good morning. it's friday. coming up on "early today," whether you like it or not, winter is still rearing its ugly head with a major storm, details just ahead. plus, blade runner oscar pistorius faces a judge. will he get bail or will he be forced to stay in jail? president obama talks gop leaders while keeping an eye on gun control. las vegas police search for a shooter. what you should never, ever do while on a ski lift. and who will win the oscars this weekend. "early today" starts right now. >> announcer: this is "early today" for friday, february 22nd, 2013. good morning. i'm mara schiavocampo.

states of emergency were declared across the midwest as snow poured down thanks to a powerful and deadly winter storm that's now crawling east. the storm is expected to hit the upper midwest by this morning as it swirls north and east packing an icy wintry mix that's sure to make or treacherous travel and even more flight cancellations as we head into the weekend. nbc's jay gray has a look. >> reporter: this time-lapsed video shows kansas city being swallowed by the snow. whiteout conditions across the midwest. >> it's crazy, i wasn't expecting this. maybe around christmas but not now. >> reporter: the harsh winds and heavy snow certainly no gift for those forced to deal with brutal conditions. >> it's not for me. >> reporter: terrible for just about everyone. snow in many places falling at two inches an hour. piling up too fast for shovels or plows to keep up.

driving was next to impossible. even for some of the street crews. parts of i-70 were shut down because of the weather and so were airports across the region. >> i first walked in, i saw the line here and i said this cannot be good. >> reporter: deicing quickly gave way to hundreds of canceled flights, travelers stranded but this massive winter system is still on the move. >> well, this storm is not done as we head towards the end of the week the weekend we could see another substantial snow in new england. >> reporter: the next target for a storm that's already made a mess, that more than 30 million people are dealing with across 20 states. jay gray nbc news, kansas city. in south africa, it's looking like decision day for oscar pistorius. a judge is likely to rule if the former olympic star will be released on bail pending a trial. he's back in court after a fourth day of hearings.

nbc's jim maceda joins us from london. what can we expect today? >> reporter: good morning, mara. that's right, we may learn in the coming hour if oscar pistorius, that world famous double amputee sprinter will be freed on bail or not. i may because before that happens the prosecution and defense will be making their final argument, and based on the past three or four days that could take all day. not getting bail, mara, would clearly be a blow to pistorius. he and his coach want to get back on the track. they want to prepare mentally for this trial. but also because the momentum seems to be going so much in pistorius' favor especially after yesterday's bombshell when we learned that the lead investigator, the guy laying out the case against pistorius is himself facing seven charges in a case of murder dating back to 2009. now, the defense has already picked apart the investigator's facts to the point that he had

to admit that pistorius' story is plausible that he shot and killed the girlfriend, reeva steenkamp by mistake, thinks her an intruder through the bathroom window. the prosecution will no doubt try to hammer home their position that pistorius killed steenkamp in cold blood after a rile that witnesses say they overheard. he had a history of violence and putting him on bail would give a chance basically for him to flee the country. it already feels like a trial in full throttle. back to you. >> jim maceda live from london. president obama is now working the phones to try to spur congress into the looming fiscal crisis. and the budget cuts kick in. the white house said mr. obama called house speaker john bane. er and senate gop leader mitch mcconnell yesterday, discussions

were described as good but not progress. hundreds of thousands are looking at smaller paychecks and pay cuts. and the stalemate has taken to twitter for the president's increase in tax and spending reductions. john boehner tweeted to white house press secretary jay carney, quote, was it balanced when the president got $600 billion in revenue with no spending cuts just last month? well, carney replied, saying in part back in the real world, the president has signed $2.5 trillion in deficit reduction. now, to a developing story in nevada where the manhunt continues for the driver of a black range rover sport. three people were killed including rapper kenneth kerry jr. after an altercation. police said the chase led to a car-to-car shooting spree with a mazer ratty racing toward a red

