lucky and excited. they certainly have a houseful, they have four little ones in the family. >> we'll be back in 20 minutes. buenos días en noticia de five of them managing to escape overnight while others are still being held and their capter has unusual demands. >> captured, the third and final inmate who escaped from a jail in alabama back in custody. circling the wagons, sony pictures set to hold a key meeting with staffers as more stars are called out in a string of newly revealed e-mails. the hackers threaten to release what they call a christmas surprise.

and got to hand it to him. a brave base jumper pulls off the most spectacular high five you've seen. today, monday, december 15, 2014. >> announcer: from nbc news, this is "today" with matt lauer and savannah guthrie live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. >> good morning everyone. welcome to "today" on a monday morning. got the gang all here willie in for matt boy, breaking news out of australia this morning. we'll get to it. it's a tense situation at a cafe in sydney and it's playing out on live television. chilling images of hostages inside and the few who have made a daring dash to safety. let's go to sarah james, she has the latest. good morning to you. >> reporter: nbc news can

confirm this morning that the identity of the gunman who is holding those hostages is sheikh man haron. this self-styled cleric is an iranian immigrant to australia, the man who is believed to be behind this terror attack that struck at the heart of sydney here in the financial, political and media center of the city, taking some 15 or more hostages, five of them escaped but the others are still being held. this is a man who is well known to authorities and he is currently, we are told, out on bail as an accessory to murder. so, this is a man with very serious charges facing him. and this drama began to unfold here in sydney 16 hours ago. a dramatic dash to freedom. overnight five hostages escaped the siege at a cafe at the heart of sydney but an unknown number remain captive.

it was shortly before 10:00 monday morning local time that at least one gunman took over the lindt chocolate cafe, force pad trons to hold up hands and this islamic banner. he made demands including a phone call with the australian prime minister and official isis flag. nbc affiliate channel 7 released this image. >> for those that may be in that building rest assured we are doing all we can to set you free. >> reporter: police cordoned off the city center, a massive response including snipers and special operations teams, the sydney opera house was evacuated as was the u.s. consulate just a block away. the air space over the center of the city a no-fly zone. the prime minister addressed the nation. >> i can think of almost nothing more distressing, more terrifying than to be caught up in such a situation. >> reporter: many buildings were locked down including the

reserve bank of australia and some law offices, workers allowed to leave mid afternoon. >> the girl holding the flag in the window and you know, i've seen her a lot mixing coffee. >> reporter: some workers instructed to walk single file head down. authorities are tight-lipped about any possible link to terrorist organizations. australia has been an ally of the u.s. in the war against islamic state. as the hours tick by and hostages remain in peril. meantime t white house is being kept abreast of the situation by homeland security. savannah. >> sarah live at the scene, thank you so much. former senior fbi official don ba rely is a counter terrorism analyst, the chief operating officer of the sufon group. it's early but you look at the situation does this seem like one of these lone wolf attacks?

>> it seems to kind of have that type of a personality to it. again, as you say it's early, but it appears that this is a lone wolf style attack. at least inspired by isis, based on you know, his demand for wanting an isis flag and apparently speaking to a radio personality in australia saying that everybody is wrong about isis and this and that. it seems he is supporting the isis ideology, whether he's had direct contact with them or if he is just inspired by them, too early to tell. >> seeming to want some kind of attention, not only of course taking hostages but then having some of the hostages call newsrooms, call media outlets trying to relay messages. >> he wants his story out there. this seems to have a different personality than we saw in canada where the lone wolf person basically started shooting as the first course of action. this person seems to have a political motivation, wants to

speak to the prime minister, wants the media attention, even the location seems to be somewhat strategic knowing he would get a lot of attention from media. what that story is, what he exactly wants to tell i guess we'll find out. possibly in hours. right now it seems like we don't know what his motivation is. >> you mentioned he wants to speak to the prime minister. if you are a hostage negotiator, what's your approach in this situation? >> well, the approach is to try to string this along a little bit and buy some time. you want to first and foremost make sure that the hostages are being well taken cared for. so you're going to start maybe with some smaller demands and the course of action probably would be to get him to release more hostages, but i wouldn't want to speculate more than that. and certainly wouldn't want to talk too much about tactics, give at any fact this is a live ongoing scenario. >> three months ago an isis spokesman urged followers in

western countries including australia to conduct attacks. >> right. >> what's the possibility in your mind that this is someone who believes they are answering that call? >> it could very well be. we've seen the effectiveness of social media and how it drives these people to take action. this could be part of that. we just don't know. i guess as the investigation unfolds we'll see. at this point it's likely. >> all right. always good to get your perspective. over to willie. >> thank you. a manhunt for three escaped inmates from a jail in rural alabama ended. the final fugitive taken into custody at a friend's apartment in tuscaloosa. janet is in butler, alabama with more. good morning. >> reporter: willie, good morning. the third suspect called extremely dangerous was re-captured about midnight. 100 miles from here in tuscaloosa. he is back here in the jail this morning. the trio broke out over the

weekend, in a process sheriffs call like out of a movie. they overcame the jailer convincing him one of them was sick. they took his cell phone and keys and with those they were able to break out of the jail. two of the men recaptured over the weekend, within 30 miles away, the other in a parking lot, again about 100 miles from here. these men are wanted for crimes ranking from burglary to capital murder, and this was a widespread search. 19 agencies, not just in alabama but from mississippi, too, participated in the search. willie, back to you. >> janet, thank you. >> now to the ongoing fallout over the senate report on enhanced interrogation techniques used on terror suspects post 9-11. should people involved face criminal charges? nbc's andrea mitchell is following the story. good morning to you.

>> reporter: good morning to you, savannah. early on president obama ruled out prosecutions even though the cia director acknowledged some wrong doing. now dick cheney who helped create the program after 9/11 went on "meet the press" to meet a vigorous defense of the agency. >> i'd do it again in a minute. >> a com pattive dick cheney denounced the report as unfair to the cia and damaging to america's standing in the world. >> the report is seriously flawed. they didn't talk to anybody, who knew anything about the program. >> any seed of zmout. >> no. >> no doubt at all. >> absolutely not. >> all of this information, no seed of doubt whether this worked. >> it worked. it absolutely did work. >> disagreeing strongly, senator john mccain himself tortured as a p.o.w. >> i urge everyone to read the report. these are the communications within the cia as to what happened. you can't claim that tying someone to the floor and have

them freeze to death is not torture. >> reporter: cheney did not back down when chuck todd cited where interrogators went beyond the rules. >> then suspected, subjected to involuntary rectal feeding and hydration. >> that does not neat definition what if was used in the program. >> i understand. does that neat definition of torture? >> in my mind i told you. it's what 19 guys armed with airline tickets and box cutters did to 3,000 americans on 9/11. >> let me go to ramand, chained, doused with water, froze to death in cia custody. a case of mistaken identity. >> right. but the problem i have is with all of the folks that we did release, that end up back on the battlefield. >> this debate is not going away soon but unlike previous investigations of the intelligence agency it's for the most part divided on partisan lines which will not make it easy to agree on reforms that might be needed.

back to you, savannah and willie. >> thank you very much. >> more hollywood stars now getting caught up in that massive computer hack at sony pictures, the studio is fighting back. nbc's joe fryer is in los angeles. good morning. >> good morning. employees say sony is planning a town hall meeting today t the hackers are still releasing files from the cyber attack, and promising even more as sony tries to control the damage. for the eighth time hackers have released a batch of files stolen from sony pictures. >> it's a mind boggling amount of data. >> the expectation is they will continue to release data all the way up until christmas day. >> reporter: the hackers told media outlets to expect a christmas gift, saying it will be larger quantities of data and more interesting putting sony pictures into the worst state. throughout the weekend some websites including "the daily beast" published new revelations, unkind e-mails from

executives about will smith's family and gushing messages about ryan gosling. the production company behind the next james bond film. >> daniel crane. >> reporter: says an early version of the screen play was taken by hackers, in a statement producers concerned that third party who is received the stolen screen play may seek to publish it or its contents. attorneys now in damage control sent letters to media organizations saying the company does not consent to your possession, review, copying, dissemination, publication, uploading, downloading or making any use of stolen information. but an editor with variety says it's the hackers who have made the information public. >> if journalists weren't reporting bloggers are or people on line talking about it and reading it so i think it's going to be hard to control the information now that it's out there. >> reporter: in a scathing open ed aaron skorken the subject of a few e-mails blasted the media

for publishing from the hack saying every news outlet that did the bidding is morally trae sonnous and spectacularly dishonorable. this hack doesn't just impact executives and stars, hackers publish social security numbers and other private data from sony employees in a strange twist the site which partners says the haerks are offering not to release stolen data from employee the employees write in and ask. >> wow so this is not going away. >> turn natalie now. the investigation of the promising young athlete. >> police have made an arrest in the shooting death of a football player. the 18-year-old was shot at an auburn apartment complex sunday morning. officers responding to a call of gun shots found mitchell and rushed him to the hospital, where he later died.

police later arrested 22-year-old marcal hart and charged him with murder. the shooting stemmed from an argument. >> a school district in pennsylvania is on lockdown this morning as police hunt for a gunman in a string of deadly shootings, this is happening in montgomery county, a suburban area northwest of philadelphia with reports of up to five people killed. the gunman is suspected to abmilitary veteran. >> a 17 story building came crashing to the ground in a matter of seconds near detroit on sunday. the vacant building owned by oaklllege t 42-year-old building needed to come down so the college posted an option on ebay with the right to push the ignition button. the winning bid of $8,000 will go to a student scholarship program. the most recognizable face in hockey the latest player in the nhl to come down with the mumps.

the pittsburgh penguins announced that sidney crosby has been officially diagnosed with the disease. he will sit out his third straight game tonight. he joins at least ten other nhl players to have been diagnosed with the disease this season. according to the cdc the mumps are rare in the u.s. and vaccines prevent most but not all cases. >> and we have breathtaking video, this death defying stunt we showed you earlier, australian base jumper nathan jones attempting what many call the first air-to-ground high five. jones you see him flying above bolders and smashes through that giant hand held up by a team member part of an effort to raise awareness for a well water project in africa. another good cause. incredible video. >> that's amazing.

>> download. remember that. >> natalie, thank you so much. a check of the weather. >> yes, we do. we're really warm air out there. about 150 million americans are experiencing above normal temperatures, ahead of this we have showers and thunderstorms, st. louis looking at wet weather. it will clear up later on this afternoon. getting up to 58 in st. louis, about 20 degrees above normal. behind the system we have colder air. a colder side to this storm and we'll look at snow but generally, about a half inch to an inch of rain but as you get your way north of minneapolis, about 1 to 3 inches back through parts of southern south dakota and northern nebraska. could see upwards of 6 to 9 inches of snow. we'll get to your local forecast in the next 30 seconds. next 30 seconds.

. good morning, i'm meteorologist christina loren. we have some really heavy rain showers coming down now. we have another wave of moisture, all of these bands of rain are going to move onshore as we head throughout the second half of the day. you'll want to keep your umbrella handy. getting into this afternoon, heavy rain at times, by tonight, starting to clear you out. more rain by tomorrow afternoon. tamron is in for car son this morning. this story is crazy. uber is busy. >> there are a lot of people disappointed in uber, that's the

car service company so. here's the conversation online. highly focused on the hostage situation in sydney. #sydney siege, the number one trend for much of the night. but as the events unfolded the car service company uber has become a hot topic as well. the situation is when there's an increased demand in transportation in an area uber increases its rate. the sydney business district at the heart of this hostage situation, there was an increase in calls for people looking for transportation. uber uses an automated system to determine the pricing. if there is high demand as i mentioned uber increases the price so to bring in more drivers to the area. as a result in sydney uber cars jumped four times higher than the normal fare for the area. social media went crazy on this. this is from ben white. he writes, he tweeted out how can there not be a human being

at uber who can turn off the algorithm that leads to pr disasters like this. uber has been active responding to hundreds of people individually in some cases, and say pricing is automated and they took action and now they made trips free for riders in the area. that continues now. and uber is offering refunds to any one who has was charged a higher amount. the theme that we're hearing from people on social media really is where are the humans? where is the humanity in something like this happens. >> the latest uber backlash. >> thank you very much. >> coming up, why the rolling stone reporter who wrote the story about an alleged sexual assault at the university of virginia is now apologizing to students mentioned in the article. >> and keep a neutral mind. bill cosby speaking out about those sexual assault allegations and how media is handling them. we'll have that. first this is "today" on nbc. h

his comments. we'll have that. first this is "today" on nbc.

