bay." mike talked about the bay bridge. let's get a quick peek and see how things are starting right now. we will see you again tomorrow morning. . good morning. we're live with a new twist in the investigation. frenemies donald trump turns on rival ted cruz calling him a maniac of gaining ground in a new poll. cruz laughing it off calling trump his friend as the field gets set for another debate tomorrow night.

too hot to handle. a new poplar holiday gift harder to find this morning. some boards yanked from amazon. hey baby, it's warm outside. dozens of record breaking temperatures across much of the country making it a banner weekend for millions. don't tell that to the people in kansas today. monday, december 14th, 2015. >> from nbc news this is today with matt louer and savannah guthrie. live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. >> good morning. welcome to today on a monday morning. you know what's fun to do during the spring. go down to washington and check out the cherry blossom. >> you can apparently do that right now. you said said hey baby it's warm outside. i can't believe you called america baby. >> it's warm throughout the country. al is going to have our forecast and tell us how long that's

going to last. first investigators say they've yet to find any sign of an act of terror that brought down that russian jet back in october. here at home president obama heads to the pentagon today to tackle the issue of isis. we have two reports beginning with the crash investigation. >> good morning. this is a vaguely worded brief statement but it is stunning. it contradicts the conclusion of government and intelligence agencies across the world. now officials appear to be saying an isis bomb may not have brought down the russian passenger jet that crashed back in october. debris from flight 9268 was strewn.

no evident of the crash of the plane that killed all 224 people on board last october. russian and western governments have said the air bus 321 was likely brought down by a bomb. the plane lost contact with air control just 23 minutes after they got on route. previously, egyptian officials said they were focussing on critical cockpit recordings pointing to an explosion while last month an isis affiliate said this picture showed the crews homemade explosion made from a soda can exploded on board. now the head of the egyptian committee investigating the crash claims no criminal reaction expected. egyptians are not saying what they thought brought down the plane is not a bomb. >> british security officials tell me they are convinced it was a bomb. britain was the first to reach that conclusion.

since then, egypt's tourist industry has been devastated. >> there was a story coming out of paris overnight that a teacher there on her way to school was attacked by a man that claimed he had ties to isis. what do you know about it? >> nbc news is learning this has been a part of the anti terrorism. >> this man apparently grabbed a box from a table of school supplies and slashed the teacher's neck and the stomach area and one witness says this is from isis. now this teacher's life is not in danger and officials have been saying it's too early to draw a conclusion so far. >> kier simmons in london this morning. thank you.

>> the president making a rare visit to the pentagon with his team. kristin is following that part of the storey. good morning. >> good morning to you. he's making the trip to calm public fears upon the christmas holiday and show he's ramping up his response to fighting isis. this will be his first visit since the attacks in san bernardino. his national security updates the president to defeat the terrorist groups. mr. obama is hoping they will accepted it back. the pentagon recently stepped up air strikes to an additional special ops forces to conduct in iraq and syria. ash carter has made additional steps. white house officials have stressed he's willing to escalate the u.s. response if necessary.

in his weekly address the president argued american air strikes more than 8,500 are working taking out a number of leaders in weeks. expect mr. obama to highlight that message again. he'll hold a similar briefing later this week at the terrorism center. savannah, matt, back to you. >> thank you. >> let's turn now to the presidential race. new numbers overnight from our new nbc news wall street journal poll and they're revealing how the republican candidate stacks up against hillary clinton. we're going to break it down with chuck todd in a moment. peter alexander in las vegas. peter, good morning to you. if. >> reporter: hey, matt good morning to you. the match up tomorrow night may be between donald trump and ted cruz. this is almost a nightmare for the republican establishment. ben carson has dropped and ted

cruz has risen rapidly with very conservative voters. the question is can cruz knock off trump? >> donald trump and ted cruz are the two dominating the republican field. the new poll shows trump still leading nationwide but cruz gaining steam up 12 points since october with marco rubio at 15%. in iowa cruz is in control. trump is blasting the texas senator for criticizing trump at a private fundraiser tweeting i was disappointed ted cruz would speak behind my back, get caught and deny. welcome to the wonderful world of politics. trump argues cruz doesn't have the temperament to be president. skbr y . >> you look at how he deals with the senate. you can't walk into the senate and scream and call people liars.

>> cruz is embracing trump's maniac label. tweeting the music video to the 1980s music video quote in honor of my friend donald trump and good hearted maniac's everywhere. trump still defending his plan to ban muslims from entering the u.s. >> i'm not looking to be politically correct. i'm doing this to do the right thing. >> rubio insists the motivation behind trump's comments are clear. and as ben carson's poll numbers go down 18 points he's taking a different cruz. >> he has a politician's experience. >> carson now a right target for saturday night live. here's will ferrell has george w. bush. >> i can barely hear him when he talks. that's not going to work when we have to go to china where you have to talk loudly so they will

understand. >> fun to see will ferrell on snl. new numbers out of the nbc wall street journal poll about the head to head match ups with hilly clinton trailing trump head to head. it's a lot closer when you put her up against marco rubio, ted cruz or ben carson. tomorrow night joining the debate stage will be chris christie. >> all right. thank you very much. >> nbcs political director and moderator of meet the press, chuck todd. good morning. it isn't that trump is falling. carson is cratering. >> that's exactly what this is. everybody wants this to somehow say trump is falling. he's not gained in the iowa poll. he's gained in our poll. cruz has become the traditional christian conservative candidate. what you would normally see when you break down between two lanes

in the republican party trump is his own whole other entity. >> very careful not to criticize trump publicly. he got caught doing it behind the scenes the other day. it's his strategy to make sure the trump supporters like him enough so if trump then craters he'll get their support. >> his only pact to the united nations is, if you look at this as three sections, the establishment lane which right now looks like marco rubio lane, cruz has a bigger shot at picking off the trump supporters. when you talk to trump supporters, their second choice is cruz. i thought it was an odd decision by trump how he attacked him. by attacking and saying this guy can't work with the senate. trump is great. he's somebody in there that's really shaken things up. that's going to be appealing to some trump supporters.

>> i was going to say, that's surprising. >> that's a long way to go. >> although it did allow him to use the flash dance video. i guess the question is are these top voters transferable? are they people who would only go to the polls for trump and then stay home or might they go and vote for cruz? >> nobody can answer that question. these aren't frequent voters in primaries. when they vote they vote republican. it's trump that got them involved. it's not the environment that got them involved. it's trump that got him involved. trump's not there. they probably don't show. >> real quickly. at the debate tomorrow night if trump throws the first punch at ted cruz, can he afford to sit back and be nice? >> no, he has to counter punch. he's trying to win over trump supporters. if cruz doesn't look tough, that's going to hurt him. i think they'll be surprised if

the two of them decide to pounce on rubio. that's what cruz might do instead of going after trump, get rid of the other guy in your way, rubio and postpone your fight with trump. >> it will be interesting. chuck, thank you so much. turning now to the weather, it's dividing the nation. a blast of winter weather out west. >> let's start in washington state where heavy know caused treacherous driving conditions. more of the same in kansas, sleet changed to heavy snow sunday. that brought traffic to a stand still in places like dodge city. it is a completely different story in other parts of the midwest and the east according to noah at least 574 record daily highs were tied or broken across the u.s. during the first 10 days of december. that was before this past weekend which saw temperatures trolling into the 60s here in the northeast.

you can expect more of the same today with temps up 30 degrees above normal. al, what's going on? >> we got the jet stream way up to the north. spring-like warmth hanging out. a lot of patchy fog in the northeast. could have airport delays. today 65 in new york city. by wednesday it cools down. 72 in raleigh. 53 in pittsburgh. charleston sees a temperature of 62. just as warm as temperatures anywhere from 10-30 degrees above normal. evansville sees a high at 30 degrees. we got much colder air coming down from canada plus a big low pressure system. we are watching this snowstorm make its way further and further to the east. that's what we see for today as the secondary storm comes out. look for intensification of the snow. we are talking in the rockies

anywhere from 12-18 inches of snow or more before this is all over. we're watching the system as it makes its way east. the good news is we're not going to see a big, big drop in temperatures here throughout much of the country. >> al, thank you so much. we've got new information on the shooting investigation and the warning signs that may have been missed as another survivor is speaking out today. miguel is in san bernardino. good morning to you. >> savannah, good morning. the center behind me remains a focal point for investigators as they try to cease together the hours before and after the bloodshed. >> as the fbi investigates a mosque that was fire bombed, dive teams searching for a hard drive at the lake says their work here is done though the investigation is far from over. federal agents believe they dumped evidence here close to

the time they murdered 14 and wounded two. jen was shot twice. >> a guy comes in with a big gun and starts shooting. you don't really see the bullets or anything. you can hear them. they're really loud. >> with farook and malik radicalized as early as 2010, investigators fear warning signs were missed. malik posted about jihad on social media saying she supported it and wanted to be a part of it well before she was approved for her fiance visa into the u.s. >> i think we need to look at this very, very carefully which is what we're doing. >> today's federal agents are still building between the shootings and shoot out with police. in all, 4.5 hours went by. what did the gunmen do before they were killed? >> i saw them putting on what i believed to be bullet proof vests. >> sergeant andy caps was among the first to engage the

terrorist in the final shoot out. >> we could not let them get away from us. that's what they intend to do is fight with us and hurt more people and we couldn't allow that. >> another focus continues to be marquez. he is not a suspect but he may be a best source of information for fbi as they continue to work this case. matt and savannah, back to you. >> all right. thank you. >> anniversary now now flags fl half staff in connecticut today to mark the third anniversary of the mass shooting at sandy hook elementary school in newtown. 26 people killed. 20 children and six educators. this is the first time since the 2012 shooting that the anniversary is actually fallen on a school day. counselors will be on hand for students and staff in every school. a moment of silence will be observed in the middle and high schools.

at the elementary schools, there will be no mention of the shootings. >> now to some welcome news on the economy. gas prices dropping lower. looks like they'll stay low throughout the holiday season. tom is not a gas station in virginia. good morning. 13 f2 el país bajan aun mas. tis the season for gifting and americans are always wanting something extra in their pocket. gas prices the lowest in years. at the pump, the national average $2.01 a gallon. kansas has the cheapest gas. california pays the most, $2.65 a gallon. how cheap is cheap? gas is now cheaper than a gallon of milk.

even a small starbucks coffee. >> we're looking at some of the cheapest gas prices since the early 1970s. >> just last week gas was $2.04 a gallon. since last year prices down $0.55. the highest national average was july 2008 was gas at $4.10 a gallon. the reason for the plunge, the u.s. is swimming in oil now producing more than it imports. meanwhile, saudi arabia keeps pumping more hoping to drive out competitor ins iran and the u.s. cheap gas is good news for car sales. roughly 16 million new vehicles have rolled off dealer lots so far this year. 59% of them like trucks and suvs. >> that's what brought him in to buy an suv. >> it's now $2. that's pretty good.

