today," culture war. house speaker john boehner claims an obama mandate on insurer provided birth control is an assault on religious freedom. drilling down. researchers discover a new scientific frontier. some say as important as reaching the moon. . and mythical monster? has iceland's final monster been captured on video?

captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello. i'm lynn berry. good morning. republicans in washington and on the campaign trail are speaking out against a new rule requiring that all insurers include birth control in their health care coverage. nbc's brian moore joins us from washington with the latest on this. brian, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, lynn. the white house says the president is trying to protect women but republicans say he's gone too far. congressional republicans are vowing to roll back and force religious groups with insurance plans to cover birth control. >> this attack by the federal government on religious freedom in our country must not stand and will not stand. >> this is not a women's rights issue. this is a religious liberty issue. >> reporter: the catholic churched hope to get a waviver

but didn't. >> the federal government is imposing upon the church. >> reporter: now the issue is a talking point on the presidential campaign trail. >> this president who is deliberately undermining religious liberty in this country. >> this is wrong. if i'm president of the united states, i will restore and protect our religious liberty in this great country. >> reporter: the white house argues the policy isn't anti-religion. >> the president is focused on putting in place the right policies for women across the country. >> reporter: senate democrats are vowing to fight back. >> it's medicine and women deserve their medicine. >> reporter: in washington, a battle over birth control and who pays the price. kathleen sebelius is expected to be grilled on the new policy in a march 1st hearing here on capitol hill. >> brian moore, thank you. high stakes international showdown may be developing over syria.

england's daily telegraph reports the pentagon is viewing military options as a senior u.s. official warnings that the international community may be forced to, quote, militarize the crisis in syria. united nations secretary-gene s they will be be back in syria due to the escalation and violence. she shelled the homes again on wednesday. more than 50 people were reportedly killed. new and faster passenger screening programs are being expanded to more than 25 airports all around the country. eligible passengers, mostly frequent flyer, will be able to avoid removing their shoes and belts before they board flights in exchange for revealing more information about themselves. the tsa will check out the passengers in advance. it's already in operation at seven airports and will be

expanded to reagan national airport near washington and kennedy in new york and chicago's o'hare, plus 25 others. here is a look at some of the other stories making news early today in america. an openly gay man suffered a brutal beating on the streets of atlanta. a gang of men attacked the victim after he exited a nearby store. they shouted anti-gay slurs as they pummeled him, causing minor injuries. police are still looking for the suspects and the fbi is investigating as well. all-out mayhem was sparked at a virginia basketball game after one player threw an elbow. moments after the play, the opposing team began shoving and fans started coming onto the court. once police were called in to restore order, officials decided to cancel the game. although he missed his target, one colorado student's failed glitter bombing on mitt romney has landed him in some hot water. the 20-year-old has been charged

with three misdemeanors which could land him up to six months in jail and $1,000 fine. finally, the lobby inside new york's tallest skyscraper was briefly turned into a starting line wednesday. thousands of runners participated in the 35th annual empire state building run-up. more than 700 runners made the 86 story stair climb. i'm out of breath just saying it. that ends on the famous observation deck. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is meteorologist todd san tows with your weather channel forecast. good morning. >> good morning, lynn. basically the length of a cruise ship you're running straight up. >> but that is faster. you're running up and why i have an elevator. >> and passing people might be interest on the stairs. if you're run in eastern pennsylvania and northern new jersey, slick spots out there. not big time snow yesterday but as we are talking about that

one-inch coating enough to wipe off your car this morning too. so leave extra time for those areas. i-80 slick early on. a few areas, take a closer look in there dealing with a few light flurries. the real change this weekend that line of clouds there north of the border there is a frontal boundary in there moving to the south and trigger snow showers in and around chicago and lake effect as you work into tomorrow and the weekend that brings much cooler air and be in place here across the northeast. single digit mornings if you're headed up to the mountains light snow and maybe the islands but for the most part the system is out of here and a few flakes back toward the berkshires. i mentioned cooler temperatures and inch of snow enough for slick travel and something to keep in mind for that's a look at the national forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window.

tampa, florida, 74 degrees and beautiful setup there. a few clouds. southeast florida may still be dealing with a few isolated chances for showers. cleveland, ohio, a chance of lake effect snow showers. maybe a little bit of wintry weather as we work our way to finish the week and take a closer look at a few other areas coming up. chinese inflation heats up. mcdonald's sells more breakfast and what a woman really wants to valentine's day. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, she made millions when it comes to barring all. literally all for the camera. but when it comes to her divorce proceedings, well, that's a different story. coming up, an amazing finish between duke and north carolina. syracuse and georgetown need overtime. will farrell like you have never heard him before. you're watching "early today."

good morning. welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are some of your top headlines this morning. indiana health and safety officials released their findings into an investigation of last year's deadly state fair stage collapse. indiana state fair commission, a stage hands labor union, and the company that owned and erected the roof that collapsed have been charged tens of thousands of dollars for failing to plan for severe weather. england's duchess of cambridge has stepped out for her first solo public engagement. kate middleton viewed a private exhibit of a london exhibit in a gallery. breakthrough in antarctica is compared to man's exploration of the moon. russian scientists say they have reacd the surface of a massive fresh water lake that has been hidden under nearly four miles of ice for 20 million years. researchers hope to discover prehistoric and other unknown life forms. speaking of subglacial life

