♪ this morning on "early today" -- stinging endorsement. mitt romney passed over by the biggest newspaper in the state where he was governor again. rescued at sea. four people are forced to jump ship when their cruiser catches fire off the australian coast. and a spectacular display. italy's mt. etna roars back to life for the first time this italy's mt. etna roars back to life for the first time this year. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello, very good morning to you. i'm veronica de la cruz. today we begin with a big endorsement.

"the boston globe's" endorsement of jon hanuntsman is not only a big boost it's a snub to mitt romney. tracie potts joins us from washington with the details. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning. good morning, everyone. "the boston globe" said that jon huntsman is the best prepared candidate and, specifically, they said he would make a better president than mitt romney, even if mitt romney gets the nomination. "the globe" said it would make romney a better nominee. huntsman slammed romney yesterday for leaving the state and going to south carolina to campaign where he picked up the endorsements of both south carolina's governor, nicky haley and senator john mccain and also there romney slammed president obama for making recess appointments without senate confirmation. but back in new hampshire, focus also on rick santorum, who came

out of iowa just eight votes shy of winning. he called that a tie, saying that he raised $1.5 million online since iowa. and santorum also saying he's not shying away from religion in this campaign. as he put it yesterday, we always need a jesus candidate. veronica? >> tracie potts in washington, thanks much. egyptian prosecutors are calling for the execution of hosni mubarak by hanging. the 83-year-old mubarak who's been brought to court each day in a hospital gurn any is accused of killing 800 people. one prosecutor said, quote, retribution is the solution. but even if mubarak does receive the death penalty,there could be months of appeals and it's thought the egyptian army would likely intervene. defense attorneys for mubarak and ten others will make their case next week. there are new and disturbing allegations of sexual assault among cadets at the air force academy in colorado.

three cadets are accused going back to the spring of 20 10. in some cases the alleged victims were fellow cadets. one of the suspects who runs the academy's honor system was charged with forcible rape after a pentagon report last week found a spike in assaults at all service academies and a 20% jump in the number of cadets who say they were sexually assaulted at the air force academy. now, here's a look at some other stories making news "early today" in america. massive waves turned hawaii's coast into dangerous territory. spectators flocked to oahu's north shore to witness the power of the ocean and the thrill seekers who dared to surf the treacherous waters. a florida woman believes she has a record-breaking collection of shoes in her closet. check that out. the retired teacher recently showed off her 733 pairs of converse all-stars at a nearby school. 300 more than the current record. once her tally is authenticated,

the 63-year-old will go into the guinness world record book. recent dipping mercury in florida nearly killed thousands of butterflies. the cold weather forced employees at the largest butterfly house in the country to move 10,000 indoors. the staff returned them to their outdoor habitat after the area warmed up. and finally, a new mexico family found out their dog has some pretty expensive taste the hard way. the pooch ate mom's $4,500 wedding ring. when the dog failed to return the ring the natural way, a vet was called in extract the ring. and now all is well. look at him go. for a look at your national and regional weather here's meteorologist bill karins with your weather channel forecast. i'm a dog owner. i hope that dog never comes. >> be careful. don't put it at nose level. yesterday was an incredibly amazingly warm january day across the country.

there were people golfing in iowa. there were people out there playing tennis in the dakotas. i mean, didn't make a lot of sense. it has changed a little bit out there. that's the good news. as far as what we're going to look at as we go through the upcoming weekend, things are going to cool off out there. that we know for sure. today we're looking at things a little cooler in the plain but getting back to normal. yesterday we had all-time record high in places like north dakota, south dakota, minnesota hit the 60s in some places. if you have ever seen the movie "fargo," yesterday they were 54 degrees. usually it's the ice box up there. as we head into the upcoming weekend, we'll have wet weather in the southeast. still mild but along the gulf coast you'll have wet weather to deal with. also around atlanta. temperatures will be seasonable if not a little above average. by the time we get to the end of the weekend, that's where we'll see some of the cooler air still settling in over the northern plains. even 37 in chicago by sunday is going to be okay.

