today," down to the wire. time is running out for newt gingrich in florida as new polls show mitt romney surging in the sunshine state. chain reaks. thick smoke on a florida highway, a deadly chain reaction. there lights out there? mysterious lights for folks in utah cause them to think twice. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry, and today we begin with romney rocketing. with just over 24 hours go before the gop primary vote, the temperature and the rhett ricks between the top two contenders is rising as our mitt roll romney's poll numbers.

nbc's brian mooar joins us for the last on all of this. >> good morning, lynn. mitt romney is up in the polls and under the skin of newt gingrich. with the all-important florida primary a day away newt gingrich is asking his conservatives to keep his contest with mitt romney alive. >> i believe the republican party will not nominate a p proabortion, progun, promoderate from massachusetts. >> reporter: romney is taking up a 15-point lead. ron paul isn't contesting florida, and rick santorum has gone back to pennsylvania to tend to his ailing daughter. that makes florida a virtual two-man contest. >> 196 house republicans that voted to reprimand newt gingrich when he was speaker. >> while romney has unleashed a harsh release of ads that's not why he's falling behind. >> i believe the real excuse for

why he's not been connecting with people in florida is the failure of his message and the failure to connect with the people in this state. >> in florida, a nomination night that's gotten personal. rick santorum tells supporters his daughter has seen a miraculous recovery and he's heading out on the campaign trail today, but not to florida, to four western caucus states. lynn? >> thank you. elsewhere floridians are asked why an interstate highway was left open early sunday many offen after a horrific pile-up. at least ten people were killed and 20 people injured after a crash with cars, truck, and tractor-trailers. dense fog and smoke blew across 75 in gainesville, reducing visibility and causing havoc in both the north and southbound lanes. when rescuers arrived, they said they could only listen for screams and moans because the poor visibility made it

difficult to find victims in the wreckage. just horrible there. occupy oakland protesters battle the police over the weekend and the most violent confrontation yet by the corporate influence, more than 400 were arrested during clashes in which demonstrators threw rocks and bottles and ransacked city hall. police responded with tear gas. at least three officers and one protester were injured. in new york, occupy wall street protesters marched sunday night in solidarity with occupy oakland. in washington, d.c., occupy demonstrators face a noon deadline for the national park service and could face being arrested. and now here's other stories making news today in america. near dallas a deputy rescued two women trapped in a character sinking in a lake. video from the patrol car shows the deputy making his way into the water. he smashed the window and saved

the women who say they got lost trying to find their way home. the deputy just happened to be driving by when he saw the car's taillights. the fans of palm beach, florida, turned into a make shift runway after the pilot of a twin engine plane had to make an emergency landing. no one was hurt but crews had to dismantle the plane and take it off the beach in pieces. in california surveillance video shows a woman stealing a puppy dog from the pet store. the chou is valued at $700. the man standing nearby before the robbery may be an accomplice. he can be seen walking away with the store clerk possibly to disstraight the employee. the water can still be mighty cold. that did not stop 14,000 people from diving in to chesapeake bay this weekend in maryland. they took part in the national polar bear plunge, raise 2g$.5 million for the special olympics. well, now for a look at your

national and regional weather we check in with nc meteorologist bill karins. he has your national and regional forecast. did you have a nice weekend? >> it was good. i wasn't doing any swimming but it was sunny and warm. >> not in brooklyn? >> they have a famous club, they do it every year. i'm not part of ichlt good morning, everyone. we had a lot of great weather. it's going continue right in through february it does appear. temperatures out there this morning very mild, includes temperatures in the 30s. we have a few snow showers through central new england and maybe north of washington, up through albany. light snow heading through wisconsin. not going to cause many issues, maybe just a coating on the ground. maybe just enough to make it a little slippery. right now the weather pattern. we actually have it divided up. we actually have our northern jet stream which is typically dominant during the winter, which is north of the united

