back with more of today on a thursday morning the 3rd day of november, 2011. beautiful day here in the northeast. that makes news people very happy and a little rambunctious actually. that's all right. we're happy to have them here. i'm matt lauer along with ann curry, al roker, and tamron hall. savannah is off on assignment. coming up, lindsay lohan going back to jail maybe is that the way we're looking at it? >> the judge gave her a week to report to jail or she'll be arrested. the judge sentenced lindsay lohan wednesday to 30 days for violating her probation. she'll probably have to soifb just a few days, maybe even a day behind bars.

we'll have the latest on lindsay's drama. also in today's money, credit or debit cards. it's interesting. a lot of the credit card companies are offering rewards, programs, incentives for people to transition from the debit card. we'll tell you the pros and cons for both and the fees you need to watch out for to save money. there are a lot of fees these days and you can get the shortened of the deal. >> okay. >> speaking of money, it's kind of expensive sometimes if you're trying to help your family eat correctly, organic foods, healthy, things like that. joy bauer will be here to help us with healthy food ideas if you're on a tight budget. also, why adding protein to breakfast is better for long-term weight loss. >> okay. also this morning we'll look at some pretty creative designs because bobbie thomas has asked our viewers for their craftiest designs in the first ever diy style search. apparently there has been an

overwhelming response, so she is going to reveal what her favorite designs are and announce a big winner. >> wasn't sure where that was going for a second. but we are happy to have that segment. let's go inside. natalie is standing by at the news desk with all the headlines. good morning to you all once again. a third woman is now accusing republican presidential candidate herman cain of inappropriate behavior. the woman says she considered filing a complaint against cain over sexually suggestive remarks and gestures when she worked with him back at the national restaurant association. cain calls the allegation baseless. similar accusations from two other women led to financial settlements in the late 1990s. police and protesters clashed again during the night in oakland, california. police in riot gear used tear gas and flash bang grenades after protesters started a large bonfire in the middle of a downtown street and threw rocks and bottles according to police. on wednesday, the occupy oakland

demonstrators shut down one of the nation's busiest shipping ports. new figures today show first-time claims for unemployment fell by 9,000 last week to the lowest level in five weeks. meantime the labor department says unemployment rates fell in about 3/4 of large u.s. cities in october and fed chairman ben bernanke is predicting the economy will improve over time. the labor department released its october unemployment numbers tomorrow. the death toll has risen to at least 29 from the recent listeria outbreak linked to cantaloupes. at least 139 people in 29 states have been sickened in one of the deadliest food-borne illness outbreaks ever in the u.s. and today closing arguments begin in the involuntary manslaughter trial of michael jackson's doctor, conrad murray. if convicted he faces up to four years behind bars and the loss of his medical license. a california judge on wednesday sentenced lindsay lohan to 30 days in jail for violating her parole, but just

how much time if any will she actually have to serve? nbc's george lewis is at the jail in lynwood, california. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, natalie. lindsay lohan won't have to spend much time in jail at all. why? because state prisons are overcrowded in california, so they've been shipping their serious felons back to the county jails meaning that misdemeanor offenders like lohan are quickly shuffled in and out of here. >> are you sober? >> reporter: conservatively atired in a polka dot dress, lohan waived her right to a court hearing on probation violations, accused of failing to show up for community service and court ordered psychological counseling. >> do you admit you violated probation by failing to obey all orders of the court with respect to both things that the city attorney represented? >> yes, your honor. >> reporter: and with that the judge pronounced sentence. >> you are to serve 30 days in the county jail now. you are to surrender within one week.

