good friday morning. coming up on "early today," vice president joe biden ready with gun control recommendations for president obama. major concerns among top military brass that budget consults and hiring freezes could create a department of defense with a hollow force. the government saying the deo set up our own service secret agents with prostitutes. all that bus the growing flu epidemic. one year since coast that concordia accident. and ziggy. "early today" starts right now. >> announcer: this is "early today" for friday, january 11th, 2013. good morning, i'm mara

schiavocampo. vice president biden continues to hold meetings as the head of administration's gun control task force. thursday, biden met with gun rights advocates, including the national rifle association as well as retailers and the entertainment industry. the nra had harsh words for the vice president afterwards. >> the at station was able to check the box and say they'd talked to the representative of firearms owners and the groups that support the second amendment, and now they were going to try to proceed with what they wanted to do. >> as those meetings were takes place, another school shooting. this one in a rural school in rural kern county, california. back in washington later today, biden meets with members are of the video game industry. he'll present his recommendations to the president on tuesday. this terrible flu season continues and the virus has reached epidemic levels in some

cities. given the amount of media attention people are now rushing to get flu shots. as nbc news' dr. nancy snyderman reports, the shortage is leading to a number of shots in area. >> reporter: 135 million have been made. this year's flu is especially veer i willent and can spread quickly. experts say you can be exposed to the virus six feet away from a person who coughs or sneezes. once you're infected it's easy to pass it on to family. an adult can beick for 24 hours before they feel ill. children may be contagious longer than a week. >> in addition to getting a flu shot, doctors recommend frequently cleaning your hands and the areas around you. for a little perspective here's a disturbing fact the average desk at work is reportedly 400 times dirtier than the average toilet seat. >> the fda is ordering the

makers of ambien and other sleep medications to cut in half the dosage of those drugs especially for woman it can stay in the levels of blood to make it difficult to drive or concentrate the next morning. women metabolize the sleeping pills more slowly than men. defense secretary leon panetta is moving to prepare for drastic military cuts if congress can't reach a deal on a budget and automatic spending cuts take effect. panetta has ordered cost cutting measures including a delay and freeze on hiring. the joint chiefs of staff argue and agree that the military readiness should not be affected. >> this fiscal uncertainty has become a very are serious threat. for national security. readiness is now what's in jeopardy. we're on the brink of creating a hollow force. the very thing we said we must

avoid. >> secretary panettaas said he intends to exempt u.s. troops from any cut. afghan president hamid karzai is in the middle of his visit to the u.s. he met with secretary of state hillary clinton thursday. they talked about handing off security responsibility to afghan forces by the end of 2014 as well as preparations for elections next year. secretary clinton joked to karzai about his plans to retire to his walnut form in california. >> secretary panetta, in addition -- walnuts. >> clinton meets with president obama today. there's new information about last year's secret service scandal involving prostitutes in colombia. according to an investigation by nbc news two u.s. drug enforcement agents facilitated a

meeting between a prostitute and an agent. the findings reveal the agents tried to destroy incriminating information that led to the incident. the case has been referred to the deo. louisiana governor bobby jindal has declared a state of emergency after a severe weather system rolled across the state. security cameras at an industrial plant caught a glimpse of a tornado that tore through plaquemines that used roof damage. but the real damage has come from flooding. much of the state has been soaked by a slow-moving storm system. and speaking of storms for a look at your weather here dylan dreyer. good morning. >> thanks. that's the problem, it's so slow-moving, that's why we're seeing so many flooding issues in areas of louisiana down into mississippi now, eventually, that is going to start moving into areas like tennessee, ohio, illinois, indiana. so we're going to see the slow-moving system continue to spread eastward, ever so slowly.

