good morning. deadly crash, six u.s. marines killed when their helicopter went down in southern afghanistan. an investigation now under way. we're live at the pentagon. the x factor. newt gingrich lashes out during a gop debate after being asked about his second wife's claim that he wanted an open marriage. >> i am appalled that you would begin a presidential debate with a topic like that. >> as mitt romney is pressed once again on releasing his tax returns. how much will all of this matter to south carolina voters who head to the polls tomorrow? and what a mess. seattle iced over. massive flooding in oregon.

now a strong snowstorm that could cause major travel troubles from illinois to massachusetts today. friday, january 20th, 2012. captions paid for by nbc-universal television and good morning. welcome to "today" on a friday morning. i'm matt lauer. >> i'm ann curry. that helicopter crash in afghanistan is the deadliest there since 30 soldiers and 22 u.s. navy seals died when their chopper was shot down in eastern afghanistan last august. we'll get the very latest from the pentagon in a moment. meantime turning to politics. what a wild day in the gop presidential race. >> trying to keep track of it all. rick perry dropped out. mitt romney actually finished second behind rick santorum in the iowa caucuses. then that all led up to the debate where newt gingrich's

past took centerstage right out of the gate. he said the claim being made by his second ex-wife that he asked for an open marriage so he could carry on an affair is completely false. >> it's an issue i talked to the former house speaker about on "today" on thursday. >> intruding into family things that are more than a decade old are simply wrong. now, i'll have my daughters speak for it. i'm sure they'd be glad to come on and chat with you about it. >> we followed up with mr. gingrich's daughters but late last night they canceled. also ahead the latest on the 12 girls suffering tourette's like symptoms at that same high school and have an exclusive live interview with the doctor twe treating ten of the 12 girls. and also dr. oz will be here to talk about what he calls the most overlooked problem in this country, inadequate sleep, and the dangerous effects on our

health. he says he has solutions to help us rest more. >> look forward to that. let's begin on a friday morning with that helicopter crash in afghanistan that killed six u.s. marines. nbc's jim miklaszewski is at the pentagon. mick, what are they saying about this? >> reporter: those six u.s. marines were killed when their c-stallion helicopter crashed in helmand province in southern afghanistan. u.s. military officials tell us there was no evidence of any enemy activity or hostile fire in the region at the time. it could have been a mechanical problem. an investigation is under way to determine the cause of the crash. but it's just another indication that even the most routine missions there in afghanistan can be dangerous for our troops, matt. >> mick, it was also a deadly day for french forces. more servicemen from the french army killed in a separate incident. how are the french responding to that? >> reporter: not well. president sarkozy immediately suspended all french military operations in afghanistan and is threatening to pull out 4,000

french troops entirely. that's where it gets complicated because those french were on a training mission, training up afghan soldiers to take over the country's own security when one of those afghan soldiers opened fire killing them. that training mission is absolutely critical to the white house strategy to pull all american forces out of afghanistan by the end of 2014. if the foreign troops, our allies, start pulling out ahead of time that whole strategy could unravel, matt. >> jim miklaszewski at the pentagon for us this morning. as always, thank you very much. it's four minutes after the hour. here's ann. matt, thank you. now to presidential politics. the gop field may be narrower this morning but that's not stopping the fireworks on the campaign trail on the eve of south carolina's gop primary. nbc's peter alexander is in charleston, south carolina with more. peter, good morning. >> reporter: ann, good morning to you. you'll excuse the people of south carolina as they wake up this morning asking themselves what just happened? just one day ahead of this state's primary.

yesterday was the most wild, jam packed day of the entire campaign season as you've noted. it began with one candidate dropping out and ended with another candidate's ex-wife speaking out. >> she says you asked her, sir, to enter into an open marriage. would you like to take some time to respond to that? >> no, but i will. >> straight out of the gate newt gingrich unleashed a fiery assault. >> i think the destructive, vicious, negative nature of much of the news media makes it harder to govern this country, harder to attract decent people to run for public office, and i am appalled that you would begin a presidential debate with a topic like that. >> reporter: gingrich attacking the media for focusing on his second wife's claim during an interview with abc's "nightline" that he wanted to continue his affair with his then mistress now wife. >> he was asking to have an open marriage and i refused. >> he wanted an open marriage.

