- tracy, come on. - tracy jordan? why isn't he here?stammering] - i just had a meeting with news down on four. brian williams sure gets close to you when he talks. very feminine energy. anyway, i thought i'd just swing by and introduce myself to tracy jordan, but-- - ah! he is here. you know, he just likes to learn his lines in the bathroom and communicate by phone. actors, am i right? - you know, i once had to speak to the screen actors guild. bunch of nutjobs. but you couldn't make movies and tv without 'em. [laughs] i'm just kidding! i mean, look at march of the penguins. who was in that? good luck tonight. you're gonna need it. - tracy, you can do this. you have to be at the show tonight. - tracy who? i don't even know who i am anymore. - look, you think the world has turned its back on you? i know a place where that's not true. a place where you can remember the man you used to be. a place where you can eat buffet ribs while someone's daughter shakes her crack at you. tracy jordan, i am taking you to a strip club. [loud dance music

. >> reporter: tracy's 7-year-old son alex is autistic.he knew there was a 1-5 chance michael would be, too. autism typically isn't diagnosed until toddlers are 2 or 3, so the wait can be excrutiating. >> we were extremely worried. >> reporter: now results of a study published in the "american journal of psychiatry" offer new hope for early diagnosis. doing brain scans on babies at high risk. researchers found something totally unexpected. signs of autism at just 6 months. >> the wiring of the brain by 6 months of age in those infant s that went on to be classified a that went on to be classified as having autism at 24 months of age, that wiring was different. >> reporter: while findings are preliminary, experts at autism speaks, which helped fund the study, say early diagnosis could be a game-changer. >> the goal is to be able to reduce the symptoms or even possibly prevent the syndrome from developing. >> reporter: the next step will be more detailed testing. parents shouldn't rush to their pediatricians asking for scans on their baby's

tracie potts for us in washington.e, thank you. >>> well, the latest research poll numbers size up the republican primary race and the matchups against president obama. rick santorum's support is surging among tea party supporters and white evangelicals. santorum is now in a virtual tie with mitt romney with santorum edging romney by two points, 30% to 28%. the same poll found president obama with sizable leads over the top two republicans. mr. obama leads santorum by 10 points and romney by eight points. >>> and now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. protesters dangled from a washington, d.c. bridge monday unfurling a banner calling for a free tibet. four people were arrested, including two who were hanging from ropes and lowered into police boats. their demonstration is one of several expected during the visit of china's vice president. >>> in charlotte, a school bus driver who rescued all of her passengers from an inferno last week was honored. she was at the wheel last wednesday

tracie, good morning. >> reporter: lynn, good morning. in michigan, santorum would like to focus on his lead there, but what he's really spending more time doing now is explaining some of his comments. after a day explaining his phony theology remark last night, rick santorum refocused on an issue hitting midwesterners hard this winter, gas prices. >> this president is doing everything he can to hurt energy production in this country. >> reporter: with oil prices at a nine-month high, the obama administration announced a deal to drill along the gulf border with mexico. meantime, we're now getting an idea how much money these candidates are working with. romney raised $6.5 million last month but told ohio santorum's spending too much in washington. >> when republicans go to washington and spend like democrats, you're going to have a lot of spending. that's what we've seen over the last several years. >> reporter: gingrich earned over $5.5 million, like santorum, he focused on social issues forcing catholics to pay for birth control. >> a p

>> all right, tracie potts for us in washington. tracie, thanks so much. >>> the taliban have claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing in eastern afghanistan early today. a car bomb exploded at the gates of the jalalabad airport. it killed nine people, mostly civilians. the taliban says the attack was revenge for the burning of korans at an american military base a week ago. meanwhile, on sunday, eight u.s. soldiers were wounded in a grenade attack at a u.s. base in kunduz province. and a manhunt continues for a man who shot and killed two u.s. military officers saturday outside an afghan ministry building. >>> now here is a look at other stories making news "early today in america." a thief used a hammer to smash his way into a philadelphia jewelry store window, grabbing thousands of dollars in merchandise there. a store clerk came rushing to the display right as the robber took off. the man carried out the robbery in broad daylight saturday afternoon. he dropped the hammer at the scene and remains on the loose. >>> in new orle

