powered by verizon 4g lte, this droid is too powerful to fall into the wrong hands. good morning. fireworks. the debate gets heated last night in des moines, and newt gingrich goes on the offense during his first debate as gop frontrunner. >> the only reason you didn't become a career politician is you lost to teddy kennedy in 1994. >> while mitt romney makes a bet he may regret. >> $10,000 bet. >> i'm not into the betting business. >> who came out on top? we'll have analysis. bench clearing brawl. a cross-town rivalry goes wrong when tempers flare at a basketball game. punches thrown, faces bloodied. we'll show you the video that forced officials to call off the game before the final buzzer. and happy feet.

born with a life-threatening limp, we'll meet the penguin who got a special shoe from his human friends and how he is up and waddling around like a champ. today is sunday, december 11th, 2011. captions paid for by nbc-universal television good morning, everyone. welcome to "today." i'm lester holt. >> i'm jenna wolf. for months newt gingrich lang wished in the lower rungs of the gop presidential pack. well, now he is finding out that being on top is not only not so fun, it's not so easy. >> it tends to make you a target. that's what happened last night as they squared off this nir latest debate. safe to say the gloves were off. newt gingrich was challenged on his extramarital affair and his connection to mortgage giant freddie mac. how did the candidates fair in this debate? we'll take a look just ahead. >> interesting one-liners in that one.

also, an incredible story out of virginia. imagine having a friend who has battled cancer for years, donating your time and money to help, only to find out that she was faking it the whole time. one woman managed to fool a lot of people and bellinged them out of thousands of dollars by pretending she was dying of the disease. we'll have more on that story coming up as well. >> it's that time of we're. folks are setting up their christmas cards. they show pictures of the family. what if you are on the mailing list of britain's royal family. one woman is putting her 20-year collection of royal christmas cards up for sale. we'll show you some of the rare images that they contain wrish. it's that time to look back on the week that was. alec baldwin took his feud with american airlines to the set of "saturday night live," and a new star is born in the jackson family. paris is ready for hollywood. we'll tell you all about those stories and more coming up in our next half hour. >> turn off all your electronics before the show. >> or we'll get kicked offer the show. we want to begin with politics and last night's gop presidential debate in iowa

where frontrunner newt gingrich found himself fending off attack from fellow republicans. nx's mike has more on all of this. >> reporter: good morning, lester. it is crunch time in iowa, and it's now or never for some of the gop candidates. last night they came out swinging at the frontrunner newt gingrich. >> wait a second. >> reporter: the gloves came off last night in iowa. >> i have always kind of been of the opinion that if you cheat on your wife, you'll cheat on your business partners. >> reporter: it was a clear challenge issued from rick perry to newt gingrich and his history of infidelity and divorce. >> when i make a vow to god, i would suggest to you that that's even stronger than a handshake in texas. >> i have made mistake at times. i've had to go to god for forgiveness. >> reporter: the two-hour session also saw an odd moment when mitt romney in a dispute over his massachusetts health care plan suddenly challenged perry to a big wager on the facts. >> $10,000? $10,000 bet?

>> i'm not into betting business. >> reporter: romney also went at it with gingrich calling the man he now trails in iowa a career politician, but gingrich hit back. >> the only reason you didn't become a career politician is you lost to teddy kennedy in 1994. >> that's probably true. if i would have been able to fwet in the nfl like i hoped when i was a kid, i would have been a football star all my life too. >> reporter: rivals trailing the field fought to gain attention. michelle bachmann says she was more conservative than both front runners put together. >> if you look at newt, romney, they were for obama-care principles, if you look at newt-romney, they were for cap and trade. >> reporter: ron paul, a major factor in iowa, hit gingrich on his dealing with giant freddie mac. >> i think you probably got some of our taxpayer's money. >> i never did any lobbying. i offered strategic advice. i was in the private sector, and is doing things in the private sector. >> okay. okay. >> reporter: gingrich doubled

