freezing this afternoon and all day tomorrow. >> all right, thank you, bill. "today" show's up next. we'll see you for local updates in 25 minutes. >> have a good one. good morning. high alert. u.s. embassies around the world bracing for the release of an explosive senate report on torture techniques used by the cia. will the findings spark deadly terror attacks? compounded tragedy. word this morning that one of the hostages killed in a u.s.-led rescue mission in yemen was hours away from being freed as new details emerge about what may have tipped off the militants. nor'easter, powerful system taking shape, snow, rain and heavy winds for millions from virginia to northern maine. dylan is tracking it now. prince william and a pregnant kate middleton arrive in new york city.

after a chilly night on the town they're going their separate ways "today," monday, december 8th, 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 monday morning. hi, gang. >> hi. >> how are you doing? >> hi. >> you make it sound so ominous, they're going their separate ways, will and kate. >> no, because they're off to do separate things. they're going to see lebron james play at the barclay center and sitting next to jay-z and beyonce. >> shall we call him king james? >> and queen bee. >> it's like willy wonka's golden ticket everywhere they go. first to today's top story. >> that's right, that's the

imminent release of a damning report in the wake of 9/11. one official warning it will lead to violence and death in troubled spots around the world. andrea mitchell is nbc's chief foreign correspondent. good morning to you. >> good morning, matt. embassies and military posts around the world are, indeed, on high alert today after a statement that a release of a report on cia torture could lead to violent response. an explosive senate report on the cia's use of torture ordered by president bush after 9/11. one of those briefed, the house intelligent committee chairman. >> foreign leaders have approached the government and said you do this, this will cause violence and deaths. our own intelligence community has assessed that this will cause violence and death. >> reporter: the wort is expected to accuse the cia of lying repeatedly to congress, the white house and the american people. it concludes that torture,

notably waterboard iing, used o three detainees, including khalidshaik mohammed, did not lead to results. >> to say that extensively over a long period of time we lied, begs the question. >> reporter: cia officials briefed congress repeatedly and say the senate never interviewed any of the officials named. president obama acknowledged the torture program last august. >> we tortured some folks. we did some things that were contrary to our values. >> as for that classified intelligence warning for potential violence around the world, senate investigators viewed it and the follow-up call from secretary of state kerry and chair dianne feinstein an

attempt to intimidate them. so far they are undeterred. >> thank you, andrea. two hostages in yemen, tragically, both hostages were killed. now we're learning one of them was about to be released even as that mission was getting under way. kristen welker has the latest for us this morning. kristen, good morning to you. >> reporter: savannah, good morning to you. the obama administration begins to assess the failed rescue mission, a teacher worked for the group was killed in the rescue mission to kill 33-year-old luke somers, all of this creating new questions and criticism this morning. there is fresh fallout this morning with the news that south african teacher pierre kirky was hours from being released when he was killed in the failed mission to rescue photojournalist luke somers. the gift of the givers

foundation wrote that korkie's release was imminent. the director of the aid group reportedly told korkie's wife, the waiting is almost over. two hours later, the unthinkable. the director learned korkie was dead. the u.s. ambassador to south africa told the associated press the u.s. government was unaware of those negotiations and the obama administration is defending its decision to launch the rescue effort. >> it's still a policy of the united states, always has been, to get our hostages back. >> reporter: in a high-stakes mission, senior administration officials say friday night navy s.e.a.l.s landed two hours from their target, secretly approaching a cluster of buildings but their cover was blown, sparking a firefight and giving the captors time to shoot somers and south african hostage pierre korkie. it is believed a noise, possibly a dog, alerted the hostage takers. the al qaeda captors were likely

on heightened alert after the u.s. tried to rescue somers late last month. they set a deadline of saturday to kill somers. the president gave the order friday morning. the raid took place hours later around 5:00 am eastern time. today, somers' family and friends are mourning his loss. >> he was a very thoughtful, sensitive and remarkably intelligent person. >> reporter: somers' body was taken to a u.s. military base on the horn of africa. his family continues to mourn in private. no u.s. military personnel were killed in the raid and they don't believe there were any civilian casualties but they also haven't ruled out that possibility. savannah, matt? >> kristen welker at the white house for us. thank you. turning to much lighter news, the duke and duchess of cambridge are touring in the united states. today's agenda is packed. nbc national correspondent kate snow is on royal watch for us this morning.

kate, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, matt. just moments ago, we saw prince william leave the hotel here. he is headed for washington, d.c. today, where he will give a sharply worded speech about illegal poaching of wildlife. kate, in a few hours, will be headed up to harlem. they'll reunite tonight for a brooklyn/nets game, every new yorker hoping to get a glimpse. it was their first time ever setting foot in manhattan, and cheering fans got the best view of the royal couple amid the christmas lights sunday night. the royal baby bump showing under kate's maternity coat, later stepping out for a private dinner, the duchess dazzled in a black lace dress. the couple flew in to jfk on a commercial flight, leaving baby george behind in london. >> they weren't exclusecluded. >> the carlyle will be their home away from home, a favorite of william's mother, diana.

>> when she came out, there would always be people out there. she would take the time to wave and acknowledge everyone before she got in her car. she was very special to us. >> reporter: the duke of cambridge will kick-start the tour in d.c., meeting with president obama, vice president and dr. biden at the white house and later hillary and chelsea clinton at a new york reception for wildlife conservation, a cause he has long championed. at the center for childhood development in harlem, kate will gift wrap presents for the kids already busy but some of them don't really know who the duchess is. >> he's expecting elsa from "frozen." >> will and kate may well meet up with music royalty jay-z and beyonce, the royal couple going courtside to catch lebron james himself who says playing for them is a huge honor. >> taking in a basketball game

will be a great fun for them both f they are sitting next to beyonce and jay-z, that will be brilliant. >> reporter: who knows, maybe we'll even catch them on the kiss cam. >> all lit up in sparkling red, white and blue in they're honor. going up the empire state building for a reception. there's a report that maybe kate wants to join him. after all, what first-time visitor to new york, matt, would not want to go into the empire state building? >> it's iconic. kate, appreciate it. we'll have much more on will and kate's royal visit in just a little while. tragic chain reaction accident in florida. it killed three people and injured at least eight others. it started when the first car hit a black bear, investigators believe. julia has our story. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, savannah. five people have gone home from

the hospital. three others are being treated by doctors here after this deadly series of crashes in the middle of nowhere. police say the combination of accidents happened just before 7:00 pm sunday. the driver of the first vehicle hit a 300-pound black bear in the everglades, killing the bear. the second group of people stopped to offer help, a third car struck the car that hit the bear, killing three people. >> this is a very unusual situation. from time to time you hear of florida panthers that are hit by cars, but black bear, i don't ever recall a similar situation. >> eight people were taken to the hospital in ft. lauderdale, four by emerge evacuation helicopters. black bears are florida's largest mammal. it's estimated there are more than 3,000 in the state. >> this is a common bear with a wide range in the state of florida through wilderness areas

and, yet, it's not a bear that you often see because they're not out and about, not out and around. >> reporter: now the five people that have gone, three people who were killed were the ones firefighters tell us who had actually stopped to help the first people in that suv that struck the bear. savannah? >> what a sad story. julia bagg, thank you very much. tamron is here for natalie. dylan is in for al. you're starting this morning on the story about the fires out in l.a. >> that's right. good morning. a massive fire at an apartment building under construction near downtown los angeles. heavy smoke forced officials to shut down sections of major freeways. there were no early reports of injuries at this point. a new protest and new violence overnight against police killings in missouri and new york. hundreds of demonstrators in berkeley, california, took to the streets, some of them

breaking windows and setting fires and later made it on to a freeway and actually blocked traffic. police made at least eight arrests. the protests followed a grand jury's decision not to indict officers in the deaths of michael brown and eric garner. today the justice department issued new rules that limit profiling. pete williams has the story. good morning. >> now those rules are being expanded to bar profiling on the basis of gender, national origin, religion, sexual orientation and gender identity. while they will apply to most of the department of homeland security as well, they will not apply to officers who do airport screening or who enforce immigration laws at the border. they will also not apply to the protection mission of the secret service. those exemptions are granted because of the need to protect

the border and secure the skies. attorney general eric holder wanted to get these new profiling rules out before he steps down early next year, and he will be urging local police departments to follow them, too. tamron? >> thanks so much, pete. dozens are dead after a powerful typhoon ripped through the philippines. miguel almaguer is in manila. good morning. >> tamron, good morning. over the last several hours, this storm has delivered pounding rain and steady wind. while the storm system is deteriorating, it is still packing a very dangerous punch. after smashing into the philippines over the weekend, this massive killer storm claimed at least 21 lives, washed out roads and swept away homes. now it's rumbling into manila, as 12 million here take cover. we're safe here, says this woman, if we stayed near the coast, we would be dead. once the largest storm on the planet this year, the super

typhoon lost power. it is now a tropical storm, packing 84-mile-an-hour winds. 38,000 raced to get out. last year, typhoon haiyan killed more than 7,000. this time, more destruction, but no massive death toll. our roof will be blown away, she says. we're scared. that's why we left. with more than a million evacuated in some regions, power is out and floodwaters are rising. now there could be mudslides. today, this storm threatening even more damage while in some communities they're still waiting for help. while the outer bands of this powerful storm are still pounding this region, forecasters say this could have been so much worse, this slow storm saving much of this region. tamron? >> thank you very much. sickened by chlorine gas

after a hotel in rosemont, illinois. hundreds of people dressed in animal outfits among those evacuated. you ask why? they were at the hotel for the midwest fur fest, matt lauer's favorite annual event. they were taken to the nearby convention center, hosting a dog show. i did not make that story up. nor did i make up that matt loves the furry convention. >> not sure what that was about. >> i googled it. this annual convention, this is their thing. obviously our thoughts are with the 19 people who were sickened but, yeah. >> they were evacuated, had to stand outside in the cold but a lot of them said -- >> they were fine. they had furry costumes. i love that they were taken to the dog convention. moment of silence. dylan is in for al. if you like rain, you're going to love tuesday. >> absolutely adore tuesday, yes. a nor'easter is going to make

its way into the northeast. it will affect cities y ies in form of rain and wind. winter storm advisories and winter storm watch, rain and freezing rain will eventually turn to snow in the highest elevations. we really need to focus on coastal areas. not only are we going to see about three to five inches of rain, we are looking at astronomically high tides, combine that with the northeast wind at 50 miles per hour and we will most likely see coastal flooding. here you see the rain moves in, extends all the way back into central new york by 10:00 am tuesday. you have colder air that turns the rain and freezing rain over to snow. we're looking at the highest accumulations, especially in the higher elevations. this is a ski resort storm where parts of northern vermont and over into upstate new york, those areas will pick up 20" of snow in the lower elevations, we're looking more like six to eight inches. as for the rain, we should see

about three to five inches of rainfall throughout the day on tuesday. that's a look at the weather across the country. so it seemed like a good time to sell my car. well, we make it pretty easy. in fact, your appraisal should be ready, let's pull it up. now, how long do i have to decide on this offer? seven days, and we'll buy your car even if you don't buy ours. but if i decide to buy a convertible? the offer is exactly the same either way. nice! aaanndd... here it is! we'll take it! terrific. sell your car the fast and easy way, with no strings attached, at carmax. start here. good morning. i'm meteorologist bill henley. it's cold outside! temperatures will be climbing as clouds increase today. look for high temperatures in the upper 30s to near 40 degrees. tomorrow, a nor'easter coming together for the area. heavy rainfall. 1 to 2 inches. but just rain with temperatures in the middle 40s in the afternoon. then it's a mix of rain and snow showers on wednesday and snow

showers possible on thursday, high temperatures both days near 40 degrees. warmer over the weekend, sunshine saturday and sunday. have a great day. >> and that's your latest forecast. >> dylan, thank you very much. >> willie is covering for carson this morning. what have you got? >> "time's" person of the year comes out thursday. we'll narrow it down to folks. we'll get it down to eight a little bit later in this hour. "time" magazine picks its person of the year. last year it was pope francis. some think it could be him again this year. 1982, sometimes it isn't one person. the computer in '82, '89, the planet. in 2006, it was you. so we're going to panarrow it down, get it down to eight. later on, "time" magazine announces person of the year. >> always good dinner

conversation to hash out who you think belongs on that cover. willie, thank you. if you've done a lot of holiday shopping online, thieves caught on camera, following delivery trucks and stealing your packages. why "rolling stone" is revising its apology in the wake of its story on an alleged assault at the university of virginia. we'll have more on that. first this is "today" on nbc. (vo) nourished.

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good morning. i'm vai sikahema. it is downright chilly out there. let's get our first alert forecast from meteorologist bill henley. good morning, bill. >> good morning, vai. cold enough to make snow in the pocono mountains. they're taking advantage of the cold weather, snowmaking equipment at camelback is on. temperatures started to climb in philadelphia. it's 29 degrees in philadelphia, about 16 in the mountains. factor in the wind, it feels like it's in the teens for most of the area and some spots even colder. cloudy skies. those clouds will stay with us. the temperatures climbing, but the wind will still be present. temperatures in the upper 30s will feel chillier with that steady breeze. thank you, bill. this morning police in burlington county are investigating a murder after a body was discovered in the trunk

of a car. now, the body was found in a motel parking lot along route 38 in maple shade. investigators went door to door overnight asking guests if they had seen or heard anything suspicious. we're told philadelphia police have joined in the investigation, although it is right now unclear why. there is no word yet on the identity of the victim or how the person was killed. meanwhile, an overnight fire ripped through a vacant apartment building in the frankford section of philadelphia. the fire broke out at arrott and oakland streets around 1:00 this morning. it took crews more than four hours to get this fire under control. this is the second time in a week firefighters were called to that property. the cause is under investigation. i'm vai sikahema. we'll have another update in about 25 minutes. and of course, you can always get the latest news and weather on nbc10.com. we'll send you back to the "today" show. have a great day. we'll see you in a half hour.

