more than 100 protesters were arrested after clashing with police. >>> happening in northern florida,erstate 75 is closed after a string of crashes overnight killing at least nine people. officials tell us the highway will be closed in that area for most of the day. the sheriff's office says visibility was poor because of smoke from a nearby brush fire. >>> and a community's symbol of strength and compassion today enters a new era of healing. the hospital in joplin, missouri, took a direct tornado hit last year. today it's being demolished. coming up at 5:00, i'll talk to somebody who knows first hand about the town's healing process. i'm fredricka whitfield. back in one hour. wolf blitzer will be joining me to talk about the gop debate. he moderated in jacksonville. then it's on to las vegas. republicans will be caucusing there in nevada. nevada's biggest newspapers already endorsing their favorite candidates. more of that straight ahead. time for your money.

from the university of northern florida our cnn final showdown before tuesday's important florida gop presidential primary. warming up, newt gingrich calls the mitt romney campaign dishonest and hypocritical, a sure sign he knows the former massachusetts governor has opened a small lead here. plus debate advice from the former florida governor jeb bush. you won't want to miss his advice to speaker gingrich. we learned today, surprise hillary clinton is not watching the republican debates. but the secretary of state did share some thoughts on her political future. >>> you can seat energy and the excitement here on the university of north florida campus just two hours now until our republican presidential debate here. the last showdown between the four candidates before florida votes on tuesday. polls show a close race between newt gingrich and mitt romney. the house speaker's team knows this could be the final chance to swing the florida momentum. there are some differences on tax policy and immigration policy and we expect fireworks there tonight. but more than anything else, the gop

and quite a bit of severe weather now rolling into parts of south georgia that's headed for northern floridanight just cold, watch out for a slippery night into sunday morning. and then breaks of sunshine tomorrow early before the clouds come book. could start out with a little freezing snow late tomorrow night into early monday morning before the warm air comes in and changes everything to rain. tonight some clearing, a hard refreeze. wakeup temperatures 18 out west, 21 around town. and for the extended forecast here, all changing to rain, could be a little slippery around here first thing monday morning, we're going to watch out for that, it all becomes rain and back into the 50s on monday and tuesday. >>> there are now 12 people confirmed dead from that cruise ship disaster off the coast of italy. divers found a woman's body in a hallway today. she still had her life jacket on. 20 people still missing, diesel fuel was found near the ship too. >>> a happy reunion today in prince george's county. he went missing just before christmas when his owner left him in a truck that was stolen and us

rain will diminish from the carolinas to northern florida. >>> in sports a tale of two nba games in miamiat played without the injured dwyane wade and at first it was all san antonio by a half court buzzer beater giving the spurs a lead at the half. but in the third quarter, the heat took over. lebron james hit a series of three-pointers. he had 33 points for the night. chris bosh added 30 and the heat won it 120-98. >>> in salt lake city, paul milsaps scored 20 to lead the jazz to a win against the l.a. clippers. miles had a big night scoring 19. including a break away jam in the fourth quarter. it was all that jazz. 108-79. >>> in college hoops, a thriller in ann arbor. 20th ranked michigan hosting 9th ranked michigan state. it was a seesaw battle for much of the second half. with time running out, the spartans missed and the wolverines made a break that ended with a douglas lay-in. michigan hung on for the one-point win 60-59. >>> finally, you have to see this buzzer beating shot and listen to the announcer's reaction. >> no good. the rebound. half court, full court shot. good! oh, my

extremely cold air going to make it to northern florida. looking at the satellite radar, lake-effect snow machine kicking in, that is about it really the only game, northwest flow you can see it there, just to the northwest of the washington area, and you know what out to western maryland portions of west virginia, western pennsylvania a foot of brand new fresh powder expected a winter storm warning in western maryland, as they expect some heavy snow, lake- effect snow machine, continuing to do its thing here next couple days, check out the daytime highs, today, 43, breezy, it will feel cold bring along a jacket, never warm up tomorrow we will be lucky to get to 32, blowing in 30 to 35 miles per hour. 35 wednesday, thursday and friday better highs near 50. >> unfair for the kids going back to school tomorrow. >> they've got new winter coats they can show them off. >> that's right. merry christmas, happy hanukkah. >> julie has a check of this mornings traffic and julie you said it was lighter earlier this morning. still that way. >> yeah, it

