this morning on "early today," primary concern. the ballots for south carolina intensifies with a new revelation on what front-runner mitt romney pays in taxes. chicago shocker. a group of teens are charged in the brutal beating and robbery of an illinois boy. and bare bones. archeologist uncover prehistory skulls they say could date back to the ice age. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello. good morning. i'm lynn berry. today, we begin with a taxing situation. with just two days until the south carolina primary, republican presidential

front-runner mitt romney is taking some heat over his rils over his revelation that he pays a lower tax rate than the average american. it is a topic that is sure to dominate when the candidates square off in tonight's debate in north charleston. tracy potts is here in washington with all of the details. good morning, tracy. >> good morning, lynn. >> reporter: the millionare front-runner has a couple of financial problems down with the voters in south carolina. first of all, the $374,000 he got in speaking fees last year in an amount he describes not much before the actual amount was released. and also the 15% effective tax rate that he is paying romney in an interview said, he explained it's from an investment, not from wages that tax rates could be doubled. romney has promised to release his tax returns but not right away. he says he'll do it in april which, he says, it's traditionally when candidates

tend to do that, after the most recent return is ready. but, yesterday, one of his strongest supporters chris christie called on him to release those tax returns sooner. sooner is better than later, christie said. in response, romney says he will wait until april to release those returns. expect this issue to come up tonight at the second debate in south carolina. that debate just days before south carolina's primary. lynn? >> tracy potts for us there in washington, thank you. environmentalist praise it and republicans are slamming president obama's decision to block a controversial oil pipeline. the keystone xl project would have carried oil mixed with tar sands from western canada across the midwest and down to gulf coast refineries. critics say the pipeline posed a risk by going through environmentally sensitive areas of nebraska, but union leaders say the gop said it would have created thousands of jobs. newt gingrich called the

president's decision, quote, stunningly stupid. the pipeline owner will event lip submit a new plan with an alternate route. now to the very latest this morning on that disaster involving a grounded cruise ship liner off the coast of italy. the captain of the ship claims that he tripped and fell from the vessel as it was tilting over last friday. he says he did not intend to abandon his passengers. satellite photographs are being used to monitor the accident site for any signs of fuel leaks. 11 people are confirmed dead. calmer seas allowed the search to resume this morning for 21 people still missing in the disaster. an american couple is among them. now for a look at other stories making news early today in america. a videotaped beating that went viral has led to the arrest of seven chicago teens. battery and robbery charges were filed in connection with the violent assault on a high school student recorded an then posted

online by one of the suspects. all but one of the teens have been charged as juveniles. brush fires in central florida came close to killing one member of the wildlife community. home video shows an injured black bear struggling to flee the area after possibly scorching his paws. the blaze spread 30 acres before dozens of firefighters put the fire under control. looks like the hollywood award season has gone to the dogs. just a matter of time, right? co-stars of "the artist" were on hand to announce the nominees for the first-ever golden collar awards. honors for the best performing canines in film and television and it will be handed out on february 13th. now for a look at your national and region weather, here is meteorologist bill karins with a look at the forecast. >> is the bear okay? >> it looked so sad just crawling there. looked like he made it out okay,

yes. >> just lie to me if it's not the truth. >> yeah. >> now i can go to sleep. thank you. no nightmares. good morning, everyone. yesterday, the story in the northwest with the snow. about 4 inches fell in seattle area and 3 in portland. the other cities about better than that. take kona, olympia, 6 to 1 inches of snow. where is the storm heading next? already bringing snow into the mountainous areas of idaho and northern utah and now into areas of wyoming. they will do great skiing in the days ahead in utah. the cold is other story. colder air of the season in the great lakes. rain in salt lake city. the cold air never made it to the valley floor but the mountains picked up significant snow and still are and that will continue on and off late through friday. the extended period here, we will see a piece of that

