good morning. good morning. good morning. snowfall. a chairlift derails in a busy ski resort in maine sending eight people to the ground. several this morning two skiers who survived the terrifying plunge speak out in an exclusive live interview. web of problems. a new setback for the most expensive broadway production ever that's already plagued by budget problems, and on-stage accidents. why one of the lead actresses is reportedly leaving the troubled show.

that will be all, gene. prince william and kate middleton planning not to have servants after they're married leaving a lot of people who need help around the house thinking what are they thinking? "today," wednesday, december 29, what are they thinking? "today," wednesday, december 29, 2010. captions paid for by nbc-universal television and welcome to "today on this wednesday morning, i'm ann curry. >> i'm lester hold. matt and meredith has the day off. i don't think anyone hasn't been on one of those chair lifts who hasn't thought about what's holding me up here? that storm over the weekend actually gets blame and credit in that case in that frightening ski resort accident. >> a chair lift derailed in high >> that's right, lester. one of the lifts at sugarloaf derailed in high winds. eight people including three children were injured but it

could have been much worse if not for the more than 20 inches of fresh snow that cushioned their fall. also ahead, the other we're going to talk exclusively to two people who were involved in the accident. also ahead, the other problems tied to the blizzard here in the northeast. want to show you what a street in brooklyn looks like, more than 48 hours after the storm, still no signs of a plow. similar scenes can be found all across the five boroughs in new york city. it's leading to a lot of anger and frustration. city has is getting an earful of this. also sentiments around the airportses in this country. coming up when we can expect to get back to some semblance of normalcy. also, a young mom who's featured on "teen mom" she's been arrested on felony assault charges. after viewers watched her attack her ex-off and on sa. we begin with that terrifying ski lift accident. the weather channel's mike seidel is out there this time at maine's sugarloaf ski resort with more. hey, mike, good morning.

>> good morning, ann. yes, the snow that fell here from the storm was a welcome sight for all the ski resorts in the region, but the beautiful snow from the storm also brought howling winds. that storm created wind gusts here yesterday to at least 40 miles an hour. an investigation is under way, but this morning, weather conditions are already being blamed for the accident. for skiing, it's all about fresh powder and with almost two feet of newly fallen snow, thousands of skiers and snowboarders descended on sugarloaf mountain this holiday week. but on tuesday, a dream of a perfect ski day quickly turned into a nightmare. at 10:30 in the morning, as people were making their runs up and down sugarloaf's trails, one of the chair lifts, spillway east, was in trouble >> we started seeing lots of snow vehicles show up and lots of snow cats. >> reporter: something was very wrong. five chairs and the passengers in them fell 30 feet to the

ground. skiers on parallel lifts could only watch helplessly. >> you see them float down to the ground. there were chairs on the ground and people on the ground, patrol all around them, making sure everything was under control as well as it could be. >> all of the safety personnel responded to the scene and the injured parties have been taken off the mountain. >> reporter: eight people were hurt, three of them children, all rushed to local hospitals. none of the injuries were life-threatening, but the ordeal was not over for the dozens that were stranded on the crippled lift waiting two hours in frigid conditions for rescue personnel to come to their aid. >> there was a lot of moving up and down. at points i was scared that the whole trellis was going to fall. >> reporter: the 35-year-old chair lift had recently passed inspections but was due to be replaced. although an independent investigation into the accident is currently under way, the report told nbc nuts in a statement that -- we believe the primary cause of the derailment was because of gusts

of high winds. a scary incident that could have been much worse, but for many of the skiers at sugarloaf, they are ready to hit the slopes again. >> i have been skiing sugarloaf my whole life and nothing has ever happened. so you got to ski, it's great conditions. >> reporter: and they can certainly get back out on the slopes today with sunny skies and less winds, but the spillway east lift where the accident occurred is still shut down. this resort has been open for 60 years and officials here tell us they have never had a derailment like this. the investigation does continue this morning, ann, to make the final determination on what caused that lift to come crashing down. ann? >> mike seidel this morning. liza and mike were on one of the chairs that fell 30 feet. good morning to both of you. >> good morning. >> there you are riding the lift, it's tuesday morning, you're heading up the mountain. here's the interesting thing, the lift stopped -- you were right next to an operator who

was working on the lift. what did you observe? and did it give you any alarm about what was potentially about to happen? >> we stopped about five feet away from him. it just looked like he was tightening a couple adjustments they could make to get the cable running where it should have been running on the track. and then from there, they were trying to more or less coax the cable back to where it was supposed to be. they moved us up about 50 feet on the line. >> it wasn't very alarming. i don't think it occurred to us as anything out of the norm. we have been skiing here forever, and we've seen that happen and they were just trying to fix the problem. it didn't occur to us as strange. >> the problem you're saying is that it was a little offtrack, and and am i right in saying that this operator said we're all clear and that's when they started the lift again? >> i think from what i heard

over the radio is that they were looking to close the lift down and then possibly just try and run it to get everyone off and then maybe make some adjustments without the weight of all the passengers on the chairlift. we were fortunate to get moved halfway up to tower 9 by the time the cable jumped track. that's why we're standing here today, hopefully we're going to be skiing here soon. i think they were doing everything they could. it's just one of those things that you can't really foresee and don't expect. >> tell us exactly what happened in terms of this fall. because a few minutes after they started this lift again, that's when you started to see what was going on. and you too were involved in this plunge. tell us exactly what you saw and felt. >> well, like we said, we had stopped earlier under tower 8 which is the tower where this track was -- the cable fell off the tracks and they started the lift again and we moved forward about 50 feet and stopped a second time and

then at that point, all of a sudden we just fell a free fall. we just dropped and we saw the ground coming closer and closer to us. i don't think it really occurred to us what was going on until it actually happened. we were so scared and then we kind of swooped back up in the air and bounced down again and settled about six feet above the ground. we actually never made contact. our skis did brush the trail. there was kind of a cloud of snow that came up as people were hitting the trail, but luckily we didn't make contact. and we just kind of looked at each other and we were sitting there in our chairs suspended. we were in such shock we didn't move, and then someone from the parallel lift said jump off, get out of there. so we were both kind of jarred back to life and jumped off. we were only about five feet off the trail. it was very scary but we're very grateful that we were not in one of the chairs, you know, that

hit, and we were able to evacuate safely and live to tell the tale. >> apparently everyone will because all the injuries we're told are not life-threatening, but there's a lot of questions being raised about why this may have happened and we don't really quite know yet. liza and derek miller, if you are getting back on the slopes today, you be careful now. stay warm and careful. >> thank you so much. we will. >> it is now 7:09. now here's lester. >> and thanks to the travel frustrations caused by the storm are beginning to boil over. thousands of passengers have been stranded at airports around the country for three days. some roads here in the snow zone are waiting for plows. jeff rosen is in brooklyn with the latest on the cleanup. jeff, good morning. >> reporter: hi, lester. good morning to you. here we are, three days after the storm in the biggest city in the country. and it's really still a disaster

area along many of the side streets. right now, i'm standing not in a park, not in a field somewhere, this is actually a residential area, a residential side street in the middle of brooklyn, new york. and when i say it's not been plowed, i mean it. i did not mean plows came through and snow just covered over, i'm saying a plow never came through, you can't get a car through here or an ambulance through here or a police car through here and that's causing many problems. and if you do, you couldn't get a tractor trailer through a snow bank that's five feet tall. if you think this is bad, the airports are just as bad or even worse, but there is some progress to report this morning. but there is progress to report this morning. morning.1 and away we finally go to -- the game went on tuesday night. the eagles and vikings eagles and vikings in philadelphia, 48 hours late courtesy of the blizzard. governor ed rendell was there, remember on a radio show he said this about our nation. >> we have become a nation of wusses. >> reporter: by the way, the vikings won. no winners at the airport, the planes are flying again, but the

backlog of passengers is staggering, lines around the terminal and stranded travelers are still sleeping here. >> it's just a big mess. >> reporter: late tuesday night, an nbc producer shot this video of a plane stuck on the tarmac at jfk for more than six hours. >> there's not much water left on the plane, there's not much juice, and all the wine and booze that would make people feel a little bit better is locked up because of customs. >> reporter: trouble in the northeast spells disaster for the entire country. flights are canceled coast to coast. in milwaukee -- >> it was such a mess and there were so many people in there, like screaming and crying. >> reporter: and atlanta. >> when you call the airline, everyone is on the phone so you wait for like half an hour in order to get to someone. >> reporter: experts say air travel won't bounce back until after new year's. on the streets, growing anger about new york city's response, busses still stuck, cars still

buried. and just walking is still treacherous. >> mayor bloomberg, shame on you. >> yelling about it and complaining doesn't help. >> reporter: but even if with the blizzard comes a miracle. tammy ahmed went into labor during the storm sunday, she called an ambulance but no luck. in the end tammy gave birth at home to baby yasmine. >> it was terrifies, horrifies, actually, but thank god she's okay. >> reporter: the ambulance showed up four hours later. tammy wasn't alone. maya gelfind went into labor. with twin boys. she and her husband ran to a subway stop, figured out the trainings weren't running, and call 911. >> while i was waiting, i saw a snowplow got stuck. we just made it. >> reporter: and congratulations to those new mothers.

since the storm in this area alone, three people have died including a newborn baby because, lester, exactly what i was saying before, ambulances cannot get through these side streets. mayor bloomberg made a desperate plea yesterday afternoon in a news conference, to anyone who was watching, especially to private plow drivers, saying we will hire you to come and help. unprecedented for this city. >> something tells me a little national exposure will that get particular street plowed pretty quickly. thank you very much. let's get a check of the rest of the morning's top stories. hey, natalie. >> good morning, everyone. a man carrying bullet parts that exploded in his bag has been arrested by the fbi at miami international airport. police initially thought he was carrying an aerosol can. officials say the incident is not terrorism-related in a week that air travel seems to be at its worst, airlines have announced fare hikes. some effective immediately. many domestic routes will go up $10 each way. a new storm system is threatening to wreak havoc in california as the state is still

cleaning from last week's crushing weather. roads buckled and families in one california town is salvaging as much as they can after a landslide filled their houses with mud. new orleans is scrambling to provide temporary cold weather shelter for local home will you see people as a transients were killed in the worst fire in that city's history. they had been squatting in an abandoned warehouse burning debris to try to keep warm. u.s. troops cannot seal afghanistan's border to keep taliban fighters from crossing in and out. the pentagon denies reports that the u.s. will expand special operations into pakistan and says nato forces are seeking cooperation from pakistani tribes to target militants instead. overseas markets are mostly up overnight as we head to the new york stock exchange again to check in with cnbc's amanda drury.

amanda, good morning. >> good morning to you as well. we'll see if we can follow those asian and european markets highs today. the dow is sitting at a 28-month high. we have had a very sharp rally in this month of december, but we do need to watch the bond market. that is what to watch as we saw a broad sell offyesterday. and oil prices are near a two-years high today, and if we do get data today, a drawdown in crude we could see further price gains for oil as well. back to you. >> amanda drury, thank you. curiosity may have killed >> amanda, thank you. curiosity may have killed the cat, but it definitely didn't do too much for this dog. rebel as he's appropriately named. the german shepherd got his head stuck through an 18-inch wall in california and whimpered until someone heard him and called animal services. it took 30 minutes to ease his head back out the way it came in. poor guy. rebel without a cause there. 7:15 right now.

back over to ann, lester and al. he's doing fine now. >> that's good. >> now mr. roker is here with the first check of the weather. hey, al. >> we got another big storm as nalt natalee alluded to making its way into the west, the pineapple express. this one not as strong as the one we had last week, but still bringing rain as far south as los angeles this morning. we have got winter storm warnings, winter storm watches stretching from california all the way out to the dakotas asa system makes its way to the east. rainfall amounts, one to two inches of rain, los angeles into san diego, up to half an inch of rain. snowfall salt lake city is going to pick up about a foot of snow. flagstaff 10 to 20 inches of good morning to you. the sun is finally peeking back out after a stormy night. in fact we picked up over 2 inches of rain in oakland. this is what you can expect as we head throughout the day. as we head through this evening,

cold air pulls into the area dropping our temperatures into the 30s for tomorrow, 36 degrees. that's what you'll be waking up with. even colder friday night and the new year. have a great wednesday. and that's your latest weather. and that's your latest weather. the tangled web that has become the broadway production of spiderman has hit another major snag. nbc's michelle kosinski is at the theater with the latest on the troubled musical. >> good morning, ann. >> reporter: keep in mind this show has just been in previews here in times square. the official opening is still six weeks away. but on top of those four accidents involving cast members, now here comes another snag. the lead actress is reportedly leaving. it is the most expensive show in broadway history.

and some critics call it a $65 million debacle. >> this show has been an epic disaster. >> reporter: now the lead actress is bowing out of the troubled production. >> natalie mendoza who plays the lead villain was hit on the head by a cable at the first preview, she had a concussion and now she's leaving the show permanently. >> we have seen the 30-year-old actress flee on screen. she played the lead character on "dissent," a horror move sli. mendoza's spider-man accident was in late november. she's not the only one to get hurt. >> four cast members have been injured, one with broken ribs, one with a concussion, one with broken wrists and the other with a broken foot. >> the serious accidents include christopher tierny who plunged 30 feet head fishes into the orchestra pit when his safety rope broke.

