gate bridge. we can't leave you without showing you this one last time on this last friday of 2018. >> we're back with more local news at 7:25. this is our final full week of "today in the bay" for 2018, thanks for joining us. >> have a great day. prague. monsters winter storm. the massive system that's brought heavy snow and whiteout conditions to the midwest. and dangerous flooding to the south. takes aim at the entire east coast today. 33 million people from from a to new england in the storm zone. millions more all across the country facing major travel delays. dillon has the latest forecast just ahead. mystery in the sky. an eerie blue light fills the new york skyline stunning onlookers. what officials say skaus caused that glow and shut down one of the nations busiest airport.

massive manhunt. an intent search in the shooting the defgt a small town police officer. >> my department is hurting. we are struggling through this. the alleged gunman in the country illegal. what we're now learning about him and the victim. a husband and father gunned down just hours after celebrating christmas with his family. all that plus battle over the baby. the colorado man accused of murdering his missing fiance coombs face-to-face with the parents. the courtroom showeding over custody of the young daughter. doing the impossible an inside look at an american's record setting solo journey across antarctica. and feeling lucky. we have 348 million reasons to get excited for the final megamillions drawing of the year. today friday, december 28th, 2018.

>> announcer: from nbc news, this is today with savannah guthrie and hoda kotb, live from studio 1 a in rockefeller, plaszcz. and welcome to today. thank you for joining us on this final friday of 2018. >> yes. >> craig melvin along said chenille and savannah and hoda enjoying the morning off. colin brady. >> phenomenal experience. >> our favorite story of the merng. the 33-year-old gentleman who just completed the journey by himself across antarctica. pulling a sled of supplies around 335 pounds. >> almost 900 miles. what do you say to yourself to keep going. >> he answers coming up. >> yes. >> first the top story, the massive winter storm spreading rain ice and snow and creating travel troubles across the

country during the busy holiday week. dillon is standing by with the forecast. let's go to kerry sandners birmingham, alabama, one of the many cities impacted. kerry, good morning. >> good morning, krig. a miserable morning here. heavy consistent rain here for the last 12 hours. five inches, which means the ground is soaked and in someand flooded. overnight, a winter storm walloping much of the country, spreading snow, ice, rain and anxiety to those in the air. in kansas, high winds and snowfall, leading to whiteout conditions. the governor declaring a disaster emergency for hard eviden hardest-hit areas. in minnesota, a police car sideswiped by a skidding semithat fled the scene.

the police taking to twitter to ask for the public's help, identifying the truck's driver. air travel across the storm zone grinding to a halt. thousands of flights grounded or delayed. getting out of bismarck, north dakota, challenging. >> my flight was canceled. i wasn't going to be able to get out until saturday. i'm going to get a refund on that ticket. >> reporter: down south, pounding rain in texas, stranding vehicles in houston, while in austin, several rescuers were dispatched to save people from the rising waters. the same in mississippi. flash floods covering roadways, leavie ining motorists stranded. back in minnesota, where the worst is over, sledding. cleanup, and good works are on the agenda. >> i have a neighbor who just had food surgery. being a good minnesotan, you come out and clean out the driveways for them.

>> reporter: a warning to motorists in this region this morning. a car's driver miscalculated as they went under an overpass. we're told, this morning, the system is moving towards atlanta, the business yeftd airport in the nation. even with just rain, they're likely to be delays. >> kerry sanders in a raining birmingham this morning. dylan is in for al, tracking the storms. what can we expect? >> the entire east coast is going to see heavy rain today. the snow will wind down. we have flash flood watches in effect, up and down the east coast. central and northern new england will start off the day with some snow and will transition to rain. heavy rain is moving through new york city right now. the rain is falling across boston. philadelphia, getting a break from the heaviest rain. this front extends back down to new orleans. it's here along the gulf coast that we have the threat of

severe storms. as this moves eastward, we're going to continue in the northeast, and into early this afternoon. it's this afternoon that we're going to see the heavier rain in charleston and along the panhandle of florida. this will clear out tomorrow and replacing lake-effect snow across the eastern great lakes. we're likely going to see delays. not just along i-95 on the east coast, but at the airports. boston, new york, philly, d.c., raleigh, down through charlotte, through atlanta, as kerry mentioned, a major hub. we're going to see delays because of heavier rain and the gusty winds. as far as additional rainfall, we're looking at an inch and a half, to 2 inches. if we travel a little farther to the south, we'll see up to 4 inches along the panhandle of florida, that could lead to additional flooding. >> dylan, thank you. now, to the strange, blue glow that lit up the night sky in new york city and social media.

a lot of folks are asking, what was it? matt bradley is at la guardia airport with some answers this morning. matt, what was it? >> reporter: good morning, craig. this speculation about this lit up social media. it's not clear what happened. now, we're hearing that it was an electrical fire. this captivated new yorkers for a short time last night. as crews were rushing to fix the problem, speculation as to its cause raged online. a mysterious blue light flooding the new york city skyline and lighting up social media. >> con ed facility, you have a transformer down. >> is that an explosion? >> reporter: people expressing shock and awe. >> i was thinking it's the end of the world. >> no way. it's some sort of ufo or something. >> reporter: an electrical fire at a con edison plant caused a glow in the sky, and power outages on the ground. >> it started with a fire.

fire affected transformers and that caused a dip for the surrounding area. >> reporter: the blackout causing travel chaos, as the faa issued a ground stop for all flights. >> they're stopping letting aircraft land in new york. >> reporter: authorities ruled out possible causes. >> appears to be an equipment malfunction. it's not terrorism or suspicious activity involved. >> reporter: not before the phenomenon sparked reactiction online. saquon barkley said, am i tripping? someone saying, the gender reveal parties are out of hand. the nypd tweeting, aliens have not landed in the bronx. this close encounter, captured for all to see. thankfully, craig, no one was injured. con edison said in a statement, just this morning, they're trying to figure out what caused this outbreak, what caused this incident this morning.

