this morning on "early today" -- prairie populism. president obama takes his message for the middle class to the heartland. stunt snag. an experiment for a popular tv show goes awry. and gray area. does being commander in chief really take years off your life? hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry.ood morning. and today we begin with a make or break moment. during a speech in kansas yesterday, president obama urged

lawmakers in washington to take action on baffle of the nation's middle class calling the country's rising inequality, quote, the defining issue of our time. brian mooar has details. >> reporter: in tiny kansas, president obama delivered a message aimed at both middle class americans and politicians back in washington. >> i believe this country succeeds when everyone gets a fair shot. whether everyone does their fair share. when everyone plays by the same rules. >> reporter: the president argues he's defending the working class while republicans are standing with the rich. it's a rallying cry for the current tax fight in washington and his own re-election campaign. >> and in 1910, teddy roosevelt came here, to osawatomie and he laid out his vision for what he called a new nationalism. >> reporter: roosevelt argued

that welfare was more important than wealth. an argument this president is laying out a century later. >> we simply cannot return to this brand of you're on your own economics if year serious about rebuilding the middle class in this country. >> reporter: far from soaring rhetoric, republicans and democrats on capitol hill are struggling to keep a middle class payroll tax from expiring at the end of the month. democrats are offering to pay for it by raising taxes on the rich. >> this was not a compromise. this was nothing more than another bill designed to fail. so democrats can have another week of fun and games on the senate floor. >> reporter: while president obama calls for a new new nationalism, on capitol hill it's the same old politics. brian mooar, nbc news, washington. on the campaign front, newt gingrich has widened his lead in the gop presidential race, however his front-runner status is stirring some debate about former house speaker's political past and energizing mitt romney's fight to regain support.

nbc's tracie potts joins us from washington with more. good morning. >> reporter: lynn, good morning. good morning, everyone. now that he is leading by double digits in a number of polls, other candidates are targeting newt gingrich. michele bachmann questioning whether he is conservative enough. the toughest yet comes from ron paul. a new attack ad he questions the 1.5 million he got from freddie mac, and calls him a serial hypocrite in this ad. gingrich is and in a cnbc interview saying paul had to say something because he is not doing well in the polls. meantime, mitt romney, who is in second place, tied in second place with paul, got a new endorsement by former vice president dan quayle. romney says there's still time for him to win the iowa caucuses and he will be campaigning aggressively and has one more good week of fund-raising there.

>> tracie potts for us in washington. the obama administration has taken a significant step in protecting the rights of gay, lesbian and transgendered community around the world. on orders from president obama secretary of state hillary clinton told a conference in geneva that the u.s. will use foreign aid to reward countries that safeguard gay rights. firmly linking gay rights with human rights, the administration has also vowed to actively combat efforts by other nations that criminalize and abuse gays or ignore abuse against homosexuals. the chief of the federal aviation administration has stepped down from his position after he was arrested on drunk driving charges over the weekend. randy babbitt's recognition resignation comes halfway through his five-year term as faa administrator. he was pulled over by police virginia where they said the 65-year-old was driving on the wrong side of the road. now here's a look at some other stories making news early

today in america. a cantaloupe-sized cannonball fired by the crew of a reality show "mythbusters" nearly took the lives of several people. the projectile ripped through and fired over 700 yards away. after missing the target the cannonball ripped true one home and across six lanes of laugh before slamming into parked minivan. no one was injured. a kentucky family is very lucky to be alive after escaping their home moments before it exploded. they were able to avoid tragedy after the father spotted smoke and flames coming from his second floor window. the apparent natural gas explosion reduced the home to just a pile of debris and fire. nearby homes were evacuated before fire crews put out the flames. if you're looking to make a splash at your office christmas party, one vermont has the perfect outfit. marie blackman ships what she calls her ugly christmas sweaters worldwide. over the last two years, her creations have become wildly popular. she has about 80 designs for sale.

