if we warm up to just 33, that's another record this afternoon. >> wow. stay warm. >> i like that record better, yeah. the "today" show's up next. we'll see you for local updates in 25 minutes. good morning. snow-vem bechlt r, cities by the great lakes paralyzed by more than a foot of snow in less than a day. at least five deaths blamed on the storm. roads shut down, hundreds stranded in their vehicles overnight, including a college basketball team. more snow is on the way. the bill cosby scandal widens as a high-profile victim comes forward, former supermodel janet dickerson comes forward saying she was drugged by the comedian in the 1980s. the cosby camp calling that a lie. demanding a nationwide recall of all cars of a certain

type of air bag, saying millions of drivers are at risk. so why are the makers pushing back? from "tonight" to "today," a rare performance from jay leno in our studio "today," wednesday, november 19th, 2014. >> announcer: from nbc news, this is "today" with matt lauer and savannah guthrie, live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. >> and good morning. welcome to "today" on a wednesday morning. you may have seen, as we came inside, that the image outside said 22 degrees in new york city. don't worry about that. how would you like to live around the great lakes today? >> i was going to say in buffalo, new york, it is snowing so hard right now we had a great shot to show you of all the snow coming down, we just lost it because it's so bad. >> it's all about location, location, location. this band of snow is ten miles wide. ten miles south of that, there's

almost nothing. >> you're talking six feet of snow in places. >> and there's more on the way. >> it's crazy. >> it is piling up in the great lakes region, as al just said. conditions are so bad around buffalo, for example, the national guard has been deployed. dylan dreyer is south of there in dunkirk, new york, this morning. dylan, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, savannah. here in western new york, we are measuring the snow in feet. six feet of snow in some areas, most of that falling in just a 24-hour period. new york's governor has declared a state of emergency. as you mentioned, called up the national guard. it's hard to believe that more snow is still on the way. blinding and brutal. the snow coming down at a rate of four inches every hour, time lapse footage showing a wall of snow moving in off lake erie. it's called lake-effect snow. and it's having some effect. there's a car under there somewhere and there and there. hundreds of vehicles were

stranded, including a bus carrying the niagara women's basketball team, stuck for hours. among the many in need of rescuing. >> police officers often in ditches even. >> reporter: urging people to stay off the roads. >> we are asking that people stay home. >> reporter: some have no choice. >> my ignition is frozen. >> reporter: this is a once-in-a-lifetime thing. this is something people are going to tell their grand kids and great grandkids about. >> reporter: those stranded by the storm told their stories by social media. winter tested residents in awe, with the snow piled so high, it towered over some or presented a nearly impossible task. others swallowed up. for those trying to leave home, it left quite an impression. others seized the opportunity to get out and play. here in dunkirk, we're getting a break from the snow. we have clear skies here. there's been a wind shift.

now the heaviest snow, whiteout conditions, 35 miles up the road. al, it's incredible to see where this heavy snow sets up, how long it sits over one area and dumps all that snow and when it decides to move. >> absolutely, dylan, let's go to the radar and show you exactly what's happening right now. so, this is western new york. dylan is about here along i-90 in dunkirk. there's the heavy snow coming across the lake, inundating buffalo right now and will continue to over the next several hours, then shut off and then it's going to start up again. we've got winter storm warnings, lake-effect snow watches and warnings in western new york. winter weather advisories for the leeward side of the central and northern great lakes t cuts off the lake-effect snow for a couple of hours. then it moves east and brings back that flow across the lakes and so the lake-effect snow machine kicks in again later this afternoon into this evening. so, over the next 24 hours,

you've got about one to three inches to three to six inches, maybe nine inches in the northern part of michigan. but look at what happens as you get to western new york. another 24 inches, could be three more feet of snow between dunkirk and buffalo and up here in the tughill plateau, east of watertown and pulaski, snowfall rates could be up to three inches per hour. the latter part of this week into the weekend and next week, big system, including tornado possibilities down through texas. we've got a loot going on over the next several day. >> al, thank you very much. as you get ready to drive off to work, the federal government is now demanding that the auto industry recall millions of additional cars because of a potential defect with the air bags in those vehicles, linked to dozens of injuries and four deaths in the united states. nbc's tom costello is outside orlando. tom, what can you tell snus.

>> matt, good morning. this is a 2001 honda involved in a front-end accident in september. the highway patrol has taken the steering wheel and the air bag. preliminary evidence suggests the air bag exploded sending shrapnel into her neck. she simply lost too much blood and died three days later. her name was yim tran. she moved here from vietnam to be closer to her sister. she died after colliding with another car. the family is now suing honda and the air bag maker, takata. >> there's no doubt that this woman was kill eed by takata. >> what went forward toward her is metal fragments from the inflater itself. >> it came from the bag into her neck? >> literally straight into her

neck. >> reporter: she died as a result of penetrating injuries to the neck and blunt force trauma, fourth deth in the u.s. that is tied to the air bags. days after she died, her family received the recall notice from honda. honda, ford, chrysler, mazda and bmw models dating from 2008 or earlier. until now, the government was only pushing the recall in hot, humid climates, thought to contribute to the air bag defect. safety advocates insist that this is long overdue. >> here we are, years after 2004, just doing what we should have done a long time ago, which is a national wide recall of all driver's side air bags. >> this morning, takata, the air bag maker, is out with a statement. it says it's committed to addressing all safety issues promptly but does worry a national recall will divert air

bags from where they're needed most, state with his high humidity and heat, and that could put lives at risk. congressional hearings tomorrow into this entire air bag matter. back to you. >> tom costello, thank you very much. ferguson, missouri, grand jury decision nears in the michael brown case. craig melvin is in ferguson with the very latest. craig, good morning to you. >> reporter: savannah, good morning. still no word on when we might get that decision from the grand jury. i can tell you, i just saw a handful of people, protesters in the area last night also talked to some business owners and citizens as well. many of those folks continue to hope for the best but prepare for the worst. >> what's happening in ferguson right now -- >> reporter: from talk radio to freezing protest lines, it's the topic of conversation for a town on edge. >> it's kind of nerve-racking, day after day. >> and i will faithfully -- >> reporter: on tuesday,

governor jay nixon swore in members to deal with issues like poverty and policing in ferguson. he defended his decision to preemptively declare a state of emergency and call up the national guard. >> 100% of the people being save and 100% of the people given the right to speak. >> reporter: some worry it could trigger the same kind of violence sparked in august days after the michael brown shooting. back then, some area schools were closed for six days. this time, educators are planning online courses while residents are stocking up. >> blankets in the cars. i mean, just -- you just never know if they're going to block off streets and we're going to be stranded. >> reporter: local shops like this beauty salon boarded up, but open for business. >> very, very stressful. >> reporter: charles davis refuses to board up ferguson burger and bar. i notice right now you are one of two businesses not boarded up. >> correct. >> reporter: why? >> i'm putting trust in my

community. >> reporter: a community, once again, in the national spotlight. so we do know that grand jurors heard more evidence on tuesday. at this point, we still do not know how much notice this community is going to be given once a decision has been reached. the nine-member grand jury panel are considering a range of charges, everything from first-degree murder to manslaughter to no charges at all. matt, savannah? >> craig melvin, thanks. we're learning a lot more about that chilling attack in israel. >> worshippers now returning back to that jerusalem synagogue this morning where five people were killed in that savage terror attack by two palestinian men on tuesday. bill neely is in jerusalem with the very latest. bill, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, natalie. from a city still reeling from a massac massacre, the worst here in six years and fearful, braced really

for more trouble, fearful that there could be more copycat attacks. at the synagogue where many survived a mass murder, they prayed again this morning. bullet holes the only reminder of the horror here that took the lives of four worshippers. they have been buried. the fear here remains. and the grief. three of the dead were american. one the son of a prominent family of boston rabbis. israel's prime minister, demolition of a home of a palestinian involved in a previous attack. yesterday's killings were carried out by two cousins, who police say had no criminal record and acted alone. they were shot dead by police. one of the policeman hit in the gun battle later died of his injuries. clashes between police and protesters followed the attack. but the violence that has scarred jerusalem for months now is random.

israeli authorities are struggling to find ring leaders and to contain it. well, there is increased security here. more helicopters, more concrete barriers, more police in palestinian areas, but doubts, too, all that will do any good. there are fears here this is slowly turning from a political conflict into a religious one. natalie? >> bill neely in jerusalem for us. thank you, bill. secret service in the hot seat on capitol hill today, acting director joseph clancy will answer questions about a string of recent security lapses at the white house. some lawmakers have expressed concerns over the secret service's ability to protect the first family. they haven't heard the last of the keystone xl pipeline, nearly fell short in the senate tuesday night. all 45 republicans backed the controversial project but only 14 democrats voted yes. senate republicans say they will

bring the bill back up for a vote in the next congress when they will have the votes to pass it. and playing in the snow just for kids or polar bears anymore. this is da mao, one of the two pandas at the toronto zoo on loan from china. catching him sledding down the hill over and over again. hey, we all love that. da mao will stay at the toronto zoo for a few more years so a few more days of playing in the snow in his future. natalie, thank you. lot of snow for dae mao and other pandas across america. >> a lot of weather going on, too. cold weather to talk about in the next half hour. air stagnation alerts in the pacific northwest. sunshine in the southwest. chillier than normal conditions and brutal temperatures. 29 states look at possible

record low temperatures this morning. we're going to get to your local morning. we're going to get to your local ♪ morning. we're going to get to your local ♪ ♪ ♪ good morning. i'm meteorologist bill henley. bundle up. it is cold outside. temperatures plunged overnight. and during the day we'll see lots of sunshine, but a cold breeze blowing, high temperatures in the lower 30s will feel like they are in the 20s. tomorrow not as cold in the morning. clouds come in tonight. 44 tomorrow afternoon. then the cold returns for friday and saturday morning, but a

warming trend over the weekend. 60 on sunday. potentially 70 degrees on monday and back into the 60s tuesday. have a great day. and a lot of unbelievable pictures, hash tag your pictures, send them to #today and we'll get them on for you. bill cosby is facing a new high-profile allegation of sex scandal this morning. >> overnight netflix announced it was delthe launch of his lat stand-up routine. >> bill cosby is fighting back. >> how dare you take advantage of me. >> reporter: after former supermodel and tv host janet dickerson said back in 1982 she visited cosby in lake tahoe.

after dinner, she says, the comedian gave her wine and a pill. >> i remember before i passed out that i had been sexually assaulted by this man. the last thing i remember was bill cosby in a patchwork robe, dropping his robe and getting on top of me. and i remember a lot of pain. >> reporter: in a statement to nbc news, cosby's lawyer says that story was a complete lie. they say she contradicted it in her 2002 book and in an interview with "the new york observer" when she said cosby blew her off when she at any time want to sleep with him. she is now the third woman in recent days to accuse the 77-year-old of sexual assault. after video of stand-up comedian hannibal burris calling him a rapist last month went viral.

cosby's lawyer said they would not dignify decade-old allegations with a response. now a routine that's also gone viral where cosby joked about drugging some women. >> crazy mary, put something in her drink. >> i want you to do the best you can. >> reporter: no criminal charges have been filed against the man known to many as the dad on the cosby show. >> i was embarrassed and ashamed. >> reporter: now facing his most high-profile accuser yet. >> i think right now, everything bill cosby has ever done is going to be reexamined and looked at anew. obviously, it doesn't suggest guilt in any way, but it -- now people are starting to look at him through a different lens. >> nbc news reached out to harper collins, the publisher of dickenson's 2002 book. they weren't able to verify

anything in her book. gakback to you. >> gabe gutierrez, thank you very much. you are collecting snow pictures. >> pivoting back to the weather. mr. roker referred to the hash tag we've got going on. so many of you sent in pictures of the east coast slam with up to four feet in 24 hours. as al roker reported, it's not over. just for perspective, pictures speak a thousand words. a still image says so much. follow along. here we go. katie, before and after in buffalo. >> wow! >> isn't that incredible? >> crazy. >> the this is a fun one here. opened his door to a wall of snow so he made a beer refrigerator. >> that's how you spend a snow day. >> i see some cuervo down there.

it looks like a good time. we will all be visiting philip. the cannonball. look at the snowballative different sort. leaps, in the air, boom and peeks out at the bottom. >> just make sure you know what's underneath. >> and then dal sent us this. come on. out in california. >> come on, dal. rub it in. >> this is a friend room. don't do this to us. keep your posts coming using the #today weather. >> remember that shot i told you about in buffalo? >> yes. >> let's put it up. wgrz, buffalo, new york. a few minutes ago, you couldn't even see that building. >> no. the tower was completely blocked by the snow coming down. clearing up a little bit but you said that's going to happen, kind of move in bands. you never know where it's going to be. coming up, will he ever fully recover? tracy morgan's ondwg struggle five months after he was

involved in a deadly car accident. more dirty hotel secrets. >> i'm jeff rossen. come with me. we are checking into hotel rooms across the country and we brought a microbiologist along, swabbing every surface she can find. what's safe to touch? and one of these. the results coming up. >> the trick is to check in with a microbiologist. this is "today" on nbc.