down on his claim that palestinians are a "invented people." >> somebody ought to have the courage to tell the truth. these people are terrorists. they teach terrorism in their schools. >> reporter: romney took a different tack. >> i will exercise sobriety, care. i'm not a bomb thrower. rhetorically or literally. >> reporter: lester, by the end of the night gingrich appeared to give as good as he got, and despite all the fireworks that you just saw, no one really landed a clean punch. nothing to knock gingrich off his perch as frontrunner in iowa. lester. >> mike, thanks. for more on last night's debate and new nbc news poll numbers, let's turn to david gregory, moderator of "meet the press." good morning to you. >> good morning, lester. >> let me start off with the bet that romney offered wrrn a lot of people have said maybe a $5 bet, but a $10,000, that's a different kind of a bet. does that hurt him trying to shed that image of being an elite businessman? >> i suspect he probably would like to have that one back. is he trying to make a point that he actually did not support

a national individual mandate on health care, right? that's the substance. i don't think people are going to remember that. i think they're going to remember him making the point during the debate that he did not grow up poor and he isn't poor now because he is offering to bet someone $10,000. i don't think that's something that he wanted to emphasize out there. i really think he wanted last night to be about him taking down newt gingrich a notch or two, particularly in iowa. >> romney has enjoyed this, at least the perception for being a frontrunner. he is not now in iowa, as we know. did that come across? did he seem to be more aggressive trying to come from behind now? >> i think the point he was trying to make is the leadership and temperament really matter when you are thinking about the president. newt gingrich has talked this week about the palestinians being an invented people. you just heard in his report there, what does romney say? i'll have stability, sobriety as a leader. the point is i will not be a zigzag leader on issues. i will not figuratively be a bomb thrower. that's the image that he is

trying to create, and he thinks gingrich is doing it himself with the kind of comments he is making. he is trying to create that contrast that as a standard bearer, you cannot think out loud in the way that gingrich does. >> gingrich has prided himself on trying to run a very positive campaign, not going on the attack. were his op independence, challengers able to bring him down into the fray, to get him to become more on the offense? >> i don't particularly think so, lester. i think he did a good job of counter punching, and he did so very aggressively with romney by saying, look, the only reason you weren't a career politician is because you lost the election to ted kennedy. that was a tough blow. generally speaking, though, this is what gingrich does well. he debates. he can handle all these questions, and you know, the argument he is making as he debates well is to the conservative primary voter, i can take on obama. i can take the fight to obama. look how i challenge all of these rivals who are coming after me. that's his selling point. that's why gingrich wants to debate every other day. >> let's talk about the new nbc

news-meris poll numbers. one of them is in florida and south carolina. gingrich has taken a commanding lead. we're not just talking about iowa anymore. this shows a total change in the landscape, doesn't it? >> it shows, as you start to look at head-to-head contests against president obama that he is holding up pretty well. i mean, in those numbers they're still falling behind in some key states, but that he has the momentum here to even show that he is taking on president obama, as you look at how they break down into the florida poll, for instance. obama has a big lead over gingrich in florida. not that much of a bigger lead over romney. this is the argument that gingrich really not to present that he has the electability too. not just the ability to debate. >> david gregory, thanks very much. >> thanks, lester. >> time now to get a check of the morning's other headlines. for that we're going to turn to wnbc's tom llamas at the news desk. >> good morning, everyone. we start in mexico where a 6.5

magnitude earthquake has killed at least three people. the quake hit near acapulco saturday night forcing tourists to leave their hotels. the force of the quake could be felt hundreds miles away in mexico city panicking residents there. fortunately, there are no reports of widespread damage. the philippine military says a 14-year-old virginia teenager has been released after five months in captivity. the boy, his mother, and cousin were kidnapped earlier this year while on vacation by al qaeda affiliated rebels. the cousin escaped last month. the muslim militants demanded a ransom, but it's not known if one was paid. the cross-town rivalry between xavier and cincinnati got ugly saturday. check this out. the two teams emptied on to the court and started to brawl with nine seconds left in the game. success pennings are expected after the videotapes are reviewed. xavier improved to 8-0 by beating cincinnati 76-53. robert griffin iii will be returning to baylor with a heisman trophy in his hands.