we have a football game going on in new york, 45 degrees and sunny. beautiful weather there. same for you in boston. the bottom line is there's still no real signs of winter showing up as we head into the upcoming weekend. the only people that have to worry about wet weather is those along the coast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. we're going to watch temperatures for the most part being on the very warm side. xharle et charlotte, north carolina, 62. orlando, florida, 70. columbus, ohio, temperatures in the 50s. so, great weather conditions. i think yesterday we almost set 200 record highs across the country. i mean, it was just one of the most insanely warm days. >> i saw that look on your face. you're jealous. >> a little. >> you were jealous you weren't out there. >> some of the warm air is heading to the east. people will be golfing on the east coast come this weekend. >> yourself included, i'm sure, right? >> not this weekend. jobs pick up.

a barnes & noble bummer and why have you to be careful paying bills over the phone. plus, chris brown's interesting strategy for avoiding blowups when interviewers ask him questions he doesn't like. coming up, miami's big three is now one. and the bruins catch fire in boston. 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. in nigeria, gunmen open fire in a church during prayer service yesterday killing at least five people. it follows attacks on other churches by a radical muslim sect. there's been no claim of responsibility but it may have been the work of a group trying to instill shariah lie. mass evacuations in rio de janeiro. several neighborhoods flooded in

just hours. a dramatic rescue in the waters of australia. two fathers and their two 11-year-old sons were saved after their fishing boat caught fire off the coast of sydney. the boys had the presence of mind to grab a cooler, holding on, staying afloat until help could arrive. 5,000 artifacts from the titanic are going up for auction exactly 100 years after the ill-fated maiden voyage. the winner will have to buy the entire collection and put it on public display valued at $189 million. and the new year brings the first eruption from italy's mt. etna. lava and ash started flowing yesterday morning. the volcano is located above the sicilian town of katania but no risk to those living there. here's one of your top health head lines on msnbc.com. dogs don't just rely on verbal commands for what they want. they read our facial

expressions. they found dogs look into our eyes and try to guess what we're up to and they're receptive to human communication previously attributed to only 6-month-old human infants. for more information on this story and other health news, you can always check out the health page online at msnbc.com. and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens up at 12,415. the s&p was up three, nasdaq gaining 21. in tokyo the nikkei dipped 98 while in hong kong the hang seng fell 220. both stocks and banks may be breaking free of euro free. jobs data helped wall street regain balance. jobs numbers drove a steady day long come back. weekly jobless claims dropped by 15,000. all that bodes well for today's crucial december government jobs

report. in addition december service sector growth was much higher than expected. that data offset early losses driven by worry over european bank shares, particularly unicredit, italy's largest bank, which is down 30% for the week. the debt crisis is spreading, hungary was forced to pay 10% on its 12-month debt. nevertheless, bank stocks here led the drive back upward. advancing for a third day led by bank of america. techs made the nasdaq, the leading index led by marvel and seagate technology. target, jcpenney and gap were among the s&p's worst but macy's rose strongly. barnes & noble tumbled after saying it might break off the nook reader. bmw beat out mercedes benz for tops in 2011 luxury car sales. hbo will no longer sell dvds to netflix. a florida man threatened by

foreclosure by bank of america for being 80 cents less after paying the wrong number on the phone, finally got a human to listen to him. he won't be losing his home. bill clinton looks hockey. the nba team that got fired up after their coach got fired. plus, two of the big three miami millionaires sit the game out but the one who played was key. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. as we head into the weekend everyone is wondering when is the cold air going to return. i'll have your answer. the forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

very good morning to you. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." the miami heat are without two of their big stars last night but they still managed to come out on top. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. >> good morning. miami's big three was down to one last night against the hawks and one was just enough. let's go to atlanta. lebron james and dwyane wade out with nagging injuries. chris bosh stepped up in their absence. down three, ten seconds to play. ball to bosh and he knocked down the triple to force overtime. stayed tied for three overtime periods.

