>> announcer: from nbc news, this is "today" with kathie lee gifford and hoda kotb live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. yes! it is winesday wednesday, december 23rd, and just two more days until christmas. >> i can't believe it. ready ♪ ♪ and we'll say no man >> boy, can she sing. we have a great love story to tell you about. >> a of people come to the plaza, but one couple in particular who we have singled out happened to have a chance meet iing outside

and it turned to love, and we great. and if the holiday stress is zapping your energy, we have y with straight no chaser a capella news will perform. >> we have great news. >> well, i do, too, and i the think that mine is bet ter, but maybe not. and thanks to all of you, we hit the donation mark for good gift, and more than 7,# 100 books have been sold to bring a total of $1,070,000. and so all of that money is going to the salvation army and for all of those people ringing

the kettles, and it is to make christmas possible for those who wouldn't have otherwise. to order good gifts book.org, and bless you, too, for doing it. >> and how great. and more good news. all right. we like to have an tis paying. here it is. if you are stress ed out in the from memory. ou have gotten >> it does. >> it takes a huge effort to free yourself from memory. and you know how something bothers you and you can't get it out of the head. >> and you know when you have been deeply hurt, and you have been able to forget, but you still remember. >> and this is is the quote from the guy who wrote "the

alchemist." and remember, yesterday we posted a a picture of yosef because he is single and still searchin hey! >> hey! >> and for the first part, that part was really running for ano say they did raise my fund-raising goal thanks to you. and everybody else is very happy. my mom is battling multiple myeloma and i am running in march, and that is the primary reason. >> and that is just great. he got proposals. secondary? >> and some very interesting pictures. mom, i promise it. >> we love you.

>> all right. good luck on the rest. >> and now, finish the lyr kw h people knew christmas songs so we sent donna adorable out on the streets to finoc tree ochri tree ♪ >>. ♪ i am so happy it is christmas ♪go christmas tree ♪ o christmas tree >> oh, no. >> okay. ♪ hark the herald angels sing ♪ ♪ fa la la la la la la >>. ♪ deck the halls >> you don't know deck the halls? >>. ♪ jingle bells

♪ jingle bells ♪ jingle all of the way ♪ and oh what fun it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh ♪ ♪ and heaven and nature sing >> yes! >> good job, donna. >> she has an interesting singing voice our star donna has. it is interesting and memorable, and you will never forget it. it is just lovely. >> i don't think that i have ever heard her sing. >> now, we are going to be singing guess the christmas e including us don't know them very well. so we are going to -- what do we do? >> they are -- show the lyric. >> no, we are going to listen or show it? >> we are doing to shoit we will see how many. >> and may all of the christmases be white.

>> white christmas. >> how does people at at home know what we are doing? here are the lyrics. and the mistletoe and -- >> and may all of your christmas be white. t is white christmas, too. >> toe! >> and i'll be home for t ristmas. home. >> and later we will have some oh.kin pie and some c ♪ and carolling >> oh, it is the travel one -- i'm going to grandmas or all of that -- >> and later wie will have pumpkin pie. [ buzzer ] >> rocking around -- i sneed the music. >> you don't h. ♪ candy canes and silver bells aaglow ♪ >> it is beginning to look like

christmas. >> say h you know. >> have a holly jolly christmas. >> good for you whoever yelled it out. oh, my favorite. >> you are to tell people. >> have yourself a merry little christmas. >> this not fup for the home viewer. >> okay. this will be though. >> and we have other good news, the third piece of good news. "my big fat greek wedding" it is coming out for a sequel. >> so much fun. >> so to celebrate, we want to celebrate in style, and celebrate the t camera positions. opa! >> opa! sorry jerry and the guys. >> that is a posy original "big fat greek wedding"

and check out the sequel poster there. itisl it, everybody from the original. in the new film they discover that the 1946 wedding didn't it never got signed so they are not legally married. >> and rdex. >> and she wrote that, and i did not know it, but the original n her an oscar for "my big fat greek wedding." >> and we are so happy for her. >> and something happened at a moody matic and the fight started and now listen.

