good morning. breaking news. the man suspected of gunning down a child and three other family members at thanksgiving dinner is arrested after a nationwide manhunt. absolute certainty. the national counterterrorism center warns that al qaeda continues to look for ways to attack america. this as the u.s. embassy in yemen closes due to terror threats and the president prepares to meet with his top security officials. and winter wallop, from wind and waves to blankets of snow, the northeast is bearing the brunt of mother nature and more is expected. today, sunday, january 3rd,

2010. from nbc news, this is "today" with lester holt and jenna wolfe. live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. good morning, everyone. welcome to "today" on a sunday morning. i'm lester holt. >> and i'm jenna wolfe. the arrest of paul merhige brings some closure to the family of the victims of that thanksgiving day massacre. >> while he was loose some of the family feared for their own lives thinking he might be seeking them out as well. now at least part of that nightmare is over thanks to a tip generated by "america's most wand." we'll have the latest including an interview with the parents of the youngest victim. also as the president returns from his hawaiian vacation, he'll meet this week at the white house with his top security team to find out just how the would be christmas bomber got onto that northwest flight headed to detroit undetected. more on that just ahead. plus the latest on the

winter storm battering the northeast. first, let's get back to that breaking news of the arrest of paul merhige, wanted for gunning down four family members at a thanksgiving dinner. authorities had been looking for him for more than a month and found him at a motel in the florida keys last night. nbc's michelle kaczynski is in florida with the very latest. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, lester. this case has had people on edge from here up to michigan and beyond because police said that paul merhige was armed and dangerous, that he had his passport, a lot of cash and several guns, including a sniper rifle. and they didn't know where he was. the family said he sat through thanksgiving dinner, went to his car, came back with a gun and opened fire, killing his twin sisters, one of them was pregnant, an elderly aunt and his 6-year-old cousin while she slept. investigators said that merhige planned this all out, including his escape. for weeks his family had lived in fear that he would come back.

then last night a tip after "america's most wanted" led police right to him in a motel room in the florida keys. >> there's a weight lifted off our shoulders obviously by making this apprehension. now i can stand before you and tell you this family is safe, we can give them a little peace and let them get on with their healing process. >> reporter: the family had described merhige as brilliant but unstable and said that he announced during the shootings that he had waited 20 years to do it. now they and people around here can know that paul merhige is now in custody, lester. >> michelle kaczynski, thank you. joining us exclusively are jim and muriel sitton, the parents of makayla. good morning to both of you. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> jim, if i can begin with you, none of us can begin to understand what it must have been like the last five weeks knowing that he was out there. what was it like to wake up this morning knowing that you're safe. >> actually it was a huge relief to know that the monster is in

the cage. the last, you know, ever since we've come back into the house, i've been in protective mode. we've had jupiter police in front of our house and in back protecting us 24 hours a day, seven days a week. even with that i would be inside my house patrolling the different windows, you know, until four or five in the morning just because, you know, paul is unpredictable and i was in protective mode trying to make sure that my family was safe. >> were you surprised that he was still in florida after all these weeks and apparently still driving the car that he was last seen in? >> my theory was that he was within ten miles of my house the whole time, and that's how i -- that's what i thought and that's how i acted, you know, in the protective mode that i was. yeah, i was very surprised that he drove to the keys in the same

car. not as smart as he thought he was, i guess. >> muriel, let me turn to you, this arrest comes after a huge effort on the part of your family and the part of a lot of people in the community who were determined to find him. i know you want to acknowledge that effort this morning. what do you want to say? >> yes. we really want to thank the jupiter police, the chief, all the officers that have been protecting us round the clock. all the u.s. marshals, everybody, all the detectives that have been involved night and day on this case and also john walsh and "america's most wanted" for their commitment to getting our story out, to putting it out nationally that led to this one tip that we were waiting for. we hoped and prayed that it would come in and it did yesterday. so we greatly thank john walsh for his compassion, for his understanding what our family was going through and the real need to get this killer off the

