good morning. hot water. the commander of the military's first nuclear powered aircraft carrier facing tough questions about some lewd videos shot on that ship. the navy calls them unacceptable. but apparently they have known about the tapes for years. so why was that officer promoted anyway? new year, new reality. president obama wraps up his hawaiian vacation and heads back to washington today. as republicans prepare to take control of the house. and while the president is calling for cooperation, gop leaders are already promising to come out fighting. and revolving door. lindsay lohan's court-ordered rehab comes to an end.

and while she's expected to check out, another star, david arquette, has checked himself in today, monday, january 3rd, arquette, has checked himself in today, monday, january 3rd, 2011. captions paid for by nbc-universal television and good morning. welcome to "today" on a monday morning. i'm matt lauer. >> and i'm meredith vieira. a belated happy new year to one and all and you. >> and you. >> and you. >> and happy birthday. >> happy birthday. ann's over there. >> happy birthday to you. >> we haven't seen each other or this whole group in a long time. have a nice holiday? >> a very nice holiday. and we'll talk about it later. and yours as well. >> i'm done? okay, fine, got it. meanwhile, just ahead this morning. >> yeah, with let me pick up here. those raunchy videos shot aboard the "uss enterprise" while the ship was deployed in support of

the wars in iraq and afghanistan, they were made to entertain the crew by the captain who was second in command at the time. but some call the tapes offensive. the latest, straight ahead. and a tragedy out in ohio. a decorated sheriff's deputy and mother of two shot and killed as she responded to a call of shots fired at a trailer park. and when other officers arrived, the suspect opened fire again, leading to this dramatic shoot-out. we'll have more on the details of that story coming up straight ahead. and on a much different note, if you had a young son and he wanted to dress up like a superhero or a sports star, you wouldn't think anything of it. but what if he wanted to wear dresses and tiaras instead? what one mother is doing to get others to accept her self-described princess boy. let's get the rest of the news. ann curry is there. >> welcome back to both of you. in new york, lawmakers are praising the president for signing the 9/11 health bill into law over the weekend while on vacation in hawaii. the law provides health care to first responders to ground zero.

we'll have more on this story coming up. two u.s. service members were killed overnight in central iraq. the first u.s. casualties of the new year. u.s. casualties have gone down significantly in iraq since the last american combat forces left in august. a rare cold spell in southern california had drivers skidding and stranded over the weekend. heavy snow and winds up to 90 miles per hour shut down parts of interstate 5, which is, of course, the major road between southern and central california. military aid is on the way to hundreds of thousands of australians who have been impacted by flooding, which some are now describing as being of biblical proportions. drenching rain has left a flood zone the size of france and germany combined. at least three people have died since saturday. christians in egypt are clashing over security force in the streets of cairo, outraged over a bombing in new year's mass in alexandria. at least 21 were killed, hundreds others were wounded,

and protesters are blaming government negligence for the attack. a major 7.1 magnitude earthquake rocked southern chile on sunday. tens of thousands of people self-evacuated, fearing a deadly wave like the one that swept the country last february, but there was no tsunami and no deaths or injuries have yet been reported. now we go to wall street, where cnbc's erin burnett has a look ahead. erin, so what are investorings watching on this first trading day of the year? >> optimists are in control. we're coming off the best december in 19 years. so definitely bulls in the driver's seat. today, two key headlines. one, foreign investors say american real estate is the best real estate market for their money around the world. and three quarters of them say they're going to be putting more money in the u.s. this year. that's one bullish headline. and the other is this. goldman sachs and a russian investor are putting money in facebook. facebook doesn't yet trade publicly, but according to this investment, it puts a value on facebook of $50 billion. it's an incredible number, ann, worth more than time warner or even boeing, which is america's biggest exporter. >> erin, is that more than we had predicted?

i mean, certainly there have been numbers tied to facebook's value. >> yes, first it was $12 billion, then it was $30 billion, now it's $50 billion. no one knows what the real number will ultimately be, but it's safe to say mark zuckerberg has created one of the most valuable countries in america. >> thanks. hungarian actress zsa zsa gabor is back in the hospital to have part of her leg amputated. the 93-year-old gabor is in the hospital to have part of her leg amputated. and despite their rivalry, rafael nadal and roger federer seem to be getting along famously. here they are golfing on a floating court. it's a sight you don't see very much. >> it make them look like they're walking on water.

mr. roker has resolved for the new year to get every single forecast 100% correct. which means a repeat of 2010. >> we're going to try to start off getting things right now the. let's show you what's hap ng around the country, yuck see we have got a system moving into southern california. bringing more rain and mountain snows, another system exiting the new england area, that's bringing snow in northern new england. lake-effect snow around the eastern great lakes, a clipper coming across bringing snows to the great plains, some showers and thunderstorms central a good morning to you. take a look at the beautiful live picture showing you what's happening. the storm that brought the rainfall to the bay area is pushing to the south. we are left with a mostly clear sky when all is said and done and we hit the highs around 4:00 p.m. 44 to start you out in

sunnyvale. temperatures are mostly in the mid- to upper 50s. warming trend continues into thursday staying dry through saturday. >> and that's your latest weather. a top navel commander is coming under fire for his role in some racy and offensive videos made under his command on the uss "enterprise" aircraft carrier while those men and women very at war. >> good morning, meredith. videos like this are really nothing new. it's been a way for american service members to blow off a little steam in the middle of a war. but this one involves a high ranking naval officer and some of this video is too racy to seen show or describe this morning. it looks like youtube for sailors, a raunchy video laysed with hardcore profancy and gay

bashing, not from some teenaged computer hack, but an officer in the u.s. navy. and the sthip's number two in command at the time, captain owen honors took center stage. >> this evening we have got some different chicks in the shower in a clip that was previously too sensitive to show. >> reporter: playing to the camera, honors pulls back the curtain on both men and women showering together, though there's so no nudity. with some clever eediting, honors appears in the shame shot as three different people engaged in repeated gay bashing. >> why don't you just go ahead and hug yourselves for the next 20 minutes or so, because there's a really good chance you're going to be offended. >> reporter: while some segments are just a offensive and inappropriate to put on broadcast tv. the navy put out a statement

that the videos create aboard the "enterprise" were not acceptable then and are not acceptable in today's navy. since then honors has been promote as the top commander. this video however raises new questions about his judgment. but many of honor's sailors have stepped up to stand by their commander. >> without a doubt, 100% confident that he is the best man for that job right now. >> now the navy doesn't have that same level of confidence this morning, it's launched an investigation. to determine if captain honors should be relieved of hiss command and why his senior officers who knew about this video four years ago didn't take any disciplinary action then. now the "enterprise" is actually set to sail toward afghanistan in just a couple of weeks and the betting here at the pentagon is that captain honors won't be on it, meredith.

president obama wraps up his family vacation to hawaii a little later today and when he gets back to washington, he'll face for him what could be a harsh new political reality. resurgent republican party taking over in the house and apparently ready for battle. chuck todd has the latest on this. chuck, good morning, happy new year. >> reporter: happy new year, matt, and good morning to you. while the president's delaying the start of his new work year for another day, washington's preparing for the swearing in of a slew of new republicans elected last november which has given republicans control of the house. today the president is doing what many americans may wish they could do, extending his holiday vacation an extra day. and as is par for the course for every president, he's done a little work, including sunday, signing the 9/11 worker's health bill into law. but unlike the last hawaiian vacation, where the president

had to deal with the christmas day terrorist attack, this has been a quiet 12 days away from washington. he played golf, hung out with his old hawaiian friends and worked out every day but christmas when he visited with the u.s. troops stationed on the island. >> in a few days a new congress will form with one house controlled by democrats and one house controlled by republican who is now have a shared responsibility to move this country forward. >> reporter: for their part, republicans are itching to start flexing their muscles. darrell issa, the incoming chairman of the house government reform committee who recently called the obama white house one of the most corrupt in modern times says he plans to put the administration under a microscope. >> when i look at waste, fraud and abuse and the bureaucracy in the government, these are like steroids to pump up the muscles of waste. >> reporter: but the first big battle is likely to be over president obama's health care law. they believe they can get it

repealed at least in the house. >> if we pass this bill with a sizable vote, it will put an enormous pressure on the senate to do perhaps the same thing. but after that, we're going to go after this bill piece by piece. >> this fight is going to continue into 2012 and it's going to move from washington to the states. >> reporter: after health care, congress will have to decide will to raise the country's debt ceiling which is essentially the equivalent of raising the limit on the national credit card. >> raising the debt celling to me iss irresponsible. >> that would be a worse financial and economic crisis than anything we saw in 2008. >> reporter: this is going to be a week filled with ceremony and symbolism and among the symbols that the new republican house is going to do, speaker boehner and his colleagues are going to read the constitution word for word on the house floor on wednesday, matt.

>> stick around for a second, let's also bring in david gregory, moderator of "meet the press." david, good to see you, good morning. >> good morning, matt. >> it seems like we have a lot of forces at work. on the one hand you've got people who stake their entire careers on dissent and they're going to do a lot of yelling in these first couple of days and weeks. and then you have those who listened to the voters and those voters said they want things accomplished. >> in the republican party there's crosscurrents, and an amazing story here. tea party activists who now are lawmakers in the house and the senate. they came to washington saying we had a mandate here, it's not just to compromise, it's to stick to some of the principles that we campaigned on. you have darrell issa who can conduct investigations. >> is that what the people across the country want? do they want investigations or do they want other things

accomplished? >> i think this is ultimately a balance of role, size, expense of government. health care goes under that, the stimulus and ultimately who's best to get people back to work. that's still the backdrop for both parties here. >> chuck, let's talk about health care, is this going to be something that's going to be fought in one big chunk, or as we just heard in your piece, piece by piece? and what's the timing on it? >> reporter: the house republicans are hope forgive a vote before the state of the union. it looks like the state of the union will be before the end of the month. that's something they want to do in the first two or three weeks. it's going to go nowhere in the still democratically controlled senate. so what you're going to see is the fight in the courts, you're going to see the symbolic vote take place, because in many ways, speaker boehner has to feed the base. this goes to your first

question, that's what's going on inside the republican party, on one hand they want to keep power and show that they can govern, on the other hand they want to placate the base and show that they'll go after some things that they promised on the campaign trail. >> and there's another dynamic here at play. not only are the congress going to be sworn in on wednesday. does everything that happens over the next couple of months in washington really relate to 2012? >> without a doubt. look, the president has already said that he wants to gear up for this fight over taxes in 2012. republicans have said the same thing. the republican leader in the senate mitch mcconnell says the first order of business is to make the president a one-term president. and that's why the president doesn't have a lot of room to maneuver here in terms of getting things done. >> david, i don't get to say this to you two very often, but

les talk about snowstorms and garbage collections, all right? we had a major snowstorm here in the northeast in the last week and just go back to john lindsay and realize what can happen to a governor or a mayor of a large city or state in the northeast if they don't get the job done when it comes to snowstorms and garbage. what's going to be the fallout from all the criticism that's being leveled at that man right there, mike bloomberg for the job that was done in new york and that man, chris christie for the job that was done in new jersey. and some did it well. what's the fallout going to be? >> i think we're still waiting for this, matt, certainly it's been pretty ugly so far, you go back to that john lindsay campaign, there was an ad on "meet the press," saying i guessed wrong on the storm, but i did some other things right. i think the mayor's going to have to keep explaining 24i7x and ultimately making the response faster. people expect it.

and the twitter achblg, it's so easy to document when things go slowly. >> we look at these people like chris christie and mike bloomberg as having a bigger profile in the future, does that hurt it? >> i actually think it does. both of them have sketched out this idea that they have the competency candidates, the first test of competency is managing an emergency crisis like this. and on this one right now, it looks like they had a tough time passing that test. it's now 17 after the hour, once again here's meredith. >> matt, thank you. now to ohio, a tragic reminder of the danger faced by authorities every day. a mother was shot and killed on saturday as she responded to a call. >> deputy suzanne hopper's family are beginning the new year with only her memory and some photos. >> it was exactly an hour before

the call. just like suzanne, she's like happy new year, hope you're doing well. that was the voicemail. >> reporter: hopper, a 12-year veteran was called to a trailer park in ohio on saturday morning. while investigating the scene, she was gunned down. >> the door of the trailer opened and the person inside fired one shotgun blast. striking the deputy, and fatally wounding a deputy. >> reporter: violence didn't stop with hopper. police surrounded the park and tried to coax the suspect out of hiding. he opened fire again. german township officer jeremy bloom who was shot in the arm and sured a collapsed lung. she was flown to a nearby

hospital. the suspect michael ferryman was found dead on the scene. >> this is the worst day in my 24 years as a sheriff. >> reporter: she leaves behind two children and her husband. >> she always had a big smile, she liked to have fun. she was very, very well respected on the sheriff's department? so far no motive has been ginobili. >> you always think one more time, why woucouldn't i talk tor one more time, see her one more time. that was taken away from husband. >> it is now 7:19 and here's matt. preliminary hearing tied to michael jackson's tragic death is scheduled to begin tomorrow. the singer's physician dr.