♪ we wish you a merry christmas ♪ ♪ we wish you a merry christmas ♪ ♪ we wish you a merry christmas and a happy new year ♪ >> oh, my god. i mean, we shouldn't laugh, because it is a atrocious behavior. >> it is a hockey game. >> and if you saw more of it w umpires, on t the referees doing? >> just skating around. >> why did they let them fight? >> it is part of it. >> they don't break it up. >> until they grab. >> anyway, that is good and the singing was excellent, and somebody lost one of his teeth yesterday in one of the hockey matches. >> it happens. >> you know what, the national hockey leagu has bp trying to the reduce the fighting allegedly. >> that is jack edwards there. and this i make your day. >> and now, on this video was po

posted with a little boy holding his little baby brother and 62 million views since friday. >> do you love him? can i have him? >> no. me want to hold him. >> oh, he is so sweet. >> oh, how precious. >> oh, he keeps kissing him. about me, but i'm about make to. that brings back a million memories. cody was the same way with cassidy, and it is a blessinyo much you are going to love your children, but you don't know how much you are going to love them loving each other. and day, he can't quit kissing her head. and she doesn't like it, but it is precious. >> they will have a bond those two for the rest of their lives.

>> and now, i i nknow that you two have been having fun may you won't spot him today, but who knows, maybe you will. and some celebrities have been showing elves visiting, too. kardashians. >> her elf plays pool. >> and this this one, the elves rolls. what is more fun than t. >> and here they are. >> and here they are watching n" tog with her other son. >> where is that? >> it is there. >> and it is sad that we can't bring it to you. >> and we won't see the elf on a shelf because of the graphic situatio situation. is in "people" magazine and they wanted her to free associate giving one-word answers, and i don't know what they are, so let's see what she says. >> what did you say? >> i didn't do it. happiness, and hoda said morn

morning. >> in the mornings. s a not sunsets. i like the beginnings. >> love, and you said -- >> joel. >> wow. that wouldn't have happened last year, and this is nice. they gave you kathie lee, and you said -- >> faithful. >> that going to make me cry. and twitter, and you said addicted. and the last one was guilty pleasure, and you said -- >> cookies, but it could have been one of many things. >> cute. so go "peop and see what hody had to say. >> i want to give a shout out to meg row who is a o show, and she is battling lung cancer, and we want her to know that we send our prayers and love to her, and she is a warrior and has a great group of friend e ph praying for you, and loveo you, honey.

>> and ckudos to our friend eri hill who is battling. >> yes sh, we love eric. >> and love you,sweeti and praying for you. ok okay. >> and have you feltth got up a went? >> i am still looking. >> we will wake up donna adorable, and we have a winter wakeup call gi is e going to be singing. gi is e going to be singing. ♪ good m we rely on our courage. the kind of courage that shows up when we need it... and when cancer is least expecting it. courage. just one reason more of us are surviving cancer than dying from it. give now to the american cancer society.

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between the cookinthat's whe is preparing to make an emergency landing at oakland international we've been watching this in the south bay. we're happy to report that that is the flight right there. it has landed safely. it did so at oakland international airport in the last five minutes or so, but not before circling around the

central valley for about four hour this morning as crews tried to figure out what the problem might have been the with landing gear. it is entirely possible this was a routine situation where perhaps an indicator light didn't go off, but the captain and commander did not want to take any chances with about 140 people on board that flight. again, it's southwest 2547 starting from oakland that was intended to go to chicago midway today but instead had to hold up. it turns out now it's made a safe landing at oakland international. it looks like it's kind of static at this point. maybe crews are going to come out, make sure everyone is okay. double-check that landing dpeer. again, this has been somewhat of dramatic situation as i played out this morning as there were concerns about the landing gear. when it was coming back from the central valley, it stopped, dipped a bit and went back into the air. it's entirely plausible it had to make sure by the landing tower that the kbeer was actually down properly, get

