good morning. the nightmare before christmas. a powerful storm system making its way across a huge portion of the country today, set to bring heavy snow, ice, severe flooding, even tornadoes and it couldn't come at a worse time as millions of americans prepare to hit the road and the airports for the holidays. high stakes. space walk. restaurants are set to fix a faulty type at the international space station and we will show you what they are doing live as it happens. police in new jersey arrest four people overnight in connection with a deadly car jacking outside an upscale mall. headed off course. this morning lindsey vonn misses a gate during a world championship ski run and appears to bend over in pain.

it's raising questions about whether she will be ready for the 2014 winter olympics. "today" is saturday, december 21st, 2013. >> announcer: from nbc news, this is "today" with lester holt and erica hill. live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. good morning, everyone. welcome to "today" on a saturday morning, i'm lester holt. >> i'm natalie morales. i'm procrastinating a little bit longer. >> people who are organized and have travel plans now they are facing this whole weather threat thing. >> that is right. that is our top story. the weather is set to wreak

havoc across much of the states today. 68 million in the storm's path. >> 13 states under flood watches or warnings and in the south, there is a very strong possibility of several december tornadoes. yes, that's very rare. but it could happen at some point today. >> absolutely. the weather system, everyone is watching it very closely this morning to make sure their holiday travels go safely but it's affecting some people out there and it's affecting some people out there. >> so much going on. an estimated 95 million people will either fly or drive this holiday season and there could be very, very dangerous conditions, both on the roads and in the skies. >> reporter: with the holiday rush on, it was slow going in oklahoma city with an ice storm snarling traffic at the start of the weekend with a five car accident and similarcene in kansas and several other states. light drizzle that quickly turned into ice. >> i wanted to get out before it

got icy and even colder. >> reporter: in washington state ten car pileup and across the states headaches. >> temperatures will be falling and do so very quickly. >> possibly a couple of thunderstorms as that front makes its way through the area. >> reporter: in denver they had to wait for deicing on friday before taking off. on this first day of winter, they are digging out from 15 inches of fresh snow outside the eather service in flagstaff. the slippery roads made it difficult to chicago's o'hare airport. >> it did took a little while to get here because of the rain and it's gray and everything. >> reporter: in wisconsin a green bay packers tradition 600 fans shoveling out lambeau field for 10 bucks an hour. there is so much going on right now. i'll break it down, first, with the setup. very, almost record high temperatures today and especially tomorrow. this is the warm air that is moving in out ahead of this front and here is your very cold air behind it. the slash of those two air masses that is going to cause a lot of weather. i mean, so much weather to the fact that we are looking at

severe storms in one part of state over to the potential for ice and snow in another part of the state. but as for the severe storms, our strongest risk and the biggest threat of seeing perhaps some isolated tornadoes will be from extreme southwestern parts of kentucky right down into louisiana. in red, though, that is where we could see perhaps some storms that produce some very strong damaging winds as well, but it's this area from alexandria, louisiana, up into nashville, tennessee, we have to keep an eye out for the potential of tornadoes today. i also want to show you where the ice is. in fact, we could see the potential of half an inch up to an inch of ice in some areas, especially back through the st. louis area, right back into oklahoma and it's oklahoma where we could end up with a lot of heavy rain versus some snowfall and some ice as well. we are going to keep an eye as this storm system moves to the east but tonight and into tomorrow where we have up to a half an inch of ice, we could see several inches of snow on top of that from northern texas

into chicago and parts of wisconsin could end up with a foot of snow. so there is just so much going on. lester? >> we will get the rest of the national forecast from you in a few minutes. in the meantime a critical mission this morning above all of us. a pair a nasa restaurants about to head outside of the international space station to make an emergency fix on a faulty pump. these missions, in our eyes, have become pretty routine in recent years but this is getting attention after an italian restaurant almost drowned while covering a spacewalk last year. tom, what can you tell us? >> this is mission control behind me and these are the restaurants, rick and mike. this is to replace one of two cooling loops failed on the international space station and forcing the crew to lose power. if they lose the second coiling loop they have to ban the station. they have done this work before but this is the first space walk

since an restaurant nearly drowned in his helmet last july. >> reporter: at 230 miles above the earth this morning, an urgent space walk to repair a critical component on the space station. after one of two cooling pumps failed on the station last week. >> there is an ammonia risk whenever replacing these cooling lubs. >> reporter: the job replace the bad pump with a spare. doug weelock was the last restaurant to work on the pump in 2010 opinion this week, he recorded a video showing the space station crew how to go about the repair mission. >> our advice to them and the crew agreed go slow and methodical step-by-step and challenge and response. >> reporter: with their space suits hanging in the station, the two astronauts rick and mike, spent time preparing their equipment but the suits have been the focus of tremendous attention. on wednesday every component got a thorough inspection. >> there is a bit of kind of a white residue. >> reporter: the residue is a concern because that is thought tof blocked a water filtered

last july and calling an restaurant helmet to fill with water. >> water is in his eyes now. it seems to be increasing. >> reporter: when fellow astronauts pulled him back into the station, water poured from his helmet. they admitted he could have drowned. five months later, nasa has swapped out much of the suits's components and thorough cleaned it. >> mike will be wearing that suit and we think it's a cleanly thorough suit and ready to go. >> reporter: in case the water runs, restaurants will wear absorbent pads inside their helmets and, for the first time, a snorkel out of rubber hose and duct tape. >> they can use this to breathe and also to purge water down into the suit if the water is a problem while they are coming back in. they can either breathe off. it or push water down through it as well. >> that is doug weelock. he is sitting there at mission control today. the space walk last 6 1/2 hours

and rick is the lead space walker and he has six space walks underneath his belt and wearing the soup with the red stripe and mike hopkins is the second space walker. the first space walk and he is described as a athletically and fit astronaut and ready to take the spacewalk after many runs. that hatch is about to open in any second so we are watching that. >> thanks, tom. we want to bring in former restaurant steve robinson taken part in three space walks. thanks for being here. >> good morning. >> broo we talk about the critical nature of the walk itself, tell me about the problem they have and how serious is it that they replace this pump? >> it's kind of like the cooling pump going "around in your car. the space station has lost part of the cooling station and split into two which is smart so you can lose part it and use the

other. >> they would have to do an emergency evacuation space station? tom walked us through what happened in the last walk. i don't think anyone would have thought the possibility of an restaurant drowning in space. he mentioned they have taken these precautions but if you're the guy stepping out of the space station for the first time since all of this, it has to be on your mind, doesn't it? >> i wish it were me. mike hopkins and rick are going out on this morning. rick is very experienced guy. this will be his seventh space walk, mike, his first time so i know he is very excited. there is many risks to space walking. you try to keep it all in mind at the same time and do everything while you're doing your job. >> you mentioned mike hopkins, his first time. i know he is trained for this. i had an opportunity to train a few years back and train in the simulator and the earth is spinning so quickly below you and it's very disorienting. is that something you can practice or do you get out there and like, whoa, i didn't think

it would be like this? >> you get out there and go, whoa. >> you definitely do? >> you know what the training does it allows you to figure out how the cools work and where you put your body and what exactly to do. but the sort of the sensory surroundings and what happens around you is brand-new. >> i don't believe in stupid questions but i thought about this too. a lot of us have seen the movie "gravity." and pieces flying through space which we know are true. is there any of that kind of fear when you're working outside the space station for six plus hours? easement there is. you're unproductive when you're in a space suit very much. there is a lot of debris out there and a very big sky and it's one of the rinks you do xep and incur when you do a space walk but you don't do a space walk unless you have to and nasa has to in this case to keep the space station going. >> we will monitor this space walk throughout our broadcast and you'll be with us?

