this morning on "early today," crude reality. americans brace for more pain at the pump as gas prices skyrocket. lucky to be alive. a 9-year-old philadelphia girl survives a harrowing hit and run on her bicycle. weird science. a dutch lab uses stem cells to grow the world's first test tube burger. 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 going up. oil prices hit a nine-month high after iran halled crude exports to britain and france. american drivers are feeling the pain at the pump as gasoline prices have reached historic high for this time of year. nbc's michelle franzen reports. >> reporter: if you're feeling the pinch on your wallet every time you fill up the tank. >> it's definitely hurt me in the pocket. >> reporter: you're not alone. >> i can't afford it you have to buy gas to get around. >> reporter: gas prices at an all-time high for this time of year. the average price for a gallon of regular is $3.56 and eating into monthly budgets. >> pretty high. it takes about $120 for me to fill up my truck. >> reporter: so what's behind the spike? supply issues due to refinery problems on the east coast and ongoing conflicts in the oil

rich countries. >> the geo politics in the middle east causing a psychology of fear about future supply has probably never been greater and we don't know from week to week, how bad it could get. >> reporter: iran doesn't sell oil to the u.s. but it could cause the european countries to turn to u.s. suppliers and that could drive prices up for $4 and beyond by memorial day. >> americans feel sick to their stomach when they see that. it impacts their purchases that they make. so if gas prices go up even further, it's likely we will see a dent in the economy. >> reporter: some consumers are already making adjustments. >> i think you do think twice about making a round trip to the grocery store. >> reporter: thinking twice and cutting back where they can. michelle franzen, nbc news, new york. the republican primary in michigan is a week from today. mitt romney's home state has become a battleground for rick santorum who is leading in the polls. but could some of santorum's

recent controversial statements lead to a romney comeback? nbc's tracie potts joins us from washington with those details. tracie, good morning. >> reporter: lynn, good morning. in michigan, santorum would like to focus on his lead there, but what he's really spending more time doing now is explaining some of his comments. after a day explaining his phony theology remark last night, rick santorum refocused on an issue hitting midwesterners hard this winter, gas prices. >> this president is doing everything he can to hurt energy production in this country. >> reporter: with oil prices at a nine-month high, the obama administration announced a deal to drill along the gulf border with mexico. meantime, we're now getting an idea how much money these candidates are working with. romney raised $6.5 million last month but told ohio santorum's spending too much in washington. >> when republicans go to washington and spend like

democrats, you're going to have a lot of spending. that's what we've seen over the last several years. >> reporter: gingrich earned over $5.5 million, like santorum, he focused on social issues forcing catholics to pay for birth control. >> a president who can rule one religion to break its believes can order another religion to break its believes and can order any american to do anything because they believe they are the center of power, and that's wrong. >> reporter: gingrich's fund raising doesn't seem to be helping his chances. last month, he spent more than he took in had. what you want to watch are these super pacs. the numbers tell us they took in, they raised more than the candidates themselves. lynn. >> all right, tracie potts for us in washington. tracie, thank you. now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. in philadelphia, a driver has surrendered after hitting a 9-year-old girl with her car and then taking off.

surveillance video shows the child trying to cross the street on her bicycle and then jumping off the bike and running for it. that's when the car veered toward her knocking her onto the sidewalk. fortunately, the girl sustained only minor injuries. near boston a store clerk is being credited for saving two people from a house fire. he saw the flames and ran down the street and dashed into the burning home to make sure everyone escaped okay. the home was destroyed. in texas, high winds were stronger than a big rig could handle. the semi truck flipped on to its side along i-27. the winds creating miserable conditions tearing into roofs and taking out tree branches and even bending the arm of a railroad crossing. and mardi gras is about to hit fooer -- fever pitch in new orleans. after days of parades and ceremonies it is finally fat tuesday. will farrell served as king backus at one parade on sunday

and in heart of it all, the french quarter they are making sure everything is ready from beads to beer. new orleans takes in nearly $150 million a year from all of the fun. lots to be had. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is meteorologist bill karins with a look at the forecast. >> just living vicariously through others today. >> that's about as close as we can get. >> i'm sure we can still get there. well, good morning, everyone. we had the fatalities from those avalanches. we have avalanche warnings in effect. we are worried about heavy rain in the mountains of the cascades once again with warm temperatures. could even have enough snow melt and rain to get flooding out of this. temperatures are very mild up there in the northwest. we have a flow of pacific air that's coming onshore here. a big stream of it. it's not going to move anywhere

