And a very good morning to you. Im richard lui. We start with breaking news out of denver. After the San Diego Chargers defeated the Denver Broncos a large fight broke out in the parking lot. Three men were stabbed. One is in critical condition, and police are looking for a pos possible fourth victim. Police have three suspects in custody and are interviewing witnesses to find out how it all happened in the first place. This morning the bipartisan budget deal is one step closer to becoming law. It passed in the house and now moves on to the senate which is wrapping up in a battle over nomination. Nbcs Danielle Leigh is live with the latest including speaker boehners attack on some fellow republicans. Good morning. Reporter good morning. Speaker boehner did push back against conservative groups that had been trying to encourage some of his members to impose this agreement. He said they lost credibility in this. The house passed it overwhelmingly, both sides agreeing it was time to compromise. It reduces the deficit up to 23 billion and reverses automatic spending cuts. Now it heads on over to the senate. But progress there is on hold. Thats because they are in the midst of a power struggle over the president s nominees, and that has forced them into this marathon session thats likely going to occupy them through saturday. Theyve already confirmed at least seven people, but they do have several more remaining. One is jay johnson who would be the Homeland Security secretary. That said, the senate is expected to pass this bill sometime next week. But richard, the vote is likely to be much closer than it was in the house. Good to see some compromise, though. Danielle leigh, thank you so much. A stunning announcement out of north korea. The rogue states leader kim jongun has had his own uncle executed as a traitor. I was he was the countrys most second powerful official. The execution announcement paints him as quote despicable human scum worst than a dog. And accuses him of, quote, thricecursed acts shown by the party and the leader for him. Pyongyang alleged he planned a military coup. Just days ago he was charged with corruption, womanizing, gambling and taking drugs and removed from all of his posts. Now to the Minnesota National guardsman is at the center of a shocking Identity Theft case. Authorities say iraq war veteran keith novak wanted to create his own militia. The 25yearold is accused of stealing personal information from about 400 members of his former army unit. Officials say he planned to use those names and Social Security numbers to create fake identities. An affidavit reveals he met with two under cover fbi employees who oppose posed at militia members. Novak told them he would train them on military related tasks. He is charged with fraud. A montana newly wed admits to her role in her husbands fatal plunge off a cliff. Jordan graham pleaded guilty to seconddegree murder moments before deliberation began. The 22yearold bride revealed the couples eightdayold marriage took a violent turn after she expressed having second thoughts. It sparked a heated argument and ended with her shoving cody johnson off a ledge at Glacier National park. Sentencing is scheduled for march. A bombshell report reveals a missing americanle was on an unimproved fbi mission. Robert levinsohn was held captive. An investigation finds he was investigating the iranian government. For years the u. S. Has publicly said levinson was a private citizen. The ap reports the cia paid the levinsohn family 2. 5 million to avoid a lawsuit. Three veteran analysts were forced out of the agency, and seven others disciplined. The National Security council responded to the story saying the u. S. Government strongly urged the ap not to run this story out of concern for mr. Levinsohns life. The a. P. Said the decision to publish was a difficult one, but, quote, we have concluded that the importance of the story justifies publication. As for his family, they say he has dedicated himself to serve the u. S. , but the u. S. Government has failed to make his life the priority it should be. The 400 million jackpot will be the second largest prize up for grabs in Mega Millions history and fifth largest in megamillions history. There have been no winners since october. When it comes to odds ticket buyers have a better chance of being struck by a comet or meteorite than picking all six numbers. I prefer the six numbers. It has been nearly a year since the tragic shooting in newtown, connecticut. In that time, support for new guncontrol measures has dropped. According to the latest nbc news wall street journal poll, 52 of americans want stricter gun laws. That is down from 56 in january. 36 of americans think gun laws should stay the same. Members of the newtown community, meanwhile, gathering at the national cathedral. Nbcs jay gray has more. Reporter hundreds gathered at the national cathedral. Raising their voices to honor and remember those who no longer can, victims of gun violence including the 20 children and six women who died at sandy hook elementary. We will not stand idly by and let this massacre be forgotten. Reporter the memories and emotions fuel an ongoing fight for change. My role in life is to make sure that everyone in all communities are safe. I will not be silent. Reporter they will never allow the light of those lost to be extinguished. In the flickering lights in this cathedral we see the faces of those we loved, who were taken too soon. And oh, how we miss them. Reporter jay gray, nbc news, washington. And now for a look at your friday weather, lets go to bill karins, nbc meteorologist. And cold, cold, cold still, huh. Chilly. Its starting