now for a look at your national and regional weather here's nbc meteorologist bill karins with your forecast. i wonder if those are l.e.d. lights. it is in now. >> the green ugly. >> ececo-friendly ugly christma sweater. >> i like to blend into the walls. >> keep it simple. >> good morning. big storm on the east coast. middle of the country cold. dealing with chilly weather in the west. lit have slow improvement. traveling today, definitely the eastern half of the country where we will hava lot of travel delays. it is snowing in mississippi this morning. northern mississippi, up towards memphis. as i mentioned, it is not a lot going on in the middle of the country. rockies is quiet and still chilly. we have a little bit of fog and it is the only real issue this morning. and anywhere from seattle southward down i-5, patches of locally dense fog and temperatures are near or below freezing. you get the freezing fog and get a little coating of ice on

stuff. we are a little bit above freezing from seattle to portland. medford, below freezing. probably really any condensed areas of freezing fog that's worse, it would be around the medford area. little bit cool in california. we are not below freezing in many areas. as far as today's forecast goes, we are going to warm it up slowly. 67 there in l.a. arizona still on the chilly side. 50s and 60s for you. we have a little front trying to sag down into seattle today. we may get drizzle or showers out of it. it is not a lot of wet weather. we are not going to call that h sunny.of a big deal. prescott, arizona, very cool, 43. cool temperatures continue in the west. but nothing stormy. >> all right. nothing like these. all right, bill. also coming up, wall street shows confidence in europe.

verizon gets ready to make a big play. mark zuckerberg experiences facebook privacy anxiety firsthand. not a scene from "30 rock ts" but sounds like it. alec baldwin gets tossed from a flight for refusing to play with his ipad. frantic finish in college hoops.

good morning and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are some of your top headlines. the biggest u.s. mine disaster in more than 40 years has resulted in the biggest government fine ever. alpha natural resources has agreed to pay $210 million in fines and payouts for 2010's massive west virginia explosion. it killed 29 miners. for a second straight day, russian police clashed with demonstrators protesting alleged election fraud by prime minister putin.

police arrested nearly 500 people. the cuban boy that survived a raft journey in 1999 and became the subject of an international custody battle celebrated his 18th birthday in cuba tuesday. he was just 6 years old when federal agents raided his uncle's miami home and seized him at gunpoint. federal authority say a seattle chiropractor and his wife lived in a million dollar waterfront home and jetted around the world while collecting $135,000 in welfare. the couple is being sued for restitution and facing fines. and does the stress of being president speed up the aging process? well, you'd think so, right, because they go gray? not necessarily. a new study shows most u.s. presidents who have died of natural causes actually lived longer than peers in their age group. well, now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,150 after

gaining 52 points yesterday. the s&p was up a point. but the nasdaq lost 6. taking a look at overseas trading this morning n tokyo the nikkei jumped 147 points, while in hong kong the hang seng climbed 298. well, solid investor confidence and the outcome of europe's upcoming financial summit led the dow higher tuesday. expectations france and germany will press for a tough new union treaty were stirred by reports leaders at the summit will boost the rescue fund. a sharp recent slide of italian and spanish bond yields is seen as reinforcing belief europe has begun tackling its debt issue. showing bold investor's confidence, tuesday's gains came despite standard & poor's warning monday it may cut the credit rating of 15 eurozone countries. traders shrugged off another s&p warning, it may cut the rating of the eurozone rescue fund as well. general electric led the dow on a brokerage upgrade.

virtual penny stock, amr, american airlines interrupt parent, jumped 67% to 70 cents a share after naming its treasurer chief reconstruction officer. home builder toll brothers was up on earnings. darden restaurants slumped after cutting its 2012 netflix. reports say verizon will launch an online service for streaming movies and tv shows in concert with several cable providers. citigroup will cut 4500 jobs worldwide, losing $400 million on layoff expenses. maybe facebook will get that whole privacy thing. the social network's founder, mark zuckerberg had his personal photos linked -- or leaked online after a facebook user found his security loophole and breached the ceo's account. you can't script that any better. facebook called the loophole a bug and said, it was being fixed.

well, coming up, upsets and shootouts on the ice. and hockey's total realignment behind the scenes. plus, washington goes all out to block 11th ranked marquette in college hoops. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. >> it looks like the stormy weather pattern will clear up in time just for the weekend. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports the nhl addressing the long-time complaints of hockey fans and teams have come up with a new plan for the make up of its competitive conferences. here is nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. >> good morning. when the atlanta thrashers became the winnipeg jets it not only put another team in canada it created a geographical problem with the league's six divisions. problem solved. nhl approved a new four-conference format that will go into effect next season. jet will be in a division with the red wings and others. last night they were taking on the bruins. andrew ladd but them on the board in the first period and jets were up 1-0. to the third, game tied 1-1, brian little with a big goal, that's the eventual winner. now in toronto, the devils and maple leafs needed overtime. david clarkson ended it with his second goal of the game. new jersey snapped a four-game

losing streak with a 3-2 overtime win. blue jackets and canadiens, rick nash, one of the best in the league, this is why. take the goalie to his right, went to his left, columbus just won their eighth of the year 3-2. islanders aren't much better. they have nine wins but undefeated when they score five goals. they hit that mark last night against lightning. david ulstrom scored his first of his career. islanders cruise to a win. canucks' daniel sedin scored a goal in the first and two more in the third and that's a hat trick. canucks won it big 6-0. finally great finish in college hoops. final seconds. 11th ranked marquette down one to washington. vander blue found the open man and crowder knocked down the go ahead three. six seconds to play. a time-out to burn. but abdul gatty took it in himself and threw it over the backboard. i don't think that's the shot they wanted. marquette remains unbeaten with a 79-77 win.

