good morning. back home. president obama returns from his surprise good morning. back home, president obama returns from his surprise visit to afghanistan to face a surge of unemployment and mounting pressure to restart jump start the struggling economy. murder for hire, the strange, new twist in the murder of a hollywood publicist as details emerge of her wealth, her will, and the person of interest who took his own life. together again, sent to concentration camps by the nazis, two cousins who survived the holocaust are reunited after nearly 70 years apart. we'll tell you their story today, saturday december 4th,

2010. good morning, everyone. welcome to "today" on a saturday morning, i'm lester holt. >> and i'm a good morning, everyone. welcome to "today" on saturday morning i'm lester holt. >> i'm amy rebong. nice to have you back. you took an amazing amount of time to sell tell such powerful stories in afghanistan. >> a terrific trip. i can't think of a better place to spent holiday. i come back, and new york is transformed, treat is up, the beautiful view outside. >> look at that. >> nice to feel christmas and be christmassy. what's even nicer, not to wear khaki after three weeks in the field. >> i bet your wife is happy to have you back home. >> and i had to remember to put a tie on. for a lot of americans, this is going to be a difficult holiday season. november's unemployment numbers came out, they reached a

seven-month high. what does that mean for the year? insight coming up. shocking story out of a picture postcard town in florida, celebration. the community built and created by disney. violence is rare but that all changed this week with two killings that have shaken this town. we'll have the latest. also, want to show you this very, very close call. a man falls on the tracks in spain. the surveillance camera captures it in the upper left there. as the train approaches the station passengers on the opposite side screaming to alert the conductor. how does this turn out? we'll show you in a few minutes. gimme five. from breaking bread to six-pack ads websites and products claim you do it in five minutes a day. really? we've enlisted willie geist to find out if he can learn anything new in five minutes. maybe you can learn it, but can you retain it? >> you've got to do it right away. >> five minutes you forget it. >> no idea what he's doing there. >> baking bread.

does it taste good? >> talk about the grim, new job numbers out what it means to the president and the country. more from nbc white house correspondent savannah guthrie. >> good morning. >> reporter: with the president overseas, joe biden reacts to an unemployment report that caught the west wing and wall street by surprise. >> still, there's no denying that the report is disappointing because we were, quite frankly, hoping for stronger job growth. >> reporter: wall street was expecting the economy to add 150,000 jobs last month. instead it added just 39,000. >> how you doing? >> reporter: and despite strong retail sales, including a big black friday kick-off to the holiday shopping season, the retail sector lost 28,000 jobs leading some analysts to question whether the report could be trusted. >> the general tone of the economic data had been pointing up over the last four to eight weeks, and this number stands in dark contrast to all of the

other data. >> reporter: white house aides it adds ur urgency. >> the motion adopted. >> reporter: following the house's lead, senate democrats plan to hold symbolic votes today extend lower tax rates for middle class families only. but the measure will fail without the support of republicans who are holding out for tax relief for all taxpayers, including top earners. on friday, frustrated democrats turned up the rhetoric. >> it's like question of, do you negotiate with terrorists? >> reporter: republicans said it was democrats wasting time. >> it is too risky for all of our constituents to aim for partisan stunts. the clock is ticking. >> if we come to order. >> reporter: the president's bipartisan deficit commission came up three votes shy of the support needed to get its drastic budget-cutting and revenue-raising plan before congress. but the commission's leaders hoped they'd given a push to lawmakers. >> please, i really am pleading

with you, please, make the tough choices. >> reporter: and one other note. the u.s. and south korea have reached a deal on that free trade agreement. this is the same deal they tried and failed to get when the president was in south korea last month. for "today," savannah guthrie, nbc news, the white house. unemployment numbers paint a bleak picture, but are they accurate? joining us now, steve leaseman. good morning. good to see you. savannah mentioned some don't trust the numbers. >> right. >> why? >> in the first thing you have to understand numbers are inaccurate when published the confidence numbers are plus or minus 100,000. >> they make a big deal out of it. >> in general what you get is the trend is sort of right and what the trend is showing here is job creation in this recovery is generally weak, and that's accurate been but it could have been 139, minus 139. >> you say recovery amount. so many other items are going up, and this is going down. it doesn't match. >> savannah did a good job

pointing out retail numbers. hearing from retailers they're hiring people. people are going in and spending and yet the jobs numbers showed minus 28,000. there's thinking maybe the numbers get revised up, they're not in line with the other data we've seen on the jobless claims and also on manufacturing. >> but what if those numbers are saying loud and clear, jobless recovery? >> i think they are saying that and what we know from just a sheer mathematical point of view, 15 million unemployed americans, 8 million added to the roles during this recession, that we need to do upwards of 200,000, 250,000 a month in order to make a dent into the unemployment rate. >> you and i were in a conversation a few minutes ago and mentioned something to me. i want to mention on the air, when you break down the number of unemployed it varies differently depending on your education. >> not just differently, dramatically differently. this recession has shown the importance of education in a big way. if you have less than a high school education unemployment

rate is nearly 16%. if you have a college education, college degree, unemployment rate is 5.1%. every bit of education that any person has along the way helps bring down their chances of being unemployed in a recession. >> let's assume the numbers, 9.8% is raaccurate. what room does that leave politicly for a solution? >> one, it's going to be hard, i think, to raise those tax rates on the wealthy during the time when it's clear that recovery is not on solid footing. the other one is unemployment benefits are expiring for 2 million americans, that gives a benefit to the democrats who want to keep those in place. >> thanks much. amy? as we said, new unemployment figures come as president obama comes from his surprise trip to afghanistan. on the ground at bagram air base where he took time to thank our troops.

chuck todd joins us washington. >> reporter: what made the trip more surprising was everything the president has on his plate right now, these negotiations with congress on tax cuts, the debt commission reporting in, as savannah noted in her piece and of course everything else, the jobs numbers that hit on his plate. but the president felt he needed to get to afghanistan during the holiday season to give the troops a morale boost. >> reporter: the trez tupreside turned up in the dark of night in afghanistan. president obama last seen at the hanukkah recession thursday night 6:44. after 9:30 he snuck off to andrews air force base landing 9:00 in the morning in afghanistan. the president was briefed by his team led by general david petraeus and ambassador karl eikenberry. although high winds prevented the president from taking a helicopter kabul from a planned face-to-face meeting with president karzai, two did speak

by phone. two weeks ago the two sat across the table in portugal at nato summit. by the central focus of this visit to afghanistan was to give a holiday morale boost to the troops. >> i want to make sure that i could spend a little time this holiday with the men and women of the finest fighting force that the world has ever known. and that's all of you. >> reporter: the president discussed the mission. >> we said we were going to break the taliban's momentum, that's what you're doing. you're going on the offense. tired of playing defense. >> reporter: he scored one easy applause line about their paychecks. >> you may have noticed during the tough budget times i took the step of freezing pay for federal workforce. but because of the service that you render, all who wear the uniform of the united states of america are exempt from that action. >> reporter: all dramatic theater on a day when the president faced a flurry of

pressing issues at home including rising unemployment, a deadlocked debt commission and congress gridlocked over taxes. >> it's jarring for many americans on a day when unemployment numbers are so high to find the president going off to afghanistan and a trip that might well have taken place closer to christmas. >> reporter: the abrupt departure left the vice president to deal with friday's bad news. >> i can tell you one thing, i am not at bagram air force base. >> the president did hand out five purple hearts while on the ground. by the way, of course, amy, this month there's going to be another review of the strategy in afghanistan. because of the deal the u.s. signed on to in nato, this symbolic because at this point the deadline for pulling out troop ises not 2011 but 2014. >> the president's visit yesterday came after a week of news that certainly hurt the credibility of the afghanistan government, wikileaks documents

exposing corruption within president karzai's administration. does this visit, the timing of this visit, help or hurt the president politically with this issue? >> you know, look, they had planned this trip a month ago, obviously they didn't know that wikileaks was going to make these things public, but they did know these issues with karzai. when the president met face-to-face with ckarzai two w ago, they had blunt conversations, the president complaining about this issue of government corruption. so, they're having these, quote, open and frank discussions about it. but i don't know if wikileaks is having any influence now. >> when you see the president visit afghanistan, the region personally, meeting with general petraeus, what are we looking to hear in terms of benchmarks? we mentioned the pullout date of 2014 but we've been there for nine years. what measures success? >> the president tried to touch on it a little bit. most of the speech was about

thanking the troops, a morale boost, and this is something that president bush was doing the same thing during the holiday season. there's nothing harder on these military families and military personnel than being there at this time of year. but he did talk about, hey, we've given you a clear mission, we've said we're going to roll back the taliban, you're fighting the taliban, you're on offense now. so there have been a lot of supporters of the president's strategy who have been critical that the president hasn't publicly sold the war enough because public opinion is souring on this war. i think yesterday, if you do listen to that speech, those critics of whether the president's making the case are happier this morning. >> the news back home, unemployment numbers obviously going south, and then he has to deal with this issue in congress, whether or not we're going to extend unemployment benefits and the middle class tax cuts. what's the likelihood we're going to see progress, even

