good morning. lone wolf. a new york man arrested accused of plotting to blow up government buildings to kill soldiers and police officers. investigators say he was nabbed as he was about to put his deadly plan into action. scene of a crime? homicide detectis reexamining the death of natalie wood, said to take a closer look at the boat where she was last seen alive. what does her sister know about the new information that's come to light? this morning, lana woods speaks out in an exclusive live interview. and "today" exclusive, she was viciously mauled by a chimpanzee and underwent a groundbreaking transplant to get a new face. now charla nash is ready to reveal it to the world.

meredith vieira is back with the exclusive interview, "today," monday, november 21st, 2011. captions paid for by nbc-universal television and good morning. welcome to "today" on a monday morning. i'm matt lauer. >> and i'm ann curry. we're all pretty excited because meredith is in our studio once again. hi, meredith. we want to begin with this major story about this man accused in the terror plot. it's the type officials fear the most, the home grown lone wolf man. >> police say 27-year-old jose pimentel had been on their radar for some time but investigators acting swiftly to arrest him on sunday because, they say, he was in the process of putting at least one bomb together. we'll get the latest on that

story ahead. disturbing video, two police officers placed on administrative leave for using pepper spray on an occupy movement of the campus university. now the school's president is getting pressure to resign. and we have a holiday week of concerts, justin bieber is coming up on wednesday. we'll kick the week of music off with one of the biggest acts in country music, rascal flatts, live on the plaza. >> matt, some of these people have been here since 6:00 last night, in the rain and the wind and the cold temperatures. so that's dedication. but we begin now that foiled terror plot here in new york city. jonathan dienst, investigative reporter, good morning. >> the arrest, police say came

quickly this weekend because the suspect was starting to build explosives right in an apartment and he was preparing to test them. 27-year-old jose pimental was arraigned late sunday night in a new york city courthouse. >> you had just finished drilling the third and final bomb. >> reporter: shaking his head as he listened to terror-related charges against him, including trying to build pipe bombs. police say if pimentel had been able to build and place the bombs this tape of an nypd damage shows the damage he could have caused. at a sunday night news conference new york city officials showed a mock-up of some of the devices, some of the ingredients bought at some of the local stores with the help of an nypd informant and pimentel was following bomb making instructions straight out of al qaeda's "inspire"

magazine. >> he was planning on implanting them in mailboxes and detonating them. >> police say pimentel is a naturalized u.s. citizen who converted to islam and later became an al qaeda sympathizer even starting his own radical website. officials say he was angry over u.s. wars and the recent killing of terror leader awlaki. >> the suspect was a so-called lone wolf, motivated by his own resentment of the presence of american troops in iraq and afghanistan. >> reporter: prosecutors say for months they got the suspect on tape talking to the informant about his target list including bombing u.s. troops coming back home and new york city police. but the nypd says it moved in now, because pimentel was about to put his plan into action. the fbi was briefed on this nypd investigation but apparently chose not to get involved.

pimentel, who is being held without bail, did not enter a plea. his defense lawyer said his client was not hiding his radical views and the lawyer says he's expected to raise questions about the nypd informant and what role that informant played with his suspect, his client, who may have had a history of drug problems and mental health issues. >> jonathan dienst, we thank you for the story. >> natalie is at the news desk after being on assignment. welcome back. >> good morning, ann and matt and thank you everyone. no deal today as the deadline comes for the super committee to recommend $1.2 trillion in budget savings. kelly o'donnell has the very latest now. good morning, kelly. >> reporter: good morning, natalie. no deal and no sign they're even talking anymore and the super committee would have had to have had any agreement in writing today and that's why failure seems so eminent. now what they were unable to do is come to terms on taxes. democrats wanted higher taxes in order to make deeper cuts,

republicans wanted to get rid of some tax deductions but lower rates in order to find $1.2 trillion in savings off the deficit over ten years so what happens now? well, failure means that automatic sweeping budget cuts would go into effect in 2013, half of those aimed at the defense department, and that means there are many republicans and even secretary panetta say that this needs to change. they need to alter that between now and 2013 so the burden isn't so hard on defense. congress has really fallen short here. they also have to deal with other things like an extension of the payroll tax cut or an extension of unemployment benefits before the end of the year. natalie? >> kelly o'donnell, a lot to get done there on capitol hill, thanks so much pchblt. new details on the growing child sex abuse scandal at penn state university. the first alleged victim of former assistant coach sandusky had to leave the high school in his senior year because of bullying about its incident. according to the boy's psychologist, his counselor, his

own solace in the wake of the scandal is that other alleged victims are now coming forward. at least 22 people have been killed and hundreds wounded in tie row's tahrir square over the past 24 hours as police and protesters clash for a third day. nbc's chief correspondent richard engel is there with more. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, natalie. protesters are back here in tahrir square this time not to oppose a dictator but the egyptian military. there have been more clashes this morning with police firing tear gas, in fact, much of downtown cairo this morning does smell of tear gas. the worst violence, however, was yesterday, when police and egyptian troops stormed into tahrir square, beating back demonstrators. the army says it did not use live am mission but we saw pools of blood and injuries that were consistent with gunfire. natalie? >> and richard, what is it exactly the protesters are demanding now, nearly a year

after the popular uprising that ousted former president hosni mubarak? >> reporter: exactly, last february president mubarak was forced out but his military, his same generals remain in power and that is really is at issue right now. this country is supposed to have parliamentary elections in one week's times but even after the election the military will remain in charge. the protesters want the military to step down now. they juan the a civilian government. >> richard engel, thank you. dutch tv is reporting that a player with the seattle mariners today was stabbed to death in the netherlands. 24-year-old outfielder gregory holman who is from the nexterlands had playede for the mariners for six years. his younger brother has been arrested. it was a long night for passengers of a greyhound bus when the driver abandoned its bus.

passengers called 911 but the driver left them to spend the night stranded there. a replacement driver eventually arrived and the passengers reached their destination some 12 hours later. greyhound says the driver will be disciplined. and she is a woman of her word as well. actress mila kunis attended the marine corps ball in carolina, she accepted the invite from scott moore. he credited justin timberlake. 7:09, we turn it over to matt, ann and al. ann, you're next. >> i'd go, of course i would, anything for somebody in uniform. >> be a little careful there. you might want to hedge your bets on that slightly. what she meant to say was -- >> all the phones are ringing off the hook right now.

>> here, i'll write a ticket for you. come with me. >> mr. roker's here with a check of the weather. al? >> all righty. we've got another storm moving into the pacific northwest, that's going to bring coastal gails, storm warnings, high wind warnings, flood watches along the pacific coast, one to two inches of rain with mountain snows in the cascades and strong storms from texas up into the mid mississippi river valley, rainfall amounts one to three inches locally, could be up to four inches of rain from little rock on into springfield, missouri, and again we could be seeing some flooding there as well.

