but this particular new reason in lowell, massachusetts, why we are grateful and proud of them, best new thing in the world. and with no politics in it at all. taking heat. republic republicanpresident presidential candidates. roid rage. a man's violent and fatal gym rampage. and what goes up. russia says the failed mars probe could come crashing down within days. very good morning to you. those stories and much more straight ahead. this is "first look" on msnbc.

and we begin this morning with the southern swing. the campaign push is on in south carolina where the republican presidential hopefuls are looking to lock in conservative support. brian moore joins us now from washington with details. brian, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. the candidates are in the trenches with all but one fighting for survival. >> hi, guys. big night last night. >> reporter: while mitt romney is competing for a third round win in south carolina, his underdog opponents are hoping for a knockout. the republican front-runner is being hammered over the airwaves. >> he can't be trusted. >> reporter: online in a documentary. and on the stump where newt gingrich is turning up the heat and not apologizing. >> i think that the american people deserve to know things. >> reporter: rick perry is trying to shoot down perry's credentials as a job creator. >> we need to have more venture capitalism going on in america

and less vulture capitalism. >> reporter: after winning iowa and new hampshire, romney can afford to shrug off the attacks. ron paul is avoiding the attacks altogether. but they're not sitting well with other republicans including rick santorum. >> bad enough for barack obama to blame folks in business for causing problems in this country. it's another thing for republicans to join him. >> reporter: nine days left until south carolina and the gop presidential race is heating up. and there's word this morning romney's camp is getting ready to counterattack critics of his business record. >> brian, thank you. last night on politics nation, congressman james claiborne explained that critics who question the past business practices of mitt romney are not necessarily anti-capitalists or against everyone who is wealthy. >> i have no problem with mitt

romney or anybody else making millions or even billions. what my problem is that if you question things done in the name of capitalism, then he calls it being envious. i don't think anybody was envious or fearful of being envious when they failed to question what bernie madoff was doing. he did all that in the name of capitalism. we can cquestion what people ar doing and the way they do it and to make sure that people adhere to fair play. this whole issue is about fundamental fairness. is it fair to go in and invest $30 million, take $160 million out, bankrupt the company, and put 160 people out of work? where is the fairness there? >> every night the reverend al

sharpton features a lively debate of the day's top headlines. be sure to catch "politics nation" week nights at 6:00 eastern right here on msnbc, the place for politics. president obama is back at the white house this morning after a quick trip home to chicago. the president had three fundraisers piling up cash for the fall campaign. he told supporters they'll finish what they started in 2008. mr. obama also made a surprise visit to the campaign headquarters in chicago to thank staffers working on his re-election effort. he says he hopes the campaign embodies the values we are fighting for. shocking behavior by members of the u.s. military once again may cause anti-american backlash in the muslim world. this image which we blurred is from a youtube video appearing to show four marines urinating on the corpses of taliban fighters. the marine corps is investigating and military officials tell nbc news they do believe the video is legitimate and that marines involved may be

based at camp lejeune, north carolina. they promise a swift investigation and say if the marines are positively identified, they could face criminal prosecution. the united states supreme court decided that in effect there's at least one place where employees cannot sue for discrimination, religious institutions. the high court ruled unanimously in the case of a michigan teacher fired from a lutheran school. she was fired after threatening to sue under the americans with disabilities act. the federal government sued the school but the court says the lawsuit was barred by the church's first amendment right to free exercise of religion. all right. here's your first look at the other news going on around america today. last halloween surveillance cameras rolled on one man's drug fueled rampage through an upstate new york gym. the 240 pound member stormed through the facility tossing various items and ripping down equipment. police arrived and took the suspect down with stun guns. he died shortly after from

cardiac arrest. an autopsy discovered steroids and pcp in his system. heavy rain drenched huntsville, alabama, causing severe flooding that took many by surprise. rescue crews had a busy day as the down pour turned roads into rivers forcing officials to set up roadblocks and keep drivers safe. finally, one l.a. artist is about to reveal his vision of the future. check this out. his metropolis ii sculpture is modelled after a fast-paced city where a network of roadways rint woven between hundreds of skyscrape skyscrapers. it will be unveiled at the l.a. county museum of art. so cool. now for a look at the national weather, we turn to bill karins with the weather channel forecast. i feel like we need to preface this by saying the weather man is under the weather. >> it's guaranteed i'll have the deepest voice on the network today. >> i like it. >> yeah, it's down there like james earl jones.

