we'll see you back here in 25 minutes for a local news update. good morning. breaking news overnight. a crowded ferry sinks off the coast of south korea. at least four people are deds dead and nearly 400 are missing. and a frantic rescue operation is now under way. security scare. boston police detonate two suspicious backpacks near the scene of last year's terror attack. this morning, what we're learning about the man who was taken into custody at the scene. this is spring. the unusual cold snap that has millions waking up to record low temperatures. and in some parts of the northeast, a fresh coating of snow. and good day, mates. prince george and his parents make a colorful arrival in australia, as part two of their adventure down under gets under

way today, wednesday, april 16th, 2014. >> from nbc news, this is "today." with matt lauer and savannah guthrie, live from studio 1-a in rockefeller plaza. >> and good morning, everyone. welcome to "today" on wednesday morning. i'm savannah guthrie. >> i'm carson daly alongside natalie morales and dylan dreyer. matt and al are off. some v.i.p.s joining us in the studio, including some secret service. >> it's bigger than natalie's normal security detail. we've got michael bloomberg here and the second lady of the united states, dr. jill biden. both have some news to announce this morning, so we'll check in with them separately a bit ahead. but we want to get right to our top story, and it's breaking news coming out of south korea this morning. rescuers are scrambling to locate survivors from that ferry disaster amid fears that the death toll could rise

drastically. cnbc's eunice yoon has the latest. eunice, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, savannah. this could be south korea's worst peacetime disaster in 20 years. out of the 459 people onboard, four are dead, 164 have been rescued, 291 are missing. they were aboard the sewol, which is a 480-foot long vessel that has the capacity to carry 900 people. tourists fighting for thr lives. a trip to an island known as south korea's hawaii was never supposed to end this way. their ferry carrying hundreds of passengers, many of them students on a four-day field trip, set sail tuesday from a port city near seoul. as it neared jeju island today, something went tragically wrong. eyewitnesss say they heard a loud bang before the ferry lost control. this survivor saying the ship

was tilted more than 45 degrees. it was very tense. the ship sent out a distress call, but there was confusion onboard. the student saying, "the ferry started to list, so we asked if we should escape now, but the announcement kept telling us to stay still." minutes later, rescuers including a u.s. navy ship arrived with helicopters, racing against time, lifting passengers to safety one by one. back on shore, parents clearly overwrought. desperate for more information about their children. the u.s. navy is on the scene helping south korea find the hundreds still missing. savannah? >> eunice yoon in beijing for us, thank you. meantime, we're learning more this morning about a security scare on the anniversary of the boston marathon bombings. a man taken into custody for carrying a rice cooker in a backpack. today a court hearing is scheduled tied to last year's attack. nbc's ron mott is at the federal

courthouse in boston. ron, good morning. >> reporter: hey, carson, good morning to you. dzhokhar tsarnaev is not expected to appear in court here later this morning, but as you mentioned last night, an eerie scene over at the finish line of the boston marathon. two blasts, but unlike last year, these were controlled by police. with boylston street cordoned off yet again last night on the one-year anniversary of twin bomb blasts at the boston marathon finish line -- >> get back! >> reporter: -- a police bomb squad blew up a second suspicious backpack of the evening, this one said to belong to a man arrested by authorities charged with disorderly conduct. according to police, the man was carrying a rice cooker in the bag. >> when the backpack was dropped on the ground, that's when we made calls for the bomb squad to come in and they did their job. >> reporter: officials also intentionally detonated another unattended backpack near the finish line determined to have been inadvertently left behind by a media organization. tensions followed an

emotional-filled day of services honoring 260 survivors and first responders and the four people killed last year, including a college police officer shot to death, which touched off a chase in a gun battle with the two bombing suspects. tamerlan tsarnaev died in the shootout. his brother dzhokhar tsarnaev was captured and is awaiting trial scheduled to start this fall. federal prosecutors say they will pursue the death penalty if he's convicted. for now, that trial is expected to be held here in downtown boston. in the meantime, dzhokhar tsarnaev is being held in a federal medical prison outside the city limits, held without bail, carson. >> all right, ron mott in boston this morning, thank you. easter is in four days, but you would not know it to step outside. an unusual cold snap has it feeling more like christmas, actually, from louisiana all the way to maine, and some cities are even dealing with, dylan, that four-letter word, snow. >> it's not my fault, i swear. i had nothing to do with it. but even in new york, we saw the snow coming down. even on the plaza, we saw a good

amount of snow. enough to coat certain things, not so much the ground, but a lot of cars were covered with the snow this morning. and just to see it fall from the sky, it just hurts considering how warm it was just a couple of days ago when we were close to 80 degrees. but yep, there it is. and that's typical april for you. you get these periods where it's just cold enough to produce a little bit of snow, and we've got freeze warnings all across the south, even back through atlanta, into montgomery, alabama. frost advisories even into little rock, arkansas. we are looking for temperatures close to record lows this morning. toledo, ohio. the record low is 20 degrees. we're at 19 right now. washington, d.c., it's 34. new york city, we're at the freezing point right now. and it hurts extra much this morning because it's about 20 to 35, almost 40 degrees colder than it was this time yesterday morning. and highs this afternoon will stay about 10 to 15 degrees below average. we will start to see temperatures warm up a little bit more once we get into easter, so even though it has a christmassy feel right now,

easter is almost here and 60s return, too. >> all right, dylan, thank you so much. now to stunning new video that surfaced showing a very large gathering of al qaeda militants, more than 100 of them meeting in yemen. among them, the number two leader in the organization. let's bring in richard engel, nbc's chief foreign correspondent. was this a big missed opportunity by the u.s.? >> it may have been. u.s. officials will not say if they were monitoring this gathering in realtime. but it does show that al qaeda militants in yemen are incredibly bold. and i think this should be a wake-up call that they can get together in such large numbers out in the open with the number two al qaeda member and not worry that there could be an air strike or a drone attack. what's also disturbing is that these large gatherings are taking place regularly. this one was in yemen, but in syria. i think we should definitely be worried about syria. it has become, in my opinion, more dangerous than afghanistan was before 9/11. >> all right, richard engel, thank you very much. meantime, natalie is following a big story on the new developments for malaysia 370.

>> unfortunately, there's been no signs of malaysia air flight 370 after the robotic sub searched the ocean floor for the second day. nbc's katy tur is in perth, australia, with the latest. katy, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, natalie. no luck with the first try and now no luck with the second try as well. on monday, only six hours into what should have been a 16-hour scan, bluefin-21 aborted its mission. today it aborted it once again. citing technical issues. in both cases, they were able to download the data they had on the bluefin-21. they did not find anything on the data. it's scanning for a third time, this time still focusing on the area where they have the best leads, the area where they've triangulated and are most hopeful where those black boxes actually are. as for expectations, experts say this is normal. it's a trial and error period. this is an unknown part of the world and it is still a learning process.

natalie? >> all right, katy tur in perth, australia, thank you so much. major developments in ukraine today. a half dozen armored vehicles were cheered on arrival in the eastern city of luhansk, some flying russian flags. the vehicles appear to have fallen into the hands of pro-russian forces. they appear to have come from the airport where ukrainian forces confronted protesters on tuesday. pop star miley cyrus is waking up in a hospital bed this morning after her publicist said the singer had a severe allergic reaction to antibiotics. miley tweeted this picture, saying mr. octopussy and some amazing doctors are taking good care of me. cyrus cancelled her concert on tuesday night due to the sudden illness. it is her second missed show in a week. miley also cancelled her show in charlotte last week after coming down with the flu. a wild ride on the streets of savannah, georgia, this week. take a look when this out of control horse-drawn carriage barrels through the city. the dramatic moments caught on

surveillance camera. the driver and five passengers were onboard when the horse got spooked and he just took off running. the carriage plowed into several cars and scared pedestrians. everyone jumped off, though, when the horse slowed down. no one was seriously hurt and eventually the horse ran into an alley and then just came to a stop. so good ending there. it is 7:10 right now. you're up to date. >> all right, nat, thank you very much. we would never shoot the messenger. dylan is afraid of us when she tells us it's snowing. >> she should be. >> well, it's almost done. it's kind of moving out of the northeast. new england will be over with the snow shortly. but there's another storm system moving into the northern plains. this one could actually bring up to a foot of snow in parts of central and northern minnesota and northern wisconsin. but that is still fairly typical for this time of year. we'll take a look at your local forecast coming up in just 30 seconds. ♪ [ male announcer ] fresh, local milk, real cream, and no preservatives. from the farm to our fridge in just six days.

philadelphia® cream cheese. ♪ so rich, creamy, and delicious. only philadelphia®. 7:11 you made it to wednesday. today is going to be nice. mostly clear across the bay area. same hazy sky here and no fog to report. we are looking good to hit the 70s today. shy of 70 degrees in san francisco. 79 for the south bay. peninsula is at 78 degrees. we'll look at your forecast. . >> all right, dylan, thank you so much. in the wake of the tragic school shooting in newtown, connecticut, president obama vowed to tighten gun laws in america, but so far, he has been unable to accomplish that goal.

now former new york city mayor michael bloomberg is forming a new group just announced this morning to gain support for stricter gun control. we're going to have an exclusive live interview with him in a moment, but first, here's nbc's white house correspondent peter alexander. >> reporter: the headlines are hauntingly familiar. just this week, three dead in a kansas city suburb. >> another tragic shooting at ft. hood. >> reporter: for the second time in five years, a shooting spree at this military base in texas. they joined communities already scarred into our memories. tucson, aurora, and newtown, where a 20-year-old with a history of mental health issues used his mother's guns to kill 20 children and six adults at sandy hook elementary. >> these neighborhoods are our neighborhoods, and these children are our children. >> reporter: president obama pushed to tighten gun laws here with savannah one year ago. >> these families are in the midst of their grief. it's right now. do you feel personally responsible to them? >> i feel personally responsible the same way i hope every parent out there feels responsible for

all our kids. every once in a while, we are confronted with an issue that should transcend politics. >> reporter: despite the presidential efforts -- >> there will be order in the senate. >> reporter: the senate blocked a measure to crack down on access to guns. former new york city mayor michael bloomberg has made it his mission and dedicated his money to support candidates who back stronger gun restrictions. now his latest move, $50 million, in part for those candidates, and a new organization, every town for gun safety, which brings together the work of several groups, including his mayors against illegal guns. the nra declined to comment, but steadfastly opposes tighter restrictions on guns. insisting that wouldn't be an effective tool at preventing mass killings. instead of lobbying and expensive tv ads, bloomberg's new group will focus on outreach, specifically to women and mothers with powerful online videos. trying to change the fierce gun

debate in ways even tragedy has not. for "today," peter alexander, nbc news, washington. >> and mayor michael bloomberg is with us now exclusively. he is the chairman of every town for gun safety. and shannon watts, the founder of moms demand action, part of this new initiative. good morning to both of you. mr. mayor, i'll start with a you had a major presidential go nowhere. same thing. >> but you know this is a political heavy lift. you're putting $50 million into the effort.

31,000 americans either get key? >> you know, in many ways, this is about emotion. as i said before, you know, the gun lobby has done a good job over the last 30 years of making a local minority afraid people will take their guns away. as a mother, i'm afraid someone's going to take my children away. i believe at the end of the day, that emotion will carry it. >> mr. mayor, you've been pretty in frightening lawmakers who times" this morning saying we have to make them afraid of us. >> absolutely. people will vote for whatever they think is in their own self-interest to get elected and re-elected. we've got to convince them that

simple background checks to make people with psychiatric problems we've got to make them public wants. the public's going to vote that way. is it a matter of simply outspending the nra, which by the way this sum would? >> well, i don't know who's of people who use illegal guns if you want to know how tough this is, go to one of the funerals and you look at the parents, look in their eyes and you'll see what real tragedy is and why we really have to do something. >> and yet we see this cycle over and over again. we've seen so many of these tragedies. if you look at the polling right now, people do get angry around

these big tragic events. but it is not a priority for most americans. they put gun control near the bottom of the list when asked to rank what issues matter most to you've got 49% of americans right now who favor stricter gun laws. but that's down almost 10% since newtown, shannon. >> we are going to go out and educate moms and women and americans over the next several months before the midterms. we're committing to get at least one million americans to vote on this issue. right now, women vote on abortion, health care, and jobs. we want that to be gun violence prevention, gun violence prevention. >> and it isn't gun control. this is making sure that everybody agrees that people should not be allowed to buy a gun, criminals, minors and people with psychiatric problems. make sure they can't buy guns. nobody's going to take anybody's gun away. nobody's going to keep you from hunting or target practice or protecting yourself. it's just making sure that a handful of people who we all agree shouldn't have guns don't get their hands on them.

>> this all begs the question, we know you're not afraid to get into the political fray. we know you're not afraid to put a little money behind the effort. people do wonder perennially about every four years actually whether you would consider a run for president. >> no is the answer. plain and simple. i'm going to spend the rest of my life trying to make a better world for myself, for my kids, for my grandchildren, and for you and shannon. >> do you think there is a time that this may be a time for a third party candidate? do you think the two-party system is failing americans on issues like this? >> they may be failing americans, but this is a two-party country and i think it's unlikely that you would ever have a third party candidate that could win, so what we have to do is convince those in both the parties who are running that this is what the american public wants, and when they get through their primaries and they come to a general election, they're going to have to be right on guns and we're going to do everything we can, shannon and i and all the people that we represent to make sure that we reward those who are protecting lives and make sure that those who are trying to keep people from being

protected lose elections. >> thank you so much for being here. do you miss being mayor? >> no. >> okay. i won't say whether the feeling is mutual. i have no idea. former new york city mayor michael bloomberg and shannon watts, thank you for being here. we want to send it over to the orange room. tamron has a very special guest in this morning, dr. jill biden. >> absolutely, savannah. the star power continues. dr. jill biden in the orange room. good to see you, good morning. >> thank you, good morning. >> we are here to celebrate and mark a major occasion, the third anniversary of joining forces initiative. it's so interesting that so often -- i wanted to show you this. we see these images. isn't it beautiful? of the men and women who return home. they're embraced by their children. for you, this is professional and personal. you're an educator and you're a military mom. >> that's right. michelle obama and i started the joining forces initiative to encourage all americans to support and honor our military families. and so that's what we're here for today. >> absolutely. so i'm going to scroll through. i'm going to tell our audience a

little bit about what you're talking about today. this is an example. tell me about the initiative here. >> this is the g.i. bill comparison tool. for all of our veterans coming back in the next five years, we'll have over a million men and women transitioning back into civilian life. so they came up with this tool to help our veterans so that they can put in how many years of service they've had. >> right. >> and where they are now. and they can put in their school and they can find out just what they're -- >> how much they qualify for, what they can get. i just want to show here, university of arizona, if you serve 18 months, you would get 70% of instate tuition, housing allowance, a book stipend, $700 there. this shows that we're more than about words, we're about action. so quickly, i want to introduce you to a couple of men and women who serve our country. sergeant samuel served seven years. marine staff sergeant tiffany

watts served nine years. with us marine sergeant ben vickery. tell us how this initiative has changed your life. >> this initiative served by helping me narrow down what graduate school i'd like to attend and what are my benefits in that area. >> congratulations, and again, thank you for your service. we are so honored to have your presence. dr. biden, i understand you're sticking around and you're going to answer viewer questions. >> yes. >> why do you look nervous? that look she gave me, guys. i'm reminding you to use the #joiningforces. we are more than words, we are action to support these men and women. stick around. >> okay, thanks. >> don't look afraid. you know people. >> what else am i going to have to do? she's seen how messy our green room is. thank you so much. great to hear about that. coming up, a major development at the oscar pistorius trial. the request from prosecutors just granted by the judge overnight. >> and a frightening sight. a burglar caught on surveillance camera inside a sleeping toddler's bedroom, but first, this is "today" on nbc. ready?