fast. today the focus of the heaviest rain will be in the northwest. tomorrow, i think it's going to shift a little bit to the south. hopefully that will mitigate the flooding problems in the area though. that warm front is the culprit. high pressure really protecting areas of nevada, arizona, and southern california. you can already see where the green on the map is the rain. snow levels are above 6,000 feet. that's well up there in the cascades. we're also getting heavy rain over the olympics. what's interesting is that the olympic mountains produce a rain shadow effect that kind of protect the downtown urban corridor near the puget sound. we're going to get four to five, maybe six inches of rain in the mountains. downtown seattle, maybe a half inch at most. it's the rivers we'll worry about in the days ahead. there's your forecast in the northwest. we're just fine in many areas of the south. that's a

hours. we're not going to call for too much snow there. the other mountains will get it good. so flooding rains are more of a story than the snow. >> all right, bill. thanks so much. coming up, greece gets bailed out again, amazon scores big with customers, and why you should always follow the rules. at least when it comes to home construction. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, together again? like it or not, rihanna and chris brown reunite in a musical sense. coming up, carmelo anthony upstaged in it his return to the knicks. albert pujols talks about leaving st. louis. and manny ramirez, he's back. you're watching "early today."

good morning.

welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are some of your top headlines this morning. things could be getting worse in syria despite a red cross appeal for a cease-fire to treat the wounded. video from social media claims to show new shelling in homs and overnight activists say there was an open fire in damascus. a visit to cairo, john mccain says a massacre is taking place in syria and trying to find a way to arm syrian rebels. as the senior iranian lawmakers denounced u.s. calls for arming the u.s. syrian opposition. john glenn was honored last night after the first american astronaut to orbit the earth. the 90-year-old received a host of tributes from nasa legends, along with the crew of the international space station. and do not look for this at your local burger joint.

researchers in the netherlands are working on a test tube hamburger patty made out of stem cells. it looks disgusting. if it doesn't look especially tasty, the price won't be appealing either. they hope to sell the patty for $350,000. not sure who is in the market for that. now here is an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,949 after adding 45 points before the holiday weekend. the s&p was up 3 points. the nasdaq lost 8. taking a look at overseas trading this morning. in tokyo, the nikkei was down 22 points. in hong kong, the hang seng gained 53. investors return from the long weekend to the end of uncertainty. about a second greek bailout. after a marathon 12-hour session in brussels, euro zone agreed on a deal this morning. the $170 billion rescue package keeps greece out of default for

the immediate future. however, reaction from asian markets was muted as analysts remain skeptical about a long-term fix for greece's financial situation. samsung electronics bucked the downward trend rising nearly 1% after announcing plans to spin off its ailing lcd flat screen unit. san francisco based construction giant urs has offered a $1.25 billion in cash to buy flint energy services. a new survey finds consumer satisfaction improved slightly last year. specialty stores such as office supply, home goods and clothing retailers scored the highest marks. but online retailers beat out brick and mortars in overall satisfaction with amazon.com taking the top spot. finally, home builders beware. a michigan court has ordered a couple to demolish all or part of their million dollar home because the structure was built 80 feet from the neighbor's

property instead of the required 100. 20 feet. coming up, the spurs' streak continues, the a's make a surprise addition, and the huskies top the wildcats in overtime. plus, the results are different this time around as the nets get another shot at the knicks and their harvard sensation. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. typically, i'd be telling you how we're going to get a break from the harsh winter. it's going to feel like spring, but that's how it's been all winter. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, coming off a big win against dallas and the long awaited return of carmelo anthony, the knicks had no time to get it together against the nets. here is fred roggin with an early look at all of your sports headlines. good morning. jeremy lin's rise with the knicks coincided with carmelo anthony's absence after missing seven games with a groin injury, carmelo turned to the lineup and everybody in new york would see how they would mesh. madison square garden. knicks and nets. second quarter. carmelo found his newest weapon. jeremy lin knocked down the three. 21 points and 9 assists for lin. a few minutes later, carmelo getting into the act.

