak house. in canada, check it out. that is the world's largest cut emera emerald. it weighs over 25 pounds and valued at $1.15 million. it could be yours! the emerald goes up for auction next week. you could use it as an ottoman or something. now here is another look at one of your top health headlines on msnbc.com. in velg to al roker paula deen doesn't plan a big change in her recipes which features lots of butter and fried food but she has endorsed a diabetes drug company and developed diabetes conscious recipes. for more information on this, check out the health page at

msnbc.com. now here is an early look at how wall street kicked off the day. dow open at 12,481. the s&p added four points and the nasdaq rose 17. overseas trading in tokyo, the nikkei climbed 84 points, while in hong kong, the hang seng nudged up 59. investors return to work on tuesday with slight but significant improvement signs overseas. stocks got a boost while surprisingly solid interest in debt auctions in spain, greece, and europe's bailout fund eased fears about recent credit downgrades but early gains were paired by a steep drop in citigroup's profits that sent its shares tumbling 8%. in the meantime, wells fargo rose after reporting a 20% in profits.

carnival cruise lines plunged in the wake of the deadly cruise ship disasters involving one of its italian lines. analysts worry about a possible ripple effect on the industry. kraft is cutting 1,600 jobs in north america this year as part of its restructuring plans. on the upside, sears stock shot up on learning its profits may go private. a late day warning from the worl world bank could -- profits today. after the bell, shares of yahoo! inched higher after their cofounder announced his depart tour. ar fi

finally, a hiker snapped two freezing nights said he stayed warm by burning his socks and 1 and 5 dollar bills. the big shake-up starts in indianapolis. arch rival square off in college hoops, and baseball's world champs stir up trouble at the white house. plus, the heat pound on san antonio to get back on the winning track. your "early morning" sports headlines are straight ahead. major snowstorm is moving on shore in the northwest. where is it heading next? your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports what many expect to be a total overhaul of an nfl franchise, it took place yesterday. here is fred roggin with a look at your sports headlines. good morning. indianapolis colts continued to clean house yesterday and fired head coach jim caldwell. latest in a handful of moves made by the team in the last two weeks. caldwell led indianapolis to the super bowl in 2009 but without injure the peyton manning the colts were 2-14 last season. indy the first pick in the draft and likely pick andrew luck and the next question is peyton

manning the next one forced out of indy? nba. heat back on track against the spurs. game wide open in the spurs outscored san antonio by 27 in the quart. lebron james stop and popped and spin and duck by chris bosh. the heat cruise without dwyane wade. derrick rose missed another game. the bulls had no problem getting a win like the heat. boozer had 31 points. college hoops. the big ten maybe competitive conference in the country. like every game goes down to the wire. case in point. final minute. stu douglas gave the wolverines the lead with a layup. green with the runner but couldn't get it to fall. michigan held on to win it 60-59. world series champion st. louis cardinals visited the white house yesterday. team owner bill dewitt prompted

the president to say this. >> i thought about getting my wife a bat, if i mess up. >> i'll take the bat. >> just goes to show you, doesn't matter if your house or the white house, the woman rules the roost and i hear she has pretty good power to the left as well. >> that is your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. always a good lesson, guys. coming up, ricky says no more. plus, good news and bad news for lindsay lohan. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, he may be young but he is no different than any other election winner. now it's time to deliver. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. the big weather story is a big major snowstorm heading into the northwest. cold arctic air plunging down over the northern plains and compared to yesterday with the severe weather and wind, things kr calmed down over the great lakes and new. a dry forecast for most of us and into tomorrow, nothing too major out there. just very cold around chicago and minneapolis and all of the midwest. explore the largest rembrandt paintings in the united states at rembrandt in america at the north carolina museum of art.

that is your "early today" event of the today. here is a look at the headlines in entertainment. how big is the next batman sequel going to be? this is britt impressive. six months in advance, midnight i max. san francisco and l.a. have already sold out. the new york observer reports seats are already being resold on craigslist for a hundred bucks apiece and ebay no doubt next. ricky gervais says he will never host the golden globes again. you can really enjoy it in retrospect you realize you didn't die and it was quite an amazing thing to do. it's always something with lindsay lohan. yesterday, she got her second thumb's up in a row from her judge who said she is on track to complete probation by the end of march.

but her role playing elizabeth taylor may be over before it starts. the movie is shot in canada. unless she gets special permission may not be able to enter the country until she gets approved. a nearby one teen's after school job earned him a nickname around high school. the mayor. jeremy recently provided over his very first city council meeting because he really is the air. the senior in high school has big goals for the town and he intends to accomplish them and promises homework won't get in the way. i'm lynn berry. this is "early today," your first stop of the day on your nbc station.

our time is 4:28. 46 degrees this morning, warmish compared to what we've seen so far i'm joe krebs. >> i'm eun yang. welcome to "news4 today" for this wednesday, january 18, 2012. today a third person is set to plead guilty in the federal corruption case involving council member harry thomas jr. james garvin was charged yesterday. he's the former board member for langston 21 and general manager of langston golf course. garvin is accused of receiving

tens of thousands of dollars in city grant funds and then transferring them to thomas who used them to fund his lavish lifestyle. if convicted, garvin faces up to three years in prison. last week the founder of the nonprofit marshall banks pled guilty to a similar charge. banks faceses between six month and three years in prison. about a dozen websites are staging a protest. they're shutting down for 24 hours. protesting two anti-piracy bills under consideration in congress. wikipedia's english language version of its website and craigslist are dark today. google is also taking part. that website is not down, but it does have a black sensor bar over its headline. the websites are upset with the stop online piracy act and the protect intellectual property act. the bills are designed to crack down on sales of pirated u.s. products overseas. critics say it could hurt the technology industry and infringe on free speech rights. this morning, secret service says they did