-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com this morning on "early today," silence is golden. a silent movie makes a lot of noise last night at the academy awards. $4 a gallon? the cost of filling up continues to climb toward a painful new high. and driving rain. a daytona 500 race is washed out for the first time in nascar for the first time in nascar history. 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 artist," a black and white nostalgic nod to old hollywood

stole the show at last night's oscars. nbc's jinah kim joins us from hollywood with all the red carpet glitz and glam and the details on who took home the coveted gold. jinah, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, lynn. you know, george clooney joked during our interview with him on the red carpet that now he's going to be doing silent pictures. and after this, that may not be far from the truth. with no color and almost no words, "the artist" has revived an art form that has not been celebrated by oscar in 83 years. >> and the oscar goes to -- "the artist." >> reporter: "the artist" swept the academy awards' top three honors, winning best picture, best director and best actor for jean dujardin. [ speaking foreign language ] merci beaucoup. i love you. >> reporter: dujardin is the first frenchman ever to win an acting oscar, and "the artist" became only the second silent film to take the academy's top prize and the first since 1929.

another first? best supporting actor christopher plummer, who is now the oldest actor ever to win an oscar at the age of 82. >> you're only two years older than me, darling. where have you been all my life? >> and the oscar goes to -- >> reporter: meryl streep added a third oscar to her mantle with the best actress win for "the iron lady," beating out rival viola davis of "the help" who was widely expected to win the category. >> when they called my name, i had this feeling i could hear half of america going, "oh, no, come on, why?" >> reporter: best supporting actress to "the help's" octavia spencer. >> please wrap up, i'm wrapping up. i'm freaking out. thank you, world. >> reporter: another highlight of the evening was billy crystal who returned as host after an eight-year absence. >> because nothing can take the sting out of the world's economic problems like watching millionaires present each other with golden statues. >> reporter: other notable winners include woody allen's "midnight in paris" for best original screenplay and "the descendants"

for best adaptive screenplay. in hollywood, jinah kim, nbc news. lynn, back to you. >> jinah, thank you so much. there's just over 24 hours to go before the important primaries in michigan and arizona on tuesday. mitt romney and rick santorum are battling in michigan where the latest polls show the two are virtually tied. nbc's tracie potts joins us from washington with more on this. tracie, good morning. >> reporter: hey, lynn, good morning. a two-point spread with romney on top is a virtual tie when you consider the margin of error in the polls. that's what we're looking at for michigan tomorrow. rick santorum who has surged there, we are told by sources will now get secret service protection starting today in michigan. mitt romney, meantime is picking up arizona governor jan brewer's endorsement. brewer saying yesterday on "meet the press" he carried the debate in the arizona debate and got the best chance to win in november. romney doing better in arizona, 10 points ahead.

santorum says after tuesday it's going to prove that this is a two-man race. mitt romney saying he still thinks he can win the nomination no matter how long it takes. ruffled a few feathers according to what we've been seeing on twitter. over the weekend at daytona 500 asked if he was a nascar fan, romney said i don't follow it closely but i have friends who are team owners. lynn? >> tracie potts in washington, thank you. the taliban have claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing in eastern afghanistan early today. a car bomb exploded at the gates of the jalalabad airport. killing nine people. mostly civilians. the taliban says the attack was revenge for the burning of korans at an american military base a week ago. on sunday eight u.s. soldiers were wounded in a grenade attack at a u.s. base in kunduz province. and a manhunt continues for a gunman who shot and killed two u.s. military officers saturday inside an afghan ministry building. the u.s. military says it's

investigating a taliban claim of possible food tampering at a base in eastern afghanistan, but that no personnel have been sickened or injured. now here is a look at other stories making news "early today in america." a thief used a hammer to smash his way into a philadelphia jewelry store window, grabbing thousands of dollars in merchandise. a store clerk came rushing to the display right as the robber took off. the man carried out the robbery in broad daylight saturday afternoon. he dropped the hammer at the scene and remains on the loose. in new orleans, crews worked very slowly and carefully to move a two-story building across town. the former coast guard barracks weighed in at more than 500,000 pounds. a contractor hired to demolish the structure decided instead to go green, saving all that rubble from the scrap heap. they used remote-controlled dollies and a barge to get the job done. and finally, a story you may find hard to swallow. saturday marked world sword swallowers' day.

