jimmy fallon happening right [ cheers and applause ] this morning on "early today" -- slugging it out. with the iowa caucuses less than a week ago, newt gingrich takes off the gloves. scare tactics. iran threatens to block oil exports in the face of western sanctions. and cranky croc. an australian crocodile takes a and cranky croc. an australian crocodile takes a te out of a lawn mower. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and very good morning to you. i'm veronica de la cruz. today we begin with no more mr. nice guy. republican presidential campaign newt gingrich lamb basted two of

his top gop rivals tuesday. nbc's brian mooar joins us from washington with the very latest. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. the candidates are sprinting toward the starting line. >> what's going to happen in this process -- >> reporter: with six days to go before the iowa caucuses, the gop presidential campaign is getting personal. mitt romney mocked newt gingrich's failure to get on the primary ballot of his home state of virginia. >> more like lucille ball at the chocolate factory. you know, you've got to get it organized. >> so, our campaign is going to stay positive. >> reporter: gingrich insists he's going to be positive, his supporters have launched attacks on romney, and a new text message campaign calling romney's once pro-choice views. rick perry portraying the other candidate as washington insiders is campaigning with the ultimate

outsider, controversial sheriff joe arpao. rick santorum's campaign is finally gaining momentum and michele bachmann is desperately trying to get momentum back. knowing with less than a week left a lot can happen. romney is struggling in iowa but doing well in his home state of new hampshire where the first in the nation primary is now just 13 days away. >> brian mooar in washington, thank you. the democrats' hopes for maintaining senate majority took a blow yesterday when nebraska senator ben nelson announced he's decided not to run for re-election in 2012. he made the announcement in az youtube video. he faced a tough re-election battle against a large group of republican challengers. a funeral procession for kim jong-il has begun in pyongyang. tens of thousands of north koreans lined snow-covered streets today as the late leader's son and successor kim

jong-un followed the hearse. without monitors now in syria, demonstrators made sure their voices would be heard. amateur video shows tens of thousands taking to the streets reportedly calling for the execution of president al assad. critics debated whether government tanks pulling back was just an attempt to mislead monitors. the high stakes battle of western powers, iran threatened to cut off oil exports from middle east if the west imposes sanctions on oil sapmehipments. they threaten to close the strait of hormuz. as state department spokesman dismissed the threats as, quote,

bluster. now, here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. michigan police were recently involved in a high speed pursuit of one of their own suv cruisers wearing only his underwear. a suspect hopped behind the wheel after escaping from a backseat. it ended with the suspect crashing into vehicles at a roadblock. no injuries were reported. a lawyer for a group of single mothers in hawaii calling their theft inside a toy store a desperate act in tough economic times. a surveillance camera captured the women stealing $1,000 worth of christmas gifts for their children. they have since returned the merchandise and plan to surrender by the week's end. spreading holiday cheer landed one boston transportation employee in hot water. on christmas day, he programmed a station message board and its robotic voice to recite the lyrics to "deck the halls." grinch-like officials reportedly considered firing the employee but only handed down a written warning. and finally, new york city

preps to welcome in the new year. they installed 300 waterford crystals on the ball that will descend in times square. and now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins. have you ever seen the ball drop in. >> no it's inexcusable. >> my wife has lived here her whole life and has never seen the statue of liberty, which is relick douse. if you're like a lot of people in tight quarters, watch the ball drop. good morning, everyone. as far as the forecast g the big rain storm go through yesterday. airport delays that were significant out there. now that storm is finally heading to the north and out of here. much of the eastern seaboard will have a dry day today. but with the cold air wrapping around the lakes, we're getting lake-effect snow for the first time in a while, especially off lake erie. cool air down to the southeast. the next storm system up here is

very weak. no moisture to work with. the next storm we'll have to deal with is the one going through the pacific northwest right now with some rain and snow. so, as far as the lake-effect goes, the worst drive between erie and buffalo, anywhere on 86 in western new york. snow showers around the pittsburgh area, too. up towards altoona, high elevations. we could get maybe an inch, two. that's about it. won't be a huge blockbuster event. there is cold air out there this morning. international falls, they call it the ice box for a reason. typically one of the coldest spots in the country. their windchill is minus 10. minneapolis, 16. chicago, 14. there is chilly air through the great lakes today. it's not brutal but you need the gloves and hats for yourself and kids if you're outside this morning. the forecast for today, beautiful weather from dallas all the way to the deep south. florida looks nice. dry in the east coast. breezy on the cool side. as far as great lakes go, that's where the coldest air is out there. eventually may get snow up towards montana later tonight.

