-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com this morning on "early today," silence is golden. a silent movie makes a lot of noise last night at the academy awards. $4 a gallon? the cost of filling up continues to climb toward a painful new high. and driving rain. the daytona 500 is washed out for the first time in nascar history. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello, and good morning. i'm lynn berry. and today we begin with "the artist," a black-and-white nostalgic nod to old hollywood

stole the show at last night's oscars. nbc's jinah kim joins us from hollywood with all the red carpet glitz and glam and the details on who took home the coveted gold. jinah, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, lynn. you know, george clooney joked during our interview with him on the red carpet that now he's going to be doing silent pictures. and after this, that may not be far from the truth. with no color and almost no words, "the artist" has revived an art form that has not been celebrated by oscar in 83 years. >> and the oscar goes to -- "the artist." >> reporter: "the artist" swept the academy awards' top three honors, winning best picture, best director and best actor for jean dujardin. [ speaking foreign language ] >> i love you! >> reporter: dujardin is the first frenchman ever to win an acting oscar, and "the artist" became only the second silent film to take the academy's top

prize and the first since 1929. another first? best supporting actor christopher plummer, who is now the oldest actor ever to win an oscar at the age of 82. >> you're only two years older than me, darling. where have you been all my life? >> and the oscar goes to -- >> reporter: meryl streep added a third oscar to her mantle with the best actress win for "the iron lady," beating out rival viola davis of "the help" who was widely expected to win the category. >> when they called my name, i had this feeling i could hear half of america going, "oh, no, come on, why?" >> reporter: best supporting actress went to octavia spencer of "the help." >> please wrap up, i'm wrapping up. i'm freaking out. thank you, world. >> reporter: another highlight of the evening was billy crystal who returned as host after an eight-year absence. >> because nothing can take the sting out of the world's economic problems like watching millionaires present each other with golden statues. >> reporter: other winners include woody allen's "midnight

in paris" for best original screenplay and "the descendants" for best adaptive screenplay. in hollywood, jinah kim, nbc news. lynn, back to you. >> jinah, thank you so much. elsewhere, there is just 24 hours before the all-important primaries in michigan and arizona tuesday. mitt romney and rick santorum are battling in michigan where the latest polls show the two are virtually tied. nbc's tracie potts joins us fm washington with more on this. tracie, good morning. >> reporter: lynn, good morning. michigan's going to be the one to watch. romney's ahead by ten points or more averaging in arizona but about two in michigan, which is a virtual tie in these polls. yesterday, romney took some time off the campaign trail in terms of speeches to watch the daytona 500. caused a bit of a stir on twitter when he said that he doesn't really follow nascar closely, but he has friends who are team owners, raising questions about whether he can really connect with working-class voters. meantime, santorum in michigan, we are told, will now get secret service protection starting

today. what he will not get is the endorsement of arizona governor jan brewer. she announced yesterday that is going to mitt romney, who she says carried the day in the arizona debate and she thinks he has the best chance of beating president obama. today, we will see the last full day of campaigning between both of those candidates before the voters make their decisions in arizona and michigan tomorrow. lynn? >> all right, tracie potts for us in washington. tracie, thanks so much. the taliban have claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing in eastern afghanistan early today. a car bomb exploded at the gates of the jalalabad airport. it killed nine people, mostly civilians. the taliban says the attack was revenge for the burning of korans at an american military base a week ago. meanwhile, on sunday, eight u.s. soldiers were wounded in a grenade attack at a u.s. base in kunduz province. and a manhunt continues for a man who shot and killed two u.s. military officers saturday outside an afghan ministry

building. now here is a look at other stories making news "early today in america." a thief used a hammer to smash his way into a philadelphia jewelry store window, grabbing thousands of dollars in merchandise there. a store clerk came rushing to the display right as the robber took off. the man carried out the robbery in broad daylight saturday afternoon. he dropped the hammer at the scene and remains on the loose. in new orleans, crews worked very slowly and carefully to move a two-story building all across town. the former coast guard barracks weighed in at more than 500,000 pounds. the contractor hired to demolish the structure decided instead to go green, saving all that rubble from the scrap heap. they used remote-controlled dollies and a barge to get the job done. and finally, a story you may find hard to swallow. saturday marked world sword swallowers' day. say that five times. about a dozen people did just that in new york's times square, putting the metal to their

mouths at one of the several celebrations around the world. they also raised money for esophageal cancer research. now here's a look at your national and regional weather with nbc meteorologist bill karins. he has your weather channel forecast. good morning, bill. >> good morning. >> if you look closely in that video, you would have seen me. my throat is a little scratchy, doing the sword competition all week. crazy how that happens. >> you do some crazy stuff. the fire-eating stuff. >> yeah, i know. i try to keep it interesting. >> there are crazy pictures of you online with the fire. i hope you enjoyed your weekend. unfortunately, if you're a racing fan, the daytona 500 was rained out. they'll try to do it today at noon eastern time, but unfortunately, more rain is in the area and the track itself takes 2 1/2 hours to dry after it stops raining. and you can see here, there's more light rain and showers coming right off the gulf. here's daytona beach right here where the international speedway is. so the southern edge of this will continue to bring showers and damp weather there. so, it's going to be iffy today.