about a dozen people did just that in new york's times square, putting the metal to their mouths at one of the several celebrations around the world. they also raised money for esophageal cancer research. nor a look at your national and regional weather, here is nbc meteorologist bill karins. he has your weather channel forecast. good morning to you, bill. >> good morning. i have to start hanging out at your oscar party. >> i was excited that "the artist" won. >> with silence. >> exactly. >> good morning, everyone. hopefully you enjoyed your weekend. we saw a cold -- not cold, cool conditions down there for the oscars. the red carpet people were definitely a little chilled. this is a cold storm system coming through. not a lot of precipitation with it, not a lot of snow or rain to deal with. temperatures have plunged in areas that have been pretty warm so far this late winter through southern california and some of the cool air will be arriving through areas of southern nevada and arizona. here's the storm system. the upper-level low off the coast, apparent low, down at the surface, the one heading over

las vegas. lot of cloud shields with this extending far north of areas into idaho. another low brought more chilly air up there to the pacific northwest. again, not a lot of rain or snow with this. see how limited it is. we're starting to pick up a little snow to the north and northwest of yosemite. we're not looking at a lot of rain out there. may be showers, possibly aisle lated thunderstorm near l.a. but temperatures have dropped for 45 in vegas, 42 in san francisco. one of the cooler temperatures you've seen lately and below freezing in seattle. today's forecast not a bad winter type day for many areas in the northwest. a slight chance of some of the showers or storms but my bet most of the day will be relatively dry. that's a look at the national forecast. here's a look at the weather outside your window. again a chance of showers in california. arizona will have the same type of forecast later on today into tonight with a chance of some showers for phoenix and tucson, chandler, prescott, northwards into flagsta staff.

>> little windy with the storm too, but just a little chilly. >> thanks so much. coming up, gas prices soar, data pours in, and folks in greece have some fun at their leader's expense? your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. we knew this was coming. one of sacha baron cohen's trademark publicity stunts creates chaos on the red carpet. an upset in college hoops, an all-star game shoot-out, and an unbelievable goal from the pitch. you're watching "early today."

good morning, and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry and here's some of your top headlines this morning. syria's president, bashar al assad, says his country is under what he called a media attack. but assad said his forces are "stronger on the ground." 55 syrians died sunday in army attacks in homs and other cities. intelligence services in russia claim to have stopped an

assassination plot against russia's prime minister, vladimir putin. putin is expected to win in russian elections on march 4th. on sunday, more than 30,000 russians protested against putin, joining hands to form a ring around moscow. in canada, three railroad engineers died in a train derailment west of toronto. more than 30 passengers were also injured in the accident when the locomotive and passenger cars went off the track and flipped on to their side. and former south african president nelson mandela left the hospital on sunday. he is now recovering, resting comfortably at home. the 93-year-old underwent some minor surgery over the weekend. well, now here's an early look at one of your top health headlines on msnbc.com. a new study is challenging the idea that women are born with all the human eggs they'll ever have. harvard researchers discovered that the ovaries of young women contain very rare stem cells which are capable of producing new eggs. if the report is confirmed by other research, using those stem

cells might lead to better treatment for infertility. for more information on this and other health stories, you can check out the health page at msnbc.com. >> announcer: "early today health" is brought to you by vagisil cream. >> and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,982 after losing a point on friday. the s&p added two points. the nasdaq was up six. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei lost 13 points, while in hong kong, the hang seng dropped 189. well, on wall street and main street these days, it's all about oil. after rising nearly $2 a barrel on friday, oil prices continued to trade in the $109 range overseas this morning, and the rising cost of crude drove gas prices 18 cents higher in the past two weeks to an average $3.69 a gallon. fresh economic data this week includes auto sales, chain store sales and u.s.

manufacturing data. also ahead, corporate earnings from dreamworks, cosco and staples. officials from a group of 20 at the world's leading economies postponed providing europe with more financial aid yesterday, putting pressure on germany to step up in europe's debt crisis fight. on wednesday, the european central bank is expected to announce a second round of low-interest loans to boost confidence and drive down yields on government bonds. back at home, bp's civil trial over the gulf oil disaster will not begin today, as talks surrounding a possible $14 billion settlement continue. warren buffett says an unnamed successor has been chosen to run berkshire hathaway when the time comes. however, the 81-year-old billionaire investor insists he isn't going anywhere. and tough times in greece were set aside for the country's biggest carnival parade yesterday with handmade floats that poked a little fun at the country's political leaders.

well, coming up, the badgers beat the buckeyes, and one amazing backwards goal. plus, the west hang on to win last night's all-star shoot-out. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. and in weather, we're going to be watching a potent storm system moving through the rockies today and a snowstorm for the northern plains tomorrow. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." and in sports, an injured kobe bryant made history at last night's all-star game in orlando. here's nbc's mario solis with an early look at all your sports headlines. hi there, good morning. as hollywood rewarded the best in cinema, the finest basketball players in the world took center stage at the nba all-star game. to orlando, if you like offense, this is the game for you. lebron james gets the crowd going with an early windmill. he had a team-high 36. blake griffin knows a thing or two about dunking, takes the feed from chris paul and throws it down. west up 19 at the half. kobe bryant made history in the third, passing michael jordan for most points in all-star game history. the thunder's kevin durant also had a game to remember, 36 points and the mvp award. appeared like the west was going to run away with it, but the east rallies in the fourth.