♪ you're a mean one mr. grinch >> that's the right music for this one. back at 7:30 on a monday morning, december 8th, 2014. where is the holiday spirit in this? these are thieves caught on camera, stealing packages from people's front door, following around the delivery truck. we'll have a real-life warning about that and what you can do to stop those grinches. >> tis the season, apparently. >> yeah! dangerous fire in los angeles this morning. the flames coming from a building under construction. and they could be seen for miles. the fire was so intense, parts of two major freeways were shut down. protests over the grand jury decisions in the eric garner and

michael brown cases turned violent in california overnight. several stores were vandalized, rocks and bottles thrown at police. at least one person was injured. the first full day of the duke and duchess of cambridge to the united states. for william, a trip to washington, d.c. to meet with the president and vice president and for kate, a trip to harlem at the children's development center. we'll sit down and talk with angelina jolie tomorrow. >> look forward to that. fallout of a "rolling stone" article that left the university of virginia reeling. doubts are being raised about the accuser's story and the magazine is revising its apology. nbc national correspondent peter alexander has the latest on that. peter, good morning to you. >> matt, good morning to you. now it is "rolling stone's" apology for that article that's

getting the new scrutiny. in the face of growing criticism and questions about the facts in the article over the weekend, "rolling stone" quietly revised its statement, appearing to shift some of the blame from the alleged victim back on to itself. after kicking up a storm of controversy, after its shocking article, describing an alleged brutal gang rape of a freshman named jackie at the university of virginia, "rolling stone" is changing its story again. "rolling stone" revised its initial apology, seeming to blame the alleged victim when it wrote we have come to the conclusion that our trust in her was misplaced. the revision deleted that statement and said these mistakes are on "rolling stone" and not jackie. "the cavalier daily" published an article saying "the rolling stone" fiasco should not, it does not undo the need for

policy and culture of change. the article's reporter has not commented publicly since "the rolling stone" apology. but the controversy over the article grew, she spoke on msnbc. >> i thought it was very important to tell the story in as graphic a way as jackie, the main character of my article, tells it. >> reporter: in its revised apology "rolling stone" admits it should have worked harder to get the other side of the story. we were mistaken in honoring jackie's request not to contact the alleged assaulters to get their account. but focusing on "rolling stone's" mistakes misses the bigger picture. >> we are facing a serious epidemic, a crisis when it comes to sexual assault on college campuses across this country. >> reporter: a rape survivor, advocate at uva who worked with jackie tells me she feels betrayed by "rolling stone" and she says she fears their incomplete reporting badly damages the credibility of all sexual assault survivors.

>> peter alexander, thanks. we'll be following this story. let's take a turn and get a check of the weather from dylan in for al this morning. >> announcer: "today's" weather is brought to you by soma boutiques and soma.com, where beautiful holiday gifts begin. >> and good morning, everyone. we've got that big nor'easter, rainy nor'easter on the weeast coast tomorrow. for now, we're talking about another big west coast storm. a second storm will make its way on shore, especially as we go into wednesday and thursday as well. the showers right now won't really amount to much. although, some parts near bellingham, washington, are seeing a bit of an icy mix. watch what happens as this big area of low pressure moves in 1:00 am thursday. overnight wednesday into thursday morning. we are looking at torrential downpours to make their way back in to parts of northern california, an area already hit hard by the rain we had last week.

mud slide also again be a concern. we could see as much as six to seven inches of rain in washington state and northern of california in san francisco we could see good morning. i'm meteorologist bill henley. it's cold outside. temperatures will be climbing as clouds increase today. look for high temperatures in the upper 30s to near 40 degrees. tomorrow, a nor'easter coming together for the area. heavy rainfall, 1 to 2 inches, but just rain with temperatures in the middle 40s in the afternoon. then it's a mix of rain and snow showers on wednesday and snow showers possible on thursday. high temperatures both days near 40 degrees. warmer over the weekend, sunshine saturday and sunday. have a great day. >> and that's your latest forecast. >> dylan, thank you very much. the family of an american teacher murdered in a mall in abu dhabi last week is now

speaking out. keir simmons sat down with them. >> reporter: extremism they found on the internet. meanwhile the family of the victim, ibolya ryan, their folks know that they're okay. >> adam and aiden, 13-year-old and dad, paul, remember her for the good person she was. they created a facebook page in her memory. >> she always just wanted to help you. she sacrificed herself for other people, would never rest if she knew that someone needed her help. >> reporter: the boys were with their mom at the mall. they waited for her, not knowing what had happened. now the family are trying to be as brave as their mother was. >> she wasn't scared a little

bit. >> she wasn't frightened of anything? >> yeah. >> as long as we're not alone, we still have each other, we're going to do it. >> and we're going to make mommy proud, right? >> certainly. >> what would she say to you, do you think? >> if she would see us now like this? >> yeah. >> that's hard. >> i think she would be really proud, first of all. she would be proud of how we got through this, try to give us strength. >> reporter: the younger boys still don't know the details, how a woman dressed in black allegedly entered the mall and repeatedly stabbed their mom. so they left the room before their dad explained more. >> it was clearly a random thing. the boys didn't realize what had happened and did not hear their mother crying for help. >> reporter: there is no reason why your ex-wife was targeted. no reason whatsoever, other than that she was an american? >> other than she was a

westerner, i would say. this lady -- i shouldn't even call her a lady. this monster of a person was lying in wait for someone like her to come along for an hour in the bathroom. unfortunately, it was my kids' mother. >> reporter: there is deep shock here. the royal family of the emrates have offered to pay for the education of the children. paul is deeply grateful for that, but he faces more heartache. he may have to decide whether to pardon anyone convicted because they face the death penalty. savannah? >> keir, thank you very much. what a sad story. coming up next, we'll talk about thieves who have been caught on camera, stealing your holiday deliveries. wait until you hear how far they're going to do it. then we'll take a turn to trending and a breathtaking photo of a wedding proposal and the search to find that

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thieves are stealing packages as they are dropped off at your front door. craig melvin, this doesn't sound like good news. >> a few clicks and it's on your doorstep a day or two later. police say they are seeing more and more thieves snatching would-be holiday gifts from your doorstep and some are so brazen, they're actually trailing delivery trucks. a would-be grinch in michigan caught redhanded thanks to an eagle-eye neighbor and their camera. >> after the u.p.s. driver left that home, they would run up on the porch, take the packages, put them into the car, go through them, see what was of value and discard the packaging and boxes and drive around to the next stop. >> moments after he appears to be hustling off with a macy's package left on a porch, local police showed up. >> the deputies and several other converged on the area and they were able to -- they actually found the u.p.s. truck and a short distance behind was

the suspects. >> reporter: police say the two teenagers, charged with theft, had been trailing the delivery truck for a while. when police caught them they found more than two dozen stolen packages, including speakers, clothing, even a 30-pound bag of dog food. they might have thought they were smart but they certainly are not original. five people were arrested for swiping packages from porches. and last week, this home surveillance video on youtube. watch as the mailman leaves a package and two hours later, a bold thief strolls up to her door and snags it. the most wonderful time of the year is also the busiest time of the year. u.p.s. says in december alone, they nearly double their monthly shipping average. how can you protect your packages? >> keeping an eye out, neighbors protecting neighbors and reporting suspicious activity to your local law enforcement. >> we were unable to reach the two men or their attorney for

comment. using those numbers to track your delivery. if you are not going to be home, find a trusted person to get that package for you. if you are able to, have it delivered to your place of work. if you trust your colleagues. you can also do it the old-fashioned way, show up at the mall or go to the store. >> no. why would you? >> the olden days. >> craig, thank you. still ahead on trending, was he really eaten alive? why the man behind that controversial stunt with a snake is taking a lot of heat this morning. he may actually wish he were eaten by that snake. >> once we're done with him, right? >> yeah. ups is a global company, but most of our employees live in the same communities that we serve. people here know that our operations have an impact locally. we're using more natural gas vehicles than ever before. the trucks are reliable, that's good for business. but they also reduce emissions, and that's good for everyone.

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iraqi kurdistan masuod barzani. >> maybe we shouldn't say what our guesses are. >> maybe we should put them on a secret ballot and say whether we're right or wrong. >> that's a good idea, savannah. >> why tim cook, nancy? >> everyone wondered whether he could live up to steve jobs' legacy at apple, reinventing whole categories regularly with the apple watch. he is running the most valuable company in the world, according to investors. >> you looked at a couple of news stories as well, the ebola caregivers is one. >> the ebola caregivers is still very much in the news. out of the headlines here, except we're finding every day there are new cases in sierra leone. this outbreak is not under control yet. >> the ferguson protesters. >> likewise, every day still in the news and in this case expanding across the country. in the case of the eric garner. it's launched a whole new conversation about race relations and the administration

of justice in this country. >> entirely different note, monster year for taylor swift. >> not just the world's biggest pop star but as a business woman and activist for the value of content. when she took her music off the streaming service spotify, she was arguing that music and content needs to be valued in a different way. >> not on the list, people are always saying what about, what about -- the pope will not win back-to-back "time" person of the year awards and the president. >> the pope's year validates our decision last year. the president of the united states could as you be on the list. he has had a pretty difficult year, been very embattled and we think these people, in different ways and different spheres have more influence. >> nancy, did you guys consider roker-thon for your phenomenon of the year? >> absolutely. >> also receiving votes was al roker. thank you for getting it down to the elite eight. you'll be back here wednesday to make the announcement "time" person of the year.

vote at facebook.com/today. which of these eight is your person of the year? we'll announce your choice as well tomorrow here on "today." nancy, thank you again. guys, back to you. >> thank you, willie. we'll ask piers morgan what he thinks about that. he will be here to talk about that. and kate and ♪ my mac is great, it's so delightful. ♪ ♪ so's my surface, ♪ it's just as powerful. ♪ you can write with a pen? ♪ you can say that again. ♪ i really like my surface pro 3. ♪ ♪ hey what's that, ♪ is it a kickstand? ♪ touchscreen too, ♪ it's pretty slick, man. ♪ it comes apart i see. ♪ it's got a usb. ♪ i think i like your surface pro 3. ♪ no seriously, where can i get one? ♪wefa la la la la.♪ies today ♪come on everybody say...

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good morning. i'm vai sikahema. let's get our first alert forecast with meteorologist bill henley. bill, there's a nor'easter headed our way? >> yeah, for tomorrow. we're seeing clouds today, but it's completely dry. we may see a few sprinkles later on at the shore. that's a live view from cape may from the marquis de lafayette hotel. we are seeing temperatures that are plenty cold across the area. 20s right now from chester springs to northeast philadelphia and wrightstown, 28 degrees. factor in the wind and it feels like it's even colder, in the teens. the windchill in philadelphia is 19 degrees. cloudy skies and high temperatures in the upper 30s with the wind that will feel like it's in the lower 30s today. >> thank you, bill. police in burlington county are investigating a murder after a gruesome discovery in a motel parking lot. police say a body was found in the parking lot of the quality inn along route 38 in maple shade. investigators went door to door

asking guests if they had seen or heard anything suspicious overnight. we're told philadelphia police have also joined in the investigation, although it's unclear why. no word yet on the identity of the victim. and philadelphia fire officials are investigating an apartment fire in frankford, in the frankford section of philadelphia. flames tore through this abandoned building on arrott and oakland streets overnight. it took crews more than four hours to get this fire under control. this is the second time in a week, by the way, that firefighters were called to this very same property. neighbors say a squatter has been seen going in and out of that building. and one person was injured in a fire in the kensington section of the city. it broke out on kensington avenue just before 10:00 last night. the victim was treated at temple hospital for minor burns and smoke inhalation. no word yet on the cause of that fire. i'm vai sikahema. we'll have another update in about 25 minutes. of course, you can get the latest news and weather on nbc10.com. back to the "today" show. see you in a half hour.

it's 8:00 on "today." coming up on the royal visit, as william and kate visit new york, how the young couple has reinvigorated the monarchy. plus downton abbey. >> the king on the wireless. i prefer to think of him on his throne. >> the cast sits down and opens up about their brand new season. the drama, intrigue and special cameo by a certain american actor. and feeling the squeeze. the man behind "eaten alive" taking some heat for just how far he did or didn't go in that

discovery special "today," monday, december 8th, 2014. ♪ >> the top of the rock to the good morning, louisiana. >> merry christmas, oregon. >> we're here for our senior trip, class of 2015. >> hi, matt. we're back from florida to get another picture. >> everyone says i look like tamron hall. i love you, tamron! we're back now, 8:00 on a monday morning. the 8th day of december, 2014. okay. so it's a little brisk out here on the plaza, but it's nicer today than it's going to be tomorrow when that nor'easter comes. i'm matt lauer, savannah guthrie, dylan dreyer, while al

is off and willie is here for natalie as well. >> or carson. >> or carson. gn natalie is off as well. >> did you hear about the invasion? >> yes. >> not will and kate, but the cast of downton abbey. >> savannah committed a major social faux paw thus this morni when she told me about a cast member no longer on the show and i was not there yet. >> hold on. it was three seasons ago. >> i'm get tlg. >> wait until you find out what happened on "the love boat." >> don't tell me. a check of the morning's top stories. tamron is in for natalie. good morning. >> good morning, everyone. rush hour drivers are feeling the impact of what's being called an historic fire overnight near downtown los angeles. flames destroyed an apartment building under construction and spread to two other buildings. officials closed sections of major freeways for a time. there were no early reports of any injuries.

