"today in the bay". >> join us for nbc bay area news at 11:00. it friday eve. have a great one. gz second nor'easter in a week slams the east coast. >> once you go down and poles are down and the next street more poles are down. >> towns are buried under two feet of snow, widespread flooding and a travel nightmare on the roads and at the airports. silencing his accuser. nbc news has learned that just last week president trump's lawyer obtained a secret restraining order against stormy daniels. so what's next in the battle between the president and the porn star now suing him? poison plot. british police now say that critically ill russian spy was attacked with a toxic nerve agent in an attempted murder investigation now under way. the question this morning, who

was behind it? those stories, plus no bones about it. the major new discovery in the amelia earhart mystery. tennis superstar serena williams heads back to the court today for the first time since giving birth and battling complications. and meghan's message. meghan markle inspiring young girls to dream big on this international women's day as she takes part in a private ceremony bringing her one step closer to the royal wedding. today, thursday, march 8, 2018. >> announcer: from nbc news, this is "today" with savannah guthrie and hoda kotb, live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. and welcome to "today," thank you for joining us on this thursday morning. >> a snowy thursday morning in a lot of places. check this out. this is a live look just outside of boston. it's pretty, it's that winter wonderland moment before it

becomes a messy commute moment. >> exactly. that storm damage, there's a lot of it caused from the mid-atlantic to maine and that happens to be our top story. the power outages only growing overnight. we have our team standing by beginning with dylan dreyer in west milford, new jersey. hey, dylan, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, hoda. i'm less than 50 miles away from you in manhattan, but a little a totally different scene out here. this whole area has picked up around 2 feet of snow and it's a heavy, wet, gloppy snow that has pulled down even more trees and power lines. hundreds of thousands of people are without power all across the northeast. with conditions like this, crews have a major mess on their hands. this morning, the northeast under a thick blanket of white. round two of back-to-back nor'easters pummelling the region with heavy snowfall. some areas reporting up to 3 inches per hour, causing road conditions to quickly turn dangerous. many towns now buried by more

than a foot of snow. and from pennsylvania to new jersey, many witnessed the phenomenon known as thundersnow. the nor'easter also wreaking havoc on the region's power grid. >> here i am bridgewater, new jersey. power lines down, fire. >> reporter: power lines and trees snapped by snow and wind, leading to even more power outages. to make matters worse, tens of thousands were already in the dark following last week's storm. now more than 500,000 outages are being reported in new york and new jersey alone. >> they keep telling us it's going to be soon, it's going to be soon, but we need a date and time. >> reporter: and despite utility crews working around the clock to restore service, some residents and public officials say the response just isn't enough. >> we're done. >> reporter: in new york, westchester county's executive calling on the heads of con edson and new york state and gas to resign after the companies

"fumbled the recovery effort." >> we're tired of these excuses. there are human beings out there. >> reporter: this morning con edison responding in a statement that reads, "we remain focused on the recovery and restoration from two back-to-back storms." stephanie gosk visiting westchester county for a look at those efforts. >> reporter: in this one location there are roughly a dozen power trucks. the power lines are down all the way around that road. this crew here drove in all the way from wisconsin. >> and while some deal with power outages, our tammy leitner finding another concern for those living on the coast. >> reporter: here in duxbury, massachusetts, parts of the seawall were destroyed during last week's nor'easter, and now residents are wondering if their homes will survive. >> before the storms hit some homeowners working alongside crews to help reinforce the collapsed wall. >> the next-door neighbor and myself went ahead and started doing the repair work.

if we didn't do it, within hours of that my house would have been in the ocean on monday. it would not be here. >> reporter: now, new york's governor says the response by utility crews will undergo a full review. on the plus side to a march snowstorm, a lot of this snow will melt each day. however, if you're out after dark be careful, because that melted snow will tend to refreeze and it can become very icy. >> all right, dylan, thank you so much. as the storm hit, as you might guess thousands of flights had to be cancelled on thursday and hundreds more still won't be flying today. national correspondent craig melvin is over at laguardia airport for us with that part of the story. craig, good morning to you. >> reporter: hey, savannah, good morning. you can probably see the departure board behind me here in terminal b. there's still some red denoting the cancellations and delays. a lot better today than we were this time yesterday. you mentioned delays and cancellations. we're talking about roughly

2,800 delays and cancellations nationwide. today airlines telling us a short time ago they expect about 184 delays, about 450 cancellations nationwide. but that's just part of the story. the air travel, again, part of the story. the other part of the story, the railways. amtrak on modified schedule here in the northeast corridor. no service between new york's penn station and boston until at least 10:00 a.m. the roads were a mess much of yesterday into the night. they were still a bit of a mess this morning as well. in new jersey alone, state police telling us some 300 car crashes happened. they had to help more than 400 motorists yesterday. but check out this scene. this was a basketball team. this is a women's basketball team, northeastern women's basketball team heading to philadelphia for the conference championships. the bus gets stuck, so what do these women do? they get out and they push the bus. they made their way to philadelphia.

so again, the story here at the airport, on the roads, on the rails as well, savannah and hoda, not where we want to be just yet, but thankfully a lot better than we were just 12 hours ago. >> especially on international women's day, i love to see the women pushing the bus. thank you, craig. so what is next in the weather? we'll get al's forecast in just a bit. also ahead on a busy thursday, there are a number of developing stories out of the white house, including word that just last week president trump's lawyer obtained a secret restraining order against the porn star now suing the president. nbc's white house correspondent kristen welker has the latest on that. hey, kristen, good morning. >> reporter: hi, hoda, good morning to you. the white house has really struggled to fully explain what role, if any, president trump played in trying to silence adult film actress stormy daniels. this as new details emerged overnight about the controversy that's now rocking this white house. this morning more fallout over adult film actress stormy daniels, who is suing president trump for the right to tell her story.

nbc news has learned that in late february, the president's lawyer, michael cohen, secretly obtained a temporary restraining order against daniels. the order issued by a private arbiter, bars daniels from disclosing confidential information related to what her lawyer calls a hush agreement, designed to keep daniels quiet about the intimate relationship she's alleged to have had with mr. trump over a decade ago. that nondisclosure agreement daniels argues is not valid because she said the president didn't sign it, even though at the time she accepted a payment facilitated by cohen for $130,000. daniels' lawyer answering this question from savannah. >> did she have a sexual relationship with the president? >> yes. >> reporter: and saying the president was aware of the payment. >> michael cohen has acknowledged publicly that he facilitated a payment of $130,000 from his own personal funds in accordance with this agreement. >> we think it's highly questionable as to whether it came from his personal funds. >> you think the president knew about it? >> there's no question the president knew about it.

>> reporter: all of it putting the white house on defense. >> did he know about the payment at the time? >> not that i'm aware of. >> have you asked the president this question? >> i've had conversations with the president about this. there was no knowledge of any payments from the president and he's denied all of these allegations. >> reporter: cohen has not responded to a request for comment on the lawsuit, but admits he facilitated the $130,000 out of his own personal funds and says neither the trump organization nor the trump campaign was a part of that deal. now, as for today here at the white house, it was highly anticipated the president would announce his new controversial plan to impose new tariffs. now a senior administration official tells nbc news that announcement has been delayed because the details haven't yet been finalized, hoda and savannah. >> kristen welker at the white house, thanks. there are new developments surrounding last month's mass shooting at a parkland, florida, high school. on wednesday accused shooter nikolas cruz was indicted by a grand jury on 17 counts of premeditated murder.

