it's friday, january 8th, and coming up on "early today," breaking news. an officer ambushed shot multiple times while in his police cruiser. president obama makes his strongest case yet for increased gun reform. while donald trump faces some hostiles in bernie sanders backyard. plus, a dangerous moment for a driver facing rushing flash flooding. a really bad day. >> one airline passenger. the bridge that's claimed more trucks than officials can count and much more on a busy friday. "early today" starts right now. and good morning everyone. thanks for being with us. we start with that breaking news overnight. a philadelphia police officer ambushed and shot at least three

police commissioner says jesse hartnett is lucky to be alive after asuspect tried to quote execute the officer. he was driving through a philly intersection, the suspect fired 13 times walking closer and closer until he was shooting inside the driver side window of the police cruiser. he emptied his entire .9 millimeter handgun. hartnett is in surgery and expected to make a full recovery. we'll have more details as we get them into nbc news. to politics now. donald trump is flexing his muscle in bernie sander backyard.

just 163 steps away from sanders' headquarters. >> reporter: donald trump holding that rally steps away from senator bernie sanders' campaign headquarters. trump going after many of the rivals. he was on offense against republicans and democratic challengers but on defense against protesterthat were at the rally there. playing to the crowd, trump said he would love to run against senator bernie sanders, however, he's trailing hillary on the democratic side. he says he's still focussed on hillary inton. the former president, bill clinton, campaigning for his wife, hillary, refused to get involved in the pay for that donald trump has been boasting about his past transgressions. bill clinton saying that he would not respond at all to the politics of donald trump. now then trump turned his attention to senator ted cruz, republican side.

mccain questioning whether cruz is eligible to run for president because he was born in canada. cruz responding that, that is simply not true and he expects these attacks from republican challengers. the first test for those who survived the attacks, the accusations and all of the heckling will be on february first with the iowa caucus. >> edward, thank you. president obama continues to make his case on the issue of gun reform, appearing at a town hall style meeting at george mason university last night. he said he respects the first amendment. at times things got head especially when anderson cooper asked about the belief that he's trying to take away everyone's guns. >> are you suggesting that the notion that we're creating a plot to take everybody's guns away so we can impose martial

yes, that is a conspiracy. i would hope you would agree with that. >> then he joked he's only going to be president for another yor, so even if he was going to take away people's guns, he doesn't have time. and now to the campaign trail and how bill clinton is handling controversies. including alleged past sexual transgressions. and kristen welker asked if he'd like to respond. >> i don't have a response. if he wins the republican nomination, we'll have plenty of time if hillary wins. but i have no interest in getting involved in the politics or doing anything except helping hillary. >> bill was ierrupted for a phone call. >> there are other issues. that keep americans up at night.

[ laughter] i have to call hillary back and explain why i couldn't take it. >> happens to everybody. hillary is set to receive an unexpected indorsement, planned parenthood said they will indorse the democratic candidate. their first indorsement in its 100 year existence. she will accept the indorsement in new hampshire. billions in welths wipealth wiped out and the first four day sta for the stock ever. nbc's anne thompson brings us up to speed. >> reporter: another bungee jump for the nation's stock market. the dow plumsing more than 300 points, bouncing back, only to plunge again by early afternoon. what has traders and investors

slowing in china. still, the chaos in china is fuelling the u.s. market's worst started to a year ever. shrink the average 401 k by about 2%. january is a beromter for the future. predicting with 87% accuracy what the market will do for the rest of the year. one more reason why main street needs to watch wall street. anne thompson, nbc news, new york. are you dreading your commute today? be thankful you aren't these guys. california mark was on his way home after an unsuccessful attempt at getting a haircut when all of a sudden flood waters decided this trip would also be unsuccessful. so, after reversing back down the road he was eventually able to pull a u turn and escape but not before having to overcome one last bout with mother

and in sand diego a car worth upwards of $200,000 decides to test his lamborghini against mother nature. not a good idea. a beautiful white lamborghini drives up with water up to the bumper. look at him go. waves quickly bring t t waltwater up to the wind shield and the lambo makes it through gracefully into the sunset. two men have been arrested on terrorism related charges in the u.s. they say there are ties to isis. of sacramento is accused of traveling to syria to fight in a civil war and lying to federal investigators about it and 24-year-old omar of houston was indicted on charges he tried to

islamic extremists. both entered the united states as reregees. accordinto the people he said later that he did fight along side them. investigators say they are not national security threats. some scary moments from new york to chicago. the plane was forced to make an emergency landing in detroit after a woman allegedly assaulted other passengers. detroit metro airport police met the plane shortly after 8:00 and carried the woman off the plane. the other passengers tied her up after she assaulted several passengers. one person said the woman asked to get off about 20 minutes after the flight and became

they say she may have been suffering from medical condition. in montreal, a majestic winter image caught on traffic cam. suddenly a snowy owl slides right into the frame. the transport minister tweeted out images later declaring by popular demand here is video of our majestic visitor. much more gracefully commuting than people on the streets of new york, i would say, bill. winter storm warnings are in effect around the grand canyon. but there are beautiful images -- >> that does make for beautiful pictures in the grand canyon. well, let's talk about -- look at that. our government scientists yesterday gave us a report for 2015. so, was it the warmest year we've had? almost. in florida and washington state

remember the cold end of winter we had, that's why we didn't break the warmestench. ever. only 2012 was warmer. we had two on the west coast, two on the east coast and a lot were related to severe weather. those are mostly tornado outbreaks and one flood watch. so, 10 in total billion dollar disasters. and we haven't had lot of hurricanes lately and those are almost always billion dollar weather disasters. so, how does the weekend look? we're looking at another arctic plast blast from the north. and 40 to 50 degrees warmer in the great lakes and northeast than inh the midwest and sunday, new york city will be 61 degrees and at the same time it will be 2 in minneapolis.

