have a great night. hope to see you tomorrow! bye-bye! [ cheers and applause ] ♪ this morning on "early today," a surprise twist in the official tally from the iowa caucuses. we have a new winner, sort of. chicago shocker. a group of teens are charged in the brutal beating and robbery of an illinois boy. and bear bones. or kolgss uncover prehistoric skulls that could date back to the ice age. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com hello. good morning. welcome to our viewers across the nation, including the

pacific time zone. i'm lynn berry. today we begin with the iowa caucuses back in the news. with just two days to go until the south carolina primary, republican presidential front-runner mitt romney suddenly has a bigger problem than his tax returns. technically he did not win the iowa race. tracie potts is in washington with those details. good morning, what's this all about? >> lynn, good morning. good morning, everyone. this morning the "des moines register" in iowa is reporting all of the certified results that are going to be counted are in, and rick santorum is up by 34 votes. this has been going back and forth as they received the forms in the certifications from counties and precincts all over the state. and by noon yesterday the totals flipped and santorum was up. the final six precincts came in last night and the final certification shows santorum, according to "the register" up

by 34 votes. what does this all mean? mitt romney issued a statement this morning again congratulating santorum saying this was a virtual tie. the iowa republican party is saying the same thing. there are eight precincts that won't be certified and we understand from reports that the form to certify the votes either never showed up or somehow was never counted. as a result they can't find the forms. they can't count the votes. and the votes that can be counted show santorum as the winner. all of this coming two days before the south carolina primary. >> very interesting. tracie potts in washington for us, thanks. while environmentalists praised it, the republicans are slamming the oil pipeline. it would have car rayed carried tar sands across the midwest and down the gulf coast refineries. critics say the pipelines pose a

risk by going through environmentally sensitive areas of nebraska, but union leaders and the gop say it would have created thousands of jobs. newt gingrich called the president's decision, quote, stunningly stupid. the pipeline owner will eventually submit a new plan with an alternate route. now to the very latest on the disaster involving a grounded cruise liner off the coast of italy. the captain of the ship claims he tripped and fell from the vessel as it was tilting over last friday. he says he did not intend to abandon his passengers. satellite photographs are being used to monitor the accident site for any signs of a fuel leak. 11 people are confirmed dead. and calmer seas allowed the search to resume this morning for 21 people still missing in the disaster. an american couple is among them. here is a look at the stories making news "early

today" in america. a videotape beating that went viral has led to the arrest of seven chicago teens. battery and robbery charges were filed in connection with a high school student and posted online by one of the suspects. all but one of the teens have been charged with and as juveniles. brush fires in central florida came close to killing at least one member of the wildlife community. home video shows an injured black bear struggling to flee the area after possibly scorching its paws. that's sad to watch. the blaze spread to over 30 acres and forced evacuations before dozens of firefighters brought it under control. finally, it looks like the hollywood award season has finally gone to the dogs. co-stars of the "the artist" were on hand to announce the nominees for the first-ever golden collar awards. honors for the best performing canines in film and television will be handed out on february 13th. now for a look at your national and region weather, here is meteorologist bill

karins with your weather channel forecast. good morning to you, bill. >> the bear falling out of the tree tranquilized, i understand, i get it. the poor little thing. it was going like this. >> you don't have to reenact it. >> i do, though. it made me sad. good morning, everyone. yesterday was all about the big storm in the west. the amazing winds on the oregon coastline. and the snow in areas that don't get a lot. portland officially ended up with three inches before it changed over to slop. seattle, you ended up with officially four. the north end of town didn't so so well, only about two. bellingham, only an inch, but they don't get a lot of snow in seattle. you just saw from the pictures driving was interesting to say the least. the cleanup is still going on. some areas got more than that, some areas got up to a foot near the south of tacoma to olympia. interstate i-5 near seattle and portland will be a rough drive. and the storm system hasn't ended. there's another slug of moisture raking all of oregon. the winds aren't quite as strong as yesterday, but we are just

socked in with the warmer air mass moving in. a lot of the snow is being washed away in the greater portland area. the higher terrain is still getting significant snow out of this. the rainfall totals over the next 48 hours, very impressive. look at this. the reds here, that's as much as three to four to five inches of rain for the california/oregon coastline. that's why we'll be dealing with the flooding problems. most of the snow will be in the with temperatures there plenty cold for it. seattle on the cold side with snow showers. very stormy weather pattern, lynn, right into the weekend it looks like. a lot of people have their eyes on the football game in san francisco, too. outdoors. >> i'm sure we'll hear about that coming up later. bill, thanks so much. coming up, negative developments for eastman kodak. banks deliver their bottom line.

