tonight we focus on one of those states -- florida. in 2008, president obama won the sunshine state, thanks in large part to surging numbers of black and latino voters. two weeks of early voting helped that turnout. also many voted on the sunday before election day, thanks for the souls to the polls drive after church. all that and president obama still won by less than a quarter million votes. but now a new voting law passed by the republican state legislature is putting a spot light. it cuts the early voting period from 14 to 8 days. it eliminates voting on sunday before election, good-bye souls to the polls, and forces voters to cast a provisional ballot if they moved across county lines. some of the most severe new restrictions are on third-party registration groups, which now have only 48 hours to submit rental 12r5i registration forms or submit fines if submitted late. this is so severe, it prompted the league of women voters to suspend all registration efforts in the state of florida after 72 years. joining me now is deidra mcna

m and that would be true of any school in florida. we have a trustee board that regulates the schools. we have a board, educational board that also educates the -- that regulates the higher ed institutions in florida. >> and you're saying that this really needs to be looked upon as how the culture of the institution, the marching band itself has been allowed to perpetuate. doesn't need to be disbanded, but needs to be investigated. >> and corrected. that's what we do. if you have a judge and that it's a problem with the judge, you don't dismantle the entire criminal justice system. >> as you make a great point, the hearts go out to the family. >> and it's no winners with this. heart goes out to the entire institution. >> we understand your feelings on this, thanks for your time. i appreciate it. that's going to do it for me today. i'll see you back here tomorrow, 11:00 a.m. eastern. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] everyone deserves the gift of a pain free holiday. ♪ this season, discover aleve. all day pain relief with just two pills

florida outscored the wildcats by six in the extra frame. florida got the "w," 78-72. >>> hockey the next two stops on the sidney crosby comeback tour have been canceled. he's taking two games off for precautionary reasons after taking a hard hit monday night. he's missed 68 games with post concussion syndrome. no problem for alex ovechkin but he's been in a bit of a scoring slump. stopped and popped for his first goal in nearly two weeks. capitals scored four in the third and beat the senators 5-3. sabres got things started with three goals in the first. bil billy with his third of the year and flyers scored four straight. jagg jagr scored in the third. sabres force overtime when giroux was off to the races. a break dast way from center ice, beat ryan miller for the win and flyers win a wild one 5 -4 in overtime. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. >>> one star's named most bankable, another entertainer of the year. your early morning entertainment headlines straight ahead. >>> and the survivors gather togeth

female, south florida. and he said, what would your parents say about you talking to someone as old as me? then freebird seems to worry i'm a cop. >> you seem like law enforcement. i happen to know law enforcement. >> you do? so you're an expert in this area. >> no, no, i'm just saying you come off as law enforcement. >> really? you know how you come off? >> how's that? >> somebody who is very nervous, someone who came over here to have sex with a 14-year-old girl. >> 14-year-old? >> i read him some of what he said online. are you sexy naked, have you ever played with yourself? you going to put my [ bleep ] in your mouth. if you like that, i'll teach you. >> what are you trying to say? >> i'm trying to say it makes it look like you came here -- >> i came to pick her up. >> -- to have sex with an underaged girl. >> we were in a role playing chat room, dude. >> what role were you playing exactly here? >> people play roles. never ask roleplaying. people just talk. my god, is this some kind of holdup? man, you

we have to make change. >> reporter: jason carroll, cnn, tallahassee, florida. >> so should the florida a&m band be suspended for years because of hazing? in the next hour we'll hear from a guest who says yes. author and college president walter kimbrough joins us to talk about the hazing issue. >>> president obama's about to go around congress again and unveil a new pay protections for home health care workers. she's going to appear at the eisenhower executive office building shortly. that's a picture as we wait. the government has long classified home health care workers as companions for elderly and disabled americans. what does that mean? it means they are he excluding from federal wage and overtime rules. but, with the coming surge in the elderly population, the president wants to change that. almost 2 million people now work as home health care providers. and will be impacted by today's action. they earn an average of $17,000 to $20,000 a year putting many of those folks below the poverty line. i want to bring in gloria borger who is joining us from washington. gloria, obviously i

