this morning on erlt, florida showdown. the two republican front runners make their final push through the sunshine state. baby delay? our english' duke and did you have any duchess putting plans on hold? >> and this turns ugly. hello. hello. good morning. i'm lynny berry. mitt romney is beating newt gingrich according to ballots counseled from 500,000 early voters, the former massachusetts governor has a double digit

lead. nbc steve handlesman reports. >> i have a feeling we might win tomorrow. >> we were getting just wailed on by speaker gingrich and really didn't respond very well. >> reporter: he went after gingrich in florida debates and on tv. >> newt has a ton of baggage. >> reporter: in this coffee shop in tampa, floridians said the ads steered them away from gingrich. >> i see them both on both sides bashing each other and i don't know which way -- i'm very undecided. >> reporter: newt gingrich says he's decided not to quit. >> we are going to go all the way to the convention and we are going to win in tampa. >> reporter: appearing with herman cain. >> speaker newt gingrich.

>> reporter: gingrich claims he can take the primary. >> the polls are all over the place. we just got word of a brand-new poll that came out about an hour ago that says we are now tied 35-35. >> reporter: but every public voter survey shows gingrich well down. in early voting, nearly 6,000 have already cast ballots. exit polls show romney winning by nearly 2-1. i'm steve handlesman, nbc, tampa. more syrian rebels die in street battles. government troops forced them out of the suburb of damascus which they had seized over the weekend. the death toll is said to be more than 1 hundred. 000 of syrians have died during ten months of protest against the government and bashar add

sad. at the united nations they are demanding president assad stepped down. the u.s. and its allies want it passed quickly. secretary of state hillary clinton said monday the situation in syria is, quote, unstainable. here is a look at some of the other stories making news early today in america. last night, a wild high-speed chase in los angeles at speeds up 90 miles per hour before detouring to city streets causing numerous close calls there. two people inside the car finally jumped out and took off running, but were later captured. near buffalo, a battle between rifle pizza joint turned violent. surveillance video shows a man using his jeep to plow right into a sign on a sidewalk promoting one of the pizza places. it's after the driver allegedly warned the owner to take the sign down because it was offering a similar type of pie. the suspect's family recently sold the competing pizzeria.

he is facing criminal charges. 27-year-old heath frisbee was able to successfully do a front flip on his snowmobile. it's never been done before and it earned him a medal for best snowmobile trick. if you're still looking for real winter conditions, look no further than fair banks, alaska. you are not misreading. it was 49 degrees below zero! yes, that's right. it has been the coldest january there since 1971. authorities urged people to just stay home or at least bring an emergency kit with them if they had to travel. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is meteorologist bill karins with a look at the forecast. >> it's amazing the car starts, like the battery. >> if you're going out, bring a blanket with you. your heat can't possibly work the level where it would --

>> it would a while. heat the car two hours before you get into it. in the lower 48 land i found one little spot that dealt with a lot of winter yesterday. fulton, new york, in the syracuse area. one of the snowest places in the world. they picked up 32 inches of snow yesterday. a very narrow band. there wasn't a lot of other areas that picked up this much snow. it was a tiny band coming off lake erie and what lake-effect snow can do. at one point at five hours they averaged 5 inches of snow per hour. the story around the country is the heat. st. louis, record high. nebraska. it was 66 in kansas city. 62 in denver. everywhere in the yellow was in the 60s yesterday. this is a map that looks more like march than the end of january. today, the only cold spot is up in maine. mild pacific air covers the country. the northerly jet stream will

stay that way to the north. the areas in blue is who is below freezing. usually you pro-probably expect half or three-quarters of our country to be below freezing at this hour in the morning. the only spots are north of minneapolis, northern new england, and a chunk of you expect here in the high elevations of the rockies. everybody else you don't need a hat and gloves this morning. temperatures this afternoon, 62 in washington, d.c. we're going to be in the mid-40s for minneapolis to chicago. and 70s down in texas. enjoy that, dallas. wrge that's a look at the national forecast. now here is a look at the weather outside of your window. areas in tennessee aren't going to be too bad either. no complaints from nashville to memphis with highs in the mid-60s. this won't last forever. i mean, there's mid february is looking like a return to went. >> we will enjoy it while it

lasts. coming up, more euro worries. cruising takes a bruising and the state paying tribute to toto. your early morning headlines are straight ahead. plus, rarely has anyone performing on "saturday night live" been hit with such savage reviews. now del ray is having her say. coming up the giants touch down and the magic unravel and quite possibly the dunk of the year. you're watching "early today."

good morning. welcome back. i'm lynn berry. here are your top headlines this morning. a nuclear reactor north of chicago shut down on monday. it lost power and the steam was vented to cool the reactor. officials say the steam contained face levels of a radioactive form of hydrogen.

