one noticeable absence and donald trump joking he is so popular he should charge to appear in the next debate. >> i won't do the debate unless they pay me $5 million, all of which money goes to the wounded warriors or go to vets. >> this morning where the race stands, and republican hopeful ben carson joins us live for the fifit time on "today." mounting misery. heavy snow blanketing millions across the midwest. roads now sheets of ice. signs seeing double, while the southeast braces for flooding rains. and all smiles. the first photo of oscar pistorius inside his house arrest as an appeals court considers a ruling that could send him back to jail, a decision that may come as early as today, tuesday, december 1st, 2015. >> announcer: from nbc news, this is "today" " th matt lauer

studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. and good morning on a rainy day, tuesday morning right h he on "today." >> here we go. two months out from the iowa caucuses looking forward to talking to dr. ben carson. li in a couple of minutes. overseas, president obama wrapping up his trip to paris making headlines for a new step in the fight againstsis, appointing a new adviser to lead that charge. nbc's kelly o'donnell joins us from p pis this morning. kelly, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, savannah. in another effort to show that the white house ishtaking concrete steps to battle isis, the president has tapped a longtime national security expert, rob malley, to run the operation inside the white house as the president is looking for tangible contributions from other wowod leaders. this morning president obama began his second day in paris. with the president of turk which habecome a frequent transit point t r radicalized isis fighters headed to the

>> we all have a common enemy, and that is isil, and i want to make sure that we focus on that that. >^ reporter: the president among 150 world leaders here, met briefly with russia's vladimir putin monday but only the kremlin sent out a photo to prove it. obama urged putin to step up russia's strength against isis targets inside syria. and the president linked the purpose of this summit, climate change, to the headline-dominating fight against terrorists. >> what greater rejection of those who would tear down our world than marshalling our best effofos to save it. >> reporter: the city of lights also saw the unmistakable flashes of the obama motorcade. french president hollande hosted president obama and secretary of state kerry at a premiere restaurant, dining out, another small act of defiance to show paris is back in business after

pressured cocoress to move quickly on funding more aviation security and tightening visa requirements. >> ensuring that whave the homeland defenses in place to disrupt and prprent any attacks on our homeland. >> reporter: ahead for the president today, a news conference to wrap up his time in paris. expect him to be asked about the current threat level from isis and as he heads back to washington expect more pressure on congress to put in place some of the steps the white house would like to see. savannah, matt. >> let's see what happens there. kelly, thank you. let's go on to the presidential race now where on february 1st voters will gather throughout the state of iowa and cast the first votes of the 2016 campaign. >> this, of course, will be a major test for the candidates to e who is breaking through and made a connection with voters. we've got the race covered from all angles this morning, and we'll talk to dr. ben carsononn just a aoment. >> let's start with the democrats though and the front-runner hillary clinton. this morning the largest release to date of e-mails from her time

and she tries noto court her base, although there appears to be one key holdout. nbc's kristen welker on the campaignrail with hillary clinton. she's in montgomery, alabama. kristen, good morning. >> reporter: matt, good morning to you. in just a few hours hillary clinton will appear at this church where martin luther king was once a pastor. she's going to mark the 60 anniversary of the montgomery bus s ycott, and it comes s she's touting her strength among female senators, but in a sign she still doesn't have this race locked up, there is still one critical senatorhe has yet to win over. hillary clinton trying to showcase her strength, 13 democratic women senators embracing her monday night as she e eps up her attacks over the shooting at a colorado planned parenthood. >> i will defend planned parenthood. >> reporter: but noticeably absent, progressive champion senator elizabetetwarren who hasn't endorsed anyone yet.

warren's absence, noting clinton's vast support, but warren's no show underscores that clinton still struggleseso court the more liberal wing of her party, many who have gravitated to vermont senator bernie sanders. still, clinton has a healthy lead i imost polls, and she'e' courting her base at every turn. >> thank you all very much! >> reporter: releasing this new campaign video featuring school-aged girls. >> it is ridiculous that there's never been a female president before. >> reporter: but as she looks forward, clinton continues to contend with her past, the largest batch of e-mails yet out overnight, nearly 8,000 pages from 2012 to 2013 from the personal server clinton used as secretary of state, some sent night of the 2012 benghazi attacks inclcling when clinton e-mailed her daughter. the ambassador whom i handpicked has been killed by an al qaeda-like group. chelsea writing back in notably formal language. i am so sorry. such anathema to us as

but in the e-mails clinton also poked fun at some republicans in the 2012 race, referring to mitt romney as mittens and calling newt gingrich grgrch. in ather exchange, she asksks aids where she can sign something for julia louis-dreyfus s r veep. >> reporter: e-mails classified after the fact, republicans say that's an indication that secretary clinton mishandled sensitive government information. the clinton campaigngnays that's just not the case. there will be two more releases of e-mails including one right before iowa. matt, savannah. >> kristen welker, thank you very much. talk about the republicans now, donald trump still dominating the polls. nbc's katy tur is here with what he's saying. >> reporter: two months until the iowa caucus and despite all predictions donald trump is still ahead in all the polls.

is betting on trump refusing to apologize, back down or even soften his language no matter who asks. in front of 5,500 supporters in macon, georgia, late monday, donald trump predicting which rivals will pounce next. >> christie hasn't hit me yet. he will. he has to. he has no choice. some point rubio's s t to hit me. there's only one way you get to the top and it's all through trump, let's face it. >> reporter: trump issuing a challenge ahead of the next gop debate two weeks from today. >> how about we do this with cnn. i won't do the debate unless they pay me $5 million, all of which money goes to the wounded wawaiors or go to vets. >> reporter: billionaire feeling and acting invincible as poll after poll show him solidly in the lead despite his increasingly inflammatory rhetoric, rhetoric he had to face up to monday afternoon during an at-times contentious private meeting with dozens of

leaders. manynyngry for what they see as race-baiting. >> beautiful thing about the meeting is they really didn't ask me to change the tone. >> reporter: meeting was supposed to result in an endorsement from 10000lack leaders, but in the end only earned the support of a few. >> going to pray to god about it as ministers do. >> reporter: these days trump seems less concerned with rival ben carson whose iowa poll numbererhave started to slip after the terror attacks in paris and a string of foreign policy flubs. and now the neurosurgeon is struggling to defend his own words, this time on planned parenthood monday night on fox news. >> look at my record, you know. i've snt my whole life as a pro-life advocate trying to save lives. >> reporter: as for that meeting, some demanded an apology, not just to african-americans but mexicans. whether trump will acquiesce is unlikely and others said they were surprised h h little he talked guys and how much his advisers ended up answering the

>>urprising. >> katy, thanks very much. let's bring in dr. ben carson who joins us live from west palm beach, florida. dr. carson, good to see you. good morning. >> thank you, it's a pleasure. >> let the me start by talking about polling in the last four to six weeks you've gone from number one in iowa to number three, and your decline seems to coincide witsome very troubling world events thahave been taking place, the syrian refugee crisis, the downing of the russian jet, the downing of the russian military plane and, of course, the paris attacks. one republican commentator called the paris attacks a commander in chief moment. is it a coincidence that your numbers are going down as americans are coming to term with moments like that? >> well, you know, poll numbers will go up and down, you know. it's a marathon. it's not a sprint, and, you know, it's not about me, quite frankly.

privilege of selecting their president, and over the course of time they'll evaluate what each one of us has to say and see how it fits with their impression of what they need. i think there's plenty of time to make the appropriate arguments. >> well, chris c cistie, the governor of new jersey, picked up a key endorsement over the weekend from "the new hampshire union leader" and in the endorsement they cited his experience as a precutor and governor a.d said he was right for these dangerous times and also wroro, quote, we don't nene as president some well-meaning person from the private sector who has no public experience. now, they could be talking aut you or donald trump or miss orina. how do you combat that perception? >> i would simply say that our system was really designed for the citizen statesman and not for the career politician. i know the career politicians wanted to believe that they are the only ones who have the ability to solve our problems,

that the ability to assess a situation quickly and to utilize the correct people and the correct resources with wisdom is much better than many, many years in the political sphere, and i know many people in washington who have been there for decades, and i'm not sure that they could solve ouou oblems. >> let me ask you about this. you just got back from jordan and visited a syrian refugee camp there. you had a chance to talk face to face with some of the refugees, look thehein their eyes and hear ththr stories. would you be comfortable allowing any of the people you spoke personally into thi country as refugees to escape the war in their home country? >> well, honestly, i don't think that's the issue. you know, the issue is if we

refugees into this country, have we solved the problem? the answer to that is no. why do things that just make some people feel good and say that we've done something when in fact it's an inadequate solution. >> you said you want to bar them from coming to the country. you've spoken to some of them fafa to face. do you have the same opinion of that group of people now, or have you changed your policy at all? >> well, first of all, you say that i say i want to bar them from coming totohis country so i don't accept that premise. what i have said is that bringing them into this country does not solve the problem and it exposes us to danger. yoyoknow, isis has already said if we bring tens of thousands of people here, they will infiltrate them with their people, and we already have good solutions. the jordananns are very generousus people. they have camps and they have places that work very well.

