this morning this morning on "today's take," our countdown to christmas. santa's on his way and we are tracking his journey. plus a special holiday performance by four-time grammy ward winning artist seal and how to get your christmas activits off to a merry start. all that coming up now. >> this is "today's take" with al roker, natalie morales, willie geist and tamron hall, all from studio 1a in rockefeller center.

the crowd, you can see it's a very different kind of christmas receive here in new york city and throughout large portions of the united states today, it is, according to my phone, which is never wrong, 72 degrees currently at 9:00 in the morning. >> the old record is 63. we broke that midnight last -- >> 12:01 we already had a record. >> and we have a record. it is official. the warmest christmas on record. >> a lot of people outside are saying it doesn't feel like christmas. i ran into some texans and they were saying we were hoping for a wild, crazy -- i was like shut your mother. my fair is complaining. i have that 'fro-nation.

>> my family's here. >> hi, family! >> we're taking a road trip to boston. it's not a surprise that you guys are coming, right? >> not now! >> just look in the camera and say, surprise, they're coming. section. >> hope everybody's getting ready, getting geared up, spending some time with family. we've got you covered with norad, the north american aerospace command is following santa as he makes his way around the world. this is the 70th anniversary of norad tracking santa. he's already well on his way giving gifts to boys and girls across the country. >> there's a lot of time over the pacific right now. >> but if anyone can do it, santa can. >> isn't it annoying when you're

directv went off? >> the pacific. >> any large body of water. >> we have more than 5,400 flights delayed already yesterday and we're hearing some more early morning stuff today, too. weather. >> just to the south of atlanta, there are tornado watches, heavy rain, small storms. atlanta's such a big hub that, day. but this afternoon it starts to clear out. >> we've been joking about the warm weather but there's some pretty serious severe weather. we've all been doing some last-ment wrapping. i understand you did creative wrapping last night. >> what does that mean, willie? >> sort artistic interpretation -- >> it wasn't meant to be. >> that's not bad. >> that's my last gift. morning.

it's for my brother. >> were you at the end and like i don't know what to do with this? >> i started out bad -- it started out with my niece's dinosaur. she's all about jurassic park. and i tweeted out how does one wrap that? look at that thing. that's blue. blue is the main dinosaur that helped save the day. but how do you wrap blue? why wouldn't they put it in a box? >> put it in a bag. >> i don't like bags as kids. people are like you buy two and sandwich them together. >> buy two what? >> buy two blues, two dinosaurs. no, just buy two, tamron and do it together and then you have a box. >> that sounds like the kids

>> tamron, just buy two. we're going to have some tips on how to wrap. batteries. around the house. >> it's like christmas morning. when you open up the present, you can't wait to play it and we have no batteries. >> my dad, best dad in my opinion, could build anything. open up playstation, no batteries. i'll never forget that batteries. i think it was 9 volt. so you can't take it out of the remote control. >> i overcompensate. every time i'm at the checkout, i just grab another pack of double as. a lifetime worth of batteries. >> we're thinking getting into the christmas spirit, since it

what's your favorite movie? >> "love actually." this is the best part, even though he was scamming on his friend's wife, it was such a -- >> they had a connection, right? >> they did. >> that relationship wasn't going anywhere. >> it's the most beautiful christmas movie. nd you know that's rick from "walking dead" so the two things i love most. >> i never made that connection. organization, my gosh oh, my gosh. the scene where the little girl chases him through the airport and comes back and smiles oot at liam neeson. >> the end of "scrooge" is mine.

throughout the entire movie, he's sad his dad died and when he sees he's a good guy, he said "god bless everyone" and they break out and sing. >> willie, yours is -- if someone said pick one movie that defines willie geist and the family experience of the geist, because i've been to the holiday party for the geist three times, there is within movie and it is what -- >> "christmas vacation." >> they want you to say grace. the blessing!

got. >> i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america. and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god with liberty and justice for all. >> the joke's already good enough and then cousin eddie stands up and puts his hand over his heart. >> one of my other favorite songs. christmas vacation >> we all have a little clark w. gristwald in us. >> if al were here, he'd want to us talk about this. is "die hard" a christmas movie? >> no! and over here. >> dylan's family, come by for a second.

