break of sunshine. the "today" show is next. we will see you back here in a few minutes. good morning. breaking news. a dramatic standoff unfolding in sydney, australia, right now, where a gunman is holding hostages inside a cafe. five of them managing to escape overnight while others are still being held sbchlt their captor is laying out unusual demands. we'll be live at the scene. captured, the third and final inmate escape friday a jail in alabama back in custody this morning. how police tracked down the dangerous fugitive more than 100 miles away. circling the wagon, sony pictures set to hold key meetings with staffers today, as staffer staffers. and now a christmas surprise.

and a brave base jumper pulls off the most spectacular high five you've ever seen. "today," monday, december 15th, 2014. >> announcer: from nbc news, this is "today" with matt lauer and savannah guthrie live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. good morning, everyone. welcome to "today" on a monday morning. got the gang all here, willie in for matt. breaking news out of australia this morning. a tense situation at a cafe in sydney. it's all playing out on live television, chilling images of hostages inside and the few who have made a daring dash to safety. let's go to nbc's sara james who has the latest this morning. sarah, good morning to you. >> reporter: good to tell you the latest and good morning to you as well. i want to tell you the latest on

the situation. i'm standing just a couple of hundred yard as way from that cafe where the lights went out a short time ago and so it's hard to see exactly what is going on inside, but we are hearing some things and we are hearing because some of those hostages are contacting media outlets and relaying information from the gunman. i'm also getting reports from some informed sources that police are zeroing in on exactly who this gunman is and they're learning more details about him. we will, of course, be following up on that. this drama began just 13 hours ago. 13 long hours for those inside. a dramatic dash to freedom. overnight, five hostages escaped the siege of the cafe in the heart of sydney, but an unknown number of others remain captive. it was shortly before 10:00 monday morning local time that at least one gunman took over

the lindt chocolate cafe, forced hostages to hold up their hands and an islamic banner. channel 7 has released this image of the gunman. >> for those that may be in that particular building, rest aassured we are doing all we can to set you free. >> reporter: cordoned off the city center. the opera house was evacuated as was the u.s. consulate a block away. air space over the center of the city, a no-fly zone. the prime minister addressed the nation. >> i can think of almost nothing more distressing, more terri terrifying than to be caught up in such a situation. >> reporter: many buildings were locked down, including the reserve bank of australia and some law offices. workers only allowed to leave mid afternoon.

>> holding a flag in the window and i can -- >> reporter: authorities are tight lipped about what they know about organizations. australia has been a staunch ally in the war against the islamic state. as hours tick by and hostages remain in peril. i should also tell you that the white house has been briefed on this ongoing situation here in australia by homeland security's lisa monaco. >> thank you so much. former senior fbi official is now the chief operating officer of the suppan group. i know it's early but does this seem to you like one of these lone wolf types of attacks? is this some homegrown jihadist answering the call? >> it seems to have that type of

a personality to it. as you said, it's early. but it appear that is this is a lone wolf styled attack. at least inspired by isis, based on, you know, his demand for wanted an isis flag and apparently speaking to a radio personality in australia, saying everybody is wrong about isis and this and that. so it seems like he is supporting the isis ideology. whether he has ever had any direct contact with them or if he's just inspired by them, too early to tell. >> but seeming to want some kind of attention. not only, of course, taking hostages, but having some of these hostages call newsrooms, media outlets, trying to relay messages to them. what do you make of that? >> he want this is story out there. this seems to have a different personality than in canada where the lone wolf person just started shooting at the first course of action. this person seems to have some kind of political motivation,

wants to speak to the prime minister, wants the media attention. even the location seems strategic, knowing he would get attention from media. what that story is, what he wants to tell, i guess we'll find out, possibly, in hours. right now it seems like we don't know what his motivation is. >> you mentioned he wants to speak to the prime minister. if you are a hostage negotiator, what's your approach in this situation? >> well, the approach is to try to string this along a little bit and buy some time. you want to, first and foremost, make sure the hostages are being well taken cared for. you're going to start maybe with smaller demands. and the course of action probably would be to get him to release more hostages. i wouldn't want to speculate more than that at this point and certainly wouldn't want to talk too much about tactics, given the fact that this is a live, ongoing scenario. >> an isis spokesman urged followers in western chris, including australia, to conduct

attacks. >> right. >> what's the possibility, in your mind, that this is someone who believes they're answering that call? >> it could very well be. we've seen the effectiveness of social media and how it drives these people to take action. this could be part of that. we just don't know. i guess as the investigation unfolds, we'll see. but at this point, it's likely. >> all right. don barelli, always good to get your perspective in times like this. thank you. appreciate it. >> sure. let's send it over to willie. >> three escaped inmates in alabama manhunt ended overnight. janet shamlian is in butler, alabama, with more on this story. janet, good morning. >> reporter: willie, good morning to you. that third suspect who authorities called extremely dangerous was recaptured about midnight in tuscaloosa, 100 miles from here. he is back in the jail behind me this morning. the trio broke out over the weekend in an escape the sheriff calls like something out of a

movie. they convinced a night jailer one of them was ill. when the jailer opened the door, they overcame him, stealing his cell phone and keys. the keys allowed them to unlock the jail and make their escape. two of the men were recaptured over the weekend. one of them 30 miles from here at a family member's home. the other 100 miles away in tuscaloosa in the parking lot of a movie theater. their crimes ranged from burglary to capital murder. and a total of 19 agencies, not just in alabama, but in mississippi as well, were involved in getting them back in custody this morning. willie, back to you. >> janet shamlian in alabama for us this morning. janet, thanks. >> now to that ongoing fallout over the controversial senate report of enhanced interrogation techniques post 9/11, should people involved in that program face criminal charges? chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell has been following this story. andrea, good morning to you. >> good morning, savannah.

early on, president obama and the attorney general ruled out prosecution, though they're under some pressure to change that now, even though the cia director has acknowledged some wrongdoing. but former vice president dick cheney, who helped to form the program after 9/11, went on "meet the press." denouncing the senate report as unfair to the cia and damaging to america's standing in the world. >> the report is seriously flawed. they didn't talk to anybody who knew anything about the program. >> does it plant any seed of doubt nein you, though? >> no. >> no seed of doubt whether this worked or not? >> it worked. it absolutely did work. >> reporter: disagreeing strongly, senator john mccain, himself tortured as a vietnam p.o.w. >> i urge everyone to read the report. these are the communications within the cia as to what happened. you can't claim that tying someone to the floor and have them freeze to death is not

torture. >> reporter: cheney did not back down when chuck todd cited examples where interrogators went beyond the rules. >> then suspected of -- subjected to internal recollectal ferecollect rectal feeding and rectal hydration. >> that doesn't meet the definition of -- >> i understand but dos it meet the definition of torture in your mind? >> the definition of torture, in my mind, is box cutters on 9/11. >> froze to death. and it turned out it was a case of mistaken identity. >> right. but the problem i have is with all the folk that is we did release that ended up back on the battlefield. >> the debate is not going away. previous investigations of the intelligence agencies for the most part is divided amongst partisan lines, which will not make it easy to agree on reforms

that might be needed. savannah and willie? >> thank you very much. more stars getting caught up in that cyber hack at sony pictures. >> good morning, willie. sony is planning a town hall meeting today. hackers are still releasing files from the cyber attack and promising even more as sony tries to control the damage. for the eighth time, hackers have released a batch of files stolen from sony pictures. >> it's a mind boggling amount of data. the expectation is that they will continue to release data all the way up until christmas day. >> in fact, the hackers have told media outlets to expect a christmas gift, larger quantities of data and more interesting, putting sony pictures into the worst state. throughout the weekend, some websites, including the daily beast, published new revelations, unkind e-mails from execs about leonardo dicaprio

and will smith's family. behind the next james bond film "spectre" says an early version of the screen play was taken by hackers, concerned that third parties who have received screenplay may try to publish it. the company does not consent to your possession, review, c copying, disemnation, publication, uploading, downloading or making any use of stolen information. but an editor with "variety" said it's the hackers who have made the information public. >> if journalists weren't reporting on it, bloggers are reporting on it, people online are talking about it, reading it. it's going to be hard to control the information now that it's out there. >> reporter: in a scathing op-ed for "the new york times," screen writer aaron sorkin blasted the media for publishing revelations from the hack, saying every news

outlet that did the bidding of the guardians of peace is morally treevenous and spectacular dishonorable. this hack doesn't just impact execs and stars. hackers have published social security numbers and other private data from sony employees. in a strange twist, the tech site recode, which partners with nbc news, says the hackers are offering to not release stolen data from employees if those employees write in and ask. savannah and willie? >> wow! joe, this story is not going away. joe friar in los angeles. thanks, joe. let's turn to natalie now, the investigation into the murder of a promising young athlete. >> that's right. police have made an arrest in the shooting death of auburn university football player, jakkel mitchell was shot early saturday morning. officers responding to gun shots found mitchell and rushed him to the hospital where he later died. 22-year-old marcal hart was

arrested for murder. the shooting stem friday an argument, investigators say. chris christie will join president obama in a visit to the new jersey military base. they will travel to joint base mcguire lakehurst, home to 38,000 active duty reserve and guard service members and their families. a 17-story building came crashing to the ground in a matter of seconds near detroit on sunday. the vacant building, owned by oakland community college, the 42-year-old building needed to come down. so the college posted an option on ebay for the right to push the ignition button. the winning bid of $8,000 will go to a student scholarship program. for a good cause. the most recognizable case in hockey has become the latest player in nhl to come down with the mumps. pittsburgh penguins announced

sunday that sydney crosby has been officially diagnosed with the disease. he will sit out his third straight game tonight. crosby joins eight other players to be diagnosed with the disease this season. can prevent most, but not all cases. breathtaking video this morning. death-defying stunt. base jumper nathan jones, attempting what many are calling the first air-to-ground high five. he climbed in his winged suit and you can see him flying above boulders and tree tops and eventually smashes right through that giant handheld up by another team member, all part of an effort to raise awareness for a well water project in africa. so another good cause there. >> right behind him. >> down low. remember that? >> yeah, up high, down low.

>> natalie, thank you so much. we have a check of the weather. >> yes, we do. really warm air out there. warm temperatures ahead of this system. showers and thunderstorms. in fact, right now, st. louis looking at wet weather. it will clear up later on this afternoon. getting up to 58 degrees in st. louis, about 20 degrees above normal. behind the system, we've got colder air. we do get a colder side to this storm. and we will be looking at some snow. generally about half an inch to an inch of rain. as you get north of minneapolis, one to three inches back through parts of southern south dakota and northern nebraska, could see upwards of six to nine inches of snow. we'll get

good morning. i'm meteorologist bill henley. a cloudy start, but clouds will be thinning out. we'll see more and more sunshine, warm into the upper 40s this afternoon. and tomorrow morning we'll get little colder, but a bit warmer in the afternoon, in spite of the chance of some light, scattered rain showers. not everybody will see them on tuesday. we'll see them clear out for wednesday and thursday it gets colder. lots of sunshine friday, but clouds are back this weekend with a chance of rain. and then a mix of rain and snow on sunday. have a great day. >> and that's your latest weather. >> al, thanks a lot. tamron is in for carson in the orange room. this story is crazy. uber in sydney.

>> online highly focused on the hostage situation ongoing in sydney #sydney siege has been the number one trend world wild for much of the night. but as the events unfolded, the car service company, as we mentioned, uber, has become a hot topic as well. the situation is when there's an increased demand of transportation in an area, uber increase its rates. the sydney business district, at the heart of this hostage situation, there was an increase in calls for people looking for transportation. uber uses an automated system to determine the pricing. if there's high demand for drivers, as i mentioned, uber increase the price so to bring in more cars to the area. uber drivers jumped four times higher than normal fares for the area. social media went crazy. this is ben white who writes politics for cnbc. how can there not be a human being at uber who can turn off

the algorithm that leads to pr disasters like this? they say surge price something automated and they took action to cap surge pricing and now made trips free for riders in the area. uber is offering refunds to anyone who has and was charged a higher amount. overall theme we're hearing from people on social media really is, where are the humans? where is the humanity when something like this happens? >> latest uber backlash. there's been a lot going on. >> a lot going on. >> tamron, thank you very much. a rolling stone reporter who wrote the article about the sexual assault on university of virginia campus is now apologizing to those mentioned in the article. bill cosby is speaking out and how the media is handling his comments. we'll have that. first this is "today" on nbc.

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good morning. i'm chris cato. it's 7:26 on your monday and let's see how things are shaping up outside with your first alert forecast and meteorologists bill henley. bill? >> chris, clouds are hanging in there for now. we will see them thin out. we'll finally get some sunshine. at the shore, the clouds are looking a little bit thinner as the sun's coming up now. 42 degrees here at nbc 10. 43 right now in wildwood. in fact, most of the area's in the low 40s with the clouds overhead. really didn't get cold overnight. clouds thin out. temperature climbs to 45 degrees at lunchtime, upper 40s this afternoon. now it's time for a check of traffic with nbc 10's first alert traffic reporter jillian mele. jillian? >> good morning to you, chris. starting off with an accident in

bucks county, route 1 southbound right by the pennsylvania turnpike. most of it's on the shoulder, but we are seeing a big delay approaching that scene. speaking of delays, 95 southbound out near cottman avenue. we had an incident on the northbound side of 95 earlier this morning causing that delay, but the delays are starting to clear out. southbound from woodhaven to the vine is going to be a 27-minute trip. chris? and those of you driving through lansdale, montgomery county, will want to be aware of this breaking news we're following. skyforce10 was over the scene earlier of a shooting at fifth and pierce streets in lansdale. what we know at this point is that a woman was shot. we don't know her condition, but police, the s.w.a.t. team is there searching nearby buildings for the shooters. still haven't located him at this point. so, there is some police activity still occurring in lansdale. we'll stay on top of that for you. we'll have another local update for you in about 25 minutes. you can always get the latest news and weather at nbc10.com.

