and it is the best new thing in the world today for st. louis. well done. that does it for us tonight. see you tomorrow night at 6:00 eastern for our special coverage of the florida primary. florida showdown. the two republican frontrunners make their final push through the sunshine state. baby delay? are english duke and duchess putting plans on hold? and a new york state feud between two pizzerias turns ugly. good morning. i'm lynn berry. this is "first look" on msnbc. we begin with the early advantage. polls are not even open yet for today's florida primary, but

mitt romney is already beating n newt gingrich. according to ballots counted from 500,000 early voters, the former massachusetts governor has a double digit lead. tracie potts joins us live. romney seemed confident yesterday. >> reporter: he certainly did. he said it looks like we're going to win this thing. and if you look at those early voters, if you look at the exit polls, it appears romney is leading at least among those who have already cast their ballots 2 to 1. >> thank you for all your work. i need your work tomorrow. get out there and vote. let's keep america the hope the earth. >> reporter: he's got reason to peel confident. take a look at the polls. rasmussen puts romney ahead by 16 points, quinnipiac 14. suffolk university gives him a 20 point lead. here's why. >> mute has a ton of baggage. >> reporter: romney and his super pac are bombarding the state with ads, most negative.

they've outspent newt gingrich supporters four to one. gingrich swings, romney swings back harder. >> playing around a bit trying to go after me for one thing or the other and you just shake your head. it's been painfully revealing to watch. >> we'll 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 poll, he's down to just five to seven points. >> with your help we are going to win a decisive victory tomorrow. >> reporter: gingrich is going after conservatives. crisscrossing the state with ronald reagan's son and former rival herman cain. >> my only expectation is to be able on help him win the nomination and 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 most of. and the polls are indicating that may be mitt romney in a

theoretical match up with the president, gallop has him virtually tied. >> and of course all day long msnbc is the place for coverage of the florida primary. that's going to be beginning at the top of the hour with a special edition of "way too early." he's live from miami beach. and later, special prime time coverage begins at 6:00 p.m. eastern hosted by chris matthew, reverend al sharpton, rachel maddow and lawrence o'donnell p. don't miss our coverage right here on msnbc. one of the biggest factors in the florida primary has been the large number of those expensive tv campaign ads. former florida governor charlie crist talked to chris matthews about the political polls reflecting the negative tone of the campaign commercials and the impact of all the money being

spent on political acts. >> i think the old expression is that money is the mother's milk of politics. certainly that's been the case this week. to the romney campaign's credit, they've raised an enormous sum of money before i think the spending is about four to one compared to gingrich. that's hard to overcome and it's making an impact here just like it did in iowa for the speaker. and it's having a profound impact in florida. it's like a circled firing squad, if you will. and i know other republicans have talked about the challenge and the difficulty this could present to the nominee facing president obama who doesn't have this will kind of back and forth going on. there are some that argue that maybe it's healthy because you get more of the republican message out, but it's got to have a detrimental effect and i think the negatives that are building up both for gingrich and romney are being shown in the polls most recently. >> chris matthews plays hardball

week nights at 5:00 and 7:00 eastern only on msnbc, the place for politics. government troops fought with rebels monday forcing them out of damascus. the death toll over three days of fighting is said to be more than 100. at the united nations, talks are under way 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. hillary clinton said monday that the current situation in syria is, quote, unsustainable. now here's your first look at some of the other news going on around america today. last night, a wild high-speed chase in los angeles at speeds up 90 miles per hour

before detouring to city streets causing numerous close calls there. 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. it's after the driver allegedly warned the owner to take the sign down because it was offering a similar type of pie. the suspect's family recently sold the competing pizzeria. he is facing criminal charges. 27-year-old heath frisbee was able to successfully do a front flip on his snowmobile. it's never been done before and it earned him a medal for best snowmobile trick. if you're still looking for real winter conditions, look no further than fairbanks, alaska.

it was 49 degrees below zero! it has been the coldest january there since 1971. authorities urged people to just stay home or at least bring an emergency kit with them if they had to travel. how for a look at your national weather, we turn to bill karins. he'll tell you what the deal is with that. >> it's one of the coldest, snowiest, worst alaska winters they have and he had. >> meanwhile it's like 65 in washington today. >> the rest of the country is wondering where it is, and that's where it is. there is one spot, though. yesterday off of lake erie, there's a narrow lake-effect snow band. you notice how high the snow was on that car. this is one of the snowiest locations not just in our country, but in the entire world. they picked up 35 inches of snow yesterday. that's three feet of snow. when really people five miles to their south and five miles to their north barely picked up anything at all. very rare event but that they're the ones that got it. so if you want to go