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a very good morning to you. it is 7:26. i'm laura garcia-cannon. we will get to our microclimate weather alert in just a moment. first breaking news in sydney, australia. these images captured just moments ago. this is the scene outside the coffee shop where hostages are being held. we don't have a lot of information about what just happened. it's a very active scene. we presume those were hostages being held inside the coffee shop that were running out. we've also seen one woman

carried out who appeared to be injured. this is that same area where several hostages escaped earlier today. of course we'll update you when we get more information. we are expecting a very special report from nbc news coming up in just minutes at 7:30. in the meantime, a new round of rain rolling through the bay area brought down a bag area this morning in alamo, happened on stone valley road. for a time they had effectively cut off the road for people who live above where that tree went down. in the same area this morning, a tree went off the road and took out a power pole. >> and people living in this trailer park are again worried about flooding. waters are cresting this morning. same problem last week forced neighbors to evacuate. the manager of the park told us she's convinced that more flooding is on the way. we want to check your forecast right now with christina. >> we have a lot of rain. i want to make sure everyone is aware of it before they hit the highway this morning.

it's been raining heavily. fair game for thunderstorms later today. more on this in just moments. >> along 92, san mateo bridge, a slow drive westbound across that bridge. 580 and 680, a slower drive as well. the build continues for the bay. flooding reports from redwood city for 101 but nothing really dramatic. suddenly slow on 87 up through saratoga. >> another local news update for you about half an hour from us and expecting a special report from nbc news in just moments.

report. here's willie geist. i'm willie geist. breaking news on a dangerous hostage situation in sydney, australia, a group of people held captive inside a cafe for nearly 17 hours. in the last few minutes gun fire was heard, several people seen running from that building. nbc's sarah james is at the scene for us. what are you seeing? >> reporter: willie, there is the acid smell of smoke and you can hear the sirens around us because just moments ago there was a sound of what sounded like grenades, and images of police

storming the building. there's no exact understanding of why it happened at that moment. this happened very shortly after another six hostages seemed to be released came running out of the building, out and around the corner, their arms in the air. some of them straight into the police who were fully mobilized and dressed in specialized gear. then as we were standing here, just a few moments ago suddenly we heard this series of explosions what sounded like gun fire, the ambulances were on the move heading down around about 200 yards away from me to where the lindt chocolate cafe has been the scene of this hostage situation. it was a situation that began about 10:00 in the morning local time which is about 17 hours ago. when one gunman we believe, went into the shop where people were quietly having morning coffee and he then proceeded to take them hostage.

they were forced to hold their hands against a window, hold up some sort of islamic banner. five of those hostages managed to escape and of course about 20 minutes ago another six. so, we know that 11 hostages are okay. but, we also know that four stretchers came out of the building and some of those stretchers we saw people who were trained paramedics performing cpr. these seemed to be hostages, one a woman in black. the ambulances are working on those people. we hear the sounds of the sirens in the background as the team mobilized and went in. we know a little more as well about the gunman who is at the center of this. we were told earlier by media authorities here and nbc news confirmed that this is a self-styled sheikh, sheikh hamon, the one at the center of this.

he is an iranian immigrant to australia, and he was, we're told, out on bail. he had been on charges of being accessory to murder. but again, a short time ago the sydney siege appeared to end in a very dramatic and very difficult way for some of those hostages. that's the latest from here, willie. >> stay with me. i'm going to come back to you. i want to bring in nbc news terrorism specialist. michael, good morning. what do you think was the tipping point in the situation after nearly 17 hours of a stand-off, why do you think police went in at the moment they did? >> it appears that he lost most of his hostages and most of his leverage and was probably getting nervous and may have threatened a hostage and they decided to go in at that time. after 17 hours he was probably pretty worn down and thought maybe the time to go in. it's not clear whether he

injured a hostage that triggered the charge by the police. >> generally speaking michael, when is the right time to go in on a situation like this? there are clearly some hostages were left. how do you make that calculation? >> you really are looking for him to be worn down and getting tired and normally they hit way early in the morning like 3:00, 4:00 in the morning when he is worn down and after they have enough intelligence about the site where they think they can approach him, get a shot off without him being alerted. >> michael, there has been speculation over the last 17 hours based on this self-described cleric's postings online, that there could be some connection to the larger isis movement that's called for inspired attacks as they called them, around the world. on soft targets like the one we saw today. have we learn mord in the last 17 hours about a connection here? >> not yet but clearly she connected in wye way or teert isis. he may be purely through inspiration. whether he has physical connection through cells or the leadership is unclear.

doesn't really matter. the isis through social media is trying to inspire people around the world to join their cause but will be interesting to see if he does have other connection, i'm sure the australians will work those leads very hard and to round up any other people that might have the same intent. >> michael sheian, sarah james, thanks very much. much more at nbcnews.com. some of you will return to your regular program. for thre of "today." this has been an nbc news special report. so many folks i central and northern california got socked, even into another one-two punch of showers and thunderstorms coming into san francisco right now, here's the first system, more powerful system back out in the pacific, that will get in here some time tomorrow. so we're going to be tracking these storms, heavy shower, thunderstorms, the good news is we're starting to see a lot of snow in the sierra, that's going to help with snowpack so. snow levels lowering to 5,000 feet. we're looking again at the possibility of some flash flooding as well.

look for heavy showers and thunderstorms from minnesota all the way down into louisiana, beautiful day along the eastern seaboard, temperatures though chillier than they should be, only 77 in miami today. icy condition floos the plains with snow making its way from minnesota into parts of utah. 7:36. i'm meteorologist christina loren with a microclimate weather alert. showers, the heavy stuff is starting to clear. areas to the north of the golden gate bridge, a lot of that rich moisture located to the south of highway 92. that's where it's going to progress through the morning hours. we're waiting for the big band to move into the central valley. make sure you have your umbrella handy. as we head throughout tonight, we should clear you out and then another round of rain by tomorrow at noon. nks a lot. >> coming up next, bill cosby speaks out. how he says his wife is dealing with the sexual assault allegations swirling around him, right after this.

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we're back at 7:40. bill cosby is speaking out in a new interview. tamron. >> good morning again. ach weeks of remaining quiet amid unprecedented flood of sexual assault allegations, bill cosby is now giving brief comments about the scandal that now surrounds him. bill cosby speaks out breaking his silence in a phone interview with stacy brown, a reporter with the washington informer. telling brown the african-american media should be impartial toward him in the midst of his sex abuse scandal saying quote, i only expect the black media to uphold the standards of excellence in journalism. when you do that you have to go in with a neutral mind. when asked how his wife of more than 50 years has been handling the stress of the allegations, cosby says love and the strength of womanhood and you could reverse it, the strength of womanhood and love.

he reportedly cut off the conversation saying they don't want me talking to the media. cosby's attorney told nbc news i have not confirmed that cosby made the statement to stacy brown. since the scandal broke cosby refused to comment notably in interviews with national public radio. >> shaking your head know. >> and the associated press where cosby appeared off guard when a reporter asked him to comment. >> no. no. we don't answer that. i don't want to compromise your integrity but we don't -- i don't talk about it. >> more than two dozen women have publicly claimed that cosby sexually assaulted them, some say he drugged them first. the allegations span at least four decades beginning in the 1960s. last week another high profile accuser came forward, super model beverly johnson who says he drug her during a meeting about a role on the show.

>> i felt something from the first sip, and almost like i didn't really believe it so i took another sip. and it wasn't long after that that i knew i had been drugged. >> cosby's attorneys consistently denied the women's claims and he has never been charged with a crime in connection with these allegations. but more fallout today. reports that the all female college spellman university has indefinitely suspended a professionship named after bill cosby as he deals with the sex assault allegations. >> it's interesting so he made remarks to a reporter, doesn't sound like a full interview. >> interesting that he focused on the black media as opposed to all media. you know, these are his words. >> tamron, thanks so much. coming up, it's team adam versus team blake in "the voice" finale. why does blake say it will be an

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♪ >> we're back at 7:48. bar barry manilow coming up. >> christmas ten short days away expect company if you plan to go to the post office today. anne thompson has more on the holiday rush. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, savannah. this is crunch time for the postal service. today it's expecting an avalanche of cards, letters and packages, the most it will

handle all year. the holiday rush is on. today the postal service expects to process 640 million pieces of mail, a 5% increase over last year. >> this is our season. and we're ready and we're ready to go. >> gift givers should feel merrier. gas prices are down and consumer confidence is up. >> i'm mailing a package to my grandkids in georgia. >> i am mailing a gift to a secret santa child. >> reporter: with millions of americans clicking their way through their list, online sales are expected to jump 16%. fedex says that will make today a record-breaking day. it expects to move 22.6 million packages, twice as many as normal. u.p.s. says it's busiest delivery day is still a week away. both shippers promise they have learned from last year's mistakes when bad weather and an unanticipated spike in orders delayed many gifts. now if you're still wrapping, here are the key dates to make sure your packages get there by

christmas. for regular postal service, you have to get it in the mail by today. if you use fedex ground and home delivery, you have until wednesday. and if you send it by u.p.s. ground, thursday is your cutoff. now for those of you who feel more like scrooge when it comes to shipping charges, mark december 18th down on your calendar. on that day nearly 1,000 retailers, including j. crew, l.l. bean and nordstrom will offer free shipping. >> i like that. >> savannah, have you got your christmas shopping done? >> yes. just say yes. >> a little, yeah. it's in the mail, anne. >> thank you so much. >> all right. prince george did not make the trip to america last week with his parents but the duke and duchess of cambridge are still showing him off in pictures. tamron has those. hey, tamron. >> hey, guys with holiday spirit, christmas cards are supposed to be in the mail, i hope by now. this is the official christmas photo of prince george.

released by his parents. i'm just going to be honest, might be one of the cutest things i've seen ever. he is only 1. look how the kid posed. those eyes. look at that. and this is very gq. in the moment. he's prince spanky. thank you, al. in honor of the prince and his adorable photos we asked viewers to share theirs. look at liz's elf on a shelf. i am in love with this do for obvious reasons. and up next, my first little christmas. that's quite a present. so cute and monica sent santa's little helper. love working accurate with the eyes. so we're asking you to send in some of your merry moments from past holidays. some of the moments you captured leading up to this one.

#todayholidays. we'll be sharing more moments. so vale, savannah, you sent me a picture last night. >> yes. >> she was not wearing a christmas outfit. she was wearing the eagles, who lost, right? >> oh! >> they lost to the cowboys. >> tamron, rub it in. 7:52. i can't believe it took her this long. >> opened my e-mail from savannah, thinking it's something sweet. it's her child posed in an eagles outfit. >> fly, eagles, fly. good game, though. thank you, tamron. does your husband ever zone out when you're talking? >> were you saying something? >> a new study reveals the exact moment when your husband stops listening. >> that would be now. oh what fun it is to ride. get the mercedes-benz on your wish list

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a very good morning to you. it's 7:55. i'm laura garcia-cannon. a new round rain soaking the bay area this morning, making for a challenging drive along some bay area roadways. here's a live look at highway 101 on the roadway in san rafael. the rain brought down a big tree in alamo. it happened earlier today on stone valley road. it cut off the road for people who live above the point where that tree went down. people who live in redwood city in a trailer park there are worried about more flooding. the waters of a canal behind the park are cresting this morning. the same problem last week forced them to evacuate. the manager of the park is convinced more flooding is on the way because more rain is on the way. let's check the forecast with christina. >> it's on the way right now. good morning to you at home. let's take a look at san jose. that's where the heavy stuff is.

areas to the north of the golden gate bridge, you saw that live picture of emeryville overcast but getting a break from heavy downpours. you can see we still have a lot more to go as we head throughout the day today. you want to keep your umbrella handy. we're expecting thunderstorms as we head to the afternoon, best chance over the santa cruz mountains specifically. temps will be cool, just 51 in the north bay, 55 in the south bay. we'll have more rain tomorrow. there's another system coming our way. let's check your drive with mike. >> we're looking at still slippery conditions, northbound 101. 680 in the distance. i want to show you the water kicking up. blue will mean ponding and puddling through other parts of the bay area. still slow through the south bay. we're holding steady for the

speeds. dumbarton bridge and san mateo bridge are slow. back to you. >> another local news update in half an hour. hope to see you then.

♪. reigning princesses of pop take the cake? ♪ >> mr. christmas, we're celebrating the season with michael buble and some of his favorite friends. >> let's talk about barbara. how did you get her on board? >> we'll talk about his special and some of his favorite family traditions "today," monday,

december 15th, 2014. >> we're on the plaza because we made santa's nice list. >> good morning, tennessee. >> good morning, frisco, tennessee. >> sister's trip from florida. >> we're from richmond, virginia. >> we're twins from texas. >> i'm 21 today. r! it is 8:00 on "today," 15th of december, monday morning. beautiful morning on our plaza. loud morning on our plaza. >> big, big crowd. >> great to have you along with us on a monday. matt is off today. we have willie standing in. willie, fair to say we have a lot of crooners in our studio this morning.

>> crooners as far as the eye can see. michael buble coming up. not the only grammy winner. barry manilow in the building sticking around all morning to talk about his new album and, of course, barry will perform live and apparently sign some baseballs as well. >> what's your favorite barry manilow? >> can i vote right now? msh mandy. >> mandy. >> what's yours, al? >> #it's a miracle. then the pitfalls of the holiday season when it comes to your diet. all those party foods and drinks can add up. this morning we'll help you survive with quick tips to help you trim the holiday fat. that is like willie's holiday party. much of it we were all falling down. nobody was helping us up. >> i love that she was in like ten-inch heels. did you see that? >> who, jenna? >> no, joy. >> and jenna's like 100 months pregnant, go get them, ladies. following the breaking news

in sydney, australia. an 18-hour hostage crisis is over. nbc's sarah james with the latest. >> good morning. you can still smell the acrid scent of smoke in the air, this after a series of dramatic sounds, probably the stun grenades police were using to get into the building to bring the siege to an end. that happened just about a half hour ago. as they rushed into the lint chocolate cafe, some of the people there, some of the hostages were brought out on stretchers. there were scenes of paramedics doing cpr on several of those hostages. now, there is some good news as well. a short time before the e ploegss and the sound of gunfire, another five hostages managed to escape, five or six hostages managed to escape. that was -- something happened at that point. that is what brought the

authorities to go ahead and rush in probably the fact that the gunman fired one more shot. we also know the identity of the gunman, sheikh haran who was out on bail. natalie? >> sarah james in sydney with this still developing story. now to washington where dick cheney is speaking out on the senate report accusing the cia of torturing terror suspects. on nbc's "meet the press," cheney told chuck todd he would do it again in a minute and what the u.s. learned from those enhanced interrogation techniques he said revented more attacks on americans after 9/11. he also said president bush knew what was happening, contrary to the senate report. one person is dead after a collision involve ag disney bus in orlando. it happened near the park's coronado spring's resort.

police say a car ran a red light and hit the bus head on. no one on the bus was hurt. the driver of the first car died at the hospital. a spectacular show of family bonding is under way in antarctica where tens of thousands of penguin couples are taking care of the new offspring. the adults first came ashore for ners nesting. here is the tricky part. the adults go into the water to find food for their babies and return to land and have to find their own little ones in that little crowd of penguins. it's 8:05, another check on the weather with mr. roker. >> how you doing, kiddo. all these folks out here. this is a huge crowd. look how big this crowd is, people bringing toys for the toy drive. what does this say? i'm your birthday present? >> happy birthday.

what's your name, young lady? >> how old are you? >> my birthday is in three days. >> how old will you be? >> i will be 8. >> that's a good age. that's a good one. i like that. happy birthday. let's show you what we have happening. wet weather in memphis and in san francisco, a lot of rain to talk about. looking at showers and thunderstorms hanging around. california getting more heavy rain. but a lot of folks getting a lot of warm weather. it's hard to believe it is warmer in chicago than it is in atlanta today. that's nuts. rochester, 46, 20 degrees above average, columbus, 52 degrees, ten degrees above average. wet weather also with that system. back behind it, snow, icy conditions, more rain into california. east coast looking fantastic from caribou, maine to miami we 8:06. good morning. a lot of rain continuing to impact the bay area.

this is going to impact your morning drive. make sure you travel cautiously out there. and watch out. it's been raining overnight. we've got areas of ponding, some puddles out there and flooded areas that haven't had a chance to dry out since last week's rain. here's the deal, by 10:00 a.m., still getting that heavy rich moisture. but between 10:00 a.m. and noon, things start to let up, we'll get spotty activity all the way through 8:00 p.m. tonight. drying out after that, more rain returns to the forecast as of noon tomorrow. >> al, thank you very much. coming up on trending, you'll be surprised when we reveal the holiday's least favorite gift to receive. >> i was surprised. >> i was shocked by this one. >> me, too. >> a new look of why it's so hard to get rid of the baby weight after our bundles of joy arrive. the latest on a new study. and songs that make jenna sing and the baby. we'll count down with the great barry manilow. first, these messages. ah, the bold new camry.

