. good morning. storm of the decade. floodwaters wash away homes in arizona as a state of emergency is declared in california. when will the rains end? >> key victories for president obama as gets set for his christmas vacations in hawaii. he signs the don't-ask, don't-tell repeal into law. we'll have the latest from washington. and under investigation, lindsay lohan accused of attacking a worker at the betty ford clinic following an alleged night of drinking. her accuser speaks out.

>> she grabbed my wist and snapped it down to get the phone out of my harm. >> lohan says she's the real victim today, wednesday, december 22,2010. good morning, welcome to "the today show" on a wednesday morning. i'm matt lauer. >> good morning, everyone. i was taking a risk. i'm savannah guthrie in for meredith. >> nice to have you here up from washington. >> i am here. we're thinking the president will head to hawaii today. he has some business first. also the weather, that image of the house being swept into an overflowing river in arizona. one example of the devastation brought by six straight days of rain out west. fortunately no one was inside that home at the time.

>> could be more intense today even. forecasters are warning some areas to expect up to two inches of rain per hour. rescue crews are on stand by, evacuations have already been ordered. we'll get the latest on those storms in a live report. also ahead, news you can use if you're shopping for a new car. the insurance institute is out with a new list of the safest vehicles. there's a few surprises. here's a question for you. how far would you go to look your very best on your wedding day. a new reality show is being blasted by critics because it has brides-to-be competing to win plastic surgery ahead of their big day. some people think this cross as line, others say we crossed that line a long time ago. we'll have more on the controversy coming up. let us begin with those devastating rains out west. we go to ilos angeles for the

latest. >> reporter: the grand is stat rated, rocky and muddy. county officials want many residents out. state of emergency, six california counties battered by extreme weather. in the foot hills outside of los angeles evacuation orders for hundreds of homeowners. the san gabrielle mountains are drenched. these hills can't take much more. mud threatens to bury neighborhoods below. but many families ordered out won't leave. >> staying home. keeping an eye outside to see if anything is going happen. >> reporter: record rain in southern california will likely make december the wettest month in history. forecasters say today could bring several inches of additional rain. thunderstorms are expected, tornadoes are possible. a storm of historic proportions. >> this is probably among the

top five rain events we've seen, even in the el nino years. >> reporter: it's claimed lives, two fatalities on the road, another in the water. in northern california, a 62-year-old woman was killed when she drove into the russian river. tuesday flash flooding triggered a series of rescue, a swollen river trapped four hikers in los angeles. in san diego, three men were pulled from rising rapids, homes in the same area were taking in water. >> we've been going on flooding calls. it's not isolated to one portion of the city. >> reporter: the damage is in the millions. streets have buckled. trees toppled. the city of bakersfield is still pumping out. >> a band aid on a major operation. >> reporter: the devastation spread well beyond california. four homes were washed away near littlefield, arizona.

across many western states dams are bursting, rivers raging. back in southern california, hundreds have been ordered out of the foot hills. but even with historic rain many have chosen to ride out the storm. >> when the deputies knock on your door, please leave. this is your lives that we're attempting to protect. >> reporter: breaking news here in southern california, we are having major flooding in laguna beach, some three to four feet of water in the downtown area. that's compounded by other problems in the mountains we're having mudslides across the area. the big concern this afternoon is this pounding rain. a long wild pet day. >> thank you very much. those people need a break. >> they do indeed. white christmas is one thing, a wet christmas is another thing. the question is when will the rain let up? stephanie abrams is tracking storm she's in for al. good morning.

>> reporter: good morning. do i have good news. we'll get a break. we still have to deal with the rain today. notice that dry air. it is moving in. today we will seehe showers from northern california all the way down into southern california. here's a closer look. miguel was gettingng a break. there's more rain in the forecast. we'll show you how much we'll see as we head through the day today. we'll see another one to two inches of rain as we head through the day today. a break thursday and friday. unfortunate news, looks like more showers in forecast as we head into our weekend. back to you. >> thanks. first to capitol hill where it appears president obama is set to score another key win before he heads off to hawaii to join the first family for christmas. nbc's capitol hill correspondent kelly o'donnell. >> reporter:ing cooperation is never easy to fine but it appears maybe a dozen maybe more republicans will join with

democrats today to ratify the new s.t.a.r.t. treaty with russia. many say it's not about politics it's about national security but it sure is a win for the president. >> this would not have happened without bipartisanship. >> reporter: today john kerry expects to close a hard fought deal with more than enough republicans on board. >>it's victory for the country. victory for anybody else. a victory for the country. >> reporter: many republicans remain frustrated wanting changes and arguing that russians can't be trusted. >> we all know and it's been widely reported that they cheat. they are serial cheaters. they cheated in virtually every agreement we've had with them. >> reporter: the break through came tuesday when both conservatives and moderate republicans publicly backed the treaty signed by the president in april. >> i'll vote to ratify the new s.t.a.r.t. treaty because it leaves our country with enough nuclear war heads to blow any attacker to kingdom come.

>> reporter: democrats in congress have been running a hurry up before this lame duck session expires, a slower fight will change the look of congress as just released census figures start the battling to redraw district maps. >> there's going be no shortage of sniping and pushing and shoving in this musical game. >> reporter: few call the northeast and midwest home. ohio and new york lose two states. another eight states go down by one. gains in the south and west happen to come in more republican territory. texas picks up four. florida gets two more. >> republicans have a bigger seat at the table to reshape these boundaries than they ever have had before. the opera's really big number out of those census figures is 308.7 million. that's how many there are of us as of april this year. that's an increase of almost 010% from a decade ago but it is

slowing. >> kelly o'donnell for us this morning on capitol hill. thanks very much. david gregory is the moderator of "meet the press." good morning to you. >> good morning. >> if we had gotten together on november 3rd and we probably d-but if i said to you that morning that have the shellacking the democrats and president took, that the president by the end the year would piece together on tax cuts, don't-ask, don't-tell and s.t.a.r.t. treaty most people would have thought we were crazy. >> either one of us. that's exactly right. now you have to give the president his due. this is a much better lame duck congress anyone expected. he was able to for the politics under the republicans on the don't-ask, don't-tell and the s.t.a.r.t. treaty. the white house was able to clear away a lot of the underbrush politically to pave the way for these agreements. >> his approval rating has not been that great. it does help when you're leading. does any of this translate, in your opinion, into better

approval ratings? >> well, i would be cautious -- perhaps this is a down payment on a new style for the president and a new approach in washington that the white house will take, particularly with republicans. to steer a more centrist course, to look for agreement, to look for public support around issues that force republicans into a position where they have to respond to the president in a different way. to force republicans out of the mode of public opposition and get them to the bargaining table. again, i think you can look at the election results and say the american people want some action, they want washington to work better and you look at this lame duck session and you see some accomplishments. >> they are going on break. come back in january. it's going to be a very different looking congress, the house controlled by republicans, a healthy dose of the tea party thrown in there. what are his next legislative moves that he'll make in the new year? >> you talk to republicans who are coming in this new congress it's about spending. you got this debt commission u-got the issue of bringing down

government spending and dealing with unemployment. these are tough issues. the upside for president he has more republicans in a position of responsibility. hopefully they can come together and make some agreement. there are big divisions. overspending, where do you cut? do you take on entitlements, the defense bill? there are both real fractures within the republican party, talk about tea party as well as what democrats are prepared to do. >> let's talk about census. kelly o'donnell showed us those graphics the population moving from the northeast into the south and southwest. seats like florida picking up congressional seats. a lot of republican areas will be strengthened by that. dhois it change the political landscape over the next decade. >> the democrats says it locks in a certain status quo. republicans have more control in republican areas that will help them redraw these districts, help them hold on to the house. but for democrats a lot of the fastest growth in the country is

among hispanics. that's not good for the republican party which has a hard time attracting their votes. >> david gregory on this wednesday morning. david if i don't see you, happy holidays. let's get a check on the rest of the morning's stories. gun qui carl quintanilla is at the news desk. >> president obama signs don't-ask, don't-tell repeal into law. it will likely take several months for it to go no effect. south korea is launching three days of military exercises today. tomorrow seoul will hold it's largest live artillery drill in that country's history. south koreans gathered at the demilitarized zone to light a 90-foot tall christmas tree for the first time since 2003. it is a new day in iraq where the national unity government has now been sworn into office after months of dead lock. president praised the

development as a significant moment. london's heathrow airport is rejecting the military's help after thousands of passengers were strand for days by snowed out runways. officials say the busiest international airport will be up and running by thursday. let's get over to wall street this morning. cnbc melissa lee is at the new york stocks exchange. >> investors focused on a final reading of third quarter gdp and data on existing home sales. there's been signs of a global recovery with price of commodities ranging from oil to copper to sugar to rubber hitting multiyear highs. the stock market had new highs. we haven't been at these levels since before the bankruptcy of lehman brothers. they can do whatever a spider can do on performer in spider-man turn off the dark fell 30 feet and was

hospitalized. he is the fourth cast member to be injured. meantime the show's team met with workers protection groups to previse some of the safety procedures. the university of connecticut women's basketball team won their 89th game in a row. they have been unbeatable since 2008. 7:14, congratulations to them, guys they are so good, only a couple of teams have been able to pull in within single digits. >> they won by something like 40 points. coach got a call from the president. congratulations to the lady huskies. >> we have a lady cheering section right here. >> i'm for the huskies also. we're talking about rain out on

the west coast. here we had been talking about a potential white christmas, i hear that's being dashed today. >> the models are still having a little trouble figuring that out. but first let's have a look at some sunshine, since we have been talking about so much rain and snow. we have seen up to 17 feet of snow in the west. there's a look at a misty and a little foggy across the golden gate bridge this morning. let's show you the state wide radar. i can show you the shourszre a actually getting out of the bay area. it's just a mess in southern california today. if you're heading south, look out for heavy rain heading down towards los angeles. we'll see rain at times for the morning but the story through the afternoon is clearing skies. what's left of the showers around areas south of san jose shutting down by the evening. two days of dry weather and the rain comes back saturday morning. one of the top accounting

firms other thanst and young is -- lisa myers has the latest. >> reporter: good morning to you, savannah. these civil charges are the first charges of any kind involving the collapse of lehman brothers. they're aimed not at lehman executives but it's auditors who allegedly helped the company hide billions of dollars in liability. so investors wouldn't know just how weak the company was. the images are still vivid. september 2008. >> lehman brothers one of the nation's most respected investment banks is nearly history today. >> reporter: lehman's collapse helped trigger the financial meltdown and costed investors trillions of dollars. now the attorney general has accused lehman's auditor of helping -- specifically the civil lawsuit charges that he repeatedly engageded in

transactions that took $50 million of debt off the company's balance book. andrew cuomo called it a house of cards business model designed to hide billions in liability in the year before lehman collapsed. william black, a bank regulator during the savings and loan crisis praised the move. >> somebody finally did something about lehman and about the top tier audit firms that have given clean opinions to every scam in the modern crisis and gotten away with it. >> the case was brought by a state attorney general and not the federal government. >> this filing again raises the question of whether or not this federal regulator, the sec has become an old toothless dog laying in front of the fireplace that has lost its bark and bite. >> reporter: an obvious question, if the auditor is accused of wrong doing, what

about the executives who conducted or approved the transactions? >> i think it's pretty clear that there will be an action brought probably by the sec against some senior executives at lehman. >> former lehman ceo dick fold says he did not know of these transactions and has done nothing wrong. his lawyer did not respond to a question for comment. fold has kept a low profile but maintains a lavish lifestyle. he still owns an $8 million mansion in greenwich, connecticut and owns a 50 acre compound near sun valley idaho. the ceo says that the company followed -- lehman's financial statements clearly portrayed lehman as a highly leveraged entity. >> lisa meyers in our washington newsroom this morning. it's 7:18, once again here's matt. >> good news this morning if you're in the market for a new car. the insurance i have has just

given it's highest safety marks to cars, trucks and suvs. tom costello is in maryland with details on this. people need to jot down this information, tom. >> reporter: yeah, that's right and we're here because 00 dhyun is one of its surprise stories. they include the sonata as well as the santa fe, the hyundai genesis is on the list as well as the tucson. this year every top manufacturer have at least one top safety pick, 66 in total, compared to 27 a year ago. after years of crash testing car after car after car, 2011 may go down as the year when cars, minivans and suvs turned the safety corner. with 66 models earning top

safety pick awards for protecting passengers in front, side and rear crashes and now rollovers. while using electronic stability control to keep cars on the road. 40 cars, 25 suvs and one minivan. >> it's packaging 101. if the box doesn't collapse, then the cargo inside is better protected. >> reporter: this year hyundai and it's affiliate kia with nine pinners. and audi with nine winners. toyota and lexus had eight winners, last year they had none. in just one year the top safety pick grew by nearly 40 vehicles as manufacturers dramatically improved roof strength to with stand rollover accidents. experts say it's a sign all automakers are placing greater emphasis on safety. >> when we raise the bar for safety, they're matching it. they're putting their engineers to work. >> reporter: and cars are safer

than they were even ten years ago. firefighters from montgomery county, maryland just outside of d.c. respond to emergencies on one of the busiest interstates in the country. they say cars with -- >> when the car's traveling 65 miles an hour, so is the person. so that air bag when it goes off provides that cushion, that's that area of safety, that impact zone. >> the number of fatal accidents has dropped to its lowest level in 50 years to just under 40,000. seat belts, air bags, better construction and an electronic stability control all get the credit. >> vehicles today are much safer than they were just ten years ago and they're going to be safer in the future. >> reporter: here's how they're going to be safer in the future. look for lane avoidance systems that warn you when you're

departing your lane, collision avoidance systems that automatically turn on the brakes. if you don't see somebody in your blind spot, you're warned. and dui systems, if you get in your car and you have had too much to drink, the car simply won't work. all that in the coming decade they expect to be in wider use. >> we appreciate all that information, we're going to pull those top 66 safety picks on our website. check those out at todayshow.com. ahead lindsay lohan accused of getting drunk and attacking a woman in the betty ford center. geezer

just ahead the hunt for the geezer bandit. your local news and weather straight ahead. [ woman ] i'm feeling that! [ female announcer ] the special k challenge begins january 1st. free personalized plans at specialk.com. yallwiou ou when you le?

of gourmet coffee and tea to choose from. it's the way to individually brew fresh, delicious coffee in under a minute. way to brew, hon. [ female announcer ] choose. brew. enjoy. keurig. good morning. it's 7:26. i'm marla tellez. mike joins me with bart delays. >> we'll take you to the dublin/pleasanton station where we continue with track side equipment problems. getting out of the dublin station, maybe 10 or 15 minute delays but the rest of the system moving on time. we'll take you to the bay bridge where the metering lights are indeed on. they were turned on about 6:30. no major problem bus that rain was turned on overnight and that got some puddles. we're watching some of the rain actually kind of letting up around san jose. we still have clouds left behind. east bay the showers heading off to the north and east. we had rain earlier but that's

moving out towards sacramento and chico this morning. showers will linger for the south bay hilltops into the afternoon. tomorrow and friday, patchy morning fog the main concern but more rain will come back as we pr itoasarday. 's 7:26. more news after the break. 7:

the chill of peppermint. the rich dark chocolate. york peppermint patty. get the sensation. a south bay police officer is in danger of losing his badge for good over a secretly taped beating. we do have cell phone video of the alleged beating of the san jose state college student, recorded pie a roommate.

the san jose city manager is moving to fire the officer for what she says is unnecessary force. the police department recommends the officer be suspended without pay. more local news for you coming up in about 30 minutes at 7:56. the "today" show returns in less than a minute.