14 students and 3 adults were killed at marjory stoneman douglas high school on valentine's day. cruz's public defender now says cruz would plead guilty if prosecutors took the death penalty off the table. also on wednesday, florida lawmakers passed a $400 million gun control and school safety bill. it includes a three-day waiting period on all gun sales, raises the legal age for firearm purchases and creates a school marshal program to arm some school employees, including teachers. florida's governor has 15 days to sign or veto that bill. we are learning more this morning about that mysterious case involving a former russian spy and his daughter. british police now believe they were poisoned with a nerve agent and will treat the case as an attempted murder. keir simmons has the overnight developments. hey, keir, good morning. >> reporter: hoda, good morning. comments by president putin are raising eyebrows here this morning. he wasn't referring directly to this attempted assassination on a russian spy, but he said this.

those who service with poison will eventually swallow it and poison themselves. the russian president speaking as police try to identify the nerve agent involved and who was responsible. this morning, growing questions over the attempted murder of this former russian spy and his daughter. british lawmakers are expected to quiz a top government minister in parliament later today. scotland yard investigators still wearing hazmat suits overnight as they comb for clues, revealing for the first time that a nerve agent was used. the couple deliberately targeted, detectives say. witnesses describing sickening symptoms. >> the man starts throwing up. it wasn't like normally when someone throws up. the woman just -- she was completely pale. >> reporter: this was sergei skripal just weeks ago shopping for groceries, seemingly unaware he would soon be targeted, but his poisoning so powerful, that four days after the attack, skripal and his daughter, yulia,

remain critical. a policeman, first responder, also hospitalized. >> the two targets are still in very serious condition. the policeman is talking and is engaging, so i'm more optimistic for him, but it's too early to say. this is a nerve agent. we are still treating it as very serious. >> reporter: nerve agents are fast acting, experts say. they work by crippling the nervous system. they are difficult to make and can often be traced right back to their source. the uk's top military research facility racing to identify the origin of the nerve agent in this case. russia, the prime suspect, sergei skripal was jailed for working with british intelligence and sent to the uk in a spy swap. ten russian agents were expelled from the u.s. to moscow. the kremlin denying any involvement. one of many questions this morning, if there is a russia connection, why would president putin allow an assassination that might be traced right back to his government?

another concern being raised by intelligence sources that i've been speaking to traditionally, even during the cold war, spies that were handed over in a spy swap would not be targeted nor would their families. those rules appear to be broken if russia is behind this. that may be a sign of president putin turning up the heat on the west. back to you. >> keir, thanks. now to one of the world's greatest aviation mysteries. today marks four years since malaysia airlines flight 370 disappeared while flying between malaysia and china. the 239 people who were onboard are presumed dead. now an american company is scouring the waters looking for the wreckage. nbc's tom costello covers aviation and he's been on this story since the night it broke. we remember it well. tom, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, savannah. the prime minister of malaysia has tweeted out a message saying essentially four years have passed since mh-70 disappeared but those lost remain in our

prayers and in our hearts. the new search area covered nearly 8,000 square miles in the southwest corner of the search zone. now that's shifting to the north and the clock is ticking because under this agreement with the malaysian government, if they don't find this plane, they don't get paid. in the vastness of the southern indian ocean, an all-out effort to solve the mystery of mh-370. american company ocean infinity dropping eight autonomous drones in the water. malaysia has promised to pay up to $70 million if search teams find the plane within 90 days, not including downtime for refueling and resupply. >> 90 days of search operation, we will end up about early june, middle june. >> reporter: this aviation mystery began on march 8, 2014. the boeing 777 had disappeared

on the red eye from kuala lumpur to beijing. the last radio communication at 1:19 a.m. between the cockpit and air traffic controllers seemed routine. >> malaysian 370 contact ho chi minh 120.9. >> reporter: but something soon went terribly wrong. radar and satellite data suggested plane suddenly made a u-turn, flew back over malaysia, cut north and then apparently cut south, disappearing somewhere in the southern indian ocean. for four years the families of the missing have demanded the government of malaysia keep searching. >> we still really, really miss all of the people that we love. we still don't know what happened to them. >> reporter: in 2015, the first piece of mh-370 debris, part of the wing, washed ashore on reunion island thousands of miles from the search zone. then in 2016 american blaine alan gibson found more debris even further west off the coast of africa.

>> it has no step on it as is written on many aircraft wings. >> reporter: today's new search area has been calculated by analyzing the drift patterns and satellite images from those few pieces that washed ashore. >> it provides the capability to search a vast part of the sea floor in a very short time period and it's very efficient. >> reporter: now, we still don't know why the plane turned around and flew so far south. did a crew member hijack the plane? was everybody onboard unconscious for some reason? was there a fire? the hope is that the black box recordings might still be salvageable and reveal something about the mystery for mh-370, but they have got to find the black boxes. >> they do. important for aviation but mostly for the families. tom, thank you. why don't we get back to that nasty nor'easter al has been talking about. mr. roker, good morning. >> good morning, guys. we're still getting snow up into

new england, this is just north of boston from our station there. we are looking at a nasty day there for the next several hours. in fact you can see on the radar probably pick up another 4 to 8 inches in parts of northern new england. we're also going to see that snow continue for another couple of hours in boston today and in the northeast and new england. however, this is the next system we're watching for saturday, this big storm system getting itself together, moving through the south, strong storms, possibility of flooding through the lower mississippi river valley. a wintry mix as you make your way into the southern appalachians on late sunday. rainfall amounts basically going to be about 2 to 3 inches. there could be some localized flooding. the potential flood threat is there. we're also talking about the potential for another nor'easter. that's right. starting -- that same system comes off the coast and makes its way up and along. now, if it tacks a little further to the east, that brings more impacts along the coast. the european model brings it out a little further east and north,

but right now i've got to tell you, this winter the american model has been a little more accurate than the european model so we have to watch this. there could be something monday night on into tuesday morning. we'll continue to track it. still a ways away but, you know, we've got to keep you posted. we'll get to your local forecast coming up in the next 30 seconds. to get to your local forecast coming up in the next 30 seconds. ♪ ♪ ♪ . good morning. temperatures remain in the 50s. overnight rain moved out, all that stuff behind, a couple of those clouds and, of course,

we're seeing fog rolling in through san francisco right now at 52 degrees. doppler radar shows that that storm system is well off to the east at this point. we're not tracking any major rain in the next couple of hours. still might catch spotty showers here and there but that rain will move out and we can expect to see mostly cloudy skies. >> and that's your latest weather. savannah. >> all right, al, thank you. coming up, a baby, a health scare, and now a comeback. serena williams opening up about her long-awaited return to tennis today and what makes it so extra special. and what really happened to amelia earhart? the new evidence that just may have solved that decades-old mystery. but first, this is "today" on nbc.

narrator: public education has been valued for centuries. man: the direction in which education starts a person will determine their future in life. woman: the highest result of education is tolerance. woman: it's the road to equality and citizenship. man: education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. narrator: brought to you by the california teachers association. woman: because we know quality public schools make a better california for all of us. straight ahead, the important message prince harry and meghan markle are delivering

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and downy to get it fresh and soft. you are free to go. tide and downy together. friends and family .. upset over the deadly police sh >> a very good morning to you. friends and family upset over the deadly shooting of a man in january promise to protest in b.a.r.t.'s meeting in oakland. officers shot and killed tindale. he was responding to shots fired. body camera shows him reaching for a gun on the ground as the officer approached. he was shot in the back and later died. protesters have called for the officer to be fired. the officer is now back on the job after being cleared of wrongdoing. that's from a b.a.r.t. board meeting previously. take a look at our forecast. some rain overnight in some parts of the bay area. but clearing out? >> yes. all we're seeing is dick clark clouds. 54 degrees. along the peninsula.

