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tv   Early Today  NBC  December 14, 2011 4:00am-4:30am PST

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this morning on "early today" -- pulse of the nation. our new poll has bad news for the country and gop presidential front-runner newt gingrich. road hazard. the federal government begins a new push to ban phone calls, texting and e-mails at the wheel. and "i don't," new numbers show marriage in america is on and "i don't," new numbers show marriage in america is on the steep decline. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry. and today we begin with a bleak outlook. a startling round of new poll numbers point to what could be a
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game-changing election year given the overwhelmingly unsatisfied state of of the american people. according to the latest nbc news/wall street journal poll, a whopping 70% say the country is headed in the wrong direction. americans felt a similar lack of satisfaction with congress and the economy. nbc's political director chuck todd has more results on the field of republican presidential candidates. >> let's start with mitt romney. his electability problem is getting the republican nomination. newt gingrich surged to 40%, the highest number any republican has had in the calendar year of 2011 since we started polling this primary. when the race shrinks down to three candidates, gingrich, romney, paul, gingrich's lead expands 53% to romney's 31%. what is romney's electability problem? one word, ideology. 70% of republican call them conserve ty. 59 57% believe newt gingrich is
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one of them. newt gingrich has an electability problem but that is in a general election. mitt romney and barack obama would be a neck and neck race, 47% to 45%. newt gingrich, different story, 51% for the president, just 40% for newt gingrich. independent voters are sour on newt gingrich. elsewhere, last night on capitol hill, house republicans muscled through their version of a budget bill. it does extend payroll tax cuts also has approval of the restone pipeline, something president obama and the senate have said they won't accept. nbc's steve handelsman reports. >> aye are 234 -- >> reporter: house republicans easily pushed through what they called their tax cut jobs bill. >> the american people were asking, where are the jobs? the house is listening. we've passed a a large big that
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contains many of the priorities of our caucus and the white house. >> reporter: but most democratic lawmakers were opposed. >> republicans want to go home for the holidays but they want working people to pay more in taxes next year and lose unemployment check. >> reporter: to make up for payroll taxes for medicare and social security, republicans voted to extend pay freeze on federal workers and eventually reduce long-term unemployment from 99 to 59 weeks. democrats had wanted a tax hike on the rich. and the republican bill would fast track approval of the keystone oil pipeline from canada to texas. opposed by environmentalists but backed by some unions and many conservatives. >> the keystone pipeline will create, as have been said, 20,000 to 25,000 jobs or more immediately. >> reporter: but president obama who wants more study of the pipeline vows to veto today's bill if keystone is included.
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he's escalating the fight, urging democrats to hold up the latest government spending bill until the house passes a plain payroll tax cut extension. i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, capitol hill. a bold new push from the national transportation safety board is calling for an all-out ban of cell phone use while driving. that means no texting, no talking, not even hands-free devices. and now it is up to the states to carry out that recommendation. nbc's brian mooar has details. >> reporter: what began as a school bus trip in missouri ended in a deadly chain collision crash and more than a year later it's leading to a call for an outright ban on drivers using mobile phones. >> and, yes, that does apply to bluetooth, hand-held, hands-free. a visual and cognitive distractions and manual distractions we're concerned about. >> reporter: it's one of the most sweeping recommendations ever by the national transportation safety board.
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>> it may seem like a very quick call, a very quick text, a tweet or an update. but accidents happen in the blink of an eye. >> reporter: drivers could still use gps or other devices that aid driving. and passengers wouldn't be faeked but the ntsb call is only a recommendation. distracted driving has been cited in failure commuter train accident in california, a deadly boat collision in philadelphia and a passenger jet that strayed 100 miles past its destination. investigates say the true toll of distracted driving is impossible to measure. while a phone ban may be inconvenient -- >> death is inconvenient. >> reporter: a new drive to force american motorists to put down their phones. brian mooar, nbc news, washington. now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. a momentary distraction may lead to a lifetime of embarrassment for one miami police officer. oops.
