this morning on "early today", saying good-bye. whitney houston returns to her home state as her family makes funeral plans. santorum's surge, fresh evidence that shows rick santorum is picking up speed in the race for republican votes. and diva dogs. canines compete in the annual and diva dogs. canines compete in the annual westminster kennel dog show. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello, and good morning. i'm lynn berry. today we begin with coming home. the body of singer whitney houston is back in her home

state of new jersey this morning. plans for a memorial and funeral to be held later this week are being made. meanwhile, questions and the investigation into what exactly killed the pop star continues. nbc's sarah edwards has the latest. >> reporter: the body of 48-year-old whitney houston arrived late monday night back in her home state of new jersey. earlier in the day after the singer's remains were released to her family, houston's body was taken to a funeral home where it was prepared for the flight back to her hometown of newark. as she made her final flight questions surrounding her sudden death saturday at the beverly hilton continued. they say bottles of prescription were found in her hotel room and they were looking into all possibilities. >> the person could have suffered a heart attack or embolism or something, and no matter what medications they're taking, until we run a tox and see the level and what's in the system, we're not going to speculate. >> reporter: the toxicology reports could take up to six

weeks to be completed. other factors, such as drowning will be looked into as the beverly hills police department told reporters that houston's body was found submerged in a bathtub by one of her staff. >> reporter: a public memorial is expected to draw thousands of fans including the reverend ron christian. >> i think not just the city of newark but the state of new jersey but across the kun be try. >> reporter: sarah edwards, nbc news. in washington the tug of war over the nation's finances continues. president obama rolling out his election year budget. while house republicans single a full reversal in their position on expiring payroll tax cuts. nbc's tracy pots joins us with more from washington. tracy, good morning. >> reporter: lynn, good morning. let's start with this budget. 3.8 trillion, it is the biggest that this country has ever seen with 1.5 trillion in new taxes primarily on the wealthy, oil

companies and big banks. there's new spending in this budget. president obama calls it investments in our future, roads, college, energy, manufacturing, and there's well over a trillion dollar deficit for the fourth year in a row although the white house says that will go down over the course of a decade. republican reaction not great. mitch mcconnell says it's not good. finally, let's talk about the payroll tax cut we all got this year. will it be extended? it looks like republicans have reversed saying that they will support an extension without paying for it. that's for this year. they say democrats were not negotiating in good faith. the white house reaction, that's a hypothetical backup plan. lynn? >> tracy pots in washington. thank you. the latest pew research numbers size up the republican primary race and the match-up

against president obama. rick santorum's support is surging among tea party supporters and white evangelicals in the contest for the gop nomination. santorum is now in a virtual tie with mitt romney with santorum edging romney by two points. 30% to 28%. the same poll found president obama with sizeable leads over the two top republicans that he may face in november. mr. obama leads santorum by 10 points and romney by 8 points. now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. protesters dangled from a bridge on monday. four people were arrested including two who were hanging from ropes and lowered into police boats. their demonstration is one of several expected during the visit of china's vice president. in charlotte a school bus driver who rescued all of her

passengers from an inferno last week was honored. lynn dor ra richardson was at the wheel when an electrical fire broke out in the dashboard. richardson immediately told the six kids aboard to move to the back of the bus and then helped them escape. she says she's not a hero, it was just part of the job. finally, the harlem globe trotters are soaring to new heights. that guy is the world's tallest professional basketball player. paul sturgis is 7'8" tall. he was atop the empire state building. his nickname is tiny. now for a look at your national and regional weather. here is bill karins with your weather channel forecast. >> we were talking yesterday about the snow in the middle of the country. little bit this morning, lynn. nothing too major. areas in northern kentucky were a little surprised. areas around louisville getting a wintery mix and getting snow

