this morning on "early today," ready, set return. the nation's retailers are ready for the final round of holiday shopping madness. on the mend, england's prince phillip is said to be in good spirits after undergoing heart surgery. and open wide, an 8-month-old baby gets up close and perhaplittle too personal with the commander in chief. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and very good morning. welcome to viewers across the nation, including the pacific

time zone. i'm veronica de la cruz. today we begin with many happy returns. christmas is officially over, but for many americans, there is one more tradition to observe. millions of shoppers will head out today to return unwanted gifts. and if retailers get their wish, they'll spend more money on post christmas sales. nbc's brian mooar joins us with the details. brian, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, veronica. everybody out there in tv land, did you get what you wanted for christmas? >> santa. >> reporter: after speeding around the globe to deliver all his gifts on time -- ♪ jingle bells jingle all the way ♪ santa and friends spent time surfing in cocoa beach, florida. and if facebook is any measure, the man in red did a pretty good job this year. foul weather left u.p.s. scrambling to get tens of thousands of packages delivered on time. speaking of scrambling, it's now crunch time for the republican presidential candidates. just eight days left before iowa. president obama and the first family are chilling in sunny

hawaii. this is, of course, the season of giving. and many spent their christmas day doing just that. 1,800 meals served at a church in north carolina. 22,000 in atlanta. in florida, volunteers delivered boxes of groceries to their needy neighbors. now that christmas is over, it's time for serious shoppers to spring back into action. >> on average, the week after christmas accounts for up to 10% of holiday season sales. so it's a very important week to close out the season. >> reporter: it may not be this out of control if you're planning to hit the malls today, but if you're looking for bargains, you know you're going to pay a price. the national retail federation estimates 8 in 10 consumers bought gift cards this season. as for returns? something tells me there might be a lot of those today.

>> i think you should hang onto that one. >> probably a classic on ebay. >> probably. >> brian mooar in washington, thank you. >> thank you. the white house is condemning a series of terror attacks that killed near 40 people in attacks on christmas day. an explosion at a catholic church near the nigerian capital claimed the lives of at least 20 people who had just finished observing christmas mass. in what happen appears to be a coordinated assault, a bomb exploded amid gunfire in the isn'ter of the country and a suicide bomber attacked the military in the nation's northeast. a muslim sect responsible for holiday bombings that killed 90 people last year has reportedly claimed responsibility for yesterday's attacks. new violence in iraq this morning as a suicide bomber detonated a car bomb, killing seven people. sunday, vice president joe biden talked with by phone with prime minister al malaki. offering condolences over last week's violence. their conversation comes amid

fears of a sectarian split after the shiite coalition issued an arrest warrant for another leader. the u.s. is urging leaders to follow the nation constitution to try to work out their differences. it is a sign of the strained relationship between the u.s. and pakistan in the month following the raid that killed osama bin laden. the new york times reports there could be a less ambitious terrorism alliance that could limit the u.s. drone strike as long with the number of u.s. spies and soldiers on the ground. tensions were heightened last month after an american air strike killed 26 pakistani soldiers near the afghan border. despite that, u.s. officials insist the relationship will endure. now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. hundreds lined the banks of the delaware river for the 5 9th

re-enactment of george washington's crossing of the river. the surprise event turned down a band of british mercenaries turning the tide of the revolutionary war. although he had a very busy schedule over the weekend, st. nick managed to pull off some exciting stunts on the potomac river. for a 26th year, acrobatic performers braved the cold to put on a water skiing show for spectators. and there were some extremely cute stocking stuffers on display in missouri. for their first christmas, hospital staff members dressed each newborn in a santa hat and placed them inside their own stocking where they slept like -- well, babies. finally, in hawaii, an 8-month-old boy had an adorable response for president obama after he told the president it was too quiet. the infant put his hands in the president's mouth after being picked up to take a photo. as you can see right there, the president played along merrily. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is nbc meteorologist bill