they're starting an investigation. craig? >> have to be honest with you. i saw "men in black." so, just saying. thank you, matt. thank you. >> thank you, matt. also this morning, there appears to be no end in sight to the government shutdown. nearly a week into the stalemate, no vote's planned and no release anytime soon for hundreds of thousands of federal workers either temporarily out of jobs or working without pay. nbc's chief white house correspondent, hallie jackson, has more. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you. this partial government shutdown is about to hill a milestone that nobody wanted to see. one week, as of midnight tonight. so, the question now is not whether this will last into the new year. it is going to last into the new year. the question is now long into 2019 will part of the government stay closed? >> the house standses adjourned until 10:00 a.m. -- >> reporter: after seven minutes in session, congress is effectively done working for the

year, with no movement on a shutdown solution, no sururgenc and no optimism. >> i don't see where the government opens back up until congress is sworn in. >> we could be in for a long-term shutdown. >> reporter: that's a problem for people like emily, thowhose husband is in the coast guard and won't be getting paid on monday like expected. >> if this stretches on to next month, it will be an issue for my family. my husband is the major provider for our family. >> reporter: her family and thousands of others, caught in the police departmentmiddle, as digs in for a border barrier, blaming democrats for obstruction, with the white house blasting them for not getting onboard. >> we're stuck. it's a matter of principle for the president. >> reporter: top democrat, chuck schumer, firing back. his spokesperson saying, for the white house to try to blame anyone but the president for this shutdown doesn't pass the laugh test. >> the one thing we should all

want to do, no matter what our political fl aal philosophy may keep the lights on. >> reporter: in this stalemate, a shutdown on the border. that's where kirstjen nielsen will be after a boy died in new mexico, in the custody of u.s. border and custom protection. autopsy results showed the boy tested positive for a strain of the flu. his mother, devastated, explaining her son and his father were trying to escape poverty by making their way to america, before both were apprehended. he was the second child to die in u.s. custody in less than a month. cbp is reviewing its policies for kids under 10. >> hallie, bottom line, what's the way out of this? it's so messy. >> reporter: when you talk about the shutdown, sheinelle, it certainly is. you could have the democrats

agree to give more money to a wall or a fence, which the president wants, but democrats don't want. you could have the president agree to accept less money for that wall or the fence, which he doesn't want to do, their. you could have a compromise on border security, where both sides come away declaring a victory. here's the bottom line, everybody in this instance thinks they're the ones who have leverage. i talked to white house officials, allies of the president, who think pressure is building on the democrats. democrats think once they take control of the house and make a move to reopen the government, the pressure will build on republicans. so, it's the definition of a stalemate and for those thousands of federal employees, not a lot of good options here. >> that's rough. hallie, thank you. this morning, a massive manhunt is under way for a suspect in the killing of a police officer in california. investigators say the alleged shooter, who has not been identified, is in the country illegally. morgan cheskey joins us with

more. >> with 12 officers, the police chief calls his police department a family. this is the first loss the force has had to chase. and today, the search for the man who killed him is grew iowi. this is the man causing a statewide hunt, getting beer at a convenient store, before he killed corporal ron singh. they found no signs of the gunman, only identified as being in the country illegally. >> my department is hurting. we're struggling through this. >> reporter: newman police chief shared how singh's story made it tougher. before he was a canine officer, he immigrated from fiji, his one dream become a cop. >> he was an american dream, a true patriot. >> reporter: this photo, the last memory of a family

together. hours later, he would be killed after pulling a man over for driving drunk. today, the biggest piece of evidence, the driver's dodge pickup, traced to a mobile home park. >> we will relentlessly continue to hunt our suspect down. >> reporter: the hunt drawing the attention of president trump, who tweeted, there is a manhunt going on in california for an illegal immigrant accused of killing and shooting a police officer. time to get tough on border security. build the wall. for those in newman, a pile of flowers outside of the station shows that politics can wait. this loss is personal. and this morning, the lead investigator on the case says they will spare no expense to track down the suspect. a public vigil for singh is set for tonight. >> morgan, thank you. rescuers call it a true miracle. a 12-year-old boy found alive after spending 40 minutes

trapped under an avalanche in the french alps. the boy was not injured in the incident. the boy was skiing off-trail when he was swept away. a rescue dog found the boy. he survived, in part, because his airways were not blocked with snow. anticipation is growing for tonight's mega millions drawing. the jackpot is up to $348 million. that's the largest since october's still unclaimed record-setting $1.5 billion prize. kristen dahlgren joins us with the latest on that. kristen, good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, craig. yeah. we're just north of new york city in yonkers. there's been a pretty steady stream of people coming in already this morning to buy the mega millions tickets. this store opened up at 5:30. even then, they had people buying their tickets. everybody wants to get in on this one. the people that work here say that after it gets about $300

million, that's when they start to see the real lotto fever. here's what we're talking about. $348 million up for grabs. that's about $210 million, if you take the cash option. about $159 million after taxes. the odds of winning, though, 1 in 302 million. pretty slim. but it does happen. in brooklyn this week, there was a powerball winner for $298 million. this store that we're in sold $106 million mega millions ticket in 2016. all this lottery fever has people thinking about the last big jackpot, $1.5 billion that was sold in south carolina and as you said, unclaimed. the winner has until april to claim it. otherwise, all of that money goes back to the states. >> that's a wild story to me. >> it is crazy.

>> $1.5 billion ticket that hasn't been claimed. >> what did you say yesterday? you have to play to win? >> yeah. >> that's the lottery slogan, you know? >> not like i came up with this amazing phrase. >> i thought it was so profound. >> that's been the slogan of the lottery for a long time. can't wayin if you don't play. i can talk about the weather. >> speaking of -- >> there's a lot going on. the entire east coast dealing with snow across new england, heavy rain in the mid tla-atlan here. and this stretches down to the panhandle of florida and mississippi and atlanta. this is where we see most of our travel troubles today. but we're looking at gusty winds on the back part of the storm, across parts of the great lakes. that's going to continue to make things difficult on the roads, with the blowing snow across there, across the dakotas and into nebraska, too. the snow is smafalling near albuquerque, new mexico. another system is making its way

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clouds for sunday, and more seasonable weather going into the start of the new year. >> dylan, thank you. coming up, a courtroom showdown between the colorado man accused of killing his fee january say hen her parents. the custody of the baby girl happeninging in the balance. cou in the balance. and the american who just made history with the nearly 1,000-mile walk alone across antarctica, joining us exusively. buclt

just ahead, the new law forcing hospitals to post their prices. what it means for your medical bills.

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and if the middle school dance group was down one member and you'd step in and lead them all the way to glory... yes! then carmax is for you, because helping people is what our people are all about. the search isn )t stopping for the good morning. :26. i'm marcus washington. the search is not stopping for the man who walked away from san quentin prison. this is new surveillance video that might help. it is taken from a home depot in san rafael around the same time when the prisoner escaped on wednesday. it shows a man crossing the parking lot, and then carjacking a sti a silver suv. police believe the first thing the prisoner did was carjack a car. prison officials say he escaped while working outside the prison walls. if you see him, you should call 911. right now we look at the weather out there today on this friday. meteorologist kari hall has been tracking it for us. >> starts out with a beautiful

sunrise, as we take a live look in san francisco, a lot of hues and colors in the sky. we're going to see the high temperatures today headed into the upper 50s and low 60s all across the bay area. after this chilly start, we have more cool mornings in store as we go into the weekend, and highs reaching into the upper 50s for the inland valleys. few more clouds sunday but leading into 2019, still looking at highs near 60 degrees in san francisco, breezy this morning, but the winds will calm down, and we're looking at more highs in the upper 50s for the weekend. let's get an update on the commute were vianey. >> we've seen an increase in terms of accidents out on the roads. let's get to the south bay, where we've got not one but two crashes and one that's causing delays along northbound 101, santa clara street, the right-hand shoulder we have slowing as well through capital expressway. take surface streets and try to avoid the area. westbound 80 toward the bay bridge looking at eight minutes. westbound 82 toward the san mateo bridge 12 minutes and this

is a live look at a beautiful morning and traffic and weather across the bay area. back to you. >> thanks, vianey. we'll have more local news in 30 minutes.