today perhaps with the stalled talks? >> reporter: well, look, i doubt you will see anything today but the goal is monday. i've talked to people on both sides of this conversation. the irony here is the white house and republicans are closer to a deal than the white house and congressional democrats. congressional democrats, a lot of them are not happy that the white house is ready to have this deal but the thinking of the white house is, if you let these tax cuts expire, don't cut the deal this month, you wait until republicans take over the house, it's going to be a worse deal in january or february because the tax cuts are going to get extended in some way, in some form. the white house would rather have a little more control of the process by doing it now. if it happens monday, which is what the goal is on the white house's front, look for s.t.a.r.t., the nuclear arms treaty to get taken up and get that passed which would make the lame duck session easier for the white house to swallow. >> chuck todd, thanks so much. amy, word from sweden this

morning that an arrest may be imminent for the man behind wikileaks, who has released million of classified military and diplomatic records. peter alexander is live in st k stockho stockholm. >> reporter: good day in sweden. the authorities have provided all of the necessary information for a reissued european search warrant that would allow for the arrest of julian assange in britain as early as today. meanwhile his wikileaks website is now facing a new threat. it's another technical difficulty, this from the online payment site pay pal that said it has dropped access for any new web-based donations. >> reporter: with his window of freedom quickly closing, julian assange, the wikileaks founder, turned to his preferred safe haven, the web. in an online chat with readers of a british newspaper, interrupted by overwhelming

traffic, assange called bradley manning an unparalleled hero. he insisted that his controversial site will continue to reveal documents, no matter what happens to him. history will win, the world will be elevated to a better place, a a15 sank wrote. will we survive? that depends on you. he. >> the i mean, the mailman, look on inside, this is perfectly legal. >> reporter: assange's own legal troubles threaten freedom explained by the swedish prosecutor. >> rape, sexual molestation, and unlawful corruption. >> reporter: the swedish court documents detail allegations made by two female wikileaks volunteers. allegations assange veemeveheme.

>> in case arrested he will fight extradition from whatever country he's arrested in. >> reporter: the timing of it all is raising questions. >> i'm not a big fan of the conspiracies but how come this happens now at the same time? >> reporter: and unlikely power struggle between an illusive hacker and international authorities. despite growing condemnation, julian assange argued that not a single person has been harmed during wikileaks four-year publishing history. >> peter alexander for us this morning, thank you. let's go to willie geist at the newsdesk with other headlines this morning. good morning? >> good morning, everyone. we begin with two test votes in the senate scheduled for later today on the extension of tax cuts set to expire at the end of the year. democrats want to continue to the bush era tax cuts for the middle class but allow to expire for the wealthiest americans.

they want to extend jobless benefits as part of a deal. republicans want an extension of all cuts, including those for the country's highest earners. the gop arguing that group represents small businesses that create jobs. chicago, getting its first significant snow of the season today. the weather channel's jeff morrow is there. >> good morning from snowy chicago. we're expecting 2 to 4 inches of snow to accumulate here. this is an alberta clipper. it will move by pretty fast and be over by noon time but a taste of what we can expect as we start to head through the winter months puts you in a christmas spirit, i guess. back to you. >> it does. so begins the long winter for chicago. the u.s. is sending planes and fire retardant to israel to help that country battle the worst forest fire in its history. at least 41 people have died and thousands have been evacuated. other countries also pitching in to fight the blaze which investigators suggest may have

been sparked by negligence and not arson. stunning video to show you of a daring rescue friday at a train nation madrid. look at the circle at the top left of your screen. shows a man falling on to the track, passengers on the opposite side seen screaming to alert the conductor of an oncoming train. anoff duty police officer runs down to the tracks, and drags the man to safety just as the train approaches. incredible. turns out that officer graduated from the academy two months ago. good work by him. forget e-mail and blackberries. santa claus using good old u.s. postal service. the big guy has his own address in alaska. it's number one santa clause lane in fair banks. deliver all letter as dressed to jolly old st. nick. the post office received 6,000 friday alone. and that is the news. back to lester, amy, bill.

my daughter's going through several revisions of her tloert santa. >> mine, too. >> she thinks the more colorful pictures the more presents she'll get. >> that helps. >> they have spell check. look so good now. >> we saw winter's moved if and it's here to stay. first sthnow of the season, kid are happy in kentucky, indiana, southern ohio, chicago, louisville, lexington, cincinnati, will a good torngnio you. happy saturday. we have a couple ofng scattered showers that came through yesterday on the radar loop. this is a three-hour loop. right now, there are a couple of scattered showers right off the coast. most of those will come in later this afternoon and it is not going to be very much today anyhow. we will get some light this afternoon and into the evening hours. most of it will happen tomorrow. we will have rain and wind for sunday. that's the seven-day forecast there. a couple of scattered showers

monday, a break on tuesday and more rain wednesday through next week. new england goes a chance of snow showers, especially in new orleans portions of new england over the next two days. that's a look at your weekend forecast. >> bill, thank you. what's believed to be the most expensive book in the world will go to the highest bidder. it's a rare copy of the john james autobahn's birds of america. it could fetch millions. >> reporter: it's not sort of book you leave on a coffee table. the pages in this book are enormous. 2 x 3 feet, full of birds and water color, painted by the wildlife artist 180 years ago. now this rare book a four-volume set, "birds of america" goes on sale as the most expensive book worth at least $6 million. >> it's a cornerstone of americana, one of the most important things in the field. >> reporter: he was a true pioneer in then the new world. there were only 26 states then, texas was still part of mexico.

he would travel for years by horseback and river boat pursuing his passion for finding and drawing the birds of america. >> what was unusual was the ambition of the projects. his aim was to illustrate every known species of american bird, and by and large, he achieved that. >> reporter: without photography back then, a good wildlife artist was also a good hunter. >> he actually shot and then drew bar one every single bird in the book? >> yes. sometimes he had specimens sent to him but caught in the wild, yeah. >> reporter: how many illustrations are there? >> 435. >> reporter: a lot of birds to shoot. >> reporter: he travelled to britain, and was traeted like a rock star. >> he played up on that, this idea he was an american woodsman, he had long hair, dressed in buck skin. a great hitter as soon as he came to britain because he represented the pioneering spirit of america. >> reporter: he showed them a world he didn't know existed.

there, he used copper plates to engrave each of the birds for the book. it took 12 years. >> imagine somebody opening this up and never seen a pelican and have it life size in full glorious color. >> reporter: only the wealthy could afford them. his clients included the king and queen of england. 119 book exist, noeft libraries, only 11 private hands. >> you always have bought a house for the price you'd have to pay for this book. >> reporter: at the time? >> the at the time, and today as well. a very nice house. >> reporter: all eye on the sotheby's auction room floor on tuesday to see who will pay the price of a mansion for the book. >> that's a coffee table book. >> $9 million expecting it to fetch. we'll see if it happens. we're back, first this is "today" on nbc. lightning fast. lightning strong.

verizon 4g lte. rule the air on the most advanced 4g network in the world. still to come on "today," one year later. the search for susan powell.

still to come on "today," one year later the search for susan powell. we'll talk live to the missing utah mother. >> reunited, war torn cousins find each other after nearly 70 years apart. first, these messages.

good saturday morning to you. looking live at the traffic slowing through oakland. raindrops will be flowing but we won't call it rain until tomorrow. i'm kris sanchez here with craig herrera. sprinkles and showers? a couple of sprinkles later and showers tomorrow. go b rainhey t end of the t week. >> we need it. >> wehe do need it. good morning to you. here is the i s tellite and radar. over t tasthour, aur l of the rap is in caltrentr valley. a couple trace amountsn in abou

just under a tenth in san francisco. look at lake tahoe and reno. if you are traveling there, be prepared for that. what will happen, today, 6:00 a.m. notice the cloud cover. 10:00 a.m., no the a lot going on. by 2:00, 3:00, we will get rain through 7:00 p.m. very, very light. by 10:00 tonight, you start to see some along the peninsula and san francisco. this is an overnight event. 1:00 a.m. in the north bay, pretty good heavy rain coming through. 9:00 a.m., we are done. sunday, 10:00, we're done. sunday evening, 6:00 p.m. through 10:00 p.m., more rain and more rain for the sierra. high today, 50s. weekend, tomorrow, cool, seven-day forecast, heavy rain at times by the time we get into the end of the week, wednesday, shu thursday, and friday. rainy late today and into

tomorrow. we want to get you started with developing news in the east bay where a young girl is in critical condition after a man shot her after she answered a knock at her door. police say the 9-year-old girl was inside her home on brighton way in hercules. the gunman shot her in the neck, back and continued firing inside the home. paramedics rushed the girl to oakland children's hospital. she is expected to survive but she is fighting for it right now. police are trying to sort out why the suspect targeted the house and whether or not the people inside knew that suspect. police are also still looking for the suspect. a family in the east bay is franticly searching for their 15-year-old daughter who has been missing for almost a week. family members set up this facebook site to bring the 15-year-old home. the family said it is unlike her to run away. they fear she has been abducted. from the martinez pa cheng

coarea. if you see stephanie or know anything about where she might be, you should contract the contra costa county sheriff's department. coming up on 7:00 on "today in the bay," celebrities give their last tweet and testament but hardly anyone is mourning the loss. more of the "today" show.

