we're back now with more of "today" on a monday morning. 30th day of january 2012. it's nice in the northeast. hopefully it's nice where you are waking up or as mr. roker would say, in your neck of the woods. >> i say it just le that. >> i'm matt lauer along with ann curry, al roker and savannah guthrie as well. coming up we'll talk about a serious story out of maine that we have been following for about six weeks now, the disappearance of ayla reynolds, a young girl who disappeared while staying at her father's home. police in maine say blood found in the basement of the home is ayla's blood. we'll get the latest update on that in a live report. >> all right. >> another note, keeping your heart healthy.

experts say up to 80% of heart disease is preventable. as we get ready to kick off american heart month we'll tell you how to keep your heart strong and how the task changes as you age from your 20s to your 50s. >> also coming up, did you know that your personality type could affect how much you eat, how much weight you may be gaining and how difficult it may be for you to lose weight? in fact, for example, if you're a multi tasker, you know you're more likely to stuff food in your mouth. >> because you're not paying attention. >> that's one example of a personality trait that can affect your weight. >> makes sense. we'll get into that. and valentine's is just around the corner. we know the do it yourself gift is the best. we have do it yourself gifts with a high tech make over. personal scrapbooks, personalized candy. perhaps a murse for the man in your life. >> the "today" show scrapbook will be huge. >> that's a big one. >> imagine going home to debra

with a "today" scrapbook. >> honey, for you. >> natalie is at the news desk. >> good morning to you guys, again. good morning, everyone. the republican presidential candidates are making a final mush in flori push in florida ahead of tuesday's primary. mitt romney is pulling ahead 42 to 27%. according to the poll one of the key factors in romney's edge over gingrich is electability. voters see him as the most likely candidate to beat president obama. now to the mysterious disappearance of maine toddler ayla reynolds. police confirmed that some of her blood was found in her father's home. nbc's michelle franzen has the latest. >> reporter: new clues in the case of missing toddler ayla reynolds. investigators confirm some of the blood found in justin depietro's basement matches the 21-month-old who vanished. >> there were hundreds of pieces of potential evidence taken.

among them, blood we found in the basement. the crime lab continues to work on the evidence. >> reporter: the blood, investigators say was collected in the initial weeks after ayla's disappearance. they are waiting for the results of further testing. in a statement, ayla's family said the police told them they found, quote, more blood than a small cut would produce, adding they still cling to hope that she's found alive. police have not charged anyone with the crime or called anyone a suspect. they do suspect foul play. their focus in recent weeks centered on those who last saw ayla on december 16th. his father, girlfriend and sister. >> we were told someone came into the home, grabbed ayla and vanished in the night. we have not found one piece of

evidence to back that up. >> reporter: we reached out to depietro, but he's not commenting on the blood found. he denied involvement in ayla's disappearance. >> i love my daughter. i would never do anything to harm my daughter. she's the world to me. i just want my daughter home. i'm doing anything possible that i can to get my daughter home. >> reporter: this past weekend, he attended a vigil for his daughter and came face to face in public with ayla's mom trista reynolds for the first time since ayla went missing. the parents do not live together. reynolds has been critical of his actions. ayla yuz was living with her father while reynolds attended drug and alcohol rehab. she demanded answers. >> i'm trying to concept the fact that blood was found of my daughter. that's my reaction. >> reporter: reynolds dad is speaking out about his grand daughter's disappearance. >> this family again has gone through hell. i'm tired of it.

>> reporter: anger, along with the pain of not knowing, setting in. >> every day it's hard not knowing where she is. >> reporter: michelle franzen. >> a jury has found a father, his wife and son dpil ti of killing three young girls in a so-called honor killing because they disrespected the family by dating and going online. their bodies were found in a car in a canal in ontario. another woman was also killed. stepped up tension between the west and iran as nuclear inspectors look at tehran's nuclear facilities. a military spokesman said it would respond to a threat from the west in a, quote, crushing manner and warned the u.s. to reduce its presence in the region. meantime sunday tehran threatened to cut off oil shipments to europe amid new tough sanctions from the west. liam neeson's star power was