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top four offenders. number four, books. >> books? >> i love book. >> what's wrong with you? >> i love book. >> don't kill the messenger. >> number three, home decor. i don't know. flowers and plants finish second. the worst gift that people say they got, booze. >> really? >> i don't buy that. >> a full 25% said no, we don't -- booze like spirits, rum, tequila, vodka. >> i guess people have their preferences when it comes to what they drink. >> and not everyone likes hard liquor. >> wine is a safer bet. >> it is but it's also on the list, number six or something. >> we all drink but there's the assumption that others -- and then you go to someone's house, they don't drink. >> i have booze that people gave us three, four years ago. we just don't drink it. >> you don't drink it. >> regift it. >> regift. >> i do. >> you'll be getting some later. >> exactly. exactly. >> we like it at the christmas party. we'll take 'em. i want to know what you all think of this one. men accused of having short attention spans, especially when talking with a significant

other. thanks to a new study that is a bunch of hooey, if you ask me -- yes, i used the word hooey and make no apology. six minutes. men can stand talking with their partners for just six minutes, it turns out, before they tune them out. >> i don't believe it. >> i say four minutes. >> i say 2 1/2. >> what were the topics that bored men the most? talk about their partner's co-workers. this one is awful. their partner's feelings. >> yeah. >> wow! >> and what their partner had for lunch. >> that is boring. >> i reject this beer commercial portrayal of men. >> oh, please. >> who are insensitive. >> what did christina have for lunch yesterday? prove it. >> i hang on every word my wife says. >> we have christina on the line. just kidding. >> deborah and i have been talking about this lately. she will start talking and i want to ring a bell or buzzer or something so that i know -- sometimes she starts talking,

she's talking in general, not to anybody in particular. >> but she wants you to weigh in. [ buzzer ] >> exactly, like that. i want a game show. [ dinging ] >> do you feel like we pay attention or no? >> no, i don't and i think six minutes is too long. men tune out far sooner than that. >> especially talking about feelings. >> feelings, you hang on. >> that's the thing. >> they look at you like, uh-huh, upset, don't feel valued. did you say something? >> here is when we do, when we agree with you, we're wrong, we screwed up and you want to keep going over it. we want to go out for a burger. >> raise the white flag already. >> i'm wrong. i'm done. let's focus on something positive in the world of relationships. congratulations are in store for jason kennedy and lauren scruggs. kathie lee was amongst the

guests. they tweeted a photo from their honeymoon. they cannot wait to spend the rest of their lives together. e! will have a special look at the nuptials next wednesday night. they are a darling couple. >> too bad they're not attractive. >> congrats, guys. few have had a better year, the latest proof, taylor swift turned 25 over the weekend. look who turned out to celebrate. jay-z, beyonce, justin timberlake, sam smith, just to name a few. speaking of taylor, matt is a pretty cool guy on friday taking a selfie with taylor, aretha franklin, idina menzel, ariana grande, jesse jay and the other big stars of today at billboard magazine's women in music. he tweeted billboard magazine's women in music 2014 and one very lucky old, bald guy. hoda was in the audience, who

took this picture serenading taylor "happy birthday." >> ellen selfie. >> very excited about that. that is what's trending today. finding that perfect holiday gift can be challenging. turns out our friends from "night at the museum: secret of the tomb" are having problems as well. >> happy holidays, larry. >> oh, thanks. >> the scepter of the sun god. it's been in my family over 4,000 years. >> wow! got you a little something. >> oh, thank you. >> it's a neck pillow. >> right. >> announcer: "night at the museum: secret of the tomb" in theaters friday. >> that must be the tag on there.

>> very excited about that in our house. >> oh, yeah. our kids are so excited. >> opens on friday. let's send it over to savannah. having a baby, of course, is an exciting time. a lot of new moms struggle to lose the weight after the baby comes and a new study is showing it could take a lot longer than you might think. from kim kardashian to jessica simpson to gwyneth paltrow, the transformations are eye popping. they seem to get back into star-studded shape before you can say, is it a boy or a girl? here is kate middleton, one day after the birth of prince george and just months later. to most women it seems like a fairy tale. >> it's difficult when you look at these celebrity magazines and you see your favorite stars losing weight. it makes me feel like why can't i lose the weight that quickly as well? >> a new study finds almost three-quarters of women were heavier one year after giving birth than they were before they got pregnant, many of them even

becoming obese. among women in a normal weight range prepregnancy, almost half kept more than ten pounds one year later. almost a quarter kept 20 pounds or more. and it's not just a question of looks. >> down the road, as they get older, they potentially are increased risk of cardiac disease, diabetes, and all the other complications, including certain cancers that are associated with being overweight. >> many new moms say they come second. it's all about their kids. >> and being a mother you don't have time for yourself. >> but doctors say you can lose the baby weight. >> the best way to really return to one's pre-pregnancy weight is to exercise, remain and maintain a certain level of fitness and eat healthfully. >> breastfeeding can help shed the pounds. studies show moms can burn between 300 and 500 calories every time they breast feed. so even if you don't have the personal trainers, nannies and chefs that celebrities do, you

can get back to your prepregnancy weight. >> just because you see a celebrity, you know, losing weight quickly, don't base your life on that. but if you use that as motivation, i think it can be a positive thing. >> well, dr. natalie azar is an nbc news medical contributor. dr. azar, good morning to you. >> good morning, savannah. >> i don't know how i feel about this study. women, new moms have enough pressure as it is. this study saying a year later, three-quarters of women still have some weight on them. is that such a big deal? >> well, look, i don't think the intention of the study was to make women feel more guilty or guiltier about how they look after pregnancy. i think what is starting here is a conversation more about what are the actual implications of the fact that women might be gaining too much weight during pregnancy, which is a risk factor for your pregnancy and, more importantly, if that percentage of women a year post partum are still carrying that extra weight, what kind of long-term health implications could that carry for those women? >> we're not necessarily talking

about a pound or two. >> no, no, no. >> it's ten pounds or more. and in some cases some women have become obese after. >> a quarter of the women were 20 pounds overweight. there's a few caveats about this study and a few limitations on it. cohort of women, 800 women, the average bmi prior to pregnancy was in the overweight category. >> the body mass index? >> correct. now that doesn't mean if you're of normal weight this couldn't happen to you. but a proportionally high number of women had started off their pregnancy overweight. the implication there is that it's harder for them to lose. >> so you're going to say another thing about the study? >> well, yeah -- no. overall i've had friends who have had the means and capability to lose the weight after pregnancy and still had difficulty with it. so we want to also be careful. we don't just want to generalize to the population in general. this is a selected group of women who they actually studied. >> what are you recommending for women?

it seems to me that a lot of the advice you get is to start during pregnancy. >> right. >> don't put on so much weight. >> exactly. >> which, by the way, is hard to do, as someone who put on 42 pounds. >> one of the highlights that came from this study, take-home messages is that the risk factors for being overweight a year later is that you gained too much weight during pregnancy or started off with a too high bmi. the easiest way to lose your baby weight is actually can start weeks to months before you're pregnant. you want to be a healthy, active person. you want to be healthy when you enter into a pregnancy. women who exercise regularly during pregnancy and gain the appropriate recommended amount tend to have much less difficulty losing that weight post partum. you want to go by the guidelines, whatever your bmi is prior to pregnancy, this is a conversation you need to have with your ob, maintain that physical activity during pregnancy and maintain it, start it as soon as you can after pregnancy, after discussing with your physician when it's safe for you to start exercising

again. >> dr. natalie azar, thank you. i sucked in my stomach the entire segment. thank you so much. over to willie. >> savannah, thank you very much. now to "the voice" on "today," the top four performing. as carson explains, the battle is just as intense as their coaches, adam lavigne and blake shelton. >> reporter: just hours after being eliminated from the competition -- ♪ catch a grenade for you >> reporter: damien lawson made a surprise comeback. >> oh, no, damien! >> reporter: joining chris jamison, matt mcandrew and craig wayne boyd as the final four heading into tonight's finale. ♪ i'll be there >> reporter: as the four contestants battle for the title on stage, the backstage competition between their superstar coaches is heating up.

team adam is represented by three artists. ♪ everybody's my best friend >> reporter: team blake goes into the finals with just one. >> if adam manages not to win "the voice," it will be the most epic fail. not just on "the voice" but on network television. how do you mess that up? ♪ somewhere >> reporter: determined not to mess it up, adam spent the weekend working with his contestants. >> little more urgent. >> reporter: hoping to catch up with blake's three championship wins. adam currently has two. >> i think if any one of my three wins, team adam will be happy. i know that. these guys love each other. honestly, i'll be mad at blake, because i don't like him. >> reporter: like it or not, blake is going all out for win number four. ♪ i know she's bound to be tired ♪ ♪ living it up in the city

>> reporter: the two-day finale will be packed with superstar performances from bruno mars, ed sheeran and meghan trainer singing her new single "lips are moving." but for the next two nights, it's the songs coming from the lips of chris, matt, damien and craig who will determine whose named seven season winner of "the voice." ♪ >> another really talented group. so nice to watch adam and blake go at it. >> that's the best part. >> i like how he's raising the expectations, it will be the worst fail in television history. >> that's how they go at it. again "the voice" finale kicks off tonight, 8:00, 7:00 central here on nbc. the winner will join us live wednesday morning on "today." >> cool. >> can't wait to meet whoever that is of that group of four right there.

let's go to the orange room with tamron. >> from "the voice" to the voice, coming up, legend barry manilow, loving "the voice." we'll talk about his remarkable new duet album. congratulations on that. >> thank you. >> you're excited? >> i am. i love it. >> feel like the new kid on the scene? >> so proud of it. >> and a performance from the great barry manilow. first your local news.

a very good monday morning to you. 8:26. i'm laura garcia-cannon. rainmaking for a wet morning across the bay area. here's a live look at the bay bridge along with our camera in downtown san jose. today in the bay's meteorologist christina loren forecasting an inch of rain. and this is the first of three storms due this week in the bay area. the rain brought down a big tree this morning in alamo. happened on stone valley road for a time it effectively cut off the road for people who live above where that tree went down. let's check that morning commute. kind of a soggy one for folks. >> it is still slippery out there, laura. the north bay, we have a little bit of a fog and mist, as well. southbound 101, san rafael. the map shows you the whole area of the north bay.

showing the green, but not the blue, the ponding and puddling. pleasant hill, walnut creek, as well. oakland, we got word that protesters were going across broadway there and might impede your traffic off the freeway and into our downtown. 880 off of broadway. meanwhile shows the commute for northbound direction. and the other side of the bay, we had flooding for san mateo, redwood city reported earlier. there's the south bay, really kicking in for this monday commute. we'll send it back to you, laura. >> thank you very much. we'll be back with another local news update in half an hour. hope to see you then.

