alive. >> reporter: in the years that followed there would be trials and testimony. >> what brian david mitchell to describe it. he had taken nine months of my life. >> reporter: a victim of sexual abuse, smart became an advocate creating a foundation to help children while moving on with her own life. >> we all have our trials and experience hard times. i don't think we should ever let it disable us. >> reporter: a devout mormon, smart traveled to france last year to serve a latter day saints mission. while in paris, elizabeth reportedly met and fell in love with matthew gilmore. >> i think people just like to see a happy ending which is why so many people are interested in this story. >> reporter: gilmore, also mormon, lost his father to cancer in 2008. there's been no public comment from his family. it is believed the couple will marry july 1 is in utah, a promising future for elizabeth after a trying past. for "today," miguel almaguer, nbc news, los angeles. >> and a new beginning for them. we wish them the best. coming up next, celebrating the near of the dragon. we're whipping up tasty chi

brian david mitchell is serving a life sentence, and his wife, an accomplice in the crime, was sentencedears in prison. >> coming up, heading to south carolina for the day's primaries. here's a look at the night's winning lottery numbers. >> decision day for south carolina republicans. the state's primary winner has gone on to become the g.o.p. nominee in every contest. hans has has more in the "commitment 2012" report. >> mit romney tried to focus on barack obama. >> the american people want a different course. >> but is romney's course changing? his 12-point lead faded fast in south carolina. >> frankly, to be in a neck-and-neck race at this moment is kind of exciting. >> exciting? maybe to newt gingrich. >> romney is collapsing across the country and i'm gaining according to gallup. >> trying to be the person who runs the clock out. >> suddenly the fopingous is on romney's wealth. >> at a cafe, some mit voters were switching to newt. >> i think romney would not be as good a dware against obama as newt gingrich would. >> and newt gingrich's second wife claiming he asked her to ok his a

one time street preacher, brian david mitchell was convicted in 2010 of kidnapping and sexually assaulting smart. he is serving a life sentence. good for her. >>> some people are tweeting this morning, as you invited them to do, and they are, and asking why are we calling this a major winter storm? >> it's the most major storm we have and having a major impact if you're planning to do something. obviously, it's not a blizzard. we haven't it's your social network. all mixed together. with galaxy nexus by samsung, now you can organize your contacts into circles, like you do in real life. so you can choose what people see and what they don't. and with the speed of verizon 4g lte, you can chat as a group in a googleplus hangout without missing a beat. introducing the first phone built for android 4.0. only at verizon. guys... [ female announcer ] pillsbury cinnamon rolls with cinnabon cinnamon are an irresistible sunday morning idea. nothing calls them to the table faster. sunday morning ideas made easy. and these are the ones you'll love on a school night. pillsbury ham and cheese crescents.

one time street creature brian david mitchell, convicted in 2010 of kidnapping and sexually assaultingmart, he is serving a life sentence. >>> the "today"'s show is up next here on nbc4. let's find out what they're working on. >> amy joins us live from new york city. good morning, amy. >> good morning, angie and chris, coming up on today's south carolina showdown. newt gingrich and mitt romney are neck and neck in a race that could decide who will be the gop candidate and face off with president obama on election day. we are live in south carolina with the latest. >>> a 9-year-old girl is being hailed a hero from rescuing herself from her alleged kidnapper. her bravery sent her alleged kidnapper behind bars and united her with her parents. >>> we will look at cruise ship safety from researching the safety of cruise line to travel insurance and get expert tips how to protect yourself before you set sail. >>> the sopranos, good fellows and mob wives. does hollywood really capture what it's like to be a gangster's girlfriend. we will find out from a woman almost married to the mob. much m