states right now. that's why all the cold air is stuck up in canada and up there in alaska, and there's somely jet streams that gets more active. it's unusually strong for this time of year. it's kind of responsible for bringing the mild pacific air right across our country. that's why this is going to be a very warm week. our arctic air it's locked up over here. it stays warm in canada. there's no signs of any of that cold air, purple air, coming down over the lower 489 right through the first week of february. today we're 60 degrees from denver to kansas city to atlanta and even in the great lakes, we're in the 40s. enjoy an unusually warm and dry day. that's a look at your national forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. tells even by chicago's standards unusually warm. highs in the upper 40s. memphis and tennessee, f 3 and sunny. that's gorgeous weather. 75 in phoenix.

no complaints out there today. ivan yas of new england that kr r are chilty, relatively speaking, cows be in the 50s by wednesday. >> thanks so much. a big weak for earnings, a huge i pi o on the horizon and proof that some guys will do just about anything not to miss the super bowl. your early morning headlines are straight ahead. he's the action star pushing 60 who just notched another number one film at the box office. super bowl week is upon us as football's best show off in hawaii. plus, history at the australian oepgs and perfection at the x games. you're watching "early today."

good morning and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry, and here are some of your top headlines this morning. capping the bloodiest week in

syria's uprising, at least 66 people were reportedly killed there yesterday. government troops have reportedly seized several tourns early this morning. italian officials say it could take weeks. rough seas forced divers to suspend their search for the six people who remain missing after the ship shifted by more than an inch. a team of international inspectors is in iran to try to figure out if iran has a secret nuclear weapons program. iran maintains its program is for purely civilian purposes. yesterday in response to european sanctions iran's oil minister said it will soon stop selling oil to some countries. after the last u.s. troops left iraq, the state department is using surveillance drones to help guard american diplomats and personnel. according to this morning's new york times, senior iraqi

officials have expressed outrage at that program. finally, a wrecking ball is finishing the damage joplin, missouri. one of the devastated tornadoes nearly destroyed the hospital. the building account be imemployeesed because of old lead mines. >> the dow opens at 12,606 after dipping 74 points on friday. the s&p lost two points but the nasdaq was up 11. taking a look at overseas trading in tokyo the knee quay fell 48 points while in hong kong the hang sing sank 341. this week may people bring the most anticipated ipo in a decade. facebook may file for its first initial offering as early as wednesday with nearly $75 billion to $100 billion. a hectic week with ex-son

mobil will also get the latest earnings reports from amazon.com. the leaders of the eu have a summit meeting today to sign off on a permanent rescue fund for the eurozone despite the greek debt problem. the chinese debt should not be a problem for business, according to government officials in beijing. bank of america is shaking up its leadership of its investment bank to put new executives in charge of its divisions. change may be coming to citigroup as chairman richard parsons considers stepping down with a decision expected by march. almost three months after the collapse of mf global, more than a billion dollars in customer money is still missing and may never be recovered. delta 5ir8s had reportedly hired advisers to possibly join u.s. air to take over amr, a parent company of american airlines. >> more than 70% of americans say now is the time to buy a house but only 11% think it is a

good time to sell a house. a new survey shows that it pays to work in technology with average silicon valley salaries at more than $104,000 a year. and, finally, according to a new survey, 15% of american adults, and we're guessing it's men on this one, say they would miss the birth of their child for the super bowl. really? guys? come on. not cool. coming up, the nhl all-stars on the ice, a long marathon on the tennis court in australia, is and shaun white shakes off an injury for a big win. plus, the dolphins' brandon marshall stands out at the nfl pro bowl in hawaii. it looks like the rest of the month is going to be just like the rest of winter. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." and in sports the focus on professional football briefly shifted away from the upcoming super bowl yesterday to the game's annual all-star contest in hawaii. here's nbc's mario solis with an early look at all of your sports headlines. hi, there. good morning. the super bowl is less than a week away but yesterday's

