fame and all of the republican presidential doenders including mitt romney. it starts storm and it is always amazing. frankly that's going to have to tied everyone over for a while because there are no debates and primaries for a dog's age now. dog's age now. "first look" is up next. culture war. house speaker john boehner claims an obama mandate on insurer provided birth control is an assault on religious freedom. drilling down. researchers discover a new scientific frontier. some say as important as reaching the moon. and mythical monster? has iceland's own loch ness finally been captured on video? good morning. i'm lynn berry. those stories and more straight ahead. this is "first look" on msnbc.

and we begin this morning with a birth control battle. the issue of contraceptive coverage may suddenly be shaping into an election year issue. republicans in washington and on the campaign trail are speaking out against a new rule requiring that all insurers include birth control in their health care coverage. nbc's brian moore joins us from washington with the latest on this. brian, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, lynn. the white house says the president is trying to protect women but republicans say he's gone too far. congressional republicans are vowing to roll back the obama administration's controversial policy forcing religious groups with insurance plans to cover birth control. >> this attack by the federal government on religious freedom in our country must not stand and will not stand. >> this is not a women's rights issue. this is a religious liberty issue. >> reporter: the catholic church had hoped to get a waiver but didn't.

>> the mandate is actually government imposing upon the church requirements that would be against our conscience. >> reporter: and now the issue is a talking point on the presidential campaign trail. >> this president who is deliberately undermining religious liberty in this country. >> this is wrong. if i'm president of the united states, i will restore and protect our religious liberty in this great country. >> reporter: the white house argues the policy isn't anti-religion. >> the president is focused on putting in place the right policies for women across the country. >> reporter: senate democrats are vowing to fight back. >> it's medicine and women deserve their medicine. >> reporter: in washington, a battle over birth control and who pays the price. hhs secretary kathleen sebelius is expected to be grilled on the new policy in a march 1st hearing here on capitol hill. lynn? >> brian moore, thank you. elsewhere, tuesday's night's victories in colorado, missouri

and minnesota for republican presidential candidate rick santorum has sparked new life into his campaign. last night on "the ed show" republican strategist steve schmidt who worked for john mccain in 2008 told ed how he thinks santorum's wins have changed the race. >> it was a huge night for him and it starts to collapse the inevitability story line around mitt romney. if you look at the contest right now, there's been eight. rick santorum has won four, mitt romney has won three. now, rick santorum needs newt gingrich to either get out of this race or he needs those gingrich voters to collapse newt gingrich's support and come over to him pretty decisively. because if there are two candidates splitting the conservative vote looking ahead at the remaining contests this month and going on to super tuesday i still think it means that it's big trouble for those candidates. >> i think that rick santorum has had a compelling message to blue collar republican voters.

you've seen him hit it out of the park with that message on primary nights. i think one of the things that may have been underestimated on the republican side is the impact of governor romney's comments when you talk about that he's not focused on the poor. >> each night veteran talk host ed schultz tackles issues that matter most to americans, don't miss "the ed show" week nights at 8:00 eastern on msnbc the place for politics. high stakes international showdown may be developing over syria. england's "daily telegraph" reports the pentagon is reviewing military options as a senior u.s. official warnings that the international community may be forced to, quote, militarize the crisis in syria. united nations secretary general ban ki-moon says the arab league will send observers back into syria due to the escalation and violence there and the u.n. may aid them in some fashion. syrian government troops used tanks, mortars and artillery to

shell the city of homs once again on wednesday. more than 50 people were reportedly killed. a new and faster passenger screening program is being expanded to more than 25 airports all around the country. eligible passengers, mostly frequent flyers, will be able to avoid removing their shoes and belts before they board flights in exchange for volunteering more information about themselves. the transportation security administration will check out the passengers in advance. it's already in operation at seven airports and will be expanded to reagan national airport near washington, kennedy in new york, and chicago's o'hare along with 25 others. he is your first look at some of the other news going on around america today. an openly gay man suffered a brutal beating on the streets of atlanta. a gang of men attacked the victim after he exited a nearby store. they shouted anti-gay slurs as they pummeled him, causing minor injuries. police are still looking for the

