good morning. dramatic rescue. divers off the coast of italy pull one survivor from the ill-fated cruise ship this morning. at least 17 others are unaccounted for. we'll hear from two american passengers who were on board the ship in an exclusive interview. speaking out. former penn state football coach joe paterno opens up for the first time about his role in the child sex abuse scandal that ended his storied career. from shock, to sadness, paterno explains his reaction to the allegations that have rocked the entire sports community. and, oh, no tebow. after captivating the nation in a season of come from behind victories, tim tebow and the denver broncos were pounded by

the new england patriots. but might this be the end of tebow mania? we'll find out "today," sunday, tebow mania? we'll find out "today," sunday, january 15th, 200012. captions paid for by nbc-universal television good morning, everyone. welcome to "today" on a sunday morning. i'm lester holt. >> and i'm jenna wolfe. i spent a good portion of yesterday just watching football. i wanted to see tebow, but the niners/saints game. the first 58 minutes, who cares. the last two minutes were off the charts. >> the first two minutes were all a nightmare. >> basically. >> big football. we want to talk more about that coming up but we do want to talk about the big story still taking place in italy, the cruise ship disaster. rescuers have now located a third survivor on board. there are reports the ship's purser apparently found in one of the restaurants. we know at least three people

are dead, 17 others are unaccounted for. divers will try to enter the ship today in search of other survivors. the ship's captain has been detained. he faces several charges, including manslaughter. two americans who were on board the ship are going to be joining us exclusively in a few moments. we'll hear about their harrowing ordeal. >> then we're going to switch gears and talk politics. less than a week to go before south carolina's primary, gop candidates are pulling out all the stops as mitt romney's rival's are trying to stop him from going three for three. we'll bring you the latest on that. >> big night in hollywood. the golden globe awards, honoring the best in film and tv. ricky gervais is back as the host. he will definitely va lot of people talking tomorrow about what he said tonight. we're going to have a preview of what you can expect tonight on stage and on the red carpet. >> and then speaking of hollywood, it's been 20 years since dolly parton graced the silver screen. the country music legend sat down with us recently to talk about her new movie with queen latifah called "joyful noise"

and she herself was such a joy. >> we want to begin this morning with the latest in the rescue effort under way off the coast of italy. divers continue to search the area for survivors. when the luxury cruise liner overturned, michelle kosinski joins us from porto santo stefano italy. michelle, good morning. >> good morning, lester. the press here is calling this the italian "titanic." at least three people have lost their lives. the good news is a number of those unaccounted for just dropped significantly today to 17. while people were being rescued, they were worried that passengers were still trapped on board and they were right. this happened friday night. the last rescue, an hour and a half ago. this man, just rescued. spent more than 36 hours trapped inside that ship. this video shows just a leading edge. the swells of panic that

engulfed the "costa concordia" friday night. >> we're not going to make it. >> reporter: when survivors were able to climb their way into life boats, the ship already tilted sharply, and sinking. fast. it started just after 10:00 p.m. hours after the nearly 1,000 foot cruise ship left its port, many guests were at dinner. heard a loud rumble. the ship had struck a rock. lights out, dishes crashing, sending more than 4,000 passengers and crew scrambling. >> the rescue was awful. i mean, it was very, very disorganized. >> reporter: they describe what they had only seen in movies. the panic. falling nearly vertically up hallways. some said it took more than an hour for lifeboats to be lowered. by then the ship was on its side. >> it was very difficult for the lifeboats to get down because the ship was very at an angle.

and so the lifeboat can't go down the side of the boat like this. and so one with 200 people got caught on the railing and the lifeboat tipped sideways and it fell and swung and everybody's screaming. >> it took us five tries on different boats to get on. my husband and i finally got on and we just feel so fortunate. we feel so fortunate that we made it on a boat, because others didn't. >> reporter: forcing many, entire families, to choose a jump into the cold, dark sea. hundreds of yards from shore. >> i was swimming, i keep looking at the boat coming. i wanted to make sure to get further he away from the front. and i got on my back, kick, kick, kick, kick, kick. swim, swim. >> reporter: others were rescued by helicopters, small boats. italian cruise line is owned by the american company carnival. but in a statement, heartfelt condolences. this is a terrible tragedy and we are deeply saddened.