>> and gas prices likely to be lower in the coming weeks. we're told as most experts say we should be sticking around $2 more a gallon or less. looking at oil prices you can likely effects the west coast but down a dollar from a year ago and if winter ever returns to parts of the country, it's likely to be cheaper to heat people's homes. north earn virginia 63 degrees on this december day. guys, back to you. >> tom bringing glad tidings of great weather and gas prices, thank you. >> a lot of temperatures in the 60s and 70s but a lot of places it's around the corner. >> we'll tell you what's going on in our local weather in the next 30 seconds.

good morning. i'm meteorologist keri hall. sit cool stepping out this morning. we're only in the upper 30s to lower 40s. and highs today will be a little below average but a lot of sunshine, still some breezy winds at times, gusts up to 30 miles an hour. and look for a high of only 56 degrees in san francisco. the peninsula as well as the south bay. in the east bay 57 degrees and in the north bay a slight chance of a shower moving in with a high of 56 degrees. >> thanks very much. too hot to handle. amazon puts some brakes on hover boards after a series of fire. >> plus on rossen reports, kids, car seats and a big mistake many parents make in the winter

months. what you need to do. this is a really important story, but, first, this is "today" on nbc. man

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mild to moderate nausea and vomiting. anti-flu? go antiviral with tamiflu. today... ==topvo== a very good monday morning to you. 7:26, i'm laura garcia cannon. happening today on the anniversary of the sandy hook school shooting, the congressman is tielthenning up efforts for gun rules. mike thompson wants to close a federal loophole allowing people on the federal terror list to buy guns. thompson is also pushing to end the ban tracking gun violence. this morning he's hosting a forum with a panel of law enforcements, gun dealers and mental health experts. let's get a check of the forecast today. it is chilly out there behind the storm system that rolled through yesterday. still light showers across

northwestern california that may move into parts of the north bay. but it is cold in some spots dipping below freezing in livermore, 32 degrees in san jose. now 39 degrees. we here looking at highs in the mid to upper 50s within mostly sunny and breezy winds. he's see how the roads are moving with mike. we're looking toward the south bay where the five-car crash clear quickly. as the commute continues to building in general, a crash over here approaching capital expressway may slow you down. the bigger look at the bay shows you nothing really unusual about this pattern as far as where you see the slowing and a lighter that typical. this is a december commute. a nice flow of traffic. let's take a live look out there. westbound does show the build and the slowing over to the peninsula. we see the sunlight right now. that's a welcome sight. we bell back with another

news update for you in half an hour. hope to see you then. have a great monday morning.

7:30 now on this monday morning, december 14th, 2015, and it does not feel like it. it's an unseasonal warm day here in new york city and all across the eastern seaboard. we actually hit 67 on sunday, and that snapped a 92-year-old record. it felt pretty good. we're going to talk more about that with al in a investment more about stories making headlines. our new national nbc news/"wall street journal" poll shows ted cruz cutting into donald trump's lead in the republican presidential race, now just five point behind the front-runner. marco rubio is now in third place, followed by ben carson who has dropped 18 points after leading in that same poll in

late october. >> president obama is making a rare visit to the pentagon today. on the agenda, he'll discuss the fight against isis with his national security team. >> and the postal service says today is the busiest mailing day of the year. officials recommend sending packages by december 21st if you want them to arrive in time for christmas. usps expects to deliver more than 1.5 billion pieces of mail this holiday season e coming up, what you could be doing that morning that puts your kids in danger. what jeff rossen shows why their kids should not wear winter coats while strapped in their car seats. >> we'll get to the that and new fallout this morning regarding the hover boards and some well-publicized incidents of them catching fire. so right in the middle of the holiday shopping season amazon has decided to yank most of those devices off its site. overstock.com has dropped them all together and natalie has more on this. >> yeah. supposed to be the hot gift of the holiday season, but now the

consumer products safety commission is assessing the risks associated with these motorized balance boards and recognizing their popularity. the agency says the investigation is at the top of their priority list. suddenly the host gift this holiday season has turned into a product too hot to handle it's on fire. >> because of growing safety concerns that some hover boards catch fire, amazon is removing most brands from its site and overstock.com is no longer selling them at all. this hover board caught fire causing thousands of dollars in damage. >> the hover board ignited while it was being charged and actually rolled over to a bed andig nate the the bedding in the bedroom. >> fortunately no one was hurt because lithium ion batteries are considered to be the culprit, more than a dozen airlines are now banning hover boards from their flights. amazon is asking sellers for documentation demonstrating that all hover boards you list are complaint with applicable safety

standards. but because they don't fall into a product category such as toys, hover boards aren't regulated and quality varies widely. >> i think it's a legitimate question to ask, if i buy a higher end version, am i getting a safer one and the answer is we don't know. >> one of the largest manufacturers is swagway. ellen degeneres gave one to justin bieber as a gift. in a statement swagway says it puts safety above anything else and exceeds government regulations and to date has no reports of any issues of batteries catching fire or explosions of any kind. we applaud amazon for taking these steps to weed out the low quality boards. >> experts say consumers should use caution with all hover boards. >> read all the manufacturer reference material and make sure that they are not charged unattended and do not leave them on charge overnight. >> that's a goodity. also, the chief says look for

the ual label that says the product has been tested and meets laboratory's safety standards. >> thank you very much. >> to the weather, al. >> all righty. wet weather is making its way towards us here in the east and we're also expecting to see more heavier showers and thunderstorms moving through chicago hand maybe some airport delays. atlanta seeing some rain. this is part of a vigorous storm system that's dumping all that snow out to the west. showers through the midwest and into the northeast today and on into tomorrow and as we move to the north of this system colder air will get its way into northern main where we may see some icing conditions, but rainfall generally going to be about an inch to half an inch of rain as we watch this system make its way and its exit on good morning. i'm meteorologist keri hall. it is chilly as you head out this morning. we're in the upper 30s to lower hoz and you may have to scrape some frost off of the windshield. then we'll have a lot of sunshine, still staying breezy

and a spot shower is possible for parts of the north bay. a lot of sunshine elsewhere. we'll see more weather like this, cooler than average weather staying with us through the workweek and rain later on for the weekend. >> don't forget. get your weather any time you need, it weather channel on cable and weather.com online. >> all right, al. we will. coming up, first it was the red cup and now a cooker that's become unbearable for certain starbucks customers and it's become popular on trending. >> and a warning for parents. >> coming up, the common mistake parents make in the winter. how you put your child in the car seat could mean the difference life and death. we have crash tests like that mastering irresistibly smooth. the lindor truffle ...from the lindt master chocolatiers. a hard outer shell with a smooth center. welcome to the best time of your day. unwrap.

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morning new crash test video that will help us all save a life today. >> this child dummy just went flying out of her car seat and watch this one, the little body violently tossed forward. she was happaned in, all looked good so what went wrong? here with sue from kids and cars and this my 3-year-old son blake and you say i've been making a mistake a lot of parents make about how i put blake in the car seat. >> i think you r.show me what you do. snap, snap and this feels snug to me. >> looks like it's tug and let's take him out and take the jacket off. so i do it. take blake out and remove that puffy coat and put him back in. snap, wow. >> look how loose the straps are now. >> this is unreal. >> isn't it? >> it's actually dangerous. >> reporter: to show you what can happen we're at this official crash test lab here in michigan. climb up here for a moment. we have, as you can see, a child dumby in a winter jacket

strapped into a car seat and to meet straps feel pretty tight. simulate a crash down this track at 30 miles per hour. let's get it going. three, two, and right over here, one. >> the child dummy whipping forward and just watch when we runt test again. he goes flying out. even her jacket sliding right off. look at this, so scary to see up close. miriam runs the lab. what should we do. >> see a nice fit of the harness to the child's body, shouldn't be able to punch any webbing and this should at armpit level. >> reporter: an interesting tip and no puffy winter jacket in the car seat. >> that's right. >> reporter: and it makes all the difference. this time child dumby is properly restrained. no winter coat, straps snug against its body. look at, that dummy stays right in the seat. come this way, it wonchlt that's the proof right this.

>> and if you're worried about your child being cold in the car. here's the best advice >> instead of putting the coat on him, put the coat over him to keep him warm or use a blanket like this. does this work, buddy? >> yeah. thank you. a simple move to save your child from this. >> thank to you my son who had no idea what he was a part of in that car. no question, by the way, use the car seat is the best way to keep your kids safe. just remember strap them in without the winter coat on and by the way, this is interesting. the same advice goes for adults, too. don't sit behind the wheel and don't strap yourself in with a winter coat because the seat belt will not fit against you, the same exact thing. >> wow, eye opening. >> what are you doing tomorrow? >> tomorrow we have another very interesting story. we are talking about what to do if you fall through ice. all part of our save my life series, and you can see i'm going in because this happens every single winter. already happened this year in fact. lakes and ponds across the country look frozen over but

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lots of nice people out thereto on a warm morning. temperatures are a hot topic on social media. let's go to tamron in for carson in the original room. >> good morning, guys. coat or no coat. what a thema to have. many cities saw record high temperatures this weekend, as al reported earlier. some places are expected to reach as high at 30 degrees above average. so, of course, we took to social media asking you to share us how you soaked up the unseasonable heat, and you replied. amy tweeted out water skiing santa in buffalo, new york. that looks friend and danny posted from albany. love putting my lights up in t-shirt but where's my snow? it's coming, i'm sure. mike put this one out. mowing the grass, washing the car, 70-degree day in indiana. who would have thought on december 12th. putting that to work and msnbc's

joe scarborough tweeted out this little ditty. christmas in connecticut feels more like l.a. in december, so keep your warm winter photos coming as we, guess, should embrace them because sooner or later, al, we won't be washing the car and wearing t-shirts and santa would have been frozen on that lake for sure. >> and out west it is very snowy and very winter-like. >> all right. >> enjoyable. i did see a dog with a sweater on yesterday. that seemed wrong. a little hot. coming up, how the warm weather could save you some cold hard cash during your next trip to the mall. >> also ahead, a very big week for our friend tina fey, a new movie and an elite place in a club related to ♪ ♪

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==topvo== a very good morning to you. it's 7:56. i'm laura garcia cannon. cleanup in some case continues from the weekend's storm that rolled through the bay area. rough seas on friday cause one freighter to lose 12 shipping container containers. 11 others are still unaccounted for. the coast guard said most of the containers were erpty and none of the material is considered hazardous. the company will pay for the cleanup. >> on land strong winds from the storm toppled crease and the crews cleaned debris from two dozen trees spread across the city. in some cases, fallen branches took downoverhead power lines. but despite a few close calls, no one was injured. want to check the forecast for now. we're in the clear from the storms? >> yes.

but cold air rolling in. now it's only 33 in livermore. 40s elsewhere. look for highs that will be cooler than average in the mid to upper 50s, mostly sunny and some breezy winds. let's see what's happening on the roadways with mike. kari, no big surprise. we expect this. look at that. beautiful sunshine, also the camera moves a bit from the breeze. look at the map. 580 not bad. east shore freeway moving just as well as 880. awe slow drive south 680 into walnut creek. the south bay continues with the build and the most pronounced difference is heading down toward 101. the crash on 280 as cleared and recovered through that area. slowing heading down up 85 into cupertino. >> we'll be back with another local news update for you in

about half an hour and every half-hour after that. enjoy your monday morning.

it's 8:00 on "today." coming up, warm weather, hot deals. why this month's record breaking temperatures could mean big savings for shoppers this holiday season. plus, shaking it off. how taylor swift made up with apple and is now teaming up with them to bring her concerts to you. and it's a star-studded morning in studio 1a. kurt russell stops by to talk about his ruthless new role. >> no offense, cowboy, fella. just getting your attention. >> while the one and only tina fey brings the laughs as she talks about starring in "sisters" with her best buddy amy poehler. >> congrats on your wrestling championship. >> it's ralph lauren. >> is that how you say it? >> yes.

