. good morning. terrifying scene. a man pulls out a gun in the middle of a floda school board meeting and opens fire before taking his own life. this morning three board members who heroically tried to sto the gunman speak out. as the tax cut deal moves closer to passage, there's a new fight brewing in congress, a bill loaded with $18 million worth of pet projects. and a man caught on tape stealing $1.5 million worth of chips at the bellagio casino.

"today," wednesday, december 15, chips at the bellagio casino. "today," wednesday, december 15, 2010. captions paid for by nbc-universal television and good morning. welcome to "today" on a wednesday morning. >>chilling, disturbing, surreal. just some of the words used to describe that scene during the school boa meeting in florida. >> what is so remarkable in this case, you actually see what happens inside that room. some even saw it happen live. clay duke walked to the podium, moments later, he spray painted a symbol on the wall of that room, pulled out a handgun and eventually opened fire. and we should warn you, some of the video you're going to see is morning is disturbing. >> before the shooting started, a female school board member used a purse to try and knock the gun out of duck's hand.

but first let's get right to nbc's mark potter, he's in panama city, florida with the latest. mark what can you tell us? >> reporter: the gunman was killed in the incident and it was caught on tape and we will not show that. the rest of tha moment leading up to that shooting is very intense. just as the bay county school board opened the floor for public comment, a man later identified as 56-year-old clay duke began spray painting the wall with a circle and a big v. after drawing a handgun, he ordered most people out of the room. >> leave. you may leave, you may leave. you can leave. these men st. everne else leaves >> reporter: one board member who left the room, ginger littleton tried to intervene, hitting the gunman with her purse.

littleton was unhurt and left the room again, while duke gun still in hand while he complained to the superintendent, four board members and an attorney that his wife had been fired. board members pushed him for details. >> please talk to us. if i can get yr wife a job somewhere else, i'll be glad to do that. i'll be very honest with you, i don't know who your wife isr what she did. i don't want to die like anybody else doesn't. >> hey, i will go with you, i will stand up with you to get your wife a job. whatever it takes. >> repter: off camera, the superintendent tried to get duke to let the others go. >> i'm the one that signed the paper, right? okay, i don't remember, and i don't know who she is. but let them go, i'm the one that did it. they don't sign the papers, i'm the only one that signs them. will you let them go? >> reporter: but as the board kept talking, duke seemed unmoved until events spiraled

out of control. >> i've got a feeling is that you want the cops to come in and kill you because you're mad. because you said you're going to die today. but why? this isn't worth it. please don't. please don't. please. >> i'm going to kill you. [ gunshots ] >> reporter: after duke fired at the board members, witnesses say, school board security chief mike jones rushed in and exchanged shots with him. panama city police say duke who was wounded then ended up killing himself with his own weapon. >> you could see in his eyes that he was intent on dying. you could just tell and i don't have a lot of experience with this, but you could tell that he was going to kill himself at least, if not other people and we thought he was going to try to shoot us as well. >> reporter: the entire incident was also captured on a school

board camera and screamed live as horrified workers and viewe watched the scene unfold. >> the only thing i could think is tt he wants somebody to rush in here. it was a tragedy all the way around, but it could have been a lot worse. >> reporter: on facebook, duke said some people, the government sponsored media will say i was evil, a monster, no i was jus born poor, in country where the wealthy manipulate. his facebook picture was similar to theicture he painted on the school board wall. police say they cannot confirm anyink between duckke's actions and the movie. and the superintendent says the school system has no record of anyone whoould be the gunman's wife being fired or that she actually worked there. it's lucky no one else was hurt in tha incident.

meredith? >> we are joined now by three of the people who were inside that school board meeting, all of them stepped in to try to stop the gunman. beg good morning to all of you. >> good morning, meredith. >> i look at that video now several times and i find it frightening and surreal. you people lived it. how are you feeling today, besides just very grateful to be alive? >> that's number one. meredith, we are so happy to be alive. life means a lot more than it did yesterday probably and i'm so proud of mike jones, he was the truly the hero and mike jones describes a lot of credit. >> mike jones is the surity guard who shot this man. >> he's not just a security guard, though, he's a rired detective from the police department. he lerally saved our lives. if he hadn't have come in when

he did, we wouldn't be here this morning. >> suddenly this m comes in which nobody knew, he drawshat circle with the v in it, and then turns the gun towards you, what is going on in your mind, bill? >> first i was concerned that he was upset because we re talking about hd lice and technology. but then he turned around with a gun in his hand and he started rambling and telling people to get out. i haven't timed it, but it seemed like a lot longer than i actually was, i'm sure, but it was the mos surreal thing i have ever been a part of. >> meredith, the gun, excuse me, the gun made a difference. when heurned around from that wall, the whole situation changed. you know, i had dealt with parents in the past as

administrator, but never before with a gun. it changed everything. >> he told all the women to get out, and ginger, you leftnd then you made a decision to come back into the room. why? why did you change your mind? >> well, i turned back around to check on what was happening and at that point he had moved up on to where the board members were sitting. and so i could either walk away and try to live with myself beuse i knew something bad was going to happen, or i could try to defend, delay, somehow or other divert, hoping that the cavalry woul come soon. my guys had three-ring binderses a and pencils to protect themselves. i thought i would hit him with the purse and see if he would drop the gun. i didn't have a gun.

he said you stupid blank. and i thought at that point, i was pretty stupid. >> but he pointed a gun at you athat point. did you just assume, this is it? >> yes, i did. >> i think i did as well. but at that point, there's nothing you can do, i mean i was already committed and probably should have been committed, but there was nothing to be done. so it wasn't terror or anything like that, it was like oh, well, here we are. >> she did it because she cares about us. we have got a really good board, we work well together. and she was trying to help us like we were trying to help ourselves. >> fortunately he didn't shoot ginger. >> yes, that was a very good thing. i appreciated that. it will be nice to see the sun come up this morning. >> when ginger was laying on the floor, she attempted something, and the gun, she was laying by me behind the board desk and the gun was right over her a that's when it became very

scary. >> but after ginger left, what struck me, jerry, about you and bill, is how calm you reined. you basically tried to talk this man off the ledge. you said if your wife lost her job, i'll help her get e. and you said i'll take full responsibility as superintendent, even though you knew this was not going to end well bill. >> yes. he had that look inis eyes and i have seen anger before and he almost had like a grimace, a smile. he had planned to do this and we knew it wasn't going to end well. and i don say this facetiously, i mean this, if i was going to die, i knew where i was going to go, i was very comfortable knowing th. not wanting that to happen, but i knew i would go to heaven and so i just didn't want to see all the -- i mean that guy had a mission.

he had already told us he was going to die. he told us he was going to kill himself basically and he was going to try to do t same to us. and i feel so sorry foris family and what they're going through right now. it's just a terrible tragedy. >> meredith, i was talking for my life. i never have been as afraid for my life as i was yesterday. and when i asked him, what are you doing? what's the problem? and he began to tell about his wife. i said look here, man,'m a pretty good guy. i've been married to my wife 40 years, i was real sincere. i said i've got two great kids, i really don't want toie at this time. and bill and i, we continued to talk with him and just for time's sake, for time's sake. but as time drew closer, we knew that he knew the authorities were coming. and that's when he came closer to the desk and that was when he was beginning to bring the gun up and that's when the dove to the side and all the other board members including bill wen down

and it's just a miracle this morning that this man sitting to my left, a great friend of mine is here. cause he was almost pointblank in the shooting of the gun. >> you've got to wonder whether the gunman was just a lousy shot, or maybe he didn't intend to kill you, but his plan was that he was going to be killed by whoever came in? >> he continued to say i going to die and you are too. he said that several different times. >> i will go to my grave believing that those bullets were blocked by a greater power. it's just on to obvious you to . >> our families and friends are so elated. we had e-mails, we had phone calls last night. what a day. >> what a day.

that's the understatement of the interview. thank you, jerry, bill and ginger, so much, we're so glad th you're with us this morning. >> thank you. >> thank you so much. >> thank you, meredith, you have a great day. >> you too. and now here's matt. >> an incredible story. another big story in florida and across the east is the bitter cold. nbc's kerryanders is in frosty orlando where they are having record low temperatures. >> reporter: a record here in orlando, 32 degrees, i'm at the wizarding world of harry potter at. a record 47 degrees, tourists who are coming here are wondering what is going on, this is so rare, those who are going to area stores to buy oves, hats and scarves, they don't

really exist in florida stores because this is so unusual. yesterday and again this morning, some planes at florida airports are having to be grounded for a short period of time because of ice on the wing. florida airports don't have deicing equipment so the pilots are having the planes pushed back int the sun to melt it off before they can take off and have a safe flight. the real damage here is in the agricultural industry, the beans, the corn, it's completely wiped out and the tomatoes, severely maged. it's estimated this time of year nine out of every tomato slices a hamburger in thenited states came from florida. matt, a smile on my face, frozen in place. >> go get warm, kerry, tnk you very much. it's 14 minutes after the hour. how much colder can it get? >> al's upstairs with that side of the story. >> we have got 48 hours of this

cold air. new york city 22, but charlotte right now 15, 26 atlanta, 32 in orlando. and here's the departures from the average highs. 18 degrees below normal in tampa and miami. also in columbia. macon 15 below normal. pittsburgh, 15 degrees below normal. here's what we're expecting as far as highs are concerned today. only 52 miami. orlando 28. green bay 12, we don't see a change in this until about friday when the pattern of the jet stream now moves a little bit to the north. miami 74, orlando 70. still chilly in the northeast, what and back into the plains. look, chicago, they'll be down right balmy, a temperature of 27. >> all right, al, thank you very ch. president obama's tax cut deal appears headed for the final approval in the senate today. this is another spending bill creates a brand-new controversy

in congress. capitol hill correspondent kelly o'donnell has the latest on this. >> reporter: and the big issue today is your tax money, how much of it you geto keep and how much lawmakers want to spend on those pet projects they like so much. the senate is expected to pass today that package of tax cuts and unemployment benefit extensions and the house democrats, they're the ones who still don't like this. frustrated and fed up. did the leaders give you any idea what the way forward is? >> no, not yet. >> rorter: house democrats met for hours late tuesday night to demand again the tax breaks for the althy be scaled back in the president's compromise with republicans. >> in spite of what we're doing here which is $858 billion borrowed, adding $2 billion to the deficit, yeah, it's only $20 billion, but we got to start somewhere. >> reporter: it's time to do the deal on taxes before everyone's

taxes go up on january 1. >> christmas is a week from saturday, i understand that, but i he the republicans understand it also because we are going to complete our work. >> reporter: and there's a new political drama over a separate spending bill that would pile on more debt. >> are we tone deaf? are we stricken with amnesia? what is going on here? >> reporter: during the election, many promised to stop using taxpayer money for earmarked pet tprojects but thee are 6,400 of them worth $8 billion tucked in the giant spending bill that republican john mccain says should be read out loud. >> people who are watching this think i'm making this up. i'm not making it up. $300,000 for the polynesian voyaging society in hawaii. >> reporter: both democrats and republicans requested the earmarks, including gop leader mitch mcconnell who now says he'll opse the bill and a

number of people like mitch connell actually put in for those earmarks over the course of the year and then after the elections after the tea party elections, say they'll come out agait earmarks. they may have to strip some of those out before it get s passe. >>elly o'donnell on capitol hill this morning. now let's get a check of the rest of the top stories from ann curry at the news desk. >> good morning, everybody. in the news also this morning, overnight a boat packed with what rescuers believe are asylum seeker from iraq and iran slammed aboard christmas island and killed dozens of people. rescue are unsure how many people were crowded on to that boat. the victims believed to be kurds were likely freeing to australia. wikileaks found julian

assange has been granted bail but is still being held in britain pending a hearing with swedish authorities. there will be no funeral for bernie madoff's son mark who hanged himself this weekend in new york city. mark madoff will be cremated at his family's request. a year in review of the afghan war strategy will show that the u.s. can and should beginulling troops from afghanistan in july of 2011 according to the white house. the full review is scheduled to be released on thursday. now let's head over to wall street to see what's happening on wall street. we have trish reagan on wall street. >> reporter: there's a lot of concerns about spain right now, you've seen in recent weeks concern flaring up in general. we have concerns about our own

debt, the fed indicates that it's going to stick with the status quo and continue to pump money into the economy. the benchmark ten-year yield note to move higher. which means that it's getting more expensive to borrow money, so that's going toffect all of us. >> ten-year-year-old not-- this one man bandit made off with at least $1.5 million worth of chips from the bellagio. he demanded the money at gun point and made a swift get away on his motorcycle. but as you point out, matt, those chips need to be redeemed at some point it so there you go. >> hasn't he done this before too? >> there is a report, and it's still kind of sketchy, that he may have had practice run

earlier, and made off with $20,000 worth. but that's still being investigated. >> mr. roker, where's your motorcycle helmet? >> it's still frozen back in dunkirk, new york. let's see what's going on, we good morning. sunrise he in the washington region in a partly cloudy to mostly clear sky. look at that in a high-definition vi from our city camera. temperatures are only near 20

degrees. winds are gusting to around 30 miles an hour. so windchills are in the single digits. highs today just near 30 with a blustery wind, but quite a bit of sun. cloudy tomorrow. could get light sno tomorrow morning and off and on during the day. up to two inches at the most, >> and that's your latest weather. and just ahead, new details in the death of a new yorcity fashion designer inside a posh hol. her boyfriend is now charged in the case. we'll hear from his attorney, but first this is "today" on nbc.

coming up w we will reveal "time" magazine's person of the year live.

