a look back tonight from nbc's ron allen. >> reporter: joe paterno was one of the greatest figures ever in college sports. 46 years as head coach at penn state, 409 victories, the most of the division one school. from his idealistic early days, paterno had implemented what he called a grand experiment, to graduate more players while maintaining success on the field. most recently his teams consistently ranked among the best in the big ten for graduating players. the coach took the nittany lions to 37 bowl games, and two national championships, hundreds of the players he coached went on to the nfl. penn state became known as happy valley. >> people ask me why i stayed here so long, and, you know what, look around. look around. i stayed here because i love you all! >> reporter: but last year, everything changed. in his final days, paterno battled lung cancer, his spirit and legacy battered by the child sexual abuse scandal centered around his long time assistant jerry sandusky. >> i had never had to deal with something like that. and i didn't feel adequate. >> reporter: penn state fired p

nbc's ron allen pursued the story and met an american man frantically searching for two little girls he was in the process of adopting from haiti. tonight, ron revisits that story and that family. >> reporter: in suburban nashville, there are two little sisters, part of a brand-new family. with their adoptive parents mike and missy wilson and three brothers. >> i love you. >> i love you. >> reporter: they're adjusting well to a completely different way of life. >> i'm tia. >> reporter: we actually know them pretty well. we met tia, now 6 and naika now 8 after haiti's massive earthquake. the wilsons were in the process of adopting them. >> the epicenter is exactly where the girls were. i remember that helpless feeling of we're never going to see them again. >> let's go get this done. >> reporter: mike flew to haiti and found the girls safe. about a week later, the u.s. finally began giving american families adopting children permission to bring them home. for the wilsons, that meant tia could leave immediately, but naika's case was further down the list. it took weeks to get her home a

ron allen, nbc news, new york. >>> when we come back, quite possibly the most adorable orphans sinceie. pd makes it, so i wasn't playing much of a role in my own life, but with advair, i'm breathing better so now i can take the lead on a science adventure. advair is clinically proven to help significantly improve lung function. unlike most copd medications, advair contains both an anti-inflammatory and a long-acting bronchodilator, working together to help improve your lung function all day. advair won't replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than twice a day. people with copd taking advair may have a higher chance of pneumonia. advair may increase your risk of osteoporosis and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking advair. if you're still having difficulty breathing, take the lead. ask your doctor if including advair could help improve your lung function. get your first full prescription free and save on refills at advaircopd.com. [ man thinking ] oh, this gas. those antacids aren't

nebraska's ron allen picks up our coverage. ♪ >> reporter: in florida the campaign has a distinctiveatin beat. [ speaking spanish ] >> reporter: an aggressive push to court the state's fastest-growing electorate. latino voters. now more than 13% in florida. important in the gop primary and probably even more crucial in november. is this vote in the left hand election going to swing the tide one way or the other? >> florida's always a close state, and yes, it can. >> reporter: patrick publishes a 90-year-old multi-lingual newspaper in tampa. it's a lot more complicated than it used to be? >> absolutely, and florida especially we have a mix of cubans, puerto ricans, mexicans, venezuelans, colombians. >> reporter: cuban conservative republicans used to dominate, galvanized by tough anti-castro policies. however, a big influx from places like puerto rico, american citizens who tend to support democrats. >> who do you like? >> i like obama. >> do you think you'll always vote democrat? >> yes, i think, till now. >> reporter: president obama won the latino vote 2-1. then, latino voters help

. >> mike allen and ron fornier, good morning, gentlemen. three states, three different winners, tonight's debate will be critical. when mitt romney went on attack during debates three years ago, he wasn't exactly good at it, it didn't help him, so if you're in the room preparing with him right now, what do you say? >> you need to say something clear, that was part of his problem in south carolina, he didn't have definitive answers, so the romney campaign is going to try to push a clear message of romney is the outsider, newt gingrich is the insider. governor romney is a businessman, newt gingrich as a politician lobbyist coming up here in a half an hour, they are going to do a conference call pressing the idea you saw there in the clips that he's a washington insider. gingrich, on the other hand, says that he's going to frame it as bold conservative versus timid massachusetts governor. they say hit back pivot to obama, hit back, pivot to obama. that's what you'll see newt doing in the debate tonight. >> one of the hits on mitt romney is he