back at 7:30 on a friday morning, december 28th, 2018. it's the calm during the storm, so to speak, in times square, where preparations are continuing for the largest new year's eve party. >> right around the corner. >> and folks are flocking here to new york city to celebrate. first, the weather starts our check of today's headlines. the massive winter storm sweeping across the country is making travel treacherous for people coming home for the holidays. officials issued a no-travel advisory for the eastern part of that state. in kansas, high winds and

snowfall led to whiteout conditions there. down south, pounding rain left vehicles stranded in houston, texas. in austin, rescuers were dispatched to save people from rising waters there. dylan will be back with the forecast in a few minutes. it's day seven of the partial government shutdown. negotiations appear to be going nowhere. president trump is digging in on his demand for money for a border wall. he is blaming democrats for obstruction. democrats are firing back saying the president is the only person to blame. homeland security secretary kirstjen nielsen is going to border holding areas. people who were found in a mine in west virginia have been arrested. they were reported missing on december 8th, after entering the mine at clear creek. they were rescued several days later.

the mother of one of the trespassers said the four had entered that mine to steal copper. two of them said they were exploring. officials said entering a closed mine is a crime, no matter the motivation. now to the latest in the mysterious case of a colorado mother who vanished on thanksgiving day. her alleged killer, her own fiance, coming face-to-face with her parents during a custody hearing for their young daughter. kathy park has the latest. >> reporter: sheinelle, good morning. it's been 36 days since kelsey berreth disappeared. investigators say they are working around the clock to find answers. patrick frazee in shackles thursday, seen for the first time since his arrest, forced to face kelsey berreth's parents in a custody hearing for their little girl. he was arrested one week ago, in connection with the death of his fiancee.

the couple's daughter was placed in the custody of her maternal grandparents. a colleague of frazee says the girl's father was her primary caregiver, watching her at the colorado ranch while she was a flight instructor. >> he was watching over here and taking care of her. >> does this seem like something he would do? >> no. like i said, i was shocked and amazed when i heard this. and it seems completely out of character. >> reporter: it's been more than five weeks since frazee, who did not live with his fiancee, told police he picked up his daughter with berreth on thanksgiving. this surveillance video shows berreth and her daughter at a grocery store on thanksgiving day.

berreth's cellphone was pinging a tower near gooding, idaho. authorities offering their assistance in the investigation. >> as you can tell from the arrest, sadly, we do not believe kelsey is still alive. >> reporter: at berreth's home, they found her cars in the driveway and cinnamon rolls in the kitchen. >> it makes us suspicious that the crime occurred at her residence. >> reporter: police looking for clues that will lead to finding kelsey berreth and justice for her family. frazee is scheduled to appear in court on monday. frazee's mother has filed a motion to intervene to grant temporary custody to kelsey berreth's parents. >> so he sad. let's turn back to the weather for a moment. we've been talking about the stormy weather for the east coast. out west, they're looking at

nastiness. what's the word? >> it's an interesting situation we have got setting up across the southwest in new mexico. albuquerque is under a blizzard warning. this is the first time ever a blizzard warning has been issued for albuquerque. we're going to see the snow continue to accumulate. it's upsloping with a disturbance coming in from the south. we could see 4 to 8 inches of snow in that area. look at the temperature divide in the country. well above temperatures in the east and below out west. in rapid city, 18 degrees for a high. charlotte gets into the mid-60s. on saturday, it stays mild, up and down the east coast, as temperatures continue to drop in the upper midwest and the northern plains. look at pierre, south dakota. by tuesday, a high temperature of only 7 degrees. chicago drops to 25 for a high on tuesday. even nashville goes from 51 to 64 and then down to 48 by the time we get into new year's day. so we are going to see much cooler temperatures start to take hold of the country as we get into the new year.

in the meantime, it's this big storm that is likely to cause delays up and down the east coast, mostly because of the heavy rain. that's temperature change across the bay area won't be that dramatic. we're looking at some formal weather for the end of december, with highs reaching into the upper 50s, and a few low 60s from concord over toward santa rosa. our seven-day forecast, we will have some chilly mornings, dropping to near freezing by tomorrow morning for some of our inland valleys. highs in the upper 50s and we'll see more cool mornings and mild afternoons with sunshine, leading into the new year. >> and that's your latest forecast. still ahead, the confusion surrounding your medical bills. will a new rule requiring that hospitals post their prices online, make things clearer? and new discoveries about the ancient and mysterious dead sea scrolls.

and could angelina jolie leave hollywood for washington? our favorite story on this friday morning. what's next for the american who just completed that historic nearly 1,000-mile journey across antarctica? we're going to talk to him exclusively from the bottom of the world, right aft hey. i heard you're moving into a new apartment. yeah, it's pretty stressful. this music is supposed to relax me, though. ♪ maybe you'd mellow out a bit if you got geico to help you with your renters insurance. oh, geico helps with renters insurance? good to know. yeah, and they could save you a lot of money. wow, suddenly i feel so relieved. you guys are fired. get to know geico and see how much you could save on renters insurance. tand, our adulte children are here. so, we save by using tide. which means we use less. three generations of clothes cleaned in one wash. those are moms. anybody seen my pants? nothing cleans better.

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man's incredible and historic journey. >> colin o'brady just became the first person ever to cross the continent of antarctica alone without assistance. he's going to join us for an exclusive interview from the bottom of the world. but first, joe fryer has more on his epic 54-day journey. >> reporter: at the end of the year, desolate antarctica became a racetrack of sorts, with two adventures vying to make history. one of them, a 33-year-old man

from oregon, named colin o'brady. >> i will be attempting a world first. >> reporter: the solo, unaided adventure, started november 3rd, when o'brady and an english athlete set out on the 900-mile-plus trek. on november 9th, he took the lead. on december 12th, he reached the south pole. >> i went through some really deep places in my mind. and some of the places were scary and dark. it was all about maintaining that positive voice in my head. >> reporter: then, on christmas, with the finish line so close, o'brady embarked on a push, sprinting nearly 80 miles to reach the end. his first call was back to his wife in oregon. >> it was an emotional conversation. it was a lot of pride. we were screaming and hooting and coloring and happy he made it safely. >> reporter: it was a remarkable feat for o'brady, who ten years ago was injured in a fire that left burns on a quarter of his

body. that didn't stop him from finishing triathlons, scaling mountains, and now, conquering antarctica. this morning, he is still there, 40 pounds lighter, waiting for rudd to finish. but o'brady is eager to share his story, what he calls his letter to the world, reminding us all to dream big. for "today," joe fryer, nbc news. >> and colin o'brady joins us, now, exclusively, by phone from antarctica. colin, good morning to you, sir. first of all, congratulations on the achievement. 900 miles roughly by foot, pulling the sled. how do you feel? how do you feel this morning? >> i'm not going to lie. i'm a little tired. sitting here in my tent, alone. it is an incredible feeling, just so excited and grateful to be here safely. yeah. >> colin, i was reading about your trek.

