♪ this morning on "early today," republican shake-up. rick santorum emerges as an unlikely victor on the first day of multistate voting in the gop race. raging road hazard. an overturned tanker truck explodes in flames on a south carolina highway. and what a view. nasa releases stunning new video of last month's northern lights display. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello. good morning. i'm lynn berry. today, we begin with a santorum sweep. rick san tore sum looking to

build on momentum from a string of stunning victories last night. the former pennsylvania senator won missouri's nonbipeding primary and the minnesota caucuses and he is the apparent winner of the croft caucuses which mitt romney won four years ago, and was expected to take without much effort this year. nbc's brian moore joins us from washington with the details. brian, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, lynn. santorum had been hoping for a good night. he got a lot better. gop presidential hopeful rick santorum had hoped to win in minnesota and missouri, but his apparent victory in colorado is nothing short of an upset. perhaps even a game changer. >> i don't stand here to claim to be the conservative alternative to mitt romney. i stand here to be the conservative alternative to barack obama. >> reporter: it was a gut shot for newt gingrich. he is collecting delegates and has all been given up on outright win.

santorum is now claiming four, including the iowa caucuses. mitt romney is still the front-runner, though, and he is the man to beat. >> this was a good night for rick santorum. i want to congratulate senator santorum, wish him the very best. we will keep on campaigning down the road, but i expect to become our nominee with your help. >> reporter: ron paul isn't giving up. >> we did very well tonight and have a very, very strong second place and it's going to continue! >> reporter: but it was a huge night for rick santorum. if it didn't turn around his campaign, it certainly turned heads. if nothing else, santorum's win is yet another reminder that romney is still having trouble connecting can conservatives. >> brian, thank you. the white house is defending itself in a controversial over contraception and religion. white house spokesman jay carney says the administration wants to

reassure hospitals and others connected to the catholic church about a new requirement for them to provide birth control coverage to employees, regardless of religious beliefs. while carney stressed president obama wants women employees to have the contraceptive health care option, he also seemed to indicate possible flexibility on how the requirement might be met while respecting religious views. republican presidential candidates have recently jumped on the issue, criticizing the policy as an attack on religion. a senior vice president is stepping down from the breast cancer charity susan g. komen for the bureau. karen handle resigned after the group reversed its decision to stop funding planned parenthood. handle is a republican who once ran for governor of georgia on a platform calling for the defunding of planned parenthood. the komen group sparked controversy last week by cutting fund to go planned parenthood

for breast cancer screening for low income women. a court ruling in california has knocked down the state's ban on same-sex marriages. at least for now. protesters gathered outside the courthouse in san francisco to hear the federal appeals court decision that the proposition 8 ban on gay marriage was unconstitutional. the court also said that there was no evidence that former chief u.s. judge von walker was biased and should have disclosed that he was gay before overturning proposition 8. lawyers for the group that sponsor the ban will appeal and the supreme court may make the final decision. here is a look at some of the other stories making news early today in america. in florida, a sheriff's deputy has been fired for using unnecessary force after video showed a suspect being stunned with taser in the back of a deputy's patrol car because he was yelling. the deputy denied using the taser in a report, but the video and an inspection of the taser

proved otherwise. a tanker truck blew up on a south carolina highway after the driver lost control and crashed. power lines fell on the tanker, setting thousands of gallons of fuel ablaze. the driver who was hospitalized and treated will be cited for speeding. all along cape cod, wildlife workers racing to save increased number of dolphins stranded off the coast and using stretchers to try to rush help to the mammals. scientists aren't really sure why so many are beaching themselves. more than 100 have done so this year alone. finally, students at one nebraska school are finding that going green isn't just good for the earth, it can make class more fun. the kids are now having stories read to them inside a giant igloo made of plastic milk jugs. how cool is that? librarian inspired by a school recycling project had the students collect and glue 700