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it's not really raging, man. uh, we were hoping for more raging ? well, you said write from the heart. yeah... don't do that. at ally, you'll love our online savings account. named the best of 2010 by money magazine. ally. do y lovyour bank ? good morning. it's 7:26 on this wednesday, the 16th of december. i'm e krebs. a man is accused of threatening to bomb a metro train. he said he could use pipe bombs to kill people on the transit system and in the

good morning. i'm meteorologist tom kierein. off to a mostly clear start. again, this morning, just near 20 degrees. windchil are near 10 with winds gusting around 30 miles an hour. near 30 tomorrow. could get a dusting to an inch of snow tomorrow. how's traffic? >> for the mostpart, we're doing pretty well. along interstate 66, just volume. as a result, we're seeing some sunshine delays as you head east out fair oaks, vienna. one more stop south. the town had problems earlier at

the wilson bridge. they have eased considerably. so betweenxon hill and lexa, we're looking much better. >> join us tomorrow morning at 4:30. we'll be tracking th snow and

7:30 now on this wednesday morning, december 15, 2010. these fine folks are smiling through a deep freeze here in midtown manhattan. a good day to be inside, perhaps wrapping up your last bit of christmas shopping. i'm meredith viera alongside matt lauer. and one of hollywood's strongest couples end their marriage. we'll have more on that coming up. also ahead, we reveal the finalists on monday, so who will be named "time" magazine's person of the year? the folks from "time" will

announce the winner live on our air in just a couple of minutes. the controversy over a new multimillion dollar exhibit at the los angeles zoo. let's begin this half hour th the details on the murder of a trendy fashion designer. now police have charged her boyfriend, the son of a oscar award winner with attempted murder. jeff rossen has the latest on this. >> reporter: it's called the soho house here in new york, it's basically a hotel for the rich and famous in this area. what happened inside here is a real mystery, police found fashion designeder's body inside her hotel room in the bathtub and there were some pills in the room. and she also had marks around her neck like she was strangled. they think her well connected boyfriend did it. sylvie cachay was living the

dream, desning for tommy hill figger and victoria secret. she had a member to manhattan's exclusive soho house. sylvie would spend her final night mere. >> sylvie was an incredibly happy person, loved life and always tried to see the good in everything. her loss has absolutely destroyed us. >> reporter: police say they found sylvie's body inside her hotel room, she was half naked in an overflowing bathtub. the guests downstairs had complained of water coming from the cell. she was bruised with marks on her neck, bleeding in her eyes and a bite mark on her hand. >> the's a pool a block from my apartment and i can't get in. >> what pool? >> at the soho house? >> for something lik this to happen in a place like that has everyone on edge.

>> reporter: investigators have arrested sylvie's boyfriend, jeffrey brooks. his lawyer claims that brooks and cachay checked in together. when he came back, brooks says sylvie was dead. >> he's pleading not guilty and we're going to move forward based on that. >> she had bite marks, she had marks around her nebck. how would your client elain that? >> all sorts of things can happen between loving, caring people who have an intimate relationship. >> rorter: jeff brooks is no stranger to the spotlight. his father is an oscar winner who wrote this hit. ♪ you light up my life >> reporter: the older brooks was accused of sex charges. now it's his son facing the judge in the death of a young woman.

>> some of sylvie's friends have said they had a turbulent relationship, nicholas and sylvie and she was trying to break up with him and he was angry with that. >> i don't know too many relationships that don't have tush lechbs in them. >> her loss has just taken away a huge part of our family. we have all lost a little of ourselves. >> reporter: right now nichola brooks -- we' told the grand jury has the right right now, they could up the charge to murder as early as tomorrow. meanwhile outside the soho house there's a morial to sylvie cachay. >> jeff rossen for us here in manhattan. let's get a check of the weather

now from al. >> thank you vy much,

good morning. here we've got the sun up, and it's mostly clear. that's a live view from the sky watcher camera, northeast washington in the distance. and later today, we'll climb from where we are now, near 20, to only around 30 degrees. we'll also have winds gusting to around 30 miles an hour now. so windchills are just near ten degrees. and then clouding up late tonight, might get some light snow around washington tomorrow during the day. maybe an inch at the most here around the metro are two inches far to the south and >> and that's your latest weather. now to heart break in hollywood as a number of celebrity couples announce they're calling it quits. natalie new orleans has the details for us. >> reporter: the golden globe nominations were not the big announcements in hollywood tuesday. several high profile couples made headlines by announcing their marriages have ended. people's sexiest man alive and "gq's" babe of the year are now

officially single. ry reynolds and scarlet johansen called it quilt it qu two years of marriage. when johansen won her tony awards s awards. >> they were trying to make this work for months. >> us weekly broke the story. >> this was a relationship that basically fell apart due to their a-list status and the demands on them and their careers. >> reporter: model and actress elizabeth hurley was forced to address the swirling rumors about hermarriage. over the weekend a london tabloid reported that hurley was having an affair. the british hurley married indian text tile tycoon three

years ago, the wedding elaborate with two ceremonies, one in a castle in england, the other a palace in india. >> irically, there are differences that sort of forged the end of this marriage. they just came from two different worlds. >> best performance by an actor in a television series drama. >> reporter: and with happy news -- >> michael c. hall, dexter --. >> on the same day he was nominated for a golden globe, dexter actor announced that he and wife jennifer carpenter -- who plays his sister on the show filed for divorce. they weathered good times and bad. carpenter was by hall's side as he battled ccer earlier this year. hall and carpenter were married just two years. >> in hollywood that itch comes a little early and most couples can't make it past two or three years.

>> reporter: and another celeity split to mention, za. and up next, who will it be? "time" magazine reveals it's person of the year right here on "today" and right after this.

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farm. find an agent or get a quote at statefarm.com. >> and we're back now at 7:42 to reveal "time" magazine's person of t year. the criteria, someone who for better or worse has done the most to influce events of the year. first one more look at the finalists. these are the faces thatdefined a year, a giant in the world of technology. a leader in a country ravaged by war. a movement that upended our political ndscape. a courageous view that captured our hearts. an innovator changing the way we communicate, one friend at a time. and an online outlaw exposing the secrets of the world. but only one can be time's person of the year. rick stengel, good morning, welcome back. we went over on monday how you folks choose the finalists.

ta me through the process of chsing the winner? is it one person, one vote? or do you have the final say. >> i have the final say. i talked to past persons of the year, i talked to time 100 ho r honorees and we talk to all of our editors and we get in a room and we hash it out. >> "time" magazine's person of the year for 2010 is mk zuckerberg, the founder of facebook, the ceo of facebook, something that is transforming the way we live our lives every day. >> why thi year? facebook's been around for a while. >> this year they passed 500 million users. i mean it's an extraordina number. the scale of facebook now is something that's transforming our lives. >> one in ten people on the planet. >> one in ten people on the planet and that's excluding china where one in five people live. it's not just social technology,

it's social engineering. it's changing the way we relate to people. i think it's affecting human nare in a way we have never seen before. >> there's a lot of controversy surrounding mark, in the movie "the social network" is depicted as this genius who turned on his friends. >>ou know, he's very aft ee's a fastball. he has this thing where when he goes on camera, he pulls back and he gets shy. >> what was his reaction to being named person of the year. >> he felt humbled by it. he felt honored by it. he's only the second youngest person of the year. i think he was deeply affected by it. but he's not a guy who jumped up and down and said look at me.

>> your readers actually didn't think this should go to him. didn't they feel that as sang -- >> assange won o pole by a great margin. but of course lady gaga was number two. but we talk all of that into account. and obviouslyssange is someone who was influencing the world a great deal this year. >> mark zuckerberg gave $100 million and has just pledged to give away the bulk of his wealth over his life. >> he's just at the beginning of his career, in a way, matt. >> behind zuckerburg, the tea party. number four president of afghanistan, hamid karzai. number five the chilean miners. >> you have to pick up the magazine, because weave photographs of every chilean miner. it's over like 20 pages, it's fantastic.

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the los angeles zoo is set to unveil it's newest exhibit. a compoun for three asian elephants. while zoo officials are celebrating, not everyone is happy about it. >> reporter: well, meet tina and jewel. they are the newest additions to the elephant compound here at the l.a. zoo. take a look at their sparkling new home, but it has taken years and millions of dollars to get here. >> there so beautiful. the size is massive. >> reporter: for most of his 25 years, billy an asian bull

elephant has lived alone and only known one home. now billy's getting new roommates and an upgrade, a $42 million expansion that gives him 3.6 acres to roam, more than double wha he had before. the new digs feature a swimming pool and a water fall. >> we're going to prese ah-haing at tah-ha i -- >> tina and jewel just arrived from the san diego zoo. the plan offials say is for them to live togher once the new girls settle in. >> i think what the zoo is really possessing a very misleading picture to the public. >> rorter: animal rights activists helped lead an emotional opposition to th exhibit. hollywood stars sought to stop it calling the project animal abuse and a waste of taxpayer money. a judge ruled in favor of the zoo. kaplan is still fighting.

>> these elephants in a natural habitat walk 100 miles day and they can't walk 100 miles a day in this exhibit or any other exhibit. >> reporter: do you think this is enough space? >> it's plenty of space for the elephants. billy does wind sprints and exercises. >> reporter: every mning the zoo staff makes sure these animals are well fed and then evaluate their condition. including daily cleaning. but the cost of caring for the animals is fueling more criticism. some say it's just too expensive for a city that's already struggling. >> dollars tt could go to police and libraries and school children are actually going to maintain elephants at tens of thousands of dollars a month. >> reporter: an elephant sized debate about how to care for the largest land animal in the world. now zoo officials say nearly

ha of their funding comes from private donations and not just through taxpayer dollars. this exhibit will open up on thursday to aot of fanfare and celebration as the public gets its first look at hollywood's newestheavyweits. meredith? >> kristen welker, thank you very much. beautiful animals. can't fight that one. still ahead, we're goingo catch up with robert deniro. ♪ daisy, do a dollop

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in the "news 4 today," breaking news. the pentagon pe metro station is closed today because of a suspicious package. trains are not going through the station. trains are turning around on both the yellow and blue lines. shuttle bus service has been set up to get passengers around the osure, so expect big delays above both the yellow and blue lines. once again, the pentagon station is closed because of a suspicious package. we'll take a break n

good morning. sunny, breezy and cold on this wednesday morning. temperatures are around 20 degrees. windsusting to around 20, 30 miles an hour. windchills near ten.

highs today near 30. cloudy tomorrow. could get light snow around the metro area. points south, around two inches there. maybe up to an inch of snow off and on through the day. highs near 30 tomorrow. jerry, how's traffic. >> take a live look. i-270. most of the way from germantown on down, no accidents reported. lanes open. one more stop, the trip in, along interstate 66 and particularly on the beltway leaving the robinson freight terminal on toward i-66 ain just heavy. joe? >> thank you. tune in to "news 4 today." we'll be trackinghe snow and keeping a close eye on the commute.

