that does it for us. i'm chris hayes in for rachel. we'll see tomorrow night. those stories and more are straight ahead. this is "first look" on msnbc. and we begin this morning with picking up the pace.

republican presidential candidates are working their way across iowa at a fast and furious pace. packing in as much last-minute campaigning as they can before caucus tuesday. nbc's brian mooar joins us from washington with the latest on this. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, lynn. the candidates are battling awayen o the ground and stepping up the air war. >> good to see you. >> reporter: the gop presidential candidates are making their closing arguments in iowa. >> they'll do anything to any other country that we don't want them to do to us and that would solve a lot of our problems. >> reporter: ron paul is the wild card, polling second, but with the well-organized army of supporters. and that makes him a target. >> ron paul would be dangerous as a president of the united states. >> one of the people running for president thinks it's okay for iran to have a nuclear we, i don't. >> reporter: mitt romney has a shot at winning if heç can convince enough voters he's conservative enough. >> i'm mitt romney, i believe in

america, and i'm running for president of the united states. >> reporter: it's a battle for social conservatives who are split. rick santorum is gaining ground. rick perry is trying to get it back. >> which republican running for president voted for the bridge to nowhere earmark? >> reporter: newt gingrich is looking past iowa and new hampshire to south carolina. >> i don't think that a massachusetts moderate is going to play very well in south carolina. >> reporter: but for now, all eyes on iowa. and undecided iowans are still shopping around, but there is not much time left. lynn? >> just a few days. brian, thanks. well, thursday, ed schultz caught up with rick santorum. ed asked santorum to make his case as to why he's the conservative republican candidate with the best chance to win a nationwide general election for president. >> well, is it a congresswoman who represents a heavily republican district who has to fight every year to win that district? is it a governor from texas who,

you know, governed as a reasonably conservatively in a state that's a very conservative state who never had the moderate or independents to vote to win. or is it someone who governed as a conservative with a 90% plus rating in the senate and win two tough elections in the state of pennsylvania? you know, i think that's the person who probably has the best ability track record that shows you've got what it takes to be able to get the voters in the states that are necessary to win this presidency. >> each night, veteran talk host ed schultz tackles theç issues that matter most to americans, 8:00 eastern right here on msnbc, the place for politics. elsewhere, the obama administration is considering transferring a senior taliban leader out of guantanamo bay. "the associated press" reports the suspect labeled a high-risk detainee could be sent back to afghanistan after nine years at

gitmo. a move designed to help broker a peace deal with the afghan government. the idea is being met with concern by some in congress and the intelligence community, but fazel would remain in custody. he's believed to be behind the death of thousands of afghan shiites. egyptian security forces stormed the offices of 17 pro democracy human rights groups yesterday, including two from the u.s. egyptian soldiers stood guard as workers from the national democratic and republican institutes were forced to wait outside while police ransacked their offices. human rights defenders say egypt's military blames "foreign hands" for the ongoing unrest since the ouster of long time leader hosni mubarak. urging egyptian leaders to stop harassment. well, syrian anti-government

activists are urging more people to take to the streets today to show arab league peace monitors syrians want change. the presence of those monitors has already reenergized opponents of president al assad and his nine-month long crackdown against pro democracy demonstrations with tens of thousands in the past two days. one group claimed despite the monitors, thursday government forces opened fire on various cities killing 25 and injuring about 100. and now here's your look at some other news going on around america today. multiple collisions led to a massive pile-up on a louisiana interstate which killed two people and injured at least 60 others. 40 vehicles were involved in the fatal wreck which was blamed on poor visibility. officials say a mixture of fog and smoke from a nearby fire created treacherous conditions. a hiker and his dog were

dramatically rescued by los angeles firefighters. they became trapped on a steep hillside of a cliff after the dog ran after a bottle tossed by the hiker's father. the rescue crew used a rope and harness to lower both to safety. well, a couple of florida drivers had extremely bad luck with parking spots, hate when that happens. a 30-foot wide sink hole swallowed two vehicles parked in a rest area. one car was moved, but the second was kept there for hours until officials determined the ground was safe. and finally, it's becoming a more common sight when waters in central florida are cool. masses of manatee gathered in the warm water released by the power plant. experts worry it's altering the migration habits of the manatee. and now let's get a look at your national weather with this guy, bill karins.

