>> back at 7:25 with a live local new update. good morning. bracing for a blizzard. that powerful storm takes aim at the northeast and some 70 million people, a snow emergency declared in one of the nation's largest cities. hundreds of flights already canceled. air lifted after more than a week transported in ice, passengers of that stranded ship in antarctica rescued overnight. today exclusive gold medal winning skater brian boy on the no opens up. and from this to this, a banker who was declards dead after being accused in a massive

fraud case surfaces 18 months later looking much different and facing some very serious charges today thursday, january 2nd, 201 2014. and goods morpgs, everyone. welcome to "today" on a thursday morning. 7:00 a.m. on the west coast. al is hard at work tracking this monster storm. we're kaepg you busy. >> it's going to be a long few days. >> let's go right to ron mott. he's up in bos top. we're understanding that you're expecting about a foot of snow there. take us through it. >> reporter: yeah. happy knew year to you.

we're expected to get pounded by the storm. they're trying to get everybody to take mass transit if you can. the morning commute hasn't been bad, hasn't been awful but hasn't been great. what they're worried about is getting home tonight and getting around tomorrow. that could be a real test. day two of the new year, the first major winter storm of 2014 is here, threatening much of the northeast with heavy snow, strong winds and coastal flooding. residents preparing for battle today, stocking up on food and supplies. >> i'm just starting the generator to make sure everything works when i need it. >> to make sure we have our snow blower ready, shovels ready. we've already done the grocery shopping to beat all that crowd. >> as the system moves east, driving was treacherous. a man died in indiana? chicago, the chicago river iced up and more than 60 flights grounded at o'hare.

in new england, single digits in places tomorrow and very windy. >> so you do what you do, you board up and put down the sandbags, protect yourself as best you can. >> reporter: many schools have called off classes today and even more on friday. now the big x factor in this storm are the strong winds. ear expecting gusts upwards of 4r5 miles per hour. that's going to lead to whiteout conditions making for dangerous and impossible driving. >> ron, thanks so much. here in new york plows are on stand by at well. the city's new mayor is promgsst promising that crews will be ready for the storm. nbc's tom llamas has more for us. >> the city has more than 1000 of these plow trucks were more than 265 salt spreaders as well and residents here in the tri-state, in new jersey and new york and connecticut are getting ready as well.

they're finding their own in fact in some grocery stores throughout the tri-state they're running thin on things like bread and eggs. as al mentioned, this massive snowstorm is going to blanket parts of the midwest, the tri-state as well as new england. but it's not the snowfall that people are worried about. it's the combination of the fluffy snow and the wind gusts, a perfect recipe for the blifrds. andrew cuomo is threatening to shut down entire highways because he's afraid people are going to get stuck like they did last february. governor malloy is telling people not to travel at all at the peak of the storm because it's going to be too dangerous. back out here life, right here in new york city it's 27 degrees. but tomorrow when it's really cold it's going to feel like negative five degrees.

the big apple frozen to its core. and as you mentioned, mayor bill de blasio, the first new mayor of new york in more than 12 years -- i'm watching this plow truck behind me -- it's going aba true test for him. that's the latest from manhattan's west side. >> thank you so much, al. look at this map. it gives you a sense. we've got 24 states that have some sort of weather watch, warning or advisory. eight of those states, every county in the state has some sort of winter weather advisory. we have blizzard warnings along the coast of massachusetts and into long island. by later this afternoon into this evening the snow will increase in philly, new york and on into boston. midnight we've got heavy winds, strong snow blizzard conditions.

we're going to see the two systems come together and create one big storm. the good news is it's a faster mover. so by noon friday it exits. we're left with blowy windy conditions. generally you get an inch of rain. 's ten inches of snow. it's going to squeeze out a lot more snow. we're looking at 15 inches of snow for every inch. so snowfall totals are going to be pretty impress f. in fact as you look along coastal connecticut on into new england and massachusetts, up to 12 to 15 inches of snow. internal sections of upstate new york will see about the same as much. two thousand plane cancellations. chicago's midway is closed right now and it's just going get worse as the system really ramped up. now back to erica. there is breaking news from antarctica happening overnight.

passengers on the research ship that's been trapped in ice for more than a week air lifted to safety. we've been monitoring the rescue effort from melbourne, australia. >> there was a holiday present for a group of an arctic adventures. there was a high flying end to a icy draw that that had them trapped for machine than a week. >> if all goes well, we'll be off in about an hour's time. >> it was the sound more welcome this new year than the pop of a champagne cork. >> the first of the helicopters to take us home. >> thanks everyone. >> this helicopter from a chinese ship carrying the first dozen people from an ice bound russian vessel to meet an australia ice cutter. a massive complicated mission. >> it's international, the weather and the ice all make it a very difficult operation to stitch together.

>> the rescue, a relief for 52 passengers stuck since christmas day. >> as you can see we're actually in a blizzard at the moment. >> several ice cutters had tried and failed to plow through the thick shifts ice. so the passengers pounded that ice into a heldly pad as they belted out seasonal tunes. ♪ >> today, shifting ice nearly scuttled the mission again. >> we will wait for conditions that will allow the rescue to be completed in a single operation to reduce unnecessary risks. overnight rescue teams opted to take advantage of clear skies and the passengers took off homeward bound. that said, the passengers aren't expected to arrive in australia and step foot on australia soil until mid january. that's because the ship next had to go to antarctica and resupply

a base there. but they will get home before the crew of the russian ship. they're staying on their vessel stuck in the ice. >> might be there far while. on this first business day of the new year, doctors and insurance companies will begin to handle patients who are now covered under obamacare. and there are already some challenges. tom costello is in washington >> reporter: the biggest challenge is the injunction that gives some a temporary injunction to parts of the law that require employers to provide insurance coverage which include contraception. the groups oppose that requirement on religious grounds. meanwhile, obama care coverage is in effect today. >> after a general election turned into a referendum -- >> repealing and replacing obamacare.

>> -- then a reelection victory, a supreme court verdict -- >> the supreme court has upheld the health care case. >> -- a government shutdown. >> obamacare is a train wreck. >> -- and disastrous rollout, obamacare is in effect. among them, this family has signed up. both self employed artists, kathy was stuck in an old policy because of a preexisting condition no longer. >> it used to be that if you had a job you had health benefits and that's no longer the case. >> but the rollout remains troubled. millions kicked off of their insurance policies that didn't meet the minimum standards and utter confusion in the marketplace. in michigan, the second largest insurer says only a small handful has signed up. >> we knee to reevaluate the program.

>> but any fixes would require congressional compromise and 2014 is an election year. >> i thisty administration has succeeded in averting the catastrophe they averted in october. but only time is going to tell. >> the concern that the newly insured may not appear in the data bases, may not have their insurance cards. nearly all sides expect it will be a rough few weeks or months. >> tom, thanks very much. >> peter alexander is in for natalie. you covered the white house. after four years this roller coaster ride of obamacare and still challenges. >> i think they're celebrating that they have two million people that have signed up. the question is beginning today, these knewry insured show up, they're going to find out

whether they got the coverage they want, whether they can see the doctors that they want and whether they can afford it. >> to be continued. >> hackers in some other news right now posteds the user names and partial phone numbers of 4 1/2 million snap chat users. it was made available on a website but has since been taken down. senate chat is a social media app. meantime in a separate attack, the twitter and facebook accounts of skype were also hacked wednesday. hackers published messages accusing skype's owner microsoft of spying for the government. a group called the syrian electronic army took credit for that act. president obama is hoping that barbara bush will make a speedy recovery. the wife of george zimmermaner president george h bush is being treated for a respiratory illness.

the family spokesman said wednesday her condition has not changed but he remained in good spirits. the 85-year-old who's been in a coma since he suffered a devastating stroke in 2006 at the height of his political power. hi his family is said to be at his bedside. elected prime minister in 2001 he was one of israel's most iconic and controversial figures. the hollywood community is mourning the loss of james avery. he was best known for his roll on nbc's "the fresh prince of bel air." he was 68. firefighters in minneapolis are not sure if there's still anyone inside a three story apartment building after a huge explosion own fire on wednesday. firefighters still can't get inside because the roof partially collapsed.

more than a dozen people injured, some of them critically. the cause of the blast is still under investigation. it's been decades since the michigan state football team won a really good bowl game. the spartans were a few seconds away from beating stanford in the rose bowl when a few players tried to give the head coach the traditional gator bath. they missed wide to the right. i'm guessing they were pouring something different. >> there is a good chance. >> did you see the winter classic, the hockey game? >> that was fantastic. >> they were shoveling snow. >> what was the puck going, a mile an hour. >> speaking of, mr. roker a check of the forecast. >> cold air is going to be a factor. look at this bitter cold air as temperatures of 38 below up through canada, 16 below, that's

going to make its way into the northeast today and into the great lakes. right now green bay feels like 12 below, 6 below in detroit, buffalo at 6 below. as we continue today, wind chills are going to be well below zero and into the weekend we're going the see more bitterly cold air from green bay where the air temperature will be 20 dpe below, buffalo 2 below and burlington by friday only 4 below for a high. by monday, chicago's high is 8 below zero with an overnight low of 17 below. we're going to get to your local forecast coming up in the next 30 seconds.

7:16. first thursday of the new year. temperatures are pretty chilly out there. we're going to hit unseasonably warm conditions yet again today. and beautiful sunrise over1÷ sa francisco. you can see it's hazy out there we have a spare the air alert in place for today. as we head throughout the afternoon, temperatures work like this. we're going to be in the upper y 66 in san francisco, and 67 degrees in the north bay. hope you have a fantastic day. and that's your latest weather. >> all right, al. thanks very much. in colorado, it's day two of sale for medical marijuana. crowds lined up on wednesday, not everyone is happy about the change. we'll get your thoughts in the orange room in a moment. first, though, gabe gutierrez is in denver. gabe, good morning.

>> reporter: erica, good morning, the lines were long, but as you can see here at the cannabis center, there is still plenty of supply. meanwhile, all this attention on colorado is firing up a debate among parents nationwide. >> welcome, welcome. >> reporter: this morning, the novelty may be wearing off. >> i'm going to go home so i can do what i bought. >> but the buzz is not. >> oh, my plans are basically to pick up a quarter bag, go home, smoke some weed and play stupid video games. >> reporter: a day after colorado became the third state to allow marijuana sales. but critics are weighing in. >> it's awful, foolish. >> reporter: ben works in the drug rehab program, he's a recovering addict himself. >> the experiment taking place in my home state where my three kids go to public school. >> reporter: with the pot-laced foods and drinks, gena says it's

marketing to young people. >> i think we are inviting all sorts of people, unsavory people that want to be in the drug business. >> reporter: 20 years ago, more than 70% of high school seniors considered regular marijuana use dangerous. now, that's down to less than 40%. >> if somebody tries marijuana before the age of 18, 1 in 6 develops addiction to the drug. if somebody waits until after they're 18, the number's more like 1 in 9. >> reporter: but in places like denver's 3d dispensary, there's no shortage of supporters. >> if alcohol's legal, why can't marijuana? i think people who use it responsibly, there's no harm in that. >> reporter: here at this location, they had more than 400 customers yesterday. they had turned another 100 away because of time constraints. any way you look at it, erica, this is a lot of weed.

>> there's the quote of the day. >> why, yes, it is, gabe. >> gabe, when you're done with that story, you might want to get those clothes dry cleaned also. it's going to be tough to explain. >> good idea. . >> i think you can kpebs that bill, i'm sure, right? >> reporter: probably. >> carson, plenty of people weighing in on this online, i would imagine? >> it's a a lot of weed were erica, a lot of weed. >> as you can imagine, this is a hot topic as you mentioned, day two. by and large the people who choose to weigh in on the topic find that overwhelmingly this is a good idea for the state, at least economically. excellent revenue for business owners and the state, can get people working. a couple of people are not happy about it saying the children of colorado essentially are lab rats. interesting to note that the denver police department has tweeted out just to remind everybody, do you know the law?

you got to be 21 years old, you can't take it across the state line. we're keeping an eye on the story. it's a hot topic today. >> carson, thanks very much. >> coming up, a banker who allegedly took his own life after being tied to a major fraud case reappears a year and a half later. what the victims are saying about that this morning. and we'll have mur or the winter storm and the impact it will have on the travel plans of millions of people.

homosexual bryan b. and olympic gold medallist brian boitano on his decision to reveal he's gay. it's all up after your local news. ♪ [ male announcer ] this man has an accomplished research and anatical group at his disposal. ♪ but even more impressive is how he puts it to work for his clients. ♪ morning. morning. thanks for meeting so early. oh, it's not a big deal at all. come on in.

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i had to quit smoking to keep up with this guy. [ male announcer ] ask your doctor if chantix is right for you. >> good morning to you. 7:26. i'm peggy bunker. police are investigating the city's first homicide of the year, it happened just about 12:30 this morning oni%c east s antonio street. officials have not released the victim's name or information about circumstances surrounding the shooting. neighbors said they heard shots but didn't call police. a person driving by eventually did call 911 about an hour later. we are also learning more about a fire at the chinese consulate in san francisco. the smell of gasoline still lingers in the area where officials say somebody threw two buckets of the accelerant on thc door and set it on fire. the fire is being investigated as an act of arson. to keep their daughter on a

ventilator. the attorney for jahi mcmath's family says he is working the phone lines to get the girl moved to another facility. children's hospital oakland says doctors have not heard from a single person involved in the plans. right now 7:27. time to check in with meteorologist christina loren. get a look at the forecast for the day. >> good morning to you. temperatures in the upper 30s, low 40s out there. it's chilly and hazy. it's a spare the air day. you're going to find parts in the bay area where the air quality is not that bad. one of which is sunol. look at this. clear sky to start. i show you all the microclimates across the area. you can see we're talking about a hazy sky. nonetheless temperatures comfortable. upper 60s to low 70s. 70 degrees in the tri-valley, 68 for the south bay. north bay at 67 degrees. remember your seven-day forecast here at the bottom of your screen. let's check your drive. it is certainly4c picking up o there. >> it is. right now 880 northbound there is an accident on market street

in oakland. it was involved with an 18 wheeleder. we're not getting too much information as far as where it is or what other vehicles were involved. you can see traffic moving in that location. the accident approaching the bay bridge or the toll plaza. in the south bay there is an accident on 87, this is at taylor. not moving -- or moving without a problem. back to you. >> looking pretty good. thank you so much./ ♪ i wish i was made of money.