8:00 now on a wednesday morning, it's the 15th of december, 2010. and across the street, we have some happy folks spending time with us out on the plaza. some of us actually. inside our "today" show kitchen. i'm matt lauer. i'm going t explain why i'm here in a moment. meanwhile, meredith and al are outside. >> how did this work? >> i don't get this at all. i wanted to be in the kitchen. you're great in the kitchen. >> fantastic. >> sorry, guys.

>> we're out here, we're going to be talking about winter survival. how to keep yourself warm, how to keep your car running properly. it's the newest installment of "the meet the parents" movies. this time it's about the little fockers. robert deniro and ben stiller are here to talk about that. >> and this morning a handful of chefs will duke it out in a cooking competition. we have got dede and max and alex and sarah. meanwhile we'll check out the morning's top stories with ann curry. in the news, state records show the gunman who terrorized florida schooloard meeting on

tuesday once -- he spray painted a symbol on the wall a waved his gun at board members while complaining about his wife getting fire. duke fired several shots without hitting anyone he then killed himself after he was wound bid a security guard. forecasters say the record co that brought record temperatures to florida over the weekend. one michigan coue had to pull over on the way to the hospital and delivered the baby in the car. the senate is votg today on a package of eended tax cuts and unemployment benefits and if i passes, the measure will move to the house. income taxes will go up for most americans next year if a new tax law is not approved.

the senate is also to begin debate this week on the nuclear arms treaty that president obama signed with russia. democrats would need at least nine republican votes for ratification. one day before president obama releases his report on the war in afghanisn, several reports say that -- u.s. military commanders say that those negative reports are outdated. aaa says 92 million americans will travel more than 50 miles from home over christmas and new year's. that's up 3% over last year. nine out of ten will drive to their holiday destination. and beautyleep may be more than a myth. swedish researchers took pictures of healthy adults who enjoyed eight hours of sleep each night and thethey cut the volunteers back to just five hours of shut eye and

photographed them again and said the difference was obvious. let's go back outside for a check of the weather

good morning. i'm tom kierein. since "news 4 today" started at 4:30 this morning, we have not had the temperature climb at all. there is the blue sky, though. live picture. lots of sun, wu it's still hoveng like it has been for the past 24 hours. later today it will reach 30 degrees. quita bit of sun. cloudy tomorrow. might get a dusting to an inch of snow around washington. areas farther south. >> and that's your latest weather. coming up next, we have got a special winter weather whip. that's nice, what you need to do to your wardrobe, to your car, to everything to cope with the

cold right after these messages.

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your doctor should test for tuberculosis. stelara® may increase your risk of cancer. always tell your dtor if you have any sign of infection, or have had cancer. alert your doctor of new or worsening problems including headaches, seizures, confusion and vision problems. tse may be signs of a rare, potentially fatal brain condition. serious allergic reactions can occur. tell your doctor if you or anyone in your house needs or has recently received a vaccine. with 4 doses a year, after 2 starter doses, it's stelara®. "today's" whip is brought to you by mcdonald's. >> bk on "today's winter weather whip. surviving the severe cold. much of the nation is dealing with an arctic blast. >> you kno the drill, we have gathered our expts this morning to give you great advice on how to keep your family safe

and warm during the holiday season. george is a "today" contributor and the host of l.x. tv. you wa to keep the warm in and the coldout. >> in the average house, all the cracks, all seems. all the places where warmth is leaking out, there would be a three-foot diamete hole. >> you look at that as money because you're wasting money. >> we want to keep it warm, we want to keep money down. so first things first, you want to get some sort of seal er for your door. this is the kind that actually slides on the door. so there's no cold air coming in, no hot air going out. >> these things are popur, they're inexpensive and pretty easy to put on.

>> all you need is scissors, measuring tape and a hair dryer. it takes no time at all. >> weather seal, there's two kinds, thers the foam kind, there's the rubber kind. which do you refer? >> i actually refer theoam kind because it has a little give. if you have newer windows, it gets rid of the cracks. but definitely, caution use this great stuff, to fill all the cracks, it's a spray foam and gets into all the nooks and crabbies. >> if you don't have your wipes wrapped. this is a great thing, it's just a heating coil. it will take you down to negative 40. hopefully you won't have a negative 40 sement. >> deicer for the driveway. you got to be careful with plants and trees and stuff. >> the less you use, t better it is for your yard, you just sprinkle it on.

>> and a double handled shovel. why is that better than the one i have? >> this one has so many options. you have double handles. so you get in there and it's not like you're throwing your back out. and you have some nice steps. >> let's go to meredith. >> what should you put on before stepping ouide. elizabeth is the editor and chief of women's day magazine. just like the house, insulation is the key to staying warm? >> absolutely, you want to keep the warm air in and the cold air out. you want to do that with the right gear. now there's so so many wonderful things available. we have definitely stepped it up in terms of material. >> let's start at the head. >> head very important. i love this hat from columbia. even better, it's lined with the same material that you wear after the marathon. >> right. >> so that really insulates. it's wicking, so that means it keeps the moisture out. the number one thing to prevent

cold is water. this is a three in one hat. it can be a neck warmer or you can do the whole thing. it's made of a high performance flees so that will dry. >> be careful not the block your mouth and your nose because that will trap humidity. >> exactly, and that's where you get frostbite. >> these have a gloved lined thing inside it aswell. mittens keep your hands warmer because you can move them around, you can put a hand warmer inside of them. this is from a swboarding company, so you know they're going to be good. very important to have some air around because that's what lets the heat circulate. >> and finally, our footsi. >> that good old wool is the best thing. it has cushions which also

allows the air to move. it's quick drying and also absorbs the moisture. these are by smart wool, so they're not itchy so you don't have to worry about it. they will keep your feet dry. >> meredith, thanks amount. icy conditions, snowy roads can make for treacherous driving. jay fisher is with consumer magazine. you first want to make sure you check your tire pressure? >> when the temperature drops, so does your preure in your tire. if you haven't checked them for a while, they're low. it's really easy to check them. get tire pressure gauge. >> right. >> go over, see where they're at. preferably, use a digital gauge which is a little better and set them to the right pressure. if you loo at the tire, it's going to be the right pressure. >> what about the tread? >> you goto make se you have tread. you could be driving around in the summer, and they'll be fine.

but in sit conditions, they're not going to work. a good set of winter tires can completely transform your tire. right here we have a wheel drive, but that's not going to help you stop. >> what about the trunk. >> jumper cables? >> have a set of jumper cables. right now when it gets cold, it's really hard for these batteries t turn over that engine. >> you come out and the frost has hit, or snow that you weren't expecting, you should have one of these. >> absolutely, you should been out there with a credit card trying to scrape your window. >> and if you get stuck, a cell phone is your best plan? >> program in your road side assistance right now. >> and put in some extra food in case you get stuck. what's the best way to keep our pets warm and dry during

this cold? wendy diamond is a pet expert. hey, ndy, good morning. you say don't give them a hair cut? >> absolutely, in the winter time it's really important to let their hair grow. not all dogs are huskies so it's really important that you keep them warm. if you're going outside, make sure you have a sweater, a jacket. and if you're cold, your dog is cold. >> and there's new ways to keep them warm. not on little booties. >> if the shoe doesn't fit. it's really important the's ice, there's salt, there's chemicals. when you bring your dog inside, get a warm rag and clean their paws off. and there's a paw plunger. >> how cool is that? >> you put your dog's paw in and it cleans them up. >> also some of our pets are getting older and they also have joint painn the cold. >> that's very important. make sure you don't take them

out for a long tim let them go to the bathroom, let them sniff around. also bring them back. they also love a really comfy place to sleep. the bed, you can get itt petco for less than $20. >> and also the water bowl outside, it can freeze? >> absolutely. so make sure you keep going in, put lukewarm water. very important. >> and alsoets in the cold weather will gravitate to things we don't necessarily want them to gravitate to. >> actually they love being warm. >> you want to start your car? make sure you check under by the engine make sure you check for the coils, the heat. they get really warm so make sure y protect them from your pet. >> wendy diamond, thanks for mentioning that. coming up, we have got two major stars for the pricef one. we're talking robert deniro and ben stiller.

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back now at 8:21. first there wa "meet the parent" then came "meet the fockers" and now comes "the little fockers." >> i've done some research on twins. thers a theory that in cerin cases, one twin gets an extra

chro chrome sewn from the mother, while the other gets an extra chrome sewn from the father. >> pull my finger. >> oh. >> double dose. >> robert deniro, ben stiller, good morning to you. >> i cannot believe it has been ten years since "meet the parents" and now "little fockers." >> how come every i say that, i see my career -- >> the first time around, they had the idea for the movie and the director said whato you think of robert deniro playing your father-in-law, i said, great, good luck with that. i hope that happens for you. and then thathappened. and then i thought, okay, this is a great experience, i'm having my robert deniro experience. >> i read in the production notes that you finally feel

comfortable cling him bob? >> finally. after about ten years. pecially because i think bob likes to be called bob. >> it's your name, so absolutely. >> yes, it's wonderful. >> a man of few words. >> enough, bob. >> calm down. be quiet. if he had said to me back when you were making "mean streets" and "taxi driver" i would have said you were crazy, but you are, you're hysterical. >> i think i have a funny gene, my mother always thought i did. them or ironies. >> you have a different relationship with greg focker, but you decided you're going to

become the god focker of the family. but it didn't work out that way? >> in the beginning. he's concerned about his legacy he has a little heart attack. >> men over 65, they say you have to have a hea attack. >>o he's concerned who's going to carry on the family legacy and he's stuck with greg. so it sort of reigniteshe tension between the twof us. >> in the scene, you make some extra money, greg cker takes on a role worki with an erectile dysfunction medication. and then you take that medication so you can have an evening with your wife. how would you describe what happens to you? >> you want me to describe it? >> sure, absolutely. morning television. >> he takes too much. you would think he would know better, but he took too much. should i go into details?