and something sweet is happening in florida. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, she's jersey shore's queen of big-haired, leopard-skinned heavy mascara look, but wait until you see her without any makeup. coming up, the wizards do it again, a hollywood sequel for david beckham and a tennis player caused a racket at the aussie open. you're watching "early today."

good morning. welcome back. i'm lynn berry. here are your top headlines this morning. yesterday's online protest against anti- piracy legislation may be paying off. a growing number of lawmakers are now pulling their support of the stop online piracy act and their protect i.p. act.

critics fear the bill would create unprecedented censorship of the web. a contractor working for the federal reserve stole the software to track finances worth millions and allegedly copied the code to help his private computer programming business. someone was able to smuggle a magazine published by al qaeda to a detainee at guantanamo bay. one issue contained tips on how to kill americans. authorities say now mail between prisoners and their attorneys is being inspected. good and bad news for the washington monument. a billionaire is coming forward to donate $7.5 million to finish repair work after last summer's earthquake. however, that work will need to keep the monument closed through the rest of this year. they were all the rage after kate middleton's wedding but do not try to wear a fascinator in one part of england. ladies can wear hats but no

fascinators in some areas and they are banning some types of dresses. in mexico, archeologists have found the remains of bears, including skulls, that may be 11,000 years old. they were in underwater sink holes inside caves in the yucatan peninsula. now here is another look at one of your top health headlines on msnbc.com. a new study out today says abortion rates are higher in countries where the procedure is illegal. the report in today's lancet said half of the abortions in the worldwide are unsafe. the research says there were fewer unwanted pregnancies in country with good access to birth control. for more information on this, and other health stories. check out the health page at msnbc.com. zblrp early today health is brought to you by vagisil watch, the confident clean. now here is an early look at how wall street kicked off the day. is sue the dow opens at 12,578 after gaping 96 points

yesterday. the s&p added 14 points. the nasdaq climbed 41. taking a look at overseas trading this morning. in tokyo, the nikkei rose 89 points. while in hong kong, the hang seng rose 256. a triple-header of key economic reports are due out today, including the consumer price index. wee will also get the latest weekly update on unemployment claims, plus stats on new housing starts. earnings reports are due this morning from bank of america. and other financial stocks like morgan stanley. investment bank goldman sachs net income declined 58% in the fourth quarter but the company still made a billion dollars and beat analyst estimates. ebay's net income in the fourth quarter was almost $2 billion and was helped by higher vef now on the sale of its remaining interest in skype. factory output surged in december by the most in the year. stronger demands for business equipment and business and energy rebounded from the

recession. foreign demands for u.s. treasury debt rose in november to the highest level ever. total foreign holdings increased to $4.75 trillion. the international monetary fund plans to raise an extra $500 billion so it can issue new loans. the imf says the euro zone nations may need to borrow a trillion dollars in coming years. eastman kodak filed for bankruptcy today in a bid to survive the liquidity crisis. the company has had years of falling sales and the decline of its film business. air fares are going up yet again. delta air lines increased fares by $4 to $10 round-trip across much of the u.s. and a florida cop has been chosen as the best chocolate in america. this is the sixth year in a row that vorman love affections won the top honor. steve nash debuts for the

knicks and david beckham decides he is staying in l.a. plus, who says there's no more firing personality in professional tennis? get it all out there, buddy. your "early morning" sports headlines are straight ahead. snow is heading for many areas. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports the nba washington wizards are just having that kind of year. when they win a game, it's the lead story. here is fred roggin with a look at all of your sports headlines. >> good morning. last week the wizards picked up their first win of the season. yesterday they beat the best team in the league for win number two. what's next for the wiz in d.c.? balancing the budget? wizards shocked everybody including themselves against the thunder. jordan crawford up top to wall. he had a team high 25. nick young caught fire behind the arc and a couple of threes down the stretch. and the wizards pull a spell on the thunder, 105-102. now to orlando where the magic and spurs dated overtime. gary neal hit one shot all game but gave the spurs the lead in o.t. magic with a chance in the final second. he didn't get it off in time.