you face some of the most extreme conditions on earth. talk to me about how emotional it was, or the mental challenges you face. and what did you say to keep going, mile after mile after mile after mile alone? >> it's minus 60 degrees and the windchill is crazy, and i was pulling my sled 12, 13 hours, every day. i never took a rest day. every morning i would wake up and i would tell myself the mantra, you're strong, you're capable, you can do this. and throughout the day, always a mental battle. trying to stay in the moment. doing this for something more than myself, to inspire, you know, other people, to take on the impossible in their lives. >> colin, amazingly, you weren't the only guy trying to do this. there was a british explorer named lou rudd, who started this impossible journey at the same time. he is still out there, still trying to finish. he's expected to finish soon.

how do you feel about lou? did you see him at all on your journey? >> yeah. i have the utmost respect for lou. him and i were racing history. people have been trying to do this crossing for about 100 years unsuccessfully. someone actually lost their life a couple years ago, very near the finish. it's a very challenging project. i've not visually seen him other than his tent in the distance on about day six, the last day i saw him. he's anticipate ed to finish in the next day or two here. i'm waiting at the finish line for him. i want to be the first person to congratulate him in person. it's an extraordinary achievement for him. >> what did you eat? logistically, how did you do it? and then, when it was all over, what was your first meal and what are you looking forward to? >> logistics are crazy. we planned this for several

years. we spent a year at a food factory with the exact grams of eight to put in my sled. so much went into the planning and logistics. that's why we were successful. now that i'm on the other side, i've lost about 40 pounds. i'm very thin. and so, a proper meal in me will be number one priority. when i get back, wrapping my arms around jenna, my amazing wife, will be my first thing. i can't wait to see her. this has been both of our dream come true. >> colin, there's a lot of folks back here who are exceptionally proud of you, sir. thank you. take care of yourself when you get back. safe travels and congratulations, again. colin o'brady. >> thank you so much. >> phenomenal. >> i have so many questions i want to ask him. >> me, too. >> i've been to the arctic, which is extreme conditions, but nothing compared to what the

antarctic is. and i want to know how he stayed warm. how he got through because it's isolating. >> right. he had to pull that keg of beer, he could have made it 50 days. wasn't lugging that thing. >> just to get a little boost. >> i love that he said that part of the reason he did was to inspire other people, whether you're on entrepreneur, whether you're a student, just to inspire people to reach beyond the break. >> defy the odds, for sure. >> there's another guy out there doing it. it's nice to see him supporting that guy. >> hope we get to talk to him in person. coming up, with a few days left in the year, the moves you need to make right now to trim your tax bill for (vo) they're all going in the same direction. but in very different ways. and pampers gives all of them our driest, best-fitting diaper. pampers cruisers. with 3 way fit. they adapt at the waist, legs and bottom. with up to 12 hours of protection. for all of the freedom to move their way.

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good friday morning. right now at 7:56, a clear sunrise and no fog here in dublin, mostly because we've had gusty winds mixing that air out. it is chilly as you head out the door but a nice afternoon, reaching into the upper 50s and low 60s around the bay area. we'll see more weather like this over the next few days, cold mornings and possibly freezing inment so of our inland valleys with high temperatures reaching the upper 50s. we'll see a few more clouds sunday and more dry weather into the start of the new year. let's get an update on the commute from vianey. >> a crash through the santa clara exit, down near the south bay but that has cleared out and here is a quick check of how the east bay is doing. southbound 680 from 580 to vargas road. only about two minutes southbound 80 238 to highway 84

about 11 minutes. live view of golden gate bridge, traffic is moving along nicely and take a look at the bay bridge, we have the nice span going, no metering lights on just yet as of this morning, so we've had no major incidents to report. smooth commute at this hour. back to you. >> thanks, vianey. two manhuntsz under way in the bay area and we have new surveillance video of one of them. this is video of the suspected person showing up, the inmate that walked from san quentin prison who days ago, crossing the parking lot in the silver suv. here is a picture of the suspect, call police if you know him or where he is. the other manhunt is in the central valley for this man, suspected of shooting and killing an officer in newman. the town held a memorial for the officer yesterday. we'll have more local news in the next half hour and we're always on at nbcbayarea.com. fro

state capitol. the new laws you )ll need to knw starting next week. plus: vianey is tracking your new year )s eve forecast as you prepare to celebrate! join us monday morning from

it's 8:00 on "today." coming up, winter whiteout. a massive storm spreading snow on the country, in the midwest, and flooding rains in the south. thousands of flights grounded or delayed. how will this affect your holiday weekend travel? dylan has some answers. plus, how much is that? a new law in the new year forcing hospitals to post prices for their procedures online. what will it mean for your medical bills? and will it finally make them easier to understand? and a little ukulele by the fire. ♪ falling in love with you

>> music superstar, jennifer lopez, sharing a performance by her favorite girls. and we can't help but fall in love with their cover. today, friday, december 28th, 2018. ♪ >> i'm turning 21 and having fun. >> from texas. >> thanks, mom, for baby sitting. >> so we can visit "today." >> from columbia, south carolina, we love you, craig melvin. ♪ >> celebrating our second anniversary. >> it's bobby's birthday. >> today, i'm turning 10. ♪ >> look at that crowd. anyone can show up, you know, on a ice day. but to come out to the plaza and endure a few hours of rain.

>> one of the highlights of my morning. it's pouring and freezing. >> welcome back on this friday morning. savannah and hoda have the morning off. you're stuck with me and sheinelle. >> busy day today. >> let's start withis half hour with your news at 8:00. storms are sweeping across the country, making travel treacherous for people headed home for the holidays. kerry sanders is in birmingham, alabama, with a look at who is getting hit the hardest. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, guys. for the last 12 hours, we've had 5 inches of rain. the ground is soaked and in some cases, the rain has turned into puddling. in one area, a driver miscalculated and couldn't remember how deep the water was. don't drive into the puddles. you don't know how deep they are. in minnesota, authorities are looking for a driver of a semi truck that was driving, and

ended up sideswiping a police car and then took off. no one was injured there. of course, in north dakota, blizzard conditions. minnesota, same situation, with a lot of snow. this is going to be one of those days, as people are getting ready to plan for new year's celebrations and so many people decide to travel from point "a" to point "b," that you may need more time to get there. this weather is going to be a problem in much of the country. guys? >> kerry sanders in birmingham. thank you. dylan is back with a look at who will be impacted most today. dylan? >> it's the east coast, we're going to see delays. because of the flooding rain, the snow is becoming less of an issue across the midwest. we have flood watches for a good dhu chunk of the eastern part of the country. philadelphia, about to get into more heavy rain. also across new jersey, back through eastern pennsylvania, down through delaware. washington, d.c., which already