>> reporter: but the sheriff's office tells nbc news that because of overcrowding lohan will likely spend at most one night in jail. >> the judge is going to give you whatever the judge is going to give you and the sheriff is going to release you because they don't have room for misdemeanors. >> reporter: she still will have to do community service at the county morgue closely monitored by the court each month until the end of march. the judge cautioned lohan, who has 2,615,000 twitter followers not to post items about the morgue. >> they seem to have an issue with your tweeting. i can't order you to stop tweeting. but if it's one of their rules, that you don't tweet about them, don't tweet about them. >> what is your comment, lindsay? talk to us please. >> reporter: one thing lohan has been tweeting about is her dental makeover. she's had her teeth whitened. here's the before and after. it could be because she's doing a big photo shoot for "playboy" magazine. >> we can't under estimate how important the teeth whitening

is. let's face it. the only thing she's going to wear in that picture are her smiles. >> reporter: court observers say lindsay lohan appeared contrite in court, perhaps heeding her attorney's advice not to further anger the judge, who doesn't seem to be overwhelmed by that winning smile. natalie? >> i'll say. george lewis in lynwood, california, thank you, george. now to a poignant song making the rounds on the internet. the professional arts network made a music video to the white stripes we're going to be friends to highlight what is like to be deaf in america and in school. ♪ when silly thoughts come through my head about the bugs and alphabet when i wake tomorrow i'll bet that you and i we'll walk together again ♪ >> even though some people cannot hear the song the message as you see there comes through loud and clear. it's absolutely adorable. i encourage you to go watch it. it is now six minutes past the hour. let's go back outside to matt

and ann. it's on youtube. >> very touching. >> thank you very much. mr. roker just across from us here with a check of the weather. >> we should throw that link onto our website. got some friends here. what are your names? >> we're the garret family. >> you're out of power in connecticut? >> out of power in connecticut. >>adventure? >> yes. >> hopefully you get it on this weekend. >> we're hoping. >> there you go. let's check your weather and see. we've got another storm system coming out of denver. this one now into the midwest. it's causing some showers and thunderstorms. we're basically looking at another system coming into the pacific northwest. that's going to bring some rain and mountain snows as well. we got some rain also making its way through the ohio river valley. showers in northern new england. we're looking at windy conditions. really the gulf coast and the southeast. windy down through central and southern florida. and we've got visitors from

and that's your latest weather. tamron? >> al, thanks so much. this morning on "today's money" credit versus debit cards. just this week bank of america backed down from a controversial monthly debit card fee but banks are still looking for ways to bring in more money. one way is by offering credit cards. msnbc financial analyst vera gibbons is here to give me some advice on what to look out for. good to see you. it's kind of like we fought the law and the law won but in this

case consumers won against the banks in that the banks backed down from this. however, we wonder if there are other ways for them to charge us. >> that's it. banks stand to lose over $6.5 billion because of these new regulations that limit what they can charge merchants every time a consumer uses their debit card to make a purchase. right? so got to make up for the lost revenue somehow. they had originally planned on making up some of it with the debit card charge. that didn't go over so well. we're not having that now. so you're going to see sort of sneakier ways, more subtle ways, and the consumer will ultimately pay the price somehow some way over time. >> what is the likely route they will go? i know you say sneaky and subtle but what should we specifically look out for? >> they could do any number of things. they could raise minimum balance requirements, raise interest rates on credit cards, bundle services and sell them. one trend we're really seeing is a push toward the credit cards. trying to make more people sign up for credit cards. right? so credit card offers have risen nearly 100% since 2009. >> that would be the next

strategy you think, try to get a consumer to switch over from debit card to credit card, which would mean i guess more interest that the bank can charge? >> they can make money any number of ways because they can make them at the point of purchase, the swipe fees as far as credit goes. that hasn't been tampered with as it has with debit. and they can make money also just by the fact that so many consumers do carry a balance, the average household has about $15,000 in credit card debt right now. we're paying interest on that. that is incremental income for the banks which is why you're seeing 59% of households getting at least one offer a month from the credit card companies trying to get them to sign up. >> so if 59% are getting one offer, are people signing up? are credit cards more popular these days than debit cards? >> they used to be. in 2008 debit card usage really ticked up because people were trying to conserve their cash. they didn't want to go over. they were really trying to work on the budget. so now we see about 188 million debit card users versus 183 million credit card users. >> that's close though.