jugs together. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is meteorologist todd san tows with your weather channel forecast. we just did the macaroni necklaces. we didn't get too elaborate. >> 700 doesn't sound that bad. all right. getting an idea. i'll work on that after work. want to take a quick look at the areas we are dealing with snow this morning. not big-time snow but it's been such a quiet winter for many of us, for some, it may be the first time you actually drive in this. a few areas of rain kind of rain/snow mix there pushing into the ohio valley at this hour. across the west coast, the system itself moved in yesterday with some of the heavier showers and now trucking down toward the baja peninsula and eventually get the moisture in towards west texas especially tomorrow. this area down towards indianapolis even back towards ft. knox a couple of areas reporting light snow. you see maybe a few pockets there in that darker blue with a

little bit of slightly more moderate snowfall. shouldn't be a huge issue travel wise. you're talking about a 1 to maybe 3 inch pocket worth of snowfall. on the southern edge of it hanging on to the rain. late this afternoon, will get a chance for the flakes to mix in around d.c. and southern new jersey. while d.c. is expecting less than an inch worth of snowfall a wet slushy mix may develop on the roadways. the temperature is 38 degrees right that's a look at the national forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. new york may also see a chance for snowflakes mixed in by later on this evening and not expecting to see any accumulation. charlotte, north carolina, in the mid-50s. orlando dealing with quieter conditions but still some clouds. at least a few areas -- we will talk about the issues as far as potential travel weather especially on the roadways. more of a slushy, rainy kind of mix and not the snowstorm most

people want. coming up, job openings open up. big ben says he'll try. what is seen as the let'sat western threat by iran. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, ellen has a few things she is sharing. the kentucky wildcats prove while they are number one. a giant parade for the super bowl champs. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are some of your top headlines this morning. arizona state supreme court has removed a candidate from the ballot in a city council race. affirming a ruling she does not speak english well enough to hold the office. almost 99% of the residents of san louis are latino. sad news out of england. the last known surviving veteran

of world war i has survived. florence green served as a member of the royals women air force working in the mess hall on an air base. england's prince charles cut a birthday cake yesterday to celebrate charles dickens 200th birth. the prince and his wife toured the dickens museum and attended a service of thanksgiving at westminster abbey while prince charles laid a wreath to mark the occasion. nasa shows off a spectacular view of last month's northern lights from the international space station when a blast of electrically charged particles from the sun lit up the earth's atmosphere. now here is another look at now here is an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. dow opens at 12,878 after gaining 33 points. the s&p up two points and the nasdaq also added two. taking a look at overseas trading this morning.

nikkei climbed 98 points and hang seng jumped 319. investors watching more earnings reports today and keeping an eye on the top greek debt. the rising wall street stocks tuesday took the dow to its highest level since may of 2008. job openings reached the highest level in almost three years with 3.4 million jobs waiting to be filled at the end of december. consumer borrowing jumped in november and december pushing consumer credit up at its fastest pace in a decade. ben bernanke told congress he is holding to his pledge to keep borrowing costs close to zero at least late through 2014. airbus grounded up to a week after engineers found dozens of cracks in its wings. nissan reporting 3.2% increase in third quarter profits. toyota reported a stronger than expected quarterly operating profit and raise the its annual

forecast for 2012. disney reported earnings of 80 cents per share, higher than analysts estimated on upbeat reports from its theme parks. yahoo! three board members are stepping down. shares go on sale today for the ipo for casino operator caesar's entertainment. finally, iran has banned "the simpsons" toy dolls saying they promote western culture. toys like the simpsons are widely sold in iran but they say they are corroding the moral of iranian youth. coming up, the buckeyes slip past the boilermakers and another player reaches a milestone in the nba. plus big blue takes a ride through the big apple. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead.

with snow in the forecast for some areas, we will take another look at travel weather coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, the number one ranked college basketball team in the country, kentucky, passed a major test last night. here is fred roggin with an

early look at all of your sports headlines. good morning. march madness around the corner. if there is any question who the number one team in the tournament should be the kentucky wildcats have the answer. they simply throttled seventh ranked florida and jumped out to an early lead and kept it going the entire game. the wildcats picked up their 49 straight win at home 78-58. closer game in columbus. burr due gave ohio state a run for its money. buckeyes pulled away in the final minutes. buford with a career high 29. ohio state won it. big night in boston for paul pierce. he moved past larry bird on the celts all-time scoring list and like bird did so so many times before him, pierce led the celts to a win. celts over the bobcats 94-84. now to oakland. ellis put on a show. he finished with 48. unfortunately the warriors needed three more.

