[ cheers and applause ] this morning on "early today," moving ahead. president obama's tax cut deal with republicans passes its first major test in the senate. midwest mess, whiteouts and treacherous driving conditions leave scores of indiana drivers stranded. and end of an era, an injury derailed mnesota quarterback brett farve and his record derailed mnesota quarterback brett farve and his record streak. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning.

i'm lynn berry. today, we begin with advancing the deal. senate lawmakers rallied a rare show of bipartisan support yesterday with an overwhelming majority agreeing to advance the president's proposed tax cut compromise. the final approval in the senate could come as early as today, but once the measure moves to the house, its fate is much less certain. nbc's tracie potts joins us from washington with more on this. good morning. >> reporter: lynn, good morning. the vote was 83 to 15 in the senate. rarely do you see that type of overwhelming support from both democrats and republicans here in washington. it was a test vote, but it could very well foreshah co shadoshad see when the real vote happens, possibly as early as today. democrats and republicans alike say they held their nose and voted for this compromise, but democrats much more so because they oppose that 35% estate tax

that would have been 20% higher without this deal. but both sides say they had to move forward. so in moving forward after the final senate vote, which could happen again as early as today, this deal moves on to the house of representatives where there is not as much support. house members say they want to make an issue, especially democrats, of that estate tax. but leaders say even though there are some who will vote against this deal, it's not the majority they expect to be debating it by the end of the week. president obama, in reaction to this test vote, said that it proves that washington can work together. lynn. >> tracie potts there in washington, thanks so much. meanwhile, as the president's tax plan moves forward, a federal judge in virginia has dealt a major blow to his health carover haul, calling part of the new law unconstitutional. the republican judge ruled that congress overstepped its authority by requiring americans to buy health insurance. however, since the plan's minimum coverage requirement

isn't scheduled to take effect until 2014, the law will remain in effect while if you recall appeals play out. the white house is predicting what many consider to be the hallmark of the obama presidency would be upheld if it makes its way to the supreme court citing two prior cases which have been upheld in lower courts. the death of ambassador richard holbrooke, wildly considered one of the leaves a void in washington this morning. he died after undergoing heart surgery. throughout a government career that spanned nearly five decades, holbrooke worked for every democratic president since the late 1960s and oversaw the negotiations that ended the war in bassny ya. most recently, he worked as the obama administration's special envoy in afghanistan and pakistan serving as what the president called a true giant in

american foreign policy. mr. holbrooke was 69 years old. wintry weather is taking aim at the nation's east coast this morning after blasting heavy snow and high winds across the midwest. in northern indiana, more than 100 vehicles were stuck on highways for hours yesterday as a slow-moving storm blocked snowplow drivers' efforts to free them. at least 15 deaths have been linked to the storm which dumped nearly two feet of snow in parts of minnesota and wisconsin before moving into michigan and i understand understand. last night, the biting temperatures stretched further east with snow in parts of ohio, pennsylvania, and new york. and now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. a missouri man returning after a weekend away found his home as frozen as an ice sickle. apparently a water main break shot water into the air and everything around it. add a blast of frigid air and the property literally became

enclosed in ice. he says there's no damage on the inside. in fact, the heat works just fine, thankfully. a washington state woman is lucky to be alive after her suv plunged into a pond. police say the woman was apparently reversing when she went off the road and into the icy water. rescuers say she was understandably cold and weak, but she's expected to be okay. in california, it took more than 20 sea world workers to rescue a beached sperm whale. rescuers treated the animal which had cut itself on the rocky surf. a few hours later, they muscled the 3,000 pound whale back into the ocean. experts say the animal was either sick or lost. pastry chefs at a florida hotel banked a giant 12 foot long, eight foot tall gingerbread house. it's not a house, it's actually a high rise, complete with its own circus.