50 in the north bay. north bay 50 degrees. san francisco 52 degrees. you can see the dark clouds and some fog along the golden gate and east bay now at 54 degrees. we did see rain move in overnight. right now doppler radar is showing majority of that rain far off to the east. we still have the chance of seeing a couple of showers here or there moving through santa cruz if i move this over more. you can see some spot i showers but all in all that rain should be gone by the afternoon. >> pleasant drive. there's been rain overnight. wet roadways, damp roadway, not major problem for driving so be careful. lower those speeds. more traffic for you north 87. >> r9 1 boot coming off 85 where each of those splits are. looking up at the east freeway, crash 180. still blocking your middle lane but mild slowing considering that portion of the commute and bay bridge has your metering

lights on. back to you. thank you very much. another update in half an hour. see you then.

good morning, everyb od good morning, everybody. we're back at 7:30. it's thursday morning, the 8th of march. that's a shot of montclaire, nmg new jersey. so many of us waking up to snow, downed trees and sorry to say no power, either. >> that storm and those power outages begin our check of the headlines. digging out. millions waking up to a wintry mess this morning after a second nor'easter in a week pummels the east coast. >> here i am bridge water, new jersey, party lines down, fire. >> heavy winds and snow downing more trees and power lines leaving a million people in the dark. >> there are roughly a dozen

power trucks. the power lines are down all the way around that road. >> conversation accusation. president trump reportedly spoke to key witnesses about what they the discussed with special counsel robert mueller, including white house with counsel don mcgahn and former chief of staff reince priebus. d.c. police release surveillance video showing three robert ramming a pickup truck into a store and stealing an atm. then attempting the very same theft a month later, but failing. staying in the shadows, attorneys for the new hampshire woman who won january's $560 million lottery jackpot pick up her cash as she fights in court to remain anonymous. >> my client does not want any accolades. she just wants to do good things. and something is brewing. coca-cola launches a new alcoholic drink in japan. its very first attempt at breaking into the booze business in more than 130 years.

today thursday, march 8th, 2018. this is a really special day for tennis legend serene if a williams. she marks her long awaited return to the tour today. >> good morning. inspiration for all of us, really, after 14 months away, serena williams will serve it up today at the indian wells tournament. she hasn't played in a tournament since january of last year when she won the australian open on seven weeks pregnant. >> today, serena williams is back in full swing. revealing on instagram this thursday i will start playing tennis again professionally for the first time since giving birth to my daughter. the tennis superstar noting her return coincides with international women's day. my comeback could not have come on a better day, she says. >> that's mommy's. >> six months ago, williams gave birth to a daughter, olympia. but as she wrote in an editorial, she experienced near

death xlik complications. it g it began with a pulmonary embolism. this sparked a slew of complications that i am happy to have survived. among them, her c sectioning wound opening and a hematoma in her abdomen. afterwards, williams spent six weeks in bed. now fully recovered, williams marks her tournament return at the indian wells masters. seeking a third win after winning twice in 1999, and 2001. her friend, victoria azarenka, return to go compete after her maternity leave. williams' husband celebrating her return with these billboards in palm springs, california, calling the champion the greatest mama of all time or g.m.o.a.t. williams telling "entertainment tonight" she wants to expand her

family. >> i definitely want to, god willing. but right now, i want tennis, as well. i have time. i'm going to wait and see what happens. >> williams told "the wall street journal" she's eager to get back on the court. she expect a few hiccups, but she's ready to jump in. >> savannah, any advice for her? >> yes, exactly. no, serena is so awesome. i can't believe she won the australian open seven weeks pregnant. >> she's back. >> and in top shape and looking forward to it. >> let's head over to mr. roker and get a check of the weather. >> start off with today, we're looking at wet weather and stormy weather moving into the pacific northwest. sunny and mild through the southwest. we expect a morning freeze down through the southeast. that snowy condition continues thanks to that nor'easter. a fire risk throughout parts of southern florida. and then as we look ahead toward tomorrow, it's a mild march from texas all the way into the plains. wet weather and snowy weather moves into the intermountain region. the chill continues in the

northeast where sunshine and warmer weather exists down through the good morning. it's a little gray out there. that's because we had some showers move in overnight. san francisco right now looking pretty gray. we'll be seeing skies clear up just a bit already seeing some sunshine in san jose, yes. 56 degrees in san jose. temperatures mild in the 40s and 50s. eventually we'll be climbing in to some upper 60s and some 70s possible, but for overall highs in the san jose area 69 degrees. and that's your latest weather. hoda. just ahead, we are with prince harry and meghan markle as they celebrate international women's day. plus, what we're learning about a private ceremony for meghan ahead of the royal wedding. but first, the amelia erhard mystery solved.

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we're back. 7:39. a major development perhaps in the amelia erhard mystery. >> the legendary pilot disappeared more than eight decades ago. what happened to her? joe friar is with us maybe with some answers. hey, joe. >> good morning. after her plane disappeared in 1937, amelia erhard's body was never found. neither was the body of her navigator, fred noonan. now a researcher says it's 99% likely that bones found on a remote pacific island belong to erhard. >> exactly where amelia erhard's plane disappeared is a mystery. one popular theory is a tiny island, nikumaroro. that's where remains were discovered in 1940.

back then, an expert determined they belonged to a stocky, middle age man. the measurements are still around and now a new analysis is fueling a new theory. >> these bones are much more similarer to amelia erhard than they are to anyone else. >> richard jance looked at the measure thements, including two arm bones, a humerus and radius. once they figured out the size of the oil can she was holding, they could figure out the size of erhard's arm bone. her measurements werer compared with the bones recover from the island. >> if these bone were not amelia erhard, the person to whom they do belong just happened to be very similar to her and that's unlikely. >> in fact, jan says it's 99%

likely the bones belong to erhard. >> 99%. i wasn't expecting 99%. >> rick gillespie with the international intrup fgroup for recovery has long believed erhard was stranded on nikumororo. this appeared to show someone who looked like erhard and her na navigator ch. >> i have a photograph which i believe clearly shows she was captured by the japanese. >> but later, that was in a photo book originally published in 1935, two years before erhard and noonan disappeared, casting down on whether that's them in the photo. >> we're going to continue to investigate this. the accuracy is obviously important. we want to follow the facts where she lead and we're certainly going to do that. >> still, gillespie believes

this new bone analysis could be the final piece of a puzzle that has per lexed history buffs for ages. >> for people who believe in science and pay attention to the evidence, i am comfortable that the we have an answer that stands up to scrutiny. >> beyond the bones, gillespie says other artifacts found on the island including part of a woman's shoe in a box that once contained a navigation instrument. still, gillespie notes this new study on the bone might not go good enough for those who believe other theories, including that erhard's plane crashed in the pacific. >> we haven't heard the last of this one. >> though, indeed. coming up, our meghan markle and prince harry are inspiring girls and the private ceremony that just morgue meghan one step closer to the royal wedding. but first, these messages. there at the worst times.