protesters motivated by the police killings of michael brown and eric garner show no signs of letting up. protesters clash with police in berkeley, california. in chicago, churches organized peaceful rallies for change. marchers targeted shopping centers and grand central terminal. a so-called die-in outside the eagles game. u.s. embassies and military bases worldwide are bracing for violent backlash as the senate is set to release a report on the cia's use of torture after 9/11. the report is expected to accuse the agency of lying repeatedly to congress, the white house and the american people. foreign leaders have warned that reaction could turn deadly. britain's prince william and duchess kate are covering as much ground as possible during their visit to the u.s. nbc news national correspondent kate snow is at the couple's

hotel on new york's upper east side. quite a day planned for them, kate. good morning. >> reporter: yeah, good morning, tamron. if you can believe it, it's their first-ever trip to new york city. arriving last night here at the hotel. a big crowd to greet them here. kate looks marvelous. you can barely see the baby bump underneath her designer maternity coat. and then later on, they headed out to a private dinner, fund-raising dinner last night. today, they sort of split up. prince william will be in washington, d.c., where he is meeting with president obama and vice president biden. kate will be up in harlem, where she's meeting with school children at a child development center there. and then they'll reunite later tonight for a brooklyn/n nets game. the big question, will they sit with jay-z and beyonce? >> kate, we'll see what happens there. thank you. heavy winds and rain hit manila last night.

it began hitting the island as a typhoon, killing more than two dozen people and forcing more than a million others to evacuate their homes. it was strictly an a-list crowd at the white house sunday. president obama hosted five legendary performers who received this year's kennedy center honors. the lineup included al green, actor tom hanks, ballerina patricia mcbride, sting and comedy star lily tomlin. president obama said the group embodied charm, soul, spirit and spunk. it is 8:05. it's time for weather and in for al this morning is dylan. good morning, dylan. >> announcer: "today's" weather is brought to you by kay jewelers. every kiss begins with kay. >> good morning, tamron. we are keeping warm on the plaza today with a nice cheer that you guys started. let's hear this cheer. ♪ spring, summer fall dylan dreyer does it all ♪ >> isn't that great?

they had al roker plugged in there but then they found out it was me working today. so they threw my name in that. a bit of an icy mix to the north of chicago. chicago itself is all rain showers. temperatures are above freezing. top out around 37 degrees later this afternoon. it's a not going to be the greatest monday. temperaturewise, coldest air is up through the northern plains and northern parts of new england where it's only going to be in the teens today. through the rest of the country, we're in the 50s and 60s. 30s in the northeast. we're keeping an eye on that storm, that big l off the carolina coast. that will turn into a rainy nor'easter for most of the big cities in the northeast on tuesday. we're looking at about three to five inches of rain. winds could gust as high as 50 miles per hour. we could see some coastal good morning. i'm bill henley. it's cold outside. temperatures will be climbing as clouds increase today. look for high temperatures in the upper 30s to near 40 degrees. tomorrow, a nor'easter coming together for the area.

heavy rainfall. one to to two inches. but just rain are temperatures in the middle 40s in the afternoon. then it's a mix of rain and snow showers on wednesday. snow showers possible on thursday. high temperatures both day, near 40 degrees. warmer over the weekend. sunshine, saturday and sunday. have great day. >> wow, that's a long run from the other end of the plaza. >> you made it in one piece. >> i did. um next on trending, the amateur photographer who took this remarkable shot of a couple proposing and then he set out to find them. plus the british invasion, william and kate are taking the east coast by storm this morning. we'll talk about their trip with piers morgan. downton abbey's cast is here for a special preview ♪ a typical male penguin shows his love... ...by offering the female... ...a pebble. some males, however... are smarter than others.

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we're back at 8:11. first up, was he eaten alive or cuddled really tightly? outraged by the man not devoured by a snake. the discovery channel teasing a special, promoting it like crazy where naturalist paul rosalee seems to be eaten alive by an anaconda. they tuned in, in droves sunday night and this is what they saw. >> he's just tightening up. >> all right. so what happened was they ended up finding a smaller anaconda who wraps itself around paul, nibbling on his helmet a little bit. >> you may remember paul was here a couple of days ago. this is what he told us about

this ordeal. >> the last thing i remember is seeing the snake's mouth open straight at my face. everything went black and then i just felt -- it was like being caught in a wave. it was just wrapped up. you feel that crush. >> so paul really sold it. >> liar liar, pants on fire. >> he is getting eaten alive, on twitter. one time i got wrapped up in my comforter when napping so i pretty much know how this dude is feeling. another tweet this had photo and asked, hey, discovery can i have my own show? >> i love discovery channel, too. i think they do great things. i think they went way above and beyond teasing this. >> the outfit wasn't that appetizing. >> a huge snake, like sharknado. >> were you disappointed, willie? >> sharknado heavens are closing

on me. >> how was it possible to be eaten by an anaconda. turns out it wasn't possible. sunday marked a major deadline. do you know what it was? >> what? >> not tax day. not the day your car payment was due. sunday was the last acceptable day to break up with someone, according to "the new york times," before christmas. all right? the story says there is no official deadline, but if you dump someone with 2 1/2 weeks of christmas, you risk being shunned by society. do you understand this? >> yes. >> do you know about this? >> yesterday. >> you, apparently, get within that 2 1/2-week deadline and you are like a pariah. >> there's a social deadline. >> i didn't know that. >> what about on the back end? how long do you have to wait until after christmas? >> january 15th. >> wait a month. hang out on holidays and gatherings thinking i'm going to

be dumping you in 2 1/2 weeks. >> miserable for the holidays, plotting down to the 15th. i love that. >> on our facebook page we asked is it rude to break up with someone during the holidays? most of you said yes, it sure is. 84% of you said yes. just 16% voted no. >> i would say then you have to get a gift if you break up before but -- >> if you don't like them, you're going to buy them a crumby gift. this is so good. >> tamron. >> here is coal for you. paul wolf was hiking in oregon recently. that's when he spotted this. a couple getting engaged on top of a hilltop much he got out his smart phone, snapped a picture. he turned to the web to find them. within hours, yep, he had their names and he also learned she said yes. adorable. >> how sweet. look at the smiles on their face. >> that's what's trending today.

next, piers morgan on william and all right. william and kate's first official trip to new york city is a whirlwind visit. mail online.com. piers, good to have you back. welcome. >> good morning, matt. >> are you part of the official

royal entourage or are you here covering it like the rest of us? >> i was downstairs with downton abbey stars. there's so much british love in the air. are you feeling the british heat? >> we have often had discussions around here in our production meeting. they're not our royal family. they're your royal family. why do you think americans, for example, our executive producer, are so fascinated by the royals? >> i rewrote a column today sayg you love us so much, why not have a monarchy of your own? if you want a king, sitting there, unemployed, ready to be your king. >> he would just audition to be king of the united states? i'm not sure that's going to work. >> on a serious report, the thing about the british royal family, the queen has now reigned for 63 or four years. it's an amazing tenure. what the monarchy bring our country, i think, and indeed around the world, is stability. they bring a sense of -- the queen every week sits down with the british prime minister.

a control valve. >> but that's not here. so what is it about this country? is it just fantasy? is it that they are like young, attractive movie stars? what is it? >> they are the biggest stars in the world. let's get to the celebrity fact. tonight they're going to go to the basketball. jay-z and beyonce who think they are the biggest couple in new york, they're going to get blown away. >> what are the rules if you're sitting courtside with kate and william? what can you talk about? what can't you talk about? >> you have to be polite. they are the royal couple, obviously. normal, nice, easy-going people. i was at the hotel when william left. he was being extremely normal, nice with the staff and stuff. be yourself if you meet the royals. >> do you have to address them by their titles or can you call them kate and william? >> you should have called me lord. >> let me pick your brain about what's happening in the news. have you been watching the protests in the wake of the grand jury decisions in the michael brown and eric garner

cases? >> i v i feel very concerned about that process, as many people do. you cannot have a situation where you have two unarmed people in america who are basically killed by police officers and the police officers of concern are simply not held to account. you have to get to the stage where there's a real jury, a real trial. these guys haven't even been cross examined. i find that an unfathomable thing. >> the spotlight on these situations, what is it revealing? what deeper situation is it revealing in your opinion? >> no doubt there is a racial undertone to this. there are certain element that is the police force in this country, i'm afraid, are racially profiling people and behaving in a way that is unacceptable. that is not to say that most of the nypd, who i have encountered many times, are thoroughly good, decent people. you cannot have people killed on the streets of new york with choke holds and simply be no accountability. >> i do think that gets lost a lot in the headlines.

the vast majority of police officers, not only in new york city and other places, they're good people. >> they're decent people, matt. this doesn't help them or their reputati reputation. >> real quickly, "time" magazine came out with their person of the year short list. you are not on it. tim cook of apple, taylor swift, ebola caregivers, roger goodell of the nfl and from kurdistan, what do you think? >> i would make it the ferguson protesters. what has been the single biggest issue facing americans right now in this country, it is the whole issue surrounding what happened there. i think it has to be addressed by the black and white community of this country. everyone has to come together and say we are simply better than this. so i would like to see them as the cover of "time" and people of the year. otherwise, prince matt lauer? >> not happening either. >> can you do a british accent on this british day? >> piers, thank you very much.

that was a little irish thrown in there, too, wasn't it? i might have gone to a pierce brosnan there. >> let me return the favor. right back at you, chap. >> very normal of you. piers morgan, thank you very much. let's go over to savannah. >> now for some believable accents, different kind of british invasion. "downton abbey" begins in just a few weeks. the men and women who serve the crowley family. five members of the cast with us this morning, hugh bonneville, and james collier. good morning to all of you. if you had to surmise the season in one word -- >> long. >> do you need to attach a warning label on this season? i'm still not over the death of matthew crowley. are there any gut-wrenching, soul-killing story lines you

need to warn us about? >> nothing quite as extreme as that. but the usual roller coaster, you know. you have to bring your hanky for some episodes and be prepared to laugh out loud as well. >> we find upstairs and downstairs in 1924. in season one it was 1912. a lot of time has passed. you guys don't age at all. >> we don't. >> what kind of face treatments did they have? we find a lot of change which makes it interesting for the characters. edith we began in season one not really liking. now my heart goes out to the poor woman. laura, is anything good going to happen to her? >> well, i mean, i can't give anything away. but it's another tough season. she's got a lot of secrets and she's trying to be a mother, in some ways, to her child. >> who do you think has the juiciest story line? >> that's the great thing about the show. everyone. everyone does. a very intense story line this year and lady mary, she's never

out of the news. >> no, shae not. now i heard there was a bit of a cameo that's actually upcoming in england, part of a christmas special, charity special. >> we should clarify this. there's been some confusion that mr. clooney of your shores is going to be in the christmas special, the season finale. that's not quite the case. he was incredibly generous and played with us for an afternoon to do a sketch for a fund-raiser that itv, the broadcaster in the uk does. >> i was going to turn to you, leslie. did everyone suddenly show up as cast support? >> we weren't all invited but it's okay. >> there were a lot more women on set that weren't usually there. >> i would have been there. >> exactly. another thing about downton abbey, you try to be historically accurate. there's even an adviser on the set who talks about such things. then there was this publicity

photo that came out. >> of course. >> little bit of a water bottle. i'll let you, lord graham, explain the water bottle. >> i don't know the final version of the story. that photo was cropped originally. then suddenly it was uncropped. anyway, what it wast made us able to do was get behind the charity water aid in the uk. and, you know, it was a mistake. but it was a fun one and quite extraordinary how it went global. >> my water bottle. >> has your lipstick on it? >> we're blaming each other, yeah, yeah. >> tell us about your character, thomas who we just love to hate or just hate. >> thank you. huge story line this year. he's always all or nothing with -- huge story line, yeah. it's all or nothing with thomas. again, the stakes are really high. will he come out through the end of it, won't he? you may end up liking him a little bit more. >> this show is so beloved by people here. there are a lot of rumors on the internet about certain things.

let's try to play a little rumorville before i let you go. true or false. are you not allowed to hug or touch each other on the set because your historical adviser said it just wasn't done in that period? >> sort of true. >> true. >> offset, you can't stop us hugging each other. ridiculous. >> lord graham, you have a dog on the show named isis. some people are saying isis is being killed off because of its unfortunate name, which is a horrible terror group. >> any story line involving the dog has nothing to do with horrible international events. >> true or smith, do george clooney and maggie smith make out? >> they do. >> that's a teaser. >> she's not going to kiss and tell. >> she doesn't look happy about it, does she? >> i almost forgot to ask you. your character mrs. hughes and carson the butler, i detect aid

little romantic energy. i always have. >> did you? >> does something happen there? >> oh, there we are. yes, i've bared my feet to him. i've got to marry him now. no. who knows. there's a nice relationship between them. who knows where it will go, if anywhere. we'll just have to wait and see. >> it's great to see all of you. congratulations on the new season. >> thank you. >> by the way, you can catch "downton abbey" on masterpiece starting january 4th. >> enough with british accentses. adriana lima is here. she'll talk to us about our toy drive out on the plaza and the victoria's secret

good monday morning. there are some changes on the horizon. let's get our first alert forecast from bill henley. >> starting with a cloud cover. yesterday, sunshine. today, cloudy view from the comcast center. chilly outside. the temperatures are climbing in spite of the clouds. clouds will stay with us throughout the day but rain will wait until tomorrow. right now, 30 in millville. 28 in northeast philadelphia. allentown, 20 groo degrees. with the wind, it feels like we're in the teens. police are investigating a murder after a gruesome discovery in a motel parking lot. a body was found in the parking lot of the quality inn along 38 and maple shade.

we're told philadelphia police have joined in the investigation. although it's unclear why. there's no word yet on the identity of the victim. happening today, public hearings will be held on 40 charter school applications in the philadelphia school district. germantown committee is just one of the applicants presenting its case this morning. the school could open inside the former german town high school forced to close last year due to declining enrollment. we'll have another update in 25 minutes. of course, you always get the latest weather and news on nbc10.com. we'll send you back to the "today" show. have a great day. we'll see you in a half hour.

