from nbc news this is "today" with kathie lee gifford and hoda kotb from studio 1 a in rockefeller plaza. >> we made it. it is try day friday june 27, 2014. very special day. you are like who is this? i'm going to reveal it is my best friend, karen swinsen. she is helping me out while kathie lee is off. >> you are so crazy with the hair and the makeup it's fantastic. >> and stains out of your dress.

>> i got here and had stains and they are gone. >> karen and i have known each other since 1994. that makes it 20 years. this is what we looked like 20 years ago. we met in new orleans way back in the day. just so you know a little bit about karen we prepared something about karen. if you don't know karen i want you to get to know her. karen is one of the kindest, most generous, most truthful real people i have ever met in my life. we had like an instant connection. we were both working at wwl tv in new orleans. karen started off as an overnight researcher internee person. she was supersmart and worked really, really hard and just had something special about her.

the first time we met we just clicked. we started laughing and talking and it was one of those weird things that works right away from the jump. ever since then like with a million funny stories and trips taken and incredible memories. she was there on some of my best days and some of my worst days. she was there when i got married, when i got divorced and when i found out i had breast cancer and there when i found out the breast cancer was gone. she is one of the people when in their presence you feel better about yourself. i don't know half the good things karen has done in her life because she doesn't tell you. you find out later and like karen did that. she is a once in a lifetime. >> oh, my gosh. >> two of the people grinning ear to ear happen to be your husband and daughter here

visiting. >> you are so much of a better friend than i am and than i can ever be. you are absolutely an inspiration and you know that. >> presents. >> you know i brought something. we are from new orleans. you got the fleur-de-lis, the black and gold, a parasol, a who dat. a mardi gras -- did you know you can get a king cake in june? it kind of got mashed in the plane. a go cup and pralines. take a look at this wine holder. is this the greatest? it comes with a bottle of bobby hebert special wine, the former quarterback of the new orleans saints.

>> love it. >> how is that? >> so we have known each other 20 years and got to thinking about what was going on 20 years ago. kind of reminiscing. we showed a little bit about us. people.com did a survey to show what people were doing 20 years ago. this was our hair in 1994. >> i still have big hair. your hair is tamer and lighter. mine is still big. >> what else was happening back in the day? >> "lion king" was the number one film in '94. >> everybody i think if you have a good memory remembers where you were during the o.j. simpson car chase. >> you and i were in the news room. you were the big cheese and i was internee back then. >> that is when they weren't covering those things but o.j. was such a big deal.

guess what song was playing. how about this one. ♪ i miss you >> lisa loeb. >> how about another one? which was the number one song? >> ace of base. ♪ don't turn around because you're going to see my heartbreaking ♪ >> 1994, baby. pretend you weren't doing that at cat's meow on bourbon street. when you go visit somebody's home what is the first thing you notice? sometimes you are going in for a dinner party and walk into someone's home what is the first thing you notice? there was something pop sugar did. what do you think? >> a smell. hopefully lack thereof.

mold is bad. >> i am a smell person, too. you know my apartment. i have -- i have clutter. i don't really notice. someone is like did you notice i have new carpet. i am the last to know. >> hoda had a shoe in her purse yesterday, one pump in her purse yesterday. >> so people say one of the most important things is fresh cut flowers. they say people don't like clutter and when things are unorganized. they say a bathroom. that is always clean. >> guests are going to use it. make sure the towels are nice. and stocked. well stocked. >> do you check out people's medicine chests? >> i checked out yours about two hours ago because i couldn't

find my brush. i ransacked it. >> did you find anything? >> i found so much it was remarkable. i found the other shoe. >> here is something to think about. if you go to the beach, when you go to the beach how do you feel when you're laying on a beach chair, lounge chair with a bathing suit on? do you put on a cover up, a t shirt, how do you get up strategically? is anyone looking? >> jessica turner wrote that great blog about this. i personally could relate to it but if mom is happy and everyone is happy. i'm a mom. >> i have known karen for 20 years. i don't think i have seen you in a bathing suit once because you are wrapped up and covered up. this woman got so tired of being wrapped up she said i am going to post a picture of myself in a bathing suit with my kids. she said i am missing great moments of my kids' life because i am so worried. she said this is me. these pictures like anyone you would see on the beach.