ellis missed the game tying three in the final seconds. the thunder held on to win it 119-116 hockey what did lightning give steven stamkos for his birthday? how about a pie in the face. he returned the favor against the kings and scored league leading 35th goal of the year to tie the game. l.a. came right back. a hail mary past the goalie. kings beat the lightning 3-1. the super bowl champs had a giant party with a ticker tape parade in manhattan yesterday. hundreds of thousands lined the streets for the parade. eli manning and justin tuck joined mayor bloomberg on the parade route. a big day in the apple. i hate to be the one who has to pick up all of that confetti. >> that is your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. a major fashion designer

puts his foot in it. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, the unlikeliest of odd couples in florida team up to become an overnight sensation online. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today." i showed you this earlier. south texas some showers getting into the area and san antonio to houston a dry wednesday for you.

really into tomorrow starting to see better chance for showers through west texas. today, fairly quiet for the most part across the state with the exception of the southernmost up towards chicago, sunny conditions and a few clouds there and still the ohio valley especially the northern half of it traveling you will be dealing with snow showers so be kalve on the roads. not big time amounts but by tomorrow that is out of here and d.c. could see a little bit of light snow mixing in later on this evening. if you're watching us on wbal in baltimore, maryland, the color hand made textiles at embroidered treasures at the baltimore museum of art. that is your "early today" event of the today. here is an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. normally, ellen degeneres pays no attention to her so-called haters. yesterday, she couldn't resist. she hailed the court decision finding california's ban on gay marriage unconstitutional and then she thank the jcpenney and her fans for standing by her against a conservative anti-gay

campaign to have the retailer drop her as a spokesperson. simon cowell told reports he offered beyonce $500 million to be a judge on the "x factor" complete nonsense. you saw that coming. karl lagerfeld is known for speaking his mind. he judged del ray's look, not bad at all but questioned whether she had undergone plastic surgery, asking about, quote, all of her implants. come on, buddy. this really caused a stir. he called english singer adele's face beautiful and her voice divine but he also called her, quote, a little too fat. this is not the first time that he has made comments about women's weight. it's disturbing. there's so many young women who are affected by things like that that you would hope that --

exactly. >> total garbage. what gives him that spot to stand on and everyone listens to? >> luckily, he is being criticized enough about it that he steps back from it. in jacksonville, in nearby keystone heights, a new four-legged singing sensation. ♪ that is, in fact, a donkey on the left offering musical accompaniment to a farmer turned violinist. the rancher posted it on youtube and it has been viewed numerous times. i'm lynn berry. this is "early today," your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

this is very early morning here in the capital. 48 degrees now. taking a live look outside, good morning to you, i'm joe krebs. >> i'm eun yang. welcome to "news4 today" for this wednesday, february 8, 2012. this morning, rick santorum is enjoying a big boost in his bid for the republican presidential nomination. the former pennsylvania senator swept yesterday's three gop races. the colorado and minnesota caucuses, as well as the missouri primary. in colorado, santorum finished 5% points ahead of mitt romney. newt gingrich and ron paul

finished a distant third and fourth. in minutes munesota he finished ahead of his opponents. and santorum won the missouri primary by 30 points although no delegates were up for grabs in the primary there. instead they'll be awarded through a caucus next month. santorum says his victories prove conservative is alive. he used the results to take a direct shot at mitt romney. [ applause ] >> your votes today were not just heard loud and wide across the state of missouri and minnesota, but they were heard loud and louder all across this country. and particularly in a place that i suspect, maybe in massachusetts, they were heard particularly loud tonight. [ applause ] >> santorum also accused romney of siding with president obama on many key issues. he's heading to texas now where he'll hold a campaign rally and meetings later today. right now maine is in the midst of its week-long caucus. it will wrap up saturday.