♪ this morning on "early today," florida showdown. the two republican presidential front runners make their final push through the sunshine state. baby delay? are england's duke and dutch esz of cambridge putting pregnancy plans on hold? and a feud turns ugly in new york. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. welcome to our viewers across the nation, including the pacific time zone. i'm lynn berry. today, we begin with the early advantage. polls are not even open yet for today's florida primary, but

mitt romney is already beating newt gingrich. according to ballots counted from half a million early voters, the former massachusetts governor has a double-digit lead. nbc's tracie potts joins us live from tampa with the latest. tracie, good morning. >> reporter: lynn, good morning. good morning, everyone. those numbers give us a sense of what may happen as the polls now open here in florida. of course, we'll know by the end of the day, but according to the exit polls from those early voters that you mentioned, mitt romney has a two-to-one advantage. >> thank you for all your work. i need your vote tomorrow. get out there and vote. >> reporter: he's got reason to feel confident. take a look at the polls. here's why. >> newt has a ton of baggage. >> reporter: romney and his super pac are bombarding the state with ads, most of them

negative. it's part of romney's new game plan. >> he's been flailing around a bit trying to go after me. you just watch it and shake your head. it's been painfully revealing to watch. >> we're going to beat money power with people power. we're going to go all the way to the convention. >> reporter: gingrich may be closing the gap in two weekend polls. he's down by just five to seven points. >> with your help, we are going to win a decisive victory tomorrow. >> reporter: gingrich is going after conservatives, criss crossing the state with herman cain. >> my only expectation is to be able to help him win the nomination in the white house. that's all. >> reporter: but republicans here seem worried about electability, not just who wins florida today but who can win in november. now, on the republican side, that could be mitt romney.

gallop has him tied. >> tracie, thank you so much. well, overseas now where a diplomatic fight is building at the united nations as more syrian rebels die in street battles. government troops fought with rebels monday, forcing them out of the suburbs of damascus, which they had seized over the weekend. the death toll over three days of fighting is said to be more than 100. thousands of syrians have died during ten months of protests against the government. at the united nations, talks are underway on a draft resolution demanding that president assad step aside. the u.s. and its allies want it passed quickly, but russia may veto it. secretary of state hillary clinton said monday that the current situation in syria is, quote, unsustainable. and now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america.

last night a wild high-speed chase in los angeles moved across several freeways at speeds of up to 90 miles an hour before detouring to city streets, causing numerous close calls there. the two people inside the car finally jumped out and took off running, but were later captured. near buffalo, a battle between rival pizza joints turned violent. surveillance video shows a man using his jeep to plow right into a sign on a sidewalk promoting one of the pizza places after the driver allegedly warned the owner to take the sign down. the suspect's family recently sold the competing pizzaria. in aspen, history was made at the winter x games. 27-year-old heath frisby was successfully able to do a front flip on his snowmobile. it earned him a medal for best snowmobile trick.

that's for sure. and if you are still looking for real winter conditions, look no further than fairbanks, alaska. that's right. 49 degrees below zero. how are you doing out there, guys? it has been the coldest january there since 1971. authorities urged people, stay home or at least bring an emergency kit with them if they had to travel. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins. he has your weather channel forecast. for anyone that's watching us up there in alaska, we apologize for it, and we hope you warm up soon. >> now, it's minus 49. we could say how serious or cold it is, or we could enjoy it. >> this is a first. what's happening? >> i'm going to one up you. let's look at weather computer. this comes from the university of alaska at fairbanks. temperature, minus 45 degrees. you wonder what the coeds do up there in alaska when it's cold.

yeah, bikinis and shorts from our friends in alaska. you have to enjoy it and make the most of it. i guess that's what they're used to up there. temperature this morning is at minus 26. it's warmed up about 20 degrees from yesterday. it's going to stay below zero for at least the next week straight in fairbanks. in anchorage, very cold too. today, about 15. a little warmer in juneau. that's where you're getting some of that pacific warmth coming on shore. as far as the west goes, a nice chunk of moisture. the next storm system will come on shore later today. everywhere else will be kind of showery and rainy. the forecast on your tuesday, showers on and off. steadier rains later tonight into tomorrow morning. we're dry pretty much from san francisco southward. no big winter storms. no cold air for you. that's a look at yourspot.