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new eggo bites are ready right out of the bag. packed with flavor, they're a tasty part of a complete breakfast... they're the easiest eggo ever. have good wednesday morning to you. 7:26. richmond police are trying to figure out what happened after two people were shot outside a busy target. it happened before 6:00 outside on mcdonald avenue near 42nd street. officers near the area say they heard gunshots and when they arrived to the scene the victims and suspects were gone. one victim is said to be in critical conditions, the other is said to be okay. >> judge could set his trial date. investigators say they have evidence that torres kidnapped

and murdered her in 2012. he has pleaded not guilty. she disappeared while walking to her bus stop in march of 2012. lawyers needed time to look over evidence. let's look at the forecast this morning. >> it is looking good. good morning to you. everybody at home looking live at san francisco where you can clearly make out the golden gate bring. temperatures what we are expecting. upper 60s today. we are going to hit 79 in the south bay today. the trend up and down notice the forecast in the bottom of your screen. let's check your drive looking

good throughout the bay area commute. san jose a nice flow from the freeway to the live shot. similar situation from the maps. throwing to 280, the fire we talked about southbound that is nothing. the scene is cleared but a new crash could slow you down heading south. the rest of the bay there you go. back to you. >> thank you for joining us as well. see you then. r your heart desires. go on. spoon me. mixim - from the ehrmann family. it's love, your way. you can either haveon high-end or low-price.

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7:30 now on this wednesday morning. it is the 16th of april, 2014. that is a gorgeous shot. top of the rock here in new york city. clear, crisp day. we won't even mention the s-n-o-w that was here earlier. there it is. it does look pretty. dylan's going to have a bit more on whether this is the last of that stuff for a while. it's april 6th dylan. april 16th. but we enjoy it. >> it was the blood moon. >> exactly. officials feared the death toll could skyrocket from that ferry accident off the southern

coast of south korea. 459 people were onboard when it capsized. hundreds of passengers are unaccounted for this morning. a man is in custody in boston accused of a bombing hoax. police say he was acting suspiciously and carrying a rice cooker in a backpack. it was blown up as a precaution. classes are resuming today at a pittsburgh area high school. this is the first time since that 16-year-old student went on a stabbing rampage there. the suspect is being held on multiple counts of attempted homicide and aggravated assault. meanwhile, coming up, a great story, a milestone for conjoined twins separated in a risky procedure at just 1 month old. their elated parents share the good news. and after a triumphant tour in new zealand, the duke and duchess of cambridge, and of course young prince george, arrived in australia overnight. we're live with their big plans for the ten-day tour. but let's begin this half-hour with new developments at the murder trial of oscar pistorius. for the first time in more than a week, the olympic sprinter was not on the stand, but the case

is far from over. "today" national investigative correspondent jeff rossen is in pretoria. good morning. >> reporter: hey, carson. good morning to you. i've covered a lot of trials over the years, but i've never seen one quite like this. we have two completely different stories, and both of them, by the way, have holes. every day i talk to legal experts, i did just this morning, and not even they can make up their minds who's winning here at this point. this morning, the battle of the experts is on with dramatic courtroom demonstrations. oscar pistorius back in his seat today, head in hands, appearing sick again in court. as his forensic expert reenacted the scene. >> he would come from that direction on the inside. >> reporter: prosecutors say reeva steenkamp was screaming in there, as pistorius was shooting her. neighbors testified they heard it. but pistorius says not true. the neighbors didn't hear gunfire, they heard him screaming after the fact as he hit the door with this cricket

bat. >> i hit it like this, with the tip of the bat hitting the bottom panel. >> reporter: the defense team even recorded their own sound test, hitting a similar door with a cricket bat. listen. then, they fired a gun at the door from the same distance away. listen to that. the defense claims they sound the same. those neighbors don't know what they heard. here's pistorius's version in a nutshell. when he heard a noise, he immediately grabbed his gun underneath the bed. he took it out of the holster, telling reeva to call the police. pistorius was not wearing his prosthetic legs. he says he moved toward the bathroom, just before he got there, he heard the toilet door slam. putting his back against the wall for balance, his gun pointed in front of him, he peered around the corner into the bathroom and didn't see an intruder, but pointed his gun at

the toilet room anyway. he says he heard a noise inside, thinking someone was coming out. so he fired four shots into the door. on cross-examination today, the prosecutor attacked the defense expert's credibility. >> you're qualified as a geologist, am i right? >> my first degree was in chemistry and geology. >> i see that you're currently not affiliated to any forensic body. >> that is, sir, my lady. >> are you a blood spatter expert? >> i have received no training in blood spatter analysis, my lady. >> reporter: they don't call him the pit bull for nothing. this trial was originally slated to last three weeks. just to give you an update. we're now into week number seven of the case, so both sides have now requested a two-week break, starting tomorrow afternoon, to work on some other cases along with some planned family vacations. no one thought it would go on this long. this trial now, carson, will

extend deep into may. no question about it now. >> all right, jeff rossen, thank you. let's bring in lisa bloom, "today's" legal analyst. good morning. >> good morning. >> so oscar was on the hot seat for seven days. his credibility at stake. how did he do? >> i think the pit bull had him by the jugular, carson. he changed the most important part of his story. remember, this is not a whodunit. we know he shot and killed her. the only question for the judge is why. what was in his mind? well, his story all along has been self-defense. he changed at the end of his cross-examination to accidental shooting. he says he doesn't even know why he shot. the gun just went off. it was in his hand. he doesn't even acknowledge that he intentionally pointed it at that bathroom door. i think that's a big change and i think that's a big problem for the defense. >> what's behind the change, lisa? is it possible it's just severe exhaustion or was it a tactical move? >> it could be one of those two. or the prosecution would say it's because he's lying, and after five days of that grueling cross-examination, asking him about every detail of the story,

he just couldn't keep his story straight. i mean, i think any of us -- if we were coming up with a story and we were being grilled by this prosecutor, we would have a hard time keeping it straight. >> what new problems does this bring up for his defense team? >> i think they now have to consider which way they want to go. are they going to go with an accidental shooting theory? if so, do they want to call a ballistics expert to talk about how easily the gun could have gone off even if he didn't intend to pull the trigger, for example? and this new con wans should help them. >> where do you go from here? you have maybe a dozen witnesses still to call. what's the strategy moving forward? >> i think there's a couple things they can do. we don't know of any history that oscar pistorius has had of physical violence towards anyone, including reeva steenkamp. there's no evidence that he ever hit her, that he ever assaulted her. i think that helps him. more broadly, the culture of fear that exists in south africa. oscar pistorius says he was so terrified, there is an extraordinary amount of violent

crime in south africa. i think they should be hitting on that theme. >> all right. far from over. lisa bloom, thank you. we'll take a turn and get a check of the weather from dylan who's in for al. >> "today's" weather is blaurou to you by taco bell breakfast. >> i was complaining about seeing a little bit of snow in new york city. we've got winter storm warnings up across the midwest. right just north of minneapolis, moving into northern wisconsin, that's where we're going to see the bulk of this snow. we do have some lighter rain. also wintery mix across northeastern south dakota, but the snow has moved through minneapolis. minneapolis, you might see an inch or so, but most of the accumulating snow is going to be a little bit further to the north. now, it's still typical to get snow this time of year, but this is an exceptional amount. in pink here, that's where we could see 12 to 15 inches of snow. it's going to be windy, too. minneapolis about an inch or up to two inches, but duluth, minnesota, could see six to nine inches out of this whole storm

system. it is going to be a little bit messy over the next couple of days with this area of 7:38 on eye wednesday morning good morning. temperatures are chilly. 46 degrees indication of a clear sky. we show that to you in san francisco. 52 degrees over looking the cove and you can see not a cloud in the sky. mostly clear across the bay area. sunshine this afternoon and that breeze will build and low clouds will return for this evening. highs today upper 70s to low 80s. forecast. >> all right, dylan, thanks. coming up on "trending" is your job one of the ten best or ten worst in america? the new list out this morning. >> it's very interesting. and next, a terrifying flight for any parent. a burglar caught on camera just inches away from a sleeping toddler. how did it happen? right after this. [ male announcer ] it's not surprising these guys

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we're back at 7:43, and we've got some startling home video to show you of a burglary in progress. natalie has more on that. >> this is really frightening video. it shows a man walking through a young couple's houston area home, even inside one bedroom where a 2-year-old was sound asleep. now police want the public's help to track down the suspect. a carefree little boy unaware how close he came to danger. in the chilling video, you can see the burglar stalking silently through the rooms of the house. when he gets to the nursery, he shines his flashlight down at the crib and the sleeping child below. the surveillance video from the april 5th robbery was captured a little after 5:00 a.m. as the family was still asleep. thankfully, no one was hurt and the family didn't even know for hours they'd been robbed. the intruder entered through an unlocked front window.

in the video, the intruder can be seen taking a laptop. that laptop was later found in a neighbor's yard. ten days after the incident, the father is still shaken up. >> i was really upset what happened. >> the harris county sheriff's office released the video to hep find the suspect, believed to be a hispanic mail in his late teens. in all, the burglar got away with $60 in cash, a small sum, considering how close he was to the family's most precious item. >> as soon as i know we got broke into, i went up there right away to check on him, and i kissed him so hard. i was so happy to see that he's okay. >> neighbors do suspect that the same intruder is perhaps responsible for a string of other burglaries in the community, but you see him staring at the child in the crib. >> that is terrifying. >> it freaks you out. >> you hope the community has some information. they catch this guy with people's help. >> you hope so with that surveillance video that they are able to catch him. we'll shift gears.

coming up on "trending," take a look at this picture. and we ask you, how did a toddler end up inside the claw. and next, dr. jill biden is back in our orange room. yes, she is answering your questions. >> you ready? >> i'm ready. ♪ this nation of go-getters... seems to be in the middle of a human energy crisis. power up with the good energy of quaker real medleys. sweet fruit, crunchy nuts and multigrains. it's how we help keep go-getters like you... going and getting. real fruit, real nuts, real medleys. try our apple nut harvest bars. quaker up.

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back at 7:49. all morning, we've been asking you to send in your questions to our guest dr. jill biden, who is in the orange room with tamron ready to answer. >> so many people have been sending in kind messages using the #joiningforces. we were talking about your journey as mother, a military mom. when you see those images of people coming home, what does that do to your heart? >> it reminds me of when our son bo came home from iraq. all our family was there. and just how that felt. that year was so tough for us as a family, as it is for all military families who have a loved one deployed. >> absolutely. i know they appreciate that you understand the journey firsthand. by the way, we want to show you one of the special shoutouts, if you will, that's come in from a very special lady as well, co-founder of joining forces, the first lady of the united

states. take a look. >> together we can serve our military families as well as they've served us. i hope you'll join me and share a message of thanks using the #joiningforces. >> there you have it. now, are you ready to answer some questions? >> i'm ready. >> you ready? i love this. dr. biden, here we go. the first twitter question is from care linoline, who says wh a typical day like? >> there is no typical day. >> what time do you wake up? >> about 6:00. i go out to teach some days. yesterday i was in boston with the survivors. next week i'll be at ft. campbell in kentucky with our military families so. there really is no typical day. >> it's an amazing journey you have. next up, we have diane, who says what is your fitness regime? you look amazing, of course. >> thank you. i'm a runner. >> natalie's a runner. >> i know. i'm wishing her good luck at the boston marathon. >> she's given me some good

advice and good tips beforehand. >> excellent. so you run how often? >> i try to exercise every day, so i run a couple times a week. i take class a couple times a week. >> we've got one more here. sarah says, my question for dr. biden, do you read for pleasure? what was the last book you read just for fun? please don't say "fifty shades of grey." >> i'm an english teacher, so of course i'm a reader, so i just was reading donna tart's "the goldfinch." which i loved. >> how wonderful. >> now the last question. what made you fall for joe biden? was it his humor? what was it? >> oh, no. i loved his two sons, our two sons, bo and hunter, so i always say that i fell in love with the boys first. >> oh, wonderful. thank you, dr. biden. such a pleasure. all right, guys. back over to you. >> it's great having her here. >> thank you. coming up, big crowds for the australian arrival of prince george and his parents. we'll take you there live. then, decoding the sexes.

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a very good morning to you. 7:56. santa clara county supervisors created a plan that would allow sheriff's deputies to fill in on the police department that would fill half of the 60 open slots. it would provide other temporary help. san show say police department also getting national attention. the popular reality show "cops" is riding along for the next three months. crews will shadow crews on night shifts. it could shep the department recruit officers. >> the ultimate reality television show.

temperatures are mostly in the 50s right now. 52 in san francisco and 46 in the bay. want to show you a couple of live pictures here. filtered sunshine none the less we are going to hit the high 70s here today. 78 alodge the peninsula. san francisco 69 and forecast shows you cooler weather tomorrow. >> haze but not a big deal. i was concerned about the slower drive. congested towards the high-rise. the map will show you that it is a slower drive when you move away from the toll. coming uf 238. should be clear in the next few minutes. lighter volume and we have the slower spots. back to you. >> all right thank you so much. another local news update coming

up in half an hour i'll see you then.

♪ ♪ ♪ it's 8:00 on "today." coming up, royal welcome. the duke and duchess and their little prince touch down in australia as their tour down under rolls on to adoring crowds. we'll be live in sydney. plus, little miracles. conjoined twins separated in a risky procedure at just 1 month old get ready to celebrate a major milestone today. >> we've been waiting for months for this, and it's finally here. >> their elated parents are with us exclusively and we'll share the good news. and she's still a girl who just wants to have fun. the legendary cyndi lauper is here to mark a special anniversary and perform one of her biggest hits live. today, wednesday, april 16th, 2014.

♪ >> good morning, seattle. >> denver, washington. >> from south carolina, hey, dylan, turn on the heat! ♪ the way you're looking back at me right now i'm thinking about everything i shouldn't be thinking about ♪ >> girl just want to have fun in new york city! >> we're on the "today" show! >> good morning, everyone. welcome back to "today." it is a fine wednesday morning and by fine we mean chilly on the plaza. we have a great crowd. >> i typed in this password and the fingers are frozen. he couldn't open his phone. >> what was his password? just kidding! no, no, no. never tell. >> gloves and hats out here today. >> freezing. >> i told you not to wear gloves. i'm sorry for that. >> oh yeah. >> we thought we burned them for the sin. season.

