drop from exhaustion or somebody wins, which ever comes first. but now it is time for "the last romney, huntsman tie? it is neck and neck in new hampshire after one village casts its votes in today's presidential primary. smashing debut. a wayward deer makes a memorable entrance at a goodwill store in new jersey. and championship route. alabama's cripplen to tide shuts out louisiana state for this year's college football title. i'm veronica de la cruz. this is "first look" on msnbc. good morning to you. we begin this morning with

ballots in the box. new hampshire republicans are already turning out for the first primary of the 2012 race for the white house. in dicksville notch, all nine residents showed up to cast their ballots and it is a tie between republicans mitt romney and jon huntsman. tracie potts joins us now from new hampshire with the details. good morning. >> good morning from new hampshire. just after midnight they already voted in dicksville notch. that small town has a near perfect record of picking this state's republican winner. we'll see if that holds today. just after midnight, mitt romney and jon huntsman tied for first in dicksville notch with two votes each. starting this morning, the rest of new hampshire decides. >> i hope that you're going to be able to give me a bigger margin of victory than eight votes i got in iowa. >> reporter: romney is the clear front-runner today but will it be a bing? his support eroded 10% in weeks as newt gingrich and others hammer away at his record.

gingrich predicts he'll do better than expected. >> we'll see. i think it is -- i sense a lot of momentum. >> reporter: ron paul is polling second here. >> he's winning hearts and minds. >> reporter: jon huntsman told a standing room only crowd last night he's hoping for a strong finish. >> can you feel a little bit of momentum in the air? we're going to surprise a whole lot of people in this country tomorrow night. >> stick it to romney. >> reporter: his supporters predict success today. >> he's worked incredibly hard in new hampshire. i think that deserves to be rewarded as well. >> reporter: rick santorum is not expected to pull off another iowa surprise. rick perry's focused on south carolina. >> iowa, new hampshire, they're a winnowing process. south carolina picks presidents. that's what you do. >> in 60 years, no republican has won the nomination without getting first or second place here in new hampshire. veronica? >> tracie potts in new hampshire. thank you.

last night on the last word with lawrence o'donnell, debbie wasserman schultz gave lawrence her impression of the field of gop candidates. >> if there wasn't already a dramatic contrast between barack obama and any of the republican field, today it was made as clear as day that there will be a very stark choice between the direction the president has taken in this country and the direction that any of the republicans, but particularly how shockingly out of touch with mainstream america and working families mitt romney is. i think all of the kecandidates the whole selection of them is doing a good job of destroying themselves. mitt romney said he likes firing people. he also tried to say that he somehow empathizes with people who have been fired because he worried about a pink slip at some point. he's claimed he has -- he created 100,000 jobs as head of bain capital but he outsourced jobs to other countries, fired

people, bankrupted companies deliberately. this is the record he's surmounted and we should put in the white house to get the economy turned around? i don't think that's what people are looking for. >> don't miss lawrence o'donnell's last word on the big issues and the most compelling stories of the day. it airs 10:00 p.m. eastern only on msnbc, the place for politics. there has been a surprise shake-up at the white house. president obama's chief of staff william daley is stepping down. it was thought he would stay on for the election, but the president said yesterday that daley wanted to return to his family in chicago after one year on the job. after praising daley, the president named jack lew as his new chief of staff. lew is currently the white house budget director and unlike daley has extensive experience and relationships with congress. now to college football's ultimate clash. last night's bcs title game at the superdome in new orleans where the crimson tide of

alabama avenged an early season loss to the tigers of ls ucu. here is fred roggin. >> alabama came into last night's bcs title game as the second ranked team in the nation and left new orleans as national champs. with field goals and stifling defense, the crimson tide led from start to finish against lsu. jeremy shelly provided all the offense they needed, five field goals and defense did the rest. they shut out the tigers. alabama went to second national title in three years, 21-0. much more on the bcs title game coming up in sports. for now, back to you. >> sounds good, fred. thank you very much. here is your first look at some of the other news going on around america today. there is nothing stealthy about an atm heist inside a florida nail salon. a trio of robbery suspects broke in using their car to smash through the door. they abandoned the car after escaping with stolen property. no arrests have been made. security cameras are rolling

at a new jersey store when a deer smashed through the glass doors of a goodwill store. after the animal regained its footing, it made an exit through the same way it came in. and while much of the nation misses winter snowfall, cordova, alaska, has been buried under more than ten feet of the white stuff. officials have declared the town of 2200 a disaster area, triggering state assistance. dozens of troops have a tough job ahead. 82 inches of snow fell in december. 56 inches have already accumulated in the first eight days of january. now for a look at the national weather, we turn to bill karins with the weather channel forecast. i know that's a lot of snow, but how unusual is it for alaska? alaska gets a lot. >> even by alaska standards, this has been a brutal winter. >> really? >> not like the whole planet is warm right now. >> it feels like it though. >> it does. a lot of the lower 48 has been,

