♪ this morning on "early today," missing at sea. the search continues for cruise ship passengers off the coast of italy as new details emerge about the captain's course. nothing left. a gas explosion in new york state reduces an entire home to rubble. and relief at last. a russian tanker delivers much-needed fuel to an iced-in alaska town. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning.

welcome to our viewers across the nation. i'm lynn berry. today, we begin with a growing disasters. the italian cruise liner tragedy appears to be worsening with a spike in the number of people missing. 25 passengers and four crew members are now unaccounted for. meanwhile, the ship's captain appeared in an italian courtroom this morning. nbc's michelle kosinski has the latest from giglio, italy. >> reporter: rescuers fighting their way while there's time to find people who might still be trapped deep within the costa concordia. battled weather, had to pull back. the half-sunk ship under water, where divers on a good day can barely see. >> it's dark. also, we are losing track of our way. >> reporter: among the missing, american retirees from minnesota. their family says they couldn't wait for their dream mediterranean cruise. still emerging video shows how a vacation three hours in evolved

into a desperate push to escape. >> people were passing out. people were getting nervous. people were having chest pains. i was having chest pains. i was having anxiety because i don't know how to swim. >> reporter: infrared video shows people inching down the hull in the dark. costa cruises called this the result of a human error, blaming the captain. he's under suspicion of abandoned ship while passengers still scrambled for their lives. >> that was nbc's michelle kosinski reporting from italy. back here in the u.s., republican presidential hopefuls squared off in south carolina last night for their 16th televised debate. jon huntsman dropped out earlier in the day. that leaves front runner mitt romney with four remaining rivals on the attack before the

state primary. tracie potts joins us from washington with more on that. tracie, good morning. >> reporter: hi, lynn. just five of them, but what a debate last night. this one was rough from the very beginning with romney on defense. >> i know that people are going to come after me. i know president obama's going to come after me. the record is pretty darn good. >> reporter: slammed for heading an investment firm accused of mass layoffs, romney did say he'd consider releasing his tax records this spring. >> i have nothing in them to suggest any problem. >> mitt, renewe need for you to release your income tax so the people of this country can see how you made your money. >> reporter: some of the sharpest exchanges involved negative ads like ron paul's on rick santorum. >> i only had one problem. i couldn't get all the things in i wanted to say in one minute. >> reporter: newt gingrich versus romney. >> it's probably the biggest hoax since big foot. >> reporter: and the ad romney's political action committee ran

against santorum. >> if i had something in the super pac supporting me that was inaccurate, i would say stop it. you're representing me and you're representing my campaign. stop it. >> as you know, that's something which is completely out of the control of candidates. >> it would be nice if governor romney would exercise leadership on his former staff and donors to take falsehoods off the air. >> reporter: those ads are now saturating carolina air waves with the primary just four days away. in this debate, there were also sharp disagreements on other things too, like whether or not our country can indefinitely detain terror suspects. mitt romney says yes. ron paul says not if they're u.s. citizens. rick santorum points out they have rights. lynn. >> tracie, thank you. and now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. a gas leak explosion turned a new york townhouse into a pile of rubble. the blast shook the entire block

forcing neighbors to evacuate their homes. firefighters had just arrived to inspect the leak just moments before the home erupted into flames. four people were injured. at least two people were hurt when a runaway horse jumped over a barricade at a dallas parade. a handler was walking the animal at the martin luther king jr. event when it apparently got spooked. police officers captured and calmed the horse before bringing it back to the parade route. and finally, instead of going to the golden globes, jack black decided to party for a purpose. always being funny there. the actor spent the evening with over 300 kids and young adults who have survived kidney disease at an annual prom event. in honor of his attendance, black was voted prom king. add that to his list of accomplishments. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's bill karins. >> not that i'm going to be cynical, because i'm never

cynical, but i don't think he was going to be nominated for any golden globes anyway. >> or invited to the party. >> maybe the after party. we have a big storm heading into the pacific northwest. we're seeing snow showers over the last couple days. the real big event will occur later today into tonight, and all tomorrow morning. probably one of the bigger storms we'll see of this winter. we have a lot of cold air in place. definitely over the inner mountain west. boise, jackson, all the ski resorts of idaho, wyoming, montana. you're looking golden towards this weekend for the skiers. we're watching a good flow of moisture with snow showers continuing in all the areas from portland northward. we haven't seen a lot in seattle. let me show you. the blue on the map is where the snow is. this is as we go through this morning. as we go through the afternoon, we continue with the snow showers. all the sudden you see the brighter colors off the coast. this is a big slug of moisture coming onshore with gusty, strong winds for the oregon

