on the attack. with just three weeks to go until the iowa caucuses, the gop gloves come off. danger down under. surveillance video captures a horrific tanker explosion at an australian gas station. and rush of color. one of the most spectacular natural wonders of the world becomes even more dazzling. very good morning to you, i'm veronica de la cruz. those stories and much more straight ahead. this is "first look" on msnbc. we begin this morning with

assessing the damage. newt gingrich is still standing after his republican rivals piled on to criticize his personal and political past at saturday night's debate but mitt romney may have tripped him up at the worst possible time. the latest polls show gingrich ahead in three of the first four presidential contests and making head way in the fourth. nbc's tracie potts is live for us in washington with the latest. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, everyone. both democrats and republicans are jumping on that romney error but the polls you talked about show that newt gingrich is the one to watch. nbc's latest poll shows newt gingrich widening his lead in florida and south carolina. and republicans are going after him. on fannie m freddie mac consult >> i think you got some of our taxpayer money. >> reporter: on conservative views versus-m romney. >> that's not a dime's worth of difference between the two of them. >> reporter: and even personal attacks. >> if you cheat on your wife,

you'll cheat on your business partners. >> people have to render judgment. i've said up front openly, i've made mistakes at times, i've had to go to god for forgiveness. >> reporter: romney took the harshest fallout. >> ten,000 bucks? $1,000 bet? >> i'm not in the betting business. >> ann came up and gave me a kiss and she said a lot of things do you well. betting isn't one of them. >> an extra 10,000 you can throw down on bets seems very out of the ordinary. >> reporter: that's what democrats are saying. the $200 million candidate betting to what amounts to about 2 1/2 months' salary in iowa. romney is still confident, he told reporters last night, i'm going to get the nomination. >> tracie potts in washington, thank you. following saturday's debate in iowa, gop candidate rick perry added another oops moment to his string of memorable campaign gaffes. speaking at an event in ames,

perry criticized president obama's backing of a now defunct and wildly known energy company while trying to recall exactly how much federal funding that company received, perry said, i'm quoting here, i want to say it was over $500 million that went to the country solyda. solyndra received $535 million in federal loan guarantees before going bankrupt earlier this year. meanwhile, the budget battle in washington could hit home in a bitter reality for thousands of northeast residents as they consider drastic cuts for home heating aid for those that can least afford it. due to rising energy costs, several northeast states have cut back on heating aid to the poor and congress is considering slashing $1 billion from the federal budget. families in new england where the winters are long and cold and people rely heavily on costly oil heat are expected to be especially hard hit.

well, pakistan's military says the cia has vacated an air base in the western part of that country in the wake of last month's nato air strikes near the afghan bored that's true killed 25 pakistani soldiers. it comes at pakistan's request. yesterday the last u.s. personnel and equipment withdraw from the launch side for predator drone missions. they have blocked all supplies from crossing the border into afghanistan since the clash. nato has begun an investigation into the killings where pakistani forces have been battling taliban militants. pentagon officials declined to comment. here's a "first look" at news going on around america. alleged car yakers fled from california police came to a painful ending. after leading authorities on a high speed chase in a humvee limousine, the suspect attempted to escape on foot naked.

his flight for freedom ended when a police dog tackled him to the ground. officers arrived moments later to make that arrest. spectacular lighting display in upstate new york has kicked off a prenew year's bash. officials hit the power switch on the colorful niagara falls lights. the show is put on every year, weeks ahead of a necessaritive new year's celebration. and finally, the obamas continue their celebration of the holiday season. they, along with host conan o'brien and performers justin bieber and jennifer hudson, attempted the 30th annual christmas in washington event. along with the concert, the event also raises funds for the children's national hospital. now for a look at the national weather we turn to nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. are you ready for christmas? >> i am. >> are you? >> i hesitate because i still have stuff to do, like a lot of people. >> you have the tree up? >> yes. it was a big accomplishment.