that's a look at your national forecast. here's a look at the weather outside your window. charlotte, north carolina, a little breezy start but a nice afternoon. temperature should try to get up there about 50 degrees. cooler air has arrived in florida by their standards. highs today only in the 60s in most cases. columbus, ohio, one of the cold spots. so, while this storm is gone, no big storms coming, but it looks like the beginning of next week, the first really, really cold arctic air -- >> no, no. >> -- is on its way. >> stop right there. stop. okay. oil bubbles and putting your foot in your mouth on facebook. plus, just wait until you hear the price mel gibson wound up paying for splitting with his long-time wife. eight is great for the niners. celtics can't stand the heat. the lakers get back on track. you're watching "early today."

very good morning to you. welcome back to "early today." i'm veronica de la cruz. here are some of your top headlines this morning. the 58-year-old president of argentina fernandez has been diagnosed with thyroid cancer and will take a leave of ab sen to undergo surgery next month. the type of cancer she has is thought to be highly survivable. a political shakeup in moscow. one of prime minister's putin's long-time deputies has been removed from his role over seeing the domestic political agenda. putin is facing the biggest opposition after 12 years in power. a third baby has gotten sick from a bacterial infection that killed a missouri infant. however the baby did not consume the formula of enfamil. a legendary show business figure died, cheetah the

chimpanzee, tarzan's sidekick passed away on christmas eve at a florida sanctuary at the age of 80. in florida it's crocodile versus lawn mower and the crocodile wins. the mower was no appetite for the appetite of 18 elvis. elvis also got in trouble a few years ago after climbing on board fishing boats. oh, my goodness. and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,291 after losing 2 points yesterday. the s&p was up a fraction and nasdaq added six. in tokyo the nikkei lost 16 points while in hong kong the hang seng fell 110. stocks ended flight on light volume tuesday, a typical trading day between christmas and new year's. one big mover was sears after planning to cut 100 sears and

k-mart stores. they plunged to a new 52-wheel low. whirlpool which depended on sears tumbled almost 9%. bad housing news. october single family home prices fell more than expected with atlanta and las vegas prices falling to their lowest since the housing crisis began. that helped take the shine off a jump in consumer confidence to the highest level since april. growing consumer confidence combined with tensions with iran sent the price of oil above $101 a barrel. endeavor international rose 24% on a deal to buy conoco phillip. international gained 5% on the government opening the door to online gambling. elsewhere, italy's ten-year bond yield hit the crisis 7% level tuesday. after the chinese yuan hit an all-time high against the dollar, the treasury department refused to call them a

manipulator, angering trade groups. a federal judge dismissed charges of bp's subsidiary violated probation after an oil spill on alaska's north slope. and finally, a mexican ant anti-poverty official has been fired. he posted a facebook comment saying poor people smell bad. the boilermakers boil. the red wings beat the blues. which teams dominated nfl pro bowl selection? your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. the big storm that drenched the east coast is gone. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

and a very good morning to you. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, nba teams take note, the heat are coming out of the gate firing on all cylinders. here's nbc's mario solis with a look at all your sports headlines. >> good morning. the nba season is just three days old but the miami heat are in midseason form. south beach. celtics paul pierce sitting out his second straight game and boston could have used him. miami hits the ground running. lebron hits it into another year

and flies back rondo for the jam. to the third dwyane wade joins the fun, lobs it up for james and he throws it down. lebron with 26. wade 24. heat beat the celts 115-107. took three games but the lakers finally got in the win column. check out whirlpiece, looks like ron artest when he was 25. kobe nursing a sore wrist but get it it done with a game high 26. lakers turn down the jazz. hockey -- blues cruising up on the red wings when in the blink of an oil detroit scores two goals in 56 seconds. they score three unanswered to beat the blues 3-2. the lightning have been struggling this season. maybe this will help. stamkos scores two against the flyers now tied for the league lead with 22. tampa wins 5-1. nfl, the 49ers and patriots will send eight players each to this year's positive broel game.

