"jimmy fallon" happening right [ cheers and applause ] this morning on "early today" -- state of emergency. torrential rhines turned areas of the midwest into a flooded dangerous mess. numbers game. big winners and losers in the 2010 u.s. census. and stage fright. a stunt goes horribly wrong during a live performance on a stunt goes horribly wrong during a live performance on broadway. ptions paid for by nbc-universal television captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. welcome to our viewers across the nation including the pick time zone. i'm lynn berry. today, we begin with dashing through the rain. holiday spirits are being dampened across the western u.s. by a powerful weather system.

several days of rain has led to mudslides and massive flooding. in arizona, homes have been literally ripped off their foundations by the surging waters. in california, weather conditions have forced governor arnold schwarzenegger to declare a state of emergency for six southern counties, and in utah, fears about a dam failure triggered evacuations yesterday. city officials say the dam is still safe. nbc meterologist bill karins will have much more on the weather and the all-important holiday travel forecast. that's coming up in just a few minutes. first, the 2010 census number, out, and they show america's political map is about to change. we get more now from nbc's kristin dahlgren. >> 308,745,538 persons. >> reporter: for the first time america's population has topped 300 million.

and again, the 2010 census shows a shift from the north and east where states saw losses or minimal gains to the south and west where populations are booming. >> this is the very first decade in our history where the west region is actually larger than the midwest. >> michigan was the only state to lose residents. louisiana, the state in the south to show the slowest growth, perhaps a result of hurricane katrina. but the biggest impact may not be in population but in politics. results are used to reapportion 435 seats in the house of representatives. these states lose seats. new york and highway dropped two each, while these pick up representatives. texas with a gain of four. results were delivered to the president tuesday morning, and like the rest of us -- >> he was obviously interested in his own state, illinois which actually lost a seat in the house of representatives. >> reporter: for the president,

though, it could mean more. democrat leaning states were the ones who saw losses. republican states, the biggest gain. officials say it is a new and accurate picture of america. kristin dahlgren, nbc news, washington. thanks to a round of last-minute lobbying by the obama administration a new nuclear arms treaty clear add key hurdle in the senate tuesday and expected to pass a final vote today. nbc's tracie potts joins us from washington with more on that. tracie, good morning. >> reporter: lynn, good morning. and it looks like that treaty may be ratified in what was considered a text vote to move this issue forward. 67 senators voted to wrap up the discussion and move on to a final vote. that's exactly what they need to get this ratified. this is the treaty that would limit war heads and an inspection system. they will also vote on a-in-law

thl health care. the house has to act on that providing free health care for first reshoenders and others exposed to toxins at the world trade center site. $6.2 billion and reopening part ever the victims' compensation fund. republicans are concerned about the cost of this, and so expect a little bit more debate on that. finally, today president obama will sign the repeal of don't ask, don't tell. the military says it is starting to figure out how that will be implemented. for now the ban remains in place. lynn? >> tracie potts in washington, tracie, thanks. now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america -- in oregon, an elk re cued from an icy pond. not sure how sure he had been wading in the waters. after an hour and several unsuccessful attempts they able 20 pull the elk ashore. it took time to get its footing but it finally got its hoofs back on dry land.

and the production of "spider-man: turn off the dark" another accident. a stunt man fell 30 feet. the accident is under investigation although it points to "human error." the fourth injury related accident on the set during production. and one man ran 20 miles in a pink tutu after he promised to rahn mile for every $200 his company helped raise for charity. sure, he had some running gear on, but had you to get past all of that fluffy stuff. he didn't mind, though, and he's vowed to launch an annual tutu run. hopefully he gets some friends to go with him next time. now for a look at your national and regional weather let's check in with nbc's bill karins with the nbc weather channel forecast. a lot going on. >> amazing. six day nas row, lerynn.

in some area, worse today than any other day especially around san diego. heavy rain overnight. this radar lit up. the green is the rain. yellow and orange where the moderate to heavy rain is. the case all morning long. los angeles a lighter rain currently. the worst of it is down interstate 5. going to be a rough morning. here's a wider view of that radar and the heavy backing showing you back by santa barbara. still raining up the coast to san francisco. this storm system is finally going to prove out today. notice not much behind it. we're going to get a nice dry day tomorrow. a piece of it going up seattle and the puget sound, the main part rotating down through southern california. by the second half of the day it will slowly improve. a drenching rain. rainfall totals for the month, most of it has been in the last six days. ober six inches in l.a. the only spot has tops that, seattle at seven inches. shows how rare an event it is. very rare to see l.a. with as high rainfall totals inry spots.