since her accident, mendoza has been on the mend and mostly absent from the show. >> the injuries in our show are a terrible thing and no one wants to discount that at all. but injuries in a big show are something that happen. >> reporter: the department of labor has been in and worked with show producers to implement new safety measures. >> four people now injured, it is a mess. >> reporter: but there's pressure on the show's behind the scenes cast who's directed julie taymore and u2's bono. they're scheduled to come see the show next week for the first time. some wonder if they can help untangle this messy web. >> we're going to see some new songs added, some changes added to the second act. but they are under the gun to open february 7. >> reporter: despite all the publicity this has garnered and not always the kind you would want, as they say, the show must go on. it's reported that mendoza's

understudy will take over her role as spider-man's nemesis and the show is sold out through new year's day. ann? >> certainly it's well known now. it is now 7:19, once again here's lester. and the week between christmas and new year's is a time for celebration and parties. unfortunately it's also a time when more drunk drivers are on the road and the government is now urging states to use a new tactic to crack down. here's nbc's tom costello. >> reporter: saturday night in houston, and officer paul lasalle is hunting for drunk drivers. when the local bar is letting out, it doesn't take long. >> the reason i stopped you was you were driving your car in the roadway without headlights on. >> reporter: in a gas station parking lot, the driver is given three sobriety tests. none of them goes well. >> i believe you're intoxicated. you're going to be placed under arrest for driving while

intoxicated. >> reporter: the driver refuses to take a breathalyzer test and this is where things get complicated. in texas, 50% of dui suspects refuse a breathalyzer test hoping to avoid a dui conviction. so the state has adopted a no refusal weekend. if a driver refuses, a judge is standing by at a checkpoint or police station ready to sign a search warrant for an immediate blood sample. >> he fell against his truck and then he kept wanting to sit on his bumper and i think he was just a little uneasy on his balance. >> okay, do you swear this is true? >> i do. >> okay. >> reporter: a nurse then takes the blood sample on the spot. a .08 blood alcohol level means the driver is under the influence. >> first and foremost, no refusal is about saving people's lives. it's the number one crime in my just and it's the number one crime in most jurisdictions. >> reporter: in some states as many as 80% of sus spepthed

drunk drivers are refusing breathalyzer tests hoping that will deprive the gocht of the evidence nay need. >> if your blood alcohol level is above .08, you're going to get arrested. you'll probably lose your driving privileges. you might get put in jail. >> reporter: back in texas they credit the no refusal breathalyzer with saving lives. anyone who refuses this week could get a blood test and a ticket to jail. for "today" tom costello, nbc news, washington. still ahead a young mother featured on the reality show "teen mom" arrested on domestic violence charges after being caught on camera slapping and kicking her ex-fiance. we'll have the latest details, but first this is "today" on nbc.

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middleton are saying no thanks to having household servants. what are they thinking? >> i don't know. plus healthy alternatives to the top fat and calorie feers at your favorite restaurants. but first a check of your local news and weather. buzzsaw? buzz what? i'm dan now. we're getting the band back together, you in? i don't think, uh... you're not in. not in. [ 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. at toyotathon. seven years ago, i had this idea. to make baby food the way moms would. happybaby strives to make the best organic baby food. in a business like ours, personal connections are so important. we use our american express open gold card to further those connections. last year we took dozens of trips

using membership rewards points to meet with the farmers that grow our sweet potatoes and merchants that sell our product. we've gone from being in 5 stores to 7,500. booming is using points to make connections that grow your business. good morning to you. 7:26 right now. i'm laura garcia-cannon. the latest storm moving out right now but the overnight rain and gusty wind created some dangerous situations. christie smith is live near pleasanton where a huge tree came crashing down. >> reporter: good morning. now that it's daybreak you can kind of see how saturated the ground is. there is actually standing water under the root system of this tree. it was about 4:15 this morning when it came crashing down and completely covered the road here at pleasanton sunol. it was a driver who called it in and told the chp, hey, i can't get through. they have been out here this morning turning everyone away

and are telling me it will be at least another 30 minutes or so before they can even get a crew out here and then 90 minutes to be'll k bup. we'll be back right after the break. ac

good morning, folks. we have a new issue for the peninsula right here. highway 35 right at 92, so this is the upper 35 near 280, reports of an accident in lanes that will cause a slowdown coming off of 280 heading down over the hill to half moon bay. but 92 up devil's slide did

clear just after 6:00 a.m. that's good news. the san mateo bridge, we do see some wind shaking the camera and also fog, low crowds, christina, what have you got there. >> high pressure building back in which is drying us out but compressing all of that leftover moisture so fog will be a problem until 10:00 a.m. today. after that cold air moves in and will cool us down into the 30s overnight. 49 degrees is your high for tomorrow. we're back with more news in 25 minutes. >> that's right. the "today" show returns in less than a minute. have a fantastic morning.

7:30 now on a wednesday morning, december 29, 2010. we got a big, big crowd assembled at rockefeller plaza. i'm lester holt alongside ann curr curry. matt and meredith have the day off. >> people would be standing in slush. if you could have butlers and maids on call to meet your every need all the time, including a personal chef, you would dive right in. >> absolutely. >> you wouldn't say no to that. >> i would never say no.

>> some people say you marry this guy and you get all this stuff. >> but prince william and kate middleton have decided not to have any help around the house when they get ready. we'll find out why. also when it comes to your favorite restaurant meals, one of the biggest offenders in terms of fat and calories and carbs. we'll run down the list including the noodles which have five times the fat of a large order of french fries. will teaching sports to your children pave the way for success later on? some programs are now training toddlers even newborns, but is it too much too fast? we're going to talking about some of the pros and cons coming up. let's begin with a harsh reality for a young woman

featured on a hit reality show. >> reporter: amber portwood is on mtv's "teen mom." she now faces felony charges in a story line that was not expected to be part of the show. >> amber -- >> i swear to god, i wish i was bigger than you, would whip your -- >> reporter: the episode seen by millions last september showed portwood slapping, kicking and cursing at her ex-fiance as their 2-month-old daughter looked on. when the scene aired on tv, the police department in anderson, indiana was flooded from calls from outraged viewers. police opened a criminal investigation and on monday, the madison county prosecutor's office charged the 20-year-old with two counts of domestic

battery, one felony count of neglect of a dependent and one count of domestic battery. >> this is a decision she didn't really have control over, so we're going to do our best to respond and keep our family together. >> reporter: portwood appeared on an mtv reality show. >> were you blacked out? >> i don't remember it being like that. i feel like i hit him one time. >> amber, do you wish you hadn't done the show? >> reporter: late tuesday portwood posted $5,000 bail and with orders to stay away from her daughter and her ex-. >> most important to give some measure of comfort and safety to her child. >> for her part, amber portwood maintains her innocence. she faces up to three years in jail and a $10,000 fine if convicted. and we reached out to mtv, they

said we have no comment on portwood's arrest. >> gail salt is a psychiatrist and a "today" show contributor, wendy murphy is a former prosecutor. five months for these charges to be brought. >> certainly the defense is going the raise it at a minimum with a jury if it ever gets to that point. why if it was all about this child what took so long? i think ultimately it will be a tough issue to make much of as a defense tactic. but i think it's an important question for the prosecutor to answer, what took so long? >> in the meantime, you have got exhibit a playing over and over again right here and you have the public that stepped forward and made the calls. how does the public play a role in this and does that help or hurt the prosecution?

>> again, a really good question. prosecutors should not be making decisions to bring these kinds of serious charges based on how many e-mails they get. that's not the way the justice system works. on the other hand, lester, i think it's a terrific thing that these charges are being brought in part because i'm worried that reality television is making entertainment in terms of violence something we should be excited about. i hope that this puts the brakes on the idea that violence should be entertaining. >> that's a good point to bring gail in here, you say reality television, there's a performance art that comes with so called reality television. how does that play, gail? >> i think it's very concerning. it's desensitizing all of us to what behavior is acceptable. even if it's not illegal, it's immoral. we can only speak with our television sets be so far we have been speaking we want to see this kind of thing and

that's a bad message for adults and children. i would hope this would raise the awareness of domestic violence in terms of men. i think this is very much in the closet that there are women who hit men and men don't want to talk about it. >> the guy is less likely to call 911 and call the police. >> there aren't shelters for men, there aren't systems for men because this is kept under covers. because this absolutely happens, it absolutely robs a man of self-esteem. women have killed men in domestic violence. >> you mentioned children watching, when there's a child in the room, amber's 2-year-old. at that age, could she be affected by it? >> absolutely. even preverbally. kids have memories, incorporate them. i would be very concerned about this child because of the fact that the children who see domestic violence are much more likely to become victims or much more likely to become

perpetrators of it and i think she would be at great risk with a mother this volatile and this potentially violent. >> she's been ordered to stay away from her ex and her dare. >> you don't have to be charged with a crime for things like neglect and exposing your child to your own form of violence. i don't see that happening, lester. she doesn't have a record. she's a young mom. but she should take a lesson here, she thought she was winning ratings for this television show and now she may well land in jail. >> and i have got to ask you, it was a television show, there were cameras rolling, there were producers in the room is there any culpability that those who witnessed this firsthand might be in? >> technically the answer is yes. i don't expect charges, but under indiana law unlike most states, a person not just a care

giver, any person who witnesses the neglect of a child is mandated to report and as far as we know no one at the television show reported or reportedly cared about the well-being of the child or the child's father. >> we'll have to end right there. wendy and gail, thanks for coming on this morning. nowl let's get a check of te weather. >> we have a big storm moving in from the west. foster county, california, look at that snow coming down, they're going to be looking at a lot of snow from nevada on into arizona and utah, places to the east or even up into montana. as we go to the map, show you what's happening. down in florida, another record low, orlando 29, tampa 34, miami at 50. afternoon temperatures rebound back into the upper 60s, they will see temperatures in the 70s tomorrow. rest of the country, you can see

chilly conditions up through the plains on into new england. 60s and 70s down through texas, heavy rain out west, heavy mountain snows as well. and we have been telling you, wet weather through the mississippi river valley, parts of new orleans on into louisiana and parts of mississippi picking up to a half an inch to an inch of rain. up the east coast into new england, plenty of sunshine, mid-atlantic states, and we have got sweet 16. you're 16? oh, you're 16. you're not 16. happy birthday, sweetheart. as you can see we've got a few light scattered showers coming down. this is all that's left of the moisture that came through the

area yesterday. cold air on the way dropping our temperatures into the 30s. 36 degrees by thursday. it's fogoing to be a cold night. make sure you bundle up. >> and we got a cute little redhead there. what's your name, sweetheart? >> mckenna. >> mckenna, you've got your american girl doll there. don't forget, you can check your weather any time of the day or night, go to the weather channel on cable or weather.com online. lester? >> al, thanks very much. up next, the year's top food offenders including the popular restaurant pasta dish that's equal in calories to seven beanh itos. right after this. 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.

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i don't smoke. [ male announcer ] it's a new year. so, ask your doctor about chantix. and find out how you could save money on your prescription go to chantix.com to learn more and get terms and conditions. >> man: delivering a 200-pound ice sculpture means i don't have any margin for error. one wrong turn, and i could end up unloading a puddle of water. >> gps: turn right ahead. >> man: so i make sure i have the right guidance to get me exactly where i need to be. it's the same with taxes. turbotax has a unique gps feature that guides me step-by-step. automatically double-checks along the way and even lets me talk to a tax expert so i'm never alone. which helps me know it's done right and get to my maximum refund, guaranteed. >> try turbotax online now. you don't pay unless you're satisfied with the results. is back now at 7:43 and this morning on eat this not that, the top food offenders of 2010. and who better to add up all those calories, fat grams and

carbs than dave danzenko is author of eat this not that, the 2011 edition, and cook this not that, a book full of 350 calorie meals. see this list of the top offenders of 2010. what are your criteria? >> we look at everything. we look at sky high calories, sodium, fat, saturated fat, transfat and portion sizes. the thing you have to know is that we're not getting too much food, it's that we're getting too much that isn't food, all the empty calories. >> one of our top offenders is from p.f. changs, it's of double pan fried noodles combo. >> it hasn't been just fried once but twice, and then it's been made saltier than the desperate housewives of new jersey. this has a week's worth of sodium. this is 7,000 milligrams of

sodium, you would have to share with at least like three friends. just to give you a visual. that is the equivalent of 22 large fries from mcdonald's. that's the sodium equivalent. so if you're going to p.f. changs, get the beef with the snow peas, you're going to save 5,000 milligrams, three days worth of sodium. you can still go, but be careful. >> a lot of people like to go to baja fresh for their fresh food. this is baja fresh's char broiled steak nachos, i s. >> this is two days worth of calories, two days worth of saturated fat, two days worth of transfat. two days worth of sodium. this is the best reason for a border fence i have ever heard. this is the equivalent, the calorie equivalent of 45 chicken mcnuggets. so if you're going to go to baja

fresh, what i would recommend is rather than getting the nachos, get two original steak tacos, it's 450 calories. you're basically going to save nearly a half pound of body fat in one sitting. >> okay, good. thanks to dr. dave. i have had this and i have gone down to chicago. this is chicago deep dish pizza. it's really wonderful pizza. >> oh, yes, it's very wonderful. it's uno pizza, dos chins. this is 2,300 calories. 2,300 calories, three days worth of saturated fat. three days worth of sodium. it is the sodium equivalent of 23 packages of baked lay's potato chips. you got all the fats and the carbs that are collected in the thick crust. don't do that, save the calories

by getting the thin crust half pizza. you're going to save a half day of body fat. >> i hop has a big country breakfast, we know this is going to be high in fat. you've got chicken fried steak and country gravy. >> congratulations, i hop, you have made the country big. they take a 12-ounce steak, they fry it, they dump gravy on it, they give you eggs and hash browns, the it is the saturated fat equivalent of these seven chi chipoltle. >> i know you've got more. we will continue to do this forever. thank you so much. and coming up next, why prince william and kate

middleton will go without servants coming up right after this. and grcombinationp salad at red lobster? or maybe skewers of tender, wood-grilled shrimp. or your choice of shrimp paired with wood-grilled chicken. all served with unlimited, freshly-baked cheddar bay biscuits. seafood lunches starting at just $6.99 that fit into your budget and your lunch hour. only at red lobster.