i'm your host, tracy sellers. our first stary today involves a family that has taken the lessons of the past to ensure success today and in the future as well. take a walk through your average produce aisle these days and there are more choices than ever, but one farm has a very eye-catching marketing strategy to entice you. and it all has to do with the bright picture of a lile boy named andy. but have you ever stopped to woer, who is this andy boy guy anyway? >> andy boy's my father, andy d'arrigo, he's the face on the label and a lot of people ask, is there an andy boy and i say, yes, there is. >> who is this? >> yep. it's me. >> oh. ha ha. you see, when folks around here say andy d'arrigo is the face of ay boy produce, they mean it, literally. now 86 years young, he, along with his daughter margaret and son john, run one of the most successful farms in the salinas valley. it all started back in the early 1900s, when andy's dad and uncle emigrated from sicily and went through ellis island. they were both teenag

tran, tracy? [applause] tracy has not made it yet. so really, thank you very much. and for joining us and hope to see you again next year. and it's so special that our new police chief is with us. and would you like to say a few words? [applause] >> i don't think that that was actually a question. [laughter] i'm just really pleased to be here. i wasn't prepared to say anything. but just the culture and what it does for the community, it really does leave me without much to say other than thank you for everybody does. and thanks for having me. [applause] >> thank you, chief. and thank you, claudine. i hope you were able to meet some. greeters in the lobby before the event started. and you may have noticed they were selling these little pins. you see this a.p.a. heritage month pin? it's the image of the heritage month logo designed in the form and shape of an a. and it's a beautiful piece. but what is even more important is all the proceeds from the sale of this pin will go to the japanese cultural

. >>> tracy morgan's family feud.he comedian's mother says that her famous son is refusing to give her money and she could lose her home. that story coming up next in showbiz. ♪ he was a 21st century global nomad ♪ ♪ home was an airport lounge and an ipad ♪ ♪ made sure his credit score did not go bad ♪ ♪ with a free-credit-score-dot-com ♪ ♪ app that he had ♪ downloaded it in the himalayas ♪ ♪ while meditating like a true playa ♪ ♪ now when he's surfing down in chile'a ♪ ♪ he can see when his score is in danger ♪ ♪ if you're a mobile type on the go ♪ ♪ i suggest you take a tip from my bro ♪ ♪ and download the app that lets you know ♪ ♪ at free-credit-score-dot-com now let's go. ♪ vo: offer applies with enrollment in freecreditscore.com™. >>> tracy morgan's mother says she desperately needs money but her son won't give it to her. the comedian says he has a different take. "showbiz tonight" host a.j. hammer joins us. what's the deal? >> tracy morgan, kyra, finds himself in the middle of a family mess. his mother is alici

please welcome to "late night," one of the funniest dudes around, tracy morgan!mmy: they're up there behind the -- >> you got an orchestra -- cash. let me hold some. [ laughter ] i know you got it, i know you holdin'. >> jimmy: no, come on. now you -- >> they move you out here to indianapolis, are you staying out here? >> jimmy: yeah. >> so, can i have your room? >> jimmy: yeah, you want my room? >> can i have your room over at nbc? >> jimmy: yeah. you know, if you want to go back to new york. >> i already know where you going to be. you're staying in indianapolis. [ laughter ] >> jimmy: you've been out here before. you perform here? >> they look good out here. look. >> jimmy: they do look good, right? >> wow, yeah. [ cheers and applause ] looking good. sexy. a bunch of sexy people out there, man. >> jimmy: yeah, the good looking people, right? >> got some sexy people out there. >> jimmy: sexy people. i know, sexy people. i like -- it's really nice -- you have really nice jeans on. >> yeah, man. >> jimmy: look at that from the back. turn around. look at that. [ c