>> yeah, that i accept the fact that he had somebody else in his life. >> to take an ex-wife and make it two days before a primary a significant question in a presidential campaign is as close to despicable as anything i can imagine. the story is false. every personal friend i have who knew us in that period said the story was false. i am tired of the elite media protecting barack obama. >> gingrich and rick santorum now battling to be the conservative alternative to mitt romney traded attacks on their contrasting styles. >> the grandiosity has never been a problem with newt gingrich. he handles it very, very well. >> i think grandiose thoughts. this is a grandiose country of big people doing big things and we need leadership prepared to take on big projects. >> newt is a friend. i love him but at times he just sort of, you know, has a worrisome moment that something is going to pop and we can't

afford that in a nominee. >> reporter: santorum argued both romney and gingrich have styed from conservative ideals by supporting health care mandates. >> i've been fighting for health reform, private sector, bottom up the way america works best, for 20 years. you guys were playing with the left. >> when will you release your tax reform specifically? >> an hour ago. >> putting pressure on romney to release his taxes gingrich put his online just before the debate but romney appeared to stumble again when asked if he would follow his father who also ran for president and release several years of his tax returns. >> maybe. you know, i don't know how many years i'll release. i'll take a look at what the -- what our documents are. >> reporter: the contentious debate concluded a head-snapping day that began with rick perry abruptly dropping out of the race and endorsing gingrich. >> i believe newt is a conservative visionary who can

transform our country, and newt is not perfect, but who among us is? >> reporter: and more than two weeks after the iowa caucuses santorum claimed new momentum after a recount determined he actually won there by 34 votes. >> i also want to thank the people of iowa for a little delayed but most welcomed victory there. >> an entirely different question. >> reporter: at times thursday night's debate got so intense it was even hard for the candidates to keep track. >> beats me. i don't know. where are we at, john? >> reporter: as for newt gingrich and tax returns they showed that in 2010 he and his wife made more than $3 million and paid nearly $1 million in federal taxes. by the way, if you're ready for all of this to come to an end, ann, not to worry. exactly one year from today is the presidential inauguration. >> all right. that's worth noting. thank you so much. peter alexander this morning. chuck todd is nbc's political director and the chief white house correspondent in orlando, florida this morning. good morning to you.

>> reporter: good morning, ann. >> even the word tumultuous seems inadequate to describe what has happened in the gop race in the last 24 hours. where does this race, the republican race, now stand as we're now looking at the day before south carolina? >> reporter: we're at a moment where we could see about 48 hours ago we thought mitt romney was going to make history. he was going to be the first nonincumbent republican to win the first three, go 3-0, become -- go from being front-runner to defacto nominee. now we may be making history because three different people, rick santorum, mitt romney, and newt gingrich might win the first three. i think at this point gingrich has momentum, nothing last night probably stopped that momentum in south carolina. we're here in florida. we've got that next debate on monday night. florida is supposed to be one  mitt romney's fire walls. the polls here may show romney ahead big right now. that will change overnight if newt gingrich indeed pulls that

upset on saturday. right now he's got all the momentum. >> you say he's got all the momentum. on thursday we asked about this, the charge we heard about earlier from his second wife and what she might say in her interview but last night the daughters who said that they were booked for this interview pulled out saying that their father had already addressed this enough. did he address it enough to satisfy the evangelicals who are potentially a key factor in this race in south carolina? >> reporter: that's a great question because there is a gender gap in the polling. we've seen it in our own poll. women, evangelical women, but women as a whole definitely seem to be less inclined to support gingrich. the assumption is it is over, his past infidelity. long term i think that's an open question about whether he has done enough to explain his personal infidelity, explain why he's had three marriages. that is going to be a challenge for him down the road. short term, he may be well on his way to win south carolina. the bigger picture here, though,

ann, is mitt romney still has an inability to win over conservatives and what does the party establishment do if gingrich indeed does win south carolina and, frankly, makes florida a contest? do they try to rally around romney one more time? do they try to say, you know what? maybe it's time to look for somebody else again because we don't think gingrich is electable but now we're worried romney is not nominatable. >> romney's tax returns. how much longer can he wait before it becomes a real liability for him to not release them? >> reporter: it's become a liability because he's made it a liability. that's what's so bizarre about this. his answers have changed. i first asked him the tax return question 28 days ago. the first time he was asked. and he said, no, he probably wouldn't do it. he's changed his answer every time he's been asked, whether by one of us, by debate moderators, by candidates. at some point now he's boxed himself in. he probably needs to hurry up and get this out of the way

