ney, i'll show you. thanks everyone. so take a step forward... and chase what matters. good morning. grab a hat or a hair tie if you're just heading out the door. it is windy. i'm going to tell you where 30,000 are in the dark because of the winds. a san jose army reserve will be laid to rest. more taxes? word is trickling out the government is planning to close the state budget gap. more wind? oh, yeah. certainly shaking the l cameras out there as we try to look at the bay bridge this morning.

this is "today in the bay." good morning to you. it's 6:00 right now. i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> good morning, everyone. i'm jon kelley. let's get to meteorologist christina loren. it sounded like a horror movie with the wind whipping around. we're joking maybe we should wear the construction helmets out. zl in my case i need a helmet all times. so far the win is out there. it's like someone left the sand on high speed on all night. especially through the valleys. winds sustained at 21 miles per hour in livermore. and it's not just sustained wind speeds. locally heavier gusts up to 60 miles per hour could catch you offguard as you head out the front door. watch out for debris in the road, which brings us to marla tellez. what kind of things are flying around out there, marla? >> of course, right when you

come to us live it's a little bit calmer than it has been. we have right above highway 101 along 2. our van is rocking a little bit. that's a good indication of how strong the winds have been out here. the big story is the power outages. we are in touch with pg&e. they tell us 26,000 people are in the dark. this is in the santa cruz mountains because of downed trees and downed power lines. 26,000 people without mountains in the santa cruz mountains. the outages not as widespread in the south bay. 1200 homes are powerless. in the east bay, close to 750. and on the peninsula and in the north bay. early this morning the high winds knocked down a tree to the northbound lanes of 101 approaching the 237 interchange.

the national weather service says elevations above 1,000 feet will experience the worst winds up to 50 miles per hour. in the lower elevation sustained winds of 10 to 40 miles per hour are expected throughout the evening. i've been in touch with the national weather service this morning. they tell me wind advisory is in place for much of the bay area until 6:00 tonight. hold on tight. i'll go back to the studio for the latest on the morning commute. >> good morning, marla. you're doing a great job keeping the hat on. you're talking 26,000 people in the santa cruz mountain affected by power outages. we have another tree down affecting highway 17. it is partially in your roadway. expect a bit of slowing out of

santa cruz in to los gatos and the rest of the south bay our speeds rf moving pretty nicely right now. highway 81 and highway 87. we could have slowing. now the tree is down is not a big deal. unfortunately, this has been a very sad theme this week. another san jose soldier is being laid to rest this morning. the family will be gathering at 9:00 this morning. damien, good morning. >> good morning, jon. another flag draped coffin for another san jose soldier killed in combat. yesterday we had some pictures

in the military plane. on the base of salute to a man who gave his life for his country. he was killed by enemy artillery that landed in his base. he was 21 years old. his lieutenant said sean was well liked and the department was taking his loss very hard. he was out of the east bay. >> he was the fourth generation to serve our country in the military and the third the receive a bronze star. sadly, i'm the second member of my family to have lost a son. >> that was sean's mother yesterday. he was scheduled to leave

afghanistan and be home in time for the holidays. and again, the funeral services here at okay hill begin in about three hours from now. a final salute to sean walsh on behalf of a grateful nation. we're live in san jose. damien trujillo, "today in the bay." >> it leaves you with a heavy heart and a hole in your stomach. >> thousands of people gathered to honor a vallejo police officer killed in the line of duty. he was remembered as a devoted father, husband, coach and marine. nearly 3500 officers attended the memorial service. among them, governor jerry brown and the entire vallejo council. he was the faurt officer killed in the line of duty in the past 150 years. hundreds of mourners turned out to say good-bye to danville

marine. the 19-year-old was killed in afghanistan just a few weeks before his 20th birthday. he'll be remembered as a real life hero who died doing what he loved. the initial results of egypt's fall elections are coming in this morning. leaders of the once banned islamic group are demanding they reform the next government. the voting took place monday and tuesday. once parliament members are picked t job will be to draft a brand new constitution. the man who says he was beaten by johannes mehserle and four

other officers is asking for $1 million. his attorney says a settlement of at least a million dollars will send a message to police that use of excessive force will not be tolerated. he said he was afraid carrethers will attack another officer. reports say the governor will ask people who make more than $250,000 a year to pay more income taxes. those expire at the end of 2016, according to sources. they are hoping to have the measure on the november 2012

ballots. in southern california there are gusts as high as 9 7 miles an hour. the airport closed two runways because lights were out. approximately 20 flights had to be diverted to ontario. not as gusty through our hills an mountains as it is in southern california. lake observatory, that's where we get the most extreme weatherw hayward, 51 miles per hour wind gusts through hayward yesterday.