has there been widespread voter fraud in florida? >> i don't think we want to wait until voter fraud. >> you're saying you're doing this because -- welcome to politics nation. i'm al sharpton. today republicans had two chances to do the right thing. two chances to help the 34idle class and ask the rich to do their fair share. the republicans failed both times. the president called them out on it. >> we either have a country where everybody fences for themselves, or we create a country where everybody has their fair share, creates a fair chance, and we assure fair play. >> fair play must be a tough concept for republicans to grasp. time and again today they fought against it. 44 republican senators filibustered the appointment of richard cordray to head up an agency aimed at helping consumers. those 44 republicans represent these states. apparently they think people in their states don't need someone on their side. apparently they think their constituents want banks to run wild. just look at the great state of maine. both these senato

the foreclosure crisis hit florida especially hard. folks there are still hurting more than anybody else. but, tonight, some brand new signs of optimism, we're live in the sunshine state with that plus, no sleigh, no flying reindeer, these guys use a different mode of transportation to get their toys to some very deserving kids. kids at the holidays and a good news story as fox reports live tonight. [ male announcer ] cranberry juice? wake up! ♪ that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm [ male announcer ] for half the calories -- plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8. plus veggie nutrition. diabetes testing? what else is new? you get the blood, hope it's enough, it's-- what's this? freestyle lite® blood glucose test strip. sure, i'll try it, but-- [beep] wow. yep, that's the patented freestyle zipwik™ design. it's like it-- [both] targets the blood. yeah, draws it right in. the test starts fast. you need just a third the blood of one touch.® okay. freestyle test strips. i'll take 'em. sure. call or click-- we'll send you strips

like florida. and like nevada. this year, florida made a push to come earlier and they won, so candidates are placing more of an effort on florida, like newt gingrich. like mitt romney. but also, arizona has tried really hard to move up in the california as well, and it's states with big cities that don't get to go early. and they want to see a change, because they have all of these people in urban areas who feel like they're not getting much of a say in the primary contest. >> erin and joy ann, look at this, the winner of the iowa caucuses was the eventual republican nominee less than half the time. here are the last five contests in which there wasn't an incumbent president running. 2008, iowa chose huckabee, the nominee was mccain. in 2000, iowa chose george w. bush, and bush was the nominee. '96, iowa chose bob dole and dole won the nomination. in 1988, dole won iowa, but george herbert walker bush won the nomination. 1980, it was george herbert walker bush winning the caucuses, but reagan won the nomination. s

security video captures some squirrel mischief at a florida school. captions paid for by nbc-universal television >>> hello and good morning. welcome to our viewers across the nation, including the pacific time zone. i'm lynn berry. and today we begin with veto power. president obama warned congress yesterday that if they tie the approval of a controversial oil pipeline to a bill to extend payroll tax cuts he will reject it. nbc's tracie potts joins us with more. good morning. >> reporter: lynn, good morning. the pipeline decision was put a off until after the election, but republicans say this could consider bringing up tens of thousands of jobs. with the prime minister of canada yesterday president obama said absolutely not, not that, not any other issue should be linked to this. the pipeline is controversial because it would go almost 2,000 miles through middle america to canada. but there are also some environmental concerns. what about oil spills? what about greenhouse gas emissions? there have been protests over this already, that's one of the r

. >>> two dead bodies unloaded from a florida freight train. tonight we have learned one of them was a young man from baltimore county. how did he die and how did he get some far from home. wjz is live. more on the man's death. >> . >> reporter: denise, we learned the family is devastated he died. in in the meantime the investigation into his death and the death of a companion continues. officials in play florida say this is the first time in the company's history a tragedy like this happened. lakeland is a small city east of tampa. >> this is the first i heard of this happening. >> reporter: what happened is two bodies found in coal on two days. a man and woman who apparently hitched a ride on a freight train. >> the coal cars come on this track and as they come in, they open up, the bottom of the cars. >> reporter: on monday workers found the body of a man in the coal. he's 25-year-old christopher francis in maryland. his last known address was this neighborhood. on tuesday, the body of a woman was found in the sail shipment of coal. her iden