streets. we're thankful to god that this killer is off the streets right now and behind bars. >> and i can't help thinking these weeks as you've been waiting for this arrest that as a family have you really had time to grieve your loss, muriel? >> it's been, it's been an added stress, having this policeman hunt going on. i've grieved my daughter every morning, all day long. my mom and my daughter are on my mind. i wake up in tears and the tears last for about an hour and a half, two hours. and so the grief is great. the manhunt definitely added a lot of stress to us and our family and the fear of thinking that perhaps he would strike again. so it made it extremely difficult. but now we can at least rest knowing that he's behind bars and that we can focus on the grieving process that we need to

go through. >> jim, you work in television down in florida and you're the friend of many people here in the nbc family. you get the power of the media, you get the power of "america's most wanted" in keeping the story out there. when it got so much publicity did you feel the end was near in terms of solving this case and arresting the suspect? >> i knew that his photo was going to go worldwide, international with "america's most wanted." john walsh, he's a pretty powerful guy in that respect. so whenever john sinks his teeth into our case, i felt really happy and i know the tenacity that that man has, happy that he was on my side. i tried not to get our hopes up, you know, that he would be found quickly, but i always knew that paul will get justice, if not here on earth, you know, in

eternity and so i'm not really worried about his outcome. i'm more worried about, you know, my family healing. >> well, jim and muriel, know that you have been in our thoughts. we're happy that you're safe this morning. please again accept our condolences and thank you for being with us this morning. we do appreciate it. >> thank you for helping us keep his photo out on the nationwide basis. the media has been really helpful to us. we thank you. >> thank you. >> you bet. it's now eight minutes past the hour. here's jenna. now to the winter weather hitting the northeast. much of new york state got a dumping of snow while high winds and waves battered the new england coast. mike, is just outside of buffalo. how cold is it there? >> reporter: let me tell you how cold it is. my face feels like it's going to crack, my eyes are watering up and i can't feel my finger tips.

the windchill is 10 below 0. this storm backed in the coast of maine. there are two sides, the snow and the coal. let's deal with the snow. in buffalo, 5 inches yesterday, 6 more today. western new york may see more than a foot of snow between now and later on monday. in those other areas, how about new hampshire where they usually vote earl. they won't have voted early for this, 18 inches of snow. some places have had a foot of snow and cold is the other story. all of us dealing with wind gusts over 40 miles an hour. we have a gust earlier this morning at 60 miles an hour. that will keep the windchills down to below zero in most areas and those winds will cause big problems at the airports, logan to la guardia to philadelphia international. expect more delays. some of those could be extensive. jenna, it's going to stay cold, below average most of the week but not as cold as international falls. this morning for the second morning in a row, a record low.

without the windchill, 37 below 0. suddenly i feel warmer. back to you. >> you don't look any warmer. thanks for braving the elements for us. janice is upstairs with where the storm is headed and what we can expect today. >> good morning. as you can see this cold weather is no joke that's taking place from the northeast all the way back to the upper midwest. these are the current temperatures right now around buffalo, plattsburgh, it's 9 degrees. it's 18 here in new york city. but across the northern plains and upper midwest, the temperature, the thermometer reading without the wind is minus 34 in international falls. now, with the wind it feels even colder, of course. not much wind right now around international falls but the windchill is minus 8 in detroit, 7 below in buffalo and it feels like 4 above right here in new york city just outside our window. it is a very, very cold air, brutally cold day because of arctic high pressure and an area of low pressure that brought that snowstorm to new england.