maybe they can get it in later today, but it will probably be a wait-and-see on that forecast. otherwise, it's a cold morning in the northern plains, setting the stage for quite a winter event. winter is going out with a bang in the northern plains. a watch is in effect from bismarck to fargo, through northern portions of south dakota. winter storm watch from minneapolis to rapid city. looks like des moines to chicago, you'll be on the warm side of this storm, but the back side is going to be very oppressive. we're looking at an area of snow here, a widespread 6 to 12 inches. some areas could get a little more than that. it's going to be windy, blowing, it's going to be cold. this will be your classic northern plains winter storm as we go throughout tomorrow into wednesday morning, so keep that in mind for travel plans in that region. otherwise, what a beautiful day once again today for the mid-atlantic up into new england. enjoy it. we've got some rainy weather heading our way later this week. that's a look at your nam national forecast. now here's a look outside your window. baltimore, maryland today, 60

degrees and sunny. what a beautiful, springlike day for you. detroit cooler, only 40. miami will have the chance of some showers, and many areas of the southern half of the country, including texas and the gulf coast, will have a chance of showers. so, that storm's going to be -- it's one of the first blizzards we've ever had this winter. >> ever. like, what? >> it's been a long winter. >> all right, bill, thanks so much. coming up, gas prices soar, data pours in, and folks in greece have some fun at their leader's expense? your early-morning business headlines are straight ahead. we knew this was coming. one of sacha baron cohen's trademark publicity stunts creates chaos on the red carpet. an upset in college hoops, an all-star game shoot-out, and an unbelievable goal from the pitch. 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. syria's president, bashar al assad, says his country is under

what he called a media attack. but assad said his forces are "stronger on the ground." 55 syrians died sunday in army attacks in homs and other cities. intelligence services in russia claim to have stopped an assassination plot against russia's prime minister, vladimir putin. putin is expected to win in russian elections on march 4th. on sunday, more than 30,000 russians protested against putin, joining hands to form a ring around moscow. in canada, three railroad engineers died in a train derailment west of toronto. more than 30 passengers were also injured in the accident when the locomotive and passenger cars went off the track and flipped on to their side. and former south african president nelson mandela left the hospital on sunday. he is now recovering, resting comfortably at home. the 93-year-old underwent some minor surgery over the weekend. well, now here's an early look at one of your top health headlines on msnbc.com. a new study is challenging the idea that women are born with

all the human eggs they'll ever have. harvard researchers discovered that the ovaries of young women contain very rare stem cells which are capable of producing new eggs. if the report is confirmed by other research, using those stem cells might lead to better treatment for infertility. for more information on this and other health stories, you can check out the health page at msnbc.com. >> announcer: "early today health" is brought to you by vagisil cream. >> and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,982 after losing a point on friday. the s&p added two points. the nasdaq was up six. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei lost 13 points, while in hong kong, the hang seng dropped 189. well, on wall street and main street these days, it's all about oil. after rising nearly $2 a barrel on friday, oil prices continued to trade in the $109 range

overseas this morning, and the rising cost of crude drove gas prices 18 cents higher in the past two weeks to an average $3.69 a gallon. fresh economic data this week includes auto sales, chain store sales and u.s. manufacturing data. also ahead, corporate earnings from dreamworks, cosco and staples. officials from a group of 20 at the world's leading economies postponed providing europe with more financial aid yesterday, putting pressure on germany to step up in europe's debt crisis fight. on wednesday, the european central bank is expected to announce a second round of low-interest loans to boost confidence and drive down yields on government bonds. back at home, bp's civil trial over the gulf oil disaster will not begin today, as talks around the possible $14 billion settlement continue. warren buffett says an unnamed successor has been chosen to run berkshire hathaway when the time comes. however, the 81-year-old billionaire investor insists he

isn't going anywhere. and tough times in greece were set aside for the country's biggest carnival parade yesterday with handmade floats that poked a little fun at the country's political leaders. well, coming up, the badgers beat the buckeyes, and one amazing backwards goal. plus, the west hang on to win last night's all-star shoot-out. your early-morning sports headlines are straight ahead. and in weather, we're going to be watching a potent storm system moving through the rockies today and a snowstorm for the northern plains tomorrow. 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, an injured kobe bryant made history at last night's all-star game in orlando. here's nbc's mario solis with an early look at all your sports headlines. hi there, good morning. as hollywood rewarded the best in cinema, the finest basketball players in the world took center stage at the nba all-star game. to orlando. this is the game for you. lebron james gets the crowd going with an early windmill. he had a team-high 36. blake griffin knows a thing or two about dunking, takes the feed from chris paul and throws it down. west up 19 at the half. kobe bryant made history in the third, passing michael jordan for most points in all-star game history.