the rescue crews continue to searching. and with good reason. last night, more than 24 hours after this started, a south korean couple on their honeymoon were found alive, on board. investigators arrested the captain. why on the route this ship traveled every week suddenly struck rocks, lost power, a 160 foot gash in its hull. officials believe there were 125 americans on board and that none were hurt. the captain who's under investigation for abandoning ship and manslaughter has just been quoted as saying that his navigational charts showed that the water was deep enough to be where he was but did not show the rock that he hit. lester? >> michelle kosinski. thank you. blake miller and steve garcia were on board the "costa concordia" cruise line as it sank. they join us now from rome.

we appreciate you being here. steve, let me start with you, i understand the sound of the ship striking ground was unmistakeal. you went for the life boats. was that your instinct or were you getting any kind of instruction at that point? >> we were getting instruction, but we were getting conflicting instructions. we originally were in one of the bars and were planning on going to a few more and then the ship started to list, and that's when we went back to our cabin, and while we were there we heard a horrible scraping sound, and we decided to run out for the lifeboats and fortunately we had read where the lifeboats were, because we weren't told anything, some of the crew was telling us to go up, and we saw people running down, so we kind of figured that's where we needed to be. >> my understanding it was early enough in the cruise that they had not gone through the evacuation drill. blake, as you left the ship, we see it as it lies now, totally on its side, did that happen right away or was it slowly starting to list as you were getting off?

>> well, it actually listed to one side, to the left, while we were in our cabin with the balcony, then when we got down to the lifeboat it righted itself and we thought it was going to be fine and then it started listing again to the other side it eventually sank on. and it really, i honestly did not have a true understanding f of -- of how bad it was until we were on the lifeboat, and looked back and saw the first row of windows under water. and people screaming, that couldn't get on a lifeboat who were on the boat. that's when we realized how much it was really tilting. >> i understand this is very emotional experience you've been through. steve, i know that you met some issues once you got on the island in terms of a bit of confusion. no one was taking names. no one was really accounting for folks. how bad were things? >> it was horrible.

the only thing that worked for us was the passengers. you know, it's amazing that none of us spoke the same language but we knew how to take care of each other. but the crew couldn't figure that out. we had shopkeepers opened up for us. a school opened, a church. we had nuns in the school that were giving us heat, for those of us that didn't have jackets. and there was the church, as well. but the people of giglio were beyond compare. really what i would expect from my own hometown of austin, texas. it was very comforting to have them there. >> we understand 125 americans on board. has anyone from the amnesty dealt with the americans? are you being taken care of in terms of your passports and other belongings that you left on board? >> yes. yes, we actually just found out there were actually 129 americans. i spoke to the embassy this morning. finally. and they have been trying to find us, apparently, and costa had no information, they called

hotels, they had no information of where we were. and i just happened to see a lady with a clipboard in the lobby this morning and i saw my name, and i said is my name on there for a reason? and she said we're looking for you. and i said i checked into the hotel, maybe you should cross-reference. being in the hotel business myself it's just such a common thing you would do. the lack of care for the customers. the embassy, yes, has definitely reached out to us and they're open until 4:00 rome time today and we're going over to get our passports after this interview. >> we're glad you're safe. we appreciate the time you spent with us this morning. blake miller, steve garcia, we appreciate it. now here's jenna. lester, thanks. we'll switch gears now and talk politics. and the final push in south carolina. with the primary there now just six days away, the latest polls show mitt romney as the clear front-runner. can the other candidates close the gap? david gregory is moderator of "meet the press," joins us this morning. hey, david. >> hey, jenna, how are you? >> i'm good. so it's a tight race between gingrich and romney. does this surprise you at all? and how much of this is because

gingrich has backed off criticizing mitt romney and his time as ceo at bain capital? >> a little bit cautious about the numbers we're seeing in south carolina right now. i think we'll get a better picture as we get into the week with some of our own polling. but, look, if you are santorum, if you are gingrich, the fight that you have been leading against romney is twofold. certainly for gingrich, it's attacking the business record, which has been controversial. but more generally it's attacking him on his conservative credentials. it's a conservative state. more socially conservative than new hampshire. certainly on par with iowa in that sense. and that's going to be the pitch to these voters to say, look, this is kind of the final stance for social conservatives to try to stop romney. >> you mentioned rick santorum. he's only pulling in 7% there in south carolina. he did pick up a big vote, the evangelical vote. is it too little, too late, though, for him to have their support? >> well, that's the real question. whether -- he got this report but does he really have the votes? as long as he's in, as long as perry's in, and gingrich, the difficulty is that that vote could still be split up.