by tuesday night windchills will be subzero for parts of new england and in the teens for northern florida? >> all right, ginger, thank you so much, ginger zee. >>> and here is the first riddle of 20126789 how can twins be born a year apart? well, it happened not once but four times and here's how it happened. as auld lang syne was about to begin in tampa. this baby was born at 11:59 on the last night at 2011. as the song was ending a minute later, her twin sister, leah, was born, one of the first newborns of 2012 and the same thing happened in buffalo, in minneapolis and in south dakota. a lot of happy twinges with two birthday parties to come in the years ahead. a happy new year to them, indeed. >>> and still ahead, the woman who lost her voice 30 years ago speaking here tonight. she saw a story on "world news" that changed her life. every day potentially harmful germs can collect on the surface of a denture. leading regular toothpastes are not designed to kill the bacteria that polident is designed to kill. polident's unique microclean formula has been proven to eliminate thousands of t

. >>> in northern florida, interstate 75 is closed after a string of crashes overnight that killed at least nine people. officials tell us the highway will be closed in that area for most of today. the sheriff's office says visibility was poor because of smoke from a nearby brushfire. >>> all right, in just two days, florida's primary, most delegate rich contest so far. and candidate newt gingrich is heading into it with a new endorsement. >> i hereby officially and enthusiastically endorse newt gingrich for president of the united states! >> will herman cain's backing influence primary voters in the sunshine state? a live report straight ahead. >>> and now to the campaign trail, extending beyond florida. ron paul spent the weekend in maine where several towns are holding caucuses over the next several weeks. rick santorum did some fund raising in washington, d.c. yesterday, but skipped appearances today in florida to be with his young daughter who is being hospitalized in philadelphia. >>> newt gingrich and mitt romney, they're both campaigning all over the state of florida. a new po

the freeze warnings in pink in northern florida, back through louisiana, and even southern texas. i'll be back with more about when the cold starts to get out of here. >> thank you, ginger. >>> the controversy raging in mississippi. the outgoing governor haley barbour is under fire for pardoning killers and rapists. he's finally speaking out. >> reporter: former mississippi governor haley barbour defended the more than 200 pardons he issued saying he believed in forgiveness and second chances. >> i'm very comfortable and totally at peace with these pardons. >> reporter: a popular governor, he now finds himself defending the murders and rapists that he set free. >> these powers are given to the governor by the constitution. i'm fully sure that the pardons and other clemency are all valid. >> reporter: five men, four of them murders who cooked and cleaned at the governor's mansion, have been set free. barbour says they're not a threat. >> they're no threat to society. that's what i would say to the public of mississippi. >> reporter: one of those men, david gatlin was sentenced to m

some thirties and even below freezing in northern florida. 31 at jacksonville this morning. a little chilly down that way. con -- contrast to 48 in kansas city. 42 for the low in the denver. not all that bad for jan. around the nation. a little bit of cloud cover in the mountains to the west. some snow on the grounds are temperatures will be chilled a bit by the snow cover. you can see that happening in oakland in the low 30's. 45 downtown baltimore. 33 down at salsberry. partly cloudy skies continuing through friday. close to nine not as cold but typical for this time of year. -- close to night not as cold but typical for this time of year. warm air from around the country will be spreading east. temperatures out here that have been running way above normal throughout the day will be punching east into the mid- atlantic. the trailing front will not get here until later on saturday. by the time it reaches us it should be fairly dry. we will see this out here pushing east over the next day or two. 68 degrees up to rapid city. temperatures will be running well above normal. i

will it help in northern florida and the panhandle? absolutely.lking about and about to them. he's not frankly talking to the rest of us. will he be able to win the nomination based on that? probably not. will he be able to segue with independence and win the white house. absolutely not. the only thing if there is going to be a race that rick santorum will win, maybe he can be mayor of lego land. >> stay with us. coming up, the neutron bomb set to explode this weekend. >> i am prepared if the naacp invites me, i will go to the convention and talk about why the african-american community should demand paychecks and not be satisfied with food stamps. [ male announcer ] wouldn't it be cool if you took the top down on a crossover? if there were buttons for this? wouldn't it be cool if your car could handle the kids... ♪ ...and the nurburgring? or what if you built a car in tennessee that could change the world? yeah, that would be cool. nissan. innovation for today. innovation for tomorrow. innovation for all. ♪ i have a cold. and i took nyquil but i'