and if you're in areas of missouri up through chicago and michigan, a little bit of snow for you saturday and saturday night. now a closer look at your day ahead. that cold arctic air will be coming down from the north but we're seeing light snow in areas of the midwest, not a lot but just enough for minor inconveniences. and there's the snow storm in northern portions of new mexico. it's that time of year. midwinter. we expect these cold blasts. >> 2 in minneapolis. >> they're used to it. coming up, it's the biggest jackpot ever and it's still growing. it's incredible. have you got powerball fever?r? i think we do. plus, a horrifying scene as flames engulf a barista stand with somebody insideside pain. just like my moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. and i was worried about joint damage. my doctor said joint pain from ra

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washington state exploded yesterday afternoon, engulfing a stand in flames. campbell, who was working inside was severely burned but remandsins in critical condition in the hospital. authorities are investigating the propain tanks. the jackpot has sky rock ltedltted to $700 million. one, two, three, push. >> check out this police dash cam video of new jersey state troopers helping a woman give birth in the back of the car. she and her husband were rushing to the hospital but as it goes they pulled over and called 911.

brand new baby girl was born. and not everybody is happy with the recommended changes. tom costello reports. >> reporter: today the government's top health experts say many americans can do better. cut way back on sugar, hidden in everything from salad dressing to pasta sauce. one jar of pasta sauce can have the equibblekwivlquivalent of a candy bar. all of us have to paylabels the government's my plate nutrition guide sounds familiar. more fruits and vegetables and salts. but critics say the guidelines don't t far enough. they're dropping its recommendation to drop egg consumption. the amerin institute for

dismayed that lobbying efforts superceded dietary efforts. >> i think we have a strong set of recommendations that there not impalkted in any undue way but have listened to all the voices. >> reporter: indeed the sugar industry criticized the recommendation to cut sugar consumption. just ahead, the lakers c cw their way back from 27 points down but could they finish the job? here's a hint. we're talking about the lakers. plus, high profile stars to watch a high profile ending. an@instant classic in in tv anncr: good afternoon everyone. tv anncr: it's the perfect day for a game of football. tv anncr: this team is having a fantastic season. morning rituals are special. when you share what you love... ...with who you u ve. kellogg's frosted flakes. they're grrreat!

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this morning on "today," the is it hollywood's biggest party. what you can expect to see on the golden globes. number 7 arizona visiting unranked ucla with stars including kevin derantdurant came out to honor russell westbrook. and now to a back and forth nail biter. >> three, step back for -- >> alfred nails the winning

bruins knock off the wild katszcats, 87-84. cincinnati almost ruined the mustangs best start in school history. they hang on 59-57. a milestone as the lowly lakers gave the kings a mighty scare. kobe bryant scored his 33,000th point. having blown a 27-point league, the kings with 26 seconds left and they manage to save face before the home team crowd. 118-115. bet you saw that one coming. just ahead, the super bowl just added one of the biggest stars on the planet to it's half time show.

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his manager says he died of complications from aulz hiemers disease los angeles. and beyonce is -- excuse me, queen b will be joined by coldplay where she'll be accompanied by her destiny's child members, kelly rowland and michelle williams. >> and coldplay was supposed to be the headline and all of a sudden queen b shows up. >> what are you going to do. i'm shannon mulaire and this is "early today." if you're looking to save moy on your medica part d prescriptions, walgreens says, carpe med diem. seize the day to get more out of life and medicare part d. just switch to walgreens for savings

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in north carolina, a bridge is causing truck drivers a lot of trouble. >> reporter: they call it the can opener. >> it's insane. reporter: in durham, north carolina. >> i've seen as many as three in one day. >> reporter: at the corner of gregson and pebody, it's perhaps the most unforgiving bridge in america. more than 100 crashes here since 2008, no major injuries, just frustrations. over and over and over again. all captured on web cams. >> it's pretty crazy sometimes. >> reporter: all thanks to jorgen. >> all of a sudden there's a massive crash and i fall out of my chair.

millions of hits on youtube and just after we finished speaking with him, hard to believe but this happened. the driver rattled but okay. >> i thought i had enough clearance. >> reporter: the bridge was built for trains 25 years ago. the locales know it's lower than ususl but many rental truck drivers don't. the states put in lights and signs but drivers don't see them or ignore them. why not just raise the bridge? >> you'd look at significant cost. >> reporter: instead the staltte is planning to install more sophisticated warning censors. jorgan hopes they'll make these crashes a thing of the pass or

>> i haltte to lgh but it's funny. >> imagine the money they owe for renting those trucks. and in addition to their usual diet, they got to nibble on left over christmas trees as a healthy snack. the zoo insures they're not contaminated with pesticides. the tasty feast lasted only 15 minutes. >> and evergreen breath. >> as a bonus. before we go, we want to wish a very happy birthday to david bowie w turns 69 today. world refound the physicist, steven hawking is 74 and bob uebanks turns 78. now keep it here for more news,