♪ this morning on "early today" -- off and running. as the gop presidential field narrows, remaining candidates set their sights on new hampshire. slap shot. amateur video captures hockey fans facing off after the nhl winter classic. and peak performance. one of switzerland's most famous mountains gets lit up for a big milestone. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello, very good morning to you. welcome to our viewers across the nation including the pacific

time zone. i'm veronica de la cruz. today we begin with next stop new hampshire. mitt romney is looking to widen the paper-thin lead he beat rick santorum by in iowa. michele bachmann has dropped out while texas governor rick perry says he is staying in. nbc's brian mooar has details now from washington. brian, good morning. >> good morning, veronica. yes, mitt romney won iowa, but his competitors are pointing out that the glass there was three-quarters empty. mitt romney's campaigning on home turf with a win in iowa under his belt, the endorsement of john mccain in his pocket, and a runaway lead in the polls. >> do you think we can do a little better here in new hampshire? maybe? yeah. >> reporter: even though romney beat rick santorum by only eight votes in iowa, it's a win. >> with romney, ron paul and rick santorum in the top tier as the three serious contenders coming out of iowa is just almost -- it's the perfect

scenario for the former massachusetts governor. >> reporter: santorum had no virtually no organization but his iowa win was worth $1 million influx in contributions. >> we're doing okay right now. and if the people here in new hampshire give us a shot, my guess is we'll do a lot better. >> reporter: with michele bachmann now out and south carolina and florida weeks away, the other candidates see opportunity. >> i'm totally 66 more votes than in 2008 so, you spend an additional $10,000 per vote. >> i guess that means there's blue sky for the rest of us. >> reporter: if romney hold on to new hampshire, he'll be tough to beat. the latest polls out of new hampshire show romney has a 20-point lead. veronica? >> brian mooar in washington, thank you. politically provocative move, president obama bypassed the senate nomination process yesterday appointing the head of the new consumer protection agency with the senate in recess. in ohio the president named richard cordray to be first

director of the consumer financial protection bureau. the recent appointment comes one month after senate republicans rejected him for the post. while they threatened to take the matter to court, presidents of both parties have long used the method to controversial appointment. we'll learn about changes coming to the u.s. military adapting to what could be $1 trillion in budget cuts over the next decade. president obama and defense secretary leon panetta will detail this in a pentagon briefing this morning. the army is reported to cut troops by 80,000, leaving 490,000 soldiers. the marine corps is expected to trim their ranks by 10%. the navy and air force would see less of an impact. the cuts would force a shift away from the policy of being ready to fight two ground wars at once. well, the german man accused of being the new year's eve arsonist in los angeles has been formally charged.

24-year-old harry burkhart faces 34 counts of arson. bail was set at under $3 million and ordered to surrender his passport. prosecutors say he used a device to accelerate the fires. now there's word burkhart is under investigation in germany after a fire at his family's home in frankfurt days before he left for the united states. and here are other stories making the headlines today. a violent brawl broke out between hockey fans after the winter classic in philadelphia. police released video. the attack caused one of the victims, an iraq war vet and new jersey police officer, to be hospitalized with a concussion. no arrests have been made. a car thief's getaway came to a bizarre ending on the roof of one california apartment building. take a look at this. the suspect was speeding when he hit a curb, causing him to launch into the air. adding insult to injury, police captured the driver after he broke his leg jumping from the

roof. and finally, quick thinking and technology got a montreal photographer into the united states after forgetting his passport at home. he showed a vermont border guard a stored image of the document on his ipad. although he should have been denied access, officials gave him a break after determining he was not a threat. he also got back into canada with that ipad passport. and now for a look at your national and regional weather here's nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. did you come up with the app, yet? >> i'm sure somebody has, but i don't think they will let people do that anymore. >> shh, it is our idea. >> the photo id? yeah. good morning, everyone. amazing weather across the country so far this winter, mostly because it has not felt like winter. we have this huge january thaw, this large pacific high pressure sensor now over the four-corner region heading if for central plains. and the mild air is really incredible. all the way up to the canadian

border. at 4:00 a.m. this morning we set record highs in montana for temperatures. i mean, in the morning, in the middle of winter, it is crazy. so as far as what we are dealing with out there, this is controlling the weather. the high pressure is centered over the top where my hand is here. all the storms have to flow around that, that means they are coming off the pacific and heading through the pacific northwest, mostly up to british colombia, just clipping the northwest. that's why we can't get the moisture down here in california. that's why the snow pack is troubling here in the sierra. we have the mild temperatures in montana, idaho and wyoming. we have rain showers from that storm system, just some onshore flow. nothing too bad, just periods of on-and-off rain here. there's snow being picked up there in the northern portions of the cascades. as far as temperatures go, i mentioned this mild, 49 billings for the morning. today's forecast is showing showers in the pacific northwest. l.a. today, 84. a little downflow getting you nice and mild.74.