7:30 now on this monday morning. it's the 15th of december, 2014. that's ten days until christmas. we've got a big holiday crowd out on the plaza. lot of shoppers out there. good to have you along on monday morning. >> doesn't that just trigger something? >> schroeder at the piano. >> i'm there. >> the best. third and final inmate who broke out of a jail in alabama is back in custody this morning. 23-year-old demarcus woodard was arrested at a friend's apartment overnight. he and two others escaped after overpowering a guard saturday morning. two more storms are set to drench california this week, coming on the heels of those powerful systems that caused

flooding and mudslides last week. dramatic standoff unfolding overnight at a cafe in sydney, australia, where a gunman has been holding people hostage now for hours. let's get the latest with sara james. she is at the scene. sarah, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. and, indeed, that situation continues to play out. and the anxiety and concern for those hostages grows. the last image we had was a poignant one of a woman right before she turned out the lights there in that cafe, the lindt cafe. this was a drama which began much earlier this morning here in the center of the city, in a lovely part of town that's the financial, political, media center. suddenly it was swarming with police as hostages were taken on their way to have a cup of coffee in the small cafe. several hostages, five in all, managed to escape. but there are others and we're not sure how many.

possibly 15 who are still there, hunkered down tonight. and we are also trying to learn more about the gunman. some of those hostages were forced to hold an islamic flag up against the windows. the entire cbd right around the lindt cafe was evacuated. workers were sent home and, meantime, we're trying to find out more. the gunman is known to the police. they do know who this is. media have been asked not to release those details. and the entire information is taking place on social media. things are being tweeted. information is being passed that way. and that is one of the main ways in which it's getting out, in addition to the hostages contacting media outlets with the demands of this gunman. and, again, we're more than 13 hours out and there is no sign of when it's going to end. >> sara james on the scene in sydney for us. thank you. >> we'll continue to follow it

this morning. meanwhile, we're hearing from friends at the center of the controversial rolling stone article of the alleged sexual assault at the university of virginia campus. kristen welker has the story. >> reporter: some are calling this ridiculous. seeing jackie after the attack, they did everything they could to help her. the university of virginia and "rolling stone." >> i happcouldn't help but noti that everything that the article said about me was incorrect. >> reporter: jackie, after she said she was attacked in 2012. >> she looked really, really scared and really shaken up. >> reporter: he tells the associated press he urged jackie to go to the police and even started to dial 911, but that jackie said she just wanted to go back to her room and sleep. alex stock called andy in the

article is also speaking out. >> the discussion that was portrayed in there about, you know, us not wanting to help her, then we wouldn't be able to get into fraternity parties, i think it's ridiculous. >> reporter: "rolling stone" has pulled the article and told us they won't comment until they finish an internal investigation. the writer behind the story, sabrina urban rooley, has reached out to the third person mentioned in the article. >> katherine is referred to as a hook-up queen and katherine said sabrina contacted her to apologize for that. >> reporter: through her attorney, jackie declined to comment. her friend says he wants to believe her story but that a larger issue is more important. >> it doesn't matter whether it's true or not, because whether this one incident is true, there's still a huge problem with sexual assault in the united states. >> reporter: now the friends also say jackie's original story, to them, about the

assault was different than what she allegedly told "rolling stone." all greek life remains suspended at uva pending an internal investigation. sav ana wianna savannah, will willie, back to >> thank you very much. >> let's get a check of the weather now from al. >> announcer: "today's" weather is brought to you by kay jewelers. every kiss begins with kay. after so many folks in central and northern california got socked, even into southern california, we've got another one-two punch of showers and thunderstorms coming into san francisco right now. here is the first system, more powerful system back out into the pacific. that will get in here some time tomorrow. so, we're going to be tracking these storms, heavy showers, thunderstorms. the good new sincere we're starting to see a lot of snow in the sierra. that will help with the snow pack. so, two rounds, snow levels rolling to about 5,000 feet. we are looking to get at the possibility of flash flooding as well. look for heavy showers and thunderstorms from minnesota all

the way down into louisiana. beautiful day along the eastern seaboard. temperatures, though, chillier than they should be. only 77 in miami today. icy conditions through the plains with snow making its way from minnesota into parts of utah. that's what's good morning. i'm meteorologist bill henley. a cloudy start, but clouds will be thinning out. we'll see more and more sunshine, warm into the upper 40s this afternoon. and tomorrow morning will get a little colder, but a built warmer in the afternoon, in spite of the chance of light, scattered rain showers. not everybody will see them on tuesday. we'll see them clear out for wednesday and thursday it gets colder. lots of sunshine friday, but clouds are back this weekend with a chance of rain and then a mix of rain and snow on sunday. have a great day. >> and that's your latest weather. >> al, thanks a lot. up next, bill cosby speaks out. how he says his wife is dealing with the sexua behind every open heart... is a story.

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we're back at 7:40. bill cosby is speaking out in a new interview. tamron has more on that. tamron? >> good morning, everyone. after weeks remaining quiet amid an unprecedented flood of sexual assault allegations, bill cosby has now given brief comments about the scandal that now surrounds him. bill cosby speaks out, breaking his silence in a phone interview with stacey brown, reporter with the washington informer, telling brown the african-american media should be impartial toward him amidst his sex abuse scandal saying, quote, i only expect the black media to uphold the standards of excellence in journalism. and when you do that, you have to go in with a neutral mind. when asked how his wife of more than 50 years, camille cosby, has been handling the situation, cosby said the love and the strength of womanhood. and you could reverse it, the strength of womanhood and love.

he cut off the conversation, saying they don't want me talking to the media. martin singer said i have not confirmed that bill cosby made the statement to stacey brown. he has refused to comment on the allegations, most notably with npr radio. >> and when asked to comment on the allegations. >> no, no, we don't answer that. i don't want to compromise your integrity, but we don't -- i don't talk about it. >> more than two dozen women have publicly claimed that cosby sexually assaulted him. some say that he drugged them first. the allegations span at least four decades, beginning in the 1960s. last week, another high-profile accuser came forward. supermodel beverly johnson, who says he drugged her during a meeting about a role on "the cosby show." >> i immediately felt something from the first sip and, and it

was almost like i didn't really believe it so i took another sip. and it wasn't long after that that i knew i had been drugged. >> now cosby's attorneys have consistently denied the women's claims and he has never been charged with a crime in connection with these allegations, but more fallout for the comedian today. spellman university has indefinitely suspended a prestigious professorship funded by and named after bill cosby, as he deals with these sex assault allegations. >> it's very interesting. he made some remarks to a reporter. doesn't sound like a full interview, but interesting to hear what he had to say. >> interesting that he focused on the black media as opposed to all media but these are his words. >> thanks, tamron. team adam versus team blake in "the voice" finale. why is blake saying it will be an epic fail, his words, if aon

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♪ >> we're back now at 7:48. barry manilow coming up in a few moments. with christmas just ten short days away, expect some company if you're planning to go to the post office today. anne thompson has more on the holiday rush. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, savannah. this is crunch time for the postal service. today it's expecting an avalanche of cards, letters and packages, the most it will handle all year. the holiday rush is on.

today, the postal service expects to process 640 million pieces of mail, a 5% increase over last year. >> this is our season. and we're ready and we're ready to go. >> gift givers should feel merrier. gas prices are down and consumer confidence is up. >> i'm mailing a package to my grandkids in georgia. >> i am mailing a gift to a secret santa child. >> reporter: with millions of americans clicking their way through their list, online sales are expected to jump 16%. fedex says that will make today a record-breaking day. it expects to move 22.6 million packages, twice as many as normal. u.p.s. says it's busiest delivery day is still a week away. both shippers promise they have learned from last year's mistakes when bad weather and an unanticipated spike in orders delayed many gifts. now if you're still wrapping, here are the key dates to make sure your packages get there by

christmas. for regular postal service, you have to get it in the mail by today. if you use fedex ground and home delivery, you have until wednesday. and if you send it by u.p.s. ground, thursday is your cutoff. now for those of you who feel more like scrooge when it comes to shipping charges, mark december 18th down on your calendar. on that day nearly 1,000 retailers, including j. crew, l.l. bean and nordstrom will offer free shipping. >> i like that. >> savannah, have you got your christmas shopping down? >> yes. just say yes. >> a little, yeah. it's in the mail, anne. >> thank you so much. >> all right. prince george did not make the trip to america last week with his parents but the duke and duchess of cambridge are still showing him off in pictures. tamron has those. hey, tamron. >> hey, guys with holiday spirit, christmas cards are supposed to be in the mail, i hope by now. this is the official christmas photo of prince george.

released by his parents. i'm just going to be honest, might be one of the cutest things i've seen ever. he is only 1. look how the kid posed. the doe eyes. look at that. and this is very gq. in the moment. he's prince spanky. thank you, al. in honor of the prince and his adorable photos we asked viewers to share theirs. look at liz's elf on a shelf. i am in love with this do for obvious reasons. and up next, my first little christmas. that's quite a present. so cute and monica sent santa's little helper. love working accurate with the eyes. so we're asking you to send in some of your merry moments from past holidays. some of the moments you captured leading up to this one. #today holidays.

we'll be sharing more moments. so vale, savannah, you sent me a picture last night. >> yes. >> she was not wearing a christmas outfit. she was wearing the eagles, who lost, right? >> oh! >> they lost to the cowboys. >> tamron, rub it in. 7:52. i can't believe it took her this long. >> opened my e-mail from savannah, thinking it's something sweet. it's her child posed in an eagles outfit. >> fly, eagles, fly. good game, though. thank you, tamron. does your husband ever zone out when you're talking? >> were you ♪ oh what fun it is to ride. get the mercedes-benz on your wish list at the winter event going on now - but hurry,

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this is the breaking news just in to nbc 10. a school bus has crashed in salem county. here's what we know at this point. new jersey state police are on the scene at route 40 and buck road in pittsburgh township. what we know at this time is that there was one student aboard the bus when it crashed. we know that neither the student nor the driver were injured. there were no injuries here. we're still working to find out exactly what caused the crash. we'll have the impact on traffic for you in just a moment. now let's turn our attention to the weather. nbc 10 first alert meteorologist bill henley has your forecast. bill? >> good morning, chris. we're still looking at lots of clouds. we're starting to see some breaks in the clouds over the pocono mountains. this is a view from ski big bear. a little blue sky trying to poke through the clouds. we'll be thinning out as the day goes on and we'll finally get some sunshine today. not all that cold, 43 degrees in philadelphia, 40 in trenton. wilmington is 42 degrees. and with thinny skies, we'll get some sunshine and a warm-up to

near 50 this afternoon. now with a look at how that bus crash we mentioned is impacting traffic, here's jillian mele. >> that's right, chris. good morning to you. we expect to see lane restrictions at route 40 and buck road. so, if you need to get around that, dutch row road is going to be a good option for you there. this is 76 westbound side crawling along at city avenue. eastbound heavy near the conshohocken curve, also near montgomery drive. and if you're traveling the area bridges, they're looking pretty good. the burlington bristol is open right now for a ship to pass through, so traffic is stopped for a few minutes. chris? and we'll update this story this morning. a philadelphia police officer shot and killed a man during a traffic stop early this morning. police have now wrapped up their investigation on frankford avenue in mayfair. the suspect's car was towed away just minutes ago. police say they're still investigating the exact circumstances of the shooting, but they say the man was pulled over for a traffic violation. he got into a struggle with the officer and the officer shot and killed him. the suspect has not been identified. i'm chris cato. we're back with another update in 25 minutes. have a great day.

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it's 8:00 on "today." body after baby. why some women struggle to lose the weight and are actually heavier one year later. stars come out to celebrate taylor swift's birthday. could matt's selfie with women of music take the cake? michael buble celebrating christmas with some of his friends. >> let's talk about barbara. how did you get her on board? >> we'll talk about his special and some of his favorite family traditions "today," monday, december 15th, 2014.

