i'm lester holt. for all of us at nbc news, i'm lester holt.or all of us at nbc news, thanks for joining us. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> this morning on earth, wide open. the republican presidential race shifts to florida after a stunning victory by newt gingrich in south carolina. >>> remembering a legend. fans mowers the loss of famed coach joe paterno. >>> and death dive, a come met has a fatal encounter with the sun. captions paid for by nbc-universal television >>> hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry. today we begin with anybody's ball game. the gop presidential contest is heating up in the sunshine state where mitt romney is hoping that releasing tax returns will help him reclaim his front-runner status after being beaten in south carolina on saturday. nbc's tracie potts joins us from washington with all of this. tracie, good morning. >> lynn, good morning. good morn, everybody. since ron paul has essentially decided not to compete in florida it's winner take all. the winner gets all of the state's delegates this summer.

i'm lester holt. i'm lester holt. thanks for joining us. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com today," down to the wire. time is running out for newt gingrich in florida as new polls show mitt romney surging in the sunshine state. >>> chain reaks. thick smoke on a florida highway, a deadly chain reaction. >>> is there lights out there? mysterious lights for folks in utah cause them to think twice. captions paid for by nbc-universal television >>> hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry, and today we begin with romney rocketing. with just over 24 hours go before the gop primary vote, the temperature and the rhett ricks between the top two contenders is rising as our mitt roll romney's poll numbers. nbc's brian mooar joins us for the last on all of this. >> good morning, lynn. mitt romney is up in the polls and under the skin of newt gingrich. with the all-important florida primary a day away newt gingrich is asking his conservatives to keep his contest with mitt romney alive. >> i believe the republican party will not n

for now, lester holt in new york will take you the rest of the way tonight. thanks and good evening. >>> all right, brian, good evening to you. so much for the warm snow-free winter. the midwest is getting socked with the second major snowstorm in as many weeks. chicago is looking at six to eight inches before it's all over tomorrow morning. that big system is pushing east. weather channel meteorologist mike seidel is in chicago tonight. mike? >> reporter: hey, good evening, lester. it's a travel nightmare whether you're driving here lakeshore drive or flying. 20-minute commutes are taking as long as two hours. so far, more than 800 flights have been canceled today at chicago's two airports. a major winter storm walloping cities in the midwest today. chicago expecting up to six inches through this evening. already, drivers are seeing havoc on the road. >> they're not too good so far. they haven't been plowing much. >> reporter: the first real blast of winter started later this year. it's already january and workers at the chicago home depot say shovels and sa

i'm lester holt reporting from the primary. we'll have more on this station tonight at nbc and nbcpolitics.com on line. i'll pick this up tomorrow on the "today" show and tomorrow night as well. keep it on nbc news. for now in new york, i'm lester holt. have a good night, everyone.

lester holt will be back with you tomorrow evening.rom all of us here at nbc news, have a great night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >> nbc bay area news starts now. >>> good evening. i'm

i am lester holt. of "dateline." i am lester holt.for joining us. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> this sunday, mitt romney rollin new hampshire. >> we celebrate as we go back to work. >> now the stage is set for the showdo in soh carolina. >> those that are calling themselves true conservatives end up attacking a venture capitalism and capitalism in general and it's suggests a of desperate time for some campaigns. >> can roey be stopped? newt gingrich says yes, and i will ask him how when he jns me le this morning. republicans have condemned romney's rivals for leading an assault on free enterpris and later perspective onat will drive the gop voter, and south carolina senator, lindsay graham, and congressman tim scott. also hear live this morning a ra conversation with senate majority leader, harry reid, the mocrat lader of nevada. is a new tone possible in t new year? can anythi get accomplished in theidst of the 2012 campaign? >>> go morning. all the focus on south carolina, where gop voters will go to the polls next satur

i'm lester holt. for all of us at nbc news, i'm lester holt. of us at nbc news, thanks for joining us. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com captions paid for by nbc-universal television >>> this sunday, the south carolina surprise. newt gingrich wins and wins big. a double digit victory over governor romney in the first southern primary. >>> we proved here in south carolina that people power with the right ideas beats big money, and with your help we will prove it again in florida. thank you. good luck and god bless you. >> we will talk to the winner himself live this morning. also, how does the romney campaign now respond? >> this is a hard fight, because there is so much worth fighting for. >> the florida the next big test, how does governor romney connect with conservatives and make the case that he alone can beat president obama? we'll ask top romney supporter, the republican governor of new jersey, chris christie. then our special political roundtable as we wrap up the results from south carolina and analyze where this wild race goes from

