2001 Malibu overheating/brakes issue

Hi, I have a 2001 Malibu that has a 2 issues:
1) There is a horrible scraping noise when I apply the brakes. A friend of mine has said that this is the brake rotors(?) and that they need to be fixed right away.

2) When I'm driving, the temp gauge sits at about 3/4 of what it can reach when I'm highway driving, but if I slow down, it tops out and my engine seems to "stall" and I have little to no acceleration ability until the gauge comes out of the red zone. And even then I seem to be losing power and my car doesn't want to accelerate at a normal rate. If I sit at a red light too long, the gauge tops out and the car will start vibrating heavily. I can accelerate, but only to about 30 mph until the car comes out of the red zone. I had brand new coolant put in it a month ago and they even ran a system check and no leaks were found.
Anybody have any ideas as to what might be the problem?? Problem one seems like it might be pretty self-explanatory, so I'm not as stumped by it as I am with problem 2. Any guesses would be helpful! Thanks!

On the brakes, sounds like pads are metal on metal with the rotors! fix this ASAP!!!

As far as overheat goes, what eng. do you have? 3.1 is bad about lower intake gasket leak. Are the cooling fans working?

Continued driving like this will KILL your eng. Get it to a qualified shop and diagnosed!

Yes, I believe it is a 3.1. And yes I the cooling fans are working, but for whatever reason my car still tops out. There's speculation that it's the thermostat. I'm taking it in today, I just wanted some thoughts as to what the problem could possibly be. Thanks for your reply.

I agree with GMTECH1......could be a thermostat.....could also be the lower intakes leaking, causing you to lose coolant and creating an air pocket.....could also be a head gasket problem....

Check your coolant level....