>> thank you, mike. thank you for joining thus morning. we'll be back at 7:45 with a local news update. >> have yourself a great day. see you back here in a little bit. good morning. another allegation, another denial. republican presidential hopeful herman cain refuting a woman's claim that the two engaged in a 13-year-long extramarital affair. he says it's just a friendship so what really happened and what does it all mean for the former front runner. let it know. a rare november storm dumping heavy, wet snow into the deep south and into the midwest. in some areas they're expecting up to 9 inches. and what does he know? the ex-fiance of a missing florida mom who vanished just hours after the couple appeared on "the people's court" now named the primary suspect.

her sister reacts in a live interview today, tuesday, november 29th, 2011. captions paid for by nbc-universal television and good morning and welcome to "today" on a tuesday morning. i'm matt lauer. >> good morning, i'm savannah guthrie in for ann who's on assignment. herman cain has had to defend himself against allegations of sexual harassment and now he's having to address an accusation that he carried out a lengthy affair with a georgia woman. >> that's right. the woman spoke out to a local tv station in atlanta alleging the affair started back in the late 1990s. while herman cain does acknowledge that he knows her, he's denying her claims. so what impact will this newest allegation have on him and the gop race? we'll have more on that straight ahead. also this is a big day for dr. conrad murray. how is he feeling as he prepares to be sentenced for his role in

the death of michael jackson. coming up, his friend and former assistant opens up about her recent jailhouse visit with dr. murray. here's a story i think a lot of people can identify with. imagine being the parent of an obese child and being told by social workers that your kid would be better off living in foster care. basically they say you neglected your own son or daughter by allowing them to get so overweight. it happened to a family in ohio. >> no surprise, a lot of people are outraged by this. others think it's a good decision. so how do today's professionals feel? we'll tackle that topic and a lot more later on. let us begin this tuesday morning with herman cain facing an allegation of an extramarital affair. lisa myers has the latest on this story. lisa, good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, matt. cain's latest accuser says she had an on-and-off affair with him for 13 years and that the physical part of the relationship ended eight months

ago, right before cain announced for president. >> i didn't want to come out with this, i did not. >> reporter: with that, atlanta businesswoman ginger white told a local atlanta tv station, waga about what she says was a 13-year affair with herman cain. >> i was aware that he was married. and i was also aware that i was involved in a very inappropriate situation, relationship. >> reporter: white says she met cain in the late '90s in louisville, kentucky, where he was speaking as ceo of the national restaurant association. she says they had drinks. he invited her to his hotel room. after that she says for 13 years he flew her to meet him in hotels and lavished her with gifts. >> he made it very intriguing. it was fun. it was something that took me away from my sort of humdrum life at the time. >> reporter: even before white's

allegations aired, cain went on tv admitting he knew her bedue but denying the affair. >> i acknowledge that i knew the woman but the accusation that i had a 13-year affair with her, no. >> reporter: after the report the campaign issued a statement. detractors are trying once again to derail the cain train with more event of past events that never happened. >> my wife's reaction was very similar to mine. here we go again. we will basically show when the details come available that i didn't do anything wrong. >> reporter: white said she had planned to keep the relationship secret, until she saw what happened to the four women who accused cain of sexual harassment. >> these statements are all false. all of these women are all lying? they're all lying? >> did not happen. >> they are all lying? >> yes, they are. >> it bothered me that they were being demonized sort of or they

were being treated as if they were automatically lying, you know, and the burden of proof is on them. so i felt very bad for them. >> reporter: as evidence of her relationship with cain, white produced records of 61 phone calls and texts over four months to cain's private cell. cain told waga he was just trying to help white financially. court records reviewed by nbc news show that white has had financial problems, including a bankruptcy filing and eviction notices, a lawsuit by a former business partner also accuses her of slander. the former business partner told nbc news that white told lies about her. we reached out to white's lawyer, but got no response. one other curious note, matt, as this story was breaking, cain's lawyer issued a statement which stopped short of denying the allegations and instead argued that this was none of our business. he said alleged consensual conduct between adults goes to a candidate's private sex life is

not something the media has a right to question and that the public has a right to know. matt. >> lisa myers in washington on this story. lisa, thank you very much. david gregory is moderator of "meet the press," chuck todd is white house correspondent, guys, good morning to both of you. >> hi, matt. >> the first reaction is this is almost anticlimactic after the first drip drip drip of the last month or so. what impact do you think this story has on this race? >> i think some of the impact from the allegations has already started to materialize in cain's poll numbers. he's fallen some, particularly in early states and in the national rankings. whether it's among women or social conservatives in an early state like iowa, and they are really important in the iowa caucuses. some of that support has started to fall away. herman cain got on the political map because he was talking about tax reform, 9-9-9. now he's had gaffe after gaffe

when it comes to foreign policy. i think he's being taken less seriously so there's less conversations about these kinds of personal allegations although their impact will be felt. >> before i turn it over to chuck for a second, the statement from lynwood, the attorney for herman cain saying this is basically none of our business and an alleged consensual sexual relationship between adults falls outside the media's right to know, does that statement raise more harm than good? >> it certainly raises those questions. those other allegations were legitimate things we can deal with and this is a private affair. i don't think that's going to work in this case. it suggests maybe he doesn't want to get into this. maybe something really happened even though cain denies it. i think it's a way to target the media again, this is another example of coming after herman cain. >> this is not about that lawyer telling the media to back off, this is for the people who don't trust the media in the first place, especially what they consider to be the mainstream

liberal media. they're firing up the base with that statement. >> they are, and the first time that did seem to work when the first round of allegations, the sexual harassment stuff, because they were anonymous accusers and so you could rally the base there, the tea party conservatives that are really -- that were really behind herman cain. they got into that and they loved attacking the media. this, though, the accusation is not really coming from the media, it's coming from this woman. and i've already noticed you're not seeing the same rallying around cain that you saw the first time. but just to go to the point that you started with earlier, matt, this was a campaign that was withering on the vine. now we're in sort of the sixth sense mode. everybody knows this candidacy is basically dead except the campaign. >> so 36 days to go until the iowa caucuses. is herman cain at this point doing damage? i mean he's talking about everything but policy right now. is he doing damage to the rest of the gop field or in some odd way, guys, and david, you could tackle this, is he helping some

of the other candidates? >> well, i think to the extent somebody like newt gingrich who has told people i'm not going to attack herman cain for his problems but wait patiently for his supporters to come to the point of view that he can't win as chuck says and get some of that support and look where newt gingrich is in the polls right now. he's on top. i think power begins to consolidate against the one anti-romney candidate. for the moment it's newt gingrich. it gets difficult to come back a second time. >> chuck, your take on that? >> i think that cain is not necessarily hurting the field anymore. he's become a sideshow. it's almost a shiny metal object at this point. the campaigns themselves, the other ones, newt gingrich was asked about this yesterday and said no, no, no, i'm not talking about it. yeah, it really is a distraction but i don't think it's hurting the field. i think it actually was hurting the entire field during that week of focus on sexual harassment. >> guys, thanks very much. i appreciate it. it's nine after the hour. here's savannah.

now to another big political story. after more than three decades in congress, massachusetts representative barney frank has announced his plans to retire at the end of his current term. congressman frank is with us this morning. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> when you talked about why you are retiring, you said your district has been redrawn in a way that would make it more difficult for you to win re-election. my question is are you leaving your fellow democrats in the lurch? it won't be any easier for any other democrat to win this seat, right? >> right, but that's not exactly what i said. i didn't say i wasn't running because i was afraid i couldn't win. what i said was i had decided over a year ago i was going to retire. i'll be 72 in a couple of months. i didn't think staying until i was almost 75 was ideal. but i then wenhen we took over e house i thought i should be here to fight financial reform and to

make sure military spending reductions of an appropriate sort are part of deficit reduction. that's what i planned to do. when i saw the new district, there were two responses. because it's 325,000 new people, it would include full-time campaigning, including raising a couple of million dollars. >> so for those who think this is a signal that you don't think democrats will win back control of the house in 2012, your response would be what? >> that i wish we could talk substance sometimes in the media. i know that's against the rules. i'd like to talk about public policy. i regret that we can't. no, i am making a personal decision here. i was going to retire. i changed my mind because i felt i could spend this two years most effectively if i was a candidate for re-election fighting to protect financial reform and reduce excessive overseas military spending. now that i would have to spend most of the year in campaigning, fund-raising, et cetera, those reasons are no longer valid.

so, no, this doesn't mean that we're not going to take back the house. in fact i think we're likely to win this seat. again, i don't know, did you think i would serve until i was 106? i'm 71 years old. the question is i have decided not to serve until three months before my 75th birthday. i guess i don't understand why that is so hard for people to grasp. >> you've talked about the tone in washington among the media but also members of congress. you have served in this institution for 30 years. during that time i don't have to tell you congress's approval has gone down to the single digits. how does that make you feel about your life's work? >> well, you exemplify what i think is a change in the tone. you manage to ask all sort of negative questions. i understand that's the media's current role. it didn't used to be that way. that's part of the way for the low approval. it's gotcha this and gotcha that, it's gotcha journalism and gotcha politics an it does lessen our chances to get things

done. i may have a big ego but never identified myself as the entire congress. i'm very proud of the financial reform bill and proud of the progress we've made, for example, in protecting gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people against environments. i'm proud of the role in helping impeach bill clinton. the fact that institutions in america today are less popular, the media is less popular, congress is less popular, i don't tack that personally. >> back to the tone, you make a fair point about the media, on the other hand, you certainly are known for your sharp tongue at times. do you feel any responsibility for your own role in kind of that tone that we do see in washington, whether it be media or members of congress? >> well, congratulations, you're four for four in managing to find a negative approach. no, i will say this. in 1981 when i got to congress, i was very cooperative in a

bipartisan way. newt gingrich actually boasted about the extent to which he changed things. he forced out the minority leader and said, no, we have to challenge the democ look, there was a poll taken a couple of years ago, 2010, i believe, or 2009 and people were asked who was the most partisan member of congress and who was the most bipartisan and they asked the republicans to rate democrats and democrats to rate republicans. i was rated by the republicans as both the most partisan and most bipartisan because i think that's appropriate. where you have areas of disagreement, you ought to articulate those. where you have areas of agreement, you ought to work together so i think i've been able to do both, be sharp where there were differences, which is appropriate in a democracy, but reach out and be cooperative on those areas where we can work together. >> congressman barney frank, congratulations on your retirement. thanks for being with us this morning. we appreciate it. >> you're welcome. >> how's the rest of your day going?

>> i don't think i'll be invited to the retirement party. let's go over to the news desk. natalie is standing by with a check of all the top stories. >> good morning, matt and savannah. good morning, everyone. we've got some breaking business news. american airlines and its parent company had filed for chapter 11 reorganization. the company's ceo is also stepping down. he will be replaced by the company's president, tom horton. retail came to the rescue as cyber monday said sales soaring up 18% from the same time last year and that in turn sent stocks soaring. we turn to mandy drury at the new york stock exchange. what is it looking like this morning? >> reporter: at this stage we're looking a little positive but who knows by the end of trade today. as for cyber monday, you're right. it was a booming success for retailers showing americans growing confident using their tablets and smartphones and pcs to shop online. it's also very important that these days like black friday and cyber monday are good for the

retailers because some of these retailers make up to 40% of their annual revenue during the annual shopping season. big news from facebook with that report saying it's considering raising about $10 billion in an ipo in april to june next year which would value it at $100 billion, which would be twice as high as what it was back in january. back to you. >> that is unbelievable. mandy drury at the new york stock exchange. thank you. the second mile charity that was founded by jerry sandusky is asking its donors to contribute elsewhere, in particular an organization for victims of sexual abuse. prosecutors say the former penn state assistant football coach met many of the young boys he's now charged with sexually abusing through that charity. this as the young man known as victim one in the case against sandusky, has hired a legal team known for representing victims of the clergy sex abuse scandal in the philadelphia archdiocese. the chairman of the u.s. joint chiefs of staff has refused to apologize for the nato air strikes that killed 24 pakistani soldiers this weekend on the border with afghanistan.

general martin dempsey acknowledged that islamabad has the right to be angry but cited the need for an investigation. this morning pakistan pulled out of a conference on afghanistan slated for december. officials say it is a boycott to protest those nato air strikes. and three wealthy money managers from the posh new york suburb of greenwich, connecticut, just got a lot more money to manage. they won more than a quarter of a billion dollars on a single $1 powerball ticket. that's the largest jackpot in that state's history. they took the after tax lump sum of $103 million cash and say they are putting it to good use. they are planning to give a significant portion to charity. there are some reports that say the trust is a front for an anonymous winner who hired the men so he could keep his own identity secret. it is now 17 minutes past the hour. back to matt, savannah and al. big mystery, though, because it took almost a month to come forward. they even put billboards up in connecticut asking them to make themselves known.

>> maybe because they don't need the money? >> a lot of papers say "rich get richer" with the whole occupy situation going on, not going well in some quarters. everybody can play. you guess right, you get a buck and a dream, right? >> except for savannah. >> all right, all right. >> who sees the glass half empty rather than half full. >> you're going to gang up on me too? >> try to get that positive attitude back. time for the tree lighting. let's show you what's happening. first of all, tennessee getting socked with snow. places like denmark, tennessee, five inches of snow. schools all over the state having delayed openings or closings altogether. snow covering tennessee, mississippi, alabama, arkansas, missouri and kentucky. go to the map and show you what's happening. basically we've got this snow system getting itself together. ahead of the system as you can see some of those snowfall totals, maury city, 1 inch, wilson, arkansas, 3 inches. there you can see the

wrap-around of the system. warm air, 63 in new york city. we've got snow. winter storm watches and winter weather advisories in effect throughout parts of the midplains. also up into the upper great lakes. we're talking anywhere from 6 to 9 inches of snow in the next 48 hours in the upper parts of michigan. that's what's going on around the country. here's what's happening in your good tuesday morning to you. another foggy start all across the bay area. you'll likely encounter thick patches on your way to work. you can see from your future cast, we stop the clock at 10:00 a.m. that's when the sun will start to come out over the greater bay area. the central valley dealing with fog all day long. tomorrow to thursday gusty winds develop after sunrise. now to l es where the doctor who was found guilty of causing michael jackson's death will be sentenced today. dr. conrad murray faces up to

four years in prison for involuntary manslaughter. nbc's kristen dahlgren has the latest on that. kristen, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, matt. we're all watching to see what happens today, but even if the judge throws the book at conrad murray, a court order to help overpopulation in california prisons could mean he only does a frablction of time. >> find the defendant, conrad robert murray, guilty -- >> reporter: for many of michael jackson's fans, the day a jury convicted dr. conrad murray of involuntary manslaughter marked the end of a long, difficult struggle for justice. but for murray's friends and supporters, the verdict signaled the beginning of an uncertain new chapter of time he'll spend in state custody. his friend and former medical assistant stacy ruggles visited him in jail. >> he was extremely positive. he told us he had read the bible from front to back twice already. >> reporter: according to tmz, murray has been placed on

suicide watch while in jail, reportedly telling friends that he's lost the will to live. the sheriff's department refused to comment on murray's physical or mental health, but ruggles says those reports don't sound like the man she's known for more than a decade. >> i'm sure anybody that were to go to jail that's never experienced anything like that may at some point feel defeated or may feel that they're at a breaking point. >> reporter: in an interview taped before his trial ended, murray told savannah guthrie that he wasn't mentally preparing for life behind bars. >> have you thought about what it would be like to spend four years in jail? >> that is a chapter that i have not thought about because i do not have any plans for any such activity. >> reporter: now murray's future lies in the hands of judge michael pastor. >> dr. murray's reckless conduct in this case poses a demonstrable risk to the safety of the public. >> reporter: legal experts say the judge's decision to hold murray without bail indicates

that he may be inclined to hand out the stiffest sentence he can. >> we'll give him the maximum amount of time in jail and i think we will be surprised that he will also order restitution and money to the jackson family and potentially even to the prosecution for the cost of investigating this case. >> reporter: but because of a legal mandate to reduce the prison population in california, even a four-year sentence could mean only a short stint. >> prison overcrowding has changed the game as far as sentencing goes. someone who is receiving a four-year sentence is likely to only do several months in the county jail due to the new laws. >> reporter: now, the court is not saying who, if anyone, from jackson's family will be giving victim impact statements today. no matter how much time murray gets, it's likely california will revoke his medical license. other states, matt, could follow suit. >> all right, kristen dahlgren. kristen, thank you very much. coming up, the ex-fiance of a florida mom missing for more than a week has been named the primary suspect in her disappearance. we'll talk to the missing

woman's sister. but first, this is "today" on nbc. [ female announcer ] martinelli's gold medal sparkling cider