this is just florida. we asked voters there, do you definitely support your candidate or might you change your mind? more than half in florida say they would change their mind. as you study the first four states, remember, iowa votes first. it has a history of surprises. once that surprise happens, the later states tend to reshuffle a bit. fred? >> all right, thanks so much, john. >>> jobs and the economy are big issues in the 2012 campaign. president barack obama is rebuffing gop arguments that he is engaged in class warfare. >> this isn't about class warfare. this is about the nation's welfare. it is about making choices that benefit not just the people who have done fantastically well over the last few decades, but that benefits the middle class. and those fighting to get into the mid le class. and the economy as a whole. just hold the bag. we need a portable x-ray, please! [ nurse ] i'm a nurse. i believe in the power of science and medicine. but i'm also human. and i believe in stacking the deck. [ fe

like florida. and like nevada. this year, florida made a push to come earlier, and they won, so candidates are placing more of an effort on florida, like newt gingrich. like mitt romney. but also, arizona has tried really hard to move up in the calendar as well, and it's states with big cities that tonight want to go early. and they want to see a change, because they have all of these people in urban areas who feel like they're not getting much of a say in the primary contest. >> erin and joy ann, look at this, the winner of the iowa caucuses was the eventual republican nominee less than half the time. here are the last five contests in which there wasn't an incumbent republican president running. 2008, iowa chose huckabee, the nominee was mccain. in 2000, iowa chose george w. bush, and bush was the nominee. '96 bob dole won iowa and bob dole won the nomination. in 1988, dole won iowa, but george herbert walker bush won the nomination. 1980, it was george herbert walker bush winning the iowa caucuses but reagan won

they have put florida a&m on notice that they'll be filing a lawsuit. anna werner, cbs news, atlanta. >> pelley: an explosion at the upper big branch mine in west virginia left 29 miners dead last year. today, the mine's new owner agreed to a record $209 million settlement. the deal with alpha natural resources includes $46.5 million for the families of the dead and injured miners. can a job affect your longevity when the job is president of the united states? what a new study found in a moment. in stuffing and more, the secret is swanson. this was the gulf's best tourism season in years. all because so many people wanted to visit us... in louisiana. they came to see us in florida... nice try, they came to hang out with us in alabama... once folks heard mississippi had the welcome sign out, they couldn't wait to get here. this year was great but next year's gonna be even better. and anyone who knows the gulf knows that winter is primetime fun time. the sun's out and the water's beautiful. you can go deep sea fishing for amberjack, grouper and mackerel.

a few hours after performing the florida classic. an unidentified person made this 911 call shortly after finding him on a charter bus. >> okay, is he awake? >> he, he is not even, he responded a little, he wasn't responding. we thought he was breathing. he was making noises. i don't know if he is breathing now. >> is he awake? do you know? >> his eyes are open. he is not responding. awe boug >> but its he breathing? >> i have no idea. i cannot tell you that. >> the cause of death has not been formally identified. investigators believe hazing is involved. monday robert champion's mother called for an end to that. >> this needs to stop. no one wants to be standing in our shoes. no one wants to hear on a phone call that your son collapsed and died over the phone. >>> an attorney for robert champion's family he is "out front" tonight and chris, obviously hazing an issue and problem that affects kids across the country, at different ages. and there is nothing at this point that is going to change what happened to robert champion. but wha

the champs sports bowl in orlando, notre dame taking on florida state. if this were 20 years ago, this would have been the game of the year. notre dame, reese lobs it up, look at that catchby michael floyd in the end zone. somehow goes up, loses it, taps it back to himself four times, pulls it in. he'll be playing in the nfl this time next year. the seminoles come back in the fourth quarter, e.j. manuel hits reid for an 18-yard touchdown. great catch there. florida state with the ball, manuel finds rashad green in the end zone, collapses in the fourth quarter allowing 15 unanswered points. florida state wins it 18-14. >>> to the nba, incredible finish to last night's mavs thunder games, down two, seven seconds left, kicks it out to vince carter who hits the three-pointer and takes the lead with 1.4 seconds left on the clock. kevin durant, your move, sir. >> will throw in. here is durant for the win! durant has won it! >> kevin durant with a fade away three-pointer with 1.4 seconds left, unbelievable. thunder beat the mavs 104-102. >>> and finally, boxin