light. themaserati crashed into a taxi. >> here's bill karins with the latest on the storm. >> yeah, the rough morning with freezing rain and snow and everything else. got the snowstorm into new england saturday night into sunday. this morning, the biggest advice, give yourself a lot of time because the major winter storm has weakened. it's still producing snowfall. pretty impressive over des moines, minneapolis, rochester and a pretty good band here, all through minneapolis. a quick two to four inches and then it will pretty much be ending. that's what happened last night in chicago. and starting to taper off in northern indiana and areas of northern ohio. now, as far as areas of freezing rain watch out through indianapolis, louisville, columbus, much of west virginia. that's where year reporting freezing rain. there's been sleet from virginia

and now a burst of snow. looks like the radar is trying pick up towards roanoke and dansville. plain old rain in the raleigh area. we still have pretty strong storms in mobile, alabama. new orleans now safe. up through areas of georgia we also have nasty weather. as we go throughout the day today, one of the concerns is, very heavy rain, two to three inches possible in areas of georgia. and there are flood watches out there and i do expect there to be minor flood problems. that's one of the issues we're dealing with in the for example 48 hours. that's a look at your national forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. in chicago, after that snow, you could get freezing drizzle especially after today, temperatures are pretty cold. a coating of ice on top of that snow. be careful in the chicago area and much of the northern plains. now, the update on my predictions for snow in new england the upcoming weekend. not as bad as the last two

storms but have an impact. brazen former chicago cop drew peterson screams out in court over sentencing. and meet the deadbeat parent who owes $1.2 million in child support. and meet the criminals who screwed up the atm machine. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. here are some other stories making news this morning. chuck hagel now has the 60 senate votes needed to be confirmed as the nation's next defense attorney after winning support from richard shelby of alabama. a vote is expected tuesday. meanwhile, 15 republican senators have sent a letter to president obama urging him to withdraw hagels nomination saying he lacks broad bipartisan support. former illinois cop drew peterson has been sentenced to 38 years in prison for the 2004 murder of his third wife kathleen savio. in a rare courtroom outburst

59-year-old screamed "i did not kill kathleen." peterson is still a suspect in the 2007 disappearance of his fourth wife stacy. the russian cruise ship was adrift in the ocean after the cable snapped twice. the ship's owner is in talks with salvage companies to locate and retrieve it. massive mutant gold fish are being found in lake tahoe. septembers believe they were dumped there by aquarium owners and could have a negative impact on the lake's species. and the deadbeat dan. robert sams pleaded guilty to owing the court $1.2 million for two failed marriage. the dow opened at 13,888. the s&p fell 9. and the nasdaq dropped 32. today tokyo's nikkei picked up

76 points but in hong dong the hang seng lost 24. will stocks break their slump heading into the weekend? the s&p is poised for the first weekly decline of the year while the dow is staring down a third week of losses that hasn't happened in three months. there's no economic data for abercrombie & fitch and "the washington post." keep an eye on hewlett-packard, the pc maker's quarterlies topped. the tax code gave and the tax code tooketh away at walmart. earnings were up but refund took it's toll on the bottom line. a two-year study tells a staggering third of seafood found in restaurants is mislabeled. snapper misrepresenteded a whopping 87% of the time. united airlines says its boeing dreamliners won't fly

until at least june 5th. meanwhile japanese investigators say they found the cause of fuel and other causes but they're still investigating the 787's more serious battery issues. americans who have a tv hooked up to a cam will be counted in voting. we'll have more on that in entertainment. good news for america's wine industry, new figures show wine exports set a report of more than $1.4 billion in revenue last year. brand you clean those wine glasses a national survey conducted by a home appliance maker found more than 40% of americans fight about loading the dish war washer. 60% argue about whether dishes should be prerinsed or not. they say do not prerinse because the detestent needs to clean your dishes. they won $7 million after stopping at the favorite casino of their dearly departed friend.

details coming up next.

welcome back. now to some other stories that caught our eye this morning. we start in indianapolis where a brazen robbery attempt left the crooks empty handed. the heist got off to a slippery start and prying the atm machine free proved difficult. the robbers fled the store without a penny for their work.

next to santa fe where some teenagers' horseplay turned dangerous. a 17-year-old boy slipped from his seat and held on for dear life. despite a 40-foot drop the teenage skier suffered only minor injuries and is reportedly doing okay. in ohio, a local landlord pled guilty of assault after whipping his tenant with a belt. he hoped the whipping would allow him more time to pay. well, a michigan man visited mississippi for a friend's fun >> ralph: and came back with $7.2 million. on the way home, he stopped by his late friend's casino to play the penny slots and he hit it big. he believed the spirits led him to that machine. seniors at carmel high school are hoping to set a record for the most successive twins.