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a major snowstorm taking aim at many cities on the east coast, including boston. they could get more than a foot of snow there. school has already been canceled for tomorrow, not today but tomorrow there. >> they are ready. also making headlines this morning, the 52 passengers on that research ship that's stuck in the ice on antarctica have been rescued. they were flown off by a helicopter overnight. and two popular web sites have become victims of hacking. the user names and partial phone

numbers of more than 4 million snap chat user were posted online and the twitter and facebook accounts of skype were also attacked. >> let's get to mr. roker. >> my daughter has an app here that shows whether they have school or not. >> the alarm goes off? >> she is really rooting for this. let's show you, over the weekend we are going to have a lot going on here. of course for tomorrow we've got a lot of snow in the northeast of this system moves out. we're looking for icy conditions. nice and mild in the southwest, bone dry in southern california. by saturday the storm has moved offshore in the northeast. but the next system coming barrelling through the plains bringing snow. the sunshine continues outwest and then on sunday icy conditions in the northeast, rain through the southeast, more snow into the great lakes.

out west it's going to be sunny and cold with beautiful mild we hey, thank you, al, good morning to you. it's hazy out there. not as hazy as it was yesterday. you can see from the san francisco camera a beautiful sunrise foa b the greater bay a this morning. i want to show you all of the mostly clear, haze just about everywhere as we head throughout the day today we'll climb out of the 30s and 40s into the 60s and 70s. unseasonably mild again. our air quality is scheduled to improve starting tomorrow. more so as we get into the weekend. and that's your latest weather. >> thanks. now to a headline making arrest out of georgia. a former banker accused of faking his own death dap chured during routine traffic stop. peter has more on that this morning. probably not how he thought it would end. >> listen to how this went down.

he was arrested on tuesday after a year and a half on the run. a federal grand jury dieted price more than a year ago and today he's going to face a federal judge for his crimes for the first time. when deputies pulled over a car in i-95 in georgia for having illegally dark tibted windows, they never would have guessed who was inside. it was a blow. >> aubrey price was dieted by a federal grand jury for fraud. to hide thefts and losses while he was the director of the bank. authorities say price, a former preacher told acquaintances in 2012 that he had lost a lot of money in trading activities and planned to kill himself by jumping off of a ferry. >> i never once thought that he was dead. >> this surveillance video shows price a year and a half ago

after writing the suicide note. he was last seen june 16th, 2012 in key west, florida boarding a ferry bound for fort myers rnlts it was shock. next thing you see in the paper, you know. >> the fbi says they always thought price was alive. >> in this episode of american greed, the fugitives. >> the case gained national attention last file when with was featured on an episode of "american greed." now he's once again making headlines. while his appearance has changed his victim's anger remains. >> justice prevails. >> i thought this was pretty interesting. he was carrying several i.d.s with different photos. apparently price said, sit down, i'm going to make you famous. he finally identified himself as the missing banker.

we contacted his wife for comments, she had none. >> he's in a little bit of trouble. >> i'm going to make you famous. healthy ego there. >> mr. roker -- sorry. >> up next, why was it the right time, an exclusive interview with olympic legend brian boitano. this is his first interview since he announced he's gay. >> on trending with you can't beat a good selfie. first, these messages. [ male announcer ] mcdonald's dollar menu & more is all about getting more.

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on this. >> reporter: with the sochi games just 35 days away, both russia and the international olympic committee are feeling the heat. a law passed unanimously in moscow last june, trading demonstrations around the world. it is declared propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations of minors illegal. russia's president vladmir putin says the ban does not discriminate but defends his country against genderless and infer tile western tolerance. more and more athletes like ashley wagger feel the need to speak out. >> i think it's horrible the treatment that the lbgt community gets in russia. >> reporter: russia is a socially conservative country where homosexuals rarely live openly. in sochi, one gay club, but the doors are unmarked. they hope the olympics may hope

change perception. >> i feel russia will become trouble. >> reporter: already. president obama seems to be sending his own message by choosing not to go himself and assembling a delegation that includes three openly gay athletes. >> i am going to sochi that has made the most dramatic shift on these issues in the last few years. i am proud to be represent tack diversity. >> reporter: others accused the olympic committee of not speaking out against a violation of hits own charter. >> still it's time for the ioc to take a strong and unequivocal stance against the law and make it clear that the russian government is not living up to its commitment as an olympic host. >> reporter: the ioc says it's not their role to comment on russian law, but the justice minister has given them unspecified assurances that openly gay athletes and foreign

visitors will not be discriminated against during the games. >> stef, thank you so mump. figure stait skating legend brian boitano is here for his first interview after being named to the delegation. good morning. >> good morning. >> you have been to the olympics three times as an athlete? >> yes. >> first time as a member of the delegation. what does it mean to you? >> i was so honored to be asked by the white house and going through the whole veting process and being named to the delegation. it was really interesting, because i didn't know who was going to be on the dell gigs or any part of it. >> shortly after you were named to the delegation, you did something that by your own admission you say you never thought you would do publicly. >> yeah. >> you came out. >> yeah. >> take me through the decision. why? >> well, when the president named a delegation and i read in the news what his message was, tolerance and diversity, i thought, i have to take this

opportunity. i think the message is so strong. i always wanted to represent my country as best i could. i knew i had to go past my comfort zone and reveal a private side of my life that i've never done before because i felt that the message is so strong. >> are you now eager to take the message a step further as you go to sochi as part of the official u.s. delegation, do you intend to make a strong statement about gay rights once you get will? >> you know, i think we have to be careful once we get there. i think the statement is already being made by us being on the delegation and billy jean and caitlin and us standing together as gay team e people showing that there is freedom of speech and we are successful human beings and athletes and i think that that speaks measures. >> yet at the opening ceremony and you will be there as athletes march into the stadium, it's expected that some who are gay or just support gay rights will make some kind of dramatic statement, either in their words

or their gestures or their clothing. do you encourage that? >> you know what, i encourage everybody to do what they feel is best for themselves. i never thought i would be coming out in this way and you know in a matter of ten hours, i decided to do it. so thachsz what was right for me at this time. so i tell everybody that i think that they should do water right for them. >> so let's get away from the delegation side for a second in the olympics. let's go back to the personal side. all right. what itself reaction? can i say and please don't take this the wrong way, i wasn't shocked. >> exactly. that's what i thought. you know, the thing, i never, in the past, first of all, the reaction has been fantastic and supportive. i never felt i had to i have always bns a private person. i've keptpy private side of my life special for family and friends who really knew me. i have never been ashamed of who i was. i have always been opened with them. i didn't think there was a need. i am a private guy. i realize there is a public and

a private side. i always chose to keep my sexuality private. >> do you think this will change your life in any substantial way? >> you know what, i don't know. i can't say for sure. honestly, things have changed so much in the last week for me. but i intend to still be a private man. just a private gay man that people know now. >> we can't wait to see you in sochi. you are going over the day before? >> the opening ceremonies. >> come by, see us. >> you want to be there with me? >> i am broadcasting the opening ceremonies. you sit with me. i don't know. brian boitano. always great to see you. congratulations. just ahead on trending, what would you do? the woman got a christmas present from the president. it was actually meant a for someone else. we will find out what is buzzing in the orange room

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. >> we are back at day 50. carson is working over there in the orange room. he looks very busy. >> i am very busy transitioning from the colorado story into this one. unfortunately tuesday night we lost one of our fate tv dads. james avery passed away. you know him as uncle phil from the '90s hit "fresh prince of bel air." let's take a look at him in action. >> i will not punish you today, maybe not even tomorrow. you see, i need to they long, long time about just what i'm going to do with you. i don't know, it might come to me in the middle of the night or maybe next week or a few years from now. in the meantime, why don't you worry about it?

be afraid, will. be very afraid. >> no word from will yet. however, carlton from the tv show tweeted out i am deeply saddened to say that james avery has passed away. he was a second father to me, i will miss him greatly. it got us thinking these tv dads are like second fathers in a way. who is your favorite tv dad? this is mine, allen thicke still like a father to me. yes, his son alan thicke who sings "blurred lines". >> like favorite father, too. >> anybody else? >> andy griffith. >>. >> homer simpson. >> mike brady. >> i watched a lot of "little house on the prairie." >> matt goes, oh. >> "happy days."

>> that got us thinking, carson. thank you very much. just ahead here on trending, the starbucks super fan who ate not just this morning, morning, noon, and night for an entire year. >> and then what are you going to do? the end of your favorite light bulb is here. it happens with the change of the year and erica is going to tell us what to do as we go through withdrawal and hit to the store to buy one of those new fangled bulbs. >> we will talk you through it. it will be okay. then jeff daniels on his sequel to "dumb and dumber" and [ male announcer ] introducing new fast acting advil.

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good morning. it's 7:56. family members and friends continue to mourn a 19-year-old mother who was hit and killed by a truckíi=ñ in fremont while ca her 3-month-old baby. dozens showed up for a vigil for ashley capuchin last night. she was carrying her baby salvador walking with her sister when all three were hit by a pickup truck at mowry avenue new year's eve night. the baby is in cri+3n1ñ condition.(iñ capuchin's sister has minor ?gi injuries. the b.a.r.t. board, the issue dealt with paid family medical leave that the sticking point was accidentally included in a deal that both sides signed off for back in october. let's get a collect of the weather this morning with christina loren. good morning. >> good morning.

glad to have you back m scott mcgrew. temperatures are pretty chilly. we're in the 30s and 40s. we're+ going to hit near recor levels again today. you can see from this live picture of san francisco pretty nice out there right now. a little hazy but not bad. our camera shakes because we're getting some wind. we need that wind for our air quality. we're looking nice and clear in places like sunol, beautiful sky here, temperatures today work like this. look at these. upper 60s on the way to san jose, we're going to hit hazy sunshine, mild, and yeah, 70s on the way to some of our beaches so count on extra traffic over 17. >> man, that's awesome. good news, warm but you know what, we're finding slowing in the typicalñ'i spots, in fremon the roads are wide open but on 680 two accidents. the other place i want to show you is in the south bay, flowing smoothly there. not bad. >> thank you. we'll have another local update

for you in about a half hour. ♪ [ man ] yo buzz! drop that beat! remix! ♪ hey! must be the honey! ♪ ♪ ♪ you got that medley crunch ♪ go! go! buzz! ♪ go! go! go! buzz! ♪ hey! must be the honey! ♪ ♪ clusters, flakes ♪ that medley crunch, crunch! ♪ clusters, flakes ♪ that medley crunch, crunch! go! ♪ ♪ ♪ hey! must be the honey! ♪ ♪ hey! you got that medley crunch ♪ ♪ hey! must be the honey! ♪

♪ it's 8:00 on "today." coming up, finding mr. right is easy? how many frogs a woman has to kiss before finding her prince. and why the new year means you'll be brightening your home without your favorite bulb. and emmy winner jeff daniels is here to talk "dumb and dumber 2" and "newsroom." "today," january 2, 2014. ♪ >> hi to all our family and friends. we've never been colder. >> happy new year from florida!

♪ >> we bleed purple and gold, we're from louisiana. >> happy new year! >> and welcome back to "today" on this thursday morning. second day of january, 2014. i'm matt lauer alongside erica hill, in while savannah is taking time off. al roker playing himself this morning. and carson palmer who picked our throw back song. >> bell biv devoe. >> that takes me back. a little energy. fun to hear. >> we could use some energy and some snow shovels. this storm is the real deal. >> yeah, we're not kidding with this thing. it will affect a lot of people and we've got even colder air coming in behind. >> i yeah. we're going to get dumped on here. up in boston, more than a foot of snow.

we have ron mott standing by in that city. when are they expecting it to start there? >> reporter: well, it's starting right now, matt. a lot of the commuters have made their way in. probably a little slower going this morning than usual. it's tonight when it will get really tough and then tomorrow, forget about it. it will be really bad. depending on where you live, anywhere from 6 to 14 inches of snow and the x-factor is all this wind that is going to accompany this storm. we are expecting wind gusts up to 45 miles per hour which is really troublesome especially for people on the south shore. not on the do they have to deal with heavy snow, but coastal flooding as well to deal with. schools have been cancelled for a lot of districts here today. certainly tomorrow. some parents are grumbling about today, because the going is pretty good right now. toward the end of this day it will be a lot different story. their expecting the bulk of the snow to come down overnight. tomorrow, it will be a difficult day for the folks who have to

get out. if you don't have to get out t city is asking folks to stay home. back to you. >> that's good advice. thanks, ron. >> so this storm has a wide swath. give us a sense of what we're looking at. >> 108 million people will be an fekted by it. when it comes down to watches, warnings, 24 states. as we go to the map, show you what we're talking about. from georgia up to new england. back into illinois. we've even got blizzard warnings, coastal massachusetts as well. this thing gets itself together. so in the formation of the blizzard. by noon today we have got the two systems making up by 6:00, snow in philly, and new york city, and boston increases by late tonight. strong winds, blizzard conditions. as we move on into the day friday morning, two systems merge into one off shore. that's when the conditions get going. good news, it's a quick mover. snowfall amounts generally about

