could be slippery. >> take it easy headed out the door this morning. hope you have a great morning. louvre look at storm ranger on san bruno mountain. good morning calling in the troops. the military now tapped to help speed up the support for the troubled vaccine rollout >> getting a covid-19 vaccine shouldn't be like "the hunger games. >> this morning, a grim new warning on the spread of those new strains of the virus what the new covid task force says the country could face in the weeks ahead. blunt message. top house republican kevin mccarthy urges fellow republicans to stop the infighting, or risk the party's future this as he prepares for a face to face meeting with former president trump today. we'll have the very latest

terror at home the government issues a first-ever nationwide alert. warning of new potential violence from homegrown extremist groups why homeland security says they pose an even bigger threat after the capitol riots. massive storm. the west coast being slammed by heavy snow and torrential rains. triggering major flooding and damaging mudslides crews in california now racing to protect homes and that system set to race east and bring nasty weather to tens of millions from coast to coast al's got your forecast those stories, plus remembering cloris leachman. >> i'm afraid i've just been too much of a real woman >> the tributes pouring in for the oscar and emmy winning star of screen and stage. we'll celebrate her many beloved roles. and little miracle the national zoo debuts its newest baby panda cub, and we're

saying aww right along with you. today thursday, january 28th, 2021 from nbc news, this is "today" with savannah guthrie and hoda kotb from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. >> welcome to "today." it is a thursday morning so happy you're joining us >> i wish we could go right to the panda. >> one quick view there. okay all eyes are right now on what is happening on the west coast. the potent winter storm with feet of snow and more dangerous downpours on tap for parts of california >> it's a system al says we're going to be talking about well into next week as it marches across the country. he'll have the latest just ahead. we'll begin with the covid crisis and troubling new projections for the virus in the u.s. the number of covid deaths is

expected to reach another unfathomable milestone in th next few weeks even amid the effort to ramp up vaccine production and distribution nbc's tom costello is following it all he joins us from d.c. now tom, good morning. >> good morning. there is some good news. new cases have been dropping dramatically over the course of the last few weeks, but viruses continue to claim lives. 427,000 americans so far the new white house task force says we could see the number grow substantially in the coming weeks. the task force already reiterating it will be months, not weeks, before the general public likely has access to vaccines >> reporter: even with the promise of increased vaccine doses going to states in the coming days, the new white house task force warns u.s. deaths could surpass half a million in the next few weeks. between 479,000 and 514,000 deaths by february 20th. the first virtual task force briefing not without a few

technical glitches >> in other words, nobody heard anything from me is that correct? okay well, i said a lot of really good stuff >> reporter: the biden administration says it will be months before everyone who wants a vaccine has access to one. >> any stockpile that may have existed previously no longer exists >> reporter: to help administer doses fema is requesting 10,000 service members for support, spread out in up to 100 vaccination sites nationwide for now, frustration and cancelled appointments have some people going to extremes to get a shot this woman drove her parents three hours in new york after slots opened up. >> you'll know people who will drive 100 miles to a site. >> reporter: in harris county, texas, there's an online wait list >> getting a covid-19 vaccine shouldn't be like "the hunger games. >> reporter: and in virginia, plans for a single statewide portal to sign up for appointments >> i know this has been a source of great frustration for a lot of virginians.

i hear you and we are getting this fixed. >> reporter: kentucky's governor expressing the most common complaint. >> we have three issues, it's supply, supply, and supply >> reporter: also this morning, as health officials monitor the virus variants, the cdc says the uk strain has now been detected in 28 states booster shots are now in development but dr. fauci insists current vaccines do offer protection and once a vaccine becomes available to you, the new cdc director says a fever and muscle aches after your shot are actually good signs. >> and these symptoms mean your immune system is revving up and the vaccine is actually working. >> now, severe allergic reactions have been recorded not a lot, but they, in fact, have been recorded and the cdc director says they are treatable. hoda >> tom, the federal government has its work cut out for it. what other actions are they taking to try to ramp up the supply >> they're talking about ramping up manufacturing the administration says all

options are on the table that includes looking into whether the president can use the defense production act to force companies to produce a competitor's vaccine the government also increasing vaccine staffing by authorizing retired doctors and nurses to administer vaccinations across state lines. >> all right tom costello for us in d.c tom, thank you now to the battles that are quickly developing in washington during president biden's first 100 days in office as the new administration works to advance its agenda, republicans are also weighing their next moves and the future direction of the party nbc's chief white house correspondent kristen welker joins us with the story. kristen, good morning. >> hi, savannah. good morning to you. that's right this morning as republicans try to adapt to the biden administration and a democratic president, they are also grappling with ongoing divisions in their own party, and the message from party leadership today, focus on fighting democrats, not each other. >> reporter: with the republican

party fractured, house minority leader kevin mccarthy is calling for unity. today visiting former president trump in florida the meeting likely an attempt to mend ties after mccarthy said this about the former president who told his supporters to march to the capitol, urging them to, quote, fight like hell >> the president bears responsibility for wednesday's attack on congress by mob rioters. >> reporter: still, mccarthy along with most republicans voted against impeaching the former president and said he did not believe the president provoked the riot. it comes as mccarthy has unleashed a blunt warnin issued during a call wednesday, urging republicans to stop attacking their own. cut that crap out he said, according to two people on the call the leader urging his colleagues to instead focus on defeating democrats in 2022. but this morning the party is facing a growing backlash over one of its own members, the georgia republican who has promoted false conspiracy theories after a cnn review of her facebook page showed that

green seemed to promote violence and falsely accused nancy pelosi of treason saying it's a crime, punishable by death, is what treason is nancy pelosi is guilty of treason. nbc news has not reviewed her since deleted social media posts. which have been reported by cnn. those videoes were dated 2018 and 2019 before green's run for office green also liked comments that called for violence against pelosi former president obama and others green did not respond to nbc's request for comment but called cnn's story a hit piece on me, focused on my time before running for political office there was bipartisan backlash to all of it, including from adam kinzinger who tweeted she is not a republican there are many who claim the title of republican and have nothing in common with our core values video also surfacing of green confronting a parkland shooting survivor outside the capitol back in 2019

>> i was curious i carry a gun for protection for myself and you are using your lobby and the money behind it and the kids to try to take away my second amendment rights you don't have anything to say for yourself >> reporter: hog who became a gun control activist after parkland ignoring her questions. >> this guy with his funding and his major liberal funding has got everything i want you to think about that that's where we are. and he's a coward. >> now, green did release a statement in response to the incident which she stressed she made the comments while going from office to office to oppose the radical what she called gun control agenda that david hog was pushing, stressing she was working to, quote, protect gun rights now, hog also tweeted overnight it's frustrated there are people in congress spreading conspiracy theories about mass shootings. savannah >> kristen, let's go back to the

senate impeachment trial conviction does not look likely. democrats are eyeing potentially other options they're hoping could be bipartisan. what can you tell us >> that's right. there is an effort underway to try to find an alternative to an impeachment trial. because as you say, savannah most republican senators are signaling they're not going to vote to convict mr. trump. so now republican senator susa collins and tim kaine are looking into a measure that would censure former president trump instead. that would essentially allow the senate to formally condemn the former president those senators are also looking into whether that measure could bar the president from ever holding office again, but it's just unclear if that would be enforceable. savannah >> all right kristen welker at the white house, thank you in the wake of the capitol siege, the department of homeland security is issuing a rare and alarming warning saying extremist groups pose a threat of more violence nbc's justice corresponden pete williams is on the story. the riots were three weeks ago what's the concern prompting this new warning of additional

violence coming? >> i think while this is dhs getting on the record saying publicly what the fbi has been telling police for weeks violent domestic extremists remain a heightened threat the new bulletin say ideologically motivated extremists may be emboldened to target elected officials and government officials it says racial and ethnic tensions add to the potential for violence some dhs is encouraging loca authorities to maintain heightened security around their state and local facilities >> and meanwhile, there are new details coming out about a man arrested by the fbi for allegedly plotting attacks against democrats. what more do you know about this case >> this is a case from california where the fbi says a napa valley man was texting act attacking facebook or twitter y for blocking president trump the fbi says the 42-year-old ian benjamin rodders was als

texting that he wanted to, quote, blow up a democrat building bad investigators say they found five pipe bombs in a safe at a business he operates along with materials to make more the fbi says he admitted building them but that he told the agents they were for entertainment purposes only. the fbi says he had a sticker on his car with a symbol of an anti-government group. called 3 percenters. his lawyer says he does not belong to any organizations advocating violence. savannah >> pete, thank you in the next half hour kate snow will bring us an inside look at what drives one of the extremist groups, the proud boys now to a wild ride on wall street that seems to have just come right out of the blue this morning it has officials and investors buzzing. so here's how it goes. shares of the video game retailer gamestop have become a white hot must-own skyrocketing over the last week or so >> okay. we had to get out our wall street journals and really get our big glasses out to try to understand this, and then we thought let's just call our senior business correspondent stephanie ruhle.