coastline. that's going to spread inland to the cold air. we are going to see a significant snow wednesday morning when everyone wakes up here. seattle, bellingham, even portland. we're going to have shoveling to do. seattle, looks like possibly 6 to 12 for you. the mountains will pick up feet of snow. in portland, a little lower. you want to stay tuned to your nbc station for updates on the forecast totals. that's delays and cancellations. now, california really doesn't get into the act until a more significant storm affects them towards the weekend. >> all right. bill, thanks so much. coming up, zappos gets hacked. wikipedia goes on strike. and why apple's iconic ceo will not be immortalized in plastic. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead.

plus, pop diva beyonce is given a unique honor from down under. coming up, lamar odom returns to l.a. kansas takes out another top five team. and miss america has the crown. now she wants aaron rodgers. you're watching "early today."

zbood good morning. welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. a new poll will do nothing to improve the image of congress. a record 84% say they disapprove of how lawmakers are doing their job. the washington post abc news poll finds only 13% approve. in thailand, a terror plot that may have been targeting americans and israelis appears to have been stopped. police say a man with alleged ties to hezbollah himilitants l them to a warehouse with bomb

making materials. after days of being trapped by snow and ice, alaska is getting badly needed fuel. a russian tanker has arrived to pump more than a million gallons into the town. and cheer up, everyone. here's an excuse for you. the most depressing day of the year was yesterday. a researcher calls the third monday in january blue monday because of the combination of bad weather, failed new year's resolutions, debt, and the end of the holiday season. there you go. something to smile about today. well, here's an early look at one of your top health headlines on msnbc.com. there's a new study that says babies need close-up face time with their parents to learn how to talk. the research found that newborns spent a lot of time looking directly into the eyes of those holding them. at six months old, the babies switch to watching lips and mouth movements as a way of learning how to sound out words themselves. for more information on this and other health stories, you can check out the health page at

msnbc.com. and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day after being closed for the martin luther king jr. holiday. the dow opens at 12,422 after losing 48 points on friday. the s&p was down 6 points. the nasdaq lost 14. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei gained 88 points. in hong kong, the hang seng shot up 615. as investors return, they will be watching reports this week on december housing and consumer prices. traders will also keep an eye on earnings reports from microsoft and other tech stocks, including companies like intel. french president nicolas sarkozy says the downgrade of france's credit rating changes nothing, but standard & poor's has also downgraded the euro zone's rescue fund. china's economy slowed in

the final quarter of last year. gross domestic product in china grew at 8.9%. its lowest rate in two 1/2 years. bmw of north america is recalling mini coopers to replace water pumps that could overheat. zappos.com says a hacker may have stolen the personal information of 24 million customers. zappos issued an alert to customers and urged them to change their pass words. wikipedia will black out the english language version of its website on wednesday to protest anti-piracy legislation under consideration in congress. the website says the law would harm the free and open internet. apple is expected to announce thursday that it's planning to revolutionize the textbook industry. soon, you may be able to have updated and interactive textbooks that you can buy on itunes.

and a life-like one-foot tall steve jobs doll won't be sold after all. apparently the family of the apple co-founder who died october 5th objected to the sale of the figurine. coming up, miss america inviting a call from the packers' quarterback. and an upset in college hoops. plus, the lakers pull out a win against the defending nba champ mavericks. the early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. the cold air is present in the middle of the country. a snow storm is on the way for the northwest. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, it was a busy holiday basketball schedule in both college and the pros. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. it was an mlk holiday fit for an nba fan. 22 teams, 11 games. let's get right to it. we'll start in boston. celtics tried to put an end to their recent losing streak, but it wasn't to be. the combo of kevin durant and russell westbrook was too much for the boston. carmelo anthony is nursing a sprained ankle and sore wrist

but was wred i dready to go. the magic took control in the fourth. banking in the three. everything went right for orlando down the stretch. they won it 102-93. now to our nation's capital. tough time to be a wizard. javale mcgee with the highlight of the day. tossed it off the back board to himself for the dunk. despite that, they lose again. houston won. the clippers know a thing or two about dunks. blake griffin had 23 boards. it's griffin to his best bud deandre jordan. the clips pull away late to win it. the mavs' lamar odom returninged to l.a. the lakers spoiled his homecoming. tied at 70 in the final seconds. kobe to derek fisher. he knocked down the winner. lakers win it 73-70. college hoops. kansas has won six straight at home against top five teams.

