[ cheers and applause ] this morningon "early today" -- still no deal as the capitol clears out for the holiday, they face mounting pressure to act on the tax cut. coordinated bombing across baghdad leaves scores dead. and wild ride. a high-speed chase in central florida comes to a crushing end. hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry. today we begin with under pressure. with millions of americans facing less in their paycheck and the white house not budging on a payroll tax cut extension,

house speaker john boehner is quickly becoming isolated on his stalling over a compromise senate bill. yesterday "the wall street journal" likened boehner's strategy to a circular firing squad while one republican senator labelled it wrong. nbc broon moore has more. >> reporter: with taxes set to go up on 160 million americans in just ten days, president obama called house speaker john boehner to turn up the heat. >> the ball is in the house's court. there say compromise available. >> reporter: house leaders are refusing to pass a senate compromise and they're digging in for a fight. even though the senate's gone away for the holiday. >> all we're asking for is to get the senate members over here to work with us, to resolve our differences so we can do what everybody want us to do. >> reporter: the senate passed the 60-day extension with broad

bipartisan support. >> the amendment is agreed to. >> reporter: and democrats and the president on down are all but daring the house to let it die. house leaders won't allow a vote but they're staying in session. >> speaker, when -- mr. speaker -- mr. speaker -- mr. -- i would like to ask for unanimous consent we bring up the bill. >> reporter: house democrats are demanding a vote on the senate bill but they're not in charge. >> so, we'll be here every day, waiting for them to come to the floor of the house to actually take up this legislation so that we can get it done. >> reporter: while the first family's in hawaii, president obama is staying here in the nation's capital, waiting to see whether republicans blink first. brian mooar, nbc news, washington. in what is being called a massacre, activists say syrian troops killed more than 100 people in one northeastern village tuesday in what appears to be a desperate attempt to crush key pockets of resistance

before today's arrival of arab league observers. in one of the deadliest episodes of the nine-month uprising against president bashar al assad's government, a witness claims the use of rockets, tanks and gunfire in the hour's long assault left no survivors. the white house said it was deeply disturbed and the opposite syria national council is calling for a u.n. security council meeting. eight u.s. soldiers are facing charges after an army private's body was found in a guard tower in afghanistan back in october. the army ruled the death of danny chen, an asian-american from new york city a suicide. an investigation further found that chen had been the target of ethnic slurs and physical attacks at the hands of his fellow soldiers. eight of them have been charged with involuntary manslaughter and negligent homicide for allegedly driving chen to take his own life. a look at other stories making news "early today" in america. a high-speed chase through the streets of orlando ended in a

hair-raising crash. whoa. police pursued burglary suspects for 40 minutes until they smashed into three vehicles at a busy intersection. miraculously, no one died. six people, including the two suspects, did suffer serious injuries. a raging inferno in detroit forced two people to jump for their lives. a man and a woman lept from the burning home's second floor to escape death. both were hospitalized with serious injuries. one long island group set out to create the bratest festival of lights ever. approximately 700 people gathered on the second night of hanukkah to break the record for the most menorahs lit at one time. no official word but organizers believe they bested the record of 358 set in 2009. finally, decorations for the biggest of all new year's eve parties are beginning to arrive. that's right. a giant number two was delivered to times square.

the new number will light up the new york city sky when the ball drops on 2012. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins. he has your weather channel forecast. good morning to you, bill. ready for 2012? >> it's easier to say. 2011 is like, 11 -- >> only you would find a problem with 2011. only bill. >> 2012 just flows. >> rolls off your tongue. good morning. let's talk about the forecast. we've had heavy snow overnight in areas of kol koshlgs lots of heavy rain in eastern texas which we're still in the middle of the historic drought so we'll take any downpours we can get. will make for a wet commute in areas of shreveport into arkansas. you can see the plume here, houston, looks like you'll be in the mid- of this heavy rain through your morning rush hour. also, during the day today, new orleans, all of mississippi will get soaked and even tennessee as this plume of moisture continues to move to the northeast. in is the snow up here. it came down through the front range. it's not widespread but through

the front range it's definitely a good snowfall. denver, this is in the sweet spot where you're picking up 6 to. that drive down i-25 is rough this morning. just light snow out there in areas of kansas. eventually, the storm is heading for new mexico. albuquerque, only an inch or two are for you. the hill country, any elevations will see a significant storm out of this. notice a little snow our computers are painting here up through northern, maybe central new england. that will be tomorrow morning. it's not going to be significant. maybe an inch or two if you're at any elevation. the big cities doesn't look like you'll see anything at all. the forecast for today, there's the rain from new orleans. eventually getting to atlanta. there's the snow in denver. you're dry everywhere else. that's a look at your national forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. cleveland, ohio, maybe a chance of a shower or two later today. you'll be okay through your morning. phoenix, arizona, very chilly by your standards but at least you're sunny. oklahoma city, same story for you. chicago, no snow today.