moisture coming down. looks like the southern great lakes, including northern illinois and chicago, possibly detroit and cleveland area could deal with snow friday into friday night. we will watch that tomorrow. i mentioned it's cold. windchills are very, very cold. minus 33 right now in northern minnesota and in minneapolis, your high today is 4. that's that's a look at the national forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. the coldest air by far of the season is moving through the northern plains. minot a windchill of minus 45. it's very brutal morning out there. typical of what you'd expect in the heart of winter. we're cold and got snow and it's cold and feels like january, all of a sudden. i don't know how you describe a windchill that cold. >> bill, thaus. negative developments for eastman kodak. banks deliver their bottom line and something sweet is happening

in florida. your early morning headlines are ahead. she is the queen of the heavy leopard skin and mascara look. wait until you see her without any makeup. coming up, the wizards do it again. hollywood sequel for david beckham and a tennis player causes quite a racket at the aussie open. you're watching "early today."

good morning. welcome back. i'm lynn berry. here are some of your top headlines this morning. yesterday's online protest against anti-piracy legislation may be paying off. a growing number of lawmakers are now pulling their support of the stop online piracy act and critics fear the bills would create unprecedented censorship of the west.

investigators are saying a contractor working for the federal reserve is allegedly copying the code to help his private computer programming business. someone was able to smuggle a magazine published by al qaeda to a detainee at guantanamo bay. one issue contained tips on how to kill americans. authorities say now mail between prisoners and their attorneys is being inspected. good and bad news for the washington monument. a billionaire is coming forward to donate $7.5 million to finish repair work after last summer's earthquake. however, that work will need to keep the monument closed through the rest of this year. they were all the rage after kate middleton's wedding but do not try to wear a fastener in one part of england. the royal es coat horse racing course says ladies can wear hats but no fasteners in some areas and they are banning some types of dresses. in mexico, archeologists have found the remains of bears,

including skulls, that may be 11,000 years old. they were in underwater sink holes inside caves inside the yucatan peninsula. now here is an early look at one of your top health headlines on msnbc.com. a new study out today says abortion rates are higher in countries where the procedure is illegal. the report in today's lancette found that almost half of all abortions in the worldwide are unsafe. the research says there were fewer unwanted pregnancies in country with good access to birth control. for more information on this, and other health stories, check out the health page at msnbc.com. now here is an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,578 after gaining 96 points yesterday. the s&p added 14 points. the nasdaq climbed 41. taking a look at overseas trading this morning. in tokyo, the nikkei rose 89 points.

while in hong kong, the hang seng rose 256. a triple-header of key economic reports are due out today, including the consumer price index. we will get the latest weekly update on unemployment claims. plus status on new housing starts. earnings reports are due this morning from bank of america. and other financial stocks like morgan stanley. investment bank goldman sachs net income declined 58% in the fourth quarter but the company still made a billion dollars and beat analyst estimates. ebay's net income in the fourth quarter was almost $2 billion and it was helped by higher revenue on the sale of its remaining interest in skype. factory output surged in december by the most in the year. stronger demands for business equipment and business and energy as manufacturing rebounds from the recession. foreign demands for u.s. treasury debt rose in november to the highest level ever. total foreign holdings increased

to 4.75 trillion dollars. the international monetary fund plans to raise an extra $500 billion so it can issue new loans. the imf says the euro zone nations may need to borrow a electrical -- trillion dollars in the coming years. eastman kodak filed for bankruptcy today. the company has had years of falling sales and the decline of its film business. air fares are going up yet again. delta air lines increased fares by $4 to $10 round trip across much of the u.s. a florida company has been chosen as the best chocolate in america. that sounds great. this is the sixth year in a row that vorman love affections won the top honor. coming up, steve nash auditions for the knicks. japanese pitcher signs in texas. and david beckham decides he is staying in l.a. who says there is no more fire in personality in professional tennis? get it all out there, buddy.

your "early morning" sports headlines are straight ahead. it feels and looks like winter out there, especially in the northern plains. we got snow heading for many areas. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today."