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subway. eat fresh. you might think they're crazy or just good regular folks. but prince william and kate middleton are planning on going without any household staff after next year's wedding. martin fletcher is here with details. >> reporter: good morning. it's another royal shocker here, no bulletlers, no teams of cleaners, no cooks, that's young prince william's recipe for young married life, just a quiet home for two. the royal destiny, two people's lives are laid out before them like the king and queen of england. most people wouldn't mind being waited on hand and foot. prince charles for example has 149 servants with 29 classed as personal staff. with england's future king and

queen william and kate engageded to be married next april, reportedly have different views on life, at least in the short-term. after they get married, they don't want any servants. shock. horror. what's the country coming to? >> i don't think they should be having an extended wedding in the first place. >> reporter: it's a long way from the french court of marie an twon 234e9. but cooking, washing the dishes? shopping? paying with real money from your own pocket? take out the garbage just like you and me? apparently william and kate don't want servants getting in the way when they spend romantic weekends together in the prince's rented cottage near his military base in north wales. but who will make the bed, stoke

the fire and break the bread? they will. >> i think it shows a lot of thoughtfulness on his part. >> reporter: but when william has to serve the country, the royal wheel will turn. >> all guests are to be addressed as sir or madam, with the exception of the duke and duchess of kent. the king will be addressed as your majesty. >> yes, william and kate know the royal future that awaits them, but for now the young couple prefer intimacy and privacy, or what's the point of being in love. william bought his girlfriend a ring for christmas. another royal engagement? that would be too much for us to

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restore your body's natural rhythm with miralax. 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, good morning to you. it's 7:56 wight now. i'm laura garcia-cannon. starting to see some slowdowns, mike? >> just a little bit. there's a slowdown coming past 87. the only blip really showing up aside from around the 85-101 interchange which we typically expect to see. the flooding, those reports have cleared from the south bay. there's slowing for highway 4, but it's pittsburg, not antioch, but a light flow as exhibited by the bay bridge toll plaza. we're also seeing puddling clearing up as the sun dries out some of the water on the roadway. christina, you've got a better look at the forecast changes. >> yeah. this is all we're picking up in terms of rain that is falling over the bay area right now. the western-facing foothills just to the south of san jose. most of that action will continue to dissipate as we head through the next few hours. cold air on the way.

as of tonight we'll drop off into the 30s. take a look at your overnight lows. 36 degrees. that's what we're waking up with tomorrow morning. 34 friday morning. it's going to be a cold start to the new year. have a great day [ 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 ve easy. for this recipe and more, visit pillsburycrescents.com.

microsoft is handing out more than a million dollars to bay area schools to settle an antitrust lawsuit. the company will give the schools vouchers worth $5.31 per student. the schools are in santa clara and san mateo counties.

schools can use those vouchers to buy tech gadgets and programs. in 1999, business and consumers accused microsoft of engaging in unfair business practices by selling some systems. the company settled with software users for more than a billion dollars. unclaimed money from that settlement was placed in a fund to benefit underserved schools. many right here in the bay area. taking a live look outside this morning at the golden gate bridge, traffic picking up just a little bit. we'll have another local news update, including traffic and weather updates, in about half an hour. the "today" show returns in less than a minute. enjoy the clearing skies this wednesday morning.

8:00 now on a wednesday morning, december 29, 2010. we have been so busy with all the snow in the northeast and a lot of people are wondering what the city is going to be like, especially new york city on new year's eve. as lester was saying yer in ing they're really hauling out all the snow so they can get ready for new year's rockin' eve. but here on the plaza, people are in a pretty darn good mood. especially our lenny who has a

very cold nose this morning, i know because i just gave him a hug. i'm ann curry out on the plaza with lester and al. does your child have what it takes to excel in sports? >> even babies are getting into athletic training and sports. the motive is perhaps that child could become a pro athlete someday. anybody who's ever been on a diet knows, especially this time of year, people making those resolutions, it can be a struggle to lose weight and more importantly keep it off. we're going to get some inspiration from a woman who lost more than half of her body weight, more than 150 pounds. she's going to reveal her new look coming up. before we get to all of that, let's get a check of the morning's top stories. >> reporte >> good morning, everyone.

in the wake of the east coast storm, flights are resuming around the country. but passengers could be stranded over the weekend as airlines try to rebook flights and crews. piles of snow more than two feet high are blocking emergency vehicles from getting through. and new york's jfk international airport on tuesday, dozens of passengers waited on the tarmac to deplane for some 11 hours. at least four international flights were also kept on the tarmac for more than seven hours. passengers weren't allowed to disembark because there were no available gates. a chair lift derailed tuesday in high winds sending five chairs and the passengers in them plummeting 30 feet to the ground. eight people were injured including three children but nearly two feet of fresh snow softened their fall. it has been a particularly deadly year for police officers around the country. no statistics show that officer

deaths in the line of duty jumped to 160 in 2010. that is up 37% from last year. one expert blamed lower police department budgets, saying fewer officers and resources contributed to the rise in the fatalities. a federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit by alaska tea party candidate joe miller who was challenging the state's handling of the recent elections for senate. the dismissal now clears the way for incumbent lisa murkowski to be officially declared the winner. and it is proving to be quite the golden year for retirees across the country, panning for gold has turned into a pass time for many, and a profitable one, with the value of gold nearly $1,400 an ounce. let's go back outside once again to ann and lester. >> thanks a lot, natalie, do you want to get a check of the weather? >> i do want to get a check of the weather, but it feels better

than yesterday for sure. >> your flight was canceled to san jose? >> yes. >> when are you getting out? >> tonight. >> how long have you been stuck here? >> been here a week. >> we were supposed to fly out on monday. >> now we're getting to see you. >> that's kind of a little downer there at the end. thanks a lot, guys. let's check your weather and see what's happening. salina salinas, california, morning showers, windy, 54, nbc 8. tomorrow we have heavy snow from theplains, the rockies down to the southwest, showers in the lower mississippi river valley, some wet weather in the pacific northwest. new year's eve, looking good for the big ball drop here in new york city. it won't be sunny, but midnight it will be clear. we have got rain from the great lakes all the way down to the gulf coast, showers out west. we have got snow in the northern plains, some snow showers into the

well, twhaen lovely couple arrives in san jose, it's going to be pretty nice. showers have subsided for the most part. we're shaky here from the camera pointed to alcatraz. breezy. activity in the foothills, western-facing foothills to south of san jose. all action will clear throughout the afternoon and then cold air pushes into the area, dropping our temperatures into the 30s. 36 if you wake up tomorrow. have a great wednesday. >> and that's your latest weather. ann? >> i want to give this little girl a hug, she's sweet 16, it's her birthday. what's your name? >> erica. >> happy birthday erica. coming up, does younger mean better when it comes to kids and sports? that's coming up right after this. this is chris. who has questions about which beverages might interact with his blood pressure medication. so he turns to the team of experts

at walgreens.com's new pharmacy chat to get immediate answers. ♪ and now, thanks to the new pharmacy chat from walgreens.com, chris has everything he needs. except milk. expertise -- find it everywhere there's a walgreens and at walgreens.com. how about a coastal soup and grilled shrimp salad combination at red lobster? or maybe skewers of tender, wood-grilled shrimp. or your choice of shrimp paired with wood-grilled chicken. all served with unlimited, freshly-baked cheddar bay biscuits. seafood lunches starting at just $6.99 that fit into your budget and your lunch hour. only at red lobster. what's going on? we ordered a gift online and we really need to do something with it... i'm just not sure what... what is it? oh just return it. returning gifts is easier than ever with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service.

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and we're back at 8:09. many parents can't wait to have their children join their first sports team. but how young is too young to start them down the athletic path? >> you're crossing the midline of the body. >> at just 11 weeks old, elena is already learning to train

like an athlete, but on a much smaller scale. >> let's turn to twist. oh, look at that. very, good girl. teaching sports skills to babies sounds crazy. to people who don't understand it. but it's not. would you like to go upside down again? >> marine has been working with children for 13 years and believes when it comes to sports training, the younger the better. many kids in her program are learning the physical building blocks before they're even walking. from gaining balance to batting a racquet. >> these are skills that children need to engage in sports. our goal is to develop positive emotional connections to physical movement. >> i think the skills that he's learning at this age will go with him throughout his entire life. whatever sports he wants to play, he'll have that base.

>> all over the country, parents are getting their children in the game early. with programs like little kickers, teaching soccer skills nationwide to kids as young as 18 months old. dvds have it the baby market too. former tennis pro gigi fernandez teaches sports specific moves to toddlers. >> it's really to give them confidence in the sport they want to do later in the life. you got to start somewhere, and the earlier you start, the better it is. >> but some parents are comfortable with their babies sitting on the sidelines for now. >> it doesn't need to be a really structured activity at this age. >> if nick wants to play with us in the living room or outside or in the playground with friends, that's enough for us. >> younger never means better, better, better. >> early sports training for the kids does not mean a competitive edge later on. >> if you're thinking that this

is a head start, beating some other kid out of the starting blocks to an athletic career, be very careful, you're going down the wrong road. >> future pro athlete? maybe, but for most parents, it is definitely not the goal. >> it's not why we're here. >> brooke is a youth sports parenting expert and editor-in-chief of moms teen.com. two sides of the argument, earlier is better and earlier is not better in this case. is there any evidence that kids get at least a mental or physical advantage athletically if they do this early? >> there's absolutely no evidence. there are no studies that show that the kids get an edge. there have been no good reports that really show they have an edge. there have been many studies that show it could work to a disadvantage. >> what would the disadvantage be though?

it's obviously good for kids to get physical activity in an era of high obesity. >> they can have some negative experiences that will affect them for a very long time. >> does this have to do with the parental expectations here. they're not being marketed, they're not saying do this and you'll be an all-star baseball player someday. but do parents feel that way? >> a child has their own developmental blueprint. they're going to develop at their own time on their own timeline. so it is so important to let them develop, let them have a lot of free play. >> but if you do want to get them involved in an organized thing, i know you brought some advice. you said visit and observe classes with your child. what should i be looking for? >> look and make sure the kids are moving the whole time.

if they're lined up waiting to take a turn to do something, you know that they're not getting the activity and that's frustrated for a little child. >> and the red danger flag is anybody who says this will help your child become a pro athlete. >> that's a red flag. if they're promising that your child will be a pro or they're promising that this is really what they need to have the edge, no, that is just not true. >> you're also big on having fun and this is where i sound like a fudy duddy. but i remember free play, you left the house and you went out and you didn't need all these organized activities. where's the middle ground here. >> absolutely critical for child development for kids to have fun and free play. they don't need adults telling them what the rules are. they don't want to hear an adult say, oh, don't put your handsonn a soccer ball or don't kick the basketball, that will turn them off to sports. >> no rules, at least at this

early age? >> no rules, no expectations, just fun. >> kids have a lot more pressure in their lives anyway these days. as parents go and look for these different classes, what's a general thing to keep in mind? >> not only kids having the pressure, but the parents have a tremendous amount of pressure put on them to make sure that if your kids are not in these programs, that your kids won't make it up the ladder. so what they have to look for are people who might have an early childhood education major, not a coach, someone who knows what children need at this stage. that is so important. >> and as a parent, you've got triplets, you know that ultimately kids are going to do what they want to do. >> you bet and when you see three fraternal boys growing up at different stages, you quickly learn that kids really do develop on their own timeline. >> great having you on. >> thank you. up next a woman who lost half her body weight.