that is potentially damaging. if you're driving a high profile vehicle it can make for difficult driving conditions. you need to take it easy out there. our highway man is watching everything you need to know we're at 2 is 1 miles an hour in livermore. san jose has dropped off. still gusty. you're at 16 now. the high pressure sets up over the great basin and pumps the winds from land to sea. it clears the coastline. the winds have prompted a high wind warning through 6:00 p.m. tonight. now the national weather service may have to extend the weather warning if we see the winds extending. so my advise to you is tune into

jeff ranieri tonight. today it will be nice and comfortable 71 in san jose. 5 to 8 degrees above the seasonal averages. enjoy the sunshine while it lasts. let's talk to mike about what's happening on your drive. we still have the tree across the highway. the wires are down as well. local to the area. know it well. of more concern would be a san francisco incident. this also affects the closure. also over towards mission is closed. they're just rerouting for one block. a minor day getting to work. slowing on the bay bridge and

all bay area bridges for the wind advisory. lower the speeds. and the backup shows you you'll have to slow for that as well in the cash lanes. coming up, it is worlds aids day. they are making new recommendations to help anybody living with hiv.

welcome back, everyone. across the bay area and around the world, communities commemorating world aids day. it's been 30 years since the first reported case of aids. 20 years ago a group of citizens opened the grove in golden gate

park. at noon some medical pioneers will be honor maryland the grove. the annual paint the castro red fund raising event. free hiv testing will be offered from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. new york city is recommending anyone living with hiv being offered aids and drug. they are releasing that recommendation today. it's similar to the one in san francisco that was issued back in 2010. the standard practice is to put off the regime until a patient's immune system weakens. new york city has more than 110,000 people living right now with aids. san francisco has more than 18,000. everybody is talking about the high winds we've seen wearing through the bay area.

wherever you're waking up with us, nobody is spared from the gusty winds. give yourself ample time to reach your destination safely. you can see the bay bridge is looking steady. that flow of traffic there. so a lot of people are hitting the roads. it's the opened water bridge where is we lack the friction that we have over land. that's where one gust could really sneak up on you. you need to take it easy over the bay bridge, the golden gate bridge, and the richmond bridge. as we head throughout the day, things will be continuously blustery. there is a chance that they'll continue into tonight. so we'll keep watching that for you as the pressure gradient looks tight in the evening to the afternoon. every time i check, still windy. winds sustained at 12 miles per hour. in santa rosa up to 20 miles per hour in fairfield. still gusty.

up to 45, 50 miles per hour in some spots. heaviest wins today in the higher elevations. by 11:00 a.m., breezy conditions start to pick up by 6:00 p.m. we should see speerds of decreasing winds. so again, you need to be very cautious especially over the open water bridges. make sure to grab a jacket. 65 at 11:00 in santa rosa. as we head throughout the afternoon today, this is the warmest day of the week. we'll start to drop off a little bit through the next couple of days. but the wind relax, we keep those 60s and quiet weather finally just in time for the weekend.

the only issue is northbound 101. a traditional build pat rn for the south bay. we had a tree across the northbound driveways. the slow lane there. that is reportedly clear. watch the gusty winds of course there. by the time you get to e el charro, speed sensors close. we're looking at construction that has cleared. and we get a look at the travel times. through san mateo passing highway 92. no delays along the peninsula. and getting there, we have a fis clear view, a good amount of

traffic. from time to time, you guys thrks shot does shake a bit. i was worried it would look like star trek. it does not. watch that going over the water. >> hang tight. thanks a loot, mike. in a few hours from now some potential history in the making. bart leaders meeting to decide if it will become the first agency in the entire nation to ban cell phone blackouts. christie smith is live if oakland with a look at what is at stake. good morning. the bart directors will meet here in three hours from now. they're expected to severely limit the use of the cell phone service disruptions who felt like people's rights were being trampled on. and this is tied to an incident that started on august 11th. that's when they made the bold move of interrupting cell phone service at four downtown san francisco bart stations.

