good morning. we're going to need a bigger shovel. another nasty storm set to bear down on the east coast, bringing powerful wind gusts and much more snow. this morning, al has the latest on the storm's track. strike three. toyota announces a third recall overnight, this time to fix that brake problem on nearly 500,000 prius and other hybrid vehicles. and the final countdown. the opening of the olympic winter games just three days aw. athletes from around the world converging on the beautiful city of vancouver. and matt's on the scene, as well, today, tuesday, february 9th, 2010.

captions paid for by nbc-universal television and welcome to "today" on this tuesday morning. i'm meredith vieira. matt has made his way to vancouver, our home for the next several weeks as we cover the olympic winter games. just arrived a few hours ago. matt, good morning. >> hey, meredith, good morning to you. i like when you said a second ago, matt is on the scene as well, and you showed that skier going over the jump. i thought, maybe that's me. >> you feel that way. >> i feel like that. yeah, really. a little bit tired. we did get in a couple hours ago. we're at the international broadcast center right here in downtown vancouver. and even though it's the wee hours of the morning, you can tell this city is ready. the excitement is building, people arriving, athletes

arriving. the press, of course, is already re. now, when it comes to the weather, much has been said. it's beautiful here. in fact, it's probably too nice for the taste of some people. they're having quite a heat wave by canadian standards. it is forcing olympic organizers to haul in snow to cyprus mountain, about a half hour from here, where freestyle mogul competitions begin on saturday. on monday, some of the athletes got to check out that venue, taking some runs on the moguls course. as you can see, whatever they're doing, it's working. and although we say it's warm here, meredith, i just want to warn you -- i know you're on your way out here -- at this time of the morning at this location, it's a little chilly. so, be prepared. coming up, we'll check in on the effort to get everything ready for these games and we'll catch up with america's best hope for gold, skier lindsey vonn. remember her? a nasty crash and training run in torino hurt her medal chances in the last winter games. she is poised now to become the breakout star here in vancouver. a lot of pressure on her shoulders. and we're also going to show you around our new home here in

vancouver and teach you a few things about this city that is bursting with excitement now. meredith? >> all right, matt. that sounds very good. we'll check in with you again in a bit. you talk about the warm weather there. a very different story here. let's get the latest on this powerful storm making its way to the east coast, the second big storm in less than a week. we have three reports for you this mornin starting with the weather channel's janel klein in chicago. janel, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, meredith. day two of a three-day storm here in chicago, and it is expected to be a big one. ten inches planned for today in addition to the four inches already on the ground, and wind will also be a factor. 40-mile-an-hour gusts that could create ground blizzards and whiteout conditions in some areas. but as tough as driving conditions are, air travel not a whole lot easier. 300 flights canceled out of o'hare airport here in chicago yesterday. dozens more were delayed. and now southwest airlines is saying it is canceling all of its flights out of midway airport. but as tough as everything is

here in the midwest, everybody is saying they know it is nothing compared to what the east coast is expecting. >> all right, janel klein, thank you so much. janel is from the weather channel, reporting from chicago this morning. meanwhile, as she said, people in washington, d.c., are still digging out from a weekend storm there that was one of the biggest in history, and now they are bracing for more. nbc's tom costello is there. tom, good morning to you. you just dug out of your house, what, yesterday. >> reporter: yeah, yeah. we have 30 inches at our house in maryland, and here we are on the national mall. i've got my yard stick. on the national mall, we've got 15 inches here. keep in mind, it's subtle for the last three days, but really, a lot of this region has more than double that over the course of the last couple days and we have got another foot on the way on top of the 20 to 30 inches already. this is not going to be an easy task. we can also tell you that we are looking at the fact that the schools remain closed, federal government remains closed, and we've also got, of course, security issues that we're concerned about.

let's talk about the snow totals. we've got so far reagan airport, 17.8 inches, dulles 32 inches, we've got philadelphia 28 inches, second biggest snowstorm so far, baltimore 60 inches so far for the season. that mes it the second snowiest season on record. and really, when you look at the totals here, it is astonishing to think, meredith, that we're looking at another 10 to 20 inches, they say, in the next 24 to 36 hours. back to you. >> yeah, and tom, what is this storm going to do in terms of travel along the east coast? >> reporter: probably create a real headache. you know, we had airports here closed saturday and sunday. they reopened yesterday. amtrak has really been disabled the last few days. here's what amtrak is telling us. the acela line, they say, is going to have limited service over the course of the next few hours and days. same with the northeast regional service. as for air travel, we're looking at the following. us airways precanceling flights. planes remain in airports away from the east coast.

change fees suspended. air tran, cancellations expected through thursday. you can change your reservation as well. united precanceling flights, urging people to go to united.com, call the airline. continental has canceled the flights already. all flights to baltimore, d.c. and philly are canceled. and southwest canceling based on how much snow we get here in the coming hours. so, you know, by all expectations, this is really going to be another crippling snow event. >> yeah, shutting down cities. tom costello, thank you so much. so, how bad will it get? al roker is tracking the storm for us. good morning to you, al. >> good morning, meredith. and we have winter storm warnings, winter storm watches and winter weather advisories stretching from the midwest all the way to the east coast. this is a potent storm. it's basically a double-barrel storm. you can see it's already getting stuff together, and the radar, snow from cincinnati up into cleveland, chicago, wisconsin. rain, heavy rain through the southeast. double-barrel low pressure. righ now, low pressure down in the gulf, also in the midwest. it's going to combine. these two systems will combine

off the coast late tonight on into tomorrow morning and then head out and up along the coast. classic nor'easter. snowfall amounts right now starting back through the midwest, we're talking about six to nine inches of snow parts of michigan, three to six inches milwaukee, chicago into cleveland, but here in the northeast, that's going to be the big story. mid-atlantic states, from washington, baltimore, philly, new york city, long island, one to two feet of snow. add to that 40 to 50-mile-per-hour winds. we're talking blizzard-like conditions. and there are even some indications now that boston may get involved in this. we're talking maybe 10 to 12 inches for boston as we get on into wednesday night, on into thursday. so, a crippling storm along the mid-atlantic on into the northeast. meredith? >> all right, al, thank you. we're going to get the restf al's forecast in just a bit. meanwhile, another important story this morning. a third big recall for toyota announced overnight. this one involves more than 400,000 prius and other hybrid vehicles worldwide. cnbc's phil lebeau covers the

auto industry. phil, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, meredith. this is a worldwide recall, essentially hitting almost all of toyota's hybrids, including its popular prius model. now it's in line for a software fix to repair delayed braking. overnight, toyota's president, akio toyoda, held a news conference in japan, apologizing to customers. and announcing toyota's third massive recall, this time a worldwide recall of the prius and other hybrid models. the recall is being made to address braking problems for the popular prius. >> i'm livid that the consumers and those of us that did buy the cars in 2009, the 2010s, were not informed. >> reporter: jill says the brakes on her 2010 prius did not immediately kick in at least four different times, and she came close to hitting another car. >> i was applying the brakes with plenty of time, and the car just lurched forward and i came within several inches of the car

in fnt of me, and that was really frightening. >> reporter: overall, more than 7 million toyota vehicles have been recalled since last october, first for accelerator entrapment blamed on floor mats, then for sticking gas pedals, and now those complaints that on some 2010 priuses, the brakes pause before slowing down. the recas come as toyota went online trying to reassure owners their cars are safe. >> in our case, we know in terms of the entrapment of the gas pedal with the floor mat, we know that that's a cause of unintended acceleration. >> reporter: toyota launched a multimedia campaign, hoping to win back consumer confidence. >> in recent days, our company hasn't been living up to the standards that you've come to expect from us. >> reporter: now, as toyota works to get recalled vehicles back on the road and assembly plants back online, experts agree it will take more than a public relations push to get its reputation back on track. >> you know, there's something in our collective psyche that's

going to require them to fall on the sword a little bit. >> reporter: well, toyota now believes that it has identified all of its major safety and reliability problems. the question is now turning to what's happening with those investigations into those recalls. congressional inquiries are supposed to start tomorrow, meredith. if there are congressional hearings, that's when members of congress will get a chance to ask toyota executives what they knew and when they knew it about all of these safety problems. meredith? >> you can bet there are going to be a lot of pointed questions. cnbc's phil lebeau, thank you so much. and now let's get a check of the rest of the morning's top stories from ann curry at the news desk. good morning to you, annie. >> good morning, meredith. and we begin, everybody, good morning, with a new miracle in the rubble in haiti. four weeks after the devastating earthquake, what doctors say seems impossible. they are treating a man who they are told was just pulled from the rubble. nbc's kerry sanders is in port-au-prince this morning. kerry, what can you tell us? >> reporter: well, good morning, ann. it is so unbelievable that it cannot be confirmed this morning, a man buried for 27

days and still alive. the 28-year-old man was emaciated and dehydrated when he was pulled from under the concrete at a market where he worked, according to his mother. she had assumed he was dead, but when they reached him, she says he was alive. doctors say biologically, it is impossible to survive 15 days without water. so, if this story is accurate, he may have had access to something to drink under the rubble of that market. [ inaudible ] >> reporter: if this story is accurate as told, it's going to be one for the record books, ann. >> kerry sanders this morning. kerry, thank you so much. today iran says it has begun making higher-grade nuclear fuel to curb its nuclear program. they want the u.n. to impose sanctions on iran within weeks, not months. congressman john murtha is being remembered as a tireless

advocate for slveterans and the military. the longest serving congressman died monday after complications from gall bladder surgery. he was the first former marine to serve in congress and was an outspoken critic of the war in iraq. john murtha was 77. and new orleans throws a big parade today to honor its hometown heroes, the super bowl champion saints. on monday, hundreds of fans showed up to greet the team when it arrived back at new orleans. coach sean payton held up the trophy through the roof of his car as he drove through the crowd, symbolizing it was a win for all of new orleans. it's now 7:12. back to meredith and al. >> thank you. at least in new orleans the weather is nice today. >> that's right. but our friends out west are getting hammered again. they've had a rough time, too. let's show you the satellite and you'll see rain moving in, flood was for parts of southern california. look for mountain snows above 4,000 feet, snowfall amounts, we're talking one to two feet of snow locally, one to two inches of rain in southern california, from los anges to san diego.

rest of the country, rain in the southeast. >> another major snowstorm is bearing down on our region. right now we're getting light snow in southwestern virginia and into west virginia and a lot farther north and west of there. right now temperatures are cold, we're just in the teens to low and mid 20s near the bay. single digits in some locations. by the time the storm ends wednesday evening, a new snow amount of 12 to 18 inches on top of what is already on the ground is going to be common throughout much of the region, more farther north. that's your latest weather. meredith? >> al, thank you. michael jackson's former doctor, conrad murray, is out on bail this morning after pleading not guilty to a charge of involuntary manslaughter in the pop star's death. nbc's george lewis is outside the los angeles superior court with more. george, good morning. >> reporter: good morning,

meredith. we're learning some new things this morning about michael jackson's death, this as his doctor begins his defense against charges that he carelessly killed his most famous patient. jackson's family, present for the court session, doesn't buy dr. murray's not guilty plea, accusing him of not keeping a close enough eye on jackson after giving him a powerful anesthetic. >> he's lying. he's guilty. nobody was there but him. >> reporter: monday night, michael jackson's father told cnn's larry king that he doesn't believe murray is the only person responsible for his son's death. >> to me, he's just the fall guy. there's other people, i think, involved with this whole thing. >> reporter: joe jackson did not elaborate. there was a circus atmosphere outside the courthouse with murray having to walk past angry michael jackson fans on his way inside. in papers filed with the court, the state attorney general's office urged the judge to suspend murray's license to

practice medicine. the judge didn't do that but did order murray to stop administering any an sthetics, specifically propofol, the drug the coroner says killed jackson. >> you're not to be using that, you're not to prescribe that, you're not to have it in any manner whatsoever. >> reporter: jackson died last june. murray admitting giving the singer propofol for insomnia. now a newly released 51-page coroner's report says the levels of propofol in jackson's body were "similar to those found during general anesthesia for major surgery." the report also says jackson was wearing a wig, that his hair was thin in spots and balding, and it confirms accounts that jackson had a disease that was causing his skin to turn lighter. the report saying there was "depigmentation of the skin." other details included jackson's weight -- 136 pounds -- and the fact that there was a jar of urine at the foot of his bed.