bron-bron dials long distance, east pulls within one, but griffin with the final touches. west lead from start to finish and win 152-149. to the college ranks. 15th-ranked wisconsin versus 9th-ranked ohio state. badgers shut the lights out from beyond the arc, eight three-pointers but none bigger than this, jared berggren with the double with 30 seconds left. wisconsin upsets ohio state 63-60. nascar daytona 500, the great american race was postponed because of rain. they'll try to start their engines today at noon. golf. match play championship. hunter mahan on 10 from 179 yards out. it's up, it's on line and comes about an inch away from going in the cup. he would tap to go four up and beat roy mcilroy to win the match play championship. finally, amazing goal to show you from spain. real madrid in red. taking on their rival. cristiano ronaldo with a flash of brilliance, scores with the back of his heel, the no-look back kick into the net.

that could be the goal of the year and he didn't even see it go in. real madrid wins it 1-0. and that's your look at sports on "early today." i'm mario solis. navy s.e.a.l.s raid the box office this oscar weekend. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. a piece of presidential poultry goes up for auction. we'll explain. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today." we are watching a storm system move through southern california with gusty winds. during the daylight hours we should pop up showers, maybe a stray thunderstorm. any of those would contain small hail because the atmosphere is that cold. to the north we're dry. as we go into your tuesday forecast we move that storm to the intermountain west but watch another front bring rain to the northwest. one after another. watching us on knsd nbc san diego, see the past and present world in a new way through fossils at fossil mysteries at the san diego natural history museum. that's your pacific event of the day. t-rex. >> looked like it, didn't it. now a look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. the navy s.e.a.l.s film "act of valor" pulled an upset at the box office this weekend. with the help of young moviegoers it made $24.7 million. beating out new films from tyler perry and jennifer aniston. in case you missed it, "the artist" was the big winner at last night's academy awards.

it won best picture, best actor and best director, while best actress went to meryl streep for her portrayal of margaret thatcher in "the iron lady." and finally everyone is talking about this. comedian sacha baron cohen made good on his threat of showing up on the red carpet in character from his new movie "the dictator." and he made a splash, but not a good way, when he spilled what he said were the ashes of north korean dictator kim jong-il on "e!" host ryan seacrest. >> he's a nice guy. it wasn't funny. >> not a nice thing to do. >> should have dumped it on one of the super models behind him. >> if he's trying to make sflash and get attention he did it. everybody is talking about it. it was huge on twitter within seconds and, you know, he got the publicity he was looking for. i don't care he thinks about being polite. >> i know. >> this comes to us from ktiv news 4 in sioux city, iowa, where you now have a second chance to buy

one unique piece of fast food. a 3-year-old chicken nugget said to look like george washington is going back up for auction on ebay. that looks a little more like it. after getting bids topping $10,000, the auction was pulled due to food safety laws, but ebay had a change of heart when the company learned that the money's going to go to charity. okay, you can put it back on. it's great it's going to charity but i have to say, doesn't look too much like -- >> barbecue sauce or sweet and sour. >> barbecue. >> sweet and sour. see the ying and the yang. >> now they have five or ten sauces to choose from. >> honey mustard. >> good old ketchup. >> i think i'll get myself nuggets. >> i'm starving. i'm lynn berry, "early today," your first stop of the day, on your nbc station.

have a need for speed and yard work? well, racers throughout europe gathered on a snow-covered field in finland for the annual lawnmower grand prix. standard and souped-up mowers cut through the course, some speeding up to 30 miles an hour. seem a little too easy? well, to make things more interesting, water was sprayed on the course to make the track a bit more icy. one designer in portugal is starting some ultra sweet fashion trends. that's because his work is made of sugar. originally trained as a pastry chef, he uses shaped sugar paste to create wearable dessert. many of his collections are inspired by fairy tales and movie stars, and some even include edible lingerie. this is a g-rated show. finally, not only does nepal host the world's tallest

mountain it now officially has the world's shortest man. after making the claim last week, the 72-year-old villager has now been officially awarded the title by guinness. look at the little guy. he stands at just 21.5 inches and he won out the previous record holder by about an inch and a half. just to be sure, the doctors had to measure him three times over a 24-hour period, which is bizarre. like, what is he going to grow over a day? i don't get it. >> i actually have heard that at night when you wake up, because you're laying down, you're like an inch longer. you do, if you -- do it tomorrow morning. >> that is so ridiculous. >> when you wake up, you'll be slightly taller than you are before you go to bed. >> you're saying -- okay, all right, bill. >> we'll bet breakfast on it. >> there you go, pancakes. time for an early look at the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. house and senate leaders return from recess today to begin work on their own version of the transportation bill. the legislation would extend federal funding for repairs and construction of roads and bridges, mass transit projects and other transport programs around the country.

at the white house, the president and the vice president will host a meeting of the national governors association. the first lady and dr. jill biden will also deliver remarks. and happy birthday to former first daughter chelsea clinton, who turns 32. all day long, you can stay on top of the very latest developments in those stories and others as they break on msnbc. and 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. ann and al will be live from hollywood with some of last night's big oscar winners, including octavia spencer and the cast of "the artist." and "the office" actor ed helms talks about his new role in the upcoming dr. seuss classic "the lorax." and 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 your nbc station. have a good one.