8:30 now on this monday morning. it is the 15th of december, 2014. pretty day out here on our plaza. look who we have here, barry manilow. we are really working him hard this morning. first the orange room, now collecting toys for our toy drive. we'll get a performance out of him and also willie interviewing barry manilow about his new

album and my dream duet. >> that's right. that's coming up. first, it's time to get serious about your holiday shopping. the hottest tech gifts for men and women. >> love that sweater, katie. all right. and then the secret to trimming the holiday fat from your workouts and your diet. >> jenna. >> every time through the office you see her doing that. and michael buble stars in his fourth christmas special. some big names helping him out. we'll talk to him about that. miss pigy, hanging with the big names. let's get a check of the weather with mr. roker. >> strong showers and storms ahead of this front from minnesota down to louisiana. more wet weather into northern and central california. tomorrow, we've got the showers here in the midatlantic states into the northeast.

more windy, wet weather from the pacific northwest all the way down into southern california. the sunshine continues, though, from minnesota, with more seasonal temperatures all the way back down into louisiana. new orleans look at a high 8:32. good morning to you. another round of rain for the bay area. although i can tell you right now, most of the heavy stuff is starting to move into the central valley. we're still fair game for these showers, heavy at times to move onshore. today, a pretty good batch just starting to develop offshore. that's going to move on through about 10:00 a.m. temps will be cool, mostly in the 50s. a slight chance for thunderstorms later on for most parts of the bay. shower activity clearing over the course of tonight. >> and that is your latest weather. tamron? >> announcer: "let it glow" on "today" is brought to you by

wink. build your smart home at wink.com. >> al, thank you very much. take a look at this amazing holiday light display in california, timed to the tune of "all i want for christmas." check it out. ♪ i don't want a lot for christmas there is just one thing i need ♪ >> we're working with wink, an app that controls your smart phone, smart home to search for the greatest holiday lights in america. so take a look. it is called "let it glow today." send in video and pictures of your festive outdoor light displays. you can share on "today's" facebook page and even on today.com. we're just asking that you use the #let it glow contest for a chance to win a very special prize. make sure the house is yours. if your neighbor's lights caught your eye, tell them to enter. we cannot wait to see what you have for us. all right, willie. >> thanks a lot, tamron.

my dream duet is out now. so good to see you. >> thank you. thank you. >> 14th grammy nominations for "night songs." do you still get excited when that comes? >> i do. that was kind of under the radar. i'm very proud of it. just playing piano and singing great standards. my dream duet is -- wow! >> let's explain this to people. such a cool concept. it strikes me as difficult. you swing with whitney houston, louis armstrong. how does it work? >> everybody is doing duet albums. how do i make mine different than anybody else's? i came up with this crazy idea. could i do an album, sing it with these old records? what would that sound like? and music technology has gone so far, i was able to take off the orchestra from the old record, put on a brand new arrangement, brand new orchestrations.

it took a lot of people to make this album. >> the sky's the limit. it is called dream duets. your biggest dreams come true, singing with whoever you want to sing with. >> some of them i knew. swron de john denver was a friend. whitney was a friend. dusty springfield. i picked the greatest singers, my dream. made it my list, never thinking that this album could be made. >> you made a lot of them proud, i'm sure. >> thank you. >> happy to sing with you. >> thank you. >> you'll be singing with louis armstrong, through the beauty of technology. you'll be singing in our next hour. next from how you eat to how you move, 60 seconds to trimming that holiday fat. first this is "today" on nbc. (vo) nourished.

rescued. protected. given new hope. during the subaru "share the love" event, subaru owners feel it, too. because when you take home a new subaru, we donate 250 dollars to helping those in need. we'll have given 50 million dollars over seven years. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru.

we are back now at 8:37 with 60 seconds to surviving the holiday creep. no, not that guy at your office party. how to get through the holiday season unscathed and not gain all those pounds. hard to stick to the diet this time of year. it is possible, we can show you how in just one minute. joy bower is registered dietician and jenna wolfe is working out all the time. a certified personal trainer. joy, we will start with you. >> my uniform on. >> we like to call you kill joy. >> it's not going to be that. what today's theme, trimming the calories and not compromising the flavor or the fun. and, as you know, i only have one minute i'll run through this wicked fast. i'll talk at such a rapid pace. i want all the viewers to know that you can go to the website, every single tip and every single recipe that we're about to run through is right there. >> let's start the clock. we have 60 seconds and, joy, go. >> you're faced with a delicious

slice of pie. you slice off that outer crust. you can save that part and you automatically save 100 calories. okay, when you are fancying dessert, instead of going ala mode go ala cream. a squirt is just 20 calories. >> okay. in recipes, when you can, swap out the oil for low-sodium broth. i did this in this amazing pesto sauce and then tossed it with zucchini luwin againy. >> you have 15 seconds left. >> mashed potatoes. half cauliflour and go skinny dipping when you're making creamy dip. garlicky spinach dip, 20 calories! >> very well done. >> thank you very much.

>> done in 60 seconds. give it to me right there. let's go down to jenna focusing on trimming calories and also working out. >> all right, ready, savannah. i'll take you through the 60 seconds of what i think will really, really help you out. we're trimming calories. we're starting with the basics. walking, i'm doing it right now. easy, effective. here's the number i want you to reach, 10,000. 10,000 steps a day. get your self an inexpensive podometer and clip it on and start walking. walk during commercial breaks. park a little further from a store and circle the mall three times before you walk in. find a way to hit 10,000 steps every day of the week, if possible. you will see results at the end of the week, in a month you will feel better and you will get the blood moving every single day. three arm exercises that i use to help tone myself up after i had the baby. number one upper cuts, 100 upper cuts just like this. core tight, biceps tight. number two, claps without

actually touching. number three, tricep claps. 100, 100, 100. you work your tris, your bis, your back. you never have to step foot in the gym. savannah. >> so, it's like this. i think i got it. >> come up and eat the mashed potatoes. >> for more tips go to our website. tomorrow joy and jenna will be back with more ways to tackthal holidays without gaining an ounce. up next the hottest his and her tech gifts of the year. but, first, this is "today" on nbc.

we are back now at 8:43 with our holiday gift guide "stuff we love," for the tech-loving guys and gals on your list. katie and digital lifestyle expert mario armstrong will tackle the men. you go that way. we'll go this way. we get to start, katie.

>> let's do this. gifts for the ladies. always on the go and stylish. check this out. this is actually a very connected way to go. this is from express tech. lots of different styles. what the heck does it do? very cool. mobile charger right inside. >> oh, my gosh. >> conveniently comes in, comes out. starting at $30 at express.com. this baby here is a blue tooth speaker. there is white quilted, pink polka dot and also black quilted. you can actually take calls because it's a speaker phone. >> so much better than walking around with a boom box, which is what i do. let's talk about photos here. >> hello, nostalgia. check this baby out. this is from project impossible, $199. you actually put up to an iphone 5s and instantly print out a photo. it takes about 15 seconds.

willie and i did a selfie earlier. >> you just rest your iphone in here and it prints it? >> yes. >> incredible. >> different films you can use from black and white to color. you get that whole nostalgia analog print. >> genius. personalization. >> for all gifts big and small, customized video box. you can throw in a smart phone, some jared. we don't judge. whatever you want to put inside there. you can actually customize a video with audio. box comes in a number of different shapes, colors and sizes. >> love it. coffee maker. >>o my gosh! stay caffeinated. go ahead and open this baby up. what's inside here? boring coffee mug. this is actually a smart brewer from mr. coffee, up to 10 cups of coffee. what's neat about it, you can have that coffee ready before you even wake up. schedule it up to a week in advance and it will send you notifications like, you need to refill the water. go ahead and use your smart phone to start brewing.

>> that is brilliant. >> for her, willie. >> no, i'm keeping this one. what have you guys got? >> first of all, i can open the present. >> you can. >> go pro. >> least expensive go pro on the market. live feed to that. >> where is the lens? i see. >> hey! so it's a great video camera it that can get great angles for sports, activities, strap it on to helmets, chest mounts and even a strap for your dog. >> not as pricey as we think of? >> no, $129. >> i like it. what have we got here? >> dig in. voila. that is the new blue tooth mini. sorry. got to get our dance on real quick. >> dancing not included. >> boom mini, big sound, small speaker, bluetooth connected. you can add more than one to give you that stereo sound if

you combine them. ten hours of battery life. >> one phone could play two speakers? >> stereo. >> this is good if you or your man travel. >> conference calls speaker phone. >> oh, sure. should we do this one next? >> no, we'll do that one last. >> okay. >> every guy is talking about smart watches. this is the pebble watch. only $99. this is great. get all your e-mail notifications, twitter, facebook, updates, even caller i.d. right to your wrist. >> work with his any phone? >> work with his any phone, android and apple, which is really, really awesome. and the other thing is that it has apps that connect to it as well. >> you don't read your e-mail on that? it's just alerting you that you have e-mail? >> you can do some reading but you probably want to go to your e-mail. >> lastly? >> last but not least, you have a pair of -- watch yourself. >> oh, that's cool. it's an airplane. >> this is the rolling spider which has these wheels.

indoor or outdoor. goes up to 66 feet. 11 miles per hour if you want to do that. lots of fun. only eight minutes of action before you need to recharge it. that's something to think about. >> really cool. i think anyone would want that. >> has a camera as with with well. >> i'll take all of the above. >> you will? good. >> but i already got you a christmas sweater. it brings such joy. look at mario and katie. >> what are these digitized sweaters? >> iphone in here, yule log modernized. >> and i have the gingerbread head. someone's eating him. >> right as we were coming on, katie was like, oorks let me turn on my sweater. katie lindendoll and mario armstrong, thank you. >> thank you, guys. coming up next, we'll talk to michael buble's special and how he landed big stars, including barbra streisand.

back at 8:50, michael buble is getting some help for the holiday spirit. lie you interviewed him. >> i did. and he is putting his signature on the holidays with an nbc

prime time special. >> it's christmas! >> this is number four. >> number four. >> number four. >> yeah. >> how does it stack up to the three before? >> like every artist who comes out with a new record, new book or movie, they'll tell you it's the best one yet. it's the best. i was inspired. i was in a good place. and this is the best one yet. but honestly this is the best one yet. >> but you're not just saying it? >> no. >> we're talking you have br bra streisand, ariana grande, miss piggy. >> yes. >> let's talk barbara. how did you get her on board? >> she has a new record out called duets, her duet record. she asked me to be on it and we hit it off. >> i imagine walking into a studio with barbra streisand has to be intimidating at first. >> what i said to her, i woke up this morning and i was pretty

terrified and she said, why, honey? i said, well, you're barbra. i think any singer would be intimidated and she said, no, sweetheart, this is your world. i said, you know, what i did, barbra -- it's the truth. i sat in the mirror this morning and i remembered looking at myself and thinking, you know what? you're noah's dad, number one. and all of this other stuff is like icing on this cake, great cake. >> noah is about 14, 15 months now? >> you got it, yeah. >> christmas plans with him, do you have traditions of your own? >> you know what? the tradition is always to be with the family. because he's 1 years old, he will have absolutely no clue which is great for me because i get to open every single one of his presents and i like opening presents so, uh -- >> you have become the christmas guy. i grew up, it was frank, bing crosby. we still have those guys in our

house but now we also have michael buble. is that something you sought out? >> i always loved christmas, i always loved the holiday. always sentimental about it. the fact that i get to be part of a tradition that means so much, means a lot to me. because i'm an artist, i'll sit there and fear and i'll say to my manager, i don't want to be known as mr. christmas. you don't want to get stuck in any kind of slot. but if that's my life, if that's kind of what people are going to remember me for, then there's a lot worse things to be remembered for. >> such a great guy. >> love him. >> he is a beautiful singer. >> and he has a beautiful little son. >> beautiful wife, too, since we're on the topic. >> he has a beautiful christmas. >> and a beautiful christmas special. michael buble's christmas in new york, wednesday night, 8:00,

7:00 central time here in new york city. barbra streisand, miss piggy. >> beautiful interview. thank you so much. let's find out who is celebrating birthdays with the help of willard scott. hey, willard. >> oh, new york, you would love the inn. that's where we are. ethel bethea. sounds biblical. 104 years old today. and she loves fresh area. santa santa maria mancino, 100 years old today. she loves knitting. she does blankets and does them beautifully. this is norman and ruby, don't take your love to town, alcorn. they are from ava, missouri. they are 75 years married. they love to cook and they cook all sorts of good things from their home garden.

this is sol shenker from long beach, california, home of the spruce goose. 101 years old. god bless him. wish him happy birthday. now back to new york, that's where you are. >> thank you. >> excellent. thank you. >> a big hour coming up ourselves, more with barry manilow. sitting down, playing a little game with barry manilow. >> really? >> yes, finish that lyric game with barry manilow. >> see how well you know your barry. >> last-minute holiday travel deals as well. >> also, allergy-free holiday treats. people making christmas cookies this time of year. >> sounds like a fantastic hour. >> by the way, what are you going to be making for tamron? >> oh, al, you would have to bring -- tamron and i have a little wager. >> eagles zblost my eagles lost. >> and savannah's

a very good morning to you. it is 8:56. i'm laura garcia-cannon. we begin with new video into our newsroom of a tree that came crashing down this morning. in foster city. it happened on edgewater boulevard near east hillsdale boulevard. a tree came down on a truck closing one direction of the roadway. foster city police say no one was injured. and happening right now, this is a live look from our

chopper over the oakland police headquarters where protesters have lined up this morning. they had previously shut down northbound 880 at broadway, but we've just got word that has reopened. but still an active situation at the police department. one we're continuing to follow. another update in half an hour.

