coast. could he go free? the prime suspect in the mysterious disappearance of an american woman in aruba facing a key hearing today. and special delivery. dozens of dogs rescued from lives of up captivity taking their first steps of freedom. their touching story today friday, november 25th, 2011. from nbc news, this is "today" with matt lauer and ann curry. live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. >> good morning. welcome to "today" on this friday morning. i'm savannah guthrie. >> i'm carl quintanilla. black friday got off to an earlier start this year with a lot of stores opening last night and people are more than happy to take advantage of it. >> maybe in some cases getting too excited considering that pepper spraying incident in los angeles. a fire captain says the suspect

did it to gain an advantage over fellow shoppers. we're going to have more on that straight ahead. >> also ahead a rare glimpse of jerry sandusky. he was spotted on thanksgiving day as new questions come out about the role pennsylvania's gurchtor played in the child sex abuse investigation. on a lighter note the day after thanksgiving means you're probably wearing your elastic pants, but you have more than your share of leftovers. coming up, we'll tell you how to turn that boring turkey and stuffing into tasty new meals. let's begin in los angeles where a woman pepper sprayed her fellow black friday shoppers at a walmart. kristen dahlgren is there. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. shoppers here got more than they bargained for overnight when the woman pepper sprayed other shoppers and including children. she didn't do it to defend herself from the crowds but to,

quote, gain preferred access to parts of the store. the holiday shopping rush turned chaotic thursday night. police and firefighters called to this los angeles walmart where one shopper apparently had enough of the crowd. witnesses say customers were waiting in line for a sale on xboxes. they say a woman pulled out some pepper spray and took aim at the crowd. >> she wanted everybody to back off, so she came out with her pepper spray. >> reporter: officials called the woman's behavior competitive shopping. this video on youtube shows customers recovering just moments after the incident. speaking by phone, shopper carmen johnson said she waited in line behind the woman for two hours. >> it was crazy. i mean, we were trying to get games for xbox 360 when the crowd was just rushing in, and the shopper in front of me turns

around and starts spraying everybody. >> reporter: she told knbc that the woman with two kids with her had even bragged about carrying pepper spray. >> she did mention a couple of times i have pepper spray, so i already knew who had done it. >> reporter: at least 20 were treated for minor injuries. >> it could have been a lot worse. with that many people inside, people get trampled in a stampede inside. >> reporter: three years ago black friday turned deadly whether a worker at a new york store was crushed to death in a stampede. back in los angeles one young woman says she's learned her lesson. >> i won't be coming back. i don't want to do this anymore. it wasn't worth it. it's not worth the deals. >> reporter: now, police may have called it competitive up shopping, but they are also calling it a potential crime. the woman fled, but savannah, this morning they're looking for her. >> i bet they are. kristen dahl gren in los angeles. thank you let's hope things are

calmer other stores nationwide. courtney regan is checking out the black friday rush at the green shopping center in dayton, ohio this morning. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. happy belated thanksgiving, savannah. millions of americans maybe digesting the thanksgiving dinner, millions more have been shopping, some for as many as ten hours already. leading retailers with a new holiday mantra, if you open your doors, they will come. and we're off. that's right. the holiday season is officially under way with millions already snapping up door buster black friday specials. >> it hasn't been too bad. the weather has been really nice, so it's very bearable. >> this is my first time, probably my last time. but got to do it once. >> reporter: toys-r-us opened at 9:00 p.m. thursday followed by walmart at 10:00, and then target, kohl's and macy's at

midnight. from coast to coast shoppers battling the elements. >> energy drinks. >> reporter: lining storefronts in tents, camping out for outrageous bargains on everything from toys to electronics. >> 42-inch plasma tv 199. they have a samsung laptop for 299. >> reporter: while shoppers crowd stores not even greets these early opens with holiday cheer. a petition by one target employee argues opening stores at midnight is anti-family and that petition garnered more than 198,000 signatures, but target says its consumers prefer the early start time. macy's ceo says the midnight opening hasn't been an issue for 78,000 seasonal hires. >> we've checked with our employees but we haven't had the same push-back. >> reporter: maybe that's because they're just happy to have a job. with unemployment at 9% and a sluggish economy, this holiday season is a make-or-break for

many retailers. but perhaps a silver lining. the national retail federation estimates 152 million shoppers r in the store this is weekend. that's up 10% from last year. yes, even with an economy on edge, retail analysts agree that consumers will shop and will spend. >> we love the haul days. we love to scream about them, but we love to be out there and rub elbow to elbow fighting for that last sweater that's on sale. >> reporter: what's the number one trend this holiday stone? strategy. it's estimated that 65% of shoppers will have planned their purchases before they leave home using online tools from social media to apps to price comparison websites. they know what they want and at what price. now it's up to the retailers to meet those expectations. savannah. >> some experienced shoppers for sure. courteney regan in dayton this

morning. thank you. brian dunn is the ceo of best bi buy in eden prairie, minnesota. thank you for being with us. >> good morning. >> i hear you've been out at the stars all night. best buy opened at midnight. what are the crowds like that you're seeing? >> the crowds have been terrific. i've been in stores all night, and what we're finding is our customers do like this early opening, and i got to tell you, our employees have answered the bell in a huge one. what i see are customers that are having a good time spending plenty of money and employees that are there having a graets time taking care of them. we're very pleased. >> i have to ask you about it, though, because you opened earlier than ever this year at midnight. other retailers opened on thanksgiving ifrtself, and some people are saying wait a minute. is nothing sacred? isn't there one day in the whole year about family and friends and foods? have we gone too far?

what would your response be? >> i'll tell you what my response is. we did not plan to open at midnight. the market moved to midnight, so we needed to make that move. i'll tell you, the consumers are out there in big numbers. they're in line to come into the stores, and it's our job to be where the consumer needs us to be, whether online, on their phones, or opening up at midnight or 12:01 on black friday. we need to be where the customer needs us to be. >> the latest figures show that about 10% more people than last year will be shopping this weekend, but other figures say that people up expect to spend a little bit less than they did during the last holiday season. as somebody who is on the front lines of the economy, what's your view of how the economy is doing, especially considering that two-thirds of it is consumer-driven? >> well, i'll tell you what, it's too early to sort of break out the numbers from what we've seen last night and this morning as we have the gateway to the holiday season, but we are very

enthusiasm abo enthusiastic about the crowds we've seen, and consumers are definitely out spending this evening. we view black friday as at gateway to the holidays so we're very enthusiastic about it. >> you're the expert, but as i understand it, the rule of retail is get them in the stores, and they'll buy other stuff they didn't plan to buy. are you seeing that, or are people very directed about coming in, getting the deal and then leaving? >> well, again, these are anecdotes from what i saw as i was visiting stores this evening. we see carts with multiple items in it, and that's always a good sign. we have great values throughout our store, and that's very much by design. we know it's important to show consumers great value this holiday season, and we're very focused on doing just that. >> brian dunn, ceo of best buy, thank you so much. appreciate it. >> thank you, savannah. let's get a check of some other stories this morning. tamryn hall is at the news desk

in for natalie. good morning. demonstrators are filling the center of egypt's capital demanding an immediate transfer of power. at least five americans have been caught up in the chaos. good morning, amin. >> reporter: good morning, tamryn. after a week of deadly clashes, today protesters are calling for a million man protest taking place behind me in tahrir. the question really is, how long will that calm last for? after days defdly clashes between security forces and protesters, a shaky truce seems to be sticking, but demonstrators not giving up their nand that the military hand over power to a civilian government immediately. it's the military, they say, who is responsible for this recent violence in which dozens were killed and hundreds injured and many arrested. among those detained in this week's fighting were five americans, including award winning egyptian american

filmmak filmmaker. >> my camera got taken. he called mae sigh spy. >> and a prominent american egyptian activist who was arrested told me of her horrifying deal. >> at least four or five beat them quite viciously with their stick, approximate broke my right hand and left arm. they subjected to to the most horrendous sexual assaults. >> reporter: good news for three american students. they were ordered freed by a judge on thanksgiving day. now, despite mounting international pressure including that from the united states government, the military says it will not take its order from the protesters saying the only way to democracy will be through parliamentary elections scheduled on time. a chicago hospital was on lockdown overnight after a woman was shot to death in the parking garage. police mounted a search for the gunman who was thought to be the

victim's ex-boyfriend. investigators at the scene of the small plane crash in arizona wednesday that killed six people on their way to a thanksgiving get-together. they say the pilot who just picked up his three children gave no sign ofdy tress. maggie dailley passed away thanksgiving after a long battle with breast cancer. she was 68. there was more than turkey on the menu at one los angeles help center. everyone also received a dollar bill in memory of father maurice chase who passed away last week. for two decades father dollar used donations from celebrities to hand out singles every sunday and on haul days. a nice way to remember him. it's 7:13. great way to remember father chase, right? >> yes, thank you. mr. roker is enjoig tying t

morning off. maria laroche here. >> big high pressure, and it's across the west that we are seeing weather. winter storm warnings and advisories from the cascades to idaho. here we can see as much of a foot of snow. tough travel definitely along with that gusty winds in excess of 40 miles per hour. the storm system is producing winds potentially over 60 miles per hour this evening and tomorrow morning. >> off to a clear start here. good morning. meteorologist, tom kierein, and the sun is up. it's a cold start to this friday morning, down near or bough row freezing in this part of the region. later today, with a bright blue sky, we'll climb to near 60. and inkraetsing clouds on sunday, and showers on

that's a look at the nation's weather. back to you. now to the penn state sex scandal. disgraced former penn state football coach jerry sandusky has surfaced in public as new questions emerge about the role pennsylvania's governor played in the investigation. jay gray is on the campus with the latest. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, carl. there are more allegations against jerry sandusky, and now more questions about why the man who may have known as much as anyone about the grand jury investigation chose to remain silent. thanksgiving provides two rare looks at jerry sandusky. in the morning with his dog, and then later with his wife dottie. for the first time in more than a week the couple has been seen together and on the heels of allegations he sexually abused a member of the family. sandusky's attorney confirms a report in a local newspaper that one of two new accusers is a relative and goes on to say, quote, the allegations are

ridiculous and unfounded. as the questions about sandusky intensify, they are also growing louder when it comes to pennsylvania governor tom corbett's role in this controversy. >> i gave thought to it on a constant basis. we are very careful. >> reporter: some say too careful. corbett was the attorney general during the grand jury investigation three years ago and also a member of the penn state board of trustees, but several board members say he never discussed the investigation during meetings. >> we had to be very careful not to tip where this investigation was going. >> reporter: but some legal observers say a closer look at the federal grand jury manual indicates he could have suggested that trustees take a closer look at sandusky. >> i think tom corbett in 2002 didn't do the complete investigation, so i think now he

is trying to cooperate, to instigate and do whatever he can to get truth out. >> reporter: ed rendell served as the governor of the pennsylvania. >> he knows what was going sxo the challenges his offices changing. >> reporter: but argues the blame doesn't stop at the statehouse. >> there's no question everyone in this process to even my good friend joe paterno to everyone in this process didn't act swiftly enough, didn't act courageously enough. >> reporter: a courage this campus and community will need as they continue to try and work through the scandal. and the next public step will come tomorrow when the nittany lions football team takes on the badgers in wisconsin. if they win that game, they will play for the big 10 championship, and the trophy that used to bear joe paterno's name. carl. >> thank you for that. it is 7:17. here's savannah.

how far should a reporter go to get a story? even more celebrities have now testified at a hearing into britain's tabloid phone hacking scandal. michelle is in london now with the latest. good morning. >> reporter: hey, savannah. it is bad press behave they've been hearing about. these stories are often coming from celebrities. no, it's not always easy to feel sorry for superstars and billionair billionaires, but it makes you feel frustration and hopelessness they felt in trying to stop this stuff. how low will tabloids go? well, stop the presses, because now in britain it's the paper's own scandalous deeds that have celebrities lining up to tell all. >> it's really terrifying running down a dark street on my own with ten big men facing, and the fact that they had cameras in their hands meant it was

legal. >> she said photographers would spit at her for a reaction, and then at a charity event for sick children. >> there was a very sick child i was playing with in the corner of the room who was pretending to shoot me and i was pretending to die, which we were playing a game. somebody took a photograph in the mirror cut the boy out of the photograph and said i was drunk. by that point, the damage is done. >> reporter: then police showed her the evidence that "news of the world" had tapped her voice mail. >> all my telephone numbers that i changed in three months, my access numbers, p.i.n. numbers, my password, my e-mail that was used to hack it. >> others like billionaire harry potter author who was not a victim of hacking battled tabloids for years. >> such a sense of invasion. it's difficult to explain to people who haven't experienced it what that feels like, the twist in the stomach as you wonder, what do they want?

what do they think they've got? draw your sword and help us reach our goal. >> reporter: it almost reads like a weird fantasy novel. she said they took photos from her kids and a note from her reporter in her first-grade's book bag and ran stories saying her child vealed the ends to 7, and that was based on her ex-husband. >> he kept them alive. >> bring him to me. >> that misinformation caused real emotional hurt. >> reporter: which still affects these big stars saying something should change. and they left to flashbulbs. there are privacy laws and restrictions on the press here, but it's a fine line between imposing more standards and preventing the press from exposing things in the public interest. it's interesting to see what the government does, because it's true that the penalties here

don't always seem to be a deterrent. savannah. >> a lot of practices are hard to defend. michelle k so inski in london. here's carl. now to los angeles where dozens of adorable beagles got a first taste of freedom this thanksgiving. we have that story. >> reporter: at lax the special delivery just in tim for the holiday. >> hi, baby. >> reporter: this precious cargo comes from half a world away, 40 beagles rescued from a research lab in spain now safely in los angeles headed for a foster home and a new life. >> these dogs have sort of served people their whole lives. they've been used and abused for animal testing, and now they get to be free. we got to give them a life. >> reporter: volunteers say these beagles and the dogged rescued before them have never really had a chance to live.