>> we're on the plaza because we made santa's nice list. >> good morning, frisco, tennessee. >> good morning, texas. >> sister's trip from florida. >> we're from texas. >> i'm 21 today! >> whoo! it is 8:00 on "today," beautiful morning on our plaza. loud morning on our plaza. >> big, big crowd. >> great to have you along with us on a monday. matt is off today. we have willie standing in. fair to say we have a lot of crooners in our crowd. >> as far as the eye can see. michael buble coming up. not the only grammy winner we have. barry manilow in the building

sticking around all morning to talk about his new album and, of course, barry will perform live and apparently sign some baseballs as well. >> what's your favorite barry manilow? >> can i vote right now? mag mandy. >> mandy. >> what's yours, al? >> #it's a miracle. then the pitfalls of the holiday season when it comes to your diet. all those party foods and drinks can add up. quick tips to help you trim your holiday fat. this is kind of like willie's holiday party. we were all falling down. nobody was helping us up. >> picking you up off the floor. >> i love that she was in like ten-inch heels. did you see that? >> who, jenna? >> no, joy. >> and jenna's like 100 months pregnant g get them, ladies. >> we'll see them in a minute. first, top stories. good morning, natalie. >> good morning once again. terror has gripped the heart of australia where a gunman is holding hostages inside a

downtown cafe. sara james is live. good morning. >> reporter: five of those hostages have escaped. nevertheless there are a number of hostages which remain behind me just a couple of hundred yards from where i am standing is the lindt chocolate cafe. this is where all of this started here in the heart of the financial media and political center of sydney 14 hours ago. one gunman, at least one, came into the cafe, held the hostages, forced them to hold up their hands and an islamic banner. he has made demands to the police. he has done that, though, through the hostages, using them to circulate his demands to the media in hopes of getting what he wants. he has asked to speak to the prime minister and have an official isis flag. police are in communication and have said they know who he is but media is being asked not to report that.

this situation, police have been everywhere. the sydney opera house was evacuated, the u.s. consulate was evacuated and buildings were in lockdown. right now all thoughts are with the hostages. natalie? >> sara james in sydney with this still-developing story. thank you. now to washington where dick cheney is speaking out on that senate report, accusing the cia of torturing terror suspects. on nbc's "meet the press," cheney told chuck todd he would do it again in a minute. and that what the u.s. learned from those enhanced interrogation techniques, he said, prevented more attacks on americans after 9/11. he also said president bush knew what was happening contrary to the senate report. correction on a story we brought to you last hour about an auburn university football player shot and killed early saturday morning. the man arrested and charged in the shooting death of jakkel

mitchell is this man, markel hart. we showed you a video of a man who escaped from a jail in alabama earlier and we apologize for that error. taking care of their new offspring. adults first came onshore for nesting last month. the result is adorable brown penguins, all fluffy. the adult goes into the water to find food for their babies and then return to land and have to find their own little ones in that crowd of penguins. like finding a needle in the haystack. it's 8:05 right now. a check of the weather once again with mr. roker. hey, al. >> hey, how are you doing, kiddo? we've got all these folks out here. huge crowd. bringing toys for our toy drive. wow, what does it say? i'm your birthday present? happy birthday. what's your name, young lady? how old are you today?

>> my birthday is in three day. >> how old will you be? >> i will be 8. >> that's a good age. that's a good one. i like that. happy birthday. let's show you what we have happening for today. wet weather, memphis and in san francisco. a lot of rain to talk about. showers and thunderstorms hanging around. in fact, in california getting more heavy rain. a lot of folks getting a lot of warm weather. it's hard to believe. it is warmer in chicago than it is in atlanta today. that's nuts. columbus, 52 degrees. that's ten degrees above average. wet weather also with that system back behind it, snow, icy conditions, more rain moving into northern california. east coast looking fantastic from caribou, maine, to miami. we'v good morning, i'm meteorologist bill henley. a cloudy start but clouds will be thinning out. we'll see more and more sunshine

and warm and into the upper 40s. tomorrow morning a little colder and scattered rain showers. we'll clear out for wednesday, thursday it gets colder. clouds are back this weekend mix of rain and snow on sunday. have a great day. >> and that's your latest weather. >> al, thank you very much. coming up on trending, you'll be surprised when we reveal the holiday's least favorite gift to receive. >> i was surprised. >> i was shocked by this one. >> me, too. why it's so hard for some women to get rid of the baby weight after our bundles of joy arrive. latest on the new study. and songs that make jenna sing, and the baby? we'll catch up with the great barry manilow. first these messages. ah, the bold new camry. you can get a great deal during toyotathon.

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>> i love book. >> don't kill the messenger. >> number three, home decor. i don't know. flowers and plants finish second. the worst gift that people say they got, booze. >> really? >> i don't buy that. >> a full 25% said no, we don't -- booze like spirits, rum, tequila, vodka. >> i guess people have their preferences when it comes to what they drink. >> and not everyone likes hard lker. >> wine is a safer bet. >> it is but it's also on the list, number six or something. >> we all drink but there's the assumption that others -- and then you go to someone's house, they don't drink. >> i have booze that people gave us three, four years ago. we just don't drink it. >> you don't drink it. >> regift it. >> regift. >> i do. >> you'll be getting some later. >> exactly. exactly. >> we like it at the christmas party. we'll take 'em. i want to know what you all think of this one. men accused of having short attention spans, especially when talking with a significant other. thanks to a new study that is a

bunch of hooey, if you ask me -- yes, i used the word hooey and make no apology. six minutes. men can stand talking with their partners for just six minutes, it turns out, before they tune them out. >> i don't believe it. >> i say four minutes. >> i say 2 1/2. >> what were the topics that bored men the most? talk about their partner's co-workers. this one is awful. their partner's feelings. >> yeah. >> wow! >> and what their partner had for lunch. >> that is boring. >> i reject this beer commercial portrayal of men. >> oh, please. >> who are insensitive. >> what did christina have for lunch yesterday? prove it. >> i hang on every word my wife says. >> we have christina on the line. just kidding. >> deborah and i have been talking about this lately. she will start talking and i want to ring a bell or buzzer or something so that i know -- sometimes she starts talking, she's talking in general, not to

anybody in particular. >> but she wants you to weigh in. [ buzzer ] >> exactly, like that. i want a game show. [ dinging ] >> do you feel like we pay attention or no? >> no, i don't and i think six minutes is too long. men tune out far sooner than that. >> especially talking about feelings. >> feelings, you hang on. >> that's the thing. >> they look at you like, uh-huh, upset, don't feel valued. did you say something? >> here is when we do, when we agree with you, we're wrong, we screwed up and you want to keep going over it. we want to go out for a burger. >> raise the white flag already. >> i'm wrong. i'm done. let's focus on something positive in the world of relationships. congratulations are in store for jason kennedy and lauren scruggs. kathie lee was amongst the

guests. they tweeted a photo from their honeymoon. they cannot wait to spend the rest of their lives together. e! will have a special look at the nuptials next wednesday night. they are a darling couple. >> too bad they're not attractive. >> congrats, guys. the latest proof, taylor swift turned 25 over the weekend. look who turned out to celebrate. jay-z, beyonce, justin timberlake, sam smith, just to name a few. speaking of taylor, matt is a pretty cool guy on friday taking a selfie with taylor, aretha franklin, idina menzel, ariana grande, jesse jay and the other big stars of today at billboard magazine's women in music. he tweeted billboard magazine's women in music 2014 and one very

lucky old, bald guy. hoda was in the audience, who took this picture serenading taylor "happy birthday." >> ellen selfie. >> very excited about that. that is what's trending today. finding that perfect holiday gift can be challenging. turns out our friends from "night at the museum: secret of the tomb" are having problems as well. >> happy holidays, larry. >> oh, thanks. >> the scepter of the sun god. it's been in my family over 4,000 years. >> wow! got you a little something. >> oh, thank you. >> it's a neck pillow. >> right. >> announcer: "night at the museum: secret of the tomb" in theaters friday. >> that must be the tag on there. >> very excited about that in our house. >> oh, yeah.

our kids are so excited. >> opens on friday. let's send it over to savannah. having a baby, of course, is an exciting time. a lot of new moms struggle to lose the weight after the baby comes and a new study is showing it could take a lot longer than you might think. from kim kardashian to jessica simpson to gwyneth paltrow, the transformations are eye popping. they seem to get back into star-studded shape before you can say, is it a boy or a girl? here is kate middleton, one day after the birth of prince george and just months later. to most women it seems like a fairy tale. >> it's difficult when you look at these celebrity magazines and you see your favorite stars losing weight. it makes me feel like why can't i lose the weight that quickly as well? >> a new study finds almost three-quarters of women were heavier one year after giving birth than they were before they got pregnant, many of them even becoming obese. among women in a normal weight range prepregnancy, almost half

kept more than ten pounds one year later. almost a quarter kept 20 pounds or more. and it's not just a question of looks. >> down the road, as they get older, they potentially are increased risk of cardiac disease, diabetes, and all the other complications, including certain cancers that are associated with being overweight. >> many new moms say they come second. it's all about their kids. >> and being a mother you don't have time for yourself. >> but doctors say you can lose the baby weight. >> the best way to really return to one's pre-pregnancy weight is to exercise, remain and maintain a certain level of fitness and eat healthfully. >> breastfeeding can help shed the pounds. studies show moms can burn between 300 and 500 calories every time they breast feed. so even if you don't have the personal trainers, nannies and chefs that celebrities do, you can get back to your

prepregnancy weight. >> just because you see a celebrity, you know, losing weight quickly, don't base your life on that. but if you use that as motivation, i think it can be a positive thing. >> well, dr. natalie azar is an nbc news contributor. dr. azar, good morning to you. >> good morning, savannah. >> i don't know how i feel about this study. women, new moms have enough pressure as it is. this study saying a year later, three-quarters of women still have some weight on them. is that such a big deal? >> well, look, i don't think the intention of the study was to make women feel more guilty or guiltier about how they look after pregnancy. i think what is starting here is a conversation more about what are the actual implications of the fact that women might be gaining too much weight during pregnancy, which is a risk factor for your pregnancy and, more importantly, if that percentage of women a year post partum are still carrying that extra weight, what kind of long-term health implications could that carry for those women? >> we're not necessarily talking about a pound or two. >> no, no, no.

>> it's ten pounds or more. and in some cases some women have become obese after. >> a quarter of the women were 20 pounds overweight. there's a few caveats about this study and a few limitations on it. cohort of women, 800 women, the average bmi prior to pregnancy was in the overweight category. >> the body mass index? >> correct. now that doesn't mean if you're of normal weight this couldn't happen to you. but a proportionally high number of women had started off their pregnancy overweight. the implication there is that it's harder for them to lose. >> so you're going to say another thing about the study? >> well, yeah -- no. overall i've had friends who have had the means and capability to lose the weight after pregnancy and still had difficulty with it. so we want to also be careful. we don't just want to generalize to the population in general. this is a selected group of women who they actually studied. >> what are you recommending for women? it seems to me that a lot of the

advice you get is to start during pregnancy. >> right. >> don't put on so much weight. >> exactly. >> which, by the way, is hard to do, as someone who put on 42 pound. >> one of the highlights that came from this study, take-home messages is that the risk factors for being overweight a year later is that you gained too much weight during pregnancy or started off with a too high bmi. the easiest way to lose your baby weight is actually can start weeks to months before you're pregnant. you want to be a healthy, active person. you want to be healthy when you enter into a pregnancy. women who exercise regularly during pregnancy and gain the appropriate recommended amount tend to have much less difficulty losing that weight post partum. you want to go by the guidelines, whatever your bmi is prior to pregnancy, this is a conversation you need to have with your ob, maintain that physical activity during pregnancy and maintain it, start it as soon as you can after pregnancy, after discussing with your physician when it's safe for you to start exercising

again. >> dr. natalie azar, thank you. i sucked in my stomach the entire segment. thank you so much. over to willie. >> savannah, thank you very much. now to "the voice" on "today," the top four performing. as carson explains, the battle is just as intense as their coaches, adam lavigne and blake shelton. >> reporter: just hours after being eliminated from the competition -- ♪ catch a grenade for you >> reporter: damien lawson made a surprise comeback. >> oh, no, damien! >> reporter: joining chris jamison, matt mcandrew and craig wayne boyd as the final four heading into tonight's finale. ♪ i'll be there >> reporter: as the four contestants battle for the title on stage, the backstage competition between their superstar coaches is heating up. team adam is represented by

three artists. ♪ everybody's my best friend >> reporter: team blake goes into the finals with just one. >> if adam manages not to win "the voice," it will be the most epic fail. not just on "the voice" but on network television. how do you mess that up? ♪ somewhere sfwlr determi >> reporter: determined to mess it up, adam spent the weekend working with his contestants. >> little more urgent. >> reporter: hoping to catch up with blake's three championship wins. adam currently has two. >> i think if any one of my three wins, team adam will be happy. i know that. these guys love each other. honestly, i'll be mad at blake, because i don't like him. >> reporter: like it or not, blake is going all out for win number four. ♪ i know she's bound to be tired ♪ ♪ living it up in the city >> reporter: the two-day finale

will be packed with superstar performances from bruno mars, ed sheeran and meghan trainer singing her new single "lips are moving." but for the next two nights, it's the songs coming from the lips of chris, matt, damien and craig who will determine whose named seven season winner of "the voice." ♪ >> another really talented group. so nice to watch adam and blake go at it. >> that's the best part. >> i like how he's raising the expectations, it will be the worst fail in television history. >> that's how they go at it. again "the voice" finale kicks off tonight, 8:00, 7:00 central here on nbc. the winner will join us live wednesday morning on "today." >> cool. >> can't wait to meet whoever that is of that group of four

right there. let's go to the orange room with tamron. >> from "the voice" to the voice, coming up, legend barry manilow, loving "the voice." we'll talk about his remarkable new duet album. congratulations on that. >> thank you. >> you're excited? >> i do. i love it. >> feel like the new kid on the scene? >> so proud of it. >> and a performance

good morning, i'm chris kate oh, it's 8:26. time for a check with meteorologist bill henley. warming up out there? >> holding steady thanks to the clouds. they will be thinning out and we'll get some sunshine this afternoon. 43 degrees in philadelphia, holding at 32 in the pocono mountains. the wind is picking up a little bit. a little breezy at times but dry as we head towards 50 degrees. >> we had a school bus accident earlier in salem county. let's see if that's still impacting traffic. >> this is right at the intersection of route 40 and

buck road. you can take dutch row road as your alternate. we have some fire department activity there, so part of that ramp is going to be blocked. heavy volume on 76 between both directions. westbound is heavy, almost 30 minutes. chris? >> an update on breaking news out of montgomery county we've been following this morning. we've just learned that police are investigating a second lotion that could be related to a shooting earlier in lands dail. a woman was injured in that shooting. police were looking for the gunman but they've cleared the scene. we know they're at a second scene about six miles from that shooting scene. we'll continue to follow it and have updates in about 25 minutes. you can get the latest at nbc 10.com.