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treatment with xarelto® was the right move for me. ask your doctor about xarelto® today. it's 7:26. good morning, everyone. i'm vai sikahema. let's get our first alert forecast from meteorologist bill henley. even my tongue is tied up this morning with the cold. >> dit is cold, especially in te mountains. the wind is blowing. they're making snow and they have clear skies, so you see lots of sunshine. but the temperature right now in the pocono mountains, 11 degrees. that's one degree above the record for this date. reading is in record territory. it's 23 right now in philadelphia, until you take into consideration the wind. it feels like 10 degrees in the city. sunny skies today and a slow warm-up. 29 degrees at noontime, 33 at 3:00. >> thank you, bill. let's get a check on traffic with jillian mele and start with an accident in berks county?

>> skyforce10 should be there in the next few minutes. they're flying right now. this is in maiden creek township on route 222, which is allentown road, right near route 73. it's actually just south of that 73 interchange. we're hearing it it's a multivehicle accident. take park road to get around it. we'll bring you that vehicle coming up in the next 25 hours. new jersey turnpike northbound near hightstown, exit 8, the outer lanes are still blocked off with a cleanup from an accident last night. take 130 or route 9 as an alternate. back to the crash on the new jersey turnpike, crews spent several hours cleaning up the aftermath of it. one person was killed when three big rigs collided and caught on fire in cranberry township last night. a few hours later, only smoldering ashes were left. we don't know the conditions of the other drivers or what caused the crash. i'm vai sikahema. we'll have another update in about 25 minutes. of course, you can always get the latest news and weather at nbc10.com.

♪ we are back now at 7:30 with just a few of the entertainers who have been crowned the coveted "people's" sexiest man alive. this year, the title goes to thor, chris hemsworth, father of three. who else? we'll have that list coming up. >> oh, he's okay. >> what, you didn't get on the cover? >> he's a dad! >> let's see what's making headlines. snow piling up around the great lakes, six feet of snow falling in some areas. these five deaths are being blamed on the latest storm, the snow so intense, hundreds of cars became strand on a highway near buffalo.

>> pushing automakers to expand the recall of cars with air bag defects. they want to include the entire country in this recall, but right now it only covers state with his high heat and humidity. blocking to limit the surveillance powers, to end the bulk collection of american phone records. prepare yourself for this one. rossen reports team is back at it this morning, exposing more hotel secrets. this time, armed with germ swabs and black lights. not going to like what they found. >> wait. he has germ swabs, black lights and a microbiologist. >> that's a regular party. anyway, our good buddy, jay leno, was so generous during our recent uso tour to afghanistan. he has kept it up back here at home. he is going to join us live. it's good to see him. >> it really is. all right. let's begin this half hour with

tracy morgan. the comedian was seriously injured in a car crash. that happened last summer. and a friend of his was killed in that accident. this morning, we're learning more about the extent of morgan's injuries. stephanie gosk has the latest on this. good morning, steph. >> hey, matt. morgan's injuries, his lawyer says, included brain damage and it's not clear whether he will ever fully recover. >> and eddie murphy's oscar, because he ran out on scary spike, and now -- >> reporter: this is the tracy morgan fans love. but morgan's lawyer says he is struggling to get back to his old self. the june accident may have left lasting injuries beyond a broken leg, nose and ribs. >> the people i represent all had traumatic brain injuries and that's including tracy. if and when he recovers from these injuries, it will be miraculous. that's how injured he was. >> reporter: morgan and several friends were being driven on a

new jersey highway early morning when a walmart truck slammed into their limo van. the comic, james mcnair, died and everyone else was injured. kevin roper, the walmart driver, pled not guilty to multiple charges, including vehicular homicide. morgan is suing walmart for nenlths, saying the chain knew or should have known that he had been awake more than 24 consecutive hours at the time of the crash. the extent of the actor's injuries. >> if he has serious brain injuries that prevent him from working and he's a very high-earning actor, this is going to be a very, very big case. >> reporter: lawyers for walmart filed a response to the suit, arguing the actor and his friends were largely to blame for their injuries, because they were not wearing seat belts. in a statement on monday, walmart said our thoughts continue to go out to everyone involved and we remain committed to doing what's right.

morgan's attorney tells nbc news that the actor has improved but in the meantime he is trying to live his life as best as possible. and, guys, he is doing a lot of rehab. >> the extent of those injuries is terrible. stephanie, thank you. meantime, we turn to al with the snow storm and the rest of the forecast. >> that's right. a lot going on. and a lot of great stories coming out of this snow storm. #today weather. i want to show you this. really incredible stuff. buffalo fireman carrying a patient ten blocks to mercy hospital. making sure they were safe. our hearts go out to these folks. thanks so much for doing that. let's go to our maps and show you on the satellite and radar, we have that lake-effect snow firing up from western new york into ohio. in fact, take a look. this, from cougee 11. this used to be a swing stuff. amazing stuff. from #today weather, love this one.

my retired army hub by plowing snow in ohio for the first time in a track chair. god bless. we think that's fantastic. great news. unfortunately going to get more snow to plow right now. buffalo, live picture. you're looking at i-90. what a mess. it's going to continue. you'll get a little bit of a break right now. lake-effect snow machine will fire up. these temperatures feel like 16 in d.c. look how far south. orlando, 41 right now. matt and i were there on monday. it was in the 80s. it feels like it's 35 degrees. here we go. another shot of this arctic express. little bit of the polar vortex coming on in. not as deep. not as strong as last time. so for "today," 16 in minneapolis. chicago, 24. 25 in cleveland. new york city, 41. that's 11 degrees below average. as we move on into tomorrow and into friday, 37 in new york,

good morning. i'm meteorologist bill henley. bundle up. it is cold outside. temperatures plunged overnight. and during the day, we'll see lots of sunshine, but a cold breeze blowing, high temperatures in the lower 30s will feel like they're in the lower 20s. tomorrow, not as cold in the morning. clouds come in tonight, 44 tomorrow afternoon. then the cold returns for friday and saturday morning, but a warming trend over the weekend. 60 on sunday. potentially 70 degrees on monday and back into the 60s tuesday. have a great day. >> and that's your latest weather. we're getting such a response to this picture. isn't this mazing? >> yeah. >> wow! >> this army retired guy. he's out there and living his life. >> we featured those wheelchairs, those track wheelchairs out on the plaza. it's amazing what people can do in those. but to plow snow in it. >> look at the smile on his face. >> i know. >> that really tells a story. >> one proud wife for good

reason. al, thank you. >> thank you. coming up next, the light switches, the phone, the night stand. well, what is it? what is the dirtiest surface in your hotel room? we're pulling up the test kit, good old black light for rossen reports. trending, the youngest and perhaps most adorable celebrity trending, the youngest and perhaps most adorable celebrity look, i love the way he controls abthe lightsbutler. and unlocks the door when i forget my keys... it's just that... i feel like he's always watching us. yes, that is why we should use wink. ...look, it can monitor and manage our house but it won't start to develop human emotions. hey buddy. control your entire home with one simple app introducing wink it's like a robot butler, but not as awkward.

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♪ok. then we will do it all together. treats! teets...teets...teets... yeah, look at this! it seems like the best family traditions.... always start in the kitchen. happy holidays from rice krispies. back now at 7:41 with more of our rossen reports series, "hotels exposed." jeff rossen did some swabbing. >> la, la, la. >> oh, no. >> good morning. you may be excused. >> good morning, guys d a little swabbing, little black light. by the time this series is over you'll be crashing on your friend's couches. dirty towels to clean the drinking glass and not changing

all the linens. obviously gross. it gets even worse whach. what you can't see really can make you sick. we are, yes, swabbing hotel rooms for hidden germs. ever wonder what the cleanest surface in a hotel room is? >> bathroom counter. >> what about the dirtiest? >> remote control. >> the phone in the bathroom. >> oh, you are about to see. the dirtiest item failed the germ test in every single hotel we visited. we're here! all right. get settled in. time to relax. chill out, slip on the "today" show. in my freshly made-up room. the question, what's already lurking all around me? we called in this microbiologist, dr. louisa eichner, helping us to expose all those germs. we checked into five top hotel chains all over the country.

our doctor swabbing everything from the light switches to the phones to the remote, even the night stand. what's the cleanest and what's the dirtiest? to find out, she is using this meter to get an instant bacteria count. anything over 100 is considered a fail. >> let's test this light switch. we'll place it into the meter to get our reading. >> remember, the lower the number, the cleaner it is. >> a six? >> a six. this light switch is actually really clean. >> reporter: good news. all the light switches we tested came in the cleanest. the alarm clocks and night stands also pretty good. >> another clean night stand. >> reporter: they all passed. but if you want to share the good news, i wouldn't use the phone. >> this is a very filthy phone. >> reporter: in fact, at nearly every hotel the phones were teaming with bacteria. >> 20, another high number. >> another phone fail. >> reporter: on yet another phone, the level of germs more

than three times the limit. why are so many of these phones dirty? >> people touch them a lot and they are not surfaces that are usually cleaned by the maids. >> reporter: if you think that's gross, check this out. >> all right. let me shut the light out here. you have a uv light. >> this will allow us to look for stains that we normally wouldn't detect with the human eye. >> reporter: we found something, not sure what, splattered all over a sofa. look at this curtain. >> wow, this is quite a stain here. >> that is disgusting. what is that? >> it could be bodily fluids. >> put on the lights real quick. you can't see that. that is incredible. >> exactly. >> reporter: you can't see it at all. you would have no idea. even that grossness can't compare to the single dirtiest thing we tested. brace yourselves -- the tv remote control. >> wow! this remote control is extremely dirty. >> reporter: all of them, every si single remote, with sky-high levels of bacteria. >> wow! >> reporter: that's the highest number that we have seen in any

of the hotels. so we sent the samples from the remotes for further testing. okay. brace yourselves again. >> these green metallic colonies are e.coli and this indicates there is fecal contamination on the control. >> reporter: and even worse mrsa on another. yes, mrsa, a highly contagious, dangerous bacteria, resistant to most antibiotics that can cause painful skin infections. >> the thing about germs is that we can't see them but they are there and they can make us sick. >> the hotel industry group told us ensuring a clean and comfortable environment is their top priority and they often review and update housekeeping protocols. experts say there are three things you can do right now when you get into the hotel room. wash your hands, use hand sanitizer and bring disinfectant wipes. >> i do that. >> thank goodness. all americans thankful for that.

and rub everything down. here is another tip. in the bathroom, they fold over into a triangle, don't use that. apparently it's the last thing they do after they've touched the toilet, after everything. rip that one off even though it looks really pretty. >> i always boil the paper before i use it. >> smart. >> that's the best way. >> best part of your story, and i always pay attention to your stories, but was watching his face through the whole thing just going like this. >> i bet you stayed in some hotels in your early 30s. >> liftsterine kills millions o germs in your mouth. millions. don't put your finger in al's mouth. >> we know where it's been. >> jeff, thank you. >> wow! >> that happened, yeah. coming up on trending, a question everyone has wrestled with at one point. when do you bring a date home for thanksgiving? >> have we mentioned jay leno is here on the set? speaking of the holiday, great new past time while

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back with jay leno. listen up, al. tamron is over in the orange room with a little something new to enjoy this thanksgiving. tamron? >> perfection, savannah. you talked about preparing the big bird for thanksgiving for the family, right? >> are you -- >> you know i am all the time. >> spotify's new feature. basically create a playl list based on the turkey time in the often. how cool is this? you go -- tap it one more time, brittany says. >> turkey's done! >> really? okay. you pick the poundage of your turkey. you get a little notes at the top. your living room's going to be a dance floor. really cute with this. next step, you go in.

really? >> this is fantastic. >> you're losing leno here. >> please save me. then you pick your play list, guys. i'm going to go for -- >> taylor swift? >> family time. i like family time. i've select this genre. my turkey needs four hours and 45 minutes to cook. here is my play list. the best part, when your turkey's done, you get this. see, that worked. >> a little bit when the monologue used to go south? >> yeah. you know, i was 13 before i realized that people did not have lasagna for thanksgiving. we would be making turkey later. i went to a friend's house, where is the lasagna? didn't seem like thanksgiving. >> we get it. we get it. >> lasagna, it would have worked. >> that turkey took about a minute. >> how many stains are on that turkey? >> what? >> oh! >> jay reveals his surprise for

a soldier. p at panera bread, our hearty all-natural turkey chili is back in season. slow-cooked with turkey raised without antibiotics, tart tomatillos, chilies, carrots, edamame and more. the savory spice of the chili pairs perfectly with the black bean hummus and the fresh crunch of napa cabbage blend in our southwestern chicken flatbread. and it all comes together in a you pick two made just for you. only at panera bread. this is the first power plant in the country to combine solar and natural gas at the same location. during the day, we generate as much electricity as we can using solar. at night and when it's cloudy, we use more natural gas. this ensures we can produce clean electricity whenever our customers need it. ♪

today i'll show you the best way butterball turkey from walmart. and i'll show you the best way to nap. roast it upside down for the first hour... lay like this for the first hour... ...then flip it... ditto! ...for the juiciest turkey yet. walmart has everything you need, for your thanksgiving meal, at unbeatable prices. i to the acidity in any foods.ht never thought about the coffee i was drinking having acids. it never dawned on me that it could hurt your teeth. he told me to use pronamel. it's going to help protect the enamel in your teeth. it allows me to continue to drink my coffee, and it was a real easy switch to make.