7:30 now on a wednesday morning, it's the 22nd day of december, 2010. the countdown christmas in full swing out on the plaza. the weather is a little bit better than the last few days. three days to go until the big day. inside studio 1a, i'm matt lauer along with savannah guthrie. it's good to have you here. just ahead, some new problems for lindsay lohan, the actress is now under investigation for allegedly assaulting a staffer at the betty ford clinic.

lindsay says she was the actual victim. we'll hear from lohan's accuser coming up in just a little while. is this the new face of crime? using movie quality masks to pull off brazen crimes including california's so-called geezer bandit who's hit a dozen banks. and the bride-to-be likes to go great lengths to look her best on her wedding day. that's pretty normal but a new reality show is taking that concept to a new level, competing for plastic surgery before the big day. we'll begin with the assault allegations against lindsay lohan. kristen welker has the latest for us. kristen, good morning. >> reporter: family members say lindsay lohan has been making real progress, she's been at the betty ford center now for nearly three months and earned enough privileges that she's allowed to

leave for short periods of time. bu but if these latest allegations are true, it could be a devastating blow for the actress. lindsay lohan is just two weeks shy of freedom. she's set to leave rehab on january 3, but now her future is uncertain, after an altercation with a betty ford center worker that allegedly got physical. the staffer decided to speak out. >> she was very angry and out of control. >> reporter: in a taped interview, dawn holland hold tmz.com that lohan started trouble on december 12 after missing curfew. >> what happened was that lindsay and two other patients had snuck out, went drinking, trying to sneak back in and they got caught. >> reporter: lohan then refused a breathalyzer test, but called 911 herself eventually handing

holland the phone and that's when she says the situation got out of control. >> she grabbed my wrist and snap it down and out of my hands to get the phone out of my arm. she swore a few choice words at me. >> just the fact that somebody would cross that line of getting physical with someone breaks every taboo, breaks every boundary that is set up in the treatment center. >> reporter: but sources close to lohan say she never touched holland. >> lindsay feels like this is all unfair, that she was targeted and that she really has been given a bum rap. >> reporter: as the investigation gets underway, lohan's attorney declined to comment but released a statement saying it should be noted that it was ms. lohan who called 911 to request police assistance at the time this incident occurred. what's more, late tuesday night t betty ford center said that holland had been fired for

speaking out and violating confidentiality guidelines. this latest incident is a major set back for the 24-year-old actress who has been in and out of jail and rehab for multiple probation violations, stemming from a 2007 dui arrest. lohan has been at the rancho mirage facility since september. judge ellen fox ordered her to stay through the new year, saying you're an addict, i hope you understand that. >> she does not want to have her freedom curtailed. >> reporter: a criminal defense attorney says that if the case goes back to work, a judge will have to decide if lohan violated her probation again. >> if she violated the law the judge is going to impose some sanctions and anybody could assume that judge fox is going to put her back in jail. >> reporter: tmz is reporting overnight that lohan is now saying she was out getting her hair done, and when see came back, holland grabbed her and

pushed her so hard it made her cry. police are still investigating this incident. at this point no charges have been filed. nbc news did reach out to hole dan holland, she declined to comment. >> an expert psychiatrist and author of "weekend at bellevue." good morning to both of you. we'll get to these medical issues in a minute. but let's start with some of the legal issues here. how serious is this potentially? do you think that a judge would revoke ms. lohan's probation? >> the interesting thing is when you're on probation, you're ordered to commit no crimes at all. even jaywalking is get you surrendered. but the reality is, this is a relatively minor offense at most it's assault and battery. it's not something that would bring about a surrender. here's the thing that's going to

make all the difference. how does probation feel about this? because they're the ones that have the authority to file a violation with the court. >> so probation has the discretion. >> yes, they do. they don't have to decide to pursue charges, probation could surrender her even if no formal charges have been brought. >> lindsay lohan is about three weeks away from her release. what strikes you about this incident. >> one of the things we see with lindsay lohan is there's a certain amount of drama and excitement that surrounds her, i think it's past of her personality structure that these things happen to her. it does feel like a sabotage situation where she has to keep her nose clean and do her time and there's still things surrounding her. >> it's a significant question as to what really happened here. we're reporting that lindsay lohan is denying that there was any kind of battery here and now

there's the question of the worker who was allegedly attacked talking to tmz. as the betty ford worker hurt herself by doing an interview? >> absolutely. i think that's one of the best developments from lindsay's perspective. the fact that this woman has been fired suggests that she isn't a credible, you know, dignified employee. and maybe she is motivated by something like money or fame. she knew who she was dealing with. why did she kneelkneel -- feel compelled to talk to a tabloid like tmz. whether she pushed her first or second, they're both saying they were each shoved. that's something that works to lindsay's advantage. a shoving match in addiction center, that happens every day and it's not usually something that gets somebody surrendered from probation. >> i would like to follow up, this idea of conflict in a

health care setting, there are all sorts of things that happen in terms of power struggles and battles of the will. it's typical. and especially in the sort of addict population, they don't want to be controlled, they want to break the rules, so this kind of thing does happen all the time. >> people think of celebrities like lindsay lohan, and think, oh, they get special treatment. but it does go both ways. do you think she may be being singled out for major prosecution on an issue that might not be that significant? >> absolutely, i think there's a very real risk that she's been overpersecuted in this situation. mind you, if this were an issue of a dirty drug test or something like that, i think we would all pounce and say, forget about her, throw her in jail for the fifth time she's failed. this really isn't that problem. so i think probably the prumpatiprump ati presumption is going to be that

since the woman was fired she's not credible. "today's" weather is brought to you by holiday gift cards from massage envy. over 600 locations nationwide. find one near you at massage envy come. . >> what's your favorite thing about new york city? >> the beautiful lights. >> you're very "sex and the city," the hat and the ears, you're dressed for it, get. temperatures are a little bit on the cool side, but also throughout portions of the northern plains, temperatures there always topping here's san jose right now. we still have overcast skie a little bit of light rain in a few spots, but most of the action clearly here on the statewide radar view is swinging from san luis obispo southown towards los angeles.

you can see scattered showers around the santa cruz mountains. things dried out around san francisco. notice the north bay really drying out. we'll see some misty skies at times, eventually skies clearing later on today, setting us up for two dry days before the rain comes back in for saturday. >> to find occupant if you need a hat logon to weather.com 24 hours a day. coming up next, it's not who you think. the highly detailed and realistic mask now being used by al th atcr's right after this. being used by criminals. [ female announcer ] with 45 published clinical studies,

slim-fast gives you proven weight loss, not celebrities. so try the slim-fast 3-2-1 plan. the clinically proven way to lose weight now. slim-fast. who has time to slim slowly? to bring you a low-price medicare prescription drug plan called the humana walmart-preferred prescription plan. it's a new plan that covers both brand and generic prescriptions and has the lowest-priced national premium in the country of only $14.80 per month and in-store copays as low as $2. when you could save over $450 a year, you can focus on the things that really matter. ♪

go to walmart.com for details.

as much as i can about a company before i invest in it. that's why i like fidelity. they give me tools and research i can't get anywhere else. their stock screener lets me search for stocks with more than 140 criteria. i can see what their experts are thinking and even call them to bounce an idea off of one of their investment professionals. a good strategy relies on good insight. if you wanted to learn more about a company, i think you'd actually have to be there. back now another at 7:43. one of california's most famous bank robbers may be using a highly specialized mask. it's like something out of "mission impossible." >> reporter: he's weathered,

wrinkle and unshaven. the fbi says he's responsible for at least a dozen bank robberies across california and the geezer bandit as he's come to be known gets away every time. but in this back alley warehouse in los angeles, a dead ringer for the bandit himself. >> i had a lot of hard years in my life. >> reporter: his name is rusty slusher. >> back in my day, we didn't have television, we had radio. >> reporter: rusty isn't even 40. >> you go from old to young. >> reporter: rusty makes highly detailed high end masks, the kind often used in the movies. he uses medical grade silicone that molds to anyone's features. how it works though is a tightly held secret. >> it becomes your face, it moves with your face. it's like a five-hour makeup in

five seconds. >> reporter: he even makes life like hands to match. >> the shape of things to come. >> reporter: the fbi isn't sure whether this is the geezer bandit's disguise, but it's not so farfetched. in october, an asian man used that very mask to sneak on to a jet in hong kong in hopes of getting refugee status in canada. it worked. >> my gosh, our masks are that realistic? they can actually get through airport security? i was shocked. >> reporter: and a man confessed to a string of robberies. the suspect was white, but the mask was so realistic, police initially arrested a black man whose own mother said the man in the mask looked just like her son. no small investment, the masks cost as much as $1,600 apiece. but they're pretty idiot proof.

the transformation takes virtually no expertise at all. >> no more mr. nice guy. >> reporter: and the result is eerily convincing. >> there's no way that's me. that is completely freaking me out. >> reporter: if the gonzalezer bandit is one of his clients, he's now getting geezer. ed bandit can never esca. >> this could be a real problem. you got someone on the wanted list trying to go from state to state or country to country, they get one of these masks, they put that on. if i'm an airport security, i'm not going to recognize that person. >> and already somebody falsely accused and arrested is something else entirely. >> we have yosef who's one of our production assistances. we're going to show you what he looks like before hand.

come on in now that you're wearing the geezer mask. >> it looks like you didn't get enough sleep last night. >> it's extraordinary, how does it feel? >> it's tight, but the lips move with you. >> you're able to breathe obviously. >> i can't hear very well, because the whole mask covers your ears. >> talking about looking at a surveillance video, it would throw people off the track. >> take yours off, go. >> al roker is here. >> meredith is not on vacation. >> we're just waiting for the cindy crawford model. i'll take that now. >> up next, the royal family announces another royal wedding. we'll have details from buckingham palace right after this.

oonchts. this season, make christmas poppers. use thicker paper for the cylinders and fill them with snicker's, twix and three muskateers. to learn how to create a sweet memory with chocolate this holiday season, please visit us at celebrates.todayshow.com.

if you live for performance, upgrade to castrol edge advanced synthetic oil. with eight times better wear protection than mobil 1. castrol edge. it's more than just oil. it's liquid engineering. back now at 7:50 with word of another royal wedding. prince william's cousin is back now at 7:50 with word of another royal wedding. prince william's cousin is engaged. stephanie gosk is at buckingham palace with the details. >> reporter: good morning, savannah. perhaps it's the power of suggestion or maybe there's something in the water at the palace. somewhere another royal wedding. zara phillips and mike tindall were engaged on monday night. they have yet to announce their wedding date. we can be reasonably sure of one

thing. it's not going to be april 29th. zara phillips is one of the queen's eight grandchildren, daughter to princess ann and 12th in line to the throne. the timing of engagement to rugby player mike tindall on the heels of that other big announcement comes as a bit of a surprise. >> we've waited for a royal wedding for such a long time. >> reporter: the couple's engagement photos were less formal than those of kate and william, the ring slightly smaller. the announcement was deliberately low key from a couple who has lived together for years. zara has always been one of her grandmother's favorites, noteded for her fashion sense, edgier and less conservative than the other bride to be and gently criticized at times for less than royal behavior. the 29-year-old is the only grandchild with a pierced tongue. zara started riding horses when she was 4 and is now an

accomplished ek equestrian. he and her older brother peter were not given the titles prince and princess. >> they could have ordinary first names and second names. >> reporter: that means zara has had to support herself without the help of british taxpayer money, not difficult with endorsements from both rolex and land rover. zara's brother peter married his wife autumn, a canadian in 2008, famously it was when kate middleton met the queen for the first time. the wedding caused scandal when the couple sold pictures of the event to a tabloid. the palace was not pleased. peter and zara will be with their grandmother for christmas. peter's wife autumn is nine months pregnant with the queen's stfir great grandchild and she's

due on christmas day. >> stephanie gosk, thank you. ahead, the new reality show that let's brides to be batal battle ahead, the new reality show that let's brides to be batal battle it out for plastic surgery. plus, you can print and pay for postage onne. and i can pick them up for free with package pickup. perfect! cause i'm gonna need a lot of those. wow! i knew i should have brought my sleigh. priority mail flat rate shipping starts at $4.90 only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship. ♪ [ keys jingle ] drop everything! shop the petsmart christmas holiday countdown sale and save 50% on all petholiday products. plus, save 50% on select dog beds. hurry, last chance to save. only at petsmart.

come on... isn't it time an auto insurer gave it to you straight? that's why you should talk to state farm. but not yet. first, talk to any one of the 40 million drivers who already have state farm. 40 million. yeah, that's more than geico and progressive combined. by a lot. 40 million drivers. more savings. and discounts up to 40%. where else you gonna get discounts like that? call an agent at 1-800-state-farm or go online.

