andrea mitchell, nbc news, washington. >>> and a word about our last night at times contentious nbc news republican debate from tampa, propelled gop candidates into the ground war today into the fight for the state of florida. and after going after newt gingrich last night, today as mitt romney's finances were detailed, he chose to go after the president. nbc's peter alexander has our report tonight from tampa. >> reporter: mitt romney tried to upstage tonight's state of the union address with a scathing critique of obama's economic record. >> three years ago, we measured candidate obama by his hopeful promises and his slogans. today, president obama has amassed an actual record of debt, decline and disappointment. >> reporter: last night romney abandoned what had been his above-the-fray style, instead aggressively challenging his republican rival, newt gingrich. >> i think it's about leadership and the speaker was given the opportunity to be the leader of our party in 1994 and at the end of four years he had to resign in disgrace. >> i'm not going to spend the evening trying to chase go

nbc news has asked the romney campaign for the removal of all nbc news material from their campaign adstom brokaw responded saying, i'm extremely uncomfortable with the extended use of my personal image in this political ad. i do not want my role as a journalist compromised for political gain by any campaign. at a shipyard in panama city this afternoon, romney tried to convince voters that gingrich had his turn to run the republican party but failed. >> he was fined for ethics violations. he ultimately had to resign in disgrace. he can't rewrite history. we have to go back an look at history and he may by a great guy with a lot of great ideas but he's not the leader we need at a critical time. >> reporter: and as for that ad with the "nightly news" clip in it, tonight the romney campaign tells me they have received the letter from nbc news and are reviewing it. but that they believe they still have the right to air that clip and is scheduled to air through tuesday. which is primary day in florida. >> yes, it is. peter alexander in florida tonight. >>> in the meantime, newt gingrich is n

that is ""nbc nightly news"" for this saturday. 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.

ron allen, nbc news, new york. >>> in italy tonight, new questions are being raised about whether there were more people on board that capsized cruise ship than the official manifest shows. this as the official death toll grew yet again today. nbc's duncan golestani is on the island of giglio with the latest on the search for victims. >> reporter: all week families of the missing have been waiting for news of their loved ones, including a missing american couple. this is not what they had hoped for. the 13th victim of the costa concordia is brought ashore. this fireman says divers found the body of a woman on deck seven. like yesterday's victims, she too was wearing her life vest and is believed to have been a passenger. families gathered on the island now have an anxious few days as the woman is identified. because of the time spent in the water, five bodies have still not yet been named, a task even more complicated because authorities now think the cruise liner had unregistered passengers on board. while the search for the missing continues, pressure grows to speed up the salvage ope

this time swinging haymakers at the nbc news/facebook debate. some of the heaviest blows aimed at mitt romney, still the comfortable front-runner but slipping in the latest new hampshire tracking poll, which also finds significant volatility within the rest of the pack. with less than two days to go, the candidates came out today ready to fight for every vote. our political team is in place. we begin with nbc's peter alexander at a romney rally in exeter, new hampshire. peter, good evening. >> reporter: lester, good evening to you. now we're hearing from mitt romney's wife, ann romney. there have been several interruptions from occupy protesters here tonight. the new hampshire voters are ruggedly independent, famous for primary surprises. with that in mind, republican candidates hope to take advantage of today's debate to knock romney off his perch. from the very start, mitt romney's republican rivals tried to cast the front-runner as out of step with mainstream conservatism. >> we want someone who is going to stand up and fight for the conservat

news" begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television >>> good evening. for a small state it can be a giant killer. new hampshire also has a funny way of deciding the next nominee for the presidency and they are justifiably proud of that. they vote tomorrow the first primary of the season. we'll see you from there tomorrow night. the hours until then, it's a mad scramble because political fortunes can be won and lost there. and because mitt romney has a house there and was governor of the state next door, it's always been considered something of a race for second place, but make no mistake, mitt romney is under incoming fire for his words and his record, and with our team in place tonight, it's where we begin this evening with nbc's peter alexander. peter, good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening to you. the stakes in new hampshire are clear. one senior huntsman advisor told me the final 24 hours, the last-ditch effort is to make sure mitt romney leaves this state stumbling. the sentiment shared by other candidates as they try to improve their chance

duncan golistani, "nbc nightly news," london. >>> that's nbc news for this saturday. i'll see you tomorrow morning on today and then back here tomorrow evening. good night. . >>> good saturday evening to you. we begin tonight with a