snowmobiling, that's where you have to head. rest of the country, unbelievable warm. yesterday was about record highs in many areas of nebraska, south dakota, iowa, towards kansas city and st. louis, near record if not record heat. and yet everywhere in yellow here was above 60 degrees. will is a map that typically would be more representative of mid march than the end of january. and even the northern cities that are typically cold like billings and minneapolis and boston were all in the 40s and 50s. so where is the cold air? it's in northern maine all the way up through areas near the hudson bay, up towards northern portions of canada and into alaska. mild air covers coast to coast the lower 48. the temperatures this morning are amazingly warm. it's hard to find areas that we have ice forming. temperatures are only below freezing from minneapolis northwards, boston northwards. everyone else excluding the rockies is well above freezing this morning. temperatures for will this afternoon will be as warm as they get this time of year. washington, d.c., enjoy lunch

outdoors. take a walk without the jacket. 62 for your high today. 65 in atlanta. look at dallas, 73. that's almost shorts weather. a little cooler today from denver to kansas city, but mid-50s is still great. and as we look towards tomorrow, not a lot changes. we get a little rainy, but temperatures in the mid-50s is still warm and we'll continue with that warmth from denver to kansas city. so it looks like the beginning of february will stay just as warm as it was in january. >> bill, thanks so much. coming up, more euro worries. cruising take as bruising. and the state paying tribute to toto. your first look at this morning's business headlines is straight ahead. the giants touchdown, the imagine i thimagic unravel and y the dunk of the year. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. [ lane ] is your anti-wrinkle cream gone...

but not your wrinkles? neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair. its retinol formula visibly reduces wrinkles in just one week. why wait if you don't have to. neutrogena®. fantastic! [ man ] pro-gresso they fit! okay-y... okay??? i've been eating progresso and now my favorite old jeans...fit.

okay is there a woman i can talk to? [ male announcer ] progresso. 40 soups 100 calories or less. we earn more cash back for the things we buy most. it's 1% cash back everywhere, every time. 2% on groceries. 3% on gas. automatically. no hoops to jump through. that's 1% cash back on oscar. ...tony. oscar! 2% back on whatever she'll eat. 3% back on filling up this baby. [ male announcer ] now get 1-2-3 percent cash back. it's that simple. [ male announcer ] apply online or at a bank of america near you. we're talking 3% back on gas. ♪ feel the power my young friend. mmm! [ male announcer ] for excellent fruit and veggie nutrition... v8 v-fusion, also refreshing plus tea. could've had a v8.

welcome back to "first look." here are some of the top stories

making news morning. a nuclear reactor north of chicago shut down on monday. 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 some medical devices. an investigation of a pileup that killed ten 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 show up in luxury restaurants before long. it's a cross between wild and cultured tomatoes with the hopefully appealing new color. at least according to

england's daily mail, prince william and kate are putting off having a baby until next year. the sources say they want to make the london olympics and the jubilee go well and they are in, quote, no hurry to start a family. dow opens at 12, 653 after losing 6 points yesterday. the s&p was down three, the nasdaq lost four. taking a look at overseas trading, in tokyo, the nikkei added 9, while in hong kong, the hang seng climbed 230. investors worrieded about europe's debt crisis this morning as officials gathered in brussels. stocks got off to a rocky start as european union leaders worked on a permanent bailout zone. a deal was struck after markets closed but without a long-term fix for greece's debt, the eu woes will continue to linger. markets managed to regain some

ground with telecom and tech leading the way. new data saying people are willing to save than spend. apple shares rose on news the iphone maker could pick up two new distributors in china this year. also on the upside, us 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 buy. starbucks got a lift it will be open stores in india this year. on the downside, wendy's dragged the fast food chain lowering. spiraling ad sales gannett with fourth quarter profits. carnival has is suffered a double dunk eithigit drop in bo.

a new fraud prevention system, early bird who filed tax returns before january 26th will have to wait an extra week for their refund. finally, kansas could soon be the karen terrier official no place like home. a state legislator is pushing to make the breed one that played in "wizard of the oz" the official dog for the state. coming up, orlando loses the magic. miami turns on the heat. and chicago bulls its way to victory. plus the season is just under way. but is this blake griffin slam the dunk of the year? your first look at sports is straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc.

the two tinen it's done" a. for 80 years, we've been inspired by you. and we've been honored to walk with you to help you get where you want to be. ♪ because your moment is now. let nothing stand in your way. learn more at keller.edu. [ sighs ] i can't wait till morning. wait! it's morning in china! ♪

[ male announcer ] it's sweet, it's nutty... it's absolutely delicious. kellogg's crunchy nut. it's morning somewhere. welcome back to "first look". in sports, the way they are playing, dwight howard and the orlando magic look headed for a certain divorce. the only question seems to be how long will it take and how ugly will it get? here is nbc's fred roggin. good morning. dwight howard has made it clear he wants out of orlando. after last night's loss to the 6ers, he also wants out of philly. the big fellow isn't happy howard got the magic within two before the half and he finished with 17. orlando fell apart once again. scoring nine in the third while the sixers poured it on. the magic are unraveling and lost it. clippers came out firing against the thunder. hit ten three-pointers in the first half. 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! posterized kendrick perkins. that might be the dunk of the year. clippers won their third straight. justin bieber witnessed an outbreak of offense from the miami heat. lebron james with the basket. dwyane off to the races. he and james finished with 22. the heat swatted the hornets. rose sliced his way through the lane an he also had eight assists. carlos boozer for the jumper. bulls ran all over washington 109-88. indianapolis got a giant package from new york yesterday. eli manning and the giants arrived in indy for super bowl xlvi. and look who came along for the ride. the same oversized teddy bear was their good luck charm when they beat the patriots four years ago in the super bowl. james brewer with a bear hug for