karins with the weather channel forecast. >> ah! >> that was cute. not cuter than the babies wrapped up in the stockings. i think about that on holidays, babies being born, even on christmas day. yeah. >> the weather was nice? >> not bad. okay in most areas. good morning, everyone. as far as temperatures go, still on the cool side. not too much warm air in the intermountain west. not too much rain or snow. new mexico, the exception. covered in snow. and that adds to temperatures. much colder than when there is not snow on the ground. and there is a fresh snow pack. not much in the way of any snow in the mountainous areas. we had a weak front go through. light snow, highest of elevations in the cascades. that was about it. more of a moisture plume. the weather pattern will shift. it will go up through british

columbia, and the frontal boundary and the northern jet stream, parallel across the country, through the northwest. that will keep the flow a little more active and moisture stream from the pacific over washington state. and a good chance of rain over the next couple of days. as far as forecast in seattle goes, chance of rain in the forecast with mild temperatures all week long, that is the case for areas like portland, california looks s hard to comp. arizona and california, you look great. for the northwest, a numerous number of storms to deal with. but none of them blockbusters. >> it's been bizarre

weatherwise. >> very unusual start to winter. just ahead, a look at how u.s. service members spent the christmas holiday overseas and mission accomplished for tom cruise this holiday weekend. coming up, the nba unwraps a new season and aaron rodgers spreads christmas cheer throughout green bay. you're watching "early today."

well, good morning. welcome back to "early today." i'm veronica de la cruz. here are top headlines this morning. police in texas are investigating the shooting of a gathering in ft. worth. authorities believe four women, three men, age 18 to 60 are related and that the shooter is among the dead. in stanford, connecticut, a fire killed five members of a family, including three children. two people were able to make it out of the burning victorian home. it took dozens of firefighters

to get the fire under control. a south korean polar research ship has reached a vessel that's been leaking and stuck in frigid waters that's been stuck near antarctica for three days. in england, prince phillip remains hospitalized after having surgery for a blocked artery. he got a visit from grandchildren on sunday, including princes william and harry. he's said to be in good spirits. well, the u.s. military has now left iraq. tens of thousands of american service members remain in afghanistan for the 10th christmas in a row. nbc shows us how the holiday was able to make its presence known to them so far from home. >> merry christmas. >> reporter: major tunisha starts out christmas as she does every day, reaching back to her family in virginia. a mother and a wife, she knows the pain of being far away this time of year.

it's her job to make things better for some 1600 troops. as a morale officer, her battle is to help them fight depression and alleviate stress. >> we are here to do a job, but in order to do it effectively and productively, you have to have a peace of mind. >> she reminds troops that folks back home care, handing out goodies sent by grateful americans. and she sets up events like this jingle bell race. but no fun and games at the post office. they're busy handing and sorting out christmas cheer and the mail that arrived at camp eggars this month alone. >> the packages that we get mean so very much. >> a big smile. >> we make it easy on each other. >> he shares his care packages with his band of brothers following that time honored tradition, the gift of giving.

there are some festive moments, but all over afghanistan, troops are carrying on as usual today, serving their country and fighting a war. this quick response team is heading out on a mission, responding to enemy activity. it's business as usually for colonel mark mcgineral, 27 years in the army and it's still hard to be away. >> i get a couple meetings to go through and then phone call to my wife. >> reporter: a christmas service to just take time to reflect. their thoughts and prayers are with family, front line troops and fallen comrades. ♪ peace on earth the words of this carol have a special meaning here as they ask for peace on earth. mercy mild. nbc news, kabul. the knicks outlast the celtics in the nba opener.

plus, the heat spoil the mavericks banner celebration with a big win. early morning sports headlines straight ahead. mild air conditions across the country and a rainshower headed for the east coast. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, after a long and

frustrating lockout, the nba finally had its season opener on sunday. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. it was the christmas gift that every nba fan on their list, the start of a new season. here we go to dallas. mavs celebrated their first nba title by raising the championship banner. lebron james and the heat crashed the party. the favorites to win it all this year started the season with a bang, jumped out to a 15-point lead in the fist quarter and kept it going. at one point, they were up by 35. o'brien led the way with 37. kobe bryant played in his 14th day christmas game. like so many before, up one, 20 seconds to play. chicago needed a bucket and the mvp delivered. derrick rose hit the floater. kobe was formed by three defenders and blocked at the buzzer.

