good morning. dire warning as liberal democrats line up against the tax cut compromise. the white house tells them defeating the deal could jolt the nation back into recession. a new twist in the murder of hollywood publicist ronni chasen. police now believe the man who took his own life when he was confronted by investigators was the killer after all. but there are still lingering questions. and giving it away. 26-year-old facebook founder mark zuckerberg makes a promise to donate the bulk of his wealth to charity. why he's committed to giving billions of dollars away and

when he plans to do it "today," billions of dollars away and when he plans to do it "today," thursday, december 9th, 2010. captions paid for by nbc-universal television and welcome to "today" on this thursday morning. i'm meredith vieira. >> and i'm matt lauer. president obama is being met with a chorus of nos coming from liberal democrats who are saying they may vote against this compromise on the bush era tax cuts. >> they are very angry, but the white house is pushing back saying failure to act could trigger an increased risk of a double dip desession. what would that mean for you and should president obama be picking fights with members of his own party? we'll have the latest straight ahead. also ahead, some bad news, and no the that you need it, but bad news if you're in the market to sell your home. according to new figures, u.s. homes have lost an astonishing $1.7 trillion in value this year alone. $9 trillion overall since the

peak of the market. will prices drop even further? we'll sit down and talk about that. plus, if you were looking to save sop money, we have just the thing. america's cheapest families will share six ways to share a festive and frugal holiday see sons sons son. >> good morning. the house has passed the dream act although it is expected to face a nightmare in the senate today. the act would pave the road to eventual citizenship for the thousands of illegal immigrants brought to the country before the age of 16 who have enrolled in cleollege or the military. a 21-year-old baltimore man has been arrested after attempting to detonate a car bomb at a military recruitment center. the dummy bomb was given to the u.s. citizen by undercover fbi agents after he caught their attention by allegedly posting about jihad on facebook. american airlines has canceled all flights to and from

haiti's capital as violent protests rockport you a prince. thousands filled the street setting the you'lling party offices on fire as election disputes rage on. a trustee for the victims of bernard madoff is going after several banks for more than $1 billion. cnbc's erin burnett is at the new york stock exchange. >> the man in charge of getting back as much as the $64 billion bernie madoff stole from investors is going ahead with this lawsuit trying to get some of it from seven big banks. suing citigroup for $425 million. and six other banks including mir rit lynch and the united states for the remainder to try to get $1 billion back. morgan stanley says they're going to be paying less in bonuses this year than last. back to you. >> erin burnett, thank you. facebook founder mark zuckerberg is in the just the country's youngest billionaire, also about to be the youngest to

give away the majority of his fortune. the 26-year-old has signed a pledge with 16 other billionaire, committed to giving away most of his money to charity. zuckerberg says quote people wait until late in their career to give back but why wait when there is so much to be done. pretty remarkable. jair jair -- aretha franklin is recovering battling cancer says her long time friend, jesse jackson. a massive rogue wave slammed through a window on a cruise ship, soaking electric circuits, engines are up and running and no one on board was hurt. let's turn it back to matt, meredith and al. they will be grabbing on to land when they get back, never letting go. >> it's still cold here in the northeast. >> it will moderate and get cold next week. >> it's winter.

we have to start dealing with this. >> i like the wine. >> wine for my guests. >> we have lake-effect sno warnings and advisories from cleveland to new york and it is still freezing in cleveland, buffalo and syracuse and they will pick up another couple of inches in syracuse where they have their fourth highest total of 40 inches of snow. bringing snow to much of minnesota and iowa and dakotas, we're looking at light amounts of snow from chicago, cleveland, international falls, generally 1-3 inches, a couple places may pick up 4-6. that's what's going on around the country. s here's what's happening in your neck of the woods. light rain crossing over the golden gate bridge for you this morning. there you see it. let's show you the ra dear. we do have rain dropping in

along the coast and some of that will be pushing in in the next hour or so. lots of clouds and moist air and we will see scattered clouds and for the weekend we dry out and will be stuck with morning fog. >> that's your latest weather. meredith. >> al, thank you very much. the white house is warning liberal democrats go along with the white house tax cut compromise or risk jolting the nation back to recession. kelly, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, meredith. it's rare to see democrats this angry at the white house and this unwilling to go along with president obama. there's real money at stake for people dealing with hard times and the question about who should get help with tax breaks is the real issue. liberal democrats are dug in. their message to the white house, a chorus of no. >> no, i won't vote for it. i don't feel i should be coerced.

>> i'm voting against it. i will make that real clear. >> shame on all of us if we allow this to happen. >> reporter: the president's message, get it done. >> they're watching and expecting action on our parts. >> reporter: democrats like the president's deal would extend unemployment benefits and give a 2% tax break directly out of paychecks and keep intersection tax rates from going up for the middle class but fighting over giving high income earners a break. >> the tax cut for billionaires that will add $700 billion over 10 years to the deficit. >> reporter: to counter that anger, the white house pr machine is ramping up. nbc gotten an advance look at the vice president's e-mail blast going out to 850,000 people with a video to explain and defend the compromised package. >> these obama tax cuts are more than twice as big as the high income tax cuts in this short

period. >> reporter: that appeal follows a new tactic. a white house blitz of releases, touting support, including mayors and governors across the country who don't get to vote. many who do want changes made first. >> it makes no sense to many of us and i don't think it makes sense to the average american. >> reporter: but some democrats who are backing the president say it's better to take the deal now before republicans gain more power next month. >> the reality is that the new congress might likely produce something far worse than the agreement that's been reached. >> reporter: and there is more support in the senate, but democrats in the house, who met with the vice president say that meeting was heated, lively, respectful, but the vice president gotten an earful from those democrats who just don't like this deal. meredith. >> kelly o'donnell, thank you very much. rachel maddow is the host of the rachel maddow show on msnbc. good morning to you. nice to see you here. as kelly pointed out, a lot of

heat coming at the president from his liberal base. they labeled him a sell-out on this tax issue. did he betray the democrats. >> if he said i have been persuaded by the republicans way of looking at this and this is the way to go, that would have been a betrayal. what he said i want is still the democratic position on this. it is not obtainable. it's not a disagreement whether r or not it's the right thing to do. >> why is the base so angry? >> they are angry because they want a president that can win and want to feel like he is a president that can get something done. they're angry at his weakness? >> he is angry at what he's done. >> he is angry, too, called them sanctimonious and what fight does he pick that he will need

in the future. >> every politician has to calculate how much sand they can kick in the base's face and still count on them and part of that is an alternative and whether they can go somewhere else besides supporting barack obama. if democrats divorce theirselves and say, no, we will not support him, the base will gravitate towards pelosi and away from him. if there's no split and nowhere else to go, he probably holds onto the base as long as he wants to, although nobody wants to be insulted. >> talk about insulting. the president saying if they don't go along with this tax cut deal we could be headed towards a double dip recession? >> it is definitely a threat. the question is whether or not the liberal base is the wrorn to blame whether people will go along with this. noefr ever overcredited liberals for their power in this democratic party. the trudemocratic base is long-suffering. what happens moving forward is

whether or not the president can convince democrats he is not a president without a party. he is a man capable of winning when he wants to win things and he not only has their best interests at heart but he's the best guy to carry the ball when ever you need to score. >> meanwhile, there are people like hairhair -- harold fine ma saying obama is in grave danger of becoming like carter and have to face somebody else in 2012. is that something the white house has to worry about? >> i think it is too early to worry about that. i think they are concerned about alienation of the president's base. there isn't somebody out there the obvious challenge candidate to him. the president in his own party -- the ditches can be measured and important way before you get to 2012. >> meanwhile, maybe this will be the last question, do you think this is just smart politics on the president's behalf, he's been losing independents, gone away from him the past few years and just coming back.

maybe he's saying i won't follow the ideology and do what's effective. >> he's still got the same ideological positions and hasn't changed his mind on anything liberals like about him, a question whether or not he can get there. a matter of presidential effectiveness, presidential power. that is the thing people are looking ahead, saying even if we're not so concerned about the details here, we don't think this is a disaster, what we're worried about he can't win other things no matter what they are. right now in the lame duck, he has a majority in the house and senate, if you can't win now, how will you win in january? >> thank you so much. you can catch the rachel maddow show at 9:00 p.m. eastern. police believe they have solved the murder of hollywood publicist, ronni chasen. at the police department with new details on this case, george, good morning.

>> reporter: good morning to you, matt. last week, police approached a man named harold smith, bragging about the chasen murder. when they did approach him, he pulled out a gun and killed himself and now police say they believe that's the same gun that killed ronni chasen. two weeks after ronni chasen was gunned down in beverly hills, they followed this man. >> the weapon used in the suicide does preliminarily match the chasen homicide. >> reporter: smith was an ex-con down on his luck bragged to neighbors he killed ronni chasen. >> he bragged to my husband he killed the publicist and waiting to get $10,000 and waiting on money for the guy to pay him. >> reporter: neighbors tell the tv show "america's most wanted"" and passed the tip to police. when officers approached smith, he took out a gun and shot himself in the head.

later, there were widely reported rumors the gun did not match the evidence from the chasen murder, but they were wrong. >> the preliminary investigation was erroneous. >> reporter: police are dismissing reports smith was a hired hit man waiting for a $10,000 payoff. >> we believe mr. smith acted alone. we don't believe it was a professional hit. >> the likely motive, they say, robbery,the acts of a man desperate for murder, being evicted from the apartment he lived, had no car, only a bicycle and police the rise he rode to the murder scene and approached chasen on his bike. >> robbery gone bad. you're already starting bad if you try to rob somebody on a mercedes on a bike. >> reporter: how did a guy on a bike in beverly hills late at night escape detection? >> with all the fire trucks converging on this scene, he was able to leave this area as

quietly as he showed up? it's a tough line to buy. >> reporter: so the questions about the chasen murder and harold smith and whether he acted alone continue to pop up as police say the investigation continues. >> george lewis, thank you very much. a former fbi profiler, clint, good morning to you. >> hi, matt. >> before we talk about harold smith, let me ask you a ballistics question. the preliminary report said the gun did not match the murder weapon for ronni chasen and now the preliminary report says it does. what's going on? >> i think we still have a preliminary report. one thing they look at is the slugs that went into the victim, looking at the lens and grooves on the slugs and want to say it's a 9 millimeter, semi automatic pistol. it looks like this slug has been fired from this barrel. somehow initially, they said it

hadn't. who ever said that in this police department, we don't know. preliminarily, they still have to do more work. one of the things that's strange, if it's a semi automatic pistol, each time it was fired the shell casing was ejected out. if she was shot five times, five shell casings should have been bouncing around the street. you have this guy one hand on a bicycle and one hand firing a gun and the third hand catching empty shells as they're bouncing out. that makes it kind of hard. >> there are a lot of questions. you cannot afach rational thought to a desperate man and if harold smith was desperate for money doesn't mean he would behave as the rest of us behave. you attempt to rob a mercedes benz on a bicycle? >> the strange thing is, matt, in a case like this, there is always logic to

a. good morning. 7:26 right now. checking in with mike, you have a word on the bridge? >> a stall reported, but we can't see the stall. that's the note. it will be tough through anything on the roadways and blowing the commute across on the peninsula and low visibility and highway 1 as well. slick roadways and a look at the travel times shows you we are holding up well despite the low visibility. a 33-minute drive and fog in

many areas and 880 holding up despite low visibility and clouds on the bay bridge. there is the back up and it's coming down through the area. watch that coming across the water. ats tough drive. fog or raindrops. across the bay area, starting to see more rain in the san jose, this is the last hour. you can see the rain moveing for west to east. today we will see widespread showers and towards tomorrow, most of the shower in the north bay. with all the rain and clearing skies, planrdsatundn aymoing foa rdtudaay and sunday. time is 7:27. more news after the break. ♪electronic santa song

♪electronic santa song

it seems strange to say breakfast can pp victims of violent crime, but that's what is happening. a fund-raiser breakfast at the home of chicken and waffles right now. it helps vehicles of rape and homicide. all the money goes to the group. the fund-raiser goes until 9:30 this morning. have a great day.