>> mind you, cyndi lauper is here this morning. i mean, i have spent a great deal of my life in love with cyndi lauper. >> absolutely. >> she is going to play one of her classics for us coming up. 30 years since the release. >> and she looks better than ever. >> absolutely. >> incredible. that's all coming up. but first, a check of the stories this morning from natalie inside. natalie, good morning. >> good morning to you guys once again. hundreds of people, many of them students, are missing this morning after a ferry sunk in the waters off south korea. cnbc's eunice yoon is following the search and rescue from beijing. eunice, good morning. >> reporter: families are gathering, natalie, on jindu island, very close to where the tragedy took place. out of the 549 people onboard, 4 are dead. 164 have been rescued, and 291 are still missing. these passengers were aboard the sewol, which is a 480-foot-long vessel that has the capacity to carry 900 people. that vessel set sail on tuesday from a port city that's nearby

seoul on the way to an island that's known as south korea's hawaii. now, en route along the southwestern coast to jeju island, something went terribly wrong. basically, eyewitnesss were saying they heard a loud bang and that the ferry lost control. most of the people onboard this vessel were children, were students. their parents are terribly distressed. rescue efforts are still under way. authorities say that they are searching for those hundreds that are still missing. natalie? >> all right. eunice yoon in beijing for us, thank you. some tense moments late tuesday on the one-year anniversary of the boston marathon bombings. police were called in after a man placed at least one suspicious device near the finish line. the bomb squad blew it up and it turned out to be a hoax. this cell phone video shows a strangely dressed man shouting the slogan "boston strong." his backpack appeared to have a rice cooker inside. the man was arrested and will appear in court today.

winter is back. much of the eastern united states waking up to freezing temperatures and snowy conditions. it looked like january last night with snow and sleet falling in northern pennsylvania. up to two inches came down in parts of the state there. the record for the latest snowfall in philadelphia is april 27th. little prince george making his first visit to australia. he's on a ten-day tour with his mom and dad, the duke and duchess of cambridge. and sara james is covering it for us. she's live in sydney. sara, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, natalie. it is the day australia has been waiting for, the royal arrival at the opera house. crowds in sydney thrilled to welcome will, kate and their little prince down under. a picture-perfect arrival down under. sydney turning on the sunshine for the duke and duchess of cambridge. kate carrying the baby the world can't get enough of. prince george might be a little prince, but he's a huge hit. everyone wants a glimpse.

whether departing new zealand in dad's arms or arriving for a ten-day tour of australia in mom's, will and kate are modern royals taking turns toting their tot. their decision to make this royal tour a bit of a family holiday has wowed the world. >> as a new mom, she could be rather unsettled leaving him at home, distracted, worried. so i think it was a great move. >> reporter: later, inside the iconic sydney opera house, a meet and greet with some of australia's elite. but they weren't the only ones lucky enough to rub shoulders with royalty. excitement in the crowd today. people so thrilled to get an opportunity to see the royals. some had a chance in person. >> it felt really special. i felt a connection, you know. >> reporter: with all the cameras and phones in the crowd -- >> it's not the greatest, but at least i got a selfie with kate. >> reporter: earlier, the royal pair cuddled 12-day-old police pups.

fans are so obsessed by kate's fashion choices, it's called the kate effect. but now there's the george effect. the world charmed by this tiny king to be. and there is a serious case of royal baby fever here. but nobody seems to want to get cured. they just want to figure out where they can next get a glimpse of the royal family during their ten-day tour. natalie? >> we all understand because we can't get enough of those little chubby cheeks. sara james in sydney for us, thanks so much. 8:06 right now. let's go back to everyone out on the plaza. >> natalie, by the way, i couldn't help noticing, you're wearing yellow today. >> it's the kate effect. >> i was going to say, i guess you and kate middleton have been texting. >> we bonded outside the lindo wing when i was covering the arrival of little prince george. >> exactly, right? and another one of your closest friends is also wearing yellow today. >> and katy tur, our reporter. it's the color of the day, i suppose. >> it is. you all look fab. thanks so much.

let's get a check of the weather now from dylan. >> she's got the right people in her cell phone. >> i know. >> just text. >> maybe they can bring the sun. >> and we're all wearing black and gray. we are looking at -- you've got the orange on. we are looking at some pretty chilly temperatures. take a look at ft. wayne, indiana. we are going to see today's high about 49 degrees, but tomorrow you'll be up in the lower 60s. and with the rain on friday, temperatures will be about 61 degrees. at least we'll shake these 40s. it is going to be cold across the eastern half of the country today. about 15 to almost 20 degrees below average. in northern new england, we are looking at temperatures only in the 20s and 30s. even down across parts of the southeast. highs today only in the 60s. even that's ten degrees below average. we are looking at a winter storm to develop later on tonight into tomorrow across parts of the northern plains in the upper midwest. central and northern minnesota and wisconsin, some areas could end up with six to 12 inches of snow. that's a look at the weather across the country.

midwest, east coast, they're talking about highs in the 40s. our lows are in the 40s. and we're going to see temperatures in the 70s later on today. so gorgeous, spring-like conditions continue. 48 degrees, though, that's the indication of a clear start at half moon bay. it's hazy over the east bay hills right now, good to moderate air quality for everybody and temperatures will work like this. 79 degrees in the south bay today, 78 degrees for the peninsula, and 69 degrees in san francisco. meanwhile, comfortable conditions in wine country, 82 for today. forecast. >> all right, dylan, thank you. coming up next on "trending," what do you get when you cross will farrell with pharell williams? >> a funny hit song. >> exactly. we'll show you the image coming up. plus, when it comes to love, marriage and dating, what do men and women really want? we're going to help do you decode the sexes. and cyndi lauper. but first, these messages. ♪ [ cellphone rings ]

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and make today yours. advil. make today yours. [ male announcer ] there's a simpler way to fluffier eggs. i can't believe it's not butter! the simpler way to delicious fluffy eggs. believe. all right. it is 8:11. time for what's trending today. you know, i lose my phone just about every day. >> you do? >> yes. i do. >> is that why you have four phones? >> pretty much, yes. so anyway, i'm really excited about this next one. something that could give those with a smartphone a little peace of mind in case it's ever stolen. after months of dragging their feet, according to some, apple, samsung and at&t have agreed to a so-called kill switch, and it would allow owners to remotely wipe their data from their devices. it basically renders the phones

useless. you may remember that jeff rossen reported this extensively for us. the kill switch feature rolling out next year would be free for customers buying new phones. some think that this leaves devices vulnerable to hackers, but a lot of people think this is an idea whose time has come. >> absolutely. and i guess if you find your phone, you could reactivate it and get all your data back. >> the iphones have that, right? >> yeah, the iphone has it. >> this would be for all smartphones. >> you can do that on your phone. >> yes. and i have. many times. >> it's like a great practical joke is about to happen. so if you guys are thinking of a career switch, not that any of you are, you might want to see this next list. the folks at the job search website career cast have ranked this year's best and worst jobs. their list is based on a number of factors, including income, workplace environment and stress levels. so let's get to the best job. mathematician followed by tenured university professor and statistician.

what really got our attention was the list of the worst jobs. one in particular, lumberjacks is dead last at number 200. >> really? wow. very dangerous. >> take a look at number 196. broadcaster. comes in just ahead of taxi driver. >> oh, give me a break. that is not the worst job. >> newspaper reporter also down on that list. >> it's definitely not a tough job. i mean, i'm just saying. >> all things considered. >> compared to lumberjack, yeah. >> interesting, interesting. a frantic search for a missing toddler in nebraska has thank goodness a happy and rather hilarious ending. a mom in lincoln called police after her 3-year-old son just vanished from their home. at the same time, a customer at a nearby bowling alley noticed this carefree child playing with toys inside an arcade claw machine. yes, it is the same boy. his mother says he must have slipped out of their apartment while she was in the bathroom. no one really exactly sure how he was able to get in the claw, but the little guy now safe and back at home. i hope they gave him a couple of those prizes. >> i love those machines.

>> he worked for it. >> it might be the only way to get those prizes. >> how did he get inside? >> the door. sometimes the doors are bigger. >> i rode my harley from l.a. to st. louis on route 66 and there's a lot of little bars that have those machines. but there's lobsters inside. real live lobsters. >> in water? >> and the game is to try and grab a lobster. it's like the adult version of that. >> can i just say that little boy seems like a fun guy? just left the house and went right into the arcade game. >> he's a little guy who's in trouble with his mother. well, this is easily the most interesting and disturbing photo you may ever see. it's a photoshoped image of actor will farrell and musician pharell williams. the result, meet pharell farrell. >> oh, my goodness. >> what is that? >> he's handsome. >> he is handsome. >> once you see this photo, you simply cannot unsee them. >> that one's disturbing. >> i just ask why? >> because we can. because it's there.

>> and whatever the reason, it got us thinking, what would carson tyne daly look like? >> oh wow interesting. brace yourselves! oh! >> i look better-looking like that. that's crazy. >> not bad. >> you're a very pretty man. >> rosanna savannah danna. >> this will be good. >> this will be great. >> the hair. >> just add hair. >> beautiful. >> talk about something you can't unsee. that's what's trending today. we'll be back in 30 seconds.

this is a special day for the family of 9-month-old twins who were born joined at the chest. emmitt and owen ezel are finally leaving the hospital today. first, nbc's janet shamlian with their story. >> reporter: to look at them now, you'd never know what owen and emmitt ezel have been through. the 9-month-old twins were born conjoined from their chest to their belly, sharing a liver and intestines. at just a month old in a risky operation, a team of surgeons successfully separated the boys in a nine-hour operation that required the touch and go separation of a major blood vessel. and now, for a family that's been through so much, the biggest milestone yet, the boys are leaving the hospital.

>> i'm so excited. i'm shaking, i'm so excited. we've been waiting for months for this. and it's finally here. >> reporter: jenny and dave ezel have been all but leaving in the neonatal intensive care unit in dallas. even christmas was there. it's been emotionally and physically draining, they say, and worth every minute. >> when this is over, we're going to have four boys, you know? we're going to be a family and it's going to be great. at the time, we talked about it, but i couldn't envision it. i couldn't see it. but i knew we had to keep talking about it. but now i can finally see it. >> reporter: the couple has been keeping friends updated through a blog, noting major hurdles the boy have overcome, like when they started breathing on their own. they're still being fed through tubes in their stomachs. for that reason, their next stop is an inpatient rehab facility. even that is celebration worthy, and they're planning one here today. for two little boys, it's one giant step closer to home. for "today," janet shamlian, nbc

news, houston. >> well, jenny and dave ezel are with us exclusively from the medical city children's hospital. along with them, dr. tr. tom re, the lead surgeon who separated emmitt and owen. a great day for you all. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> when you think about this road you've been on from when you were pregnant, 19 weeks, being told you were going to have twins who were conjoined, to the separation surgery, to now nine months after their birth, they get to leave the hospital, can you even put it into words? >> it is an indescribable feeling. it's been such a long journey, and we have finally arrived. we're finally ready to get them one step closer to home, and we can't wait. >> and dave, this next step is going to rehab, where as i understand it, part of it is teaching you parents how to take care of them so they can ultimately go home. what's involved in that and are you nervous about it?

>> yes, we're absolutely nervous about it. we have to learn how to basically be their 24-hour nursing care, as well as their parents. i think the parenting part is going to be the easy part. we are going to be trained on how to take care of trachs and how to change them out. how to manage their nutrition and g tubes. it's going to be a journey. >> and by the way, as we talk to you, we're getting to see a live shot of little emmitt, who's ready for his close-up and ready to get out of the hospital. dave, i'm sorry, what were you going to say? >> i was just going to say, fortunately, we're not going into it blind. we've already gotten a lot of training along those lines since they've been here at the hospital. so it's -- i mean, it's not like we're jumping into this thing without any knowledge. >> let me bring dr. renard in here, he's your superstar surgeon. doctor, as i understand it, this was the first surgery of this

kind you had ever done. and they had already heard from many doctors that this can't be done. what were you feeling as you started to do this and when you realized it's going to be successful? >> well, it's a big event, or complex operation procedure, undertaking. and the group that i'm involved in is -- fortunately, had the opportunity to separate 12 sets before. so we have some institutional knowledge, so we weren't going into it without any kind of background, but it's been just a wonderful opportunity. and we feel very privileged and honored to be a part of the whole process. >> and i know that jenny and dave would love to say thank you to you and to the nurses. how has the care been for these two precious little ones? >> it's been amazing. they have treated our babies -- well, and us, for that matter,

like family. they have been there through the hard times, and through the happy times. they've laughed with us. they've cried with us. they've encouraged us. and they've been so supportive. it's been a pleasure having them be a part of this process for us. >> and i know it's a long journey, but we're so happy to share this milestone with all of you. best of luck to you, and to owen and emmitt and your two older boys at home. i know you've got your hands full. so thank you for being here this morning. >> it's our pleasure, thank you. >> we'll send it over to carson. you've heard the expression men are from mars, women are from venus. but what if we could aline the pl -- align the planets and actually understand each other once and for all. from style to sensibility, it's no secret that men and women aren't exactly on the same page. let's get real -- even in the same book. it goes well beyond the shopping versus sports stereotype. the way we talk, think, laugh, and love. you might as well call it the

great gender divide. so how do we get inside each other's heads and figure out what's really going on in there? the ladies at "elle" and the guys at "esquire" are giving it a shot. helping to unlock those age old secrets, so men and women can finally decode the opposite sex. we're going to do that right now. robbie myers is editor and chief of "elle." david granger is the editor-in-chief at "esquire." >> i love that your two magazines are dating now. >> it was actually robbie's idea. >> i made the first move. >> what was the idea? you obviously have a male viewership with "esquire," female with "elle." and you thought, we should be talking to each other? >> go ahead. >> defer to the lady, right? we're learning. >> it was really the idea that we wanted to decode the opposite sex for one another. i think as forward thinking as we all are, we still have best questions about why do you do the things that you do, and we thought, we know a lot about

women at "elle." so i'm so happy that "elle" is now living in "esquire." >> what did we learn? let's start with language. what do guys need to do to better understand women? >> well, it's the number one thing, and you've heard it before, need to listen. and really pay attention to the details. >> i'm sorry? >> very funny. >> sorry. >> and women will give you clues along the way of what they really love and what they really care about. and the main thing is we don't need you to fix everything. we really just want you to hear us. >> we like to vent. david, what did you inform men about how men like to communicate? >> i think the main thing is just take us at our word. i think women sometimes have a tendency to read more into what we're saying than is actually there. if we say you look fantastic, we generally mean you look fantastic. >> okay. >> it's morning tv, so let's trend on this next one a little bit lightly. but dirty thoughts for men, they're not exclusive to that. >> no. and in fact, what we found is that women have fantastic

fantasy lives, if you will, and we do tend to object ifify men, whether we're on the subway -- >> to what degree? let's be specific. >> let's just say a lot. >> detail oriented. >> we're very detail-oriented. we notice how you dress. we notice how the shirt fits. we notice how you look at us. >> my fiancee is not looking at any other guy ever. >> that's right. because she's such a lucky, lucky lady. what about you, david. this love, dating, marriage. what should we take away? >> what should we take away. i think men are more serious about their relationships than they've ever been. especially younger men. the younger you go, the more they're interested in family and having a sustained relationship. to even a greater degree than modern women are these days. i think you just have to, you know, give men credit for wanting to be in a sustained, committed relationship. >> you mentioned diverse chivalry. >> i think it goes both ways.

for several hundred centuries, we've been the ones supposed to open the door. now it's every once in a while, if you've got a purse, maybe carry my ipad, or whatever. i think it's just a matter of thinking about each other's needs. >> if i can just say, one thing we really wanted to get across at "elle" is we love men. we think they're great. we don't think you're deeply flawed. we're not trying to fix you. we really admire you, and like you smell good and, you know, we like that you're different and we like -- we want to know all about you, which is really how it started. >> let's talk fashion and style in 20 seconds. like those sweat pants that guys wear. come on, robbie, be honest. >> listen, there's nothing a woman likes more than a man who has game. please, fellows, get something that fits. just because it fit in 1985 doesn't mean it fits now. >> i've got to up my game, that's for sure. >> david, you're saying if a woman asks her guy, how do i look? be prepared for an honest answer. >> i think if you ask enough, you're going to eventually get an honest answer.

generally, you look pretty good. >> all right, thank you both so much. appreciate. i. straight ahead, a very good morning to you. 8:26. i'm laura garcia-cannon. neighbors in san jose waiting for crews to fix a water main that's been leaking for more than two days. they say the leak started as a 3-inch crack on sunday and it's grown to at least 3 feet. they say the asphalt around it feels like carpet padding and it's starting to buckle. within the last few hours, crews have arrived, but we're told they didn't fix that break yet. it's happening on rosewood avenue not far from santana road row and westfield valley mall. so a wet mess there. what about the commute? >> not so messy. it's spring break for many of the schools. look at 880 past the coliseum. starting to slow down a little bit on the northbound side, as we take a look over here. northbound towards high street,

nothing dramatic, and the maps will show you that same area. talking about a lighter flow through the end of the month. it is west 580 that's dramatically slow because of a couple of crashes. three, as you paddle up west 150th. they have cleared from the roadway, they're restoring speeds through the area. a little slower across 92 to the peninsula. typical patterns, but lighter volume keeps things moving smooth. there's the south bay with the earlier crash at 85 as cleared from northbound 280. back to you. >> thank you so much. i'll be back with another local news update in half an hour. see you then.