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stick -- take it off today is brought to you by truvia natural sweetener. back now at 8:20 and this morning on take it off "today," beating the battle of the bulge. if you're planning to make losing weight your new year's resolution, "people" magazine is making a difference in the half my size issue. right when we're all thinking about our new year's resolutions and this is an annual thing and you get a lot of feedback? >> it's an annual issue that we do, it's very popular and it comes at this time of year because everybody wants to put away those holiday calories and start off the new year with a fresh start. >> you have this in the profile section of your magazine. we have singled out one, her

name is josephine and here's an image of what josephine looked like before, she was 267 pounds at her heaviest and she has lost 156 pounds. josephine, come on out. to music in fact. yay. look at you. remarkable. >> thank you. >> my gosh. it's hard -- i wouldn't even have picked you out to be the same person i saw in that photograph. >> but that's me. >> how did you -- how do you feel? >> you know, i feel wonderful. more confident, just wonderful. words can't really express it. >> and you were spurred on. first of all you started gaining weight in college, is that right? >> yes. >> and something happened that scared you that made you think i got to do this? >> absolutely. i started gaining weight in college, i'm a registered nurse. and actually when i started my job and i started working, i started having nosebleeds, headaches and i went to the

doctor and he told me that i had high blood pressure. so at that point, he wanted to put me on medication and so i said to myself, i'm not going to go down that road. so actually i went to jenny craig and that was my last resort before i sought gastric bypass or even lap band. >> and the people you chose for this issue of the magazine, you chose one who lost weight with weight watchers and one with curves. one thing they have in common is they all did it with diet and exercise. it was a natural effort and this was important to you? >> we have real people doing real weight loss without surgery, no gimmicks, no diet pills. it's really to show people that you can do it as long as you find the right tools for you. >> not everything works for everybody. what was it about what you found that worked for you? >> for jenny craig, had tried weight watchers, i had even

tried l.a. weight loss, diet pills, different quick methods. with jenny craig i found that the one-on-one personal consultation with them was just what i needed, that extra support. and it's important having that support within yourself, that extra support from family and from them was just key. >> the fact that you're a registered nurse. and your job is to take care of people. >> yes. >> to make sure that they are healthy. >> yes. >> the fact that you were struggling to be healthy, what does that say as a lesson to all the rest of us? how hard is it for us to take care of ourselves? >> it's very important. i thought to myself, how can i tell a patient you need to lose weight and you need to do this, if i can't be that example. >> how much working out did you do to get those arms like that? >> i usually work out maybe four or five times a week. >> okay. there you are.

thank you so much. by the way, people's half my size issue hits newsstands tomorrow and now here's lester. still ahead, the top food trends for 2011. but first a look at more of the stunning images captured in 2010. and remember, you can vote for your favorite on our website, todayshow.com. take a look.

good morning, 8:26. i'm lara garcia-cannon. >> pothole repair work on the marin side of the bridge. temporary road close from time to time southbound from marin. bay bridge, we have not seen metering lights all week, nor today. puddles starting to dry out. good news. sun coming out, easy drive through the east bay. san mateo bridge, an example of the advisory leftover for chp. high winds for san mateo

dumbarton. east west bridge getting hit coming across. >> we have high pressure moving in and low pressure moving out. pushing into southern california creating heavy rain for them. for us today, cold air's going filter into the area, dropping our temperatures into the 30s overnight. take a look at your extended forecast. 36 degree as you wake up tomorrow. chilly start. widespread frost on the way for friday morning. new year's, yeah, a chilly one around here. laura's back with more news in a minute and a half.

budget blue print coming with deep cuts to state services. once he takes office next week, browns expected to take aim at public universities and welfare programs. he is also likely to ask voters to extend temporary tax hikes on vehicles, incoming and sales. brown may offer multibillion dollar incentives for redevelopment projects. i'll have another local news update in a half hour. the "today" show returns in less than a minute. have a great wednesday morning.

8:30 now on this wednesday morning, december 29, 2010. we have got a nice sized crowd, basking in the glow of the rockefeller center christmas tree. happy as always to have them here. we're glad we can now get them around the building, no more fear of falling snow. >> there's a little bird up

there. look, a sign of spring. >> a little bird. he's right there to the left of that little -- can you see it? our camera can't get it. there he is. >> our cameras can get anything. anything. hope you all are wearing hats over there. anyway, we have got a lot ahead this morning. we're going to be talking about trends, especially when it comes to food. apparently they include, get this, a gourmet recipe that uses cheetos as an ingredient. okay, a taste test for that. >> it's pretty good. >> and women helping women through difficult childbirths. jenna bush hager was able to travel to africa to work with a remarkable group. >> maternal mortality is a major issue all across the world. so this is important in the work that they're doing. a little later on, it's

wednesday, it's time for our money 911 and we're going to be answering the abge old question when i get the car, do i lease or do i buy? >> great question. but first, youe got a check of the we'vather? >> we have a big storm sysm working its way into the west, snow in the mountains and more wet weather moving into the mid mississippi river valley. sunshine in the northeast, lake-effect snow showers out through the eastern great lakes. sunny and chilly down through florida, but temperatures will rebound nicely tomorrow. look for more rain as you work your way into the lower mississippi river valley and heavy snow back through the central rockies into good morning to you. well, judging by the live picture, we are clearing up all of the moisture passed through the area, part of a big-time pacific storm. sliding south into southern california, cold air moves in throughout the afternoon.

daytime highs are going to struggle to hit 52 degrees, turning cold as we head into the evening. another cold blast on the way for new year's day. have a fantastic wednesday. >> i got a nice group of good looking kids. all right, hey, don't forget, you can check the weather any time of the day or night, go to the weather channel on cable, weather.com online and if you want to find out about the 100-year-old birthdays, go to willard,.com. but if you can't do that, we have got him live, uncle willie, how are you? >> live on saturday night -- oops, wrong show. happy new year to my favorite weatherman in the world. happy birthday, take a look at our birthday buddies as the jar

spins around the jar of life. andll we have bernard low, columbia, illinois, he still drives. and we have estella george, survived colon cancer. a wonderful, wonderful ladd. and we have thomas cuozzo. 100 years old, lives independently and a retired police photographer. how about that for you? and edna weisel. 100 years old, attributes her longevity to having a martini every night. don't mind if i do. we have john, who's is biggest fan of the "today" show, never misses it.

spadaro, from westbury, new york. a member of the bowling hall of fame. loves to play golf too. david sanders, 100 years old today. known as colonel sanders, that's because he was in the air force. back to the number one stars of the "today" show, here's lester. >> he looks so comfortable in that warm weather. we're looking back at the newsmakers of 2010, i have fallen in love with making bird houses. caw caw! [ director ]what is that? that's a horrible cr. here are some things that i'll make as little portals. honestly, i'd love to do this for the rest of my life so i've got to take care of my heart. for me, cheerios is a good place to start.

[ male announcer ] got something you'll love to keep doing? take care of your heart. you can start with cheerios. the natural whole grain oats can help lower cholesterol. brrrbb... makes you feel ageless. [ male announcer ] it's time. love your heart so you can do what you love. cheerios. [ bob ] squak.

back now at 8:37 with the legacy and love of a denver mother who used laughter to cope with a devastating breast cancer diagnosis. a reminder this holiday season that some gifts truly are precious.

>> reporter: for sarah adair, the most important things in life were music, love, laughter and sharing all three with her family. >> sarah had has an infectious laugh. i think that's what got her through adversity. >> children, adam and eileen were diagnosed as teenagers with cystic fibrosis, a deadly disease. and just a few years later, another devastating blow. sarah had breast cancer. >> she dealt with everything with such courage and such great. >> reporter: somehow between hair loss, a double mastectomy and endless hospital visits, a are still found a way to laugh and that gave her strength. she wanted to pass the feeling on to other women who suffered from the disease. so she started writing this book, 101 uses for an empty bra, words that still make her

husband harry smile. >> the happen parachute, the air brake for a model airplane, candle snuffer. they're just all so amazing. >> but publishers weren't ready for a book like this. her family believes they may have been afraid to laugh about cancer. >> for us, laughter and humor has always been there. why would you not want to laugh if you have a choice? >> reporter: sarah's book was never professionally published, but one of her dreams did come to pass. her son adam married the love of his life, amber. >> i was very lucky to know her for as long as i did. >> reporter: sarah passed away on august 7, 2007. one of sarah's biggest wishes in life was to have grandchildren. that seemed impossible since cystic fibrosis makes men sterile. but thanks to new technology and a lot of love, the adairs are celebrating a small miracle.

meet the newest member of the family. ashley. >> there's going to be a lot of her in him and we're going to see his laughter and his humor and there's going to be music coming out of this guy, we know it. >> ashley is a healthy baby. medical advances have helped both adair children outlive their prognosis and as the whole family celebrates ashley, thoughts of sarah are not far away. >> for him not to be around such a strong, amazing, fun lady for his whole life, for him to miss that is just heart breaking. >> but for now, they will keep sarah's spirit alive by passing on the tradition she started. ♪ over the rainbow ♪ way up high

>> reporter: and making sure her grandchild knows laughter. >> we're back in a moment, this is "today" on nbc.

we're back at 8:43. some women here in america choose to have their babies at home. but in poor countries around the world. many women don't have a choice. a group called c.a.r.e. is trying to change that. >> reporter: this is a very rare event in ethiopia. a woman delivering with the help of experienced doctors. and a clean and sterile operating room. in ethiopia, most women don't have this care or any care.

90% of births take place at home. in a country where most people earn less than $100 a year, health care is hard to get. ethiop ethiopia has one of the biggest infant mortality rates in the world. that saying is based in fact. here in ethiopia, giving birth means death for many women. 20,000 die every year. if she was not able to come to this hospital, she may even die. >> c.a.r.e. is trying to change that. they brought members of congress and c.a.r.e. advocates to ethiopia to take action. >> we know there are simple solutions to reducing maternal mortality. >> reporter: one collusion,

c.a.r.e. and the ethiopian government are helping to establish clinics by training 35,000 local woman in prenatal care, delivery and emergency care. >> babies get delivered here? in the village of haiti, these women, the care has changed their lives. for the first time, pauliina will have a health worker deliver her fourth child. but times it is not as simple as just bringing medical care to women. in a strictly christian muslim country, gender inequities are often a barrier for the people themselves. >> the worst for women is not the same as the worst for men. men are the decision makingers in the home. if he decides he doesn't want to pay for health care, he can keep

her from accessing medical doctors. and men may not want their wife to be seen by male doctors. there are tab oos that that nee to be addressed. >> everybody has a mother, everybody came into the world and needed their mother to come into the world. >> reporter: she hopes america will continue its foreign aid, some $659 million a year. members of congress traveled with c.a.r.e. to learn about the problems firsthand. >> we walked about probably half a mile to a lady's home who was eight months pregnant who makes that walk two and three times a day and she's having to go and collect water. for us to imagine that in america, not even in our worst communities do we have places like that. so it gets back to being a human being and that's why we would help. >> reporter: there's so many problems back home in the u.s., so how can you go home and convince your constituents that

we need to help? >> we know that a country that's developing, a country that has opportunity and hope for its people is a country where there will be stability. at the end of the day, that's a positive thing for america. >> reporter: maternal deaths are down 30% and local women helping women is having an even greater affect, empowering women to claim their mights. >> that was jenna bush hager reporting. experts reveal what will be the biggest trend in food in 2011, but first this is "today" on nbc.

this morning on "today's" holiday kitchen, the top food trends of 2011. leading chefs give their top picks when it comes to all things food. >> james oslind is the magazine's editor-in-chief. james, thanks for being here we have got a lot to get to. chardonnay from italy? who knew? >> more and more. these that are coming from italy are sharp and crisp.

you can get them any time of day for chardonnay. it goes with all foods. >> it's complicated. what would you say? >> it's oaky. >> oaky, nice. >> next you have -- >> i'm sorry. >> europe is usually thought of as the mother land of cheese. more and more amazing cheeses are being produced here in the states, including this one from wisconsin. >> you say this is for people who want to make -- i'm quoting you here, the world's best grilled cheese? >> world's best, okay, world's best. >> we think of europe as being the big cheese place. >> wisconsin and more and more available in cheese shops all across the country. >> and also we have got red pulled beef. >> red pulled beef is a heritage beef. you have heard of black angus. sometimes corn fed beef--i'm

sorry, sometimes grass fed beef can be a little weak. this is lucious incredible beef. the ultimate beef. >> we have a hard necked garlic. what does that mean? >> as opposed to soft neck garlic which is the supermarket variety. it's got this firm stock that runs up the center of it. but what makes this gar look so gre great is the -- >> this is a bit of food trend, as long as i have been a kid, one of my favorite foods, more and more chefs are finding that supermarket foods make share ch cheffy foods even more fabulous. this dish of broccoli with a cheese sauce, with a bunch of cheetos crumbled on top. >> they should get an award for this. >> you have got to try this at

home. >> a gatewreat way to make yours eat the broccoli. >> a guavo paste. >> we're finding in all latin supermarkets. my favorite way to eat it as they do in brazil, it's called rom"romeo and juliet." it's fresh cheese with the guava on top. these are freeze-dried fruits. these are just bursting with crazy vibrant flavor. this company in new zealand, they also freeze-dry things like soy sauce and balsamic vinegar. it's insanely good. >> if you add that to something you're making, makes it hot. >> this is a brilliant company from canada. their triple crunch mustard is

whole mustard seeds. and it has a little whisky in it, beautiful on sandwiches, stirred into bloody marys, extraordinarily delicious mustard. >> and chinese? >> a classic condiment made from scallops and shrimp. a peruvian chile. it's brilliant sprinkled on top of popcorn. >> but chefs are always trying to punch through to the next big thing, right? terms of ingredients? >> absolutely. and chefs, they live, breathe food 24/7. and these foods, fantastic. some of the best in the country.