i worry they're going to have three eyes or somethingç if they're hanging out in the water. >> swimming in the nuclear plant -- >> i know, i do it all the time and i'm just a little bit weird. i can't imagine. >> you do have that fifth thumb. >> that's funny. i hate when that happens. >> good morning, everyone. manatees are quite a sight too. especially when you get those cold snaps down there, you can go to some of the springs, a gorgeous sight. as far as today's travel weather, heading into the holiday weekend, we have snow showers to talk about. we don't have any big storms or surges of arctic air either. but a little bit of light snow or flurries this morning. looks like near syracuse, flurries this morning, not much. later on tonight into tomorrow morning, could get a little mix of some snow and sleet out there. areas like burlington, vermont, may have a little bit of icy crust tomorrow morning. other storm system out here, very weak area of low pressure moving through iowa. it's warm enough that even at this time of night we're getting

rain mostly in areas of illinois and that's approaching chicago. little light rain for your morning commute. little bit of light snow heading into wisconsin, and but even there temperatures are mild. let me give you the big picture. this was last year at this time, we had 50% of the lower 48 covered by snow. right now, we're only looking at 23% and most of it in the mountainous areas or the northern portions of the great lakes in new england. many of us are still waiting for the first significant snow of the season. and the weather pattern has been mild throughout the eastern half of the country. one thing that will change is that cold air will greet us intç the new year. i can't promise any snow, but the first step is, you have to get the cold air and then you can worry about maybe getting some snow. as of now, yeah, baby steps. >> we'll get there eventually. well, home sales jump, verizon charges more, and losing big business with the death of

kim jong-il? your first look at this morning's business headlines is straight ahead. a home coming, a barn burner, and a buzzer beater. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. this new at&t 4g lte is fast.

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well, welcome back to first look, i'm lynn berry. here's some of the top stories making news. >> laying a wreath at the uss arizona memorial in hawaii. the president and first lady michelle obama also dropped flower petals into the water beneath the memorial. fire burned a russian nuclear submarine docked at a shipyard for repairs. the missiles normally onboard had been removed. while the fire is out, the russian military says some crew members are still onboard. chinese officials say they've launched 19 rockets this year. that's putting them second behind russia with the u.s. coming in third.

they vowed to put 100 satellites in orbit over the next five years, which could give the chinese military the access and accuracy it needs for missiles without american technology. work on the planned september 11th museum at ground zero is now on hold. the museum was supposed to open next year alongside the 9/11 memorial, but new york mayor michael bloomberg says it won't open on time because of a dispute over financing. and this right there is the newest spot on earth. volcanic ash from an underwater volcano formed a new island off the red sea off the coast of yemen. don't pack your bags, no vacation just yet. it may soon disappear since it is made solely of volcanic debris.ç covering thousands of miles of our nation's coastlines every year, the coast guard comes to the aid of countless citizens and saves hundreds of lives. well, turns out, they're also

sort of video stars. and as ted greenberg from philadelphia's wcau reports, the coast guard released the top ten rescue videos of 2011 and they're asking for you to vote for the favorite on its facebook or youtube page. >> reporter: they captured the drama in the raging surf. >> the mast was swinging around so violently -- >> reporter: and high above it. >> the only thing i could think of is, wow, we're doing that. >> reporter: these are the coast guard's top ten videos of 2011. real life rescues of people, their pets, even returning creatures to the sea. and for the agency's newest members, it's an intense eyeful. >> actually seeing what we're -- what awaits us out there, it's like, i want to graduate already and be there. >> recruits at the coast guard training center in cape may got a preview thursday of all the videos, which are being released

daily one by one on the internet. >> yeah, i was a little taken aback, actually, about how much work actually goes into it. >> reporter: members of the public are being asked to vote for their favorite video on the coast guard's facebook page and its youtube channel. >> just showing them a few videos of what we do day in and day out kind of educates the american people on exactly the dangers that these men and women are going to face. >> reporter: all ten videos will be online by saturday and you'll have until january 13th to pick your favorite one. theç winner will be announced soon after that. >> check out the videos because they're pretty amazing. >> reporter: this video of a pilot ditching his plane came out on top. >> the coast guard is there to serve the people. >> intense scenes at sea, and these recruits know in similar missions next year, they might be the stars. >> and now you can vote. well, now here is your first look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,287 after

rising 135 points yesterday. the s&p gained 13 points, the nasdaq was up 23. overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei was up 56 points, the hang seng added 36. well, more positive signs for the economy, stocks rallied thursday ahead of today's last day of trading for the year. the only remaining suspense is whether the s&p 500 will end positive for the year. thursday's rally left it up .4%, it is the closest it's been to unchanged for a year since 1970. traditionally, the last day of trading of the year is a down day. november's existing home sales surged to a 1 1/2 year high. home builders all gained. december's midwest factory activity grew. prices and employment rose, but production eased slightly. on the downside, last week's unemployment claims rose more than expected but the four-week