say that gingrich played the right thing for south florida caron me play the right thing for northern florida. we will see how it does for them. by all accounts tonight, i think that what richard and joanne just said is right. >> gingrich was not on his best tonight. the error of his ball is blown out. ronny absolutely got him tonight. ronny also lied about what obamas said about cutting medicare. he lied more than once. that is going to come back and haunt him if he does win this nomination to go up against barack obama. when he does, he will have to go up against the barack obama team. >> one thing that newt gingrich did not change tonight, and that is his constant attacks on the media. listen to this exchange. >> are you satisfied right now with the level of transparency as far as his personal finances? >> you and i have a great relationship. i am with him. this is a nonsense question. [ applause ] >> you have a chance to talk about a whole range of issues. >> we make a series accusation, you need to explain that. >> do you want to try again? >> wouldn't it be nice if people didn't make ac

the freeze warnings in pink in northern florida, back through louisiana, and even southern texas. i'll be coming up with much more on when the cold starts to get out of here. biann bianna? >> thank you, ginger. >>> the controversy raging in mississippi. the outgoing governor haley barbour is under fire for pardoning convicted killers and rapists. he's finally speaking out. abc's steve osunsami has been on the story from the beginning. >> reporter: former mississippi governor haley barbour defended the more than 200 pardons he issued on his way out of office this week saying he believed in forgiveness and second chances. >> i'm very comfortable and totally at peace with these pardons. >> reporter: a popular governor, he now finds himself defending the murderers and rapists that he set free. >> these powers are given to the governor by the constitution. i'm fully confident that these pardons and other clemency are all valid. >> reporter: five men, four of them murders who cooked and cleaned at the governor's mansion, have been set free. barbour says he doesn't believe they're a dang

. >>> happening in northern florida, interstate 75 is closed after a string of crashes overnight thatine people. officials tell us the highway will be closed in that area for most of today. the sheriff's office says visibility was really poor because of smoke from a nearby brush fire. >>> ugly scene

melissa sutton, 19 years old, awoke to her new college dorm life in northern florida, unaware of whatappened to her parents the night before. unaware that her mother was dead. unaware that in a miami emergency room, doctors were fighting to save her father's life. >> who told you and how? >> i actually got a call from a friend who said, i hope your dad's going to be okay. and i just went, what? like maybe a heart attack or something, you know. >> it just came out of the blue. >> out of the blue. >> melissa called every number she could back home. >> i called my mom. she didn't answer. i called teddy montoto, my dad's partner. extremely close family friend. he didn't answer. i called my brother. he said he couldn't talk right now. >> were you frantic in the sense that you knew something bad had happened? >> i didn't know what. i didn't know what level. >> eventually, melissa reached montoto, who reluctantly broke the news to her on the phone. he brought her back to miami and the hospital where her father was in intensive care. her brother, 26-year-old christopher, had already arrived.

the southern part of northern florida where people are much more likely to vote for him. >> it's not just the panhandle. it's partly that, but even among the establishment republicans i was talking to today, they can't stand barack obama on many levels. they want him out. even for moderate republicans, they are surprisingly fierce when talking to them on the street corner in florida. they want him out. they wish that mitt romney had the ability to fight the way newt gingrich does. the problem that mitt romney also has is yes, they are independent spending groups. but in a debate, you have to carry the argument yourself. newt gingrich relishes this. he's had 20 years of it on the floor. he's had 25 years of it in congress. mitt romney doesn't know how to do it very well. >> here's mitt romney getting aggressive last night. he called the former speaker of the house a failed leader. today he hit newt on multiple fronts. let's watch him in action. let's watch. >> in the case of the speaker, he's got some records which could represent an october surprise. saying that newt gingrich is a lo

now we have a lot of rain falling from southern ontario all the way down the east coast to northern florida and the southern end of that front did produce some tornadoes earlier this morning in alabama and that did cause some damage in alabama. there were a couple of homes leveled there, a couple of fatalities. we do have a little bit of light rain now coming through the district into montgomery county and western howard county. farther north where you see this pink zone in carroll county, there are still maybe a few pockets where it is below freezing. this rain may be freezing on exposed surfaces, freezing rain. down into south washington, charles county, they, too, getting light rain. farther to the west getting heavier rain now this darker green zone here in west virginia, the panhandle there. that's moving into western maryland and allegheny county shortly. still patchy fog, temperatures though most of virginia an west virginia getting above freezing. some parts of west virginia into the 40s now. into the upper 30s in southern maryland and closer to washington, mid-30s in montgomery, pr