>> and we are headed somewhere where we can run free for a minute. >> reporter: the rescued beagles were more project than pet. the dogged spent their lives caged in a science lab. some have never seen the sun, much less a park. >> opening the door for what's about to their first stretch ever on the grass or outside ever in their entire lives here. very exciting. should i start? >> let's do it. >> reporter: that first fearful step is never an easy one. >> come on, big boy. yeah. >> reporter: ten minutes past before a shaky paw touches solid ground, a dog learning to be dog. >> in the beginning they didn't know what anything was. they didn't know what a toy was. they didn't know how to do for a walk or jump up on the couch or go up and down stairs. >> reporter: these little guys spend the next couple of weeks here until they're medically cleared and adoptd out. the lucky ones have found owners

who want to bring them home. >> i felt like he was kind of claiming me. >> reporter: with a story like theirs and a face like this, volunteers believe all these beagles will find a happy home. a reason this holiday for adopting families to be thankful and these beautiful beagles to be grateful. for "today," nbc news, los angeles. >> i don't think there's a dry eye in this place. still ahead, much more on the black friday shopping rush, including a complete guide to help you find the best deals before you hit the stores. first, this is "today" on nbc.

coming up, could the prime suspect in the disappearance of an american woman in aruba walk free today? >> after your local news and weather. tleemotional hetlretl?tl aren't you getting a little industrial? okay, there's enough energy right here in america. yeah, over 100 years worth.

okay, so you mean you just ignore the environment. actually, it's cleaner. and, it provides jobs. and it helps our economy. okay, i'm listening. [announcer] at conoco phillips we're helping power america's economy with cleaner affordable natural gas... more jobs, less emissions, a good answer for everyone. so, by reducing the impact of production... and protecting our land and water... i might get a job once we graduate. ...thanksgiving day from home... ...or in store friday from 4am. find over 500 black friday deals... ...like sleepwear for the whole family... and the helicopter he'll love for $18.99. we make christmas affordable. you make it yours. jcpenney. goodmorning. i am joe krebs. it's 44 degrees on this friday, the 25th of november. let's get the forecast. >> we have golden sunlight

flooding the sky now. temperatures are chilly. parts of washington are in the low to mid-40s, but elsewhere we're in the mid-30s and even the upper 20s in parts of virginia. sunny tomorrow, too, near 60 again and clouding up on sunday in the mid-50s and could get showers during the afternoon showers during the afternoon especially, and on , any luck f? not yet. i want to buy used but how do you know what you're really getting. check out carmax. all their used cars are guaranteed. that's where henderson found the one for him. way to go, henderson. finding the perfect car is easy at carmax because each car is carefully selected, inspected, thoroughly reconditioned and backed with a five-day money back guarantee so come find the one for you today, at carmax. way to go, neil.

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i love iced coffee. drinkin' dunkin'. i'm drinkin' dunkin'. drinkin' dunkin'. dunkin'... iced coffee. i run on dunkin' iced coffee. america runs on dunkin' coffee. good morning. traveling i-66 eastbound making your way towards nutley, an accident on the right side of the road taking up two lanes. and then i just saw it get towed to the side of the road. back to you.

7:30 now on this friday morning, the 25th of november 2011. look at that view. high above new york city from the top of the rock. down below a festive holiday crowd gathered in rockefeller plaza. no doubt many of them, like

savannah, planning to do a little holiday shopping on this black friday. inside studio 1a i'm carl quintanilla alongside savannah guthrie, ann and matt have the morning off well deserved. >> i have to gear up for it. >> i don't think you need energy drinks. you'll be okay. >> i've had five cups of coffee. speaking of black friday, we'll tell you how and where to find the best deals as you prepare to hit the mall, including the free give-aways in some stores. they say a picture is worth a thousand words. one dedicated group is using the photography skills to brighten the holidays for our service men and women. we'll explain how. the queen of hip-hop soul is stopping by. we'll have a live performance from mary j. blij. >> they were chanting mjb at the parade yesterday. >> she sounds great and has a new album. a new twist in the disappearance of american robyn

gardner in aruba. the prime suspect in the case is behind bars, but that could change with a key hearing scheduled for today. jeff rossen has the latest. good morning to you. >> it may be a holiday in the states, but in aruba it's just another business day. a hearing is scheduled later today for gary giordano. he's been locked up in aruba for 111 days still not charged with anything. prosecutors ask the judge for yet another extension as his lawyers fight to get him out. it is as mysterious as they can. robyn gardner on vacation seemingly happy with gary giordano. one minute enjoying a beachside restaurant in aruba, the next missing, never to be seen again. giordano maintains his innocence, but police won't let him go. today prosecutors will try to convince the judge to hold him behind bars yet another 30 days. >> we have sufficient information to say that mr. giordano is not telling us

the truth. >> giordano sticks by hi his story that he and robyn were snorkeling in aruba. she was swept under by the current as he got out of the rough water. you can see giordano looking for help in the exclusive surveillance videos minutes after she vanished. >> the greatest challenge for investigators is trying to show what happened to her. did she run away? did she walk away? was she murdered? >> investigators search the water and the rough terrain surrounding the beach where robyn was last seen. they brought in cadaver dogs. they even staged an elaborate reenactment of the crime, and no sign of robyn. just this week the dutch royal navy searched the sea again. >> we have the divers going into the water. we use robots to search the water for the body. >> reporter: giordano's lawyer says the case against him is thin. >> on the proof that i've seen,

everything up until now that i've seen clears gary giordano and confirms his version of the facts. >> now with today's hearing experts say the heat is on. >> i think the aruban government and investigators are under intense pressure to solve this case. we know what happened in the natalee holloway case. we know that there was no one charged in that. i think the aruban government is going to do everything they can to try to get this one right. >> today's hearing is a big deal. if the judge agrees to keep giordano locked up, this is the final extension. in 30 days prosecutors either have to charge him or let him go. carl, he could face murder or manslaughter charges in aruba. >> jeff rossen, thanks. let's get a economic on the weather from the weather channel's maria larose sa in for al this morning. >> good morning. we're lookingriday and we're log ahead to the weekend. saturday, still a spectacular

day across much of the east coast, but the rains moving in through the mississippi valley, and as we get into sunday, that system is further to the east, and catches up with boston, and new york, and philadelphia and across the central plains. >> i am meteorologist, tom kierein, in storm center 4. this morning we have a clear, blue sky. there's patchy dense fog over the potomac river, and elsewhere we have lots of sunshine, and temperatures are cold. we're in the lower 20s and 30s throughout most of the region. and later today, with lots of sun, we will climb to around 60 this afternoon. clear tonight, and by dawn saturday, the upper 30s, and sunny tomorrow. clouding up on sund you know what's coming up in a couple of days. sunday, sunday, sunday. it is "football night in america," and what a match-up we have on nbc. we have the pittsburgh steelers against the kansas city chiefs, mostly clear and cold, though, at arrowhead stadium.

temperatures just into the 30s. savannah, back inside to you. >> thank you. now the story of a remarkable athlete determined to prove the doubters wrong, and he's doing it in one of the world's most demanding sports, the triathlon. ian williams has his inspiring story. >> reporter: climbing amid the crowds on the great of wall of china is tough at the best of teams, but for andrew it was the sort of challenge he relishes. his determination turned him into an instant celebrity. >> you got it? no problem. bye-bye. oh, yeah. >> not even the driving did he teared him from the street was beijing as he tuned in for the world championship of the paratriathlon after one year in the sport. >> it gives you perspective on what you're capable of, what everybody is capable of. >> reporter: when he lost his

legs in a subway accident eight years ago, doctors doubted he'd walk again even with prosthetics. he set out to prove them wrong. >> no matter what, i was going food everything i could. >> reporter: entering the grueling world of the triathlon is his latest challenge. he has tremendous spirit and determination not only on the sports field. he's using his experience to help motive other young american amputees. hilek and his actress sister have become counselor as the youth camp, a summer gathers for 10 to 17-year-old amputees held this year in clarksville, ohio. >> i tried to, you know, get them to look at their goals and focus on those and make up their minds and make the same choice i did, you know. that you're going to get there no matter what, and try to put the other stuff aside. >> reporter: he, in turn, was inspired by them as he prepared to compete in beijing.

>> it's going to be take a special effort from me. >> on your marks. >> reporter: he faced a nine strong field in his category. the first part of the race was a half-mile swim that left him in fourth place followed by a quick change to his hand bike, making up a third of a place in 129-mile course. then to his racing wheelchair for the final three miles. >> look at you. >> how about that? i was knocking them down. >> the winner of the silver medal representing the united states of america. >> reporter: a remarkable performance for a parr paratria rookie. >> hopefully i'll do them and figure out a way. >> reporter: from the evidence in china, he probably will. >> have a good one. bye-bye. thank you. >> reporter: ian williams, nbc news, beijing. still ahead, your complete guide to black friday. where to find the best bargains on everything from toys to

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correct what ages you. back on this black friday, you're hitting the stores today but don't cross out everything or you'll miss out on small business saturday. here to tell us about that is ken shanault. this year the president is endorsing this. how did this come about? remind us? >> small business saturday is really a movement. it's become a national movement, and it's all about supporting your locally owned small business in your community. small businesses create two-thirds of the net new jobs, half the jobs in the private sector come from small business. >> so when you launched this last year, what kind of results did you get? did small business actually get an uptick? >> we were really encouraged. this was the first year -- obviously last year when we

introduced small business, and what we saw for ourselves is that on our cards we saw a 28% increase in spending on american express cards. we also know from our research that it really did spur sales. this year we're talking about tremendous scale. we've got 240 organizations supporting it, the president issues a proclamation on small business. the senate actually agreeing to a resolution unanimous. how often does that happen in washington? >> just to walk us through how it works, you don't need to have an american express card. you don't need to use it if you have one, right? how do you know what is a small business, and how do you get the $25 credit? >> this is very important. this is not about american express. this is about small business. so you can use any type of card. you can use cash and checks. all you have to do is on november 26th go out and support

your small business. small businesses are independently owned businesses in your community. if you want to get something else, you can go on facebook, you can go on our site and you can get a $25 credit if you use our card. you can make that happen. what i want to emphasize is this is about small business. >> i think our viewers are savvy enough to know that some small businesses don't take american express because the fees, they argue, sometimes are higher. is this not at least one way to get back in their good graces? >> here's what's important. we're already in the good graces. we're the largest provider to small businesses. our cards average three to four times the size on spend of other cards, so we have a great relationship with small business. what's important here is we are really supporting -- this is their day. we want to make sure that we drive the economy, and install

business small businesses have an important role in driving our economy. shop small is what we want people to do this saturday. >> thank you very much, the head of american express. still ahead, facing a fridge full of leftovers? how to turn your thanksgiving scraps into a brand-new meal tonight. first, these messages. is not fo. this is a story about jingle the husky pup. and jingle was a good dog. [ jingle ] ruff! ruff! jingle loved to bark hello. ruff! ruff! ruff! ruff! [ mom ] jingle even loved to sing. ruff! ruff! ruff! ruff! jingle! [ female announcer ] it's for bringing stories to life in a whole new way. jingle, stay. and jingle did. [ female announcer ] hallmark interactive story buddies. when you read key words, jingle responds. the pain was so frustrating. i found out that connected to our muscles are nerves that send messages through the body. my doctor diagnosed it as fibromyalgia --

thought to be the result of overactive nerves that cause chronic, widespread pain. lyrica is believed to calm these nerves. i learned lyrica can provide significant relief from fibromyalgia pain. and less pain means i can feel better and do more of what i love. [ female announcer ] lyrica is not for everyone. lyrica may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior, or any swelling or affected breathing or skin, or changes in eyesight, including blurry vision, or muscle pain with fever or tired feeling. common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain and swelling of hands, legs and feet. don't drink alcohol while taking lyrica. don't drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. i found answers about fibromyalgia. then i found lyrica. ask your doctor about lyrica today. this year, we won't settle then i found lyrica. for second best. we're going to give all the top brands. like kenmore, craftsman,

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it's all crossed out... it's 'cause i got everything on it. boom! thank you! [ male announcer ] black friday continues on saturday. get great deals throughout the store on christmas decorations. the only place to go black friday weekend. walmart. the holidays are especially tough on military families, and there's a dedicated group working to make sure our troops can take a little piece of home with them when they're far away. here's nbc's kristen dahlgren. >> reporter: while tens of thousands of troops are scheduled to be home for the holidays, denny won't be one of them. he won't only miss christmas with his wife shannon and dawson, but the birth of his second son due in march. >> it's difficult, you know, knowing that i have a little guy coming, and i can't get to see him until a couple months old. >> reporter: on a beautiful fall

day in an oklahoma city park, they made time stand still if only for a few hours. >> this makes it a little easier and gives you something to look forward to. >> can you throw him in the air? >> reporter: it's courtesy of operation love reunited. a group of professional photographers who volunteer to give troops something to help carry them through. >> it's being able to hold a piece of home in your hand and keep it with you, and it makes the days go by. helps them go by quicker. >> reporter: the photographers take pictures before or during deployment and capture the joy when a loved one comes home. >> it's a very, very strong emotion. >> reporter: jody lawrence started this off to help them koem. >> it's a small thing to help them for what they do for everybody. >> reporter: since in started in 2006 operation love reunited has grown. there are more than 800 photographers around world

giving thousands of military families with memories like this. through their lenses they have seen the harsh reality, photos that can sometimes be the last. >> some of these guys and girls, they straehaven't come home. >> reporter: angela uses her skills to inspire a few extra smiles during a difficult time. >> a lot of people don't stop and think about having portraits or pictures down before they deploy, so it's nice to do that for them. >> reporter: a simple gift that for a while will be a little boy's link to his dad. >> dad loves him, and dad's coming home soon. >> reporter: for "today," kristen dahlgren, nbc news, oklahoma city. >> what a great idea. >> it really is. having a family photo taken professionally is expensive. a lot of families don't think to do it because it takes time and money. >> wonderful for a photographer to have that skill to help someone else. nice story. before you head out the door, we have a complete guide

to black friday to help you find the best deals on the hottest gifts. >> all that and a lot more after your local news. announcer ] wake up, sleepyheads. there are tools to be had. this weekend, the sawdust-makers, the hole-drillers, and the get-it-done machines all cost less. a lot less. so let's load them in our sleighs and call them by name. on ryobi. on dremel. on dewalt and makita. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. here's what the early bird gets. an 18-volt, two-piece ryobi combo kit for just $49.88. ♪ keurig has a wide variety of gourmet coffee and tea to choose from. keurig is the way to brew fresh, delicious coffee in under a minute. way to brew. so with keurig, every cup tastes like it's brewed just for you. because it is.

