this morning on "early today," storms thrashing the states get hit with brutal winter weather.ç a pickup truck goes barreling into a dry cleaning shop in georgia. >> and sizzling sight. sme and lava pour from a volcano in a spectacular eruption. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. hello to our viewers across the nation, including the pacific time zone. today we begin with severe storms. with everything from twisters and tornadoes to rain, sleet and snow. officials in louisiana this

morning are working to get people back into their homes two days after a tornado ripped through a southwestern town killing a young mother who was sheltering her child and displacing hundreds more. yesterday louisiana governor bobby jindal toured the damage in rain saying residents there are tough and will rebuild their community better and stronger than before. meanwhile another blast of winter is hitting the eastern half of new york just in time for the morning commute. forecasters say parts of the region could be buried under as much as 16 inches of snow. and flood watches are in effect for much of the mid atlantic after heavy rain swept through the region. the storm is being blamed for at least one death on a pennsylvania interstate with wr a tour bus struck a disabled car during an ice storm. several people were injured in that accident. we'll have much more on this storm coming up in weather, but, first, if you were on the road this weekend, chances are you

noticed a big jump in the cost of filling up your gas tank. gas prices have been on the rise for weeks xshgs now with no end many sight, the government is weighing the cost of stepping in to alleviate some of the sting. brian mooar has our report. >> reporter: with gas prices spiking, washington is facing mounting political pressure to do something. that may include tapping america's strategic oil reserve to help bring down prices. >> we're looking at the options. the issue of the reserves is one we're considering. it is something that only is done and has been done on very rare occasions. >> reporter: pump prices are topping $4 in some areas. we've all seen the cause. the unrest and upheaval rippling through libya and the middle east. we're all feeling the effects. that steady surge at the pump. it's threatening to increase the cost of everything, from food to air travel. and that's bad news for the economy.

the last time prices spiked like this, the answer seemed simple. >> drill, baby, drill. >> reporter: but even drilling proponents realize energy is a long term problem. >> i'm buying an electric car tomorrow and that's going to give me the patriotic pleasure of plugging in and not sending money overseas to people trying to blow us up. >> reporter: rising prices and anxiety that go far beyond the pumps. brian mooar, nbc news, washington. in libya, a tug of war is under way over several towns in a battle between opposition fighters and supporters of moammar gadhafi. gadhafi's forces have been waging a fierce counteroffensive against rebels who have been trying to make their way toward tripoli. qadhafi's key power base. this weekend, the opposition lost some ground in their marchç toward the capital after being driven back from the mother city. meanwhile ban ki-moon says gadhafi's foreign minister has agreed to let a humanitarian

assessment team visit tripoli. >> now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. in utah, a police chase livened up a quiet salt lake city neighborhood. authorities were right behind the suspect after he tried to flee from the scene of a car crash. his escape attempt ended quickly and without any injury to the officers. in georgia, a woman is lucky to be alive after a pickup truck crashed through a dry cleaning business. the truck sent glass, metal and wood flying before coming to a stop just inches away from the 22-year-old employee. the driver, a regular customer, was not hurt. no charges have been filed. in hawaii, geologists are keeping a watchful eye on an active volcano. a fountain of fire is spewing following the collapse of a crater on the eastern side of the volcano located on the

big island. the new activity is causing officials to upgrade the alert level from watch to a warning. more eruptions are expected. and finally in illinois, over 1,000 mort western university students danced the might, morning, and afternoon away to take part in the school's 37th annual dance marathon. the students performed the latest moves for 30 hours raising $85,000 for charity. that's some good moves there too. and now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is ginger zee with the forecast. great to see you. good to have you back. >> thanks for having me back. chicago is quite quiet compared to other places throughout the nation. if you are going to the east coast, two storms to be concerned about, one moving quickly dropping a lot of snow and rain many new england today. that will be out, but another that is bursting through the midsection of the nation. we'll be watching that throughout the week. for the west coast here we just have some light rainshowers and some, of course, mountain snows.

just a tiny bit. 55 in l.a. is where we begin. salt lake, your morning temperature is 37. you'll go to a high of 46 in salt lake city. rainshowers will accompany that. 47 in seattle today. 51, medford, with rainshowers. san fran, down to l.a. going to stay dry. you can see a couple of other numbers here. billings, pretty cool. they're m cold trough of air. 28 at casper, and denver, might have freezing precipitation there, roadway troubles at 37. tomorrow more snow, 33, and albuquerque, 57 on your tuesday. it will be a brighter one for phoenix, vegas, and l.a. at least brighter compared to today. we'll look for temperatures in the mid to upper 50s from l.a. to las vegas there. that's a look at your regionals.