yourself? >> i got a tree, it's this big, but it's up. >> a mini tree, right? >> exactly. >> like charlie brown christmas tree. good morning, everyone. hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. not a lot of bad weather to talk about out there. a lack of snow getting to be more and more of a conversation around the country. right now all the really cold air, the kind of air mass that when you step outside really gets your attention, the air mass you need the scarf and gloves and to bunded up, that's stuck in canada. the jet stream is up to the north for this time of year. this is more of a subtropical jet stream that will bring mild air down through the southern half of the country. and it's not until we get these jet streams to combine and we get the cold air plunging to the south that we get these larger snowstorms or even blizzard type storms. until that happens, we're not going to call for anything significant snowwise. now, right now this map shows you where there is snow on the ground. these are people that still holding out hope for a white christmas. you notice in the mountainous

area of the rockies, we have snow. spine of appalachians and northern new england but no snow on the ground. the green is bare ground through michigan, all through southern new england. western new york, areas like syracuse and rochester, they have barely any snow on the ground at all and even areas of northern -- the plains. minnesota should be snow covered by now. so, a lot of plays typically people get around on snowmobiles they don't have the snow. doesn't look like any more is coming. temperatures this morning are warm. we're at 39 to start your morning in minneapolis. and chilly in new england and the great lakes. we'll warm it up after a brisk weekend. not a lot of storminess out there. rain in the georgia and also off the coast of florida. that's not going to cause too many issues. just light rain this morning. showers for atlanta. more steady rain will be savannah southwards down to areas of jacksonville and eventually some of that will sneak up into charleston. that's about it as far as for rainy travel. your forecast today, it's a chilly cold morning in new england. we'll warm it up.

nice afternoon. a couple degrees warmer than yesterday. 46 and sunny in boston. middle of the december, you can't complain about that. and there's the showers down there in the southeast. we are going to see a lot of clouds in the middle of the country today. at least temperatures will be on the mild side above freezing in denver at 42. a sneak peek at tomorrow's forecast. eventually some rain will sneak out here to the central plains but the east coast will look rather dry into tuesday. veronica, overall, if you're holding out hope for a white christmas, you don't have snow on the ground, it's not looking good. >> no. say it isn't so. >> we still have time but it's not looking good. >> europe makes a deal. england is left out. the latest tv advertising threat with a boycott against a major home improvement chain. your first look at business headlines is straight ahead. coming up, a giant comeback. texans clinch and six in a row for tim tebow. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. my contacts are so annoying. i can't wait to take 'em out.

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welcome back to "first look." here are some top stories. marathon u.n. climate talks in south africa have added fife more years to the kyoto protocol. countries agreed on a time to push through a new treaty that would force major polluters to legally binding targets to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 2020 including emerging powers of china and india. the u.s. has yet to ratify the kyoto agreement. u.s. weapons specialist exploded 1300 pounds of munitions in libya sunday. it's part of an effort to make sure unsecured weapons from that country's civil war don't fall into the wrong hands. former dictator manuel nor yag ga is back in panama after being extradited from france. he'll serve out three 20-year prisons for the slaying of political opponents in the 1980s.

japan successfully launched a spy satellite into orbit this morning. officials are tight-limited about its capabilities but part of intelligence gathering network after concerns over north korea's missile program. 35-year-old truck driver is lucky to be alive after his gas tanker burst into a massive fire ball at a filling station in australia. the driver was hospitalized with burns to his arms and legs. the cause is being investigated. now here's your first look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,184 after rising 186 points friday. the s&p climbed 20. the nasdaq jumped 50. taking a look at overseas trading this morning in tokyo, the nikkei gained 117 points. but in hong kong, the hang seng was down ten. wall street rallied friday on a mostfully successful european summit but europe has a big hole to dig out of. at the summit all 17 euro