look we don't speak cnbc. we don't know the stock market all we know is suddenly gamestop is a hot stock, and it's sort of pitting these individual investors, folks like you and me, against big hedge funds. what is this all about >> i mean, it's an extraordinary story. this is populism coming for capitalism gamestop right? a struggling brick and mortar video game retailer. it's been losing hundreds of millions for years it suddenly saw the stock go up by 1600% well, what this has been is an army of individual investors, day traders, many of whom have never been investors before, but lots of people are in front of screens this year, get in the game in a huge way they're not trading with big broker dealers they're trading on mobile apps like robin hood, and they communicate on social media platforms and chat rooms one of the biggest chat rooms is

known as wall street bets. a few months ago some guys on there realized there were some very big short-sellers in gamestop professional investors betting the stock price was going to go down and so what happened normally when the big boys take a position like that, everybody else gets out of the way but this time was different. all those individuals started buying up gamestop over and over, driving up the price, and when that happens, it causes what's known as a short squeeze. so if you're one of the short-sellers betting it was going to go down, when the price jumps, you then have to cover your short and buy the stock at that inflated price, driving it up even more now, short-selling and short squeezes aren't new, but what's brand new, we've never seen little guys, individuals make a dent like this i mean, it's like the villagers storming the castle. >> talk about a dent i mean, front page of "the wall street journal," front page of

"the new york post." ir guess is question is if a bunch of little guys can manipulate the market like that, what does that say for the market overall as a whole? >> well, we have to remember, hoda, this thing is not over right? and the little guys aren't coming in saying i finally have my at bat. i've got this new strategy they're betting on companies not just gamestop, they're buying blackberry, amc moveie theaters, build a bear, stocks that are struggling because the companies are struggling and what's happening right now, they're driving up the price, but there's a disconnect these stock performance, these inflated prices don't reflect what the underlying company is doing. so to your point about fragility, people are worried this could be like the internet bubble in 1999 everybody was buying a stock with websites until they realized the companies weren't doing well and the bubble burst. and where people are worried, these new investors, they don't have a lot of experience, and they could lose a ton. >> i think we speak a little cnbc now that was good.

>> we do and this is why i put my money under the mattress >> exactly >> stephanie, thank you so much. meanwhile, if you own an apple device, there's a new security alert the company wants everybody to know about craig joins us with the details. hi, good morning >> good morning to you listen up here apple now urging millions of iphone and ipad users to updat their operating systems and to do it right away that's to fix some security flaws that might have been exploited by hackers the company made the software upgrade available this week suggesting the hack was a, quote, serious threat. apple did not provide many details. the upgrade is available for several generations of devices starting with the iphone 6 lots to get to this morning. al roker busy. once again you're tracking a new round of dangerous, cross country storms. how are they looking >> well, a big problem out west right now. first, we talked about this yesterday.

inches and inches of rain, and that's created mudslide situation in parts of california where we're seeing the burn scars where there were forest fires. now the mud is flowing plus, you get into the upper elevations of the sierra nevada, look at the snowfall they're measuring it in feet and it's not ending for another 24 hours. as we come to the radar, you can see the heavy rain coming in then the snow as you get into the upper elevations this is an atmospheric plume of moisture that is working its way in here. this thing is about 250 miles wide these river events provide about 50% of their annual rainfall, but what this is doing is going over the coastal rains and the sierra nevada, lifting the moisture, squeezing it out lower levels rain, upper levels snow because of the climate changes the atmospheric river events may become wetter, wider and more deep locally we're talking about six inches of rain through friday. snowfall amounts, another 5 to 7 feet possible in part of the sierra nevada, and this system

is going to be making its way across the midwest on into the northeast. we may be talking about a nor'easter on groundhog's day. don't drivive angry. we're e going to g get to yourul forecastst coming upup in the nt 30 seconds . good morning. i'm meteorologist kari hall. as we take a look at storm ranger, our mobile doppler radar

picking up on rain. this atmospheric river continues to bring in all of the heavy rainfall we've seen across the bay area and it will continue today and gradually taper off tomorrow morning and we take a break but more rain comes back in the forecast for the weekend. >> let's all do a short squeeze right now. >> all right, al >> when the pandemic is over we'll be short squeezing again >> all right, guys coming up, turmoil in philadelphia after the 22-year-old grad student who was brought in to speed up vaccinations he's accused of giving shots to his young friends, and this morning, he is defending that decision to nbc news >> did you take extra vaccines home with you? >> yeah, but i would like to tell you the whole story, if i may. >> and you'll hear the whole story just ahead plus more on the domestic terrorist alert over homegrown extremists kate snow examines the rise of the proud boys role in the capitol siege and what's capitol siege and what's happened sce then.in

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on into tomorrow before we catch a break and we are going to see a little bit of time in between the next storm system that is set to roll in later for the weekend. we still have rain chances in the forecast looking at our rain tapering off for tomorrow. high temperatures staying in the 50s as we go into saturday there will be another system approaching bringing scattered showers late saturday into sunday and there could be another round of some heavier rain between next monday and tuesday. so a lot of activity here that we're tracking for today as we're still in with this atmospheric river that brought much needed rain to the bay area and going to see this as our temperatures in san francisco remain in the 50s into early next week. if you want to get those alerts as that rain approaches your location, get it on the nbc bay area app. it will let you know as rain starts to move in. laura? >> always good advice. praying for it and we are getting it.

i'll be back with another local news update in a half hour. try to stay dry.

has it hit you yet? >> no. no. i don't think so. i still can't believe that i am going to actually be going into that shuttle. it just really doesn't seem possible. maybe when i'm on the launch pad it will. >> who could forget? that was high school teacher christa mcauliffe in 1985 after being chosen for the "challenger" mission. the first civilian to go into space. they chose a teacher. there was so much excitement. i was a schoolgirl then. we were all so excited. >> believe it or not, that launch 35 years ago today. we all know it ended in tragedy, and you actually spent some time recently talking to mcauliffe's former students.