murray's lawyer argues thetate doesn't have that much of a case against his client. >> if it took them eight months to get this far, it must be difficult for them. >> reporter: one thing that may work in murray's favor, the coroner's report says that jackson had lung damage. murray's team may be able to call experts who would testify that contributed to the singer's death, raising doubts in the minds of jurors. murray was freed on $75,000 bail and ordered not to leave the country. while he was awaiting his court appearance in los angeles, murray visited michael jackson's grave site. murray's lawyers insist the two men were close friends and that the doctor never did anything to cause michael jackson's death. now, because of security concerns, murray's trial is going to be moved from this courthouse near the l.a. airport to downtown. murray's next court date, april the 5th. meredith? >> all right, george lewis, thank you very much. it is 7:16, and now let's go

back to matt in vancouver. >> all right, meredith, thanks to you. and while the east coast is bracing for another big dumping of snow, they're kind of begging for snow here in vancouver. the city's experiencing one of the warmest winters on record. the high today expected around 50 degrees again. "today" national correspondent natalie morales is about 30 minutes to the north of us here at cyprus mountain, which is one of the cpetition venues and they have made an extraordinary effort there over the past couple weeks to get ready for the games. natalie, good morning to you. >> and good morning to you, matt, as well from cypress this morning. this is the freestyle mogul ski run, and we are told it is now competition-ready as a result of all that hard work. but to give you an example of the effort that went into this, they had about a 2 1/2-inch natural snow base here to begin with. as you can see from the rocks off to the left of the course, that is what they were dealing with here, so mother nature has not been cooperating. but all that you see now is a

result of all that hard work. let the games begin. okay, maybe not just yet. this is not the usual scenery you'd expect right before the winter olympics. whe the rare sunny day here and mild winter weather is a blessing for the everyday athlete enjoying vancouver's great outdoors, for the olympic athletes and organizers, the warm-up is the one hitch in the otherwise very well-executed plans for these games. >> in the mountains behind me, there's only about three feet of snow. last year at this time there was ten feet of snow. normally, we get periods of warm and colder weather alternating, but this year, since january 1st, it's been all heat. >> reporter: cypress mountain, the venue f snowboarding and freestyle skiing, remains the only problem area. >> we're dealing with a fairly freaky situation, but we're dealing with it, and our team has spent a lot more time on that mountain than off it in the last three to four weeks. they're doing a great job. it's a heroic effort, and the

courses, i think, will be great. >> reporter: hundreds of truckloads and airdrops of snow continue in a race against time before saturday's freestyle mogul skiing competitions. >> we compete on the first day, so we've got to, you know, start getting our training ready, but i'm really excited to get up there, and i think that they've dealt with these conditions before, so they're going to do what they know how to do best and then, you know, that will allow us to do what we can do best. >> reporter: her teammate, nate roberts, also is not too worried. >> this is what we do. we compete, and you have to adjust to every single condition, you know, if it's icy, you know, wet, powdery. everybody's here in this competition because they're mentally tough and i think the most mentally tough person out there's going to come home with the gold. >> reporter: meanwhile, at whistler, which is hosting the downhill men's ski jumping and sliding events, the story is quite the opposite with an unprecedented 32 feet of snow by the end of january. >> whistler looks ready. if you were standing on any of the courses in whistler at any of the sites, you would say this is as good as it gets.

>> reporter: back here at cypress, now, i'm actually the firs journalist they're letting in here this morning to assess the conditions here. i'm told, meanwhile, that the snowboarding venues are still a work in pgress but nearly complete, and they will be ready by the time the competitions begin there monday the 15th. matt? >> well, just qukly, natalie, how's it look to you? just turn around. does it look like a normal winter venue? >> reporter: yeah. well, you know, as you can see, if we can pan off here, i mean, there's a lot of rock carved off to the side, as you can see, but this was a superhuman effort to bring snow. they've hauled over 300 truckloads of snow. they've brought snow from the top of the mountain down here to the base. and all of the venues, really, they're dealing here at cypress with this very situation. >> right. >> reporter: but the moguls are packed, and from what i understand, the mogul skiers have had no complaints with their practice run yesterday,

matt. >> all right, great, natalie. we're going to meet one of those mogul skiers later on. but right now, we're going to meet the mayor of vancouver, gregor robertson. mr. mayor, good to see you. good morning. >> good to be here. >> people are complaining about the weather. i'm not complaining, by the way. i think if it's a little warmer for us, that's okay. are you worried about it? >> no, i'm not worried about it. we'll have snow at whistler, tons of snow at whistler, and i think vanoc has done a good job, the organizing committee, of making sure there will be snow for the free style competition. down here we don't need the snow. it's mild by the ocean. >> for spectators. >> yeah. >> people walking around your city. you've said in the past it's been a nerve-racking process getting ready for the games and maybe more challenging than you anticipated. what was the hardest part? >> i would say the overall effort here just coordinating all of the different venue construction. we had a rapid transit line that we put in from the airport to downtown, new highway upgrades on the way up to whistler, a lot of projects all at once, and the scale of it was enormous.

>> you talk about that scale and a lot of money went into those things, those infrastructure projects you just talked about. and critics -- there are always critics -- critics have said that's a lot of money that came out of the pockets of the people of vancouver and could have done to do good in other areas. how at the end of these games are you going to make sure those people are satisfied with what happened here? >> well, we may not have everyone satisfied at the end of the games, but i think the majority of people here are very keen for the games, are glad to have the infrastructure invements. it's billions of dollars in very useful infrastructure. the greenest venues that have ever been built that will be a legacy for the city for generations to come. so, it's a good investment. you could always talk about where else it could have gone, but i think these are good investments. >> let's talk security. it's always a concern these days when you gather this many people in one location. how visible -- almost $1 billion has gone into keeping these games safe. how visible will that security effort be to the people who come here? >> it will be visible as in

there will be police around on street corners keeping track and making sure everything's safe. some presee from the military as well, but that's a standard now with mega events like this. we have to make sure these games are safe and secure. i think everyone expects that. it's a big operation to do that across vancouver, whistler, a big area like this, but the bottom line is the games have got to be safe. >> and the games will begin friday night with the opening ceremony. mayor robertson, i know you've had a lot to do with this, and i wish you all the luck in the world. >> thanks, matt. >> thank you very much. >> enjoy your time. >> thank you. we already are. and coming up, a death-defying escape. a pilot, a mom and her son who survived this deadly mid-air collision. we'll tell you more about that, but first, this is "today" on nbc.

still ahead from vancouver, she could be the golden girl at these winter games.

american skier superstar lindsey vonn. plus, "sports illustrated." 7:26. this is tuesday, february 9, 2010. hard to believe but another snowstorm is bearing down. we'll get to tom kierein in storm center 4. unfortunately we will get again another big storm with accumulating snow by noontime. light snow, already getting light snow in southwestern virginia and southern west virginia. temperatures ahead of the snow, cold, frigid start to the day. only teens and single digits. 20s in washington and near the bay. by the time the snow ends by 7:00 p.m. wednesday, we could have 12 to 18 inches of snow across a large region of northern virginia, eastern west virginia, the drrk, and montgomery county, prince george's county, fairfax,

arlington, points east, and even more farther north. >> thank you. a lot of trouble on the roads, as well. we'll check i

good morning, everyone. very difficu commute all over. the beltway and virginia. let's head to maryland, we've had a couple of accidents,

cleanup operations blocking lanes. be prepared if you are headed out. expect the unexpected all day. >> thank you. and stay with us throughout the morning. we'll have continuing coverage of the approaching s

7:30 now on a tuesday morning. it's the 9it's the 9th of febru. you're looking at a beautiful shot of downtown vancouver, home of the 2010 olympic winter games, now just three days away. opening ceremony friday night. i'm matt lauer at the international broadcast center, or the ibc, as we call ithere in vancouver. and meredith, i understand this storm now is bearing down on the east coast, so i'm going to see you, what, some time next week? >> no, wise guy. actually, because of the storm, we're going to leave here tonight. so you're going to see me tomorrow. ann and i will be on the plane tonight. al is going to stay behind because of the bad weather here to report from the east coast,

and so, he'll be joining us little bit later. >> well, that's good. i'm glad. >> yeah. i'll bet you are. anyway, i know you're going to introduce us to the woman who could become the biggest star of these games. >> that's right, and a woman with a lot of pressure on her shoulders. we're going to get to know lindsey vonn, the american skier who has a real shot of winning a bunch of medals here. "sports illustrated" called her the best woman skier err, but there's been controversy about the cover and she's hit more than a few bumps in her career. her story is coming up in a few minutes, meredith. okay, matt. speaking of "sports illustrated," the swimsuit issue hits newsstands today and brooklyn has never looked so good, brooklyn decker, that is. she is gracing the cover. we're going to meet her in just a little while. but first, we're going to turn to a very serious story. today, investigators in boulder, colorado, are trying to figure out what led to a fiery midair collision over the weekend that left three people dead. as tragic as it was, three more people could have died if not

for the quick thinking of their pilot. we're going to talk to him and his two passengers in just a moment, but first, here's nbc's lee cowan. >> reporter: when brandy hepburn and her son jaden were strapped into the cockpit of a glider near boulder, colorado, saturday, they thought they were going for the ride of their life. turns out, it was almost their last. the piper pawnie that towed their glider up to altitude was piloted by 25-year-old alex gilmer. photos that day show it was a serene view, but at just over 8,000 feet, trouble. >> we heard a boom, and we immediately saw two flames. >> reporter: witnesses looked up to see an airplane plummeting back to earth in front of a trail of black smoke. 911 calls started pouring in. >> yeah, we just saw a plane crash or something. it exploded in the air. >> reporter: the ntsb says the wreckage everyone saw was what was left of this plan, a sirus

sr-20. on board, brothers mark and bob matthews. investigators believe they somehow had flown straight into alex gilmer's tow plane, the one with the glider tied behind it. gilmer and the two matthews brothers a died. the three planes were on a collision course. miraculously, though, the glider's pilot, reuben backer, had a few extra seconds of warning. he saw the collision was imminent. he quickly unhooked the glider's tether with not a second to spare and flew right through the collision's fireball. it could have just as easily claimed him and his two passengers. >> i would say that they are very lucky. i hate to quantify something and not be factual, but there are very lucky. >> reporter: backer's glider with brandy and jaden on board landed safely, only to learn the fate of the other two planes. wreckage was scattered for more than a mile and a half. the cause of the collision still a mystery. for "today," lee cowan, nbc

news, los angeles. >> glider pilot reuben backer and passengers brandy hepburn and jaden mcdonnell are here to speak out for the very first time. good morning, everybody. i really feel like it's a miracle that you all are alive, and actually,reat work on your part, ruben. take us back to that moment on saturday. you are piloting the glider, brandy and her son are in it with you. you're about 8,000 feet, heading up to 10,000. you actually spot another glider with brandy's daughter in it. you say to her, oh, look, there's your daughter. >> yep. pointed it out. >> then what happened? >> then we actually noticed another plane just off to the right. looked kind of just, i was seeing things as we were going along. we were doing about 70 miles an hour, 200 feet behind the tow plane, and suddenly, i saw a plane to the right. looked like it was going to hit us. i reached for the tow release, which is just right here. i reached, by the time my hand was on it and actually collided

right on the right side of my tow plane. >> so, you are still attached to the tow plane at that point. >> yeah. this happened ally fast. i mean, i don't know how fast the other plane was going, but it came straight on the side. the time it took for my hand to go here to there, it had already hit the wings folded up on the tow plane, and it was instant it was a huge fireball. i wasn't sure if i was released yet, because it was really quick. i pitched back to the right and we just flew straight through fire. i didn't see the wreckage anymore because it was gone, because everything was red. >> brandy, what is going through your mind at that point, because did you see the impact as well? >> i did. i was horrified. i felt the heat on my forehead as we flew through the flames, and i -- just watching it fall to the ground knowing that i don't think that anybody made it, i was horrified. >> and jaden, i understand you thought, at first, you thought this can't be real. >> yeah. i thought it was some sort of test run, like if training

pilots knew what they would do if they got in a crash, and i kind of hoped that happened, too. >> and then when you realized that it was real? >> i don't really know. >> yeah. i'm sure everything is just -- i mean, seconds must feel like minutes or hours to you at that point. you're at 8,000, and you told me in the break before we started the interview that you really should be at 10,000. so, it was risky even to try to bring the glider in at eight. >> right, that's not a place you would release. that's never -- we don't release there anyways. that's just the part we take to get up, you know, just behind boulder, and 10,600 is a safe altitude for this ride and we were just on our way up there. so you know -- i mean, i did have enough time after we came back around, we flew through the smoke, i actually made the may day, may day, and told them that the tow plane just got taken out by the sirus and everyone was so much in shock that i had to say it a couple times. >> it must have been very emotional when you finally got

back on to the ground, brandy, with your family, because this started out as a lovely outing for a friend's birthday. >> right. my mom was on the ground and she knew that jaden and i were in a glider and my daughter and her friend were in a glider. there was three gliders in the air and they could only see two. she was horrified. >> do you credit this man with the fact that you and your son are alive? >> absolutely. if it would have been another pilot, i don't know that we'd be here. >> and were you just instinct took over, reuben, is that what it was? >> it really was. i mean, from when i saw the plane to when it was a fireball was being less than two seconds. d you know, the time it takes to move a hand is when i see to when it was fire, that doesn't -- you can't think. you just have to know, you have to do it. >> you have to react from all your training as a pilot. three other people did lose their lives, the two gentlemen in the sirus and then the pilot of the tow plane, alex gilmar, and you had almost in retrospect

