good wednesday morning. coming up on "early today," another cop killed in california as the manhunt for christopher dorner comes to a head. president obama are pushes for a $9 federal minimum wage. gun control and immigration reform will any pass? plus mardi gras leads into ash wednesday. and senator marco rubio's water lights up the twitter sphere. and the top dog right now. >> announcer: this is "early today" for wednesday, february 13th, 2013. good morning.

i'm mara schiavocampo. we've got two major stories this morning. president obama is telling supporters he needs their help to make the changes he proposed in his state of the union address. republicans say they oppose higher spending and tax increases. but first, the latest from california on what may be the fiery end to the huge manhunt for accused cop killer christopher dorner. nbc's tony chen is in big bear with the latest. tony, good morning. >> reporter: morning, mara. good morning, everyone. let me tell you the last 20, 21 hours have been absolutely incredible. i want to give you the latest information. we just got this within about the last hour, hour and a half. that that cabin that was burning that christopher dorner was believed to have been holed up. investigators just recently went in there and they have found human remains. at this point, they will not

verify if these remains are that of christopher dorner, 33-year-old, ex-lapd police officer who apparently started this rampage because he was so angry for getting fired years ago. i will tell you that we're about six miles south of where that cabin ended up burning down basically, during an incredible, what seemed like a movie -- basically a movie script, a movie shoot-out with sheriffs deputies. unfortunately, sadly, one of those sheriff's duties passed away. was pronounced dead when he was brought to an emergency room south of where i'm standing. i can tell you that basically this all started about noon today when they spotted a stolen vehicle. they chased that vehicle. they knew dorner was in that vehicle. that vehicle ended up at that cabin and then basically the cabin caught on fire and it's believed that christopher dorner

and this manhunt is over. >> tony shin live in san bern 9 bernardi bernardino, thank you. democrats called it a lecture with a broad brush while some republicans called it details to fix the economy. nbc's steve handelsman has more. >> reporter: president obama made clear his second term priority is decreasing unemployment. a growing economy that creates middle class jobs that must be the north star that guides our efforts. >> reporter: to cut the deficit more he would reduce spend but to fix climate change. he would demand nor tox cuts on the wealthy. >> and a tax cut that they won't pay a lower rate than their hard

working secretaries. re the commander in chief announced he's pulling 30,000 troops out of afghanistan within a year. >> our war on afghanistan will be over. >> reporter: on gun control, mr. prk demanded congress not dodge that the parents of hadiya pendleton killed in chicago deserve a vote. >> gabby giffords deserve a vote. the families of newtown deserve a vote. >> reporter: and he called for immigration reform. so did florida senator marco rubio in the republican response, but the gop demands smaller government. >> that's why i hope the president will abandon his obsession with raising taxes and instead, work with us to achieve real growth in our economy. >> reporter: in fact, big partisan battles lie just ahead. in two weeks drastic automatic spending cuts strike unless the two sides can finally cut a deal on spending and tacks. from capitol hill, i'm steve

handelsman, nbc news. four words, one in particular from senator rubio getting a lot of attention. near the end of the speech, rubio reached off camera for a small bit of water. it grew reaction on twitter. cloudy skies and rain didn't dampen the spirits of revelers during mardi gras. it caps months of celebrations that began back on january 19th and also included the super bowl a week ago. and the end of mardi gras ushers lent season with pope benedict leaving the church. nbc's chris jansing is inside the vatican where the audience with the pope is about to get under way. chris, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, to you, mara.

in half an hour, we will get the first viewing of pope benedict since he made that shocking decision to step down. this is an audience. and it is the first of what will be several appearances before his last day as pope which is february 28th. later today because it's ash wednesday he will be saying mass. normally, it's held in a very small church near here but it's been moved to st. peter because of the expected demand for attendance. and then on sunday, he will come out on the balcony which is the traditional sunday, and after that there are expected to be very few appearances by pope benedict, as you know, made the decision because he's becoming increasingly frail over the past several years and months to step down. so we'll be looking in the knicks half hour to see how he seems to be doing, how his health is. and again, getting one of the final glimpses of him as pope. mara. >> chris jansing, thank you for

that report. for our weather forecast, bill karins joins us. >> good snow yesterday from amarillo to oklahoma city. that's a storm we're tracking across the city. let's take a look at the big pattern across the country. as i showed you the storm we're dealing with in areas of oklahoma and especially amarillo will be the story of the focus. one thing we noticed yesterday, you may like this one, the mayor up in connecticut what asking people to come help shovel. he said he's offering minimum wage. this is for minimum wage. anyone who could do it could come. 500 people, 14 and older, showed up. maybe some of of them are a helping hand, maybe some made a little extra money. as far as this snow, not much impact as far as needing to be shoveled. but we are dealing with deep rain in the deep south. what is that, four days in a row, five days in a row with cloudy rainy weather in the deep south. it helps the drought in georgia.

the northern ozarks, southern missouri, maybe a little snow, an inch or two. temperatures are above freezing so the roadways are a little wet. as far as that forecast for tonight as it makes its way to the mid-atlantic, maybe a coating to an inch, baltimore, and new york city, half an inch. that's this time tomorrow. as i said, not really a huge deal. very nice day in the west, by the way. that's a look at your national forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. austin texas has 65 and sunny. albuquerque, 46. there is pretty nice weather out there, a little chilly with new mexico's standards. baltimore, again, a chance of rain and snow showers will be later today. >> and i'll have an update on the forecast for that weekend storm coming up. >> all right. thanks so much, bill. well, straight ahead, no power and just a handful of working toilets equals misery for 4,000 carnival cruise

passengers. plus, a fresh senator getting slapped down by veteran colleagues. "early today" is back in two minutes.