none of that mattered because darin williams stole the show in the third. next time down the court, he did the same thing. might as well have been the daggers. 38 for williams and nets beat the knicks 100-92. two-point game, final seconds. richard jefferson from downtown. spurs win their 11th straight and 106-102. baseball teams beginning to report to spring training, that includes albert pujols who left st. louis for anaheim. pujols says he has no regrets. >> there were some great moments. i was able to accomplish two world series and an experience i want to bring to the city, you know, to anaheim and to this ball club and, hopefully, have probably better years than i had in st. louis and hopefully more championships. manny ramirez signed one-year minor league deal with oakland. he has to serve 50-game suspension for his second violation of baseball's drug

policy. finally to college hoops. johnson drove the length of the court, laid it up, and tied it. but connecticut came right back. napier pulled up from inside half-court and nailed it. that was the game winner for the defending champs. uconn won a thriller 73-70. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. lindsay lohan lost in the role of a lifetime. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, a heart-warming welcome home in tampa for one of the nation's bravest. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. the pacific northwest, the concern is going to be flooding over the next two days. heavy rain in in the mountains along with warm temperatures and melting snow. it's going to cause major problems on the rivers there, especially in the cascades. as far as the forecast for the cities go, lighter rain for you. you're still going to be damp today, seattle. eventually the heavy rain threat will shift to the south. south, southwest, you look dry. the northwest, we're going to keep you cloudy and damp. if you're watching us on khnl nbc 8 in honolulu, hawaii, join in the celebration on crazy costume, beautiful floats, and

joyful music at the mardi gras street festival. that's your pacific event of the day. >> bill, thanks so much. here is an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. chris brown and rihanna has united. at least on twitter. the former couple exchanged tweets yesterday when he wished her a happy birthday and then she thanked him. they also released collaborated remixes of two of their songs. it's one of the first times the pair have addressed each other via twitter since brown's infamous 2009 pre-grammy assault on her. a study of academy award voters is saying it's not a diverse group that hands out hollywood's highest honors. the "los angeles times" found 94% of the academy's voting members are white and 77% are men. finally, fresh off news of her upcoming "snl" appearance, lindsay lohan has been cast to play elizabeth taifylor in an upcoming made-for-tv movie about

her stormy romance with actor richard burton. this comes to us from wfla in tampa, florida, where a u.s. marine got a hero's welcome. he arrived to the cheers of hundreds of people. it marked just another milestone in his road back from a bomb blast in afghanistan that cost him both of his legs and part of his left arm. ever since then, the 22-year-old has been on a brave, difficult mission to recover, including 23 surgeries, but little by little, nicholson has made progress including learning how to walk using prost thetic legs. i'm lynn berry. this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

a frozen lake in estonia turned into an outdoor lottery. tiny holes were drilled in the ice and over 100 marked fish were dropped in for ice fishers to try their hand at a catch. prizes for reeling in a big one could each 4,000 bucks. with 8,000 fishermen competing, participants were hoping to strike it big. only seven small fish were caught. a wrong turn in chile could leave you bruised. thousands crowded steep streets to witness bike racers navigate one of the world's most unique downhill courses. competitors go from dirt to cement as they must maneuver down sidewalks, over stairs, and off jumps.

the route is over a mile and takes riders three minutes to complete. finally, you probably have seen tomato fights. in one italian town, folks are opting for another kind of fruit for their festivities. the battle of the oranges is a tradition where people throw the fruit at clouds while dressed in medieval costumes. 500 tons of oranges are shipped into for the event. you know, with, like tomatoes, they burst open. it's soft. the oranges look like it's a rough there. >> i think they are more acidic than tomatoes. >> not so much fun. i think we will just stick with pillow fights. >> you're on. here is what is coming up today on nbc. people in yem reason voting to elect a new president to replace the embattled leader. voters are expected to rubber stamp their current vice president, who's the only candidate on the ballot. the vote comes after a year of

violent anti-government protests. president obama and first lady michelle will join music legends and artists at the white house for a celebration of blues music in recognition of black history month. today marks the final day of mardi gras celebrations being held in cities around the country. all day long, you can stay on top of all of 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 is coming up later this morning on the "today" show. in an exclusive, a mother who was allegedly tricked into signing away her baby tells her story of an online date gone wrong. inspiring teen told she may never walk again and she shares the details of her miraculous recovery. keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports, and more. i'm lynn berry. thank you for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. have a good one.

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