>> i will. >> we will check back in a bit but here is natalie. >> you've heard of black friday and cybermonday but did you know that today is super saturday? the second biggest shopping day of the year. but news this week of that massive security breach at target has a lot of shoppers on edge and jean is here with more. good morning. >> good morning. >> a lot of of us shopped at target are freaked out. will you walk us through things to look out for? but what should we be doing if you're going out soon to go shopping, is cash the way to go? >> you can lose cash. it can be stolen. you can handle a credit card and by "handle," pay it off every single month so you don't pay interest. i'd use credit card because you have a credit card company to back you up if something goes wrong. >> if you shopped at target during that period between november 27th and december 15th when there was that jurt breach a couple of things we should be doing. first, check your accounts and your credit report? >> go online. don't wait for your statement and check the activity on your

account. what you're looking for there and on your credit report is anything that doesn't belong to you and you can pull a free credit report at annualcreditreport.com. pull one and take a look at it. if there is anything suspicious put a fraud alert on your account or more significantly, freeze your account and alert you or not let anybody take out credit in your name which is the big problem. and if you have seen activity, you'll want to shut your account down and get a new number. >> it's small amounts you're looking out for, right? >> absolutely. you should be keeping receipts and keeping track of what activity actually belongs to you. anything that looks suspicious, call and report it. >> can your bank do anything about this? >> they can give you a new number. they are not going to alert you to necessarily activity on your account. unless it looks truly suspicious. if the pattern don't match your patterns -- >> a statement released yesterday is that target is offering free credit monitoring service to its customers and a

10% discount in stores this weekend. is it safe to go back to target and shop there with a credit card? >> i would think at this point, target is under a massive amount of security and so it's probably the safest place to shop this weekend, but take advantage of that credit monitoring once you get the application or the offer to actually take it. it's a good thing to do. >> we hear, of course, the weather is going to be a factor this weekend on super saturday. are retailers under pressure to get rid of inventory now? >> they are under pressure to get rid of the seasonal merchandise. apparel and anything with a holiday logo or symbol on it and other sorts of merchandise and technology, those sorts of things, they will sell throughout the year so the discounts won't be as great. i got an alert in my inbox this morning 50% off at banana republic and they are not all. >> thanks.

president obama arrived in hawaii this morning for start of his christmas vacation after facing tough questions from reporters on friday during his final news conference of the year. white house correspondent kristen welker is live at the white house with more on that story. good morning. >> good morning to you, lester. >> reporter: president obama may be vacationing in hawaii he has to deal with ongoing issues related to health care and the nsa, up a topics that dominated his end of the year press conference on friday. president he obama landed in honolulu this morning, after making it clear he is ready for vacation. >> you know what they say? it's the most wonderful press conference of the year. right now. >> reporter: this after he tried to turn the page on a rocky year friday, by touting the improving economy and a recent surge in health care enrollment still with his poll numbers at record low he couldn't escape tough questions. >> has this been the worst year of your presidency?

>> i got to tell you, julie, that's now how how i think about it. >> reporter: he said the worse was the 2013 of the health care website rollout. >> obviously we screwed it up. >> reporter: he also defended his recent decision. this week the administration announced the millions of americans who got cancellations from insurance companies could opt out altogether without penalty. >> this new waiver last night you could argue you might have delayed the mandate. >> that's not true. what we are talking about is a very specific population that received cancellation notices from insurance companies. >> reporter: while he is criticized over the government's spying program signaled he might be considering serious changes. >> just because we could do something doesn't mean we necessarily could. >> reporter: with the 2014

midterms looming, analysts the president's second term agenda could be in jeopardy. >> in 2014 everything is on the line for president in fixing health care. until he gets that done, democrats don't want to put eyes on anything else. >> reporter: senior administration officials say president obama will get regular telephone briefings on his health care law with that all important enrollment deadline set for monday. >> kristen, thanks very much. time for a look at the rest of the morning's top stories. >> jenna wolf is here with that. we got developments on that mall shooting earlier in the week? >> yes, breaking overnight. four suspects under arrest today in connection with the deadly car jacking that happened in new jersey. a new jersey prosecutor will release details this morning about the arrest following a week-long manhunt. the case involves a 30-year-old man shot dead in front of his wife at a shopping mall on sunday night. the shooters made off with the couple's car. a colorado police arrested two boys on suspicion of plotting to shoot up their high school. police say the two planned to attack trinidad high after the

winter break. trinidad is about 170 miles from centennial colorado, the site of a school shooting just last week. a candlelight vigil was held there for the gunman's victim who is still battling for her life. memorial services in lockerbie, scotland today and in u.s. of the lockerbie bombing. the pan am flight from london to new york was blown out of the sky on december 21st, 1988. many were american students headed home for the holidays. if today feels like it's flying by and you're getting ready for dinner already, don't be alarmed. december 21st is the shortest day of the year and the winter solstice. that means less than ten hours

of daylight but rest assured every day from now on will be longer so on ward and up ward. december 21st, shortest day of the year and harper's four-month birthday. >> let me show you eight more real quick! >> solstice. >> solstice! >> i just got a nerd out sometimes. so few words i'm sure 100% to announce. warm temperatures we are going to see. look how warm it is across the eastern third of the country with temperatures running about 15 to nearly 25 degrees above average. tomorrow we will most likely see record breaking -- breaking is the tough good morning. wake being up to clear skies across the bay.

we are fog free across city and the entire bare. temperatures in the mid to upper 50s, close to 7 s in the east. take it easy and have a good one out there. that is your latest forecast. for months we have been following the ongoing controversy surrounding former nfl players and the injuries they sustain on the field. now the tales of a 765 million dollar settlement is ironed out, the wives of some retired players are speaking out about picking up the pieces after traumatic brain injuries. stephanie gosk has being story. >> reporter: it looks like a lovely live a house on the golf course in hilton head, california, two great dogs and

wonderful kids. but this life is falling apart. >> my art aches. >> reporter: are you scared? >> yes. >> reporter: wane retired from professional football in 1991. in 2010, this is the letter his employer wrote to the nfl disability board. radlof was showing a gradual weakening of his communication skills and he was forgetting to return phone messages. his doctor diagnosed traumatic dementia that he suspected was from multiple traumatic head injuries while playing football. the nfl denied his claim because he applied too late and still had some salary coming in. garland says the money coming in wasn't enough. the house is now under foreclosure and the couple of is in dead. >> he hasn't been able to work for almost four years. someone would say, well, he looks normal. it's an invisible wound. >> reporter: other wives of retired nfl players suffering from brain injuries tell the same story.

how much of the responsibility of the family falls on your shoulders? >> about 99% and it is a lot. and i'm not exaggerating. basically, i do all of the driving, all of the shopping, all of the bills. >> reporter: each of their husbands is part of a lawsuit that the nfl agreed to settle for $765 million last august. 4,500 players accuse the league of intentionally concealing the risks of concussions. lawyers on both sides are still finalizing the details, but the nfl has agreed to split the money between compensation for retired players, medical exams, and research, while, at the same time, not admitting any liability. pittsburgh lawyer jason lock filed the original lawsuit. he does not believe the settlement is the end of the legal fight. players can choose to opt out of the deal. >> i know that this case isn't over. and until my clients are getting something of value for themselves, they could put this issue to rest.