welcome back. here are some other stories making news this morning. chuck hagel is one step closer to becoming secretary of defense. the senator armed services committee approved his nomination along party lines 14-11. hearings became heated after texas senator ted cruz suggested hagel received money from what he called quote extreme and radical groups. >> this senator feels like that senator cruz has gone over the line. he basically has impugned the patriotism of the nominee. >> senator hagel is an honorable man. he's served his country and no one on this committee at anytime should impugn his character or his integrity. >> meanwhile, treasury secretary

jack lew heads to capitol hill for his confirmation hearing. it's confirmed that he will succeed timothy geithner. conditions seem to be going from bad to worse aboard the abandoned cruise ship. those on board said filled with sick passengers, scarce food and only a handful of toilets. the ship is being towed. and a tiny affenpinscher beat out hundreds to win best in show at the westminster kennel club. banana joe, or joe, was best in show. and a little m and a action gives markets a boost. keep an eye on the current owner of this network. trading on comcast such earlier than expected. acquisition of g.e.'s remaining

stake in universal. it will end 21 years of partnership. comcast will also purchase our iconic mro iic properties h0 rockefeller center. the tech sector bellweather delivers after the bell. and tim cook fired back about his companies $137 billion stockpile of cash. he called it a silly side show. but did say a program to return funds to share holders would be considered. meanwhile, an online tv streaming service. >> on the fiscal front the u.s. treasury reported a rare surplus in january of $2.9 billion thanks to that social security tax cut that expired last month. meanwhile, transunion says

the national rate hike on payments has fallen. a happy valentine's day is not compliblg indicated. 79% of women said a romantic dinner and movie is their preferred valentine's day date. but a special treat to help your lady wouldn't hurt. edible shoe designs from the chocolatier go from $30 to $50 a pair. meet the world's basketball free-throw shooter in action. plus, what started this courtroom brawl. and how did it get so out of control?

welcome back. now to some other stories that caught our eye this morning. we start with nebraska where drama in a courtroom with two families attending a sentencing hearing broke into an all-out brawl. police had to use pepper spray and fin down some of the fighters to regain control of the situation. one person was september to the hospital and two others were arrested. in boston, all that snow has to go somewhere. so city crews have enlisted a snowzillo that convert water into hot air. and now to chicago where 62 children from 23 countries took their oath and were sworn in as u.s. citizens. mayor rahm emanuel was the key

speak over the city's first ceremony dedicated solely to kids. instate update. michigan state versus michigan. number 8 hosted archrival number 4 michigan. it quickly turned into a rout with michigan state up 20 points. it's the first time in history that the two teams were in top team. in gainesville, number 7 florida state undefeated at home and cruised to an easy win over kentucky 69-42. and florida takes over first place in the southeast conference. a scathing allegation, the head of the world anti-doping agency says 25% of world supports are controlled to one degree or another by criminals. the same ones that run drug cartels. wrestling will have one last chance to stay in the game. 2016 will be the last game. and they'll decide which to

secure the spot in 2020 games. hernandez signs a deal that makes him the highest pitcher in baseball. and on the tonight show, jay leno welcomes jay fisher. a former basketball coach from kansas who has perfected his free-throw form. clearly, he's called the world's fastest free-throw shooter. in 30 seconds last night he made 27 free throws, only five less than his current world record of 33. >> announcer: "early today" sports is brought to you by touch of gray. get rid of some gray, never all. just ahead, steven spielberg is sending school kids everywhere around. plus, a car courier turned sled helped save a woman in labor. details coming up next.

welcome back. good news continues with the upcoming weekend's forecast. the ocean storm looks to remain that. an ocean storm. having very minimal impact on the new england area and the mid-atlantic. if anything, just keep being a little breezier and colder. because that cold blast will come down this weekend, no matter what for just about everyone in the eastern half of the country. the good news, short-lived. rain in late in the day for the mid-atlantic. >> thanks so much, bill. turning now to entertainment, students across the country will get a healthy dose of abraham lincoln courtesy

of steven spielberg. the director announced he's sending free copies of "lincoln" as part of a program. on tuesday, a whole lot of celebs announced they're pregnant. alec baldwin and his wife ended months of speculation. javier cruz announced they're expecting their second child. and meadow from sopranos announced she's having her second baby. queen elizabeth topped the list of the world's most powerful women with j.k. rowling and victoria beckham. and finally jay-z celebrated his big grammy wins by drinking cognac out of his grammy trophy.

>> they have these shelves, right, trophy rooms. >> if anybody knows, tweet us, they must have dozens easily. >> probably had to build an addition. build a new mansion. >> exactly. this next one comes from wvit in west hartford, connecticut, lori went into labor after three feet of snow was dumped on her neighborhood. unable to get to the hospital by car, her neighbors and husband used luggage on wood to pull her to the hospital. i thought the storm was no match for the baby, but it was no match for the mom. >> that is really a cute picture to have, being pulled in the sled. >> really cute. >> i'm mara schiavocampo, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

>> you're watching wbal-tv 11. live, local, late-breaking. this is 11 news today at 5:00 a.m. >> good morning. we are off to a quiet start. let's take a look at the temperatures. 30's.20's and low 39 degrees downtown. increasing clouds today. we will see a mix of rain and snow today. temperatures way above freezing in the lower end of the 40's.

>> 34 degrees at the airport. the manhunt for a fugitive former officer may be over. the next step before closing the case. >> a police trainee shot during a training exercise. that story is straight ahead. >> let's prove there's no better place to do business. >> president obama lays out his plans for economic recovery. >> we are taking a look at the pierr

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