the difference in the pressure between the two is bringing a lot of wind across the lakes and they're getting quite a bit of snow there. more details on the forecast coming up in just a few minutes. back to you. >> all right, thanks. now let's head over to lester. >> turning now to the latest following that failed airline bomb attempt on christmas day, the president is going to meet this week with his top security officials at the white house. mike is there with more. >> reporter: good morning. u.s. officials are announcing that the british and united states embassies are going to be closed in yemen due to an imminent threat from al qaeda. they say they are planning an atech in that country. this comes as the president said the country has become a new strong hold for an old enemy. president obama revealed for the first time what many had suspected since the attempted bombing on christmas day. al qaeda was behind it. >> it appears that he joined an affiliate of al qaeda and that this group, al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, trained him, equipped him with those

explosives and directed him to attack that plane headed for america. >> reporter: the president says that the suspect, umar abdulmutallab received his training in yemen, a country wrecked by poverty and on ongoing civil war. now fertile ground for extremists driven from strong holds in afghanistan and elsewhere. >> it's really a safe haven for islamic terrorists and the yemeni government is almost powerless to stop them from operating. >> reporter: after getting initial reports earlier this week, mr. obama has called a face-to-face meeting with top officials set for tuesday at the white house. among the attendees, director of national intelligence, dennis blair, homeland security secretary janet napolitano as well as leaders of the tsa and the national counterterrorism center. all agencies formed in the wake of the 9/11 attack and all created to avoid just the kind of human and systemic failure that say almost led to a

christmas catastrophe in the skies over detroit. >> they should all be in the hot seat. this is ludicrous. i think there should be some action taken to correct this. there was a lack of accountability in the system. >> reporter: and there is this warning from a top u.s. counterterrorism official. al qaeda continues to remain their methods to test our defenses and pursue an attack on the homeland. and in the face of republican charges that mr. obama has deemphasized fighting terror, now the president is hitting back. >> we've disrupted terrorists' financing, cut off recruiting chains, inflicted major losses on al qaeda's leadership, thwarted plots here in the united states and saved countless american lives. >> reporter: and, jenna, late yesterday it was announced that the u.s. and british governments will team up to fund an anti-terror police force in yemen. this comes as the top u.s. general in the region spent the weekend there consulting with local officials about the fight against al qaeda. >> all right, mike, thanks. david gregory is moderator

of "meet the press." as we just heard they have shut down the u.s. embassy in yemen in response to the ongoing threats by al qaeda, this all in the wake of the failed christmas day bombing, what message to this send out, them closing the embassy down. >> they have specific information officials are saying about an attack in yemen. they're not saying precisely where. not just the u.s. embassy but the british embassy has been closed. the british embassy at least for today. so there's obviously specific intelligence that they have. it comes -- it's part of a busy weekend. the president really putting the focus on yemen and that branch of al qaeda that's operating there. i think the message here is that there is a new front in this battle against al qaeda. what form that takes is another matter, but yemen has been a slashpoint for al qaeda activity going back to the cole bombing in 2000. so this is going to be an area of increased scrutiny and concern.

>> david, we know now this wasn't the act of one man acting alone. instead this was the work of al qaeda. could this ratchet up criticism over everything, from whether the administration dropped the ball on catching this guy a long timing atto the way the president is handling this matter from vacation in hawaii. >> there's no question the president's performance will be scrutinized, as is always the case, going back to previous administrations as well. i do think, again, the focus on al qaeda and what failures occurred in the intelligence system is really an important point here. there were significant red flags that were raised about this bomber who boarded that flight, including his own father reporting his concerns to the embassy, to the u.s. embassy. the british government revoking his visa to travel while the u.s. had still given abdulmutallab a visa to travel to the united states. how when we've got a more sophisticated layering of intelligence information is the government still not talking to

itself from one branch to the other? i think this is going to be the real focus of the investigation. >> the other issue here is with all this increased focus on yemen, does this complicate the administration's plan on shutting down gitmo, because a lot of the detainees there are are from yemen. >> you've already heard from the top democrat, dianne feinstein of california, saying that there ought to be a halt to those yemenis being returned. i think there's real questions about the yemeni government in terms of what kind of partner it is to the united states. there have been some operations that have been more or less joint operations with u.s. intelligence and the like helping the yemeni government but i think this is a real question for those in the counterterror game. can they handle those prisoners back or are we just adding to the level of danger there. >> david gregory, thank you. it's time for a quick check of the other headlines. we're going to say good morning to ron mott. >> good morning, everyone. the faa is increasing oversight

