here's what's coming up on "early today." the nation's mid section is in a deep freeze as the storm that blanketed the rockies moves south. nearly a year after the deadly school shooting in connecticut, the 911 calls made from the school are made public. the race against time in florida to free whales. and the famous rockefeller center christmas tree lights up

new york city. "early today" starts right now. this is "early today" for thursday, december 5. good morning. i'm mara schiavocampo. a brutal weather system is bearing down across the u.s. more than 30 million people are in the path of this arctic invasion, snow, ice and extraordinary drops of temperature are expected and it is not over yet. >> reporter: the big chill is bringing a brutal mix of ice, snow and subzero temperatures to 27 states. in minnesota nearly three feet of snow in two days. >> it is going to be a white christmas. >> reporter: the arctic blast burying cars. by friday it could be 20 degrees below zero.

states from california to mississippi to kentucky are bracing for pockets of record cold. >> we haven't seen this in a while this early in the season. >> reporter: temperatures could plummet 40 degrees below normal. in denver it went from nearly 60 degrees to 6 in one day. perfect for the polar bear at the zoo. the deep freeze is crippling california's citrus crop. 80% of the fruit is still on the tree. they could lose it all in an overnight freeze. >> worst case we will lose about $2 billion worth of product and unemployment totaling 16,000 people. >> reporter: a winterer blast threating to paralyze more of the nation. >> and nbc meteorologist bill karins will join us in a minute

with the full forecast. moving to new information on the tragedy at sandy hook elementary school. the 911 calls reveal extraordinary people when a shooter walked into an elementary school and killed 20 first graders and six adults. jay gray reports. >> reporter: the 911 operators were steady and focused. a teacher pleading tr help saying somebody's got a gun. i caught a glimpse of somebody running down the hallway still shooting. school custodian described the shattered front window. during the call gun shots rang out in the background. he says i keep hearing shooting and popping. then he describes hearing only silence. following wishes of survivors and family victims many who

fought for nearly a year to block the rorecordings nbc will not air the calls. >> we don't feel that the 911 calls should have been released but that decision has been made now. and it will affect our community certainly and our families. >> reporter: the father of one of the teachers who died in the rampage says he believes the call should be heard. >> i think the more the public knows there will be less confusion and less people making up stories about what happened. >> reporter: because the truth is painful enough for a community still struggling to heal. jay gray, nbc news, new york. now to an update on nsa spy revelations. the "washington post" reports the agency tracks nearly 5 billion cell phones a day.

edward snowden says the spy agency is equipped with a spy program that can build relationship patterns of overseas calls. the records do not track americans intentionally but the nsa does come into contact with domestic calls. 2 million passwords stolen from accounts you likely use and leaked online. according to security experts facebook, twitter, google and yahoo accounts were compromised. facebook and twitter have reset the passwords. a facebook spokesman responded saying it appears that people's computers may have been attacked by hackers using malware. the most common password in the set was 123456 used in a massive 00 accounts

operation continues to save dozens of beached whales. specialists are trying to move the 41 living whales into deeper waters where they normally live before low tide returns. it is unknown how the whales ended up in such shallow waters. the species is known for the tight knit social group. it was quite a night here at rockefeller center. >> three, two, one. >> ushering in the holiday season as every year since 1933. mariah carey performed "all i want for christmas". the 76 foot spruce is covered in 45,000 led lights. as if the lights alone weren't

festive enough the tree is also topped with a 12-ton star. and for more on the huge weather system. >> she wasn't cold at all because it was warm. >> so nice of you to show up to work today. >> not bad. good morning everyone. cold air is plunging south and areas of greatest concern is who will get the cold air along with the rain. that is a recipe for freezing rain. you can see where the cold air madeis it th morning. lubbock at 24. 74 in houston. you can see where the temperature differential is. not much on radar. during the day today rain will develop. we are most concerned about the ice storm likely in areas near memphis, little rock, arkansas. even areas around dallas and oklahoma city dealing with

significant winter weather. ice accumulation will be the biggest problem. we think we will have downed tree limbs and power outages. it's tonight and then all day tomorrow. look at this map for today. 7 in denver for a high. areas in new orleans at 78. the arctic air in one side of the country and the other the warm air. that is your national forecast. here's a look at the weather outside your window. so today areas on the east coast very warm. there will be areas of wet weather. look how cold it is. denver at minus 15 right now. lucky to get in the single digits. i'll talk about who will get the snow coming up. a radioactive theft in mexico. and details of a new report that says embattled mayor ford

tried to buy the tape showing him smoking crack. we'll be back in two minutes.

