good morning. good morning. deadly ambush. two police officers gunned down in mississippi, left to die as the suspects make a get away in their cruiser, triggering a dramatic man hunt. an ana arririves, slamming the carolinas, drenching rain, potentially deadly waves. the rockies, buried in heavy spring snow this morning with more in the forecast today. unhappy entourage. jeremy piven on twitter claiming he and his fellow passengers

being held hostage on the tarmac. lip sync extravaganzas. we are throwing a mother's day party today, sunday may 10th 2015. >> from nbc news, this is "today." with lester holt and erica hill. live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. >> welcome to "today" everybody on this sunday morning. happy mother's day. i'm erica hill. >> ladies happy mother's day to all of you. happy mother's day to my wife at home my mother, my sister. i could go on and on. we've got a special morning planned. >> we do. we're excited about it. we're going to be hearing a lot about that song. if it's stuck in your head all day, i'm sorry.

but it's a good one. enjoy. we do want to start off with breaking news out of mississippi where two police officers were gunned down in the middle of the street overnight. >> good morning. police say the two men responsible are in custody. this morning a community is reeling as two offers are dead. benjamin deen and liquorri tate were shot dead. at least one of the suspects took off in the officer's patrol car. one of the officers asked, am i dying? both later died of their injuries. >> men who go out every day to make sure that we're safe were turned on tonight. >> the stolen patrol car

abandoned by nearby railroad tracks. the mayor, confident that justice would soon be served. and he was right. both of the suspects if curtis banks and marvin banks are in custody. >> we're expecting much more information later in the day. >> thank you. now to the severe weather wreaking havoc from coast to coast. we've got our team on the ground. let's start in the carolinas where tropical storm ana is bringing dangerous surf. >> reporter: it is still about three week bfrs the official start of hurricane season. tropical storm ans madea made land fall just to our south. for the time being we are dry. but we are starting to see all

this beach erosion. now ana is forecast to bring up to six inches of rain or so, bringing with it dangerous rip currents and potential flash flooding along the coast. it has maximum sustained wind of about 45 miles per hour. and it is only the second earliest tropical storm to make landfall in the u.s. on record. it is now moving north-northwest at about five miles an hour. expected to take a turn to the north. as it moved north, it is expected to bring heavy rains up the mid atlantic into virginia and maryland through tuesday. >> gabe gutierrez in north carolina. >> deadly storms stretching from texas to colorado. residents bracing today for

flash flooding, baseball isissized hail and tornados. nbc's kerry sanders is in oklahoma city this morning. >> reporter: good morning, erica. the national weather service says the conditions are ripe for more tornados today and heavy rain which could result in more of those flash floods resulting in the sort of destruction you see right here. tornado alley is on edge yet again today. on saturday for the fourth day running the region lived up to its nickname with more than 40 reports of twisters forming in oklahoma kansas colorado nebraska and texas, concluding this massive one in tiny siscisco 130 miles west of dallas. at least one person was killed and three injuries when the violent winds dropped. storm chasers recorded tornado

after tornado. and southeast of denver this incredible image of both power and beauty. since wednesday, tens of millions of residents in the plains have kept an eye to the sky as the violent weather has brought not only tornado, but also punishing hail the size of oranges. in some spots, it looked like the aftermath of a snowstorm. and where it rains, flash floods follows. in some cases completely washing out roads. and those flash floods have picked up a lot of the earth here, this red sort of clay. and you can see the river behind me is just that deep dark red. consider this statistic, in norman oklahoma just a short distance from here last year the national weather service issued eight tornado warnings. so far this year, they've issued 64. >> wow. thank you. >> now let's continue to move

west, where even though it's may the rockies are getting pounded with blizzard like conditions. miguel almaguer is in rapid city >> reporter: that spring storm really delivering here six to 12 in the city. up in the mountains they're looking at upwards of two feet of snow. it's been coming down steady blowing sideways here for about the last 12 to 15 hour pps. we've had blizzard like and avalanche conditions. this steady snow is expected to come down for the next several hours all the way through sunday afternoon. this is a fairly rare spring storm out here. the folks out here used to cold and we could weather, but this they say, is somewhat surprising. they expect conditions to persist throughout the day, hopefully tapering off later on