bart was already a target of demonstrators. he had shade they tried to react reasonably by pulling a plug on cell phone service to try to stop a planned protest. one that could threaten passengers or train services all together. it could be tailored to extreme events. i did check the agenda. this is an open meeting to the public. i'm christie smith. jon and laura, back to you. peninsula city wants to

collect low income. the city council approved a law that places restixs on small loan lenders. it can only operate in commercial districts and be a certain distance from homes and schools. lenders would have to submit lighting and security plans to the city for approval. council members say many who use payday lenders get caught up in a cycle of borrowing which is difficult to end. the end of the year is coming. here's the question we all want to ask ourselves. did we use all our vacation days? >> no. >> find out how many americans are giving away time off from work. i won't give it away, though. look at the shaky shot. the winds are really whipping around our cameras and our hair. >> lock that thing down for us? >> my hair?

welcome back, everyone. it's 6:24 right now. most americans are letting their work vacation days just go unused. a survey by expedia.com says the average american worker has 14 vacation days but will only take

12 of them. that totals 226 million unused vacation days this year. that means americans are throwing away $33.3 billion worth of time. most people say they can't afford to travel, and that's why they're not using their days. the second most popular answer is the lack of planning. a utah man is taking his time off after his dog shot him. the man was dug hunting with his dog and a african over the weekend. he climbed out of the boat for decoys and his dog stepped on a 12-gauge shotgun causing it to fire. 27 bell lets hit the man in his rear end. he was saved because of his thick rubber boots. drivers in pennsylvania took advantage of free money. a bang courier lost $200,000 on a busy highway. moneybags flying out of the van

of that $200,000 police only recovered about $400. one driver said he made a quick u-turn to grab cash. >> from 300 yards to see all the money on the street and most of the money already gone was amazing to begin with. >> i would say so. >> so far, well, at least one driver did return the cash he grabbed and took it right to police. that was $60 he took back. san francisco's law banning free toy toys but two big fast food chains have already figured out a way to work around that. burg king following mcdonald's example. both are charging a dime to add the toys. mcdonald's donating money to

charity. >> it is 6:26. still to come. protesters have taken over a vacant building. >> and a south bay army reservist will be laid to rest today. we'll have a live report coming up. anchts don't clean the pool. don't do the gardening. we'll tell you when the winds subside. >> i wish the winds could clear this out of the roadway. but it can't. there's a new accident on 580 that will affect a popular tri-valley commute. state farm. this is jessica. hey, jessica, jerry neumann with a policy question. jerry, how are you doing? fine, i just got a little fender bender.

oh, jerry, i'm so sorry. i would love to help but remember, you dropped us last month. yeah, you know it's funny. it only took 15 minutes to sign up for that new auto insurance company but it's taken a lot longer to hear back. is your car up a pole again? [ crying ] i miss you, jessica! jerry, are you crying? no, i just, i bit my tongue. [ male announcer ] get to a better state. state farm.

got wind? grab a hat. that's the theme for your thursday. good morning. i'm going to explain how the winds are affecting the bay area

coming up. >> a funeral will be held for a south bay soldier killed in afghanistan. we'll have a live report coming up. all the winds blowing debris on o the roads this is "today in the bay." >> good morning to you. thank you for joining us. 6:30 now. i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> good morning, everyone. i'm jon kelley. len check in with christina loren to tell us how to manage the wind whipping around everywhere. do you know where your patd oio furniture is? could be at the neighbor's. looks like we'll see a drop off from the sustained winds speeds.

it's not just gusty through the higher sell vagss at the surface. we're also seeing strong wind gusts. and speaking of areas at the surface, marla tellez is in sunnyvale out there in the wind. is it impacting the drive? is there debris on the road? >> good morning, right now we are getting a mild break in the wind. it's picking up right now. but from our vantage point of 101, traffic is moving just fine in both directions. but earlier this morning just below us the winds knock down a hefty tree into the northbound 101 lanes. caltran got that cleaned up

before the heart of the commute, pg&e are slammed. the most affected is the santa cruz mountains where 17,700 customers are still without power. 6,000 people were without power in the santa cruz mountains. >> sounds like somebody is pulling our own plug out there. you saw the problems with so many people with power outages. >> it's whipping debris on the roadway. the big issue is an alert just declared. westbound i-80 towards the dublin interchange. look at this slowing. three lanes are currently

blocked. we have a big backup forming through livermore. we'll check this out as the morning continues. crews putting out a two-alarm fire at an apartment building. part of the roof collapsed. four people were take on the the hospital. one critically injured. no word yet on the fourth person. this fire started at 4:30 this morning. still reeking some havoc. having minor effect on muni lines. it is 6:33 now. a bay area hero will be laid to rest this morning. san jose native special sean walsh was a national guards man killed in afghanistan.