7:30 now on a thursday morning. 9th of december, 2010. a big crowd and plenty of sun out along the plaza this morning although it's chilly out there. i guess the windchill is about 15 degrees outside. it's a blustery morning and it may warm up a bit later and then get cold again the next couple days. inside studio 1a. it feels like the christmas season. coming up, new details in the murder of aspiring dancer laura

garza. a sex offender has been indicted in her death. we'll talk to the victim's mother and aunt straight ahead. elizabeth edwards dying letter. the words of wisdom she planned for her children as a public funeral is planned to honor her life. the massive hit by the real estate market. home values are down. what will next year bring? we'll talk about that. >> we're going to begin this half hour with new developments in the murder of laura garza. we'll talk to her mother and aunt in a moment. >> reporter: good morning. this nightclub is the last place where garza was seen alive. surveillance cameras caught her living with michael mealy and now the last person she was seen with is facing charges.

in the long sad case of missing dancer laura garza, a development two years in the making. >> the first count allegation that he intendintensionally caue death and that he committed murder with an indifference to human life. >> reporter: officials announced the indictment of 25-year-old convicted sex offender michael mealy in the disappearance and death of garza, a 25-year-old aspiring dancer. charging him with manslaughter, murder and tampering with the physical evidence of a car mat and the deceased body of laura garza. photogenic and friendly, garza disappeared two years ago after surveillance cameras caught her leaving this nature club with mealy. she moved to new york city just five months before pursuing her dream of becoming a professional

dancer. in the weeks following her disappearance, hundreds of volunteers searched but turned up nothing. >> there are no words to describe how we feel right now. >> reporter: then this april 16 months after garza vanished, atv riders in pennsylvania stumbled upon a skelton in the woods. the victim's identity was not immediately known. soon after the worst was confirmed. >> the analysis determined that those remains are in fact laura garza. >> reporter: though considered a suspect, mealy was not immediately charged with garza's death. police say at his condo patches of carpet had been removed and when he was later locked up for a parole violation, officials say a body-check revealed scratches and a possible bite mark. one victim told nbc news he exposed himself to her in a parking lot when she was just

17. >> he was a predator. he ran after me. >> reporter: this march a parole board denied mealy's release citing his history of sexually deviant behavior. prosecutors say that behavior escalated to murder. >> after a point in time they get boared and want more contro over victims. they go from peeping thomas and exposing themselves to rape and sometimes serial murder. >> reporter: mealy has not yet been arraigned or indicated what his plea will be. in an e-mail his attorney told me we have no comment with with regard to the indictment. the cause of garza's death is still a mystery as officials have not made that information public. >> thank you so much. elizabeth is laura garza's mother and is with us along with garza's aunt. good morning to you both. >> good morning. >> i know this has been a very difficult two years for your family first the disappearance

of laura back in december two years ago and then her remains being found this april. now this indictment coming out against michael mealy. the only suspect ever in this case. your initial reaction when you heard about this yesterday? >> meredith, we were relieved. we had been hoping for this to happen sometime ago. but we know that the law enforcement in new york is doing what they have to do and this is what happened yesterday as far as releasing the information of what he was going to be indicted with. >> why do you think that it took as long as it did? do you believe they came up with new evidence? >> since the beginning of this investigation we were informed that it was going to be for the long haul especially because we weren't -- we hadn't found laura. 16 months later when they did, the case took a turn.

it was a different case, you know. they had to treat it differently because they had found the remains of her. >> according to orange county d.a. francis phillips, orange county, new york, law enforcement officials want to be sure this case is tried in court. i know that elizabeth does not speak english. i would like her reaction to that. does she feel that she could handle a trial given how painful that will be. [ speaking spanish ] she says it's very difficult for her. i've always been by her side. it's been a roller coaster ride not finding her and then finding

her and then con fefirming it w definitely her and after two years them indicting michael and since the beginning we had a feeling that he had something to do with laura's death. >> do you feel the family is prepared and perhaps wants to if he does stand trial to be there? >> yes. we are prepared. i have spoken to the brothers and all we can do is just hope and pray for the best. >> you know, i thought so often about laura, your niece, and fact that she came to new york aspiring dancer. she had such hopes and dreams and what might have become of her in these two years had this not happened. are those thoughts that have crossed your mind? >> yes. apr i'm sure we would have come to visit her because she loved the city. april sure she would have

accomplished the credream of getting into a dance academy in new york. >> thank you so much. obviously our thoughts and prayers are always with your family. >> thank you, meredith. >> let's get a check of the weather from mr. roker. >> thanks so much. as we look at the temperatures across the country, you can see look at the tale of two countries. in the east temperatures anywhere from 10 to almost 20 degrees below normal. out west, denver, 15 degrees above normal. 6 degrees above in el paso. you will see temperatures in the rockies in the 30s and 40s. that's just about normal. here in the northeast, teens and 20s. snowfall amounts as we look at lake-effect snow machine cranking up throughout parts of the great lakes. more rain moves into the pacific northwest. windy conditions. sunny in the southeast but another chilly day and rain in central and southern florida so not only cold they got wet weather to contend with as well. that's what's going on

here's an entering view from san bruno mountains. two layers of fog with rain fauing on top of it. the radar view with rain crossing over and spilling into san jose and santa clara valley and hit and miss showers across the east bay hills. the showers aiming in on us, but most of the rain should fall for the first half of the day. tomorrow mainly a north bay event and we clear out for the weekend. if you have holiday travel plans, check out the weather channel on cable or weather.com online. matt. >> al, thank you very much. plans are now in place for a public funeral for elizabeth edwards, who died of breast cancer on tuesday. nbc's norah o'donnell is in chapel hill, north carolina with details. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, matt. elizabeth edwards will be laid to rest on saturday. she made her final wishes clear, she wants to be buried next to her late son.

it is a final chance to say farewell at a very special place, the united methodist church in raleigh, the same church where services were held for wade edwards who died in 1996 in a car accident when he was just 16 years old. >> my son was a generous, sweet person, not perfect by any means, you could not get the boy to take the trash out but had a really good soul and cared deeply about other people. >> reporter: the funeral is open to the public but burial private. her parting wish to be laid right next to her son, wade. >> my daily prayer is that i have enough faith i will be one day be reunited with him. >> reporter: in her book, "saving graces," elizabeth spent how she spent every single day for years visiting wade's grave to read to him. >> i took out a senior reading list. he was a junior in high school

when he died, i took out the senior reading list, it didn't matter, i was just spending time for him. >> reporter: for elizabeth, her children were her life, 28-year-old kate, 12-year-old emma claire and 10-year-old jack. >> i don't know what the most important lesson is. i hope it is when bad things happen -- it's easy to get through the good days, when bad things happen you have the strength to face them. >> reporter: years ago, she decided to leave her children a letter, elizabeth called it a dying letter but actually a lesson in living. >> for years, she had been writing that dying letter on advice from everything of coring lettuce to church. >> reporter: and john edwards, despite the breakup of their marriage, when reports surfaced in june elizabeth was grooming her daughter kate to care for her kids, elizabeth e-mailed me directly denying the reports saying there is no truth whatsoever to the story i am trying to deny john custody of

the children after my death. when will the silliness end? two-minutes two-minutes -- months ago elizabeth was as determined as ever, buying a smaller home for her children and planning to sell the sprawling house she built with john edwards. >> she was trying to start over, start a fresh life. despite being ill, she was facing her future withoptimism. >> reporter: for people wanting to send notes of condolences. the family set up a website, elizabeth-edwards.org. >> thank you. we're back right after this. before christmas, t and all through the house... whoa, that's grandma. [ grandma ] ...nothing was stirring, not kara, not maya... how does she do that? magic. [ grandma ] ...grandma loves you. [ both ] goodnight, grandma.

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or before you reduce or stop taking pristiq. side effects may include nausea, dizziness and sweating. (woman) for me, pristiq is a key in helping to treat my depression. (announcer) ask your doctor about pristiq. back now, 7:45, the plummeting value of your home, according to a real estate report, there's expected to lose 1$1.7 trillion this year. that's with a t. lady, good morning to both of you. >> good morning. >> let me say it again.

1$1.7 trillion. does that number surprise either of you? >> doesn't surprise me one bit. i'm ready for anything in the real estate market at this point in time. >> it will continue. if you look at projections next year, we could expect another drop of 7-10%. >> and the bulk of the los of value came at the second half of this year. seems like it's getting worse, not better. >> you look at what happened in the second half of last year, we got rid of credits for home buyers and expired in september and why it was second half loaded. >> people say, we know the real estate market is terrible but what this is really about is jobs, isn't it? >> i believe it's half about jobs. if you can't find a job or insecure in the job you have, the last thing you will do is buy a home. the other real troubling half in my mind is financing. ironic we have a 4.5 interest rate out there but if you're buying a new house, you can't qualify for many mortgages out

there. if you want to modify a loan, 1 out of 10 people can't seem to afford your mortgage, you can't get your hands on one of those modifications. >> she's absolutely right. there's a third factor as well. the supply of homes on the market. we have a greater than six month supply. if you look back historically, any time that happened, prices are falling. >> i hate to have nothing but bad news. >> let's be happy here. >> let's look at bright spots. what are the markets around the country we are seeing an increase in value and what's behind that increase. >> right now, almost 1 in 4 markets have increased in value. you couldn't hatch said that a year ago. >> looking at the map. what's happening in san francisco, why are home values going on there? >> in sandwiches, they have great jobs to support the market and many young people moving in. >> same true in portland. jobs jobs jobs. you need a job to buy a house, qualify for a loan, end of story. >> let's go to tips in a situation they're watching the price or value of their home go

down. reduce the cost of homeownership, sit tight. >> if you don't have to sell in this market, then don't sell and wait for the values to come back. eventually, they will do that. you want to look at anything else you can possibly do to reduce the cost while you're living there to make it attractive to another buyer, including refinancing your mortgage, if you haven't. and we have seen rates pop in the last week, up a quarter of a point. >> although the rates are out there and teasingly low, a lot of people can't qualify. >> some can. if you haven't tried, it's worth the effort. >> if you do try, 1 in 30 people get a yes from the bank. frankly, that's the biggest scam out there, banks are willing to work with people who deserve a break and just not doing it. >> let me stick with this, barbara. i know you think the government can do something to help. the ending of the first time home buyer credit last year, that's gone now. the plan for banks to modify troubled mortgages did not work so well. what can they do this year? >> the only thing they can do is

mandate banks work with ho homeowners and give them the breaks they deserve. >> will never happen. >> anything short of that gives this housing market no chance of recovery in the next year. >> no chance. >> no chance. >> didn't exactly leave them laughing there. okay. thank you very much. still ahead, six affordable ways to have holiday fun from the cheapest family in america. the vieira family. first, these messages. [ female announcer ] at walmart, it's toys, toys and more toys. stop in now and get a price match guarantee on the toys your kids are wishing for!

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good morning. let's check in with mike in the south bay. >> buzz of a build up and a slow drive northbound. an accident southbound and northbound 87 and those are the two tough commute spots and an r area travel times. the map didn't look bad and that didn't look bad. area r areas towards the 2os and areas towards the golden gate bridge and over the water, southbound with the headlines out and a nice drive. expect back up through san rafael and no vatto.

the build up is click. >> down to about a quarter mile and rain flowing and it's about to spill on in. falling for the first half of the day and the showers will start to lift on more towards the north bay. 50s to just about near 60 in san jose. tomorrow the showers start to head off to the north. one more chance for the north bay and after that we clear out for the weekend and we will deal with morning fog. temperatures are warming up towards sunday and monday. more news after the break.

>> today kids will go on a holiday shopping trip with officers. the school that was nearly destroyed by an arson fire over the summer. the shop for the cop event will help 27 low income students buy gifts for families and themselves. each child will get a there dollar 100 gift card from target. more local news in a half hour. the "today" show returns in less than a minute.

this thursday morning, december 9th, 2010, we have a cold but hearty crowd in rockefeller plaza. right now, they're listening to music from elvis presley. why elvis, you may ask? ♪ >> coming up, we will check out a rare item once worn by the king and other hollywood items as well and an auction for a lot of money.

you know who wore that? john lennon, actually. this is his 30th anniversary. >> sergeant pepper? >> no. i'll tell you. you have to wait. >> also ahead, the so-called cheapest family in america, no, not this family -- >> stop it! >> the economides family. they are here to help us save a lot of money over the christmas holidays. they have six gifts like those lovely homemade decorations to help you save cash. >> plus the holidays can be a rough time for a lot of military families, especially if you lost a loved one. coming up, we will surprise one of those families with something that will hopefully make their life better. that's a cute family. >> morales is standing by. >> the company that processes money for wikileaks says they will soon work on their

donations to the website and hackers include squeezeden, visa and mastercard and even sarah palin. and mahmoud abbas said there will be no further direct talks with israel unless it stops a moratorium of building in disputed areas. the house on wednesday passed measure that is about terror suspects being brought to the u.s. for civilian trials. $6.4 billion of legislation signed wednesday by president obama. farmers filed a class action suit over discrimination and loans and government aid. native americans filed claims over water rights. >> the top u.s. military official said china must do more to curb aggressive behavior by its ally, north korea. chairman mike mullen said china must lead north korea to a

better future. china's top foreign policy official visited them but did not say if the discussed the deadly military attack launched by the north four weeks ago. for the first time in history, the panama canal was closed due to bad weather. heavy rain hit flood gates to the canal and half of all trade passes through the canal. president obama was on the "mythbusters" tv show that uses technology to prove or disprove myths. and the president said he wanted to get children excited about science and math. and holidays come in all shapes and sizes. in indiana, somebody dropped a down worth $1400 wrapped in a letter and then another was wrapped around a diamond ring and wedding band that will be

sold on ebay so the proceeds can go back into the kettle. that's sweet. now, another check on the weather with mr. roker. and our pick city of the day today happens to be orlando, florida! that's right. 38 million visited just last year, orlando became america's most visited city of the year. and the forecast for orlando? partly sunny, cool. a temperature of 63 degrees. and we are joined by the oregon ducks! yes. ann curry's alma mater. the only time walt disney allowed one of their characters to be licensed by a school. the oregon ducks. you look very angry today donald. no? okay. i love my job.

let's check your weather, see what's going on. we've got some rain in the pacific northwest on saturday. frigid through the plains. cold in the northeast. rain in the mid mississippi river valley with snow through the western great lakes. sunday, sunday! we're looking at more rain in the eastern seaboard, southeast rain will turn to snow. cool weather in the southeast and into the gulf coast, mild through the southwest. the frigid continue s conditio through the plains. here's what's happen through your duck of the woods. >> sound like eugene outside. fog over san francisco. south bay, you're seeing some showers moving through the santa clara valley. you see it right there, south san jose through morgan hill. still some drizzle. showers across the east bay. today's highs, upper 50s to low 60s.

showers starting tomorrow should aim in on the north bay. we'll be stuck with morning fog sunday and monday morning. meredith? >> coming up, festive holiday gifts from the cheapest family right after this. with the capital one venture card we get double miles on every purchase. so we earned a holiday trip to the big apple twice as fast! dinner! [ garth ] we get double miles every time we use our card. and since double miles add up fast, we can bring the whole gang! it's hard to beat double miles! i want a maze, a sword, a... oww! [ male announcer ] get the venture card from capital one and earn double miles on every purchase, every day. go to capitalone.com. i wonder what it could be?! what's in your wallet?