6 to 12 inches, but along the coast of new england where it's almost up to 16 inches of snow and blizzard-like conditions. really rough. >> all right, al, thanks. let's go inside and natalie is off this week. pedro alexander has all the headlines. >> dozens of people trapped in antarctica were rescued overnight. a chinese ship airlifted the 52 tourists and researchers from the ice-bound russian ship so they could rendezvous with an australian cutter nearby. they stayed behind since their ship is not in danger and they have plenty of supplies. barbara bush is still in the houston, texas, hospital, she is being treated for a respiratory related illness. this morning the well wishes keep pouring in. and we have the very latest. janet, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. the first lady has spent her third night here, being treated

for what's been described as pneumonia like symptoms. she was admitted, being treated by her regular team of doctors and on new year's eve, a family spokesman said she's in great spirits. we are hearing as you indicated from so many well-wishers including president barack obama who used the white house twitter account to send this message. michelle and i send our best wishes to mrs. bush for a speedy recovery. also on twitter, from former president bill clinton wednesday, i'll be rooting for barbara bush's full recovery while she's rooting for baylor today. all my best to her and to george h.w. bush. she was last treated three years ago for a thyroid condition and her husband was released last january after spending two months here for a bronchitis-related cough. mrs. bush considers herself and many others as one tough cookie. >> we add our voice to the

chorus of well-wishers for mrs. bush. there's some new developments in the controversial fight over 13-year-old girl on life support who has been declared dead by doctors. nbc's miguel almaguer is in oakland. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. two court orders have kept her on a ventilator, but with a second court order set to expire in just days the family is pleading for help. this as the state of california launches an independent investigation. for three weeks jahi mcmath's mother has remained by her side. she was there when the 13-year-old went into cardiac arrest and was declared brain dead after a tonsillectomy. she said my daughter started to bleed and it happened in front of my face. today, jahi remains on a ventilator. her family wants her out of the children's hospital of oakland. >> once the facility has agreed

to move her we are allowed to move her. >>. >> reporter: doctors have declared jahi brain dead, but her family says she's alive. children's hospital says it won't perform the surgery because it's unethical. >> the family attorney has created a hoax, a very sad hoax that jahi mcmath is in some way alive. she's not. >> she's locked up there in that tower. they won't help her, but they won't give us what we need to get her out. >> reporter: jahi's family is now receiving support from the terri schiavo's life and help network. schiavo was kept alive for nearly 15 years on a ventilator. now, jahi's story is doing the same. jahi's family has until january 7th to move her. that's when the court order keeping her on the ventilator expires. her family says they have found a facility in new york willing to take her. peter? >> thanks very much. it's 8:07. heading back outside, al has

more on that winter weather. coming our way. >> thank you so much, peter. let's check it out. let's see what's going on. on the satellite raradar, light snow from syracuse to portland. boston, again very light stuff. it will get heavier as the day wears on. the temperatures drop too. that's going to be a big factor in this. for today, we have weather through the southeast. rain in the pacific northwest. snow really getting itself together dur hey, good morning to you. the time now 8:08. take a look at this. what a pretty sky. high, thin clouds over senole at this hour. it's hauzy. elsewhere especially down in the south bay. temperatures are chilly. we're going on to climb to really warm levels. 07 in the east bay. 68 in the south bay, and mid to upper 60s in san francisco. that means if you wanted to hit the beach today, best beach weather down in santa cruz at 70 degrees, and we have some improvement in our air quality as of tomorrow. hope you have a great day.

>> that's the latest weather. it is hat day. erica hill, just bought herself a hat. >> i did. i'll bring it in tomorrow. >> i'm on my way to time's square to pick up a hat. >> j.j. hats. >> you can get a great deal on the 2014 hats today. >> that's right. they're half priced. >> coming up next on "trending" say cheese. prince william joins the selfie craze. >> then the light switch, say good-bye to your favorite bulb. which replacement option is bet best for you? and jeff daniels shows off his musical side. but first, these messages. lucky charms!

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with 2x the meat of other leading brands... ...to help keep rocky's body as strong as a love that never fades. iams. keep love strong. with 2x the meat. love the iams difference or your money back. ♪ hi. we are back now 8:13 with what's trending today. how about this one? trending on google. some interesting numbers. when it comes to relationships and what the average person goes through before they find the right one, all right? a british survey of 2,000 adults found before finally finding their partner for life, the average woman will have her heartbroken twice. >> why did you pat erica? >> i'm representing all women. that's why. >> that's right. >> this survey find the average

woman will kiss 15 different frogs before they find their prince. that is compared to 16 for men. keeping on this theme, the average woman will be in seven relationships. compare that to eight relationships for men and both men and women will fall in love an average of twice before finally finding the one. kiss 15 guys? >> the numbers are low, matt. >> they are low. a lot of people do that with carson on new year's eve. >> 15 before midnight. >> there you go. >> how do you feel about that? >> how do i feel about that? third time's a charm, right? you find the two that don't work out, then the third one's the charm, right. i'm focusing on those low numbers. >> have you had your heart broken twice? >> probably. yes. now it's just number of love. thanks, dave. meantime, some have called 2013 the year of the selfie. #sellie. matt's favorite. it certainly was for one girl who got the selfie of a lifetime

with none other than -- wait for it -- that guy, yeah, prince william. next to him 12-year-old madison lamb. she was watching the royals go to church on christmas day. that's when she encountered the duke of cambridge. she asked him for a picture. he grabbed her phone and snapped the pic. william said quote you can't beat a good selfie on christmas day. by the way, she is never washing her phone. she's never touching it. can you imagine a 12-year-old, prince william touched your phone? >> you do quite the british accent. enjoy our morning cup of coffee, often that means a stop at starbucks. one woman from seal, of course, to >> there is so much more to me than meets the eye.ok >> some of her heart breaks, sorry about that. >> we all enjoy our morning cup of coffee, often that means a stop at starbucks. this is beautiful existence. >> for real? >> all of 2013, she ate every breakfast, lunch and dinner at starbucks. she documented the whole thing

on her website and instagram. she spent major holidays there. the romantic chocolatey meal for valentine's day. >> was she with somebody? >> we only see what she ate. i can't confirm her love life. her passover seder plate composed from starbucks bistro boxes. thanksgiving dinner, appears alone. at starbucks. it cost her $500 to $600 a month. for halloween, what else? she wore her trademark starbucks mermaid outfit. >> what was her name? >> her name was beautiful existence. not to be mistaken for overcaffeina overcaffeinated. >> i ate every night for a week one time. peroni. >> especially in central park. >> on halloween. >> that would have been nice. >> not to be confused with beef would have been nice. trending on time, we have a first look at their newest issue where things took off for 2014.

we uncover one of our favorite guys. seth myers. that's right. here's the profile. he will be taking the reign of late night on february 24th. among the revelations in the article, a schedule so busy back-to-back late night offices, he will spend the night here at "30 rock." viewers can expect traditional monologue. also more sketches. as to whether he will go with a band or deejay, up in the air. i can announce, he is going to have a house wedding. >> fantastic. >> in breeding success can be translated into surely being a nice guy, that's one of the nicest guys. >> the pride of northwestern university, our schools. >> there you go. >> a big cover. all right. trending on facebook, opening christmas presents can often make for some surprises. imagine opening a gift and realizing it came to you by mistake for none other than the president of the united states. take a look at the tag on the

gift from barack, michelle and the girls. it was intended for mama kaye, who was sasha and malia's godmother. it was mistakenly sent to elaine church who lives north of chicago. she joins us now via skype. elaine, good morning. congratulations. >> good morning, matt. >> what exactly is the gift? what's in this thing? >>t was a beautiful personal photoshop like shutterfly. >> and what are some of the pictures? do you want to kind of take us through, or are you not allowed to show some of these? >> we are sort of keeping it private for mama kaye. very special. private moments of their year 2013 together. >> and so how did it get to you, though? what happened that it ended up with you opening the book instead of mama kaye? >> well, we have an uncle david in new york and he sent us a box

of presents, and it was a week later. and we finally got the gift yesterday on new year eve's day. we opened it at breakfast. my husband started to unpack this box and realize it was in major disarray. the gifts were broken open. parts of the old box were in this toilet paper box that the post office repackaged. in the bottom of the box was the extra gift. and we were reading the tag, trying to figure out, you know, where this came from and it was open. so we then discovered this was a very personal gift for mama kaye. >> are you going to send it back to mama kaye? >> yes, they've got to send it back. congratulations, you know -- again, look through it send it back quickly. elaine, happy holidays to you, happy new year. >> happy new year to you guys. thanks. we want to take a turn from what's trending today to what is

now officially the end of an era. you know that old joke about how many people it takes to change a light bulb. well, it turns out the answer to that may just be federal law. as bright lights and big celebrations usher in 2014, it was lights out on the bulb most familiar to americans for more than a century. that's right, the crown jewel in edison's lab is now one step closer to extinction. u.s. companies stopped manufacturing 100 and 75-watt incandescents a year ago due to the government official yankees law. joining us on the second phase, bank production of 60 and 40 watt bulbs. the biggest complaint against incandescents, they're not energy efficient, giving off more heat than light and running up electricity bills and greenhouse gas emission.

>> if you you lose less electricity there will be fewer emissions from the power plants burning in order to fuel all lows electric light bulbs. >> consumers now have three basic choices, fluorescents, halogens and l.e.d.s. the new bulbs are more expensive, leaving some stockpiling consumers already nostalgic for that soft glow of incandescents. retailers say they're already seeing change. >> as price come down, sales go up. customers adopt more. and industry experts say technology is also improving. >> i think they a pining as much for the incandescent light as much as we're pining for gas light and candlelight right now. >> here is "washington post" columnist. >> good morning. >> they have stopped production, there are still some out there. >> 40 and 60 watts. as long as the supplies demand, there is stuff on the

shelves. can you go out, run and stockpile, the truth is, the new technologies really are better. there is no question they're more energy efficient. >> we will have as to make the switch. rip off the band aid, walk us through what our options are. >> i want to say, it is a switch. from farn later fahrenheit to celsius. you need to re-educate yourself. it's not so simple you walk in and buy a light bulb. let's start off with the different bulbs. so this is the incandescent. 134-year-old invention is being replaced. so this is the cfl. cfl is a bridge technology. i say ignore it. jump right to the leds. this is the l.e.d., at the end, they are more expensive. but they're going to do a number of different things. >> some of these are more than $65. >> yeah, this is a switch light bulb, a very highly recommended bulb. it is about $65. it is so worth it. it might outlive you. >> okay. >> also before this, one of the issues for a lot of people, this one that's blinding me is that the light is not the same. what do you look for on the bulb so you get that warmer light? >> the most important thing is forget about wattage. wattage doesn't matter.

wattage is how much energy it makes to get these light bulbs to go. what you want is the brightness. brightness is determined by something called lumens. the higher the lumen, the brighter the light. the other thing is color. color is very important. so the higher the calvin number, the whiter, the brighter, the cleaner the light is, bluer. then if you want something like more classic, the lower the calvin. >> last thing, you have to no read on the package. >> i have to cut you off there. the computer will at some point. nice to see you, thanks again, matt. >> erica, in london the man called the king of the paparazzi, richard young one of the most important photographers of his generation, some of his favorite photos are featured in a brand new show. here's nbc's martin fletcher. >> reporter: it's the sound of fame and fortune for some photographers.

the one you won't find in the london pack anymore is richard young, been there, done that. >> i was the original. i was the only one. there was no one else standing outside those clubs. >> reporter: that was nearly 40 years ago. his big break came when he posed as a deejay and snapped this iconic moment of the power couple of the time. richard burton and elizabeth taylor and she freaked out. >> her nose came over and touched my nose. >> reporter: elizabeth taylor. >> elizabeth taylor's. and in no uncertain terms, she tells me to leave the room. she's angry. she's really angry. how did you get it, who are you, go, leave! i didn't say a word. i was out. >> reporter: with the scoop, right away, he learned lesson number one. >> you are being polite. you are being humble. you are being friendly. you get into all the situations where half the photographers i know would be thrown out. >> you have to be nice to these

people. because if you're going to be, you know, an idiot, you're not going nowhere. you're going to be outside on the street. from day one, i didn't want to be outside on the streets. i wanted to be the guy they invited on the inside. >> reporter: and he was. kate moss once said of young, if he isn't here, it isn't a party. who's this guy? >> this is jack nicholson. >> reporter: david bowie. >> i just captured it just beautifully at the time. >> reporter: jagger. >> mic is making sure jerry looks great for the night. >> reporter: and he says what a great career. >> i've had breakfast with nelson mandela. i've had lunch with the dalai lama. >> reporter: he left school age 14, taught himself to shoot pictures and says, he's enjoyed every moment. for "today," martin fletcher, nbc news, london. >> all right.

and still to cup on a >> good morning to you. 8:26. we're learning more about the overnight fire at the chinese consulate in san francisco. you can still smell gasoline still in the air. someone threw two buckets of gas on the consulate's front door and then set it on fire. no injuries were reported. the fire is being investigated as an act of arson. as we get going, a lot of people returning to work, we check in with anthony slaughter who is in for mike today. how is it looking? >> we do have a few accidents even though we're talking about the holiday light traffic right now. let's get to it. you can see in fremont, things are slow on the southbound side. it's because of an accident, and also let's take a look at the traffic maps, and you'll see we have two accidents in the south bay. one at 87 and taylor, and the other one at 101 and capital

expressway. as you head up palo alto, another accident to tell you about. this is actually coming to the southbound direction on 101 at oregon expressway. can you see because of that holiday light, really not too many folks being impacted by that. peggy, back to you. >> good news there. thanks, anthony. i'll have another local news update coming up in a half hour.

>> it's 8:30 on the 2nd of january, 2014. snowstorms bring out the best if people. everybody is in a good mood. we will have some heavier snow in the next couple of days. i wonder if they will be excited about these 5 degree temperatures coming in here. >> they will be happy about it.

they will be warm and excited. >> just ahead this morning, are you still dealing with the effects of your new year's celebrations? there was recently an article since your hangover gets worse with age the good news is carson had some help for us all this morning. >> i do, more alcohol. >> it's a little thing. i will show it to you live. >> you are doing a bloody mary? >> yes, i am. >> secret ingredients. >> just vodka. >> i was going about the pickle juice. >> there is that, too. basically, a shot of vodka that smells like a bloody mary. >> by the way, with the winter olympics a month away from now, we will introduce you to a new event that is getting a lot of attention the half pipe in the free style skiing. we are going to meet the american who is one of the sport's biggest stars. check that out. with the poles to boot. >> matt and i are going to do that. >> that's our thing. we will stay in the middle.

