"jimmy fallon" happening right [ cheers and applause ] this morning on "early today," wild, wild west. a major new storm system slams the already soaked west coast. reduced to rubble, a deadly blast levels a detroit area furniture store. and in thin air, how one federal agency lost equipment worth millions in taxpayer federal agency lost equipment worth millions in taxpayer dollars. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. welcome to our viewers across the nation, includeing the pacific sometime zone. i'm lynn berry.

today, we begin with more wild weather. another raging storm is wreak g ing havoc in the western united states as heavy rain and snow has caused major damage along the entire west coast. this comes after an already devastating week of wet weather. here is nbc's kurt gregory with the story. >> reporter: more relentless rain in southern california. this following a week of wet weather and much so severe that some 100 residents were evacuated in the highland area. >> i'm afraid. everyone here is keeping their fingers crossed and their toes, hoping that we won't get too much more rain. >> reporter: authorities blame heavy rain and high winds for the death of a woman killed in santa rosa when a large tree crushed her tent at a wildlife preserve. and there's desperation in lake tahoe, a blizzard is complicating search for a missing snowboarder. >> it's been difficult. like i said earlier, the

blizzard conditions, the heavy snow, the heavy winds, there are no tracks that we can find. >> reporter: wild weather in oregon, as well. a rock slide rattles residents and closes part of highway 99 in oregon city. in burnes, a roof gives way under heavy snow burying the business below. in washington state, heavy snow is bringing whiteout conditions to some areas. up to five inches in the forecast for spokane. the fast-moving weather system is expected to produce more snow from northern arizona to minnesota. kurt gregory, nbc news. taking a break from his hawaii vacation and with congress on theirs, president obama filled six administration posts. the recess appointments, which include four new u.s. ambassadors, allows them to serve without confirmation by the senate where they had been held up and their prospects would grow even dimmer once republicans gain strength next month. the most controversial pick is

james coal cole for the number two spot at the justice department. cole, a close friend of eric holder, has drawn scrutiny from republicans for his views on terrorism and close ties to insurance giant aig. cording according to the associated press, federal authorities are launches an investigation to determine whether failed delaware senate christine o'donnell broke campaign financing rules. at issue is whether the tea party favorite who famously confessed to dabbling in witchcraft diverted campaign funds to pay for rent, meals and other personal expenses. o'donnell denies the charges, slamming the investigation as, quote, fubtactics. she suggests the probe is being driven by her political opponents on the right and the left, including vice president joe biden. overseas, danish police say they have managed to stop a, quote, imminent terrorist attack in copenhagen. yesterday authorities arrested five men who allegedly plotted

to shoot people in a local newspaper office who outraged muslims years ago. a machine gun with live ammunition was seized in connection with the arrest in addition to plastic strips that can be used as handcuffs. now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. an explosion at a family owned furniture store in michigan killed two people and critically injured another. rescuers combed through piles of debris for more than twelve hours until the last body was recovered. officials expect the explosion was the result of a leaking gas line. in florida, the coast guard unloaded 3400 pounds of cocaine seized from a speed boat in an operation off the coast of panama. the three suspects caught with drugs worth an estimated $48 million are in custody. it is the second major bust this

month for the unit whose commanding officer says he hopes it sends a strong message. a colorado woman set up a camera should check on her dog, but saw this instead. a burglar in her bedroom. he apparently found her spare key in the mailbox. he rummaged for ten minutes before leaving with $500 worth of personal items. police are now looking for any leads. organizers of times square's new year's eve extravaganza conducted their annual air worthiness test. handfuls of confetti rained down on the crowd below from an eighth floor window. this year's 2,000 pounds of confetti will feature personalized wishes for 2011 for people around the world. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. obviously, bill, as we talked about earlier in the show, it is so frustrating for the folks in the west that are already dealing with another major system. >> just like to have a break. they would like december to be

over with and never do anything like it again. yeah, lynn, yesterday was a day we just put another inch or so into the books for this month. so far this morning everything is relatively quiet. everything is heading out of the west into the intermountain west, so arizona is getting good snow on the rim country. as far as the mountains of the sierras and down around areas of tahoe where they're trying to do the rescue operations, things look better today. we still have shower activity along the coast but the big storm is moving through arizona head for new mexico during the day today. the mountains of colorado are going to see heavy snow and it will push up into the northern plains. the storm itself is moving out. cold air back behind it though. temperatures are definitely on the chilly side. check out the december rainfall totals. we have now had ten inches plus in downtown l.a. for the month of december. very rare to see that much rain there. even the desert has got pretty good. vegas, almost two inches. that's more than seat who also had a very wet december with