to warm up. Were headed in the right direction. A lot of people have a lot of activities they want to get done. Its nice to do them in the warmth. Lets talk about the west. Were not dealing with the storm like the midwest and new england and ohio valley. You can see a little bit of a spin over phoenix and new mexico. Thats what we call the upperlevel low. Thats the storm system thats going to cause all the problems across the country with the winter weather. In the pacific northwest, we have a weak little system and now onshore flow continuing. Were seeing rain showers in the higher elevations. That onshore flow is a warmer air mass. Its almost always this time of year warmer than the north like its been. Thats why temperatures have moderated significantly, especially coastal areas of oregon and also washington state. You can see the green there. A little bit of rain showers. Weve gotten rid of those snow showers from spokane across northern idaho. Thats all over with. Temperatures are not exactly warm but warmer. 37 in portland. 43 in seattle. Much warmer, were at 45 in san fran. Still holding on to a little cold in sacramento. Were about 14 degrees warmer in medford than this time yesterday. This afternoon, 46. Showers will be plaguing you on a little bit. 63 and sunny in tucson, one of the warmer spots in the west. Weekend forecast coming up. The deal is, its not too cold. Not like it was. Thank you so much, bill karins. A judge orders another cross removed from a major war memorial. Plus, good news on the jobs front. Ford planning to hire more than 5,000 new employees in the u. S. In 2014. Early today is back in two minutes. And welcome back. In an emotional interview with itn, Nelson Mandelas exwife winnie described her last moments with the african leader. I watched him going down and and down so slowly. And then he drew his last breath. And just rested. Could this be the end of a 22year battle . A federal judge in san diego says a 43foot war memorial cross on federal property must be removed within 90 days. The justice says it violates the separation of church and state. The judge was also asked to consider possible alternatives after the u. S. Supreme court declined to review that case. An upside to this weeks deep freeze Running Water down the side of an old grain silo an oklahoma man created a 40foot ice wall perfect for ice climbing. The owner says he expects it to last for four or five days. Looks really cool, too. During a game against montreal a big surprise for a family whose son was overseas. The family was called down during Enter Mission and given a priceless gift, yes, a reallife g. I. Joe. Their son back home three weeks earlier than expected. Theyre going to have a great holiday. Absolutely. Now for a book at business. The fcc voted 32 in reviewing the Technical Rules that could lead to air travelers being allowed to use their cell phones during flights. Sanford, florida, the place where Neighborhood Watch volunteer George Zimmerman shot and killed Trayvon Martin has been named the 2013 tourism city of the year by the visitors bureau. The battle for your video game dollars, playstation 4 is leading xbox 1 by 100,000 consoles. The ps4 sold 2. 1 million consoles in november but xbox 1 is the months fastest selling console. Pilots flying into beijing, china will soon be forced to learn how to land in dense fog. The airport has the worst flight delays of any Major International airport, and it aint always fog. And finally, the highest price ever paid for a pair of shoes worn in any game, those. They go to the jordan 12s worn by michael jordan. The scene, game 5 of the 1997 nba finals. Jordan played with a nasty flu but still manages to score 38 points. The price for the sneakers, 104,765. Ooh. All right, your sports highlights, weve got that next including the play of the year. Its always not that always, by the way, at 30 rock. In sports, a major upset to tell you about. San diego trailing early, but after san diego ace Philip Rivers connects for six in the second quarter, the chargers never looked back. They do get jumped over, too. Peyton manning got some unfortunate firsts along the way. His first sack in 126 dropbacks and his first interception in 121 attempts. 2720, the chargers beat the broncos. You cant help but wonder, were thursday nights home debow College FootballAward Winners precursors to the 2013 heisman winner . Well, here they are, Florida States jameis winston. He won the walter camp player of the year. Alabamas a. J. Mccarron won for most outstanding player. And espns play of the year, chris davis of auburn, he made that lastsecond touchdown in the iron bowl. Well be watching this one all year. The quarter billion dollar man officially swapped jerseys. Former Yankee Robinson cano put on his new Seattle Mariner jersey for the media. That jersey is worth 240 million smackers over ten years. The Third Largest contract in mlb history. Thats about 150,000 a game. A new record could be set at the university of michigans football stadium. Its being turned into an ice rink for the red wings maple leafs game on new years day. The current hockey game attendance record set there as well at 113,000, but the big house has held as many as 115,000. That was michigan against notre dame. And our hockey moment, minnesota wilds Charlie Coyle waving at a young fan. The wild lost to san jose, 13. Have you seen this amazing behindtheback heave . Watch it. He makes three points with that behind the back all net globetrotters saw it, and they gave him an award. The virginia high schooler scored 30 points in that game. His team lost, though. But no doubt he won unofficial big man on campus status for the year. Just ahead, surprise christmas comes early for beyonce fans and Susan Sarandon fesses up, and lea michele talks about the loss of Cory Monteith. Welcome back. Its friday. That means time for your weekend forecast. The storm thats going to cause all the travel issues especially saturday from the ohio valley to the northeast is going to bring showers to albuquerque. Then that exits. This is just really sprinkles, onshore flow especially in the mountains. Not a big deal. As the temperatures go, theyre not going to really soar, but theyll be very comfortable. 