this morning on "early today" -- iowa countdown. gop presidential contenders make frantic final pitches to iowa voters. chain reaction. poor visibility leads to a deadly predawn pileup in louisiana. and dead ringer? a south korean man mourns the loss of his notorious northern a south korean man mourns the loss of his notorious northern lookalike. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry. and today we begin with picking up the pace. republican presidential candidates are working their way

across iowa at a fast and furious pace, packing in as much last-minute campaigning as they can before caucus tuesday. nbc's brian mooar joins us from washington with the latest on this. brian, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. the candidates are way on the ground and stepping up the air war. >> good to see you. >> reporter: the gop presidential candidates are making their closing arguments in iowa. >> don't do anything to any other country we don't want them to do to us and that would solve a lot of our problems. >> reporter: ron paul is the wild card, polling second, but with a well-organized army of supporters. that makes him a target. >> ron paul would dangerous as a president of the united states. >> one of the people running for president thinksist okay for iran to are a nuclear weapon. >> reporter: mitt romney has a shot at winning, if he can convince enough voters he's conservative enough. >> i'm mitt romney. i believe in america and i'm running for president of the united states. >> reporter: it's a battle for social conservatives, who are

split. rick santorum is gaining ground. rick perry is trying to get it back. >> which rein running for president voted for bridge to nowhere earmark? >> reporter: gingrich is looking past iowa and new hampshire to south carolina. >> i don't think a massachusetts moderate going to play very well in south carolina. >> reporter: but for now, all eyes on iowa. an undecided iowans are still shopping around. but there is not much time left. lynn? >> only a few days. brian mooar for us in washington. thank you. the obama administration is considering transferring a senior taliban leader out of guantanamo bay. the associated press reports the suspect mohammed fazl labeled a high-risk detainee could be sent back to afghanistan after night years in gitmo. the idea is being met with concern by some in congress and the intelligence community but

fazl would remain in custody. he's believed to have been behind the deaths of thousands of afghan shiites. egyptian security forces stormed the offices of 17 pro-democracy and human rights groups yesterday, including two from the u.s. egyptian soldiers stood guard as workers from the national democratic and republican institutes were forced to wait outside while police ransacked their offices. human rights defenders say egypt's military blames, quote, foreign hands for the ongoing unrest since the ouster of long-time leader hosni mubarak. the u.s. state department expressed deep concern, urging egyptian authorities to halt harassment of nongovernmental organizations. syrian antigovernment activists are urging more people to take to the streets today to show arab league peace monitors syrians want change. the president of those monitors has already re-energized presidents of opponents of

president al assad and his crackdown, with tens of thousands turning out over the past three days. one human rights group claimed despite those monitors, thursday government forces open fire on protest in various cities, killing 25 and injuring about 100. and now here's a look at some other stories making news "early today" in america. multiple collisions led to a massive pile-occupy a louisiana interstate, which killed two people and injured at least 60 others. 40 vehicles were involved in the fatal wreck, which was blamed on poor visibility. officials say a mixture of fog and smoke from a nearby fire created treacherous conditions. a hiker and his dog were dramatically rescued by los angeles firefighters. they became trapped on the steep hillside of a cliff after the dog ran after a bottle togsed by the hiker's father. the rescue crew used a rope and

harness to lower both to safety. well, a couple of florida drivers had extremely bad luck with parking spots. a 30-foot wide sinkhole swallowed two vehicles parked at a rest area. one of the cars was removed quickly but the second was kept there for hours until officials determined the ground was safe. finally, it's becoming a more common sight when waters in central florida are cooled. masses of manatee in the warm water released by a power plant. experts worry the man-made warmth are altering the migration habits of the manatee. for a look at your national and regional weather, here's meteorologist bill karins with your weather channel forecast. but they look so cozy, like a warm blanket and curl up. >> noosuclear-heated water.