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can go from my pocket to taking a picture in seconds. what up, dave! [ click ] i just point, shoot, and post to facebook. so instead of fumbling to open my camera app like dave here, i can put my phone away, and open my parachute. open yours, dave! hey, is it cool if i date emily when you're... nevermind. [ male announcer ] buy any windows phone and get a second one free. so get your holiday on at at&t. 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. because no other pizza is made we've taken all we know about reading and put it here. introducing nook color. experience millions of books like never before. relax with the magazines you love. anytime, anywhere share your favorite books with your favorite people. and watch in amazement as your children's stories come to life. books, magazines, newspapers, and children's books, all at your fingertips. nookcolor by barnes and noble. now is the time to take action. are you reconsidering your medicare coverage? call unitedhealthcare medicare solutions today. you only have until december 31st to make sure you have the coverage you need. consider a medicare advantage plan. it combines medicare parts a & b, which is your doctor and hospital coverage and may include prescription drug coverage for as low as a $0 monthly premium. you only have until december 31st to enroll. call unitedhealthcare today.

bittman's. we're back at 8:10. this can be an expensive time of year unless you're one of the so-called cheapest family in america. in the economides' household, tis the season to be festive and frugal. >> we're called america's cheapest family. but i really think we're america's smartest family. >> steve and annette teach their five children all about cheap cheer. >> going in debt for holidays is

no the smart way to go. >> every family has items in their house that they can make into really neat gifts. >> every year, the economides trim the tree and budget. >> a really fun activity is making your ornaments instead of buying them. >> homemade is a holiday tradition. >> done. >> we make our own wrapping paper. it's simple and easy and costs very little. >> a great gift is a baked item. >> we of ha all the pumpkin for free after halloween. >> you can bake something for pennies. >> it's the perfect gift! >> one of our christmas secrets is to take pine cones, they're so versatile. >> they know how to keep the jingle in this bank. >> there are so many ways to say i love you without spending a lot of money. >> steve and annette economides

are the authors of cut your grocery bill in half. here with two of their children. happy holidays. it's not about bah humbug, about spending less at the holidays. >> and you can do things without breaking the bank. >> family, you can head to your stations, steve, let's start with you. you're making a wreath here but making it out of garbage bags. tell me about this. >> we take 30 or 40 grocery bags you cut into 4 by 8 inch strips and tie them to a hanger everybody has in the house and fluff it out and you have a wreath with a castoff ribbon for a bow and beautiful gift for the holidayings. >> did you go to the store and say, i need 30 bags and they give them to you? >> left over from grocery shopping. >> it takes about an hour. >> we made it in about an hour. >> i have to say it's very pretty. tell me what you start with. >> about 25 years ago, we bought a roll of craft paper.

>> lasted that long. >> we used it to trace outlines for the kids and color them in and now we make wrapping paper out of it with banners. you cut up a little sponge and sponge paint with paint, house paint, add food coloring to it and it's versatile. >> basically, it's free because you bought it so long ago. joe, how are you? >> i'm fine. >> you're baking ornaments. >> basically we take flour, water, salt, mix it all together into a basic dough and take cookie cutters and cutout shapes and make special customized ones like we made for you and the gang. >> they don't have to be generic. you have taken pictures of some of your favorite people, us here on the "today" show and decor e decoratdecorat decorated with them. there's something wrong about that. this is going to cost you what? a couple cents per decoration? >> you can make two full tray, about 2, 2 1/2 dozen ornaments

for 99 cents. >> simple. hi. how are you? happy holidays. what are you making? >> i am making shoe bag, and awesome present for anybody whos half a lot, keep your clothes clean and shoes from getting scratched. >> fabric can be expensive. >> you can get them for free, any place that sells fabric will have a remnant table and that is so cheap to buy remnants. >> how much skill do you need to craft these things? >> almost zero skill, just put in the stitching and anybody can learn to sew. >> anybody who has ingenuity and time can whip these up? >> you don't even need a lot of time, 10 to 15 minutes to make one bag. >> hi. happy holidays, nice to see you. before we get to what you bake, you love pine cones, we don't put them in a studio because they're a bit of fire hazard. what do you do?

>> pine cones are everywhere in america. you can spray paint them, make a decorative foil out of them and ornaments out of them and pine comb fire starters, forever you have leftover canal wax, melt them down, dip the pine cones in and help you start fires in your firepla fireplace. >> and have the great holiday smell. >> and cost you virtually nothing and we have awesome crafts an instructions on our website. >> tell me about what you bake for the holidays? >> this is pumpkin bread, a family tradition in our house. last week, i baked 90 loaves with the girls, becky and abby? >> have you ever done the math? >> large loaves are less than a dollar and small to medium are a quarter to 50 cents. awesome for club leaders, teachers, neighbors. i will say in this economy today, it's really important to

know our neighbors. even if you have a grouchy neighbor, this is the year to bring a loaf of pumpkin bread. >> you made it yourself, can i taste it? >> absolutely. happy holidays again. up next -- that's good. a very special holiday surprise for a family of a soldier killed in afghanistan. that's right after this. lucy, i missed you. ♪ [ gasps ] this is for you.

thanks. ♪ cool. ♪ [ chuckles ] whoa! ♪ [ chuckles ] i love this part. yeah. me, too. [ lucy gasps ] [ female announcer ] this year, hallmark has all new ways to say it. but my allergies put me in a fog. so now, i'm claritin clear! claritin works great on all my allergies like dust, mold, pollen, or pets without making me drowsy, cause i want to be alert around this big guy. live claritin clear. inors and out. jeff -- eat a snickers... please. why? every time you get hungry, you turn into a diva.

a diva? yes, a diva. [ aretha ] okay. thank you. better? [ male announcer ] you're not you when you're hungry. better. [ male announcer ] snickers satisfies. - will you marry me? - before saying those words, there's one word every man should know. - leo. - the leo diamond, certified to be visibly brighter, at kay, the number one jewelry store in america. - yes.

back now with our special series, getting to the heart of texas. we'll find out what the holiday season means to them, but first this story. meet 11-year-old daily roberts of texas. her dad, army staff sergeant, kevin casey, brother kegan and her mom, denise. celebrating christmas 2007 in the happiest place on earth. >> i loved spending it at disney world with my father because i

just have no words for it. it was amazing. >> her parents first met in the 7th grade. they fell in love years later, while they were both volunteer firefighters. >> but after 9/11, my husband said, you know, i have served my community and now i need to serve my country. >> the following week, casey enlisted in the u.s. army. >> if you told him to quit, he would say no. he just loved it. >> on may 7th, 2008, his third tour of duty. casey was killed in afghanistan. >> my daddy, my hero. >> he was 25. >> he amaze s me. i say amazes me in the present tense because he still amazes me every single day even though he's not here. >> denise is studying to become a speech pathologist, to help

the troops who come back with brain injuries. >> i want him to be proud of me. >> i loved my dad. and i miss him so much. >> she is learning the trumpet so she can play taps at her dad's annual memorial service. this will be the family's third christmas without casey. >> we used to always decorate, and since my husband's death, it's really hard. >> because christmases aren't as fun as they used to be without my dad. >> frosty the snowman was a jolly ♪ -- >> she hopes this year will be different. she wrote a letter to a program that decorates families and lights up houses of military

personnel. we shared that letter with denise. >> what makes my family special is we are a gold-star family. my daddy gave his life for our country on may 7th, 2008. >> kahlen asked for her house to be decorated in red, white and blue to honor her father, giving her family a christmas to remember. >> amazing, thinking about us. she's a beautiful girl. >> denise roberts is with us, along with her daughter and son. good morning to you all. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> denise, casey sounds like he was such an amazing man, a great husband and a father.

>> what are your dreams and hopes for this christmas, denise? >> i just want to see my kids smile, and i think that sometimes we lose -- lose ourselves in the grief sometimes, and it's hard to go on and keep those smiles and, as you go -- >> kegan has -- he's smiling. i was going to ask you, ask kegan what he wants for christmas, what he hopes santa will bring him. >> hey, kegan, what do you want santa to bring you? >> what do you want santa to bring you? >> a new camera. >> a new camera. >> that would be cool. >> and a horse. >> and a horse. i know your mom applied for a scholarship to study speech pathology to help wounded soldiers. she has news for you. why don't you tell her. >> this isn't for my scholarship, baby.

we found out about the letter that you wrote about the christmas decor. >> what? >> i love it. maybe it will help if iell y'all to go outside now, okay? and see what we have? we have a little surprise for you. head outside, come on, guys. >> come on, hurry, hurry. come on. >> remember that letter, when you asked for a very special christmas. >> go out there. >> well, you're getting it! surrounded by friends and family, wal-mart heard about your letter and they provided not just the decorations for your house in red, white and blue, but they also have some special gifts to make this christmas extra special for your family. i know it's a little overwhelming, sweetheart, but your letter was so i amazing and so impressive. >> thank you. >> this is for the memory of your dad. something very special for your family. it doesn't stop there, guys. wal-mart was so impressed by

that letter that she wrote and they donated a lot of gifts. why don't you bring them out, guys? >> oh, my gosh, thank you so much! >> here are some of the gifts you're getting this christmas. for the ladies, two isacer laptops. one, mom for college and kahlen, you're getting one because you love writing. i know you're also having a big christmas dinner plans and need a dining room table. we're giving you that as well. >> thank you so much! >> then, among other things, see the bikes? everybody is getting a bike. an ipad alongs with the sony hand camcorder and blu-ray video by samsung and a lot of movies you will have a lot of fun with. >> thank you so much. >> there's also fishing equipment, kahlen for you,

because i know you fish and kegan, you're getting a radio controlled vehicle, two of them. is there anything you guys want to say before we let you go? i think there's a lot of hugs and kiss. congratulations. thank you so much to wal-mart and their deck core ratedil fam good morning to you. it's 8:26. i'm laura garcia canon with mike. >> getting lighter, but still have accident and fog and wet roads. an issue approaching west 580 approaching interstate 80, a minor accident there. median lights are on. look at this shot. it will be hard to see this accident as you're approach iin that maze.

you can barely make out the berkeley curve from the camera. not much better but you can make out the blinking lights. westbound disabled vehicle reported. >> that's a tough commute right now. golden gate bridge, visibility down about 200 feet. fog and still scattered showers moving through. the clock over my head the last hour, everything going west to east and showers across the south bay into the santa clara valley. most of the rain falling for the first half of the day as we head toward the afternoon. partial clearing. off and on showers today. tomorr tomorrow, late in the evening, most of the showers will be in the north bay before we start to clear out. morning f for the weekend. 8:27 right now. hi! welcome to progressive.com.

come on in, and i'll give you a free quote. quote and compare in about 8 minutes. now, that's progressive. call or click today.

united school district is considering changes next squool year to make sure all students meet state academic standards, changes many school districts would think of as standard procedure. according to the mercury news, the school board will create on a proposal to create a middle school academy and add back five days of class taken away through fur furlough's this year. but that would require slashing the adult education system by 3 $3.5 million.