today through mother's day. >> that's a remarkable image, on mother's day in a blizzard. >> we want to turn to dylan for what we could expect elsewhere. >> mother nature really coming in full swing on this mother oes day apparently. we are going to see five to ten inches of snow in south dakota and we do have blizzard warnings still in effect. but the main threat today is for another round of severe storms. look at the band of rain approaching dallas. this is going to plus torrential downpours, gusty winds up to 60 miles per hour. this is dangerous cloud to ground lightning approaching dallas. we have severe thunderstorm warnings just to the north. today we're not looking at a widespread tornado outbreak but that does not mean we won't see tornados develop, especially in

those two orange areas. also large hail perhaps up to baseball size in diameter. now, tomorrow is going to push a little further to the east but we're still looking at the threat from the great lakes down to texas and the gulf coast. that's also an area where we're going to see the potential for some dangerous storms. finally it will start to fizzle out on tuesday. we have this tropical storm that is going to make some rain. it made land fall in myrtle beach and north carolina is going to get the brunt of the rain with these heavier bands producing these heavy downpours. it does start to weaken as it moves over land and eventually we'll just see spotty showers over new england and the northeast. so much activity all across the country. >> as we looked at your maps the last couple of days, there's hardly an area untouched by extreme weather. is that unusual?

>> it's very unusual. i in my career have never seen anything like that. >> wow. now to a nuclear square just 45 miles north of new york city after a fire at the indian nuclear power plant. the plant has long been the center of controversy. ron allen is live outside the plant. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. it's been very controversial because some 20 million people live within 50 miles of this plant. and word of a fire at a nuclear plant caused a lot of concern. officials insist this is a relatively minor incident but it's rekindled the debate about whether indian point should be here as all. the first images showed black ♪ ♪ smoke rising above the indian point nuclear power plant. >> you could hear all the paging system and loud and clear it said this is not a drill.

. >>reporter: plant officials said an electrical transformer caught fire some 300 to 400 feet from one of the reactors which automatically shut down by design. >> there's really no concern because it's an electrical issue and a fire that's put out quickly. it's not on the nuclear side of the plant. >> reporter: new york's governor a long time opponent of the plant because of its location near new york city said he wanted to see if emergency procedures worked. >> as i said this was a relatively minor situation. but when you're talking about a nuclear power plant, there are no minor situations. >> reporter: one reactors license expired and another ending this year activists are determined to shut it down. >> it's very dangerous and we don't know when the next

accident or how the next accident will happen. but it's very likely to happen. >> reporter: supporters of the plant insist it is safe and they said replacing it with another source of power would cause pollution and electric bills to rise. they were trying to remove foam material that put out the fire. they want to stop that from running into nearby waterways. again, the bottom line from the plant manager here is that the situation is safe and under control. >> thanks so much. >> that's exactly what you want to hear. let's turn to chanel now with reports of islamic extremist on the run in iraq. >> dozens have broken out of the prisonen in iraq. iraqi officials say the escape was organized from within prison

walls. kim jong un is upping the stakes in u.s.-north korean relations after announcing that his military test fired a new ballistic missile. >> reporter: good morning to you. the obama administration won't comment directly or confirm that north korea test fired a ballistic missile, but us officials are warning north korea not to escalate tensions which are already high. trying to flex its muscles, north korea released a series of photos which shows leader kim jong un marveling at the successful test launch of a ballistic missile fired from a submarine. it could mark significant progress in north korea's military capabilities. >> once it's operational they will be able to bring their submarine close to american shores and hit every state in the union. >> reporter: such a launch is a

clear violation of multiple u.n. security resolutions. it's the latest provocation by a dictator and country already heavily sanctioned by the west. experts say it could be an attempt to extract more aid from the u.s. and other nations. >> it's clear that the north koreans are going to up their demands because their weapons now are so much more destructive than they have been in the past. >> reporter: experts also believe north korea could be trying to win concessions from the u.s. which has expressed interest in holding neek leer inging nuclear talks. it is possible the obama administration could consider more sanctions. but north korea has been defiant to threats from the west. >> a meeting at the vatican this morning between castro and pope frances. the first latin american pope