of american airlines after three mishaps during landings. jet liners' wing tips touched the ground in two landings. and then there was the plane that overshot the runway in jamaica and broke into pieces. officials are investigating to see if there might be a larger issue. elin woods is reportedly back from a ski trip to france. elin talked every day to tiger but only about their kids. then the news of the world is reporting that when elin was asked what tiger gave her for christmas she replied, quote, $300 million. news of the world is also reporting elin did not allow tiger to see their kids because of his, quote, mental state. also prince william says he will not become a shadow king. they quote his personal press secretary saying the prince will focus on his military career. finally, ask and you shall receive. rick warren's plea for donations to fill a $900,000 deficit

brought in a whopping $2.4 million. three days later he reached the $2.4 million mark and donations are still coming in. didn't even have to pass the plate. it's 17 past the hour, that's the news. let's send it back over to lester, jenna and >> is cold out there. even with sunny skies it feels like 0. even with sunny skies it feels like 0. we will probably pick up a for 12 years.

now here's jenna. >> all right, janice, thanks. we'll be right back with more of "today" right after this. ...kept coming back... ...or that i could help prevent them in the first place. the problem was that my controller medicine... ...was treating only 1 main cause of asthma symptoms. but there are 2. airway constriction. and inflammation. unlike most controllers, advair treats both main causes. advair treats both main causes. and that helps prevent symptoms in the first place. (announcer) advair contains salmeterol. salmeterol may increase the chance of asthma-related death. so advair is not for asthma that's well controlled on another controller medicine. advair will not replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms... ...and should not be taken more than twice a day. talk to your doctor about the risks and benefits of advair. if you take advair, see your doctor if your asthma does not improve or gets worse. if you're still having symptoms... ...ask your doctor how to help prevent them with advair. (announcer) get your first prescription free and save on refills. advair. now you know.

i don't know if you caught my night thely news blog yesterday but i declared the holiday is over. i can't continue to eat like this. thanksgiving, christmas, new year's. >> are you one of the eight million people that made dieting an going for the gym your resolution. >> no. we give ourselves this dispensation to just eat and eat and eat so yesterday i brought everything into the newsroom so i'm an official enabler now. >> well, the holiday went two weeks this year. christmas and new year's -- >> i don't make the dieting proclamation so much, just go find some normalcy. >> so you eat and i diet. >> i guess. >> perfect. we'll be back right after this. ♪ with the centers for disease control and prevention saying...

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still to come on "today," from the common cold to migraine headach headaches. every day ailments and the food that cure them. and tackling cabin fever. the best cures for the winter blues coming up after these messages. we'll close your loan at your own house if you want. you don't have to come to us. we'll come to you. my cell phone's always on. if you need me, i'm here for you. every client. every time. - no exceptions. - no excuses. that's what we're all about. - and that's why i love... - i love... i love being a home loan expert. ♪ announcer: there's an easier way. create your own business site with intuit websites. just choose a style, then customize, publish and get found. sweet.

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>> good morning.

it is 8:26. here's a look at the top stories we're following right now. charges have been filed in the death of a 20-month-old. gemayel wallace was found unresponsive -- sean nailah -- shaniya wallace was found unresponsive in her home. police have charged her father with assault and child abuse. his girlfriend is charged with murder, child abuse, and assault. on the easter -- eastern shore sarah fox well was laid to rest. and her body was found on christmas day near the delaware maryland line. thomas leggs jr. is a registered sex offender charged in the case. he had dated the aunt of the girl. his lawyer says that he denies

harming the girl. at the brookline apartment complex on saturday on, and brook road five people were displaced. the memorial service for a baltimore city civil rights activists will be held wednesday. robert kaufman died on christmas day. he donated his body to science. there will be no funeral. he ran a number of offices over the years. the memorial service is set for wednesday at 2:00 p.m. robert kaufman was 78 years old. stay with us. when we return we will