it could be 60% of the electorate down there in the primary, if you look at what it was four years ago. but if that gets split up among several of the candidates, then romney stands to benefit. it's just like john mccain. he faced mike huckabee four years ago and fred thompson. that vote got split up a little bit and mccain was able to win with 33% of the vote. that could be romney's playbook this time. >> if mitt romney comes into south carolina and takes the state, he'll be three for three. will we be looking at the next gop nominee? >> in all practical purposes, yes. if he does that he can follow it up with florida, michigan, into super tuesday where money and organization matter. i think he really can close the door. if he can win, if he can overcome concerns about him among conservatives, south carolina is the place since 1980 that really chooses the republican nominee. >> and that puts the pressure on newt gingrich, speaking of. what's coming up on "meet the press"? >> we're going to talk to gingrich. i mean, he is leading the charge. in so many different ways, against romney. and we'll have an opportunity to talk to him live this morning

from charleston. to see how he thinks romney can be 1207ed. >> all right, david gregory. thank you. >> thanks, jenny. >> want to head over to the news desk now for the rest of the top stories with cnbc's mandy drury is back with us. >> good morning, everyone. accused of fatally stabbing at least four homeless men in the anaheim area in the past month. the suspect's family said he served with the marines in iraq and residents say one of the victims was a vietnam veteran. it's been more than a month since a toddler in maine disappeared from her father's home in waterville. investigators still have no signs of 20-month-old ayla reynolds. police expect foul play. a russian spacecraft is expected to come crashing down within hours. it had been designed to travel to mars but got stuck in earth's orbit. the u.s. is outside the risk area and scientists estimate the risk of the probe crashing into

any prop lated areas is minimal. one away for the san francisco 49ers to celebrate the 30-year anniversary of the catch. joe montana, alex smith and davis now. completed a 14 yard touchdown pass to davis with nine seconds left for a wild 36-32 win over the new orleans saints. time tebow's denver broncos didn't fare as well against the new england patriots. we'll have more on that match-up in a few minutes. and there she is the newest miss america is a 23-year-old college student from kenosha, wisconsin. laura kaeppeler won the pageant after singing opera and declaring miss america represents everyone. miss new york finished third. and that is the news. now back to lester, jenna, and janice. >> all right, mandy, thank you very much. >> thanks, janice. our first check of the weather. >> good morning. it's been cold out there. you ready? get bundled up. in the pacific northwest today,

too, some more cold air across that region with some snow from seattle into the cascades. actually in and around the seattle area, you may see one to three inches of snow and more than a foot in the cascades. and there are more storms coming up this week. in the meantime, all that warm air in the middle of the country that you saw this week, temperatures were some 20 degrees above average over the central and southern plains. that's going to go by the wayside as the cooler air pours in, but it will get above normal in the east where we're cold this morning. it's 19 degrees in boston and temperatures are right around 20 in new york city. we're expecting readings only in the 20s all day long, so winter is here. that's a check of your forecast. now here's what's happening where you live. >> and a good sunday morning. i'm storm 4 meteorologist chuck bell, and we are off to a sunny but cold start here in the nation's capital. temperatures mostly in the 20s early on your sunday, but there are some colder spots than that. manassas and gaithersburg both down into the upper teens this morning. western fairfax county, upper

montgomery county, a lot of upper teens to near 30 along the chesapeake bay. it's going to be a good looking day today. plenty of sunshine, some passing clouds but chilly. bundle up today with highs only in the 30s. now here's jenna. >> all right, janice, thanks. up next on "today," we're talking football. the game between the denver broncos' tim tebow and new england patriots tom brady, much-anticipated battle. details right after this. florida's natural orange juice taste so uniquely fresh and delicious? is it the rich florida soil? or the perfect blend of sunshine, rain, and temperature? maybe it's the fact that florida's natural oranges are never imported. they're raised right here in florida, and passed with care from our hands to yours. 100% pure. 100% florida. florida's natural. but also a caring touch. you learn to get a feel for the trouble spots.