we're back on this saturday morning, december 4th, we're back on this saturday morning, december 4th, 2010. it's the first weekend in december. and we have a big crowd out on the plaza starting our saturday with us. probably all before they head out. holiday shopping, we're going to say hi in just a few minutes. it is chilly. >> it is. something about when the tree across the tree pop up, crowds double. >> back inside studio 1a, i'm amy robach with lester holt. a serious story. sent for susan powle. >> it's been a year since the utah mom disappeared, her

husband, who you may recall, named a person of interest. he has been refusing to talk to the police. the question remains, of course, what happened to susan. family speaking out this morning. we are going to talk to her parents live in a moment. >> also, the new twist in the murder of a hollywood publicist, she was gunned down in beverly hills over two weeks ago, and a man wanted in connection with the case took his own life when he was approached by police. was he hired to kill her? and why was she targeted in the first place? we'll have the latest. holiday travel without the headache. 28 million americans will travel this season, whether flying, taking rails or hitting the road, what you need to know before leaving home to make it least less hassle, if not hassle-free. first, we begin this half hour with the reunion nearly 70 years in the making. two cousins, separated in world war ii, sent to contendizaticen

catches by the nazis. >> reporter: if absence makes the heart grow fonder, the two have a lot of pent-up love to share. >> of65 years. 65. >> reporter: a holocaust survivor, he thought everyone in his family was during that time exspts a great-grandfather who died before world war ii. in the '60s he learned cousin lucy made it out alive and spent four decades looking for her. >> we were immediate familiar life 35 people, and everybody perished, only i survived. when i hear that she survived, that means we got two people. >> we're always together. >> reporter: in april, saul found out lucy was living in canada. >> reporter: thanks to the red cross which connects survivors like saul connect with loved ones. >> it's amazing we were able to get them together, able to get them in south florida so they

cannen spend the first night of hanukkah together after 60 years, it's incredibly amazing. >> reporter: saul says he'd given up on finding lucy sank that went to israel. lucy was there for saul's coming of age party but he doesn't recall it that way. >> she claims that she came to my bar mitzvah, but i don't remember. >> reporter: he knows for certain the sustaining power of love. how it grows stronger, specially apart. >> great story. they both look so great. >> they do. >> so happy. that's one of those feel-good holiday stories we love to report. >> very, very happy for both of them. time for a check of the weather. let's head outside to bill karins. >> cold this morning again. 32 degrees. first freeze in new york city. we have people from maine here, used to the cold weather, along with people from south dakota and iowa. let's show you what's going to happen through the day today in

the nation. snow in heading through the ohio valerie into area of kentucky, ohio. in general, not too many travel spots. around good saturday morning to you. a couple of the rain showers will come through the bay area later this evening. most of that will be for the north end of theksar napa, sonoma and marin county. this is showing you the rain in the central valley. snow nor the sierra. bring your chains. light showers later this evening. heavier rain tomorrow. more rain next wednesday. christi. south florida, 75 degrees. >> if you have snow in your area, you want hour by hour forecast you can get that at weather.com. >> coming up, where is susan

powell? it's been one year since the utah mom disappeared. her parents will join us live. on the clock, can you actually learn to bake bread in five minutes? or learn to play the piano? it's an assignment only for willie geist. we'll see if he can get it done. hey! you're gonna wash the deck.

i love it. not wash. power wash. ok. whoa. [ female announcer ] life comes with headaches and excedrin starts relieving headaches faster than extra strength tylenol and advil. excedrin. for life's headaches. took some foolish risks as a teenager. but i was still taking a foolish risk with my cholesterol. anyone with high cholesterol may be at increased risk of heart attack. diet and exercise weren't enough for me. i stopped kidding myself. i've been eating healthier, exercising more... and now i'm also taking lipitor.

if you've been kidding yourself about high cholesterol...stop. along with diet, lipitor has been shown to lower bad cholesterol 39% to 60%. lipitor is fda approved to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke in patients who have heart disease or risk factors for heart disease. [ female announcer ] lipitor is not for everyone, including people with liver problems and women who are nursing, pregnant or may become pregnant. you need simple blood tests to check for liver problems. tell your doctor if you are taking other medications or if you have any muscle pain or weakness. this may be a sign of a rare but serious side effect. let's go, boy, go! whoo-whee! if you have high cholesterol, you may be at increased risk of heart attack and stroke. don't kid yourself. talk to your doctor about your risk and about lipitor. the mystery of susan powell tuesday marks one year since the utah mother of two vanished. her husband, josh, who has been named a person of interest, has refused to talk to the police. we will talk to susan's parents

in a moment. but first, here's nbc's miguel almaguer. >> reporter: memories, pictures of a beaming mother all susan powell's family have left. gone in an instant, vanished from her utah home on a freezing december night one year ago. susan's husband, josh, told investigator his took the children camping in this remote area in a snowstorm december 7th. when he came home that even, josh said susan was gone. detectives named josh powell a person of interest. >> josh maintains he had nothing to do with his wife disappear. >> reporter: salt lake tribune reporter nate carlisle spent six hours with josh powell in november, but with the anniversary of susan's disappearance, josh has said little publicly. >> josh believes that his wife ran away on her own accord and that she's still out there and may return one day. >> i think that it's dwight ludicro

ludicrous. >> reporter: josh's sister doesn't buy his story. she said susan would never walk away from her children, describes her brother as a controlling man who manipulated his wife. >> it's hard to hear them slander her this way. these things are completely untrue. >> reporter: the truth is, says susan's family, josh powell has always been the focus of the investigation. search warrants were served at their home, boxes of evidence hauled away. ♪ >> reporter: susan's family has held out hope for a year now. her picture will again be circulated to the public. >> everyone wonders what happened to susan, where susan is if or when she will be found. >> reporter: a loving mom who vanished, one year later still no sign of susan powell. for "today," miguel almaguer, nbc news. >> with us from seattle, chuck and judy cox, the parents of susan powell. good morning to both of you. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> judy i know this is a very

tough anniversary. it's been one year sense your daughter has been missing. what is your message to everyone, friends family, community members who continue to put out those flyers who continue to search for susan? how do you still hold out hope that she will be found? >> i have great courage that she'll be found, of course some time in the future. we're hoping sooner than later. i know that our supporter, our family, are really a great. strength to us. our religion, our faith, and a lot of supporters who come up to us or strangers that want to wish us the best. >> chuck, susan's husband, josh, remains the only person of interest in susan's disappearance. he declined an interview with nbc but he has issued a statement to us. he's been issuing statements to several newspapers and members of the media. and he specifically talked about

you. and this is the statement josh gave us through his father, he says, susan's lifelong emotional issues caused by chuck and judy cox's emotional abuse of their daughters has had a profound effect on susan. both susan and her sister denise have been devastated by the cox's abuse. this certainly contributed to susan's decisions and actions. how do you respond to this? >> it's totally ridiculous. it's almost not even deserving of a response. there's no one that knows us, knows our daughters, knows anything about it, anybody can see that's a self-serving statement and it's made without any evidence whatsoever because there is no evidence. there's been no abuse. our daughter is -- was taken against her will and is not in control of her situation. >> judy why, do you think that josh is coming out now making these statements, these types of statements, after a year of not talking to the press or the

police, we should mention? >> i think some, most, it's to draw attention away from himself being a person of interest. and i just think he just wants to, you know, set the -- to set the -- >> focus attention away from himself, that's it. it's self-serving. >> he said in an interview that susan was extremely unstable and had a history of mental illness. it's been well documented that susan's relationship with josh was rocky, at times. but do you have any indication that this description he's giving of your daughter is true? >> absolutely not. no. absolutely not. there's no truth to that whatsoever. >> and, judy, despite recent public statements and early interviews with police, josh has not responded to request to

speak to detectives. there is a lack of evidence that's uncovered to show this investigation is moving forward. i can only imagine your level of frustration now, a year later. >> i feel fully confident, though that the police are doing all that they can and it will happen when the time is right. >> what do you think it will take to find susan? >> a lot more prayers. it's the hope we need to keep in our thoughts and actions that she still is out there, they haven't discovered a body, so we're hopeful that she's still alive. that is a possibility. and we just keep praying that that will be outcome. >> we know what josh -- we know what josh says happened that night that he took his two sons camping and that when he got

home she just wasn't there. do you all have any thoughts as to what happened that evening? >> well, we don't believe that story, that he took the -- we believe he went out somewhere, but we don't believe his story at all. we know that she didn't leave on her own. she wouldn't leave her children. we believe that with the increased emphasis police are putting out with bringing up the new poster and the picture out there, that we -- the only thing that's going to crack this is to find someone, a witness, that saw something that hasn't come forward to this point or to find her body or eventually the totality of the evidence that the police do have, which they haven't shared the specifics of, but we think eventually that will bring closure, and we will know what happened. >> go ahead, did you want to say something else? >> i just say we don't have a lot of choice here. our daughter's missing.