now toer stories making news this morning. a suicide car bomber attacked yemen's defense ministry this morning killing at least two people and wounding 20. officials say the blast was followed by a fire fight with gun men who tried to take over the complex. in mexico missing radioactive cobalt 60 has been found. authorities say the material was taken out of its protective canister and poses no threat to the public. roughly 20,000 americans signed up for insurance on healthcare.gov on tuesday bringing the three-day enrollment total to 56,000, twice as many as the month of october. president obama urged activists

not to give up. in canada new court documents say toronto mayor ford may have offered $5,000 and a car in exchange for the video tape that appears to show him smoking crack. in israel they lift the eighth light made up of crane trucks lifted 92 feet in the sky. turning to business. fast food workers will walk off their jobs again in more than 100 cities today calling for higher wages. more than 12,000 battle rattles are being called because colored arches could break into smaller parts. the new owner of news week says it plans to revive in the

print issue. tv ads for super bowl xlviii in february have rolled out. 43 advertisers bought time for commercials. that is up $4 million from last year. tiz the season. a donor put a rare gold coin in a salvation army kettle worth $1,275. richard lui's sports headlines are coming up. jimmy kimmal hosts a danceoff with finest fans. this is something you got to see.

113th congress is about to go down as the least productive in american history. >> only 55 bills signed into law this year. that makes this the least productive congress ever. >> the least productive congress in the history of the american republic. >> it is a do nothing congress. >> that's not fair. they're doing something. they are getting into the guinness book of world records. t that makes it twice if you count john boehner's fingernails. >> bizarre. time for the latest in

sports from my friend richard lui. >> good thursday. 2:00 p.m. eastern today is the time, the announcement that could effect the heisman. florida state attorney will expose findings on winston. he is the first red shirt freshman to win in the 61 year history. they were hoping for a record crowd in mexico city. before tip off it fled with smoke. so lakers kobep bryant will not be playing in friday's game after he felt general soreness in the foot he hurt eight months ago. we don't need to wait until march for madness. north carolina stuns number one michigan state. it is the first loss. they win that one 79-66.

steelers coach got a hefty $100,000 fine for standing right there, being too close on the sideline. >> $100,000 for that? >> he says his actions were embarrassing and inexcusable. the league, however, may not be so happy with that. they might take draft picks from the team. olympic skiing champ lindsey vonn back on the slopes wednesdayince a reinjury during training. and here is a shoe tying lesson. if your shoe falls off throw it to the fans. forget about it. i don't need it. >> and they brought it back to them. >> he said i'm going to get rid of it. after the shoe mishap during the

wolverines loss to duke that's what he did. he did get a shoe back. >> playing in dress shoes would not be effective. a young fan and usher displayed killer moves. t that kid got some moves. >> so cute. >> jimmy kimmal had a rematch between the fan and usher. >> i love the kid. i got to give it to the kid every time. he is adorable. >> puts us to shame. >> we should play that kid all day. just ahead home burglary scare for kerry russell. plus the hills are alive with the sound of music. we have a preview.

let me break down the winter weather. there is not a lot of icy stuff early today. by the time we get to 5:00 p.m. the pink shows you where the freezing precipitation is. you can see where it is located here. and then the main event is later this evening towards the overnight hours when the snow will break out in oklahoma. that's at 2:00 a.m. tomorrow morning at this time from dallas this icy area very problematic. that will move towards memphis during the day friday. that is where the travel trouble

it. turning to entertainment. it is finally here, the live stage production of "the sound of music" airs tonight at 8:00/7:00 central. carrie underwood bringing the role to life. some information in the fiery car crash death of actor paul walker. according to the coroner's office walker died of traumatic injuries and production of "fast and furzious 7" is shut down. carey russell woke up after hearing foot steps and falling 911. actress will be playing

wonder woman. >> she is used to not wearing many clothes it looks like. remember "the hills" stars, they are apparently broke arch spending $10 million in a few years. $30,000 shopping sprees and $10,000 dinners are to explain. the explanation, we thought we were jay-z and beyonce. jay-z celebrated his birthday. they are going vegan for 22 days. jay-z calls it a plant-based diet. if you follow beyonce she is posting pictures of the meal. i'm mara schiavocampo. this is "early today." we hope this is just your first stop of the day on nbc.