outside on the plaza, i'm jenna wolfe alongside lester holt.come in this half hour we're talking about the relationship between queen elizabeth and princess diana. i know it's been awhile back. but now it's coming to light again. >> a fresh look at the relationship between the princess and the queen. like a lot of women, she had a complicated relationship with her in-laws. and it turned apparently on a 1995 tv interview that the princess gave, and it was to someone here at nbc. >> then we're talking about using the expertise of an actual serial killer to solve cold case murders. this is really interesting. the hannibal lecter-like idea is the premises of a new tv series called "dark minds." two men try to solve unsolved cases. it's a fascinating look at this and we're going to talk with the show's criminal profilers. >> and then you may have heard the story this week about a couple of fishermen who were tossed overboard. this is three years ago. their boat was pro-assumebly lost at sea. well it turned up thousands of miles away. we're going to

i'm lester holt. >> and i'm amy robach. i hope you brought your gloves because it got cold yesterday. >> wednesday, it was like near 50. >> it all happened yesterday. in the morning it was warm, and then throughout the day it got -- i mean it's january, right? we shouldn't be complaining. >> midwest got hit by some snow. we're going to track all that coming up. meanwhile there's just one more week to go before the south carolina primary. mitt romney is fighting back at his fw op rivals. we'll head to south carolina for the latest on how that is resonating around the state. >>> all right. and then speaking of politics, late night talk show host stephen colbert says he's running for president in his native seat of south carolina, but is there a serious message from the comedian's campaign? we're going to take a close look. >>> a real life soap opera for heather locklear. she was rushed to the hospital and treated for an unknown ailment. >>> the queen of southern cooking, paula deen, rumors are swirling that she has diabetes.

i'm lester holt. >> and i'm amy robach. you know, a lot of people love that day when the tree goes up and it's christmastime, but around here, let's be honest, a lot of us are excited about that day, today, when the tree comes down. >> well, it's coming down today. my office looks right over that tree which is a lovely view, but it's looking kind of dry. >> it's wilting. >> we'll be reminded of a long winter ahead when it comes down. >> that's true. >>> a lot of presidential candidates will be squaring off this weekend just days before the new hampshire primary. this will be a critical contest for jon huntsman, who has focused much of his debate on the granite state. >> and then we're going to take a look at the job search. 200,000 jobs were added. will it ladd last? >>> then where is baby ayla reynolds. police continue searching for her and her father is firing back at a tv host that keeps raising suspicions at him. >>> and spring fever rather than dark days of winter. >> who is claim complaining? how much long every can m

i'm lester holt. >> and i'm amy robach. i think the only thing i've experienced is crazy turbulence. i do ejt know what i would do if i looked out the window and saw the engine slowing down. >> i think i'd look out the other window and make sure the engine was spinning. as long as you have one. it's not really a jet, it's a propeller. >>> we want to tell you about the florida primary. the poll shows mitt romney has recaptured the lead as the candidates plan to crisscross the key stay today. newt gingrich tells nbc news he'll prevail in the sunshine state. we'll hear more from gingrich and the analysis of the republican race just ahead. >>> and the legal victory. garth brooks has created some dishar mo in in his hometown of yu con, oklahoma. >>> plus, is age really just a number? hollywood head turners like jane fonda and tee ta neurosurgeoner are showing you you can look fabulous after age 60 but is it hurtingover women? >> i think they're an inspiration. >>> high fashioned designers like versace and jason woo are marketing

i'm lester holt with jenna wolfe and a special treat, amy robak joins us. >> we got the shortened of the stick, coming in on new year's day. >> we'd rather be home. >> if i am going to be with two other people besides everybody else in my life, you are the two people. >> thank you. >> we're celebrating all of the people in times square. i'm guessing they are sleeping right about now. >> i was in times square, and i'm here. >> nice job, lester. >> thank you for watching. >> the camera looks closely, you will see the toothpicks right here. >>> a lot to get to this new year's morning, including something many of us made about eight hours ago and we hope to keep them. resolutions. >> from exercising, losing weight, to finding lover, resolutions are a new year's staple. why do we make them when we have so much trouble trying to keep them? we'll find out why, coming up. >>> how does this sound? eggnog french toast, baked eggs and short ribs. a perfect remedy for a hangover. delicious, and courtesy of the scottos. they join us for a delicious new year's day brunch. we can't wait to dig in.