helped to thaw relations. a daring rescue aboard the queen mary ii 180 miles at sea. after learning of a passenger in kidney and heart failure, the man was safely lifted to the chopper and brought to a hospital in boston. a mother is thanking her six-year-old daughter for saving her life. the little girl called 911 when she found her diabetic mother laying unconscious. >> for mother's day i'm going to be cheering her. she saved my life. >> paramedics arrived to the seen and praised the little girl for being to calm and brave. in time for mother's day one of the formerly conjoined twins have been released from the

hospital. these pictures show both little girls doing well. they were born joined at the chest and separated in a 26-hour surgery back in february. certainly a sweet mother's day gift for that mom. >> i looked it up this morning. their middle names are hope and faith. you need both. isn't that sweet? >> we want to take a moment now to say a huge congratulations our colleague and deer friend nbc anchor thomas roberts. thomas was honored at the glad awards for promoting equality in the gay community. he's a great example of just what a strong person is. >> great guy. congratulations. >> absolutely. >> hopefully they're sleeping at this point after some

celebrating. >> of course. let's get the rest of the national forecast from dylan on a very busy weather day. >> we've got tropical storms severe weather, blizzard warnings record heat possible down across the gulf coast. southern california looks fantastic fantastic, 72 degrees. we really have to focus on this area here. that's where we're going to see our strongest storms today. keep an eye out for those hey, good sunday morning to you. happy mother's day to all the moms watching. i'm meteorologist anthony slaughter. temperatures not that bad. very similar to where we were yesterday, in the 50s for the most part. san francisco through the tri-valley and the south bay. we will see sunshine like we saw yesterday, however at the coastline expect clouds to stay put. 61 in san francisco, 75 in tri valley and 73 for the north bay. we'll talk about rain chances heading our way this week coming

up this morning. hope to see you at 7:00. latest forecast. >> up next on "today" kids say the darnedest things about mother's day. their answers, trust us are priceless and you don't want to miss them . it's right after this. ne feels like each day is a game of chance. i wanted to put the odds in my favor. so my doctor told me about botox® an fda-approved treatment that significantly reduces headache days for adults with chronic migraine. 15 or more headache days a month each lasting 4 hours or more. it's proven to actually prevent headache days. and it's injected by my doctor once every 3 months. the effects of botox® may spread hours to weeks after injection causing serious symptoms. alert your doctor right away as difficulty swallowing speaking, breathing, eye problems, or muscle weakness can be a sign of a life-threatening condition. side effects may include allergic reactions neck and injection site pain fatigue and headache. don't take botox® if you have a skin infection. tell your doctor about your medical

history muscle or nerve conditions and medications, including botulinum toxins as these may increase the risk of serious side effects. put the odds on your side. visit botoxchronicmigraine.com to learn how to save on your treatment. talk to a headache specialist today about botox®. back now on this special mother's day edition of "today." all week long we've been celebrating moms. this morning we're hearing from

kids about why they love their moms. >> i love this. today.com asked a group of kids to talk about their mothers, and sheinelle's in the orange room with some very entertaining answers. hey, sheinelle. >> i love it too, when kids are asked questions like this, the answers are priceless. >> because you love your mom. >> because they deserve it. >> because it's fun. >> take her out for dinner. >> running shoes. >> i give her a necklace. >> flowers. >> probably lots of hugs and kisses. >> garbage. >> a frog. >> -- george washington -- >> kids. >> hugs. >> hugs. >> hugs. >> saying i love you. >> when children listen.