the thunder's kevin durant also had a game to remember, 36 points and the mvp award. appeared like the west was going to run away with it, but the east rallies in the fourth. bron-bron dials on distance, east pulls within one, but griffin with the final touches. west lead from start to finish and win 152-149. to the college ranks. 15th-ranked wisconsin versus 9th-ranked oyt had. state. badgers shut the lights out from beyond the arc, eight three-pointers, but jaredberg rein with the double with 30 seconds left. wisconsin up saequ saets ohio state 63-60. nascar daytona 500, the great american race was postponed because of rain. they'll try to start their engines today at noon. golf. matchplay championship. hunter on 10 from 179 yards out. it's up, it's on line and comes about an inch away from going in the cup. he would tap to go four up and beat roy mcilroy to win the match play championship.

finally, amazing goal to show you from spain. real madrid in red. cristiano ronaldo with a flash of brilliance, scores with the no-look back kick into the net. that could be the goal of the year and he didn't even see it go in. real madrid wins it 1-0. and that's your look at sports on "early today." i'm mario solis. navy s.e.a.l.s raid the box office this oscar weekend. your early-morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. a piece of presidential poultry goes up for auction. we'll explain. you're watching "early today."

welcome back on this monday morning. the big weather story as we head throughout this week is going to be the blizzard in the northern plains. we have blizzard watches already in effect for areas of the dakotas, into portions of minnesota, even minneapolis, you have a chance of getting a pretty good thump of snow out of this. areas that don't get the snow, just south of that, including around michigan, maybe even grand rapids, a very significant ice storm could hit you as we go throughout tuesday night into wednesday. today's forecast, it's the calm before the storm in the northern plains. we do have that rain throughout much of the southern half of the country, more or less just hit-or-miss showers. that does include daytona beach, where they're going to try to get the daytona 500 in once again this afternoon. if you're watching us on wcau nbc 10 in philadelphia, pennsylvania, see art that explores the impact of the vietnam war and its relevance today at "war is not what you

think." that's at lasalle university art museum, and that's your "early today event of the day." >> thank you very much. now a look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. the navy s.e.a.l.s philfilm "ac valor" made $24.7 million, beating out new films from tyler perry and jennifer aniston. in case you missed it, "the artist" was the big winner at the academy awards, best picture, best actor and best director. while best actress went to meryl streep for her portrayal of margaret thatcher in "the iron lady." and finally, this is a big talked-about moment. comedian sacha baron cohen made good on his threat of showing up on the red carpet in character from his new movie "the dicta r dictator." oh, look what he did. he made a splash, but not in a good way, when he spilled what he said were the ashes of north korean dictator kim jong-il on "e!" host ryan seacrest. this is sort of the buzz-worthy

moment that everybody sort of gasp. >> it was funny until he actually dumped it on ryan. >> and ryan's reaction, i have to give him a lot of credit, he handled it all right. >> he was all right with it? >> he's a little bit of a pretty boy, so he had to -- >> he probably had to host with a dirty jacket. >> no, he had extra tuxedos, but it was a funny moment. from sioux city, iowa, now you have a second chance to buy one unique piece of fast food. a 3-year-old chicken nugget said to look like george washington is going back up for auction on ebay. i don't see it. oh, yeah, that helps a little bit. after getting bids topping $10,000, the auction was pulled due to food safety laws, but ebay had a change of heart when the company learned that the money's actually going to go to charity, so now it's back up there. >> how long do nuggets last? >> yeah, i don't think it's cryogenically preserved. i'm lynn berry, this is "early today," just 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 quiet start on this monday. nothing to talk about. it will be a nice afternoon. 27 in parkton. you may have to scrape some frost off your windshield. a few clouds will come in this afternoon. high temperature will be close to 60 later today. we will come back and check the seven-day forecast going till next weekend. >> 34 degrees on tv hill.

a loved one remembered. looking back at the maryland student. >> a soldier from baltimore is killed in afghanistan. i have details. >> the candidates are working be the campaign trail. >> we will check the area roads. we will let you know how your morning commutur

[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 start. >> we will be close to 60 later today. it is in the 20's right now. e