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one of the most hyped game in nfl history ended up being a blowout last night as tom brady and the new england patriots crushed tim tebow's denver broncos, settled for this, 45-10. even in a losing effort the polarizing denver quarterback appears to be winning the fascination of the sporting world. here's nbc's mark potter. >> reporter: despite all the hype and the millions of viewers watching the playoff game just to him, tim tebow finally ran out of miracles. his denver broncos clobbered by veteran quarterback tom brady, and the new england patriots. >> i played like always. >> reporter: still the national obsession over tim tebow is unlikely to fade. >> even with a loss, tebow mania is going to continue not just unabated, it is only going to ratchet up, accelerate, intensify, because tebow mania

is here to stay, i guarantee it. >> reporter: tebow mania has been a huge bonanza for the nfl and the tv networks, drawing record audiences. even though tebow's game stats were not always great. >> does he have a typical throwing motion? no. does he have the accuracy that a lot of the other quarterbacks we see in the nfl have? no. but he has a huge heart. >> reporter: tebow's humanitarian work and his public displays of evangelical faith, pointing to the heavens after a successful play, and bowing on the field in a pose known as tebowing, attracted millions of supporters. >> no matter whether you pray to god, whether you like god, whether you -- no matter who you are or what you do, there's a lot about tim tebow to like. >> reporter: the now famous pose has been copied around the world. but there are also detractors wishing he would soften some of his public religious ardor. controversial "saturday night live" skit portrayed a visit from jesus to the locker room. >> i love you. okay. >> i love you, too. >> okay, all right.

but just take it down a notch, will you, buddy? >> yes, whatever you command. >> not a command, just a request. >> reporter: late night host jimmy fallon sang about him tebowing. ♪ this is jesus christ to tim tebow please leave me alone ♪ ♪ don't you know my day of rest sunday ♪ >> reporter: love him or not, tim tebow has taken pro football and its fans by storm. but for this season, it's done now. for "today," mark potter, nbc news, miami. >> you know, say what you will about him and the way his team's played and all that it's been fun to watch him and the broncos play this season because of who he is and what he's brought. >> a tough end to the season. >> very, very tough. but a surprisingly good season for them. >> yeah. >> yeah. we're going to take a break. we're back but first these messages. ac... and major medical? major medical, boyyyy! [ beatboxing ]

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still to come on "today," the sexual abuse scandal at penn state. cost joe paterno his job and his first interview since the scandal broke paterno gives his side of the story. >> plus, and the winner is. stars of tv and film will gather tonight for the golden globes. what can you expect from host ricky gervais? -good morning, dave. -good morning, dave. dave. -hey, dave. -hey, dave. hey. -hey, dave. -mr. dave. -dave. -what's up, dave? -dave. -dave. dave. dave. dave? hi, dave. oh, dave's looking for you. hey, dave. yo, dave! [ male announcer ] in a small business, it's all you. that's why you have us. at staples, we have low prices on everything your small business needs. staples. that was easy. metamucil uses super hard working psyllium fiber,

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taking a live look at our city cam. washington is waking up to a cold morning, but the sunshine may help. good morning, everyone.

it's 8:26 on this sunday, january 15th, 2012, and i'm chris gordon. well, the man suspected in a series of home invasions in maryland is behind bars this morning. kevin ray was arrested in kitty hawk, north carolina. he is wanted in a string of home invasions last week in bethesda, wheaton and temple hills. ray remains in custody pending an extradition hearing. prince george's county police have identified a body wrapped in plastic in capitol heights as 31-year-old perry earl hunt. investigators say that a maintenance worker found him behind an apartment complex dumpster on doewood lane early friday morning. if you know anything about this case, call prince george's county police. we'll get a check on your forecast next. stay with us.

let's go to chuck bell in storm center 4 now. >> good morning, chris, and good morning, everybody out there in the news 4 nation this morning. sunshine has returned to the washington area but, boy, do we need it. temperatures are on the low side. 19 right now in manassas, 21 in frederick, maryland, 21 in gaithersburg, only about 25 degrees in fairfax and vienna this morning 29 at solomons island. our forecast for today, plenty of sunshine with a few fair-weather clouds, not going to bother anybody. no precipitation is on the way, but it stays cold. it's a bundle-up day, for sure. temperatures only in the low to mid-30s for highs today, back into the upper 30s to near 40 degrees tomorrow, but tomorrow the clouds are going to be coming back, so it will be a