has its wettest year on record. we have the heavier rain in the western panhandle of florida now. and we'll see cloud-to-ground lightning and severe storms. this cold is moving eastward. we will see 3 to 6 inches in northern new england this, is mainly a rain event, especially this morning, through the northeast. as we go into tomorrow, that will pull away. some lake-effect snow is possible on the backside of it. we're going to see some travel delays likely, including boston, new york, philly, d.c., down into charlotte and raleigh, and even across parts of florida. atlanta, a manjor hub, could se delays because of the rain. an inch or two of rainfall, could lead to isolated flooding. better chance of flooding south, where the ground is saturated. we can see 4 inches of rain. flood willing be a concern through this morning. >> thank you, dylan. an eerie, blue light illuminated the sky over new york city last night,

leaving people to wonder what was going on? matt bradley is at la guardia airport, with some answers. matt, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, sheinelle. so, last night around 9:15 p.m., an explosion at a con edison power plant not far from here, caused massive delays at the airport. it caused chaos on the subways and problems for the con edison plant. this explosion is what caused that brilliant blue light that lasted for several minutes over the entire skyline. you could see it as far away as manhattan. it caused power outages on the ground here in new york, and delays here at la guardia. the faa went so far as to issue a ground stop for all flights for quite a period of time last night. as you can imagine, that caused lots of confusion. it made for a sensation on social media, with new yorkers speculating wildly as to the cause and cracking some good jokes.

the nypd even tweeted that we can assure you that aliens have not landed in the bronx. kind of an only here in new york thing. you can see, the con edison released a statement saying no one has been injured. they restored power to the power lines. and they opened an investigation on what caused the problem to begin with. sheinelle? >> matt, thank you. richard overton, the nation's oldest world war ii veteran who was also believed to be the oldest living man in this country, has died. he was 112. the army veteran was hospitalized with pneumonia. he died thursday in austin, texas. i spent time with him in 2014, doing what he loved, sitting on the front porch and smoking cigars. he lived by one rule, enjoy the journey. don't worry about tehe end. >> it's going to come whether

you want it or not. just think about living. >> and living is what mr. overton did best. he enjoyed sipping a little whiskey from time-to-time. he loved to drink milk every day. you spend some time with someone that's that old, you want the secret of longevity. he said, i was married a few times but i didn't have kids. that's why i lived so long. >> i didn't know that. we do a lot of stories and interviews here. every once in a while, you get one that you remember for the rest of your life. for me, i remember that interview you did. it stuck with me. >> and it stuck with me in a big way. we'll miss you, mr. overton. time for a "morning boost"? >> give us another one. >> a college student in pennsylvania, couldn't afford to go home for christmas for the past two years. this year, some of her co-workers got together and bought her a plane ticket. they surprised her with the unforgettable gift last week.

>> we love you, girl. >> how sweet is that? she was overcome with emotion. the thoughtfulness and generosity of her co-workers bringing tears of joy to her eyes. that's sweet. >> good boost. thank you. still to come this morning, what angelina jolie is revealing in a candid new interview and a possible career in politics. there's a big change in 2019. but will it make things ♪ whoa! the mercedes-benz winter event is back, and you won't want to stop for anything else. lease the gla 250 for $359 a month at your local mercedes-benz dealer.

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much procedures will cost you. >> some health care advocates warn it's not as straightforward as it sounds and may actually hurt consumers. here to break it down for us, dr. natalie azar. dr. natalie, good to see you. on the surface, one would assume that transparency is a good thing. >> absolutely. >> what does the new law require? >> current law requires that hospitals make publicly accessible their charges. so, if it's requested, a hospital is able to provide that. the new rule is stating, as of january 1st, hospitals have to actually list their service charges online, on the internet, in a format that's called machine-readable, for you computer people out there. it's not a pdf. and this is the new law going into effect. >> is that for the patient or with insurance? >> this is something called a charge master list. this is the list price. when you go to buy a car, for

example, you have a manufacturer suggested retail price. but the big problem here, and what the concern is, there's a big difference between what the list price is and what the actual transaction price is, aka, the price that the patient is responsible for, or the cost that the patient is responsible for. therein comes the issue with insurance. we know the dirty words called co-pays and co-insurance and deductibles. the list price, in and of itself, may not be that meaningful to a patient because they have to go back to their insurance company and find out what the patient responsibility is going to be. >> is this going to at all drive down the costs of any of the services or procedures? >> the whole philosophy behind this transparency is it will improve competition. if you can shop around and say, this hospital is offering me a lower price for a colonoscopy than that one, it will make an educated consumer and drive down

costs. there was a study that looked at this a couple of years ago, and it didn't pan out across the board. it didn't seem to make a big dent. but i want to say that philosophical philosophically, it's a good thing. if you have the ability to plan for something, that you might be able to cost compare. but what about emergency room situations? >> it's not like you're hurting and you're going to google it, to see how much it costs to go around the corner. >> absolutely. if you're in a critically ill situation, you're not going to be able to negotiate on your behalf. a lot of places where we see loopholes in here, and it doesn't sound as great as it might on the surface. it's a move in the right direction for transparency. >> what's the best way to be performed before a procedure? >> everyone should know that they can find out prices. they can already find out prices. now, it's going to be easier to. but this is where you need to have open communication with your provider. you need to think about, not only the cost of something, but also a safety record, right?

is the location, the quality of care at the place you're going -- >> that's right. >> if you have time to plan for something, you can make some smart decisions. when there's no, ma'am tit time planning, oops, that wasn't covered. i don't know how that will be remedied by this. >> i guess it's a start. >> i think it's a start. i applaud them for doing it. >> dr. natalie azar, thank you so much. let's send it over to you, carson daly, and get "pop start" started. >> first up, angelina jolie, one of the beguest christmas editor ranging from social media to humanitarian efforts. but it wasn't until she talked politics that it picked up and made headlines. here's when she was asked if she would make a run for the u.s. presidency? >> if you asked me 20 years ago,

i would have laughed. i always say i would go where i'm needed. i don't know if i'm fit for politics. then, i've joked that i don't know if i have a skeltul skelet in my closet. i'm open and out there. for now, i'll stay quiet. >> for now. key words there. she's working with the bbc on a children's news program, set to launch next year. >> like to hear that. >> "pop start" for kids. jennifer lopez and alex rodriguez. their daughters may have a bright future in the music vi o business. we see the three girls singing "can't help falling in love" while playing the ukulele. take a look. ♪ wise men say only fools rush in ♪ ♪ but i can't help falling in love with you ♪

>> not bad. >> no. >> anybody turning their chair for that? >> can i do it? >> sheinelle wants to hit her button. finally, dwayne johnson shared a post. a lot of us parents can relate to this. he instagramed a beautiful photo of him holding his two daughters. he captioned it, i ain't going to be able to hold 'em like this forever. you better believe i snatch these cookies and love them up every moment i can. there's going to be a day, where in daddy's arms is the last place they want to be. he joked that maybe she's already there. as a parent, we can all, i'm sure, agree with those sentiments. >> oh, yeah. how about a "daly click"? the bar was so high. >> it is a good one. if you were at the mall in florida, you might have seen a surprise flash mob.