>> there's a storm off cape cod and in new england. we have dry conditions here with sunshine. it only feels like 0. the actual temperature is 16 degrees. this is because of the strong winds. this evening the storm will still be off the shore on the new england coast. more to the mountains in the west with a few inches of accumulation as far as we are concerned. temperatures way below average for this time of year. high near 30 degrees, when you factor in the northwest winds it will feel like only 12 degrees during the day to day. only breezy tomorrow. the wind will back off. light snow by the end of the day. flurries and snow showers, thursday, friday, with temperatures well below seasonal

averages. >> thank you for joining us. we continue in 27 minutes. we are back on this sunday morning, january 3rd, 2010. it is bitter cold here in new york city this morning. i think janice told me the windchill is like 4 degrees. it feels like four million below zero. >> it says 19. >> well, my legs feel really, really cold. outside on the plaza, i'm jenna wolfe along with lester holt. still to come, speaking of cold, the cold pretty much keeps us indoors. >> and you know that leads to especially in this part of the country, cabin fever. you're cooped up, feeling like you need something to do.

we've got some ideas how to solve cabin fever from the best movies to see, do-it-yourself projects or hosting your own spa day or maybe a beer-tasting party. >> i can't even imagine you at a beer-tasting party. >> you should get around with me. >> okay. i think you're rendered speechless. also we'll take one last look at those pesky new year's resolutions. do you make them anymore? >> i kinda do, kinda sorta. >> we spent some time with a large group of people in times square as they were preparing to wait for the ball drop and sort of got an idea of what is on everybody's mind. you will not even imagine. as you can tell and as you can probably see we got some pretty interesting answers. >> maybe i'll drink less beer in 2010. also one of the best things to enjoy on a cold day like this a hot cup of cocoa. if you've made the resolution this new year to keep the waistline -- and the crowd is going oh!

we'd love to serve you some but jenna doesn't allow it. we're going to look at some of the ones that will keep your waistline under control. lighter but so tasty. not that tasty really, it's not that great.

>> very cold here, 16 degrees with west wins. it makes it feel like 0 right now. the actual temperature is in the upper 20' well, it's going to be a cold night for sunday night football. what day is this? sunday night football here on nbc. it is the last game in giants stadium. the teams will be moving to a new stadium next year. if you're going to watch the jets and bengals, you might want to stay warm and watch on your couch. temperatures in the 20s with the windchill around 8 above. that's what it will feel like. if you want more weather

information, you can always go to weather.com. now here's jenna. all right, janice. i safely made it back inside. this morning on today's health, comfort food. feeling under the weather or have a stomach ache, depending on what painses you, certain foods can relieve whatever it is. here to take us through them is pam o'brien. good morning. >> good morning. >> so is it true there are foods that can take the place of medicine and cure us? >> yeah, they can cure and even prevent illnesses. >> let's start with the common cold. what foods are good if you have a cold? >> first of all, white button mushrooms contain substances that boost your immune system. and then salmon is loaded with vitamin d. and actually research shows that people with the lowest levels of d get the most colds and flu so you want to get a lot of d. >> i see you have sunflower seeds. really? >> yeah. actually they're high in vitamin e, which can lower your risk of

getting a cold and flu by 20%. >> is this yogurt? >> yeah, it contains a substance that helps your body fight off bacteria and viruss. >> let's move to know to stress, is this a stress meal because this is important because a lot of people could use this. take me through a little of this. >> so curry contains a substance that's been shown to lower your stress level. and then milk contains calcium, which eases muscle aches and pains and also soothes you psychologically. >> i see you have red peppers. this is also good if you have jitters or something like a big speech. >> studies show if you eat red pepper it soothes stress because it has lots of vitamin c. >> does it have more than an orange or grapefruit? >> yeah, it's loaded with vitamin c. >> i could spend six hours in a bowl of phish tash -- pistachio nuts. >> they contain vitamin e, lower your blood pressure and help

calm you. >> i probably need like 12 of these bowls. now, this is we're going to talk about headaches, right, and migraines. a lot of women suffer from this as well. >> a lot of women do, exactly. one thing you can eat is snapper, which is high in omega three fatty acids and it stops the inflammation that triggers a migraine. omega threes boost your mood too. >> what are we talking about, how many black beans will i have to eat? >> one cup of black beans. they contain riboflavin so it helps ease migraine pain. >> and the big one for me is stomach pain because a lot of people run to take medicine. you don't want to eat but tell me what you can do. >> ginger, you've heard a lot about ginger is the nausea, it stops nausea, that is proven. so try ginger. fennel also helps. >> and i see some yogurt and berries.