had an eerie conversation with him the day before about safety. >> right. because it wasn't ideal in the morning. we waited a bit and i asked him what do you think, and he said i think it's safe, but i don't think it's the best choice for having a paying customer for a scenic trip, but safetywise, he's like, reuben, it's fine. i asked him, because he went up first, and i asked how's the ride and he said it's smooth, it's going to be great. and i was like, well, tnks, and then he hopped in his tow plane and we hooked up and off he went. >> we're so glad you're alive, reuben, so glad you're the pilot that you are and brandi and jaden, so glad you're back and safe. >> us, too. >> now let's get a check of the weather from al. >> announcer: "today's weather" is brought to you by jared, the galleria of jewelry, with five times the selection of ordinary jewelry stores. and as we look at what's going on temperaturewise, this is a big problem, we're going to have this massive storm. temperatures across the country

are way below normal, anywhere from 15 to 20 degrees below normal from southern texas all the way into montana, and in fact, we've got temperatures that are 10 to 15 degrees below normal along the eastern coast of the u.s., as this storm comes in. temperatures teens, 20s throughout the planes, midwest into the northeast. that double-barrel low pressure system starts working its way east. icy conditions in the mid-atlantic states, snow later tonight, sunshine in the pacific northwest, more heavy rain throughout parts of southern producing, and we're also good morning, yes, this storm is coming our way. already producing storms in west virginia. temperatures frigid, teens to mid-20s in whington and near the bay. elsewhere teens and single digits. we'll have light snow this afternoon, could have a couple of inches on the ground by sunset. then eight inches by dawn tomorrow. a lot more after that with strong winds. we could have 12 to 18-inch

toads accumulations. tal accumul. that's your latest weather. meredith? up next, countdown to vancouver. the american woman who could ski away with five medals at the olympics. we will me lindsey vonn, right after this.

>> announcer: "today's countdown to vancouver" is brought to you by walmart. save money. live better. walmart. and this morning on "today's countdown to vancouver," lindsey vonn. she is perhaps america's best hope for gold here at these games. i recently spent some time with

lindsey and learned that her passion for skiing started when she was just a toddler. >> it's really cool to be back here, seeing all the trails that i skied on when i was growing up. so, brings back some really good memories. >> the story goes that your parents got you on skis when you were 2. is that right? >> i was racing like my whole family down the mountain and i was always the one that was competing to beat everyone down the mountain. >> no cutting turns. it was straight down. >> oh, yeah, straight, just bombing it. and then, of course, i got the donut and the hot chocolate first, so. >> it wasn't long before that irst for hot chocolate turned into a hunger for more. lindsey's family left their home in minnesota so she could train in the mountains of colorado. do you remember when the first time was that someone came to you and said, lindsey, this could be more than just a hobby for you, you've got something more than other kids your age have? >> i think it was when i was

about 10 or 11. i was constantly skiing with kids a lot older than me and i was really good, you know? i was always beating the older girls, and there was always parents and coaches saying, wow, lindsey, you're so lucky, you know, things are going to go well for you. >> turns out, those people were right. at 17, lindsey made the 2002 olympic team and finished a respectable sixth in the combined event. heading into the 2006 olympics, there were high hopes for medals, but during a downhill training run, the unimaginable happene happened. we watched in horror as you had a really tough crash. >> yeah. >> what do you remember about it? >> it was definitely the most painful experience i've ever gone through. i thought my career was over, bottom line. and it really scared me to death. it was also, i think, a turning point for me personally, where i realized how much i loved ski racing, how lucky i am to be in a sport that i love. i've always been a hard worker, but i think it's taken me into a whole new level and really made

me appreciate every single day that i have. >> to everyone's amazement, only two days later, lindsey skied in the downhill and finished eighth. most considered that an incredible achievement, but not lindsey. >> i was amazingly really disappointed. i thought i could have done better. >> four years later, lindsey's got another chance in vancouver. experts consider her a medal threat in all five alpine events. you can't talk about the winter olympics without people saying lindsey vonn is at the top of the list of the athletes to watch. >> it's a lot of pressure. there's a lot of expectation out there. but for me, i think this is a good chance to show, you know, america who i am and show them my sport and show them how great ski racing is. >> when she's not training, lindsey's days are filled with photo shoots, filming commercials for her many sponsors and being an ambassador for vail, where she's living once again. >> one of the nice things about vail is there is a free bus

where you can go anywhere you want to go. here we go. so, we're downtown. this is bridge street, kind of the center of vail. great shopping, great food. this is one of the cute stores in vail. so, let's go check it out. this is perfect for vancouver. definitely going to keep me warm. ♪ let's shop >> this is pretty funky. definitely got to try these ones on. >> lindsey, isn't gold one of your favorite colors? >> as a matter of fact, it is. >> last summer, the town held a pep rally for lindsey. fans of all ages gathered to cheer her on and wish her the best at the olympics. you've got a lot of people back in vail pulling for you. >> yeah. definitely want to make them proud, you know, and that's a good image to have in your mind, you know. it's definitely a huge motivating factor. so, i'm definitely going to remeer those guys when i'm in vancouver. >> go, lindsey! >> we love lindsey!

>> go, lindsey, go, lindsey, go! >> cheers for lindsey. >> cheers to lindsey! [ inaudible ]

and coming up, a woman who knows how to make hearts race everywhere, "sports illustrated" swimsuit issue cover model brooklyn decker is with us. we'll talk to her in the 8:00 hour. >> that's right. we'll make you wait for that, after your local news. >> i'm just reading the articles. >> yeah. >> very uncourageable.

good morning, i'm eun yang. we have a forecast update. tom? >> good morning, on regional radar we are seeing light snow in western virginia and southwestern west virginia. the leading edge of an evolving storm that is just getting organized and coming our way. temperatures around the region in the teens in the suburbs, mid-20s in washington and right near the bay. elsewhere, in the teens to near 10 days, a cold start. light snow by early afternoon. mayba couple of inch by 6:00 p.m. by dawn tomorrow could have eight inches of new snow. perhaps an additional eight inches before it ends wednesday evening with strong winds that may cause significant drifting of the snow on wednesday evening into thursday morning. these are the total amounts i'm expecting by the storm by 7:00 p.m. wednesday. a large area of 12 to 18 inches

from the shenandoah valley, panhandle of west virginia, across northern virginia, the district of columbia, into montgomery and prince george's county, and into the central eastern shore. 6 to 12 inches southern maryland, northern neck of virginia. lower eastern shore. more farther north. that's the way it looks now. >> thank you. the roads out there are a mess. boss: so word's gettin' out that geico customers could save even more on their car insurance

by signing up for other things - like homeowner's or renter's insurance. nice work, everyone. exec: well, it's easy for him. he's a cute little lizard. gecko: ah, gecko, actually - exec: with all due respect, if i was tiny and green and had a british accent i'd have more folks paying attention to me too... i mean - (faux english accent) "save money! pip pip cheerio!"

exec 2: british? i thought you were australian. gecko: well, it's funny you should ask. 'cause actually, i'm from - anncr: geico. save even more with our new multi-policy discount. good morning, everyone. as we look at the jammed up new york avenue, only two lanes getting by from the anacostia headed northeast toward northwest. very backed up there. one stop in maryland, an accident 270 southbound near montrose road. there are still plenty of icy patches so be very careful if you have to go out. >> thank you. stay with us throughout the morning. we'll have continuing coverage of the approachi

8:00 now on this tuesday morning, february 9th, 2010. the calm before the storm. a big one headed our way here on the east coast, but these people don't seem to mind much. we're going to get al's forecast in a moment. i'm meredith vieira along with al roker. matt has beaten us to vancouver to kick off our olympic coverage a bit early, but actually, you're going to plan a big parade in our honor, right, matt? >> anybody know any plans about a parade? no. no, we haven't heard anything about a parade. >> what? >> shucks! >> we're going to get a cup of tim horton coffee and a donut. >> we'll take that! >> yeah, but i am going to have

a survival guide. the five things you don't know about vancouver but should before you come, meredith. i'll tell you more about that. >> all right, matt, thank you. and also ahead, one of your favorite people, matt, sandra bullock is here. >> our favorite people! >> i know, ours, but he hogs her every single time. she's nominated for her first oscar for "the blind side." she'll join us in a moment. and on the health side, why too much soda could put you at risk for a deadly cancer. plus, new research -- a little closer -- about the link between parents' ages and the chance of having a child with autism. but first, for a model, it is the biggest honor, snagging the cover of the "sports illustrated" swimsuit edition. this year, the lucky model on the cover is 22-year-old brooklyn decker. brooklyn, good morning. >> good morning. >> and congratulations to you. >> thank you so much. thank you. >> you have been in this edition, the swimsuit edition, but never on the cover. >> exactly. this is my fifth year. i feel a bit of a veteran. >> how did they break the news to you? >> i actually found out yesterday.

i thought i was going on a casting and i was all gussied up to go and i walk in and there's all sorts of cameras and mikes and everything and tons of blown-up pictures of myself all over the place. i burst into tears like a child, of course. but no, it was really exciting. and i think jt now, it's just now hitting me. so i'm really happy. >> what does getting on the cover mean for a model? what does that do? >> okay, i feel like the new orleans saints did sunday night, if that givest away. it's the equivalent of a model basically winning the mvp of the super bowl. so you know, it's just so good, because "sports illustrated" is really about putting a face with the name of the girls and it has your name on the cover and no other magazines will do that. it's wonderful. >> looking at this picture of you, do you remember taking this? did you say to yourself, this is going to be the shot? >> i actually do not even remember taking that picture. >> you have no memory? >> i have no memory of that shot. you know, we always do these cover tries at the end of the day and there's a lot of pressure. it's my fifth year, so i really want it. we took that in the morning on the second day -- >> al will never forget this picture.

>> i'm sure. i'm sure guys can remember the yellow bikini, but for me i don't remember and i think that's what's nice about it it's one of those nice, natural, organic moments. >> go ahead. >> punch buggie. you actually now, you've been married a year, andy roddick, your husband. >> yeah. >> how does he feel about the fact that, you know, here's this magazine cover that millions of guys are going to be ogling? >> yeah, i think he basically takes the rein in the locker room for the next year or so. yeah, i think he has good bragging rights. he's so proud. he knows it's a goal of mine and to see me succeed and to see each other succeed, is exciting. >> that's terrific. >> you're a lovely person and beautiful to look at, but also a lovely person. >> thank you. >> thank you for being here. brooklyn decker, congratulations. the "sports illustrated "swimsuit issue is on newsstands now. and for a behind-the-scenes look at the magazine, catch the documentary "business model: inside the sports illustrated swimsuit issue," premiering tonight at 9:00 eastern and pacific time. now let's get a check of the top stories from ann curry.

>> good morning, everybody. in the news, winter storm warnings are in effect today for the eastern half of the country. a snowstorm blanketing t midwest is expected to meet up with another storm from the south and dump heavy snow. we're talking one to two feet on washington, philadelphia and new york city. toyota announced a third recall today. this time, more than 400,000 prius and other hybrid cars worldwide. toyota's chief executive said the company should have reacted oner to customer complaints about braking problems. in haiti, doctors are treating a man whose family said he was pulled from the rubble on monday, 27 days after the earthquake. doctors said the man was in such poor condition, it is possible this story is true. the new jobs bill the president's proposing to fix the economy faces scrutiny today at the white house. we've got nbc's chief white house correspondent chuck todd joining us now with details. good morning. what can you tell us? >> reporter: good morning, ann. as washington tries to dig out from the blizzard of 2010, the president still wants to get the country dug out of this economic ditch, and today, congressional republican and democratic leaders come to the white house

so they can see if they can get this jobs bill passed quickly. the high unemployment rate has been dogging this white house since day one. >> when unemployment is 9.7%, when we are still digging ourselves out of an extraordinary recession, people are going to be frustrated. >> reporter: but even longtime supporters are frustrated, worried about the president's inability to set a stronger policy agenda, and that's led some democrats to start pointing fingers at the president's tight-knit senior staff. >> you have to disentangle the quagmire that i think has surrounded obama, and i think it's really stifling his ability to achieve any of his main objectives. >> reporter: but now the obama team has settled on a new strategy, bringing republicans to the table again. with today's meeting, the administration hopes to spotlight the role republicans have been playing. >> we'll get a chance to see whether working together is something that people are serious about doing. >> reporter: and in two weeks, the president will hold a televised summit with democrats

and republicans. in a last-ditch attempt to break the stalemate over his biggest policy objective, health care. >> this is a really smart move by team obama, and i really hope the republicans respond accordingly and we get some progress and some real dialogue going. >> reporter: now, ann, this health care summit is two weeks away, but already, both parties are posturing. the republicans almos threatening to not come to the summit if the president won't take reconciliation or some other legislative maneuver off the table, but we shall see. lots of letters going back and forth, ann. >> chuck todd this morning. thanks a lot. today, first lady michelle obama formally launcs a new campaign to fight childhood obesity. in addition, mrs. obama taped a public service announcement for nbc's "the more you know" series. she's encouraging better nutrition and more exercise. it is now 8:06. let's get another check of the weather with al. >> announcer: "today's weather" is brought to youy kay jewelers, the number one jewelry store in america. >> well, this is kind of nutty.