our nbc news debate begins tonight at 9:00/8:00 central. we hope you'll join us then. we are going to prepare for that further. savannah guthrie in new york is here to take us the rest of the night. good evening. >> good evening, brian. there is weather making news tonight, but not the kind we are used to seeing in january. a violent, fast-moving storm swept across the south and brought tornados and serious damage. at least two people were killed. 100 others injured. weather channel meteorologist eric fisher joins us from center point, alabama, near birmingham. good evening to you. >> reporter: savannah, we just put the disastrous year of 2011 to bed and here we stand amidst the rubble and broken homes. twisters opened up wounds in this part of the country had only just begun to heal. the turbulent weather packed strong winds, spawning two dozen reported tornados and leaving behind a path of destruction. >> as soon as i had gotten in the bath tub and put the pillow over my head there was this destruction, the whole roof went away. >> reporter: alabama was the hardest hi

in a brand new nbc news marist poll of new hampshire republicans, romney enjoys a 20-point lead. ron paul in second with 22% and rick santorum third. even in the more conservative south carolina romney's up big. a new times cnn poll has him leading santorum by 18 points. santorum is criss-crossing new hampshire, stopping today at a gun store in jaffrey as he tries to build on that iowa momentum. with the attention comes scrutiny. today santorum pushed back on a washington post report that he parlayed senate access to make a fortune from his so-called k street lobbying connections. >> i didn't profit off of k street. i wasn't involved in any work at all on k street. i referred clients to folks and that was pretty much the extent of what i did. >> reporter: at times this week, santorum's campaign has seemed overwhelmed. >> do we have a problem? >> reporter: like today when a fire marshal interrupted an event. and last night when he was booed off stage by college students after he compared gay marriage to polygamy. [ boos, applause ] >> reporter: still, santorum may benefit from eff

mike taibbi, nbc news, gardenia, california. >> that's nbc nightly news for this sunday. williams will be here tomorrow. i'm lester holt reporting from new york. for all of us here at nbc news, good night.

news" begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television >>> good evening. the next contest in the wild run for the nomination in the gop is in florida. there have been two televised debates there. tonight there is fresh evidence voters are making up their minds. the trend lines are moving away from newt gingrich, who won the last primary, and toward mitt romney. romney is now getting a lot of help from members of the republican party who think newt gingrich as the nominee going up against president obama in the fall is a bad idea. it's getting rough once again in florida tonight. it's where we begin on this friday evening with nbc's peter alexander from the campaign trail. peter, good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening to you. tonight mitt romney's campaign feels very strongly that they have the momentum back in this race ahead of florida's vote four days from now. this is the biggest prize yet with both front runners crisscrossing the state trying to touch all four corners. >> i thought it was a delightful debate. i loved it. >> reporter: energized

so can you. >> reporter: kristen dahlgren, nbc news, dallas. >>> and that is "nbc nightly news" for this year's day. coming up next "football night in america" followed by "sunday night football", the cowboys versus the giants. brian williams will be here tomorrow. i'm kate snow reporting from new york. for lester holt and all of us here at nbc news, happy new year. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

so can you. >> reporter: kristen dahlgren, nbc news, dallas. >>> and that is "nbc nightly news" for this year's day. coming up next "football night in america" followed by "sunday night football", the cowboys versus the giants. brian williams will be here tomorrow. i'm kate snow reporting from new york. for lester holt and all of us here at nbc news, happy new year. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com and it hasn't been going exactly as planned. cut. cut! [ monica ] i thought we'd be on location for 3 days -- it's been 3 weeks. so i had to pick up some more things. good thing i've got the citi simplicity card. i don't get hit with a fee if i'm late with a payment... which is good because on this job, no! bigger! [ monica ] i may not be home for a while. [ male announcer ] the new citi simplicity card. no late fees. no penalty rate. no worries.