unbeatable at the weekend box office. he took the top spot with "the grey." the vampire film was second and "one for the money" in third. this is for you to decide. as a utah man recorded what he said was an unidentified flieg object hovering for several minutes in the night sky. however nay sayers think it was likely a remote control model airplane or maybe a paraglider flying with lights on. i don't know. six minutes past the hour now. let's turn it back over to al. >> we had the story on "wake up with al" this morning and it was a guy with garbage bags with helium and l.e.d. lights attached advertising a website. >> there you go. leave it to al roker. >> we update you. >> yes. >> let's check your weather and see what's happening. look at the above normal temperatures. the jet stream way up into canada keeping the canadian air

banked up there. so we are looking at temperatures way above normal. oklahoma city, 18 degrees above normal. indianapolis, 17 degrees above normal. minneapolis will have a high of 38. that's 17 degrees above normal. these are temperatures that are some of the record setters. we expect sunshine along the eastern seaboard. lake effect snow around the great lakes. one to three inches. showers in the pacific northwest. lots of sunshine through the southwest and southern california with temperatures in the low 70s. >> good morning. the weather will settle down today. it will be a little on the chilly side but nothing unusual for this time of year.

>> announcer: today's healthy heart is brought to you by campbell's address your heart campaign. >> time now for today's healthy heart. tips on preventing heart disease at any age. according to the american heart association, 80% of heart disease is preventable. "today" contributor dr. raj, contributing medical editor from health magazine has tips to keep our hearts healthy and strong through the decades. good to see you. >> good to see you, al. >> with 80% preventable, the leading cause of death between men and women, why are so many of us dying? >> unfortunately we are in a country now where the majority of people are overweight or obese, a huge risk factor for heart disease. we are not eating properly, taking care of ourselves. it is preventable in the majority of cases. >> we need to start early.

let's start with your 20s. this is a time nobody's thinking about heart disease. you say we should bel. >> studies have shown that early habits can affect your long-term risk. if you have a good risk profile in your 40s you probably won't get heart disease. start early on, even in childhood. starting at any age is never too late. in your 20s focus on exercise. get into a good routine. start good habits early. don't smoke. this is the age where a lot of young people pick up the smoking habit. it's terrible, very hard to quit. don't want excessive drinking and you need to think about diet as well now. >> a lot of 20-year-olds will be watching the super bowl. there is a lot of bad eating. how do you make sure you are eating healthy in your 20s? >> you want to focus on fish, lean meats, chicken without the skin. the more fruits and vegetables the better. whole grain. dairy. it's important to get calcium, but low fat dairy.

>> in our 30s we are thinking about family, careers and a lot of stuff that gets in the way of thinking about your healthy heart. >> you need to focus on yourself. go to the doctor and figure out your risk profile. talk about family history. you should have the baseline cholesterol check at this time. blood pressure check is important. talk about when you should be screened, how often. also, again, you need to talk about diet and exercise. >> speaking of eating properly in your 30s what should we look at? >> look out for refined sugars. have fiber every day in your diet that keeps you full for a longer period. and look at antioxidants in the fruits and vegetables. the majority of the plate should have a color to it. green, red, orange. >> brighter the better. >> exactly. >> we move into our 40s now. a lot of folks say i'm in my 40s, set in my way. i can't make changes but you say you can. >> you really want to have a discussion with your doctor about your risk profile.

there are more refined cholesterol tests. they are not routine but they may be appropriate if uh you have risk factors or family heart disease. you really want to get a glucose test to see if you're at risk for diabetes, one of the biggest causes of heart disease out there. it could be silent early on. make sure you are up to date with your blood pressure checks as well. >> and in your 40s your weight may creep up. >> people put on weight in the 40s particularly in the waist which is dangerous for heart disease. people don't realize there is a lot of sugar in beverages whether it's sweetened fruit juices or soda. cut it out completely and lose weight. >> in your 50s, the heart attack risk increases dramatically. >> even more in women. when they go through menopause, estrogen falls and that protects your heart. they have to watch out for heart disease. women should be careful, talk to the doctor, get yearly

cholesterol checks, be on medication if necessary for blood pressure. >> and diet is very important. >> very important. oatmeal, avocado, healthy fats, low in trans fats and unsaturated fats. >> the take is it's never too late. >> do something about it. >> dr. raj, thank you so much. still ahead, is your personality making you fat? we'll explain. later, do it yourself valentine's gifts go high tech. first, these messages. [ male announcer ] what's the beat that moves your heart? how about the beat of a healthy heart? campbell's healthy request soup is delicious, and earned this heart, for being heart healthy. ♪ feel the beat? it's amazing what soup can do. that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. for half the calories plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8.