we've got folks honeymooning from hawaii. what's your names? >> steve. >> and? >> alice. >> well, congratulations! >> thank you. >> thank you. >> you're going to get a nice snowstorfor your trouble. >> we're excited. >> yeah, most people usually go to hawaii for honeymoon. anks for being here. congratulations to the two of you. let's checyour weather, see what's happening here. here it comes, big storm. green bay, minneapolis, all the way down to cincinnati looking at snow, and rain down to the south. here are the snowfall amounts, anywhere from three to six inches milwaukee, chicago, ft. wayne, cleveland, about six to nine in parts of michigan. then here in the east, bam! washington, baltimore, philly, new york, new jersey, long island, parts of coastal connecticut and possibly even up into boston. we are talking anywhere from 10 to 20 inches of good morning. local radar, picking up a little of the snow, the leading edge of the storm showing up in the northern shenandoah valley, panhandle of west virginia. flurries trying to reach the

ground as far as maryland and frederick county. temperatures are cold, 27 in washington. teens in the suburbs, rural areas only near 1 in many locations. we'll have light snow developing this afternoon, then accumulating tonight, eight inches by dawn tomorrow, an additional eight inches before it ends on wednesday evening with strong, gusty winds causing significant drifting. that's your latest weather. meredith? >> al, thank you very much. up next, one of our favorites, oscar nominee sandra bullock, right after this. if toyota gets credit for being the most fuel efficient car company in america, well, then how do you explain all this? chevy malibu, cobalt, silverado, and the all-new equinox. compare them to anyone. may the best car win. - you know these things are never wrong. you're an amazing, beautiful woman.

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back now at 8:11. so far, she's already won the golden globe, the s.a.g. and the critic's choice awards for her tough role of lian toohey in "the blind side," now she is waiting for oscar to complete her sweep. sandra bullock is here, and this time, matt isn't around to monopolize her. sandra, good morning to you. >> good morning. >> i never get to interview you, ever. >> now that we have ladies time -- >> excuse me. can i just get in here for a second, please? >> oh, my god. that's uncomfortable to have a man's voice in your brain. >> sandra, i just have a couple questions. first of all, where did you get that dress? >> matt, where are you? good to see you. good that you could be here on my very important day. >> let me just interrupt and say you look stunning. >> it's all going to come off in the shower, matt. matt, thank you. >> uh, i think that's -- >> matt, why don't you go do something? why don't you go roll in the snow? >> i just wanted to say hi and congratulations, sandra.

i'm sorry i'm missing you. >> you're doing something more important. there's actually athletes doing hard work where you are. >> enough. >> back to ladies time. >> exactly. >> bye, bye. >> as matt said, congratulations in person in getting the nomination. first time ever for you. >> you know, you don't think that, you know, after all this, after all these years that something like this would happen, but it's totally caught me by surprise. i've been stammering a lot, as you can see. this is sort of my way of -- >> well, this is a good reason to stammer, obviously. you said something to people that i thought was interesting, that every time someone asks for a reaction the minute you get a nomination, no one tells you that you're asked to hit the ground running, it's not like you can sit back bon-bons and champagne. >> i had a preconceived notion like i thought these things were planned and it's a slow rollout, and the things you would imagine happened -- >> well, this is the "today" show. you can sit and have champagne and bon-bons all you want.

>> is this what happens when matt's not here? >> this is how you do an interview. >> this is fantastic. >> and we've got champagne for you and for me. >> i like. oh, and i like the shirt. i like it. >> not that we're prejudice or anything, but team sandra -- >> bon-bon is this. >> thank you. no, i'll put them down, though. >> i didn't put it down. i picked one right up. >> tell me honestly how you feel. >> wait a minute, first of all, good morning. i do this every morning. this is what i thought happened. >> we do, too, before the show. but -- >> i knew you guys were drunk. see, it's all -- okay, i'm sorry. i'm sorry. >> let me ask you something, though. you have already predicted -- and i find this annoying -- that you're not going to win the academy award. and you say you're very good at predicting this stuff. >> nine times out of ten i'm right. but here's the thing, i think you can ask almost everyone in any category, the win is not the goal. i think just to be -- >> oh, please. >> okay, for me, look, i'm just happy to be invited. so happy with what i have, and i think just being able to enjoy these events and meet the people

that i've gotten to meet has been really incredible. >> but didn't you tell meryl streep, who's also up for the oscar, that you were taking her down? and didn't she send you -- >> no, that was for the s.a.g. awards, i was going to take her down. >> oh, okay. >> then she sent me dead orchids and told me to die and then i sent her some liquor and said here's a toast to white trash, so we have, you know. >> but you made your peace at the critic's choice award, right? we have proof of that. >> well, we kissed. i kissed her. i had to take it. >> it was sort of the madonna-britney spears ment -- >> bradley's like, i like. >> they always like it. they love woman on woman. >> it took me so long. now i know what the fuss is about. >> did she know you were going to do that? jction look at her. does she look like she's ready for that? i've directed many men, like you have to take the face, so i did what i've been preaching for many years. >> let's talk about "the blind side" first. it's a wonderful movie, but even the people who produced it and

worked on it said they were surprised with what happened. >> no one -- >> what went right with that movie that it's where it is now? >> it n an odd way, i think the fact that in the beginning i don't think anybody wanted to make it and we were completely left alone. there wasn't a lot of money. we just had this little bubble and this time period to shoot it in atlanta and no one fussed with it except for the people who passionately had written it and produced it and directed it, which is our director. and i think the fact that we were allowed to make the movie that was written instead of what they were trying to fit into a mold, and sometimes leaving something alone -- >> is the best thing you can do. >> -- is the best thing you can do, yeah. again, i haven't the slightest idea, but that's my guess. >> and you're less than a month away from the actual nomination -- i mean, from the actual oscars. >> yes. >> you talked good getting some lipo. >> y, lipo and whatever it is that one does. what does one do? >> well, i don't know. maybe you get your lips made bigger. >> here's the thing. i thought i was on the cover of the swimsuit issue and only now did i find out i was not, so a little extra -- >> i think what you've got is pretty good, lady. >> but am i on a board in the

middle of times square? no, i'm not. >> well, you may be, the way you're going. >> i can hold little bon-bons here. >> we have to go, but in the bake break -- it says do not open until monday, march 8th. i want you to write down the name of the person you think is going to win the oscar and on that monday, we'll read what you wrote. and if you win -- >> can i get some money on this? like if i'm right, can i get some money? >> no, we're not going to do that on the air. let's bring back team sandra. >> that's what i like, chocolate and my face on men's chests. >> good luck. write that down. >> i will. >> and if you win, you're coming on the show that next day, are you? >> yeah, sure. hell no, i'm not getting on a plane and flying here. >> we're going to be there. >> oh, you're going to be there. so, if you're in my bedroom the following morning, you're there. up next, matt, who won't be

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[ female announcer ] "i can't believe it's not butter" has 70% less saturated fat than butter and no hydrogenated oils, so there's no trans fat. "i can't believe it's not butter," butter taste, better health. >> announcer: "today's countdown to vancouver" is brought to you by walmart. save money. live better. walmart. and welcome back to "today's untdown to vancouver." just three days to go until this city of some 2 million people swells to a population of about 3 million. whether you're coming to the games or just watching on tv, there are five things about this city that may surprise you. vancouver, a city of glass, a skyline of windowed condos, so you see through to the

spectacular view, which leads us to number one. vancouverites live for the outdoors. even the mayor bikes to work. stanley park, 1,000 acres of urban forest, is bigger than new york's central park. if it's altitude you seek, there are three different beautiful local ski resorts to choose from -- grouse, cyprus rkry cypd further north, whistler. but not far from snow, you're not far from rowing, kayaking or scuba diving. >> you can dive all year round, but in the wintertime it has more visibility and is clearer, so a lot of people like to dive in the winter. >> that's right, in the winter. mild temperatures year-round. from the water straight to the plate, the emphasis is on fresh seafood. executive chef robert clark of sea takes the concept of green one step further. >> sustainabity for vancouverites is very important.

it just means that the fish is harvested in a manner that will ensure that the stocks will be there in the future with as little environmental damage as possible. >> reporter: a symbol on menus lets you know you're choosing to be ocean wise. multicultural meets the culinary in this town with the second largest chinatown in north erica. you can bet it influences the food. and if you want to do the cooking, shop for local organic fruits and vegetables at the granville island market. it's the third largest production center for movies after los angeles and new york city. >> about $1 billion a year is spent in british columbia by motion picture companies. >> "iron man," "twilight" and "percy jackson" are just some of the more than 200 movies shot here. >> we have this beautiful city, we have mountains, oceans. we even have a desert. so, that's something that was very attractive to filmmakers. ♪

>> count gore-tex and fleece as vancouver's official fabrics. >> you never know if it's going to start raining at 2:00 in the afternoon. so you basically always have your umbrella and always have a change of shoes. i think the fashion is casual, comfortable but still interesting. >> interesting and unique. designers take great pride in individuality and details. catch a hockey game. but the winner of vancouver's nightlife is the resto lounge scene. >> vancouver nightlife is laid back, it's relax, but it ends a little bit earlier, maybe, than most people would expect. there's so much in vancouver that people play hard during the day. and by the time they go out, they just sort of want to sit back with friends, enjoy a good cocktail. it's more about having a good time and about maybe remembering it the next day. >> now you know little bit more about vancouver, and one of the people who's going to be helping us out while we stay here is

nbc's chief medical editor dr. nancy snyderman. and nancy's here this morning with important medical news. basically, nancy -- first of all, good morning. >> hi, matt. >> we're talking about a couple studies that just came out. one particular gets a lot of attention, and that's about this connection between pancreatic cancer and the consumption of sweetened soft drinks. what's the headline here. >> big study out of singapore with 60,000 people. expect the study to go down in flames overnight. the real headline was, if you drink more than two sodas a week, you have an 87% risk of pancreatic cancer. experts have jumped on this study and said, look, the real concern is the number was small. only 12 cases out of 140 cases of pancreatic cancer. most people in the study did not drink that much, and the number one cause of the pancreatic cancer continued to be smoking, diabetes, obesity. so, perhaps don't drink diet sodas for a lot of reasons, but this may not be it. >> quickly, another study talking about the risk of autism in a child and the age of that child's mother when she gives

birth. >> this is one you should pay attention to. for every five years that a mother gets older, there's an 18% increased risk of getting autism. so, by the time aoman is 40, e has a 50% higher our time is 8:26 as we look at beautiful skies over the nation's capital now. a lot of sunshine getting through. but it's going to change quite a bit. we're going to have big snow headed our way. we are still digging ourselves out of the weekend blizzard. and now another storm is on the way. and because of that, all area school systems are closed today. the federal government is also closed for a second straight day. the d.c. national guard has activated all full-time person told help with the storm. they're expected to check in at the d.c. armory at 10:00 this morning. so how much snow will we get? tom kierein will have the forecast coming up.

good morning. we'll have accumulating snow by this afternoon and by dawn tomorrow 8 inches on the ground. total amounts tomorrow 12 to 18 inches around the metro area and throughout much of the region. jerry? take a live look. here's the district southeast at southern avenue and pennsylvania avenue. still extremely treacherous. folks have to walk in the roadway. and a quick check elsewhere. beltway in maryland looks better, but the cleanup

operations have yet to be completed. lots of work still to be done. joe? >> thank you very much. stay with us throughout the morning. we'll have continuing coverage of this approaching storm. now back to the "today" show.

♪ 8:30 now on this tuesday morning, the 9th day of february 2010. warm group of folks outside on rockefeller plaza on a very chilly day. they are listening to the classic song "smooth operator" by sade, who is out with a new album, first one in ten years. she's going to perform with ush live in the studio in just a few minutes. >> how good is she?

