anne thompson has the details. >> reporter: appearing to smirk -- >> are you listening? >> reporter: and often inattentive. >> yeah. >> reporter: former pharmaceutical ceo martin shkreli lived up to his bad-boy reputation appearing before congress. >> i intend to use the advice of my counsel, not yours. >> reporter: posing for pictures instead of listening. >> it's not funny, mr. shkreli, people are dying, and they're sicker. >> reporter: he declined to answer why he raised their life-saving drugs 5,000%. did anything wrong? >> on advice of counsel, i invoke my fifth amendment privilege. >> reporter: the 32-year-old usually loves to talk. >> i'm from the streets. >> reporter: but today he let his attorney speak for him. >> what you saw was nervous energy by an individual who very much would like to explain what happened. >> reporter: leaving the other drug company executives to face furious questioners. >> i find it repulsive what you've done. >> reporter: valiant under fire for jacking up prices on two heart medicines and other well-established drugs. >> where we've mad

anne thompson, nbc news, mexico. >>> 48 people had to be rescued from a frigid new england ski slope after their tram cars got stuck 40 feet above the ground. look at this. rescuers actually had to use rope to help stranded schoolers propel through a hatch in the bottom of the car to the ground thankfully nobody was injured. they say a breaking sis is to blame and it could take a few days to fix the problem. >>> marvel's latest movie "flick" has started. "dead pool" earn $135 million. "dead pool" had been the biggest. also for the biggest february weekend and biggest president's four-day weekend. meanwhile it debuted in third while ben stiller's much hyped "zoolander 2" took in a disappointed $16.7 million. >>> an accusation of a woman choking spitzer. >>> and get rt rd for a triple threat with three separate covers. you're watching "early today." ay." heart isn't pumping well. (water filling room) about 50 percent of people die (dog whimpering) within 5 years of getting diagnosed. but there's something you can do. talk to your doctor about heart failure treatment options. because th

this despite the catholic church's ban on contraceptives, we get more from nbc's anne thompson in rome. >> reporter: returning from mexico, pope francis surprised many by opening the door to the use of artificial contraception to prevent the sexual transmission of zika, the vi rugs rampant in his native latin america, linked to babies born with it's similar, he said, granted to the nuns in the belgian congo when they were routinely raped in the 1960s. francis continues to shock, as he did in 2013 when he said the church has been historically too obsessed with things like birth control, abortion and gay marriage. >> to say he's simply loosening up church teaching is a misreading of what he's doing. this is a pastor, and a pastor responds to people in their situation. >> reporter: it was revealed in letters this week, francis said a friendship with a woman is not a sin. the pope needs the input of women. he said a man who doesn't have a friendship with a woman is missing something. as with donald trump and immigration, pope francis is proving once again that he is not afraid of taking on

border attracting tens of thousand of followers on as nbc's anne thompson explains the pope is seizing this moment to make an emotional plea on the issue of immigration. >> reporter: a simple gesture and powerful message. at the u.s. border fence pope francis builds a symbolic bridge from mexico on immigration. francis himself the son of immigrants seeking to put a human face on the people fleeing what he calls grave injustices, poverty, exploitation and violence. among the hundreds of thousands here to see him, 21-year-old jasmine flores who crosses the border every day to go to school. >> for him just to cam to juarez, means everything to us. >> reporter: no longer the murder capital of the world juarez is still a dangerous place. father half jer kovalio runs a shelter for immigrants. he says he hopes francis can make americans see the people he helps every day should be as he does on nearly every foreign trip, francis visited a prison. one of the inmate musicians overwhelmed. this evening's mass broadcast on both sides of the border. >> religion reaches over walls, over mountains. >

anne thompson, nbc news, new york. >>> we're back in a moment with the race to rescue dozen from >>> the clock is ticking to rescue the more than 100 people to still be believed to be trapped after the powerful four more were pulled from the rubble today including an 8-year-old girl who was trapped for more than 60 hours. more than 30 people are confirmed dead, but officials warn that total could top 100. >>> 112 million people watched the denver broncos beat the carolina panthers last night in super bowl 50. peyton manning celebrated today with his kids and a parade at disneyland. on the "today" show manning side stepped questions over whether last night's win marked his retirement retirement. carolina's cam newton is being criticized widely for his play on the field and behavior afterward, walking in a post-game news conference. at halftime many agreed beyonce stole the show from headliner coldplay and as usual some of the most talked about moments were the ads from the funny to the bizarre to the controversial. >>> when we come back here tonight, is lighter side of the 2016 race.