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aww. you're the best, mr. snuggles. [ thinking ] another pet name? you're right, puggle-wuggle! hey, wiggly. all right, i'm smart enough to notice that my favorite fresh-brewed mickey d's sweet tea is now on the dollar menu, along with that juicy mcdouble. so i'm smart enough for this. you're the best, too... sweet tea... pie? aww, chipmunk. nicely done, chipmunk. [ male announcer ] sweet tea and the mcdonald's dollar me. the simple joy of being smart. ♪ gives you a 50% annual bonus! so you earn 50% more cash. according to research, everybody likes more cash. well, almost everybody... ♪ would you like 50% more cash? no! but it's more money. [ male announcer ] the new capital one cash rewards card. the card for people who want 50% more cash.

what's in your wallet? woah! [ giggles ] good morning. we have 45 degrees outside right now on this friday morning. it's 7:56. i am joe krebs. let's get the forecast for shoppers. >> for those exercising on this friday, a beautiful morning under way. but it's cold. we have sunshine and temperatures are still near the freezing mark in many of the

rural areas. in washington, the upper 30s. and near today, bright sun and mostly sunny tomorrow. sunday, mostly cloudy and highs near 50s, and a chance of an

good morning. downed wires slowing you down. downed wires in both directions here. and earlier we had an accident on i-66 as you make your way towards nutley, but as you see

it's clear for you and the accident is out of the roadway. and not seeing any problems at university boulevard. we have the outer loop 8:00 on a friday morning, november 25th, 2011. our crowd is enjoying an extended holiday weekend after that big thanksgiving meal. they're very inspired.

we're excited to walk off the big meal with a visit for the plaza. maybe we should run around the blo block. jog in place. good morning, everyone. i'm savannah guthrie alongside carl quintanilla. matt and ann have the morning off. it is black friday, and we have a special black friday clip for you. >> a lot of great deals all across the kun, television and electric flicks and a lot of things you can get for free, as in zero. we'll tell you where they are and how to get them. >> that is sounds like the price is right. if you don't know what to do with all the thanksgiving leftovers, assumes you have leftovers, chef john is here with quick and easy recipes to turn those thanksgiving trimmings into entire new meals. >> leftovers you would have never dreamed of. then a live performance from the queen of hip-hop soul, mary j. blige. she was a huge hit at the parade yesterday. she's be performing for you

inside. >> we'll get a check with mary j. blige. first let's check with tamryn hall at the news desk. millions of americans are hunting for holiday bargains today, but before black friday began the scramble for deals turned ugly in southern california. some shoppers were attacked with pepper spray late thursday night by a woman trying to bag a bargain. at least 20 were injured and none seriously. the woman slipped away. the police hope security cameras help them catch her. crews are looking through rugged mountains just east of phoenix from a fiery plane crash. they were heading to aing it weekend in southeastern arizona when a plane slammed into the superstitious mountains after sundown on wednesday. federal investigators are trying to determine what went wrong there. congresswoman gabrielle giffords took a day off from rehabilitation to help serve thanksgiving meals to service members and retirees in tucson. she used only her left arm as

she served a sign of the physical damage she sustained after being shot in january. the nba and lockout players are expected to resume talks "today in new york." the league says there's a plan in game for a 66-game schedule beginning on christmas if both sides come to an agreement by the end of the weekend. for a look at what's trending today. it's not just football fans searching for this video. an unexpected hit during thursday's win over the dolphins, one cheerleader could not avoid jason whitten 6'6" 265-pound frame when he ran out of bounds. look at the expression on her face. a woman in san diego has gone viral by pulling out all the stops and taking off most of her cloths to help find her lost dog. arlene corona hit the streets wearing just a bikini hoping the attention that she would get would bring back her dog. that's a heck of a way to do it. former idol store lauren

elana is tweeting her regrets after becoming the latest celebrity to flub the national anthem. she paused partway through the song before the start of thursday's packers/lions game. well she said her nerves got the best of her. poor thing. it's 8:0, back to savannah, carl and maria on the plaza. >> poor lauren. she's young. >> she'll get another chance eventually to do it. >> you know she has a beautiful voice. thanks, tamryn. >> let's get a check on the weather from maria laroa rosa i for al. >> i don't know a better way to spend a birthday in new york after thanksgiving. we have a couple birthdays, 16 over here and number 15. happy birthday to everyone.y. and here is what we can expect in our pick city.

we head to davenport high. look at the temperature. 60 degrees. here is a look at the rest of the country where we have a big storm system across the west. mountain snow wind. and winds could exceed 60 miles per hour, which should remain beautiful along much of the east coast from new york down to orlando. that's a look at the weather across the country, and here's a look at what you can expect. >> we have bright sunshine and fog over the potomac river and we can see that from the skywatcher camera, and around our region on this friday morning, it's still cold. many locations are near freezing. right near the bay it's in the mid-40s. later today, climbing to 60 or so and lots of sun, and tomorrow sunny again. highs again around 60. on sunday, increasing clouds could get showers afternoon and evening and into monday >> savannah, back over to you. maria, thanks. up next, your guide to black friday. the great deals and free stuff you can get, but first, these messages. lifeblood of our communities.

on november 26th you can make a huge impact by shopping small on small business saturday. one purchase. one purchase is all it takes. so, pick your favorite local business... and join the movement. i pledge to shop small at big top candy shop. allen's boots... at juno baby store. make the pledge to shop small. please. shop small on small business saturday.

which shirt feels more expensive? i get to touch these guys? oooh, ooh la la. i'm feeling their muscles. yup, yup. this feels great. that one. that one's softer. [ female announcer ] actually, it's the same t-shirt. really? but this one was washed in downy. really? that's why it was softer. it has a real soft velvety feeling. let me try again. [ female announcer ] it's like an upgrade in a bottle. divine. why spend a lot of money when you can just use downy? [ female announcer ] new ultra downy with silktouch, it's an upgrade in a bottle.

it's all crossed out... it's 'cause i got everything on it. boom! thank you! [ male announcer ] no need to wait with our christmas price guarantee. if you find a lower price on a local print ad before christmas, we'll give you the difference on a walmart gift card. if you find a lower price on a local print ad before christmas, smal l buyou find a lower price on a local print ad before christmas, sinesses are the smal lifeblood of our communities. on november 26th you can make a huge impact by shopping small on small business saturday. one purchase. one purchase is all it takes. so, pick your favorite local business... and join the movement. i pledge to shop small at big top candy shop. allen's boots... at juno baby store. make the pledge to shop small. please. shop small on small business saturday.

today's holiday gift guide is brought to you by target. this holiday santa has elves and you have target. back now at 8:08 with a special edition of "today's holiday gift guide." this morning it's all about black friday, of course. >> that's right. we assembled three experts and told you where to get the best deals. first up, great give-aways. nothing feels better than something for nothing. elizabeth is with woman's day magazine and she joins me here. stuff that you can get for free if you buy something else. we're starting with, i believe, sears -- macy's? >> macy's. if you buy a rag and bone sweater you get a free pair of jeans, you get the full outfit for the price of one. the next is if you spend 65 doll toll for more on a fragrance, you get a free video digital

camera. kind of amazing. >> this is sears. >> if you buy $20 worth of toys, you get a free tool kit, toolbox. if we go to amazon, if you go online today and spend $75 or more on toys, you get a free gund special edition teddy bear. you can give that to someone else. if you buy a slekelect amount o jewelry, you get a free pair of pearl earrings. >> a lot take the form of a gift card, right? >> yes. at walmart if you buy the xbox with a kinect, you get a $50 gift card. if you buy a smartphone, excluding the iphone, you get $100 gift card from walmart. >> toys-r-us. obviously, toys are daishg. >> fuelly walgreens. you buy one $10 toy and get another one for free. it's a two for one deal. >> here's toys-r-us.

if you buy the apple itouch you get a $50 gift card for toys. some people have good ideas. old navy, if you're standing in line and the line gets too long, they have what's calmed luck ca line where they ask trivia questions. you get gift cards. that's really fun. bath and body works, buy three get three free. eddie bauer, if you go on and buy before noon today you get a gift card. >> there's free shipping. >> target, you name it, they all offer free shipping right now. that's money that you save. >> elizabeth, thank you. here's savannah. all right, carl. next up black friday's top tech deals. mario armstrong is a digital lifestyle expert. good morning. >> good morning. >> this is the thing that everyone is turning out to the stores for, tvs? >> you need to look for 40-inch or higher plasma or lcd.

this is like 75% off. it's like 199 bucks. >> what about the extended warranties? do you do it? >> great question. save money by going to a place online called squaretrade.com. get extended warranties there at like half off. >> should you gravitate to the lowest priced set or look at issues with quality? >> you don't want to go for the low price. you want to make sure that it has the features most important for you, and look for the connections. a lot of people realize the devices don't connect. if you buy cables, get them online at newegg.com and save a ton of money. >> here's a laptop. there's screaming deals out there right now. >> it's insane. i want to get online. so you're looking at laptops that will be under 500. this one that's a hp, a 15-inch, 248 bucks. good for the student or the person going to school. if you want video gaming and

high-end programming, this isn't the one for you. you might need a netbook or laptop. the netbook has limited features and doesn't have a fast prorsz or hard drive space. >> cameras are a huge christmas item. >> everyone wants to take photos and capture them all. last year with the digital slrs you find good prices on them as well. these are really, really ins expensive. >> how important are the brand names? should you seek one out? >> the brand names are pretty good. buy for the features that you're looking for that are most important for you, but i tend to shop brand names. >> camcorders, people still use them. >> they're easier to use and pick up great in low light which is awesome. >> finally gps. >> who doesn't want to get around town? the deal is you get these at under 100 bucks. this costs 89 bucks right now. >> thank you so much.

we'll be back with more black friday deals in just 30 seconds. ♪ christmas is here [playback of card] ♪ christmas is here ♪ fa la la la [playback of card] ♪ fa la la la [playback of cards] ♪ christmas is here. fa la la la ♪ ♪ ding dong [playback of cards] ♪ christmas is here, christmas is here, fa la la la ♪ ♪ rum tummy tummy, rum tummy tummy, rum tummy tummy ♪ ♪ ho, ho, ho [playback in unison] ♪ rum tummy tummy, rum tummy tummy, rum tummy tummy ♪ the target 2 day sale is ppening now. fa la la la. today's holiday gift guide is brought to you by target. we are back with our special black friday edition of "today's holiday gift guide." we covered give-aways and technology, so why not have those door busters that everyone

is talking about. janet lieberman is here with me. good to have you. >> all of us are shopping on black friday. >> let's get to the items. why is it so important to do homework? >> because you're so tempted when you see the black friday deals. it's a buy, buy, buy and grab. you need to stick to the list and need to know if the price is worth it. they can say it's less, but if you do your research you know. >> you have coats for us right here. >> for men this is all from jcpenney. $160 now $50. this jacket was 140 and now 40 for women. you can't beat these. these were 80 bucks and now they're $15. >> that's great. >> you can get a size up, and then your kid can wear it next year. >> get it for the friend. >> shoes. >> these are from macy's, rampage boots. >> 50 to 60. that's great. >> these are the hip style, the

wedge, which is popular this season. >> you would know. moving on to something else i know, cooking, not. >> this is for christmas dinner, target has a great set. it was farberware. you need to clean up with the dirt devil vacuum, 40 to 25 bucks. >> these aren't deals you would normally find. >> yes. >> moving on. >> at walmart get a six-piece set, 62 to 30 bucks. one piece is usually 30 bucks. crock pots are huge. >> very popular gift. 25 to less than $10. >> this would run around $10? >> isn't that crazy, crazy, crazy. >> even though you shouldn't get your wife a crock pot. some other popular items here. >> this is from kohl's, and these are sonicares. it's $40, and the remington --

this is a great razor for your husband, 160 to 60 bucks. >> you often see these, and these toothbrushes don't go on sale. >> they don't. i got one at home. 8 doll dp$8 for this bed, it's microsuede. 40%. legos never go on sale. the boys love the legos. this, i love. >> this is on sale. this is toys-r-us and sports authority. >> $16 for some of these balls and half price. this was $400 for the table tennis and now it's 160. >> this is a workout ball. i'll play game with you. okay, they're stuck. >> you would have so suffered and paid. these are great deals. >> a great bargain. >> great job. happy holidays. thank you very much. coming up, who wants to have

turkey sandwiches for the rest of the weekend? we'll show you how to turn your thanksgiving leftovers into creative new meals right after this. cool deal. ♪ christmas is here ard] ♪ fa la la la [playback of card] ♪ fa la la la [playback of cards] ♪ christmas is here. fa la la la ♪ ♪ ding dong [playback of cards] ♪ christmas is here, christmas is here, fa la la la ♪ ♪ rum tummy tummy, rum tummy tummy, rum tummy tummy ♪ ♪ ho, ho, ho [playback in unison] ♪ rum tummy tummy, rum tummy tummy, rum tummy tummy ♪ the target 2 day sale is ppening now. fa la la la. smal l bu fa la la la. sinesses are the smal lifeblood of our communities. on november 26th you can make a huge impact by shopping small on small business saturday. one purchase. one purchase is all it takes. so, pick your favorite local business... and join the movement. i pledge to shop small at big top candy shop. allen's boots... at juno baby store. make the pledge to shop small. please. shop small on small business saturday.

[ laughter ] ♪ [ male announcer ] for tim and richard smucker, giving a gift of their family's delicious jam always made the holidays just a little bit sweeter. we forgot to put our names on them! richard, i think they'll know who it's from. ♪ thank you boys. you're welcome. you're welcome.

