. this morning on "early today," house call. president obama's tax cut deal cruises through the senate, but the fight's not over yet. head scratcher. they plan to unravel a 400-year-old mystery. and ice castle. frigid winds create a giant frozen sculpture on the shores of lake erie. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry. and today we begin with rounding

the bend. in a rare bipartisan push, the senate voted overwhelmingly in favor of a proposal that will prevent a new year day tax hike for millions. still house democrats say they'll try to make one more change before it's a done deal. nbc's tracie potts joins us from washington with more on that. >> lynn, good morning. they're making a last-minute push to increase a estate tax credit in the bill. today look for two separate bills. first of all, the house wants to pass exactly what passed in the senate with the exception of a higher estate tax. if that passes, the whole thing goes back to the senate, and we could possibly see some serious delays. but there's a second vote to pass exactly the same version of this bill that passed the senate, and if that happens, it could immediately go to

president obama's desk. so be on the lookout for both of those today. also today the senate is taking up the repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy of gays in the military. the house passed this by a handy margin of 75 votes which included 15 republicans. the question is there enough to deal with it in the senate? no time has been set for it in the vote. democrats wanted to get it through before republicans take control of the house and get more influence in the senate next year. and the s.t.a.r.t. treaty, they still have the ratify what president obama has signedlet a two-thirds majority is needed to get that treaty passed. lynn? >> tracie potts in washington. as for a proposal to extend auld the bush-era tack cuts it appears the majority of americans approve. 59% of those surveyed support the tax compromise while just

36% disapprove. however, the president's job approval rating has once again hit its lowest level, coming in at just 45%. that's down two points from last month. still, the president's battle may not be all uphill. looking ahead to 2012, polls show the president ahead if he were to run against the likes of mitt romney, sarah palin, or senator john thum. 63% think the country is headed in the wrong direction. that's the most since obama took office. and not surprisingly as the nation emerges from what's known as the great recession, a combined 54% say the past ten years have either been a very bad decade or one of the worst decades in american history. and this morning's new york times reports that federal prod cuters are trying to build a conspiracy case against

wikileaks founder julian assange. they're trying to find out if he encouraged or helped private manning. he's currently being held in a virginia prison. if assange did sell, officials believe they could charge him as a conspirator in the leak, not just a passive recipient of the documents who then published them. and now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. in minnesota, if you really needed a more tangible idea of just how bad winter weather is, look at what this speck of metal in the snow is going to turn into. it's an abandoned car that's been completely buried, scratched by a snowmobile that ran over it. state workers got the car out with the help of a tow truck. they say owners can expect a bill. large numbers of dead sea creatures, fish, shellfish and sea sponges all washed up on a local beach as the warm gulf

waters turned very cold there. experts say it's still too soon to know the long-term effects. and in ohio, buried beneath this gorgeous ice sculpture is a lighthouse. bone-chilling winds blew the icy waters of lake erie onto the white house and other navigation markers and completely encased them in ice. forecasters say the arctic blast could last another week which means more time to admire mother nature's work of art there. and now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins to confirm whether or not that is got -- >> i think the forecasters are wrong personally. i'd like it to warm up. >> let's go on record, bill. bring it. >> the cold is going to moderate a little bit but we're not going to see a huge warm-up. windchills are in the very cold range all the way from detroit up through new england. no negative numbers.

the battleground is set up over the ohio valley. we have winter storm warnings that are issued through all of kentucky, southern indiana, back into richmond and the high country of west virginia. this is where we've had an ice storm overnight. very treacherous conditions. we've had an ice storm. a little further to the north, indianapolis, an inch or two of snow on the ground. northern illinois has gotten an inch or two. chicago, it's been just to your south. and minneapolis, you've been spared too. this whole mess is making its way toward looks like north carolina and virginia are going to see the snow as we go throughout the day. here's a look at the radar. again, light freezing rain is in the pink. lexington, louisville is the worst of it. three to six inches is possible through west virginia and portions of virginia and we'll have to watch for snow later on today. otherwise the weather pattern pretty quiet in the deep south. that's a look at your thursday

forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. well, you can see how messy this treacherous pattern is. today, much warmer. no problems at all for your morning commute. nashville, you're warm enough. you're only going to have to deal with some rain showers. lynn, even our nation's capitol can expect an inch or two of snow today. >> thanks so much. grinches take hold on wall street, beer is booming and the world's most expensive christmas tree. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, she's about to do something in playboy she's never done before. coming up sidney crosby put his scoring streak on the line and a great finish between the knicks and the celts. you're watching "early today."