8:30 now on t morning. it ishi the 16th of april 2014. great crowd. spring has sprung. happy spring. say good morning to them and good morning to you. nice to see you. >> we've got a great, great moment coming up with cyndi lauper. she's going to celebrate 30 years since her record-breaking debut album. we're going to catch up with her. she's going to perform one of

her biggest hits live. >> it's been 30 years. another talented woman, marissa tomei. >> you know him from the biggest loser, bob harper shares his biggest recipes if you're trying to lose a few pounds before beach season. i was going to say bikini season but -- >> and for the rest of us it is a one-piece season. first, it's wednesday. we know that means hoda is out and about on the plaza. hey, hoda. >> oh, my god, so excited. we have a bunch of people back here who are dying to see cyndi lauper perform inside the studios, okay? they came out in force and i have the magic card of who's coming inside. [ cheers and applause ] who's it going to be? the lucky people are going to come inside with me and put on these vests, are danielle and mark from lakeland, georgia.

where's danielle and mark? whose birthday is it? >> my birthday. >> how old are you? >> 30. >> 30. are you cyndi lauper fans? >> huge cyndi lauper fans. >> come on out. we're going to put the vests on them. they are going to come inside and we are going to sing. come on, girl. come on. let's go! get those vests on. put those vests on them. oh, yeah. the party's inside. cyndi's waiting. >> great seats. >> exactly. hoda, thank you so much. let's get a check on the weather. >> i saw pumpkin on a sign over here. considering it feels like fall, i need to know, pumpkin capital of the world? >> that's what i hear. >> you don't even know we're all learning something. we're learning something new. >> they have a pumpkin festival in september. >> we could get away with the pumpkin festival right now. it is that cold. it is very chilly out here and it is going to stay cold all

throughout the day on the eastern half of the country, even down in georgia. about 60 degrees for a high temperature. we've got freeze warnings posted in a lot of areas across the southeast. we have this area of low pressure that will bring an area of snowstorm in the upper midwest. perhaps as much as 6 to 12 inches possible across minnesota and northern wisconsin. tomorrow it turns more into a rain event, especially across illinois. it's cold back behind that second front that is going to bring temperatures much colder than you'd like to see this time of year. more rain in the pacific northwest. scattered thunderstorms tomorrow down across florida. it remains cool in the northeast. it should start to gradually warm up as we get 8:33. happy wednesday morning to you. we are going to see gorgeous spring-like conditions for today. starting out in the 50s. the temperatures are already warming up out there. we're at 56 degrees the in san

francisco. we had some wind yesterday evening. yeah, looking much better as we head throughout the next couple of days. we're going to see a gentle breeze, beautiful conditions here in san francisco. i want to show you san jose, filtered sunshine but still a lot of sunshine headed our way for today. and that's going to keep your temperatures comfortable. 79 degrees in the south bay for this afternoon. and that is your latest forecast. savannah? thank you so much. we are joined now by marissa tomei who always shines in an array of roles. >> my biological clock is ticking like this and the way this case is going, i ain't never getting married. >> audiences will always remember her oscar winning performance in "my cousin vinnie." and she won one in the highly acclaimed wrestler. now she's on broadway called the realistic joness. this is a dark comedy about neighbors who share the same last name and whose lives become very intertwined as well. >> i always wanted to live in one of these little towns near the mountains, so one night he comes home and literally just

says, literally -- i forget what you said exactly. >> something about moving to one of these little towns near the mountains. >> that was it. it was all sort of a whirlwind. >> the time had come. it's what my lady wanted and what my lady wants with some huge and basic exceptions my lady gets. >> marissa tomei. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> i heard for this play they had you at hello. when you heard the character's name was pony, you're like, i'm in. >> that is true. there's a lot of promise in that name. >> there's a lot of character in that name. >> yes. >> this is an interesting story. i mean, it manages to be funny but there are some kind of deep themes in it. these neighbors, they're right next door to each other. their lives intertwine. i don't want to give it away. why don't you give it away. >> i thought you were doing so well. >> how would you describe the story? >> well, i think it's -- well, it's very funny as you were saying. there's a lot of laughs throughout it. a broad comedy, but it also

works on theme ma particularically about illness and the fact that both of the neighbors' names are joneses it plays on the theme of coveting what your neighbor has. do you really want everything they have? sometimes what they have is not so hot. >> your character pony, i always call her kind of relentlessly chipper. is that a -- >> maybe a little absent minded. yes, relentlessly chipper. she's a happy person. it is fun to go to work and have to be that happy every day. if marriage is bliss then definitely part of her character. >> i heard that you described something on the stage where the feeling is just so exciting to get that instant feedback, but i imagine it's kind of a high wire, too, because if they don't laugh when they're supposed to, you don't get the reaction you want it's a little scary being on stage. >> yeah, it is always a little scary but it's nice to have that little bit of a boost. >> you were mentioning the back

drop is between neighbors. so kind of have me wondering. do you consider yourself a good neighbor? are you a neighborly person or are you the kind of person to avert your eyes and grumble good morning? >> i hope i'm not like that. i -- well, you know, my dad was very civic minded, is very civic minded. he's always the president of the block association, even from when i was little till now where he lives now and so i think i have that mindset of -- i like that feeling, too, of knowing my neighbors and sharing -- you know, someone has your key and -- you know, it's the little lovely exchange that are really nice. sometimes you become great friends, too. >> i was thinking about we started this introduction of you with "my cousin vinnie" which of course is a classic role. do you love that, that you're still associated with that role more than 20 years later or are you kind of over it? >> you know, i had a period

where i was over it. now i'm back. i'm back loving it again because it's really nice that it still makes people laugh. >> when i went to law school, my criminal law professor tolds we had to watch "my cousin vinnie" because it was correct. >> oh, my gosh. >> what's the siline people mos quote to you? >> the biological clock. >> marissa tomei, nice to see you. >> you too. >> you can catch it here in new york. >> you're a lawyer. i caught that. >> i know. >> okay. >> don't hold it against me. "the biggest loser's" bob harper is here. going to teach us how to slim down our meals and then cyndi lauper performs live in our theater and hoda has our backstage pass winners. this is "today" on nbc.

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"today's kitchen" is brought to you by i can't believe it's not butter. deliciously simple. 100% taste, zero percent artificial preservatives. >> this morning, slimming down your meals and your waistline. for 15 seasons, fitness trainer bob harper has been motivating contestants on nbc's "the biggest loser." now he wants to help you with his new cook book, "skinny meals: everything you need to lose weight fast." bob, good morning. this is basically a lot of the recipes behind some of the stuff you've previously written about. >> i'm so excited about this book. i've got 100 recipes in here that are less than 350 calories and i've done all the work for you. so it's like all your protein, fat, and cassirbs are in every single male. >> we cook three different meals. protein important in all three. >> especially breakfast. there's a shake i have here, apple pie shake. >> can i drink this? >> i threw a little bit of

protein powder. yeah, of course. i always say freeze your bananas. it makes it frothier. but now, let's talk about lunch. this is the veggie carbonara. this meal less than 350 calories. that's one serving. we're going to toss these vegetables in. >> what are the general thoughts at lunch? should it be your biggest meal? >> i try to get you to be balanced throughout the day. but at lunch, you get to have carbohydrates, so this is where you're going to get your pasta. >> after lunch, no carbs? >> after lunch is absolutely no carbs, except from your vegetables. this has been stirred in. i'm going to have you give this a good stir. this is about half a cup of gluten-free pasta. >> you could use whole grain if you wanted to or whole-wheat? >> you use whole-wheat if you want, whatever you feel tastes better for you. then we're going to whisk this egg. this is a whole egg, and then three egg whites.

so go ahead and just start stirring up that. a little basil. that's less than 350 calories. a little basil on top. >> and that's the amount. >> that is one serving. now let's go to dinner. this is two servings. this is a huge steak. i'm taking this out. you can just toss all those vegetables in. >> what's the meal? just steak? >> this is a chimichuri steak. four hounsounces, a double serv with all these vegetables. but when i'm having steak, i tend to go more well-done. this is better for me. this has been cooking a little bit. but the thing about it is you get your chimichuri steak, which is all your herbs, lemon juice, chicken broth. mix that all up in a blender and you'll be pouring it out on top. and this is one serving. remember, no carbs after lunch. >> this is a healthy amount of food between lunch and dinner. >> right. one thing i tell people, if you feel like you're still hungry, you can have more vegetables.

>> i always think people think with the no carb thing that it's either no carbs at all, but you can ration the carbs. >> i'm more of a zone guy. a certain amount of protein, fat, and carbs at every single meal. your food should look like a well-balanced machine, right? and that's going to keep you moving really well. and that's why in my rules, i tell people you want carbs, but you want the right kind of carbs. if you cut them out for dinner, you'll be on track for losing weight. >> what time should you eat dinner? can you snack after dinner? >> i don't really have a rule when it comes to that. i like for you to go to bed hungry. if you've stopped eating about three hours before you go to bed, i think that's like a good rule of thumb. and if you feel like you're just still so starving you need something to eat at night, i would definitely tell you have a nice little snack, it could be something like a cheese stick with like a half of an apple. >> something easy. >> just something easy. >> how many meals you have in the book? >> a hundred recipes. >> all of them under 350

calories. >> i'm real excited about this book. >> there he is. "skinny meals." bob harper, thank you so much. up next, cyndi lauper is here to perform one of her classic hits in our studio. but first, this is "today" on nbc.

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the toyota concert series on "today," brought to you by toyota. >> cyndi lauper became an instant star in the 1980s with her first album "she's so unusual." it was certified platinum six times, made lauper the first female artist with four top ten singles on a debut. three decades later, she's celebrating that success with a special anniversary edition. we're so happy to have you here. good morning to you. >> it's not just -- it has demos. i wanted to show -- it was supposed to be out in the fall, last fall. but, you know, april fool's.

but, you know, i figured i'm going out with cher and we put out at the same time. but this -- everybody worked really, really hard on it, the artwork was really detail-oriented. and also the demos have, you know, what girls just want to have fun sounded like when i first got it from robert hazard who wrote it. and then all through the night and us arguing about is the drum machine going to work. because after a while, i parred it down to just two guys and a drum machine. >> it's kind of a piece of history, if you love this album, this edition has all of these extras. >> i wanted that. >> this is a hard question, but do you have a favorite song from the album? >> i have a favorite moment when the music came alive. i guess when "all through the night" actually worked or when

"girls just want to have fun" actually worked. you know, you watch a cooking special. that's how i do music. it's like cooking. i take a little of that, a little of that and mixed it. like reggae. >> like the cheese sticks. >> no, cheesesteaks. >> "kinky boots", one-year anniversary. you wrote the music for that. that's got to be great for you. >> it was all of us together. billy porter is electric. you see him, it's unbelievable. and it was such an honor to write for him and for stark sams. and my head went blank. okay, it's too early. i got up at 3:30. i'm sorry. i could stay up, but then i didn't. >> we can relate. it's not normal. >> what about you? how do you do it? >> i just don't sleep. lots of coffee. >> he doesn't have to sing. >> i don't know where i am right

now. let's hear some music. >> cyndi lauper, take it away. ♪ lying in my bed i hear the clock tick and think of you ♪ ♪ caught up in circles confusion is nothing new flashback ♪ ♪ those left behind time after sometime you picture me ♪

♪ i'm walking too far ahead you're calling to me i can't hear what you said ♪ ♪ then you said closer i fall behind the secondhand unwinds ♪ ♪ if you're lost you can look and you will find me ♪ ♪ time after time if you fall i will catch you ♪ ♪ i'll be waiting time after time if you're lost ♪ ♪ if you're lost you can look and you will find me ♪ ♪ time after time if you call i will be waiting time aft time ♪

♪ after my picture fades and darkness has turned to gray ♪ ♪ watching through windows you're wondering if i'm okay ♪ ♪ secrets stolen from deep inside and the dream beats out of time ♪ ♪ if you're lost you can look and you will find me ♪ ♪ time after time if you fall i will catch you ♪ ♪ i'll be waiting time after time if you're lost ♪

♪ you say go slow i fall behind and the secondhand unwinds ♪ ♪ if you're lost you can look and you will find me ♪ ♪ time after time if you fall i will catch you ♪ ♪ i'll be waiting time after time if you're lost ♪ ♪ you can look and you will find me time after time ♪ ♪ if you fall i will catch you i will be waiting ♪ ♪ time after time time after time time after time ♪ ♪ time after time time after time time after time ♪ [ cheers and applause ]

>> cyndi lauper, thank you so much. she'll be back with kathie lee and hoda a little bit later on. we'll be back in a moment. this is "today" on nbc. the world of fashion is split in two. you can either have high-end or low-price. or you can go to t.j.maxx and you can have it all for up to 50% off department store prices. t.j. maxx.

carson daly knows every word to "time after time." >> there's only three words. i'm a huge fan.

as you saw, the real fans there got a great view. that was cool. they got to come inside. she was great. incredible. >> what do you guys have coming up? >> a pretty fun study. there's something that says the way you sleep with your partner in bed determines how good your relationship is. how strong it is. back-to-back sleepers. >> are you an inch apart. do you spoon. >> that's a very good morning to you. 8:56. i'm laura garcia-cannon. a welcome change for some drivers in san francisco. there's a good chance parking and meters on sunday will soon be free again. last night, city officials reversed their stance on metered sunday parking. the move will cost the san francisco metropolitan transportation agency more than $10 million a year. parking on sundays could be free starting in july. let's check the forecast now

withnologist christina loren. a mild day? >> really nice day shaping up. good morning to you, laura. good morning to you at home. a clear, blue sky all the way to san jose. 79 degrees. for those of you on the peninsula, 78 degrees today. a nice, cool, ocean breeze. 69 in san francisco. elsewhere, we'll hit the low 80s for today. that goes for the tri-valley. hope you have a great day.