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>> announcer: from nbc news, this is "today's take" with al roker, natalie morales, willie geist and tamron hall live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. >> welcome to this monday morning, december 15th, 2014. a big crowd out on our plaza. i'm willie along with al, natalie and tamron. the crowds are growing every day. >> closer to christmas. >> big time of year around here. >> it sure is. >> this is the final week countdown. >> next week. >> we have a whole next week? >> thursday next week. my kids keep telling me every day. ten days, mom. >> if you're looking to get

willie something, think about a new phone. >> oh. >> tragedy. i finally got an iphone 6 on friday. >> this is your own fault. >> i spent the whole day setting up the e-mail with the wonderful help of our great i.t. department and saturday night, 24 hours later, i drop it on a new york city sidewalk and it shatters to pieces. >> you make it sound -- >> what were you doing? >> yeah. >> perhaps why did it slip out of your hand? >> saturday night, what happened? >> we have a little christmas party every year. >> little? >> it's been my parents' party for years. it's morphed into a joint party we've imposed on. you all were nice enough to come to the party. i don't know if you remember, we had brooke shields show up as a christmas tree. she always makes a grand entrance. this is last year. >> she walked in like that? >> that was her. >> she didn't know that guy. >> no. she was the top half of a christmas tree.

saturday night, here is how she entered, if we have that picture. now would be the time. there it is. >> fantastic. >> she went to the container store, asked them for a human-sized box and cellophane and made herself into a barbie doll. she was a gift under the tree. >> amazing. >> phenomenal entrance. >> she has the ability to have drinks through that? >> she made the entrance and quickly took that off and al was our chief photographer. >> what was interesting is i'm at -- first of all, you had a bar tender with a very heavy hand. >> heavy hand, yes. we request him every year. >> oh, my. you actually ran out of booze at one point. >> we did. i hand him a wad of money and say go reload. >> that explains the iphone. >> he had slippery hands all night. >> excuse me? really? christina, is that true? >> willie -- >> slippery hands. >> i'm talking to willie's dad, mr. geist. who drops a drink? >> i did actually. you're right.

there was a pattern. >> drink falls to the ground and he's like, are you all right? i'm like, willie, don't touch me. >> does that work for you? >> the best moment for me. i did not snap a picture of this. i had essentially the same out fit on as willie's little daughter, lucy. >> that's true. >> fashionista. >> she saw me at the party, walked up and this is basically -- lucy, what's up, tamron? hey! >> they never met before. >> never met. it was like moth to flame. we were hugging it out, inseparable. >> inseparable. >> i invited lucy to party with me later. she had some responsibilities but we have a date where i promised young lucy a night out on the town. >> a haircut like that? we like the new do. >> a great friend of mine said to me, why don't you try this? he sent me a picture of someone else's hair and i trust his advice so i changed my hair. >> love it. we're keeping it? >> i think we're going to keep it. i think we're going to keep it.

it's a little interesting. >> looks good. >> i'm into it. >> that was the weirdest toss ever. >> kind of like -- >> what we will tell in our books one day why that was a weird toss. >> you were on assignment. >> i missed the big party. >> you had a good reason. >> i was working. >> natalie would have been epic. >> good thing i didn't go. >> i don't drink and -- >> it would have been a disaster. >> it was. >> i was interviewing lindsey vonn. i got to go skiing with her. >> you did? >> yeah. i actually skied with her. so we had a fun time on the slopes. and's going to be part of a special "dateline" coming up soon. >> how is she doing? >> amazing. she just won a world cup. >> yes, she did. >> december 6th. so, she is unbelievable. talk about the comeback story. >> never bet against lindsey vonn. >> never better. >> how is it trying to keep up with lindsey vonn on a ski slope? >> she actually -- obviously, she took off. but i wasn't going -- we weren't

going 85, 90 miles per hour in the downhill. but she was like, i'm actually kind of impressed. you stuck with me the whole time. i was like, yeah. >> that's a badge of honor. >> not bad. >> pretty cool. >> pretty cool assignment. i'm pretty lucky. a little change of pace here. i know you heard about this. bill cosby kind of breaking his silence. i wouldn't call this an interview. >> no. >> no. >> some comments made on the phone with washington informer reporter stacey brown. quote, he says i only expect the black media to up hold the standards of excellence in journalism. when you do that, you have to go in with a neutral mind. i don't know why you would hold black media up and -- >> no. nobody understands that comment. >> all media. and then he was asked how his wife camille has been handling the stress of the allegations, allegedly. mr. cosby says love and strength of womanhood and you could reverse it, the strength of womanhood and love. and then he cut it off, they

don't want me talking to the media. it wasn't an interview, per se, but comment. >> his attorneys could not confirm that bill cosby made this statement to the reporter, stacey brown. >> that's right. >> in their statement. but it's interesting. he says if those comments are true "they" don't want me talking. i always think about like could someone keep me from the truth? if i have the truth and i felt that i was telling the truth -- you don't feel the truth. you know if you're telling the truth. if an attorney or not could keep me from talking. >> especially if you're bill cosby, you're that powerful and you've run your own life every day since you've entered the professional realm. >> he has a team of attorneys, though, who are also there to protect him in every way. >> i do have a sense that eventually he's going to speak. >> i think so, too. >> eventually. >> you would hope so. there are a lot of questions and a lot of answers that need to come out of this. >> yeah. meanwhile, the hollywood hacking story continues. doesn't it? before we talk about that,

though, angelina jolie is tweeting out a picture of herself. >> yes. >> she's going to be missing the premiere of "unbroken" and not because of the whole hacking thing, but instead because she has -- stars are just like us -- the chicken pox. take a look at what she put out there. >> i found out last night that i have chicken pox. so, i will be home itching and missing everyone, and i can't believe it because this film means so much to me. i can't believe it, but such is life. there it is. >> yeah. >> that's really tough. you know how much she put her heart and soul into getting this movie out there and then not to be able to be part of the premiere event and the hype and buildup christmas day release of the movie "unbroken." >> bummer. >> major bummer. we wish her well. >> the movie still comes out. >> she was able to do some

touring. she was here. >> she did. >> believe it or not she still looks pretty good. >> what do you do when you have that many kids in the house, too? i got chicken pox, i was 8 or 9. >> somebody's going to get it now. >> maybe somebody had it -- >> and gave it to her. >> -- already and gave it to her. >> load up on that oatmeal. >> that's right. >> the best for that, yeah. >> but it's worse when you're an adult and get chicken pox. >> sure. >> it can be dangerous, can lead to shingles. pretty bad deal. we wish her well. >> we definitely do. someone else we wish well, so impressive over the weekend. did you see the heisman winner steal our hearts over the weekend? marcus mariota became the first hawaiian to win the heisman. and in addition to just being a class act, this is a guy who is not afraid to show his feelings. >> yeah. >> here is the moment when he thanked his family. >> finally, mom and dad, matt and the rest of my family, thank

you. thank you for sacrificing and providing me and matt every opportunity we could ever have. words can't express how much you guys mean to me. i'm truly grateful to have you guys in my life. mom and dad, thank you for your love and sharing that with me and matt. we are truly grateful. >> ahh. >> one of those moment that is goes past -- to be honest i don't know college football and i didn't know him. the minute i saw that clip -- any time someone is thanking their mom and their dad. >> and their dad. >> what a moment to reflect in all that glory and everything they've put into their son. he is a great player. a lot of people think he will be the first pick in the draft. >> really? >> and oregon, they have a heisman trophy winner. >> because he grew up in hawaii,

he wasn't heavily recruited. now he has sort of blossomed and become this superstar and will be playing in the nfl next year. >> monday moments. send us your monday moments. >> have you ever picked up the heisman? he's holding it like nothing. >> take two people. >> you need a forklift for that one. incredible. >> he doesn't photograph like huge. >> no. >> is he a big guy? >> tall. >> tall. >> obviously cable steel arms. >> clearly. >> congratulations to him. >> condition grats. >> mr. roker, you have a check of the weather for us? >> yes, we do. we've got a change in the weather. all this warm air ahead of this frontal system. it's bringing showers and thunderstorms from minnesota all the way down into memphis, also parts of arkansas. look at the showers hanging around. can you see the arch there. 58 degrees today. that's ahead of the system. behind it, we've got colder air. we're look at know developing. minneapolis will get in on it.

we'll be look at that. again, nothing all that bad as far as snowfall accumulations. generally, about three to six inches of snow back through south dakota on into parts of nebraska. one to three inches through central minnesota. th 9:11, good monday morning to you. i'm christina loren, showing you the showers are. most of the heavy stuff pushing to the south and central valley. we're getting a break from the oranges and yellows, but we are fair game for on and off bouts of rain as we head throughout the day today. make sure you have the umbrella handy. temperatures are going to be chilly. 52 in the north bay, 55 for san francisco. this is not even our only storm system. another one moves onshore for the second half of tomorrow. we'll get another wave of rain on wednesday and a big system comes through late friday. >> and that's your latest weather. zbl >> up next, barry manilow. legend.

do you know which star he played piano for? >> i know. i know. >> don't answer. >> and a love the wardrobe change in between the hours. >> jacket for every hour. change in between the hours. >> jacket for every hour. >> i love it. the holidays are full of surprises. that's why, whenever the need arises... walgreens is always right around the corner, so you can get in and out in no time. most walgreens are even open 'til midnight, to help keep the magic in your holidays. at the corner of happy and healthy. up to 27% more brush movements. patented sonic technology with get healthier gums in two weeks. innovation and you philips sonicare save when you give philips sonicare this holiday season. he found it cleans everything... whefrom stove tops...d writing a book about his magic eraser

...to scuffed shoes, and more. and when ran out of pages, he made a website instead. share your tips at mycleanbook.com some people think vegetables are boring. but with green giant's delicious seasonings and blends, we just may change their minds. ho ho ho green giant! and for many, it's a struggle to keep your a1c down. so imagine, what if there was a new class of medicine that works differently to lower blood sugar? imagine, loving your numbers. introducing once-daily invokana®. it's the first of a new kind of prescription medicine that's used along with diet and exercise to lower blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes. invokana® is a once-daily pill that works around the clock to help lower a1c. here's how: the kidneys allow sugar to be absorbed back into the body.

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medications you are taking, and if you have kidney or liver problems. using invokana® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may increase risk of low blood sugar. it's time. lower your blood sugar with invokana®. imagine loving your numbers. ask your doctor about invokana®. grammy, tony award-winning artist just received his 14th grammy nomination for "night songs." >> his latest album "my dream duets" debuted already at number

four on the billboards. barry manilow, good morning. >> good morning. >> we're going to talk about "my dream duets" in a moment. let's answer that question we posed in the orange room a little while ago. your big break happened in the '70s when you were playing piano for? >> for bette midler. >> yes. >> fantastic. >> my friend, bette midler, one of the most talented people. it was really a thrill being part of her explosion. >> did you learn anything, watching and performing along with her? >> well, first of all, i never wanted to be a performer. i was just watching with my mouth opened but hopefully i helped. i did her arrangements, produced her first couple of records. i hope i gave her a good start. >> i think so. >> yeah, i learned about being professional. bette is a professional. >> barry, what was the break? was there a moment in your life, in your career, when you said this is when it all changed for me? >> i was in a car, driving with

my friend in florida. and a guy on the radio said number one record, barry manilow's "mandy." >> you say "mandy" and it comes on. >> my life exploded into a million pieces. >> you had been working as an arranger and lyricist and state farm is still being used. and mcdonald's. you said you would have been content being a one-hit wonder. >> well, not one-hit wonder. i would have been content being in the background, being a musician, an arranger, yeah. this explosion that happened after "mandy" was the biggest surprise. i had to go on the road and perform. i said, what am i supposed to do with my legs now? i've got to get tough and talk to these people. i just was not prepared. i was pretty awkward. the audiences didn't seem to have any problem with me. and i'm still here.

>> we love you. >> your "dream duets," you said awkward. what allowed the awkwardness to melt away, creating songs that your audience reacting to or fast forward to your dream collaboration? >> it's always about the music, the songs. i'm very comfortable making music, whether it's playing, singing. i'm okay with that. it was the rest of it that i didn't -- telling jokes or saying, how are you? and all that. i didn't really know what i was doing there. as soon as i got back to the piano and was with the band, i was fine. >> we want you to help us play a little game called finish the lyrics. hopefully, we won't destroy your songs. >> i love this game show. >> are you ready, willie? >> i'm going to give you the first part of the lyric and you're going to finish it. >> ready? ♪ i write the songs that make the whole world sing i write the songs that ♪ >> live in -- wait.

that live in -- >> where is savannah guthrie? finish the song. >> that make the whole world song. ♪ i write the songs of love and special things ♪ >> i write the songs -- >> stay on with us, savannah. one more. ♪ you know i -- ♪ can't smile without you >> yes! ♪ can't -- ♪ if you ever knew what i'm going through ♪ >> who's singing? >> savannah. ♪ without you can i do mandy? >> i'll give you -- ♪ you came and you gave without taking ♪ keep going ♪ but i sent you away oh, mandy ♪ >> hey, savannah, who sing that is song?

♪ you came and you stopped me from shaking ♪ >> wow! >> keep going. what about cocacabana, barry? ♪ the hottest spot north of ♪ barry manilow thank you so much ♪ ♪ and you'll join kathie lee and hoda ♪ >> thank you. >> oh, my word. >>

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taking a look at the headlines, police have ended the siege at a cafe in sydney, australia, where a gunman held employees and customers hostage today for 18 hours. they said the gunman was an iranian refugee and self-styled sheik out on bail in a murder case. officers stormed the cafe in the middle of the night, gunfire was heard and several of the former hostages were brought out on stretchers. new data confirms eczema does not increase a child's odds of being short. previous research had suggested there was a lunink between the skin disease and height but an analysis of nine studies could

not find an association. however, a very small number of children with severe eczema who also didn't get adequate sleep were at risk for slower growth. new research reveals e-cigarette use among teens is on the rise according to two studies just released. a survey of 14 and 15-year-olds in the state of hawaii found 30% had tried e-cigarettes. in connecticut, about 25% of high school students have used them. 40 states prohibit e-cigarette sales to minors. the fda has a proposal on the table that would expand that ban to all 50 50 states. and it was a busy weekend at the box office. exxodus, gods and kings debuted dominated at $24.5 million in sales. knocking "the hunger games:mockingjay part 1 to number two. and madagascar to number three.

on 12-13-14, both girls one in arizona, one in ohio. neither birth was intentionally in arizona, one in ohio. neither birth was intentionally scheduled for that time. ♪ if you're happy and you know it, eat a snack. in arizona, one in ohio. neither birth was intentionally scheduled for that time. ♪ if you're happy and you know it, eat a snack. ♪ when you're sad and you know it, ♪ then you face will surely show it, ♪ if you're sad and you know it, eat a snack. ♪ ♪ if you're bored and you know it, eat a snack. ♪ ♪ if you're lonely and you know it, eat a snack. ♪ if you're sleepy ♪ if you're guilty ♪ if you're stressed or if you're mad, ♪ if you're human eat your feelings, eat a snack. ♪ walmwith an intel processor the hfor great performance. yeah, i'm using it to video chat with santa. no way! yeah. he's naughty. get the top 100 gifts at unbeatable prices. like the hp stream laptop with intel inside. walmart.

losing your chex mix too easily? deploy the boring potato chip decoy bag. with a variety of tastes and textures, only chex mix has twenty bags of interesting. and good morning. it's 9:26 on your monday. i'm sam brock. and a new round of rain is soaking the bay area this morning. here's a live look outside at downtown san jose. looks a little clearer right now. it is getting more rain, though, on top of the three plus inches that the south bay has received from last week's epic deluge. traffic has been slow along most major highways this morning, as well. mike is tracking that. we'll be talking with him shortly. a tree came crashing down this morning in foster city on account of that weather. this happened on edgewater boulevard near east hillsdale boulevard. the tree fell on to a truck closing one direction of the roadway there. foster police, though, say nobody was injured. happening right now, protesters are out this morning in oakland. police have been making some arrests and closing down

streets. some still remain closed this morning at this hour. several hundred people as you see right here gathered in the area around oakland's police department headquarters. people are angry still over the recent grand jury decisions in ferguson and new york city. at one point, they were stretching out along broadway. we are checking in to find out what the status is right now of those protests. we'll have a look at your weather and traffic after this break. ♪ wow something sounds sweet in here!!!!