tracie potts for us in washington.nks. >>> president obama's approval ratings are up as optimism about the economy grows. a "new york times" cbs poll shows that his ratings have reached 50% since the first time since last may. the survey found that the percentage of people who believe the economy is improving is now double the percentage of those who think it's getting worse. the poll also found that the president currently holds an edge over all four republican presidential candidates. >>> iran is preparing to defy western nations today in a standoff over its nuclear program. the president will reportedly inform his people about advances that include building new uranium enrichment centrifuges and reactor plates. that is despite western sanctions which have been imposed to force iran to stop its nuclear program before it can build anatomic weapon. the u.s. and europe may decide to turn up the pressure by evicting iran from a financial clearinghouse that is crucial to the country's sales of oil in overseas markets. >>>

nbc's tracie potts joins us from washington with the details. tracie, good morning. >> reporter: lynn, good morning. good morning, everyone. we learned that late last night, the finance chairs on both the house and senate side saying it looked like they have enough support for at least negotiators to sign off on this. so, here's what it means. the 2% payroll tax cut, the average $40 a paycheck we got last year and so far this year, will continue until the end of this year, but it will be paid for, meaning congress will add $100 billion to the nation's debt. unemployment benefits, they will also continue past the end of this month, and that will be paid for by auctioning off mobile spectrum and also by requiring new federal workers to pay more into their pensions. but instead of 99 weeks, the max after may will be 73 weeks, and that's if you're in a state with the highest unemployment rates. then finally, that 27% cut for doctors who see medicare patients, that will not happen. that's going to cost $20 billion, paid for by adjustments to the new

lynn. >> tracie, thanks so much.s tracie just briefly mentioned, the latest numbers are out from the federal election commission on campaign fund raising. among the republicans, mitt romney raised $24 million in the fourth quarter. ron paul was second. newt gingrich, third. rick santorum. harold simmons pumped $8.5 million into three republican super pacs last fall. $7 million of that went to former bush white house political aid carl roeg and his super pac. on the democratic side, president obama raised a whopping $68 million in the fourth quarter. meanwhile, democratic party super pacs raised a comparatively paltry total for all of 2011. >>> in a special congressional election in oregon last night, the democrats held on to a house seat. suzanne bonamici, a former state senator, won the vote in portland and some of the suburbs. she will replace david yu, who resigned last year after a woman accused him of making an unwanted sexual advance. >>> well, now here's a look at other stories making news early today in ameri

>> tracie potts for us in washington.hank you. >>> also, today is a busy day on the campaign trail for presidential candidates. republican mitt romney, who grew up in michigan, is expected to be endorsed by its governor, rick snyder, today, two weeks ahead of the state's primary on february 28th. rick santorum will also be in michigan today to speak about the economy after releasing four years of his federal income tax returns. they show a steady rise in his income from nearly $660,000 in 2007 to a peak of more than $1 million in 2009. >>> and yesterday, president obama started a three-day campaign trip to the west coast. he is expected to bring in millions of dollars in donations to his re-election effort. >>> well, officials in honduras have confirmed at least 358 people have been killed in that prison fire there. it was started on wednesday by an inmate, and hundreds were trapped with no way out as flames swept through the jail. nbc's kerry sanders has our report. [ sirens ] >> reporter: like trapped animals in cages,

tracie potts for us in washington. tracie, thank you. >>> well, republican candidate rick santorum appears to be gaining on mitt romney in popularity with republican women. even though santorum opposes contraception and abortion, a new poll from "the washington post" and abc news found that santorum is now seen favorably by 50% of gop women. that's a 13-point gain since january. but santorum still trails romney by four points in favorability ratings. >>> well, afghan police are facing another day of angry protests. this morning, hundreds of demonstrators marched toward the presidential palace in the capital chanting "death to america." police fired into the air to try to disperse the crowd. the demonstrations follow the accidental burning of copies of the quran by u.s. troops at the air base north of kabul. president obama has apologized to the afghan people for that incident. >>> now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. scary moments for customers as a pickup truck smashed into the front