from nbc news, this is "today's take" with al broker, natalie morales, willie geist, and tamron hall, live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. >> welcome to "today" on a wednesday morning. a chilly wednesday morning, might i add. april 16th, 2014. i'm wile geist along with natalie morales and tamron hall. al has the morning off. woke up this morning to snow. >> you did. but you also, before we get to the news of the day, you woke up to a sister in labor. >> yes. libby geist -- oh no, it's libby wilde. my sister libby. she's in labor. she's at a hospital in the new york area. if you're watching, i love you, we're rooting for you. >> push! push! >> she's the coolest woman on the face of the earth and she's already a great mom and she's

about to be a great mom again. >> so if you're watching, you just happen to be in labor and you're watching your brother. >> could be. >> she's a little busy. >> i don't think she's in the heat of battle yet. i just spoke to kevin. and they're okay right now. >> could she live tweet it? >> no. she's not that type of person. thank goodness. >> good luck, lib. i'll be there to see you later today. let's talk about boston one year later. you were up there yesterday. we talked to you. i love these photographs of the survivors. we're seeing a lot of the newspapers. >> talking about this incident that we found last night, we were following the story of a backpack, or two backpacks that were left there at the finish line, just hours after that really emotional tribute to the survivors and the victims. there was that security scare, and police ended up detonating those two backpacks left at the finish line. they had a man -- they have a man in custody as well. >> luckily, it was nothing. >> luckily, it was nothing. turns out it was some sort of

performance artist who was acting crazy and yelling boston strong, and he told the police that he had a pressure cooker and turns out it was a pressure cooker filled with, you know, confetti. ridiculous. >> not funny. >> absolutely not. but more importantly, it was a great day for reflection and remembrance, and a show of the resilience. this is on the cover of "the new york post," which is also in "the boston globe." just a really incredible shot right there. you see a lot of the survivors, first responders, families of the victims coming together there. you know, i just saw that all day yesterday. it was really great to see. people wanting to go up to finish line and just kind of leave a little mark of something. or you saw a lot of people hugging and embracing at the finish line as well. so certainly, it was a day to pay tribute, but also to celebrate how far a lot of people have come. >> i was so moved by this picture that i saw on the cover of a lot of the newspapers. this is jane richard, who is now 8 years old. she lost her brother martin, he was one of those who died. he was 8 years old at the time

last year. and she lost part of her leg. there she was standing with her family. >> so hard to see that. >> on her new prosthetic leg. beautiful little girl. >> and there was a really great story that i was watching as well. the brothers j.p. and paul norden, they each lost a leg. and they chose to walk the full marathon distance, 26.2 miles. it was called the legs for life relay. they walked all along the route, and to raise money for their charity. there was not a dry eye when they crossed that finish line, walked that all day yesterday. and great for them. what an incredible moment there. >> wow. >> they're such great characters. >> they are like as solid boston guys as you get. and their mom -- you have two sons who were injured. her mom rushed to the hospital to see them. again, she's like that boston mom. she was recently named like a mother of the year, sticking by her boys, of course, during that hard and difficult time. and they've actually written a book of inspiration as well.

so a lot of stories coming out. and the marathon -- the official marathon, how are you feeling? are you ready? >> i have a little injury that i'm dealing with. it's called runner's butt. >> what is that? i've never heard of this. >> it's a hamstring that's strained, and anybody who runs distances probably knows it's a common thing. but i'll be fine. i mean, i'm going to push through and, you know, hopefully i'll finish. >> you will. >> but you're going to run? >> i'm going to run. of course. absolutely. i'm there monday. >> can you live tweet? i'm obsessed with live tweeting. >> what is it with you? giving birth, running marathons. >> are you live tweeting all day long? >> i'll leave tweet go, nat, go. i'm here with you in spirit. >> i don't know if i'll be tweeting, because i think i'll be thinking about other things. >> runner's butt. >> but i'll definitely be -- you'll see me. monday morning i'll be covering it. >> we'll be there in spirit with you. and people can still donate, right? >> yes. crowdrise.com/natalie as well. if you can, we'd appreciate it.

did you see this really scary video out of texas? >> it's unbelievable. it's out of harris county, texas, which is in south texas. this is a camera inside of a home, and this is not the parent of that child. a burglar. >> gosh. >> went into the home, casing the place. at one point, you see the child sleeping in the crib. this is throughout the home. this happened, by the way, april 5th. >> this is the part that scares me. >> this is the part that is absolutely terrifying. the baby is in the home. the family, apparently, did not realize their home had been broken into until a neighbor found their laptop computer and a belief case dumped in their yard. police are trying to find this person. so here you are. you don't have any idea you're sleeping. there's your baby in the home. you look at that tape at some point and you see that creep in your home standing over your baby. >> shining a flashlight in the crib. >> the only reason they knew they had been robbed is the neighbors next door found the

laptop and everything. that's what made them look at the tape. >> right. and that's the thing. when you go back and look at that tape and you see that this person was in your home. i've been robbed before. i had a purse snatched once. that feeling of violation as an adult. if that were my kid, i think i would just faint to the ground. it would send chills through me. >> it's very casual, too. he knows everybody's home and he's just wandering through the house like that. >> do you guys have security cameras in your home? >> i do. but not throughout the entire house. i have it just like doors and windows and stuff. >> i've become obsessed with it. i know there are a lot of complaints about all the cameras everywhere you go. but i recently installed two in my home myself. you can get them for like 100 bucks these days, decent ones that you can track on your phone. but i think it makes me feel a little bit better. >> you're obsessed with watching your dog. doggie cam. >> i looked at my dogs on the doggie cam, but in the back of my mind, there's this feeling that what if i turn on and there's someone in there? >> yeah. >> isn't that scary?

>> there's nothing you can do about it because you're too far from home. >> peace and harmony in the world, because how you sleep means a lot. >> yes. >> well, here's some interesting research. it shows the position in which we sleep reveals a lot about the strength of our relationship. i'm not sure i agree with this. i've been married for 15 years. but partners who sleep an inch or less apart are happier than those who maintain a gap of wider than 30 inches. >> an inch? that's really close. >> you're on top of each other the whole night. apparently couples who sleep face to face -- >> i got goosebumps. >> did you feel that connection? >> couples who sleep face to face while touching -- >> we're not doing that. >> those surveyed, 55% of the consumers who sleep face to face do not touch, 91% also sleep in the same direction, but they touch. 91% say they sleep back-to-back, but touching. 76% face the same direction -- >> the percentages are how happy you are. so 91% being happy. >> but the key thing here, except for one picture -- notice

this. they're not touching because you get hot. it sounds like a good idea -- >> i get claustrophobic. >> like hot, get off me, i need my space. >> so you're that way too? >> back-to-back more than 30 inches. >> i start out -- wait, you turn around -- >> like that. i start like that. >> you spoon me? >> yeah, i think so. >> and you start that way. and then you drift. >> you drift off, right? >> i don't even start with the spoo spooning. >> back to back. >> my husband stay up way past me. at that point, i'm like, don't bother me, i'm sleeping. >> it's not a reflection of how much we love each other. we by the way, a year ago for the first time got a king bed. so we used to be kind of -- we were kind of tight. now there's this vast gulf between us. >> don't you love it? >> we say goodbye. we each roll over. and i love her to death and i have for most of my life, but it doesn't mean that we have to be on top of each other while we sleep. it's hot and it's not pleasant. >> sleep is precious. especially when you're getting so little of it as we are. you need that time.

>> so i'm back-to-back -- 30 inches is a lot. that's almost three feet. i think i'm less than 30, but back-to-back. >> that's where you are too? >> 30 inches or more is good. i need space. >> hopefully this is not a reflection of our relationships. >> i've been married 15-plus years. >> 15 days, i need space. >> nobody can sleep spooning anyway. that's a myth. come on. so you know our friend ahtyba raa at barack's dubs. now he's done president obama along with hillary clinton on a duet. this is the team behind the youtube channel barack's dubs. they recreated "timber" by pit bull and ke$ha. ♪ it's going down i'm yelling timber you better move ♪ ♪ you better dance you won't remember i'll be the one ♪

♪ you won't forget the bigger they are the harder they fall ♪ ♪ timber face down timber ♪ ♪ slicker than an oil spill timber round and round ♪ >> when did the president say booty? >> is there a booty in there? >> how long does it take to find these clips? >> there was confirmation, there was a "booty" in there. >> they must have spliced the words together somehow. that's amazing. that's a lot of work. >> president obama, mr. 2-0-2 from washington, d.c. let's get a check of the weather now. dylan is in for al. >> good morning, guys. we are all focused on the cold. you know, the snow we had this morning. i mean, enough already. it's april. but we have freeze warnings and watches down to memphis, tennessee, all the way up into washington, d.c. and the 2-0-2

new york city. we have got the freeze warnings in effect as well. that's for tonight and into tomorrow morning. we are done with the snow, mostly in the northeast. now it's about the cold. that cold front that brought some of that light snow is ushering in your really cold temperatures. feels like 25 in new york city. feels like 30 in parts of virginia. feels like 25 in lexington, kentucky. this is cold, cold stuff. it feels like 42 in tallahassee in april. almost 30 degrees koehler than it was thiscolder than it was this time yesterday. we are only going to be in the 40s and that's about 15 to 20 9:11 now. happy wednesday to you. temperatures are just about at 60 degrees, for most cities at this point. but we're still in the 50s in your outlying inland valleys like san martin, santa rosa at 56 degrees. as we head throughout the day today, we have such a beautiful day shaping up. you can see from this live picture, at&t park overlook

mccovey cove, gentle breeze. want to show you the hazy sky over san jose. we're warming up nicely, with end up here at about 79 degrees. have a fantastic day. >> and that is your latest forecast. guys? >> all right, dylan, thanks a lot. coming up next, a couple of used car salesmen give us their best pitch. christopher meloni and dean best pitch. christopher meloni and dean norris[ thunder crashing ] ♪ well, i love a rainy night ♪ i love a rainy night ♪ i love to hear the thunder ♪ watch the lightning when it lights up the sky ♪ ♪ ♪ you know it makes me feel good ♪ rarrh! [ laughs ] ♪ 'cause i love a rainy night [ female announcer ] yoplait. with flavors the whole family will love. it is so good for a night in.

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dean's doing the news for us in just a second. >> christopher meloni investigated crime on nbc's hit series "law & order: svu." d.a. agent hank schrader on "breaking bad." >> thanks for coming in, guys. >> so what have you been up to? >> just hanging out, brother.

>> we love this routine. >> i'm sorry, we didn't see you guys. >> we're good. >> they're playing best friends who owned a used car lot in the film called "small time." >> how much for the park avenue? >> $4,200. >> $2,200. >> so, just to be clear, $2,200 gets me this car? >> i don't know. make me an offer, we'll see. >> $2,200? >> great. let's go write it up. >> christopher and dean, good morning. >> did you send in that clip? >> i did. >> it was all you. >> i know. >> that's all it's been the whole time. >> we know you guys as tough law enforcement types, but what was it like playing used car salesmen? >> cuddly and lovable. >> a lot of poetry.

it was very nice. it was cute. >> are you guys taking this on the road, vegas any time soon? >> there is prime rib. >> there is a certain stigma to the used car salesman. i don't want to put too much out there. a little slimy, a little sleazy. what did you bring to these two characters? >> as much sleaze and slime as we could muster. >> i thought you were desleazing and desliming. but that's the level that you reached. >> it's a tough job, though, right? >> i think selling anything is a tough job. i just don't possess that innately, so i just followed him because he's been selling himself. >> i've been selling some bad lines for a long time. >> what was it about it that you found relatable? it's based on a true story. your character, the father-son struggle. is that what you enjoyed the most? >> i didn't focus on the car selling aspect of it as opposed to the relationship. he and i had a very unique long-term bonding relationship. i had a very complicated relationship with my ex-wife, my

son, played by devon bostick right there. >> yeah, he was great, devon. >> he is i think a breakout star in this movie. he's hilarious. explain without giving away too much of the plot what goes on here. he comes to you after high school, says i want to get in the family business, doesn't sit well with everyone in your family. >> yeah. to be a used car salesman is kind of a loaded gun, because of my ex-wife's inability to kind of hang with that kind of lifestyle. it's either feast or famine. my son wants to join the family business. well, it's just our business together. and, you know, i'm torn because i know what it entails and maybe i'm hoping that he'll shoot for something higher. >> so who's the better salesman here between the two of you? >> in the show? >> a "today" show car. >> if you buy this car right now, you can have a picture of christopher meloni's butt.

>> that's a nice segue. because you tweeted out recently, mr. meloni, that you have the -- this is his words. "best butt in primetime." self call. >> was that solicited? people told you that? or you think it of your own because you looked at it? >> no. no. i had a compact -- no. rachel harris, my co-star on "surviving jack," she started -- she lit the flame. >> and you embraced it? >> i felt consumed by it. i was caught in the force fire of my butt. >> oh. >> we've run out of time. we had a little game we were going to play. just show the first picture. can we just show the first picture? from what role is that christopher meloni rear end? >> i'd say that's chris keller. >> correct answer, let's see it? pop it up. yes. well-done. >> nice. >> gentlemen, thank you very

much. >> nicely done. the movie is hilarious. "small time" opens in select theaters, will be available on demand and on itunes this friday. >> you know what they say. karma is a -- i didn't say it, but we'll let steve schirripa say it. he's going to fill in the blanks. you said in a focus group, you'd like to have a product that eliminates odors and doesn't just mask them. can you give us access to maybe the smelliest room in your house? the trash is bad... oh, yeah. ...and he just took it out. it smells really nice. like, fresher. [ male announcer ] don't just mask odors, eliminate them with febreze air effects. [ male announcer ] don't just mask odors, in front of our house again. it's a free country dad. our house. our spot. those are the rules. ok who wants sweet rolls? i do! me too! are those king's hawaiian rolls?

thanks, carol! people go pupule for the sweet, fluffy deliciousness of king's hawaiian. find us in the deli or in-store bakery. is levy using our clippers? wow, this hoh no.s amazing. who are you? who are you? wrong answer. wait, daddy, this is blair, he booked this room with priceline express deals and saved a ton. yeah, i didn't have to bid i got everything i wanted. oh good i always do. oh good he seemed nice. express deals. priceline savings without the bidding.

