this morning on "early today" -- congressional stalemate. house republicans dig in on the payroll tax cut extension demanding the senate reopen negotiations. lights out. the monday night football steelers/49ers match-up is held up twice by power outages. and stepping out. england's prince william and his wife kate attend a royal england's prince william and his wife kate attend a royal military awards gala. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry. and today we begin with deadlocked. millions of workers may end up paying the pry of lawmakers in

washington can't work out their differents in time to extend payroll tax cuts, this before they expire on december 31st. now, insiders say house republicans are trying to scuttle a senate deal and they may try to prevent a much anticipated vote on the house floor today. nbc's brian mooar has the details. >> reporter: house republicans are rejecting a senate bill that would have given 160 million american a tax break for another two months, saying it just creates more uncertainty. >> the senate did its -- they did their job. they produced a bill. the house disagrees with it. >> reporter: speaker john boehner and fellow republicans are demanding a full-year extension and trying to shame senate democrats into coming back from vacation to meet at the bargaining table. >> are you willing, are you at least willing to work over the hole addition holidays so that maybe the american people might have a little better christmas?

>> reporter: the democrats thought they already had a deal. the bipartisan bill passed by a wide margin in the senate on saturday. >> what we see now is stalling action on the part of those who never really were for a payroll tax cut in the first place. >> what is happening is a partisan convulsion driven by the tea party. >> reporter: another showdown in washington. but this time one side's not even in town. brian mooar, nbc news, washington. elsewhere, a new washington post/abc news poll finds the nation's republicans are sharply divide over their top pick for president. after a recent surge in the polls, former house speaker newt gingrich has fallen back into a dead heat with former massachusetts governor mitt romney, both with 30%. texas congressman ron paul came in a distant second with 15%. meanwhile, that same poll found that while most americans still disapprove of president obama's handling of the economy, his

overall approval rating is at its highest since march at 49%. with uncertainty surrounding the future in north korea this morning, mourners are paying their last respects to their late supreme leader, kim jong-il. the long-time ruler's body has been laid out for a week-long viewing. kim jong-un joins top north korean officials. last night secretary of state hillary clinton urged the north korean people to pursue a new path of peace, prosperity and engagement. back here at home, parts of the southwest and central plains are getting hammered by a deadly snowstorm that's unleashed heavy snow and fierce winds. blizzard conditions are being blamed for two deaths in colorado while whiteout conditions are making for treacherous travel in new mexico, oklahoma, and northwestern kansas. in the texas panhandle, national

guard troops were called to assist with nearly 100 rescues after a major interstate was shut down last night. nbc meteorologist bill karins will be along in a moment with much more on this storm. first, here's a look at some other stories making news "early today" in america. a shocking and disturbing videotaped assault on a homeless man has led to the arrest of his two attackers. the two suspects led police straight to themselves after posting their video on youtube. it shows one assailant battering the victim and bloodying his nose before wishing him a merry christmas and stealing his bike. just sick there. police are unaware of the homeless man's whereabouts. a rash of recent attacks like this one on a mom with her child has forced milwaukee police to assign officers to ride on troubled bus routes. police will ride the buses and patrol bus stops in an effort to keep rising number of incidents

under control. a couple of stranded teens were rescued from a steep canyon near phoenix. they became lost after venturing off from one of the boy's mother. a responding rescue crew used long ropes to pull the boys to safety. and finally, this is heartwarming for the holidays, a pennsylvania man's tradition of decorating his home continued this year. it was all thanks to his neighbor. when back and heart surgery kept charles from putting up his usual lights and other ornaments, jim stepped in. he spent over nine hours turning the yard into an especially festive christmas display. well done, jim. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's meteorologist bill karins with your weather channel forecast. good morning. >> good morning. blizzard conditions continue. some people will have a white christmas. it's going to be difficult to get around for one more day in areas of western kansas, western oklahoma and that southwest corner of colorado. blizzard warnings continue

