Way. Dangerous dare, the socalled tide pod challenge, a trend among teens that has parents extremely worried. And a quick thinking shuttle driver narrowly avoids tragedy during a rock slide. Early today starts right now. Good morning. Im phillip mena. Im frances rivera. With less than 23 hours to go the government hertls toward a shut down. The president knows exactly who is to blame. I really believe the democrats want a shutdown to get off the subject of the tax cuts because they work so well. Nobody thought, including the democrats, it would work this well. Theyve been so good that i think the democrats would like to see a shutdown in order to get off that subject. Those remarks came as the president touched down in pittsburgh to tout recent economic gains and his tax plan just as the senate reached a major impasse that shows no signs of letting up. The central conflict, immigration. The reason were here right now is our friends on the other side say, solve this illegal immigration problem right now or were going to shut the government down. Weve simply ask the senate take up the measures we produced or produce a better one. And the leadser ship has refused. Democrats dont want to shut down the government. Republicans dont want to shut down the government. I believe that sincerely. The only person who has ever rooted for a shutdown, frankly, is our president , who said our country could use a good shutdown. That back and forth came after the house of representatives passed a shortterm funding bill that would keep the government open at least a month while fuldly funding the Childrens HealthInsurance Program six months. An attempt to get democrats on board with their fourweek budget bill. I think it is unconscionable the democrats would walk away from chip, from funding our military for something that is not a deadline. These states are running out of funding for chip and i cant imagine why anyone would want to not do that. Democrats are offering up a new ucnified opposition to the short term bill. At least four republicans now siding with the democrats against that shortterm funding measure. The question is will this political game of chicken lead to the first Government Shutdown in over four years . For more on this lets go to nbcs tracie potts on capitol hill. Tracie, good morning. Reporter philip, good morning. Its looking more possible by the hour. Make no mistake. The key issue here is daca protection for those undocumented immigrants brought here as children. 800,000 of them, that republicans say they can wait to deal with that issue because the president doesnt want to wind down the program until march. But democrats and, as you noted, some republicans say it does need to be handled now. People like lindsey graham, who wants to see a compromise. To the white house, tell me what your plan is to end the diversity lottery. Im willing to end it. Tell me how much money you want for Border Security and ill tell you whether or not its possible. The one thing i do know, were not going to give 11 Million People legal status and hope one day the democrats will work with us on the border, and theyre not going to i have go us all we want on the border and one day hope well deal with the 11 million. So, where do we go from here . Democrats say theyve got the votes this morning to block the shortterm measure that does not deal with the immigration issue at all. At least three, if not four republicans have indicated that they will also block that measure. So, it may go nowhere when those votes come up this morning. The other option is to perhaps extend the budget just a few days to try to get a compromise in place. So, where is President Trump in all of this . Literally headed out of town. Tonight he goes to florida to his maralago estate for a massive gala celebrating his first year in office. Phillip . No matter where he is, the clock is still ticking. Tracie, thank you. The flu outbreak continues its deadly grip on the nation with schools forced to close and some states to help stop the spread. Up to 30 of students in one oklahoma district are out sick and thats prompted schools to close for the week. Over the last month, schools have closed in texas, North Carolina, idaho and others because of the outbreak. Doctors say this season could last an additional 13 weeks with researchers desperately searching for a better vaccine as more lives are lost. Nbcs Kristen Dahlgren has more. Reporter across the country the flu has claimed another life in massachusetts. Its getting even more deadly in california. Reporter the flu is hitting hard and fast. By Tuesday Morning he was gone. Reporter young and old, even previously healthy people, are dying. An aggressive strain circulating. A new thermometer that connects to a smartphone, the kinza records fevers and symptoms in real time. Data showing more than 12 Million People may now have the flu. The most cases around st. Louis. According to the cdc, 78 of samples tested this year have been the most aggressive of the four known flu strains. H3n2. Our vaccine is probably least effective against h 3 n 2. Slightly less vaccine immunity and slightly more aggressiveness, it ends up being a bad year. These are flu viruss. Reporter new yorks mt. Sinai hospital is one of the places looking for a vaccine that covers all strains and mutations. Why is it so hard to find a vaccine that works across the board . Its always changing, and we need about six months to make a vaccine. Reporter the National Institutes of health has designated a socalled super vaccine, a top priority. One vaccine you wouldnt have to get every year. Its being tested, but could still be five to ten years away. So, for now the cdc is pushing the vaccine it does have. Protect your family. Everyone needs a flu vaccine. Reporter and a lot of hand washing. With as much as three months of flu season still to go. Kristen dahlgren, nbc news, new york. The parents of 13 captive siblings appeared in court for the first time facing felony accounts