>> you know what i like about this is not so much that you are missing out -- if i'm out of the country or out of the state i am in a bathing suit. i want my daughter to be comfortable in her bathing suit and not be covered up. >> katherine is still awake which is a good sign of the program. it's time for your friday funny. >> one day a little girl was sitting and watching her mother do the dishes at the kitchen sink and noticed that her mother had several strands of white hair sticking out in contrast to her brunet hair. she asked why are some of your hairs white, mom? her mother replied every time you do something wrong or stress me out one of my hairs turns white.

the little girl thought about this and said how come all grandma's hairs are white? get it? >> no. >> because you stress your mom out. >> this is to brittany. >> hasn't your mother ever told you i hope you have a child like you. it is time for our johnson's baby of the week. our first johnson's baby is james thomas morgan born in rochester, minnesota on may 8. jesse and dave say their son loves to make funny faces. >> a baby born in lexington, kentucky on june 11. her parents say when they saw their little girl it was love at first sight.

>> next baby is brady mason barrow born on june 4 in metairie, louisiana. his parents say he lifted his head within five minutes of being born. >> our final johnson's baby of the week born in concord, north carolina. parents offered the advice to take time out for yourself even though you are a parent you also need to relax. >> bless all of our johnson's babies. how was that? you made it through your first chat. >> that was so much fun. >> if you want to submit. >> we weigh in on how your best buddy can help or harm your relationship. >> comedian whitney cummings is here. i'm terrified of her. right after this. comeden actress and writer whitney cummings is known for her brutally honesty behind love and relationships.

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french's. naturally amazing. comeden actress and writer whitney cummings is known for her brutally honesty behind love and relationships. >> whitney cummings, i love you. >> now you know what it is like to yell at a man and have you completely ignore you. >> that was -- you are so funny, by the way. >> i have a new tv show for the last couple of years and haven't been able to do standup. i wanted to do a new special. i mostly try to focus on love. i feel like we say the word a lot but don't really have a universal definition for it. >> are you in love? >> i am not in love now. i am in love with a couple of people i haven't met yet via instagram but we are working on it.

i felt like we would say i love you but we weren't on the same page. if we all had a universal definition of the word love we would stop disappointing so much. my definition of love is when you are willing to die for someone that you want to kill -- >> perfect. genius. >> that is kind of confusing. if someone were to break into the house and hold a gun to the person you love you would be like stop, give me the gun. >> is there anything that is taboo that you won't touch or is everything and everyone -- >> nothing. i mostly focus on sex and relationships. i don't really talk about anything else. that is kind of my thing. >> does a guy in a relationship know it could be about them? >> i lie to them and say it is someone else. my name is mark.

it's not you, baby. >> your face looks great. >> it does? >> you look younger than the last time you were here. >> you know what i did? >> what did you do? >> i drank blood of children. you know what i did? i gained some weight which was a weird thing. i put on some weight. when i was on tv i felt like i was too thin. a little went a long way and i laser my face pretty much all day every day. >> you look dynamite. >> what is next after this? >> i'm going to take a nap. long nap. >> you know why -- i remember when you were here last time pointing at random people walking by. everything was a little frightening.

let's watch one second. >> what did you think was going to happen? >> my easter basket was like an ashtray. >> every time i come on the show we drink and i am always out of control on the show. >> you know how much we love you. you can come back anytime. >> that's the name of my special. please watch so i can retire. >> when does it premiere? >> this saturday, tomorrow at 11:00. >> on comedy central. >> i am begging you. i am so desperate. i am not above begging. i really need some money, please. coming up the role your friends play in your relationship. >> this is not your shot. all abuzz about baby bumps. products for after pregnancy

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absolutely free. >> man: yeah [speaking excitedly] join 888casino.com now. must be 21 years old and in the state of new jersey to play real money. ♪ thank you for being a friend >> we are back with bobbie's buzz. >> knows a thing or two about friendships and relationships. >> she brought along a friend to share how you can support each other through one of life's most challenging journeys, pregnancy. >> this is an important subject for you. >> i am so appreciative of everyone at home watching and feel like a family around here. we have had questions about my parents have gained a few pounds.