the quarterback known as r.g.3 received the award saturday night finishing comfortably hfd stanford qb andrew luck, who has been the odds on favorite in the balloting. led by the naacp civil rights groups marched through new york city saturday to protest what they call a nationwide effort to suppress voting rights. many states are considering voter identification legislation and some have passed laws requiring a photo id to vote. the 90,000 veterans who lie at rest at arlington national cemetery have been honored with a wreath laying. 15,000 volunteers spent saturday morning carrying out a tradition that began 20 years ago by a maine christmas wreath company. the british aircraft carrier hms ocean is home for the holidays after a seven-week deployment turned into more than seven months at sea. the crew kept its humor, even putting their own twist on mariah carey's all i want for christmas music video. ♪ ♪ baby ♪ all i want for christmas is

you ♪ ♪ baby >> eats hope the enemy doesn't see that. the video has attracted more than one million hits on youtube. for a look ahead today, our quick roundup of stories to watch for this week. fedex expects to deliver more than 17 million packages monday. its busiest day of the year. that's up 9% from last year. holiday shoppers buy more on-line. the golden globe nominations come out thursday. the awards presented in january are usually seen as an indicator of february's academy awards. on friday "time magazine" reveals its pick for the person or group with the most influence on events throughout the year. the winner will appear on the cover of a special issue of "time." back to you. my picks for "time" person or group of the year, steve job, seal team 6, or the real housewives of new jersey. they had a huge year. >> based on the profile, the blacked out profile, it could be either one of them.

it could be any one of them. every year it seems like it's the same person based on the shading they do. tom, thank you so much. janice has our check of the weather. >> a few more profiles for all of the housewives. it's been quiet across most of the country. the only thing we're finding a problem with is rain across texas, ought that's not a problem for texas. you need it. along the gulf coast, it's all due to an easterly flow around the high pressure system that's over -- anchored over the ohio valley that's pushing moisture in from the gluchl and the gulf. north florida, a few showers as well as parts of texas and and here's a look at our temperatures this sunday morning. notice 40s and 30s, not as cold as yesterday because we do have quite a bit more cloud cover over the bay area. some of those clouds may try to toss a couple of showers around the santa cruz mountains late in the afternoon but mainly think of today as a cool day with highs in the low 50s in most

places, maybe upper 40s around the inland north bay valleys. patchy clouds will follow us into monday. the next chance of showers is thursday. s across the great lakes. now here's jenna. >> janice, thanks. former penn state assistant coach jerry sandusky will face some of his accusers for the first time in court on tuesday. jay gray joins us from penn state with a preview. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, jenna. yeah. as you talk about the next football coach says jerry sandusky, his attorney telling me that he is taking an active role in game planning for his first hearing on tuesday in what is sure to be a difficult and very pivotal week for the former nittany lion defensive coordinator. >> any comments? >> reporter: strapped with an electronic monitoring babd, confined by a judge to the home he has put up as part of his bail, jerry sandusky now prepares for his first day in court on at least 50 charges in this child sexual assault case. >> this is going to be a one-sided proceeding. this is going to be a proceeding

where the commonwealth is going to call witnesses who are going to say all these horic things happened. >> reporter: the preliminary hearing tuesday will be the first time sandusky has seen some of his accusers face-to-face since their horrific allegations of abuse went public. >> it's going to be very stressful. i mean, he is looking forward to it in a sense. he wants to see what these young men say in a court of law under oath while we're there with the ability to cross-examine. >> reporter: sandusky has repeatedly said he has never abused any child. >> these allegations are false. i didn't do those things. >> reporter: his attorney continues to question the accusations that he believes are driven more by the potential for high dollar lawsuits than actual abuse. >> why do people lie? i can think of 9 million reasons and obviously penn state has unlimited resources. why do people lie? >> reporter: for both sides in this emotional and highly

publicized case, finding the truth of the penn state scandal officially begins with tuesday's hearing at the county courthouse. >> as we talk about jerry sandusky confined to home containment by the judge here. he was given a pass this weekend, allowed to visit his attorney's home for preparation for the hearing on tuesday, and he tells me that he has provided a "wealth of information." he also says that as they go through this process, from his point of view, from the defense's point of view, the stories from the accusers, well, they just don't add up is what he is saying, jenna. >> jay, in the wake of the accusations at penn state and up at syracuse yesterday you reported on the disturbing new allegations focused on the head of the prestigious amateur athletic union, the aau. what's the latest on that investigation? >> that is an investigation that's growing right now, jenna. the aau says that its internal compliance officers along with memphis police are looking into allegations that the former head

of the aau, a very prestigious aegs agency, as you talked about, bobby dodd, he is facing accusations now from two former players, two men who were teenagers and played on a team that he coached in the 19 80s. they say he sexually abused them during that time. late yesterday. the new interim president of the aau spoke publicly for the first time. >> aau has contacted the memphis police department. we have provided them with the limited information we have up to this point. we have given them our sincere commitment to actively cooperate in every way, and any investigation of law enforcement under takes into these allegations. >> again, two very active investigations. really at the beginning stages there. we have reached out to dodd trying to talk to him about these allegations. to this point we have not been able to do that. >> jay gray, thank you very much. up next on "today" some of the british royal family's most

revealing and intimate moments all from their christmas cards. and they could be yours. find out how just ahead. they c out how, just ahead.