>> and that's your latest weather. matt? >> al, thanks very much. there are new developments tied to the reopening of the investigation into the death of actress natalie wood. we'll talk exclusively to wood's sister, lana, in a moment. first natalie morales has the latest on the case. good morning. >> good morning, matt. for three decades now, natalie woods' death has been shrouded in mystery and rumors. new questions are being asked in the hopes of bringing closure to the family of a film icon. the man who found natalie wood's body 30 years ago says that reopening the case is like pulling a scan off an old wound. >> my position is that it was a horrible accident. >> reporter: former harbor director doug bombard tells nbc's los angeles station he still remembers having to tell woods husband, robert wagner, the awful truth. >> i told him that we've

recovered the body, and he was looking right at me when i said that, and then he just looked down. >> reporter: wood had been on a boat trip with wagner and her co-star christopher wallingen. he didn't tell investigators the whole truth in 1981. friday on "today" he told david gregory he thinks wagner was responsible for woods' death. >> i think it was a matter of we're not going to look too hard. we're not going to turn on the search light, we're not going to notify anybody right at the moment. >> reporter: private investigator john nazaran not connected to the case says that should be taken seriously. >> if it can be proven the coast guard was never contacted nis e initially that is a huge red flag. >> reporter: marilyn wayne tells cbs news she was on a nearby boat the night she disappeared.

>> i heard "help me somebody, please help me, i'm drowning." >> reporter: the cause of death remains accidental drowning. >> we're going to follow up on the leads we have, re-interview people and interview new people and reevaluate the evidence. >> reporter: "the splendour" is now docked in honolulu. a statement from robert wagner's publicist says the wagner family fully supports the sheriff's investigation. and as for christopher walken also on the boat that night, he has not commented. >> lana woods, good morning, nice to see you. >> good morning. >> let me get your reaction to the reopening of the investigation into your sister's death. how did you respond when you heard that news? >> i was actually contacted by

the sheriff's department and the detectives on the case quite some time ago. they were kind enough to tell me that they were going public with it, and would make an announcement to sort of warn me, which i appreciated. so i knew that there was an investigation. as to how i feel? i'm scared. i'm nervous. i'm happy, i think. i'm -- i'm so ambivalent. it's almost like having to relive her death again. >> but scared, why? >> it's very, very tough. >> scared of what? >> i have spent the last 30 years preferring to just believe that everything was simply an accident, a slip and fall and an accident, and it's been easier that way, and i think easier for a great many people, although a lot of things didn't add up, and

i was always concerned about various things that were said. >> right. >> but it's easier -- you want to think the best. you want to think what's easiest to believe, and what's kindest to believe. >> let me go over some things that dennis davern said on the show, he's the captain on board the "splednour" the night your sister died. he made some damning statements. david gregory asked him about the fight between robert wagner and your sister on the night she died if the fight was "what ultimately led to her death" yes, he replied. when asked if robert wagner was soble for your sister's death, he said "yes, i would say so." what's your reaction to that? >> dennis had called me many, many years ago, usually late in the evening, very upset, crying,

obviously had been drinking, and trying to unburden himself, telling me little bits and pieces, and then dropping back and not saying everything, and saying, "well i don't want to hurt you by telling you this" and "i'm scared and i feel like i've done something wrong and a coward and a fool," so little bits and pieces filtered over to me. >> do you believe him? >> when i -- unfortunately, yeah, i do. i've never known him to lie. he certainly never has to me. as i say, it's just really tough. >> right. >> i read the book, and my family kept getting mad at me because i would sit and hysterically cry and they'd take the book away from me and i'd pick it up again again and they

kept saying to me why do you read it if it's getting you so upset? there were things always bothering me that i wanted to know. >> i'm sorry, he was asked if it was true robert wagner who said not ta take direct steps to find out where natalie wood was. he said we didn't take steps to see if we could locate her and went on to say "it was a matter of we're not going to look too hard, not going to turn on the search light, we're not going to notify anybody right at the moment." >> that's what i have been told by him as well all those years ago. it hurts. >> what's your relationship with robert wagner like? i know you've known him since you were 9 but i also understand there has been little contact since your sister died. what's your relationship with him like now? >> basically i don't have one. i do not have a relationship with r.j. i wish i did, because as you said, i'd known him since i was 9 years old.

i've known him my entire life. natalie and r.j.'s friends were my friends and their home was my home as well, and i wish we did, but. >> what would you like to ask him if you could talk to him right now? >> i don't know. you see, that's where my ambivalence comes in. i don't really know. i'm so frightened of hearing things that i don't want to hear. i would like to be told that everything is exactly as they said. i know it isn't quite like that. i don't know. i would tell him that, you know, that i love him and that i know that natalie loved him dearly and that he loved her dearly, and it's going to be tough. it's going to be tough, but i think that all the truth should come out. >> right. >> i really do. >> lana wood, lana, i appreciate you are spending time with me this morning. it's very nice of you. >> thank you. thank you.

i'm honored. >> 18 minutes after the hour. once again here's ann. >> matt, thank you. an ugly incident on the campus of the university of california davis is drawing outrage nationwide. police officers caught on tape using pepper spray on a group of students during a non-violent protest. nbc's kristen dahlgren is in davis, california, with the latest on this story. kristen, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, ann. students plan to be back out here for another demonstration later today. the school's chancellor plans to address them after a weekend of calls for her resignation, meantime the two campus police officers involved in the incident have been placed on leave. the video quickly went viral, uc davis police officers shown repeatedly pepper spraying a group of students seated on the ground, arms linked in a peaceful protest on friday. >> so painful your eyes are just in excruciating pain and it goes up your nose and you start kind

of xhoeking. >> reporter: 11 students were treated for their injuries and as the video spread, so did the outrage. >> the police came and brutalized them and tore their tents down and all that stuff, so it was really scary. it felt like there was anarchy everywhere. >> reporter: as students called for the resignation of uc chancellor angela katehi, the comments extended into the evening. >> there was an unfortunate and bad situation created for our students on friday. >> reporter: then stayed in her office for hours. when she finally emerged, silence from the protesters. campus police initially defended their actions, claiming officers were unable to get around the students, but by sunday, the university placed two officers identified in the video on paid leave. >> i see pepper spray as a tool for officers to use, and like

any other tool that we carry and we utilize, you hope and pray that it's used correctly and within policy, and that the aftereffects are not terrible. >> reporter: none of the officers directly involved in the incident have commented publicly. chancellor katehi ordered a task force to investigate, with students still upset and demanding action. so thousands are expected back out here today, meantime the president of the entire uc system has said he's appalled by those images. he plans to meet with chancellors from all of the state schools to go over police response to student demonstrations, ann. >> kristen dahlgren, thank you so much, this morning. just ahead, an exclusive look at charla nash's new face, following her ground-breaking transplant in the wake of a vicious chimpanzee attack. meredith is in her studio to

share her story but first, this is "today" on nbc.

coming up, what happened to a florida mom who vanished on the same day she appeared on "people's court." >> details after your local news. chase freedom gives you 1% cash back. and the largest cash back card only gives you a quarter percent until you spend $3,000 every year. but you know, it's your choice, so... don't' get short changed. get your cash back. chase freedom.

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>> this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore. >> good morning. i am stan stovall. here is to look at one of our top stories this morning. jury selection is scheduled to begin in the retrial of brothers accused of setting a pit bull on fire. the child in february ended in a hung jury. the dog was so badly injured that she had to be euthanize.

here is sarah caldwell and traffic pulse 11. >> fog and drizzle is impacting the morning rush. delays on southbound 795 coming down approaching 140 down to the beltway. outer loop of the j.f.x., tracking a crash. if you want to head out on the west side, 13 miles per hour on average heading to edmondson. topside, 33 miles per hour. we are also attracting some closures in effect along belair road in arizona ave due to an accident. 12 miles per hour on southbound 95 at stretching back to beyond the beltway northeast. beltway at quarantine road east side, no problems to report in this area. hawkins point on the inner loop, reports of a possible accident. 795 at franklin boulevard, still looking at delays southbound all the way down. tony has a check on your forecast.