work well. people are not giving enough money and the hospital iss not being utilized. why not take advantage of the things that are already in place before we start trying to come up. >> they aretill refugee camps. just because they are schools and refugee camps, doesn't make them homes. a lot ofeople have moved through jordan and they want to come here,e, although theyy prefer to stay or go back to syria. these camps are not a place where they can make their future. >> and that's something that we can work on, you know. but many of them tell me. i asked them specifically what would you like to happen. two estions. what would you like to happen and what can the united states do? and the answers i got were pretty consistent. they would like to go back home to syria, number one and what can nations like tpe united

of places like jordan and others that might offer them a safe place to inhabit until such time as they can return home. >> dr. ben carson joining us this morning from florida. doctor, i appreciate your time. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> another big issue, planned parenthood and that issue in colorado. we are learning more about the victims from last week's tragic incident. on monday the suspect was in court and we're learning more about the suspect. nbc's miguel almaguer is here with more. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. robebe dear is being yelled in held in the county jail without bond and it's the first time he

little on closed circuit television. >> the charge is murder in the first degree. >> reporter: a judge advises robert dear of his rights, the suspect showing very little reaction. >> any question about the rights, sir? >> no questions. >> repepter: representing dear is public defender dan king, one of the attorneys for james holmes, convicted of killing 12 people at an aurora movie these remember? >> we've got shots coming out of planned parent hood. >> reporter: police say dear opened fire outside a planned parenthood clinic on friday and continued inside the clinic leaving three dead. on monday a procession outsi the coroner's office for garrett swaseyeya police officer kilild while responding to the scene. another victim, iraq war veteran ke'a'ae stewart. a fellow veteran and friend describing stewart as a hero. >> there are domestic terrorists here, the same kind of terrorists we would face on the battlefield, somebody with blatant disregard for life. >> reporter: jennifer markovsky's husband confirming the e ther of two was at the clinic to support a frfrnd when

statement to nbc news she was a very caring and compassionate person and patient and understanding parent. meanwhile, increased security presence at planned parenthood locations across the country, on alert after the latest in a series of recent attacks on eir clinics. >> we'll be looking at the incidents of friday to see if there's anything more that we could learn from this to ensure that women can access care across the country without fear. >> reporter: the district attorney will file charges in eight days when robert dear is charged with murder. the minimum sentence will be life in prison, the maximum, the death penalty. savannah. >> miguel almagu, thank you. millions of pepele in this country, especially the midwest, are dealing with very dangerous travel conditions because of a big storm. dylan is in for al this morning. what have you got? >> the midwest and plains haveve been dealing with this for quiui some time. this you seen this picture, a 25-mile-per-hour sign that at one point was frozen and started

do you add them together, does that turn into 50 miles per hour? >> tell that to the police officer. >> or the judge.e. >> i don't think he'll buy that one. those are the types of coitions we've been dealing with. we also had some snow through parts of iowa where we ended up with about 8 inches. south dakota saw its second major snow storm was up to 6 inches and the blowing snow reduced visibility and cars were skidding off the roads. roads very dangerous and slippery and now we're seeing the whole storm system wind down, but next area will be northeastern minnesota where we'll see some of our heavier snow. up near duluth whe the snow is coming down and banding near north and south h kota where we'll still see minor accumulations. winter storm warnings are in effect through eastern and central south dakota for potential of the blowing snow and this area of l l pressure will continue to move to the north and east. heaviest snowfall this morning and as the snow winds down we'll start to see the winds begin to increase they could gust up to nearly 40 miles pepehour and that could

isolated amounts up to 4 to 6 inches and for the most part the heaviest snowfall accumulations are just about over and tack on 1 to 3 inches, just enough to make everything slippery. that's a look at the weather across the country. your local forecast is coming up in just 30 seconds.while some of us had sleet and freezing rain, mostof us saw maimly rain. we south. the heaviest repprts are to thth north, but it includes the sleet and mainly snow showers today and tonight as the low tracks to the northeast. as that early this morning, but should be able to

covered to the west, but we have mainly wet roads here. stormtrack7 live weather network cameras will show the wet roads and are seeing more of the freezing sark met, so some roads may start to get slippery this rning. much colder to the west mph and will be from the southwest for >> and that's your latest forecast. >> winter is really getti going out in the midwest. we should send someone out in the thick of it. >> if only there were someone. >> right, that's you. >> all right, dylan, thank you. coming up, the first photo of oscar pistoriri inside his house under arrest, house arrest there, as he awaits the judge's decision that could send him back to prison. we're live in south africa. >> and salt shaming, the sodium warnings appearing on restaurant menus starting today, but will

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today voters in waterloo and cedar falls head to the polls to choose new mayors. polls are open until eight this evening. in waterloo -- quentin hart and tim hurley are on the ballot. hurley spent three terms in the mayor's seat.... while quentin hart spent eight years on the council -- six of cedar falls mayor jon crews will be on today's ballot -- but he dropped out shortly after the runoff was announced. the other candidate, jim brown has never run for mayor before. a third candidate -- dave halterman announced a write- in campaign after crews dropped out. hahaterman was ononthe ballot last month but didn't qualify for the run-off. now, let's go to eileen with a look at weather. snowwhowers today aad tonight with fluuies tomorrow. snow totals an inch or less with dry we'll be back in 30 minutes, be

check kwwl dot com for the latest news you're watching k- w-w-l, we've got you covered. it's called a rigged economy, and this is how it works. most new wealth flows to the top 1%. it's a system held in place by corrupt politics where wall street banks and billionaires buy elections.

people@like you who want to fight back. the truth is you can't change a corrupt system by taking its money. i'm bernie sanders. i approve this message. join us for real change. 7:30 now on a tuesday morninin the 1st of december, 2015. 25 days till christmas. we're going to help ring in the season tomorrow night when we light that tree in the background there, the rockefeller center christmas tree. big monitors for, i don't know, several hundred, several hundred thousand people who will crara this area.

>> look forward to that every year. it happens tomorrow night. >> that's right. back inside studio 1a a look at stories m ming headlines today. the chicago police officer charged with murder in the shooting of a black teenager is free on bond today. jason van dyke walked out of the cook county jail last night and did not speak t t reporters. posted 10% of his $1.5 million bond jirkt final report on last year's deadly crash of an air asia flight into the java sea wawa released overnighgh investigators say the problem began with a faulty rudder control system and the pilot's subs kwed response caused the plane to stall. and lawyers foroston mamathon bomber dzhokhar tsarnaev headed to court today. they will ask the judge to grant him a new trial. he was sentencedo death back in june and is being held in a super max prison in colorado. also t ts morning, we're getting a first look inside oscar pistorius' house arrest as he awaits a highly anticipated court decision tied to his case. today, national invnvtigative

johannesburg for us this morning. jeff, good morning to aou. >> reporter: hey, savannah, good morning to you. right now oscar pistorius is holed up inside his uncle's mansion in south africa on house arrest. he was released from prison, you may remember early, back in october,nd he's been keeping a pretty low profile, but now ourur first look at pistorius since his release. want to show you this photo tweeted out by a relative. oscar celebrating his 29th birthday having a party at house with f fily and friends. we're blurring out kids' faces, as you can see, but look at pistorius himself, smiling, seems happy, ctainly a far cry from those days in court when he was hystericacay crying. important to note here, since he's on house arrest he really can't leave his uncle's compound unless he's going to places like church or community service so we have other phohos for you here, a rare sighting outside. pistorius reporting for that community service, sunglasses on wearing a black hat and a white t-shirt carrying that backpack.

i saw him every day during the trial, look at these photos, no question about it, lost some weight since then and this is a huge week for him make or break really. only convicted of involuntary manslaughter for shooting and killing his girlfriend revaeva steenkamp steenkamp. the appeals court took the case and heard the case, and we're told the ruling is imminent. it will likely happen this week. if the judges convict him of murder pistorius could be plucked from his uncle's home and sent back to prison and the minimum sentence for murder in south africa 15 years. our nbc news team is in place here in south africa. we'll bring you that rulg when it happens. >> all right, jeff ssen, thank you very much. want to turn now to oklahoma where the university president is getting a lot of attention for a surprising blog post that

his message to today's youth grow up and stop being so self-absorbed and narcissistic. here's nbc's kerry sanders. >> be quiet! >> reporter: political correctness on college campuses has suddenly and sometimes loudly exploded on to the national stage. >> you should not sleep at night. you're diusting. >> reporter: this confnfntation at yale was over the issue of pc halloween costumes. at university of missouri protests over perceived systematic racism forced the resignationsnsf the school's president and chancellor, a reporter trying to cover one event was not welcome. >> you need to get out. >> i actually don't. >> all right. hey who wants to help me get this reporter out of here! >> reporter: many now seeing the growing lack of reasoned discussion on college campuses as a disturbing trend. this blog post by the president of oklahoma weslayan university

it's a university, hit a nerve. it's sharply critical of kids who are self-absorbed and narcissistic. any time their feelings are hurt, they are the victims. >> what we really have today is a demand that you must be one of us, you must comply,ou must submit and if you don't we will suppress you, we will silence you and we wi >> reporter: president obama ll recently told students they should not be protected from different points of view. >> i've heard some college campuses where they don't want to have a guest speaker who, you know, is too conservative. i've got to tell you, i don't agree with that either. >> reporter: comedians jerry seinfeld and chris rock and bill maher won't play college campuses because today's politically correct students cannot take a joke, even about halloween costumes. >> halloween is supposed to be politically incorrect. that's why we say trick or treat instead of placate and coddle. >> reporter:r:ut for many political correctness on campus

matter. for "tay," kerry sanders, nbc news, miami. >> we saw this online, his blog, and it just got more and more attention and more and more comments throughout the day. >> well, the headlights, it's a university, not day re, so it's an interesting debate. good one to have on college campusesesverywhere. >> all right. let's get a check of the weather from dylan who is in for al. >> and we do have a lot of rain through the eastern parts of the country today, and it's going to rain through tomorrow, too. we've got our heaviest rain right now falling through eastern tennessee, eastern kentucky and this will move through the appalachians as we go through the day today, increasing in intensity at times. in the northeast it should be scattered showers and shouldldt accumulate all that much but flood watches in effect two chattanooga and western north and south carolina, atlanta included in the flood watch, too. as we e through the day, thth whole system will continue to slide to the south and east. here you see through the night the heaviest rain is down across the southeast where there's a subtropical jet that pumps into the moisture. in the northeast though, we're

heavier rain, just spotty showers and lots of clouds around, and we're also looking for the potential this morning of some freezing rain because it is a little bit colder, especially through central and northern new england. this is where we're looking at our highest rainfall amounts. this area has already seen about 3 inches of rain and could see another 3 in northern georgia and western carolina through the day today, even through the early part of wednesday. we also have that snow moving into northeastern minnesota though it's winding down and the winds will start to get gusty on back side that have system. that's a look at weather across rain. we had a half an inch in waterloo with lighter amounts to the south. the heaviest reports are to the north, but it includes the sleet and freezing rain ttt fell in the morninn. we will end up with mainly snow showers today and tonight as the low tracks to the northeast. as that occurs, we see temps falling.. we have probably seen our highs early this morring, but shououd be able to rebound somewhat this afternoon. roads are still partially covered to the west, but we have mainly wet roads here. stormtrack7 live weather network

>> and that's your latest forecast. >> all right, dylan, thank you very much. coming up, a new concern over those popular hoverboards, one of the holiday's hottest gifts and the family n n claiming their board exploded and destroyed their home. >> hmm. and have the food police gone too far? the controversy surrounding new salt warnings coming to some restaurant menus today, but, first, these messages. the whipped cream sea be extra whippy! [ laughing ] together: ahhhhhhhhhhh! yarrrr, it be the twizzler. run! crew member:what does he want? happy holidays! free shipping all season long at target.com.