teddy. the giants may have a bear but they are two and a half point dogs in the super bowl. that is your first look at sports. i'm fred roggin. and how for another look at the weather, here is bill karins. >> morning. we don't want to be insensitive to the people in northern new england, that's the old cold wintry spot out there. all the rest of us are excited for our spring break. the snow is falling this morning, it's a very light snow over the adirondacks. north of the 495 loop up through concord, manchester, portland. could be snowy on the roads there on i-95. but the rest of southern new england, you'll be just fine today as that warmer air begins to arrive. it's already here in d.c. new york city close to 40. the cold air from albany north barreds up there in to areas of new york and new hampshire. as far as today's forecast goes, the warmth really turning on in

d.c. came. we're getting up to 58 in philadelphia. 54 in new york city. again, snow showers this morning around albany, but then even you this afternoon up there around 44 degrees. and that warmth continues today from the southeast, the ensee, kentucky, all the way back through areas of oklahoma into texas. just temperatures about 10 to 20 degrees warmer than they should be for this time of year. even our friends in minneapolis, 43, this is usually when you have highs in the 20s, lows around 0. but amazingly warm for you. and even tomorrow, not a lot of changes out there. just a little bit of damp weather in the southeast. coming up, a surprise and random guest for the simpsons milestone show. plus rarely has anyone performing on saturd"saturday n live" been hit with such savage reviews. your first look at entertainment is straight ahead. people with a machine. what ?

customers didn't like it. so why do banks do it ? hello ? hello ?! if your bank doesn't let you talk to a real person 24/7, you need an ally. hello ? ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. who emailed it to emily, who sent it to cindy, who wondered why her soup wasn't quite the same. the recipe's not the recipe... ohhh.

[ female announcer ] ...without swanson. the broth cooks trust most when making soup. mmmm! [ female announcer ] the secret is swanson. but when she got asthma, all i could do was worry ! specialists, lots of doctors, lots of advice... and my hands were full. i couldn't sort through it all. with unitedhealthcare, it's different. we have access to great specialists, and our pediatrician gets all the information. everyone works as a team. and i only need to talk to one person about her care. we're more than 78,000 people looking out for 70 million americans. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. nyquil (stuffy): just reading whatyour label.ing? wait! you relieve nasal congestion? tylenol: sure. don't you? tylenol (another bottle): hmmm...no... nyquil (stuffy): dude! anncr vo: tylenol cold multi-symptom nighttime relieves nasal congestion... nyquil cold & flu doesn't.

the olive garden is trying to attract more rusts by remodeling their vauntss. step one, they're taking down the sign that says the olive garden. pretty quick fix. everyone is talking about the presidential election and check this out, in a new round of campaign ads, republican candidates have accused mitt romney of being too far to the left. which explains why today romney received an endorsement from the baltimore ravens kicker. kenny g announced that he will host a cruise to alaska next year. man, that will be so fun.

in the pool everybody's like grab your peen drink, it's time to party ♪ >> tonight jimmy welcomes 30 rock jack mcbreyer, and musical guest jay cool. that's late night with jimmy fallon week nights at 11:35. time for your first look at entertainment news. many called it "saturday night live's" worst performance ever. now lana delray is having her say. she 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. i never saw it. but a lot of people didn't like it. shirley mcclain is playing a new character in the third season of the english costume drama. entertainment weekly reports

julian assange will play himself on "the simpsons" episode. he recorded his lines in england while under house arrest after he appeals extradition to sweden. assange will have a new talk show on an english language channel in march. finally, ferris bueller fans feel they got the bait and switch here. it turns out matthew broderick will be playing himself in a honda commercial for the super bowl. it's online. it's ferris bueller themed. so it's the whole story line. but he's playing himself. and i have to say, watched it. it's about 2:30 of my life i'd like to get back. >> not buying a new car, huh? >> that $3.5 million could be used in a heck of a lot of places. >> he got a lot of attention out

of. >> he did. i'm lynn berry. this is "1st look." stay tuned, a special edition of "way too early with willie geist" starts right now. why would anybody in the establishment think that a massachusetts moderate, which is a liberal by republican standards, pro abortion, pro gun control, pro tax increase, pro gay rights, why would they think that he's going to be able to debate barack obama some. >> i know the speaker is not real happy. he's knowledge feeling very excited these days. i know are i it's sad. he's been going after me for one thing or the other and you watch it and you shake your head. it's been kind of pain any full revealing. >> we're about to find out if mitt romney's overwhelm