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good morning to you. it is 7:26 right now. i'm laura garcia-cannon. a 1-year-old baby is fighting for his life after getting shot in the head during the filming of a music video in oakland. this morning the rapper who had been linked to the video said he wasn't there but he does say the injured baby is his cousin. he talked to damien trujillo this morning who joins us live. what did he have to say? >> it's a sad story here, laur are. the cousin here is mortify fied by what happened to liz cousin. he is behind me at the children's hospital in oakland with swelling in the brain. the gunfire erupted after 6:30

last night the child's father is a rapper by the same name and was filming a music ved owe at the same time. the cousin is ams a rapper. he told this this morning that the violence has to stop. >> it's really unreal. this is real to me right now. really having this all the way set in what's going on. it's like crazy. it's senseless that, you know, some people can just randomly shoot little kids. >> and his little cousin is at children's hospital in critical condition. back to you. >> thank you very much, damien. all right. better news? the forecast, perhaps. let's check in with meteorologist christina loren. it's foggy out there. >> that's what it looks like all across the bay area this

morning. you have 50 to 100 feet of visibility. as you see we get clearing by 10:00 a.m. then tomorrow to wednesday we have storm blowing in. right now we want to check the foggy commute with mike inouye. >> covering after the earlier accident with all lanes of traffic. watch for that. the south bay shows general slowing northbound. 87 really foggy downtown. >> take it easy as you head out the door. we'll be here with updates every half hour.

7:30 now on a tuesday morning. 29th day of november, 2011. a mild start to the day. those temperatures will hold up for a while but we will have some rain in the area a little later on. the good news is, though, it's expected to clear out before they light the christmas tree in the background there tomorrow night. meanwhile inside studio 1a, i'm matt lauer alongside savannah guthrie who's in while ann is on assignment this morning. just ahead kids and vaccines. new numbers show a growing number of parents in more than half of the states in this country are opting out of school shots for their children, and there are renewed fears that trend could lead to trouble for public health. we're going to get some perspective on that from dr.

nancy snyderman. also ahead, charlotte church, who of course rose to fame as a child opera sensation, is opening up to her treatment by the british tabloids. she claims she was once offered a choice, take 100,000 pounds or favorable press coverage, saying that singing at media mogul rupert murdoch's wedding. and professionals weigh in on cell phone software that can track your whereabouts as you walk through a mall to those three wealthy finance guys from connecticut who just claimed a $254 million lottery jackpot. we're going to begin with new details in the case of missing florida mother. she vanished following an appearance on "the people's court." police say michelle parker's former fiance is the primary focus of the investigation. we'll talk to parker's sister in a moment, but first we go to orlando with the latest. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning to you, savannah. it was a bombshell in the search

of a missing mom that's captivated orlando. after saying for days her ex-fiance is not a suspect, police are now saying he's the only suspect. missing mom michelle parker in happier times with dale smith, the father of her 3-year-old twins. now the chief suspect in her disappearance. >> after numerous tips and investigative leads, we are officially naming dale smith, the ex-fiance, as the primary suspect in the disappearance of michelle parker. >> you could have avoided this, dale, if you had cooperated with the police and took a polygraph test when they asked you, you know. you could have eliminated a lot of stress, so unfortunately you brought this on yourself. >> reporter: a youtube video and postings on facebook offer an inside look into the life of the man believed to be the last person to see michelle when she dropped off their twins at his house.

>> he's suing for $5,000, the value of the ring. >> reporter: hours after the two were seen on national tv arguing over a lost engagement ring on a taped episode of "the people's court." >> he's a mean person, especially when he's been drinking. >> reporter: when michelle told her mom she was humiliated by the experience, smith promoted the episode on his facebook page where he also posted photos showing him dressed up as some of his favorite movie and comic book characters. captain america, gi joe, luke skywalker, costumes he wears to science fiction conventions. >> i'm sorry. i'm fascinated. you're a grown man dressing up. >> reporter: but at 11:08 on the night of michelle's disappearance a darker post on his wall. oh man, oh man, michelle, the mother of my kids is missing. her mother called me and said she never showed up to work after dropping the kids off with me. the police just came by and searched my whole house. this isn't good, my kids need their mother. this was not the last time police searched smith's. on saturday a s.w.a.t. team raided his father's home.

>> nothing of significance was found in that location. >> reporter: in the days following michelle's disappearance he posted on facebook that he prays for michelle's safe return. he also tried to clear his name saying i'm not that type of person. if you know me then you know the truth. just what michelle's family is seeking. >> we aren't going to stop until we find out who did this. we love our michelle so much. >> reporter: we' learning this morning that smith has hired a well known orlando criminal attorney. the police say they're not looking to arrest smith. we have reached out to him and his family for comment but they have not responded. savannah? >> all right. thank you. we're joined now by michelle parker's sister loren erickson. loren, good morning to you and thank you for being with us. >> i know these are really difficult days and i just wonder what your reaction is to the police coming out and now saying that your sister's ex-fiance, dale smith, is a primary focus of this investigation. i know early on you and your mom

and your family members didn't suspect him. have you changed your mind now? >> i think it's something that's definitely been on the back of my mind ever since the second she went missing just because of the show airing that day as well as that was the last place that she was supposed to go to drop off the kids. i'm honestly not surprised that this has happened, no. >> what have police told you, if anything, about why it is they do now consider him a suspect? >> as to why, i'm really not sure. i mean i have my own theories, just because of their past and everything and he was the last one to see her and he is now not cooperating. they asked him to take a polygraph test and he said no. there's a couple of other things that he's not doing as well, he's not cooperating and he hasn't let us see the kids. >> lauren, what are your suspicions here? >> my suspicion, i mean i don't know what he knows, i don't know what he did, i just wish that

for his children's sake to have their mother that he would say something. he was the last one to see her. he knows something. i don't doubt for a second in my mind that he knows something. >> are you concerned that he still has custody of their twins? >> i don't think he would ever do anything to hurt his own children. he has surprised me in the past of doing things that i thought he would never do, so is it a concern? i mean yeah, kinda. >> you mentioned "the people's court" a few minutes ago. she disappeared the same day that this episode aired. early on michelle's mom said she thought that was just a coincidence. it sounds like you think this show had something to do with it. do you know what? >> i don't know what it may have had to do with it. i just know that i last saw my sister at 2:30 who said she was dropping her kids off and going home to take a nap. at 6:50 i get a phone call from my oldest nephew asking me where his mom is. the instant i had that phone call, it went straight to my

mind, i'm not going to lie. but i was hoping, i was hoping for the best that something like this wouldn't happen. >> very quickly, we saw in the piece that dale has posted several messages on facebook since michelle's disappearance including one that said dear god please keep michelle safe and return her home unharmed and another said i hope they find her and bring her home. what's your reaction to seeing that? >> i didn't even know he had a facebook. as far as i knew it was deleted. he's not a friend of mine or my family's on facebook. he has not tried to contact my family nor has his family tried to contact my family to help hand out a single flier. >> lauren erickson, i know these are difficult days and we wish you all the best in the search for your sister. >> thank you. >> if you have any information call 1-800-432-tips. now we'll get a check of the weather from al. >> savannah, thanks so much. as we look and show you what's going on as far as your temperatures are concerned for

today, we've got 40s, 50s and 60s in the northeast all the way down along the eastern seaboard. 80s in southern california. it's a little on the chilly side up through the upper mississippi river valley. we expect to see plenty of the tree tomorrow fo lighting.w 've got temperatures 5 degrees at 5:00 by theesime we light the tree t48 degrees and clear skies. that's what's going on around the country. here's what's ha good morning to you. well, we have a deep layer of fog blanketing the greater bay area, and as we head throughout the day today, you can see the blue above the cloud bank. it's going to start to make its way through the second half of the day. the future cast shows you a lot of cloud cover will break apart. we'll see sunshine and temperatures end up in the 50s and low 60s. as we head through tomorrow we have major changes on the way. a high wind watch has been issued tomorrow morning for the higher elevations. your latest weather. savannah. >> thank you, al. still ahead, one boy's story of his trip to heaven.

it inspired the best seller "heaven is for real." we'll talk to him about his new book for kids. up next, new evidence that a growing number of parents are refusing to vaccinate their children. why doctors say that decision is putting other children at we'll get into the. weonl t intoto the controversy right after this. how are we going to make this season better than the last? how about making it brighter. more colorful. ♪ and putting all our helpers to work? so we can build on our favorite traditions by adding a few new ones. we've all got garlands and budgets to stretch. and this year, we can keep them both evergreen. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. can you smell those savings? fresh cut christmas trees are arriving weekly. can you smell those savings? a vacation on a budget with expedia. make it work. booking a flight by itself is an uh-oh. see if we can "stitch" together a better deal. that's a hint, antoine.

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[ laughter ] ♪ [ male announcer ] for tim and richard smucker, giving a gift of their family's delicious jam always made the holidays just a little bit sweeter. we forgot to put our names on them! richard, i think they'll know who it's from. ♪ thank you boys. you're welcome. you're welcome. [ male announcer ] happy holidays from our family to yours. i love christmas! we're back at 7:42. this morning on "today's health" new evidence of an increasing trend that's long worried health officials. an analysis by the associated press finds that a growing number of parents are opting out of giving their kids vaccines that are required for school. dr. nancy snyderman is nbc's chief medical editor. good to see you. >> hi, matt. >> if they're required for schools, how are the parents opting out?

what's going on? >> pretty darn easy. i spoke with a woman yesterday who is catholic and she used it as a religious opt-out so the bar is really low. for philosophical reasons, religious reasons, but the bar is really low. >> the fact is -- this is an analysis. study after study after study has shown that vaccines are safe. >> right. >> so why are so many parents still convinced it's not right for their children? >> i think this may be one of the cases in public health where vaccines have been so effective in eradicating disease, the new generation of parents in their 30s and 40s have no memory of seeing polio and whooping cough and measles so you look around and see healthy kids and say kids have better nutrition today, i'm not so worried about it. therefore, i'm not going to vaccinate my children. and therein lies the rub. >> and you're worried about this negatively impacting something that's called herd immunity and that is? >> enough of us need to be vaccinated so that we don't pass on these viruses and bacteria. the threshold is about 90%.

right now about 90% of kids in this country are vaccinated. but we're seeing pockets where there are less than that. just this morning on long island, new york, an outbreak of whooping cough. last year 2100 kids, 24 died in california. measles outbreaks last year in minnesota. and these are areas where in fact there aren't enough people vaccinat vaccinated. >> and when you look at the map, the analysis found in eight states more than one in 20 public school kindergarteners are not getting all the vaccines required for attendance. if people at home are thinking this might be in poor communities where there's less access to medical care or information, that's not what the analysis found at all. >> the profile is white, middle class, educated, college attended and a couple of kids. and it goes to the web savvy bright person who says, you know what, i'm going to outthink my doctor, i'm going to outthink history and frankly i'm going to

opt out of this. the problem is even when parents say i'll take two of those shots and not the third or i'll take this one and not that one, you can be underimmunized and still at risk. >> but people don't look at it that way. by the time a child is 6 years old, that child basically has had 25 vaccines. >> let me flip it around on you. >> a lot of parents think that's an excessive number. >> but 14 to 17 illnesses prevented. so i know it's a number of shots. but if you're not thinking about your kids, think about it this way. your mother who might be fighting breast cancer, your sister with rheumatoid arthritis, your other child with as marks an unimmunized child is a walking typhoid mary who can put any of those immune compromised people in an early grave. i personally think it is selfish not to think about that and we have to think about public health in a whole new way than we have with immunizations. >> dr. naepncy, thanks. coming up next, former child

star charlotte church testifies about the british tabloids. what she says s o wheersed a 13-year-old to perform at rupert murdoch's wedding. that's right after this. "hey wrinkle face!" that's what people could say if you're still using a liquid foundation that can settle into your lines and wrinkles and make you look older. covergirl and olay floats above lines and makes you look younger. can your anti-aging makeup do that? simply ageless from olay and easy, breezy beautiful, covergirl. so i used my citi thank you card to pick up some accessories. a new belt. some nylons. and what girl wouldn't need new shoes?

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in britain, more testimony is pouring in from celebrities about the torment they say they faced at the hands of tabloids. their stories seem to grow more shocking by the day. nbc's michelle kosinski is in london with the latest. michelle, good morning. >> reporter: hi, savannah. we have seen a parade of celebrities testify at this hearing, and each one of their stories seems to be worse than the last. in the case of singer charlotte church, though, the tabloids were tormenting a child. she says at one point she was given a choice, more than $100,000 to sing at rupert murdoch's wedding or good press coverage. ♪ >> reporter: charlotte church was 11 when fame found what the press called the voice of an angel. now in her 20s, she is using

it -- >> just horrible, you know. >> reporter: -- to describe the hell that tabloids put her through. following her to school, vacations. at her house someone hid a video camera in the hedges. she said she was asked to sing at media mogul rupert murdoch's wedding in new york but told, she claims, she could either accept more than $150,000 or favorable coverage in his newspaper. >> i remember being 13 and thinking why on earth would anybody take a favor over 100,000 pounds but being advised by management to take the latter option, that he was a very, very powerful man. >> reporter: murdock's company denies this and says charlotte's appearance at the wedding was a surprise to him. yet she says her manager told her murdoch himself insisted that she sing this, even though

she had warned it was a funeral song. as she grew older, she said the sun tabloid ran a countdown clock to her 16th birthday with innuendo it was the legal age for sexual consent. they started paying her teenage boyfriends to intimate details, which they printed. police showed charlotte evidence that by 17 her phone had been hacked by "news of the world" and someone paid a private investigator to track her. >> they brought a massive, massive black book which was just full of information. information about me, information about my friends, family members. >> reporter: and from murdoch's "news of the world" came this cover story. >> superstar charlotte church's mum tried to kill himself because her husband is hooked on campaign. so they knew how vulnerable she

was and still printed the story, which was horrific. it had a massive psychological effect on me. >> reporter: nearly everyone has said the same thing, that the press coverage that just was not true hurt their careers and the stories that came from hacking hurt their relationships because they're blaming loved ones for leaking that. in many cases the newspapers were forced to run retractions, even apologies, but the victim said it didn't matter, the damage was already done. >> michelle i you. coming up, today's professionals. >> right after your local news. so you earn 50% more cash. according to research, everybody likes more cash. well, almost everybody... ♪ would you like 50% more cash? no! but it's more money. [ male announcer ] the new capital one cash rewards card. the card for people who want 50% more cash. what's in your wallet? woah! [ giggles ]

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good tuesday morning to you. it is 7:56. i'm laura garcia-cannon. local crabs back on the menu and the first cooler to arrive on shore as soon as today. bay area fishermen voted just yesterday to end their two-week price dispute. they agreed on a price of $2.25 a pound, less than they agreed on. it set off a mad dash to get the boats loaded and out to sea. the season opened november 15th. now time to check the forecast. pretty foggy out there. when will it clear? here's christina loren. >> well, it will clear earlier than yesterday. this morning we are already noticing some signs of improvement. concord, for example, still registering six miles of visibility. five miles in liver more where

you had less than a quarter mile yesterday. we still have a lot of fog out there, that will be the case for the next couple of hours. it will clear out by 10:00 ap. getting a nice break. sunshining through over the greater bay area. if you're trying to get to sacramento or down to los angeles, that will be the case all day throughout the sacramento valley. 67 on thursday. now with those warmer temperatures we have a lot of wind expected in the bay area. high wind watch posted starting tomorrow morning lasting all the way through thursday. let's check your drive with mike. >> christina, we're looking over to the peninsula. 101 as well as 280. we know this is blanketing fog throughout the hills and san mateo. your typical northbound commute. just like yesterday. 880 in both directions between 280 and 101. a little extra slow. as well as 87. a lot of fog heading to downtown.

laura, back to you. thank you, mike. thank you for joining us. for the latest traffic and news updates check out nbc bay area on facebook. i'll have another local news update in half an hour. ♪

it's 10:31am, and they won't serve you breakfast. but i will. i serve my entire breakfast menu all day, so you can get my new- -jumbo breakfast platter with mini pancakes,scrambled eggs, hash browns, plus bacon or sausage for only $2.99, anytime. nooooo....nooo jack, we only see my parents twice a year. chill out.