65 in san diego is nice. not bad for flagstaff. i think the biggest problem i have with that picture is that they were in a lot better shape and have better tans than i do, and they're in alaska. >> it is kind of depressing. we don't let you out of the studio often. you have a good excuse. coming up, more euro worries. cruising takes a bruising. and the state paying tribute to toto. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, rarely has anyone performing on "saturday night live" been hit with such savage reviews. now lana del rey is having her say. coming up, the giants touchdown. the magic unravel. and quite possibly the dunk of the year. you're watching "early today."

good morning and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here's some of your top headlines this morning. a nuclear reactor north of chicago shut down monday and released steam. it lost power and the steam was vented to cool the reactor. officials say the steam contained safe levels of a radioactive form of hydrogen. the food and drug administration is being sued by staffers who were legally protected whistle blowers. the lawsuit says the fda violated their free speech rights by secretly monitoring their private e-mail after they raised safety concerns about medical devices. and investigation of two highway pileups that killed ten people has been ordered by florida's governor. the highway patrol says they reopened the road before the accidents because fog and smoke had cleared. a new black-colored tomato may start showing up in luxury restaurants before long. it's a cross between wild and cultured tomatoes with the hopefully appealing new color.

and at least according to england's daily mail, prince william and kate are putting off having a baby until next year. the paper quotes sources who say the royal couple want to make sure the 2012 london olympics and the queen's 60th anniversary jubilee go well, and they are in, quote, no hurry to start a family. well, now here's an early look at one of your top health headlines on msnbc.com. a new staid says weight loss is all about cutting calories and sticking to it. the research found that in the long term, there were no differences or no big differences between diets with different proportions of fat, carbohydrates, and protein. whether you do a low-fat or low-c low-carb diet, that matters least. for more information on this, check out the health page at msnbc.com. >> announcer: "early today" health is brought to you today by the vagisil screening kit. and now here's a look at how

wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens the 12,653 after losing six points yesterday. the s&p was down four points. the nasdaq lost -- actually, the s&p was down three points. the nasdaq lost four. taking a look at overseas trading this morning. in tokyo, the nikkei added nine points. the hang seng climbed to 30. investors worried about europe's debt crisis monday. stocks got off to a rocky start as leaders worked on the details of a permanent eurozone bailout fund. a deal was struck after markets closed, but without a long-term fix for greece's debt, eu woes will continue to linger. markets managed to regain some ground with telecom and techs leading the way. americans are more likely to save than spend failed to reassure investors. today, a fresh batch of earnings is on deck along with monthly home sales data.

apple shares rose on news the iphone maker could pick up two new distributors in china this year. also on the upside, u.s. airways climbed on news the airline could be a takeover target by delta. bank of america slipped 3% after goldman sachs cut its rating to neutral from bye. starbucks got a lift on news it will be opening stores in india this morning. on the downside, wendy's lower than expected. spiraling ad sales at gannett's newspapers drove a 33% decline in fourth quarter profit. carnival has suffered a double-digit percentage drop in bookings after the costa concordia disaster in italy. the irs says due to a new fraud prevention system, early birds who file tax returns before january 26th will have to wait an extra week for their refund.

finally, kansas could soon be the karen terrier's official no place like home. they're pushing to make the breed an official state symbol. coming up, orlando loses to the magic. miami turns on the heat. and chicago bulls its way to victory. plus, the season is just underway, but is this blake griffin slam the dunk of the year? fred seems to think so. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. in weather, our amazing spring-like weather could continue maybe for a couple more days. 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 way they're playing, dwight howard and the orlando magic are headed for a certain divorce. the only question is how long will it take and how ugly will it get? here's fred roggin with an early look at your sports headlines. >> good morning. dwight howard has made it clear. he wants out of orlando. after last night's loss, he wants to get out of philly. the big fella isn't happy, losing five out of six can do that. howard did get the magic within two before the half. then orlando once again fell apart. scored just nine in the third