>> they are coming. representing. family. every person who said yes in the studio that it's a holiday film is a guy. we'll give it to dylan's family. >> have you seen "die hard?" >> i've never seen it. >> why is "die hard" a christmas film? >> it's around christmas time. it's a little action, but it's still the christmas spirit. >> makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside? >> that's right. >> and they haven't seen it. >> ladies, come on! >> you win in the jumper category. >> go back to the numbers, which was the point of this exercise. me. this becomes a national question, that they did a poll. public policy polling. >> the people who do the

>> yes. >> the numbers are -- >> 62%, right? >> what? christmas film. >> do not? >> they're all wrong. >> do not. >> they're all wrong. >> bruce willis trying to save hostages trapped in an l.a. skyscraper that skreep creams christmas. if they say, what are you most thankful for? i say bruce willis trying to save me from a skyscraper. >> he wants some shoes, is that the theme? >> hans gruber is the grinch, the scrooge, the bad guy. so that's not the point. >> let us know what you think. the final tweet of the week. let us know. is "die hard" -- and al roker loves these hashtags -- #die

>> do you know what's not in the holiday spirit? the weather. we have so much warmth. temperatures in the 70s, rain through the southeast. we saw the tornado watch in effect until 10:00. the storms we'll see today won't be nearly as severe as yesterday. we have a marginal risk of storms today. the biggest threat will be more higher wind gusts. if you're traveling in the northwest today, we are looking for a couple of >> good thursday morning, everyone, merry christmas eve. mild air continues to move northbound so, the numbers in boston in the maramack very well jumping over the next hours, and the visibility will come up as well. visibility with fog in boston, 1 mile. drifting through the skies, and throughout the day, the record

partly sunny skies, and cooler by sunday. >> i'm worried. >> why? >> two women, now three, "die hard," yes. shout out, beck. megan g., the best christmas movie ever. megan g., are you following me? she is. >> watch it with your children tonight. it can be a christmas tradition. >> don't have your kids watch it. we'll tell you how to handle any social situations with coughing...sniffling... and wishing you could stay in bed all day. when your cold is this bad... ...you need new theraflu expressmax. theraflu expressmax combines... maximum strength medicines available without a prescription... ...to fight your worst cold and flu symptoms... ...so you can feel better fast and get back to the job at hand. new theraflu expressmax.

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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. beautiful looking tree in rockefeller plaza. the holidays, time for celebrating with family and friends. >> also, plenty of chances for things to get a little awkward. >> to get a handle on the sticky situations s situations, we're going to play our holiday game that's going crazy across the world.

with expert -- i'm going to throw in an extra expert, i think. >> ready to do this? >> yeah. >> first question, no, ho, ho, ho, or ho, ho, no. your cousin shows up at your house with a new girlfriend whom you weren't expecting. do you take him aside and politely explain that you don't have enough food for that person? >> no. >> ho, ho, no. >> yes, the answer is ho, ho, no. it's a no, you don't do that. don't put him -- etiquette is putting other people as ease. >> if you don't have enough food -- >> you still want to be a gracious host and let the person know that it's okay. never let them see you sweat. >> you can talk about them later. >> right. hem them up later. you know what? next time, you better make sure you tell me. >> be passive aggressive and be like, i have to find another chair.

you know what, i won't eat. you go ahead. >> when you do this, make them feel awkward. that'll get them, right? >> aggressive wins. >> serve them right. here we go. next one, you've been given a wonderful gift from someone and you didn't bring anything for them. >> oh, no. >> i'm in that situation a lot. >> should you smile and thank them and continue with the gift exchange? ho, ho, ho, or ho, ho, no. >> what is the alternative? run? >> you have one choice here. smile and say thank you. which should you do? >> yeah. of course. >> ho, ho, ho. >> yes, you're right. >> what do you do? >> nothing. just say thank you. some think, i have to go and give them a gift or apologize. i didn't get you anything. you just smile. don't do that. >> give a heartfelt thank you. >> you failed to give me a gift. >> do that to everyone. >> take your gift and run, right, dylan?

