this morning on "early today" -- planes, trains and automobiles. millions of americans prepare to hit the road on one of the busiest holiday travel weekends. money mess. the massive storm cleanup that's under way in southern california and what's in store for the rest of the country. and coin toss. the newly unveiled royal engement commemoration is raising some eyebrows. 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. and today we begin with heading home for the holidays.

if you are hitting the roads or the skies this christmas eve, you won't be alone. more people are traveling this year than last year, says aaa. while that's a good sign for the economy, it may not be good for your wallet or patience. stephanie stanton is at chicago's o'hare airport where things are already wicking up. picking up. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, lynn. thing, picking up. the kinds you use for your coffee are not banned but the tsa will pay extra attention to folks carrying these. tsa says it has intelligence some terrorists may be using these to carry explosives. as for the scene at chicago's o'hare airport, some 1.8 million travelers expected to pass through here. this is, of course, one of the busiest airports in the country. you can see the security line behind me. it is starting to fill up now. it's slowly starting to get busier and busier. as for the flights themselves,

at this point there are no weather-related delays, although here in chicago, we're expecting to get one to two inches of snow this afternoon. but the weather cooperating for now. other parts of the country are bracing for old man winter. the southeast expected to get a dousing of snow just before christmas. now, one final thing. officials here at chicago and other major airports are advising travelers to get there two hours before their flight takes off and also saying, don't bring any wrapped gifts. if you do, they could be unwrap and inspected. lynn, back to you. >> stephanie there in chicago. thanks so much and have a happy holiday. well, the increase in travel letters not help matters in the west where the recent onslaught of rain wreaked havoc. the downpours forced disaster declarations in at least ten california contis due to flooding and mudslide damage. in highland, at least 70 homes have been inundated with mud as

the focus changed to clean up. meanwhile, ground crews at qualcomm stadium worked around the clock to successfully clear that submerged field for last night's poinsettia bowl. they last saw this in 1972, but residents are preparing for a heavy snowstorm this weekend. we'll have much more on what's in store for your holiday commute coming up in weather. all right. did you make your list? check it twice? and did you realize you still have plent toy do? you're in luck and so are shop owners. across the country, stores have extended hours today, and it's expected to be a huge day for long-suffering retailers. kristin dahlgren has more from washington. kristin, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, lynn. this year is great for pro crafton natures. big retailers, macy's, toy stores staying open 24 hours a day leading up to the christmas holiday and a lot of people taking at advantage of that. consumer reports did a survey. turns out about 17% of americans

haven't even started holiday shopping before this week. a lot more people, though, have been out in stores. americans spent about 15 hours per year on holiday shopping. they're also spending more this year. last weekend, the big weekend before christmas, they spent about $19 billion. retailers expecting sales to be up. the best year since the recession started. also, online shopping up 15.4% this year. a huge year for e-commerce. another big day for e-commerce expected to be on christmas when people buy all the apps, ereaders, things like that, they get on christmas, lynn. >> thanks, kristen dahlgren, have a good one. >> reporter: you, too. >> now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. in utah, a power outage at a ski resort stranded about 300 people stuck on lifts for more than an hour. police say auxiliary power was restored to help get people off the lift, but ropes and a pulley

system were used to rescue about 50 people. officials say heavy snow and a downed tree could be to blame. in florida, a single engine plane landed bell you up near a runway. the pilot, the only one onboard was doing touch-and-go exercises where the plane flipped. fortunately, the pilot walked away unharmed. and a texas man, 20 year after immigrating, diagnosed with a terminal form of cancer last may and immediately a sense of urgency felt an urgency to become a u.s. citizen. too weak to attend the ceremony, instead the judge came to him. he took his oath. one final legacy he hopes to leave with his family. and here's meteorologist todd santos with the weather channel's forecast. todd, good morning. >> good morning, lynn. of course, a lot of people taking to the skies today. heading out on the roads.