8:30 now on this monday morning. it is the 15th of december, 2014. pretty day out here on our plaza. look who we have here, barry manilow. we are really working him hard this morning. first the orange room, now collecting toys for our toy drive. we'll get a performance out of him and also willie interviewing barry manilow about his new album and my dream duet.

>> that's right. that's coming up. first, it's time to get serious about your holiday shopping. the hottest tech gifts for men and women. >> love that sweater, katie. all right. and then the secret to trimming the holiday fat from your workouts and your diet. >> jenna. >> every time through the office you see her doing that. and michael buble stars in his fourth christmas special. some big names helping him out. we'll talk to him about that. miss pigy, hanging with the big names. let's get a check of the weather with mr. roker. >> strong showers and storms ahead of this front from minnesota down to louisiana. more wet weather into northern and central california. tomorrow, we've got the showers here in the midatlantic states into the northeast. more windy, wet weather from the pacific northwest all the way

down into southern california. the sunshine continues, though, from minnesota, with more seasonal temperatures all the way back down into louisiana. new orleans look at a high of 65 meteorologist bill henley. a cloudy start but clouds will be thinning out. we'll see more and more sunshine and warm into the upper 40s. tomorrow, some scattered rain showers. not everybody will see them on tuesday. we'll clear out for wednesday. thursday it gets colder. sunshine on friday but clouds back this weekend with a chance of rain and a mix of rain and snow on sunday. have a great day. >> and that is your latest weather. tamron? >> announcer: "let it glow" on "today" is brought to you by wink. build your smart home at

wink.com. >> al, thank you very much. take a look at this amazing holiday light display in california, timed to the tune of "all i want for christmas." check it out. ♪ i don't want a lot for christmas there is just one thing i need ♪ >> we're working with wink, an app that controls your smart phone, smart home to search for the greatest holiday lights in america. so take a look. it is called "let it glow today." send in video and pictures of your festive outdoor light displays. you can share on "today's" facebook page and even on today.com. we're just asking that you use the #let it glow contest for a chance to win a very special prize. make sure the house is yours. if your neighbor's lights caught your eye, tell them to enter. we cannot wait to see what you have for us. all right, willie. >> thanks a lot, tamron. my dream duet is out now.

so good to see you. >> thank you. thank you. >> 14th grammy nominations for "night songs." do you still get excited when that comes? >> i do. that was kind of under the radar. i'm very proud of it. just playing piano and singing great standards. my dream duet is -- wow! >> let's explain this to people. such a cool concept. it strikes me as difficult. you swing with whitney wrooivt unscathed.

joy bauer is "today's" nutrition and jena wolf is a certified personal trainer. we'll start with you. >> i have my uniform on. >> we like to call you kiljoy this time of year. >> festive food without compromising the flavor or the fun. and, as you know, i only have one minute. i am going to run through this wicked fast. i am going to talk at such a rapid pace. you can go to today.com. every single tip and every single recipe that we're about to run through is right there. >> all right. let's start the clock. we've got 60 seconds. and, joy, go. >> fairsed with a delicious slice of pie.

slice off that outer crust. save that part. automatically saved 100 calories. okay. when you are -- instead of going a la mode, that ice cream costs you an extra 150 calories. go a la cream. just 20 calories. >> okay. >> in recipes, swap out the oil for low-sodium broth. i did this in this amazing pesto sauce and tossed it with low-cal, low carb zucchini linguine. >> 15 seconds, missy. >> mine, 145. and go skinny dipping when making creamy dips. instead of sour cream, nonfast greek yogurt. 20 calories. >> very well done. >> whoo! thank you very much. >> good tips and done in 60

seconds. give it to me right there. let's go down to jenna, focused on trimming calories and also working out. >> savsavannah, we're trimming calories through the course of the day. starting with the basics, walking. i'm doing it right now. easy. effective. here is the number i want you to reach. 10,000. 10,000 steps a day. go get yourself an inexpensive pedometer at a pharmacy or something. clip it on. walk during commercial breaks. park further from the store. circle the mall three times before you walk in. find a way to hit 10,000 steps every day of the week, if possible. you will see results at the end of the week, in a month. you will feel better and you will get the blood moving every single day. three arm exercises that i use to help tone myself up after i had the baby. number one, we're going to do upper cuts, 100 upper cuts, core tight, biceps tight, back is tight. 100. number two, claps without actually touching. number three, triceps collapse.

100, 100, 100. work your tris, bis, back. upper body and lower body with the walking. you never have to step foot in the gym. savannah? >> so it's like this? okay, good. i think i've got it. ice cream, whipped cream. >> you should come up and eat the mashed potatoes. >> they're half cauliflower. up next, the hottest his and her tech gifts of the year. first this is "today" on nbc.

we are back now at 8:43 with our holiday gift guide "stuff we love," for the tech-loving guys and gals on your list. katie and digital lifestyle expert mario armstrong will tackle the men. you go that way. we'll go this way. we get to start, katie. >> let's do this. gifts for the ladies.

always on the go and stylish. check this out. this is actually a very connected way to go. this is from express tech. lots of different styles. what the heck does it do? very cool. mobile charger right inside. >> oh, my gosh. >> conveniently comes in, comes out. starting at $30 at express.com. this baby here is a blue tooth speaker. there is white quilted, pink polka dot and also black quilted. you can actually take calls because it's a speaker phone. >> so much better than walking around with a boom box, which is what i do. let's talk about photos here. >> hello, nostalgia. check this baby out. this is from project impossible, $199. you actually put up to an iphone 5s and instantly print out a photo. it takes about 15 seconds. willie and i did a selfie

earlier. >> you just rest your iphone in here and it prints it? >> yes. >> incredible. >> different films you can use from black and white to color. you get that whole nostalgia analog print. >> genius. personalization. >> for all gifts big and small, customized video box. you can throw in a smart phone, some jared. we don't judge. whatever you want to put inside there. you can actually customize a video with audio. box comes in a number of different shapes, colors and sizes. >> love it. coffee maker. >>o my gosh! stay caffeinated. go ahead and open this baby up. what's inside here? boring coffee mug. this is actually a smart brewer from mr. coffee, up to 10 cups of coffee. what's neat about it, you can have that coffee ready before you even wake up. schedule it up to a week in advance and it will send you notifications like, you need to refill the water. go ahead and use your smart phone to start brewing. >> that is brilliant.

>> for her, willie. >> no, i'm keeping this one. what have you guys got? >> first of all, i can open the present. >> you can. >> go pro. >> least expensive go pro on the market. live feed to that. >> where is the lens? i see. >> hey! so it's a great video camera it that can get great angles for sports, activities, strap it on to helmets, chest mounts and even a strap for your dog. >> not as pricey as we think of? >> no, $129. >> i like it. what have we got here? >> dig in. voila. that is the new blue tooth mini. sorry. got to get our dance on real quick. >> dancing not included. >> boom mini, big sound, small speaker, bluetooth connected. you can add more than one to give you that stereo sound if you combine them. ten hours of battery life. >> one phone could play two speakers?

>> stereo. >> this is good if you or your man travel. >> conference calls speaker phone. >> oh, sure. should we do this one next? >> no, we'll do that one last. >> okay. >> every guy is talking about smart watches. this is the pebble watch. only $99. this is great. get all your e-mail notifications, twitter, facebook, updates, even caller i.d. right to your wrist. >> work with his any phone? >> work with his any phone, android and apple, which is really, really awesome. and the other thing is that it has apps that connect to it as well. >> you don't read your e-mail on that? it's just alerting you that you have e-mail? >> you can do some reading but you probably want to go to your e-mail. >> lastly? >> last but not least, you have a pair of -- watch yourself. >> oh, that's cool. it's an airplane. >> this is the rolling spider which has these wheels. indoor or outdoor. goes up to 66 feet.

11 miles per hour if you want to do that. lots of fun. only eight minutes of action before you need to recharge it. that's something to think about. >> really cool. i think anyone would want that. >> has a camera as with with well. >> i'll take all of the above. >> you will? good. >> but i already got you a christmas sweater. it brings such joy. look at mario and katie. >> what are these digitized sweaters? >> iphone in here, yule log modernized. >> and i have the gingerbread head. someone's eating him. >> right as we were coming on, katie was like, oorks let me turn on my sweater. katie lindendoll and mario armstrong, thank you. >> thank you, guys. coming up next, we'll talk to michael buble's special and how he landed big stars, including barbra streisand.

back at 8:50, michael buble is getting some help for the holiday spirit. lie you interviewed him. >> i did. and he is putting his signature on the holidays with an nbc prime time special.

>> it's christmas! >> this is number four. >> number four. >> number four. >> yeah. >> how does it stack up to the three before? >> like every artist who comes out with a new record, new book or movie, they'll tell you it's the best one yet. it's the best. i was inspired. i was in a good place. and this is the best one yet. but honestly this is the best one yet. >> but you're not just saying it? >> no. >> we're talking you have br bra streisand, ariana grande, miss piggy. >> yes. >> let's talk barbara. how did you get her on board? >> she has a new record out called duets, her duet record. she asked me to be on it and we hit it off. >> i imagine walking into a studio with barbra streisand has to be intimidating at first. >> what i said to her, i woke up this morning and i was pretty terrified and she said, why, honey?

i said, well, you're barbra. i think any singer would be intimidated and she said, no, sweetheart, this is your world. i said, you know, what i did, barbra -- it's the truth. i sat in the mirror this morning and i remembered looking at myself and thinking, you know what? you're noah's dad, number one. and all of this other stuff is like icing on this cake, great cake. >> noah is about 14, 15 months now? >> you got it, yeah. >> christmas plans with him, do you have traditions of your own? >> you know what? the tradition is always to be with the family. because he's 1 years old, he will have absolutely no clue which is great for me because i get to open every single one of his presents and i like opening presents so, uh -- >> you have become the christmas guy. i grew up, it was frank, bing crosby. we still have those guys in our house but now we also have

michael buble. is that something you sought out? >> i always loved christmas, i always loved the holiday. always sentimental about it. the fact that i get to be part of a tradition that means so much, means a lot to me. because i'm an artist, i'll sit there and fear and i'll say to my manager, i don't want to be known as mr. christmas. you don't want to get stuck in any kind of slot. but if that's my life, if that's kind of what people are going to remember me for, then there's a lot worse things to be remembered for. >> such a great guy. >> love him. >> he is a beautiful singer. >> and he has a beautiful little son. >> beautiful wife, too, since we're on the topic. >> he has a beautiful christmas. >> and a beautiful christmas special. michael buble's christmas in new york, wednesday night, 8:00, 7:00 central time here in new york city.

barbra streisand, miss piggy. >> beautiful interview. thank you so much. let's find out who is celebrating birthdays with the help of willard scott. hey, willard. >> oh, new york, you would love the inn. that's where we are. ethel bethea. sounds biblical. 104 years old today. and she loves fresh area. santa santa maria mancino, 100 years old today. she loves knitting. she does blankets and does them beautifully. this is norman and ruby, don't take your love to town, alcorn. they are from ava, missouri. they are 75 years married. they love to cook and they cook all sorts of good things from their home garden. this is sol shenker from long beach, california, home of

the spruce goose. 101 years old. god bless him. wish him happy birthday. now back to new york, that's where you are. >> thank you. >> excellent. thank you. >> a big hour coming up ourselves, more with barry manilow. sitting down, playing a little game with barry manilow. >> really? >> yes, finish that lyric game with barry manilow. >> see how well you know your barry. >> last-minute holiday travel deals as well. >> also, allergy-free holiday treats. people making christmas cookies this time of year. >> sounds like a fantastic hour. >> by the way, what are you going to be making for tamron? >> oh, al, you would have to bring -- tamron and i have a little wager. >> eagles zblost my eagles lost. >> and savannah's

. good morning, i'm chris c o cato. it's 8:56. bill, any sunshine breaking through? >> it's trying. we haven't seen a lot so far. the clouds are hanging in there. we really benefitted from the clouds overnight. the temperatures didn't get all that cold, but you can see it's not all that sunny just yet. we are waiting for some breaks

of sunshine. looks like a hint of it in the distance. right now looking at 40s. 43 degrees and holding in philadelphia. temperatures have gone nowhere. we will see decreasing clouds warming into the upper 40s today. a philadelphia police officer shot and killed a man earlier this morning. police have wrapped up the scene in may fair and towed away the suspect's car. police are investigating the circumstances of the shooting but they tell you that the man got into a struggle with the officer and the officer shot him in the head. the suspect has not been identified. to the casino crises in atlantic city. the main workers union backed out of a deal that would have kept the casino opened and saved 3,000 jobs. the union has until 5:00 p.m. to drop its appeal that cancelled workers health insurance and pension plans.