sooner rather than later because he's acting like somebody who's got something to hide. at this point it only adds to sort of head scratcher, like what's going on here? do you guys have your stuff together to be the nominee and go up against obama? >> all right. chuck todd, always good to get your perspective. thank you so much this morning. a quick programming note. new jersey's republican governor chris christie, a romney supporter, will be david gregory's exclusive guest this sunday on "meet the press." let us get a check of the other headlines making news this morning. natalie is over at the news desk. good morning. good morning, matt and ann. good morning, everyone. we begin with a raging wildfire burning near nevada that forced thousands of people from their homes and is blamed for at least one death. nbc is just south of reno with the details. >> reporter: this fire was moving so quickly that crews couldn't get an exact handle on the number of homes destroyed. they believe it is roughly 20. they say when the sun comes up here that, quote, there

certainly won't be any good news. containment is at 50%. burning into the morning, a wall of flames could be seen near reno, nevada. a state of emergency in washoe county. home after home destroyed. hundreds of others in danger as 10,000 people were forced to evacua evacuate. >> the area that's been burned is absolutely devastated in many ways. >> reporter: hopscotching from yard to yard the inferno grew to at least five square miles, nearly 4,000 acres. thursday highway 395 was shut down. entire neighborhoods, schools, and herds of animals evacuated away from erratic, 40-foot flames. in november a 74-year-old man died during a similar blaze that destroyed 30 homes in this same neighborhood. >> it's inconceivable that this community has been struck by tragedy once again.

it's almost two months to the day since the collin fire. >> reporter: with gusts topping 80 miles per hour thursday and the wind to the fire's back the moving monster swallowed acre after acre. hundreds of firefighters could do little to slow its path. the national guard called in. choking smoke in the eerie orange sky could be seen for miles. though the winds are certainly still stiff there is some good news. they're expected to lighten to 20 to 30 miles an hour. crews will certainly have their hands full. there is no cause yet for the blaze. natalie? >> all right. you can see how the wind is blowing there. miguel almaguer, thank you. more weather in the pacific northwest. in washington state, many roads are still covered in ice this morning. officials in seattle are asking people to stay off roadways and dozens of flights there have already been canceled. meantime, torrential rains in oreg oregon flood rivers and

highways. we'll have much more coming up. champion free style skier sarah berg has died while training in utah last week. the canadian skier was considered an early favorite to win the gold at the olympic games in russia. doctors say berg suffered severe brain damage. she was just 29 years old. several websites including that of the department of justice are back up and running this morning after getting hacked allegedly by the group known as "anonymous" and the group says it was in retaliation for the arrest in new zealand of four executives of the popular file sharing website megaupload.com. officials have shut down the site charging its founder with violating piracy laws. could a solar blast be headed our way? nasa has released this spectacular footage of solar flares that could stir up an amazing light show in the sky this weekend and unfortunately could also cause brief radio blackouts and minor disruptions in the power grid. meanwhile, a cat from texas has just eight lives left.

this 2-year-old tabby cat was shot with an arrow that pierced his shoulder blades. luckily, no vital organs were struck. the stray was seen walking around houston with the arrow in his body for three days before anyone helped. after surgery the feline is now doing okay and has been renamed cupid. she is a cutie. i'm sure she'll find a good home. 7:16 right now. let's turn it over to matt, ann, and al. >> what's with these solar flares? can you fill us in a little more on that? >> doesn't sound good. >> the good news is the northern lights will look spectacular. we'll see it here in new york. anyway, let's show you what's happening out west. it has been a mess. again, icy conditions, a lot of -- in fact, over 130 school districts were closed the last couple of days. they're starting to reopen now. and in oregon they continue to have big problems with flooding and they're going to have more today as we're going to be looking at anywhere from 2 to 3 inches o