little milder, but it might actually feel a little colder because of the disappearing sun. back to you, chris. >> thank you, chuck. join us for a full hour of "news 4 today" coming up at 9:00. january 15th, 2012. outside on a very cold plaza. you wouldn't know -- other than this one outside on the same very cold plaza i'm jenna wolf along side lester holt. and coming up in this half hour we're talking about joe paterno and he's finally speaking out about the whole sex scandal that actually cost him his job. >> did an interview and talked about his judgment, and what he knew, perhaps before the accusation came in. so we're going to hear more about that. plus hollywood's a-listers are

preparing to walk the red carpet tonight for the golden globe awards. the winners, losers and fashion, all may be upstaged by host ricky gervais who is planning for another years of no-holds-barred jokes. we're going to get a preview. >> and then country music icon dolly parton stopped by to see us this week to chat about her newfound chemistry with queen latifah, of all people, in the movie "joyful noise." after all these years she has so much energy and she's really excited about it. she actually hasn't done a movie in 20 years. >> looks like a cute film. plus we asked, you answered. last week we asked you to submit your favorite photos as part of our news segment called today's life illustrated. we can't wait to show you what you sent. >> a absolutely love that. but first another check of this balmy weather. >> oh, you're so funny. it's so cold out here. the crowd is not huge, but they're hardy.

and the windchill is about 5. we have a birthday girl this morning. what's your name? >> haley. >> and how old are you? >> 10. >> is that your sister? >> yes. >> did she make that sign? >> yes. >> there's haley. you look really cool. let's care. you look really cute. let's check the weather and see what's happening across the country. we've got cold weather here in the northeast, but in the middle portion of the nation, it's quiet and it's mild. the temperatures have been running some 20 degrees above average from the northern plains all the way down to texas. even denver today, you'll see a high of 60, but some cold air will come in pretty soon from the pacific northwest, so your temperatures will drop. look for a high of 71 in miami today. tomorrow's martin luther king jr. day. a lot of you have the day off. expect sunshine up and down the eastern seaboard. it warms up in the northeast and stays warm through the southern states, too, or mild, we should say. rain moving through the ohio and mississippi river valley tomorrow, sunshine in the southwest and a few snow showers in the northwest. and she's not miss america, but she is the birthday girl. what's your name?

>> hadley. >> and how old are you today? >> 16. >> great! happy birthday to you. that's what's going on around the nation. now here's your local forecast. good sunday morning, everybody. i'm storm 4 meteorologist chuck bell. we're off to a sunny but cold start on a sunday morning here in washington. temperatures will rise but only slowly this afternoon. we're at 27 right now at national airport, 25 at leesburg, 21 martinsburg and hagerstown, also in frederick, maryland, 30 in fredericksburg. low to mid-30s today, plenty of sunshine today. clouds come back tomorrow, which will lead to rain for tuesday, but it will be rain and not snow. when we're not around you can always check your weather any time, logon to weather.com. >> all right, janice, thank you very much. joe paterno, the former head coach of penn state's football team is speaking out for the first time since the school sex scandal erupted. we're going to speak to the reporter who interviewed paterno in just a moment. but first nbc's michelle franzen joins us with the latest. good morning. >> good morning, jenna.

the legendary coach and fixture at penn state for more than 60 years opened up for the first time, granting an interview to "the washington post" and expressing regret for not doing more to follow up on those alleged abuse allegations. it was his first interview in the wake of the penn state sex abuse scandal. fired head coach joe paterno told "the washington post" how he reacted when he received a report assistant coach jerry sandusky may have abused a boy. >> and then i called my superiors, and i said, hey, we got a problem i think. would you guys look into it. cause i didn't know, you know. i had never had to deal with something like that. i didn't feel adequate. >> reporter: in 20022002, then-graduate mike mcqueary testified he saw him with a boy in a shower. he went to athletic director tim curley but admits he didn't follow up, saying quote, i didn't know exactly how to handle it.

in behind sight i wish i had done more. paterno is not accused of any legal wrongdoing but has faced criticism for not doing enough to address the allegations of abuse. sandusky was charged with more than 50 counts of child sexual abuse that date more than a decade. he maintains his innocence. paterno called his relationship with the former assistance coach professional, not social. "washington post" columnist sally jenkins says paterno still seems baffled by the charges and won't say if he believes sandusky is guilty. at 85, the legendary coach is now fighting lung cancer. over the weekend, paterno was admitted to the hospital for observation. jenkins says chemotherapy and radiation treatments have made him frail. despite his health problems and the ongoing scandal, paterno tells jenkins, he is not concerned about himself, or his legacy. >> i've had a wonderful experience here at penn state. i don't want to walk away from this thing bitter.