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makes it a little bit more conversational for the customer, easier to answer in the way that they might talk to an actual human. and all turbo tax calculations are guaranteed accurate. i'm alan tifford, turbo tax software designer. man: go to turbotax.com. this morning on get fit today, is your personality making you fat? there are steps you can take to change that behavior and keep the pounds off. kerry glassman is the founder of nutritious life meals. and robbi ludwig is a "today" contributor. good morning. >> good morning. >> the studies in the last couple of years show the link

between emotions and behavior and personality when it comes to what we eat and weigh and all of that. what does this tell us? >> most people know what's healthy. there is information overload with food and exercise. however it's not that simple. our behaviors, our personality get in the way which is why i tell my clients to pinpoint their thickers anking triggers e up with control for them. if your mother-in-law stresses you out and every time you hang up the phone with her you reach for the cookies, take out your list of controls, your plan of attack. you have a road map to success to get you through those emotions. >> let's identify the personalities. robbi will help us understand how to fix the behavior. first off is the typical night owl. what is a night owl? what does that tell you about them? >> the night owl likes to stay up late at night, eat while they are staying up.

you need to set limits with yourself. you may want to say after 8:00 i won't munch on anything. or knowing that when you're tired it can -- and you can talk more about this. we've drawn to foods that are fatter and can make us fatter. so knowing that can help that when you're exhausted you don't have willpower. >> it's out the window. >> your hunger hormones increase, your satisfaction hormones decrease. you crave higher calorie, high carb foods the next day. give yourself a bedtime just like your children. keep the bed for sleep and sex only. no ipads or iphones. >> cut yourself off as well after a certain time. next is the stress junkie. what happens to the body when you're under so much stress? >> when you're stressed your body releases adrenaline and cortisol. they give us energy. but many of us are stressed out all day long whethert's the kids or work, so we release

cortisol. it makes us crave carbohydrate foods and release insulin. we accumulate fat in the mid section which puts us at risk of heard disease and diabetes and stroke. >> i can imagine it could be a combination of the personalities. >> absolutely. nobody is just one thing. >> what's a stress junkie do to combat the stress. >> exchange something unhealthy for something healthy. exercise trains the body to deal with stress and helps with what you crave. if you're taking care of yourself it's amazing what you want to eat versus what you will eat if you're not feeling good about your body. >> this is so me. multi tasker. i eat when i'm doing a multitude of things. i we do mindless eating. >> what working mom isn't a multi tasker? i have clients who sit in front of the refrigerator and eat as many calories as they should for the whole meal while doing other

things. it's common. you need to focus in on beg mindful. basic behaviors. plate your food. use small plates. also, you can do simple things like using a napkin for every eating occasion. it signals that you are eating. food journal. people that journal are likely to lose twice as much weight as people who don't. >> you realize how many calories you are taking in. >> anything you're conscious of, you're not going to be denying. just because you deny calories doesn't mean it's not going into your body and creating extra pounds. >> okay. this is another group people fall into known as the givers. these are people constantly taking care of everyone else. what does food mean to them? >> absolutely. they are emotionally drained. they are taking care of everyone else. it's easier to go for comfort with food than maybe to call a friend. this is often the person that at a restaurant also doesn't want to special order the meal. they don't take care of themselves.

someone like this needs to write down their feelings. let it out. put it in a journal. >> just to add to that they have a hard time dealing with negative feelings. seeing themselves as angry. so they use food as almost self-medication to reduce those uncomfortable feelings. just acknowledge you're going to have a range of feelings even if you are a giving person. >> i will mention the last one is perfectionist which everyone deals with. >> i'll let you deal with it. >> this is an all or nothing attitude. go for the gold, push yourself but be realistic. >> ladies, thanks so much. more on the website. our website is today.com and has more on this. coming up, high tech and home made. valentine's day gifts you can personalize for that special someone in your life. first, these messages. iful... tell me we'll grow old together. tell me that i'm still the one. that you need me. that i'm your superhero.