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back at 7:48. as we mentioned, today is international women's day and prince harry and meghan markle are using it to draw attention to something very important to them. >> lucy has more on the update and on the royal wedding preps. hey, lucy. >> reporter: well, good morning, guys. there's a lot of excitement here in birmingham this morning where meghan markle and fiance prince harry have come to empower the next generation of young women. they're meeting with students to celebrate international women's day, less than two months before the couple says "i do." cheers for the bride-to-be in birmingham this morning, as meghan markle and prince harry arrived to celebrate international women's day. the couple, working to empower young girls. their first stop, meeting the

next generation of women in science, technology, engineering and math. meghan bringing her star power to the celebration. the former "suits" star no stranger to fighting for women's rights, lending her voice to the me too campaign at a forum for the royal foundation last month. >> women don't need to find a voice. they have a voice. they need to feel empowered to use it and people need to be encouraged to listen. >> reporter: yet ahead of >> reporter: the news ahead of a private event. meghan markle taking another step on the way to royalty, confirmed into the church of england. >> we know she was baptized on tuesday of this week. it happened inside the chapel royal. this is a small, intimate chapel inside st. james' palace. it means that this week ms. markle has taken a significant step to becoming a member of the royal family. >> reporter: according to "the

daily mail," the archbishop used holy water from the river jordan. fiance prince harry by her side. the intimate gathering attended by markel's future father-in-law, prince charles, and the dutchess of cornwall taking place where little prince george was christened in 2013. markel who was raised protestant and attended catholic schools didn't have to change her religion in order to marry harry but move is a nod to harry's grandmother, who as queen of england also heads the church of england. although she isn't in the royal family just yet, one new poll out has found meghan markle was voted as the most relatable female by young brits, the american actress winning hearts and minds across the pond. >> all right, lucy, thanks. just ahead, a dynamic duo. do you know who it is? it's you and kelly clarkson. >> so good. >> a really, really special project and we cannot wait to share the results. and carson, what have you got going from the orange room? >> it's like a hit song you've

got going. well, the dinner dilemma. during a storm like we just experienced, is it okay to order delivery when you don't want to go outside? we'll talk about that. tough call. you know what, al? you've got to eat. >> yes, you do. >> but first your local news and weather. >> somebody shut down your >> somebody shut down your kitchen?ou more and more people are finding themselves in a chevrolet for the first time. trying something new can be exciting. empowering. downright exhilarating. see for yourself why chevrolet is the most awarded and fastest growing brand, the last four years overall. switch into a new chevy now. current qualified competitive owners and lessees can get this 2018 chevy equinox for around $199 a month. chevrolet. find new roads. for around $199 a month. i'm about to start hair, skin and nails challenge. so my future self will thank me. thank you. i become a model? yes. no. start the challenge today and if you don't love our product,

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good morning. it is 7:55. light showers moved through overnight and now look at this shot over san francisco. some gray skies and fog rolling in but the temperatures not too cold. in the 50s right now. light haze over san jose. 57 degrees in san jose. we can expect to see that temperature trend climb into the 60s. our first 60s into the afternoon. one thing we'll keep are cloudy skies. even though that rain is out of the bay area we're expecting to see peaks of sunshine popping up at 3:00 and then we'll see chance of overnight rain moving in light once again through friday morning, majority of that moisture looks like it will hold off and not affect us which is great news as we head into tonight and friday morning. enjoy the sunshine or not sunshine lack thereof because once we get this break from the rain today we have another system moving in on saturday. >> we're looking at this system

of cars moving west across san mateo bridge. roadway is drying out. no major problems. look at the san mateo bridge where the arrow is and dumbarton bridge the volume about same speeds. that's actually not bad heading to the peninsula. northbound route similar to silicon valley. and slow northbound for 280 and 101. left side of your screen getting into san francisco. back to you. 7:57. happening now angry family members of a man killed by b.a.r.t. police in january plan to protest a b.a.r.t. board meeting. that starts in about 30 minutes. the officer involved in that shooting is back on the job and has been cleared of wrongdoing. parents in south bay are getting ready to pull their children from class early. they are poefting actions from the school board. >> president trump expected to issue a statement today on tariff plans.

another update later. the sty breaking news. plus- as we prepare to )spring forward ) this weekend. )bob redel >> overnight our team will be on the streets tracking any breaking news. >> own bob redell introduces us to the person in charge of change ending hands of time at stanford.

it's 8:00 on "today." coming up, winter wallop. millions of americans digging out from a thick blanket of snow after a powerful nor'easter dumps up to 2 feet of snow in some areas. hundreds of thousands without power almost for a week. >> they keep telling us it's going to be soon but we need a date and time. >> we're live in some of the hardest-hit neighborhoods. plus words and music. >> come on, how am i collaborating with one of the biggest stars in music? >> kelly clarkson helps us with a special project near and dear to my heart. >> can i just say thank you. >> oh, my gosh, don't make me

cry. and the big reveal. >> is that a secret? i don't know. that might not be allowed on twitter. >> the adorable way chip and joanna gaines revealed the gender of the fixer upper couple's fifth child and how he's taking suggestions for the perfect name. today, thursday, march 8, 2018. ♪ >> here to celebrate mom's 60th birthday. >> san diego loves -- >> today! >> i'm sierra and i'm officially a teenager today. >> this is our dog, lexi. >> and we're excited to meet sonny. >> we're arizona wildcats and we're here to meet savannah guthrie. >> nashville loves the "today" show. >> we have some breaking news for our friends and family. we're having a baby! >> i mean that's a way to

announce it. >> yes! >> welcome back, everybody. thanks for being with us on this thursday morning. that should be the start right there, a little baby. we do have a very busy morning to get to so let's head right to your news at 8:00. millions of people are cleaning up following a powerful nor'easter that snarled travel, brought down trees and took out power across the northeast. dylan dreyer is in west milford in new jersey with a look at the damage. hey, dylan, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, hoda. you know, i left manhattan this morning where there were about 2 inches of snow left on the ground and out here we have closer to 2 feet of snow on the ground. and the nature of this snow is very heavy and very wet. so it's caused even more damage to trees and power lines, a mess that crews are going to have a hard time cleaning up. another nasty nor'easter, wreaking havoc on the northeast. whipping winds, bringing down trees and power lines. >> this is a little bit bigger than most people predicted. >> reporter: the wet, slippery

snow creating very dangerous driving conditions. >> the roads are slippery, and cars are skidding. >> reporter: millions across pennsylvania, connecticut, new york and new jersey are digging out this morning. some of the hardest-hit areas buried under more than 2 feet of snow. downed power lines leaving tens of thousands in the dark without electricity. >> power lines down, fire. obviously got to take severe caution. incredible storm. >> reporter: some frustrated local officials calling to the heads of area utility companies to resign in response to what they claim has been an inadequate and troubled response to the power outages. >> i'm going to call together the elected officials of these communities and we're going to call for resignations of senior management. >> reporter: at airports throughout the northeast, the storm grounding planes, causing thousands of flight delays and cancellations. >> i'll be here tomorrow first thing to try to get on another flight and see what happens. >> we're going to find a bench to sleep on somewhere. >> i'm taking a train down to