♪ need a little honey in the bowl. yeah!!! badabopbopbopa!!! no? must be the honey!!! welcome back. the time is 9:28. taking a life look at the doppler. all this rain came through in the past 24 hours. it's starting to race off in the central valley. we already accumulated over an inch of rain in places like novado. throughout the day today, it'll be cold, you need your umbrella. and a good looking system on the way for tomorrow, as well. for tonight, a bit of a break. rain returns by 1:00 p.m. tomorrow. wednesday, on and off spotty activity, thursday looks dry,

and then a big system friday into saturday. let's check your drive. here's mike. >> we're looking to our fremont camera where we see this flag here. a good amount of wind going on here and a slower drive. compressing down. look at your map down the dunbarton bridge and south of there. slow coming in southbound, 680 coming out of the sunol area. that's been a tough drive. look at the tri-valley, an issue. ever since the earlier jackknife big rig this morning bled into the morning commute. a slow drive through that portion. slower approaching the bay bridge toll plaza where the metering lights are on. and slick roadways, as well. back to you. >> definitely some challenges for drivers this morning. another look at your local news, weather and traffic in half an hour, see you then.

♪ best day of my life >> welcome back to "today" on this monday morning, december 15th, 2014. i'm willie, along with al, natalie and tamron. a lot of time weiss like to show you beautiful proposals that happen around the world. >> creative ones. >> beautiful proposals. >> this one is really creative. didn't quite go the way the man thought it might. from the netherlands, hired a crane to lower himself. the crane tipped over and smashed through a neighbor's roof. >> wow! >> here is the thing, though. he went through with the proposal later and she said yes despite the fact that he destroyed the neighbor's house

with a crane. >> what's that wedding going to be like? >> they won't have a wedding because all the moncy going to the neighbor. >> settle the lawsuit. >> wow! >> a for effort but -- wow! >> f for execution. >> are we sure that's real? are we sure that was really a poe poefl happening? obviously we see that it did happen but is that the result? >> that's the story behind the video anyway. >> that crane work, too. >> yeah. >> he's very heavy. >> he must be. >> amazing. >> wow! >> like me two years ago. >> poor guy. >> she said yes so they're getting married. >> and now financial bankruptcy. >> come on. >> mr. roker, how about the weather? let's show you what's going on again. looking at today, a beautiful day up and down the east coast. fantastic weather. temperatures a little on the cool side. wet weather from louisiana up into minnesota. snow and icy conditions back

through the plain states. look for more rain moving into northern and central california. tomorrow that rain spreads a little further south. windy conditions. we've got more snow around the great lakes. wet weather moves into the midatlantic states and the southeast and on into the northeast as 9:32, good morning, i'm christina loren. tracking decent downpours, although getting a bit of a break from the heavy stuff for most of the bay area. tracking this little batch right here getting ready to hit san francisco. watch out for a little bit of that red. those are heavy downpours, you could see thunderstorms later on today. and temperatures, oh, they are going to be chilly. mostly in the 50s. 55 degrees on the peninsula today and 56 on the east shore. rain just about every single day this week with the exception of thursday. we'll be here to guide you through it. >> and that's your latest weather. willie? >> al, thanks a lot. if you want to get away for the holidays but haven't made your plans yet, there's time to get a good deal. >> and whether you like the snow

or -- we've got both at affordable prices. good morning, jackie, good to see you. way. jackie is editor of "travel & leisure" magazine. are we sure we can get these all? >> absolutely. >> kohler, wisconsin. >> all decked out for the holidays, 30 miles of lights, 38 wreathes and 28 christmas trees. breakfast with santa, christmas carolling in the library. the town itself is doing the making spirits bright holiday lights show. cross country skiing, snow shoeing, ice skating and stay at the inn on woodlake. great deal. $99 a night, 120 rooms, modern property. this is a wonderful deal for the holidays. >> kid friendly. i will say this, full disclosure, the most romantic weekend i ever spent was in kohler. they have a copper tub.

you get roses. >> can we dig into this a little bit? who was it? >> newport, rhode island. let's go there. >> shifting gears. newport, rhode island, voted one of the best places to celebrate christmas. this tiny town does it up well. they ask people to decorate their homes and restaurants with white christmas lights to conjure up that old-fashioned candlelit vibe. stay at the hyatt regency newport. they will be decked out for the holidays in a nautical winter wonderland theme and carollers coming in throughout december. colorado, green mountain falls. good family spot. >> definitely great family spot. excursions and activities. the che l ligightiningg u upp te zozooo a at ninighght. certrtaiainn a animamall e exhx opopenen..

kikidsds undnderer 3 3 a are f causeway. two-hour ride. you stop for an hour, everybody gets out to play and hang out. the lodge is $119 a night. it has an outdoor fire pit. everybody can get together and roast marshmallows. >> that is christmas heaven there. st. augustine, florida. >> think about beach, warm weather. they're doing their nights of lights celebration through february. can you even go after the holidays. totally decked out. millions of white lights decorating the town, which you can explore by walking, biking, taking the old town trolley, horse-drawn carriage ride. we like, if you stay 30 minutes outside, there's the hammock beach resort go for the full resort experience, $158 a night. they're doing off and on things like cookies and milk with santa's elves, arts and crafts celebration in the lobby

christmas eve. >> who needs snow? >> exactly. >> amazing. >> speaking of, san diego, california, never a bad time to visit san diego. >> never a bad time. it's a wonderful place. they're doing lots of things for the holidays as well. parade of lights. more than 80 boats will be decked out, all sitting in the harbor. that's december 21st. on the 26th they're doing the big bay balloon parade. marching bands, floats, balloons, over 100,000 people are expected to come. and then the iconic hotel del, they have an ice skating rink set up. where else in the world can you go and go ice skating on the beach? the lakehouse hotel and resort. they're doing things like ornament making and decorating letters to santa. >> before we go, san antonio, texas. >> wonderful. they're going to be doing their ford fiesta luminaries

celebration. for new year's eve, celebrate san antonio. fireworks, live music on three stages. and to stay we like the omni del rio on the riverwalk wheich is where everyone wants to be. >> jackie, thank you very much. up next -- there's another kardashian. >> another one? >> there's another kardashian to keep up with. we'll get you caught up in your pop fix wisest kid, am i forgetting something?

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put your blinged out mugs -- new mugs, thank you to our wonderful staff, with a little swarovski going on there. >> swarovski? >> i don't know. it sounds good. >> they look good. show of unity. selma premiere in new york city. the director and some of the cast of oprah's new film posed together in shirts that read "i can't breathe" with their arms

raised at the new york library following the premiere. oprah was on the red carpet for the premiere. the civil rights drama, along with a-list stars, tyler perry and the great aretha franklin, among so many others. the premiere took place after the march on saturday. oprah said the deaths of eric garner and michael brown in ferguson is a wake-up call if you're paying attention. so many talked about the timing of the release of this film and what's happening in the news today. it was a powerful image to see that cast wear that shirt. >> i'm hearing great things about the movie as well. >> so well done. simply spectacular. a lot of big things coming out of that movie. next on tap, miley's wrist surgery. wrecking ball singer showed off her wrecked wrist to the world.

miley had a cyst. it's so gross to see, she put a selfie frowning -- let me get this straight. she put little stickers on the sore so you can't see it. >> oh, okay. >> on the incision. >> i don't want to see that. >> she alter ed thed that but w us to know she had surgery, bizarre surgery. she had justin bieber and elvis inside the images. >> trying to cover it up. >> fans need not worry. she was out and about the next day, showing up st. jude's charity event in beverly hill with his a brace on her arm. also joining her, her boyfriend, patrick schwarzenegger, both posed with a 13-year-old deejay at the event. i like this other side of miley. she likes to party hard but does give back. >> what a tribute to elvis, putting his face inside her wound. >> oh! >> another kind of kardashian to

tell you about. kourtney kardashian has given birth to a baby boy. she and her partner, scott disik, welcomed a baby boy. instagram of her 5-year-old son, mason, who now shares a birthday with her baby boy. >> oh, no. that's not good. >> in her birthday message to mason, she wrote happy birthday to the coolest little boy in the entire world. i'm truly blessed and honored to be your mommy. she is now mom to both boys, two boys and a girl and -- >> wow! same birthday. >> i know. >> make it is easy on the mom's side throwing the birthday party. >> but if you wanted -- can i have my own day, mom? congratulations to kourtney. that is your blinged out pop fix. next, if you're in charge of the cookies for your kid's class holiday pa there are some people you should give underwear to this holiday.

and there are some people you shouldn't. people you should. shouldn't. janice! should. shouldn't. yes. no. should. no way. should. no. definitely not. ha ha, nay. you shouldn't give underwear to everybody. but for those you do, give them fruit of the loom.

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. anybody in your family or child's classroom has an allergy, it can be challenging but you can bake allergy-safe treats. it just takes swapping out a few ingredients. >> kelly has some allergy-friendly recipes. >> you're making class cookies and you feel bad because some kids will be excluded. >> and nobody should be deprived. >> absolutely. >> one in 13 kids has a food allergy. that's pretty much every classroom has at least two kids with an allergy. it's important to bake allergy-safe treats for everybody to enjoy. >> what are the red flag ingredients? >> earth balance butter along with the shortening.

some shortening is flavored with berries of the you want to make sure it's allergy safe. milk. it's so easy to substitute. rice milk substitute for dairy milk. you can use almond milk, soy milk. eggs is a tough one. applesauce in baking. one table spoon of water per egg for muffins. there are commercial egg replacers but they're expensive. you have to mix them up. this is really easy and foolproof. this is actually just gluten free all-purpose flour. it's never been easier to substitute if you have celiac or wheat allergy to substitute regular flour for the gluten free. >> sunflower butter cookies, right? >> this here. easy ingredient swap. brown sugar, granulated sugar and the sunflower butter. i'm going to have you mix this

all up. this is basic cookie recipe, flour, baking soda, salt. >> if you had a gluten allergy, you could use a gluten free flour instead of the regular flour? >> absolutely. quickly turn that on until it's just mixed, which is what we have here. chill your dough for at least an hour. if you don't have that much time, throw it in the freezer. >> then we're going to make the classic little shapes? >> crisscross. >> exactly. >> tastes like the real deal? >> they really do. >> they're good. >> how about the classic sugar cookie? >> the egg replacer is the applesauce with this. again, this is an easy recipe to make with your kids. >> looks like the ones i made yesterday because i used everything original. >> all that stuff. to make the icing, it's so easy to do at home. rice milk instead of your dairy milk and some vanilla for flavoring and then we're just -- do you want to mix that up,

willie? mix it up until it's kind of creamy like that. we can throw some food coloring in if you like. >> then it turns out like that and you can decorate your cookies. >> exactly. be careful with the sprinkles and the toppings, too. always check ingredients and the labels. ingredients can and do change. you can get in trouble with that. >> kelly, thank you. recipes on our website today.com. we're back after this.

ring ring!... progresso! it's ok that your soup tastes like my homemade. it's our slow simmered vegetables and tender white meat chicken. apology accepted. i'm watching you soup people. make it progresso or make it yourself some people think vegetables are boring. but with green giant's delicious seasonings and blends, we just may change their minds. ho ho ho green giant! today's 21st annual toy tri drive has surpassed, barry manilow making rounds to collect gifts on their way now to families in new jersey and texas. >> here with us today is sarah douglas of stamp iing up, one o our long-time partners. good morning, sarah. >> good morning. >> you guys are back as always.

>> we are. >> thanks so much. >> we love the toy drive. >> what are you donating this year? >> $2.8 million -- >> oh, my gosh. >> worth of stamps and paper crafting supplies. we're excited about it this year. more than we've ever done before. >> what kind of stuff do you have? >> this is one example. it's a kit that makes a journal. and so it's available for any age. it doesn't matter if you're young or old. a way to capture memories. this is just one of the things we're donating. >> emphasizes the importance of creativity in kids. >> of course. well, you know, creativity kind of breaks the bounds of rules. you can kind of do whatever you want when you're creating. >> thank you, sarah. >> so generous. thank you very much. >> thank you. this is the last week to contribute to our toy drive. go to today.com for more details. coming up, kathie lee and hoda get a song from barry manilow. plus, today's buzz after your local news. great start of the week. >> it is. >> and

good morning, everyone. i'm scott mcgrew. new round of rain soaking the bay area this morning. live look for you at downtown san jose. it's getting more rain on top of the 3 plus inches from last week's deluge. a tree came crashing down this morning in foster city.

it happened near east hillsdale boulevard. you can see it came down on a truck. it closed one direction of the road. foster city police say no one injured. and protesters are out in oakland. several hundred people gathered in an area around the oakland police department headquarters. police have made arrests and some streets have been closed. people are angry over recent grand jury decisions in ferguson and new york city. well, let's check your weather this morning. >> it's still coming in. but we need this rain. so it's a good story to tell. unfortunately for commuters this morning, it was coming in pretty heavily. at this point, getting a little bit of a break. which means we have an opportunity to tally up some of our accumulated rainfall so far this morning. and at this time, we're getting decent downpours from san francisco across the bay bridge to the east shore. so do keep that in mind. travel cautiously, it's slick out there. we'll see on and off bouts of rain for today, clearing by tonight and then we get another system as we head throughout tomorrow. don't go ditching that umbrella just yet.