inches of rain that will be falling in the area. let's go to the map. you can see big storm coming onshore. another big storm system with a lot of moisture attached to it. that moisture is going to bring anywhere from 2 to 3 inches of rain from san francisco on up into portland and then we are talking snow here from minneapolis all the way to new york city and boston. generally about 1 to 3 inches, xwland 3 to 5. 2 to 5 of snow in pittsburgh. new york city, 2 to 4 inches. boston, 1 to 2 inches. that's what's happening around the country. >> we can get a dusting to inch of snow late tonight and after midnight changing to icing. right now there is dawn on this friday morning. live view from the sky watcher camera. sun is up in a few minutes. and our temperatures are cold and it is right near -- little below freezing throughout most of the region. reagan national at 36. there is a winter storm watch out for these counties in color. shenandoah valley, panhandle of west virginia, western maryland, that's where there could be the biggest travel problems

snow starts in the midwest the next couple hours and gets to the northeast by afternoon. >> all right, al. thank you. rescue crews working on a cruise ship grounded off the coast of italy are running out of time to find any more possible survivors. overnight the operation was delayed yet again. nbc's michelle kosinski is in giglio island with more on the story. good morning. >> reporter: hi, ann. we saw searchers dropping these sensors down on to the ship. they worked, picking up vibrations that could mean it is settling into the reef or slipping down toward the edge of the drop 300 feet. either way divers can't search because they're at risk of being trapped themselves. the concordia may be lying down on the rocky seabed but it is still moving. almost every day a shift keeps the divers from working and puts the thousand-foot wreck in danger of slipping down the slope with many of its victims

and half a million gallons of fuel still inside. thursday was some of the deepest diving yet, 30 feet down, looking like a modern day titanic. you can see the ship's bell, the upper deck where passengers would have gone to be saved. here is the enormous chain, the anchor the captain put down to swing the ship, beaching it, after he hit these rocks. with the changing dangerous conditions putting a stop to the diving searchers have been tackling it from above. lowered down from helicopters, met with this immense silence. until they made another hole in the hull determined to find every one of the 21 missing while their families arrived. suzy albertini came for her 5-year-old daughter diana missing with her father both last seen slipping into the sea. new video from friday night shows passengers navigating the

maze of huge hallways and the chaos onboard in the dark. in an audio recording you hear authorities call the ship. the crew member who answered said the problem is just a blackout. and no help is needed. now police say they'd like to interview this young woman. she reported she worked on the concordia but that night was off duty and had dinner with the captain. she said she was not on the bridge when the accident happened but was called there afterwards, making announcements for passengers in russian. she said the captain stayed on the ship until at least nearly midnight, about three hours after the crash, and defends him. he did a great thing, saved more than 3,000 lives by beaching the ship, she says, where it now res rests, taken over by the sea, and sinking. so now carnival the parent company says it is going to do this systemwide review of all the safety and emergency

procedures and an outside review of this disaster. ann? >> all right. michelle kosinski, thank you so much. it is now 7:20. once again, here's matt. >> thank you. in health news this morning a possible change in the definition of autism. and it's leading to controversy among doctors and parents of children currently labeled autistic. dr. nancy snyderman is nbc's chief medical editor. good morning to you. what is driving this review? >> good morning, matt. what's driving the review is the need to put some scientific parameters around this. as you know, we've talked about the autism epidemic for years and a lot of psychiatrists have said, then questioned the numbers, have we made the tent so large that kids with all kinds of problems have been brought under what we call autism-like disorders? so there is now a call for review to narrow the parameters, to really define what is autism, what is asperger's, what are these other parameters, so the

kids who really need help can get help. >> but is this about diagnosing the condition or is this having to do with money in some ways bringing into control the vast cost of this for insurance companies and also by the way states that have to provide special education for children who fall under this umbrella? >> your question is going to be answered differently depending on whom you're speaking to. scientists will tell you that it's a very, very important to define autism with very strict criteria. in fact, those criteria have become quite mushy over the last few years. so the american psychiatric association has a task panel and i have to tell you this is a blue ribbon panel, matt, with the best scientists we have in the country really looking specifically. advocacy groups will tell you there is a concern kids are going to be left out. school districts will tell you there is not enough money to give special needs kids a lot of funding that they frankly don't have the money for.