this time of year brings the flood of christmas cards, showing pictures of the kids, maybe even a dog. sometimes even the cat. what if you got a christmas card from the british royal family, for real sf turns out they do send pictures just like us commoners. nbc's annabelle roberts reports.

>> reporter: they're rare, revealing, and they're for sale. >> it shows them as a family outside of their royal sphere and that they are just a regular family, and i think that's why they're so special. >> reporter: it spans two decades of royal history. some reveal intimate moments of informality like this one of the queen and prince phillip on holiday in scotland. free from their duties, not a tiara or royal jewel in sight. others depict the familiar formal role we're used to seeing. the military parade the queen led on horseback earlier in her reign. >> this is really william as a small child. he must be only 1 year old there. diana looking demure and shy, and charles proudly gazing on. >> reporter: then a young prince harry joined the photo shoot. >> it's quite a formal background, with but with the grandchildren, and harry is george, and it becomes much more relacked. >> cheeky and proud to be in the

photograph. >> reporter: this is the family spending christmas in their estate in the east of england when charles and diana were still together, but this card marked the start of a particularly bad year. it was 1992. there was the fire at windsor castle and charles and diana's marriage was at rock bottom. >> 1992 is not a year on which i will look back with pleasure. >> reporter: this card is poignant. diana passed away the year before. harry, at 14, looks uncertain without his mother. william grinning is more confident. this is the royal family putting together in difficult times. every single item in this room is for sale in the auction on tuesday, including this portrait of the queen's father. it's thought the royal christmas cards will generate the most interest with bidders from both sides of the atlantic. these cards are up for sale as prince charles released his christmas card for this year. >> if you look at it, it's the big day, the wedding day of his

he wouldest son. he was bursting with pride on that particular day. >> reporter: the historical cards will be auctioned here on tuesday. expected to fetch over $1,000. for the day, annabelle roberts, nbc news, london. >> better check ba're igck rftht ahil reerlly. we're back right after this. get cindy something special this year. - you went to kay. she'll love it. [chuckles] trust me. i know. ho-ho-ho-ho-ho. - the charmed memories collection at kay jewelers each charm is hand-crafted in italy,

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[ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. still to come on "today" how one woman managed to steal thousands of dollars from friends by pretending she had cancer. >> plus, alec baldwin takes his feud against american airlines to the set of "snl." hear what he has to say. first, these messages. "snl." what he had to say? and first these messages. they're for keeping us together.

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good morning to you. looking live at the golden gate bridge on a day that's starting out a little bit warmer than yesterday, although i wouldn't venture to say warm. i'm kris sanchez along with meteorologist rob mayeda. rob says maybe if you're going to the santa cruz mountains, you might feel a sprinkle. >> you might have heavy drizzle or mist on the west side of the santa cruz mountains as we are seeing more clouds this morning. clouds keep your morning temperatures a bit warmer, which you're seeing right now, 30s and 40s instead of the 20s and 30s we had yesterday morning. but during the afternoon we will see temperatures running fairly cool as we head through the day during the afternoon. 47 in san jose, 36 i gilroy, 47 in santa cruz with clouds

spilling across the bay area right now. we will continue to see these temperatures slowly climb as we get into the afternoon. mainly upper 40s and low 50s across most of the bay area later on today. let's forward into the satellite mode. i'll show you this really quickly as we get the computer running for you this morning. there you go. san jose right now, partly cloudy skies. you can see the low clouds around san francisco and parts of the east bay. north bay you can see a few clouds. the system that will bring us the change in the weather will drop down the coast as we go through the afternoon. i do think those showers should stay offshore and move back out to sea. pg&e cruise are trying to get the power back on to 400 customers. a driver slammed into a power pole about 2:40 this morning. live wires fell to the ground around the car. chp officers tell us four people