8:30 now on this monday morning, the 8th of december, 2014. yes, that is star of "downton abbey" helping to collect toys for our toy drive sbchlt adriana lima is victoria's secret model. >> we'll get her take on the fashion show and we thank her

for helping out with the toy drive. >> go to today.com to participate in our toy drive. coming up, can't afford to hire a caterer for your holiday party? we have recipes that are so good and so easy to make, your guests will believe you shelled out big bucks on them. i love this idea. >> we look forward to that. plus jenna bush hager inside with very special guests, finalist frts kindest kid contest. we love this. we'll chat with them and crown the champion this morning. first, may we crown our morning show producer, tom mazzarelli, king of the day, as it is his birthday. >> happy birthday. >> happy birthday. >> a visit from the royals right here in the united states. >> i thought you were going to say from adriana lima. >> two-fer. >> happy birthday. let's get a check of the weather. chilly in the northeast. a big storm is moving in tomorrow. it will bring more rain than anything else. we are looking at today a

chanceative wintry mix, especially up across parts of the western great lakes. showers across the east coast, north and south carolina and then tomorrow it's this big rain and wind storm. we could see three to five inches of rain in the midatlantic. you go inland, really up into the higher elevations where we'll see more freezing rain. we'll see most of our snow. winds could gust as high as 50 miles per hour. we could see some coastal flooding as well. i'm hearing these bells over here. if you want to get attention, you put christmas bells on your sign. where are you from? >> rhode island. good morning. i'm meteorologist bill henley. it's cold outside. temperatures will be child climbing was clouds increase. high temperatures in the upper 30s to near 40 degrees. tomorrow, a nor'easter coming together for the area. heavy rainfall. one to two inches. but just rain with temperatures in the middle 40s in the afternoon. then it's a mix of rain and snow showers on wednesday.

and snow showers possible on thursday. high temperatures both days, near 40 degrees. warmer over the weekend. sunshine saturday and sunday. have a great day. >> that's your latest forecast. now we head back inside withe. >> the new year, of course, almost here. time to start thinking about changes you want to make. we'll help this year with a new series in january called start today. every day our team of experts, joy bauer, jenna wolfe, jill martin, many more, will take two minutes exactly, literally two minutes to give you quick tips, bite-sized stuff to get you moving forward. first we need to hear from you. so, head to today.com. send us a quick video, telling us what you want to start doing today in the new year. could be anything. for example, organizing your closet or you want to start putting the spark back in your marriage. how do you do that? how about i want to start exercising three times a week. anything you've been feeling the need to start doing in your life, just tell us what it is.

we may call on you. head to today.com. upload that video. we may see you on this very show. let's send it back to matt. >> willie, thank you very much. let's say hi to victoria's secret angel, adriana lima. she just helped us with our toy drive and tomorrow night she'll take part in the victoria's secret fashion show. for most people we have a recurring nightmare of somehow ending up in our underwear or naked in front of a roomful of people and you do it as a highlight. >> and looking great. >> thank you. the victoria's secret fashion show has become part of the christmas culture. the whole world watches, over 80 countries around the world. this year we are in london,

first time we are in london doing the own show. >> tell me as a kid you went through the same awkward period we all went through. >> which awkward period? >> self conscious, you know? >> well, i'm nervous right now, actually. >> are you? >> well, it's nerve-racking to be, of course, in a fashion show with really a lot of skin showing. but, you know, i love -- i love to be part of the victoria's secret fashion show. i'm living a dream. to be there, walking the runway this year with taylor swift, ariana grande, it was like a dream. >> you also get to wear what they call the dream angels bra, $2 million bra. >> there were two this year. >> is it uncomfortable, the straps fall down like most bras or this one was pretty good?

>> prior to the show we have fittings. this year for the fantasy bra, it was different. they came in to -- we had a body mold made with plaster to make sure it was a perfect fit. it's very comfortable. people think that it is heavy. >> weighed down by those diamonds and things like that? >> 6,000 carats. >> yeah. >> happy holidays. where are you going to spend the holidays? >> with my two little girls. >> a lot of guys at home are like, hello. >> she called me valentina. adriana, nice to see you. >> you can see her walk in the victoria's secret fashion show tomorrow night. some of the kindest kids in the country and the one you picked for a very special honor. plus quick and easy appetizers

to serve at your next holiday party all coming up. first this is "today" on nbc.

>> announcer: this portion of "today" is brought to you by "night at the museum: secret of the tomb" december 19th only in theaters. >> all right. we're back. it's 8:39. today is the day. we're announcing the winner of sprout network's kindest kid contest. jenna bush hager is here to help us do the honors. >> yes. >> this was the best contest. you sbrusd us to all the nominees. >> who doesn't want to meet a kind kid? >> that's right. >> first, colin, come on out. >> he started a drive. >> jayla from virginia beach,

virginia. >> she makes care packages for the less fortunate. hi, jayla. >> caden from meridian, kansas. >> he sends holiday cards to our military. right here, my man. >> good hair on caden, too. >> and from alexander, arkansas. >> he helped tornado victims in his community, hi, tavin. >> come on down. >> are we ready to meet the kindest kid? >> yes. >> sierra from madison, connecticut. >> hi, sierra. >> she creates care packages. come sit right up here. creates care packages for kids with cancer. she, herself, survived cancer. she's pretty awesome. >> yes, she is. congratulations to all you guys. >> thank you. >> sierra, are you excited to be the official kindest kid in the country? >> yes. >> what does that mean? what kind of cool things do you get to do? >> well, i get to be really

kind. >> really kind. that's pretty great. now you guys -- we know that the brits are here in new york, but so are you. is this your first time in new york city? >> yeah. >> what's it like? >> i feel like i'm an ant. >> feels like you're an ant? >> yeah. >> because everything is so big? >> yeah. >> what are you planning on doing while you're here? >> skating. >> rockefeller center? >> going to the lego store, watching a movie. >> that will be pretty -- >> jayla, what did you do? why did you decide to help others? why did you want to do that? >> because they don't have much stuff like we do. >> yeah. >> don't have much stuff like you do. when you help them, jayla -- >> what happened? >> don't worry. we've got it under control. >> you're still on. >> we think we've got it under control. when you help others, how does it make you feel? >> happy. >> over there, my man, what do you do to help others?

>> oh, i help the -- i mean the tornado. >> you help the tornado victims, right? >> and with my food drive, too. >> caden, tell us what you did. >> i was making cards for the military that wasn't coming home for christmas. >> you wrote cards to them. have you written some cards this year for christmas to men and women overseas serving our country? >> yes, you have. how many cards have you done? >> not today. >> not today but coming up for this christmas. i heard you guys did like 300. >> is that right? >> do you know what else he did -- >> i want to do 1,000. >> you want to do 1,000 care packages? do you think you can do it? he took me for a ride on his four wheeler. quite the rider. >> that's amazing. sierra, congratulations to you. are you feeling good? >> yeah. >> feel pretty good to be the

kindest kid? >> yeah. >> how can we all be kind? had an can everybody do? what's an easy thing we can do? colin? >> help people. >> how about a big hug? i like that. >> how about giving us a hug? >> all right. >> bye. thank you so much. >> that's kind. >> congratulations. >> coming up, who needs a professional? we have appetizer ideas -- hi, kiddo -- for your holiday party. but first this is "today" on nbc. more hugs!

we're back now at 8:45 with two of the most successful movie franchises ever, "the hobbit: the battle of the five armys," out next week.

it began with "the lord of the rings" and keir simmons caught up with the cast. >> will you have peace or war? >> i will have war! >> reporter: the battle of the five armys concludes more than a decade of movie maker, ian mckellan, gandolf, the wizard, martin freeman, bilbo, the hobbit, and sir peter jackson, have become old friends. i feel like i'm getting ganged up on here. on screen, they fought wars together. offscreen, they keep up -- >> if we didn't do this or any of the other movies? >> let's call it a day then. >> this is going really well, guys. >> the movie marks the climax of the hobbit's story, good and evil. >> you really care about the

characters and you feel like you're in the battle with them. >> and triumph for its director. >> i'm more pleased with the hobbit movie, i can feel my mojo building through the three movies. >> for ian, helped to keep the script true to the book, keeping a copy in his robes. >> you can see a book shape in his pocket. >> perhaps it's because i'm afraid. >> and suggesting lines to add. >> it gives me courage. >> and he just delivered this beautiful performance and it was like, oh, we've got to put that in. >> while the youngest stars have made their name. >> it's not our fight. >> i was 21 when i -- >> you're now -- >> 37. >> they even have the tattoos. >> very nice responsibility. it's a lovely thing to know that you will play a part in people's

futures and children's future. >> the crazy thing is to think that my son will hopefully watch these movie movies. he's going to watch these movies and i'll be great-great-granddad orlando. >> the elf prince, gandolf and little bilbo baggins. >> do you get calls from the street? >> occasionally. >> no? >> a band of brothers who miss the banter and the battle of middle earth. for "today" shall keir simmons, nbc news, london. >> fun fact about tamron, loves her some middle earth. i had no idea you loved "the lord of the rings." >> she's over here, clapping. >> it's like hercules, hercules! it's amazing. i've not seen a lot of movies in my life. never seen "ghost busters,"

"ferr "ferrisbueller's day off." i have seen every movie of "the lord of the rings." >> that's a big compliment. matt is in the kitchen with tricks that will make your event look like it was catered. but first -- gouda. >> cheese flags.

we're back now at 8:50. we're dressing up appetizers for your next holiday party. brandy malloy has really quick, easy ideas. happy holidays. >> happy holidays. >> good to see you. >> good to be here. >> it's great to put out appetizer that is taste good but why not put a little bit of extra effort and make it look great? >> i'm such a shameless host. i want all my guests coming to my party and talking about it weeks after because it's so next level. >> it takes preparation. >> it does. i have easy tips for eliminating the stress when you're hosting a party. meat and cheese board, you're going to start with a wooden board, marbled board or slate. i get mine at the market. super easy. buying cheeses, think what you're going to accompany them with.

textures. >> colors. >> colors, flavors. gouda. bleu cheese. >> you are going to do this in advance of your guests arriving. you have to be careful because it can overtake a room. >> it really can. always think about opposites attract. if you have a mild cheese like a brie, you want to pair it with a smoky, spicy salami. put it right next to the cheese so your guests aren't guessing. >> in this corner, it goes right next to it? >> right beside it. >> i stay away from combining meats and bleu cheese because it's such a great cheese on its own. i like to do something sweet instead. >> put it right there on the

board? not in the dish? >> why not? it's my party. figs right here, fruit. and something like a smoky gouda. i grew up in germany. we love mortidella. >> are people supposed to come with their fingers, toothpicks? >> i didn't put the crack ers o the board. just have the crackers to the side. they can pick and go as they choose. >> it looks great. let's move on to vegetables. >> fancy word for veggie platter. it's so funny that people call it coudite. make it at home or add in some herbs. >> look what you've done, how fancy you've gotten with the cutting of these. >> i want to move on to the mushrooms here. >> put the veggies into the

glass. >> crinkle cut the carrots and all that? >> this is awesome. it's called a crinkle cutter. look at this. they're going to think an entire team of people came to your kitchen. >> mushrooms. you're going to stuff those. >> this is a spinach artichoke dip. to make it bite sized and perfect for a party, i'm going to stuff it into mushrooms, pop it into the oven until it gets nice and melty. >> hot or room temperature? >> both. >> okay. >> yeah. >> and french fries. >> bite sized. you don't want your guests fiddling with silverware. >> and cue the music. it's down to five on nbc's hit show "the voice" making for an exciting semi finals tonight. >> that's right.

>> chris jamieson, matt mcandrew and damien on team adam. taylor john williams from team gwen and team blake's craig wayne boyd are all still in the running. coach pharrell williams is without an artist going into tonight's semi finals, but that could all change when one of the eliminated contestants from this season's top 12 is voted back in to compete for the title in next week's final. ♪ something out there i can't resist ♪ >> where would you knone of the named "the voice." ♪ you made it >> you can kaucatch "the voice" tonight and tomorrow here on

nbc. we're enjoying the appetizers, cheese flag. >> holiday party you can do at home without a caterer. >> bring these out for 9:00. don't you think? >> we should. irish cheddar, awesome and delicious. >> look who's here. >> come on in. >> we're man handling cheese. >> you read it and i got to act it out. it was really fun. >> what do you think of this? good morning. i'm rosemary connors. bill? >> cold everywhere where, rosemary. right it's in the teens. mount poke noekser 16 degrees. still making snow but mother nature is going to help out with

the nor'easter coming. 29 degrees right now in philadelphia. factor in the wind which is right now gusting to 24 miles an hour and steady at 16 miles an hour, makes it feel like 17 degrees at this time. today, the public will get its first look at the full legislative report into the jersey jam bridge scandal. someone leaked details about the report last week. the report found no conclusive evidence linking governor chris christie with the lane closures on the george washington bridge in september of last year. instead, the report blames some of his former top aides for the closures which caused traffic jams in ft. lee, new jersey. this morning, new jersey's controversial bear season is under way. this is the last of five bear hunts that began in 2010. supporters say it reduces the bear population and protects the public but critics argue it's inhumane and unsafe. both sides believe the state should focus more on educating

people about bear safety. just when you thought the coin shopping days was over, today is green monday. green monday has become popular for last-minute online shoppers. a lot of people spent a lot of green on this day. lakst last year they ranked green day the biggest shopping day of the 2013 holiday season flts we'll have another update in 25 minutes. i'm rosemary connors. now back to the "today" show.