good morning. i'm vai sikahema. downright frigid out there. let's get our first alert forecast from meteorologist bill henley. good morning, bill. >> good morning, vai. record cold this morning in philadelphia and in reading, tying the records for this date. down to 20 in philadelphia. we've got sunshine. we'll see a lot of sunshine, but it's going to be a slow warm-up during the day. 23 right now. feels like 10 degrees in philadelphia. in reading, it's 19, where the wind is calm, so there's no windchill there. but trenton feels like 13 degrees and 12 iswilmington. a sunny day, cold, too. 28 degrees at lunchtime, lower 30s by this afternoon. >> now an update on the accident in berks county. >> skyforce10 literally just got to the scene seconds ago. this is the first time i'm seeing the video. this is allentown pike, route 222 shut down because of a

multivehicle pileup there. a couple different vehicles, that tractor-trailer. this is just south of 73 on 222. so, if you need to get around that this morning, you can take park road. now, just in the last few minutes, we did confirm this is a fatal accident. it's unclear about the injuries sustained to any of the other drivers or passengers in the vehicles. this information is just coming down. but again, 222 is shut down right near route 73. vai? >> jillian, thank you. it's a trial that could affect every public school student in new jersey. a judge will hear arguments today about whether children should say "under god" in the pledge of allegiance. an atheist group is suing to cut those two words out. the american humanist association filed the suit in monmouth county. the group also sued massachusetts earlier this year, but a judge threw that case out. a newly formed commission will hear expert testimony today about school funding in philadelphia. many groups and students here in philadelphia are protesting because they want money distributed equally to urban areas where there are more minority students. testimony will resume at 10:00 this morning. back to the "today" show. we'll see you in a half hour.

it's 8:00 on "today." coming up, chris tops the list. action star chris hemsworth is named "people's" sexiest man alive. what the actor has to say about it and who else made the cut. >> some people want to be a race car driver or policeman, fireman. and i wanted to be an army guy. plus, jay leno's soldier surprise. >> have you heard about this? >> yeah. >> the comedy legend is here live to tell us about a special road trip he took with an american hero. then baby look at this. meet the celebrity look alikes who are just a few months old but have people talking "today," wednesday, november 19th, 2014.

♪ >> 40 years of arizona friendship. >> we made friends on the plaza. >> hi, ohio. >> hi, california. >> good morning, ireland from the big apple in new york. >> freezing from texas! whoo! >> brrr, matt. it's cold. give us a hug. >> girls in the city! we're back now 8:00 on a wednesday morning, 19th day of november, 2014. and you know what's nice, what warms your soul out here? >> what's that? >> this image right here. jay leno out there, shaking hands with these people. such a mainstay at nbc for so long. such a great guy. good to have him here in new york. >> he has no gloves on. going no gloves. >> look at him.

>> no scarf. >> unbelievable. there must be 25, 30 people out here today. oh, i'm fine. look at the crowd. >> are you freezing? >> no, not bad. i'm from boston. this is nothing. >> you're a hardy soul. >> that's right. >> beth stern, even more exciting -- and you know i love you, beth -- little kitten. >> such a passionate advocate for animals. written a new children's book about a kitten or cat that she and howard adopted. it's great. >> don't the sterns have like 90 cats? >> over time they've had a lot of cats, yeah. >> we'll get to the bottom of that. top stories from natalie, who is inside. hey, nat. >> good morning to you once again. good morning, everyone. five deaths are blamed on the massive snow storm that's buried cities in the great lakes, as much as six feet of snow. dunkirk, new york, in as much as

six feet of snow. >> reporter: that's right, natalie, up to six feet of snow fell in western new york. most of that falling in just a 24-hour period. we saw snowfall rates yesterday falling at four inches per hour at times as it rushed in off the great lakes. cars, homes, nearly everything just buried in the snow. we saw vehicles stranded right on the roads, including the niagara women's basketball team stuck on the bus for 20 hours. now new york's governor has declared a state of emergency and has now called in the national guard to help with all the cleanup here because it is a lot of snow. such an incredible amount. it's hard to believe that even more snow is in the forecast. >> not good news there. dylan dreyer in dunkirk, new york. thanks. the governor is defending his decision to declare a state of emergency and call in the national guard before the grand jury renders its decision in the shooting death of michael brown. it was all about keeping people

safe and protecting the rights of those who want to protest peacefully. a special commission to explore issues raised by the shooting such as poverty and policing. a woman who recently returned to new york from west africa died of an apparent heart attack tuesday, but health officials say they will test for the ebola virus out of extreme caution even though the 40-year-old woman showed no signs of it. emergency responders were called to a brooklyn hair salon tuesday night. the salon was also being decontaminated, again out of extreme caution. a new ligfe has brought new joy to a couple who lost their son in the sandy hook shooting. matthew bennett wheeler, born just two weeks ago. francine, who is 47 and david, 53, say it has been really beautiful having a newborn. the best part is that their 11-year-old son, they say, gets to be a big brother again. and close calls don't come any closer than this. watch what happens as this man

is crossing a busy intersection in china. car and truck collide right next to him. both vehicles careen in his direction. the truck passed by him and the car went in front of him and he was able to escape without a scratch. just amazing there. >> thanks so much, natalie. we've been asking people to send in pictures, #today weather. take a look at a couple of more of these that we brought in. pretty impressive shots, as we show you. our first one, that's from seneca, new york, and their dog getting a little fun in the snow. excuse me. and then our next one, two cars in this picture. where do you -- excuse me. you can't even find them? snow-vember. wow, rough stuff. out west, northern california into the pacific northwest, looking at a lot of wet weather. this system will be making its

way across country. we'll be feeling its effects in the latter part of the week into the weekend. it gets into the midwest down through the south. meantime, look at that, moving onshore. heavier rain, which is good news. they could use that in central and southern california up to half an inch to an inch of good morning, i'm bill henley, bundle up it is cold outside. temperatures plunked overnight and during the day lots of sunshine but a cold breeze blowing. temperatures will feel like they're in the 20s. tomorrow not as cold in the morning. clouds come in tonight, 44 this afternoon. the world returns for friday and saturday morning but a warming trend over the weekend, 60 on sunday. 70s on monday. look up on our wall, we have #today weather and folks sending stuff in. we'll be putting those up. check out our facebook page,

too. >> cool. coming up next, jay is going to give us a hand on what's trending. plus people's sexiest man revealed last night. what made chris hemsworth stand out above the rest. >> do we really have to ask? >> the assigns clear. >> i don't know. ha-ha john! john and horace dodge launched their first car in 1914. but they were not only business partners, they were brothers. competitive, stubborn... and always pushing each other. the way only brothers can. [engine revving] one hundred years later, their spirit lives on. ♪ when the snow comes to cover the ground. ♪ ♪ it's a time for play, it's a whipped cream day... ♪

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♪ we're back now 8:11. time for what's trending today. we called in the big guns, ladies and gentlemen. jay leno helping us out. >> thank you, thank you. >> nice to have you here. >> this is what's called a slow news day. >> you have no idea. >> what's trending? >> you may have noticed this rather large bowling ball. do you realize when you text, four bowling balls on your head.

>> what? >> yes. the pressure is equal to 60 pounds. aka, four bowling balls. >> what about what the front end of your car looks like after you -- >> there you go. >> and the rear end of the car in front of you. >> that's more appropriate than the five bowling balls. >> that's what the research says. >> over a long period of time that can do a lot of damage to you. >> i don't think it takes that long. four bowling balls, that's heavy. >> how long have you been married? >> 34 year. >> but it feels like. >> it feels like 34 years. feels like ten bowling balls. >> around your neck? >> most ridiculous conversation ever. >> we're not even done yet. >> here is something you haven't had to deal with in a while. >> go ahead. >> do you think it's a good idea to take a date, someone you're dating, that's new in your life, home for thanksgiving dinner? >> no. >> absolutely not.

>> if they have no family, i guess it's okay f a guy has no family of his own to go to. a drifter. >> but you think it's a good idea? doesn't it kind of send a message that it's very serious if you're exposing that person to your family? >> exposing? >> i wouldn't expose the person to my family. if your family are nudists, that would be a good idea. >> it would be really serious. >> what about you guys? >> i think it's a bad idea unless it's really serious. >> first time i went home to meet joe's parents was thanksgiving, so -- >> and you married him. >> and it was serious. i think it was sending the sign. >> on a first date, i don't think it's right. >> probably not a good move. >> want to come over for dinner? >> isn't thanksgiving one of the most dysfunctional family days on the calendar? you're telling your date, this is my family. >> what you signed up for. >> if they come back, you know that's a keeper. >> exactly. >> we asked on our facebook

page, do you think you should bring home a date for thanksgiving? 76% said yes. 24% said no not a good idea. >> as long as your dad doesn't do this. you know your dad does that with the hand right here? oh! as long as dad doesn't do that, i think you're okay. >> do that again. no, i'm just kidding. >> no, no, no. >> all right. jay, are you -- >> not really. not so much anymore. >> this is the most absurd trending segment in -- >> what is this one? photos of baby whose bear a striking resemblance to certain celebrities. former snl star chris farley. look at that little baby. >> pretty good. >> the next one. sir ewan mcgowan. >> gandolf. >> five bowling balls. >> and this baby looking like the princess bride star. >> phenomenal. >> the eyebrows are exact.

he really is. one more baby to show you. you want to guess who it is. cue the baby. >> that's got to be jay leno. >> that's me. >> yes, it is. >> i see the chin. >> and your hair. amazing hair. >> it's black and white. that shows you how old i am. >> adorable. >> what happened? >> i don't know. >> how did you enjoy your first trending segment? >> yeah, this is really something. yeah, yeah. >> when i used to go on jay's show he would say i really like that trending segment. until now. >> until now. one day i actually see it in play, i realize -- >> but you like -- >> with the bowling ball, it was downhill after that. >> that's what's trending today. >> really? >> jay will stick around to tell us about a big surprise for one soldier. >> it is a big surprise. >> we'll get into that. up

we're back with the "people" magazine cover we look forward to. people went down under to find him, so-called awesome aussie, chris hemsworth. and julie is the editor of "people." love me some thor. tell me about this choice. >> his career is hotter than

ever. in january he will battle a whale. of course, as thor, returning in "avengers." he's just physically perfect. i don't know how to describe it. >> do you do a lot of scientific research to determine who is the sexiest man alive? >> i will say we definitely have our favorites. there's a lot of back and forth. but when his name kind of bubbled to the surface, there wasn't a single person that objected to this choice. >> he has the two brothers, too, by the way. not shabby. >> it's a good gene pool, definitely. >> they're all in the business. >> they're all in the business. he's a family man. married younger, to hollywood standards. when he met his wife he said he knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her and so he wanted to start soon. >> that's sexy. >> other guys on the list. chris pratt. >> who had a huge summer, "guardians of the galaxy." he appreciates the fact that he

doesn't have to -- >> although i wouldn't mind if he was waiting my table. and how about alba? >> we asked a lot of leading men what was their biggest fear? and he said waking up in the afterlife and realizing he can't fulfill his dreams terrifies him. >> you have the right scruff. guys with facial hair, which we're partial to here around the "today" show. >> i like seeing him this way. people say he looks older with the scruff. he uses diesel fuel and brillo pads to keep it in shape and, of course -- >> kerry cruz. >> he pulls off the stumbly goatee. >> have you seen willie geist? does he have a shot at it next

year? >> all the "today" show guys have a shot at it next year. >> you are legally required to say that. now our continuing series, shine a light. back in october, al and jay went over to afghanistan for a special "today" show uso tour for service men and service women and an idea can came out of that. >> al was the inspiration for this really. i thank you for that. i wanted to do something a little bit different. you know, everybody helps the soldiers certainly with medical issues and all those sort of important things, but sometimes that can be like getting socks for christmas, you know. you want to give them something that's fun, something that has nothing to do with what happened to them and just takes them to a little different place. and this soldier was really surprised. >> take a look. >> like the old days. >> here we go. >> yeah! >> when i travel to entertain the troops, the best part?

besides an audience that's starved for laughs -- >> you want a clean one or dirty one? >> it's the few minutes i get to spend with each soldier. come on, kids, meet santa. who's next? behind every handshake, every hello is a great kid and i wanted to introduce the world to one of them. we sort of took all these wounded warriors and did kind of a lottery and reached in and picked a soldier at random to do something for him and hopefully it expresses what we want to do for all soldiers. >> if you called corporal laverge a hero, he would laugh. he doesn't consider himself a hero, but he is to guys like us. >> reporter: the army's infantry. >> how has your arm been doing since the surgery? >> it's been hurting quite a bit worse. >> he was on foot patrol in the streets of afghanistan when this happened. >> we were going to talk to

different people and walking back out on the street and a suicide bomber drove up on a motorcycle and detonated himself. >> his two buddies standing next to him never made it home. even after ten surgeries to piece him back together, the pain is still constant. >> foot, left leg, shrapnel that went into my arm. broke off a couple of bones and shattered my -- i also had a traumatic brain injury which has led to a lot of memory problems. >> when you're a soldier i think you get this feeling you're all alone and the rest of the country doesn't care. when people take a moment to stop and go, hey, you, come here. thank you very much, i think it does something for them. >> hi, guys. >> hey, man. >> i'm jay. >> in the middle of a game here. >> i don't want to interrupt. >> many of the soldiers i meet are barely out of their teens. in a lot of ways, we're worlds apart, but i found some common

ground. somebody's got some cool muscle cars. i took him and some of his friends off base for a little bit of what i call a horsepower field trip. when i was a kid this was the hottest car out there, gto. how about modern muscle cars, you guys have any experience? >> just a little bit, driving one of the newer eer camaros. >> so you like driving fast? zblfr now and then. >> i brought something i thought you might find interesting to drive. let me go get it. >> okay. whoa! >> wow! >> you guys heard about this? >> yeah. that's a hellcat, man. >> for muscle car lovers, this is the newest thing from dodge. you want to go for a ride? >> yeah. >> hop in. i'll take you for a ride. being touted as the most powerful muscle car ever. ever been in anything with 700 horsepower?