police found her on the street with this man brian david mitchell 9 months after her 2002 disappearancehome. smart told a jury he raped her and tied her up and threatened to kill her. a judge sentenced him to life in prison. the national football league is going global again next season. the st. louis rams set to face the new england patriots in london for regular season game this october. it will be a sixth year in the -- the sixth year in a row the rams have played in the u.k. nfl commissioner roger goodell says st. louis committed to being the home team in a game there in each of the three seasons. he says it's part of an effort to meet football's growing popularity abroad. game to be held home to british football or soccer as it's known in the u.s. before we go, our team's top five things of the day. number five, price line.com set to kill off the mascot that william shatner plays by plunging the negotiator off a cliff in an ad on monday. number four, the state department may soon close the u.s. embassy in syria's capital due to concerns over ongoing violence. owner of grounded crui

joining me for this postseason version of the double coverage brian mitchell, david elfin, no redskins games this week, but plenty of rumors. former head coach joe gibbs addressed the redskins on esp n 980 this morning saying pretty much the team's success depends highly on the quarterback and saying the redskins, that should be their top priority. what are your thoughts on that? >> obviously we think they should go out and get a top rookie, but joe won three super bowls without a hall of fame quarterback. you don't have to have a tremendous quarterback, but they need somebody better than rex grossman. >> they need to center a good quarterback. when you -- have a good quarterback. when you look at the leagues in the playoffs, they have top notch quarterbacks. tim tebow maybe the oman out, but you have to have that. >> -- the odd man out, but you have to have that. >> redskins have the sixth pick, how beneficial to trade up for rg3 even though it could be a very high cost for the redskins? >> i think they have to. the problem is if you don't get matt flynn, you're going into the draft a

brian? . >> all right, peter alexander. at romney miss, they really do have something to celebrate here tonight. joined by david gregory and andrea mitchell. david, what does a ron paul second place finish in massachusetts, say nothing of mitt romney's victory, do for this race going forward? >> right, in new hampshire. it is a significant moment for the rest of the pack that wants to challenge romney, to be the anti-romney, the social conservative, somebody who can tie into the economic populism of the party. ron paul is the one who's doing it. he got most of the votes when it came to those voters who thought the federal budget was the biggest issue. so look, we have to realize that romney has won in iowa, he's won in i new hampshire and in both places he got the votes from people who thought the priority was the economy. >> they nay not know jon huntsman, but they know this product, the clam shell, the container for the big mac was invented by his dad. huntsman decided to go this far on his own financing in his own campaign, but he has options now, depending on how long he thinks he should stay in. >> he was a self-made man, jon huntsma

brian. >> we'll all be watching the numbers as the evening goes on. our political director chuck todd, several feet away from us in the same room, andrea mitchell and david gregory. andrea, the race for second place really is by all provable accounts, true. you have a guy who's a homeowner here, governor of massachusetts. but second place becomes everything leaving here. >> absolutely. and we remember that bill clinton in 1992 came in second but made it sound as though he won and had the bragging rights going forward. even more important with those big super pacs. you've got three or four big money people watching to see who has the goods to go forward. one of the most important ones ironically is jon huntsman's billionaire father. if jon huntsman father who came out of nothing and contained the clam shell -- >> the big mac container, that's right. >> he only put up $50,000 for his son's race in k zk. if he sees his son does well tonight, he might put more money in the super pac. mitt romney already put $1.9 million in south carolina. newt gingrich has $1.6 million, but his backers will be looking to see how well he did. santorum only has $164,000 in sou

brian? >> andrea mitchell, part of our team on the ground in new hampshire. also there for us tonight, our political director and chief white house correspondent chuck todd and from our washington bureau, david gregory, moderator of "meet the press." chuck, we'll start with you. if you're mitt romney -- we just looked it up -- he got six fewer votes this time than four years ago. locked at 25%, four years apart, millions of dollars in expenditures apart. what is the lesson? what's the takeaway from iowa last night? >> well, they do look on the bright side and they see it this way. number one, a win is a win. they won in a place that they lost last time. always important when you're running a second time. number two, they are kind of happy their chief conservative rival is not rick perry, is not newt gingrich, but is rick santorum for the very reason andrea brought up in her piece. he lacks resources. he may not be able to put together a national campaign. while it's still clear mitt romney has a base problem they think over time that they can overcome this and eventually woo conservatives to them, possibly by the south carolina primary, but even if they lose there, by the florida primary at