it's set to close on december 20th. president obama will be visiting here. he will thank the troops and their families for the sacrifice. the base is home to more than 38,000 active duty members along with civilians and family members. you can watch him speak live on nbc10.com at 2:45 this afternoon. have a great morning. now back to the "today" show. (vo) nourished.

rescued. protected. given new hope. during the subaru "share the love" event, subaru owners feel it, too. because when you take home a new subaru, we donate 250 dollars to helping those in need. we'll have given 50 million dollars over seven years.

love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. >> 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 this monday morning, december 15th, 2014. a big crowd out on our plaza. i'm willie along with al, natalie and tamron. the crowds are growing every day. >> closer to christmas. >> big time of year around here. >> it sure is. >> this is the final week countdown. >> next week. >> we have a whole next week? >> thursday next week. my kids keep telling me every day. ten days, mom. >> if you're looking to get

willie something, think about a new phone. >> oh. >> tragedy. i finally got an iphone 6 on friday. >> this is your own fault. >> i spent the whole day setting up the e-mail with the wonderful help of our great i.t. department and saturday night, 24 hours later, i drop it on a new york city sidewalk and it shatters to pieces. >> you make it sound -- >> what were you doing? >> yeah. >> perhaps why did it slip out of your hand? >> saturday night, what happened? >> we have a little christmas party every year. >> little? >> it's been my parents' party for years. it's morphed into a joint party we've imposed on. you all were nice enough to come to the party. i don't know if you remember, we had brooke shields show up as a christmas tree. she always makes a grand entrance. this is last year. >> she walked in like that? >> that was her. >> she didn't know that guy. >> no. she was the top half of a christmas tree. saturday night, here is how she entered, if we have that

picture. now would be the time. there it is. >> fantastic. >> she went to the container store, asked them for a human-sized box and cellophane and made herself into a barbie doll. she was a gift under the tree. >> amazing. >> phenomenal entrance. >> she has the ability to have drinks through that? >> she made the entrance and quickly took that off and al was our chief photographer. >> what was interesting is i'm at -- first of all, you had a bar tender with a very heavy hand. >> heavy hand, yes. we request him every year. >> oh, my. you actually ran out of booze at one point. >> we did. i hand him a wad of money and say go reload. >> that explains the iphone. >> he had slippery hands all night. >> excuse me? really? christina, is that true? >> willie -- >> slippery hands. >> i'm talking to willie's dad, mr. geist. who drops a drink? >> i did actually. you're right. there was a pattern. >> drink falls to the ground and

he's like, are you all right? i'm like, willie, don't touch me. >> does that work for you? >> the best moment for me. i did not snap a picture of this. i had essentially the same out fit on as willie's little daughter, lucy. >> that's true. >> fashionista. >> she saw me at the party, walked up and this is basically -- lucy, what's up, tamron? hey! >> they never met before. >> never met. it was like moth to flame. we were hugging it out, inseparable. >> inseparable. >> i invited lucy to party with me later. she had some responsibilities but we have a date where i promised young lucy a night out on the town. >> a haircut like that? we like the new do. >> a great friend of mine said to me, why don't you try this? he sent me a picture of someone else's hair and i trust his advice so i changed my hair. >> love it. we're keeping it? >> i think we're going to keep it. i think we're going to keep it. it's a little interesting. >> looks good.

>> i'm into it. >> that was the weirdest toss ever. >> kind of like -- >> what we will tell in our books one day why that was a weird toss. >> you were on assignment. >> i missed the big party. >> you had a good reason. >> i was working. >> natalie would have been epic. >> good thing i didn't go. >> i don't drink and -- >> it would have been a disaster. >> it was. >> i was interviewing lindsey vonn. i got to go skiing with her. >> you did? >> yeah. i actually skied with her. so we had a fun time on the slopes. and's going to be part of a special "dateline" coming up soon. >> how is she doing? >> amazing. she just won a world cup. >> yes, she did. >> december 6th. so, she is unbelievable. talk about the comeback story. >> never bet against lindsey vonn. >> never better. >> how is it trying to keep up with lindsey vonn on a ski slope? >> she actually -- obviously, she took off. but i wasn't going -- we weren't going 85, 90 miles per hour in

the downhill. but she was like, i'm actually kind of impressed. you stuck with me the whole time. i was like, yeah. >> that's a badge of honor. >> not bad. >> pretty cool. >> pretty cool assignment. i'm pretty lucky. a little change of pace here. i know you heard about this. bill cosby kind of breaking his silence. i wouldn't call this an interview. >> no. >> no. >> some comments made on the phone with washington informer reporter stacey brown. quote, he says i only expect the black media to up hold the standards of excellence in journalism. when you do that, you have to go in with a neutral mind. i don't know why you would hold black media up and -- >> no. nobody understands that comment. >> all media. and then he was asked how his wife camille has been handling the stress of the allegations, allegedly. mr. cosby says love and strength of womanhood and you could reverse it, the strength of womanhood and love. and then he cut it off, they don't want me talking to the

media. it wasn't an interview, per se, but comment. >> his attorneys could not confirm that bill cosby made this statement to the reporter, stacey brown. >> that's right. >> in their statement. but it's interesting. he says if those comments are true "they" don't want me talking. i always think about like could someone keep me from the truth? if i have the truth and i felt that i was telling the truth -- you don't feel the truth. you know if you're telling the truth. if an attorney or not could keep me from talking. >> especially if you're bill cosby, you're that powerful and you've run your own life every day since you've entered the professional realm. >> he has a team of attorneys, though, who are also there to protect him in every way. >> i do have a sense that eventually he's going to speak. >> i think so, too. >> eventually. >> you would hope so. there are a lot of questions and a lot of answers that need to come out of this. >> yeah. meanwhile, the hollywood hacking story continues. doesn't it? before we talk about that, though, angelina jolie is tweeting out a picture of

herself. >> yes. >> she's going to be missing the premiere of "unbroken" and not because of the whole hacking thing, but instead because she has -- stars are just like us -- the chicken pox. take a look at what she put out there. >> i found out last night that i have chicken pox. so, i will be home itching and missing everyone, and i can't believe it because this film means so much to me. i can't believe it, but such is life. there it is. >> yeah. >> that's really tough. you know how much she put her heart and soul into getting this movie out there and then not to be able to be part of the premiere event and the hype and buildup christmas day release of the movie "unbroken." >> bummer. >> major bummer. we wish her well. >> the movie still comes out. >> she was able to do some touring. she was here. >> she did. >> believe it or not she still

looks pretty good. >> what do you do when you have that many kids in the house, too? i got chicken pox, i was 8 or 9. >> somebody's going to get it now. >> maybe somebody had it -- >> and gave it to her. >> -- already and gave it to her. >> load up on that oatmeal. >> that's right. >> the best for that, yeah. >> but it's worse when you're an adult and get chicken pox. >> sure. >> it can be dangerous, can lead to shingles. pretty bad deal. we wish her well. >> we definitely do. someone else we wish well, so impressive over the weekend. did you see the heisman winner steal our hearts over the weekend? marcus mariota became the first hawaiian to win the heisman. and in addition to just being a class act, this is a guy who is not afraid to show his feelings. >> yeah. >> here is the moment when he thanked his family. >> finally, mom and dad, matt and the rest of my family, thank

you. thank you for sacrificing and providing me and matt every opportunity we could ever have. words can't express how much you guys mean to me. i'm truly grateful to have you guys in my life. mom and dad, thank you for your love and sharing that with me and matt. we are truly grateful. >> ahh. >> one of those moment that is goes past -- to be honest i don't know college football and i didn't know him. the minute i saw that clip -- any time someone is thanking their mom and their dad. >> and their dad. >> what a moment to reflect in all that glory and everything they've put into their son. he is a great player. a lot of people think he will be the first pick in the draft. >> really? >> and oregon, they have a heisman trophy winner. >> because he grew up in hawaii, he wasn't heavily recruited.

now he has sort of blossomed and become this superstar and will be playing in the nfl next year. >> monday moments. send us your monday moments. >> have you ever picked up the heisman? he's holding it like nothing. >> take two people. >> you need a forklift for that one. incredible. >> he doesn't photograph like huge. >> no. >> is he a big guy? >> tall. >> tall. >> obviously cable steel arms. >> clearly. >> congratulations to him. >> condition grats. >> mr. roker, you have a check of the weather for us? >> yes, we do. we've got a change in the weather. all this warm air ahead of this frontal system. it's bringing showers and thunderstorms from minnesota all the way down into memphis, also parts of arkansas. look at the showers hanging around. can you see the arch there. 58 degrees today. that's ahead of the system. behind it, we've got colder air. we're look at know developing. minneapolis will get in on it. we'll be look at that. again, nothing all that bad as

far as snowfall accumulations. generally, about three to six inches of snow back through south dakota on into parts of nebraska. one to three inches through central minnesota. that's what's g good morning, a cloudy start but clouds will be thinning out. we'll see more and more sunshine, warm into the upper 40s this afternoon. tomorrow morning will get a little colder but adgot bit wa in the afternoon in spite of some light scattered rain showers. not everybody will see them on tuesday. it will clear out for wednesday. thursday gets colder. clouds are back this weekend with a chance of rain and a mix of rain and snow on sunday. have a great day. >> and that's your latest weather. zbl >> up next, barry manilow. legend. do you know which star he played piano for? >> i know.

i know. >> don't answer. >> and a love the wardrobe change in between the hours. >> jacket for every hour. change in between the hours. >> jacket for every hour. >> i love it. the holidays are full of surprises. that's why, whenever the need arises... walgreens is always right around the corner, so you can get in and out in no time. most walgreens are even open 'til midnight, to help keep the magic in your holidays. at the corner of happy and healthy. up to 27% more brush movements. patented sonic technology with get healthier gums in two weeks. innovation and you philips sonicare save when you give philips sonicare this holiday season. he found it cleans everything... whefrom stove tops...d writing a book about his magic eraser ...to scuffed shoes, and more.

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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. ask your doctor about invokana®. grammy, tony award-winning artist just received his 14th grammy nomination for "night songs." >> his latest album "my dream duets" debuted already at number four on the billboards.

barry manilow, good morning. >> good morning. >> we're going to talk about "my dream duets" in a moment. let's answer that question we posed in the orange room a little while ago. your big break happened in the '70s when you were playing piano for? >> for bette midler. >> yes. >> fantastic. >> my friend, bette midler, one of the most talented people. it was really a thrill being part of her explosion. >> did you learn anything, watching and performing along with her? >> well, first of all, i never wanted to be a performer. i was just watching with my mouth opened but hopefully i helped. i did her arrangements, produced her first couple of records. i hope i gave her a good start. >> i think so. >> yeah, i learned about being professional. bette is a professional. >> barry, what was the break? was there a moment in your life, in your career, when you said this is when it all changed for me? >> i was in a car, driving with my friend in florida. and a guy on the radio said

number one record, barry manilow's "mandy." >> you say "mandy" and it comes on. >> my life exploded into a million pieces. >> you had been working as an arranger and lyricist and state farm is still being used. and mcdonald's. you said you would have been content being a one-hit wonder. >> well, not one-hit wonder. i would have been content being in the background, being a musician, an arranger, yeah. this explosion that happened after "mandy" was the biggest surprise. i had to go on the road and perform. i said, what am i supposed to do with my legs now? i've got to get tough and talk to these people. i just was not prepared. i was pretty awkward. the audiences didn't seem to have any problem with me. and i'm still here. >> we love you. >> your "dream duets," you said

awkward. what allowed the awkwardness to melt away, creating songs that your audience reacting to or fast forward to your dream collaboration? >> it's always about the music, the songs. i'm very comfortable making music, whether it's playing, singing. i'm okay with that. it was the rest of it that i didn't -- telling jokes or saying, how are you? and all that. i didn't really know what i was doing there. as soon as i got back to the piano and was with the band, i was fine. >> we want you to help us play a little game called finish the lyrics. hopefully, we won't destroy your songs. >> i love this game show. >> are you ready, willie? >> i'm going to give you the first part of the lyric and you're going to finish it. >> ready? ♪ i write the songs that make the whole world sing i write the songs that ♪ >> live in -- wait. that live in -- >> where is savannah guthrie?

finish the song. >> that make the whole world song. ♪ i write the songs of love and special things ♪ >> i write the songs -- >> stay on with us, savannah. one more. ♪ you know i -- ♪ can't smile without you >> yes! ♪ can't -- ♪ if you ever knew what i'm going through ♪ >> who's singing? >> savannah. ♪ without you can i do mandy? >> i'll give you -- ♪ you came and you gave without taking ♪ keep going ♪ but i sent you away oh, mandy ♪ >> hey, savannah, who sing that is song? ♪ you came and you stopped me

from shaking ♪ >> wow! >> keep going. what about cocacabana, barry? ♪ the hottest spot north of ♪ barry manilow thank you so much ♪ ♪ and you'll join kathie lee and hoda ♪ >> thank you. >> oh, my word. >>

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taking a look at the headlines, in sydney australia, gunman seized customers inside a lindt chocolate cafe and displayed a banner. police have been negotiating with the gunman, whose demands include a chance to talk with australia's prime minister. new data confirms eczema does not increase a child's odds of being short. previous studies suggested a link between the skin disease and height. nine studies could not find an association.