we'll see temperatures today on the eastern side of that frontal system continue to warm up, though. so that looks pretty good heading into the weekend. and we are going to actually see this warm front get temperatures like areas like d.c., topping out this weekend close to 70 degrees. >> it's supposed to be a beautiful weekend. so that is nice. >> oh, yes. >> all right, here's a look at the weather in your area, right, dylan. >> yes. >> and a look at the weather and stocks rock as the s&p hits a five-year high. an update on those stranded whales. and thousands of white collar jobs coming to the u.s. plus, nbc's michelle kosinski is live from italy where the costa concordia ran

aground one year ago. you're watching "early today." >> announcer: "early today" is brought to you by thermacare heat wraps, no pills, no pain, just relief.

welcome back. here are some other stories making news this morning. in colorado james holmes will be tried in the aurora theater rampage that left 12 people dead and another 70 wounds. defense lawyers said they were not ready to enter a plea and are expected to use an insanity defense. in canada, 11 killer whales locked in ice with only a small area of water to breathe. are now freed. a chain may have broken the path to rescue the orcas good news. a nikki haley said good-bye to her husband after a month of training. he'll deploy to afghanistan. and on a ride from afghanistan to new guinea.

the ten-foot python was on the fuselage and wing and did not survive the flight. on sunday, it will be one year since the italian cruise liner, the "costa concordia" ran aground killing 32 passengers. preparations are under way for the memorial at the half-sunk be ship. nbc's michelle kosinski is there with the latest. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, mara. people are already starting to arrive here on the island for that service on sunday. and it always amazes people to see that, yes, the ship is still here in the exact same position it was. you is ethe enormous stretchers the crews have built around it. they are working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to prepare to finally roll it over upright and float it out of here probably not until the fall. you know what, today, you talk

to the survivors of that wreck, and for them, the emotional aspect is just as present. just as large. there's still a lot of anger toward the company that this happened at all. and they say for the way they were treated after the wreck. so on sunday, there will be a memorial service for the 32 who did not make it off this ship safely. among them, an american couple, a little girl, a woman on her honeymoon. as part of this service, there will be a moment of silence. a mass. and then crews will take the boulder that the ship struck that caused that enormous gap, and they will put it back in the sea in the place where it originally was. mar rar. >> nbc's michelle kosinski, thanks for that update. stocks on a roll as the s&p hits ace five-year high. and big news on the aviation front. the faa will hold a news conference relating to the dreamliner. the new plane experience three problems this week alone, including an electrical fire

that caused severe damage to one plane. good news from ford which plans to hire 2200 new workers including engineers and computer programmers. the hiring will happen this year as demand for new vehicles picks. you. bad news from american express which plans to shave about 5400 jobs from business as more customers book trips online. scholastic has donated about 1 million new books to schools in new jersey that were ravaged by hurricane sandy. did shell oil move an oil rig that ran aground to avoid millions in taxes. that's a question ed markey is asking but shell denied the acuation but said the rig was moved due to weather. and according to the that, inquiries for holiday shopping has ridge for june, july and august. reverend al sharpton teams

up on a cold case. plus, turning on your faucet only to find flammable water. details coming up next.

well, it's a yearly favorite. video of the water skiing squirrel. twiggy will be performing at the boat show in den very this weekend and word has it she'll be sporting a denver broncos life jacket.

she and her owner travel all over the world promoting water and boat safety. here's other news making news in america. in western pennsylvania police believe a squabble between two students ballooned into a pair of two full-square brawls with 70 people. authorities can tipped off by a youtube video that shows students and adults throwing blows. and in ohio, a combustible water supply has turned one home into a recipe for disaster. the family discovered elevated levels of methane and chloride in the tap water after a lit candle caused the kitchen sink. investigators are stunned. also until ohio, surveillance cameras in a gas station caught a vicious beating. a robber battered an owner before getting away with lottery tickets. al sharpton and ben gelis are calling on the to find

missing man. >> anybody else that wants to say anything or speak out about this will be safe. >> perry is offering the $1,000 reward for the men who both disappeared after a run enough with the sheriff deputy. a rooster hanging out downtown gave animal control officers quite a headache. ♪ the elusive fowl was eventually captured. no word on who it belongs to. in sports we start with a big upset in college basketball. number 4 arizona was surprised by unranked oregon who led most of the way. arizona surged in the fourth quarter but arizona held on to a 70-56 upset. and human growth hormones and other performance enhancing drugs.