so, looks like we have some areas can, lynn, still crossing their fingers and hoping for a white christmas. we'll talk more about that coming up. also coming up, techs tumble. another aaa warning. and something new to go along with your belly-buster. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. suddenly the kardashians are involved in something of an international incident. a world champion headed to jail. a late rally in the poinsettia bowl and christmas miracle on the ice. you're watching "early today."

good morning and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. . a series of coordinated attacks in the iraqi capital have left at least 57 people dead and nearly 200 wounded. iraqi officials say at least a dozen bombs went out in neighborhoods around the city. a russian soyuz rocket took

off from a snowy launch pad in kazakhstan with a three-man crew, including a 56-year-old american chemical engineer. they're scheduled to arrive at the international space station tomorrow. two female sailors have become the first same-sex couple to share the traditional dockside first kiss after the "uss oak hills" returns to virginia. it happened just a day shy of the one-year anniversary of president obama's signing the repeal of don't ask, don't tell. england's prince william and his wife took part in a seasonal minced meat pie event last night. the royal couple also watched the talent show and sat in on an employment workshop. meanwhile, prince harry announced he's headed back to afghanistan for a second deployment next year and says he, quote, can't wait to get out there. his last deployment in 2007 was cut short when details of his location were made public.

now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,107 after adding four points yesterday. the s&p was up 2 but the nasdaq fell 25. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei dipped 64 points. while in hong kong, the hang seng lost 38. on an otherwise flat wall street trading day, one stock dragged down techs and then techs dragged down the nasdaq. after the bell tuesday, oracle missed expectations for the first time in a decade. joining a growing list of big techs whose results and outlook have raised alarm bells. the stock plunged 12% and was the nasdaq's biggest loser. ibm down 3% was the biggest drag on the dow. cisco fell over 2%. jabil circuit, which also posted disappointing numbers, fell almost 3%. one tech exception, research in motion. it jumped 10%.

leading the nasdaq on a report amazon and other potential bidders are sizing up the blackberry maker. elsewhere, fitch ratings warned again the united states' rising debt burden was inconsistent with maintaining the country's aaa credit rating. bank of america agreed to pay $335 million to resolve allegations its countrywide unit engaged in widespread discrimination against qualified african-american and hispanic homeowners. yahoo! today, the company may be close to selling its prime internet holdings in china and japan. and finally, white castle announced it's experimenting with serving beer and wine at one indiana restaurant. well, right now the eyes of the world are on the sleepy northern town of north pole, alaska. that is where they are prepping for the big sendoff of its most famous resident.

nbc's bob rydell is braving the cold for us in the north pole for us. bob, this is serious business. a lot at stake. is everything going according to schedule there? >> reporter: not exactly. good morning. part of the problem is we did have a tall cameraman who would get me in the frame, unfortunately once we arrived here, north pole requires us that we use local help. so, hence the reason with this. we've tried to argue out of this but that isn't going to happen. as far as santa is concerned -- you can go in now, thank you. as far as santa's concerned, you know, we were concerned about whether we could actually speak with him because he's so busy. he was able to squeeze us in and was giving us this great exclusive. the only media outlet to get this interview sit-down extended one-on-one. take a listen. santa, are you ready for christmas eve? >> yes, i am. merry christmas. >> reporter: you, too. amazing how much time he gave us.

