this morning on "early today," tax cut gridlock. while senators bicker, millions of americans face money lost from their paycheck. speaking out. ginger white opens up about her alleged affair with presidential hopeful herman cain. and cheating death. amateur video captures a horrific crash at a stunt show amateur video captures a horrific crash at a stunt show in brazil. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning, welcome to our viewers across the nation, including the pacific time zone, i'm lynn berry and today we begin with double vision. late last night the senate rejected dueling partisan plans on a tax break that could have a

big impact on the nation's fragile economy because lawmakers on both sides have differing ideas of how to pay for it. nbc's tracie potts joins us with that and more from the senate session. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. lawmakers on both sides say they want to give you another payroll tax break next year, but they can't figure out how to pay for it. democrats want to tax millionaires, republicans want to cut the pay of federal workers. both of those plans rejected, just weeks to go before the extension needs to be in place. now the negotiations in earnest begin. republicans say they're concerned that allowing yet another payroll tax cut, a new defense bill authorization bill approved, as $662 overwhelmingly approved by the senate, less than what president obama wanted, reflecting the

fact that the wars in iraq and afghanistan are winding down. president obama had threatened to veto. this is a bill that would require terror suspects to be held indefinitely. lynn? >> tracie potts in washington, thank you. elsewhere as herman cain weighs his white house aspiration, the he said/she said continues between gop presidential candidate and an atlanta businesswoman who claims she was his mistress in more than a decade. in a newspaper interview cain admitted to providing ginger white with financial aid for monthly bills and expenses after she asked for help. cain never told his wife, that he befriended the georgia woman, recounting what he called a platonic relationship. in an exclusive interview on msnbc's "last word" white told a different story to lawrence o'donnell. >> did herman cain tell you he loved you? >> never. nor did i tell him that i loved him. it wasn't a love affair.

it was a sexual affair. as hard as that is for me to say and as hard as it is for people to hear it, you know, it pretty much is what it is. that's what it was. >> herman cain says he will make a decision on the future of his campaign before monday, after a face-to-face discussion with his wife. meanwhile, this year's santa ana winds are wreaking havoc in southern california. this was the scene last night in los angeles, as thousands of area residents are still without power after hurricane-force gusts uprooted trees, damaged structures and prompted the city's mayor to declare a state of emergency. nbc's stephanie stanton reports. >> reporter: the santa ana winds blasted through southern california with hurricane-force winds blowing down trees and power lines. first light revealed a trail of debris everywhere. >> it looked like a tornado had hit, literally. >> reporter: it was enough to

blow this giant tree down onto the pumps at a pasadena gas station and send this tree crashing through a house in nearby san marino. at one point the powerful winds left some 300,000 los angeles area residents without power. los angeles international airport was also dark for about an hour. >> once we landed, we just came in the airport, not even five minutes and everything went black. >> reporter: at least 20 flights were diverted to nearby ontario airport due to dangerous crosswinds. in utah it was much the same scene, wind gusts up to 102 miles an hour were recorded. the high winds toppled ten big rigs on interstate 15. >> we were just sitting there waiting and it sounded like an explosion with my window blowing up. i guess a rock went through my window and got me here in the eye. >> reporter: the high wind warnings and advisories remain in effect for california, utah, nevada, new mexico and wyoming. stephanie stanton, nbc news, los angeles. and now here's a look at some other stories making news

early today in america. a violent robbery was caught on camera inside a florida residential complex. a suspect was recorded brutally beating the president of the homeowners association, who came to the area to address a noise complaint. after striking his victim on the ground and rummaging through his pockets, the thief escaped with an iphone. no arrest has been made. police discovered a cache of stolen toys. belonging to a trail of thieves in pennsylvania. suspects were on a stealing binge across three states, filling their van with an estimated $50,000 in stolen goods. the crime spree came to an end when the engaged couple and the couple's 17-year-old son were caught stealing baseball cards. finally, a sparkling 89-year tradition continued just south of the white house thursday night. the first family lit the national christmas tree. the president delivered remarks urging the crowd to help others during this holiday season. before lighting the 26-foot tall tree from new jersey.