good morning and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry, and here are some of your top headlines this morning. greece's government is condemning violent protests that erupted across athens yesterday as demonstrators angry over budget cuts clashed with police, torched cars and threw gasoline bombs. it was the seventh strike this year by unions upsociety over a series of measures. a russian soyuz spacecraft is headed toward the international space station after blasting off from kazakhstan yesterday. it's carrying an american, a russian, and an italian who are expected to stay at the asf for nearly six months. the government is banning drop-side cribs after more than 30 deaths of cribs. it can create a space for a

child to become trapped or strangled. and scientists say they have identified an enbalmed head as belongs to king henry the iv of france. nine months of tests helped i.d. the skull which has disappeared since the french revolution more than 200 years ago. and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 11,467 after falling 19 points yesterday. the s&p dipped 6 points. the nasdaq shed ten. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo the knee cake yierk the nikkei"ed up one point but in hong kong the hang seng tumbled. profit takers apparently convinced the recent rally has

run its course has moved in late wiping out morning gains. apple has followed the recent pattern. after being significantly higher earlier. the day started down but the dollar rising on new debt concerns. rooney's warning it could be downgraded. the mood brightened on manufacturing data. it moved at the fastest pace in four months. treasury yields continue rising, sparking worry about rising borrowing costs which in turn sent bank stocks and other financials lower. samuel adams rose 12% after raising its 2010 earnings forecast saying it's ship 1g 2% more than last year. the justice department sued bp and other companies for the

gulf oil spill hoping to get recovered for damage above and beyond what's been paid. they produced agreements including -- and china's continued barriers. speaking up, china's biggest expansion there yet, opening up 200 new restaurants next year. >> and finally one abu dhabi hotel posts the most expensive christmas tree ever with a vool you of over $11 million. it's a fake 40-foot evergreen decorated with bows but it's the necklaces and earrings draped on the branches that gives them the extra value. the heat winning streak hits doublegys and baseball loses a hall of famer. plus the celtics knicks went

back and forth with a thriller that went above and beyond. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. an active winter weather pattern continues right across the country. your regional forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today."

and in sports there was a garden party last night in new york where the old rivalry between the knicks and the celtics was reborn. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. >> good morning to you. the knicks haven't been relevant since the mid-'90s, but maybe just maybe they're ready to return to the nba spotlight. stoudemire had a seen high 39. tied game. paul pierce. the celts up too. got it. wait a minute. got it. take a look. he didn't get it off in time. celts won their 11th straight. they came down to final shot tied at 90. manu gin olie nailed the buzzer beater and that was it. spurs won it 92-90. last team they played it was all lebron james.

first quarter, a huge dunk and one. wade went flying into the crowd and popped back up like a prize fighter. moments later another thunderous jam. the heat won their tenth straight. some sad news to report from baseball. feller won 266 games. he was also a world war ii hero that left baseball in its prime to serve in the navy. bob feller was 92. new york scored unanswered in the third and the rangers won it 3-1. and finally this may be the last time you see jeff. after tripping a player on surns he was suspended for the rest of the season. now he may. he had been doing this all season without the team's knowledge. he mass have tripped a player

but it's he who took the big fall. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. hear what one hollywood bad girl of the past has to say about today's crops. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, christmas nerve stinks and thanks to one man in oklahoma, this year's christmas toys won't be stinking either. you're watching "early today."

well, welcome back. once again, kentucky into areas of ohio, southern illinois, southern indiana and now heading into west virginia, be very careful. we've had a lot of freezing rain with coatings of ice everywhere. stay tuned to your local news for all the school closings. snow will begin to move into areas like washington, d.c., especially south of washington, d.c., areas around richmond could pick up a couple inches of snow out of this. maybe two or four during the day. d.c. could call for one or two. that system could be long gone by friday. cold as we head toward the weekend. well, if you're watching us on wvit, npc b 30, explore the classic of huckle berry fin. visit yours truly huckleberry finn at the mark twain house. and that's your "early today"

event of the day, lynn. >> bill, thanks so much. and now here's an early look at your headlines in entertainment. last night at the premiere of his latest film johnny depp gave swimmers of fans more than his money's worth. he went into the crowd posing for pictures as hundreds turned out for the italian premiere of "the tourist." angelina jolie turned up with brad pitt. at 43 pamela anderson will soon be making her 13th appearance in playboy mack zone but this one is going to be different. in addition to 8 pages of pictures there will be a poem by anderson. how about that. final a bad girl of old says today's bad girls are much, much worse. the brat of the '90s, shannen doherty tells us that she's

pretty sure none of her bad girls went into rehab and, quote, we didn't go out and slash people. >> i disagree. i think people are all doing the same thing but it's the paparazzi. you can't get away with things anything. >> there was no blogger posting pictures. so we will never know. well, this comes to us from kfor, news channel 4 in oklahoma city, oklahoma, where thanks to one man more than 400 needy kids will have a christmas. roger volunteered to clean up more than a thousand toys sprayed in their storage bin by a tunk. they hoped fresh air and deodorizers would help but skunk funk still lingered. he brought out his skunk innater. 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. >> a very good thursday morning. we are expecting snow today. one to 3 inches today. probably about an inch around the metro area. this system is now coating west virginia and virginia with some snow bans. it will develop in the midday and taper off overnight. it is cold enough for snow. 18 at the airport. 22 downtown.

the wind chill is still the issue. nine is the real temperature at the airport. all day long.lold >> thank you. it is 22 degrees on tv hill. here's a look ahead to 11 news today. >> officials say the fire on the block was set by someone, but they're not calling it arson. we'll explain. >> is the strategy in afghanistan working? the white house releases a yearlong review of the war. >> michael vick said he wants a dog. we'll tell you why. >> we have some water main breaks to tell you about.

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