"jimmy fallon," happening righ [ cheers and applause ] this morning on "early today," houses divided. with the president's tax bill poised to pass the senate, the chamber's top republican issues a take it or leave it warning to house democrats. on thin e, police dash cam video captures a horrifying highway crash in ohio. and debacle down under, scary momes as a stunt with actor hugh jackman goes long, shooting the oprah winfrey show actor hugh jackman goes long, shooting the oprah winfrey show in australia. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and goodmorning. i'm lynn berry.

today, we begin with legislative logjam. a final vote on the president's tax cut plan should happen today in the senate. however, a trillion dollar spending bill proposal and a plan to repeal don't ask, don't tell could keep congress on the hill well into their holiday break. nbc's tracie potts joins us with the details. >> reporter: lynn, good morning. as you can see, there is a lot going on. let's start with taxes. the final senate vote is scheduled to happen today. then it will move on to the house where despite the opposition of many democrats, how democratic leaders also say they think that ts can pass. republicans have warned them, don't change the bill or we won't approve it. even more urgent now, though, is the government spending bill, trying to keep government running and preventing a shutdown. their deadline, saturday. that's whe temporary funding runs out. democrats have put forth a $1.1

trillion bill that republicans want to take another look at. they want to pass ather temporary spending bill until january or february until they have more control in the senate and the house and then deal with the issue. harry reid, senate majority leader, says they could return to deal with this after christmas. and don't ask, don't tell, dems want to get that in wheels they have more influence here in congress. the house appears ready to vote on it this week. >> tracie potts in washington, thank you. a terrifying scene unfolded in florida yesterday when a distraught gunman took members of the panama school board hostage until the gunman took a focus on himself. nbc's kurt gregory has our report. >> reporter: witnesses say a man identified as clay duke talked

briefly with school board members about his wife's firing. >> we have no idea what you are lking about. >> she was fired. >> reporter: after spraying a painting on a nearby wall, duke took his gun and ordered women and children to leave and took those remaining hostage. a female school board member tried to knock the gun out of his hand with a purse. he knocked her to the ground. what you're about to see is disturbing. >> please don't, please n't, please. duke fired his weapon. and although nobody was injured by the initial gunshot, duke was confronted by a security guard. after reviewing video, police say duke exchanged gunfire with the guard and then killed himself. >> obviously, a number of rounds were extended and the gun that he had was real. he was not firing blanks. >> reporter: the school board superintendent says security meures for future meetings will be discussed. >> i mean, i've got employees in

there that will never be the same again. >> reporter: a city on edge. an investigation is under way. kurt ggory, nbc news. ikileaks founder julian assange should know tomorrow whether he will be free on bail. today, he remains in prison while swedish authorities appealed a decision yesterday to free assange on about $317,000 bail. >> now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. police in ohio released dash cam video of a horrying near fatal accident involving one of tir own. an officer was working the scene of an earlier accident when an out of control vehicle plowed into him and the driver of the parked vehicle. the officer went over the guardrail. the other man was pinned. both are recovering and expected to be okay. also in ohio, a good sa

mayor t samaratin came to the resc after traffic stop turned into a struggle between an officer and the suspect. a passerby came on the scene and came to his defense. police commend the woman's bravery but stress civilians should never get involved. a spectacular emergency belly lappeding sent sparks flying in missouri. the pilot couldn't get the landing gear down and was forced to attempt the risky maneuver. he did burn off most of his fuel before attempt to go land. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. bill, good morning. can say that because there completely fine, but buckle your safety belts because this could be a bumpy landing, derstatement. >> lynn, this is the last moment i think i'm going to be talking about this bitterly cold

outbreak. i think we're going to warm it up from here. we're still cold from the northern great lakes and snow showers. 22 ford.c. atlanta is at 25. the only problem area is still down here in florida. the freeze line is right through orlando at the current time. melbourne, florida, is at 29. not quite as cold as yesterday morning. the windchills will still get your attention this morning. 11 in charleston, minus 8 in indiapolis. 2 in detroit and single digits up in new england. still a cod, cold morning. what is changing is that warmer air is arriving all through texas today. as the cold air is here, the warm air moves in. that's why we're going to get some icy stuff today and into tonight. kentucky, tennessee, watch out for freezing patches of drizzle and rain as we go throughout the day today and this evening. the rockies is messy with snowy weather. we'll watch these temperatures. dallas, up to 75.