conrad murray is charged involuntarily mans and now it appears his legal team could attempt to point the scene to jackson himself. >> good morning, matt, it's all about what went on behind the gates of this represented mansion a year and a half ago when jackson died. who gave jackson a lethal dose of anesthetic? was it his doctor or was it jackson himself? dr. murray has pleaded not guilty to the involuntary mans charges. he says he gave jackson only a small amount of the anesthetic prop propofol. linda deutsch of the stoerkted press has been follow the court action. >> according to the prosecutor, what they are going to claim as their defense is that the when dr. murray left michael

jackson's room after he injected him with a small amount of propofol, jackson who was desperate for sleep may have taken that second syringe and injected himself. >> reporter: former prosecutor lori levenson now a professor at loyola law school says it is a theory that can be torn apart by the state. >> if mr. jackson did inject himself, how did he do it? he was plugged into the iv, he was under some sedation, dr. murray was supposed to be watching him. how did he pull this off? >> the prosecution lays out its case against murray. and is the second syringe theory likely to come up? >> it will not come up in the preliminary hearing, it's going to come up at the trial if it comes up at all. >> reporter: and if the judge finds enough evidence to put murray on trial, what are the chances of conviction? >> some are saying this is a

slam dunk case. but i'll guarantee you in los angeles, nothing is that easy. there are no slam dunk cases when it comes to celebrities. >> reporter: there's a lot riding on this case for conrad murray, if convicted, he faces four years in prison. still ahead, lindsay lohan's court ordered rehab ends today and she's promising to take things one step at a time. we'll have the latest on that. but first this is "today" on nbc. [ sniffing ]

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back now at 7:30 on this monday morning, the third day of january, 2011. times square getting back to normal a little over 48 hours after the new year's bash there. but no one is dropping the ball out on rockefeller plaza. inside studio 1a, i'm meredith viera along with matt lauer. imagine when you're away from home you decide to check your webcam to check on the family pet and what you see is a man standing in your bedroom.

one woman had that happen to her and she's going to share her story. if you have resolved in the new year to lose weight, we're going to give you a lot of inspiration. we're going to meet three people who lost half their weight without surgery. >> amazing. we begin this half hour with troubled actress lindsay lohan. her court ordered rehab ends today. >> new year, new lindsay, at least she says so, tweeting over the weekend, today is the first day of the rest of my live. lohan has spent more than 90 days in court ordered rehab but this morning, she could be a free woman. for the starlet who's been given chance after chance, lindsay lohan is about to get another one. court ordered rehab is over as of today. she can leave the betty ford clinic any time. >> this is an extremely critical time for lindsay. she needs to be perceived as someone who is serious and

sober. >> reporter: but even lohan's final weeks in rehab were full of drama, including accusations of assault from a clinic worker. >> she grabbed my wrist and snatched it down and twisted my arm and my hand. >> reporter: police are still investigating the incident and lohan's lawyer says lindsay was the one who called 911. still it wasn't exactly a banner year. >> 90 days in jail. >> reporter: in 2010, lohan violated probation again and again, sentenced to jail and rehab twice. >> i'm taking it seriously. >> reporter: but can lindsay stay clean this time? her mother speak with matt in november here on "today." >> she's just a different person. she's been in a couple of facilities, but this one to me has really changed her. >> reporter: legal experts say lindsay can't afford another relapse. >> if lindsay violates her

probation, she's likely to face a judge that's going to send her right to jail, especially if the violation has anything to do with drugs or alcohol. >> reporter: lindsay has reportedly focused on her fashion line and her acting, quite a turn from her role in mean girls. think robert downey junior, mickey rourk and britney spears. >> hollywood may not be ready to take her back yet. she's got to prove that she's dependable that, she shows up and she's not a diva. this is going to be a long, tough road. >> reporter: the judge set the release day for today, january 3, so she would not -- either way, meredith, she'll get random drug testing through next month. >> jeff rossen, thank you very much. a criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor.

and a psychologist and mental health specialist. it's been reported that once lindsay lohan leaves this facility, she will go to an undisclosed location with her mom and two siblings, somewhere in the l.a. area. i know that her mom in august said to matt, she wanted to take her all the way to new york, out of l.a. all together. >> it's really important that we be aware of people, places and things. it was probably a good idea if she go to a step down program. and especially around her mom, who certainly can be a trigger. addiction is a family disease. >> is she already setting herself up for failure? >> i hope she isn't. because she's a brilliant. young actress. and it's hard enough to get sober when you're not in the public eye. i hope she has a sober companion

and i hope she's connected ede 12-step programs. >> she tweeted that today is the first day of the rest of my life. she also posed in a british newspaper. what does this say about the seriousness of her intent to get soeber? why isn't she laying low? >> meredith, it's important to realize she probably has a lot of people around here who make a living off of her and they may be pushing her into doing things like that. so again she has a certainly responsibility in her profession, but it's real tough on her recovery. >> at this point, ricky, she is not due back in court until february 25, between now and then she is on probation. what does that mean for lindsay lohan when they say she's on probation. >> lindsay's probation has certainly attachments to it. she's going to get random drug testing, she's going to ha-- sh

has seven and a half weeks to make sure that she doesn't violate this probation. if she does anything that judge fox considers a violation on february 25, she's going in for sixth months. nothing less. >> she's going into jail. >> she's going into jail, he wasn't kidding. >> and if she does not violate the probation, what happens? >> it's open. and we hope it's really over and we hope there's no next time. there's still the question of this alleged assault, what happened in the rehab center. >> it's still under investigation, so potentially the judge could use this against lindsay lohan, i suppose? >> potentially. i i would say that the courts would like her gone. >> i think it's important to realize that anybody who works for a rehab is bound under confidentiality and i was really sorry to see any discussion of

that incident. >> before i let you go, david arquette announced that he checked himself into rehab for alcohol abuse and also from the depression. >> it's important to realize that he was depressed and that's why he was drinking and alcohol is a central nervous system depressant and that's why he's pressed. >> got come friends here from the university of kentucky. a little quieter earlier, but then they kind of revved up. let's check your weather, show you what's happening and we have got temperatures that are much below normal for the western 2/3 of the coin try, below normal

for the southeast. above normal into texas with some snow around the great lakes. midweek it's going to be snowy from the plains right into the northeast. below normal temperatures out west with mountain snows and the latter part of the week we have got some snow to worry about another eastern half of the thank you, al. take a look at the live picture over san francisco. you can see clear skies and shaping up over the bay area. that's what you can expect. warmer than yesterday as well. we are waking up on the cool side. in hayward. warming up into the mid- to upper 50s. 55 degrees and climbing in temperature through this thursday. 60 degrees on thursday. a fair stretch of weather and sunday with showers on the way. have a great monday

>> if you want to check if the weather's nice where you are, the weather channel on cable, or weather.com online. one woman's quest for acceptance of her young son. and the woman who caught a burglar in her bedroom on her cell phone. the man is now in custody. we'll talk to her rite after this. yeah, we're fine. hey, thanks. [ man ] yeah, man. [ man #2 ] finally. whoo. i'm so glad we're doing this, guys. absolutely. so needed this. ♪ skidamarink-a-dink-a-dink, skidamarink-a-doo ♪ ♪ i love you [ male announcer ] the all-new chevy cruze. with a 9-speaker premium sound system, for whatever you're into these days. >> ( beeping ) ( beeping stops ) >> announcer: free is better. do your simple return for free with the federal free edition at turbotax.com.

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we're back now at 7:41, it's becoming more and more popular to access a home computer's camera when they're away to check on the kids and the family pet. but one colorado woman found something much more disturbing. >> okay, well, that's him breaking into my room. >> this image is not what claire blevins expected to see when she used her eye phone to check on khali, her 2 1/2-year-old terrier. she watched as a stranger rummaged through her room. going through her belongings but taking only an ipod and charger from claire and her roommate. she says the man got keys to her house by intercepting a package that was delivered that morning.

he was in her room for only about 12 minutes. >> it's just weird and gross and wrong. >> but thanks to an iphone cap pace that streams motion activated snapshots, claire saw exactly what happened. denver abc station aired claire's footage the night of the crime. a viewer recognized the bedroom intruder and tipped the police off. >> i'm sure she was terrified. >> the alleged thief denied stealing anything from claire and the case is pending. the application called i cam costs $4.99 but it could be the best $5 claire ever spent. claire blylevens is with us now. i'm watching this video, i don't know whether it's better to see this happening or not see this happening. >> it's good to know what he touched, what he went through and things like that.

>> it's one thing to get your home broken into, to be burglarized, but to watch somebody going through your stuff. i had the exact same reaction you did, he touched my pillows. it's such a violation. >> that's the exact word i would use. >> were you screaming to people at work? what were you saying? >> i was sitting in my cubicle and i was just looking to see if my roommate had borrowed anything from me that morning, because when she comes in, she waves. >> so its motion activated? >> it will start cataloging pictures and as soon as i saw his face, i thought, oh, no, that's not amanda. >> so when you first downloaded this application, it was for just peace of mind or fun. did you ever think it would become a tool for security?

>> no, i was just curious to see what my dog did, and she doesn't do anything exciting. >> the guy's in the room 12 minutes you know that he took an ipod and an ipod charger? >> in some ways you have to feel that it could be a whole lot worse. >> i have so many valuable things in that room. >> why do you think he was in there 12 minutes and he only took those things? >> maybe he was thinking what he he could get rid of quickly. if you dropped off a camera and there's photos of like me or something, maybe there's a way to trace it back to me or something. but i have no idea. >> we're going to log on live and actually stream the images of your bedroom. but we were afraid meredith would be in there. have you logged in a lot since then? >> yeah, i check it all the time. the weirdest thing was when i

logged in at like 4:00 to check it. my dog was just in my room so i didn't think anything of it when i contrscrolled up to all those. >> he is in custody, however denies having anything to do even though his mug was right there on the camera. >> when he walks over there to that corner, that's where my ipod is between my bed and my box spring because my dog would eat it if it's on the floor. that's him picking it up, putting it in his back. >> we're happy it's not worse and we're happy cally is okay. >> up next, meredith, ann, al and i will reveal some new year's resolutions, right after this. am gave me the edge to do it. ♪ it's a new day i can't believe i get to live my life in this body. i mean seriously... look what i'm wearing! ♪ and this old world is a new world ♪ ♪ and a bold world i'm feeling good, i'm feeling happy.

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so we're back for the first time as a group in what, about three weeks? >> two weeks. >> three weeks? two weeks. >> it seems like we haven't been out here on the plaza. >> you entertained? >> oh, lots of people. rib roast, york shire pudding, the whole works. >> that sounds like normally your holiday. you're always cooking. >> we did a little damage. you know, the roasting and sacrifice of small farm animals. >> i was baking on the beach and drinking pe ining pina coladas.

>> you were in brazil? >> i was down in south america, you were on the islands. >> we have a picture. >> i parked it in front of my house because i knew that was going to be the only way to get in because we didn't know what the subways were going to be doing. that was 2:00 in the morning and by 4:00, i dug it out and drove in. i've got four-wheel drive on that thing. my trusty toyota sienna. but a lot of the cabs were stuck. garbage trucks. >> i don't know if meredith knows about the subway, that's down those stairs. what about a new year's resolution? >> i want to try to get home earlier, pick up the kids from school more. >> i don't really make them, to be honest with you, because i don't tend to keep them. >> you can keep them an a goal. >> mine is to wake up every

morning with sort of a prayer of thanks. thank you for being -- thank you for having a life, for being alive and having a chance as a human being to be a force for good. >> i want to be more involved in my kids schooling. i kind of laze fare a little bit, i don't check their home work. >> i want to do everything you guys said and more. >> there you go. i wish we had more time because i am so eager for you to tell the story of you in your birthday in the white hummer stretch limo. i can't believe you've got a white limo stretch limo. >> by tend, i was outside the roof. ♪

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we're back now, 8:00 on this first monday of the new year, 2011 and that makes it january 3rd. and it is dawning a beautiful day here in the northeast. a bright blue sky and a nice crowd of people who are managing to stretch their holiday just a little bit longer. many people heading back to work or doing a little post-christmas shopping, a little white sale action. i'm matt lauer, along with meredith vieira and al roker. coming up in this half-hour, we're going to talk ba story that some people find difficult to discuss. >> even the mom in the story did in the beginning. it's a story about a little boy, from the time he was not even two years old, wanted to dress up like a little girl.