>> steady rain we had last night has pushed off to the east. not a whole lot showing up on the radar. there's a fog and drizzle in some spots. mostly cloudy is our forecast. 30, 40% chance for a rain shower. temperatures in the mid-fifties right now. upper 50s to around 60 this afternoon. better chance for rain tomorrow. bryant last until wednesday morning. at this point, i stay on thanksgiving. thanksgiving.

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snets ♪ 7:30 here on this monday morning, the 21st day of 2011. we have an impressive crowd gathered in rockefeller plaza. we'll treat them to a live concert from country star rascal flatts in our 8:00 hour because life is a highway. a lot of people have been here since 6:00 last night. it was raining. it was cold. this is dedication. >> every year, this is the week we get the biggest crowds out on the plaza. it's going to build by the time wednesday rolls around, justin bieber is out there the day before thanksgiving parade. >> inside studio 1a i'm ann curry along with matt lauer.

also we have meredith vieira. >> meredith vieira looking rested and wonderful. no, i mean it, she's got an exclusive interview, she spoke with charla nash, the victim of the brutal chimp attack. charla shows us what she looks like now after her extraordinary transplant surgery. we'll check in with meredith in a couple of minutes. >> also coming up, when it comes to fees and return policies is your favorite retailer naughty or nice? coming up the new list from "consumer reports" you need to remember as your holiday shopping gets into full swing this fall. if you don't want to spend your entire thanksgiving day in the kitchen, giada de laurentiis has three great recipes you can make today and may even get better by the time thanksgiving day rolls around. we begin this half hour with a frantic search for a florida mother of three who vanished last thursday the same day she appeared on a taped episode of "the people's court" with her

ex-fiance. lily is in orlando with more on the story. >> reporter: good morning to you ann. it's not every day somebody goes missing right after an angry episode on a tv show. that's the case with this missing mom has many wondering did her disappearance have anything to do with what was said on "the people's court"? >> i felt somebody grab me and yank me around. he said that he wanted his ring. >> reporter: michelle parker in a heated legal dispute with her ex-fiance over an engagement ring. just hours after this taped episode of "the people's court" aired on thursday the mother of three disappeared. >> she has twins. she has an 11 years old little boy. they adore her. we need her home. >> we're still looking for you and we won't give up. >> reporter: parker's family last saw her thursday around 2:00 p.m. a couple of hours later she dropped off her 3-year-old twins with their father, dale smith.

soon after, her brother received a one-word text message from michelle's cell phone saying "waterford," a neighborhood in orlando. >> she uses icons in orlando, smiley faces, hearts, she does not give one-word answers. >> reporter: when she didn't show up to her 7:30 bartending shift her family knew something was off. friday morning police found her suv but no sign of her or her cell phone. >> that's not her side of town. >> reporter: that area is where family, friends and volunteers are now frantically searching. >> this is michelle parker, she went missing a few days ago. >> reporter: police say he is not a suspect. >> every relationship, none of them are perfect. right now dale is fully cooperating. >> reporter: parker's family says the timing of her disappearance could be a terrible twist of fate. throughout the weekend we tried to reach dale smith and his family for comment but received

no response. according to parker's family the couple's 3-year-old twins are now smith and his parents. >> lily luciano, it's a mystery. thank you so much this morning. let's get another check of the weather from al. >> ann thank you so much. cloudy skies but the rain is ending. big crowd here for rascal flatts. for the week ahead, above normal temperatures much of the country, snow out west, rain working its way into the east and mid-atlantic states. midweek period, rain along the eastern seaboard, snow showers back from the pacific northwest, cooler than normal along the west coast and as we get to the latter part of the week above normal, warm, rain ends, we've got showers in the mississippi river valley, rain and snow in the pacific northwest on into the cascades, sierra and inner mountain regions. things finally dry out through

and >> and that's your latest weather. matt. now to a "today" exclusive and the reason meredith is back with us this morning. she recently caught one chimpanzee attack victim charla nash who underwent a ground breaking face transplant earlier this year. meredith, good to have you back and i can't wait to see the story. >> it is great to be back especially with good news about carla. i've had the opportunity to get to know her over the past few years and to really witness firsthand her story of survival and tremendous strength and has

a new face, a testament to modern medicine and her fierce determination to overcome the incredible challenges in her life. charla nash's story might be unbelievable, if it wasn't all true. her life was forever changed in a day, february 16th, 2009. >> he's killing my friend! >> who is killing my friend? >> my chimpanzee! >> reporter: charla was barely alive. the chimpanzee had taken off her nose, mouth and hands and left her permanently blind. nearly three years later, following countless medical procedures charla's great hope would come through. surgeons at brigham and women's hospital in boston performed the country's first ever double hand and face transplants. wow. you really look fantastic, charla. >> thank you. >> i'm just, i apologize, i'm looking at your face and i am in awe. how are you feeling? >> i'm doing good, because i had a lot of setbacks.

after i had the face and head transplant, i had pneumonia. i was so sick, i thought i was dying. >> reporter: just days after the surgery, doctors rushed charla back into the o.r. to save her life. when you woke up and they said to you, the good news is, face transplant is looking great. the bad news is, because of an infection, we lost circulation, the kinds of circulation we need for your hands and we had to remove them after having had a successful transplant, what was your reaction to that? >> well, i felt disappointed that i had hands and they had to remove them. >> reporter: doctors say in as little time as a year, charla could be approved for another hand transplant surgery. she can now eat solid foods, has regained her sense of smell. though she remains blind she's been fitted with prosthetic eyes. do you have any sense even in

your mind's eye of what you look like now? >> no. >> none? >> i had people tell me i'm beautiful, and nobody ever told me i was beautiful before. >> well you do look beautiful. you look great. >> thank you. >> can you touch your face with your thumb, do you ever do that just to feel -- >> yes, i can touch it. i can't really feel anything. i know i'm touching my skin and my teeth. i can't feel the middle of my face like the top lip and my nose. i lost all the nerves there, so it's going to be a long time before everything, you know, can work. >> and now you're able to eat solid food for a change. what do you get to eat that you couldn't before? >> i had potato skins with cheese and sour cream and i had

french fries with parmesan cheese. >> you like your junk food, don't you? >> yes. we went to ihop. i two eggs overeasy, bacon, hash brown potatoes and toast. >> charla's doctors said the healing will continue for the next year. her face won't reseme the donor. instead it will conform to her own bone structure. >> what we have seen is the face almost blends in and becomes the patient's own to the point that i think the regular person passing by will not even be able to tell. >> reporter: cha la's daughter, briana, by her mom's side through it all, says she's still the same mom. what do you see when you look at your mom? >> i'm still waiting for some of the underlying bone structure to still take some shape on her cheeks but it's my mom. >> reporter: on the day we met up with charla, we took a special trip to the boston symphony orchestra. so first time at the symphony, what did you think in. >> nice. >> nice.

