good wednesday morning the coming up on "early today" deadly deep freeze. almost two dozen people have died from the record breaking cold. even hell, michigan, froze over at minus 9. some relief is be on the way. gates opens up. the former secretary of defense unleashes a scathing report. attacking both presidents he served. we have the explosive details. veil tragedy. the rich and famous colorado ski resort pernicious a freak avalanche. plus, beef prices are on the rise. a real life velveeta cheese shortage. lebron gets the smack and kicking it up a notch. it's wednesday, january 8.

"early today" starts right now. thas for joining us, everyone. i'm betty nguyen. there is finally some is relief on the way. at least 21 people have died as the polar vortex blanketed the u.s. shattering the record books with negleative temperatures. it was below freezing at least somewhere in each of the 50 states on tuesday. yes, even in hawaii. an estimated 190 million people faced the icesy blast head-on. but, so did pets. and it's a reminder to not leave them outside in this weather. this little guy, peanut, was frozen to the ground in mississippi when had it reached minus 4 this week. thankfully he's okay. the record shattering cold even caused hell to freeze over. hell, michigan, felt like 36 below zero with the windchill. >> reporter: the view from above

captured it perfectly, chicago, a city frozen in place. in minnesota dramatic video of a car careening off an icy bridge. the driver walking away, amazingly, with minor injuries. else with where, workers put in long hours to bring faulty furnaces back to life. >> hunk er down. you're working a long day. you can't leave people without heat. can't do it. >> reporter: all 50 states recorded cold temperatures. negative 11 in cleveland and negative 1 in asheville, north carolina. for millions the continued cold meant a continued travel nightmare. i-65 in indiana turned into a parking lot for tra tractor-trailers. and a soggy situation at reagan national airport in washington when a pipe burst flooding terminal hallways. passengers nationwide faced delays and cancellations as airlines de-ice planes and cleared runways. fighting what sometimes felt like a losing battle against the

powerful polar vortex. nbc meteorologist bill karins joins us in a moment with what we can expect after this polar vortex. we want to turn to a shocking and terrible tragedy on colorado's vail mountain. the large avalanche killed anthony sibert. three others were hurt but able to escape it. his death is the fifth avalanche raelted death this se officials say the area was at a considerable risk because of new snowfall on top of what's been considered a weak snow base. and one more note on this cold morning. the cold reception being felt inside the white house. a new book aims to take down the obama administration on its national security policy and the unlikely author is former defense secretary robert gates. nbc news chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell reports. >> reporter: when bob gates left

the baby cabinet, the president surprised his defense secretary with the medal of freedom, the nation's highest civilian hohn aror. >> you are not only one of the longest serving secretaries of defense in american had history but it is also clear that you've been one of the best. >> i'm deeply honored and moved. >> reporter: but in his sensational new memoir he excoriates the president, ice president joe biden, and tom donlan with their handling in the war in afghanistan and the military. gates says suspicion and distrust of senior military officers by senior white house officials including the president and vice president became a big problem for me. after a march 2010 national security council meeting gates writes, i thought the president doesn't trust the commander, can't stand karzai, doesn't believe in his own strat they, and doesn't are consider the war to be his. for him it's all about getting out. this, although gates had told

matt lauer about the war. >> i think we're on the same war. >> reporter: gates accuses biden of poisoning the well against the leadership and cites the security team for being aggressive, suspicious and sometimes condescending questioning our military leaders. and while praising hillary clinton, gates expresses dismay at hearing clinton tell the president shea only opposed the iraq war because she was running against him in the iowa caucuses. gates wrats that the president in turn conceded his opposition to the iraq surge was political. still, despite his unusual harsh criticism of obama, gates called the raid against bin ladosama bn one of the most courageous decisions i've ever witnessed in the white house. the gates book is arming critics of the iraq strategy as well. >> 90 some americans died in fallujah, 600 wounded, now we see people driving around with black al qaeda flags. that's so sad. what do we tell their families?