>> not until a couple of seconds ago. >> who are we go. >> but we'll be the judge of that. >> tell me when to step on it. >> step on it. >> goes pretty good, huh? >> feels like it will get up there. >> uh-oh, there's a sheriff. hi, sheriff. he's a veteran, your honor! want to give it a try? >> hell, yeah. >> let's see how soldier boy doe does. >> this ought to be fun. >> i'm starting to think this was the stupidest idea i've ever had. ahh! >> come on now. >> i feel like we're shooting a commercial, on an empty road, with a crazy driver! >> you don't want to crash into an amish guy in a horse and buggy. that would be like the two cultures coming to a -- >> that's nou that's a bad commercial. >> that's a bad commercial.

>> chick sben half rack rib. >> that sounds good. this looks good. what made you sign up? >> some people want to be a race car driver or policeman, fireman and i wanted to be an army guy. >> looks like you're going to make a full recovery, huh? >> mmm -- >> still got a lot of aches and pains? >> yeah. where i'm sitting right now, i don't know exactly how well i'll recover. >> do you ever get discouraged? >> every now and then, but having good friends and family members definitely helps. >> well, we certainly appreciate all your service, man. i can't imagine what it would be like. >> i can't imagine being on tv every day. >> well, the pay is better. >> going to be tough going back

to that tahoe? >> yeah. just not ever going to drive the same again. thank you. >> oh, yeah, yeah. no problem. cool. so what did you think? >> that was awesome. >> it was a lot of fun, wasn't it? >> yeah, i wouldn't mind having one of these. >> it's yours. >> really? >> it's yours. >> oh, man! that's awesome. >> thank you. thank you, man. america loves you. thank you, buddy. >> thanks, jay. >> have a lot of fun. don't get ni any tickets. >> i can't promise that now. >> thanks a lot. >> oh, man. >> so, sew nice. >> that was really fun. in january, auction at scottsdale, thanks to al, thanks to you, we're going to auction off one of my cars and give the money to the uso. >> wow. >> i love that. >> thank you, thank you. >> i love how you put your arms around him and said america loves you. >> we do. >> we do. >> he just looks like the shy, modest, just a nice, young guy. >> so sweet.

>> that's a wonderful story, jay. thank you so much. we'll be back on a wednesday morning. how do you top good morning, everyone. i'm chris cato. this is the colde esest day in s for this time of year. >> we tied the record set back in 1936 on this day. never got colder on the 19th of november. plenty cold in the pocono mountains. that's a live view, they're making snow big time with temperatures just now approaching the teens. 12 degrees in mount pocono. 25 in northeast pifl, but the wind is still a factor, feels like 12 in the city. the sunshine will be bright and

30s this afternoon. >> you can get updates any time, just download the first alert app on our website. let's get a update now on a major accident. a fatal accident. this is 222 just south of route 73. this is one part of the accident. you see a pile up here, multivehicle with one tractor trailer. there is a second part to the accident that involved three other vehicles down the road on route 222. we have one vehicle in a parking lot and another one overturned. that portion of 222 is cleared. you can always get the latest news and weather at nbc10.com. now go back to "the today show." have a great day.

8:30 now on this wednesday morning, the 19th of november, 2014. it is a bone-chilling 21 grease on our plaza this morning. >> we are going to warm things up in a second, as we pay a visit to beth stern. she has written a book about yoda. do your yoda -- >> written about a book about yoda, she has. you don't even know what that was. that was yoda speak. >> we'll let beth explain that in a little bit. >> kristin chenoweth is here

with a song. cranksgiving, new york, miami, long island, washington, d.c. and los angeles. >> to learn more about it and find out how you can join us, natalie is in miami. >> yes. i picked a good spot. >> maria is in l.a., maria shriver. the rest of us will be freezing with you. >> we're not bitter. >> with a smile on our face. we're not complaining. >> how about a check of that weather? starting, of course, with "today." lake-effect snow will be a big problem around the great lakes. some areas picking up another two to three feet of snow. wet weather moves into northern california, pacific northwest sunny but chilly throughout the southeast. tomorrow, more rain and snow out west. snow through the great lakes and western great lakes as well. the sunshine continues, as do the chilly temperatures through the southeast, the northeast, on into the central plains. good morning i'm bill henley. bundle up, it is cold outside. temperatures plunged overnight and during the day we'll see

lots of sunshine and a cold breeze blowing, high temperatures in the lower 30s will feel like they're in the 20s. tomorrow not as cold in the morning. 44 tomorrow afternoon and the cold returns for friday and saturday morning. a warming trend over the weekend, 60 on sunday, potentially 70 on monday and back into the 60s on tuesday. have a great day. >> with this kind of weather, make sure you get your weather. go to weather channel or weather.com online. badgers, we need the badgers! all right. let's go inside to savannah. >> all right, al. thank you so much. our sister network sprout is running its kindest kid contest. jenna bush hager is introducing us to the finalists this week. good morning, jenna. >> good morning. >> who do you have for us this morning? >> i have a really koot little girl. you'll meet someone who proves being little doesn't mean you can do really big and kind things for others.

>> i'm jayla from virginia beach, virginia, and i help the less fortunate people. >> reporter: 5-year-old jayla makes bags to hand out to people living on the street. she says she fills them with love and things they need. lotion? where's lotion? here. perfect. >> crackers. >> reporter: yes, ma'am. >> soap. >> reporter: yes, ma'am. >> and pills. >> she calls her bag jayla's little helping hand. why does it say that? >> because i'm helping the less fortunate people. >> reporter: you are helping the less fortunate. it even has a heart there. is that your heart? she came up with the idea when she saw a little girl and her mom homeless and in need. >> she was like, what can money buy? what things can we give to make it better? >> reporter: she delivers bags to a shelter for kids in her town. do they say thank you?

how does that make you feel? >> happy! >> reporter: she brings a bit of that happiness to those who are hurting. >> a lot of the children and youth we serve, they come to us in the middle of the night with just what they have, clothes on their back. gifts like jayla's provide them with things they may miss because they're not at home. >> reporter: jayla has little helping hands and a really big heart. you want this world to be a better place? >> yes. >> reporter: are you the one that's going to make it a better place? >> yes. >> reporter: high five. boom! >> jayla! she's the cutest. >> isn't she the cutest? i'll be back tomorrow to introduce you to two more finalists and you can start voting on today.com. >> i told you yesterday you had the best assignment this week, hands down. >> so great to hang out with kind kids. >> it sure is. and a kind woman, beth stern, with an important message behind this kitty invasion we have going on. first this is "today" on nbc.

back at 8:37. 90% of pet owners consider their pet to be a member of their family. in that case, beth stern lives with a family of 12. she's a best selling author, best selling book "yoda: the ups and downs" before we get to yoda and this cute one on your lap, where did this love of animals come from? childhood? >> i think it's in my blood. we rescued cats growing up, saved the wildlife in our yard. i never wanted to have kids, matt. i only ever wanted to have pets. >> full disclosure, i'm at your house a lot with you and howard. you walk in the door. you should have a playlist,

because the faces are all different. is that maxie? no. >> bella is blind. leon is obese. charlie -- i mean, they all have special problems. >> they have stories. >> all of my cats have stories and i've adopted them all as adults. they all have their issues. >> you make them great. you make them hip. you make kittens and adopted pets hip. >> crazy cat lady. >> tell me the story of yoda. i had the pleasure of meeting yoda. >> such a wonderful soul. we adopted him from north shore animal league. he was in a cage there way too long. we soon found out he's in heart failure, has three to six months to live. howard and i decided we're going to love this cat till his last day. i foster kittens, as you know. the foster room is filled with kitt kittens, yoda walks down the hallway and something miraculous happens. he took over as their papa, started grooming them, making

sure they ate. they all slept on him. seven litters later, he's still working. i've taken him to the vet three times. his heart has gotten progressively stronger. as of last week he's officially off his heart meds. the kittens healed my cat. >> that's one of the messages in this book. a heart filled with hope and love and purpose -- >> can make you happy. >> -- can go from a sad heart to a happy heart. >> we didn't want to could that in a kid's book, say he was dying. it went from a sad heart to a happy heart. his eyes were wide. his tail perks up and he loves kittens. >> by the way, if anyone thinks your husband, howard -- yes, that howard -- is at an arm's length from these kittens, he is the biggest mush ball when it comes to animals. very passionate. >> 100% of the proceeds are going beyond furry friends and to north shore animal league of

america's shelter, cage-free has been -- habitat. >> because we're getting to thanksgiving, christmas and hanukkah after that, you see a lot of people around the holidays giving kittens and puppies as gifts. >> do not do it. it should be a decision that the family makes. maybe that's the gift. let's do this together. let's go to a shelter. let's adopt. putting an animal in a box and unwrapping him for a holiday, the person has to be ready for this endeavor. this is a lifelong commitment when you bring an animal into your house. so many animals given as gifts are brought back to shelters because people haven't assessed their lifestyles. they're giving them away and not realizing what it entails. >> you've done so much to find happy homes for kittens like this. we congratulate you on this. this book about yoda is also a great message for kids. congrats on that as well. >> thank you, matt. >> thank you, beth. the book is yoda, the story of a

cat and his kittens. up next, a real-life jurassic park. we take you to the place where one day it could be possible. first on a wednesday morning, this is "today" on nbc.

it's 8:44. tree in the background. we'll light that thing up on december 3rd. but we're going to take a look now at some of the most fascinating and colossal creatures ever to roam earth. >> in fact, you could own one. keir simmons has that story. keir, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. look at this monster. this is monte the mammoth. he is for sale at the auctions in england. of course, more than 10,000 years ago, animals like this roamed countries like russia. be afraid.

because in a locked room beneath st. petersburg is the remains of an ancient giant found in sigh beera last year. that's the head of the mammoth. the latest discovery in a unique russian museum of mammoths. look at the size of this beast. >> yeah, sure. >> reporter: colossal creatures ex-extinct for thousands of y r years. just imagine one of these coming toward you. >> yes. >> reporter: the mammoth's go-to guy, veteran of many expeditions to sigh beera, digging them up, frozen in the ice. discoveries in most recent years, including this mammoth. >> looks very, very fresh. >> reporter: that made headlines around the world. >> it's very rare.

>> reporter: prehistoric people brought to life in the movie "10,000 b.c." hunted the mammoth for its meat and fur and still they're hunted, for their tusks. on remote siberian islands, men search for ice age ivory. you have to be lucky to find them, says this hunter. a single tusk like this is worth $100,000 on the black market. while scientists hunt mammoths, too, looking for intact dna in blood and hair, to crack the mammoth's genetic code, other scientists in japan and korea are going even further, trying to bring a prehistoric giant back to life. if science does manage to clone a mammoth, the russians even have a place to put it. you would like to see thousands of these roaming russia again? >> yes, of course. >> reporter: this is the

brainchild of the professor, vast nature zone that re-creates an ice age habitat, complete with wildlife. all that's missing now -- >> you need a giant. >> reporter: you want to create a kind of jurassic park? >> yes. we are already on the way. >> reporter: i'm not sure bringing one of these back to life is such a good idea. but if you want this guy, he is expected to sell between $200,000 and $300,000. kids would love it. >> or be scared of it. >> roaming the planet again. as al would say, what could go wrong? >> did they see how the movie wo turned out? >> how to clone a woolly mammoth. >> in five step. >> november 29th. special live performance from kristin chenoweth. first this is "today" on nbc.