i am very proud of that. it takes a village to raise children but to make them, too. i would not be anywhere without my best friend, andrea, who is pregnant. >> we have to talk about that shirt. >> this is a shirt from an etsy seller. we have found humor to get us through the ups and downs. this is another t. when is it appropriate to ask a woman if she is pregnant? in all honesty i think there is so much shame associated with our bodies as women even when you are not going through something like this. i think if we can be open about going through things like this we can find support. >> you have written a blog about this which is a great thing to read.

>> you will learn more. i will be talking about it. one thing that we absolutely bonded over, kathie lee introduced us and we became best friends. these are chuao chocolate bars. this is popcorn pop rocks. and this is the best thing ever when you are craving chocolate. this says it all. if you are hormonal. >> what does that say? >> danger hormones. >> i really appreciate the chance to share that. >> we love you. congratulations. >> karen and i are going to come back and play a friendship game to find out who knows the other better. whether you are single or happily married we will show you how to bring date night back. >> that is after your local news. oh, stop it!

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go online or call right now. >> we're back with more of our special love and relationship edition of "today." my friend is here helping out while kathie lee is taking some time off. >> get ready for the battle of the sexperts. >> today's contributing love strategist matthew and relationship expert here. look at you two together. >> i am happy because i'm old enough to be his mother. i love sitting with somebody this good looking. >> you guys look great. let's talk about the challenges. let's pretend you are a best friend and you don't like the husband/boyfriend of your closest and dearest friend. what is one to do? >> i don't think there is a prerequisite that you have to

like your friend's partner. too many people get personally invested in saying there is something not right about your partner when they mean your partner is not too great to me. that is dangerous. you have to be genuinely coming from a place of i want the best for them. >> my best friend was dating somebody that i couldn't stand the sight of. the energy was not good between me and that person. i say to her i do not like who you are dating. i do not think he is good for you or a good person. i took a step back. it is her journey not mine meaning you have the obligation to tell your friend how you feel. >> what did she do? >> she continued that relationship and when she found out he wasn't for her she left him. >> you plant a seed. the mistake people make is they think i will make a conversation and everything will be gold and sink in and have a big epiphany. it doesn't work like that.

same way most breakups with friends result and get back in. you have to be prepared to plant a seed. >> let it grow and let them discover for themselves. >> what if you have the hots for your friend's partner and they split up? >> i think you have to be a friend. i think timing is everything. if they just met and were dating for a few weeks give it some time and when she starts dating somebody else say do you mind? there are too many people in the world for you to lose a friend over a man. >> you have to apply two things here. firstly, the golden rule don't do to others what you wouldn't want done to yourself. you have to apply that in these situations. what don't you want your friend to do to you? don't do that to the person. i think it is more excusable if you live in a small town. if you live in farmsville with

25 people there you have to date everyone of your friends' exs. if you live in new york and dating exes get a life. >> i would say go ahead even though i don't want them to do it. you don't want to say no. it is not your life. i don't like people dating people who i went out. >> if my friend came to me and said that i would be so offended like are you kidding me? go date him. it would effect our relationship. >> ownership is an insidious concept, the idea i have claim to someone when i have moved on and am dating someone else is a weird thing we have as human beings. we have to be careful. five years on do you lay a claim to somebody? >> you can have him.

>> what if you were best friends with a person of the opposite sex and your friend wants to date that person? >> you guys are friends. >> i'm friends with him? >> i'm matching them. >> the challenges about being best friends with no intentions i think is rare. i have a theory about friendships. if you can go out with your friend and drink ten shots of jameson and at the end of it neither of you tried to sleep with the other person you can just be friends. >> what if you know that your friend's boyfriend/partner is cheating? >> 100% say something.