ron allen joins us live from miami. candidates know latino support could hold the keys to the white house. >> reporter: indeed. this is the nation's largest minority group now. they are really getting involved and exercising more clout. there are voters who are young. they are voters who will be around for a while. romney has a lead in the polls among latino voters, but president obama scores better than the republicans do. we came here to florida, spent a couple of days talking to latino voters about their new found and increasingly political clout. in florida the campaign has a latin beat. [ speaks spanish ] >> reporter: an aggressive push for the fastest growing ele electorate. >> is this vote going to swing the tide one way or the other? >> florida is always a close state, and yes it can. >> it's a lot more complicated than it used to be? >> absolutely. in florida we have a mix of cubans, mexicans, venezuelans. >>> galvanized by the gop's tough anti-castro policies, but florida has seen a big influx of immigrants fr

and we are back with nbc's ron allen at the rally. today's debate, even standing up to the accusation that he is a liar. how do they think he performed? >> reporter: they are feeling good about the polls and events like this, and there are several hundred people filing out of the town hall where romney gave a wholesome speech with his family, and many of his kids and grandkids, and everybody from the romney clan out on the stage behind him, a very wholesome picture of america. and he even quotes america the beautiful, the song. so that's the kind of events he has been having here now. he's way up in the polls. and there's every expectation he will win here, and win significantly. they have the wind in share sails here, and they are saying they will not take anything for granted. talked to some people in the crowd here, and there are still some independents and nonbelievers who say things like romney is a chameleon and so forth. some independents here say they are still making up their minds, and some people are not convinced that romn

ron allen has a terrific piece on the diversity of the hispanic population in florida. n, take it away. >> reporter: thanks, chuck. we tried to take a step back and look at this community because it is the nation's largest minority group and they are becoming more politically active. in florida, t first primary state where these voters really matter unlike in iowa or new hampshire or some place like that. so we spent the past couple days driving around talking to latino voters about their increasing political clout. in florida the campaign has a distinctive latin beat. >> i'm mitt romney. >> i'm newt gingrich. >> aggressive push to court the latino voters, now more than 13% in florida important in the gop primary and probably even more crucial in november. is this vote in a general election going to swing the tide one way or another? >> florida is always a close state. it can. >> reporter: patrick publishes a 90-year-old multilingual newspaper in tampa. >> in florida we have a mix of cubans, puerto ricans, mexicans, colombi colombians. >> reporter: florida has seen a big

nbc's ron allen is live in hudson, new hampshire, this morning. what else are we hearing from romney's camp this morning and are candidates trying to take him down a peg as they move around the state as well? >> reporter: the romney campaign is trying to stay on message about jobs and the economy, which is his strong suit. that's why he's going to be here at a metal fabricating plant in southern new hampshire. he's here to talk about creating jobs and that's the backdrop for that. there's a new poll out this morning that provides interesting information. it has romney up by 33 and ron paul in second with 20 points. jon huntsman is at 13 and newt gingrich is in fourth at 11%. and gingrich had had warning for romney on what he sees in the polls. >> if anything i think his position is more precarious this morning. he may be moving toward a weak finish. >> reporter: romney of course is still way up and this is always his race to lose and gingrich is concerned about a weak finish as well. some of the candidates like gingrich and santorum and others are

nbc's ron allen recently went back to haiti for "rock center" and joins me now to talk about the storyout that nashville family that you spent so much time with, with the orphans that they saved at the time and what they're planning to do next. ron, this is such a compelling story. i'm so glad you could be with us today. first of all, what have you seen in haiti? you spent so many years there, back and forth. the lack of progress to me, from the outside, seems appalling. >> i think you're right, andrea. it's stunning. no one expected paradise two years later, but you expected things would be moving along more quickly than they are. people still talk about haiti as a humanitarian emergency disaster. there's very little talk of rebuilding. some of the numbers that you gave are very telling. only half of the rubble removed. 500,000 people still in tent camps, that look permanent. they don't look like these people are going anywhere, anytime soon. i always tell people, just remember, this was one of the poorest countries anywhere. now trying to recover from one of the worst natural disaste

ron allen, nbc news, new york. >>> when we come back, quite possibly the most adorable orphans since "annie." >>> finally tonight we want to show you something pretty remarkable and pretty adorable happening at an orphanage in amsterdam. it's been inundated with hundreds of newborn babies separated from their mothers. tonight there is a major effort underway to nurse them back to health and help them reunite with their families. here's duncan golistani. >> reporter: these seals are the lucky ones. they were found stranded on the dutch coast after stormy weather. so many pups have washed up, they're calling this rehabilitation center an orphanage. wrenched from their mothers, some pups still had umbilical cords attached. at least now they're being cared for in the tents put up especially to cope with the huge numbers. the director explains high water levels mean the seals can't find sand banks to rest on. >> normally it's around 150 and now we have 365, even, and today there were another seven, so we'll go up to the 400s. >> reporter: at mealtime, every helping hand is needed to make