8:30 now on a thursday morning. it's the 9th day of december, 2010. our crowd getting in the spirit of the holidays with one of the most popular actors around, owen wilson right there, collecting toys as part of our annual toy drive. he's starring in two movies now.

we'll talk to him in just a couple of minutes. meanwhile, out on the plaza, it's cold out here. al roker and natalie morales, meredith vieira. >> stuffed with memorabilia from the biggest names on the planet from past and present. from michael jackson, john lennon and more. >> we know you love that glove, matt. >> i do. i might have to break into my little move and bust a move again. >> oh, boy. >> can't wait for that. >> speaking of big stars, as we move along, johnny depp, one-on-one, makes it seem almost confrontational. matt's conversation with johnny depp from everything from

angelina jolie to captain jack. >> he got all spiffy for you. nice. >> does crossing your legs cause varicose veins? i hope not, we hail have them all over my legs. >> and can we introduce owen wilson starring in not one but two movies right now. "how do you know" and "the folkers." >> nice to be here. >> are you cold? >> it doesn't feel like hawaii. like jack london cold. >> you have a lot to be thankful for at the holiday season, two movies opening within a couple weeks of each other and the scripts keep coming, must be nice to be in such demand. >> exciting, especially working on the jim brooks movie and a

great cast with reese and paul wood and jack nicholson. being in one of his movies is exciting. >> you play a professional ballplayer in this movie. >> yes. >> will real commitment issues. >> that's true. that's true. i went to spring training and hung around with the texas rangers a little bit although you don't see me pitch, i have a pretty good arm. >> now, you're in "the folkers," revising your role of kevin. >> like a thorn in ben's side. >> do you enjoy doing it as much as we like watching it? >> yes. >> what are you doing for the holidays? >> for the holidays, see my family in texas and be in hawaii. >> we want you to take us with you. all of a sudden, the love went

away. >> congratulations. and helping with the toye.driv we appreciate let's show you what's going on. we've got a storm system coming in the pacific northwest. we also have rain down in florida. low pressure system causing problems there. plenty of sunshine here in the east. it will still be chilly. leftover lake-effect snow for friends on the eastern leeward side. look for snow in the cascades. rain along the pacific northwest coast. that's what's going on around the country. >> there's about 200 feet of your san mateo bridge commute right now, fog setting up over the bay area. visibility miles from the peninsula, east bay, oakland toward fairfield, quarter mile or less that will likely slow you down this morning. showers starting to get out of the south bay right now. this is the trend as we head to the afternoon. widely scattered showers, temperatures today 50s to low 60s. showers tomorrow mainly for the north bay headed into the

weekend. more morning fog with temperatures out near the coast by the end of the weekend. a lot of holiday travel going around, check your weather at weather.com. now to willard scott. >> the bells of christmas are chiming, one of the great collectors items. you want these every year, unbelievable. the white house christmas ornament this year, $18.95 is the price. white house history.org. that's all you have to do. pay the money and you get one. i have a whole collection going back 20, 30 years. happy birthday. take a look, if you will. we have jack burgess of ashburn, v.a. still plays golf.

and bunnye brinson, from ocala florida. works in a coffee shop and teaches brazilian to people who aren't brazilian. >> we have angeline brigiana. i rehearsed that, too. toms river, new jersey, 100. reads five books a week. can you believe that? florence miles, from westminster, maryland. up the road from us, and crochets afghans among other things. also, we have norris long from southport, north carolina, a vet, seen on the history channel many times. and we have emily ridgway, 100 years old from short hills, new

jersey. a lovely lady, has many friends and loves to work. and curtis and erna johnson. 75 years variance. he's 92 and she's 90. and their secret is date night. when we come back, how would you like to own einstein's brain or an x-ray of it. i amazing items from some of the world's biggest icons up for

back now at 8:39, a collector's dream, a back still inning look at an auction house with an almost priceless catalog. >> reporter: on any given morning at this warehouse in west l.a., cardboard boxes can

bring untold riches. >> wow! >> for security reasons, we can't tell you where this warehouse is but it belongs to julian's auction, a place that feels like hollywood. ♪ >> these items will be some of the most sought after elvis presley items we've ever come after. >> reporter: from elvis' shirts and suits, to the cone head and boxes marked streisland, hendricks and share. >> it's fascinating to see the stuff delivered and more than anything, how things are delivered to us. >> reporter: in this rumpled paper sack, for example -- >> this comes from one of mohamm mohammedally's managers that he wore at practice it will sell somewhere between 20 to $30,000. >> reporter: in this dog eared box, we found audrey hepburn's

hat she wore in "funny face." >> we treat these like a museum item because you want to have respect for the celebrity and piece part of history. >> $20,000, looking for $22,000. >> reporter: specializing in entertainment memorabilia, julians is a relative new comer to the auction world but quickly established itself as one of the best for the curious caller. >> we have a lot of good stuff. >> reporter: there's the speck tack cue already and mundane. that dining room table 31, ordinary except that was marilyn monroe's dining room table. >> this is a piece of furniture if you or i owned it, probably worth $200. if marilyn monroe owned it, worth 10 to $15,000. >> reporter: now. the point of this isn't for celebrities to sell odd bits to benefit their charity, about archiving and cataloging. some may not be historically significant, some actually is. getting an item from a warehouse

to an exhibit like this one is a long journey. >> it can take us months or a year or two to research and get the answer unless it's history, we can't sell it. >> reporter: authenticity matters. marilyn monroe's drug bottles went for $19,000. original shooting script for "gone with the wind," brought as much as $15,000. >> frankly, my dear, i don't give a damn. >> reporter: then this jacket worn by john lennon himself for a 1966 photo shoot. that went for $240,000. >> we don't just create an auction, we create and event around it. >> reporter: event woven with america's pop culture history. the more glamorous, the better. >> that's very cher. they can't be replaced but they do have a price.

for "today" on nbc news, beverly hills. >> i dare lee to wear it. with items from their latest auction, good morning, guys. normally, you're here to promote an auction, this is stuff that sold last week. beginning with john lennon's jacket lee talked about and given this is the 30th anniversary of his death this week, something very poignant about this jacket. >> it sold for $240,000, goes to a museum in santiago, chile. a good home, well-preserved. great story, donated to the salvation army bioy yoko and jo and the driver who picked it up bought the jacket. >> he delivered it to you. >> and was sold subsequently after that. we received a photograph from life magazine photo shoot by henry grossman and inspired that new look for the beatles. >> for sergeant pepper.

>> exactly, the album cover. >> this shirt of elvis presley on one of his album covers? >> absolutely. this sold for $90,000. >> you estimated it would sell for 4 and $6,000. do you purposely low ball? >> servant acti >> conservative auction estimates and gets people ready to bid. >> $90,000 is a lot of money. >> a lot of money. >> you don't need to be a brain to know this belongs to michael jackson, he had a lot of these gloves. >> we sold four in the last year and the four brought over a million dollar. >> you had one that eventually went for 420,000, this sold for $330. >> that's because matt wore the other one. [ laughter ] >> this was sold for $330,000. >> and this one was less because it's closeth, not leather?

>> right. >> the other is historic, part of the motown 25. >> this, to me, is weird. two x-rays of albert einstein's brain. >> yes. we've done very well with x-rays. we just sold marilyn monroe's chest x-rays for $45,000. >> you want to get in your joke why it went for so much? these went for how much? >> these sold for $38,000. >> who? >> typically doctors and collectors. they come out of the woodwork for these items, something they can have in their office and showcase. >> that makes sense. >> these are pill bottles that belonged to marilyn monroe? >> they sold for $18,000 and we estimated it 1 to $2,000. anything associated with her goes for a lot. >> do you have anything about -- >> no pill jokes. do you know what they were for? >> i don't. we have sold some in the past

but the most we sold her prescription bottles for. >> thanks to both of you. darian julian and martin noland. and next, johnny depp talks about his new movie with angelina jolie and his life in france. [ female announcer ] safeway talks holiday baking. that smells scrumptious. yummy! smells delightful. awesome! i'm not smelling anything. [ female announcer ] everything for holiday baking. just add love. safeway. ingredients for life.

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i think there are eggnog people and non-eggnog people. and which are you? i'm a fish. on a tree. [ female announcer ] if it tastes like the holidays, we've got it. safeway. ingredients for life. johnny depp is known for his roles like captain jack sparrow and "edward scissorhands" and "the mad hatter" and recently played a math teacher and when we caught up with him said he wanted to play ordinary person because they are anything but. >> what's considered normal out there in the world, when you really have a look at them, you

find they're pretty strange, can have weird little ticks, disorder in terms of organization. i have seen people, you know, like move salt shakers or turn a fork over. >> if you come to my house and move a coffee table book, i tend to move it back in the same place. >> that's the stuff. >> they're trying to kill me. >> because i kissed you. >> let's talk about angelina for a second. you guys get together for that meeting, which is really in actors' terms, a first date. you're trying to fwirg out if there's something between you two that will click on-screen. how long does it take to know that? >> it was actually pretty instantaneous. it was instant. >> what was it about her that made you feel that way? >> having heard a lot abo about -- you know, their lives, brad and angie's lives are so highly publicized, what might this person be like after having to live this life to that degree? when i met her, i just found her

to be as perfectly grounded as she could be, very down-to-earth, very sweet, very smart, very funny, madly in love with her children, madly in love with her man and madly in love with her life. very normal well-rounded human being. >> you talk about this level of scrutiny she finds herself under. have you managed to avoid that, john, because you've gone to europe? is it not the same thing? a pretty voracious press in europe as well. >> france, at least for the most part, has allowed us a life of -- you know, down in the south of being able - able -- simplicity. i can go to the -- you know, the market and little village close to our house, buy groceries with my kids and nobody takes a photograph. >> even if they recognize you? >> yeah. the locals are kind of like, hi, johnny, how's it going, no talk

about movie, no nothing. it's very different. it's -- i don't know. they seem to have a handle on it or distance. >> i was having some fun reading an article about you recently, talking about the pirates movies and captain jack sparrow. you made a comment in the interview that went along with the article. when you first started doing this character and portraying him the way you wanted to portray him, the people at disney freaked-out. they hated it. what didn't some of them like about it? >> think the initial worry, my god, we will have to put subtitles. >> we can't understand a word he is saying. >> can't understand him. >> what do you say to three schillings? >> there was something about the character they couldn't stand. >> somebody said upper echelon disney type, what's wrong with him? is he a weird simpleton? is he drunk? is he gay? you actually told one woman who

was a disneyite, didn't you know all my characters are gay? what was their reaction when you said, i'm not going to change it for you? >> shock. it came to a point, it came to a headened i had to say to them, look, you hired me to do a job. you've seen -- i hope you've seen the other things i've done. you must have had some idea i was going to play this a little bit outside the boxes. so we're in a situation here that i can't change. i mean, this is my -- this is my world and this is the character choices i've made and i'm not going to change it. if you want to fire me, you can fire me, but you have to pay me. >> it's a lucrative role, but you must like it, otherwise you wouldn't do four and perhaps a fifth. are you going to do more? i know you just finished four. >> just finished four a few days ago. there's talk of a fifth. depends, you know. all depends if they can come up with a good enough story and it

seems like something that we haven't tackled before. >> how do your kids feel about it? 8 and 11, all right? >> they like old captain jack, they do. at the same time, they've grown up with him. they have to experience him at home sometimes. yeah, they know him very well. >> johnny depp. he had just finished shooting "pirates number 4," that's why he still had those goldentures he wears for captain jack in his mouth. didn't have time to get to a dentist to have them taken out. "the tourist" opens tomorrow. back in a moment. the tourist

just ahead, does white wine stain your teeth? >> and also, how to get thinner during the winter season. first the local news and the weather.