are you kidding me? sisters before misters. you owe it to your friend to say there is something that -- >> what if there was a flirt? what if you saw him flirting with someone at a party? when is the time you say something? >> i think you have to be prepared to look at it -- you might say this is a recurring thing when actually what you saw was a one time. you have to be careful with judgment. you are not morally superior to come in and say this isn't right. you have to be very, very careful. if you see the behavior is something that does have the potential to hurt your friend you have a duty to your friend. >> women have intuition. you know if he is a flirt or not. if he is over there and texting or flirting or putting his hands inappropriate you are going to say -- >> it is hard to say something. i was married before.

you thought you are going to go through it and do your own thing. sometimes as a friend you stand there and let it happen. >> don't expect not to be beat up as the person delivering that news because any anger associating with the situation gets put on you. >> i believe people can change. once a cheater always a cheater? >> no. >> when a man finds the right woman he will sell everything for that woman. love exists. if he is not into you he is not into you. if he is into you he will change for you absolutely. >> i think the difficult part is you are looking at situation and response. if, for example, the man comes back and says the reason i did that is because in the relationship i was going through a tough time and wasn't sure. what you have really said is my response to us going through a tough time in our relationship is to cheat. now there is understandable for that person to have insecurity. what about the next time we go

through a tough time in the relationship? is that a response system? >> you guys are really good together. >> thank you so much. we really appreciate it. if you guys have a question for this pair go to klgandhoda.com. we will tell you what some folks are doing to bring date night back to life. coming up right after this. ♪ nothing will keep you from magnum. made with silky vanilla bean ice cream, rich caramel sauce and belgian chocolate. discover magnum chocolate pleasure. i'm on break sweetheart. you know you don't have to put up with this. ...those annoying period symptoms.

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so what happened to date night? doesn't matter if you are single or married women are dating less and less. >> glamour date night nationwide campaign inspiring women to go on a date tomorrow night.

>> glamour editor and chief is here with danielle and chris whinfield who say they need to take dating back to their relationship so they are on a private weird little date. >> how come women aren't dating anymore? >> they say dating is dead. if you are single people say it is all about the 11:00 p.m. text. nobody makes plans ahead of time. women miss dating. dating has been around for 100 years established to let women and men get to know each other. >> how did it fizzle out? >> we are all much busier. technology is great for showing you people you might want to date but then it sometimes gets in a way with you sitting down with a live human across the table.

>> when polled 88% of women said they don't have a date night planned. >> absolutely not. >> you kid yourself that catching up on "game of thrones" is a date night. that is not a date night but a good night. >> how is the date going over there? >> totally normal. >> you guys have been married for seven years? when was your last date night? >> seven years ago. >> it has been a while, maybe four months. >> do you have kids? >> we do. >> it is so difficult. you end up talking about family issues when you are on your date which is not necessarily relashing. >> is that what you do on a date? >> we talk about what we need to do to keep the ball rolling in the house and errands and what we need to do. we rarely get dressed up for each other. >> we worked together for 12 years. this is the first year we

haven't worked together. there was no separation between work and life. we would go on a date and talk about that. >> let's give all of us a tutorial. what should we be doing on a date night? >> leave your to do list at home. if you are a married couple do not talk about who is picking up who and where this week and groceries. the phone should not come. obviously you will have it in your bag. don't put it on the table. there are studies that show a conversation will stay at a more superficial level if the phone is on the table. the presence of the phone inhibits bonding. >> you said change your clothes. i want to thank you for putting on a jacket. i think as women we have always been told a guy wants to see you in a tank top and blue jeans. if you are married he sees you in the tank top and blue jeans all the time and you the same for him. putting on something different

signals we are on a date. >> conversations, what do you think the conversation should be? should it be about you as a couple? >> that is a performance review. just anything. it shouldn't be about what you have to do tomorrow. >> can you pretend you are someone else? >> we wish our happy couple good luck. >> thank you so much. we really appreciate it. for more information about "glamour's" date night. klg.com. >> hoda and i will put our friendship to the test. >> no cheating. right after this. ♪ you got a friend in me

everybody who is great at swj in this building doing it right there or in the field doing it for this place. and we don't just forecast a storm, we take you inside one. the worst part of the storm -- >> everything you do today, it all starts with weather. >> people need to understand that weather isn't just bad weather, it's everyday, it's everything around you. and it is amazing. it is amazing out there. >> start your mornings with wake up with al, amhq america's headquarters weekdays with sam champion. there's more to love. french's. naturally amazing.