>> how great is she? >> where has she been? we'll have to find out. >> she's been doing things like gardening and raising a daughte in the countryside. so, she's back. >> good for her. >> matt's a big fan of sade. >> i know he is. i'm meredith vieira along with ann curry and al roker. can i wish my oldest child a happy 21st birthday. >> oh, that's an important birthday! >> you can drink legally everywhere. >> put down the liquor! exactly right. matt, talk about celebrations, i'm sure the place there is abuzzing. >> i'm sure this place is ready to explode. opening ceremonies may be three days away, but this place is buzzing, include iing shannon bahrke. she starts competing as soon as these games get under way. so, she's got to be awfully excited, meredith. >> looks fun. >> she looks absolutely very, very cool. thanks, matt. from here, we are headed back to school, actually,

cooking school. this morning, how the humble grater in your kitchen can do amazing things. not on your nerves -- >> also this morning, valentine's day is coming u. i feel like we spend so much time taking our dieters from holiday to holiday, telling them not to blow it. well, valentine's day is a day when you can really blow it. joy is here this morning with our "diet s.o.s." >> then later on, we want to remind you about the wizarding world of harry potter at universal orlando resort contest. we're asking classrooms from across the country to tell us why they are extraordinary. just go to our website, find out how your class, your child's class, can enter to win a trip to the opening celebration of the wizarding world of harry potter and universal's islands of adventure in orlando this spring. we'll have details. for those, go to todayshow.com. >> okay. but first, after losing the weigh-in last week on nbc's hit show "the biggest loser couples," john kuchville, the last remaining member of the

brown team, was sent packing. john, nice to see you. >> nice to see you. >> seeing a lot less of you these days, right? >> yeah. >> congratulations. >> you started at 484 pounds, your brother james at 485. >> 485. >> but you were the largest duo ever, right? >> the half-ton twins. >> the half-ton twins. >> not the greatest thought. >> how much have you lost at this point? >> about 110 pounds. >> and a lot of that was since you left the show. >> oh, yeah. i left the fifth week. so, got a little while to go, but i'm loving it. >> now, you had a major weight loss before. >> i have. >> if i'm not mistaken, you lost about 160 pounds last time. >> yes. >> and you gained it back. so, what is the lesson for people watching this morning who also are worrying about gaining back the weight they lose? >> right. >> what did you learn? >> the biggest thing i learned is i did it before. and if it's get the word diet in it, it's not going to work. you know-of-got carbs, you've got protein, fats and you need them all, and if you starve yourself of one of those -- i lost weight quickly, but you have gall bladder issues, intestinal issues and i had all

that to deal with. and now, doing it the right way, i'm zero medications. i went from seven to zero. >> from seven to zero. >> i feel great. >> that's amazing. still competing with your brother, too? >> still competing. >> all right, john -- >> it will never end. >> you look fantastic. >> thank you. >> and we remind folks at home, "the biggest loser couples" airs tonight at 8:00/7:00 central

that's your latest weather. any time you want your weather day or night, go to the weather channel on cable or weather.com online. >> all right, al, thank you very much. habitat for humanity expects to help 50,000 families in haiti who are affected by that devastating earthquake last month. jonaan rekford, ceo of habitat for humanity internaonal just returned from haiti. good morning to you, jonathan. >> good morning, meredith. >> you're here to talk about these shelter kits you're providing people with. explain to us what's in the kit. >> the kit is 1 of 10,000 we've begun distributing in haiti. essentially, they're tools for families to make small repairs or to be able to put up emergency shelter so we can help them on the path to permanent shelter. >> we think of tents being the perfect shelter, but that's not the case. >> what we found in our experience with other disasters is that some families have lightly damaged homes and we can help them more quickly repair their homes. in other cases, we want to give them the materials and tools that will help them in the short term but also in the long-term recovery. >> even more long term, what's going to be needed down there? >> you know, there's a huge

need. we estimate over 200,000 families lost their home, and that's why we've set such a large target. what we'll be building are core houses, which are durable, permanent houses which can be expanded over time but are earthquake and hurricane-resistant, which is what the families need there. >> you said that you've already started sending these kits. how soon before the bulk of these kits will arrive? because boy, do they need help. >> the first kits have already been distributed, then we're sending a large group down this week from atlanta. >> congratulations. >> good thing for people to contribute to as well to help you guys out. >> thank you so much. >> thank you so much, jonathan reckford. for information on how you can help, head to our website at todayshow.com. up next, one of the athletes to watch in vancouver, mogul skier shannon bahrke. first, this is "today" on nbc.

welcome back to vancouver. as we said a little earlier,

many of the athletes have already arrived, including freestyle skier shannon bahrke. she won an olympic silver medal in moguls in 2002 and is hoping to land back on the podium again at her third olympics here in vancouver. shannon, it's good to see you. how are you doing? >> so good. thank you so much for having me. >> we're thrilled to have you. and i just want people at home to know right now, you maybe have the most positive attitude of any person i have ever met in my life, and that is a -- >> that is really good! >> it's a compliment. let's get this weather story out of the way, because you actually spent some time at cypress mountain, the site for the freestyle moguls, yesterday. >> yep. >> everybody's panicking, saying there's no snow, it's going to be a problem. what was it like for you to be there and ski that course? >> it was beautiful. they have done such a great job. our course, literally, on the sides there's not a lot of snow, but on our course, it's absolutely beautiful. the moguls are perfect, you know. there's no hay bales or anything that are showing. it's just -- i mean, i think there is six feet deep of snow. >> you would be honest if you thought this was a problem. >> yeah. >> there is no problem there.

you think the competition will go off without a hitch? >> oh, yeah. it's beautiful. i mean, it's slushy snow, and i'm from lake tahoe, which, we get a lot of slushy snow there, too. so, i think it's going to be great. >> at this stage of the process, talk to me about training. where are you mentally, where are you physically? your event, we should mention, is the day after opening ceremony. >> yeah. >> you compete on saturday, and it's a one-day event. >> one day. we're like in and out, you know? it's really great. we can enjoy the rest of the time. really, i'm doing so great, you know? i've had -- i had a little bit of a slow start to the season, but really, really ramped it up and had some great qualifications. >> you've been in the top five of the last three major events. >> yeah. >> that's what you calleaking at the rht time. >> yeah. >> how does it feel in comparison to the place you were in mentally and physically before salt lake when you won the silver medal? >> you know, it's a little bit different. i've come a long way since then, but i really feel like i'm skiing the best that i've ever skied. coming in with that kind of confidence really is just so exciting.

>> what would it mean for you to get back on the podium? >> i just, i think that i would pass out. that would just be so cool. >> this is not what you're supposed to do, by the way. >> just fall off the back of the podium, because it's so cool. no, it would -- i think i've overcome a lot since that silver medal in '02. you know, knee injuries, jaw injuries, to overcome that and to come backnd ski as well as i'm skiing and to win a medal would be absolutely fantastic. >> i want to tell people one other thing, you're getting married after the games. >> yeah. >> and his name is? >> matt happy. >> matt happy. so, are you going to keep going on being shannon bahrke or being mrs. happy? >> i'm going to be mrs. happy. >> you already havare. and i hope after the games you have more reasons tbe happy. >> thank you. >> you have such a great attitude. >> thank you. that means a lot. >> and that makes such a huge difference. shannon, thank a lot. we'll all be watching on saturday. >> thank you. coming up, live from new york, creating delicious meals at home with just a kitchen

grater. we'll have

>> announcer: "today's cooking school" is brought to you by i can't believe it's not butter. this morning in "today's cooking school," getting the most out of your kitchen utensils. chef and restauranteur jose andres is here to show how home chefs can do some amazing things with the humble grater. good morning to you, jose. >> good morning. >> we're talking about family-friendly, kid-friendly recipes today. you've got three of them. and your daughters are here. >> are here. >> they are colatta and? >> inez. >> inez are here to help us. starting with fried rice. how does this make a fried rice dish? >> this is so inexpensive, $10, in the market. >> i have one of these.

i never know what to do with it. >> what can we do with it to feed the family quick, healthy. healthy is the word. you know how to grate? okay, careful with your nails. >> oh, careful with my nails. >> like you're playing music in the caribbean. keep going. keep going. so, here you have your vegetables. i have asparagus, zucchini, why not some cauliflower, why not some carrots? you're doing good. >> yeah, honey! >> lift up. good. >> all right, throw it in. throw it in. >> we put it in. one, two, three. we should cook it maybe more. we have rice, white rice. >> white rice. >> simple. goes in. >> that's already cooked. >> cooked. please. boil. so, we saute -- >> was that an obvious? look at that mess! >> one, two, three, then goes right here and we can, you know, garnish with some chopped right on top. >> now wait, jose. some people say that you

sacrifice good taste when you make these healthy dishes. >> why? a little bitf soy -- >> oh. >> and this is ready. a simple rice with vegetables. you can put your favorite vegetables and you can change the recipe. >> i'll eat this while you move on. >> mac and cheese. >> we have already the mac inside. we have an egg. we put it into the boiling water. >> how come? >> because i like it raw, but some people, it's kind of, jose! so, we put it in the water, one minute, 30 seconds. >> yes. >> lift this up. are you ready to help me? >> ready to help. >> so, we make sure that we drain all the water, the egg is there. very hot because it is very warm. then we put this in the bowl. >> oh, look at that. >> all right. >> the egg is in the bottom of that. >> then you're going to show me what the great cook you are. >> yes, sir. >> put the grated cheese, you're using the grater. because it's low, you can put the cheese that i already grate

myself. >> very good. >> perfect. >> get the yogurt, put it in the bottom of the plate. this plate over there. >> yogurt? >> yogurt! are you making fun of my accent again? >> no, i'm not. >> we mix this with the cheese and olive oil. little bit of salt. the yogurt is in. the eggs is already mixed with the pasta, and this is the healthiest, tastiest macaroni and cheese. >> oh, my gosh. >> that you can make for your family. >> look at that, with the protein and the tomato -- >> the gooey, the creamy -- >> you want to use the tomato -- >> the grater. >> because what you get is what, like an easy sauce, a fresh sauce. >> easy. >> easy. >> yeah. >> you're doing good. >> i'm doing good, okay. >> then we add some olive oil. >> look. this is mushy stuff, and then you put the olive oil in -- >> with texture. >> with texture. >> a little bit of salt. texture, a new kind of --

>> is he like this all the time? >> can you help me? put it on the tomato -- >> you do it. how do you do this? >> so, we go, we put the tomato. go, go, go! >> he knows we only have four minutes and he's being very, very -- >> then you know what happens? >> what. >> what do we put on top? this is like a quick pizza, tomato? fish. we need to include more fish. >> absolutely. omega-3. >> this is fish in olive oil. this comes from spain, but you can buy from anywhere. you put it right on top and you have a perfect toast that everyone will like. >> look at that. >> and where's the olive oil come from? >> spain. >> today's our big day. in the white house they're announcing the new fight against obesity. >> yes. >> oh, yes. >> the first lady's doing? we need to start thinking of eating at home, eating healthier, more vegetables. >> this is the way to be doing that. >> this is a way to be supporting the cause. >> jose! >> thank you very much. >> jose, jose, jose -- >> jose. >> jose andres.

all right. for more of jose's recipes -- >> how hard is it to say? >> i'm trying to say it like a spaniard. >> keep working on it. >> jose, jose. >> guess what? he's a spaniard. >> jose. >> jose. >> jose. >> oh, you got it all over me. >> in the spotlight, coming up, sade. that was easy.

it has been ten years since we last saw singer-songwrer sade. she first hit it back in 1985 with the hit single "smooth operator," and over a 25-year career, she has sold 50 million albums worldwide and picked up three grammy awards. her much-anticipated new album "soldier of love" hits stores today. sade, good morning to you. >> good morning. >> ten years since the last album. what have you been doing? everybody wants to know. >> well, i've just been staying ahead of the law. >> one step ahead of the law, really? >> no, i've just been living my life, really, doing what you do and trying to just be part of the world and have something to write about. >> yeah. so, that's right, you have some experience to write about. and i know on this album, it is going to be a treat for you, your 13-year-old daughter is one of the performers on the album. what was it like for her and what was it like for you to have her sing with you some. >> she was quite nervous actually at first, but it was lovely because she's part of my life and our world as a band,

and clay stewart's son was also there, so they kept each other focused. >> well, we're glad you guys are back together and you're going to perform for us this morning? >> yes. >> what's the song? >> "soldier of love." >> off the album. good luck. >> thank you. ♪ i've lost the use of my heart, but i'm still alive ♪ ♪ still looking for the life, the endless pool on the other side ♪ ♪ it's a wild, wild west, i'm doing my best ♪ ♪ i'm at the borderline of my

faith, i'm in the hinterland of my devotion ♪ ♪ in the frontline of this battle of mine, but i'm still alive ♪ ♪ i'm a soldier of love every day and night, i'm a soldier of love all the days ofy li ♪ ♪ i've been torn up inside, oh, i've been left behind, oh, so i ride, i have the will to survive ♪ ♪ in the wild, wild west, trying my hardest, doing my best to stay alive ♪

♪ i am love's soldier, i wait for the sound, ooh ♪ ♪ i know that love will come, that love will come, turn it all around ♪ ♪ i'm a soldier of love, every day and night ♪ ♪ i'm a soldier of love all the days of myife ♪ ♪ i am lost, but i don't doubt, so i ride, i have the will to survive ♪ ♪ in the wild, wild west, trying my hardest, doing my best to

stay alive ♪ ♪ i am love's soldier, i wait for the sound, i wait for love ♪ ♪ i know that love will come, i know that love will come, i know that love will come ♪ ♪ turn it all around ♪ soldier of love ♪ i'm a soldier ♪ still waiting for love to come, turn it all around, still waiting for love to come ♪ ♪ turn it all around, still waiting for love to come, turn

it all around ♪ 8:56. 25 degrees at reagan national airport on this february ten, 2010. we're taking a live look outside. all major schools in our area are closed alo with the federal government. good morning to you, i'm joe krebs. and we're still digging out from the last snowfall. now we have another one headed our way. let's go right away to meteorologist tom kierein to find all the details out. tom? yes, unfortunately, here comes another storm. looking at the radar now, we're getting snow all the way into the shenandoah valley. and farther to the west and north, it's been snowing overnight. and the local radar is showing snow now in culpeper county. rappahannock, northern fauquier, into the shenandoah valley. light snow initially as the system does move on through into the afternoon hours. then picking up overnight tonight into tomorrow. snowing moderately to heavily at times and strong winds will

cause significant drifting of the snow. 12 to 18 inches common around the region by the time it ends tomorrow evening. joe? >> thank you very much. stay with us.

good morning, everyone, i'm john edwards in the news 4 today traffic -- jerry edwards in the news 4 traffic station. there's a broken down plow jamming out of white oak. and checking the beltway inner loop in virginia, jammed with a problem along the right side of the roadway approaching 66. joe? >> thank you very much, jerry. stay with ushrouout the morning for continuing coverage of the approaching storm.