>> how much the kids love them. >> they're beautiful. >> moms know everything, actually. >> a lot. >> oh, i love you back. i love you back. so sweet. if you want to see more of what these kids had to say just go to our website at today.com. or tweet us using the #orangeroom. i want hugs. isn't it the best when you run in the house and the kids meet you at the door with those big hugs? >> yes. no matter how bad your day has been when you get back all melts away. >> i do have a problem. i could cross two things off my mother's day gift list garbage and a bridge. the kids tell me that's not cool. >> the bridge would be hard to wrap. >> it is. >> so cristina you're in luck. you're not getting either one this year. >> thank you. still to come on a sunday edition of "today," food network store alex is in the kitchen to show us how to whip up a delicious mother's day brunch.

but first t ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ girl ] my mom, she makes underwater fans that are powered by the moon. ♪ ♪ [ birds squawking ] my mom makes airplane engines that can talk. [ birds squawking ] ♪ ♪ my mom makes hospitals you can hold in your hand. ♪ ♪ my mom can print amazing things right from her computer. [ whirring ] [ train whistle blows ] my mom makes trains that are friends with trees. [ train whistle blows ] ♪ ♪ my mom works at ge. ♪ ♪

still to come on "today," should tom brady get suspended this week for deflate-gate? dylan, his biggest fan, says no way. we'll have more on that whether bending the rules may just be a part of sports we should all expect. >> plus he did not want to hug it out. the pursuit of healthier. it begins from the second we're born. after all, healthier doesn't happen all by itself. it needs to be earned... every day... using wellness to keep away illness... and believing that a single life can be made better by millions of others. healthier takes somebody who can power modern health care... by connecting every single part of it. for as the world keeps on searching for healthier...

we're here to make healthier happen. optum. healthier is here. things made with love are the best things. and that's exactly why avocados from mexico are grown with love, all year round. leftovers. they get re-heated. re-nuked. and re-baked. even when they're done... there's stuff left over. new dawn platinum power clean. powers through tough dried-on messes in seconds. a drop of dawn and grease is gone.

good morning to you. time now is 6:26. we want to give you a live look outside. it's going to be nice and warm a little bit of a change-up from what we've been experiencing this past week. happy mother's day to you. i'm vicki nguyen and i'm here with meteorologist anthony slaughter. >> happy mother's day to you. still chilly a little bit this morning. the clouds are going to stay put at the coastline, so it will be chilly in san francisco, only

topping outs at 63. plenty of sunshine for the south bay, 73 degrees. while we have the cloud cover right now, clouds will clear out. as we head to the coastline, though, clouds stay put and cool and chilly there. definitely a jacket if you're going to be near the coastline. >> anthony, thank you. new this morning, eight people are out of a home after a fire in the south bay. it happened just after 2:00 a.m. on south second street in san jose just a few blocks from the san jose campus. firefighters say one home was engulfed in flames when they arrived. those flames spread to the attic of a specedecond home in minutes. it took an hour to put out the fire. fortunately, no one was injured. the red cross is working with the family. road rage caught on camera. a bicyclist said he was just riding on the road when a driver tried to run him down more than once. this is video another driver took at the end of the encounter.

it happened on thursday night near san francisco city college. anthony lyons said the driver came at him as he rode his bike and kept coming. he was leaving san francisco state where he teaches, and he turned off ocean avenue. that's when he said the driver came up hit the horn and opened the door to try to knock him off his bike. he tried to get away but he said the driver followed. lyons said the issue escalated when he approached the driver at a stoplight. last-minute orders for mom. you may have noticed flowers are a little more expensive this year. several factors, including the drought, have made an impact. this is the rosie and posey shop in downtown l.a. spring flowers are the big kbesgest hit for mom this year but the drought has prompted people to buy flowers that need little water. because of the drought, suppliers have hiked their prices. flower retailers say most people

are paying between 50 and $75 for an arrangement. coming up at 7:00 on today in the bay, we'll go to memphis where the warriors are trying to recover from another tough loss to the grizzlies. we'll have your top stories, and of course anthony slaughter will be back to look catat your forecast. for now we take you back to the "today" show.

♪ i love my momma momma ♪ ♪ and happy mother's day from all of us and from sean hayes. the actor doing a little lip-synch with his husband, sending some love to their moms. coming up in pop star we will do our own verse for our mamas. welcome back to "today" on this mother's day, may 10th, 2015. some excited moms and their loved ones joining us on the plaza. we want to thank all of you for taking time out of your special day with your family to join us. you got us hooked on this sean hayes video. and we've been singing it for 24 hours. >> i can't get out of my head either. so far i'm okay with it. hasn't turned into ear worm status yet.