>> announcer: the toyota concert series on "today" brought to you by toyota. >> kristin chenoweth is an emmy award winner. she is out with an album called "coming home." good morning. >> good morning. >> we've had an eventful morning this morning, haven't we? >> what you didn't see was

kristin was rehearsing. i got stranded under a camera, and hit my head. >> and you went ow, crap! >> and you just kept singing. >> and i thought what's it like to bump your head on anything? >> well played, my friend. well, played. this is called "coming home," very aptly named, recorded live at the theater that bears your name. >> they named the theater after me in oklahoma. beautiful state of the art. they said where do you want to film it? i said i have to film it at home. it's "coming home," sort of a career album. my parents were out there, people who saw me grow up or, i guess, just grow somewhat were out there. >> that's two. can we go for three? >> yes. you know it. >> you had so many great songs to choose from, from the live performance. was it hard to kind of pear them down? >> i think i might be the only

artist in this century that's released 18 tracks but it's also a live special that airs on pbs november 28th. it's both. mary mitchell campbell is my director, and sings with me on a lot of it. we had a good time. >> you were about to sing probably my favorite song. >> oh, i didn't know. >> kristin, take it away. >> please try not to hit anything. >> i'm going to gently walk over her here. i'll try not to. ♪ rainbow highway to be found

from your window pane to a place beyond the rainbow. ♪ somewhere over the rainbow way up high there's a land that i heard of once in a lullaby somewhere over the rainbow skies are blue and the dreams that you dare to

dream really do come true ♪ ♪ someday i'll wish upon a star and wake up where the clouds are far behind me where troubles melt like lemon drops away above the chimney tops that's where you'll find me ♪ ♪ somewhere over the rainbow bluebirds fly birds fly over the rainbow why then oh, why can't i ♪

♪ if happy little bluebirds fly beyond the rainbow why oh, why can't i ♪ >> yeah! >> kristin chenoweth, thank you so much. the album is called "coming home." >> can you do me a favor? >> yes. >> not only the height difference, but when you try to high five it doesn't work either. take a look at this. watch this. >> i'm going to do the right hand. >> here we go. >> yes! >> well done. >> we got a good laugh out of that one, though. >> we did.

it worked. it worked. >> very nice. what do you have coming up the next hour? a new movie out, also willie and tamron love their mashed potatoes this thanksgiving. they'll be cooking with us and sharing us their recipe. >> what are you doing for thanksgiving? >> i'm in new york. doing a friend thanksgiving. >> you want to come to the parade? >> oh, you know -- >> i did it three years, matt, three! >> i know. happy thanksgiving anyway. we'll freeze without you. >> i'll be watching you. much more ahead on a wednesday morning. first your

good morning i'm chris cato. it is 8:56. we're still a month away from winter but today feels like we're in the middle of february. a live look at the aramark building. let's get your first alert forecast now with bill henley,

hopefully we won't break those records today, bill. >> we could this afternoon as the temperatures will be limited to the 30s. maybe the coldest afternoon we have had on this day. cape may is 28 degrees right now wildwood, 25 in philadelphia. the wind is still an issue. the windchills in philadelphia, 14 degrees, 19 right now in wildwood, and it feels like three below zero in mount pocono. download the first alert weather app to your tablet or smart phone. we're following this accident, a tractor trailer crashed into some cars, it killed at least one person. hundreds of unionized casino workers will hold a pro test march today. they're upset about a plan by

carl icon to close the taj mahal. remember, you can always get the latest news and weather on nbc10.com. i'm chris cato, have a great wednesday. ♪ i thought it'd be bigger.

♪ ♪ (dad) there's nothing i can't reach in my subaru. (vo) introducing the all-new subaru outback. love. it's what makes a subaru,a subaru.

>> announcer: from nbc news, this is "today's take" with al roker, natalie morales and willie geist and tamron hall live from studio 1a. >> it's wednesday, november 19th, and the gang is all here. al is back from sick leave. how are you doing? >> feeling good. >> can't even believe you made it to work on monday. >> we were down in orlando, with one direction. liam. >> liam thing? >> you have a liam thing? >> he's very funny. >> dreamy. >> niall and harry don't do it for you? >> they're really nice kids. i really like them.

>> are you channeling your daughter right now? did she say liam is her favorite? >> no, no. actually, she -- >> it's not disturbing that you just said liam? >> that's disturbing. >> i haven't seen you since roker-thon. saturday night we were playing charades in our house and george and lucy got up and they started doing -- like they were reporting, reporting and then they would go -- they made a noise which you're not supposed to do. what are you doing? then they said roker-thon. you entered the charades. >> i like that you play charades. that's adorable. >> my kids love charades. >> i always think dick van dyke. >> we sit there with a drink and they get up there and perform for an hour. >> have you ever done the iphone app? it's like charades. it's fantastic. i'll dig it up for you. >> taboo is a good one.

we walk around with the buzzer in our house. just -- don't even play the game. [ buzzer ] >> exactly. >> you can use roker-thon now, totally viable clue. this weather, al, is crazy up in buffalo and new york. >> western new york, along the shores of lake erie and lake ontar ontario, just crazy. five people now officially have died. at least three of them they attribute to snow shoveling and snow blowing. so you've got to make sure -- it's not worth it. just wait for somebody to come and do it or pay somebody to do it. we had reports up to six feet of snow. people have been stranded in their cars. at least 10 semi tractor trailers stuck on the new york state thruway, i-90. in fact, we had reports of a woman giving birth in a fire hall in buffalo, outside buffalo. >> oh, my god!

>> where mike bettes is right now, the weather channel's mike bettes, they're at a holiday inn express. there's mike. in the parking lot of this hotel. >> where are the cars? >> exactly. they're behind him, believe it or not. there's tractor trailers. they happen to be broadcast trucks trying to get to foxborough for the game and may not get out. he's standing on i-90 right now. >> wow! >> for the nfl game? >> they may not get there. the hotel he's at, there it is, they've got about two to three days worth of food left. there's a break in the weather now but this lake-effect snow is going to kick up again later this morning into this afternoon. it could be another two to three feet of snow in the same area. >> that's incredible. >> crazy. >> stuck for 26 hours. >> the niagara university women's basketball team stranded in the bus 26 hours. they were rescued this morning about 4:00 am. we had a picture earlier of firefighters walking ten

blocks -- walking a patient ten blocks to get to mercy hospital. there's been a lot of great stories but, boy, it's rough out there. >> you do see the best of people in times like this. >> yeah. >> help each other out, plow the neighbors, elderly neighbor's driveway. >> check the vents on the side of your homes. the high efficiency furnaces need that air. because you don't want any backup of either the furnaces will stop or there may be a backup of carbon monoxide. you need to make sure that. >> you see these kind of images, you think, what would you do? shout out to the girls from niagara university, stuck on the bus for 26 hours, i don't know what -- >> you would go nuts. you would have a dance party. a dance party. >> that's interesting. there's a new song that everyone said will be the next gangnam style because we were all

craving that. >> i'm saying no on this one but bu go ahead. >> you are? >> have you listened to this song? >> no. i listen after the show. it's chick chick, the new gangnam style. chinese sing er won rolling huang. listen to the song. ♪ goosy goosy oh oh goosy goosy ♪ >> no. >> we should have a gong and roll it out when we say something is going to be a sensation and then al, you get the honors of determining -- >> i get to play chuck? >> this has been viewed 7 million times since october. i'm with you on this. >> 7 million? >> that's not gangnam style. when we first heard it --

>> it was catchy. made you dance. >> the video was funny, creative. that's just kind of weird. >> bizarre. >> plain weird. >> ali? come on over. no, come on, ali. we called you. you have to come over. she's doing the walk of shame. new walk of shame when you pitch an idea here and we had to talk about it -- >> you just can't -- it's an ear worm. i love it. >> sing it. >> i don't know the words. >> exactly. >> thank you, ali. >> so mean. >> and moving on. we love our ali. >> we love our whole team. if you do have a song you want to sing to, if you want to come sing, you should know from universal stoudios, "pitch perfect 2" coming out next year.

today special singalong screenings of the original movie in 25 cities. you can still sign up to go. just head to our website today.com. we'll show you how you can get tickets and be there and you can sing along with the crowd. and we should tell you that brittany snow and haley seinfeld will be with us tomorrow. >> tell me you're going to a sing along. >> i'm going to one here. >> you will be singing? >> i will be singing. everybody will kick me out with the cups. >> come on. ♪ i got a ticket to the one-way train ♪ i don't know. i need to have my cup. the cup creates the moment. >> there it is. there it is. ♪ i got a ticket on the one-way train ♪ >> come on, natalie. ♪ but i sure would like some sweet company i'm leavin' tomorrow

what do ya say when i'm gone ♪ you guys know this song ♪ when i'm gone when i'm go-one ♪ >> oh, snap. no, she didn't. >> you can't snap. oh, snap! >> oh, my gosh. >> two snaps. >> come join me in new york. >> here is what i am excited about. >> what? >> first of all, 50th anniversary this year of the "charlie brown christmas." >> 50 years? >> 50 years. still the number one show whenever it runs. new trailer out for the new peanuts movie coming out next november being produced by charles schultz's son and grandson. take a look. ♪ that's what i like i like about you ♪ >> it's a great combination of

computer animate buddy it looks kind of like claymation. folk whose did ice age. >> and rio. >> it is just amazing stuff. >> i just love that charles schultz's son and grandson are involved in this, in bringing it back. it says a lot about keeping his legacy -- >> everybody still loves the peanuts. it's coming out. >> i love snoopy. >> i was surprised when they said claymation. >> it has that look, computer generated. it's in 3d. when charlie brown misses that football, it's coming right at you. >> amazing. >> so good. >> isn't it amazing how kids -- it doesn't matter how old they are or how old the movie is, the christmas movie. >> we watch it every year right around this time, during the holidays. we pull out all of the peanuts collection and start watching them again. >> the wizard of oz and charlie brown christmas. love that. >> #orange room, your favorite

christmas special. hey, brittany? okay. hash tag orange room your favorite holiday special. >> the griswold. >> i want the tv special. >> but what about miracle on 34th street? >> okay, movie. so your favorite tv/movie christmas special? >> tv or movie? >> yes, because they show them on tv. >> die hard is the answer. >> christmas movie. >> no, it's not. >> john mcclain goes to visit his kids and wife at christmastime. he goes ho blankin' ho. >> kills the guy with the santa hat on in the elevator. >> we never get the cue. >> hash tag next topic. >> that's cute.

>> on the other side of the camera. >> come here. >> come here. >> stand in front of the camera. #next topic. we got it this time. al sent a guinness world record last week for the roker-thon. this is the tightest parallel park. i bow before this guy. >> no. >> eight centimeters he to drop that car in there. >> that's not real. >> oh, my gosh. >> that's crazy. >> do you think that's real? >> that is real. >> that's beyond parallel parking. >> exactly. that's a stunt there. >> bravo to that guy. >> unbelievable. >> i can't hang with that guy. i'm out. >> you did a pretty good job. >> almost as fast. >> kind of a slow wheeled in, in the prius and -- al that wasn't nice. >> the self proclaimed best parallel parker and had to prove it on the show. >> civilian division.

>> look at the -- >> millimeters there. >> i do it every time, guys. i don't know what to tell you. >> saturday leyla turns 16. now she's 17 since you parked that car. >> wow! >> #today weather. dana sent this out. how much snow hit before bed? this guy is 6'2". that's crazy stuff. molly motts was flying 10,000 feet over ohio. look at that. a true winter wonderland. amazing stuff. we're going to continue to see this snow firing up. watertown, buffalo. lake-effect snow watches, warnings. we've got lake effect -- winter weather advisories. what's going to happen, it's going to fire up again. the low comes across, cuts off the lake-effect snow this afternoon. but then this evening, boom, it starts all over again. the winds come across the lake.

we are talking about anywhere from another two to four feet of snow in western new york and parts of pennsylv good morning i'm bill henley. bundle up it is cold outside. temperatures plunged overnight and during the day we'll see lots of sunshine but a cold breeze blowing. high temperatures will feel like they're in the 20s. tomorrow not as cold in the morning. 44 tomorrow afternoon. the cold returns for friday and saturday morning. a warming trend over the weekend. 60 for sunday, 07 for monday. back into the 60s on tuesday. >> sure it's a family movie. he's going to visit his family. >> lot of tweets. >> one man saying die hard is a christmas movie. >> die hard. >> that's something the whole family can enjoy. >> why can't they both be? why can't they both be?

>> newest installment in a wildly popular "madagascar" series. when you think children's movie, immediately you jump to john malkovich, right? today is the day. hellmann's and holiday leftovers become irresistibly creamy turkey casserole. real delicious hellmann's. bring out the hellmann's. bring out the best.

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when you put it in water? water! the only way you'll know you're taking fiber is by how great you feel. and by how little you're thinking about that word. benefiber®. now available in stick packs. with a body of work that spans three decades, john malkovich to a criminal mastermind in "con air" and cia analyst who gets his identity stolen by brad pitt to name a few. >> immersing himself in a role as the voice of the villain, dave the octopus in "penguins of madagascar." >> dave? >> where is the sound? >> dave, your microphone, it's not on. >> click on the button with the picture of the microphone zblfr time a villain calls in, that happens. >> now we can hear you but we cannot see. >> how about now?

>> yes. >> there you go. >> now, where was i? ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. >> john malkovich, good morning. >> good morning. >> with your body of work and such a terrific voice, this is actually your first animated film. what made you decide to say yes to this one? >> well, it had been something that had interested me. and this one, when they came and presented me -- the director and producer came to france and present ee eed me the project, y i liked the story, the artwork but i also thought the idea of casting me as an octopus was pretty dead on. there really wasn't much i could say to it besides okay. >> good. >> that's fine. >> we hear that you don't actually like the sound of your own voice, though. i ready that. no? really? >> i can't stand it. >> you can't stand your voice? why?