♪ and we're back with more of "today" on a tuesday morning. it's the 9th of february 2010. you're looking at some images of vancouver, as the people here get set to host the 2010 winter olympic games, now only three days away. i'm matt lau lauer in vancouver. natalie morales is about 20 miles from downtownt the athletes village. she's actually at cypress mountain, home of the freestyle skiing and snowboarding

competitions, and natalie, good morning, again. it seems strange, we have this dichotomy. on the one hand, everyone's talking about the weather -- is it too warm, is there too little snow? and yet, we just talked to shannon bahrke here, one of the freestyle skiers. she was at that venue and she thought it was great. >> thank goodness for that. that is good news to the ears of all of those olympic planners who have been sweating it out here for the last 3 1/2 weeks as they've been preparing venues like this one, the site of the freestyle mogul ski competition, which starts here on saturday, matt. but they have really been doing everything within their power. as they said, you can't control the uncontrollable, but they've been doing exactly that. and what you see here, what i'm hearing, sounds like really good conditions. so, that's good news. and i'll have much more from here in just a little bit. >> all right, natalie, thanks very much. obviously, here in downtown vancouver, they don't care if it's warm. they don't need snow. the venues here are mostly indoors. over the next few days we're going to tell you all about the

athletes that you want to be paying attention to when these games get under way. 17 days, 86 events, 15 disciplines, and it should be quite a show. once again, the opening ceremony is friday night. we'll be here to bring it all to you. meanwhile, let's go across the country and let's go down to the lower 50 of the united states, where al is out -- wait a second, what is that? we're looking at another double-barrel system now headed to the east coast. al and ann are back home. al, what's going on? >> that's right, matt. we're talking about a one-two punch from mother nature. got another storm headed our way. it's been dumping a lot of snow in the midwest, chicago, cleveland, columbus. looking at it already. well, this is going to be also heading to the hard-hit east coast. another foot or two -- >> unbelievable. >> -- on top of what's already been piling up. so, we're going to have a lot more coming up on that. that's right. and if you also want to bundle up with a box of chocolate to kind of make yourself feel better, of course, we've got valentine's days coming up. the advice from nutritionist joy

bauer is goi for the dark chocolate. she'll have more on how to indulge a little while staying healthy for the holiday. >> i always say go for the dark chocolate. and check this out. it's an earring with a new orleans saints insignia. it was swallowed by accident. i guess it didn't matter where the earring was, because it's a good luck charm, obviously. she got to see her saints win the super bowl. we'll talk to her and her husband in just a few minutes. >> okay, she looks none the worse for the wear. >> you have the top stories? i do, and there's news to give everyone this morning, because toyota has announced another recall, this time involving 437,000 priuses and other hybrid vehicles worldwide to fix brake problems. and today's action comes on the heels of other, as you know, recent recalls involving more than 7 million toyotas because of problems with floor mats and faulty gas pedals. and announcing this morning's recall, the company's president said customer safety is the foremost priority. this morning iran says it has begun making higher grade

nuclear fuel. they say it's to curb its nuclear program. the pentagon wants the u.n. to impose new sanctions on iran within weeks, not months. congressman john murtha is being remembered this morning as a tireless advocate for veterans and the military. the longtime pennsylvania democrat died on monday after complications from gall bladder surgery. murtha, a former marine, was the first vietnam veteran to serve in congress. he was 77 years old. california's state capitol was bathed in pink last night during a rally to raise awareness of possible cuts to state programs that help detect and battle breast cancer. a star has a star on the hollywood walk of fame. we're talking about the beatles drummer ringo starr. and it's not a yellow submarine, but it's close. a company in scotland is testing an amphibious bus that can travel on land as wells on water. officials hope they can use it one day as a replacement for a ferryboat. you don't see that every day.

anyway, you're up to date at four minutes past the hour and you've got another check on more important news regarding the weather. that's right. a big storm brewing. in fact, a double-barrel low. this is what the storm looked like back in the midwest. iowa. you're looking at washington, d.c. snowed under. washington reagan national airport, 17.8 inches of snow. there's iowa right now. this is the storm earlier yesterday. chicago seeing a lot of heavy snow as well. we are looking at this storm system working its way, combining with another storm system down in the gulf. going to cause problems. look at some of these statistics we have got for you. reagan national airport, 17.8 inches of snow. dulles picking up 32.4 inches of snow. in philadelphia, they got 28.5 inches, their second biggest snowstorm ever. baltimore, they're looking at 60.4 inches, their second snowiest season on record. they will break the record later on today on into tomorrow. now, as far as travel is concerned, this is what you're looking at.

amtrak, they've got limited acela and northeast regional service. they were hit hard. going to get hit hard again. us airways precanceling flights. planes remaining in airports away from the east coast, suspending change fees. same thing for airtran. they're looking at change fees as well. united airlines, check the website or call before going out to the airport. continental canceling 45 flights so far. all flights to baltimore, d.c. and philadelphia canceled. southwest canceling flights to d.c. probably will expand that as well. snowiest seasonal records. look at that. philadelphia, baltimore, washington, atlantic city, all will most likely break their records for their snowiest seasonal snowfalls. winter storm warnings in effect all across the northeast into the mid-atlantic states where it's looking for winter storm warnings, winter storm watches. we've got on the radar, you can see a widespread area of snow from green bay all the way down into ohio. heavy rain down into the southeast. low pressure stem, two of them combining intone big

nor'easter off the coast wednesday morning, moves off, brings in hurricane-force winds. we're looking at snowfall amounts anywhere from six to nine inches throughout parts of michigan, three to six inches from cleveland on into chicago. and here's the big one. we're looking at anywhere from one to two feet of snow washington, baltimore, philly, central jersey, new york city, long island, coastal connecticut. boston may see up to a foot of snow as well. good morning. the first snow of the storm is arriving in the viewing area. the shenandoah valley, the panhandle of west virginia getting light snow. weather business watchers reporting -- weatherwatchers reporting from there. baltimore and northern maryland, light snow, flurries southern maryland and the northern neck. light snow into the afternoon, a few inch by sunset. eight inches by dawn and an additional eight tomorrow afternoon before it ends. strong winds causing significant drifting of the snow. 12 to 18 inches total around the

metro area. and that's your latest weather. ann? >> all right, althanks so much. this morning, "joy's diet s.o.s." she says you can have your cake and eat it, too. with lots of healthy options like choosing dark chocolate over milk chocolate,ou and your loved ones can sweeten your valentine's day. we have nutritionist and "today" contributor joy bauer. >> chocolate! >> i know. it's amazing. mark down the date and time, because joy bauer says we can indulge. >> that's right. >> let's talk first to wendy, on the telephone from westchester, new york. she's got a question about dark chocolate. hey, wendie, what's your question? >> caller: how do know that the dark chocolate i'm eating is really good for me? are there ways to select the right types of dark chocolate and how much can i eat in one sitting? >> good question, the last one, especially, joy. >> you've got to love dark chocolate. it's sweet, delicious, and it lowers blood pressure and benefits overall heart health. so, typically, the darker the chocolate, the better.

when you're looking at brands, you want to look for at least 70% cocoa, and you know then that it's loaded with a lot of antioxidants. in terms of portion, you want to keep it to one ounce a day. that's about 150 calories, give or take. and if you want to visualize what that looks like, it's about the size of a business card or a credit card when you're talking about let's say a standard lint-heightened chocolate bar. if it's a thicker chocolate, sort of adjust cordingly. >> thank you so much for your question, wendie. >> there you go, wendie! >> lynn lives in longwood, florida. lynn, what's your question? >> hi, lynn! >> yes, how can i enjoy valentine's day without the guilt some. >> that's a great question, and i'm going to tell you to plan for it and to enjoy every single calorie. when you preplan, you will stay in control versus sort of waiting for the heat of the moment, and it's valentine's day. we are allowed to indulge a little bit. plan one or two things maybe a

glass of champagne and then split some decadent dessert with your husband over a romantic dinner. or, if he gives you a box of chocolate, you can certainly enjoy two or three chocolates. and then the next day, february 15th, start off with a healthy breakfast, incorporate exercise and you are right back on track. >> you're saying basically get in the game frame, have it in your mind in terms of how you're going to plan it so you don't go overboard. that good advice. >> and you don't lose it. you're in control and you enjoy it. >> thank you so much for your question, lynn. now we've got a question sent via e-mail from tammy in indiana. she wants to know, "are sugar-free chocolates healthier and less addictive than regular chocolate?" what do you think? >> believe it or not, sugar-free chocolates are actually just about the same calories as sugar-filled chocolate. so, when it comes to weight control, there's really no advantage. and in terms of the addictive quality, people tend to be passionate for the flavor, that melt-in-your-mouth texture. nowadays, sugar-free chocolates have those two qualities, so

they're just as addictive. but the interesting piece is that sugar-free chocolates don't have sugar. they have sugar alcohols, which don't spike your blood sugar levels. so, they're terrific for diabetics who occasionally do want to indulge. the only down sides to sugar alcohols are that if you have a sensitive stomach, they can cause bloating and gas and sometimes diarrhea. >> okay, you'reonvincing me just to go for straight sugar. >> on the morning show! >> but just have a little bit is what you're saying. stay with the sugar. that's probably a little better for most people, unless you're diabetic. >> right. if you're diabetic, again, it's all about moderation and make sure you're not sensitive to some of the sugar alcohols, because a lot of people are. >> okay. now we have virginia on the telephone. she's from ohio, from solon, ohio. virginia, good morning. what's your question? >> good morning, virginia! >> caller: good morning, joy. i want to send a valentine goodie box to my daughter at college. this year she's focusing on eating more healthfully,

exercising. do you have any ideas what i can put in the box? >> i love this question. it's a great question and it's so much fun to send goodie baskets to our kids in college. there are loads of ideas that are healthy and have that valentine's theme. first, there are chocolate nutrition bars. i like the emerald dusted cocoa almonds. all of these little portion-controlled dark chocolates -- hershey kisses come in dark chocolates, the dove miniatures come in dark chocolates. meringue cookies are very low calorie. these portion-controlled biscottis. and for the college crowd, the low-fat hot coccoa packets are great for the dormrooms. now, i love gift certificates, memberships at netflix, starbucks cards. there are chocolate-scented lotions and potions from dylan's candy bar and philosophy, to an amazing candle that smells divine. cozy socks, colored nail polish,

lip glosses. so many fun things that won't break the calorie bank. >> that's a good question. thanks so much for your question. this is terrific. the only problem is i have had probably 100 of these in one sitting. you're saying this is portion control? the truth is, i've had -- i will eat them one after another. >> four or five of them. four or five of them. >> that's all i get? >> and if you freeze them, it sort of slows you down a little bit. so, that's a good trick. >> if i could ask a question about chocolate -- >> yeah. >> you know, everyone talks about how it has a heart-healthy impact, but if you're only eating such a small amount, how much impact does it really have some. >> that's a great question, ann. i mean, the nice part is that when you're having dark chocolate as a sweet treat in place of something that's sort of junky and unhealthy, it's already better for you. we don't really know how much it would take, and i certainly don't want to tell people to gorge or binge on dark chocolate because then you pack on the pounds and it undoes any of the good stuff. know that it's a great substitute as a sweet treat, one ounce a day, at least 70% of

cocoa you want. figure out a brand that works for you and enjoy it instead of other things. >> all right. joy bauer. thank you so much. >> thanks, ann. >> putting the love in our valentine's day. >> we can eat chocolate. >> okay, all right. coming up next, one saints fan who gets a little too far carried away with her good luck charm. she swallows her fleur de lee earring. we'll talk to her coming up. and a dog makes a great gift, so why not adopt? we'll tell you what you need to know if you're considering that. my auto policy's just getting a littleoo expensive. with progressive, you get the "name your price" option, so we build a policy to fit your budget. wow! the price gun. ♪ ah! wish we had this. we'd just tell people what to pay. yeah, we're the only ones that do. i love your insurance! bill? tom? hey! it's an office party! the freedom to name your price. only from progressive. call or click today. i have a question about these clams. the taste is amazing. clam transfer. clams. are these really fresh-caught clams

