this morning on "early today," taking heat. republican presidential candidates battle front-runner mitt romney in south carolina. 'roid rage? what goes up. russia says it's failed probe could come crashing down within days. hello. very good morning to you. i'm veronica de la cruz. today, we begin with the southern swing.

the campaign push is on in south carolina where the republican presidential hopefuls are looking to lock in conservative support. nbc's brian moore joins us from washington with details. >> reporter: the candidates are in the trenches with all but one fighting for survival. >> hi guys. big night last night. very exciting. >> reporter: mitt romney's underdog opponents are hoping for a knockout. the republican front-runner is being hammered over the airways. online in a documentary and on the stump where newt gingrich is turning up the heat and not apologizing. >> i think that the american people deserve to know things. >> reporter: rick perry is trying to shoot down romney's credentials as a job creator. >> we need to have more venture capitalism going on in america and less vulture capitalism. >> reporter: after winning iowa and new hampshire, romney can afford to shrug off the attack.

ron paul is avoiding the attacks altogether but they are not sitting well with other republicans including opponent rick santorum. >> it's bad enough for barack obama to blame folks and business for causing problems in this country. it's one other thing for republicans to joining in on that. >> nine days left until south carolina and the gop presidential race is heating up. word this morning romney's camp is getting ready to criticize his business records. president obama is back in washington after a quick trip to chicago. he told supporters they will finish what they started in 2008. mr. obama also made a surprise visit to his campaign headquarters in chicago to thank staffers working on his re-election efforts and hope the campaign, quote, embodies what

we are fighting for. may cause anti-american backlash in the muslim word. this is from a youtube video from soldiers urinating. while the marine corps is investigating, military officials tell nbc news they believe the video is legitimate and the marines may be based at camp lejeune, north carolina. they say if the marines are positively identified they could face criminal prosecution. the united states supreme court has decided there is -- in effect there is one place employees cannot sue for discrimination. religious institutions. the high court ruled unanimously in a case of a luge rap teather. the federal government sued the school but the court said the lawsuit was barred by the church's first amendment right

to free exercise of religion. re is a look at other story making stories today in america. last halloween, surveillance cameras rolled through a rampage in an upstate new york gym. he ripped down equipment. police arrived' took the victim down with stun guns. he died shortly after with a cardiac arrest. an autopsy discovered steroids and cpc in his system. heavy rain in huntsville, alabama, took many by surprise. rescue crews had a busy day as the downpour turned roads into rivers and forcing officials to set up road blocks to keep drivers safe. and, finally, one los angeles artist is about to reveal his mission of the future. check this out. his metropolis 2 sculpture is after roadways interpofen between hundreds of skyscrapers.

it will be unveiled saturday on he at the los angeles county mutual of art. here is bill karins with your weather forecast. only traffic really moves like that in los angeles, though? >> many cities. atlanta. >> and our weatherman is under the weather so we are going easy on you today. >> the last two days was like a james earl jones. today like a 15 yearly. you never know when i will start cracking. >> if you want my pen and draw the numbers and i'll hold them up. >> sign numbers. see if i can get through it. snow and heavy rain is changing over to snow in northern portions of new england. finally cold enough and mostly talking albany, new york, northwa northward. vermont and new hampshire and maine the only locations enough snow. as far as snowfall predictions go 2 to 3 inches in maine and not a big deal. boston to springfield not expecting much at all and the

berkshires the white and green mountains here and adirondacks of northern new york but that is where the ski areas are so they will enjoy that know. oklahoma city yesterday had snow and watching the snow from wisconsin through iowa and each st. louis expecting snow as you go throughout your morning commute. winter weather advisories through this area and most locations pick up a dusting to 2 inches and linger longer in milwaukee and wisconsin. a possibility of 3 to 6 inches and much of wisconsin and much anywhere lake michlt because we will get lake effect behind this by the time we get to friday. storm one goes by and storm two lingers tomorrow into the great lakes. a different view of the radar showing the snow through central missouri and near the quad city. the forecast for today, cold air plunging in through the middle of the country. rainy weather early today in new england and that will exit during this that's a look at the national forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. snow showers will turn over to some light snow and snow

squalls. temperatures in chicago will be dipping too. the windchill will drop into the teens. areas like oklahoma city, a little nicer today with the sunshine. high around 40. yeah, i'd say 15-year-old more than -- >> actually, i really like this tone of voice. >> you like the late night radio voice? >> i'm liking it. i'll say barry white and give you that much. >> that's being kind. >> you sound great, bill. keep it up. crocks take a bite out of holiday sales. trouble for twinkie makers and the oracle of omaha dares republicans in congress. your early morning business headlines are straight. plus shocking revelations of one of hollywood's most famous clan. kobe does it get. you're watching "early today."

very good morning to you. welcome back to "early today." i'm veronica de la cruz. here are some of your top hone headlines this morning. a french cameraman is killed in syria. the government is blaming, quote, terrorists. joran van der sloot has pled guilty on killing a woman in spain. he was the prime suspect of natalee's holloway's disappearance in aruba. barbour says most of the pards were recommended by the parole board. a survey finds tensions between the rich and the poor are increasing. 3 out of 10 say there are very strong conflicts between the have's and have not's.