salem, oregon, 45. spokane not bad at 33 and partly cloudy. lynn, we'll take a close are look at the forecast, any concerns we have, still potential for nuding and snowfall total was amazing in the mountains. >> absolutely. bill, thanks so much. well, wall street's new year's optimism. wikileaks next target is confirmed, and the unemployed millionaire. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus a new police investigation into allegations against lindsay lohan. a record setting night for the lady huskies. the mavericks right florida and shaquille o'neal like you've never seen him before. you're watching "early today."

good morning, and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are some of your top headlines this morning -- a federal judge has ordered the government to pay more than $2.5 million to a suspected terrorist organization, ruling that investigators wiretapped the group without a warrant. the judge ruled in favor of a now defunct charity group in oregon. according to the associated press, the alleged terror plot that emerged in england this week was aimed at landmarks and shopping areas there. the houses of parliament in london were apparently among the possible targets. on monday, a dozen men were arrested in the largest counterterrorism raid in nearly two years. amid simmering tensions on the korean peninsula, south korea is planning to go ahead with its largest ever live fire drill near north korea tomorrow. the south appears unmoved by an

apparent softening by the north which has senated it might allow international inspections of its nuclear atomic program. meanwhile, south korea lit up a giant christmas tree on a border hill near north korea. it's been off for seven years because of complaints by the north. and new york is getting ready for the holidays. a giant, seven-foot-tall number one arrived in times square for the 2011 new year's eve ball drop. >> and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 11,533 after gaining 55 points yesterday. the s&p edged up 7 points. the nasdaq rose 18. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei lost 24 points. but in hong kong, the hang seng added 51. optimism for the new year is on the rise on wall street. the upbeat sentiment pushed the s&p above its so-called pre-lehman collapse level.

several of the nation's largest banks picked up 1% while a couple of big mergers added to the outlook for the day ahead. today we'll see third quarter revised gdp and existing home sales. the still sluggish real estate market took a toll on home builder hovnanian. dropped 13% thanks to slow demand. federal officials say deutsche bank has admitted to criminal wrongdoing and agreed to pay more than $550 million for helping wealthy clients avoid paying hundreds of millions of dollars in u.s. taxes. new york's attorney general has filed charges against accounting giant ernst & young accusing them for helping lehman brothers hide things. ernst & young says there is no factual or legal basis. julian assange has confirmed bank of america is the target of his next big expose.

assange predicts, quote, if they're operating in the same way, there will be resignations. and keeping internet providers from interfery was web traffic down the road, and keep an eye on nike. shares close higher, but tumbled after the bell thanks to weaker than expected future orders. and apparently eating out when you're unemployed can pay off. at least it did for one lucky mcdonald's customer who hit the fast food chain's million dollar jackpot. and i'm sure he's loving it. dallas burns the sunshine state. the oregon trail leads to another award, and shaquille o'neal takes on a role you couldn't possibly have imagined him in. plus, 89 is just divine for the uconn women's basketball team and they've gone where no team has gone before. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead.

the weather forecast as we head towards christmas is all about where does the storm on the west coast go next. i'll have the details coming up. you're watching "early today." [ female announcer ] what will you gain when you lose?™

pride. pizzazz. sass! [ laughter ] [ woman ] i'm feeling that! [ female announcer ] the special k challenge™ begins january 1st. free personalized plans at specialk.com. what will you gain when you lose?™ good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, the ucla bruins had a record that was once thought

invincible, that was until uconn's lady huskies came along. here's nbc's mario solis with an early look at all your sports headlines. hello and good morning. the uconn women's basketball has done something no other team has ever done. they won their 9th consecutive game breaking the record of the ucla team of the early 70s. the lady huskies made it look easy. all-american mia moore rising to the occasion scoring 41 points. uconn doubles in the first half, 54-27. they cruise the rest of the way and win 93-62 for their 89th consecutive win. nba -- the mavericks are on an impressive run. they've now won 16 of 17 after beating the magic. to orlando, this three-pointer moves nowitzki past larry bird 25th place on the all-time scoring list. mavs are up. mavericks beat florida and beat

the heat and now magic 105-99. to college football -- oregon's taylor was named the player of the year. college basketball number 11 kansas stay and unlv, the three points knocked down late in the second. unlv upsets kc. 63-59. gets worse. the wildcats have two players suspended for receiving impermissible benefits. suspended indefinitely. shaquille o'neal was the conductor for the boston pops orchestra. shaq conducted three songs including the christmas classics "sleigh ride" the jackson five hit "can you feel it" and queen's "we are the champions." afterwards shaq says he developed a new found respect for conductors, because his arms were killing him afterwards. maybe the extra exercise will help shaq's free throw. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm mario solis.