>> do you have a character in toy story? >> woody? >> and you have to give him a shot to help calm everything down. >> exactly, right. >> how do you even prepare for a scene like that? >> i research it. you know, i'm playing a nurse practition practitioner, so that's part of what i would do and bob's a method actor so he came prepared. >> it was all real. everything we did was all real. >> you bring that up. you're going to be in the lifetime achievement awards at the golden globe awards. will you be bringing up that scene as an example of some of your greater work? >> possibly. >> possibly? what are you most proud of? >> i'm happy that i am able to work and have a good life and there's always problems in life and as long as you're alive, but

that's okay. and then so i can't ally complain. >> and you're heading back to broadway, i know that. >> yes. >> congratulations. ben 8:26 is your time now. it's 26 degrees. more cold and bitter weather out there. tom will have your forecast right after thenews. good morning. i'm eun yang. we're flowing breaking news right now. the pentagon metro station is closed as police are going through the station, not stopping. you suld still expect big delays on both the yellow and blue lines. once again the pentagon station is closed due to a suspicious package. we'ltake a

good morning. sunny, bree and cold on this wednesday morning. 20 degrees. windchill near 10. sunshine, though. tomorrow cloudy. light snow around the washington metro area. maybe up to an inch here or an inch or more farther to our south. how's traffic, jerry? tom, along 395, plenty of heavy traffic, but the travel lanes are open all the way into

town. american legion bridge, just volume, no hang-ups. lanes are open as well. eun? >> thank you. starting at 4:0 tomorrow morning we'll be tracking the snow and keep a close eye on your

8:340 now on this wednesday morning, decembe15, 2010. ten days until christmas and just a week left until our annual holiday toy drive. we're going to catch up with him in a moment. and remember, you do not have to be in new york to participate in

the toy drive. just head to our website for all the details. up ahead adding spark to our holiday season. >> martha stewart is here to get your holidays all aglitter from a home made tinsel wreath. look at her. >> and you haven't seen her shoes yet. >> need to see the shoes. oh, whoa! >> like she's going to walk through plutonium. and a guy who won by losing. we're talking about losing 181 pounds. patrick, a 28-year-old father of two dropped that weight, won last night's edition of the biggest loser. he flew across the country. he's going to be here with us live. how fantastic does he look? >> he's ripped. >> also, you know, we have long been able to get down to

compliment the people on our staff. but who knew they could cook it up in the kitchen? in fact they can cook it up so well, they're in a competition this morning. >> meredith has been drinking all morning. >> the good news is they can't hear us right now. but i'm telling you, tough competition. >> the producer of this hour of the "today" show which reeks of conflict of interest. >> some wil say it's rigged. >> she says it's not rigged.

cold here as well. good morning. i'm tom kierein. right now we've got the sunshine. live view from the sky watcher

came. and we have temperatures just near 20 degrees. and it's going to stay below freezing throughout the rest of the day. perhaps near the freezing mark by mid afternoon. a blustery wind. tonight, clouding up. tomorrow morning, moving from south to north we could have some light snow developing. maybe an inch around the washington metro area. a little more north. up to two >> and don't forget, with this crazy weather, you want to check the weather channel or online at weather.com. coming , martha adds a little sparkle to your holiday

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♪ ♪ you can find yourself in be at the end of the day ♪ ♪ you can find some fun on a tropical isthmus ♪ ♪but you'll neverind my... ♪ you can find it in your heart to be patient with me ♪ ♪ you can find a new star for the top of the tree ♪ ♪ i don't mean to be coy and i don'mean to be vicious ♪ ♪ but you'll ver find my christmas ♪ martha on "today" is brought to you by macy's. the martha stewart collection is available at macy's and at ma

macys.com. >> stones can transform you and your home for a dazzling holiday festivity. martha stewart is here with ideas from the december edition of "living" magazine. you are blinding me with your egance. this edition of the "holiday" magazine, the 20th anniversary? >> i can't believe it's been 20 years since we started. we made all sorts oflimmery, sparkly thgs. you can buy these little cyber board reforms at any craft store. >> did you then spray that gold? >> i spray painted it gold. and you can use your hot glue gun and put a dollop of glue.

and if you get any on your finger, put it right in ice water. and these little gift bows, they're just gift bows that you buy at the craft store? >> everything here comes out of the craft store? >> yesterday i called one of my editors and i said where are you? she said i'm at michael's buying crafts for my kids. once you finish your whole wreath. you can embellish with these little balls. these look beautiful on a table, they look beautiful on a wall. look how gorgeous thais. >> that's nice. >> that's a big one. >> so you hang it fairly high up? >> you want t be able to look into it or at it, above a little. and next the napkin rings. these are just t see quinnsequi

balled. these are a little tedious if you're sitting at home watching your favorite tv, like the "today" show or the martha show. you use this sticky glue. you see how i have it on this skewer? you just draw a bead around like that. >> just twisting it around? >> just keep twisting itround and you get better and better at it as you do it. >> how does this turn into that? >> a ribbon througthe norknot ad draw it through the whole. and then i have this on a big upholstery needle. and en take that o the needle. and another knot here. and then you have your napkin ring. you canse pine cones, and you can use other things too. >> and we move on from that? >> andwo candles. if you want to have some pretty

candles down your table, you can do as many as you want. you can use a flog like that. andthat goes right down your table. sparkle plenty. right? very, very nice. >> these are christmas trees. we have them over here, look how pretty. >> how did you make that? >> two 8 by 11 pieces of paper. get hard pressed paper. and cut it into a pyramid like that. >> right. >> actually what kind of pyrid do you call that? a triangle? and then you piaette them. this works so much easier just to squeeze a little glue on. and then draw a bead of crafts

glue right down. >> you glue them together? >> you glue them together. just like this. and this goes right on the -- and it holds, believe me, it holds. it's very strong. >> that's very nice. as always, merry christmas. >> same to you. >> thanks for all the ideas. and up next, the newly crowned winner of the biggest loser. but first this is "today" on nbc.

back now at 8:44 with the man who has to be proud to be called the biggest loser. patrick was crowned the winner of nbc's hit reality show after

droppingn amazing 181 pounds. unbelievable. look at this. look at hose arms. made the cross country flight to be with us this morng. congratulations. >> thank you. >> has it hit yet? i'm sure you haven't gotten much sleep. >> i haven't had much time to sleep. fortunately i had any wife bradley on the plane with me last night. and we are so excited. in fact bradley is over there. >> you must be so proud of patrick. >> i'm so proud. he looks amazing. >> and you and fredo were neck and neck all the way. did you think you had this thing wrappeded up? >> i never really knew for sure if i had it wrapp up or not. fredo and i had been close the entire season. good friends. i talked to fredo off and on after we were home. and last night finally seeing the numbers and seeing that

confetti come wn, unbelievable. >> l's take a look at your before picture. your weight, really an uphill battle. especially after your football career ended in college. it must have been difficult to look at a picture lik this. >> it was. i mean that guy is a completely different man than i am now. it really is. and i like to fl like i have made the changes mtallynow, that it's a lifestyle change and not a diet anymore. i'm going to make different options in my life and it's gog to be a healthy lifestyle for me. >> and you obviously have an extra extra incentive for this prize. you were laid off work. and now you've got this new body, aew life really. >> getting laid off in january. early in 2010, seemed pretty bleak for my family. but now being the biggest loser, i have got a great opportunity mine stream academy in south carolina. it's for teenagers that are are

overweight, they can come in and get help. to be on the forefront of battling childhood obesity in america. >>he first thing, it's going to go back to paying my parents and my in-laws who i have borrowed money fromhishole year to get through. >> literally paying it forward. >> i know they're excited to see me win too. >> your children, they're 2 and 4 years old. they're going to never really know the old dad. they probably won't remember this. that's got to be very special for you. >> it is. you know, having colton and kate, there's a lot in my life and bradley and knowing now that i have changed my life who i'm going to be and live so much longer, it's just a surreal experience. >> for all of us who have struggled with our weight and lost the weight. it's hard enough to lose the weight. keeping it off is the real battle. how do you fight that? >> when i was at home, one of the things that really, really helped me with the weight loss

was using the biggest loser meal plan. it takes that time out of weighing the chicken, weighing the vegetable. so you get your biggest loser meal plan, pop it in the microwave. it's great food and portion control, so important to weight loss. especially right now around the holidays. and ople can check my website. it was launched last night. it's www.biggestloser.com. >> patrick, good to see you. up next, who's going to be our biggest loser of our staff ok-off challenge. our biggest loser of our staff ok-off challenge. this is battle royal, one for ♪ [ female announcer ] picking tights isn't always easy. ♪ picking a free detergent is. switch to tide free & gentle in the white and be bottle. no other free detergent is milder on skin and unlike the leading free detergent,

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we're back now at 8:50 and we're ready to crown "toy's" staff top cook. they'll be competing with their best holiday recipes. we have got bravo's top chefs. so let's bring in the contestants. what are you looking for in a dish? is it presentation, creativity? >> taste, presentation and creativity. >> all right, perfect. get ready. inow you have already tasted

these things. let's bring in our first contestant. this is angela, she handles a lot of the more humorous segments here on the show. but there's nothing humorous about herother marry's fruit toast. >> do you serve these at parties? >> yes. >> very nice. >> do you make these ahead? if they sit around, do they get greasy? >> you can make them ahead, but you always want toeep them warm, not in the motorcycicrowa obviously, but in the oven. >> the shrimp. >> chop the shrimp. >> and then you saut >> you spread it on day old bread. you put it down flat and then you do it 30 seconds, maybe in oil. have peanut, half vegetable. >> you're patting your heart. thank you very much. next up we have from the west

coast edition of the "today" show. we have matt who usually rubs elbows with celebrities. these are horse radish ribs wi garlic mashed potatoes. judges. >> i love ribs. so already the choice is great. it looks beautiful. how long have you been making this recipe? >> about a year, year and a half. >> it's yummy. >> eat wit spoon. >> yeah, you can. how long does this cook for? >> at about six hours in a slow cooker with wine, pork. >> and what kind of red wine did you use today? >> burgundy. >> burgundy. it's kind of early to have a glass of wine, isn't it? >> it's kind of early for that shrimp toast. >> you see what weeal with

every day here? >> let's bring in sarah, for those of us whoove her, we call her clagett. this is the green bean casserole. go ahead, sarah. >> and how long have you been making this recipe? >> my father has been making this green bean stir fry which is a great alternative for green bean casserole. i kicked it up with almonds and peppers to mix it up for christmas. >> this is a modern take on the traditional casserole dish. >> it's a bit smoky. >> and it's subtle which is great. i like that the green beans have a bite in them. well done. >> and you didn't getasty, which is in your favor.

this is onef our senior producers at the "today" show, who i understand has been trying to cozy up to the judges for a couple of weeks now. but you see through her. and this is german chocolate cake? >> how are you doing today? >> i think you made staff gifts for everyone here. so thank you. >> yes, of course. >> it's a very nice cake. >> it's my mom's recipe. she's spent the past 15 years perfecting it, making it a little bit lhter, a little bit creamier. >> pecans? >> pecans from texas. >> what do you like about this chocolate cake? >> everything. i like h it's fluffy and high, it's like an old fagged diner cake. . >> you two huddled together. you've got 30 seconds to make

your decision, who's winning, meredith, al, come on in. i want to tell everybody, first prize, dinner for two at la bernadette's. do you have anything to say very quickly? >> this took three weeks to make. these are fast, fun. >> if you want a holiday recipe, this is christmas. >> we gethe picture. >> all of these dishes are ones when you put these together, they make the perfect meal. it's beautiful from start to finish, if we have to pick one winner, i tnk we agree that it's the short ribs. >> l.a. bureau of the "today" show. >> this is the perfect holiday meal. >> congratulations, you get dinner for two at la bernadettes. the first prize goes to? >> second prize i think goes to

8:55 is your time. another cold day. bundle up. it is freezing cold. tom will have your forecast right after the news. good morning. i'm eun yang. in the "news 4 today," the pentagon metrostation is back open after being closed for a short period of time. police have investigated a suspicious package but they have just determined that it is safe riders should still expect some delays on the yellow and blue lines. the e street club just got its liquor license back. in october police arrested

goodorning. here's your fouday forecast. highs today near 0. blustery wind. then tomorrow cloudy. could get light snow developing throughout the morning into the afternn. how's traffic, jerry? >> still loing at rush hour. much improved. virginia beltway had a broken down truck. the outer loop and route 50, that has been cleared. that has been cleared. eun? >> thank you, jerry. tune in to "news 4 today." tomorrow morning we'll be tracking the snow and keeping a

we're back now with more of "today" on a wednesday morning, the 15th of december, 2010. it's another cold, cold start to the day here in the northst and many other parts of the country. hopefully it's a little warmer where you're waking up. got a nice crowd of people outside,oaking up some holiday cheer in rockefell plaz a. just a couple of feet from this inside studio 1a, i'm matt lauer and al roker and natalie morales. a gunman opens fire on school board.

one woman tried to stop him by hitting him with her purse. we'll have a live report and it is as we mentioned very dramatic. >> hard to watch that video. and ahead on "today's" money 911. our financial experts are back, they have got advice for protecting your personal information it happens to get in the wrong hands. and priorities when it comes to paying down debt and is it better to file as a married couple or as an individual? and wre out wh the picks of the best and the worst of 2010. there has been no shortage of highs and low this is year. we're going to have a look back at the year as it was. ande're going a little bit beyond the traditional to help jazz up your holiday decor with some ftive and chic accents.