they handed third ranked baylor its first loss of the season. finally, despite losing to the giants, all is not lost for packers' quarterback aaron rodgers. listen. >> from the home of the reining super bowl champs, if you're watching, aaron rodgers, call me. >> that was during the miss america contest, which laura ended up winning. super bowl champ and miss america. that's a power couple. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. coming up, an parent case of sour grapes surfaces at the golden globes. plus, martin luther king day was observed nationwide yesterday, but we'll show you a tribute to dr. king that fulfilled one little boy's dream. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today." one of the more significant snow events that we've seen in maybe since 1985 is going to hit the seattle area along with all our friends in the pacific fwloes. this map is really impressive. high elevations will be measuring snow in the feet. make sure you keep it to your local nbc station to pinpoint how much snow will fall in your location as the storm moves in tonight and continues tomorrow morning. if you're watching us on nbc 4 in california, explore the realm of children's books and graph

graphical novels at the nuclear art gallery. that's your pacific event of the day. >> bill, thanks so much. here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. a new feud appears to be brewing between two musical icons. madonna won best original song at the golden globes sunday, beating elton john. elton's husband lashed out on facebook saying her victory speech was, quote, embarrassing. that's harsh. earlier on the red carpet, elton told carson daly she had no "bleeping" chance of winning. this latest bitterness reportedly stems from madonna's criticism of elton's friend lady gaga. and a newly discovered horsefly in australia was so booty-licious with his golden haired rear end. the researchers actually named it after beyonce.

>> i think i saw the video like once maybe. >> sure, sure. >> day. >> yeah, an hour. and this comes to us from kpnx 12 news in phoenix, arizona. one child laid the ground work for a very special tribute to his hero. it was the town's very first celebration of martin luther king jr.'s birthday. at the heart of it stood this little guy, chandler. the 6-year-old organized the event for the civil rights leader by collecting signatures and securing permission from the town council. after leading a march through the streets, chandler thanked the crowd for making his year-long dream come true. hopefully that becomes a tradition there for chandler. i'm lynn berry. this is "early today." just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

a village in spain turned up the heat for an annual tradition. on the eve of the feast of st. anthony, nearly 120 houses were mounted and rode near as possible. sometimes over about 20 bonfires prepared by locals. although the origin of the ritual has been lost, it can be traced back to the 18th century and is thought to cleanse the horses of disease. in china, there's a price to pay for being single. rather than tell their parents they're still flying solo, many young people are hiring rental boyfriends to join them on their next visit home.

thousands of pseudo suitors are advertising their services online, offering to chat with parents, cook, and even do chores. buyers pay by the hour or day to avoid that "when are you settling down" lecture. finally, is it break dancing, brick dancing, or both? a cementer in china has created a style of break dancing that mimics the 40 steps used in the brick laying process. his dance moves have made him popular with the locals and has created quite a bit after buzz on the internet. after 30 years in construction, he's quite a pro with cement but hopes to keep improving on his dance moves. i think he's going to teach you a few things. >> a little robot thrown in there. it's really got my attention. >> i don't know. i think i may throw in $100 to see you doing that during the weather. it's time for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day. the house of representatives

returns from its holiday break today. they'll take up a resolution approving president obama's request to raise the debt ceiling by over $1 trillion. the senate returns next week. in wisconsin, today is the deadline for petitions to be filed in the effort to recall governor scott walker. democrats say they have more than enough names. walker has been a target after taking on state public employee unions. and happy birthday to first lady michelle obama, who turns 48 years old. 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 williams with "nbc nightly news." finally, here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. paula deen reveals the truth about her health issues with al roker. and james morrison performs live in studio. now, keep it on this channel for

continuing local news, weather, sports, and more. i'm lynn berry. thanks for watching materi"e