through the morning hours. some of them will be expiring as we go through 9 a.m. or so, about noon for areas of kansas. the storm itself will be pulling away and weakening. in texas we're just about done with the snow for you. heaviest snows are located pretty much over areas of colorado and over kansas. the big cities are missing out in this. denver, just flurries to your south and west, colorado springs, same for you. pueblo out to lamar, the heaviest totals have fallen and 10 to 20 inch of snow. interstate 70, almost impassable from hayes to colby, over the rural areas of western kansas. out ahead of this storm, the warm air has moved in. we're mostly looking at rain. there is a little sliver of snow showing up near the ft. wayne area. look out your window there. toledo, south of you, just cold enough for some snow, too. in those southern great lakes it will be a wintry mix changing over to rain for most of you during the day today. as you notice the warm air

continues over the eastern half of the country. chicago right now at 37. your forecast for today, some snow showers around kansas city but you missed out on this storm. most of that snow was to your north and west. that's a look at your national forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. so, the snow will be coming to an end. mostly a rain event in areas of ohio, columbus, 47. there were strong thunderstorms yesterday that moved through texas. not too much damage was reported. we're going to watch some of those storms possible in areas like new orleans. the blizzard comes to an end, mostly rain for the east. bank of america sinks. at&t gives up. and a big deal for a struggling american defense contractor. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, could a new deal in the works make this guy the james bond of all time? what happens when the lights turn out on monday night football? we will show you. you're watching "early today."

good morning and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are some of your top headlines this morning. iraq's shiite-led goth has issued an arrest warrant for sunni vice president. the move comes a day after the last u.s. troops left iraq and was blasted by republican senator john mccain and lindsey graham, who argue the u.s. withdrawal was premature. egyptian security forces and opponents of arm rule are clashing for a fifth straight day near cairo's tahrir square. a retired egyptian army general and current adviser on the ruling military council said protesters, quote, deserve to be thrown into hitler's oven. the president of the philippines has declared a state of national calamity as death

toll from typhoon and flooding grew to nearly 1,000. entire villages were reportedly washed away while tens of thousands have been left homeless. surprising new numbers from a journal -- a study in the journal "pediatrics" at least 30% of americans say they have been arrested by the time they turned 23. that's a sharp increase from the mid-1960s when only 22% reported being arrested by that same age. and last night in london, the duke and duchess of cambridge, prince william and kate, attended a gala awards ceremony to honor the bravery of members of england's armed forces. kate reportedly wore a black strapless alexander mcqueen dress and jewelry given to her as a wedding gift. looking lovely, as always. now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 11,766 after lousing 100 points yesterday. the s&p fell 14 points. the nasdaq dropped 32.

taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei gained 40 points. in hong kong the hang seng nudged up 9. financials pulled stocks lower monday, dragged down by european worries. and bank of america, stocks across the board fell late after bank of america fell below $5 a share for the first time in nearly three years. more than 29 million bank of america shares traded. more than 5% of the day's total volume. also weighing on banks, a wall street journal report the federal reserve wants u.s. banks to hold more capital in reserves than required by law. in fact, this week the fed is expected to release much-anticipated rules overseeing the largest u.s. banks, including capital and liquidity requirements mandated by congress after the financial crisis. in europe, looking to impress markets with firm action, instead european finance ministers blundered unable to come up with 200 billion euros

they vowed to give to the international monetary fund to help struggling european countries. back here at home, december's home builder sentiment hit its highest level since may 2010. company news, at&t officially dropped its controversial $39 billioned by for t-mobile. winn-dixie surged after going private in a $560 million all-cash deal. commercial metals fell after rejecting a $1.7 billion takeover bid from carl icon. "the new york times" is nearing a sale of 16 regional newspapers to halifax media. this morning japan ordered 42 lockheed martin fighter jets in a deal worth billions. standing by her man has earned the wife of dominique strauss-khan the title of france's woman of the year in a nationwide poll. coming up, a top 20 college

basketball upset. last-minute nhl excitement on the ice. plus, national embarrassment for san francisco as the lights go out on monday night football. twice. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. our central plains blizzard is coming to an end. now that rain is heading east. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, normally in san francisco's candlestick park it's the wind and the weather. well, last night on monday night football, it was the lights. here's nbc's mario solis with an early look at all your sports headlines. >> hi, good morning. 49ers and steelers. an electric match-up on monday night football. but the electricity didn't hold up. power outage in san francisco just before kickoff, a transformer blew, cutting electricity to the ironically named candlestick park. 20-minute delay. and then there was football. until the second quarter when it happened again. near complete blackout at the stadium. this time 16 minute without power. niners turn out the lights on the steelers. in the fourth, frank gore powers into the end zone. niners win 20-3. steelers fall to 10-4.