>> good morning, everyone. it's 8:56. it's been a tough day on the east bay as far as commute. >> it's not really heavy rain but it's just been constant. wet roads and low visibility. we'll look at the maze. yet another accident as you're

coming down the east shore freeway right around powell, where we had another one that cleared from westbound 580 approaching the maze as well. metering lig ining lights are o. holding steady over the last half hour. the peninsula, also slow ag a . ere's fog in the area as well. ♪ it comes along just once a year ♪

♪ on winters wings, decembers rear, ahha humbug faces come and dear ♪ ♪ then appears at perfect christmas time. ♪ ♪ a tiny tree, christmas, tinsel, the lights ♪ ♪ the star that sings, top your tiny tree, yeah ♪ this morning, a plan is in the works for more electric car charging stations to pop up all over san francisco. a team of private companies will announce the plan today, including park pod, hilton san francisco, ace parking and general motors. the plan is to build convenient charging stations for electric vehicles before the chevy bolt

rolls out in the bay area. charge i charging stations would be built at hotels and places of work and shopping malls. another update in 30 minutes. the "today" show returns in about one.

back now with more today on a thursday morning. 9th day of december, 2010. beautiful but chilly day on the plaza. real cool temperatures about 15, 18 degrees. you know what, it doesn't matter when you're gathered in close quarters with a bunch of people you don't know. staying warm out there. outside the studio, al roker and natalie morales, we will take a look at medical and beauty myths. >> we will find out which are

fact and which are fiction. can your cell phone really make you break out? we've all heard that one. >> i haven't heard that. >> you haven't heard that, putting the phone to your mouth. >> will getting eight hours of sleep really help you lose weight? nancy snyderman will set the record straight. a lot of folks let their landscapes languish until the spring and there are things you can do to add color to your home. one woman transformed her garden and we will show you how you can do it. >> if the reindeer socks and snuggie is not exactly what you had in mind as a perfect present? we have returning gifts and how to make it's easier for your loved ones to return something you actually got them. >> a lot to get to. first, ann is on assignment and natalie with the headlines. the house has passed "the dream act", although it is likely to face a nightmare in the senate and would pave the road for thousands of illegal immigrants brought to this

country before the age of 16, who have enrolled in college or military. hackers who support jailed wikileaks founder, julian assange, are waging cyber-warfare, targeting the websites of mastercard, papal and visa, during the busy holiday shopping season. the so-called "operation payback" is retaliating against companies that shut down assange's account. twitter was attacked after it posted hundreds of credit card numbers. and probably the random victim of a murder gone wrong, police believe ronni chasen was killed by a criminal on a bicycle who committed suicide last week as they closed in on him. american airlines canceled all flights to haiti's capitol as violence broke out as election disputes rage on.

ja >> aretha franklin is recovering well after surgery last week says her good friend, jesse jackson. and a report released by the california institute of technology finds people with what scientists call a warrior gene are more likely to take a risk and identify a good bet. the gene can also be traced to aggressive behavior in some. with americans either shivering through serious cold snaps or shoveling up lake-effect snow, it's easy to forget the animals who can't crank up the eat. florida is so unseasonably cold, manatees, vulnerable to extinction are flocking to a hot stream to keep warm. the creatures can't tolerate water temperatures below 68 degrees. look at this. one florida reindeer bailed on his holiday acting gig. rudy the reindeer jumped six feet over a fence to escape a live nativity scene at a local church. the miniature deer hid under an

elf house until the owner coaxed the reluctant star to come home. a plastic reindeer is now filling in as his understudy. that's cute. >> maybe he had some place to be. getting close to the big day, had to get up north. >> getting ready for santa. there you go. >> natalie, thank you. to al for a check of the weather. >> all righty. let's o let's find out what's happening as far as your weather is concerned. snow to talk b snow advisories from cleveland to erie. thankfully, snow warnings have dropped and have been dropped for our friends in syracuse after getting all that snow. cleveland, you'll pick up couple of inches of snow, one to three inches, maybe six inches between syracuse and pulaski. little bit of a clipper coming across the great lakes will bring again a light dusting of snow, generally one to three inches. some areas may see about six. for the most part, we're talking a light dusting through tonight. that's what's going on around the country. here's what's happening in your neck of the woods. >> here is a view of san

francisco. starting to see some breaks in the fog and clouds outside. let's show you what's going on, on the radar. clouds roll tlug south of san jose right now. today, highs in the 50s and 60s with some showers off and on, bay area wide. starting tomorrow, showers will head off toward the north bay, mainly toward the evening. that's the last system that goes on by. patchy fog for the morning. as we wrap up the weekend, next chance of rain after that, los angeles late tuesday to wednesday next week. that's your latest weather. the 17th annual toy drive continues, our friends, patrick, good to see you. what are you doing this year? >> charm min is all about providing a better bathroom experience for people. this year, we're giving $100,000 worth of bathroom tissue to "today"'s show charities and provide family friendly clean restrooms around time square during the holiday season. >> thank you very much. i like your scarf, too. >> scopebly soft.

>> you can donate at the plaza un ul decetier2mbndndr go on amazon.com/today. natalie. thank you, al. today's medical myths, nancy snyderman is here to separate fact from fiction common for years. a lot to get to here. this one, you hear all the time, crossing your legs, like we're doing now, do all the time will give you varicose veins. >> this is absolute fiction. it's been around forever, forever you cross your le legs -- it used to be if you sit on cold things, you may get hemorrhoids, all these things about how you sit affects your vascular system, not true.

really standing. varicose veins are nothing but weak veins and means they're wiggly. we see them sometimes on the back of women's legs. men can get them, too. here's what happens, unlike arteries that can squeeze back because they're muscular, veins are loose and floppy and the valves in them are not very strong. if you stand for a long period of time, the blood pools. when it pools, that's what you see on the legs. the reason you want to worry about them, because over time, frankly, they can hurt. >> what can you do. not standing so much. >> support hose. walking, moving is fine. solitary standing. as a surgeon standing sometimes at a bedside for hours, i absolutely wore support hose. at a big department store, wear compression stockings. next, a big tip that goes back, some people still believe. preparation h can reduce

puffiness and swelling under the eyes. >> it is fiction but used to be fact. interesting. they changed the formula. a gazillion years ago, there were elements in preparation h that can take away the puffiness. now, a hemorrhoid cream around forever and ever is no better than anything else. it's an emollient you put on your face. don't waste your money on this one. >> what can you do to reduce the undereye baggage? >> to tell you the truth, it's hydration, i don't care if it's expensive stuff for cheap stuff, you just need moisturizer, moisturizer this time of year and lots 0 of water. >> and sleeping. >> 7-8 hours a night. >> exactly. we'll get to that as well. before that, you can get an infection from borrowing a friend's makeup. >> this is absolutely true. this is a real big fact. you can guest it from borrowing other people's makeup and your own makeup. makeup has a shelf life, like

the stuff in your refrigerator. get used to throwing things away. this is a really hard one for me. things like lipsticks and eyeliners, things with emollient, three month, sometimes the longer stuff like face foundation, six month, even crayon eyeliners have a shelf life. if you haven't used them, pitch them, they harbor bacteria. this time of year and especially for our college girls, sharing lipstick, sharing chapstick cannot only transfer viruss but we also know it can transfer bacteria that can lead to meningitis. there are certain beauty things only you should use. don't share them. >> very good. good to note. next, a beauty tip as well, talking about getting lots of sleep. eight hours sleep can actually help you lose weight. >> it's absolutely true. what happens is your body repairs itself. this is a huge fact. your body repairs itself. when you are sleep deprived, your body senses you are under

stress. when you are under stress, certain chemicals in your body go up like ep neff frin and court sal and they help you put on fat around your middle. when you sleep and get seven or eight hours, your body senses it is at peace and rest and stress chemicals go down and you can actually knock off pounds. >> you're not up as much, so perhaps eating less as well. i find with our hours we do here, you're eating all the time to keep your energy up. >> that's absolutely right. when you're sleep deprived, your body knows because you're in crisis mode, you crave fats and calories and sweets. when you're well rested, you eat very very differently. >> that's so true. last, your cell phone can make you break out, fact or fiction? >> a big fact, your cell phone can make you break out and that phone on your desk can make you break out. you hold it close to your face. bacteria and grime. your hands touch everything, then your cell phone and then

your face. doesn't take much to create bacteria. teenagers really find this out with classic acne around the bottom of their mouths. wipe off that cell phone and face daily. use smart hand-washing skills and you'll be fine. t >> the cell phone is the dirtiest place. >> one of them. >> as always, thank you. >> you bet. coming up next, many happy returns, tips to make returning that unwanted holiday gift a lot easier. coming up next, one woman's garden gets a winter makeover with george oliphant. and 2 minutes to christmas? wow! 19 days, 8 hours... [ mumbling ] ...enny days, 8 hours, 9 minutes... 18 days, 17 hours... [ mom ] let's go, young lady. 12 days, 18 hours... 10 hours, 12 minutes and 7 seconds. come on. it's no days! 5 hours and 59 minutes and 42...41...

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this morning, wintering your landscape. george oliphant is here to help protect your plants and make our lawns a little more lovely during the winter month, first, let's check on nancy, a mother

of three whose carefully landscaped garden suddenly was fading fast until george came to the rescue. >> my name is nancy. i lived here for 13 years and live with my husband and three children. my problem is during the winter month, the yard gets a little gray and barren looking once the leaves fall off the trees and plants die off. i'm looking for ideas to add interest and color to the yard during the winter months. >> i'm here with ken from philly landscaping and his team. it's fall and difficult to do landscaping, winter is coming and you don't know what to expect. what can we do? >> absolutely. we will use a lot of plants that have a good winter interest and plants with nice texture and colorful foliage that will keep the landscape looking fresh and alive throughout the winter.

>> awesome. let's get to work. >> i know in the summer, you have to keep watering your beddings and keeping the flowers alive. are we going to need to water during the winter? water will freeze, right? >> we will water them the first few weeks but in winter, the plants go dormant and shut down. come early spring, you get back to watering them and eventually, they will grow in and take care of themselves. >> this is great. i love it. looks really really nice. interest, color, everything looks awesome. >> joining us now, george oliphant. these are all tips we can use. a lot of us forget about doing anything in the garden. what are the rules we have to follow? >> with winter, you have to

think what will live in the winter? evergreens. you also want visual interest. look out, it's barren or maybe snow down, most things will die. evergreens, year-round, they're just that, evergreen. your box wood pines, spruce, another one that is great is holly. holly is a great plant, a, it's durable, stays out all year long and has red berries. the color pops and attracts fine feathered friends and if you have a male and female, they will grow up and be beautiful. >> what about feeding your lawn and scrubs? >> you want to protect your lawn and plants. the first thing you want to do is use this wilt proof, spray it on your leaves. if it's a little cold, spray it before it gets down to freezing. that will protect them and keep the moisture and leaves from drying up. >> mulch? >> mulch is huge. it will keep the moisture in, like a blanket for your roof, when it goes from hot to cold and cold to hot, not such a

sudden transition and keeps your weeds at bay. >> what about watering during the winter? >> you don't have to water a lot. let mother nature do it's job. if you're putting new plants in, water them at first so they don't die and acclimate, after that, let mother nature do its job. >> should you brush the snow off the shrubbery and leaves? >> if it's the heavy wet snow to break the branches, dust it off. if it's just a dusting, it's pretty, seasonal, what you want, green and white and buries, let it go and let it be. >> we have nice cuttings here. >> very seasonal. you can use your pine mulch or cedar mulch orren by clippings. lay it down like a blanket for your beds and yard. >> you say, it's not a planting but do something to attract our fine feathered friend? >> exactly. make your yard alive during the winter. what is more alive than having

wildlife flying through? there's a number of different -- >> you don't want to leave it to attract bear or anything? >> i don't want to attract a bear. we got this from front gate. you can get all kinds of stuff, bird baths, so it doesn't freeze over and squirrels and decorative elements, and little birds and big bilaterals. >> i have a big bird in my yard but then mr. hooper came. >> we'll eat all the seed. >> all right. still ahead, we have the coolest gifts out there for the guys your list. first, these messages. usins. like the other night at olive garden. hey susan, you gotta tell the aunt jessie story again. -yes, you do! -ok, ok. joe: love that story. try olive garden's two new scaloppini dishes. pan-seared chicken breasts in a lemon-herb glaze. or sauteed pork in a creamy white wine sauce.

both served with asiago filled tortelloni. with our unlimited salad and breadsticks. this is like being back at the kids' table. [ laughter ] olive garden. when you're here, you're family. for adults, stelara® helps control moderate or severe plaque psoriasis

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we have great friends joining us, team brandy and team chance along with team donald. donald trump himself. the two finalists left standing on "the apprentice," all comes down to tonight's finale. before i get to you two, i know

you're nervous about tonight. mr. trump, they have done an incredible job. these are a group of young apprentices who really came to the show in this economic downturn. brandy, you were a former corporate attorney, and, clint, you used to deal with real estate development, something up donald trump's lane. how did they do? >> they really did great. we had 16 very smart people who had difficulty because of the economy. brandy's case, top lawyer, didn't have a job. he was doing great building homes in texas. it hasn't been so good for him in the last couple years. they emerged, really smart talented people and we will have a great finale tonight on nbc. >> have you picked your winner yet? >> i have in my mind, but i don't think they've read my mind. >> and when i ask this question, you don't look at either one of them directly. >> i like to look forward. >> your final task, brandy, you ended up doing a vip golf tournament featuring kathy griffin. i know there were challenges during the process.

what were some of the mistakes that were made? >> plt trump threw some curveballs, he took my golf ex pert away from mee, leeza, so we had to deal with that. >> kathy griffin showed up late? >> kathy griffin was a pro the entire time. i can't put anything on her. just the stumbles that come with running a golf tournament. >> i know you chose to do a dinner gala with a concert following by liza minute knell la. >> with two ns by the way. >> i know you spelled it wrong on the brochure and posters? >> we did. we had it spelled wrong the first go-round. >> you learned that the hard way. who pointed that out to you, was that mr. trump? >> i'm glad he did. >> some mistakes were made. >> we're all human, absolutely. >> mr. trump, i have to ask you, are we going to be seeing a president trump some day? i hear you're thinking about running. >> the country is doing very, very poorly. we'll let you know. you'll be the first to know. >> yesterday i heard you say

you would like to be up against sarah palin? >> no, i didn't say that. i like sarah palin. she's actually a friend of mine. but something has to happen. the country is not doing well. >> stay tuned for that race. and good luck tonight on the finale. you can catch the season finale, "apprentice" 10:00 p.m. nbc. nti. from bootcuts to cropped flares to skinnies in every wash and finish sears has the perfect fit for everyone on your list! go to sears.com/apparel to download your coupon for an instant $10 off a $50 purchase. this christmas, be the santa you want to be, at sears.