a lot of brave, decorated soldiers are buried here. you add sean walsh to the list. he was a national guardsman out of the east bay. the military flew in his body. yesterday his family and supporters looked on as the military gave the fallen soldier a hero's farewell. sean was assigned to a unit of the 870th military police company out of the east bay. a company that served several tours in the middle east. in the south bay he was a dedicated member for the santa clara police department. sean was a hard worker and well liked. he said many on the force took his death very hard. the soldier was 21 years old and already a zek rated hero.

>> he was the third to receive a bronze star. sadly i'm the second member of my family to have lost a son. his nape said he was looking fard to the holiday. to come home to his family. he deserved the honor. he will be paid a final farewell here for an american hero. we're live in san jose. >> protesters holed up in a vacant building. 30 officers tried to enter yesterday evening but they could not get in because protesters barricaded the doors. police tried to secure the

entrance so nobody else could get in the building but they were overwhelmed with protesters outside. they are now trying to talk to demonstrators who were inside. >> former youth counselor who fas faces numerous child molestation charges strikes a deal with prosecutors. he will serve a 30-year prison sentence as part of the deal. a federal judge could add more times behind bars when a sentence is handed down on a separate child pornography case. he will be sentenced by the county in march. twin city police investigating an attempted child abduction. it happened around 7:00 last night just off of highway 101. police say a 7-year-old girl was standing with a group of children when a man walked up and grabbed her by the arm.

he was last seen jumping over a fence and running. anybody with information is asked to call police. they want to give the boot to a proposed soccer field renovati renovation. the park wants to install sin sethic fields, flood lights and bleachers. but they say it doesn't connect with nature. speaking of nature. mother nature is having a field day, blowing all the wind everywhere. christina loren is here to break it down. >> all the pool cleaners and guarder ins, my heart goes out to you today. it's going to be rough one. winds north at 23 miles per hour at fairfield. 16 miles per hour in livermore. and san jose, yeah, you are getting very, very heavy winds through there as well. 22 miles per hour down in the

south bay. we don't typically see gusty winds. high pressure has set up over the great basin. that's driving the winds from land to sea. the good news is it clears the fog. it pushes the marine layer to sea. it's completely clear along the coastline. high profile vehicles. high wind warning in place in the east bay hills. we've seen the gustiest winds until 6:00 p.m. tonight. this is what you can expect for today. of course, the higher elevations will see the worst of the wind. 1,000 feet plus in particular. gusts in excess of 50 miles per hour. frequently throughout the day today. the sbeer your valley breezy to windy conditions. nonetheless, enough wind to knock any loose objects around in your backyard. by 6:00 p.m. it looks like we'll see the wind decrease just a little bit. below advisory criteria.

let's find out what this wind is doing to your drive with mike inouye. >> it's making the view clearer. undoubted i will the winds out of the pass will be moving as well. but this is not -- this is westbound 580 at santa rita road. the alert is blocking three westbound lanes. that's the commute direction at santa rita road. it will take 30 minutes. that's what chp says. at least 30 minutes until we clear that. we'll end with live shot there of 680. we'll watch to see if it builds. coming up on "today in the bay kwlgts, bart is taking a lot of

heat. today they could put a new policy in place for the blackouts. a loif report is coming up. congress members about to take up a new fight over tax. a live report from washington is ♪ [ cellphone rings ] cut! [ monica ] i have a small part in a big movie. i thought we'd be on location for 3 days, it's been 3 weeks. so, i used my citi simplicity card to pick up a few things. and i don't have to worry about a late fee. which is good... no! bigger! bigger! [ monica ] ...because i don't think we're going anywhere for a while. [ male announcer ] write your story with the new citi simplicity card. no late fees. no penalty rate. no worries. get started at citisimplicity.com.

congress has just a few weeks to decide the americans will get another payroll tax cut. republicans say no way. they've got other plans.

tracie potts is live in washington. the size of aur paychecks is really hanging this the balance. it is working americans got it amounted to $1,000 back in your pocket. that expires december 31st. if congress does fot act, you'll be paying 2% instead of pocketing 2% come january. now democrats want to implement a permanent 3% tax on millionaires to help pay for this. keep in mind, when you get a tax break, that's less money coming into the government. they have to make up for that. republicans have the votes to block it and intend to do so this week. what they want to do is extend a freeze on the pay of federal workers to 2015, plus cut 200,000 federal jobs to help make up for this. they would also raise medicare premiums for people who make over $750,000. at this point we have over two full weeks left of this session.

they tried to figure out if they can extend this and how they're going to pay it. >> it is 6:43. coming up, a man goes out for a run in the south bay, and he triggers a bomb threat. we'll have his story coming up.