baltimore and then flying out of baltimore back to florida. >> reporter: but that could be a challenge too, with major ground transportation hubs also at a stand still. amtrak and commuter train services ground to a halt, leaving many train travelers stuck. >> woe came here like to try to get a train, but it's not possible until tomorrow morning. but we have no place to sleep tonight. >> i'm not feeling hopeful. >> reporter: now, the sun is back out now that the storm has moved on. as is typical with a march storm, you'll get a lot of melting during the day, but at night the refreeze is going to make things very dangerous on the roads, so there is still that concern going forward. hoda. >> all right, dylan, thank you so much. one student was killed, another wounded in a shooting at an alabama high school. authorities are calling it accidental. it happened at huffman high school in birmingham. a 17-year-old girl died after being rushed to the hospital. birmingham's police chief would not discuss how this accidental shooting happened, but he said he does not know of any argument

or threat. classes at huffman were cancelled today while police investigate. to the white house now where there is more fallout over adult film actress stormy daniels who is suing president trump for the right to tell her story. nbc news has learned that in late february, the president's lawyer, michael cohen, secretly obtained a temporary restraining order against daniels. the order bars her from disclosing confidential information related to what her lawyer calls a hush agreement. it's designed to keep daniels quiet about the intimate relationship she's alleged to have had with mr. trump more than a decade ago. daniels argued the agreement is not valid because mr. trump didn't sign it, even though she did accept a payment facilitated by cohen for $130,000. so when asked if president trump knew about the payment, white house spokesperson sarah huckabee sanders said, quote, not that i'm aware of. 8:05. morning boost time. >> let's do it. students at marjory stoneman douglas high school got a huge surprise on wednesday when nba

superstar dwyane wade paid an unannounced visit. the miami heat guard dropped by to show his support for the students who have been through so much in recent weeks. the kids, well, you can imagine, they went wild. they crowded around him, they took videos, they were snapping self ease. wade treated he had an important conversation with students about what they have planned and is looking forward to being more involved in the change these children are going to create. >> good for him. what an awesome surprise. lots more to come this morning, including probably my favorite story of the day, kelly clarkson helping hoda put a musical twist on her new children's book. wait until you hear it. chip and joanna gaines reveal the gender of baby number five, and you won't believe what chip wants to name that little bundle of joy. first let's see what megyn has got coming up. >> good morning, ladies. as you may know, special visitors, hoda and klg are swinging by this morning and it is a good day because milo vent

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welcome back, everybody. hoda's new children's book debuted this week and what a kickoff it has been. on tuesday, hoda shared a special ode to hailey joy, her inspiration for the book, and then we watched the words come to life. a star-studded reading of the book. now, i don't know if you saved the best for last but this is really good. >> when kelly clarkson is involved, i think it is the best. i love music so much but i can't sing a note. i'm a mouther, i'm tone deaf. so i thought wouldn't it be cool if this book was put to music. so i thought you know who might be the perfect person? the amazing kelly clarkson. maybe she could put the words that have been in my head into maybe a song that maybe you might want to hear.

>> hi, hailey! >> a few months with this little peanut and i believe anything is possible. hailey turned me into a mom. >> oh, my god. >> then a children's book author. and then i had another idea. >> well, i was thinking to myself, like, wait, that kind of seems like it could be a song. wow. wouldn't that be cool if someone could sing the book? and one name came to mind. ♪ there is one person i know who has a voice that is in a class by itself, kelly clarkson. >> yes! >> and she saw the words and she said, oh, i'd love to do that. i was like, i'm sorry, what? she said i'd love to do that. >> are you good?

okay, cool. where's hoda? >> before i knew it i was heading to atlantic records to watch kelly lay down a track and record a music video of the original song, "i've loved you since forever." >> is this really happening? >> i'm so excited. >> come on. how am i collaborating with one of the biggest stars in music? i mean when i hear her even practice, it's magical. >> your words were so great, and i made it more like lullaby, kind of patty griffinish. i'm actually more nervous than singing normal songs because i know how important it is to you. i hope i do it justice, hoda. okay. >> she said to me, i hope you like it. i was like here's a news flash, no matter what she did is going to be something i'm going to love, because it's her. ♪ you'll be loved by me >> you're making me cry. i can hear you. i'm like she's over there goigoing

um, um. >> i'd just say thank you. >> oh, my gosh, don't make me cry. >> i think it would be cool for hailey to have you on the track. >> and though i have no musical talent, kelly is kind enough to let me try. >> and it sounds like a baby rattle. >> oh, it does. >> stop it. >> i've loved you since forever with kelly clarkson. action. >> after kelly perfects the track, it's time to add a few pictures for our music video and we can call it a day. >> that's a wrap. >> thank you, everybody. >> before we officially put this baby to bed, there's another baby who gets a little something special before she goes to bed tonight. >> i mean hailey is going to have a song. i mean that's crazy. i am going to play it for hailey in her nursery, and the idea that she will hear these words

is magic to me. >> okay. shall we do the song? shall we just do it? can we say thank you to kelly clarkson. ladies and gentlemen, here it is, the kelly clarkson song. it's called "i've loved you since forever." ♪ before birds flew over rainbows ♪ ♪ and monkeys swung on trees ♪ there was you and there was me ♪ ♪ before the sun set in the sky ♪ ♪ and honey came from bees ♪ there was you and there was me ♪ ♪ before the moon lit up the night ♪ ♪ there was you and there was

me ♪ ♪ before otters swam together and rivers reached the sea ♪ ♪ there was you and there was me ♪ ♪ waiting for the day i pass across and you and i turn into we ♪ ♪ i've loved you since forever ♪ and forever is how long you'll be loved by me ♪ >> wow. >> kelly. >> leave it to hoda to not only write what will be a best-selling book, then also produce a box office smash animation film with many celebrities and now a number one hit record. >> i know. it's so beautiful. >> it's a love song to anybody. >> it is. it's exquisite. >> it's relatable. >> can i thank you to robin sinnedler, our producer who worked so hard on this. if you guys want the song, you

can go to today.com or you can download it on itunes or amazon. all of nbc universal's profits are going to go to this great charity called helpusadopt.org because adoption can be a pricey venture. i think a lot of people would be great parents, they just need the money to do it. >> i still have chills. they're just going and going and going and they have nothing to do with this nor'easter you've been talking about. >> kelly clarkson, awesome mother. she brings her kids backstage to "the voice" and we're all just amazed what a great mom she is. brandon, her husband, they're great parents. >> and now we all get to have kelly sing our kids a lullabye, it's perfect. mr. roker. let's show you what we have in weather. looking at your weekend, not too bad once we get through today. you're looking at snow showers still hanging around tomorrow in the northeast and new england.