that's not comment on tracy morgan family feud playing out in public and sports.dn't to all start resume chicago bulls trying to get a victory in the big apple. weight loss programs can be expensive. so to save some money, i just got the popular girls from the local middle school to follow me around. ew. seriously? so gross. ew. seriously? that is so gross. ew. seriously? dude that is so totally gross. so gross...i know. there's an easier way to save. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. wgn news @ 9 chicago friends say the elderly man from drowning in wisconsin greg drozdziak and a friend saw richard weiss 90 year-old drive into the rebar break-in into sunroom polled sun roof pulled richard weiss to safety authorities say it as good an outcome as you would hope in a situation like that >> hi-tech gadgets and hand report crime with an app washington dc software calls crime push software working with android sending text messages telephone calls without having to make a telephone call created at after the abrupt multiple times and once at

we'll be right back with tracy morgan!n coffee. every afternoon when that 2:30 feeling hits. -every day. -every day. every day is a 5-hour energy day. [ male announcer ] 5-hour energy. every day. chase freedom is offering hi5% cash back at gas stations this quarter. wow. thanks! beep. beep. activate your 5% cash back. at chase.com/freedom. [ male announcer ] vicks nyquil cold and flu. the nighttime sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, fever, best sleep you ever got with a cold...medicine. ♪ how do we get people to chew another piece? i got this one. oh hey. [ male announcer ] spit it out. or yeti will find you. [ grunts ] i like him. thanks ryan. [ male announcer ] new stride whitemint. the ridiculously long lasting gum. no problem. man: do your simple return with the turbo tax federal free edition, and now get our free one-on-one expert tax advice live by phone or chat. get the federal free edition at turbotax.com. introducing olive garden's new three course italian dinner for $12.95. start with either unlimited homemad

tracie potts joins us with those details. tracie, good morning? >> reporter: good morning. while mitt romney is fighting to win his home state of michigan. santorum is trying to turn his success there into votes in arizona. rick santorum is the one to watch tonight. he soared ahead nationally and in michigan. he still trails mitt romney tonight in arizona where the debates happen. >> i will win in the states that matter to win this election. >> reporter: santorum's now under attack in a new ad from ron paul. >> is this dude serious? >> reporter: focusing on social issues worked for santorum. mitt romney is looking right meeting with the tea party and hammering president obama. >> unfortunately, perhaps because of the people the president hangs around with, their secular agenda, they have fought against religion. >> reporter: at tonight's debate santorum will get more scrutiny because he's the new front-runner, but so will mitt romney. >> he's under the microscope. he's under be pressure. he needs to do well. he needs to re-establish a sense that he's the front-runner in the

tracie, good morning. >> reporter: hey, lynn, good morning. a two-point spread with romney on top is a virtual tie when you consider the margin of error in the polls. that's what we're looking at for michigan tomorrow. rick santorum who has surged there, we are told by sources will now get secret service protection starting today in michigan. mitt romney, meantime is picking up arizona governor jan brewer's endorsement. brewer saying yesterday on "meet the press" he carried the debate in the arizona debate and got the best chance to win in november. romney doing better in arizona, 10 points ahead. santorum says after tuesday it's going to prove that this is a two-man race. mitt romney saying he still thinks he can win the nomination no matter how long it takes. ruffled a few feathers according to what we've been seeing on twitter. over the weekend at daytona 500 asked if he was a nascar fan, romney said i don't follow it closely but i have friends who are team owners. lynn? >> tracie potts in washington, thank you. >>> the taliban have claimed

tracie potts joins us with more from washington. tracie, good morning. >> lynn, good morning. let's start with the budget. $3.8 trillion. it's the biggest the country has seen with $1.5 trillion in new taxes primarily on the wealthy, oil companies and big banks. there's new spending in in budget. president obama calls it investments in our future. roads, college, energy, manufacturing. there's well over a trillion dollar deficit for the fourth year in a row. although the white house says that will go down over the course of a decade. republican reaction, as you might imagine, not great on capitol hill. mitch mcconnell calls it a campaign document. senator jeff sessions on the budget committee says this is debt on arrival. let's talk about the payroll tax cut we got this year. will it be extended? it looks like republican reversed saying that they will support an extension without paying for it first. that's for this year. they said democrats were not negotiating in good faith. the white house reak, that's a hypothetical backup plan. >> tracie, thanks. let's go back to the budg