>> do you get good wi-fi with that? >> "today," december 14th. 3 f2 estamos en "today." ♪ >> happy holidays from south carolina! >> merry christmas from santa clara on the "today" show. >> we're back now. 8:00 on a monday morning. it's the 14th day of december. 2015, and if you would have told us that on december 14th we'd be out here with thin jackets we probably would have thought you were crazy.

that's what we're going for, a nice start to the day. >> it's gorgeous out here. >> i don't even know why we're wearing coats. very exciting, tina fey is here, absolutely one of our favorites and has a new movie called "sisters" with amy poehler. amy was here the other day and now we get tina's side of the story. >> she and amy will be hosting "saturday night live" and that puts tina in an extremely exclusive club. talk about that coming up. >> first inside to natalie with a check of the top stories of the morning. nat, good morning. >> hey, guys, good morning to you. in the news this morning, egypt saying today it still has no evidence of a terrorism link in the downing of a russian passenger jet over egypt in october. russia is standing by its own finding that the plane with 224 people on board was destroyed by a bomb. an islamic state group claimed responsibility saying it was to avenge russian airstrikes in syria. russia has escalated those strikes in response to the incident. president obama and his national security team are meeting at

pentagon this morning to fine tune their isis strategy. it's the president's first trip to the pentagon since the terrorist attacks in paris and san bernardino. in his weekly address the president said american air strikes are having an impact on isis leadership, fighters and weapons. a deadly police shooting in southern california sparked a public outcry this weekend. nbc's blake mccoy is in lynnwood, california, with new video. blake, good morning. >> reporter: natalie, good morning. this is not chicago. that is the message sent here with the quick release of the surveillance tapes. authorities believe the tapes show the public was in danger and the shooting justified. >> no justice, no peace. >> no justice, no peace. >> for a second day outrage in los angeles. >> why do you keep on doing this? >> reporter: over this cell phone video showing l.a. county sheriff's deputies opening fire shooting nicholas robertson as he walked away, firing 33 times

even as he crawled on the ground. it's unclear how many bullets hit robertson, but this video only shows part of the story. says the sheriff's department snow see the suspect entering the frame. weapon in hand. >> these surveillance clips released sunday just 24 hours after the shooting showed the man holding what appears to be a gun. deputies say they were called after he shot the gun in the air at a residential neighborhood and briefly went into a pizzeria, gun in hand. >> he's handling the gun in an odd sort of way and seems to be agitated. >> reporter: even after falling to the ground, robertson still appears to be holding the gun. deputies believed they were in danger and so were two women and three children just feet away at the gas station. the sheriff here says he's well aware of public sentiment regarding shootings across the country, that's why he's being as transparent as possible but police say the police cannot police themselves and are calling for an independent

investigation. natalie. >> blake mccoy in lynnwood, california, thank you. now to some incredible video from san diego, the community coming together this weekend to help land a struggling hot air balloon packed with a gondola full of people that was coming down in a neighborhood. the balloon got caught in a tree on a roof and then on a car. eventually neighbors were able to pull its lines and guide it to a safe landing. >> and some holiday magic on display in england. builders were remodeling a house and they found a christmas wish -- list that was written 70 years ago. it was tucked inside the chimney and asked for things like a pair of slippers, a tie and a pencil box. the builders tracked down the boy who wrote it. he is now a 78-year-old grandfather, and they even the brought him some of the presents that were mentioned on the list. >> cute. >> that's a great christmas wish answered. >> love it. >> better late than never. >> natalie, thank you. winter officially arrives in what, eight days, but with unseasonably warm temperatures it hasn't felt that way across much of the country.

>> but that's good news, could save you a bundle if you want to prepare for the cold that will inevitably come. nbc's olivia sterns is here with that story. >> reporter: good morning, savannah. can you believe it was 70 degrees at jfk. that's wild. the last thing it makes you want to do is run out and buy a coat. the warm temperatures certainly chilly news for retailers as cold weather gear is piling up on shelves. but the good news for you, stores are looking to unload merchandise at a big discount. >> reporter: from coats to boots and hats and gloves, stores are all geared up for the cold winter. the only thing is the weather isn't cooperating. >> guess what? it feels like march out there. we are going to see temperatures that are way above normal. >> reporter: so far this season it's warmer, a lot warmer. in the northeast, november was 4 to 6 degrees above average and 5 to 8 degrees higher in the midwest. and when it comes to winter clothing, all that sunshine means major markdowns. >> we have a great assortment within outerwear and we're

offering really great values so now is really a terrific time for our customers to shop. >> but it's a big bust for retailers that stocked up on inventory based on last year's cooler than normal fall weather. macy's, norm strom and lands end blaming decides pointing sales on higher temperatures. unseasonably warm weather has really put a damper on coat sales and sales of boots and that's combined with the unusual mark downs you see this time and equals the huge savings bonanza. how bad is it? sweater sales down 3%, boots 2% -- boots 6% and blankets plummeted down 10% compared to last year. what's bad news for retailers is good news for bargain hunters. warm temperatures mean hot deal, up to 50% off or more. >> typically we don't see really heavy discounting until after the holidays. right now because inventories are so high, these retailers

that traditionally sell a lot of clothes are loaded with coats, so they are trying to unload them. you'll snag some of the best deals at stores like macy's, j crew and the gap, experts say. >> i'm trying to rack up on winter gear. >> if your bargain hunting, this is the year. >> now is a great time to give the gift of warms. gloves, coats, hats, scarves. you're going to get great deals on these gifts and after the holidays you can buy some goodies for yourself. a couple of things to consider before you run out to the mall though, or perhaps click checkout ornl. yes, coats and other winter gear are marked down right now, but the deepest discounts will actually be the week before christmas as stores unload right before the holiday. the longer you wait, the the bigger the sale. worries they won't have your size or color left. if you can wait until after christmas, some of the best

deals at t. j. max, marshall's and main street retailers will have merchandise to unload and the discount stores will make out. not every brand, looking for high popular items like uggs or canada goode, as you know none of these go on sale. >> so many retailers use last winter as their guide to order for this winter. >> no polar vortex in sight. >> olivia, thank you so mump. coming up next, move over, maria. you won't guess what song dethroned her song in the stores. and never mind a dog. it's turkeys now tormenting your postal carrier. >> and look who is here, miss tina fey, to talk about her wild side and she will talk about what she's about to have in common with justin timberlake, christopher walken. all right.

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[ laughter ] ♪ [ male announcer ] for tim and richard smucker, giving a gift of their family's delicious jam always made the holidays just a little bit sweeter. we forgot to put our names on them! richard, i think they'll know who it's from. ♪ thank you boys. you're welcome. you're welcome. [ male announcer ] happy holidays from our family to yours. i love christmas! all right. we're back now. 8:12. good time for what's trend and here's a study that turns over an assumption a lot of people

have about those who curse a lot. namely, that they are not very articulate and that they use four-letter words as a crux. we've all thought, that right? >> why are you looking at me? >> you're not that bad. people who swear frequently it turns out actually have larger vocabulary. scientists say those folks tend to be careful about using foul-mouthed language reserving the words for the right times, so we brought an exer in the on this topic because in her new movie "sisters" tina fey, it would turn out has one of the most extensive volk bris anyone has ever had. tina, you buy this? >> yeah. i think -- yes, i think there's a lot of beauty in curse words and when used perfectly they are elegant >> the a half fame cursor in this >> thank you. >> probably more than you had in your career. >> you see on camera. >> they have bigger vocabularies. all of those extra curse words.

>> we'll talk to tina about that movie coming u. >> what is a typical work day for you? you do not have to face anything like this guy. take a look. >> every day. >> that's right. he fends off a flock of turkeys. he has the pole to keep them at bay. they do not like the mailman. >> there is a lot more to this but it's hilarious. >> we made it past thanksgiving. we're coming for you. >> next up, the latest starbucks controversy as if they needed another one. the coffee chain became the target of social media for red cups, some say it wasn't christmasy enough. now they are trying to kill polar bears according to some. look at this cookie. wearing that red scarf. right. anybody see anything else?

>> well, some online it's not a scarf, it's blood around the bear's neck. >> come on. >> really? >> a post about this went up last week, it already has more than 3 million views. renewing calls of a war on christmas. >> may be a war on polar bears. >> why christmas? >> it's a christmas cookie. the cookie was discontinued in 2010, starbucks saying part of a rotating holiday tradition. >> old cookies? >> no. >> the pictures of former cookie. >> they brought them back. >> they brought them back. >> they are back now. >> they are adorable. delicious. >> good. >> they are not back. people reacting to old photos. >> cookie war. >> tir outrage is also misplaced and dated. >> all right.

now to big news from adele and taylor swift and big honor. cameron. >> first to adele. the news she announced this morning next year she will launch her first north american tour in five years, it kicks off july 5, st. paul, minnesota. see you in. wraps up on november 15. if we're lucky see you there. phoenix, l.a., nashville, miami, atlanta and dallas. mark your calendars, tickets go on sale this thursday. at 10:00 a.m. set your alarm. and to get an idea of what you can expect, watch adele's special live in new york city tonight at 10:00, 9 central on of course nbc. next "sports illustrated" honor of the sports person of the year. there are worthy candidates. who is joining the ranks of mohammed ali and michael jordan? this year the honor goes to the

great serena williams saying this year serena proves to be a force on and off the court winning three major titles and completing her second serena slam. >> kind of shy. >> also fighting for racial justice and gender equality. serena saying she is beyond honored for the recognition. congrats to her. i saw on al roker's page. he hung out. next to taylor swift. at one point she threatened to boycott apple -- why are you laughing? >> i was -- sorry. go on with your report. >> i'm having enough trouble with this without you doing this for me. >> would be to look. probably the instagram.