a very small number of children with severe eczema, who also didn't get adequate sleep were at risk for slower growth. new research reveals e-cigarette use among teens is on the rise, according to two studies just released. a survey of 14 and 15-year-olds in the state of hawaii found that 30% had tried e-cigarettes. in connecticut, about 25% of high school students had used them. 40 states prohibit e-cigarette sales to minors. fda has a proposal on the table that would expand that ban to all 50 states. and it was a busy weekend at the box office. exxodus, gods and kings debuted dominated at $24.5 million in sales. knocking "the hunger games:mockingjay part 1 to number two. and madagascar to number three. on 12-13-14, both girls one

in arizona, one in ohio. neither birth was intentionally scheduled for that time. ♪ if you're happy and you know it, eat a snack. ♪ if you're happy and you know it, eat a snack. ♪ when you're sad and you know it, ♪ then you face will surely show it, ♪ if you're sad and you know it, eat a snack. ♪ ♪ if you're bored and you know it, eat a snack. ♪ ♪ if you're lonely and you know it, eat a snack. ♪ if you're sleepy ♪ if you're guilty ♪ if you're stressed or if you're mad, ♪ if you're human eat your feelings, eat a snack. ♪ walmwith an intel processor the hfor great performance. yeah, i'm using it to video chat with santa. no way! yeah. he's naughty. get the top 100 gifts at unbeatable prices. like the hp stream laptop with intel inside. walmart. losing your chex mix too easily?

deploy the boring potato chip decoy bag. with a variety of tastes and textures, only chex mix has twenty bags of interesting. pick your mix. a. we are following breaking news out of montgomery county. a shooting investigation under way involving at least two locations. we've learned police are investigating crime scenes in lansdale and harleysville. a woman was shot around 5:30 this morning and police are investigating another shooting on main street. police tell us they're preparing to hold a news conference to update us on exactly what's going on. you can count on nbc 10 as we continue to gather new information. now let's get you updated information about the weather with bill henley. >> the clouds are hanging in there. a mostly cloudy day ahead after a cloudy start kept temperatures a bit warmer overnight. you can see the clouds from

center city. that's a live view from center city this morning. the temperatures have been barely moving. 43 degrees in philadelphia, 41 now in trenton. that's up one degree in the last six hours. so clouds hanging in there, mostly cloudy with temperatures climbing into the upper 40s. we'll see light northwesterly winds close to 10 mile per hour. former philadelphia sports caster don toll offson is expected to find out what his sentencing will be for a charity scam. he's set to be sentenced in a bucks county courtroom this afternoon. he pleaded guilty in october to stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars. he sold tickets for sports packages with the promise that money will go to charity but he pocketed the money instead. he could spend more than 30 years behind bars. we'll have another local update in 25 minutes. you can always get updates on

the breaking news on nbc10.com. now back to the today show.

♪ best day of my life >> welcome back to "today" on this monday morning, december 15th, 2014. i'm willie, along with al, natalie and tamron. a lot of time weiss like to show you beautiful proposals that happen around the world. >> creative ones. >> beautiful proposals. >> this one is really creative. didn't quite go the way the man thought it might. from the netherlands, hired a crane to lower himself. the crane tipped over and smashed through a neighbor's roof. >> wow! >> here is the thing, though. he went through with the proposal later and she said yes despite the fact that he destroyed the neighbor's house with a crane. >> what's that wedding going to be like?

>> they won't have a wedding because all the moncy going to the neighbor. >> settle the lawsuit. >> wow! >> a for effort but -- wow! >> f for execution. >> are we sure that's real? are we sure that was really a poe poefl happening? obviously we see that it did happen but is that the result? >> that's the story behind the video anyway. >> that crane work, too. >> yeah. >> he's very heavy. >> he must be. >> amazing. >> wow! >> like me two years ago. >> poor guy. >> she said yes so they're getting married. >> and now financial bankruptcy. >> come on. >> mr. roker, how about the weather? let's show you what's going on again. looking at today, a beautiful day up and down the east coast. fantastic weather. temperatures a little on the cool side. wet weather from louisiana up into minnesota. snow and icy conditions back through the plain states.

look for more rain moving into northern and central california. tomorrow that rain spreads a little further south. windy conditions. we've got more snow around the great lakes. wet weather moves into the midatlantic states and the southeast and on into the northeast as well. good morning. a cloudy start but clouds will be thinning out. we'll see more and more cksx sunshine, warm into the upper 40s this afternoon. tomorrow morning we'll get a little colder but a bit warmer in the afternoon in spite of a chance of some light scattered rain showers. thursday. we'll see them clear out for wednesday. thursday it gets colder. lots of sunshine friday but clouds are back this weekend with a chance of rain and then a mix of rain and snow on sunday. have a great day. >> and that's your latest weather. willie? >> al, thanks a lot. >> if you want to get away for the holidays but haven't made your plans yet there is still time to get a good deal. >> whether you like snow or sun,

with we have both at affordable prices, by the way. jackie is editor of "travel & leisure" magazine. are we sure we can get these all? >> absolutely. >> kohler, wisconsin. >> all decked out for the holidays, 30 miles of lights, 38 wreathes and 28 christmas trees. breakfast with santa, christmas carolling in the library. the town itself is doing the making spirits bright holiday lights show. cross country skiing, snow shoeing, ice skating and stay at the inn on woodlake. great deal. $99 a night, 120 rooms, modern property. this is a wonderful deal for the holidays. >> kid friendly. i will say this, full disclosure, the most romantic weekend i ever spent was in kohler. they have a copper tub. you get roses.

>> can we dig into this a little bit? who was it? >> newport, rhode island. let's go there. >> shifting gears. newport, rhode island, voted one of the best places to celebrate christmas. this tiny town does it up well. they ask people to decorate their homes and restaurants with white christmas lights to conjure up that old-fashioned candlelit vibe. stay at the hyatt regency newport. they will be decked out for the holidays in a nautical winter wonderland theme and carollers coming in throughout december. colorado, green mountain falls. good family spot. >> definitely great family spot. excursions and activities. the cheyenne mountain falls zoo, electric safari. a million lights lighting up the zoo at night. certain animal exhibits will be open. kids under 3 are free. you can do the pike's peak

causeway. two-hour ride. you stop for an hour, everybody gets out to play and hang out. the lodge is $119 a night. it has an outdoor fire pit. everybody can get together and roast marshmallows. >> that is christmas heaven there. st. augustine, florida. >> think about beach, warm weather. they're doing their nights of lights celebration through february. can you even go after the holidays. totally decked out. millions of white lights decorating the town, which you can explore by walking, biking, taking the old town trolley, horse-drawn carriage ride. we like, if you stay 30 minutes outside, there's the hammock beach resort go for the full resort experience, $158 a night. they're doing off and on things like cookies and milk with santa's elves, arts and crafts celebration in the lobby christmas eve. >> who needs snow?

>> exactly. >> amazing. >> speaking of, san diego, california, never a bad time to visit san diego. >> never a bad time. it's a wonderful place. they're doing lots of things for the holidays as well. parade of lights. more than 80 boats will be decked out, all sitting in the harbor. that's december 21st. on the 26th they're doing the big bay balloon parade. marching bands, floats, balloons, over 100,000 people are expected to come. and then the iconic hotel del, they have an ice skating rink set up. where else in the world can you go and go ice skating on the beach? the lakehouse hotel and resort. they're doing things like ornament making and decorating letters to santa. >> before we go, san antonio, texas. >> wonderful. they're going to be doing their ford fiesta luminaries celebration. for new year's eve, celebrate

san antonio. fireworks, live music on three stages. and to stay we like the omni del rio on the riverwalk wheich is where everyone wants to be. >> jackie, thank you very much. up next -- there's another kardashian. >> another one? >> there's another kardashian to keep up with. we'll get you caught up in your pop fix wisest kid, am i forgetting something? no holiday's complete without campbell's green bean casserole.

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put your blinged out mugs -- new mugs, thank you to our wonderful staff, with a little swarovski going on there. >> swarovski? >> i don't know. it sounds good. >> they look good. show of unity. selma premiere in new york city. the director and some of the cast of oprah's new film posed together in shirts that read "i can't breathe" with their arms

raised at the new york library following the premiere. oprah was on the red carpet for the premiere. the civil rights drama, along with a-list stars, tyler perry and the great aretha franklin, among so many others. the premiere took place after the march on saturday. oprah said the deaths of eric garner and michael brown in ferguson is a wake-up call if you're paying attention. so many talked about the timing of the release of this film and what's happening in the news today. it was a powerful image to see that cast wear that shirt. >> i'm hearing great things about the movie as well. >> so well done. simply spectacular. a lot of big things coming out of that movie. next on tap, miley's wrist surgery. wrecking ball singer showed off her wrecked wrist to the world.

miley had a cyst. it's so gross to see, she put a selfie frowning -- let me get this straight. she put little stickers on the sore so you can't see it. >> oh, okay. >> on the incision. >> i don't want to see that. >> she alter ed thed that but w us to know she had surgery, bizarre surgery. she had justin bieber and elvis inside the images. >> trying to cover it up. >> fans need not worry. she was out and about the next day, showing up st. jude's charity event in beverly hill with his a brace on her arm. also joining her, her boyfriend, patrick schwarzenegger, both posed with a 13-year-old deejay at the event. i like this other side of miley. she likes to party hard but does give back. >> what a tribute to elvis, putting his face inside her wound. >> oh! >> another kind of kardashian to tell you about.

kourtney kardashian has given birth to a baby boy. she and her partner, scott disik, welcomed a baby boy. instagram of her 5-year-old son, mason, who now shares a birthday with her baby boy. >> oh, no. that's not good. >> in her birthday message to mason, she wrote happy birthday to the coolest little boy in the entire world. i'm truly blessed and honored to be your mommy. she is now mom to both boys, two boys and a girl and -- >> wow! same birthday. >> i know. >> make it is easy on the mom's side throwing the birthday party. >> but if you wanted -- can i have my own day, mom? congratulations to kourtney. that is your blinged out pop fix. next, if you're in charge of the cookies for your kid's class holida there are some people you should give underwear to this holiday.

and there are some people you shouldn't. people you should. shouldn't. janice! should. shouldn't. yes. no. should. no way. should. no. definitely not. ha ha, nay. you shouldn't give underwear to everybody. but for those you do, give them fruit of the loom. i'm home. ♪ hi, mom!

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. anybody in your family or child's classroom has an allergy, it can be challenging but you can bake allergy-safe treats. it just takes swapping out a few ingredients. >> kelly has some allergy-friendly recipes. >> you're making class cookies and you feel bad because some kids will be excluded. >> and nobody should be deprived. >> absolutely. >> one in 13 kids has a food allergy. that's pretty much every classroom has at least two kids with an allergy. it's important to bake allergy-safe treats for everybody to enjoy. >> what are the red flag ingredients? >> earth balance butter along with the shortening. some shortening is flavored with

berries of the you want to make sure it's allergy safe. milk. it's so easy to substitute. rice milk substitute for dairy milk. you can use almond milk, soy milk. eggs is a tough one. applesauce in baking. one table spoon of water per egg for muffins. there are commercial egg replacers but they're expensive. you have to mix them up. this is really easy and foolproof. this is actually just gluten free all-purpose flour. it's never been easier to substitute if you have celiac or wheat allergy to substitute regular flour for the gluten free. >> sunflower butter cookies, right? >> this here. easy ingredient swap. brown sugar, granulated sugar and the sunflower butter. i'm going to have you mix this all up.

this is basic cookie recipe, flour, baking soda, salt. >> if you had a gluten allergy, you could use a gluten free flour instead of the regular flour? >> absolutely. quickly turn that on until it's just mixed, which is what we have here. chill your dough for at least an hour. if you don't have that much time, throw it in the freezer. >> then we're going to make the classic little shapes? >> crisscross. >> exactly. >> tastes like the real deal? >> they really do. >> they're good. >> how about the classic sugar cookie? >> the egg replacer is the applesauce with this. again, this is an easy recipe to make with your kids. >> looks like the ones i made yesterday because i used everything original. >> all that stuff. to make the icing, it's so easy to do at home. rice milk instead of your dairy milk and some vanilla for flavoring and then we're just -- do you want to mix that up, willie? mix it up until it's kind of creamy like that.

we can throw some food coloring in if you like. >> then it turns out like that and you can decorate your cookies. >> exactly. be careful with the sprinkles and the toppings, too. always check ingredients and the labels. ingredients can and do change. you can get in trouble with that. >> kelly, thank you. recipes on our website today.com. we're back after this.

today's 21st annual toy tri drive has surpassed, barry manilow making rounds to collect gifts on their way now to families in new jersey and texas. >> here with us today is sarah douglas of stamp iing up, one o our long-time partners. good morning, sarah. >> good morning. >> you guys are back as always. >> we are. >> thanks so much. >> we love the toy drive. >> what are you donating this

year? >> $2.8 million -- >> oh, my gosh. >> worth of stamps and paper crafting supplies. we're excited about it this year. more than we've ever done before. >> what kind of stuff do you have? >> this is one example. it's a kit that makes a journal. and so it's available for any age. it doesn't matter if you're young or old. a way to capture memories. this is just one of the things we're donating. >> emphasizes the importance of creativity in kids. >> of course. well, you know, creativity kind of breaks the bounds of rules. you can kind of do whatever you want when you're creating. >> thank you, sarah. >> so generous. thank you very much. >> thank you. this is the last week to contribute to our toy drive. go to today.com for more details. coming up, kathie lee and hoda get a song from barry manilow. plus, today's buzz after your local news. great start of the week. >> it is. >> and get some holid

we are following breaking news out of montgomery county. a shooting investigation is under way involving at least three locations. nbc 10 has learned police are investigating crime scenes where earlier a woman was shot around 5:30 this morning. police are investigating another shooting on main street in harleysville. also we are told at students at

schools are being kept in their classroom because of police activity in the area. the website says the students are safe. police tell us they're preparing to hold a news conference to update us on exactly what's going on. you can count on nbc 10 and nbc10.com to give you updates on this developing story. a police officer shot and killed a man during a traffic stop early this morning. police have wrapped up the scene in frankford avenue. police are investigating the exact circumstances of the shooting. we do know that the man got into some kind of struggle with the officer off being pulled over for a traffic violation. the officer shot him in theñ head. the suspect has not been identified. let's get you updated on the forecast with meteorologist bill henley. clouds are hanging in there for most of the area. parts of central new jersey are seeing sunshine but it's mainly cloudy into the pocono mountains. satellite shows the clouds right over our area.

just like the weekend they're going to be tough to get rid of today. the temperatures as a result so far are holding steady in the low 40s. >> another update in 25 minutes.

from nbc news, this is "today" with kathie lee gifford and hoda kotb, live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. >> hey, everybody. so glad you're with us for fun day monday, december 15th. you're anxious. >> no. december 15th. ten days until christmas. >> yes. >> for all of you out there who haven't started shopping. >> and 14 days -- >> until christmas eve. >> no. until "today" the musical starring regis philbin. >> that's going to be big. big, big, big. >> it will be out-regis. >> it will.

