this morning, on "early today," set in granite. gop presidential candidate mitt romney celebrates a victory in the new hampshire primary. reoccupation. wall street demonstrators return to zuccotti park after a two-month ban. bottoms up. the government rreleases surprising new numbers on american binge drinking. hello and very good morning to you. i'm veronica de la cruz. today, we begin with another romney victory. as predict the former massachusetts governor finished first in new hampshire's republican primary dealing a blow to conservatives who hoped to break his momentum. including the rest of the field including ron paul and jon

huntsman, last night's runner-ups need to do more to catch up. steve handelsman has more. >> reporter: two wins in a row for mitt romney. >> thank you, new hampshire. tonight, we made history! >> reporter: it's a blow to conservatives. newt gingrich was back in the pac tied for fourth with rick santorum, the stop romney vote got split. exit polls found moderate and conservatives cast votes for romney and ron paul was second, his biggest finish. >> we have had a victory for the cause of liberty tonight! >> reporter: jon huntsman third. >> ladies and gentlemen, i think we're in the hunt! >> reporter: but he lacks organization. it's romney's dream result. he took aim at president obama. >> if this election is a bidding war for those who can promise

the most benefits th, then i'm your president. you already have that president. if you want to make this election about restoring american greatness, then i hope you'll join us. >> reporter: romney's rivals used an attack expected from the democrats. romney getting rich at a company that bought failing firms and sometimes fired workers. drop it, romney said. >> this is such a mistake for our party and our nation. the country already has a leader who divides bus the politics of envy. we have to offer a vision. >> reporter: off to south carolina, the romney train is on track. i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, manchester, new hampshire. the obama administration is rejecting claims by syria's president that the deadly violence in its country is the fault of demonstrators. assad was placing responsibility to everybody but himself and that his comments only confirm the need for assad to step down.

meanwhile, a senior joint official told the security council tuesday the level of violence in syria actually went up since arab monitors arrived there last month. 400 people are believe to have been killed the last three weeks. scientists working on iran's nuclear program killed today in a bomb blast in iran. onian news agency says a motorcyclist drove up and attached the bomb to the car nothing a magnet. the agency says the victim worked at an enrichment plant. iran has blamed the u.s. and israel for those bombings. both countries deny involvement. now here is a look at the stories making news early toot in america. a coalition of civil and human rights activists join the rising chorus of voices calling for the firing of teachers at georgia schools. accusations levied against the

teachers for math questions on slavery and beatings. a man drove a stolen car into a. firefighters discovered the car after dousing the flames. the driver arrested for arson and receiving stolen property. a wave of vandalism threw a monkey wrench into roanoke's trash pickup. garbage pickup will resume today. finally, a california attempt to keep her sister out of her room helped police nab a thief. the tech savvy teen set up her web cam to record her sibling but instead she captured a former real estate agent stealing items during the family's open house. police have arrested the suspect. oops. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is meteorologist bill

karins. talking about getting caught red-handed! >> you can't trust the realtor? you think about it. they are in your house, alone. >> think how many people pass through your house. the maid, whatever. >> i always take my big collection of diamonds and hide them. >> your wife, the kids, the dogs. never know. >> dog. if it's the dog, you're in trouble. good morning, interesting forecast. changes are coming snow and cold air but first get rid of the warm air and rain first. the rain is heading through tennessee, areas of alabama. georgia, you're next. we have thunderstorms rolling through the sunshine state. tallahassee and panama city and as far as what we are dealing with, this is all rain even up to the ohio valley. temperatures plenty warm through kentucky and a shield of rain covering you. the next 48 hours, all of this rain is going to begin to spread to the east later on today through d.c. and virginia, tonight and thursday through southern new england. the only areas cold enough for wintry precip and snow is