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from the farm to our fridge in just six days. philadelphia® cream cheese. ♪ so rich, creamy, and delicious. only philadelphia®. taking a look at the headlines, thieves will soon have a harder time accessing and using stolen smart phones. the country's biggest smart phone makers and carriers have agreed to put anti-theft tools on devices to try and deter thefts. over a dozen companies, including apple and verizon, say they will provide anti-theft tools to phone users. the software would allow consumers to lock down a phone after the device has been reported stolen. the software should be available after july of 2015. now to a study that probably won't put a smile on your face. according to researchers at simon frazier university, our brains start going south at the age of 24, so it's much earlier

than once thought. they came to that conclusion after studying more than 3,000 volunteers ages 16 to 44 years. the participants played a game that tested cognitive abilities, and the speed with which the volunteers made decisions declined with age. it was supposed to last just one day, but the sale of google glass could be extended. demand was so high on tuesday that according to the tech blog mashable, google is thinking about giving more people a shot at the $1,500 glasses, and for those who already have them, updates for google glass are due next week. the wild, wild west came alive in savannah, georgia, this week. take a look when this out-of-control horse drawn carriage barrelled through the city. the dramatic moments caught on camera there. the driver and five passengers were onboard when the horse got spooked and took off. the carriage plowed into several cars. everyone fortunately, though, jumped off when the horse slowed down. no one was seriously hurt. and eventually the horse ran into an alley and stopped. coming up, we have some

creative easter baskets for all of your little peeps. but first, a look at your local news and weather. now, from l'oreal miracle blur, new miracle blur eye. in seconds it erases the look of lines, crow's feet, and bags. more than an eye cream, it's an instant eye smoother. see it. believe it. try it. new miracle blur eye from l'oreal. discover light & fit greek nonfat yogurt.eal pleasure? irresistible flavors, like strawberry cheesecake, with a delightfully thick creamy texture.

light & fit greek. taste satisfaction without sacrifice. ♪ dannon good wednesday morning to you. it's 9:26. i'm peggy bunker. richmond police are trying to figure out what happened after two people were shot outside of a busy target store. this happened before 6:00 last night in the parking lot outside of target on mcdonald avenue. that's near 42nd street. officers near the area said they heard gunshots and when they arrived on scene, the victims and suspects were gone. shortly afterwards, police got a call, two males with gunshot wounds were in a nearby hospital. one victim is in critical condition, the other is expected to be okay. the man accused of kidnapping and killing morgan hill teenager sierra lamar will be back in court today. and a judge could set their trial date. they have evidence that he kidnapped and murdered the

15-year-old in 2012. they say they found the girl's body in garcia torres' car. she disappeared while walking to a bus stop in morgan hill in march of 2012. garcia torres was arrested a short time later, but his attorneys needed time to look over the evidence. a quick break and we'll take a look at your weather and traffic.

welcome back now. the time is 9:28. your temperatures are climbing really nicely. even in san martin, the coldest city on the map, we're at 52 degrees. 56 in livermore and 57 in san jose. pretty day shaping up here. temperatures are going to be really comfortable. 79 degrees in the south bay for today. 78 for the peninsula, east bay's at 82 degrees. and 69 degrees in san francisco today. that's hard to beat. 78, meanwhile, for the north bay. adds we head through the next couple of days, we have some changes to tell you about. it will be warmer today than it was yesterday, as we head through the end of the week, temperatures drop like a rock. and then we're going to warm you right back up for easter weekend. we'll show you how this roller

coaster ride looks on your seven-day forecast coming up today at 11:00. first, let's check your drive. here's mike. >> we had a light volume of traffic, but this is northbound 280 coming towards us. and look over on the left side, there's a big rig there and another car. those two got into a fender bender. no injuries reported, but that caused one of the slowdowns at the 880 interchange. not just slow there. all the way up to saratoga, where there was another crash. look at that, 85 and 101, your alternates there now seeing a build. that's the worst of it for the build. the rest is light. >> we have another local news update for you coming up in about half an hour. we'll see you then. good morning nelly! woah. hey! have you ever tried honey nut cheerios? love 'em. neat! now you on the other hand... you need some help. why? look atchya. what is that? you mean my honey wand? [ shouting ] [ splat ] come on. matter of fact. [ rustling ] shirt. shoes. shades. ah! wow! now that voice... my voice? [ auto-tuned ] what's wrong with my voice? yeah man, bee got swag!

be happy! be healthy! that's gotta go too. ♪ hey! must be the honey! [ sparkle ] sweet. welcome back to "today" on wednesday morning. it's april 16th, 2014. i'm willie along with natalie and tamron. al has the day off today. we have a great video to show you. we want some information. if you're out there watching, we want to know exactly who this gentleman is. it's a medical professional giving care instructions to a young patient with a broken foot, appears to be a member of the united states military. it's called the cast rules jingle. let me just say, this medical professional has some flow. watch this. ♪ gotta be careful like girls are careful with their hairdo there's a chance it can still get tight don't hate ♪ ♪ just elevate just elevate for 15 minutes ♪

♪ you can come back to the clinic ♪ ♪ that's the end of the jingle let's check the note when the doc want to see you ♪ >> what he say, two weeks? >> three. >> watch that, he could just have camouflage scrubs on. so i don't know if he's in the military or not. some people wear those. >> he would have the name tag. so we're trying to find this guy, and if you know him or if you're the guy, tweet us. write us a note. send a carrier pigeon. we want to meet you. look at him. >> the cast rules jingle. plus, i like her cast. >> and i love the person at the background, like all right, i feel you, i feel you. >> and elevate. and elevate. >> the backing track, too. >> part of his bedside manner. >> the nurse is under there. >> we want to know who you are. send us a note. >> send us a note. we'll find you. let's get a check on the weather from dylan. >> it's genius.

you remember what to do. you get that piece of paper, you just throw it out. we are looking at a spring storm, and we've got winter storm warnings and advisories all across minnesota. back through northern wisconsin. even into eastern south dakota, and we are looking for the rain to change over to snow. you can see it's doing that across parts of central south dakota and even right now we're seeing lighter parts of minneapolis. it's a little further to the north we're going to see a lot of snow. spring snow is not that unusual, but this much spring snow is out of the ordinary. you see the pink, that's where we could end up with about 12 to 15 inches of snow just to the north of minneapolis. minneapolis, you should see one to three inches. tonight as this area of low pressure gets going, then it just reinforces the cold air as we go into tomorrow. on the east coast, and basically the eastern half of the country because of yesterday's cold front that brought a dusting of snow to the northeast, now temperatures are going to be about 15 to 20 degrees below

well, it's going to feel like spring for us. good morning to you. i'mnologist christine loren. headed outdoors this wednesday, looking good. a little hazy here. looking good to start you out across san jose and across the board. we'll see sunshine and a building breeze, really comfortable later on. the sun will set at about 7:42. we're getting longer days and our temperatures definitely representative of that. 79 degrees in the south bay. along the peninsula, you'll hit 82 degrees in the east bay and 78 today in wine country. >> and that is your latest forecast. willie? >> dylan, thanks a lot. he is the wise guy with the big heart on "the sopranos." >> now steve schirripa is hosting "karma's a beep", where regular people get to exact their revenge. >> and like two friends who thought they were dating great guys, when it turned out it was the same guy, so they got him back. take a look.

>> the girls did their homework. habanero peppers could put a whole new spin on a hot new relationship. >> i pull the subwoofer out enough to lift up the carpet in the back of trunk. i put carpet down and put the subwoofer back like nothing had happened. >> a man's sports car is his temple. and ryan's temple -- well, let's just say it's been tampered with. >> oh! steve is with us. >> you get to work with two beautiful girls and they pay you? >> isn't it incredible? >> you should pick up your paycheck with a gun and a mask. you're stealing nbc's money. >> trust me, i'm window dressing. i know my role. >> we love this. we love this show. the whole group of women known

as i.d. addicts, they love these shows, especially when it involves getting people back. do you believe in karma? >> oh, absolutely. absolutely. i created the show and i produce it. it's our second season. i am a big believer in karma. you do wrong to someone, something wrong's going to happen to you. and these people, a lot of them are victims. they push karma along a little, you know? a lot of people want karma, but they don't want to do it. they say god will punish him. then let god do the whacking, you know i mean? they don't want responsibility. but these people have pushed karma along. guy's wife walked out on him, 12 years. left her wedding dress. she just walked out, broke his heart. he found 101 ways to use the wedding dress. he brought it on picnics. he painted, he took it to ball games. he did construction work on it. wound up writing a book, meeting a new partner, helped his broken heart, you know? so there's all these stories.

these girls, they met this great guy. two good friends. they find out it's the same guy. the guy doesn't know to this day. when he sees the show, he's going to know, because he didn't know that it was them. and we interview each and every one of the victims, or these people. a girl makeup artist raising her 17-year-old daughter dreamed to buy a townhouse. her friend says, we could double your money, blah blah blah. loses her life savings. cops won't help her. goes to the news. winds up getting the guys, they get 20 years. so there's all these stories of people who have been done wrong and they are going to get their revenge, whether it be money-wise, self-satisfaction to repair a broken heart. so real stories. we have everyone on camera. it's been a lot of fun. it's lighter than i.d. usually does because there's a lot of mayhem and murder. >> you keep it fun. >> this is a little more lighthearted. >> and as you said, these are all true stories. you've been very busy.

you just did some broadway work. for the first time. you were in "guys and dolls." >> i did "guys and dolls," a benefit for carnegie hall. me, a fat guy from brooklyn at carnegie hall. willie, it was -- i've done a lot of stuff, i've been doing this quite a long time. i've never been so scared in all my life. >> you didn't have a lot of time to prepare for the role. like six hour. >> we had nine days. nathan lane, all broadway stars. 36-piece orchestra. it was about ten days ago. and i woke up in the middle of the night having a nightmare that i was going to go blank on my lines. >> can you show us some stuff? >> no, i'm not doing anything. >> "luck be a lady"? >> i just mouthed. >> i think we have some of it. just the audio, okay. ♪ luck be a lady tonight >> you can hear me in that. see, that was me. that strong voice. the baritone. >> it's amazing how they mix that.

>> i was going to say, this is range, from "the sopranos" to "guys and dolls." >> nathan lane asked me to do it. it was just a wonderful -- i mean, i've always known how talented they are, but it was a scary, scary thing. they said did you have fun? i have fun now thinking about it. >> you can catch the season two premier of "karma's a beep" thursday night. >> you can't say that word. >> not on network television. >> i'm not saying it. 8:00. it's going to be fun. watch the show. >> it's good to see you. >> good to see you guys. coming up next, before you run out to buy a pre-made easter basket, you want to check out some diy ideas. basket, you want to check out some diy ideas. easy andwhat i'm wearing, when e i tell them aveeno®. because beautiful skin goes with everything. [ female announcer ] aveeno® daily moisturizing lotion has active naturals® oat with five vital nutrients naturally found in healthy skin.

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get a little bit creative? lori richmond is the editor of thebunk.com. she has brought along some friends. good morning. >> good morning, great to see you. >> time to get ready. you've got baskets for everyone. >> lots of great ideas. you don't need a lot of time or money. first is one for the new baby, which willie, i know your family is waiting for right now. >> yes, ma'am. >> this is a great idea for a grandmother or aunt that wants to put something together. perfect for a baby. what we did was line the basket with just a regular baby blanket. and then went to the craft store and got these iron-on letters. they're only $5. monogram the front, give it a nice personalized touch. added some basics like little socks, pacifier, a hooded towel with a bunny theme. we added some homemade bunny food. so moms on the bump love to make their own baby food. baby's easter dinner is ready to go. >> going to swipe this on the way out. >> put some stickers on the eggs and you're done. >> molly and marisa playing over there as well. this is one for a toddler.

>> the animal themed bath toys. bath time crayons. we did this speckled egg effect. how you do this is you just take a sponge, you can use even a kitchen sponge. dab off the excess paint and dab the front of the egg and you get this really nice effect. you can go around the whole egg. >> is that just regular paint? >> it's just regular color paint. >> i love that. let's move to our pales. this is reusable. it's not just about baskets. >> it's a toy theme. we didn't use a basket. these pales they can use at the beach or in the backyard all summer long. all the toys in here we just got from the dollar store. or, you know, the $5 discount bin in the back of the toy store, you dig around, you find some good stuff. you can theme it to bhafr yowha your child likes. add some candy and you're done. >> how about for an artistic kid. i think this would go big with my daughter. >> yes, this is great because we have all the basic art supplies for little picasso. crayons, paints, some really colorful candy, like skittles or

these candy buttons that look like a little paint palette. how we did these is melting the crayon on to the egg. use a pair of tongs, put it right back in the carton and draw on the egg with the crayon and it actually melts the wax on to the egg and creates this really cool effect that's perfect for the art theme. >> amazing. and over here for our little sports fan. >> exactly. an athlete. lots of sports themed toys and candy. a classic, right? >> look at these football eggs. >> we'll get it for you after, willie. this is really fun to do. all you have to do is cover the egg with brown paint and then you can add some detailing with white paint to put on the laces and the stripes. it's really easy. >> love that. >> glitter time. my favorite time of the day. >> for the girly girl, lots of bling, lots of glitter. so this we just used some food containers from the craft store for a dollar. put some mini makeup items from the drugstore.

candy necklaces and these glitter eggs. you just need some regular elmer's glue and brush it around the entire egg and put it in a bowl of glitter and they look great. >> we've got some little kids over here. >> some easter crafts. >> hi, guys. what's happening? >> are you all ready for easter bunny? >> yeah. >> yes? >> we have a little surprise. i think someone is here. >> mr. bunny. oh, mr. easter bunny. >> oh, my goodness. >> here he is. >> look, guys. the easter bunny. hi, easter bunny. come say hello. >> he's coming a couple of days early. >> got some gifts for you guys. >> want an egg? >> hand those out, mr. bunny. >> help out the bunny over here. >> this is for the older girls. all right. thank you, she says. aw. >> are you guys psyched to see the easter bunny? or just kind of weirded out? you've got some eggs there?

that's beautiful. who wants a pale? come on, i've got some pales. >> i think this is for the older young lady. >> i'm sorry, buddy. >> and that one's for you, buddy. all right. thanks for being here. happy easter, everyone. >> thanks, easter bunny. >> happy easter, mr. bunny. >> happy easter. we'll see you sunday, big guy. >> thanks so much. great idea. preer appreciate it. coming up next, we have some tricks to help you cook and look like a pro. for example, the perfectly like a pro. for example, the perfectly poache the best part about going to walt disney world just might be staying at a walt disney world resort hotel... from royal encounters to royal rooms... and pirates to paradise, the magic never has to stop. and this summer, you can save up to 30% off a select walt disney world resort hotel room. book your stay now and discover how close the magic can be.

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♪ i can't believe it's not butter! the simpler way to delicious fluffy eggs. [ chicken clucks ] believe. [ chicken clucks ] discover light & fit greek nonfat yogurt.eal pleasure? irresistible flavors, like toasted coconut and vanilla, with a delightfully thick creamy texture. light & fit greek. taste satisfaction without sacrifice. ♪ dannon how many times do you watch those cooking shows on tv and think how do they make their dishes look perfect every time? we're going to spill some of their secrets right now. >> ali is the food editor at bonn appetit magazine. i love secrets of the kitchen. >> a lot of the times it's just a little secret. >> we all identify with this one. >> so you poach eggs, sometimes

it's really annoying, the pan is covered in white whispy tentacles. all you want is that perfect poached egg that you get on a sunday morning. >> so how do we do it? >> super easy. you crack the egg into a fine mesh sieve. and you just swirl it around a little bit. see how there's some of the whites coming out? those are the watery whites. >> uh-oh. >> we already messed up. >> it cracked a little. >> oh, no! ruined the first egg. >> here's a secret i don't know how to do it. >> let's make sure the yolk stays perfect. >> the watery whites, the stuff that does that. that's what's coming out. so all you do is you lower it right in. before you do that, you put a little bit of vinegar. just a little splash of vinegar. see how the water is just barely bubbling? and then you just dump it right in. >> ease it in. >> look at that. >> the water has to be really hot too? >> it has to be hot, but you

don't want it moving so much that it's going to break up your egg. >> how long do you leave it in there? >> until the white doesn't look clear. when you touch it, there's no runny bits. so three or four minutes. >> that's a good one. >> look how perfect that is. put it on a paper towel to drain it. actually, you can put it on a salad. >> there you go. even better. you put poached eggs on everything, whether it's risotto, salad, pizza. >> mixed tip, grating cheese. sometimes cheese gets so soft, you can't grate it. >> it ends up in a ball all over the place. this is some cheese that's really soft. you can see how that grates. give it a try. >> it's like mush. i hate that. it's terrible. >> and you're making it look like it's really awful. >> i didn't try. >> one of the important things is you've got to grate your own cheese. you can buy grated cheese. it's just not that good. couple tips. one is to get your cheese kind of cold. ten, 15 minutes in the freezer. not freeze it so much that you

ruin the cheese, just enough to make it tight and firm. >> what did you spray there? >> this is a little bit of cooking oil spray. a little bit of nonstick spray. and see how nicely that grates? not a big deal. just a little trick. >> moving on back here. >> okay. we love our freezers. we love to keep stuff. it can often turn into a black hole of unidentifiable objects. and also those freezer containers take up a lot of space and they're round. >> so what's the tip? >> you're going to freeze them flat. >> pasta sauce. >> a little leftover pasta sauce. ladle it into a freezer bag. >> it gives you instant room in your freezer. >> exactly. all you do is you ladle it in. seal off the bag. lay it flat. once it's frozen, you can lie them all out. >> we have 30 seconds left. corn. corn on the cob, it ends up everywhere. so what's the tip here? >> the tip is you can cut it right into the bowl, but sometimes you can't get it in

there. so you take a little bowl, turn it upside down, little whet papr towel keeps it in place. >> oh, nice. >> you can use a bundt pan keeps it in place. >> i'm going to make poached eggs for lunch. >> awesome. thank you so much. appreciate it. we're back in a moment. this is "today" on nbc.

