here's what's coming up on "early today." 40 million shoppers is approximately how many target customers' credit and debit cards were compromised. thief busted.

this armed robber stealing cell phones is confronted by a startled and very brave passenger. show time at the apollo has theater goers running for the cover as the ceiling collapses. we'll tell you which american earned about $1.5 million an hour in 2013. "early today" starts right now. good morning. i'm mara schiavocampo. as many as 40 million people this morning are struggling with a security nightmare. the target data heist. let's get right to melissa with the latest. i understand target issued a letterer to customers overnight.

>> reporter: seven pages long put up on their website. of course, they are in full damage control mode this morning as people try to scramble to figure out if they were victims. we are talking about 40 million cards that were hacked. those people are now vulnerable over a span of 19 days. thieves stealing what is called track data from the card. that includes numbers, names, security codes as well as expiration dates. target issuing the letterer to customers apologizing saying they are working with a forensic firm to find the culprits. they can use it to make purchases online and make fake cards, as well. the best advice for you think you are a victim cancel the card and check your bank statements and credit report. the largest theft rings are overseas making it very tough for the u.s. to prosecute.

also new this morning the florida congressman busted for cocaine possession has left rehab. tray radell is speaking about his future for the first time saying he has no plan to resign from congress. he was sentenced to one year probation and will return to washington in january and says all elected officials should be subject to drug tests. a night at the theater turned to chaos when the ceiling collapsed. more than 700 people were packed into the auditorium when the plaster fell from above. injured 80 people. >> the ceiling came down. a lot of dust, chandelier, wood landed on about five or six rows. >> officials say sections of the

balcony fell with the ceiling and pinned down a number of people. investigators are working with structural engineers to figure out what caused the collapse. for now they are ruling out foul play. the senate with two major decisions voting 84-15 for a comprehensive defense bill to crack down to sexual assault in the military and add as protection for victims and includes a 1% pay increase to military personnel. a vote for yellin will come in january. the controversy over duck dynasty's phil robinson is far from over. the family released a report saying phil's placed on hiatus

for expressing his faith. the robertson's are discussing the future of the show. the august premiere was the number one nonfiction telecast in history. the vast majority of americans are expected to travel for the holidays and many of the journeys are already underway. jay gray joins us live from atlanta. >> not a ton of traffic right now along highway 75 and 85 here in atlanta but that is going to pick up dramatically as the sun comes up here and a lot of people get out and on the roadways. aaa says 94.5 million people will travel during this holiday season. at least 50 miles if not more and that would be a record number for holiday travel. there will be more people than ever on the rods and in the

airways. 91% of all travelers will go by car. a lot of that being driven by the fact that gas prices are lower than they have been in the last three years at this time of year. 5.5 million people expected to travel on planes. it's going to be a very crowded holiday travel season but one that may be a little bit cheaper for a lot of people getting out to go to grandma's house or a holiday get away. we should see a lot of traffic here during rush hour. after that it is just expected to continue to build. >> cheaper travel is a gift lots of us will take. now for a look at our forecast here is bill karins. good morning. >> a little dicy. we have freezing rain to deal with. chicago a big temperature contrast. people in d.c. loving it. that warm air still exists this hour. 66 in new orleans and minus 6 in

fargo. that is a 72-degree temperature swing from the gulf to the northern plains. this air will move to the eastern seaboard. all of the white on the map shows the clouds. there is a lot of moisture in the atmosphere. don't expect a lot of sunshine from the great lakes to northern new england. the blue line shows the freezing line. south of it roads are fine. north of it watch out. snow overnight from minneapolis to green bay. freezing drizzle around the des moines area. the storm now over areas of new mexico will kick to the middle of the country. that bright yellow and red is as much as two to three to four inches of rain. we have the possibility of seeing snow. today's forecast record warmth. 60 in d.c.

53 in new york. 64 in atlanta. the cold side of the storm is towards minneapolis with a high of 19. a huge temperature swing as you travel across this nation. that's your national forecast. here's a look at the weather outside your window. so we could see showers and thunderstorms developing ahead of this storm system. i don't think we will see much in the way of severe weather today in tennessee and wisconsin or in dallas but as we go towards tomorrow could be a different story in the southern plains. looks like severe weather mississippi, louisiana, arkansas. russia's president putin shows his softer side. a tragic ending for a couple who won big on the "ellen" show. these ducks will be retiring.

bad weather is causing multiple bus accidents. first a 64-year-old woman was killed in california when a tour bus flipped oench on its side friday. 20 passengers were hurt including six with major injuries. and a second tour bus in california, more than 30 passengers injured with one seriously hurt. u.s. marine brandon mcgraw was killed in a sky diving accident that his wife won on the "ellen" show. ellen said i've been speaking with cherilny. she asked us to help keep this quiet. and one of the eight drug

offenders serving harsh sentences commuted by president obama is reynolds wintersmith, a cousin of deval patrick. russian president vladimir putin made pardons including to an oil tycoon who is a potential rival. time for a look at your money. mcdonald's is facing one wingding of a problem. the fast food giant has ten million pounds of mighty wings to unload because the limited time offer of the product was a flop. by most accounts cost was a problem. facebook's mark zuckerburg will sell over 41 million shares of facebook stock worth around $2.3 billion to pay federal and state taxes. according to the new york post

he will be the highest paid ceo in the country. according to cnbc warren buffe buffettt earned about the $1.5 million an hour in 2013. speaking of lucky ducks, these five pampered birds will be retiring from the famed peabody hotel. this group will be retiring to the jack daniels distillery. kobe sidelined again. did he return too soon?