>> and that was nbc's andrea mitchell reporting. let's get back to that blanket of arctic weather sweeping the country. it's making air travel dangerous even after takeoff. an american airlines flight made an emergency landing after a water pipe burst at 30,000 feet. can you imagine? the ruptured line showered many passengers leaving them soaked in their seats. flight 1106 from dallas to baltimore landed safely after being diverted to little rock. and other than being wet, well, everyone was aok. more than a million lo long-term unemployed americans have been without benefits for 11 days now, but help is slowly on the way from washington. on tuesday six republicans helped get a benefits package to their 60 vote threshold ending a filibuster, a move that even seemed to surprise many democrats. but before a final vote lawmakers will now grapple with how to pay for the three-month extensi extension. it comes at a $6.5 billion cost

that both parties want offset. senate leaders expect that final vote to happen by the end of the week. nbc meteorologist bill karins is here with more on the brutal cold snap. between that and polar vortex we are learning so much about the weather fen phenomenon. >> we haven't had a lot of cold outbreaks. it's like a novel thing to us. '96 and '94 were the last two big ones. it just hasn't been this cold in a long time in many areas. a lot of daily record lows but not all-time record lows or even state record lows, be and this is the weather map relike. the 24-hour temperature change map looks a lot warmer today than yesterday. right now than this time yesterday. a lot of the mild air heading across the country. yes, it is still cold when you are 28 degrees in new orleans. still a cold morning and still at minus 5 in minneapolis and minus 12 in fargo. when you factor in the windchill it's even worse. the windchill warnings and advisories are severely reduced. we only have a couple warnings left and a bunch of advisories

in the great lakes, northern plains in the northeast. we can deal with it since we've been dealing with it, especially negative windchills, for four days at a low. rhinelander. it doesn't feel nice in new england. watertown, new york, negative windchills and a heavy band of snow is still sitting right over the top of you coming off lake ontario. we do warm it up today. 42 in atlanta. mild compared to yesterday's chilly temperatures in the 20s. back to your national forecast and now a look at your weather outside your window. today as we go throughout the afternoon hours especially we will see a warm-up in areas like dallas, nashville, up into the mid to upper 30s. we will see some rain developing, though. that will be the story. more rain, more warm temps. a lot of meteorologist feel -- because we love snow and crazy weather -- >> are you sick of it? >> if we have such a cold aeir masks it's a waste. we don't even get a snowstorm.

we wasted the cold weather. >> it is so cold out there that an escaped prisoner surrenders to police to get warm again. solar flares cause trouble for some. and shoppers are making a run at the supermarket for velveeta while supplies last.

welcome back, everybody. >> a u.s. air force helicopter crashed killing four crew members onboard. it's not clear what caused the deadly crash. president obama will be meeting with members of congress and the intelligence community to discuss the growing outrage over the nsa's spying methods. the mr. obama plans on announcing reforms to the nation's spy agencies in the weeks leading up to his january 28 state of the union address. cancer deaths are on the decline according to the american cancer society. americans now have a 20% reduced risk of dying from cancer compared to 20 years ago. and this is across all ages and

races. radio equipment went the haywire when the sun erupted with a powerful solar flare sending electrically charged particles millions of miles to earth. and you know it's cold when an escaped convicts are actually turning themselves. one made it 24 hours on the lam before turning himself in to authorities. the inmate was treated for hypothermia and sent to a higher security prison. of course he was. time to get down to business. the folks at cbr cell phone report persistent exposure to the cold weather will damage your lcd screen, scramble the mother board, and hurt other internal components. they say 32 degrees is the limit for iphones. samsung smart phones can be operated down to negative 4 degrees. all right, get ready. velveeta shortage. oh, yeah, kraft is warning customers the orange processed cheese product is in short

supply. the company says it's a short-term issue combined with increased seasonal demand causing the shortage. stock up, i guess, if you can. and speaking of stocking up, overstock.com has become the first major online retailer to buy its products or to allow consumers to buy its products but the digital currency known as bitcoin. pot farm frenzy. over 2,600 applications have been filed in washington state to produce marijuana for sale at state licensed stores. now that is about ten times as many applications as were expected. "the wall street journal" reports that beef prices hit a record high last week. the price comes from ranchers who reduced their herd in the face of higher corn prices. when it comes to making money, tiger has still got it. plus, an amazing bicycle kick and the perils of being a team mascot.