currency countries agreed to a central european authorities overseeing future budgets and automatic penalties if they overspend. as for countries struggling the european central bank has taken steps and may take more to ease their burden. even france sits precariously. friday moody's investors downgraded france's three largest banks. england was seen as the biggest summit loser. england used its veto power to prevent a european union agreement so led by france the deal was arranged intergovernmentally to circumvent english. england stands isolated with much less current influence. even with a deal most analysts feel europe is heading into recession. which has u.s. companies worried. on friday dupont and semiconductor cut outlook for the quarters. reuters announced quarters are outpacing positive ones by biggest ratio in ten years. spending online for holidays is up 10% compared to last year. the fed meeks this week but is

expected to stand pat playing wait and see on europe and developments here. this week's big ipo will be online game hawker zynga. it is potentially the largest from a u.s. internet company since google in 2004. finally, lowe's influenced by evangelical christian has pulled ads from reality show about american muslims, calling for a boycott against the store. well, you've probably heard of black friday and cyber monday, but you may not know that today is what industry truckers call green monday. it's the day when online retailers rake in big bucks as customers scramble to order holiday gifts that are going to be delivered on time. in fact, fedex expects today will be the busiest shipping day ever. chr >> reporter: fedex expects to move 17 million packages, a record, 12% increase over last

year and more than double its daily average. if blockbuster sales on black friday and cyber monday are any indication, it will be a record season for u.p.s. as well as fedex. both shippers are looking to stay busy after today, too, which means a few shipping tips might be in order. the engineers at the u.p.s. testing facility in addison, illinois, stay busy devicing the best ways to package something for shipping. and it helps to know that they don't like packing peanuts either. >> when you pull them out of the box you have all of a sudden peanuts sticking to your shirts and pants. >> reporter: they say shipping something slightly heavy can caught protective bubbles to burst. they recommend shredded cardboard or craft paper that protects better and key composes faster but start off they say with a fresh, new box. >> if you're reusing packaging, the chances are that the outer

container's already broken down and lost some strength. >> reporter: center it, surround it with packing material, even if it is the sir foam peanuts. shipping wine gets trick. >>-y. >> state restrictions with things like wine. you know, so you're not going to be able to go to a u.p.s. store and just send your wine wherever you want to send it. >> reporter: it's best, they say, to let the winery ship it. a tight end makes history. packers see perfect. tebow does it again. plus, the new york/dallas rivalry delivers all that's expected and more so. your first look at sports is straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on nbc. for 5 days only, get great holiday deals.

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that can help lower cholesterol. stickers? uh-uh. a superhero? ♪ kinda. [ male announcer ] and we think that's the best prize of all. ♪ hey there. welcome back to "first look." in sports, no, this is not a repeat. tim tebow has led the denver br broncos to victory once again. here's nbc's fred roggin. good morning and forgive me if you've heard this before. tim tebow has rallied the broncos to another win. same story, different opponent. tebow did nothing for 3 1/2 quarters and then sparked the broncos late in the fourth, connected with thomas. broncos down three with two minutes to play. bears wasted a chance to run out the clock. that gave prader a chance to tie it from 59 yards, nailed the long field goal to force overtime. in o.t., a 51-yarder for the victory. tebow may get headlines but

prater has been the unsung heroes. broncos in first place. now to cinci. texans down six with seven seconds to play. yates found walter over the middle. extra point was good. houston won it 20-19 to clinch their first playoff berth in franchise history. wild finish between giants and cowboys. down 12. manning orchestrated two scoring drives in final four minutes. jacobs punched it in to give giant a lead. cowboys with a chance to tie. bailey nailed a 47 yard field goal. wait a minute. new york called a time-out before the snap. bailey would have to do it again and this time blocked. giants claw their way to a victory. packers improve to 13-4 with a win over ravens. scored in first five possessions and ran away with it. a blowout there. jets had their way with chiefs. won it 37-10. patriot rob gronkowski tied a single season mark for