tell me you'll never let me go. tell me you miss me. tell me you love me. it's all i want to hear. [ female announcer ] everyone has something they need to hear. vow to tell them this valentine's day. ♪ covergirl trublend has skin twin technology. other makeup can sit on your skin, so it looks like...makeup. but trublend has skin twin technology to actually merge with your skin. how easy breezy beautiful is that? trublend...from covergirl. we bring a bold, savory new twist to noodles. mmm. [ male announcer ] and now so can you. the new succulent noodle entrees from p.f. chang's home menu. the boldest flavors in the freezer aisle.

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witmer who plays a vampire on "being human." leading normal human lives is harder than it looks for a vampire, a werewolf who continue to struggle with their super natural double lives. good to see you. >> good morning. how are you? >> you have super paranormal creatures but it's a human story. >> it is. that's what we endeavor to do with the story is tell human stories and the vampire, werewolf, ghost thing is a metaphor, just a little fun. but if we do the story right you could take the vampire, werewolf and ghost out of the show and it would work. >> you play a 257-year-old vampire. before that you didn't get into twilight and stuff. >> i missed that somehow. i don't know. in my case i read the script and saw this was the story about a guy who was battling drug addiction. >> blood addiction. >> exactly.

the way we play it out is he drinks this bagged blood and it's not good. he tries to stay away from the real stuff. >> your guy is a vegetarian. >> he's a vegetarian. >> that makes it hard to be a vampire. >> no gluten. >> right. exactly. >> now the french did it first. was it intimidating to take on a popular program from the bbc? >> we stayed away from watching the british series. we wanted to make the characters our own. now that we have, i have seen everything the british series has done and it's wonderful. >> but yours is better. >> oh, my god. are you kidding? >> the americanization. well done. we should say sam witwer, thank you very much. you can catch "being human" tonight at 9:00/8:00 central on syfy. >> and a treat on the rink. the synchronized ice skating team. >> performing live after your local news and weather.

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>> live, local, latebreaking. this is a wbal-tv 11 news update. >> chilly start this monday. nice and quiet during the day. a few high, thin clouds will to in during the afternoon. mostly sunny. a lot more tomorrow and on wednesday, with high temperatures in the upper 50s to around 60. chance f

♪ that's the band from upstate new york named gym class heroes. their hit "stereo hearts." they will be live on "today" with maroon 5 frontman adam d levine. we have a special "today" show on super bowl morning. that's today at the super bowl, only on "today" friday, saturday and sunday. i should get a marker and add "monday." because i will be there on monday. >> you get to stay to watch the game unlike the rest of us. >> you can stay if you like. still coming up in this half hour, the "today" home chef

challenge. hundreds of you have been submitting your best recipe to our facebook page. 17 earned viewer vote-winning horns. three home chefs are showing off their winning recipes including pork pesto and pound cake. those are two separate recipes. >> pork, pesto, and pound cake. three different ones. >> and fair warning. we have a high tech twist on do it yourself gifts that will show your loved one how much you care. >> oh. and a really special performance out on the rock center rink. the synchronized ice skating team from massachusetts. they won the u.s. national champion 19 times. they're here to show us why. really fun to watch them performance. al, meanwhile, as we skate to the music, let's have a check of our weather. >> i'm part of the u.s. synchronized falling team.

>> we have video of you on the synchronized swim team. >> there could be children watching. sunshine up and down the eastern seaboard. showers in the pacific northwest. sunny and warm through the northwest with showers along the plains. snow along the great lakes. tomorrow, lake effect snow around. frigid condition in new england. look for rain in the pacific northwest coastal areas. rain through the mid and lower mississippi river valley. mild from texas and the rio grande into the southwest. >> good morning. it is a chilly start on this monday. a mixture of sun and clouds. mostly sunny skies.

and that's your latest weather. >> thank you, al. up next, high tech do it yourself valentine's day gift idea with a personal touch to thrill your special someone coming up after these messages. , we were determined to see it through. here's an update on the progress. we're paying for all spill related clean-up costs. bp findings supports independent scientists studying the gulf's environment. thousands of environmental samples have been tested and all beaches and waters are open. and the tourists are back. i was born here, i'm still here and so is bp. how about both? with covergirl lashblast fusion. our biggest brush meets our fiberstretch formula for a blast of volume and length. lashblast fusion. from easy, breezy, beautiful covergirl.