good morning to all of you this morning. we bin with news that overnight a boat packed with what rescuers believe is a boat from iraq and iran. at least 41 people survived but 50 refugees might have died the victims believed to be curds are believed to be fleeing to australia. mark potter is joining us from panama city with the latest on this story. >> reporter: the gunman was killed in the iident here and it was caught on tape. but we're not going to hear that and we warn that the rest of the video leading up to that moment is very intense. just as the bay county school board opened the floor for public comment, a man later identifieded as 56-year-old clay duke began spray painting the wall with a circle and a big v. after drawing a handgun, he

ordered most people out of the room. one board member w left the room, gingerlittleton tried to intervene, hitting the gunman with her purse. >> i could either walk away and try to live with myself because i knew something bad was going to happen. or i could try todefend, delay, somehow or other divert, hoping that the cavalry would come soon. my guys had three-ring binder s d pencils to protect themselves. >> reporter: duke, gun still in hand, complained to the superintendent, four board members and their attorney that his wife had been fired. off camera, the superintendent tried to get duke to let the others go. >> this isn't worth it. this is a problem. please don't, please don't. please. [ gunshots ]

>> reporter: after duke fired at the board members, witnesses say, school board security chief mike jones rushed in and exchanged shots with him. pana city police say duke who was wounded then ended up killing himself with his own weapon. >> you could see in his eyes that he was intent on dying. >> reporr: the entire incident was also captured on a school board camera and streamed live as horrified workers and viewers watched the drama unfold. on facebook, one of h apparent profile pictures is similar to the v he painted on the school board wall. a symbol some have subjected used in the 2006 thriller "v for vendetta" but police say they cannot confirm any link between duck duke's actions and the movie. and the school board says there's no records that -- it's

very lucky that no one else was hurt in that incident. >> mark potter this morning. former chief of staff rahm emanuel with stood 11 hours of questioning about his eligibility for chicago mayor. the most serious requirement is that oneust live in the district for one year before the election to qualify. president obama is meeting with ceos of major corporations discuss ways to boost the economy and to create jobs. berkeley, california has now tabled a resolution that would name jailed private bradl nning a hero. manning is awaiting trial on charges of releasing thousands of sensitive documents to wikileaks. the mayor says the city council of berkeley is now unsure whether manning is a hero or a traitor. the rock and roll hall of fame has named the class of

2011, they include neil diamond and the alice cooper band. it is cold outside, especially if you're having a baby in a snow bound vehicle. mom and dad were stuck on a snowed out michigan highway so dad pulled over and helped deliver the 8 pou blizzard baby right there in the passenger seat. mom and baby boy are doing just fine this morning. it's now six minutes past the hour, now back to all of you on the couch. that's sweet >> ann, thank you very much. mr. roker, how about

well, we have sunshine and a blue sky. good morning. i'm tom kierein from the live camera. right now we're in the mid-20s around the region. winds are gusting to nearly 30 miles app hour. high today only around 30, but we'll have quite a bit of sun. cloudy tomrow. light snow is likely tomorrow. maybe a dusting to an inch around the metro area, but higher amounts two inches or so farther south of washington. time for "today's" money 911 where we answer some of yr pressing finance questions from the best time to pay off student loans. our experts are doling out

advice. our personal finance correspondent for cnbc.com. and the author of "start over finish rich" and carmen wong ulrich is a personal finance expert. kim in new jersey writes i recently applied for a home equity loan. during the approval process i learned my personal information was faxed to another company's fax machine for employment verification. i'm now concerned about our personal information becoming public since it was sent to an unknown company. how can i make sure it wasn't sold or stolen? >> it would have been a lot easier if that lender would have just called her employer to verify information. but they likely sent it to a companthat they're already doing business with.

her information is probably okay because of that relaonship. but if she's concerned, she should begin to check ore own credit report. get a credit report and then wait six weeks and then get another one from another credit bureau. do that until you have all three credit reports. make sure you look at the rates, make sure they have legal help and good customer service. but she probably wants to double check and make sure she's okay, but it's likely that she is. >> that's good to know. next we have got a viewer video in, this is from jarrett from green acres, florida. >> i have $4000 in student loans that we have been paying off monthly. most of them have a 6.55% interest rate we have about 80,000 in our savings, mutual funds and bonds. we're wondering if we should use some of this to pay off part of her loans immediately or continue paying monthly. >> such a good question.

6.5% o a student loan sounds like a low interest rate and it is. but a lot of his money is probably sitting in a very low interest account. in fact a lot of your money is in a mey market account earning zero or 1%. i would look at your monthly expenses. set aside six months of expenses. probably in your situation that's less than $25,000 right now. if you've got $80,000. i would take at least a chunk of that. i would take it and apply it to student loans. a quarter of your savings, apply that to your student loans and that will reduce your student loans and keep paying the payment that you're already making andou'll pay down the principal even faster. >> now we're going to go to the phones, good morning, sarah. >> caller: good morning. >> what's your question for our crowd? >> my husband and i were married this past year and we're determining if it would be more beneficial this upcoming tax

season to file married or married filing separately. my husband makes quite a bit more than i do as i work part-time. my concern is when we're filing for student loans next year, which are based off taxes, wl i be eligible for more loans if i file separate lseparately. so i'm looking for suggestions on how to get the best refund and the best aid for school. >> what matters is you guys are married. so no matter how you file on the f fas fa form, you mus declare your husband's income. in terms of filing jointly or separately in terms of a refund on your taxbill. most married couples, it makes much more sense to file together, jointly so that you qualify for a lot of the tax credits and deductions. run both scenarios if you k but remember, don't go for a huge

refund every year. that's not necessarily the thing to do, bause basically the government's holding on to your money. no matter how you file, his income is going to be tax exempt. >> i have bought bonds for my kids since they were born. i was told back then that the interest is not taxable if the child goes t school. my son is now 16, plans on going to college. how can i convert those bonds into a tax free problem so that i can convert that money into college expenses. >> she probably wants a tax free situation, may her income was too high, maybe the child was no longer a dependent, or she had not enough expens to offset. what she wants to do is toind out if she can still get less income to make sure that she can redeem those bonds. if she makes more than $85,000 a year, and if she's married and makes more than $135,000 a year. she's still not going t be able

to redeem those bonds tax free. the best thing is to put it in a 529. room and board will count expenses as equalified expenses where they don't with the bond redemption. >> i suggest she se for college. that's up side. >> if you have questions, just log on to todayshow.com, starting at 9:30 eastern right here on "todatodayshow.com. and from your living room to your bedroom. elegant ideas to decorating every room of your home for the holidays. and "people" magazine reveals the best and worst of 2010. right after these messages. okay, which picture for the card? hellllllo...that one, everyone looks great. [ female announcer ] when you makyour christmas cards at hallmark.com... my show, perfect. ♪ la la la la la la laaa ♪ [ daughter ] dad! rry. aww yeah! that one!

[ female announcer ] ...we adess anmail them r you... [ little boy ] now that's a od one [ indistinct conversations ] [ female announcer ] ...which gives you more... done! [ female announcer ] ...family time. let's go decate the tree. [ female announcer ] cards that mail emselves, at hlmark.com. [ daughter ] so, the one where everyone looks great, right? [ mom ] right. so i mix together a packet of hidden valley ranch, 1 box of spinach, and 16 ounces of sour cream, and tonight everyone gets a taste of something special... ranch spinach dip. [ male announcer ] hidden valley ranch. mix it up. a challenge to hands this time of year. what's this? she's hurtling down that sink with no protective gear. oh, no! her hands could dry out.

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♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] every day thousands of people are switching from tylenol® to advil. to learn more and get your special offer, go to takeadvil.com. take action. take ail®. >> "today" celebrates 2010 is brought to yoby three

muskateers. >> this morning on "today" celebrates 2010, the best and the worst of the year that was, from celrity weddings to failed marriages to fashions. indicate coin is people's assistant managing editor. kate good morning. a lot this morning so let's get right to it. the covergirl, as you see there, the obvious choice sandra bullock. >> absolutely. the year that she has had, there was no other choice. she had a phenomenal year full of highs and lows, a huge roller-coaer ride for her. the high of winning the oscar to just a few weeks later finding that her marriage was imploding to then when she finly re-emerged from the spotlight, revealing that she was now a mom to a beautiful little boy. it's been a phenomenal yea >> exactl next on people's most intriguing list, rocker brett michaels, good buddy of ours. and what a come back he made,

also had a tough ar. >> a tough year, but beyond just a come back, really people got to see a completely different side of him. heas really in a lot of ways a punch line because of the vh-1 shows and rock of love and he was always hanging out with scantily clad young women. now you goto see that he's a real fighter, he's a real survivor and he's a pretty smart guy asapprentice." >> he's such a great guy and i know he's got surgery planned in january. >> another surgery coming up. >> we wish him the best. and the other people that have dominated the headlines in the last couple of weeks, kate middleton and prince william as you would expect after they announced their engagement. that's going to be the big story of 2011 too, right? >> the wedding of the century, really until you look forward to the wedding of any of their children, this will be the wedding of the millennium.

this isbsolutely massive and really such an exciting event that everyone is looking forward to. >> exactly. next elin nordegren, obviously now tiger's ex. and what a year she has had. she came out and spoke to "people" magazine. >> this is the year she broke her silence. she talked about what happened at the end of 2009. she talked about the dissolution of her marriage. and much as with sandra bullock, did it with such dignity and class and restraint and really shows what a very, very strong woman she is. >> all right, and another part of the magazine, you talk about some of the celebrity weddings and among them, chelsey clinton, a . >> it was done with such elegance and style and beauty and nothing was over the top. it was really pitch perfect and i think peopl really -- >> andeally quick, carrie

underwood married mike fisher. and courteney cox and david arquette married for 11 years. >> what's intereing, i think they were shocked because they had seemed so committed to making their marriage work, not because they were necessarily such a pfect couple. because when you look at them, they are polar opposites, they have so many differences that in a lot of ways the real surprise should be that they lasted as long as they did. and that was a testament as to how much hard work they did. >> and just yesterday, scarlet johansen and ryan reynolds. >> that rriage is over. after only two years. >> and really quickly, the haul of shame. who can forget mel gibso and his voicemail messages to his ex-girlfriend oksana. >> there you go, charlie sheen also had some trouble this is year. >> he sure enjoyed new york city that night. >> yes, he did. >> but inypical charlie sheen

teflon fashion, he shook it right off. >> kate coin, as always, thanks as always for sharing some of the issue with us. she is thethe -- will i am here. this season, make christmas poppers. use thicker paper for the cylinders and then fill them with snickers, twix, three muskateers and milky way. to learn how to create a sweet memory with chocola this holiday season, please visit us atoday show celebrates.todayshow.com. for up to a year!

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going strong and we love to give children the gift of reading. one of our generous contributors has been giving for t years. the senior vice president and publisher. so nice of you to join us once again with a great gift for us. th >> this time of year we love to give books to kids. we thought a great gift will be the superheroes ultime popup book. it has some cool popups in it. >> wonder woman, batman. >> superman. >> some of our "today" show heroes. >> bring it to life and the gift of reading is so important to instill that love o information. >> it's so important for people to have books at home as well as at schooand in the libraries. >> thank you so much, we really appreciate it. meg megan, thanks again. it's notoo late to donate to

our toy drive. you can do so by going to todayshow.com. we're back in a moment, but first your local news and weather. -i can't always get to the bank. -but i can still bank. i have the bank of america mobile banking app. i can take care of things on my break. i can check my balance. while i'm on a bus. waiting at the barber shop. at the studio. oh, my paycheck's already in. [ chuckles ] i just transferred money. i went online and set up alerts to let me know if. my balance drops below200. you can pay your bills online. you enter the amount. then, "make payment." -boom. -done. -wish i was... [ male announcer bank whenever, wherever, however you want. with mobile and online banking from bank of america. set your pace to island time. rich chocolate er creamy cocot. almond joy and mounds. enjoy more. yep! look in your bag, de you something.