shoppers were treated to it. it was going well. it was the middle of a routine. until a couple of police officers came to break up the party. >> get them off. >> oh. ♪ >> i love that. >> they didn't break anything. they were rockin' it. >> they started the party. >> the officers work with the group, shawn's dance factory, to pull off that fake-out. tweeting they wanted to celebrate the holiday spirit with mall shoppers. that's already been viewed 1.6 million times. >> that is awesome. can you imagine being at the mall and that happens? a little forecast? >> yes. a lot going on today. we have the rain up and down the east coast.

we have snow turning to rain across new england, back behind the storm, gusty winds dropping temperatures. temps, todays only in the single digits and teens for the most part. we have heavy snow in albuquerque, new mexico, of all places. the first time they're under a blizzard warning since records have been kept. out west, we have another storm system bringing rain to the coast, snow to the higher elevations in the pacific that's a look at the weather across the country. now here's a peek out your window. >> good morning. winds are calming down. still breezy out there. we are going to continue on with that sunshine after a chilly start for the inland valleys. we're headed up to 58 degrees. we may see freezing temperatures in some valleys tomorrow morning. we're back up into the upper 50s. a few more clouds on sunday. we continue on with some dry weather into the new year. new year's day, we're up to 60 degrees after a morning start in the mid-30s and more upper 50s for the start of next week.

>> that's your latest forecast. >> thank you. we have more of our special series "history goes high-tech" for you this morning. >> yesterday, we took you to pompeii. this morning, how nasa is looking at the death sea scrolls. keir simmons has the story. >> reporter: good morning from the dead sea. here, during the last century, they found ancient pieces of parchment that turned out to be biblical texts. today, they're discovering more about them and you're not going to believe how. this is the lowest place on earth. but they're using technology designed to look at the stars. this barren landscape hid a secret for 2,000 years. one of the most important biblical finds of all-time. >> ten jaws.

some of them were broken. when you open one of them completely, jaw, he saw three scrolls. >> reporter: little wonder access is restricted. nbc news, granted a rare opportunity to film with the israeli antiquities authority, where they hit biblical text. here, some of the first discoveries were made by an arabic nomad. >> he wanted to find golden coins or a gold treasure or diamond or whatever. but he understood that what he found is much more than gold. >> reporter: a jewish tribe, in terror of the romans, placed parchments in the caves, planning to return later. they never did. it's incredible to imagine them in here, hiding, those early biblical texts. the texts became world-renowned, as the dead sea scrolls. >> you're seeing the scrolls. >> reporter: wow. that's not the end of the story.

>> every fragment is important. >> reporter: it's like opening the oldest bible in the world. this laboratory, home to 25,000 fragments of the scrolls, are discovering hidden words on the parchments. >> you see here sh it means -- sing. >> reporter: wow, to sing. >> to sing. >> reporter: this is a word that you never knew was there. that new word found by this researcher. >> it was very exciting. i started this project. i took this small box, which had what looked like garbage in it. and suddenly, i find words that i recognize. >> reporter: they are using advanced image technology, designed to detect patterns in the depths of space. >> we're using nasa technology to investigate the same

material. you think of people in the cave, in the desert, with no tech at all. and we're investigating them with the super high-tech technology. >> reporter: using the light spectrum and highly-tuned cameras, the computer highligh s s blackened strcriptures. >> reporter: you can see the words, mystery revealed. >> it's sensitive to this particular i.r. light is coming out. >> reporter: a biblical jigsaw puzzle, where until now, the pieces were invisible. the dead sea scrolls are dying. >> it survived in a cave for 2,000 years. it's our duty to try to preserve them. >> reporter: and today, they are reading scrolls that are like coal. >> from ashes, the bible with technology. >> reporter: 70 years after they were found in a cave -- >> it is amazing to read, now, all the black parts of the bottom, which were connected to

the soil. we can look at them with the technology, it's amazing. >> reporter: amazing they're using nasa technology to look at pieces of writing from thousands of years ago. it is so important that they preserve those parchments because it turns out, sometimes you really don't know what you've got. guys? >> wow. >> that's true, keir. fantastic. >> i've enjoyed this series. just ahead here on a friday morning, you don't have to host a late night party to celebrate the new year's arrival. if you do, nothing wrong with that. if you wan i )m kira klapper.

the search isn )t stopping this good morning. it is 8:26. the search isn't stopping this morning for the man who escaped from san quentin state prison. this new surveillance video might help. it shows the man crossing the parking lot of home depot and then car jacking that silver suv from a woman. san rafael police believe this was the first thing the prisoner did after he escaped wednesday night. prison officials say he was able to walk away from a job assignment outside the prison walls. here's a look at him. if you see him, call 911. now, a look at our friday morning commute. >> we've certainly seen unfortunately a number of minor fender benders but right now the one that may be causing some issues is a stalled vehicle on

the bay bridge. this is near the treasure island exit near the westbound side. the slow lane is blocked. they're working to clear that out. as you can imagine, expect slowing through there. good news, there's no metering lights on the bay branch toll plaza. westbound 880, about 8 minutes. westbound 92 towards the san mateo bridge, about 12 minutes. remember, it's still windy out there so chp did issue a high wind advisory for the dumbarton bridge but look how beautiful the golden gate looks. we're not seeing major delays, just typical friday morning light commute. >> looks gorgeous. great way to start our last friday of the year. i'll have another local news update for you in half an hour.

♪ not long ago, ronda started here. and then, more jobs began to appear. these techs in a lab. this builder in a hardhat... ...the welders and electricians who do all of that. the diner staffed up 'cause they all needed lunch. teachers... doctors... jobs grew a bunch. what started with one job spread all around. because each job in energy creates many more in this town. energy lives here.

8:30, now, on this final friday of 2018, the 28th of december. and the happy crowd, smiling through the raindrops. it is packed in rockefeller plaza. they don't mind the rain. >> look at carson daly making us look soft. >> come here, we have a great "crowd moment." where is the snyder family? julia, how are you? >> i'm good. how are you? >> where are you from? >> woodland, texas. >> tell us about your roommate.