>> the banks would like to sort of turn that around. what they're doing is offering these enticing offers and scaling back on the debit card rewards or eliminating programs all together and offering better cash back programs, mileage rewards for signing up and even bonus points for signing up for a credit card. this is the trend we've been seeing for sometime definitely over the course of a year. >> those are the things they're using to hook the consumer in to at least make the credit cards more enticing during the financial times. >> to try to get them to sign on. not everybody should have course. the best offers are going to be reserved for those with the best credit in the 747, 50 range. people like the perks and protections credit cards offer. it is the easiest way to build and establish credit. certain people might want to consider a credit card offer and other people forget it. >> we were looking at some of the advantages of having a credit card but what are the obvious disadvantages? >> interest rates. right? >> yes. >> this is high. >> are they still 20 plus percent? >> they can be. the low end might be 10%, 15%,

29%. so that's the primary disadvantage. i think also if you're not disciplined, you run into late fees. you run into penalties, over your limit penalties. it can really snowball. you'll pay fees on all of that stuff and then in the process your credit score will take hits. these are not for everybody. >> so much of this obviously is you doing your home work. i know there are a lot of websites out these days that can help you figure out credit versus debit. >> you really have to take a look at your situation and find a card that is going to fit your lifestyle. obviously you want to find a card that is going to give you the maximum number of points based on what your primary purchases are. >> right. >> so it does take time to figure it out. you'll look at sites like low cards, card ratings, credit land. you can do a side by side comparison and find out which is the card that is best for you and your spending habits. >> if you don't want to dive into the credit card necessarily a lot of people are talking about changing your bank, moving from the so-called big bank to a credit union or community bank that might be more inclined to give you a loan if you so need. >> a kinder, gentler experience all around. if you look at a credit union

they've become much more accessible lately, much less restrictive. they're out there. you can find one by going -- >> they have to compete for your money and time. >> they're offering higher rates on deposits, lower rates on loans, they don't nickel and dime you the way the big banks do. the average consumer saves about $70 a year. >> really. wow. >> just overall they offer like i said the kinder, gentler experience. people are switching to these types of institutions as well as sort of the direct banks, online banks, as you mentioned small community banks, regional banks as well. >> what about the big bank transfer day? i know a lot of folks of the occupy wall street movement are promoting this where do you think this will happen? it's supposed to be on saturday. >> something like 40,000 people like this on facebook so there's definitely a lot of hype. i don't think as many people will transfer over as we initially expected because the banks have removed that very controversial monthly debit card fee. you'll still see people take action and move their money elsewhere. it is just a process. people are loathe to do it. >> a lot of good information.

thank you very much. up next feeding your family on a budget. joy bauer has healthy and affordable food options in her diet sos. later, do it yourself fashion submitted by you, the viewer. bobbie thomas shows us the best of the best. first these messages. [ male announcer ] now at subway, get a free 6-inch sandwich of your choice when you buy a 6-inch sandwich before 9am. that's right, buy one, get one free! it's everything you'd expect from the sandwich experts! hurry in before 9am to get your free sandwich!

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and all the money you save... well, that can be your little secret. right now, get an extra 15% off with your savings pass. that's real gifts. real joy. sears. . this morning on "joy's diet sos" answers to your daily diet dilemmas. joy bauer is here with tips for saving money while eating healthy and long-term weight loss. good to see you. >> good morning, al. >> we like the matching purple. very nice. first question is from kelly in richmond, massachusetts. she is joining us live via skype. good morning, kelly. >> hi. >> what is your question? >> joy, i'm a fellow registered dietician and i'm finding that a lot of people who i counsel have great intentions but they have trouble keeping up with the high cost of healthy foods. what are some suggestions that you offer? >> kelly, i love that you asked

this question because so many people are struggling with this issue. it's totally unfair. but, fortunately, there are a lot of healthy, low cost items people can take advantage of. first, canned and dried beans and lentils are terrific high quality proteins. when it comes to produce i always encourage people to buy what is in season and look for promotional sales and think things like apples, oranges, bananas, sweet and white potatos, cabbage and squash. year round they're typically at a great cost that work within every budget. take advantage of frozen. frozen fruits and vegetables are just as healthy as the fresh counterparts and you can freeze them for months and months and months. so there is no waste. a few must have pantry items, large containers of oatmeal versus the single packets. low sodium canned supers, whole grain pastas, whole wheat bread. when it comes to dairy there are so many terrific brands that are competing to get that sale so