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he was reaching for a fallen pen when it caused him to lose control of his cruiser and drive up a wire attached to a utility pole. stuck at a 45-degree angle the officer, who was not hurt, thankfully, needed a rescue crew to help him exit the car. a gun-wielding thief disguised in a scoopy doo ski mask has the public asking for help. they released surveillance video hoping someone may be able to identify him. >> he just wanted a scoopy snack. an oklahoma restaurant has snacks for you. they have taken all the fun foods from state fairs and put them on their menu. customers at the eatery can now get a year-round fix of funnel cakes, bill will be very happy to hear that, fried candy bars, corn dogs, indian tacos and other popular dishes. for a look at your national and regional weather, here is nbc meteorologist bill karins with your weather channel
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forecast. good morning. >> we know in new york city we have menus that have calories on them so when you order stuff. imagine walking in that sdpraunt seeing -- >> it's a painful reminder when you go to the steakhouse you learn the mac and cheese is going to kill you some day but it's still delicious. enjoy in moderation. >> yeah. just run to and from the restaurant. good morning. we have a rainy forecast to talk about. not a l of snow. wet weather is moving up from the south and now covering much of the midst from kansas city northwards to omaha, des moines, on and off rain, even minneapolis is warm enough for rain. we've had on and off rain from milwaukee to chicago, now spread to indianapolis and beginning to move through ohio. it's a large storm system. it's spread out. the storm system is located still back over new mexico and arizona. out ahead of that with the southerly flow, there is a little wintry mix up here in northern wisconsin but that's about it. we're not going to see any flooding concerns. about 1 inch of rain will cover
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areas near chicago, even dallas later today could get an additional batch of heavy rain, maybe storms. there's not many areas below freezing. even the rockies and areas to the north. that's it. as far as today's forecast goes, wet weather in the middle of the country, maybe storms. east coast, you look nice and a will be a period this afternoon with chance of storms. denver, not bad at 43 degrees. this rainy system will slowly slide to the east tomorrow. i'll give you the updated forecast. >> good. bill, thanks. the fed does nothing and wall street whines. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, stop me if you've heard this before -- she says she's a changed woman but everything she did tuesday seemed like the same old lindsay.
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coming up, the denver nuggets sign the best free agent on the market and the longest shot you'll ever see. you're watching "early today."
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good morning and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are some of your top headlines this morning. in a surprise move, it was last minute, jerry sandusky, former penn state assistant coach charged with molesting ten boys, waived his right to a preliminary hearing. prosecutors were prepared to call 11 witnesses. many alleged victims. in the belgian city, a gunman sprayed bullets at christmas shoppers and hurled a grenade at a bus stop, killing four people before taking his own life. more than 120 were wounded. donald trumpb has canceled plans to moderate a republican presidential debate in iowa, one in which only two can candidates
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agreed to pay part. trump says he wants to maintain the option of of running for president himself. and a new analysis of census data finds a record low number of adult americans are currently married. just 51%, down from 57% in 2000. the median age when people first marry is now at an all-time high, 26 for women and 28 for men. and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 11,954 after falling 66 points yesterday. the s&p dipped 10 points. the nasdaq lost 32. taking a look at oversaes trading this morning n tokyo the nikkei was down 33 points while in hong kong the hang seng fell 92. like a child expecting a gift from a visiting relative, wall street pouted tuesday when the federal reserve showed up empty-handed. despite expect takings the fed
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would stand pat, stocks still slumped on disappointment over new new stimulus. the fed opted against any movement, including another round of quantitative easing. on both europe and economic improvement here, the central bank will just wait and see. adding insult to injury, the fed told wall street what it already knew -- europe and strains on financial markets still pose danger. earlier, stocks traded higher despite german chancellor angela merkel rejecting raising europe's bailout fund. the euro sank to the lowest level since january. gold lost another 2.5%. on tentions with iran, oil jumped more than 2%. wheat down 11% over the past month, jumped almost 3%. retail sales rose again, but less than expected in november. best buy tumbled on lower than expected quarterly profit. boeing took its first order for the new 737, part of a $19 billion southwest deal, the airline's largest. pfizer led the dow on its $10
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billion stock buy back. urban outfitters led the s&p on fast rising sales. finally, headlining last night's elizabeth taylor jewelry auction at christie's in new york, a pearl richard burton gave to taylor estimated to sell for $2 to $3 million sold for a world record, just under $12 million. imagine what her diamond will go for. coming up, a complete wrap-up of nhl highlights on the ice. and a big free agent signing in the nba. plus, you've seen them in practically all other sports. why not the world's longest shot in hockey? your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. and the warm weather, the rain in the middle of the country is heading for the east coast. you're watching "early today."