visual confirmation. as we watched the plane circle, the landing gear looks okay. everybody is okay. we're going have much more on this story coming up on our newscast at 11 catholic. right now we're going to return you to the "today" show with kathy lee and hoda. good reflexes. >> good save. >> all right. >> here's what you're expecting. coffee? here's the unexpected part. it's all about when you drink this coffee. >> this is the last one for me. >> people want to pop out of bed and have that coffee immediately. wait until about 9:30. do some of the tricks that we had -- >> 9:30? >> not gonna happen! >> thank you. >> give it a shot. >> i have a question. a lot of people would say you should have one full glass of water when you wake up because you're dehydrated through the night. >> throughout the day -- we'll get to that. yes, hydration is important

because one of the signs of dehydration is feeling tired. >> when i wake up i drink a full glass. i feel much more awake after that water than before. >> we get up so much earlier than normal people. >> we get up in the middle of the night. >> a squeeze of lemon in there. what about coffee? >> stick of gum. >> it's refreshing, gives you a perk. >> here's one that's a little different. we're calling it the wonder woman pose. all right? you'll stand like this. hands on your hips. chest puffed out a little bit. >> that's right. >> chin out, research has shown this gives you a boost of testosterone. >> standing like wonder woman? >> absolutely. you get up out of your chair. we all feel it. don't you? >> yes. >> we're trying. >> here comes the water you were talking about. >> iced water. >> ice water. it's almost the equivalent of splashing your face with water. here's a healthy indulgence for the afternoon. instead of digging into a brownie or cupcake or something like that, little square of chocolate. that's going to give you --

>> stop with one. >> stop with one. >> i can't. >> savor it. >> here's one i think we all know about. >> funky dance party. >> music. music. it gets you going. >> did i do that right? >> if it gets going. i thought i tapped properly. maybe not. ♪ >> there we go. right? everybody knows how music can give you a nice boost. >> when you're stressed out it can calm you down. who doesn't get down to mariah, right? >> over and over and over again. >> i love it. it's one of my favorite christmas songs. green tea in the afternoon really perfect boost as well, gives you caffeine, a nice little umph and it's not too much. coffee can have more caffeine than green tea. last but not least. a little massage around your ear lobes. for about 30 seconds. >> all right. >> those are the energy channels in your body. >> thank you so much, sweetie. >> they were two strangers before they stepped on to our

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from our family farms to your table. return to real. look for the seal. we are getting ready to play one of the games, and who knew about christmas traditions around the world. >> each year on decemb folks in create nativity scenes made out of this -- doughnuts, radi radishes -- >> you have a few minutes to think about that. >> and why is ou our window couple? >> that is because it all more than 3 million people already know the feeling

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so that is there and we go up there.i'm ... we're tracking breaking news at oakland international and a good wednesday morning. it's 10:26. i'm sam brock. it's been very eventful in the last couple of hours. we're tracking oakland airport. this is video from about 15 minutes ago where a southwest plane just made an emergency landing. that plane was headed for

chicago midway this morning when the pilot noticed a landing gear issue right after takeoff. they spent four hours in the air circling over the central valley, burning fuel before making that emergency landing back in oakland. we're also falling another breaking story, this time in san francisco. our chopper, as you can see, on the way right now to the scene of a crash. that's actually at harrison street between sixth and seventh. it's shut down due to an accident. it involved a car and a police officer's motorcycle. we don't have any details other than that. it's not clear if the officer or officers were hurt or the driver of the car for that matter. but we do know there was a bad accident on sixth and seventh at harrison. we'll have much more coming up on our newscast at 11:00. see you then.

welcome back. we're checking in with the chopper. they're trying to find the area between sixth and seventh in san francisco. that's where there's been a crash between a san francisco police officer's motorcycle and another. we're watching that. we'll follow this. meanwhile we'll look at your roadways. it's just the surface streets that will don't be crowded as vacationers head into the area. keep that in mind. the other note for folks, look at the san mateo bridge. gusty winds around the area.