>> her dream job is to work here with you. >> everybody wants a job here at the "today" show here in the rain. you have a secret santa when you get home? >> yeah, i have her for secret santa. >> anything yet? >> no. >> we have a "today" show mug for the journalism major. we signed it so you can give it to cassidcassidy. so much for the secret. but enjoy your stay in new york. >> what else do you have in your pockets? >> i know. just ahead, a full half-hour to get you ready for 2019. one of the guys behind the headspace app is here to tell us how you can feel better in the new year by doing less. want to save money on your tax bill? there's things you need to know and do before january 1st. jean chatzky is going to walk us through all of that. >> plus, we have creative ideas

from party planning expert mary giuliani. she is throwing us the ultimate new year's day bash, including something you will love, carson. we have a bloody mary bar set up. >> i see it. coming up on the third hour, some of the standout stories of 2018 and how basketball is being used to train the country's next generation of female leaders. first, dylan has a check of the weather. >> this "sunday night football" weather is brought to you by verizon. the plan you need on the network you deserve. >> the rain is getting heavier out here. it's going to be a rainy day up and down the east coast. big storm system moving eastward. in the weekend, saturday, it clears out. lake-effect snow through the eastern great lakes. the snow winds down in new mexico, as well. on sunday, more snow builds into the mountains across the northern rockies. we have more rain along the gulf coast. on new year's eve, at night, we're looking for heavy rain to

move into the ohio and tennessee river valleys. cold air works behind this storm. at midnight itself, it is pouring in the northeast. that is extending down to the gulf coast. it's snowing, to the western great lakes. on new year's day, we start off with cold temperatures. highs not getting above zero through the northern plains and upper midwest. cold temperatures along the southern plains, as well. the west coast looks sunny and quiet in the 40s and 50 that's a look at the weather across the country. now here's a peek out your window. >> good morning. i'm meteorologist kari hall. lots of sunshine. enjoying a beautiful day as we take a live look outside at san francisco. it is still breezy after gusty winds yesterday. wind speeds sustained right now about 17 miles per hour. gusty through the delta. as our winds calm down, we'll see mostly sunny skies, highs in the upper 50s and low 60s. over the next several days, we continue on with more weather like this. chilly mornings and mild afternoons.

>> all right. sunday night is a big night. it is "football night in america." it is the final regular season sunday night game. and the indianapolis colts are heading to nashville. they will be taking on the tennessee titans. it is going to be a little wet, though. we have a lot of rain expected. showery temperatures in the mid-40s. that won't stop an awesome game. it's win it and you're in it kind of game. that coverage begins sunday night at 7:00 eastern, right here on nbc. craig? >> dylan, thank you. as we prepare to ring in the new year, it is time to create some goals, maybe reset some priorities, as well. but resolutions can be a source of stress and self-defeating when you don't succeed. here to help us do things differently in 2019, andy, the co-founder of the headspace app. good to see you. >> good to see you, craig. >> it's so weird when i see you in person and hear your voice. when i use the app, it's the

same voice. it messes with me. let's start with things we can all do to stress less in the new year. >> the starting point is the sematise temptation is to add things to our list. you think of resolutions, i'm going to do this and this. the answer to being less stressed, is to take those things off. we're going to look at ways to be more mindful in our life. and doing less, we can feel healthier and happier in our life. >> it sounds counterintuitive. >> stay with me. the first one, learning to meditate. you know this for yourself, craig. can make a massive difference. and it's different from just sort of reading a book or watching tv. so, in all the science research, we know that in learning to do nothing, we actually rest our mind. we rest our body and we feel better as a result. there's a whole bunch of benefit

benefits. there's health benefits and mindful benefits. you can meditate on the headspace app. but try to be more present in our life. willpower, that kind of comes and goes. but if we can train ourselves in mindfulness and awareness -- >> be in the moment a little more. judge less. >> in 2018, i feel like we were really judgey. >> in 2017 and 2016, and 2015, as well. yes. >> in 2019, maybe if we can be a little less critical. it's not about needing to be more kind. it's actually -- if we're just a bit less unkind. a simple technique. it's called noting. when you realize you're getting caught up in critical, negative thinking, about yourself or someone else, you catch yourself, you note it, thinking, you let it go and you come back to what you're doing. really simple. needs a little bit of practice. >> one of the most popular resolutions every year, eat

less. binge less. how do we do that? >> mindful eating is less than dieting, it's more of coming up with a way of approaching food so we're healthy and happy with the way we eat. we have a thing on the headspace app. we eat when we're led by our emotions. before you eat, take a breath. on a hunger scale in your mind, where are you between one and ten? do you want to eat what you're about to eat? you can do it in the middle of the meal and the end of the meal, to get an idea of why we're eating the way we do. >> this is someone that everyone watching and listening struggles with, mightily. >> this is massive. often, we're with our children, with our loved ones, with our colleagues. we're with them physically, but we're not really with them mentally. we're just scrolling through our e-mails and through social. so, commit. when you're with another person, put your phone away.

look at scheduling to see when you check in with your e-mails. it doesn't have to be constant. we do it first thing of the day, middle of the morning, maybe lunchtime. the world will continue without us check our phones. >> reset your phone for the new year. >> we have an idea that technology almost rules our life. we have the opportunity. a few years ago, when you get a new device, clear it. take everything away. and then, set it up in a way that works for you. get everything off of the home screen. don't have notifications coming in every few seconds. >> quickly this, last one. >> fight less, argue less. before we go into the new year, write down, grudges, resentments, anything that you're carrying with you. lead into 2019 without that baggage. if you find yourself in a difficult spot, remember to breathe. >> andy, always enjoy having you, my friend. thank you. coming up, a few days left

in the year. jean chatzky is going to tell us about things we need to know right now. things we need to do to lower that tax bill for 2018. first, this is "today" on nbc. rush to work, grab a drink, hurry home. - [cell phone beeps] - stop! don't be on your phone. let someone else take the wheel. make a little eye contact. make a plan. it's a busy world out there. we're all in it together. go safely, california.

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- [cell phone beeps] - stop! let's stop looking at pedestrians as a nuisance, and carless objects, and start looking out for each other again. it's a busy world out there. we're all in it together. go safely, california. we're back, with "your money." with just a few days left in 2018, what can you do to trim your tax will for the yebill fo. the landscape has changed quite a bit. here to walk through our options, jean chatzky. good to have you. >> nice to see you. >> before we begin, how does the new law affect our taxes? >> the big change is the increase in the standard deduction. it went for single filers, from about $6,000 to $12,000. for heads of household, to $18,000. for people married filing jointly, to $24,000.

that means it's going to make less sense for more people to itemize. you have to have bigger deductions in order for itemi itemizing to make sense. and the limits on what you can write off on things, like the mortgage deduction and state and local taxes, gone down. yeah. >> you say that one of the most important things to get right or to help yourself in terms of deductions is bunching. what is that? >> bunching is essentially taking those big deductions and putting them into every other year. or every few years. let's look at charitable deductions, for example. if you know you want to give a lot of money to charity, but you can do it all this year, and table next year, and then do it again, the year after, you may get yourself over that limit it takes to itemize. when you can itemize, itemizing usually saves people money.

>> let's get on to the next one here. these are things that folks can do right now, in terms of donations. >> we're going to get strategic about the charitable donations. you may want to bunch them into one year or another. but there's other things that you can do here to save you money. if you've got appreciated investments, stocks that have gone up. you can give the stocks directly to charity. that way, you don't have to sell them and pay capital gains taxes. the charity, when they receive it, doesn't have to pay taxes on it. that's a good move. if you're over age 70 1/2, give money to charity directly out of an i.r.a. it doesn't count towards your itemization. but you don't have to pay income tax on that money that you pull out of the i.r.a. >> this might be the only silver lining in the cloud, when you look at some of the -- some of what we've seen over the past week or two, in terms of the stock market, tax losses.