>> today's mother's day. >> might hate me tomorrow morning but today you're going to love me. >> we've got a lot to get to. let's begin with this morning's headlines. a community in mourning in mississippi today after two police officers were gunned down during a traffic stop in hattiesburg. police were able to catch up with the alleged shooters and a third person just a few hours after the deadly ambush. this is the live scene this morning in rapid city south dakota. blizzard-like conditions there in that late spring storm. mean time this is tropical storm ana made landfall slamming the carolinas earlier this morning. the plains states bracing for the possibility of more tornadoes today. cuban president raul castro spent some time at the vatican this morning with the pope the pontiff is responsible for playing a key role in bringing cuba and the u.s. together earlier this year. and still to come in this half hour of "today" as tom brady awaits decision day from the nfl, his deflate-gate scandal is raising some new questions about an age-old

debate. the art of winning, and whether or not it should come with a punishment in this case. >> we may find out soon from the nfl. then in pop star actress sofia vergara's son shows us her intimate hollywood engagement party with a surprise toast from a major action hero. >> hmm. >> also ahead, lots of mother's day fun this morning as we alluded to including a surprise for my mom, when we took a trip she has always wanted to go on. >> yes. >> and then food network store and celebrity chef alex guarnaschelli is cooking up an awesome mother's day brunch. >> yum. >> and the mother's day fun continues on the plaza. isn't it beautiful out here? a quick hair and makeup spruceup before they head out to spend mother's day with their family. >> got some major hair and makeup going on back there. >> a lot of beauty. >> let's begin with a final check of the weather from dylan. >> there's a lot going on. tropical storm ana which has made landfall. it's going to continue to produce some heavy bands of

rain northeastern south carolina and across the coast of north comparea. as much as 5 to 6 inches of additional rain. a lot of light jing and very strong storms aproposing dallas right now. that is going to eventually turn in to a very busy area especially later on this afternoon and evening, as more storms fire up. we have to watch out for tornadoes, hail damaging wind gusts and flash flooding. then we'll throw in blizzard warnings back through south dakota and northern rockies where we are looking at really heavy downpours of snow with an additional 5 to 10 inches of snow possible. so that's the map across the country for mother's day. tomorrow we are going to see those storms line up from the great lakes right down into texas. hey, happy sunday to you. happy mother's day as well. we're looking at cloud cover in san francisco and low cloud cover. in fact the fog and visibility quite reduced there. later on this afternoon, the cloud cover will stay put in san francisco, sigho a chilly day

expected on the coastline. 51 there. the tri valley 75. peninsula and the south bay in the low 70s with plenty of sunshine. we do have rain in the forecast and in the upcoming week. we'll show you that this morning at 7:00. recast. willie? >> all right dylan, thank you. now to the so-called degrategate scandal and the big question now, will patriots' quarterback tom brady one of the nfl's biggest stars be suspended by the league. his punishment could come any day now. but as nbc's hallie jackson explains bending the rules in professional sports, may just be part of the game. >> reporter: it's new deflate-gate fallout, punishment reportedly expected this week for new england's star qb who could face a suspension. the patriots' golden boy, now dubbed by some shady brady, at the bottom of a pile-on in the press, even though he's denied any involvement in the scandal. >> he [ bleep ] knew. >> reporter: and the butt of late-night jokes. >> you cheating [ bleep ] >> reporter: but is tom brady

really a cheater? or just an athlete looking for an edge? after all, the patriots are far from the first team to take advantage of a time-honored tradition in sports. gamesmanship. >> gamesmanship would be things that are typically psychological when one team tries to psych out the other team and they try to get -- intimidate the other team. >> reporter: it happens everywhere. remember the nba's lance stevenson blowing in lebron's ear before a free throw? >> blew in my wife's ear before. that was definitely a defensive tactic. >> there was george brett blowing his top after being called out for having too much pine tar on his bat. >> forcibly restrained. >> reporter: or talk of stealing signs when the giants beat the dodgers more than 60 years ago. making noise more recently maria sharapova's infamous grunting may be distracting or intimidating other players. >> these athletes that are paid a lot of money are trying to win