forms. video of a creature swimming through a river is compared to the lock nest monster. this is real video. critics claim it's just a fishing net. now here is another look at one of your top health headlines on msnbc.com. a new study finds that 11% of doctors say they have told the patient something that was not true in the past year. about 20% of doctors admit they lied to a patient because they were afraid of being sued. the report also said some doctors might lie because they don't want to upset patients or worry them or cause them to lose hope. 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 12,883, after

adding five points yesterday. the s&p was up two points. the nasdaq gained 11. taking a look at overseas trading this morning. in tokyo, the nikkei lost 13 points. while in hong kong, the hang seng was down 8. investors are waiting for the big number on weekly jobless claims and worrying about greek debt. leaders in greece failed today to agree on a reform and austerity program so the finance minister travels to brussels with an incomplete deal with a bailout from the europe union. in china, consumer spending jumped during the chinese lunar new year holiday season and the annual inflation spiked to 4.5% in january. the weekly unemployment claims information to be released this morning by the labor department is of special interest after the improved job creation report last week. more than 2 million americans could benefit from at least 25 billion dollars in relief from the nation's biggest banks as part of a broad government foreclosure

settlement. cisco systems reported quarterly earnings and revenue higher than analyst estimate in large cut due to a billion dollars in cost cutting. the first announcement for groupon since last year is a disappointment missing on earnings but better on revenue. consumers slice their cards more and authorize are new 500 million share buyback program for visa. diamond foods remove top management after an investigation found the company improperly accounted for payments to walnut growers. mcdonald's revenues jumped more than 6% in january as they sold more breakfast items and chicken mcbites. listen up, guys. for valentine's day on tuesday, romantic flowers or electronic gadgets? well, a new survey says the majority of women want gadgets this year like ereaders, ipads or cell phones. not really a fair comparison, ipad and flowers, so no

pressure. the orange men win in overtime. a rising star leads the knicks to another victory. and duke sticks last-second dagger into their arch rival. plus, will farrell has been in town shooting a movie so why not also become an announcer for the new orleans hornets? your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. we will take another look ahead to your travel weather for your thursday also, and a preview of fry is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, duke against north carolina is one of, if not, college basketball's greatest rivalry. last night, they added fuel to their historic feud here is fred roggin with an early look at all of your sports headlines. good morning. in college hoops, you live and die by the three-pointer and the duke blue devils are living life to the fullest. to chapel hill for arguably the best rivalry in sports. fifth ranked north carolina led the entire game until the end. duke hit 14 three-pointers and rallied from 13 down in the final minutes. austin rivers, the three for the win! and nothing but net. ninth ranked duke capped off a remarkable comeback and won a thriller 85-84.

syracuse and georgetown. many people the orange to win it all this year because of that guy. melo, 11 points and six blocks. joseph a career high. jim boeheim with a win. kansas upset nux smber six bayl. jayhawks won big, 68-54. everybody in new york talking about jeremy lynn, averaging over 25 the last three games and had another 23 last night. knicks beat the wiz 107-93. the bulls won a laugher last night in new orleans but actor will farrell had everybody in stitches during pregame introductions. >> at forward, number 5, he still lives with his mother! carlos boozer! at guard, number 1, his favorite movie is "the notebook" derrick

rose. at center, 6'10" from connecticut where he majored in econ, but he minored in love! amecca okafor! >> leave it to will farrell to uncover the shocking truth about today's nba players. >> that is your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. what is the only thing that katy perry asked for in her split with russell brand? your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, when it comes to fighting high school bullies, sometimes might does make it right. we will explain. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today." a quick look at the radar over portions of colorado. doesn't look like much right now. a few snow showers in the mountain and few on i-70 but get rain and snow mixing even into north texas. amarillo only 36. light snow mixing in and maybe a few pockets up to about an inch but for the most part a rain event through northern texas and gets the rain going into tomorrow. notice again a huge section of the east high pressure in control so fairly quiet for many of us. if you're watching us on nbc 17 in raleigh, north carolina, photographs that imply a human presence without showing any living fitting at the presence/absence at the north

carolina museum of art. that is your "early today" event of the today. here is an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. it could have been messy but katy perry and russell brand have ended it quietly. brand will not pursue half of the approximately $40 she earned while they were together. perry does not want her former name -- does want her former name restored katherine elizabeth hudson. details kept from the public and no television cameras. ironically, her exkris humphries wants a televised trial, a move his celebrity divorced attorney raul feller not surprisingly called brilliant. finally, gisele bundchen furry won't die down at least in boston where they have taken to calling patriots quarterback tom

brady's wife yokoo. she angered brady teammates with her post-super bowl criticism but now the wives are sniping at gisele for being, quote, snobby, stuck-up and, obviously, feeling superior. this comes to us from woai, news 4 in san antonio, texas, a few high school upper classmen are helping the new kid tackle bullying. one reached out for help when bullies began targeting him. to combat the problem, his guidance counselor enlisted three seniors from the football team to walk juan to his classes. in a few weeks juan's life completely turned around. not only about did the bullying stop those seniors say what started out as sort of a task became hanging out with a new friend. that's great. 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. after some rain and snow, things will be nice and quiet this morning. we will see sunshine as we go into the afternoon. some clouds early this morning and then becoming sunny as we go into the afternoon with high temperatures into the 40's. i have some snow in the seven- day forecast. >> thank you. 33 degrees on tv hill.

a band to built what some farmers feed their chickens -- a ban. >> sarah caldwell checking on your morning commute. . in the next few minutes, we will update you on the roads for pr

[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. >> the roads are still wet this morning so give yourself enough time to get to your need to be. >> good morning. i am mindy basara. >> i am jennifer franciotti. thank you for joining us this morning. >> it wasn't too bad