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doing good and as we all know, it worked out for the saints. she's here with her husband, mark. good morning. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> so, you see the fleur de lis in new orleans on everything. you don't expect it to see in somebody. what happened, flo ellen? >> i put my earrings on my nightstand the night before, forgot that i put them there. the following night, when i put my vitamins on my nightstand, i grabbed them and happened to swallow an earring with my vitamins. >> how many vitamins were you taking? >> six. >> all at once? >> mm-hmm, yes. >> wow! so, now, show us the earring, if you can. this is the earring there, and this is the size of that, a little quarter next to it, just to give you an idea. that's really pointy. did you feel it as you swallowed it? >> immediately, yes. >> so, what was your thought? >> well, i turned on the lamp and looked at the end table, realized -- i told my husband, i said, i swallowed my earring, and it's stuck -- >>wow. was that painful? >> very. >> oh,y gosh. dan, what were you thinking at that point? >> i was thinking i don't have

an answer for that, so i called 911. >> so, they take you to the hospital. they had to pump your stomach. >> yes. eventually they had to pump my stomach to get it out. >> dan, you're watching all this going on. you must have been frightened. >> initially they said it's going to take five minutes, so just anticipated we would be out. it was about six hours. >> six hours? my gosh. what was going through your mind at that point? >> i was trying to figure out exactly how bad this was going to be, and flo was primarily concerned whether she would get the earring back so she could wear it for the super bowl. >> so, they got it out. they saved the earring. you wore the earring. was it worth it? >> oh, yeah -- well, i didn't swallow it intentionally, but yes, it was worth getting it back. >> well, i didn't think you did. >> no, but it was worth getting it back. they're my good luck earrings. i wear them for every game. >> well, obviously, it seemed to work, didn't it? >> yes, it did. >> 106 million viewers watching that saints game. what was the turning moment for you guys, besides getting your earring back, during the game? >> well, in the game, you know,

it was a tremendous game. they were two really extraordinary teams, but when tracy porter made that pick at the fourth quarter, you realized that the door was slamming and truly the saints were going to get that monkey off their bank. >> still, that onside kick i thought was amazing. >> you know, sean payton is an amazing coach, and one of the things that separates him from everybody else is he's aggressive and he tries towin. >> you guys didn't get to see it in person. you watched it on tv. obviously, your son, your dog, everybody, your family, your friends, all very thrilled. what's t lesson you learned here, flo ellen? >> next time put my earrings in the jewelry box right where they belong. don't ever leave them on t end table. and check my vitams before i swallow them. >> more importantly. are you getting anything, any new kind of jewelry that maybe has a chain that you could help pull it out? >> no, well, smaller fleur de lis next time. >> thank you very much, dan and flo ellen rickard, thank you so much. >> thanks, al. >> glad it worked o for you and the saints.

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coming up, we're going to address whether the weather in vancouver could be a problem for the olympic games. absolutely. and if you're looking for a best friend who doesn't talk back, how about adopting a dog? we've got what you need to know about taking care of them once they're in your home. everyone full and focused with your fiber. ing but you already are great at doing that. really? sure! you're made with fiber just like me. but best of all, you're the perfect size for smaller kids. give your little ones kellogg's® frosted mini-wheats little bites™ cereal. in chocolate and now original flavor. they're an excellent source of fiber packed in a smaller size. oh, it's original little bite.

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take the activia challenge now. it works, or your money back! ♪ activia our time is 9:26. we have 25 degrees out. beautiful picture of the united states capitol right now. things are going to change, though. good morning to you, i'm joe krebs. this 9th day of february, 2010. because of all of the snow we've had, all of the area schools are closed today. the federal government is also closed for a second straight day. the d.c. national guard has actually been activated, all full-time personnel. due at the d.c. armory at 10:00 this morning. a lot of folks are still digging out. weather and traffic coming up.

another snowstorm moving in this hour. we have light snow on radar across of much of northern virginia and maryland, as well. that will continue to move through the region into the afternoon overnight tonight and get heavy at times late tonight and tomorrow, strong, gusty winds could cause significant drifting of the snow wednesday night into thursday morning. total amounts from the storm by the time it ends wednesday evening, 12 to 18 inches across much of northern virginia, panhandle of west virginia, washington, as well as montgomery, arlington, fairfax counties. farther north more, less to the south and southeast. now, jerry, how's traffic? tom, it is definitely a work in progress as evidenced by pictures of the district at 16th street and columbia road in northwest. from time to time only one good travel lane available. let's head over to maryland, show you the beltway. far right side of the screen ere, all ice and slush and snow. keeping traffic very slow on the beltway. inner loop as you head north from 214 to 202 and 50.

joe? >> thank you very much. stay with us.

♪ there she is, grammy award-winner -- she's six-time grammy award-winner this year for beyonce, and with those wins, she became the most decorated artist in one night in the 50-plus history of the grammys. >> nice decorations. >> i thought you'd enjoy that. well, we caught up with the 28-year-old music diva for a little chat, and we'll have that for you in just a little bit. meantime, coming to you this half hour, we're going to be going to vancouver, where natalie is standing by at the freestyle and snowboarding venue

at cypress mountain. hey, natalie, what have you got going on there? >> hey, ann. well -- and al -- you know, a lot of the concern here in vancouver and just outside of vancouver here at cypress -- we're about 30 minutes north of vancouver -- has been the weather and the winter warm-up here, and particularly here, the lack of snow. i was here exactly a year ago, and the base of snow that we saw here was about knee deep. so, here we're talking about a situation where they've really had to put so much work to get the venues ready for competition, as we are now three days away. so, i'm going to show you a little bit more of the efforts that are under way here. and also, the good news is, this is one of the venues that is ready to go when the games begin at this venue on saturday. >> all right. >> all right, thanks, natalie. >> that's right. we're going to check in with you in just a little bit. also ahead, we've got sweets for the sweetie. we'll help you make candy-inspired valentine's day gifts for your loved ones this year from our friends at dylan's

candy bar. then, if you're thinking of getting a dog, maybe a cute puppy for valentine's day? ll, ere are important things to think about before you bring one home. so, we're going to talk to an expert, a woman whose dog changed the direction of her life. first, let's talk about the biggest story of the day, which is the weather. >> a lot of snow coming. let's see what's happening for today, as this double-barrel low brings snow to the great lakes, also heavy rain down south. we've got another storm system moving into southern california where they may pick up one to two inches of rain. then for tomorrow, we've got us a classic nor'easter along the

and that's your latest weather. >> all rig. thanks a lot, al. and coming up next, it's heating up in vancouver, but is it getting too warm for the winter games? we're going to have a live report, coming up. ok, you got your card, your roses and her favorite -- hershey's kisses. thanks for your help. ♪

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>> announcer: "today's countdown to vancouver" is brought to you by walmart. save money. live better. walmart. now to "today's countdown to vancouver." only three days now until the olympic opening ceremony. and while the northeast is geing ready for round two of mother nature's fury, vancouver is experiencing one of the warmest winters on record. we've got "today" national correspondent natalie morales up on cypress mountain, one of the

competitive venues, where an extraordinary effort is under way to get it ready for the games. hey, natalie. >> reporter: good morning, ann. yeah, i'm actually one of the first journalists that they're letting in here to the venue site to get an idea of the conditions that they're facing here, and this really is the result of a superhuman effort that has bn under way for the last 3 1/2 weeks. this right here is the freestyle mogul ski run, which i'm told will be, is competition-ready, actually, when the women get under way here on saturday. but to give you an idea, if dana just pans off to the left, you see all that rock off to the side. what they started with here was really only a 2 1/2 in inch base of snow. so, not a lot to work with. mother nature not exactly cooperating, but all of the hard work and effort seems to be paying off here. let the games begin. okay, maybe not just yet. this is not the usual scenery you'd expect right before the winter olympics.

while the rare sunny day her and mild winter weather is a blessing for the everyday athlete enjoying vancouver's great outdoors, for the olympic athletes and organizers, the warm-up is the one hitch in the otherwise very well-executed plans for these games. >> in the mountains behind me there's only about three feet of snow. last year at this time there was ten feet of snow. normally, we get periods of warm and colder weather alternating, but this year, since january 1st, it's been all heat. >> reporter: cypress mountain, the venue for snowboarding and freestyle skiing, remains the only problem area. >> we're dealing with a fairly freaky situation, but we're dealing with it, and our team has spent a lot more time on that mountain than off it in the last three or four weeks. they're doing a great job. it's a heroic effort and the courses, i think, will be great. >> reporter: hundreds of truckloads and airdrops of snow continue in a race against time before saturday's freestyle mogul skiing competition. >> we compete on the first day, so we've got to, you know, start

geing our training ready, but i'm really excited to get up there. i think that they've dealt with these conditions before, so enters going to do what they know how to d best and that will allow us to do what we do best. >> reporter: her teammate, nate roberts, is also not worried. >> this is what we do. we compete and we have to adjust to every single condition, you know, if it's icy, wet, powdery. everybody's in this position because they're mentally tough and the most mentally tough person out there i think's going to come home with the gold. >> reporter: meanwhile, at whistler, whh is hosting the downhill men's ski jumping and sliding events, the story is quite the opposite, with an unprecedented 32 feet of snow by the end of january. >> whistler looks ready. if you were standing on any of the courses in whistler, at any of the sites, you would say this is as good as it gets. >> reporter: back here live at cypress mountain, you're looking at the freestyle mogul course. and as you can see there, the conditions, we're told by shannon bahrke, in the last hour, who will be competing here

on saturday, she said they're pretty great. so, that is certainly good news for all the olympic planners who have been pouring so much effort into making sure these venues are just right for the competitions. meanwhile, the snowboarding venues, we're told, are still a work in progress but nearly complete, and expect them to all be ready and finished by the time the competitions get under way for them on the 15th, on monday. ann? >> all right, natalie. thank you so much. and coming up next, sweet touch a's for your valentine's day gifts. that's coming up right after this. the new home trends collecti. i started off with rugs and pillows... and i got those for a steal. [ son ] mooom. steal as in a good price, honey. and then, it was on to my bare walls... i even got all the little extras, guilt free. tables, lamps, pillows, candles... and just like that, voila! a room i want to show off. get the new home trends collection at walmart. save money. live better. walmart.

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go to naturesbounty.com now for a $2.00 coupon. nature's bounty. perfect for every body. i said, "daddy, of course." he said, "no, no, no. daddy doesn't count." "you know, your valentine is who you want to sit by," "who you get in trouble with, who you tell your secrets to," "who you play with at recess." i said, "well, that's daddy, too." this valentine's day, wouldn't your valentine... like to know how you feel? give them a refreshingly real card from hallmark. [ bottle two ] bro, will you relax? i'm pretty sure there's not much we can do about it.

ugh. he's not even trying. he is actual magic. not impressed. [ gasps ] no! i didn't even know that could get dirty! can we even clean a leather shoe? what do you mean? what is a shooee? he's cleaning things that we don't even know what they are. gloves? brush? chime in any time here. [ male announcer ] effortlessly removes more grime per swipe. clean all around the house with the mr. clean magic eraser extra power. we all know money's a little tight these days, but the good news is, with valentine's day, you can still make your sweetheart feel special without spending a lot of money. all you need is candy and a little imagination. dylan lauren is president and ceo of dylan's candy bar. good to see you again. >> good to see you! happy early ventine's day. >> you, too. you say you can use a little candy and craftiness and make a nice gift. >> yeah. it's special to make a card for

someone on valentine's day than to go buy one. and here are somfun wrappers that come in bright pinks and reds -- >> basically, you have to eat the candy first. >> first you eat the candy or give your loved ones their favorite candy and then you wrap it with the wrapper. we have cut out heart shapes out of tootsie pops, and if you want, you can just glue it on to the card. and then the cards are all made from recycled material. it's just after the holiday, so old shopping bags. here we used the stripe from our shopping bag as the platform. so you don't have to spend a lot of money. >> these are great examples. >> these are flower petals, so it's a more fun and personal touch. >> now, you can also use candy and the wrapps to decorate frames. >> yeah. you know, a generic frame is really generic, so, giving a personalized frame makes the gift more special. here's an example. we used conversation hearts, which have fun messages. >> oh, sure. >> you know, then here's a couple that just got engaged, actually. and this is a great gift,

because you can use the foil from the chocolate wrapper. also eat the chocolate while you're making it >> you can use like hershey kisses. although they're much smaller, so you'd have to do a lot. >> hearts, chocolate. cover the whole frame, so it covers this shiny surface. you can use amomodgopodge glue. you glue it on and this says miss you. now they have "text me" and "tweet me." >> aren't there some rude ones, too? >> cutie pie's not so ru. so, they're all fun and it makes a great gift. >> and you can do this with your kids. >> with your kids. maybe not your valentine because you want to surprise them. but it's a great gift for your wife. >> absolutely. >> over here is another fun idea. you know, gift boxes made from recycled boxes you have laying around. you could decoupagdecoupage.