>> jerry sandusky's lawyer released a statement saying sandusky and his wife admire and respect the paternos and called the dismissal of paterno by penn state a knee-jerk reaction. jenna? >> michelle franzen, thanks. sally jenkins is "the washington post" columnist who we just heard about who interviewed joe pat earno, joins us this morning. sally, thanks for being here. >> good morning. >> so i have to say in reading your story, it does paint this picture of a very frail man, of a very sick man. does he -- is he lucid? does he fully understand everything that has happened so far? >> he's pretty lucid. he does wander a bit. he's hard of hearing now. the chemotherapy has made him a little bit foggy at times. and so, you know, we couldn't talk for very long periods. the reason i did it in two interviews was because he actually didn't have the strength to really have a prolonged conversation so we did two different sessions. >> paterno maintains he went through the proper channels, he believes he went through the

proper channels in reporting this scandal. so does he understand the criticism that's been lodged against him? >> he does. he believes he did the right thing, as he understood it at the time. he did fulfill his legal obligations to report the incident to his superiors, tim curley and gary schultz at penn state. what he's criticized for is not following up more aggressively. and when you ask him point-blank, why didn't you follow up on this report that ray boy had been abused in the showers, what he says is, i didn't want to interfere in a process that i was very unsure of. he felt like he didn't want to tilt any investigation, you know, that had to do with jerry sandusky one way or the other. he was afraid of exerting any influence on the case. he also said, this is interesting, and maybe a little surprising, that he really was, i think, so baffled by the subject matter, he presents himself as someone who was very naive about the subject matter. that he didn't feel adequate, he didn't feel that he understood

the accusation well enough. and that is something that people have to sort of judge for themselves. >> sally, why now? why is joe paterno speaking out now? we really haven't heard much from him at length since this all broke in october. >> i think two reasons. i think the first reason is that some of the boil has come out of the water since he was dismissed. there was such a, you know, a heightened level of tension in state college when he was fired. the students rioted. and i think that he felt that at that time it was the wrong time for him to speak, because emotions were just running too high. as he told me, he wanted everybody to settle down. and then i think the illness. i think the he wanted to get his story out. he wants to -- he wants to speak out while he still can, just in case his health fails. i suspect that had something to do with it. so i figure it's a combination of factors. >> i think what i was most taken aback by was the way that joe paterno was fired. as he tells it, an assistant athletic director showed up at paterno's house and handed him a

piece of paper with a phone number on it. when he called it a university official told paterno, in the best interest of the university, you are terminated. that is it. after all the years he served there. how did he handle it? how did he explain the story to you? >> as he explained to me, he and his wife sue were shocked. it happened at 10:00 at night, by phone. it was a very chilly dismissal. they were deeply upset for the first couple of days. he -- i asked him what his reaction was, he said initially, you know, he wanted to raise hell, as he put it. but he said he slept on it for a couple of nights and realized the better thing to do was to take the high road. he had 61 great years. he wanted to be grateful for the length of his career and grateful for his experience at penn state and didn't want to walk away bitter, as you heard. >> sally jenkins, we thank you so much for your time this morning for being with us. >> thank you. up next, hollywood's awards season kicks into high gear tonight with the golden globes. what can we expect? you'll find out right after this.

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including best comedy or musical. >> it will definitely win best comedy. it will definitely win best actor in a comedy for its star, and i think its director will win best director, as well. >> reporter: and this could be one terrific night for george clooney, who's got a total of four nominations as actor, director, writer and producer. >> grow up. >> you really don't have a clue, do you? >> reporter: his performance in "the descendants" makes him the favorite to win the golden globe for best actor in a drama. and while he also appeared in "the ids of march," a political thriller, it's his behind-the-scenes work as director, cowriter and co-producer that could earn clooney additional globes. >> i am a fan of movies. so my job is to try to make films that last longer than an opening weekend. >> reporter: in the best actress in a drama category, hollywood handicappers think viola davis has the inside track for her role as a maid in "the help."