>> to think about what it was like on that day. they were all fixated on the screens and then that horrible moment happened. they will share that moment and also some of their memories of that day and how christa mcauliffe sort of shaped them as educators. they're a great bunch of people. i think you'll like meeting them. >> looking forward to that. >> let's get a headlines check here at 7:30. facebook says it is pulling back from politics. ceo mark zuckerberg announced yesterday that the company will permanently stop recommending civic and political groups to its users. that policy had been put in place temporarily before the november election. zuckerberg said the goal is to turn down the temperature and discourage divisive conversations. he said the platform is also looking at ways to reduce the overall amount of political content that users see in their news feeds. more disturbing allegations

are emerging this morning against a british socialite charged with aiding jeffrey epstein. more than 100 documents were unsealed overnight giving stunning new details of abuse. in them, a witness claims that maxwell once stole a passport from a 15-year-old girl and then tried to make her have sex with epstein. last summer maxwell pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking charges. her trial is scheduled for july. we have an update on our favorite little panda cub. in august they welcomed a little miracle. here he is on the webcam. yesterday, five months old. he was formally introduced to the world. thousands of people tuned in online. he had just woken up from a nap. little bit camera shy at first but then got a little more bold. he turned around. just said, hey. that was play time. the zookeepers say he's curious yet cautious.

he loves to try out new foods. his favorite if you're wondering, he likes the sweet potato. >> oh! my kind of panda. >> come on. >> that's the baby panda we all need right now. >> i feel my blood pressure drop. >> probably keep that up for the next hour and a half. in other news, the city of philadelphia has cut ties with a heavily hyped group run by a young graduate student tapped to run the city's first mass covid vaccination clinic. >> it comes after a series of reports uncovered troubling allegations about the group known as philly fighting covid. stephanie gosk looked into the details. stephanie, good morning. >> good morning. well, andre says he's been receiving death threats since the city of philadelphia cut ties with his organization. while he defended his actions, he admitted he administered vaccines without medical qualifications to four of his friends. >> reporter: it was a surprising partnership from the start. the city of philadelphia entrusting a 22-year-old grad

student with a plan to get lots of people vaccinated quickly. >> it's really the health department here who is giving us a shot. >> reporter: now the city says it made a mistake. >> in retrospect, we wish we hadn't worked with that organization. >> reporter: among the accusations, andre took the vaccine home and personally vaccinated his friends. did you take extra vaccines home with you? >> yeah, but i would like to tell you the whole story. >> reporter: he says four doses were leftover after a mass vaccination clinic last saturday. you vaccinated your friends, young people. why not find someone in an at risk group to vaccinate? there are grandmothers. there are grandfathers. there are people all across this country that are -- that can't get this vaccine. >> and we did that. stephanie, we called. the doses were about to expire. we called everybody we knew. every single person. >> reporter: are you qualified to give a vaccine? >> i am not a nurse. i have undergone our internal certifications. >> reporter: but you're not

qualified. right? >> no. >> reporter: he says he didn't want the vaccine to go to waste. >> i stand by that decision. i understand i made that mistake. that is my mistake to carry for the rest of my life. but it is not the mistake of the organization. >> reporter: the accusations of vaccine misuse surfaced after the city alleged the organization abruptly shut down testing clinics, did not reveal it was becoming a for-profit business, and that it updated its privacy policy, potentially allowing personal data to be sold he told me they never sold anyone's data and the privacy policy posted was a mistake. the district attorney says the allegations raise serious concerns >> if your point is you've come here during a pandemic to do good work for people and to help people, then that's not what it look like. >> reporter: we first met andre when his vaccination clinic launched at the philadelphia

convention center. they would go an to vaccinate nearly 7,000 people. >> we took the entire model and just threw it out the window and said to hell with all of that. we're going to build a new model. >> reporter: now health care worker, overwhelmed with relief getting the vaccine that day, worries she won't be able to get the critical second dose >> my co-workers and i have been discussing it. we all feel that same way. we feel betrayed and it's a shame. it's frustrating >> reporter: on the issue of profitability, andre says they wanted to start billing insurance companies because it was too expensive to run these clinics and the donations they were getting were just not enough savannah >> well, stephanie, you talk to the da there which raises, of course, the question, could there be criminal charges here >> reporter: well, the district attorney wouldn't say whether there's an investigation underway he says he has an attorney and is concerned but he added he believes he did the right thing. back to you guys >> all right fascinating update

thank you very much. coming up next, kate snow takes us inside the proud boys organization after homeland security's first ever alert for violent homegrown extremists >> a closer look at the group's rise in size, reach, and its role in the capitol riots. but fifirst, thesese messages. s role in ththe capipitol riots.s. firsrst these memessages ththis is whatat cocommunity lolooks like.. ♪♪♪ caringng for each h other, ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ protececting each h other. ♪♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪♪ and as thehe covid vacaccie rolllls out, ♪♪♪ we'll be r ready to admiminister it.t. ♪♪♪ a mumust in yourur memedicine cababinet! less sicick days! a mumust in yourur memedicine cababinet! cold c coming on?? zicam®® is clininically pron to shortrten colds!! highlyly recommendnd it! zizifans love e zicam's unune zinc forormula. highlyly recommendnd it!

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so youou can emergrge your bt wiwith emergene -c. lactaid d is 100% rereal milk, t wiwithout the e lactose. so y you can enjnjoy it evenef yoyou're sensisitive. yet someme say it isisn't real . i i guess thosose cows must actuaually be bigig dog. sit! i sasaid sit! we are back. 7:40 with america on alert we've been reporting this morning on the terror warning from homeland security citing concerns about violent homegrown extremists >> one of the groups under intensifying scrutiny since th siege on the capitol, the group called the proud boys. >> we asked nbc's kate snow to take a closer look at who they are and how they were involved kate, what did you find? >> well, the proud boys have been around for about four years now. it's an all-male right wing group that grew into a larger more militant organization during the trump years

there's evidence now that some were at the head of the pack when the capitol was stormed >> proud boys. >> reporter: among the crowd of rioters that stormed the capitol, authorities say members of the proud boys were out front. video shows a proud boys leader joe bigs walking into the capitol. >> bigs, what you got to say >> this is awesome >> reporter: he has been charged with obstructing congress, entering a restricted building and disorderly conduct he's one of at least six proud boys who have been charged including dominic pezola who smashed a capitol window using a shield in court documents, it's said he appeared to have an earpiece in his ear and bigs had a walkie talkie on his chest multiple individuals were photographed with earpieces, including other evenings -- individuals who were believed to be associated with the proud boys, the agent says

>> they were some of the most militant people there because they were used to it they spent the last few years ramping up >> reporter: ben collins has been covering the proud boys movement which formed in 2016. the group of mostly white men calling themselves western chauvinists, fighting what they call anti-male bias. >> it started small. in fact, there were initiation rituals. for example, to be initiated, the proud boys, you had to be beaten up while listing five breakfast cereals. that's a real thing you had to do it was juvenile. >> reporter: after that disturbing and violent white nationalist rally in charlottesville in 2017, the proud boys grew larger >> they would invite in white nationalists and various different organizations committed to fighting in the street they would meet at counterprotests of black live matters protests >> reporter: in oregon they'd show up to fight left wing antifa supporters and after president trump called them out. >> proud boys, stand back and stand by >> reporter: they grew bolder viewing themselves as protectors

of the president >> history is smoking in the temple, boys [ bleep ] awesome. i knew we could take this [ bleep ]. >> reporter: how does he explain his actions that day >> it got out of control >> reporter: an attorney describes a man as a father of two from new york. a former marine and business owner who struggled during the pandemic >> he's first generation italian american loves this country anyone will tell you this wasn't dominic six months ago i think a lot of people were lured in by internet trolls and groups >> reporter: he says the earpiece the fbi noted was for listening to music and that the proud boys are not the organized machine people think they are. >> they were three or four guys that met in a bar, maybe in syracuse, and they drank a lot of beers and vented. >> you want a war? you've got one >> reporter: the chairman of the proud boys was not at the

capitol on january 6th he was arrested two days before, charged with possessing high capacity gun magazines and on wednesday, new revelations. court transcripts show tario helped miami police and the fbi in 2014. his own lawyer back then calling him a prolific cooperator. >> it's going to be hard for a lot of the people in that community to ever trust that person again they have specific words in that community for basically snitches they don't view them kindly at all. >> reporter: we reached out to tario and didn't hear back in an interview with reuters h denied working with police he told "the wall street journal" the proud boys didn't coordinate their actions or intend to storm the capitol. we also reached out to a lawyer for joe bigs, they declined to comment. according to a fbi special agent, though, in court filings bigs denied knowledge of any preplanning of storming the capitol, craig