>> that is fantastic. i love that. who are the top earners in hollywood? your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, while most 10-year-olds may be hoping for the latest electronic gadgets, we'll introduce you to one 10-year-old with a very different kind of christmas wish. you're watching "early today."

welcome back on this

extremely soggy morning. watching heavy rains once again in southern california. this is it. the peak of the rainfall for areas south of los angeles, down around san diego, getting it howard all night long and now pushing up into areas of central california. even now into northern arizona ars and nevada, too. the last really big day of heavy rains. after this we begin to clear it out. forecast for tomorrow, the sun will be out in l.a. that will be nice and also watching areas like las vegas and phoenix clearing out as our storm moves through the inner mountain west. if you're watching us on k 5 news in seattle, washington, see snow leopards, penguins and gorillas, take a trek at the winter celebration at the woodland park zoo. that's your pacific event of the day, lynn. >> thanks so much. now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment with this year ending much like the way it began. lindsay lohan in trouble. palm desert police are

investigating lohan for criminal battery against a technician at the betty ford clinic. the technician says she was injured in a confrontation with lohan, which she claims lohan was drinking trying to make it back into the compound. meanwhile, that technician has been fire for speaking to the media. forbes top list of top 25 world box office earners -- johnny depp is only tied for second thankses to surprise australian newcomer mia wasikowska. she played alice in "alice in wonderland." but with "the tourist" still in theaters, johnny depp should take second. and zsa zsa gabor's husband mistakenly glued his eyes shut when he mistook his wife's polish for eye drops. he'll be okay but has to wear an eye patch for two weeks. >> i'm not good with nail glue.

>> i hope you wouldn't be, though. something you use to stick on the fake nails. and it doesn't go in your eyes. >> okay. >> yeah. this comes to us from wkyc, channel 4 -- channel 3 in cleveland, ohio. helping honor his recently deceased aunt raising money for a grave marker his family can't afford. he wrote his pastor who gave him $50 to get started. after his mom posted the letter on facebook, generous donations followed reminding us of the real christmas spirit. evan says his good deed will be to give. indeed it will. i'm lynn berry, and this is "early today." just your first stop of the day, today on your nbc station.

european travel may be paralyzed by a massive snowstorm, but tourism is not. visitors to the eiffel tower took to the ice-skating rink for some memorable moments. the rink sits 187 feet above paris on a tier of the tower. crowds braved cold weather, but were likely excited to visit since europe's storm closed down the tower earlier in the week. in germany, one santa opted for scuba gear. this instead of reindeer. a swimming santa went under water to care for an aquarium fish tank. along with his diving gear, the santa wore the classic red coat and topped it off with a matching hat. he cleaned the window and gave out treats to small sharks and sting rays.

well, 2011 is the year of the rabbit. some in japan are already celebrating. one pet store has been dressing up bunnies to ring in the new year. pets come in for a little primping. get dressed up in kimonos and even a little bling, and owners can enjoy their makeover all year-round with a photo shoot to capture the memories. and we have the video to prove that. >> is that a true story? >> did you ever have a bunny? >> yeah, for about two weeks. >> you're the most anti-animal person i ever met. >> that's not true! i had a bunny, i had a gerbil, i had fish. i'm not an anti-animal person, bill. >> i apologize. >> yeah. i went on record. time now for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. in new york this morning, the u.n. security council will be meeting to discuss its mission in afghanistan. and a crash that killed the

los angeles angels pitcher faces 55 years to life in prison. his sentence is today. and an immigration hearing is scheduled in vancouver, canada, for actor randy quaid. he and his wife are wanted in the u.s. in a felony vandalism case involving a house. the house they were allegedly staying in as squatters. the couple is looking to remain in canada. all day long, you can stay on top of the very latest developments in those stories and others as they break on msnbc. and tonight be sure to watch brian williams with nbc "nightly news." and, finally, here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. find out the forecast for parts of california under a state of emergency in the wake of epic flooding. and meet a woman on a controversial new reality show, giving brides-to-were plastic surgery. now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and more. i'm lynn berry. thanks for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. have a good one. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

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