by tuesday night, wind chills will be subzero for new england and in the teens for northern florida.sze, abc news, new york. >> you know that girl. >> is it ginger, paula? we used to work together in the city of chicago. people would approach me on the street and say, what is the weather going to be like? how the heck am i going to know? ask her about sports or her kids. she doesn't have any kids. >> exactly. ended up in the same place. cool. >> maybe that was me. two for one. abc's getting two for one, right? >> they like a deal around here. that's good. >>> here's your tuesday forecast. frost and freeze warnings across the gulf coast. some morning snow showers in the mountains of west virginia, north carolina, tennessee. up to two feet of snow, in western new york, six more inches in michigan. rain, mountain snow, pacific northwest. 53, seattle. 47, salt lake city. 75, phoenix. i could go for that right now. mid 20s. twin cities. minneapolis. 32 here in new york. 37 in atlanta. maim only climbs to 57 -- only. only. >> poor folks in miami. how will they make it? wear their wool shor

gusty winds, hail, and tornadoes from mississippi to northern florida and some heavy snow in the rockiesle and portland. 74 in phoenix. upper 50s in dallas. 51 in kansas city. 39 in chicago. new orleans 72. and atlanta is a ripe 68. >>> and now here's something you don't see every day. check out this little lamb, currently getting lots of attention on a farm in the former soviet republic of georgia. >> okay. for those who can count this early in the morning, yes, it has six legs. and that's not the only thing that makes it so special. it's also a hermaphrodite. and its name is pat. >> which of course means, in addition to those six legs, it also has both male and female sexual organs. that is quite a lamb. >> so if you're born a hermaphrodite, where do you go? would you rather be a male or a female? >> as a human? i'd rather be a male. just to avoid the childbirth alone. i'd rather stick with what i've got. >> i think it is much easier to be a dude. >> yeah. in which case an extra leg is a good thing. we'll be back with more "world news now" -- >> time out. time out, everybody. ♪ she got

. >> politically speaking the state of florida is very different demographicly. northern part votes like the southern part of the united states. the southern part of the florida votes like the north. just up the road is dangerous, university of florida, that city that area votes democratic because of the university but the counties surrounding is some of the most republican counties in the country. this is tim tebow county and some say it's horse country but they have its own unique voting style. [♪...] >> announcer: bank robbery certainly is a frightening crime. after all, bank robbers stole $43 million in one year. but identity thieves? try 37 billion! and guess how identity thieves are getting some of that money. by taking over our bank accounts. they may not even need your social security number anymore. all an identity thief may need are a couple of simple pieces of information, like your mother's maiden name or the city you were born in, and they could add their name onto your bank accounts in order to make your money their money. you need help. [whoosh, clang] you

northern florida down to south florida here in the keys are totally different, very diverse state.re are going to be different situations as far as the issues. still going to be about the economy. still going to be about conditions with the right type of tax and regulatory policies to spur on the small business and job greeting. it really gets down to who is going to be the one that can talk about economic freedom for america's hard working families down here in florida. but also you have to talk about a vision for how do we reform and repair medicare and social security. we have a problem with fraud, waste and abuse here. we know that the actuaries have said that medicare is going to go bankrupt in the nextite to nine years and you will see a degradation of social security benefits five to six years after that. we are looking for someone with a plan of action to get the economy turned around but also concerned about national security. just last week we had president mahmoud ahmadinejad visiting cuba. and china coming in with oil drilling right off of our coast. >> shannon: you sai

even in northern florida. they may survive a little while. fla pla is a problem.isiana and other states like that. that's where i'm coming from. in ohio right now, we have a big problem with what happened several months ago. we're dealing with atomic bombs being tigers, lions that kind of thing. they want to incorporate some pythons in that law. right now we're trying to work that out so we don't affect the educational programs, the reputable breeders, we don't affect those guys had they pass this new law. >> what about the existing law. the ban is unissue and how it should be regulated. whether or not there's a documented -- what is florida doing to control the population and get it under control? >> they've been trying. as you know for several years. they're trying to take them out. i've heard this. having to hire outside people to come in and try and find these snakes. one thing people get alarmed because of the snake movies, the snake on the plane and snakes you think of a snake. it's not fair to the animal. these animals -- snakes are are a beautiful creature