>> it's as scary as it is sad. what's happened to the state of the proud boys organization since the riots and since the latest charges >> yeah. it's interesting many proud boys were unhappy that former president trump didn't fight harder to stay in office, so some have turned on former president trump with many social media platforms now restricting the group, they do have a big presence now on telegram that's a messaging service, encrypted messaging and their accounts there are growing >> all right kate snow for us thank you. all right. let's get a check of the weather from our al. good morning >> that's right, good morning. we're talking about this storm system that is causing problems right now in california. but it eventually by sunday spreads snow across the midwest. great lakes, showers and strong storms through the southeast on monday it transfers some of the energy along the coast secondary low becoming a nor'easter as it pushes up, bringing snow from ohio into the northeast and new england. depending on the track of the storm, that's going to be where the rain/snow line is. right now without going into

detail about amounts, we're looking at heavier snow to the north of i-95. a little bit lighter to the south. this could be a major snow impact event by the time we get from sunday on into tuesday. we're going to be watching this awfully closely. that's what's going on around the country. >> good morning. i'm meteorologist kari hall. we're looking at storm ranger tracking our atmospheric river that's been rolling a lot of moisture across the bay area and starting it see right lane moving into the north bay but we've had heavy downpours in the south bay for the past several hours. it will start to taper off and the rain becomes scattered today but in those scattered showers we will have the possibility of some thunderstorms, some small hail, along with some brief, gusty winds and this starts to taper off tomorrow. >> that's your latest weather. >> all right thank you. coming up next, a true legend of the big and small screens. we'll celebrate oscar and emmy winner cloris leachman right after this

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and may ststop treatmement. upupper respiriratory tract infefection and headadache may o occur. tell y your doctoror about your mededicines and d if you're e pregnant or plalanning to b be. otezlala. show m more of youou. ♪ your whole team can see your upper t thigh ♪ ♪ pour ththat smooth h roast and aiaim that camamera up hig♪ ♪ t the best papart of wakik'p aisis folgers i in your cupup ♪ we are back. carson joins us. and that is a lovely lady there. we're remembering a hollywood legend >> cloris leachman passed away yesterday at 94. an oscar and multiple emmy winner, her career spanned decades from radio to tv roles >> ann thompson as more on the life of the oscar and multiple emmy winner. >> i am -- >> reporter: cloris leachman never needed a lot of screen

time to make a big impression. whether in young frankenstein. >> does the doctor care for a brandy >> reporter: or "the last picture show" as a lonely housewife who has an affair with a high school student. that role won leachman an oscar as best supporting actress but it was on the small screen that she thrived for decades >> it's all right to play with lassie you aren't allergic to her at all. >> reporter: earning a mantle's worth of emmys first for her work on "the mary tyler moore show." >> i'm afraid i've been too much of a real woman. i can't understand why he hasn't called lars has been trained to call. >> reporter: then as the star of her own spinoff. more recently she was honored for her work as a grandmother in "malcolm in the middle."

at age 82 she took a turn on "dancing with the stars," the oldest contestant ever she first caught the public's eye as a finalist for miss america in 1946. she married a filmmaker in 1953 and had five children. the couple divorced in 1979. >> i've always said i don't want to end up an old lady with my children gone and nobody is around, but i'm an actress i didn't want that to be the most important thing in my life. friends, one tweeting this picture from the last time he >> reporter: her hollywood friends, ed asner tweeting this picture from the last time he saw her saying until we meet again, darling director mel brooks writing, she is irreplaceable the academy calling leachman a comedy legend. >> do you know how to remove chocolate stains >> yes, i do >> oh, good. >> reporter: an actor whose talent was ageless >> mom it's not even noon >> well, it -- >> reporter: for today, ann thompson, nbc news

>> by the way, the most emmys of any actress ever she and julia louis dreyfus are tied >> a lot of people saw the "dancing with the stars" clip and go oh, her >> right her work with mary tyler moore is still unparalleled. >> she'll be missed. coming up, a great story a musician who is proof that you should never stop chasing your dreams that is thad cochrel he was about to do just that until a young man named jimmy fallon came into his life. he's going to join us live i'm a peperformer. alwaysys have beenen. and alalways will l be. never leletting anytythg get t in my way.y. nonot the doububts, distractioions, or voioice in my h head.

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good morning to you. it is 7:56. happening now we are in the microclimate weather alert with parts of the bay area still seeing a lot of rain following the storm that first arrived late tuesday. taking a live look outside this morning, meteorologist kari hall is tracking it all for us. kari? >> we've seen the rain over parts of the peninsula the south bay and east bay all morning long, but it is starting to make its way into the north bay as well with some lighter showers and making it very slpy. we've been tracking it on storm ranger but we can see where the atmospheric river is targeting and it's over the bay area bringing in more of the heavy rain that we've seen adding up to over 8 inches over parts of the santa cruz mountains and as we go into today, the rain

becomes more scattered meaning there will be some breaks, but where we see the rain there could be some thunderstorms in the mix as well especially late this morning into the afternoon. bring something gusty winds as well as some heavy rain. notice as we go into early tomorrow morning, the rain really starts to taper off and we should start to see it moving out of here by sunrise tomorrow morning and the rest of the day is looking pretty dry. so we are going to have several more hours of very active weather, some cold temperatures as well as those rain chances continuing but then for the weekend, we'll see a new storm system coming in that could bring in some slight rain chances late on saturday into sunday, but some much larger rain chances for early next week into monday and tuesday. all of this has been what we've been waiting on, some much needed rain for the bay area and we have a lot more of it headed our way. laura? >> thank you very much. we'll keep tabs on it for you.

another local news update is coming up in a half hour. also join us for our midday news at 11:00.

it's 8:00 on "today. coming up, pitching in thousands of service members expected to spread out across the country to help speed up the vaccine rollout. as the new white house task force issues a grim warning on the spread of the virus. >> we are united in action we can turn things around. >> we're live with everything you need to know plus, on track olympic officials looking for support from the united states as they move ahead with the 2020 games. this morning, the big question, could there be spectators in the stands we'll hear from the president of the international olympic

committee straight ahead then, 35 years later we'll honor the lives lost aboard the space shuttle "challenger," including teacher christa mcauliffe. >> we were in the cafeteria and everybody was cheering it was really loud when it actually exploded, we thought it was the rocket booster separating >> just ahead, our special conversation with some of her former students who she inspired to be teachers themselves. and you never know after nearly giving up on his dream of music, we'll talk to this hardworking singer about his life-changing performance. ♪ note if i'm going to go down ♪ ♪ i want to go down swinging ♪ >> and why we has jimmy fallon to thank >> i'm in the hardware store and i hear this song playing it's so good i go, what is this song? do i know this one ♪

>> parker turns one today. >> and the one way we want to celebrate is on the "today" show >> celebrating 30 years with the love of my life. >> in beautiful st. augustine. >> cheers! >> hey, savannah and hoda. we watch you every day from philly, and today mackenzie turns 3! high five. >> oh, we are blowing a kiss right back >> mackenzie, we see you happy birthday welcome back to "today." it is a thursday morning so happy you're joining us and reaching for the first cup of coffee with us welcome in >> we're glad to have you with us we're excited to tell you about a story we have coming up tomorrow you may have heard about henry darbys, a high school principal in south carolina. he decided to take on an extra job. he's working the night shift at walmart. why? to help his students and their family pay their bills his entire second paycheck goes to the families. you've got to meet him >> it's a remarkable story it's gone viral.