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scrambling online to find the most creative, meaningful ways to say "i love you" this valentine's day. heather cabot is here with her favorite diy discoveries. good morning. >> good morning. >> do it yourself is a big trend this year. >> it actually has been for a yaw fu years. but in the last 30 days on yahoo searchers for valentine's crafts are up 3,000%. people are look for everything from cards, decorations, recipes. it's nice that people want to do ning things metrodome made but they can go online and find resources and inspiration. >> great ideas. the first one is high tech, how to personalize a high tech gift like an ipad. >> these are covers from a company called m edge. they are for kindle, ipad. you can take a picture that means something to you and add text on the back. this one says happy valentine's day on the back. or take an image. it's the idea of putting together a thoughtful gift for somebody who enjoys using

gadgets or put a new gadget inside. >> your man will love you if you put the ipad inside. scrapbooking is popular. now there is a high tech twist to that. >> there is a proliferation of tools people can use online to make their digital images into printed books. the next generation is scrappad. it allows you to scrapbook on your ipad. use the images on your ipad. you can choose from fun backgrounds, put text, cute little stickers. what's fun about it is you can post it to facebook, e-mail it. in a couple months this company, scrap pad will coordinate with the printing companies to print it as well. it's $4.99 for the app. you get valentine's day and 18 other holidays as well. >> it's really cute. another idea is a fancy slide show. >> right. i love this website called

animoto. i have featured it before. it's an easy way to make professional-looking music videos of your personal photos and fun little video clips. what's new is you can do it on your phone. i'm looking at some of the backgrounds and different ways to put the different images together. what's new is you can do it on your iphone. you can produce this thing sitting with it in the palm of your hand. >> when you're supposed to be at work you can create a slide show right on your phone. >> great for a last-minute gift. for sure. >> looks like you put a ton of time into it. these are ideas you got online. these crayons are a craftsy idea. >> one of the trends is the growth of site that is cue rate. they pull interesting, fun, creati creative content from the web. we sent to flickr which is a photo sharing site and found this craft which is actually by

a blogger named chef mess messy. if you type in valentine's crayons you will find the directions. i made it with my crayon. crush crayons, bake them for ten minutes in silicone baking molds. you get cute crayons and we just glued them to card stock and wrote fun sayings on them. we found it online. >> and personalized candies. do you put names on it? >> this is a company called posh pixels design. we found them on pint trest, a virtual pin board where people pick out images from the web to share with other people. i found this one and they send printable labels for candy. this is just a valentine's day stuff but it's cute. >> adorable. >> you find hershey's miniatures and you have cute labels that say kiss me. not expensive at all.

nice touch. heather, thank you so much. great ideas and we have a couple of weeks still to pull it off. coming up, the home chef challenge. we'll get a taste of winning recipes and "american idol" winner jordin sparks co-hosts the fourth hour with hoda. first, these messages.

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[ male announcer ] tim and richard smucker have always loved the taste of just-picked fruit. so it's no wonder why today smucker's makes the world's best jam. for five generations, with a name like smucker's, it has to be good. this morning we're kicking off a new series, today's home chef challenge. we have been asking for your submissions on our facebook page. so far, viewers have selected 17 winners. today, three of them are here to share their recipes. colleen evans from washington, d.c. won with her all about pork recipe. liz de la cruz from grand rapids, michigan is making pesto and swiss archdiocese and debbie hanover impressed the crowd with her pound cake with vanilla lime drizzle. impressed me as well. good morning. >> colleen, the all about pork. what made you want to submit

this recipe? >> it's a great recipe for a novice home cook, home chef. you can make it in the summer, in the winter. if you have a grill pan. >> great for super bowl, i was thinking. >> great for halftime at super bowl. unfortunately they don't have blue and white peppers so we can't do a giants theme. >> you're starting with getting the vegetables ready. what do you season them with? >> i take dry italian seasoning. >> that's the best stuff to flavor with. >> it's great. >> is that just regular oil? >> canola oil. you mix it together and just brush the pork and brush the vegetables with it. then you grill it. >> okay. >> you don't cook it all the way through. you want to cook it halfway through just to get the taste of the grill and that kind of flavor. >> you had pork sausage and pork chops as well already grilled. >> we have sweet italian