all week the tod"today" sho anchors have been revealing how they plan to make a difference in 2014 and today is tamron hall and kcarson daly's turn on "today." we begin with sports with a major upset in college hoops. in the closing minute of overtime number 5 michigan state hits a three-pointer to take the lead. the spartans held on to beat third ranked ohio state 73-68.

in the nba late in miami's game against new orleans, lebron james took time, oh, yeah, to kiss a fan in the front row. hey, isn't he married? well, she also got a picture as the heat won 107-88. so how rich is tiger woods? according to "golf digest" his career earnings have surpassed $1.3 billion, with a "b," dollars, folks. that is a heck of a lot. and olympic gold medalist lindsey vonn who happens to be tiger's girlfriend will not compete in sochi because of her injured knee. check this out, it is something we have never seen. you may wish you hadn't after looking at it. after a mixed martial arts fight on saturday andy iffel post this had picture of himself. it is so painful to look at. what's amazing he is actually smiling in that. okay. on to this, an amazing acrobatic midair twist.

did you see that for a powerful bicycle kick n.slo-mo, let's walk it. sending it in for a goal. it helped his team win 3-1. the jacksonville jaguars mascot talk a dive. that was scary. whoa. you know what? they're not just cheering him on. the cheerleaders got in on the action. those are some brave ladies. just ahead, late night superstar jimmy fallon credits this one person with having more influence over his biggest decision than just about anyone else. so who is it?

welcome back. with the tail end of our arctic outbreak, we'll see a nice warm-up this afternoon after a very cold start. areas like new york and d.c. getting up in the 20s and 30s considering how cold it was yesterday, 42 in atlanta. the southeast will be much better this afternoon. still very cold, though, minneapolis. a chunk of cold air came down over you last night. as we go through tomorrow, you even warm up to 17 which is considerably warmer than you've been. chicago 25. we will see some rain heading in the general direction of arkansas, oklahoma, and texas as we go into our thursday. by the time we get to the weekend, all of that heads to the east coast. a warmer weekend on the eastern seaboard but rainy. >> even some 70s and 80s on the map. i'm jealous, though. thank you, bill. "elle" magazine is facing controversy for its latest

covers. the only woman of color on the cover, her photo was in black and white and more conservative than others. she responded though to the backlash with this tweet saying i love my "elle" magazine cover. it made me feel glamorous and cool and if anyone wants to see more of my body go on 13 dates with me. that's your secret number. rapper jay-z was performing in north carolina when a young fan held a sign that said can i rap for you? and jay-z made his dream come true. e ♪ >> he was into it. we want to say congratulations to lilly tomlin who married her partner of 42 years, jane wagner. they tied the knot on new year's eve. incoming "tonight show" host

j jimmy fallon graces the cover of "vanity fair" and he talks, bill, about his time on "saturday night live" saying "snl" creator helped him with just about every decision in his life from renting a car to who he dated while on "snl." i have to ask, is that just a really good friend or is that micro-management, right? >> i'll go with friend. >> i would say friend. and given how well he's done with his contrary and life, we could all use a friend like michaels. could jackman bring the m l mullet back into mainstream? the actor is looking somewhat sharp, i'd say, in this oh, so cool hair style for his movie. >> it even looks bad on him. >> exactly. which says a lot, right? that will be in theaters next year. apparently even man-eaters want to get up close and personal with leonardo dicaprio. he told ellen about a recent run-in with a great white shark. >> when i did "black diamond" in

2006 i got stuck in a cage with a great white, which was awesome. i don't want to do that anymore, but i don't want to discount their work. they're doing great stuff. it was absolutely terrifying. >> i have to tell you, i've done that before, great white shark divi diving. it's amazing. scary but amazing. hey, tina fey and amy poehler have great suggestions how to spend your time while watching the golden globes. every time cameras switch to tom hanks do five push-ups. one should, quote, do a little bit of meth, just a touch. slow down, folks. i'm sure she was just joking. don't do that at home. stick with the push-ups. >> you could do 50 or 60 push-ups. >> you'll be in shape by the end of it. we hope this is your first stop of the day on nbc.