you can really find things that have great promotions and then compare that brand to the generic store brand and whichever clocks in at the lowest price wins and gets a spot in your cart. so people just need to be strategic and you really can eat well afford bli. >> all right. kelly, thank you. that is a great question. you have to remember to rotate out the frozen food. my mom had this like permafrost. >> yes. if it has frost bite on it, it is not going to taste good. >> we've got norma joining us on the phone from columbus, ohio. hi, norma. what is your question? >> good morning. i've heard joy say steel cut oats are really healthy and i'd like to try them but they take so long to make. do you have any short cuts to save time? >> yes. the reason that i particularly like steel cut oats is because they have less of an impact on your blood sugar so they're really terrific for diabetics. but they take about 30 minutes to bake which is almost impossible during a hectic morning. so here is what i do. if you have a slow cooker, before you go to bed you'll add

one cup of steel cut oats and four cups of water together with fresh fruit or dried fruit. and set it on a low setting, low heat, for about eight hours. you wake up in the morning and breakfast is ready. another idea is you can make the steel cut oats in advance and you can break it up into single serving portions, freeze it, and then in the morning pop it into the microwave and in a matter of minutes your oatmeal is ready. >> there you go. >> big time saver. >> let's go to a viewer e-mail. this is danielle in los angeles writing, my friends are doing a crazy diet that involves eating only fruit before noon. they're losing weight on the diet but i know there's lots of research showing you should include protein at breakfast. what do you think? >> fruit is great. there is nothing against fruit but there is nothing magical about exclusively only eating fruit that enables you to lose weight faster. the reason her friends are losing weight is because at the end of the day they are reducing their overall calories. no matter what you eat. >> they could eat the fruit later in the day. wouldn't matter.

>> right. even though this is working for them we have such great research on protein in the morning helping you to feel energized and focused and enabling you to lose weight, long lasting weight in the long term. if you're going to eat fruit with breakfast i definitely recommend adding something protein rich like eggs, nonfat dairy. even nuts and seeds. >> all right. thanks so much. >> thanks, al. still ahead, the number one movie in theaters "puss and boots." we have two of the stars like you've never seen them before. first these messages. they're itchy, dry and uncomfortable. i can't wait to take 'em out, throw 'em away and never see them again. [ male announcer ] know the feeling? get the contacts you've got to see to believe. acuvue® oasys brand contact lenses with hydraclear® plus technology, keeping your eyes exceptionally comfortable all day long. it feels like it disappeared on my eye. [ male announcer ] discover why it's the brand eye doctors trust most for comfort. if you have astigmatism, there's an acuvue® oasys lens for that too, realigning naturally with every blink.

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♪ born to be wild ♪ born to be wild >> and those are just a few of the highlights of matt's past nine wild adventures. you know them as "where in the world is matt lauer?" guess what? he is about to take off on number ten. five secret destinations, five days. we get the clues and try to figure out where he's going. the fun gets going monday on "today." matt will be giving us his first clue tomorrow morning. >> and he does all of his own stunts. we should point that out. >> exactly. the fun starts monday. we look forward to that. meanwhile coming up in this half

hour the results of our first ever diy style search. our bobbie thomas, you know she is the diy queen around here. well, she asks for your creations and the responses blew us away. we have over 600 amazing submissions this morning. bobbie is going to reveal some of her favorites and we'll also crown the winner and show you how to get inspired to create some fabulous fashions at home for very cheap. >> cool. >> very nice. believe it or not it's that time of the year when it's time to start planning your holiday menu. oh, my. it's early but the early bird gets the worm. this morning we'll get some ideas. >> we're having worms? >> yeah, for lunch. this morning we'll get real ideas on new classic side dishes. a new twist to classic side dishes like creamy bacon mac and cheese. >> nothing wrong with that. >> brussel sprouts with brown butter. >> yes. >> let the church say amen. >> amen. hallelujah. >> thanksgiving is 4500 calories, right?