>> reporter: espn reports some retired players may be cut out of the compensation. a law firm wrote this letter to its clients suggesting there may be less money for players diagnosed after age 45, or for those who played five years or less. the nfl would not comment on the ongoing negotiations, but the commissioner has said this is the best deal for both sides. these wives believe their families' future depends on it. this becomes a wives' burden? >> the wife has to take, the woman has to pick the pieces up. >> reporter: the price they say for playing a punishing sport a lot higher than any of them knew. for "today," stephanie gosk, nbc news, hilton head, south carolina. >> a lot more to come on saturday. is it a major setback for lindsey vonn? we will bring you the very latest on that. first, this is "today" on nbc. [ wind howling ]

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these are the images from space. we will continue to update you on the restaurant's progress throughout the morning. >> if have you a question what is going on up there or what it's like to be in space, tweet us using the following #and we will be back with answers as we are watching this as it's cool to watch it. still to come on "today," a story of two quick thinking police officers who come to rescue after a

good morning. 5:26 on your saturday morning. very early. the light not even out yet. a live picture of the bay bridge. meteorologist anthony slaughter has a picture of your forecast. >> we are waking up to clear skies. no fog to report as of this morning. temperatures cool in the south and east bay. but in san francisco, as you just saw, 52 degrees in the peninsula. temperatures today are going to turn out to be very comfortable, a little warmer than we were yesterday for daytime highs. today the opinions la, right around 60 degrees for your daytime high.

plenty of sunshine, 60 there. the north bay and east bay talking about 60s. plenty of experience for dad. >> the between approval. two sticking points were included in a deal both sides great to on october 21st but bart manage money wand to remove the provisions saying they were included by mistakes. and shots were fired on south

second and east fernando street a little bit after 10:00 last night. two victims were found with at least one goin gj going. >> bayfair mall yesterday afternoon, witnesses tell police they say two men arguing and the next this evening they knew, shots were fired. >> there appeared to be some kind of verbal aller case in the parking lot. we do not know what that was about. >> i think drids chris christie ails always uncalled for. it's the season to be happy.

>> the suspect drove away in a white compact car. >> why shopping may literally be possible? right now we'll send you back to the "today" show. we want to check in with tom

costello what is happening with the space walk. how long will this operation last? >> six and a half hours are the plan. we are watching nasa tv so it switches between different shots. there is mission control. when they actually switched to the camera shots the restaurants are wearing they have two cameras on their chest so rick mastracchio, the lead space walker is wearing camera number 20. in the bottom right corner of the picture it will say 20 and mike hopkins is wearing camera

number 18, so down on the bottom right corner, number 18. they have just been out of the air lock for about 30 minutes or so and this is a big job. they have got to, over the three space walks, replace 780 hopoun pooling system a pump that has failed. and put that on the instructor of the space station and put a new one in sitting on the instructor i don't remember of the space station. they would love to do this on monday and tuesday -- but christmas day as a backup. if they can't get it done in two days, they will have to do it on christmas day. you can imagine not only the restaurants but the mission control would love to get this done by the time this whole thing is wrapped up on monday. they are working on a few technical difficulties. this always happens on a space walk. sometimes a wrench doesn't turn the way they would like it two or a screw isn't working right. it is very cold up there in

space and sometimes things don't work as well as they would like so they take their time and take a long time to literally turn a wrench and they don't want something to break on the exterior of the space station. we will continue to monitor it. >> thanks, tom. we will check back in with him. from this point on we will show this mission live. it will be on the bottom right side as you see on your screen. also coming up in this half hour, are you familiar with these phone rollers. >> i love those things! >> you do? >> yes. >> i'm not sure how they work. if you're looking to ramp up your workout maybe you want to know more on that and. jenna will roll for the rest of the show. >> it hurts so much but it is so good for you. it does hurt. >> what does it do? >> kind of loosen up all of the muscle and if you have lactic acid buildup. the doctor will explain all of that. >> just keep talking so she

doesn't stop. >> harrowing moments on board a bus when the driver fell out of his seat while it was moving. this morning, we will hear from the two teachers who actually helped get the bus and the elementary students on board to safety. plus, can the hit show "duck dynas dynasty" go on without its star? first, lindsey vonn tries to come back from a knee injury, it's a slow road to recovery and this morning, a bit of a scare during her race in france when she missed a gate. she pulls off the course and appears to be in pain. anna bell roberts is in london with more on that. what are we hearing from the course? >> reporter: lester, lindsey vonn is having a roller coaster of a season. on that downhill run she briefly missed a gate and then glided over to the safety netting as her boyd tiger woods looked on.

she told the associated press afterwards that her knee just gave way. but, of course, anything that even hints at pain, all injury is alarming. back in february, you'll remember it was her right knee that she badly injured racing in austria then. she had major surgery and things were going well but she injured that same right knee a month ago so she has to push back her world cup return after she got over that. seven weeks to go until the sochi olympics. she says she still hopes to be ready. fingers crossed that this is not a setback. >> thanks, anna bell. dylan is over on 48th street. we have the crowd on the plaza and a crowd that waits in line on saturday morning for tickets for "saturday night live." >> this is a big "snl," right, dylan? >> it is. if there was one ticket i would wait in line for days it would be for jimmy fallon and justin

timberlake like you guys. i heard the tuesday people have been sent somewhere else. you guys got here friday night? who is feeding you? i heard you guys are getting some food around here? >> justin timberlake sent over pizza and water from us. >> does it get any better than that? what are you hoping for to see tonight? whether you see it on tv or in person? >> i hope to see -- we saw him in anaheim, california. we want to see him again. >> awesome. if there is music and dancing, i am totally on board. so i've got my dvr set. i'm just not going to get into the show tonight. we are looking for nasty weather for people not waiting in line and trying to get across the country today. we are looking most of our ice through the plane states and could have half an inch of ice in oklahoma and kansas and nebraska too. on the eastern side of that, we are going to see some very strong storms. we could see tornadoes today in parts of louisiana up into tennessee. we have got it all.

we have got ice and snow and potential for tornadoes and even some record high temperatures as we go into tomorrow in the good morning. that same storm system moved through here a couple days ago and it cleared out our air. now we're looking at good air quality for your weekend. temperatures around 52 degrees with a slight breeze. this weekend will be very comfortable. daytime highs today climbing from the 30s back into the low to mid 60s. warmest locations east bay and north bay. both will be closer to 70 degrees. have a good one. w? >> yeah. >> all right. natalie, back to you. two florida police officers are being hailed as heroes this morning after swooping down to save a pilot from a burning plane that had just crashed and the rescue was caught on tape. kerry sanders is in miami with more. good morning, kerry.