touchdowns by a tight end last week and broke it yesterday. caught a pair against the redskins. you know thing are bad after this. gaffney scored he went up for the lambeau leap. one problem. nobody there to catch him. redskins fell flat. pats won it 34-27. that's your first look at sports. i'm fred roggin. let's go ahead and get a check of the weather. don't you hate it when that happens? >> he should have known what he was getting himself into. >> apparently he didn't. >> he went fanny first. good morning, everyone. we are looking for the most part a cold, chilly morning just like over the weekend, a nice afternoon. won't be quite as breezy so the chilly spots, especially in the burbs. we'll warm it up. just about everyone will see sunshine this morning. we are watching clouds increasing for down in virginia, north carolina. you're probably going to have more clouds than sun but everyone else from ohio, indiana, all the way through new england will have a pretty sunny

day out there. grab the shades if you're doing any driving today. 46 in new york. 47 in philadelphia. temperatures are a little above average for this time of year in many spots. pittsburgh after your cold start getting up to about 40 degrees. this is a pretty nice monday in this region of the country. the southeast, that's where we are watching a little rain, atlanta, charleston, savannah, jacksonville, maybe a shower in orlando, too. miami is one of the warmer spots in the country at 81 today. much warmer than many other areas. if you're doing any traveling over the next two or three days, the stormy weather, if we have airport problems, maybe even in phoenix, l.a., this is where the storm system is currently. it's going to sit here and linger. we'll see mountain snow. eventually that storm will head out into the plains. there's really no cold air to work with so we'll just watch rain moving into areas like kansas city and st. louis as we go throughout tuesday and also wednesday. no snowstorms this week. >> but we want snow for christmas. >> a lot of kids do, yeah. >> bring the snow, bill karins. >> shreds are collecting dust.

>> so christmas. make note of that. this weekend everyone lost at the box office. plus alec baldwin apologizes to himself. we'll explain. your first look at entertainment is straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on nbc. ♪ it's nice to see you ♪ in my bed ♪ ♪ there are diamonds in her eyes ♪ ♪ ♪ and they sparkle in the night ♪ ♪ when the moment comes alive [ male announcer ] this is your moment. this is zales, the diamond store. take up to an extra 15 percent off storewide now through sunday. ♪ but the fire is so delightful ♪ nothing melts away the cold like a hot, delicious bowl of chicken noodle soup from campbell's. ♪ let it snow, let it snow

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welcome back. time now for some entertainment news. if there was one word to describe the all-around box office weekend, that word would be disappointment. the romantic comedy "new year's eve" ebbed up on top with a disappointing $13 million. way below estimates. hollywood as a whole was disappointed with weekend ticket sales slumping to the lowest

level in three years. . r-rated comedy "the sitter" in second place with $10 million. elsewhere in entertainment, tmz reports lindsay lohan had her $5,000 chanel purse stolen at a hawaiian house party this weekend. don't look at me that way, bill. it was recovered with passport and probation documents but not the 10 grand in cash she was carrying. how is this for an argument starter. . men's health magazine named jennifer aniston the sectioniest women of all time. >> all time? >> all time. referring to himself as an american treasurer playing a word game for smart people, alec baldwin apologized to himself this weekend on "saturday night live." you definitely -- you gave me a couple looks when i was talking about entertainment. >> all-time sectioniest? i like jennifer aniston. she's america's sweetheart -- >> the girl next door. >> most attractive all time?

>> i know. >> i'm veronica de la cruz. the wager heard round the world. mitt romney gambles with his candidacy during saturday's debate offering rick perry ten grand to prove what everyone already knows about his massachusetts health care plan. the question is, will this give newt gingrich the edge he needs to become the true front-runner. president obama makes his case for a second term in an interview with "60 minutes" where he defends his economic policies and admits fixing the nation's problems could take, quote, more than one president. the question is, will that president come in 2012 or 2016? finally, thrilling late game finishes in football. the giants get a last-second miracle against the cowboys. and the broncos win yet again. thanks to the miracle