56 degrees for the south bay, 55, that's your high on the peninsula, and 52 degrees for the north bay. more on that upcoming rain. first let's check your drive. here's mike. >> good morning, christina. an early morning jackknifed big rig. southbound 880, it was not here, we'll show you on the maps what we're talking about. this is over here, southbound 680 around vargas. now, there's still activity over off to the shoulder. so getting close to the boulevard, we see traffic backed up to 580 and the dublin interchange and west 580 out of the dublin and livermore. that's a very late, very slow drive there. the rest of the commute shaping up nicely. to the south bay okay. north 87, the latest crash in the south bay and some flooding reported for 101 and 92. back to you. >> thanks. we'll have another local news update coming up in half an hour.

from nbc news, this is "today" with kathie lee gifford and hoda kotb, live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. >> hey, everybody. so glad you're with us for fun day monday, december 15th. you're anxious. >> no. december 15th. ten days until christmas. >> yes. >> for all of you out there who haven't started shopping. >> and 14 days -- >> until christmas eve. >> no. until "today" the musical starring regis philbin. >> that's going to be big. big, big, big. >> it will be out-regis.

>> it will. >> today is the busiest mailing day of the year. three days until free shipping day on the 18th. >> you know what that tells me, people aren't as much procrastinators as i thought. i thought more people were like me and waited even longer. since today is the busiest, it must mean everybody is shipping. >> but why are they waiting three more days if it is free -- there must be something about it is guaranteed to somehow get there before christmas. i don't know, check the fine print. >> everybody is ordering online now. the idea you can get your packages by christmas eve is probably less likely than it was in days past. >> definitely. >> don't you think? >> i know so. >> we have a terrific show today. >> why? >> we can't smile without him, that's why. barry manilow is here. this is music, hoda, by the way, something you rarely hear. ♪ i can't smile without you >> he's on the billboard charts again. he's got a new duet album, very interesting. dream duets, all with people who

passed away that he has great respect for. >> whitney houston, louie armstrong. >> the list is endless. also, "today's buzz," all the hollywood scoop you missed. feel free to keep going -- while you were out holiday shopping including the surprising response oprah had a question that barbara walters asked her last night. >> very interesting. if you're staying in a hotel over the holidays, we're going to make your day. we're going to show you where the germiest places inside your room are. where the targets are. be careful. we're going to find out. all right. how was your weekend, busy woman? >> yours started before mine. you went to the women and billboard music awards. >> this is one of my favorite awards, afternoon lunch honoring women in music. one of our own, her name is julie germolovich but we call her julie g. she's the smaller one. >> she's tiny but lethal. >> also the youngest woman on

the list this year. these are all top women executives. congrats to julie. a great day. savannah was there, she introduced idina menzel. meghan trainor was there. there is a shot. matt did a panel -- >> taylor swift and -- >> aretha franklin. >> aretha showed up and sang -- >> this is the moment where she sang and a cake came out. all these women arianna grande. the only thing i didn't like about the lunches, i started not eating sweets on friday because i'm hating myself. >> because you're out of control. >> there was a chocolate cake in front of me and seriously, you know when you're just like staring at something, i took my fork a couple of times and went like that and just left the fork with the piece on it and didn't eat it but i was so -- you know you get fixated, i was missing everything because i was -- i kept looking at it saying just a small bite won't matter. >> she had a long day. she went out to dinner with boots and a couple and literally

fell asleep. >> i did. >> at dinner with two strangers. >> you know when you're fading but you're in a cozy booth and you're all comfortable. and literally -- and anyway and i heard are you sleeping? i looked up and i was, like, yes. tell me about your weekend. >> i went to dallas, texas, for jason kennedy's wedding to the beautiful lauren scruggs. most spiritual, god centered wedding i've ever been to in my life. they are just the cutest. they're going to be featured in "people" magazine december 19th. i don't want to give a whole lot away. she wore a gorgeous gown. they're honeymooning right now in mexico. it was a small wedding. around 4:00 in the morning, i heard my phone go off, cas and i are staying in the room together and i go over and there is a text from jason, thank you for you and cas coming.

it means the world to me. i said, shouldn't he be consummating his marriage. i can tell you one of the most amazing things that happened was his mom, who is just one of the most adorable ladies, had recently had two hip replacements, two knee replacements. earlier in that day she fell and she had a hip replacement, so it is not -- it is not something that can break, because it -- it hurt her so badly, it dislocated it to the back of her body. she had to have two operations the day of the wedding and we were all wondering why it was starting so late and, like, gee, i hope they're not getting cold feet. all of a sudden, we find out they're taking seats away so his mom can come in on a wheelchair. and when they -- i don't want to give anything away, but when he danced with his mom, that night, at the son and mother dance -- >> beautiful? >> everything was just -- >> it is all in the special. we get to watch it called the

kennedy wedding, jason and lauren get married, appears next monday -- >> on e. they're the sweetest couple. you remember, she's the one that was in that horrible three years ago accident with the propeller, her left eye and lost her left -- part of her left arm. the healing in her is on every level of every human being, spiritual, physical, everything else, and what was another major touching thing is because she's lost her right hand -- her left hand, has a prosthetic, they put their wedding bands on their right hand, both of them. and it was -- >> that's beautiful. >> it is what true love really is. it really, really is. gives you new hope. so anyway, new hope, prince george. >> new baby pics. you know how we love him. three new photos that have been released of prince george, taken at kensington palace. he looks like a man to me, doesn't he? like a man, just hanging out. >> just sitting down. >> taken by the harry's private

secretary. so it wasn't as if it was, like, a perpetual -- >> just hanging at home, which happens to be kensington palace. >> 17 months old. and how adorable is that? >> just delicious. >> if you're wondering where he was while his parents were in the states, he was with his grandmother, carol middleton in buckleberry. he hung out with the grandparents. >> that'>> all right. >> i guess we have to get to this because we're running out of time. this is going to be our final everyone has a story of the year. it is hard to believe. but we have -- ♪ everyone has a story >> is that you? it is you. >> anyway, we have jessica and her mother kathleen from san diego, california, on the line. kathleen wrote in to tell us about her unbelievable 12-year-old daughter jessica and the amazing work she does at such a young age. hi, kathleen. hi, jessica. >> hi. >> listen, can we tell you a little of the story.

jessica was born in china but abandoned when she was born because she had a facial defect, a cleft lip. she spent the first five years of her life in an orphanage, had two major surgeries during that time with no one there to love on her, no one there to comfort her and never had a thing of her own. is that right, sweetie? >> yes. >> yes. so all of a sudden this beautiful mom of yours comes along with her husband and her son and they found that there were children that were not being adopted after a surroucer age. you got to come from china to america and then what happened? >> we move ed moved and i moved started a foundation called we care. >> we'll tell you all about it on thursday, but mostly -- >> excited to meet both of them. >> right in your wheel house, hoda, because she wants no child to ever go through anything traumatic to be without something they can hold on to

and love and have of their own. >> we look forward to seeing you guys on thursday. >> we'll hear the whole story then. have a safe trip, okay? >> okay, thank you. >> since -- we showed kelly clarkson's picture. can we show the baby picture. we popped it up for a second. that cute little baby of kelly's, that little gerber baby. >> river rose, right? just precious. >> i want her to marry prince george. >> let's do it. >> so cute. >> let's have that happen. coming up, taylor swift turns 25 and she celebrates with all of her superstar fans. >> are we not going to get to this? we have to, quickly. favorite things, this little book, little star by anthony destefano. do not forget samaritan's purse, you guys. last chance, go online and this goes to 113 million people around the world who never get a present at christmas time. >> and one last point out, kathie lee's book, good gifts, sold out. >> thanks to you all. thanks to you all. >> sold out.

>> god bless. and too bad we don't get to that. >> we'll get to it later. >> the photos and much more with "today's buzz." we'll be right back. with my android from tracfone, i can... order more shaving cream. pay the electric bill. keep towels piping hot. get kids to sit still. play beard styling tunes. learn new razor tricks. hire a pro waxer. post before and after pics. i can do all that with my android from tracfone. 90-day plans start as low as $20. unbeatable nationwide coverage. no contract. for a limited time save $20 on the samsung galaxy centura. now just $39.99. tracfone. do everything for less. looking for one of these?

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ring ring! ...progresso! you soup people have my kids loving vegetables. well vegetables... shh! taste better in our savory broth. vegetables!? no...soup! oh! soup! loaded with vegetables. packed with taste. . . . . . . . time for "today's buzz" and all the celebrity scoop you missed while dashing from store to store getting the holiday gifts this weekend. >> with the hot hollywood headlines is founder and editor in chief of showbizcafe.com jack

rico. barbara walters is out of retirement. she did her most fascinating people. and number one on the list was -- >> amal clooney. and neil patrick harris also made the list with scarlett johansson, oprah winfrey, taylor swift. >> i like amal. why her, do you think? >> barbara says it is the most fascinating person to capture the most fascinating man and that was the reason. unfortunately she did not get an interview with her, but they did have a video with a lot of great chunks of information. one of them was, which i did not know, parallel to why she got married, one of the great characteristics of why she got married, amal's mother was a journalist right along with george clooney's father who also was a journalist. they all like human rights. and barbara compared amal with jackie onassis, princess diana and kate middleton. that's great company to be in. op >> oprah was one of the people on the list. they did an interview and she

said something kind of surprising to a lot of people. let's listen first and talk about it. >> before i leave this earth i will not be satisfied until i -- >> until i make peace with the whole weight thing. >> what? >> yeah. >> that's still on your mind. >> yes. i got to do it. >> i'm expecting something deeply profound. >> that's it. i've got to make peace with it. >> wow. i bet a lot of women can relate to that. >> she's such an inspirational woman that you probably thought she should have given some sort of like inspirational commentary on life, but she gave an honest -- that's what is so great about oprah, so real. if it is a simple answer i'm going to give, that's what i'll do. >> bill cosby, a new york post reporter says he finally broke his silence. >> quoted him. >> he quoted him directly. the cosby camp isn't confirming he actually spoke. so what is the real story here? >> the story is that sometime this weekend page six reporter

called his house in massachusetts, and allegedly got bill cosby on the phone and two comments were made, two quotes she was able to extract from him. one was about bill cosby saying that he wanted the african-american media to be impartial to -- >> all media. >> all media, i mean, that's kind of the thing. the other thing was that he -- when asked about his wife camille, who of 50 years, he said, quote, love and the strength of womanhood, which is more of a reference to the way she's been coping with all of this. >> in the two years i worked with bill, all those years ago, i never saw camille once. >> interesting. >> we were always away, but that's not bad or unusual, but you would think you would get some time -- she's a beautiful woman. >> we should point out we actually did comment from his attorney, marty singer, saying he's not confirmed that cosby did make the statement. >> okay. >> all righty then. let's move on. taylor swift and her birthday party.

>> i like -- >> music's biggest star celebrated her birthday on saturday. she celebrated at a concert. and then she took the party over to her tribeca apartment. >> quite the pad. >> she had a long list of celebrity friends that -- >> who's that? >> jay-z, beyonce, justin timberlake, selena gomez, just to mention a few. the best part of the birthday was a gift that lena dunham from hbo's girls gave her, a gold necklace with taylor swift's kitty on it, olivia benton, as you can see there. and taylor swift called it her most prized and cherished possession. >> wow. >> i invited all of those people to your 50th. you got kenny logon loggins ands great. >> all right. we should also point out back to cosby for a second, cosby's attorneys constantly denied the woman's claims, never been charged with any crime. >> all right, moving on. >> the songs are classics and

he's a class act. we love him. >> we're talking about the one, the only, barry manilow. >> the legendary singer proves that dreams do come true. >> decade after decade after decade, right after this. somethd not given. dedication means pursuing your passion. every day. healing is something we do. together. and together, we put veterans first. search va careers to find out how. who's been using walmart savings catcher, now is the time to redeem your savings on holiday stocking stuffers. so you can use that to get this? yup. or this? yes. or this? yeah - or that, or this or this or this or that. redeem your savings catcher savings on last minute gifts at walmart.

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[ doorbell rings ] oh, i hope it's the microfiber recliner! [ laughs ] ahhh. ♪ ♪ i wanna be loved by you record sales topping over 80 million. >> check. >> over 40 million albums and 50 top 40 hits. >> check. >> membership in the great american song book hall of fame. >> check, check, check. >> we can go on and on forever, we would love to, but that would leave us no time to talk to this musical icon, barry manilow. he is kicking off his new tour on february 11th and out with another album. but this time he does things a little differently performing with other entertainment legends like whitney houston, louis armstrong and marilyn monroe just to name a few. >> the album is called "my dream duets." one of our dreams is with us today.

could i make duets out of these great records that were done by these legendary people. >> that creates the problem of who do i pick? and which song -- >> i made 35, everybody i could possibly think of, bing crosby, fred astaire, everybody. and these 11 were the best ones. judy garland and john denver and louis armstrong. >> how do you do it, barry? how -- what is the process like? >> because the musical technology has gone so far, they were able to take the orchestras off of the old records, and then i put brand-new arrangements, brand-new orchestrations and i was left with just the voices. so i could make them into duets. >> isn't that unbelievable. >> they often record with the orchestra in their booth at the same time, now they can --

>> we took them off the old record. moon river with andy williams, oh, my god. >> the hardest was whitney because of the way she sings is so different than your style and the range. what was the challenge there? >> each one of them has -- they're legends not by accident. we -- these -- whitney's solo was more of a church and that's not my kind of thing. it took me three days to figure out how to fit myself into -- >> were you surprised to watch this soar up the charts? >> i didn't expect it to go anywhere near the top five. >> didn't it debut at number five? >> number four. >> sorry! >> hello. that's why i don't read them. >> i love -- >> number four. that's how many decades? >> four. >> speaking of decades -- >> mandy was 75. what is that? >> do the math. >> 70, 80, 90, five decades. i'm so old.