well, obviously he's ready there, lynn. if you don't mind, i want to make sure that the guys will be pulling this sleigh right here are ready. let's go to another camera and check on our reindeer. dasher, dancer, i see princer, i ivixen, donner, cupid, blitzen -- go back. that's blitzen. that's donner. i always get them mixed up. donner has the brown fur. you can see the problem there. obviously, kris smchristmas is . we're ready from north pole, alaska, to see the sleigh take off in a couple nights there, lynn. >> you got an exclusive with santa so you know you're set for the year. this is only going to go up from here. bob, thanks so much for braving the cold. >> reporter: you're welcome. >> put a good word in for us. coming up, a champion heads to jail. a bowl game goes down to the wire. and a big concussion comeback. plus, a 59-year-old woman

makes a miracle shot no one was supposed to be able to make. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. you know, lynn, we found someone a little more ridiculous for me which makes me feel kind of normal this morning. your forecast is coming up. busy travel season under way. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, boxing champs floyd mayweather jr. will have time on his hands on work on his tarnished public image, in jail. here's nbc's mario solis with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. boxer floyd mayweather jr. has finally lost a fight. the world champion is a perfect 42-0 inside the ring but now has one big loss outside of it. sentenced to 90 days in jail after pleading guilty to a reduced domestic violence charge for hitting his ex-girlfriend and threatening two of their children last year. he'll begin his sentence january 6th. football no better way to get into the holiday spirit than poinsettia bowl in san diego. 18th ranked tcu had to rally in the fourth quarter against louisiana tech. the touchdown's the difference. tcu wins 31-4.

hockey, claude giroux returns to the lineup after missing four games with a concussion. made an immediate impact against the stars. ties the game in the first period with his 17th goal of the season. he also added three assists. jaromir jagr, who scores in the second period. flyers were soaring and take it 4-1. completely different directions, blackhawks and canadiens, chicago has been on a tear and montreal has been terrible. burnett and patrick sharp score 20 seconds apart. blauk hawks win 5-1. montreal has lost 6 of 8. maybe they should sign bren dashgs the 59-year-old pulls off the impossible at a minor league hockey game. takes a whack at a puck from the blue line. 140 feet away from the net and wouldn't you know it, down the middle and into a hole, barely larger than the puck. that wins her a brand new truck and, get this, brenda wears glasses and couldn't wear them because they didn't fit under the helmet. that's your look at sports on

"early today." i'm mario solis. coming up, rumors of a big engagement. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. one texas fan is fessing up to a parking ticket almost six decades later.

good thursday morning. update on your forecast. still snowing in colorado. that's heading for new mexico. be very careful driving on i-25 south today. also heavy rain from houston up

to shreveport. eventually that rain will move into areas like the mid-atlantic tonight into tomorrow. well f you're watching us on wlex tv in lexington, kentucky, take the family on a ride through a magical landscape of lighted and animated figures at southern lights of the kentucky horse park. that's your early event of the day. here's an early look at this morning headlines in entertainment. the kardashian clan is ducking a different kind of publicity. "star" magazine says most of their items are made in chinese sweat shops. kris jenner admitted she'd never been to the workshop. rumors are flying justin timberlake and jessica biel got engaged. finally the national enquirer claims bill murray shredded a proposed script for "ghostbusters 3" sending it back to dan aykroyd with the note

saying, no one wants to pay money to see fat old men chasing ghosts. >> they do. i'll take it. >> bill will. i think he may be the only one. >> can you imagine marshmallow man in 3d? moving on, houston, texas, where one man proves it's never too late to pay a debt. rummaging through old mementos dale found a 58-year-old parking ticket. he got it just before boarding a bus to join the army. although the city long ago erased any record of it, he contacted officials, offering to pay the $1 fine. well, the mayor was so impressed with his honesty that she waved all penalties and interest, which dale says his wife would be glad to hear. i'm lynn berry and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

4:28 is our time right now. we have 55 degrees here in the nation's capital. still pretty balmy and mild. two days before christmas, this first day of astronomical winter. good morning, i'm joe krebs. >> we begin with breaking news. at least 57 people are dead and more than 200 injured in a series of bombings across baghdad this morning. iraqi officials say at least 12

blasts went off during the early morning attack in nine neighborhoods around the city in what is believed to be a coordinated attack. some of the car and roadside bombs targeted first responders. as they went off after an initial blast that drew rescuers to the scene. no group has taken responsibility for the attack yet. also new and just happening overnight, police are investigating a crash involving a mega bus early this morning. that bus crashed into the draj at union station a little after 3:00 this morning. there were passengers on the bus and there are reports of minor injuries. authorities are looking into just how that crash occurred. and this morning, we have another day closer to the expiration of the payroll tax cut. there does not appear to be any progress on efforts to keep it in place. president obama called on house speaker john boehner yesterday to get house republicans behind the short-term