8:00 now on a tuesday morning. it's the 29th day of november, 2011. you know what, we decided to come outside because it's beautiful in terms of temperature, not so nice in terms of sky conditions. mr. roker says the rain will move in later on, but if you take that shot, jimmy, of us with the tree behind it, these two are going to throw the switch on that tree tomorrow night and the weather will be nice. >> it will be clear and temperatures in the upper 40s. >> good for you guys. we look forward to that every year. i'm matt lauer along with savannah guthrie who's in while ann is on assignment and al roker is here as well. coming up, a story that's generated a lot of emotional response. should a child be accused -- i

mean should a parent be accused of neglecting their child if they allow that child's weight to balloon. there is a third grader in ohio who was taken out of his family's home, put in foster care because he weighed over 218 pounds, about four times what his peers weighed. the mother was not happy about it. a lot of people who responded to it were not happy about it. today's professionals will weigh in in a couple of minutes. also ahead, do you believe in heaven? we'll introduce you to a little boy who may make a believer out of you. he emerged from life-saving surgery and told a detailed tale of having been to heaven and having met relatives. it's an extraordinary story and he has a new book that's for kids. we'll catch up with the family. and the simple act of buying a car can be very intimidating. we'll give you a checklist of how to make it a much less intimidating ordeal in just a little bit. all right, a lot to get to. let's go inside, natalie is standing by at the news desk

with the headlines. >> good morning, everyone. herman cain's campaign says people who want to derail his republican presidential bid are behind the latest accusation against him. ginger white told an atlanta tv station that she and cain had a 13-year affair that ended just eight months ago. the georgia businesswoman says she came forward because the other women who accused cain of sexual harassment were treated as liars. last night cain admitted he knew white and helped her financially, but denied any affair. the man accused of killing 77 people in norway in july was insane at the time of the shooting and bombing massacre, according to a psychiatric evaluation. the finding will help determine if he will be sentenced to prison or receive psychiatric care instead. the prime suspect in the disappearance of robin gardner is being released from prison today in aruba. jeff rossen is there with more. jeff, good morning. >> reporter: hey, natalie, good morning to you. here's the plan today.

gary giordano will walk out prison around 8:00 tonight. he wants to get right off this island. the problem is if he's released at 8:00, he's going to miss the last commercial flight back to the u.s. tonight so he'll have to spend another night in aruba and leave first thing tomorrow morning. gary giordano's beach side accommodations, aruba's prison about to lose its high-profile inmate. after 115 days behind bars -- >> gary, over here. >> reporter: giordano will walk in just hours. his lawyer, jose baes, who famously defended casey anthony, has arrived in aruba. >> we've been able to see that there is no case, there is no evidence of a crime and the facts just don't support it. so we're happy to see that gary is finally going to be able to walk out and go home. >> reporter: giordano says the victim, robin gardner, drowned in a snorkeling accident. prosecutors say he's lying and

was somehow involved. but nearly four months of investigating and they don't have enough evidence to charge him, so the judge ordered his release. >> after months of investigating, do you have any idea what happened to robin? >> we have theories, but we have no facts in that respect. >> what kind of theories? >> theories that she went missing there, maybe that she was murdered and then was brought to another place and either thrown in the sea or buried. >> reporter: at home in maryland, some of giordano's neighbors are less than thrilled to have him back. >> i mean i understand the system of innocent until proven guilty, but there's just too many unanswered questions. >> reporter: nbc news spoke with robin gardner's family late last night who told us, and i'm quoting here, no one was prepared for this reality. we are devastated. robin is in our prayers. i should mention even when gary giordano leaves back for the u.s. first thing tomorrow morning and he's released from jail later tonight, he's not fully in the clear. prosecutors are appealing, there's a hearing tomorrow, plus

they could also charge him down the line and could file another arrest warrant and contact u.s. authorities to try to accepted him back to aruba, natalie. >> jeff rossen in aruba with us, thank you. and now here's brian williams with what's coming up tonight. coming up tonight on "nightly news" we'll take you up in the air with the texas department of public safety along the rio grande. we've been covering the war next door for quite some time but you need to see it from this vantage point. we'll have that for you tonight. natalie, for now back to you. >> thanks. now for a look at what's trending today. our quick roundup of what has you looking online. batman 3 star anne hathaway is a top search after confirming she is engaged. her dark knight is adam shulman. she met him after a disastrous relationship with an italian real estate developer. bieber fever is now a full-blown epidemic. he was the most searched person on bing.com for 2011.

he bumped kardashian into second place but kim is the most searched female. and this video of teddy bear, a grumpy north american porcupine is seeing a spike, get it in, youtube hits. teddy just doesn't like to share. >> oh, really? teddy? can you share your corn with me? can i have it? no? let me have it. >> it sounds like he's talking. anyway teddy lives at a traveling wildlife center called zooniversity. they posted online that they should bleach the teeth and get him an agent because he's going to need one. he's bound for hollywood. 8:06, let's go back out to al with a check of your weather. >> we get the point with that video. sorry. hey, we've got a birthday girl here. what's your name? >> anna. >> and you're 9 years old. where are you from? >> south carolina. >> very nice to see you.

is this your brother? >> yes. >> he looks very happy to be here too, right? what's your name? >> jake. >> do you want to wish your sister a happy birthday? >> no. >> all right, jake. oh, man, strong. let's check your weather and see what's going on. denver, colorado, 9 news, sunny, mild, 56 degrees. as we show you what's happening, wrap around the low-pressure system in the mid-atlantic states, snow on the back side of it, rain ahead of it. looking at rain moving into the pacific northwest as well. heavy rain in the mid-atlantic on into the northeast. we expect 5 to 8 inches of snow in parts of central and northern michigan. we've got fog moving so fast, you can actually see it with the naked eye. this morning, give yourself plenty of time just to reach your destination safely. take a look at where your visibilities are. less than a quarter of a mile almost everywhere except livermore now. oakland, really deep pockets of

fog. we're talking about 50 feet of visibility in some spots. as we head through tomorrow, high wind watch goes into effect at 6:00 am. and that's your latest weather. savannah. >> all right, al, thanks. coming up next, is it time for airlines to adopt dress codes for passengers? today's professionals will weigh in on that and oather hot topic coming up writ after this. indulge all you want.] now there's no need to hold back. ♪ new revolutionary scope with dualblast technology obliterates strong food odors and kills bad breath germs leaving your breath minty fresh. hey. sorry i'm late, baby. i bet you're starving. [ male announcer ] so there's no trace of evidence... hey, i thought i did the dishes. [ male announcer ] blast away strong food odors and bad breath germs with new scope dualblast. also, try crest complete extra white with scope dualblast. whatrun...hat? it's the monster.... ahh,

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and i switched to one a day women's active metabolism, a complete women's multivitamin, plus more for metabolism support. [ female announcer ] look for great savings on all one a day products in this sunday's newspaper. that's what people could say if you're still using a liquid foundation that can settle into your lines and wrinkles and make you look older. like an apricot... or a prune. and i like both, i just don't want to look like one. covergirl and olay simply ageless foundation has regenerist serum and floats above lines and makes you look younger. you will look so young people will be like "how is that baby driving a minivan?" "who let the baby into the bar?" and so on. can your anti-aging makeup do that? ♪ simply ageless from olay and easy, breezy beautiful, covergirl. hershe y's bliss. one square inch of incredibly smooth rich chocolate. one square inch of joy... fun... indulgence... one square inch of bliss. hershey's bliss. i think you're really gonna love it.t wait for you to open this. i really think i'm gonna love it to.t to open it.

i can not wait. can't wait to open it. my, my hands are shaking. i'm so excited, i'm so excited... my whole body is vibrating with anticipation. open it, please! open it, you should open it, i'll open it. no, no. back now at 8:12 with today's professionals here to discuss the morning headlines and hot topics. star jones, donny deutsche, and dr. nancy snyderman. folks, good morning. nice to see you. the story we reported here on monday getting a lot of reaction around the country and cleveland heights, ohio. children and family services went into a mother's home, took away her 8-year-old son because that son had reached the weight of 218 pounds, or about four times the average weight of his classmates for a third grader. they were saying she basically neglected the son by trying to control his weight. did they go too far? >> the rules of child abuse are is there an imminent fear that

there will be serious harm done to the child? serious, continuous, and it requires emergency action? if you have done everything that you are supposed to do ahead of time, if you have tried family counseling, if you have gone into the home, if you have provided the resources and they still are in the same situation, the court would remove that child. >> doctor? >> a 200 pound 8-year-old that is supposed to weigh about 80 pounds is not going to suddenly lose that weight with probably within the home with suddenly having more nutritious dinner. it requires an emergency intervention, and what you would like to avoid is something like gastric band or gastric bypass, but this sort of reminds me of two things. one, is obesity an illness and a disease, or is it not, and i think in the medical community we are still struggling with that, but i would liken this case to a parent who refuses to give a child chemotherapy and does the court have a right to say you're barring that, and i

think it's almost more there. >> do we to distinguish a parent that's neglectful and giving the child 18 hamburgers from mcdonald's a day. he is on the honor roll. they say he is a normal kid. what if this is a parent and he has a thyroid condition? you have to distinguish between neglect and sometimes there's just physical realities. >> was it okay for the child to live in the house at 200 pounds but not at 218? who decides that number? >> the real problem is that obesity is still the argument. we don't know where it comes from. is it genetic? is it just -- >> it's an issue of taking a kid away or not taking the kid away. >> you're putting all the blame on the patient. >> we don't know. just yank the kid out of their home. >> what if the question shouldn't be instead of extricating this child, which is always traumatic, doing an intervention in the home where experts go in. >> let me jump to another topic right now. soft ware has been developed. you go to a shopping mall. they use your cell phone to track your movements within the mall so they know where you are. the goal being they can then send you advertisements for the

store you are approaching. donny, you are walking toward victoria secret, and there you go, you get the ad to lure you into the store. is that too much? >> this is a huge topic. stop. basically, this is going to set the tone for the future, and i do believe that any type of tracking, any type of privacy intrusion is going to have to be signed off by the consumer. that's what's going to happen. this is dangerously -- >> they say would you allow us to do this, and you say, yes, that's okay. >> it should be only opt in. you should not have to opt out. every single time you get one of those pop-ups that say do you want to track, do you want notifications, do you want location, you should say no. >> i think the united states is camping up to the rest of the world. this kind of technology has been around other countries. it happens in japan a lot. i understand the intrusion of one's, you know, privacy, but i think we're fooling ourselves. we are tracked all the time. there are cameras on every street corner. >> i get that. that's for law enforcement.

>> i get it. at least -- on my iphone give me a push. >> scary stuff. >> let me move on. should there be dress codes for airlines? a lot of airlines have dress codes, but they leave it up to the flight crews on the individual plane to enforce that. should it be stated and written right on your ticket stub what you can and cannot wear on an airplane? >> well, airplanes -- look, the tsa can't even decide if your laptop should go in or out of a case anymore, if you can take your shoes on or off. it's such a crazy gray zone and one that's, i think, too nebulous to define. when you watch people get on airplanes, who thought that thongs and shorts to here or track suits are a good idea anyway? >> that's what i'm talking about. >> public decency. tloo this is not run by the government. these are private businesses, just like a restaurant owner has a ability to say i think if i let you into my restaurant, this

is bad for my business. >> should they post it, donny? >> i don't think it will be one set of things. i think it's going to be up on their discretion. >> legally when it comes to those kinds of things, you continue when you see it, and that's the problem. >> let's move on because this last one i think will get a lot of reaction. it's on the cover of the papers here. these three wealthy guys in greenwich, connecticut, came forward to claim the $254 million powerball jackpot. people are screaming. these guys don't need it. the rich get richer. what's the bottom line? >> i don't believe these guys are the real winner. stoo a lot of people think they're fronting for someone even wealthier. >> 27 days. somebody won it. it's going to be an -- >> a dollar and a dream. it was that person's dollar. that would be nice for them to make a done a little. it would be nice, but they don't have to. their dollar, their dream. they get what they want. >> who said life is fair? they won. it's not discriminate other. >> i play all the time. >> what's surprising is that people that wealthy would be playing the lottery. >> because people of all economic classes play the lottery, that's why those

jackpots grow to the amount that they get to be $254 million. it might not feel right, but, you know what -- >> wouldn't it be lovely if this trust or this philanthropist really does something great with it, but the reality is it's nobody's business. >> no. don't hate the player. hate the game. >> up next, a new book for kids from the family of the boy who says he has been to heaven. we'll talk to them right after this. th ight after [ nadine ] buzzzz, bzzzz, bzzzz, bzzzz, you know, typical alarm clock. i am so glad to get rid of it. just to be able to wake up in the morning on your own. that's a big accomplishment to me. i don't know how much money i need. but i know that whatever i have that's what i'm going to live within. ♪

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well, the story of a little boy's near-death experience and what he described as a trip to heaven quickly turned into a best-selling book. "heaven is for real" has spent the past 52 weeks on the new york times best sellers list, including 44 weeks at number one. and now the family who brought it to us is out with a children's version called "heaven is for real" for kids and todd, sonja and colton burpo are with us this morning. good morning to all of you, it's good to see you again. >> good morning. >> let's recap for those who aren't familiar with the book. when colton was 4 years old he had a burst appendix, had several surgeries. having come through that, he started telling you guys about having seen heaven. what did he say, todd? >> i think his stories have been incredible. he can see us where we were in the hospital while he was in surgery, so that first grabbed our attention because those facts, we didn't know how he knew them. then he goes on to talk about a sister he met in heaven, my grandfather and of course he tells us what god looks like.

