nbc meteorologist bill karins coming up in weather in just a bit. the debate over gun control is taking place across the country, and yesterday it was heard from the nation's capital to newtown, connecticut, the town that lost 26 lives in a mass school shooting. last night that state's task force on guns violence and school safety heard moving testimony from a parent of one of those victims. >> we lost our son benjamin the morning of december 14th, to an unstable, suicidal individual who had access to a weapon that has no place in a home. >> earlier in the day, president obama met with former arizona congresswoman gabby giffords, a victim of gun violence herself. giffords was in town to lend her voice to a hearing on guns on capitol hill. the first since the newtown, massacre. nbc's kelly o'donnell has more. >> reporter: her gift of speech is a distant memory said husband mark kelly, yet gabby giffords' halting words. >> too many children. >> reporter: here as a survivor of the tucson assassination attempt that left her partially blind and partially paralyzed. >> you must act. be bold. be courageous. >> reporter: giffords and kelly, both gun owners, want congress to expand background checks to gun shows and private sales to make it harder for criminals and the mentally ill to get weapons. >> my wife would not be sitting in this seat, she would not have been sitting here today, if we had stronger background checks. >> reporter: of all the gun-related ideas on the table, democrats believe universal background checks has the best chance politically. >> we'll stop them from the original purchase. you missed that point completely. i think it's basic. >> senator, i think you missed it. >> let there be order. >> reporter: the nra said adding new laws would hit ordinary citizens not criminals. >> nbc's kelly o'donnell. this is the year for immigration reform. that's president obama's hope. he laid out his platform with our sister spanish network jose diaz mullar from telemundo. >> we know what's needed when it comes to border security. we know what's needed when it comes to dealing with employers who may unlawfully hire undocumented workers. we know what the pathway to citizenship looks like and what the criteria should be. so, really the issue here is not so much technical as it is political. i'd like to see it get done in the first half of the year, if possible. hope remains for the search of a missing air force pilot off the coast of italy today. captain lucas guntner and his f-16 disappeared three days ago during a nighttime mission. his wife describes him as a self-reliant outdoorsman. and if anybody could survive something like this, she says, lucas cold. fog hampered the u.s. and italian rescue efforts but the family remains hopeful because among the debris found so far they say there is evidence he ejected. developing stories to keep an eye on for you. will he or won't he get the nod? hoping to become the next secretary of defense, former senator chuck hagel answers tough questions from the senate armed services committee. the white house is optimistic but not taking anything for granted and is preparing carefully. and this afternoon, the senate decides whether to raise the debt ceiling for the next few months. in the bill, an interesting provision that would hold the members' pay if they failed to pass the budget by february 15th. all right, tornados tearing through the south and the midwest is digging out. bill karins is sorting through this for us. >> unfortunately we had the first tornado fatality in this country in about 220 days. that had been a record. the story this morning is what's happening behind this storm that's exiting the northeast this morning. the windchills and the cold, i mean, winter has returned with a fury. it is like winter was mad at the big warm up we had a couple days ago. minus windchill of 32 in fargo. a couple spots are close to minus 50 in north dakota. a little bit of cold air in billings, but the air is not going to make it through all of the rockies. we are looking very quiet behind this big storm as we are watching cool conditions and snow flurries in the midwest. they went flying across the country. there will be major airport delays in the northeast and new england during the day today. as far as the northwest goes, we have a warm front that's going to try to kick through a weak storm to our north. that's sparking showers this morning and a little bit of fog in the seattle area. it's going to be pretty light. most locations will pick up less than a half inch of rain. bellingham, .75 an inch of rain, seattle, just a half. light shower activity expected in portland. not a lot of rain expected. the forecast does get warmer in the days ahead. today will be a beautiful day in southern california. much of san francisco to vegas. and we are going to start to warm things up with dry sunshin0 degrees the next couple of days. much of california heading above average. we start february nice and quiet and a warming trend in the north. >> it seems unfair, 78 in los angeles. >> that's a nice day. >> it is a nice day. thank you, bill. tempers are rising after the military strike in syria and hezbollah. plus, she performed at the president's inauguration. now she's another victim of chicago's growing shooting murder rate and police want answers now. "early today" is back in two minutes. blood pressure and welcome back. here are some stories making news this morning. israel launched a rare air strike inside syria. u.s. officials believe it targeted a convoy bound for hezbollah militants in lebanon. massachusetts senator john kerry gave a sometimes emotional good-bye speech wednesday to his senate colleagues. >> standing