right now more problems for the d.c. police department as another one of its officers finds himself under investigation. the accusations he now faces. plus, another day of lunch tame disruptions ahead as fast food workers walk off the job. the local restaurants being targeted by protesters. good morning. i'm richard jordan. >> and i'm eun yang. welcome to "news 4 today" for this thus, december 5, 2013. 4:26 outside our studios. 56 degrees. pretty warm out there. hi, amelia. good morning, richard and

eun. dealing with some fog this morning. everybody will likely be dealing with a little bit throughout the morning hours but some dense fog right now reported over the eastern shore, annapolis and areas back to the west like martinsburg. areas of fog and drizzle l will be around until about 10:00, 11:00 a.m. as eun noted, it is a mild start that will be a warm day. the warmest day in about ten it's. and temperatures will soar, i guess you could say, on into the mid-60s for highs. right now we're in the low 50s. 53 in washington and here is your morning planner for areas like chevy chase, maryland. fog with the chance of patchy drizzle. otherwise a mild day. kids getting on the bus, maybe just a light jacket or long sleeves. by 11:00 a.m. we're at 56 degrees. danella, tracking any problems with reports of fog we're getting right mao? >> not yet, but i am tracking a couple of things to warn people about. we'll start with construction. traveling 395 this morning work

zones north and southbound. this time we'll start with southbound. as you make your way southbound the left lane will get by the work zone there and northbound has the right lane getting by the work zone, but you can see very light volume. now we'll shoot over to i-66. i know it's a crazy camera. if you're taking the exit, the exit for nutley street, a broken car off to your right shoulder lane. you can see the flashing lights here. i'm back at 4:31. danella, thank you. 4:28 is your time right now. today the heiress to the mars candy fortune heads to court for her role in a crash. in october police say jacqueline mars crossed the center line along route 50 in loudoun county hitting a minivan carrying six people. a texas woman riding in that minivan was killed and the pregnant driver badly hurt. mars told a witness she had

fallen asleep at the we will. mars is ranked as the world's seventh richest woman. a veteran d.c. police officer is off the streets this morning being investigated for possible inappropriate conduct with a teen. the 15-year-old girl was found at the officer's home in southeast tuesday night after she was reported missing. police have since searched the home and sources tell news 4's shomari stone marijuana, several cell phones, and a laptop were taken out by investigators. neighbors tell us they are surprised but noticed some spibs things at the home. >> i mean, you look at him, by him being the age he is, the women that he b looked a little young, younger than him. >> no charges have been filed against the 24-year veteran, so we are not releasing his name right now. this investigation comes after another d.c. police officer was arrested. marc washington was charged tuesday with production of child pornography while on duty. we've learned the name of the men killed in a shooting with d.c. police. 19-year-old dareus murphy shot at them tuesday night on quinn street in the trinidad neighborhood. police returned fire and killed

him. it happened after a short chase. murphy's grandmother lives on the block and tells us he was in and out of trouble with the law. the officer was also hit but is expected to be okay. today a higher minimum wage becomes the law in montgomery county. ike leggett will sign the new minimum wage plan into law this afternoon. the wage is $7.25 an hour. by next october it will inkraes to $8.40 an hour rising every year until it reaches $11.50 an hour by october 2017. an increase in the district has preliminary approval from the d.c. council. the fight over hourly wages could mean slow service at fast food restaurants today. workers are getting ready to walk off the job across the country today including here in our area. at least three fast food restaurants are participating in the protest. they include the mcdonald's at the what he be ton mall along columbia pike in