north to the louisville area. detroit will have a little bit of snow. same with columbus and cleveland. a lot of spots 1/2 inch to an inch. further to the south, plenty warm. plain old rain in areas of georgia. that will spread to south carolina this morning. here's what we're looking at. we've got just a wintery mess headed through the east, and then we've got mild air that's coming up from the south. the next storm system is coming through areas of arizona and utah with snow in the higher elevations. that storm will run into mild air. typically a storm would be a big snow producer through the middle of the country, but our arctic air forecast is nothing that will plunge down into the u.s. all the dark blues and purples, that's the really cold air, it stays well to the north over the next seven days. we'll be looking at a rainstorm heading across the country instead of a snowstorm. that's been the trend all winter long. for today, rain in the

southeast. that's a look at your national forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. areas like pittsburgh today can see snow showers. notice the temperatures are plenty warm. we won't have to worry about the roads or anything like that. areas like houston, texas, starting to warm up. high today of 75 degrees. not a bad forecast. thanks so much. coming up, apple hits a milestone. ipad upgrade rumors. how to get your valentine's to the arctic. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. she's the lucky one chosen to be "sports illustrated" swimsuit cover girl. coming up, we'll show you the cover. coming up, will he bran goes buck hunting. a pool side proposal. you're watching "early today."

good morning, and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry and here's some

of your top headlines this morning. adding to already high tensions, israeli prime minister benning mitt netanyahu is blaming iran for attacks yesterday. four people were injured when a car carrying a diplomat's wife was set on fire just hour after a bomb was diffused in the former soviet represent blik of georgia. iran denies any involvement. elsewhere, a high ranking u.n. official effectively pointed a finger for what she called indiscriminant attacks saying president bashar al a sard was embolden after russia and china vetoed the efforts to stop the crackdown. they were robbed by a bandit last week. new jersey's senate has passed a bill accepting same-sex

marriage. they set up a conflict with governor chris christie who has vowed to veto. finally, it was a close call for a wild boar in italy that lost its footing and tumbled 300 feet down a snowy mountain side. impressivelily the boar picked itself up and slowly walked away. now here is an early look at one of your top health headlines on msnbc.com. they say the flu season may be picking up speed. the report found an uptick in the number of samples testing positive for the flu virus to more than 10% in the first week of february. the week before it was over 7%. flu season generally hits its peak in february. for more information on this and other health stories you can check out the health page at msnbc.com. >> early today health is brought to you by vagisil, bring yourself back. and now here's an early look

at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,874. the s&p was up 9 points. the nasdaq rose 27. taking a look at overseas trading this morning. in tokyo the nikkei added 52 points. the hang seng added 30. the markets may react today to credit downgrades in europe and new economic at home. the commerce department will release retail sales figure for jans. moody's investors service has downgreated credit ratings on italy, portugal and spain. france, britain and austria kept their top ratings but had their outlooks drop to negative from stable. apple stock rose. two weeks after the company announced it doubled its profits last year. all the speculation about apple's new ipad 3 could end as early as wednesday, march 7th with the company announcement on

the new and improved tablet. google has won approval to acquire motorola mobility in a deal worth $12.5 billion. the ceo of gulf oil says he expects gas prices to approach $4 a gallon this summer because of refineries closing and middle east tension. general electric, partial owner of this network, says it plans to hire 5,000 military veterans over the next five years. soon you'll be able to buy a piece of the empire state building when the owner of the skyscraper goes public with an ipo to raise a billion dollars for upgrades. finally, delivering valentine's day flowers can be tricky. in the far north of canada getting roses to the arctic requires special wrapping to keep them cool but not frozen and then a small airline helps cupid by making the deliveries by air. that's love. coming up, the heat wilt the

bucks. the orangemen squeeze out a win. plus love is in the water for a pair of poolside valentine's. >> where did he hide the ring? we're also watching in weather today, warmer temperatures in many areas of the country. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today." at lysol, we discovered a problem.