eight inches. as far as the radar goes, there's some of that snow north of phoenix in the highur high temperature. san diego, sunny and 57. cool but dry. be careful driving around flagstaff, arizona, where it's going to be snowy. lynn, the weather pattern's changing. it looks like a dry beginning to the new year. we'll have details coming up. >> all right. there is good news. thank you, bill. coming up, the santa claus rally continues, sears has a new line, and if you can't beat them, eat them. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, who had this year's top grossing world concert tour? i bet you won't get this one. kevin garnett limps off the court, brett favre is fined, and

coach k. moves closer to history. 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. government auditors say the u.s. centers for disease control and prevention lost of misplaced more than $8 million in property in 2007, losing track of items such as a computer hard drive and video equipment. cdc officials say they have since corrected the lapses that led to the wastes and instituted better controls. federal safety officials are opening investigation to determine why an american airlines jet went past a runway yesterday morning while landing at a snowy runway. the plane wound up in deep snow more than 600 feet past the runway. two mississippi sisters who spent 16 years in prison for an armed robbery that netted $11 will soon walk free after the

state's governor suspended their life sentences. jamie and gladys scott were granted an early release on the condition that one of the women donate a much needed kidney to the other who currently needs daily dialysis. and a so-called zombie communication satellite that spent months adrift in orbit has apparently sprung back to life, resetting itself. the manufacturer is now optimistic that the multi million dollar spacecraft could become fully functional once again. and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 11,585 after adding 9 points yesterday. the s&p inched up a point. the nasdaq rose 4. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei fell 115 points. but in hong kong, the hang seng rose 30. how well are things going on wall street? the s&p 500 is about to finish its best december in nearly two

decades. the s&p gained nearly 7% this month, rising wednesday for the 17th time in the last 20 sessions. holiday volume has been low and many are taking a wait and see attitude about gains continuing, but it is still a great ending to a tough year. reflecting recent optimism, consumer dependent stocks led the dow wednesday. mcdonald's was up over 1% and walt disney almost 1%. b.j.'s wloel sawholesale club climbed on news of a hostile takeover bid. sears holding rose after launching an on-demand video service. in turn, netflix fell almost 2%. but don't cry for netflix. its stock is up more than 200% this year.

molycorp, which owns a rare earth mine in california saw its shakes spike almost 7% after china's recent announcement it was reducing its exports. according to shopper track, the blizzard that swept through the northeast delayed almost $1 billion in retail spending. still, this holiday shopping season is expected to be the best since 2007 and a strong finish this week could make it the best ever. later this morning, investors will get flnovember da and weekly home sales report on unemployment claims and finally, invading lion fish are gobbling up fish, shrimp and crab all across florida, sparking an unusual plea from one marine conservation group. eat them. the organization released a cookbook with 45 recipes for eating what some scientists call 1 of the top 15 threats to global bio diversity. the lakers return to form, a double buzzer beater and who is fuelling the heat? plus, it's always great to be close to the action, but sometimes the couch is the safer

place to be. your early morning sports headlines are just ahead. back to back winter storms is going to make traveling in the midwest difficult as we head to new year's eve. that forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

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is "early today." in sports, the worst year of brett favre's illustrious career has not only seen the end of his record streak, but his image, as well. here's nbc's mario solis with a look at all your sports headlines. good morning. even when brett favre doesn't play he finds a way to make headlines. the nfl fined him $50,000 for failing to cooperate with an investigation that he sent lewd photos of himself to former jet host jenn sterger. favre was not suspended because they could not prove he violated the league's policy. basketball, the lakers have a lot of weapons. when lamar odom drops 44 points, you know you're in trouble. if you're the hornettes, you should just pack up and leave. lakers sing the hornets, 103-88. pistons, first meeting since kevin garnett reportedly called him a patient. garnett threw down a dunk and

immediately started limping. he left the game, did not return. he'll have an mri. the celtics missed him. prince with the runner. pistons up 8. look out, comes crashing right into your living room. he was fine and the pistons were even better. they won, 104-92. it's difficult to outdo yourself when you score 40, but dwyane wade able to do that last night. after putting up 40 on tuesday, he scored 45 against the rockets. the heat have won ten straight on the road. 125-119. great finish in sacramento. grizzlies down one. mayo with the lead. got it with 1.5 seconds left. that was just enough time for the king to throw up a prayer and it is answered. what an ending. kings win in dramatic fashion, 100-98. congratulations to mike krzyzewski. he moves into second place on the all-time wins list. duke led from start to finish and won by 48. coach k. is now 22 wins behind bobby knight for the most all time.