it's inspired so many folks, so we're going to go down to charleston tomorrow. i'll be live with mr. darby with the principal. it's going to be an emotional conversation this guy's the real deal we've been talking about educators who go above and beyond in this pandemic. mr. darby, above and beyond and beyond that. >> top of the list >> yeah. we'll bring the story tomorrow let's get to your news at 8:00 the white house is warning americans to brace for more troubling news on the covid-19 pandemic front even as it taps the military for help with the vaccine rollout. nbc's tom costello jons us with the very latest. hey, tom good morning >> good morning. first the good news. the number of new cases nationwide is dropping down more than 30% in the weeks after the holidays but the number of deaths lags the number of new cases and that's the grim milestone we're talking about. the country's death toll is expected to cross the half million mark within the next three weeks. nationwide, states continue to report they simply don't have

the vaccine doses to keep up with demand. the cdc reporting just over a million people a day right now are getting vaccinated the biden administration is promising to increase that over the coming weeks, and now fema is asking for 10,000 military personnel to help in the fight they would be deployed at 100 mass vaccination sites nationwide meanwhile, that uk variant o the virus has now been detected in 28 states dr. anthony fauci reiterating that the existing vaccines do appear to be effective against the uk and south african strains of the virus but work is already underway on booster shots that would increase protection against the strains. savannah, hoda, back to you. >> all right tom for us in d.c., thanks organizers of the 2020 tokyo olympics are trying to reassure the world that the delayed games will go on despite the pandemic. they're said to be looking to washington for an important vote

of confidence. today international correspondent kooer similar -- keir simmons has an update for the planning keir, good morning >> good morning to you and news this morning. the swimming qualification event due to be held in tokyo in march has been moved to may, underscoring the challenge olympic organizers face as tokyo sees 1,000 cases a day >> a strength propelled by hope. >> reporter: staging the olympics during a pandemic will need strong support, especially from the u.s., so says the japanese games organizer, according to a new report. but so far president biden not weighing in. not even, officials say, during a call to japan's prime minister an american swimmer and two-time olympic medalist caleb dressel knows what he thinks >> i think this is an event that should be happening. it might not be the old-fashioned way of packing as many people in the stands as we can.

if spectators have to be out, i totally get it >> reporter: for the first time the president of the international olympic committee accepting there might not be spectators do there have to be spectators could you have fewer events? >> the essentials are the field of play and the fair and safe competition. we want not to destroy any olympic dream of any athlete >> reporter: the tokyo games which were supposed to take place in 2020 have already been delayed by a year because of covid. olympic organizers insist they're not asking whether the postponed games now set to take place in july go ahead only how to get 10,000 athletes safely to tokyo with testing and social distancing, even during the iconic opening ceremony. >> united states of america. >> reporter: their plans or playbooks under daily review, but they have some red lines they do not want athletes jumping the line for vaccinations ahead of vulnerable

people athletes say that's fine just get us there. >> how would you be prepared to curtail your olympic experience just to get the games to happen? >> i just need a pool. i just need 50 meters of pool. that's about it. >> when we go through the same struggle -- >> reporter: organizers say they're fighting for the games with the commitment of olympic athletes, determined the athletes themselves will get their day in the spotlight >> stronger we can be. several countries including israel, australia, and denmark saying they will have their athletes and staff vaccinated in time for the games the flip side, of course, though, is that some countries likely won't have their athletes vaccinated savannah >> it's a complicated problem. thank you for the update it feels like a good time for a boost. >> i got one for you california principal kenneth barr, a busy guy, along with running a school he co-teaches a remote kindergarten and first grade class, and this is how he

starts every single morning. ♪ ♪ i'm so happy ♪ ♪ i'm so happy ♪ ♪ sing with me ♪ i love it. go sophia, go diego. break it down. >> i love it >> he does that daily dance routine to connect with kids and gets them dedicated to learning. he was also a former student there. his co-teacher happens to be his girlfriend, priscilla. she's the one shooting and laughing and teaching alongside. >> i just love teachers. what they're doing to make the virtual school sing, literally, so cute. >> coming up, we'll remember a day a lot of us have never forgotten. the lives lost aboard the space shuttle "challenger. it happened 35 years ago today including of course teacher christa mcauliffe. >> you sat in her classroom.

she taught you >> i can remember her saying i got to get to the post office after school today it's the last day to get this application mailed >> that was one of mcauliffe's former students. one of several she inspired to go along the road to becoming teachers just ahead, what they shared with me e about her r lasting it on theheir lives first,t, these mesessages. or psoririatic arthrhritis, littlele things, c can becocome your bibig moment. that's whyhy there's o otez. otezla is s not an injection n or a creamam... ...it's a a pill thatt treaeats differerently. for psororiasis, 75%5% clear skin i is achievabable... ...with reduced redndness, thickness, and scalininess of plalaque. for psororiatic arththriti, ...otezlzla is proveven.... to reducuce joint swswellin, tendererness, and d pain. and the ototezla prescscribg informatation has nono requiremement for routine lalab monitoriring. don't use e if you'ree allelergic to ototezla. it mayay cause sevevere diarrhea, , nausea, oror vomi. otezezla is assosociated witith. increaeased risk o of depress. tell youour doctor i if yoyou have a h history of depreression or suicididal thoughthts....

...or r if these f feelings ded. some peoeople takingng oteza reportrted weight loss. your dococtor shouldld monir your w weight and may ststop treatmement. upupper respiriratory tract infefection and headadache may o occur. tell y your doctoror about your mededicines and d if you're e pregnant or plalanning to b be. otezlala. show m more of youou. (buzz)z) big nenews americaca! backck for a limimited time, we've c changed thehe shape ofof honey nutut cheerios.s. becaususe we want t people to know ththey're d delicious and d can help l lower choleles. heart healalthy! get itit? a heart!t! haha! can yoyou believe e they hahad one in m my size? ♪ keep itit together r 'till this w work call w wraps ♪ ♪ sip t that smoothth roastd trtry your besest not to s sn♪ ♪ the best t part of wawakin'p is folgersrs in your c cup ♪ colgate optic white renewal removes ten years of yellow stains. that's like all the way back to 2010. they're jeans. . they'rere legginings. they''re jeggigings! whoa. removeve ten yearsrs of yw staiains

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♪♪ actionon! faster, , faster! they're gagaining on y you! ♪ ♪ [engine rerevving] thatat's good! c come on comom! [spookoky laugh] now! ♪ [yelliling] ♪ you have a all the ingngredies for this i in your friridge but ask yoyourself thihis... of a all the timimes you'u've made e it at homeme. hahas it ever r tasted like our m mcmuffin?

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you 35 years ago this morning? well, all eyes of the nation and around the world were on launch pad 39b at the kennedy space center the crew, including christa mcauliffe were headed for space when something went terribly wrong. it was a cold, january morning, a day that was supposed to make history. >> mike smith followed by -- >> reporter: christa mcauliffe, the first american civilian to be sent into space >> three, two, one, and liftoff. >> reporter: it became a day where everyone seems to remember exactly where they were when they heard the news. >> "challenger" go with throttle up >> reporter: the crew of the space shuttle "challenger" taken much too soon. >> i'm picturing you as high school seniors in 1986

just kind of idealistic, excited, happy kids. and it just struck me, like, it's been 35 years since the space shuttle exploded and how often do you think of that day >> something will come up and i'll think, this reminds me of that day you know i mean, any -- i remember when 9/11 happened. i remember thinking we all know where we were at on the day that the shuttle went up. >> reporter: these three women, holly mera, kristen jock, tammy hickey were at christa mcauliffe's school >> it goes down to the countdown and takes off, and everyone must have been jubilant, applauding >> i was in the auditorium we had party hats and noise makers it was -- it was a party we were so thrilled and happy. >> we were in the cafeteria. everybody was cheering it was really loud and when it actually exploded, we thought it was the rocket boosters separating.