>> let me go back to my script. where are we. taylor swift. she's back. at one point she threatened to boycott apple. she is now doing business with them. taylor inking a deal with apple to stream what is from her world concert tour which wrapped on saturday. the film will be available starting next week to subscribers of apple music. taylor turned 26 on sunday. happy birthday. happy belated one. and mariah carey thanks to her hit all i want for christmas is you, it was the most played holiday song across the country. the play list provided by play network and that company now says that for the first time since the song there is a new favorite, it's the cover of paul mccartney's song wonderful christmas time. that is your pop start. >> your kids will be impressed. >> thank you.

>> check of the weather. >> let's get to it. show you what we've got going on. we're looking at a big storm system right now out west -- here in the east, you can see snow throughout parts of nebraska and iowa, we're looking at wet weather through chicago, the good news is we are going to be looking at temperatures that are staying mild in the eastern two thirds of the country. no big changes there. the cooler weather is going to be banked out west, eventually makes its way to the east. look at this, 80s in florida, 70s along the mid-atlantic coast. wet weather making its way from the upper midwest all the way into the northeast, patchy dense fog in the northeast as well. could be airport delays. lots of snow out west, and another big storm system moving into the pacific northwest late tonight into tomorrow. that's what' good morning. i'm meteorologist kari hall. it is chilly as you step out. we're only in the low to mid-40s now. but warming up just a bit in some spots. and we'll make it into the mid

to upper 5s for an afternoon high. we're looking at 57 degrees in the east bay. meantime, it will be 56 degrees in the north bay, san francisco, the peninsula as well as the south bay. and it will be breezy, too, with mostly sunny skies. a spot shower will be possible in the north bay. and more weather like this as we head through the rest of the workweek. latest weather. matt. >> al, thank you. one of the most entertaining teams getting together, tina fay and amy poehler. playing sisters determined to throw an epic party before their parents sell their childhood home. >> danger. walk away. let the black diamond flow. >> why aren't you partying? >> i'm the designated mom tonight. i'm keeping everybody safe. you have kids? >> i'm sure i do. >> doesn't seem like your type. good morning. nice to see you. >> how are you? >> i'm good.

back to the cursing for a second. sometimes you watch a movie and listen to an actor with a lot of cursing. they don't seem that comfortable. this was not one of those cases. >> no. this is like an old swaddling blanket from my baby time. it's very comfortable to swear. amy and i, it's r rated. it's not all real swearing it was fun having done broadcast tv to be able to curse a little bit. >> the dialogue between the two of you is very, very funny. you guys get back together. you play the wild older sister, she is more good-hearted -- >> caretaker sister. >> art imitating life? >> in real life i would say we are both the good sister but it was so fun for me for once to play the out of control wrecking sister with the situation lifted up. and it was just so fun to be with mia and very good times. >> when you do an "snl" reunion

with maya and amy and bobby moynihan. do you approach the movie differently in terms of the shooting process because you have familiarity? >> you do because paul who has been a writer for many years and many thing she knows us so well so she wrote the script. she would write more jokes while we were shooting and hand them in to us. then also you trust everyone to improvise because you could turn maya on and roll on her for like an hour. >> you throw this party and you invite all of the kids that were part of your group or sometimes outside your group in high school. and anybody watching the movie can check off all of those people. we all had those people in or lives, which takes me back to you as a teen. which group? >> i was like a high functioning nerd. like editor of the school paper, so we had our own subset of friends but we were not cool. >> wait. >> no drop of alcohol.

>> i told your friends in high school you would go on to become this tina fey, they would say or have said? >> they would say but she only has one eyebrow, how is this going to work out. >> this would be surprising. >> i would think so, yes. >> going back, you're going to host "snl" with amy. >> yes. >> that puts you, the names, in an extremely exclusive club, here they are here. >> yes. all my boyfriends. >> the five-timers club. >> yeah. when lauren called and said -- we want to host together, yes, but i have to ask you a serious question. if we host together does it still count in getting me in the five-timers club. >> or are you 4 1/2. >> it counts because alec once hosted with kim basinger. so like major league baseball. >> and i'm noting funny, in career highlights, that would rank where? >> that -- that would be like

third behind lighting the christmas tree once with you and then this interview right now. >> that's good. so you've been doing publicity for the movie. >> yes. >> let me fact check on a couple of things that have come out. amy poehler sometimes calls you betty. >> yes. my first name is elizabeth. elizabeth tina so she's one of the people that knows that. >> is betty a term of endearment or like when my mom would call me matthew because i angered her. >> i think endearment. >> you met amy at improv class she reportedly admired a joke you told about kathryn the great. >> oh, yeah, probably. again, so good at swearing, not a joke i could tell you right now. >> you have a joke about gath rin the zblaet. >> yes because of my high swearing vocabulary. >> there is another one that you apparently one one thing for christmas. >> take a nap. >> pot holders. >> i do.

because my pot holders are worn out. i'm turning into my mom. like i don't want anything. i understand it now. you get to be like when you're a mom, i don't want anything. >> are you that big of a cook? >> matt, you blew christmas and gave to the me early. thank you. i will seriously use these. >> put them under the tree and pretend. >> i do that a lot. >> this is fun. sisters from our sister company universal, opens on friday, and you can catch tina and amy back on "snl" this coming saturday night. congrats. >> thanks, matt. thanks for these. i'm pumped. >> our pleasure. >> thank you so much. coming up look who is here, kurt russell. his new movie the hateful eight. bad guys and more. >> eight bad guys. one very bad girl. >> we'll have more. first your local news and weather. i'm ... ==anim== happening

today... ==topvo== a very good morning to you. it is 8:26. happening today on the anniversary of the sandy hook school shooting, a north bay congressman ramping up to tighten up gun ownership rules. mike thompson wants to close a federal loophole allowing people on the federal terror watch list to buy guns. critics argue it's too broad to enact such a ban. thompson is also pushing to end the ban limiting federal tracking of gun violence. this morning in sacramento, he will host a forum with a panel including law enforcement agents, gun dealers and mental health experts. want to check the morning commute. i heard of an accident out there, mike. >> south 101 at grand, there is a crash and a lot of slowing all the way down toward 380 where

280 also slows toward the same area. a lot of crossover going on there. meanwhile, 880 northbound coming up through oakland, we have a smoother, slower drive. same thing for 580. nothing dramatic but northbound 880 at 238, we do have a crash in san leandro. watch for that activity. both sides of the bridges show a slower drive. that's typical pattern as folks make their way over to the peninsula and between the spans over on the east bay. northbound through the south bay move very well. we had good recovery for 280 after an earlier crash at laurenton. everything else moves well. back to you. >> thank you very much. we'll be back with another local news update for you in about a half hour.

the gets to work by 8:00...ids, and always manages to give them a healthy lunch. the newlyweds seeking out wholesome meals

and exciting flavors for their new cookware. the guy who finally decided to kick 35 years of bad snacking habits. you inspire us to do everything we do... ...for goodness' sake.

. we're back now. it's a monday morning, the 14th of december, 2015. 384:30 in the morning. pretty day out here on our plaza, huge crowd and huge happy crowd getting ready for the holidays, and by the way, a golden globe nominated series star "fargo" is the our little elf. we'll talk to kristen coming up. that's a good find. >> oh, my gosh. >> look at this bear.

>> pigger than her. >> good morning, everybody. nice to have you on our plaza. >> also ahead as we just told people kurt russ sell here. >> wrangler. >> we'll have a little talk with wrangler after that. kurt is here and starring in the new quentin tarantino film called "the hateful eight" including the epic stash that he had to grow for the role. >> all right, and we put out the call for sweet treat and the highlight in today's holiday cookie swap and this morning we finally get to sink our teeth into our first delicious batch. >> that's right. >> and, folks, don't forget. we are throwing our good friend will yard scott a big retirement sendoff tomorrow. we'll get you ready for it with a look back at some of our favorite willard moments. >> looking forward to. a lot to get to in this half hour starting with the weather. >> looking at week ahead. start off with a flood threat in the northern plains in the early

part of the week and wintry in the northern plains and heavy snow back through the rockies that. snow continues in the pacific northwest and mid-week heavier rain making its way into the northeast, mid-atlantic states and storms along the east coast and the latter part of the week, sunshine for the eastern two-third of the country with mountain rain and snow and hangs around. you can see it stays warm here in the east and cold out west and mid-week still toasty in the east. much below normal through the rockies and then the latter part of the week things start to we do still have a lot of sunshine all across the bay area. and a clear view of san francisco, but as you step out, it's only 47 degrees. and we do still have some freezing temperatures in the north bay. and it's very cold in the east bay. livermore at 33. expect highs today in the mid-50s. and a breezy wind. mostly sunny skies. and we'll be below average for the next couple of days as we head into the weekend, it starts to get a little milder but then

more rain on saturday. >> don't forget check your weather any time you need it. go to the weather channel on cable or weather.com online. well, this morning we're launching a new make your today series called "pay it forward. ""all of us picked a special person or organization that's meant something to tus and tried to do something special for them. >> today it's my turn and this one is close to home for all of us because i picked someone from our family, our "today" show family. >> welcome to "today" on a busy tuesday morning. >> over the course -- >> when you turn on the "today" show in the morning, this is the view you're used to seeing, but this is my view of the dozen of people working furiously behind scenes to get us on the air

every day. eric hill is one of those people. eric has been a production assistant on "today" for almost 30 years and is someone i always look forward to seeing, and i'm not alone. >> every time you walk past eric, he's got a smile on his face and a chuckle in his that's right. >> eric is one of the greatest guys i've ever known. >> eric goes above and beyond to make sure that everyone who comes into his life feels special. >> but for the last six months we've been missing eric because he's been in his hometown of pittsburgh, pennsylvania, being treated for stage four colon cancer, and even though right now he's in the in the studio every morning, we wanted him to know that we are right by his side and maybe one small thing we could do would be to honor a time-test trade digs. >> here it is, 929th annual macy's thanksgiving day parade. >> for the last 24 years eric has been with us at the macy's thanksgiving day parade, taking his annual christmas card photo

with us, his cohorts. from his very first photo in 1990 with katie and willard. >> doesn't seem like thanksgiving though without a picture of you, me and matt, eric, and i miss, that and i miss you. >> it's always something we look forward to. >> it was very, very special, because you saw in him the true meaning of the holidays. just like a little kid. >> as the years progressed and so did the themes and costumes from a christmas carol to a christmas story, from rudolph to ghost busters and elf. we've always been happy to be eric's elves, and this would have been his 25th anniversary at the parade, but eric's health didn't permit him to be there, so we didn't want him to miss a special milestone. >> look at this. >> with the help of a cardboard cutout and several wacky costumes we tried to do what eric would have wanted. >> eric, we wish you a speedy recovery. we miss you, pal. we love you. have a really happy holiday,

doctor's orders. >> come back soon. >> take two of these and call us in the morning. >> as we snapped our photos for eric we knew that mailing this card wouldn't do. we wanted it to be a special delivery, a surprise special delivery. we sent one of our camera crews to pittsburgh. all we told eric was that we were shooting staff holiday greetings. he had no idea i was there. >> it's been incredible journey because it's -- it's family. we joke sometimes like i'll see andrew and a couple other people, joanne, like who are the lifers, who -- who survived, but you meet some great people coming back and forth. >> did you say family? >> family. >> hello, good buddy. >> my god. >> how you doing? >> this is a gotcha. >> we feel the same way. >> i love you, i miss you. >> we miss you too. >> doing good. i'm great now. >> are you. >> we wanted to come out here and you just said family, 28 years. >> mm-hmm.