. . . . . . vo: it's time for a phone... to save us from our phones. new windows phone. designed to get you in, and out, and back to life. get yours at at&t.

well, good morning, everyone. 7:56, let's check in with mike. >> very light volume of traffic because a lot of folks are on vacation. there's a couple of accidents, southbound 880 at high street as you're coming down towards the coliseum out of downtown. you see the slowing in both directions. this accident actually might be visible from both sides of the freeway, but a light volume of traffic so that's an unexpected slow spot for you as well as southbound town towards the san mateo bridge. we have slowing usually because of the volume of traffic but because of an accident. the san mateo bridge itself, still a little damp roadway but not really a problem and we can start to see the peninsula side from hayward as well. so visibility a little better. >> skies slowly clearing. certainly on the wide angle view here on the radar, you can see most of the rain and snow well off to the east right now. around the santa cruz mountains, still isolated showers.

as we head toward the afternoon, should see some clearing today. showers starting to come to an end right around midday, maybe a lingering shower or two around the santa cruz mountains. tomorrow and friday, patchy thick fog. the next round of rain is as we head through christmas day on we nd su aymo showers .suay. the time is 7:57. more news after the break.

today bay yar lawmakers will call for the power to shut down the party on party buses that are so popular with kids in their teens and 20s.

assemblyman jerry hill of san mateo will introduce a law to hold bus companies accountable for keeping booze out of the hands of anyone younger than 21 on the bus. the bill comes after the death of a burlingame teenager who drank on a party bus, then got behind the wheel of his car and crashed. his mother will be there today as the bill is introduced. right now party buses don't fall under the california public utility commission's alcohol laws for transportation companies. more local news in a half an hour. the "today" show returns in less than a minute.

♪ 8:00 now on a wednesday morning. it's the 22nd day of december, 2010. just about three days to go until christmas. not just about, actually three days to go until christmas. take a look at the size of the crowd we have out on the plaza this morning. most if not all of these people will be doing their holiday shopping in new york after they spend some time with us. we're happy about that. out on the plaza. i'm matt lauer.

welcoming in samantha guthrie. >> i expect santa out here. >> you look a little in the red and white. coming up we'll have an interesting question four. do some brides go too far before their wedding day? >> there's actually a new reality show, a competition for plastic surgery and it's being blasted by the critics. we'll dive into the controversy and hear from a woman who took part in this. >> also some of the dilemmas the parents have during the holiday season. at what age is it okay for kids to stay up late enough to watch the ball drop. at what agency is it okay for them to have a sip of champagne to toast the new year. and a warning, we're also going to ask a question that santa question. so if you know it i mean you may want to usher your kids into another room. >> the real santa. >> first let's get to the news

desk. carl quintanilla, good morning. >> good morning. new census figures are out and they are going to give more political clout to southern and western states. population growth means texas will gain four additional seats in the house. florida adds two more. new york and ohio will each lose two seats because of population declines. according to census the u.s. is home to more than 308 million people. the senate is moving towards a final vote on the new s.t.a.r.t. treaty that president obama signed with russia back in april. it appears enough republicans will vote with democrats to ratify the treaty. senate is also expected to take a test vote today on a scaled back $6 billion health care bill for first respond earns others who became sick after working at ground zero. rescue crews are on alert in southern california with forecasters say a seventh straight dave rain today date of birth heaviest yet. six california counties have declared states of emergency. the fear of mudslides tuesday

forced evacuation of 230 homes. heavy rainfall this week has destroyed at least four homes in western arizona, including one that was washed away by a rising river. parents of a rut gears university student who jumped to his death from a bridge after his roommate use ad webcam to spy on his tryst with a man is suing the school. they claim rut gears failed to enforce rules. the woman accused of bringing a gun to a tv station in north carolina is undergoing psychologically evaluation. she was distraught over money troubles and held what turned out to be an unloaded gun to her own head. charlotte station wsoc went off the air for an hour while police talked the woman into is yo surrendering. washington's decision last motorola text 187 square miles of alaska as a polar habitat

will cost jobs and limit natural resource development. in oregon an elk was up to its neck in trouble after falling through thin ice on a pond. it took police and volunteers several tries to rescue the animal which came away a bit stunned but otherwise okay. probably needed a drink after that. it is now ka8:04. we go stephanie with the weather. we have two chicks from chesapeake and working hard. we got lights, bells. how long did it take you to make this? >> about an hour. >> how long, mom. >> about three. >> everyone creative. we want to take you to our pick city this morningnd and that's raleigh, north carolina. one of m favorite cities here. we'll see that sunshine, 50 degrees and as we look at the rest of the country we'll

here's the view across the bay. the tower a alcatraz in the misty skies. let's show you the radar out to the siary. snow close to 4500 feet. for the santa cruz mountains fog and rain. to the north bay, things have created down. slow clearing and showers ending and a dry day tomorrow and friday, but the wind and rain pick up again on saturday. a christmas wish to get here to the plaza. finally. congratulations. you loving it? >> yes, i am. >> matt over to you. >> when we come back there's a wew tthaliyho s that has brides-to-be competing for plastic surgery. cross a line? we'll talk about that right after these messages.

♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] every day thousands of people are switching from tylenol® to advil. to learn more and get your special offer, go to takeadvil.com. take action. take advil®.

pride. pizzazz. sass! [ laughter ] [ woman ] i'm feeling that! [ female announcer ] the special k challenge begins january 1st. free personalized plans at specialk.com. what will you aiin whn en you los free personalized plans at specialk.com. what will you aiin whn en you los ah, it's stinging a little bit more than usual! yeah, you'll get used to it. the longer you keep your high mileage car, the more it pays you back. get castrol gtx high mileage. it helps engines last longer by fighting the main causes of engine failure. i think a dime went up my nose. yeah, it happens. don't change your car. change your oil to castrol gtx high mileage. its more than just oil. it's liquid engineering.

back now at 8:09. every woman wants to look her best on her wedding day, but how far should they go? a controversial new reality show on the e-network lets brides to be compete for plastic surgery before their special day and big reveal. it's called bridal plasity. a little bit of nick tuck. but however you think of it.

the -- network show -- >> if you're going to rank this show, it's up there with that one about marrying the little people. it's as low as you go. >> the host says that people shouldn't take it too seriously. >> i'm a reality tv junky and this is far from the worst thing out there. we have about 12 brides that are competing weekly in bridal themed challenges. they made wish lists of plastic surgeries that they would personally want. if they win the challenge, they can pick a plastic surgery off their wish list. at the end. the last bride standing getting a $100,000 dream celebrity style wedding. on my wish list it was a nose job. skin resurfacing, boob job possibly.

liposuction. >> melissa hooper got sent home without winning any contest, but says the chance of the free wedding was the bigger draw than the plastic surgery. >> it's just little tweaks here and there. it's not a lot. it's sending so many disturbing messages, i don't actually know where to start. >> reporter: some reality shows contain a positive message, bridal pl bridal plasty not so much. >> they're drinking champagne and laughing and bonding, it completely gram glamorizes -- >> bridal plasty isn't that much different from real life. >> very common in a plastic surgeon's office for a bride-to-be to come in and want

to take a bump off the nose, pin her ears back, make her breasts a little bit larger for her wedding dress. >> does bridal plasty cross the line? cindy levy is editor of bride magazine. i know you're loaded for bear on this one. we have a statement from e. they said quote, many women dream of their ideal wedding day and how they will look as a bride. from the some that's teeth whitening, removing nose bumps, to breast augmentation and more, bridal plastic takes that dream and makes it a reality. >> you said this is the meanest thing that you have seen in a long time. >> it takes that basic founding statement on steroids. i don't think it necessarily makes it a reality. >> it's interesting, you know, this show is obviously intended to be controversial. the producers knew it would be.

when it was announced three months ago there were headlines like the most depressing show in the history of shows was just announced. and women are so pissed off about it. it's not just about plastic surgery, it sends the message that you're going to be a happier and more loved bride if you have the little perfect button nose and standard issue c-cup breasts and look like you just came out of the factory. >> i want to know if this is just the logical progression of the reality shows that we see. >> it's something every bride wants to do, making sure your hair looks its best. goat your teeth whitened something like that. there's a huge difference that and glamorizing massive medical procedures. these are serious operations. >> you said this show is bad medicine, explain. >> any time a patient walks in the office, you have to ask what their expectations are, what they want. and it's sort of a psychiatric

profile that goes along with that. when you take a population that's somewhat vulnerable because they already don't like their bodies, they want something fixed. then you make them compete for something and then cameras follow them through this process, including frankly the recovery room and there's this term that's tossed out called the perfect bride. so me, i think you have to be in your 40s and 50s when you look at your body and say you know what? i'm just fine the way i am. i but this chase for perfection, i just look at this and think it sends a really dangerous message. >> there's something heart breaking about it, will being so desperate to be perfect for their men. that's part of what really struck about me about this show. >> all the fiances are encouraging women to get this kind of plastic surgery. as women, we all have insecurities about the way we look, if you're in a good relationship, you count on your

boyfriend or your husband to say i know you think you're having a fat day, but you're crazy. >> i love you, you're perfect now. it will be interesting to see five years from now how many times have dumped these women, how many guys have walked away. you're suddenly sculpted for a day and it's a real trap. >> there's a difference between how these women think they look and how they actually look. there's kristen walking around saying i want this butt face fixed. if a man said that to a woman, they would say it's abuse. >> plastic surgery is surgery. there's anesthesia, there's complications, no free ride. an operation is still an operation. >> tell me how you really feel. all right, thank you so much. coming up next, a parent's guide to holiday dilemmas with your kids from santa claus to staying up to watch the ball drop on new year's eve.

[growl] i met my husband here. i got to know my grandkids here. we've discovered so much here together. but my doctor told me that during that time my high cholesterol was contributing to plaque buildup in my arteries. that's why i'm fighting my cholesterol... with crestor. along with diet, crestor does more than help manage cholesterol, when diet and exercise alone aren't enough. crestor is also proven to slow plaque buildup in arteries. crestor is not right for everyone, like people with liver disease, or women who are nursing, pregnant, or may become pregnant. simple blood tests will check for liver problems. tell your doctor about other medicines you are taking, or if you have muscle pain or weakness. that could be a sign of serious side effects. ask your doctor if crestor is right for you. i love it when we're here together. if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help.

♪ [ 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.

- good for 23 yards. - hey. he went to jared. - that's a peerless diamond, the ideal ideal-cut diamond. female announcer: jared has thousands of loose diamonds and hundreds of settings to create your own one-of-a-kind ring. - you crying? - no.

the event you've been waiting for is almost over with 30 years of great deals, everyone's going. fabio? ♪ wow. [ male announcer ] for a limited time, get 0% apr financing on select new corollas, camrys & tundras. plus, every new toyota comes with toyota care, featuring a complimentary maintenance plan with roadside assistance. this legendary event only happens once-a-year. don't miss out on the amazing deals at toyotathon. hurry in today. we're back now at 8:19 with a unique set of challenges faced by parents during the holiday season. we teamed up with parenting.com to find out when moms and dads

everywhere think it's okay for their children to know certain things and to participate in certain holiday activities. parents out there watching, a little later in the segment, we're going to talk about santa. okay? i just want to give people a warning. let's start with question number one. when is it okay to tone down the quantity of gifts that you give at the holidays? let me tell you what our respondents say, 19% said 8, 21% said inch 10. a big majority age 13. >> i think it's now. because the economy has shrunk. we need to be realistic and teach our children that plenty equals what you can afford. and when we teach them that it's fun, holidays, you want to get gifts, it's time right now. >> i think when they hit those

tween years, they start asking for big ticket items. so you say, hey, that's great, you might get only a few other things. >> if i keep writing books for a living, my kids might get lights next year. >> how old are your kids? >> 6 years old. >> would you sit down with a 6-year-old and tell them that times are tough? >> i don't think she really knows exactly what the story is. >> when is it okay to expect kids to buy gifts on their own for family members. 20% said age 12, 18% said age 14, 16% said age 16. >> i think if they have a job and they're making some of they own money, that's perfectly acceptable. >> not a lot of 12-year-olds doing that. >> i think it's still their money, i think they should be trained early on. you take them to the store when

they're young, certainly before they're 16. >> my kids know, daddy gets an ipad, they get their flu shots this season. >> when is it okay to let the kids light the candles? age 7, 33% said that, age 10, 32%. age 12, 321%. >> i actually like it young, but they're not by themselves. it's a ritual. so you're standing with the child. you are right there with the child and you teach the child how to do it. 7-year-old knows you absolutely can never do this on your own. >> that, again, it depends on the responsibility of your kids. >> when is it okay to let the kids stay up and watch the ball drop? let's talk to you first and i'll put the respondents suggestions up. >> i think the first time they can make it. the next day they're going to be

home, you're just going to be relaxing. i think most of the respondents said around 8. >> my daughter will try, i don't think she will make it this year, between 6 and 9. >> i tried that last year, and it was a disaster, they made us watch scooby-doo. >> when is it okay to let your kids have a toast with champagne? >> the law says it's 21, whatever. we used to have new year's eve with my grandmother. she was a sweet old lady and she would give us one sip of champagne, and we were little girls. one sip, only one. >> my kids aren't going to be around when they're 16 to hang around with us on new year's. so i think this year.

