♪ this morning on "early today," taking heat. republican presidential candidates battle front-runner mitt romney in south carolina. 'roid rage? surveillance video captures a man's rampage. and what's goes up? russia says it's failed probe could come crashindown within days. 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 the southern swing. the campaign push is on in south carolina where the republican presidential hopefuls are looking to lock in conservative support. nbc's brian mooar joining us from washington with those details. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning. the candidates are slugging it out in the trenches with all but one fighting for survival. >> hi, guys. big night last night. very exciting. >> reporter: mitt romney's underdog opponents are hoping for a knockout. the republican front-runner is being hammered over the airways. online in a documentary and on the stump where newt gingrich is turning up the heat and not apologizing. >> i think that the american people deserve to know things. >> reporter: rick perry is trying to shoot down romney's credentials as a job creator. >> we need to have more venture capitalism going on in america and less vulture capitalism.

>> reporter: after winning iowa and new hampshire, romney can afford to shrug off the attacks. ron paul is avoiding the attacks altogether but they are not sitting well with other republicans including opponent rick santorum. >> it's bad enough for barack obama to blame folks and business for causing problems in this country. it's one other thing for republicans to join in on that. >> reporter: nine days left until south carolina, and the gop presidential race is heating up. and there's word today that the romney camp is getting ready to counter-attack critics of his business record. very ron ka? >> brian mooar in washington. thank you. president obama is back in washington after a quick trip to chicago. the president attended three fund-raisers on wednesday piling up cash for the fall campaign. he told supporters they will finish what they started in 2008. mr. obama also made a surprise visit to his campaign headquarters in chicago to thank staffers working on his

re-election effort. he hopes the campaign, quote, embodies the values that we are fighting for. shocking behavior by members of the u.s. military once again may cause anti-american backlash in the muslim world. this image which we blurred is from a youtube video appearing to show four marines urinating on the corpses of taliban fighters. while the marine corps says they are investigating nbc officials tell nbc news the video is legitimate and the marine involved may be based at camp lejeune, north carolina. they promise a swift investigation and say if the marines are positively identified they could face criminal prosecution. the u.s. supreme court has decided in effect there's one place that employees cannot sue for discrimination, religious institutions. the high court ruled unanimously in a case of a lutheran teacher. she lost her position while being treated for a sleep disorder and was fired after

threatening to sue under the americans for disabilities act. the federal government sued the school but the court said the lawsuit buzz barred by the church's first amendment right to free exercise of religion. here is a look at other stories making news today in america. last halloween, surveillance cameras rolled through a rampage in an upstate new york gym. he tossed through the facility ripping down equipment. police arrived and took the suspect down with stun guns. and he died shortly after from cardiac arrest. an autopsy discovered steroids and dpc in his system. heavy rain in huntsville, alabama, took many by surprise. rescue crews had a busy day as the unrelenting downpour turned roads into rivers forcing officials to set up road blocks to keep drivers safe. and finally, check this one. one l.a. artist is about to reveal his vision of the future.

his metropolis 2 sculpture is modeled after roadways interwoven between hundreds of skyscrapers. the artist's work will be unveiled to the public on saturday at the l.a. county museum of art. so cool. now for a look at the regional weather here's bill karins with the weather channel forecast. good morning, bill. >> you are going to make fun of my voice before you hear it. >> i know what it sounds like. i have been working with you all morning. bill is under the weather, but he's hanging in there. >> i feel fine, i just -- if i keep this voice, i'm thinking i want one of the voice-over rolls, the people who do the movie trailers. >> you can do barry white in a heartbeat. >> i just can't carry a tune. good morning, everyone. we have an ingerties change in the forecast this weekend on the west coast. as of now it's the same old, it is dry, pretty mild out there. the storm system going through the east to cause a lot of airport delays to end with traveling in chicago, new york, boston, anywhere with the big destinations will have issues. but airports in the west will be fine for your travels.