>> reporter: transportation safety board is trying to figure out why this small plane crashed here in florida. witnesses say it appeared that the pilot ran into trouble as the plane was on approach thursday night into tampa. as you said, nearby, there was a police helicopter that captured the whole thing on its night vision camera. a single-engine cessna seen here in police video, reports it's experiencing trouble. star check 800. i need runway 1-0. >> reporter: moments later the plane crashes near a runway at tampa's international airport. dave dennison and dave gentry watch from their police chopper as the plane catches on fire and the pilot trapped inside and unconscious. after making an emergency landing in their helicopter, officer gentry runs to the burning plane unsuccessfully

trying to reach love through the pilot side of the douor. >> i was able to go to the passenger door and force that door open. >> reporter: love is unconscious as officer gentry pulls him from the fiery wreckage but the pilot eventually comes to before passing out again. the officers are now downplaying their roles as heroes, saying they were just in the right place at the right time. >> i think the real hero in this case is the injured pilot. he was able to take that aircraft that was no longer working for him, aviate it to a spot that was not populated. >> especially close to christmastime like this, we are proud and we feel very published that, you know, we were able to provide a service that normally isn't part of our duty. >> reporter: the pilot, 58-year-old mark love, is still listing in critical condition this morning. in the meantime, the national transportation safety board says it could take up to a year before they issue their report.

on what went wrong. natalie? >> certainly some heroes there. incredible video to see that. contrary sanders, thank you. coming up, could the prescription to better health be as easy as actually using exercise? the answer and that equipment right there, right after this. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] even well-planned holidays can wind up at the corner of "stockings are stuffed" and "quick -- duck!" luckily, walgreens is always nearby, so it's easy to get in and out for extra stocking stuffers... or anything else you might suddenly need. stop by walgreens anytime for hershey's kisses chocolates, gift cards, and more. plus most stores are open 'til midnight. here at the corner of happy and healthy. colgate optic white dual action shines and whitens over 2 shades more than a leading whitening toothpaste. and whiten even more, with optic white mouthwash and the whole colgate optic white line.

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our next guest says working up a sweat, rather than prescription drugs, may be the best solution for you. dr. jordan essel. he had a longer title but he went with this one. dr. metzl, thank you for being here. >> thank you. >> what is the cure to exercise? >> this idea of this book is i see people all of the time who want to be healthy and move. i look at exercise as not only good feel medicine but the potent medicine across the entire spectrum of the human body. the first book talks about using exercise instead of pills to treat heart disease and anxiety and osteoporosis and set up exercise programs for yourself whatever level of fitness you're at is in the second book. >> you break everything down into bronze, silver and gold and from there a different exercise

cure regimen for people. >> exercise is great medicine. if you're a bronze person you start to walk. hop up there and we will do this part of the interview walking. just kind of walk slowly. >> keep it at this pace? >> you can go quicker, that is fine. when i start doing the exercise cure i want people who might be sitting around this morning watching this who don't do anything at all and they may feel like i know i should exercise but i don't know how to start. we will get them moving and i want them to increase their meat profile. >> meat profile? >> just starting to burn calories with things like walking and what you're doing right now. >> how do you keep motivated in the bronze plan? >> everybody knows exercise is good for you as i said. things to motivate you, i think one great thing i love is the invent of technology. that is great too. >> i thought i would make it more interesting. >> all right. technology is a great help for increasing people's need. i'm wearing what is called a jaw

bone. i think you're wearing? >> a sit fit. >> these are great. they are digital pedometers to allow people to track their steps and compare themselves to other people and it's great to get people to move. >> fantastic. move to the next level which is called silver. >> once you're comfortable doing the bronze, then you graduate and i've had people on the bronze a couple of months and get them up to the silver. silver we will talk about helping their ka kinetic chain. >> this is for people working out how many times a week? >> a couple times a week. on the foam roller start rolling out there. people see these things. these are god's gift of flexibility and make a huge difference for loosening up your up muscles. you can do your quads and low back if you want but you have your microphone back there so you'll hit it. loosening up your muscles is a great thing for that. the number two part is just

strength. i'll pull the roller out and show everybody a plank and i know you know how to do this well. >> move along there. >> this is building strength and called isometric strengthening. if you have back pain, this is great exercise to do. >> now the gold. >> hands straight out in front of you and squat all the way down. easy jump up into the air and right back down. this is called a plyometric. do five of those while i talk. feel strength and cardiac fitness at the same time. >> how many days a week do you do this? >> most days of the week and strengthening is a huge part that have. >> the book is fantastic. called the exercise cure. go get it. coming up next, the most popular college student around and she is 82 years old! her story right after this. [announcer] welcome to the all-new intuit quickbooks. run your entire business with it. get paid however you want with it.

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whether you're thinking about popular kid at school, the quarterback of the football team or maybe the breakout star from a theater group comes to mind? >> one college campus, the student everyone wants to be friend with is far from your typical sophomore. joel has her story. >> it's definitely an understatement in this case. going back to school is tough at any age imagine going back 63 years after the fact. that is what francis wood did and in in one semester she has experienced more than she could have ever imagined. >> reporter: the most popular student at mid-america nazarene university isn't the captain of the football team or the head cheerleader. >> go! >> reporter: it's this gal. 82-year-old francis wood, as students call her. >> granny nanny. >> this grandma of eight did what most women wouldn't do. packed the book bag and headed

back to college. >> i needed something different to do. >> this is pretty different. >> she has found new joy in learning and even more in her celebrity status. >> people started talking about, there is this granny nanny on campus. i said who is she and why haven't i met her. >> when you talk about her, your eyes light up. >> she is magnetic. >> this is the first time i've been the most popular girl on campus. >> reporter: how does it feel? >> it's great! >> reporter: everywhere she goes, smiles and laughter follow. >> look at her cheating on me! >> reporter: she was even crowned homecoming granny. you had three dates to homecoming? >> yeah! boyfriend number three! >> reporter: not one, not two, but three dates! >> she's a classy babe. i'm telling you. we met together, asked her and she thought we were joking. >> i said you need to get a real girl. >> she was no easy date. >> i finally decided i would go but buy my own ticket.

students don't have money. >> reporter: 60-year age gap gone like that. >> front hand, backhand, big splash, gone. >> reporter: so when it comes to history class, she might have a slight advantage. >> do you remember -- >> yes. i went to his funeral. >> reporter: don't let her age fool you. this granny plays a mean game of table tennis. >> reporter: now show me what you're made of. >> go! >> oh, h! >> reporter: did you ever think this would be your life? >> oh, no. of course not. you never could have scripted this. >> reporter: at 82, she came to learn but has taught everyone that life should be lived to thefuls, guys, no matter what your age. >> love her story. >> she whipped you there on the ping-pong table! >> she absolutely did! and every other student. >> she is pretty good. >> thanks very much for sharing her story. just ahead, after weeks of scandalous headlines, will lawson be able to win back her

fans?

just ahead, we are going to show you more of this massive video live. the risky space walk under way this morning. 230 miles above the earth and pretty urgent series of space walks. >> we will have more on the mission ahead. also answer some of your questions what kate, will you marry me? ♪ yes! ♪ attention... he went to jared. he went to jared. [ applause ] who wants a little champagne? [ female announcer ] jared the galleria of jewelry has five times the selection of ordinary jewelry stores, with thousands of loose diamonds and hundreds of settings to create your own one-of-a-kind ring. oh. please return your fiancée to her original upright position. [ female announcer ] that's why he went to jared. for realsies, ryan is a total hottie mchotterson. totesies.

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watch, "today in the bay." >> good saturday morning. it is 5:56 on this saturday. san jose, hard to distinguish in this early morning. >> it's pretty cool outside now. when we start to see the sun come up, we'll see it all day long. it's cold in the nor bay at 38, the south bay clocking in at 38 right now. later this afternoon we are talking about plenty of sunshine, temperatures will be very comfortable, a little warmer than we were yesterday, at least by the afternoon hours. 64 in san francisco, north bay and east bay will be our warmest

locations with temperatures topping out close to 70 degrees. this being the week before christmas, lots of folks doing some traveling. we'll talk more about the traveling forecast coming up. >> some breaking news this morning. overnight, the two unions announced a tentative agreement with bart management. the two sticking points were originally included in the deal that both sides had signed off on back in october but bart management wanted to remove them from the deal claiming those provisions had been include $ by mistake. >> san jose are investigating a

double shooting. two victims were each found with at least one gunshot wound. >> police in the east bay are looking for a gunman who opened fire at a busy mall parking lot. it happened at bayfair mall in san leandro. >> there appeared to have been some sort of verbal at altercat in the parking lot prior to the shooting. >> i think it's crazy. everybody's out shopping, trying to get things for the holidays and somebody always has to act foolish. it's uncalled for. >> the victim we're told is a man in his 20s who was taken to the hospital with a non-life

threatening gunshot wound. >> coming up this morning on "today in the bay," if you've been procrastinating on your holiday shopping, no need to panic just yet. some bay area stores are going out of their way to accommodate you. and what target is doing to mend things with customers after a massive credit card debacle. in the meantime we'll send you back to the "today" show.