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right direction, but as i'm sure guessed critics say it't' gone o far. what's on the menu, along with the specials, the wine list, today chain restaurants in new york city are serving up something new. >> when you see this warning label, you know that t tt item has more than the total amount of sodium that you should consume in a single day. >> reporter: it's become known as salt-shaming rule, what the city calls an attempt to give more transparency to consumers for items that exseed 2,300 milligrams or about a teaspoon of sewedup. as for the worst offenders, it might not be who you think with someme chain restaurants racking up more shakers more than fast food places. chipotle's chicken burrito with the usual toppings has over 2,400 milligrams of sodium. subway's spicy italian sandwich has almost 3,000 milligrams. while panera is now changing the amount of salt i their new york city locations, take the bacon

had 2,830 milligrams of sodium. now just 2,090, a 740 milligram decrcrse. the applebee's in new york starting putting salt warnings on its menus earlier last month. >> i think it's important that we give them the opportunity to make the right decicions. >he national restaurant association says they plan to file a lawsuit against the new york requirement saying it, quote, goes too fa-far too fast. >> it puts a certain number of restaurant in a competitive disadvantage. they are saying they are going after large business owners and large franchises, but most of the restaurants that are related to a franchise in new york a a franchisees, small business owners. >> while new york city is already known for banning trans fat from restaurant meals and forcing chain eateries to post calorie counts on menus, research on howowuch t tse changes impact consumers is mixed. >> when you've already walked into aburg tinge wherever you are and you see this kind of warning and you hopefully already know that what you're

don't know if a salt label is going to deter anyone. >> well, the american heart association recommends that americans corn sume less than 500 milligrams of sodium. that by the way, is per day. bottom line. any health expert will agree that americans tend to consume too much salt, and a lot of that happens at restaurants and when we're eating position sesed food. >> do you eat a lot of salt? >> yeah. >> a lot. >> a lot. >> too much. >> everybody here take a salt shaker on vacation with them? >> just one person i can think of. >> they serve the fries with no salt and i need to bring salt. >> you go to places on vacation where they don't have salt. >> like by the pool, and they serve you french fries. >> do you check your salt shaker or carry it on? >> it's a carry-on item m st in case the plane food is not enough. >> learning a lot but, dyl.

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your hand if you did some cyber monday shopping. >> like confession time. >> we can't see them. >> a good one.e. >> i did a little bit. if you did, you may investigation appearanced a couple of problems. go over to sheinelle in the original room. what happened? >> good morning. shoppers have had all year long to gear up for cyber monday. this year it's actually the tenthnniversary of theay for online deals, but due to high traffic, many weren't able to

social media lit up with images of website outages like this one from targege saying, quote, please hold tight. others saw this from the retailer. there's a line for this item. target wasn't the only site to experience interruptions, paypal and h & m were both down for a period of time and neiman marcus, footlocker and victoria's secret all had outages. a target spokesperson clarified that their side never actually crashed, but it was intentionally slowed down. here's their quote. as we experience spikes in traffic, our systems place guests in a queue and prompt them to access the site later. we apologize to guests for the delay. before 10:00 in the morning target websites had reached volumes twice as high that were the busiest ever. seems like when you're online you can still be in line. people weren't expecting that. >> and how to stop from overspend overspending during the holidays?

cyber monday, don't overspend. >> and we'll catch up with katie holmes. here she is right here. before it was honey in these honey nut cheerios, it was honey being collected. and honey getting made. and honey that was

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i guess i never really gave much thought to the acidity in any foods. never thought about the coffee i was drinking having acids. it never dawned on me that it could hurt your t tth. my dentist has told me your enamel is wearing away, and that sounded really scary to me, and i was like well can you fix it, can you paint it back on, and he explained that it was not something that grows back, it's kind of a one-time shot and you have to care for it. he told me to use pronamel. it's gonna help protect the enamel in your teeth. it allows me to continue to drink my coffee and to eat healthier, and it was a real easy switch to make. i love you. love you too. one minute. hi. hi dad. we need to do this, yes. you be good. letting go... don't say a word.

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the e-p-a is boosting the amount of ethanol in gasoline...but many iowans say the increase isn't enough. the e-p-a announced it would increase production of ethanol through next year. but iowa's lawmakers say the state is capable of making more. while the e-p-a is calling for highwer volumes of renewable fuels to be made...the numbers fall short of what congress has asked for in the past. several members of iowa's congressional delegation say they're disappointed. muslim students at the three state universities are looking for a permanent place to pray. in iowa city -- the muslim student association has a meeting for this week. at u-n-i. at iowa state, students can use the chapel but it's too far from classrooms to be used regulary. now, let's go to eileen with a look at weather. snow showers today and tonight with flurries tomorrow. snow totals an inch or temps warm nicely into the weekend. we'll be back in 30 minutes, be sure to check kwwl dot com for the

you're watching k- w-w-l, we've

it's 8:00 on "today." coming up, to screen or not to screen? new information that has some asking if those whole body skin cancer checks are unnecessary. what you need to know. plus, the secret to saving. how to stop overspending this holiday season, including the four letters you need to avoid.

>> and from stand-up to pinup, comedian aim schumer on how she became a model with a message. >> women that are part of calendar this year are just some of the most inspiring, powerful, unapologetic women alive. >> inside the calendar girl change decades in the making, today, tuesday, december 1st, 2015. >> happy holidays! >> hi, mom, hi dad, back in iowa. >> good morning, albuquerque, new mexico. >> hi, y'all, we're here from brandon, mississippi. >> helloo all our friends in omaha, nebraska. from new york city. >> happy 60th birthday, mom! >> and good morning, everybody. welcome back to "today."

tuesday. it is giving tuesday out here on our plaza. >> that's right. and look who is here joining us. that is katie holmes collecting new and unwrapped toys for our holiday toy drive. we'll get to talk to her in just a second. this is our 22nd annual toy drive. >> just getting started. hoping to have a good one this year. find out more about it if you go to today.com. and coming up, we'll set the holiday mood with a live performance by leann rimes, our official christmas song today is christmas. >> try to get it out of your head after we jingle and jim angel our way through that. first, let's say hello to miss katie holmes. >> doing elf duet they morning. >> good to see you. >> you're here not just with a glad bag and a message of getting people out and giving today. >> it's giving tuesday, a wonderful project that glad started. you can go to glad.com and get your yellow bags and get out

>> y y know,e talk about this, katie, a lot. we have kids and we're always trying to communicate the spirit of giving. at home you have a daughter. how do you work it out in your household? >> well, my little one is very, very generous and very sensitive, and so she's always, you know, mom, let's give this to -- let's give my oldld toys to people whoho need it so we're -- we're always doing that. >> you're fortunate that way. >> yeah, yeah. >> what are your big plans for the holidays, any traditions that you do every year? >> aside from today i'll be giving all day, family. >> yeah. >> air lot of family time. >> and you've been busy acting. what's nextor you? i know you're hitting the big screen soon. >> thank you. i have a move called "touched with fire" coming out in fire and i'll "the kennedys" again this spring. >> great. nice having you here. i know a lot of people are happy to see you on the plaza. will you come back and see us soon. >> absolutely.

thanks so much. let's go inside and get check of the top stories with tamron who is in for nalie. >> president obama's eslating the fight against terror by crting a new position to deal strictctith the isis threat. he's appointing robert malley, a national security council official, who helped negotiate the nuclear deal with iraq. the president is speaking today about global cooperation against isis whihi wrapping up the world climate change talks in paris. he has called efforts to save the planet a rejection o those who would seek to tear us down. . breaking overnight. a chaotic scene in atlanta after gunfire erupt outside a downtown hotel. [ gunfire ] police say one person is dead after a brief chase that ended with an officer-ininlved shooting t. it started when police tried to

way and the jeep eventually slammed into a hotel shuttle pass. the driver surrendered and the passenger ran awayay there was an exchange of gun fireworks and the passenger was killed. police say three weapons we recovered at that scene. nearly 4 million people will be diagnosed with skin cancer this year, making it theost common cancer in the united states, but now a government panel of doctors is updating their recommendation saying full-body visual skin checks m m not be helpful. nbc news medical contributor dr. natalie azar is here with us to tell us what you need to know. good morning, good to see you. >>&hi, good morning, tamron. >> obviously this will be confusing to people. so many of us have gone to the dermatologists to get full body scan yearly. what's the dl here? >> the message i in the wording. what the statement is saying therers insufficient evidence to weigh the benefits of the benefit and harm versus screening. this is not a recommendation for or against the screening. they are simply saying thathe available evidence out there in the literature,, we real can't

skin check is changing the outcome of people. meaning is it actually decreasing mortality. they claim the data is just not there. i want to echo though the sentiment from the american academy of dermatology and a few other medical groups who strongly endorse early treatment and diagnis because that's the best way to beatt skin ncer, and the way you can do that really importantly is also to do self-checks, to look and see if moles are changing. are they itching? are they bleeding? certainly the people who need to be screened are the peoplpl who have a personal history of an atypical mole or a history of cancer, a family history of cancer and certainly people who have a typical mole need toet screened. please discuss with your physician whether or not you're a candidate for screening. >> thank you very much for clearing that up. now to a story that's sparked outrage across the country a a the world. a woman who posted a picture of her dog with its mouth taped shut now faces charges in north carolina. the image was posted on friday.

shared hundreds of thousands of times from as war away as australia. police charged 45-year-old cat rin lemaskey whose facebook page sted her as katie brown with cruelty to animals. they did not remove the dog from the home after they found it was generally well cared for. a louisiana mom claims that one of the season's hottest gifts d dtroyed her family's home. jessica horn says her son was so excited she let him try his new hover board as soon as it arrived from amazon, but she says he used only oncee and then when he plugged it in to recharge it sparks shot out and set the room on re. the consumer product safety commission says there have been no reported injurieie related to hover board fires. so, that's pretty frightening. >> are you sure it was the hover board? >> i thinkhey will probably look into that. >> i think they have to look into that. >> tamron looking for an excuse

>> look what happened. >> tamron, thank you very much. appreciate that. for decadeses the pirelli pinup girls have made a statement. the tire company's annual calendar is known for its edgy scantily clad models. >> this year it's a little bit different. "today's" erica hill is here with more on that. good morning. >> amy schumer tweeted thought photo from the calendar and that's serena williams there. the photo tweeted on monday they are two of the women featured in the 2016 calendar, womenen welll known for their many accomplishments but not necessarily their photo shoot. it's a switch pirelli says is the brainchild of celebrated photographer annieleibowitz. they are trailblazers, stars in their field. >> women that are part of the calendar this year are just some of the most inspiring, powerful, unapologetic women alive. >> reporter: capturing their strength was an ass[gnment renowned photographer annie leibowitz embraced.