suspects and the fbi is investigating as well. all-out mayhem was sparked at a virginia high school basketball game after one player threw an elbow. moments after the play, the opposing teams began shoving and fans started coming onto the court. once police were called in to restore order, officials decided to cancel the game. although he missed his target, one colorado student's failed glitter bombing on mitt romney has landed him in some hot water. the 20-year-old has been charged with three misdemeanors which could land him up to six months in jail and $1,000 fine. finally, the lobby inside new york's tallest skyscraper was briefly turned into a starting line wednesday. thousands of runners participated in the 35th annual empire state building run-up. more than 700 runners made the 86-story stair climb that ends on the famous observation deck. now for a look at your national weather we turn to meteorologist todd santos.

he has your weather channel forecast. good morning to you, todd. >> good morning. doesn't seem like too bad of a run. it is straight up. >> i'm winded just talking about it. 86 stories. >> i'm going to try the stairs here at 30 rock in a bit. you know, new york, had back in '69 had a big storm that dropped about 20 inches, named after the mayor here in new york. thankfully today, i think lynn mentioned she seen a few of those snow showers late last night or late yesterday so a few of us saw a few flakes, that's about it. nothing to name a storm after bloomberg. in colorado a system going here. where you see the bright colors, those are the high cold cloud tops. that system just getting going as it makes its way to north texas. it's falling into pretty dry air. may be a few areas of little light snow, not expecting much in the way of accumulation for that. we'll take a closer look in a moment. you see the progression of that system that will get into texas as more of a rainmaker which i suppose at this time of the year could use some showers across the area.

the northeast, that system very quickly skirted through, did see a few numbers upwards of about an inch in washington county, again the edge of d.c. from yesterday, but not much in the way of big-time snow. it has been enough and temperatures have been cool enough that as this made its way through there are still a few areas along i-80 and some of the neighborhoods where you certainly have to clean off your car this morning, maybe enough to make for some slick road travel especially on the edge of cape and towards the berkshires. a little bit of a coating. by local standards not much but by this year's standards a lot of us out of practice for driving on the slick roads. there's a look at some of the temperatures. barely freezing in new york, 33 in philly. beautiful day travel wise across the northeast and good portion of the eastern u.s. high pressure in control, some cool temperatures. seems cool here towards minneapolis and towards fargo, but for the most part those are about average if not slightly above average for this time of year. on the cool side but that's about it. there's a look at some of the snow coming down across colorado. few little patches here and there, vail, one to three inch storm and down into north texas

may see a few flakes. south texas, the showers get going today, maybe houston and we'll talk more about the west coast system that is making landfall coming up. lynn? >> todd, thanks so much. coming up, chinese inflation heats up. mcdonald's sells more breakfasts. what a woman really wants for valentine's day. your first look at this morning's business headlines is straight ahead. coming up, an amazing finish between duke and north carolina, syracuse and georgetown in overtime, and will ferrell like you've never heard him before. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. wake up!

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welcome back to "first look." i'm lynn berry. here's some of the top stories making news this morning. indiana health and safety officials released their findings into an investigation of last year's deadly state fair stage collapse. indiana state fair commission, a stage hands labor union, and the company that owned and erected the roof that collapsed have been charged tens of thousands

of dollars for failing to plan for severe weather. england's duchess of cambridge has stepped out for her first solo public engagement. looking lovely. kate middleton attended a private viewing of an art exhibit at london's national portrait gallery. breakthrough in antarctica is compared to man's exploration of the moon. russian scientists say they have reached the surface of a massive fresh water lake that has been hidden under nearly four miles of ice for 20 million years. researchers hope to discover prehistoric and other unknown life forms. speaking of subglacial life forms. look closely at this video. it's a creature swimming through an is landic river and revived local legends compared to the loch ness monster. critics claim it's just a fishing net. looks like a fishing net. here's your first look at how wall street will kick off the day.