>> i just can't stand it. it's just -- but that's not uncommon with actors. benedict, as well, he can't stand the sound of his voice. we spend half the press day talking about who has the worst voice. >> he loves the sound of your voice and does the best impression. this is benedict on mtv. watch this. >> john malkovich. >> well, i don't know that -- >> that was it? >> well, it was good, though. >> it was a very short impression. >> short but effective. >> off the cuff, too. >> what was this process like for you, as someone who has been such a great actor, working across from people, just to walk into a booth and sort of try to interact with people who aren't there? >> well, first of all, you have a reader who knows all the

characters. it's incredibly frightening. who knows all the characters and all their voices. and the gentleman who read with me, i think his name was steve, was a super fantastic listener and responder, really great reader. so you have that. but second of all, when you do movies, of course, you work with a person opposite you. but you really work with the camera. >> yeah. >> because that's what matters. years ago, i'll never forget, when i was doing "liason," "dangerous liaisons," we would fight about the frame. i liked this, he didn't like it. et cetera, et cetera. one day he said to me, johnny, if it's not in print, it doesn't exist.

>> there you have it. >> i went oh, okay. and this, it's a funny thing. you think of it as just voice but, in fact, they film every recording session. and that's what the animators use. >> so there's a little of you, your movements are part of that? john malkovich, it's a wonderful movie. watched it last night. "penguins of madagascar" hits theaters. >> can't wait. theaters. >> can't wait. important consumer alert is a really big deal.u with aches, fever and chills- there's no such thing as a little flu. so why treat it like it's a little cold? there's something that works differently than over-the-counter remedies. prescription tamiflu attacks the flu virus at its source. so call your doctor right away. tamiflu treats the flu in people 2 weeks and older whose flu symptoms started within the last two days.

before taking tamiflu tell your doctor if you're pregnant, nursing, have serious health conditions, or take other medicines. if you develop an allergic reaction, a severe rash, or signs of unusual behavior, stop taking tamiflu and call your doctor immediately. children and adolescents in particular may be at an increased risk of seizures, confusion or abnormal behavior. the most common side effects are mild to moderate nausea and vomiting. so don't wait. attack the flu virus at its source. ask your doctor about tamiflu. prescription for flu. ♪hark how the bells, sweet silver bells, all seem♪ ♪to say, throw care away. ♪from everywhere, filling the air♪ chex party mix. easy fifteen-minute homemade recipes you just pop in a microwave. like chocolate caramel drizzles. happier holidays.

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have driver's side air bags made by the japanese company takata. until now, the government was only pushing the recall in hot, humid climates, factors thought to contribute to the air bag defect. however, officials say the propel ant in the air bag cause them to explode when they deploy, resulting in a spray of dangerous metal fragments. honda, ford, chrysler, mazda and bmw models. new research suggests a link between trans fats and reduced memory among younger men. men under 45 years old whose diets included more trans fats tended to score much lower on word recall tests than healthier eaters, regardless of their education or ethnicity. more studies are needed to determine if these fats have the same effect on young women. most people choose to stay indoors on a cold, snowy day like today, take a look at what one giant panda was doing at the toronto zoo. soaking it all in. da mao is on loan from china.

he is taking full advantage of the snow there. he is tai told my dentistge of about my sensitive teeth, he told me there's a whole new way to treat sensitivity. he suggested i try new crest sensi-stop strips. [ male announcer ] just apply to the gumline of sensitive teeth for a quick 10 minutes. the special ingredient forms a lasting barrier that provides immediate relief and up to one month of protection. see why dental professionals endorse crest sensi-stop strips to treat sensitivity. that's 1 strip. 10 minutes. and up to 1 month of protection. satisfaction guaranteed. [ woman ] life opens up when you relieve sensitivity. satisfaction guaranteed. ♪ ♪

♪ we're following breaking news where police are investigating a deadly accident on the allentown pike. you can see the scene there. just before 7:00 a tractor trailer crashed into a number of cars and pinned them against a dunkin' donuts sign. stay with nbc and nbc10.com for updates. now updating you on the chilly temperatures outside, bill henley. >> chilly is right. this is the coldest november we have had. look at that wind blowing the

flags on top of boat house road. a westerly wind at 12 miles per hour. feels like 14 degrees in philadelphia. we are feeling gusts more than 12 miles per hour. so windchills range from three below in the mountains to 15 degrees in trenton and 19 in wildwood. >> right now a hearing is under way to serm in children should say the words "under god" in the pledge of allegiance. a judge in massachusetts threw out a similar lawsuit this year. later today more than 1,000 casino workers will protest. carl icon has planned to close the taj mahal. the workers claim that he is

profiting while they are being targeted for layoffs.

welcome back to "today" on a wednesday morning. it's november 19th, 2014. a cold day here in new york city. i'm willie along with al, natalie and tamron. it is "would you wednesday." >> okay. >> texas high school student entered a contest where she had here are her choices. either meet your idol. brazilian soccer player namar or get ten grand in cash. >> that's easy. >> what do you choose? >> cash. >> idol. >> cash. >> memories. memories are priceless. >> take the cash and then go meet the idol. >> no. i mean, i'm sure they bank rolled her flight to go meet her idol so -- >> you've got to believe maybe

you'll get another chance to meet him somewhere. >> memories are priceless. >> but college costs and stuff costs. >> i don't know. you know what? >> what did she do? >> team natalie. >> of course. >> she chose to meet her idol. >> smart lady because she likes namar. >> it's namar. >> that's cool. >> sounds like a villain, actually. namar. or magician

u. good morning i'm bill henley. bundle up it is cold outside. we'll see lots of sunshine and a cold breeze blowing. temperatures will feel like they're in the 20s. clouds come in tonight, 44 this

afternoon. the cold returns for friday and saturday morning, but a warming trend over the weekend. 60 on sunday. potentially 70 degrees on monday, and back to the 60s on tuesday. have a great day. le. and that's your latest weather. if you're worried about what to do with the family cooped up, we have some idea. >> yes, we do. meredith sinclair of meredith plays.com. we have young olivia here, too. i love this first idea. a day after thanksgiving, black friday. you say it should be give back friday. >> exactly. >> great idea to get your kids involved. what do you want them to do? >> have your kids design this table, really easy. ask your thanksgiving guests to bring something to the table to give back. >> okay. >> so, books, clothes, food items and then your kids can sort through them. and then set a time that, you know, you have a pickup or everyone has those local drop

offs. >> salvation army. >> on friday and give back on black friday not just getting more. >> what a great idea. >> simple. >> and then pictures. same old saying. you've got a great way to spice these up. >> everyone has done the photo booth, right? have you ever played corn hole? i'm from chicago. exactly. we've taken a corn hole game that we wrapped with simple butcher paper and then we got a retired art teacher in our community who was thrilled to paint these beautiful things. this is cammi, the turkey. your kids can play. if you don't have corn hole, we did the same thing with foam. >> love it. >> from the hardware store. turn this one around. stick your little face in there. we've also made a grown-up version, you know, for all the grown-ups in your life. they love taking pictures, too. >> we make a cute couple, al. >> that's just foam board. super light. you can hang it up. >> adorable. >> creates some memories, photo booth moment. >> great idea. >> let's move on to the dining

room table. >> okay. >> great idea. >> i was looking -- >> uh-oh. >> that's all right. >> not a party till something breaks. >> natalie does that when people are drinking, bottles are thrown. >> celebrities answering questions. this is a fun idea to get to know your guests. my favorite tv show as a kid. we had one of your hosts answer this. who do you think answered "punky brewster." >> savannah. >> tamron. >> that would be willie. >> that's willie. >> tamron probably wrote down "walking dead." >> she did. >> for children. >> and put these on the table during dinner. and guests can answer the questions. >> i spray painted them gold, which makes everything better. binder clip and you're good to go. >> gold wine bottles.

>> we're making meaningful centerpieces here. again, gold makes everything beautiful. spray paint your wine bottles and they're writing down things that they are thankful for. team people up, mom and daughter, or do it yourself and put beautiful things down your center. fun game. get your little turkeys moving. everybody grab a baster. we're all about the baste right now. >> oh! >> what you're going to try to do is move your turkeys from start to finish to move the blaster there from your baster. ready? ready? go! go, go, go, go, go! >> this is a terrible game. >> he's going to beat me. >> oh, the winner is willie and who is the loser? tamron. you always have to have a prize. so the winner is willie. >> oh, thank you. >> loser, tamron. sorry. not really loser.

>> thank you. >> i like that. >> extremely confident especially with tamron wearing the turkey on her head. only one will come out on top when it comes o s to who makes best spuds. >> could be a spud fight. >> oh, right there. >> it is on, hall. >> oh, right there. >> it is on, hall. >> ooh, that's pretty good. harsh winter, or stay dry how yfrom torrential rain showers,r or savor the last warm rays of sun... step inside the jeep grand cherokee... and wonder no more. this is the jeep® grand cherokee. the most awarded suv ever. well-qualified lessees can lease the 2015 [twenty fifteen] grand cherokee laredo for $369 a month.

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don't tough it out, knock it out, fast. abreva. all right. this morning we're kicking off a new series called "today's take" on thanksgiving favorites where each of us select a thanksgiving dish. >> immediately an issue arose

with this contest. both willie and i chose the same thing which set off a feud, mashed potatoes, delicacy close to both our heart. >> no lumps, no bumps. >> you want to taste the bumps, wonder are these even cooked? >> it's not my recipe but it belongs to barefoot contessa. she's my woman crush wednesday every day of the week. i think i started maybing her potatoes about three years ago. and my mom was actually impressed. >> my favorite thanksgiving dish are my dad's mashed potatoes. when i asked, he said throw in potatoes. important. four sticks of butter, cream and anything else that will fill your arteries. >> put your potatoes in. once they're boiled and out comes perfection. >> you just mash them and cook them. pretty simple and pretty

delicious. >> that's like year-round happiness, fluffy, creamy happiness. >> you only make these once a year for health reasons mostly. if you had them more than once, would you have to seek the attention of a physician. >> mmm. >> mmm. that's it. those are the ones. >> i mean, come on. there is nothing better than this. >> and for dessert, lipitor. >> all right. enough lead-in. let's do this thing. >> i love this recipe. it is basically -- >> cream and butter. >> yeah. fat with a couple of potatoes thrown in. >> i called my own man. i said we're doing a segment. what's the recipe? he said, ha, there's no recipe. as much butter that you can find at your local store. >> how much butter is that? >> a lot. >> four sticks. >> heavy cream up in there. dump in your taters. >> these are cooked but it's called mashed potatoes. they're not creamed potatoes.

>> they get mashed up. >> there's some lumps in there. >> you want it lumpy. >> you like it lumpy. >> natalie says she likes lumpy. i'm not a lumpy girl. >> you want to taste those pats of butter. >> you're not a lumpy girl? >> i have lady lumps but -- >> just make it as rich and thick as you possibly can. >> you do like the gravy. >> willie goes for the gravy and willie's dad, mr. geist, is a hero of mine as well, as is ina. i would have used his recipe, had i not fallen in love with ina. you don't use one of these? >> i put mine in the food processor. >> putting it in the food processor kicks up the starch too much and that paste makes the -- because, obviously, potatoes have starch. it makes it too pasty. >> you thought about this much more than i have. >> look at the magic coming from -- i never heardative reiser until i got one of ina's

books and bought it. i don't know. like mr. geist, ina calls for warm butter, though. >> not as much. >> she also has buttermilk in there to give it a nice little tang to it. pour it in there and then you whip it into your -- >> okay, taste test, guys. come on. willie, you try tamrons. no trash talking until you tried it. >> ina loves thyme. >> yours is much creamier. >> you got to go back to this. >> but it's butter and cream. >> thanksgiving. that's the point of thanksgiving. >> i can't call it. can you call it? >> i can. these right here. mr. geist. i love ina and i love you, but this is the deal. >> tie breaker? it can't end in a tie. >> come on. you be the tie breaker. >> remember who brought you margaritas for your birthday.