that's your look at sports on "early today." i'm mario solis. chris brown's fingers get a little violent on twitter. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, we'll introduce you to a waitress with a holiday spirit like no other. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. the big rainstorm is gone from yesterday. it left behind a cold air mass.

temperature today in vegas, that's it. 43 degrees. that's cold to be on the strip. 54 in los angeles. only about 57 in san diego. we had early morning rain in phoenix. that will be moving out. you notice all the bad weather way back here throughout the intermoun taken west. new year's eve, this is more like it. temperature on the cold side. 50s in southern california. at least we're in a nice pattern of dry weather on new year's eve. anyone ringing in or doing any travel will just fine. if you're watching us in california's bay area, get on board for a magical miniature tour of the golden gate park at the garden railway display at the conservatory of flowers. that's your pacific effect of the day, lynn. >> thank you so much. now here's a look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. which band had the highest grossing worldwide country tour in 2010? the answer may surprise you. new jersey's bon jovi posted total concert revenue of $201

million. that's the top in the world. heavy metalers ac/dc finished second with 177 million. u2 finished third with $136 million and the artist a lot of people probably would have thought topped concert sales, lady gaga finished fourth with only $133 million. chris brown may need more anger management classes. after a former band member criticized brown's treatment of ex-girlfriend rihanna on twitter. he released something. he later called it a, quote, immature act. finally, england's telegraph sun pooik liis unlike his fathe prince karls who employs 149 servant toes cater to his needs, prince williams claims he will never have a butler living in wales while he completes his military

training, they plan to do their own cooking, cleaning and shopping. >> i wonder if they're like those couples that split up duties, if i cook, you do the dishes. do you do that? >> yes. you still fall into your role here and there. >> what would those be, bill? >> no, i do a lot of the cooking. >> do you want to go dl? >> i do a lot of cooking. the rule is, whoever cooks doesn't clean. >> exactly. exactly. this comes to us from news 5 in cincinnati, ohio, where one waitress is giving tips on doing the right bring. trisha didn't think twice about returning $1,200 that fred mistakenly left on her table. he retraced his steps, thinking all the while his cash to buy christmas gifts was long gone. that is, until he went back to the restaurant. he says he'd love to give trisha a million bucks, but she says thanks is enough and she hopes anyone else would have done the same for her. i'm lynn berry, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

at one beauty contest in me nepal, the bigger, the better. elephants are judged on their physique b and paintings. to take home the crowns, beauty queens participated in races and showed off their colorful outfits. in the end, a hot pink cape and painted nails put this lady ahead of the rest. some surfers aren't letting their location keep them down. despite freezing temperatures and no ocean, surfers took to the river for some action. river sufferirfing is a 30-year

tradition. by the looks of it, they aren't missing any of the action there. if you thought that looked painfully cold, this is down right freezing. the iseman is attempting to go break his own world record for longest ice bath. 1 hour and 50 minutes. the ice man already holds nine world records. he hopes the move raises awareness about climate change. but, bill, that just doesn't look safe. so don't try this at home. >> hypothermia. >> yeah. >> do you wonder what you're good at that you don't know you're good at? >> i know it's not that. do you, bill? >> i often do. >> have you discovered anything? >> i know i'm really good at something. >> you're really good at weather, bill. really good at weather. stick with that. time now for an early look at the stories that we will follow throughout the day here on nbc. alaskan governor shawn parnell will officially certify lisa murkowski as the state's winner for the hotly contested race for

u.s. senate. in new york city, despite bus service still being crippled and subway lines still suspended in the wake of the blizzard, riders will be greeted with a fare hike. the price of a single ride goes 25 cents to $2.50. and tiger woods whose most notable achievement of 2010 is not winning a golf tournament turns 35 today. 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. the very latest on the aftermath of the blizzard of 2010 from slow blizzard clean-up to travel delays. and find out which new trends, looks, and gadgets will be hot in 2011. 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.

the day today on your nbc station. have a good one. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com