Economic waves from europe dont come crashing against american shores. Tom forman, cnn, stevensville, maryland. Thats it for us, thanks for watching. Early start begins now. Sick day friday. Doctors struggle to control a fierce flu outbreak spreading through offices and job sites. Hero in the classroom this teacher is one of two staffers who stared down the barrel of a shotgun and talked a School Shooter into giving up. And this size says it all. Severe storms leave parts of one Southern State completely unwater. Good morning. Welcome to early start. Im john bermman. It is friday, im zoraida sambolin. Its friday, january 11th. Up first, the fastspreading flu now officially an epidemic. The flu season has come early, hit really hard. Nearly two dozen children have died. Widespread activity reported in more than 40 states as well. Bostons mayor just declared a citywide emergency because of the flu. And now a leading Health Official acknowledging the outbreak has reached a new level. If you look at the charts that the cdc put out on their website, it clearly has gone above that threshold. We are into what would classically be described as a flu epidemic. Senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is live in ft. Worth, texas, with what may be some good news. She has an early read on the new flu numbers that were getting. Elizabeth, what have you learned . The cdc every friday release the new flu numbers. I got an early look at them. As you said a little bit of good news. The flu activity in this country has gone down a bit. Two weeks ago we were talking about 29 states having high levels of flu activity. Now were talking about 24 states having high level of flu activity. That is good news. Now i want to talk about the numbers in a sightly different way. This gets confusing, so bear with me. Were seeing less flu in the united states, but it is spread out more. Geographically it has spread out to more locations. So, to put that in terms of numbers, two weeks ago, 41 states were seeing widespread activity, meaning it was throughout various regions of their state. Now 47 states say theyre seeing flu in various regions of their state. So spread out more, but the actual number of people who are having flu symptoms has actually gone down. So thats good news. It is good news. So this is the way flu goes. The numbers go up, then you often see that they start to sort of hit a peak, and then they start to come down. We dont know if we hit the peak yet, and its different in different parts of the country. In the southeast, where everything sort of started, where the numbers started getting bigger earlier, we are seeing some of those numbers come down now. Thats good for people in the southeast. They experienced it earliest and now the numbers are going down earlier than other regions of the country. I think over here were experiencing it late. Theyre dropping like flies around here. Youre in ft. Worth, texas, where you spent the day yesterday with a little boy with the flu in the hospital. How is he doing this morning . Hes doing much better. I wanted to talk to his mom. This was a little boy who was sick, like you have kids. Kids get sick. But then he started getting sicker. This mom took action quickly. So hes just adorable. His name is darius carr. Lets listen to what his mother had to tell us yesterday. Did you know that flu could make a kid so sick so fast . No, i didnt. Not at all. I do now. I did not then. That was real scary. Like i told you, 30 minutes to an hour, he took a turn for the worst. Right in front of me. So, in the course of 30 minutes to an hour he went from being sort of a sick kid to being a kid who was having trouble breathing, he didnt even recognize his own mother. He became so delirious. My goodness. I know, can you imagine . That is the message your kid can get very sick, very fast with the flu. This child has asthma, so even worse for him. But it can happen any child. We wish him well. Thank you. Next hour at 6 30 eastern, well talk about the flu epidemic with the direct every of t director of the National Institutes of health. Pretty much everyone i know is sick right now. This is everywhere. I will ask the doctor how do you know if its the flu . We have a lot of people sick around here. Is it the flu . Do you not have the flu . Wash your hands and take care of yourselves. Four minutes after the hour. James holmes will be tried for murder in the colorado Movie Theater rampage. That decision from the judge who presided over his threeday evidence hearing this week. Holmes will be arraigned today on 166 counts of first degree murder and other charges. Hes accused of opening fire ensie inside an aurora, colorado theater killing 12. A 16yearold who opened fire critically wounding a classmate at his bakers field, California High School claims he was bullied. Investigators say he shot two boys and shot again but missed. The Kern County Sheriffs are saying he also had a hit list. The sheriffs also say a teacher and a counselor deserve high praise for talking the gunman down. This teacher and this counselor stood there face to face, not knowing whether hes going to turn that shotgun on them and because they have seen the news media throughout our country the last several months. They probably expected the worst, hoped for the best, but they gave their students a chance to escape and it worked. The suspect will be charged as a juvenile with attempted murder. It will be up to prosecutors to decide if he will be charged as an adult. This is happening as joe bidens federal task force on curbing gun violence begins to take action. The Vice President announcing he will make recommendations to president obama by