jimmy fallon happening right [ cheers and applause ] this morning on "early today" -- congressional stalemate. house republicans dig in on the payroll tax cut extension demanding the senate reopen negotiations. lights out. the monday night football steelers/49ers match-up is held up twice by power outages. and stepping out. england's prince william and his wife kate attend a royal military awards gala. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. welcome to our viewers across the nation, including pacific

time zone. i'm lynn berry. and today we begin with deadlocked. millions of workers may end up paying the price in lawmakers in washington can't work out their differences in time to extend payroll tax cuts, before they expire on december 31st. now, insiders say house republicans are trying to scuttle a senate deal and they may try to prevent a much anticipated vote on the house floor today. nbc's tracie potts has the details. >> reporter: house leaders announced late last night the two-month extension that democrats and republicans agreed to in the senate won't even get a vote on their side. >> our members don't want to just punt and do a two-month short-term fix where we have to come back and do this again. >> my guess is they are afraid their members won't stick with them. >> reporter: republicans are pushing for a conference. a few members on each side, to come back to washington, and work out a new man. democrats claim it's a ploy to

kill the tax break. they say republicans never wanted in the first place. >> we're not going to play. >> reporter: republicans are willing to work through christmas and accused democrats of putting their vacation ahead of 160 million working americans. >> the senate saying they aren't coming back, they are saying they want to raise taxes on the middle class. that's what they are saying. >> reporter: democrats saying they won't participate in a conference. >> some saying they -- please, to their colleagues, please to the house republicans, pass this. this is crazy not to do this. >> reporter: your paycheck still in limbo with less than two weeks before the tax break runs out. tracie potts, nbc news. and a new poll find the nation's republicans are sharply divided over their top pick for president after a recent surge in the polls, former house speaker newt gingrich has fallen

back into a dead heat with former massachusetts governor mitt romney, both with 30%. texas congressman ron paul came in a distant second with 15%. meanwhile, that same poll found that while most americans still disapprove of president obama's handling of the economy, his overall approval rating is at its highest since march, at 49%. with uncertainty surrounding the future in north korea this morning, mourners are paying their last respects to their late supreme leader, kim jong-il. in a glass coffin surrounded by flowers, the long-time ruler's body has been laid out for a week-long viewing. kim jong-un joins top north korean officials. distraught mourners gathered in public plazas throughout the country. a funeral will be held for kim

jong-il december 28th. back here at home, parts of the southwest and central plains are getting hammered by a deadly snowstorm that's unleashed heavy snow and fierce winds. blizzard conditions are being blamed for two deaths in colorado while whiteout conditions are making for treacherous travel in new mexico, oklahoma, and northwestern kansas. in the texas panhandle, national guard troops were called to assist with nearly 100 rescues after a major interstate was shut down last night. nbc meteorologist bill karins will be along in a moment with much more on this storm. first, here's a look at some other stories making news "early today" in america. a shocking and disturbing videotaped assault on a homeless man has led to the arrest of his two attackers. the two suspects led police straight to themselves after posting their video on youtube. it shows one assailant battering the victim and bloodying his nose before wishing him a merry

christmas and stealing his bike. hard to imagine. police are unaware of the homeless man's whereabouts. a rash of recent attacks like this one on a mom with her child has forced milwaukee police to assign officers to ride on troubled bus routes. police will ride the buses and patrol bus stops in an effort to keep rising number of incidents under control. a couple of stranded teens were rescued from a steep canyon near phoenix. they became lost after venturing off from one of the boy's mothers. a responding rescue crew used long ropes to pull the boys to safety. and finfinally, good news o the day. a pennsylvania man's tradition of decorating his home continued this year. it was all thanks to his neighbor. when back and heart surgery kept charles from putting up his usual lights and other ornaments, jim stepped in. he spent over nine hours turning the yard into an especially

festive christmas display. did a great job there. very thoughtful. bill karins has been tracking the blizzard. good morning. >> i've been tracking it. didn't do something quite as nice as setting up my neighbor's christmas. >> doing your job. we appreciate that. >> this job and a little more. set the bar kind of hard. good morning, everyone. we're looking at the storm system. it didn't hit major cities, shutting them down. it's beenn areas of northern new mexico, santa fe, really got a lot of snow. 10 to 20 foot reports from areas of western colorado, especially western oklahoma. that storm is moving out. and in the wake, really no big storms to report. interesting circulation down here in southern california, and the frontal boundary will sink down on top of washington state with some showers today. not a lot of moisture with that hit-and-miss showers and doesn't look like anything too heavy.