>> we can only do it once. >> we will have a check of the weather. >> all right. let's show you what we got going into the weekend. hello. we are looking forward to the snow making its way through the great lakes. the blizzards gets you going. nice and mild from texas into the southwest saturday. cold conditions, sunshine from the northeast into the mid-atlantic states. second storm system coming in on saturday from the application as it moves quickly off the shore. we are looking at cold weather in the pacific northwest. sunny and mild, texas, on into the southwest. rain for the mid-atlantic states down to the gulf coast. early next week, we got 8:32. live picture of san francisco. no fog to report. a little hazy, and our camera is shaking. the wind is picking up. fwheed the wind for air quality. highs today will be really warm under the influence of high pressure. 70 in the east bay. south bay is looking good at 68

degrees, but you will notice the hazy sky right over san jose as we head throughout the day today. the spare the air day. better air quality, though, as we head through friday, saturday, and the upcoming weekend. hope you have a fantastic day, and, yeah, hope you enjoy your weekend as well. maybe it already started. >> that's the latest weather. now, let's get the first birthdays of the new year from uncle willie. >> everybody loves a lover. that's what i like about this show. we have birthday, we have lovers. esther and wilbert. they have been married for 75 years and they are from oslo, minnesota. doris winle. doris is from auburn, may. . she is 100-years-old today t. secret to longevity is her family. she loves them and they love her. and we have bloomy brown, sit

you down, from pueblo, colorado. 100-years-old today. secret to longevity is beans. >> that means chile. i love chile. and chilly weather. mildred sands. she is from aurora, nebraska. 103 years today. she is a social butterball. she loves to go to parties. she's the hit of every party she goes to percy brown from roseburg, oregon. i have been to that pretty rose festival out there. just gorgeous. happy birthday, 100-years-old today our friend is. we wish him a happy birthday. we have katherine burke from west palm beach, florida. you live forever down there. she is 100 years odd today. her thing in life, she lives every night a snicker's bar before she goes to bed. back to all the gang in new york where they are probably snickering at me right now.

>> never, never snicker at you willard, thanks. we are kicking off a new series called 60 second skinny. you give us one minute. we will give you the secret for losing weight and keeping it off. joyce bowers, registered diettician and nutritionist. who better to give us the tips? >> hey, good morning. happy new year. >> a lot of people say this is it. i stick to my diet resolution. how many people made that happen? >> surprisingly, a good percentage. i don't think people realize that. therer three keys to success. the first is having a positive attitude. then setting smart reasonable goals and lastly forgiving yourself when you slip up. shake it off and start fresh the next morning. the quebecer that you regain control, the less damage you are going to do. >> so don't give up after one day? >> no. >> we mentioned little things. you have to have managable goals. that's a part of ma we will be doing with this new series. >> it's called 60 second skinny. literally. i have one minute flat.

this is intense, to deliver as many clever strategies as i can to help people lose weight and gain control. today is all about cutting back on carbs. the bread the pasta, the potatoes, the things we love to overeat. ly show you how to do it so you don't feel deprived and it gets the job done. >> i will stop the clock, ready. 3, 2, stop the clock. >> stop overpouring the cereal. you will measure out a serving. dump it in the bowl. take a sharpee. put a line on the front and the back. bagels. you will scoop out the inner dough, discard it. eat your bagels opened face for double the bite. at lunch, miss the bread completely. put juicy burgers between two port bello buns, let it toast. at dinner, build your pizza on a no carb thin pounded chicken cutlet and get rid of starchy calories with pasta, make low

carb, low calorie spaghetti squash. you get your fix. if you do this every single day you pull back, at the end of the month, erica, you will save your body the equivalent of 225 slices of bread. >> this is one month. >> and lose more than 5 pounds. >> by the way, you still have three seconds to spare. >> whoa! >> there we go. >> 3 seconds to skinny. >> very nice. up next, jeff daniels on his emmy winning tv show "dumb and dumb 2" and, yes, his music. but 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! [ angelic music plays ] ♪ toaster strudel! best morning ever! [ hans ] warm, flaky, gooey. toaster strudel! [ female announcer ] try new pillsbury heat-n-go mini pancakes. . >> we are back now 8:39 with one of hurrican floyd's most rnted actors. jeff daniels won an emmy for his role on "the newsroom." there is that sequel to "dumb and dumber." did you know he is a talented

musician. he has five albums. nice to have you back. i want to talk about music in a second. congratulations on the emmy award. i watched your acceptance speech. up seemed genuinely surprised. not like those fake surprise actors who get up. you seemed really surprised. >> stunned. kathleen my wife and i, we were there for the food. >> that was the limit of your expectations? >> she had scanned the internet and said, well out of six of you, you are either fifth or sixth. so we were very surprised and grateful and you know anybody can win one of those things. i was glad i did. it was a great group. >> you started your acceptance speech by saying, well, crap and clearly i think that summed it all. it's really the first major award you have won, although you have been nominated a lot. >> i have been nominated for a lot of things over the years the only thing i had won like i said in the speech was for splitting the wales, best actor after 50

for the aarp. >> that was true. >> they give you a golden barkalounger. we flew out. i thought it was great. >> you got two great trophies. the music thing is something a lot of people aren't aware of. i think it's funny, because your speech, you wrote a song about that speech. >> i did. >> i love your music, it's querky, it shows off your sense of humor. >> i've always enjoyed entertaining. i think that comes from the theater and broadway and all dhachlt we are there to do that, but make sure they h a good time. also for the guy tar players, i can get around and show them i can do that. >> show me you can do that a bit. >> there is a song neil sedaka wrote a song breaking up is hard to do. i wrote one about baby take your tongue out of my mouth, i'm kissing you good-bye. ♪ you walk in ♪ i walked out ♪ we ain't got nothing we can

talk about, babe ♪ take your tongue out of my mouth ♪ i'm kissing you good-bye ♪ i don't know where you been ♪ but you been passed around lately like a bottle of begin ♪ take your -- >> good for morning tv. perfect. >> it goes on from there. >> where did you start? when did you start playing? >> i bought a guy tar. i left michigan in 1976. i was 21. i bought a guy tar and just to learn how to play when i was sitting in the new york trying to be an actor waiting between phone calls. so creatively, it's been this wonderful kind of friend. >> we have phone each other for a long time. i've always liked you. now i know, i was reading about you last night and your musical tastes. i realize we have something major in common. lysle love it. i love the music of lysle love it. he's one of the guys you admire as well? >> very much so. i met lysle in 1985 on the couch

of the johnny carson show with johnny and it was, johnny a couple 250i78s. lysle was the musical guest and we have been acquaintance, i'd say friend ever since, occasionally, he'll come through with john hyatt on his song writers thing, where they sit there and trade songs in front of an audience. he very kindly brought me up on stage and, you know, he goes great, do a song, great. he gets me off. then the encore, he goes, we will do baby don't tolerate, which is one of his. you know that. i go, yeah. he goes blues and g. you will -- i go, i backed her like, doing every g blues. i get out there. it was great. just a great friend. >> speaking of genius, dumb and dumber, coming back after 20 years, was it fun to make with jim cary? >> i think jim has a one of a

kind gift. i think he's a comedic genius. to parry what i can do with him was joy. we blend well together. we have become friends over the years. i think that translates into harry and lloyd. we are still middle aged, still that stupid, you know, that's a given. but he really was. it was a joy to make. i hope it's funnier than the first one. >> you got it where you want it right now? >> yeah, we are doing okay. >> jeff, good to have you, play some giks in new york. you get snowed in, you can listen to jeff daniels. for more information on those concert dates, head to "today.com." . up next, meet the americans, a top contender for gold in this sport. but first, this is "today" on nbc.

>> we are back now at 8:46 with our countdown to sochi t. olympic competition begins in 35 days. one of the things you will be seeing is the men's half pipe. a 23-year-old person has his sights set on gold. take a look. it may be new to the olympic games, but free style skiing is old hat to david weiss. flipping, twisting, turning his way down the half pipe t. fearless competitor is a four time u.s. and five time world cup champion in the discipline. with the sport set to debut in sochi, weiss is a top contender for an olympic medal. he has another full-time job, husband and father. he says his wife alexander and two-year-old daughter nielly keep the competition in check. and the joy of the sport authentic. david weiss, good morning. nice to see you.

>> yeah, thanks, for having me. >> how are you doing? >> i'm doing good. >> 35 days until sochi. are you still in the mid-way point of the qualifying events for this. right? >> yeah. we've had two events out of five for the qualification process. yeah, still in the middle. >> well, we can't count any chickens or anything like that. you are confident you will be making it there. what are your goals if you get to sochi? >> for me it's about the experience. i don't want to set a numerical go. i look at it as an honor to go and be able to represent my country. that's what i'm looking forward to. >> what do you think of people not familiar with the half people i pipe and the men's free style, what will they take away from this event? >> it's like a snowboard and half pipe. it's exciting to watch. we fly high. we go fast. >> is it easier on two skis than it is on one board? >> that's a good question. sean and i will have to debate that at some time. we have two edges. we can generally get a little

more air. >> i was reading about you. you are one of these guys who likes to visualize and mentalize your tricks as you're approaching them, so pick a trick and take me through. give me the ten second visualization that you come up with. >> okay. well, i have the right side of course 1260 the hardest trick i have right now. pretty much everything else in my run i let it ride. >> that one i have to focus on. everybody has a failure way of spinning. fiwas to make you stand up and do 366, you will probably want to go to the left. to the right is harder to spin. i will come off the wall and really winding up, trying to focus on getting all the power into the rotation at the last second. just as i'm about to hit the left pole, i force rotation off, drop my right shoulder down and tuck up into a ball, get as nice of a grab i can, make it good look, turn and. >> at what point do you look for

the ground? that would be the most important part. >> honestly, you will see, we are always looking at the edge of the deck from takeoff to landing, i'll see it here and then i'll flip around and see it again and it's kind of like this. a game we play with watching the coping. >> you are a little bit different tan the average competitor in this because you are married and you've got a child and most of the others are considered these kind of free wheeling guys. do you think that's an advantage for you? >> yeah, i think it is an advantage. i'm really not so much different than them. i'm a free wheeling guy, too. i like to flip and spin and go fast. but at the same time, win, lose or fall, i still have my awesome family that loves me at the end of the day. it takes the pressure for me a bit to go out and do what i want to do. >> good luck. we hope to see you in sochi. we have a good feeling we will. a pleasure, nice to see you. >> and a reminder, the olympic competition begins february 6th right here on nbc. up next, it's the ultimate

hangover cure. carson reveals the recipe for his magic bloody mary. but first, this "today" on nbc.

>> back now at 8:52 with something that maybe could have come in handy for a lot of people on wednesday. >> we got to get going. >> a snowstorm is coming for a lot of people. you might need this, too the bloody mary. my all i'm favorite. >> i love making the bloody

mary. a hobby for me at this point. it was my gift to people. >> yes, it was. >> with my recipe. >> wow! >> it's not a hangover cure. for those still hung over from new year's eve, your answer is pedialyte. >> let the electrolytes back in. >> if you are still hung over that, is an aggressive new year. >> this is the hair of the dog. >> it's a strong drink. >> no question. >> like three-quarters vodka. >> a mixer or tomato juice? >> this is a mix. >> another hour. we will say that. we will put horseradish in there. >> wow! >> a different kind of my secret is a little bit of sweet pickle juice. >> which we love. >> we will do a little bit of pepper. i like to use a little lemon to kind of cut through this. the worcester. we will put that in there as well. kind of a mess. it all comes together. >> i also like to mix a little of alphabet in there.

>> a little celery salt kind of throughout it. >> okay. >> honestly the key to a great bloody mary is ice. you want clear ice. i will drive to the liquor store rather than use the ice in my refrigerator. the cloudy ice melts fast and ruins the drink. >> it waters down. >> you need the high vodka content. >> i want it cold. >> beef jerky. >> i seen the beef jerky before. >> do you eat that after you put it in there? >> blake shelton and i on the set of "the voice" we will have 15 of these. eat it. it's fantastic. >> it puts the whole show into perspective, doesn't it? >> basically the final product. >> you researched this for a long period of time. >> i'm sorry. do we have enough for everybody. this is for you. i drink these all the time. >> you have already had five this morning? >> right before he gets to the orange room. >> let's see if this measures up. >> wow! >> how much more do we have to

do today? >> this is going to be a good 9:00 hour. >> willie. >> see that. you got to get some of this. >> we have another dog over here. >> you better hurry up. i saw hoda in the building. >> i am in with kathie lee for hoda. i will bring some of these. >> yeah. >> what do you think of that? >> we didn't get a chance to say to you, how did it it go on new year's eve? >> it was fun. it was my 16th year doing the ball drop. it was great. >> it becomes things we have done for quite some time now. >> it was done. >> it was hot at one point. people don't realize they pump hot air on our set. >> simply, you didn't have gloves on. you had a hat. >> it was great. what do you have coming up? >> brooke shields is back with us. al roker is back. he's reunited. we will talk about a lot of exciting things including the storm coming our way. al will bring us up to speed.

a lot of people traveling. it will be a tough couple of days. >> check out willie, brooke, carson, al, everybodfirst, we now ow know the name of the very first baby born in 2014 in the bay area. she's a baby girl born two seconds past midnight yesterday at keiser in san jose. lilliana noel weighed 8 pounds, 7 ounces, measured 21 inches long. she's the family's third daughter. again, born two seconds into the

new year. let's check in with christina this morning. >> what a cutie pie. good morning to you, scott. good morning to you at home. the time now 8:57. you can see a little hazy here in san francisco. overall we're looking good to hit the upper of 0s to low 70s throughout date. hope you have a great day. we'll have your forecast in just a few moments.

. >> from nbc news, this is "today's kwats take live from rockefeller plaza. >> welcome to "today" on this day, thursday, january 2nd, 2014 th calm before the storm literally. >> how do they do their show buzzed? we had a couple sips of carson daly's bloody marries. >> it's loopy. i'm brooj. >> i know you. >> al roker. >> you are a beautiful woman. >> beautiful. >> you love you in that movie you were in. >> thank you. >> do you do anything with jeans? >> i i wore them all the time.