>> 6 and 3. what do you think, elizabeth? >> it would really have to be up to your own family values. i think a sip, a true sip, not a swig. >> one more question, before we get to the santa question. when is it okay to stop sending holiday photo cards as a family? tomorrow. >> we have never done that. >> we send just our daughter, we don't put us on the card. >> it's such a tradition and you love it, why not do it? there's nothing wrong with it. >> and i again, i think has to do with the particular child, but when it is okay to have the talk about santa claus? careful the way we say this too. >> we just explained to our kids what wikileaks is so the santa claus equation is right up there. >> my daughter knows i have a meeting with santa every year, she knows that i met with him this year. i think when we start talking

differently, we start talking differently. >> kids will start hearing rumors at school, around second or third grade. >> how long do you keep the front up? >> as long as they want. >> i have heard of the polar express idea exists in the eyes of those who believe. >> or tom hanks, either way. >> thus the polar express reference. all right, thank you very much. just holay holiday music from jimmy buffett after your local news.

it's 8:26. hard to call it a commute. not a lot of people are out there. >> we found one for folks. that's not a great thing, but it's by the coliseum where there is an accident on the southside. the northbound side must be a distraction for those folks as they head past the area. this is typical through the area, but that's more than we expected on this light wednesday. rainy earlier, but slick roadways persist. keep that in mind. the san mateo bridge moving smoothly.

maybe hitting your windshield. misty for you. >> the rain gauge is on four wheels. it is misting, but you can see the substantial wind lifted off to the east. we have a lot of moisture bringing drizzle and light rain. the heavier showers moved off to the east of the most of the north bay drying out. should see that arriving later what's left of the showers and drizzle should be ending today and tomorrow and friday we h patchy thick morning fog. more news after the break.

>> tonight san francisco police will hold a vigil to remember one of their own gunned down. brian ta vera was shot and killed by a suspect wanted on a felony warrant. he was just 28 years old. tonight vigil will be held at the police station at 8:00. we will have more local news at 8:56. the "today" show returns in less than a minute.

8:30 now on a wednesday morning, the 22nd day of december, 2010. it's a chilly morning here on the plaza. nice people gathered as they

listen to this festive holiday music. and a little bit later in the show, some holiday music that will warm us up a bit, a one and only holiday performance by jimmy buffett a little bit later. i'm matt lauer along with savanah guthrie who's up from the white house. and carl quintanilla is with us too. >> do you cook for the holidays? >> no. >> nice talking to you. but nothing screams holiday like mark bitmann and today mark is going to show us how to prepare a rack of lamb. >> if it could be microwaved, i could probably do it. >> you can just heat. >> i can press 30 seconds and

start. also we're going to talk about something that some people may be familiar with it. it's a health condition for people that stand outside in the cold. it turns their fingers white. this has actually happened to me. we'll get into all of this in a bit. and do you guys have any weird addictions? >> i'm not going to admit that to you right here on the plaza. we're going to talk about some addictions that are truly strange, including a woman who actually sleeps with her blow dryer. a woman who will not take a full-time job because she has to care for her ventriloquist puppet. we'll meet both of those coming up. also we're going to take a look tomorrow at the year that was in news. all the big stories that we covered. some of the famous people and infamous people we interviewed throughout the year. we're going to look back at the year a little bit tomorrow. and by the way, our 17th annual holiday toy drive wraps up today. we want to give a big thank you

to everyone who came down here and went online and contributed to this toy drive. we have gathered nearly $28 million worth of toys for children all around the country. and a big thank you to those who oversee this toy drive. and again, thank you so much for donating. before we go any further. we want to get to stephanie abrams who has a check of the >> clearing skies after the rain this morning and a little bit of mist in san francisco. showers across monterey bay and things have dried out from this morning towards the north bay. what's left of the showers south of gilroy and tomorrow and friday with the recent rain, patchy thick fog and more rain arriving for the weekend.

>> and it's time to find out what's having a birthday during the holiday season. we're going to hop down to willard scott. >> i love savannah, and i love atlanta and albany and all those great cities. i'm all right and god bless you. peace on earth and good will towards men and women. charlotte, beautiful charlotte, ice grove. and ann predick. they are twins and they are 101 years old. they attribute their longevity to loving each other. joseph rizzo, new york, 107. he keeps up with current events. alfred, we love alfred wagner. evansville, indiana. 100 years old. plays cards in a club six days a week and drives to church on sunday. how about that? miriam peston is 100 years

old. known as g.g., great grandma and the kids are gaga over grandma. and ellen bolero. in florida, 102 years old. attributes longevity to exercises on a station area bike. a lot of action, but you don't go anywhere. julia, sweet julia, she's in san marcus, california, she's 100 years old. crochets hats for newborns and makes rosaries. and don't you forget, now back to savannah in new york. just ahead, we'll show you how easy it is allegedly to turn a rack of lamb into the perfect holiday meal. but first, these messages. this is "today" on nbc. verizon 4glte.

download a song in 4 seconds. rule the air on the fastest 4g network in america. ye.ok, 'lli [ female annouer made fresh, ight. thiss. that is not half. guys i have more. with cinnabon cnamon

have such a sweet delicious aro that my family can wait ir hands on them. enjoy cinnab cinnamon... now in all pillsbury cinnamon roll that my family can wait ir hands on them. set your pace to island time. rich chocolate over creamy coconut. almond joy and mounds. enjoy more.

there's something wrong about that choice of music. this morning on "today's" holiday kitchen, the perfect rack of lamb. our good friend mark bitmann says it can be an easy holiday entree. he's the author of how to cook everything. mark, welcome back. happy holidays. it does seem intimidating. >> the thing that's great, i think it's intimidating because we're used to getting it in restaurants, it's fancy, it's kind of expensive, but it's so dead easy to cook. >> the way most people see it and serve it, with basically bread crumbs, barley and what else? >> salt and pepper, and you mix those up and you spread them on the outside face of the lamb,

we're going to show you this in a minute. you may cut down between the racks of lamb. and you just roast it for about 20 minutes. >> that's traditional. >> that's the most traditional. >> what you're going to do is make a twist to it. you're going to do a couple of rubs. >> smoked paprika, and i mix that with a little rye bread and you get this lovely, crumbly crust on that. >> you want people to know that it's okay to trim the fat off of lamb. >> the whole rack as a sort of cap of fat. you want a little of that on there, but you don't want a quarter of an inch. you want to take most of it off. and most butchers will do that for you. >> why do you make that slice down the rib? what does that do for you?

>> like the cut between the ribs, first of all it promotes even cooking, but then you get these beautiful crispy bits between the ribs. and what you don't want is what's called frenching, and that's cutting all the ribs off between the ribs. be you lose this wonderful crispy meat. so you cut most of the way down, down to that bone there. and then we're going to -- >> you mentioned rye bread, smoked paprika and garlic. and you do it in a food processor. last time we had a food processor issue here. let's see if you do a little bit better now. >> cloves of garlic? >> add in some salt, some olive oil. stand back. >> how long in advance do you put this on the lamb? >> just before you cook it. >> it's not like something you let soak in? >> we have contact.

>> we're doing better this time. and you don't want this -- you want to puree. in fact this is exactly what you do want, is a nice crumbly bread crummy mix. and you just, back on this side. >> and be generous? >> we use it all. use it all. >> and that will cook for how long? >> about 20, 25 minutes. >> and you know it's done how? >> well, if you're really done, you know it's done by sight and touch. but i would cook these. and we would roast these to about 130 degrees on an instant read thermometer to get lamb that looks like that. >> i want you to be able to show people your nine spice rub. >> you toast together sesame, nutmeg, et cetera, et cetera, the rest is on the website.

you toast them and put them anner grian herb grinder. >> mark bitmann, good to see you. coming up, jimmy buffett performs a song right here in our studio. ♪electronic santa song

♪electronic santa song

become now at 8:44, this morning on "today's" health, a condition triggered by cold weather and stress that triggers numbness in your fingers and toes and other areas of your body. doctor, let's just start with you, because a lot of people may have this and may not even know they have it. what are the symptoms? >> it is an excessive sensitivity to cold temperature. so the doctor will ask a patient

how do you feel? and they'll say, i'm more sensitive to cold than most patients and they will have experienced cold seasonatio -- sensations that will cause a white pallor and when it recovers it turns red. >> i actually have this myself. but sometimes i just get one finger turn that way. >> patient also say they have a dominant fenger. the hands and feet sometimes and nose and the ears can be affected as well. >> what cause this? >> it can obviously be set off by cold, it can be set off by stress. there's a couple of different theories about what's going on in the fingers or in the toes to do it. it's not totally elucidated. >> it's interesting that stress could be a cause. explain that. >> well, you know, you have to

understand the normal response to cold. it turns out that human beings, we like to keep our core temperature the same. and the brain is very selfish, it likes to keep itself warm. it sacrifices the skin in order to do that. the brain is wired to the skin through the nerve us system, it shifts the cold to the center of the body. when you're nervous, the same then happens. my hands are cold right now. >> sorry about that, we'll get you some hand warmers. dr. mike snyder, generally, this is a nuisance. but can it be very serious? >> it can be serious when it is a symptom of another illness and that's where surgeons come into play. because normally this is a med i can treated or protection treated type of disease. >> what are some of the treatments? >> well, the first thing is what the doctor always says, don't do that. stay away from the cold. i just saw you outside.

one of the first things we do is tell people to wear gloves so i have some nice christmas gloves that you can wear. >> it kind of matches my outfit. thank you. are some gloves better than ores? >> they're even having electric heated gloves that have wires that go up into the fingers. you can always put in one of these little hot packs that you can slip into your possibility. >> i'm going to take all of that. >> it's also shifting temperatures like going to the grocery store, i'm sure you would say the worst thing i do is go grocery shopping in the cold area, sitting still with a cold breeze blowing on you, so workers need a place where they can park close to their job. they need to have a space heater close to them. there's nothing better than warm temperatures. >> some people might think of frostbite, but this is different? >> most people don't end up losing any type of tissue or developing sores, so it's

generally a benign condition and a lot of people as they get older actually grow out of it. >> i haven't grown out of it yet, but thank you doctors, have a great holiday. and thanks for the presents. coming up next, a special holiday performance from jimmy buffett. but first this is "today" on next.

the toyota concert series on "today" brought to you by toyota. jimmy buffett has recorded more than 40 albums and played sold out shows with the coral reefer band. now he's bringing his steel drum sound to his christmas album called a coral reef for christmas. since you're not the star of the show, who's the man? >> lyle greenwich. >> how long have you worked together. >> 25 years. >> have you ever been home with him? >> i went for carnival. >> you bring a different sound to christmas songs now. do all christmas songs work with the steel drum sound and things like that? >> there's a few that really work with it. you kn . >> how hard was it to convince this guy to, i mean, you know, you guys were always on his albums. did he work for scale?

>> i own the record company too. >> one hand out, one hand in, right? >> it was july, so i got out of my studio and it was kind of hard to say christmas. i got on the screen, had a little glass of wine, turned the air conditioner down and put a youtube of christmas on and got into the spirit. >> in trinidad, can christmas be as much fun in a warm weather location. don't look at me like that. i used to think it had to be snow and cold. that's how christmas spirit is born. >> it's just as fun down there. we have a good time, everybody gets together. go to people's houses. >> they have ice, it's in drinks. >> umbrella drinks and sand between your toes? >> yeah. >> what are you going to sing? >> we're doing -- what are we doing? >> winter wonder land.

>> take it away guys. ♪ sleigh bells ring are you listening ♪ ♪ snow is glistening ♪ a beautiful sight ♪ we're happy tonight ♪ walking in a winter wonderland ♪ ♪ gone away is the blue bird ♪ here to stay is the new bird ♪ he sings a love song as we go along ♪ ♪ walking in a winter wonderland ♪ ♪ we could build a snowman and then pretend that he is parson brown ♪ ♪ he'll say are you married

we'll see no man ♪ but you can doing the job when you're in town ♪ ♪ later on we'll conspire as we dream by the fire ♪ ♪ to face unafraid the plans we have made ♪ ♪ walking in a winter wonderland ♪ ♪ walking in a winter wonder land ♪ ♪ walking in a winter wonder land ♪ ♪ in the meadow we can build a snowman ♪ ♪ and pretend that he's a

carnival clown ♪ ♪ we'll have lots of fun with mr. snowman ♪ ♪ until the kids all knock him down ♪ ♪ the snow is so thrilling ♪ so you know it gets to chilling ♪ ♪ we'll all play the eskimo way ♪ ♪ walking in a winter wonderland ♪ ♪ we'll followic aroehliclic an in a winter wonderland ♪ ♪ you can have christmas in the caribbean ♪ ♪ what's the temperature ♪ i don't know ♪ i'll be home for christmas ♪ the right way to say merry

christmas on a bright sunny day ♪ ♪ feliz navidad >> merry christmas. >> the album is a coral reef for christmas. robert, take a bow, too, ji we'll be right back, but first this is "today" on nbc.