circulation off the california coastline did bring light rain to san diego. showers popping up. and sinking to the south a little bit. in areas that don't usually see wet weather, you could get a little bit of light rain. temperatures uniform. 40s in the mountains or in the 20s. showers in the northwest. not a huge ordeal. california clear ukiah, areas i california, upper 50s, low 60s. i'll have that forecast on tomorrow. a little unsettled in the northwest, but nothing major. >> bill, thanks so much. bank of america sinks, at&t gives up, and a big field for a struggling american defense contractor. business headlines straight ahead. a new deal in the works to make this guy the james bond of

all time? what happens when the lights turn out on "monday night football?" . we will show you. 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. iraq's shiite-led government has issued an arrest warrant for sunni vice president. accusing him of running a death squad that amass natured police officers and government officials. the move comes a day after the last u.s. troops left iraq and was blasted by republican senator john mccain and lindsey graham, who argue the u.s. withdrawal was premature. egyptian security forces and opponents of army rule are clashing for a fifth straight day near cairo's tahrir square. a retired egyptian army general and current adviser on the ruling military council said protesters, quote, deserve to be thrown into hitler's oven.

drawing condemnation from human rights groups. the president of the philippines has declared a state of national calamity as death toll from typhoon and flooding grew to nearly 1,000. entire villages were reportedly washed away while tens of thousands have been left homeless. surprising new numbers from a journal -- a study in the journal "pediatrics" at least 30% of americans say they have been arrested by the time they turned 23. that's a sharp increase from the mid-1960s when only 22% reported being arrested by that same age. and last night in london, the duke and duchess of cambridge, prince william and kate, attended a gala awards ceremony to honor the bravery of members of england's armed forces. kate reportedly wore a black strapless alexander mcqueen dress and jewelry given to her as a wedding gift. looking lovely, as always. now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day.

the dow opens at 11,766 after losing 100 points yesterday. the s&p fell 14 points. the nasdaq dropped 32. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei gained 40 points. in hong kong the hang seng nudged up 9. financials pulled stocks lower monday, dragged down by european worries. and bank of america, stocks across the board fell late after bank of america fell below $5 a share for the first time in nearly three years. more than 29 million bank of america shares traded. more than 5% of the day's total volume. also weighing on banks, a wall street journal report the federal reserve wants u.s. banks to hold more capital in reserves than required by law. in fact, this week the fed is expected to release much-anticipated rules overseeing the largest u.s. banks, including capital and liquidity requirements mandated by congress after the financial crisis. in europe, looking to impress markets with firm action,

instead european finance ministers blundered unable to come up with 200 billion euros they vowed to give to the international monetary fund to help struggling european countries. back here at home, december's home builder sentiment hit its highest level since may 2010. company news, at&t officially dropped its controversial $39 billion bid for t-mobile. winn-dixie surged after going private in a $560 million all-cash deal. commercial metals fell after rejecting a $1.7 billion takeover bill from carl icahn. "the new york times" is nearing a sale of 16 regional newspapers to halifax media. this morning japan ordered 42 lockheed martin fighter jets in a deal worth billions. standing by her man has earned the wife of dominique

strauss-khan the title of france's woman of the year in a nationwide poll. we'll let you decide how feel about that one. coming up, a top 20 college basketball upset. last-minute nhl excitement on the ice. plus, national embarrassment for san francisco as the lights go out on monday night football. twice. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. our central plains blizzard is coming to an end. now that rain is heading east. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, normally in san francisco's candlestick park it's the wind and the weather. well, last night on monday night football, it was the lights. here's nbc's mario solis with an early look at all your sports headlines. >> hi, good morning. 49ers and steelers. an electric match-up on monday night football. but the electricity didn't hold up. power outage in san francisco just before kickoff, a transformer blew, cutting electricity to the ironically named candlestick park. 20-minute delay. and then there was football. until the second quarter when it happened again. near complete blackout at the stadium. this time 16 minute without power. niners turn out the lights on the steelers.

in the fourth, frank gore powers into the end zone. niners win 20-3. proving to 11-3. steelers fall to 10-4. college basketball. last time kansas played davidson elite eight back in '08. jayhawks squeaked out a two-point win en route to capturing the national title. last night the upstart school looking for payback. getting all they could handle in kc. davidson's cochran on fire from downtown, hitting four three-pointers. 21 points for cochran. davidson gets revenge upsetting the jayhawks 80-74. flyers down a goal to the aves in the final minute. they pull their goalie and works to perfection. daniel briar behind the net, tying goal. 18 seconds to may. goal given to wayne simmonds, they go to a shootout. up to rookie matt reed but his first career shootout hits the crossbar. colorado holds off flyers 3-2. bruins and canadiens in boston. first period.