petersburg, florida, we'll get to that in a moment. first the deadline has come and gone for mindy mccready to bring her son home or face arrest. investigators say she took her five-year-old son, zander from her parents' home where he's supposed to be legally and they traveled to nashville. her brother had custody of the boy since 2007. but mccready claims her mother was abusing the boy and that she can't return to florida because she's seven months pregnant with two children. grandma claims -- denies the abuse claim flatly. since topping the country charts in the 1990s, mindy mccready had trouble with drugs, domestic abuse and drinking. she risks arrest by not returning as ordered. >>> newt gingrich claims he will be the republican presidential nominee. now there are new signs mitt romney might have reason fo plag to take aim at the former house speaker and we're hearing it could get personal. plus, al-qaeda reports it's holding an american captive in pakistan and now that terror network is telling the united states what is has to do

let's start in florida. according to a new nbc news/marist poll, president obama leads romney by 7 down there. that's good for obama. against newt gingrich, the president's lead is 12. he's still strong in florida. in south carolina, which is reliantly republican, the president has a three-point lead, if you believe it, over romney, 45-42 in that new poll. he also has a lead over gingrich, 46-42 down there. keep in mind, jimmy carter is the only democrat to carry south carolina in the last 12 elections. finally to pennsylvania, and a college poll that shows president obama leading mitt romney again there by four. that's not enough to carry the usual margin up there. you need to win nationwide. against gingrich, the president's lead is much bigger, 52-35. that's a strong lead in pennsylvania. these polls are somewhat varied as you've noticed in the last week or so. we'll be right back. d bag. you know organization is key... and so is having a trusted assistant. and you...rent from national. because only natio

megyn: last time if you won florida you get all florida's delegates. this is in the contest for the primary nomination. this time it's different, it's proportional. if you do well in florida you get a number of the delegates, even the guy who won first gets delegates. >> their 99 delegates are cut to 50. if you get 20% you get 20% of the delegates, which are 10 or 12. megyn: what happened with huckabee's campaign last time? how did he win iowa. many are suggesting gingrich has iowa locked up, but then he lost. >> he had tremendous support in the evangelical community. he had a great ground game there. the difficulty was moving that beyond. if fred thompson not have been in the south he would have beat mccain. if he would beat mccain in south carolina he would have had momentum. megyn: how does that translate to gingrich versus romney. >> you have to have an organization. romney has the money, the people. he obviously doesn't have the enthusiasm that newt gingrich has right today. but newt in a very short period of time has to put an organization in iow

i'm going to recommend a drug treatment modality in florida state prison. thank you. next case, please. >> the ruling means she will soon pack up her belongings and board a bus from the hillsborough county jail en route to a florida state prison for the next three years. >> i just didn't think it was fair for her to act like she knew if i was being sincere or not. regardless of you being an addict, you can mess up. it doesn't mean you're not being sincere and you don't care. and i feel like she just threw the book at me and gave up on me. but it is what it is. i made my grave. now i have to deal with it.

petersburg, florida, we'll get to that in a moment. first the deadline has come and gone for mindy mccready to bring her son home or face arrest. investigators say she took her five-year-old son, zander from her parents' home where he's supposed to be legally and they traveled to nashville. her brother had custody of the boy since 2007. but mccready claims her mother was abusing the boy and that she can't return to florida because she's seven months pregnant with two children. grandma claims -- denies the abuse claim flatly. since topping the country charts in the 1990s, mindy mccready had trouble with drugs, domestic abuse and drinking. she risks arrest by not returning as ordered. >>> newt gingrich claims he will be the republican presidential nominee. now there are new signs mitt romney might have reason for concern. his campaign apparently planning to take aim at the former house speaker and we're hearing it could get personal. plus, al-qaeda reports it's holding an american captive in pakistan and now that terror network is tellin