>> reporter: later on a reminder of how her story touched others. >> if you only knew how many people read about you and talked about you and prayed to you. >> i read all of the prayers. thank you. >> reporter: now charla is speaking out hoping to make a difference encouraging legislation prohibiting wild animals as pets. >> i lived in connecticut and there were restrictions against these animals. >> have you gotten peace? >> i can go slower and think about helping with, you know, the future of these animals and people's safety. >> the person who gave this gift

to you, no longer here, obviously, what would you say to that woman's family? >> words can't even say enough. it's really given me a life back. i mean, it is such a wonderful thing. i cannot thank them enough. >> charla's doctors said in giving her the face transplant they were hoping to give her back her humanity and she tells this story about the first time she went out and didn't have to wear a veil and a little girl came up to her and said "hello" and she realized at that moment she wasn't scaring people anymore. >> i'm not sure she lost of her humanity. >> people attach that to a face. she didn't. >> the hands, i didn't realize they had to remove the hands so is there any timetable? you mentioned that she could be in line for that? >> it was a successful transplant and that's what people have to remember. she developed an infection afterwards, pneumonia which

caused the circulation problem. when she regains her strength she could get a transplant. she'll be given a seeing eye dog. she's an incredible woman. >> it's wonderful to see her doing so well. pleasure. happy thanksgiving. >> happy thanksgiving. >> we'll have more on charla's remarkable journey and head to today.com to find out about that, and meredith will stick around. you're stuck here. up next, "consumer reports" naughty or nice list. [ woman ] thursday! finally!

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by adding a few new ones. we've all got garlands and budgets to stretch. and this year, we can keep them both evergreen. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. make your season even brighter with 300-count icicle lights for just $7.48. [ knock on door ] cool. you found it. wow. nice place. yeah. [ chuckles ] the family thinks i'm out shipping these. smooth move. you used priority mail flat rate boxes. if it fits, it ships for a low, flat rate. paid for postage online and arranged a free pickup. and i'm gonna track them online, too. nice. between those boxes and this place, i'm totally staying sane this year. do i smell snickerdoodles? maybe. [ timer dings ] got to go.

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this morning on "tooled's consumer" the naughty and nice holiday list. "consumer reports" is out with a review of national retailers to make your holiday shopping decisions easier to save you money along the way. todd marks is a senior editor at "consumer reports." todd good morning and welcome. >> good morning, ann. how are you? >> i'm doing great. >> why would you be willing to come out with a naughty and nice list before the holidays, given the predictable backlash? >> what better time? we came out with this list, the first one was last year because it's a too many of the year when consumers are at their most vulnerable, purchasing things and acting even willy-nilly. here we want to make them aware people have choices. company policies differ all over the board. if they spend a little more time looking at those policies, they can be smarter shoppers. >> looking out for the consumers you've come out with a list of ten nice companies and costco is one of them, why? >> it's not just the company. it's just an aspect of their policy we liked. costco renowned for their gen success return policy and also

provide free tech support for many products. what a lot of people don't realize they'll double the manufacturer's warranty up to two years on tvs and computers. >> you also like the outdoor adventure chain rei, amazon.com, cablevision, bi-lo supermarkets, live nation, american expression, orvis, crutchfield and microsoft. not so happy are the nine companies on your naughty list. one of them is radio shack. why? >> there was an interesting situation with radioshack. we found out that some of their online prices differ from instore prices. we found when a shopper, reader of ours actually tried to buy an audio video cable, hdmi cable it cost twice as much in the store as online. he asked for an explanation, "nothing we can do about it, read the fine print." we don't like two-tier pricing like that. >> we reached out to radioshack. they told us "for 99% of our products we have the same price

in store and online. from time to time we run pricing merchandising tests online to gauge consumer behavior. we do price match on our online pricing if a consumer asks for it in our stores." one of the biggest companies on your naughty list is verizon wireless. that's a major company to take on. why? >> and again, verizon has done very well in our surveys but this aspect of what we wanted to talk about was the alert system when people are about to exceed their monthly allotment of minutes of data and texting. what happened was they were allowed voice before the fcc in hearings saying there's no need for a mandatory alert system but we found verizon in a couple of instances only contacted people after they had exceeded their monthly allotment and what had happened, then they tried to use that opportunity to upsell people to a more expensive plan, but in october, the great news is that there was a deal struck with the industry to make, to alert people in the event of bill shock, and so that will start being implemented but it won't be fully implemented until

2013. >> verizon of course responded saying "consumer reports gets coal in its stocking this year for failing to recognize that, one, verizon wireless leads the wireless industry with a variety of consumer-friendly tools and options that help our customers monitor and manage their accounts, and two, verizon wireless, in fact, helped lead the charge to create the new industry standards for customer usage alerts, most of which we currently meet or exceed." so i think you're going to start a lot of arguments with this list. we'll let people know, we've run out of time but the rest of this list, the naughty and the nice list is, their link is on our website at today.com. todd marks thank you for looking out for the consumer. >> thank you for the healthy chitchat. >> there you go. still ahead thanksgiving with giada de laurentiis but first these messages. hi, giada. [ male announcer ] what if you have potatoes?

but you've got a meat and potatoes guy? pour chunky sirloin burger soup over those mashed potatoes and dinner is served. four minutes, around four bucks. campbell's chunky -- it's amazing what soup can do. four minutes, around four bucks. smal l bu four minutes, around four bucks. sinesses are the smal lifeblood of our communities. on november 26th you can make a huge impact by shopping small on small business saturday. one purchase. one purchase is all it takes. so, pick your favorite local business... and join the movement. i pledge to shop small at big top candy shop. allen's boots... at juno baby store. make the pledge to shop small. please. shop small on small business saturday. so the last time we saw meredith, she was acting like a queen and then there was

halloween. >> nicely played sir. >> that's right, you joined us for the surprise appearance in our halloween show. >> i was in london last week and the queen would like her buosom back. >> i love the wig. >> you almost destroyed my moment. >> how you been, sweetie? >> you look great. >> i've been good, really good. i've listen cleaning your bathrooms on a weekly basis. thank you for the change in the restroom. >> she leaps back-to-back without her pajama bottoms. >> you know i can get this abuse at home. i really don't have to come back for this. i miss you guys. >> we really miss you. >> back after this. [ mom ] i thought i heard reindeer. mom... i mean, mrs. nelson, i have the perfect gift for you. you must've gotten my letter. ♪ oh...santa.