the food and drug administration is being sued by staffers who were legally protected whistle blowers. the lawsuit says the fda violated their free speech writes by secretly monitoring their private e-mail after they raised safety concerns about some medical devices. a pileup that killed ten people has been ordered by the florida's governor for an vaengs. they reopened the road before the accident because smog and smoke had cleared. a new black colored tomato may show up in luxury restaurants before long. it's a cross between wild and cultured tomatoes with the hopefully, appealing new color. at least according to england's daily may, prince william and kate are putting off having a baby next year. the sources say they want to make the london olympics and the jubilee go well and they are in,

quote, no hurry as to start a family. now here is another look at one of your top health headlines on msnbc.com. a new study says that weight lose is really all about cutting calories and sticking to it. research found that in the long term, there were no differences or big differences between diets with different proportions of fat, carbohydrates and proteins. whether you do a low fat or low carb diet matters most. 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 12,653 after losing six points yesterday. the s&p was down four points. the nasdaq -- actually, the s&p was down three points. the nasdaq lost four. taking a look at overseas trading this morning. in tokyo, the nikkei added nine points. while in hong kong, the hang

seng climbed 230. investors worried about europe's debt crisis on monday as official gathered in brussels. stocks got off to a rocky start as european union leaders worked on a permanent bailout zone. a deal was struck after markets closed but without a long-term fix for greece's debt, the eu woes will continue to linger. markets managed to regain some ground with telecom tech leading the way. new data saying people are willing to save than spend. apple shares rose on news the iphone maker could pick up two new distributors in china this year. also on the upside, us airways climbed on news the airline could be a takeover target by delta. bank of america slipped 3% after goldman sachs cut its rating

from neutral to bye. starbucks got a lift it will be open stores in india this year. on the downside, wendy's dragged the fast food chain lowering. spiraling ad sails nannett with fourth quarter profits. carnival has a drop in bookings. a new fraud prevention system, early bird who filed tax returns before january 26th will have to wait an extra week for their refund. finally, kansas could soon be the karen terrier official no place like home. a state legislate tor or is puso make the breed one that played in "wizard of the oz" the official dog for the state. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead.

the sleven season is just under way but is this brake griffin's slam, the dunk of the year? fred seems to think so. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. in weather are our amazing spring-like weather could continue for maybe a couple of days. 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 way they are playing, dwight howard and the orlando magic look headed for a certain divorce. the only question seems to be how long will it take and how ugly will it get? here is fred roggin with an early look at all of your sports headlines. good morning. dwight howard has made it clear he wants out of orlando. an avenue last nice ate road loss to the sixers he also wants to get out of philly. the big fellow isn't happy losing five out of six can do to that a gay. howard got the magic within two before the half and he finished with 17. orlando fell apart once again. scoring nine in the third while the sixers poured it it on. the magic are unraveling and lost it. clippers came out firing against the thunder. hit ten three-pointers in the first half. you know what they say? you can't change a tiger's stripes. when it comes to dunks, blake

griffin is the king of the jungle! posterized kendrick perk ins. that might be the dunker of the year. clippers won their third street. justin bieber witnessed an outbreak of offense from the miami heat. lebron james with the basket. dwyane off to the races. he and james finished with 22. the heat swatted the hornets. he also had eight assists on carlos boozer for the jumper. bulls ran all over washington 109-88. indianapolis got a giant package from new york yesterday. eli manning and the giants arrived in indy for super bowl xlvi. and look who came along for the ride. the same oversized teddy bear was their good luck charm when they beat the patriots four years ago in the super bowl. james brewer with a bear hug for teddy. the giants may have a bear but

they are two and a half point dogs in the super bowl. >> that is your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. coming up, a surprise and random guest for the simpsons milestone show. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, when it comes to babies, we all like to see them born big and healthy but not too big and healthy. you're watching "early today."

many called it "saturday night live's" worst performance ever. now lana delray is having her say. she told "rolling stone" she felt good about the show despite others calling her weak and wooden. she said i thought i looked beautiful and sang fine. >> one out of two ain't bad.

>> that's true. cherly mcclain is playing a new character in the third season of the english costume drama. entertainment weekly reports julian assange will play himself on "the simpsons" episode. he recorded his lines in england while under house arrest after he appealed extra edition to sweden. assange will have a new talk show on an english language channel in march. finally, ferris bueller fans beal they got the bait and switch here. it turns out matthew broderick will be playing himself in a honda commercial for the super bowl. it's ferris bueller themed. >> hopefully, he has learned a lesson he knows what we now

want. let's deliver. chan 13 news in des moines, iowa, parents got a big surprise. the newborn weighing in at 13 pounds, 12 ounces. it came a shock to both mom and dad since the ultrasound made it come in he would come in smaller than his first son that weighed 12 pounds. kendall gave birth to her little one nationurally. i'm lynn berry. this is "early today," your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

>> live, local, late-breaking, this is wbal-tv 11 news today. >> good morning. we're off to a chilly start but it will warm up fast. it will feel like spring this afternoon. 31 in parkton. mostly sunny skies today. high temperatures will climb close to 60 degrees. the average high is 42. we will come back and check the seven-day forecast going into the weekend. >> 4:57. up next, the co-writer of late rocky theme song slaps' newt gingrich with a lawsuit. >> it is primary day in florida. >> governor o'malley is

proposing a major increase in the gas tax. i'm jennifer franciotti. >> we are tracking an early morning accident on the beltway -dad, why are you getting that? -that's my cereal. is there a prize in there? oh, there's a prize, all right. is it a robot? no. is it a jet plane? nope. is it a dinosaur? [ laughs ] [ male announcer ] inside every box of heart healthy cheerios are those great tasting little o's

made from carefully selected oats that can help lower cholesterol. stickers? uh-uh. a superhero? ♪ kinda. [ male announcer ] and we think that's the best prize of all. ♪

[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 still a little chilly outside now. >> you might ticket jacket with you this morning. it will be 60 degrees this afternoon -- you might take a jacket. 40 at the airport. temperatures close to freezing in the northern suburbs. it is a warm wind. high temperature expected aroun