>> that would be great on roasted potatoes. it would be great just as powder. it's got a not quite accumulacu. but a little more. >> the cheese, upland pleasant rich cheese. best grilled cheese sandwiches. >> thanks so much. >> thank you so much. >> and we have expert advice for your money emergencies. >> and your local news and weather is next, we'll be right back.

good morning. 8:56. i'm laura garcia-cannon. mike is here with a look at the morning commute. >> light volume of traffic. that's what's saving things for 28 pop black mountain road, tree limbs, blowing around, loose soil as well. we're getting this report on the

peninsula. 101 smoothed down. peninsula on the east bay, blocked about a tree. usually an alternate to a crowded 680, that's notr. alteatda it's clear. more after this.

san jose police say an officer was injured after a shoot-out near the children's discovery museum. they shot a man after he allegedly tried to rob a home on locust street. the police took him to a nearby hospital, he his expected to survive. it's unclear if police are looking for additional suspects. they rints viewing three people home at the time. brent will have a local news

update in 30 minutes. the "today" show returns in a minute. i'll see you bright and early tomorrow at 5:00 a.m. have a great day. [ female announcer ] these are the crescents you love on a holiday. and these are the ones you'll love on a friday. pillsbury crescent pizza pockets. with just a few ingredients, you have an easy to make dinner. they're crescents for the other 364. try them tonight. 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. good morning, everybody. we're back with > good morning, everybody. we're back with more of "today" on this wednesday morning, the 29th of december, 2010. it's a sunny day, well, we think it's going to be a sunny day here in the big apple, where it's a little easier to get around, following the post christmas blizzard. i'm ann curry along with lester holt and al roker. i just said it is a little easier because in fact, the plows have yet to reach a lot of the secondary streets here. in fact here in new york city and in the surrounding areas, you're taking a look there at brooklyn, and you can see that particular street actually has never even been plowed. >> the scene is being repeated on staten island, in queens, it is a mess.

>> a little political comment there from our al roker. >> we're going to catch up on what's going on there, and also at the airports coming up. >> i'm just saying. >> we're also going to talk about heart health. i think we all know the usual risk factors, certain foods, obesity and smoking, but there's a couple of factors that could affect your heart. we'll be discussing those coming up. and we're also going to take a look at the events and the people that were memorable in 2010, from that miraculous mine rescue in chile, to the trials and tribulations of tiger woods and lindsay lohan, to the shifting political winds in washington. before we get to all of that, we want to take a look at the top headlines of the morning. we've got natalie at the news desk this morning. >> good morning, everyone. well, there's snow falling here

in the northeast. but airports are still a mess and so are some roads as you just saw. nbc's jeff rossen is on that street in brooklyn, new york, where the plows have yet to come through there. jeff, good morning. >> reporter: it's a real awful, awful scene here, it resembles a disaster area. plows never came to this street in new york. it is not like this is a needle in a hay stack. we have seen many like it. ambulances can't get through, three people have already died including a newborn baby because ambulances can't get through streets like this. the airports are an absolutely mess trying to get back on track. it will take until 2011 for that. but there are some bright spots this morning. and away we finally go. the games went on tuesday night. the eagles and vikings in philadelphia. 48 hours late, courtesy of the blizzard. governor ed rendell was there, remember on a radio show he said this of sunday's cancellation. >> we have become a nation of wusses. >> well, they got him back last

night. >> message sent and message received. by the way, the vikings won. >> reporter: no winners at the airport, planes are flying again, but the backlog of passengers is staggering, lines wrap around the terminal and stranded travelers are still sleeping here. >> it's just a whole mess. >> reporter: late tuesday night, an nbc producer shot this cell phone video on board a turkish airlines flight, stuck on the tarmac of jfk for more than six hours. >> there's not much water left on the plane, there's not much juice, although wine and booze which would make people feel a little bit better is locked up because of customs. >> reporter: trouble in the northeast spells disaster for the entire country, flights are canceled coast to coast. experts say air travel won't bounce back until after new year's. on the streets, growing anger about new york city's response busses still stuck, cars still buried and just walking is still treacherous. >> mayor bloomberg, shame on you.

>> yelling about it and complaining doesn't help. >> reporter: easier said than done, even resident who is live on this street alone have come out of their houses to yell and complain about it. hard to blame them because they can't get to work, they can't get their cars out. it looks like it will be many more days. to show you how desperate he is, mayor bloomberg made a plea to any private plow drivers out there saying we'll pay you money, we'll hire you from the city, we just need some help. >> thanks, jeff. strong winds are believed to be the cause of a terrifying chair lift derailment tuesday at a ski resort in maine. eight people were injured including three children. in an exclusive interview earlier on the program, one of the people that fell described what exactly happened as she and her boyfriend were on the lift. >> all of a sudden, we just fell, a free fall, we just dropped. and we just saw the ground coming closer and closer to us. i don't think it really occurred to us what was going on until it

actually happened. >> the chair lift was 35 years old but had recently passed inspection. u.s. troops cannot seal afghanistan's porous border with pakistan to keep militants from moving in and out. the pentagon is denying reports that the u.s. will expand in the area. and a pair of twins have been born in poland, but they don't share the same father. it's only the seventh known case in the world. dna tests show that the mother's ex-husband fathered the male twin and her current boyfriend fathered the female. pretty remarkable. unseasonably cold temperatures and blizzard conditions are chilling the rest of the country. but one college student has her eye out for the nation's homeless. veronica scott has a special coat made to double as a self heating sleeping bag.

she convinced outerwear company, carthart to donate the fabric. as long as it works. it is now five minutes past the top of the hour. >> and let's show you what's happening as far as your weather for the next couple of days. out west, midsections of california intohe rockies. look at that rain working down to los angeles and san diego. we have snow through the mountains and the rockies, the cascades. we have winter storm warnings. snow fall amounts from one to two feet of snow in the mountains there. along the coast rainfall from a half inch to an inch and a half from san good morning to you. take a look at what's peeking

out, yes, sunshine, over alcatraz. a lot of sunshine for the second half of the day. temperatures are going to drop like a rock overnight as cold air moves into the area. you see spotty clouds. a cold air mass. it's going to push in through the evening and tonight. overnight lows in the 30s. take a look at your forecast. 36 degrees as we wake up tomorrow. 34 friday morning. have a fantastic wednesday. >> and that's your latest weather. time now for ti"today's" moy 911. everything from buying a leased car to paying the bills when you're unemployed. jean chatzky is the author of "money 911." david bach is the author of "debt free for life". and i have got my own

autographed copy of "debt free for life." let's get started. we have got a viewer who's going to be joining us via skype. we're checking in with kathleen who's calling in from phoenix, arizona. good morning, kathleen, how are you? >> good, thank you. >> what's your question? >> my car lease ends soon and i'm thinking of buying the car, the asking price is lower than blue book. i would like to know if there's a down side to that and if i should pay cash or finance it. >> that's a good one. >> it is a good one. kathleen, since you are the one that leased the car, you know how you took care of the car, it's a situation where it does probably make sense to buy it off lease. but i wouldn't do it without a negotiation. even though the price is below blue book value, you go and talk to them and you ask for an even

lower price than that. and just see what you can do. as far as financing the car, right now used car interest rates are about 6%. that's not terrible. if you've got enough money to make your 401(k) contribution and enough money to put in your emergency fund, and you're still sitting on cash, you can go ahead and buy it with cash. otherwise i would finance it. >> let's go over to the phones, we have got a caller from portland, oregon on the line. let's check in with terri. >> caller: good morning. >> what's your question? >> caller: i just got a parent loan in the amount of $60,000 for my daughter to attend brooks photography school. she's been making the payment since she graduated from the program. then she borrowed in the 35,000 from the direct student loan program to get her master's degree in photo journalism. this loan payment is due to start january 1 in the amount of

$400. on top of the $400 she's already making for the parent loan. my question is, is there some way to get the loan in my name transferred out of my name into hes hers so she can consolidate the loans and she can have a lower payment. the people at sallie mae are not too helpful. >> you took out the loan, unless your daughter co-signed for that loan, that loan is in your name. you can't gift loans to people. so that loan is now in your name. it's a government loan. it could be that you have a very low rate on it. the loan that your daughter took out, it sounds like that's a private loan. do you know if that's a private loan or a government loan. >> it's a direct loan. >> it's a direct loan. so really all you can go right now, what i would advise is this. this may not be what you want. this is what i would advice. for your daughter's sake, i would have your daughter cram down as much money as she can on

the loan that she took out and i would defer on your loan and make smaller payments and stretch out the loan in your name. you may not want that, but for your daughter, she can get the loan off her balance books. >> her daughter is also a photo journalist. and i got to wonder how much money she's making. probably not all that much. you might look into income based repayment which could lower the amount that she has to pay. >> i don't want her to do that for both loans because if she does, you're going to have two loans for ten years to 20 years. >> a photography loan anyway, you'll have to wait and see what develops. we have got another caller on the line, we're going to philadelphia. good morning, vickie, how are you? >> caller: good morning. >> what's your question? >> caller: i was able to pay my bills with my unemployment chest and a part-time job. i have now exhausted all of my unemployment benefits and my

only income is the part-time job which is not enough to even cover the mortgage. i have a few credit cards and high yuutility bills because wee in the winter season. i even tried to refinance the mortgage because i have excellent credit, but i couldn't because i don't have a job. so something has to give. >> i want to make sure that you have exhausted all of the free resources that you have access to both online and offline that can help you lower all of your day to day bills. i want you to hook up with a national credit counseling agency. they can help you not only with paying your bills and debt management, but also with social service programs whether it's housing or food or your utilities. also go to unemployment lifeline.com. it's a website that's backed by

the afl-cio, that's a federal workers union and the united way. and also based on your zip code, you're going to get access to lots of social service programs to get you the help you need with your everyday expenses. i also want you to pick up the phone and call your existing lender. now you said that you don't have a job technically or a full-time job to qualify for a re-fi. but maybe a modification, the home affordable modification program may be something that your lender can help you out with. if your mortgage and your taxes and your interest adds up to more than 31% of your gross income, you may very well qualify for this. now to answer your specific question, which bills got to give? i would say the credit cards, frankly, short-term pain not as much. no one's going to take your house away, no one's going to take the heat off. you're going to see your interest rate jack up if you're delinquent for more than 60

days. >> we hope you can work that out and happy new year. jean chatzky, david bach thank you so much. i just got an early christmas present. late christmas. i'm sorry. o

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wabout readingl and put it here. introducing nookcolor. experience books, magazines, newspapers and children's books like never before. nookcolor by barnes & noble. this morning on "today" reece health, lesser known heart health hazards, we know that obesity and high cholesterol certainly take the toll, but did you know that rheumatoid arthritis can nearly double your heart attack risk. a lot of important things that we know about that trigger, you know, can put you in the heart disease category. you need to monitor your blood sugar. how can that have an affect?