debris from a russian spacecraft that launched in november will fall as soon as this weekend. the ownrbiter never got out of orbit. the odds of anyone hit by the debris are said to be slim. now here is an early look at one of your top health headlines. a new movement is hitting facebook. one to create a barbie as a role model for young girls going through chemo or hair loss condition. the page created by women who had trouble dealing with baldness or going through it themselves has 18,000 likes. so far, mattel has only sent a letter to the group saying they don't accept outside ideas. for more information on this, check out nbc.com. the s&p was up a fraction and the nasdaq gained eight.

taking a look at overseas trading this morning. in tokyo, the nikkei down 62 points, while in hong kong, the hang seng dipped 56. markets managed to hold on to recent gains wednesday. u.s. steel and material stocks higher thanks in part to an upgrade in that sector. on the earnings front, oil giant chevron down 2%. home builder lennar shares up 7%. crocks pushed shares of the the popular footwear maker up 16%. supervalu dropped 12% after missing its earnings estimates. urban outfitters plunged on the unexpected gat tour of its coo. hostess is filing for bankruptcy protection the second time in a decade as they try to find its footing in a increasingly health conscious market.

a survey shows surprisingly robust american spending and factory production at the end of 2011. japan's finance minister told timothy geithner his country will take steps to create dependency on iranian oil imports. after trace amounts of a potentially harmful fungicide was found in orange juice. buffett tells "time" magazine he will match you will republican members of congress dollar-for-dollar. he'll even go 3 for 1 with mcconnell himself. the mavs and the shamrocks down to the wire in a big decision to go pro. blake griffin and the clippers challenge the rich guys from

miami. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

very good morning to you. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, the los angeles lakers made a strong statement

last night handing the utah jazz their first home court loss of the year. here is nbc's fred roggin with an early look at your sports headlines. >> good morning. kobe bryant has done it again. the night after scoring 48 against the suns he dropped 40 in utah. lakers needed every single one of them and coney did most of his damage in the first and 14 at the quarter and 21 he is half enjazz hung around all game and forced overtime. josh howard tied it in the final minute with all eyes on kobe, he dished to pau gasol and he hit a three for the league. go figure. no one thought he was a threat from the outside. bryant hit the 40 mark for the second straight game and the lakers won 90-87 in o.t. rocket needed a bucket and got it from luis scola. tied and off to overtime and as close as houston would get. richard jefferson, the dagger from the corner. rockets made it interesting but the spurs got the win. mavs and celts down to the wire.

under 30 seconds to play. paul pierce filled a three to tie the game at 85. dallas have the reigning mvp on their side. not always pretty but effective. the bucket and the foul. dirk nowitzki completed a three-point play for the lead and mavs held on to win it 90-85. chris paul to blake griffin seemed like every time the clippers threw down a huge dunk, heat with one of their own. lebron with 40. they were deadlocked at 86. the clippers put it away with another dunk. the andre jordan, game over. clips beat the heat 95-89. baylor quarterback robert griffin iii announced he will enter the draft. he has received his undergraduate degree and receive his masters in communications in

july. that is pretty impressive for an athlete who is only 21. how much is too much when it comes to an age difference in marriage? your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. we will introduce you to one couple that have legs up on the cost of golf. you're watching "early today." .

today" on this thursday. heavy rain in areas of southern new england will greet you if you head out the door. northern new england we are dealing with snow and ice during the day so especially traveling there will be the worst of it. during the day, second storm system begins to form over the top of michigan. a snowy afternoon in areas like chicago, st. louis, you're going to get a little bit of snow this morning. milwaukee also. then by the time we go through friday, that's just plain old cold heading through the great lakes and that means heavy lake-effect snow. if you're watching us on wltz nbc 38, columbus, georgia. monumental rock 'n' roll photography at the columbus mutual. a little david bowie, a little "white wedding." >> i love him! you're doing a really good job. >> we try. not great, but we try. now here is an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment.

two of robert kardashian's ex-wives claim chloe kardashian not his biological daughter. the late kardashian told him chloe was not his daughter and comes in the wake of chris jenner saying she was unfaithful to kardashian during their 30 years of marriage. chloe tweeted i let a lot of things fly and you are disgusting. no word if she plans to file legal action. the people's choice awards last night winners were "harry potter." and katy perry. your favorite, bill. halle berry is going third go at the atary. 66-year-old rocker brian ferry married his son's 29-year-old form area girlfriend.

his son's former girlfriend. finally a suddenly clean-cut ashton kutcher tells tv writers he wants to stay with "know of t -- "two and a half men" beyond this season. in florida, a nearby punta gorda has helped lower the price tag on his owner's golf outings. his dog is known to find golf balls in their backyard. they haven't brought a ball home since they brought him home. the dog gives a break to his owner's wallet in the tough economic times. i'm veronica de la cruz. this is "early today." just your first stop of today on your nbc station.

>> live, local, late-breaking, this is wbal-tv 11 news today. >> good morning. we're waking up to wet weather as we have some heavy rain overnight. you can see the rain showers from hagerstown through annapolis up to towson and some leftover in cecil county. there will be around the metro area for the next hour or two. most should be ended before sunrise. details when we come back in the

forecast. >> 50 degrees on tv hill. education news. a prestigious honor for the maryland school system. >> the city council president does not think baltimore should host the baltimore grand prix anymore. >> i'm tara mergener are. nine days and counting until south carolina's primary and none of the candidates show any sign of slowing down. >> speeds are down this morning. we have to problems

[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. >> rain overnight.