turning to sports. nascar's danica patrick is all the rage ahead of this week's daytona 500 where she'll take the pole first. in the nba, tony parker speeds his way to a diving layup. beat the clips 160-90, combruvg do an nba best 22-10 record. the miami heat continue to show why they're the beasts of the east. check out this alley-oop from james to bosh. the heat went on for their ninth straight. in the cal, justin cobbs working one-on-one on jonathan lloyd, he drove the jumper with less than a second for the win. cal, 48, oregon 46. and on this day in 1980, the miracle on ice. most americans alive that day remember where they when the united states olympic hockey team defeated the heavily

favorited soviets in the winter classic game. the u.s. would of course go on to win the gold. >> announcer: "early today" sports is brought to you by touch of gray. get rid of some gray. never all. just ahead, spoiler alert for the academy awards. we've got a source that has a 97% accuracy record for picking oscars' winners. you don't want tos with that coming up next.

well, welcome back. we are going to see another snowstorm this weekend in new england. the best chance of the heavy wet snow is going to be interior

sections of new england. i think the south coast of the new england, mostly a rain event four. interior sections, albany, portland, boston, new hampshire, the mass pike, that's where you have the best chance of significant snow. saturday night into sunday morning. as far as the forecast for the rest of the weekend, on saturday, a lot of rain lingering on the eastern seaboard from the mid-atlantic to the southeast. you're going to get soaked in the middle of the country. we'll get a nice recovery, mara, after the big snowstorm of the weekend. we have a little spoiler alert in entertainment, the oscars may not air until sunday but we may give you a glimpse of winners. "argo" has an 84 chance of taking home best picture with "lincoln" far behind at 8%. "lincoln's" daniel day-lewis, though, looks like a lock for best actor with a 93% chance while best actress may be tough to predict with jennifer lawrence at 60%. insider trader has a 90% oscars

rating when it documents oscars. josh brolin and diane lane have decided to call it quits after eight years of marriage after reportedly separating. rapper khalifa and amber rose welcoming baby sebastian into the world. "star trek's" william shatner gets a vote. volcan is in the lead. bette midler found herself in a little hot water when he tweeted a poorly tasted oscar pistorius joke where he said looks like pistorius doesn't have a throwing stand on. finally, number one on the billboard charts. how you asky billboard charted youtube data just a little too

late for gangnam style. this is not the original harlem shake. >> oh. >> yeah, there is an original harlem shake of ten years ago. >> do you like the new version? >> not as much as the old one but this is funny, too. please don't ask me to dance. this next one comes from kntv in california's bay area. one couple spent valentine's day in a police station. they spent their romantic dinner and found across a lost camera bag. it was traced back to a chinese tourist the bag's owner not only thanked them in person but sent them a check as a reward. >> i'm mara schiavocampo, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

a cold clear start to the morning. this winter storm that pounded the midwest is going to change things for us in a matter of hours. the impact on your weekend in a few moments. good morning. i'm aaron gilchrist. i'm eun yang. welcome to "news4 today" for this friday, february 22, 2013. a search in the district for a man who pepper sprayed a metro driver for not picking him up. this happened just after midnight. the man tried to get the bus driver to pick him up where there was no bus stop. when the driver refused, the man attacked him with mace. he did not suffer other injuries

but could not continue his route. police are not releasing a description of the man. a day in court for a 14-year-old charged in the death of his sister. he beat and suffocated the 7-month-old girl when she wouldn't stop crying. it happened earlier had month. he was watching the baby while his mother worked an overnight shift. the case could go to a juvenile court after the hearing. the montgomery county teacher accused of sexually abusing two students will make his first appearance in court. he touched two 11-year-old girls inappropria inappropriately. this happened on several occasions this school year. the girls told their parents who went to police. he works at meadow hall elementary in rockville. he's now on administrative leave. in just a few hours, anne arundel county will have a new executive.