today" missing at sea. the search continues for crew ship passengers off the toast of italy. nothing lasts. a gas explosion in new york state reduces an entire home to rubble. release at last. a russian tanker delivered much needed fuel to an iced in alaska town. hello. good morning. i'm lynn berry. we begin with a growing

disaster. the italian cruise disaster appears to be worsening. 25 passengers an four crew members are now unaccounted for and new concerns the ship could be leaking fuel. michelle kosinski has the lastest. >> reporter: rescuers fighting their way while there is time to find people who might still be trapped deep to the costa concordia, had to pull back because of weather. divers on a good day can barely see. >> it's dark and also we -- we are losing the track of our way. >> reporter: among the missing, american retirees jerry and debra hile of minnesota. still emerging video shows how a vacation three hours in evolved into a desperate push to escape. >> people were passing out. people were getting nervous.

people were having chest pains. i was having chest pains and having anxiety because i don't know how to swim. >> reporter: infrared video shows people inching down the hall in the dark. blaming the captain for making an unauthorized decision to steer off course closer to an island. he is also under suspicion of abandoning ship while passengers still jarveltscrambled for thei. back here in the u.s., republican presidential hopefuling squared offer in south carolina last night for their 16th televised debate and a few days left before saturday's primary, mitt romney's rivals went back on the attack hoping to prevent his third win in a row. steve handelsman has more. >> reporter: five candidates were left after jon huntsman dropped out. but the debate boiled down to

four versus front-runner mitt romney. >> reneed to satisfy the country what whoever we nominate has a record that can stand up to barack obama in a very effective way. >> i know that people are going to come after me. i know president obama is going to come after me, but the record is pretty darn good. >> reporter: good, he said, as governor of massachusetts. >> we balanced the budget every year that i was in office. >> governor romney raised taxes and massachusetts was 47th in job creation. >> reporter: before that, romney ran bain capital that rick perry claimed refinanced and ruined the steel mill in south carolina. >> there were leach lost jobs there. >> reporter: romney claimed bain saved and grew u.s. jobs originally. >> you look at places like staples, verizon, the steel company i talked about, the sports authority, they alone added 120,000 jobs as of today. >> reporter: now romney's wealthy friends are running harsh ads against rick santorum. >> i would go out and say stop

it. >> reporter: romney looked unfazed and confident. >> i'm the guy that can best post up against barack obama. >> reporter: that is his appeal to south carolina republicans. i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, washings. a look at other stories making news early today in america. a gas leak explosion turned a new york townhouse into a pile of rubble. the blast shift the entire block forcing neighbors to evacuate their homes. firefighters had just arrived to inspect the leak just moments before the home erupted into flames. four people were injured. over a hundred firefighters battled a massive fire as it ripped through an office building at a california oil refinery. the raging inferno bender for at least four hours before it was brought under control. there were no reports of any injuries. at least two people were hurt when a run-away horse jumped over a barricade at a dallas parade. a handler was walking the animal at the martin luther king event

when it apparently got spooked. police officers captured and calmed the horse before bringing it back to the parade route. finally, instead of going to the golden globes, jack black decided to party for a purpose. why not? a cute outfit there too. the actor spent the evening with over 300 kids and adults who survived kidney disease at an annual prom event. in honor of the event black was voted prom king. of course. here is a look at the national and region weather, here is meteorologist bill karins, the only prom king. >> i never made it there. i was the write-in vote by me! good morning, everyone. in southern new england, look out the window. may not last long. snow on the ground. last night about 1 to 3 inches fell over many areas of southern new york and southern portions of massachusetts and connecticut and rhode island but temperatures now warming up

rapidly and rain latings er on . if you're waiting for a snow day, the snow is about gone. a little bit of white left up in southern new hampshire. the green is rain. warmer temperatures on the way and above freezing in hartford and boston and rain in albany and new hampshire and maine. serious weather, strong thunderstorms went through the st. louis area. they put down some very large hail and damaging winds. those are now pushing into central illinois and behind that snow is widespread heading for the quad cities this morning. i think that morning commute will be slippery out there and should head up towards milwaukee and chicago will get a little bit of know after 9:00 a.m. this morning. the forecast for snow is not a lot of it but 1 to 3 inches in the quad cities up to maux and northern portions of michigan will do pretty well and blockbuster snowstorm tonight and tomorrow in the twask northwest.

the eastern united states, umbrella day and eventually the wet weather will make it to the southeast later today with showers and thunderstorms. that's a look at the national forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. showers and storm work their way through the ohio valley. weird to see a chance of thunderstorms in this time of year in the middle of night heading for areas of illinois and indiana but that is the story. cold air will swoop in behind it tomorrow. we had a little snow last night in southern new england. >> a smith. >> i know, it's such a tease. coming up, zappos is hacked and wikepedia on strike a. your early morning headlines are straight ahead. beyonce is given a unique honor from down under. coming up, lamar odom returns to l.a. kansas takes out another top

five team. miss america has the crown. now she wants aaron rodgers. you're watching "early today."

good morning. welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are your top headlines this morning. a new poll will do nothing to improve the image of congress. a record 84% say they disapprove of how lawmakers are doing their j job. in thailand, a terror plot that may have been targeting americans and israelis appears to have been stopped. police say a man with alleged ties to hezbollah militants led them to a warehouse near bangkok with 8,000 pounds of bomb-making materials. days of trapped by snow and ice, nome, alaska is getting fuel. a tanker has arrived to pump

gallons into the town. the most depressing day of the year was yesterday! a researcher called the third monday in january blue monday because of the combination of bad weather, failed new year's resolutions, debt, and the end of the holiday season. there you go. something to smile about today. now here is another look at one of your top health headlines on msnbc.com. there is a new study that says babies need close-up face time with their parents to learn how to talk. the research found newborns spent a lot of time looking directly into the eyes of those holding them and then at 6month-old, the babies switched to watching lips and mouth movement as a way of learning how to sound out words themselves. for more information on this, and other health stories. check out the health page online at msnbc.com. now here is an early look at how wall street kicked off the day.

