this morning on "early today," first hurdle. lawmakers gear up for a key test vote on the president's tax cut deal with republicans. snowed under. a massive storm system buries the midwest. collapsing the roof of the minneapolis metrodome. and suicide? scientists may have unraveled one of the solar system's scientists may have unraveled one of the solar system's greatest mystery. captions paid for by nbc-universal television good morning to you, i'm

veronica de la cruz. today we begin with testing the waters. the senate will get its first crack at the president's controversial plan to temporarily extend tax cuts for all americans today. the test vote paves the way for a final vote later in the week, and then it's on to the house where critics say the real battle will begin. nbc's tracie potts joins us live from washington with the details. tracie, good morning to you. >> reporter: veronica, good morning. good morning, everyone. the senate vote today will tell us whether or not there's enough support to get this passed in the senate. they expect to take a final vote perhaps as early as tomorrow. now, dick durbin, the number two democrat in the senate, is urging the house to get this passed. he says they won't be in as good a position to fight it next year when republicans take over. meanwhile, house democrats say they'll bite the bullet on tax breaks for the wealthy, but it's the estate tax that they're really frustrated about. republicans say they need to stick to the president's deal, but democrats say it is

excessively generous. they want a separate vote on that, but admit they won't stop the overall deal from passing, as a result of it. also, in the last couple of days, president obama has gotten a key endorsement. former president bill clinton, at the white house, appearing with president obama saying that this is a good deal for americans. he endorsed him saying at this point it is the best bipartisan deal that they could have reached. we'll watch out for that test vote later today sprerpen ka? >> we sure will. tracie potts live for us in washington. a massive snowstorm buried parts of the midwest over the weekend wreaking havoc on roadways and runways across the region. at least four deaths are being blamed on the wicked winterlike weather that brought biting winds and dumped nearly two feet of powder. nbc's frances coe has a report. >> reporter: the great digout has begun in hard-hit minnesota. >> i've never seen it this pad before, i don't think. >> there's a lot of snow on the ground. >> reporter: more than 17 inches of snow piled high and snarled

traffic, as blizzardlike conditions swept through minneapolis over the weekend. residents spent most of their sunday trying to free their cars and their homes from the snowy mess. >> this one seems a lot more packed down from the wind blowing, so the snow is really heavy. >> reporter: that weight brought big troubles to the home of the vikings. >> three roof panels ruptured. >> reporter: early sunday morning the inflatable roof of the vikings stadium collapsed. >> one of the key issues that hurt us, is the very high winds. and that, with the high snow accumulation, really impacted us. >> reporter: the storm that dumped so much snow in minnesota, also brought winter's worst to iowa and wisconsin. where officials are warning residents of some counties to stay off the roads. and as the storm moves eastward, winter weather warnings have been issued for parts of illinois. all this, with winter's official start still nine days away. francesco, nbc news.

elsewhere, flooding remains a serious concern in the pacific northwest this morning where record rainfall has triggered mudslides along some western washington rivers. flood watches and warnings sent several residents rushing to get sandbags in place yesterday, while hundreds of others were told to consider evacuating. no injuries were reported but scores of homes were flooded as rivers rose. the national weather service says the water in some places could go as high as 22 feet before it starts to fall later today. and now here's a look at some other stories making news "early today" in america. in washington, d.c., the president and his family spent the evening spreading the holiday spirit. they were greeted by a group of tiny elves at a fund-raiser at the national building museum. one got into a little mischief but it wasn't anything that the first lady couldn't handle. the family was there helping to raise money for the children's national hospital. in connecticut, about 500

kids in grades 5 through 8 took part in a lego building competition. but, these weren't your run of the mill lego designs. they were robot legos. the theme was biomedical engineering, so teams created robots that did things like distense medicine. the kids enjoyed the friendly competition but teachers stress that lessons in teamwork and science are building blocks for a successful future. and in california, 30 tons of snow was dumped on to hermosa beach for the first annual snow festival. kids of all ages had fun sledding up and down the icy slope, and although they were dressed for the wintry weather, take a look, it was actually a balmy 83 degrees outside. huh. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. bill, i don't know about you, but if my mom put me outside in a parka and a scarf and mittens and it was 83 degrees outside, there would be a problem. >> yeah, probably you'd be