there he is, dyson. picked out the outfit for today, pink is the color he loves the most. and she has worked very hard to not only understand him but have other people accepted differences in people. she's back with a book she wrote, that's getting a lot of attention, very positive attention. so we'll catch up one them. >> a lot of new year's resolutions, one of them is probably for a lot of people to get in better shape. lose a little weight. we've got a perfect inspiration for you. we've got three people this morning, each has lost more than her, more than half of her body weight. they did it without surgery, we're going to find out how and how they feel, coming up. good for them. coming up, baby boomers, guess what, the first baby boomers are going to be turning 65 in 2011. what's in store for them? we'll preview it for them, coming up. >> i'm a boomer, you're a boomer. are you a boomer? >> we're all boomers. >> right in the heart of

boomland. let's go inside, ann curry is at the news desk with a check of the news. >> thanks, good morning, everybody. in the news, a top u.s. naval commander is under investigation because of an offensive video he appeared in more than four years ago. shot and shown aboard the "u.s.s. enterprise" nuclear aircraft carrier. the video features captain owen honors, who at the time was the ship's second in command. he's since been promoted to commander. the video was meant to boost more rail while the ship was in a war zone but the navy now says the video is not appropriate. more than nine years after the september 11th attacks, first responders who were sickened at ground zero will have new federal health benefits. president obama signed the 9/11 health bill on sunday in hawaii as he was wrapping up his vacation. he returns tomorrow to washington, where republicans with more power in the new congress are vowing to repeal health care reforms and limit federal spending. new york city is resuming

trash pickups today for the first time since the snowstorm. eight days ago. mountains of garbage piled up while sanitation crews were switched to snowplow duty. a blood test that could revolutionize the way cancer is detected and treated might be just a few years away. johnson & johnson says the tests has the potential to spot a single cancer cell among a billion healthy ones. researchers at massachusetts general hospital are developing the test. arnold schwarzenegger finishes his seven-year run as california governor today. the republican says he is available if the obama administration has some special role for him where he can put his star power to work. meantime, democrat jerry brown is being sworn in as california governor for a second time. a town in arkansas is baffled after some 5,000 birds mysteriously dropped dead and fell from the sky just before midnight on new year's eve. most of them red-winged

blackbirds and starlings, within a one-mile radius. a 20-mile stretch of the arkansas river was blanketed with some 100,000 dead drumfish. officials are investigating both of those incidents. panda stories are always a nice way to end a newscast. but how about this one, a rare panda cow was born in colorado. the cow with panda-like markings are bred as pets, only about two dozen in the entire world. a cute cow. it's 8:04, let's go back outside to matt and meredith. >> everybody saying how cold it is, this little girl has the right idea. >> i like the ipad. >> i thought that was nice. >> mr. roker has a check of the weather. al? >> we've got some friends here who tell us it's warmer in the bahamas, very nice. and you've got belated birthday greetings for matt and meredith. awfully nice of you. let's check your weather. pick city of the day, san

antonio, news 4, cloudy, 62 degrees today. as we look on the satellite, the weather map, you can see sunshine through the southeast. snow squauls on the eastern great lakes, more snow in the mountains of southern california. chilly conditions in the pacific northwest. rain moves in tomorrow. more snow squalls, lake-effect snow moves across the eastern great lakes today. showers in southern texas. sunny and warm in the southeast. cold in new england, cool weather from

that's your latest weather. matt? al, ways going to stand over here and do this. but this young lady put on the biggest pouty face, give me the pouty face -- so i said, we'll keep it here. ill girls, one mom and her son share their story right after this. ce, "dizziness, shortness of breath... "side effects may include chest pain, nausea..." yeah. couple days of that, and i will be in a bathing suit in no time! [ female announcer ] need a clinically proven way to lose weight now? then try the slim-fast 3-2-1 plan. 3 snacks, 2 shakes or meal bars, and 1 balanced meal. slim-fast. who has time to slim slowly?

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>> for little dyson, now five, this is parts of his everyday play. but for his mom, sharon davis, it took some getting used to. >> my initial reaction was to redirect. play with the truck or read certain books. >> when dyson wanted to be a princess for halloween, sheryl initially resisted, but soon changed her mind. >> my older son toby said mom, why can't you just let him be happy. and at that moment, i knew this was more my issue, if toby could be a jinga, why couldn't he be a princess. >> since then they've allowed their youngest son to explore his interest in all things dressy and sparkly. >> it's not contagious. he's just like any other kid. he plays checkers. he plays in the trees. he just likes to do it in a dress, big deal. >> he likes pretty things. pink is his favorite color. >> the experience led sheryl to self-publish a book, "my princess boy" which she wrote as a cool to encourage acceptance

of dyson and his dresses. >> a store clerk once said to me, are you really going to buy that for him? and i said, can you just read this book for 60 seconds. and after she read it, she apologized. >> word spread, their story appeared on a local tv talk show and in "people" magazine. soon a major publisher picked up "my princess boy" which landed in stores just before christmas. >> i think it's fantastic and i think what it tells us is that these boys, their parents and the social world is no longer the same. there is an audience for this book. and there are people who need this kind of information, and this kind of help. >> i haven't had that moment of regret yet. partly that i think is because of all the people who are emailing me from all over the country. and all over the internationally as well. who are saying, i'm so glad i'm not alone. >> and sheryl davis, author of

"my princess boy" is here with her princess boy, her son, dyson, good morning to you both. dyson, you came up with the name princess boy. that's how you see yourself, right? as a princess boy? >> uh-huh. >> and you picked out your outfit today? >> yeah. >> tell me about the outfit, because i know you love pink and purple. >> can you show her the outfit? >> can you see? >> and this is your twirly outfit, right? >> yeah. >> can you show me the twirl? and i know dyson has loved dressing up since he was two years old and it's been a journey for you since then. he's now five, five in october. the book started out something that you self-published, like a journal, more exploring more about you, in dealing with dyson, a child who is different than other kids. >> when i first realized and went through the process of this and my older son says, why can't you just let him be happy, i realized, this is really an adult issue, it's my issue, and

how am i going to deal with it. and so through journalling, i needed a tool to hand to people to say, i don't want to you crush my son's spirit he's too young and he's really strong with loving what he loves. so i didn't want that to happen. none of us do as moms. >> that's why you self-published the book. and then to have a major publisher take it on. did you ever anticipate anything like that? >> i did not anticipate that. one of the things you do when you hold in secrets for so long, is you think it's only you. and the moment that we went on our local nbc show, news day northwest with margaret larson. we literally had within 24 hours, we had over 2,000 people emailing. it was posted on youtube. all from us just posting the segment to say please accept this. >> and now that the book is in book stores, what is the reaction been like? have you seen it firsthand at all? >> i have. i'm so happy that simon and schuster stepped up. because it really allows the book to be there for people who want and need it. and the first experience when it first came out, i was in the

book store in seattle. and a dad and a son, they were there and the son was thumbing through the book. and i was just kind of peeking around the side. and the son smiled up, looked up to his dad and his dad smiled at him and they went to the check-out line. and it touched my heart. because it just showed that you know, this little boy was really attached to this. and the father just smiled and said, i'm with you, son, let's go. >> dyson, why do you like to dress up in dresses and pretty colors in sparkly things? >> because it makes me feel happy. >> it makes you feel happy? do you know other princess boys? >> uh-huh. >> friends of yours or people that you've met along the way? >> people that i met along the way. >> and when people see you dress up, honey, are most people nice, has there ever been anybody that's made you feel bad about dressing up? >> yeah. >> dyson has had a really good response with people that might say, you're not supposed to be in a dress or only girls are

supposed to wear pink. and he says, if you don't like me in a dress or in pink, then you're not my friend. and there's something ha we can learn from some of that. is let's get to a place of acceptance. >> i know when you first wrote the book, you included a letter to your family and friends because you were having trouble with it, you were struggling with it. i had deal cultural perceptions of how my sons as males should looked a behave. this became a journey of self-awareness and re-evaluations of stereotypes and perceptions of what i thought i believed. if it was hard for you, what kind of a struggle would it be for people who don't have a princess boy in their life? >> we've gotten a lot of responses from people who don't have children, from people who don't have princess boys. really, "princess boy" the book stands for hope and acceptance. and in 2010, in light of all the bullying and the things that have happened and the unthinkable outcomes of children taking their lives just for being different, this is our chance to say, 2011 is going to be about the year of acceptance,

we're are going to turn this around. and it takes the first step to go to acceptance and then we can start to get into inclusion and sooner or later, my hope is that the world will embrace the uniqueness that is really within all of us. >> what about people, sheryl, who might say to you that it's great to let dyson be himself at home or at a friend's house, but in public, there's a different set of rules. and if he loves running around the house naked like a lot of kids do, you wouldn't let him do it at school. for example. >> i believe those are kind of health and social issues. this is clothing. this is attire. and children at a very young age, studies show one of the first independent things they feel proud of and get self-confidence in is selecting their clothes and dressing themselves for school. we've all seen the child in the school with polka dots and stripes and different colors and mismatching shoes. and sometimes that's not the battle you want to fight. and as my son gets older and our family continues to grow, he's able to express his own interests. and so i figured, i can't keep

it inside of the house. so we need to get the world to a place of acceptance. >> and as a mom of teenagers, i know if i had talked about them as little kids, they would be upset now as teenagers. do you worry about that with dyson? that there will come a time when he's embarrassed about this, that you put this out? >> we talk about that, don't we, dyson? yeah. we as a family were very, very honest and open and we have family meetings. we discuss what this really means. he knows that boys en't normally dressing in dresses right now. and so he, he really has been kind of a driver in part of it. so the book doesn't have faces. it also doesn't have dyson's name in it. so my hope is that the book can continue on through the years to come. and in 15 to 20 years, he can say, i'm really proud that my parents loved and supported me as a child. >> are you proud that mom wrote the book, dyson? >> yeah. >> and people reading it, do you think if they had any questions about you wearing a dress, they would understand after reading the book? what would they understand about

you? >> they would understand that it's like fun to wear dresses. >> that it's fun to wear dresses. do you want to give us a little twirl before you go? thank you very much, dyson. nice to have you here, sheryl. good luck with the book and helping people to gain acceptance and understanding, it's an important thing. >> thank you, we need it. >> the book is called "my princess boy." up next, the inspiring story of people who have lost half their body weight and how you can do it, too. after this. xt, we'll talk to won who have lost more than half of their body weight. you'll save 100 calories a day. that could help you lose up to 10 pounds in a year. [ male announcer ] look in this sunday's paper for even more ways to save with splenda® brand products. now you can save money, save calories, and get the great taste of splenda®. [ female announcer ] that's how splenda® is sweet...and more.

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guys. why do you think that is. >> especially around this time of year, everybody's looking to make a new year's resolution to be healthier. we want to provide that inspiration, whether you want to lose ten, 20 or half their size, they can do it. >> the people we're about to meet and we'll get to them in a second, have literally reinvented themselves. >> they didn't say i want to lose 100 pounds in three months. >> no surgery, no diet pills, they have all lost half their size with hard work and exercise. >> i think the before and after picture here is really going to stun people. we have christina corez and first we want to take a look at christina before, and now we would like christina to walk out. how are you? >> i am excellent. >> you must be excellent. it's nice to see you. should we do the weight thing? what you started at and where you are now? >> absolutely i want everybody

to know. >> you started out --? >> 2040. -- 240. >> you would eat when you were unhappy, when you were happy, when you were bored, how do you break a habit like that? >> it starts by educating yourself. you really have to educate yourself on how you want to change and how to lose weight. and then you have to start eating better. without eating better, you will not lose weight. i can guarantee that. i worked out and most importantly, i found a support system and it has helped me maintain my weight. every day i go on there and i'm motivate and inspired and that's how you keep the weight off. you stay motivated every day, you'll keep the weight off. >> the next two people we're going bring out say they were large when they came out of the womb because they are identical twins, tiffany and tena marie. here's what they looked libs before and now let's bring out

tiffany and tena marie now. ladies good morning, nice to see you both. we want to do it as a team or do we want to do it individually, what do you lose in terms of weight? >> we have lost 276 pounds between the two of us. >> what was your starting weight? >> 298 pounds. >> 277. >> this is -- was it easier because you could rely on each other? >> yeah. >> how did you -- how did you lean on each other through this process? >> like christina said it's all about having a support system and if you can find somebody to support you through it, they're going to keep you motivated and keep you going and it's going to keep you going on and being healthy. >> when you talk about being healthy, one of the two of you, and you have to raise your hand to tell me which one, is you used to foal like elderly people. even though you were only in your 20s. that's extraordinary.

>> we don't have energy to do anything. and we're outgoing people but your personalities did not match our bodies because our bodies would just weigh us down literally. >> your eating habits were ingrained in you at a very early age, went you? >> we grew up in an italian family and everything revolves around food. we just overate. >> you got married at one of your heavy es points. >> right. >> we wanted to take a look at what the with eddiwedding gown d look like today. >> i actually put it on a couple of weeks ago just to be funny and i actually had half of it folded behind me. it was pretty funny. >> now it's my turn. i'm pretty exciteded. >> congratulations. >> thank you. at our starting weight we both wore 50-inch waists, jeans and shorts and pants and now to be able to shop at a regular, maybe

a boutique instead of having to go to a plus sized store to get a wedding dress. >> half their size in the new year. god good monday morning to you. >> folks in walnut creek coming off, once you get to work, getting to work is going to be an issue here. they had two lanes closed for basically a little more than an hour there. danville, that's the big holdup, should be improving, but there is a 50 travel time between 24 and 580. but 580 moves smoothly from

livermore over into the south bay. a little haze there. >> a little hazy out there, we did have some patchy dense fog earlier, but that is no longer a problem, and that was mostly confined to the north bay. today we are going to warm up to 55 degrees, that's going to kick off a warm, dry trend that's going to last all the way through saturday. the warmest day of the week, 63 degrees. this morning, things are really starting to calm down after a lot of rain last week. more news right after the break.

two bodies found in a south bay home has police looking for answers this morning. officers say they received a call requesting a welfare check around 1:00 yesterday afternoon and when they arrived, they found the bodies. police say there's no concern for public safety. "today" show returns in less than a minute. have a great monday morning.