>> yogurt helps you die crease your -- digest your food faster. >> so basically i could gain 1200 pounds but not have an ailment in the world. pam o'brien, great information. thank you so much. up next, baby, it is cold outside. so how do you beat the cabin fever blues? find out after these messages. the one thing about smoking - is it dominates your life, and it dominated mine. i honestly loved smoking, and i honestly didn't think i would ever quit. it was very interesting that you could smoke on the first week. (announcer) chantix is a non-nicotine pill. in studies, 44% of chantix users were quit during weeks 9 to 12 of treatment, compared to 18% on sugar pill. it is proven to reduce the urge to smoke. i did have an unopen pack of cigarettes in my purse and i said, "what the heck, i don't need these..." ...i said, you know, "bye, i don't need you anymore,

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[ female announcer ] our bodies need water... and women who drink crystal light drink 20% more of it. ♪ crystal light.... water your body. this morning on today's cabin fever, the assignment of the holidays is behind us and now we have the rest of the long cold winter ahead. but before the winter blahs set in we offer glimmers of hope. >> you bet we do. from fun activities, we have a panel of experts with a cabin fever cure. first up, activities. amy goodman from "all you" magazine is here to show us fun things to do while we're keeping warm indoors. good morning. >> good morning. >> i like the first one on your

list. dance lessons. >> yes. we're all cooped up anyway so why not get moving and grooving. >> in your home. >> you call the local college or dance studio and find a dance student who's willing to teach you and your friends a little salsa just for two hours. since you're not getting judged, go crazy with the costuming and makeup. >> the last dance i learned was the bump. what was that 30 years ago? >> maybe it's time for a new routine for you. an in-home spa. >> this is for men and women. i love the idea of co-ed because men like pampering too. >> we this like to admit it. >> we have the manicure station. i think this color is a perfect shade for you. >> so you invite a professional over? >> no. you do it to each other. your friends bring the colors and you share. you bring your own nail kits for hygienic reasons. the third component is having a massage therapist come. maybe call a massage school, have them give 10 to 15-minute chair massages. a little spa food, some spritzer and you're good to go.

mini meatballs will also be a big hit. >> jenna raised her eyebrows when i suggested a beer-tasting party was a good idea. i'm a beer taster from way back. >> my friend bill brews his own beer. the idea is to have oktoberfest in january. have everybody bring a different boutique beer or specialty beer. you do a blind taste test, everybody votes. everybody becomes a winner because these steins are only 14 bucks. from oktoberfesthouse.com get them in glass or $9 for the plastic version. >> little forms, too fruity, too hoppy. >> right. make little stations around your house and do the taste testing and make sure you have a designated driver for the end of the evening. >> here's one bob barker would right. >> this is "the price is right." you price different things around the house, everybody tries to guess. the top two winners, you do the showcase showdown and the winner takes a nice gift basket home. >> amy, thanks very much. >> here's jenna now. >> i didn't roll my eyes,

lester. i was kind of impressed you went to that party. now to home projects. you can apply that cabin fever to doing something productive around the house. here to show us how is alex from "this old house" magazine. good morning. >> good morning. >> let's drive right in. we'll be indoors and turning up our heat. this is a great idea i didn't think about. how can you make your place smell good? >> it's a little musty because the windows are all closed. if you have a forced air system, take the filter out and sprinkle a little vanilla extract on it and it sends nice-smelling air all through your house so it's an easy fix to get rid of that bad smell. >> easy and a great idea. let's go outdoors. the lights, the light bulbs are constantly going out. >> sometimes the contact point can get corroded from the elements so first shut off the electricity at the breaker box. >> do you know that from firsthand experience? just kidding. >> clean off the little contact that's inside and you can use a little q-tip with some steel wool on it.