happening here, the purple descending to the south, in fact, it will be approaching the northern parts of florida peninsula. now, taking a look at what's happening here, we are at the freezing mark in washington, d.c. minus 2 in new york city. you saw 4 yesterday. it is a big jump, at least 6 degrees some places. minus 12 in toronto, minus 4 in chicago. look at what's happening here in the southwest. winter in the northeast, southwest is summer. 28 degrees for l.a. many major cities experiencing temperatures above 25 degrees. we head into europe now lastly. the major story here is another atlantic storm system. they just keep coming, what can i say. wet and windy. when i say windy, gusts 80 kilometers an hour in scotland with this system. wind warnings for parts of ireland, denmark, northern germany. it will be wet and wild across the british isles, through france, extending to poland and scandinavia as well. into the central mediterranean, a system is going to reboot. it is easing off into the balkans. minus 2 in moscow. 8 in berlin. 9 in vienna. 12 in london, 13 in paris. not too cold here, but

happening here, the purple descending to the south, in fact, it will be approaching the northern parts of florida peninsula. now, taking a look at what's happening here, we are at the freezing mark in washington, d.c. minus 2 in new york city. you saw 4 yesterday. it is a big jump, at least 6 degrees some places. minus 12 in toronto, minus 4 in chicago. look at what's happening here in the southwest. winter in the northeast, southwest is summer. 28 degrees for l.a. many major cities experiencing temperatures above 25 degrees. we head into europe now lastly. the major story here is another atlantic storm system. they just keep coming, what can i say. wet and windy. when i say windy, gusts 80 kilometers an hour in scotland with this system. wind warnings for parts of ireland, denmark, northern germany. it will be wet and wild across the british isles, through france, extending to poland and scandinavia as well. into the central mediterranean, a system is going to reboot. it is easing off into the balkans. minus 2 in moscow. 8 in berlin. 9 in vienna. 12 in london, 13 in paris. not too cold here, but

florida republican debate. >>> deadly collapse. residents in rio run for their lives when a 20-story building suddenly comes crumbling to the ground. >>> and spectacular skies. the northern lights put on another rare and dramatic display. captions paid for by nbc-universal television >>> hello. good morning. i'm lynn berry. >>> today we begin with a fight in florida. it was a verbal battle in jacksonville between mitt romney and newt gingrich in the final debate before tuesday's primary. they sqaubleed about many issues including housing and immigration and even a colony on the move. nbc's steve handelsman reports. >> reporter: mitt romney, through the first punch at newt gingrich for calling romney anti-immigrant. >> you tell me what language you would use to describe somebody who thinks that deporting a grandmother or a grandfather from their family. >> our problem is not 11 million grandmothers. our problem is -- all right? >> reporter: florida's housing crisis is severe. many blame freddie mac. >> speaker gingrich was hired by freddie mac to promote them. i think instead we should have had a whistle-blower and not a horn tooter. >> frankly i've had about enough of th

northern florida a gingrich strong hold.e for him in a lot of these counties, but he won them. this is what gives him the hope if he gets to march on super tuesday, when there are more northern florida like states this is what gives him hope, if he runs a better campaign than he did this time, he has a base to build on. the other fascinating part about romney's margin, he's going to have prove ing to get more vote than any other primary candidate in history. he did it in five counties, dave, broward, palm beach and hillsboro. west palm not a full fledged media market. half of his vote margin came out of here. he won dade county by some 50 points, and it was an unbelievable margin he got out of the south there, and tampa, that made up for -- you would think when you get close to 50%, that you would almost win every media market in the state. no, this was a very bottom heavy victory for mitt romney. a couple other things i want to point out going to the general. i don't think we learned anything tonight about the general, ther

. >> politically speaking the state of florida is very different demographicly. northern part votes like the southern part of the united states. the southern part of the florida votes like the north. just up the road is dangerous, university of florida, that city that area votes democratic because of the university but the counties surrounding is some of the most republican counties in the country. this is tim tebow county and some say it's horse country but they have its own unique voting style. we'll be right back after this. every-night budget. - she thought allstate car insurance was out of her reach. until she heard about the value plan. dollar for dollar, nobody protects you like allstate. take the privileged investing tools of wall street and make them simple, intuitive, and available to all. distill all that data. make information instinctual, visual. introducing trade architect, td ameritrade's empowering web-based trading platform. take control of your portfolio today. trade commission-free for 60 days, and we'll throw in up $600 when you open an account. prego?