getting close, the christmas season upon us, the special time of the year where the man with a big white beard makes homophobic remarks and gets kicked off his reality show. time for the latest in sports from my friend, richard lui. good friday morning. >> we made it to friday. lots to talk about. on kobe today out six weeks, a season or a career? the lakers say kobe bryant suffered a knee injury tuesday.

the deal is the team is 2-4 with kobe, 10-9 without. we are talking about the world champ. bryant tweeting #brokennotbeaten. king james and lebron family has the most jersey sales in all the land. plus he has two more coming out. the nba thinks overall sales are up double digits when it comes to jerseys. rolling thunder eight straight wins and even knock over refs. the bulls lose their fourth in a row. it was an all-time low for ucla in scoring. number 80, duke's offense

surging in the second half. duke wins 80-63. maybe ucla got a little nervous. 45 nba scouts on hand. >> the scouts need to stop showing up. >> good for them. number one arizona, aaron gordon gets 21 points in that game. during a time-out arizona paying tribute to an air force family. surprise reunion with father and husband. mom and kids are absolutely surprised. he was serving in asia. >> got to love the reunions. in hockey the philadelphia flyers, a behind the back and no looking shot. almost deserve the win with a shot like that. call him sir charles barkley. shaquille o'neil, johnson and smith jam out during the break. look at barkley just hanging

out. kind of like the grinch. didn't have his coffee yet. >> as soon as bill ask i get to the desk we will do that. >> wait for me to get there. just ahead prince william's pet name to wife, kate. plus caught on tape singing the classics for the holidays.

busy weekend for people traveling to holiday destinations. we have troublesome weather in the middle of the country. today not too many problems. it is cold in the northern plains and enjoy the warmth on the east coast. by the time we get to saturday we might see a few isolated tornadoes in the deep south. from memphis down to central louisiana and into mississippi is the area of greatest concern. we are going to see ice northern new england could see ice from vermont to northern maine. by sunday areas of snow, too. chicago, kansas city, milwaukee. middle of the country. deep south severe weather and icy in the great lakes. >> in the areas where people are having bad weather maybe they can go to the movies. >> what movies are playing? >> news anchors, conmen and walt

disney working hard. "american hustle" and tom hanks' flick "saving mr. banks" open along side "anchor man 2." singing superstar adele received the member of the most excellent order -- the member of the most excellent order of the british empire from prince charles on thursday. she called the event, quote, posh and b. >> this video posted of singing carols to the cast. she is gorgeous. she can't have it all. it wouldn't be fair if she was also a good singer.

katie couric's talk show will not be returning after two seasons. the last episode will air in 2014. olympic figure skater brian boitano came out as being gay. boitano said being gay is only one part of who he is. one direction found out they were claire davis' favorite singing group through a twitter campaign so the boys sent her a special message. >> we wanted to show you what has happened to you is terrible and we wanted to share love with you. all of our prayers are with you and your family. lots of love. hope you get well soon. >> classy. new voice mails related to the british hacking scandalal reveal that he calls his wife babe. he left his brother, prince harry, a message pretending to

be his girlfriend. giggle, giggle girl stuff. >> is he as cool as he appears to be? >> i think so. i'm mara schiavocampo. this is "early today." we hope this is just your first stop of the day on nbc.

right now on "news 4 today," they've all placed their bids. now we are just hours from learning which company will get to build a casino in prince george's county. frustration is growing for target shoppers trying to protect themselves after a

massive security breach left their financial records exposed. good morning. i'm eun yang. welcome to this friday, december 20, 2013. >> and i'm richard jordan in for aaron gilchrist. you will notice a change out there. not as cold as yesterday. more of a warm-up for the rest of the day and the weekend. it's balmy compared to yesterday morning. temperatures are in the 40s starting off this morning after we got down yesterday afternoon many places near 60 degrees. right now around the region we have our temperatures generally holding steady just in the low 40s in the nearby suburbs and mid 40s to upper 40s now in prince george's county and much of montgomery county. upper 40s to near 50 in washington and parts of northern virginia including fairfax county and around the bay it's near 50 degrees this mild morning. we do have a few clouds, high clouds are drifting over. we see that nearly full moon,

though. it's going to be with us through the day today. i notice a lot of traffic on the roadway this is morning, danella. i think people are getting away early. >> i-270 there is an accident. that could be what you saw for delays. eastbound braddock road, an accident shutting all the lanes down. you'll see the left lane blocked. up to i-2 0. tom saw delays earlier. the delays have possibly cleared but for folks traveling southbound at i-370 there's still a crash in the roadway there i'm track iing. i'm back at 4:31. back over to you both. 4:28 is your time now. cameras in baltimore as maryland decides which company will get to build a casino in prince george's county. the video lottery commission has three proposals to choose from, one from mgm, one from penn national gaming, and the third from greenwood racing. news 4's prince george's county bureau chief with more on what each one has to offer. >> reporter: today is the day

that folks in maryland have been waiting for, specifically in prince george's county. we are expecting the gaming commission to select which casino operator will get the license. there are three casino operators vying for a new license in prince george's county. we have mgm at national harbor proposing a $925 million casino and resort a. few miles away in ft. washington there's penn national gaming. their bid is for $700 million casino with restaurants and a hotel. and then there's greenwood racing. their proposal is for an $800 million parx casino in ft. washington off indian head highway. consultants reviewed all three proposals for the state board that will decide who gets the license. mgm has been favored by state consultants, we won't know for sure who will get the sixth and final license until the board votes in oxon hill. i'm tracee wi