that high-rise. can't catch that breeze. >> we'll have much more on that accident in 30 minutes on nbc bay area news at 11:00. >> it is winesday wednesday and we are getting ready to play a our trivia game called "who knew" with christmas in the air, we are about to test your christmas knowledge. kathie lee is across the street and ready to hand out $# 100 for those who get it right and her signed cd for those who don't. >> "sentimental." >> and here with me is will pierce who is author of "mental gloss." and here we go. >> each year on december 23rd, some folks in southern mexico create nativity scenes made out of this, donuts or radishes or

legos? >> well, it is radishes. it is amazing and thousands of people come up to see all of the beautiful creations which started with shopkeepers trying to entice people into their stores. >> and denmark does not have just santa, but they have these, a devilish elf who will play tricks on families unless they leave him his favorite food -- rice pudding, chocolate cake or tiramisu? >> rice pudding. >> well, it seemed like a guess. >> but they are right. and this goes back to the scandinavian farming folklore and you do want to leave out the rice pudding, because that is something that you do not want to anger, bau the they are there

to protect the livestock and help the chores if you are nice to them, but if not, the pranks are ugly. >> back over to you kathie lee. >> what -- did you say indiana? close. and this is a christmas day hot spot in japan, mcdonald's, pizza hut or kentucky fried chicken. >> mcdonald's? >> she wanted the cd. >> the correct answer there is kentucky fried chicken. kfc. >> yes, they have convinced people there in japan since the christmas day, and a sign that the christmas day has arrived when the commercials come on, and you have to have reservations because there are lines out of the door. >> for kfc. thank you. kathie lee. >> in great britain, some children use this unique method to send this letter to santa -- roll it up in a bottle, place it

in the bottom of the fireplace or place it on the window sill. >> window sill. >> good day for me. >> and it is that the back of e for santa coming down the chimney. >> and yes, it is neat, because the santa can read what the wishes are through the smoke are from the fire. >> clever and smart. okay. kath, over to you. >> from kentucky, icelander children were naughty over the past year, what might they receive instead of a present, a potato, spinach or carrots? >> a potato. >> darn! >> she has it right. a potato. >> it is, and you know, there are 13 santas in iceland and so it is nice that they have that and the kids as aththey are leag up to christmas place them on the window sill, but if they have been bad, they get a potato. >> and now, charlottesville.

and now, in italian folk lohr, a character named befana brings gifts of good cheer to children, and what is befana? >> a good witch. >> yes, and he is still celebrating. a good celebration over there. and so he does bring presents like santa claus, and a lump of coal for those who have been bad. >> thank you very much, and merry christmas to you and your f family. >> thank you very much o why the plaza has such special meaning from one couple, and we will also have a song are from straight no i use what's already inside me to reach my goals. so i liked when my doctor told me i may reach my blood sugar and a1c goals by activating what's within me.

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the world famous a capella group straight no chase ser currently on tour with their new cd called "old fashioned." >> they are singing one of the yuletide favorites with "o holy nig night." straight no chaser. ♪ ooh ooh ooh ♪ o holy night ♪ the stars are brightly shining ♪ ♪ it is a night of the savior's birth ♪ ♪ long may the world ♪ to be appear ed ♪

♪ at his word ♪ the will of hope ♪ the weary world rejoices ♪ for yonder ♪ a new and glorious morn ♪ fall on your knees ♪ hear the angels' voices ♪ oh night divine ♪ o night divine ♪ when christ was born ♪ onight divine ♪ oh night ♪ o night divine ♪ oh yes

♪ oh, yes ♪ the thrill of hope ♪ the weary world rejoices ♪ for yonder pray ♪ a new and glorious morn ♪ fall on your knees ♪ ♪ o hear the angel voices ♪ o night divine ♪ o night when christ was born ♪ o night divine ♪ o night o night divine

♪ ooh yes ooh yes ♪ holy night holy night ♪ oh yes, ooh yes ♪ holy night holy night no♪ ♪ oh, yeah >> i have not hearit that way. >> wow. >> gorgeous. >> and we will have an engaging and hip conversation with a couple who started as strange ers before stepping out

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once upon time there because pretty woman who came to the plaza with her mom and daughter. >> and it wato-do list. and so they came to the look u

through the window. >> and little di that her prince charming was feet away. >> and in fact, sho of them was caught by our cameras. if you look closely, you can see them in the shot. >> yes, they are the ones that are not fuzzy. fuzzy to me. h >> well, they exchanged phone numbers and then i turned into calls. the first night they talked for three hours, and then it turned into a date, and well, we will let you tell them. >> and they are jen mendez and lane snow. >> welcome, welcome. and a couple of years, you are out here coming to the today pek in the window. >> we wanted to be the stalker people. the bucket list say we went to the "today" show. and what happened? >> well, i came into new york with a frien work with and i wa friday and she had never been to new york.