average fell to a 3 1/2 year low. also aiding stocks, italy's bond yields, which spooked investors wednesday, but eased thursday after a debt auction. still the yield on the ten-year bond hovers near the 7% danger level. banks were the day's biggest gainers led by jpmorgan chase, alcoa, and caterpillar, two bell weathers that sunk wednesday led the dow. amazon dipped after a brokerage warning on the quarter results. sears fell further after its store closings and other issues caused fitch to downgrade the stock. gold fell for a sixth straight day, down 1.5%. starting january 15th, verizon wireless is going to start charging $2 for payments made over the phone or online with credit cards. and finally, does that look familiar? at least one south korean is mourning kim jong-il. the engraver who thanks his

likeness to the korean leader had a well-paid side career in commercials and appearances. he's got a good tease going on there. i bet that's what did it. well, a former penguin wobbles the penguins. an overtime upset in college hoops and your college football bowl game of the day. plus, was this big bomb by vince carter enough to lead the mavs past the thunder? your first look at sports is straight ahead. you are watching "first look" on msnbc.

welcome back to "first look." if you are a dallas fan, good news, the mavericks are the defending nba champs. the bad news is, that was last season. here's nbc's mario solis with an early look at your sports headlines. >> good morning. the mavericks lost the third straight game courtesy of a buzzer beater. mavs down two in the final seconds, dirk nowitzki knocks down the three-pointer. about a second to play. no worries for the thunder, they've got kevin, he catches the inbound pass and sends dallas packing, the jumper at the buzzer, oklahoma city remains undefeated with a 104-102 win. knicks and lakers, kobe depose on a tear in the third scores 13 of the 28 in the quarter, now put up 26 or more in all four g÷ games. lakers win 99-82. another day, another upset in college basketball.

carter everything against florida. carter stops and pops, double o.t., a career-high 31. with all eyes on ely he gives it up to the dagger from three-point land, shocked florida in double overtime. in hockey, made his return in pittsburgh asç a member of the flyers. he scored a lot of goal and add one more to the list. a successful home coming. college football looked like the fighting irish were going to run away with the champs sports bowl then florida state decides to show up. manuel hooks up with rasheed greene for the go ahead touchdown, fsu rallies to beat notre dame 18-14. and if you like offense, you like the alamo bowl. robert griffin to third accounting for two touchdowns, teammate terrence gattaway

scores. and that's your first look at sports, i'm mario solis. and for another look at the weather, here's bill karins with your weather channel forecast. good morning, bill. >> and i've been advertising this big cold snap that's coming to the eastern half of the country. one thing about it, doesn't look to stick around that much. all the cold purple air is well up in canada, this surge of cold air over the great lakes settles in new england. all the way down to the southeast. then as we go throughout next week, that cold air leaves, doesn't stick around like most winters, and much of the country is going to be pretty warm by the time we get to the end of next week. not like this cold air will be here to stay. as far as the forecast goes for today, a mild day around the country, snow showers, rain showers heading for chicago, the pacific northwest, lynn, will probably be the only wet spot as we go to new year's eve, many of us, though, dry, mild new year's

eve, which is a surprise for many of us. usually it's a coldç holiday. >> thanks so much. well, coming up, the experts say no new films at the box office this weekend means a sure fire winner. plus, winning awards and drawing questions over her tweets. your first look at entertainment is straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. olay total effects. with 7 age defying effects in just one, easy to use cream. i've swapped to all-in-one total effects. why don't you swap too?

welcome back to first look. it's time for entertainment news. it kind of describes the weekend and perhaps the whole year of 2011. with hollywood struggling to pull in audiences, there is nothing new at the box office. so tom cruise's "mission impossible" should win the

weekend against all other christmas weekend. it should win with about $30 million. how is that for an endorsement? elsewhere, former chicago bulls star michael jordan asked his girlfriend of three years to marry him over the christmas weekend. that's original. another blast from the past, elly may clampett settled her lawsuit with mattell over a barbie that uses her character's name and likeness. voters gave robert pattinson the honor for the second year in a row. >> go see "twilight" instead. >> i tried. more questions surrounding her recent tweets with ex-boyfriend and assaulter chris brown, her seductive ads for armani jeans have been declared sexiest of the year. >> you did not like mission impossible, i feel i would like

it more now. >> that sounds so much like what you would do just to spite me. he's going to say itç he likest regardless if he does. i'm lynn berry. stay tuned, "way too early's" next. four days now until the voting begins in iowa, and a new nbc poll confirms, mitt romney, ron paul bunched at the top with rick santorum making some noise behind them. the question is, after months of various challengers to his front-runner status, will mitt romney close the deal on tuesday? we'll have a couple of live reports from the ground in iowa. another amazing spectacle today in the streets of pyongyang north carolina as the country says good-bye to kim jong-il and anoints his son. the question is, are there any signs this new regime is headed in a new direction? and a well-known professional athlete lays down a $1 million bet against tim tebow and the broncos and wins. the question is, who had the stones and the cash