the ladies are here. >> hot show. hot, hot, hot. valerie harper. >> here with martha williamson. new series. cyndi lauper. and a lot of other people. >> yes. >> my mother and my niece are

well, good wednesday morning. it is 9:56. i'm peggy bunker. santa clara county supervisors did approve a plan that could help ease san jose's police officer shortage. that plan would allow sheriff's deputies to fill in for the police department, which is only able to fill about half of the open 60 positions in the most

recent police academy. now, the sheriff's department will also provide other temporary help, like letting the police department borrow cars, weapons, and other equipment. the san jose police department also getting some national attention. the popular reality show, "cops," they are riding along with san jose police for the next three months. camera crews will shadow patrol units primarily on the night shift. officials with the police department believe that appearing on "cops" will boost moral and could help the department recruit more officers. so look out. you don't want to end up on national tv. checking in now with your weather forecast, christina loren is here with that. >> good morning, peggy. temperatures are mostly in the low 60s at this point, but headed towards a comfortable afternoon. high 70s to low 80s for most spots. in san francisco, kind of cool at the coast, but not a bad day at all. 78 in the north bay. throughout the next couple of days, we have some changes to tell you about. temps dive by the end of the week. and we'll warm you up for easter

sunday. we'll show you how this looks for your microclimate today at 11:00. let's check your drive. hi, mike. >> we have a horrible drive right now. through the south bay, kids are on spring break, but we had a crash. a couple of them. this is 101 northbound. just at 680. look at the map. here's the reason why this is very slow right now. top of your screen, arrow shows you 101 where we were. bottom is 85. both are routes to get away from 280. we were slammed with two or three crashes between downtown and saratoga. those have cleared and everybody's starting to thin out. the south bay is the worst of your commute. the rest of the bay is starting to recover. >> we have more news coming up for you in about a half hour away. we'll see you then.

♪ from nbc news, this is "today" with kathie lee gifford and hoda kotb. live from studio 1-a in rockefeller plaza. >> hello, everybody. it i wines-day wednesday. right in the middle of the week, we have a great show for you. >> we do. valerie harper is a three-time emmy winner, she is with us. feeling great and looking really good. plus, cindy lauper is here. and -- martha williamson. >> martha williamson. >> who is that over there with your mom? >> it's my mom and niece. you might have a little assist if you need any help.

>> i think i need a little help. >> okay. >> all right. >> but they woke up to some weather here that was crazy. >> you get up at 4:00 and go a and walk blake and i take my two dogs out. >> i woke up -- cars. that's my neighborhood. i was like -- i almost wanted to write something in the show. >> i bet you did. >> but i decided against it. >> yeah. >> i took a couple of pictures too. i could not believe it. yeah. >> look at how -- look at the little flowers popping -- >> daffodils. i went over to -- i couldn't believe it. i own a barbecue, i was so mad at the snow, it was solid ice. it wasn't just -- >> 34 degrees in new york city by the way. the temperature dropped 50 degrees in 36 hours. they got snow in chicago, in the midwest. nebraska. michigan, wisconsin. i mean, it really got -- >> we were over there -- >> over it. >> weeks ago. >> right?

>> yes. we were over it. >> okay. so yesterday we talked about the one thing happy people have in common no matter where they are in the world. they stopped to -- >> smell the roses. >> i reminisced about working with george carlin. a lot of people reacted on facebook, but two fans sent us a link to george's routine. so this is from comic relief back in 1986. take a look. >> that's the whole meaning of life, isn't it? trying to find a place for your stuff. that's all your house is. a house is just a place for your stuff. that's all your house is, a pile of stuff with a cover on it. you see that when you take off in the airplane, you look down and you see everybody has a little pile of stuff. everybody has their own pile of stuff. when you leave your stuff you have to lock it up. wouldn't want somebody to come by and take some of your stuff. they always take the good stuff. go all the way to honolulu you have to take big bags of stuff. plus your carry-on stuff, plus the stuff in your pocket.

you get all the way to honolulu you start to put away all your stuff. that's the first thing you do. put some stuff in here. some stuff there. some over there. hey, we got more places than we've got stuff! we're going to have to buy more stuff. >> and it goes on. >> so great. >> it goes on. for like 40 minutes or something. he's so precious. such a good friend to me. he passed away at 71 years old. >> all these -- >> but watching that video puts you in a great mood. >> just watch the royal baby. >> we're in love with him. >> every we see -- >> i'm not crazy about the royals. watching them. but watch the little baby. watch him. oh, oh. oh, my. all day. all -- slow motion. no, we want to watch it every which way. he wants to be free.

>> he is just delicious. >> they went to australia. they have been traveling all over and they have just -- they're so great. >> yeah. i wonder when she's going to lose her baby weight. does she not look fantastic? he got in trouble calling her a banana for her yellow dress. >> she's adorable. >> she woke up and said my husband said i looked like a banana. it caused a fury. everybody is crazy. >> lighten up. >> let them breathe, please. >> let's talk about the boys, because it's getting down to it. all right. so now the singers from team usher in the playoff, five performed. usher had to send two home. we're going to watch three of the five. we're going to say which one he saved. ♪ ♪ come on, tell me something good ♪ ♪ i want to know right now, hey ♪ ♪ tell me that you like me, yeah

♪ ♪ baby, i can feel your halo, pray you won't fade away, hey ♪ ♪ i can see your halo ♪ ♪ yeah, i'll be, yeah ♪ >> i'm torn. >> wow. >> i'm so torn. >> they're all really, really talented. >> i think maybe -- i was going to say t.j. but melissa. then i was going to say stevie joe. but i'm going with melissa. you go for first one. i go for the second one. >> what happened? >> my final selection on behalf of team usher. is t.j. wilson. >> t.j. wilson. >> he was great. that's a tough one.

>> i think the girl is just beautiful. >> they both sang beautifully. >> when i heard t.j., i thought who could be better. they were all good. >> "the voice" returns next week with the live shows. >> so if your kids are crazy about frozen -- the movie "frozen", i know hannah is. everyone is. you can't find the merchandise because parents are going nuts trying to find it. the store shelves are empty people are saying. >> like when the cabbage patch frenzy took over. parents will do almost in the world to get the things so they're turning to ebay and other sites. the dolls and the costumes are selling. for more than $1,000. >> yeah. >> people are making their own. they're getting one and sewing it so it can look like it. they say that they found one of the dolls online selling for $10,000. >> yeah. >> they're getting in physical fights in disney stores. people are punching to get the

"frozen" stuff. >> look at what we're teaching our children. about more stuff! you don't need the stuff. >> but anyway, it's crazy. i'm surprised disney didn't -- you'd think they'd load everything up. >> usually they see the stuff coming, because they do all kinds of research along the way. >> maybe this one they didn't. >> i can't imagine. >> they say even if you you to the disney store, you can only get two pieces of stuff. frozen stuff. they won't sell you anymore. >> we reached out because we are nbc news. what did did they say? >> they do not return our calls. nobody does. every time we say we reach out, nobody calls us back. >> somebody call us, please. >> this is a weird thing that happened. >> is this real?hoda? >> we're not quite sure. so a 3-year-old apparently was at home with his mother, wandered out of the house and wound up in a bear claw deal at the arcade at the local bowling alley in nebraska. >> that happens every day. >> all right.

so the cops were called. so we do know that there was a child in the bear claw machine. apparently this little boy must have loved this machine, left his mom home while she says she was in the bathroom, walked to the bowling alley, climbed in the bear claw machine. by the way, those bear claw things are so addictive. you can see -- crummy criespriz. >> crummy stuff, but you want it because it's happening on, hanging on. >> so close. >> imagine a kid watching that happen. >> so he climbed up through the mechanism somehow to get into it. >> weird. >> he was freed from the claw machine without injury, and the police say the mother will not be cited for neglect. okay. >> i don't know. i want to know the whole story. maybe it's true. >> you know what? any parent who has lost your child for, like, five seconds or 15 minutes or something, you've already paid your price, boy. it's the worst feeling in the whole world. >> terrifying. >> we're grateful it's got a happy ending. so this is -- well -- >> this is the ongoing saga.

and nobody ever seems to be held accountable in this particular family. >> yeah, dena lohan pleaded guilty yesterday. that's lindsay lohan's mother, for being driving while intoxicated. this happened, i guess -- >> last september. >> -- last september. police say her blood-alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit. she claims she was speeding because the paparazzi were following here. she was going 77 in a 55. she got, i guess, penalized, sort of. >> the judge gave her 100 hours of community service instead of jail time. she'll also need to attend a drunk driving program and have a device installed in her car that will prevent ignition if she fails a breathalyzer. >> the papers were categorizing it as a pass. a lot of other people arrested for the same kind of thing would have gotten in bigger trouble than 100 hours of community service. what do you think? >> i agree. i agree. okay, so paul walker, remember he died tragically in that terrible -- >> fiery car crash. it was awful. >> yes. and left behind a beautiful

daughter. but the "fast & furious 7," the new movie i guess that he had filmed all of his dramatic scenes -- >> they were trying to figure out how to finish the film without him being in it. it's obviously a very sensitive subject. and now that they've hired two people to play his role in some of the scenes, which sounds creepy. >> yeah. >> the two people, though, happen to be caleb and cody walker. >> the two boys you just saw with him. >> according to the hollywood reporter, the character will be retired in the upcoming film and not be killed off. >> family members, they're hoping, i would imagine, that people think it's okay. >> it just seems macabre to me. >> i don't know what you do in a situation like that, but that does seem a little weird. >> it's a huge franchise. everything always comes down to money. and money buys stuff! >> stuff! anyway, so two beautiful people who make beautiful music together, cyndi lauper and billy porter are with us.

plus, award-winning actress valerie harper teams up with martha williamson. >> boy, do they deliver. they'll tell us all about it [ male announcer ] when your kids aren't muddling through allergies, they have more time to travel back in time. try new children's zyrtec® dissolve tabs. children's zyrtec® is clinically proven to relieve kids' allergy symptoms for a full 24 hours. new children's zyrtec® dissolve tabs. to help people clean better, and that he travels the world inventing amazing new cleaners,

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emmy and golden globe-winning actress valerie harper has been entertaining audiences since the '70s. >> now the girl that kept us laughing for more than four decades guest stars in "signed, sealed and delivers." >> it follows the lives of four postal detectives who track down

the recipients of undeliverable mail. take a look. >> oh, my goodness. >> my dear, you are oliver o'toole. i knew your grandfather. >> you did? >> he was so strong. so powerful. what a mind. wh wh what hands. that man could hand stamp anything. i see him in you. >> you do? >> oh, yes. you have his hands. >> well, we're so excited to have valerie here as well as the series writer and creator, my old palomar that williamson, also behind the hugely successful series "touched by an angel." welcome. >> the angel is touching them. >> you look so good. i know the last i think a lot of people saw you, you were with meredith and others doing interviews about your cancer diagnosis. how are you doing? how are you feeling? >> i'm doing very well. the treatment the doctors have me on at cedars-sinai is working and i'm doing acupuncture and herbal tea and imagering and bringing spirit, body and mind together. you know, to say get out of

here. i was supposed to be gone before last easter. when you say supposed to be, the doctors just give their best guesstimate. and what i have is incurable and terminal. but guess what? not today. you know? >> tomorrow's looking good, right? >> i watched the series. and you're dancing in it and throwing your head back. >> she wrote that for me, god love her. that's a friend. >> that is a friend. martha is a friend. she's just a great friend. tell us about the idea to have her character. here she is. here she is. >> fabulous. yeah, we decided -- as soon as -- i just called val up, said we're going to start the show, we want you in for the very first two episodes. and i couldn't imagine anybody better. she said i'm in, and that was a done deal. >> you didn't even read the script. you just knew. >> i didn't have to. she's only gotten better since she's a mom. >> you were on the show. >> "touched by an angel" twice. i'd love to. >> you came the weekend i had to leave.

i stayed over. >> in utah. >> you had to finish. >> where does the idea come from? it's such an interesting concept. >> isn't it? >> yeah. >> you're only as good as the last show you did. so when "touched" was over a couple years later, i felt like what happened? did that really happen? so i found a whole bunch of old fan letters that people had sent me that i had never read. and i started reading them. and they talked about how their lives had been changed and how moved they had been and changes they had made in their own world, in their own families. and i went, these are late letters. these letters are delivered late, but they arrived just on time for me. and i said what happens when letters get lost in the mail? >> and whose responsibility is it to get them? these kids are heroic in a way. they're detectives. they have politics in the dead letter offer. >> romance. >> i'm their supervisor. oh, yeah. and it's funny, and it's very -- we have a great veterans. >> eric from the star of "ugly

betty." >> the second story is about an afghanistan fellow coming back. >> you always do that, though. you try to make it topical and applicable to your life today. >> it's life. she writes life. joy, love, everything. sadness, crying. god. >> when a lot of people see you, they also think about "mary tyler moore." we associate you two together. how is she doing? >> i guess i talked to mary just about three, four weeks ago just to say hi. she offered to do a masset in my home way back when i announced i had this uncurable situation. and my doctors didn't want me to get on a flight at the time. isn't that a girlfriend? >> just try to stop her. >> when i go, that's when i'm supposed to go, like all of us. live the moment. stay in the moment. >> don't think about stuff! >> stuff! i heard you. yeah. american lung association is -- i'm proud to be working with them to expand the fact that

lung cancer is the number one cancer killer of women. and it should be -- you know, a public health policy to really get on that because the research dollars equal lives. and it's a 15% survival rate. so i really want to beat the drum. and get that going. >> great to see you. >> thank you. >> congratulations. >> good luck. >> new series "signed, sealed, delivered" premieres this sunday on the hallmark channel. everyday mom moments we know on the hallmark channel. everyday mom moments we know you how do you want to feel this spring? confident! optimistic! dazzling! fierce! radiant! spring is the time to make it happen with the new special k simple 5 plan. no counting, no keeping track. just make five smart choices every day. and lose up to 5 pounds in 2 weeks. fabulous! get started at specialk.com

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to cover up flaws and make skin look pretty. but there's one that's so clever, it makes your skin look better even after you take it off. neutrogena healthy skin liquid makeup. 98% of women saw improvement in their skins' natural texture, tone, or clarity. does your makeup do that? neutrogena® cosmetics. recommended most by dermatologists. >> announcer: this portion of "today" is brought to you by the new amex everyday credit card. it's time to check out the everyday mom moments you submitted for the epic everyday getaway. >> if your photo is selected, you could win a weekend getaway to new york with your best friend. let's take a look. >> our first photo. >> here we go. >> ressa cooper who is sharing a milk shake with her daughter.

sweet. she says being a mom is the craziest, most tiresome task but worth every sleepless night and makeupless run to the pharmacy. >> i love this thing. who is it? >> veronica carey who loves to let her guard down and be silly with her kids. >> she says everyday moments are all about having fun with your kids. and she loves to make her little girl laugh. are you ready? >> the third photo is from jennifer douglas. she was volunteering at her son's school. here they are cleaning the desks with shaving cream, of course. jennifer says working with these kids always puts a smile on her face. >> should we look at our final picture? >> let's do it. it is janine ricketts with her 7-year-old daughter. they are enjoying the sun and talking the afternoon away. >> these are terrific. they're great snapshots. keep sending them in. go to klgandhoda.com. remember, each winner gets a weekend trip to new york city with a friend. and here's the bonus.

actress kristen bell will host some of the activities. we are about to go play a holiday edition of "who knew?" and i think i'm going to have a very, very, very special assistant with me. >> really? >> and cyndi lauper and billy porter are going to get a little "kinky." >> i said christian bell, right? kristen bell. everybody correct me. kristen bell. ea day at the spa is essential for rejuvenating your spirit. you owe me this cause i clean your tushy. but i'll settle for a toddler yogurt facial any day. all done, mommy. hey, love that yogurt. it's good stuff. you uh, you got a little something... hmm, it happens. yogurt is number 14 of my 20. the new amex everyday credit card with no annual fee. still good. make 20 or more purchases in a monthly billing period, and earn 20% more rewards. it's membership that rewards you for the things you already buy, everyday. what's your 20?