also stuff going on. of course, a plane coming to or from dallas-ft. worth area, thunderstorms just south and that could slow things down. as mentioned earlier in the show, again, about one to almost three inches worth of snow expected in and around chicago and extending a little ways west. that could be tricky as far as travel is concerned. east coast looking relatively quiet, but also west coast, another chance for showers pushing in towards the area. we still have that upper level low there. again, you still have, again, some of the showers especially through coastal washington and oregon. snowfall into saturday. we'll see that front. you can see the outline there of the clouds moving onshore. could be showers towards santa barbara and upwards of an inch of rain closer to the coastline and into areas dealing with huge amounts of rain. still recovering, southern california and the hollywood hills, about, say, a quarter inch or less. so not huge amounts. again, by sunday, should be out of the area. of course, a look at temperatures, a l a wet christmas

as opposed to white. look out for snow in higher elevations. lynn, talking about snow especially high up with this system as it moves in. talk more about the sierras coming up. >> thanks, todd. and prices at the pumps surge and who's stealing santa's business? your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus ben stiller and robert denear other are back for another stab at box office gold. just ahead a preview of the nhl's winter classic. the magic put a spell on the spurs and a major suspension to ohio state's terrelle pryor. 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 -- the u.n. is investigating a complaint that bradley manning, the army private suspected of giving documents to wikileaks has been mistreated in custody. a claim he spends 23 hours a day alone in a cell and the conditions he's being kept in amount to torture. the pentagon denies mistreating him. according to u.s. times, america has allowed american companies to do billions of dollars worth of business with iran in support of state terrorism. the report says over the last decade, the treasury department granted nearly 10,000 documents to u.s. firms. the law behind the licenses says agricultural and humanitarian aid is an exemption. it was written so broadly, it allows for questionable items including cigarettes, gum and hot sauce. in china, construction

workers found a cellar full of 800-year-old chinese coins possibly at the site of an ancient bank. no word on their value. and while in china, there may be excitement over these coins for a new coin in england it's a different story. critics say one featuring prince william and fiancee kate middleton looks nothing like that. still, the coin was approved by both the queen and prince william. yeah. not even close. u.s. markets are closed for the holiday weekend, but here is an early look at how they ended on thursday. the dow closed at 11,573 after adding 14 points yesterday. the s&p shed two points, the nasdaq dipped five. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei lost 67 points while in hong kong, the hang seng fell 69. on wall street's last day of trade before christmas thursday,

stocks mostly flat and volume was low, but that didn't stop 14 weeks of gains. the day's data was almost entirely rosy. consumer sentiment rose to its highest level since june. demand for durable goods surged. first-time jobless benefits edged down. the latest survey on investor sentiment rose to a six-year high. energy stocks led as the price of oil continued its sharp rise up to a two-year high of more than $91 a barrel. not coincidentally, aaa announced the average pump price of regular gas rose above $3 a gallon thursday for the first time ever in the christmas season. back in stocks -- bed, bath a& beyond was up afte forecasting a strong holiday season. micron technology tumbled more than 4% after lowering its chip pricing forecast. elsewhere -- jo anne stores surged almost 32% after agreeing to be bought by a private equity firm for $1.6 billion.

toyota is paying $10 million to settle claims over a california crash that sparked a recall over unintended acceleration in its vehicles. the s.e.c. has given his approval to comcast purchase of nbc universal. it made clear several conditions must be addressed. finally, personal appearance santas report business is bad this year, and we know at least one reason why. there's some competition. in thailand today, an elephant played santa passing out gifts to schoolchildren. no word yet on whether the santa union plans to file a grievance against the dancing santa. how can ya? come on. the spurs run into and out of magic. the heat eclipses the sun. and sid the kid does it again. plus, any hope the panthers had of stealing away a victory in pittsburgh last night were dashed early and often by the mighty steelers.

your early morning sports headlines are just ahead. and with millions of us in the skies and on the roads for travel coast to coast, we'll take another look at your travel. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." and in sports -- the carolina panthers are still the nfl's only winless

team on the road as last night, the pittsburgh steelers continued their march towards the playoffs. here's nbc's mario solis with a early look at all your sports headlines. hello and good morning. to pittsburgh, the steelers leading from start to finish. ben roethlisberger to mike wallace and wallace does the rest. 43 yards to the house. this one was over by half time. steelers win easily, 27-3. big news in college football, five ohio state players, including star quarterback terrelle pryor have been suspended for the first five game of that season for selling awards. however, none will have to miss the bowl game. ronnie hill goes off with 244 al-purpose yards and four touchdowns the. san diego state sinks navy, 35-14. to the nba, orlando has