>> she was very nice about it. >> you did the proper thing. >> next one. ready? >> yeah. >> let's see, so the next one is, you see your 6-year-old nephew and his friend double dipping their karat carrot sticks in the dip. do you remove the dip from their reach and tell the parents? >> don't tell the parents. >> no. >> ho, ho, no. >> you're all wrong. >> no! >> here's the thing, two things. first, do you remove it from his reach? yes. but you absolutely do that. then let the parents know. they were double dipping, just let you know. >> no, no way. >> if little johnny says, aunt tamron took it away from me, you want to make sure you're covered. >> i do this. mama can't help you. >> you can say something to

>> let the parent know what you did. >> if you're not a stranger. no stitching on children. >> thank you so much. merry christmas. coming up, mack thought mac and cheese couldn't get better. the beloved classic is going bite sized. we have that and other last-minute appetizers for your holiday bash. >> that looks delicious. [ dog barks ] [ bark ] there it is! [ gasps ] oh no! look, the sky's awake! that. was. epic!

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swroo . if you're in need of last-minute holiday ideas, we have you covered. we have quick and easy, delicious appetizers. how are you doing? >> great. how are you? >> fantastic. let's launch? >> the first thing we're going to make are salami bundles. you'll have this all in your pantry or fridge. take a salami, like this, and spread it -- you can do some, too. >> tamron, take salami. >> my family has been making these for years and they're awesome. a little cream cheese, like that. here, we have sliced peppers. put them on your platter and you get these salami bundles. >> you don't put in a tooth stick or -- fancy. we'll be simple this time. >> cute. >> mini mac and cheese.

we have store bought mac and cheese we've prepared, and there are great brands out there. if you want to make your own, go ahead. >> feel free. >> we are stirring in egg. we have cheddar cheese. take your scooper and scoop it into a mini muffin tin. >> the egg keeps it together? >> the cheese epa keeps it together. >> ul i'll take one, if you insist. >> we have store bought pie dough. you can make your own, also. this is a mix sure of sour cream, mustard, and you spread it on the pie dough. we made this cute border, half inch wide. >> cute. >> top it with sauerkraut our auerkraut and pop it in the oven. pigs on a blanket. >> pig on a blanket. >> not in a blanket, on a blanket. >> you didn't cut it? >> you want to cut it?

>> you it's fantastic. we have one more delicious treat. >> what we're going to do is take the white sandwich bread and make calzones. twist. you roll out the dough, get it nice and flat. then you're going to fill it with shredded mozzarella. >> great idea. italian hot pocket. >> look at that! >> i've lived off of hot pockets a long time. >> we'll put you in the marketing team. get it a little damp, fold it over. you can crimp it shut with a fork. brush it with a little egg wash and pop it in the oven. >> cute. >> 375, 425 for 15 minutes. look at these amazing mini calzones. >> adorable. >> this is for you. >> thank you. >> this one is for me. >> all right. >> cheers. there you have it. these are awesome. the best part, you have probably

coming up, no gift left behind just because it has a funny shape. doesn't mean you have to give up on wrapping in style. we'll show you how to do it, the snow is starting to fall... and all the decorations are just right. the presents have all been opened... and our loved ones are gathered all around. so share that extra joy in your heart... and make this christmas even more special than the last. walmart has everything you'll need for a christmas meal they'll never forget. share wonder every day. walmart. music starts and plays throughout gucci guilty the fragrances for

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taking a look at the headlines, winter weather has left thousands of travelers stranded at airports worried about missing their family reunions. rain and fog are still causing flight delays across the country. in atlanta, only one third of flights were on time wednesday. with just hours left until christmas, some retailers are telling customers their holiday packages are being delayed by several days. they're blaming a big backlog at fedex. they have been operating around the clock and their net work is