>> diabetes is absolutely a risk factor, but even if you don't have diabetes, the more sugar you have in your diet, the more insulin is circulating which can actually create inflammation in your heart. it's really important to maintain a steady blood sugar. >> is that maintaining your diet? watching what you eat? >> we know we need to limit transfats and cholesterol, but also having a lot of fiber rich foods. those aren't going to give you that boost of sugar. it's steady maintenance. and you really want to limit the sweets. you really don't want to have more than six teaspoons of added sugar a stay. >> secondhand smoke. we know the dangers of smoking outright, but secondhand smoke can increase your risk by 30%? >> if you have a smoker at home

or at work, it really mitigates your risk. >> if you smoke, you want to quit. >> if it's your partner or a co-worker, find a goal, maybe take all that money that that person uses towards cigarettes, we'll save that money, we'll take a great vacation together. really try to inspire them, because it not only affects their health but yours as well. >> family history of course is one good predictor of your heart risk or of heart disease. but also important to know that how your genetics or how you handled pregnancy could be a predictor as well of your heart health. >> medical issues around pregnancy can really predict your future heart risk. whether you had trouble getting pregnant, or if you had je gestational diabetes, it could increase your heart risk.

we all want to forget our pregnancies. but you really need to discuss whatever happened with your doctor because that may affect when and how they screen you for heart disease. >> also of course in addition to blood pressure and cholesterol, one of the measurements you hear a lot about is the waist sir couple friends. >> we know that overall being overweight is not good. but where we store the weight is very important. we talk about the apple shape. so if you're storing nit your belly and you're an apple shape, that really increases your weight rather than on your hips and thighs. the magic number is under 35. for men it's 40. so height of course makes a difference as well. and that would be your bmi. so talk to your doctor about bmi and what your goals should be. >> everybody knows that stress is certainly not good for the health and certainly not good for the heart when you have

ongoing stress. >> it does put stress on your heart and it can also increase blood sugar levels and insulin that can damage your arteries. >> so the stress is stressing your system, every organ. >> it not only makes you miserable and the people around you, but it affects your heart as well. yoga, taking walks, exercise of any kind can decrease your risk. >> what are some illnesses to keep in mind? >> things like arthritis and depression people don't really realize affect your heart. and it can increase your risk. if you have any of these syndromes, discuss that with your doctor, when should i screen for heart disease and that remind them that they really need to be screening you

more often and more aggressively. coming up, some new details on the arrest of one of the young women featured on the hit reality show "teen mom." but first these messageless. without taking pills around the clock? try thermacare heatwraps, ess. s. . s. i was surprised, thermacare worked all day. you feel the heat. and it relaxes and unlocks the muscle. you've got to try it. [ man ] thermacare, more effective for back pain than the maximum dose of acetaminophen, the medicine in tylenol. go to thermacare.com today for a $3 off coupon. thermacare. no pills. no pain. just relief. the event you've been waiting for is almost over with 30 years of great deals, everyone's going.

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just ahead from the thrills of vancouver, to the raucous l licatiseason, we'll take a look at t2010. ca

> good morning. 9:56. >> san jose, northbound 101, tully, 36, not a big deal. volume of traffic light. flooding cleared up for most of the roadway, northbound highway 9, still have that mudslide across lanes so now traffic stopped for the highway 9 area. you can reroute on local roads but not a major commute issue. sig-alert in place for 1:00 p.m. for the cleanup. slowing westbound 580 through livermore. not a big deal. this is the slowest we've seen all morning.

>> we have scattered shower activity happening. but for the most part, partly cloudy skies broken out over the bay area. a few residual showers through the next hour or two, and then cold blast moves in as we head through tonight. temperatures dropping into the 30s. looking towards 36 degrees as your lowest temperature tomorrow. 34 friday. chilly new year ahead. over to you.

an airline pilot is going public in claim his shows flaws in airport security. it touched off national debate after posting video shows lapses in the screening of ground crews. federal agents suspended his permit to have a gun in the cockpit. >> one door, this is a joke about airport security. >> all i wanted to outlean was

that the disparity between the screening upstairs and the lack of screening downstairs. >> sfo says video contained baseless and mislead information. the tsa says it considers the issue closed. he's still flying for a commercial airline but will not say which and the airline has no comment. more local news coming up in a half hour. the "today" show returns in less than a minute. have a great morning. see you back here in a bit.

♪ and this is one of the biggest groups of the '80s, duran duran. they have sold 80 million albums worldwide. now they're out with a brand-new album. we'll catch up with them coming up. >> i love them. >> i'm thinking of all the things i used to wear in the 1980s. it takes me back to the '80s. i liked the '80s. >> have you seen the pictures?

>> it was not a pretty decade in any sense of the word. also ahead, a reality show facing a harsh reality. amber portwood from mtv's "teen mom" is arrested for an incidented of alleged hitting of her baby's father. the bp disaster, oh, my gosh, who could forget that and also the chilean miners. there's a lot of stories in 2010 worth remembers so we're going to catch up on that. and we're going to head to the kitchen to cook up a southern delicacy, fried fruit pies. >> but first, how about another check of the weather? >> first i'm going to deep fry it. let's show you what's going on as far as your weekend is

concerned. tomorrow we're going to have some heavy snow in the northern plains, also in the central rockies. sunshine and cold in the northeast. rain down in the lower gulf coast. then new year's eve, by the time midnight rolls around here in the northeast. it will be 38, clear, we're looking for heavy rain in the gulf, up into the ohio river valley, expect clo good morning to you, bay area. well, the sun is peeking out, but it's not going to warm up us too much today. we are going to plummet in temperatures as we head into the evening and temperatu gng to fo the 30s. we're looking towards 36 degrees tomorrow morning when you wake up. 34 friday morning. it will be a cole new year, 52 in your forecasted high and another shower storm on the way. that's coming in sunday and monday. have a fantastic wednesday. coming up next, a look back

at the stories and the people who made headlines in 2010. but first, these messages.

year's resolution! we want a healthier lifestyle... so we can have more energy to do more stuff. healthy lifestyle? well, you should also start enjoying activia or activia light. activia, for us? sure, it's for people who want to feel good inside. when you feel good, you're more likely to get out there and enjoy life! mmm! mmm! i like this resolution. mm-hmm! here is the activia promise-- love how you feel or your money back! ♪ activia those are your lips with new covergirl lip perfection. get beautiful color now... let silk therapy moisturizers give you more beautiful lips in 7 days. [ male announcer ] lip perfection. new from easy, breezy, beautiful covergirl. the moisturizer in other body washes sits on top of skin. only dove has nutriummoisture, which can nourish deep down. dove body wash with nutriummoisture.

superior natural nourishment for your skin. so why does this one cost so much less on hotwire.com? when hotels have unsold rooms they use hotwire hot rates to fill them, so you get ridiculously low prices, backed by our low price guarantee. ♪ h-o-t-w-i-r-e ♪ hotwire.com "today" looks back 2010 is brought to you by mercedes-benz, experience truly great engineering today at your authorized dealer. this morning on "today" looks back at 2010, the news and newsmakers of the year. >> the b.p. oil spill to a

heated midterm election, here's the stories as we reported them to you here on "today." >> where do you stand on that? >> how do you know? that last miner was pulled out. >> 2010's less than stellar economic outlook, we have team of experts. >> executives from wall street titans goldman-sachs. >> president obama is expected to sign a sweeping set of financial reforms into law. >> why hasn't it created jobs to this point? >> jobs. >> jobs. >> jobs. >> the new orleans saints are

super bowl champions. >> rarely seen a celebration like the one that erupted after last night's super bowl victory. >> now the debate raging over plans to build a mosque over ground zero. >> an angry president obama meeting one-on-one in the oval office with general stanley mcchrystal. >> rush to judgment, an agriculture department official forced to resign. >> do you think you deserve a phone call from president obama? >> i think i do. >> a volcano in iceland forced airports in northern europe to shut down. >> it shows no signs of abating at this point. >> a man has been arrested overnight in an attempted attack on times square. >> the bombs were fully operational and nearly impossible to detect in cargo screening. >> good morning, feeling their

way. >> and the pat downs could make the wait at airports even longer. >> and classified government documents by wikileaks. >> do you plan to accelerate your plans to release further documents? >> destruction and despair, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake has struck haiti. >> haiti needs help and it can't come soon enough. >> the people of haiti, you will not be foresaken, you will not be forgotten. >> there's not enough doctors to take care of all the injured. so there are importaparents tha taking care of their own children. with an estimated 1.2 million people living in tent camps across the country, time is running out. >> first wave of oil from that massive spill in the gulf of mexico begins washing ashore along the louisiana coast. >> the oil is everywhere. >> breaking news, an emotional

scene playing out in copiapo, chile this morning. >> it's impossible to have a dry eye. >> the white house is signaling that democrats may have to go it alone on health care reform. >> the bill is passed. >> how is that hopey changey stuff working out for you? >> good morning. palin's power. >> november 2 is coming. >> good morning. decision day 2010. >> we have come to take our government back. >> we hope president obama will now respect the will of the people and change course. >> i'm not recommending for every future president that they take a shellacking like i did last night. >> the keyword on don't ask, don't tell. >> an early christmas present for millions of americans who will not see a big tax increase. >> there will be times we don't

agree. we'll have to work through those times together. that's a major accomplishment. >> i am deeply sorry for my irresponsible and selfish behavior. >> the reported behavior of oscar winner mel gibson. >> lindsay lohan is going to jail. >> you can't blame it all on the tabloids, she's made some wrong choices. >> he allegedly went into a drunken rage and trashed his hotel room. >> my son was a drug dealer. you can do anything you can in your life. jay leno wants to do it too. >> joran van der sloot's arrest

for the murder of another woman. >> i'm very excited. >> okay, i'm exhausted. >> we were all saying how much news there was. >> there actually is news every year. and this wedding that's coming up is -- >> big news. >> it's going to be a big deal. can you imagine? i mean just -- right, batten down the hatches. anyway we have got a lot -- >> there's more ahead today. the latest on the arrest of one of the young women from the hit tv show "teen mom." three friends... each with a brain tumor. they came from across america to st. jude where we've helped raise their survival rates to as high as 85%.

do you wanna be the fourth musketeer? oh, do i! one for all and all for fun! give thanks for the healthy kids in your life. and give to those who are not. go to stjude.org or shop wherever you see our magnifying glass. until the combination of three good probiotics in phillips' colon health defended against the bad gas, diarrhea and constipation. ...and? it helped balance her colon. oh, now that's the best part. i love your work. [ female announcer ] phillips' colon health. and the deals are so great everyone's going. buzzsaw? buzz what? i'm dan now. we're getting the band back together, you in? i don't think, uh... you're not in. not in. [ 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

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one of the young women featured on mtv's hit reality show "teen mom" is facing an all too real drama. she spent a night in jail after domestic violence charges were filed after a scene on the the show. >> reporter: this is the confrontation that put amber portwood behind bars. the episode seen by millions last september showed portwood slapping, kicking and cursing at her former fiance as their 2-year-old daughter leah looked on. when the scene aired on tv, the police department was flooded from outraged viewers. police opened a criminal investigation and on monday, the

madison county prosecutor's office challenged the 20-year-old with two counts of domestic battery, one count of neglect of a dependent and one misdemeanor count of domestic battery. >> she understands that this was a decision she didn't really have control over, so we're going to do our best to respond and keep our family together. >> reporter: portwood appeared on an mtv show saying she didn't even remember the incident. >> i don't remember it being like that, i feel like i hit him one time. >> reporter: late tuesday portwood posted $5,000 bail and was released from custody with court orders to stay away from her daughter and her ex. >> this will give her time to consider what she's done and get help. but most importantly, to give some measure of comfort and safety to her child. >> reporter: for her part, amber portwood maintains her innocence.

she faces up to three years in jail and a $10,000 fine if convicted. we contacted mtv and they had no contact about portwood's arrest. we're going to head into our kitchen for a sweet and savory southern delicacy, fried pie. but first, this is "today" on

this mornl morning on "today's" holiday kitchen, fried fruit pies, guaranteed to be a hit. classic comfort food that makes everyone feel like family. christy, good to meet you. >> good to be here. >> and your son's a meteorologist buff? >> that's what he said, mom, are you going to get to meet al

roker? and i said i don't know. >> this is a recipe from your great grandmother? >> my great grandmother, was a sharecropper and she would actually can her own peaches. >> why do you use dried instead of like canned or fresh? >> it was a necessity then, but now they taste so much better, it has a big concentration of flavor. >> people think it's going to take a lot of work. how hard is it? >> everything i do is easy, because classic southern food is easy and inexpensive. >> you got to start with the dough, what do you do? >> this is all purpose flour and we're going to put in a little bit of salt. i use a regular old kitchen fork. i don't use fancy tools. this is really easy. >> put a little bit of flour on it. >> be generous with it. >> how flat out do you want it?

>> it don't matter, i say if it looks good from ten yards on a galloping horse. that looks good. you just cut this in, i'll put some filling in that in a second. you're going to pour a little milk and you're making a sturdy pie dough here. i'm going to show you how to make this filling in just a second. just just fold it over. nothing fancy to it and i'll take my fork which is dirty and we'll crimp it a little bit here. >> and to make the filling? >> this is dry peaches, sugar and water. >> that's it? >> simple as it can be. you just cook it down a little bit. when you get to this point, you got a little bit of syrup. and we got to stir in our butter. this is the concept that you'll find in my cookbook. that's a little bit of lemon

juice and a little bit of s cinnam cinnamon. >> so you cook this until it's a syrupy kind of consistency? >> it's just real simple ingredients. >> once you've got it. >> we have got them cooking here. when i posted this recipe, on southern plate.com. this is the one that i had so many comments, people saying it's just like my grandmother's. so this is a real old-fashioned recipe. and you'll drain them on paper towels, because we don't actually eat all of that oil that we cook them in. >> you basically sprinkle a little bit of sugar on them. >> these are hand pies, you can just pick it up and eat it. this is apple. see it's like a treasure hunt. this is dried cherry and the apple and the peach too.