bulls rallied from six points down in the final minute to win it 88-87. spike lee and chris rock enjoyed christmas together at madison square garden. 17 of his game high in the final frame. kevin garnett had a look at the opening buzzer. shot came up short. new york held on to win it, 106-104. to oklahoma city where i see mama kissing kevin durant, no mistle toe needed between mama and son. kevin punched the magic in the kisser. the thunder rolled 97-89. finally, what's a sunday without some football? packers and bears, aaron rodgers spreading christmas cheer all over the field. threw 5 touchdowns. hand him the mvp award right now. packers improved with a 35-21 win. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. three new films suffer from silent nights at the box office.

your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, the story of college friends, baked goods and a holiday tradition that spanned more than a quarter century. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today" on this monday morning. hope you had a wonderful holiday weekend. weatherwise, we'll see, unfortunately, a change to a more damp, wet weather pattern

in the pacific northwest. numerous frontal systems and the jet stream will thrive the moisture into the pacific northwest. 44 today and showers, seattle, much of the coastal areas, best chance for damp weather. san francisco, l.a., no problems at all. arizona, finally warming it up ever so slightly. and as we look toward tomorrow, not a lot changes, except the northwest. we'll keep youing so ooechl watching us on knsd, nbc san diego. watch a stunning collection of crystals and works of art in all that glitters, is he san diego natural history museum. >> i was just in san diego. beautiful city. >> anything that glitters? >> no, i got to take a look at the ocean, that was definitely glittery. now here's a look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. tom cruise, an extra reason to help operate this holiday

weekend. "mission impossible goes protocol" easily sailed into the number one spot in the box office with an estimated $25 million in its first weekend in full release. still, that is about half of what cruise's other mission impossible films opened with mainly due to the timing of its release. last week's "sherlock holmes" dropped to second. $17.8 million. "alvin and the chipmunks chipwrecked" dropped to third. $13.3 million. this weekend's three newcomers failed to light any fires at the box office. "the girl with the dragon tattoo" debuted in fourth place with only $13 million. "the adventures of tin tin" came in fifth with $9 million. finally, "we bought a zoo" placed sixth with a dismal 7.8 million. just doesn't seem like a lot of people are going to the movies

right now. >> with new year's eve and day over the weekend toos enweekend going on. >> a few people. >> this from denver, colorado, in nearby lone tree, one group of friends are holding on to special memories. for the past 26 years, three college buddies have shared, get this, the same fruit cake. they've preserved it, short of, by keeping the original wrapping intact. while they haven't taken a bite out of the holiday dessert, they have shared memorabilia each time they ship it providing a fun way to stay in touch. i'm veronica de la cruz, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

who says radishes are only for salads? for one mexican city, the radish brings a chance to combine traditional folk art and agriculture. farmers and florists tap into their roots by creating original designs. the most intricate works can fetch top prizes up to $1,000. and in thailand, three baby tigers celebrated the holiday in style. they attracted hundreds of tourists. the decked out cubs and pigs spent the day together. they hope being nursed by the

pig will tame the cubs and nutritious milk will keep them healthy. too cute. in germany, it is a christmas tradition. the exact opposite of sipping hot cocoa by the fire. each year, members of the berlin swimming club gather on christmas day to take a dip in a freezing lake. not letting the frigid temperatures discourage them, the 30 members shed their sunday best and it appears enjoy every single minute. yeah. not for me. >> you've never done that? >> i haven't and i don't think i ever will. >> why? you wouldn't want the rush of it? >> yeah, no. >> you don't like being cold, huh? >> no, not at all. i'm a beach girl. >> you'll do it in l.a. and that will be about it. >> exactly. time now for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. memorial services are being held across southern asia to mark the seventh anniversary of the devastating earthquake and tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people in 14 countries. and today is a federal holiday due to christmas falling

on a sunday this year. government offices, financial markets and most banks will be closed and there will be no regular delivery from the u.s. postal service. finally, shoppers are expected back in the stores this morning. the national retail federation predicts consumers will return more than $46 billion in merchandise bought during the christmas shopping season. 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. in a "today" exclusive, hear from an 11-year-old boy who has been caught in the middle of an international custody battle since he was 4. and meet the youngest person ever to climb seven of the world's tallest peaks. now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and more. i'm veronica de la cruz. thank you so much for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. have a terrific monday. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com