>> reporter: pirelli calendar launched in 1964 is known for its often risque shots. leibowitz shot the cal as it's known in 2000 with a much different focus. the women photographed this year are turning a new page. >> i thohoht that women -- the women should look good and strong, and it should be simple. >> reporter: shot in black and white the photographs show quite simply success. businesswoman melody hobson, tennis champ serena williams, yoko owno, "selma" director ava dubernrn and writer and leader fran leibowitz. >> this is taking a look at real women who are work and making a difference in the world. >> i love that they are embracing the moment we're in, a very powerful moment for women around the world. >> amy schumer who graced the month of december tweeted this photo o monday with the capture

fat,t, pretty, ugly, sexy, disgusting, flawless woman. thank you, annie leibowitz. powerful words from a woman who earlier this year revealed her own body image insecurities to maria shriver. >> it's been a struggle for me my whole life. sometimes i would just want to kind of throw in the towel and be i'm not going to go do standup tonight. >> reporter: after her photo shoot for the calendar a much different view. >> i felt i looked more beautiful than i've ever felt in my life, and i felt like it looked like me. >> reporter: it's a picture body image experts applaud. we don't want to just see one type of woman representednd say that is what beautiful is. we want to see the widest definition of beauty. >> hing thik opportunity to take this space and make it extraordinary and really herald

>> so we should point out calendar, you can't buy it. it's become this very exclusive thing why it's called the cal and why it gets handed out. launched last night in london and already a very positive response, especially for that picture from amy schumer. >> how do you get the calend? >> you've got to know somebody who knows somebody. >> okay. >> matt? >> get a calendar with four tires. i have 45 tires at home. >> erica, thank you. cominggp next, we'll reveal the top baby names of 2015. plus, psy took over the world with "gangnumum style." i remember doing it one time. wait until we show you his newest video. >> and holiday season savings, the surprising places you're spending the most money and how to stop those bad habibi, but, first, these messages. look at you, saving money on your medicare part d prescriptions.

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back now. 8:14. let's trend. >> this is one of my favorite trending lists, top baby names of the year. ready, everybody. this comes from the folks at babycenter.com. thth names at top of thth list, not a surprise. once again for boys, jackson is tops. this is the third year in a row. sophia wins among girls. this is the sixth straight time for that. >> wow. >> there are some surprising trends. get this. instagram is influencing newspapers. more parents are naming their kids after filters like lux. >> really. >> up 75%.%. >> valencia, 26%. >> the royals are always popular. the name royalty jumped 90%. >> chrisis brownamed his kid royalty i think. i think that's part of what it's popular. >> duchess, always have to do an ego check, matthew, i'm sorry, you're downn 15%. dylan for girls, on the rise, my friend.

>> savannah breaks even and tamron and s sinelle. that's a zero. >> our names are -- >> sheinelle and tamron are made-up names. >> my m m is s sila and my dad is darnel. >> good, because lux isn't a made-up name. >> lux is like my parents had their first date in cameron, texaxa so that's where tamron came from. >> thank god they weren't in hobo texas. >> i think it's because o o yoyo >> you're a trend setter. >> that's very cool. >> any reason to pick up a picture of vale. >> let's go on, you bad at giving gifts? >> i feel like i am. you give nice gifts. if you know someone who is, "the wall street journal" analyzed several studies to come up with a gift-giving tips for this year. first, forget stocking stuffers. peopop tended to appreciate

bundled were smaller items. >> interesting. >> next, you absolutely should give to charity, but you may be overestimating how m mh people preciate a donation made in their names. some say they would prefer a sileravel mug. again, keep giving to charity, just not in other peopop's names. and finally be careful what you give the men in your life. one study found that when men didn't like a gift they srted to4view a relationship negatively, but for women it wawa the opposite. >> wow. >> a gift good or bad did not affect them. this is not right. this is not correct. >> opposite day? >> not correct. >> you would disagree with that. i feel like for women gifts are often more emotionally significant and braided with memning and men are lili, oh, whatever. >> a thoughtful note in a card. >> if you get a bad gift, do you see a relationship differently? >> i don't know.. why wouldldou think -- why

>> you tonight know me. you tonight know me. the gift saul wrong. >> don't send your tweets to me. we all agree. next we know what it's like to live in a noise building. how about living next to a noisy building. take a look. >> i want to say ohm. the architect has apologized for that noise. apparently it's caused by winds rushingver the building's glass blades and it makes that sound when it's windy. >> i love it sitting here in the studio. >> would you want to@hear that all the time? >> no. it sounds like "star wars." they can say this is the buildup to darth saider. kind of. >>y the way, you live next door to it. >> the archihict lives in the top floor of the building. >> really. >> for 50% off i'd deal with it. >> exactly. new to gwen stefani's emotional performance on "the

holiday gift for advance. sheinelle, "pop start." >> gwen stefani is winning rave reviews after her emotional performance monday night on "the voice." i used to love you i don't know why i cried i won't, i won't, i don't kw why i used to love you i i don't, i don't, i don't >> gwen singing "us aed to love you" written after her split from gavin rossdale. blake told ccess hollywood" he was proud of gwen for performing the song. man who gave us the massive hit known as "gangnam style," you remember psy. "gangnam style" now has more than 2 billion views, so what will psy do for an encore. >> reporter: here's the new song he just dropped called "daddy." hey, where did you getet that body from where did you get that body from

i got it from my daddy >> listen. >> i am locking myself in a room right now. >> i'm instantly obsessed with it. >> here's the deal. the video went up overnight. >> can't wait to see matt do that dance. >> just get ready because it's going to happen. 5 million views. he has a hard time topping it but he's trying. >> he said where did you get a bod? i get it from my daddy. anyway. >> special treat for you this morning. michael special. here on nbc. it's called christmas in hollywood. and guess who is here this morning? good morning to you! >> good morning. >> i'm so inn love with you in a healthy way. >> happy holidays. >> congratulations! >> i was hiding behind the television. this is the second time -- once oprah had me hide in a bathroomm for a few hours. >> well, how are you feeling going into this? do you feel pressure to top yourself or excited to do it again? >> no, i'm excited. it's a blast. wiwi what's goingng on in the world right now, not to get down, i think it's nice to have a chance to take people on an

and this holiday season, we need it. >> the best tradition of the specials i watched -- you're much younger than i am, but peri combo and bob home and bing crosby and johnny cash used to do specials. were you aware of the history? >> i aware of the history that much, but the music is obviously something important to me. being a new dad and having a kid that can't wait for santa claus, it's brought even a bigger joy into it for me. as a parent, it sort of just gives a new sense of how great the holiday can be. >> you've got the little one and another little one on the way. >> yes, i do, yes. >> we look forwardo it. you can catch michael bu buble's c cistmas in holiliy. >> of quick check of the while some of us had sleet and freezing rain, most of us saw mainly rain. we south. the heaviest reports aa to the north, but it includes the sleet and mainly snow showers today and tonight as the low

early this morning, but should be able to rebound somewhat this afternoon. roads are still partially vered to the w wst, but we have mainly wet roads here. stormtrack7 live weather network cameras will show the wet roads and are seeing more of the freezing mark met, so some roadsmay start to get slippery this morning. much colder to the west mph and will be from the southwest for much of the day. the low i and that's your latest forecast. matt? >> all right, dylan, thank you very much. this week on today's hassle-free holiday season savings, we're bringing tips to help you curb your bad spending habits. the first steps, admitting you have a spending problem and identifying why you'ree overspending and where your money is going. >> if this sounds a little too familiar, and this looks a little too familiar, it may be time for a spendingg reality check. we asked our viewers to come clean about reasons they overspend. and the response was overwhelming. there were this and that spenders.

a student loan payment for $28.74. something from rite aid for $7.99. >> technololygurus. >> i always seem to need and want to have the latest technological gadget. there is my ipod. there is another ipod. there is a third ipod never opoped. there is aigital camera, never opened. >> and a shopoholic or two. >> retail therapy is something i have turned to in the past to feel better. >> i have a shopping problem. herere are my receipts from shopping. i alphabetize them in catalog folders, as you can see, they're a mess. so while retail thera may not your bank account any favors, it's not the biggest weight on your wallet. according to a recent bank survey, restaurants were the top culprit in american overspending. followed by coffee dates or lunches. and you guessed it,, shopping. in fact, half of all those surveyed admitted to indulging on impulse purchases regularly.

shop until they drop, millennials. so even though there is a time and place for this -- >> clothes. treat yourself. fragrances. treat yourself. massages. treat yourself. fine leather goods. >> treat yourself. >> 'tis the season to curb your spending enthusiasm and give your bank account a breather before the holidays. the big question now, how do you kick the overspending habit? that's a good question. retailers clamoring for your money. what is the secret? jean chatzky is today's financial editor. nice to see you. >> nice to see you. >> you haveehe aspirational spenders, the life happens spenders. they have things that come up. you've got tips for the people who spend just because. let's start. >> first tip, road blocks. you need thihis i i your way so that you think about it before you spend. so don't save your credit card info online. ke yourself type it in every single time. wrap a reminder around your credit card. if you want to go to hawaii, wrap a picture of that beach so you think about it.

your buddy, your wife. >> you need help. >> yeah. help me. don't l l me spend. and i'm subscribed from the e-mails and get out those apps. yesterday we said get on them so u can find the sales. today get off. >> when we talk to people about why they're over spendingng they have a lot of different reaches. what are the biggest culprits? >> food. top of the list, all of the time. one in three people spends $2,600 aear they don't need to be spending just at the grocery store. so if you're one of those people, make sure you shop your pantry before you go to the stste. and just -- chew gum while in the store so you get rid of those smells. listen to your own music. their music slows you down. >> swipe for here. i want to look at a couple other tips you have here. at's the one in, one out rule? >> before you buy that next pair of pants, that next ipod, get rid of one. sell it. use the money to fund that new purchase. also, if you know you'veeot one thing that is just so high on your list that you have to have