now for a look at your national and regional weather, let's check in with meteorologist todd santos. he's checking the winds closely. >> at least today, we shouldn't see anything close to what we had yesterday, there are still high wind warnings and advisories in place, some of the bigger wind gusts outside of the city itself. notice some of the wind warnings, 25 to 35-mile-per-hour sustained winds, though some gusts could still top 60. in downtown los angeles you're talking upwards of 35 miles per hour. the big thing to note, even if some wind advisory areas, you still have elevated fire danger and still have the potential for another event to set up later on saturday. so keep it in mind as we head into the weekend. shift a bit farther east, you're dealing with the potential for again still some of the snowfall through northern portions of arizona, the areas in pink, some of the winter storm warnings and winter storm watches, western kansas could have some freezing rain switching over to snow. meanwhile, there's what it looks like on the radar this morning, a few areas in southern nevada

with showers, higher elevations and farther north in arizona is where you're dealing with the snowfall. quiet of winds across a good portion of the west coast. but take it seriously, as far as the wind advisories over the last 24 hours. and the big difference with the winds across the area, more of a northeasterly component yesterday, the northerly winds . prescott, arizona, maybe few snowflakes. so with winds at least settling down, lynn, for the weekend, beginning of the weekend, we have to mention saturday, we'll hit on that more coming up. coming up, on the watch for jobs, more signs of recovery. and can the color of the can make a difference in taste? your early-morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, she's on a list, and it's

not too nice. >> coming up, a great finish in college football. donovan mcnabb is back on the market. and how did skittles beat the eagles? you're watching "early today."

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good morning and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. according to "the wall street journal," u.s. officials spoke with pakistani officials and got the green light ahead of last saturday's nato air strike that killed 24 pakistani soldiers. u.s. officials say pakistanis were unaware their troops were in the area at the time and afghan/u.s. troop contingent was fired upon from across the border. secretary of state hillary clinton has met with political prisoner and nobel peace prize winner, aung san suu kyi during her historic trip to myanmar, the two pledged to work together to bring democracy to the

country. ticket master is forced to refund $1.50 for every ticket placed between october 1999 and october 2011 due to a proposed class-action settlement that says the company profited from undeclared processing fees. queen of england met with john lennon's widow, yoko ono, during the official opening of the museum of liverpool. in brazil. a motorcycle stunt went horribly wrong when a dare devil smashed head-on to an oncoming car and thrown 80 feet. that's hard to watch. amazingly, the rider escaped without serious injury. and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,020 after losing 25 points yesterday. the s&p was down 2 points. the nasdaq added 5. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei gained 46 points while in hong kong the hang seng nudged up 38.

wall street followed wednesday's lift-off with a day of caution thursday, ahead of today's november job numbers. expectations are that roughly 120,000 jobs were added. a number analysts think must be hit for any rally to continue. but caution set in thursday on last week's data showing new unemployment claims rose. other data fit the latest stronger-than-expected trend. manufacturing rose strongly in november and new factory orders were up. in euro news, wednesday's move by the world's big banks had the desired effect on spanish and french bond auctions with yields falling. also addressing the debt crisis, french president sarkozy announced germany and france will push for a broad new european treaty. back on the street, financials wednesday's stars gave up some gains. costco, nordstrom and other retailers rose on strong retail sales. barnes & noble plunged after a quarterly loss.

yahoo gained on news it may have bidders. u.s. airways jumped on an upgrade and american airline merger speculation. elsewhere, massachusetts attorney general sued bank of america, jpmorgan chase, citigroup, wells fargo and gmac mortgage for deceptive business practices with mortgages. clearwire cut a deal with majority owner and biggest customer sprint nextel. resolving a battle that threatened clearware with bankruptcy. and finally, just a month after rolling out classic coke in a holiday white can, coke is switching back to red. seems white cans had drinkers seeing red. some confused it with diet coke while others actually complained coke tastes different in a white can. amazing what the mind can do to you. coming up, a new coach can't help the caps. vikings start house cleaning and a last-second thriller in college football. and thursday night nfl football proves eagles are no match for seahawks.

your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. and with it being friday we'll get you set for the beginning of the coming weekend. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports the already miserable

season of the philadelphia eagles took a turn for the worse as they were clawed by the seattle seahawks. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. >> good morning. ever since high school, launch launch's mom would give him skittles to eat after he scored a touchdown. last night with the eagles, he was like a kid in a candy store. you could tell lynch was ready to play in the first quarter. ran into pile, kept the wheels turning, came out of it, rumbled 15 yards to the end zone. that's worth skittles. he got a handful of candy on the sideline. to the second, lynch again, full of sugar ripped off a sweet run, untouched 40 yards down the line. eagles didn't know what hit them. seattle went on to win it 31-14 thanks to the candy man. marshawn lynch. if your team is looking for a quarterback, donovan mcnabb is available. vikings waved the six-time pro bowler so he could finish the season with another team. hockey. two of the best squared off in