>> a lot of people had a lot of gains in portfolios because the markets have gone up and up. this year, the markets have gone down. if you sell securities, use your losses to write off realized gains that you took in the same year. you can also use losses against $3,000 of ordinary income. that alone can cut your tax bill. the only thing you have to be careful is something called the wash sale rule. that says you can't buy back the same stock you sold within 30 days. if you want to own amazon and you got rid of it because you have a loss, wait the 30 days and buy it back. >> that's useful for a lot of folks. flex spending. this is what a lot of people use. >> and people have about $200 left in their accounts at this point in the year, if they have money left over. that's valuable. use it to buy new glasses or

contact lenses. everything they sell is eligible with flexible spending dollars. >> jean chatzky, great advice. happy new year. >> you, too. up next, a fun way to celebrate the new year. everything you need to throw a fun and festive new year's day party with family and friends.

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all right. this morning on blueprint on "today" throwing an easy new year's eve bash. we're talking to mary giuliani, and blueprint, creating videos to help you. before we get to this fun stuff, look at this. >> if i hold it open, you pour

it in. this is why it's great you slept over. we forgot the vanilla. you put the best part in because that makes everyone happy. can i smell it? >> it's so good. all this? >> yes. >> perfect. >> there we go. just brings a french toast to life when you add that. >> it would have been a sad french toast without it. >> do you wear actual clothes? >> no. constantly -- >> this is a new year's day segment. it turns out four months ago, you were also having a pajama party. >> don't stop. what is a snacktivity. >> that's something you can do for your party that's interactive, playful, fun. we're going to start with a hash bash. would you like to have a hash bash? >> she names everything. >> okay. in some states. this is home fries in the skittle. >> this is fun. it's like a sundae. >> it's a sundae bar.

i have bacon, sausage, sour cream, cheese. you fill it up to your liking. >> we're actually filling these. >> i know. >> you get to eat them. and you get to -- it's like sha shake-n-bake. >> did you come up with this? >> i did. that's what i do. >> this is an example. >> that's an activity. something you can do. it's fun. >> snacktivity. >> i like things the day after new year's. supereasy to make. this is a quick frittata. you can use whatever is left over from your cheese platter or crout d'etat. >> i think this is delicious. calvin ate half of the loaf of bread. >> what kind of bread do you use? a round bread.

just slice it and pour on all of the stuff. and bake it in the oven and serve it in the skillet. you can pull out the little pieces. look at that. >> these aren't temperature dependent. >> exactly. they're easy to make. they look pretty. you want any of these? >> yes. >> this is fun. >> finger foods, too. >> getting on to your favorite. >> this will be your favorite snacktivity. you're going to have three types of guests on new year's day. the three "hs." guests that want to hydrate. we have delicious flavored waters. healthy. that's a nice, green juice. >> that's you. >> or the third "h," my favorite, hair of the dog. this is a bloody mary bar you can set up for new year's day. >> you can have it with or without alcohol.

>> where is the alcohol? >> it depends on where you are watching the show. >> you build up from the tomato juice? >> yes. another snacktivity. guests can make it spicy or not. we have the usual celery or carrots, i love little bacon. >> i just have meat in there. >> you have bacon? >> i do. >> all things you can set up and leave it. people can go about their business. you're not entertaining the whole time. >> when they leave -- >> this is the flower area? >> the floral part. >> i love this. >> you have your flower arrangements left over, right? they are having fun. >> i'm going to take a couple of these. >> you have an arrangement leftover. and you have leftover wrapping paper from the holidays. we're going to spray a little --

we're going to make arrangements and give them as little gestures to say, thank you for coming to my party. >> boring. >> wow. >> that's a boretivity. kidding. you guys are hilarious. >> thank you. >> this is really pretty. >> mary, dylan, thanks. head to myblueprint.com, to try these recipes. all of the classes on today, a good deal, $7.99. thiss i

we're back with a look ahead to the weekend on "today." tomorrow, from box office surprises to tv standouts, a fun look back at the year in entertainment. on sunday, the highlights from the wealth of stars that willie sat down with in 2018. >> i don't like anything where people go woo. >> i'm kevin hart. i work real hard.

>> literally, i'm great, guys. what took you so long? >> what is groove? >> groove is your rhythm, your sense of groove. >> i am king of wakanda. >> there's a thirst for these messages. >> please, we are still not a codfish. >> i needed to do my interpretation of her. >> my dad is an excop. he was tough. he walked in the room, the oxygen could leave like that. i used to learn to diffuse that with ways to make him laugh. >> my parents moved out to massapequa, which is an indian name, by the mall. here's the other big secret of comedy, the audience writes most of it. they grade your work, second-to-second. >> talk about madison avenue. and there was a woman in a big fur coat. and was like, darling, i love

your cookbooks. and a truck driver pulled over and said, hey, babe, love your show. >> i can see myself being like that at 50. but i'll have worked 50 years. isn't that time for the gold watch and a -- see ya. >> too bad willie couldn't get any celebrities. >> what a phenomenal year. >> that's sunday on "today." i'm going to take a few days off. our stage manager, i won't get to work with you on the show. 35 1/2 years. thank you, sir. >> say it ain't so. good morning. it is 8:56. we're just getting word there has been a, quote, significant development in the search for the man who killed newman police officer ronil singh. the sheriff's department just announced they will hold a noon news conference. as far as we know, there still is a massive manhunt under way. officer singh was shot and

killed the day after christmas. investigators have been looking for this man caught on surveillance video at a gas station around the time of the shooting. police are not identifying him at this point but the police chief did say the man is in the u.s. illegally. we're on the story, making calls and moving our crews to mo deso. we'll bring you a live report. and we're also following breaking news in the east bay. a standoff is now over and the former center theater in freemont. our cameras are there as they remove a man who was standing on the theater roof. moments ago, we captured the man being detained on the top of the roof. it's not clear what led to the incident but it shut down roads around the theater for an hour. police are asking you to avoid the area. we'll have updates on our midday newscast. we'll see you at 11:00. from bay

state capitol. the new laws you )ll need to knw starting next week. plus: vianey is tracking your new year )s eve forecast as you prepare to celebrate! join us monday morning from

from studio 6a, this is "today." >> good morning, everyone. welcome. >> are you waiting for an invitation? what's going on? >> i thought you were going to say something. >> you're supposed to start. >> i'm sheinelle. hereith dylan, al and morgan radford is joining us this morning. >> here's the deal. i expected you were going to say, we're all sitting on pillows because we are either average height, starting with dylan, to smallish -- >> watch out. >> from sheinelle, to a short guy for me, and morgan, who is tall.