>> brooke shields in fortunately. we love having brooke with us. al, i haven't seen you in a week. you were awesome yesterday. >> we had a good time in the parade. let's talk about that in a second. this big storm. on the weather channel, we name them, this one is called hercules. you think of eddie murphy going hercules, hercules, hercules. >> it takes away from the storm when you do it that way. >> this thing will be ramping up. i will go to the time line in a bit. it will be affecting 108 million people. it covers 24 states. already, there is over a thousand cancellations in and out of the country. >> that number will just grow exponentially as we get into today, tomorrow, boston can selling schools for tomorrow. some schools in the northeast cancelled for today. my daughter lela has an app on her phone, it tells you the percent annual of the chance of a snow day. >> no? >> so she for today it was 97%. i said, sweetie, i don't think

it's going to happen. >> that's nuts. >> so she was banking on this. because we got back last fight from pasadena. yeah, but i'm not going to have to go for the school tomorrow. yes, you are. no, my app. >> listen to the app, not al roker, meteorologist al roker. >> trust me. it gave me no small amount of pleasure to call this morning at 6:30, guess what are you going to school! >> i hope she didn't have a quiz or anything. my friend lisa promised we were going to have a snow day on a quiz day. great. this is great. no, we had to go to school. >> there probably will be no school tomorrow. but today. >> is it worse in the boston area? >> from here, long island, coastal massachusetts and new england, blizzard warnings are up for long island in coastal massachusetts. >> a man already died, didn't he? he was in a truck, his car -- swerved. >> it's going to be a big deal. >> you said 108 million people. that's more than a third of the

country. al will have the full forecast coming up in just a few minutes. i want to hear more sitting next to hoda two hours hosting the parade. >> we hosted the rose parade. i will give you a sense of the flavor. this bind i have will show you how we prep for this. take a look at this vine. [ music playing ] took a whole lot of chill i hear ♪ beat the summer breeze [ music playing ] >> that's nellie. >> getting amped up for the parade. >> yeah. we were off and running. we had a great time. we had a technical issue with the "voice" float. it had some problems. eventually it got going. tessanne chin was fantastic. there was one moment we didn't realize the host of the "biggest loser" aly sweeney was riding

for medieval times. >> yeah. >> we said, oh it looks like aly sheady. it turns out she's quite the accomplished rider. >> hoda's first year? >> yes. >> she was so excited. it looked like it. >> so we're talking a little about our new year's eve. one place you didn't want to be was disney world. did you see that? >> i saw that. some disney world guests waited up to five hours for rides on new year's eve. >> that's goofy. >> five hours for in some cases a five-minute ride, a three-minute ride. eventually they had to turn people around it was up to capacity. they initiated what was called phase 3 closure. onlynence, right? >> i know, i didn't know what it meant a. i guess that meant a only hotel guests of disney hotels had access. >> or a season pass holder. >> if you are staying outside of

the park, forget it, you are not getting in. >> it has to be dangerous, too, aren't there laws about crowd control? >> they shut it down. i remember taking courtney there once during -- that's really the worst time to go, between christmas and new years. on a regular basis, they close the park to folks who aren't staying on property. >> they got people if wheelchairs, little kids. >> i believe in the magic of disney. it's a great place to take your kid. if you see a five-hour line, are you getting on the back of that line or taking it out of there? come back another time. >> let's go to universal. >> even if they have those vip passes or something. >> i guess disney offered to reimburse parking and all the rest of it. so, you know, i just can't imagine waiting in those lines. >> i am glad for their success. i can't imagine those dashed dreams of holidays, they brigg all their kids and fly and spend all that money.

>> isn't there a certain age you reach where your tolerance for being in a line just end completely, right? anywhere? if i see line i'm out more than three people. >> i don't cut the lean. >> yeah. >> like clark griswald. load up the truck here. get out. we go all this way, we're leaving. next, this next story is a strange one. >> it's because we're not quite clear about it. >> it's a little murky. >> alissa milano the actress. she has responded in let's say a very dig fiified way to comments allegedly made by the actor jay moore, comedienne about her post-baby weight. made allegedly in an interview by jay moore. alissa milano did respond. it's widely reported. they appeared december at a pass the car event, an appearance. jay mohr reported alissa was small in stature and put on wake

or something like that. >> she had a baby. >> something to the effect she didn't care any more. whatever the truth is, if she sort of got wind of that, that he was saying that. she tweeted him a very smart and i think classy tweet. >> here's what she said. @jaymohr 37. so sorry you felt the need to publicly fat-shame me. be well and god bless. please say hello to your lovely wife. >> there is nicki cox, his wife. they were not reached for comment. they wouldn't respond. but who know what was really said. but no matter what, she took the high road. that's always a good thing to do. >> absolutely. if, in fact, he said it. a lot of these times they're going for the shock value. he's a comedienne. i'm sure he didn't mean to hurt her, but sometimes you get on a roll and you just, you end up laughing. you take it up to the next

level. before you know it, some feelings are hurt. >> you pick the wrong target. to do that, by the way she is beautiful. she looks great. it's hard to know. >> anyway. this story is affecting a lot who of people. snapdhat. >> this is what i tell my daughter. >> this is what i tell my daughter. >> 4 million snapchat has leaked users online. it lets you take a picture. it quickly disappear zpls you can take a screen shot of it. >> sending intimate photo, popular among teen agers. snapchat said a security group alerted it about a vulnerability and it, in fact, happened. a website called snapchat.db claimed responsibility for the data breach. i think the larger question is they got the user names and didn't publish the phone numbers. they were making a point of how vulnerable these sites are.

can't they get the pictures? >> it's all out there. the idea, it's hard to especially i have a ten-year-old. have you older children, but it's really hard to impress on our kids the security issue for everybody, you know, not she's sort of came back and said that's because you are on tv. i said, no, it is a possibility. >> for everybody. >> i get uncomfortable with the snapchats you send. maybe this is a good time to talk about that. >> you notice i kind of. >> curtailed it. >> a part of my 2014 resolution. >> ever since hr called you in. eliminate it completely, though. >> were you disturbed by the manscapeing pictures? >> i was. not what i wanted to see. >> trying to recreate our christmas. >> you did. up on the shoulders. >> that was just -- that was so wrong. >> oh, i know. >> there it is. you were a little proud of me, a little bit. >> i am always proud of you. how do you get this job?

>> you have a lovely party and the door swings open, brooke shields. >> that was intended and fun. this whole snapchat thing. >> one thing to that picture as a part of the job description, be i the way, you have to piggy back. >> i don't think straddleing the news. >> it was his idea. so i went along wit. i commit. you know, but, anyway. >> she made me say it was my idea. >> but we digress. >> i love this one. >> newborn twins in washington, d.c., lorraine and brandon begazo made news arriving minutes apart but in separate years. >> oh, that's great. >> lorraine is born at 11:58 tuesday december 31st, 2013, brandon following minutes later, three minutes to be exact at 12:10 a.m. he's january 1st. >> he will hold that over her. >> he will be like i'm older. >> separate month, separate

years, the whole thing. >> birthdays are hard enough with kids two years apart, but three minutes apart, you got to celebrate them together. >> on new year's eve. >> start lying to them now. >> so it's always a party on your birthday. >> that will be great when they're 22. >> right. al, let's get back to that storm. >> all right. let's show you what we got happening. this thing is really a monster. when you look at it on the map, between blizzard warnings, winter storm warnings, winter weather advisories, we are talking about stretching from georgia out to wisconsin and as far east as new england and we also have blizzard warnings along coastal connecticut. make that coastal massachusetts and long island. okay. blizzard, we are talking about. this thing has got two separate storm systems, already snow will start firing up by later in the afternoon. by 6:00 this afternoon, snow will increase from philadelphia, new york city on into boston. by midnight tonight, strong

winds, blizzard conditions, these winds wrapping around this system. by tomorrow morning, friday morning, these two systems will coalesce into one monster system and so we will have those blizzard-like conditions continuing. the good news is this thing moves off quickly by friday night. here's the problem, generally about an inch of rain equals ten inches of snow. there is so much cold air that will squeeze out as much moisture as possible, this storm is going to crank out up to 15 inches of snow per inch and so you look at some of these snowfalls e snowfall totals, especially along coastal new england, interior new york, we are talking 12 to 15 inches of snow or more with blinding, drifting know. it is going to be a nightm oh, what an opposite out here on the west coast. good thursday morning to you. i'm meteorologist christina loren. we're talking about near record warmth yet again today. just about as warm as where we ended up yesterday. 07 on the way to the east bay.

68 in the south bay. it will be hazy out there. it's a spare the air day. we're looking towards improving air quality through your friday with the building breeze. that means cleaner air and much cooler weather and showers possible at the beginning of next week. hope you have a fantastic day. >> and that's your latest weather. coming up next, is 2014 a good year to buy a house? how about a car, how about the blooming stockmarket? we will tell you what you need to know about your money in the

>>. >> are you planning on buy agnew car or home this year? >>ened where should you invest your money to watch it grow? here is debra borchar market analyst for the streets. good see you. >> good to see you. >> you say interest rates will pick up a little this year. what does that mean for say buying a home? >> absolutely.

when rates go up. it's going to affect everything. it's going to affect car loans, home loans. it will affect maybe if you are in a fixed income fund in your 401k. >> does that mean i want to buy my home earlier in the year? >> absolutely. if you think you will get a better rate in the first six months versus the last six months of the year. >> you are saying with a car? >> it will affect everything. it will be a trickle down on those prices of the bonds with the yields going up. >> so you are talking about buying a car this time of the year, what about the difference of buying a car as opposed to leasing and of the time you should do that? >> i'm a firm believer of owning your car. i think that people should own it and that way your money is going into something with leasing. it's just, you know, you are borrowing the car for a limited amount of time. so again if you are going to buy a car t. car dealerships have been subsidizeing these loans for years, because they want us to buy their products. i think if you are looking at buying a car, do it at the

beginning of the first six months of the year, of the summer, as opposed to the end of the year. you will get a better rate. >> if i'm thinking of buying a house, it's not urgent, i can do it a couple years, can i sit or wait? >> you definitely want to look at that more in 2014. now the mortgage rates are lower than the ten-year average. we are right about 4.5% on a 30-year fixed. the ten-year average 5.3%. so we're still in a sweet spot. but those are going to start going up. >> stockmarket? >> i'm sorry. the stockmarket, you know, you had a good year last year. >> wow. we had a phenomenal year in 2013 for stocks. i'm sure all of you saw your 401ks to go up. it was great. i think we will have a good january and see good returns for the year. certainly not the size of numbers we saw if 2014. >> now you said, the as good idea to buy gold? >> i am always confused about.

that i see those commercials. >> right. here's the thing, gold had a horrible year. oh my go, everyone in gold, they lost their money, but here's the thing, everybody jumping out of gold with the price down, you will be able to get it at a very good price. i think everyone should have about 10% of their savings inled go. it's a safe place to be and gold even though it does come down, it always goes back up. >> where do you put your money? what kind of banks? >> when we are talking about banks, you talk about a mortgage, a savings account, a big bank is going to give you a good deal if you get all your accounts in one place. if you are in a smaller town and need a small business loan or mortgage, maybe a local bank because they will be very vested in the community. if you are very cost conscious about your checking account or something, look at a credit union. if you are okay with their

hours, their hours sometimes aren't that friendly. if you are okay with that, they have great bargains on accounts. >> quickly, before we go, debra, you mentioned 401ks. we have a graph. allocation. run through that for us. >> most of us have money in our 401ks. we kind of ignore it. make sure you have a lot in large cap, wal-mart, coca-cola. have a bit in international. we will see a recovery in europe and asia. now that fixed income, those are the bonds we are talking about. keep that low about 10%. the rest of that cash is good, small caps. those are the smaller companies. they're still very strong. >> good for you, brooke, all gold, all the time. >> all day. >> great, happy few year. coming up, the news you need to know before you leave the house. >> when sit best time to eat if you want to lo

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foot. blizzard warnings are in effect for the massachusetts coast and new york's long island. all 52 scientists and toushists stuck on a ship in antarctica has been rescued. the chinese ship airlifted the passengers to an australian ice cutter monita. the crew stayed behind since their ship is said not to be in danger. they have plenty of food. obamacare is officially in effect. the first business day of the new year. hospitals, doctors, pharmacies, they will all start handling 2 million americans who have already signed up. the real concern right now is that it could take time for their names to appear and the proper computer databases, so that their claims can be processed. good news for drivers, aaa predicting lower gas prices in 2014. according to aaa gasoline prices will most likely average slightly less they think this year because of increased refinery capacity and a recent boom in domestic oil production. did you hear about this? there is now one less giant

rubber ducky bringing whimsy to our world. you know that one visiting taiwan for new year's celebration, it exploded tuesday night. yep, i hear the gasp. it happened a few hours before mid-night. just why remains a mystery. several krergss of the duck have been traveling around the world to remind us of the simple joys. >> somebody suspects foul play. >> oh. here's another one, a florida woman started snapping pictures so friend would believe she did see a run away kangaroo hopping in her neighborhood. she gave him dog treats to try to slow it down. just like that. that way she could call police, they could capture it. it is legal by the way for those looking into it to loan a kangaroo in florida. if you have the proper permit and this one has been returned to its owner. willie, brooke, al, when she handed him the kangaroo the

treats it started barking. would look like john stamos wow! wow! and in a perfect world, what's delicious would be healthy too. wish granted. dannon oikos greek nonfat yogurt sounds too good to be true... it's thick, creamy but 0% fat and twice the protein this is really is too good to be true! dannon oikos greek nonfat yogurt. and now a new greek lowfat yogurt made just for kids. danimals superstars. your kids will love it! mmmm ♪ dannon.

good morning to you. 9:26. police are investigating -- it happened just about 12:30 this morning. >> a person driving by later. there was an overnight fire at the chinese consulate in san francisco. the smell of gasoline still lingers in the air. officials say someone threw two buckets of gas on the consulate's door and then set it on fire. no injuries were reported. that fire is being investigated as an act of arson. new hope in the oakland family's fight to keep their 13-year-old daughter on a ventilator. the attorney for jahi mcmath's

family says he is working the phone lines to get the girl moved to another facility. however, children's hospital oakland says doctors have not heard from a single person involved in those plans. we'll have a quick look at your weather and your traffic coming up right after this break.