i'm lester holt. >> and i'm amy robach. i have to say i felt like a little kid when i woke up and saw the snow falling. i got excited. >> it's not exactly a snowmaggedon but we haven't had any snow since around halloween, that weird one. but it's been unusually dry and warm. but no longer. snow is here. >> just enough to go sledding. >> sledding if you're not careful the way you walk down the streets. we have a lot to get to. also we're going to have more on the cruise in italy. it's a delicate maneuver as divers have justifiable concerns the ship could plunge deeper into the sea. later on we'll hear from an industry expert on whether the deadly accident will lead to changes in the cruiseline industry. >>> plus, we're seeing new video released of michelle parker just hours before she vanished. no arrests have been made so far. her family hopes this new footage could lead to a break in the case. >>> later, we're going to meet a woman who was almost married to the mob, but she walked away from the life of a mobster and the se

i'm lester holt. >> i'm jenna wolfe. i spent last night flipping back between the football game and the debate. i don't know which had harder knocks. >> one point i watched romney was third down and three. >> no, i'm pretty sure you had it exactly right. >> drama on both channels last night. republican candidates are preparing for second debate in two days. go at it again later, as submitted romney maintains his front-runner status. rivals try to stop his momentum as they fight for second place. a live report from new hampshire in a moment. >>> a new book about the obamas, shedding light on the inner workings of the white house. specifically, the first lady's influence. the author says michelle obama argued with many of the president's top advisers, especially when it came to handling the health care reform debate. much more on that coming up. >>> princess katherine's royal birthday. last year princess kate went from being a woman to being a princess. and it's her birthday. >> all that at 29. not bad. >>> and speaking of

i'm lester holt. thanks for joining us. today," all eyes on new hampshire. front-runner mitt romney scrambles to win over state voters. >>> dangerous liaison? the u.s. kicks out a venn zla lan diplomat tied to a possible attack on the u.s. >>> a terrifying plunge, a plunger lucky to be alive after survivining everybody's worst nightmare. captions paid for by nbc-universal television >>> hello and good morning, i'm lori wilson. today we begin with heating up in new hampshire. with one more full day of campaigning before the primary mitt romney's presidential rivals are ramping up the attacks. nbc's steve handelsman has more. >> reporter: mitt romney with governor chris christie. >> we know a president when we see one, and he is right here. >> reporter: romney would be the first non-incumbent to win both iowa's caucuses and tuesday's first primary, but rivals ganged up to try to stop romney's role. >> we want someone who's going to stand up and fight for the conservative's principles. >> reporter: romney claimed he cut spending as a governor and then returned

i'm lester holt. it's a story that calls to mind the master of suspense, a plot straight out of an alfred hitchcock film. a young woman peers into her neighbor's yard and sees something for a few seconds, a man, a woman and eye moment that's unsettling. was it an accident, maybe a crime, maybe a murder? what she saw and what she did would set in motion a chain of events that would divide a family and a jury. here's keith morrison. >>> we know the truth, and we know everything that happened. >> how do we know what we know? >> emotionally unsatisfying not to have that answer. >> reporter: though it is, even if we've seen something. or if we think we have. and thus the question at the heart of the whole puzzle. is this woman right? >> i know what i saw, and i know the conclusion of my story. >> reporter: of course she does. of course she does. so why does this other woman think this? >> she didn't know for sure what she saw. >> reporter: the question, we say, on which all the rest will turn. why don't we

lester holt talks with one of the pilots about the color barriers they faced. >> reporter: like everyscoe brown talks with his hands at almost 90 telling war stories like they were yesterday. >> that was it. they bailed out. that was the first jet shot down over berlin. >> reporter: that's brown in the cockpit of a p-51, the f-16 of his day. now the real-life war stories of brown and his squadron mates, members of the legendary tuskegee airmen are the basis for the new movie "red tails." >> you are the first negro to shoot down a derrick! >> reporter: an eric flick about battling the nazis over europe and racism at home. >> we have a right to fight for our country the same as every other american. you shut us down or you let us fly. >> we were isolated. people don't understand how rigid segregation was. >> reporter: the film faced its own battles when major studios balked over how to market it. george lucas fronted $58 million of his own money. >> it's an all black cast. the white guys are the bad guys. you just market it. it's just a movie. >> reporter: like the real airmen, the make