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on november 26th you can make a huge impact by shopping small on small business saturday. one purchase. one purchase is all it takes. so, pick your favorite local business... and join the movement. i pledge to shop small at big top candy shop. allen's boots... at juno baby store. make the pledge to shop small. please. shop small on small business saturday. it's all crossed out...

it's 'cause i got everything on it. boom! thank you! [ male announcer ] black friday's here. deals start thursday 10 pm. but we're open all day and night so you don't have to wait outside. the only place to go on black friday. walmart. aflac... and major medical? major medical, boyyyy! [ beatboxing ] ♪ i help pay the doctor ♪ ain't that enough for you? ♪ there are things major medical doesn't do. aflac! pays cash so we don't have to fret. [ together ] ♪ something families should get ♪ ♪ like a safety net ♪ even helps pay deductibles, so cover your back, get... ♪ a-a-a-a-a-a-a-aflac! [ male announcer ] help protect your family at aflac.com. [ beatboxing ] southbound 95 approaching white

marsh, we have a crash reported there. delays in place from now to road to the beltway. 11 miles per hour on the stretch. j.f.x. is filling up quickly from the beltway to 28. on the west side this morning, 16 miles per hour from 795 down

to edmondson. back up on southbound 795 out of owings mills. route 10, watch for a crash. mr. the major roadways around the airport, heading out of town, looking good. live view of traffic. we will check the j.f.x. at ruxton road. southbound delay going away from us from the beltway down to 28. live view of the beltway at 140. no delays here, but once you get closer to 795, that is when traffic starts to back up. >> we at a steady rain around last night. most of that is gone now. we have areas of fog and drizzle, but most of you are not too much trouble. 57 degrees at the airport. temperatures are not going to move much today. of her 50s to may be near 60 degrees. we will keep the 30% to 40% chance of rain showered this morning. we will increase the chance for rain tomorrow at 60%. that rain will likely last into

wednesday morning. it will clear up in the afternoon. thanksgiving day, not bad. high of 52. sunshine. 59.

♪ 8:00 now on a monday morning. it's the 21st day of november, 2011. it's the start of a huge week of music for us here on "today." we're kicking things off with a big crowd, great music from country star rascal flatts, coming up in our 8:30 half hour and then tomorrow, it's multiple grammy winner carol king on our plaza and wednesday, baton down the hatches, the day before thanksgiving, justin bieber will take over the plaza for a concert in our 8:30 half hour as well. if you're in town for the parade or anything else, get here.

i'm matt lauer along with ann curry and al roker. coming up, taking a little of the stress out of thanksgiving. >> that's right. giada de laurentiis will show us how to makedicious today you can put away and trot out on thanksgiving morning and your guests will be thrilled and delighted. >> all right and also coming up, we have none other than betty white in our studio. that's right. she's going to be talking about her new book and guess what? it reveals her true passion. and coming up we'll hear from michelle williams, the great actress also out with a movie, think about how bold to take on the role of marilyn munroe, and the reviews are amazing. we'll hear from her about that. >> we have a lot to get to, including the headlines of the morning. natalie is back at the news desk after being on assignment. good morning again. >> good morning, matt, ann and

al. good morning, everyone. officials say an al qaeda sympathizer arrested in a bomb plot was not part of a conspiracy. 27-year-old jose pimentel, police were watching him for two years and the police moved in saturday because he was close to completing two pipe bombs. a board has been investigating what school officials knew about child sex abuse allegations against former defensive coach jerry sandusky and when they knew it. sandusky's first alleged victim has reportedly dropped out of his senior year of high school because of bullying about the incident. even though penn state scored its first victory without coach joe paterno saturday, sales of penn state paraphernalia are down 40% compared to the same period last year. top forecasters predict the u.s. will avoid a recession next

year. the national business of economics says growth will be too weak to make a significant mark in the jobless rate. courtney reagan is here, good morning. >> good morning. investor attention will likely be divided today between the u.s. and europe as politicians on both sides of the atlantic struggle with debt and deficit issues, hanging over the markets like a threatening pendulum. meantime, prices at the pump dropped five cents a gallon over the last two weeks to a national average of $3.38 as a result of a weak economy and fewer daylight driving hours. natalie, back to you. >> great news for all of us on the roads this thanksgiving holiday. thanks, courtney. here is brian williams with a look at what's coming up on "nbc nightly news." >> tonight on "nightly news" we know them as man's best friend and now a soldier's best friend in a time of war, these dogs comforted and supported our soldiers in afghanistan, coming home to be reunited with the

same men and women they knew while on duty. that story tonight on "nightly news." natalie, for now back to you. >> thank you, brian. now for a look at "what's trending today" a roundup of what has you talking online, fans are googling stars like justin bieber and nicky menage who pushed the boundary of fashion at last night's american music awards. the best undressed would go to david hasselhoff, whose breakaway suit revealed a happy pair of boxer shorts. nice. the sunday games making envelope teams popular searches as well and fans viewed this young viking supporter more than 1 million times after she took a loss to green bay earlier this month very hard. oh. >> you want the packers to win? >> no! >> you don't? >> no. i want the vikings to win. >> oh. she's probably still crying because her team's rally against

the raiders sunday unfortunately fizzled out. and googling for green bean casseroles anddicious but nothing going to coach this reluctant turkey into the roasting pan. moms say don't play with your food. we go back outside to al with a check of your weather. >> i may be going down but i'm taking somebody with me. i like it. we've got a young lady it's your 10th birthday, you're double digits now. what is your name? >> isabela ray. >> where are you from? >> ft. worth, texas. >> awfully nice to see you. our pick city of the day, columbus, ohio, morning showers, 52 degrees and we've got rain coming into the east coast, that will be moving out pretty quickly. heavy showers and thunderstorms down through the lower mi

>> and that's your latest weather. ann? >> al, thank you so much. coming up, giada de laurentiis will make thanksgiving dishes. and also rascal flatts scafr these messages. wow.

it's a great hd tv. shh. don't speak. i'll just leave you two alone. [ male announcer ] black friday's here. deals start thursday 10 pm. more electronics start at midnight. and we're open all day and night

so you don't have to wait outside. walmart. and this time of year, i send out a lot of gifts. sweater for mom, free shipping from brian. i'm brian andrews. i ship the gifts that last. the holidays are made here at l.l.bean. if you have painful, swollen joints, i've been in your shoes. one day i'm on p of the world... the next i'm saying... i have this thing called psoriatic arthritis. i had some intense pain. it progressively got worse. my rheumatologist told me about enbrel. i'm surprised how quickly my symptoms have been managed. [ male announcer ] because enbrel suppresses your immune system, it may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, and nervous system and blood disorders have occurred. before starting enbrel, your doctor should test you for tuberculosis and discuss whether you've been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. don't start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. tell your doctor if you're prone to infections,

have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for heart failure, or if, while on enbrel, you experience persistent fever, bruising, bleeding, or paleness. get back to the things that matter most. good job girls. ask your rheumatologist if enbrel is right for you. it's all crossed out... it's 'cause i got everything on it. boom! thank you! [ male announcer ] black friday's here. deals start thursday 10 pm. but we're open all day and night so you don't have to wait outside. the only place to go on black friday. walmart. so you don't have to wait outside. a vacation on a budget with expedia. make it work. booking a flight by itself is an uh-oh. see if we can "stitch" together a better deal. that's a hint, antoine. ooh! see what anandra did? booking your flight and hotel at the same time gets you prices hotels and airlines won't let expedia show separately. book it. major wow factor!