>> for 24 of those 28 years you have come to the thanksgiving day parade with your crazy costumes and your wacky props. >> mm-hmm. >> and you've dressed us all up and we've taken those amazing pictures for your holiday card. >> you've been great sports. >> and i know you, eric, were disappointed you couldn't be there to celebrate the 25th anniversary of that. >> yeah. >> and we were disappointed, too. we really were and we didn't want you to think that we wouldn't let that milestone or would let that milestone go by without stopping to do something special. so after the parade we got together. >> yeah. >> and we took some liberties. you were there in spirit. >> and the i want to show you that we didn't forget the 25th. >> oh, my god. >> a cardboard cutout and there in herald square we said 25 years, happy holidays. >> that is -- >> i'm lost for words.

that is awesome. and you dressed up. >> so it's our way of saying having a happy holiday, doctor's orders. >> we miss you. >> you're the best. i miss you guys, too. >> and we really do miss eric hill. we're hoping he's watching this morning and getting better and recovering than he can be back to the 26th macy's day parade. >> not the same without you, eric. we miss you so much. >> miss. >> you and we love you, and i hope to see you soon. >> tomorrow i'm going to pay it forward a little bit, too, with some kids going through a tough time that i can definitely relate to, and we'll tell you about that. up next, kurt russell on his new golden globe nominated move "the hateful eight" but first on this monday morning, this is "today" on nbc.

we're back now at 8:30 with kurt russell who stars as one of the despicable characters, and we mean that in the nicest way in tarn tarn's highly anticipated movie "the hateful eight." take a look. >> you ain't got mixed emotions about bringing a woman. >> by woman, you mean her? no. i do not have mixed emotion. >> so you take in. >> you bet. >> you going to wait around and watch it? >> you know i am. >> i want to hear her neck snap in my own two ears. >> good lines, and i actually think you're the facest of the hateful eight. i actually think you're like the sweetie of the try. >> of course, so do i. >> tarantino hand picked you for this role and he loved you. i checked with our censors and can use what we said about you and says you're a bad ass and he wants everyone to see that. >> he does, i guess, enjoy putting me in these roles. had a great time with him and

this one was fantastic. the cast is the -- they are just a great group of people they are fantastic at what the they do, and quintin's just unique. there's only one of him. >> the script is so clever and got nominated for a golden globe, by the way. >> let's just talk about what we have to talk about, the mustache. >> that took a little while. >> like its own character in the film. >> that's true, true. >> so many questions. is it real, was it real? >> yeah, yeah, took about four months to grow. >> no, no. >> i did a picture just before this and i went of the went to the halfway house with more of a mustache and shaved the beard and let mustache keep going. it's like a mustache wearing a man. >> really is. if there could be a golden globe for the mustache you would get it there, would be no competition. >> a lot of people said that deserves an award. >> how did the mustache go over at home? >> not real gooded. >> how did goldie like it? >> ears ago when i had

"tombstone" i had a pretty decent sweeper going and i learned then that goldie wasn't a big fan and actually neither was i and she understood we would have to muscle through it and it was real nice when it came off. >> by the way, it looks like -- nice shoot in the sense that you like everybody, but the conditions looked incredibly grueling. you're in a plies ard for most of it. >> well, you know, in the process of shooting it and where we shot it, turl i'd only four hours from or place in aspen. i'm very used to that. i love that part of the world. i love being there and being in that environment, so it wasn't bad. it really wasn't bad. we had a pretty nice winter and had as much snow as we needed in all of that, but, yeah, your feet get cold. >> tarantino has two rules on set that i personally could not live by. one no, electronic gadgets and, two, no nap. what is he, a sadist? that's terrible >> you really don't want to go here. >> really, why? >> because -- >> that just makes me want to go

there more. >> i lost -- be careful what you say here, you might get what you wish for. you know, he doesn't let -- nothing is turned on or off which everybody loved. >> yeah. >> but other one, napping, i've grown up on sets and love napping, and he just doesn't like it when you go to sleep so if you do go to sleep there's a thing called big jerry that's going to be snuck in beside where you are taking and they will take a picture and you will go on the wall of shame and i'll leave big jerry alone. >> going tele. >> little early in the morning for big jer. >> i shouldn't, have i forgot about the second part of story. kurt rils, thank you so much. "the hateful eight" opens in select cities christmas day. up next, sweet treats

back now at 8:46 with a kickoff to today's holiday cookie swap. >> all this week we're going to get into the spirit of the season with our favorite seasonal treats. >> it's the most wonderful time of the year. made of sugar and spice and everything nice. >> when i bite into my favorite cookie, it makes me feel like a kid again. >> when i think cookies, i think deliciousness. >> when cookie searches are at an all-time high and three-quarters of americans consume more cookies than any other month of the rear. >> nothing beats the perfect moist, soft, yet still somewhat gooey cooky. >> sugeary, chocolate chip and ginger bread along the most popular. >> when i think cookie, i think chinese almond cookied with the chocolate in the middle. >> america, we asked you to tell us your favorite. >> my favorite cooky is from helen's kitchen in charlotte, north carolina. secret is it's a great cookie

and then she sprinkles a little sea salt on top, mwah. >> and give a shout-out to the bakeries that made them. >> my favorite is lavanes dark chocolate peanut butter chip. >> when i think cookies, i think happiness. >> and you answered. today's great american cookie swap, georgia, you voted for the toffee cookie and ohio the buckeye, and california, persimmon cooky. >> it takes gooded. >> this is like a blueberry muffin if it were smashed down into a perfect little cookie, just like in a. >> so go ahead and indulge and take a bite out of holiday season. >> we are such dorks. a few weeks ago we started our nationwide hunt for great cookies and asked you to number nate an awesome bakery in your state. >> submissions poured in and we picked the bakers that rose to the top and our first match from michigan, texas and colorado

starting with chill mcclear fretom's mom cookies in harbor springs, michigan. cheryl has worked there for 20 years and owned the company for 20. good morning. good to see you. >> good morning. >> people say franchise this out and you say no why? >> i say no because if i keep it small i'll keep it good and i want it good always. >> your cookie res see what is. >> white chocolate with pupper sglint what makes it special? >> a lot of peppermint. >> so i'm going to add some white chocolate chips in here and peppermint sticks, a little more white chocolate and peppermint extract and you have got to add a lot of that. there's already some in the dough and i added that. >> mix that together. >> roll it out in a loss, cut it and bake it. >> delicious. >> oh, my -- >> mm-hmm. >> a mouthful and you have to introduce our next baker. caly ann buck, amazing, also a college student and has her own

bakery and making beautiful chocolate chip cookies and you -- you're a student. i don't understand how you have time to do all this. >> yes, actually, when i started the company i took a semester off from school and now that i'm back in school in boston and i have two texas a&m students that continue the business and we run it together. >> what's the name of your company, caly-in cookie. >> i like that. >> we like to pull them out of the oven about three minutes before and the edges will be a little bit crispy and when you pull them out you leave them on the pan for 10 to 15 minutes and let them continue to cook and from there you take them off and boda-bing, they are done. >> so you're take them a little bit before they are done. >> yes. >> usually like three minutes. >> great. >> like them soft and chewy. >> last but not least, representing denver, colorado, danon moore from cake crumbs.

she opened her bakery eight years ago and people come from all over for the cookies. good morning. happy holidays? what was >> most of all i live in the neighborhood where we are, and i really wanted to create something that could be designed for our community. >> i think that's great. the cookie is an oatmeal cranberry cookie. what is the secret to it? >> the cranberries. >> fresh? >> no, we don't. we use dried cranberries because i don't like raisins. really, you know, huge. growing up as a colorado skier, i loved giant cookies at the end of a good ski day. so big or go home. >> you use the ice cream scoop they come out uniform. >> you got it. >> thank you, danon, thanks for all of the recipes. by the way, if you want to learn more about these you can head to today.com and more bakers in a

little while. >> up next as we get ready to celebrate the great willard scott tomorrow we'll look back at one of his signature moments on the show. first, this is "today" on nbc. >> burks fir, this is "today" on nbc.

>> today's thank you willard is sponsored by smuckers.

>> this morning we have to say how bittersweet it is after 35 years here at "today" willard is retiring tomorrow. we have a huge party planned. >> over the years we calculated willard helped wish more than 40,000 americans happy birthday as they reached 100 years old. he is not only famous for birthdays. one of his most iconic moments came when he dressed up on a dare for charity as carmen miranda long before there were viral moments there was willard scott. >> long before matt started cross dressing willard was. >> carmen miranda. >> here is carmen miranda. >> what a privilege to have been there. they are still talking about it. >> that was one of those moments on television that became a phenomenon. >> i'll never get that image out of my head. >> everybody was blown away. >> there was a heart felt reason for doing it.

>> i'm a big fan of uso. >> it was for charity, to help people. >> if you didn't think i had fun, you are crazy. >> if the internet had existed when willard did carmen miranda he would have broken the internet. >> so great. amazing. >> talking about that for weeks. >> one of the first things people mention when they say his name. we'll have a proper send-off for willard tomorrow to cap his remarkable run here at nbc. >> a legend. >> i love it. >> he's -- really has done it. >> you carried that tradition on proudly. >> thank you. with a genius to inspire me. >> we'll have a lot more tomorrow, much more on a monday morning, what's up next hour? >> we have our cookie swap. >> and we get to sink our teeth into yummy cookies.

>> delicious. lots more. a check of your local news, weather and these messages. i'm ... ==topvo== san francisco is supposed to receive 80-million dollars a very good morning to you. it is 8:56. i'm laura garcia-cannon. san francisco is supposed to receive $80 million in state funding to help cover costs for a new $240 million jail facility. some supervisors believe the city should turn down the funding and instead spend its own money on mental health services and affordable housing. the supervisors will speak today ahead of a full board vote tomorrow. new this morning, just in

time for christmas, new rules for drones issued by the department of transportation. those rules apply to all drones over a half pound and include a web-based registration system. operators will also be required to place registration on the side of the drone so they can trace it. another local news update in half an hour. we'll see you then. [barks]

are those... you there... stormtroopers! halt! turn here. go go! follow them! bb-8! beep, beep! this way! where'd they go? they went that way! that way, they went that way! i can't believe that worked! of course it worked! beep, beep, beep!

this morning on "today's take," "sisters," the countdown is on to the comedy of the year. we've got one of the stars and then hollywood shopping scam, by the gift card you just bought may not be worth anything and three of the most delicious christmas cookies you'll ever eat. all that and more coming up now. >> 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 "today," it's monday morning. it's december 14th. it's 2015. there's a great holiday crowd on plads ashe. inside i'm willie along with al, willie and tamron. my morning jam "express yourself" by n.w.a.

i interviewed ice cube. >> yeah. >> last week. >> hanging with him. >> and been in that n.w.a. mood, that and sinatra and his 100th birthday, that kind weekend. >> that's good. >> great mash-up. >> am, let's talk about the weather. >> yes. >> did we head 72 in new york? >> jfk got to 70 degrees sunday. >> incredible. >> it's -- it's been nuts. so many cities saw record high temperatures. in fact, according to the national oceanographic administration, national centers for environmental information, at least -- the first ten days of december, this is before this weekend, 574 record daily highs have been tied or broken. >> wow. >> during the first ten days. >> that graphic is ominous. that looks like an apocalypse. >> in fact today some places could be 0 degrees above average. >> come on, wow.