>> announcer: from nbc news, this is "today's take" with al roker, natalie morales, willie geist and tamron hall. live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. >> welcome to "today." it's monday morning, december 8th, 2014. it is really winter outside. it's cold, but a big crowd on our plaza, nevertheless. inside, i'm willie geist along with tamron hall and our buddy, dylan dreyer. al and natalie have the day off. what is it, like 30 out? >> it's really winter. i like the way you describe that, though. it's 30s. it's not really winter but it's close. >> so, you're shooting down my thing? >> it's a very cold day. >> meteorologist -- >> this is why i'm not invited

here often. >> you're hard core. that's what we like about you. >> it's a big week here in the united states of america, particularly in new york city. >> why? >> because the prince and duchess of cambridge, will and kate, three-day visit at the carlyle hotel here in new york city. prince william heads to d.c. today. duchess of cambridge will be up in harlem. tonight they're up in brooklyn watching a nets game and apparently jay-z and beyonce are hosting them. >> oh, okay. >> our royalty, jay-z and beyonce, will be there with britain's royalty. >> and king james is playing. >> it's like pop royal. >> it is. >> there's pop royal and real royal. i can't believe she's five months pregnant. >> i know. first pregnancy, she remained very -- everything was in the

tummy. same with this pregnancy. she had the same severe morning sickness as well with this pregnancy as she had with baby george but she's traveling. she's going down to harlem, maintaining that schedule, despite having that bout of nausea. she looks beautiful. oh, my gosh. >> i think that's part of the obsession with them. they're a good-looking couple, they dress so nice. it's fun to watch them as they galavant across -- >> you would like to have an american monarchy, is that what you're -- >> no, but if you dress that nice -- >> we won that war. >> that's your payback. >> we already settled that matter a few years ago. >> we'll be tracking and see what happens. i want to see a whisper between beyonce and kate and people speculate what they're talking about. will baby blue -- oh, george isn't here. i've gotn ahead of myself. >> they need a play date, though, you're right. >> beautiful historical hotel in new york, the carlyle.

rita wilson, tom hanks' wife and tom hanks, were staying at this hotel. top of the food chain of hollywood. apparently earlier this year they were staying at the hotel. they invited some friends to their suite. socialize. if i had a suite i would say, dylan, come visit. whoo-whoo. do that. apparently the lady in the room next door did not appreciate the hanks' party. came over to their room. knocked on the door -- >> didn't know it was the hanks? >> didn't know. just knew there were noisy neighbors. tom hanks opened the door. let me get the quote. this is too good to mess up. she knocks on the door. he says, excuse me, ma'am, we're very, very sorry for the noise, but would you like to come in, tom hanks says? >> this is why tom hanks is the actor. >> she goes in and parties all night with them, right? >> no, she didn't. the woman said, no, and walked

away. no, tom hanks. >> do we have any comments from the woman? i would like to know what she was thinking. tom hanks is my all-time -- >> he's your all-time? >> he's my all-time favorite actor on the planet. >> this begs the question, have you or would you go and confront a neighbor for being too rowdy? >> yeah, i would do that but if that neighbor is tom hanks you go in for the experience, see where the night takes you. i know your meeting is at 6:00 am. >> do you think she didn't know it was him? >> it's tom hanks. >> maybe she didn't have her glass on, trying to sleep and -- >> she probably was trying to sleep. we'll give her that. >> i would have declined as well. willie is all -- >> i'm so not caught up. >> he's all, you know, what are they wearing? who wore it best? i would have declined because i would be like, i don't know you, tom hanks. i don't know what's going on in

there. >> what do you think was going on? >> tom hanks, call us and let us know. >> you owe it to your friends to tell the story of the times, tom hanks invited you in, you went in. >> that time tom hanks was twerking. >> then leave and go back to your room. >> something weird's going on. i've been conflicted when somebody was noisy -- i was staying at a hotel outside of pittsburgh, doing a story. and the cheerleading squad from the local high school were staying above me. and they're like 13, 14. i didn't say anything. i just laid in that hotel room. the next morning we all left at the same time. they had a competition. and i evil eyed them. i'm like, go, girl. >> i'm passive aggressive, banging on the wall. and nobody gets it. they just keep making the noise. >> have you ever had a complaint? >> no. >> of course you haven't. >> i know you have. >> sometimes there are complaints. hanks did the right thing. you always invite the neighbors to the party. in new york, we live in

apartments close to each other. if you're going to be making noise, hey, we're having people tonight. come on over. >> if i have a party, i go downstairs, hoping you don't say yes. you can come up. >> wow, now your neighbors know how you feel. >> tamron invites you to anything. >> no, i do say please come by. >> in conclusion, when hanks asks you in, just say yes. i haven't seen the video yet. i've heard about it. elton john during a tennis charity match, raising money for the aids foundation. director's chair. down goes -- >> those director chairs are very wobbly. >> i'm with you on that. >> not secure. >> i don't like when people -- >> oh, my gosh. >> all right. we got it. back to the neighbor thing and things that could cause a hatfield-mccoy situation in your

neighborhood, they're calling it the "let it go" christmas. this family lives in austin, texas. they created a christmas light show. go grab your family, the kids, babies, put your bottles down. here we go. take a look at the storms. ♪ let it go let it go i am one with the wind and sky ♪ ♪ let it go let it go you'll never see me cry ♪ ♪ here i stand and here i stay let the storm rage on ♪ >> all right. so we decided we're going to start scoring these. we've shown a couple. please send your video if you have synchronized lights in your home. >> because we will show it, as you can tell. >> we'll score the storms. we love you, storm family. the synchronizing with the light

sbts song needs to be a little tighter. >> wow! >> but you warmed my heart with the contaactus. i give you a 9.5. >> i thought the cactus needed to be in on it a little more. >> the cactus needed to be the drum beat, yes. boom, boom, boom. >> dylan was watching this video saying, um, yeah, need more sink ronn -- synchronicity. >> we just started scoring today so you're officially in first place. synchronized lights at your home. we don't want anyone injure bid neighbor whose don't appreciate it. send it to us. >> and, be obviously, al is not here today. tamron, you made it in. >> al, i don't know what happened. >> he's still there. >> yeah. >> soma and the legends in santa barbara on saturday. oprah stars in the film

co-produced with brad pitt. >> oh, yes. >> look at that. >> it's produce bid oprah and she hosted a gala at her home. al and the beautiful deborah. two-day affair. al has all of his -- smokey robinson. this is the gala. every legend that was a civil rights icon of our time was there. it was a glorious occasion. this is the lovely cast of the movie "selma" which opens 9th of january, and what we accomplished as a country since then. these are all al's pictures. this is the only picture of me. tweeting this picture out of angela bassette, carmen. >> is that you? >> i did not know. here is the deal. the first time in my life, my battery was dead. >> oh, no. >> on my phone. i don't have one -- >> you could have like selfie --

>> i don't have one picture. not one. i don't have the image of me and sydney portier talking. >> never happened. >> smokey robinson saying hi, i love the "today" show. >> never happened. >> uh-uh. >> oprah had her film crew there. this will air on the own network. beautiful gospel brunch at her home, the promised land, the name of the home. it's a beautiful story to watch. she calls it that and you'll hear it. al roker was crazy. >> of course. >> didn't take one with me. i have nothing. >> that day of all days. >> nothing. you can search my phone. nothing on there. anyway, it was an amazing event. it was to see all of these civil rights pioneers there in this multi-cultural group of people impacted by their sacrifice of this country and i applaud oprah. >> cool. >> it was good. >> including you, miss tamron hall. >> i made it back and he didn't.

>> what's going on outside the window? >> it's so winter. >> see. >> i'm on board with this now. >> broke you down in ten minutes. that's how long it took for me, too. >> now we're talking about a nor'easter. it's more of a rainy nor'easter as opposed to a snowy one. we'll see this area of low pressure actually back to the west. it's going to drag in some warmer air. we do still have the chance of that rain and freezing rain to turn over to snow on the back side of this storm especially as we go into tuesday night. six inches except in the higher elevations. ski resorts will see 20 inches of snow. coastal flooding, three to five inches of rain and also wind gusts up near 50 miles per hour. at the time of the astronomical high tide. 10:00 am tuesday, rain is coming down real hard. eventually this cold front will turn rain over to snow good morning. i'm rrt bill henley.

it's cold outside. look for high temperatures in the upper 30s to near 40 degrees. tomorrow, a nor'easter coming together for the area. then it's a mix of rain and snow showers on wednesday. and snow showers possible on thursday. high temperatures both days, near 40 degrees. warmer over the weekend. sunshine saturday and sunday. have a great day. >> and that's your latest forecast. >> dylan, thanks. dan stevens joins us. oh, my. is it dan stevens? >> it is dan stevens. >> that's a big reveal. that's what you call a reveal on ♪ ♪

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we are talking about the adventure-filled film "night of the museum: secrets of the tomb." >> instantly reminded of someone we used to know. >> i'm larry and this is my son, nick. >> now you, you remind me of a man i once knew at camelot. >> really? one of the knights of the round table? >> no, eric. >> eric? >> our fool. he was the funniest fool i ever met. he was so good. you have what he had, the gift. >> that's weird. >> you could be a fool. >> i don't know about that. >> come on. of course you could. we could get you one of those hats with the funnily little dangly bell. >> dangly bells? >> dan stevens is with us. i can only imagine what it was like behind the scenes, filming this. your daughter, your 5-year-old daughter, was able to sneak it on set as well. >> yeah. >> had to just be magical. >> such exciting place.

those sets were just beautiful. >> ben stiller dangly bells off camera? >> i still haven't bought him one of those hats. >> did that just come off the top of your head, dangly bells? >> shawn encouraged me to tease him, wind him up. we liked the idea that he reminded me of this medieval fool. >> so many people identify you with "downton abbey." this allows you to flex some comedy muscle that is many might not know were there, including stand-up that you did at cambridge. >> they produced some of the great comedians of england and, yeah, i wanted to try my hand. i never wanted it to be stand-up, per se. it's still one of the scariest and most rewarding things i did on stage. >> was it fun to break into comedy and ad lib?

>> yeah, yeah. taken those school trips around big castles constantly and go past the tin suits. in 1215, jeffrey the fromag fro bayonetted -- >> it can't be easy acting and performing in that suit. that's legit, what, 50 pounds? >> yeah. it's quite difficult to go to the louvre. you have to plan your bathroom break. >> is there a door? >> sort of a wench. >> front door on a castle, right? >> we're visualizing everything now. >> raise the draw bridge! >> so to speak. >> so to speak. it's very heavy. >> the suit? >> yeah. >> not the draw bridge. >> not the draw bridge.

>> so bad. >> doing all the action in that as well. have to keep quite fit doing it. i've been doing a quite a bit of action recently. i quite enjoy it. >> you rode a horse through trafalgar square. he has horse envy. >> i do? >> yeah. that's what he said. how impressed his kids would be, lucy and george, if you rode in on a horse. >> my mom and dad came up to see that being filmed and moi my mom sweetly said well that probably won't happen again, rydering through trafalgar square in full armor. it's very wet underfoot. if you fall, you will break your neck. and action! if i look a little bit scared in that scene, that's why. no. it was amazing. amazing. >> an amazing franchise. fun for the entire family. dan, thank you so much. congratulations. by the way, night of the museum, secret of the tomb, hits

theaters december 19th. up next, tips for tipping during the holidays. >> we'll lower the draw bridge so you can leave now. >> all right. >> thank you, dan f. you love "scrubs" and "cougar town," check out "ground floor" starring grandma is so happy to be here for your very first christmas. i hear you're quite the expert at waking people up in the morning. let me show you how grandma does it. ♪ you're daddy made this when he was a little boy. ♪ this is your dad in my house, where he had his first christmas. thanks for making the coffee. well look who's up. i'm really glad you're here, mom. me too. ♪ look who's here!

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you can make dinner disappear. now, that's a burger. and now you can pay and go when you're ready. now, isn't that convenient? the new lunch double burger from chili's lunch combo menu, starting at 6 bucks. fresh is happening now. osteo bi-flex® with joint shield™ nurtures and helps defend your joints° so you can keep doing what you love. what'd you guys do today? the usual! the usual! [ male announcer ] osteo bi-flex, ready for action. [ male announcer ] osteo bi-flex, i guethought to the acidity much in any foods. never thought about the coffee i was drinking having acids. it never dawned on me that it could hurt your teeth. my dentist has told me your enamel is wearing away, and that sounded really scary to me, and i was like well can you fix it, can you paint it back on, and he explained that it was not something that grows back, it's kind of a one-time shot and you have to care for it. he told me to use pronamel. it's gonna help protect the enamel in your teeth.

it allows me to continue to drink my coffee and to eat healthier, and it was a real easy switch to make. taking a look at the headlines, a new study finds most women over 70 with certain early stage breast cancers are still getting radiation therapy that might not help them in the long run. researchers at duke university looked at the continued use of radiation and despite evidence its benefits for older women might not be worth the side effects and cost. doctors and patients may find it hard to withhold radiation, which was once considered standard care. new study is suggesting people who have surgery to repair a certain knee injury may be more

prone to arthritis. researchers looked at mris from about 700 knees. all 3 knees that had undergone surgery developed arthritis within a year. of those with cartilage tears who did not have surgery, about 60% developed arthritis. doctors in hawaii hope that one boy's unusual health scare could help other young athletes. the 16-year-old developed an irregular heartbeat after a hard hit to the chest during football practice before returning to normal. now doctors say it's important to be aware of irregular heartbeat in such cases because it might raise the risk for more severe heart trouble. if you're not sure who you should tip or how much over the holidays, kiplinger.com has some advice. hairstylist, landscaper, nanny or babysitter, one week's pay for a tip. for others it demands the cost of a session.