>> good morning. mike is here with an update on a quiet morning. very early on we had a start at the bay bridge. the metering lights were turned on at 6:30, but it's not even 9:00 and they turned them off. the wet roadway drying out a

bit. we will show you what's going on in the maze. west of there, that's typical and almost any time of day with folks making the adjustment. wed westbound through antioch with typical slowing. more news after this. bo

offices may be closing for the holidays, but bart is planning to roll out longer trains. they will run in the middle of the day on christmas instead of shortening them after the morning commute as usual. on saturday bart will run a sunday schedule. saturday night bart will run longer trains for basketball fans headed to the warriors game. we will have another update in

30 minutes. the "today" show returns in about one minute. for itchy dry skin. try cortizone 10 intensive healing. the strongest itch relief medicine now has three vitamins and seven moisturizers. feel the heal. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] now everyone can explore the world from home. at&t is making high speed internet more affordable than ever at only $14.95 a month. one-year price guarantee.

we're back we're back now with more of "today," on a wednesday morning, 22nd day of december 2010. nice group of people outside. how many of you people are finished with your holiday shopping? how many of you are slackers? out on the plaza, matt lauer along with savannah guthrie and tamron hall, natalie and al taking well-deserved time off. we're holding down the fort here. coming up in this half hour, great financial advice, everything from our money

experts including some pitfalls and trials and tribulations of returning to work after you've been home for years raising a family. also, how about this question? in this economy, is it better to buy a new or used car? we will have that advice coming up in a couple minutes. >> also coming up, we heard of people being addicted to drugs, alcohol and even shop pa holics. imagine someone addicted to having their hair drier in their bed or being unable to leave their home without their v ventriloquist dummy? it sounds strange but it is. we will talk to folks who have extremely strange and unusual addiction. >> all right, tamron. we'll get into that. we will also have some beauty tips, quick beauty tips for holiday parties this season. that's all coming up. >> before we get to all that. let's go inside. ann is off today. carl quintilla is inside the newsdesk.

>> good morning. the senate is poised for the new s.t.a.r.t. treaty the president signed with russia in april. it appears enough republicans will vote to ratify the treaty that reduces nuclear stockpiles and resumes inspections. the president signed the don't ask, don't tell policy into law openly banning gays and militaries from serving openly in the military. it will likely take several months for the repeal to go into effect. new census figures shows the u.s. population shift to southern and western states continuing. as a result, texas will gain four additional seats in the house of representatives. florida will add two. new york and ohio will each use two seats because of population drops. according to the census, the u.s. is now hope to more than 308 million people. south korea is launching three days of military exercises today. they will hold what is expected

to be the largest live artillery drill in the country's history. in the demilitarized border with the north, south koreans gathered to light a 90 foot christmas tree for the first time since 2003. and alert in southern california, the seventh straight day of rain could be the heaviest yet. a state of emergency has already been declared in six california counties and heavy rains blamed for washing away four homes in western arizona. the rate of teen pregnancy fell to its lowest point in seven years, according to a new report and experts credit the recession from discouraging would be mothers. looks like the come feller plaza may have competition. the eiffel tower has a skating rink near the city of lights. he may be big to be a mace

stromace -- maestro, that's because he had to trade in his basketball for a baton. and closed out with "we are the champions" and we'll hear that song again after the nba playoffs. he might be right about that. it is four minutes past the hour. back to matt and savannah in the plaza. >> which member of the orchestra is not going to listen to shaquille o'neal? you get a beatdown in the clarinet section there. thank you very much. let's get a check of the weather. stephanie abrams is filling in. >> hi. the dream job is to be on the "today" show. what do you want to be? >> news caster. >> not weather? >> maybe. >> i will try to convince r.he we have a lot of weatherhe here and we have driern moving i tomorrow. we will get a brief break from

this mess but still have rain in our forecast saturday. here's how much we will see today, looks like sudden shine and showers iethn santa cruz thmounance of the mo of the moisture moved on and clouds in san francisco and fog and mist. heavy rain moved on. showers ending today and a couple of dry days ahead with fog and rain and wind picking up into saturday and sunday. >> carl, back to you. this morning on "today's" money 911, advice to help fix your financial problems. from should you by a new car or a used one, to getting back into

the work force after taking time out to raise your kids. jean chatzky is author of "money 911." and author of finish rich.com and author of start over finish rich. everybody, good morning to you. want to get right to it. with amy in banner elk, north carolina. joining us on skype. amy, good morning, happy holidays. what's your question? >> i have always been advised to never buy a new car due to the rates of depreciation, however as i have started this process, i have found that many of the new cars, there's better financing rates on those as opposed to the rates that i'm being offered for a used vehicle. so i'm wondering if that advice to never buy new still holds true? >> absolutely, we are in a weird car environment. if you look at edmonds com.com,

will see a whole list of cars that are actually cheap tore buy, not just finance, but buy new rather than used. because the cash for clunkers programs took a whole lot of used cars off the market. you have got to have a really good credit score, like above 740 to lock into that cheap financing on the new cars. if you have it, this is the tim i would look new. but if you don't have it, go to a credit union and apply for financing. a car loses 20% the minute you drive it off the lot. >> if you look at cars that are just two years old now, they're discounted by 50%. so even if the financing is more, i would still rather buy a car that's 50 percent off. >> unless if it's on that list of cars that you can buy cheaper new rather than new. >> if you pick one on that list

that's new, and you have no problems, no-brainer. >> we have got an e-mail from someone who asks to remain anonymous. i have been a stay-at-home mom for over ten years and i'm ready to get back to work. unfortunately, i am unlucky to find a job. having three kids makes it difficult to work outside the home. with all the scams in the work and home offers, who do you know which ones are legit? >> you only want to check any business opportunity with the better business bureau organization. so any business that you're looking at, go check with the better business bureau. the second thing is, if i was going to work at home, i would look at the direct selling association. go to dsa.org and look at all the major products that you can sell from home and services. and look at direct marketing. somebody who's watching right now at home. something like amazon.com.

you simply have an amazon link and if you're doing anything online, and i'm not promoting amazon, i'm just using them as an example. all businesses across america, they'll pay you a commission, you have no inventory and the checks hit your bank account. you're not going to make money stuffing envelopes in your underwear on your couch. so if it sounds too good to be true, it's almost always too good to be true. >> i wanted to know about mom corps.com. it's a placement agency for moms and they have a lot of jobs that are able to allow you to work on the hours that you want to work. so if you just want to work when your kids are at school, this is a good place to check out. >> we do have a phone caller, tom in milwaukee. tom, good morning. >> caller: good morning. i have a question, i am a professor and i am seeking unemployment. i currently have a 403(b) with $30,000 with the current institution, what should i

finish with that money when i finish with this position. >> tom, how old are grow? >> caller: 37. >> of course you don't want to cash out the 403(b). because of the fees, the penalties, he's going to lose half of that. so probably to have the most flexibility with investments, is to roll that over to an ira. he wants to make sure to ask for a direct rollover and not get that in his name. >> make sure it's not paid to you, because then you'll have to pay that 20% out for taxes and perhaps the fees as well. if you want to do a roth ira, you roll it over to a rollover ira and work with the tax situation, see if that works for you. it may make sense to put it into a roth ira so then you can take that money out tax free in retirement. perhaps you might like to put it with another employer.

>> a question, donnish, good morning to you. >> my sister and her husband have their social security and identities stolen. they usually check their annual credit report. so far, so good. they wanted to check the credit for their two kids. but they're unable to because they're mine ors. how do they check their kids' credit report? >> it's a growing problem, kids having their identities stolen. and in this case, because the kids are minors, you have to go directly to the credit bureau. so you have to actually write to equifax, expeerian and trance union. you want to find out that no credit file exists for these kids. and it's a really good time to

just make sure that you don't give out that information unless you absolutely have to. >> okay. >> okay? >> donnish, thank you for your question, and thanks to all of you guys. happy holidays. coming up from retirement to family relationships, a new eye opening survey about what baby boomers are really thinking. up next, women with some strange addictions, from sleeping with the hair dryer on, to ventriloquism. we'll here what their lives are really like right after this. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] here's hoping you find something special in your driveway this holiday. ♪ [ santa ] ho ho ho! [ male announcer ] get an exceptional offer on the mercedes-benz you've always wanted at the winter event going on now. and stay connected with three years of mbrace service complimentary.

you can do this... get the ball. get the ball, girl. hmmm, you can't do that. but you can do this. it's the simple things. scientifically formulated bengay pain relief + massage with penetrating nubs gives you the targeted relief of a massage plus the powerful, long-lasting pain relief of bengay. bengay pain relief + massage. visit bengay.com/relief for a $3.00 coupon. love the nubs!

♪ [ 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.

tlc's new series called my strange addiction. >> my name is kiesha and i love eati

eating toilet paper. i love the way toilet paper feels on my tongue. when i'm in my car, i keep a roll in my car. >> eating toilet paper isn't normal, kiesha. >> i am addicted to sleeping with my blow dryer. i have a really bad burn incident and i woke up and it was just like the blow dryer had just attacked me. >> she'll come in and she'll curl up on the blow dryer most of the time. as long as i'm using it, she's going to be partial to it. it's not something i want for my daughter. >> i'm addicted to ventriloquism. whether i'm going to get coffee at the corner store, whether i'm going to the diner, i always have my puppets with me. >> when i ex-fiance, made me choose either him or the puppets, it was pretty painful.

i'm not hurting anybody. >> lori is addicted to sleeping with her blow dryer. april is addicted to ventriloquism and mike dowd is an addiction specialist. >> your dummy, may. >> hey, how are you? >> i'm great. let's start with april, because obviously you have people who say get over it and don't worry about your life. you're here and you're sharing your story for a reason, why? >> the reason i'm sharing my story is that i have actually used my strange addiction to my benefit "so you admit it's a strange addiction. >> i make a career out of my addiction, i actually make my living as a professional ventriloquist. >> i understand that you couldn't hold down a job because all of your attention is focused on may the dummy. >> may and my six other puppets, yes. but the thing is i have made a career out of my strange

addiction so it's served me well. >> so you don't believe you have a problem, if it works out and you make money, it's not a problem, is that what you're saying? >> absolutely. >> you say you have burns on your body. >> multiple. >> do you realize that this is a problem? >> oh, absolutely. that's why i did the show. i realized it was a problem. i have been knowing it was a problem. >> you have had this addiction to sleeping with your hair dryer on since the age of 8. what started this, was this born from fear? >> my sister, my older sister is actually the one who kind of introduced me to the hair dryer. and one night i just had a hard time sleeping at night when i was a kid. >> so it's a comfort for you? >> oh, absolutely. >> so when it starts to burn your skin, one would think, you've got a fight flight, we don't want to feel pain, why keep doing in it? >> so me, that is insignificant compared to the comfort that it

gives me. >> both of you are sing until. >> i'm currently single. >> is it because of the addiction, do you think? >> yes, and no. my strange addiction is my career, we -- i spend a lot of time on the road and stuff. but i do get out a lot. as a matter of fact, you know, it should work in my favor because here's the thing, i can tell the difference between real and fake. because i'm actually a strange actor. there are people who i put on the guest list that she comes on the condition that she comes. >> laura, you're single, does this affect your ability to meet someone or to date? or to even have someone sleep over? >> it has in the past, yes. >> in the past, it's affected it. and it's never been a major break. but it's affected it. >> dr. mike, what is the source here, i talked with lori and she remembers at the age of 8, april here, it's working out for her career. but these addictions certainly have detrimental side effects 

it's hard on your body? >> when you look at where started, there was a classical conditioning for loir, and she sort of bonded with sleeping with that hair dryer. when it starts to cause some problems and it prevents you from having a romantic relationship, that's when we start to say, how do i cultivate some balance and maybe make some changes? >> i'm looking at april's body language and lori, april seems to enjoy this. is there a part of the addiction that says i'm getting attention, people notice me. >> absolutely. >> when you get attention, it feels good. it's something that you actually like to do, april, right? >> that's the funny thing, i went to a party with her. and i was put on the list for the black and white party. and there was a guy talking to her about his failed relationship and i was there and

i knew that this was fake, but he was so drunk that he was actually asking her for romantic advice. i was there and i guess the advice she gives is pretty good. >> i think my advice is pretty good. >> it give yous you a voice. i treat a lot of video game addiction, and literally and figuratively it gives you a voice. >> we'll see where this journey takes both of you. thank you, lori, april, dr. mike, and tlc's new series called my strange addiction premiers on december 29th at 9:00 p.m. coming up 2.5 million baby boomers will be turning 65 next year from their house to their es. ofina we'll find out what they're thinking. but first these messages. are you a procrastisanta?

get great last minute gifts wednesday through friday at sears! save fifty to sixty percent off coats, sweaters fleece and sleepwear for the family. this keurig brewer is one, oh nine, ninety-nine. plus, save sixty percent off fine jewelry. be the santa you want to be. find your santa at sears.com 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 nouncer ] snickers satisfies.

you soak up some rays in the morning, grab a cool drink around noon, and sleep soundly at night... knowing no one looking to freeze or concentrate you... will ever set foot in this paradise. simply orange. honestly simple. ( chirping ) [ male announcer ] it's here. the all-new chevy cruze. msn autos called it "the class of its class right now." but that's not the only story. it's got turn-by-turn navigation, onstar, an available six-speed automatic transmission, remote keyless entry, and 10 air bags. it's a big story for a compact car. the all-new chevrolet cruze. get used to more. very well-qualified lessees can get a low-mileage lease on a 2011 chevrolet cruze ls for around $159 a month.

call for details. we are wrapping up our 17th annual toy drive this year and we want to go to one of our long-time contributors, jacks pacific. >> great to be here. >> what were you able to donate this year? >> this is our 10th year supporting the "today" show toy drive. this is our beautiful princess dog from the tangled movie. we gave pokemon toys and beautiful dolls, dress up toys and, you know, we actually were able to give almost half a million dollars worth of toys to help kids this year. >> what's the feedback that you get from the recipients? >> we get e-mails and photos and tons of pictures from people who are overwhelmed and we are also

able to get to toys for tots and all different kinds of other organizations. [ female announcer ] why settle for plain bread when you can have pillsbury grands! flaky layers biscuits? the warm, light delicate layers are like nothing else. add a layer of excitement to your next meal. ♪ try mini crescent dogs. just unroll the dough, roll up,

bake, and present. very impressive! and very easy. for this recipe and more, visit pillsburycrescents.com. >> 9:26 out and a closure to report. >> typically we get the sand, but we have wet weather ask the southbound side of the highway is closed. not a big surprise. you go to sunset and you get around it. some folks might be headed to the city for vacation time. a little bit of slowing through san mateo. that's the only issue and the volume is typical across the bridge to the peninsula. the lights are moving smoothly and we can make out the hills so

it's clearer. >> most of the moisture heading off towards the east, but misty skies. for the afternoon, a few showers on the south bay hilltops, sunshine in san jose. patchy thick fog and could slow you down for the morning and the rain and wind kick up into satuay. saturday. 9:27. more news after the break.