europe hasn't had much of a wint e er, alaska, in the north, that's where the cold air has been. it has been sitting there. maybe it will move here this week, but that's where it's been. the big stories, what's going to be happening in new hampshire, this is new hampshire, the middle of winter, you expect it to be cold, which it is not and maybe a chance of snow. we have a chance of light snow, cold front moving through. now there is snow showers up here in canada, coming down through thee edadirondacks of n york between noon and 9:00 a.m. this morning. just earlier today we'll have snow showers, especially in the northern half of the state. anyone at higher elevations will have snow showers, maybe an inch at most. the big cities, you're just fine. temperatures this afternoon, once that goes through, it will get sunny and should warm up above freezing so the roads will be just fine. especially again, the northern half of new hampshire, snow showers this morning, half inch to an inch at most. the big weather story yesterday

was down in houston. the horrible drought in houston all last year. we got drenched yesterday. this yellow and orange color here, you look at our chart, that's 2 to 3 inches of rain, all happened in an hour and there was horrible flooding in houston. 40 people had to be rescued from their cared. that storm system now moves to the east. now we get drenched in louisiana, southern mississippi it is raining hard. eventually that will move to alabama and tonight into georgia. back on the cold side of the storm, we had seven inches of snow in midland, texas, yesterday. they had more snow there than most areas of new england. now heavy rain perfect wichita falls, even dallas had steady rain in the last hour or two. about one or two more beautiful days from the great lakes to new england with temperatures in the 50s and 40s. eventually that cold air will move our way. it starts tomorrow. watch minneapolis, 49. tomorrow, 33. veronica, that cold air that has

been in alaska, there is some signs that within the next week it is going to start moving our way. >> that sounds lovely. thank you. alcoa starts off earnings. netflix flies. and construction, chinese style. your first look at this morning's business headlines is straight ahead. coming up, the alabama crimson tide are national champs. did michael jordan get his number 23 from president obama? you're watching "first look" on msnbc. wake up!

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welcome back to "first look." here are some of the top stories making news this morning. u.s. drug agents have been going undercover and helped launder millions of dollars for a powerful drug trafficker they were targeting. they worked with mexican and colombian authorities to smuggle cash and cocaine out of the country. a kosovo born man is under

arrest accused of plotting terror attacks around tampa, florida. the justice department says the 25-year-old recorded a video shortly before his arrest calling the planned bombings payback for wrongs done to muslims. the search continues in a west virginia cave for three men who went in and didn't connell out. the men said they would spend saturday night in the cave, but no one has heard from them since. the obama administration imposed a 20-year ban on new mining claims near the grand canyon. a move designed to protect the national landmark. critics say it cuts off access to 40% of the nation's uranium supply. and a 3-year-old girl got quite a surprise during a trip to a zoo in new you zealand. a lion started pawing frantically just inches from the child. luckily they were separated by heavy glass. but the little girl wasn't scared. she actually wants to go back to the zoo next month when she turns 4. little girl is brave.

and here is your first look at how wall street kicked off the day. the dow opens at 12,392. the s&p was up too. the nasdaq added two. overseas trading this morning in tokyo, the nikkei nudged up 31 points. in hong kong, the hang seng rose 138. stocks ended slightly higher monday in subdued trade as investors waited on investments in europe. alcoa let off earnings beating revenue expectations despite the first quarterly loss in more than two years. growing confidence is leading americans to take on more debt. november's consumer credit surged 10%. the biggest jump in a decade. google fell after motorola mobility's weak results raising questions about google's acquisition of the company. netflix zoomed almost 14% after making its debut you in england and ireland, up 28% in year, best on the s&p 500.

and inhibitex soared. identix jumped and achillion rose too. keep an eye on juniper which slipped in late trade after cutting the fourth quarter outlook. elsewhere, germany's angela merkel and nicolas sarkozy were in greece. amazon.com will collect sales tax from indiana are residents in 2014. results of an ongoing fight by traditional retailers to end what they call online retailers unfair price advantage. the wall street journal reports hostess may apply for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this week. and finally, a chinese firm built a 30 story 183,000 square foot hotel in just 360 hours and

they posted a video on youtube to prove it. amazing. in health news, a new study shows nicotine may help tune up the brain of seniors suffering from mild memory loss. researchers found seniors suffering from mild cognitive impairment considered a precurser to alzheimer's could boost memory with a nicotine patch. for more information on this and other health stories, you can always head to the web online. check out the health page at msnbc.com. president obama makes a surprising claim regarding basketball legend michael jordan. plus, more on the tide rolling and the humbling of the lsu tigers. your first look at sports is straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. of how a shipping giant can befriend a forest may seem like the stuff of fairy tales. but if you take away the faces on the trees... take away the pixie dust. take away the singing animals, and the storybook narrator...