8:30 now on this monday morning, january 3, 2011. that was perhaps the most emotional moment of the 2010 olympic games.

now she is skating in her mother's honor and to save the lives of others, we're going to talk to her about that just ahead. >> it was just heart breaking. >> it really was. >> unincredibly uplifting. also we had the nation's first baby boomers turn 65 this year. and coming up we're going to take a look at the joys and challenges that await them in 2011 and beyond. also ahead to tell us about sheets and towels. you love great sheets and great towels and pillows. well the white sales are on right now. it's a great time to upgrade and save a lot of money on those things and we're going to have some great information for you. just days after speaking out on television, our first television interview, russian spy anna chapman will be playing the role of a spy in a parody of a popular russian movie. we're going to take a look at that in just a moment. >> she's taking advantage of all

of this. also coming up this morning, we're going to be talking about seven health resolutions that you do want to keep in 2011. but first the weather. cold? >> yes, here in the northeast, it certainly is, let's check it and show you the rest of the country. above normal conditions actually in the northeast, down into texas, muchmore out west in southern california. midweek leer looking at snowy conditions, above normal but wet down through texas and the latter part of the week, we have got snow in the northeast. it's going to be rain down good morning to you, things are looking pretty good right now, we're not saying that at all in the bay area. in fact just a little bit of haze. we have mostly sunny skies to look forward to throughout the bay area today, we will end up in the upper 50s. and "today" kicks off a warm, dry trend that's going to last all the way through this thursday, 60 degrees, oh, yeah,

it's going to warm up nicely. sun and clouds, rain on the way for sunday. have a great monday. >> don't forget, you can check your weather any time of the day or night on the weather channel on cable or weather.com online. when we come back, a survival guide for nation's baby boom er boomers, some of whom are turning 65 this ye

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back now at 8:35. and this morning on forever young, the oldest members of the boomer generation are going to turn 65 this year, so what are

they in for? amy gray is a baby boomer expert with aarp and julia sive is a school yis. the one thing we know about baby boomers is they never let history roll over them. they like to define it. so how do you think people of our age will define what it means to get older in america? redefine really? >> they're redefining retirement. they're redefining societal views of aging. they changed medicine and schools when they were young. they created a cultural revolution and social change and political change. now they're an economic power house. so they're going to continue to do that. and they're going to change the way that the marketplace responds to older adults, they're going to be demanding. they're active, they even engaged and they're used to advocating for themselves. >> sort of like children, people want to embrace them so they're not there very often.

>> they have not going to be silent. they're absolutely going to be, we're here, this is what we're going to do. >> you have some questions that boomers should ask themselves when planning their future. >> who are what and work? who am i waking up with in the morning, who am i having fun with and what can i do to improve those relationships. that's my bucket list. maybe i'm turning 65 and i have a good 20 years if i'm lucky, what do i want to do? do it now. go back to college, jump out of the helicopter. and work. what's going to be my contribution? what do i have to give back? do i need to make money with it? and i just giving my skills and talents. those questions have positive answers now. >> judith mentions work sharing. for a lot of people who might want to retire can't or they really don't want to retire anymore.

in fact you say working is the new retirement. >> when you look at people and you ask them when they're going to retire, just as many people say 70 as say 65. but what kind of work is going to be fulfilling to you, either it's not financially feasible or it's not desirable to stop working at 65. so people are going to continue to do that. in many cases they're going to have to change their lifestyles financially to make sure they have enough money in their retirement whenever that is. >> in the second chapter of your life, how do you balance that? because on t because. >> act two has two big emotional challenges. we lose our friends, we lose our mind, we lose some sense of well-being, we lose our houses maybe our jobs and limits, i can't do what i used to do and i sure can't do its a fast. but we gain emotionally, what we

used to be called wisdom, this is the time, fine night time has joy in it because i can savor it. that's the gift of being able to be healthy and aging. >> that's something to think about financially as well. because even though you may have to make do with less in retirement to make sure that you have enough money to last that time, you also have experience and perspective. and that's something that's a great contribution to our society as an employee or employer or as an entrepreneur or a consultant. that's something a lot of people take for granted. the way to ensure a steady income in retirement is to have a steady paycheck. so while you're doing what you love, perhaps using your perspective. >> we find out that it is the iner sei inner self -- >> and boomers want to be

engaged and active, so whether it's through work and volunte volunteerism, they can contribute to society and be who they are, but keep reinventing themselves. they're great at it. >> when you think of a lot of boomers, what do i need if i want to retire in terms of food and housing, forget about the big cost is health care costs. >> health care costs are rising, 26% a year from the latest statistics from the government. but for older americans it could be even more than that. in terms of your health care costs outside of medicaid, you may need $200,000 just to cover 90% of your health care costs. $200,0 $200,000. a lot of people have not planned for that. you need to start saving more. a lot of people say how much i do need to say. saving 20% of your take home pay if you don't have enough in retirement. it's not just iras and 401(k)s

it's paying down those fixed expenses. a means paying down your mortgage, paying off those credit cards and getting rid of as much debt as possible. and perhaps relocating to a place where the cost of living is not as great. >> a really disturbingi-- >> it's a big challenge and i think we need them now, we need to do something about it now. there's various strategies proposed in terms of financial incentives, enhancing reimbursements for clinical work with older adults when you have a geriatric specialty. maybe they want to work in the field of health care. there's a huge opportunity there

and it's very rewarding to work with older adults. we need to get intergenerational programs too so that young people are interested in working with older adults they see how advantageous it can be. and up next, the weather in january may be lousy, but the white sales as matt lauer

we're back now at 8:44, this morning on "today's" home, white sales, it's the time of year where you can save a lot of money on bedding, linens and a lot more. robin, nice to see you. white sales in january, but we have a whole different wave of approxima

white sales coming in february. >> the thing is, as the discounts get bigger, the inventory is going to get smaller. because people are not going to be restocking on fachbl slelann, so if you're in the market, stock up. >> what do you look for. >> macy's is having a huge two-day sale so this friday and saturday and they're having designer sheets from ralph lauren and martha stewart. 300 threat count. >> according to consumer reports anything over 280 is negligible. i'm a big fan of cotton. because it's so warm and that's a really breathable fabric. >> what should you expect especially during the white sale to spend on a really nice set of sheets. >> $50. >> comforters, good time to buy one of these too. what do we have to keep in mind?

>> these are great to stock up. sometimes they can take a beating. one thing to consider is that there's different levels, there's light weight and heavyweight. some people just want a big heavy comforter. but they can get really heavy. a light weight might be something to consider. >> i didn't realize that these heated blankets were still so popular. >> these are not your granny's blankets. these are super fancy. there's these prewarm features. >> so you can preheat the bet? >> also if your partner sleeps differently, i've i'm always cold and you're always hot. they have dual controls. so we sleep happy as well. >> what kind of money are we talking about for these things and what kind of sales are out there right now? >> this is from therapeutic.com. these blankets are up to $300. >> so a big savings. >> a huge savings. >> it's a good time to stock up,

there's all kinds of down pillows and foam pillows and things like that. what are we going to spend? >> these actually are only $25. >> this is memory foam. >> sears is having a sale the entire month of january, up to half off. if this is something that you want to experiment with. you don't like memory foam? >> i like a traditional down or feather pillow. >> 20 bucks off. >> just a reminder, will these prices come down in february, but you just won't have the selection? >> that's correct. >> towels, you love the feel of a great towel. you've got a bargain here. >> this is insane, this is $5 from kmart. >> i love kmart. but for $5 is this going to hold up after you have washed it 20 times? >> these are really classic colors, they look amazing, they last year round and they don't bleed.

sometime you get these bright color towels that bleed. >> you love this deal? >> $4.99. >> finally at this time of year, as long as you have good sale prices, go for a good throw. >> if you can't spend money on a new couch, go ahead and spend $50. these are 1$115. >> happy white sale. up next a live performance from an inspiring olympic figure skater. but first this is "today" on nbc. [ female announcer ] when your child's coughing, can't breathe, new icy hot no-mess vapor gel for kids soothes airways with cherry-scented vapors. new icy hot no-mess vapor gel. [ sighs ]

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now get up to $300 back in promotion cards. at&t. rethink possible. this morning on "today" at the rink, the beautiful and inspiring canadian figure skater who took on the bronze medal at the olympics games in vancouver just days after the tragic loss of her mom. so nice to have you here. >> thank you. >> a year ago you were training for vancouver, and now you stand as the bronze medalist. >> it was a tough olympic games for me, but i got involved in so many charities and it's been

help meg and i mean i'm still skating, i have been doing a lot more show s and i'm doing shows all around the world and i'm really enjoying myself, it's great, i feel so lucky to be able do what i love as a job. >> people were so moved by your performance at the olympics two days after your mom passed away from a heart attack. and they were wondering where the strength came from in you to perform. >> we all have that strength. but you don't have the fortune to prove it. it helped me get out there and perform and when i saw the other girls out there doing their triple luts. >> your mom helped you get to that point. you're taking part in an nbc special called skate for the heart which raises awareness about heart disease.

what does it mean to you to be part of that? >> it's part of the heeling process for me to -- i lost my mother to a heart attack two days before i competed in vancouver and if i can help another woman that has similar symptoms, consult a doctor or just be aware and save a life. >> i'm still skating, but i don't know if i want to do more competition or more shows. but skating is still my passion. >> we want to see you skate. you can catch her skate for the heart on nns. n

♪

♪ ♪

♪ >> thank you so much. you can see her skate for the heart this january 16 at 4:00 p.m. eastern, that is right here on nbc.

good monday morning to you. traffic tieups continue on 680. >> yes coming out of walnut creek. we had that signal on the southbound side. now lanes have been cleared for a half an hour. it's slow to make that up if you're coming off of the 24.

a look at the bay bridge shows you the meter for the rest of the east bay. we haven't had a meter problem. but there are more folks on the roadway than there were last week. ♪ every time it's so right ♪ well, it feels so good [ female announcer ] when you have a softer bath tissue, you can enjoy going more... while still using less. introducing new charmin ultra soft. new charmin ultra soft has an ultra-cushiony design that's soft and more absorbent. so you can use four times less versus the leading value brand. [ both ] ♪ soft to the touch... [ female announcer ] using less never felt so good. new charmin ultra soft. enjoy the go.

the area assembly woman will take another shot at banning -- to talk about ab 74. that is the bill she introduced in the state assembly last move. it's designed to inhibit raids on public property and prevent them on private property. the bill is in response to drug

related overdotes and deaths at concerts at the cow palace in los angeles. in october more than a dozen people were rushed to the hospital. another update in a half a hour. >> we end e ed balancing the bu. in november, voters did their part, they made it easier to pass the budget. let's get on with it. we need to grow jobs not government. we need an education system that can build a 20th century economy.

cut broureaucracy. it's a new year with a new governor and a new chance to cut the lip service and get it right. join us at nbc editorials.com. we're back now with more of "today" on monday, the 3rd of january, 2011. the plaza filled with nice people. a week ago today it was filled with snow. they did a good job in new york city getting the snow out of here. but the questions are still being asked. natalie was saying a second ago, this is the time of year you go to the gym and there is a line at the treadmills for at least three days. >> wait until next week.

coming up in this half hour, we're going to talk about this situation in the u.s. navy, the commander of the uss "enterprise." videos made on board that aircraft carrier while at war. the navy knew about this, but they still promoted this commander. so a lot of people are asking questions. we're going to get into that story. on a different note, we're going to find out the five scams you need to watch out for in 2011. everything from online dating, scams and sites to scholarship scams, ponzi schemes, we'll show you what to watch out for and how to protect yourself. >> everybody's gung ho, the first three days. thank you be morning we're going to tell you about seven resolutions to help your health that are easy to keep. plus from russian spy to movie star anna chapman is once again making headlines, she was kicked out of the u.s. only to

turn into a superstar in her home country. we'll show you what she is up to right now. >> thus dubbed the hot spy by some. in the news, the u.s. navy is investigating what it calls an inappropriate video shot aboard an aircraft carrier while it was in a war zone. nbc's jim miklaszewski joins us from the pentagon with details on the story. good morning. >> while these kinds of videos have become somewhat routine for u.s. service members overseas, u.s. officials are concerned that this top navy commander and his videos crossed the line. it looks like youtube for sailors, a raunchy video not from a computer hack, but from one of the top commander in the u.s. navy. the ship's number two in command

at the time, captain honors took the stage. >> we have a clip that was previously too sensitive to show. >> playing to the camera, honors pulls back the curtain on men and women showering together, although there's no nudity and identities are blurred. he lashes out with rapid fire profanity. with some clever editing, honors appears in the same shot with people gay bashing. >> why don't you just go ahead and hug yourselves for the next 20 minutes or so because there's a really good chance you're going to be offended. >> honors and others demonstrate simulated sex acts with each other while some are too -- the videos created aboard the enterprise were not acceptable then and are not acceptable in "today's" navy. despite that honors has since been promoted to the top

commander of the "enterprise" due to head back to afghanistan in a couple of weeks. this video however raises new questions about his judgment. but many of honors' sailors have stepped to defend him without a doubt. >> the navy's launched an investigation to determine what if any disciplinary action should be taken against honors. while the enterprise is headed off to afghanistan here in a couple of weeks, some navy officials think that captain honors will not be on it. a rare cold spell in southern california left drivers skidding and stranded over the weekend. wild weather shut down parts of the interstate 5 which is a major road between southern and central california.

