this morning on "early today" -- wave of momentum. new goep frop front-runner newt gingrich courting donald trump. the so-called gold lock zone. and pet pizazz. check out a new holiday trend that's going to the dogs. hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry. today we begin with an entire state of mind as gop presidential hopefuls make the most of their final few weeks before the iowa caucuses former

house speaker newt gingrich took his campaign to new york. in addition to drumming up funds for his surging campaign, the most recent republican front-runner reached out for some bright light, big city report. nbc's brian mooar has more. >> reporter: newt gingrich is on a roll in iowa and new hampshire, but he spent the day in new york. courting the support of donald trump. >> i think up with of the differences between my party and the other party is we actually go to people who know how to create jobs. >> it was a great honor to have newt up here. it's amazing how well he's doing. >> reporter: the former speaker is cultivating a tea party power base that only grew stronger over the weekend when herman cain dropped out, which spells trouble for mitt romney. >> this translates politically into being out of step with the electorate on fundamental ideological grounds. if you're conservative, you're looking for conservative, and you don't think mitt romney is. >> reporter: in a new ad gingrich echoes ronald reagan. >> working together, i know we can rebuild america.

>> reporter: ron paul is taking a very different tone. >> what's up with these sorry politicians? lots of bark. when it's showtime, whimpering. >> reporter: iowa's top republican predicts nothing but the unpredictable. >> some two-thirds of likely iowa caucus-goers can be per intaded to support another candidate so i think it will be a completely wild ride over the last four weeks. >> reporter: 29 days left and the gop candidates are cramming for their first big test. brian mooar, nbc news, washington. elsewhere, president obama travels to kansas today where he's expected to continue pushing republicans to extend an expiring payroll tax cut. highlighting what he calls a make or break moment for middle class families. now, yesterday democrats unveiled a scaled down proposal, one that includes a smaller sure tax on the wealthy. nbc's tracie potts joins us from washington with more. >> reporter: good morning. the president is hoping to put the pressure on at a small town

in kansas, the same place president roosevelt delivered his popular square deal speech, protecting the middle class. the president spoke at the white house yesterday, saying republicans should not raise taxes on the middle class. but this payroll tax cut extension and the unemployment benefit extension he wants is going to cost $180 billion. yesterday a senate majority leader harry reid unveiled how democrats want to pay for that. no payroll tax cuts for businesses, fees on mortgages from fannie mae and freddie mac and they're scaling back the millionaire tax to 1.9%. some republican leaders are signaling compromise, but other members still have an issue with that millionaire tax. we'll watch this situation because that payroll tax cut extension expires at the end of the month. >> thank you. overseas now where thousands took to the street in moe moscow protesting what they called a

rigged vote. slat myrrh putin emerged with the largest share of seats in sunday's election, though that number was drastically reduced. a white house spokesman said yesterday it has, quote, serious concerns after reports of ballot box stuffing and voter list tampering. former ussr mikhail gorbachev told journalists yesterday he does not see democracy in russia's future. a look at other stories making news early today in america. a raging fire burned a colorado buddhist temple to the ground. frigid weather conditions made fighting the inferno a tough job for firefighters. they were able to contain the early morning blaze by afternoon. unfortunately, it wasn't before the house of worship was totally destroyed. a cold weather front in texas produced the season's first snowfall as well as treacherous driving conditions in several parts of the state. light snow mixed with icy road conditions caused several rollovers and smash-ups.

the weather conditions also led to school shutdowns and power outages in western and northern cities. the cold weather isn't stopping the traffic to one texas woman's home. judy has collected nearly 3,000 nativity scenes over a decade. tourists have even stopped by to get a peek at the holiday themed souvenirs she's picked up from all oef the world. her husband had to build a separate house for them. finally, right or wrong, north carolina pet owners are adding some color to their holiday celebrations. they are taking their dogs to a spa that specializes in full-body coloring of animals with pet-safe dyes or the lesser stencil decorations. they say calls for the service have been coming in for the last three months. now for a look at your national and regional weather here's meteorologist bill karins with your weather channel forecast. i can imagine peta, smoke coming out of their ears. i don't know if they would go