>> good morning to you. i'm laura garcia canon with mike, who has a look at our commute. >> south bay, things are starting to improve for the key route for south bay. south bay 101 and 280, on average 30. most pockets off 680, for example, below 20. 87 starting to improve. other times through the maze. moving smoother toward the plaza. from the north bay you can see the north bay a much smoother

drive. starting to clear up as far as the speed. interest. >> interesting across the bridge. fog sitting right on the water. showers heading on out. san francisco and oakland, we have the clouds. the rain, for the most part, has moved on. scattered showers in the forecast. you can see showers continuing today. we head toward the weekend, off and on showers will start to head on out of here. time now is 9:27. more news after the break.

a berkeley council woman is hosting a meeting about robberies, hitting the trepdyest neighborhoods. hurston martin luther king, residents around the popular gourmet ghetto. using weapons and taking valuables from people on foot. tonight's meeting is meant to get the word out about robbers and it starts at the lutheran church in the 1700 block at

7:00. san mateo county, number of sightings has more than doubled since last year in of mountain lion sightings, up from 14 reported sightings in 2009 according to a sheriff's spokesperson. the majority of the sightings were reported in woodside, la jolla. a meeting will be held about medical marijuana, mountainview is looking at an ordinance to allow them. it starts at city hall at 6:00 pm tonight. "today" show returns in less than a minute. have a great morning.

hi. >> andy garcia, pharmaceutical. and you're doctor -- >> not a doctor. >> not in any sense of the world. >> you're an investment banker. >> many hats. >> you knew it had to happen. first "meet the parents," "meet the fockers" and now -- >> be careful. >> and we will catch up with them all on "today." >> fantastic. i love that series, so much fun.

>> i know. we're back on today. coming up in this half hour, nobody likes to admit it. in a recent poll, 1 in 5 folks say they will likely return one of the christmas gifts they get. if you're one of those folks, we will show you how not to waste that gift and what you need to know about return policies to make it's easier to get your money back. >> tis the season for all those parties and extra pounds, maybe not. how to stay fit in the months ahead. >> in case you decide to give it all up. >> yeah. >> go for these. homemade cinnamon buns with maple icing with ree drummond and will show us how easy it is to make them from scratch. >> it smells insanely good in here. >> i am just going to apply them to my hips. >> peace thaste them right on.

that's where they go. >> icing. >> maple syrup. a look at the nchs as far as the weekend is concerned, rain in the pacific northwest. windy conditions. rain along the southeastern midatlantic coast and mid mps river valley. frigid in the plains. sunday, sunday! we're looking at rain up and down the eastern seaboard, ending in snow in the southeast. icy conditions in interior new england, frigid in the plains into the mid mpds river valley, and more rain across the pacific northwest into the western plains. sunny and mile through the southwest. that's what's going on around the country. here's what's happening in your neck of the woods. >> a view of the golden gate bridge, mixed stat stack of clo clouds running underneath the bridge. high clouds. south bay, still some showers heading off to the east. clouds blanketing the bay area. one reason why temperatures will be mainly in the 50s to near 60. muggy outside, too, with scattered showers today. tomorrow, showers start to move off to the north bay. patchy, thick fog. temperatures on the coast

warming up. foggy conditions could cool off the tri-valley. that's your latest weather. >> thank you. coming up next, to make sure this holiday season isn't filled with too many happy returns, right after this. [ female announcer ] ever worn your clothes in the shower? if you're using other moisturizing body washes, you might as well be. you see, their moisturizer sits on top of skin, almost as if you're wearing it. only dove deep moisture has nutriummoisture a breakthrough formula with natural moisturizers that can nourish deep down. it's the most effective natural nourishment ever. dove deep moisture with nutriummoisture. superior natural nourishment for your skin.

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when you can actually party at your party? with homemade chex party mix. five great recipes that wow the crowd. and you can make them in only 15 minutes. get out of the kitchen, get into the party. homemade chex party mix. good morning on "today"'s consumer returning holiday gifts. while you're shopping for that 3d television your hubby has been dreaming with or kids' is to, you might want to brush up on the store's return policy to avoid headaches later. the senior project editor at "consumer reports." good morning. we haven't even wrapped our

gifts, talking about returns. >> yeah. 1 in 5 people will probably return a gift this year. if they do, they have to know the rules. the good news is that the return policies are generally more lenient than before the recession. however, because of return fraud and thiefry and abuse, a lot of companies tightened up their policies. >> in some cases, you say, first tip, when you open up the gift, look at it and try to determine whether you really want it. once you open it up, you're in for a world of hurt. >> yeah. if you don't want it, don't open it. the reason we say that is restocking fees. typically associated with personal electronics canned be 10 to 15% of the product's cost to return. some companies like comp usa make it up to 25%. we always tell people, if you damage the product, the box, take out any of the packaging, you will be slapped with this. places like sears don't limit it to electronics, may be sporting

goods or places like hardware, don't open it if you don't want it. >> what about special items like monogrammed items? >> monogrammed items are really interesting, you ever go to l.l. bean, you see a canvas bag with monograms, they're one of the few places that will take them back. a lot of places won't. >> the gift receipt, seems obvious. >> the receipt is the holy grail of returns. if you don't have a gift receipt, you get the lowest items and not what was paid for it and some companies turn you away. we see some companies, like kohl is doing it, target is doing it, they might do a look-up if bought with debit card, credit card check, if you bought the gift, get that gift receipt. >> any way to do it without going to the store? >> request it online. afterwards, you can ask the person who bought it afterwards to give you a copy.

>> what about people who are habitual returners? >> serial returners. >> are stores keeping track of that? >> they are and using software to see if you're a serial returner. companies like best buy will ask to you your driver's license if you return it for cash because they want sosee if you're one of those bad folks. >> many people get gifts online and that online store has a brick and mortar component, if you bought it online, can you return it to the brick and mortar store? >> generally speaking you can return a product online to a brick and mortar store. take for instance sears and lands end, the same company, if you bought it from sears, don't try to return it. >> what about returns? >> most big stores have a 90 day

return policy. a lot others less shorter. 14 days to return a computer, digital camera, even wal-mart, 15-30 days to return electronics. the good news is places like wal-mart want to check for that holiday return period, give you an extended period. the clock doesn't start ticking at wal-mart until december 25th. >> you say be nice. >> be nice. you can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar, forever you demand a return or refund, they will look and say, get lost, buddy. if you say it nicely, chances are, even if you pass the holiday deadline, they will help you out. >> thanks. coming up next, seven easy ways to stay fit this holiday season. right after these messages. ♪

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this morning on "get fit today," seven ways to get shape this winter. the cold weather is the perfect excuse to hide budging behind sweaters. the author hov "the five factor world diet" is with us. good morning. >> good morning. >> is it true we tend to pack on a couple of pounds in this winter months and hibernate? >> we hibernate. not as physically active, don't go outside as much. eat more comfort foods because there's less daylight in the day affect our energy levels and appetites. >> you say it's time to try ice skating, a winter sport. >> ice skating is an amazing sport, especially if you want to work your butt and makes you put your butt out and squeeze your

gluts. you say your son is playing hockey and develop his lower body later women learn to love. >> and you burn a lot of calories. >> you burn a lot of calorie because you're inefficient at first. skating is one example. we have other examples we'll talk about. >> dr. nancy talked about how it is important to get eight hours of sleep. why is that important? >> when you don't sleep enough, a number of hormonal activities happen, cortisol is a stress hormone and makes us tend to eat more food and the more you're awake, the more time you have to be hungry and eat. sleep is important because when you're sleeping, you're not eating. >> get out there, keep up the pace, not a reason to stay inside and skip your workouts. if you get out there, make sure you keep to a good beat. we have our shoes and ipod for

music. >> music is so important and comfortable shoes. i go to the mall shopping, park my car at the furtherest point away from the doors of the mall. i get into the mall and basically do the whole mall once before i walk into one store, i'll have great music going, as i lose money, i'm also losing body fat. >> there you go, walking the mall a couple of times. if the snow has you stuck outside, you say get inside and shovel it. >> growing up in canada, the highlight of me living in los angeles now is i left my shovel at home in the northeast. >> that's a good workout. >> that is such a great workout. i remember going outside and shoveling and your muscles are sore and you can burn almost 500 calories an hour. >> that's great. be careful with your back. >> careful with your back and lower body. and stories of people getting sudden heart attack, out of shape and doing nothing physically active and then

strenuously shoveling, see a physician and make sure you're physically fit. >> and step in it! >> look at these snowshoe, something people have been doing for thousands of years literally. it distributes your weight over a larger area so you don't sink as much into the snow. talk about a calorie burn. amazing. >> fun. >> fun, fun, fun. outside, you don't need a skill level and not like you need to be good at these and no major impact on your joints. >> the girls last year when we were in vancouver for the olympics, we were snowshoeing. it was a big calorie burn. >> and you were sweating. >> and you were sweating and could feel it in your muscles the next day. you want to make sure you're dressed properly outside. what is your suggestion for winter wardrobe. >> a lot of companies do great winter workout gear. just because it's cold outside doesn't mean you can't go outside and be physically

active. >> bundle up. >> these are new balance wind resistant so the cutting painful wind that comes through with the cold air that really hurts, cuts that away, close to your body. fitted clothing is really important, layering important during the winter to make sure you put on different layers as you're physically active outside. as you get hot and warm up, you can drop a layer. you want wicking material. >> and with breathability. if you're sweating a lot, it makes you colder. >> it does. so you want it to get rid of the moisture in your body. >> if you're stuck inside and have cabin fever, put your kids' video games to good use. the wii has a lot and x-box. >> this senses your movement and these are great. you want a really embarrassing visual is me doing zumba by

myself in the wee hours and not want to go outside. >> this is a lot of fun. >> it is, because the family can get involved and there's a fun factor and fun is important to get in shape. >> you can burn a lot of calories? >> you can burn a lot of calories, everything from strength training to dance. >> thank you very much. you just got engaged, congratulations very nice. you knew i would embarrass you, there you go. >> i'm burning calories being embarrassed. if you want to cover your ears, we'll show you how to

this morning in "today"'s "holiday kitchen," cinnamon rolls. you can smell them around the corner or passing by a bakery. and the founder of the website, "the pioneer woman.com," good to see you. >> i'm proud of you. you pronounced it correctly. >> your mom is famous for this recipe, rights? >> she is. >> your mom over there. >> that's my mother-in-law. >> your mother-in-law. let's get a shot of her anyway since i mentioned it. >> you just made her day. >> you're throwing in yeast into what? >> i'm making the best cinnamon rolls. i've eaten them and made them my whole life. sorry about that. >> that's quite all right. >> even if you're afraid of yeast, this is the easiest dough in the world. i put milk and sugar and added

yeast and flour, stir this up and walk away and do laundry. >> how can i walk away and stir. >> well -- >> i noticed your covered that up. >> that's right. after we mix this, we let it sit for an hour. that's what happens. this is the magic of yeast. we will dump in another helping of flour, salt, baking flour and baking soda and stir it up. >> do you have to let it sit again? >> you can put it in the fringe overnight if you make it the night before. this is the evil part. >> evil. avert my eyes. >> my biggest complaint about cinnamon rolls is there is too much bread and not enough of the evil stuff. i tend to add -- >> how much butter is this? >> you don't want to know that. i add what i think is enough butter and smear it around and add a little more. >>, of course! >> that's my rule of thumb. i'll let you sprinkle the sugar and you need to go across the

whole length of it. don't be shy. i will meet you in the middle with the cinnamon. >> working together. >> very romantic, almost like having a cocktail together. >> cinnamon unites people together. you do it so well. you and i will roll this up and meet in the middle. like a typewriter. these are the most versatile cinnamon rolls you will ever make. make them, freeze them fully iced, make them and freeze them unbaked and make the dough the night before. >> let's get back here. to glaze the -- >> cut them up. >> you cut them up. it's very versatile. you can make all different kind of glazes? >> that's right. >> natalie, yeah. pull them out of the oven. i have a glaze of maple flavoring. coffee. >> my god. >> you put it on the hot piping

roll. and your life will change. i have carmel apple roll and orange marmalade rolls. >> are you the most popular person in oklahoma? >> i don't know about that. my mom had a lot of friends. i always thought it was because she was nice. >> it was the cinnamon rolls. >> it was her cinnamon rolls. >> ree, thank you so much. coming up,

twizzlers. the twist you can't resist. good morning. it's 9:56.