tracy more began in a family feud.comedian for money to help. morgan offered some cash but not as much as she needs. now, morgan's sister says he needs to help. so their mother doesn't end up on the streets. morgan's mother told cnn she asked for money, but told a different story to our affiliate. listen. >> i don't see anything wrong for asking him for help, you know? it's not like i said, tracy, can i borrow $20,000 or can i borrow $10 or something like -- i don't ask for money. i asked him for some help. >> tracy morgan has given this statement to cnn. he said i am saddened that these untrue stories about me have people questioning my commitment to my family. we all have personal family issues that we have to deal with in life, but i choose to deal with mine in private and not through the media. again, that is coming from tracy morgan. he's responding to, you know what, i want to deal with this privately. he says he's estranged from some of his family members. morgan says he hasn't seen his mother in 11 y

i'm your host tracy sellers. today we're in sacramento at one of the really iconic restaurants of this city, the riverside clubhouse. you know, it's a place that's known for, well, the large cow that's atop it. kind of unique, right? that brings us to our first story. you know, in san francisco, they have more than 3,500

traci, good morning. >> lynn, good morning. here's one area where president obama and the oil industry agree. apparently there is little they can do to affect prices right now. american drivers feeling helpless at the pump. >> takes about $120 for me to fill up my truck. that's not that fun. >> reporter: prices spiked almost a dime in some areas overnight. it hit $5 a gallon in california. analysts say expect higher prices by summer, in part because the economy's improving. that drives up demand. president obama said thursday there's no quick fix. >> there are no silver bullets short term when it comes to gas prices and anybody who says otherwise, isn't telling the truth. >> the silver bullet policy should have been implemented three years ago. >> reporter: the president taking heat for not drilling more. >> on day one, for instance, i'm going to say to the department of energy and the department of the interior, grant licenses to drillers for oil and gas, miners for coal, take advantage of our resources right away. >> reporter

ben tracy reports this time it's not the students. it's the college. and the growing political force that could determine which way a swing state swings. do republican do republican candidates risk losing the latino vote over this immigration rhetoric that you hear? captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley reporting tonight from miami. >> pelley: good evening. mitt romney is now 2-for-4 in the race for the republican presidential nomination. cbs news is projecting that romney has defeated newt gingrich in today's primary here in florida, taking the biggest delegate prize to date. the win was expected but the surprise tonight is how wide it was. romney won conservatives, moderates, tea partyers, young voters, women and hispanics. have a look at the vote so far. this is the tabulated vote: 70% in, romney well ahead of gingrich, 47% to 32%. here's one reason romney won tonight. when we asked voters today their number-one concern, 62% told us the economy. and more than half of those voters went for romney. we have a team

and so you were chatting with a girl named tracy? >> right. >> and how old is tracy?i don't have no idea. >> the problem for you, david, is that i have the chat right here. how old are you again? not sure if i read that right, 14. she says she's 14 right here, right? >> i guess so. >> so what you said before was not true. >> okay. >> have you ever done this before? >> no. >> have you ever been with an underage girl before? >> not sexually, no. >> "i did it with a 15-year-old before and i came really close to being caught." we would stay out all night and fall asleep in my truck. >> i never did break the law. that i knew of, and a police officer told me that. >> and why -- >> i don't know what the law is but he questioned me. i went back home that night and he called me monday. >> when i read him some of what he wrote in his chat log, he first tries to blame the girl. "i would do it in a minute with you, hoping i would stay out of jail." you ask her if she likes oral sex. >> she asked me several things also. >> does that make it right? >> no. but she invited me here. >