then the heat finally pulled away. bosh had 33. miami won 116-109. the mavericks continue to struggle. things are bad when you let matt bonner score a game high 17. at one point spurs won by 28. 93-71. hours after firing head coach paul wewestfalls kings rallied to beat the bucks. they canned him because of his rocky relationship with demarcus cousins. last night 19 points, 15 boards. kings won it 103-100. college football, patriots' offensive coordinator bill o'brien will be the new head coach at penn state. he'll stay with the pats through the nfl playoffs. the school expected to make the announcement tomorrow. stanley cup champs had a field day against the flames. bruins scored three in the first, four in the second, another pair in the third. if you're counting at home, that's nine. bruins douse the flames 9-0. blackhawks rally from three

down in the third. patrick cain with the equalizer. flyers took the lead for good. van riemsdyk in front, his second of the game. flyers won it 5-4. finally, president bill clinton on hand to watch rangers and panthers. this went to overtime, gaborik, a cannon for the win. i guess that goalie could never be clinton's secretary of defense. the rangers won 3-2 in o.p. that's your early look at sports on "early today." have a great weekend. i'm fred roggin. >> announcer: "early today" sports is brought to you by touch of gray. get rid of some gray. never all. the actress with a big new engagement ring and a performer who leaves behind blood. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, at 15 years old, he has seen heights most of us will never see. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. yesterday was just an incredibly warm january day. it was 64 in billings, montana. rapid city was into the 70s. i mean, it looked like maybe april on this weather map. highs today are going to be a little cooler throughout the northern plains. we cool things off a little bit. the jet stream has fallen down from the north and that will allow cooler canadian air to settle down. not cold just cool. but that mild air is heading to the east coast. today we'll be about 10 degrees warmer for many areas on the east coast. that will continue into the

weekend. still no snow and no cold air. if you're watching us on nbc 10 in providence, rhode island, see unique art made from everyday things at art and the object at rhode island college bannister gallery. that's your early event of the day, veronica. >> very interesting. now here is an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. not much happening this weekend at the box office unless you're a horror fan or need to catch up on tom cruise. "mission impossible" should take top spot with around $117. r-rated fright flick "the devil inside" is the only wide debut. it should scare up $12 to $15 million for a sure top five finish. drew barrymore is sporting a ring, this time marrying an art consultant. jonah hill is reportedly daty ali hoffman, dustin

hoffman's daughter. tabloid says lady gaga left behind lots of blood in her bathtub. sources assure it was just stage blood left over from her show. and finally, chris brown has a solution for the anger that led him to throw a chair last year after walking out of an interview in which he was probed about his ex, rihanna. in 2012 chris brown will do no interviews. i guess that is one way to do it. don't know how good from your career. >> we won't be hearing from him. drew barrymore, four carats, that's a large ring. >> that is a large ring. she looks happy, congratulations. >> art consultant buying four carat ring. i didn't know they did that with. >> bravo. from greenwich, connecticut, one teen talked about his thrilling christmas vacation. 15-year-old jordan scaled historic heights when he reached the top of antarctica's tallest mountain on christmas eve. that climb made him the youngest

person to reach the tallest point on every continent, the so-called seven summits. jordan shared his experience with connecticut students telling him while he's not done climbing, he may stop to finish high school first. doesn't he just make you feel like the biggest loser in the world? >> i mean, yeah. >> at 15. >> that's ambitious. seven different continents, highest peaks. it's dangerous too. >> honestly, what were dug at the age of 15? >> probably sleeping late and doing homework on the bus. >> loser. i'm veronica de la cruz. 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 40 degrees outside on this friday morning. i'm joe krebs. >> i'm eun yang. welcome in this friday, january 6th, 2012. in just a few hours, harry thomas jr. is expected to plead guilty to two federal crimes. >> he regned after federal prosecutors charged him with misuse of $300,000 of government

money and fraudulent tax returns. melissa mollet is live outside this morning. >> reporter: a few people have come in and out overnight. we know his child, his wife are inside the home, but no sign of thomas himself. after he reached a deal, it took him just a few hours to step down from the city council. he will plead guilty today for stealing more than $350,000 of government funds and filing the false tax returns. the money had been earmarked for youth sports programs. the fbi raided his home last december, seizing a luxury vehicle as well as other items. now, thomas sent out a statement thursday through his lawyers that says in part, "i made some very serious mistakes. i was wrong. i want to apologize to those i have let down." d.c. council chair kwame brown, who is under investigation for steering campaign funds t