>> is it true that this is going to continue potentially through christmas? >> well, it's going to moderate, but right now brutally cold, unusually cold weather is still banked up in canada. seeing below normal temperatures out west which we'll get into a little bit and cherry blossoms in washington, d.c. popped out again, and you can see buds on your freeze, it's not going to be a problem because they will re -- reblossom. >> right. >> once they go back into hibernation. >> crazy to see. >> it is. >> last week, first great class at an elementary school in new york tossed their coats into the air to celebrate unusual -- >> that's who you want to hang out with. that's the crew you want to hang out with. >> and not to be undone santa decided to get in on the action, in the niagara river in buffalo hanging ten. >> oh, come on. >> you don't see that. >> don't see that every day. >> remember this time last year, buffalo was like in a state of

emergency. they were buried. >> doesn't seem christmassy enough though. out in short and t-shirts. >> other parts of country, florida, california. >> generally. >> i need a little cold. >> you need snow, really? >> yeah. >> i need like the scarves and mittens and put if on and walk around. >> i don't mind this. >> al, here's my theory based on absolutely nothing. >> okay. >> it's a setup. get the mild weather and then we're going to get slammed with a horrible winter. >> in the northeast -- that's the what happen, we have fairly mild weather in december and boom. we're in an el nino year right now which means colder, wetter out west and a little drier, warmer here as we get into january and february, a little wetter and then a little colder. >> yeah. >> so we will eventually get our winter, but we are in the middle what have could be a record el nino which means warmer than unusual temperatures. >> comparison to your point about last year, remember dylan all over boston. >> i mean. >> by this time. >> i was talking to dylan about

this on friday. by this time last year she was already literally burnt out. she had been on the road for weeks covering brutal weather. >> and the people in the northeast burnt out. >> dylan, keep sleeping in. >> natalie mentioned some of us can't get into the christmas spirit without some snow around and christmas music, that should be able to help a little bit. >> yes. >> so the university of illinois has set up a 24/7 service, get this. you call in and you choose a song, and a student will sing it to you live. it's the whole new meaning to rent party. >> we've been doing this for years, since 1960s. >> just got in on the party. >> that's good to know. >> better late than never. >> we just -- somebody told me it was trending. >> well, in 1960. >> well, it was. >> a slow long trend. >> a slow build. >> "washington post" did a story on it. >> okay. both of my parents went to the university of illinois and this

pre-dates them. this is a long tradition. >> wow. >> but it's a great tradition. >> and just now catching on. >> so, do we check it out. because they have been on hold since the '60s just for you. >> your call will be received shortly after this message. please have your name and location from where you're coming from. >> what song do we want to hear? >> it make take us a few moment to get you your song. >> thank you and happy holidays. >> what song do we want? >> "last christmas." >> she goes right to wham. >> "last christmas" i gave you my that's right. >> that's sad. >> gave the heart and then she tore it apart. >> the they are on the phone. >> they are on the phone. >> happy song. >> "hark the herald angels sing." >> the "market herald" is that the name of it. >> hi, university of illinois, we'd like "hark the herald the angels sing." >> the what is your name? >> my name is sharon. >> hi, sharon.

>> runt in the middle of finals right now? >> my name is sarah. >> hi, sarah. how are you? >> so you're ready. >> we're ready. >> three, two, one. ♪ hark the herald angels sing ♪ glory to the newborn king ♪ peace on earth and mercy mild ♪ gott god and sinners reconcile the ♪ ♪ joy full all ye nations rise ♪ join the triumph of the skies ♪ ♪ with angelic hosts pleau claim ♪ ♪ christ is born in bethlehem ♪ hark the herald angel sings ♪ glory to the newborn king >> nice. >> fantastic. >> nice. >> are you in the christmas spirit now? >> i'm much better now, thank you, university of illinois. >> that's amazing. >> you guys are terrific. >> let me ask them one more thing to make sure they are

illini. i-l-l. >> i-n-i. >> that gets you in. >> don't sound like you've been singing sin oat 60s and bless your hearts. we're so happy. >> do you have a tip jar. >> we should give you something. >> what do you guys get out of it? >> we'll send you "today" show mugs. >> that's the christmas spirit. they don't get anything out of it other than bringing christmas joy to others. >> we'll send you guys "today" show mugs. >> signed "today" show mugs, not the ones from the gift shop. >> you might not want the signed ones. >> erasing names every day. >> you know. >> it's your choice, but i would go with the plain ones. >> that you knew the lyrics just like that. that's awesome. >> have a little thing called a computer in front of them. >> but they didn't know our song. >> i'm impressed. >> i think that's amazing. >> great job, guys. >> thank you. >> well done.

they are in the middle of finals right now, too, so. >> that's good. >> all staying up 24/7 to sing to us. >> how about the christmas lists with the hover boards. >> here, josh my son wanted -- wanted is the key word. >> uh-oh. >> and maybe the biggest gift of the holiday season or at least it was, but even santa apparently had a little messup on a hover board. take a look at this the. >> oh, no. >> merry christmas. >> ow. >> well, you remember that video, i guess it went viral. >> that still hurts no, matter how many times he did that. >> could have been worse and caught on fire. >> is that the hover's board? i feel like that it was santa's fault. >> steer issue. >>the door should have been made wider. >> can i talk, please. >> i just want to say one thing, please. >> let's top calling these hover boards. they are not hovering. they are not hovering. they are wheels. they are on the ground. it's not marty mcfly time. >> what are they called? >> they are not hover boards so

start -- stop calling them hover boards. >> they are more of a rover board. >> your turn. >> okay. >> anyway. as you've heard by now, no doubt seen hover boards, mono rovers, whatever you want to call them, they have become safety concerns because the lithium ion battery inside of them are causing some to catch fire and now amazon has pulled some of its brands from its sight. overstock.com is not selling them at all, and amazon is asking for some sellers to provide documentation that they comply with the safety standards. so bottom line is because they are not a toy they don't fit into the toy category. they are not really regulate. >> hmm. >> so a lot of kids i think are going to be upset. >> santa doesn't deliver that because of the lithium ion batteries. >> when you say santa doesn't bring it because of safety, there's no reason to be upset. >> i tried it on the plaza and nearly fell off of it and i'm pretty good on skates and skis and whatever so it took some

figuring out and now that's not even the risk anymore. >> to al's point. so many different ones and even my neighborhood a couple of pop-up shops have started selling them. >> a lot haven't been through testing or complaint the standards. >> not a good idea to ride through your neighborhood on fire. >> probably not. >> speaking of on fire, look at warmth that we've got here in the east. there's that high pressure pumping up and the jeemp is way up to the north, so today we'll see a high of 64 here in new york city. by wednesday it cools down to 63 and charleston tomorrow 75 degrees and look at this. 54 in chicago by wednesday and 61 in evansville and 42 in kansas city, but then the cool air is really banked out west. the jet stream has dipped down and so with this low pressure moving through you can see that swirl. we're seeing snow making its way from kansas on into parts of illinois and iowa, i should say, and we've got a deets ent amount

of snow coming in with that cold air, upwards of a foot and a half or more through the rockies and cascades and great news for the skiers. the christmas gift there for anybody who lovers to ski. we have a lot of sunshine across the bay area. chilly temperatures, but it is gradually warming up. we're now in the mid-40s and looking at highs today that will be in the mid-50s. a breezy wind, mostly sunny skies. there will st. louis beill be a chance of an isolated shower in the north bay, other than that, we will have dry weather after this weekend's storm system and more of this heading into the next few days. cooler than average temperatures. >> and that's your late weather. >> al, thank you very much. coming up next "rossen reports live," yeah, live, baby, from gift cards that are empty before you use them to fake websites. just got a warning about three common skaks and how to friends coming over?

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we are back now with another we're back now with another installment of ralston reports live. we're exposing hotday shopping scams. >> jeff rossen did so the digging to uncover some of the biggest cons happening right now. hey, jeff. >> good morning, gouuys. >> start off with the gift cards. >> you said you're scared of gift cards. >> my fear is always you buy it and give it to someone and it wasn't activated or something. >> this is along those lines. we have some of the most popular gift cards right here in my hand. a whole rack of them. you go to the store and buy them for somebody but what the thieves are doing is going to the racks of stores, they're turning the gift cards over. i have this one right here. we can zoom in that camera on it real quick. what they're doing is they're scratching off -- you see that number on the bottom right of the card. they're scratching off the number right there, then putting it back on the rack. so that way when you go buy the card, most of us don't look to

make sure it's not scratched off. then when you go to activate it, they keep calling the number to see when the thing has been activated and they have that code and they spend it before you can spend it. >> wow. what should you do then? >> when you go to the rack, when you go to buy the gift cards, make sure you're buying it and it's like this, it's against -- it's sealed up. if not, a lot of stores sell them loose. flip it over, make sure it is not scratched out. and a lot of stores keep it behind the counter. that's always the best advice. make sure nothing is scratched out. >> a lot of us love online shopping. >> yeah. >> and thieves are getting in on that as well when your package is left. >> we talk about this on the "today" show every single holiday season. this is when the thieves go to door steps. they know a lot of gifts are being delivered and they steal them off people's door steps. we have video to show you of this in action. i think we do. >> we do. >> there we are. these thieves walk up. look at that. how heartless is that? stealing these gifts. there was actually a case of a woman, a mom, who stitched

together a bunch of t-shirts of her killed in action soldier son. there she is right there. it was delivered to her. she had a company do it. a heartless thief, and this is really heartless, stole it right off her doorstep. police ended up getting the thief later on but there are ways to avoid this. >> are they just cruising the neighborhoods? >> yeah, they follow delivery trucks or the u.s. mail and run to the doorstep when the guy takes off because most people aren't home during the day and they know those critical hours during the middle of the day you're probably not home. >> what can you do? >> number one, manage your delivers. what you want to do is click on that box where you get it delivered at a certain time. you always want to know when it's being delivered. track your delivery. how easy is that? they give you the number. i like this one, too. if your employer allows it, have it delivered to work. that way you know there is somebody there. you can actually take it and the other way to do it, and this is

to me the best advice and the safest, set up the shipping address to your local fed ex, u.p.s., or post office then you pick it up when you want to. >> if there's a business that you frequent like a dry cleaners, some of them will let you if you're a good customer, since someone is usually there 9:00 to 5:00 kind of hours. >> exactly. >> the next scam has to do with a website you're shopping on. >> there are so many fake sites throughout. the counterfeiters have figured out a way to make themselves come up high on the going search. if you type in re ban if you want sunglasses, you may get a fake website that comes to the top. we have a side by side to show you. can you tell which one is fake and which is real? this is ray-ban sunglasses. one is fake and one is real. >> i think the one that says now open is fake. i think that's the fake one. >> yeah, yeah, that's the fake . >> yeah. yeah. >> believe it or not, that's the real one on the right. the fake one on the left.

real quick, piece of advice, when you go to the url at top, make sure it says https, the "s" means secure. and don't go through google. type in rayban.com and go there yourself. >> thanks, jeff, keeping us hot days. >> the holiday hassle already stressing you out? next what will save your sanity. that's coming up up. fortunately, many have found a different kind of medicine that lowers blood sugar. imagine what it would be like to love your numbers. discover once-daily invokana®. it's the #1 prescribed in the newest class of medicines that work with the kidneys to lower a1c. invokana® is used along with diet and exercise to significantly lower blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes. it's a once-daily pill that works around the clock. here's how: the kidneys allow sugar to be absorbed back into the body.