(announcer) it's more an just that great peanut taste, choosing jif is a simple way to show someone how much you care. choosey moms, choose jif. 9:26 is your time now. it is 27 degrees. blue skies and sunshine but another frigid day. tom will have your forecast right after the news. in the "news 4 today," fbi has arrested a norther virginia man they say was threatening to blow up the metro system. the investigation system said he posted the threat to friends on a facebook page. he reportedly said he could use a pipe bomb to kill people on e transit system and in the georgetown neighborhood.

good morning. sunny, breezy, and cold. right now 25 at national airport. later today high only near 30. blustery winds with quite a t of sun. cloudy tomorrow, could get snow. a little bit more snow, maybe two or more in fredericksburg and a lynn to southern maryland and over toward charlottesville. steve her shorn, howtraffic? >> a little slow. heading from silver spring to college park, a bridge inspection back again today.

new hampshire avenue very slow. springfield looking good heading up toward theinterchange. eun? >> tomorrow morning we'll be tracking the snow and keeping a tracking the snow and keeping a close eye on your commute. oh, i see. a throne for the tv... room for movies. your workout gear... non-stop football... it's a man cave! the who sayst door willwe want em to?

you're more handicapped with out the eye, an the eye without e arm. [ gunshots ] >> i thought you were going to say the suwas in your eye. that ito say, your eye. >> that's oscar winneratt damon in new version of the classic "true grit." the talented actor and father is going to be here tomorrow on

"today" to talk about his busy life. coming up, a really touching story. >> it's really incredible. ryan, and we have a picture of him here, he was a fun loving athlete in his first year of college whe he was attaed. he was kicked in the head repeatedly and he was left in a coma. now his parents give him round to the clock care. it's really a story of the incredible amount of love, faith and hope that parents have for their children and this is an embodiment of that. if you haven't already decorated your home for the holidays,e have some elegant ideas for every room in your house. and if you're looking for a main course to go along with those elegant decorations, we

have a roast pork with a champagne sauce. >> but first, how about a good rning. here we've had the blustery winds continui this morning. a few clouds floating lieu. a live picture looking at virginia in the distance. temperatur in the low to mid 20s now. later today climbing to around 30. windchills only in the teens and we'll have quite a bit of

clouding tonight. might get a dusting or two around the washington metro area. perhaps an inch or two east of southern marand through the day thursday. >> and that owes your latest weather. and one family's enduring love for their son after these messages. a medical study, 7 out of 10 stelara® patients saw at least 75% clearer skin at 12 week and 6 out of 10 patients had their plaque psoriasis rated as cleared or minimal at 12 weeks. stelara® may lower your ability to fight infections and increase your risk of infections. some serious infectio require hospitalization. before starting stelara®, your doctor should test for tuberculosis. stelara® may increase your risk of cancer. always tell your doctor if you have any sign of infection, or have had cancer. alert your doctor of new or woening problems including headaches, seizure confusion and vision problems.

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-wheats. this morning on "today's" health, faith and hope is an inspiration. they have given up everything to care for their son ryan who was left in a coma after a brutal beating. sue and ken remember the last time their son ryohugged them. >> he was full of joy, it was a football thursday. i remember getting to his house d him hugging us. >> reporter: growing up in ashburn, virginia, going to west virginia university. >> he had a passion for sports. he had a passion for debate. he had a passion for wom. >> he wanted to make the world a better place. >> reporter: but their world ca crashing down on november 7, 2009.

ryan had been walking with friends off campus when they got into a heated argument with a pa of strangers who were later convicted of attacking ryan. they punched him and then kicked him in the head until he lay unconscious. wiesses say it was as if ryan's head was being punted like a football. after the beating, ryan was in a coman grave conditn. >> they said they thought he had 24 to 48 hours to live. >> reporter: 13 months later after nine surgeries and eight mohs of rehab, ryan is living at ho, still in a coma, where taking care of him is now a full-time job. his day starts at 8:00 a.m. with 40ifferent prescriptions. >> i'm going to give you a little bit of juice, okay? >> reporter: he spent 90 minutes in an oxygen chamber and hours with erapists. his doctors make house calls. >> this is normal, nothing to worry about. >> reporter: but ryan's full-time therapist is his father, ken.

>> i hate what they did. i hate that the didn't give ryan t opportunity to introduce himself because they would have loved him. >> reporter: but they don't focus on the past where every day is critical to ryan's recory. >> turn your head! >> yeah, good job, buddy. >> good job, an. >> reporter: moments like these are rare, but cherished by devoted parents. >> you see me? you're doing great. yes, you are, you just got a bump on your head. you're waging up. >> ken and sue are now joining us along with their daughter kerry, good morning to all of you. >> good morning. >> you know, as you well know, and correct me if any of this is incorrect, but over the last 13 months, i understand that ryan's heart has stopped beating more

than twice, he's had a tracheotomy, a feeding tube, and he's also had part of his skull removed. sue, i guess the question most everybody wants to know the answer to is what get you through this every day? >> i think it's just, you know, my love for our family and for ryan. weave always been really, really close. and he's my baby. i mean, you know, i can't live without him. i mean i need him to, you know, wake up and, you know, i pray every day that he's going to wake up. i just -- it's all about ryan. you know, he's been aan amazing son and i know he's fighting in there. they gave us 24 to 48 hours that he would live, we're 13 months out now. he's in there fighting and wre standing right by him and i know

he's going to wake up one of these days. >> what gives you that faith that he's going to wake up one day? are doctors giving you hope by something they're saying? i need to point out, i don't know that we said it enough in the piece that we just owed. but you, even after the therapists go, there you are, you stay with him, massaging his legs, massaging his feet, you even watch football together. you read him the newspaper, trying to keep him stimulated. it's a remarkable, the amount of love you are showing your son. but what are the doctors telling you? and is it love or hope that's really driving you? >> doctors generally are not willing to share their information with us or how they think his outlook will be. the standard answer we get is everyone is different. so going on that theory, my son is different in a very good way. he's made of the righttuff. so my objective is to give him

every hope that if he does wake, that we minimize the physical challenges and we're able to focus more on the cogtive. >> ryan's not here to speak for himsel but i understand he was very smart, hwas hilarious, energetic, he loved to make people laugh and smile. kerry, when you watch your parents doing what they're doing wh for your brother, what are your thoughts? what goes through you? >> i just think of how amazing of parents they are and i just feel bad that they have to go through this and you knowo this every day because they deserve nothing but happiness. but i completely look up to them for everything they have done for my brother and i know they would do the same thing for me. >> he wanted to be a lawyer, he wanted to be a judge potentially. sue, i know that a lot of people watching this will want to know if there's anything they can do to help. is there anything you want to say about that?

>> yeah. i mean, you know i really, you know, anybody that, you know in their heart wants to help out, the expenses are getting, you know, very high right now, a lot of the treatment that he's getting, you kn, will not be covered under our insurance. and you know, if anybody wants to make any donations, we have a site that's set up, ryan diley.org. we also have a facebook site and that's a site where people write to us, it enables us to keep our friends and family up to date on how ryan's doing. and it's just one of those things you asked us before what keeps us going, that's one of the things that keeps us going is the people. our families, the community, we have the best neighbors. our parents, everybody, they have just been amazing. >> it's one of the advantages of --ne of the advantages of helping ryan is that it's also

helping with the research because traumatic brain injury iso unknown. the brain is such a complex organ, that it's mostly not understood. recent developments argetting closer. and ryan's going to be going through this new sort of research. >> well, fingers crossed for you and also i know everyone would wish to give you a big hug and encouragement for what you are doing, ken, sue and kerry, thank you so much. >> thank you. >> thank you for letting us share the story. >> we'll be right back. hey guys. sorry we're late. milk looks warm. finay got the whole gang together. maple brown sugar, strawberry delight, blueberry muffin yeah, a little family reunion. [ wind russ ] whoa! whoa! whoa! whoa! we're cereal here! what? just cooling it down. enough said. gotcha. safety first. whoo-hoo! watch the whole grain! [ female announcer ] try kellogg's® frosted mini-wheats® hot. just add warm milk anyou've got a hot way to keep your kids full and focused all morning.

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twist you can resist. this morning on "today's" holiday kitchen, aestive holiday kitchen. how to make a perfectly roasted pork loin with a champagne sauce. >> this recipe is not in your bacon book. he was telling me this morning he loves his bacon book. >> it's about pork, you have pork. but you're on tv, she's not. let's go. don't get testy here. >> you're so sensitive, i gave you my book the day it launches. shoving this book in my face, telling me how fabulous his bacon book is. let meell you about my pork roast. >> are we married? >> i know, it feels like a marriage, right? >> anyway. so how do you season this thing >> listen, we're just putting some sugar, some salt and some

flour on it so that we coat it nicely. >> on all sides? >> on all des, just to ge it a nice browning. the sugar is going to help that. >> and olive oil, we brown it? >> we have got butter and olive oil. we have got this one already going. look at how beautiful this is looking. so what we're going to do, this is already nicely browned, we're going to put it in here, we're going to finish it off in the oven. what i have here, i have got a duction of champagne, green apples and cider. we are going to remove the apples. because we don't want this in the sus. 're going to pue some and leave the roast so it looks pretty when we garnish. we have this champagne, and we're going to do some glazing. careful with your beautiful suit here. we're going to do yellow onions, finally chopped. we have got fresh pine. this is goingo give us that

kni nice flavor. this is nutmeg. >> we'reoing to put some green grapes in here. and now we're going to put a little bit of chicken stock, 2 1/2 cups. >> the whole thing? >> the whole thing. and then we're going to let this cream reduce and get to a really creamy consistency. and since we work ahead, we have got this ready to go here. the pork roast goes into the oven, about 375 degrees. you want to make sure that your internal temperature is 165 at least. so we have got our sauce ready go and we're going to cut this up really beautiful. and as you can see, we have got some ready to go. >> my mom was somebod who said you had to cook pork all the way through and it had to be gray. >> the most important thing you want your internal temperature to be at least 165 degrees. >> so a thermometer is a good

idea? >> thermometer is a must. you've got yr sauce that you have helped me ma. we'rgoing to lay it over the loin. and as you see, this is a very simple recipe. >> right. >> very elegant. it's delicious, super easy to make. and as aalwai always say, why mt difficult when you can make it easy. i alwaysake for new year's. you know how they say you eat 12 grapes at midnight. put my grapes in my apples and it's all there for good luck. >> what's a side dish? >> i call it my green emerald rice. you take cooked rice ready to go. and you add some cilantro, and any herb you've got going back, blend the herbs and mix it through the rice and you can always put a little bit of cheese on top if you want and there we go, ready to eat. and all we say all the best for the new year's. >> a little extra sauce on that

worked out pretty nicely too. and you know what would be great withthis? some bacon. >> i knew you were going to say that. >> i'll bring some bacon to you next time. >> tnks so much. coming up, we have got black eye's peas front man will i

still to come on "today," hoda and kathie lee hang out with the multitalented will-i-am. >> and healthy food that may not be so althy after all. safeway talks made-for-you meals.