warm temperatures from the plains making their way down into the southwest. some wet weather in the pacific northwest with some snows. then we look ahead towards saturday. severe storms developing. this could be what develops into a nor'easter early next week. texas heat continues. a lot of wet weather california into the pacific northwest. sunday, sunday, heavy rain along the southeast atlantic coast. we'll watch this very closely. warming up and drying out in the pacific northwest. plenty of sunshine from the great lakes down into that's what's going on around the country. here's what's happening in your neck of the woods. >> good morning. it's 57 degrees right now in san jose. we're definitely keeping those cloudy skies in the forecast. we saw that rain move in overnight. now all that's left behind is the clouds. doppler radar showing that system now off to the east. not really seeing any activity. we've got some light showers that pushed through. the majority of that moisture is well off to the east. we can expect to see a temperature trend in the mid-60s, upper 60s in some spots, including san francisco and san jose in the upper 60s. >> don't forget if you're

heading out the door check ittous on our sirius xm channel 108. savannah. >> all right, al, thank you so much. speaking of the storm, carson has something so interesting in the orange room. >> as the nor'easter hit us hard here, social media, the users started to talk about a potential moral dilemma. people are asking this, is it okay to order food that's delivered during such a rough snowstorm. some feeling guilty for making the delivery person go out in the elements and others say that's the time to use that service. one says don't risk someone's life for a cheese pizza or noodles. winter weather is unpredictable and everyone in new england should understand that. lucy tweeting there's sideways snow. i got the notification that my food is out for delivery and i feel like a monster. on the other side it's people who say, hey, it's not okay and they shouldn't be open or offer delivery. so we took the debate to twitter asking you is it okay to order delivery food during a snowstorm.

your results pretty split but most of you saying, no, it's not a great time. 57%. 43% saying yes. people seem to agree that if you do order food during a storm that you should definitely tip generously. we're talking 30%, 40%. if someone is coming to your door at least make it worth their while a lot more than you do on a normal day. >> especially those folks on the bicycles. >> and those delivery people who are out there in most cases are encouraging people to order because they're saying, hey, if i'm coming into work today, i want to be out there making some money. they get a little bit from their salary, but they live on tips. >> they're there, so they're like -- i agree, if you're going to do it, you better tip big. a lot of them are there working anyway so i don't know. >> did you order last night? >> i did. i ordered but i tried to order before it got bad and we still -- we went heavy on the tip because the guy was drenched. >> debra cooked?

>> yeah, debra cooked. >> in the roker house, debra cooked. that's something. what have you got in popstart? >> she got a tip. don't cook. no, i'm kidding, i'm kidding. we're going to start popstart with chip and joanna gaines. the fixer upper stars are expecting their fifth child. chip spilled the beans and revealed their baby's gender. in a video chip is seen having a sweet conversation with an 8-year-old boy named gage asking him for help with a baby name. have a look. >> i need a d name. so can you help me think of a "d" name? >> is that a secret? that might not even be allowed on twitter. that might not be allowed. all i can come up with was dragon. you are not calling that baby dragon. >> oh, so cute. i like dragon.

but it's a boy. so congratulations to the gaines family. now to michael b. jordan. "black panther" one of the hottest movies out there. it forced one 17-year-old girl make an emergency visit to her orthodontist. one of my patients came in for an emergency visit because she snapped the wire on her retainer watching the movie. now wait for it, she did that when michael b. jordan took his shirt off. she clenched her teeth so blank hard, snapped it. the post went viral, even catching the attention of the actor himself. jordan responding to the young woman named sophia writing since i feel partly responsible for breaking your retainers, let me know if i can replace them. >> she just snapped another one. >> they're flying off her mouth as she's reading social media. and finally jimmy fallon brought back his famous ew skit. his guest this time, john stevens. he played sara's bff addison.

if you missed it, here you go. >> you look really different. >> yeah, i had a little bit of a growth spurt. my mom says i'm going through some changes. >> oh, he's perfect. >> it's amazing. >> after catching up, they had to practice their dance routine as you see there. nice moves. that could be a permanent -- >> oh, my gosh. he looks good in a funny way. that could have been the click but yet you have another click. >> we do. and it's a homegrown click because of the weather yesterday blanketing parts of the northeast, no one was more excited to get out of there and play a little bit, get outside, and that is our puppy with a purpose, our very own sonny as you see there. this is sonny's first-ever time seeing some snow. >> slow mo. >> first he stuck his tongue out, gave the snow a little taste. i guess eventually sonny went inside, wanted to warm up a little bit, take a little

breather but then wanted to get right back out prayilaying out the snow. we're happy to have sonny here with us. was that fun yesterday? >> did your paws get cold? >> we all needed a little sonny love yesterday for sure. just ahead, guess what. i'm going to leave you for a minute. padma lakshmi is here and guess who else? the one, the only adam rippon, our olympic guy. come with me, adam, we have some fans who i think would love to see you. >> all right, let's go. >> how are you, are you all right? >> i'm great. >> have yare you enjoying new y? >> i am. >> your people are outside. come on, let's do it. >> do you want my coat? >> no, i want to just hold on to you. >> okay. >> ready? you go first. >> look who's here, you guys! i got an olympic medalist with me, adam rippon.

he's going to talk to me and savannah a little bit later. savannah a little bit later. your people! - hello from inside the screen! [knocking] savannah a little bit later. your people! did you know the more time you spend looking at me, the more likely you are to strain your eyes? don't be shortsighted. put limits on screen time to get better sleep or more time for physical activity instead.

the 2018 november election is starting to come good morning. it's 8:26. the 2018 november election is starting to come into focus and with it nbc has a big announcement. made public within the past 30 minutes. we'll be partners with silicon valley community foundation and a special upcoming event. on may 8th, nbc is hosting the live prime-time event with major candidates for governor. it takes place at san jose's california theater and will be moderated by "meet the press" moderator chuck todd. live right here on nbc bay area and telemundo 48. we hope you'll join us for the race for governor. right now, what's going on with your morning commute. mike. >> as you wish. also "meet the press" that's the

lead-in to press here. we're ending up with a lighter flow of traffic now. from 101 north of the interchange. on the map, right there, heading up into the slower area. things are easing for the south bay. in fact, around most of the bay. san mateo bridge, great drive. san mateo itself, a little slow, an earlier crash, slow around 101. slow from oakland a bit. and really getting into san francisco, the slowest drive as folks head north on 101 and 280 up towards san francisco proper. back to you. >> i'll have another local news update in half an hour. smooth, easy strokes.

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it's 8:30 now, it's thursday morning, nice sunny bright morning, march 8, 2018. what a cool crowd out on the plaza. everybody is in a great mood and we do have a lot of basketball fans today because the big east tournament is going on over at madison square garden while the acc is at the barclay center so basketball is in the house. >> that's right. we've got all the mascots here. you know who else is here? >> who? >> we're so excited. adam rippon, one of the biggest stars of the olympics at pyeongchang. he's got some big things planned. he's going to talk to us all about that. >> sonny is doing better, by the way. he was freaking out with the crowds. and now like mellow, understanding this is your

family now, sonny. >> how do you get so lucky to get to hold him every day? >> i know, i'm very lucky. when it feels like it's the middle of winter here in march, it's time for serious cold weather food. padma lakshmi is here and we're going to do delicious shepherd's pie. but first we've got a really fun crowd moment and mr. roker is going to take that one, right? >> this portion of "today" is created with our sponsor, disney's "a wrinkle in time." be a warrior in theaters tomorrow. >> i just heard tomorrow disney's "a wrinkle in time" opens up nationwide. follows a girl's epic adventure, she learns her individuality. that seems fitting since today is international women's day. we thought we'd celebrate with a giveaway for everyone on the plaza. to help us out, where's carrie and connie?