the sweet work of art will be on display in the hotel's lobby until the end of the year. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. bill, good morning. >> lynn, when does spring begin? >> no kidding. it can't come soon enough, bill, because winter feels like it's been going on for about a month. >> this is a crazy december, lynn. i really hope that we don't keep this weather pattern. this is brutally cold this morning. the cold blast continues. this is literally the coldest it's going to be for a while. from florida up to minnesota, this is about as chilly as it gets. temperatures now in orlando, 31 degrees. more on that in a second. 16 in atlanta. minneapolis is at minus 4. we're watching the crops in florida this morning. temperatures are supposed to drop down to the 20s. now we're below freezing. we think it should go down to about 28 or maybe 27 over the next couple of hours. also, the windchills have gotten your attention this morning. up and down the mid-atlantic. yesterday, you were spared.

not today. 12 in d.c. 8 in new york. watch out in new york city. some areas of new england have seen light snow overnight. some of those roads are slippery and the sidewalks, too. you can see that light snow on you over long island and nyc. as far as today's forecast, it's very cold. just lake-effect snow as far as the problem areas. the warm-up begins tomorrow. that's a look at your tuesday forecast. now here is a look at the weather outside your window. snow showers will continue off the great lakes. some areas will be hit harder than others if you get caught in those bands. cleveland, ohio, is under a winter storm warning until wednesday morning. snow totals could end up around a foot in and around cleveland. lynn, not fun, but this is the worst of it, so it will only get better. >> there's the understatement of the day. >> okay. >> bill, thanks so much. acquisitions heat up on the street. a cost of the tax deal you may not have heard of and the airlines made how much on fee these year? your early morning business

headlines are straight ahead. plus, it was supposed to be gweneth paltrow's special day, but lindsay lohan and her mom had to get involved and get snarly. coming up, lee picks a team and brett farve's playing days finally over? you're watching "early today."

good morning, and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are some of your top headlines this morning. despite overwhelming criticism and candidates already lined up against him, republican national committee chairman michael steel announced last night he will run for re-election. the surprise move ensures a nasty battle over the direction of the party just as the republicans assume control of the house next month. it's been more than a month since the midterms, but alaska's

joe miller isn't giving up his house in the u.s. senate seat. yesterday he filed an appeal at the supreme court. jailed financier bernard madoff says he will not attend his son's funeral out of consideration for his family's privacy. mark madoff committed suicide. and small consolation, but the statement that likely caused christine o'donnell the election earned her a top spot on top quotes for declaring, quote, i'm not a watch. tony hayward infamously claimed, quote, i'd like my life back, during this summer's oil

disaster. >> and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 11,428 after climbing 18 points. the s&p was up a fraction and the nasdaq fell 12 points. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei added 22 points. in hong kong, the hang seng rose 113. on wall street, trading was flat, slow and uncertain monday starting off the final full week of business before christmas. both the dow and the s&p benefited from china's conservative move to slow growth, increasing the amount of extra capital top banks must hold instead of the more severe option of raising interest rates. that helped oil companies like chevron and mining related companies like caterpillar drive the dow higher. the nasdaq saw an eight-day winning streak end, but apple closed slightly higher, up 53% for the year. one spot on wall street was head hot. mergers and acquisitions. general electric, the current owner of this network, rose

after confirming it would buy british oil field services company wellstream holdings for $1.3 billion. dell fell almost 4% after sweetening its cash offer for the network storage company compelant. thermo fisher will acquire dionex for $2.1 billion. keep an eye on yahoo! today. reports say the internet portal will lay off about 600 employees, about 5% of its workforce, as early as today. elsewhere, moody's warned due to the increased debt it would bring on if president barack obama's tax benefits package becomes law, it may cut the united states aaa bond rating. data released monday by the government shows u.s. airlines packaged $473 billion in fees this year. finally, a scientist helped