>> welcome back. >> we're in the 40s. a really nice day shaping up in senole. you can see we don't have a lot of haze. you'll find a hazy sky over san jose. same hazy sky over san francisco, but look at where our temperatures are headed as we head into the afternoon. into the upper 60s to low 70s out in the east bay. 66 degrees today in san francisco. north bay at 67. hazy sunshine. just some high, thin clouds moving through. as we head throughout the afternoon, let's check your drive. >> thank you, christina. things are light right now. you can see at the bay bridge approach, hardly any cars getting by just because, again, it is a holiday week. we're continuing to let you know

throughout the day. we switch over to the traffic maps, and you'll see heavier traffic down in san jose on the 101 northbound capital expressway and also montague expressway. there are two accidents, and that's keeping things slow through palo alto, but you can see it's a different story on the peninsula as we look outside on the palo alto cam. lots of cars. pretty heavy traffic. it is starting to thin out now. >> maybe a lot of people heading back to work. all right. anthony, thank you so much. we will have another local news update coming up in just about half hour. also, we'll have a full newscast coming up at 11:00 a.m. this morning. thank you for joining us on the second day of 2014. well i drove grandpa to his speed dating this week, so i should probably get the last roll... yeah but i practiced my bassoon. [ mom ] and i listened. [ brother ] i can do this. [ imitates robot ] everyone deserves ooey, gooey, pillsbury cinnamon rolls. make the weekend pop. kevin! toaster strudel, yah? ♪ warm, flaky, toaster strudel.

[ female announcer ] now get two bonus box tops for your school. [ music playing ] >>. >> welcome back to "today" on this thursday morning, january 2nd, 2014. large portions of the country getting ready for a big storm. i'll willie geist with al roker in with fortunately, brooke shields. you did a photo bomb. >> we didn't call eight photo bomb. when you do live shots, you call the camera a blamplg magnet. >> i know where you are going. >> oh, i get it. >> a detroit fox affiliate. jennifer hammond at the hockey town winter festival outside comerica park on tuesday. >> whoa! >> there you go. >> i'm going to jump in him.

then i'm going to fall on my butt. >> one more time. >> hey, hello. oh! look at -- oh. i want to get in. ah. >> that was the reporter of the year. >> now he's really being talked about. >> he hopped up quickly. >> yeah. we got you, buddy. we got you. >> let's look at that storm, al. >> we are actually going to look into the weekend. it is going to cause big problems. the good news about this storm is that it does move ralths quickly. we have snow in the northeast and new england, blizzard-like conditions, frigid conditions through the plains, icy conditions up to the north. pacific northwest looking at wet weather. cold through the south. by saturday, with eget mild weather, warm through the gulf coast, texas, on into the southwest. another storm system coming out

of the plains, frigid conditions and snow from the great lakes down into the plains. it starts to move east on sunday, icy conditions in the northeast a. lot of wet weather to the southeast. this is a friend, i'm telling you, brutally cold air. by monday, chicago's high will be 10 below. that's the high. yeah. last time they've had a below zero high in >> 9:32. unseasonably warm. if you want to head out to santa cruz. highs will climb nicely into the low 07s. oh, yeah. they will tumble.

>> that's your latest weather. >> ah, if you are planning on losing weight this year. it's not just about what you should eat also when you should eat. >> so here to get you on the road the founder of food trainers and the author of the new book "the little book of thin." lauren slateen. good morning. >> good morning. >> to help your clients tackle these food challenges, take us through the day. how do you get started? >> to start, when you eat is as important as what you are eating. so timing is everything when it comes to weight loss. we will go through a day. i will show you the different timing tricks starting with breakfast t. key is you want to eat within two hours of waking up. it doesn't have to be first thing. >> you said protein, mostly, right? >> your breakfast needs to contain protein. >> that will keep your appetite in control the rest of the day. here is the coming from a low fat. not a non-fat greek yogurt.

s the with hemp seeds and chia seeds. we all like that. the hemp seeds helps with belly fat. >> my daughter goes, i'm not hungry in the morning what do you do? >> it doesn't have to be the first thing, or a lot. a little something to get you started and smoothies work well for kids. this is what i call dutch, which means dinner for lunch. instead of having your largest meal at the end of the day and saving up, you want to have a big meal mid-day 12:00, 12:30. this dunch is poached salmon about the size of an iphone, a good queue and a hefty serving of vegetables. >> the dinner is 6:00. done. >> we will talk about that. yeah. >> what about mid-afternoon snack? >> snack time. we all love snack time. but you want to be careful that it's not a lunch dessert. it doesn't come right after launch. wait at least two hours after you have your lunch. no longer than 4:00.

about 3:00. don't be fooled by this pretty display. this is not a portion but you can rinse out a nut tin, a mint tin and use it as a nut case. so you have a little portion always with you. >> that is not a pill case. >> these are some of the recipes? >> these are some of the recipes. the reminder for dinner is that you really want to eat an early bid dinner. a lot of moms nibble with the kids and they eat a second dinner. and here we have if little book of thin pesto turkey burger. it's delicious, or for a veggie option, here is a loaded sweet potato with kale and hot sauce. >> i know you have this in your house, brooke, your kids have after school activities, dinner time sometimes it doesn't happen until 7:00/7:30. >> as early as you can is the key. you want 12 hours between the

last thing you eat and the first thing you eat the next day. so indulge your inner senior citizen 6:00, 6:30. >> blue light special. >> i read the book. it all seems like if you did what you did in your book, yes, you can do it. how do you make it not difficult for people like is this an easy thing to add in? >> i guess the timing is easy. it's something we can all sort of pay attention to our schedules. it's not sort of gimmicky. after din ter kitchen is closed. few want a little something, try tea. this is i believe it has lavender in it. >> it does. it's like you are drink a sachet. >> drinking a sachet. >> go to your underwear drawer, suck on. that then you will lose weight. >> wow. >> yeah, i'm -- i don't know. >> what a week. >> for brooke, it's playing time, i apologize, she is in great shape.

this is an easy exercise you can do anywhere. you will get on your forearms. al, you will use these for your weights. >> on. >> so you will get the regular little place. >> that's perfect. see her body is straight. not like this no tushie down or up. just there. >> you feel it everywhere, right, brooke? >> i do. >> she is getting fancy. >> you can do biceps. >> this is nothing. >> you can put that in. >> i'm doing great. >> how are you doing? >> hold on. we need some place to sit. hold on. >> you can use anything for weight. you can use books, et cetera. >> thank you so much. you can get these recipes at today.com. drop and give me 20. ♪ ♪ ♪ ooh, la la

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to all the delicious recipes you bake. because inside every carton is the goodness of blue diamond almonds. so grab a carton of almond breeze. almondiciously good! . >> well, the celebrating is finally over. now it's time to get to work with new year's resolutions. >> nearly afl of us make resolutions, researchers say only 8% of us manage to keep them. >> here to help us out is lori gerber. great to see you. happy new year. >> umpg that. it's great to be here. >> all right. let's dive into these t. first one resolution is lose weight, get healthy. easier said than done? >> we listen to voices in our

head. they see why we can't do the food right, get the examiner sides in. you have to be specific. i will stop eating at 7:00. i will lose a pound a week. i will have a salad every day, right? then go public. tell everybody. make it a promise. >> so in other words you are a big fan of documenting stay like on a facebook or something like that? you know it works. it ask people to hold you to account. you report each week on your social media. they can share with you if you are doing well or slacking or they can hold you to account. which is the most important. >> what do you say to people, are you supposed to be eating that? >> that's called support. that's okay. >> those are your real friends. you will be so happy when you do it. >> get somebody with you. >> one person if not everyone. >> another is breaking a bad habit, whether it's smoking or sugar. obviously, these are handled differently. where do you begin with say smoking? >> very hard to quit a physical

habit. if we're too much on the internet, food, smoke, drugs, alcohol, it means we are covering up something else. when you start to break the habit, know those notions and issues are come up. get a support group. there is a reason those things work and go incremental. usually cold turkey doesn't work that well. >> does it help to reward yourself along the way? >> rewards are great. they can be fun t. great thing about quitting a habit is usually you save a lot of money. can you use that stage by stage and actually get something for yourself that will be good for you. >> i like that one. another one a lot of people i hear i want to volunteer more, give more of my time. i'm not sure how they know how to begin to pick the cause for them. >> everybody wants to give back. nobody make time for it. with the demands of work and family, solutions, combient with work and family. make it fun make it manageable. there is a do-good bus. you get a fancy book and ride around and get a surprise

volunteer opportunity. making it fun, right. you have to get it on the calendar. if nobody is expecting you you can blow it off. >> you talk about family. this has been one of my resolutions to be there, no screens. >> that's the extra rule. >> so just like anything that's important and family and friends really are the most important if you think about it. if you care about it. you will care about it. so you have to put it on the schedule. date fight with your lover, loved ones, whatever. family time with your kids, of course, girl's night out are fun times with your friends, has to go on the calendar and here's the cool part. if you tell people what they will get if you blow it off. you are much more likely to get it. if i have a girl's night. i have to reschedule, i buy the drinks. you see that? they hold you to account. >> you got to schedule it.

be specific and be accountable. that way you will actually keep your resolution. >> great at advisement thank you so much. happy new year to you. coming up next, did you get engaged? first of all, vaulgs congratulationings, now it's time to plan that dream day. we will show we use this board to compare car insurance rates side by side, so you get the same coverage, often for less. [ rattling ] that's one smart board. what else does it do -- reverse gravity? [ chuckles ] split atoms? [ whoooosh! ] hey, how is that atom-splitting thing going? [ rattling ] [ electronic whistling ] oh! [ zap! ] a smarter way to shop around. now, that's progressive. call or click today. cats are smart. so they deserve new fresh step scoopable litter. it eliminates odors with carbon and natural plant extracts. it's the smart litter for smart cats.

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in 10 minutes, zap those grays and get on with your day. . >> oh, for some couples, that first kiss of the new year came just after a marriage proposal.

>> here with some of the bridal trends hot in 2014, bride's magazine editor-in-chief, good morning, happy new year. >> happy new year. >> what are the trends? what are we going to see? >> great news for brides to be. there are so many trend for 2014, starting with the first one in fashion, we have separates. splats are so popular. this two-piece is by j. crew. i love this for an afternoon wedding, daytime wedding. >> you can reuse at least the top? >> you can. one of the few dresses. >> it's affordable. >> a dress like this will be more affordable. >> it is, under $1,000. >> we are noticing more colors with men, which is a new thing. >> guys are mixing it up for 2014. so here we have a grey tux edo. we are seeing slate blue is popular as well. what i love about this, it really is an opportunity for guys to personalize their look and make it their own as well by adding a pop of color in the tie

and the pocket square. can you add a little personality. >> is there a certain time of year you might wear grey as opposed to a classic tux? >> this was during day, year round. certainly for a destination wedding, this would be great as well. >> natalie chose a new thing, a more simple dress, you bring in the glitz and glamour and the bling? >> yes. >> can you tell us about that? >> yes, natalie, who is actually engaged and getting married. >> not to you, right? >> just checking. >> this, she's wearing this really for the glamour gir. great for an evening wedding. we are seeing so much of this for 2014. it's the statement making beaded next line. so a lot of the dresses it's sewn into the dress. here's it's the bolero. by having the jewelry built in.

you do enneed many accessories, you put on the earrings and you are ready to go. >> what about kevin? >> for guys not ready to do color and really want to do a classic tuxedo. we are seeing it's all about the narrow fit. it makes it much more modern, gives it more of a european flav flavor. the buttoned jacket. it makes it all fresh, the boxy tuxedo of the '90s is definitely over. so we want -- >> the high pin is a little. >> exactly. it's all about styling the tuxedo as you would style a suit. so the narrow tie makes it feel more fresh and modern. >> do you like this tie over the bow tie or is it to your taste? >> it is about the tie, it definitely feels more modern. >> let's move onto the table the decor, what are we looking at here? >> this is one of my favorite

trends for 2014. we talk about this all the time in the office. this is about tone on tone color. what i love about this is a bride can do this herself. she takes her favorite color and maxes it out by picking both a light shade and dark shade of the same hue. here we have navy with light blue and the key is to layer it. to really add the dimension and texture. it's a case where more is more. more is definitely more here. and it's your wedding. so you know why not go all out? >> and are pimpgs and reds, are those the colors that were in? were they sort of not in this year? >> they are taking a bit of a back burner to jewel tones and more modern colors now. we are seeing especially as men get more involved in helping plan the go ahead e wedding, that couples are choosing a color palette that speaks to both of them. so sometimes pinks doesn't always fit the guy as much. >> the rule of the groom,

though, is to say that looks fantastic. it's chosen so well. good advice. kia thanks, so much. great to see you. >> well done models. we are back in a moment. this ♪

[ man ] yo buzz! drop that beat! remix! ♪ hey! must be the honey! ♪ ♪ ♪ you got that medley crunch ♪ go! go! buzz! ♪ go! go! go! buzz! ♪ hey! must be the honey! ♪ ♪ clusters, flakes ♪ that medley crunch, crunch!

♪ clusters, flakes ♪ that medley crunch, crunch! go! ♪ ♪ ♪ hey! must be the honey! ♪ ♪ hey! you got that medley crunch ♪ ♪ hey! must be the honey! ♪ . >> coming up, carson and hoda reveal the first makeovers of the new year. and the stars of the hit show "community" stop by. >> i love that show. after your local news and weather.

>> good morning. 9:56. family members and friends continue to mourn a 19-year-old mother who was hit and killed by a truck while carrying her 3-month-old baby. dozens of people showed up for a

vigil for ashley last night. she was carrying her baby salvador, walking with her 17-year-old sister, when all three were hit by a pickup truck on paseo padre parkway and maury avenue on new year's eve night. the baby is still in critical condition. her sister has minor injuries. the bart board of directors meeting today to ratify a contract agreement with its two largest unions. the remaining contract issue dealt with paid family medical leave. that sticking point was accidentally included in a deal that both sides signed off on back in october. let's check our weather with christina. good morning. >> hey, good morning to you. good morning to you at home. what a pretty day shaping up right now. you can make out the mountains here. not so easy to do in the south bay. a lot of haze overhead. as we head throughout the day today, it will be hazy. it's a spare the air day. we're looking forward to improving our air quality department. through the next couple of days, winds pick up tomorrow, and highs will climb into the 60s

and 70s. staying nice and comfortable for this time of year with better air on the way. maybe a few showers as we head into next week. let's check your drive. here's anthony. >> we like those european models. right? let's take a look outside. can you see traffic is very light right now. in the south bay we have an accident on 87 at taylor. that's keeping things p slow. even across the peninsula and palo alto, you'll find traffic moving without a problem, and that's really been the story all morning long. back to you. >> anthony, thank you much. we'll have another local news update for you coming up in a half hour.