>> we were talking because i have run into a couple of pastry heavy chefs. >> i promised them if they ate my food, they could cook like i did. do you all like cherry? this is drieded cherry, do you all like this one? you can eat them with a fork, but you know. you like that? is that good? >> yum. >> can we taste them too? >> oh, sure. >> you don't get any pies. >> you got to try this one. there you go, just break it off. >> is that strawberry? >> it's paeach. >> this is real comfort food. >> the cookbook is called southern plate. thank you so much. >> i do talk like this. >> and i helped. >> and we got hoda and kathie

lee.

good morning, everybody. time 9:56. i'm brent cannon. checking the morning commute. >> an accident in the san francisco city street, third

street and bri ant, that's south of the freeway approaching the james lick freeway getting on to the lower deck. that might affect you heading out of the san francisco on the lower deck. also the lower deck, reports of a stall but really traffic light once you get on to the lower deck, not a problem getting over to the oakland side. that's the approach approaching the bay bridge toll plaza. the semi truck, looks like they're waiting for that light to change. it's not wise to stop on the freeway there. >> boy, oh boy, california. highest cass prices in the country. looking good weather-wise. numbers are going to plummet throughout the day today. 52 degrees is your high turning cole through the evening. a windchill factor as well. keep that in mind. 36 degrees, that's what we're planning on waking up with thursday morning. friday, down to 34 degrees. bundle up little ones. more news with frank. >> thanks a lot.

oakland teen will get to meet the family of the boy that saved his life. he will travel to southern california to meet the family of johnnie hernandez. hernandez died but his death allowed mikey do receive a liver transplant that saved his life two years ago. >> i'm going to give his mom a big hug and tell her i love her for giving me life and donating his organs. >> for the past two years, mikey his mother spent time feeding home unless west oakland. mikey calls it paying it forward. he's in southern california to appear on the donate life float which is in the rose parade new year's day. more local news coming up in a half hour. the "today" show returns in a minute. have a great morning. see you back here in a bit.

captions paid for by nbc-universal television from nbc news, this is "today" from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. welcome to wines day. last wines day of the year, hoda. >> before the new ar. >> yes. december 29th, and everybody's got big old plans and hope you'll be very safe and don't drink and drive and all that good stuff. >> very good. also around this time of year "time" comes out with the best of. i love the end of the years, because there's great lists.

here's "time" azazazaz ththe bebest quoote wasas one n mccain and he was tweeting at snooki. >> look at this. >> you are right i would never tax your tanning bed. president obama's tax/spend policy is quite the situation, but i do rec wearing sunscreen. do you think he wrote that himself? >> probably. he has a great sense of humor. that's the most interesting tweet? i don't tweet on twitter that much, but certainly there's something. kim kardashian must have said something better than that. >> i know, but coming from john mccain. >> the fact he's tweeting snooki is the the whole point. >> tweeting at all. >> it's interesting. you don't tweet. >> i tweet via a surrogate. >> christine is the tweeter. >> the top commercial according to "time" was the old spice commercial. >> i think we got it. >> hello ladies.

look at your man, now back to me, sadly he isn't me. if he started to use old spice, he could smell like he's me. look down, back up. where are you? on a boat with a man your man can smell. look back at me. it's two tickets to that thing you love. look again. the tickets are now diamonds anything is possible when your man smells like old spice ichl on a horse. >> this is just genius, and apparently it's done in one take and took 23 hours or something. >> he was so sexy. remember when he came to see us? >> he is adorable. >> the other one people loved is the betty white commercial with the snickers. come on. oh. >> mike, what is your deal, man? >> come on. you've been riding me all day. >> you're playing like betty white all day. >> that's not what your

girlfriend said. >> eat a snickers. better? >> better. >> look at that. >> that hurt. >> you're not you when you're hungry. >> i love that. that's genius. i just would have liked the other one up there to be the baby etrade. they kill me. >> there's a brand mif n-new on saw. it's crazy. it's the baby until the crib doing some tax stuff and stock stuff. don't you love him? >> he's doing his fax stuff, and he blames it on the dog. >> i love those. >> i want that baby to grow up. >> biggest fashion moment was lady gaga's meat dress. >> that was some kind of nasty. >> i don't know. that looks -- no. salmonella poisoning from that, you know? didn't love that. >> the number one toy -- >> was? >> we think we had something to do with it.

>> one more time. love our thing-a-ma-jigs. they're the cutest things ever. >> i took them home and played my brains out with the babies. i was writing songs with them. i thought it was the cleverest thing in the world. bambino had his way with one of them. >> that is nasty. >> strange things happen. this guy in australia in hoda -- bye-bye -- married his pet dog. >> gross. >> this is at the wedding. >> joseph married his 5-year-old golden labrador retriever named honey in an elaborate wedding ceremony. 30 friends and family attended. he's kissing the dog on the mouth, and the dog is kissing him. >> he's married to the dog. >> forget about being married.

people do that. they go up to their dog, and there's lots of -- you do it. do you do it. the dog is licking its lips and he's licking back. >> i didn't mean to do it. >> it doesn't -- it doesn't happen. >> what the guy says about the wedding is purely platonic. he toasted it him and what he said was unbelievable. he basically said you make every day better. i love you so much. >> i think that's probably true. >> then they went on a honeymoon. >> that's just weird. i'm sorry. >> the animal rights groups in australia disapproved of the wedding. the korean guy married a printed pillow with his favorite animae

on it. >> a woman married the eiffel tower and visited on their first anniversary when she strajddleda beam naked. what is going on with people? >> i love the family and friends that came. wouldn't you love to see the family and friends unless this is a big joke. >> you can't legally marriy the eiffel tower. you can do it, and you can get your name changed legally and all that stuff. >> we can change your name legally, but i don't know how you can have a legal thing with an inanimate object. >> what did he change his name to? he became a symbol, jerry, right? captain awesome, right. that's who we were speaking about. thank you for paying attention. >> there's a guy named -- here's a guy. his name is douglas alan smith jr. he changed his name legally to captain awesome.

it's on his cards and things. the judge made him swear that he wasn't changing his name fraudulent reasons. >> what would a fraudulent reason be? >> i don't know. anyway, captain awesome, maybe it will work. >> maybe he is. >> this is kind of upsetting to me. there is a woman who was put in prison, in jail -- >> rightfully so, hoda. she broke the law. >> it's a mug shot for overdue library books. >> that's right. the downfall of civilization. >> she's 25 years old and didn't show up in court for unreturned library books, and now she had to go -- she also didn't show up in court. i don't think she's taking this -- >> maybe she throws her mail away like i do. some people don't pay attention to all that stuff. >> exactly. her name is jessica. she says the book was destroyed in a house fire seven years ago. likely story, jessica!

>> $200 and she's in prison, jailed with a mug shot way record. >> i guarantee you she will never, never not return a book again. >> she's in jail. >> it's called tough love. hopefully she'll be out before new year's eve. >> i know you have resolutions to lose weight, but before you go down that road, welch these great pants for when you want to pig out. they're called gluttony pants. >> this is not all ben, although there is a lot there to love. >> yes, sir. >> what these are are special pants with multiple buttons you can spread on out while you're eating. >> there are different sizes, piglet, sow and boar. >> there's a built-in napkin. that's the equivalent of wearing sweating. >> are they comfortable?

>> they're quite comfortable, really. very free range. a lot of motion. >> thank you very much. thank you, ben. if you don't want to pay $100 for those, you can just go and get your adjust-a-button anyway and put it on any pair of jeans. >> if your jeans are too tight, you pop that baby on. the problem is people see there's another button. >> people can also see how much you're eating. i think they know you're being a piglet or a sow or a boar, right? >> sometimes you feel icky and bloated. >> you never overeat. >> i dpoo. >> you overdrink but never overeat. >> how did this happen? >> chelsea handler. it's the end of the year. tell the people how it started, hoda. >> people ask us that more than anything. it's being blown out of proportion. >> yes, it is.

explain. . >> we didn't have a drop of alcohol on our show until someone named chelsea handler to visit. she came here with a book "hello, vodka, it's me, xhel see." >> about her drinking problem. >> we thought it would be hoss hittable to have a drink with her since she likes that thing. >> our producer made a couple concoctions. we had a drink and it was such fun. >> naets how it started. >> then we started having a few sips. >> it's all chelsea handler's fault. >> duran duran is here. a couple of them. >> speaking of overeating and everything, how about that song? do you know it? "hungry like the wolf"? >> yeah. ♪ hungry like the wolf

>> no. listen. it's not hungry like the wolf. i'll bet you ten bucks right now. >> thank you, hoda. >> "amohungry like the wolf." >> let's hear it. i don't believe these people. 21 of their songs made billboard's top 100, apparently not long enough to remember what it was, though. ♪ i'm the hunt after you ♪ smell like you sound ♪ i'm lost when i'm found >> here it is, here it is. oh, it was right there! i tell you it's wolves. i'm going to ask him when he comes. >> they're here, two of them. >> so we'll ask them, and why take your beauty to extremes can get really ugly. later they transform the

'80s movie scene with cool hit after cool hit. we'll catch up with them, but first, these messages.

have you ever tweezed your eye brews and took a step back and thought, oh, no. what have i done? >> or maybe went crazy with the crest white strips. molly is the beauty director at women's health magazine. >> thank you for having me. >> there was a period of time when all women did that back in the '20s. it's like you deforest your face, though. >> you do. >> it ages a woman so much, doesn't it? >> it does. >> let's unring the bell. what do we do? >> if this is a mistake you made, get a good pencil, and you want to pencil along the top of

your brows and in the middle, but not underneath. when women do that, it makes a rec tang lar shape and pulls the brow down. not what you want. if you make strokes across the top and middle. >> you have to blend it in. >> i use color on my lashes on the top bull ought on the it. you have to make sure when you put your moisturizer on you don't moisturize the area. it clogs the pores. >> we recommend you see a pro if you can to set that shape for you. you can tweeze the strays when you're at home. women make the mistake of standing way too close to the mirror or use a big magnified mirror. >> i have a 10. i plus my entire face. >> take a step back and take your time. >> some people overwhiten their teeth. you've seen the ones that are blinding white. it's too much. >> exactly. if you're use the white strips

at home, you can get teeth and gum sensitivity which is an issue. if your dentist does it, you get blindingly white teeth. switch your toothpaste to a sensitive toothpaste. it will calm the nerve endings and help your teeth come back to normal. approximate if this is a color issue, you have to start drinking the things that stain your teeth like red wine and coffee and dark drinks to take down the white color. >> does it make your teeth more porous when you whiten them? >> not really. the sensitivity is definitely an issue. if you're sensitive use the crest gentle white strips because they have less peroxide. if you get deep stains from the drinks, you can use a rembrandt two-hour or see your dentist. >> for those who overcolor their hair and they don't know who

they are. >> this is something that can happen whether you're lightening your darkening your hair. you can overdo it. if it's a highlight issue, particularly this time of year, new year's, and maybe you got your highlights done in thanksgiving, too soon. >> how long should you wait? >> six to eight weeks is ideal especially for root growth as well. one thing we recommend doing is doing clairol natural instincts. you pick two shades lighter than what you have and put it on your hair and it will give it a darker tone. it's semi-permanent so it it will fade gradually. you won't have that line that will show off where the new regrowth comes from. duke the same thing with dark hair. when you color next time stay within two shades light or darker with your natural hair color. you're not in that situation

where it's really obvious. >> that seems like a big thing to take a leap. >> people who overfake tans, they overdo it. >> i know. i understand how it it happens, particularly this time of year. you feel pail and donle. women reach for the darkest formula on the shelf. one thing you do is we recommend taking a ten-minute bath three days in a row. it helps soften the outer layer of skin. you want to use the exfoliating scrub. you remove where the self-tanner is residing and get rid of it faster. instead of going for the dpeepest, darkest tan use a daily moisturizer. you build it gradually and it's more natural. >> thank you. >> this is really good advice. thank you. up next, all those things that made you stop and say what.