so we were still cheering. and one of the teachers was in the cafeteria and he said, everybody, shut up it was silent after that >> i was in a chemistry class. when it happened, i looked at a friend sitting next to me, and i said i don't think that's supposed to happen i looked at my teacher, the chemistry teacher there and she was just crying. >> did it hit you that your teacher, christa mcauliffe had died >> i think little by little we processed it, but there was a glimmer of hope that we wanted her and the other astronauts to be okay. >> she didn't get to teach those lessons. she really wanted to teach us. that's hard to swallow now you know >> reporter: christa mcauliffe was chosen out of 11,000 applications to be the first teacher in space how proud were you of your teacher, christa mcauliffe because, i mean, she's the first teacher who was going up into space, and she was your teacher. you sat in her classroom she taught you

>> i can remember her saying, i got to get to the post office after school today is the last day to get this application mailed. we knew exactly where she was in every step of the process. she continued to come back after she started her training to include students in preparing the lessons from space she made us feel throughout the entire time she was gone training that we were part of it with her >> it just put her to such greatness in our minds that she was really going to do this. >> taking her students on her journey left an impression >> you could walk down the hallway and just have a conversation with her like she was your friend, your mother, and you know what i mean she made you feel comfortable, important, and that's what i want to give my students, too. >> reporter: it was her touch, her example that led many of christa's students to follow in her footsteps. tammy is a middle school pe teacher. kristen teaches 5th grade, and holly teaches second grade in maine, and still has her space

scrapbook from high school >> she made education real it was -- she brought a real event into the classroom, and i really work hard to bring the real world into my classroom for my students. i think that that gets kids motivated. it gets them wanting to learn and gets them interested >> reporter: kristen says teaching her students about space can be difficult she has felt bitter toward nasa at times but uses christa's loss as a lesson in and of itself >> you live every day to its fullest. you be as kind as kind can be and help those around you. you know, her life was precious, and everybody's life is precious >> she went on to say she's taken kids to actually see a space shuttle launch and she's scared i think they all are, but they learned the lessons of going for it in life they were enamored by her. they all described there was

tons of press in the moment that was supposed to be joyful. 35 years later one of the teachers got teary she said when i think about it, it hurts me every time these women are carrying on her legacy >> where were you 35 years ago >> i was in college, and i was just watching like everybody i think all of us have that moment where we looked up and we were confused. i think until i saw reaction shots of christa's mom and dad and other people who were there did it hit me. >> yeah. it sounds like even those students that were in that very classroom weren't really sure. i mean, you didn't know what you were seeing. >> but it was must-see tv in schools nationwide because she was a teacher. so every school -- i was 12. we had it on in our classroom. we never watched news in class >> i remember it, too. i was in high school >> i was working at wnbc, and it had almost gotten to the point where it was kind of something we came to expect.

space shuttle went up and it brought back home the fact that this is dangerous. >> yeah. president reagan went on that evening and spoke directly to schoolchildren because he knew they were all watching to calm them down. >> i remember vividly what he said he talked about the astronauts who slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of god >> we were still pioneers in space and it was still early >> we stopped and remembered >> thank you for that. >> thank you >> for her and all of the astronauts al, let's get a check of the weather. >> let's show you what we have going on for today morning snow moving out of new england. a cold blast -- i should say mid atlantic states. a cold blast out of the great lakes. big storm system in the pa sesk northwest and california that's going to bring a lot of snow across the northern tier and into the northeast possibly early next week. that's what's going on around the country. . good morning, i'm meteorologist kari hall. storm ranger showing the

scattered showers moving through with very heavy downpours in la salle county. monitoring that, and even though this is much needed rain it's coming all at once for a lot of us and we're still looking at rain chances continuing through the morning. then becoming more scattered this afternoon. rain will be off and on as we go into later today but there will be possibly thunderstorms, moving out by early tomorrow morning. >> that's your latest weather. >> best and favorite part of the day. >> how about craig melvin reciting president reagan's speech from 35 years ago impressive this is impressive kristen stewart has princess di it was announced she was going to play her. people were skeptical about the resemblance. now we have our first look at the actress. in character look at that photo. >> wow. >> that's kristen stewart right now. i don't think anybody is going to doubt she looks the part. the movie is called "spencer"

after diana's maiden name. there's been a lot of diana content late by with "the crown. introducing us to a young diana. in the next season we'll see someone else taking on the role. next up, this is a surprise. halsey revealing she is expecting her first child. she announced the news on instagram with a maternity photo shoot. she captioned it, surprise fans and famous fans alike are liking it. she tagged her boyfriend and soon to be dad in the post it said i love you and i lov this mini human already. our congratulations to both of them nicole kidman. she's opening up about playing her big role the mind behind the west wing and the social network, kidman telling "variety" the chance t work with sorkin and play lucy was too hard to pass up.

>> i was like, yeah, i would love to. give it a go with his words and his direction and javier, that's kind of a wonderful prospect to, you know -- but yikes. off we go. give it a go try my best. see if i can do it i love lucille, having looked and delved into her. god, amazing woman >> what's fun is the research. she's been watching a ton of "i love lucy" episodes with her kids to help her prepare for the role next up, everybody's new obsession, "bridgerton." the netflix series is not only a binge worthy drama and is now the streaming service's biggest show of all-time >> wow >> it's been watched by 82 million households in the u.s. that tops netflix's previous record holder "the witcher" by a large margin the show star celebrating the news by tweeting an image of the

cast and crew writing 82 million with love from all of us to all of you >> guthrie turned me onto that show >> i did >> that's a good one me, too. >> "the witcher. >> interesting choice of words coming up next, inspiration for the dreams in your life. the musician who was on the brink of giving up on his when jimmy fallon heard his song, and boy, that changed everything good morning, sunshine first, your local news and weather. nd weather.

good morning to you, it's 8:26, i'm kris sanchez, lucky to be inside because we are in a microclimate weather alert. looking live across the bay area, some places still getting a lot of rain right now, some folks might be thinking they're getting a break. meteorologist kari hall is tracking all of those conditions. good morning, kari. >> good morning, and the atmospheric river has parked over the south bay and is dumping some really heavy rain, although we are still seeing some light showers farther to the north, right now the focus has been the south county where it is pouring very heavily right now around morgan hill and the rainfall totals are approaching five inches with this storm, over eight inches in the santa

cruz mountains. and so we're seeing this moisture streaming in. it's still going to keep an active weather day for us here as we go into late morning as well as the afternoon. even the possibility of a few isolated thunderstorms as we are going to see the activity becoming more hit or miss by 1:00 to 2:00 today where you see the reds. there could be some thunder and lightning in there as well along with some small hail but notice by tonight we're seeing a lot less activity here, and we should start to see this storm system winding down by tomorrow. but there is more rain right behind that for the weekend. kris? >> thank you, kari. we have more local news coming up for you in just a half hour. have a great mororning.

we are back, 8:30. you're listening to a very special song, "swinging. by thad cockrell >> that's right. this is really a crazy story just a few weeks ago thad was starting to look for a new career but then our friend jimmy fallon literally stumbled upon this song while he was in a hardware store of all places and it's changed thad's life. >> thad looks so lovable i can't wait to speak with him >> also ahead, bring some order to your messy pantry could your work from home office use help we called in two of our very favorites.