the dow opens at 12,883 after adding 5 points yesterday, the nasdaq gained 11. taking a look at overseas trading this morning. in tokyo the nikkei lost 13 points, while in hong kong the hang sang was down 8. investors are waiting for the big number on weekly jobless claims and worrying about greek debt. leaders in greece failed today to agree on a reform and austerity program so the finance minister travels to brussels with an incomplete deal with a bailout from the europe union. in china, consumer spending jumped during the chinese lunar new year holiday season and the annual inflation spiked to 4.5% in january. the weekly unemployment claims information to be released this morning by the labor department is of special interest after the improved job creation report last week. more than 2 million americans could benefit from at at least 25 billion in relief from the nation's biggest

banks as part of a broad government foreclosure settlement. cisco systems reported quarterly earnings and revenue higher than analyst estimates, in large part due to a billion dollars in cost cutting. the first announcement for groupon since going public last year missed on earnings but better on revenue. visa reported a higher quarterly profit as consumers swiped their cards more and authorized a new 500 million share buyback program . diamond foods remove top management after an investigation found the company improperly accounted for payments to walnut growers. mcdonald's revenues jumped more than 6% in january as they sold more breakfast items and chicken mcbites. for valentine's day on tuesday, romantic flowers or electronic gadgets? well, a new survey says the majority of women want gadgets this year like ereaders, ipads or cell phones. but really who get an ipad for

valentine's day. just expect flowers, okay. coming up in health news this morning, a new study finds 11% of doctors say they've told a patient something that was not true in the past year. about 20% of doctors admit they lied to a patient because they were afraid of being sued. the report also said some doctors might lie because they don't want to upset their patients, worry them or cause them to lose hope. and for more information on this and other health stories, you can check out the health page at msnbc.com. the orangemen win in overtime, a rising star leads the knicks to another victory, and duke sticks a last-second dagger into their arch rival. plus, will ferrell has been in town shooting a movie, so why not also become the announcer for the new orleans hornets? it is hilarious. your first look at sports is straight ahead. you're watching "first look." can febreze really remove it. we asked real people what they thought.

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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. you walk into a conventional mattress store, it's really not about you. they say, "well, if you want a firm bed you can lie on one of those, if you want a soft bed you can lie on one of those." we provide the exact individualization that your body needs. wow. that feels really good. it's about support where you find it most comfortable. at the ultimate sleep number event, queen mattresses now start at just $599. and save an astonishing 50% on the final closeout of our innovative limited edition bed. only at the sleep number store. laces? really? slip-on's the way to go. more people do that, security would be like -- there's no charge for the bag.

thanks. i know a quiet little place where we can get some work done. there's a three-prong plug. i have club passes. [ male announcer ] now there's a mileage card that offers special perks on united, like a free checked bag, united club passes, and priority boarding. thanks. ♪ okay. what's your secret? ♪ [ male announcer ] the new united mileageplus explorer card. get it and you're in. welcome back to "first look." i'm lynn berry. in sports duke versus north carolina is one of college basketball's greatest rivalry and last night they added a little fuel to their historic fuel. here's nbc's fred roggin. good morning. in college hoops, you live and die by the three-pointer and the duke blue devils are living life to the fullest. to chapel hill for arguably the best rivalry in sports. fifth ranked north carolina led the entire game until the end. duke hit 14 three-pointers and rallied from 13 down in the final minutes.

austin rivers, the three for the win! and nothing but net. ninth ranked duke capped off a remarkable comeback and won a thriller 85-84. number two syracuse and 11th ranked georgetown. many people the orange to win it all this year because of that guy. melo, 11 points and six blocks. however it was chris joseph who played like a champ, 29 including the go ahead three in o.t. jim boeheim moves into third with the all time win with a win. kansas upset baylor. whitey came to play the footer of 25. they win big. everybody in new york talking about jeremy lynn, averaging over 25 the last three games and had another 23 last night. knicks beat the wiz 107-93. the bulls won a laugher last night in new orleans but actor will farrell had everybody in stitches during pregame introductions.