same thing if you are going down to flagstaff.ç that's a lock at your monday forecast. >> all right, ginger, thanks so much. oil sinks stocks. big peanut butter recall, and the other white meat's other slogan. the early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, troubled actor charlie sheen rates his web shows ratings disaster. >> coming up, a scare for chris and the hornets. the lakers make a statement in san antonio, and what could possibly make some of the miami heat players cry? 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. despite the threat of a government shutdown next friday, senate democratic whip dick

durbin says he is unwilling to cut more than $10.5 billion in domestic discretionary spending. republicans want over $60 billion in cuts. but durbin says the issue has been pushed, quote, to the limit. new york congressman peter king will begin holding controversial hearings this ç thursday on what he calls the radicalization of american muslims. yesterday some 300 people gathered in times square to criticize the move saying it unfairly singles out muslims. defense secretary robert gates arriveed in afghanistan this morning on an unannounced visit to assess a looming troop withdrawal this summer. secretary gates told troops that u.s. military involvement there with likely continue beyond the 2014 end of combat operations. the space shuttle discovery undocked from the international space station today. this is after a successful week-long mission heats expected to be its last. landing is scheduled for

wednesday after which "discovery" will be donated to the smithsonian institution. and scientists are showing off a treasure trove of fishing tools discovered on the channel islands off southern california that date back some 12,000 years. the finding suggests that two separate cultures lived in north america at the time, one that lived inland and were big game hunters and another that had a taste for seafood. >> and now here's a look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,169 after sinking 88 points on friday. the s&p shed 9. the nasdaq dropped 14. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, the nikkei lost 188 points while in hong kong, the hang seng went down 95. it's a simple formula. oil goes up and stocks go down. as civil unrest escalates in libya this week, traders will continue to keep an eye on those rising crude prices that we mentioned earlier have pushed gas prices up 33 cents in just

the past two weeks. traders shrugged off friday's payroll report that showed unemployment dipping below 9%. this week we'll find out just where the jobs are in this economy when the government releases its jobs opening and labor turnover report. we'll also get the government's take on february retail sales after retailers reported a 4% rise last week. louis vuitton is said to be in talks to acquire bulgari, a sign the luxury goods market continues to bounce back. elsewhere, james river coal has agreed to buy two coal companies international resource partners and logan and kanoa for $475 million in cash. apple starts selling its new ipad 2 on friday and since the company lowered the price on the original ipad, if you bought one in the last two weeks, apple will give you $100 back. check your cupboards if you buy skippy. 16 ounce jars of the reduced fat creamy and super chunk peanut butter are being recalled in 16 states because they may contain salmonella.

and the other white meat has another slogan. the national pork board replaced the decades old!qd campaign with a new message, pork, be inspired. the new campaign is aimed at getting existing pork customers to get creative and include more pork in their meal planning. coming up, the mavericks/grizzlies game comes down to a fraction of a second and hornets star chris paul leaves on a stretcher. plus, too close for comfort? the hazards of court side seating. your early morning sports headlines are just ahead. and as one beast of a storm leaves the northeast, another brews in the center of the nation. your regional forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, there may be no crying in baseball, but this basketball, it's apparently a different story. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. >> good monday morning. every team goes through rough stretches where nothing seems to go right. just a part of sports. but for the miami heat, their current four game losing streak has been so difficult that it's brought players to tears. the heat meted a hug and tissue after listening to the bulls. final seconds, miami down one. lebron james drove and missed the lay-up. dwyane wade came up with the

ball and his shot off the mark. bulls won it 87-86 and after the loss, coach told reporters a couple players were so disappointed they were crying in the locker room. and it doesn't get any easier. they play the lakers later this week. the champs crushed the spurs. this seemed over before it even started. coby bryant. lakers up 32-13 in the first. and you know it's going bad when gasol knocks off a three. his first of the season. lakers win easily. mavericks and grizzlies, randolph fadeaway and the zach randolph, and the grizzlies won in dramatic fashion, 104-103. scary moment in the hornets-cavs. chris paul collided with raymond sessions. paul was down and out. they brought a stretcher out for precautionary reasons. they're calling it a concussion. he is day to day and will miss