along with that, but, hey -- >> maybe the dog likes it. >> may they want to be green. >> may they want to compare their tats. good morning. on this tuesday, another busy morning. looks like we'll have a winter weather forecast coming up for the east coast, possible rain changing over to snow. this morning it's still very warm. wet weather is moving its way through much of upstate new york from buffalo to syracuse. the snow is up there in canada. you can see it up here in the white. just a rainy morning. areas like pittsburgh drizzly. we'll continue with the on and off rain, binghamton, syracuse north wards and we have more showery weather in the appalachians. looks like we'll dry it out today, areas of kentucky and most of tennessee. anywhere near the appalachians, that's where you'll see more in the way of rain. snowflakes through central missouri, may cause it to be a little slippery. plenty cold. east coast very warm and wet but behind that storm system bitterly cold. windshield minus 15 in denver.

negative numbers cover the northern plains. minneapolis to kansas city and chilly down to dallas and san antonio. eventually all this cold air will meet up with some of this warmer air to the east and we're going to get ourselves a little mini snowstorm as we go from wednesday night into thursday. maybe even some areas in new england and down through the mid-atlantic. forecast for today, again, it's warm, just kind of wet, cold air in the middle. again, wednesday night into thursday, things get interesting. that's a look at your national forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. rain showers on and off today in areas of philadelphia, probably a period of light rain throughout the late afternoon into the evening. it's definitely an umbrella day for many areas of the east up through new england, but cold and chilly back in the midwest, chicago to memphis. so, we got our first chance of snow in a while in the east. ever since that famous october snowstorm. >> oh, we don't want to remember that. bill, thank you so much. well, coming up, euro debt ups and downs. the business world loses a

pioneer. amanda knox inks a deal to ink a book. plus, bradley cooper's scoop on the next hangover movie. he says this one is going to be different. coming up, a big hit, a must win and a heisman trophy finalists. 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. nbc news has learned a top secret, unmanned u.s. drone that crashed in iran thursday was on a mission for cia. they say the u.s. military was considering a mission in iran to retrieve the drone's high tech smi camera and stealth technology but iranians got there first. the head of the faa jay randolph babbitt is on

administrative leave after being charged with drunken driving saturday. police said he was driving on the wrong side of the road. the cash-strapped u.s. postal vs says it plan to eliminate next day delivery for first class mail as part of a push to cut costs. 3700 post offices, 28,000 jobs, and half the nation's mail processing centers will be cut. england's royal family is feeling the financial pinch. austerity measures mean the queen's income will be frozen until the year 2015 and that palace repairs will be put on hold. and astronomers say they discovered an earth-like planet named kepple 22-b about 2600 light year as way in an habitable environment away, but don't pack your bags just yet. scientists say it would take a space shuttle 22 million years to get there. we won't hold our breath. an early look at how wall street will kick off the day.

the dow opens at 12,097 after adding 78 yesterday. the s&p gained 12. the nasdaq was up 28. taking a look at overseas trading, in tokyo the nikkei dipped 114 points while in hong kong the hang seng tumbled 237. stocks rode a roller coaster of european developments monday. investors bought early on news of an agreement between germany and france for new treaty proposals on tighter fiscal proposaling to be presented. those danes were wiped out later on report of possible downgrades for eurozone nations. oil fell about $2 a barrel on that news. after the bell, standard & poor's did place germany, france and others on credit watch negative. the step before a downgrade. that sent stocks lower after hours. still there was progress italy's main stock index jumped after the yield on italy's ten year bond jumped to the lowest level in a month.

european steps reduced demand for gold. here financials led the way as all ten industry groups on the s&p 500 rose. among other gainers success factor sujed 51% on sale to germany's sap. met life rose after forecasting 2012 earning forecast. gannett rose. netflix rose. incyte dropped. former hewlett-packard chairmanwoman dunn lost her battle with cancer at age 58. finally, amanda knox recently cleared in italy for murdering her roommate has hired a lawyer to land a book deal, the same lawyer that handled book deals for the last three presidents, tony blair and sarah palin. the chargers suddenly awake. the bruins keep winning. the finalist for college football's biggest trophy.

professional hockey is a tough sport but this is ridiculous. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. we have all the cold air in the middle of the country, wet weather in the east. the two are going to meet up for possibly some snow. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today." you disgust me. 3q