only the northwest is on the cooler side. so you had the record player skipping and it continues, a very warm, warm winter. >> did you really just say 84 degrees in los angeles? >> that's air-conditioning, almost. >> you can't do that to me, that's horrible. especially when it is 19 degrees in new york. well, good news for netflix for a change. kodak braces for bad news, and a big break for you tax procrastinators. your i recally morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, it's one thing for them to have a reality show on cable but now they're about to invade the space of an american icon. coming up, a record-setting orange bowl. chicago cubs trade their ace. and the longest goal you'll ever see.

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very good morning to you. welcome back to "early today." i'm veronica de la cruz. here are some of your top headlines this morning. one police officer has been shot and killed, five others wounded after serving a drug warrant in ogden, utah, last night. the suspect was also wounded. and the opposition leader announced the government there approved for party running in upcoming elections. a party spokesman said suchi does intend to run. while the april election will return her party to mainstream politics after two decades, the election has been arranged to ensure the party backing the military will still maintain power. a landslide in the philippines killed at least 25 people at the gold mining site. government officials warned months ago the mountain was

guaranteed to crumble. check this out. here's a projection of a series of images of the swiss flag on the mountains. he's living in a base camp almost 10,000 feet up. and top of the line tuna has been auctioned off in japan going for about $1200 a pound. the whipping bidder owns a susihs, sushi chain. he hopes to help the economy recover from last year's tsunami. the s&p us was up a fraction. in tokyo the nikkei fell 71 points. in hong kong the hang seng gained 86. well, stocks barely budged wednesday but on the bright side investors were able to hold on to gains from the impressive

first trading day of the year. alcoa and microsoft added to boost the dow while worries on europe's debt problems dragged bank shares lower. fortunately encouraging 2011 auto sales helped offset the euro woes yesterday saying ford, gm and chrysler were higher on the day. netflix shot up 11% that members streamed more than 2 billion hours of tv shows and movies online during the fourth quarter. oil fell from an eight-month high as concern europe's debt crisis is worsening countered bet sanctions on iran world crude supplies. yahoo! shares fell 3% after naming scott thompson as the new chief fueling speculation of the struggling search engine still not finding a buyer. kodak is getting ready to file for the chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. and elsewhere, more than 2100 boeing employees will be out of work when it shuts operations in wichita, kansas, by the end of next year. at&t agreed to pay tebow $215

million plus monthly licensing fees to settle the patent i think fringement dispute. and thanks in part to nadel new data shows u.s. album sales were up 3% last year. the first rise for the music industry since 2004. finally some good news for you tax dead liners. the irs pushed back the filing deadline to april 17th this year. april 15th falls on a sunday. and the 16 st. a holiday in washington, d.c. lucky you. a big trade in baseball, a college upset in hoops, and the rarest of goals in soccer. plus, west virginia grinds clemson into a pulp at the orange bowl. the early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. we have record temperatures in the middle of the country, but will the warmth head to the east coast next? your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

very good morning to you. if we're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, the west virginia mountaineers barely eked into a top five. but last night in the orange bowl they looked like the top ranked team in the universe. here's nbc's fred roggin with a look at all your sports

headlines. >> good morning. every bcs bowl game has been a close one until last night. to the orange bowl in miami. clemson and west virginia. this was a good game for the first quarter. then the mountaineers started to pull away. gino smith flipped the ball to tavon austin. looked like a handoff but a pass. he threw four of six touchdowns that way. west virginia up 21-17. next play changed the entire game. clemson a yard away from taking the lead. andre ellington stripped at the goal line. darwin cook came out of the pile with the ball and he was gone. 99 yards the other way. this opened the flood gates. west virginia set a school and orange bowl record for points, embarrassed clemson 70, yep, 70-33. college hoops. temple beat a top ten team each of the last four years. this season it was third-ranked duke. khalid wyatt led with two. every time duke closed the game, the owls would knock down a shot at thor end. 78-73. marquette and georgetown