>> announcer: from nbc news, this is "today" with kathie lee gifford and hoda kotb. live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. >> go home, people. go home. a storm is coming. >> no, it's a big day. >> there's a storm coming. get out of here. >> thifrts thirsty thursday, ja 2nd, 2014. kathie has the day off. guess who is here still. >> i am exhausted, america. >> you are exhausted. >> hi, darling. happy new year to you. >> happy new year. we're so glad you are here. by the way there is a really big storm coming for people looking at the northeast or manhattan and boston. it's coming to manhattan and the

area later. >> when al roker starts shaking over a weather system, like physically violently shaking you know it's going to be bad. >> how were the holidays? >> they were great. >> i'm so happy to be back here with you. last time i was here, there was a royal baby and i was doing shots on the air and trying to sabotage my future career here at the network. and a few days after that, they hired me on the "today" show. this real estate has been very kind to me and my family. i'm double fisted. my new year's resolution was to drink more. >> you've come to the right place. >> this is carson's plastic drink. and you gave these as christmas presents. >> i don't know what the bloody mary thing is. i just enjoy building a drink. it's nothing really special in the ingredients. i use a little sweet pickle juice. it's horseradish and a ton of vodka is really the key. it's really strong. it's not a hangover -- this is -- when i woke up yesterday i had one of these and i am like,

i am going to have a hangover, but it ain't going to be today. i've been doing that the last 15 years. just punting. but pedialyte if you are at home. it's for kids who have diarrhea. i'm not xipgd it's electrolytes. it's pedialyte. go to rite aid and buy some. >> the last few days i bought that drink and not for that reason, for another reason. >> not for the diarrhea reason. >> no. >> for the hangover reason? >> you aren't feel willing? don't touch me then. >> no, i went on vacation. i'm better now. >> are you sure you aren't sick. >> i have like 18 jobs on this network. if you get me ill -- >> i'm doing "nightly" for brian tonight. i'm on the weather board tomorrow. easy. >> you know when you go on vacation -- >> can we get some purell, some

wipes over here. >> when you go on vacation and your body just decompresses. i'm so happy to be on vacation and literally all of a sudden, it comes and gets you. and i had to get on a flight which is the most terrifying thing when you aren't feel willing. and i did it with a friend who i'm dating and that's another terrifying thing. >> flying with a friend you are dating. >> when you don't feel well because you don't have all the experiences. you are going to a hotel. it's the two of you in a room that's as big as this and it's a little uncomfortable. >> you have to use the rest room in the lobby. i know the tricks. i've been there. i've been there. >> how are you feeling? >> i feel much better. >> how is it going with this date? i want to hear more about that. how was the vacation? >> it was fun, yeah. and i did the rose parade with al. >> i was watching you and al yesterday. and i just kept tweeting you guys because you kept pushing the twitter thing. just tweet us, tweet us. all you kept saying is coming up next "the voice" float. so i had my kids in the hotel

room after doing the ball drop. we were waiting and waiting and waiting to see the big "voice" float. i said when? enough already. bring it out. >> that's what we thought. it finally came and was a little slow going and we thought it was going to sing. it's live. you are like, are they singing, not singing? >> waiting for tessanne to sing. >> the other contestants were on, jacquie and will. >> i'm a guy who has never done anything but live tv. that's a tough job. you and al were fantastic. great to watch. everything is a great parade. we watched as a family. my kids loved it. it's a really wonderful tradition. you guys did such a great job. >> this is what al and i did to prep for the parade. >> you should have been looking at pictures of al sweeney because neither of you know. ♪ >> that's that nelly song.

you know that song? they used a theme song -- >> you know it? >> of course i know it. >> what's the name of the song. >> i forgot the name of it. "country grammar." >> no, it's not. it's by nelly. it will come to you. all right. what's your new year's resolution. clearly it has nothing to do with that. what is it? what are you doing? >> i have to stop traveling, stop flying. i'm in airplanes all the time. "the voice" coming to an end. for meesh it's all about balance. life is about balance. so i need to lose some weight, eat a little bit less. i'm a consumer of life. and when i have friends in my life who are -- i'm easily perswayed. if i'm with a group of friends, they like to eat and drink and go out. i'm on that train. then i have some friends really into fitness and working out all day. okay. i can do that, too. like i -- i'm like a dog. and so the answer is in the middle. i'm not going to ever give up having a cocktail or eating.

i've got go back and find that balance. that's my new year's resolution. find that balance. >> that's a good one. >> and slow down a little bit. >> since "the voice" is on a little bit of a break, is it? >> it's never really on a break. >> because you are taping nood. >> we just want to shoot all the time. in february we start shoot something stuff with usher and shakira for season six. it's off and on. i was waiting for the first of the year. since august and getting this job here at nbc in new york, it's been so much back and forth and we're figuring out where home is. so there's been a lot of big decisions. >> there is a study that does say if you want to make something a habit, whether it's working out, cutting down on food or whatever, you have to do it for 66 days. >> is that according to the devil.com? why 66 days? >> that is the magic number. there are other stories that say if you do it for 21 days if you can do something for three weeks, i did this once with sweets. i'm crazy about them.

>> i watch the show. i heard you talk about them. >> i tried to give them up for a couple of weeks. >> that wasn't enough? >> but then i lost the taste for it. once you get back in, you are back in. but you stop craving it. >> 66 days. if you can make it to that milestone. >> so when you do your new year's resolution and quit after a few weeks. >> did you eat sweets again? >> i think it is. >> you were eating that tiramasu like a mad woman. the red velvet. >> where is kathie lee? >> she's still in florida enjoying some time off. it's actually perfect timing because to try to come back to new york during this storm is going to hit tonight is going to be a little bit of a pain. kath will be back on monday. prince william is a fun guy. we love seeing him who whatever -- >> who are you talking to. >> you talk so casually, it's great. i thought you had friends in the studio. is this on the air? >> coming up -- >> guys, come on in here. so prince william is in the

selfies. >> so he's doing these selfies. a 12-year-old girl was at church. >> i'm used to this world when they are in front of the camera. in russia, a bomb has gone off and we will all thereby at sochi. >> he took a picture with a kid? >> a little girl wanted a picture. she wanted to take one. he said why don't we do a selfie. she posed with her. shows his complete personality. this guy is hip, he's cool. he's inviting. >> and it's very -- the royal family wouldn't do that sort of a thing probably traditionally. so him being gracious like that is -- >> he seems different. all right. i get to play another song because today is my ihoda day. it's kind of mellow. you'll know it because you know everything. this one is by passenger. >> i love it. >> "let her go." >> yeah. >> are we going to hear it? ♪ the light is burning low

only miss the sun when it starts to snow ♪ ♪ only know you love her when you let her go ♪ >> do you sing? >> no, but i wish i could. this makes me want to move to colorado, too. this was my pick of the week on my radio show earlier in the year. passenger is the name of the group. it's actually only one group but he's got that -- >> beautiful, right? >> beautiful song. >> everyone is covering it. didn't somebody from "the voice" cover it? >> yeah. i don't remember who that was either. >> okay or not okay. okay or not okay to write your autobiography before turning 21. >> no, it's not okay. there's a thing -- i remember going to barnes & noble one day at the music section and looking at autobiographies of artists. i came across a book this thick and it said the history of hansen. i am not kidding. remember the boy group hansen? they are like 8 years old and

they had written a book and it was thick. what life experience do these three kids have? >> zero. >> it's like an encyclopedia of nothing. i think you have to have some life experience. >> let's see what kathie lee and i had to say. >> it's your personal story up to this point but the truth is, at that stage of your life, while you are still making mistakes, you haven't really lived long enough to learn from them, have you? >> no, that is excellent advice. my vote is it is not okay. i vote you wait at least until your brain fully develops. >> but sometimes it never does. >> whatever. >> why don't you guys do the show like that? like the cartoon network. >> we love that. we did a little thing at the end of our christmas show, a little cartoon vignette. it was fun. >> what did you think? >> that is what i said. >> i wasn't looking. >> wait until you're developed. so we want you to go on to our web page because there's a big button that says connect. we want to find out what kind

of -- what's the best diet for you. you have to know the personality of your body. go to the connect button. madeleine has some stuff for you to answer. you'll figure out your food personality. >> should i do this? i can do it on my phone. what better way to start the new year than with an ambush makeover. we've got two of them. >> if you haven't caught on to the show "community" it's fantastic. we've got two reasons you should start watching. gillian jacobs and jim rsh. my name is jenny, and i quit smoking with chantix. before chantix, i tried to quit probably about five times. it was different than the other times i tried to quit. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix varenicline is proven to help people quit smoking. it's a non-nicotine pill. chantix reduced my urge to smoke. that helped me quit smoking. [ male announcer ] some people had changes in behavior, thinking, or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood, and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice any of these, stop chantix, and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of mental-health problems,

which could get worse while taking chantix. don't take chantix if you've had a serious allergic or skin reaction to it. if you develop these, stop chantix and see your doctor right away, as some can be life-threatening. tell your doctor if you have a history of heart or blood-vessel problems or if you develop new or worse symptoms. get medical help right away if you have symptoms of a heart attack or stroke. use caution when driving or operating machinery. common side effects include nausea, trouble sleeping, and unusual dreams. my quit date was my son's birthday, and that was my gift for him and me. [ male announcer ] ask your doctor if chantix is right for you.

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♪ if you ever wondered what happens when a bit of misfits find each other at a college. we're guessing you've never seen "community." >> the eccentric ensemble stars gillian jacobs as a student at greendale community college and jim rash as dean pelton. let's take a look. >> whoever is watching this -- oh, wait. i'm out of data minutes. >> the whole world will be watching this on the 1st of next month. >> do something. distract them. >> i already like it. you guys are great. so glad you are here. we're so happy you are back for a fifth season.

what is that like every year wondering when this time of year comes up, like, are we coming back? >> it's like a long group hug. we don't know if we'll see each other again. you don't want to let go. >> christmas came a little early. you weren't waiting until the very end, were you? >> we knew we were going to premiere in january, i think in the fall, which is always nice to know when you are on the air. moms like to know that kind of stuff. >> for people who don't watch the show, do they need to binge watch all the shows prior to tonight's season premiere or can they just jump in. >> it would be great if they wanted to binge watch, but what's great about this season it's almost a repilot because joel's character comes back as a teacher. so it's sort of a nice introduction of all of the characters yet evolves them. >> joel's character becomes a teacher. how does this change the dynamic. >> it's going to change yours. i think it's the dean's wet dream that he has sort of got him -- power over him.

so it was the dean's idea. he pulls him in. it really does redefine the relationships for the whole cast. >> well, yeah, because we've been at the school for four years. then you have to decide, have they graduated? none of us are very good at school, so it's reasonable that we haven't graduated but all of our roles are shifting within the school this year. you'll see a different dynamic. >> the writing is so strong. you wrote an episode last year. what was it like. as you read tonight's script when you read it, did you know right away? >> you knew right away. everyone is back at the table. the team is back together. not that we didn't have that feel bug you can't not have community without -- >> the nuance jokes. a great joke in the beginning of the episode in the school and the p.a. announcement. it says greendale community college voted second best community college by greendale. they voted themselves second. not even -- is that the harmon touch? >> i think it is. >> i think it's the harmon touch. i also think he has more

ambition than any other tv writer i've ever worked with to try to do action episodes and animated episodes. everything we've done on that show. that's dan's ideas. he knows the character better than anyone else. you feel like you are in safe hands. >> i didn't know the background of you and the amount of writing you do outside of your own show. >> i came through the groundlings which is a theater in l.a., and was writing for quite a while and my writing partner and i got involved -- got the job with "the descendants" a couple years ago. >> he won an oscar. >> we were waiting. >> but yes, thank you. that was for you to cue up. and you did a great job. but, yeah, it's been a passion of mine to write. we wrote "the way, way back" a movie out this past summer. it's been a world that i'm as interested in as acting. >> and gillian, for you, a lot of people are just meeting you on "community." you had a long career before

this. tell us what teed this up? >> well, it was completely the opposite. it was really dark, depressing independent films. so i played a lot of lost women who perhaps found themselves working as exotic dancers or -- >> want to go back and watch this. what's it called? >> we were talking the other day about what we got pigeon holed as. yours was prostitutes. i was sexually ambivalent. >> we're excited about the premiere episode. congrats. thanks for seeing us. catch the season premiere of "community" right here tonight at 8:00, 7:00 central on nbc. >> and here on this show, catch one little girl's surprising reaction when her parents share some good news. >> what is it? >> it's web taftic. >> of course it is. >> coming up, two lucky ladies. this is their before look. we'll find out t

overmany discounts to thine customers! [old english accent] safe driver, multi-car, paid in full -- a most fulsome bounty indeed, lord jamie. thou cometh and we thy saveth! what are you doing? we doth offer so many discounts, we have some to spare. oh, you have any of those homeowners discounts? here we go. thank you. he took my shield, my lady. these are troubling times in the kingdom. more discounts than we knoweth what to do with. now that's progressive. ♪

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it's time for webtastic when we dig up the next video sure to put a smile on your face. >> this clip came from our friends who decided to video record their 5-year-old daughter annie as she was learning that she was about to have a little baby brother. >> let's check out how she took the news. >> sit that way. mommy wants you to read this picture. what does this is a? >> o-y. boy. it's a boy?