and you just scrub it off. then just pry up that little contact. it's a little metal tab at the bottom just so it makes really good connection with the light bulb and that will take care of the fix. >> great idea. i read that you're going to tackle a project like this. >> hot water goes through your pipes, they expand and hit against the framing where they're connected so you can cushion them. take an old garden hose, wrap it around the pipe and reattach it with the strapping that would be holding it onto the wood framing and you've made a cushion and it muffles the sound. >> people can actually do this? >> absolutely. just take an old garden hose, it's pretty easy. >> i probably have that laying around my apartment. now, this is interesting because a lot of people complain about their shower but don't do anything about it. >> the wimpy shower. you know what that probably is, the holes in the shower head get clogged. they are tiny little holes. you can fix that two ways. one is to take it down and clean

out the end because there might be grit or rust from the pipes in there. then if there's corrosion, just soak it overnight in vinegar and that will dissolve all of the hard water corrosion that's on the thing and empty out those holes and you'll get the a good shower again. >> the good thing is you actually use vinegar because i can smell this. >> yeah, just leave it overnight and it will be all clean. >> thank you so much. great tips. once again, here's lester. jenna, thanks. finally cabin fever entertainment. here with his picks for the best movies to watch while you're snowed in h is tom geyer. you've got to love a movie, especially when football season is over. your first pick is interesting, an old robert redford film from 1969. >> it's called "downhill racer" and stars robert redford as the cocky captain of the u.s. ski team who's bristling under the dominance of the coach of the team played by gene hackman. this is a great story and great action sequences from the point

of view of the racer himself. you're in the ski boots of the racer. >> makes you want to go out and ski yourself and actually enjoy the snow out there. let's turn to a scary movie. a lot of people like scary movies. this one is almost like cabin fever gonna where i, "the shining." >> no matter how bad things are when you'cooped up in january i not as bad as being chased by jack and a quarter olson through a snowy garden maze. >> another one you picked is one of my favorites and it looked horrible on paper. "groundhog day." >> it's a fantastic movie. bill murray is the weatherman who is stuck in punxsatawney, pennsylvania, on groundhog day and stuck in a day that he has to live over and over again. it's one of those winter nightmares that at least we can live through it only once. >> how about something with drama and something that will challenge your mind. >> "eternal sunshine" is a brain

twister of a movie. it's a fractured romance between jim carrey and kate winslet. some of the best sequences are in a winter wonderland. >> another one that tells me is a tear jerker, "the notebook." >> well, it's nice to have a good summer romance and "the notebook" is that. ryan goselling and rachel mcadams having the summer fling of all summer flings. >> well, thank you very much. good luck with the winter and the cabin fever blues. >> the best cocoa is coming up but first these messages. wow, that's a low price! wow, that's a low price! how many products do we carry? 7,000. [ man ] wow, that's a low price! i'll get him a cart. [ man ] hot diggity dog! yeah. that's a low price!

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this morning on today's taste test, hot cocoa. if you're watching your waistline in the new year, you can still indulge and not feel guilty with it. katie brown is here with some of the best-tasting and better for us hot cocoa. good morning. >> good morning. >> i don't think of hot chocolate as something you have when you're dieting. >> that's what's so great because i believe when you're dieting you've got to give yourself a little bit of a splurge. something fun that makes you feel like you're still indulging yourself, like hot cocoa, but you do a low fat hot cocoa. >> these are all winners. >> this is the best overall. i love this one. don't ask me to pronounce it. you can get it at most health food restaurants or online. the thing is -- >> is there any sugar in it? >> i have to admit, we added a little bit of artificial sweetener to this one. you don't have to. it's the most complex hot chocolate with the best richness to it. it's got the dark flavor, put a little splenda and you are good