$50 a week, whatever makes sense to -- and make a no-cost plan so thth you go for a run instead of going shopping if you feel like you're getting emotional. >> keep that 30-day list. good tips to avoid overspending during the holidays. jean, as alalys, thanksks >> thanks. >> for more spending tips, head to today.com. and coming up hey! this holiday, u.s. cellular's giving you 5 5 more data than verizon and at&t for the same price. but i wanted a pony. [ gasps ] you're getting data. pony-sized data? no. u.s. cellular sized data. good, strong data you can actually use because it works in the middle of anywhere. i'd like $100! you're getting $400 in promo cards! yes! switch to u.s. cellular and d t 50% more data than verizon and at&t. plus $400 per line.

waterloo and cedar falls. voters will choose new mayors. polls are open until eight this evening. in waterll -- quentin hart and tim hurley are on the ballot. hurley spent three terms in the six of those years he was a mayor pro be on today's ballot -- bb he droppeddout shortly after the runoff was announced. the other candidate, jim brown has never run for mayor before. a third candidate -- dave halterman announced a write- in campaign after crcrws dropped out. halterran was on the ballot last month but didn't qualify for the

now, let's go to eileen with a look at weather. snow showers today and tonight

we're back now 8:30 on a tuesday morning. you know what. it's the 1st day of december. 25 days until christmas. >> good morning.

plaza this morning. but look things are brightening up with leann rimes and she is here to sing some holiday music for us. nice to have her here. >> love having her here. >> and we know kids love getting presents but h h do you get them to be generous, grateful, and understand the true spirit of giving. we'll have some tips for parents who are facing this holiday season and hoping to raise some kind kids. >> and beth sterns is here with a look at the next chapter in the story of yoda, no, not that one. >> this is an animal lover through and through. we'll talk to beth in a little ile. fifit, let's go to dylan with a special guest. >> well, guys, it is the season of giving. it is giving tuesday, and i am joined by argsably one o@ the busiest men in show business, nick cannon is here.

>> and you're talking a giving spree with the salvation army. what is that all about? >> absolutely. if you go to redkettlereason.org. we've been doing, it giving our red kettle reasons why we're giving back and now we have the top five finalists that are actually getting ready for a big shopping spree for kids all over for the salvation army to have toys under the holiday tree >> the salvati army does so much to help people in need. >> yes. >> how can people at home help out with this whole thing? >> obviously you go to redkettlereason.org and out shopping see the red kettles donate because it will make somebody's holiday better. >> and you'll join us in the 9:00 hour? >> i will. i will be here. >> we'll talk all the things that you have going on. >> outstanding. >> awesome. >> thank you so much. as for the weather acros the country, today it is going to be a little bit rainy in n e northeast and heavier rain down across the southeast. snow is likely through the upper midwest, especially minnesota

6 inches of snow. windy behind the system. rain up and down the east coast, heavy at times, up to 3 inches of rain is possible, and tomorrow night it's christmas in rockefeller center. it's not going to be the best night, but don't let that stop you. we are kicking off the holiday season with the tree lighting here in rockefeller center. rain is likely. temperature about 56 degrees, but the rain and the clouds keepsemperatures in thee mid-d-s so it's not going to snow unless you want thatrain. we had a half`an inch in waterloo with lighter amounts to the south. the heaviest reports aa to the north, but it includes the sleet and freezing rain that fell in the morning. we will end up with mainly snow showers today and tonight as the low tracks to the northeast. as that occurs, we see temps falling...we have probabllseen our highs early this morning, but should be able to rebound somewhat this afternoon. roads are still partially covered to the west, but we have mainly wt rds here. stormmrack7 live weaaher network cameras will show the wet roads

>> and that's your latest forecast. savannah. and now to today's parenting scene. it's easy to get wrapped up in the presents this time of year, but parents also want kids to learn about the gift of giving. how do we raiai kindkids. here's what the parenting team to say? any time we catch someone doing something kind we put some coins into the jar. once the jar is full, you decide as a familyhere all this money is going to go. >> we talk about being kind. we often talk about our buckets that are right here, right? >> yeah in, our hearts. >> and what does it mean when you fill up the bucket? >> it makes people happy. >> this year we went shopping as a family to buy a thanksgiving meal for local homeless shelter. our boys were busy counting the produceend putting it in the

goods and empowers them that they can make a difference. >> and we're joined now by dana kaplan, author of "the gratitude diaries." good morning. >> good morning. >> seems like toys the perfect time to have the conversation with your kid and kind of the hardest because christmas can so often be focused on gift getting, not gifif giving. >> right, and one of the things that's so important is indeed for kids to feel grateful in their own lives because when they appreciate what they have, that's the way they can start to want tbe giving and kind to other people, too. >> you've got these three steps centered on how to get your kids feeling and talking about gratitude. number one is do just, that talk about what you're thankful for. >> talk to your kids about it. we're all so good about complaining, about what went wrong. how about if at dinnertime someone says something that went right in the day and before bed, have the child, even the smallest onene say what happened that day that they were grateful for. make it part of every day. stop to appreciate a pretty snowfall and just make

>> another tip you give is to give kids a bigger view. what do you mean by that? >> whether kids know what they see in their own lives, they know mom and dad give them food and a home. not such a big leap to assume mom and dad are also supposed to give them lego sets and iphones so let me see a bigger world, let them know there are people out there not as lucky as they are. >> and i like your final tip, leading by exam. appreciate your kid. >> to raise grateful kids be grateful for our kid. we love our kid. how often do we tele them we appreciate how terrific we are. we can tell them what her doing wrong. just tell them what they are doing right and say, boy, i'm so grateful to be your mom. >> i feel like thip conversation we're kind of talking about the little ones and we're talking about the tweens and the teens, does this change? do you give a little different advice for that generation? >> i think kids who grow up with gratitude keep thaha but, sure. teenagers are a little bit different because sometimes they want to be able to do things themselves so they are grateful for what their parents can do,

one young woman i spoke t for my book said, you know, guilt outweighs the gratitude. would i rather be able to be more independent so i think as parents realize that, they can be a little bit more generous with theirireenagers and no teenager every became more grateful by saying you're so ungrateful. >> that doesn't work. you say use social media, too. explain. >> right. when your kids do something great, when the family decides to donate a a whenour kids volunteer, brag about it and use social media for a positive -- gratitude and giving are contagious so tlaet be an example for them and other people too. >> have a nice ripple effect. janice kaplan, thanks so much. thanks to all of our "today" parenting team and join that conversation at today.com/parentingteam. let's send it over to sheinelle. >> thank you. in the spirit of giving tuesday our sponsor johnson's is partnering with save the children, an organization dedidited to helping kidsseach their full potential. here's the deal. you can give back by simply

donate a photo app using the the #s#suchmore, you, one of your kids, any child in your life and for every photo shared johnson's will donated $3 to provide resources for early childhood development, reaching up to $150,000. look at these, a few of our own baby photos for inspiration. here's little matt and savannah. we have baby dylan and tamron, and here i am. these are a lot of fun and now we want to see our pictures so head to today.com for more information on how to take part. matt, you were a cute baby. >> all right. sheinelle. thank you very y ch. up next, beth stern on her love of kittens and a brand new book "yoda is back." we'll find out what's happening

"today" on nbc. all right.

8:40 with actress, modelel and animal right activist beth stern and her newest children's book is "yoda getu a buddy" based on her and her hukband's real life experience fostering pets. >> i'm not an actress, by the way. >> don't ever hire me. >> who are your friends here? >> current fosters. we have 18 fosters in our house right now, plus our six resident cats. yes, i've turned crazy, but i've found them all homes already. >> i don't know crazy is in the eye of the beholder. spent a lot of time at your home with you andoward. practice what you preacac would be the way i put it. >> thank you. >> and you're very good at this because when people come to your house you're very smart, a room dedicated to these kittens. never take guests in there until late in n e evening. >> when evevebody is drunk. >> because you know you would never get them out of there if you put them in there early in the evening.

>> growing up my family was all about animals. we've rescued animama our entire lives. cats i feel need help. work at the shelter on a regular basis. i feel like there's so many cats in shelters. i wanted my husband and i to start doing this and make cats cool. >> you found a way to take this passion, and it is a true passion, and also use it to raise money and also entertain this children's book now, this new yoda book. >> yeah. >> is the follow-up to the last one. >> right. >> and we talked about that here on the show. what's happening to yoda no >> yoda, the story of our cats and kitten, yoda was in heart failure miraculously cured for his lovend a true merial in the foster room. because i'm in the foster room day in and day out and miracles happen. we had a foster who had both of his eyes removed due to a severe infection and you met him. howard named him buddy. in the foster room for a lot

because he needed to heal. kittens came in and bullying going on and buddy accepted the one kitten that looked kind of funny. he had a big wound so i think he smelled kind of funny in reality and he welcomed him and all people saw cool buddy loving the other kittens and it was a story i had to share with children. >> it's messages and lessons you can move on to humans as well, animals. i should also mention that all the proceeds go to a great cause. >> 100% goes to north shore animal league north america. >> i was thinking abo you and howard, i know you both pretty well. you have a lot of differences.s. you're not the samee in every way, but what i think makes you the same two the same is when you both get passionate about something, you go all in. >> yeah. >> you with animals and him with phototraphy and parenting now. do you think that's what's behind the chemistry? >> you know what, yeah, maybe. something interesting to think about, but i have to say howard is all in with my work, my

he's in the foster room with me, matt, cleaning litter boxes and letting the crawl through his hair and h hs right therend as devoted and allow this to happen in his house. >> and he just decided he's not going back to "america's talent." >> the more time. >> for me and the kittens. >> you lookiki forward to that. >> i've been wanting this to be over for a while. it took up his entire summer and now i have my howard back. >> the new book is wonderful called "yodod gets a buddy" and it's out today. beth, thanks. happy holidays. >> happy holidays. and she will be up later with kathie lee and hoda and up next, leann rimes gets you in the spirit with a very special performance but first on this

on nbc. this is fun. grammy award winner leann rimes has penned a new holiday favorite "today is christmas" written especially for us, actually our first official ristmas song. >> we've been singing it all time, the tuitele track on her brand new christmas album called "today is chstmas." leann, take it a. today, today, today, today, today is christmas if we live it like, live it like, live it like, like every day is today, today, today, today, today it christmas if we live it like, live it likeke live it like, like every day is why does it take the holidays to make us go, jingle jim angel

the twinkling lights will go, jingle, jim angel it only takes a little spark to ignite and you'll go, jingle, jim angel so grab the one you love and hold on to them tight and go, jingle, jim angel today, today, today, today, today is christmas if we livee it like, live it like, live it like, like every day is today, today, today, today, totoy is christmas if we live it like, live it like, live it like, like every someday down i i your pocket and you got something to give that goes, jingle, jim angel dn in your heart go make

go, jingle, jim angel we heard it said that an angel gets its wings when we go, jingle, jim a ael what are we waiting for, let's shake every doggone thing that goes, jingle, jim angel today, today, today, today, today i i christmas if we live it like, live it like, live it like, like every day is today is christmas today, today, today, today, today is christmas if we live it like, live it like, live it like, like every

if we live it like, live it like, l le it like, like every day is >> all right. leann rimes, thank you so much. we'll chat with leann in just a