>> speaking of all these photos of you -- look around. >> look how young he was. >> you had so many looks. >> you did. >> how can we forget? >> her name was lola. >> how can we forget? i got in such trouble. i got a note from the smithsonian institute they wanted it. i'm so honored that -- >> do you still have it? >> so i said -- in an interview, i knew we would wind up in an institution, so they were so insulted, they sent it back. >> they did? >> come on. >> we love you, barry. >> they want it back. come on, let's make nice with the smithsonian. we love you to pieces. he's going to be back with a song. what are you singing? >> a duet i did with louis armstrong "what a wonderful world". >> perfect. >> thank you. see you in a bit. coming up, the germiest spots in a hotel room, all after your local news. >> hopefully not one you stayed in last night. we'll be right back.

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to make your signature christmas dish.rt has everything you need mine is mouthwatering mashed potatoes. i mix my russets with milk, butter, and cream cheese to make them super creamy. mmmm... and yours? sock-it-to-me spiral cut ham! whoa! you made this? yep. i just take a sam's choice super premium spiral cut ham from walmart, bake it flat side down, tent the foils so all the juices can mingle... who are you? ham man! walmart has everything you need for christmas dinner at unbeatable prices, guaranteed by savings catcher. walmart. ♪ her name was lola she was a show girl ♪ well, good morning, everyone, 10:26. i'm scott mcgrew. protesters out in oakland this morning. out in force, several hundred people gathering around the area, around the oakland police department headquarters. police have made some arrests. some streets have been shut down.

they're angry, of course, over recent grand jury decisions in the ferguson and new york city cases. today's storm brought down a big tree in foster city. it happened on edgewater boulevard near east hillsdale boulevard. the tree came down on a truck, closed one direction of the roadway, foster city police say nobody was injured. we're going to have a look at your weather and traffic, as well after the break. ho ho ho... we'll all have hot cocoa! ma'am, need a strong pot of joe. the all new keurig 2.0.

welcome back now, the time 10:28.

showing you the radar, the heavy stuff in the central valley. decent downpours right now from san francisco all the way south to about at this point menlo park. we're going to cut that chance off, though, throughout the next half hour or so. all of this headed to the south bay. now, as we head throughout the day today, showers continue. tomorrow, we get another storm system, a little bit of a break late wednesday into thursday. and a potent system comes onshore by friday. i'm going to time everything out for you today at 11:00. plus we'll tell you how much we're expecting in your backyard. stick around for that. >> even if it's not officially showers, we have wet roads and windshield wipers. call it what you will. it's slippery conditions. in the north bay, here's san rafael. you need to keep the headlights on. a slower drive starting to improve now approaching the maze in the bay bridge toll plaza. very slow west of 580, south 680, the earlier crash leaves a tractor-trailer on the side of the road around mission.

it's been a tough drive for 680 south, the rest of your day much better. >> thanks. well, join us at 11:00 for the big show. our next newscast. see you then. we are back with more of "today" on this fun day monday. for the past few weeks we have been shining a light on the salvation army and kathie lee's new book called "good gifts: one year in the heart of a home" that is flying off the shelves, by the way. >> we're going to let you know if we'll be able to publish more. the book -- i think so. the book is filled with cherished memories, beautiful photos and some of my favorite recipes including a few from our very own nutrition and health expert joy bauer who is making her delicious chicken chili and cocktail. hi, joy. >> i'm excited to make this for you guys because so many people love buffalo wings, right? thousand plus calories, you feel awful afterwards. this is amazing and the same flavor. what i did, so simple. dutch oven, a lot of oil spray i

have with the theme of buffalo wings, lots of carrots and celery sauteed. only for ten minutes, nice and soft. and in your garlic, i like garlic in everything, two tablespoons each of chili powder and a little bit of flour. >> okay. >> hoda, i'll have you stir this. i'll put you to work. >> okay. >> now we'll put in the ground lean chicken, about two pounds go for it, for the liquid -- >> chicken, not turkey. >> no. ground chicken, buffalo chicken chili. this is four cups of either tomato juice or vegetable juice. >> only half of that. half a cup of hot sauce. >> hot sauce. >> if you like it really spicy, what i would say is stick with half a cup, stir this around, and then after you have the finished product, then you can add a little bit more. you don't want people to ruin the recipe. after you break this up, we're going to put the top on, just partially, and we're going to let it simmer for about 20

minutes and then ta-da, this is what you get. >> wow. >> and ladle that in. it is a hearty serving. two or three of those. >> how many calories are we talking about? >> a whole two and a half cups is 330 calories and the best part is, what do you need with your buffalo wings? you need blue cheese dip, right? >> yes. >> most people love it that way. >> i took non-fat greek yogurt and mixed it with blue cheese crumbles and there you go. >> look how beautiful. >> little scallions on top, perfect masterpiece, 330 calories, can't beat that. >> eat around the sides, right? >> this one is hot. >> i'll get this side. >> what i do is double and triple the recipe so that you can stockpile in your freezer lots and lots of extras. do you like it? and how simple is that? >> so fast. >> ready for cocktails? >> yes. >> cool. okay. so this is what i call my berkshire iced tea. the reason i call it that is because my favorite place in the

world is massachusetts. we have a family home and 38 extended family members. >> oh, my gosh. >> i concoct all this stuff -- she's choking. you need the heimlich, seriously, do you? >> so hot. >> so hot. >> it is hot. >> delicious. >> it was boiling over. >> oh, okay. but you liked it? >> all right. cocktail to wash it down. >> the cocktail once again, so with the cocktail, all you do is you steep a lemon, ginger tea. we'll remove the tea bag. i'm then going to add half a cup of grapefruit juice and tablespoon each of vodka, here we go, and a little rum, and literally mint leaves and you are good to go. it is 100 calories, with the alcohol, and only 25 calories without the alcohol. >> that's awesome. >> cheers. >> we love you, darling. >> if you want to make the

recipes, go to klgandhoda.com. >> and the books are sold out for now. you can still donate to the salvation army. go crowdrise.com/kathielee and we'll let you know if we can publish some more. an appetizing thought, there are tons of germs in hotel rooms. >> before you check in on your christmas vacation, you'll want to check out what we've got to tell you, very important, right after this. out what we've got tell you, very important, right after this. [coach] alright, listen up. out on that field today,

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if you're packing up and staying in a hotel over the holidays, you may want to pack up cleaning products. >> last month nbc investigative correspondent jeff rossen teamed up with a microbiologist and they tested everything in the hotel, light switch, alarm clock, the drapes, to find the germs that could make you sick. >> since we don't want that to happen to you, we brought in real simple's associate home editor stephanie cisco to tell you how to degerm your hotel room. necessary. >> absolutely necessary. there are some things you can pack and bring with you or even just keep in your suitcase at all times. >> you open the door, you have four things you say in your bag that are important. what are they? >> travel size disinfectant spray, disinfectant or alcohol wipes, some plastic freezer bags, that will be important, and then slippers or extra pair of socks. >> they have slippers sometimes in there. >> they do. you may want to bring your own and toss those into the wash.

they minimize the amount of contact between skin and germs. >> most people go on vacation so they don't have to clean the place. they're sick of having their own house. let's go on a vacation and -- >> this time of year, you want to prevent any illness, any -- just -- >> so true. walk into a bathroom and they have those cups that are there. >> yes. >> and they're inviting, put your toothbrush in it. >> if they're not the disposable kind, all you need to do is take the glasses or mugs to the sink, run hot water and use hand soap to wash those out. in the piece you did before, we saw people picking up dirty towels off the floor and wiping those out. avoid any of those germs. >> checked into a hotel and -- >> housekeeping came in and picked up dirty towels off the floor and cleaned the -- >> let's talk about the desk, which has a nice pen, you can take notes if someone calls. >> the room servicemen you, anything on there is really -- anything that has been touched by multiple people and rarely

sees cleaner is kind of off limits. so -- >> the desk, don't touch it? >> spray it with disinfectant spray. >> again, working. >> it is just a spray. not too much work. once you do that when you walk in -- >> drugstore there and you can't pack it in your luggage. >> what about when you almost die from choking, you can't think straight afterwards. what about the remote? we hear terrible things about the remote. >> in the piece you did before, they found mrsa and eko. colko. living on the remote control. use the bag and use it through the zipper bag and you'll be protected. >> ew. what about the night stand? what is on there? >> anything from the phone to the lamp switch to the alarm clock, again, items that people touch on a daily basis and don't see the -- >> wipe it down. >> how about -- why is there a phone in the bathroom? >> i can't get over mrsa on the other stuff and e. coli.

>> that's one question about the phone in the bathroom -- >> you know how they have the comforter on top, you know that doesn't get washed every time. stay away from that thing. >> take that off immediately, toss it into the corner. the pillows, leave a note for housekeeping to make sure they don't make the bed with that bed spread during your stay and also to make sure they change the pillow cases on your pillows. >> but of all the dirtiest items, the remote. remember jimmy fallon's sketch, ew? >> i think he got that from you. >> thank you so much. we really appreciate it. >> have fun cleaning all holiday. >> here is a gift for us, barry

prego homestyle alfredo over ragu classic alfredo. even ragu users chose prego alfredo?! why can't everything i try be this great? ha ha! woah! (monkey squeals) (sigh of relief) also, try our new alfredo sauces today.

theand the kids always eat sky their vegetables.e. because the salad there is always served with the original hidden valley ranch. to make your signature christmas dish.rt has everything you need mine is mouthwatering mashed potatoes. i mix my russets with milk, butter, and cream cheese to make them super creamy. mmmm... and yours? sock-it-to-me spiral cut ham! whoa! you made this? yep. i just take a sam's choice super premium spiral cut ham from walmart, bake it flat side down, tent the foils so all the juices can mingle... who are you? ham man! walmart has everything you need for christmas dinner at unbeatable prices,

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the toyota concert series on "today" brought to you by

toyota. >> it is manilow mania monday around here. we love it. 14 time grammy nominee barry manilow is kind enough to stick around and perform one of his newest songs. you'll love it. >> a special collection claabor his album called "my dream duets". >> it is a dream song. >> who doesn't love "what a wonderful world." the song goes over his what a wonderful world and because it is christmas, we added joy to the world. it is three soings for one. >> nobody on the planet can do that but barry manilow. >> getting people to agree, was that an easy thing for you? >> i didn't hear that we had any trouble. what i wanted to do one with sinatra, a great chart on strangers in the night but this is his 100th birthday and they were putting out all kinds of

cds. but rest of them were pretty okay with it. >> cd is awesome. >> who else do you sing with on the cd? >> whitney houston, john denver, who else -- >> neil diamond? >> no, the diamond. >> the song? >> goody, goody. andy williams. and the list goes on. it was such an honor to do this and sammy davis jr. i was singing with sammy davis jr. in my headset and i forgot he wasn't there. i kept going for the kleenex. >> it is great you put this on with video behind you. >> barry and louis together. >> yes. >> take it away, baby. >> okay. ♪ ♪ joy to the world

♪ i see trees of green red roses, too ♪ ♪ i see them bloom for me and you ♪ ♪ and i think to myself and i think to myself what a wonderful world ♪ ♪ what a wonderful world ♪ and i see skies of blue and clouds of white ♪ ♪ the blessed day the dark and sacred night ♪ ♪ and i think to myself what a wonderful world ♪ ♪ the colors of the rainbow so pretty in the skies ♪

♪ are also on the faces of people going by ♪ ♪ i see friends shakin' hands sayin' how do you do? ♪ ♪ they're really saying i love you ♪ ♪ i hear babies cryin' i watch them grow ♪ ♪ they'll learn much more ♪ like the stars in the sky then i'll ever know ♪ ♪ and i think to myself what a wonderful world ♪ ♪ oh, oh ♪ yes, i think to myself what a wonderful world ♪ ♪

>> sing it, louis! ♪ oh yeah >> oh, my gosh. perfect! you get it from the front, i'll get him from the back. >> yes. >> love you, barry. love you. >> that was beautiful. >> he's still got it. >> happy. >> we'll be right back. but first this is "today" on nbc.

we're in the final of our -- final week of our 21st annual toy drive. toys are heading to kids in need across the country. >> unbelievable. we appreciate so much all of your contributions. and bob and lauren monahan, husband and wife founders of uba

baby are here with a wonderful donation that will help a whole lot of families. welcome. >> look how -- look how cute you two are, by the way. >> tell us what you're donating today. >> we're donating $150,000 worth of cruise and deluxe strollers. >> that's terrific. >> usually a pricey item for a family, isn't it? >> sure is. >> that's fantastic. >> how old are your kids no ? >> 8, 10 and 12. >> i know it is so important for people. why do you keep doing this year after year. this is your fourth year. >> this is our fourth year. we love to support families in need and give them a safe mode of transport to their children, we're able to do it. >> thank you so, so much. >> happy holidays. >> thank you. >> you have until this friday to donate to our toy drive, bring a gift to our plaza or nbc experience store or donate online. coming up, jill martin has

gifts for under $10. >> what? >> allegedly. >> and what your man is really thinking when our guys tell all panel, love those guys. >> madelyn fernstrom is here too, cut the creep. >> w

right now at 11:00, we're tracking the latest storm rolling through the area, bringing rain and strong winds, knocking down trees. and power lines. good morning and thanks for joining us. i'm laura garcia-cannon in for kris sanchez. >> we have team coverage on the latest storm. bob redell is in san jose. power pulse craoles crashing one homes. let's start with christina loren. not as bad as thursday's, right? >> definitely not. it has a lot of moisture, but it's not going to last as long. we're not talking about 12 to 24 consecutive hours of straight rainfall. i can tell you, it's coming in heavily.