>> we prepare to ring in and drink in 2011, some fun facts about new year's eve. first these messages. a job intw is stressful enough without being late. i want guidance that takes me where i need to be, without any problems along the way. i feel the same way when i do taxes. turbotax has a unique gps feature that guides me step-by-step. and calculations are guaranteed 100% accurate, so i know it's done right. they even offer representation in case of an audit. which helps me reach my maximum refund, guaranteed. >> try turbotax online now. you don't pay unless you're satisfied with the results. [ female announcer ] why choose beeen delicious or 100 calories? with yoplait delights, now you can finally have both. two indulgently rich layers of chocolate and raspberry yogurt... and only 100 calories. - definitely the one on the right. - yeah, are y-- - seriously, the clorox one. - oh, okay. the difference is obvious.

for the whitest whites, use detergent, plus the advanced whitening formula of clorox bleach. plus the advanced whitening formula twizzlers. the twist you can't resist. and we both love boarding. unfortunately, ben has a rare tumor. he was referred to st. jude children's research hospital where our ground-breaking research helps save kids across america, just like ben. i'm cancer free, now. dude, how can you beat that. give thanks for the healthy kids in your life. and give to those who are not. go to stjude.org or shop wherever you see our magnifying glass. wait a minute... wait a minute. hold on... hold on. chevy gave more this year but we can't give you more time. so hurry in now because the great holiday offers on most chevy models absolutely end january 3rd.

that's 0% financing... plus $1500 holiday allowance plus no monthly payments for 4 months. so get to your chevy dealer now before this deal like the holidays is over. hurry in and get no monthly payments till spring plus 0% apr financing and fifteen- hundred holiday allowance on this traverse. see your local chevy dealer now. 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 gain wh ouene?u enos l we're back with the what the what series where you can look at things that stop and made you say what? >> sarah is here. >> this one is a doozy. the first one up was sent in by stu freeman from brooklyn, new york.

he was traveling in namibia a few years back and encountered the sign. which way are we going? that way! the second is from will flowers from ft. collins, colorado. holy cow. this is a cow at a friend's farm he was visiting and he noticed that. that's the first thing out of his mouth was this is the holy from melissa from foul river, alabama. >> what's it say? >> fish of the day, beef. >> the other red meat. it's in mobile, alabama. it caught her attention as she passed by and it made her laugh. she knows what they were getting at. she took a picture of that, everybody was having fun time with that. we have one more from los angeles, california. >> that was hoda after last night. >> that's called top night right there. >> that's what happened after

jennifer miller's birthday party. >> i can almost see her spanx. this is janice humbert, kansas. do do you see that? >> tightwad bank. >> is that the name of the foun? >> no. it's in redding, kansas. come on. >> some people have a little sense of humor. i like that in eye baa bank. >> keep them coming. >> way to go, sarah. thank you. we're toasting auld lang syne with some new trivia. >> duran duran is with you. >> the best bubbling after the big day all after your local news. [ man ] each bottle of clorox 2 stain fighter & color booster

takes care of 33 loads. tide stain release only handles 11. and clorox 2 gets rid of tough stains right before your eyes. clorox 2. find it next to the clorox bleach. gingerbread men!

egg nog! [ female announcer ] grab a box of multigrain cheerios. get a code to... ...a 7 day plan from the biggest loser to get going on that new years weight loss. get the box. get the code. get started! good morning. 10:26. i'm brent cannon. we want to check in with mike and get the latest on the commute this morning. >> all morning, last report of the day, an incident heavily affecting traffic now, brent. eastbound 80 powell street, 20 minutes ago an accident happened and it's blocking two left lanes heading up through berkeley, away. i have this eastbound 80 traffic flow there, 21 minutes away from the bridge, toward the car kean as bridge. approaching, look at that northbound 880 and 580 westbound, slow approaching the transition, that's if your heading away from the bay bridge. through the toll plaza to

san francisco, live look shows you the reason we have not needed metering lights all morning. light flow of traffic. the camera's shaking because there's gusty winds. >> gusty wind, as that system pulls out of the area and pushes into southern california. behind it spotty clouds, cold air mass going to bring temperatures into the 30s as we head into tonight, dropping to 36 degrees. and then, as we head closer to new year's eve and cooler conditions, that's what you can expect around 34 degrees as you wake up on friday morning. more news with brentd rig after break. save $523! 16 minutes could save you 16%!

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morning. the "today" show continues next. see you back here tomorrow morning. have a great day. we're back with more of today on this wines day, and it's time to play who knew? we're testing your new year's eve knowledge. kathie lee is across the street and ready to hand out 100 bucks to those that answer correctly and to those who don't, they get kathie lee's cd. >> that's right, hoda. >> laura is here to help me out. a lot of interesting questions people will enjoy wrestling with. >> we're going to stump them today. >> let's see if we can. it they are from maryland. which city celebrates new year's eve before the rest of the world? who does it first? it's an hour show, i'd

appreciate an answer. >> it's in australia. >> there you go. sydney, australia. >> she got it right without hearing the options. >> sydney is one of my favorite places in the world. what better place where it's warm, you can wear a t-shirt and shorts and they have gazillions of fireworks. >> those are some of the most spectacular pictures. back across the street. >> very cute couple. when was the first ever new year's eve celebration in times square in new york city? >> what do you think? >> 1904. >> good for you. >> wow. i wonder if that was a lucky guess. 1904, very first one. >> i'm impressed. in 1904. this is actually to celebrate the opening of the "new york times" headquarters.

a lot of people don't realize times square is named after the "new york times." about 200,000 people went versus today where you have almost a million. >> wow. that's fun in times square. i did it one time, and it was worth it. >> the lovely family from santa clara, california definitely in the christmas spirit. finish the lyrics to this popular new year's eve anthem ♪ should old acquaintance be forgot ♪ >> the for auld lang syne. >> oh. i guess you pretty much wasted my time. you don't remember. that's all right. you win the kathie lee cd.

>> they're so happy. the correct answer and days of auld lang syne. >> she was very close. >> do you think what that means? >> no. >> nobody does. it's based on a 1788 poem by robert byrnes, and loosely translated it means for the sake of old times. people sing it around the world, even though they have no idea what it means. >> i like it, though. back across to kath. >> where are you from, sir? >> chattanooga, tennessee. >> hello to you. it's a tradition in spain to ring in the new year by doing what for each chime of the clock at midnight. drink champagne, kiss, eat a grape or high-five? >> eat a grape. >> yes. >> everybody is on a roll this new year's. they're good. >> so in spain they eat a grape for every stroke of the clock at midnight, and it wishes good luck. this comes from back in the 1900s when there were just too

much grapes during one of the grape productions, and the king decided to hand out grapes to everyone. it's taken hold, and people gather in the main squares across spain, and they drink cava, the champagne of spain, along with their grapes. >> i love that. back across to kath. >> where did you say you were from? >> indianapolis. >> that's right. true or false. the new year's eve ball has been dropped every year since 1904 in times square. true or false? >> false. >> how did you know that? >> in '43 and '42 didn't do it because of the war. >> the parents are actually getting something for the education. that's so great. >> i can't believe she knew that. what's the story there? >> she's right. in 1942 and 1943 they did not drop the ball because it was the war and they were dimming the lights. the ball didn't start getting dropped until 1907. the first ball was made out of wood and iron and it had 125-watt bulbs. >> you're kidding.

>> that's like a dressing room. >> laura, thank you. we appreciate it. >> kathie lee will come back across the street. two guys that may have hung on your wall when you were a teenager. we're talking with duran duran. they have new music out, you guys, right after this. [ lefemaou a ]nnert nc

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including "hungry like the wolf." apparently it's singular. >> duran duran was an iconic '80s band. they never slowed down. they're out with their 13th album called "all you need is now." great to see you. >> we had a debate at the top of the show. >> we didn't have a debate. >> yes, we did. ♪ hungry like the wolf >> on the drum set. >> well, that explains a lot. >> we say it several times in the song, so i guess that's wolves, right? >> thank you. someone is on my side. >> you still owe me 10 bucks. >> you have a brand mif new cd out. what's the title track? >> "all you need is now."

>> let's listen to it. "all you need is now." ♪ we told everybody all you need is now ♪ ♪ when the music plays >> you change your style to go with the times, because you've lasted 30 years in the business. >> we changed the style. it's a change of style, butd we tried to keep true to our original kind of ethic, which is great tunes, great words and something will get you up and dancing. we are generally known as the ultimate party band. >> yes, you are. >> who gave you that title first? >> i did. is there a problem? >> i don't think so. >> why do you think you guys have lasted 30 years? that's unique. >> i think you have to want to. you have to love what you're doing, and you have to have the ambition to keep writing. it's the songs really. if you write songs, you want to go out and play them. we've been very, very lucky to have a fantastic audience who kept coming to see us.

>> how much of year do you actually tour, and what do you do when you're not touring? >> this comes year we're going to tour a lot. >> we like to do two months on, two weeks off. that way we can get through it. >> what do you do during the two weeks? go home to families? >> we're cryogenically frozen. >> you've been married how long? >> 25th anniversary two days ago. >> it's something you only wanted to do one time. >> yes. >> when you look out at the crowds now, do you see people of our generation or younger? >> everything. it's crossed over lots of generations. people bring their families now. we see people with their kids, and sometimes even smaller ones. >> we started off as a band with a big young female following, and now we just appeal to music.

>> your first huge fan was princess diana. she always listened to your music. >> she also said duran duran are the ultimate party band. >> there you have it. >> you said they were your words. uh-huh. >> exactly. >> we wish you guys great, great luck with this new cd. it's a fun title track, and i can't wait to hear the rest of the songs. >> hoda is a dancing fool. she loves it. >> happy new year to you and your families. coming up sophisticated snacks and a little bubbly for hoda woman to get her new year's party started. we're going to toast to that right after this.

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tiny bubbles, small bubbles, doesn't matter. >> let's check out the beth sparkling wines to ring in 2011. >> who is here?

>> chris adams. hey, chris, how are you, honey? >> happy new year to you. >> this is important to find the right bubbly for your celebration. >> it is. >> and for your pocketbook. >> we're finding something for everybody at this table. we start with california. we have a traditional champagne, they make a great sparkling wine in california, mostly chardonnay. a little bit of pigot noir. you get a little yeast and almonds. >> don't know if i'm crazing about the yeast. what's next. >> we go to california. this is mostly pinot noir. it is still a white wine, a blanc. >> that looks like you. you should get that. >> that's delicious. >> going across the ocean to france where we have cromon.

we taste in a white wineglass. we kind of want to open up the wine up and get more the flavor profile doing. >> hard to do that when eyre attacked by a bunch of bubbling. >> this costs how much by the glass? >> $15 a bottle. very affordable here. these wines deliver bang for the buck. no question. a little bit of strawberry. very nice. let's go to preseco. >> you can't call it champagne unless it comes from the champagne region. >> it is sparkling wine. >> you like this. >> i love it because it's sweet. >> the fruit is very, very forward. >> you're having a tough day, aren't you? >> it is dry. this is part of what it makes to have a great holiday season in venice. >> sorry.

i have weather sensitive hair. i'm worried about the bubbles. it sounds small, but it's big to me. >> let's just get through these, shall we? here we go. >> in spain now with cava. this is just about 25 miles south of barcelona. >> barcelona. >> an incredible value at about $8 a bottle. >> wow. zo so reason not to open a sparkling wine this holiday season. >> this bottle i love. >> this is the traditional champagne bottle. >> isn't that pretty? >> the splurge here. >> this is going to be very light, isn't it? >> funny. >> the more expensive the champagne or the sparkling wine, the less i like it. >> because you're a cheap date. >> that's good news for your date on new year's eve.

>> andy warhol is making wine. >> he inspished a don perignon for 2002. this is something special. >> andy warhol would be proud. >> that was fun. >> how come you don't drink anything? >> i tasted them all beforehand. >> thank you very much. happy new year's. up next, whether grocery store young food is a gourmet dessert. how you might ask? we know how to do it. first, this is "today" on nbc. [ female announcer ] why watch regular tv when you can experience

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time for "today's holiday kitchen." we're turning ordinary snacks into gourmet goodies for your holiday celebration. >> she'll show us how to please

the pickiest of palettes. >> i like the ingredients. twinkies and ho-hoes. you turn them into gourmet foods? >> yeah, easily. a great way to use anything from the convenience store is to think of innovative ways to transform them. we start with a twinkie napoleon. it's a traditional french pastry made of puff pastry and cream. so we're going to do it using only twinkies and potato xhchip. we open the twinkie and open it vertically. we can use reserve, and scoop out all the stuff. then take this if you'd like. do you want to smash one up? squeeze it by hand. the twinkie reconstitutes into dough very quickly.

>> lots of magic cal things. >> once it's formed into nice balls, roll it out really thinly. you want to roll it to about this thickness, about 2 or 3 millimeters simultaneously. we want to add krung and crackle to it. a great way to do that is the smash. we take the potato chips and smash it. there you go. you can smash it. >> how did you come up with this? >> i've always been fascinated with junk food. i was never allowed to eat it when i was little. >> thanks, mom. this is a crumb bled potato chi. we layer the twinkie dough with it. it's delicious. we cut them into these uniform pieces, and then carefully you want to layer them on top of each other. what that creates is kind of the

same layering effect it would ha have. then cover it with a little bit of twinkie cream. that's the final piece. >> hoda gets to try it. you'll love that. >> it's like sweet and savory, a little crunchy. >> not bad, huh? >> great. >> all righty. >> moving right along, it is the holiday season, and here's a very simple way to start making single-serving deliciousness, and this is a re-creation of a treat called the brewster noel, which is a traditional french -- >> exactly. well-done. it's a french dessert that's made to resemble a log. the ho-ho works well for this. sometimes you want to xhil them. we take the top of the xhok late off and peel it off carefully, so we're left with this sort of half naked ho-ho. crumble the rest of it. >> that was hoda the other night. >> hey!

>> maybe you should -- >> i thought you were with me. >> okay. the natural decor of this log -- >> i can see you laughing still, okay? >> okay. >> we decorated with all of our natural ingredients. >> it's a ho-ho. >> with gumdrops. >> looks like stuff i ate easier. >> this is a quick and simple way to make gourmet popcorn. it is a mixture of smashed up cheetos and popcorn. >> thank you. coming up tomorrow we go down memory lane for a few good laughs. have an awesome day, everybody. >> bye-bye, everybody. have an awesome day, everybody. >> bye-bye, everybody. >> thank you. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com