>> hyatt hotel said it found mal malware on its computer. hyatt says it has taken steps to increase security. and the chipotle restaurant where 136 people were sickened with the noro virus is reopening today. the location in boston is reopening reopening today. >> and sant ashs a is hanging ten in australia. these australians have developed their own holiday traditions wearing jolly costumes, spending the day on surf boards.

one. let's get to the forecast where we've had some serious weather. >> record breaking temperatures as well. one. as we go through the weekend, it's going to stay warm up and down the east coast. look at saturday. temperatures still in the 50s and 60s. we'll see scattered showers and even snow through parts of minnesota, northwestern wisconsin and into south dakota. here. look at temperatures dropping down into the teens by sunday but in the northeast w >> good thursday morning, everyone, merry christmas eve. 50 in boston, mild air continues to move northbound so, the numbers in boston in the maramack valley jumping over the next hours, and the visibility will come up as well. visibility with fog in boston, 1 mile. isolated shower drifting through the skies, and throughout the day, the record warmth, mid 60s to 70 this afternoon.

and create little vie triangles and then you fold that back over on itself. >> this is a homemade gift bag. up. >> you can rip right into it and you can pop in your helmet. i've embellished that with bows. >> that's so smart. >> sometimes up have objects you think there's no chance to wrap it but you've deg rated the actual object itself. >> when you're faced with a super unusual object, you can wrap it to look like what it is or disguise if t to look like something completely different.

put some little antlers and i embellished it with a scarf. here? >> craft paper and just card board and cut that out and put it together. >> don't tell the kid there's anything inside, play with this. wow. >> to wrap something that looks exactly like it is. we created this wrap, the awnings, the eaves on it. >> you have some mad wrapping skills. i don't think i could pull that off. >> and on that same note, it's being resourceful. i recycled a christmas card from

i use the inside of my jar as the template, i trace that. i'm embellishing with a ribbon. just dress that up so easy. >> and there are ways to dress up wrapping paper, too. you can get artistic. >> if you're getting super artistic, you can create your own wrapping paper. if you have a happy birthday paper but no christmas paper, you can tun it over and use the back. i take the doilies and wrap them around the rolling pin and put it in ink and roll it across the paper.

and put a firm press down. >> who knew the inside of a celery was so beautiful. >> you're really, really good at this. thank you so much. merry christmas, everybody. >> coming up, our 2016 crew is back. we'll show you how to have your egg n og and drink it, too. just head around the corner to walgreens when you' re searching for that perfect little something. walgreens has great gifts like toys, beauty gift sets, and photo gifts, and it' s all just a hop, skip, and a bark away. most stores open ' til 10pm on christmas day. coughing...sniffling... and wishing you could stay in bed all day.

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believe it or not, it's week 15 of our 16 to 16 series, where we've challenged three viewers and you at home to get healthy by 2016. >> almost there. mary jean, rochelle and ken are doing great, looking graets ing ing great and feeling great. today nutritionist, the extraordinary and amazing joy bauer made some delicious skinny cocktails for all of us to enjoy. because joy has to quiz us all, we have like a quiz of some sort, right? >> and you get to drink. this might be the most amazing slot will.

their incredible weight loss. week 15 i mary jean lost another 2 1/2 pounds. she's down during the holidays 35.5 pounds. >> bravo! >> you look raradiant. rochelle is down a total of 29 pounds. ken lost another two pounds, down a total of 31 pounds. in just 15 weeks. >> you have one more week. >> big finale next week. >> red carpet, everything. >> big finale naked? >> i've had some to drink. >> festive cocktails that we'll slim down. let's come down here. the original one that everybody tends to make is 487 calories. if you can imagine, that's the