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♪ going to the bank without going to the bank... that's a step forward. with chase quickdeposit on your smartphone, you just snap a picture, hit send and done. chase quickdeposit. take a step forward and chase what matters. ♪ we just keep on keepin' on ♪ ♪ keep on time to check in with meteorologist christina loren and help us fight out all the wind. it's not going to help you out at all. you can rake the leaves tomorrow without having the activity negated by the wind.

we're looking good this morning. you can see the camera shaking here. this camera is pretty close to the surface. you can see what a little wind can do to just the camera. that meens high profile vehicles need to take it easy. you don't have as much friction. it's flat. the terrain starts to calm down. you don't have the same effect when it comes to water. that will be the case for today. tomorrow looking better. staying windy for thursday. abundant sunshine later on today. in the weekend wee see the fog return. nice and quiet. at least for a few days. i don't think that will even bring us rain. we'll show you when that arrives in a minute. right now we have sustained

winds where we clocked a 50 miles per hour wind gust yesterday. you really need to take it easy. 48 in location land. 45 in gilroy. it's not all that cold. 38 degrees in liver more. 9 in santa rosa. the outlining culture area is cold under the with windchill factor. make sure to grab a jacket. 11:00 a.m. temperatures climb to the 60s in every city across the board. rounding tout day with 70s on this temperature map. 71 in san jose. 71 in fairfield. ladies, you can do your hair, but there's a chance the wind will mess it up. the warmer conditions will change through tomorrow. starting to drop off in temperatures. 64 degrees. but the breeze relaxes. we don't have to really look

forward to the fog until saturday and sunday. so the good thing about offshore flow is it will keep the skies clear for a couple more days. the winds should relax tonight into tomorrow morning. you're going to get a break there. then as we head into the weekend, enjoy calm and tranquil conditions. 59 degrees in san francisco. now mike, what do you have a cig alert? >> we do. we have a sig alert right here. westbound 580. that continues. three lanes are blocked in your commute. that's a big problem. folks will slow down through the area. we're least over 45-minute drive. and travel time out of the altamont pass. bart, you can jump on that. no delays reported for that system. the south bay, we're looking at 101. from capitol expressway past the airport. speeds into the 40s and 50s now. 85. the highway there. we see slowing down in the bottom of your screen as well.

we'll take you further south. some slowing out of morgan hill northbound 101. pretty typical right there. and also the update for 1:52. that has been chopped up and cleared from the roadway for all lanes. back to you guys. >> thank you, mike. it's 6:50 now. tropical storm forced wind gusts are whipping parts of the bay area. lights are out. trees are down in several neighborhoods. marla tellez joins us live from sunnyvale with a look at some of the damage. good morning, marla. >> laura, good morning. before i get to that, i want to point out we are along highway 237 in sunnyvale directly above 101. the traffic you see behind me is 101 traffic. and both directions are moving just fine. so the winds not affecting traffic here. the big story this morning are power outages in the most widespread area, the santa cruz mountains affected.

right now close to 18,000 people are without power because of downed trees and power lines. here in the heart of the bay area, it's not as widespread. 900 people are without power. 700 powerless in the east bay. get this, from eureko to bakersville, a total of 56,000 customers are currently affected because of the winds. so the winds are not just a factor in the bay area. still, keep in mind as you get ready to head out the door this morning, a wind advisory is in effect for most of the bay area until 6:00 tonight. the higher elevations will be hit the worse with sustained winds of 55 miles an hour. >> hold onto something. you're a light little thing. >> so are yo you. >> but i'm indoors.

for the most upto date weather forecast including an interactive radar tool, visit our website. click on weather. 6:51 now. a public memorial service will be held for the san jose national guardsman killed in afgs. the public invited to pay their respects to sean walsh between 9:00 a.m. and 9:00 pp at oak hill cemetery in san jose. walsh died on november 16th when he was hit by enemy fire at his camp. his unit was set. all set to return home from afghanistan later on this month. a public funeral service will be held saturday for walsh. police have arrested a man accused of critically ininjurying a san francisco firefighter. we have tape of the suspect. it was released earlier this week. the 22-year-old was arrested monday night and charged with attempted murder.