but at the bottom of it is a need to scientifically hone in on what is autism, what causes it, and we haven't really specifically found that yet. the environmental factors. and specifically, i think, narrow the bridge. we've been a little squishy in this over the years and scientists are really now calling, i think, for a new world order if you will. it's not going to be -- i think what scientists are going to say is we want to make this right and we want to get rid of a lot of the terms that we've included and say, look. for kids with social problems, for kids with wording problems, for kids with strict autism problems we are scientifically going to make it right. so expect a final report sometime this fall. >> thank you very much. nancy snyderman. just ahead the mother of a maine toddler missing for more than a month takes a lie

detector test but fails to complete it. we'll hear from her exclusively. but first, this is "today" on nbc. ♪ it's the way you bring out the sun. ♪

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good morning. i'm joe krebs. k4r07b 26 on this friday, 20th of january. get ready for a dose of winter. meteorologist tom kierein joins us now. tom, good morning. >> yes. but not for this morning. no travel problems weatherwise. look at the sunrise under way. live view from the sky watcher camera. we have a partly cloudy sky now and temperatures are cold. we are in the upper went to low to mid 30s throughout most of the region. it is a day progresses, we will continue to have our temperatures gradually climb into the upper 40s. 30s near 40, i should say. these counties are under a winter storm watch off to our far west and north. including northern shenandoah valley and west virginia for late tonight. might have wintry for the metro area. rain after that.

>> thanks very much. we will take a break and come look! here she comes! ♪ she'll be comin' 'round the mountain when she comes... ♪ ♪hen she comes. ♪ it'll be spinning new chrome wheels when it comes. ♪ ♪ when it comes. ♪ custom spoiler, race grade pistons, ♪ ♪ gt35 turbo charger. ♪ and they'll all know that it's kevin's awesome car. ♪ bought em! ( clears throat ) sorry. when it's on your mind, it's on ebay.

an accident blocks the right lane. it is involving a van and a tractor trailer. tow truck is on the scene. tow truck is on the scene. >> thanks very much, dan the best approach to food is to keep it whole for better nutrition. that's what they do with great grains cereal. they steam and bake the actual whole grain while the other guy's flake is more processed. mmm. great grains. the whole whole grain cereal.

7:30 on this friday morning, compared to yesterday, warmer. later tonight al says we'll be dealing with snow however across the region. we'll get his forecast coming up in a moment. inside studio 1-a i'm ann curry alongside matt lauer. coming up something millions of americans suffer from and that's a lack of sleep. >> that's right. dr. oz is with us this morning. he says a lack of sleep can lead to everything from cancer to heart disease, obesity. he believes it's being grocery overlooked. so what can you do to get a better night's sleep? dr. oz is going to share some

creative solutions including why you should change the color of the light bulbs in your bedroom. also, we have some new details on that story that riveted a lot of our viewers and that is the tourette's like symptoms suffered by a dozen girls at the same high school. what's causing it? are any of the girls showing signs of improvement? we'll ask the doctor who is treating ten of those girls, matt. and a little later on maybe you've seen this video on youtube. the unexpected encounter at the safari park in texas. we begin this half hour with new developments in the search for a missing toddler in maine. the girl's mother has now taken a lie detector test and spoken exclusively to nbc. she is in waterville, maine with details on this story. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, ann. it has now been more than a month since little ayla reynolds went missing from her father's home behind me. now both of her parents say

they've taken polygraph tests. her mother says she couldn't finish hers. one month to the day ayla reynolds disappeared, a candlelight vigil tuesday for a little girl who is still missing but not forgotten. police have said foul play but there are still no major breaks in the mystery. both parents say they've taken polygraph tests. ayla's mother trista reynolds says she took hers on wednesday answering hours' worth of questions about ayla's disappearance. >> it just, you know, like if i had taken ayla or if i know who could have gone and taken ayla and obviously no. i have no idea who took her or where she is or anything like -- i never took her. like i have no reason to hide any of that. i would never do that. >> she said she had to stop in the middle of the test because of a medical condition. she won't disclose that

condition. ayla's father justin dipietro who was at tuesday's vigil denies any wrongdoing. his polygraph results have not been released. he declined an interview on camera but when asked by nbc news if he will take another lie detector test he responded how i'm dealing with this deserves no explanation. dipietro says he put ayla to bed december 16th. the next morning he says she was gone. he had been caring for ayla because reynolds had been in rehab. police say both parents are cooperating with investigators and they're not naming any suspects. authorities have combed the area, even using dive teams to go into the water last week. while dipietro has gone door to door handing out flyers. >> people want to get involved. >> reporter: a friend of the dipietro family who organized tuesday's vigil says they're just trying to keep the public focused on ayla. >> this is a national, nationwide search for ayla reynolds. >> reporter: a conviction shared by reynolds, who is still holding on to hope.