[ male announcer ] happy holidays from our family to yours. i love christmas! ♪ you're singing with a broken string ♪ ♪ tell me what you really mean ♪ do you know what you want? ♪ while beating up on yesterday ♪ ♪ i was on my rollerblades, rolling on ♪ [ female announcer ] the newest member of the prius family has the space of a small suv. and more ways to connect to your world. the all-new prius v from toyota. more prius. more possibilities. ♪ do you know? this morning on "today's holiday kitchen" creative visions that help you finish off all of your thanksgiving leftovers. renowned chef and restaurant owner tom calicio is here with new ideas. people say there's leftovers and there's nothing new you can do. this looks nothing like

thanksgiving dinner. >> there's a few new things and tried and tested things. here are leftovers. we have gravy and roasted vegetables and mushrooms, stuffing and sweet potato puree. i took the stuffing and pureed is a little bit. we've rolled out the pasta dough. >> did you make the dough yourself? >> yes. you can buy sheets already made. it's easy to make pasta. just before the thinnest setting. roll these over one and twice. >> really the filling is the stuffing? >> the stuffing. instead of using ricotta or puree vegetables. to form it go like this and seal themselves. carl, you can cut these. these go through here into tiny ribbons. you cut in between each indentation there. >> meanwhile, you have a broth

with turkey bones. >> what we do is took our turkey bones. you take your turkey bones and extra meat and stuff, carrots, onion and leeks. we make our broth. >> i destroyed one kitchen utensil exactly. >> it's a leftover utensil. it's okay. >> what do you do with this? >> throw it out. we're making a nice broth in there. we have it cooking, right? and we have our broth already done. the anlio di is cooked and goes in the broth. and then a couple more in here. here we go. >> now, the anliodi when you put them in water, should it be boiling. >> just simmering. when any come to the top and float, they're done. here we have root vegetables and leftover turkey meat in the broth. >> you can add other vegetables if you like. >> you have to use your

leftovers. you have to use your leftovers to make it work. let that simmer, and then just to heat and warm everything through. and then -- >> i see some brussels sprouts and roasted carrots and onions. >> that is amazing. >> and then we pour a little bit of the broth over the top, a little parmesan cheese. >> fantastic. >> and you can do a little pepper, some herbs if you like. we have -- i'm hiding here. so there's our anliodi with turkey broth. it's simple. >> you compare it with the sandwich as well. >> here, everybody knows leftover sandwiches. what we're going to do here, we have cranberry and the turkey and sweet potato in the sandwich. we'll spread sweet potato on one side of the bread, a little cranberry on the other. press it in a pinanini press.

you have a small turkey potpie at the end. >> now, how simple is this? your gravy and roasted vegetables again. bake it in the often with turkey potp potpie. >> looks nothing like the leftovers at my house. here savannah. let's head down to washington and say hello to willard scott. hey, willard. >> how nice it is. sweet holiday time is here. i'm the only one in the world that loves fruitcake. i love it. put some smucker's on it, and delicious. happy birthday, hagar young of demopolis, alabama, 115 years ago and still very, very alert and active all over the place. and loves to go to church. can't beat that.

great combination all the way around. and margaret gant, newark, delaware. they make cars there, i think assemble them. 101 years old. anyway, loves watching television and loves to have fun with her family and friends. hope she watches the "today" show or she'll miss her birthday. anna kennedy from holland, pennsylvania, 100 years ago. loves watching television. she lives independently and crazy about wrestling. she should be up here during negotiations when we have on our contracts. leonard blass from bellevue, nebraska, 100 years old today. he's a proud member of the u.s. navy in w w-ii. i don't have the pleasure of serving in ii, but i'm a proud member of the navy. always love it. a lot of good friends.

raul flores, miami, florida, 100 years old today. attributes his longevity to good genes. everybody says that. i think that's true. william linscott of clarksville, tennessee, is 100 years old. he likes to look and fool around and repair cars. something he's done all his life. that's a great hobby. good job, too. best in the business. now, back to new york. >> willard, thank you. still ahead, a live performance from mary j. blige after your local 8:26 is your time now on this black friday, november 25th, 2011. it's going to be a great day to get outside. tom kierein is in the storm center with the latest. >> there is the sun over the potomac river and capitol hill.

the skywatcher camera looking west is showing a little fog hanging over the potomac and blue sky over that and lots of sun. temperatures are warming above freezing in many locations now. it's climbing in the mid and upper 30s. and later today, up into the low 60s with sunshine, and more on the same saturday, but clouds increasing on sunday and could get showers in the evening and midday on monday. if you are heading

good morning. great day for shopping. the roadways look good if you are heading out to wheaton westville mall here. no delays and lane are open. if you are traveling towards tyson's corner, this is what leesburg pike looks like. >>

back at 8:30 on this friday morning, november 25th, 2011. a clear, cool start to the day in the northeast. a happy crowd enjoying it with us. by the way, the music you're listening to is one of the many hits from mary j. blige, and cease goi she's going to perform for us live in a moment. i'm carl quintanilla alongside savannah guthrie and tamryn hall. >> everybody is a huge mary j. blige fan. >> other than mary j. blige we also michael weiss here, the champion ice skater. he's doing a very special performance over on our rink, the "rock center" rink. >> we're wrapping up our series highlights the special work done at st. jude children's research hospital. we know they do amazing work every year, and national

outreach director marlo thomas is here with some of the kids from st. jude. this is it. we're starting the thanksgiving program. tell us about it. >> the thanksgiving campaign today. all the kids out here are giving away presents and t-shirts, because today we ask everyone in america to go to the stores and go to kmart, williams sonoma, kay jewelers and leave a little something for the children of st. jude's. this will literally save their lives. we're doing cutting edge research and fifrs class care for all children across america. no child has to pay, and we can't do it without your help. in this economy we need you more than ever. i don't know if you all know this, but st. jude is not-profit, and nobody pays. we have to get 75% of our money from the public where the average hospital has to get 8%. this is a very, very big day and time for us. it costs 1.7 million a day to run st. jude's, and these kids

would not be alive as their parents will tell you if it wasn't for the work of st. jude children's research hospital. >> can you sfwrintroduce your guests? >> this is ryan and denise, and they have story this is week, as you know. you want to say something about st. jude? >> i love st. jude's. it's a wonderful place. >> ryan, i know you had to take a locality of medicines, and i heard you had a special way of getting ready to take that medicine. how did you do it? >> first i had to learn how to swallow the m&m's because i wasn't used to swallowing pills. >> you did it with m&m's. it's better to chew them, though, right? >> how was your thanksgiving? >> it was great. >> did you get a chance to enjoy the food? i know you were recovering from chemo as well. >> denise cooked a meal for all the doctors. she's a young chef. >> have you thought about what you might want for christmas? >> everything? >> i know what she wants.

she wants everybody to go to stjude.org and make a donation. please do that. that's what we need. >> absolutely. >> stjude.org and make this a wonderful thanksgiving. we're very grateful to awfll of us. look for the logo at you'll your stores and leave aonation for st. jude's. >> thank you. >> thanks for having us. >> happy now let's get a check of the weather. >> good morning, everybody. we are looking at guests here from the windy city. i understand it's your birthday as well. >> yes. >> which number? >> 15. >> you had to think about that one. welcome to new york, and the good thing about having a birthday on a friday is you get to have the whole weekend. mild to sunny conditions on the east coast, and then rain and thunderstorms, and wind as well,

in the east, and then clearing out for kansas city up into the northern plains, and the pacific northwest, still looking at showers and mountain snows. good morning. sunny and chilly on this friday morning. i am meteorologist, tom kierein, in storm center 4. getting above freezing in most locations and today we should climb into the low 60s. highs in the low 60s after a chilly start, and cooler weather on sunday. looks like we could have showers moving in on midday, and perhaps lingering on midday monday. and after that, to be followed by chilly weather, and get your local forecast anytime you want on the weather channel or 24/7 at weather.com. over to you. >> maria, thanks. we want to say hi to harvey wi winestein. three big films coming out, and michelle williams in "my week

with marilyn." it's incredible. the reviews are amazing and she's amazing. sometimes an actress says i can sing, and they can't. sometimes an actress says they can dance, and they definitely can't. she sings and dances and researched the role and transforms into marilyn. it's stunning. >> i got to say, you're nothing if not daring. the next film you have coming out, "the artist" is actually a silent film. no dialogue, but it's getting great reviews. >> the reviews are amazing. there's a lot of great talk about it. somebody said today it's a superb comedy. it's a comedy and fun. marilyn is fun, too. they're both entertaining movies for the holidays. >> talk about "the iron lady." a lot of buzz around that as well. >> meryl streep is running on the republican ticket. she plays margaret thatcher, and you know, it's amazing.

two liberals who made the movie are very fair-minded. >> look at the resemblance there. that's an amazing transformation. >> harvey, if we see one movie this weekend, which is it going fob? >> probably nationwide "my weak with marilyn" because "the artist" is only in new york and l.a. >> leave some wards for somebody else, too. >> we believe in sharing. i have four daughters. >> harvey, thanks. by the way "my week with marilyn" is in theaters now and "the artist" opens today. when we come back a live performance from mary j. blige, the

the toyota concert series on "today" brought to you by toyota. >> back now at 8:39 with the

queen of manipulahip-hop soul. she has nine grammy awards and now 17 years after the release of her debut album "my life" she's out with a sequel called "my life 2: the journey continues act one." what a title. after 17 years why did you decide to do this sequel now? >> because it just proves how strong we are because from the first album we weren't strong at all. that was the beginning of the relationship i have with my fans. we went a very, very dark, you know, negative place. there's been so much growth and evolution since then, but the one thing that remains consistent is trials and tribulations. we've been strong through it all, and i felt like the title "my life 2" is perfect to celebrate how strong we are and how far we've come and who we are. >> you call it a journey. when you think about where you were 23 years ago, those were dark days.

was it hard to look back as you look forward with this album? >> it wasn't hard to look because i didn't center to look back because my life is real. it's full of trials and tribulations as well as try jumps and great things and positive things. the reason for the title is because of the consistency of how to get to the next place. there's always discomfort. we get there, and we break through. then there's another trial, and then we break through. then there's another trial, and we didn't have that understanding on the first "my life" album. i feel like my fans and i should be celebrating even in the midst of trials. >> i know you have a lot of great collaborators on this allium including beyonce, what are you going to sing? >> i'm going to sing my single "mr. wrong." >> we all know him. take it away. thank you. ♪

♪ bad boys ain't no good ♪ good boys ain't no fun ♪ lord knows that i should ♪ wind up with the right one ♪ go good go bad ♪ me and mr. wrong ♪ i never could ♪ oh oh oh ♪ you're no good

♪ you calling ♪ they're screaming at me don't do it don't do it mary ♪ ♪ i guess they know ♪ oh yeah ♪ so good ♪ so bad ♪ baby mr. wrong ♪ i love good ♪ waiting for me ♪ can't think of nothing that will make me walk out ♪ ♪ i'm holding on

♪ can't help but love him ♪ i'm going to stay out of my mind ♪ for going so strong ♪ ♪ how can me and mr. wrong get along so good ♪ ♪ even though he breaks my heart so bad ♪ ♪ me and mr. wrong ♪ i never could ♪ oh oh oh my love ♪ oh me yeah ♪ can't take on nothing at all ♪ my love my love my love ♪ all over me

don't want to leave you alone ♪ ♪ i love mr. wrong >> mary j. blige showing us how it's done. thank you. again, the album is called "my life 2." we'll be back in a moment. this is "today" on nbc. ♪

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november is national alzheimer's awareness month, and one of the most frustrates element of that disease is dementia. they're looking to keep the lines of communication open. here's contributing correspondent jenna bush hager. >> jumping jack plays rock 'n roll, gospel and soul. sam has a hot date and needs a bath. who should we say this is? >> elizabeth. >> elizabeth. >> this is elizabeth around.

she's greek. >> lielizabeth doesn't exist except in these people's imaginations. >> tell me about her personal life. >> she has two children named bill and stallally. >> she looks too happy to have kids. >> in the early to middle stages of dementia they're building a story. their productivity comes from not that they can remember but imagine. it's part-ti of a program calle time save. >> the theory of improv is you say yes, and. so you keep going. you accept anything given to you. >> her basckground is in theate. she worked with dementia with acting. it was a dead end. i tore a picture out of the mall borrow man out of a magazine and

said let's make things up. this group just blossomed. >> she encourages them to participate with the tools they have, namely their imagination. a single photo inspires a brainstorm of surprising twists and turns. >> what do you think she hears? what kind of sounds does she hear? >> joy. >> joy. >> what does joy sound like? >> he's one of the most learned individuals i've ever known. he could converse with anyone on any subject. >> chuck marks' father, harvey, was a teacher for 23 years. today he can't remember what he did 10 minutes ago. >> it is tough. i miss the man he was, but i'm graced with the person he is now. this is who he is, and urn, we're still together. >> people with dementia get cut off from each other, from themselves and from each other. the imagination is that pathway to reach each other again, to reach themselves and to reach

the world around them and the people they love. >> how are you doing today? >> since 1996 they've trained over 2,000 people. now it has a website available for all. >> so that picture of that beautiful woman, you used to see women like that? >> oh, boy. >> quite the womanizer? >> i'm a lady's man. >> it was great seeing the creative juices flowing with him and the humor. it reminded me of his teaching days. >> in a situation that focuses so much on what is no longer possible, it delivers a reminder of what is. a storyteller is a meaningful role we all understand. people can explain it and find strength in it and people around them in their lives around them understand it and can engage with them on those terms. >> thank you, everybody. >> for nbc news, jenna bush hager, milwaukee, wisconsin.

up next, michael weiss performs on the "rock center" rink. first, this is "today" on nbc.

today at the rink is brought to you by smucker's. >> this morning we have a treat. prepare to be dazzled by the

skating expertise of three-time u.s. national champ michael weiss. welcome to you. >> thanks for having me. >> you have a great event coming up this weekend. tell us about it. >> it's a great show. it's a combination of mannheim steamroller music and david a h archaletta. we have the best skaters and music in the world to combine for the show. >> you've been at it 28 years. is it still a thrill? >> i think you meant 15 years. >> you still look like that young skater on the ice. in fact, we'll let you get set. assist you get ready to skate, you're going to skate to "just the way you are" by broyce avenue. this is michael weiss, everybody. ♪

♪ her eyes her eyes make stars look like they're not shining ♪ her hair looks so perfect without her trying ♪ she's so beautiful ♪ ♪ and i tell her every day ♪ yeah i know i know how to compliment her but she won't believe me ♪ ♪ i don't think she sees what she's asking ♪ ♪ every time she asks me do i look okay ♪ i say okay ♪ when i see your face ♪ ♪ there's not a thing that i would change ♪ ♪ because you're amazing ♪ just the way you are ♪ and when you walk