21 million new and improved i can't believe it's not butter! 100% taste, 0% artificial preservatives. made with a blend of delicious oils, purified water, and just a pinch of salt. two, please. new and improved i can't believe it's not butter. it's time to believe. ring ring! progresso! i can't believe i'm eating bacon and rich creamy cheese before my sister's wedding well it's only 100 calories, so you'll be ready for that dress

uh-huh... you don't love the dress? i love my sister... 40 flavors. 100 calories or less. good morning. it's i'm rosemary connors. let's get right to the forecast with meteorologist bill hely. dry out there for now, right, bill? >> dry through the day today. but cloudy and cold. yeah, we've got that. look at the wind. flags blowing a atop of boathouse row. temperatures have barely moved. 29 degrees in the city. 30 in wilmington. cloudy skies. high temperatures will climb into the upper 30s to near 40. but the wind will stay with us gusting to 25 miles an hour. you can count on nbc10 to bring you the latest information on the nor'easter that we're also tracking for the week. we'll have updates on air and

online. you can download the nbc10 weather app for free on nbc10.com. this morning police in burl to think county are investigating a murder after a gruesome discovery in a motel parking lot. authorities tell us a body was found in the parking lot of the quality inn along route 38 in myle shade. philadelphia police have joined in the investigation. although it's unclear why at this point. no word yet on the identity of the victim. the north hampton district attorney is ramping up the investigation into the case of the man who died after a police chase and shooting. the da will meet with stays police and coroner's office to discuss their findings in the death of richard sherman. in october, sherman led officer oons chase that ended with a crash in easton. officers did open fire during the incident but authorities did not reveal how sherman died. i'm rosemary connors. we'll have another update in 25 minutes. remember, you can get the latest news again on our website,

nbc10.com at any time. now back to the "today" show. have a good one. ♪ ♪

welcome back to "today." it's monday, the 8th of december, 2014. people bundled up on what dylan calls the warm spring day. >> when you stand in seven feet of snow in buffalo with the snow and wind in your face, you'll agree. >> it's cold outside. dylan is hanging out with us. al and natalie are off today. apple out with the best of 2014. >> best? >> best selling song, "happy" by pharrell williams. >> is that record sales? that's a fact. okay. we love that song. >> she needs to know all the details. >> they're long lists at the end of the year. willie's lists.

go on. >> willie's lists. "frozen" top song. >> it came out last december. >> i didn't even realize that. >> 2013. i was just told that. >> that's why it's so popular t just grew in popularity. >> blew up all year. most downloaded film of the year. top app facebook messenger and snapchat, one and two. >> messenger made you do it. all of a sudden you can't check your facebook messages unless you do it. >> and snapchat made you want to do it. >> tv's most downloaded show. >> i am diana. did i say her name right? >> the red wedding. game of thrones. >> most popular book, "fault in our stars" by john green. >> natalie's favorite. >> and you're into the apps,

right? what's the thing you like? >> two dots. it's a game. >> what is it? >> i don't know if it's new or -- it's a fun game where you connect the same-colored dot. >> they're for nursery school children. >> i'm on board for 183. >> how often do you play that at work, did. ylan? >> never at work. >> sure. >> she finger paints in her free time. it's amazing. amazing. >> this is not how you treat guests. he's still bitter about you saying it's not winter. >> yeah. >> it was one of the top three apps. >> see? for children. >> for children. >> direct all those tweets at willie. >> wonderful, wonderful game. >> you're downloading it now. >> i'll do weather and you can -- we'll see if you can -- >> you need your passcode. we can get this. >> let's talk about the weather, meantime. we already talked about the nor'easter tomorrow on the east coast. now we've got this bigger storm system out on the west coast.

moisture being pulled in off the pacific here. we'll see a round of rain tuesday into wednesday in the seattle area. overnight wednesday into thursday morning, that's when all of this rain will move back into parts of california. we're looking at gusty winds and also the possibility of as much as three to five inches of rain in an area that was already hard hit with flooding not that long ago. mud slides could be another concern again mostly wednesday night into thursday. elsewhere across the country, western great lakes and scattered showers on the good morning. i'm meteorologist bill henley. it's cold outside. temperatures will be climbing as clouds increase. high temperatures in the upper 30s to near 40 degrees. tomorrow, a nor'easter coming together for the area. heavy rainfall. one to two inches. but just rain with temperatures in the middle 40s in the afternoon. then it's a mix of rain and snow showers on wednesday and snow showers possible on thursday. high temperatures both days, near 40 degrees. warmer over the weekend. sunshine saturday and sunday. have a great day.

>> and that's your latest forecast. >> stars of the tbs sitcom, "ground floor." you know john mcginley best for the sarcastic doctor on "scrubs" and skylar astin hit it big in the film "pitch perfect." >> now they're teaming up. tomorrow night's premiere pics s up where season one left off, with brody choosing his personal life over your job. >> i want your apology. >> ooirm not giving you one. >> now i am interested. >> sir, i know blowing you off for jenny was impulsive, emotional and objectively pretty damn stupid. if you put me in the same position 100 times i would do the same thing every time because someone i look up to like a father once told me to never apologize for a decision based on love. >> that was me. >> i love that. good morning, guys. thanks for joining us. okay, skylar, work, personal

life, have you ever had that dilemma? >> with love versus work? >> where you were called in to work but you wanted to hang out? >> i think that i'm a consummate professional so, no, that's never happened. i show up on time. >> you were dating your co-star in "pitch perfect." >> okay, you got me there. >> nice, dylan. >> you date your co-star so it's all right there, compartmentalize. >> i married my cameraman. >> see? >> oh, duh. >> i missed my sister's wedding when i was in mexico, doing a film with paul newman and my father let me off the hook. i'll remember it to this day. i called him from durango, mexico. he said, we're going to have the wedding whether you're there or not. >> love that. >> i think that was irish love. thanks, dad. >> he calls you jumbo? >> yes. i'm a lot of man. >> i love that voice you use. you kind of built this whole

character. >> i wanted to create as much distance from dr. cox and scrubs as i could. and so right when daniel day lewis was doing lincoln, i heard him say he wanted to find lincoln's voice. it doesn't exist, obviously. i decided that mansfield was going to be a combination of three guys who imprinted me. so i put it way back in here. it's very different than dr. cox, who was up in here. >> and he also swallows a bunch of gravel before he goes on. >> yeah. >> that's good acting. >> painful, but it works. >> skylar, for people just coming to the show, season one, starting season two, set the scene for what we're watching. >> it's kind of like romeo and juliette in the workplace. i work on the top floor, very successful guy. and the girl i fall in love with works on the ground floor, kind of a different like class battle there. and my boss is not a big fan of

mixing that kind of relationship with work. and there's -- we're just surrounded by crazy characters and we keep it grounded and we keep it funny. it's a blast. >> there's something about the office space, if you'll forgive the term. >> nice, willie. >> that you sort of mastered. >> what are you trying to do here? >> you'll forgive us. dylan and i were on youtube watching clips of you for "office space." >> once you said it the way it was written, mike was generalious enough to give you enough rope you wanted to hang yourself with. and so a lot of that stuff was improv'd. sometimes that's a blessing. sometimes it's a curse. he was able to chop it together so it felt organic and part of the piece. >> upper management written all over it. >> yep. >> congratulations, guys. can't wait for the second season. thank you so much for joining us. >> yes. absolutely. >> catch "ground floor" tuesday

nights, tbs. >> very funny show. the one gift you can never go wrong with, food. the best mail-order goodies for go wrong with, food. the best mail-order goodies for the holidays after and for many, it's a struggle to keep your a1c down. so imagine, what if there was a new class of medicine that works differently to lower blood sugar? imagine, loving your numbers. introducing once-daily invokana®. it's the first of a new kind of prescription medicine that's used along with diet and exercise to lower blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes. invokana® is a once-daily pill that works around the clock to help lower a1c. here's how: the kidneys allow sugar to be absorbed back into the body. invokana® reduces the amount of sugar allowed back in, and sends some sugar out through the process of urination. and while it's not for weight loss, it may help you lose some weight. invokana® can cause important side effects, including dehydration, which may cause some people to have loss of body water and salt.

this may also cause you to feel dizzy, faint, lightheaded, or weak especially when you stand up. other side effects may include kidney problems, genital yeast infections, urinary tract infections, changes in urination, high potassium in the blood, or increases in cholesterol. do not take invokana® if you have severe kidney problems or are on dialysis or if allergic to invokana® or its ingredients. symptoms of allergic reaction may include rash, swelling, difficulty breathing or swallowing. if you experience any of these symptoms, stop taking invokana® and call your doctor right away or go to the nearest hospital. tell your doctor about any medical conditions, medications you are taking, and if you have kidney or liver problems. using invokana® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may increase risk of low blood sugar. it's time. lower your blood sugar with invokana®. imagine loving your numbers.

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give the gift of amazing sleep, only at a sleep number store. find our best buy rated c2 queen mattress with sleepiq. know better sleep with sleep number. whether you're a so-called foodie or not, everyone loves getting packages of goodies delivered to your doorstep. >> here with a look at the best food gifts to give this year, maureen, it's great to see you. >> thanks for having me. >> some of this stuff looks so good and i understand there's someone at our door. delivery. >> i was waiting for that. >> are you going to sign? oh, we're locked in. >> this is new york. >> we have to lock our front door. >> hi. come on in. >> look, it's a generic delivery man. >> look at him. >> i go back out. >> you're leaving? >> thanks for coming. >> bye.

>> order lots of things online. all of the best independent food makers around the country, really delicious stuff comes in this package. it's a lot of it. >> that's a lot of food. >> you told me that the popcorn is like amazing. >> it's to die for. >> butter and scotch hot toddy popcorn. that's mouse.com. all independent producers. then the next thing is here. this is so fun to get in the mail. >> that's spectacular. >> i don't know any family that wouldn't love to get this from the wisconsin's figis gift. perfect for the snacker. perfect for a college kid. college or dorm. this is a big hit. >> figis.com, if you're trying to find it. >> perfect for snacking. >> what an assortment, too.

>> yes. little bit of everything. short bread, cheddar cheeses coming from wisconsin. >> love it. so this one here, we already have it up. this is called hot honey. spicy honey. for the foodie on your list that's really into food trends. you'll see there's a chili pepper in here. >> hot sauce honey? >> it's a spiced honey. this is excellent. dribble it on a little cheese. here is your hot honey. or you can go rogue. you do whatever you want to do. >> i've never had one of these dainty little spoons. >> we can share. >> you can dip. >> you just do it like this. >> i'm tasting. >> good stuff. >> what she thinks about hot honey. it has a good little kick to it. >> yes, it does. >> little spice to it. this is a three-jam gift sampler. this is enough jam for the year literally. choose from the most popular flavors.

orange apricot marmalade here. >> what is this? >> from bread's bakery, chocolate bobka pie. >> excuse me for eating. >> this is all for the sweet tooths on your list. and this is an organic fruit of the month. $42. >> i love the clementine. >> those are mandarin. it's a mixer fruit. pears, too. this is the colt classic here. little bits of chocolate. my achilles heel. put that in your mouth. >> and this. >> amazing. >> from nashville, which you'll

love, loveless cafe sampler, cracked pepper. your barbecue, jack's stacks right here and surf and turf, you can even order that. mail order anyone on your list. they'll be thrilled to get any of these. >> please get me all of that. >> loveless bacon is unbelievable. >> loveless anything is unbelievable. if you're interested go to today.com and get more details. superstar justin bieber goes platinum. but not the way you think, ta many ron. >> oh, sorry. many ron. >> oh, sorry. looking for one of these?

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introducing wink. it's like a robot butler, but not as awkward. >> dylan just asked what pop fix is. >> i didn't ask what pop fix is. i asked what we're doing now. >> you hold up your mug. >> time for pop fix, dylan. thanks for watching. baby news for two big stars over the weekend. kourtney kardashian, due during the holidays, has kept the sex of her baby-to-be secret until now. a show i don't miss, the oldest kardashian -- she's the oldest? she and her boyfriend, scott, are having another boy. they have a beautiful son, mason and daughter penelope. and premature birth. during his speech at the march of dimes celebration of babies event over the weekend,

"guardians of the galaxy" star shared an emotional story about the struggles he and his wife endured after his son, jack, was born. his son battled for his life in nicu, quote, i made promises in that moment about what kind of dad i wanted to be and i just prayed that he would live long enough that i could keep them. they welcomed baby jack into the world premature. is he now strong, smart, happy, funny, beautiful boy. a lot of parents with with preemies who spend days, weeks and months in nicu can identify with that. >> it's amazing what doctors can do with baby that is small. >> and the staff who is dedicated to help those babies. bravo to them. sporting the blond look, channing tatum's new do. yeah. this is for a new film. sexiest man alive, still is, in

my opinion. anyway, doing this for the "hail caesar" movie which stars george clooney. and the biebs, where have you been? rocked a new blond do. working on something. the beliebers are tweeting. willie, did you ever frost your hair? >> no. once in seventh grade, i forget what we were doing but my mom wanted to do something to my hair. i had bleach in my hands and did that. so i had racing stripes. >> i love how you cleverly blamed your mom. my mom wanted me to have frosting stripes. >> she knows. >> come on, mom, you have to be watching pop fix. dylan doesn't. somebody has to. >> i like pop fix. i learned a

we've been very busy collecting gifts for our 21st annual toy drive. mary kay, inc. is helping us again. sarah friedman is here. tell us about your kind donation. >> on behalf of mary kay and our more than 3 million independent sales force members, we're giving $3 million in mary kay products. we've given more than $41 million in products and toys over the last couple of years. >> it's such an iconic brand. to have it be part of our drive is tremendous. >> being more than a 50-year-old brand, enriching women's lives, founded on that golden rule. this is enriching lives. >> thank you very much.

good morning. i'm rosemary connors. just a few minutes before 10:00. let's get a check of the forecast from meteorologist bill henley. >> clouds, wind, and we're tracking rain and snow as well. this is the view from the shore. you can see the rain drops on the lens. there have been reports of flooding at the shore. meantime, the radar imagery shows the inland, colder air that's small falling apart,

delaware and south jersey as well. the temperatures will be climbing. eventually those will be rain showers that will taper off later today. 26 degrees in pottstown. 30 in philadelphia. lit stay dry in the city. a computer glitch continues to cause parking problems in philadelphia. this all started on friday when more than 1,000 parking kiosks in the city stopped accepting credit and debit cards. the pay stations would only take cash. they offered up free parking yesterday but don't expect that today. you will have to pay in cash the p parking authority says they plan for ticket expired meters but will give drivers a ten-minute grace period. it's a big day today for leg league pitching start monet davis. "sports illustrated" for kids will present monet with the first ever sports kid of the year award at lincoln financial field. philadelphia mayor michael nutter, 76ers point card michael carter williams and skyler diggins will also be at the event to celebrate.

we'll have another update in 25 minutes. remember, you can get the latest information on news and weather on our website, nbc10.com. i'm rosemary connors. have a good one.