peverley wins the face-off, slides the puck to pouliot. bang-bang play for the goal. bruins force a turnover. bergeron to patrice falls to the ice. bruins win 3-2, fifth straight win for the defending stanley cup champs. that's an early look at sports on "early today." coming up, big show biz splits. and big internet confusion over who passed away. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, after being stationed in afghanistan, a missing christmas for ten years, what better way to start catching up than an ice skating rink. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today." big winter storm is it moving out. and heading to areas of new mexico, and also into areas of kansas and texas. we do have rainshowers in the forecast up in the northwest. not going to be a big deal. and little rainshowers lying san diego may last another hour or two, and they will head out. tomorrow's forecast, not a lot changes, still coolish in the area. still dry in most spots. if you're watching us on tntv, nbc 11, explore the science behind the popular holiday symbols and traditions. 'tis the season for science. lynn likes that. >> oh, yeah.

>> california academy of sciences. that's the event of the day. here's an early look at today's headlines in entertainment. the big screen 007 and this, the producers have their say, daniel craig will be the record breaker. currently shooting "sky fall" his third james bond film, producers have approached craig with a deal to do five more. can get enough craig. that would make eat total. one more than roger moore and the original man with the license to kill, sean connery. oscar-winning actress jessica lange and sam sheppard, who have been together since 1981 and have two grown children not only separated, they have been apart fort last two years and just now announced it. another split, chaz bono and girlfriend, fiancee jennifer have called off their engagement, but aums called off their whole relationship. finally, you can't make this up.

the death sunday night of north korean leader kim jong-il led to major confusion about rapper lil' kim. rumors of her death swirled all over the internet, including detroit's former mayor who tweeted asking if it was true. come on, guys. you know better than that. this comes to us from wfla news channel 8 in miami, florida, in palmdale a skating rink helped a soldier pull off a surprise reunion. after a decade of missing christmas, this time a vet made it home from afghanistan for the holiday. she surprised her grandmother, turning a family outing at the mall to a very tearful reunion as a special added bonus she got to see her 8-year-old niece skate for the very first time. quite a day for them, i'm sure. i'm lynn berry and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

express service at one restaurant in prague, i model train runs through the bar delivering a pint or picking up checks from the customers. the bar staff moonlights as train operators and say it's a time saver but the high-tech equipment doesn't cost cheap. it costs almost $800,000 to install and run through the crowded tables. in england, the letter to santa sparked a holiday science experiment of sorts. worried santa wouldn't fit down the chimney of his new home, a little boy wrote a letter to the builder expressing his concern. well, in response, the builder designed a test in which santa would be lowered into the

chimney using a crane to test just how santa-friendly it was. lucky for this little boy, it was a success. and finally, in canada, technology and holiday spirit come together to create a very merry welcome home. college students have formed the tweet and carol choir. this is a group that takes requests via twitter to sing to your special someone upon arrival at the airport. so far the airport has received over 100 requests and hopes to continue the practice the next year. well, you know, we got bill, finally, into twitter. so, this is a whole new world that we can expose you to. you can start requesting songs. welcome. >> are you going to sing to me or someone -- i'm waiting for the choir to appear. >> heck no. not even close. >> bill's a jolly good fellow. anything? >> sorry. time for an early look at stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. just days after the formal end of the u.s. military mission in iraq, the last 300 u.s. air

force airmen and women stationed in that country will return home to u.s. soil. in washington state, a man who planted a bomb along the parade route at a martin luther king jr. celebration will be sentenced. federal prosecutors have recommended that 36-year-old kevin who confessed to planting the failed backpack bomb be sentenced to at least 32 years in prison. and the national menorah will be lit in the nation's capital today to mark the beginning of hanukkah, the eight-day jewish festival of lights. 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 william with "nbc nightly news." here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. former new mexico governor and u.s. diplomat bill richardson talks about what's ahead for north korea after the death of kim jong-il. and bill clinton and "the office" star mindy share their favorite books from the past year. keep it on this channel for

local news, sports and weather. i'm lynn berry. thanks for watching. have a good one. [ man ] it's big. responds in a moment's notice. supports in times of need. same with aladdin. aladdin became the biggest in bail by treating people right. no one has lower prices, is faster or more professional than aladdin. that's why more people turn to aladdin than anyone. aladdin bail bonds. bigger because we're better.