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mostly sunny out there. some puffy white cloud, but it is still cold. 27 degrees the current temperature. we'll check in with tom on the forecast. 9:56 the time. i'm barbara harrison. in the news at this hour, the pentagon metro station is open after being closed for a time. riders should stil expect delays on the yellow and blue lines. the nightclub dc 9 is expected to open tonight. it got its license taken away. charges against the men were eventually dropped. and now to the weather. any snow in the forecast,tom? >> yep, maybe tomorrow. today, sunshine. but a blustery cold wind will be with us. winds gusting to freezing. quite a few clouds around. cloudy tomorrow.

could get a dusting to an inch of light snow around here in washington. points south cld get up to two inches or so around fredericksburg over to charlottesville. steve hershorn, how's the late morning traffic? >> we're going to take a look at the map. eastbound 66 near bull run, we d two lanes blocked. over to the beltway back in silver sing, roadwork in the right lane. it's very slow heading from silver spring to college park. >> coming up on "news 4 midday," more frugal finds that make last-minute christmas

from nbc news this is "today" with kathie lee gifford and hoda kotb live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. hey, everybody. yes, you made it to wines day dnesday, is december 15th which means it's national cupcake day. >> karen tack was with us and does thoseterrific, easy-to-make cupcakes for many except me. >> these are personalized cup k cakes. >> everything she does is genius. >> and easy. her book makes it easy.

>> it camouflages the fact there's actual wine there for wines day. >> we try to hide it. >> there was -- this morning there was video that appeared on the screen that really shocked a loof people. i saw it this morning at the gym, and i cringed so we want to warn everyone at home that the video you're about to see is extremely distbing. the man who has the gun shooting at members of the school board did not harm anybody. he ded up killing himself in the end. this 56-year-old guy walks into the schooloard mting -- >> clay duke. >> he's saying his wife got fired. the school board members are saying who is your wife? he's not telling them. they're trying so hard to just talk him down. at one point he says women and kids, leave, women and kids leave. one of the school board members, a female leaves, and then she comes back in the back door with her purse and starts cing --

here she is. she sneaks -- that's the gunman right there. good for her. he pulls the gun out and circled in front of the school board members and they were saying don't shoot and the head of the school board said look, it' my fault for what happened and i'll take responsibility. so he walks in front of the school board members and points the gun at point-blank range. >> he's early a really bad shot or purpose was not -- it's hard to tell from that. >> later what happened was a security guard came out, shot. there was a shoot-out and he shot himself. this guy, they don't have any record of his wife working for the school system at all. >> maybe she lost her job in general. >> they don't have any record of her, period. perd, that she even worked there. so i don't know what the story is. >> merry christmas, hoda.

not my idea to show that, okay? i wanted to show the "time" person of the year. one more tike we've been overlooked but not mark zukerberg the founder and ceo of facebook and giving away all the money. >> talk about what an impact facebook has had on all of our lives. not yours. >> that's why i would have voted for the tea party. the taea party affected everybody. he affects billions around the world. >> there were other pele up for it. the chilean miners and julian assange. >> people are saying the chilean miners got shafted. they should have won. >> it's not even funny friday. but the hill later ensuing. >> who would you have chosen? >> i get current.

i think aange. >> julian assange. >> when you think about the person who is the personf the year, it doesn't have to be a good person. >> it doesn't have to be a person. there's been a thing before. there was a computer or something. >> they had a bunch of different -- yeh, i remember that. >> i didn't think that was the right one that year either. didn't affect me at all. you made anoer list, hoda woman. >> there was this review in the huffington post by e martin. >> the top ten list of television shows. >> here's how he starts it off. what the heck is this show doing on a top ten list you ask. he's talking about our show. what the heck is this doing on a top 10 list? >> th said very nice things. we want to thank you for that. we're not used to it. >> we already must be drinking a lot while watching us.

>> i think these are kind of cute. you know those tevas, which is the regular -- that sandal thing that guys wear with white sock and cork in the straps that go acrosshem. sonny slois looking at this lik she'd wear this. brittany is one of the hard-working people on our television show, and she's wearingill let toes made of the cork. >> you went and got a pedicure, isn't you? >> i didn't want to put band-aids on my toes or anything like that. >> those come in handy. >> you hike in these? >> now you can hike in heels. >> ty're expensive, right? >> 330 bucks. >> they can in other designer colors. >> ju these two colors. zo bobbi needs to be clued in. >> you did great. >> i think my 17-year-old would

love these. >> are they comfy, brittany? >> they're okay. >> they're okay? >> kind of sort of? >> better than regular stilettos, guess. >> so it's been a day of reported breakups. we've been hearing a lot about breakups today. >> i didn't see these coming. you wonder how one of these hollywood-type marriages can sur vice in the best of times. >> scarlett jansson and ryan reynolds, ryan was named "people's" sexy he is. >> shwas hot babe of the year advice. it shows gorgeous people have the same kinds of problems like people like you and me. >> why do i get dragged into these things. >> elizabeth hurley and her husband, i didn't see that coming. she's aarently seeing an australian cricket player. >> that's him. >> there were pictures in one of those british rags of her and

the cricket player. >> and whelse? michael c. hall and his wife -- >> she saw him through his cancer battle. >> what are the two? >> zac efron. >> and vanessa. >> they have too broken up. >> they're young and not married. that's the natural course of things. that'sow you find out who you're supposed to marry. i just find it so sad. you think about how hard marriage is anyway. you and i have both failed at it it occasionally. i'm still struggling with it every day in my life. if we make it to 25, it's going to be a miracle. >> you just had your annivers y anniversary, didn't you? >> i know. it was a miracle. >> does it feel like 24 years? >> we have a good marriage. thank god we wrk very, very hard at it and don't get everything right. we work at it. we have to.

look at frank. there's bambino. look how you pay more attention to bambino. >> frank rs around in that thing every day. he was actually wearing that this morning. >> he was? >> yes, he was. >> s cute. we have more trends to report. i know a lot of viewers are on facebook. as we know from sarah, that's the case. they don't have a lot of -- this is a facebook trend, okay? here's an acronym that if you don't know it your kids probably do. the most popular acronym on facebook is hmu. you know what that means? hmu. what did you say? it means hit me up, which means for the third tnslation call me or text me. so you are texting someone hmu so they can text you back so that -- that's what's going on. >> another reason i'm not on this. to me, hook me up -- >> hit me up.

>> hit me up. hook me up means something different now, too. hit me up used to mean hit me up for some money. loan my some money. >> will i.m. is on the show today. he has a number one song i love, but there's another song on the cd called "xoxo." hit me up with an xoxo. it's such a fun, fun, fun song. >> their music is very, very -- what's the word in contagious. you can't get it out of your head. >> they're genius. they take songs we know from "dirty dancing" and tu it into another song. >> kids think it's a brand-new song. >> genius. >> the most irritating words? myaughter always says it's so annoying. i thought that would b one of them. apparently that doesn't annoy yoas much.

number one is whatever. >> people still say whatever? okay. like. like is another one. like. i say that a lot. like. >> it's annoying. >> you know what i mean. that's the next one. also to tell the truth. to tellyou the truth. in other words, i was lying before, but now i'll tell you the truth. >> the other one is actualy. people say, well, actually. whatever. >> who cares. it's wines day and this is lambrusco. "wall street journal"ays it's the all-time best selling italian wine. >> it's riunite. >> i did a terrible thing last night. >> what did you do? >> i had dear friends over, and they just thought they had enough time to drop off a christmas gift to us. i knew they'd ce from the city, so i wanted to have some crack cakes ready. the costas sent me fabulous crab

cakes. i heated them up and made a salad for them. he was the chef for paul allen. he's a brilliant chef. every year he makes us fresh -- we have to have him on the show. he's just genius. >> what's the point? they came for crab cakes? >> no. i made them a salad and didn't reize i made it with the cesar dressing he gave me from last year in the refrigerator. they could have died of salmonella poisoning. they're eatg this salad saying how much they loved it. we checked on them this morning. they're alive and kicking. i hope this wine isn't from roman times. still to come, sarah will show you the photos that you submitted that make you think what the what? >> up next, black eyes as star will i.m. is here and i have a feeling things are going to be interesting. [ sneezes ] [ sneezes ]

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can you feel i that's the brand new video for the new single called "the time." >> it's off the sixth studio album called "the beginning." will i.m. has stopped by to tell under the circumstances about t us about it. >> i just came from london. >> you just got it? >> yeah. >> this is a hot cd. i was just clicking tough the songs. i liked each one, and then the next one i liked more. you have great songs. >> i hope it doesn't ruin your caeer, but i like it, too. it's toe. >> we're stting something new,

baby. we're starting new stuff. >> i love that song, though, because you go from the "dirty dancing" son which is a song that one generation knows and bring it into one that's more fun. >> you bring it up to the dirty beat and the beat rocks. >> she's making up words that make no sense. did you know that the entire "today" show staff did a music video to one of our older songs. it went viral. did you see that? >> i saw it on online. you know it's viral when you're chilling and i was in france and someone sends me a link and says, check this out. i was overseas. >> we had so much fun doing thi wh did you think of us doing it in one take? >> when i was watching it, i was like, you know -- i was -- you were looking for edit.

>> just one edit. >> they did no edit. how many times did they rehearse it? did they have time to do the show and rehearse? >> absolutely. you're dealing with professionals. >> we did four hours and did that. >> some of us did it backwards. >> what did you think of brian williams? has he got moves or what? >> that's going to be a new dance. call it the brian williams dance. >> hold on, hold on. >> you got to give him a little more credit. people at the clubs are going to walk out of the clubs. >> good news for you guys. you're going to be the band at the super bowl. >> that's mega. >> you're crazy about the super bowl. >> my uncle played the super bowl for the falcons.

i wanted to play football like my uncle. i got a concussion, and now i do music. who would have thunk i'm going to the super bowl before he went. he's going to come with me. he and my other uncle. he sent me a text saying i'm proud to be going to the super bowl with you. >> how sweet. >> it's a great honor. >> it's a great thing for the family. my grandma is proud. who would have thought? i remember watching the super bowl, and remember the bud bowl before the singers took over. i remember watching the bud bowl watching super bowl a kid thinking i'm performing at the super bowl. >> will you be nervous you think? >> i'm nervous now. >> how soon do you rehearse for something major like that, or do you take the elements of your live shows and go for it? because that would be toe. it's going to be fresh, but it's going to take lot of

like -- you got to really -- you got to realize how many people perform before you. you had u2, t rolling stones, paul mccartney. prince did like "purple rain" and it rained. who planned that? that was fresh. >> but it wast purple. >> they threw some purple light on it. >> so it made it look purple, but it wasn't really. >> let's explain why she's saying toe because it's stupid. >> for those that don'tnow what yore talking about, during the break i was saying that's dope. she said what's toe? >> i like toe better. >> can we go out on "xoxo." do we have it? ♪ xoxoxo >> all right. thank you so much. thank you.

>> give our love to everybody, especially fergie, we love er. >> oh, yeah. >> up next, the photos you'll be talking about all day long. they're really toe after this. >> quit saying that. depression is a serious medical condition that can take so much out of you. i el like i have to wind myself up just to get out of bed. then...well, i have to keep winding myself up to deal with the sadness, the loss of interest, the trouble conctrating, the lack of energy. [ male announcer ] if depression is taking so much out of you, ask your doctor about pristiq®. pristiq is a prescription medicine proven to treat depression. pristiq is thought to work by affecting the levels of two chemicals in the brain, serotonin and norepinephre. tell your doctor right away if your depression worsens or you have unusual changes in mood, behavior, or thoughts of suicide. antidepressants can increase suicidal thoughts and behaviors in children, teens and young adults.

pristiq is not approved for children under 18. do not take pristiq with maois. taking pristiq with nsaid pain relievers, aspirin, or blood thinners may increase bleeding risk. tell your doctor about all your medications, including those for migraine, to avoid a potentially life-threatening condition. pristiq may cause or worsen high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or glaucoma. tell your doctor if you have heart disease or before you reduce or stop taking pristiq. side effects may include nausea, dizzess and sweating. for me, pristiq is a key in helping to treat my depression. ask your doct about pristiq. start with cookie dough. add sugar. then hershey's kisses milk chocolates. [ son giggles ] [ female announcer ] fun. easy. [ child ] wow. [ female announcer ] at pillsbury.com. with walmart's site to store. just shop online at walmart.com and get free shipping to your nearest walmart. toys, electronics, big gifts, video games.