>> today is the busiest mailing day of the year. three days until free shipping day on the 18th. >> you know what that tells me, people aren't as much procrastinators as i thought. i thought more people were like me and waited even longer. since today is the busiest, it must mean everybody is shipping. >> but why are they waiting three more days if it is free -- there must be something about it is guaranteed to somehow get there before christmas. i don't know, check the fine print. >> everybody is ordering online now. the idea you can get your packages by christmas eve is probably less likely than it was in days past. >> definitely. >> don't you think? >> i know so. >> we have a terrific show today. >> why? >> we can't smile without him, that's why. barry manilow is here. this is music, hoda, by the way, something you rarely hear. ♪ i can't smile without you >> he's on the billboard charts again. he's got a new duet album, very interesting. dream duets, all with people who passed away that he has great respect for.

>> whitney houston, louie armstrong. >> the list is endless. also, "today's buzz," all the hollywood scoop you missed. feel free to keep going -- while you were out holiday shopping including the surprising response oprah had a question that barbara walters asked her last night. >> very interesting. if you're staying in a hotel over the holidays, we're going to make your day. we're going to show you where the germiest places inside your room are. where the targets are. be careful. we're going to find out. all right. how was your weekend, busy woman? >> yours started before mine. you went to the women and billboard music awards. >> this is one of my favorite awards, afternoon lunch honoring women in music. one of our own, her name is julie germolovich but we call her julie g. she's the smaller one. >> she's tiny but lethal. >> also the youngest woman on the list this year. these are all top women

executives. congrats to julie. a great day. savannah was there, she introduced idina menzel. meghan trainor was there. there is a shot. matt did a panel -- >> taylor swift and -- >> aretha franklin. >> aretha showed up and sang -- >> this is the moment where she sang and a cake came out. all these women arianna grande. the only thing i didn't like about the lunches, i started not eating sweets on friday because i'm hating myself. >> because you're out of control. >> there was a chocolate cake in front of me and seriously, you know when you're just like staring at something, i took my fork a couple of times and went like that and just left the fork with the piece on it and didn't eat it but i was so -- you know you get fixated, i was missing everything because i was -- i kept looking at it saying just a small bite won't matter. >> she had a long day. she went out to dinner with boots and a couple and literally fell asleep. >> i did. >> at dinner with two strangers.

>> you know when you're fading but you're in a cozy booth and you're all comfortable. and literally -- and anyway and i heard are you sleeping? i looked up and i was, like, yes. tell me about your weekend. >> i went to dallas, texas, for jason kennedy's wedding to the beautiful lauren scruggs. most spiritual, god centered wedding i've ever been to in my life. they are just the cutest. they're going to be featured in "people" magazine december 19th. i don't want to give a whole lot away. she wore a gorgeous gown. they're honeymooning right now in mexico. it was a small wedding. around 4:00 in the morning, i heard my phone go off, cas and i are staying in the room together and i go over and there is a text from jason, thank you for you and cas coming. it means the world to me.

i said, shouldn't he be consummating his marriage. i can tell you one of the most amazing things that happened was his mom, who is just one of the most adorable ladies, had recently had two hip replacements, two knee replacements. earlier in that day she fell and she had a hip replacement, so it is not -- it is not something that can break, because it -- it hurt her so badly, it dislocated it to the back of her body. she had to have two operations the day of the wedding and we were all wondering why it was starting so late and, like, gee, i hope they're not getting cold feet. all of a sudden, we find out they're taking seats away so his mom can come in on a wheelchair. and when they -- i don't want to give anything away, but when he danced with his mom, that night, at the son and mother dance -- >> beautiful? >> everything was just -- >> it is all in the special. we get to watch it called the kennedy wedding, jason and lauren get married, appears next

monday -- >> on e. they're the sweetest couple. you remember, she's the one that was in that horrible three years ago accident with the propeller, her left eye and lost her left -- part of her left arm. the healing in her is on every level of every human being, spiritual, physical, everything else, and what was another major touching thing is because she's lost her right hand -- her left hand, has a prosthetic, they put their wedding bands on their right hand, both of them. and it was -- >> that's beautiful. >> it is what true love really is. it really, really is. gives you new hope. so anyway, new hope, prince george. >> new baby pics. you know how we love him. three new photos that have been released of prince george, taken at kensington palace. he looks like a man to me, doesn't he? like a man, just hanging out. >> just sitting down. >> taken by the harry's private secretary. so it wasn't as if it was, like,

a perpetual -- >> just hanging at home, which happens to be kensington palace. >> 17 months old. and how adorable is that? >> just delicious. >> if you're wondering where he was while his parents were in the states, he was with his grandmother, carol middleton in buckleberry. he hung out with the grandparents. >> that's beautiful. >> all right. >> i guess we have to get to this because we're running out of time. this is going to be our final everyone has a story of the year. it is hard to believe. but we have -- ♪ everyone has a story >> is that you? it is you. >> anyway, we have jessica and her mother kathleen from san diego, california, on the line. kathleen wrote in to tell us about her unbelievable 12-year-old daughter jessica and the amazing work she does at such a young age. hi, kathleen. hi, jessica. >> hi. >> listen, can we tell you a little of the story. jessica was born in china but abandoned when she was born

because she had a facial defect, a cleft lip. she spent the first five years of her life in an orphanage, had two major surgeries during that time with no one there to love on her, no one there to comfort her and never had a thing of her own. is that right, sweetie? >> yes. >> yes. so all of a sudden this beautiful mom of yours comes along with her husband and her son and they found that there were children that were not being adopted after a surroucer age. you got to come from china to america and then what happened? >> we move ed moved and i moved started a foundation called we care. >> we'll tell you all about it on thursday, but mostly -- >> excited to meet both of them. >> right in your wheel house, hoda, because she wants no child to ever go through anything traumatic to be without something they can hold on to and love and have of their own.

>> we look forward to seeing you guys on thursday. >> we'll hear the whole story then. have a safe trip, okay? >> okay, thank you. >> since -- we showed kelly clarkson's picture. can we show the baby picture. we popped it up for a second. that cute little baby of kelly's, that little gerber baby. >> river rose, right? just precious. >> i want her to marry prince george. >> let's do it. >> so cute. >> let's have that happen. coming up, taylor swift turns 25 and she celebrates with all of her superstar fans. >> are we not going to get to this? we have to, quickly. favorite things, this little book, little star by anthony destefano. do not forget samaritan's purse, you guys. last chance, go online and this goes to 113 million people around the world who never get a present at christmas time. >> and one last point out, kathie lee's book, good gifts, sold out. >> thanks to you all. thanks to you all. >> sold out. >> god bless.

and too bad we don't get to that. >> we'll get to it later. >> the photos and much more with "today's buzz." we'll be right back. with my android from tracfone, i can... order more shaving cream. pay the electric bill. keep towels piping hot. get kids to sit still. play beard styling tunes. learn new razor tricks. hire a pro waxer. post before and after pics. i can do all that with my android from tracfone. 90-day plans start as low as $20. unbeatable nationwide coverage. no contract. for a limited time save $20 on the samsung galaxy centura. now just $39.99. tracfone. do everything for less. looking for one of these?

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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. time for "today's buzz" and all the celebrity scoop you missed while dashing from store to store getting the holiday gifts this weekend. >> with the hot hollywood headlines is founder and editor in chief of showbizcafe.com jack rico.

barbara walters is out of retirement. she did her most fascinating people. and number one on the list was -- >> amal clooney. and neil patrick harris also made the list with scarlett johansson, oprah winfrey, taylor swift. >> i like amal. why her, do you think? >> barbara says it is the most fascinating person to capture the most fascinating man and that was the reason. unfortunately she did not get an interview with her, but they did have a video with a lot of great chunks of information. one of them was, which i did not know, parallel to why she got married, one of the great characteristics of why she got married, amal's mother was a journalist right along with george clooney's father who also was a journalist. they all like human rights. and barbara compared amal with jackie onassis, princess diana and kate middleton. that's great company to be in. op >> oprah was one of the people on the list. they did an interview and she said something kind of surprising to a lot of people.

let's listen first and talk about it. >> before i leave this earth i will not be satisfied until i -- >> until i make peace with the whole weight thing. >> what? >> yeah. >> that's still on your mind. >> yes. i got to do it. >> i'm expecting something deeply profound. >> that's it. i've got to make peace with it. >> wow. i bet a lot of women can relate to that. >> she's such an inspirational woman that you probably thought she should have given some sort of like inspirational commentary on life, but she gave an honest -- that's what is so great about oprah, so real. if it is a simple answer i'm going to give, that's what i'll do. >> bill cosby, a new york post reporter says he finally broke his silence. >> quoted him. >> he quoted him directly. the cosby camp isn't confirming he actually spoke. so what is the real story here? >> the story is that sometime this weekend page six reporter called his house in

massachusetts, and allegedly got bill cosby on the phone and two comments were made, two quotes she was able to extract from him. one was about bill cosby saying that he wanted the african-american media to be impartial to -- >> all media. >> all media, i mean, that's kind of the thing. the other thing was that he -- when asked about his wife camille, who of 50 years, he said, quote, love and the strength of womanhood, which is more of a reference to the way she's been coping with all of this. >> in the two years i worked with bill, all those years ago, i never saw camille once. >> interesting. >> we were always away, but that's not bad or unusual, but you would think you would get some time -- she's a beautiful woman. >> we should point out we actually did comment from his attorney, marty singer, saying he's not confirmed that cosby did make the statement. >> okay. >> all righty then. let's move on. taylor swift and her birthday party. >> i like --

>> music's biggest star celebrated her birthday on saturday. she celebrated at a concert. and then she took the party over to her tribeca apartment. >> quite the pad. >> she had a long list of celebrity friends that -- >> who's that? >> jay-z, beyonce, justin timberlake, selena gomez, just to mention a few. the best part of the birthday was a gift that lena dunham from hbo's girls gave her, a gold necklace with taylor swift's kitty on it, olivia benton, as you can see there. and taylor swift called it her most prized and cherished possession. >> wow. >> i invited all of those people to your 50th. you got kenny logon loggins ands great. >> all right. we should also point out back to cosby for a second, cosby's attorneys constantly denied the woman's claims, never been charged with any crime. >> all right, moving on. >> the songs are classics and he's a class act.

we love him. >> we're talking about the one, the only, barry manilow. >> the legendary singer proves that dreams do come true. >> decade after decade after decade, right after this. somethd not given. dedication means pursuing your passion. every day. healing is something we do. together. and together, we put veterans first. search va careers to find out how. who's been using walmart savings catcher, now is the time to redeem your savings on holiday stocking stuffers. so you can use that to get this? yup. or this? yes. or this? yeah - or that, or this or this or this or that. redeem your savings catcher savings on last minute gifts at walmart.

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oh, i hope it's the microfiber recliner! [ laughs ] ahhh. ♪ ♪ i wanna be loved by you ♪ >> 40 million albums, membership in the great musician hall of fame. >> check, check. >> barry manilow. he is taking off his new tour on february 11th and out with another album. but this time he does things a little differently performing with other entertainment legends like whitney houston, louie armstrong and marilyn monroe just to name a few. >> the album is called "my dream duets." one of our dreams is with us today.

john denver and louie armstrong and -- the list goes on. >> -- what is the process like? >> because the musical technology has gone so far, they were able to take the orchestras off the old record and then i put brand-new arrangements and brand-new orchestrations and i was left with the voices so i could make them into duets. >> isn't that unbelievable. >> they often record with the orchestra in their booth at the same time, now they can -- >> we took them off the old

record. moon river with andy williams, oh, my god. >> the hardest was whitney because of the way she sings is so different than your style and the range. what was the challenge there? >> each one of them has -- they're legends not by accident. we -- these -- whitney's solo was more of a church and that's not my kind of thing. it took me three days to figure out how to fit myself into -- so, you know, she was -- >> were you surprised to watch this soar up the charts? >> i didn't expect it to go anywhere near the top five. >> debuted at number five. >> number four. >> sorry! >> hello. that's why i don't read them. >> i love -- >> number four. that's how many decades? >> four. >> speaking of decades -- >> mandy was 75. what is that? >> do the math. >> 70, 80, 90, five decades. i'm so old.