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how much do you really know about your best friend? karen and i are about to find out. >> we have help. jenna bush hager is here to put us to the test. >> you guys are best friends,

been friends for 20 years. karen, you said you missed a flight to mexico because you were just chatting. >> we were going to mexico. we had a three-hour layover in houston and missed the connecting flight because we were in the bar talking. >> three hours we had to kill and we missed it. >> the point is we were in the bar talking. >> we were talking. >> this is the best friend game we made up just for y'all. what, hoda, is your go-to karaoke song. >> it is john denver's "country boy". >> what is yours? >> "born to run". >> hoda knows you a little bit better.

>> what do you enjoy doing when you are all alone? >> writing in my journal. >> reading and listening to music. >> i do that, too. i do. >> what about karen? >> i like to watch tv. >> watch tv and take a nap. >> hoda, you are pretty good. >> hoda, what movie title would best depict your life story? >> my life story? >> hair. >> what would you answer? forget the question. >> young frankenstein. >> the other one. >> planes, trains and automobiles. >> that is a little bit of cheating. what is the one thing that bugs

you? >> people who are late. >> karen? >> one uppers. >> rude people. rude people typically one up. >> if you could be anywhere right now where would you be? i hope you say right here. >> if i could be anywhere right now i would be on a beach somewhere. >> beach! >> karen, anywhere at all right now. >> i would be at a concert. >> right here. >> that was the answer. >> now -- >> it's a tie. >> thank you. jenna, you are the best. we are going to celebrate your friendship and share the

videos you sent us about your best friend. >> first this is "today" on nbc. >> you got it. what would you do if there was a child right in front of you sitting all alone, crying in pain from hunger near death from sickness? what if all you had to do was reach your pocket .50 cents to save that child's life? this is that child.

this is that moment. these two quarters, it's never been easier to save the life of a child. go online or call this number and join unicef with your $15 monthly gift. it's only .50 cents a day and it means you'll get these children the critical help they need to survive. emergency care, nutrition, vaccines, anti-malaria bed nets, delivered every single day of the year to the children who could die without it. that's what your .50 cents a day buys. at unicef, we believe that's what every child deserves. we know you do, too.

you have to reach into your pocket to make it happen. please go online or pick up the phone right now because that child in front of you can't wait another moment.

how fun has this been? we got to co-host together, our very first time in 20 years of friendship. >> you need to come co-host in new orleans. >> pictures are all photos that best friends viewers sent in. we couldn't do a friendship episode without hearing about your best friend. here are some of the heart felt videos you sent us. >> my best friend is patty

mahockey. >> my best friend is the backup mom to my kids, motivator, inspiration and always been there. >> she is the lavern to my shirley and the rum to my coke. >> megan collins is my best friend because she is kind, supportive, stuck with me and helped me get through my husband's first deployment to afghanistan. >> tiffany held my hand throughout the entire pregnancy. >> most amazing thing you ever did for me was give up a trip to our 20th high school reunion so you could be with me when my father passed away. >> in the last year and a half i lost my daughter. she has always been there. she deserves to be recognized. >> she is the best person ever. we can read each other's minds. we are like sisters, best friends for life. >> morgan is my best friend because i can always count on her. >> jackie is my best friend

friends for life. >> morgan is my best friend because i can always count on her. >> jackie is my best friend because she gets me. val yaens win srston is my best friend of 32 years. sees things in you that you don't see in yourself. she will stop at nothing, relentlessly to help push you and get you to where you ought to be in life. >> we are going to start crying. if that doesn't make you want to call your best friend nothing will. pick up the phone and call a long lost friend and give them a call. speaking of best friends, thank you. >> you are the greatest. this woman can make anything you do fun. no matter what storm you go through in life she has a way to make you think everything will be okay. >> actor john hurly and halie

duff. >> kathie lee is back monday. have a great weekend everybody. >> i'm here to help. you and i will get through this together. ♪