were in that car and two of them are in custody. pg&e says power should be restored right around 10:30 this morning. also new this morning, san francisco police cleared protesters from outside the federal reserve building this morning in a raid that started around 4:00. sfpd arrested 55 people for illegal lodging, though it says no officers or demonstrators were injured. police say they started to give protesters hourly notice that say they needed to leave because they would be arrested hours before the raid. occupy protesters would try to shut down the port of oakland tomorrow in a large protest up and down the west coast, but most ports could move too big for protesters to have much success. oakland could be the only exception. there is one main entrance and one main exit, but unlike the protests that successfully shut down the port in november, this planned protest does not appear to have the support of the longshoremen who work there. nearly a dozen people are injured after a fire in san

francisco. that one started around 5:30 this morning -- rather, 5:30 yesterday evening on ellis street near jones. firefighters contained it in just about an hour's time. crews say nine people had to be transported for smoke inhalation and burns. more than 200 people are displaced. investigators are still looking into the cause of the fire. coming up at 7:00 on "today in the bay" all of the day's news, plus that forecast for your workweek. we'll be back in 30 minutes. see you then. these sweet honey clustery things have fiber? fiber one. almost tastes like one of jack's cereals. uh, forgot jack's cereal. [ jack ] what's for breakfast? uh, try the number one! i've never heard of that. [ wife ] it's great. it's a sweet honey cereal, you'll love it. yeah, this is pretty good. are you guys alright?

yeah. [ male announcer ] half a days worth of fiber. not that anyone has to know. fiber beyond recognition. fiber one. such dramatic music. christmas is here, and it's in your face! back on a sunday morning, december 11, 2011. i'm not going to lie to you, it is cold here in new york. but that has not stopped a very dedicated crowd from joining us out on the plaza for a huge par hearty fantastic to everyone who stopped by. and thanks for the signs. they put a lot of work into them. >> they do put a lot of work into it. >> in the back drop of that beautiful christmas tree, i'm jenna wolfe. how is that for an intro? >> that's good. i'm lester holt. >> starting with a disturbing story in this half hour. hard to believe. >> about a woman.

everyone around here in person and online, she told she was battling cancer. she didn't know if each passing day would be her last. turns out, hard to believe, she was faking it the whole time and also way, she stole thousands of dollars from friends and strangers. more on that story. >> very disturbing story. it's sunday, which means it's time for our weekend buzz and we're talking about alec baldwin, top notch here, has everyone talking this week, between the feud between himself and american airlines when he got booted off that flight. but could he have the last laugh? we'll take a look. what he had to say, and many more interesting topics in the week in buzz. >> then we have penguins in the studio yesterday. we will continue the penguin theme today and talk about one not quite ordinary penguin. born with a limp that actually endangered his life. his caretakers at the zoo turned to an unlikely source. getting ready to join us and where he got the boot that he's now wearing. first, time for the weekly

holiday toy drive. and so far, we've brought in more than 1$18 million. one of the long-time contributors, laura lee fleming, grand manager at goody. what did you bring today? >> today we're excited. this is goody's eighth year donating to the toy drive. we've donated over $1 million. this year, be donated head bands, barre eretetbarrettes, cr doubles, which is hairbands which double as bracelets. >> i get nothing. >> i love it. >> do you this every year, it really feels good to do this. >> getting back is truly engrained in the goody culture. we're involved in tons of activities through the year. we want to encourage the spirit all year round. >> thank you for taking part. >> thank you.

>> only two more weeks for you to help us get toys and gifts to needy kids. donate on the plaza. nbc experience store or online. go to today.com for all of the details. >> i don't know if we mentioned exactly how cold it is. if we don't know enough, janice huff knows it all janice. >> we're all bundled up. except my friend, bruce who did not wear his coat out here and his wife ann. ann has made friends with the lsu people already. show the other side of that. there you go. let's check the weather and see what's going on. cold across parts of the country. chilly with the parts of florida. temperatures in the teens and 20s across the northern plains. highs in the 20s and thursday. here in new york city. about 40 degrees. going to be rain over texas. i don't have think you have a problem with that. and rain in florida because of the onshore flow. a few showers across the hawaiian islands and tomorrow, snow in the mountains right

around the l.a. basin there. winter storm watch in effect. that's what's going on a here's a look at the south bay right now. weave home clouds this morning keeping our temperatures up into the upper 30s and mid-40s around the bay area but notice that the radar scan not picking up any rain. the system that brings a slight chance of showers to the bay area will mainly dive into southern california, so a slight risk of showers, i think mainly for the santa cruz mountains. cool day, though. highs in the low 50s. a better chance of showers arriving on thursday. it's sunday and that means sunday night football right here on nbc. you'll be able to see the game, right here tonight, all when people in this part of the country, giants fans watching. it's at cowboys stadium. giants visiting the cowboys. mostly cloudy skies. should be rain free.