police say they argued at a restaurant on thanksgiving day and then ran him down at a gas station. he is still at san francisco general with severe head trauma. police right now looking for his vehicle. the prayers and well wishes for a baby boy continue. shells mark the spots. gunmen opened fire onto a crowd at 7th and willow street. seven people were injured. a 1-year-old boy was shot in the head. the little boy's father is asking for an end to the violenc violence. >> don't kill no kids. i never want anybody to go through this. not even the enemy. we just need everybody praying. we want my son to come home. that's the most important thing right now. >> doctors are waiting on test results to determine the next step for the little baby. police have no suspects in the case. $35,000 reward is being offered

for information leading to an arrest and conviction in that case. well, bart leaders are poised to vote for a ban on cell phone blackouts, except in extreme cases of emergency. the move coming after a backlash on the agency's handling of recent protests. christie smith is live in oakland with details. >> good morning. this one really touched a nerve, even with people who don't ride bart on a regular basis. they felt like people's free speech rights were being violated when bart made the decision to interrupt cell phone services just a few hours the bart board of directors is expected to limit the use of the cell service blackouts. this all started with an snen on august 11th. bart said at the time they were just trying to preserve train service when they cut cell communication at four downtown san francisco bart stations to try to limit a protest that was planned against shootings by bart police.

but cutting off the service set off a new round of protests over free speech. under the new policy being considered, they would yank service only when there was a real threat of illegal activity happening soon that could harm people or service. they could tailor it even more to extreme threats like using cell phones to set off x ploesives or cell phones in the use of kidnapping. this is a public meeting. reporting live in oakland, i'm christie smith. back to you. >> thank you very much. >> it is 6:55 now. another setback for supporters of medical marijuana. a request to prevent the crack down in california has been rejected by a federal judge. a judge ruled the medical marijuana dispensaries and patients failed to show that the crack downs are unconstitutional.

two of the clubs that sued the federal government have already shut down. a controversial new reality show about an oakland pot club debuts tonight. the health center will be featured in a new feature called we board. you can catch the first episode at 10:00. they call themselves the world's largest legal retailer of cannabis. it handles 800 patients a day and pays $3 million in taxes a year. investors now doubt looking to build on yesterday's nearly 500-point dow bump. was this a one-day run or the start of a santa claus rally? we turn to jackie deangeles live at cnbc. trading just started. where do you see us heading?

the nasdaq is up by 7 pn 7 points. the s&p 500 just above the flat line there. it could really go either way. this came after the monster rally that we saw pushing the dough up 490 points. that is fueled by the facts that six central banks, including the feds, lowers the cost of short-term loans to banks. they're also reacting to china's move. european central bank president signal that had the ecb is willing to take further action to help prop up the euro's economy in a speech he made today. he said the rifts have grown. they are aware of the growing problems. president obama said congress could reach an agreement to extend the payroll tax cuts. obama said speaker boehner made recent indications close to a

one-year extension. and zynga is seeking a lower than expected $10 billion evaluation for the initial offering priced on december 15th. it's one of the most highly anticipated deals of the year. it could generate $900 million in proceeds for the country. back to you. >> "the "today show"" is coming up in a few minutes. here's matt lauer to tell us what they're working on this morning. >> hey, guys. good norng to both of you. coming up on a thursday, ann goes one on one in baghdad with vice president joe dooiden. what does the troop withdraul mean for the u.s. and iraq, and are we leaving too soon? the vice president opens up in an exclusive interview. the primary suspect in the disappearance of michelle parker and her twins wins back custody ov her children. we'll talk about that with parker's mother and asked her why she hugged dale smith in court. and we'll take you indoors next to christi's auction house for

an exclusive and amazing look at elizabeth taylor's magnificent collection of jewelry and memorabilia. this is more impressive than your jewelry collection. and we'll show you the items before they hit the auction block in a couple of days when we start on a thursday morning here on "today." a bomb scare turn out to be a big misunderstanding. they evacuated the post office on tuesday. they saw a man wearing a gas ma mask. it turn out he's a dedicated jo jogger. he was wearing a cardio mask that simulates high altitude training. it was just a weighted vest. his friends called him to tell him what