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welcome back to "first look." in sports, more now on alabama's emphatic claim to being college football's top team in the nation. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. >> hello again. as we told you earlier in the show, the alabama crimson tide dominated lsu to win the bcs title. to new orleans, this a rematch of their game in november. lsu won that one. this time, it was all alabama. jeremy shelly hit three field goals in first half and tied with five in the game. crimson tied up 9-0 at the break. jordan jefferson was picked off

in the third. listen to this stat. tigers offense crossed the 50 yard line just once the entire game and when they did, this happened on fourth and long. the tide swarmed jefferson dominating performance by the top ranked defense held lsu to 92 yards. for a while, it looked like alabama would win with field goals. only touchdown of the game and it sealed the victory. crimson rolled the tigers 21-0, second bcs title in three years. finally, the dallas mavericks may not be playing like champions but they were honored like ones yesterday at the white house. the mavs celebrated their title with president obama. dirk novitsky gave the president a number 23 mavericks jersey. he's a diehard bulls fan and joked where michael jordan got that iconic number. >> i was actually -- i was 23 before jordan. >> you were? >> i was. he got the number from me. he stole it. >> i got you. >> that's what happened.

that's beautiful. >> 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. the president looked like he was 5'2" standing next to -- >> the president is over 6 feet. he's not a small man, but next to a professional basketball player, we would all look pretty short. good morning, everyone. we're having a pretty nice warm period of weather once again throughout the great lakes. that air is starting to move towards new england. we have that snow shower yesterday in baltimore and d.c. but that's going to be belong gone later today. we have a few snowflakes trying to fly through northern portions of new york state. why that is important is because it is heading for new hampshire where the voting will begin today. as far as the forecast, look at the mild air. 51 in d.c. today. 50s as far north as philly. 40s from new york city up to southern new england. in new hampshire, we have showers that will go through this morning. snow showers. mostly the northern half of the state up in the mountains, but

the rest of the southern half of new hampshire looks nice. temperatures in the low to mid-40s. good voter turnout. the weather won't give anyone an excuse to head out. tomorrow, we bring rain into the forecast wednesday, late in the day for d.c., late in the day in philly. that will be a rainy thursday morning for new england. that's that big rainstorm that is currently down there in the gulf. the forecast today, fine for all your travel, great lakes to new england. the rainy spot is down in the southeast. especially the airports there around new orleans and later today atlanta. overall, new hampshire looks just fine today. >> not too bad. a little bit of snow. >> tiny bit. no big deal by their standards. >> cool, thanks, bill. who is joining tv's late night comedy club and who says he's not crazy anymore? plus you can't get a roll and can't stay out of trouble but she's been offered a part any actress would die for. first look at entertainment is straight ahead. ly? slip-on's the way to go. more people do that, security would be like -- there's no charge for the bag. thanks.

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jay-z just released a song for his daughter that uses sounds of her crying. he did, yeah. which explains the title of the song. i got 99 problems and someone taking away my binky is one. this isn't good, you guys. the national debt reached $15 trillion, the size of the entire u.s. economy. yeah, i don't want to say president obama is out of solutions for the debt, but today he tried handing it off to tim tebow. please, just do something, i can't -- you're the man. speaking of tim tebow, his game-winning pass is apparently more popular on twitter than the death of osama bin laden.

yeah, even bin laden was, like, it was a pretty sick pass. i got to admit, pretty crazy, man. 80 yards or something? >> tonight, jimmy welcomes 30 rock star tina fey and musical act, the war on drugs, that's late night with jimmy fallon on your local nbc station. it is time for your first look at entertainment news. it appears russell brand's post divorce plans do not include sitting at home feeling sorry for himself. brand has signed on to do a new late night comedy on fx set to start later this year. he has a history of broadcast humor. he was forced to resign as a bbc radio host after making prank ca calls. sheen is not crazy anymore. sheen passed off last year's torpedo of truth period as an episode and insisted he's a different person. now he says, quote, everything is a lot more mellow and focused

and much more rooted in reality. and finally, unable to land a film role even playing a former porn star, lindsay lohan is in talks to play a screen legend in television. reports say she's in early negotiations to play elizabeth taylor in a lifetime tv movie chronicling her relationship with richard burton, whom she was married to twice. taylor died last year at the age of 79. >> i think it is a good start for her. sometimes they say -- >> a start. she started a long time ago. >> but she hasn't been doing anything in a while. a lifetime movie is a good little building block. >> but liz taylor, do you see it? >> who else can play liz taylor, she's so iconic on her own. >> i think there are other actresses out there. i won't say anything else. and charlie sheen, breaking news, not crazy anymore. >> a self-diagnosis is often very reliable. >> and bill karins just started a facebook page. >> it is not going well. >> make sure you -- >> i decided we're probably just going to stop.

>> no. i'm going to like it first. i'm veronica de la cruz. this is "first look" on msnbc. stay tuned. "way too early with willie geist" starts right now. > the candidates have made their closing arguments here in the state of new hampshire and the voting has already begun in the village of dicksville notch, population 75. since 1970, they have been the first to vote here, opening its polls at midnight. many polls open here in manchester about 30 minutes from now. good morning. welcome back inside jd's tavern in manchester. i'm willie geist live from the new hampshire primaries, setting the stage in today's voting. here is the mont recent polling from the university of new hampshire and wmur. mitt romney sitting pretty followed by ron paul and rick