sausage. you can use hot. the secret is thin pork chops, bone in, so they cook well. just layer it like this. >> okay. >> take a can of plum tomatoes. >> whole tomatoes? >> whole tomatoes and pour it over. then you cover it with foil and bake it at 350 for 40 minutes. >> okay. >> when it comes out it's done, beautiful. >> you can garnish it with basil or sage. >> while i try this let me turn it over to savannah. >> we have liz. yours is pesto chicken with pasta. tell us about your recipe. >> it's a great way to take advantage of the pesto you may have frozen during the summer when basil is nice and fresh. >> the pesto we're using the store bought. you could use store bought or home made? >> absolutely. make it easy on you. >> saute the chicken. >> absolutely. add a little bit of pasta cooking water. the starch helps create a nice sauce. scrape up the brown bits from

the pan. add some swiss chard. let it steam for a couple of minutes. >> that's a healthy way to prepare it. >> absolutely. you add back in. >> was that chicken fully cooked when you took it out or do you finish it off here? >> pretty much fully cooked. if not it will finish in here. you can add pesto right in here. it's a nice, easy recipe. very -- doesn't matter if you mess up is, add a little bit more pesto. >> is the pesto the last step? >> it's a very easy, forgiving recipe. >> that sounds great to me. >> just add the pasta right in here. >> dump it in. >> i use whole wheat for extra protein and fiber. but you're welcome to use your favorite pasta. penne is great. >> looks like parmesan on top? >> fresh basil and parmesan.

hopefully you will enjoy it. >> liz, looks beautiful. thank you. >> debbie burrows, we saved dessert for last. this recipe is so successful, not only are you a winner here but stu leonards in connecticut and new york is baking up this dessert. >> in all four bakeries. >> that's cool. >> it's fantastic! >> how do we start? >> we have a five flavor pound cake and a custard. the magic in the recipe is in the contrasts of textures. >> okay. >> just add a little bit of your hot milk into your egg mixture. it has the corn starch. >> if you add too much at once it cooks the eggs. >> you'll have scrambled eggs in your custard. we don't want that. then back into the pan. >> you could use a store bought pound cake and just make the -- >> absolutely. that makes it easier. bridge it bring it to a boichlt

goes the heavy cream. you know, fat free. vanilla. >> and the fat-free butter. >> and the fat-free butter. >> this is healthy. >> right. whisk it up. >> and you have the custard. >> then what? >> we take the custard and we'll drizzle this. >> ooh. >> i'm telling you. you'll love it. then top it with fresh berries. >> powdered sugar. >> dust it with the powdered sugar and voila. here's yours. you have to taste it. >> yes, yes. >> while you eat, i'll talk. thank you so much, all these recipes look great. you can find them on today.com. for your chance to be today's home chef head to today.com. we'll look for your best southwestern breakfast recipes. >> i have to say this. up next, synchronized ice skating champs live on the rock center rink. first, this is "today" on nbc.

>> announcer: today at the rink is brought to you by smucker's. with a name like smucker's, it has to be good. >> this morning we welcome back the beautiful synchronized skating the skating theatrics of the haydenettes. they won their 19th world championship. we have with us emily albert and lindsay along with the coach. good morning to you. great to have you here. you're competing at such a high level. what does it take to keep going? >> it takes dedication. we push each other and work together. it's worth it in the end. >> and i think a lot of us see the beauty of the sport. what will it take for you to be recognized as an olympic sport some day? >> to be very athletic.

to be technically in a very, very good shape on the ice and use a lot of difficult elements. >> do you think we'll see this at the olympics? >> absolutely. >> we hope so. ladies, i will let you get in place. we'll move over and let the performance begin. ladies and gentlemen, here they are, the beautiful haydenettes. ♪

♪ >> thank you all. looking wonderful! coming up, "american idol" champ jordin sparks fills in for kathie lee coming up after your local news and weather.