spurs won their first road game of the year, 85-83 in o.t. one fan is green and one who is anything but lean. the nuggets trim the fat against the sixers. andre miller scored the final ten points in regulation and hit the winning shot in o.t. finishing with 28 off the bench. denver wins. what is up with the knicks? steve nash handed the knicks their fourth straight loss. gnash nash had a double-double. spike lee didn't look happy. phoenix wins it. the rangers sign pitcher ace yu darvish from japan. and david beckham re-signed with the l.a. galaxy. a few days into the aussie open and the biggest loser is marco and his rablgts rackets. frustrated with his play, he took it out on his equipment. after smashing one racket, he moved on to another. then he moved on to another. and, yep, one good for good

measure. he broke four rackets and two of them still in the plastic. john mcenroe would have been proud. one huge temper tantrum for marco baghdadis. that is your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. mark wahlberg says he is sorry and rob lowe, sports reporter? your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, imagine you are about to give birth. you make it to the hospital through a snowstorm only to get stuck in the elevator. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today." another stormy day in the northwest, but not as bad with the wind and snow at elevations that are lower, but it is a messy morning. especially for northern michigan and california. finally snow in the mountains in the days ahead. we need it desperately in northern california. and tomorrow, not much changes here, but we'll introduce more rain friday and saturday. we'll, if you're watching us on kgw news channel 8 in portland, oregon, see paintings that explore the tales of surviving concentration camps and a daring post-war escape. that's at transport, the oregon jewish museum. thank you. now here's an early look at the morning's entertainment headlines.

rob lowe said the pro-football world on their ears after tweeting his favorite quarterback peyton manning was retiring. he is said to be on the trading block, but until yesterday no one mentioned the possibility of retirement. lowe who is known to be friends with the colts' opener said he hopes his source is wrong. backlash has forced mark wahlberg to men's journal during an interview he would have stopped terrorists from stopping the airliner from flying into the world trade center on september 11th if he had been on the plane. snooki knownor her makeup and wild hair styles took to twitter yesterday. she posted a picture of herself completely eau natural. it left people wondering why she doesn't do that all the time.

she looks great. can we just start with the gel and just maybe do a little design on the side. please? it would be fantastic. this comes to us from king 5 news in seattle, washington. in nearby, tacoma, traveling to the hospital during a snowstorm was much easier than getting to the delivery room for one expecting couple. katie was moments away when she got stuck in the elevator with her mid-wife and nurse crew. minutes later her husband heard the cries of his newborn son through the doors. no longer willing to wait he crawled to the trapped elevator to see his wife and newborn baby boy. i'm lynn berry. this is "early today," your first stop of the day todayen your nbc station. no

a polar plunge in russia is sure to send chills down your spine. taking a dip in freezing cold waters seemed effortless for worshipers celebrating the epiphany. the tradition sets up special pools all across russia for anybody brave enough to take the dip. luckily changing rooms and medical assistance is close by. in london a water rafting center that will host the 2012 olympic canoe competition is open to members of the general public. so far about 30,000 thrill-seekers have hurled down the course. those who have found the guts to

test the course, claim it's one of the hardest in the world. in china, the thrill continues with the opening of the highest free-fall rise in the world. the new ride is located on a tower that beats the former highest free-fall in las vegas by over 500 feet. the machine suspends for three seconds and giving tourists a panoramic view of the city before dropping them 115 feet. look at them waving like nothing is wrong, like hey, i survived. >> when you go free-falling, if you put a penny on your knee as you're dropping, the penny will float -- >> then it will drop on somebody's head. do not promote that to young children. don't do that at home. time for a look at the stories we'll follow here on msnbc. the den pi who caught the arson suspect will be honored. he was only on his third day of

duty when he spotted harry berkhardt and took him into custody earlier this month. and in park city, utah, the 28th annual sundance film festival kicks off featuring 117 movies from 30 countries that will be screened. happy birthday to dolly parton. the actress and country music legend turns 65 today. all day long, stay on top of the latest developments of those stories and others as they break on msnbc. and tonight be sure to watch brian williams with "nbc nightly news". finally. a look what is coming up later on the "today" show. days away from the south carolina primary, presidential candidate newt gingrich goes one-on-one with ann curry in a live interview. and details on a new book that offers a different perspective on john f. kennedy jr.'s marriage to carolyn bessette.

i'm lynn berry. thank you for watching "early today," your first stop today on your nbc station. have a good one.