aside from the awards, there's going to be a lot of attention paid to the host, ricky gervais. last year, his cutting remarks had many hollywood notables in a huff. >> many of you in this room probably know him best from such films as the betty ford clinic and los angeles county jail. please welcome robert downey jr. >> reporter: downey called that mean spirited. but, in an interview with matt lauer on "today," gervais said viewers should expect more of the same. >> i don't think anything i said last year was offensive, so it's going to be as offensive as that. >> he's going to be super outrageous. nobody in that ball room is safe. >> reporter: and super outrageous is always good for ratings, since hollywood's annual televised red carpet rituals get rolling. for "today," george lewis, nbc news, los angeles. and you can catch all the glitz, glamour and gervais on the golden globes tonight at 8:00 eastern, 5:00 pacific, right here on nbc.

and now, here's jenna. dolly parton is more than a little bit country. but now she's gone gospel in the new movie "joyful noise" where she teams up with queen latifah, an old couple pairing, at least to some on-screen fireworks. take a look. >> if i got to -- >> and dolly parton and her anger management joins us this morning. you have a good arm there. >> i did. >> it was one take, too, you hit the tray every single time? >> actually i was pretty good at hitting the tray. but i banged her a time or two. >> there was definitely no love loss between your character and queen latifah's. i think on paper people would be surprised. dolly parton, queen latifah, chemistry. >> we really did. we always thought we'd work well together i had other people say we would work well together.

when we met we really did gel, and i thought we did real well with the movie. we had a great time doing the show and i think it showed on-screen. >> speaking of the music. you had to write three songs. was that a must for you if you were going to do a movie you wanted to definitely have a -- a big part of the song writing and the song singing? >> yes, i was, especially doing something like this, i completely understood this kind of music, growing up in a goes pell background, my grandpa was a preacher. >> the thing with your grandfather -- >> those are the ones i wrote. >> that is beautiful song. really nice. you haven't done a movie in 20 years. why now? and why this movie? >> well, i couldn't not do it because it was so close to my personality. i got to wear all the hair. my character -- >> the whole nine yards. >> lives in a small town. but that's who i'd be if i was in show business. >> you have joked about plastic surgery and about your fashion and about all of it, and you make no qualms about it.

you are who you are, you're not making excuses for anything and you love that about you. >> well, that's who i am. because i'm not a natural beauty like people like you. >> oh, please. >> so i just kind of make the most of it. plus my personality is a little bit outrageous and over the top. i feel more comfortable. i get up in the morning, i dress for all day, all night. my makeup is basically the same. i just enjoy. you know, i just feel comfortable with the way i dress. >> that's all that matters, right? you worked hard and you worked with a lot of people over the years. a lot of really talented people. is there anyone you haven't worked with yet that you really at some point want to collaborate with? >> well, i would love to do a movie, or something to do with johnny depp be in the movie. >> johnny depp! >> i just love him. maybe do something about music some day. he could either be my son, we could sing. >> that is great. >> i have no idea. there's nothing i could think of we could do to the.

>> sure. that would be my answer to the question if you asked me the same thing. dolly parton, thank you so much. >> thank you. >> again the movie is joyful noise and it's in theaters right now. noise and it's in theaters right now. we'll be right back. same great taste with an added "way to go, me" feeling. splenda® essentials™. get more out of what you put in. my high school science teacher made me what i am today. our science teacher helped us build it. ♪ now i'm a geologist at chevron, and i get to help science teachers. it has four servo motors and a wireless microcontroller. over the last three years we've put nearly 100 million dollars into american education. that's thousands of kids learning to love science.

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it was a horrific crime that sent three teenagers to prison for the murder of three little boys. but after nearly two decades behind bars, the west memphis three are now free men, and it took two brave filmmakers who sought the truth to help win their freedom. may 5th, 1993, the bodies of three cub scouts are discovered in a wooded area of west memphis, arkansas. weeks later, three teenagers, damion echols, jesse miskelly

and baldwin are arrested. a year later despite the lack of physical evidence and allegations of coerced confessions, the three are found guilty. echols is sentenced to death while bald win and miskelly are sentenced to life terms. all three maintain their innocence. >> innocent until proven guilty, but in this case the other way around, guilty until proven innocent. >> reporter: in 1996 two filmmakers who had been documenting the case from the start released a shocking documentary "paradise lost," the first of what would later turn into a trilogy. the film starts a global movement to free what becomes known as the west memphis three. then an august 19th, 2011, under a rarely applied controversial law, damion echols, jesse miskelly and jason baldwin are set free after nearly two decades behind bars. now those two filmmakers who helped win the west memphis