while the sixers poured it on. jumped out to double digit lead and never looked back. the magic lost it. now to los angeles. clippers are one of the best dunking teams in the league. they came out firing against the thunder. hit ten three-pointers in the first half. but you know what they say? you can't change a tiger's stripes. when it comes to dunks, blake griffin is the king of the jungle. that might be the dunk of the years. clippers won their third straight. bieber fever has hit miami. teen heartthrob justin bieber witnessed an outbreak of offense from the heat. six players score the in double digits. dwyane wade with the alley, lebron with the oop. lebron forced the turnover. wade off to the races. the heat swatted the hornets. now to d.c. where derek rose put a hex on the wizards. sliced his way through the lane for a season high 35. he had eight assists. found carlos boozer for the jumper. bulls ran all over washington. and finally, indianapolis

got a giant package from new york yesterday. eli manning and the giants arrived for super bowl xlvi. and look who came along for the ride. that's the same oversized teddy bear that was their good luck charm when they beat the patriots four years ago in the super bowl. james brewer with a bear hug for ted teddy. the giants may have a bear, but they're two and a half point dogs in the super bowl. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. coming up, a surprise and random guest for "the simpsons" milestone show. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, when it comes to baby, we like to see them born big and healthy, but not too big and healthy. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today." we talked earlier about alaska and how it continues to be brutally cold. we're not looking at anything like that here in the west. just some showers today. later on today, a cold front will approach into tonight. that's when the rains will pick up and the snow at the highest elevations. as we look towards tomorrow, it's damp in the morning on the coast. then we'll clear it out for a dry stretch. something to look forward to. if you're watching us on kcr 3 in sacramento, california, explore the variety and beauty of italian draftmanship at the art of disegno. here's an early look at this

morning's headlines in entertainment. many called it "saturday night live's" worst performance ever. now lana del rey is having her say about all this. the one-hit internet wonder told "rolling stone" she felt good about the show despite others calling her weak and wooden. she said, i thought i looked beautiful and sang fine. >> ashley simpson is very happy. >> no kidding. shirley maclaine is joining "downton abbey," playing a new character in the third season of the english costume drama, which we hear is great. entertainment weekly reports julian assange will play himself on "the simpsons" upcoming 500th episode. he recorded his lines at an unknown location in england while under house arrest as he appealed extradition to sweden on sex crimes allegations. he'll also have a new talk show in russian-english language channel in march. finally, it may have got an lot of attention, but ferris bueller fans feel like they got

the bait and switch. turns out matthew broderick will just be playing himself in a honda commercial for the super bowl. no reunion. bummer. and this comes to us from who channel 13 news in des moines, iowa, where new parents got a very big surprise when the stork arrived. that may be an understatement. kendall gave birth to a newborn weighing in at 13 pounds, 12 ounces. you want to pinch those cheeks. it came as a shock to both mom and dad since the ultrasound made it look like he'd be smaller than his older brother, who was 12 pounds. as if that's not big enough news, consider this. kendall gave birth to her not so little one naturally. no drugs, no surgery. all are doing okay. well done there, kendall. i'm lynn berry. this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

in australia, skiers lined up to break a record. 145 water skiers trailed behind one boat for a full nautical mile while they bested the previous record of 114. the margin could have been even wider. nine competitors actually fell down. the new record is expected to be recognized by guinness within a few months. do you think you're tough? one race in england will be the judge of that. at the 25th annual tough guy race, over 3,000 competitors flex their muscles through a grueling course. what starts with an eight-mile cross country run leads up to an obstacle course of mud, barbed wire, fire, tunnels, and rope

bridges. it's so dangerous you have to sign a death warrant disclaimer before the race. no, thank you. in london, one exhibit proves you can be fashionable until the end. the event entitled boxed displayed designer coffins. unique creations that allow you to rest in pieces of art, like a cocoa bean or guitar. it's meant to help people think about the end light heartedly and inspired them to add their own personal touch, reflecting who they were in life. any preferences for yourself with what you would pick? >> i know you would get the ryan gossling coffin. >> extremely creepy. you may be a thermometer. thank you for making me look completely psycho. it's time now for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. we'll get a better idea on the funding behind the candidates. they'll cover the total amount

raised through contributions and how much money has been spent from october 1st through december 31st. super pacs must report as well, including specific donations. first lady michelle obama will appear on "the tonight show" with jay leno. and justin timberlake turns 31. all day long, you can stay on top of the latest developments on 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. in a "today" exclusive, the victim of a 17-year long stalking case speaks out live after finally getting justice. and former presidential candidate herman cain goes one on one with ann curry live in studio. now 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. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com