heading out to school or work, no issues. bring the sunglasses in most cases. a lot of clouds in southern california, all kind of connected to this cutoff low, which is far off the coast. high pressure continues to dominate the weather right along the coast. but what's going to change is the strong cold front that's blowing through the pacific northwest saturday night. it's going to really bring down those snow levels. the coldest air of the season will be heading to areas like seattle. yes, even in seattle i think sunday you'll have a chance of seeing snow. right now the snow levels are going to drop 500 feet, maybe down to sea level. so that will be a big change in the weather forecast. hopefully it will build up the snow pack at the higher elevations. so today's forecast, i guess enjoy the tranquil weather while it lasts. more stormy next week. 59 and sunny in san francisco. sacramento looks good. l.a. today, 74. one of the warmer spots in the nation. that's ati a temperature right

around 70 degrees today. and mostly sunny. looks like two more nice days and changes in the west. >> yeah, i can't believe snow for seattle. and we are not even getting it here in the big apple. i have to scratch my head on that one. >> a lot of people haven't. >> it's crazy. feel better, bill. >> i'm all right. crocks take a bite out of holiday sales. trouble for twinkie makers and the oracle of omaha dares republicans in congress. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus shocking revelations of one of hollywood's most famous clan. coming up, the celts and mavs go down to the wire, overtime in san antonio and kobe does it again. you're watching "early today."

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. in syria a french tv cameraman has been killed after news people were attacked with grenades while being led on a government-sponsored trip to hams. the government is blaming, quote, terrorists. joran van der sloot has pled guilty on killing a woman in 2010 in peru. he was the prime suspect of natalee's holloway's disappearance in aruba. on to mississippi governor haley barbour's final acts in office this week was pardoning more than 200 inmates, but the judge blocked the release of 21 prisoners, including four convicted killers. barbour says most of these were recommended by the parole board. a pew survey finds thousands of americans find tensions between the rich and the poor are increasing. 3 out of 10 say there are very strong conflicts between the have's and have not's. debris from a russian spacecraft that launched in

november will begin falling to earth as soon as this weekend. the orbiter was supposed to explore mars but never got out of orbit. the odds of anyone being hit by the debris are said to be slim. thank goodness for that. now here is an early look at one of your top health headlines at msnbc.com. a new movement is hitting facebook. one to create a bald barbie as a role model for young girls going through chemo or hair loss conditions. the page created by women who had trouble dealing with baldness or going through it themselves has 18,000 likes. so far, mattel has only sent a letter to the group saying they don't accept outside ideas. for more information on this enand other health stories, head to nbc.com. and the dow opens at 12,449 after losing 13 points yesterday. the s&p was up a fraction. the nasdaq gained eight. taking a look at overseas trading this morning. in tokyo, the nikkei down 62

points, while in hong kong, the hang seng dipped 56. without any big news out of europe, markets managed to hold on to recent gains wednesday. u.s. steel and material stocks higher thanks in part to an upgrade in that sector. on the earnings front, oil giant chevron down 2%. after a warning of significantly lower fourth-quarter profit. home builder lennar's third straight quarter of growth sent shares up 7%. strong holiday sales of crocs put shares for the popular footwear maker up 16%. supervalu dropped 12% after missing its earnings estimates. shares of urban outfitters plunged nearly 20% on the unexpected departure of its ceo. hostess is filing for bankruptcy protection the second time in a decade as the iconic snack brand tries to find its footing in the increasingly health-conscious market. a survey shows surprisingly

robust american spending and factory production at the end of 2011. japan's finance minister told timothy geithner his country will take concrete tens steps to cut dependency on iranian oil imports. and the u.s. is stopping shipments of orange juice after potential trace elements of fungicide were found in orange juice. buffett tells "time" mag dean he will match all republican members of congress dollar-for-dollar. he'll even go 3 for 1 with mcconnell himself. the nafs and the shamrocks go down to the wire and a big decision to go pro. blake griffin and the clippers challenge the rich guys from miami. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. and as the cold air moves

down, the lake-effect snow machine will begin. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

very good morning to you. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, the los angeles lakers made a strong statement last night handing the utah jazz

their first home court loss of the year. here is nbc's fred roggin with an early look at your sports headlines. >> good morning. kobe bryant has done it again. the night after scoring 48 against the suns he dropped 40 in utah. lakers needed every single one of them. kobe did most of the damage in the first. 14 in the quarter and 21 at the half. the jazz hung around all game and forced overtime. josh howard tied it in the final minute. all eyes on kobe, he dished it to pau gasol and he hit a three for the league. go figure. no one thought he was a threat from the outside. bryant hit the 40 mark for the second straight game and the lakers won 90-87 in o.t. now to san antonio, the spurs up two in the final seconds. the rockets need a bucket and they got it from lius scola. tied and off to overtime and as close as houston would get. richard jefferson, the dagger from the corner. rockets made it interesting but the spurs got the win. 101-95. mavs and celts down to the wire. under 30 seconds to play.