a town in arkansas is baffled after some 5,000 birds mysteriously dropped dead from the skies just before midnight on new year's eve, all within a one-mile radius. about 125 miles away, a stretch of the arkansas river was blanketed with some 100,000 dead fish. officials are now investigating. a british character actor died sunday of cancer. he received an oscar nomination for the 1993 film 1234679d in the name of the father" and recently appeared in "inception" stephen spielberg called him perhaps the best actor in the world. he was 54 years old. it seems like everyone and their grandmother is on facebook. turns out that the fastest growing group on the social network is aged 74 or older. and older web surfers are also getting increasingly into online

shopping and news. it was a big weekend for "little fockers" at the box office, bringing in $26.3 million, true grit was second, and tron legacy came in third. it is now five minutes past the hour. let's get a check of the weather with al. >> as we look on the satellite radar, that storm system coming into southern california, bringing some more rain there. a little lake-effect snow along the eastern great lakes. we have a quick clipper moving across there. it's a chilly start to the morning in the southeast. rebounding rather nicely, with good morning to you. taking a live look outside, facing alcatraz, you can see we actually have a pretty nice day shaping up, just a little bit of haze out there. no more dense fog to worry about. that's good news. we are also seeing temperatures in the low 40s, they're going to

gradually warm up to the upper 50s. 59 degrees in oakland. a nice drive, mild start that will continue into the week. 60 degrees by thursday. have a great monday. >> time now for "today's" money and five scams you need to watch out for in 2011, from online dating sites to something called phishing? jean chatzky is our financial editor. scam artists really prey on college students which i did not realize, trying to find scholarships. how do these scams work. >> we know that college tuition rates have just been skyrocketing so people have been looking for scholarship dollars. so people say you can pay us for a list of scholarships and we'll give you good leads.

a scholarship is supposed to give you money not the other way around. so any time anyone's asking you for a check or a credit card number before they provide you with information, that's a really sure sign that you have to be careful. >> especially if they use the word like guaranteed scholarships, information that you can't provide from anywhere else, or i just need your credit card number so i can hold this for you so that nobody else will get it. >> what about the bad offers? >> you really need to understand that if you're looking for a scholarship, there are free databases out there, everywhere from the government to sallie mae where you can find this information. you also have your guidance counselor at your high school. this is not something you should have to pay for. >> talk to your high school guidance counselor. >> and if somebody's asking you to pay money in advance, watch out. >> people maybe want to get into a new relationship, looking for love, especially in these cases all the wrong places, dating

sites. >> what happens on dating sites is that someone will start a conversation with you and they'll ask you to take it offline, into your own private e mailing or an instant messaging session. and then they'll start telling you about this problem that they're having, because they need money to get back, they need money for a vees sachlt they ask you to give them money and they ask you to wire it which is just the same as sending cash. you wire somebody money, it's gone. be very careful, you only warm to deal with reputable dating sites and you want to make sure that you don't take the conversation offline. have the conversation in the safe information and again, don't second money. >> and the ponzi scheme. first we all -- a lot of us who live in the new york area have heard ponzi scheme, but once bernie madoff -- they're still going strong. >> according to the government about $10 billion was lost to other ponzi schemes in 2010.

they're also called affinity scams, because people come after you where you feel very comfortable. your church, your synagogue, your country club and they ask you to participate in an investment. to give them money. they have some great way of guaranteeing you returns, it's too complicated to explain, but you can get in because you know them, because they're your friend. be very careful. you should never invest in anything where you don't have the ability to go online and really do research on who is managing your money, what their track record looks like, be very, very careful and one of the things we learned from madoff is never give all of your money to a single individual. you want to spread it around. >> smishin and vishing. >> somebody sends you an e-mail where somebody pretends to be your bank and asks for information and you're supposed to send it back to them online.

smishing is where they do that over a text message and vishing is where they do it over skip. you always want to be the one contacting them. you need to contact your bank for anything, you pull out your atm card and you call the number on the back of that card. not some number you get in a text message or you get in an e-mail or on skype. >> with unemployment hovering near 10%, this is a big scam too. >> people saying we can find you a job, we have a list of jobs that isn't listed anywhere else. by the way you have to pay us for that list. again, not something you have to do. there are recruiting services out there and they tend to pay employers for finding you not the other way around. >> nobody's going to pay you to stuff envelopes rvel senvelopes. if you have real skills that you can use from home in order to

earn your own money, let them come to you. seven easy resolutions you may want to consider for a healthier start to 2011. and later lindsay lohan leaving rehab? what's next for the troubled star? we'll have that after these messages. joe: love that story. come into olive garden for our two new scaloppini dishes. pan-seared chicken breasts in a lemon-herb glaze. or sauteed pork in a creamy white wine sauce. both served with asiago filled tortelloni. along with our unlimited fresh salad and warm breadsticks. this is like being back at the kids' table. [ laughter ] olive garden. when you're here, you're family. this is the hunt's crash kitchen tour. hunt's is the only leading brand that uses flashsteam to give their tomatoes that backyard garden fresh taste. oh, that's good. how is it? tell me the truth. it's good. isn't it time to take a fresh look at your tomatoes?

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and here to tell us about them, dr. kerry peterson. good morning. >> good morning. natalie. >> let's go through our checklist. number one is start who flossing daily, not just for oral health, this is actually for your entire health, right? there's some diseases you should be aware. >> just by flossing every day, you can add six years to your life. it prevents inflammatory gum disease which is linked to diabetes and heart attacks. so just by flossing, you can help prevent significant cardiovascular disease. >> your dentist said it now you're hearing it again. next the protect your hearing by turning the volume down on your tv or headsets. we know that those can cause permanent hearing loss. >> we need to protect our hearing, 20 million americans have already sustained permanent damage to their hearing just from excessive noise exposure,

so turn down your tv. if someone is hear your headset, it's probably too loud. >> and if you do have some hearing damage, is there anything you can do to try to get some of that back? >> no, unfortunately, it is permanent. weis why this is such an issue. it's not when you quit smoking, where your lungs can rejuvenate. >> it's very important to check our moles on a monthly basis. >> first off, skin cancer is the most common of all cancers. 2 million americans every year. if you're fair skinned you're at even higher risk. i like a for asymmetry, b for boarder, you should have regular borders. if the borders are notched or scalped or irregular, that's

abnorm abnormal. also the color. >> what if it's darkening? >> that's abnormal. d for diameter, if it's larger than a pencil eraser, that's abnormal. >> next thing is start eating a healthy breakfast every day. >> very simple, a healthy breakfast is a great way to jump-start your day and it may actually help you live longer. so many people think, i want to lose weight, i'm going to skip breakfast, i'm go to cut calories. research has found over and over that if you skip breakfast, you're more likely to be obese and more likely to develop diabet diabetes. so eat breakfast and people report they feel mentally and physically better when they eat breakfast. >> the most important meal of the day. and get up to date with your vaccines, another important thing on our checklist here. what vaccines -- we do it for our kids, but adults, what do

they need to be doing? >> we need to be attentive to tetanus, measles, mumps, hepatitis b and influenza and pneumonia. >> next on the list is boost your omega 3s. >> omega 3s are little power houses, they can smooth your skin, they can aid in weight loss, they can boost your mood and more importantly they can prevent heart disease. so incorporate fish in your diet or if you're a vegetarian, you eat walnuts. >> you may not even know that you have these diseases because they often don't have symptoms until they cause blindness. so get your eyes checked to screen for these diseases. so certainly get your eyes

checked and you start getting them -- >> you should get your eyes checked once in your 20s, twice in your 30s and in your 40s, every other year and when you're in your 60s, it's annual. still to come this morning, the beautiful russian spy that captured headlines is now captivating the silver screen. we'll have much more on what's next for anna chapman. but first these messages.

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russian spy anna chapman who was one of the ten sleeper agents deported from the u.s. last summer is now making a name for herself back home with a new career and the support of a high ranking official. martin fletcher has the details. >> reporter: getting kicked out of america may be the best thing that ever happened to anna chapman, apparently with the support of president putin, she's reinventing herself as russia's darling. kicked out of america in disgrace, at home a heroine. failed spy turned russian superstar. a young woman in a big hurry. she wowed russia in a one hour tv special of her life last week. the host asked her, do you want to be an actress. she said let's wait until next year.

that's today and here she is, anna chapman doing what she knows best, acting the spy. [ speaking in native language ] >> it's a spoof on an old russian movie, husband and wife both spies meet in a bar once a year. they can't talk or acknowledge each other, the cia might catch them. the message, don't keep a secret, she says. if you love someone, tell him. well, in russia, the secret's out. they love anna chapman. she hopes anyway. she's everywhere. and the colder the winter, the fewer the clothes. covergirl. bond girl, i'm passionate about shooting, she says. anna chapman, public face of the russian secret service. >> do we have any spies that hot? >> let me make it clear, it wasn't my idea to send her back.

>> reporter: blowing her cover in america may have been a great career move, but she seems to miss the united states. new york, what an amazing city, she says, very interesting, very positive energy. she's almost nostalgic, could hollywood be next? one of ten suspected russian spies deported from the u.s. only six months ago, a work permit may be a bit of a problem. anyway she may have other ideas, politics. chapman is one of the new leaders of the youth wing of prime minister putin's political party. but what she most wants she says, is a pet lion. and if you're anna chapman, apparently you get what you want. so anna chapman did get her pet lion and her new year's dreams have already been fulfilled. >> i like the tiger. >> maybe next year.

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i feel sexy again. [ jennifer ] go on, join for free. weight watchers new pointsplus. because it works. good morning, everybody. time now is 9:26. checking in with mike, getting the latest on the commute. >> it's slower than it was a few minutes ago because of an accident in your second lane so. the middle of the freeway, westbound, that's your commute direction, heading down through emeryville. so watch for some slowing, but you do see that slowdown from before you get the university heading down towards ashby. hanging around for an hour and a half, we have this slow drive through walnut creek, where that

sig alert has been cleared. there's the bay bridge, a little sunshine there. >> a lot of sunshine coming our way this week, that's going to make things feel better. it's been so cold and wet lately. 44 degrees in hayward. we're looking towards lots of sunshine this afternoon, even more sunshine for tuesday and wednesday and high temperatures are gradually going to be on the rise, maxing out at 60 degrees by thursday. we're not going to see anymore in the way of rain until sunday. we have more news for you right after the break.

a new way to collect garbage and recylclables begins today. nearly half a million people will have a new system for recycling and garbage collection. they will not separate garbage, compos and recycling. the affected cities include atherton. they all begin that new service

today. a fleet of new fully automated trucks will make collection faster and more efficient. marin county supervisors will consider a new law to ban plastic bags at grocery stores. it will only be in unincorporated areas of the county. supervise could also place a moratorium on installing those pga smart meters. opponents of the meters say they are inaccurate and pose a health hazard. have a great morning, we'll see you back here in a bit.

do you remember -- now he is one of the contestants on the new season of the biggest loser. that promises to be pretty exciting because it's got some twists and some changes coming to the trainers. we're going to find out what's in store tomorrow here on "today." this happens to a lot of people. >> especially athletes. because they're so used to

eating a certain amount and if they're not exercising in that. speaking of trying to lose weight, it's a popular resolution that people try to stick to. this morning we have some tips on how to followthrough on the long haul no matter what your resolution may be. we're going to head to the kitchen to learn some soups that are big on flavor but low on calories. lindsay lohan has had numerous run ins with the law. her court ordered rehab ends today so what's next for her personally and professionally. we're going to take a look. but first al's here with the weather. >> the early part of the week, we have above normal temperatures stretching from the northeast all the way down into

the south. snow showers from the plains across the great lakes, below normal temperatures out west and the latter part of the week, we have got snow from the great lakes into the northeast, rain in the mid-atlantic states, into the southeast. what's happening in our neck of the woods is clearing. take a look at the beautiful sunshine that we already have over the golden gate this morning. you can see the commute is back to normal so there's no fog slowing you down, in addition to everybody heading back to work. 56 degrees for your tuesday, 57 degrees on wednesday, we're going to gradually warm up to about 60 degrees by thursday. a nice, warm trend lasts all the way through saturday, showers back in the mix on sunday. >> and that's your latest weather. coming up next,inaydsayin lohan set to leave rehab. can she finally turn her life around? that's right after this. needs long term relief.