retractible dome, of course. temperatures in the 40s. it is cool there. all right. now back inside to lester. >> janice, thanks. now to a shocking story in virginia where a mother two of faces charges that she stole thousands of dollars from generous people by pretending to have cancer. nbc's mike taibbi has more. >> reporter: from the images of a long suffering cancer patient, to a mugshot of a woman charged with the most cynical kind of fakery. 42-year-old martha nicholas has falsely charlaimed to have canc for years in fund raisers for the american cancer society and they found no evidence of cancer treatment at any medical facility. nicholas, mother of two, reportedly pulled in tens of thousands of dollars over the years. the american cancer society says the money she helped raise in their name did not go to nicholas herself. >> the people who did make

donations to the american cancer society, those dollars have gone for the intention that they were given. >> reporter: friends and donors feel betrayed and angry. >> i was dumbfounded. i couldn't believe that martha, of all people, would do something like that. to deceive so many people that cared so much about her. >> reporter: she's not the first such case. a california police dispatcher drew six months in jail for bilking friends and colleagues out of some $50,000 in do donations based on her fake cancer. and 27-year-old boston teacher was sentenced to two years in jail for pulling in more than $37,000 from sympathetic and generous donors. no comment from nicholas or her attorney. at present, she only faces misdemeanor charges of obtaining money under false pretenses. investigators are looking for more victims. a defense attorney watching these cases believes that will change. >> in the end, i think this case will rise to the level of a

felony. she's been raising money for quite some time. >> reporter: raising money to falsely battle the terrible disease wondering if each night would be her last. mike taibbi, nbc news, los angeles. up next, alec baldwin versus american airlines and lindsay lohan bears it all in playboy. the week in buzz, after these messages. ♪ [ man ] we've been in the business over the course of four centuries. [ woman ] it was a family business back then, and it still feels like a family business now. the only people who knew about us were those in new england, that moment that we got our first web order... ♪ ...we could tell we were on the verge of something magical. all of a sudden it just felt like things were changing. we can use this to advertise to bakers everywhere. [ man ] browns summit, north carolina. crescent city, california. we had a package go to kathmandu once. the web has been the reason this entire section of the warehouse exists today.

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this morning, taking a look back at the week in buzz. our recap of the stories that has everybody talking. >> from lindsay lohan bearing this it all in "playboy" to a reality show that left people in tears. >> the biggest buzz story, alec baldwin, the whole american airlines thing, didn't turn off electronics, went on twitter, canceled his twitter account.

last night, went on "snl" to spoof it. i'll get your thoughts. >> what's your take on the events of last wednesday. >> it was awful, seth. it was very important for me to come here tonight on & on behalf of everyone at american airlines, issue an apology to mr. alec baldwin. >> alec, are you sure this is the right way to handle this? >> yeah, keep going. >> what say you? >> i love this guy. alec baldwin is my new man crush. i'm sorry. this is the way you handle a celebrity scandal. when you are act bad as a celebrity. own it. just own it and use it. everybody else needs to take a class from alec baldwin. he made it funny. no ego or hubris. he's like, yeah, i did it. >> and he makes fun of himself, he doesn't care. wouldn't it be great if we all had this platform if we had a problem and it could be just be

taken care of. >> and he said people are tired of turning off electronic devices. >> we need to fly and safely. who cares? turn it off. what's the alternative? you crash. what's the alternative? >> he has a problem with the alternative. >> behind sa >> lindsay lohan, she does "playboy," forces hugh hefner's hand. he's going to release the magazine early because it generated so much buzz. >> she's a train wreck, a naked train wreck now. and she's good friends with kris kardashian, the family. and this has kris kardashian all over it. this is her solution to the next step to get hot and famous. she would have you naked in "play girl" in a second, lester.