sweating at the same time if you fell in the snow you'd be drenched, too. >> looked fun, though. >> not fun for everyone else this morning, though, veronica. we're talking one of those morning that you just feel bad for the kids that have to stand out at the bus stop or for anyone that has to spend any extended time outdoors. all the delivery men and women for the holidays, too. this cold blast of air has moved all the way to the gulf, sweeping through the east coast. our storm is exiting. the snow part of it is just about over. but now we're just dealing with the temperatures and the wind. now the windchill right now, the worst of it coming down from canada, through the dakotas, minnesota to illinois. the windchill in atlanta is 8. so you can see just how far to the south that cold air has now made it. the heart of it, the worst of it, everywhere in white is in negative windchill values from chicago to st. louis, kansas city northward. the worst of it up here around international falls at minus 25. not much better there in minneapolis at minus 15. now, there is still some snow, in areas that don't get a lot of

snow have some this morning. national's got light snow, roads are definitely covered. same for knoxville, tennessee, cincinnati, louisville, indianapolis, columbus, all those areas have had some snow overnight. definitely be careful as you head outside. as far as new england goes, just some heavy rain left over now from boston up into areas of maine. so not a lot of snow left. just the temperatures are just bitterly cold in so many spots. that's a look at your monday forecast. now here's a look at weather outside your window. snow showers in chicago, but our accumulating snows for the most part are over with. temperature, high of only 13 today. cleveland, ohio, you're under a winter storm warning. you're going to get heavy lake effect snow. you could see at least another six inches. well, the active weather pattern is in a slowly beginning to get more tranquil. we'll have that forecast coming up. >> the crazy thing, winter hasn't even officially started yet. so -- >> i know. just imagine what january and february are going to be like. >> i don't want to. a deal in the works.

what to look for on wall street this week. and a fashion debate in english proper. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, one film winning and losing all at the same time at the box office over the weekend? coming up, snow helps the patriots while it collapses the roof of one nfl stadium. and the jets prove cheaters never prosper. you're watching "early today."

good morning to you and welcome back to "early today," i'm veronica de la cruz. here are some of your top headlines this morning. six american troops and two afghan soldiers were killed yesterday when a suicide bomber detonated a mini bus packed with explosives near the gates of a new military installation in southern afghanistan. the taliban claimed responsibility for the bombing, which is the deadliest attack on coalition troops this month. london police are investigating reports that a

suicide bomber with twin attacks in sweden lived, studied and worked in england until recently. saturday's explosion came as christmas shoppers crowded a busy area of the swedish capital. new research suggests that saturns mysterious rings may be the result of a cosmic suicide. scientists say that a boomed moon hurled itself into the planet about 4.5 billion years ago. however, as it made its way, gravity just likely off the moon's icy outer layers forming the now famous rings which stretch across sat earn's equator. and anticipation is building for next april's royal wedding. england's prince william and his fiancee kate middleton released two official photographs to mark their engagement. they were taken by mario castino who is also famous for taking beautiful shots of william's mother, the late princess diana. and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 11,410 after

adding 40 points friday. the s&p edged up seven points and the nasdaq climbed 20. taking a look at overseas trading this morning in tokyo the nikkei rose 81 points while in hong kong, the hang seng climbed 154. is a big holiday ack business significance the kind of spark that will help wall street keep its so-called santa rally going today? the financial times reports general electric, the current owner of this network, may announce a $1.2 billion takeover of the english oil services company as early as today. also the great atlantic and pacific tea company, more commonly known as a&p filed for bankruptcy sunday. once america's largest grocer the chain plans to keep stores open with no interruption of business during reorganization. today starts the last full week of trading before christmas. the s&p 500 stands at its highest level since september 2008. and the nasdaq sits at its best point since late december 2007.

november's inflation numbers will dominate the week's economic data with the producer price index due tuesday and the consumer price index out wednesday. in the nation's capital, the federal reserve's open markets committee gathered tuesday for its last meeting of the year. recent stronger economic data could spark a fed debate over continuing the central bank's $600 billion stimulus plan. also, in washington, wall street will eye the battle over tax cuts. although extending the cuts appears headed for passage, traders will watch for bumps in the road. reporting quarterly earnings this week, best buy, fedex, general mills, oracle, research in motion, and home builder. finally in england, particularly on the soccer field, lightweight scarves known as snoods are favored by players from warm weather countries not used to england's damp chill. but manchester united's famed coach has put the big chill on the fashion fad, banning the

scarves on his team, calling them unmanly. hmm. bah, hum bug. >> the jets hit major turbulence and a fan is the man in oklahoma city. plus it's been a rough year for the dallas cowboys, and last night a division rival rubbed salt in their wounds. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. the latest arctic blast continues to push to the south and east. i'll have your tuesday forecast coming up. you're watching "early today."