♪ good morning, it's saturday, december 21st, 2013. here is a look at today's top stories. that high stakes space walk is under way outside the international space station. the astronauts are at work for about 45 minutes fixing this space station's cooling system and we are getting this live feed. the space walk should take about six hours in all. the first of as many as three. a live update coming up about how things are going right now. we are talking about the nightmare before christmas as well. millions of americans getting ready to hit the road or the skies, but they will be facing some dangerous and severe weather in many places that could derail some of their travel plans. dylan is tracking all of that for us. is it another injury for olympic skier lindsey vonn?

she missed a gate in france during a race and appears to be in pain and we are wondering and worrying if this could derail her hope to compete in the sochi olympics. >> i'm lester holt. >> i'm natalie morales and along with jenna wolf and dylan dreyer. we are fascinated as we are watching the space walk. >> we have been watching the space walks for years. they have to fix this cooling pump which is akin to you don't want to run around without a spare tire and if they lose another one they have to evacuate the space station. very critical. tom costello is following the astronaut's progress and is live in washington to tell us how things are going. >> they are doing very well and 30 minutes ahead of schedule, believe it or not. so even in the short period of time they have managed to jump ahead. they have spent a good part of the morning just focusing on making sure that they are

getting out and all of their equipment is out and they are properly tethered to the space and each other. what you're looking right there is a camera off one of the snau astronaut's chests. mike hopkins and rick mastracchio is each have a camera so nasa can see what they are working on at any particular moment. the fact they are ahead of schedule is good news certainly because once they start actually working on the 780-pound cooling pump, once they work on that and trying to unplug it and demate it from the station, that could take time and likely to be where, if they run into problems, where things aren't going ago smoothly as they hoped, that is likely to be where you could see some problems with time. if they can build a little pad into the situation early on, that is good for them. you know, we talked about why this is an important space walk. one of two cooling lubes has gone down. they need both cooling lubes. if you're lost one that means if you lose another one you have to abandon the space station. this is a high priority space

walk. it is not, however, a necessarily dangerous space walk. but they do need to get this done as quickly as they can and it comes after the mission last july in which an astronaut nearly drowned because of a water flow problem in his helmet and his helmet filled with water. now they have two fixes just in the event that that happens again, they think they have fixed the problem and it won't happen, but among those two fixes is quite literally a snorkel just in case the water returns but they just checked and both astronauts say no sign of water in the helmet. guys, back to you. >> that's a good sign. >> tom costello, thanks. he spent 48 days in space and did space walk missions himself and steve is joining us now. no problem with the suits or water leaking last time around last july. that was an issue there. does everything seem to be operating as it should? >> just about. a couple of little problems with the equipment. starting out, rick had a little problem getting the fitting that

you put your feet on the robot arm. things tend to get stuck in space so things were sticky a little bit. rick is a very experienced guy and got it fixed with no problem. >> let's face it. we are keeping a closer eye on this for a lot of reasons. one, the last time a space walk, the restaurant almost drowned. his helmet started filling up with walk. tom walked us through they have put these precautions. you have some props here you've brought along and maybe you can explain what they have done to alleviate this possibility. >> let me talk about nasa's about coming back from a problem. the highest task is taken to publish accomplish and if things are not going right, they want lowest technology as possible. they developed an absorbent pad up i didn't understand the head. the oxygen in the helmet comes behind your head and if water gets mixed up with the oxygen -- >> the water is part of the

cooling in the suit? >> it is. >> obviously one sheet isn't going to be enough to absorb a lot of water. they have a lot that with abs b absorb? >> i think they can absorb between 20 and 25 ounces. >> gout a water bottle there? >> about this much. >> that is a lot of water. >> that is a lot of water. about -- there is about four times this much inside this space suit so there could be a lot of water. if water does become a problem for breathing, you know it's just floating around in blobs. water does strange things in zero gravity. this is kind after snorkel. it's right next to your drink tube and it goes down to your waist so you actually have access to oxygen in the suit that it probably isn't going to incur with the water. >> sounds good but i think of panic. >> glike a mcgyver situation there. >> steve, stick around and we will rely on you as we watch this play out live. >> you bet. powerful weather system is impacting tens of millions of americans and it's hitting just as a busy holiday travel season

is getting under way. aaa is predicting nearly 86 million people will drive at least 50 miles over the next week and a half. and just over 5.5 million people will be flying to grandma's house or wherever it is they are going. with severe weather affecting as many as 68 million people, it could be a rough ride for the start of the weekend's get-away. dylan is tracking it all for us once again. good morning. >> good morning. so much to track here too. we are going to see the potential of very strong storms accumulating ice and also the threat of seeing some snow as well. we have this set up here out ahead of this cold front, very warm, spring-like air is moving into parts of the southeast and back behind the system is cold air and the clash of those two air masses causes our biggest problems. you can see through here and nashville and parts of louisiana is an area we could end up with very strong storms today. even isolated tornadoes are possible. but in red surrounding that, we could see damaging wind gusts

from some of these storms and also some isolated hail. so this is going to be potentially severe weather outbreak. look at just how much rain we could see with some of these storms. more than 5 to 6 inches of rain possible, but back behind that, in areas like oklahoma, up through missouri, we could see a half an inch of ice and it doesn't take much more than a glaze on the roads to really cause problems. that is mostly today. then as we go into tonight and tomorrow morning, the cold air continues to work in. we are looking at at about 3 to 6 inches of snow across parts of kansas, but even as much in southern wisconsin, of up to a foot of snow. this is all spreading eastward as this area of low pressure moves through the midwest today. tomorrow, the only area we will see ice and accumulating show is northern new england but this line of storms will still make things very slow on the road. the last thing you want to do is drive through the puddles and hydroplaning is more an issue into sunday.

all weekend long we be watching th this storm. expect stores to be packed as super saturday, the second busiest shopping day of the season. ron allen has more on what you can expect. >> reporter: good morning. you can expect to see a lot of sales, discounts, extended hours and a lot of procrastinators at stores that are hoping you'll finally open up your wallets and give them something to celebrate this holiday season. america's retailers could use something more than super this saturday. it's a tough holiday season so far. sales down slightly from last year. >> the deals are important, very important. >> people are still feeling uneasy about the economy and holding on to their dollars more. >> reporter: a shorter season hasn't helped with thanksgiving falling late in november. old man winter blasted many

parts of the country early, keeping shoppers at home. still, retailers have hope. surveys say nearly 90% of you still have not finished your list. >> i am a procrastinator when it comes to christmas shopping. i hate christmas shopping! but i love christmas! >> reporter: so super saturday will feature those open early and often black friday tactics. kohl's opened five days straight through christmas eve and toys "r" us opening 80 straight hours and macy's and k-mart will keep stores open 100 hours in a row until christmas eve. >> they will try to pull out all of the stops to get that customer to spend their last dollars. >> reporter: that, while target tries to keep its customers, after a computer breach exposed personal data from 40 million credit and debit cards. >> scares me to death. i shop to target all the time. >> reporter: target ceo says the issue has been identified and

eliminated. that another similar situations, they are typically low levels of actual fraud. this critical weekend, we are extending a 10% discount. >> probably they are the most secure place on the planet at this tick moment. it will hurt them and people would have gone there and now swing over to walmart. >> reporter: target is yet to reveal how many cases of actual card fraud have been committed or what amount of money is involved. they continue to say any victims of fraud will not be held financially responsible and you can bet this weekend anyone using a credit card will be or should be watching their accounts very closely. watching accounts very closely. back to you guys. >> ron, thanks very much. i am so far behind right now. this is -- wednesday is the day, right? >> yes, you have four days, lester, just eight reminder. >> i was away in south africa. that got me totally off my plan but not that i had a plan but i am using it as an excuse. >> have you guys finished?