carter everything against florida. carter stops and pops, double o.t., a career-high 31. with all eyes on ely he gives it up to the dagger from three-point land, shocked florida in double overtime. in hockey, made his return in pittsburgh asç a member of the flyers. he scored a lot of goal and add one more to the list. a successful home coming. >>> college football looked like the fighting irish were going to run away with the champs sports bowl then florida state decides to show up. manuel hooks up with rasheed greene for the go ahead touchdown, fsu rallies to beat notre dame 18-14. and if you like offense, you like the alamo bowl. robert griffin to third accounting for two touchdowns, teammate terrence gattaway scores. >>> and that's your first look at sports, i'm mario solis. >>> and for another look at the weather, here's bill karins with your weather channel forecast. good morning, bill. >> and i've been advertising this big cold snap that's coming to the eastern half of the country. one thing about it, doesn't look to stick around that much. all the cold purple ai

petersburg, florida in 1984, despite confessing to the crimes. his first trial is for the attack against his last victim, a 17-year-old girl who was raped and stabbed 17 times. the girl survives the attack and testifies. detective paula zitzelberger also testifies and is relieved to finally put an end to the crime spree that terrorized her city. >> he hurt a lot of people. you can't really be sure who is going to be capable of this kind of crime. and i think that's what makes it scary, that it could be the likeable person next door or the person you work with. and yet they could be capable of this kind of crime, this kind of anger, violence. >> rhodes is convicted of first-degree attempted murder, kidnapping, and sexual battery. he then kays his plea in the other crimes to guilty and is sentenced to three consecutive life terms. in prison rhodes still hides a dark secret. the murder he committed in colorado in 1982. but a year after he gives a clue to detective zitzelberger the crime is finally solved. >> he did tell me about an incident when i w

professor, a university like florida a & m. they say they have the no hazing policy, clearly, it's an open secret this is happening. how much does a school, do they know about what's going on? how much do they care about actually stopping it? >> i won't say how much they care about it. but let's cut to the chase. everybody at that school from the band director to the students to the administrators to the president, they know that this is a practice that goes on in these bands. it also goes on in black greek letter organizations which the bands are mimicking. they're very clear on that. when they say they don't know about it, they're either lying or they should be fired for negligence. this is going on throughout the south of hbcu. it's going on predominantly white universities. clearly the policies do not work. you are having people injured around the country. you're having people killed. and so what the bands, what other organizations are really saying to these schools and administrators is this the way we do things. this is t

he narrowly carried florida. he's ahead in florida, but his numbers is pretty much what he got. he's still in the mid-40s and that's where he ended up last time in south carolina. you have a tough republican primary contest and as a result of that, you have a lack of republican unity right now. if that comes together don't expect president obama to carry south carolina this time when november rolls around. >> i remember right before november of 2008 there would be polls that show the president performing well in south carolina and then a team like all of the undecided vote went republican. >> yeah. that's the table for that occurring right now as well. >> look, the nomination for the republicans goes through south carolina and florida, the ticket for obama's re-election may go to florida. >> well, a couple of weeks off and then we'll start polling again right after the holidays. we'll talk to you soon. >> yeah. >>> well, what's old is newt again, right? back in 1994 newt gingrich was the hero of the republican party. why are aren't more members of the republican revolution, why

everything against tenth ranked florida. in the third quarter, carter stops and bops with a career high 31. he gives it up to miles, the dagger from three-point land. scarlet knights shock florida in an 85-8 3 win in double overtime. >>> hockey, jagr made his return to the pittsburgh as a member of the flyers. he spent 11 years with the penguins. he scored a lot of goals in the steel city. you can add one more to the list. successful homecoming. flyers win 4-2. >>> college football, looked like the fighting i rich would run away with the bowl. manual hooks up with green for the go ahead touchdown after a few rallies to beat notre dame 18-14. >>> finally, if you like offense, you love the alamo bowl. baylor and washington combining for 123 points. heisman trophy winner, griffin accounting for two touchdowns. ganaway scores five times. baylor wins a shoot-out. >>> that's a look at sports on "early today." i'm mario solis. >>> the experts say no new films at the box office this weekend means a sure-fire winner. your early morni