>> i think she's alive and she's holding on and being a strong little girl right now. i love her so much and i want her home. >> reporter: reynolds says he, too, will be going door to door handing out flyers and bracelets like this saying bring ayla home to keep the public focused on the search. >> if you have any information on the case call the maine state police at 207-624-7076. and now a check of the weather from al. ann, thank you so much. and it's your tenth birthday. you're double digits. what is your name? >> carlina. >> where are you from? >> pittsburgh. >> i like your hat. let's check your weather and we'll show you for today. we're basically looking at the the weekend ahead. it is going to be wet from almost southern california into the pacific northwest with heavy

mountain snows. icy conditions tomorrow. northeast. and snow getting into new england. rain along the mid atlantic, southeastern atlantic coast. sunday, sunday, looking at more showers and into the southeast. fridge it and cold in new england. heavy rain continues, central california into the pacific northwest. probably looking at flooding on sunday as well in that region. that's what's going on around the country. here's what's happening in your neck of the woods. >> january sunrise, live view from the sky watcher camera. good morning. tom kierein in storm center 4. we will have a few clouds in and out today. temperatures right now are in the upper 20s and low and mid 30s most of the region. 36 now at reagan national. later today, this evening, we could get combination of snow, sleet and ice. especially these counties in color off to the far west and north. closer to the metro area, maybe just a light coating. and then rain on saturday with a high near 40. cloudy sunday, small chance o that's your latest weather. >> thank you very much. there have been a lot of stories about air traffic controllers whose performances shall we say

fell below expectations. but what you probably don't hear enough about are the actions of some controllers that save lives. nbc's tom costello is at reagan national airport with more. good morning. >> reporter: good morning you to. every year air traffic controllers honor their own and this morning we have the audio recordings from some of the most dramatic saves. saturday, a typical morning when an urgent call cut through the chatter. private pilot jim lawson was in big trouble. he had flown in from wyoming to visit a son and now was circling in his single engine plane above the clouds but unable to find a hole to get down. >> i can't get down through. i'm getting low on fuel. >> reporter: very low on fuel and 7700 feet in the air with mount rainier looming in the distance. his only hope was controllers

could lead his tiny plane through the crowds to the nearest airport and soon. >> i didn't know where it was. it didn't matter. i just needed a runway. >> reporter: ken greenwood was the controller on duty. >> worst case scenario he never gets out of the clouds and he hits a hill or something. >> reporter: slowly greenwood talked him down through the clouds when things suddenly got worse. >> i think i just ran out of fuel. >> reporter: lawson would have to glide in. he could see a runway five miles straight ahead but controller greenwood knew there was a closer runway just two miles away if he could just turn him to the right. >> i never told him you're not going to make it to that one. i just kept telling him you need to look over here to the right. that's the airport you need to get to. >> i started to turn back to the right. it's a single runway at 2:00 and 2 1/2 miles. >> goit >> i got it, sir. >> cleared to land. >> reporter: and his wasn't the only life controllers saved in 2011.

last may chicago controller steve mcgreevey was doing all he could to help the pilot of a piper seneca land in dubuque, iowa during a spring storm. but something was wrong. >> i show you turning hard right. come back to the left about five degrees. >> reporter: time and again the plane drifted off course. >> we're trying to figure out why at the last minute you're turning there. >> reporter: controller mcgreevey realized ice was weighing down the plane pushing it off course. the worst case scenario is the aircraft is no longer able to fly because of the amount of ice built up on the air frame. >> don't make any dramatic changes in your heading or anything. >> reporter: repeatedly he reoriented the pilot and plane and tried again until finally the runway was in sight. >> the tower says you are cleared to land. >> thank you. thank you. >> mcgreevey and greenwood both say they were just two of the players in this. entire teams were responsible for getting the pilots down,