originally to cover the quake, a man chased me down to tell me about the children in an orphanage, nbc's ron allensued the story and met an american man frantically serving for two little girls he was in the process of adopting when the earthquaked. tonight ron revisits the story and the continuing miracle. >> here in the suburbs of nashville, tennessee, there are two little sisters in a brand-new family. >> thanks, mom. >> with their adoptive parents mike and missy wilson and three new brothers, eli, dylan and lane. >> go ahead. >> they're jausingadjusting to a completely new life. >> i love you. >> i love you. bye, mom. >> i'm tia and you're naika. >> actually we really know them very well. we first met tia, now 6, and naika now 8, during the scary aftermath of haiti's massive earthquake. missy will never forget the moment she heard there was a disaster. it's 5:00 in the evening sore so in nashville, and you hear there's an earthquake happening in haiti. what's going through your mind. >> this is a little tough for me to talk about. the epicenter was exactly where the girls were. i just remember

ron allen, nbc news, new york. >>> i'm going to read you in part the statement that was released by joeamily a short while ago. it is with great sadness that we announce that joe paterno passed away earlier today. his loss leaves a void in our lives that will never be filled. he died as he lived. he fought hard until the end. stayed positive. thought only o of others and constantly reminded everyone of how blessed his life had been. his a.m. bigs were far-reaching but he never believed he had to leave his happy valley to achieve them. he have a man devoted to his family, his university, his players and his community. he has been many things in his life, a soldier, scholar, mentor, coach shall friend and father. to my mother, he was and is her soul mate. the last several weeks have shown the strength of their love. to his children and grandchildren, he's an example of how to lead a good, decent and honest life. a standard to which we aspire. joe paterno, dead at the age of 85. [ male announcer ] how'd you learn to do that? when did you start that project? every new year comes with a few

ron allen is live from miami with more on this. an important voting block it is. ispanics say they're voting both parties, but interestingly, don't know which way they're going to go on the republican side. >> indeed, thomas. it is a very important question. they are the largest minority group and are becoming more and more involved in the political process. that's why we came to florida, that's the first time you see this community and what they are doing in the political process. we drove around the state talking to latino voters about their increasing political clout. in florida, the campaign has a distinct i have latin beat [ speaking foreign language ] >> an aggressive push to court the state's fastest growing electorate. latino voters. more than 13% in florida, important in the gop primary, and probably more crucial in november. >> is this vote in the general election going to swing the tide one way or another? >> florida is a close state, and yes, it can. >> he publishes a 90-year-old multi lingual newspaper in tampa. >> it is more complicated than it used t

. >> ron allen is live in manchester, new hampshire. how are republicans reconciling the frustration we heard from that voter? and i suspect many others. >> i think mitt romney is feeling frustration himself. i think they want to get new hampshire over with and put it in a win column and move on. he's taking a beating over the comments he made about pink slips and firing people. some of that is rick perry was making a speech. he was talking about bain capital. he said they are vultures. sitting out there onç tree lim. they swoop in and eat the carcuses and leave the skeletons. that's what romney has waiting for him. that's the kind of rhetoric that's going to follow him throughout the rest of the campaign. the other story here is huntsman, the polls have him up. if he breaks 20%, that's a big deal. he's been showing some strength here. and frankly in new hampshire, most people you talk to say he sounds like the sensible candidate in a field where that's too far right. those are the stories tonight. romney's margin of victory. >> all ri

nbc's ron allen is in state college, pennsylvania, with more. ron, good morning. >> reporter: we are here outside the football stadium where joe paterno and penn state enjoyed so much. his statue is over there. it's become a shrine with people stopping by to light a candle, leave some flowers, or perhaps say a brief prayer. and everyone here is trying to focus on what paterno accomplished rather than the sexual abuse scandal that led to his downfall. ♪ thousands from the penn state community gathered in the heart of campus to honor a man who perhaps more than any other individual made this university what it is. >> we are not just athletes. we're not just students. we are a reflection of who joe paterno was. >> reporter: joe paterno was here for 61 years, 46 as head football coach, racking up a record 409 victories. while putting academics before athletics. >> people ask me why i stayed here so long. and you know what? look around. >> reporter: a legacy of greatness. >> joe paterno with the life that he was blessed with has blessed each and every