mini candy canes. >> really? what's the alternative? >> mine is just as pretty looking. i crushed candy cane on the outside of the rim and swapped out the cream and did a combination of vanilla bean extract with unsweetened vanilla milk. the have nil vanilla vodka is still in there. mine is 210 calories. >> we can have two of these. >> and still clock under the amount of the one. >> next up? >> everybody loves eggnog. without spiking it with rum, a cup is going to cost you about 350 calories. once you spike it, 440. >> gosh! >> that is the equivalent of eating 14 butter cookies. could you imagine? >> for one drink? >> one cup of eggnog. i'm about to show you the most ridiculously easy way to slim it down. you pick up any commercial, store-bought eggnog, and you're

little bit of either skim milk, light coconut milk or unsweetened vanilla almond milk. you will go from 440 calories, my spiced version, the rum is in there, 200 calories. >> very good. >> you like that? >> yeah, it's good. >> this is a ginger champagne sparkler. typically, they'll put a lot of sugary syrup in there. mine is champagne, crystallized ginger and a little ground ginger and sugar on the rim to make it festive. >> oh, my gosh. >> we go from 223 calories, the equivalent of seven holiday cookies, to mine, which is only 143 calories. >> great. >> these are tremendous. congratulations. you guys look amazing. >> cheers. >> they're all on the web. can't wait to see next week's big extravaganza. today.com for -- these are all good.

and hot buttered rum. up next -- oh, oh, oh! >> seal will smooth everything out for us because joy obviously had too many of her own drinks. really? >> oh, my gosh. my sister raves about her toothpaste and mouthwash all the time. i'm like, huh? aren't they all the same? you know, i had to see for myself. so i went pro. with crest pro-health advanced. advance to a healthier, stronger, cleaner mouth from day 1. this toothpaste... p ...and mouthwash make my whole mouth feel amazing. and my teeth stronger. pcrest pro-healthpadvanced is superior in these 5 areas dentists check. this is gonna go well, for sure. advance to a healthier stronger, cleaner mouth from day 1. great check up. my sister was right. dear stranger, when i booked your place, my friends thought i was crazy. but this morning, a city i'd never been to felt like home. thank you for sharing the world with me.

when we're making mashed potatoes, and add a packet of hidden valley original ranch. it becomes the first thing they reach for. ranch mashed potatoes. hidden valley it! so you think santa will like these... red and green m&m's? i don't know! i never met the guy! whaaaaa! he does exist! they do exist!

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...to fight your worst cold and flu symptoms... ...so you can feel better fast and get back to the job at hand. new theraflu expressmax. the power to feel better.tm it's that night of the year you come here. looking for gifts so there won't be tears. eleventh hour shopper...that's you. it's ok because they know you. they're loaded up with gear. an xbox for the children. and a mixer for your dear. no need to shop around for present you've missed it's all here. you're off the naughty list! eleventh hour shopper... that's you! see you next year, buddy! get low prices on all your last-minute gifts. walmart. pandora jewelry isn't just jewelry. it's a connection made stronger in silver and gold. this is more than a gift.

that's the gift of pandora >> announcer: the citi concert series on "today" is presented to you by citi. >> seal is a multi-platinum grammy-singing singer/songwriter who sold more than 30 million albums worldwide. the global hit, kiss from a rose, turned him into a sensation in 1994. on this christmas eve day, here he is with an early gift, his

ladies and gentlemen, seal. hang all the mistletoe, i'm gonna get to know you better this christmas and as we trim the tree, how much it's gonna be together this christmas the fireside is blazing bright, we're carolling through the night and this christmas will be a

presents and cards are here, my world is filled with cheer and you this christmas and as i look around, your eyes outshine the town, they do this christmas the fireside is blazing bright we're carolling through the night and this christmas will be a very special christmas for me >>

this christmas christmas the fireside is blazing bright and we're carolling through the night

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we've got time to check in our diehard hash tag. >> this could be a christmas miracle if this works. >> we know it didn't work in the commercial break. >> do it one more time. >> make sure everyone can see that, tamron. 89% of you correctly say "die

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