>> barry white maybe. >> as long as it doesn't crack. >> sounding pretty sexy for this time of day, bill. >> yes. headed for the late night. good morning, everyone. interesting forecast today. we have snow out there. heavy rain. it's a busy morning weatherwise. only areas that are going to deal with any significant amounts of snow is northern new england up in the mountains. albany, troy right now. we have snow mixing in with sleet. temperatures are starting to rise. anywhere from the capital district northern mass, southern new hampshire, vermont, that's where the snow is currently. boston. started off as a little snowflakes. now changing over to all rain. same goes for providence. really all of connecticut is looking like a wet road forecast. there is also heavy rain down there around new york city. at least for the next hour or two. as far as snowfall goes, not a lot of heavy snow. much of the cities in maine, two to four inches. white and green mountains will get heavier snows. that's the ski resorts. tomorrow will be the day to ski

on fresh powder. we have a storm located near detroit. it has a band of moisture coming behind it along the cold front. this is bringing snow down through the quad cities, much of western portions of wisconsin and even our friends in st. louis are getting some of the first snows of the season. and that should put down a coating, too. the drive around st. louis will probably be a little slick. i'm sure the schools there will be delayed. definitely stay tuned and check them and make sure before you head out what the situation is. as far as snowfall forecast, there is the snow today and tonight in areas of northern new england. really from chicago to milwaukee, indianapolis, northward, you all have a chance of getting two to four, maybe six inches today and tomorrow. if you're anywhere near lake michigan, ontario or erie, we'll get lake-effect snow also into friday. the forecast looks like this. we're watching the rain ending early today in many areas including atlanta, d.c. you should be fine. the rain will be moving out. philadelphia, you'll be fine. even new york city, the rain will end early this morning. this afternoon will be windy,

warm and dry. all that cold air blowing through the middle of the country right now. 36 there in denver. our friends travel together west coast, you're the ones with the nice quiet weather conditions. veronica, overall, one of the snowiest winter type days we've had. >> and the voice is working for you, bill. i'm going to start calling you the voice. >> that's a show on nbc, isn't it? >> yep, i think you're right about that. "the voice." crocks take a bite out of holiday sales and trouble for twinkie makers and congress in omaha. >> the celtics and mavs go down to the wire. overtime in san antonio and kobe does it again. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. ♪

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welcome back to "first look." here are the top stories making news this morning. in syria, a french tv camera man

is killed after news people were attacked with grenades while be led on a government sponsored trip to homes. they're claiming terrorists. joran van der sloot will be sentenced tomorrow. he blamed the persian kus of van der sloot after he was the prime suspect in natalee holloway's disappearance in aruba. haley barbour's final acts in necessity necessity this week is pardoning inmates. the judge blocked the release of 21 prisoners including four convicted killers. he said most of the pardons were recommended by the parole board. a survey finds two-thirds of americans believe tensions between the rich and poor are increasing. three out of ten say there are very strong conflicts between the haves and the have notes. and a russian spacecraft that launched in november will fall to earth as soon as twheekd. it was supposed to explore a

moon of mars but never got out of orbit. the odds of anyone being hit by the debris are said to be slim. thank goodness. and now here's your first look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12 snchlt 449. s&p 500 gained fractionally. overseas trading, tokyo, the nikkei was down 62 points. in hang congress, the hang seng dipped 56. without big news in europe, markets managed to hold on to recent gains on wednesday. stocks higher in part to an upgrade in the steel sectorment on the earnings front, chevron dropped 2.2%. home building lennar's shares were up 7%. strong holiday sales of crocs put shares of the popular foot ware maker up 16%. on the down side, super value dropped 12% after missing its

earnings estimates. shares of urban outfitters plunged nearly 20% on the unexpected departure of the ceo. hostesses is filing for bankruptcy protection for the second time in a decade as the iconic snack brand tries to find the footing in an increasingly health conscious market. the beige book survey showed robust american spending and factory production at the end of 2011. and japan's finance minister told tim geithner his country will take concrete steps to cut the dependcy on imports. the u.s. stopped shipments of imported orange juice. finally, billionaire investor warn buffet wants mitch mcconnell to put his money where his mouth is. after he said he would take buffet up on his offer to pay more taxes, buffet tells "time" magazine he'll match all

republican members of congress dollar for dollar. he'll even go three for one with mitch mcconnell himself. in health news now, a new movement is hitting facebook. bald bar by as a role model for young girls going through chemo or hair loss conditions. the page created by women dealing with baldness or had gone through it themselves has more than 18,000 likes. so far mattel only sent a form letter to the group saying they don't accept outside ideas. for more information on this story and other health news, you can always head to the health page online at anybomsnbc.com. kobe not just 40 again. the mavericks and shamrocks go down the wire and a good decision to go pro. plus, blake griffin and the clippers challenge the rich gays fr guys from miami. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. [ female announcer ] can only a prestige cream

give you effective anti-aging results? challenge that with regenerist micro-sculpting cream. it hydrates better than creams costing as much as $500. 82% of luxury brand users agree it feels as luxurious as prestige. olay regenerist. welcome back. in sports now, the los angeles lakers made a strong statement last night handing the utah jazz their first home court loss of the year. here's nbc's fred roggin. good morning. kobe bryant has done it again. one night after scoring 48 against the suns, he dropped 40 in utah. lakers needed every single one of them. he did most of his damage in the first, 14 in the quarter and 21 at the half. bryant was scoring and so was the jazz. they forced overtime. josh howard tied it in the final minute with all eyes on kobe, he