and good morning to you. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports on sunday against one of the nfl's hottest teams, the chicago bears got caught hibernating. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. the patriots and bears are two of the nfl's best teams but yesterday the pats pulled off a snow job. a winter wonderland in chicago didn't stop tom brady. two touchdowns including this 59-yarder to dion branch to end the first half. patriots won 36-7. they improve to 11-2. jets and dolphins in jersey watch closely as conditioning coach trips dolphin quarterback nolan terrell during a punt return. they called the jets cheaters. cheaters never prosper. sanchez to santonio holmes who

brought the sure suchdown. last seconds between the redskins and bucs in the nation's capital. convan mcnabb to santana moss for the scar with just nine seconds to play. they just need the extra point to tie. oh, boy. the holder couldn't handle the snap. tampa beat washington 17-16 to keep their playoff hopes alive. in a moment of silence for don meredith before the cowboys and eagles. he would have liked this one. michael vick to desean jackson and he did the rest. turned on the after burners despite the best efforts of a couple of cowboys. he was a little showboaty, turned around at the goal line and fell backwards into the end zone while taunting the cowboys. they lead 9-4. incredible video from minnesota where the inflatable roof at the metrodome collapsed under the weight of snow from a heavy storm that passed through the twin cities on saturday. because of that the vikings and giants game postponed. it will be played tonight in detroit. and finally to the nba halftime in oklahoma city, thunder fan

with a half-court shot to win $20,000. not a bad night for roberts. check out the reaction from former oklahoma and cowboys coach barry switzer. the thunder won the game 106-77. that's your early look at sports on early:. i'm fred roggin. >> good for him. a preview of which film may win best picture at the oscars. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus coming up, it is a dream come true for kids who deserve to have some dreams come true. you're watching "early today."

welcome back on this monday morning. for those people from new york city up through new england, enjoy your warm morning while it lasts, as the cold air will rush in during the day today. and tomorrow morning you'll feel the chill. still some green, this is the rain on the map here. up through maine and areas of new england with light rain, it will change over to snow showers a little later today. now, as far as what we're dealing with around the rest of the country today and tomorrow, big rush of cold air continues here. there's going to be a lot of snow off the great lakes. except for that we should be okay. be careful driving this morning. a lot of areas of tennessee and kentucky have seen a coating of snow overnight. well, if you're watching us on wnne-tv 31 hanover, new hampshire in nearby norwich, vermont, find out how toys work and even how to create your own. visit toys: the inside story at the montshire museum of science.

that's your early "today" event of the day. >> now here's a look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. there was good news and bad news this weekend at the box office for the number one film, "the chronicles of narnia" took the top spot. for fox which took over the series after disney abandoned it. however at $24 million this latest chapter came in way below expectations. still it took in $80 million in 85 other countries significantly softening the blow, i guess you could say. in second place, a tourist starring johnny depp and angelina jolie, it also came in below expectations at $17 million. elsewhere, the influential los angeles film critics association has added to the growing oscar buzz surrounding the facebook drama "the social network" picking it as the year's best film. finally, paris hilton's one-time reality tv bff nicole ritchie finally married her rocker boyfriend joel madden over the weekend in los angeles. the couple, who have dated for

more than four years, have a 2-year-old daughter harlow winter kate and a 15-month-old son farrow midnight. is there some kind of unwritten rule that says if you're a celebrity your kids can't be named something nice and normal like matt or bill, maybe? >> actually you get to a point where like a normal name would be a story? >> i'm like a what? huh? yeah, you're probably right about that. this comes to us from wkyc channel 3 in cleveland, ohio, where a group of extra nice boys and girls visited the airport for an early holiday treat. thanks to continental airline employees kids from a local pediatric hospital got to take time off from fating what ill ails them to take a magical flight to the north pole. santa, mrs. claus and the elves welcomed the group to their home filled with giant candy canes, lights, and holly, where for just one day nothing else mattered. i'm veronica de la cruz and

this is "early today," just your first stop of the day, "today," on your nbc station.

>> live, local, late-breaking, this is wbal-tv 11 news today in hd. >> good morning, everyone. we have some light snow to contend with on this monday morning. temperatures are still above freezing. you see the scattered nature of the snow. it may accumulate some dusting in some neighborhoods. the roads could be slick in a few spots. 34 right now at the airport. safely above freezing in most

neighborhoods. the wind will pick up later this afternoon. temperatures will fall. high temperature in the low to this morning. we will check the seven-day forecast coming up in just a few minutes. for now, to the news desk. >> 35 degrees on tv hill. here's a look ahead to 11 news today. >> we will have the latest on a carbon monoxide leak that killed two people in a pikesville home. >> rough weather wreaks havoc, making vacation a nightmare for hundreds of passengers. >> so far so good out there on the area roads.

[captioning made possible by constellation energy group] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> live, local, late-breaking, this is wbal-tv 11 news today in hd. in hd. >>