at least finally there's a warm-up under way. that's a look at your forecast. now here is a look at the weather outside your window. areas like national tennessee could get a wintry mix over the next two days. you're under a winter weather advisory. some areas of kentucky are under a winter storm warning. as we go back towards the east coast, it will be sunny and chilly from d.c. to boston. lynn, i'll have more on the wintry mess heading for the tennessee valley, coming up the. >> thanks so much. also coming up, the fed hits a sour note. retail sales are up again and a computer hits the game show circuit. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, another on bites the dust. we'll tell you which hollywood couple is calling it quits. cong up, the lakers get better. dwight howard calls it quits and one of the defendant dunks of this season. you're watching "early today."

good morning, and welcome

back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are some of your top helines this morning. the white house is planning to release a report tomorrow that is expected to conclude the u.s. militaryas made enough gains in afghanistan to begin withdrawaling troops next july. however, according to the "new york times," the leaker assessment from the intelligence community argue that large swabs of the country remain at risk for falling to the taliban and neighboring pakistan is supporting insurgents. sylvia berlusconi will hang on to power after a vote that could have forced his resignation. the outcome provoked some of the most violent protests in rome in yes. new york police say they may be hunting for a serial killer after the remains of four bodies were discoved on a remote long island beach. investigators are trying to identify the remains which

appear to have been on the beach for some time. and mexican police are searching for a mexican preschooler and a mother who were caught on camera stealing jewelry pap sales clerk says she never suspected the pair until seeing the video with her own eyes. you have to see it to believe it. now here is an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 11,476 after gaining 47 points yesterday. the s&p was up a point, the nasdaq inched up 2. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei fell 6 points while in hong kong, the hang seng plunged 455. > stocks got off to a flying start tuesday then the fed crashed the party. after the year's last meeting, the federal reserve wa unexpectedly pessimistic, calling the recovery slow, looking for unemployment to remain high and reaffirming its

controversial commitme to buy $600 billion in bonds to stimulate growth. the action was swift, first in bonds. the yield on t 10-year treasury note jumped to 3.46%, its highest level since may, a huge increase in the trade since monday. thleap was uivalent to the dow moving 600 points in one day. ironically, part of why the fed is buying bonds is to help ler long-term interest rates, but the higher yield has the opposite effect. wall street reacted with a late afternoon sell-off that hit financials hard. still, t dow managed to close at its high for the year. spirits had been high earlier thanks toetail sales rising for a fifth straight month in november. the one exception, best buy, plummeted almost 15% after posting third quarter profit that missed expectations. also fueling early trade,

general electric, the current owneof this network says it expects up to 5% higher revenue in 2011. a survey showed 45% of executives expect to add workers over the next six months, the highest percentage since the survey began in late 2002. finally, what is bizarre? a friendly game of jeopardy pits man versus machine. specifically, an ibm computer against two of the show's most succsful contestants. winner of the three-day face-off takes home $1 million prize. let's hope the computer doesn't spend it all in one place. coming up, the battle of pennsylvania. a player snatches a fan's popcorn and a high school basketballer goe ballistic. plus, it's being called the dunk of the year. now you know why. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. and warm air is finally

returning to the middle of the country, but that means an icy mess. your forecast isoming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking , this is "early today." in sports, last night, as if they needed more firepower, the two-time champion defending lakers welcomed a new edition. here's nbc's fred roggin with an