i'm lester holt.or all of us at nbc news, thanks for joining us. >> if you don't want a bag, how are you going to walk out of the store with your items, i mean, like if you have a lot? so you're subjected to having to pay so you can carry all your stuff out of the store. >> they said, do you need a bag? and i said, it would be nice. they said, it's 10 cents extra. surprise to me. >> i knew the store policy was going into effect today, that they wouldn't be giving out bags anymore, so i brought my own. >> the reason this ban is stricter than others is partly because the paper bags sold must be made out of 48% recycled material, and partly because this ban affects all retailers rather than just large upscale stores. >> san francisco and san jose is among the others considering a ban on the bags. >>> crews are work to go restore water service out of a main break in hercules. it ruptured at willow avenue and hawthorne drive and is the main line to two commercial properties, conocophillip and the c and h s

i'm lester holt. we often see headlines about dna evidence exonerating the innocent. it seems we hear less about how dna is used to track down the guilty. in a story you're about to see, a sample found on a murdered young woman was sent to the national database. 12 years after she was killed, it turned up a match. one profile out of 5 million matching a man thousands of miles away, but in this case, prosecutors would need more than dna to convict a killer. here's keith morrison. captions paid for by nbc-universal television >> reporter: many years ago late on a september night, a family in anchorage, alaska, got a knock on the door. >> one of those eerie feelings instantly when someone knocks on the door at 10:00 at night and asked to speak to my dad. >> reporter: 1994, samantha was 12, her brother adam 13, they huddled on the staircase overlooking the front door wenchtsz heard my dad collapse and scream "no, not bonnie." and i remember thinking, please let her be in the hospital and let her be okay.

i'm lester holt. for all of us at nbc news, good night. -- capt

on the plaza, i'm jenna wolf alongside lester holt. in this half hour, where is casey anthony? we're talking about people have seen casey anthony in and around the florida area. six months ago she was acquitted in the death of her daughter caylee. several people, as we mentioned, in one florida town say they have, indeed, seen her in a place you may actually not believe. >> plus we're going to talk about kate middleton. the duchess of cambridge and her family are vacationing on an exclusive island. >> and then i'm going to take a little bit of an attempt at synchronized swimming. remember all the years you spent synchronized swimming. well i decided it was time -- >> my college fellowship. >> exactly. it's a combination of dancing, gymnastics, teamwork and of course swimming. it doesn't look easy. i not going to lie to you. i'm not going to say it looks easy. but it's harder and it's far harder to be as graceful as it looks. actually it was a wonderful great group of people that spent the day with me. >> you took the synchronization ou

lester holt is here with you this weekend. we, of course, hope to see you right back here monday night. in the meantime, have a good weekend. good night. >>> good evening. thanks for joining us. i'm janelle wang in for rauj ma thigh. >> and i'm jessica agierre.

. >>> from nbc world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. >> good evening. we start tonight with a deadly cruise ship disaster in a small island along italy's tus can coast. it happened in the dark of night when the huge vessel, carrying thousands of vacationers, including more than 100 americans, ran aground, and tipped on its side. about 40 people remain unaccounted for and the ship's captain is under arrest. survivors, some of whom literally swam for their lives, are telling harrowing stories of panic, fear and confusion as they desperately looked for a way off the stricken ship. eventually they were taken to an island where we stand by. good evening. >> reporter: the passengers are now being taken to the city of rome for which they will go back to their home countries much earlier, of course, than they expected. the u.s. embassy has also gotten back to us saying none of the 126 american passengers that were on board that ship were injured, but for all of these passengers, this was the longest day. a shocking scene today off the picturesque italian coast

i am lester holt. of "dateline." i am lester holt. thanks for joining us. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> this sunday, mitt romney rollin new hampshire. >> we celebrate as we go back to work. >> now the stage is set for the showdo in soh carolina. >> those that are calling themselves true conservatives end up attacking a venture capitalism and capitalism in general and it's suggests a of desperate time for some campaigns. >> can roey be stopped? newt gingrich says yes, and i will ask him how when he jns me le this morning. republicans have condemned romney's rivals for leading an assault on free enterpris and later perspective onat will drive the gop voter, and south carolina senator, lindsay graham, and congressman tim scott. also hear live this morning a ra conversation with senate majority leader, harry reid, the mocrat lader of nevada. is a new tone possible in t new year? can anythi get accomplished in theidst of the 2012 campaign? >>> go morning. all the focus on south carolina, where gop voters will go to the polls ne