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well put. pretty obvious. ms. young? that's why it's so important, as an agent, to sit down with our clients, so we can get to know them and talk about stuff like this. why don't they just turn off the main water supply? you do realize this is just an exercise, right? - i do now. - moving on. okay, let's get the fire-retardant suits on. [ man announcing ] we are insurance. ♪ we are farmers bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ she was once one of hollywood's hottest actresses. now lindsay lohan is known more for her problems with addiction and the law. her court ordered rehab ends today so what's next? >> a new year, a new lindsay, tweeting over the weekend, today is the first day of the rest of my life. lohan has intespent 90 days in

rehab. lindsay lohan is about to get another chance. court ordered rehab is over as of today. she can leave the betty ford clinic any time. >> this is an extremely critical time for lindsay. she needs to be perceived as someone who's serious and sober. >> reporter: but even lohan's final weeks in rehab were full of drama, including accusations of assault from a clinic worker. >> she grabbed my wrist and snapped it down and twisted my arm and my hand. >> reporter: police are still investigating the incident. in 2010 lohan violated probation again and again, sentenced to jail and rehab twice. >> i'm taking it seriously. >> reporter: but can lindsay stay clean this time? here mother dina spoke with matt

in november here on "today." >> she's just a different person. it really -- you know, she's been in a couple of facilities, but this one to me has really changed her. >> reporter: legal experts say lindsay can't afford another relapse. >> if lindsay violaents her probation, a judge is going to spend her straight to jail, especially if the violation has anything to do with drugs or alcohol. >> reporter: her career has taken quite a turn from her role in mean girls to jail and addiction. but hollywood loves a come back story. think robert downey jr., mickey rourke and britney spears. >> lindsay may want to get back to work, but hollywood may not want to take her back yet. she's got to prove that she's dependable, that she shows up and she's not going to be a diva.

>> reporter: the judge set the date as january 3 so that -- either way she'll get random drug testing natalie through the end of next month. >> we hope for a better year. tips for actually keeping your new year's resolutions this time around. but first these messages. after 2 starter doses. with 4, in a medical study, 7 out of 10 stelara® patients saw at least 75% clearer skin at 12 weeks. and 6 out of 10 patients had their plaque psoriasis rated as cleared or minimal at 12 weeks. stelara® may lower your ability to fight infections and increase your risk of infections. some serious infections require hospitalization. before starting stelara®, your doctor should test for tuberculosis. stelara® may increase your risk of cancer. always tell your doctor if you have any sign of infection, or have had cancer. alert your doctor of new or worsening problems including headaches, seizures, confusion and vision problems.

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this mon morning on our series, new year, new you. how to keep your new year's resolutions. how can you stay on track for 2011. "today" contributor and psychiatrist. the word resolution has gotten such a bad name and i think justifiably. i think of it as more of a goal or a guide. and the new year is an opportunity to think about what your goals are? >> i would love for people to be rethinking things all year because it's a great way to live and grow, to always be thinking about what's working for me and what's not working for me. change is hard to make so you

have to set yourself up with various motivations for change. >> you don't want to get to a point in your life where you, oh, i made such a mistake, i didn't deal with that, i didn't look at that. >> regrettably -- >> that is one of the worst feelings to have to deal with. and i always try to tell people, rather than waiting, rather than regretting, think forward, think about, let me re-evaluate, this is working for me, no, it's not. >> so owning up to what needs to be changed and what you want to do about it. what are your goals, you say write them down? >> people easily become overwhelmed. you think about a goal that sounds good to you but it's usually multistepped. by the time you get to step two or three, this is too hard, forget about it. i say do it in a weekly plan, what are the incrememental

changes that i'm going to make that will ultimately take me to the bigger changes i want to make. >> almost everyone, a lot of people are going to be talking about wanting to lose weight in 2011. that is a very big thing to say. because if you said, i'm going to stop eating butter, that's a concrete thing. or i'm going to start at least three times a week, you know, go for a walk. >> exactly. >> what are the things that i'm going to implement in my plan to lose ten pounds. so maybe week one is i'm changing these things in my diet. so when you get to the end of the thing. it helps you move on to week two and three. people find that when they -- when they get to the end of the week and nothing much has happened or they can't look at some concrete things they

changed, then they're going this is going to be too hard. >> you say keep a journal. that's a lot of writing. write it down. write a journal. >> you don't have to write a book, you just have to write one line thing. and the reason a journal of ideas very helpful, they have general goals, i would like to look better. but they don't realize what's bothering you, do you really not like how you look? do you not like how people treat you? >> couldn't you talk about it with a girlfriend instead of writing it down? >> talking is good for us, but sometimes people want to keep things private. understand the reasoning behind -- i'm going to die young, because my father died of a heart attack and i don't want that to be me. >> you say make up incentives. what do you mean make up? >> you need a carrot on that

stick. we're all mammals, ann, and we all respond to positive feedback. it's this really very neurological if you will, it's built in. so if you give yourself a prize, so to speak, for reaching specific goals, it really actually does motivate you and it helps you to keep going. so maybe when i lose 3 pounds, i'm going to get this cute new t-shirt that i have really been wanting. >> you know what? this is so dangerous. at one point when i was really trying to lose weight, instead of buying the goodies that i wanted, i would save my money to buy the things i really want. >> it needs to be small things, that great new lipstick. people believe it or not can even respond to like the equivalent of a gold star. i'm going to put a gold star up that says i did it. or send myself a note, yay me.

any sort of positive incentive. >> you also say talk to somebody else about your goals. >> some people want to keep these private, but the fact is if you tell somebody close to you what you're trying to achieve, even if they don't say anything to you, even their mere presence will give you that little bit of guilt. >> sometimes people will want to sabotage that. they don't mean to -- >> choose your person wisely. it's somebody that you're not really competitive with, who's not going to be envious of what you're doing. so maybe you're not picking your spouse, maybe you're not picking a particular friend, pick somebody who you think would be happy for you or be able to encourage you, but also sort of watch out for you and say, are you really being honest with yourself? that helps a lot. >> thank you so much. good luck to all of us. coming up next, to kick start the new

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this morning in today's kitchen, light recipes that can get us on the road to better health, also the contributor to cooking light magazine. allison, good to see you. first of all you say just because it's good for you, it can still taste good? >> it can taste great. but this is newier's resolution thing. what we're suggesting is 12 months, 12 new ideas. >> okay, what's the first idea? >> first idea for january is three more servings of vegetables a day. >> and i notice you got beef here? >> yeah. >> we like these. >> when you're eating lots of

vegetables, you can have beef. and we have got bacon over there too. >> bacon, bacon, bacon, i would get it myself but i don't have thumbs. >> so this is going to have a lot of flavor. >> so this is like a rub for the meat? >> and you can already smell it because it smells really great. >> coat the meat? >> coat the meat. and we have been cooking this meat for about four minutes, until it's nice and brown. >> these are shallots? >> four shallots, quartered them. now we're going to put in a little bit of garlic and that's going to help too. >> that smells terrific. >> it's the kind of thing that's going to perk up the whole house. >> it's got a savory smell. >> that's a can of diced tomatoes, put that right in.

your chicken stock. >> i say butter nut squash can be intimidating, it's a big squash, it's a big vegetable, you can buy it precooked "and it saves you time? >> exactly. >> and you can put in a -- this is, thank you. this is great because this is our bacon. two pieces of bacon. it was already cooked so now your carrots and your onions are going in that bacon fat. >> oh, i love you a lot. >> and more spices, cumin, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. >> yes. >> it's nice. here is two cans of garbanzo beans. we're going to let that go. there it goes again. really nice. and there's your chicken stock and water. >> this smells spectacular. >> great. and so we're getting our

vegetables in. this is actually four cups of kale. >> can you use spinach or something? >> and you can also get them frozen in january, you're thinking january? vegetables? you can do it and put it in your freezer. >> when do you put the bacon in there? >> the bacon comes last. >> keep it crispy. >> this is amazing. >> we have got a not quite vegetarian dish because it's got bacon, but it's mostly vegetables. >> it smells so amazing here. you added in cinnamon? >> the first one was cinnamon. and this one is cumin. everything's got garlic. >> it's so good. amazing. >> this one we can top off with

that yogurt. >> you just put it on top? >> you put it on top, just a spoonful. >> thank you so much. >> still ahead, we have got kathie lee and hoda after your local news and weather.

good morning, everybody. time now 9:56. checking in with mike, taking us to the east bay. >> 80 itself is open. but the offramp from the

southbound side, it has that big rig that's blocking, so you can't just push it out of the roadway. it is empty. easy drive for 880 and 580 alike coming through the east bay. 101 along the peninsula a very smooth drive to san mateo. beautiful view. >> beautiful view, just a few of those puffy clum plus clouds. we're going to gradually rise into the upper 50s and a big point of note is the fact that we're done with the showers. 59 degrees later on today in oakland, staying mild as we get off of work later on tonight. it should be a pretty nice drive ho home. 56 degrees, the showers arrive, we're going to hold them off for a while. we're back with more news right after the break.

>> or right now would be good. >> the city leaders plan to call a meeting to determine what to do next with two apartment buildings which are unsupported and are dangling over the side of the cliff. the city is waiting for the owners of the two apartment buildings to decide what they want to do with their properties, they could abandon it or build a seawall or let the city decide what to do with it. the city is obligated to protect people on the beach below. you still have a chance to be california's next millionaire. nobody one the megamillions jackpot and the cash option is about is $182 million. if you want to play, you better get your ticket soon because the drawing is tomorrow night. we'll see you back here in a bit.

captions paid for by nbc-universal television hey, everybody. happy new year. we're back! >> yes, we are. >> on this fun-day, january 3rd, 2011. >> look at us back here live within the flesh. >> a lot of people thought we were here live all week long. >> yes. >> we fooled you. you should have known when you didn't see any snow outside our window. >> but you had a nice holiday? >> i'll tell you about it a little bit.

tell us about yours. you were off -- everywhere. >> i went with my mom to puerto rico. by the way, i've never been in an earthquake. 5.2 earthquake. we were in the hotel room laying in bed and the bed starts moving and i look at my mom thinking is she getting out of bed? and it keeps moving. i've never been in one. everything in the room starts rocking and rolling. >> you've been in beds that rocked and rolled in your time. let's be honest. >> i called downstairs, they go, it's a tremor, like this happens. just don't worry about it. >> what was it on the richter scale? >> 5.2. in puerto rico. then the aftershock came a few minutes later when law and order was on and my ex-husband used to do some extra work so we're laying in bed, big huge screen and who's mug pops up? i looked at mom and said -- >> my mom screamed is it another earthquake i go look. look. he popped up again. twice. it was weird. >> happy new year.

>> it was weird. first the earthquake, then the aftershock. anyway -- i got over it. >> then you had -- >> i think there are a couple pictures of puerto rico? okay. so we're laying around. and then -- >> it doesn't look like the weather was too great. >> it wasn't great that day. we had a sunny day, then a couple of -- >> sandy rocks it in a bikini. >> she does rock it. this was our hanna christmas. we went back to my mom's house. >> in the d.c. area. >> collet taking a picture of the building day and night. that's hanna. that's my mom right there. hanna's wearing her cinderella dress. >> i remember that. we've got a few of those in storage somewhere. >> it was such fun. that was that. >> then there was new year's. >> yes, there was. >> everybody wants to know how your new year's eve was. >> it was fun. i was telling but that guy i've met at the book signing. >> jay. >> yes. and then we went -- there is a great restaurant at columbus circle in new york city and it's called robert. it sits on the ninth floor and you look out over to central

park. so you're high in the sky. the fireworks go in central park which are terrific. we had a nice dinner, dancing, and champagne. at midnight. but i got to say, it was a beautiful setting to see the fireworks from this wall of windows is beautiful. and we had a great time. was had by all. >> that's all you want to share. >> yeah. we had fun. how was yours? >> i spent mine with bambino. my -- the new man in my life. i was with bambino for the whole ten days. >> look at! >> i've never taken him anywhere before. he went on the plane. he went everywhere. he went on the golf court with me everywhere and he really literally never left my side and frank every time i was -- he'd go that used to be me. that used to be me. i said that's right. it did. now shut up. we had a great time. we went down to the keys where we just love it. we've been there many years. we have great friends down there and we did our new thing --

bowling! >> what's going on with you and the bowling? >> there's frank. look -- look how proud he is. i think we have a little bit -- >> last time we were there frank couldn't bowl. now this is disco bowling. now watch that -- not too great but -- >> one pin's left. >> he was on a roll. he had the highest scores of everybody. watch how he starts to dance. move it out there, oh, yeah, frank! all right! put that on youtube. here he goes again! >> is he going to get that pin? >> i'm not going to tell you. you got to wait. >> come on, mister. >> that's right, baby! that's how he does it. >> look at his moves now. look. that's the most frank has moved in about ten years. we had a ball! bambino went with me for a facial. he went with me for my nails.

i kept him in my little purse. >> did you? >> i was ridiculous. >> what did you guys do new year's eve? >> we went on our friend account the weirdest boat." the gentleman that gives me my friday funny, clark and his wife irene and our friends the hicks whom you know very well. we had a quiet one. very, very quiet. >> you stayed up until midnight. >> we did which is the first time i think we've done that in about ten years. you know what we did? we watched bette midler's hbo special, "the show girl must go on." coming from caesar's palace? it was so good and she's such a great entertainer. and she had like 30 women on stage with her and they were called the caesar's salad girls. >> is this now or an old one? >> that's her show. >> now? >> yeah. usually it's cher and elton and i don't know if it's barry manilow but it's celine dion, they rotate and have huge extravaganzas. right, rob?