early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. it's hard to think that the world champion lakers could get any better, but they did last night. seven footer andr nham ma a season debut. kobe bryant went off in the third scored 16 of his 24 in the fourth and the lakers beat the wiz. carmelo anthony knows a thing or two about dunking. the baseline flush in the fourth and the nuggets won it. speaking of dunks, demar rosen threw down the best of the year. he exploded to the rim, but it wasn't enough. bobcats won it, 97-91. funny moment in the rockets king game. would you like some popcorn? don't mind if i do. rockets won it, 118-105. college basketball after pushing

michigan state, oakland beat unranked tennessee. oakland won it. two streets on the line in phillybut only one continues this morning. sydney crosby had two assists bringing his streak 19. the flyers snapped the penguins 12-game win streak. an unfortunate moment in a high school game in florida. desoto high's player got into it with another player. collin responded after being ejected from the game by pushing the referee. before you knew it, he put him in a bear hug and threw him to the floor. collin was restrained and taken out of the building. he's been suspended & from the team and from school. a married pair of hollywood heavyweights decide to go their separate ways.

that's your early look at sports on "early today." your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead you're watching "early today."

welcome back. we have a winter storm warning in placeor later this afternoon and overnight tonight for areas of kentucky, the tri cities area around bristol, tennessee. winter weather advisories are in

white including nashville, paducah and up here in indianapolis. there will be light icing in this area, maybe a tiny bit of snow mixed with sleet. be careful driving in those areas. we're watching a decent winter storm, the high elevations of utah go into colorado. notice the big cities are doing just fine. a look at your forecast into tomorrow, not many problems. light snow for denver. in the east, finally warming it up on the eastern seaboard if you're watching us on wbgh news channel 34 big hamton, new york, learn about our invisible past as roberson museum and science nter. that's your "early today" event of the day, lynn. >> thanks so much. now here's a look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. more proof it's hardor hollywood couples stayogether as one of the biggest separates. after more than two years, scarlet joe hansen and ryan

reynolds have decided to e their marriage. johanssen was unhappy with how much time they've been forced to spendpart due to work. on the brighter hollywood side, jennifer conley and ul button confirmed they're expecting their second child together. onactor received 2 1/2 years suspended sentence and three years probase. hugh jackman kicked off the oprah winfrey show in australia and he agreed to zip line on to the outdoor set from the top of the sydney opera hous but he failed to brake on time and he injured his eye. but we all know the show must go on. there was quick first aid and jackman was soon back on stage. look at oprah there. >lynn, i have to question your

judgment. i think you should have led the news off with the fact that scart johanssen is now available. >> breaking news, top of the show, bill karin has a chance. >> i wouldn't go that far. i'd have to bring that back to the editing room and cut that last part o. all right. this comes to us from providence, rhode island, where shoppers in one mall were treated to a surprise concert. an acapella group invaded the food court in a flash mob performance they called a random act of music it was a pleasant surprise for the unsuspecting diners. the group of 17 school kids say the mini concert was their way giving back to the community, especially during the holiday season. they've got some moves there. i'm lynn berry, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the datoday on your nbc station.

and this is a cold morning here in the nation's capital. 22 degrees right now at 4:28. good morning to you. i'm joe krebs. >> i'm eun yang. welcome to news 4 for this wednesda december 15th, 120. a northern virginia man is in jail accused of making threats against the metro system. they had reference to the tw tower and 9/11. news 4's jackie benson reports.

>> these images taken by a neighbor on the arlington virginia home of 25-year-old eunis, known as sonny. during an early december facebook chat he said he would place a pipe bomb. court documents saye further stated that the third and fifth cars in the metro trains had the highest number of commuters on them and he could place pipe bos in these locations and would not be noticed. his family lived in arlington for many years. neighbors say they are shocked. >> they have a little girlment they're good people. i was so shocked. she's ying to raise themnd brought them up this far. one is in college. >> reporter: court documents