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continuously neutralize them with glad with febreze. the only bag with the irresistible scent of gain. between decorating, shopping and wrapping you may seem a little stressed by now but we'll try to make things easier with holiday hacks from life-style expert and today.com contributor. here we go. first of all, tape. >> yes. >> trying to keep tape from getting stuck to itself. >> there's nothing more frustrating than not finding the edge of a tape. super, super quick and easy trim is take a paper clip and put it on there every time you're done or the bread clip interest your plastic bag so you can reuse it. >> all the scraps of paper, missing a bow. you have some quick hacks for this. >> take a bow and take your

scraps and cut little vertical lines and then you take your scissors and you just curl it like you would a ribbon, curl, curl, curl and that way you can quickly make little bows and not only could they coordinate but they look cute. >> when i'm making bows with ribbon they always come out uneven. >> with a fork. take a string. >> right. >> and what you do is you're going to tie it like this, tie it like this. >> so you're going in between the tines. >> and over like that. >> and when you're all done, you switch, switch, switch. and then what happens is that it looks like this. >> looks just like that. >> so the idea here, i didn't finish it properly but it's a little, little ribbon that you

can put on an envelope and it's a cute little way to decorate. >> stick a fork in it, it's done. >> it's done. >> that's true. >> i was pressed for time. >> thank you. >> this one is perfect for any decorating or any fall table settings that you may have. take ice coupes. >> right. >> add some cranberries and a little bit of water on top and pop in the frears and then when you're serving your little drinks, you have a tasty, festy little drink with cranberries and it looks beautiful. >> very festive looking, i like that. >> this is terrific. >> this is really cute as far as table settings go. buy these little stockings. >> mm-hmm. >> and take your little fork and knife and spot and pet them in there. >> wrap it up with a bow and you're good to go. >> you hate homemade containers and i love this. take the chip thing. >> finish the chips, clean it out with a paper towel. eco-friendly, super cute and just stuff it in there and you give all of your friends tasty

cookies. >> put them in gently. >> thank you so much. >> a big weekend for to the couple who set aside the whole day to sell their old car and buy a new one... oops. nana's got the kids til 9... but it's only 2. guess you'll just have to see a movie... ...then get some dinner. what a pity.

today... ==topvo== on the anniversary of the sandy good monday morning. it's 9:26. happening later today on the an investigation anniversary of the sandy hook massacre, a congressman is ramping up efforts to tighten gun ownership rules. mi mike thompson wants to close a federal loophole that currently allows people on the federal watch list to buy guns. critics argue the list is too br broad. thompson also wants to end the ban of limiting federal tracking. he will host a forum with a panel of people including agents, gun dealers and mental health experts. clean up in some cases after the weekend storms. rough seas on friday caused one

freighter to lose 12 shipping containers. the debris from one of them washed ashore on san francisco's baker beach. 11 others are still unaccounted for. coast guard says most of those containers railro containers were empty and none contain hazardous material. the company will pay for the cleanup. on land, strong wind from the weekend storms toppled trees. clues cleaned debris from about two dozen downed trees across the city. thankfully nobody was injured. it is a clear and cool start after the big storm. no more rain in the immediate forecast. we'll have a look at the weather and traffic right after this.

why let someone else have all the fun? the sometimes haphazard, never boring fun. the why can't it smell like this all the time fun. the learning the virtue of sharing fun. why let someone else have all the fun? that's no fun. unleash the power of dough. give it a pop. good morning. i'm meteorologist kari hall. it is still chilly out there. in the 30s in parts of the east bay and north bay. upper 40s for san francisco and peninsula. we're looking at highs today in the south bay up into the mid-50s and upper 50s in just a few spots. cooler than average.

a lot of spine wiof ninsunshine winds. and the crash has cleared from the left, recovery through orinda still slow. 588, a six vehicle crash. it's on the shoulder, but look at this slowing. 880 a little bit drive. grand avenue peninsula southbound, we still have the duck trump with a flat tire. and that is causing a big backup. back to you. >> we should let you know we're waiting a special report from the pentagon. president obama expected to speak. we should have that for you shortly.

taking a look at headlines, more evidence is emerging that officials missed warning signs about the couple who carried out the san bernardino terror attacks. the fbi has already said the two developed extremist views before they met. well, now the "new york times" reports that the wife, tashfeen malik, had spoken openly on social media about violent jihad saying she wanted to be a part of it and yet passed several immigration checks before moving from pakistan on a fiancee visa. if you have to go to the post office today, best of luck to you. usps officials say today is the busiest mailing day of the year for cards, letters and packages. officials recommend sending p k

packages by december 21st for christmas arrival and estimate over 15.5 billion pieces of mail will be sent this holiday season. a warning today about the dangers of putting young children in car seat while they are wearing their winter jackets. crash tests at 30 miles per hour show us just how dangerous it can be. in one test you see the child dummy goes flying out of the seat with the jacket sliding right off. an expert says the harness should fit nice and tight to the child's body and should be at armpit level and if you're worried about the child being cold lay the coat over them after the harness is already buckled. you've hearded about the dangers of not getting enough sleep but did you know that getting too much sleep could also be bad for you. new research from australia shows that sleeping more than nine hours could put you at risk for premature death. the study says people who spend most their days sleeping and sitting around are four times as likely to die young. experts recommend between seven and nine hours of sleep a day. and still champion.

"the hucker games the mocking jay part 2" was still number one for the fourth straight weekend. ron howard "in the heart of the season" debuted number two and" the good dinosaur" was third. carolyn and andrew will get married in the "star wars" right outside of the chinese theater and they have been camped out there since they flew in from last week and carolyn will wear a wedding gown decorated with star fighters and darth vader will walk her down the aisle and the ceremony will be conducted by a friend of the couple named obi, of course. serious friends. al? >> this is not the bride you're looking for. anyway, early week, rain and windy conditions in the mid-atlantic states and flood threats around the region. mid-week period, pacific

northwest and heavy rain here in the northeast. we could actually use some of it. heavy showers and thunderstorms through the southeast and the latter part of the week look for mountain rain and snow out west. eastern two-third of the country looking pretty darn good. lack at how hot. more record warmth here in the northeast and mid-atlantic states and much below normal out west and through the mid-week period. stays warm and it's not until the latter part of the wee good morning. i'm meteorologist kari hall. it's in the upper 40s now with a lot of sunshine. still chilly and the breezy wind makes it feel cooler. a slight chance of a spot shower in the north bay with a high of 56. most of us will be around 56 to 57 degrees today. and we'll see more of this weather heading in to the next couple of days as we say rain free, cleaning up there the heavy rain we had yesterday. >> and that's your latest

weather. >> al, thank you. for the past seven years bobby main han has been make us laugh every week as a cast member of saturday saturday and he's keeping the laughs come in the new tina fey and amy poehler comedy "sisters" and plays that old high school fan, alex, that guy that one wants to invite to the party. >> no, knock, who's there? duane, duane here, duane the bathtub, i'm drowning. >> you still got it the. >> may i please have a beverage. >> thank you. wow. welcome to "jurassic park. ". >> he's immediately exhausting. >> bobby is with us. we would invite you to any party or alex to any party. >> i would destroy your house, yeah. >> i love these characters because as we said earlier each

one is someone that you know, that you're familiar with. what was it like filming this with the great tina-free and amy poehler. >> it's like being back at work. pound for pound they are the funniest women in the world and maya and everybody, having everybody around, two months in a house, warehouse somewhere, destroying a house and having a blast and improvising a lot. it was -- it was a blast. most fun i've had. >> tina was talking to matt a little bit earlier and there's kind of a shorthand between you guys on "snl." know how to read each other. >> no when to let someone else go and they will get that take and paula who wrote it, responsible for 90% of the classic characters on "snl" and would run up to you with a post-it note and read it and it's the funniest thing i've ever read and the best. >> new use for post-its. >> yeah. >> how do you shoot without

breaking character or how often do you break character because i would imagine there's a laugh per minute on the. >> laughing and then getting back into it. trying not to waste as much time but it was fun. i'm sure there's a lot of outtakes of us crack up. >> i'm sure you figured you would have a fight scene in a movie. >> with john cena? >> fought him a couple of times just for the he can of it, in the streets. >> a little ww sgle he was terrified. >> was me. >> he was terrified. >> look at me. i'm very menacing. >> you are. i would be afraid of you. you look like a coiled spring ready to go. >> i'm ready to go. >> careful, roker, careful. just kidding. it was the best. the weirdest feeling in the world as a grown man is to be lifted by another grown man. >> he carried me around the set like a baby, and it wasn't -- i haven't had that feeling in a while. >> frightening and comforting. >> quite comforting. he's a kind and gentle soul. >> and can you do us a favor,

bone, and show us your shirt and willie has -- >> out myself. >> yeah. >> my nice sultd with my "star wars" t-shirt. >> request see "sisters." >> is there a battle. >> a little disturbing actually. >> very disturbing. very nerdy t-shirt. "sisters" is out the same day and you can see both. >> yeah. >> how are you approaching this? >> i'll see -- i have many tickets for "star wars" and i'm going to get some for "sisters" today. >> great answer. >> good answer. >> thanks, movies. >> whoa! >> the battle. >> out of nowhere. >> so random. >> surprised the jedi like that. >> bobby, thank you, and, of course, "sisters" from our sister company universal opens friday. there's room in our hearts for both, "star wars" and "sisters." go back and forth. >> tina and amy are comedy jedi.

