"jimmy fallon" happening right [ cheers and applause ] this morning on "early today" -- iowa countdown. gop presidential contenders make frantic final pitches to iowa voters. chain reaction. poor visibility leads to a deadly predawn pileup in louisiana. and dead ringer? a south korean man mourns the loss of his notorious northern lookalike. 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 picking up the pace. republican presidential candidates are working their way across iowa at a fast and furious pace, packing in as much last-minute campaigning as they can before caucus tuesday. nbc's brian mooar joins us from washington with the latest on this. brian, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. the candidates are way on the ground and stepping up the air war. >> good to see you. >> reporter: the gop presidential candidates are making their closing arguments in iowa. >> don't do anything to any other country we don't want them to do to us and that would solve a lot of our problems. >> reporter: ron paul is the wild card, polling second, but with a well-organized army of supporters. that makes him a target. >> ron paul would dangerous as a president of the united states. >> one of the people running for president thinks it's okay for iran to have a nuclear weapon. i don't. >> reporter: mitt romney has a shot at winning, if he can

convince enough voters he's conservative enough. >> i'm mitt romney. i believe in america and i'm running for president. >> reporter: it's a battle for social conservatives, who are split. rick santorum is gaining ground. rick perry is trying to get it back. >> which republican running for president voted for a bridge to nowhere earmark? >> reporter: gingrich is looking past iowa and new hampshire to south carolina. >> i don't think a massachusetts moderate going to play very well in south carolina. >> reporter: but for now, all eyes on iowa. time is running preciously short, but undecided iowans are still shopping around. lynn. >> only a few days. brian mooar for us in washington. thank you. the obama administration is considering transferring a senior taliban leader out of guantanamo bay. the associated press reports the suspect mohammed fazl labeled a high-risk detainee could be sent back to afghanistan after night years in gitmo. a move designed to help broker a peace deal with the afghan

government. the idea is being met with concern by some in congress and the intelligence community but fazl would remain in custody. he's believed to have been behind the deaths of thousands of afghan shiites. egyptian security forces stormed the offices of 17 pro-democracy and human rights groups yesterday, including two from the u.s. egyptian soldiers stood guard as workers from the national democratic and republican institutes were forced to wait outside while police ransacked their offices. human rights defenders say egypt's military blames, quote, foreign hands for the ongoing unrest since the ouster of long-time leader hosni mubarak. the u.s. state department expressed deep concern, urging egyptian authorities to halt harassment of nongovernmental organizations. syrian antigovernment activists are urging more people to take to the streets today to show arab peace monitors that

syrians want change. the president of those monitors has already re-energized presidents of opponents of president al assad and his crackdown, with tens of thousands turning out over the past three days. one human rights group claimed despite those monitors, thursday government forces open fire on protest in various cities, killing 25 and injuring about 100. and now here's a look at some other stories making news "early today" in america. multiple collisions led to a massive pileup on a louisiana interstate, which killed two people and injured at least 60 others. 40 vehicles were involved in the fatal wreck, which was blamed on poor visibility. officials say a mixture of fog and smoke from a nearby fire created treacherous conditions. a hiker and his dog were dramatically rescued by los angeles firefighters. they became trapped on the steep hillside of a cliff after the dog ran after a bottle tossed by the hiker's father.

the rescue crew used a rope and harness to lower both to safety. well, a couple of florida drivers had extremely bad luck with parking spots. a 30-foot wide sinkhole swallowed two vehicles parked at a rest area. one of the cars was removed quickly but the second was kept there for hours until officials determined the ground was safe. finally, it's becoming a more common sight when waters in central florida are cooled. masses of manatee in the warm water released by a power plant. experts worry the man-made warmth are altering the migration habits of the manatee. for a look at your national and regional weather, here's meteorologist bill karins with your weather channel forecast. good morning, bill. >> have you ever seen a manatee?

their nickname is a sea cow. they are amazing creatures. only a couple thousand left. as far as weather, a really nasty situation in the northwest. lot of heavy rain and strong, gusty winds. i'm happy to say a lot of mess out of here by the time we get to the holiday weekend. rough morning ongoing. the moisture streaming off the pacific right now from northern california to coastal oregon. a little bit of a break in puget sound. the green on the map is rain. temperatures plenty warm. more of a mild storm system. snow levels very high. most of the snow will fall on areas of the mountains of idaho and montana. a lot of the northern rockies and jackson hole, wyoming will, do the best anywhere as far as snowfall goes. snowwise, here is a little picture from the outside of boise, and right around jackson hole, up to a foot of snow.