one man recover $2.3 billion he dropped into his factory's shredding machine last month. she pieced together the remains of 200 $1,000 notes. coming up, farve finally sits one out. cliff lee has some brotherly love and the heat are on fire. plus, last night, the texans made a frantic comeback against one of the nfl's best only to fall short in overtime. your early morning sports headlines are just ahead. in weather, this arctic invasion is hitting its peak today. i'll bring you the warm up forecast coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, for the first time in more than 18 years, brett farve did not start an nfl game last night. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. the streak is over and maybe his career. brett farve was inactive against the giants because of a shoulder injury that snapped his consecutive streak of starts at 297. the last time farve didn't start

was back in 1972. bradshaw ripped off a touchdown run in the third quarter, new york won it. houston, ravens up eight. matt shaw found andre johnson who made an incredible grab in the end zone. texans got the conserve. houston rallied into overtime. but the texans came up short. the walk-off interception, ravens won it, 34-28. new york jets have come down hard on their strength and conditioning coach. they suspended him for the season without pay and fined him $25 grand after he intentionatly tripped a dolphins player on sunday. cliff lee has reached an agreement with the philadelphia fiphillie phillies. basketball heat and hornets, dwyane wade scored a franchise record 20 in the second quarter and finished with 32. the shot of the night from

lebron james. shot clock winding down, he lost the ball, had to heave it up from behind the ball and he drained it. heat won. the lakers met with president obama yesterday. usually teams visit the white house, but this year a little different. the champs joined the president at a local boys & girls club to celebrate athletic achievement. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. so how did kate gosselin get along with sarah palin when they were out in the wilderness shooting reality tv? your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, toys at christmastime aren't that unusual. but the man who made them and the children they're going to are very special, indeed. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. it's, as advertised, an extremely cold morning out there all the way down into florida. we are going to warm up with sunshine this afternoon. atlanta, still chilly, only at 34 today. coldest air is where we have the snowpack over the northern plains. as far as wednesday goes, we will start getting warmer in minneapolis. same feeling in minneapolis. atlanta gets warmer. the coldest air still settling here over new england for one more day. if you're watching us on wkyc tv ohio, learn about evolution by exploring new mammals. see a whale with legs.

visit extreme mammals at the cleveland museum of natural history. that's your "early today" event of the day, lynn. >> bill, thanks so much. now here's a look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. at 38, gwyneth paltrow has proved its never too late to reinvent yourself. she was honored monday with a star on hollywood's walk of fame. paltrow got rave reviews recently doing comedy on glee playing a spanish teacher quizzing her students on how many times lindsay lohan has been in rehabbed. but dinalohan complains to radar online that her daughter, lindsay was watching watch that and told the website gwyneth went overboard and it was unnecessary. finally, on sarah palin's

reality show, kate gosselin and sarah palin had no chemistry together and they never spoke to one off another camera. it's no surprise, she hated the food, the camping accommodations and she left before sundown. this comes to us from wds news in louisiana, where though he's no st. nick, what one man did was nothing short of saintly. sam and his wife traveled from missouri to new orleans to deliver 1,000 toys to the children of families affected by the oil spill. the war vet and cancer survivor had been traveling cross-country delivering his handcrafted toys for 20 years and he doesn't plan on slowing down, saying the hobby and no doubt a child's thankful smile kept him from growing old. i'm lynn berry, 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. get ready for the arctic blast. temperatures are in the upper teens and lower 20s. the wind chills are running between zero and 10 degrees. that is what you want to dress for. the actual temperature is 21 at the airport. windy and cold today. chance for a couple of snow flurries. high temperatures in the upper 20's and low 30's.

we will check the seven-day forecast coming up in just a few minutes. for now, over to the news desk. >> thank you. 21 degrees on tv hill. here's a look ahead to 11 news today. >> police continue their investigation into a major drug highest. -- heist. >> your taxes, one step closer to staying put in the new year. what is next for the president's tax-cut compromise tax >> slides ravens game was a nail biter as the face-off against houston. >> a couple of early morning problems. some fire activity.

[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. >> good morning. i'm mindy basara. >> and i'm