breaking news this morning out of loudoun county where two people are dead after an overnight shooting in a home in aldi, virginia. what the sheriff is telling news4 about the deadly incident. our dangerous deep freeze continuing to cause problems across our region this morning. now we've learned the bitter cold temperature haves have claim -- temperatures have claimed at least one life. good morning, everyone, i'm aaron gilchrest. >> i'm eun yang. welcome to this wednesday, january 8th, 2014. temperatures still hovering in the single digits around much of the region. however, there's one thing missing this morning that could make it feel a little less painful -- the wind. >> thankfully.

several schools in our area are opening late because of the cold weather. here's the list. in virginia -- fairfax, stafford, frederick, and page county schools will open two hours late. the same goes for schools in fredericksburg and shenandoah county. >> in west virginia, berkeley, hampshire, jefferson, and morgan county schools will also open two hours late. we have a complete list of the closings and late openings on the bottom of your screen and on nbcwashington.com. let's go to meteorologist tom kierein for a first look at the forecast. >> what's missing is certainly welcome. that wind has died down. a calm wind, but a frigid start still. temperature in mu-- temperature much of the region to single digit. reagan national, 14. they're getting breeze off the warmer waters of the potomac. the lower part of the bay, in the teens. shenandoah valley into west virginia, right now temperatures

are in the mid to upper single digits. we're going to have a cold afternoon, but not as cold as yesterday. here are highs. i'm thinking we're going to be reaching near freezing in washington. north and west will probably say below freezing, in the 20s. here in washington with the freezing, it's only going to be reaching that freezing mark only briefly. then a warming trend as we get toward the end of the week. let's check on traffic early on this wednesday morning. here's danella. good morning. in our area, pretty clear right now. not seeing delays and not seeing any accidents to warn you about. i am tracking a couple work zones here. the first one, if you're traveling pennsylvania avenue, in prince george's county heading southbound at the beltway, the work zone there is reportedly blocking your right lane. your volume's light. not seeing delays. brief delays as you work around that. earlier this morning, northbound i-95, there was a work zone at lorton. checking camera in the area, it looks like the work zone is clear. northbound i-95 and southbound look like your travel lanes are open. i'm not seeing any delays at this time. as you connect to 395, smooth

sailing there. i'm back at 4:31. back to you. >> see you then. thank you. 4:29. we're following breaking news in loudoun county where sheriff's deputy tell us a husband and wife are dead in an apparent murder/suicide. sheriff mike chapman told us the first deputy arrived at the townhome in aldi around 10:30 last night but had to call for backup after hearing two shots. by the time deputies entered the home, the husband and wife were dead. two teenagers and their grandmother were also home at the time of the shooting. the grandmother was shot in the arm but is expected to be okay. today the woman accused of defacing the national cathedral with paint will be in court. she's been undergoing mental evaluation at st. elizabeth's hospital for about a month. today a judge could decide if she is competent to stand trial. she's charged with splattering green and white paint in two chapels at the national cathedral last summer. police believe she is also

responsible for similar vandalism at other sites including the lincoln memorial. the deep freeze putting a strain on the power grid. pepco says the frigid temperatures are driving up electricity consumption to record levels. the power company asking you to conserve energy, especially between 6:00 and 9:00 this morning. the company says that you can set your thermostat lower than usual and wait to use appliances like stoves, dishwashers, and dryers. it suggests turning off lights and appliances that you are not using. this morning, prince george's county police are looking into what could be the first weather-related death in our region. the body of a homeless man was found yesterday morning on allentown road near forestville road in oxon hill. the person who found him told us the victim was frozen solid. people who work in the area actually recognize the man. >> he used to come here all the time, walk up and down, ask for a cigarette every now and then. we've always tried to help him out, any extra food we have. we always gave