9:28 now, one pit bull is found and the other is running around. patrol officers will continue the search. two pit bulls attacked a woman as she was trying to get something out of her car. they bit her in the arm and hip. a neighbor heard screams and threw rocks and bricks at the pit bulls. the dogs ran away. animal control officers caught one in a neighborhood last night

about i mile away from the maulings. >> the description appeared to be consistent with the witness's. we believe this is one of the dogs. >> animal control said they will quarantine the pit bull while they 7 for the success dog and their owner. more local news coming up at 9:56. the "today" show returns in less than a minute.

the first u.s. man to win figure stating gold in 22 years is the olympic champion. >> skating to olympic gold in vancouver earlier this year. just one of the events that brought smiles and tears to all watching. just like the rescue of those chilean miners trapped under ground for just two months. president obama and george clooney. we're going to look back at the year that was, 2010. tomorrow on "today." good morning everyone, i'm savannah guthrie, along with

tamron hall and carl quintanilla. one man famously said don't trust anyone over 30, they're turning 65 this year. what they think of work, family and money now. and today's beauty, 'tis the season to celebrate and that means trying to look your best morning, noon and night and the morning after the big bash too. this morning we're going to check out some new beauty breakthroughs and pretty impressive things. also ahead in "today's" holiday kitchen, get ready to nibble from real cooks around the country. i think they're doing fried cheese. >> we're going to show you where you could see a white christmas. you guys into a white christmas? you like a white christmas?

>> all right, so let's have a look at who will be seeing a white christmas and who has a good chance of seeing it and actually deep down into the south, we might see one thanks to a piece of a system in the west, is actually going to meet one some cold air in the east and that's what might cause some of the snow. let's see where we are seeing the snow for today. i saw a snow total, 17 feet, 17 feet. that's like a seven-story building essentially. here we go. golden gate bridge with a drizzly drive around san francisco and towards the bay, sunshine breaking out a few times. we look at the forecast and the showers will be shutting down. the exception might be the santa cruz mountains into the afternoon. the story for a couple of days will be patchy fog for the morning and rain dropping back to the north bay and a breezy and wet start to the weekend ahead.

>> all right, so we were all talking twitter before. maybe people should tell us if they want a white christmas, they should twitter all of us. >> it's a shameless follower grab. >> stephanie, thank you. from their house to their finances to their relationships, what are boomers really thinking about these days? we will find out right after this. of gourmet coffee and tea to choose from. ♪ keurig is the way to brew fresh, delicious coffee in under a minute. way to brew. [ female announcer ] so with keurig, every cup tastes like it's brewed just for you. ♪ because it is. choose. brew. enjoy. keurig. ♪ [ 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. ♪ [ female announcer ] there's a place called hidden valley where kids not only eat their vegetables, they can't get enough. ♪ hidden valley ranch. makes vegetables delectable. and now make lettuce a real salad with hidden valley salad kits. everything you need all in one bag, like garlic croutons, lemon pita bites, parmesan cheese, and caesar dressing. turn plain lettuce into a hidden valley salad. come on... isn't it time an auto insurer gave it to you straight? that's why you should talk to state farm.

but not yet. first, talk to any one of the 40 million drivers who already have state farm. 40 million. yeah, that's more than geico and progressive combined. by a lot. 40 million drivers. more savings. and discounts up to 40%. where else you gonna get discounts like that? call an agent at 1-800-state-farm or go online. call an agent at 1-800-state-farm ["stir it up" playing] stir up a smile with hershey's syrup. ♪

♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] every day thousands of people are switching from tylenol® to advil. to learn more and get your special offer, go to takeadvil.com. take action. take adv®. well, there are more than 76 million baby boomers in the u.s. and in 2011. 2.5 million of them will be turning 65. a new report out from aarp tells what they are thinking.

why track baby boomers? >> well, you know, baby boomers have changed the face of the world really ever since they were born from the schools when they were younger on to the workplace et cetera. so we have been tracking them for a long time and we kind of wanted to see, we did a survey about five years ago, we wanted to see where they are as they turn 65. >> in some cases the comparison between what they said five years ago and what they said today is quite striking. the first part of the survey said that their current circumstances, whether they're doing worse, the same or better than expected. interesting and perhaps not surprising, but the highest number where people felt their doing worse is in the area of personal finances, of course so many people, their retirement savings will really hit with the great recession. >> the stock market has tanked the howing market has plummeted. it would make sense that that would be an area of concern. but despite that, about half are

pretty much where they thought they would be. they're fairly optimistic, these baby boomers and that's a reflection of what they lived through and the changes they have gone through in their lives. >> how long they expect to live, i believe your survey said they most expected to live an average of 85.2 years. but they wanted to live to 88.7 years. now i don't know what the difference is. it's just a matter of three years. but i guess, did you expect people to say, gosh, i wish i would love to be 100? >> they want to live a good long life, they want to be very active, but it's about the quality of life, not just the quantity of life. they want to be independent, they want to live a long time, but they want to make sure that they're still contributing and active during that time. >> they want to live a little bit longer. when you asked them what they would most want to improve over

the next five years. this make mess laugh. work down there, 1%, at 65, you're kind of over the whole idea of career ambition. but not surprisingly, they would like to see their physical health improve. >> that's not surprising. but only a third said that. so again, these baby boomers are more healthy and more active than generations before them and of course they're going to want to maintain their health because they do want to live a good long life. >> the final question, when will you stop working? and here we see a real difference between when you asked this question five years a lot and when you asked it today. tell us about that. >> this is the most interesting of all. because it's totally redefining retirement. five years ago thought they would retire in the next two years. now they're saying maybe another five years. part of that is the with the economy. part of it is preference. we find a lot with baby boomers, their careers mean a lot to them.

their careers are who they are. >> a lot of people, it's hard to make that transition, retirement just to completely stop working and then just be sitting around the house saying what do i do now? >> we need to be prepared with phased retirement and part-time jobs for older workers. > >> and what life changes did they plan. a lot of them were questioned about whether they wanted to move. >> sples interesting, they want to travel, but they don't want to move. they want to be active, 54% want to be volunteering in their communities. they want to travel, they want to experience the world. they want to keep growing, but they want to do it in place, where they are, where their communities are. so we need to be prepared for that as all the baby boomers get into their later years. >> happy birthday to all those aging baby boomers. and coming up, some quick beauty fixes for the morning after your big holiday bash.

that's coming up after these messages. 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. get great last minute gifts this wednesday through friday at sears! save fifty to sixty percent off coats, sweaters, fleece and sleepwear for the family. ...get this twenty-two inch rca lcd/dvd combo for two twenty-nine, ninety-nine. plus, this craftsman mechanics tool set is just eighty-nine ninety-nine.

sears. i'd get this tightness in my chest. so i went back to my doctor again. we chose symbicort to help control my asthma symptoms all day and night. [ man ] symbicort improves my lung function, starting within 15 minutes. symbicort will not replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. it is a combination of two medicines and should not be taken more often than prescribed. symbicort contains formoterol. medicines like formoterol increase the risk of death from asthma problems, and children and adolescents may have an increased risk of being hospitalized for asthma problems. symbicort is not for people whose asthma is well controlled with a long-term asthma control medicine like inhaled corticosteroids. once your asthma is well controlled, your doctor will decide if you can stop symbicort without loss of control,

and prescribe a long-term asthma control medicine. be sure to see your doctor if your asthma does not improve or gets worse. symbicort is a good choice to help control my asthma all day and night. [ inhales ] [ exhales ] ask your doctor if symbicort is a good choice for you. [ male announcer ] if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help.

this morning on "today's" beauty, how to look your best the morning after all those holiday parties. how do you give your skin a boost in between all the festivities or make that plowout last. let's get to it because we have

got some great things. >> lots of great things to share. >> what do we do the night before? you've got something fancy going on. >> you get home, it's late, but this is the one thing to keep by your bedside that's really going to help you the next morn. this is midnight recovery concentrate. >> and what makes this so special beyond the smell? >> well, the smell is going to help lull you to sleep. so i love that, it's very hydrating, it's got evening primrose, you just massage this into your skin overnight while your skin's in the ultimate recovery mode. so you when you wake up in the morning, everything's a little bit easier. >> it's $42, but it's very concentrated. >> and the day of your big party or event. >> the day of or the next morning, you want to look bright eyed even if you don't feel it. this is clarion's beauty flash bomb. it's the 30th anniversary so they dressed it up a little bit. >> there's a lot of buzz around this product. >> there's one sold every 30

seconds. it session caffeine in a aboutal. use it under makeup, or pup it on for 15 minutes for a mask and wipe it off. >> this is another secret that's supposed to be wondrous. >> this is under $7. it's intense, it's going to give you a little sting, but it's going to work. it's going to get rid of any redness. one little drop, all the redness is gone. >> and it's at most drugstores? >> drugstores, yes. >> and another celebrity favorite? >> celebrities swear by this. but when you put these pencils in the corners of your eyes. you want to find a tone, that's a little bit of a pinkish shimmer. you want to show your eyes off and enhance them, just put a little dab. makeup forever and it's $15.

>> that brightens your look. you don't want a rough pencil. and this is waterproof. >> how do you know what shade based on your complexion? >> a lot of them will work on any skin tone. but i pick something either nude or a little bit pinky. >> and something to distract. >> i'm all about distraction. distraction is key. so you go from really bright left. it literally, it's like tar on your lips. it's not going anywhere. there's bright intense pigment. a little bit goes a long way. >> this red is ridiculously hot. >> people are looking at your lips, not your tired eyes. >> words of wisdom.

>> and what about hair? making sure your hair look great? >> the night before you've probably got a lot of product in your fair. it's a dust. but touch it. and it turns into a cream. >> oh, it does. >> and what does this do to your hair? >> this will help you to restyle it. so it's very, very light so. if you already have products in your hair, you don't want to put too much extra in it. it gets rid of the frizzies and gives it some shine. >> it doesn't give your hair a chalky look. >> and then of course your feet are exhausted. >> feet are killing you, the next morning, put on flats, even if you want to wear high heels. these are from miss si. love them because they have a little bit of cushion on the sole. >> detox. >> this is like a little of the hair of the dog in the most pampering way possible. >> it's not cheap.

>> a little will go a long way. >> and there's real saki in it? >> this is like the morning after and evening out. it gets rid of all the toxins, relaxes your skin. and it will give you energy for the day. >> thank you, up next, "today's" holiday kitchen.

this morning on "today's" holiday kitchen, an all american nibble fest. molly o'neil, her new cookbook celebrates american cooks from different cultures. today she's got some interesting appetizers that are perfect for the holidays. congratulations on the book, you look at it and it has to be a labor of love. >> this was a long, long

process. but it's a big, big country. >> what inspired you to go across the country and collect these recipes? >> i went around new york city, walking all blocks of all size boroughs and i just love talking to people about how they cook. i wanted to do it for america, but i couldn't walk america. >> we're going to show you how to make fried cheese, right? >> this is an upscale version of the typical fried cheese from wisconsin. we're taking this fabulous farmhouse cheddar. cheddar is perfect because it's nice and hard and it's got to nice sharp bite to it. want to add our little -- all of our little spicies here. >> do they have to be this big, by the way? >> you can make them tiny. >> okay. >> what we're trying to do today

is create almost a little nibble fest that in fact can serve as a meal. >> right. >> so the portions are a little bit bigger than you might want to do if it were just a cocktail party. >> after you do the bread crumbs, you're going to freeze these? >> because they fry nicer. >> if they're frozen? >> yeah, first. we season up our bread crumbs here and continue to dust these in flour. and then -- >> and the bread crumb mix includes? >> the bread crumb mix has in it some cornstarch, and some parsley. and the greatest ingredient of all of course is the pimento, which is smoked pap puerto rico can. -- paprika.

it should take about ten mines because we have a nice rapid boil going on there. >> and they'll be in there for how long? >> two to three minutes maximum. >> do you want to go on to the sliders? >> this is a fantastic recipe. >> and you're not just using any meat that you would normally find in the store? >> no. what we're doing here, this is from a young woman in seattle, washington. and these are lamb sliders, we have coated them once again. here's the meat mixture. you put nit a little bit of the egg yoke, these are almonds, season them all up. >> you process them? >> yep. >> and then you cook them for how long? >> until they get golden brown. i'm going to say three minutes on each side. hi. >> it's party time. >> we have never fried cheese. >> you're in the right place you want to turn that and make sure

it's okay? we pat the onalmonds into the little mixture, so we would take it here. we would get a little egg whites on it. i mean can you do better? >> the book can called "one big table." molly o'neil, thank you so much for this. happy holidays. when we come back --

bay area lawmakers will better control the party. jerry hill of san mateo will introduce a law to hold bus companies accountable for keeping booze out of the hands of anyone younger than 21. it coming after the death of a burlingame teej who drank and got behind the wheel of his car and crashed. his mother will be when the bill is introduced. party buses don't fall under the alcohol laws for transportation companies. more local news in a half hour. the "today" show returns in a minute. for itchy dry skin.