the game however they can. >> reporter: but where is the line between bending the rules, and breaking them? it's a question as old as sports itself. that a new generation is asking. >> i don't want to have the upper hand. a lot of people would do anything for that. if you want to play a fair game then don't do anything. just play the game how it's supposed to be played. >> reporter: but as this latest scandal shows, sometimes those blurred lines between cheating and gamesmanship aren't so black and white. for "today," hallie jackson, nbc news, los angeles. >> all right hal if lie thanks a lot. this has caused a lot of debate. you're a patriots fan. we know where you stand. it's not the end of the world, obviously, the republic will survive deflate-gate but it's not a great message to send we saw some high school athletes bending the rules is part of the game. i don't think that's a great idea. >> i would agree. even as a parent while we struggle with should sports

figures be roadle models should they not? there is this issue of kids who are playing the game and they're looking for other athletes of how do they model themselves you don't want to necessarily model on binding the rules. >> -- bend the rules -- >> i don't know -- >> maybe knew somebody who -- >> but there are little things that are done in baseball we were just talking about sometimes the groundskeeper will grow the grass longer there have been domes where they blow air in at chosen times. but i think that's different than deflating the footballs and bending the rules. blowing in the ear was much different than deflating a football. >> i think so. >> up next the real-life drama for hollywood star jeremy piven. wait until you hear this one shopping for a used car is so intimidating. i mean, you feel like you have to be this expert negotiator to get a fair deal. i hate to haggle. when you go to a restaurant you don't haggle over the chicken parmesan. why can't car-buying be like that? ♪ ♪

as long as people drive cars carmax will be the best way to buy them. [ female announcer ] when you're serious about fighting wrinkles, turn to roc® retinol correxion®. one week fine lines appear to fade. one month deep wrinkles look smoother. after one year, skin looks ageless. high performance skincare™ only from roc®. one can of bush's beans. well this a predicament. homestyle sounds good. but country style, not without its charms. brown sugar hickory. who says no to hickory? not this guy! new sweet heat? sure! there are no rules here. no rules on aisle four! our new sweet heat is cooked according to our secret family recipe with a sweet and spicy chili sauce.

did you get a can of bush's beans? yes, yes i did. bush's beans. what's your favorite flavor? from the beginning you're always on call for them... twenty-four/seven. so cigna is on call for you. with our health information line on mother's day. and every day. cigna. together, all the way. ♪ we will rock you anthem ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ call 1-800-royal caribbean or your travel agent today

back now on a sunday morning with pop start where we get you caught up with your daily dose of pop culture. >> jeremy piven gets stuck on a plane and a hollywood heavyweight shows up for actress sofia vergara's engagement party. joelle is following all this. >> we're going to start off with a little drama for actor jeremy piven. i think this is something we can all relate to. you're up in the air, something goes wrong on your plane, and your flight has to get rerouted.

and then you get stuck on the ground for a couple of hours. now the biggest difference between us and somebody like him, 2.5 million twitter follows to complain to. the entourage actor tweeted holding us for a total of seven hours on the ground when immigration opened. holding us all hostage. he was on a british airlines flight. it got rerouted. they apologized it was due to bad weather. the tweets have been taken down. all is good in the world. >> as long as we've all recovered. >> we have all recovered. okay. moving on to sofia vergara and joe manganiello. the two celebrated their engagement this weekend. and guess who toasted to the happy couple? >> who? >> yes. one guess. you want a hint? not willie geist because he was here. >> i have no idea. >> arnold schwarzenegger. who knew these guys were such good friends. look right in the corner. thanks to the power of social media, sofia's 22-year-old son

sent this one out on instagram. who knew? >> i didn't know. >> who knew. >> now we do know. also shares some of his mom's sense of humor. we're going to end pop start on a high note this morning. this is a video that we are all obsessed with. it is sean hayes and his hubby in honor of mother's day. take a look. ♪ she cook me something yummy. >> i love my momma i love my momma ♪ ♪ momma ♪ ♪ my momma ♪ >> i do -- >> we love it. >> all right well that song was momma and i promise you it will get stuck in your head. erica you can vouch for that. >> sorry and you're welcome at the same time. >> i'm going to let everybody in on a little behind-the-scenes secret here at "weekend today" we too, love that song and we too, love to break out into song and dance wherever we can so in honor of all of the mamas out