landed its first winning streak. the new guys getting it done. gilbert arena, orlando running away with it. and dwight howard, he had 29. orlando wins 123-101. and sitting out with a sore knee. no problem against the suns. getting it done. heat wins big. they will play the lakers tomorrow. penguins and capitals, sidney crosby extending his scoring streak to an astonishing 23 games. the perfect redirection to the net. he also had an assist. this one decided in a shoot-out. dupri scores the game winner in the seventh round. pens prevail 3-2. finally to new york courtesy of the lightning. off the turnover, he fakes the slap shot and passes the puck between his legs and a score. it happened so fast, here it is again. the fake, the pass, and one motion. that's impressive. lightning wins, 3-2. that's your early look at sports

on "early today." i'm mario solis. one actor gets to enjoy a rare moment at the box office this christmas weekend. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, we'll bring you one man helping to keep well over a century of a christmas tradition alive and in tune. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. "early today," looking for a

chance of showers to make their way to northern california, especially late saturday night early sunday morning. again, some of the heavier amounts actually at northern california and dealing with snow at the high ef elevations. easily upwards of say five to ten inching worth of snow. especially above 7,000 feet. levels as low as 5,000. some showers especially across the coastline. custing winds. keep it in mind. fairbanks, a balmy 29. watching on news channel in portland, oregon a holiday treat everyone can enjoy. "a christmas story" at the portland center stage theater. that's your pick event of the day. lynn? >> thanks, todd. now here's a look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. plenty of films at the box office for your christmas entertainment this weekend. but only one has the experts' nod as the favorite. "little fockers" is the latest. the latest chapter in ben stiller's franchise.

both "meet the parrots" and "meet the fockers" debuted on top. and despite reviews, "little fockers" should do as well with about $25 million. its main competition will be last weekend's number one, "tron: legacy" which leaves bridges in the unusual position of having two films in the top five at the same time. he also stars in "true grit" a remake of the 1969 john wayne classic. the classic is expected to finish third in the mid-teen millions. another debut, jack black's "gulliver's travels," should lose some of its family punch to "yogi bear's" debut in theaters. it should battle in the top five with around $10 million. what do you think? the whole "meet the parents" franchise will it do well? >> it has to. full of awkward, weird humor. >> i know. god bless it.

see you on mon. >> okay. and this comes from nbc 4 in los angeles, one bell ringer is raising everyone's spirits. stephen sings for the salvation army hoping to get folks to drop change in the kettle. people are impressed and cheered by his happy voice. he says he's happy to help the organization that helps him. ♪ glory to the newborn king >> look at that, loving it and has a good voice. >> attracts more people to give. there you go. >> we've got to duplicate that with all the other guys out there i can't sing like that. >> i won't make you. >> all right. i'm lynn berry, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day, today on your nbc station.

this may be the ultimate takedown. one chef in england has moved out of the kitchen and into the wild. he's taken up foraging, searching for food in the english countryside. it was initially a hobby, but now he's making a living by selling his findings and feening oechs to do the same. he says it's not just about cheap eats, it's about finding goodies. it's definitely not small. germany's miniature wonderland model railway spans nearly 4,000 feet. the project features life-like recreations of small towns along with some of the world's most popular tourist attractions. visitors can check out the grand canyon, the vegas strip, even the swiss alps.

the tiny town has already made a huge impression. nearly 1 million people visited last year alone. talk about ending up on santa's naughty list. instead of a lump of coal, this suspected mafia member got handcuffs for christmas. protecting a local shop. the real st. nick is busy, so this was just a police officer dressed up as the big guy. that's like ultimate undercover work. you know? you dress up as santa, no one will suspect anything. >> just hanging out, ringing the bell and all of a sudden take out the bad guy. i like it. >> there you go. >> give advice there. time now for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. most local state and federal offices will be closed on this christmas eve. you can still drop off packages at the post office which would be open nationwide with shortened hours. this evening, pope benedict will hold midnight mass in vatican city at the vatican. the mass begins at 6:00 p.m.

eastern time. and it's going to be a busy nice for the north american aerospace command, known as norad. tracking santa claus. you can check it out on noradsanta.com. 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. tips on finding the hottest last-minute holiday gifts along with wrapping paper and decorating ideas. and hear about an inner-city choir from compton, california, that's bringing hope and joy to its community this holiday season. 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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