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this morning, "cooking with giada de laurentiis." the last time we saw giada we were on inner tubes in barbados for "where in the world" when things took an unexpected turn. >> someone was not very nice. look at that! >> i can't believe that! and then you got on the inner tube and we were supposed to go off into the sunset. >> yes, except you decided not to go. >> we don't need to go back over this. anyway, giada is back -- >> i have bruises from that. >> let's talk about this. these are great recipes, you can make them a couple of days before thanksgiving and in some cases they get better. >> all of these get better the longer they sit. >> food for vegetarians. >> butternut squash lasagna. i cook it in water, salt and pepper for 20 minutes. put the lid on until it gets tender. you don't want to roast it because you want it to be

smooth. >> when you roast it you get the dark spots. >> it changes the flavor. you put it in the food processor and add three amerete cookies. have you ever had these in. >> i have. are these for texture and taste in. >> a little bit of texture and taste. they're slightly sweet, made of sugar, egg whites and almond. most italian gourmet stores have them. if you can't find them a little bit of cinnamon and nuts and puree the whole thing together like this until it's nice and smooth. >> okay, fine. tell me about the sauce here. >> traditional italian cream sauce, butter, flour and milk. it's all about the stirring. it thickens like this. >> starts to stick to the whisk. >> correct. someone's done this before. yo >> you put that in another blender. >> a bunch of basil and you can add the nutmeg. >> you make it ahead of mine,

make this today, pop this in the freezer or the fringdge? >> no, bake it off and leave it in the fridge and reheat it. there we go. you puree this with all the base nil it. you're making a basil cream sauce. >> now it's layering time. >> and then you dump it back in here, you got to dump it back in here, and then you start layering. >> you're using no cook lasagna noodles? >> no boil lasagna noodles. you take these no boil lasagna sheets and put them on top of sauce. you need a lot of liquid and moisture to cook these guys. so then you take some of the puree and put it on each one of the lasagnas. keep going. >> we've done the layering and when it comes time to put it in the offen? >> 375 and that's what it looks like. 40 minutes, cover it with tin foil so traps the humidity and moisture, take the tin foil off for another 15, add more cheese and that's what it looks like. >> next a roasted root vegetable

salad. >> pearled onen i don'ts, car the ros and par snip. put it in the oven 400 degrees for 20 minutes and flip them over another 20 minutes and this is what you get. what i do is i make, i prep everything but you don't assemble it until right before you eat it. arugula, sliced pears, walnuts and apple cider vinaigrette. >> couldn't be easier. >> when you're ready to eat, take everything together, it looks colorful and beautiful. >> describe this. red pepper cheesecake, appetizer. >> savory appetizer. put apricot jam. >> giada, thank you so much. happy thanksgiving. >> you got it. coming up, betty white opens up about her wild side, right after this. ♪ wild thing, you make my heart sing ♪ ♪ by barnes & noble it's their fastest, lightest tablet, with all my favorite books.

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[ both ] ♪ emma, emma bo-bemma ♪ banana-fana-fo-femma ♪ fee-fi-fo-femma ♪ em-ma very good sweety, how do you feel? good. yeah? you did a really good job, okay? [ female announcer ] to nurses everywhere, thank you, from johnson & johnson. [ female announcer ] to nurses everywhere, smal l bu thank you, from johnson & johnson. sinesses are thennouncer ] to nurses everywhere, smal lifeblood of our communities. on november 26th you can make a huge impact by shopping small on small business saturday. one purchase. one purchase is all it takes. so, pick your favorite local business... and join the movement. i pledge to shop small at big top candy shop. allen's boots... at juno baby store. make the pledge to shop small. please. shop small on small business saturday. "today's books" is brought to you by nook tablet by barnes

and noble. ♪ wild thing >> so betty white's real passion is animals. her advocacy work spans three decades and she can often be seen visiting with her friends at the los angeles zoo and she's opening up about her work in the new book "betty and friends: my life at the zoo." betty, good morning. >> good morning. >> when i first saw the title i thought the zoo being hollywood because that can be a zoo. >> it can be but my zoo is much more pleasant. >> you've been doing this for decades, you've been carrying on behind the scenes really with this deep passion for animals. >> that started in the womb. my mother and dad were the same way about animals but i've been working, well i've been working with the los angeles zoo for 50 years, so it's a joy. >> and one particular animal, i should back up, you have not only gotten to the zoo early, you've hung out with the

zookeepers. you've actually helped them with their work, and some of the animals seem to really know who you are, and one of them in particular is bruno the orangutan. >> well, bruno is my friend. he's this 380-pound orange ape, long hair. >> and a tongue. >> yes. bruno and i have a wonderful relationship. but i've been married. i don't want to marry him. >> but apparently he's got a crush on you. >> we've got a crush on each either. >> isn't that something? you also have an animal, another animal named lina the gorilla and you say some of the animals like lina have helped shape your life. >> oh, they all have. they really have. it's a passion, always has been. i find them fascinating. there isn't an animal that i don't find fascinating except possibly the two-legged ones.

they can be interesting. lina is now at the albuquerque zoo, but she grew up, i held lina when she was, you know, a baby baby. that's lina, and then she moved to albuquerque, but l.a., she would go out there and blow you kisses so when i went to the albuquerque zoo, here is this beautiful gorilla blowing kisses so i said to the keeper, oh, our lina used to do that, too. she said "this is lina." so it was a big homecoming. >> big excitement and you've hung out with elephants and all kinds of animals and you really say that zoos do something very important not just allow people to play with animals but help preserve some endangered species. so many animals are in jeopardy specifically the tigers. that's one reason. >> tigers are at the head of the list but so many species are now endangered. we've used up all their habitat.

we've not appreciated them. so we're finally waking up to the fact of what a treasure they are, and once they're gone, they're gone forever. you can't bring them back. so that's why my book is, as i said, worked with the l.a. zoo for 50 years and our photographer has these magnificent pictures. he's given me a copy of them all through those years, so i thought well why not. the fun of it is i've been there so long, some of these individual animals are old friends. >> that's nice. >> so it was a joyful experience. >> it's really a beautiful book, and a lot of fun to read. betty white, thank you so much this morning. >> thank you so much. it's a joy. >> and the book is called "betty and friends." now we'll look at another actress taking on a challenging role, michelle williams portrays the legendary marilyn munroe in

the film "my week with marilyn." let's take a look. ♪ we're having a heat wave, a tropical heat wave ♪ ♪ the way that i move that, the moment approves that ♪ ♪ i certainly can >> there you go, michelle williams, good morning. welcome to the "today" show. >> good morning, thanks. it's my first time. >> it's nice to have you here and i'm wondering, what gave you the courage really to play marilyn munroe? >> oh, gosh, i suppose in the beginning i just tried to ignore the risk because i knew if i really contemplated it, it might stand in my way, so it was something i just chose to put as far out of my mind as possible. >> and so in response to that now, it looks like you've hit it out of the ballpark. i mean "variety" calls your portrayal a tour de force turn. you're laughing. >> it's just a relief, i'm having an out of body

experience, i can't believe i'm having this moment in connection with the experience of making the film. >> it's almost emotional for you, i can see, to have this kind of response. >> it is. you know, it was, it was the hardest thing i've ever done, maybe the hardest thing i ever will do although i don't really know what's to come, and there were so many days that i just didn't know, and so i'm relieved. >> what did you come to understand about marilyn munroe that helped you, you think n your portrayal of her? >> my gosh so many things. i wasn't familiar with her film work going into it. i had only like so many people come to know her through her image so i didn't come to it with any sort of preconceptions or ideas about how i was going to play her and so i let everything kind of wash over me and the biggest thing that hit me was that marilyn munroe was a character that she played but she played it so beautiful and well that you could barely tell. >> because she was at once a

child and a fist indicasophisti woman and sex symbol, almost a lost person. you knitted these disparate parts of her personality together. in all your research and your effort to sort of embody that spirit in her, did you glean anything about why it is that we're still so fascinated by this woman? >> yeah, i think exactly, some of it is, it remains mysterious which is why we're still so fascinated by her and i think it's the contradiction, all of the things you just said, her innocence, her sensuality, her knowingness, her wit. she contained multitudes and that's what makes her such an enduring icon is that she still is difficult to really pin down. so many people have tried, she's been written about by some of the greatest minds and still people are intrigued. >> well, you are an intriguing actress. >> thank you. >> you've done so much great

work. >> thank you. >> you're young and beautiful, there's so much yet ahead. congratulations on your portrayal of marilyn monroe. >> thanks so much. >> the movie is called "my week with >> live, local, latebreaking. this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore. >> good morning. i am mindy basara. let's check the morning commute with sarah caldwell. >> is looking better in some spots but we are holding onto delays from white marsh to the beltway northeast. accident southbound approaching white marsh. nine miles per hour. 14 miles per hour on the west side outer loop. i-97, watch for an accident clearing on southbound 97 and general highway.