there has not been a body found. we have to hope that she's alive and we do hope that she's alive and will return to us but we understand the possibility that she may not be. so for us, you know, how do we hold on? we don't have a choice in it. we're going to stay devoted to trying to find our daughter. >> certainly admire your strength. thank you both for joining us. we'll keep everyone updated. we're hoping for the best. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> back after these messages.

ah, it's stinging a little bit more than usual! yeah, you'll get used to it. the longer you keep your high mileage car, the more it pays you back. get castrol gtx high mileage. it helps engines last longer by fighting the main causes of engine failure. i think a dime went up my nose. yeah, it happens. don't change your car. change your oil to castrol gtx high mileage. its more than just oil. it's liquid engineering.

mmmmmm. ( shattering, thud ) mmmmmm. ( crash, shattering ) when you add velveeta and rotel tomatoes... and green chilis to chicken and pasta, - it's so good... - good. it'll blow 'em away. ( crashing ) velveeta and rotel. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 what if every atm was free ? tdd# 1-800-345-2550 if you could use any atm, at any bank, tdd# 1-800-345-2550 anywhere in the world... tdd# 1-800-345-2550 without having to pay to access your own money ? tdd# 1-800-345-2550 it'd be like every atm in the world was your atm. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 the schwab bank high yield investor checking® account. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 zero atm fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 a great interest rate. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 no minimums. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 and it's fdic-insured. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 the schwab bank high yield investor checking® account. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 the biggest thing in checking tdd# 1-800-345-2550 since checks. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 open an account at 1-800-4schwab or schwab.com.

this morning on "today's travel," on the go this holiday season. between thanksgiving and new year's nearly a third of americans will be on the road or in the air. what should you expect and where can you find the best deals? mark orwall is the international editor for "travel & leisure" magazine. >> good morning, lester. >> we heard a little while ago unemployment numbers are still up. but other signs of the economy suggest people are back in a spending mood. >> that's right. that figure you just mentioned, about 5% increase over last year. people in this recent merits poll saying that the average holiday traveler is going to spend around $1200 on their trip. which is up above 40% over last

year. maybe more confidence in their own personal finances at this point. >> and of course a lot of those people are going to be flying. there's been so much reporting about security hassles. i fly a lot. it seems like nothing's really changed. it is what it is. but will that scare a lot of people off? >> i think people who haven't flown a lot might be a little nervous about it. but the fact is, you want to just get from the street side of the terminal to the secure side as quick as possible, so remember the basics. you want to have your shoes off, your overcoat off, have all your metal objects, any electronics, put those in a bin that goes through exway. no liquids more than three ounces. those are basic things and you'll get through nice and easy. >> talk to me about fares. because i've been reading the airlines are back in the black, many of them. they had a lot of fees and more this time of year, right? >> yeah. in fact airfares on some routes are as high as increased as much as 40% over the last year. but you can still get good deals. one of the ways to do that. if you will follow your favorite airlines on facebook or twitter.

actually, you will often get the last-minute deals sent directly to you by the airlines. you'll know about them before everybody else. >> things that might not be advertised? >> that's right. >> and it will depend on the route. >> that's right. >> 62% of people are going to drive to where they're going. what should they know? what's going on with gas? >> well, if you've passed by a gas station you know the prices are hovering around three bucks, over 40 cents higher per gallon than last year. law enforcement is stepping up their traffic oversight. your chances of getting a ticket are bigger this year than the rest -- or this time of year than the rest of the year. also national highway traffic safety administration is underwriting a campaign against impaired driving. so, bottom line, drive safe. drive sober. >> we had a storm blow through here a couple of days ago, the airports were messed up. a friend of mine was coming in from pittsburgh, took the train, and i think he did better hourswise than sitting at the airport. what's the deal with rail travel

right now? >> first off, it is a lot of fun. it is no hassle. it's a very sceneic way to go. i'm a big fan of train travel. and also train fares have not increased the same way gas or airfares have increased. so it's actually pretty affordable way to travel. >> mark orwall, nice to have you here. just ahead, baking bread in five minutes. can willie do it? we'll find out. first, this is "today" on nbc. quarter.eginning of the 3rd joey came over to watch the game when the storm rolled in. in through the ceiling. i switched to mercury to save on car insurance, boy am i glad they cover my home too. they fixed the ceiling, replaced the couch, they even cleaned the carpets.

wish they would have cleaned this up. you know, like a makeover. save up to 15% when you combine your auto with home or renter's policy. get a fast free quote at mercuryinsurance.com

still to come on "today" the real-life hollywood murder mystery. new details in the death of a publicist to the stars. plus holiday gifts for that heard-to-get for person. but first these messages. is was me, best ribs in nelson county, but i wasn't winning any ribbons managing my diabetes. it was so complicated. there was a lot of information out there. but it was frustrating trying to get the answers i needed. then my company partnered with unitedhealthcare.

they provided onsite screenings, healthy cooking tips. that's a recipe i'm keeping. ( announcer ) turning complex data into easy tools. we're 78,000 people looking out for 70 million americans. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. wow! ♪ they're from my garden club, up north. [ female announcer ] this year, hallmark has all new ways to say it. well, there's the snow you wanted.

okay, now here's our holiday gift list. aww, not the mall. well, i'll do the shopping... if you do the shipping. shipping's a hassle. i'll go to the mall. hey. hi. you know, holiday shipping's easy with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service. if it fits, it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. yea, i know. oh, you're good. good luck! priority mail flat rate shipping starts at just $4.90 only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship. come on... isn't it time an auto insurer gave it to you straight? that's why you should talk to state farm. but not yet. first, talk to any one of the 40 million drivers who already have state farm.

40 million. yeah, that's more than geico and progressive combined. by a lot. 40 million drivers. more savings. and discounts up to 40%. where else you gonna get discounts like that? call an agent at 1-800-state-farm or go online. good morning to you. take a live look at san francisco. no sunrise yet. we know the rap is headed our way. let's take a look at our weekend forecast with craig herrera. we shouldn't call it rain until tomorrow, right? >> yeah, tomorrow is the heavy stuff. sometimes we get, what is the rain? it's just aprinkle. tonight, heavier. tomorrow lighter until tomorrow evening. a lot of heavy rain in the central valley. off of the coast in the north end of the bay, scattered

showers. you may get a couple of showers move in through the north end of the bay. heavier rain comes in later. right now, in the 40s for the north end, 50s for most of the bay area. 40s along the ulpensnia. nslook at the satellite. ms spinning just on the -- right to the west of us. one of them passes right over us today. that gives us a couple of chances for a couple scattered showers. the one off to the left will give us the heavier rain tomorrow. a few showers today. more especially tonight. some on sunday. snow for this year at about 5,000 feet. we will add another six inches to one foot of fresh snow across the sierra. sunrise, you talked about it. 7:09. sunset at 4:51. for the remainder of the week, rain, wendy tomorrow. especially during the evening hours. heavy rain next wednesday, thursday, and friday.

end of next week, muggier and warmer. people are calling for a new law after a prison guard found a cell phone in charles manson's prison cell. manson, one of california's most notorious inmates hid the cell phone underneath his mattress. he reportedly called and sent text messages to people around the country and in canada. manson is not the only one. >> we know from inside prison walls, inmates are trafficking drugs out of the streets. they are ordering hits. they are certainly controlling gang activity. more than 8,000 cell phones were found in california prisons this year. president obama signed a bill that made cell phones illegal in federal prisons. they are still not illegal in california state prisons. just considered contraband. spiderman under arrest at lax, a german man is charged for

smuggling hundreds, literally thousands of tar an tu las through the male have the officers received packages. some of them are protected species. reportedly, there were no animals on his when he was arrested on thursday. if he is convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison. coming up, sold for sex by her own parents. how she exposed the dark underground of human trafficking right here in the bay area. more local news coming up in 30 minutes. we have more "today" show many could go up straight away. [ r b. ye.ok, 'lli [ female annouer made fresh, ight. thiss. that is not half. guys i have more. with cinnabon cnamon

have such a sweet delicious aro that my family can wait ir hands on them. enjoy cinnab cinnamon... now in all pillsbury cinnamon roll that my family can wait ir hands on them. ♪ it's the most wonderful time of the year ♪ >> welcome back to "today" on the first weekend of december. it's a cold morning. got a warm, warm crowd. we're happy to have them here on the plaza. big, saturday holiday crowd. i'm lester holt along with amy robach. the lovely tree. >> i think that might be the main attraction. >> the main attraction? >> but it is an amazing crowd. it's chilly but everyone seems to be staying warm. >> thanks for coming out, everybody. >> thank you. >> coming up you're going to be talking about hollywood murder mystery. the death of ronni chasen. the mystery gets more intriguing