>> i like pez. >> or a heart box covered with chocolates. oh, there's some missing chocolate. and you can give that as a gift or customize what's in the box. so, these are cupid -- and again, modgepodge glue comes in handy. >> what do you see at dylan's is one of the most popular candies to give around valentine's day? >> anything that's red or pink or purple is a popular color. there are a million candies, tootsie pops and ring pops. all of these are colors of the holiday. so, really any of them. there are red and pink jelly beans o m&m's. it's really in the color scheme of valentine's day. >> it's all about the colors. >> yes. >> then there's a nice little candy cupcake. >> candygrams are party favors, whether it's a kid going to school. these are cupcake trays that you can use to bake cupcakes, but if you want to just fill them, here are the kisses and all the pretty colors. then you put them in here and slip it into a celo bag and tie

it up. >> you tie it. >> then there's a customized wrapper with the heart shape, which you can give as a personal name tag. it's just a great gift or party favor. some people have valentine's parties, especially people without valentine's. so, it's all fun. >> dylan, thank you. happy early valentine's day. >> thank you. you, too. up next, how to adopt a dog that's right for you and how it can change your life.

this morng on "today's pets," how adopting a dog can change your life. that was the case for wendy diamond, who adopted two dogs ten years ago. she's the author of a book called "it's a dog's world: the savvy guide to four-legged living," and she's here to share her advice for prospective dog parents. dog parents. thank you so much. that's funny, wendy. good morning, thanks for being here. >> good morning. >> let's talk about this, because it really has changed

your life to have these two dogs. >> absolutely. ten years ago when i adopted lucky -- she's a pure-bred maltese, and who would have ever thought you could get a pure-bred maltese in adoption? so, when i adopted lucky, at that time, 12 million animals were euthanized a year. today, ten years later, that's down to 5 million because people are more aware of adoption. you can get any breed, whether you want a golden retriever or a pure-bred maltese or a cute little mutt, everything's available for adoption. >> we should probably mention that yours is a saints fan. >> we actually just came back from barkus, which is the mardi gras for dogs in new orleans, and she was the grand marshal and it was the most adorable thing ever. so that's why she has her saints outfit on. >> okay. let's talk about what prospective dog owners should be thinking about. i'm looking at these beautiful dogs. there's a pure-bred shih tzu on the right. >> we have a designer dog, a puggle at the end, a chow mix. and they're all up for adoption. at the humane society in new

york and across the country there are shelters and they have all of these types of dogs. as well, you can go online and find out which dog is right for your lifestyle. >> that what i'm noticing is just looking at these dogs you can tell they have very different personalities. the shih tzu is very calm and relaxed. maybe the puggle on the end as well, but he's a little more rambunctio rambunctious. i'm wondering, when you look at a breed, is that how you now, how you read a dog, whether in terms of whether that dog is a match for you, or how should you best do that? >> first off, education is the number one thing. read up on any breed you want. you should read up on it and find out everything about them to see if it fits into your lifestyle. first of all, if you live in a little apartment, you'll want a little dog. it's not fair to have this huge dog in a little apartment. so, that's one thing to take a look at when you're considering adopting or getting any type of breed of dog you want, as well as personality traits. for instance, if you're older and you're less active, it might be best to get an older dog, because you're not going to want a dog that's going to run around all the time.

>> one of these dogs is an older dog. it's the one that -- >> the chow-golden. >> which is the second from the right. >> yep. that's a 12-year-old dog. and that's what is very important to look at is what is best to fit your lifestyle. do you love to go to the park, do you love to go swimming? do you want a dog that swims? do you want a dog that will cuddle with you on the couch and hang out? like a shih tzu is more of a zen-type dog who loves to just cuddle, be a lap dog. then you've got the puggle that's going to be a little bit more active. it's going to want to go on a lot of walks. and also look at everything to do with your lifestyle and how you want -- and from what type of apartment you have, whether you have a house, whether you have a backyard. it's important to know this when you're choosing a dog. >> what's the best advice for people? we hear about people maybe thinking of buying a dog for the holiday cong up, valentine's day. do you recommend that, given that there's so much pressure and you might actually make a quick, maybe the wrong choice for your family? >> you should never make a quick decision. this is a lifelong commitment. these dogs never grow up and go

to college and go away and take care of themselves. you're responsible to play with them, feed them, walk them. so it's really important to have information about what you want in a dog. and first of all, you can absolutely adopt a dog or buy a dog, but for instance, we watched the whole thing called yappy hour, right? where it gives you an opportunity to rent a dog for like a ten-minute walk and see what it's like and see whether you get along with that dog. you can go into any shelter, as well, and go into a shelter and just kind of take the dogs out for a walk and see whether or not you get along with them. it's like chemistry. if you're going to be with a person or a dog, you need to get to know them first. >> you know, i can see by your reactions, you guys, with the dogs dn there, you know, you can see that having a dog can really make you happier, it can make you more relaxed, breathe deeper, maybe run around a lot more. but a lot of fun. well, thanks so much for bringing all the dogs. thank you, wendy, for your advice this morning. >> thank you, thank you, thank you. >> the book is called "it's a dog's world."

we've got much more coming up with hoda and kathie lee.

our time is 9:56 as we take a live look inside the newsroom this morning. good morning to you, i'm joe krebs. following another winter storm this morning that is headed our way. the snow isn't expected to start until later today, but already airlines are starting to cancel flights. taking a live look at reagan national airport, out at reagan national and dulles and bwi, they are finally getting planes in and out. however, some flights have been canceled already today. and more could come as the weather gets worse. southwest airlines has already canceled all of its flights for today and tomorrow at dulles and at bwi. all passengers should check on their flight status before they head out to the airport for any flights. for more on the approaching storm, let's go to meteorologist tom kierein in storm center 4. tom? joe, we are beginning to see snow reaching the ground now. weather watchers are reporting snow now falling in rappahannock county and fauquier county and

the shenandoah valley. elsewhere the snow isn't reaching the ground yet but it may begin flurrying in the metro area in the next hour. light snow this afternoon, getting moderate to heavy at times tonight and off and on tomorrow and ending tomorrow evening with strong winds causing significant drifting. we could pick up an additional 12 to 18 inches of new snow with this storm. and now jerry, how's traffic? tom, challenging conditions at best along 395. the snow operation backing traffic up headed up to duke street. northeast washington, work has to be done, but crews are trying their best at benning and h street. be careful. watch out for pedestrians in the roadway. joe? >> thank you very much. stay with us all

nbc-universal television captions paid for by nbc-universal television hey, everybody, it's tuesday. it's february 9th. and hoda-t's back. >> she's still doing it. ♪ every sunday we party down >> it was so much fun. >> she just pointed out that if you take off the w and the t, you got hoda.

>> i brought you a little gift. when i was on the field -- >> yes. >> -- all of the confetti and it was like this crazy moment. >> right. >> there's a photo, but there's a video of it. so -- >> look. >> look what i brought you. that's what the moment was. >> uh-huh. >> here is a little something for you. here is a little something for you. it's a ziploc bag with some confetti in from the actual game. >> i will treasure it. >> please don't lose it. look what's in there. this is from the game day. >> why don't you give this to somebody who cares? >> you don't care? >> no. >> i am taking back my confetti. >> give it to hannah. she'll love it. >> she won't love it. she won't even get t you don't even get it. anyway, if you watched the game, you were among a gazillion people. >> the most watched program ever. >> in tv history, more than

"m.a.s.h.," the big "m.a.s.h." >> 105.9. >> we get that here every day. >> just a monday for us really. >> just another day. >> was it fun, the game, from home? >> it really was. we missed you. >> bk to the game. >> some of us have moved on in their lives, hoda woman. >> no. it's hard to move on. >> i think that many people watched because that many people were so caught up in the journey of the saints. i always root for the underdog anyway. i did say i was rooting for the colts, because i thought somebody needed to have, you know, a little fairness here, but when the game started, i realized, you know what? what would it mean for this -- the colts have won it before. what would it mean for the city and for everybody? >> right. >> so i was rooting for the saints. >> i had a chance to talk to archie manning. >> my son went to his camp twice. >> reay? >> he has a camp down in louisiana for football camp. cody spent a lot of time with

him, said he's a lovely guy. >> he was so gracious about his son. he's like -- he's a son of new orleans, archie and the kids, but he was so terrific. he signed our game ball. >> it was a win/win for him either way. >> it really was. are we done with the saints because i can't -- tomorrow is the big parade in new orleans. >> how long will it last for you? how long will this last? >> i don't kno there's a brand new mayor in new orleans and this game happened. >> is he related to mary? >> mary's brother and he won out in the primary, big deal for new orleans. and a friend sent me a message on facebook, because some were worried that god had forgotten them and she wrote on her facebook page, god found us. that's what people are feeling like down there. if there's ever a turning point -- >> it tipped. i hope so. >> i'll take back my gift. >> i'm sorry, hoda. our relationship is based on honesty. >> i'll keep my confetti.

>> they're still talking about the leno and letterman commercial. >> i didn't see the commercials when i was out there. >> i was hosting the best party in the world so i didn't see them either. >> i heard about that. >> apparently both guys -- that's the commercial. >> he's just saying that cause i'm re. >> he's just saying that cause i'm here. >> that was it? >> that was the clip. >> was that the entire commercial, 15 seconds? >> no, it's longer. they paid a lot of money for that. >> how much did they pay oprah to say "be nice, dave." >> i don't know. >> 2.7 to 3 million, yeah. >> then they all spoofed the commercial. >> on their own shows last night. do we have some of that? >> absolutely. >> i watched the game with oprah and letterman. we all watched it together. >> m mom called me today from indi indianapolis. she watched the super bowl and mom said, david, who was the guy with oprah and jay? >> letterman and i hadn't seen

each other in over 18 years. we lost touch. he found me on facebook. he made a friend request. i accepted and we hooked up and watched the game. >> i mean, people really thought this was big-time stuff. so, i just want to take a second here now to thank the actors who played oprah and also jay leno. they did a tremendous job. >> in fact, the commercial went so well, dave and i have decided to go to vancouver to compete in the two-man luge. you know, whatever happened the last 18 years disappeared. it was great to see my old friend again. it was wonderful. >> wow! >> do you think that's true? >> i don't know. i don't know. i wonder how much they got paid for that commercial, all three of them. they're all so loaded. can you believe they got paid to do that commercial? >> the rich just get richer. >> yes, they do. someone in a heap of trouble is dr. conrad murray, finally been charged with manslaughter, not a murder charge. >> involuntary manslaughter. >> he faces prison.

>> eight months since michael jackson died. there was a lot of speculation early, is he going to get charged? what's happening? what's happening? there was controversy on friday. it was supposed to happen on friday. he wanted to turn himself in. >> he didn't want to do the perp walk with the hand be cuffs and stuff. i don't blame him for that. >> we did a little research. we found out that -- you were asking about elvis' doctor. >> did elvis' doctor ever go to jail? >> elvis' doctor was charged and went to trial but wasot convicted. >> what about anna nicole smith? >> we don't know about that one. but because of elvis' death, the cause of death was in question. that being the -- i'm not sure with michael jackson. he had enough propo fol in his system to sedate him for surgery. >> which is out, out. >> he had an issue with his lung, some pre-existing lung thing, something going on with his lung. so the exacintet -- isting to s with conrad murray. >> did you see theicture in thurin the paper with crad

murr, he spent about an avesite out os >> that'sinteresting. i don't know. making his this i a guy who had ions about his qualifications, right? controversial, there was a phone call he made, michan was -- >> being >> somewhere in that rame. atre was a phone callde to ano that same time? >> right.s listen to the come back. >> this ismury,bob.hi, how are a your results of the eecp.study. i would like toe t see mahave to bebsent from my becse

sabbatical. >> when did he make thatne call it seems awfully calm for someone to make that callhile jackson. usehichael >> phone records would say. >> the phone records are the question is when e i house, what time? >> do you think he will go to jail for fou years? the family is very upset that ot t charge that was ought before him. >> some say cagoat. voluntarily take drugs -- and i know there areu but ultimately who -- >> this was at michael's request. >> yes. >> okay. >> in heaven. >> favorite day of my life is n en the helwo>> i first met yo9 >> iatew change