>> yes it is. >> every won of them. >> love it. >> a touching story. he was batman's boy wonder and now this former actor is doing wonders to save homeless pets. the touching story. natalie, i know you just got a new dog for your family. >> yes. >> this is really going to be moving for those animal lovers. >> thanks. wonderful. zahra. she is doing great. >> she stole the chicken off the counter? >> we had rotisserie chicken and i put it on the counter and turned around to put the coat on my son and all of a sudden in the back corner, turned around and she's got the rotisserie chicken and she is eating it. >> at least somebody ate well in the household. >> exactly. needless to say my chicken noodle soup is a disaster. you got a check of the weather for us? >> you used a different chicken didn't you? >> yes, yes. i had to run to the store and get another. >> let's tell you what's happening as far as your forecast is concerned. for tomorrow we've got heavy rain along the mid-atlantic coast. also down in southern california showers, pacific northwest. looking ahead toward saturday it'll be beautiful in the east.

we have snow showers in the central rockies. mountain snows and wet weather along the pacific northwest. then on sunday, look for showers along the southeastern atlantic coast around, right along the border of louisiana and texas. mountain snows back through the pacific northwest and on into the sierra really quickly these young ladies, skipped preschool. nice to see you. >> we're ratting them out here.

>> hello there. hi. this one is in the witness protection program. >> they're in hiding. all right. thank you very much. coming up next the best of the do it yourself fashions from today viewers. that's coming up. we w ere

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this morning on bobbie's did it yourself fashion we're revealing the winner of bobbie's diy style search. bobbie thomas asked for your craftiest fashion ideas and bobbie is here with the winning project and her favorite runner-ups. good morning, bobbie. >> i am so excited about this. >> you've been long talking about doing something like this and it turns out our viewers love to be crafty and they're good at it. first, you inspired them by showing them some professional diy projects online. >> yes. i have to give a lot of credit to the today.com team. they are amazing. we got together to do today's

diy style week where we were tweeting and using social media. i put up a project on monday and every day after that for a week we had professional bloggers that do this all the time, put really cool ideas up where you can see step by step how to make something for just dollars. >> right. and your dress being a perfect example. the dress is probably the priciest part of this but tell me how you got this foil look. >> this was a free dress that i got. >> good. >> i wasn't quite sure if i liked the cut but what i did was i came up with the idea to use one of my favorite techniques, foiling. this is just a couple dollars, literally $2 for the glue, $2 for the foil. you let the glue dry and then you literally just press one of these sheets down. >> you put the glue on the dress in whatever pattern you want. >> you let it dry so it is tacky to the touch. press the foil and then peel off and you are left with whatever design the glue left behind for you. >> it looks great. i guess just dry cleaning or whatever? >> this is washable. machine washable. it's fantastic. >> wow. even better. >> a lot of the other people who

submitted ideas for the week, it was made out of a place mat. >> that's cool. >> and some duck tape. >> so fantastic. >> this was great from i spy diy. they also had glitter and glue. did this vest. the i spy diy did the earrings and then of course this wrap watch. >> let's get to our winner. we had 600 submissions and how did you go about picking the winner? >> this was so hard. we were so excited. i literally looked through all of the submissions. >> right. >> and the winning submission was christina child. >> christina child. >> christina, if you're watching, congratulations. >> what do you win? a necklace that you made yourself. >> she actually sent us her winning necklace. what she won was a post on today.com so you can learn how to do this step by step and i am send elian gonzalez her a huge

diy basket. you've seen necklaces like this in the store. >> it's designer. >> for a few dollars you can get this clay and all you have to do is roll out a piece of clay, cut it up into squares. >> like she did. >> you bake it in the oven for about 15 to 20 minutes. >> little holes with the pin. >> you have it pierced. you bake it in the oven then attach it to the necklace and you have a color block necklace so on trend for so much less than you'd spend in the store. it looks like a high end designer. >> i know you had a lot of great finalists as well. >> we had great runner-ups. these were by anna brones, earrings she made out of bike inner tube. that was great because it was up cycling. we even had maria lopez submit this painted, she took nail polish to paint stones and made a ring. just literally duck tape and the glue that she painted. >> wow. >> so inexpensive. >> people are just too crafty. >> when you have expired credit