went down to the wire. thompson, the dagger from the corner. hoyas took the lead with 22 seconds left. georgetown rallied from ten down to beat marquette, 73-70. chicago cubs have had enough of carlos zambrano traded him to the marlins for pitcher chris volsted. he wanted to be united with ozzie guillen. nothing more embarrassing than being scored on by a goalie. everton, jim howard booted a 100-yard goal in bolton in the epl. took one big bounce and found the back of the net. fourth goal in english premier league history. it was supposed to make the debut for landon donovan. they said howard stole the show with one of the longest goals you will ever see. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. >> announcer: "early today" sports is brought to you by touch of gray. get rid of some gray, never all. who is splitting up, who got

back together and who has signed up for some big roles? your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, for many, winter snow is just a pain but there are others who just can't get enough of the stuff. you're watching "early today."

welcome back on this thursday morning. incredible warmth continues through the northern rockies and some of the high pressure is

blowing some of the warm air all the way down to southern california today. 84 in los angeles. and we are going to see near record highs in sacramento today, too. showers up in the pacific northwest. just light, we won't see anything too heavy. tomorrow a relatively dry day, but notice it is just as warm with temperatures above average almost everywhere. well, if you're watching us on kmri 6 in palm springs, california, the artist fascination with desert landscapes lit by the moon. a collection of oil paintings at night and day at the palm springs art museum. that's your pacific event of the day. >> 84 degrees in l.a. and what in palm springs? >> oh, probably similar. >> you know, you just got to go there, right, bill? now here's an early look in this morning's headlines in entertainment. relationship news and contract signings seem to dominate. actress zooey deschanel and ben gibbard are getting divorced a little over a month after their separation.

sinead o'connor says their divorce is over, but now we decided to be boyfriend and girlfriend again. justin timberlake and jessica biel did get engaged during a holiday getaway in jackson, wyoming. have you been following that story, bill? hugh jackman has signed to play harry houdini on broadway. taylor swift has beaten out lea michelle, scarlett johansson and evan rachel wood in the big role in "les miserables." james franco will write a fictional account of his life. barbie, world's most famous doll is getting three high profile new friends. and finally, barbie is getting three high-profile new friends. who are they? >> yeah. you want your 6-year-old to play with the kardashian dolls, right? i'm sure they won't be curvy at all. let's be realistic.

from news channel 8 in tampa, florida, where the sunshine state's recent cold snap has brought out the winter spirit in one homeowner. while near record-lows have put floridians in a deep freeze. one resident is embracing the near frigid conditions with the help of a snow-making machine. the homeowner added icing to the arctic experience. the apparatus showered the property with a dusting but in you have to treat the neighborhood to its very own winter wonderland. >> see, it can snow in florida. >> where did he get a snow-making machine? >> at lowes or home depot. >> red light special. i'm veronica de la cruz. this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

a dozen new roommates are living together in china. no, it is not a reality tv show. 12 pandas are living together in a panda breeding center. like all babies some are more rambunctious while others shy away from attention paid to them by visitors. 21 pandas were born in china bringing the total to 333. they are super cute. in poland one grandmother is proving you don't have to be young to be hip. the 73-year-old is spending her twilight years in the deejay booth. to avoid the boredom that comes with retirement, she used her love for music teaching herself

to use mixing gear. she plays at a club three days a week for a mostly older audience. i still have a chance at being that cool some day. >> i don't know if her -- the people dancing could keep up with her. >> she was awesome. >> she was beat boxing, too. >> no, you will be beatboxing at that age, i'm sure. time to take a quick look back at "early today" history. today is the eighth anniversary of the current "early today" program. over 2,000 shows under executive producer andy jones. also marks eight years of "early today" writing, producing and line producing by john lito. since the beginning "early today's" technical director has brian zitzec. sonia has been the show's audio engineer. for the last eight years, anthony payne has provided video playback. for eight years camera and stage managed. for 100 shows keenan lee has run cameras or stage managed. eight years mario has been "early today's" graphic artist.

for all that time, geraldo has been another "early today" graphic artist. so, congratulations to all of you for your professionalism, striving for excellence and for surviving these brutal hours for eight straight years, right? >> and for putting up with us. let's just be honest. >> absolutely. we appreciate it. all day long you can stay on top of the very latest developments in those stories and others as they break on msnbc. all the stories we've talked about today. also tonight be sure to catch brian williams with "nbc nightly news." and finally, a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. details on a candid new interview with demi moore who opens up about fears of being unloved and body issues. and why a minnesota bridal shop defaced and dumped thousands of dollars worth to of designer wedding gowns. keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and much 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 thursday. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com