try cortizone 10 intensive healing. the strongest itch relief medicine now has three vitamins and seven moisturizers. feel the heal.

captions paid for by nbc-universal television >p from nbc news this "toda"today" witp "today"t r and hoda kotb liv r 1a 1a in r 1a 1a i rockefeller . >> you are too funny. itrit'p it's wines day everybodeverybody, decembp. >> that'p >> that's what y. >> what's is there click it. >> i did go on to say people are buying them, and they're buying your song. >> four, four people. one of them is my mother, i

swear. >> they're itune clicking them for 99 cents. what you know the number one song on the list is, by the way? >> from my songs? >> you have a lot of people purchasing it. >> "love never fails." >> yes, "love never fails." >> this week i've been reminded of how i used to sing and how i used to look. no wonder i'm depressed. all righty. over here we have miss uso 2009. her name is heidi marie ferrin and god bless all the troops out there. we don't know why she's here, but apparently she's a big fan. she looks lonely over there. >> thank you for coming by to see us. >> all the best to all of our troops and all of the families that sacrifice so much. can you imagine knowing your children are in iraq or afghanistan right now? they're all orver the world. south korea. >> we awoke to some interesting

news about lindsay lohan. >> yes, we did. why are we not surprised anymore? >> so tmz had this. they reported that there was an administrator at the betty ford clinic who claims that lindsay lohan grabbed her arm, twisted it, and did all kinds of thing when this woman was trying to get her to take a breathalyzer test. >> because she said that she and her roommates were coming back from being out and about and had gone to a bar, she says. so she sensed they had been drinking. >> she talked to tmz there. then today lindsay's people are coming out saying no, no, that didn't happen. i was getting my hair done. >> it was the woman who pushed her, and that lindsay was the one that called 911 to request ats assistance. >> we find out the truth. those are recorded. >> by the way, the woman who works as the administrator has been fired from betty ford.

>> they sign a confidentiality agreement. >> you're not supposed to talk about people that are in there. >> you're not supposed to. maybe she's going to try to make a little profit off that. you never know. we will find out the truth. maybe she was drinking this. >> this is the craziest wine holder ever. it looks like it shouldn't be suspended like that. >> you asked me, cakathie, how this possible and you said. >> it's physics. it's the way everything happens. >> it's a rhubarb christmas wine. >> rhubarb. i have my doubts. we'll try. >> of course we will. cheers to you. oh, my god. that's like sugar sweet. you like it? >> i actually do. it's like a dessert wine. that's interesting. 13.99 on mapleriverwinery.com. >> if you want to get this thing, but apparently if you go

on the website peleg.com. >> can shi show you this gift diane gave me. it was a big gift. i get inside and it was a pillow. if luke closely it's a pillow where you can put your ipod in and listen to music. it's the best gift ever. i love it. you can fall asleep listening to your favorite tunes. >> i think that's awesome. very, very awesome. >> i gave her a cher cd because she's nuts about cher. >> everybody is talking about the new video. i wasn't crazy about the last video. >> this is antwan dodson. he did this rappy thing about a guy that broke into his sister's house. >> who else? it's the most downloaded video ever.

no, no. that's bieber, isn't it? >> that's different. >> thank you, joanne. >> now he wants to put you in the christmas spirit, so he made a christmas version of the same deal called "christmas intruder." >> we have someone coming to lincoln park. ♪ he's climbing your chimney ♪ hide the the gifts ♪ hide the tree ♪ hide the eggnog ♪ santa ain't the home boy ♪ here's your secret santa ♪ i got a switchblade >> a switchblade. >> yeah, a switchblade. >> anyway, he's a gazillionaire. >> god bless him.

he gets paid every time someone downloads. >> i don't think so. >> yours we pay for. yourself are 99 cents. his are free. keep downloading hers. >> he seems like a great guy, and he has your old hair. >> i'm glad tim gaines is off today because those pictures are locked away in the vault. >> he should show you in the hairdo. who is directing today. mary ellen. >> she's too nice. we like her. careful. mary ellen, your christmas gift is no longer yours, okay? this is a fun time. >> this one cracks me up. >> there's a woman who is causing quite a stir in her neighborhood bauecause she has 6-foot tall talking and singing santa and it's extremely loud. the neighbors are like shut the santa up.

it's way too loud. she says the santa has sentimental value. it was given to her by her husband before he passed away. >> it's the last gift he gave her. that's sad, and we're sorry for her. she should take santa indoors in the spirit of her husband and enjoy him because it's -- nobody wants to listen to that all night long, you know, all day long. i don't know what i'd do. >> she's been cited by the police. but she's saying, it's a sentimental gift, and i want it outside. >> put it outside and turn him down, then. be respectful of her neighbors as well. what do you think she should do? >> i can't believe we just showed it. >> i say taser. >> taser. drop her like a bag of dirt. >> i miss the taser thing. >> kathie lee thinks old ladies

should be tased. >> kathie lee is an old lady. i think owed ladies that misbehave should be tased. that's the only way to take them down. this is very nice wine, actually. >> you want to rest your back? >> yes. explain to them why i'm having a little more sips than i would. >> kathie lee has a neck problem. >> a severe herniated disk. it's severe. >> severe herniated disk. >> between my 6 and 7 lumbado. this is an accupressure mat. careful camera 4. careful camera 4. careful, careful camera 4. >> you're not sfoechd to have it on your head. i just got spiked in the head. >> how does it feel? >> i could do the rest of the show here, hoda.

>> it's 50 bucks at howsamat.com. it's a swedish well nness marp. >> i told dr. mcclain, the man i hated so much, even though i don't hate anyone because it's not right. i disliked him immensely for about ten days because i was in agony. then i love him. i think he's the biggest genius in the world because my feet are gorgeous. they're not anywhere as beautiful as hoda's but as near perfect as i could hope for. i went to see him about my neck. looking at your mri i wouldn't blame you if you decide for surgery. but then he said -- i was surprised, because a lot of the medical profession, they tend to look down on eastern medicines or different kinds options you might be availed of. he said, you know what? i think you should try acupuncture after your holiday. let's try some acupuncture on

you. i'll take this and try it it out a little over the holiday. in the meantime, there are other things that numb people. >> that? >> no, not that. >> you know who is with us, by the way? jason siegel. last time he was here, it was fright ning. >> i went to say hello to him this morning, and still frightening. >> he changes the room. look at him. look at him. look, look. >> i'm so sorry. i don't think jason goes to bed before he comes to see us. >> we like him. >> i think jason spends all night long outside or doing things inside someplace, and then he comes to see you. elsd he has a big present for you. i don't know what it means. >> okay, all right. move on. sarah haines, it's christmas, and in the spirit we're giving away things. >> we're giving away tivos

through tomorrow. you get the premier box set and one year subscription so go now. one of our fans wrote in about the singing santa and he said it's louder at night, too and his dog barks because they think someone is there. it sets the dogs off. >> at least turn it it off at night when people are trying to sleep if dogs hate it as well. >> up next. >> not my music. >> the is that not you? what a shame. look what santa has brought us. a hot, new, young actor. there he is, jason siegel. all right. oh, my gosh. we'll be back eventually.

it's that time of year. time for campbell's green bean casserole. you'll find the recipe at campbellskitchen.com. campbell's.® it's amazing what soup can do.™

you can he ["stir it up" playing] stir up a smile with hershey's syrup. into a bigger bag... into yet another bag. ♪ she washes the trash before it goes into the trash. ♪

don't give trash the special treatment. get glad forceflex, the bag that stretches to prevent rips and tears. ♪ and try glad black bags. now thicker for tough jobs. after he made a name for himself after getting sarah marshall, he struck television series luck with "how i met your

mother." >> now he's getting ready for "gu "gul "gulliver's travels." >> he's our own. >> it's obvious the sexual tension between the two of you when you're here is palpable. >> i'm not going to lie. i have a crush on hoda. there's plenty of me to go around. >> you're 6'4" in a movie about little tiny, itty-bitty people. >> yeah. i was tiny, and i spent a lot of time looking up at tennis balls and we did a loot of filming on green screen. it was a real blast, and the movie is terrific. >> it's not animated? >> no, live action. as a matter of fact, it's 3d. >> how did you cut meredith

vieira out of the movie? >> i know. we just took the free press and le let her go. that was our plan from the beginning. >> you got more press about it firing her. >> you should be next movie. >> your character has to woo emily blunt. how does that work? >> in the movie i had to be intimidated by her and feel she was above my station in life, which is perfect because she would never be attracted to me, ever. i was just myself. i look really dashing. >> where are you? >> that's me. >> we'd like to see you, if that's possible in in film, since we're not interviewing either of the other two stars. >> did any of those -- the wooing waying that you were doing, did that translate into real life? >> no, no. i don't do so well with the girls. >> really? >> what's your personal life about? >> just making people happy,

hoda. that's all i want to do. i just want to make people happy day to day. >> how do you go about that? >> i don't know. i don't know. i have no idea. but the movie is just fantastic. it's great for the family, because it's got a little something for everybody. christmastime, that's what you want. >> sure. >> there i am. >> where? >> it's like one second. >> is that you? >> i'm the skinny one. >> that's you, the little guy. >> i'm the little guy. i spend most of the movie tiny. there i am. look at me. >> is this a big role? >> yeah. >> for a little person, it's a big role? >> it's pretty big. i have hair extensions and talk with an accent. >> can we hear a little? >> no. i'm the only one who really went for it. all the british actors just used their regular accents. i did the accent. >> which is? >> it sounds like an american doing a bad british accent.

but it's perfect, spot on. >> you have a approximate new movie you're working on, the muppet movie. >> i'm filming the muppets right now. >> this is because of the frontal nudity thing before? you're doing just tights. >> kermit is always doing full frontal. is he ever in pants? no, not once. >> what's the lady gaga connection to this whole deal? is that true? >> i'm not allowed to disclose all our amazing cameos, but we have great people on the film. >> which means lady gaga in it. >> jack black and emily blunt make an appearance, which is really exciting, yeah. >> how does a guy like you get so much work? >> very flattering question. you know what? i work superhard, and then you can't tell because you're shooting from here up. i'm like super fit. no, no. don't pan down. i can't do an whole interview sucking my gut in. all right. that looks normal.

>> that looks good. >> does my face look formal? >> you look adorable. are you a happy man, or is there still something you'd like in life? >> we're getting personal. i'm generally a pretty happy person. are there things i want in life? sure. >> like what? >> hoda. >> you have to get in line. there's a long line. >> i've been wabiting for hoda for a long time. >> jason, good luck with the movie. >> it's always wonderful to see you. >> we'll see you. thanks for coming. >> oh, wow. >> we love to tease you. have a great holiday. >> thank you. you, too. >> we'll show you this week's photo collection that will make you say what? >> new orleans' aaron neville stops by to share a little homegrown music. keep you awake... sleep is here, on the wings of lunesta. and if you wake up often in the middle of the night... rest is here, on the wings of lunesta.

lunesta helps you fall asleep and stay asleep, so you can wake up feeling rested. when taking lunesta, don't drive or operate machinery until you feel fully awake. walking, eating, driving, or engaging in other activities while asleep, without remembering it the next day, have been reported. abnormal behaviors may include aggressiveness, agitation, hallucinations or confusion. in depressed patients, worsening of depression, including risk of suicide, may occur. alcohol may increase these risks. allergic reactions, such as tongue or throat swelling, occur rarely and may be fatal. side effects may include unpleasant taste, headache, dizziness and morning drowsiness. ask your doctor if lunesta is right for you. get lunesta for a $0 co-pay at lunesta.com. sleep well, on the wings of lunesta. cozy up, spread joy. there's no story without a cast of characters, and just like we mix and mingle, so do the delicious tastes and textures

in every handful of chex mix. we're made to mix.

you can take the heat. 'til it turns into heartburn, you've got what it takes: zantac. it's strong, fast lasting relief. so let them turn up the heat. you can stop that heartburn cold: (sssssssss!!!) zantac. time for the new series called "what the what?" >> we show you the photos you sent us that elicited the response what the what? >> we have from carol from michigan, it says, the mayor told me to change the sign so i

did, but no one actually knows who changed the sign. i think this mayor is still the mayor and his friends are a bunch of characters. they said they don't know if the mayor knows who did it. >> how big is ionia? >> isn't it a cute sign? way to be creative with na. this is from joelle staples. this is how she prefers to study in the library. lesson number one and lesson number two. >> what's the points. >> she said she's in grad school and walked in and all the balt rooms have that. what's that for? >> writing on the bathroom wall so you can erase it. >> naets kind of cute. >> from tiffany huffman from springfiel springfield, missouri. i go to the branch on the west side. they live ten miles away, and almost drove off the road when they saw the sign. it says on the bottom over 175.

>> do we know -- what do they sell there? >> no one had the guts to go in. would you? it's not exactly welcoming. >> i would knock on the door and say, what does this stand for? >> i wouldn't want to touch the handle. >> next up, this is really funny. this is from ashley from portland, oregon. look at the lock on there. uh-oh. she and her friend went to the zoo and looked at pictures later and noticed the lock was undone. >> oh, my gosh. >> no, no, no. >> okay. we'll save it for next time. >> all right. thank you. >> still to come, santa isn't the only one coming to town. aaron nell vville is ooh, a brainteaser. how can expedia now save me even more on my hotel? well, hotels know they can't fill every room every day. 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. where you book matters. expedia. 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.™ [ female announcer ] keurig has over 200 varieties of gourmet coffee and tea to choose from. ♪ keurig is the way to brew fresh, delicious coffee in under a minute. way to brew.