would you each take an envelope, open it up and show it to our cameras here. >> now? >> yes, right now. f fandango. here's the deal. our sister company fandango, everybody here on the plaza is going home with two movie tickets to "a wrinkle in time" thanks to our sponsor, disney. so have a great time at the movie. you all enjoy it. we just saw it last night. it's spectacular. it really is. oprah, reese witherspoon, mindy kaling, chris pine. >> that's all you need to say, right? >> meg, what have you got coming up? hoda is coming over with klg. >> we're coming to crash your party. >> we're going to have a fun chat. it's a good day because milo ventimiglia is here, jack from

"this is us." i don't care what he says. he can sit there and we'll look at him. >> will he have his mustache? >> he will not. even though jack has died, milo is alive and well and will be sitting on my set maybe for the whole hour. >> he's going to be making moony eyes. >> i'm the luckiest person. i'll come up with a question or two. anyway, milo is here as well. mr. roeker, do you have a check of the weather? >> we'll start with the last six hours on the radar. we still have that nor'easter pummelling new england and another storm coming into the pacific northwest as well. afternoon highs today, look for 80s and 70s from central and southern california into the southwest. 70s in southern florida. 20s and 30s through the northern tier of states. sunny and mild in the southwest today. that snow continues in new england. a fire risk now out for much of southern florida and central florida. a little on the chilly side in the southeast and a little bit of a mess, heavy rain along the

northwest coast. as you get inland, we'll be that that's what's going on around the country. here's what's happening in your neck of the woods. >> the rain has moved in, but now it's moved out. 57 in san jose. a little fog out there. taking a look at our doppler radar. you can see the majority of that moisture now off east. not really affecting us anymore. we could still see some areas though, some slick roads, so still slowing down. as far as the rain goes, it has moved out. we can expect to see some mild temperatures into the afternoon. these temperatures will climb into the mid to upper 60s. >> well, that's your latest weather. we've got a lot of people out here. we're going around the horn and we also want to remind you that don't forget, once you leave your house, you can check us out on sirius xm channel 108. hoda. >> all right, thank you, al. now to a remarkable program helping the brave men and women who serve our country. sheinelle is back with that

story. >> this is a good one. so when a service member is deployed overseas or sent for training, they can be gone for weeks, months, even years. not only do they leave their families behind but oftentimes their beloved pets as well. now strangers are stepping up to help. for sophie, a 2 1/2-year-old american terrier mix, life is pretty much a playground. but her time with first grader aubry and her 11-year-old brother zachary is only temporary. >> it's important to foster dogs because if they live with somebody that doesn't know how to take care of them, then they could not have a great life and that would be very sad. >> once foster kids themselves, sophie is part of their pack. >> they need love and caring and sheltering. >> a foster dog paired with them by a program named pact. they just last year found some ten dozen deployed military pet

parents homes for their cats and dogs. retired attorney buzz miller started the organization in 2011. >> our servicemen and women are going overseas. they're risking their life for us. we are trying to help the ones that love their animals, are going to lose them to a shelter because they have nobody to take care of them. >> like the air force's imagery analyst, staff sergeant josie herrera who without friends or family to watch sophie would have been forced to turn to a local shelter. >> it's been sad being away from sophie. she's definitely my best friend. >> for the last six months, herrera, one of our country's 1 million active duty military has been stationed at an air base. >> when i see her i think i'll be very emotional. >> today is that day. >> we'll miss her, but i'm pretty sure she'll come back and visit us again. >> hi, sophie! hi! hi, baby! hi! you miss me?

>> now a home away from home for a dog with two families that love her. >> it feels amazing to see her again. i missed her a lot. >> how sweet is that? cheers to the person who thought of this idea. it's a simple idea, but how perfect is it for all these military men and women. >> thank you. coming up next, can you say comfort food? padma lakshmi, but first this is "today" nbc. does this map show the

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"today's food" is brought to you by cheerios. good goes round. where are my potatoes? we need them! well, we're back with "today food." we're with padma lakshmi. let me go there while you chop potatoes. two chefs are at the end of this thing. what do the two of them have that was so much better than the

rest of the competitors? >> well, they all had heart this season. it was such a great season in colorado. but these two just managed to think about the details. they're very diverse and different in their cooking and their styles, but what they are is very, very similar in how ambitious they are. you could see them really taking the information and improve, you know, challenge by challenge. so today in honor of colorado, we're going to do shepherd's pie. >> that's fantastic. >> it's still cold in most of the country. so i'm basically just dicing, a half-inch dice of some potatoes, about two pounds of russ it potatoes. put those in an inch of salted water. >> what kind of potato? >> russet. cover it, boil it. once it starts boiling, remove it and let it cook in a gentle boil for ten minutes. then you're going to drain it and do this. you're making classic mashed potat potatos. half a cup of milk, half a stick of butter. >> this is the healthy version.

>> if you want to do a vegan version, leave out the milk and had olive oil instead of butter. i want you, carson -- >> emulsion blender? >> immersion blender. i love this little tool because it makes it -- >> shepherd's pie is one of those things that a lot of people don't make at home because they think it's hard to do. >> it's so easy to do. so we have some here. and if you have leftover mashed potatoes, you may need to make them a little more creamy. you can leave that there, thank you. >> i just do what i'm told. >> so here we have a little canola oil. >> you whip the potatoes. >> you want them creamier and i'll tell you why in a second. >> what's in here? >> canola oil, shallots and red bell pepper. you want to cook that for four or five minutes so that the shallots get a little

translucent. i'm adding aromatics to that, garlic and ginger and then ground meat. we're using ground beef, about a pound and a half. if you want to be healthier, you could do ground turkey. >> what's the classic shepherd's pie? >> lamb and beef. but if you want to be vegetarian, i've done it also with lentils. just boil brown lentils, drain them and add them at the end. you want to mash this down here. >> uncle al is here hanging out. do you like shepherd's pie? >> i do like shepherd's pie. i always think it's a lot of work. >> all i'm adding here is thyme and crushed red chiles. >> when it's cold, all i can think about is a good shepherd's pie. >> we're also giving this a little tartness with tomato. i used about a quarter cup of tomato paste with hot water. >> you don't end up with just ground beef. the tomato paste is an adhesive

that keeps it together. >> there's also some worcestershire sauce. i'm going to add about a tablespoon. >> are you cooking this fully? >> yes, i am. you cook it, you cover it. cook it for 10 to 12 minutes and just taste for salt. >> is this a lasagna layering process? >> it's like a single layer parfait. and the reason you want to get the potatoes a little looser, a little creamier, because you want to spread them evenly. use the back of a spoon to spread both but use different ones for the meat and potatoes. >> what's your ratio? >> about the same. you see what i did there? you're not supposed to do that. so just be gentle about it. but i like to fill the casserole dish just under half with meat and then to almost the top or close to the top with mashed potatoes. >> at this point i'd think you'd be done but no. >> there's more.