fan favorite and hype machine tim tebow is an alternate. bowl games. off to north carolina for the belt bowl. nc state and louisville. glennen airs it out to graham. wolfpack up 11. they hold on to win 31-24. little caesar bowl. the kickoff from the 1 yard line and off to the races. 99 yards to the house. pizza for everyone. perdue wins 37-32. that's your look at sports on "early today." year end, celebrity naughty and nice list and an internet prank runs out of control. plus, they're only saying there's an app for that. how about the app that saved christmas? you're watching "early today."

well, a good wednesday morning. welcome back to "early today." the rain storm from yesterday is now gone. there's lake-effect snow out there from erie up towards the buffalo area. maybe a couple inches expected. cooler weather has arrived from minneapolis, chicago, even the southeast is chillier this morning. you'll have a nice afternoon, though. not in the way of wet weather or travel trouble. storm system in the pacific northwest will move through areas of the northern rockies. we may get a clipper system with rain or snow showers as we go into thursday here in areas of the great lakes or the ohio

valley but overall the weather pattern is definitely a lot quieter now after that big storm has gone through. temperatures are more or less typical for this time of year if not still a little on the warm side. if you're watching us on wcaub nbc 10 philadelphia, pennsylvania, in wilmington, delaware, take a ride aboard a lit up 1929 rail car at holiday lights express at wilmington and western railroad. i should do that. my little boy, he's all about trains. >> did you get some christmas lights up this year? >> we did. >> you did? >> but i will take them down right after new year's. that's the rule. can't let it linger. now here's an early look at this morning headlines in entertainment. sadly, a little more than two weeks after her wedding, sinead o'connor ended her fourth marriage. she blames pressures placed on her husband by, quote, certain people in her life. she exchanged vows in las vegas.

"people" announced a cover featuring taylor lautner was 10 0% fake. lady gaga, justin bieber and george clooney topped dosomething.org as doing the most and peta named kim kardashian one of the grinches of yeert for wearing fur. and in his finalized divorce settlement, not only does mel gibson have to pay his former wife after his current fortun de, $425 million but she gets half of his future residuals forever. >> i'm shocked he's half a billionaire. i guess he was directing money, too. he produced more than just acting. >> yeah.

poor guy. kim kardashian is not having the best year. >> she's been in the headline, for good or bad. this now comes to us from knbc nbc 4 in los angeles, california, where a clever ipad app stopped a suspected grinch from steal one family's christmas. kent woke up to a homeowner's nightmare when he saw a burglar near his bed. he got away with the ipad and the christmas gifts. a locator application on the device led the suspect to a nearby home where they arrested the thief and recovered all of the stolen items just in time for christmas. oh, my goodness. thank goodness, right? veronica de la cruz, this is "early today." just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

good morning, everybody. welcome to wednesday. we are waking up to another cold morning, and it looks like wind is going to be our headline when we're talking weather today. hello, everyone. i'm angie goff in for joe krebs. >> and i'm eun yang. welcome to "news 4 today" for this wednesday, december 28th, 2011. north korea has begun funeral services for leader kim jong-il. >> the procession was led with a

car carrying a huge portrait of the late leader followed by a huge floral wreath and another car carrying his coffin. kim jong-il died of a heart attack on december 17th. he's been lying in state since then. kimman kim's youngest son, his successor kim jong-un, walked next to the car. the obama administration is mulling over whether to allow yemen's outgoing president into the country for medical treatment. abdullah saleh was injured in an assassination attempt. while he is considered an ally in the war against terrorism, he is accuseded of multiple human rights violations and only stepped down during protest. u.s. officials are hoping saleh will stay temporarily and leave the country once he recovers. sears has not announced that any of the stores in his area will shut down after the company closes up to 120 sears and kmart