three's freedom conclude with a new documentary paradise lost three purgatory. with us are the men behind paradise lost along with jason baldwin. good morning to all three of you. thanks for being here. jason i've got to start off with you for folks who have not followed this story. you are technically still convicted. >> that's right. >> to win your freedom you had to enter a plea and it was called an outford plea, basically says there was enough evidence to convict us, but we didn't do it. >> correct. >> is that right? >> yes. that's the basic premise of the alford plea. you're right, it is very rarely used. what it does is it presents opportunity for what a cell mate in the case where the state won't budge and grant a person freedom who was innocent of a crime based on their innocent, solely on that, we want to say based on guilty plea and conviction to say, hey, this guy according to us is guilty but he says he's innocent, and as on my end, i'm totally innocent of it.

but, they won't release me on that. >> the story is not finished yet. because there's still convicted. they're free, which was a huge thing. >> it was very bittersweet conclusion to this two decade journey. and the alford plea, you know, it's great that these guys are out and can try to clear their names from outside the prison walls. but, it's, i think the state of arkansas was extremely cowardly in not admitting that they just made a mistake. >> the previous films looked at the trial, the appeal. tell me what this third film focuses on. >> the third film we wanted it to be self-sufficient so that if people haven't seen the other two films, they could see the entire saga from the day of the arrest, from the day they got out, but in the film are some shocking allegations, alleged jury misconduct, new forensic evidence, all sorts of things that, you know, any reasonable person would say, there's no way these guys did this crime. >> what a lot of folks don't know is two of you went down originally to shoot a film about three bad kids. >> basically, we went down

thinking these guys are guilty. we're going to be sort of making a film about why three teenagers would kill three 8-year-old boys. and as time went on and as we met the families, especially jason, we had severe doubts that these guys actually did it. >> and i can't finish this interview without asking you, jason, how are you doing? after 18 years, what's life like? >> life is wonderful. people are just shown me so much love and support. you know, even before i was released, outpouring of letters and love saying, hey, we're praying for you. now since i've gotten out one of my favorite things to do is thanking people in person. >> inspiring story, and thank the two of you for bringing it to us, and bringing it to the world's attention. appreciate it. >> good man. >> i'm guessing that's not the first of hugs that have been exchanged between the three of you. >> with paradise lost three purgatory airs on hbo all month

and hbo on demand. jason baldwin, joe, bruce, thanks again for being here. we appreciate it. we'll be back in a moment. you have to dig a little. fidelity's etf market tracker shows you the big picture on how different asset classes are performing, and it lets you go in for a closer look at areas within a class or sector that may be bucking a larger trend. i'm stephen hett of fidelity investments. the etf market tracker is one more innovative reason serious investors are choosing fidelity. get 200 free trades today and explore your next investing idea. i make sure i've got the right guidance. turbotax has a unique gps feature that guides me to every deduction and credit i deserve, so i get my maximum refund, guaranteed. man: try turbotax now. get free, one-on-one, expert tax advice live, by phone or chat. flavored with real honey. powerful cold medicine that leaves out artificial flavors and dyes and instead uses something more natural, honey.

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>> last sunday we asked you to submit your favorite photos as part of our new segment "today's life illustrated" so we've seen thousands of images, many of them centered around animals. today we want to share some of those with you. >> if you don't see your photo on the show today, be sure to check out "today's life illustrated" on our website where we post new photos each week. that's it for today. have a fantastic sunday. take a look. >> enjoy.

take a look. >> enjoy. ♪ -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com ♪ ♪

good morning. i'm chris gordon. >> and i'm angie goff. welcome to "news 4 today" on this sunday, january 15th. had a great time at the expo yesterday. >> the health and fitness expo at the washington convention center. we're going to get live reports throughout this broadcast. >> we spent a lot of time with each other this weekend, but we want to get to your news first. the man suspected in a series of home invasions in maryland is behind bars this morning. local police tracked him down to kitty hawk, north carolina. according to online court documents, 33-year-old kevin ray has an extensive arrest record. they show he pleaded guilty to