this morning on "early today," on the attack. with just three weeks to go until the iowa caucuses, the gop gloves come off. danger down under. surveillance video captures a horrific tanker explosion at an australian gas station. and rush of color. one of the most spectacular natural wonders of the world one of the most spectacular natural wonders of the world becomes even more dazzling. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. i'm ver ron ra de la cruz. today we begin with assessing the damage. newt gingerich is still standing after his republican rivals pile on to personalize his personal

and political past. but mitt romney may have tripped himself up at the worst possible times. the latest polls show on gingerich ahead in the first four presidential contests. >> reporter: mitt romney is paying for a humerus bet he made. sgldz 10,000 bet? >> it was a joke that fell flat in iowa. >> i'm pretty sure i didn't drive by a house that anyone in iowa would even think about that a $10,000 bet was possible. so a little out of touch with the normal iowa citizen. >> newt gingerich, in his first debate as front-runner, shrugged off attacks on everything from his politics to his three marriages. >> i've made mistakes at times, i've had to go to god for forgiveness. >> reporter: and as mitt and romney battle it out, the other

candidates are waiting to be heard. >> there's not a dime's worth of difference between the two of them. >> reporter: voters seem to disagree. gingerich is surging in the polls, romney isn't. >> he cannot afford to lose iowa and new hampshire going into south carolina and florida. >> reporter: and for the candidates, it's crunch time. no time for mistakes. brian moore, nbc news, washington. following saturday's debate in iowa, gop candidate rick perry added another oops moment to a string of memorable campaign gaffes. perry criticized president obama's backing of a now defect and now widely known energy company. while trying to recall exactly how much federal funding that company received, perry side, quote, i want to see it was over $500 million that went to the country solinda. solyndra, which manufactures solar panels, received loans and

guarantees before going bankrupt earlier this year. meanwhile, the budget battle could hit home for northeast residents as a federal government considers home heating cuts for those that can afford it the least. several northeast states have cut back on heating aid programs to poor households and now congress is considering slashing $1 billion from the federal budget. families in new england, where the winters are long and cold and people rely heavily on costly oil heat, are expected to be especially hard hit. pakistan's military says the cia has vacated an air bass in the western part of that country in the wake of last month's nato air strikes near the african border that killed at least 25 pakistani soldiers. the departure comes at pakistan's request and last night the last group withdrew from nato drone missions.

the u.s. and nato have denied pakistani assertions that the raid was deliberate and have begun an investigation into the killings in a region where pakistani militants have been fighting. now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. an alleged car jacker flees from california plea and came to a painful ending. after leading authorities on a high speed chase in a humvee limousine, the suspect attempted to escape on foot naked. his fight for freedom ended when a police dog tackled him on the ground. oh, that woke bill up. a spectacular lighting display in upstate new york kicks off a pre-new year's bash. officials recently hit the lights. it is beautiful. timely, the obamas continue their celebration of the holiday

season. they, along with host conan o'brien and justin bieber and jennifer hudson attended the annual washington event. the event raises money for the children's national hospital. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. it's good to see you. it's been so long. >> morning. >> where was our invitation to that christmas party at the white house? >> oh, that one? must have got lost in the mail with all the other ones. >> that's exactly what i was thinking. >> i think you would show up if you were invited to that one. good morning, everyone. here is a look at your forecast. it was tranquil and a lot of people got their shopping done or at least attempted to. we have pretty night weather to start our week. this is the weather pattern as we went through the weekend and now into the beginning of the week. big low pressure yesterday moving into california. the weekend weather pattern is going to watch this storm ever so slowly shifting across the country. mild air has returned. the bitterly cold air, it's trapped up in canada right now.