>> for the first time ever, i am giving cash to a lot of family members. here you go. >> cash is king. >> i love your sweater. merry christmas. >> here is the number here. >> i have to write a number. >> do what the president does, get on a plane and go to hawaii and call it christmas. >> online shopping has been so much easier for me this year. that's what i have been doing. >> go to target. >> time for a check of the rest of the morning stories. >> i had to go there. let's get back to what i thought the president should do. president obama and his family did arrive in hawaii early this morning. he begins his christmas vacation on the heels of making changes to the health care law intended to help those whose policies are being canceled. at a news conference in washington, he announced he is considering changes to the way the nha collects information about america's phone records three american troops were injured in the skies over south

sudan. a u.s. military plane was hit by gunfire while on a mission to evacuate u.s. citizens in the war-torn central african nation. none of the injuries are life threatening. lindsay vonn lost her balance, pulledmpeting on the w downhill course in france. it could mean another setback for vonn who underwent restruckive surgery on february and reinjured it in november. she is getting ready hopefully, for the games in sochi. a safety check completed of every one of london's westin theaterses. the inspectors went over the theaterses after the ceiling collapsed at the 100-year-old apollo. a chunk of the ceiling and chunk of the chandelier came down on thursday in the middle of the audience watching a performance. seven people were injured. you and i notice well, natalie. heck has no fury like a hockey woman. u.s. and canada the women's team

not so neighborly on the ice. the two teams dropped the gloves and went at it at the end of a game on friday in north dakota. these girls are fighting. the last match happened in october and now two matches together before the olympics. >> that is not good. full-on fight there! >> they did. the u.s. went on to win but they are going to meet up again -- i'm going to say both since we are here. if i was up here, i would say let's not get into details. >> it is hockey. tempers are fierce. dylan has made her way outside on the plaza and a check of the rest of the country's forecast. >> it's a lot easier getting out here when you don't need the scarf and gloves and everything else. it's nice in the northeast and we could break some records tomorrow. today, we are going to see temperatures about 15 to 25 degrees above average. look at some of those highs. 73 degrees today in atlanta. that is almost 20 degrees above

normal. records are going to be broken in parts of the country like washington, d.c., even up into new york city. 64 degrees tomorrow. syracuse should top out around 58 degrees and melt a lot of the lake-effect snow up that way. look where it is very cold. across the northern plains on this first day of winter. it feels like it with temperatures well down below zero and windchills even col good morning. 6:14, waking up to clear skies across the area. 50 degrees with a slight onshore breeze. we're looking at sunny skies all d day long and air quality picture perfect, considering how bad it was the past week. east and north bay will be just a few degrees shy of 70. is your latest forecast. natalie? >> dylan, thank you.

this morning, we are hearing from the two teachers who jumped into action when their school bus driver fell out of his seat while driving the bus and as mark potter tells us, it all made for some terrifying moments for the elementary school students on board, but, luckily, everyone is okay. >> reporter: what began as a fourth grade field trip from this element school to south carolina's bull island turned dangerous on the road home when the bus driver ran a stop sign and almost lost control on a sharp left turn. [ screaming ] >> reporter: the bus swerved so severely and veered into a drainage ditch, that the driver was thrown clear out of his seat. right away, sign language interpreter lee morris jumped up to grab the wheel and steady the bus which was filled with 26 ildren and their chaperones. >> okay, okay. >> reporter: also moving quickly was teacher amy ryan. >> let me get the brake. >> reporter: who jumped into the drive's seat to put on the brakes. [ screaming ] >> reporter: with the bus

stopped, it was determined that no one was injured and the driver, who was later ticketed and lost his job, was helped back into his seat. teacher ryan says as the bus approached the intersection, she knew there would be trouble. >> somebody said kind of stop, stop sign, stop. you could tell that the bus driver was just going too fast to stop. >> reporter: and morris explained what happened when they went in the ditch. >> that's when the driver lost his seat. and because of the curve of the turn of the wheels, we came back out of the ditch, but that's when i was able to jump up and grab the wheel and keep it going down the road straight. >> reporter: now there are 26 students and their parents in south carolina grateful for those teachers. for "today," mark potter, nbc news. >> thank goodness for those teachers. still to come, the controversial tweet that got one woman's twitter followers to go from a hundred to a thousand in a matter of hours and she's in a lot of trouble for it and also may get her fired.

that's right after this. ♪ i'll call y♪u in a little bit. google... how do i get home? getting directions. ♪ accomplishing even little things can become major victories. i'm phil mickelson, pro golfer. when i was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis, my rheumatologist prescribed enbrel for my pain and stiffness, and to help stop joint damage. [ male announcer ] enbrel may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, nervous system and blood disorders, and allergic reactions have occurred. before starting enbrel,

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[ donkey brays ] ♪ we are back with this story now. it reminds you of the times we are living on how fast news travel. a story exploding on social media and happened pretty much overnight. a public relations director founds herself in the middle of her own pr nightmare. >> a tweet she sent out friday while in the air and traveling to africa. dylan is following in this orange room with more. hey again, dylan. >> hey. this is an awful tweet. i don't know what she was thinking when she sent this out but on her way to africa and she sent out this tweet. a pr person sending out this tweet. going to africa and hope i don't get aids. just kidding, i'm white. obviously what not to do on twitter. only 400 followers at the time but by the time she landed, this was the number one #on twitter. #has just landed yet and this

went crazy on the internet yesterday. we don't have word if she was fired but i see the company commend and saying this is an outrageous offensive comment that does not reflect the views and values of iac. unfortunately the employee in question is unreachable on an international flight and removed her name to the website but we have reached out but haven't heard if she has been fired. this went crazy on the internet yesterday. people have all sorts of opinions. why would he ever tweet something like that or think something like that? it's just one of those things that has taken off. >> absolutely unbelievable. they is a pr person, you know? >> she does publicity all the time. >> dylan, thank you for that. a big setback in court for nigella lawson who her former assistants were found not guilty of fraud. will the celebrity chef's image be ruined forever?