central and northern new england. the mountain areas and the ski resorts will get snow out of this. the predicted rainfall together, new york city 1.5 and d.c. close to an inch and same for pittsburgh. significant rain event but will not cause problems for severe storms. once the costorm goes by, the cd air wraps into it. our computers think we will get significant shows, chicago, milwaukee, madison and possibly northern portions of wisconsin and the snow in northern new england. we will talk about that tomorrow. that is not a today's forecast but more for your wednesday. your wednesday's forecast rain in the southeast and rain in tennessee and southern ohio valley and the cold air is returning. billings, 23. that cold air will cover the rest of the u.s. soon that's a look at the national forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. areas like charlotte, north carolina, you may see a rumble of thunder. for the most part see a couple of heavy downpours during the

day. florida a chance of thunderstorms during the day and colder air returning to denver and pueblo. temperatures there back where they should be this time of the year. we will talk more about the cold air and snow later. >> really? snow for sure? the weatherman isn't always right. >> sooner or later in the wintertime it does have to get cold and snow. you want to place a bet against me, i'll win you a lot of money. the wall street protesters effect on our language. your "early today" business headlines straight ahead. plus here what brad pitt has to say about the possibility of his kids one day becoming actors. coming up, the raiders make a surprising move. the mayor of pittsburgh has a case of tebow mania. the wizards win. that's right, they finally win. you're watching "early today." >.

welcome back to "early today." i'm veronica de la cruz. here are some of your top headlines this morning. an unusually harsh diplomatic turn, hillary clinton slammed iran tuesday slamming iran's, quote, blatant disregard for its duties and isolation increasing enrichment nuclear program. six iranians were saved from a cargo boat taking on water tuesday. they were given food and water before turned over to the iranian coast guard. a surprise development at the occupy wall street movement. metal barricades have been removed from zuccotti park in new york. hundreds returned to the site but police warned they are still not allowed to camp there. the ruling of a federal appeals court which found no evidence that such a ban was necessary. case now returns to a lower

court. and sobering numbers when it comes to binge drinking. college age drinkers have an average nine alcoholic beverages when they get drunk. 1 in 6 say they have binged on booze in at least the last month. a look at your top health headlines on msnbc. a 20-year study suggests light weekly marijuana use does not harm the lungs. the data suggested that heavier pot smokers may experience a decline in lung function but there weren't enough frequent users in the study to draw firm conclusions. for more information on this and other health stories, always head to the web and check out msnbc.com's health page. now here is an early look at wall street. the s&p rose 11.

the nasdaq jumped 25. taking a look at overseas trading this morning. in tokyo, the nikkei up 25 points and in hong kong, the hang sang gained 147. a strong earnings outlook from alcoa helped stocks climb on tuesday. investors hope for a stronger earning season were lifted by hefty 2012 aluminum bands despite a quarter loss in 2011. leading the dow higher, caterpillar rose. tiffany and company plunged 10%. elsewhere, orange juice surged a record 10% on news some brazilian imports contain a h m harmful fungiside.

due to italy's economic crisis the mafia has now become the country's largest lenered. at home a good year to the preserve. thanks to its investment the fed paid $77 billion to the government in 2011. the second highest amount ever. in an effort to stay afloat, eastman kodak is hoping patent suits against apple and htc corporation will help speed its turnaround. several nation's biggest banks under investigation whether they overcharged customers struggling to pay their home insurance. finally, the occupy wall street movement has left its mark on 2011 in more than one way. the american dialect society named occupiers its word of the year. kobe throws them up. the wizards finally win. a big college hoops upset. the pittsburgh mayor understand firsthand the agony of defeat. we have the rain moving up the east coast but the cold air

is coming. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

[ snoring ] [ thunder crashes ] [ snoring ] [ thunder crashes ] [ snoring ] [ male announcer ] vicks nyquil cold and flu. the nighttime, sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, fever, best sleep you ever got with a cold... medicine. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] vicks dayquil. defeats 5 cold & flu symptoms. ♪ very good morning to you. if you're just waking up this is "early today." in sports the washington wizards won a game for the first time in nearly nine months. here is nbc's fred roggin with a look at your sports headlines.