college basketball. last time kansas played davidson elite eight back in '08. jayhawks squeaked out a two-point win en route to capturing the national title. last night the upstart school looking for payback. getting all they could handle in kc. davidson's cochran on fire from downtown, hitting four three-pointer. davidson gets revenge upsetting the jayhawks 80-74. flooiz down a goal to the aves in the final minute. they pull their goalie and works to perfection. daniel briar behind the net, tying goal. goal given to wayne simmonds, they go to a shootout. up to rookie matt reed but his first career shootout hits the crossbar. colorado holds off flyers 3-2. bruins and canadiens in boston. first period. peverley wins the face-off, slides the puck to pouliot.

bang-bang play for the goal. bruins force a turnover. bergeron to patrice falls to the ice. bruins win 3-2, fifth straight win for the defending stanley cup champs. that's an early look at sports on "early today." coming up, big show biz splits. and big internet confusion over who passed away. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, after being stationed in afghanistan, a missing christmas for ten years, what better way to start catching up than an ice skating rink. you're watching "early today."

welcome back on this tuesday morning to "early today." pretty classic looking winter storm in the middle of the country will be weakening today. the snow will be coming to an end in areas of kansas and colorado. rain will be spreading this morning from arkansas into tennessee and kentucky, also mississippi, you'll have some rain today. so, forecastwise, snow, not a lot of it out there today. we're really going to be winding it down. chicago, mostly rain for you. well f you're watching us on wlwt news 5 in cincinnati, ohio, see a train display and holiday setting that includes republicly cass of cincinnati landmarks. at the krohn conservatory. that's your early event of the day. here's an early look at today's headlines in entertainment. the big screen 007 and this, the producers have their say, daniel craig will be the recordbreaker.

currently shooting squt sky fall" his third james bond film, producers have approached craig with a deal to do five more. >> exciteded about that? >> we'll see. i'm on the fence about that. that would make eight total, one more than roger moore and the original man with the license to kill, sean connery. that's what i'm talking about. oscar-winning actress jessica lange and sam sheppard, who have been together since 1982 and have two grown children not only separated, they have been apart fort last two years and just now announced it. another split, chaz bono and girlfriend, intee yfiancee jenn have called off their whole relationship. finally, you can't make this up. the death sunday night of north korean leader kim jong-il led to major confusion about rapper lil' kim. rumors of her death swirled all over the internet, including detroit's former mayor who

tweeted asking if it was true. you know it can get confusing, kim, il, lil -- >> i get it. >> i didn't see that. i need to check my twitter. >> you don't follow anyone. this comes to us from wfla news channel 8 in miami, florida, in palmdale a skating rink helped a soldier pull off a surprise reunion. after a decade of missing christmas, this ftime a vet mad it home from afghanistan for the holiday. she surprised her grandmother, turning a family outing at the mall to a very tearful reunion as a special added bonus she got to see her 8-year-old niece skate for the very first time. i'm lynn berry and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

>> temperatures are often like wild start this morning. a chance for rain. showers down along the eastern shore. more showers reaching into western maryland. some is coming down as it wintry mix. temperatures will stay warm to keep it just rain. plenty of chances for rain this week and warm temperatures. >> 4:57.

we're remembering a co-worker, friend, and professional, ron smith. stay tuned as we take a look back of his life. >> we have one problem on the roads in anne

>> good morning. i am mindy basara. >> i am lisa robinson. than're 20 degrees warmer we were yesterday at this time. each state we're seeing temperatures above normal with increased chances for rain -- each day. 49 is the current temperature. that is what you were walking up to right now. to right now.