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famous brands, famously easy, famous footwear. victory is yours. ♪ through 12 ice storms brewing ♪ ♪ 10 straight days raining ♪ 9 hailstorms pounding ♪ 5 mysteriously heavy holiday fruitcakes ♪ ♪ 4 actual tree houses ♪ 3 blackouts ♪ 2 weird to mention ♪ and a roaming horde of carolers ♪ ♪ with my exact same route [ female announcer ] no one delivers the holidays like the u.s. postal service. priority mail flat rate is more reliable than ever. and with improved tracking up to 11 scans you can even watch us get it there. and look for our limited edition holiday stamps. before redeeming their bank of america travel rewards points on more than just flights for their recent trip to paradise. before they went to paradise and paid for the car rental, snorkeling, lava tour, and hulu lessons. the clarkes got the bankamericard travel rewards credit card -- the card that allows you to redeem points

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san. weep are looking at clear skies across the board, even in san francisco. temperatures will warm very

nicely today, up into the 60s. the north bay and the east bay will be just a few degrees shies -- shy of 70 degrees. not a bad day as we finish up our shopping. a tentative agreement has been shot with bart management. the remaining contract issues dealt with paid family medical leave and family retirement medical insurance. those two sticking points were included in a deal that both sides had signed off on back in october. they wanted to remove the two provisions from the deal claiming they had been included by mistake. >> also, shots were fired a little bit after 10:00 last night. two victims were each found with

at least one gunshot wound. there has been no updayton their condition. police are looking for a gaun man who opened fire at a busy mall parking lot around 4:30 yesterday afternoon. the parking lot was picked with last mind chops are -- choppers. >> there appeared to be an altercation. we're not sure what it was about. >> i think it's crazy. it's uncalled for. it's the season to be happy. >> the victim, a man in his 0s, was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening wounds the suspect drove away in a

white compact coor. >> coming up, if you've been procrastinating on your holiday shopping, do not panic yet. >> and what target is doing to try to mend wounds with customers after that massive stolen credit card debacle. right now we will send you back to the "today today owe -- "today" show.

♪ ♪ i don't want a lot for christmas ♪ >> no place i'd rather than be here than here on my birthday. >> happy birthday! yea, yea! >> i love christmas. just to be on the "today" show. >> hi! >> first time in new york and we are here on "today." >> i love the "today" show! woo! >> hi, santa. we are back on this lovely saturday morning, december 21st, betwe 2013. four days to go until christmas! a balmy saturday morning but not so balmy. >> wait until tomorrow. >> tomorrow is balmy?

>> yes. >> and it's officially winter! >> solstice arrives. >> we can never pronounce it. >> not nearly as cold or hot as it is in space right now. we have been watching throughout the broadcast these live images coming from space. the space walk outside the international space station. two astronauts. the first of several walks trying to replace this cooling pump and it's a big deal as they lost one and can't afford to lose another one and they have five more hours until their work is done. we will answer some of the questions that people have been sending in about this kind of work in space in in a few minutes. >> we see george clooney in there, we will stop what we are doing. >> god forbid that debris situation. coming up in this half hour of "today," just how damaged is celebrity chef nigella lawson's

reputation after allegations of her drug use? let's call this a romance. jimmy fallon and justin timberlake are reuniting on "snl." we are looking for a number of ha, ha's tomorrow morning. >> i have my dvr set. it's time to make your holiday cookies and if you haven't figured out that desert, don't worry. we will share you two favorite christmas cookie recipes. first, dylan you have a check of our balmy here weather but not everywhere else. >> some places it feels like winter. northern plays is below zero morning but ice through parts of missouri through oklahoma and even st. louis. we will see the threat of that ice accumulate up to half an inch, maybe even close to an inch today. then it pushes off to the northeast tomorrow. we are also going to keep an eye out for very strong storms today

in orange there from southwestern kentucky down into louisiana. we could end up with some isolated tornadoes. in red, though, we could see some stronger storms that could produce damaging wind gusts today and turns into snow tomorrow. we could end up with about a foot of snow in southern wisconsin so we have got it all with this storm. severe storms and also the potential for the snow and the ice and everything else. but tomorrow, rain showers and storms up and down the good morning, 6:33. in the south bay right now, we are starring to see our first glimpse of the sunrise. once we get into the next few minutes, we'll start to see that. temperatures will warm quickly, book into the mid 60s. our warmest locations back to

the east and north bay. let's head on todown to texas f today's top spot and our affiliate woai news 4 in bernie, texas. a cowboy christmas as the enchanted springs ranch. it features tractor rides and live entertainment and plenty of crafts and tables and activities for the little ones. the cowboy christmas also has christmas carolling and a live interactive nativity scene. if you're down in texas, it looks like a wonderful day for that but just a little bit wet. now to celebrity chef nigella lawson's future. on friday a london jury found her two assistants not guilty of charges that they defrauded lawson and her former husband of more than a million dollars but did the revelations that came out in the three-week trial damage lawson's once bullet-proof brand? here is nbc's mike taibbi. >> reporter: it was fodder for the tabloids aimed or punishing live on glamour celebrity chef

nigella lawson. three weeks the two assistants in and out of core as bombshell claims about their daily life with lawson hit daily headlines. they had more than a million dollar credit card charges used to pay for their own life of luxury but the guilty was not guilty. >> my clients are naturally relieved at the verdict of the jury. this has been a long, hard fight, played out in the world media. >> reporter: the two women in the course of the trial aimed ugly chargers at their patron of more than a dozen years. that lawson used cocaine and other drugs and tried to buy their silence about it. under questioning, lawson, herself, testified she had had used cocaine in the past and had ended her marriage to saatchi because of his intimate terrorism, jealous i didn't and attempts to destroy her reputation as a celebrity tv chef in britain and the u.s.,

has it branded her brand? >> cooking at home experts are held to a higher standard because they are in your home, so i think she will take a little more heat for the behavior that is pretty typically for hollywood. >> reporter: after the verdict, lawson relieved a statement saying, i did my civic duty only to be maliciously vilified without the right to respond. as for the assistants who turned on her, neither was in court to hear the not guilty verdict, though, their lawyer said they were naturally relieved. for "today," mike taibbi, nbc news, los angeles. still ahead on "today," it's a big night for "saturday night live" as jimmy fallon and justin timb timberlake team up once again. we will tell you about that. first, these messages. ♪ but, soft... what light... ... through yonder window breaks ... it is the east ... and juliet is the sun good night! good night... parting is such sweet sorrow... that i shall say good night 'til it be morrow.

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tell me you can't wait for christmas. and you appreciate the things i do. because we'll always be a family. tell me i bring out the best in you. ♪ that you're thankful. ♪ that it won't be the same without me. tell me you love me. even if you say it every day. just tell me. [ female announcer ] everyone you love has something they need to hear this holiday. tell them with a hallmark card.

this morning, on "today's" hollywood headlines will the hit show "duck dynasty" be able to continue and jimmy fallon and justin timberlake continue their romance tonight on "saturday night live." >> alicia breaks it down for us. let's talk about the "duck dynasty" controversy. paul robertson is pulled off the air. the rest of the family is standing behind him. what is going to happen?