paul pierce drilled a three to tie the game at 85. no worries for dallas, they have the final reigning mvp on their side. not always pretty but effective. the bucket and the foul. dirk nowitzki completed a three-point play for the lead and mavs held on to win it 90-85. clippers and heat in los angeles. this was not a game, but a dunk contest. kris paul to blake griffin, seemed like every time the clippers threw down a huge dunk, the heat came down with often their own. lebron with 40. after 40 minutes they were deadlocked at 86. the clippers put it away with another dunk. the andre jordan, game over. clips beat the heat 95-89. baylor quarterback robert griffin iii announced he will entered the nfl draft. he has one more year of eligibility but already completed his undergraduate degree and will receive his masters in communications in july. that is pretty impressive for an athlete who is only 21. that's a look at your sports headlines for "early today."

i'm fred rogin. how much is too much when it comes to an age difference in marriage? your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, golf can be a costly love affair. we'll introduce you to one couple with a special leg-up, make that legs-up, on the cost of golf. you're watching "early today."

well, welcome back to "early today." we are watching a pretty nice day, but things are going to change. we have two more nice quiet days in the west, then a strong cold front goes through saturday. then we'll start talking typical winter weather, give the mountain areas some snow. as of now, more of the same, pretty mild if not cool conditions out there depending on where you are. cooler in the inner mountain west. mild in southern california. looking at tomorrow's forecast, pretty similar with more increasing clouds in the northwest, but temperatures are going to nosedive. well, if you're watching us on king-5 news in seattle, washington, see come peopling images of dark evergreens to capture the spirit of the pacific northeast at the mysteries at the fetherston gallery. >> come on, you can do better than that. the mysteries -- with that voice of yours? >> i didn't want to play it up too much. >> okay. now here is an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. two of robert kardashian's ex-wives claim khloe kardashian

is not his biological daughter. the late kardashian told him khloe was not his daughter and comes in the wake of kris genre saying she was unfaithful to kardashian during their 30 years of marriage. khloe tweeted, i let a lot of things fly and you are disgusting. no word if she plans to file legal action. the big winners at last night' pretend made-for-tv awards otherwise known as "the people's choice awards were katy perry. halle berry is making a third go at the altar. 66-year-old rocker brian ferry married his son's 29-year-old former girlfriend. say it one more time. >> gross. creepy gross. >> both. and ashton kutcher tells tv

writers he wants to stay with "two and a half men" beyond this season. >> i'm not getting involved, but he looks so young with his hair. >> i think he looks good. >> i didn't say he didn't. all right, this comes to us from nbc 2 in ft. myers, florida. in nearby punta gorda one dog has helped lower the price tag on his owner's golf outings. his dog is known to find golf balls in their backyard. they haven't bought a ball home since bringing the dog home. the dog gives a break to his owner's wallet in these tough economic times. so cute. i'm veronica de la cruz. this is "early today." this is your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

one russian artist is giving a new meaning to watercolors. the painter developed a technique allowing him to paint down to 30 feet under water. submerged in the black and red seas he must watch out for his oxygen supply, changing currents, temperature and even poisonous fish. he has yet to come up for a name for his new genre of paintings. so interesting. in south korea soldiers toughen themselves in bitter cold during a winter military drill. the men and women tested their endurance during push-ups in the snow and then throwing it on their bare skin before trudging through freezing water.

the goal is to prepare them to adopt to any situation they might find themselves alone in without any help. to promote a winter sale one store in france asked customers to take 50% off of themselves. two free items were offered to shoppers who showed up for the sale in their underwear. while several hundred showed up, only the first hundred qualified. the gimmick, which shoppers loved, because they didn't need a changing room, kicked off a nationwide sale season. you know, only in france would shoppers love that. >> you guys got to stop letting me choose the last story. >> i know. bill karins, darn you, of course you would go with that one. i'm now looking at the stories we are following throughout the day here on nbc. today is the second anniversary of the earthquake in haiti which claimed 316,000 lives and caused $14 billion in damage. more than 600,000 people still remain homeless. in a los angeles courtroom, clark gable's grandson will be

sentenced. clark james gable pleaded guilty to pointing a laser at an l.a. police helicopter. happy birthday to howard stern. the king of all media and satellite radio star turns 58 years old today. a very happy birthday to him. all day long you can stay on top of the very latest developments in those stories and others as they break on msnbc. 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. after a florida judge unsealed her mental health records, here what casey anthony told psychologists about the last days of her daughter caylee's life. dolly parton and queen latifah joining forces for the movie "joyful noise." keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and more. i'm veronica de la cruz. thank you 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