cards yuka came up with this idea for a name plate necklace. cut your name out of your expired credit card. >> looks perfect. >> and then this is the idea of using old gift cards that she paints and stamps on and attaches them to ribbon for this really beautiful gift card art. i thought that was cute. >> we've got this nice suede bag made out of what? >> this is a suede purse. and veronica came up with this idea to just literally fold on top, she used a place mat for the inside structure that you can see under here. and she cut the place mat into her form. pieced it together. you glue with some spray adhesive. the suede and the lining inside and attach this from the hardware store. >> great. >> you can make yourself a bag. >> glow in the dark shoes but most importantly the jewelled shoes. she bought labutons at a

consignment store and bought about $150 worth of crystals which sounds pricey. she spent two hours every night after work for two months but she saved $2,000 and she came up with a pair of shoes that look perfect. >> priceless. >> they're amazing. i was so impressed. >> quickly some other good projects you can do at home. >> such a smart idea. kara said just use spray paint, chalk board paint to create these wine glasses that you can personalize and a picture we have, i would love to show this night stand. >> we have a graphic of a picture of a night stand? >> yes. this was fantastic by jessica hill. she took dollar store thumb tacks and redid her night stand to create an entirely new piece. it was amazing. >> bobbie thomas, great ideas. i hope we do this again. >> me too. >> send us more submissions. >> send us more. >> go to today.com and send it to bobbie's style. >> all of the ideas are on there. you can find the steps. >> thank you, coming up next a former hollywood star whose life has gone to the dogs in a good way. and then delicious dishes for your holiday table in today's kitchen. first these messages.

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you want that? you want a warm, super-delicious strawberry toaster strudel yeah but now i have nothing to eat sure you do. hey! you can have the pop tart! pillsbury toaster strudel. the one kids want to eat when you buy a 6-inch sandwich before 9am. that's right, buy one, get one free! it's everything you'd expect from the sandwich experts! hurry in before 9am to get your free sandwich! this morning on "today's pets" a former hollywood star opens his home to homeless pets. the size of these animals will astound you. >> oh, yeah. >> animal advocate jill rappaport brings us this very special touching story. good to see you. >> hi, tamron.

i know you are an animal lover. you'll love this. this guy is amazing. he has gone from caped crusader to canine protector. batman's former side kick boy ward is now a true boy wonder to dogs in need. in the '60s he was a tv superstar known for his role as batman's right hand boy wonder robin. >> holy ashtray. >> reporter: always a do gooder this cool, campy character catapulted burt ward's career into a pow-zap frenzy and the rest they say is tv history. >> come on, guys. let's go. >> reporter: today, gone are the lights, cameras, but not the action. to say burt ward's life has gone to the dogs is an under statement. >> actually the way i see it is from caped crusader to canine crusader. >> there is no place like home. >> reporter: his canine crusading mission began 17 years ago when anne his wife tracy started a nonprofit animal

rescue program out of their home in norco, california called gentle giants. >> this gentle giant would you believe is still a puppy? standing at 7'3". >> 2 1/2 inches taller than shaquille o'neal. >> the giants think they're lap dogs and the lop dogs think they're giants. >> reporter: you've adopted out and saved 14,000 dogs, an astronomical number when you consider the size, the condition of these animals. where did your love of these big creatures start? >> we moved here and decided we wanted a big dog. i've been training dogs for 45 years and tracy is an expert trainer too. we rescued the dogs and found out the ones we didn't take were put to death. i asked tracy, look, why don't we take them for a while, couple weeks? we'll find somebody to take this over. >> little did you know. >> reporter: finding homes for the canines big and small is a daunting task which requires obedience from both dog and owner. >> when people come here, not