after closed for the martin luther king jr. holiday. the dow opens at 12,422 after losing 48 points on friday. the s&p was down six points. the nasdaq lost 14. overseas trading in tokyo, the nikkei gained 88 points and the hong kong hang sang shot up 615. as investors return they will be watching reports on housing and trading prices and traders keep an eye on microsoft and other tech stock include intel. french president sarkozy says the downgrade of france's credit rating changes nothing but standard & poor's has downgraded the country. china's economy slowed last year. gross domestic product grew 8.9%, its lowest rate in 2 1/2 years. bmw of north america is

recalling 89,000 minicoopers to replace, at no charge, faulty water pumps that could overheat and cause a fire. online retailer zappos.com says a hacker may have stolen some of the personal information of 24 million customers. zappos issued an alert to customers and urged them to change their passwords. wikepedia will black out the english language version of its website on wednesday to protest anti-piracy legislation under consideration in congress. apple is expected to announce thursday that it's planning to revolutionize the textbook industry. soon, you may be able to have updated an interactive textbooks that you can buy on itunes. and a life-like one-foot tall steve jobs doll won't be sold after all. apparently, the family of the apple cofounder who died october 15th, objected to the sale of

the figurine dressed in jobs trademark black turtle nneck an rimmed glasses and jeans. your sports is up next. the lakers pull out a win against the nba champs mavericks. your "early morning" sports headlines are straight ahead. a snow on the way for the northwest. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today." hello! honey?

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good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, a busy holiday basketball schedule in both college and the pros. here is fred roggin with a look at your sports headlines. impoom. mlk holiday pitched for an nba fan. 22 teams, 11 games and get to it. in boston, celts trying to put an end to their recent losing streak but wasn't to be. thunder win it 97-88. celts have dropped five in a row. carmelo noin is nursing a sprained ankle and sore wrist but ready to go against the magic. shumpert finished with 33 abo, it wasn't enough. everything went right for

orlando down the stretch. they won it 92-93. rur to the nation's capital. tough time to be a wizard. mcgee with the highlight of the day. tossed of it on the backboard to himself for the dunk. despite that, they lose again. houston won it 114-106. the clippers know a thing or two about dunks. blake griffin to the net. blake had 23 and 14 boards. to the third, griffin to his best bud deandre jordan. clips win it. lamar odom returned to l.a. and the lakers spoiled his homecoming. lakers won it 73-70. college hoops, kansas won six straight at home against top five teams. third ranked baylor, first loss of the season. jaw hawks are flying. 92-74. despite losing to the giants all is not lost for packers quarterback aaron rodgers. listen.

>> in the reigning super bowl champs, call me, aaron rodgers. i'm laura kaeppeler. >> she went on to win miss ameri america. >> that is your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. martin luther king day was observed nationwide yesterday but we will show you a tribute to dr. king that fulfilled one little boy's dream. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today,". thunderstorms, yes, thunderstorms with large hail right along interstate 70 into the indianapolis area here. we have seen some nasty weather around st. louis. you're clear. those storms are existing your area. in the east today, cold air today and tomorrow. in northern plains, minneapolis, only a high of 12. if you're watching us on wlix, join the magic school bus on a ride through weather science and a kicks up a storm exhibit at the science center in lansing michigan. that is your "early today" event of the today. >> you're like the mayor of science centers, bill. thank you. here is a look at the headlines in entertainment. a new feud appears to be

brewing. madonna won best song at the golden globes on sunday beating elton john. his husband david lashed out on facebook saying her victory speech was, quote, embarrassing in its narcism. quite the feud here, guys. tone it down. while the two singers have always had a rocky relationship, this latest bitterness stems from madonna's recent criticism of his friend lady gaga. o.j. simpson sits in his big house he is about to lose another. according to tms, his miami four-bedroom home is being foreclosed on. a newly discovered horse fly in australia was to delicious.

researchers named it after none other than beyonce. bootielicious was the title of a song when she was with destiny's child. in nearby camp verde, one child laid the groundwork. it was the town's first celebration of martin luther king jr.'s birthday and it was all because of chandler. the 6-year-old organized the event for the civil rights leader by collecting signatures and securing permission from the town council. impressive, chandler. after leading a march through the streets, chandler thanked the crowd for making his year-long dream come true. hopefully, it's a tradition there. i'm learn berry. 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. it is warmer and that was yesterday. right now, most of the rain is in the southern suburbs. the rate will pick up in coverage as we go through the day. -- the rain will pick up in coverage. 40 at the airport. off and on rain showers with a high temperature neared 52. we will come back and check the forecast going into the weekend. >> 39 degrees on tv hill. the super bowl in baltimore --

what the nfl commissioner has to say about that prospect. >> mitt romney is the man to beat. highlights from the latest gop debate. >> a terrifying ordeal for a family. >> a busy start for your morning commute. several accidents. several accidents.

that's been wrapped in a flaky crust stuffed with a gooey center toasted up all golden brown then given a delicious design? a toaster strudel. pillsbury toaster strudel. so delicious...so fun. here's a better idea... pillsbury grands! flaky layers biscuits. in just 15 minutes, the light delicate layers add a layer of warmth to your next dinner. pillsbury grands! dinner ideas made easy. [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. >> we have to prepare for some rain? >> it will be warmer than yesterday. let's look at hd doppler.