>> so you were with a girl? >> so when you were on the plaza, did you hear hnotice him? >> well, it is just like this. >> i said, it is my lifelong dream to meet kathie lee. >> no sh, the way you really sa it. >> oka cranky, and i said, oh, it is my lifelong dream the meet kathie lee. >> and i said, i just didn't even skip a beat, and i said, i'm so glad that we are here while you are realizing your lifelong dream. >> and so then you started to chat? >> i used to live in t town where she grew up. >> yes, after i was gone. >> and my old boss from where i u used to work there graduated in class. and i sang with togethe. and i sang with his boss >> this is god wink stuff. >> yes, tell the choir. >> and so, we were doing a radio show and we were talking about

conversation icebreakers and you called up and you said, by the way, i met the guy at the plaza, and it is an amazing kind of 180, wasn't any. >> yes. and he gave me satellite radio for my christmas gift and i was driving to my parents listening to hoda at 2:00 p.m. on wednesday. >> so there are people listening! you never know because they don't do ratings so is you don't kn i can move from the car to the office, too. >> and so when did it go from dating to you proposed? >> yes, i did. we have been together fo n six years. >> six years. >> and so i proposed a couple of years ago, and we were actually at her daughter's college in newport, and so i proposed to e her, and the mascot of the coll came over while i proposed. >> and one of my favorite stories and i hope that you t q brought him home, you asked her

worried to meet her ou tell folk, because i was worried about, obv a mixed couple, and so my concern was, that and she put me to eas quickly. >> and he said, is your dad going to have a problem with me? >> i said, what? >> and he said because i'm black. >> and i said, my dad isn't going to care that you are y are a giants' fan. >> lifelong. >> we are big eagles' fans. >> and by the i wash, happy birthday. and so we thought that you should celebrate, and so you ou so why not bring your daughter out. >> come on out. >> and we will have some gifts for you. this is our favorite thing, and we have some of the wine that we drink here on our show. and some mug, and hoda's first book, and she has another one coming out, and one of my cd

albums. >> i have the new book on order. >> i will give you one. >> and you know what we would like to make one suggestion? >> yes. >> and we would like to offer that we host your wedding right he on the plaza when you are finally ready to do it. >> i'm in. >> is it a deal? >> can our pastor come with us. >> done. >> can i wear the giants' jersey? >> no. >> and real quick, are you happy to see your mom this way? >> of course of course. i am happy to see her happy. >> and so in 2016, which hope that you become husband and wife rit here on the plaza. and i will sing, what the heck. >> it is my lifelong dream. >> and have you found regis? >> we will find out with some cu

a shoutout to the facebook friends who have spotted the elf. here is l.j. heound row jegiregis. way to go, l.j. >> and thet.j. >> and beth swanson and her son both found them. >> and haley found regis hide ing in the scarf. d we hope that mckenna is home feeling sick, but we hope she is better. but she was home when she spotted him. >> and if you spot him, take a him, and we will miss him, and we will have him back in the new year. edition of "ambush e will h makeover." >> and also, we will see you tomorrow. >> on an emergency landing at oakland

international airport. the problem that forced the southwest plane to turn back around, shortly after take-off. =scott/2shot= good morning, and thanks for joining us. i'm sam brock. =kira/2shot= and i'm kira klapper. scott and kris have the day off. shot= thus. him sam brock. pa and i'm kira klapper. scott and kris have the day off. the plane made the emergency landing within just the past hour. tense moments for all 139 passengers onboard. >> nbc bay area's chuck coppola ng.ns us live from oakland international airport. chuck, plenty of concern here but the plane did land safely. okay. looks like we are having a hard time right now getting in touch with chuck although these are