>> speaking of all these photos of you -- look around. >> you had so many looks. >> you did. >> how can we forget? >> her name was lola. >> how can we forget? i got in such trouble. i got a note from the smithsonian institute they wanted it. i'm so honored that -- >> do you still have it? >> so i said -- in an interview, i knew we would wind up in an institution, so they were so insulted, they sent it back. >> they did? >> come on. >> we love you, barry. >> they want it back. come on, let's make nice with the smithsonian. we love you to pieces. he's going to be back with a song. what are you singing? >> a duet i did with louie armstrong "what a wonderful world". >> perfect. >> thank you. see you in a bit. coming up, the germiest spots in a hotel room, all after your local news. >> hopefully not one

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to make your signature christmas dish.rt has everything you need mine is mouthwatering mashed potatoes. i mix my russets with milk, butter, and cream cheese to make them super creamy. mmmm... and yours? sock-it-to-me spiral cut ham! whoa! you made this? yep. i just take a sam's choice super premium spiral cut ham from walmart, bake it flat side down, tent the foils so all the juices can mingle... who are you? ham man! walmart has everything you need for christmas dinner at unbeatable prices, guaranteed by savings catcher. walmart. ♪ her name nbc 10 breaking news. we are following breaking news out of montgomery county. police are on the scene of at least three locations as part of a shooting investigation. on the scene in lansdale, harleysville and souderton.

earlier we found out a woman was shot at the lansdale location around 5:30 this morning. we've also learned police are investigating another shooting on main street in harleysville and we're told students in the souderton area school district are being september kept in the classrooms. low police will update us on exactly what is going on. you can count on nbc 10 and nbc10.com to keep you updated as we get new information on this breaking news. now, let's get you updated on the monday forecast with meteorologist bill henley. >> tracy, clouds are hanging in for most of the area, but we're seeing some sunshine break through finally in the pocono mountains. this is a view from ski big bear. you can see some blue sky. isn't completely clear, but a little sunshine will help today. unfortunately, it's just a little sunshine for some area while collideser clouds are hangsing in there for the rest. the clouds will be tough to get

rid of. 74 in philadelphia. president obama will visit joint base mcguire lakehurst this afternoon. the burlington county base is home to more than 38,000 active duty reserve and guard service members, civilians and family members. nbc 10 will be following the president's visit base. i'm tracy davidson. a full hour of news coming up in 30 minutes at 11:00 and you can always get the latest at nbc10.com.

report. here's willie geist. i'm willie geist. breaking news on a dangerous hostage situation in sydney, australia, a group of people held captive inside a cafe for nearly 17 hours. in the last few minutes gun fire was heard, several people seen running from that building. nbc's sarah james is at the scene for us. what are you seeing? >> reporter: willie, there is the acid smell of smoke and you can hear the sirens around us because just moments ago there was a sound of what sounded like grenades, and images of police storming the building.

there's no exact understanding of why it happened at that moment. this happened very shortly after another six hostages seemed to be released came running out of the building, out and around the corner, their arms in the air. some of them straight into the police who were fully mobilized and dressed in specialized gear. then as we were standing here, just a few moments ago suddenly we heard this series of explosions what sounded like gun fire, the ambulances were on the move heading down around about 200 yards away from me to where the lindt chocolate cafe has been the scene of this hostage situation. it was a situation that began about 10:00 in the morning local time which is about 17 hours ago. when one gunman we believe, went into the shop where people were quietly having morning coffee and he then proceeded to take them hostage. they were forced to hold their

hands against a window, hold up some sort of islamic banner. five of those hostages managed to escape and of course about 20 minutes ago another six. so, we know that 11 hostages are okay. but, we also know that four stretchers came out of the building and some of those stretchers we saw people who were trained paramedics performing cpr. these seemed to be hostages, one a woman in black. the ambulances are working on those people. we hear the sounds of the sirens in the background as the team mobilized and went in. we know a little more as well about the gunman who is at the center of this. we were told earlier by media authorities here and nbc news confirmed that this is a self-styled sheikh, sheikh hamon, the one at the center of this.

he is an iranian immigrant to australia, and he was, we're told, out on bail. he had been on charges of being accessory to murder. but again, a short time ago the sydney siege appeared to end in a very dramatic and very difficult way for some of those hostages. that's the latest from here, willie. >> stay with me. i'm going to come back to you. i want to bring in nbc news terrorism specialist. michael, good morning. what do you think was the tipping point in the situation after nearly 17 hours of a stand-off, why do you think police went in at the moment they did? >> it appears that he lost most of his hostages and most of his leverage and was probably getting nervous and may have threatened a hostage and they decided to go in at that time. after 17 hours he was probably pretty worn down and thought maybe the time to go in. it's not clear whether he injured a hostage that triggered the charge by the police.

>> generally speaking michael, when is the right time to go in on a situation like this? there are clearly some hostages were left. how do you make that calculation? >> you really are looking for him to be worn down and getting tired and normally they hit way early in the morning like 3:00, 4:00 in the morning when he is worn down and after they have enough intelligence about the site where they think they can approach him, get a shot off without him being alerted. >> michael, there has been speculation over the last 17 hours based on this self-described cleric's postings online, that there could be some connection to the larger isis movement that's called for inspired attacks as they called them, around the world. on soft targets like the one we saw today. have we learn mord in the last 17 hours about a connection here? >> not yet but clearly she connected in wye way or teert isis. he may be purely through inspiration. whether he has physical connection through cells or the leadership is unclear. doesn't really matter.

the isis through social media is trying to inspire people around the world to join their cause but will be interesting to see if he does have other connection, i'm sure the australians will work those leads very hard and to round up any other people that might have the same intent. >> michael sheian, sarah james, thanks very much. much more at nbcnews.com. some of you will return to your regular program. some of you will return to your regular program. for the re tylenol® cold helps relieve your worst cold and flu symptoms. but for everything we do, we know you do so much more. tylenol®

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if you're packing up and staying in a hotel over the holidays, you may want to pack up cleaning products. >> last month nbc investigative correspondent jeff rossen teamed up with a microbiologist and they tested everything in the hotel, light switch, alarm clock, the drapes, to find the germs that could make you sick. >> since we don't want that to happen to you, we brought in real simple's associate home editor stephanie cisco to tell you how to degerm your hotel room. necessary. >> absolutely necessary. there are some things you can pack and bring with you or even just keep in your suitcase at all times. >> you open the door, you have four things you say in your bag that are important. what are they? >> travel size disinfectant spray, disinfectant or alcohol wipes, some plastic freezer bags, that will be important, and then slippers or extra pair of socks. >> they have slippers sometimes in there. >> they do. you may want to bring your own and toss those into the wash. they minimize the amount of contact between skin and germs.

>> most people go on vacation so they don't have to clean the place. they're sick of having their own house. let's go on a vacation and -- >> this time of year, you want to prevent any illness, any -- just -- >> so true. walk into a bathroom and they have those cups that are there. >> yes. >> and they're inviting, put your toothbrush in it. >> if they're not the disposable kind, all you need to do is take the glasses or mugs to the sink, run hot water and use hand soap to wash those out. in the piece you did before, we saw people picking up dirty towels off the floor and wiping those out. avoid any of those germs. >> checked into a hotel and -- >> housekeeping came in and picked up dirty towels off the floor and cleaned the -- >> let's talk about the desk, which has a nice pen, you can take notes if someone calls. >> the room servicemen you, anything on there is really -- anything that has been touched by multiple people and rarely sees cleaner is kind of off

limits. so -- >> the desk, don't touch it? >> spray it with disinfectant spray. >> again, working. >> it is just a spray. not too much work. once you do that when you walk in -- >> drugstore there and you can't pack it in your luggage. >> what about when you almost die from choking, you can't think straight afterwards. what about the remote? we hear terrible things about the remote. >> in the piece you did before, they found mrsa and eko. colko. living on the remote control. use the bag and use it through the zipper bag and you'll be protected. >> ew. what about the night stand? what is on there? >> anything from the phone to the lamp switch to the alarm clock, again, items that people touch on a daily basis and don't see the -- >> wipe it down. >> how about -- why is there a phone in the bathroom? >> i can't get over mrsa on the other stuff and e. coli. >> that's one question about the phone in the bathroom --

>> you know how they have the comforter on top, you know that doesn't get washed every time. stay away from that thing. >> take that off immediately, toss it into the corner. the pillows, leave a note for housekeeping to make sure they don't make the bed with that bed spread during your stay and also to make sure they change the pillow cases on your pillows. >> but of all the dirtiest items, the remote. remember jimmy fallon's sketch, ew? >> i think he got that from you. >> thank you so much. we really appreciate it. >> have fun cleaning all holiday. >> here is a gift for us,

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theand the kids always eat sky their vegetables.e. because the salad there is always served with the original hidden valley ranch. to make your signature christmas dish.rt has everything you need mine is mouthwatering mashed potatoes. i mix my russets with milk, butter, and cream cheese to make them super creamy. mmmm... and yours? sock-it-to-me spiral cut ham! whoa! you made this? yep. i just take a sam's choice super premium spiral cut ham from walmart, bake it flat side down, tent the foils so all the juices can mingle... who are you? ham man! walmart has everything you need for christmas dinner at unbeatable prices, guaranteed by savings catcher. walmart.

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the toyota concert series on "today" brought to you by

toyota. >> it is manilow mania monday around here. we love it. 14 time grammy nominee barry manilow is kind enough to stick around and perform one of his newest songs. you'll love it. >> a special collection claabor his album called "my dream duets". >> it is a dream song. >> who doesn't love "what a wonderful world." the song goes over his what a wonderful world and because it is christmas, we added joy to the world. it is three soings for one. >> nobody on the planet can do that but barry manilow. >> getting people to agree, was that an easy thing for you? >> i didn't hear that we had any trouble. what i wanted to do one with sinatra, a great chart on strangers in the night but this is his 100th birthday and they were putting out all kinds of cds. but rest of them were pretty okay with it.

>> cd is awesome. >> who else do you sing with on the cd? >> whitney houston, john denver, who else -- >> neil diamond? >> no, the diamond. >> the song? >> goody, goody. andy williams. and the list goes on. it was such an honor to do this and sammy davis jr. i was singing with sammy davis jr. in my headset and i forgot he wasn't there. i kept going for the kleenex. >> it is great you put this on with video behind you. >> barry and louis together. >> yes. >> take it away, baby. >> okay. ♪ ♪ joy to the world ♪ i see trees of green

red roses, too ♪ ♪ i see them bloom for me and you ♪ ♪ and i think to myself and i think to myself what a wonderful world ♪ ♪ what a wonderful world ♪ and i see skies of blue and clouds of white ♪ ♪ the blessed day the dark and sacred night ♪ ♪ and i think to myself what a wonderful world ♪ ♪ the colors of the rainbow so pretty in the skies ♪ ♪ are also on the faces

of people going by ♪ ♪ i see friends shakin' hands sayin' how do you do? ♪ ♪ they're really saying i love you ♪ ♪ i hear babies cryin' i watch them grow ♪ ♪ they'll learn much more ♪ like the stars in the sky then i'll ever know ♪ ♪ and i think to myself what a wonderful world ♪ ♪ oh, oh ♪ yes, i think to myself what a wonderful world ♪ ♪ >> sing it, louis!

♪ oh yeah >> oh, my gosh. perfect! you get it from the front, i'll get him from the back. >> yes. >> love you, barry. love you. >> that was beautiful. >> he's still got it. >> happy. >> we'll be right back. but first this is "today" on nbc.

we're in the final of our -- final week of our 21st annual toy drive. toys are heading to kids in need across the country. >> unbelievable. we appreciate so much all of your contributions. and bob and lauren monahan, husband and wife founders of uba baby are here with a wonderful

donation that will help a whole lot of families. welcome. >> look how -- look how cute you two are, by the way. >> tell us what you're donating today. >> we're donating $150,000 worth of cruise and deluxe strollers. >> that's terrific. >> usually a pricey item for a family, isn't it? >> sure is. >> that's fantastic. >> how old are your kids no ? >> 8, 10 and 12. >> i know it is so important for people. why do you keep doing this year after year. this is your fourth year. >> this is our fourth year. we love to support families in need and give them a safe mode of transport to their children, we're able to do it. >> thank you so, so much. >> happy holidays. >> thank you. >> you have until this friday to donate to our toy drive, bring a gift to our plaza or nbc experience store or donate online. coming up, jill martin has gifts for under $10. >> what? >> allegedly.

>> and what your man is really thinking when our guys tell all panel, love those guys. >> madelyn fernstrom is here too, cut the creep.

nbc 10 breaking news. >> right now at 11:00, police are investigating a deadly shooting in montgomery county. we know at least one woman is dead and there is active police activity at several locations. we have a team of reporters staking out and gathering new information. there are multiple active crime scenes in souderton and harleysville. we have live team coverage and we begin with nbc 10's matt delucia in harleysville. >> police have been out here on the scene since around 4:00 this morning focusing on that apartment just behind me. we're at the pheasant run apartment complex, and sources tell us a woman was shot and killed here thi