our experts, our home edit girls. they're going to get us organized. we're excited to see them. 2021 is about to be a fresh start. >> just in time. and, savannah, this is for you. we're going to break out t-shirts we're taking a walk down memory lane celebrating the 40th anniversary of duran duran >> wow >> when taylor was on your wall. >> i was such a durani oh yeah. oh yeah. on every inch of my wall was duran duran posters. the collage. the whole thing. speaking of anniversaries, on the third hour, believe it or not, 20 years. it has been 20 year since "save the last dance." this morning the stars of the show are going to look back on why that film was so beloved and still beloved today. and whether we could see them dance again. >> i loved that movie. that's one i'll always watch if it's on. and tomorrow, i'm looking forward to this conversation everybody take a moment and

watch. a powerful and candid conversation between carson and olympic legend michael phelps and his wife we're hoping it helps folks. >> he's been very open about his struggles about mental health. he's passionate about raising awareness. i think the star of this interview is his wife nicole who's just incredible. she's talking for the first time in public about them as a family and how spouses deal with people who are working through depression and mental -- how you deal with the kids and the family stuff so we really go there in a conversation and we hope you can check that out tomorrow. >> looking forward to that all right. how about a check of the weather? >> the weekend, getting started tomorrow you'll see we have an arctic chill in the northeast sunny and mild in the midsection of the country a real mess in the western third of the country that's going to start making its way east. snow and wind in the upper midwest. heavy rain in the mid-mississippi and ohio river valleys drying up. and then sunday, wet weather

along the south eastern atlantic coast. moderate snow from the great lakes into the northeast and another pacific coast storm comes barrelling in. th good morning, i'm meteorologist kari hall. we're still seeing some widespread rain across the bay area, and that will continue as we start to see it tapering off later today there may be even some thunderstorms and we're watching out for that possibility. we will have a chance to dry out tomorrow but that break doesn't last long. we'll see another chance of rain coming in between saturday and sunday and also some heavy rainfall possible as we go into early next week before we get another rain break next wednesday. >> that is your latest weather >> al, thank you okay next up, imagine this. waiting your whole life for your big break, and just when you're about to throw in the towel, it finally hits. >> that just happened to a musician thad cockrell.

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"today" is proudly presented to you by citi. >> favorite story of the morning. we're back with one for anyone who has ever thought about giving up on your dreams, our next guest, he says, don't >> yeah. musician thad cockrell made his "tonight show" debut this week after what can only be described as a lucky break >> thad is with us live. first, more on him and this big moment that came just as he was ready to give up on music. >> i just want to let you know, don't give up. just keep going. >> it's a lesson in perseverance by way of late night ♪ i got a lot of love in this heart ♪ ♪ won't you set it free ♪ >> after seven albums and more than two decades in music, country artist thad cockrell met a hurdle that many artists did

in 2020. the excitement of releasing a new album getting erased with the pandemic >> it's been really difficult to figure out how to support this >> with concert venues shuddered and the tour cancelled, he gave up on his dream of a music career >> in 2021, i want to start looking for something else >> his business managers had news for him he unknowingly had a big booking waiting for him. jimmy fallon came across one of his songs by chance. >> i'm in the hardware store and i hear this song playing it's so good i go, what is this song? do i know this one >> after using shazam to identify the song, fallo turned it to uplift him during the pandemic ♪ if i'm going to go down i want to go down swinging ♪ >> i'm like yeah, man. this is when you want to give up, don't give up. if you're going to go down, you go down swinging so i get into it this is my anthem. i love this song

>> and jimmy fallon wanted thad to play it for the song for a national audience on the tonight show a chance that overwhelmed him. >> i proceeded to bawl my eyes out for the next hour. >> and on tuesday, that late night dream became a reality ♪ i'm not ready to give up yet ♪ >> performing with the roots ♪ if i'm going to go down i want to go down swinging ♪ >> and showcasing tenacity on "the tonight show. >> we did it, jimmy! >> that is such a cool story we did it, jimmy yeah >> thad cockrell is with us. you're putting smiles on so many american faces this morning hearing your story take us back to when you said i'm out of here. i'm talented i'll do something else and then they tell you about this big booking >> first of all, i feel like i'm

meeting my family for the first time i've watched y'all for years i'm like, oh, my gosh. yeah, you know, i've been making music a long time. and this has been so catastrophic, not just for me, but for so many people in the music business like, songwriters, engineers, producers. it's really hit so many people really hard, and you know, at some point i made a bunch of music over the lockdown, and i was like, you know, i'm going to put all of it in 2021, and while i do that, i really -- i'm going to go -- i think i'm going to do something else i think i've done what i can do here you know and you can only, like, spend all your money making music so many times you know what? i mean go broke making music. i'll do it again, that one didn't work out. i'm like okay. i'm moving on. and i've been making hot sauce for years. i've been selling it to friends. they're like you should make hot sauce. okay, i'll do that

or you know, i was really just trying to be open handed and i wrote down on january 3rd, you know, intentions and goals for the new year, things to do, and one of them was to look for a new career, and the next day i get a phone call from my managers, and they told me, and i -- i -- >> wow >> yeah. yeah >> thad, when you think about that, like, how do you make sense of it? like, if it's god or the universe like, what message does that send you what did you receive for that? >> i'll blame it on god, but people can blame it on whoever they would like. you know, it's absolutely incredible you know, there's this crazy thing when i was a kid, my mom

got, like, name cards for my brothers and i, and had the definition, but there wasn't a name in the books i guess she went for thad. on the name, the i guess name card aaron, the definition was bringer of light and i was thinking about this the other night before i played, and i was like jimmy went into the hardware store to get a light switch to turn on the light. >> wow that's right >> oh, my god. >> we are all believers and there are no accidents, and that definitely -- >> that's called meta. >> it is >> so tell us what it was like to actually stand there playing with the roots i mean, tell us about what that moment felt like for you >> i'm such a massive fan of theirs like -- and they crushed it. like, i mean, i'm a massive -- all of them. and quest love, it was almost like he was saying like, hello

i mean that beat is good on the record, but he's like let me show you and i'm like of course, that's how that is done it was such an incredible dream, and you know, i got up there because of a lot of people in my life that have just helped me. you know, i think in our -- all of us, there's so many people in our journey. so many people give you an exit ramp i think the best friends put fuel in the tank and i have so many people that have done that for me. >> thad, what's next i mean, this is the perfect anthem for the times in which we live you're a bona fide star now. what's the next act look like? >> i don't know. you tell me. i have no idea i didn't see any of this coming. they said the album was, like, the top 40 albums on itunes. i mean, it was flat lined. i mean, like -- >> not anymore >> not anymore i mean, just absolutely beautiful.

yeah and the song has meant so much to so many people. like, i got a comment from a couple they started a business and the lockdown happened. they started five years ago, and they were about to close it down, and they heard this story and listened to the song they simultaneously looked at each other and said, we're not closing. >> music >> that's great. >> thad, will you send us some hot sauce? >> yes >> don't give up on the hot sauce dream either >> i will send it. >> what's the hot sauce called >> it's called friendly fire i also go in a band called leagues. there's a song on the album called "friendly fire. there's a green and a red sauce. >> we'll take both >> maybe the next phone call will be from bobby flay. >> exactly >> sure. >> thad cockrell, the song is "swinging. if you haven't streamed it or bought it do it. make it happen >> thank you >> thank you, thad >> that's awesome. >> that's an amazing story >> come back and play here one of these days.

okay >> that's his next gig >> i'm such a big fan of all of you guys thank you for what you do. >> great story >> all right coming up next, guys, we're going to learn three ways to get organized with two of our favorites. our friends "the home edit" ladies

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welcome back all right. it's time. >> is it >> we have to get organized. it's 2021. we called in the best of the best, the home edit team >> nobody better than joanna teplin and clea shearer. they have turned home organization into a beautiful art form check out their signature, the rainbow styles they have a netflix show, a long list of clients, fancy people. >> they don't need us, but we need them. they're going to help us conquer the clutter in our homes advice from their book called the "the home edit workbook. >> miss you!