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good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, last season the denver nuggets were forced to trade away one superstar, so their top priority this season was holding onto one of the league's top free agents. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headline. good morning. with all eyes on chris paul and dwight howard, the nuggets pulled off a deal for the top free agent on the market. according to sources they re-signed to a five heef year,
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$67 million deal. hockey is without sidney crosby but malkin gets it rolling, the penguins should be okay. unfortunately, he was the only one who showed up for pittsburgh. red wings scored four unanswered. cleary had two. they beat the pens 4-1. flyers without leading score giroux, went on to win it 5-1. now to new york, rangers and stars, richard bockman came out of his net and paid the price. taken out by carl hag land. bockman's helmet went flying but he was all right. played the best game of his career. 34 saves in backman and dallas needed every one. trevor daley scored late in the third. stars won 1-0. kings fire terry murray on monday because of the team's lack of offense. perhaps murray wasn't the problem. l.a. shut out by boston. the bruins' marchand had more goals last night than kings had in the past two years scoring a pair. kings lost five straight boston
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winning 3-0. sabers and senators needed overtime. eric karlsson fed cowen in front of the net. miller with a season high 41 saves but couldn't stop that one. ottawa won it 3-2 in o.t. finally predator's shea weber has the hardest shot in the league and can it do it from long distance. took a shot from high above the ice. looked like it was going to the right and it was, right into the net. that was a three-point shot in hockey, he had it. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. well, who is not dating tim tebow? who is going to rehab? who's afraid of snakes? your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, a surprise holiday reunion involving one of man's best friends. you're watching "early today."
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welcome back to "early today" on this wednesday morning. rain will be ending during the day in areas like phoenix, by the way, who picked up almost an inch of rain in the last two days. that rain is moving through the middle of the country, ohio, oklahoma city, dallas, all of texas with a chance of rain. we dry it out there tomorrow and just some light rain will slide through new england and mid-atlantic on thursday. well f you're watching us on whdh 7 news in boston, massachusetts, see drawings and paintings that explore the
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movement found in dance at dance/draw, institute of contemporary art. that's your early event of the day. here is an early look at this morning's headline in entertainment. the new lindsay lohan says she's learned from her mistakes. >> thank goodness. >> unfortunately, she has yet to show it. lohan missed a flight home from hawaii, missing a taping with ellen degeneres but a spokesperson says she'll definitely be back for today's can't miss l.a. court appearance. >> i couldn't come back from hawaii early. brooke mueller's recent arrest for cocaine possession has checked into rehab. newly single lindsey vonn took to twitter to shut down rumors she dating tim tebow. jessica simpson's last laugh on weight critics signing a $3 million deal to be a spokeswoman for weight watchers. >> i'll take $1 million. >> postpregnancy. finally, we bought a zoo
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co-star scarlett johansson tells people her scariest moment on set around the animals was, quote, watching matt damon cry like a baby and rock back and forth when the snakes were on the set. this comes to us from nbc washington in the nation's capital where in nearby frederiksberg, virginia, after years one family will finally know what it's like to have their whole brood home fort holiday. patina is back home after eight years, being returned after found 2800 miles away in california. the reunion was set in motion once the dog's microchip traced back to virginia, giving the family a stunning gift they'll always remember. i'm lynn berry and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.
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drivers in australia are giving their buses a christmas makeover. 11 buses participated in the annual holiday competition decorating their ride to get commuters in the christmas spirit. it's not just for enjoyable trip. the winning bus received a check for over $500 that will be donated to the sydney children's hospital. in norway, a butter shortage is putting christmas traditions to the test. that's because no butter means no favorite holiday goodies, so a group of friendly danes brought thousands of butter packets to offer their neighbors. eager residents lined up almost instantly and the much soughtafter holiday staple was gone within an hour. finally, one toilet in japan
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is more flash than flush. looking more like a royal throne, the pretty potty is bedazzled with 72,000 pieces of swarovski crystals. and is worth a whopping $128,000. now, it took designers a month to decorate. it's not even for sale. instead, she just sits there on display to draw customers in. i call her "she" because she looks like the flap would open and she would be like, hey there, i look sassy. >> that's probably the only toilet i would clean. >> yeah, because no one is allowed to use it. >> it is beautiful. it's time for an early look at some stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. hollywood will honor its own this morning when nominations for the 18th annual screen actors guild nominations are announced. george clooney and glenn close are favored and. on this day in 1972, the apollo
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17 module lifted off from the moon with the final two astronauts ever to explore the lunar service. nasa's sixth and final moon landing mission broke several records, including longest nim lunar orbit. and on this day in 1799, 67-year-old george washington died at his home in mt. vernon. all day long you can stay on top of the 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. "time" magazine reveals its choice for 2011 person of the year. and olympic gold medal figure skater brian boy boynton notice performs on rockefeller skating rink. keep it on your local channel for news, weather, sports and more. i'm lynn berry. thanks for watching today just your first stop of date today on your nbc station. have a good one.
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