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kristen is known for her work on stage, tvs and films and known for the wife this is an nbc news special report. here's lester holt. >> today we're coming from new york because president obama is expected to make remarks in just a few moments following a briefing with his national security council at the pentagon. the president has just received an update on the u.s.-led offensive against isis. the president has come under fire from critics who say his strategy to take on isis has not been strong enough. today's briefing part of an effort to put that criticism to rest ahead of the christmas holiday. i want to go to nbc's chris jansing right now at the white house. chris, tell us more about what brought this meeting about. >> reporter: well, first of all, it went a little longer than we

expected, but there is also an acknowledgement here by the white house that there is a pervasive sense of unease following the attacks in paris that killed 230 people and of course, san bernardino, where another 14 people died. our new nbc news "wall street journal" poll shows that 29% of americans believe that there is a very good chance or a fairly good chance either they or a loved one could be the victim of a terrorist attack, and so you understand why he feels he needs to get out in front of it. the speech he gave last week in primetime not seeming to have a tremendous effect, and of course, the withering criticism that he has faced from republicans, particularly on the campaign trail. we do not expect, however, there to be any big policy shifts, no new strategy announced here, lester. >> jim miklaszewski, when is the last time the president received this kind of briefing? >> it was earlier this year. in fact, at that time, there were some policy changes that came out of the meeting here at the pentagon, but we are told there's nothing new on the table

this time, as far as senior defense and u.s. military officials know. in fact, just last week before the senate armed services committee, secretary ash carter, when asked if he had any new ideas to accelerate the offensive against isis in syria and iraq, he said, if i had any new ideas, i would present them. now, at this point, there are special operations forces. this is new. small numbers rotating in and out of syria working with the kurdish forces there. there are about 50 special operations forces also set to go into iraq sometime soon, but they haven't been there. and i must tell you, this argument on whether there should be large numbers of u.s. ground forces in iraq, that's really not a call for the u.s. we're told that the iraqi government doesn't want them, but more importantly, that the u.s. has been warned by iranian officials, the militia forces have let the americans know that if they bring in large numbers of troops, they could expect a

bigger fight than they would expect from isis. >> and as we wait for the president, what is the status of this coalition? the president often talks about the coalition standing against isis. how effective and how large is it really? >> well, it's primarily u.s., as you can well imagine, and the french and the british, the british now just signing on to conduct air strikes in syria following paris. the example of the terrorist attack in paris. the arab coalition forces, they fly maybe one or two missions every two or three months. and don't drop any weapons. they're more concerned in the persian gulf nations in fighting the shia-backed rebels in yemen. now, where there is one heck of a fight, bombardments every day. civilians being killed in mass numbers. yet the world isn't paying any attention to that. and quite frankly, iraq would not welcome some of the shia-backed countries or

militaries to get involved that directly in the fight in iraq. it's what general dempsey, the former chairman of the joint staff, just before he retired, he called the situation in there the most exponentially complicated battlefield he's ever seen in his entire career, and he expects this battle to continue on for years. >> and let's go back to chris jansing, as the president is apparently delayed. we do expect him to come out momentarily. but chris, a lot has been said about the speech of a week ago sunday the president made. has the white house acknowledged that that missed expectations? >> what they have said is that they know that there is this concern out there. it's been pushed to them by many members of the congress on the democratic side that i have talked to privately, but publicly, they've also heard it from some very high-ranking democrats who have said that the timing needs to be stepped up. one of the things that the president has said is that they really feel like people have to

be patient that this isn't something that's going to be finished by the time he leaves office. that has left a lot of people inpatient. but they feel very confident about their strategy and that's part of the conundrum for this president who recognizes along with his staff that americans feel this unease, even from members of their own paerkt brt they feel this is the right strategy they should follow. so they really didn't feel like they could put a different message out there. >> all right, and here's the president. >> good morning, everybody. today, the united states and our armed forces continue to lead the global coalition in our mission to destroy the terrorist group isil. as i outlined in my speech to the nation last weekend, our strategy is moving forward with a great sense of urgency on four fronts. hunting down and taking out these terrorists, training and equipping iraqi and syrian

forces to fight isil on the ground, stopping isil's operation by disrupting the recruiting, financing, and propaganda, and finally, persistent diplomacy to end the syrian civil war so that everyone can focus on destroying isil. i just had a chance to meet with my national security council as part of our regular effort to review and constantly strengthen our efforts, and i want to thank secretary carter, chairman dunford, and the vice chairman for hosting us and for their leadership of our men and women in uniform. we heard from general austin, who is leading the military campaign in the region, as well as general votel, whose special operations are playing a vital role in this fight. i want to provide you a brief update on our progress against the isil corps in syria and iraq, because as we squeeze its heart, it will make it harder for isil to pump its terror and propaganda to the rest of the world. this fall, even before the revolting attacks in paris and

san bernardino, i ordered new actions to intensify our war against isil. these actions, including more fire power and special operations forces are well under way. this continues to be a difficult fight. as i said before, isil is dug in, including in urban areas and they hide behind civilians using defenseless men, women, and children as human shields. so even as we're relentless, we have to be smart, targeting isil surgically with precision. at the same time, our partners on the ground are rooting isil out town by town, neighborhood by neighborhood, block by block. that is what this campaign is doing. we are hitting isil harder than ever. coalition aircraft, fighters, bombers, and drones have been increasing the pace of their strike, nearly 9,000 as of today. last month in november, we dropped more bombs on isil targets than any other month since this campaign started. we're also taking out isil leaders, commanders, and killers, one by one.

since this spring, we removed abu sayef, one of their top leaders, isil's second in command, a top online recruiter, muhammad emwazi, who brutally murdered americans and others, and the finance chief, senior extorti extortionist, and a weapons trafficker. the list goes on. we're going after isil from their stronghold right in downtown raqqa to libya, where we took out abu nabil, the isil leader there. the point is isil leaders cannot hide, and our next message to them is simple, you are next. every day we destroy as well more of isil's forces. their fighting positions, bunkers, staging areas, their heavy weapons, bomb-making factories, compounds, and training camps. in many places, isil has lost its freedom of maneuver, because

they know if they mask their forces, we will wipe them out. in fact, since this summer, isil has not had a single successful major offensive operation on the ground in either syria or iraq. in recent weeks, we've unleashed a new wave of strikes on their lifeline, their oil infrastructure, destroys hundreds of their tankers, trucks, wells, and refineries, and we're going to keep on hammering those. isil also continues to lose territory in iraq. isil had already lost across kirkuk province and more recently, isil lost at sinjar, losing a strategic highway. isil lost at baji with its oil refinery. we saw during a raid supported by our special forces which rescued dozens of prisoners from isil and which joshua wheeler made the ultimate sacrifice. so far isil has lost about 40%

of the populated areas it once controlled in iraq. and it will lose more. iraqi forces are now fighting their way deeper into ramadi. they're working to circle fallujah and cut off supply routes into mosul. these are urban areas where isil is entrenched. our partners on the ground face a very tough fight ahead. and we're going to continue to back them up with the support that they need to ultimately clear isil from iraq. isil also continues to lose territory in syria. we continue to step up our air support and supplies to local forces. syrian kurds, arabs, christians, turkmen, and they are having success. after routing isil at kobani, they pushed isil back from almost across the entire border region with turkey and we're working with turkey to seal the rest. isil has lost thousands of square miles of territory it once controlled in syria, and it

will lose more. the special forces that i ordered to syria began supporting local forces as they push south, cut off supply lines and tighten the squeeze on raqqa. meanwhile, more people are seeing isil for the thugs and the thieves and the killers that they are. we've seen instances of isil fighters defecting. others who have tried to escape have been executed and isil's reign of brutality and extortion continues to repel populations and help fuel the refugee crisis. so many people are migrating, said one refugee. isil, she said, will end up all alone. all this said, we recognize that progress needs to keep coming faster. no one knows that more than the countless syrians and iraqis living under day under isil's terror, as well as the families in san bernardino and paris and elsewhere who are grieving the loss of their loved ones. just as the united states is doing more in this fight, just as our allies france, germany,

united kingdom, australia, and italy are doing more, so must ours, and that's why i've asked secretary carter to go to the middle east, he'll depart right after this press briefing, to work with our coalition partners on securing more military contributions to this fight. on the diplomatic front, secretary kerry will be in russia tomorrow as we continue to work as part of the process to end the civil war. meanwhile here at home, the department of homeland security is updating its alert system to help the american people stay vigilant and safe. and as always, our extraordinary men and women in uniform continue to put their lives on the line. in this campaign and around the world to keep the rest of us safe. this holiday season, many of our troops are once again far from their families, and as your commander in chief, on behalf of the american people, we want to say thank you. we are grateful, and we are proud for everything that you do. because of you, the america that we know and love and cherish is

leading the world in this fight. because of you, i am confident that we are going to prevail. thank you very much, everybody. >> president obama taking no questions as he leaves the room at the pentagon briefing room, after spending time with his national security and military team, quickly updating the united states on the fight against isis, saying they have dropped more bombs than ever before and continue to fight isis targets and reassuring the american public that the military continues to wage the fight against isis. we'll have all the latest developments throughout the day on nbcnews.com, and complete coverage tonight on "nbc nightly news." for now, i'm lester holt, nbc news, new york. million for the "today" show toy drive. >> tell me what we have here. >> variety of sets, everything from spaceships to i'm ... ==anim== new this

morning... ==topvo== just in time for christmas - new rules for drones - issued this morning by the department of transpoat good morning. new this morning, just in time for christmas, new rules for drones issued by the transportation department. they apply to all drones over a half pound and include a web

based registration system. operators will also be required to place registration numbers on the side of their drones so they can be traced. this is not nopgs al and there a big fine if you don't do it. . >> caller: be cool, dry and breezy. highs will top out in the mid-50s. 57 in the east bay, 56 in san francisco. the peninsula as well as the south bay. there may be a spot shower in the north bay today, so just keep the umbrella close by just in case. and as we head into the next few days, more weather like this. let's see what is happening with the morning commute now with mike. >> we had a couple of tough spots on either side of the bay. we're looking better here. look at that good recovery for 24 after the earlier crash cleared. we still have activity on the shoulder west 580 in grand, still flowing to highway up 13 up to the scene. 880 moving well slowing up past the marina. on the peninsula southbound 101

is recovering after a dump truck had a flat. 280 now has a minor crash. and slowing northbound 101 toward peninsula avenue, a crash there slows you down in toward san mateo, south bay looks clear. >> another local news update in half an hour. see you then.

>> announcer: from nbc news, this is "today" with kathie lee gifford and hoda kotb live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. good point. >> who is better than them? >> h nobody. >> that girl can sing. >> ariana grande. >> and happy fundday, everybody. yes, and joining us is going to be a woman in "star wars" and she is so funny. >> a hoot and a