myers, florida. >> reporter: the sounds of the holidays. but in southwest florida, it's also the soundtrack to a mystery. for the seventh year running, someone has quietly slipped this into the salvation army's collection pot. a 1913 double eagle saint gaudens $20 gold coin. value today, $1,800. vernon robinson was on duty when someone dropped the coin into his kettle. >> i never seen nothing like that in my life. it made me feel real good. >> reporter: as in years past the coin came with a handwritten note, in loving memory of mimi. at the salvation army sorting center, volunteers are on the lookout for perhaps another gold coin. >> i'll definitely have my eyes peeled. >> reporter: could be another? >> we don't know. could be somebody else wanting to donate. >> reporter: the salvation army is the second largest charity in the united states, founded by minister william booth in london in the 1850s. in the last three decades, gold and silver coins have turned up during the holidays in those red kettles in at least ten states, including texas

a few hours after performing the florida classic. an unidentified person made this 911 call shortly after finding him on a charter bus. >> okay, is he awake? >> he, he is not even, he responded a little, he wasn't responding. we thought he was breathing. he was making noises. i don't know if he is breathing now. >> is he awake? do you know? >> his eyes are open. he is not responding. >> but its he breathing? >> i have no idea. i cannot tell you that. >> the cause of death has not been formally identified. investigators believe hazing is involved. monday robert champion's mother called for an end to that. >> this needs to stop. no one wants to be standing in our shoes. no one wants to hear on a phone call that your son collapsed and died over the phone. >> an attorney for robert champ champion's family is "outfront" tonight and chris, obviously hazing is an issue and a problem that affects kids across the country, at different ages. and there is nothing at this point that is going to change what happened to robert champion. but what i

that should say it all for mitt romney when it comes to florida. what does he have to do to win the tea party over? you heard the beefs there. joining us now is kevin madden. in 2008, he's a campaign advisor for romney, now a republican strategist. kevin, i know you've heard these complaints before from the tea party. whatever you want to call it, grassroots or not, it's a crucial part of the republican party right now. mitt romney hasn't been able to win them over. can he? >> i believe he can. the tea party is not a monolithic group. there are a lot of elements within the tea party movement, and many are anxious and animated around the issues of spending and deficits. they are a reform element. if you look at governor romney and you look at the proposals for changing washington, a lot is focused on fiscal reform, what we can do to reform entitlements and rein in spending and rein in the size and growth of government. if he focuses on those issues like a laser, i think while these tea party activists go through the consideration of candidates, in t

that should say it all for mitt romney when it comes to florida. what does he have to do to win the tea party over? you heard the beefs there. joining us now is kevin madden. in 2008, he's a campaign advisor for romney, now a republican strategist. kevin, i know you've heard these complaints before from the tea party. whatever you want to call it, grassroots or not, it's a crucial part of the republican party right now. mitt romney hasn't been able to win them over. can he? >> i believe he can. the tea party is not a monolithic group. there are a lot of elements within the tea party movement, and many are anxious and animated around the issues of spending and deficits. they are a reform element. if you look at governor romney and you look at the proposals for changing washington, a lot is focused on fiscal reform, what we can do to reform entitlements and rein in spending and rein in the size and growth of government. if he focuses on those issues like a laser, i think while these tea party activists go through the consideration of candidates, in t

a few hours after performing the florida classic. an unidentified person made this 911 call shortly after finding him on a charter bus. >> okay, is he awake? >> he, he is not even, he responded a little, he wasn't responding. we thought he was breathing. he was making noises. i don't know if he is breathing now. >> is he awake? do you know? >> his eyes are open. he is not responding >> but its he breathing? >> i have no idea. i cannot tell you that. >> the cause of death has not been formally identified. investigators believe hazing is involved. monday robert champion's mother called for an end to that. >> this needs to stop. no one wants to be standing in our shoes. no one wants to hear on a phone call that your son collapsed and died over the phone. >> an attorney for robert champ john's family is "outfront" tonight and chris, obviously hazing is an issue and a problem that affects kids across the country, at different ages. and there is nothing at this point that is going to change what happened to robert champion. but what its th