with each day. we have new information on the excon who is wanted in connection with the murder and the victim's brother has his own theory of what may have happened. >> plus a pair of killings in what some consider a perfect town. celebration, florida, was designed and built by disney. violence is rare in that town. but that unfortunately has all changed this week. we'll tell you how and bring you that story. >> then we're going to switch gears and talk about holiday gifts at great prices for the right kind of people. we're talking for $25 or less. that is a good price. from the kids to the techies. and even your pets. wait until you see what we've come up with. >> but we've got a lot to get to. let's get back inside. willie geist has another check of the news headlines. >> lester, amy, good morning once again, everyone. president obama returning home from afghanistan to a full plate. nbc's mike viqueira is live at the white house with more. good morning, mike. >> good morning, willie. the president got back to the white house as dawn broke over washington this morning. there is a rare saturday session

talking about extending those bush-era tax cuts. the fight goes on. they're going to be taking up a version of a democratic wish list in the senate today, lim limiting those tax cuts or the extension of tax cuts to middle-class taxpayers. those making under $250,000 a year. and then another vote, under $1 million a year. the problem is they're not expected to get the 60 votes they need. meanwhile, behind closed doors, a parallel track of negotiations, treasury secretary tim geithner joined by top republicans and democrats in the house and the senate, trying to work out a deal on that, on s.t.a.r.t., extending unemployment benefits. they say some 2 million people stand to lose their benefits if congress doesn't act soon, and meanwhile, the unemployment numbers from yesterday, more bad news for the president, kicking up to 9.8%. we could hear from the president later today. he's got good economic news. a breakthrough in a trade pact with south korea. we're going to hear again from the president on the economy. willie? >> nbc's mike viqueira at the white house. thanks so much.

what do those discouraging jobs numbers mean to people across the country? nbc's kevin tibbles has that part of the story. >> reporter: the holiday spirit shines at chicago's market. but the decorations and ornaments mask real worry. >> it's all around us. our friends, our family. pretty much out of one or two people we know are without a job right now. >> reporter: at an orlando job fair, what are people looking for? >> anything at this point. i have no money coming in and a lot of money going out. >> reporter: a similar story at a job fair in los angeles. >> i'm just keeping my head up and hoping that, you know, a find something. >> reporter: delta children's products survived the recession but is still nervous about taking on new employees. >> in order to start hiring we need to know where our taxes are going. where health care is going. >> reporter: still, as holiday shoppers pound the pavement, many remain uncertain about the future. >> when is the economy going to

turn around? >> yeah, huh, if you knew that crystal ball. >> reporter: well, there are plenty of crystal balls, but none depict the cold reality many americans still face. kevin tibbles, nbc news, chicago. >> kevin, thanks. an arrest is imminent in sweden for the man behind wikileaks. the website that's released hundreds of thousands of classified state department documents. nbc's peter alexander is live in stockholm with more. good morning, peter. >> reporter: good morning to you, willie. here in sweden authorities tell nbc news that they provided all the necessary information for the reissuing of a european arrest warrant that would allow for julian assange, the founder of wikileaks, to be taken into custody in britain as early as this weekend. while assange fights for his personal freedom. his website wikileaks is due to stay online. now there's a new technical difficulty. the online payment site paypal has cut access for any new

web-based donations. for his part, assange remains defiant. he was part of an online chat with a british newspaper friday. when asked what would happen if he was taken out, assange said, history will win. the world will be elevated to a better place. willie? >> all right. nbc's peter alexander in stockholm. thanks. and finally a rare first edition of the star spangled banner sold at auction for more than half a million dollars. christie's auction house says an anonymous telephone bidder had the winning bid of $506,000. francis scott key's poem was written, set to music and printed in 1814. the christie's copy is the only one known to be inrivate hands. and one of only 11 first edition copies known to exist. they were expecting something like $200,000, $300,000, lester and amy. but they got more than $500,000 for the star spangled banner. >> awesome. >> impressive. >> all right, willie, thank you very much. >> want to head over now to nbc

meteorologist bill karins. he's out on the plaza with us for a check of the weather. >> do you ever wonder what lester does when he's not at work? if you've ever seen lester at the gym. he does a lot of reps in between. kind of looks just like him there. get him angry. thete incdible lk. ow dn your forecast or as we go throughout this hturday. we tavw m mnosngenimhi froor f chicago all the way down tough oldi svcicinauiuile,,entral rentucky is getti a a little moha t washa expected. very impr lsieveittl early morning snowfall. ki e l tretl ait es daouerforouour driving. we're not going tge yort me than two to four inches. but it will look pretty by the end of the day today. as far as the other forecast is thanks. ingoodmorng. happy saturday. a little built of rain in california. very light mainly along the north end of the bay, san francisco and parts of the peninsula. we will get some raindrops

tonight. it will get heavy at times overnight. more rain tomorrow morning. heavy rain sunday evening. next round of rain will come in on wednesday. highs today mainly into the 50s. cloudy and couple of light showers. more this evening. heavier rain tuesday and then again wednesday. >> we have all of our friends from west virginia visiting us. a little snow for them as we go throughout the day today. lester, back to you. >> bill, thanks. this morning new details in the murder of a hollywood publicist. a man wanted in connection with the drive-by shooting took his own life. at the same time new revelations have surfaced about the victim wanting to change her will. nbc's george lewis has the latest. >> reporter: when ronni chasen was gunned down in this upscale beverly hills neighborhood, was the shooter this man? ex-convict harold smith who allegedly bragged that he did it? smith killed himself wednesday night as police officers approached him. some law enforcement sources said he was definitely a

suspect. but now, in a press release, the beverly hills police department says, quote, at this time it is unknown if this individual was involved in the chasen homicide. >> did he kill ronni? i don't know. do i think he did? i'm thinking not. but, i've been surprised before. >> reporter: chasen's brother, larry cohen, offered a possible stheerry about the murder. in an interview with the website showbiz411, he said, i'm sure it was road rage. i'm sure it was some kind of random thing. but ronni chasen's longtime friend and executor of her estate does not think much of that idea. >> she was smart. and she was careful. and she was risk averse. and she was not a fast driver. she wouldn't cut someone off. >> reporter: on friday, she and other representatives of ronni chasen's estate were in court. trying to free up money to keep the chiasson publicity business running. in court documents, they note that the hollywood awards season

is beginning, and that chasen's clients, who are campaigning for oscars and other prizes, need the company's help. >> it's all part of a legal process to, you know, take care of the business, take care of her employees. >> reporter: this has police try to take care of the business of solving the murder case that still has hollywood on edge. for "today," george lewis, nbc news, los angeles. >> joining us with more insight is nbc news analyst and former fbi profiler clint van zandt. clint, good morning. it's good to have you on. >> thanks, lester. >> is it possible there's less to this than it seems? and by that, i mean we look at a case like this, we see this ex-con who takes his own life and we start thinking, it's a giant conspiracy. could this be something so random? >> yeah. i think it easily could be, lester. we've got the phrase, show me the money for investigators, and show me the evidence. you and i know how a few years ago, everybody jumped on this story of john mark carr, the guy

who was found in thailand who allegedly said he was with young jonbenet ramsey when she died. well that turned out to be nothing but smoke and mirrors. lester, right now, all we have is an ex-con who has a gun, who bragged about shooting her. but we haven't heard the ballistics have been matched. we haven't heard there's any connection between him and the victim. they traveled in two entirely different worlds. and now i'm going to have to see some linking forensic evidence before i really put this guy in for this case. >> and you've got him here, the police are trying to serve a search warrant. he takes his own life. you've seen facases like this. how would you read that? >> this is a guy who's done a lot of hard time in the past, who's made a statement he's not going back to jail. he was probably out committing burglaries and other crimes at this time. he may well have thought the police were there to arrest him on something like that. and, was good on his word. he wasn't going to go back, and commits suicide.

i think we've got to be careful before we start linking all these and say this guy is the person for sure. i mean, somebody killed this poor woman, there's no doubt about that. but, did this guy do it, and was he part of a conspiracy? right now, lester, i don't see the evidence. >> and if he was part of it, it's likely that someone would have put him up to it? >> well, sleuthly. he talked about getting $10,000. i think that's why people jumped on this. but this is not a smart guy. this is somebody police are going to be able, through cell phones, through bank accounts, through credit cards, through something, there is going to be some way to link him back to whoever may have put him up to this. but so far, we don't see the evidence, and i think police have got to keep this two-track investigation. track number one says what happened to ronni chasen, who killed her? track number two says, does this guy have anything to do with it or not? >> and did you take him out of it, how do you begin to piece her life together? again, friends say she had no

enemies, nothing obvious is sticking out. how do police run down a case like this, assuming that this was a targeted hit? >> yeah, and my cases lester, i go back at least the last six months of her life and start to take it apart. who was she talking to? what cell phone calls did she make? what was she doing on the internet. if there was somebody out there, this was an actual conspiracy to kill her, i think it's going to be evidence, through threats, through financial engagements, something like that. police are going to put that case together. and i think we still cannot rule out road rage. she was allegedly shot five times and apparently with a semiautomatic pistol. there wasn't any shell casings found on the scene. that indicates somebody either picked them up off the street, or was shooting from a vehicle when they drove away. it still could be something as simple as road wraj. i don't think we can make a conspiracy until we find two or more people engaged in some type of act.