>> i can wait for that episode. >> someone else can wait also. >> watch this, saw the drama. 13-year-old rachel crow eliminated. burst into tears, hiss tar call. one of the judges cast a controversial vote that had everyone booing her. make sense of this one. >> here is the thing. what niccole supposedly did, she said i'm going to withhold my vote. i can't vote, i can't make a decision. you're a judge. that's what we hired you for. >> that's right. >> to make a decision. we're paying you millions of dollars to do one thing and one thing only. make a decision! and she's like i can't make a decision and then says i -- i feel like i let her down. really? that's like me pushing you a ledge and saying, i somehow feel responsible. >> she said i wished the voters

would make the call. >> she took the role of judging or leadership and didn't follow through. the difference to me is "american idol" is the country club of talent shows compared to this. this is like the jerry springer -- like boo, loud, obnoxious and she's too young to be on the show. the little girl. 13. who can handle that? >> she's like a half black shirley temple. who doesn't love that? >> that's true. >> okay. let's move on. the gop candidates. only two of them would show up for the presidential debate, he may actually cancel it. why no love for donald trump? >> i never feel bad for donald trump. he's incapable of feeling bad for himself, so why should i? i wanted to see this. because it would have been like the wwe of debates. just them attacking each other and him going you're fired. that would have been great. >> he's a big baby.

he can't do debates. he would just be mad. mad at michele bachmann, she's come and seen me four times and ask forb advice and now she's not my friend anymore. more of a baby than my 3-year-old. enough. >> paris jackson, michael jackson's daughter in a fantasy called "london's bridge." >> the big star of this movie is larry king. >> his voice is in it i think. >> the big star. not exactly the blockbuster i think she should come out with. >> i think it's fine. ed to be an actress. >> you think it's fine? >> i think it's fine. i don't think she should be pursuing acting as a career. your father is departed, left you a lot of money. become a hedge fund manager. >> we should see if we could find two more outspoken people. >> nice to have you guys. always a pleasure.

up ahead, happy feet. meet the penguin standing tall because of and new shoe. one shoe. first, these messages. annual bonus.cent so you earn 50 percent more cash. if you're not satisfied with 50% more cash, send it back! i'll be right here, waiting for it. who wouldn't want more cash? [ insects chirping ] i'll take it. i'll make it rain up in here. [ male announcer ] the new capital one cash rewards card. the card for people who want 50% more cash. what's in your wallet? sorry i'll clean this up. shouldn't have made it rain.

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♪ take a look at me loirnz a penguin you will see ♪ a penguin born with a life-threatening limp. he is now waddling like a champ thanks to santa barbara's sfwloo keeper. he has ingenius and stylish footwear. lake-effecty joins us along with rachel richardson, a curator of birds and records, and the products line manager. good morning, everybody. especially you, lucky. you know what, you don't really speak english that well, so we'll concentrate on the two of you. you first noticed that lucky had a problem shortly after he

hatched. he walk with a little bit of the limp because of the shape of his foot. what were you thinking at that point? what challenges did the penguin face or would he face? >> well, i think the biggest challenge that we had with lucky is that he was putting all his weight on a joint that's not meant to bare weight, so what we were getting was a really bad infection in that joint. that was the biggest problem, the biggest challenge was overcoming that infection. and because he had that infection, it meant that he couldn't swim normally. he couldn't have access to water like a penguin really should. >> so i understand surgery was not an option for the penguin. so you reach out to chris at the zoo. hey, chris, when the zoo came to you and asked if you would design a shoe for a penguin, did you think somebody was pranking you at that point? >> you know, we actually worked with the zoo before, but we got that call, and we had a quick huddle as a team. this is obviously a pretty irregular request, but it's funny. we quickly decided that we --

it's something we needed to do. we got down to the sfwloo and determined that this is what we do. we've been making shoes for athletes that love to be in and around the water for years. >> this shoe had to be water proofed and it couldn't flip. tell me a couple of the prototypes you had to go through to make sure the shoe was going to fit the penguin. >> it was a huge challenge. first of all, we've been making shoes for years for human athletes, but making something for a penguin really led to a lot of challenges just in fit. once we got that fit right, it was really easy for us to take, you know, something like this, a shoe with all the performance features and apply it to something for a penguin. this is lucky ae new holiday boot. >> it's absolutely adorable. i understand he has a couple of different boots for a couple of different occasions. is he swim and getting along with everybody now? >> yeah. that's the best part.

this shoe really saved his life. you know recalling made it so he could go in and out of the water. any time he wanted. we were able to bring him up to the exhibit, and he is just like all the other penguins. >> adorable. thank you both so much, rachel richson and chris hillier, and lucky, you didn't contribute much, but we thank you anyway for joining us. we'll take a break. we're back after this. ♪ take a look ate a penguin you will see ♪ ♪ penguins, attention came to l. they came to see us in florida... make that alabama... make that mississippi. the best part of the gulf is wherever you choose... and now is a great time to discover it. this year millions of people did. we set all kinds of records. next year we're out to do even better. so come on down to louisiana... florida... alabama... mississippi. t to you by bp and all bof us who call theofulf home.a and this time of year, i send out a lot of gifts.