how's tracy morgan?t a little altitude sickness and dehydration. and he did collapse. but he's back and he's fine and he's crazy. >> jimmy: i mean, yeah. what did -- did he say he's all right? have you talked to him? >> yeah. i mean, you know, he was just like -- [ as tracy morgan ] "elvis presley says hello, everybody." [ laughter ] >> jimmy: that's pretty good. he talked to elvis. >> yeah. >> jimmy: he says he talked to elvis. >> yeah. >> jimmy: everyone's thinking of how, of course, you don't want the show to end but how could "30 rock" end? and alec baldwin has said he thinks that your character, kenneth the page, should take over nbc. >> oh, that would go over real good. >> jimmy: yeah, yeah, yeah. >> plus, i mean, you know, nbc is facing some obstacles so maybe he's running it all ready. [ laughter ] >> jimmy: no, no, no. no, that's not what they're doing at all. oh my gosh. but i mean -- so we have a super-fun clip up here, coming up. it's you -- yelling at the writers. >> okay. >> jimmy: you as k

we are hoping are we going to get tracy? should we come back?e'll come back to tracie in a moment. >> meantime, the hearing on president obama's 2013 budget gets under way. the president presented his budget yesterday including a proposal to raise taxes for the nation's wealthy and slight spending increases from last year. several members of his administration will travel to capitol hill to testify in support of that budget. >> it is a love/hate relationship for people who use online dating services. a brand new poll out shows one in five people found romance when finding a match online. 80% of the profiles posted, get this, they weren't really truthful with their posts. researchers found, surprise, surprise, height, age, are the things that people like to lie about. can you get that. on all of the pictures. one third of the subjects in the study say they know somebody whose relationship ended up by an affair that did take place on line. we're going to try this again. president obama invites president biden will sit down with the future leader o

for "california country", i'm tracy sellers. and if you really like artichokes, ocean mist farm actually has an artichoke club that you can join. they'll give you crop updates and even send you some recipe ideas, too. for all the information on how to join, you can go to our website at californiacountry.org. but if you'd like a recipe now, we've got a great one for you coming up after the break. stay tuned. >> welcome back to "california country". so before the break, we learned all about artichokes and even hos to bake one. but what about grilling artichokes? well, here's chef josh korn with his recipe for a great artichoke. >> hello, my name is chef josh korn from paul martin's american bistro here in roseville, california. and today we're going tbe cooking a grilled artichoke for you on our live mesquite grill. these particular artichokes are called grove artichokes and they come from castroville, california. certified organic and local and very simply prepared on the grill here. what we do is we brush them with a little bit

tracie potts, wbal-tv 11 news. >> new details in the plants of a terror suspect whose main target was the capitol building. >> a deadly encounter with an avalanche, still to come. >> this is 95 north of the beltway in the arbutus area. denny's new sizzlin' skillets are here for a limited time. so strike while the iron's hot. starting at $4.99. only at denny's. america's diner is always open. >> welcome back. 5:08. 38 degrees downtown. a beautiful shot of the inner harbor. temperatures are on the chilling side and there is a bit of a breeze. it will feel cooler than the numbers i'm about to show you. we have mostly cloudy skies. 34 in columbia. there are a few snow flurries in some neighborhoods. that would be mostly south and east of town. clearing skies as we get into the afternoon. we'll see sunshine with a high around 48. it might be a little breezy. we'll come back and check the forecast going into next weekend. >> an avalanche killed three skiers north of seattle. this is a different part of it were theass the one han avalanche actually occurred. other skiers try to dig them out

tracy grant joins us in san francisco with the details of this new plan. will it work, tracy?reporter: well, raj, why don't you tell me. if it's impossible to use this phone after someone steals it, then won't people stop stealing it? that's the mindset in australia where they have a brand new system that appears to be slashing cell phone thefts by 25%. the only thing is, we're not using that system here in the united states. >> i had my phone number suspended so that no one could go run up charges. >> reporter: joseph ballinger did that last week when he realized his cell phone was not in his pocket. >> someone picked it up and it's probably on its third mission. >> picking up cell phones, snatching them in broad daylight. the black market for cell phones are thriving these days. but most turn off sim cards or apps that are supposed to track cell phones, but they can easily get around that and sell them on the street. the is using a system that blocks them, rendering them useless. a number is entered into the database, and that phone gets blocked on all systems in the country