>> okay. >> don't tip the scales. >> tamron. >> lighter and fluffier. >> stick with the date that brought you to the party. >> not a real man. >> jeez. did you leave your man card home? >> you can get these recipes, especially mine -- congratulations. congratulations, ina. >> mr. geist, i have nothing but love and admiration and respect for you. >> we've got a bonus five other mashed potato recipes that will impress your thanksgiving guests, even your friends who think they're men but turn out to be ladies. think they're men but turn out to be ladies. >> n ♪ ♪ think they're men but turn out to be ladies. >> n ♪ ♪ ♪

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star said he is still suffering from the severe brain injury cause bid a new jersey highway crash with a walmart truck almost five months ago. he is fighting to get better and if there's a chance for him to be back to the tracy morgan he was, he's going to try to do that. but we just don't know because of the severity of the injuries that he sustained. obviously, our thoughts go -- >> horrible. >> it is. >> so talented and to think at 36 years old. you hope he can come back. >> we love you, tracy. >> amen. vogue editor is revealing why she really put kim k and kanye on the cover. metropolitan museum of new york, wintour answered the lingering question about the cover saying if we just remained deeply tasteful and put deeply tasteful people on the cover it would be a rather boring magazine. nobody would talk about us. i compare the

cover with kendall. she concluded her answer saying i hope another kim kardashian comes along this year. >> have they cloned them? >> so she's saying it's not tasteful? >> yes, but you need it to get a buzz, which is what everyone suspected. >> not deeply tasteful. >> let me tell you about this. your parents -- i'm curious if your kids have said things that make you go, hmm. will and jada pinkett smith kids. jaden's philosophy on school. here is the deal. school is not authentic because it ends. it's not true. it's not real. our learning will never end. the school that we go to every single morning, we will continue to go for. his 14-year-old sister willow had this to say about time. i can make it go slow or fast, however i please and that's how

i know it doesn't exist. deep thoughts. >> sounds like quotes from gary bucci. >> or stephen hawking, one or the other. wow, that's deep. that's deep. that's very deeply tasteful. >> yes. and time for one more? >> no. >> we do not? >> no. >> we can make time do whatever it wants. >> we have seven seconds of time. >> i keep teasing you and we never finish. >> time's not over. >> pop fix! - ( helicopter whirring ) - ( roars ) ( siren wails ) ( pop music playing ) ♪ when you're ready ♪ ready, ready, ready ♪ come and get it ♪ get it, get it ♪ when you're ready, come and get it ♪

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>> what happened there? >> i don't know. >> that's a great lid. >> mashed potatoes. >> d

good morning i'm tracy davidson. a frigid morning across the region, cold enough to tie some records. >> philadelphia and redding. 18 degrees, tieing the record that's been on the books since 1936. look at that beautiful view from cape may.

and in philadelphia, lots of sunshine, too, just no heat. 25 degrees right now in philadelphia. feels like 14 degrees. seeing stronger dusts in wildwood and atlantic city. we have windchills still stuck in the teens. police are investigating a deadly crash on allentown pike. sky 10 captured the scene. this is just south of route 73, the road is now closed in the area. we're looking to learn if if there was more than one death in the crash. there will be a meeting in new jersey today to focus on improving their cities. they will talk about cutting crime and improve infrastructure. in philadelphia, a commission will hear expert

system about school funding distribution. the hearing is at city hall this morning. another update in 25 minutes.

>> announcer: from nbc news, this is "today" with kathie lee gifford and hoda kotb live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. >> hello everybody. welcome to one of our favorite days, wines day wednesday, november 19th. it's otherwise known as my stuff day. >> it's your stuff day. >> we have a great show today. who do we have? >> we had tori spelling on on monday. her husband dean didn't want to come on with her. for some reason they wanted to go on separately. dean is going to speak with us today. he did say he didn't want to do more press, but he's going to come on and explain it on tv.

>> okay. >> also beth stearns is here, she and her husband howard do so much for these long island -- what's it called? >> north shore animal league. >> what's also awesome about her is just, i don't know, everything in general. >> she's a very sunny person, and she's got a new children's book inspired by one of the cats she adopted. "people" magazine has released its big issue, sexiest man alive. >> i don't always agree with them. >> this one, seems like there are no doubters. >> no, huh-uh. >> the hunk that has one title is chris hemsworth. >> yes. >> these other two guys are i think inside the magazine. we're going to reveal them later. you notice something about him -- >> that is just weird. >> i don't know what they're thinking, but it would be fascinating to know what they're

thinking. >> why am i not on the cover? >> exactly. >> when it was announced frank's book "the glory game" was going to be made into a film by hbo, hopefully. we'll see. as i looked at chris, i don't think anybody today is as gorgeous as frank was in his 20s. i think this guy might be young frank gifford. i think that is drop dead good casting. >> i think you hit jackpot. >> yes. >> okay, done. >> a fabulous athlete, too. you can't make a sports -- >> that's a great idea. by the way, you're right. that split screen proved it. >> let me know if you think somebody else would be even better but i don't think so. >> words of wisdom. are you ready? here you go. being powerful is like being a lady. if you have to tell people you are, you aren't. >> margaret thatcher! >> totally true. >> last night, a great event

called musicians on call, guitar players, singers and stuff who go to hospital rooms an sing for kids. last night was the 15th anniversary, they honored two great people, kelly clarkson was honored. she does it a lot. a great guy named charlie walk. the guy in the hat begged me not to cut him out of the picture. so he's in! he actually introduced kelly clarkson. we had a lot of fun. rosanna was there? >> great. her hand, she fell when she was at the rink here and really hurt herself. >> she's getting better. >> are we going to talk about somebody else who hurt themselves? >> yes, let's give a shout out to j. lo. guess what happened? this book is now a "new york times" bestseller, number five. >> after one week in sales, hard cover. good for her.

>> we helped a little bit with that one. >> here is the top five. >> let's talk about bono. >> we heard about the mishap on the plane where the door flew open and luggage went flying. then we heard he had a bicycle accident. i hadn't heard at all until today the severity of it. >> he was supposed to be on fallon all week, they canceled the whole week. that seemed a little weird. they said he had a bike accident. rolling stone released the details, and we heard about them this morning. it was shocking. this is what happened, he frank toured the orbit of his left eye. >> i don't know what that means but that can't be good. >> he fractured -- three fractures on his left shoulder blade. >> fractured his left arm, shattering the bone in six different places. >> the bone actually tore through his skin. >> repaired in a five-hour surgery with three metal plates

and 18 screws. >> then surgery to repair a fracture on his left hand. the doctors say he'll need a lot of progressive therapy. they expect a full recovery. >> so sorry to hear that. i wondered if he was wearing a helmet. somebody showed us a picture from the day this happened. >> we're not sure if that was the day. >> but he was wearing a helmet in that picture. i guess he was trying to avoid another bike rider. the doctors called it a high energy bike accident. >> high energy seems a strange term for it. >> sounds like he's going quickly. >> that's what it sounds like. >> we wish him all the best. >> if you're paging through teen vogue and you saw in young 13-year-old girl we wondered if she looks familiar. her name kaya gerber. she is the daughter of cindy crawford. >> and randy gerber. two beautiful specimens. her first official photo shoot. boy, what you look at them side by side. >> a huge career ahead of her.

>> cindy crawford was working as a full-time model when she was just 16 years old. >> kids, it's what they're used to a lot of times. remember what bette midler told us, her doctor thought she wanted to be a doctor and decided, mom, i want to be an actor. she said she was around it all of her life. cindy supports her daughter's modeling career. but hopes she takes her time and pursues other interests as well because, quote, the world very different now. that's a tough, tough world. it really is. very exploitive in many cases on these young girls who have barely been out of their hometowns some of them, already in paris, milan and new york. >> "the voice" was on last night. it was down to three people who were the bottom three. what happens is america can save one of these bottom three singers. we e eel show you the bottom three singers and you guys let us know who you think was saved.

let's watch. jesse sugar and rob. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> totally different everybody is. >> just great. >> this is a twitter save. so people at home tweeted.

who do you think made it? >> sugar. >> sugar is the middle girl with the purple hair. i agree. i think it was sugar. let's see who america chose. >> america instantly saved ryan, team gwenn! i'll see you next monday night on "the voice." >> this is before we went to that, a lot of the young girls vote and he's adorable. >> i'm just surprised. i know he's cute and he's good. wow, i thought the other girls -- >> isn't there a champ still, they can all come back -- >> there's one last seat. everybody that got eliminated, there's a wildcard seat. somebody will come back. this leaves adam and gwenn with three singers on their teams each. blake and pharrell each have two. pharrell is bringing in diana

ross. >> great idea. >> we have a video of a dad in england who might be the coolest dad ever. >> his name is mike and his son's name is jayden, he was stricken with a terrible cancer and given just a year to live. that was when he was just a little baby. he's lived to basically 5 years old. the dad knows his son loves superheroes. he decided to dress up as his favorite superhero, spiderman. let's take a look and see what happens. >> go stand out a little further. >> whoo! >> hey, is that jayden? are you jayden? >> it's good to see you, buddy. >> how old are you? one, two, three, four five. that's five, right? that's awesome, little dude.

give me a hug, buddy. good to see you, man. that's awesome, little dude. >> oh. >> that's the most beautiful thing in the world. >> thank you. thank you, thank you. >> do you notice he's speaking in an american accent so the little boy didn't know it was his dad. he is -- what's it call. >> park athlete. jumping off the roof is no big deal for him. >> that was beautiful. really beautiful. we wish that family all the best. >> what else have we got? >> i don't know. i guess we're teasing who is coming up next. tori's husband dean is going to be sitting down with us. he's right there. we'll talk to him about the difficulty of fixing a marriage while the cameras are rolling difficulty of fixing a marriage while the cameras are rolling and if this is, indeed, the last for a crowd this big, difficulty of fixing a marriage while the cameras are rolling and if your everyday dishes last will only go so far. literally.

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they have allowed cameras into their homes and into their lives. what we've seen is a marriage with more than its share of ups and downs. >> earlier this week, tori was here to talk about where the relationship stands. >> on last night's episode viewers were left wondering if their marriage can actually be saved. let's take a look. >> no -- >> i'm not trying to make you look bad to viewers. that's not my goal here. you're my husband. i want to continue this relationship after the show is over. >> i hate to sound like a broken record, but that's where there's a fine line with the show. i don't know if it's worth it. >> all right. dean is with us today. that was the question that we asked tori when she was here on monday. biggest question is why are you trying to solve all these problems in front of the tv -- the camera. a couple reasons was that she

said you had a contract which you had to fulfill. she said for her it's been cath arartic. i was stunned by that answer. >> it has for me. i'm not poo pooing the show. i've learned a lot about myself, our relationship. it's been a good process. but as it goes on and continues, it's taking a toll on me. it's not good for me. it's different for everybody. if it works for t., that's great. >> i think you went on access hollywood or one of those shows and said i've had it, i'm done. you looked spent, worn out. almost as if it was a line in the sand and here you are. >> here i am. >> i think that confuses people. >> does it? i'm done with the show. i want some of my privacy back. i think, you know, i've shared too much of my soul and my demons with strangers.

as you know, with that comes positive and negative reactions. it's just not a good space for me. >> can tori continue on? would you want her to continue without you in it with the children unless you're part of the dynamic. >> if it helps her, absolutely. i support her 100%. >> when they said tori is on monday and dean is on wednesday, you're together. >> we've been going to each other's appearances. >> why not together? >> you've got to talk to our publicist about that. still don't know the reason for it. i've come out -- came out and started doing interviews about the whole situation and not doing the show first. i guess they wanted some elbow room and space for tori's first interviews and stuff like that. again, talk to the publicist. i don't know. >> where are you today? would you say at this point in your marriage you're in a better place than you were a year ago? >> absolutely.

>> you're on the mend? >> we're in a better place than everment our love is stronger. we're solid, communicating. we're having a fully functional relationship. >> how are the children? >> they're great. >> it was weird to see the ex-wife. when you had your ex-wife on it seemed like it was picking a scab. it's like that's history that part, and to bring it all back up and have tori have this one-on-one with her seemed very strange to me. >> i thought it was good because tori also talks to her ex, charlie. he didn't want to be filmed. i thought that was a great idea, to give him some closure and her some closure. >> is it closed now? is that a done deal? >> that's a done deal. they had a great talk. >> has she remarried, your ex-wife? >> no, she has not. but having her on the show, it was to discuss co-parenting.

what i believed, was to talk about co-parenting. it just didn't seem to go that way. >> what kind of feedback are you getting from people on the street who know all your secrets? >> really good. we have great fans. like i said -- there are haters out there, but our fans are really pulling for us. they're very supportive, very vocal on the streets about hang tough, stick it out, i've been there. >> do you read all the social media stuff or try to stay away from it? >> i don't know if you've seen my last bunch of tweets, but i maybe not so gracefully bowed out of social media. >> i think that's a great idea. we wish you all the best. you know that. >> thank you. thank you for having me on. beth stern is back with some adorable adoptable friends and a look at her new book that would make purr-fect gifts.

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"people" magazine named the awesome aussie chris hemsworth as the sexiest man alive. a site for thor eyes. julie jort on is the senior writer and had a difficult job of choosing, poor woman, 208 super hot guys in the issue. two of them are with us today. >> the worst day in the world. >> bad day at the office. >> wasn't tough to pick him. >> we were in malibu on this ranch. here he comes, hugging everyone hello. so appreciative and so physically amazing. it kind of takes your breath away. >> now, is he won of those that's sort of ah shucks about it.

>> no. made it more appealing. talking about his wife and kids. >> what did she think? >> she thinks it's funny. he said when he first met her, young for hollywood standards, basically he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. >> you have categories like no shirt sherlock. how did he end up on that page? >> the abs. zac efron. a plethora for men to choose from. >> i'm so happy blake shelton made it. >> when we asked the a-listers, blake doesn't like clear deep water. >> we have two hot guys from the show, from the magazine. who is here, billy? >> billy. >> and javier gomez. >> good to see you both. you are a broadway guy and actor. >> yes.