the only painting of jesus that he's ever said is right, the information he shares is pretty incredible. >> sonja, colton seemed to know things you had never told him. after all he was only 4 years old. >> he told us about our miscarried daughter and about a great grandfather he had never met and various other things. >> colton, it's been eight years now, it's a long time for anybody. do you still have those vivid memories of heaven? >> yes, i do. >> and what stands out most in your mind? what can you really still see? >> well, the things i remember most are my family members and jesus. >> do you worry at all that those memories will get fuzzier and fuzzier over time? that happens to everybody. >> no. i think those memories are implanted. >> let's address the skepticism, because i know you're familiar with it. i guess it has two parts. on the one hand some people are just -- they want to believe this, who wouldn't want to believe it, but they wonder

could it really be true that someone so young could actually see heaven and live to tell about it. >> well, we questioned our son as first. i think as parents everyone can tell when their 4-year-old is telling the truth. when they're telling you things they cannot make up, we're close enough to verify the story. for people that are farther away, we understand that. but we also see all the people that are finding peace and hope and comfort from colton's story. so for those people that might even be against the story, we just look past them and see all the people that are getting peace and hope. it's incredible to have ideas. what do my loved ones look like, how am i going to meet them, what's it going to be like. and for them to hear that and have peace, that's what we focus on. >> it's an amazing perspective to start thinking in those terms and i think the other criticism would be, well, you wrote a book about it, now you've got a kids book and i hear a movie might be in the works. so for those saying is this all about getting a profit, what

would your response be, sonja? >> it's not about that. we're just going to share the story, god bless the story and a lot of people have found different parts in it that felt their hearts and are touched by it. our intention was to just write and help a few people and it just kind of exploded. the kids book we're superthrilled about. >> colton, i know people that are your age can read it. are you pretty excited about that, about sharing your story? >> actually the book isn't for my age. i'd say the adult version is more their age. but kids 4 through 8, it's a 32-page picture book. so it works for them pretty good because the wording is easy, pictures describe the story. >> well, it's wonderful to have you here. have you thought about who might play you in the movie? >> i have no clue. i think those two already have a few people that they already

have but i don't. >> all right. well, you'll have to pick somebody pretty good to play you. thank you so much. it's great to have you. once again the book is "heaven is good tuesday morning to you. it's 8:26 right now. the coast guard has called off its search for a missing paddle boater. the harbor master and coast guard says that the man gave a false identity to a paddle boat rental company and took off. he did not return from his trip. anyone with information is asked to contact the coast guard or the san mateo county sheriff's office. check the morning commute with mike. is it messy? >> laura, it's hard to tell. you can't see the roads. that is the problem. it's very slow, though. i know that's your question. the peninsula, southbound 101,

an accident at whiple, it's been there about 20 minutes. a couple of cars are over on their sides. no details on injuries but an ambulance is headed to the scene. slow through that portion of 101. really jammed up -- look at that. san mateo, both directions of 101, 92 over the hills likely because of all the fog through the area. definitely foggy over the bridges, like san mateo bridge. sunol, the east bay. another reason for slowing. thick fog through sunol. back to you. >> thank you very much, mike. thank you for joining us. check out nbc bay area on facebook for the latest news and traffic updates. another update for you on tv in half an hour. if i can take classes year round

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♪ 8:30 on a tuesday morning. you're looking at a sneak peek at the new justin bieber/mariah carey video, "all i want for christmas." if you want to see more of justin bieber, just tune in tomorrow night, wednesday night, right here on nbc as we light the rockefeller center christmas tree. actually we don't, al and

savannah do. >> and we'll be debuting justin bieber's video. >> right here on nbc. it is a little funny. not funny at all? >> nice that you said something that's not negative for a change. >> back to that again? >> the tree lighting, 8:00/7:00 central time. >> we'll be in a good mood. hopefully you'll watch us ring in the holidays. also ahead. a lot of folks have brought in their toys and hot chelle rae, a very popular band right now, are collecting them. so come to our plaza, you never know who might pick up your toys or you can donate online. we're going to hear from hot chelle rae in a couple of minutes. also i think a lot of ladies know it's really intimidating when you're looking to buy a new car, so coming up we're getting expert advice on what you should know about and research that you should do before you get into a lot and get into that car. >> basically i learned that i

have done everything wrong. >> a lot of guys don't do too well either. >> i'll pay more, sure. >> i'll buy it today. how many of you like hot pigs in a blanket. >> oh, we love them. >> love them. >> no, no. well, we're going to also show you some different appetizers and hors d'oeuvres with one of the hottest chefs in new york. he's got some elegant and easy recipes that will impress your guests. why don't you give us a check of the weather first. >> hopefully impressing our guests as well with the weather. we'll show you for today we've got rain moving into the northeast later today, rain changing over to snow in the upper midwest, rain moves into the pacific northwest. sunny from texas on into the southwest. tomorrow, rain and snow showers spread across the plains. morning rain in northern new england, left over lake-effect snow hours in the eastern great lakes. plenty of sunshine through the southern tier of states with cool weather in the lower mississippi river valley. nice in the southwest, gulf coast on into

fog is happening in our neck of the woods. we have a lot of low cloud cover. it is starting to clear out in some spots across the bay. overall, expect a slower than usual drive. cloudy conditions until at least 10:00 am. then we'll get some breaks of sunshine. 62 degrees in fremont. 64 in los gatos. tomorrow, very windy conditions develop. high wind watch in elevations above 1,000 feet. starting tomorrow morning, lasting through thursday. don't forget, you can get your weather any time of the day or night on the weather channel or weather.com. is that what you do, uncle willie? >> silver bells, silver bells. it's time in the city for christmas and holiday time and have fun, you can't beat it. come see it. happy birthday, how sweet it is from the smucker's birthday list. we take a look at paul lovell,

102 years old. loves to eat oatmeal every day for breakfast, i'm with him. here we go, phil symmonds, buccaneers fan. and here'sdale mcclintic, 100 years old. has a wonderful mind, great memory, sharp as a tack and loves everybody in the world. likes to do the lord's work on this earth he says. and we have wellford goode of richmond, virginia, 100 years old today. very proud wwii veteran and he says an attitude of gratitude. that's what he believes in. that's a nice little catchy phrase, attitude of gratitude. inez giles of st. louis, missouri, 10 tleechlt lov3. loves to reminisce and she also

loves to sing in her church. people down there love her. and finally we have frances lyons from zt hest. helena, california. 105 years old. she is truly a lovely woman. that's it, that's all, from washington. >> all right, thank you very much. when we come back, avoiding buyer's remorse when you go out to buy a new car. what you should be doing during that all-important test drive. but first this is "today" on nbc.

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well, if a new car is on your holiday wish list, you'll want to take a test drive and it calls for a lot more than a simple spin around the block. car reviewer and room growth.com editor in chief tara winegarten

gave kristen dahlgren a checklist for test driving. take a look. >> there are not many things in this world that scare me. i am pet prified of going to th car dealership. >> you're going to walk in and take control, you're not going to let the salesperson dictate how your test drive is going to go. i know it sounds silly but getting in and out is a big deal. is it comfortable to get out? go back in. come on out. we're going to go. a test drive should be a workout. now we're inside the car. this is where you live so we are going to touch everything, open everything, see if your stuff fits. how's the cup holder? >> i need to know this is no girly cup holder. >> that's right. >> got to fit my mega joe. wow, okay. >> the trunk is really important in a test drive, so bring all the stuff with you to the

dealership and see if it fits in there. >> you brought me to a parking lot. the whole point of the parking lot thing is to determine how you can see in a tight space. >> this handles pretty well around these tight turns, so that's pretty good. >> how's the visibility in here, is it good? >> yeah, pretty good. >> so now we go into a quiet street. this is where we're going to test out the brakes. you're going to get the car going about 20, 25 miles an hour. you can going to slam on the brakes. >> they work! >> awesome. the last test is the highway. the point of this is go, hit the fa gas, see how it accelerates, see

how you like it. >> you ready? >> i'm ready. >> let's go. >> for today, kristen dahlgren, nbc news, rolling down the highway in los angeles. >> she cut it out before the police sirens. tara, good morning to you. >> hi. >> so is the dealer really going to let you spend that much time with the car and kind of pick at everything like you suggest? >> they don't want to. they want you in and out of there in five minutes. but you know what, it's your money. you dictate how long the defendant dritest drive is going to be so i recommend a half an hour. >> is there a best time to take the test drive? >> during the week. on the weekends the dealerships tend to be busy so you want to go during the week when they're less crowded. >> and sometimes you can call and make an appointment and say i'm coming in, i want to spend a half hour with x car? >> yes, that's really important. try to call ahead or e-mail them and ask for a half hour or longer and say this is what you're going to need. >> if you've got kids, should you bring them on the test drive and make a adventure out of it? >> not the young ones.

5 and older maybe and see how they like the car. >> one of your suggestions is that you should test drive at night. why do you say that? >> you know, all the cars have different instrumentations and illuminations and the only way you'll see that is at night, so you've got to turn on the lights and see how it looks to you. >> a lot of people may love the orange interior lights, other people it will bother them forever. >> that's right. >> another of your tips is check the trunk. why? >> you know what, a lot of the cars now are not coming with spare tires. and what it does is it reduces the cost of the car so they're able to reduce the price and make themselves more competitive. but if you don't know it's there and you're out on a highway and you get a flat, you're in big trouble. >> and sometimes you can get it as an option, though, right? >> you can get it as an option. i recommend that you do that. >> everyone is so wired these days, cell phones and that kind of thing. you want to make sure that this car you're thinking about buying is able to be connected to your particular phone.

how do you find that out? >> all the phones are compatible with all the cars. what's different is how easy they are to operate. some of the car companies have more difficult telemetrics which is what it's called than others. >> this is a great time to buy a car, right? >> yeah, the model year switchout so there are certain companies bringing in the new models for 2012. the sweet spot is between christmas and new year's. >> perfect time. just in time for the holidays. tara, thank you so much. >> thank you. >> if you want more of those test driving suggestions, head to our website, today.com. coming up next, tasty recipes to serve at your next holiday party. but first, this is "today" on nbc.

including starbucks. it's the way to brew everyone's favorite cup in under a minute. way to brew! we're back at 8:44. this morning on "today's holiday kitchen" easy entertaining. if you want to impress your guests, award-winning chef

daniel blaallou is here. >> well, it is a tiny bite of something, either spicy, crunchy, warm, cheesy, something that goes wonderful with cocktail. and so -- and it's something usually that would be able to be grabbed by hands. >> okay. >> and certainly not overfill your mouth. >> you have got a couple of great recipes. >> yes. >> the first is smoked salmon and it sounds very easy. there's a little more to it than that. >> i'm making a roll of smoked salmon with some cream cheese inside. >> what's in the cream cheese? >> some lemon zest, some chive, a little lemon juice. so i'm putting -- you put the

smoked sammlmon on plastic wrap and layer your slices. you layer a layer of cream cheese over. >> how do you roll that? >> just take the plastic on one side, just pinch the beginning and then create a little roll like this. >> you're going to pop that in the freezer? >> then you pop that in the freezer a little bit. >> why? >> just to get it hard so this way you can have like this. and then it can be cut and sliced after that. so that's a little easier to cut and slice and put it on a little piece of pumpernickel. the idea is you can see the layers of cream cheese. >> and you garnish with that witle mo with a little dill and some more lemon zest. >> a little dill and you can add a little chive or extra herbs there. >> by start to finish, this is

not a complicated recipe. >> very simple. everything is made. and this is about having a little crunchy black olive sort of crackers, like a little crustini. >> so you put -- >> i'm putting water into a dough, which you can use puffed pastry or make what we call a cracker dough, like a crescent dough. then i have black olive that's been drained and i put three lines of black olive paste. >> could you buy it store bought? >> of course. this is what you would buy if you get it store bought. >> okay. >> like that. very easy. then you have the layers on top like that. >> is this just water? >> this is just water. we put that right over like that. mark it slightly.

sprinkle a little bit more water over and sprinkle also with a little pepper to give a little hit to it. >> and you're going to slice that? >> yeah. >> so you put that again in the freezer, just to get it hard. until really the dough hardens. then you just cut it in slices like this and you've got this wonderful little -- >> and you put that on a cookie sheet. how long do you bake that? >> about 15 minutes at 350. >> that's fantastic the way you get that shape. that's beautiful. come up front and show me some of the other hors d'oeuvres you've prepared. what's this here? >> here is a cheese puff. that's what you have as a snack to start. here we have a slice of cucumber with a little uni -- >> can the average person really make that? >> very easy. buy cucumber and fresh uni and

here we have our little black olive cracker. >> just tell me about the cocktails because you have great recipes in the book. >> not only do you have recipes of all those, but also of the cocktails. so here we have a french 75, which is basically champagne, a little bit of bitter and orange. >> and that one? >> and this one is a ginger -- it's a ginger whiskey-based cocktail. >> the crew will be gathering shortly. >> absolutely. >> you can have all these cocktails at the bar. >> happy holidays to you. great to have you here. >> thank you, matt. up next, a live performance from music sensation's hot chelle rae, but first, this is "today" on nbc.

okay, people, let's get started. pete, did you forget yours? me pete, me use pen! (laughter) sorry i'm late, i was in the 16th century looking for pete's pen. (laughter)

guys, guys. take it easy, ok? pete's mom is videochatting me, and she wants her pen back! ok, alright, well. i just got one. so... yeah, you've got a little... yep, i can feel the wet patch. don't look at it. when it's on your mind, it's on ebay. the toyota concert series on "today" brought to you by toyota. >> back now at 8:51 with one of the hottest acts in music, hot chelle rae just took home the american music award for best new artist and their new album "whatever" is out today. the band is ryan follese, nash overstreet, ian keaggy. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> this has been an incredible year for you, how does it feel? >> it feels incredible.

we said f our speech we owe it to our fans and we feel that way. >> some call it bubbly elasti fupg. >> >> that's the new genre. >> for those who think writing a relentlessly catchy song as you have several times over is easy. with pop music, it's very difficult, isn't it? >> it is. it's complex simplicity. it's very, very tough to write something so hooky but it seems easy. >> i know you guys are very talented musicians. you also are quite fashionable. who took the most time getting ready this morning? >> i don't know. we woke up at like 4:30. i don't think i even remember the process of getting ready. >> i think today was the most on time we've been. >> you look excellent, you sound even better. what are you going to sing for us today? >> "i like it like that." >> take it away, hot chelle rae. ♪ let's get it on, yeah, y'all

can come along snoets everybody drinks on me, bought out the bar snoets just to feel like i'm a star, now i'm thanking the academy ♪ missed my ride home, lost my iphone ♪ i wouldn't have it any other way snoets if you're with me, let me hear you say ♪ ♪ i like it like that, hey, windows down, chillin' with the radio on snoets i like it like that ♪ sun's so hot, make the girls take it all off snoets i like it like that snoets yeah, one more time, i can never get enough of everybody, sing it right back, i like it like that snoets till the break of dawn, yeah, party on the lawn, whistle as the girls walk by ♪ ♪ if the cops roll up, so what, pour the cops a cup because everybody's here tonight ♪ ♪ call a taxi, pack the back seat snoets i wouldn't have it any other way snoets if you're with me let me hear you say snoets i like it like that, hey,

windows down, chillin' with the radio on ♪ ♪ i like it like that, sun's so hot, make the girls take it all off ♪ ♪ i like it like that, yeah, one more time, i can never get enough of everybody ♪ ♪ sing it right back, i like it like that ♪ ♪ oh oh oh oh, like that ♪ oh oh oh, like that oh oh oh, sing it rye back, i like it like that ♪ ♪ oh oh oh, like that ♪ let's get it on, y'all can come along, everybody drinks on me, ♪ ♪ i like it like that, hey, windows down, chillin' with the radio on ♪ ♪ i like it like that, sun's so hot, make the girls take it all off ♪ i like it like that, yeah, one more time, i can never get enough ♪ ♪ of everybody sing it right back if you like it, like it

like that ♪ hey, windows down, chillin' with the radio on ♪ ♪ i lake it like that, sun's so hot, make the girls take it all off ♪ ♪ i like it like that, yeah, one more time, i can never get enough ♪ ♪ of everybody, sing it right back, i like it like that ♪ ♪ oh oh oh oh, like that ♪ oh oh oh like that ♪ oh oh oh, sing it right back, i like it like that ♪ ♪ oh oh oh, oh oh oh like that ♪ like that, sing it right back i like it like that ♪ ♪ i can never get enough of everybody ♪ sing it right back, i like it like that ♪ >> hot chelle rae, thank you.

the new album is "whatever," it's out today. just ahead, we'll have the new holiday steals and deals. good tuesday morning to you. 8:26 right now. i'm laura garcia-cannon. the search has been called off for a missing paddle boat -- boarder, rather. the man gave a false identity to a paddleboard rental company when he took that out on to the

water. they're asking anyone with information to call them. want to get a look at the morning commute with mike inouye. it's been a pretty foggy morning out there, making for a foggy commute. >> compounding that situation is an accident on the peninsula. southbound 101 at whipple avenue, which has two lanes blocked. another accident at marsh.

holidays may be the best time of year to generate goodwill, but it's the worst time for generating waste. i'm suzanne shaw. california leads the nation in recycling. 89% of our glass is recycled, but we recycle only 9% of polystyrene, including the foam trays used in some packaging. polystyrene has to be cleaned to be recycled so most area recycles take those food containers straight to the dump. just because you put it in the bin doesn't mean gets recycled. which is why so many cities have banned polystyrene.

nbc bay area urges you to give the environment a gift this year. support local polystyrene bans and use biodegradable alternatives. learn more at nbceditorials.com. ♪ it's my party, dance if i want to, we can get crazy, let it all out, just don't stop, keep the beat bumpin, it's my party dance if i want to, we can get crazy, let it all out ♪ >> we're back now with more of "today" on this weesh back with more of "today," the 29th day of november, 2011. savannah treating us to a little extra song there. >> no. >> i thought you were going to show them our dance moves. >> no, no, not at all. >> we had a dance moment here.