♪ my whole world stops and stands for a while ♪ ♪ because girl you're amazing just the way you are ♪ ♪ her lips her lips i kiss them all day if she'd let me ♪ ♪ her laugh her laugh she hates it's so expecting ♪ ♪ she's so beautiful ♪ and i tell her every day ♪ oh you know you know you know i'd never ask you to change ♪ ♪ becaudon't even bother asking you look okay ♪ when i see your face ♪ ♪ there's not a thing that i

would change ♪ ♪ because you're amazing just the way you are ♪ ♪ the way you are ♪ the way you are ♪ girl you're amazing ♪ just the way you are the way you are ♪ ♪ the way you are ♪ girl you're amazing ♪ just the way you are ♪ there's not a thing that i would dhang ♪ ♪ because you're

8:56 is your time now on this friday, november 25th. let's head to storm 4 meteorologist, tom kierein, for what looks like will be a lovely day. >> yeah, bright sun and a blue sky. a live picture from the skywatcher camera. temperatures are climbing above freezing in most location and climbing in the 40s throughout much of the region. later today, hitting near 60 degrees, and then another day a lot like today tomorrow. and then sunday, increasing clouds, cooler, and we may get midday and afternoon showers, and chilly after that. we will

good morning. thinking of heading out of the house to do shopping, traveling down to i-95, you are in green in both directions. here is a view of the occoquan.

northbound and southbound clear we're back now with more of "today" on this friday morning, the 25th day of november 20sh, . we have a great crowd this morning at rockefeller plaza.

maybe they're taking a break from the black friday shopping. good morning, everyone. i'm savannah guthrie alongside carl quintanilla. the rest of the gang has the day off. are you going to hit the stores? >> fifth avenue is only a couple of blocks ago. afterwards let's go do it. >> you probably -- >> no cameras, though. >> what are you getting me for the holidays? >> that's a secret. >> nothing. a lump of coal last year. on a serious note out in los angeles, black friday got out of hand. police say a woman actually used pepper spray on several shoppers there at a walmart in an offensive way in order to get a competitive edge over other shoppers. it's kind of unbelievable but true. we have details ahead. what if you went to a doorbuster and a it's a complete bust, you didn't get what you wanted, or if you haven't started shopping, what do you do nen? we have more on different strategies depending on shopping plans this weekend. >> if you're not looking for

little things but big things, homes for sale. we'll show you what's on the market coast to coast. first, let's get a check of the morning's top stories. natalie is gone today, so we have tamryn at the news desk. good morning. while millions of americans hunt for black friday bargains, police say one desperate woman resorted to pepper spray. kristen dahlgren is in los angeles. >> reporter: 20 people injured and police say they believe it was part of a deliberate strategy to get a great deal on a game console. the holiday shopping rush turned chaotic thursday night. police and ffs cairefighters ca to this los angeles walmart where one shopper apparently had enough of the crowd. witnesses say customers were waiting in line for a sale on xboxes when people started pushing and shoving. that's when they say a woman pulled out some pepper spray and took aim at the crowd. >> i guess she wanted everybody to back off, so she came out

with her pepper spray. >> reporter: officials called the woman's behavior competitive shopping. this video on youtube shows customers recovering just moments after the incident. speaking by phone, shopper carmen johnson said she waited in line behind the woman for two hours. >> it was crazy. i mean, we were trying to get games for the xbox 360 when the crowd just was rushing in, and the shopper who was just right in front of me turns around and just starts spraying everybody. >> reporter: johnson told knbc that the woman whosh, who had ts with her, had even bragged about carrying the pepper spray. >> she did mention a couple of times i've got pepper spray. i already knew who had done it. >> reporter: at least 20 people were treated for minor injuries. >> it could have been a lot worse. with as many people as they had inside, that's when you get people getting trampled in a stampede inside. >> reporter: three years ago black friday turned deadly when

a worker at a new york store was crushed to death in a stampede. back in los angeles one wung woman says she learned her less soj. >> i won't come back. i don't want to do this anymore. it's not worth the deals. >> reporter: police may have called it competitive shopping but call it a potential crime. the woman fled and this morning they're still looking for her. chicago police say they have arrested the suspected gunman in last night's deadly shooting of a woman inside a hospital parking garage. they say the suspect is a hospital employee. tens of thousands of protesters are packed in tahrir square a day after students were released. today many young activists are protesting the army's choice of a political veteran in his late 70s to form a new civilian government. j.k. rowlings gave testimony in the uk phone hacking scandal.

she told a london courtroom she felt under steej from intrucive journalists who staked out her home and slipped a letter into his 5-year-old daughter's school bag. 40 beagles used for experiments in an animal testing laboratory in spain have been rescued. they were flown to los angeles where they were set free from their cages for the first time on thanksgiving night. you see their faces there, and they're exploring like beagles do. it is 4 past the hour. now back to maria. you're hanging solo there? >> i am. >> the not really. there are tons of people behind you. >> and i invited a couple friends out here. speaking of friends, this is what being a bff is all about. >> where did you go to school sdm. >> i went to bowling green but i'm going to m state university. >> well, as we look at today, we have showers through the midsection, but the big winter weather will be in the pacific northwest, and the kag kads from

northern identify hoe into western michigan, and look out for winds 40 to 50 miles per hour, and high pressure hangs on, and 60s from boston all the way down to atlanta where we have sunshine. >> good morning. a gorgeous blue sky here. i am meteorologist, tom kierein, in storm center 4 on this friday morning. just past 9:00, and temperatures are now climbing into the 40s in most locations. reagan national is at 45, and we will continue to climb later today into the upper 50s to around 60 or so with lots of sun. mostly sunny tomorrow and a chilly start after tomorrow, highs in the 60s, and increasing clouds on sunday and highs in the mid-50s and could get passing showers through midday monday and savannah, back inside to you. maria, thank you. this morning on "today's consumer," the black friday rush is well under way. if you haven't hit the stores yet, you may miss out on good

days. courtney regan is at the green shopping center this morning. >> reporter: good morning. things are actually going really well. a lot of experts were a little worried because folks are very aware of the tough economic conditions. at least so far that negative sentiment has been shelved and replaced with holiday cheer. lots of shoppers out today, heavy traffic, and the folks i'm talking to, savannah, are spending a couple hundred dollars. estimates for the entire weekend were for the average consumer to spend about 225. we could actually be topping that fairly early. i think retailers are happy. shoppers seem to be happy, and there are lots of deals in these bags walking out of the stores around me. >> courtney regan, you better get in there. thank you. >> i will. thank you. what do you need to know if you want to find the best deals? we turn to vera gibbons. good morning. good to see you. what kind of numbers do we

expect in the stores this weekend? >> they're all over the map. some say as many as 225 million shoppers will be out spending on average $385. that's more than twice the total holiday budgets. black friday counts for 10% to 11% of sales. >> even if you miss the doorbusters, because a lot might be gone by 9:00 in the morning. >> people camped out for them. they had their generators. >> it's like a bieber concert. >> limited quantities, those are gone and the doorbusters are gone. there's plenty of other deals. >> the first tip is research, research. >> you have to look beyond the circulars. these days you have to have a game plan. you want to go to the designated black friday site, blackfriday2011.com and find out who has what at price points and compare prices on sites like fatwallet or pricegrabber.

look what people are saying about the products. you can do that on amazon, because there's a lot of products that aren't necessarily name brands this year in particular. you want to get the best product at the best price and the product is decent and more buying. >> it's not just about price. you say also consider the extras. >> there's a lot of extras out there. laptops might have a printer. the xbox might come with a game that nobody wants. might come with a gift card. might come with nothing at all. you have to look at the bundling. generally speaking it's better for the retailer than consumer. >> the next tip is a catchy one, shop with a purpose. >> have a game plan here. look what happened in california with the pepper spray. people are very aggressive on this day. without a game plan, you get tram pemed on. divvy up the responsibilities. one person hang with the shopping cart by the check out and the other person get the items. put a cap on how much time you spend per store and put a value

on your time. you want to stand in line for two, three hours for a $15 item? probably not. >> your time might be more valuable especially this time of year. don't forget the small stuff. what do you mean by na? >> some people are focused on the big ticket item, the home theater systems and flat screens, those type of items and tend to overlook the smaller items significantly discounted. memory cards, blu-ray players. you have leapfrog games for $125. you ha -- $15, you have select dolls under $5. a good time for basics. the gap has jeans for $19, old navy for $15. don't fixate on the big ticket items, look beyond that. >> some retail stores have 40% off everything in the store. there's great deals. >> there's great deals. >> let's say you're afraid and see the black friday crowds and say not me. online shopping is huge. >> you avoid the aggressiveness by shopping online, too.

the good thing about shopping online is most of the in-store deals are available in larger quantities online. typically free shipping, maybe no sales tax. the tricky part is know when the sales go live, but there are apps to help you get started. start with tgicybermonday for example and take it from there. >> thank you so much. coming up next, maybe you're shopping for a new house this black friday. it's a big ticket item. bar ra barbara is here to show you. more on the british phone hacking scandal. first, these messages.

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this morning on "today's real estate," what can you get for under 400,000 doll? barbara scoured the country and she's here to show us what she came up with. happy post-thanksgiving. >> thank you. going to buy a new house now. >> that would be very nice. >> you start out with palm springs, california. an artisan restretrearetreat? >> it not only comes with a beautiful house but 330 days of sunshine a year and it's a playground for the rich and famous in palm springs. people love it. this is not a rich and famous house. it's a whacky kind of house. it's a huff and tumble hillside home. i think it works. it looks like an alpine chalet than a desert home. the inside is in keeping, but inside there's a barrel vaulted

ceiling, barrel vaulted walls. everywhere you look. that is the kitchen. very streamlined and not to everyone's taste. if you like that thing, they did it really well. >> it's an acquired taste. >> you either like it or don't. it's like a giant sauna inside, but at least they're true to the vision there. the main living area has cool floors and a spiral stair kais. very youthful. you have to have good energy to live there. there you can appreciate it. you feel like you're inside the hull of a ship of some kind. it's a cute house. it has a lot ft and cozy wood burning fireplaces. >> let's go to atlanta, georgia in a four-bedroom bungalow. >> it's in atlanta. >> that's pretty. >> i love the wonderful porch. it says come on home. what's wrong with that? give me iced tea, sweet please. it's not too big or small.

it's a porch you really use. inside the living room has an original brick fireplace, very clean white walls and oversized sunny windows. that's a well presented room. a lovely house. the kitchen is completely new. it has stylish counters and a back splash. it's opposite to the house before in every way. the backyard has a small stone patio that's about right, but it's about a block away from the big duck pond this whole neighborhood loves. >> that's very nice. let's go to seattle, washington. let's see what we get for under 400,000. >> everybody likes seattle, washington fosh a lr a lot of r. it makes it's claim for the first shopping mall that opened in 1950. it's still there. the outside of the house is a classic brick tudor on the outside but inside it's different. the living room has great details with wood floors and i like the green tile fireplace.

the dining room is one of the best dining rooms i've seen. it's delicious with a high coat ceiling and an oversized arriveway and huge picture wind co windows. the window galley kitchen is fresh and modern, simple with a honeycomb tile counter. look at the small breakfast area outside the archway. not too big. not enough room to fit two chairs frankly, but it's pretty to look at. the bedrooms are all simple and peaceful with big windows throughout all the rooms, simply designed and the fully fenced backyard has the right sized brick patio. please, buy new furniture. that hardly looks like it goes with the house. my god. why did they stop at the backyard. get some new furniture and um brel la brel las. >> they have grate windows. >> madison, new york nearly on three acres of land. >> 3 1/2 acres to be exact. you have to ask where is

madison? it's smack in the middle of new york state, five hours from new york city. not an easy commute if you want to work here. this is a 1802 federal style house built by a prominent big shot in the town named general cleveland. had to be important with na name from the civil war. the house is 3,000 square feet big, it has a mini brick on the outside that we just saw that makes it quite charming. the formal dining room is ornate with 10-foot ceilings and original wood floors and a kavred mantle. it looks like you should entertain thomas jefferson himself with the elaborate crown moldings. the kitchen is a bit odd. on one side it's old-fashioned storage, but then on the other side, the same kitchen and room has a cooking area completely refurbished like odd fellows you have modern and old in one room. >> let's go to sanitta fe, new mexico. it won a parade of homes competition. >> that's right. it's a hacienda style, something

built around a court yard. it's a style to live with in that part of the country. it has maple wood floors and beam kreeceilings. that's a grand piano in the back corner. this is an amazing brick court yard where people live all the time with a beehive fireplace and fountain. there's a kichl with a weird shaped counter that should be taken out. that's an easy change. the backyard looks plain out lonely. that backyard needs a little help. some new chairs but it's suitable to the area. you have to appreciate outside that fence you have beautiful countryside. >> that's a great list, barbara. >> all very different. >> i like that. still ahead, exciting new ways to turn your thanksgiving leftovers into delicious new dishes. but first, these messages.

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during the holiday season you want to remember the less fortunate. on monday we kick off the 18th annual toy drive. >> celebrities will be here raising toys, clothes, books, all for needy kids. if you come down to the blaz. >> plaza bring a gift and contribute. you can donate at the experience store at 30 rock and online. head to today.com for details. susan boyle became an overnight sensation. we'll have a special performance from susan boyle after your local news. they're for keeping us together. ♪ [ boy ] to dad, love sam. [ mom ] say "merry christmas." [ boy ] merry christmas. [ female announcer ] hallmark recordable storybooks. [ boy ] charlie brown spotted a small, scraggly pine tree.