a reminder you can ring in the new year with carson daly right here later on tonight on nbc. i'm kate snow reporting from new york for lester holt and everyone here at nbc news, have a happy new year. everyone here at nbc news, have a happy new year. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

first family comes first, being a dad and husband right now. >> nbc news, new york. >>> typically the republican presidential nominee is decided well before california's june 5th primary. it turns out california conservatives could have an influence after all. the mercury news is reporting that in one scenario, newt gingrich and mitt romney could keep pace with each other long enough for california to weigh in. a new candidate could enter the race meaning it could come down to the final primaries. california has 172 delegates compared to 50 for florida. in all 2200 delegates are up for grabs. the candidate needs a majority to win the nomination at the national convention and that is in august. >>> still ahead at 11:00, a public park saved by private donations. it is a trend that is more and more common since the recession. we will show you what it means for the largest skateboarding park. >>> and above super bowl village, the first, most popular event in indianapolis right now. check that out. we'll show you. >> pretty wild ride there. >>> weather about to see a change as we get back

duncan golestani, nbc news, london. >>> that's "nbc nightly news" for this sunday.rian williams will be here tomorrow. i'm lester holt reporting from new york. we'll leave you with a live look at the red carpet at the golden globes. the stars are arriving. the coverage begins here next. for all of us here at nbc news, good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

duncan golestani, nbc news, london. >>> that's "nbc nightly news" for this sunday.rian williams will be here tomorrow. i'm lester holt reporting from new york. we'll leave you with a live look at the red carpet at the golden globes. the stars are arriving. the coverage begins here next. for all of us here at nbc news, good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com on the 4g lte devices you love. like the droid bionic by motorola for $199.99. or the pantech breakout for $49.99. our lowest price ever. get the technology you love, on the network you deserve. now get twice the data for the same low price. hurry in, this offer ends january 15th. verizon.

kerry sanders, nbc news, la grange, kentucky. >>> enjoy your meal, everybody.hat's our broadcast for this friday night and this week. thank you for being with us. i'm brian williams. 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. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

here is what we found in our nbc news entrance poll. white evangelicals made up 57% of the electorate. tonight just about as many as four years ago when 60% described themselves as evangelicals. tonight they are favoring rick santorum, 30% of evangelicals said they would vote for santorum. 21% you see went for ron paul. newt gingrich to 14%. mitt romney and rick perry are getting 13% each. we'll keep you atrack of how things are going in these key groups and how they are choosing their candidates as the night goes on. >> that's fascinating. four years ago mike huckabee united the evangelical vote to win the iowa caucuses and win them big. his campaign manager in 2008 was chip saltsman and chip is kind enough to join us tonight now from nashville. thanks very much for taking the time. really appreciate it. >> good to be with you. >> when you look at the similarities between the number of evangelicals among the caucus goers turning out tonight in 2012 compared with when you won in iowa in 2008 what does that tell you about iowa and about

long-time nbc news correspondent george lewis is retiring today after 42 years with nbc news. the journalism bug bit our friend george pretty bad and pretty early back at san bernadino high in california. well that, led to a deejay shift at a 5,000 watt radio station, then a job as a page for the "regis philbin show" because it all goes back to reeg. george got hired by knbc los angeles. somebody handed him a ticket to vietnam. he was our man in saigon to cover the end of the war. george was just getting started. there were more wars, more conflicts to cover, including desert storm. being based in l.a. for 28 of those years meant earthquakes and fires and mudslides and so many of us will remember his work covering the o.j. simpson trial, among other stories. he's been our tech guy, our man in hollywood. just last night he covered the oscar nominations. this is all to say george has been our go-to guy. now he has somewhere else to go. a few months from now we hope to talk george back on to the air as an occasional contributor, because in this business especially, it's hard to w

new hampshire. who will get the nod from the voters on who can beat obama? >> david gregory, i know you'll be with us throughout the evening that's "nbc nightly news" for this rday. a reminder we'll have primary updates throughout the night on this nbc station, msnbc and online at nbcpolitics.com. see you tomorrow on "today" and tomorrow evening. have a good night.

news" begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television >>> good evening. in the poll numbers we are debuting tonight, there is a new gop front-runner in this race. that's newt gingrich. now leading mitt romney by nine points nationally. santorum third. ron paul with 12%, fourth. seizing the lead, however, as you know, comes with quite a cost to newt gingrich. as we've seen in this race so far, front runner status means coming under heavy fire. that's what happened today. our poll is also showing evidence this race is hurting the gop, and we could see more of that tonight at the next debate, because after all, it's only been three days since the last one. a lot of ground to cover tonight, including those new poll numbers. first, let's begin with nbc's ron mott in jacksonville tonight. ron, good evening. >> reporter: hey, brian, good evening to you. long before republicans officially get the chance to beat president barack obama in the fall, newt gingrich is saying tonight he's getting beaten up by the republican establishment and does not plan to go down wit

tonight santorum aides tell nbc news they raised $1 million in the last 24 hours alone. they hope that's the start of a truly competitive campaign. 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