>> in stephen spielberg's new movie. >> famous photographer? >> yes. >> and he likes to be naked. >> we're going play a little game. let's say what the game is. we're going to describe it. there are words that are like -- that have the word hot in them. we're going to try to -- like playing pyramid. good luck. >> let's do this. >> ready? >> okay. >> tabasco. >> hot sauce. >> christmas with marshmallows. >> hot egg nothing, hot cocoa. >> pants that go to here? >> hot pants. >> in a balloon? >> hot air balloon. >> skip. where you soak in the water -- >> hot tub. >> i'm hot, over 50 and burning up. >> hot flashes. >> what you put on -- it's not

salt but hot -- the other thing. >> pepper? >> yes. >> is it over? >> that's solid. >> javier, she's a singer and it's a color, a rock star, hangs from a trapeze and it's a color. >> next. >> wow. not pies, but -- >> hotcakes. >> yes. you're in your car and it's a hot -- >> brake? >> never mind. something you eat off, round usually and it's got food on it. >> wait a second. >> what was it? >>

now? hold on - this year, walmart's black friday is ten days of savings! now? no hold on... the savings will be bigger and better than ever before. ok...go ahead. ♪ black friday is back and it's gonna be huge. . 10:26, good morning, i'm vai sikahema. we have tied record lows in philadelphia and reading. >> 18 in reading, 20 this morning in philadelphia.

but the temperatures are climbing slowly with sunshine. it's now 27 in the city. it's the pocono mountains that are way behind, 18 right now. they are making snow at camelback. the wind is a problem. it's the windchill that will keep us feeling cold through the day. feels like 15 in philadelphia right now. 4 right now is what it feels like in the pocono mountains. cold and breezy, winds gusting to 25 miles an hour. high temperatures nowhere near the 50s that we would normally warm to. >> get updates from the weather center any time you want. download the weather app to your smart phone or tablet. we have an update on a deadly crash in berks county. at least two people have died. victims may be trapped in this wreck. sky force 10 was over the scene on allentown pike. this happened earlier this morning. a tractor-trailer crashed into several cars, pinning them

against a sign you see there. the road remains closed in the area. much more on this crash on nbc 10 news at 11:00 this morning and on nbc10.com. two candidates are ready to enter the race for philadelphia mayor. an on this in i williams and former philadelphia district attorney lynn abraham plan to announce their bids today tlech. they are both democrats. a full hour of news in 30 minutes. get the latest news and weather on nbc10.com.

we're back with more of "today" on this wines day wednesday. ready to play "who knew" we're celebrating geography awareness week by putting your knowledge of the globe to the test. kathie lee is across the street at the nbc experience store ready to hand out a hundred bucks who get the questions right. to those who don't, they get won of her wonderful cds. everybody is a winner. here to help me out is markornwall. ready to play? >> from richmond, which of

>> i would say idaho, b. >> close. >> everyone has a story. >> fortunately it's north dakota. it does not share a border with oregon. you'd have to drive through idaho, through the great state of montana, about 1,000 miles before you got a dose of north dakota, nice. >> back over to you, kat. >> from muncie, indiana. which of the following is not a state capital, new york, new york, harrisburg, pennsylvania or baton rouge, louisiana. >> a. >> she wanted the cd. that's sad. >> absolutely right. new york, new york is not the

capital of the state, albany. new york used to be the capital. it was the first u.s. federal capital back in 1790. >> interesting, mark. >> back over to you, kat. >> york, pennsylvania, this woman is trying to get the cd from me. how many time zones are there across the 50 united states, four, five or six? >> four. >> i was told that's not the right answer. you two can fight over the cd. >> by the way, everybody thought it was four. why is it six? >> they forget about the alaskan time zone and hawaii time zone making it six of course. >> from wisconsin, which u.s. state has the most coastline? alaska, florida, hawaii? >> alaska? >> yes. good one. >> very good. >> alaska is the biggest state, and it has 6,600 miles of coastline. yes, you're absolutely right,

from the gulf of alaska to the arctic circle. >> i love how much you love all this. >> i do. >> this beautiful lays difficult is from arizona, which city is the farlthest west, los angeles, california, reno, nevada or boise idaho. >> los angeles, california. >> no. >> the correct answer here is reno, nevada. >> look how happy. >> you have to take out a map and look at this for yourself. you would never guess it. california sort of cuts into the southeast leaving reno slightly more west than los angeles. >> tricky, tricky. we have time for a couple more. >> from utah, which letter does not appear in the spelling of any u.s. states, q, x or z. >> x. >> what about texas? >> good try. >> the correct answer, even though it was a great try, is q. >> it is q. don't forget z -- i couldn't think of one at first with a z.

arizona. no q in any state names. >> time for a final one. >> where are you from? >> texas. >> where is mt. rushmore located, kentucky, south dakota or north carolina? >> south dakota. >> you did very well today everybody. >> just outside of rapid city. george washington knows, 21 feet long. this is enormous. everyone should get to south dakota and see mt. rushmore at least once in their lives. >> mark, thank you so much. we appreciate it. you lay out your beautiful my budget used to be hard on me. especially around the holidays. i was pinchin' more than pennies! but thanks to fingerhut.com, now we can shop over 150,000 items from brands like samsung, keurig, fisher price. happy holidays to me. all you gotta do is click on over to fingerhut.com and get the credit you deserve to get all kinds of great stuff. [ doorbell rings ] oh, i hope it's the microfiber recliner!

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making a pie that pops is surprisingly easy. just unroll, fill, top, bake and... wow. this is your best ever thank you. pillsbury pie crust. make the holidays pop. when he first joined the army, i was very nervous. ♪

we didn't know what they would have him doing. ♪ but, bobby always had a plan. ♪ [ male announcer ] with unmatched training in over 150 careers beyond the battlefield, there are over 150 surprising ways to become army strong. talk to your son or daughter about opportunities in the army. >> announcer: holiday entertaining on "today" is brought to you by jc penney. jingle more bells this holiday season. >> you jingle more bells. >> no matter how much you plan pour the perfect thanksgiving dinner, something unexpected always happens to muck it up. >> to keep you from heading into a tailspin, we brought in the star of hgtv's property virgins, egypt sherrod. how is everything? >> everything is wonderful except thanksgiving when you get

home with your table cloth -- >> what happens? >> and realize it's entirely too short for the table. >> what do you do, egypt? >> number one, i tell everybody buy two or three table cloths because you cannot assume every table cloth fits every table. >> what did you do sm. >> i laird them. we have two. you can't see they're layered here, right? >> well, you can. >> but another quick fix you can do, last minute, stores aren't open, grab some shower curtains, layer them underneath. >> is that what this is? >> no. you would go looking for it. >> i just wondered. >> so if there's a stain on your table cloth. >> happens all the time, especially when you're putting gravy boats on the table. i often take another plate and put it on top and hope no one sees it. what you can also do, run out into your back yard, grab some leaves, throw them on the table,

wonderful autumn color. if you spray paint them metallic like i've done there, look at that. >> you made the name tags. >> you're over here, hoda. you grab a leave and you can write the names and use them as place cards. >> let's pretend you're about to sit down to dinner and the doorbell rings, extra guests. >> hoda showed up with their boyfriend and they weren't invited. >> they never call. >> on thanksgiving they just show snup. >> people do. >> what you should always do is expect more. if you're expecting eight, cook for ten to 12. make sure you have place settings to accommodate. >> here is the deal, if you don't have enough plates and you don't have enough glasses which often happens, sometimes with first-time home buyers, they're not ready, you mix and match. with interior design now, you don't want to be too matchy matchy. same thing with the table setting. add a little personality.

hoda, help me out. grab some colorful plates, put them at the head of the table like this. if you don't have enough wine glasses. >> that's a tragedy. >> what i tend to do, i break them on the way, so i never have enough. >> you use mason jars? >> your refrigerator is a resource. that's what with my mamma always says. look inside for jam jars, jelly jars, pickle jars. empty everything out, wash it out. put those at the heads of the table. >> what about the napkin rings? what if you don't have enough of those? who does? >> just look for some string. >> except for kathie lee. >> who has everything. >> she's always prepared. >> she is. >> if you find string around the house or ribbon. if you have a little girl who has decorative hair bows, you can add those on like so. take a look. you would think this is real silverware. this is the plastic stuff, $2.99 a box. >> oh, my gosh. >> you don't have to wash the dishes when you're done.

it's an easy cleanup as well. >> same thing for place cards, you can take a leaf and spray it. >> yes. set this whole table for 50 bucks. >> where are all the strong men when you need them? you're in the kitchen and can't get the jar open. >> what are you doing? >> grab duct tape, wrap it around the top, not on the jar, about three quarters of the way around. >> why not knock it on the floor. >> or the counter. >> and break the counter. >> wow. >> you want to try it? >> no thank you. >> three quarters of the way around. >> everybody has this sitting in the kitchen. >> this is for the racks underneath the turkey thing. this is for your hosting racks. we have a lot of property virgins, you don't have furniture let alone dishes. my first thanksgiving i had one

serving spoon for 24 people. where is the roasting rack, grab some good old-fashioned aluminum foil. you want to do it like that and coil it. you can layer them. put this in the roasting rack. >> egypt, all good stuff. coming up, if you love furry four-legged creatures, you'll love what we have coming up. four-legged creatures, you'll love what we have coming up. >> beth stern is here to tell u ♪ good morning, usher! hey! did you know bees communicate through dance? me too... we're practically twins!

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

when he first joined the army, i was very nervous. ♪ we didn't know what they would have him doing. ♪ but, bobby always had a plan. ♪ [ male announcer ] with unmatched training in over 150 careers beyond the battlefield, there are over 150 surprising ways to become army strong. talk to your son or daughter about opportunities in the army. talk to your son or daughter what are you doing? the dishes are clean. i just gotta scrape the rest of the food off them. ew. dish issues? cascade platinum powers through your toughest messes better than the competition the first time.

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revealed through the work of its scholars and graduates. it has inspired strength and purpose. an enduring symbol of passion and excellence that is not static, but moves among us. a feeling...a shared experience, a reminder that we are connected for life. we are penn state,

making our mark on the world. ( siren wails ) ( pop music playing ) ♪ when you're ready ♪ ready, ready, ready ♪ come and get it ♪ get it, get it ♪ when you're ready, come and get it ♪ ♪ na na na na ♪ na na na na na na na ♪ ♪ when you're ready, come and get it ♪ ♪ na na na na... female announcer: it's a great big world and it can all be yours. here and only here. ♪ come and get it. today our next guest is an animal lover is an understatement. beth stern is an animal activist, national spokesperson for the north shore animal eague and best-selling author of a variety of books about her furry friends. >> her latest "yoda," about an

amazing cat that she and her husband howard adopted into her family. >> yoda is not here? >> yoda is working. howard and i adopted this cat from north shore animal league. he had been in a cage way too long. we soon found out he was in heart failure, he had three to six months to live. we decided we'd love on him until that last day. we bought him home. it was the beginning of kitten season. we fostered 90 kittens since a year ago june. joe da walked into the room one day and he took over. our boy cat yoda. his hair started to grow. he gained weight. i have taken him back to the vet since. his heart has got ten stronger, as of two weeks ago, he's off

his heart meds. love and purpose. >> this is a beautiful picture of you and howard and yoda which is adorable. the illustrations on this book are so cute. >> kevin crane, the first time he illustrated the children's book. he nailed the spirit of yoda in his illustrations. >> what message do you want people to take away from this children's book? >> first of all, every single book that's sold, 100% of the proceeds go to bianca's furry friends, an expansion i'm hoping to build, a cage free habitat, freeing up the downstairs for puppy mill rescue. yoda, love, caring, nurturing can heal your heart. it's a happy heart, a sad heart to a really happy heart. >> you certainly healed howard's. the best thing that ever happened to him. we want to thank you for that. >> really? you think it's because of me. >> solely because of you. >> he is my partner in what i do with my rescue. he is right there with me,

cleaning litter boxes. poor yoda ate kitten food. he had a messy bum. i was away promoting the book, howard was home with baby wipes cleaning yoda's bum. he's meticulous with himself, but not with an animal. >> the most beautiful ring on your finger. >> it's blinding us. we have to ask. >> it's fake. >> it is? >> no. howard did a really good job. >> how many vegetables is that, meaning karats? >> i don't know. it's not about that. it's about these guys who need homes. if you're enter intoed in adopting any cats, any adult cats which i do, six of them, at north shore animal league america open your hearts. such a great time to adopt. get your family involved, take home a beautiful furry friend. >> two of them already adopted.

>> some are still waiting. >> many at the north shore animal league. >> the book is called "yoda: the story of a cat and his kittens." the proceeds go to all her furry friends. >> remember all these kittens are adoptable. back in a moment. but first this is "today" on nbc.

that's going to do it for us on this wines day wednesday. we have a lot coming up tomorrow on thirsty thursday when the amazing kristen chenoweth is going to be here. >> a jaw dropping performance by cirque du soleil. oh, wait. sorry. is someone talking? >> he doesn't have to say a word. get out of town. i love australian men. >> looky. >> yes. >> we'll be hitting the plaza, nice and room many for ambush

make overs. everyone has a story. it's a terrif

right now at 11:00, the wind is making it feel like it's even worse out there and we take a live look at center city philadelphia the aramark building. the windchill got below zero earlier today in the poconos. we take a live look at camelback mountain. see the wind blowing the snow there. it's a day that has you longing for summer weather. people are bundled up at the shore. a live look from our camera in cape may, new jersey. nbc 10 first alert chief meteorologist glenn "hurricane" schwartz will be along here. here he is with his forecast. we tied record lows out there? >> that's right. we tied a record low in