from nbc news, this is "today" with kathie lee gifford and hoda kotb, live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. >> hello, everybody. it is fun day monday. we're so glad you're here with us. it is december 8th. we have a terrific show for you as usual. the very talented melissa joan hart is here with a new tv movie to get you in the christmas spirit. >> all your hollywood scoop including a new picture of jessica beale with what may or may not be but may be a baby bump. >> i thought that was a fact. >> if you like a homemade christmas, the master of pop-up books, robert sebuda is here.

he'll show you how to make fabulous designs for your holiday table. he's genius. >> he is. >> how about the royals are here. >> the royals -- >> they're in new york. >> that's right. i forgot. some of us are caught up in other things, but -- like my cleavage. >> i can't get over it. by the way, i think this is the most -- let it go. let's see. ♪ let it go let it go ♪ >> i apologize but too late to change dresses. >> william and kate are here. they arrived in new york city yesterday. what? is he zooming in? what is happening? >> did somebody zoom in. >> just give me warning if you're going to. they flew in on a commercial jet. i said it was probably, what did you think? british airways. >> they were outside of the carlisle, people were waiting and cheering and snapping pictures. >> remember when diana used to stay there. >> which is one of the reasons they end up going there last night. they have a busy jam packed

schedule. so busy, in fact -- >> they have in time to visit us. >> no time. but we have a glass of wine waiting. >> but she's pregnant. >> not for her. for her husband. >> he's off doing stuff today. >> he's going to see president obama at the white house. kate is going to an event in harlem. tonight they're both going to watch the -- >> basketball game. >> they're going to watch the cavaliers. >> that's a busy day. she's due in april. >> she doesn't look pregnant, does she? >> she didn't the last time either. i love how classy they are. a classy couple. >> i wonder if beyonce and jay-z will be at the game too. >> they were -- no, that was the "annie" premiere. i didn't know she was a producer of that. >> i didn't know that either. >> the kennedy center honors last night. way to go, sting, and congratulations, tomorrow night, he's going into his own show, a big, big week. >> weekend. couple of -- i got into a couple of things this weekend.

>> you did. you start. >> james taylor, you guys, in the garden, james taylor sat on a barstool, pulled out his guitar and played in the garden. it was beautiful. >> always excellent. >> he had new songs too but he played the old songs which made the crowd go wild. and cyndi lauper raises money for kids. that's a picture i took. it was fun. i -- >> hoda brought out the leather. >> i did. leather and put boots on, which are really snow boots but they're all i had. anyway, but it was -- they raised a lot of money. she is so sincere and real and cool. >> good, good. >> how was your weekend? >> good. it was good. all last week we taped our "today," the musical. i was tired from that. but regis was such a hit around here. wait until you see him on the musical. i wanted to take him out to dinner and thank him and joy hadn't been here and frank

hadn't been there and i thought we'll relive a little of it for them. it was an awful night, so they came to the house and sat by the fire and just -- i was so proud of him. so great in this. >> can i say something about the musical. we're put on the musical. it is coming up. probably before the first of the year. i didn't know what it was going to feel like. it was fun to do. we watched a take of it, it is really fun. i can't believe -- you are going to enjoy it. wait until you see the singing and dancing of this crew. okay. >> i didn't know what kind of a talent pool i had when i started it. would you buy a slice of cake from one of the royal weddings? >> well, apparently william and kate's wedding cake, they auctioned off one slice, and it went for -- it was expected to go for a thousand dollars. it ended up going for $7,500. so somebody bought the cake -- a piece of the cake. >> it comes with a blank wedding

invitation on the queen's stationery. >> and when charles and diana got married, they auctioned off a piece of that wedding cake too and that was 27-year-old wedding cake that went for $6,000. >> what do you do with it? you take it out and show people? i could have shown it to regis and joy saturday night. what are you going to do with a frozen piece of cake? >> i don't know. i'm not sure why you do it. i goeuess to say i have it and t it in the freezer. there was a lot of anticipation for the show called "eaten alive" and a lot of people are upset at the results. >> they feel cheated. >> they feel cheated and let down. okay, there was a guy named -- there is a guy named paul rosalie. >> we gave it away. >> there still is. he was suppose to be eaten alive by an anaconda. >> that's what people were hoping for. >> a two-hour special. for first hour and 45 minutes, you watched him try to find an

anaconda big enough to eat him. >> how big is he? >> he didn't seem that big. didn't seem so huge. >> put on all this gear and mask and a hat and all kinds of stuff. he got rid of his arm and leg gear because he felt they were too constricting. anyway, you get doused with blood so that the anaconda wants to swallow you. and so he started getting wrapped up by this snake and we're not going to give you all the detail because apparently it was very disturbing and hard to watch. here is the headline, he got wrapped up by it and he didn't get swallowed by it, though it tried to bite his head, the helmet was too big. anyway, so he did ask for help because i guess the anaconda was tightening up on had him and he afraid his arm was going to break. so everybody came to the rescue. so that's that. >> people would have been happier if the snake had eaten him? >> i guess. >> is that what we -- >> this is what we have come to in our society. >> he had the camera and i

doechdon't know what his plan was when he was in there. >> let me know why you feel cheated. >> peta says this, making the snake use up energy by swallowing this fool and then possibly regurgitating him would have left the poor animal exhausted and deprived of the energy that he or she needs. >> who cares about the human being? it is all about the snake. >> all right, so, have you seen ath that show called "naked and afraid". it is about survivalists who try to make it in the woods for 2 is d -- 21 days without any clothes on. leave it to seth rogan and james franco, they did their own take on "naked and afraid." take a look. >> oh, man. >> you're supposed to be hot australian-like survivalist. >> do you know anything about surviving out here? >> okay, okay. >> honestly, i was a little

surprised. >> i was hoping to be teamed up with a woman but franco is the next best thing. he's hairless. take his glasses off, he's pretty much a woman. >> use a leaf. >> no. i have a sensitive butt. i'm not using a leaf. what did you bring? >> sunglasses. >> that's what i was going to do. >> i look good. >> that was weird. >> quite the bro manse going on. >> he looks like pit bull a little, i thought. >> yeah. >> okay. it is time for our favorite thing my mom got me this. my mom is going to be cooking on the show during the christmas holidays. she told me about this nail polish because my nail polish always chips and chips and chips. she said have you heard of deborah lipman which i had not. i got the polish, i put it on, for two weeks it lasted -- look, it is not bad. two weeks it lasted. i am hard on my hands.

>> what do you do all the time? >> i don't know. $10 for the thing. it is worth it and it lasts. so there. sephora. >> i read this book quite a few months ago, when it was in galley form. eric metaxis is an amazing writer, he wrote "amazing grace," a brilliant writer, new york times best-seller, he wrote this book called "miracles", he'll be on, on the 30th of december with us. get it before that. a great christmas gift. only interviewed people he knows, not meriracles he's hear about. it is fascinating. >> also, we had sad news, you guys. we were looking at usa today and there is a woman who we love named olivia barker. she wrote stories about our show. in our studio quite a bit. and she was battling breast cancer and she is very young, 44 years old --

>> 5-year-old son. >> she passed away. we wanted to let her family and friends know that we love her. >> she was one of those people that every time they came in, light and laughter, just joyful. she wasn't out to get you like some are. she just wanted to be fair and we will really miss her. and our heart goes out to her family. >> coming up, her holiday movies always have a lot of heart. >> we're talking about the melissa joan hart who is >> we're talking about the melissa joan hart who is reminding everyone of the true [coach] alright, listen up. out on that field today, >> we're talking about the melissa joan hart who is reminding everyone of the true you will be ready for anything. and i want you to always remember, this is the greatest team you will ever be part of. there is important work to be done. and only some able to do it. can you make the cut? you've been part of this family for as long as i can remember.

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i have a professional secret: amopé and its premium foot care line. the new amopé pedi perfect foot file gives you soft beautiful feet effortlessly. its microlumina rotating head buffs away hard skin even on those hard-to-reach spots. it's amazing. you can see it and feel it. my new must-have for soft, beautiful feet. amopé pedi perfect. find it in the foot care aisle or at the registers in these stores. okay, we shi point out that that happened during our chat. see, we have two hats. >> because of your -- >> there are very few hats that actually fit and that was proof that even -- >> melissa joan hart has grown up before our eyes. she starred in her first commercial at 4 years old, but it was tv shows like "sabrina the teenage witch" and "melissa

and joey" that made her a household name. >> now she's in "the santa con" where she tries to set her brother and his friend -- >> we thought we could save a little money. >> you think i'm running a halfway house for you and your convict friends. why don't you open a methadone clinic in the basement? how would that be? >> i play a fun character. but i was so busy with the directing part of it, i didn't really -- i was -- it was my directorial debut. i've done shows before, sabrina and melissa and joey, but this is different. this is storytelling. this is my ship to run. >> how did you find the experience? >> the anxiety before we actually got to camera was -- almost killed me. once we started filming, i remembered what a blast i had directing and loved it. >> how were you directing it

while you're in it? >> well, i already set up the shot, worked with the dp, the camera operator and we set the shot and know what we're looking at. i have my sister as a stand in, she looks like me. i've seen what it looks like. now i have to pop in and i going to see the performances face to face. i know the performances, besides my own, but my mother is always my executive producer. she executive produced sabrina and melissa and joey so she's keeping an eye out too. >> how did you turn out so normal? >> you always ask me this. >> you are -- >> i wrote a book because you asked me that. i was, like, i need to write a book to tell kathie lee how i -- >> we see the train wrecks that happen with the kids that -- >> what do you think your parents did right? >> they gave us a loving household that wasn't about the industry, that was about go ride your bike, go outside, drink water from the hose. wasn't, like -- i didn't grow up in l.a. and hollywood on red

carpets. i think she came a little later, a lot more pressure on girls to have a clothing line and perfume and -- >> and naked pictures. >> yes. >> i feel like i see you a lot now because the walmart commercials are everywhere. >> i don't even watch tv and i see it all the time. >> you're with anthony anderson. >> yes. he's a blast. we had a great time. we shot our last few the other day. i'm going to miss him if we don't do any more. >> i think they're very successful. >> we did 45 commercials, plus not including the five peter pan spots i did with my family. >> those ended up being a huge hit. >> huge. >> you and your kids and your husband. >> me, my three kids and my husband and the big twitter question is are those your kids? they're calling for my -- >> how do you feel about that? >> it is flattering if someone thinks your kids are talented or cute, but at the same time -- >> the ages?

>> 2, 6 and 8. >> how is christmas shopping going by the way? >> so crazy. my husband and i, he gets -- he wakes up in the morning with his coffee and amazon, he's online trying to online shop and getting things shipped to the house and we celebrate christmas somewhere else than we live, so he's always, like, sending stuff and i'm sending stuff and then we go shopping together and then we haven't gotten anything and then we get there and we unwrap everything and we're like -- we have gotten every single thing. walmart has sent them every toy that exists as well. >> i'm not going to tell you what to do, but lovely if you took them to a shelter for other kids. >> we're taking the kids on friday, we're going to go serve the homeless dinner. but walmart donated all the toys we used on the set to my favorite charity. >> that's awesome. >> everybody wins. >> clothes, everything. >> thanks. we love seeing you. the world premiere of "the santa con" is december 13th on lifetime. >> you met the finalists in the search for america's kindest kid. >> time to meet the winner you voted for right aftes somethingd

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every year sprout and "today" search for the kindest kid. >> the search is over. earlier this morning chief kindness officer -- >> who is it? >> here to tell us about it is our friend jenna bush haguer. >> we have been waiting and wondering. >> this is a big honor. the winner this year is sierra.

yea. but just as important are all the finists. kayla, kevin, collin and cayman. >> congratulations on all the kind things you do. >> they're all very different. >> yes. >> want to tell us about it. >> yes. >> tell us what you do that is kind. >> well, i make care packages for kids that have cancer. >> that is so sweet. >> what do you do, sweetie? >> i help tornado victims. >> tornado victims. >> what do you do, sweetie? >> what do you do, little missy? >> i make bags for less fortunate people. >> she makes bags for less fortunate people. >> what do you put in your bags? >> crackers and applesauce and

water. >> that's so nice. >> and toys. >> toys. wow. >> what do you do, sweetie? >> i make the military smile. >> how do you do that? >> i make cards for them. >> and you send them to them when they're overseas serving our country, right? >> we remember. >> you remember his story made -- your story made kathie lee cry. >> all the stories do. i love seeing children learn how to be kind early on. >> exactly. >> what about you, collin? >> i collect coats and give them to the open door mission for the homeless people. >> that is so great. you guys, do your parents do kind things for people? is that where you learned it? >> i would say yes. >> i see other people do it. >> what does it feel like when you do something kind for someone? >> it feels like i'm really awesome.

>> you are really awesome. you guys have been having fun in new york city. >> what have you done here? >> what have you done here in new york? >> so far, i went to a restaurant. >> what did you do? >> what yare you going to do today? hello, you were all just screaming about it. >> where are we going? >> we're going skating. >> at the rink. >> and to the movies? what movie are we going to see? >> "night at the museum 3". >> what is good about being kind? >> raise your hand. >> yes, go. >> so if you're kind, you spread kindness. if you want you don't spread kindness. >> tell us why it is good to be kind. >> it is nice to be kind.