even in the highest elevations, some of the colder air filtering in will give you snow too. some ski resorts can give you additional snow pack. they need it up there in the northwest. rainy morning in the cities. throughout the day, we'll get better. weekend, better thanwe won't ge francisco, san jose, just staying to the north of you. good news is, this ends the sequence of storms we had this week and the weekend forecast looks better. >> like that. all right, bill. thank you so much. home sales jumped. verizon charges more and losing big business with the death of kim jong-il? early morning business headlines straight ahead. winning and a war and drawing questions about her tweet. a homecoming, a barn burner

and buzzer beater. 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. president obama remembered victims of pearl harbor thursday, laying a wreath at the "uss arizona" memorial in hawaii. the president and first lady michelle obama also dropped flower petals into the water beneath the memorial. fire burned a russian nuclear submarine docked at a shipyard for repairs. authorities say there's no radiation threat because the missiles normally on board had been removed. while the fire is out, russian military says some crew members are still on board. chinese officials say they've launched 19 rockets this year, putting them second behind russia with the u.s. coming in third. they vow to put 100 satellites

in orbit over the next five years, which could give the chinese military the accuracy it needs for missiles without american technology. work on the planned september 11th museum at ground zero is now on hold. the museum was supposed to open next year alongside the 9/11 memorial, but new york mayor michael bloomberg says it won't open on time because of a dispute over financing. and this is the newest spot on earth. volcanic ash from an underwater volcano formed a new island in the red sea just off the coast of yemen. but don't plan on vacationing there soon any time. it may soon disappear since it's made solely of volcanic debris, but pretty to look at. now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off indicate. the dow opens at 12,287 after rising 135 points yesterday. the s&p gained 13 points. the nasdaq was up 23. taking a look at overseas

trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei was up 56 points. while in hong kong, the hang seng added 36. on more positive signs for the economy, stocks rallied thursday ahead of today's last trading day of the year. the only remaining suspense is whether the s&p 500 will end positive for the year. thursday's rally left it up 0.4%, the closest it's been to unchanged for a year since 1970. traditionally the last trading day the year is a down day. november home sales surged to a 1 1/2 year high. home builders, nasco, pulte and leonard all gained. midwest factory activity grew. prices and employment rose but production eased slightly. on the downside, last week's unemployment claims rose more than expected, but the four-week average fell to a 3 1/2 year low. also aiding stocks, italy's bond yields, which spooked investors

wednesday, eased thursday. after a debt auction. still the yield on italy's ten-year bond hovers near the 7% danger level. banks were the day's biggest gainer led by jpmorgan case. alocoa and caterpillar, two bellwethers led the dow. amazon dipped after third quarter results. sears fell further after its store closings and other issues caused fitch to downgrade the stock. gold fell for a sixth straight down, down 1.5%. starting january 15th, verizon wireless will start charging $2 for payments made over the phone or online with credit cards. finally, at least one south korean is mourning kim jong-il. the engraver who thanks to his likeness of the departed north

correspond radio rekorean leader, had a well-paid side career in commercials and appearances. the hair. coming up, a former penguin wobbles the peng wings. overtime upset in college hoops. your college football bowl game of the day. new plus, was this big bomb by vince carter enough to lead the mavs past the thunder? your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. and i'll have your holiday forecast coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, if you're a dallas fan, the good news is mavericks are the defending nba champs. the bad news is, that was last season. here's nbc's mario solis with an early look at all your sports headline. >> good morning. what has happened to the nba champs? the mavericks lost their third straight game, courtesy of a buzzer-beater by durant. mavs down two in the final second. nowitzki finds carter, knocking down the three-pointer. dallas up one with a second to play. no worries for the thunder. they've got kevin durant. he catches the inbound pass and sends dallas packing. the jumper at the buzzer. oklahoma city remains undefeated with a 104-102 win. east meets west. kobe goes on a terror, scoring 13 of 28 in the third quarter.