tonight's game against the bulls. finally back to san antonio for the antics of ron artest m second quarter. rejected george hill's shot, and then he flexes for the crowd and kissed his own bicep to show off for the paying customers. hen in the third still hustling, chased a loose ball, crashed right into a couple of fans. the guy in the white shirt got the worst of it, his coffee went flying. he was fine. can't say the same about the white shirt. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred robgin. >> hopefully there are free refills. movie goers flocked to see johnny depp go green on the big screen. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus a contest in illinois that mixes old world tradition with all you can eat appeal. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. most of the action is in the center or eastern part of the nation. here is the west coast. a little pocket of rain from salt lake city at 46 to boise. then we look at medford also to have rainshowers. a little dryer in l.a. at 65. 75 today in phoenix with partly sunny skies. denver, a little bit of icy weather. micked precipitation type of day. then we'll look at tomorrow. why don't we go ahead and get a little bit brighter down in vegas at 64 for your tuesday? full ol sunshine.

portland, you'll get rain. seattle, too. 52 and 48 respectively. a bit more rain up there on tuesday. if you are watching us on kntv nbc 11 in california's bay area, visit a small piece of the australian outbackç and see fi fuzy koalas at koala crossing at the pacific zoo. that's your pacific event of the day. now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. no big surprises in the box office as gun slinging lizard won the box office showdown. eye ramgo" easily took the top spot with $38 million while it fell m low range of expectations. it still had the best non-holiday opening so far this year. and then there's the sci-fi romance thriller the adjustment bureau starring matt damon and it is a big hit with the over 30 crowd finishing second with a solid $20.9 million. and beastly, a modern day retelling of beauty and the beast came in third with a better than expected $10.1 million. and finally, charlie sheen's

isn't the ratings gold that he used to be. his web show "sheen's corner" debuted saturday with 100,000 viewers, but many dumped out after just a few minutes calling it unwatchable. sheen admits it was a bust, tweeting it was treasonist to the movement. he did give two thumbs up to saturday night live's dead on impersonation of his public train wreck calling it, quote, genius. i would like to know what the movement is. charlie sheen saying it's treasonist to the movement. what exactly is that movement? >> to the movement of tiger blood, t & a. >> it makes for a great train wreck that we can't seem to turn away from. >> you got it. >> everybody is. this comes to us from wmaq nbc 5 chicago where in nearby evanston, illinois, competitors brought their game along with their appetites all for a good cause. the second annual paczki eating contest filled the bellies of

eight two person teams. as you can see, the polish donut-like pastries traditionally eaten the day before lent were tossed back at a rapid rate. despite the calories, contestants still had something to feel good about. the contest raised money to help a local boy battling cancer. right there in your hometown. everyone here says -- >> they don't look heavy. >> it was miserable. he is stuffing his pace. he can't even breathe. he can't even taste it hen. >> all for a good cause, though. a lot of fun. i'm lynn berry, and this is "early today," just your pirs stop of the day today on your nbc station. cc1:cc1: cc1:cc1:

there was no masking the festive spirit in venice.cc1: thousands of visitors on hand to celebrate the annual carnival of venice, which features dancing, parades, and plays. tourists were dressed in masks and costumes to hide their appearances, in a practice dating back to the 11th century. celebration continues through tomorrow. and in the same spirit, brazil's carnaval kicked off cc: as samba schools kicked off with costumes, and ,cc1: most importantly, those elaborate floats that took the members months to create. the opening night brought out tourists zilians andcc1:

from around the globe. residents in one colorado town are warming to the idea of a very unlikely resident. the corpse of a man has been stored in a local shed since the '90s when his grandson decided to cryogenically freeze the body hoping future technology will bring him back to life.cc1: skeptical, the towncc1: now embraces the idea. they even host an annual festival in honor of their frozen neighbor.cc1: hmm. i just didn't think i would ever hear that. stick someone in a shed and then come out and celebrate it. >> yeah. went from all the carnivals and i thought this was going to pop.ycc1: compared to that video -- >> sorry. we drug people down this morning. >> exactly. time now for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. in washington, talks resume over the labor dispute between the nfl and the players union. the collective bargaining agreement was supposed to expire last thursday, but now a new deadline has been set for friday.cc1: in michigan, a high school basketball team will participate in a tournament game tonight just days after its star player

hit a winning shot and then fatally collapsed on the court. the 16-year-old died of cardiac arrest due to an enlarged heart. there will be music in the streets of new orleans for lundi gras, also known as fat monday. it comes on the eve of the celebration, which is an even party, mardi gras. 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. expert tips on finding the cheapest gas in your area. with rising prices at the pump, fuel sticker shock across the country. and matt sits down with actor matthew mcconaughey to talk about his new thriller the lincoln lawyer. 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 today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

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