that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. well, where in the world is jennifer lopez? and bradley cooper hates being sexy. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. in a year of grid lock, partisan bickering, low public opinion, congress can't even get christmas right?

welcome back. another cold chilly start this wednesday morning. your afternoon will be all right. plenty of shine out there. the exception, valley areas of the pacific northwest. freeze and fog, possibly medford area. today we will see cloudy skies in seattle. about 42 will be about it. much of california today, you will only be stuck in the 50s and 60s. a look at thursday. much more of the same. we are like the records on repeat. if you are watching us on kget, nbc 17, bakersfield, california, synchronized symphony of multicolored tree lights of music and dazzling nighttime displays at holiday lights of california living museum. >> bill, thanks so much. here is an early look at the this morning's entertainment highlights. alec baldwin got into a fight with a flight attendant and was forced to leave a los angeles flight for refusing to stop

playing the game birds with friends while parked at the gate. you can't make this up. he tweet ad few hours later the next plane he caught had, quote, smarter booking flight attendants. robert downey jr. will baghdady. they revealed they are expecting a baby boy. reports say jennifer lopez has bought film rights to the video game franchise carmen san and plans to play the thief in the new action movie. and bradley cooper is not excited to be "people's" world's sexiest man. he told graham norton, quote, it's the worst. it's just so awful. cry me a river. cooper joked at age 36 he really doesn't care about stuff like that anymore but after being awarded the title, now he realizes just how unsexy he is. >> once you reached perfection, once you are that elite, where

do you go from there? >> once your eyes are so crisp blue -- >> i deal with that every day. i try to figure out how to get better when i'm already -- >> it is quite the cross to bear. this comes to us from washington, d.c. where in a year where things haven't worked out quite so well for congress, even capitol hill's annual holiday celebration hit a glitch. with the help from a 7-year-old boy, house speaker john boehner lit the capitol tree. the democrats and republicans applauded as the white fir illuminated. unfortunately there was a technical mishap. it caused the lights on the tree to go out. comic symbolism, you might say, of a year of short-circuits in the halls of congress. i'm lynn berry. this is "early today."

some funky hairdos from south korea will really flip your wig. more than 80 professional hair designers gathered in seoul for the two-day, 2012 korea hair collection. look at that. it showcases some of the world's most extraordinary hairstyles. designers demonstrated their cutting techniques while models showed off the most bizarre. you'd think being santa is a no-brainer. santa suit, white beard, done. it takes so much more. that's where santa school comes in. in brazil st. nick experts teach everything from how to say their ho, ho, hos to how to deal with children of all backgrounds. of course, after graduation the professional santas are off to spread a little christmas

spirit. finally, of course, children aren't the only ones in line to get on santa's lap and ask for some presents. in canada, pet-friendly holiday pictures are the new to-do. owners dress their four-legged family members in fun outfits, bring them out for a photo shoot. most of the little guys have no problem sitting for the camera. why wouldn't they? the question is, what might the dog be asking for this year? there are easy ones, you know, family members that makes it a little more complicated. >> yes. i've done the pet photos -- >> you have? >> i have done the pet photos. >> wow. we have to pull those out, bill. it's time for an early look at some stories we'll follow throughout date here on nbc. 70 years ago today japan launched a surprise air attack on the u.s. naval base in pearl harbor, hawaii, which led the united states into world war ii. survivors of that day and world war ii veterans will gather at pearl harbor visitor center to commemorate the visitor center.

a moment of silence will be held at 7:55 a.m., that is the exact moment the attack began. and in washington, defense secretary leon panetta will place a wreath at the navy memorial in memory of those who were lost. 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. more than two years after michael jackson's death, "today" takes you inside his final home for a preview of the upcoming auction of his furniture. and michelle pfeiffer and zac efron talk about their new star-studded movie "new year's eve," and 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.