[ female announcer ] so with keurig, every cup tastes like it's brewed just for you. ♪ because it is. choose. brew. enjoy. keurig. good morning. it's 10:26 and there is an accident in sunol. >> we have the truck off of the roadway and doesn't look like it's having a problem. sometimes they block the off-ramp. the northbound traffic is smooth and so is southbound. a live look at the bay bridge from oakland to san francisco, a smooth easy drive and the roadways continue to dry out and the light volume will build up midday as folks head into the city. near the golden gate bridge, we

haven't seen any major problems, but low cloud cover still there. >> things are improving with a few breaks in the clouds and most of the moisture heading off to the east. for the hilltops around the mountains today as the temperatures climb into the 50s tomorrow and friday. the only concern will be patchy thick fog, but just in time for saturday. wind and rain to kickoff the weekend. 10:27 and more news after the break. [ female announcer ] why settle for plain bread

when you can have pillsbury grands! flaky layers biscuits? the warm, light delicate layers are like nothing else. add a layer of excitement to your next meal. ♪

with cinnabon cinnamon have such a sweet and delicious aroma that my family can't wait to get their hands on them. enjoy cinnabon cinnamon... now in all pillsbury cinnamon rolls. the series of storming marching through california is keeping insurance companies busy. state farm reports 900 claims reported in california since monday. one insurance agent said a lot of common claims are leaky roofs. flooding is also a big problem. a problem homeowners need to pay close attention to.

>> flooding in many cases is not cover and excluded from many policies. >> it's a good idea to check your policy to know the coverage you have or don't have. thank you for joining us "te " thay codownushtiexon n gt. a dveat.ayre we're back ready to play "who knew?" kathie lee is at the nbc.com digital cafe playing helper and giving 100 bucks to those who answer correctly. to whose who don't, they get the cd. >> that's right. >> it's a miracle on 49th street. santa strolled over from macy's to help me out. thank you for coming by to see us. >> it's my pleasure, hoda. >> you're a big boy. >> my. >> let's go across the street to

ka kathie. >> these lovely folks are from wisconsin. finish the following line from the poem "twas the night before christm christmas". >> when out on the lawn they're arose such a clater, i sprang from my bed to see what was the matter. it was painfully clear they have no idea. >> i have no idea. >> sprang from my feet to see what was the matter? >> no, no. no. >> at least you made an attempt. enjoy this lull by album. >> santa, help us out here. the correct answer? >> away to the window i flew like a flash, i tore open the window and through up the sash. did you know that c. clement moore the author of that poem was not accredited as the author

and he was the first person that mentioned my belly like a bowlful of jelly. >> back across to kath. >> this lovely family is from arizona. i feel sorry for you all. how many places in the united states are named north pole? zero, one, two, three, or four? how many do you think? >> one. >> no. i'm going to switch with you guys, because you might need a lullaby album. here you go. >> she was kind of right. there is only one real north pole. >> but in north america there are four, one in alaska, oklahoma, idaho and of course there's one here in new york. >> there is? >> okay. back across to kathie lee. >> lovely family visiting from british columbia. how many lights are the rockefeller christmas tree this

year? 10,000, 20,000, 30,000, or 50,000? >> 50,000. >> no. >> don't feel sorry. she gets a great record. here you go, love. here you go. >> she looks like she's crying. >> how many lights out there? >> there are 30,000 lights, which is fire miles of wire. enough to go from one end of manhattan to the other end. >> they're l.e.d. lights. >> that's right. they're green. >> these folks are from texas and have little animals on their heads. from the story of "christmas car carol" the character has a first name. what is it? >> ebenezer. >> good for you. >> you got it. ebenezer skrocrooge. he wrote the novel in 1843. and tiny tim's original name was fred, it was named after

charles' brother. >> why did they change it to tiny tim? >> there was a bit of family drama, to be quite honest with you. it's true. that's beside the point. >> back across. >> a lovely couple from charlotte, north carolina. which of the following is another name for santa claus? >> all of the above. >> you've got a lot of names, santa, don't you? >> i do, sure. there's so many names, hoda. so many. >> okay. i like you. back across. >> this is another hard one, hoda. these lovely folks are from new orleans, where you love everybody there. now, name all of santa's reindeer. >> dancer, prancer, vixen, comet, kupd, donner, blitzen,

roux doc rudolph. >> i'm impressed. she didn't have to sing the song. >> they're commonly misrepresented the reindeer all have antlers because male reindeer lose their antlers in the winter. >> thank you for swinging by to see us. i know you're busy. >> kathie lee will come across the street, too. air neville celebrates 50 years of music, and we're going to help him out right after this. mom. ♪ wake up, it's christmas! ♪ come see the tree ♪ there's presents underneath it ♪ ♪ and i know there's some for me ♪ ♪ get moving mom and dad ♪ wake up already please! ♪ how can you still be sleeping ♪ ♪ when it's six a.m. at least? ♪ come with me downstairs, and make it fast... ♪ ♪ i've waited weeks ♪ i've waited months ♪ now christmas morning's here at last! ♪ [ kid ] wake up. it's christmas. ♪

with cinnabon cinnamon have such a sweet and delicious aroma that my family can't wait to get their hands on them. enjoy cinnabon cinnamon... now in all pillsbury cinnamon rolls.

slim-fast gives you proven weight loss, not celebrities. so try the slim-fast 3-2-1 plan. the clinically proven way to lose weight now. slim-fast. who has time to slim slowly?

it makes you just want to close your eyes. >> it's unmistakable. >> he's singing i know i've been changed. >> aaron childhood in new orleans gave him plenty of access to good music. now besides being a newlywed, he's celebrating 50 years in the business with this third gospel cd called "i know i've been changed." >> your life has taken so many changes. when i read the news about your engagement and your marriage just last month, i was so thrilled. >> thanks a lot. it's great. >> you're in love again, huh? >> yeah. >> you were married to your

first wife for 48 years, and she passed away i know. >> yeah. >> tell us how you met. we know, but tell everyone else how you met this beautiful lady in your life. >> she came to new orleans to photograph after katrina for "people" magazine. >> don't you love this. hello? >> yes, i do. i got her number from my management, and we fell in love. >> that is so great. >> i'm happy. >> you look it. you look really happy. >> that's awesome. >> you've done a couple of other gospel records, but this is your first once since katrina. why is that meaningful to you? >> liga lot of the songs you ca feel us talking about the katrina incident. like, "i know i've been changed." it was a special cd, especially being -- working with alan again

after -- >> after so many years. >> he's one of the incredible musicians of our time. >> oh yaesh, yeah. you worked with him early on. >> he recorded my first record in 1960. i was about this high. >> you're about to celebrate a pretty substantial birthday, wouldn't you say? >> oh, yeah. i'll be 70. >> unbelievable. >> that is so astonishing. >> why do you like the same as when i met you 40 years ago? it's true. >> you know, i look at it like this. in the bible they lived 800 to 900 years. i feel like i'm still a baby. >> your gospel roots have really formed you, haven't they, as a man? >> yeah. when i was a kid, my grandmother put me on her lap and i listened to the gospel and brother joe

mays and the blind boys. >> what's the first song you remember hearing and being moved by? do you know? ♪ like a tree standing by the river ♪ i shall not be moved ♪ >> that stuck in my head. >> you can keep going if you want. i know you get paid for it usually, but we'll sit here all day. >> you have a song called "you got to move." we can play that in the background. it puts you in in a good mood. tell us about in song. >> when i first heard it, it didn't go like this. alan put his spin on it it and it put me in the groove. i like what he did with it. >> we want to hear you sing a little bit, what about the song "meeting at the building"? >> shaarah took a shot at this thibodeaux building. ♪ meeting at the building

♪ soon be over soon be over ♪ ♪ meeting at the building will soon be over ♪ ♪ all over the world ♪ all over this world my lover ♪ all over this world ♪ all over this world my lover ♪ all over this world >> every day, all day long. >> thank you. >> it's a beautiful new cd. >> we love you. >> you have a beautiful new life and beautiful new year. god bless you. >> thank you. >> now you're -- >> she's busy, too. >> she's doing a gorgeous job. god bless your whole family. >> thanks a lot. up next, the traditional italian fish dinner for christmas eve. we've got the cash right after this. [ male announcer ] she puts little bags into a bigger bag... into yet another bag.

♪ she washes the trash before it goes into the trash. ♪ don't give trash the special treatment. get glad forceflex, the bag that stretches to prevent rips and tears. ♪ and try glad black bags. now thicker for tough jobs. and try glad black bags. ♪ i'll stop the world and melt with you ♪ ♪ i'll stop the world ♪ ♪ i will stop the world ♪ ♪ you've seen the difference ♪ ♪ and it's getting better all the time ♪ ♪ i will stop the world ♪ ♪ i'll stop the world and melt with you ♪ ♪ i'll stop the world ♪ ♪ i'll stop the world, i'll melt with you ♪ and the first ones on. because they're not just pj's, they're christmas pj's. live your christmas story at a kmart price - with joe boxer sleepwear for the whole family, now buy one, get one free! there's smart and there's kmart smart.

everyday i eat your soups, i save a lot of money. that's great. so, your rich and hearty soups have made me, rich and hearty. that's funny. i'm hearty because of your juicy steak, your potatoes... you're really, rich and happy. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] some people just know how to build things well. give you and your loved ones an expertly engineered mercedes-benz... ho ho ho! [ male announcer ] ...at the winter event going on now. and stay connected with three years of mbrace service complimentary.

tinchts. time for her for today's holiday kitchen. this is the feast of seven fishes. it's seven different fish courses to commemorate the birth of the baby jesus. >> jason is going to give us a modern take on an old traditional feast. >> first off we get started off with something -- >> haeb birthday to the lord, yes. >> there we go. >> what did you say? >> happy birthday. that's what christmas is, you know. >> this is base odd a classic southern italian feast. it's done on christmas eve, and what we've done is try to get local fish and kind of our interpretation of it. so it's seven courses. we have a lot of local things. i'm going to be making the salted cod for you guys. >> that looks delicious. >> this is done with -- we take the salted cod that you would

get, and you basically rehydrate it with the water and then you steam it out. then this is going to make the sauce with milk and potatoes, and then it's going to be cooked down and pureed. >> this is salt cod. so basically the bakala looks like this, in the old days before refrigeration they salted it. we take this and put potatoes in there. >> that's already good. >> this is what we're doing, reinforcing the potatoes with the salt cod, a little bit of cream, and it will make the base for this. >> okay. >> let me just take a little bit of this. >> do you need olive oil in there? >> a little bit of olive oil, yep. >> cook it, hoda. cook it. >> then we put the lid on this. >> all right, put the lid on it. >> basically we puree it.

it will finish up and look like this. just like a real creamy texture done with the salted cod. let me put this in here first. this is going to be the base for the fish that is the salt cod potatoes. >> this goes right on top? >> yeah. >> let's carry that over there. come on. >> i want that right now. >> come on, now. >> chop, chop jason. >> come on jason. >> here we go. >> are we going to try it? >> let's try it. >> is that cooked? >> yes, it's cooked. >> na looks delicious. really good. >> so basically this is the final course of the seven courses. >> there's some scallops, loyal oysti -- local oysters. >> here, take it off the top. off the top. >> all right!

>> oysters, mackerel and farfalle pasta. this is seafood done with a little bit of lemon mayonnaise. >> this is what? >> this is basically tomatoes cooked down, a little bit of broth tomatoes. >> the flavors are incredible. >> try this before we go. try this. you're going to die. >> i can't. >> shawna sergeant was working hard on these. >> go ahead. we'll be back with more of "today" on nbc. jason, this is terrific. thank you. you ready?

it's the last day of our annual toy drive and we put $28 million worth of goodies in the hands of very deserving children. women saved a special contributor for the final doe

tags of the season. a rock 'n roll hall of famer. >> absolutely. run-d.m.c. sold more than 30 million albums, and dmc darrell mcdaniels himself is here to make a donation on behalf of hard rock. >> hotshot. aaron neville and you. >> it's a good day at the "today" show. >> it's a good day for rock 'n roll and christmas and kids. >> what are you giving away? >> we're giving $50,000 worth of hard rock merchandise. >> that's terrific. why is it important to do it this time of year? >> if you think about the significance of what rock 'n roll is about, it succeeds what politics and religion fails. my idols are john lennon and john to gerty. >> thank you. we really, really appreciate it. >> have a great holiday. >> before we say good-bye, we have a little bit of sad news to report. pastor henry covington, with us

just on monday with mitch album, he passed away monday evening. it's hard to believe. >> it's hard to believe. he was just here with us. the 53-year-old past for of pilgrim church from detroit was here with mitch. he's survived by his beautiful wife annette and his four children. he had a very troubled past on the streets, and tell us what happened. >> he went through a terrible time, drugs and all sorts of issues. he was strung out and had a gun in his hand and these guys remember coming to get him to money. he said to god, look, if you save me. i'll give my life to you. that night no one came to get him and he changed his life and became a pastor and grew his tiny church in froit into this wonderful, wonderful church. the pilgrim church. i swear, when i heard this i was so shocked, but he did a lot of great work. >> i said to you, hoda, when you

called me last night about it it. this is a time for him to revoice. he has his reward in herch which i believe. he believed it. that's the most important thing, and our prayers go out to his beautiful family. have an awesome day, evodyby. god bless everybody. >> take care. god bless everybody. >> take care. bye. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

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 cinnabon cinnamon have such a sweet and delicious aroma that my family can't wait to get their hands on them. enjoy cinnabon cinnamon... now in all pillsbury cinnamon rolls.