torture, abuse and false imprisonment charges. New details on the alleged conditions inside the home. One official called it a torture chamber. Nbc National CorrespondentMiguel Almaguer has more, and a warning many of the details are disturbing. Plain and simply enter pleas of not guilty. Reporter pleading not guilty in court. You understand that right . Reporter david and Louise Turpin facing multiple counts of torture and imprisonment. David turpin accused of committing a lewd act on a child. This is severe emotional, physical abuse. There is no way around that. These defendants are facing up to 94 years to life in prison. Reporter the District Attorney says the 13 children lived in a home described as a torture chamber. They were chained, abused, and allowed to shower only once a year. The Law Enforcement official tells nbc news the children were fed one rationed meal each day. They began to be tied up. First with ropes. One victim at one point was tied up and hog tied. Reporter the victims are so weak they are receiving antibiotics and nutrition through an iv. So malnourished they could still go into shock. The turpins 29yearold daughter weighs just 82 pounds. These defendants eventually began using chains and padlocks to chain up the victims to their beds. Reporter the alleged abuse got worse over time. There were beatings and strangulation. This were not allowed to have toys, although there were many toys found in the house that were in their original package and had never been opened. Reporter the rooms inside this home were urine filled. The children were not unchained to use the bathroom. The parents would apparently buy food for themselves and not allow the children to eat it. Reporter david and Louise Turpin shackled and hauled back to jail. A confinement say investigators more humane than what they subjected their own children to. When investigators arrived here, they say a 22yearold was chained to a bed. They say some of the children didnt even know what a Police Officer was. Hundreds of journals were also recovered. They could contain powerful evidence and the District Attorney says the suspects, the parents in this case, used to eat cake and pie in front of their starving children as they were forced to sit there and watch. Frances . Cant even imagine. Miguel almaguer, thank you. The deep freeze paralyzing the south has now killed at least 13 people. Among them an 8 month old in lou louisiana after this car lost control on an icy rote. Snow and ice are still coating roads triggering crashes from North Carolina to georgia. Black ice shut down highway lanes and caused a traffic back up there. And the treacherous roads forced this man in North Carolina to walk 7 miles round trip to check in on his 90yearold mother. Yeah, officials are scrambling to break up parts of rivers still frozen solid and posing flood threats. Many schools remained closed today as more bitter cold expect the. Lets talk about more bitter cold expected in other parts. We are getting a thaw, warm up. A cold morning then warm it up. Good morning, everyone. Today is warmer already than yesterday, but still frigid. In portions of the panhandle in florida, in the upper 20s than we had yesterday. Still freeze warnings in place. Still cold through the midatlantic through the northeast but not horrible. This is typical this time of year with temperatures dropping into the 20s. Look what happens today. 64 in tampa. Thats more like it. Mid to upper 40s in d. C. And even new england goes above freezing today. Icy sidewalks, we can do a z 3 05 eastern, then minnesota takes on philly at 6 40 eastern. It was love at first touch and all you wanted to do was surround them in comfort and protection thats why only pampers swaddlers is the 1 choice of hospitals to wrap your baby in blanketlike softness and premium protection mom oh hi baby so all they feel is love wishing you love, sleep and play. Pampers to treat her frequent before diheartburn. Xium 24hr lucy could only imagine enjoying a slice of pizza. Now, its as easy as pie. Nexium 24hr stops acid before it starts for allday, allnight protection. Can you imagine 24 hours without heartburn . You wouldnt do only half of your daily routine, so why treat your mouth any differently . Complete the job with listerine® help prevent plaque, early gum disease, bad breath and kill up to 99. 9 of germs. Listerine® bring out the bold™ my moms pain from moderate to severe Rheumatoid Arthritis was intense. I wondered if she could do the stuff she does for us which is kinda, a lot. And if that pain could mean something worse. Joint pain could mean joint damage. Enbrel helps relieve joint pain, and helps stop further damage enbrel may lower your ability to fight infections. Serious, sometimes fatal events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma other cancers, nervous system and Blood Disorders and allergic reactions have occurred. Tell your doctor if youve been someplace where fungal infections are common. Or if youre prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for Heart Failure or if you have persistent fever, bruising, bleeding or paleness. Dont start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. Since enbrel, my moms back to being my mom. Visit enbrel. Com. And use the joint damage simulator to see how joint damage could progress. Ask about enbrel. Enbrel. Fda approved for over 18 years. Leading the news this morning, mcclatchy reports the fbi is looking into whether a russian banker with ties to the kremlin illegally funded money into the nra to help then candidate donald trump during the 2016 president ial election. Mcclatchy did not report on how long the fbi may have been investigating that banker. Alexander, the Deputy Governor of russias central bank. The it comes on the heels of congressional testimony from glenn soimpson, the cofounder f gps the author of the dossier. It appears the russians, you know, infiltrated the nra the broadly speaking it appears the russian operation was dee