here at this desk that once belonged -- at this desk that once belonged to president kennedy and to ted kennedy. i can't help but be reminded that even our nation's greatest leaders and all the rest of us are merely temporary workers. >> kerry will be sworn in friday as the next secretary of state. white house spokesman jay carney said the president is praying for 15-year-old hadiya pendleton who was gunned down on tuesday in chicago. pendleton had performed with her high school band at last week's presidential inauguration in washington. a shocking revelation in this scandal involved the moteer dame football player manti te'o. after talking to ronaiah tuiasosopo dr. phil mcgraw was on the "today" show. >> was this a romantic relationship with you? and he says yes. i said, are you then therefore gay? he said, well, if you put it that way, yes. >> dr. phil said the hoaxster told him manti t'eo was not involved in that scheme. >> surfer garrett macnamar claims he broke his record surfing a 100-foot wave off the coast portugal. experts are still looking to confirm the size of that wave. we'll see how facebook fares after news that mobile ad revenue climbed but overall income tumbled 79%. also, after the bell, chip maker qualcomm wowed investors with its bullish earnings and outlook. on the downside, video game publisher and industry bell electronic arts ticked lower in late trading due to a slump in sales in gaming consoles. meanwhile, investors soured on the release of two new blackberrys wednesday sending the company's stock spiraling. research in motion also announced it's finally changing its name to blackberry. "time" the nation's largest magazine publisher and the parent of "people" and "sports illustrated" is planning to lay off 3% of its workforce, about 500 people. due to a surge in gun sales and am nix, walmart has limited ammo sales to three boxes per customer per day. a startling new report to show that equifax has gathered up the salary information of more than a third of u.s. workers and sold some of it to debt collectors and other financial agencies. is twitter taking over the super bowl? this year, half the super bowl ads will include hash tags in their game time spots. that's up from just a handful of last year and just one two years ago. my how times have changed. and dolce & gabbana will start selling perfume for babies. the alcohol-free fragrance for your little bundle will have notes of citrus, honey and melon. ah. the most famous parents at this year's super bowl. sports is straight ahead. we'll tell you what nasa was up to last night with its latest launch. and take a look at this controversial quilt displaying a lynching. you're watching "early today." welcome back. it was a spectacular liftoff. nasa launched a new high-tech satellite into orbit from cape canaveral, florida. the new equipment will improve communication with the international space station and relay images captured by the hubble space telescope. a quilt displaying a photograph of a lynched african-american woman is generating strong emotions with visitors at an indianapolis library. >> i get people out here all different kinds of colors, races and creed treating me bad because of stuff like this. >> i know it can be painful for some people. i know some people are angry. some people cry. >> the quilt is part of a collection of pieces that will be displayed through february and march. controversy is brewing after school officials fired starter pistols during an emergency drill outside of chicago. some students were alarmed by the exercise meant to prepare teachers and pupils for mass shootings. >> i don't think we need to make it normal to have a simulated shooting in schools because then it just makes it more normal for society to accept these things. and had high school students are defending their teacher. carli mckinney was placed on administrative leave after officials discovered her twitter page which features half naked pictures about drug usage. the college students designed pro-mckinney twitter accounts, t-shirts to show the support of their teacher. in college basketball, duke got 32 points against mason plumlee. the blue devils hold on to the victory. in this story marino admits to a relationship and adds that his wife of 28 years and 6 children remain a strong and loving family. just four days before super bowl 47 a little controversy at san francisco 49ers quarterback chris culver was forced to apologize for saying day players wouldn't be welcome in the locker room. they got to practice at the new orleans super dome to get ready for sunday's game. and the baltimore ravens also got their time in for practice time, too. jackie and jack harbaugh, the parents of two super bowl coaches, talked with reporters about their sons facing each other. >> we're so excited for john and jim to be in this situation. but we also are really excited for the players and their families. >> the true victory and the agony and defeat. and on sunday night, we're going to experience both of those great emotions. and our thoughts will be with the one that comes up a little short. >> all right. the proud harbaughs say their sons coaching is part of a great journey their family is on. and on the google front page, you'll see the image of jackie robinson who broke the color barrier in major league baseball. today is the 40th anniversary of robinson's death. the georgia native would have been 94 years old. just ahead, what did tyler perry do to hurt oprah winfrey's back? plus, the staff of the san diego zoo has their hands full, in fact, three sets of hands while this giant panda cub was given an exam. they checked out this little guy's heart, feet and lungs. and