>> the new season is set to air in january and still suspended but it's already taped so either they can minimize what he is going to be in the show but can't take him out completely. also this is a money maker. a&e's highest rate show area. the family pulled in 400 million last year for the merchandising. it's a battle over money. >> a question too because a&e owns the prioritiary rights to the show. could the family take their show to another network right now? >> they can't take it to another network right now. they would to wait out the contract. also look at they have got million dollar deal with walmart worth 200 million and brought in from walmart alone. but the family's business, the duck business, is worth $50 million. financially, no matter what happens, the family will be okay. >> i know some people have tried to make it into a paula dean comparison. >> she appealed to everybody at that time her demographic. their demographic is different.

the family makes no joapologies over it. >> i'm not sure people are necessarily surprised if you're a fan. >> if you're a fan these comments were surprising. >> let's move on. something we are looking forward to around here in the "snl." the bromance partner of jimmy fallon and justin timberlake. >> every time they do something, it goes viral. these two have known each other since 2002 and they just have great chemistry together. justin timberlake five times host and jim fallon twice since he left "snl." >> i know high hopes that katy

perry -- katie couric's show is cancelled. >> the market is oversaturated and everybody seems to have a talk show and a lot of people are going digital, including katie who has a deal with yahoo! to be the face of their news. >> is there any hope for a current talk show host? >> some are doing really well. arsenio hal's show is doing excellent and latifah but it's a hard market. the worst movies of between have been relieved and topping the list is -- >> it topped it and probably should top it. it was pretty bad and it bombed. a king of summer. he studies the formula so people were surprised this movie did bad but it was pretty bad. "sharknado" also made the list, along with "after earth." >> it was so bad it was good. >> you could be on the best and

worst movie. worst movie of all time. >> i love that scene. twilight shrich twilight! >> what is the worst movie of all time? "twilight." >> i wanted to watch that. >> it's so bad, it's good. >> i agree with you. >> thank you, alicia. watch e news week nights at 7:00 eastern and pacific. coming up next, we are going to see how things are going up in space and answer some of your questions about what it's like to be on a mission that is literally out of this world. first, this is "today" on nbc. ♪ [ laughter ] he loves me. he loves me not. he loves me. he loves me not. ♪ he loves me!

that's right. [ mom ] warm and flaky in 15, everyone loves pillsbury grands! [ girl ] make dinner pop! guys... [ female announcer ] pillsbury cinnamon rolls, with cinnabon cinnamon, are an irresistible sunday morning idea. nothing calls them to the table faster. make breakfast pop!

♪ we are back wit we're back with the latest from the international space station. this is a live look. nasa providing with the astronauts making those emergency repairs to the cooling system. they have been at it now about an hour and a half. >> former astronaut, steve robinson, has been watching the

space repair all morning long. our viewers have been waeieighi in. they have questions for you. phil wants to know, have you ever lost a tool or has it ever floated away while performing work on a space repair? >> oh, that is something you really do not want to do. when you're on the ground and you drop a tool, you know where to look, at your feet. all the tools have little strings attached to them. if you move a tool from here to there, you have to make sure that string is always attached. i've never lost a tool but it is because i worried about it the entire time. >> just like in the movie "gravity." the tool did fly off in space. >> it would come back to you? >> if they are attached, yes, it would. >> if it was not attached, it would swing back into the orbit. >> it goes into its own orbit and we have to do some calculus. >> you lost me there on calculus.

another question here from kathy. what was your worst case scenario to repair? i guess your worst experience you had to do on a space walk. >> worst and best are the same thing. it was a very unusual experience, i, you may remember, for a few years ago, the space shuttle "discovery" had a problem with the heat shield. i went down with the robot arm like rick is out there today. i went on the first time under the belly of the space station to do a manual hand repair of the heat shield. >> this was after a return to earth mission right after the columbia shuttle explosion. a lot of people were glued watching that one as well. >> i didn't know that until i cut back. i am glad i didn't know. >> we have another question. this is from erin. what do you do to pass time up there and how often do you get to sleep? >> every night. sometimes that is not often enough. the time is superpaced. you are so busy. always things are happening. everything is brand new.

serial number 1. stuff doesn't work right. you are very busy with scientific experiments to do scientific research. when you do get time off, i thought the coolest thing was, there was a guitar up there. i got to play a guitar in the big window coupe pel la up there. >> natalie has one more question. >> i was asking to ask about what do you do if you have to go to the bathroom on a space walk? >> you see, 11, 10. >> does it go off into space. >> no, no, you are locked into that suit. there is a system but frankly, you don't need it. it is real dry up there. mostly, you get thirsty. >> dehydrated. >> yes. >> it is fascinating stuff. i could talk to you all morning. >> great to have you here. still to come. cookies for christmas. we are baking up two holiday treats you won't want to miss. first, these messages.

♪ this morning, on "today's" kitchen, a different take on chri this morning on today's kitchen, a different take on today's cookies. sunny anderson is the host on today as kitchen. she is baking up some treats that have our kitchen make great. >> you had me on red velvet. >> you put red velvet in front

of anything, it gets you excited z you know what it is? >> it is chocolate with red food colors. it is a reaction. sometimes we make the cake, you put the vinegar in there and it reacts with the red food coloring. these are cookies. i'm going to show you something different. really quick, in my food mixer, i have butter and sugar already creamed. this is already whisked. you can add this in. i will show you the difference between these cookies and a red velvet cake. the cookies are very cakey. i really love a cakey cooky sometimes. say that ten times fast. turn this up and get that go go. now, after that, i am going to add a little bit of vanilla. this right here is what makes it different. that is not red food coloring. it is red food gel. it comes in a little tube. the reason i like red food gel, i love red food gel, because it is concentrated, brighter and it

is not going to water anything down. red food coloring is for dyeing eggs and stuff like that. look at how beautiful that's getting in there, nice and red. over the top, as it is slow, going to add in some sifted flour, unsweetened cocoa powder and baking powder. you kind of do it in thirds. then, what you want to do as you are doing this is kind of in between get in there, lower it. >> scrape it down. >> scrape it down. >> you don't want to miss anything. >> don't want to miss anything. put it right back in. >> all i want to do is lick that spatula but i won't do it, raw eggs. >> i grew up on that. >> i did too. i'm still here. >> bring that back up. continue to mix. then, it turns into this. it is a very tight batter. what you want to do, lester, wet your hand a little bit so it doesn't stick to you. i am going to give you this and make a nice golf ball size round. go the that. a little bit bigger.

then, you just put it right on to the sheet, moist hand, flatten it, 350-degree oven. 11 minutes, bring it out, let it cool before you take it out. make sure it is par muchment li. >> just like the man. no control, alt, delete. jesus. i'm german. >> it is the cocoanut that makes it german. >> they also use kirsha water, which is a cherry thing. this is really a good german chocolate with the cocoa nut in there without that. in here, we have the butter. turn that up. to that, i'm going to add some granulated sugar, light brown sugar. >> i could eat that bowl. >> hello.

the difference between sugar and dark sugar, dark sugar has more mol assess. untweetened cocoa, vanilla, two eggs and you make these in volume. >> but can you form them into cookies? >> you can but we are going to bake at 375 for 8-9 minutes as a cookie. that's a bar. we are going to put it into an 8 by 8. that's after you get in the nuts, the chips, the coconut. this is going to be 25-30 minutes if you make bars. this is better for sugar candy for santa. >> our tasting team has just gotten above. >> there is raw egg in that, girlfriend. >> this is not good to do at home. >> this is delicious. >> please, dig in, try. >> instead of leaving santa a glass of milk, leave santa a glass of water. santa needs to go on a diet.

>> you can check out all your websites on our website, good saturday morning. a major announcement from bart and its union. plus what target is doing to lure back customers. did you get chips for the party? nope.

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from nbc bay area, this is "today in the bay." >> and good morning to you as the sun starts to peek out on this preholiday weekend. thank you so much for joining us. we begin this first day of winter.

>> yes, and we are expected to see a very bright first day of winter. temperatures feeling like the who wi holiday season, beautiful shot here, almost looks like a postcard. highs today are going to be very mild for this time of year, above ravage. we're headed to see low to mid 60s by noon. even the pence loo will get close to 60 degrees by noon. san francisco close to 60 by noon and in the north and east ñ bay, the same thing. low to mid 60s. these are some of our warmest locations. right now we don't have any rain or snow to talk about. that's a completely different story across the midwest. they have rain, snow, freezing ran