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good morning. if you're just waking up this is "early today." in sports, the san diego chargers who had lost six games in a row headed into last night's match-up with the jaguars, suddenly looking like world beaters. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. it has been a long time since the chargers won a game. early october, to be exact. last night they ended their six-game skid with a victory over the jaguars. let's go to jacksonville. philip rivers put a complete game today, three touchdowns, no touchdowns. san diego up 24-14 at the half. they added to the lead in the third. 53-yard strike to floyd. chargers had their way with the jags depleted secondary. san diego is back in the playoff hunt. they're now just two games back in the afc west after a 38-14 win. heisman trophy finalists have been announced. monty ball, robert griffin ii, andrew luck, tyrone matthew and

trent richardson have been invited to new york for saturday's presentation. bruins have been on a tear lately, lost one in the last 15 and latest victim, the pittsburgh penguins. bergeron undressed a defenseman and dished to tyler seguin. bruins beat the pens 3-1. on the flipside the capitals who fired their coach last week and continue to underachieve. the panthers scored two goals in a span of 13 seconds in the first period. weiss with a pair. panthers won 5-4. blackhawks rally from three down but couldn't complete it against the coyotes. winning 4-3. to new york for the hit of the night. maple leafs phaneuf crushed rangers michael sauer. nothing illegal about it. that's a textbook hit. the helmet came flying off. he actually hit his head on the boards on the way down. he was fine just a little rattled.

that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. well, rosie gets ready to say "i do" and larry king gets ready for, well, passing away. your entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus the whole dog and cat thing is mostly just a myth. they're really -- they could be best friends. you're watching "early today."

welcome back on this tuesday morning. we have rainy weather for many areas of the appalachians today, all the way up through new england. eventually we'll see some wet weather moving into the big cities of i-95 from new york, baltimore, philly and d.c. florida you look okay today. very cold in the middle of the country. eventually the cold air going to catch up to our storm system as it heads off the east coast. looks like a storm will develop. rain turning over to snow for many areas wednesday night into thursday. we'll have more on that tomorrow. well f you're watching us on wdiv local 4, detroit, michigan, spending the evening listening to music at a free performance at jazz combo concert. that's your early event of the day. >> thanks so much. here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. there's good news and bad news this morning for the fans of the "hang joef "movie. bradley cooper says shooting will begin in september on "hangover 3" acknowledging there

were some problems with the second film. he promises this will be a little different. he also says, however, this one will be the last of the series. well, during a taping break, rosie o'donnell told the audience of her rosie show she's getting married to girlfriend who she met earlier this year in a starbucks. ju anna ransick announced yesterday on the "today" show she's decided to get a double massectomy. and finally, this is kind of bizarre. 87-year-old talk show host larry king says when he dies he wants to be frozen into a state of suspended animation. i don't even know what that means. he told a group of celebrities on an upcoming cnn special he wants to be frozen, hoping he can be brought back to life when a cure for whatever kills him is discovered. just for the record, bill, i do not want that to happen. that's so weird. >> you have to be suspended when you're alive because if you're already dead -- >> i would like to step into his

mind for about five minutes and get a little more details on why this -- >> i'll get ahold of him for you. this comes to us from who channel 13 in des moines, iowa where in nearby urbandale, two cute kittens are alive because of one dog. reagan whined until an owner he opened he dragged home. it contained a litter of kittens, most dead, tossed by someone on a rural highway like garbage. all but two had been crushed by traffic. that's horrible. but now those two have been nursed back to health. they're up for adoption and ready to start a new life all thanks to their new bud reagan. 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. >> good morning. we're starting out this tuesday with some rain. mild temperatures. we're in the 50's. we have some light rain, enough to affect the drive time. off and on rain showers will stay with us through this afternoon. cloudy skies and mild temperatures with a high near 62. we will come back and check the forecast for the rest of the week. >> 4:57. the trial of an alleged child abuse case comes to a close.

>> it is inauguration day for the mayor. i'm kim dacey live with the details. >> president obama says the middle class deservea break. i am kate amara in washington. >> we have some overnight accident that we're tracking. accident that we're tracking.

[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. >> good morning. i'm mindy basara. >> and i'm stan stovall. thank you for joining us this morning. >> some light rain this morning. >> the temperatures, you cannot complain about. we're in the mid 50's. we will make it into the low 60's but will contend with some rain. . up some light rain right now. enough to affe