>> oh, god, rob's here. >> hide the children, rob's back from england. >> hello. and there are some other people with us here today. my mom was paging through "the washington post" because she lives in the d.c. area. she goes oh, my god, it is your picture, you and kathie lee are in the "washington post." >> that can't be good. >> it is never good unless you're on the what's in and what's out list and we're not out. i think we have two writers for "the washington post" and we're going to ask them what they were thinking. >> do they like each other? usually people who like each other -- move in. little closer. yeah! >> now we're talking, baby! >> that's love. >> we'll get the story in a few from dan and monica. thank you for that, you guys. i've been on some lists before i didn't like. >> but you know what's out this year, according to them? the pill is out and the rhythm method is in. >> there are going to be a lot of babies born this year. i think you're responsible for that, hoda. with your ipod day.

your play list thing. >> you've got america rocking, the rhythm thing going now. i hope you're practicing it by the way. i just -- >> what? >> if it's in -- >> what's going on with you? >> i'm happy to see you. >> so i know a lot of you guys made new year's resolutions and the big one is always to lose weight. so a lot of people tell us that they watch our show from -- you might be in the gym right now doing the elliptical or the bike -- hey. >> wave. >> so we decided we wanted to be with you in solidarity so on friday we are going to do our entire show on either an elliptical, a bike or a treadmill and our guests must join us. >> yes. >> and we're going to keep a little calorie counter in the bottom corner of the screen where you'll be able to see if you stay on your machine how many calories you're burning through our show. and i think joy will be here talking about weight loss. or whatever she talks about. >> apparently a lot of people are doing it. everybody comes in very early around here. like 5:30 everybody apparently was outside jogging.

it's everybody starts out that way but we want to help you keep going. keep going. >> yes. i think it is kind of fun. we'll do what we promise we're going to do with you. i wonder if our guests are really going to do that. >> we'll see. are they? >> tammy says hopefully. >> rob would do it if he was there but he's not, he's here today. >> there was a guy he was someplace he wasn't supposed to be and he got caught. buffed. i love this story. >> there was this young woman and she had one of those -- clair had a little camera on her computer that she wanted to keep an eye on her pet and it -- it has one of these motion detectors. there is actually an app attached. so if something moves in your apartment it kicks on and your app in your iphone kicks on and you can watch it. she's looking for her dog and lo and behold there's a robber in her apartment she's watching him in her apartment. she should have made her bed. >> that looks like your apartment. >> it kind of does. i would have felt terrible.

he stole a couple things. the local television station put this video on the air and they end up catching the guy. so it is an app. what's the app? it's an app. iphone app streams motion -- i-cam, and you can, too. we're going to do our "everyone has a story" phone numbers. >> stop. >> why do we always stop for this portion of the program? ♪ it's suddenly clear in that moment ♪ >> anyway, it is always the first thursday of every month and so de vonne glover of brooklyn, new york, you're our winner! hey, are you there? >> tell us about devon. >> he was an education major in college that aspired to become a teacher but quit school, three credits shy because had he a family situation where his

younger brother had college dream and he wanted to put his dreams on hold for his brother, for the rest of his family. but here's the cool thing about devon. he works at hip-hop shakespeare. he takes silence and adds a hip-hop beat to them. hoda's going to love you. to make it more fun for students to learn. what made you do that, devon? >> well, once i left i was trying to find a way to get into education and i also was inspired to be an emcee. so i found out a company's vocabulary. they asked knee do a couple songs and bring into classrooms. and once i did that, i realized that i could put both talents together. >> that's amazing. >> devon, we can't wait to meet you. >> we'll see you on thursday, sweetie. you don't have to come too far. >> i liked frank with the bowling. >> he's still got it, baby.

he's still got it. but it was a challenge to write this. i've never written for hip-hop. >> i can't wait, devon! this is going to be my favorite "everyone has a story." >> you might be the best thing or the worst thing that ever happened to me. we'll see you soon. >> thank you. thank you. >> god bless you, sweetie. time for our favorite things. if you want the ultimate razor -- i'm not kidding -- i know you've heard of venus razors, so what, that's not the story. the story is the venus embrace. it has -- stop it. >> just seeing if it works. >> five blades. >> oh, yeah! >> no, i'm telling you -- >> oh, yeah! >> i'm telling you. seriously -- >> smooth. >> -- you cannot believe how it works. stop it! don't get the one with three. get the one with five. >> you're a little tickly. hoda! >> it's expensive. well, it is $11.99. but it is good. >> well, this is $6.99.

when our friend don meredith passed away my friend emily sent frank this little book called "heaven is for real." $6.99 on amazon.com. i didn't have a chance to read it until we were in florida. it is about this little game named colton. he wasn't even 4 years old and he had one of those experiences, his appendix ruptured and for five days he had nothing but poison in his body. they didn't think he was going to make it. it's the story of what this little boy said after he came back and he describes heaven. and he describes people he saw in heaven and he describes events he saw in heaven that will absolutely blow your mind. if you're hurting, if someone you love is dying, if someone you love is sick, if you need hope for the future, out of the mouth of the little babe, you will have hope. "heaven is for real." they asked what title it should be and the publisher said col n

colton, what do you want people to know about your story. he said that heaven is for real. >> there's yours. >> thank you! still to come, he was a good looking medical student with plans to head down the aisle so what went wrong? billy baldwin is here with the story of phillip markoff. the "craigslist killer." the water in hollywood. we'll bring you up to date on all the celebrity balls right after this. [ bells jingling ] [ snorting ] [ gasps ] ♪ [ female announcer ] too many holiday treats? [ snorting ] ♪ take the special k challenge, with so many ways to lose up to six pounds in two weeks. what will you gain when you lose? get started at specialk.com.

i knew for years before i quit that i needed to quit and i went online to find a way. ♪ what really excited me about chantix -- it's a non-nicotine pill. i didn't want nicotine to give up nicotine. while you're taking the medication, for the first week, you can go ahead and smoke. [ male announcer ] prescription chantix is proven to help people quit smoking. when i was taking the chantix, it reduced the urge to smoke. [ male announcer ] some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions

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time for "today's buzz." >> for all the celebrity scoop we called on our friend pop internet columnist rob shuter. >> hello, ladies. happy new year. >> david arquette was in the news. >> yes. literally just checked into rehab yesterday. he was partying over the new year. >> but partying as a clown, i heard. not like a clown, as a clown. >> maybe a little of both. he has taken this break-up really, really harsh. it's been devastating to him. he phoned in to howard stern and admitted that he's losing his mind a little bit and he admitted, too, that he's been drinking way too much. >> why does he call in to howard stern to tell his issues? >> call his mother! call a priest. >> i think it shows what you a bad position this guy is in. thank goodness he's checked into rehab. courtney, his wife -- they're not divorced yet -- issued a statement saying she's really happy he's trying to fix his life.

she wants to make it very clear they are not divorced. they are separated. >> there is maybe hope for hthe. >> lindsay lohan is getting out of rehab. >> today. she can leave today. but i just got off the phone with her mommy, dina. dina said that she could go today, she might stay a little longer. it is up to her. she actually kept her in until today so she wouldn't be tempted to party over the holidays. >> but there is the temptation she's going to have to face it for the rest of her life. >> but she's going to go to this facility as a day patient once a week and she's going to be drug tested. i truly believe -- i might be being silly here but i want to believe that she's going to fix herself. there is news she might move back to new york. >> there's a lot of temptation here. >> there is but -- >> she needs some friends. >> nuptials. >> valley bertinelli just got married.

it was a beautiful ceremony at her house in malibu. >> her long-time love. >> she's been with him for seven years. i was with this couple a couple of months ago and they are so in love. they just ooze it. he can't take his eyes off her. >> well now that she's lost all that weight! >> but she did eat the wedding cake. >> oh, good! >> he's adorable. shania twain. she got married. in puerto rico. >> when did this happen? >> new year's day. >> she was busy that day. >> congratulations. we love that you have a fella. so she did get married. it is a little bit complicated. her ex-husband had an affair with her best friend. >> i hate it when that happens. >> shania found comfort in her ex-best friend's husband. so they switched partners almost. and now she's said that she's found love. >> is the other couple together? >> no!

what revenge. the first couple are not together but now she got married to her ex-best friend's ex-husband. >> doesn't she have a new reality series? >> on oprah's big network. it launched this weekend. oprah gave a big statement at the top of the launch and slowly they're going to roll out shows. >> but it must have been a soft launch because they launched on like a saturday. >> she wanted it that way. i think she thought if she did it -- >> big expectations. >> totally. and it is not available on everybody's tv. >> people are going to have to pay for the service. >> it is way up on the cable, like 180. >> she took over i think the discovery health so it is way up. but knowing oprah -- >> no, no, no. we have another update on the royal couple. they are so down to earth. the more you read about them -- >> they don't want any help? what kind of royalty is that? >> they're even cooking for themselves. they don't even have a chef. kate middleton was saw over the weekend at the supermarket buying some chicken.

>> what would you do if the queen had been there checking out the produce? in the crown? very funny. >> thank you. coming up next, sara's going to introduce us to our fan of the week. and then the wonderful actor billy baldwin brings us one of the biggest headlines of the last few years to life. can i get in on that? are you a safe driver? yes. discount! do you own a home? yes. discount! are you going to buy online? yes! discount! isn't getting discounts great? yes! there's no discount for agreeing with me. yeah, i got carried away. happens to me all the time. helping you save money -- now, that's progressive. call or click today. why do women like you love activia light? sometimes i have no choice but to eat the kinds of foods that are hard on my diet...

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it's time for our special series where we give a shout out to our fan of the week. >> and the lovely his sara haines is here to announce the lucky winner. happy new year, sara! >> happy new year. we went through a bunch of entries and we found our winner. barney lynn ball from ontario, canada. marny watches us on wdiv in dwoit, a hockey and basketball mom and she watches with her best friend cindy. they follow hoda on twitter and they aide mire klg a lchlt gklg she raised her family. they'd love to take you out no new york and of course they would treat. their favorite part of the show is kathie lee and hoda's favorite things because she looks for gifts for her friends and she can't forget wines-day. she watches klg and hoda because she loves how they relate to

each other and it reminds her of her relationship with her good friend cindy. >> we hear that from so many people. that's really lovely. >> we have other fans of the week. our replacements. the future kathie lee and hoda. >> yeah! >> we'll give them a shot maybe. go to our website, right? >> klgandhoda.com for your chance to be the fan of the week. still to come, actor billy baldwin is here and he is ready to talk. >> and the latest beauty break-through. all about your luscious lashes. and the latest member of the "joy fit club." so i go see this weight-loss counselor. and she looks like... a matchstick. and she's obviously never dieted, or ever eaten anything. [ laughs ] and she says to me, "where would you like to be in six months?" six months? i need to be in a pink bridesmaid's dress in one month. i just want to be able to zip it up!

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than campbell's condensed soups? live a more colorful life. campbell's.® it's amazing what soup can do.™ good morning once again, time now 10:26. checking in with mike and taking us to the bay bridge toll plaza. >> and you can see all the payment. we had meter lights turned on for 20 minutes and they realized they didn't need it. there is another accident around powell. no major slowing, look at these travel times. no problems approaching the maze. a nice drive approaching your other east bay freeways. 680 much better than a few hours ago. we just have a haze hanging around and it's just hanging out here. >> it's going to make way for

lots of sunshine later on today. finally a fair stretch of weather that will last all the way through saturday. 59 degrees today in fremont. temperatures mostly in the 50s for the peninsula. 57 degrees today in redwood city. now we're going to gradually rise until thursday, 60 degrees, the warmest day of the week, staying nicer this weekend, showers on sunday. we're back after the break with more news.

the people of miami has been

warned, the stanford band is in town for tonight's orange bowl. it was headlined the most outrageous marching band struts into miami. notre dame has banned the stanford band from its campus. performances have enraged mormons, catholics -- season is over for the oakland raiders and they went out in style. oakland beat the kansas city chief s, which means they won every game in their division, but they did not make the playoffs. also today there are reports that head coach tom cable is likely out of a job. the 49ers are already looking for a new head coach. they also ended this season on a high note beating the arizona cardinals at the candlestick

park yesterday. the head coach gets his first win. thank you for joining us this t swigo tcontinues coming up next, we'll see you tomorrow, have a great day. ♪ the first fun-day of the new year. >> after recent stents on nbc's "parenthood" and the cw's "gossip girl," buildly baldwin stars as a detective in a lifetime original movie called "the craigslist killer >> why would you do this? why would you hurt those people? why would you throw it all away?