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a very good morning to you. 10:26 now. i'm laura garcia-cannon. neighbors in san jose waiting for crews to fix a water main that's been leaking for more than two days. they say that leak started as a 3-inch crack on sunday and it's grown now to at least 3 feet.

they say the asphalt around it feels like carpet padding and it's starting to buckle. within the last few hours, crews have arrived, but we're told they haven't fixed that break yet. it's happening on rosewood avenue. a welcome change for some drivers in san francisco. there's a good chance parking meters on sunday will soon be free again. last night, city officials reversed their stance on metered sunday parking. the move will cost the mta more than $10 million a year. parking on sundays could be free starting in july. we'll take a quick break, but we'll have a look at weather and traffic right after this.

welcome back, thousand. another gorgeous day. it will be noticeably warmer. temperatures at the coast, 69 degrees in san francisco. 79 in the south bay. kind of have this up and down trend as we head through the next couple of days. thursday into friday, the temperatures drop into the low 70s in san jose. then we're going to climb right back up, as we get into that easter weekend, looking really good. we talk about some of the events happening across the bay area today at 11:00. we'll see you then. right now, though, if you're leaving, here's mike inouye to help you out the front door. >> we're talking about a slowdown that's just developed on the incline. full screen, westbound 880 away from oakland up and towards treasure island, the new towers we see a lot of slowing. no incidents to report from chp, but watch it right now across that bay bridge. you can see the slow drive up the incline. the east shore freeway starting to recover. this could get a little worse. meanwhile, the snait bridge moves much more smoothly than it

was a half an hour ago. the earlier crash in oakland has cleared from 101. >> we'll see you at 11:00 a.m. for our news. we are back with more of "today." wines day wednesday. we are getting ready to play "who knew?" we are about to test your knowledge of holiday foods and traditions. kathie lee is across the street at the nbc experience store. she's ready to hand out 100 bucks to anyone who gets the questions right. and to those who don't, they get a kathie lee cd. all right. excellent! here to help me out is author and host of kelsey's essentials, kelsey nixon and "new york times" reporter julia noskin. thank you so much. are you ready to play? >> yes. >> hannah is her helper. let's go. >> this gentleman is from new are york. what is the top-selling color of peeps flavored marshmallow candy? blue, pink, yellow or orange?

>> yellow? >> yep. what does he get? what did he get? >> yellow it is. tell us about that. >> that's an easy one. pink comes in as a close second, but by far the most popular, originally yellow and white were made first, and then the other colors followed. >> yellow it is. back across. >> where are you from? >> seattle. seattle, beautiful. before the seder meal, who asks the question, why is this night different than all other nights? the youngest? grandmother or mother? the oldest male or the rabbi or the cantor? >> the youngest? >> no, that's right. somebody's been drinking over there in the control -- you want to give her the money, honey? there you go. >> so the youngest. the youngest it is. >> yes, that's absolutely right. some people feel that it's an educational opportunity, and then some people also believe that it's a way to keep the kids awake during what can be a very long seder before the meal. >> got it. back across again. >> this lady lives in alexandria like your mom does. when was the first cadbury easter egg made?

1800? 1840? 1875? or 1900? >> i should know this. i lived in england. i don't know, 1875? >> yes. >> that beats a kathie lee cd. >> got that one right. >> good guess. the first cadbury easter eggs had a dark chocolate smooth surface and were filled with chocolate coated candies. it wasn't until later they became decorated with the chocolate piping and the marzipan flowers. >> this gentleman is from new york. how do you pronounce it? >> slingerlins. >> try to say that five times fast. which is the following is not on the traditional plate? hard-boiled egg? bitter herb? latkes or shank bowls? >> i'll go with "c." >> wow! wow, julia and julie, everyone's getting them right. tell us about that. >> very impressed. latkes are more of a hanukkah treat because they are fried in

oil. that is the holiday that commemorates the saving of the oil. >> got it. back across to kath. >> from massapequa, approximately how many jelly beans are made each other? 10 billion? 13 billion? 16 billion? or 25 billion? we're talking billion jelly beans. >> i'm going to say 13 billion. >> oh, too bad. >> we see the crowd goes wild for those cds. 16 billion? >> 16 billion. even more. and the most popular flavor -- >> what? >> -- every year is cherry followed by strawberry and then licorice which i found a little surprising. >> really? >> i didn't know that. okay. the jelly bellies are my favorite with the watermelon. back across. >> one last one from charleston, south carolina. oh, wow. passover cooking usually involves matzoh. what is it? a type of dumpling? unleavened bread, large of bread or salted bread crumbs? >> "b." >> yes. >> more money, all right.

unleavened bread it is. >> 5 for 5. yes, the unleavened bread is very much important in the seder because it was the bread that the jews did not have time to bake when god rescued them from slavery. they just had to pick up their bread from the rocks and go. >> all right. we learned a lot, ladies. thank you so much. we appreciate it. kath's going to come back across the street. how to plan the hottest celebrity looks for less coming up. and two singing stars who just wanna have fun. cyndi lauper and broadway's billy porter are with us right after this. as a kid, i made a list of all the places i wanted to visit. i'm still not going to make it to mars, but thanks to hotwire's incredibly low travel prices, i can afford to cross more things off my list. this year alone, we went to the top of the statue of liberty... and still saved enough to go to texas-- to a real dude ranch! hotwire checks the competition's rates every day... so they can guarantee their low prices. so we got our 4-star hotels for half price. next up, hollywood! ♪ h-o-t-w-i-r-e ♪ hotwire.com

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♪ come on get happy noelt she's a program hi, emmy and tony winner who shot to superstardom 30 years ago. >> and he's broadway's comeback kid who took a 13-year break only to return to the starring role that earned him a tony. >> it sure did. together cyndi lauper and billy porter make beautiful music in the smash show "kinky boots"

celebrating one year on broadway. >> look at you two. >> congratulations. you both have new babies in your life. cyndi, you're going to go on tour, and you have a new baby album. >> i have a new album, yes, "billy's back on broadway," debuted number one yesterday on the itunes chart. >> hello. >> congratulations. and cyndi, you've got a cd out, and you're also going on tour with cher? >> cher, yes. >> you two? what's going to happen there? that's magic. >> that could be crazy. >> we love cher. she's unusual, too. she's her own unique person. >> and she's a real straight shooter. she's so cool. >> how did that come about, you two performing together? >> i don't know. i started crying thinking about the cd, i'm sorry. we started '99. i had decklin and, like, you know, he was 18 months.

and i went on tour with her. you know, some kids don't take to the road. >> right. >> he didn't take to the road that well. but, you know, he was -- you know, so it was interesting. and i had a good time with her, and she's really great. you know, i think sisterhood is a powerful thing. >> sure. >> i think we'll have such a good time together. i did last time. >> i'd love to be in that makeup room. >> hello. it's going to be a crazy show. and billy, you said you feel like she wrote "kinky boots" for you, although you know she didn't, but it seems like that. >> absolutely. i think we found each other, you know, because we're very much kindred spirits. i always say she's the godmother of individuality. >> yes. ♪ >> you know, she taught me a lot even before i met her about, you know, being in my own skin and, you know, being who i am and no matter what. you know, this role came along,

and it was -- >> hello? >> and it's changed my life. >> i heard his voice. our mutual friend, steven, who was the arranger on this and orchestrator on "kinky boots." i was going, who's going to play me? billy. i thought, oh, my god? how do we get him? we have to get him. >> just pick up the phone and make the call. >> what were you doing all those years? >> you know, i did a lot of things. i went to the screenwriting program at ucla. i learned how to write. i started directing. i started creating. i went behind the scenes actually to sort of, you know, kind of reinvent myself. >> did you miss it? >> i didn't. actually. i didn't because i had been marginalized. and i had been pigeonholed into a type of performance. >> yeah. >> that i didn't like. so, you know, i extracted myself from that side of the business to try to redefine and restructure where i wanted to go. and so this kind of came along

as a result of taking that time and really, you know, standing in my truths. >> well, i think, if i may, i think he could sing anything. >> he could, yes. >> and i think that there are -- i love this role. and you bring electricity to the room. but i think that you could do many roles. not just one. >> well, that's the hope. >> and you're still loving it a year later, right? >> absolutely. >> wow. >> absolutely. >> the music and the cast and the energy, it makes a lot of people happy. >> it does. the audiences just go crazy. >> thank you both for coming. we love you. >> congratulations to everybody. billy's going to stick around and sing for us later in the show. we all know the girls just wanna have fun, and one way to do it is by shopping. >> jill martin birthday girl is going to tell us how to find celebrity looks for less right after this. to prove that a febreze car vent clip is still fresh on day 30, we installed an aged clip in this taxi.

so let's get started. what do you guys think of the smell in here? light and airy. fresh. i forgot we were in a taxi. this is a febreze vent clip. do you think we need to replace it? no. no. [ male announcer ] no matter the oil level febreze delivers consistent freshness for up to 30 days. it's 30 days old. wow! no way. i feel like we went on a journey together. [ male announcer ] febreze keeps your car fresh for up to 30 days without fading. so you can breathe happy. oh yeah! i put my pants on one leg at a time except my pants are 22 different flavors. but other than that, i'm completely normal. [ male announcer ] try any of our 22 delicious flavors. smile. it's kool-aid.

time for "today's style watch" and on you to dress like one of hollywood's trendiest celebrities without breaking the bank. >> editor, author and birthday girl this week, jill martin is doing things differently. she's not only going to show us the lower-priced look but how you can find it. >> i love this. >> happy birthday, sweetheart. we always do the celebrity looks for less. people are like wow! how did you find it? we should let's show the way this happens. with "style watch," this is the thing. but there's a whole panel. publicists write in. there's easy ways to find it. how can you find it at home? these are new ways. >> miranda is the first celeb. and we have lauren who is modeling the outfit. >> that door very heavy. come on, lauren. >> come on in! >> lauren's coming out. let me tell you about the picture. she's in a michael kors dress that cost nearly $2,500. her whole outfit is thousands and thousands of dollars.

lauren is wearing an outfit under $200. >> together. >> everything together. the dress is gap. $59.95. the jacket, macy's, $99. the sunglasses, which i always lose, many of us do, $5.99 from h&m. let me tell you about an app, notorious.im. hopefully this is going to work. you log on, you register. it's totally free. you put in the style you like, and you pick a stylist that works for you. an actual stylist. so i picked colin mcgaro. i felt like we would really mesh. i wrote to colin and said i was hoping you could help me. i love miranda's look. nothing more than $100. i uploaded the photo i took with my phone. he writes back up to five messages and tells me how i can find the look. here's the dress. all different options. >> that's great. >> all different options. >> i wrote "ooh, i love these. keep going." all different options. and so you get this from a real stylist.

and you can continue on. >> that's great. that's great. >> notorious.im is that app. >> notorious.im. tanks. who's next? >> rashida jones. >> rashida. >> let me tell up -- >> phoebe, right? >> while jill goes crazy. >> here it is. >> oh, you look adorable. >> i love that. >> she looks just like rashida jones. just the skirt on her, over $2,000, okay? our whole outfit, again, under $200. the sweater, bowden usa, $54. skirt, $60. motel rocks. the shoes from shoedazzle, $49.95. now, shoesdazzle, they constantly have celebrity-looking shoes. that's my first tip. if you want to go on and find shoes that look fabulous and designer. but then there's this app called the hunt. so this is rashida jones. now, this is a community-based sort of website and app. so you put the picture up, and you say hey, everyone. i want to find the skirt.

i want to find the purse. >> suits everyone. >> everyone, all of us. the community. not professional stylists. everybody. and they will put up a hashtag, rashida jones, new jessica simpson. people go on. >> people love that. they love to be in the know. >> all different price points. the hunt, notorious. these are ways you can get the celebrity looks for less. >> thank you, jill. >> good job. thank you very much. she's going on vacation. have a great time. back on broadway and back to sing for us. >> a performance by tony winner billy porter. first, this is "today" on nbc. >> i love the way you say that.

>> announcer: the toyota concert series on "today" brought to you by toyota. ♪ whether i'm right >> tomorrow the extraordinary

tyne daly is with us. she's back on broadway. plus, everybody has a story and "ambush makeover." >> "the world goes 'round," "billy's back on broadway," here is tony winner billy porter. ♪ ♪ sometimes you're happy ♪ sometimes you're sad ♪ but the world goes 'round ♪ sometimes you lose every nickel you had ♪ ♪ but the world goes 'round ♪ sometimes your dreams get broken in pieces ♪

♪ but that doesn't alter a thing ♪ ♪ take it from me ♪ there's still gonna be ♪ a summer, a winter, a fall and a spring ♪ ♪ and sometimes a friend starts treating you bad ♪ ♪ but the world goes 'round ♪ and sometimes your heart breaks with a deafening sound ♪ ♪ somebody loses and somebody wins ♪ ♪ and one day it's kicks, then it's kicks in the shins ♪ ♪ but the planet spins and the world goes 'round ♪ ♪ and round

♪ the world goes 'round ♪ the world goes 'round ♪ yeah ♪ sometimes your dreams get broken in pieces ♪ ♪ but that doesn't matter at all ♪ ♪ take it from me ♪ there's still gonna be ♪ a summer, a winter, a spring and a fall ♪ ♪ and sometimes a friend starts treating you bad ♪ ♪ but the world goes 'round ♪ and sometimes your heart breaks with a deafening sound ♪

♪ somebody loses and somebody wins ♪ ♪ then one day it's kicks ♪ then it's kicks in the shins ♪ but the planet spins ♪ and the world goes 'round ♪ and 'round and 'round ♪ and 'round and 'round ♪ the world goes 'round and 'round and 'round ♪ ♪ and 'round! ♪

right now at 11:00, stunning new video from crews off the coast of south korea as they try to rescue hundreds of people from a sinking ferry. plus, precious water leaking into the streak. what officials have to say about the water main break that hasn't been fixed for days. and also, work this registered sex offender was doing on a san diego high school campus. well, good wednesday morning to you. thank you for joining us at 11:00. i'm peggy bunker. >> and i'm laura garcia-cannon. we begin with breaking news out of san francisco, where firefighters are on the scene of a fire that took the lives of two people. we actually have a live look from our helicopter this morning. fire crews still on the scene. it looks like the fire is now