a second day where they had to shut down highway 1 at devil's slide. not as far as rocks go but an accident. sig alert for highway 1 shall you may have to head over to highway 92 to half moon bay and 280 south of that incident. highway 2, take a look at it into the midst -- still an issue because as you're coming across the bridge to the peninsula side. the peninsula itself has considerable fog as well but it's burned off a bit. >> still stuck with the clouds around places like san mateo bridge. showers mainly off to the south of morgan hill and south of san jose. moisture is still aimed across the bay area today. that's the reason we'll see cloudy skies and a few scattered showers off and on, high mostly upper 50s to near 60 today. the moisture should start to move north tomorrow and a dry weekend ahead. scott? rob, a swim coach is making

historic waves as the first woman ever chosen to head the u.s. women's swim team. less than 24 hours sinisterry mckeber got the job and already is counting down to the 2012 olympic games. she will now head the women's squad at the next olympics. she will be the first woman to serve in a head coaching role for the u.s. olympic swim team ever. now, the 2012 games still 595 days away and, like in years past, nbc bay area is your official olympic station. go to nbcbayarea.com for stories leading up to the 2012 games. facebook ceo mark zuckerburg is adding his name to philanthropists, one of 17 billionaires promising to give away at least half their fortunes to the giving pledge. it doesn't collect money or tell donors how to use it.

it just get ace commitment to charities. facebook co-founder is also joining the pe tdg hismorning. the "today" show returns in a minute. ing cider is the perfect choice for holiday gatherings. martinelli's is non-alcoholic, festive like champagne, and tastes great! martinelli's: since 1868.

captions paid for byne, nbc-universal television hey, everybody. so glad you're with us today. it is thirst-day. >> it is a big day around here. >> december 9th. it is a huge day. we're busting. >> we were telling you about "entertainment weekly" and how they were going to write this article.

>> four pages. >> we pushed for the cover. it was almost embarrassing how hard we pushed for it. >> it was pathetic! >> we didn't get the cover but we do have tim stack here. >> bring it over. >> who got the cover? >> it is reese witherspoon. but i brought you wine. i think you like wine more than covers. >> if i didn't love reese witherspoon so much, i'd be upset. angelina jolie must be upset. any magazine that would do four pages on us is not one i want to read. you know? >> we notice there had was a little theme thing going here. >> she's adorable. >> the themy part of our article was about drinking. >> there is a theechl drime of . my mom is going to be very

upset. >> this -- those were your drinks. >> you helped me though. you did help me. >> i just came over and pick up a glass and made the look. i don't think my lip marks are on that. >> but on every page we do look a lil boosie. which is every -- i was embedded. it was like the iraq war with a lot more pinot. a lot more pinot. it was great though, i loved it. >> everybody around here seems thrilled with it. me, not so much. >> well, when the headline is -- the headline is "the craziest hour." what makes us so crazy? we're menopausal women. >> i'm not yet. she keeps lumping me together. i'm not yet. >> you're peri. i'm post. you're peri. >> i don't want to quote joel

again, but have you seen the show? i kind of said in the story i feel like the first couple hours of the "today" show are a program for your parents and this hour is a program for your wild aunt who gets drunk and makes out with the wildest man at the weddings. that's the gal i want to hang out with. that's why i'm here. >> we thank you. >> thank you so much. we'll give us another chance to put us on the cover. yesterday in the mail -- i thought it was a big bottle of wine from -- or champagne from doug morris. like huge. i open it up -- it's an emmy. you forgot emmy winning. you left that out! >> well, wine, emmy, i mean -- >> he's always saying we drink. here's the think you don't know about this. this is what we're drinking. go ahead. >> tell america what it is.

tell it. >> it's booze. >> no, it is not! >> it's apple juice! >> it's apple juice. the joke's on you! usually it's milk but for this show we drink apple juice. now get out of here before we do this to you. right, hoda? >> well thank you so much. thank you very much. thank you very much. >> my mom is so happy. >> bet she's never seen that before, has she? >> she has not. he is actually the sweetest guy in the world. we had so much fun with him. matt, the photographer, is such a doll. >> they took some nice pictures.

so thanks to everybody. this goes on and on. we should point out why these are here. those are those thingamajigs that we were talking about a long time ago. >> we fell in love with them. there's four of them and if you do them all together -- >> it is like a little chorus. >> i love this. >> "time" magazine was going through some of its favorite things, these sing-ma-jigs were on as best new toy. >> you guys, i have to make an apology -- again kathie lee is apologizing? see this little thing? see this beautiful ornament? it is design by a guy named michael storings. i was supposed to be with him tonight at lord and taylor from 6:00 to 8:00 or something like that but because of don meredith's funeral that i have to go to with my husband, he's going to be there tonight from 5:00 to 6:00 and signing these. it comes with -- there is a

portion of the proceeds goes to the association to benefit children which is cody house and cassidy's place here in new york. i have been planning on being there for a year-and-a-half and this is what happens. but i'm going to make it up to everybody, if i can, and go next wednesday at 5:00 to 7:00 at lord and taylor. i'm going next wednesday the 15th from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. i'll be there signing these. i wrote a whole poem about these three little angels that come down from heaven. go to my website for details. >> what's your website? >> i don't know. i think it is kathieleegifford.com. who knew. thank you for letting me say that, hoda woman. so yesterday we showed a picture of brad pit and angelina josie and brad pitt was cupping her back side. we asked facebook fans is this appropriate or inappropriate and we had a mixed bag.

the different things they said were, amber writes, i love those little moves that say, yeah, she's mine, back off. >> one woman said if brad pitt wanted to squeeze me, he's welcome to do it anywhere he wants. >> exactly. >> that was my mother which is disturbing. >> we have a couple of other interesting things. you know those kids that wear their pants to the ground and it always is bugging people? it is so obnoxious. yes. >> there is a new thing at a school in memphis it is called the irkle effect where the principal is telling these kids who wear their pants dragging, sagging, that they have to pull them up and fasten them like that. it is sort of their punishment. they take the picture of the kid wearing the pants all jacked up. they fasen th fasten those with little zippy things. there is an 80% drop in the number of low hanging pants.

>> i'm sure the aclu will have a problem with it but i think it is a great way to do it. nobody gets hurt and they all learn a lesson. >> i think you're right. now these viral videos -- have you seen the hot viral video? >> a russian woman bungee jumping off a rooftop in between buildings. >> are you kidding? oh, my god. there are people laughing at this. >> anthony. >> sick, sick people that roam our studio. >> okay, first of all, this is like that show "jackass." >> see, to me? this isn't funny. okay, okay, we get it. there was a viral video of a grandmother -- this is so sad. but she fell up the escalator --

>> why are you laughing? >> i don't know. because when i saw it i was scolding everyone for laughing but now i don't know why i am. it was really sad. >> did she get hurt? >> of course she didn't but it was just -- >> where can we find that? >> i don't know. i can't believe i'm laughing. it really hurt my feelings when i saw it. for the first time. thinking about it now it is hilarious. so i always do my play list. you know what's funny? i have a mellow side, too. >> yes, you do. >> if you're one of those women -- we're all been hurt -- where you are chasing a guy who's running away from you. okay? you're the chaser, he's the runner and you think if i just do the right things he'll stay. this is that song. it's called "cold weather" by

the zach brown band. let's listen. ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ >> anyway, it is a beautiful song, zach brown band. anything they do is great. >> they have another song cass was playing the other day -- it had more mentions of drinks in it than a tim stack article. it was unbelievable. does anybody know that one? they're terrific. they should have been named best new band but they're not new anymore. >> they're not new anymore. >> i'm okay and you're not okay, hoda. where is that? it's time, we got to do it. >> she said at the end. coming up next, fashion don'ts to dos. we'll show you how to turn schlepp to chic.

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we're bringing back a favorite, "today's don'ts to

dos." >> "glamour" magazine hits hollywood's walk of fame to check out some dos and some don'ts. >> we're on the hollywood walk of fame. there is a big movie premier tonight and we're going to make sure everyone is looking red carpet ready. i think the scarf is a very important element to your outfit. the scarf adds one pop of color which is really fabulous. you are a perfect example of how to look chic and still be comfortable. >> thank you very much. >> you have kind of this lady gaga moment going on here. does she inspire your style at all? i want to talk to but your bra. look for something that matches your own skin color, then it is never going to show through. >> we have one rule at "glamour," tights are not pants. you've got this little sweatshirt that cuts you off right here so what it does is

break your body into sections and give the illusion that you're widing around the middle than you really are. i like the idea that you're going for something a little bit warm, we have a breezy l.a. day but this fabric is so super casual that you kind of look like you have pajamas on top never underestimate the power of a good undergarment. what we're going to do is take you to one of our favorite stores in l.a. and give you a head-to-toe makeover. >> okay! that should be fun. >> she wasn't smiling until she heard she was going shopping. tracy made it back from hollywood but not without a "don't to do" an we'll meet her in a minute. >> you do see quite the characters along that walk. >> oh, my gosh. yes. it was dentally an interesting place for style spotting. there's two sides to l.a. you have the glamour, glitz, red carpet premiers, celebrities, then you have the real l.a. which is super-duper casual.

>> every time i spend time with our god daughters, that's where they want to go. >> there are a lot of different price points. we took her there to o give her a great makeover. you can be casual without looking like a total schlump. >> this is per before. >> first of all, she's wearing a slip. >> it was a breezy day. >> that's her first problem. underwear is outer wear, so she either needed something on underneath it. it was very sheer. you could see straight through it. >> let's bring her out. it is a whole new deal! >> you look adorable. >> what do you think of your new outfit? >> i love it. it is perfect. she did a great job. >> i think we're incorporating a lot of things she like. she had a pair of oxford shoes.

the skirt is so cute. what's great about the skirt is that it defines her waist. she's got the shirt tuck in, a little belt cinching her so you can see her little adorable figure. >> you have to be skinny to wear that skirt. >> not necessarily. >> thank you. thanks again. >> thank you so much. >> up next? if you can't make it to santa's lap, then sara's got your app. >> plus, we'll tell youui twaes quickest way to get the best price for the things you want with a swipe of your smart phone. do you have a smart phone? >> yeah, right. right after this. [ female announcer ] we're made to mix,

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we are back "webtastic." >> sara haines has new digital platform. >> you're only a few clicks away from some holiday cheer. if you like to sing -- and who doesn't -- you'll love this new technology that lets you replace the vocals in your favorite songs with your own voice. you are not singing to like -- >> is that a good thing? >> it is not singing to a cheesy karaoke track, you are actually singing with the music. so we had to test this out. here is the original version of

kathie lee's "have yourself a merry little christmas." ♪ have yourself a merry little christmas ♪ >> who is better than that? >> i can assure you, we weren't. here is a rendition by some crew members. i'm not going to mention names, howie, and myself got creative using voku. ♪ have yourself a merry little christmas ♪ ♪ let your hearts be light ♪ from now on our troubles will be out of sight ♪ >> where's the song? >> look tommy. >> see how fun that is for everyone? >> how do you do it? you sick to t to your iphone. >> no, you access it from a website, it uses special technology. it is a lot of fun.

you can use that on a computer so you don't need a mobile device. but the next is the talking santa app. this iphone app was recently release and et cetera's already become one of the top apgs in the itunes store. it allows you to create a personalized mention from santa. can you tickle santa, make him laugh, give him cookies and milk an more. he did have a special thirst-day message for you guys. >> oh, dear. >> santa? are you there? >> happy thirst-day, kathie lee and hoda. i've been watching you and you've been very naughty this year. >> he got that right. >> that's creepy. >> he likes naughty girls though, i hear. >> our last one is the bar code scanner app. this app is great for holiday shopping. you scan the product and it will then compare different prices where this is available. what i'm going to do is -- >> i heard about this. this could be very, very useful. >> it's going to show you a

little scanner bar. just for time sake i already scanned the results of this wii. what you'll see, it will pull up -- this is just a screen graph to show you. there is not a lot of variation. it compares and will tell you websites, stores in the area. then we also did al's book to show you there are variations. there is a $12.49 somewhere, $14.95, stores and websites so you are guaranteed to get the best deal. >> allrightee, well thank you very much, always good, sara. useless information to me but i'm sure great for other people. >> you love me. >> i adore you. allrightee, still to come, great gift ideas for guys, from guys. hotels on great tgeyswa-atg prices some as low as 59 bucks a night. [ female announcer ] pillsbury holiday cookies. in just three ingredients.

start with cookie dough. ♪ add frosting. [ giggles ] [ female announcer ] then sprinkles. [ both giggle ] [ female announcer ] fun. easy. [ child ] wow. [ female announcer ] at pillsbury.com. with an hdtv from walmart! get everyday low prices and a price match guarantee on all the hottest brands! like lcds from vizio, sony, samsung, lg, and more. a new hdtv. they won't believe it when they see it!