>> i'm matt lauer along with savannah guthrie and mr. al roker. coming up three years ago today, natalie wood died, and there's still questions about what actually happened on that day. the investigation into her death, as you know, has been reopened. this morning going to have an exclusive interview with the harbor master who organized a search for her off catalina island. first time he is speaking out. on a completely different note, in our diet s.o.s. with joy bower, it's the time of year where people tend to get off track with their diets. well, joy has some ideas on what we should fill up on before you hit the holiday parties. also, some advice on what to eat to get a boost of energy for the mid-afternoon slump. >> all right. also ahead, if you slept through black friday and your computer crashed on cyber monday, fear not. it's jill martin's tuesday. she's back with her steals and deals. up to 80% off for today show viewers. she has diamond jewelry, and the always popular leather handbag. that's coming up.

lots to get to. natalie with the headlines. hi, natalie. >> good morning, everyone. gop presidential hopeful herman cain is once again under fire today after a georgia woman alleged that she and cain had an extramarital affair spanning 13 years. ginger white said cain only ended their relationship a few months before he began his run for office. cain denies the alleged affair and says detractors are just trying to "derail the cain train." prosecutors are seeking the maximum four-year prison term when michael jackson's doctor is sentenced today. dr. conrad murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for his reckless use of the anesthetic propofol, which led to the singer's death. murray's attorneys are asking for probation, claiming murray is already facing a life of shame and limited opportunities. democratic congressman barney frank says he is not running for re-election next year because he has to p spend too much time campaigning in his newly redrawn massachusetts

district. this morning frank told savannah his decision has nothing to do with democratic prospects for retaking control of the house. authorities are zeroing in on the ex-fiance of missing florida mom michelle parker who vanished after her appearance on "the people's court." >> reporter: missing mom michelle parker in happier times with dale smith, the father of her 3-year-old twins. now the chief suspect in her disappearance. >> after numerous tips and investigative police, we are officially naming dale smith, the ex-fiance, as the primary suspect in the disappearance of michelle parker. >> he could have avoided this if he had cooperated with the police and took a polygraph test when they ask you, you know? you could have eliminated a lot of stress, so, unfortunately, you brought this on yourself. ♪ >> a youtube video and postings

on facebook have a view inside the life of the man believed to be the last person to see michelle when she dropped off their twins. >> he is suing for $5,000, the value of the ring. >> reporter: hours after the two were seen on national tv arguing over a lost engagement ring on a taped episode of "the people's court." >> he is a mean person. especially when he has been drinking. >> reporter: while michelle told her mom she was humiliated by the experience, he even promoted the episode on his facebook page where he was dressed up as some of his favorite movie and comic book characters. costumes friends say he wears to science fiction conventions. >> i'm fascinated. you're a grown man dressing up. >> 11-08, on the night of michelle's disappearance, a darker post on his wall. >> oh, man, oh, man, michelle, the mother of my kids, is missing. her mother called me and said she never showed up to work after dropping the kids off with me. the police just came by and

searched my whole house. this isn't good. my kids miss their mother. that was not the last time police searched smith. on saturday a swat team rateded his father's home. in the days following michelle's disappearance smith posted on facebook that he prayed for michelle's safe return wresh also tried to clear his name saying, "i'm not that type of person. if you know me, then you know the truth." just what michelle's family is seeking. >> we're not going to stop until we find out who did this. we love our michelle so much. a cargo ship is on its way to pick up three american sailors stranded on the world's most remote inhabited island. they were taking part in volvo's round the world yacht race when their puma ocean racing yacht broke a mast last week. they made it safely to the south atlantic where they have met many of the 262 locals and even played some golf there. not so bad. well, they don't always get

along, but last night the british royal family and members of the media partied together to kick off the diamond jubilee celebration. william answered questions about the helicopter rescue operation he took part in on sunday. you're up-to-date right now. six minutes past the hour. let's get a check of the weather from mr. roker. al. >> thanks so much, natalie. as we check out what's happening for today, well, weave got snow to talk about. storm totals so far, denmark, tennesse five inches of snow. there's more falling as this system wraps itself around. it's now moving to the east of memphis. rain ahead of the system. so we're expecting rainfall amounts that are going to be fairly focused on the east coast. back to the west rain changes over to snow. from flint to memorandum fishings we're talking winter storm watches and warnings. advisories as well. anywhere from six to eight inches of snow in parts of cent

we've got this relentless low-cloud cover across the bay area. it looks like we are going to start to see some clearing as we head through the next two hours. then by about es11:30, maybe ev 12:00, we should start to see partly cloudy conditions over the bay area. as we head through tomorrow, a rot of wind in the forecast acss the bay area. wind advisories for elevations below 1,000 feet with a high-winrnd ing fd elevations above 1,000 feet, winds lasting all the way through thursday. >> time for joy's diet sos. today joy bower is here with everything from using butter spray to keeping your diet on track during the holidays. good to see you. >> hey, al. >> we want to go right to skype. we've got jen in birmingham, massachusetts. good morning, jen. >> good morning, al. good morning, joy. thanks for taking my question. >> you bet. what's your question? >> i need keys for using nonfat butter spray?

is it really a bad choice? >> not at all. it's not the most natural choice, but if it's going to entice you to eat more vegetables, it's totally fine. don't get carried away with putting it on anything and everything because the calories add up quick, and here's why. the label is able to say zero calories because only a minuscule amount comes out, thanks to that aerated pump, but there are many hundreds of servings per bottle. one bottle has 900 calories, 90 grams of fat. i had a client that was mysteriously gaining weight, and the culprit was the butter spray. she was pouring it on everything. she was going through about a bottle every couple of days. obviously, she had a bunch of unaccounted for calories. the bottle line is go for it, flavor up your foods with a few spurts here and there, but just make sure you don't go overboard. >> thanks, jen. >> thank you. >> now to massachusetts. we're going to go to debbie. she's on the phone from boston, massachusetts. good morning, debbie. what's your question?

>> good morning. i tend to fall into a midafternoon slump at work. i start to feel tired. i have trouble focussing. i'm wondering what are the best snacks i can eat to get my energy back up? >> this question is too perfectly timed. just this month we had new research that shows up that shows that protein is actually the best food cure for that afternoon slump that we all tend to fall into. researchers out of the u.k. saw that when protein was given in the lab, it was able to wake up brain cells and keep us better able to focus. on the other hand, starchy, carby sugary snacks like candy and pretzels and chips and crackers make us feel more sluggish. if you are looking for the lift in the afternoon, eat something like a hard boiled egg, string cheese, a nonfat greek yogurt and celery dipped in hummus. all of these things contain protein, and they'll help to

keep us feeling awake. >> thank you, debbie. good question. now we have a viewer e-mail. this is from lindsey in georgia writing, "it seems i have success on my diet before the holidays, but then i start to cheat and eat more." welcome to it is club. how can i not undo all i've done this fall? >> first, i think it's a great sign that she is looking ahead, and she wants to strategize. she's not going to get herself into trouble. i'm going offer up two guidelines. first, she wants to selectively splurge. look at her calendar, and pick three holiday gatherings that she's going to allow herself to let loose. the rest of the time keep it together on a healthy plan with her eating and her exercise and forego those holiday goodies. the second piece of the puzzle is when she's at these holiday gatherings and she's going to let loose, follow my rule of one. she's going to eat one of every tempting delicious hors d'oeuvre, one plate of food filled with anything she wants, al, one alcoholic beverage if she wants, and one dessert. this way she gets to enjoy

everything. she doesn't overstuff herself. >> our last viewer e-mail from susan in bluffdale, utah. i've never been one for counting calories what's the easiest way to start learning. >> i strongly suggest taking advantage of some of the terrific web sites and apps that are on the market because all you need to do is plug in your food, and they do all the work for you. you get your total calories and fat and fiber and your sugar, and there are so many good ones on the market. my fitness pal, livestrong, lose it, sparks people, and the best part is they have a website and an app, so whether you are at the computer auto or on your smartphone, just plug it right in. you're covered. >> you got us covered. thanks. still to come, a "today" exclusive one of the men involved with the search for natalie wood is speaking out about what happened that night for the first time in 30 years. up next, we're doing a little holiday shopping. often duplicated but never equalled jill's steals and deals just for today's viewers. you're going to y spmera?

's new baked pasta romanas. ruffled pasta, layered with creamy fontina and asiago cheeses, and oven-baked just for you. try it with pan seared chicken with toscano tomatoes. or, try it with braised beef. for a limited time, only at olive garden. [ female announcer ] let betty crocker do the measuring and get a head start on delicious homemade cookies. ♪ just pour, mix...love.

use the hand towel analyzer at kleenex.com and find out what could be on your cloth hand towel. [ ribbits ] upgrade to kleenex hand towels for a clean, fresh towel every time. they're for keeping us together. ♪ [ boy ] to dad, love sam. [ mom ] say "merry christmas." [ boy ] merry christmas. [ female announcer ] hallmark recordable storybooks. [ boy ] charlie brown spotted a small, scraggly pine tree. ♪

this morning on "jill's steals an deals" we are doing a little holiday shopping. jill is back with great deals on everything from sweaters to diamond jewelry exclusively for you, our "today" viewers. good morning. >> good morning. >> so christmas right around the corner, holidays around the corner. is all of this going to get there in time? >> everything will get there on time. go to today.com right now. there's a lot of limited supply. yesterday i was looking at all the deals for cyber monday and i'm like forget cyber monday, steals and deals tuesday, we have all the deals beat. >> let's talk about these sweaters by calvin klein.

we have two different styles, the ones over there and this one here. >> these are calvin klein jeans by that company. the retail is $79.50. two styles. the ribbed cardigan is available in four sweaters, extra small to extra large. the next one on these next two comes in striped colors. retail $79.50, the deal $24. that's 70% off. >> that's huge. that's great. now to this is going to be a popular one. breeze comfort. tell us about this deal. >> we have to watch where we stand. >> erica from our control room is editing, she's still talking about the last bra so, erica, these are for you. these breeze comfort push-up bras, retail $40.99 to $44.99. let's start with the first one right here. this is the plunge bra so it's padded with underwire and obviously great for those low

neck lines for the holiday season and your new year's dresses. this is the first and it comes in black and beige. let's move on to this and i tried three different ways to show you the multi-way convertible bra. it's just whatever the dress or top looks like. there's hooks and bands everywhere. you can really do that. check the sizing chart. >> it's the magic bra. >> it's the magic bra for any dress. the retail $40.99 to $44.99. the deal is $13. that's 71% off. and it will arrive in time for you to wear your fabulous dress for the holidays. >> how, are you ready to rock your hair literally? this is a deal by rock your hair, hair care products. five-piece package set. tell us about it. >> you certainly can't miss it. the retail is $107. this is an exclusive look at a new collection created by an award-winning stylist. the package includes shampoo, conditioner, powder, and an

adjustable hair stray so delivers three strengths. so if you want big hair, you do it on the most powerful. the retail $107. the deal, $32. that's 70% off. and it comes packaged like this. so it's a fun gift if you have a friend -- >> if you really want to rock your hair. you need your hair in three big styles. let's move on over here. we've got some great big ticket items for you today. first is jewelry by edina raider and these are gorgeous diamond necklaces that come in three different designs, the heart, the star and a little bird or robin. >> right, the dove. the retail i$375. if your significant other is at work, buy this and tell him to write you a check because this is just a great solid gift and it's a classic piece. each piece is sterling silver with pave diamonds and you never have to take it off. celebs include jennifer aniston,

cameron diaz. the deal is $75. that's 75% off. >> that's great. let's move on over to our handbag deal because they always fly. here you have handbags by lola bernard. >> these always fly each week and we keep selling out of those. the retail is $325. it comes in all these fun colors, seven total. this oversized hobo is 100% leather -- genuine leather. the retail $325. the deal $65. that's 80% off. i just heard a "wow" from our crew. >> yes, it's a very roomy bag. you can get a lot in there. >> it fits like a small person. >> jill martin, as always, thank you so much. a reminder the products are sweaters by calvin klein jeans, we have the bras by breeze comfort, a five-piece hair care package by rock your hair, pave diamond necklaces and the bags by lola bernard. remember, they will all get to you by christmas promises jill.

pick up this week's edition of "us weekly." jill will take more of your questions on twitter. speaking of tweeting, coming up, getting a handle on college applications. we're going to help parents and students navigate the digital age. i didn't write it, i'm just reading it. first these ssages.re can you believe it another thanksgiving. oh your turkey was delicious like always sweetheart. ah...thanks mom. bye. drive safely. yes, we will we will love you. ♪ it's beginning to look a lot like christmas ♪ ♪ toys in every store. egg nog? ♪ the prettiest sight to see is the holly that will be on your own front door ♪ that's been wrapped in a flaky crust stuffed with a gooey center toasted up all golden brown then given a delicious design?

a toaster strudel. pillsbury toaster strudel. so delicious...so fun.

pillsbury toaster strudel. gives you a 50% annual bonus! so you earn 50% more cash. according to research, everybody likes more cash. well, almost everybody... ♪ would you like 50% more cash? no! but it's more money. [ male announcer ] the new capital one cash rewards card. the card for people who want 50% more cash. what's in your wallet? woah! [ giggles ] olive garden'swoah! new chicken & potato florentine soup made from scratch daily with roasted chicken. it's part of our $6.95 unlimited soup, salad and breadsticks lunch. and it's only here for a limited time. they're smart. they can outsmart their humans. and their canines.