>> however you can get it. >> but they're beautiful. good morning, everyone. let's break down what's happening out there as with we head toward the holiday weekend. not a lot of active weather. pretty good rain storm going to the pacific northwest. a clipper-type system going through the midwest. that's. about it. nothing too dramatic for any of your travels out there. as far as the radar goes, you'll notice that some light rain now headed through iowa and also through illinois, chicago looks like you're warm enough you'll be getting a little light rain. there's some snow in southern portions of minnesota, too. it's not going to cause much of an issue. let me take a look at the big picture. this time last year, this is how much snow we had covering the u.s. everywhere in blue is where there was snow. a good chunk of the northern half of the country. 50% of our country had snow on the ground. now, let me fast forward to what we're looking at right now. areas like iowa have no snow on the ground. southern minnesota is getting a little this morning but much of new england doesn't have snow on the ground. only 23% of our country now has snow on the ground. that's because our december weather pattern has been wet

with mild air to the south. what's going to change, at least fort beginning of january, is kind of a pattern switch. a big chunk of cold air is coming down. i can't promise a snowstorm but i can promise a very cold start to the new year for many of us in the eastern half of the country. that here's a look at the weather outside your window. we'll see rain showers today. look at minneapolis and also areas like indianapolis. indianapolis, 50 with chance of showers. d.c. today, 54 degrees. even as far north as milwaukee, wisconsin, a mix of rain and snow showers. of course, new year's eve/new year's day forecast coming up. coming up, home sales jump. verizon charges more. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. she's drawing questions over her tweets. a homecoming, a barn burner and a buzzer-beater. 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. president obama remembered victims of pearl harbor thursday, laying a wreath at the "uss arizona" memorial in hawaii. the president and first lady michelle obama also dropped flower petals into the water beneath the memorial. fire burned a russian nuclear submarine docked at a shipyard for repairs. authorities say there's no radiation threat because the missiles normally on board had been removed. while the fire is out, russian military says some crew members are still on board. chinese officials say they've launched 19 rockets this year, putting them second behind russia with the u.s. coming in third. they vow to put 100 satellites in orbit over the next five years, which could give the

chinese military the accuracy it needs for missiles without american technology. work on the planned september 11th museum at ground zero is now on hold. the museum was supposed to open next year alongside the 9/11 memorial, but new york mayor michael bloomberg says it won't open on time because of a dispute over financing. and this is the newest spot on earth. volcanic ash from an underwater volcano formed a new island in the red sea just off the coast of yemen. but don't pack your bags just yet. it may soon disappear since it's made solely of volcanic debris, but pretty to look at. now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off indicate. the dow opens at 12,287 after rising 135 points yesterday. the s&p gained 13 points. the nasdaq was up 23. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei was up 56 points.

while in hong kong, the hang seng added 36. on more positive signs for the economy, stocks rallied thursday ahead of today's last trading day of the year. the only remaining suspense is whether the s&p 500 will end positive for the year. thursday's rally left it up 0.4%, the closest it's been to unchanged for a year since 1970. traditionally the last trading day the year is a down day. november home sales surged to a 1 1/2 year high. home building paulty, lenar all gained. midwest factory activity grew. prices and employment rose but production eased slightly. on the downside, last week's unemployment claims rose more than expected, but the four-week average fell to a 3 1/2 year low. also aiding stocks, italy's bond yields, which spooked investors

wednesday, eased thursday. still the yield on italy's ten-year bond hovers near the 7% danger level. banks were the day's biggest gainer led by jpmorgan case. alocoa and caterpillar, two b h bellwethers, led the do you. sears fell further after its store closings and other issues caused fitch to downgrade the stock. gold fell for a sixth straight down, down 1.5%. starting january 15th, verizon wireless will start charging $2 for payments made over the phone or online with credit cards. finally, at least one south korean is mourning kim jong-il. the engraver who thanks to his likeness of the departed north korean leader, had had a well paid side career in commercials and appearances.