he's now put up 26 or more in all four games. lakers win. another day, another upset in college basketball. rutgers, carter was mr. everything against tenth ranked florida. in the third quarter, carter stops and bops with a career high 31. he gives it up to miles, the dagger from three-point land. scarlet knights shock florida in an 85-8 3 win in double overtime. hockey, jagr made his return to the pittsburgh as a member of the flyers. he spent 11 years with the penguins. he scored a lot of goals in the steel city. you can add one more to the list. successful homecoming. flyers win 4-2. college football, looked like the fighting i rich would run away with the bowl. manual hooks up with green for the go ahead touchdown after a few rallies to beat notre dame 18-14. finally, if you like offense, you love the alamo bowl.

baylor and washington combining for 123 points. heisman trophy winner, griffin accounting for two touchdowns. ganaway scores five times. baylor wins a shoot-out. that's a look at sports on "early today." i'm mario solis. the experts say no new films at the box office this weekend means a sure-fire winner. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. bagels, could they be the key to a whole new start in life? you're watching "early today."

welcome back on this friday morning. let me take you through the holiday weekend forecast. a stormy pattern in the northwest. happy to get rid of the as we ring in the new year. rain heavy at times, oregon, and northern california. snow in the high elevations of the northern rockies and cascades. new year's eve, calm and quiet. partly cloudy, cool conditions. not too bad. on sunday, most areas should be sunny and nice. a good start to the new year for all of us. watching us on kgw, in portland, oregon, come to art on the boulevard. pacific event of the day. here's an early look at headlines in entertainment. describe this weekend and whole

year of 2011 with hollywood struggling to pull in audiences, there's nothing new at the box office. tom cruise's "mission impossible: ghost protocol" should win with about $30 million. elsewhere, former chicago bulls star and current tight-fisted nba owner, michael jordan asked his girlfriend of three years to marry him over the christmas weekend. congratulations to them. another blast from the past. elly mae clampette from the beverly hillbillies, donna douglas, settles her lawsuit over mattel with a barbie that uses her character's name and likeness. understatement. voters gave robert pattinson the e-celeb award for the second year in a row. amid more questions surrounding her recent tweets with ex-boyfriend and assaulter chris

brown, rihanna's seductive ads for armani jeans have been crowned sexiest ads of the year by advertising age magazine. are you jealous? >> i'm so glad that there is no more twilight. >> one more left, bill. sorry. >> there's another one? >> oh no! this comes from roanoke, virginia, in bedford, one businessman is making an offer that's just hard to believe. michael is leaving the bagel business in unique fashion with his contracting business thriving, he decided to just give away the bagel shop. he plan to hand over the business to whoever sends him the best essay on why they would be the perfect owner. michael had chances to sell but he prefers to give someone the kind of helping hand he never received. i'm lynn berry and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

one fuzzy duo is a real life warm fuzzy. a pair of twin polar bear cubs at an aquarium in china will be unveiled to the public for the first time after the new year. the 2-month-old brothers weigh in around 22 pounds and are a little over 2 feet tall. they are the second set of twins born this year to the same polar bear couple. both sets have survived well. in nepal, proof even our four-legged friends need a little pampering. elephants got the royal treatment decorated in elaborate chalk designs and brightly colored fabric, not just dressed up. the elephants got dolled up having toenails painted.

they were judged on size as well as discipline. yes, bill, really. finally in new zealand where one match-up will leave you wondering who might walk away the victor. they got a front row seat between a killer whale and killer shark off a popular beach. after a few rounds, the shark eventually tired out and was washed to shore by the waves while locals were entertained, bill, likely not hope for a sequel in this situation. but i don't know. i was kind of going for the shark there. i thought he -- >> i mean, the killer whale. i mean, that's the top of the food chain. >> i guess so. kind of like you, bill karins, meteorologist, then the anchor and then we go -- >> in our opinion, yes. time for an early look at stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. a babysitter charged with killing a 9-year-old girl who disappeared from an indiana trailer park last week will appear in court. michael plumadore is accused of

killing and then dismembering the girl. in new york city 14 muslim leaders are boycotting the inner-faith breakfast. held by mayor michael bloomberg. they're upset over reports about the new york city police department using informant to follow activities of islam. happy birthday to matt lauer. he turns 54 years old today. 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." here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. a florida marine shares his tale of survival after dodging bullets in a hometown robbery. tv host juliana rancic and her husband update her progress on the fight against breast cancer. 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.