>> ooh. >> it is a comedy. >> well happy new year, billy. >> you, too. >> this is one of those stories you don't forget, "the craigslist killer" is obviously ripped from the headlines. >> recently. >> the turn-around in television now -- the internet made everything like it's smaller and faster and smaller and faster and we have this like uncrunchable thirst for like -- if they waited for this another two or three years people would have been craigslist who? >> what drew you to this. it is a creepy story obviously. you play the detective. >> what's most interesting, earlier in my career when i played robert chambers, you look at van der sloot and chambers and markoff, it defies logic. it doesn't add up. everybody wants closure. they want answers. this is the kind of situation where you guys come from an affluent family, well educated, medical school student. it is like the boy next door

with the evil side. people want answers. it is inexplicable. >> he did kill himself ultimately. everybody knows that. i'm not giving away the end of the movie. when you played robert chambers you didn't particularly look like him but you had to get into the mind of a killer. this kid looks like markoff. >> one of the things that he did that i was shooting for with chambers that he does really in spades, he does a wonderful job with -- there is the evil -- he is the boy next door. he has the charm. and then when you have to commit the horrific act you have to believe that this actor is capable of committing such a violent, dark, evil act. and the most important part the chasm that exists in the middle of the total emotional detachment that lives between the boy next door and the dark side. he suitly has it. >> what's interesting, too, he was actually engaged to a girl and some of this story i guess is told through her perspective,

the sort of how did she not see that -- nobody believed it. >> -- that she was engaged to this killer. >> this is why the audience and media was so intrigued by this. because they want to know how is he able to live this double life. you know? and it's going on more than you know. you have to watch out on the internet because i have all these parental controls to try and protect my children but i'm not trying to catch them doing something wrong, i'm trying to catch the predators out there that are out there that are trolling every day thousands of people looking for ways to exploit this technology and exploit your children. >> how old are your kids? >> 10, 9 and 6. >> how did you guys spend the holidays? >> very low key for the first time. we had thanksgiving with just china and i, one guest. then we spent christmas and new year's, we went to palm springs. >> beautiful family. so fun to see china singing again with wilson phillips. they charted, did really well with their new christmas album. >> yeah, they had a couple songs chart with their christmas record. they're going into the studio with another record which is exciting 20 years later.

they sound better than they did then. >> they sounded great when i heard them the other day. didn't know china was the main writer of the music. >> glen ballard wrote with them and carney and wendy both are writers, too. but china wrote "hold on." >> she's so beautiful. we hear so much about all these hollywood marriages struggling. you guys have struggled but you're doing great. what keeps you guys strong? >> yeah, i never looked at it as a strugglstruggle. we had 20 years together that was going really, really well. when you're together 20 years and you both hit your 40s, something's got to give. i'm warning you out there, people, if you're together that long and you're heading to your 40s or in your 40s, something's going to give because you start getting into this period of like reflection and self-examination and what have i done and what haven't i done and you want to start thinking and acting selfishly. i've taken care of my wife and my husband and my children, now it is time for me. >> yes. which is dangerous. >> it is very dangerous.

it's a lot of sacrifice. it is a lot of commitment. it is a lot of work. one thing that i keep coming back to with china and i, what do you need from me today? what do you need from me this week? china, i can say i need -- come down and cook breakfast for the kids. she can come down in like her house coat and slippers and burn the eggs. i don't care if the eggs taste good. just like -- just that i said this is what i need and you failed miserably but you tried. >> you know what she really needs? you need to go bowling. we got to go. bowling. >> okay. >> i cannot tell you the sizzle it has put back in my marriage with frank. okay? enough said. bowling. >> bowling. >> you can catch the craigslist killer tonight on lifetime. still to come, "the washington post" tells us what's in and what's out, what's hot and what's not for 2011. >> bowling. up next, killer lashes are definitely in. we'll show you how to get that right after this.

like this one. and this one. and oops, my bad. so, they give expedia ginormous discounts with these: unpublished rates. which means i get an even more rockin' hotel, for less. my brain didn't even break a sweat. how'd you do that? do what? you made it taste like chocolate. it has 35% of your daily value of fiber. tasty fiber, that's a good one! ok, umm...read her mind. [ male announcer ] fiber one chewy bars.

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time for "today's beauty." out with the old and in with the new. lip plumper, self-tanners and frozen faces all had their beauty moment. >> but it is 2011 and it is clear it is all about getting fat -- lashes, that is. beauty trends. they change faster than an outfit at a beyonce concert. last decade it was the botox boom and the war on wrinkles. angelina's luscious lips gave way to an entire arsenal of stinging lip glosses. just this past year snooki and the cast of the jersey shore proclaimed orange the color of the moment. the influx of tanning products soon followed. but this year there is only one beauty accessory to fist-pump to -- eyelashes. the bigger and bolder, the better. and you can forget about the daily mascara and lash curling routine. so last millennium.

it is all about eyelash enhancers, gels and serums to make your own lashes grow faster and longer. or semi-permanent mascara and lash extensions to take you there in an instant. it is time to lash out, way, way out. >> here to tell us how to make those peepers pop is wendy louis, the founder of beautyinthebag.com. >> boy, this is such the friend this year! who knew? >> we knew. remember when i talked about rapid lash. >> and it worked great for me but you have tons of other stuff. >> rapid lash is great. >> this is called the lash dip. tell us about this. >> this is the hoppest thing on the beauty scene today. the lazy girl's way to have glam lashes all the time. gina is applying the lash dip and she puts extensions on that she'll have lashes that will look like that for two to six weeks. then you have to redo them?

how much is it to get this done? >> $200 to $300. it looks very natural. >> so you don't need mascara or anything. >> no. >> she has to pull those white strips off event. >> this is la tease which i'm sure you have heard of. only prescription fda approved drug -- literally a drug. get a prescription from your doctor to grow longer, thicker, luscious and darker lashes. >> and your eyebrows as well. >> that's off label. >> some people are worried about any kind of side effects with this kind of thing. i've read about diskcoloration f the eyes. . >> someone with light green or light blue sighs probably not the best candidate. side effects could be a little irritation. you take one of these and use one each day and each lid. i actually prefer an eyeliner brush. >> you don't want your under

lid. >> no, again off label. we put a little bit in the cap which is the easiest way to do it. dip a real fine amount. >> pretend i'm doing it, my lashes are growing -- mine were hitting my glasses. >> taper off. a lot of women use it two or three times a week. it works that well. >> let's move on down the road. >> if you don't want to spend the $120 that this costs, we've got alternatives for you. this is a wonderful product with a dual brush. >> is that from the drugstore? >> this is from sephora, $55. a wonderful product for lash enhancement. we've even got a $14.95 version from loreal, a lash growth booster. they work. they don't work like latisse

does but without a prescription. >> this looks amazing and very natural. >> so tiny little lashes go on top of yours with glue? >> spun silk. you see how jess is putting them on very, very delicately? >> how long are you laying down in that chair? >> an hour, two hours. they'll last you two to three weeks. >> the cost on that? >> about $300 to $400. >> let's go with the fake ones. >> everything's fake and unnatural. >> well this is the lazy girl's poor man's way to have amazing lashes as well. these from sephora cost about $10. you can put them on yourself. this is going to be a short term. this is an event lash, i would say. i've got these on and these are just little clusters of in the corners just to enhance a little bit. still to come, betty white, watch out. there may be a new grand dame in

town. >> she's got quite the potty mouth. but up next, how this young woman dropped more than 120 pounds counting one calorie at a time. right after this. high in vitamins d, e, and b12. a good source of vitamin a and b2. plus omega 3's. and, 25% less saturated fat than ordinary eggs. but there's one important ingredient that hasn't changed: better taste. better taste. better taste. yum! [ female announcer ] eggland's best. better taste -- and now even better nutrition -- make the better egg. better taste -- and now even better nutrition -- ♪ [ pop ] right now at h&r block, and you could get it fast., just bring in your tax information... and get a refund anticipation check. you pay nothing out of pocket. h&r block. never settle for less.

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now the "look at me now "joy fit club."" >> she is a 24-year-old nursing student from new jersey and she lost 122 pounds. her name is lexie majors. here's her story. >> my name is lexie and i'm 24 years old. i've had a large problem with weight all my life. even when i was little, i was always the chubby one. i ate to fill a void and that turned into a horrible food addiction. as i went through high school, then college, my weight kept climbing higher. i tried so many diets only to gain more weight after each one. after an emotional layoff from my first job, my weight peaked

at a whopping 253 pounds. i always skipped social engagements. i either avoided cameras all together or hid my body whatever way that i could because i was too ashamed to let people see me and what i had become. in 2008 my cousin asked me to be one of her bride's maids. after seeing those photos i decided to change my life. i logged calories and instead of focusing on the weight to lose i set my slitights on smaller accomplishments. now that i've lost 122 pounds i feel like i can channel my new-found energy into nursing school and hopefully make the kind of contribution to the world that i've always wanted. >> okay. before we ask lexie to come out we are here with "today's" contributing nutritionist and founder of the "joy fit club." >> so many people having their

weight losing resolution as lexie is serious insipiratioins. >> if you say i'm going to lose 153 pounds. >> you have to break it down and make it more tangible. she lost weight by simply tracking her daily calories. one of the biggest lessons that she learn, she was gaining weight from overacting healthy food. >> that's a good point. we often think it is the junk. >> calories add up. for example, breakfast in the morning she was having two bowls of a calorically dense raisin bran serial with skim milk. 930 calories. she was going through a pint of frozen yogurt. yes, it is lower in fat and better than ice cream but 800 calories. for dinner. a super nutritious chicken vegetable stir fry and brown rice but two heaping servings. 1,450 calories. >> we've got to meet her! here's lexie's before picture. let's see the new you.

>> oh, my gosh! oh, my, gosh. who are you? lexie, come back out. we have to show her mom and dad. thank you so much. your mom and dad are so proud of you. >> lexie, twirl around for us, honey. let us see you. >> that is astonishing. how long did it take you to lose all that weight? sbl it took me about a year, year-and-a-half. somewhere around there. >> we were just talking about that. you made small goals. a lot of people are sitting here, new year's, they feel terrible about themselves, a lot of weight to lose, they don't know how to take the first step. what's good advice for people? >> it is hard but you have to take it a day at a time. utilize your tools. hold yourself accountable for what you're putting into your body. for me it was caloriecount.com. >> and the weight comes off. it is physics.

>> we're so proud of you. love your parents! >> she's in for a really good year. not as good as hoda's, but really good. if you know someone to be considered for a spot on the "joy fit club," go to klgandhoda.com. up next, "the washington post" listed what's in and what's out. >> guess who's in? >> lexie! >> but first this is "today" on nbc.

for the past 30 years, as long as hoda's been in the world, "the washington post" has brought "today" the list. >> the list covers what's hot and what's not. when it comes to everything from famous food to fashion. we have the hot list from the "washington post" right here. >> dan and monica are both feature writers with the "washington post" and we really like them. >> a lot! >> welcome, you guys. >> thank you.

>> i think they just wanted to get on the show. >> they deserve to be on the show. >> now why would you hate "inception"? >> we should point out we were in -- we don't know why. but "inception" was on the other side of the coin. >> a very successful film. >> that's true. we can say we think of them as both forms of entertainment that are similar and different at the same time. >> we're like "inception"? >> "inception" is about burrowing into your dreams. we think of the whole "today" show as having different levels and dimensions that unfold over the hours reaching the dreamiest hour right now. >> our matt and meredith are going to be so upset! >> that's okay. we don't mind. >> that's nice. >> we do like that. >> we're glad you like it. thanks very much. >> monica, this one shocked us. i have to say. who thinks betty white is out? but you think betty white is out and anne meara is in. >> we think betty white had a really big year.

she was on award shows, hosting "snl." >> she posed for "playboy." >> you would then there was only one sassy octogenerean in hollywood. there are amazing youtube videos of anne meara, you just say hi. her language is like -- yes, f-bombs left and right. >> we love her. >> get me some coffee! she is hysterical. >> this one -- zombies are out. >> they so are out. >> and ballerinas are in. okay. explain the thought process. >> zombies have been everywhere for at least five years. they've been in a slew of movies, in an amc tv show this past year and -- "the walking dead." right? >> they're not scary anymore.

>> now they're supposed to be sexy. >> we figured in the past five years because of twooit light because of all these things, vampires, we are wolves, zombies, [ male announcer ] enjoy an amazing usda choice steak

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