there. i present to you the "weekend today" -- ♪ she cook me something yummy and when i was sick she would take care of me ♪ ♪ so dedicate to my mama tell me how to put on my pajamas ♪ ♪ always let me have a couple dollars told me that my dreams are better followed ♪ ♪ i love my mama i love my mama ♪ ♪ i love my mama i love my mama ♪ >> very nice. >> welcome. well done joelle. >> what goes on pretty much every morning. >> right? >> but we should point out first of all joelle happy early mother's day. and joelle not only does pop start. she put that whole thing to the so thank you. >> i am the one who makes you guys -- >> happy mother's day joelle. >> thank you, guys. >> coming up next our mother's day series continues with erica's surprise for her mom. right after these messages.

mom, i love you because, is brought to you by minute maid. put good in, get good out.

on this mother's day, we wrap up and put a bow on our series "mom i love you because" and this time erica it's your turn. >> that's right. because we all look good in bows. my mom sheryl has a great sense of humor and a great sense of adventure. and while she's helped and encouraged me to travel over the years we haven't been able to do a lot of exploring to the until now. a journey that would not have been complete without one very important addition. my mom, she's probably the strongest woman i know. she really does hold everybody together. i think once you become a parent you realize how difficult it is and you become even more thankful for your parents. when we were given the assignment of an experience to share with our moms the first thing i thought of was something that could also include my sister. >> even though i miss them i don't feel like they're far away. it sounds crazy that whitney's in paris and erica is in new york. >> my mom has always wanted to

go to a ranch, has never been to arizona so it seemed like a perfect fit. >> i loved the view. had a nice walk. >> but to know we were holding back a little surprise just meant so much. >> oh. oh, my gosh! >> it's just incredible. >> happy mother's day. >> we laugh a lot when it's the three of us. >> reminiscing. >> yeah there's a lot of reminiscing. >> she's always been there supportive for everything. you can call her with anything. >> they call lots of times and ask for advice. which is kind of surprising. sometimes. but they do. >> our mom also has this wonderful way of making you feel really good about a decision that you made. she'll always help you see that you did what was right for you and what was right in that situation. she's never judging us. >> no. >> or if she does she doesn't tell us. >> if she does we've never heard it. >> i hope one of the most important things i've given them is to know you really can't make a mistake being a mother. >> as our dad was really ill and after he passed you can't go through that experience of

losing someone very close to you without becoming closer. >> oh, my goodness. this is incredible. >> but then when it became truly just the three of us. i think it became even more important that we spend as much time together and we have those moments. >> anything that i do is more about the people that i do it with than what i'm doing. but if you're not with a group of people that you enjoy life with then it's just not going to be the same experience. >> i think our mom has been a really great job of showing us that you should appreciate every single day you're given, and every great opportunity just reminds me that this is the woman i really look up to and i want to live my life in the way that she does. >> how beautiful. >> and my big sister whitney which was a great surprise. can we do a shout-out to our producer samantha winder. sam put together all three of the pieces for the "weekend today" ladies here. and she shot a lot of that herself. she's just an incredible friend

and colleague. happy mother's day to your mom shelly. >> your mom had no idea big sister? >> she had no idea whitney was coming. so it was really special. >> flying her in from paris. >> yeah. >> that's amazing. >> they both went back to paris last night. they're going to have to watch this online later today. >> very cool. >> let's send it over to dylan with some very special plaza fans of the day. hey, guys. >> hey, willie. we wanted to bring every mom from the plaza in here on this mother's day but we couldn't so we brought all of these lovely ladies. this is sandy from long island new york and i will let you take us to break. >> okay. still to come on "today," a brunch you won't want to miss. but first these messages. i'm really psyched subway is bringing the flavor with this new guacamole for a couple of reasons. first, people really love our guacamole. rich and creamy, made from hass avocados and just a hint of jalapeno to keep it interesting. the other reason is, it's just really fun to say. guacamole guacamole

guacamole guacamole guacamole guacamole see? come in and try our new guacamole on sandwiches like the chipotle chicken melt. and discover how it turns up the flavor on all your favorite sandwiches. subway. eat fresh. brookside chocolate now has a crunch. brookside crunchy clusters - crispy multi-grains and sweet fruit-flavored pieces dipped in rich dark chocolate. discover brookside crunchy clusters. join red nose day, a national event to help lift children out of poverty.