signed to infiltrate conservative organizations. He added, targeted various organizations religious and otherwise and they seem to have made a very concerted effort to get in with the nra. This could be one of the first reports we have that centers around Money Laundering during the 2016 election. It began with over 230 very hopeful cities now its down to just 20. Amazon released its new short list of contenders for its second headquarters. The 20 finalists are mostly in the east and the south, from big cities like boston, dallas and atlanta, to the midsize like columbus, raleigh, and nashville. Toronto was the only finalist outside of the u. S. And competition is expected to be fierce with bidders offering tax incentives and other perks. Amazon says it will now examine each proposal more closely to determine feasibility. The decision is expected later this year. At least 15 people were injured including one child after a car drove into the crowded sea side board walk along copacabana beech in Rio De Janeiro brazil. The car lost control and mounted the pavement along the iconic beach. The car stopped in the sand after it apparently crossed the wide sidewalk that runs between the beach and the busy road. Officials claim the driver suffered an epileptic seizure. Brazilian tv reports the driver has been taken into custody. Vh 1 has revealed the guest judges for the third season of rue pauls drag race all stars. Its packed with names you might expect, but one you might not. House of representatives Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi confirmed her appearance on twitter saying, you better werk sharing had he had a fabulous time as a judge. The new season of the show appears on vh 1 thursday, january 25th at 8 00 p. M. With the season featuring a star studded group of guest judges including singer adam lambert, tight us burr jess, bee signer mark jacobs. And notice the spelling of werk from nancy pelosi, werk. Shes woke. Still ahead, Details Behind this threatening narrow escape. Except for these two fellows. This time next year, were gonna be sitting on an egg. I think were getting close make a uturn. Uturn . Recalculating. Man, we are never gonna breed. Just give it a second. You will arrive in 92 days. Nah, nuhuh. Nope, nope, nope. You know who im gonna follow . My instincts. As long as gps can still get you lost, you can count on geico saving folks money. Im breeding, man. Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. Perfectly seasoning our ohillshire farm smoked sausage. So by simply adding the right ingredients. You can end each day crafting a perfectly delicious dinner. I tabut with my back paines, i couldnt sleep and get up in time. Then i found aleve pm. Aleve pm is the only one to combine a safe sleep aid plus the 12 hour pain relieving strength of aleve. Im back. Aleve pm for a better am. vo more dper rollres for mom more doing chores for dad per roll more earning something you love per roll bounty is more absorbent, so the roll can last 50 longer than the leading ordinary brand. So you get more life per roll. Bounty the quicker picker upper. In michigan a terrifying close call was caught on a dash cav. It slams into a tow truck that went airborne. The tow truck driver barely escaped with his life. Amazingly he was not injured. Neither was anyone else. Michigan state Police Released the video as a reminder to slow down in the snow and icy conditions. He disappears. The truck driver. Feels a little taller. Didnt even nick him. Chrissy tiegen was freaking out when she welcomed a guest at the live show. You guys, im freaking out. Guess who came to support us at lip sync battle live . Oh, my gosh. You guys, im freaking out. Its a robot with a supermodel. The meeting came weeks after the back and forth tweets between the two. Even early today got involved tweeting our coverage about it. It was better to be friends, even prompting sophia, sophia the robot. The no word the pair made any future plans to hang out as you can see theyre on the snap with their flower crowns. Took me awhile to recognize it. Thats right. Speaking of social media, have you ever worried about how long ago someone saw a message that you sent to them . Well, there is a new instagram feature that will help you do that. A little number next to the last message sent in direct messages shows how long ago that person was last on the app. To be clear, all of your general followers wont be able to see when you were most recently on instagram. Just people you have previously chatted with. So, if youre not a fan of letting people know this, this is a feature that can easily be turned off in the settings. But i dont know, mixed feelings about that. I turn mine off right away. If youre always on it will constant constantly show, two minutes ago, men a was on. Never less than two minutes. Still ahead, a royal make over as Prince William embraces his baldness. Youre watching early today. So probably take it at night. And if you have any questions, the instructions are here in spanish as you requested. Gracias. At walgreens, how we care will change over time, but why we care remains the same treating everyone with the care and attention they deserve. Walgreens. Trusted since 1901. Kelp is on the way with herbal essences bio renew made with active antioxidants that work from the inside out. To help animate lifeless hair. Let life in with herbal essences bio renew. Get ready for the wild life with one a day mens. A complete multivitamin with key nutrients, plus b vitamins for heart health. Your one a day is showing. Psoriatic arthritis tries to get in my way . Watch me. Ive tried lots of things for my joint pain. Now . Watch me. Think id give up showing these guys how its done . Please. Real people with active Psoriatic Arthritis are changing the way they fight it. Theyre moving forward with cosentyx®. Its a different kind of targeted biologic. Its proven to help people find less joint pain and clearer skin. Dont use if you are allergic to cosentyx