♪ top a small, scraggly pine tree. v neck 3 piece suit dance wear bolo snakeskin boots sequin costume under things stiletto heels skinny jeans houndstooth snuggie pork pie hat oshkosh socks 5% cash back. right now get 5% cash back at department stores. it pays to discover. ♪ hark how the bells, sweet silver bells ♪ ♪ all seem to say throw care away ♪ ♪ from everywhere, filling the air ♪ [ female announcer ] chex party mix. easy 15-minute homemade recipes you just pop in a microwave. like caramel chocolate drizzles. happier holidays. chex party mix. 9:26 is your time now. 50 degrees out there. it's shaping up to be a beautiful day. it's friday, november 25th, 2011. it's a perfect day to shop or go

outside and work out. tom kierein with your black friday forecast. >> it's warming up now. we're climbing into the 40s throughout much of the region. later, we'll be near 60. lots of sun and more of the same on saturday. increasing clouds and highs in the mid-50s, and we could have showers lingering into monday. chillier after that 30 much of the rest of the week next week.

if you are thinking of doing shopping, the roadways look good pm from bw parkway to the beltway, it's 63 miles per hour. and if you are taking i-95 heading north from the beltway to about skagzville, you are at 64 miles per hour. a live look at the beltway, and we don't [ screaming ] [ zapping ] there goes dwayne's car. oh, man. there goes dwayne's house. whoa! whoa! and there goes dwayne. man, that thing does not like dwayne. [ male announcer ] state farm's got you covered.

nice landing. it was. [ male announcer ] get to a better state. note better watch out ♪ ♪ you better not cry ♪ you better not pout i'm telling you why ♪ ♪ because santa claus is coming to town ♪ ♪ oh

if that doesn't get you in the holiday spirit, nothing will, single michael bueble with "santa claus is coming to town" he'll be here for a live performance monday on "today." coming up later, we have new details on that tabloid phone hacking scandal that rocked england. sienna miller and j.k. rowlings testified on thursday. we'll have details on how they say the scandal has personally affected their lives. also ahead, throwing small business a bone. get it? we'll tell you about two sisters who started a business that started with -- those pictures don't match. they started a dog biscuit company. we'll talk to them about how they did it, maybe the taste buds of those dogs.

>> i kind of saw that in the notes. >> you can do it, carl. and then from waffles to gumbo, how to take that thanksgiving dinner and turn it into amazing leftovers all weekend long. some delicious new meals coming up. first, amy row barobach is here. >> we're going to talk about black friday mania, and then, of course, there's cyber monday. so much shopping and so little time. we're talking about all the deals you can find over the weekend, and it's one of the most intriguing unsolved mysteries. 40 years ago d.b. cooper hijacked a plane and parachuted into the night sky and vanished. investigators are coming closer together to try and solve the case. we'll have the details. debbie reynolds is auctioning off her historic collection of hollywood memorabilia. we'll show you what's inside her treasure trove when you see it this weekend here on "today." lots of marilyn stuff. it's sold for millions and

millions of dollars. a ton of money. >> i thought i saw something from "singing in the rain." >> yes. >> i thought i saw a green mermaid outfit. >> you did, yes. >> christmas shopping, carl. thank you so much. we'll get a check on the now, let's get acheck of the weather. maria laroche is in for al. >> we're so thankful, everybody enjoying a nice, cool morning in new york city. we still had the sunshine hanging on for the east coast, and we're watching a system with rain and wind from the gulf to the west coast, and the pacific northwest, still looking at showers and snow even into sunday. still milder for the midsection. we're talking temperatures well above average. if that's your big travel day, expect slowdowns. bright sun and a deep blue sky on this friday, the 25th day

of november. i am meteorologist, tom kierein, in storm center 4. temperatures are warming up nicely. we are getting near 50 in some locations. lots of sun. tomorrow we will repeat this. a few high clouds in the afternoon and then on siunday, increasing clouds and cooler. chilly after that into next week. >> and, of course, coming up this weekend, a by night, sunday nitd, that is "football night in america." we look at the big match-up. we have the pittsburgh steelers comes in against the kansas city chiefs at arrowhead stadium. mostly clear and cold. temperatures will be chilly for the tailgaters, into the mid-30s. savannah, back over to you. >> all right, maria, thank you. coming up next the actress sienna miller and harry potter author j.k. rowlings slam the tabloids into the phone hacking scandal. new ways to reinvent the

thanksgiving leftovers. first, these messages. keurig has a wide variety of gourmet coffee and tea to choose from. keurig is the way to brew fresh, delicious coffee in under a minute. way to brew. so with keurig, every cup tastes like it's brewed just for you. because it is. that will change your life... for the first time ever... a toothpaste. crest 3d white. if beauty editors notice, who else will? crest 3d white toothpaste. life opens up when you do. hellmann's and holiday leftovers become irresistibly creamy turkey casserole. real delicious hellmann's. make it real. make it different.

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look in your bag, made you something. (announcer) it's more than just that great peanut taste, choosing jif is a simple way to show someone how much you care. choosey moms, choose jif. imagine living your life under the constant fear you're being watched. more celebrities have testified an inquiry in england. michelle kosinski is in london with details. good morning. >> reporter: hi, tamryn. bad behavior by the press is what they've heard about in these jaw-dropping stories from celebrities. it's not easy to feel sorry for superstars and billionaires, but their accounts make you feel some of the frustration and helplessness they felt trying to stop this stuff. how low will tabloids go? well, stop the presses.

now in britain it's the paper's own scandalous deeds that have celebrities lining up to tell all. >> it's really terrifying running down a dark street on my own with ten big men chasing me. the fact that they had cameras in their hands meant tls legal. >> she said photographers would spit at her for a reaction. then at a charity event for sick children. >> there was a very sick child i was playing with in a corner of the room who was pretending to shoot me, and i was pretending to die, which was -- we were playing a game. somebody took a photograph in the mirror cut the boy out of the photograph and said that i was drunk. by that point, the damage is done. >> reporter: they showed her the evidence that "news of the world" had hacked her voice mail. >> all my telephone numbers i changed in three months and my access numbers, p.i.n. numbers, my password and e-mail that was

used to make a hacked e-mail in 2008. >> billionaire harry potter j.k. rowlings who was not a victim of hacking battled tabloids for years. >> such a sense of invasion. it's difficult to explain to people who haven't experienced it what that feels like. the twist in the stomach as you wonder, what do they want? what do they think they've got? draw your sword might and help us reach our goal. >> reporter: it almost reads like a weird fantasy novel. the paper's publisher addresses took photos of her kids and found a note from a reporter inside her first grade daughter's book bag and got a stolen copy of book five and ran stories saying her child revealed the ending to seven and the bad guy was based on her ex-husband. >> bring him to me. >> that misinformation caused real emotional hurt. >> reporter: which still affects these big stars, saying something should change.

they left to flashbulbs. there are privacy laws and restrictions on the press here, but there's a fine line between imposing more standards and actually preventing the press from exposing things in the public interest. it's interesting to see what the government does. it's true that penalties here aren't always a deterrent. tamryn. >> michelle kosinski, thank you. up next, how two sisters two turned a pet's love for treats into a doggone good business. we'll meet them right after this. ♪ [ aj ] i'm an expert on every single one of these jackets. i know the tests they've been through. i know the temperatures they can withstand. i even know why this little mesh pocket is mesh. the way we make gear, it's not just guaranteed to last. it's guaranteed to make a whole lot of sense. we hear from a lot of customers that this is the best place for a cell phone. [ aj ] and after warmth, that's the first thing i look for. my name is aj curran. i'm the director of outerwear and accessories, and the holidays are made here at l.l.bean.

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"maul small business today" is brought to you by american express. sometimes the greatest ideas come from a simple beginning, and for two sisters a dog's love for treats and their love of cooking turned into a dog biscuit company worth barking over. you can hear it, too. >> meet a 4 1/2-year-old poodle whooz appetite inspired an all natural organic dog biscuit company run by two sisters. >> i started to make doing treats after i discovered he was overweight. i took it upon myself to make him a healthy treat. >> my sister said you know those biscuits i baked for him all that time. people are loving them, and i think i'll take them to the store and see if they buy them. one store ordered ten bags, and i didn't even know what to do.

i was so excited. that's two weeks after they ordered. they said we want to get 20 bags now. and that's when i knew it was a business. my sister would start coming down from boston every single weekend that summer and we would bake friday night to sunday night nonsfop in our little tiny apartment kitchen. >> when we were little we would bake together, we always go apple picking and strawberry picking and we've always been in the kitchen together. this is the tiny kitchen where it all started. i don't know how we cooked as long as we did. >> today the sisters work side by side developing a growing line of dog biscuits for a variety of canine cravings including chicken cordon bleu and peanut butter and jelly. >> we're selling 20,000 to 30,000 treats a month which exceeded any expectation where th we thought we'd be.

whole foods is our biggest client. >> it afforded them a chance to rent space in a commercial kitchen and operate on a much larger scale going from this mixer to this one. and though they now have baking help, each biscuit is still hand cut so they can maintain quality while producing thousands of biscuits a day. >> if you have a good product, you need to focus on that. people will find it. >> if the customers can't find you, take your business to the streets say the tovar sisters. >> this summer was really excited. we launched our biscuit bike, which is the first treat cart for dogs in new york city. we worked with the new york city parks department and we're in the parks all summer. i think the reward you get from just having your own company and seeing it grow are beyond anything that i had in my corporate job before. knowing that you've created something and it's growing based on your hard work, that's the biggest reward for us. >> they're here with us now.

good morning to both of you. >> good morning. >> what impresses me more than the biscuits, the fact you two sisters work together all day long and get along. >> thank you. >> we love it. >> we have a great time. we're always together all day. >> did you believe your idea would lead to all this? >> i don't think so. i don't think anything would have told us we got to the size we are now and just baking treats for my dog would become a business. >> i know your dog is the chief taste tester, but we brought in others. tamryn and carl are bringing them out. hi, guys. they are so excited. they are going to tate some of these. as they do, you worked in retail before this. you were an engineer. i mean, what a switch to change your life this way. >> it's a huge switch. i mean, nothing would have prepared you for having your own business. you're doing everything from the baking to the selling and marketing, but we love it. it's very rewarding and to see the dogs love the biscuits. >> they do love them.

tamryn is popular right now. >> what do you say to other that is have an idea and want to start a small business? >> definitely start small and make sure the product is focused and everything goes after that. as long as the product is great and the dogs come back, that's the most important part. >> what about startup capital? did you have to start with a bunch of money? >> you can start very small. you don't need to buy 10,000 packages to start a business. you can start with one or two and go to a few stores and like it. >> are these good enough for humans. >> i'm going for it. >> let's do it. >> this is pbj. peanut butter and blueberries. >> one, two, three, go. i'm not eing a dog biscuit. no way. i learned that from matt lauer. thank you so much. i got it from matt. thanks so much.

thank you. >> they're not bad. coming up next, how to make a delicious new meal out of thanksgiving leftovers with dog biscuits sprinkled right on top. this is "today" on nbc. [ woman ] hmm...game day party idea

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this morning on "today's holiday kitchen" we're reinventing the your thanksgiving leftovers. there's still plenty of turkey, cranberry sauce and stuffing in the refrigerator. what do you do with them today? norman king is the professional the at "southern living" magazine. you're from the south, right? >> yes. >> how would you jazz it up in ways others might not? >> get all of your leftovers out and onto the table so we can free up some of the valuable refrigerator real estate. >> refrigerator real estate. >> a lot of things that don't get play is sweet potato casserole. we're trying to use it.

we made some waffles. we have waffle bart and topped it with blackberry butter, something a little bit different. >> great idea. >> no let's get on the main course here. you'regumbo. >> it's a spicy sftew. it's just flour. to make a rue, it takes a little time and patience and 20 minutes, and you'll be pretty much done. we add some hot oil and flour here that i've been cooking for a good 20 minutes, and wait until this gets to a camel color. once it gets to this point, we add in some of our vegetables here. >> and there's some peppers and celery. >> this is a great way to clear out that extra stuff you had leftover. >> so many people are doing celery and onions. it's a good idea. >> we add some sausage here and leftover turkey, if we have it. >> great. kind of cut up in cubes.

>> if you want to, you can throw the whole piece of leftover ny thigh in there. pour that right in. dump that in, it's cayenne pepper. >> got to have that in gumbo. >> that's the difference between cajun and creole. you have to pick up cajun. >> when you say be patient, you need to be patient for the rue. >> be southern for a day. calm down and relax. >> are we talking hours? >> no, maximum 30 minutes hands-on time. hour and a half just for simmering, but you have to pay attention. >> just for the rue. once that's done, it's hands-off. this is what you get. a nice aroma. >> what do you serve it over? >> over roasted potatoes. this is a southern secret that helps you to stretch the meal

and also take away from some of the spiciness you have here. >> impatient northerners. >> yeah. a little bit of bacon and some parsley. >> that looks amazing. >> if you want extra spice, awesome. >> i love that. what do we have back here? did i hear you right? fried pecan pie? >> i'm from the south, but i've never heard of fried pecan pie. >> this is a great way to get it all done. we cut up pecan pie in thin slices and kotcoat it in flour use molasses and butter. the twist that we added was pork rinds. pork cracklings. they're pork skin with fat on them that's fried. i know it's excessive. we're already frying it. put the pork on there. >> so we slide it into 350-degree oil for about 20 to 30 seconds. we let that kind of sizzle up.

take some time there. this is our finished product. i couldn't let you get away without adding bourbon to it. adding some bourbon whipped cream on top. >> here you go. >> thank you. >> even things like cranberry you will recycle? >> the cranberry old-fashioned. you make your typical old-fashioned with the orange and bitters and load it up with a little bit of sugar. add your ice, and just about when you're ready to stir in your bourbon, you add a couple tablespoons. >> can we find the whole pie later? >> just take it in. it's very rich. >> this is insane and criminal. >> we love your style. thank you so much. >> coming up, a special performance from susan boyle plus the results of our ambush makeovers. we'll need a makeover. >> time for your local news and weather. >> i did try the dog biscuits.