there's official confirm its that junior seau had cte, a degenerative brain disease, he joins pittsburgh's mike webster and dave deerson. bears. tim tebow will not be playing for the jacksonville jaguars next season. he said he can't match nan not being a jacksonville jaguars even if released by the jets. and baltimore plays dense the broncos and green bay will be in san francisco. sunday, seattle visits the top-seeded atlanta falcons and houston been at new england. and in ohio, at the open, k.j. choi hit his tee shot on the green, his ball lands on the ball of webb simpson. that's a shot you don't see every day.

>> announcer: "early today" sports is brought to you by new just for men autostop. gray is over. just ahead, justin timberlake and beyonce have big plans to share with everyone. plus, a real-life rescue with just in the nick of time ending. you're watching "early today."

good morning. and welcome back. we've got a lot of warm air

trying to move into the eastern seaboard. right now, it's already 60 degrees in atlanta and temperatures are going to warm up nicely in the east coast but that also means it's going to start to cool down in the midwest. 41 in minneapolis. 45 in new york. the showers you're seeing in the forecast just late-day showers. that's that warm front trying to move through. we drop to 21 in minneapolis. we jump to 62 in washington, d.c. atlanta should top out in the 70s. we are looking at temperatures across the east coast to be about 15 to 20 degrees above average. but then that really cold air does settle in especially through montana. today is only going to be in the single digits. so really warm and really cold showing up on the map. it's the cia versus the looipd at the box office this weekend. after being in a limited release the past few weeks, "zero dark thirty" is going live off its nominations but the gangster quad may take first place thanks to box office draws of ryan

gosselin and emma stone. what does a 9-year-old want to do once nominated for a best actress oscar. she's the best actress nominee ever. in case you didn't know it, justin bieber fans, no-no bounds. they're accusing the 18-year-old double ganger of posing as the singer. he said he's not in the picture, she didn't smoke weed and he would never do that to the biebs. >> timber labeling's new album is out but beyonce shocked us announcing that a new record would be out january 29th a compileics of old songs plus a new single called "nuclear." even justin timberlake, i kind of missed him actually. >> kind of doing what he does best. the next one comes from kxas

dallas 5, a driver leaped into action saving a truck driver from a certain death. elias irving was trapped when he said an angle saved him. >> he was in the truck, the door wouldn't open. we had to pull him through the window. i was so scared it was going to blow. >> the rescue was much sweeter for his children who lost their mom in a car accident last may. i'm mara schiavocampo this is "early today." just your first stop of the day on your nbc station. lucky charms?!

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. everybody's working for the weekend ♪ a live look outside right now. >> okay. >> a taste of spring in the days ahead. of course, we have to get through a chance of rain today. storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein here with your forecast straight ahead. first, good friday morning. i'm aaron gilchrist. i'm eun yang. welcome to this friday, january 11, 2013. i guess you were happy about the weekend. >> yeah. >> there was a multicounty -- a man who broke out of a locked hospital ward. clayton mol en hov broke down a door in maryland, wednesday

night. d.c., montgomery and prince george's county police are on the lookout. he has a history of violence, suffers from paranoia, has been aggressive with police before and this is not the first time he has escaped. >> he has escaped in the past several times. he apparently has a lot of extensive training in martial arts. keeping him restrained has been a bit of a challenge. >> police say if you see this man, stay away from him and call police as soon as possible. new evidence could jeopardize the conviction of the man who killed chandra levy. the evidence could taint the testimony of a key witness from the trial of ingmar guandique. her body was found a year later. prosecutors presented the judge new evidence. that's about all we know at this point. there have been reportedly two secret meetings between the judge and prosecutors, which is rare according to defense