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good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports last night the nba championship dallas mavericks said thanks to a former teammate and he almost ended up beating them. here's fred roggin with all your sports headlines. >> good morning. how popular have the l.a. clippers become? the vice president of china will visit los angeles later this week and ask for tickets to the clipper's game. unfortunately the team isn't in town so he has to settle for a lakers game. the clippers and dallas, karan butler received his championship game. he couldn't knock down the three. navitsky had 23. milwaukee has beat miami this season. will he bran james, a man among boys, a game high 35. miami crewsed 114-96. college hoops, number two

syracuse escaped louisville with a win. amaze zingly neither team scored the rest of the way. syracuse held on to beat 18th ranked louisville 52-51. you show you're having a bad day, dan boil ripped a shot from the red line. it was tipped in at the blue line. braid den holsby didn't have a chance. the jets dustin buck lynn scored a similar goal last week. oddly enough that goal was also against the capitals. u.s. swimming team members know all about the olympic rings. now they share the most sacred ring of them all. he had more than gold on his mind this weekend. he was thinking diamonds. after winning the 100 meter back stroke, they congratulated him on the podium. that's when he dove head first into the deep end. look at annie's face. she could not believe it. it took her a few seconds, but

she said yes. matt and annie, the new power couple of american swimming. that's your early morning look at sports today. hollywood's top dog. the early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead, plus speaking of dogs, they're all showing off their stuff in new york at the westminster kennel club dog show. you're watching "early today."

welcome back on this tuesday morning. it's valentine's day. we're looking at a pretty nice forecast. not many issues. the only problem if you're in kentucky, a little light snow out on the roads. light rain in the southeast. the next storm system which is in the four corners area heads out to the plains tomorrow. going to be a big rain maker, texas, louisiana, arkansas and missouri. if you're watching us on wbal tv, visit maple trees. sample syrups for an extra sweet valentine's day at maple syrup valentine's treat. bill, thanks so much. now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. this year's "sports illustrated" swimsuit edition is out. >> i'm paying attention. >> i knew you would be. as always it's making a splash. you've been waiting for this.

19-year-old kate upton joins a few in the coveted role of the swimsuit edition. her uncle is a congressman. now we have to move on. elsewhere, paul mccartney and his wife, nancy, stopped by the beverly hilton who he toll monday to lay a bouquet of yellow roses at a make shift memorial for whitney houston. not a trending topic on monday. hours after the former beetle performed at at grammy's is who is paul mccartney? finally, could it be another fuzzy artist who's headed for oscar glory. uggie was named top dog in the movies at the golden collar award. have you heard anything since we told you about kate? nothing. you haven't paid attention to anything. >> what was her name? >> oh, my gosh. that's horrible, bill. that's horrible. i'm going to smack him right

after we finish this next segment. this comes to us from our friends at cnbc and u.s.a. network. the dogs have taken over the town. at the 136th annual westminster dog show, a peek could he niece won the second year in a row of top toy. he could grab best in show honors tonight. there are more than 2,000 entries. 185 breeds this year. martha stewart's entry g.k. won best of breed. the stars of the show are all being pampered backstage, hair styling and all. he didn't have any hair. i'm lynn berry. this is "early today."

>> live, local, late-breaking, this is wbal-tv 11 news today. >> good morning. we're starting out with a couple sprinkles. nothing of any consequence. let's look to the current conditions. 42 downtown. the radar picking up some sprinkles. it looks impressive but most of that is not hitting the ground. a slight chance for some rain with a high of 48 degrees. we will come back and check the forecast into the weekend. >> of 35 degrees on tv hill. employee rights.

>> president obama lays out his spending blueprint and republicans call it class warfare. >> a man falls to a complaint against baltimore city police about a recording he made about an arrest. >> we are tracking some >> we are tracking some accidents and a car fire

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. >> what can we expect today? >> it is in the 30's and some sprinkles. let's look at the current conditions. mid 40's at the airport was some cloud cover. we have had