we're looking all right. the current temperatures, we have temperatures above freezing as far north as wisconsin and minneapolis. the really cold air we had at the end of last week is now gone. even areas of the northeast and the east, it's still chilly, but it's not bitterly cold air. and it's actually going to warm up in most areas of the eastern half of the country this week as this big storm system out west sits there. the only area of troublesome weather we have out there this morning, we continue with showers up through belusha county, daytona beach, too, you need the umbrella. now some of that rain is moving through savannah. from tallahassee northward, maybe a quarter to a half inch of rain. nothing kraes crazy, but enough to keep it cool throughout the day. most of the heavier rain will stay to your south and southeast. middle of the country, it's pretty dry, but watch out,

wisconsin, there could be some drizzle throughout the day. that's a look at your national forecast. now here is a look at the weather outside your window. new york city, cold start. not bad around. cold and sunny. same tore columbus, ohio. we mentioned the chance of showers in orlando. but at 79 degrees, the warm air has returned even there. once again, veronica, no snow, really, in the forecast this week. white christmas could be tough for a lot of us. oh, i never thought i'd say this, but 46 degrees, i'll take it. >> not bad. >> it's not 08, but 46 is not bad. europe makes a deal, england is left out. and the latest tv conflict with a boycott threatened against a home improvement chain. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, alec baldwin apologizes to himself? we'll explain. coming up, a giant comeback. the texans clench and six in a row for tim tebow. you're watching "early today."

good morning, and welcome back to "early today." i'm veronica de la cruz. here are some of your top headlines this morning. marathon u.n. climate talk in south africa have added five more years to the expiring kyoto protocol. countries agreed on a new time treaty that would force all major polluters to targets to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 2020. that would include china and india. a major demand of the obama administration. the u.s. has yet to ratify the kyoto agreement. u.s. weapons specialists exploded some 1,300 pounds of munitions were exploded in libya sunday. it's part of an effort to make sure unsecured weapons from that country's civil war don't fall into the wrong hands. former dictator manuel noriega is back in panama after being extradited from france.

he will serve out three 20-year sentences in a prison for slaying political opponents in the 1980s. japan successfully launched a spy satellite into orbit this morning. officials are being tight lipped about its capabilities, but it's part of an intelligence gathering network developed after concerns over north korea's missile program. and a 35-year-old truckdriver is lucky to be alive after his gas tanker burst into a massive fireball at a filling station in australia. the driver was hospitalized with burns to his arms and legs. the cause is being investigated. >> and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,184 after rising 186 points friday. the s&p climbed 20. the nasdaq jumped 50. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei gained 117 points. but in hong kong, the hang seng was down 10. wall street rallied friday. he on a mostly successful

european financial summit, but europe still has a big hole to dig out of. all 17 countries agreed to a central european authority including penalties if they overspend. as for countries currently struggling, the european central bank has taken some steps and may take more to ease their burden. even france sits precariously. friday, moody's investors service downgraded france's three largest banks. england was seen as the biggest summit loser. england used its veto party to prevent a european agreement. so led by france, the deal was arranged intergovernmentally to circumvent the english. even with a deal, most analysts feel europe is heading into recession, which has u.s. companies worried. on friday, dupont cut their outlook for the quarter. reuters reports negative quarterly preannouncements are outpacing positive ones by the biggest ratio in ten years. here, spending online for the

holidays is up 15% compared to last year. the fed meets this week, but is expected to stand pat playing wait and see on europe and big developments here. this week's big ipo will be online game hawker zinga. at around $129 million, it is potentially the largest internet company since google in 2004. finally, lowe's, influenced by evangelical christians has pulled apps from the store. the packers stay perfect and tebow does it again. plus, the new york/dallas rivalry delivers all that is expect and had more so. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. after quiet weather over the weekend, a storm system moving we need to talk about. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, no, this is not a repeat. tim tebow has led the broncos to victory once again. here is nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. forgive me if you've heard this before. tim tebow has rallied the broncos to another win. same story, different opponent.