>> yeah you have a baby brother. >> yes. >> it's okay. >> i don't want a boy. i wanted a girl. >> i know. >> but you have to be okay with that. >> we should point out that annie's parents say she was having a tough time with some little boys at school who were -- >> what did i just see? what was so terrible for that little girl? she was being bullied at school? >> she said she had some trouble. she worried her -- >> some mean boys at school and when she learned the word boy she associated it? today, annie is thrilled to be -- she's very happy. luca is her baby brother. she's determined to train luca to be her ultimate protector. so it all ended okay. that was crazy. >> that's going to live on forever for her.

do they keep the pounds off during the holidays? a final check of the ladies who have been trying to [ male announcer ] no mouthwash feels like listerine® because no mouthwash works like listerine®. its unique formula penetrates the layers of bacteria in your mouth

deeper than any other mouthwash. >> good morning to you. 10:26. i'm peggy bunker. san jose police are investigating the city's first homicide of the year. it happened just around 12:30 this morning on east san antonio street. officials have not released the victim's name or any information about circumstances surrounding the shooting.

neighbors said they heard shots, but they didn't call police. the person driving by eventually called 911. that took place about an hour later. we're learning more about an overnight fire at the chinese consulate in san francisco. the smell of gasoline still lingers in the air. that's where officials say someone threw two buckets of gas on the consulate's door and then set it on fire. no injuries were reported. that fire is being investigated as an act of arson. right now we are going to take a quick look at your weather and traffic after this quick break. worst morning ever. [ angelic music plays ] ♪ toaster strudel! best morning ever! [ hans ] warm, flaky, gooey. toaster strudel! [ female announcer ] try new pillsbury heat-n-go mini pancakes. ♪

[ male announcer ] don't wait for awesome... totino's pizza rolls gets you there in just 60 seconds. ♪

>> welcome back. temperatures, again, unseasonably warm, but, hey, if you like the 70s, that's great news for the east bay. you'll hit about 70 today. 6868 degrees in the south bay. 6 the north bay. the good news is it will be mild with hazy sunshine for today. winds increase tomorrow. as a result we're going to get cleaner air. especially as we head through the weekend. a reinforcing shot as an area of low pressure comes through bringing us potential chances of showers on tuesday and much better air quality next week. remember your seven-day forecast right here at the bottom of your screen. let's check your drive. here's anthony. 4fxdthanks. things looking good. roadways wide open. not finding any major traffic hazards out there. we do have an earlier accident that looks like it just cleared from our map. it was at 87. you can see still green even though they have the accidents that will occurring this morning. not finding a whole lot of slowdowns around, and even in paulto althougho, right at 92, but can you see it look outside. not slowing traffic a whole lot. good news there. >> that does look good. we do have more local news corrupt in a half hour.

that show starts at 11:00. ly see you then. have a great day. snix we are back on this thirsty thursday with ambush makeovers and carson daly who is helping me out. >> nothing like a couple ambush makeovers to get me in the spirit. this is my first ambush makeover. certainly nothing like the new year to start a new look. >> you'll love this. "today" contributor and stylist to the stars. your ready? luis lacari, la, la, la, la la, ♪ >> i turn my chair around for all of you. >> and also here with "today's style editor bobbie thomas filling in for jill. >> happy new year. >> happy new year. you were out there hats and scarves and coats were on. how were the pickings? >> it was good. a large crowd. and it's the first ambush of the new year. as you said, what better way to

start out the new year. >> good news for our first lucky lady rhonda leonard from logan, iowa. she and her husband own and operate their own farm which doesn't really call for getting dressed up. she was thrilled at the opportunity get pampered for a few hours. let's listen to her story. >> we first noticed rhonda and her daughters because of your poem. but my favorite thing i found out is that you are a huge found of grumpy from the "snow white" character. and you have t-shirts. >> sweatshirts, everything. >> okay. >> and i wear them all the time. >> it's time to retire for a new year, new gorgeous you. >> thank you. >> and you just turned -- >> 50 in june. >> yea, you. >> go, me. we're going to have so much fun. >> thanks. >> oh, yes, they are. all right. rhonda is here with her daughters. becky and melissa. girls, please keep your blindfolds on until i give you the green light to take them off. here's rhonda leonard before. all right, rhonda. let's see the new you.

>> all right, girls. are you ready? >> take off your blindfold. >> what do you think? >> oh, my gosh. >> mom, are you ready? >> take a deep breath. all right. spin around. look at your girls right here. >> oh, my god. oh, i love it. >> i love it. love that. >> that's a nice touch. you are seeing yourself for the first time, too. >> yes. you look beautiful. >> look right over here in camera 12. >> carson, they do see themselves first right now. they are in a blacked out room. with their hair color to add glamour. she's from the farm. what do you do to a farm girl? warm her. pinch of red. took off her long hair. made it look twice as thick. the tip is to use mousse. mousse blows up your hair. >> she picked another kind of moose maybe. >> that's right.

>> we should point out, one of the best parts about these is looking at the daughters' faces. they've been crying since you started. what is it like to see your mom like this? >> she looks great. awesome. >> tell us about her. >> she's such a beautiful woman. i'm always surprised when you first had shared what you thought you should wear. you were five sizes too big. and i saw you checking out your booty. you have a fantastic shape. kaleidoscope from london times fits you perfectly. you are gorgeous. >> a big round of applause. go join your daughters. >> our next lucky lady, carson? >> that was touching. that was beautiful. this should be a movie. phyllis mo is next from california. she cuts her hair with a flobie. it's like a vacuum, like a late night infomercial. just sucks the hair into blades and whatever cut you get, you get. she begged us to give her a glam

new style. let's take a look at phyllis. >> phyllis wants to maybe try a new hair color. we noticed the sign and the makeover, although your husband and i both love the silver. >> i do, too, but -- whatever. >> we will give you a chance to see what luis can do and then we need to find you a dress. you said you are always in pants. >> i'm always in pants. always. >> or shorts. >> we're going to get you out of these layers and try on some sexy new dresses. >> great. thank you. i appreciate it. >> all right. and the husband is here with the eyes covered. are we all ready? all right, phyllis, come on out. ♪ she's a lady >> oh, wow. >> all right. and again, phyllis hasn't seen the new -- >> what's up. take a peek at his bride. >> whoa! >> hey. >> wow. >> i like.

all right. >> turn around? >> yes, turn around. check ourselves out. >> oh, my god. doesn't even look like me. >> that's what i have to do in the morning. >> look right here at camera 12. oh, okay. >> very nice. >> you look beautiful. >> that hair. tell us about the hair. >> you know, small changes makes big differences. obviously very little hair to work with. she used a flow-by. i always wanted to use one myself. a little details around the face. i made the hair dark. immediately you erased at least ten years. >> you look like your younger sister. she looks -- >> and bobbie, that outfit is perfect. >> you have such a fun personality. i was happy to see you try this bold print. i love the leather patch on the sort of side. it really is flattering. you look amazing. you look so fun and fresh.

>> how do you feel, phyllis? >> good. younger. like i used to look. >> let's bring rhonda out as well. big round of applause from both of our ambushes. nice job, kids. all righty. coming up, it's show time. >> that's right. julie is here with her amazing animals. and we're going to check that out right after this. before you settle for another ordinary mattress, isn't it time you discovered the sleep number bed? the bed clinically proven to relieve back pain and improve sleep quality. and right now, it's our lowest prices of the season. save $300 to $800 on our newest innovations. plus, 18-month special financing on all sleep number beds. only at a sleep number store, where queen mattresses start at just $699.99. sleep number. comfort individualized. you may be muddling through allergies. try zyrtec-d®. powerful relief of nasal congestion

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we are back with today's "call of the wild." jaulie is here from seaworld busch gardens with very talented animals. >> oh, my gosh. and there's a lot more to these fun behaviors than meets the eye. >> hi, julie. what are we beginning with? >> a ground hornbill. training is so important for animals. it helps stimulate them. it challenges them. so recycling behavior -- >> what do you mean recycling behavior. >> i want you guys to toss out these bottles on the ground. people maybe know that's not the best place to put trash and he puts them into the recycling. >> why don't you hold this one. >> i get it. i get it. >> what's his name? >> baraka. and so this is actually -- >> what noise does he make? is that breathing or communication? >> it's communication. he's excited.

>> hold on to it. >> you guys didn't throw the bottles down fast enough. he's taking them out and putting them back in. it gives them opportunities to show their natural behavior would be to forage on the ground. instead we turn it into opportunities for him -- >> oh, my god. >> and it gives him activity as well. so we're going to move on to the next animal which -- >> yeah. >> hoda, i'm going to go ahead and have you do. >> all right. >> so we've got a cat. now most people think that cats cannot be trained. hoda come on over here. >> oh, god. you know this is not going to work. >> i'm going to put the cat down right by your right foot. step out with your left. here we go. >> step. keep stepping. >> i'm so sorry. i am sorry. i cannot -- i tried to -- okay. i'm trying to --

>> let me show you and then you can try. >> what is the cat supposed to do, go through your leg. >> he does a weave behavior. >> go, kitty, go. >> he says who are these people watching me. >> i see. >> okay. this is kahlua. >> that cat has no interest. >> kahlua. oh, there you go. come back over here. >> okay. i'm ready. >> we can turn around and go the other way. >> all right. okay. >> don't step on the kitty. >> there we go. >> keep walking. >> is something happening? >> he's walk with you. how about a cat that walks with you. >> just keep walking. keep going. >> we have time for -- we'll do the 24th quickly. >> all right. we've got a cockatoo who is gorgeous. very smart. now parrots are very needy animals, actually.

a lot of people know how smart they are and everything. they love to perform, don't they? yes. can you say hi to everybody. where is that kitty? can you say hello? >> hello. >> good. can you do a chicken. [ making chicken noises ] >> do you think hoda looks good? [ whistles ] >> one of my favorite behaviors that he does -- that she does, actually is a great big eagle. >> you have to duck. good job. >> we have a cat that loves to jump out in the wild, obviously. they have the longest legs and the biggest ears of any animal. we'll have him jump on to the table. see how effortless that is. and training is so great for your pets at home. it helps you deepen your relationship and add a dimension

to the way you interact. >> thanks, julie. >> beautiful. here's a question. are you born to be happy? studies say the key -- the answer to that question could be yes. we'll find out if it's in your genes. did they keep the pounds off during the holidays. a final check for the ladies who have been trying to --

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are you happy? are you happy? >> yeah. i think so. >> well, according to experts, anywhere from about one-third to half of our happy sentence hard wired in our genes. so despite genetics hour, can we still make 2014 our happiest and best year yet? >> here to break it down for us, sam molton, the executive editor of "outside" magazine which covered this topic and clinical psychologist lisa brenich, "shape" magazine contributor. hello. if we're hard wired if that's the case, 50% of use.

>> predisposed as happy or not. >> so there's stuff we can still work on. >> researchers used to say it was like your height. you weren't just going to get any taller. what you got is what you got. they found half to one-third is hard wired but the rest is up to you. what you do every day, your hobby, your habits. >> is it nurture versus nature? >> 50% to me means you have a lot of choice on whether you want to be happy. it's not only a cognitive decision of, i want to be happy, but let's go do things that make me happy. at the end of the day, string along happy events and you'll be a happier person. >> people want to be happier. give us specific examples. >> one great thing is just exercise. you know -- >> give us like a good one. >> give us something we want to do. >> talking about cocktails a minute ago and now on exercise. >> eating happier foods. certain things high in certain compounds that make your brain

feel better. tryptophan foods. >> doesn't mean wait until saturday. have happy days and have happy events within the week. don't be waiting to retire go on vacation for that time. do things that make you happy every single day whenever you can. as often as you can. >> usually when you do something for someone else. when you are helping out someone who is worse than you are, you feel better. >> exactly right. experts found when you volunteer your time and free time is dedicated to things that have a higher purpose, it actually increases your own well-being. >> and stuff like short-term happiness, music, parties. and then there's real joy that isn't about the instantaneous happiness, right? >> absolutely. you have to do things that make you happy in that moment and also will make you happy into the future. so both of them, as often as you can but you have to start now. not wait until your to do list is done for though day. >> or have two cocktails

immediately. >> let's go, waiter. >> thanks so much. we appreciate the time. >> were you happy to survive the holidays without packing on the pounds? >> we'll check in with these ladies who are trying to -- >> we'll see how they did. but first, this is today on nbc. [ wind howling ]

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all right. we're down to the final wieek of -- >> we're back with melvina and kathy. two viewers who let us follow them through the holidays to help them to stop them from packing on the pounds. >> and today after five weeks, they will be weighed in to see how they've done since thanksgiving. welcome them to "today." >> is it time? >> i think it's time. >> this is our sixth week. did they cut the creep. that is not gain any weight over the holidays. that's the kind of weight that sticks with you the whole weight. >> getting weighed on tv is not

an easy thing. >> so this is after. this is in between christmas and new year's. you look great. >> she doesn't know. >> she doesn't know the results. >> the results are -- drum roll. >> now drum roll is you are up 3.5, but before you are astounded, think about this. overall, you have lost 0.1 pound. so you did cut the creep. >> here's what happened. overall she's down. overall, she's down one-third. >> but what did you say before even you came in? >> congratulations. >> it's not about the weight loss. it's about keeping this off. tell us one thing you said. >> this is great because i'm not going to go into the new year with an extra three or four pounds because i kept it even. so it just will spur you on more. you have the right mind-set.

you kept it off and you are energized to do some more. >> what was the thing that did it for you? the eggnog or. >> why don't you step up? >> it was definitely the eggnog. all the traditional meals my family usually cooks during the holidays. >> and you can hop on now. >> kathy is up. and then your grand total is you are down 0.5 pound. so your total, though -- total. do you know what your total is? you are down 4.3. >> okay. >> isn't that great? >> i'm okay with that. >> great. >> the thing is also melvina had fluid shifts. you were slow and steady, so everyone is different. >> there you go, kathy. >> tell us what the lessons are for everyone at home. >> you have to set realistic goals. you have to be honest with yourself and find out what your barriers are. for melvina it was liquid

calories. kathy, the baking. >> are you going to stay on that course? >> you have to stay on this course because not gaining and losing are about the same because, remember, it takes about 3500 calories to lose a pound. what does that mean? if you are a hurry, 500 calories saved a day is about a pound a week. if you want to do it slower, take 100 calories and it's a pound a month. it's more about being in control and not the pounds. >> are you glad you took part in this? >> oh, yeah. i feel great. >> we're so glad you did. thank you for playing with us. we appreciate it. tomorrow, we're going to tell how how to dress down to hide the pounds. that's it. >> and movies for you and your family. >> and the best places to go to unplug for the new year. >> and the hottest apps for the new year. have a great day.

vegetables. >> sorry about that. mom... yes honey? dad told me that cheerios is good for your heart, is that true? says here that cheerios has whole grain oats that can help remove some cholesterol, and that's heart healthy. [ dad ] jan? ♪

reason the chinese consulate in san francisco set on fire, and it's not the first time an arsonist has attacked. san jose a first homicide of the year. why neighbors say they saw the shots and didn't call 9 1 until nearly an hour later. dozens airlifted safety from a ship stuck in the ice of antarctica. new details about the overnight helicopter rescue. >> good morning to you. thank you for joining us. i'm peggy bunker. we are learning new details this morning about an arson investigation at the chinese consulate in san francisco. now, this is not the first time the consulate