it's easy: support red nose day at walgreens and start making a difference. it's a good laugh for a good cause. tune in on may 21st to watch the red nose day benefit live on nbc.

this morning in "today's kitchen" what better way to celebrate mom than by making her delicious brunch on this mother's day morning. >> absolutely. you still have time to whip together something amazing. here with great ideas is chef alex guarnaschelli who is also a judge. >> happy mother's day. >> we are not chopping anybody today. >> i heard a door bell? >> a door bell? >> yes? >> oh! >> sheinelle. >> how are you, sir? >> how you doing buddy? hi. >> oh, my goodness.

>> lady we know you've been working hard all week. we're going to ask you to leave the kitchen and let the men do the cooking. all you have to do is eat. >> you come with me. how are you? >> how are you? >> i'm putting you to work. >> come this way. >> you go eat. you go eat. >> you met -- >> hello. >> this is dylan's husband brian. >> the fellas are doing the cooking this morning as it should be. the ladies are going to do the eating alex. why don't you put us to work? >> all right so we're going to make a little frittata. i can tell you love to cook. >> absolutely. >> we're going to make a little frittata. i am a mom, too, so i'm going to make you guys do the work. >> yeah. >> because i'm just bossing around. let's just -- the cream? the cream. the arugula.

i need -- could you add some cheese? >> oh, look at you. >> i'm hoping these are measured out. >> they are measured out. >> it's mother's day. >> what kind of frittata are we making? >> an asparagus. we're mixing arugula, parmesan regg reggiano goat cheese. give me a splash of those two bottles over there. >> you want me to stir this up? >> okay, stir it. >> you've got a lot of love today. >> on mother's day. >> i love it. >> all right. and let's just get that -- >> i would never even -- >> all right i'm going to pour this right over. >> right over the asparagus like this. >> oh, my goodness. >> look at all that cheese. i mean come on. for mother's day. >> can't go wrong with all that cheese. >> and so fast forward, this is

what it looks like. >> look how good we did, sawyer? >> it can go in the often for 350 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes. i love the cast iron. now we're doing these tomatoes. we just sprinkle. can you give me a little lemon on here? >> yes, i could. >> i'm going to let you drizzle olive oil. loving on those tomatoes. i kind of like the idea of -- you want to work at the restaurant give me a call. and then -- >> salt and pepper. >> a little salt and pepper. >> amazing. you did a great job. he expertly cut tomatoes. >> my knife skills thank you. literally i love to pick something bright and lemony right over the cooked frittata. i literally -- >> ladies how is it over there? >> i think we're -- >> -- okay. >> and -- >> ahead of time which i love. a little coffee cake and then

some spritzers, mocktails. jingginger ale and champagne. you can -- >> look how easy that was. >> i think you two guys really you have special skills. >> i'm glad to see the husbands working it out on father's day. >> nicely done. alex thank you so much. >> of course. >> ladies enjoy while we talk to chuck todd celebrating moms today on "meet the press." what's coming up? >> we sure are, willie. first terror in the age of social media. and is the idea that the u.s. is losing this online battle with isis i got carly fiorina on. she says it is time for a woman president but she doesn't want it to be hillary clinton. and yes the state of motherhood in america, particularly working moms on "meet the press." back to you, willie. >> all right, chuck, thanks a lot. by the way, bosco is here. a little baby. >> i'm not a mom. >> you're bosco's mom. >> she's recipes will be on today.com. >> amazing. >> happy mother's day.

>> happy mother's day to all

good sunday morning to you and happy mother's day. we want to give you a live look outside at san jose today where this may be the warmest day we see in a while, but it's really not that warm out there. good morning. thanks so much for waking up with us. i'm vicki nguyen. i'm here with meteorologist anthony slaughter. good morning to you. >> good morning. we're looking at lots of cloud cover out there, and that's going to be the case at the coast lipline for the first half of the day. by afternoon we'll see sunshine in the