chairman ron allen, president of thomas, president bednarz, president tom arnold, a win now and david got. we're also joined a tribal leaders across the country and some of those are chairman gary hayes and councilman eddie toles. among our federal part is, of course we have the esteemed in on their akaka and representative tom cole. assistant secretary letter echo hot from the white house. loretta toole and david moments in the senate committee. you separate the dough from ihs and aaron kline from treasury. we also have our native organization partners, chairman of nicad, request from the housing council and finally i want to thank native voice one of many tribe on public radio stations across the country for airing today's address in bringing the state of indian nations to hundreds of thousands of people in indian country and beyond. this year we have asked an american indian active-duty military service member to begin to introduce president keel. it is my distinct are to introduce the tenet colonel t.j. hunting for is that the u.s. marine corps, who is a u.s. navy judge advocate a

audience and among those guests we have our board members of nci point we have the president, chairman ron allen, chairman matthew, president ed thomas, chairman - norris, president done arnold, cynthia and david. we are also joined by the tribal leaders across the country and some of those are the german gary hayes and councilman nd salles less. among the federal partners of course we have the esteemed and honorable daniel akaka and representative tom cole. the assistant secretary, kimberly and charlie will break from the white house and from the senate committee and on dhs. ann plan from treasury. we also have our native organization partners ernie stevens, chairman, request from the housing council and many of our trial and radio stations across the country for airing today's address and bringing the state of indian nations to hundreds of dolphins of people in the indian country and beyond. this year we have asked an american indian active-duty military service member to begin our invest and introduce president keel. it's my distinct honor to be able to introduce and welcome the lieutenant co

texas representative ron paul in second with 17%, and you kindreds third with 10%. with independents making allenalf of new hampshire registered voters, many said they are still undecided about the election. >> i am looking for someone who would be a leader, who would be of a call upon this country, because we are in some real dire straits right now. if >> if is hard to run for -- is easy to run for president. it is hard to be president -- and south carolina is the next battleground and is the first southern state to hold a primary. the average price for an cascabel lane predicted a gallon of gasoline has spiked. -- the average price of a gallon of gas has by. salt lake city has the nation's lowest average price for gas at $2.86. l.a. is the high set $3.69. blame it on a smart phone. sales fell according to research group. cameras, camcorders, digital picture frames took a hit because more people are using the smartphones to do it all. coming up at 11 news, a dramatic rescue a seat all caught on video. a look at how the maryland's men's basketball team faired . >> pushing some clouds and eventual

allen. according to the latest public policy polling, romney has an overwhelming lead, up 17 points on his closest competitor, ron paul. but at 35% support, the former massachusetts governor has not of monthed in the polls since mid-december. ron paul holding steady at second followed by jon huntsman who jumped to third with 16% and essentially a tie for second if you factor in the margin fon error. newt gingrich and santorum in forth place. a poll released last night shows romney with a bigger lead. the race for second and third place is close. ron paul at second with 24 points behind romney followed by huntsman, santorum and gingrich in a statistical tie for third. the republican presidential hopefuls squared off in two debates this weekend in a span behavior 12 hours. yesterday morning on nbc, the gloves came off a little bit in a way they didn't on saturday night. the field going after romney at the "meet the press"/facebook debate. >> if his record was so great as governor of massachusetts why didn't you run for re-election. >> if you didn't want to run on your record, if it was that great, why did you bail

santorum and ron paul also took part in the debate before next week's primary in florida. >> we have keith white house correspondent mike allenchanges of the white house today. an exclusive about this being the last day for the chief of staff. >> bill daley is having his last day, handing off to jack lew. bill daley is providing some today and they will have chicago food from his hometown at the white house. deep dish pizza and eli's cheese cake and agarics popcorn -- garrett's popcorn. the two were spotted at a restaurant talking over their transition. >> house leaders of the gop basically were talking amongst themselves on a bus trip recently about how disappointed they would be if newt gingrich got the nomination on the republican side. >> this was on the way back from the house republican retreat in maryland. we are told freshmen and especially women were concerned about the idea of newt gingrich being on the ticket. they say that with women and independents and suburbanites especially if he would be a liability. mitt romney was back on the offensive in that clip last night. "politico" is calling its newt gingrich's no sh