>> it is certainly an intriguing case. clint van zandt, good to have you here. thanks so much. >> thank ll we'e tak a ber.st >> we'll take break. we're back after these messages. . - you went to kay. she'll love it. [chuckles] trust me. i know. - more milk? - thanks, dave, but i got to fly. ho-ho-ho-ho-ho. - gift-giving experts agree on kay. save 25% on bulova watches, one more reason kay is the number one jewelry store in america. - i love it. - santa said you would. no, really. we get double miles on every purchase. so we earned an la getaway twice as fast. we get double miles every time we use our card. [ whistling ] no matter what we're buying. and since double miles add up quick... romans! get em! [ garth ] ...we can bring the whole gang. [ sheep bleats ] it's hard to beat double miles. whoa -- he's on the list. but we're with him. [ male announcer ] get the venture card from capital one and earn double miles on every purchase, every day.

go to capitalone.com. [ indistinct shouting ] what's in your wallet? of gourmet coffee and tea to choose from. it's the way to individually brew fresh, delicious coffee in under a minute. way to brew, hon. [ female announcer ] choose. brew. enjoy. keurig. [ female announcer ] choose. brew. enjoy. in a more delicious world, there would be more smoothness, more creaminess, more rich just-for-me-ness, more hershey's bliss-fulness. hershey's bliss. it's not just chocolate. it's bliss.

when we all become doers. when our mittens double as work gloves. and we turn every room into a project. but this year, let's trim the budget. get some help from martha stewart that we can't get anywhere else. and spread our money as far as our cheer. ♪ more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. we're lowering the cost of tradition, with fresh cut trees at fresh cut prices. acidic foods can cause a softening of the enamel. e once you lose enamel, it's gone for good. pronamel gentle whiteng, helps protect against acid erosion but also helps bring back your teeth to their natural whiteness.

you've probably seen the ads for products that claim you can master a new skill in just five minutes a day. we know the pitches, but is it really possible? >> we've asked willie geist to find out with what we're calling "give me five with willie." >> get the animation and everything. i like that. >> you're big-time. >> well, there are a lot of promises out there for short cuts, self-improvement whether it's in the form of learning a new language or getting rock ard abs. i set out to test those promises and let's just say the results were mixed. life moves fast. so who has time in an overbooked world to learn anything new? well, you do. there's a growing list of books and websites that promise to teach new skills in just five minutes a day. even people who spent their lives avoiding the kitchens can whip up a loaf of bread in five minutes. according to the authors of this book, i, too can make artisan bread, whatever that is, in five minutes a day.

i don't think they know who they're dealing with here. a disaster already. you attack the dough. not in the book, just my method. this is the work of a great artisan. five minutes is also all it takes to learn the basics of a new language. as you can see, there's no guarantee of fluency. [ speaking foreign language ] -- willie geist. what's your name? i just had a conversation with myself in chinese. >> get down and try this. >> reporter: and for those who want to turn that belly into a six-pack, youtube features five, six, seven, and two-minute videos. i recommend the two-minute version. voila! on a site called ehow.com, there's dog obedience training.

>> i recommend that you train your dog five minutes in the morning and five minutes at night. >> reporter: fish tank maintenance. >> whatever the fish will eat in five minutes. >> reporter: and lessons on cooking perfectly crisp, flat bacon. >> lift each slice of bake and and place it onto my paper towel. >> reporter: perhaps while maintaining your fish tank. but is five minutes really worth your time? >> i'm really overwhelmed with my schedule. >> i would like to learn how to sew. >> learn how to understand ladies, you know. >> there's so many things that they need to get done that they do need to do it in a shorter period of time. and that's part of this multitasking, which has become the new normal. >> reporter: how many times have you heard an adult say they wish they'd learned to play the piano as a kid? there's hope now. a website, pianoiseasy.com. we're going to start here with jingle bells.

well in five minutes, you can become a regular chopin. ♪ a very young chopin. five minutes a day may not sound like a lot. but over the course of a year it adds up to more than a full day. a day where you could have learned to play the piano, bake a loaf of bread, or even to learn chinese. maybe your lack of free time is giving you the blues. according to one study, as little as five minutes of time in an outdoor space can improve mental health. who knew the path to a lifetime of health and happiness was just a five-minute stroll? nature. so if you think you have no time for anything, stop and take five. so clearly five minutes is not enough to learn chinese. i didn't get the rock-hard abs.

>> you didn't show us -- >> i'm going to tighten up here. >> i've got some abs you can borrow. >> but it's a good way to start. >> all right. >> the piece was only 3:40. if you had more time, actually. willie, thanks. we're back in a moment. but first, this is "today" on nbc.

still to come on "today," paralyze lost. how violence is shattered an idyllic community created by disney. >> plus holiday shopping on a budget. some fantastic gifts for $25 or less. ♪ ♪ oh, love me ♪ oh oh oh ♪ just love me ♪ oh oh oh ♪ just hold me ♪ oh oh oh ♪ just kiss me ♪ oh oh oh ♪ just want me ♪ l-o-v-e ♪ love, love, love, love

♪ ♪ -♪-o lv-e ♪ ♪ love, love, love, love -♪-o lv-e ♪ [scraping] [piano keys banging] [scraping] [horns honking] with deposits in your engine, it can feel like something's holding your car back. let me guess, 16. [laughing] yeeah. that's why there's castrol gtx... with our most powerful deposit fighting ingredient ever. castrol gtx exceeds the toughest new industry standard. don't let deposits hold your car back. get castrol gtx. it's more than just oil. it's liquid engineering.

one made with only real cheese. a pizza my family will love. [ female announcer ] freschetta naturally rising crust pizza. no other pizza tastes like freschetta, because no other pizza is made like freschetta.

take a live look at oakland. sunrise still a little bit away. i am kris sanchez. here with craig herrera. light sprinkles andhito tore nddatoy, this morning and tonig. my coffee w makeras set last odght. morning to you. happy saturday!go we have snow in the sierra. here is the north end of the bay. rain moving through the north end of the bay.

san francisco, just off the coast. most of this, by the time it gets to the city and peninsula will be very light. it will pass through quickly. the futurecast. 10:00 a.m., a little clearing. by 3:00, maybe some light showers for marin county, sonoma and parts of napa county. 10:00 p.m. through 1:00 a.m., heavy rain through tomorrow at 3:00 a.m. by 9:00 a.m. sunday, we are clear. that's for the san jose holiday parade. it will be fine, cold, windy. > 2:00 p.m. sunday, more rain. highs today into the 50s. by the time we get into tomorrow, we stay with the 50s. again, the heavier rain tomorrow. a couple light showers today, chris. look at wednesday, thursday, and friday. we have more rain in the forecast and it is coming with some warmer weather. so 60s with heavy rain at times.

thank you very much, craig. this morning, we have surveillance video to show you captured seconds before a convicted sex offender is tackled by customers at a east bay discount store. this shows 36-year-old eugene ramos running through the crowded aisles of the dollar store in union city. if you look closely, you can see how his clothing is being grabbed and pulled by someone before he franticly runs out of the store. officers say it was only six minutes after he entered the store that he allegedly intended to rape a 2-year-old girl in one of the aies. his mother said he forgot to take his medication on the day of the attack. the mother says she is sorry for her son's behavior but that he is a good person. he is being held without bail. if convicted, i faces a maximum sentence of 21 years in prison.

the toddler is with her family after undergoing a medical exam. this morning, an east bay family is mourning the loss of her son killed in the line of duty in the middle east. 26-year-old sergeant matt abate was killed in the line of duty thursday. the married father of a 2-year-old boy was on his third deployment. his father and stepmother live in piedmont. he is the eighth former student from buchanan high school in clove advice to die in the last four years. many people are skipping visits to the doctor. we have a secret that can help you save time and money and maybe save your life. three questions you need to ask. we are coming up with you 30 minutes from now.

we're back on this saturday morning. december 4th, 2010. today marks the fourth day of hanukkah. and three weeks until christmas day. we want to thank our very large, enthusiastic crowd for joining us on this cold december morning. i'm amy robach along with lester holt. coming up today, we'll will go to a town called celebration, florida. >> it has a great connotation, but right now this town built by disney, once a peaceful florida community, has been the scene of not one, but two killings. nothing like this has happened before. we're going to get the latest on

what happened. >> then queer going to talk about that holiday gift giving for that hard-to-get person on the list. they're all under $25. we're going to show you them coming up. >> and guess who is preparing dinner for us today? the dean brothers. paula's sons, jamie and bobby are going to help serve up a holiday feast southern style. looking forward to that. >> i know, i know. but first, celebrating a tv milestone. nbc's "days of our lives" has been going strong for 45 years. >> and here to join us for the celebration, deidre hall, sean christianton, congratulations to all of you. >> thank you. >> you've got a book here. >> we do. we brought you a copy >> oh, great. >> it's photos of the last 45 years. >> and it's got all kinds of photos in here, right? >> look at that. >> vintage photos, behind the

scenes. and deidre's book -- >> deidre, you've been huge on the soap. back in 1976. >> yes. >> and over the years, your character, dr. marlena evans, has had her fair shares of obstacles. murders, witch hunts, mistaken identity, why do you think days has lasted and thrived for 45 years? >> it appeals to a wide group of the audience. it's a multigenerational show. we've always been a family-based show. and that's what people respond to. >> simon we've seen what's happened to other soaps right now. is there pressure to innovate and keep it fresh. how does that affect you as an actor? >> i think we still to classic storytelling. revenge, passion, romance. >> do you all have a favorite plot or a favorite scene that you have shot over the years? >> any time i'm in trouble. >> being bad, being evil? >> i like being misunderstood.