nbc's anne thompson has the details. >> can't afford to let heartburn get in the way? >> reporter: stopping heartburn is big business. >> zero heartburn. >> reporter: sold as nexium, prilosec and prevacid more than 15 million americans shelled out more than $10 billion in 2013 for the prescription versions of these drugs called proton pump inhibitors. now a new study from johns hopkins says the acid-reducing drugs may increase the risk for chronic kidney disease 20% to 50%. cleveland clinic kidney specialist is treating kim hinkel. >> kim had normal kidney function in march, and blood work in august showed kidney function down to 30%. >> reporter: kim was taking one of the over-the-counter versions. on a hunch the doctor had kim stop, and her kidneys improved. >> i was lucky it was caught early and that we can do something about it. >> reporter: for over-the-counter acid reducers, the fda recommends they be used for 14 days and no more than three times a year. for the prescription versions, the package insert recommends for most conditions the pills be taken for up to

lester. >> anne thompson tonight in mexico, thanks. study that could affect millions of men who suffered from low testosterone. low-t as ads call it have been linked to everything from loss of energy, muscle mass and sexual function to increased vulnerability to illness, and now as nbc's tom costello tells us new research sponsored by the national institute of health shows testosterone replacement therapy may have benefits. >> i figured low testosterone would decrease my sex drive. >> reporter: it's a nearly $5 billion a year market. testosterone replacement therapy hoping to boost their energy, sexual desire and function. among them 62-year-old ed stevens who said at the age of 55 he suddenly began to feel tired and depressed. >> i just felt off, and at the gym i started losing ground. >> reporter: diagnosed with low-t he began testosterone replacement therapy. >> my body mass came back to where it was. my energy was better, libido was a little better. >> reporter: now for the first time a national study has found that a testosterone replacement gel provided some benefits to men 65 and

ann thompson, nbc news, new york. >>> meteorologist, bill karins here with your friday forecast. >> a slippery morning for the morning commute. we have winter storm warnings in new england and winter weather advisory from i 95 to the coast. to snow in many areas. and right down along the coast. what makes this forecast interesting and difficult is the temperatures are above freezing. in some cases, ssignificantly above freezing. and we get the accumulation but wet. most of the accumulations will be on the grassy surfaces. the heavier areas of snow in areas along i 95 south from boston down along the coast. hartford to new york city, looks like the grass areas could pick up three to four inches. it's a little chilly in minneapolis and chicago. we will be watching a weak storm on the west coast. seasonably cool from oklahoma down to the southeast. so saturday is going to be fine and super bowl sunday looks fine at 68 and sunny. we will see snow showers in the great lakes. there's a big storm off the southeast coast. now a closer look at your day ahead. so, in areas of new england and th

ann thompson is traveling with the pope and has the report. >> reporter: today, mexico city opened its arms to pope francis. the sight of the son of latin america beaming in the city tears. >> i'm going to cry. >> reporter: others to hope. >> life changing pope. church. >> reporter: drawing the faithful from all over the americas. describing himself as missionary of mercy he challenged them to focus on the common good and eliminate economic inequality that is fertile ground for corruption and drugs. mexico is the second largest catholic country in the world. 83% of the people here claim the faith. of the shrine, a must on francis' itinerary today. country bloodied by the violence of drug cartel cartels. speaking to the local bishop, he said the drug trade devours like a spreading cancer, threatening society. more than 164,000 people murdered since 2007. including at least 36 priests killed in the last ten years. missing. 13 every day. this man's only son is one of 43 students kidnapped and believed dead. he says he wants to meet the pope because he believes francis can give the parents

nbc's anne thompson is at vatican city. >> reporter: good morning, sheinelle. the vatican is trying to tamp down the furor over the pope's comments. pope's words were not a personal attack. he did not mention trump by name. now like popes before him, he is in the middle of the political debate. pope francis paid at the border as a pastor. but the words on the papal plane sounded political to many. saying a person who thinks only about building walls and not bridges is not christian. >> for a religious leader to question a person's faith is disgraceful. >> it wasn't pope francis's intention to get involved in that particular candidate. i think it was donald trump's reaction and other people's reaction is turn this into a political episode. >> reporter: they have a history of smiling, but clashing on policy. john paul ii took issue with clinton and bush for the pro abortion position and the republican for the second iraq war. benedict admonished president and stem cell research. and this past september, francis urged congress to take action on climate change. >>

nbc's anne thompson is in mexico city. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, craig. this city is buzzing from the rousing welcome given to pope francis last night. he arrived in darkness, but greeted with light as thousands held up the portable light sticks and chanted his name. children rushed the pontiff on the tarmac reaching out to welcome him to mexico. while dancers in traditional dress performed for the pontiff. there was a mariachi band as well. one offered his sombrero and he put it on for a moment. from rome, this sombrero was offered to him. on the flight, he said he was excited to come to mexico. i had a chance to ask him about whether he is concerned about the zika virus that is so prevalent here in latin america. the pope told me no. earlier, he stopped over in havana for what turned out to be an historic meeting with the patriarch of the russian orthodox church. the first time the two leaders of those churches met. pope francis described it as a conversation between two brothers. these institutions had been separated for centuries. today is official bu