to go. >> i think it's really good. >> this is the most expensive one but a little bit goes a long way so you really get your money's worth. >> what's this one's claim to fame. >> this one is very creamy. do you like creamy hot chocolate? >> not too thick, but creamy. >> we actually added skim milk to all of this. if you want it more low cal, you can add water to it. isn't that good? you still get that great dark flavor too. this is called wonder slim. wonder slim. who wouldn't want to drink a little wonder slim hot chocolate? this, believe it or not, was our favorite in the category of best dissolving because you know sometimes you drink hot chocolate and get that chalky powder and it's not good. >> no matter how much you stir. >> do you want to try? >> sure. >> i love lester because he's game for trying all these different types of hot chocolate first thing in the morning. >> even after i mentioned that i'm done with the holiday

eating. >> are you done? >> this is thick sgrer it's pretty good, right? now, swiss miss, no sugar added, believe it or not, even though it's insane that no sugar added would be the sweetest. >> when i see no sugar added, i run. >> i swear in, a blind taste test we did, no one could tell that this didn't have sugar knit. if you are looking for a sugar fix, this is the one to go with. >> the sweetest of the bunch so far. >> isn't it, isn't it? i know. it's yummy. >> how do they do that. >> now, my daughter is a hot chocolate fan. she's 5 1/2. and if it's not chocolatey and doesn't have that good chocolatey flavor, she's not interested. this is the most chocolatey. >> which one is this? >> this one is called now. and it's really healthy, it's organic and -- try that. >> it's a little too chocolatey? i don't know. >> how is that possible, that something is too chocolatey. >> i like the sweeter stuff. it's all good. >> i like chocolatey, i like it

creamy. and you need marshmel oes in there. that way you can indulge without cheating. >> thanks for coming on. i'm going to pop a marshmellow and turn it over to jenna. this morning on jenna really speaking, one last look at resolutions. we're three days into the new year and if you haven't broken your resolution yet, congratulations to you. as we found out in times square the other day, some of you made some rather quirky promises to yourself. generally speaking. >> okay. so we've gone back to 2009, a time when intentions were good and resolutions were running rampant. so what is your new year's resolution this year? >> teach my old dog new tricks. >> wow. lose some weight that's really my new year's resolution but i'll probably mess it up. >> it's not the hat or the

glasses, it's the weight you're concerned with? >> the weight. >> i'm going to stop watching reality tv. >> no reason why i'm asking you this as opposed to anybody else, it's not like you stand out or anything, what is your new year's resolution this year? besides, obviously, to make more milk. >> you know, maybe if i could eat a little more grass than the corn meal they feed me, i could shed a few pounds off my cowly physique. >> i like your physique. >> i'm going to debrand all my facebook stalkers. >> is this your first time here for new year's eve? >> we were here 26 years ago and we moved to wisconsin and we came back to watch it again. >> so this is like summer for you. >> yes, it is. >> i would take this jacket off and run around in a tank top. >> we thought about that. >> i'm going to stop kicking kids. >> just staying together and keeping our friends close. >> it's like a hallmark commercial. >> we've been talking for about

an hour and a half but i think that last one will be a good one for you. happy new year. >> thank you so much. >> can i get a hug? >> what you didn't see was that she had 67 more but we ran out of time when new year's eve rolled around and the clock struck midnight. thank you to everyone that helped out. we'll be right back after these messages. granddaughter: grandma, you did it!

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time for a check of what's coming up this morning on "meet the press." david gregory joins us again. >> coming up this morning, a new year and new fears about terrorism, including a growing concern about an al qaeda branch in yemen. how safe are we here at home? we will talk live to the president's top counterterrorism adviser this morning, john brennan. then an exclusive interview with former director of the cia,

michael hayden and former secretary of homeland security, michael chertoff. it's all this morning "meet the press." we want to say congratulations to april bartlett, our art director. she's engaged. new year's eve engagement. congratulations. first i want to thank ron matt and janice huff. thank you both for being with us. next week when you look at food label, you know what you're reading. we're going to get to the bottom of them. plus eight brave women travel to antarctica for the adventure of a lifetime. find out what they did when we meet them live. i'll see you back here for nightly news tonight. have a great day, everybody.

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