>> don't we all. >> and it's a little scary in the environment right now where soaps are struggling to survive? >> actually we just got picked up for two more years. so we're doing great. we've got a great family of fans and we're thrilled. >> and deidre, we should mention you were a favorite but you've left the soap. what have you been up to? >> funny you mention, greg and i are in town to do a book signing on tuesday evening at the barnes & noble on broadway and 66th. oh, and i'm sorry, sean. >> i will be there. i'll be hanging around. >> my book is deidre hall close-up. it's a wonderful, healthy, nutritious, festive recipes. you'll want it before christmas for a stocking stuffer. you'll want it after christmas for your diet. >> you are all great. congratulations. what a great milestone. thank you for the book. >> absolutely. >> if you miss us at barnes & nobles we're on amazon.com.

>> bill karins now to tell you why you're all so cold right now. >> this is the first freezing morning we've had in new york city. north carolina, this beautiful family from dobson. now behind them these ladies are from chesapeake, virginia. all right. who's the teacher here? >> me. >> what's the message you have for your students? >> no homework for the rest of the year! >> if her students are watching, no homework for the rest of the year. that's a pretty good deal. let's talk about your forecast today. as we go throughout the day today, we do have some snowy conditions out there. be careful driving outside minneapolis, chicago, down through indianapolis, cincinnati, louisville. also a little bit of snow in the high elevations of nevada and utah, and in california, a little bit of rain today and tomorrow. a little unusual. even los angeles with a chance of some showers. good morning to you. a couple of light showers this morning. a lot of fog in the north end of the bay as well. wath in sn spots along the peninsula and the north end of the bay. what we see on the radar, light

shades of green. a couple of light raindrops coming down. at times, you might get a brief shower. what we'll get is more rain tonight, just after 9:00 p.m. through about midnight. heavier rain comes in tomorrow, especially during the morning and then again in the evening. highs into the 50s today. more rain comes back in on wednesday, thursday, and fritd. enjoy your weekend! we have some of our saints fans here. we're not talking football sunday night. a great match-up, two black and blue teams that have beaten each other up, the pittsburgh steelers, the baltimore ravens. the winner of this game could easily determine who wins that division. temperatures, going to be cold in baltimore, in the 30s with windchills in the 20s. back to you, lester. in florida, a picture perfect town is now the scene of horror. the community developed by disney has never had a murder before. but that all changed as two killings within a week. nbc's kerry sanders reports. >> reporter: good morning,

lester. this was to be the magic kingdom of the real world. where the only characters were your next door neighbors with their friendly smiles. but this weekend this town called celebration, designed by disney to eliminate the real-world problems, they discovered there really is no fantasyland. celebration, florida, the town built with tinkerbell's dust. it was uncle walt disney's dream. >> glad to be a part of building. >> reporter: houses with front porches where neighbors know each other by their first name. built 14 years ago, a sales flyer asked isn't this reason enough for celebration? one professor wrote about his living experience in celebration. a return to an idealized 1940s, small-town life. >> a lot of the architecture in celebration is traditional architecture. it evokes values that people associate with the pre-war

american small town. >> reporter: but what was to be norman rockwell's america in the last week has turned into a picture of the rest of america. this week, the town had its first murder. followed by a separate 16-hour s.w.a.t. team standoff. celebration, florida, no longer a small world after all. >> it's devastation. celebration was built on a dream. >> reporter: deputies are telling the 11,000 residents here the standoff that ended in suicide and the unsolved murder are no reason to worry. >> celebration is very safe. last year, they had reported three robberies in 2009 and only one robbery for this year. >> reporter: but for all the attempts to create utopia, experts say disney was chasing a fairy tale. >> you're not going to design the perfect community, because it never existed. >> reporter: never existed? >> never existed anywhere. >> reporter: when it was first announced demand to live here was so high disney ran a lottery. bill and susan were among the

first 400 winners. >> i think people came here because thinking they were going to be living on main street, usa, and you know, the pixie dust were be sprinkled and their life would be perfect. and they wanted the monorail to pick them up at their front door and you know, this is real life, real mortgages, real jobs. >> reporter: longtime residents here say they've always feared this day would come, and the events this week say, sort of proved that while you can wish upon a star, those dreams don't last forever. lester? >> well, it's a pretty picture behind you. kerryn sanders,nk ter vhamuy . we'll be back in a moment. i feel like i have to wind myself up to deal with the sadness, the loss of interest, the lack of energy. [ male announcer ] ask your doctor about pristiq®, a prescription medicine proven to treat depression. pristiq is thought to work by affecting the levels of two chemicals in the brain, serotonin and norepinephrine. tell your doctor right away if your depression worsens or you have unusual changes in mood, behavior, or thoughts of suicide. antidepressants can increase suicidal thoughts

and behaviors in children, teens and young adults. pristiq is not approved for children under 18. do not take pristiq with maois. taking pristiq with nsaid pain relievers, aspirin, or blood thinners may increase bleeding risk. tell your doctor about all your medications, including those for migraine, to avoid a potentially life-threatening condition. pristiq may cause or worsen high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or glaucoma. tell your doctor if you have heart disease or before you reduce or stop taking pristiq. side effects may include nausea, dizziness and sweating. for me, pristiq is a key in helping to treat my depression. ask your doctor about pristiq. wow! ♪ they're from my garden club, up north. [ female announcer ] this year, hallmark has all new ways to say it. well, there's the snow you wanted.

we have some amazing deals all for under $25, and our panel of experts is here to show us them. >> first up, gifts for the foodie in your life. jack bishop is cook's illustrated magazine and america's test kitchen. >> hi, amy. >> let's get right into it. this is a high-tech gift for the chef in your life. >> it is a thermometer and remote pager. so you insert this into the roast that's in the oven or the grill. you snake this through the door and you put this on your belt and it will go off ten degrees before you set it and again at 160. >> that's amazing. and dull knives are a problem for everyone. >> this is for the guy who likes to fix thing or the woman who likes to fix things, a manual knife sharpener. it's $9. it will make the dull knife sharp. >> if you're tired of sharpening

nivs there's this gift, then. >> people love power tools, this is an oster electric knife set, a fork, nice little case so that you don't lose the blade. $20. great not only for roasts but we love to cut pies with it. >> really? i never knew that. >> the best way to do a pie. >> the next thing you say is for the health nut. >> this is a collaric immersion blender. we tested 12 models. cheapest one was the best. it's $16. comes in lime and tangerine. so it's kind of like a real high style. >> when you look at the colors of it all. >> exactly. >> and then two cool ways to enjoy a hot beverage. >> this is a great little thing. it's for people who love loose tea. there's loose tea and we brewed. you just want to make some for yourself called the ingenue tea and what you do is you just -- >> oh, wow. >> and it automatic strains out the tea. see the grounds are left in there. >> that's very cool. >> gourmet tea.

>> i like it. >> and this thermos? >> for the coffee drinker. this is the best one we tested. we drove around the streets of boston, hit every pothole. no spills, keeps beverages nice and hot for up to four hours. >> now here's lester. >> amy, thanks. now to the kids and pets with some thoughts for them to enjoy is julie wilson from "real simple" magazine. good morning. >> good morning. >> it's great to have you. >> this first gift for the kids i'm thinking this is the one you give to somebody else's kids. >> exactly. what kid doesn't love a water l you do is pump this a few times push here and the best part is that this gift along with lots of other gifts, are available at real simple's first-ever pop-up store today through monday. >> this is a $20 item. >> yeah. and if you finish this then you've got to tie it off. and the water balloon fight will start. we've got a bucket of balls. >> this is for your dog from 30 love and it's great. there are ten for $10 and you can even personalize the bucket.