that's why they deserve the smartest choice in litter. so we make fresh step scoopable litter with carbon, which is more effective at absorbing odors than baking soda. fresh step. your cat deserves the best. look for new fresh step, with better odor elimination than ever before. well, earlier today our crowd showed its holiday spirit by donating toys and books for our 18th annual toy drive here at rockefeller center. we want to thank santa's helpers, the band hot chelle rae, who came out and collected some of those toys a little bit earlier. >> someone else has been contributing generously through

the years, the ceo of tupperw e tupperware. guys, good to see you. >> good to be here. >> rick, you guys every year step up to the placement what are you doing this year? >> a quarter of a million dollars worth of shape-os. all those that we sold over the years would extend from new york to paris if you put them end to end. >> nicholas, speaking of the boys and girls club, you guys have been so generous, tell me about how it has changed your life. >> it's just been a huge thing ever since the first time i came. i came from a tough childhood, i was abandoned by my parents, went through a lot of foster parents. but when i came to the club, i was introduced to lots of mentors, they have done everything for me and it's always that place to go. >> nick, thank you for being here. rick, thank you for your donation every year. we appreciate it. >> $60 million you have raised

for the boys and girls club. >> if you want to donate head to our website, today.com. we'll be back in a moment, but first your local news. ♪ have a better day [ male announcer ] only subway has a deal this flat-out delicious -- the $3 flatbread breakfast combo. a toasty flatbread breakfast sandwich and a 16-ounce cup of seattle's best coffee or 21-ounce fountain drink. all for only $3. [ male announcer ] start with a breakfast at subway that can't be beat. like the protein-powerhouse steak, bacon, egg & cheese. mwah!! [ male announcer ] tackle a fresh toasted subway steak melt today. rush in and get your flavor on. subway. where winners eat. ♪ vegetables picked at their peak ♪ ♪ so fresh my knees grow weak [ male announcer ] new hearty bertolli meal soup for two,

with crisp vegetables and tender chicken. [ chef ] ♪ fresh tasting restaurant style ♪ ♪ bertolli soup's in the freezer aisle ♪ good morning, everyone. the time is now 9:26. i'm jon kelley. the case against former b.a.r.t. police officer and four other b.a.r.t. police officers resumed this morning. mehserle is expected to take the stand moments from now. they are accused of using excessive force when they arrested a man back in november 2008. carothers took the stand yesterday saying, quote, i'm no angel, but i did not deserve to get beat up. mehserle has said that he was

afraid he would cause harm to another passenger. a million gallons of water has gushed out. they are now working on another section of the pipe that runs from hillsboro to san francisco. investigators say the break could affect work on the entire line. san francisco public utilities commission right now investigating this pipe failure. homes, cars and city inf infrastructure were damaged by all of the flooding we'llav he a check on your local traffic and weather.

welcome back. good tuesday morning to you. little bit of clearing but a lot of thick fog across the bay area. as we head through the next couple of hours, that's when the sun will do its job to start to clear that top layer, burn off that fog. 67 degrees tomorrow, windy conditions. we'll check your drive with mike. >> still very slow peninsula.

although the accident for 101 at whipple avenue has, indeed, cleared the roadway. recovery through the area but very slow southbound through san mateo into a foggy 101 end to a commute. that's likely the issue for more slowing, as well, there. san mateo bridge, fog is the issue. and 880 very slow through oakland. we can't see even the freeway. back to you. >> thank you, mike. join us in one half hour with another local news update. see you then.

♪ ♪ as long as i can have you here with me ♪ >> that's the boy from brooklyn, neil diamond. he's been writing songs for 50 years. tomorrow on "today" he's bringing his signature style to the studio and going to help us out with our toy drive. neil diamond, the one and only, tomorrow only on "today." >> can't wait to see him here. coming up in this half hour, it was 30 years ago today that hollywood lost one of its biggest stars, natalie wood. and this morning for the first time since her death, we'll have an exclusive interview with the

harbormaster who helped coordinate the search on the night that she drowned. also ahead, you guys remember waiting by the mailbox for those thick, you hoped they would be thick, envelopes from the college admissions office? those days apparently are coming to an end. now universities are moving into the digital age. everything from virtual tours to online applications and essays, so we've got the crib notes or should we say e-mails for parents to help their child stand out from the pack. >> they have been turned down by colleges on line. >> and don't tweet the college admissions essay. holiday party planning with noted chef ed brown. he's going to be here with some simple seafood dishes that will impress your guests. oh, that looks good. >> i always love when ed brown comes. >> first you've got a check of the weather. >> as we show you what's happening for today, we've got heavy rain moving into the mid-atlantic and northeast later tonight. rain changing over to snow in the upper midwest. rain moves into the pacific

northwest. sunny and mild through the southwest. tomorrow rain and snow spreading across the plains. look for morning showers in northern new england, some i lake-effect snows the eastern side of the great lakes. the southern half of the country looks good. for our tree lighting tomorrow,f 5:00 p.m. temperature 55 and clear. 9:0048 and enclosure. savannah wil be wearing a lovely winter white coat. >> i won't be. >> sure you will. >> al has already looked at my outfit for tomorrow night and rejected it. so i guess i'll be shopping this afternoon. >> can i go with you? >> absolutely not. i need a little space from you right now. >> it's been rough on savannah this morning. sa savannah, i good morning to you. taking a live look at sunol, where we're getting some improvement when it comes to your visibility. you can actually see the highway here. meanwhile, a lot of fog hugging the coastline.

it will take so quite some time for the sun to break through. it will. travel cautiously if you're headed out and about. the second half of your day, we'll get clearing and temperatures will stay cool, upper 60s, but mostly upper 50s at the coast. and that's your latest weather. >> fantastic. thank you, al. we're going to say hello to ramon, the latest contestant to have the scales tip against him on nbc's hit show "the biggest loser." ramon, good morning. good to have you here. >> good morning. i love it, it makes me feel right at the ranch, right? >> you started at 355 pounds. >> yes, sir. >> and lost more that 86. you look terrific. what's your total loss? >> definitely. right now iem right around 130 pounds. >> you look amazing. >> thank you. >> this show really saved your life. you said when you got to the ranch you were dying and you didn't know it. you had diabetes and you were diagnosed there on the ranch. tell bus that. >> definitely.

i didn't go to the doctor for a long time, probably since college, seven, eight years. i found out that i had diabetes on the ranch. amongst sleep appear nnea and o things. i don't have any of it anymore. >> ramon, you lost all the weight. do i have this right, you found a girlfriend on the ranch? >> i definitely did. >> that's pretty good. >> i'm a winner already. me and jess are together and we're having a great life. you know, we're healthy every day. >> you went skydiving together. i think we have video of that. >> crazy enough, we did go skydiving and i did say before that you were going to have to kick me out of a plane, but i jumped and got it done. >> good for you. you got your life back. >> what's your goal weight? >> right around 190 pounds or so, i think. that's a nice goal weight to live by. >> that's fantastic. ramon, thank you. >> there you are stepping off that plane. >> that's fantastic. >> wow. >> that's amazing. you go, ramon. >> thank you. >> thank you so much. >> ramon, thank you so much.

celebrity hairstylist kim and fashion expert jenny help transform the final five w contestants in a special makeover episode of "the biggest loser" that airs tonight at 8:00/7:00 central right here on nbc. coming up next, one of the men who searched for natalie wood 30 years ago, tells us what he saw the night she drowned coming up right after this. [ grandma ] ok. ♪ ah. then we will all do it together. treats! teets...teets...teets... yeah, look at this. [ female announcer ] it seems like the best family traditions... always start in the kitchen. ♪ rice krispies®. happy holidays. rice krispies®. here's a little holiday secret. there's only one place that has the new kardashian kollection. apostrophe, uk style by french connection. structure and bongo...

all under one roof. sears has all the styles they love, at prices you'll love. and all the money you save... well, that can be your little secret. right now, get an extra 15% off with your savings pass. that's real gifts. real joy. sears 's new baked pasta romanas. ruffled pasta, layered with creamy fontina and asiago cheeses, and oven-baked just for you. try it with pan seared chicken with toscano tomatoes. or, try it with braised beef. for a limited time, only at olive garden. ♪ hark how the bells, sweet silver bells ♪ ♪ all seem to say throw care away ♪ ♪ from everywhere, filling the air ♪ [ female announcer ] chex party mix. easy 15-minute homemade recipes you just pop in a microwave.

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delicious coffee in under a minute. way to brew. so with keurig, every cup tastes like it's brewed just for you. because it is. it has been three decades since the death of natalie wood. now with police reinvestigating her drowning, witnesses are coming forward to talk about what they saw that fateful night. one of those witnesses talked exclusively to nbc's miguel almaguer who's in los angeles. miguel, good morning. >> reporter: natalie, good morning to you. it was 30 years ago today that natalie wood's body was found

off the shores of catalina island. harbor master doug oden helped coordinate the search that night and he's telling his story for the first time since 1981. >> it's always bothered me that things went the way they did. >> reporter: november 29th, 1981, 2:00 a.m. harbormaster doug oden boards natalie wood's yacht shortly after she is reported missing. also aboard, her husband, robert wagner, actor christopher walken and the captain, dennis davern. >> they had been drinking and it was a little difficult getting information from them initially because they were slurring their words. >> reporter: according to the three men, after a long night of drinking, an argument broke out and wood went to her cabin at the back of the boat, when wood and the boat's dinghy went missing, wagner told investigators he initially thought his wife had taken the dinghy back to shore.

the author of the biography say friends told her wood had a fear of water. >> i certainly don't think that she went into the dinghy. i think she went overboard in a way that was beyond her control. >> reporter: sometime after 10:00 that night, wood went into the water. the first call for help went out at 1:00 in the morning, just after 5:00 a.m., search crews found wood's dinghy, oden broke the news to wagner. >> he was very, very concerned that she was missing. i know he's an actor, but there's some things that you just can't fake. >> reporter: oden was with wagner when the radio call came in. wood's body had been found floating near the dinghy. neither wagner, walker or davern has ever claimed to know when wood went into the water. they always maintain the death was an accident but the captain

now claims wagner delayed getting help for wood when he realized she was missing. >> i think it was a matter of we're not going to look too hard, we're not going to turn on the search light or notify anybody right at the moment. >> reporter: doug oden believes if the search had started soon their night, she might still be alive today. >> it was pretty evident, i think, when they found her that she had been clinging to the dinghy for quite a while. >> neither robert wagner nor christopher walken have talked publicly since the case has reopened, but wagner said in a statement that his family welcomes the investigation. natalie. >> miguel almaguer in los angeles. thanks so much, miguel. coming up next, switching gears. applying to college in the digital age. what parents and students need to know right after this. [ female announcer ] ornaments are not for decorating. dad. did you know it's 22 days, 11 hours and 2 minutes to christmas? [ mumbling ] ...enny days, 8 hours, 9 minutes... 18 days, 17 hours... [ mom ] let's go, young lady. [ female announcer ] they're for building excitement

for christmas. 12 days, 18 hours... come on. it's no days! [ female announcer ] the hallmark countdown to christmas ornament. 5 hours and 59 minutes and 41... 40...39... 38...37...36... the best in nutrition... just got better. now with even more of the vitamins your body needs. like vitamin d. plus omega 3's. there's one important ingredient that hasn't changed: better taste. [ female announcer ] eggland's best. better taste. better nutrition. the better egg. olive garden'se announcer ] eggland's best. new chicken & potato florentine soup made from scratch daily with roasted chicken. it's part of our $6.95 unlimited soup, salad and breadsticks lunch. and it's only here for a limited time. and this time of year, i send out a lot of gifts. sweater for mom, free shipping from brian. i'm brian andrews. i ship the gifts that last. the holidays are made here at l.l.bean.

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back now with applying to college in the digital age. from virtual campus tours to youtube application videos, today's college admissions process has changed dramatically in just a few years. so how can parents and students keep up with the times? cat coen is the ceo and founder of ivywise. it's changed since i did my college admissions back in 1946, so tell me how the digital age has changed the college admissions process. >> students have college information readily available at their finger tips and they can learn a lot about many more colleges today than they used to. you can go online and look at a course catalog, you can participate in an online college

fair, you can do virtual tours, and the common application, otherwise known as the common app, is very widely used today. and it's an online application form that can be sent to any of 456 colleges. through the touch of a button you can apply up to 20 colleges and students have unprecedented access to admissions officers, current students, alumni, include college's facebook pages or blogs, twitter, linkedin, youtube, you name it. >> and we'll talk about some of the etiquette issues that raises in a moment, but first on the flip side of things, how are the colleges using this same technology to entice students? >> well, they're attracting students from all over the u.s. and abroad internationally because they have this open resource of information, so answering students' questions, really creating an online persona. for example johns hopkins has hopkins interactive and it's an aggregate of all their blogs, twitter handles, photos and videos. also schools are using it in the

application process itself. for example, tufts university is allowing students to actually submit a youtube video as part of their application. they're also conducting online information sessions and interviews and they're welcoming and socializing, their admitted students through an incoming class facebook page or youtube videos. >> i'm sure folks are wondering is it still worth it to go and visit the campus. can you learn most of what you need to know online. >> well, it is still worth it i'd say. all of this digital media is an enhancement but not a replacement. the certain things that you're not going to get, like just even the feel of the campus when you get there and understanding what other real students are like or sitting in on a class or even how far away the school is from home. if you get on a plane for five hours, that's different than looking at a school from the  comfort of your living room. >> let's talk about this technology. you talked about it a minute ago. now we live in a day and age where prospective students might have the e-mail of the dean of

admissions, perhaps could try to friend the dean of admissions or send that person a tweet. would you advise that kind of contact? >> no. students need to be careful. they're used to expressing themselves in up to 160 characters or 140 tweets and using internet slang like lol or brb. with an admissions officer you want to make sure you're more formal, well written and grammatically correct. while it's great to like a college's facebook page you don't want to friend request the dean of admissions. >> no question about that. you also say students should protect their own online identity. >> colleges are looking at students. i know someone who hired someone in the admissions office whose sole job is to view applicants' social media. so it's really important to make sure that you are looking at everything you're posting online. i tell students whatever you post needs to pass the grandparents test. if you don't want your

grandparents to see it, don't post it. you want to eliminate any questionable photos. you know almost all the photos are questionable. >> party pictures. >> and not reading that book in the library. but there is a way to turn this around for a student and we teach students how to use social media to their favor so they can showcase their skills and talents. post photos of artwork or video of you playing soccer or violin. >> reading quad rattic evasions on friday night. some really good advice. thanks so much. appreciate it. coming up next, super seafood for your next holiday party. first, this is "today" on nbc.

this morning in "today's holiday kitchen" gourmet seafood recipes made easy. chef ed brown is a collaborator at ed's shoud chowder house.

so good to see you, ed. how's it going. >> good to see you. happy holidays to you. >> so we're making crab cakes today. >> i want to start off by mentioning, do you know i've been cooking these on air here for almost 20 years? this same recipe. we're doing the fresh version. >> thank goodness. i know at restaurant associates, they want the fresh stuff. >> they do. >> we're starting with mayonnaise. i actually use prepared. i use hellman's. it has a certain flavor, i really love it. old bay seasoning, cayenne pepper, dump it in. give me an egg yolk. okay. >> a little mustard. >> a little dijon mustard. >> whisk it together. >> what kind of crab? >> this is blue crab. go ahead and mix that up a little bit. >> but you don't want to bust it up too much? >> we want to see those nice big lumps.

>> right. all right. then you've got an ice cream scoop. >> we're not making a sundae. scoop it in there and then pack it in pretty good. and then right out into the crumbs. >> what kind of bread crumbs or crumbs are these? >> these are corn flake crumbs. all we do is gently put them on there. and then lightly pick it up so you hold it together. and just form it a little bit right onto your baking tray. a little tiny pat of butter on top. >> you're baking these, not frying them? >> bake them, not fry them. just bake it until they're hot because everything is cooked except for the egg yolks. these are fresh scallops. >> i've never seen them before. >> so scallops, you just open them like this and there's your little scallop. all of this is part of the abductor muscle that we're going to scrape away. when they come out of the shell, they look like this. >> okay. >> i've got my scallops cooking.