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this morning on "today's" holiday gift guide, the season's best page turners, whether for the animal lover or fashionista, our favorite book critic john has combed the she feels to find the best books for everyone on your list this year. ♪ all i want for christmas is you ♪ >> books make great gifts for the holiday. we have a fantastic line-up. ♪ sugar >> i want to start with one of my favorites. perfect for the person with a sweet tooth. it's called cake spy. it has cookie delicious recipes for things like birthday cake french toast, smoreos and lots of other delicious treats. i'm here with the gorgeous and talented molly sims who will tell us about her favorite

holiday book called "rules of civility." >> it's so good. it's one of the best books i've read in a really long time. it's very gatsby, fitzgerald, and tinker gray is the main character who is like a mix between like a robert pattinson and leonardo decaprio, and is he just fabulous. >> you sold me. can i have your copy? >> you have to get it. all the women in your life will love it. i'm not giving him my copy. ♪ la, la, la, la, la >> fashionistics throbbing here from far and wide for some of the most beautiful shoes around. the perfect book for the fashionista is christian loubouton. it's chockful of photos of fancy, fabulous shoes, and the book is almost as expensive as the shoes themselves. i'm telling you, the fashionista in your life will love it. ♪ a shining star >> for the person who loves celebrities i have two different celebrity memoirs. "is everyone hanging out without me?" we know her from "the office."

>> you look so pretty. >> this is not about that show. it's about her life, her female friendships, her family, her early years in new york city as a comedian. it's funny and it's fast. let me tell you, if you were reading this in more than a week, she says something is wrong with you. the other book is diane keeton's then again." this is one of the most personal intimate celebrity memoirs i have ever encountered. what makes it so unusual is she not only tells her story, but her mother's. her mom has kept 85 journals, and diane tapped into these to tell her story of her and her mom over the years. anyone who loves annie hall, this book will make you love her more. >> i'm with one of my favorite british men, lee childs. i'm a fan of his book. he has a new book called "the affair." tell me about it. >> this was the 16th book. going right back to the beginning of the series. before the beginning of the series, in fact. it explains how jack richard turned into the guy that he is. >> you have secrets. you have a beautiful woman. you have dead bodies. >> yeah.

and the affair gives us into the action. >> tell us about the -- 39 passengers die in a warm august water of lake champlain. my fictional captain lives, chip linton, and the night strangers chronicles the ghost, met forric and literal that dog him in the aftermath. >> sounds spook where i. >> if you like a good ghost story, this channel az lot of the icons of the genre, the big old creepy haunted house, the locked door in the base am, the scary children that puts the family in jeopardy, and if you want to know how to survive a plane crash, in the prologue. ♪ how much is that doggy in the window ♪ >> for the pet lover, we have two great stocking stuffers. the first is love at first bark. heart-warming essays by one woman who rescues troubled dogs, and the second i'm not the biggest b in this relationship. i think you know what the b stands for. >> good collection of books. >> yes.

>> this book, i'm telling you, it's a must read. loved it. >> it's between them and the shoes. >> i want the shoe book. >> yeah. this is -- that's the one to have. >> anyway. >> we want to head down to david gregory now to tell us what's coming up this morning on "meet the press." david. >> lester, i'm going to talk to ron paul as we enter the final countdown to the iowa caucuses, and then a debate on the economy and tacks. joining me senators dick durbin and lindsey graham, and our political roundtable is all coming up this morning on "meet the press." >> see you in a while. thank you. >> that's it for owes a sunday morning. thank you very much. tom, thanks for being with us. next weekend on "today" we'll take a look at why you see so many book and movie titles these days filled with the bleep curse words. >> plus, the 60th anniversary of graham rogers. i'll see you back here for ""nbc nightly news"." tienl th so long, everybody. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com