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make you go what the what? >> we asked you to send in pictures. sarah has a few to show you. we have some whats in this crowd. first one we've got, sent by die an travis from richards, virginia. do they have that in my size was the caption. this is a shop? st. martin. the store was open and not sure why the window was lie this, intentional maybe or caught it during a switch. it was eye-catching. i stop and stare. it's freaky. a sale. the next one up was judy shafer from lake mary, florida. the caption was i wond how much baby-sitting she got. it says pit bulls for sale and baby-sitting in my home. are the the pit bulls participating in this party? so she used to pass ts sign taking her children to school. she laughed every time she saw it. it's hard to believe any parent would go to the pit bull seller. >> this xt one up, this could

be disturbing. this was sent in by kathy from portland, oregon. >> is that a tongue? that's nasty. that's a sty giraffe tongue. >> truly amazing what some will do for a smooch. she sent in the icture. she said yes a giraffe's tongue is really 18 inches long and purple. she was visiting the world giraffe center and got the spri surprise of her life. >> she didn't come onto it? >> it looks like she's going back. >> she wasn't asking for it, right? >> ybe a low-cut t-shirt or something. >> still to come -- thank you, miss sarah. the foods that fool you into thinking they're healthy plus a good excuse to look at holiday movies and then fun hair makeovers with louis vacarri. -yes, you do! -ok, ok. joe: love that story. try olive garden's two new scaloppini dishes. pan-seared chicken breasts in a lemon-herb glaze.

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it is definitely cold enough to snow outside, tom kierein says. by this time tomorrow we could have snow covering the ground. especially if you liv to the south. coming up on "news 4 midday," tom has the complete forecast. good morning i'm barbara harrison. also coming up, we're continuing our frugal find series. believe it or not, the budget-conscio [ female announcer ] safeway talks gift ideas.

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we're back wi more of fsn ready to play "who knew?" kathie lee is across the street at the msnbc digital cafe. she'll hand out 100 bucks to those that answer correctly and those who don't get the kathie lee cd. >> that's toe, you know? you feeling me. like, whatever. to tell you the truth. >> let's go across the street to kathie lee. >> you feel me? >> i feel you, baby. these four ladies are obviously

from lsu. at the end of the movie "miracle of 34th street" what item does santa leave behind in the house to let the family know he was there? was it it his boot, cookies and milk, carrots or a cane? one of you have to be the spokesperson here? >> cookies and cream. >> th's all right. she's got this fabulous "everyone has a story." >> the correct answer, elvis, is d, a cane? >> that's a win-win situaon where they get the cd. i'll give them $100. don't do that to these people. >> let's go back across to kathie lee. >> look at this beautiful couple and their beautiful baby girl. where a you from. >> orlando, florida. >> i hpe you lose so you get this wonderful lullaby album everyone is talkinabout. look at this clip.

>> out of the way. >> did we miss the flight? >> no, you just made it. >> kevin's family goes to vacation and forget him at home. florida, france -- >> new york. >> are you with these people? >> otherwise, you blew it . you were right -- no, you're wrong, actually. he blew it. >> he blew it. he was right and he was wrong. >> i have to say something. that cd is one that all kids really, really love. that is the cutest thing. >> the correct answers france, but in "home alone 2" it is new york. i love a christmas movie about a family that should be on jerry pringer that leaves this kid behind twice. isn't that why social services exists, get white people away from these kids? >> let's go back across the street. >> a buh of college kids from pennsylvania running amuck in

new york. >> in "christmas story" he gets his tongue stuck to what? >> telephone pole. >> flagpole. >> what did they say? >> you're saying telephone pole but it's a -- >> flagpole. >> they're going to have to fight over this. let's give them the money. >> give them the money and the cd. let them sell the cd. >> the correct answer there is flagpole. >> the director did a bunch of other movies, "black christmas." it's a horror movie for christmas. heid the porky's movies. people getting drunk in high school. >> ho, ho, ho. back across the street. >> these girls are from california. which of the following actors plays buddy in the christmas movie "elf"? >> will ferrell. >>easy.

that has one of my favorite scenes of any christmas movie. where they sing "it's cold outside," it's reay sexy. it's the best of both worlds. >> finish this line from "it's a wonderl life." every time a bell rings -- >> an angel gets whinings. >> don't you love the way he deferred to the boss in the family? ven though you knew you were right. good for yo >> that's a classic. >> really, that's the question? he gets one that easy? >> you gave these questions. >> no, i didn't -- yes, yes, i did. these are all my questions. i swear on a stack of yellow cards these are all my questions. >> back across thestreet. >> they're originally from england but now in north carolina. which is these action films is debt during the holidays, iron

man, batman, diehard or sin city. >> "die hard." >> he was deferring to the wife, too. i love this. i hope it was a trend. >> that one they got right like that. >> there's a bunch of great action movies set during the christmas holidays, lethal wean, die hard, ss kiss bang bang. you want to stir up a little bit of trouble on christmas like justin long did when he was here. >> yes, he did. u did your homework. up next, say good-bye on the fr frizzies after this.

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we're back with today's beauty andinter hair makeovers. it's hard to keep healthy, shiny hair when the temperatures drop. >> we set out to find women for a ew cut and color in the cold and who better to set them straight or curly thans louis vaccari. pretty soon i want the entire grp to sing that. come on. do it for louis. where did you find these unwilling ladies or willing ladies? >> in the fifth avenue shopping rush. it's never been more wild. you look at the tree here, one, and you go and get thoseoliday bargains. >> if yo get on fifth avenue, be prepared to stay on it for

most of your life because you can't take a lft or right once you're driving on it. it's ridiculous. >> i got them. it was easy. i said, come with me. you'll be warm. >> the first makeover is 37-year-old antoinette. she's a stay-at-home mom of three. >> oh, my god. look at my hair. i can't take it anymore. i've had this color for ten years, the same color. fri frizzy and i come out of the shower and have to flat iron it. i need a big change. >> this is her before picture. we want to see the new antoinette. step on around, honey. let's see. oh, ni! >> oh, yeah. >> tell us what you did. >> first thing i did is, of course, i made her hair color deeper and then dana layered her haircut. i kept tliter around the face. this gave her a completely

different face shape and made heskin color come alive. she was a hair color and flat iron abuser. she flat ironed her hair every day, which made her hair so flat. we gave her a conditioning treatment. the cut and the color. >> does she have exteions in there? >> she has a few extensions in there. >> hoda woman. >> extensions are good. >> these are ip-ins. they will not damage your hair. you put them in now and then only when you have to for parties or special occasions, but you want to know something, hair looks great. >> good for you. >> the hair color and skin color, changes the face shape. >> next up is denise, she's 56 years old and worked for the new york public school district. this is whydenise said she needed a makeover. >> my hair is awful and curly and frizzy and it's a big drag.

i hope you can give me a smoother look and more youthful look. i've had this hair for who knows w long. >> it's time for a new hairdo. this is denise's before picture. let's see it. come on out. >> oh, yes. >> okay. >> she's got the hoda. she's got the hoda. >> i love that hair. >> denise's hair looked pretty in the before, actually, but it was so curly and friz it would take an hour plus to do with a blow dryer. >> dana gave her the keratin treatment. she can blow dry her hair with a plus in ten minutes or less. you can tell it before. the streaks were white. i made them a softer brown and made it much more dern-looking. >> the chestnut in there. >> youove it. can you put your hands through it? can you believe it? >> it's amazing.

>> don't outlaw it, because a lot of women -- >> iill find it underground if they ever outlaw keratin. >> there's no way. >> it's fantastic. >> her life faster and easier and she's never looked prettier. >> let us go to lorraine. she's 38 years old from the bronx. she wanted a makeover, too. let's hear her story. >> i need a makeover. i've been a blonde since i was 16 years old. i have to do my hair every three weeks because i see my roots growing in all the time and i have gray hair. i just got engaged, and i want to look beautiful for my husband-to-be. he thinksi'm beautiful, but i need to do it for myself. >> i like her. i like the whole thing. >> i hope he likes the new look. >> here's lorraine before. let's see the new you. come on out. oh. >> that looks so much better. >> does your fiance like red heads? >> he loves them. >> i love how it changed her.

>> this a complete hair color story. first of all, if you noticed from the report, her bangs were cut too strange across. she made her bangs softer and layered them to put the haircut together. we warmed up the makeup to go with the new hair color. she looks, again, years younger. >> do you love it? >> i love it. it's fabulous. >> when are you getting married? >> in february. >> congrats. say hi to your mother. >> hi, mom! >> everybody thanks you. okay. what's up next? >> foods that trick you ito thinking they're healthy. we'll find out the truth after this. [ female announcer ] keurig has over 200 varieties

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wouldn't it be so easy to grocery shop if every package that boasted healthy on the label actually was? >> today joy has seven not so healthy products that may fool the savviest of health conscious shoppers. >> you're right. >> i like this segment.

i want to know. >> this looks healthy. gra knono granola. >> it started healthy. when people make it at home, we add a lot of sugar and syrup. this will bump up the calories. this is a large bowl. a smaller bowl americans typically overpour in the morning with or wout milk is 600 calories. for people that want to enjoy granola, i tell them to die lute it with cheerios or bran flakes or a take a couple of tablespoons -- >> i'm just watching out for you. >> you can sprinkle a w tablespoons of yogurt on nonfat yogurt. >> whenever i have a smoothy, i think i'm be healthy. lot of the smoothies we drink at chains they add fattening

ingredients. what i tell people to do is save yourself some bucks and calories and make it at home. this is my universal recipe. it's 150 calories. it's half a cup of skim milk and you could taste it over there and the-quarter cup of frozen fruit. i like froz blueberries. >> and ailg little bit of banann there. >> buy they wam in season. >> one is with blueberries and one iswith raspberries. that's the recipe. it's 150 calories, and i put it on the website. >> that's good. i like that. >> diet friendly and guilt-free. you know exactly what you're getting. >> i can't have the yogurt. >> why are you dpririnking it? >> with energy bars, nutrition bars. they're not all created equal, and i'm not bashing any of the compani out here.

these could be good bars for people that are not trying to lose builders. they have 250 calories and the body-clogging fat. i get it. they're superconvenient. remember the number two. no more than 200 skal acalorieso more than 2 grams of saturated fat and at least two grams of fiber. >> naethat's a good way to remember. >> some of these companies also havehose smart bars for people trying to lose weight. we're not bashing. >> trying so hard to be nice today. what's wrong with you? you're with us now. >> this my achilles heel. >> you hear blueberry, corn, bran muffins and you think healthy. if you order one of these things at a coffee shop, it's basically a cupcake without the frosting. it's refined white flour.

>> they're too big. half of that would be fine. >> instead when you're at the coffee shop get a toasted english muffin with cram bemed eggs. >> the pretzels always are fat free. >> they are fat free. it's white refined flour, salt, yeast and corn syrup. guess what you're eating? white bread. >> oh, i wasn't hungry anyway. >> if you can find whole wheat pretzels, bike thuythem. >> 30 seconds. you got to get it in. >> don't get your vitamins from vitamin-enhanced waters because a loss ofugar comes along for the ride. if you love the taste, go for the zero calorie version. pop a multi-vitamin and wach it down with water. in terms of energy drinks, the magic is caffeine. if you want to save money g-for a cupof coffee and cup of tea

and watch amount of sugar. >> all right, joy. thank you. >> we'll be back with more of "today" on nbc.

we'll check with sarah. what's go, doll. >> i think the people love the will i.m. brian williams dance. david wrote in, man, brian wh williams will never hear the end of that strange dance. nancy wrote in it will become the latest dance now. watch out. >> i hope not. the walk out. >> it's so e. >> it's totally toe. why is she saying toe? will i.m. said it's dope and kathy said toeb? >> people are writing on the wall, tobe. >> it's t-o-b-e. >> yesterday i went to see

little fockers, and it's very, very funny. careful. >> it's tobe. >> who's singing? >> oh, my gosh. ♪ it's the most wonderful time of the year ♪ >> big note! of the year ♪ >> big note! nobody does it better than that. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

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