>> and this is a simple dish you can make? >> that's the whole idea, we want to make this as easy as possible. butter, olive oil, sauteing my scallops. a little rosemary flavors the butter, which flavors the scallops. >> and how long on each side? >> about two minutes on each side. here's a little potato puree. i've got roasted garlic puree. the roasted garlic goes into a pan, olive oil, salt and pepper, some rosemary. i just squeeze that garlic out. look at this. bingo. >> oh, yeah. >> nice, fresh garlic. >> you just roast that in the oven? >> i roast that in the oven. when it comes out, i take the pieces, save some like that, puree the rest to make my puree. i'm going to put a little bit of this puree down on the plate. >> okay. ladies, just in time. >> yeah! >> very good, savannah. >> we've been working on that.

>> very nice. wow. you've been really using your muscle, even though those are scallops. >> ed, it goes downhill from here. >> it always does. >> we've got chowder, we've got our loaded chowder from chowder house, we've got our biscuits, some bite-size crab cakes. >> there we go. >> and you're opening up a new restaurant. >> with restaurant associates in philadelphia called wrrittenhou tavern. >> happy holidays. still to come, hoda and kathie lee will share some laughs with betty white. >> first your local news and [ female announcer ] martinelli's gold medal sparkling cider

is the perfect choice for holiday gatherings. martinelli's is non-alcoholic, festive like champagne, and tastes great! martinelli's: since 1868. on campus, online, or both and earn my bachelor's degree in 3 years you can, too. [ male announcer ] at devry university, whether you study at one of our 4 bay area locations, online or both, you can prepare for a career in a growing field... and with year round class offerings, you can even do it in as few as three years. if i can let nothing nothing...stand in my way you can too. [ male announcer ] classes start january 3. learn more at devry.edu good morning, everyone. the time now is 9:56. i'm jon kelley. this just in from los angeles. conrad murray trial, they were having sentencing and they've just put it out that conrad murray has received the full

four years, maximum sentence there for the death of michael jackson. he did just receive that guilty verdict earlier this year and now the judge has ruled he will receive the full four-year sentence and go to prison for that amount of time. we'll keep you posted on this story throughout the day and have an update for you at 11:00 here on nbc. let's take a check on the weather. christina loren is here to tell us about another foggy day outside. >> what a difference a couple of hours make. here in sunol, a little bit of that blue sky overhead. this is the case across the bay area. those clouds are starting to thin out just a touch. we'll be done with the fog, at least for the short time. our next focus, of course, will be very gusty wunds. those start to develop early tomorrow morning. we're talking about a lot of wind, especially through the higher elevations, gusts up to 70 miles per hour certainly spob. timeframe will be between mid morning hours tomorrow and early

evening. let's check your drive with mike inouye. that fog clearing is going to help the drive. another issue in the roads, southbound 880 at 92, reports of black roofing paper -- not a whole roll but a good piece of that roofing paper. that could be an issue if you come upon it and weren't aware because of the visibility. visibility is an issue at 92. tough to see from that toll plaza. you can see a few more yards than we could before across the span. heavy fog on bridge, reduce your speeds. best advised throughout the bay area. look over at the peninsula side of the dumbarton bridge. slowing from southbound 101 all the way to menlo park. earlier accidents have cleared through the area. 101 and 237 have remainder of slowing. once again, conrad murray, the doctor for michael jackson, handed the full four-year sentencing for the death of the

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♪ p >> announcer: from nbc news, this is "today" with kathy lee gifford and hoda kotbe, live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. >> hello, everybody. it's tuesday, november 29. yesterday we here in new york broke a record in central park. it was 70 degrees. >> i can't believe how it even feels today. but today may be among the last hurrahs. >> so it's balmy in new york, but hot in cleveland. >> we are very excited. >> they are all with us today. >> they are all on the couch, almost ready. waiting on betty. >> where is betty?

>> hi, ladies! >> this show is hot. they are hot for many reasons. it is on tvland of course. but it is also hot because guess who will be on the season premiere tomorrow? >> don rickles. >> not exactly. >> ok. him too. >> and you. and we're going to see what this is all about. these are the behind the scenes shots. and we'll show you some clips and sit with the entire cast of "hot in cleveland." >> they are such unbelievable pros, these ladies. and they're fun, and they made me feel so at home. betty is here now? >> wait. are you sure? is there a studio audience? >> yes, there's a studio audience there. it's shot like an old-time -- but it's anything but old time. it's so current and so relevant and so much fun. a lot of the writers i understand are from the "fras r "frasier" days. so they are sharp. >> betty's here. >> betty's in the house! >> yes! >> none of them get along at all. >> i heard they hate each other.

>> the cat fights. betty was pulling their hair out. grabbing their bra straps. she gets wild. >> i can picture that happening. >> they're probably not even listening to us. i wanted to ask them why women fake it. >> this is a big question. we talked about this on our program before. women fake it. and you know when we're talking about. and the question is why? >> they fake being in poe kepsy. >> i was certain, and i still am certain, that the reason is because they're tired and they want to go to sleep. >> that's the reason you fake it, so you just assumed that all women fake it for the same reason. anthony is listening intently. >> according to a columbia university study, women fake it for one reason, and this is their reason to boost our man's ego. >> who cares? >> that's why we fake it. they interviewed a ton of women. >> you mean, they care -- they are so loving and caring and unselfish that they only cause

about asaging a man's ego? >> yes. that's the whole reason. >> i think it's your reason. >> you don't think mine is fatigue? >> that's what i'm saying. i think it's your reason. not the ego boosting thing. >> yeah, yeah. yeah. but they say that's the same reason that women dress up and keep tabs on their guy. the same reason that women dress up are the same women that fake it. >> i think dressing up for your man is part of wanting to please him and have him -- you know, but keeping tabs on him? >> that's different. >> that's a little warning sign. that's a little flag. >> that's a red flag. >> yeah. don't you think? >> yeah. i think the women who keep close tabs on their men end up -- it's like what we talked about with sand. if you hold sand too tightly, it all falls away. you have to hold it gently and trust it. and that works. >> you have to hold with an open palm, right? >> who's been on planes lately?

if you've noticed there, is no dress code on flights. >> it's pretty much -- >> you can wear whatever you want, pjs, pants hanging down, whatever. and there's a passenger flying group that wants to impose a dress code for planes. they want you to have on -- to have a certain -- >> it doesn't seem outrageous what they're asking. >> it doesn't. i guess they are just tired of seeing people with really, really short skirts or pants hanging down or pjs -- >> i'm sorry. can i have that -- there you go. >> i'm wearing my new soma bra. >> do you love it? >> i love it. >> how come you're not wearing something that shows? >> i showed it this morning. anyway, i'll do that again. we know, we have a lot of you guys in the prisons that like it when we do that. so that was for you guys. happy holidays. >> so on a plane, this doesn't have to do with the dress code but there was an issue on the plane. there was a 400-pound man who got on a plane, and he got in a seat. and then there was the person sitting next to him. it was a seven-hour flight. and the person sitting next to him sat in the seat for takeoff and landing and stood for the

additional seven hours -- >> on the way to anchorage, alaska, because he was spilling over onto his seat. >> and he apologized, said i am your nightmare. nonetheless, the man had to stand. he said he literally couldn't breathe. >> yeah. >> now, i thought that they had to buy two seats if they were so heavy that they couldn't fit into one seat and buckle their seat belt. >> and then they say that there's some discretion there. and it has to do with whoever the ticket person is apparently at the counter, can make that determination of whether or not you should have one seat or two seats based on them eyeballing you, i guess. >> we were talking about that earlier. and our heart goes out to everybody. this is a man who's 400 pounds. he knows he's overweight. he knows it's an inconvenience. but as you said, hoda, he has to go through life like that. >> i actually feel really sorry -- >> i feel bad for him too. but the gentleman who doesn't weigh that has rights as well. >> if you are 400 pounds and you get on the plane, everyone is looking at you funny, which is probably a look you get all day

long. >> it's sad. it's not right. >> and here's the thing. an overweight person's issue is never the food, it's always something else. every joy fit person who lost weight -- >> it can be just weight. >> sometimes. but there's always something else. it's never about the food. and they wear theirs on the outside. everyone has something that is -- a way that they fill up. theirs is visual. so you can see it. >> i get that, i understand and have compassion for them. but at the same time, we have to compassion for the other person who had to stand for seven hours to get to anchorage. >> i know. but he has a seven-hour problem, and the other guy has a lifetime of issues. >> we'd love to know how you feel about it at home. here is the problem, everybody. this is not just an issue about an airplane. we have a pandemic in our country of obesity. >> yeah. >> and americans are now 20 pounds heavier than we were in 1990. i went to my doctor yesterday, and it's true, i am too. the ideal weight now is 10 pounds heavier than it used to be. now we say 10 pounds less. it used to be 20 pounds less.

>> women used to say the average weight was around 135 pounds. >> for a woman how tall? >> they said average, so 5'4"-ish. now they surveyed a bunch of different women of different sizes and heights and stuff, and they all were in the 160-pound range. >> that is too much weight around your heart to carry around if you're 5'3" or 5'4". >> if you're 5'4", the average woman should weigh 135 pounds. but it's hard now, because it's after thanksgiving and we all freel crummy. and by the way, everybody is in the gym now. >> everybody starts out with the best of intentions. you are in there every single morning no matter what at 5:00 in the morning. >> i know. >> here's the thing. we had a guy on yesterday in our joy fit. his name was tony pashet. we got a whole lot of ladies looking at tony. >> he's single? >> that was a before. he said women did not look at him. people made fun of him. a girl walked up to him and said, don't even think about it.

>> and there he is now. >> tony's coming out. i know he's there. come on out. >> this is the new tony. >> yes. >> and we basically -- he was kind of looking for a date. he is single. he weighs 230 now. lost 145 pounds. he is on the market. a lot of people wrote in on facebook and said, i want to date tony. >> give me some of tony. >> that's right. wants a little bit of that. >> so i think we'll have him back and play the dating game and let's find tony some true love, and maybe one of our viewers out there as well. >> who doesn't like to watch tony walk out? >> he says now, when girls look at him now, he always looks behind him to see who are they looking at. >> it's all new to him. but he was a nice guy too. >> we luke liked him. >> tis the season to give back. holiday mail for the heroes is really cool, you guys. these are little cards and encourage americans to think about the servicemen and women who are not with their families this holiday. send them good thoughts. you send it for heroes holiday mail for heroes, post office box

5456. >> and we'll put that on the website. >> yeah. >> and also these are kind of cool, these are celebrity designed dog bowls. this is cindy crawford. you can tell number one because her name is on it. and inside, you see her lips and her mole. >> this is william shatner, because he is a big horse guy. owns a lot of horses. i wonder where the betty white one is. no one loves animals more than betty white. >> nobody. she has a new book out. >> hoda is on the cover. yes, she is huge. who's bigger than hoda? long island woman or something like that. "long island woman." >> and it's free. you can get as many as you want. free, free. >> we have a little cocktail here, because that's what they do around here. it's spring fling. >> it's got gin in it. i can already feel it. up next, we are going to talk about the fabulous ladies about "hot in cleveland."

>> and then hot chocolate. but first, these messages. [ male announcer ] from the soups you know and love come soups that you'll love getting to know. new slow kettle style soups from campbell's. extraordinary taste sensations crafted from premium ingredients. slow kettle. new from campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do. fiber one. uh, forgot jack's cereal. [ jack ] what's for breakfast? um... try the number one! [ jack ] yeah, this is pretty good. [ male announcer ] half a day's worth of fiber. fiber one.

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serious, sometimes fatal, events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, and nervous system and blood disorders have occurred. before starting enbrel, your doctor should test you for tuberculosis and discuss whether you've been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. don't start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. tell your doctor if you're prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for heart failure, or if, while on enbrel, you experience persistent fever, bruising, bleeding, or paleness. if you've had enough, ask your dermatologist about enbrel. the emmy-winning sitcom "hot in cleveland starring betty white, valerie bertinellie, jane

leaves and wendy malick gets a kick-off this wednesday. starring kath any lee. >> no. don rickles. i hopped on the plane to la la land. >> why is my coffee mug empty. it's tipsy tuesday. why me, people? good. >> i understand that the producers are looking to add a fourth co-host. not to toot my own horn, but beep-beep. i have a wildly popular local show, oh hi, ohio." i'm the oprah of the middle east. >> i thought ohio was in the midwest. >> you're thinking of a different ohio. >> and they're all here today. i had a ball, thank you, thank you. and congratulations at the premiere of your third season.

still getting along. you haven't pulled each other's hair out. >> that's what you think. >> what's the truth, betty? >> betty tells the truth, right? >> yes, always, except to other people. >> when you do sign on for a sitcom, you sign on for five years, used to be seven. now it's five years you sign. that is a long time in your life. first of all you want a hit, but you better darn get along or you would be miserable at your job like wendy. >> what? >> wake up. >> i'm totally awake. i think we are at this point, we are hoping it goes beyond seven years. this is for all of us the sweetest job we ever had. we go to work and get to laugh and play with each other all day. we all really genuinely like each other. it's one of those gifts that particularly as you get older, you don't expect to be given to you. >> valerie, was the chemistry there among you all from the beginning? >> immediately.

our first table raid, we all looked at each other and went, whoa. this is great. every character clicked. everybody was in the right part. i should be playing elka, but i'm over it now. >> writing is so critical. >> you could be the greatest actress in the world, but the writing. >> you can't do it without the writing. no matter how actors always take all the credit, yes, well, i did this, i did that. if it isn't on that paper, you can't do it. >> what people don't realize is, and i memorized my part the night before and got there the next day and it was completely changed. you guys are used to that. as we were doing it, they would go, try this line or this line. >> how much of it is improv? >> none of it. >> it's all rehearsed. they would change. >> during the show in front of the audience, they'll come and say, you've got a new line here or new paragraph. i hope it's not for me. >> if you come up with something, they'll let you give it a try or say on the second

pass, try it. that's one of the amazing things about our writers, they wrote four specific women and found what all of us do well and they write to that strength. >> for people just joining us this season, tell bus your characters and describe them for us. what's yours, wendie? >> i'm a rhodes scholar. >> no. >> he just fell down over there. >> i'm not the brightest bulb on the tree. i am geographically challenged victoria. i play a former soap opera actress whose series was canceled after 27 years and i'm trying to figure out the rest of my life. thankfully have two very dear friends who talk me into going off on a trip and we end up with cleveland with this one, the care taker. >> yes. >> i'm the cynical, former eyebrow queen of hollywood.