>> hi. oh, my gosh. we miss you guys so much >> our closets really miss you, though >> big time. >> i know hoda's does. >> mine is back to a landfill. we'll reset in 2022. let's start with the room that we all have trouble with, the pantry it's shoved full of stuff. what's the best way to kind of restructure that >> well, especially now, i think people kind of hoarded food with the pandemic so right now you want to make sure to use the space in the best way you want to get your backsto at the top so you use the valuable real estate on the bottom for things you're eating at the moment. >> yes, we're organizing a lot of costco pantries lately. another great tip is you want to remove as much packaging as possible utilize clear containers canisters, whatever works for you. but being able to see what you have will help you understand your inventory levels and when you need to refill items >> exactly, and making sure you use vertical space whenever

possible don't forget about going up. >> and let's see images. i think we might have images okay this is what y'all are doing is that the before that's the after >> yeah. i hope so. >> it better be. >> and then let's see the after. hopefully we have some afters. >> oh wow. >> and so just for people who don't speak "home edit" -- we do. back stock is the stuff that's extra that you don't need right away your ten bottles of lysol or whatever >> if you're lucky to have those. >> i know. where did you get it >> all right >> but the vertical space mentioned, again, stack your canisters, use a three-tiered shell to see everything you have it helps with accessibility. >> exactly >> it brings everything up you're not fighting for space and trying to find items behind each other >> and those bins they have, i still have those in my closet for sentimental stuff. i did keep that because those bins really are awesome. >> we can't wait to come back.

>> let's talk about home gym that's another thing people are getting more stuff. they're home they want the weights. how do you make it look nice >> well, okay. a home gym, not everyone is fortunate enough for a dedicated space. we like to accomplish it in a multipurpose space in this particular setup, this is a garage. and what we really want to do is corral all the items you're not using every day, and work, again, vertically. get them in clear airtight bins, and you know, really store them on shelves like that >> exactly, and then create an intentional space that is motivating, as motivating as you can. we all need the motivation to exercise having a free standing station, a cart, get the weights off the ground roll your mat, put it on the side there's lots of ways to do it. if you want to be able to have a space to exercise at home. >> right, and again, you want to have the mental clarity of this is an intentional zone, not just a treadmill that's being thrown

in the middle of it. >> the garage. >> right take your dry cleaning off the treadmill and dust it. yeah okay >> all right take us to the home office because a lot of us are working from home, living at home. we need a dedicated area, so walk us through that >> well, again, a common theme here vertical space this is how you want to work and this particular home office, this is actually part of a guest bedroom. again, not everyone has full room -- >> that has to be after. right? >> this is the after, yes. >> and vertical space is the keyword. use an empty wall. this is an empty wall essentially. and you can create a desk that mounts to a wall this peg board system is a great way to see supplies but get them off the table top. >> we love the draw insert >> what is happier than having your stuff neatly organized in a drawer and if you have guests in a guest room, put things in the drawer and then they have a clear tabletop >> exactly >> just put it away.

close it, lock it up tight tell me about the book the workbook you've had another book. you came in for that book, i believe you fixed up my -- it's not a play room, a play closet you did good, but i could take a little zhuszhing from you. if you want to come back there it is. >> look at that. >> guys, it still kind of looks like that. >> no, it doesn't. >> not as good >> did you have your kids figure it out >> i told them, don't touch your toys i'm kidding. tell me about the workbook what do we learn >> okay. the workbook is really a great addendum to our first two books that are really more of a primer on how to organize and the workbook, we wanted something that was motivating and gave prompts and exercises and things -- >> it holds you accountable. >> and things to put our organizing practices into the world and into actual practice >> we like stickers. we're a big fan of stickers. >> gold stars. who doesn't want a gold star don't we all need a gold star all day?

>> yes, and clea's handwriting pretty cursive >> i know. that's the one thing that i can't offer up to people but it's fine. i'll come over i'll label all of your things. >> please do >> thank you, clea thanks, joanna >> ladies, congrats, and preorder the book at today.com/shop we'll see you soon >> indeed. > coming up p next, we'r're celelebrating 4040 years of f -- >> d duran duranan >> d duran duranan >>i'm morgrgan, and ththere's me to me ththan hiv. more love,e,... momore adventuture,... more c community.. but wiwith my hiv v treatment,. therere's not momore medicins in m my pill. i talked t to my doctotor... anand switcheded to... fewer medidicines withth dova. prprescriptionon dovato is foror some adulults who arare startingng hiv-v-1 treatmenent or r replacing t their curret hiv-v-1 regimen.n. with... jujust 2 medicicines.. in 1 pilill,...

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so much gogoes... into who i i am. hiv memedicine is one parart of it. ask your d doctor about dovavato—i didid. all right. we are back and, savannah, this is a story you've been waiting on all morning >> i've been hungry as a wolf for it, frankly. >> and let it begin. it marks 40 years since duran duran burst on the music scene they're celebrating in special ways throughout the year >> your obsession started when you were a young little thing. >> yes >> didn't it >> it did. so guess what.show.

they're launching a weekly show. pandora is debuting a duran 40 play list with commentary from the guys today, and they're releasing a tribute cover of david bowie's five years which is so cool and they love bowie. i could go on and on i know all about them. he was a huge influence. that debuts on their youtube channel at noon today. happy duran duran day, everybody. >> this obsession started when you were a kid >> 12 or 13. 12 or 13 i loved duran duran so much. there was not an inch of my wall in my room that was not covered. >> who was your favorite >> so john was my favorite >> girls, it was john. >> let me tell you something, john taylor came on this show many years later yes. and i got to meet him, and i -- i was -- >> that was a great moment that was 2015 duran duran was here on our show promoting their record called "paper god" i believe. you referred to it as paper good at the moment because you were flustered.

john taylor was here there was a john taylor, roger taylor and andy taylor all in duran duran. none of them related no relation. >> how weird is that >> they're the greatest. i'm sure you can still be a durani >> we should have them on for the 40th >> 100%. >> duranis >> that's what they call fans. >> that's a film of tape a young 13-year-old might have seen. it's out there >> back with our third and fourth hours >> such a window into you. this has been -- good morning, it's 8:56, i'm kris sanchez, it's still raining in a lot of spots, our micro climate weather alert continues, we'll go straight to meteorologist kari hall. >> weave seen these rainfall totals really adding up, especially in the south bay and santa cruz county mountains.

this atmospheric river has not moved from its current location. we're seeing the rain, there's lots of it and where we haven't seen the rain, well, you're looking out the window like what is kari talking about? we are seeing some really heavy downpours moving through just south of san jose. and we can see where this is targeted, also dumping some heavy sierra snow but elsewhere we are seeing lighter rain from san francisco on northward. the trend for today will be for this to become more scattered but still a chance we could see pockets of heavy rain along with some thunderstorms that could bring in some small hail and gusty winds. we're in with this activity throughout the rest of the evening and then tapering off early tomorrow morning, and that's when we finally catch a break from this rain, kris. >> we'll walk the dog then. more local news coming up for you in an hour.

today on "california live". >> america's favorite weatherman is opening up about his cancer scare. >> then hawk is here spilling secrets about the new season of "cobra kai." restaurants reopen, but with

a lot of challenges, how they fare during this most recent storm. >> and as this weather system moves out, more trouble lurking, seven-day forecast and kari is tracking it all. totomorrow mororning 4:300 to 7: ththe number o one herball supplemement brand has eveverything y you need to helelp keep your immunune system s stron. immumune supportrt comes nataty with naturure's bountyty. at sylvavania, we wawant to demonstratate jujust how mucuch visibililityr car's s headlight t bulbs can n lose beforore burnout, so w we've takaken away 5050 ff visibilityty from thisis walk h. don't wait untntil your heheadlt bulbs burnrn out. swswitch to sysylvania, the #1 aututomotive lighting b brand, and see bebetter tonigight.

live from studio 1a, this is the third hour of "today." and good morning. welcome to the third hour of "today" for thursday, january 26th, i'm al along with sheinelle and dylan and craig. >> good morning, everybody. >> what? >> i gestured. it was a -- >> don't start the show with your feelings getting hurt. >> with your feelings getting hurt. >> yeah. >> you should see family dinners at my house. >> i can't imagine. anyway, sheinelle, you're going to be dancing down memory lane? >> that's right. this was a fun one. i got to catch up with julia stiles and