>> nice. >> anybody else? >> what is cool about being kind? do you like to see people smile? kind? do you like to see people smile? >> yes, okay buddy, what's your favorite kind of cheerios? honey nut. but... chocolate is my other favorite... but apple cinnamon is my favorite too... and fruity... oh yeah, and frosted! okay, but...what's you're most favorite of all? hmm... the kind i have with you. me too. has the power to captivate. that's why shakira uses... crest 3d white with whitelock technology, removing up to ninety percent of surface stains, and locking out future stains. so your smile always steals the show. crest 3d white. so your smile always steals the show. it's part of a hershey's bar. we break it. we bite it.

we sneak it. we smoosh it. we savor it. we love it. hershey's is mine, yours, our chocolate. 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! [ laughs ] ahhh. ♪ nbc 10 news starts now. good morning. i'm vai sikahema. it's a cold start to the week. let's get meteorologist bill henley with his first alert forecast to tell us about it. >> tomorrow the drenching rain

with gusty winds will arrive, and then that changes to snow as we go into colder air that will be here on wednesday. so rain and then some snow showers. for today we're starting off with clouds over center city and tracking wet weather along the coastline. that is rain right along the coast, but inland it's colder air in parts of atlantic and burlington county. 30 degrees in philadelphia. still in the 20s for trenton, pottstown, and allentown. a cloudy, breezy, cold day with high temperatures near 40 this afternoon. and, of course, that nor ree easter could bring heavy rain and snow to our area. you can get updates at nbc10.com. a developing story in burlington county. a murder victim found in maple shade was a woman. the body turned up in the parking lot of the quality inn.

investigators are still working to identify the victim. jesse gary is in maple shade and he will have a live report on nbc 10 news at 11:00. and today a big crowd is expected at a supervisors meeting in montgomery county community where the township is facing money problems. people who live in franconia want answers about how the township ran up budget deficits. because of the shortfall official it's laid off six police officers and four other township employees. they also raised taxes 19%. we'll have a full hour of news at 11:00. we'll see you then in a half hour.

we are back with more of "today" on this fun day monday. time to get you caught up on "today's buzz" and all the hot hollywood gossip you may have missed over the weekend. >> here with the celebrity scoop is the grio.com's entertainment editor chris witherspoon. hey. >> how are you? >> nice jacket. >> thank you. >> you're totally stepping it up. >> got to keep up with you ladies. >> let's talk about jessica beale. we thought we knew she was pregnant. >> people speculated for a month she's pregnant, but she was photographed this weekend walking her dog, looking cute. you see this photo of her wearing a vest, hoodie, jogging pants and people say they see a bump. we talked to her rep. they're not confirming that her and justin are pregnant. they have been married for two

years now so about time they consider starting a family. >> that's such a private thing. i so respect that they want to keep this just to themselves if they are expecting a child. >> whether it is a baby bump or just some extra thanksgiving food sitting there, she looks great. >> i don't understand the fascination with baby bumps. >> let's move on to the hotty george clooney, in a gladiator costume. >> not his most -- it is a comedy, right? >> it is a film called "caesar," 1950s in hollywood. he's walking this er throwback hairdo, short hairdo, gladiator costume. he looks good. he can do no wrong. he's one of hollywood's heartthrobs for a reason. also his co-star channing tatum made some buzz, people were buzzing about him going blond. blond, blond kind of coify look. >> who is the person in the front? that's what everybody wants to know. >> you see channing and george can do no wrong. are they still hot?

>> i think everybody can do wrong, yes. i think -- >> i think channing looks much better not like that. >> everybody makes mistakes. >> magic mike soon and he can redeem himself there. >> lifetime movie coming out people are talking about, the whitney movie. her family has been -- they did not want this released, right? >> buzzed about for good and bad. her mother came out and -- the trailer came out and everybody is buzzing. looks kind of good. this will be her big screen debut. >> lip-synching right. >> deborah cox is singing whitney houston's voice. deborah cox is singing four whitney houston songs. directorial debut. >> they say it shouldn't be a tv movie, it should be more of a big -- >> i felt the same way. but i think this film might pique interest in hollywood to bring a big film to the box

office. >> okay. >> i'll go see it. >> oh, sure. you have to. it is on television. >> demi lovato is coming out, she's talking about -- she had an eating disorder, she talked about it. >> she opened up in "fitness" magazine saying last summer she was battling bulimia. she said she was, you know, kind of obsessing over what she was eating. her boyfriend called her out on it and say i see you're obsessing over what you're eating. let's get you some help. it is great to hear someone in hollywood coming clean -- >> she had other issues i think -- >> yes. it is great to see a young star opening up and showing young girls that we go through the same thing. >> can we talk real quickly about kanye and kim. what is going on? >> kim has not been present with kanye performing in new york. and everyone is buzzing that they could be heading towards a breakup

breakup. we don't know for sure. >> what do you think? >> i think there is so much pressure had when it comes to being a hollywood couple. some of it is transparent and done so much for show. it makes me worried but we don't know for sure. >> usually as newlyweds, you're standing a lot of time together. >> remember those days? >> newlyweds and new parents. all those things at once that i think is a lot of pressure. >> all right. >> nice to see you. >> thank you, ladies. >> make your holidays really pop with these amazing creations from robert sabuda. he's back with a new book and fun christmas decor that you can create yourself right after this. [ woman ] i've had it with my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis... the frustration... covering up. so i talked with my doctor. he prescribed enbrel. enbrel is clinically proven to provide clearer skin. many people saw 75% clearance in 3 months. and enbrel helped keep skin clearer at 6 months. [ male announcer ] enbrel may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal, events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers,

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>> his name is robert sabuda. >> yes. >> he's the author of 15 incredible pop-up books that amaze us year after year. he really is incredibly talented. >> this new one, the dragon and the knight brings classic fairy tales to life page by page. today he'll show us how to make something ourselves, cutting up paper and making a centerpiece. >> come around here and we'll -- >> wait, wait, wait. look at the pages. >> they're amazing. >> i love dragons. i love knights. i always wanted to do a mashup of a book between classic fairy tales with the dragon and there say lot of humor. so a lot of kids read out loud, story time. >> do you get this in your mind first? >> like a movie, like a musical. >> a musical. >> how long will each pop-up basically take you to actually make. >> this can take me months to do each one. i say about a year -- it takes a year to come up with the whole

book. >> now, what age group is this book for? >> from 3 to 93 i say. i have people bring it, 3-year-olds good with their books and 93-year-old grandparents who love it with them. >> it is great. you have to be careful with the book, because it seems that -- >> a book to love and take care of. >> so you're going to show us -- >> we'll make a pop-up centerpiece. we have our snow men in front of us. we'll decorate our snow men. a carrot nose. stick a carrot nose on your snowman, stick it right there in the center. and there is -- you can pick any hat you want. >> whatever we want? >> you can do whatever you want. >> how are they sticking? >> the magic of television. i'm here for knights and dragons. i have a helmet on and you have a bow tie or scarf, anything you want. little bow tie on mine. very good. very good. and then we have arms too. there is a variety of arms. we got a little -- all right. mittens. i'll put mittens on mine.

there you go. beautiful. beautiful. and it is a bow. all right, so we have got our awesome snow men. what we're going to do is we're going to take the piece that is underneath it. beautiful. we're taking pieces underneath and we'll slide them together. take the one underneath and slide it together. we have our is now men there. awesome. beautiful. now we'll take our snow base. leave it in the send attorney pi center and leave the tree base. you can download from the website, cut it out, fold it. we're going to start on the end and slide one through the snow base. you can have them face front. you got it. and then we're going to slot the next one, and go around in the circle. we'll do this one right there. we're going to go around in a circle and round and round and round and keep going. >> love it. >> you got it. you're in. and then finally the last one, the last one in, hey, awesome.

>> i need to cut mine. >> it was cut to begin with. >> where are we taking them? >> you're doing great. >> we're going to take them over. we'll take them over here. the reason they're pop-up, you can make them large for your table or make them narrow and put them on a mantel. >> adorable. >> adorable. >> look at what happens. >> mine is fine -- >> it looks beautiful. >> a great job. >> not everybody is as -- >> but you can get it on the website. >> get it on the website, put it together. >> how to make these on klgandhoda.com. >> you see them every year, ringing their bells next to the bright red kettle, but where did those kettles come from? what's really inside them? robert left. we're shining a light on the salvation army.

>> why did you leave? were you nervous? >> you were waving. i thought, i'll go, i'll go. check out one of the hottest gift ideas this christmas: beats pill xl now available with special financing when you use your walmart credit card. they're bluetooth enabled. so you can stream a song to one beats pill. and pair it with another beats pill for huge stereo sound. woah! dance off. whut? whoa! what? nothing. wooh, is the room spinning? no, just you. and now get special financing when you use your walmart credit card. more ways to christmas joy. walmart. we lovchocolaty, creamy... with a little something extra. mmm deliciousness. cookies or almonds. yumminess.

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[cout on that field today,. you will be ready for anything. and i want you to always remember, this is the greatest team you will ever be part of. there is important work to be done. and only some able to do it. can you make the cut? ring ring! ...progresso! you soup people have my kids loving vegetables. well vegetables... shh! taste better in our savory broth. vegetables!? no...soup! oh! soup! loaded with vegetables. packed with taste.

red kettle reason on "today" is brought to you by the salvation army. thanks to you, the salvation army will provide shelter for 27,000 people tonight. learn more at red kettle reason.org. >> if you walk the streets in any city across the country, you can't help but come across the bright red kettles and the sound of bells ringing thanks to the salvation army's annual holiday campaign. >> you may not know one hour of bell ringing on average raises enough money to provide a family in need with two bags of groceries. how did this tradition get started? we're going to tell you. it all began in 1891, when a salvation army captain in san francisco set up a pot to collect coins to feed the homeless on christmas day. six years later, the idea

spread, all across the country. one newspaper hailed the cauldron as the newest and most novel device for collecting money. in 1900, a young cadet got the air to buy a ten cent bell to ring to gain attention while trying to raise the funds. it was so successful, all the cadets started doing it. today, there are about 25,000 kettle bell ringers, who brave the elements every day, singing, dancing and doing whatever they can to help feed millions of people. kettles are used worldwide and can be found in korea, japan, chile, and all throughout europe. an incredible story. >> here with us, we're so happy, we have a family of bellringers. meryl has been volunteering for 59 years. daughter colleen and his grandsons derrick and meryl are bell ringers. >> thank you. >> wow. >> what a story. what made you get involved at the very beginning, merrill?

>> i started with the kawanis club and then became they had a ceo program in the army, so our company rang bells. when we sold the company, it became the family, ringing bells and that's quite a tradition. >> you must have been watching your dad do it. is it something you were eager to do or did you just feel like you should because you wanted to follow in your dad's footsteps? >> absolutely. >> yeah. >> it has become a family tradition. doing something that gives back to the community, that's something we were raised with. and try to do on a daily basis. >> and you all do it in denver, colorado, where it gets brisk. what about you guys? was it a natural thing for you as well? >> yeah, definitely. it started with the family, been ringing over 20 years now. >> it is funny because a lot of people now have smartphones and not everyone carries cash anymore. how do you guys incentivize

people to give? do you have a special technique? >> dancing, making noise. >> you do? >> what is your thing? >> eye contact is important. trying to get attention and we hand out candy canes to try to get people to come into the kettle. >> do you find most people are delighted to give or are there more and more grinches that you see in the streets today? >> still a lot of people that give. and sometimes it is surprising even the people that who gives cash in the kettle. >> you guys use big cowbells. >> the mother load right here. tell us about that, merrill. >> my grandfather had a set of four of these bells. and when he passed, the four bells were passed, two to one son, two to another son. these are those that our family has. >> that's heavy. >> they were made for the swiss

e ex exposition. >> there is a new technique you're talking about, the singing and dancing. we have somebody here who will show us -- >> yes. come on in. by the way, the guy is at rockefeller center. the tree is there, a lot of people have their eyes peeled on you. will you show us your technique? >> sure, sure. >> so we can dance. >> crank up the music. >> all right. ♪ >> do your thing. >> merry christmas! ♪ >> oh, yeah! >> how could you not give to guys like this, right? >> you can also donate to the salvation army. >> you can do that by purchasing kathie lee's book "good gifts," all the proceed goes to the organization. go to goodgiftsbook.org. >> we'll be back with another

good gift for a great cause. first this is "today" on nbc.

our 21st annual toy drive is in full swing thanks to your generous donations. we already shipped out nearly $8 million in toys and gifts. >> rick goings is tupperware's chairman and ceo and one of our very, very generous contributors. also on the national board of governors and the boys and girls clubs of america. and he's brought along the organization's national youth of the year. you know what her name is? mariah sullivan. >> congratulations, sweetheart. >> i saw you right away when we walked in. i thought, i wonder what she's here for. tell us about what you guys are donating. >> i think the most important thing is not only the product of boys and girls clubs, 4 million kids, mariah is an example. and we have distributed through the years to the clubs more than

50 million in toys from the "today" show. this year -- >> what is that? >> it is a frozen lunch box. >> oh, my goodness. >> that is the hottest thing going. do you mind if we put it in our little -- look, we have our little wagon. you can put a sandwich in there. that's -- that's a hot one. >> that's a hot one. >> thank you. >> you've been doing this for a long time. what compels you each year? >> this. >> great kid every year. >> yes. she's now in school, tell us about what you're studying? >> i'm studding science to be a neurosurgeon to help with brain cancer. >> i have no doubt you're going do it. >> congratulations. thank you for coming to see us. >> don't goeforget, our toy dri runs through december 19th. the details are on klgandhoda.com. >> the salvation army is asking people why they donate through the red kettle reason campaign. >> let us know why you do.

have an awesome fun day monday, everybody. we'll be back. i don't want to say it. >> i'll say it. booze day tuesday. >> don't listen. deciding between buying is no longer a problem. healthy pa offers name-brand health insurance for the cost of a few basic groceries. if you're uninsured, call or apply online today.

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(joe) happy holidays! ♪and best wishes from the lottery♪ nbc 10 news starts now. >> and right now at 11:00, we're tracking a nor'easter that's expected to bring heavy rain and strong winds to our area and some parts of our region could see snow out of this system. there's already some rain and flooding at the shore. this is video from our nbc 10 jersey shore bureau. you can see the high waters on edgewater avenue. then that nor'easter could bring more coastal flooding to places like cape may as we take a live look now from our camera at the marquise de lafayette. other areas are seeing snow. this is one of the nbc 10 crews out on the ac expressway driving from hamilton township into egg harbor township.