tuesday. We will take you live to washington in just a few minutes. A live report from White House Correspondent dan lothian on the latest developments on this issue. Severe storms, including three tornado touchdowns, leave parts of louisiana under water. In one town, eunice, has been drenched with over a foot of rain in three days. Seven parishes have widespread flooding prompting governor bobby jindal to declare a state of emergency there. It has been an awful week for boeing 787 dreamliner aircraft. One of the most advanced planes ever. Two more mishaps on separate flights in japan today. A cracked cockpit window and an oil leak. This fires a fire, fuel spill and brake problems. The faa is set to announce a comprehensive review of the dream leaner. And this year mlb will conduct tests on players for hgh. The inseason hgh drug test is a huge concession from the players a serious advance in drug testing in baseball. Its interesting to see if the other sports follow suit. I think its great. Agree. Eight minutes after the hour. And jack lew, what an interesting signature this man has. If jack lew, president obamas nominee for treasury secretary gets the gig this scribble may be on all of your money. Lew may have the most illegible signature of all time. Look at it. Its nothing but a doodle. Like nine loops in a row. That is something my 2yearold would do. On treasury secretary. Yesterday president obama assured the world that the american dollar is, in fact, safe. I had never noticed jacks signature. And when this was highlighted yesterday in the press, i considered rescinding my offer to appoint him. Jack assures me that he is going to work to make at least one lett lett letter legible, should he be confirmed as secretary of treasury. This is what his signature would actually look like on the dollar bill. Thats just awful. Is it third grade when they focus on your handwriting skills and penmanship . Maybe he can sit in on a class. The treasury secretary wants to audit your class. Nine minutes past the hour. Yesterday we brought you the life or death drama of these whales trapped by ice. Today, my gosh, i was over the moon when i heard the update on this. We have such good news to share. Obviously you know what it is. But well share more details coming up sdp. And the young boy who vanished nearly 20 years ago, found alive and well. [ pop ] [ garth ] why settle for less . Great businesses deserve great rewards awesome [ male announcer ] the spark Business Card from capital one. Choose unlimited rewards with 2 cash back or double miles on every purchase, every day whats in your wallet . Your doctor will say get smart about your weight. Thats why theres glucerna hunger smart shakes. They have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly to help minimize blood sugar spikes. [ male announcer ] glucerna hunger smart. A smart way to help manage hunger and diabetes. Has oats that can help lower cholesterol . And it tastes good . Sure does wow. Its the honey, it makes it taste so. Well, would you look at the time. Whats the rush . Be happy. Be healthy. All right, give me a spot. You know my motto safety first. They could be dangerous. I think we should call animal control. Animal control . Psh. To be safe. Dont worry. I got this. Its a new motto. Announcer you dont have to be perfect to be a perfect parent. There are thousands of teens in foster care who dont need perfection, they need you. Vice president joe bidens Gun Control Task force will deliver its recommendation to president obama by tuesday, thats fast. Yesterday the Vice President met with representatives on various sides of the issue. The former head of a movie Industry Group argued that movies dont cause violence. White house correspondent dan lothian is following all these developments. Dan, the Vice President said he saw emerging consensus in some areas here. The nra said they were disappointed what is really going on here . Thats right. Thats essentially what we expected, the nra saying they wanted to come and listen to what the administration is talking about, but certainly the administration is looking for some tough guidelines here, to prevent violence in the future. So, some of the things that the Vice President says has been emerging from the discussion. He pointed out these are not his recommendations, but what hes hearing from all of these meetings is, at the top of the list, universal background checks. Not closing loopholes at sales, but universal background checks, and a ban on high capacity ammunition clips. These are two things that the Vice President says has been emerging at the top of the list from the discussions he has been holding. But the nra obviously pushing back on this. Clearly disappointed. Disappointed, they said, by how these meetings have less to do with protecting the children and more to do with the agenda, the attack on the Second Amendment, while claiming no policy proposals would be prejudged this task force spent most of its time on proposed restrictions on lawful firearms, tax paying americans. Some are asking can there be Common Ground . The nra is saying that will be difficult. Is there Common Ground . There isnt on guns, except in one area. We have for years urged that those who have been ajudjudicat as potentially violentlily ill should be included on the list of those who cant buy firearms. We have been talking about the high capacity firearms, and those did not come up yesterday. The hints the Vice President has been dropping day by day have been fascinating. Yesterday he met with movie industry types, yesterday its representatives from the video Game Industry. Any idea of the solutions or ideas he wants to hear from them . What the Vice President is trying to do is get at the root of the problem. Are these video games or movies out there leading kids, young people, adults to commit violent acts . So, that is the question that hes trying to get at. But theres push back from hollywood saying, you know, essentially they are taking steps to make sure that young people are not getting in to see these kinds of movies, violent movies, are not getting in or playing with some of these violent games. Take a listen or look at what one person from the Motion Picture association, the former chairman of the Motion Picture so association said. I dont think the abundance of movies that are put out by the Entertainment Industry are violent or cause violence. Hollywood does a pretty good job of letting parents know through its rating system, what kind of movie is coming out, whether theres violence or Sexual Conduct or other types of things. So hollywood pushing back saying theyre doing a good job of safeguarding keeping kids out of these movies. These are some things theyll have to figure out as they have these discussions. Dan lothian live for us in washington. Again, the Vice President s recommendations coming next tuesday which is really lightning fast by washington standards. It is. Its time to get you up to date. Christine romans with our top stories. Nasty flu bug spreading across the country reaching now epidemic levels according to one of the nations leading disease fighters, but cnns Elizabeth Cohen is learning the flu is falling off in some places where it started. The latest numbers do yue out t morning show 21 levels with high levels, compared with 29 states with high levels the week before. Good news for some parents wanting to adopt russian children. A law banning americans from adopting russian children will not be put into place for one year. That means some adoptions can proceed now, giving families so close new hope. A happy update to a story weve been following, those dozen killer whales stuck under sea ice sharing one shrinking breathing hole. They have escaped into canadas hudson bay. Winds reportedly shifted overnight moving the ice away from the coast and opening up the water. Had that breathing hole frozen over, these whales would have died likely. Thats such good news. They were taking turns coming up for air on this shrinking hole. Was awful to watch. Mother nature took over there. They were trying they were trying for a manmade solution. But youre not so optimistic, are you . Right now, it allows the whales to swim away. But they lost track of them. If it does freeze over again, theres no telling where they might be. I hope they swam far, far away and theyre fine now. Me, too. I would rather believe that. Time for your early reads, your local news making national headlines. First reporting for duty. In the state of South Carolina, look at this, tears, hugs and goodbyes as governor nicki haleys husband leaves for a yearlong deployment in afghanistan. He left with the other 46 members of his South CarolinaNational Guard unit. Hes a captain. In a statement the governor wrote we are a proud military family who understands the sacrifices any family goes through when a loved one is serving his or her country. We will miss him while hes away. He will be helping in afghanistan with agriculture and farming. She understands, though, right, the suffering families go through. In the indianapolis star, a missing boy found 19 years after his grandparents kidnapped him. Richard was just 5 years old when he disappeared. This was after a custody dispute. Landers who is now 24 and married, was found in minnesota thanks in part to his Social Security number. The grandparents were found in a nearby town under aliases. Police are not saying if they will face charges. The original charges were dropped back in 2008. His mom and dad, i think its a stepmother, say they have not seen him yet or talked to him yet but they plan on doing so. Can you imagine . So many years. 20 minutes after the hour. It is an anxious friday if you work on wall street. Mass layoffs in the work for some leading financial firms. My individual health profile. Not random statistics. They even reward me for addressing my health risks. So im doing fine. But shes still going to give me a heart attack. Were more than 78,000 people looking out for more than 70 million americans. Thats health in numbers. Unitedhealthcare. How did i know . Well, i didnt really. See, i figured low testosterone would decrease my sex drive. But when i started losing energy and became moody. Thats when i had an honest conversation with my doctor. We discussed all the symptoms. Then he gave me some blood tests. Showed it was low t. Thats it. It was a number not just me. 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Tell your doctor about your medical conditions and medications, especially insulin, corticosteroids, or medicines to decrease blood clotting. So. What do men do when a numbers too low . Turn it up [ male announcer ] in a clinical study, over 80 of treated men had their t levels restored to normal. Talk to your doctor about all your symptoms. Get the blood tests. Change your number. Turn it up. Androgel 1. 62 . We are minding your business. U. S. Stock futures are flat this morning. Yesterday marked a milestone. It did, a fiveyear high the s p 500. The highest close since december of 2007. What could possibly go wrong. Right. This morning were hearing japan is embarking on a stimulus to keep its economy afloat and to put juice into its economy. So watching the World Markets because of that. Watching closer to home on wall street, some nervous bankers this morning, wall street has been shrinking o