i'm lester holt. they were a young couple just starting their lives together. like so many newlyweds starting their careers. then they vanished. they were listed as missing, no reason to suspect foul play until an eerie discovery tied to a case that made headlines on two continents and linked to the name of one of america's most famous families. here's mike taibbi. captions paid for by nbc-universal television >> reporter: each step down the driveway brought her closer, a rookie detective's first glimpse of murder. >> that's for a human being not acceptable for anybody. >> reporter: it began oy man 5th 1994. >> an officer had gone out on a call. and they said they discovered a body. >> reporter: tricia guff was the first on the scene. she was told a construction crew had been digging a hole to put in a pool and that about four feet down their back hoe had snagged on plastic bags. inside those bags something that shocked them. bones. >> a lot of the workers were standing around. they seemed very upset by it. >> reporter: she jumped down into the hole to take a c

i'm lester holt. >> i'm jenna wolfe. i spent a good part of yesterday. watching football. the last to minutes were off the charts, one of the best two plays. >> the first to minutes for denver were a long nightmare. >> basically. >> big football weekend. we'll talk about that coming up. we to want talk about the big story taking place in italy. that cruise ship disaster. rescuers have located a third survivor on board. there are reports that he's the ship's percer found in one of the restaurants. we know at least three people are dead, 17 others are unaccounted for. divers will try to enter the ship today in search of other survivors. the ship's captain has been detained. he faces several charges, including manslaughter. two americans on board the ship will be joining us in a few minutes. we'll hear about their harrowing ordeal. >>> then we'll switch gears and talk politics. less than a week to go before south carolina's gop candidates are pulling out all the stops as mitt romney's rivals try to stop him from going 3 for 3. we'll bring you the latest on that. >>> big night

i'm lester holt. >> and i'm jenna wolfe. i spent a good portion of yesterday just watching football. i wanted to see tebow, but the niners/saints game. the first 58 minutes, who cares. the last two minutes were off the charts. >> the first two minutes were all a nightmare. >> basically. >> big football. we want to talk more about that coming up but we do want to talk about the big story still taking place in italy, the cruise ship disaster. rescuers have now located a third survivor on board. there are reports the ship's purser apparently found in one of the restaurants. we know at least three people are dead, 17 others are unaccounted for. divers will try to enter the ship today in search of other survivors. the ship's captain has been detained. he faces several charges, including manslaughter. two americans who were on board the ship are going to be joining us exclusively in a few moments. we'll hear about their harrowing ordeal. >> then we're going to switch gears and talk politics. less than a week to go before south car

i'm lester holt reporting from new york. thanks for watching. and stick around. i'll see you shortly on "dateline."

i'm lester holt. for all of us at nbc news, i'm lester holt.or all of us at nbc news, thanks for joining us. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com captions paid for by nbc-universal television >>> this sunday, the south carolina surprise. newt gingrich wins and wins big. a double digit victory over governor romney in the first southern primary. >>> we proved here in south carolina that people power with the right ideas beats big money, and with your help we will prove it again in florida. thank you. good luck and god bless you. >> we will talk to the winner himself live this morning. also, how does the romney campaign now respond? >> this is a hard fight, because there is so much worth fighting for. >> the florida the next big test, how does governor romney connect with conservatives and make the case that he alone can beat president obama? we'll ask top romney supporter, the republican governor of new jersey, chris christie. then our special political roundtable as we wrap up the results from south carolina and analyze where this wild race goe

i'm lester holt reporting from new york. thanks for watching. stick around. i will see you shortly on "dateline." good night, everyone. >>> good evening. i'm diane dwyer. the bay area barely had time to dry out from friday's storm before another system moved in. we'll check in with rob mayeda who is tracking the wet weather. first we go out to kimberly tere with a look at what the rain means for the bay area. hello, kimberly. >> reporter: hello, diane. here the wind has picked up a little bit, and it is cold. so far, we have not seen any rain in the area where we are at. i want to show you the river now. it has picked up pace as the storm moves in from the north. today we caught up with some people hoping for a lot more rain. they want to see more snow on the mountains. so far, there's just a base layer. skiers say it's just ice, but they are hoping for more snow in the coming days. skiers were bringing in their gear to get tuned up and sharpened in anticipation. it's been a dry december and most of january has been the same so the e skiers and snow borders a

lester holt will be here with you this weekend. we, of course, hope to see you back here on monday night. in the meantime, by the way, have a good weekend. we'll leave you tonight with a look at the landmarks that started this day lit up in "today" show colors. have a great weekend. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> these charges are very unfounded, and we will fight these charges. >> right now at 6:00, a united front. san francisco sheriff ross markarimi and his wife talking and speaking out after markarimi is charged with domestic violence. good evening, everyone, i'm