>> whatever. >> i did try the dog biscuits. >> whatever. >> have a great day. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

beautiful morning out there. warming up, too. good morning, everybody. 9:57 is the time, friday november 25th, 2011. i am barbara harrison. with it being so nice outside, what does the weekend have in store. let's go to meteorologist, tom kierein, to get answers. >> the latest temperatures showing it's climbing into the 50s in many locations. reagan national, 48. later today, we will easily hit the 60s and perhaps maybe near 70 from fredricericksburg to culpepper. how is traffic? >> perfect weather and shopping because the roads look good, too. on the beltway in virginia, the inner and on iter loop is clear as well. back to you. last week we showed you how to turn your leftovers into a

elegant party, and now how to turn the

hello, everybody! it's friday, but around here and everywhere else, it's really

black friday, november 25th. hope you had an awesome, awesome thanksgiving. >> shopping on black friday is -- >> something i never do. >> it is so hard to do! everybody is out. >> i don't even want to except for the savings. that's the only reason. >> what you have to go through to get this discount -- >> isn't there enough stress in life, you know? >> can i tell you something, i was tweeting before thanksgiving about, hey, has everyone bought their thanksgiving meals or whatever, and one woman tweeted back, not only have i done my thanksgiving shopping i've already finished wrapping my christmas presents. >> that's just wrong. >> i just don't like her. >> yeah, we don't like her. was that martha stewart? >> or someone like her. black friday was coined back in the '60s by the philadelphia police. >> and we cannot figure this out. because of all the pedestrian and car traffic, all the streets were jammed up. why does that make it black? i don't understand. and then it sort of -- >> it caught on when stores were in the black because they were --

>> making so much money in one day. >> so you're in the black as opposed to the red which is what they usually are for the rest of the year. >> you haven't started your shopping? >> i've always said my philosophy about the holidays is that less is best. and so i -- i give gifts. i really do -- i bet everybody hates my guts, but i give something that benefits the association to benefit children. i send out these cookies and everybody loves them and people get helped. everybody i know pretty much already has way too much stuff, hoda. yet i feel for the retailers this time of year. so much of what they make is this time of year. but for me christmas has always been a spiritual holiday, not a commercial one. >> i buy all my stuff at the last possible second. >> i wonder why? does that surprise anybody? >> but here just so you know, if you're one of those people who does a lot of shopping, this is how you're going to spend your time now. you're going to. this is what consumer reports, they broke it down, you're going

to spend 19 hours for gifts. >> have fun. >> you're going to spend three hours waiting in checkout lines, standing. >> wasting your life. >> because it's not your turn yet. you'll spend three hours wrapping gifts. you're going to spend nine hours traveling. >> bye. >> and you're going to spend 14 hours celebrating with friends and family. >> now you're getting to it. now that's what you're getting to. but here's the thing, if you go to the malls, i know we do a million segments on germs, because our senior producer, tammy, is obsessed with them. >> we don't even care about germs, if you know what i mean. >> the point is, is that the mall is supposedly one of the worst places to go because everyone is rank, apparently, who goes there. but here's something i didn't really think about. let's pretend -- you know how everything is automatic in the bathrooms. you wave your hands and towels come out and water comes on? if you actually have to hold the faucet, so you come out of the bathroom hands dirty, you turn

the faucet on, dirty hands, turn off, dirty again to touch the dirty from the person before you had it dirty. >> nobody goes in and cleans that thing first do, they? no, i know. you know when you're standing there, everybody knows what you just did and you're standing there and i never get one that works. >> oh, the water that you put your hands under. >> other people go and the water comes on. i go -- >> you're waving. >> and then i go to the one i just saw work on another lady, it doesn't work for me. you know what i did this morning? i'm so embarrassed about this. you know i make such a huge thing about my nails? >> what happened? >> this morning -- you wake up in the morning and you're tired and you feel a snag on your nail or something? it's like something got -- so i thought it's going to get bad if i don't get out an emery board and before i brushed my teeth i've got the emery board.

okay, then it's fine. so i get downstairs and try to keep the lights low. and i notice there's a chip. i just thought i took -- there is a chip in my nail polish. you're thinking this is terrible. i know where the nail polish is. i go over to the nail polish and i go like this. just to get a little bit of it off -- on, you know. it's not until i get here and i used a completely different color. i know in your life it's not a big deal, but look at this. >> that looks like my regular nail on a good day. what are you talking about? >> i just thought you'd find it interesting. >> this is the kind of stuff i do the day after thanksgiving. >> you can't even tell. >> i know, but i know it's there and it bothers me. >> but bobby says i'm on trend. >> you are ahead of it. >> so in other words, don't go out to the malls, don't spend any money and don't go to the bathroom. >> well, because, by the way, if

you didn't know, it's not only the biggest shopping day of the year, it's also the biggest day of the year for plumbers. because either you're clogging up your sink in the kitchen because everyone is cooking and sticking stuff in. >> i don't think that's the problem. i think it's after dinner. i think that's the problem. think about it, people. >> so anyway, plumbers, good for them, they're going to be making some money. >> you know the other thing about thanksgiving, don't be a pig, you know what i'm saying? don't be a pig. enjoy yourself, but don't be a pig. you know? >> well, if you are -- if you are going to be a pig, and people are and i probably will be, you can call that butterball line about how to cook a turkey. now they have a new butterball line that's going to help you prevent being a butterball. they're going to tell you how you can burn off calories. let me get the phone because it's all hooked up. i'm going to call the butterball

line. >> this is a dial phone. >> anyway, it's going to be ron i think. >> where in the world did you get this? >> i don't know. >> why are we using this -- >> because it's realistic. >> it's not realistic. >> hello? >> is this ron? >> thank you for calling the don't be a butterball hotline. this is rod, how can i help you. >> where are you, rod? >> is that rod's picture? >> yeah. rod's cute. >> where are you, baby? >> i'm in new york. where are you girls? >> we're in new york. >> no way! >> way. way, rod. >> so how can i help you guys today. talk to me. >> a lot of people eat -- are you still there, rod? >> yes, i'm still here. >> so a lot of people eat pumpkin pie. let's say a slice of pumpkin pie. what do we have to do to work that off? >> now, are you throwing vanilla ice cream on that or whipped cream? >> that's a personal thing.

>> well, i know, kathie lee, you're probably throwing a glass of wine with that but that's a different story altogether. we're looking at 180 calories. >> for one piece of pumpkin pie. >> yeah. that's about 30 minutes on the elliptical sweating. >> all right. >> in order to burn that off. >> that's not bad. but you guys say that turkey is more fattening than a piece of pumpkin pie. how is that possible? >> well, really what you're looking at is the serving size. so six ounces of turkey, that's 340 calories. a serving size for pumpkin pie is only one slice, that's only 180. that's why you'd have to do an hour on the elliptical to burn off the turkey. >> is that like a deck of cards? >> you know what, what you guys -- would you guys like me to show you how to burn those calories off? >> rod is here. >> are you here? >> oh, come out, rod. >> i'm not here. >> where are you? ♪ let's get physical, physical

♪ i want to get physical >> we knew it. >> you guys ready? >> i saw you downstairs. >> no, you didn't. that was somebody else. that was somebody else. so we're going to burn off those bloody marys. >> i just ate a piece of cake before the show. >> so we need to stand up and move around. >> you stand up. >> i am standing up. it's your turn now. you're both going to stand right over here. so in order to burn the most calories. >> be careful, i'm not wearing a sports bra. >> you still look fantastic to me. you look terrific. you both do. in order to burn those calories and look terrific, you've got to do the following. an overhead squat. hands up in the air. stick your butt out, stick your butt out, come all the way down and come all the way up. what's happening is you're using your legs and keeping your arm up. if you've got some dumbbells to

press into the air. now, hoda, you're going to do a forward lunge. what's the matter? >> i'm scared of camera angles. >> you're going to do a forward lunge, come straight down and up. don't they look great, guys? how do they look? >> rod, thank you, sweetie. >> you burned about 10 calories. >> i'll take one more step. >> rod, most people say they eat 3500 calories on thanksgiving. i didn't have that much yesterday. i didn't. >> no. >> not that much. >> thank you, rod. >> thank you, rod. >> it's black friday, buddy. >> it's time for bobby's buzz. >> bobbie, you were enjoying one of these with us, i saw. >> i was just supporting. it is the biggest shopping kay of the year, but i would love to recommend everyone to give back. these are gifts to give back. this is my friend sara's mom, who i love very much passed away. in honor with hershey teamed up

with darren and they put together this beautiful book called the beauty book. so all the proceeds go to brain cancer research. check this out. that's a great coffee table book. >> how much? >> 39.99. >> wow. >> i'm also a huge fan of the feed organization. hunger is number one on the list in terms of health risk. you can feed children here or abroad. and if you want to splurge and get 100 meals, you can buy a bag like this. your numbers are on your bracelets. and then a really cool concept, like groupon, this is called social goodies. you can receive up to 70% of a discount off the items you shop -- >> keep going, honey. >> the best part is that you get to choose 20% of what you spent to give to a charity of your choice. so you not only get a discount but you get to do good with your

deals. >> i wonder if that's the one that steve poletta started. it might be his thing. >> that's the socialgoodies.com, good place to shop. it's friday and we're talking working out. sara has been busy on the computer but doing a little more than that, burning some calories. what's that contraption? >> how much did you eat yesterday? >> probably about as much as everyone eats on thanksgiving. this is a fit desk and actually i can't believe this, but they say it's about $230 the whole thing. i've been on this and you can go slow. if you do this all day long, this is a lot. >> and you can actually work without being -- >> yeah, the laptop is up here. >> one of those ergonomic chairs can cost up to 200 more than that. >> good for you, sara, the one who doesn't need it. >> i know, right? up next, our ambush team hits the plaza to give two lucky ladies a makeover. >> and they're ready to show off their hot new look right after

this. hi, could you read my list? it's all crossed out... it's 'cause i got everything on it. boom! thank you! [ male announcer ] black friday continues on saturday. get great deals throughout the store on christmas decorations. the only place to go black friday weekend. walmart. there's a different cream. i challenge that with olay. i've found one cream with everything i'm looking for... olay total effects. with 7 age defying effects in just one, easy to use cream. i've swapped to all-in-one total effects. why don't you swap too?

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time for our plaza ambush makeovers where we pluck two lucky ladies from the crowd and give them a head-to-toe new look. >> and they probably did a lot of plucking yesterday. i didn't write this stuff, folks. our makeover team -- here they are. how was it out there? >> oh, it's great.

the day after thanksgiving everyone is a few pounds extra, but what the hey. >> my mom does call you louie, by the way. here we are, our first lucky lady, merriam valdez from fresh meadows new york. she has not changed her hair style since she was 18 and has been too busy taking care of her 4-year-old darling daughter so she was thrilled when we approached her on the plaza. let's take a listen. >> well, the second i picked you, you started crying. why is this this so emotional for you? >> well, one of the reasons why is because i'm always rushing with my daughter, taking care of my husband and -- >> it's okay. >> and because financially we're not like -- i don't want to be a burden on him. with all the sales and stuff like that. so i just try to be natural.

>> oh, such a good wife. we're so happy we can give you this gift. are you ready to go? >> yes, absolutely. yes. >> oh, my gosh. >> so here we are edward and allison. allison, are you ready to close your eyes? i didn't think so. okay. you do what you want. here is merriam before. all right, merriam, let's see the new you. >> wow! >> all right, dad, are you ready to take off your blind fold. take off your blind fold. oh. >> oh, my goodness. >> you are gorgeous. do you want to see yourself? >> yes. >> turn right around. >> oh, my god. thank you so much! thank you. thank you -- >> it's that hair. it looks great. >> oh, that's gorgeous. >> now, obviously merriam,

beautiful girl but the wrong hair color decision. by keeping your hair color natural to its closer palette, look how much more beautiful. her complexion, everything works. >> thank you, all of you. >> she had different layers. >> baby, come here. >> go on over. >> come on. >> is that a dress or a rain coat? >> it's like a dress, you can wear it indoor and out if you really wanted to be sexy so we put her in a leopard print, but nobody cares. >> a big round of applause. >> walk right there. beautiful. our second lady is gretchen sims, 57 from california. she's a dance teacher and her daily routine consists of throwing her hair up in a bun so she was very excited to get her

glam new look. let's listen to her story. >> all right, austin, you're already cracking up. tell me why your grandma deserves this. >> because she deserves to be hot! >> we love to hear that. why do you want this? >> i just figured it would be a lot of fun. give something a new try. >> well, we are going to make you glamorous. are you ready to go? >> i am ready. i am ready. >> all right. she's here with her husband, robert, her two grandchildren austin and ryan. >> the gang's all here. >> let's take one last look at gretchen before. and bring out the new gretchen sims. >> oh, wow. >> take them off. >> whoa. >> oh, my gosh! >> oh, my goodness. >> you look fantastic.

>> wow, you look great there. >> a great change. bringing her hair color more appropriate for her skin color. she lives in the desert in california, so it's sun bleached and a little bit of hair color. then, of course, the makeup a little softer, a little brighter to go with the new dark color. and max just took off the dead ends and softened her straight bangs and updated her look. >> she looks like sigourney weaver. >> what do you guys think? >> wow. >> look at the body this woman has. >> as she was getting dressed, i was like hello, body. we wanted to put her in a little dress -- she was a dance teacher and they're going to radio city after this so she wanted to give her a fun outfit to wear. this is anne klein available at macy's. >> come on back, merriam. thanks so much.

up next, we're live with sara haines and a bunch of fans right after this. r. if you have painful, swollen joints, i've been in your shoes. one day i'm on p of the world... the next i'm saying... i have this thing called psoriatic arthritis. i had some intense pain. it progressively got worse. my rheumatologist told me about enbrel. i'm surprised how quickly my symptoms have been managed. [ male announcer ] because enbrel suppresses your immune system, it may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, and nervous system and blood disorders have occurred. before starting enbrel, your doctor should test you for tuberculosis and discuss whether you've been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. don't start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. tell your doctor if you're prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for heart failure, or if, while on enbrel, you experience persistent fever, bruising, bleeding, or paleness. get back to the things that matter most. good job girls.

ask your rheumatologist if enbrel is right for you. it's all crossed out... it's 'cause i got everything on it. boom! thank you! [ male announcer ] black friday continues on saturday. get great deals throughout the store on christmas decorations. the only place to go black friday weekend. walmart. [ female announcer ] pillsbury chocolate chip cookies with hershey's chocolate chips. for a moment of warm, gooey, togetherness. chocolate chip cookies... from pillsbury. chocolate chip cookies... revlon just bitten. it's a two-in-one lipstain and balm. the lipstain gives me a light flush of color while the moisturizing balm softens my lips.

have you ever been bitten? revlon just bitten lipstain and balm. it's all crossed out... it's 'cause i got everything on it. boom! thank you! [ male announcer ] no need to wait with our christmas price guarantee. if you find a lower price on a local print ad before christmas, we'll give you the difference on a walmart gift card. if you find a lower price on a local print ad before christmas, left behind by some mop. why you... nobody's taken a shine to me in a long time. phooey. i don't need anybody...but you! ♪ i believe in miracles [ male announcer ] swiffer attracts dirt. used mops can push muddy water around. swiffer wetjet's new, upgraded solution helps prevent streaks and residue to reveal more shine than a mop or your money back.

you're a fresh swiffersnapper! we're back with our special series 3, 2, 1 live with sara. >> sara made herself across the street to check out a great group of fans. what do you have for us? >> first off we've got jamie from atlanta. >> stop it. >> okay, continue. >> really? okay. we've got a question about sightseeing. >> what is your favorite must-see spot during the holidays in new york city? >> you've got to come to rockefeller center. when they light that tree up -- >> she's here, she's right across the street. >> look out the window. you've already seen it. >> see it, it's going up right now. next up we've got essie from massachusetts. she has a question about energy. >> how do you both maintain your aura of positive energy on days when you're not feeling it, and how do you stay light when

you're not really lit? >> chugga lugga lugga lug. >> they're usually lit, ma'am. >> you keep your light. >> i exercise every day, i read the bible. she ignores it. >> and we get just fine. >> and we get along fine. you know, we love life. we both love life. we love our families. don't necessarily love each other but we work it out. no, we're kidding. we love life. >> thanks, hon. >> we're going to do some shopping on the hottest toys of the season. >> we'll be right back. hi, could you read my list?

it's all crossed out... it's 'cause i got everything on it. boom! thank you! [ male announcer ] no need to wait with our christmas price guarantee. if you find a lower price on a local print ad before christmas, we'll give you the difference on a walmart gift card. [ younger brother ] oh, do you want it? yeah. ok, we'll split it. [ female announcer ] made fresh, so light... ...buttery and flaky... this is half. that is not half. guys i have more. [ female announcer ] do you have enough crescents? it's all crossed out... it's 'cause i got everything on it. boom! thank you!