the hair. coming up, a former penguin wobbles the peng wings. overtime upset in college hoops. your college football bowl game of the day. new plus, was this big bomb by vince carter enough to leave the mavs past the thund are? your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. and i'll have your holiday forecast coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, if you're a dallas fan, the good news is mavericks are the defending nba champs. the bad news is, that was last season. here's nbc's mario solis with an early look at all your sports headline. >> good morning. what has happened to the nba champs? the mavericks lost their third straight game, courtesy of a buzzer-beater by durant. mavs down two in the final second. nowitzki finds carter, knocking down the three-pointer. dallas up one with a second to play. no worries for the thunder. they've got kevin durant. he catches the inbound pass and sends dallas packing. the jumper at the buzzer. oklahoma city remains undefeated with a 104-102 win. east meets west. kobe goes on a terror, scoring 13 of 28 in the third quarter. he's now put up 26 or more in

all four games. lakers win. another day, another upset in college basketball. rutgers, carter was mr. everything against tenth ranked florida. in the third quarter, carter stops and bops with a career high 31. he gives it up to miles, the dagger from three-point land. scarlet knights shock florida in an 85-8 3 win in double overtime. hockey, jagr made his return to the pittsburgh as a member of the flyers. he spent 11 years with the penguins. he scored a lot of goals in the steel city. you can add one more to the list. college football, looked like the fighting i rich would run away with the bowl. manual hooks up with green for the go ahead touchdown after a few rallies to beat notre dame 18-14. finally, if you like offense, you love the alamo bowl. baylor and washington combining for 123 points.

heisman trophy winner, griffin accounting for two touchdowns. ganaway scores six times. that's a look at sports on "early today." i'm mario solis. the experts say no no films at the box office this weekend means a sure-fire winner. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. bagels, could they be the key to a whole new start in life? you're watching "early today."

welcome back on this friday morning. we take you through your holiday weekend forecast. today not many travel issues out there. rain showers from minnesota, great lakes. texas looks great. new year's eve, looks like a dry factor many people. may be early morning showers in new england but you'll clear out nicely. for new year's day, that's when the arctic air arrives. first stop will be in the northern plains in minneapolis. if you're watching us on wilx in lansing, michigan, kalamazoo, use flies, magazigots and beelg for csi crime scene. >> and good morning everyone. bill, thanks so much. here's an early look at headlines in entertainment. describe this weekend and whole year of 2011 with hollywood

struggling to pull in odd yens, there's nothing new at the box office. tom cruise's "mission impossible: ghost protocol" should win with about $30 million. elsewhere, former chicago bulls star and current tight-fisted nba owner, michael jordan asked his girlfriend of three years to marry him over the christmas weekend. another blast from the past. elly mae clampette from the beverly hillbillies, donna douglas, settles her lawsuit over mattel with a barbie that uses her character's name and likeness. voters gave robert pattinson the celebrity honor of the year for a second year in a row. come on, bill, step it up. amid more questions surrounding her recent tweets with ex-boyfriend and assaulter chris brown, rihanna's seductive ads for armani jeans have been

crowned sexiest ads of the year by advertising age magazine. they obviously haven't seen that calvin klein commercial. it's borderline -- >> i liked the jordache commercials. this comes from roanoke, virginia, in bedford, one businessman is making an offer that's just hard to believe. michael is leaving the bagel business in unique fashion with his contracting business thriving, he decided to just give away the bagel shop. he plan to hand over the business to whoever sends him the best essay on why they would be the perfect owner. michael had chances to sell but he prefers to give someone the kind of helping hand he never received. great story there. 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. it is a friday morning. four minutes before 5:00 a.m. we have mostly clear skies outside. at the airport, the temperature is 28 degrees. -- 29 degrees. kind of a chilly morning. at the moment, the wind is calm. most 10 degrees warmer at the inner harbor. the barometer is going to be

showing a falling tennessee today. that means something is on the way -- a falling tendency. >> thank you. at 31 degrees on tv hill. two teenagers or in critical condition after there were burned. >> i'm tara mergener in washington. four days to go on to the iowa caucuses. try to win over voters -- trying to win over voters. >> an early-morning problem on 95 in havre de grace. you can see lots of 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. >> good