let's start in florida. according to a new nbc news/marist poll, president obama leads romney by 7 down there. against newt gingrich, the president's lead is 12. he's still strong in florida. in south carolina, which is reliantly republican, the president has a three-point lead, if you believe it, over romney, 45-42 in that new poll. he also has a lead over gingrich, 46-42 down there. keep in mind, jimmy carter is the only democrat to carry south carolina in the last 12 elections. finally to pennsylvania, and a college poll that shows president obama leading mitt romney again there by four. that's not enough to carry the usual margin up there. you need to win nationwide. against gingrich, the president's leader is much bigger, 52-35. that's a strong lead in pennsylvania. these polls are somewhat varied as you've notice d in the last week or so. we'll be right back. you never take an upgrade for granted. and you rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle. and go. you can ev

again in florida. and nbc news chief white house correspondent and political director and host of "the daily rundown" chuck todd. chuck, good to have you. >> we'll have -- mark asked a fascinating question to senator lemieux a moment ago about florida and we'll get to that in a second. first, chuck todd, let's go to you. wow. this snowball is picking up momentum going down hill. a new "the washington post" poll shows newt gingrich nearly doubling mitt romney in iowa and everybody else he's at 33% to mitt romney's 18%. from what i'm starting to hear, a lot of nervousness. people believing that this is going to lead to the possibility of a gingrich nomination leads to days a disastrous general eln next year. what are you hearing? >> some trepidation. you talk to some folks over the last couple days and it's not a panic yet because there still seems to be a lot of the republicans i talked to who all just assume, well, we've seen, a, we've seen this before in this primary campaign and, b, we've seen this b

with florida he has a shot. right now i don't see a clear path for the republicans. >> and it will be difficult when you have people booing their own candidates. there are people that have that take. if if they don't, i'll do, and i'll gladly play them. >> joe, maria, thank you for your time tonight. >> thank you. >> and happy kwanzaa. >> happy kwanzaa, happy new year. >> happy kwanzaa. >>> rick scott, the most unpopular governor in america, instead of helping the uninsured in florida, he's rejecting help. geez, i wonder why he's so unpopular. >>> the tea party promised to bring change to washington. too bad the only change i've seen is their plummeting approval. stay with us. this new at&t 4g lte is fast. hey, two tickets just opened up on the 50. ...yup, about to go pick them up from will call. so 46 seconds ago. did you guys hear that chapman rolled his ankle? done. get out there. so seconds ago. you guys know how to post videos to facebook? you guys know how to post videos to facebook? you guys hear, someone

professor, a university like florida a & m. they say they have the no hazing policy, clearly, it's an open secret this is happening. how much does a school, do they know about what's going on? how much do they care about actually stopping it? >> i won't say how much they care about it. but let's cut to the chase. everybody at that school from the band director to the students to the administrators all the way to the president, they know that this is a practice that goes on in these bands. it also goes on in black greek letter organizations which the bands are mimicking. they're very clear on that. when they say they don't know about it, they're either lying or they should be fired for negligence. this is going on throughout the south of hbcu. it's going on predominantly white universities clearly the policies do not work. you are having people injured around the country. you're having people killed. and so what the bands, what other organizations, are really saying to these schools and administrators is this the way we do thing

. >>> speaking of power plants, an unexpected find at 1 in florida. a baltimore county man is one of two people p found dead in a shipment of coal there. wjz and mike schuh are live with the latest on this, good afternoon -- or excuse me, good morning, mike. >> reporter: good morning to you, don, good morning, everyone. so the autopsy is in from florida but doesn't contain answers as to how that couple got in that pile of coal. christopher artist lived in lutherville. now authorities are trying to figure out how he got here, to a power plant in lakeland, florida. >> this is the first i have ever heard of anything like that happening. >> artist was found dead in a pile of coal alongside 22-year- old medina hebdershot. h indershot. it is believed they hitched a ride and then died as the coal was unloaded. >> as the coal cars come in they open up the bottom of the cars and drop the coal into these big piles. >> reporter: autopsies show artist died of asphyxiation, while hindershot died of blunt force trauma. a neighbor is distraught but could not provide