washington. no, not clinton and reagan. sidney crosby and alex ovechkin. all eyes on them, kris kunitz stepped up and scored the game winner for pittsburgh. hunter still looking for the first win as caps' coach. ping wince win it 2-1. rangers and hurricanes. kurt muller has coached two, and lost both of them. gaborik with a two-on-one to give new york the lead in the third. rangers handed the hurricanes their fifth straight loss 5-3. back to football, great finish between number 23, west virginia and south florida. mountaineers down a touchdown, five minutes to play, dustin garrison punch ed it out from five yards out and tied it 27-27. west virginia gets the ball back. needing a big play on fourth down. 13 seconds to play. geno smith hits stedman bailey across the middle getting west virginia into field goal range. betancourt for the game, got it as time expired. west virginia rallied to win it 30-27 and clinched a share of the big east title. that's your early look at sports on "early today." have a great weekend. i'm fred roggin. well, a ho-hum box offense

weekend and a wildly random potential celebrity couple. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. destined for death in the wild. we'll introduce to you cubs who have been rescued for the holidays. you're watching "early today."

a few areas this morning starting off cold, especially

through northwest wyoming. around casper, 19 degrees, 13 in denver, 59 in san francisco and l.a. dealing with potential gusty winds today. at least on the cool side this morning, 65 by this afternoon. still rain showers down towards phoenix. up in the mountains with some of the snowfall and up towards the pacific northwest, fairly quiet conditions. 41 degrees for seattle and actually down to 60, at least around the area. a quick look at other spots, salt lake city coming in around 34 degrees, at least quiet as you finish the week and start the weekend. if you're watching us on king 5 news in seattle, washington, nearby bainbridge island, see farm-themed artwork at bainbridge arts and crafts. that's your pacific event of the day with a great name. >> well done. now, here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. if movies are your things, this weekend is the weekend to avoid long lines. what's considered the slowest box office weekend of the year and no new openings, disney "the

muppets" is expected to finish number one with about $20 million. access hollywood live reports former white house gate-crasher and the recently-single tareq salahi has a crush on gait kate gosselin. and emailed the show asking for help setting him up. that's an odd match. gq out with slightly nasty but funny year-end list. 25 least influential people alive. former minnesota governor and tim pawlenty topped the list for being a quote, aggressively forgettable fellow. despite something of a comeback year, gwyneth paltrow made it because, quote, is it any wonder we all loved watching her die? in "contagion"? so harsh, people. and england's princess beatrice made it for proving, quote, the british have just as many embarrassing hill billy cousins as we do. >> i bet the hat cost $50,000. >> she donated it to charity.

i have to give him some credit. >> give her a break. we've bet her up enough. and this comes to us from ktuu, channel 2 news in anchorage, alaska, where an effort to rescue a trio of bear cubs is about to end with a storybook ending. alaska's brutal winter would likely have killed the 11-month-olds, after a suspected poacher killed their mother. wildlife officials rescued them, but they didn't have the facilities to keep them in. but in this season of giving, the detroit zoo offered to take them in. in the spirit of the season, instead of the polar express, fedex is making the special delivery to their new home. i'm lynn berry, and this is early "today," just your first stop of the day, today, on your nbc station.

no friends, no problem. one museum in london has you covered. cutting edge robots featured in a robot festival are wowing the crowds. they can talk, play, even answer questions. one can map out her surroundings to locate items. the exhibit explores how the creations will integrate with life in the future. one landmark could get an eco-friendly facelift. as it stands now the eiffel tower appears as a mass of metal struts, but in a controversial move one company is proposing to turn it into a botanical giant. they would drape the tower with 600,000 plants, making what's already a tourist attraction into an environmental curiosity as well. and finally, these south

korean santas pack a punch. security guards at a mall in seoul have put aside their typical uniforms in exchange for santa outfits. armed with the traditional st. nick garb they demonstrate basic martial art skills and pass out candy and take photos. they'll keep it up until the end of december. i imagine that would be confusing to kids. he's supposed to be nice and then does a ninja kick. >> then you see him taking down some shoplifter, like full-on. >> the head butt. it's time for an early look at some stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. there will be a special hearing in the case of rod blagojevich just days before the former governor is scheduled to be sentenced after being found guilty of corruption charges last june. his attorneys asked a judge to consider what they say is new evidence, which could lead to a reduced prison sentence. president obama will host the third white house tribal nations

conference providing tribes the opportunity to interact directly with the government and policy decisions that impact them. and singer britney spears turns 30. all day long you can stay on top of the very latest developments in those stories and others as they break on msnbc. tonight be sure to watch brian williams with "nbc nightly news." here's a look at what's coming up later on the "today" show. billy mccreedy speaks out about his bitter custody battle with country singer mindy mccready who defied a court order and gone into hiding with their 5-year-old son. and a live in-studio reunion of america's classic tv family the waltons. 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