this one on the bw parkway is gone. clemmons mostly around the airport. -- flowing smoothly around the airport. ruxton road, that is improving south of the beltway. still looking at a slow-go from northern parkway go to 28. live view of traffic in the area of 95 at the beltway. southbound, very crowded from white marsh to be on the ball in northeast. -- to beyond the beltway northeast. tony, over to you. >> patchy fog, but pretty thick. you may drive through that on your way to work. there could be drizzle in that fog. mostly dry in most areas. we might get a peek at the sunshine and some areas this morning. variable clouds. 30% or 40% chance of rain shower. high temperatures and the upper 50's and low 60's. 60% chance for rain to market a chance for rate goes up on

tuesday. that should last until wednesday morning. breezy and aunt dry on thursday. at this thanksgiving day we will not deal with any rain as be visit friends and family. >> another update at 8:56.

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♪ ♪ life is a highway 8:30 now on this monday morning, the 21st day of november, 2011. some have stayed here overnight in the cold. that did not stop the massive crowd of people from coming out to see rascal flatts live in concert. starting from 6:00 p.m. last

night, they have not showered but they're very excited, it's one of three big concerts coming up this week. >> coincidence, because al hasn't showered either, and he is holding out until more music comes our way this week, tomorrow we've got carol king on the plaza, that should be a fantastic show and the clock is ticking already to wednesday's big concert with justin bieber now, just 48 hours away. >> that's right. >> they'll probably just continue to hang out on the plaza. also, thanks in giving week, we have a touching story of identical twin girls who battled against a rare disorder. jenna bush hager and marlo thomas tell us how st. jude children's research hospital helped that family out. >> why you may not have to battle the black friday crowds for the holiday gifts. >> mr. roker, how about a check of the weather? >> let's show you what's happening as far as our extended look into the weekend.

we've got rain in the pacific northwest, windy conditions, slight risk of strong storms today, texas into oklahoma, rain into the mid-atlantic states. for tomorrow, you're going to be looking at a risk of strong storms, lower mississippi river valley, ohio river valley, heavy rain in the pacific northwest and wednesday before thanksgiving, rain here in the east, may see some thunderstorms, showers hanging around the pacific northwest, sunny and mild from the central plains of texas on into the southwest. that's what's going on in the co >> and with your holiday travel

so important as far as the weather is concerned, check with the weather channel online or on cable. >> thank you so much. coming up, rascal flatts live and in concert! but first, this is "today" on nbc.

♪ this morning we're kicking off our special series" thanks in giving" focusing on the work at st. jude's hospital. jenna hager bush is here with the story. i love this series every year. >> me too, good morning guys. as a twin myself i know the inseparable bond. imagine keeping twins apart for over six months to save their lives. the family will never take the

twin moments for granted. when emily million first learned she was pregnant with identical twins she was a typical proud mom to be. >> it was exciting. >> reporter: yet shortly after addison and madison were born that excitement turned to fear. looking at the 23-month-old sisters now, it's difficult to believe that they've spent over one-third of their lives in isolation, even separated from each other. at one point, doctors said their chances of surviving to see their first birthday were slim. when they were first born they seemed perfectly healthy, had symptoms of a cold. >> they had snivels but it turned into pneumonia. >> addison was rushed to the hospital. as she lay in the icu with their health declining doctors were perplexed by what was ailing her. >> for days they could not tell me what was wrong. >> they was putting her on a

life support ventilator and that's when i really got scared. >> reporter: after days of testing, local doctors diagnosed addison with severe combined immune deficiency or scid. you may remember this disease from the 1976 tv movie "the boy in the plastic double. ". >> when are you going to get out of this thing? >> i don't know. >> reporter: like a scene addison had to be isolated and begin treatment immediately. madison was also diagnosed with the disease. their doctors recommended st. jude children's research hospital. we all think of st. jude as a cancer hospital. >> they explained st. jude treats other catastrophic diseases besides cancer and the main thing that we were coming for was the bone marrow transplant unit and they can cure our girls. >> reporter: so tell me a little bit about scid is? >> severe combined immune deficiency, you really have virtually no immune system.

>> reporter: at st. jude the girls were separated, if an infection passed from one to another, both of their lives would be in danger. was it hard for them to tell them apart? >> i've signed them in one time and almost got the wrong bracelet. >> reporter: oh, no. because of their similar names and likeness, extra precautions were taken to avoid medical mistakes. the girls were placed in rooms at opposite ends of the hospital floor with different nursing stations and staff. she never saw you without a mask on. >> right. >> reporter: that was that like? >> it was horrible. they thought everybody that came through the door should have a mask on or they weren't normal. we'd have to have the gloves. we couldn't feel their skin or their hair. >> reporter: after searching through 6 million possible bone marrow donors, the twins' parents were found to be the best match. emily was chosen to save their lives. >> it didn't matter if they needed heart transplant. that's what you're willing to do for your children. >> reporter: about a year ago the now healthy twins were

reunited. tell me about the day you were able to take the mask and the gloves off. >> it's like when you have your newborn baby you're so proud. >> reporter: with their twin girls home the million family measures their wealth based on happiness and truly feel like millionaires. >> knowing that our family could get together and hold onto each other, so many families fall apart when they're going through storms. it just made us stronger. >> and the twins just turned 2. their parents say they're grateful their girls can play outside and be healthy, and what's really interesting, guys, is that emily is now pregnant again. >> wow. >> which poses some risk. >> are they nervous about that? >> she's not. she's grateful she has her healthy girls at home. >> congratulations. we're joined by marlo thomas, national outreach director for st. jude children's research hospital.

nice to see you. >> thank you, thank you. >> it was funny i was looking at a clip from "the boy in the bubble," we've come a long way. >> these children are cured. these children can now play in the mud, play with any other child and because st. jude really innovated the identical transplant, half a match, they went through 6 million names in the registry and the mom gave her cells, 10 million cells to each child and she said i'd give my heart to st. jude. >> each year we love this series, i mentioned to jenna a second ago, "thanks in giving" can you explain what the concept is? >> the "today" show certainly tried to be sure that they do, but all over america you can visit stores, cvs, kmart, dick's sporting goods and make a donation because we ask you to really think about while you're out there buying stuff for all your families, leave a little something for children who are fighting for their lives. that's why we say give thanks for the healthy kids in your

life. there's our logo, the green magnifying glass you see everywhere. >> you do amazing work and something else to celebrate, jenna, this one's birthday. >> happy birthday. >> thank you very much. thank you. >> many happy returns. >> thank you so much. >> see you during the week. marlo is back tomorrow with another story of "thanks in giving." up next, rascal flatts but giving." up next, rascal flatts but first this is nbc.ilil, any luc? not yet. i want to buy used but how do you know what you're really getting. check out carmax. all their used cars are guaranteed. that's where henderson found the one for him. way to go, henderson. finding the perfect car is easy at carmax because each car is carefully selected, inspected, thoroughly reconditioned and backed with a five-day money back guarantee so come find the one for you today, at carmax. way to go, neil.