gathered in hawaii. bengals' andy dalton backed a pass, deflected and ends up in the hands of brandon marshall. lying down in the end zone. heck of a grab. taking home mvp honors as the afc wins it 59-41. of course, there's one more game to play yesterday in new england. 25,000 patriot fans gave their team a super bowl send-off. tom brady hope as bigger celebration is on the horizon. >> we're going to give it our best. hopefully we have a lot more people at our party next weekend. thanks, guys. >> hours later, they arrived in indianapolis where they'll face the giants in super bowl xlvi sunday right here on nbc. pick your squad and take sides. daniel alfredsson leads the team by example. third period, the boston bruins ensuring his team comes out on

top. tennis history aussie yoep final. nadal beats to win the fourth set and does so in a tie break. he's fired up. we're going to the fifth and final set. djokovic puts away the winner, his fifth grand slam title took five hours and 53 minutes, the longest final in history. shaun white, into the history books, capping off the x games with a perfect run on the super pipe. judges gave him a perfect 100. white takes home his fifth consecutive super five gold. that's your sports on "early today." i'm mario solis. well, coming up, folks in utah are the latest to wonder are we not alone in the europe verse? plus, the latest awards and the latest hints ahead of the

oscars. you're watching "early today."

well, welcome back. on this monday you really don't need your umbrella almost wherever. we have so many spots. look at the 60s through colorado. 40s and 50s through the central plains. we're going to start to warm it up tomorrow when new york city jumps into the mid-50s.

chicago could be in the 50s tomorrow too. it's a skrazy end to january. if you're watching us on wbbhnbc 2 in ft. myers florida explore the technology behind treasure hunting and embark on your own quest at treasure at the imaginarium science center and that's your "early today" event of the day, lynn. now here's an early look at this morning's entertainment headlines. liam neeson has the box office touch. "the gray" took in $20 million this weekend, way above expectations. it joins liam neeson recent thrillers. "one for the money" with katherine heigl finished with almost $12 million in third place behind last weekend's champ. "man on a ledge" opened weekly with just over $8 million but did manage fifth place. else wra last night "the

help" got a big boost for its os core hopes aet the screen actor gild award. vie la davis won best actress while octavia davis won best supporting actress. jean dujardin won best supporting act tore. that's historically meaning a sure oscar win in that category. it's a silent film. i normally would not be up my alley. >> it's different, i guess it's gotten a lot of great buzz. >> yeah. and "the help," so many times i sat down and wanted to see it. it's long and it's a commitment. >> commit to it. it's great movie. the book is even better. it's a great movie. hypothey get the oscar because they deserve it. this comes to us from ksl 5 salt lake city in utah. the mystery in the sky had some folks rattled. a man recorded video of strange

blue lights hovering slowly in the atmosphere. look closely. some thought it was a ufo, while others theorize it was a small remote controlled plane or paraglider. it turns out it was all the work of a local artist who filled up garbage bags with helium and attached lights to a wire frame. he did that to promode his website. that's what you would do, stir up trouble. >> there's a lot of ufo believers. you do not want to upset them like this. they're very angry now. >> they may be, but this is not the smoking gun. i'm lynn berry. this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on yo your nbc station.

>> live, local, late-breaking, this is wbal-tv 11 news today. >> good morning. things 7-eleven nadal this morning. no concerns under way to work or school this morning -- things have settled down. 33 at the airport. mostly sunny skies today. a little on the chilling side. high temperature between 40 and 45. we have the big warmup coming up. >> 32 degrees on tv hill. president obama jumps on line to chat with the public. >> one day to go and it winner takes all. the latest look at the florida presidential primary. >> the debate over same-sex

marriage heats up in annapolis. >> a smooth start to your monday

[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. >> a chilly morning. >> we had a friend curve through last night. -- we had a front go through last night. the skies are clear right now. -32 degrees at the airport. it will be a chilly day. high temperature expected around 43 degrees. mostly sunny skies. there could be some snow showers in the mountains. we will come back and