coming up, we're going to talk to the top two -- mitt romney and ron paul will join us here on "morning joe." after the break, mike allen is back with politico's top stories of the morning and inside details on romney's plan to crush gingrich in south carolina. >>> but first, let's go to bill karins with a check on the forecast. bill? >> good morning, everyone. we actually have a winter weather forecast to talk about for once. it's heading for new england and chicago and milwaukee. during the day today, though, warm temperatures for new england, rain on the way for d.c. and philly. more or less, this afternoon towards tonight. your morning commute is dry. but northern new england, you're going to see later tonight, it's going to start as snow changing over to freezing rain and ice. we're looking at around 6 to 12 inches. the cities at the lower elevations, though, maybe only an inch or two. at least it's a start. we've got a lot of rain in kentucky and tennessee today. and eventually, that's going to turn to snow tomorrow. we're talking chicago in milwaukee, your first significant snowstorm of the season expected tomorr

ron paul are currently qualified for the march primary. >>> prince william county republican mar sam will launch a charge against former senator and governor george allen. there are three other candidates, the primary is coming up in june. >>> fire trucks and police vehicles will line the route today from woodsboro, maryland to arlington national cemetery. that is where army specialist ronald wildrick will be buried today. the 24-year-old was from woods boar rein frederick county. -- woods woodsboro in frederick county. he leaves behind two daughters. >> how wonderful of a person he was and he's definitely going to be a very missed part of their life. >> i hope not just his family but the entire county understands the costs that have been paid by the military families and that we are motivated by that to live lives and to build a country that's worthy of their sacrifices. >> wildrick's military career also included two years serving in the old guard. that's the ceremonial unit responsible for burying the dead in arlington. >>> mayor gray has a message for occupy protestors in mcpherson square -- get out. delia goncalves is live at the protests so why d

ron paul's son, senator rand paul. gingrich supporter and former congressman jc watts and romney surrogate and former missouri senator jim talent. then we'll get analysis from the legendary iowa political reporter david yenson, politico's mike allen and our own norah o'donnell and john dickerson. plus all the candidates' new year's resolutions. this is "face the nation." captioning sponsored by cbs from cbs news in washington, "face the nation" with bob schieffer. >> schieffer: good morning again. happy new year. well, the des moines register is out today with a new poll as we're just hours away now from the iowa caucuses in the top spot mitt romney is at 24% followed closely behind by congressman ron paul at 22%. and now former senator rick santorum at 15%. he is closing fast. rounding out the rest of the field, newt gingrich, rick perry, michele bachmann and john huntsman. this morning we are joined by supporters from three of the top candidates: senator rand paul, the son of ron paul, in bowling green kentucky. romney supporter and former congressman j.c. watts who is the surrogate for newt gingrich. he's in oklahoma city. senator paul, your dad obviously has a shot at winning iowa now. but the pollsters out there seem to thin

allen. >> thanks very much, danielle nottingham with the latest from des moines. >>> joining me now, joe toolman. joe, welcome. we have the polls showing the dead heat with ron paul, santorum and mitt romney. but i have to ask you about santorum. he's in this thing and skyrocketing. what do you make of this momentum and voters say he is the second choice. he has room to move. >> the most recent poll on this, the public policy poll taken on saturday and sunday, shows a tie with poll getting 20%, romney 19% and santorum 18% with 2.5% margin of error. so it is virtually a tie in the final stretch. what makes this different from before is that it is newest, and about santorum's rise, among the people who ranked, three of them, santorum shows up being the first-place choice, not second, of 29% of those who make up their mind late as opposed to romney being the first place close for 17%. so when people are making up their minds later in going toward the con date with strong social conservative value credentials and that is rick santorum. and that is bad news for mitt romney and ron paul. >> a lot of people have said they would like to take the candidates and make

ron paul rally, it's all out of state plates. >> could you do our friend, the lsu cap a favor. don't use hip cultural references. >> grilled cheese for a buck. >> mike allen playbook. >> great week. >> thank you, mike. >> postgame reaction from tim tebow after the mile-high miracle they're calling it against the steelers. complete highlights and some downright biblical stats when we come back. >>> plus, kristen wiig and snl say a fond farewell to michele bachmann. brad, where we going? just a second. just, just one second. ♪ what are you looking at? don't look up there. why are you looking up? ♪ get outta the car. get outta the car. ♪ are you ok? the... get in the car. get in the car! [ male announcer ] the epa estimated 42 mpg highway chevy cruze eco. from spending time together, to spending your lives together, chevy runs deep. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 there are atm fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 account service fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 and the most dreaded fees of all, hidden fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 at charles schwab, you won't pay fees on top of fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 no monthly account service fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 no hidden fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550