[ male announcer ] black friday continues on saturday. get great deals throughout the store on christmas decorations. the only place to go black friday weekend. walmart.

welcome back on this black friday. time for today's countdown to the holidays, and we're doing what women do best, shop. we've got two experts to show us the best deals today. first up, gifts for the ladies with lifestyle expert robin moreno. happy day after thanksgiving. >> you too.

>> we're going to start with jewelry, which women never stop loving. >> you want to make your purchase have value and make sense, right? so here's the deal with black friday this year. online retailers are getting in on the action so you no longer have to wait for cyber monday or fight the crowds. so these beautiful sterling silver earrings only $20. and for black friday they have black diamonds and they're offering free fedex shipping on black friday. >> okay. >> also kohl's is having beautiful jewelry at 50% off all their fine jewelry. >> online. >> on both. >> so save your feet and -- yeah. do it on the computer. and then fragrances. justin biobieber was just here. >> he has a new fragrance and macy's is having a deal where if you buy it you get his new cd. if you buy a fragrance for $65, they're giving away free digital

video recorders. so that's a great deal for free. >> get it going. now this i love. look at this bag. >> we're seeing a lot of deals on hand bags and shoes, so express is having 40% off all of their holiday bags. >> so what would this bag retail for? >> 40% off. >> all 40% off. >> and the boots? >> these are from j.c. penney's. they have over 100 styles of boots for under $30. also if you go into their store and you sign in on foursquare, they're giving $25 to the salvation army. so it's sort of a gift that keeps on giving. >> that's my favorite, favorite charities, they're amazing the work they do. also, bags too. >> this is endless.com and they're having huge savings on bags and jewelry and shoes. for instance, these are clog booties. they're $300. on black friday you can get them for 200, so $100 off. >> it makes a huge difference. and who doesn't want a coffee

pot for christmas, right? >> things that they really almost give away. walmart has this waffle maker for $3. three bucks, it's crazy. it's the kind of thing that's a stocking stuffer. or if you're in the market for this stuff, why not buy it. >> and then gift it. terrific. i think we're going upstairs to hoda. >> we certainly are. there are also some great gifts for the men in your life. joining me here is matt bean, the senior contributing editor at "men's health" magazine. if you're wondering what to buy your man, this thing is going hot. >> check this out. 42-inch from sharp, only $200 at best buy. >> how is that possible, a $200 flat screen? >> normally $800. you've got to get in there and get one of those tvs from sharp. great deal. >> so stuff for the guys. camera. >> we've got a great 16 mega pic pixel camera, guess what, $90. normally $160.

>> that is half? i can't do math. okay, the kindle. >> tablets are a hot thing and right now this is the kindle 3g with wi-fi. it's $149. plus a $20 gift card at staples. all the other tablets will be on sale as well. the best thing on these is that you can read "men's health" on them. >> look at your little plug. this is always a great gift for men. >> this is the elegant shaving kit. a guy who likes to take his time with the beard. $25 off anything $100 and up. >> where are they from? >> art of shaving, right here in new york. beautiful, beautiful gifts. >> let's bundle our guy up for the winter. this hat is probably popular. tell us about this for the guys. >> so j.c. penney, lots of great gifts going on. this claiborne wallet for $15, hats and scarves and gloves 60% off. bulova watches, $99.

and then a higher version, $374, normally $500. >> and these scarves look nice. >> luxurious. if you get in there before 1:00, you've got to act quick, you can get 40% off. the rest of the day it's 25%. the sweater over here, this is normally 80, $90. you save 20 bucks. >> is this from banana too. >> i love this deal. $99 for this overcoast at macy's. great deals, normally $300. >> you are kidding. that is beautiful. it's got the whole deal. who's better than matt? >> i try. coming up next, we haven't forgotten the little ones. every kid's witsh list is comin up right after this. hi, could you read my list?

it's all crossed out... it's 'cause i got everything on it. boom! thank you! [ male announcer ] no need to wait with our christmas price guarantee. if you find a lower price on a local print ad before christmas, we'll give you the difference on a walmart gift card.

it's all crossed out... it's 'cause i got everything on it. boom! thank you! [ male announcer ] black friday continues on saturday. get great deals throughout the store on christmas decorations. the only place to go black friday weekend. walmart. hellmann's and holiday leftovers become irresistibly creamy turkey casserole. real delicious hellmann's. make it real. make it different.

imagine a day when we can eat what we want and sleep soundly through the night. prevacid®24hr prevents the acid that causes frequent heartburn all day, all night. go to prevacid24hour.com for a $4 coupon. it's all crossed out... it's 'cause i got everything on it. boom! thank you! [ male announcer ] no need to wait with our christmas price guarantee. if you find a lower price on a local print ad before christmas, we'll give you the difference on a walmart gift card.

[ male announcer ] what if we could keep enough plastic waste to cover all of manhattan out of landfills each year? the equivalent of 140 million trash bags, gone. by using new glad trash bags, designed with reinforcing bands to be stronger with less plastic waste, we can. ♪ it's a small change that can make a big difference. ♪ we're back with today's holiday gift guide. if you're dreading hitting the stores today, i don't blame you. >> toy insider has done all the work for you so you can just

grab and go. it's the annual list of the hottest toys and it's out. lori is here with the inside scoop. >> and you look like santa's elf in that outfit. >> oh, thank you. let's start with our busy ball popper. put the balls in his ears and look, kids don't know where they're coming out. that gets them more active. >> and mommy gets to go get them all. that's the way that works. >> now, pokio teaches kids learning through laughter and now we have a wiggle track. >> i like that. >> wuk tue can turn the track i racetrack or even turn this into a hamster wheel. it's lots of fun for the kids. >> i don't know if you remember,

but i gave you a sneak peek of lite brite in february. >> and we have not gotten over that. >> now you get to see someone playing with it, it's beautiful. it's all about the lights and they share color. it's beautiful. it is one of the hottest toys for girls, they love it. it's magical. >> do you like it? okay. >> let's go to taylor with his big hands. >> these are called big hands. it stands for become incredibly gigantic. and he has real articulation in every single finger. >> how about do your number one. >> nice try. >> so we know that kids love to play games on their parents' tablet. so this is made for the ipad called app maze. >> this is ryan. >> he's got a virtual play map that he's going through. he drives all over and it's safe for the ipad.

>> let's move on -- >> i'd never be bored in today's world. >> how about michael? >> he is playing a video game that plays on every single platform. let me show you what's exciting. michael is playing but this is the port and the power. i can take this character off. i can decide to be this character today. this character is going to jump back in. now if michael wants to go to his friend's house, he can take this toy, all the experiences he got here, he can go there. toys with brains. >> is it cool? >> he says it's very cool. >> let's move over here to the create and color with amanda and sara. >> they're coloring a unicorn. this is a create and color. first they create it and then color it. they have a kid-size piece of art. >> let's move down to our jamming music people. >> paper jams band. they can play the guitar. this is active graphics, but here's the mic.

you have your phone on? okay. >> everyone has a story. >> but look at this. so this is perfect pitch technology. chorus, harmony and you'll like this song. ♪ everywhere you go, take a look at the 5 and 10, delivering once again with candy canes and silver lanes aglow ♪ >> we're going out on that, kids. ♪ oh, i love the sound of my own voice every single day ♪ >> we'll show you delicious dishes right after this. ♪ ♪ [ female announcer ] it's the holiday sale at famous footwear. ♪ ♪ winter wonderland, oh, my

[ female announcer ] buy one pair of shoes, get another pair half off. ♪ we'll make today famous, it's true ♪ [ female announcer ] spectacular savings on the brand names you love. famous footwear. make today famous. it's all crossed out... it's 'cause i got everything on it. boom! thank you! [ male announcer ] black friday continues on saturday. get great deals throughout the store on christmas decorations. the only place to go black friday weekend. walmart. fantastic! [ man ] pro-gresso they fit! okay-y... okay??? i've been eating progresso and now my favorite old jeans...fit. okay is there a woman i can talk to? [ male announcer ] progresso. 40 soups 100 calories or less. -why? -why? -why? [ female announcer ] we all age differently. roc® multi-correxion 4 zone moisturizer with roc®retinol and antioxidants. lines, wrinkles, and sun damage will fade.

roc multi-correxion. correct what ages you. it's all crossed out... it's 'cause i got everything on it. boom! thank you! [ male announcer ] no need to wait with our christmas price guarantee. if you find a lower price on a local print ad before christmas, we'll give you the difference on a walmart gift card. it's all crossed out... it's 'cause i got everything on it. boom! thank you! [ male announcer ] black friday continues on saturday. get great deals throughout the store on christmas decorations. the only place to go black friday weekend. walmart.

[ zapping ] there goes dwayne's car. oh, man. there goes dwayne's house. whoa! whoa! and there goes dwayne. man, that thing does not like dwayne. [ male announcer ] state farm's got you covered. nice landing. it was. [ male announcer ] get to a better state.

in today's kitchen we're getting salty with tonya steele.

>> if you're tired of turkey, she's going to show you how to reinvent leftovers. good to see you, lady. >> you know what, who wants to be a clodhopper and have dried up, yucky turkey from a microwave. let's make something different with it. >> what do we do? >> okay, buns of steel, let's do it. >> i'm afraid that's not true. okay, so you have some threshre turkey. now, this is barbecue sauce that we made. it only takes ten minutes. so you shred some turkey. barbecue is just brown sugar and tomato puree, bacon. >> i thought that was chocolate at first. >> now what we're going to do is make a manwich. >> just what everybody needs after thanksgiving, a manwich. >> so you're going to have your toasted buns, there you go.

and we're going to plate up the turkey. you're going to heat this through, right. >> okay. toss it right on there. >> a fancy sloppy joe kind of thing. >> that's exactly what it is. >> what do we have, a little coleslaw we put on there? >> yeah. >> epicurious, by the way, has great recipes for everything. >> hoda, how do you know that? >> someone made it for me. >> delicious, thank you. >> with the stuffing, what do we do with the stuffing? >> if you're lucky to have leftover stuffing, which i never do, i just stand in front of the fridge and eat it. okay, so we're going to add eggs. >> do you like yours sunny side up or over easy? >> it's like egg hash. >> mmm. >> good idea.

that's such a clever idea. >> when you make fried eggs you always want to cover about two minutes. >> look how good that is. >> this is actually sunny side up. a little bit liquidy. >> a little more. >> that looks delicious, though. >> you're going to plate this up. i'm going to do this because -- >> that's what you do. >> that's what i do, that's what i am. and i love to eat, even though it's right after thanksgiving. >> the thing is, no matter how much you eat on thanksgiving, you are hungry the next day. it's ridiculous. >> your stomach has stretched and now you're ready to eat all the time, right? >> can i just try the stuffing? >> there's no stuffing in the world like my mom's. i'm a stuffing snob. >> delicious. real quick. >> you've got leftover mashed potatoes, you add bacons and shallots and top them with some

cheddar cheese. bake it in the up and that is delicious. >> here's hoda's favorite, cranberries. >> mix a little sherry, whipped cream and vanilla ice cream, pound cake. >> thank you. >> thank you, honey. >> up next a performance from grammy nominated singing sensation susan boyle. first, this is "today" on nbc.

and we leave you this friday with the scottish singer who took the world by storm, of course, talking about susan boyle. >> here she is singing "autumn leaves." have a wonderful holiday weekend, everybody. >> bye-bye, see ya.

♪ autumn leaves under frozen souls ♪ ♪ hungry hands turning soft and old ♪ ♪ my hero cried as we stood out there in the cold ♪ ♪ like these autumn leaves i don't have nothing to hold ♪ ♪ handsome smile, wearing handsome shoes ♪ ♪ too young to say, though i swear he knew ♪ ♪ and i hear him singing as he

sits there in the chair ♪ ♪ while these autumn leaves float around everywhere ♪ ♪ and i look at you, and i see me ♪ ♪ making noise so restlessly ♪ but now it's quiet and i can hear you sing ♪ ♪ my little fish don't cry, my little fish don't cry ♪ ♪ autumn leaves, they are fading

now ♪ ♪ that smile i lost, well i've found somehow ♪ ♪ because you still live on in my father's eyes ♪ ♪ these autumn leaves, all these autumn leaves ♪ ♪ all these autumn leaves are yours tonight ♪

good morning, everyone, and welcome to news4 midday. i'm barbara harrison, it's friday, november 25th, 2011. and we begin with breakg