"today" on nbc. we just heard her sing and now we'll chat with leann rimes. happy holidays. >> thank you.

complaining, but we can't get it out of our ear. >> the jingle jim angel thing, almost annoying to me now because oh, my god, i'm the same way. walking around going, jingle, jim angel. make it stop! >> i find myself crying this. >> can't snene up on anybody. >> we were in your video. tell us about the matt lauer solo. >> oh, my gosh. >> you guys got him and pranked him a littlee bit. >> yes. >> the only one that had a solo. >> he did. >> and he's been practicing. >> he was so good once he found out he was prank. he got into it. you rocked i i out. >> i was a little aggravated at first. >> wait a minute. i've got a solo and next to leann rimes, this is very cool. were there very awful outtakes in that video? >> no. >> nothing was awful. you were fantastic. >> thawas fun. that really was. >> what did you d d for thanksgiving?

>> we were in montana with eddie's boys and it was really nice. i mean, the kids are great and` to be with fily like thax before i had to kind of just go into this craziness of touring and every. it was nice. >> you're starting a tour, was it next year? >> no, no. we're starting next week. >> oh, yeah. >> this week, sorry. >> we're starting in washington actually and going all the way down the west coast. me. oh, yeah. just a few days from now. we're touring the whole recor and it's a whole christmas extravaganza. >> it will be fun. >> the family gets to go along. >> they will be there hopefully a couple of days. the kids are still in school so right up until christmas so hopefully they will come out for christmas. >> a pleasure to be part of your song. >> thanks for doing it and being such good sports. >> are you kidding. we've arrived. >> okay. >> i go up to people and say have you seen my musicic video? >> okay. >> did you see my solo? >> you can find her new album right now on itunesnd at target.

a little later on in the show. >> no o o sings thiss great this early in the morning. >> oh, thank you. >> let's get some special birthday wishes. willard scott is on duty. hey, willard.@ >> we've got you, new york. got our birthdays standing by. esther sloan of coal springs, kentucky, 100 years old today, and she says her secret to longevity pinto beans. live forever. florene watkins from youngstown, ohio, home of the warners brothers. did you know that. bugs bunny comes from that town. anyway, 100 years old today. loves to go camping, loves camping. >> dick downing of venice, florida, the circus and everything in that area, 100 years old today. loves to read mystery novels. bill balyeat from traverse, city, missouri, 100ears old. a photographerrnd w wl take your picture while you're standing still. that's all for right now. please don't go away. we've got some winners. >> all right, willard.

comin up, spike le >> oh,h, awesome. >> and a lot more ahead, but, first, a look at your local news and weather.

university of iowa police are investigating after a racist comment is und on a bathhoom door. police only describing it as "a racial slur." in a statement, university of iowa president bruce harreld said quote "this act is offensive to our community and will not be tolerated." s prices continue to drop across the country -- the average at two dollars and four and iowa is among the states where you can see gas under two dollars a gallon in areas. gas-buddy says the cheapee gas

the ountry is at a sam's club in lafayette, indiana, where a gallon of regular is just a dollar-39. six states don't have a single station selling gas below two dlllars a gallon...alaska, california, waii, maine, montana and vermont. now, let's go to eileen with a look

this morning on today's take, leann rimes has a merry christmas medley. and find out how n nk cannon is on a giving spree. and spike lee on his new film that has everyone talking. coming up now. from nbc nene, this is today's take with al roker, natalie morales, willie geist and tamron hall.

rockefeller plaza.a. welcome to "today" on this tuesday morning, december 1st, 2015. a beautiful crowd out there to say hello. i'm here, tamron, along with my girl dylan, and lk who we have, "extra's" aj calloway helping us out this morning while natalie and al are on assignment. you say -- i feel like a slacker. somebody has to hold down the fort. >> your fort is in trouble. >> yeah. holding down the fort. >> we like that you're here a i love dylan's song pick, jam of the morning, "sound and color" by alabama shakes. >> alabama shakes is so incredible. i saw them last february when i went to "saturdayayight live." and i w w like, what is this? oh, my god. and the sound that comes out of their mouth is incredible. and this song is just -- it's popular right now because --

and every time i h hr it -- just zone out. >> it's good. when they performed at snl, i wasn't lucky enough to be there because getting a ticket even if you work here --o give your first born, a pint of blood, secret handshake. so i thought i would buy tickets for their concert. they were in concert here in new york. that didn't work out either. so the closest i've gotten to alababa shakes is a hand shake. so aj, you agreed to hang out with me and dylan. >> i did. right? >> i do watch you all of the time. i do! i text you and you don't respond after i see you do things on the show. and i'm like, i liked that. that was interesting. >> yes. is it awkward now? >> yeah. >> no, okay. -- >> but you did invite me, so thank you. >> dylan and i discussed -- we had a list of men that we wanted on the show. >> alphabetically, you were at the top. >> that usually happens.

past a. j. >> thank you. >> i just found out that we grew up in the same town. in new jersey. >> yeah, i was born there. >> yeah, he was -- >> what's the town? >> freehold. >> freehold, new jersey and i was right on the border. bruce springsteen. >> they dated, right? >> ooh. >> thaha was the rumor. >> really early in the morning, i like this. >> there was a rumor started by matt lauer. >> yeah. and it me my story so much cooler. >> and you have two beautiful daughters. >> i do have two daughters. >> so they're amy belle and ava claire. that's their beautiful family there. >> and my wife deion. >> and your wife deion. >> patient and amazing woman. >> she is. an amazing woman, without a doubt. >> tell me about the girls. >> they are absolutely adorable.

avis claire calloway. >> so close to christmas. >> my wife's birthday is december 18th. my daughter's birthday is january 1. >> ooh. >> it's going to be rough. i'm august 29th. >> so they don't remember -- it's all about the ladidi. the latter part of the year. >> yeah. you've got to save up for the end of the year. fourth quarter, december. >> i'm cutting out starbucks, i'm not buying anything for myself. so what's the chrisisas plan? what's the plan? because you're a big cook. you love a good party. >> i do love to cook. i was actually down in virginia with my wife's familyy and i deep fried two turkeys. >> isn't that the best? >> it's amazing. >> i love deep fried turkey. from. >> and i season it. it's intense. >> usually -- >> christmas i'm going to smoke. >> did you bring anything? >> tamron is throwing me -- do you see that bus that i'm being thrown over?

cena gives us tickets for his match. >> i'm under the bus. >> so you're with "extra" so give ushe hollylyod scoop. >> hollywood scoop? >> yeah. >> i will always take hollywood scoops, yes. and i usually willait until 7:00 and watch tonight, but -- >> okay. i just c ce back from berlin for the world premier of "hunger games" with jennifer lawrence and the entire cast. at the after party, me and jennifer talked about the movie that's s s's doing with amy. amy schumer. >> schumer. they're best friends. >> they are. >> so that's real. they're not -- >> that is beyond real. that is beyond real. and the filmm that -- well, they're showing "hunger games" now. that is unbelievable. >> i haven't seen it yet. >> no, it's the best one othe franchise. >> really? >> theest onene in the franchise. it is absolutely incredible. >> what is she like? i've never had -- i've never met her, have you met her? >> no. >> she is one of the coolest people ever.

both of you all. amazingly. she is really cool, down to earth. that's one thing i love about her. she doesn't put on the airs. she is extremely sucssful but so down to earth and cool. and that's why i think she is going to continue to rise as an amazing star. >> love that. >> yeah. >> clearly on her christmas list. >> the film she's working on with amy schumer, it's a jennifer lawrence you do not know yet. i will leave it there. >> more of a comedy. >> very dirty comedy. >> because i told dill ylan, i watched "train wreck" on the plain this sunday. and there was an 8-year-old ild with her mothe on the side of me, so there was like an angle. anan there was a a john cena scene at the beginning, if you've seen the movie you know. and i started to slowly move my eyes. as if i was watching. and i started scooting over. but i can't stop watching and the kid -- i'm like, okay, just -- >> this new movie is something

>> no, that's probably pg in comparison to what i iaveheard. >> ooh, j-law goes dirty. we'll see what happens. you're a big music fan, we both know prince very well. you love prince too. >> i adore -- no pun tended. i love prince. >> a a right. >> i don't send him pictures in the morning of what i'm wearing. >> oh, you do watch. >> you do watch. >> io watch.h. >> girl code, dylan. >> no comment. wait, i'm going to sip my tea. >> supposed to t tk -- spotify. >> top artist songs for 2015. most streamed artist of 2015 was drake. >> really? >> the hot line bling? >> the hot line bling. i like that. drake is an amazing artist. he's really taken over the airwaves. so i can understand why that is the m mt streamam. most streamed female of 2015. any guess? >> right there.