find it at walmart. a new hdtv. they won't believe it when they see it! to stay fit, you might also want to try lifting one of these. a unique sea salt added to over 40 campbell's condensed soups. it helps us reduce sodium, but not flavor. so do a few lifts. campbell's.® it's amazing what soup can do.™ good morning to you. 10:26 right now. sig alert has been canceled? >> it continues. highway 1 is closed in both directions actually as you heading toward devil slide. one slope now the northbound side as well. that will be an issue as well. you have to head over, from half moon bay over to highway 92. both those avenues to 280, your alternate. still slow 280 along 101 in the peninsula through san mateo and san mateo hills.

heading through menlowe park. bay bridge toll plaza with traffic. traffic clearing, skies not so much. santa cruz mountains, showers moving in from west to east. flow of the moisture across the bay area. pacific ocean gardenhose aimed in on us. that will lift to the north tomorrow, which will leave us with drier conditions as we hedge edge through the weekend. tomorrow we'll see one more chance of showers for the north bay d foggy morning. it's been a dry weekend ahead. time right now, 10:27.

today is the deadline to get your input in on the city of oakland, taking public feedback on what should be included in an environmental impact report for the project. interstate 880 near jacqueline square. public comments should be sent to the -- jobs have been hot topics at recent meetings. major league baseball and espn are trying to get the giants into an evening game to open the 2011 season of the. they want the game to be held march 31st instead of the planned opening day at dodger

stadium april 21st. it's in the hand now of the players' uni s union. thanks so much for joining us. "today" show continues next. we'll see you bright and early tomorrow morning at 5:00 am. we are back on this thirst-day with more of "today." we're counting down to the holidays with gifts for guys and to come up with the well-rounded ideas we've gathered three guys with three different takes on the perfect present. first up, willie geist from msnbc's "way too early with willie geist" and an established best-s best-selling author. >> so are you. >> got a lot of gadgets. >> this is good for guys.

in my room i have about 18 wires. blackberry, toaster, all kind of things. this is from orvis. $139. there is a power strip down in here. each gets its own little compartment and you're organized without that mess of wires all over the place. >> guys i know love videos. >> these are documentaries that i like. "the pacific," the spielberg-hanks hbo series. "great migrations." this is great, "espn, 30 for 30." >> is frank gifford on there? >> he better be. this is for the dad in me. a lot of cars have the screens built into the head rests. it is very expensive. these you can get, strap them on to the back of the seat. the dvd goes right in here, one on each head rest. your kids on a long trip, $150.

>> my favorite item is for the music lover in me. >> this is the big-ticket item. $399. basically you put this in a room. you want it in your living room. can you control with the subscription off your iphone or it comes with a remote control but you can also put it on your iphone. literally every song on the face of the earth. it dials into international music stations. >> you want to move it upstairs, you care that wireless thing -- >> you still have access. you can buy more than one -- >> we're not that rich. we can't. just ten seconds. >> this is like you know google tv, apple tv? this is the future of television. this is more reasonably priced. starts at $59.99. you can download and watch net election, hulu, u tush and most importantly for the guys, nhl, mlb, this is all you'll ever need. >> thank you, willie. >> i'm here with author, actor and comedian dennis mitchell

with classic gift ideas for us. you're looking fine, by the way. >> thank you very much, you know you always look great. >> thank you, baby. >> start with phillips norelco stubble and beard trimmer. this is my favorite. fellows, you can trim, shave, it picks up the stubble for you. >> is this what you use? it is like a sculpture on your face. >> thank you. absolutely. because if you use the tradit n traditional shaving cream and you get in grown hairs. but if you do like to put on the shaving cream, we have the classic shave lab series, retails for $55. get your moisture gel, your shave cream, all in one. it comes with a toiletry bag for lab series. >> smooth as a baby's butt. >> absolutely. >> you say this is the ultimate shirt. is this it? >> yes. lacrosse. everybody loves lacrosse. this price is at 9 b$2 but it i the vintage wash new polo shirt

from lacoste. you know the person who loves you really loves you. make sure it has a croc on it, not a salamander. make sure it is the original. >> matt lauer wants those shoes. >> he might have to fight me for them because i want to keep coming back, i'll give it to him. matt, you are absolutely right. eddie bauer has done it again. these house shoes not only have sweat control, temperature sheepskin insulation but they also have a durable hard bottom. can you wear them outside. >> i think he thought that, they're every day. >> i would wear mine to the airport so i can deal easier with tsa. >> and get patted down. >> at least i'll be comfortable. >> time for one more thing. what's the toaster? >> it is the mlb pro toaster. make your toast. it only costs $32. get it on hns.com. the toast actually comes out

with the logo of the team which is symbolic. >> oh, that is sad! >> this is symbolic. it is the mets and they were toast last year! >> last, but not least, if you don't know what to get your guy, get them sports tickets to his favorite team. you can't go wrong. i love the falcons. i'm a falcons fan. matt ryan, we'll see you, eli manning in the playoffs. >> now you're going too far. love you. >> merry christmas, everybody. i'm up here with the one, the only, frank fontana, the author of "frank fontana's dirty little secrets of design." they're eating up your time. >> let's rock and roll. stainless steel wine glass, martini glasses. >> hear that, kathie lee? keeps the drinks cold. >> a guy needs his protein to get it going. kansas city steaks has six 12-ounce steaks for $79.95. >> you guys got to look at this

pizza cutter. >> this is the man's pizza cutter. it works. kind of does o. check it out. so to get the guy in the mood, chocolates.com came up with these -- >> pay attention. >> these are herbal infused truffles that get the guy going a little bit. once he's got his -- herbs? >> with herbs that rev his engine. >> if you need a little more inspiration? >> porn? >> this is 50 years of playboy bunnies. >> who is going to buy that for their loved one? >> a security woman would. >> really? >> it's tasteful. it is a history of playboy bunnies. there are cool stocking stuffers with designer duct tape. if you're doing it with duct tape, do it in style. spoonsisters.com. finally from thinkeat.com. these are cool keychain items, all-in-one, six-in-one tool. a screwdriver, knife, saw,

bottle cap opener -- >> how can it go through the airport? it just can? >> because it goes on a keychain. >> it doesn't look like a knife. >> this is a usb swiss army knife. this is super cool. i actually have one of these myself. from thinkgeek.com. if all that romance doesn't work, i don't know what to tell you. >> nothing will. all right, frank. now that you found your gift for your guy, how about a little something for yourself? a vegas trip for $54 a night maybe? after this. like this one. and this one. and oops, my bad. so, they give expedia ginormous discounts with these: unpublished rates. which means i get an even more rockin' hotel, for less. my brain didn't even break a sweat. where you book matters. expedia. my brain didn't even break a sweat. stop in now and get a price match guarantee on the toys your kids are wishing for!

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[ green giant ] ho ho ho. if you're still searching for the perfect gift for someone who means a lot to you, you may want to consider sharing an experience. >> there are plenty of great get-aways out there for as low as $54 a night. the editor in chief of "budget travel" magazine is here. >> it sounds too good to be true. >> especially if you have not yet planned your holiday trip, we had some really crazy good deals to talk about today. >> good, because hoe that

hasn't. listen carefully. >> vegas is always a hotspot. over christmas there is a hotel called the rumor hotel. they are doing deals for $54 a night. they have this tranquil pool, three blocks off strip. a little bit removed. around the city, it never shuts down. there are some places can you go where you have to find activities on christmas? this one is really alive. everything i'm talking about today is during the holiday week an we have all the information on budgettravel.com where you can get all the details. >> st. pete, florida. >> it's a beautiful town. >> it is just beautiful, white sand. 35 miles southwest of tam a pa. there's a hotel there i just love called postcard inn on the beach. it is about 196 rooms. they have adirondack chairs around a fire pit in the back so it is just like a really kind of fun, relaxed sort of florida keys surfer vibe.

st. pete is also called the sunshine city. they get 361 days of sun a year so this time of year is one of the best. >> $70 a night is amazing. >> i know. can you believe it? for that? >> all the way down to grenada, nicaragua. >> yes. this is a really wonderful tranquil spa retreat. the hotel spa grenada. they have rooms for $72 a night. best thing about it, in addition to being sort of this 19th century spanish colonial mansion with 18-foot ceilings, you get a free spa trip along with it. you'll get a massage, facial, and then they $10 to $20 a piece if you want to add on. unbelievable. the average highs around this time of year about 80 degrees. zero days of rain. it's just beautiful down there. >> what about mexico?

>> acapulco. a place that's always had this sort of great kind of romantic hollywood glak more. there is a hotel right at the heart of it called the hotel boca chicka. we. put it on our cover for the november issue of "budget travel." deals over christmas, $111 per night. it has again a surfy vibe right on the beach, lackerwhite rooms. breezy private rooms with private balconies. >> is this just because times are so hard they need -- >> times are hard, yes, but hotels are always great, affordable finds. that's what our job, to fine them for you. >> lastly, the czech republic. >> this is more like your traditional christmas get-away.

prague has a hotel called the mosaic house. they have rooms for $72 a night. and they're about a ten-minute walk from the charles bridge. it is a very kind of romantic, warm environment with sort of rich brown walls and golds and prague has this holiday market there so you can really experience the best of the season. >> thank you, nina. great stuff. up next, have mercy. a special t gram grammy award winner duffy. she is so cute. [ female announcer ] make their eyes widen

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>> announcer: the "toyota concert series" on "today" -- brought to you by toyota. we first met duffy just two years ago when she released her debut cd "rock fairy." the album sold 6.5 million copies worldwide. you know that song "mercy," that was everywhere. >> she walk away with a grammy

award for best pop vocal album. now she hopes lightning strikes one more time with a new cd released yesterday called "endlessly." you are the cutest thing in the world. >> thank you. likewise. i was going to say the same about the two of you. can i take you home for me? >> to wales where you are from. >> we're into christmas. >> it's arrived. >> i saw you on "snl" when you say "mercy," and it was lightning in a bottle. you have such a unique sound, yet you've kept so grounded throughout these years. how have you done that? >> i don't actually know. grounded, seems stable, right? >> which not all rock stars are. >> i've heard that, too. that being said, don't know, my voice is me. so i guess i don't celebrate it all that much. i might take it for granted at times. >> it is just you. >> we love you just the way you are. what are you going to sing for us? >> "endlessly." >> i heard the rehearsal.

it is beautiful! ♪ ♪ endlessly ♪ endlessly i'm counting down the days ♪ ♪ when you will come my way ♪ endlessly i fall asleep to dream ♪ ♪ and you're here again it seems

endlessly ♪ ♪ i'm looking for you everywhere that i go ♪ ♪ in all of the things i do ♪ still i'll be looking 'til i find you ♪ ♪ 'til i find you ♪ endlessly ♪ i'll turn to every door ♪ yes it's you i'm hoping for

♪ so endless ly ♪ ♪ i'm looking for you everywhere that i go ♪ ♪ in all of the things i do ♪ still i'll be looking ♪ 'til i find you ♪ 'til i find you ♪ 'til i find you ♪ 'til i find you

>> duffy! that was great! >> thank you, everybody. that was lovely. >> terrific. >> thank you. >> your mama's going to be so happy to see you. >> thank you so much. >> merry christmas to you. again the cd is in stores now. we'll be back with more of "today." >> on nbc. ♪ i'm gonna get it, i know i'm gonna get it. ♪

♪ i can't wait ♪ every little step, brings me closer to the gift. can't be late. ♪ ♪ rip it open in a second and it's time to play. ♪ ♪ i was up all night in anticipation feeling electric jewels of jubilation. ♪ ♪ yule tide carols from the local congregation. ♪ ♪ make it tough to hold my patience in check. ♪ ♪ is it time yet, is it time, i can't wait. ♪ ♪ is it time yet, is it time, i can't wait. ♪

okay or not okay. the question is, is it okay to skip gift giving during a recessio recession. >> i said? >> absolutely. >> hoda says, i think you can find a gift at the right price. a sweet card and some warm chocolate chip cookies are both affordable and thoughtful. talking about gifts? >> yeah, we got it. >> go to the donations that just keep coming in. we have some great gentlemen

with us. >> tom johnson of aeropostale and john. >> we're giving away air bears. this year we're giving away 6,000. it is our fifth year. excited to be here back again. >> what's going on back there? >> john's got this hot show on -- here in new york city. >> we are giving away 600 seats to our show. three different performances that we can bring in kids who wouldn't get a chance to see musical theater otherwise. >> what is your friend has to say about that? >> i think it is great. bring them to the theater. >> theater can transform a life. >> that is very true. otherwise i wouldn't be here with you ladies. >> thank you so much for your generosity. merry christmas. >> thank you. remember, c pztla plaza, bring your gift. >> join us tomorrow. have a good day, everybody. ♪

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