tebow did nothing for 3 1/2 quarters, sparked in the fourth. connected with thomas. broncos down three with two minutes to play. the bears hoisted a chance to run out the clock and away walk with the victory. that gave matt prader a chance to tie it from 59 yards. he nailed the long field goal to force overtime. in o.t., it was prader again. a 51-yarder for the victory. tebow may get the headlines, but crader has been the unsung heros. broncos are in first place after a 13-10 win. now to cincy, seven seconds left to play. t.j. yates found kevin walter over the middle. houston won it 20-19 to clench their first playoff berth in franchise history. wild finish between the giants and cowboys, down 12. brandon jacobs punched it in. cowboys with a chance to tie. bailey nailed a field gold. wait a minute, new york called a time-out just before the snap.

bailey would have to do it again. this time, it was blocked. giants clawed their way to a victory, 37-34. packers improve with a come fating win over the raiders. ran away with it, 46-16. a blowout there. the jets had their way with the chiefs. at one point, they were up by 32. they went on to win it, 37-10. rob growkowski tied a record last week and broke it again yesterday. caught a pair against the redskins. after gafney stored, he went up for the lambeaux lead. one problem, nobody there to catch him. red skins fell flat. the pat's won it, 34-27. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. this weekend, everyone lost at the box office. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, they are a staple of the christmas holiday decoration, only most people have just one. you're watching "early today."

welcome back on this monday. forecastwise, not a lot going on today. a lot going on in georgia, south carolina, northeast coast of florida. middle of the country is warming up significantly, especially the areas in and near the northern plains. there is a little freezing drizzle out there in wisconsin. so watch for that. tomorrow, the storm system out

west begins to tap some of the moisture coming out of the gulf. as we go into tuesday and weapons, we will see some damp weather through missouri, iowa, illinois and oklahoma. doesn't look like any snow this week. if you're watching us on wcau nbc 10 in philadelphia, pennsylvania, learn about creepy crawly bugs and see live insects at bugs outside the box. at the acami of natural sciences at drexel university. that's your "early today" event of the day. >> that's a misrepresentation because dragon flies aren't really creepy crawly. >> dragon flies are already. but for some people like my wife, they are. now here's a look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. if there was one word to describe the all-around box office weekend, that word would be "disappointel." the romantic comedy "new year's eve" ended on top with a disappointing $13 plus million dollars, way below estimates. hollywood as a whole was disappointed with weekend tickets sales slumping to their lowest level in three years.

jonah hill's r-rated comedy "the sitter" came close to living up to expectations in second with $so million. tmz reporting lindsay lohan had her $5,000 chanel purse stolen at a hawaiian house party weekend. it was eventually recover with passports and probation documents, but not the $10,000 in cash she was carrying. >> ten grand? >> what is she doing with that much cash? how is this one for an argument starer? jennifer aniston was just named the sexiest woman of all time. finally, referring to himself as the american treasurer playing a word game for smart people, alec baldwin playing an american airlines pilot hilariously apologized to himself this weekend on "saturday night live." on weekend update, my favorite segment. >> yes. that's the one a lot of people will go online and watch afterwards. and who brings a $5,000 purse to a house party? >> lindsay lohan with $10,000 in cash in it. >> good to know she still has

money, at least. >> right. we're going to move on. this comes to us from lubbock, texas, where in nearby new deal one family is showing their joy for the holiday by transforming their home into one giant christmas spectacle. take a step inside the home and you're bound to see a symbol of christmas at every turn. and that's because they have filled it with over 200 christmas trees. each tree with its unique theme has become a costly holiday tradition, but one they have kept alive for over a quarter century. that is a lot of work, i'm telling you. 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. >> good morning. it is a chilly, a frosty start on this monday morning. it is in the 20's and some ns in the northern suburbs. a mixture of sun and clouds. a few clouds coming into this afternoon. highs in the mid 40's this afternoon. now to the news desk. >> thank you. 24 degrees on tv hill. two police-involved shootings. >> a man is behind bars, charged

with robbing several goodwill stores. i'm kim dacey. >> new allegations in the scandal involving jerry and dusky. -- sandusky. >> an easy win for the ravens. >> westbound 100, we are tracking an accident. tracking an accident.

[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 am mindy basara. >> i am lisa robinson. thank you for joining us this morning. >> it is cold outside. >> let's look at the current conditions. temperatures in the low 20's at the airport and some teens