>> you can read it off there. >> is it rihanna? it i i rihanna. and she's probably my favorite place on earth, barbados. i go to barbados every year for cropover. >> what's cropover? a festival? >> it's a carnival. and reihanna is an amazing artist. >> winter is over and dylan has been assigned -- >> do o u want me to g ge you something right now? >> yeah. >> i'm inviting you all to cropover with me. i will take care of you. you come to cropover with me. look -- people -- i give. i give something extra. >> i'm concerned, because i've seen pictures of rihanna. do you wear -- you wear nothing. it's like carnival. >> it's cacaival. i was with her in cropover this year. a little paint. >> i don't know about -- >> we have to talk to natalie. i'll figure it out. >> i don't know if i'm cool enough. >> you couldldo it. look, you can handle it.

you know what, we have the most streamed song of 2015. i don't -- i feel bad, because i don't know this song. >> what? >> i wonder if you've heard i i . >> you know this song. >> oh! i didn't know it until i heard it. >> lean on. oh, that's -- >> okay. >> that's a great song. >> that's a great song. >> all right. so you know what else we have? this is an amazing story of generosity that we have been talking about. this couple, they choose to remain anonymous. they dropped a $500,000 check into the salvation army reded kettle outside a grocery store in rosemount, minnesota, 20 miles outside minneapolis. the red cross, they know who the people are -- the couple. but the couple has decided, which i love, to remain anonymous. they say that they relied on discarded foo from a local grocery store as a young couple

would say afford, to help other people. $500,000. >> that is beautiful. >> and anonymously. it means it's all about giving. >> right. no airs, we don't want any publicity. with your kids, how do you teach them, because we're talking about giving tuesday. how do you teach them to be generous children? >> to give back? donate a lot of my time all of the time and thihiisctually the first thanksgiving -- i usually deliver meals with my fraternity to elderly people throughout new jersey. so we go north and east orange and hand to hand to deliver the meals and this year a lot of them brought their families. and it's beautiful. every year i'm going to bring my girls, and you know, deliver the meals. it's all about giving back. >> so maybe we'll join you there, and -- >> there you go. >> for vacation. because it's getting chilly a lot of places and we need to go to cropover with you. what's going on, dylan? >> before we get there, can i say it's my husband's birthday?? i just want to throw that in.

he has not even hit 3 3 years yet. >> break into song. >> happy birthday? >> i don't sing. i need to get to the weather. but i just had to throw that in. >> happy birthday. >> happy 29th birthday. and l lking at the weather across the country, we are looking at a little bit of snow, especially through northeastern minnesota. some wrap-around moisture, too. the whole storm system is fizzling out. we'll see 4 to 6 inches neaea duluth but it's on the back side where we'll get gusty winds. rain is a big story. 3 inches in appalachian and western north carolina, northern georgia. so watch out for the potential of flash flooding.while some of us had sleet and freezing rain, most of us saw mainly rain. we south. the heaviest reports are to the norrh, but it includes the sleet and mainly snow showers today and tonight as the low tracks to the northeast. as that early this morning, but should be able to rebound somewhat this afternoon. roads are still partially covered to the west, but we have mainly wet roads here. stormtrack7 live weather network cameras will show the wet roads and

mark met, so some road may start to get slippery this mornii. much colder to the west mph and will beerom the southwest for much of the day. the low is sh and that's your latest forecast. a picture of dylan's husbandnd here. ank you very much. happy birthday! up next, it is giving tuesday, and america has got talent host nick cannon is in a giving mood. he'll tell us all about that. plus, his new movie w wh spike lee after this., his new movie with spike lee after this. just head around the corner to walgreens when you're searching for that perfect little something. walgreens has great gifts like toys, beauty gift sets and photo gifts, and it's all just a hop, skip and d bark away. walgreens. at the corner of happy and healthy.

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giving tuesday on "today" is sponsored by the salvation army. nick cannon is one of the busiest guys in entertainment, the actor is part of the nbc family as host of the hit reality competition, "america's got talent."talent." >> you'll also be seeing him in the new spike lee film alongside jennifer hudson, samuel l. jackson and angela bass. >> and he's helping underprivileged kids this holiday season and is here on behalf of our sponsor, salvation army. nick, good to see you. >> good morning. >> congratulations on this giving tuesday. >> thank you. >> everything you've got going on and you take a pause to be part of the salvation army effort to help so mama people who need it this time of year. >> absolutely.

to much is given much is required and especially during the holiday season. you know. we a a want to put o o red kettle reason of why, you know, we do what we do for the holidays and why we give back. you know, we're getting ready for this big shopping spree for underpriviviged kids and people to have a better holiday season and top five finalists bringing out here to new york city. >> phenomenal. >> sound like fun. >> real cool. >> and speaking of howow busy you are. you watched "shiraq" and talk about a transformati. >> what do you mean? >> there's "america's got talent" nick cannon and the shiraq nick cannon. what was it like being in the film? >> the first thing, our great director spike lee before he told meet story line or plot line, said he wanted to save lives in the south side of chicago. i'm in 100% and when you see the

you know, from over 2,000 years ago into modern day chicago, it's a reall beautiful piece of art. >> tamron is asking about your workout routine. >> let's face it. see you, always happy and this is the truth. every time you see nick a smile on his face and very dapper and know that side of you and this character in addition to being very intense, you weren the gym a lot. like you're buffing out in that suit. >> all the tattooc are real. a lot going on in the suit. >> do you recognize yourself in him? >> look at that. >> we have different sides of the coin, you know. >> it's like an onion, layers. >> layers and layers. >> largs of abab b b -- layers of abs. >> you're making me blush. >> you're in new york. >> amazing. spike knows how to bring it together and a l of fun and people coming out and the film comes out this week soo we're

think of simon cowell joining the team over at "america's got talent." >> first of all, always been there, the creator of the show, the boss and now he's going to jump into the seat where he always wanted to be in the first place because when you think about it he's on "britain's got talent ". >> the a nice simon or a hard simon? >> is there e er a nice simon? kind of always to the point. i feel like that judging seat has always been like the real harsh to the point honest. you had piers morgan, howard sternnnd nowsimon. i think he has to be that guy, and he's guy who created that guy. he is that guy. >> he's the original meany on all the shows. real quick with the kids. saw cute pictures on instagram of you and rock 'n' roll for the christmas season. >> doing a lot of cool stuff. obviously we had thanksgiving so that was amazing, and the personalities allll over thth place anddhey were helping me deejay at halo awards, so they are doing their thing at 4 years old. already taking over. >> you work very hard and now the kids are working hard.

it's in the family. >> nick cannon, thank you so much for being here and all you're doing with the salvation army, too. up next, today and every day is christmas for leann rimes who is celebrating the sfason with a new holiday bum. we'l'l catch up with the grammy winner right after this. everything you need to know about life, you can learn from granola. keep it simple. always be real. don't be artificial, but always be sweet. nature valley granola bars.

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biotene can provide soothing relief and it helps keep your mouth healthy too. biotene, for peoeoe who suffer from m dry mouth. singer and songwriter leann rimes is out with a brand new album of holiday music. >> called "today is christmas" and is out right now. leann rimes, good morning. >> hi. >> thanks so much for being here. "jingle, jim angel" stuck in my head along with the sound of bells bells. >> i feel a little left out i didn't get the invite. >> next time. >> we expect you to do a christmas song every year now. >> which, i don't know -- today, tomorrow, yesterday, like do i just continue to write something like that. i don't know. we'll come up with something, i'm sure. >> i'm sure we could. >> got to be fun. you lov chstmas, don't you? >> i do. i don't know, my god parent and

really celebrated the holidays. my god patients especially and i just kind of adopted that. it was really special for me, too, because i was always on the road so it was nice t t -- thatat wawathe time of yeaea i got to be home and grounded. >> so you start decorations right after halloween? >> yeah. >> i've gotten a lot of grgrf. >> t ts year for reason, people are really divided, you can either decorate like right after and before thanksgiving and people are adamant about you waiting and, yeah, peoplele >> the tree goes up? >> t t tree -- the tree went up last week actually so it -- i've been a little busy, and we have definitely -- we love to decorate the tree with h e kids and so it was the one time everybody was at home and we could do it so we waited a little later this year so it was maybe a little bit more approprie. >> your place is ready foror christmama >> my wife is obsessed with christmas so the decorations go up right away. >> we'd get along so well.

>> i come -- i just came back from atlanta and came home and ribbons up and little trees. wants another tree. she wants two trees. >> we have a picture of a santa. >> and a picture with santa. >> i did 'tis my country christmas and he drove by. i love doing that, so fun. >> anything special you want for this christmas? >> gosh, i don't know. i haven't even thought about it. >> no time. >> very busy right now. >> yeah. >> the yeah, no. i'm going to be on the road and touring for the next like two and a half weeks so my december is packed and all in a good way. really, really excited about the tour. the new albu >> yes. we head out and start this on the 4thh i think coming up in washington and going down the west coast this year. >> what do you love about hitting the road? >> i love the -- obviously the live experience is unlike any other. i mean, i is -- once you have experienced that, it's like it is almost like a drug, like you

and i've been doing it since i was a kid so it's always fun to go out and real kind of be able to play these songs for, you know, the people that have been listening live for them. that's the fun part of it. >> you'll sing another song for us in just a few minutes. >> absolululy. >> can't wait for that, but, first, we've got y with ingredients like roasted hazelnuts and cocoa, there's a whole lot of happy in every jar of nutella.

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the past. several members of iowa's congressional delegation say they're disappointed. muslim students at the three state universities are looking for a permanent place to pray. in iowa city -- the muslim student associcition has a m meting scheduled for this week. conversations are also underway at u-n-i. at iowa state, students can use the chapel but it's too far from classrooms to be used regulary. now, let's go to eileen with a look at weather. snow showers today and tonight with flurries tomorrow. snow totatas an inch or lele with dry weaaher taking over for the rest of the week.