>> reporter: good morning. i hope you're sitting down because what i'm about to say may shock you. after starting the season eight straight losses, the washington wizards have finally won a game! the stars were aligned in d.c. as the wizards put an end to the worst start in franchise history. wiz up 12 at the half. rashard lewis came off the bench and best game of the year and finished with 15. break up the wiz and beat raptors 93-78. to los angeles. kobe bryant up to old tricks against the sun. he finished with 48. that is the most points by a player this season. he may be 33, but kobe still got game. and the lakers beat phoenix 99-83. college hoops. illinois upset fifth ranked ohio state. brandon paul with the night you dream about. career high 43. nailed a three-pointer late in the game for the lead. moments later with a man all over him he threw up a rainbow and drained it. brandon paul carried illinois 74-72 win.

football, the raiders surprisingly fired head coach hue jackson but does anything the raiders do a surprise? jackson 8-8 in one season with the club. reggie mckenzie, the general manager wants to bring in a new guy. broncos two wins away from the super bowl. this game winning touchdown in overtime tweeted 10,000 tweets a second and broke the old record from beyonce announced her pregnancy. luke ravensthalh had to tebow'ing to pay back a bet to the denver mayor for the broncos win over the steelers.

some of the tiniest man's best friend qualify more than others. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today" on this wednesday. a rainy commute for you in areas of kentucky, tennessee, through the southeast. we could see thunderstorms today especially in florida. after today, the cold air begins to invade. we are watching 20s and 30s across the northern plains and denver today, only 24. then as we go towards tomorrow, that cold air plunges down

through kansas, missouri, chicago. you're in for some snow and some of your first snow in many cases of the season so watch out there, especially through wisconsin and north wards of chicago. someone is going to get probably up to 4 inches. that's a big deal this year. if you're watching us on news channel 3 in huntington, west virginia, see a variety of beautiful textiles from rugs to riches at the huntington museum of art. >> one more time for good measure? >> rugs to riches? >> just how you said it. >> not the rags. >> yeah, the rugs. thank you, bill. now here an early look at entertainment news. odds are bets that one day actors for brad pitt's kids. he is fine with them being actors but he says not until they are 18. the louisiana a. times report the new investigation into the 1981 death of natalie

wood has no evidence to suggest the cause was anything but an accident. the case has not been closed but a top sheriff's official said highly unlikely any new ground will be broken on how the actress died. justin bieber says he is not a kid any more. he told the magazine he will never sing about anything like sex, drugs and swearing. finally, lindsay lohan has found a fresh new way to get into trouble. tmz reporting the irs has filed a lean against her for over $93,000 claiming she never paid her income tax for 2009 and that she is also sued by a paparazzi. he is apparently hit him with her car or something. >> a lien means we will take your money. does chef a lot of money left? >> isn't she doing that liz taylor movie? >> now she has to. she has it to play her bills. she did the playboy shoot too.

>> thank you for reminding us of that, bill. a nearby galloway township new jersey working like a dog has garnered one pint-sized pooch a huge honor. the guinness book of world records has named lucy the smallest working dog in the world! she is so cute! weighing over 2 pounds and standing more 5 inches tall the tiny terrier works as a therapy dog and lifted the spirits of youth and proving the biggest things can come in small packages. i'm just too much. i'm veronica de la cruz. this is "early today," your first stop of the day on your nbc station.

>> live, local, late-breaking, this is wbal-tv 11 news today. >> good morning. the roller-coaster ride of the weather forecast continues. today, a storm system is approaching. you can see it on hd doppler spinning thread of the southeast and movie heavier rainfalls into kentucky and tennessee. this is creeping our way and you will see increasing clouds. the rain most likely into the afternoon hours. it may start as a wintry mix in some spots. we'll talk about where temperatures will be this afternoon. >> 29 degrees on tv hill. a man faces animal cruelty

charges. >> mitt romney celebrates his win and makes history in the process. >> a big day today in annapolis at the start of the general assembly session. >> we're monitoring some of fire activity in the city and we will check [ female announcer ] they've been off limits to dieters since time began. not anymore.

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[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. >> what are we in for today? >> today it looks like a storm is approaching. we had a break yesterday. it was gorgeous yesterday. we do have the clouds moving in from t s