>> oh, neat. that's cute. >> and then we've got a vacuum. this is made by people, the tyson folks who make the real vacuum. >> we love the tyson folks. this is awesome. it will teach your kids some great cleaning tips and it actually picks up some crumbs and papers, as well. >> we've got the water balloon and a new twist on making bubbles. >> i love these. these bubbles come in colors so you can blow in blue. >> looks like ink. >> it does look like ink. >> it's the best part. doesn't stain. doesn't stain your clothes. doesn't stain your furniture. it's all disappearing. >> all right. tell me about the books. >> you'll never have to figure out where you left off. this great little bookmark will let you know exactly with this cute little finger, the exact line where you left off reading. >> great stocking stuffer for the girls. >> for the teenager on the go from sephora. it's five different lip colors with great blushes and it's only ten bucks. >> all right. and this is for the pooch. >> yes. this is a little more expensive.

this is a splurge, it's $50. but you attach it to pooch's color or cat's collar. >> a little camera. >> you can cram it to take pictures. you upload it to take pictures. you can see from the dog's eye or cat's eye view. >> some of the things they sniff, as well. thanks for that. amy? >> lester, thank you. lastly, gifts for the ptechie. leslie is from pc magazine. good morning. >> good morning. >> obviously ipods are huge. you have some ipod accessories that are fun. >> that's right. everybody likes an ipod. you want to make some big sound, this is how your ipod will typically sound. that's the music. it's pretty low. but this dock here, this 13 decibels of sound. >> wow. >> without any power. it's $24.99. and there's another one from griffin technology. it works in a similar way. no power.

it's $19.99. it's got ten decibels. >> so like a desktop. >> that is a lot of sound. >> that's very cool. now you can -- >> so this next thing is for someone who likes technology but is a little lazy? >> this is a mini robot that has all the brain power of a pencil. but it does pick things up. $20. >> it actually picks things up? >> it is picking stuff up. it's wild. >> and you feel like you're picking it up because you can hear it. these are desk pets? >> okay, skitter bots. these are available at radio shack. basically you start playing, with this one. >> oh. >> and there it goes. >> oh! you could see this being a lot of fun there in the house. scaring mom with this. >> charge them for 30 minutes and get 15 minutes of play. >> everyone loves bacon. everybody loves bacon. this started off as an april

fools' joke. but now, -- zbliem bacon. >> i'm bacon. 19.99. probably the perfect gift. your first bacon flush toy. >> i love that. okay. >> and your phone is covered in bacteria. all right? >> oh, no. >> it is as much as a toilet seat, as much as the bottom of your shoes. this is biolight. this is our splurge gift. it is $50. but in four minutes, it will use up from violet light to sanitize 99% of the bacteria on your phone. it also will work with he headphones and -- >> wow. this is for the germ phobia person in your life. >> that's right. >> thank you. it's so -- i guess festive in here right now. up next the deane brothers, bobby and jamie are here kicking off the southern holiday theme. first this is "today" on nbc. [ female announcer ] keurig has over 200 varieties

of gourmet coffee and tea to choose from. it's the way to individually brew fresh, delicious coffee in under a minute. way to brew, hon. [ female announcer ] choose. brew. enjoy. keurig. joey came over to watch the game when the storm rolled in. 3rd quarter. in through the ceiling. i switched to mercury to save on car insurance, boy am i glad they cover my home too. they fixed the ceiling, replaced the couch, they even cleaned the carpets. wish they would have cleaned this up. you know, like a makeover. save up to 15% when you combine your auto with home or renter's policy. get a fast free quote at mercuryinsurance.com

verizon 4g lte. rule the air on the most advanced 4g network in the world. from 15 leading brands, including tully's. it's the way to brew everyone's favorite cup in under a minute. woman: way to brew. [ female announcer ] choose. brew. enjoy. keurig.

this morning in "today's holiday kitchen" serving up a party that's fun, affordable and of course delicious. here to show us from recipes from the deen brothers good cooking are jamie and bobby. >> good morning, lester. >> thanks for coming. do you normally take the lead on holiday recipes at home? >> we kind of all share the duties, i think. >> but mom -- >> mom starts. >> yeah. >> the theme here is affordable things, right? >> holiday stuff. nothing says holiday like acorn squash. >> all right. let's start off with the first res. . jamie's got the acorn squash. >> this is super easy. you say oh, that's a pretty decoration but how would you eat it? the best way to do it is to roast it. we cut it in half, removed all the seeds, put it in a pan, and you roast it for about 45 minutes. >> that's what it looks like when it's done. >> correct. to this all you need is to top

off the garlic, a little bit of oil and we'll roast this, as well. >> just roast this. >> and stick it right here. this is down, and this is what it looks like when it comes out. if you want to step around. we're going to take, i've got the puree out of this squash in to here. and to this we're going to add a cup of chicken sauce, which is a great, great cooking ingredient. can you do it yourself, it's awesome. fire-roasted tomatoes in a can. this is delicious. so you've got a can of this going in. and our garlic mush that's come out of our rested garlic. >> lots of garlic. >> yes, sir. and a little bit of oil. now once we blend all this together we're going to put it into our saucepan. and you might find you want to add a little bit more chicken stock to this. but it's super simple. >> this is what it's going to be like. >> really delicious. and we're going to serve it in this pretty glass bowl, in a really nice garnish for this is a shrimp and a little bit of black pepper. >> that looks nice and hardy for a winter day like this.

and perfect for today. >> that's wonderful. >> wonderful. >> really super good. and simple. >> bobby's working with looks like a pizza dough and ricotta. >> exactly. we cut corner wherever we can. >> look at you. >> this is -- >> this is a fig and balsamic glaze bear flatbread. try to say that real fast. >> i'm not going to. >> but combined gorgonzola and ricotta cheese and i'm just spreading it out over the crust here. >> so you had me at ricotta. >> it's so good. but the breath is going to be -- >> with the garlic here, yeah. >> exactly. we've got three pears sliced up. we're just going to lay these out. probably won't finish the whole thing. it will take you about 20 minutes. this is the most boring tv y'all have ever done. and a little bit -- >> actually, no, we had a -- >> never mind. >> this is the fig preserves and balance salic and there's a little bit of rosemary in there. and right at the end, which just

get to the end, lester -- >> let's get to the end. look at this. >> we'll take a little bit more of that rosemary and sprinkle right on top. this is really nice -- >> you obviously baked the whole thing. >> for about ten minutes. >> this is really cool. >> simple is the name of the game. try it if you'd like. >> don't mind if i do. >> this is all ready to go. >> very, very good. >> and we've got to garnish our soup with a little bit of black pepper. this is one of my favorite things. amy -- >> favorite things. i like those. >> that's whatever you -- >> nice to see you. >> i'll probably take dessert. i'll save that towards the end. >> the entree. >> yummy. >> it's all good. >> and we have cheese balls with bacon and almonds, really simple. and a punch that we've done with cranberry and apple cider. and then we melt red hots down in it. >> oh, wow. >> you can add a little adult beverage.

>> this is good. you guys are awesome. we've got to take a break. jamie and bobby deen. great to have you guys here. great to have you guys here. ey! you're gonna wash the deck. i love it. not wash. power wash. ok. whoa. [ female announcer ] life comes with headaches and that's when people reach for excedrin. excedrin starts relieving headaches faster than extra strength tylenol and advil. the deck looks great. oh, we just washed it. well, not washed, power washed. big difference. hum. big. [ female announcer ] excedrin. for life's headaches. cappuccinos and lattes. new maxwell house international hum. big. ♪

maxwell house international. stop your world. this is norma. who's inundated with all the information coming at her concerning the medicare part d changes this year. so she went to her walgreens pharmacist for guidance and a free personalized report that looks at her prescriptions and highlights easy ways for her to save. because norma prefers her painting to paperwork. see how much you can save. get your free report today. expertise -- find it everywhere there's a walgreens. but the nicoderm cq patch gradually steps you down off of nicotine in just three steps, doubling your chances for success. nicoderm cq. 3 steps, 10 weeks and you're free.

that's going to do it for us on this saturday morning. willie geist and bill karins. thank you. of course to the deen brothers, as well. coming up tomorrow on "today," songs for the season. we're going to reveal our favorite holiday play lists. >> ear going to eat the rest of this food. al roker stops by to talk about his latest mystery novel. i'll see you tonight at "nbc nightly news." until then, have a great day, everybody. i have fallen in love with making bird houses. caw caw! [ director ]what is that? that's a horrible cr. here are some things that i'll make as little portals. honestly, i'd love to do this for the rest of my life so i've got to take care of my heart. for me, cheerios is a good place to start.

[ male announcer ] got something you'll love to keep doing? take care of your heart. you can start with cheerios. the natural whole grain oats can help lower cholesterol. brrrbb... makes you feel ageless. [ male announcer ] it's time. love your heart so you can do what you love. cheerios. [ bob ] squak. >> good morning. i'm kris sanchez. a knock on the door put a 9-year-old in the hospital. a suspect who almost assaulted a 2-year-old girl. this morning, the senate vote that could change how much money your family will have to live on. those stories and a rainy forecast on "today in the bay."

[ male announcer ] welcome to the far reaches of the internet. when you go faster, you're free to go farther. at&t. rethink possible. get high-speed internet from at&t for only $14.95 a month.

. >> good morning. 90s before sunrise on this saturday morning. good morning. i'm kris sanchez here with