72 in los angeles. 56 in vegas on saturday. And by the time we get to sunday, we jump up to 61. Not exactly pool weather but at least sunny and nice. 71 in phoenix. You could probably go back to the golf course after that recent cold spell. You notice we do keep it gloomy and cloudy in the northwest. Its not going to rain all weekend, but more clouds than anything else. For those skiers, utah, idaho, looking good. Saturday morning skiing. After its been so cold. Yeah. You didnt get the fresh powder, but definitely made it. Ill take the trip out west. Beyonce fans can consider themselves lucky this friday the 13th. The singer shocking the internet by releasing a brandnew album on itunes simply titled beyonce. Its a Family Affair as it features husband jayz and daughter blue ivy. Susan sarandon admitted she shows up high to almost all hollywood events including the oscars. Glee star lea michele talked about working through the death of boyfriend Cory Monteith on ellen thursday. Take a listen. I think that at a certain point, you can choose to sort of fall from this or you can choose to rise. And thats what im just trying to do my best for him because i know that thats what he would have wanted. And it seems she wasnt alone. Her first tweet after his death became the most retweeted message of 2013. The second most of the year was from paul walkers official account confirming the death of the fast furious star. In response to growing criticism of its lack of diversity, saturday night live held two showcase auditions last week consistly entirely of black women. One photo tweeted from the showcase. Good luck to all. The hobbit will likely take the top spot at the box office this weekend as it goes against tyler perrys a madea christmas. Movies during the holidays are always fun. The hobbit, you into that whole trilogy . No. I watched a couple of them, but im not like a fanatic. You are . I like the hobbit. Im richard lui. This is early today. We hope its just your first stop of the day right here on nbc. Leading the news, searchers locate couple lost in frigid cold near cantwell. According to alaska state troopers, 57yearold vivian mayos snowmobile broke down after she went to find her missing husband. It was body heat from her dog, elvis, kept her alive. And the guardian, queen was furious at police for stealing cashew nuts. A memo was issued to them telling them to keep their, quote, sticky fingers out. The revelation happened at the phone hacking trial. The queen there going are you touching the cashew nuts . I thought you were blaming charles. A bunch of folks, right . Because those cashew nuts are expensive. Yeah. I dont know. She can afford them. Its friday. Ignore us. Some stories were watching. A u. S. Drone strike in yemen has killed at least 13 people. It slammed into a convoy traveling to a wedding party. There are conflicting reports whether militants were inside. Toronto star, rob ford, being served with a libel notice. Reporter writes he is looking into retracting a false insinuation that he is a pedophile. He said a bureau chief was in his backyard taking pictures of his kids. You start thinking, whats this guy all about . And in jerusalem a rare sight, blankets of snow as israels heaviest december snow storm in 50 years. On average, a few snowflakes fall on jerusalem seven to eight days a year. It is cold outside all over but not too cold to go surfing. These surfers braved the cold in Lake Michigan. Are you supposed to surf on Lake Michigan . I live close to there. I never heard people talking about it. This guys doing it. The water was 45 degrees. One surfer says the frigid cold temperatures help the adrenaline rush and that the waves are much better this time of year. Time for a look ahead and a look back. President obama meets with newly elected mayors. Martin walsh will be there along with bill de blasio to talk about creating jobs and other issues. On this day in 2003, iraqs president , saddam hussein, was caught as reported by nbcs Campbell Brown and lester holt. We are following a major breaking development out of iraq. Saddam hussein has been captured in his hometown of tikrit this morning. Dna evidence apparently confirms it is saddam hussein. Hes reportedly in the custody of u. S. Military. Happy birthday to singer taylor swift, 24. Actor jamie foxx, 46. And dig van dyke, 88. Keep it right here for more news, weather and sports. Im richard lui along with bill karins. Thanks for watching early today. We hope you have a great weekend ahead. Its 4 30. Im terry mcsweeney. The breaking news in the east bay now where firefighters are battling a house fire in oakland. Its happening near the corner of 90th avenue and a street not far from international boulevard. Christie smith just arrived at the scene. Whats it look like . Reporter good morning. At this point firefighters have this knock eed down but what is unusual firefighters are not working on the home that burned itself, they are working on the one that was next to it because these homes were so close together that it actually kind of spread to two homes around it. This is what were talking