only do we adopt the dog and train the dog, we train the people. we train them how to care for the dog, how to handle the dog. >> reporter: every month approximately 50 dogs are adopted from gentle giants including some rare breeds from around the world. you have some very unusual breeds. >> we have hounds from egypt. >> saluki sechlt from egypt. >> all kinds of mastiffs, english, bull, south african mastiffs. >> brazilian mastiff. >> french mastiffs. >> we have the mexican hairless, sheep dog, central asian dogs from russia. we have very exotic dogs. >> we have american stag hounds which are a wolf hound, deer hound, greyhound. >> easy for you to say. some of these exotic dogs have gone hollywood adopted by celebrities including vanessa williams and america ferreira. those currently waiting for permanent homes have the run of

the ward house which was a little unsettling for my producer, sarah. >> we have no cages here. we create a communal living environment and the dogs get along with each other. they sleep with each other. they play with each other. they eat together. >> reporter: ward believes the comforts of home can add years to any dog's life. >> dogs need to live inside. we discovered by bringing them in the house and living in the house that added one or two years. we have almost all of our dogs living longer. the environment is so loving and affectionate and nurturing. >> reporter: how many in any given night are actually in your bed with you if you don't mind me getting so personal? >> all of them. >> whoever wants to be. it can get crowded. we're thrilled every single day that we can save a life and help dogs live longer lives. >> and this is my own gentle giant petey. he didn't come from that shelter. he came from animal care and control where we get our bow-to-wow dogs. i have to say the bigger the better. he is a gentle giant. >> he is so beautiful. and how much does this dog weigh? >> 120 pounds.

al is sitting kind of far away from him but we should in all full disclosure, you guys have a very special relationship. >> such as it were. >> a few halloweens ago. >> coming after me already. what is that? >> he wants part two. >> hey, back, back off. hey, hey, hey. i'm not wearing the suit now. back off, pal. >> oh, that tail hurts. >> al, just go with it. >> thank you. oh, no. >> tamron, too. >> i don't want you to go there. >> okay. >> thank you. >> sit down. good boy. >> thank you so much. >> that's where it all went wrong. >> i have a three-pound chihuahua. i'm not ready for this. >> i'm trying to -- >> sounds like snacks. >> heavy breathing. haven't heard that in a while from a guy. >> whoa. >> let's transition. everything is better with bacon. >> don't say that in front of petey. >> we have holiday sides in

today's kitchen but first this is "today" i promise on nbc. >> down boy. down. >> i'm outta here. what kind of goldfish sandwich are you? i'm a pb and j goldfish sandwich. yeah, me too. i'm a tuna fish goldfish sandwich!

that freaks me out! yeah, me too! [ male announcer ] baked with the goodness of fiber or whole grain. goldfish bread!

good morning. on today's kitchen, step by step, mike, good to see you. >> good to see you too, al. everybody wants to try this mac and cheese. >> this is super mac and cheese. named for my little girl petra's mac and cheese. she decided bacon makes everything better. we do did with cheese, cheddar, and parmesan. super easy. milk, cheese, and roux. sauteed onions. put that right into there. >> okay. >> dip some pasta already cooked. >> okay. >> and then we have some bacon, asparagus, and also some string beans that have been sliced up. >> okay. >> they're all blanched. what is nice about this is it doesn't take up any space in the oven which is a premium when

you're doing holiday cooking. >> and you've got green stuff in there so you can theoretically say this is healthy. >> exactly. theoretically you could. theoretically. >> yes. >> all right. then we've got cheese, cheddar, parmesan. >> right. >> you cook it on the stove until it gets nice and gooey and looks just like this. >> oh, yeah. >> what i do also is i have the crunchy bread crumbs on the side because everybody wants the bread crumbs. >> yes. >> this way you put them on at the end. a little bit of green onions. >> oh, yeah. >> that's all you got to do. >> then other fantastic sides. >> this is brussel sprouts with walnuts, brown butter, sage and kumquats and a great way to get kids to eat kaul cauliflower. >> you're the man. the recipe is on today.com. a lot more coming up. your local news and weather and you're watching "today."

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