>> you've all fallen on tough times. >> she had the worst love life. >> yes. i had the worst. >> and elka had the best. >> i'm recently divorced mother of two. empty nester and i just find i'm moving to cleveland because i have nothing left. that didn't come out right. >> no, it didn't. >> i love cleveland. >> she's the sweet one with -- if you take the sparkle out of her eyes, we would be better off. >> and what about elka? >> the pain in the ass. >> wonderfully so. >> we have these wonderful men on the show. three gorgeous women, we have steve lawrence, john mahoney -- >> these are all yours so far. >> age has its advantages. >> i went on regis' last show and suggested that would be his

next. he should become the new morning talk show in cleveland and you sit there with the remote going, i am hot for him. regis needs a job. come on. >> that would be brilliant. on "ohio, ohio" your co-host. >> come on. the man needs work. >> who is your audience? is it women our age, young, old, everybody? >> all of the above. we have a great demographic. >> we knew we had a show women would love, celebrating women of all ages, but the more mature variety. >> the interesting thing is how many young men and women watch this show. it's i quite amazing. >> a very big part of my male, 12-year-old boys. >> it's because you're hot. >> it's not a joke. "i watch this show with my grandmother." >> oh! >> they say, i'm so and so, i'm 12 years old, my grandmother and

i watch this show. it's surprising, it's not just one or two, it's a stack like this of 12-year-old boys. >> i don't get any mail. >> we'll write you. >> when did you know you guys had a hit? the first season was fun and great. was there a point where you said this thing's got legs? >> well, flying home doing our first tour. we landed and all our phones lit up. we had almost 6 million viewers or something like that. it was huge. >> that's what's so smart about tvland. a lot of networks discount that demographic out there they want the young, hot thing. if you get those people, they stay with you forever, don't they, betty? >> tvland was so smart. they knew their audience. they had been running the classic mary tyler moors and those. they knew their particular audiences didn't want one of the

new strange shows. they put us on and we did the pilot and you wait a while to see if the pilot gets picked up. they picked us up in three weeks. >> i think people just like to laugh. >> i think it's short sighted to think young people don't want to watch older people and don't find us interesting. >> that's true. >> betty, can we talk about your book one section. we opened up "usa today." big article about your book on animals. >> she writes them out long hand. >> so do i, what's wrong with that? >> congratulations on that book. >> you are amazing ladies, wonderful actresses, you were so good to me. it's tomorrow night at 10:00 on tvland. you think you're the only funny

women over a certain age? >> way over a certain age. >> thank you. [ male announcer ] on a dull, dull day in a ho hum world... [ sniffing ] ...something wonderful is as near as your nose. ♪ ♪ just pop up pop tarts. sprinkled with joy and frosted with fun... [ laughs ] ...they make ordinary extraordinary. [ cheering ] so you can make any day joylicious! [ male announcer ] what if we could keep enough plastic waste

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like the black eyed peas experience for kinect for xbox 360. rated t for teen. backed by our christmas price guarantee. save money. live better. walmart. let's see what's going on with miss sara. >> fix your bangs. >> they aren't going too well, sorry. a lot of love for betty white. sign me up for a date with tony, seriously, hope i'm not too late. a lot of tony love on here.

>> he's the hot ticket. >> still to come, the little boy that says heaven is for real. >> so glad he and his family are back. i've had surgery, and yes, i have occasional constipation.

that's why i take doctor recommended colace capsules. i have hemorrhoids and yes, i have constipation. that's why i take colace. [ male announcer ] for occasional constipation associated with certain medical conditions there's colace capsules. colace softens the stool and helps eliminate the need to strain. stimulant-free, comfortable relief. no wonder colace is the #1 stool softener brand recommended by doctors. say "yes" to colace! [ male announcer ] go to colacecapsules.com for savings. good morning, everyone. the time is 10:26. i'm jon kelley. about a half hour ago, dr. conrad murray was hit with the

maximum sentencing for his role in the death of michael jackson. the judge throwing the book at murray, four years in prison. it's more than likely he'll serve about half of that in a county jail. he was convicted of manslaughter of the superstar weeks ago, charged with giving jackson a legal dose of anesthetic. dr. conrad murray gets the maximum sentencing of four years for his role in the death of michael jackson. a full update on the 11:00 news this morning. right now, let's get a check on your weather and traffic after this break.

welcome back. a lot of fog out there. it is clearing out nicely. and this is the last day we are expecting a really foggy start. over the past couple of days it's been rough. 67 by tomorrow. tomorrow, our rough drive is because of the windy conditions. drive a high-profile vehicle, that could be problematic as we head wednesday into thursday. very gusty winds moving into the bay area. looking good for today overall. let's check in with mike. dirt is the problem for southbound 101. the slowing at embarcadero, it's still there because one lane is covered with a big pile of dirt. quick look at oakland, that fog is just clearing. back to you. >> thank you, mike. coming up at 11:00 am, eight people are recovering after a shooting on a video set in oakland. a local rapper connected to the music video says he wasn't there when the shots rang out.

unfortunately, his 1-year-old cousin was hit. he is trying to recover and survive in the hospital. what the rapper is saying about the incident. instead of sheding pounds, shift the scales up. the trend that has americanshs o a healthy weight. see you at 11:00. we are back with more of "today" on this tuesday. if the name colby doesn't ring a bell, his story does. he had a burst appendix that went undiagnosed for days, colten says he went to heaven. >> he has a new book version for kids. colton burpo is in the house. did you like coming to see us? >> what did you like the most about it? you don't have to answer that. this book has been an amazing

publishing phenomenon. the little book, it was on "the new york times" bestseller list, number one, was on the list for years, still is and 44 weeks at number one, colton. is that a miracle? different kind of miracle? >> yeah. >> what do you think resonated with the story of you telling your mom and dad when you got back from heaven what it was like? >> well, i really don't know how they wanted to write a book. well, god pushed my dad into it. >> god did that? >> yeah. a lot. i just told them my experiences. it ended up healing the hurt also. >> this is a book where you remember -- this happened eight years ago. you're 12 now. it must be hard to remember, but because you and your dad talked, you remember. what are some of the big things you remember from heaven? >> the big things are my family members and jesus.

>> you saw which family members? >> my great grandfather pop and my sister who was miscarriaged. >> dad, when he originally told you about this stuff, did you shake your head and say, are you sure this is what you're saying is true or did you automatically believe what your son is telling you? >> he could explain to us when we were in the hospital what we were doing while he was in surgery. i couldn't explain that away. maybe embarrassingly so we doubted and kept questioning. he kept giving us answers and the right answers. kids can't make up stuff and be right. >> what was he telling you? you were in separate rooms, right? >> he could tell me i was in a small room praying by myself, she was in a waiting room on the phone asking people to pray. most of the time we were together, but he knew at that moment we were apart and separated. he nailed it. >> do you know how much time you were actually there? did it seem like a certain amount of time?

>> i don't know how or why, but for some reason i said three minutes. >> what's interesting, i read the book and talked to you guys not only here but for "dateline" but to put this into a children's book is cool. it's got great illustrations. why did you decide to do that? >> i think from the very beginning, a kid knows what a kid wants to know about heaven. as a child, we go to adults and say the streets are gold. kids don't care about that. what a kid wants to know, colton is going to tell them in that book. >> i love when you were trying to figure out what title the book should be. they asked you and you said? >> i just want them to know heaven is real. >> that's where it came from. >> you've gotten some criticism. there are a lot of cynical people in the world who think you're doing this for financing gain. how do you feel about the criticism? >> i think there are a lot of people that say thank you. they contact us all the time.

we did this so people could have some peace, the peace we found when he talked about his sister, my granddad. a lot of people are finding peace. when people criticize we look past them and we look to all the people being helped and that's what we choose to focus on. >> this is an audio book. we get to hear your voice on it? >> well, it's going to come out very soon. >> okay. >> we are not sure when. it was supposed to come out around thanksgiving. >> you recorded it. >> it's an app. >> look at you fancy with your ipad fancy. you can tap on it and what happens, you're talking? >> you can have me read it because i've already been prerecorded reading the book or you can record up to three other voices to read it. like a grand parent can read it to their kids. >> more and more people come to your church now? >> we are waiting. it's interesting. when we travel, it's amazing the people that want to hear colton's story. everyone in our town heard about this for a long time.

it's old news for them. >> we wish you a merry christmas. >> colton, come see us again. >> i'll try to. >> you will. up ned. ynu embarrassed about my skin. [ designer ] enough of just covering up my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. i decided enough is enough. ♪ [ spa lady ] i started enbrel. it's clinically proven to provide clearer skin. [ rv guy ] enbrel may not work for everyone -- and may not clear you completely, but for many, it gets skin clearer fast, within 2 months, and keeps it clearer up to 9 months. [ male announcer ] because enbrel suppresses your immune system, it may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal, events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, and nervous system and blood disorders have occurred. before starting enbrel, your doctor should test you for tuberculosis and discuss whether you've been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. don't start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. tell your doctor if you're prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for heart failure,

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a vacation on a budget with expedia. make it work. booking a flight by itself is an uh-oh. see if we can "stitch" together a better deal. that's a hint, antoine. ooh! see what anandra did? booking your flight and hotel at the same time gets you prices hotels and airlines won't let expedia show separately.

book it. major wow factor! where you book matters. expedia. it is time for today weighs in when we answer your questions about diet, nutrition and overall health. >> madeline reached into our mail bag. >> maria in newark, delaware. can fruits and veggies rich in antioxidants help fight sun damaged aging skin? if so, how long will it take to see the difference? >> when you look at this, sometimes food is just food. we can't expect miracles from things we are going to eat. things like the antioxidants in berries and omega-3 fats in salmons are good for overall

body health. you can't translate that into saying my skin is going to start to pop from years of sun damage. if you eat it or rub it on your skin. if you've got severe sun damage, you need a dermatologist. the concentration of antioxidant things or vitamin c are going to be stronger in a pharmacological thing. you both have gorgeous skin, what do you do? >> laura and mary. >> a lot of shellacking. here is one from ivy in washington. i had a baby four months ago and i am finding it hard to lose the baby weight. is there a simple thing i can do to jump-start my weight loss? >> simple thing, get more help with the baby. that's just a joke. the issue is onof us have a lot of time. the new baby extra weight is the number one reason women have weight creep over decades and it become as huge health problem later on. get structure.

it's hard with a newborn. the first thing has to do with eating. that is a way to trim calories. grab a fruit, easy sandwich, not too much they have to worry about. it's hard to be more physically active. use the baby. get a carrier, take the baby for a stroll outside. the other thing is don't be too hard on yourself. have slow, steady weight loss. you hear crazy things. lose weight quickly. over a period of six months to a year is when most women can get back down to their shape. be mindful of not to eat more food. >> i did an exercise video after cassidy was born. i incorporated laying there and using they'll. you spend time with the baby and you tone up. >> you can do it every day. >> made the tape, made a lot of money. just kidding. you're doing it anyway with your child and having fun. >> that makes sense.

i'm wondering what are the best yogurts to eat for digestive problems. >> that assumes you don't have digestive problems with dairy products. even people with lactose intolerance contain a dairy a day. you want tang to it. the more tang, the more healthy bacteria. sometimes people will have a yogurt and say it seems too strong in taste. it has more of these helpful bacteria. stay away from the fruited varieties. there are a lot of extra sugars. low fat, nonfat, greek yogurt. add your own fruit to it. a serving or two a day helps your digestive track. it's flooding your intestines with healthy bacteria. we think bacteria is bad. don't add all these extra sugar. >> i take the flora-restora.

>> that works for you and a lot of people. if you don't like yogurt, don't force yourself and those supplements can be help. >> these are interesting bits of information. thank you so much. >> now that you know what's healthy and what's not, we'll make holiday-worthy appetizers. [ male announcer ] xbox 360 with kinect, this season's hottest games and...sweatbands. [ grunting noises ] ahh! this is gold. [ mom ] woo! [ game ] snaps up the ace. i'll never be popular. [ game ] next game decides our winner. [ male announcer ] get low prices on this season's hottest games. like kinect sports season 2 for xbox 360 with kinect. rated e for everyone. backed by our christmas price guarantee. save money. live better. walmart. it's bring your happiness to work day. campbell's microwavable soups. in three minutes -- the deliciousness that brings

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we are up in "today's snflt "holiday kitchen learning how to make hors d'oeuvres for a cocktail party. whose, we don't know. >> we don't care. rebecca goldfarb is chef and owner of the social table, a dinner club, right? >> we do some hands-on cooking classes. it's more about getting strangers together and drinking

a lot and cooking dinner and not having to do dishes. >> right out of junior high school. >> don't tell my mom. >> what are we cooking? >> we have to start a holiday party the correct way. >> is she old enough? >> cheers. >> what are we making? >> we are going to start with an easy one. we are going to do a spice rub flank steak over crispy pita chips. you're talking about no advance notice, you don't have to marinate. cumin, coriander, white pepper, salt. >> you can get prerubs. >> i've got to stay classy. we are going to -- you can do this in your home. grill pans are an amazing revolution. >> they are easy to clean up, too. >> exactly. get on there. if you want to be fancy, flip it

45 degrees to get good marks. we are going to do seven minutes total for medium rare. we'll keep moving this way. pita you get in your general grocery store. brush them lightly like this with olive oil. both sides. here comes the fun part. you can buy your pita chips. you can buy them already made. >> i'm thinking of the people out there who want to get it done quickly. >> all you do is this, salt, put them on to a sheet tray, bake them under the broiler two minutes. they come out looking like this, crunchy and delicious. >> move hoda out of the way. >> this is our nice flank steak. cut across the grain so it doesn't get chewy. people cut it this way and get a big hunk, nobody wants that. >> a little angle. >> so you can see what's on the inside. >> looks good. >> all we do is slice it this

way. you get this nice piece, throw them right on here. >> what is this? >> this is our ginger tomato chutney. that spice rub we made is earthy and deep, has this nice winter flavor. >> thank you. >> i'm going to go next door. what you've got is the chutney is a nice kind of sweet vinegar. thanks, sure. good service around here. >> chutney actually is rice vine gar, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger. it's got this nice sweet flavor to offset that good, deep are they flavor. >> come on back. >> don't forget your drinks. you've never forgotten those in your life. now move on to another easy one. these are puff pastry. puff pastry is your best friend. you buy frozen in a grocery

store. super easy. you can make cheese straws. we'll do caramelized apples and onion. take our apple and great it in here to get nice pieces going. really easy. apples and onions are a classic mix. they go great with pork, really good for a pork roast. hoda, you're going to drop in fresh thyme for me. >> the whole thing? >> why not? >> we've got 30 seconds. i have to move faster. from here all we do is take a little bit of this and go right on top of your puff. just like that. >> that's it? >> you don't have to brush them. >> ends up tasting like this. >> a little cheese. easy. >> thank you. >> we'll be back with more of "today" on nbc. aaron, you're all set. great, thanks.

mike, thanks for doing that discount double check. you saved us hundreds. what was that? the discount double check? it's when we comb through your policies and make sure that you're getting all the discounts you deserve. no, i get that part, but you guys are doing my move. the discount double check move? that's my touchdown dance. so you're a dancer? no, i'm a quarterback. oh, a quarterback. mrr. i'm a robot. mm, mm. ee, er, ee, er. get out of here. [ male announcer ] aaron rodgers got his. how about you? rodgers! discount double check! [ male announcer ] get to a better state. state farm.

our 18th annual holiday gift drive is off to a great start. >> the toy industry foundation is one of the many philanthropic organizations helping to make the holidays brighters for families who can't afford toys for their children. >> we love her and we like her cow. >> this cow lets it all hang out. we are embarrassed. we think she should be covered. >> she is a modern cow. >> good morning. we are so excited to be here. the toy industry foundation is donating $226,000 worth of toys to the "today" show toy drive. >> what does this guy do? >> this is a squishable moo cow. you hug him. >> i like that.

>> may we hug him? >> i love that. >> i could get used to this. nobody hugs me any more. >> this is terrific. you do a lot of philanthropic work. >> we do. the toy industry foundation, we are the philanthropic arm of the american toy industry. we give more than 500,000 toys every year to children in need. that's sick children, improverished children, children in military families and kids entering foster care with nothing of their own. >> it doesn't have to be a lot. one thing. >> one toy makes the difference. >> are you noticing more needier families this time around than years past? >> absolutely. the demand is so great, but the toy industry has really come through. we have plenty of toys for the kids who need them. >> you do great work. thank you so much. >> thank you for having us. >> we love you. >> we wanted to show your dress. >> we thank everybody. the toy industry foundation and

you can donate gifts to children up to age 18 from now until december 21st on the plaza. come here and drop it in at the nbc experience store or amazon.com/today. >> come back tomorrow. >> we are lonely. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com