a clean bill of health is expected for this cute little guy. you're watching "early today." good morning, everyone. a simple forecast in many areas of the west. the weak warm front trying to slip through to bring shower activity and light rain throughout the day today! but for the next week straight from oregon southward to nevada and arizona, a really beautiful weather pattern. and we are going to make it pretty nice today on friday in the northwest with temperatures in the upper 40s to lower 50s. just to make richard more jealous, here's the difficult five-day forecast in l.a. as we go through the weekend, mid-70s and drop to 72 by the time we get to monday. >> not 72, please, bill, no! i'm going to have to put on an extra parka or something. oprah's 59th birthday was a little more painful thanks to tyler perry. oprah said he sent her a flower arrangement so large she pulled her back trying to lift it. the biggest surprise oprah picks things up herself. patty andrews of the andrew sisters has died at the age of 94. remember that song. that trio was best known for that song "boogie woogie bugle boy of company b." rihanna has officially confirmed she is back with chris brown. the two split in 2009 after brown severely beat rihanna but she's saying, quote, it's different now, we don't have those types of arguments anymore, end quote. for the first time in 36 years, barbra streisand will be performing at the academy awards. no word on what streisand will be singing just yet. she'll be in good company with both adele and norah jones as well. >> that makes sense because she admitted to having a stage issue thing. >> she'll probably have them alongside her. got you. and lindsay lohan's attorney seems to be quite a character when arrived in a black hummer sporting a license plate that says "i'm trying." she carried a louis vuitton briefcase that said "good luck." something she needs. >> lindsay needs to luck. her career is on the upswing. >> she is, clearly, bill. thanks a lot. i'm richard lui. this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. there's a new cafe that opened in taiwan where pink is priority, shall we say. the first ever barbie cafe opens its doors to eager fans of the plastic beauty queen. partnering with matel, this cafe decor features perfectly pink accessories right out of barbie's dream house. the menu treats here fit for a doll with pretty pink pastries on display. talk about serious air? ten elite wind surfers braved harsh conditions in southwest ireland to face-off in the red bull storm chase competition. looks cool. athletes faced 85-mile-an-hour winds and 20-foot swells. how high up in the air are they, 30 feet? the most extreme weather. this is known as the mostly challenging wind surfing competition of all time. the overall winner will be deemed the king of the storm chase. we could watch this all day. >> i like the camera they had on the sail. >> look at that. >> that was in realtime. >> hang time must have been ten second there is, at least. another battle of cats and dogs to talk about this morning. a new study from the u.s. fish and wildlife service claims cats are bird murderers. >> shocking. >> i know. ferocious fee lines account for nearly 3.7 billion bird deaths each year. 3.7 billion. better news for big dogs, ahead of the annual dog show, westminster kennel show names labs, golden retrievers and german shepherds the most popular breeds in the u.s. and they don't kill nearly as many birds. >> 3.7 billion birds? >> that's right. time for a look ahead and a look back on this day in history. on the morning of january 31st, 1961, a 5-year-old chimpanzee dubbed ham by his handlers boarded a nasa space capsule and traveled almost 160 miles above the earth to become the first chimp to be launched into space. country music star randy travis is expected to plead guilty to driving while intoxicated in a north texas court today. the hearing in the state district would wrap up a drunk driving case from last summer when travis was accused of crashing his car while driving naked. and say it isn't so. after seven seasons the final hour-long episode of nbc's hit comedy "30 rocks" is tonight. guest stars include nancy pelosi, jillian moore and salma hayek. all day long you can stay on top of the very latest developments on those stories and the best political analysis on msnbc. and tonight, be sure to watch "nbc nightly news" with brian williams. and, finally, here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. hear from a man and a woman who have been with the family of the kidnapped 5-year-old in alabama. and blackberry's ceo is live in the studio talking about the new name and new strategy. and keep it here for continuing local news, weather sports and more. i'm richard lui. thanks for watching "early today." >> this thought process that kind of invades the locker room is a little disappointing. >> the niners mired in super bowl controversy this morning after a key player makes homophobic comments. a fuel spill on highway 101. the latest on the cleanup efforts and if it's going to affect your commute coming up next. a bittersweet homecoming for a lost dog. oreo is back home but he can't be reunited with his owner. right now we take you live for a beautiful shot. look at the lights up on that bay bridge over san francisco. that's a nice way to start the day. a sneak preview for you on this thursday, january 31st. very nice. this is "today in the bay." >> a little something special for you. >> good morning. it is now 4:31. i'm jon kelley. >> i'm laura garcia-cannon. let's check the forecast with meteorologist christina loren. no sleeping in today,

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