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taking a look at the headlines, technology company v-tech says the personal information of about 5 million of its customers and their children may have been stolen by hackers. the company disclosed the breach late last week, but did not say how many people could be affected until monday. the affected database includes the names, birth dates and otos of childrenen v-tech makes a variety of popular tech-related toys, including tablets and smart watches. a government panel of doetors is stirring debate with

recommendations about skin cancer screenings. the draft says there is not enough evidence to recommend for or against visual full-body screenings for melanoma. that recommendation does not apply to patients with a history or a high risk for skin cancer. the preventative services task force says there are potential harms that go along with screening, inclulung unnecessary biopsies that can lead to scarring or other damage. hundreds of scientists and ethicists from around thehe world are gathering to debate the boundaries of human gene editing. it is letting scientists learn to rewrite the genetic code aiming to alter dna in ways that could erase disease-causing genes. there is plenty of debate on how far these experiments should go to fix only the sick or make changes that future generations could inherit. and good eating habits can sometimes fall by the wayside

but dieticians have several tips forvoidinging holiday weight gain. eat before going to a party so you don't fill up on fatty foods, choose a smaller plate d take smallll servingng of food you really want. don't eat standing up because it's hard to keep track of what you're eating while on your feet. who knew? it's time to play t tame game. here are the top baby names of the year, courtesy of the folks at baby center.com. for boys, jackson is top for the third year. that's followed by a aen and liam. for girls, sophia wins again for the sixth straight time. emma was second. and olivia was third. i love all of those names. another name w w love, dylan. and she is here with a check of the weather. i'll shimmy out. >> never on any list. it's -- i love it, though. we are looking at someretty messy weather, especially across the northern plains in the upper midwest.

producing snow i minnesota. rain across the southeast, heavy for the appalachians with up to 6 inches of rain total between the rain we saw yesterday and the rain we'll see through wednesday. freezing fog also an issue through parts of oklahoma. keep t tt in mind. the roads could be icy. tomorrow we'll see a little bit of lake-effect snow. the rain heaviest across the southeast with spotty showers across the northeast. even icy through parts off northern maine. and in the northwest, another storm system will make its way onshore that produces rain and mountain snow. for the tree-lighting in rockefeller center, 6:00, a little bit of rain. tempmpatures in the mid 5 5snd even by 9:00, spotty showers. some could be heavy. but we'll be in and out of the rain clouds throughrain. we had a half an innh in waterloo with lighter amounts to the south. the heaviest reports are to the north, but it includes the sleet and freezing rain that fell in the morning. we will en up with mainly snow showers oday and tonighh as the low tracks to the northeastt as that occurs, we see temps

probably seen our highs early this morning, but should be able to rebound somewhat this afternoon. roads are still partiallylycovered to the wess but we have mainly wet roads here. stormtrack7 live weather network cameras will show the wet roads and and t tt's your latest forerest. the citi convert series on "today" is proudly presented to you by citi. >> grammy winning singer/songwriter leann rimes is getting us into the holiday spirit this morning. here she is singing a medley of her brand new album "today is christmas." have a holly jolly christmas, it's the best time of the year

will be snow, but grab a cup of cheer have a holly jolly christmas and when you walk down the street sayello to friends you know and everyone you meet oh, ho, the mistletoe, hung where you can't see somebody waits for you, kiss them once for me have a holly jolly christmas and in case you didn't hear oh, by golly have a holly jolly christmas this year frosty the snowown was a jolly happy soul with a corn cob pipe and button nose and two eyes made out of coal frostyy the snowman had to hurry on his way well, he waved good-bye saying

i'll be back again,thumpity, thumpity, thump, thump, look at frosty go thumpity, thumpity, thump, thump, over the hills of oh, the mistletoe, hung where you can't see somebody waits for you, kiss them once for, kiss them once for me w wwill have holly jolly christmas and in case you didn't hear oh, by golly have a holly jolly christmas this year this year >> thank you, leann and will be back w wh another song for kathie lee and hoda. the powerful new film taking on

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make it happen. maybelline new york. spike lee is one of theost prolific writers, actors and directors a a aututrs with movies like "malcolm x" and "do the right thing" and has never shied away fro subjects like race and politics. >> and now he's wrote and produced a new movie called "chiraq" based on an ancient greek play though this time it's about the modern day crisis in chicago. spike is here with us. good morning, good to see you. >> hadour star nick cannon. >> yeah. >> on the cast, sam jackson. >> jennifer hudson. >> angela bassett. >> was this your dream cast because a lot of them have ties to chicago and also are activists less. >> especially jennifer, john cusack, so we got the people i wanted and everybody came through and from the get go we told people this film got to

that was the premise from the beginning. >> and it couldn't be more mely with the tape of laquan mcdonald that came out and everything that's happening in chicago right now. who did you make this film for? >> everybody, because i think gun violence affects all amamicans. sosotimes we just thihi it's just i ithe hood, just black folks, but gun violence affects everybody in ts country. >> the name of the film "chiraq," i lived in chicago foror ten years and there's a lot of controversy behind that name and what did you want it to be the title? tell people what does it mean? >> the term "chiraq,"," local chicago rappers came with that term because they felt that chicago's west side, south side was more dangerous than aq, so it's -- it's a mishmash of chicago and iraq. >> your career obviously speaks for itself, but you recently got

it's called an oscar i think, the honorary oscar. you had sam jackson, denzel washington and wesley snipes, john singleton there as well. yoyo entire family. >> ririt. >> your kids are both in college now. >> yes. >> what was that like to get that oscar? >> well,, sam cook wrote a song. >> a great song. >> but i don't want to sing it though. >> well deserved. >> i was honored, and i really got a good shout-out to the president of the academy, african-american woman, whose agenda is really to bring diversity to the academy, to thee voting members and everything else, so i'm almost humbled. >> you spoke about that in your acceptance speech. a lot of people talked about that afterwards. ;> yeah. i said that -- that it's easier for african-americans, the black person, to be president of the

of a hollywood studio or tv neneork cable. >> well, you're in the afraid of controversy, but are you afraid of having an empty net? >> whoa, whoa, whoa, why is that controversial? >> i think it is becauseome people don't realizeze that and nott ready to ingest that. >> controversy doesn't mean you're avoiding talking about it but certainly something people don't think about all the time. >> my sister, give me a hand. >> thank you. >> i'm just saying. >> i i feel like i -- i get it. i've been black for a long time, for 45 years, i get it. >> i'm just saying. i think that people just word that word controversial and slala it on everything, controversial, controversial, controversial, controversial, you know. >> but sometimes it's applicable and true, right? >> you going to the knicks game sunday night? >> okay. >> i do have to bring up your kids because what people don't know and i know your wife very well,, she's amazing. >> thank you. >> you have an empty nest. >> mm-hmm. >> what's the lee house like now

are you getting on her nerves? are you making her not say controversrs >> here's the deal. well, my daughter satchel was an exchange student in france, in paris, so she fleww the morning of the massacre, she flew from charles de gaulle airport to l.a. for the oscar. >> wow. >> so she left that morning, and my n, he goes to school -- the school is here in new york city so he's home all the time. >> so you don't have an empty nest becau he's there all the time? >> not really, no. >> well, congratulations, spike. >> new york premiere. >> new york premiere. >> and we'll both be there. >> and i w wld like to sayay for the first time since 1986, we're not going to have a party. we're having a march tonight, an anti-gun and anti-violence march after t t -- no party, no dancing, no drinking, we're going to mark. >> keep the focus.

the movie opens friday. up next, another friend of ours, the comedian who got president obama to kick back with him in a garage? yes, this man. marc maron after this. ve extra. get extra.a. cool.

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our next mission could be anything. so we prepare for everything. he's a tv star, one of the best podcasters on the planet, and just saying, you know, okay human being. according to him. >> there's s sething between -- >> comedian marc maron. >> also the man who got president obama to sit down in a garage with him. now marc is about to debut a new stand-up special called "more later.r. >> the marc, good morning. >> hi. >> good to have you here. >> i'll talk to you, which of you? >> okay. >> we'll direct questions and you can i guess talk to whoever. so to start of courur, i feel like -- and you've said yourself you have a river of rage running through you. >> yes. >> why so angry, what's wrong is. >> it's just something i nurture and maintain.

anymore but sometimes creativity comes from that and sometimes charm and sometimes intensity and sometimes, you know, pure rage which i try t t avoid. i don't know who put it there, maybe my mom. installed early. >> there's a source somewhere. >> she loves this show. can i be nice to her for a minute. hi, mom, happy thanksgiving. i love u. how does that feel? >> has anyone made you mad today? >> today, maybe a little. no, not bad. nod bad today. but it happens very quickly and for no reason, and sometimes when you get angry for no reason, like if you're just waiting on line, starbucks or perhaps when a host comes up to you and say why are you twittering, why are you tweeting like that? >> who said that. >> what's wrong with your twitter followers, remember when that happened five minutes ago? >> your twitter followers are convinced that we have something going on. >> well, i thought we did, okay, and maybe it's -- >> oh. >> no? >> okay. >> i think we did that night. no, i'm kidding. >> whoa. >> i'm kidding, in garage, you know, you interviewed me.

>> no, no, just kidding. but you did get this that garage of yours president obama. >> yes. >> he just dropped by, casually dropped by. >> how does that happen for you? >> yeah. >> that's an interesting way to frame a question. >> i don't know. i guess -- i guess he feltike i needed someattention, you know, and he just took time from his national agenda. >> that's a huge fet for you. >> no, it was huge. >> for anyone. >> it was about a year in the making, sort of r%ached out and feeling whether he could do it and whether he wanted t t do it and when it was happening it's happening. not a casual thing when the president comes over, like there was something i never thought i would have to do is ask my neighbor if it would be oy if we put some snipers on his roof. he was excited. >> true story? >> he's retired, too. yeah, let him. gave him a patch afterwards, and the president was very -- yeah, a little sniper patch, an official neighbor sniper helper.

>> now you can get met. >> the special "l"ler" premiers this friday on epic. >> yeah, good.

this is "today" on nbc. our annual toy drive c cld not be a success without generous contributors, and one them cindy monrow, the founder and president and ceo of 31 gifts. cindy, good morning. good to see you. >> good morning. >> got your kids here withh u. >> i do. >> which is perfect because part of the donation tweens gifts, the hard-to-shop for crew. >> yes. >> and sometimes are forgotten. >> yes, we will be donating great products, lunch thererls, duffel bags to take over to their friends' house or on sporting events, zipper pouches, so over 150,000 teens and kids this holiday season. >> retail value oveve $32 million in gifts. >> well, that has been over like the last six years, yes. we just keep coming back for more. >> well, we love that.

>> and let me bring my co-hosts in here, a.j. and dylan. thanks for filling in.

will choose new mayors. polls are open until eight this evening. in waterloo -- quentin hart and tim hurley are on the ballot. hurley spent three terms in the six of those years he was a mayor pro tem. cedar falls mayor jon crews will be on today's ballot -- but he drdrped out shortly after the runnf was announced. the other candidate, jim brown has never run for mayor before. a third candidate -- dave halterman announced a write- in campaign after crews dropped out. halterman was on t te ballot lastt month but didn't qualify for the run-off. now, let's go to eileen with a look at weather. snow showers today and tonight

>> announcer: from nbc news, this is "today" with kathie lee gifford and hoda kotb live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. hello, everybody! i'm sorry i am over there looking at the chicken schnitzel from donna.

one of hoda's favorite days. >> and i love this song, and