dished to gusal and he had the lead. no one thought he was a threat from outside. bryant hit the 40 mark for the second straight game and the lakers won 90-87 in ot. spurs up two in the final seconds. rockets needed a bucket and they got it. we're off to overtime. that's as close as houston would get. richard jefferson, the dagger from the corner, rockets made it interesting. the spurs got the win, 101-95. mavs and celtics went down to the wire. under 30 seconds to play. paul pierce drilled a three to tie the game at 85. no worries for dallas, they have the finals mvp on their side. it's not always pretty but it is effective. the bucket and the foul. dirk nowitzki completed the three point play and the mavs held on to win it 90-85. chris paul with a lob to griffin. seemed like every time the clippers threw down a huge dunk, the heat came back with one of their own. lebron with a 40. after 48 minutes, they were

deadlocked. the only thing, clippers put it away with another dunk. the andre gordon game over. they beat the heat. baylor quarterback robert griffin iii announced he'll enter the nfl draft. he has one more year of eligih l eligibilihe will jikt but will receive a masters in communications this summer. impressive for a guy who is only 21. that's your first look at sports. i'm fred roggin. >> and now for another quick look at the weather, here is nbc meteorologist bill karins, bill "the voice" cairns with the weather channel forecast. >> the voice of a 15-year-old cracking. nice to see kit snow in northern new england. it's been a while. that's what we're dealing with this morning. mass pike, you have snow right along mass pike. we're getting a mix now of sleet mixing in with snow. it is all rain and heavy rain at that everywhere around the greater philadelphia, central jersey and new york city. right around 6:00 to 7:00 a.m.

the morning drive around the tri-state area in connecticut, new york and new jersey is going to be very difficult. as far as snow goes, only northern new england is going to get accumulating snows out of this. it will move out during the day. we'll clear it out in new york this afternoon. it should be dry and windy and mild. and even philadelphia and d.c., the daylight hours are going to be just fine. some rain showers will continue in buffalo and pittsburgh. your temperatures will slowly begin to tumble. and also, our friends in st. louis, the kridz loids are goin like what they see, a little snow. definitely school delays will be likely. that will move across the state of illinois eventually as we go through the mid morning and the snow will begin in chicago. we're calling for six inches of snow in chicago. this is the biggest snowstorm of the season. same goes for areas like milwaukee, too. indianapolis will get a little snow out of this along with our friends in kentucky and tennessee. today's forecast, snow developing in chicago. cold and chilly in the middle of the country. soon all that cold air is headed to the east coast this weekend. >> goody.

you are keep saying that. >> it's on its way. >> just never happens. i told you. we have to bet on it. thanks. how much is too much when it comes to an age difference in marriage? plus, shocking allegations regarding the parenthood of one member of reality tv's most infamous clan. your first look at entertainment is straight ahead. their kids are adults? i have twins, 21 years old. each kid has their own path. they grow up, and they're out having their life. i really started to talk to them about the things that are important that they have to take ownership over. my name's colleen stiles, and my kids and i did our wills on legalzoom. [ shapiro ] we created legalzoom to help you take care of the ones you love. go to legalzoom.com today and complete your will in minutes. at legalzoom.com, we put the law on your side. is another way to look at the bean. another way that reveals the lighter, mellower side of our roast. being blonde is nothing new,

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mercedes is putting a facebook app in the cars that will alert drivers if their friends are close. yeah. it's like hey facebook says that doug is nearby. i wonder where -- doug! hey buddy!

call me later, dude. big election news. last night mitt romney won the new hampshire primary with 39% of the vote. he said the voters of new hampshire have spoken loud and clear and said well if, this is all i got. some more tech news. talk that myspace is planning to launch it own web tv service. and if you think that's exciting, then you must work for myspace. >> tonight jimmy welcome this is week's s&l host, the view's elizabeth hasselbeck and musical guest comment. that is late night with jimmy fallon on your local nbc stations. all right. it is time for your first look at entertainment news. two of robert kardashian's ex-wives claim khloe kardashian is not his biological daughter. he told them khloe was not his

daughter. chris jenner admitted she was unfaithful to kardashian during their 12 years of marriage. she angrily tweet the irlet a lot of things slide but this one is really low. you are disgusting. no word if she plans legal action. okay, the big winners at last night's shall we say pretend made for tv award shows, bill. the people's choice awards. >> that was last night. >> okay. well, the big winners were harry potter and also katie perry. bill is definitely a fan. halle berry is going to the alter. brian ferry married his son's 29-year-old former girlfriend. his son's 29-year-old former girlfriend. finally, ashton kucher in told tv writers he would like to stay with "2 1/2 men" beyond the season. cbs is working on it. i think he looks good with short hair.

>> i wouldn't know who it was if i saw him in the hallway. >> i would know who he was. feel better. this is "first look" on msnbc. stay tuned. "way too early with willy geist" starts right now. >> on to south carolina. the republican presidential field loads up for one last attack on mitt romney with gingrich and perry looking to paint the front-runner as a boss that takes pleasure in throwing people out on the street as he lafdz while lighting a cigar with a $100 bill. the question is, is it too late to stop mitt romney? president obama meanwhile expects fully to face romney in the general election and probably preshz gingrich and perry making the case for him. he focuses again on creating jobs in this economy. the question is, what did the president propose yesterday to bring back the manufacturing jobs many have said are gone for good? >> and iranian