>> at forward, number 5, he still lives with his mother! carlos boozer! at guard, number 1, his favorite movie is "the notebook" derrick rose. at center, 6'10" from connecticut where he majored in econ, but he minored in love! omeka okafor! >> leave it to will farrell to uncover the shocking truth about today's nba players. >> that's your first look at sports. i'm fred roggin. >> his favorite movie "the notebook." brilliant. another look at the weather here is meteorologist todd santos. he has your weather channel forecast. good morning. >> good morning. wouldn't it be great if will ferrell could announce the show. he would let out your darkest secrets. >> that's not good. >> i mentioned the system moving to the west coast. one other quick thing i want to mention the clouds along the canadian border there's a cold front hidden and as that shifts

southward may see a few light snow showers great lakes, but it will bring colder temperatures into the great lakes tomorrow. starting to see cooler numbers. this is the latest pacific system pushing some of that shower activity north of medford oregon along the 5 with another impulse off the coast line. a few more chances today and again on into tomorrow for some of that to make it ways into the mountains and produce more snowfall especially in the bitter roots. more on the light rain of things, darker greens, heavier rain off the coastline this morning. for travelers on the whole today, a beautiful day especially for those of you stuck in philly for a little while yesterday. certainly keep in mind, especially across philadelphia, back down through western pennsylvania, veen in the ohio valley may see a few areas of light ice on the roadways thanks to that inch or so worth of snow we had yesterday. slick spots. there's a look at cooler temperatures into tomorrow. teens and a few snowflakes into minneapolis. >> thanks so much. coming up, what's the only thing katy perry asked for in her split with russell brand? plus, she made millions when it comes to baring all, literally all for the camera, but when it

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some big election news. big major upset last night, rick santorum scored a hat trick by winning the caucuses in colorado and minnesota and the missouri primary. while newt gingrich scored a hat trick by eating at accommodation kfc/taco bell/pizza hut. this is interesting, according to new research playing iphone games like angry birds and words with friends can improve your memory. yeah. it can help you remember distant

events like the last time you actually talked to a person. i remember that. i don't know what to make of this. police in kentucky arrested a naked man covered in chocolate and peanut butter after he broke into a grocery store. so i guess there is a wrong way to eat a reese's. jimmy welcomes actress zoe de shah channel. week nights at 12:35, 11:35 central on your local nbc station. time for a little entertainment news. it could have been messy but russell brand and katy perry ended it quietly. tmz says the couple has settled completely. brand will not pursue half of the approximately $40 million she earned while they were together. perry does want her former name restored, katherine elizabeth hudson. radar on-line reports kim

kardashian wants her proceedings to be heard by a private mediator with details kept from the public and no television cameras. her ex, kris humphries, wants a televised trial, a move his celebrity divorce attorney raoul felder not surprisingly called brilliant. finally, gisele bundchen furor of, well just won't die down. at least in boston, where they've taken to calling patriots quarterback tom brady's wife yoko. she angered brady's teammates with her post-super bowl criticism but now the wives are sniping at gisele for being, quote, snobby, stuck-up and, obviously, feeling superior. western the wive -- when the wives turn on you it's not good. >> to be the yoko, she would have to play on the team. i don't know what position she would be good for. >> i think this could not end any other way but badly. whenever you are splashed across "the new york post" over and over again for a comment, keep it to yourself.

>> to hassle welker for missing a pass, the man has been amazing all season. >> i'm lynn berry. this is "first look" on msnbc. stay tuned, "way too early" with willie geist starts right now. rick santorum didn't win any delegates in his sweep of three states this week, but he certainly has mitt romney thinking about him. and the republican party thinking about mitt romney. the question is, was tuesday anything more than a bump in romney's road to the nomination? meanwhile, house speaker john boehner says that the white house does not pull back on its requirements of religious schools and hospitals to cover contraceptives in the health plan, he'll introduce legislation to get rid of the provision himself. the question is, will the white house move on this or will the president stick with his initial instinct? and a buzzer beater in the best rivalry in college basketball as duke puts the ball in a freshman's hands with the clock winding down against north