in sports, the nba washington wizards have having that kind of year. when they win a game, it's the lead story. here is fred roggin with a look at all of your sports headlines. good morning. last week, the wizards picked up their first win of the season. yesterday beat the best team in the league, win number two. what is up next? balancing the budget? wizards shocked everybody including themselves against the thunder. jordan crawford up top to wall. he had a team high 25. nick young caught fire from beyond the arc. and a couple of threes behind the stretch. wizards win in a thriller. spurs did it in overtime. gary neal hit one shot all game but gave the spurs the lead in o.t. magic with a chance in the final seconds. j.j. redick drains the three for the win but he didn't get it off in time. spurs won their first road game of the year, 85-83 in o.t. one fan is green and one who is anything but lean.

the nuggets trim the fat against the sixers. andre miller scored the final ten points in regulation and hit the go ahead in o.t. he finished with 28 off the bench and denver wins it 108-104. what is up with the knicks? steve nash handed the knicks their fourth straight loss. spike lee didn't look happy. phoenix wins it. texas rangers signed japanese pitching ace yu darvish. and david beckham re-signed with the l.a. galaxy. a few days into the aussie open and the biggest loser has to be marco baghdadis and his rackets. frustrated with his play, he took it out on his equipment. after smashing one racket, he moved on to another. then he moved on to another. and, yep, one good for good measure. he broke four rackets and two of them still in the factory plastic. john mcenroe would have been proud. more rackets smashed and

one huge temper tantrum for marco baghdadis. >> that is your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. >> bill does that with his weather clicker sometimes. it's entertaining. mark wahlberg says he is sorry and rob lowe, sports reporter? your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. imagine you're about to give birth. you make it to the hospital through a snowstorm, only to get stuck in the elevator! you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today on this thursday. cold in the northern planes as cold as it gets. windchills in the mine urs 30 to 40 range. temperatures will be extremely cold even with thunder in the day today. later today through the great lakes, a chance of snow showers. then later tonight, even d.c., chance of flurries and new york city and philadelphia maybe more and maybe a trace or a dusting. southern new england could get an inch or two late tonight and tomorrow morning may be a little slick. if you're watching on wxai live in atlanta, georgia, learn of the life of a trail blazing scientist and humanitarian, george washington carver at the jimmy carter library and museum. that is your "early today" event of the today. here is an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. actor rob lowe may have scored a big sports scoop on wednesday. let the whole world know about it via twitter. he set both the social networking and pro football work on their ears wednesday after tweeting that his favorite indianapolis colts quarterback

peyton manning was retiring. what? manning sat out this season with an injury and is thought to be on the trading block but, until yesterday, no one even mentioned the possibility of retirement. lowe, who is known to be friends with the colts owner, says he hopes his source is wrong. backlash has forced mark wahlberg to apologize in an interview to "men's journal". he syas he would have stopped terrorists from flying an airliner into the world trade center on september 11th if he had been on the plane. snooki known for her makeup and wild hair styles took to twitter yesterday. look. this is a picture of her completely natural and it's not much makeup on. she looks beautiful. let's be honest. so much better without the makeup. >> i'm shocked. >> i know. >> i don't know what to say. i want to see more of her like that. >> let this be a lesson to all

of those young girls out there. put down the bronzer! >> now i will be sad when i watch "jersey shore" because i want to see her like that. this come king 5 news in seattle, washington. in nearby, tacoma, traveling to the hospital during a snowstorm was much easier than getting to the delivery room for one expecting couple. katie was moments away when she got stuck on the elevator with her mid wife and nurse crew. her husband heard the cries of their newborn son through the doors. no longer willing to wait, he crawled to the trapped elevator to see his wife and newborn baby boy. >> he must have been freaking out. >> i'm sure he was. >> i'm lynn 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. we're off to a cold start on this thursday. the skies are clear. 25 at the airport. 18 in taneytown. sunshine to start. a few clouds will move in this afternoon. high temperature around 38. we will come back and check the forecast going into the weekend. >> 4:57. 24 degrees on tv hill. some changes or head for the state of maryland and that involves taxes.

>> the candidates on the attack ahead of tonight's debate. the latest gop fight in the field. >> a baltimore tradition involving enter allen paul is ending -- involving edgar allan poe. >> one problem of note. >> one problem of note. will

[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. >> it is chilly outside this morning. >> it is in the 20's. be prepared for that. there's not much wind. there's not much wind.