an nbc news exclusive. a promising olympic athlete until a terrible accident. well, tonight the inspiring story of kevin pearce back on the slopes. story of kevin pearce back on the slopes. "nightly news" begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television >>> good evening. in every poll every day of this political season we asked voters about the number one issue and every day the answer comes back jobs and the economy. everyone looking for shreds of evidence of a turnaround or any good news on the horizon. yesterday was auto sales. people are buying more cars these past few months. that can't be bad but today brought better news -- a surge in the number of jobs in the private sector just as 2011 came to a close. it's enough for a lot of folks to pin their hopes on as 2012 gets under way. it's where we begin here tonight with nbc's chris jansing. >> i have been looking for a job for three years. >> reporter: in ontario, california, job hunters lined up early to apply for some of the 6,000 new jobs nationwide at retailer dollar general. >> i saw the big ad

chelsea clinton, nbc news, boca raton, florida. >>> that's our broadcast on a monday night as we begin a new week. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. don't forget "rock center" at 10:00, 9:00 central. our last monday night appearance before we move to wednesday nights. we have a terrific broadcast planned for tonight. of course, we hope to see you back here tomorrow evening. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >> good evening. thanks for joining us on this monday, i'm raj mathai. >> i'm jessica aguirre. we begin with the san bruno explosion. who is to blamend how new technology could help avoid a disaster like that in the future. >> congresswoman jackie spears has been a vocal watchdog. she is urging governor brown to reverse a decision by the puc president to appoint himself to lead the

i'm steve handlesman, nbc news, tampa. >>> coming up next on nbc bay area news at 5:00, did you knowa top player for the new york giants grew up in the east bay? how are his friends coping with the conflict? do they route for their buddy or their team? >>> trackingi round three of a powerful series of storms now bringing heavy rain to the mountains and much-needed snow to the sierra. a look at that fecast me back.co >>> some folks are rooting on the giants or at least one of their players. that's because he grew up in the bay area. we have the story and check out his picture from his high school days with a 49ers hat on. >> reporter: number 71, david tollefson, is a hometown boy. he was drafted by the green bay packers and spent some time with the raiders before moving to new york. >> he's been a standout. >> it's not because he's the biggest guy or the strongest person. it's because his heartbeats a lot stronger than anybody else on that football field. i truly believe that. >> reporter: he's still close to a group of friends from high school who say they are so proud of where he is

tom costello, nbc news, washington. >>> we turn our coverage now to presidential politics where the gop field got smaller by one today. after a disappointing finish in new hampshire and five days before the south carolina primary, jon huntsman is tonight out of the race. our report from nbc's peter alexander. >> reporter: in suspending his presidential bid, he derided the toxic tone of the campaign. >> this race has degenerated into an onslaught of negative and personal attacks not worthy of the american people. today i call on each campaign to cease attacking each other and instead talk directly to the american people. >> reporter: but huntsman himself delivered some of the sharpest jabs against mitt romney. >> he's out of touch with reality that is playing out on the ground in this country. >> reporter: the nasty campaigning began in iowa, led by supporters of romney and ron paul. >> newt has a ton of baggage. he was fined $300,000 for ethics violations. >> reporter: the barrage derailed gingrich's campaign prompting former house speaker to counterattack. >> a group of corporate raide

news" begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television >>> good evening. it would have stretched from canada to texas, and all along the countryside in between, and it still might someday, but for now, president obama has said no to a massive oil pipeline project, a $7 billion job that would create a lot of jobs in this country. the president says he has his reasons. he feels rushed into a decision by congress, and there are questions about a lot of things, including the environment, and his decision now to put this on hold has angered a lot of people from canada on south clear to congress and washington, and as of today, you can be sure, as the campaign season enters the home stretch, we'll be hearing a lot more about this long stretch of pipe. it's where we begin tonight with nbc's andrea mitchell in washington. andrea, good evening. >> good evening, brian. this sure was a no win situation for the president. on one side, environmentalists fighting the pipeline which would have added to an existing pipeline and run from canada all the way to the gulf of m

news". tomorrow evening for "nbc nightly news". good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

"nightly news" tomorrow evening. for nbctly news" tomorrow evening. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> right now at 6:00, a bay area school sustains heavy dpaj from a fire. they're doing all they can to reopen the school. >>> i'm jessica aguirre. the flames gutted several buildings in san francisco's western edition before christmas actually didn't really touch the school next door. but that doesn't mean there wasn't damage. >> the staff