>> also seal the corners. >> if you want to be a real top chef, al. >> this is my own twist just to make it a little more decadent. >> what have you got there? >> pepper jack cheese. >> i've never seen that before. >> i'll have another pint, please. >> if you didn't like it so spicy, you could use regular jack cheese. put this in a 375 oven for 25 minutes. cover it with tin foil and 5 to 10 minutes before the end take the tin foil out. >> what makes it so fluffy? >> it's the potatoes. >> it's a good potato. >> who's going to win tonight? >> i can't tell you because then i'll have to give you my daughter as payment to nbc. >> how is your daughter? >> she's great, she's great. she's very excited for the finale. she wants to stay up. >> what are you going to do? are you going to have a little shepherd's pie? >> we had it for dinner last night. i make this all the time but i wanted to jog my memory. i'm glad the messiest thing i did was the serving.

>> what do you think, al? >> wow. >> this is fantastic. >> the cheese is the extra on top. >> do you believe 15, 16 seasons for "top chef." >> i'm very lucky. >> on "the voice" we're on season 14. doesn't it fly by? >> i'm very grateful. >> wow, you did a great job. >> tonight. >> we're going to watch it. >> be there. >> on bravo. >> make this tonight too if you want. you can get the recipe at today.com/food. and a reminder, we've got the big finale tonight on bravo so be sure to check out "top chef." hoda. everyone's favorite olympian is here, adam rippon. >> he's going to dish on all the fun he's been having since pyeongchang. where he goes from here, probably more parties i'll never be invited to. but first this is "toda

we're so happy. we're back with one of the breakout stars of the winter olympics, adam rippon. >> at 28 he became the oldest u.s. figure skating rookie since

1936 but he has proven that age is just a number, helping the u.s. capture bronze in the team event. >> we are so happy to have this man with us today. adam, adam, adam, you busy man. >> good morning! >> hoda, hoda, hoda. >> you have not stopped. we saw you in pyeongchang. i feel like every time savannah and i are looking up at the tv screen, there you are. >> i'm taking over. >> you went to the oscars. >> yes. >> what was that like? >> it was incredible. from having a team get us ready from -- i got to meet jeremy scott, who does all the designs for muskino and he designed my tuxedo. >> that was like a story in and of itself. >> describe that tux for us. >> i was just thinking like what would really appeal to like hoda and kathie lee when they would be having wine early morning on a monday. >> yes. yes. >> and you hit the jackpot. >> so all the leather and straps, yes. >> it was a casual. >> then you went to the vanity

fair party. were the celebrities all like making over you and like it's adam rippon. >> well, my favorite moment of the vanity fair party was somebody tapped me and said i just want to introduce myself. my name is faye. i was like dunaway? she was like yes. of course i know who you are, you're fay dunaway. >> that is crazy. all those celebs who have been tweeting you and getting to know you. who do you think you've had the most real connection with of the celebs you've met? >> besides us. >> obviously. that goes without saying. i've been telling everybody that. i've been like you don't understand the kind of connection that i have when i come to the "today" show. like i can come here and we were going to skate earlier today but we didn't. so i'm in sneakers today and it's okay because i do have ketchup on my shoe laces. >> but look, your sneakers are really cool. you have these blingy arrows. >> and there's the ketchup. >> look at you, you notice those little things. >> i notice when i have ketchup on my clothes, you know. >> wait, you were going to tell

us who you really click with. >> okay, sorry. i'm like in a million places at once. i really connected with reese witherspoon. >> yeah, you could tell there was a real -- a real thing there happening. >> she is as lovely as you think she might be. i'm kidding. she's like so even nicer. she's -- there's like a glow around her. have you guys met her before? >> yes. i agree -- >> we love her. >> i got to meet her in person last night for the first time. and it was just -- i didn't know my life was going to change, but it has. >> it changed. just with reese or the whole olympics and everything? i like everything that's happening right here. >> i do too. >> we do connect. >> you guys do have a thing. >> what was the song? >> the music that you love that savannah hijacked. >> from her playlist. >> can you hear it? >> you can't hear it but we can.

>> it's called "let me think about it." this is good. >> remember, we were there and suddenly it was like everyone used classical music and adam comes out and like in the club there in pyeongchang. >> hold this. here's my doubts and worries. i said i'm going to go out there and i'm going to do it. and then you asked me right after, what would it mean to win gold. and i said it would mean that the rest of the competition has to end immediately. >> and no one else skates. >> right. that didn't happen. >> and you're getting back on skates soon, right? >> i am. >> what do you have coming up? >> i have "stars on ice" coming up. it's a two-month tour, we're doing 22 cities. i'd love to get you guys tickets to long island. >> that would be fun. >> we're going to 22 cities. it starts in april, ends in may and i'm super excited. we have a great cast. olympic champions, national champions. >> we're so excited for you. >> thank you, adam, for coming by.

we always love to see you. >> same. >> call us. we're back in a moment. this is "today" on nbc.

here's our ahh moment of the day, padma and sonny. al, you got some birthdays for us? >> adam will help us out. >> al, i would love to help you out. >> i'll do the first smuckers birthday and you'll pick it up. first up, happy 100th birthday to art cera from pennsylvania. he said the secret to longevity, yes, a glass of red wine every day at happy hour. >> eda loopy from massachusetts is celebrating 100 years. she fell in love with a jazz musician. they were married for 70 years. >> wow. >> and made beautiful music today. eleanor turner is 100, an active lady from buffalo, new york. you can catch her working out in the gym three times a week,

which is two times more than me. >> wow. oh, my turn again? mary rose broussard is 100. get this, she has 26 grandkids, 52 great grandkids and 21 great great grandkids. >> mr. willie lee oliver of madison, georgia, i love that, celebrating 100 years. spends time in his garden and enjoys it. >> and happy 102nd birthday to pauline sletten from northwood, north dakota. she said the secret to a long life is a glass of brandy. >> there's a theme developing. >> i think it is. >> it segues right into the kathie lee and hoda show at 10:00. >> we are going to whoop it up. a lot of laughing and scratching and drinking. ambush makeovers. i want you to take one shot if you can, my alma mater outside, the cutest guy ever. go, hokies, go. >> adam, thank you for hanging

out with us. we'll see you on "stars on ice." >> i'll see you guys there. first, megyn kelly today is coming up next after ai )m - - friends and family .. upset well, good morning. it's 8:56. i'm marcus washington. friends and family upset over the deadly police shooting of a man in january. plans to protest today bart's board meeting in oakland. the bart police officer shot and killed 28-year-old shalin tindle near the west oakland station. he was responding to shots

fired. police say the video shows him reaching for a gun on the ground as officers approached. tindle was shot in the back and later died. protesters have called for that officer to be fired. the officer is now back on the job after being clearfed any wrongdoing. happening now, our pete suratos is at that meeting which gets under way a short time from now. you can also get more back story right now on our homepage. and parents in san jose are getting ready to pull their children from class early. they're protesting recent action by members of the school board. details on our twitter feed. and within the last hour, nbc announced a special plan to host a major debate for the race for governor in california. all major candidates are scheduled to take part. chuck todd from nbc "meet the press" will moderate. i'm marcus washington. >> stay connected to your world. y

breaking news. plus- as we prepare to )spring forward ) this weekend. )bob redell ) introduces you to the person in charge of changing the hands of time at stanford. go behind-the-scenes with us only on )today in the bay. )

[ cheers and applause ] ♪ good morning, everyone, welcome. i'm megyn kelly. it is international women's day. yay, we get a day, one day! so who better to help me. can you guess? can you guess who's coming? can you guess? one is on her way over, one is here right now. two women who are all about sisterly love and well-being. kathie lee and hoda are here. hoda just released her children's book. cath catt