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♪ every day >> announcer: the toyota concert series on "today" brought to you by toyota. we are now welcoming back one of the biggest acts in country music. ladies and gentlemen, rascal flatts!

>> new york city, how y'all feeling this morning? ♪ ♪ well life's like a road that you travel on ♪ ♪ there's one day here and the next day gone ♪ ♪ sometimes you bend, sometimes you stand, sometimes you turn your back to the wind ♪ ♪ there's a world outside every darkened door ♪ ♪ where blues won't haunt you anymore ♪ ♪ for the brave are free and the lovers soar ♪ ♪ come ride with me to the distant shore ♪ ♪ we won't hesitate to break down the guarding gate ♪ ♪ there's not much left to today ♪ so let's sing it new york city! ♪ life is a highway, i'm gonna ride it all night long ♪ let me hear you! ♪ if you're going my way, i i'm

gonna drive it -- ♪ ♪ through all these cities and all these towns ♪ ♪ it's into my blood and it's all around ♪ ♪ i loved you now like i loved you then, this is the road and these are the hands ♪ ♪ from mozambique to those memphis nights ♪ ♪ the khyber pass to vancouver's lights ♪ ♪ they knock me down and back up again ♪ ♪ you're in my blood, i'm not a lonely man ♪ there's no load i can't hold ♪ ♪ the road's so rough this i know i'll be there when the light comes in ♪ ♪ just tell 'em we're survivors ♪ life is a highway, i'm gonna ride it all night long ♪ ♪ if you're going my way, i'm gonna drive it all night long ♪ ♪ there was a distance between you and i ♪

♪ between you and i ♪ a misunderstanding once but now we look it in the eye ♪ ♪ ooh, yeah ♪ ♪ there ain't no load that i can't hold ♪ ♪ the road's so tough, this i know ♪ ♪ i'll be there when the light comes in urs just tell 'em we're survivors ♪ everybody sing, yeah ♪ ♪ life is a highway, i'm gonna ride it all night long ♪ ♪ gimme, dpim me, yeah ♪ you're going my way, i'm gonna drive it all night long ♪

♪ let's do it again, yeah, i said ♪ life is a highway, i'm gonna ride it all night long ♪ ♪ gimme, gimme, do, do, yeah ♪ if you're going my way, i'm gonna drive it all night long ♪ yes we are! thank you! >> rascal flatts. coming up next, natasha bedingfield joins our guys on the concert stage. first this is "today" on nbc.

♪ you get your house back, your dog back ♪ there is no slowing down rascal flatts, up for a slew of awards coming up at the american country music awards, including artist of the year, group single of the year and tourist artist of the year and their newest album "nothing like this" debuted number one on the country charts. guys welcome back. >> good to be back. >> 11 years together, 13 number one singles, 20 million albums together. are you sick of each other yes? >> yes. of course. >> i don't even like these guys

a anymore. >> who is this guy? >> you're supposed to say it's a family, getting better and better. >> it's actually -- >> i was talking, gary, i'm sorry. >> our big machine label records we switched, became partners over there and changed, we've got a new management so it's a new season in rascal flatts career and everything is going fantastic. >> you guys spent a lot of time on the road, you basically just wrapped up one tour and i was reading in the notes you're going back out after the holidays for two months and it's like booked solid. does that lifestyle ever get a little overwhelming? >> no, really we love it. we love being on the road and love being home so it's a good balance of being with the family and good balance of being with our fan-ly we call it on the road. we have a great life and are blessed. >> you get to spend time at home for thanksgiving? >> we do, a little bit of time finishing off an album, we're real excited about the future and where we're headed as an act. ten years together, still trying to keep ourselves energized and

we're committed to each other. >> you renewed your vows? >> we did, yes. >> we reconnected. >> went to the church. beautifuler is ceremony. >> we'll bring in natasha bedingfield and you do a song together, it wasn't intended to be a duet. how did that happen? >> we heard the song, thought it would be a great duet, talk to the writers and talked to mike mobley and katrina they wrote it, guy verse, female verse. we called natasha, we're great fans of her. >> we're talking to natasha about taking gary's sxot, it worked out so well. >> more time off. >> maybe we could work -- >> it's a strange, odd world. you never know what's going to happen. we have a lovely young lady standing offstage. ladies and gentlemen, rascal flatts, featuring natasha bedingfield. ♪

♪ we broke up, yeah it's tough, most guys would have been crushed ♪ ♪ wastin their time, wondering where they went wrong ♪ ♪ but no way, not me, hey i'm doin' just fine ♪ ♪ i'm not afraid of moving on ♪ it's easy, goin' out on friday nights ♪ ♪ easy, every time i see her out and i can smile, live it up ♪ ♪ the way a single guy does ♪ but what she, what she don't know ♪ ♪ is how hard it is to make it look so easy ♪

ladies and gentlemen, natasha bedingfield. ♪ the truth is, i miss lyin' in those arms of his ♪ ♪ but i don't ever let it show ♪ i laugh and i act like i'm having the time of my life ♪ ♪ as far as he knows it's ♪ easy, goin' out on a friday night ♪ ♪ easy, every time i see him out ♪ ♪ i can smile, live it up the way a single girl does ♪ ♪ but what he, what he don't kn know, is how hard it is to make

it look so easy ♪ ♪ oh, it's easy ♪ oh, it's easy, goin' out on a friday night ♪ ♪ oh, it's easy, every time i see him out ♪ ♪ i can smile ♪ live it up ♪ forget about the way it was ♪ but what she ♪ oh, what he don't know ♪ no, no, what she don't know ♪ is how hard it is to make it look so easy ♪ ♪ oh, whoa ♪ no ♪ oh, whoa

♪ no, whoa, whoa ♪ oh, it's so easy ♪ oh, it ain't easy ♪ yooo ♪ whoa ♪ you

>> live, local, latebreaking. this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore. >> good morning. i am mindy basara. here's a look at one of our top stories. the maryland transportation authority says it drivers should expect busy roadways. 3 million travelers are expected to hit the roads as early as tomorrow.

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breakfast? in this house? in the morning i can use all the help i can get. that's why i love nutella, a delicious hazelnut spread that's perfect on multigrain toast and even whole-wheat waffles. it's a quick and easy way to give my family a breakfast they'll want to eat. and nutella is made with simple, quality ingredients, like hazelnuts, skim milk and a hint of cocoa. they love the taste and i feel good that they're ready to tackle the day. ♪ nutella. breakfast never tasted this good.