rather. matt, these are just two of ten dramatic saves in 2011 and the controllers will be honored in atlanta in about two weeks. back to you. >> tom, i'm happy we're taking the time to look at that side of the coin as well. tom costello, thank you very much. up next dr. oz on the sleep crisis in this country. he'll share some unique solutions right after this. -one. -two. -three. -one. two. three. one. -two. -three. -one. -two. -three. [ male announcer ] with the bankamericard cash rewards credit card, earn 1% cash back everywhere, every time. 2% back on groceries. and 3% back on gas. automatically. no hoops to jump through. -it's as easy as...1. -two. -three. [ male announcer ] 1, 2, 3 percent cash back for the things you buy most. the bankamericard cash rewards card. apply online or at a bank of america near you.

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back now at 7:42 this morning on "today's health" the dangers of exhaustion. up to 70 million americans suffer from sleep disorders. according to a new study this cannot only lead to serious medical complications but also explain why you struggle to lose weight. dr. oz is here with us. good morning. >> good morning, ann. >> you make a bold statement. you say the lack of sleep is the single most overlooked health transgression in america. that bad? >> that bad. the operative word here is overlooked. we don't realize how important sleep is to our well being. we feel tired but most folks watching don't realize it dramatically increases the chance of high blood pressure and related heart disease. it weakens your immune system so you can't fight off viruses but you also get more cancers and it shortens life expectancy. it's a big deal. >> you were writing about this in this article for "parade" magazine about to come out and specifically about obesity. what is the link between lack of sleep and obesity?

>> the human brain craves four things, food or water. it craves sex. and it craves sleep. if you don't get enough of one you'll crave more of the other. so in "parade" i'm talking about a brand new proof of this case. one instance they took people sleep deprived and showed they lit up like fireworks in parts that control hunger. if you don't sleep well you'll crave food especially carbohydrates. >> so it really is something that happens to our brain that is almost impossible to control. >> you won't be able to control it. you cannot beat the biology. if you don't sleep you'll crave carbohydrates and gain weight. >> you have some interesting and very unique ways we can sort of counteract the problems getting sleep. first of all you say we need to chill out and by that you mean lowering the temperature in our bedroom. >> the worse you sleep the colder it should be in the room. start off about 68 degrees. you can get down to 62, 63 degrees by the time you're done. there is one catch here. folks cannot sleep when their feet are cold. matt complains about this all

the time on the air. but cold feet will awaken you. get some socks, put them on before you go to bed, then cool the temperature down in the room as much as possible. some people see their breath before they go to bed but it will help you. >> interesting. also you say put electronics away. even when they're near your head it's a problem because it emits a kind of light or blue light that creates a problem. >> there are two factors actually. it turns out that independent of the light having the phone on near your head will worsen the quality of the sleep again. you still sleep but you won't have the kind of deep, restorative sleep. so any cell phone you have needs to be at least five feet away. a body length away from your head when you go to bed. >> five feet. >> the most easy thing to do. more than an arm's length away. that way it won't affect the way your brain puts you to sleep. >> you say we want to include orange light? >> any blue light like a phone would emit but also the light in your house, a computer screen, will keep you awake. you want orange lights because orange lights mimic what happens

when the sun goes down. that turns on the creation of melatonin in the brain. by doing that you'll effortlessly slip into the deep sleep you want. >> thanks for letting me cough. you do however say we need to think about using herbal remedies rather than pills and how we use these herbal remedies is important. >> a lot of folks have written off melatonin, as i described earlier it is turned on by orange light. it can be taken as a supplement but take it in a low dose. probably half the dose you normally take and early in the evening. remember it's just a couple hours from when the sun sets to when you fall asleep. take it right after dinner. take one milligram, and then that will allow you to effortlessly sleep. if that doesn't work try valarium root. you can get it in a tea form. >> with my coughing maybe that's a good idea.

you say you can take in too much melatonin and be counteractive and make you not sleep? >> it will inhibit your ability to naturally slide into sleep. you want to take a lower dose and give time for your stomach to absorb the melatonin and get it up to your brain. that natural process will happen but it takes two or three hours. again, most americans think about it too late, think about it at dinner you'll fall asleep better at night. >> the tea helped my cough. thank you so much. >> i knew i could do it. >> by the way, i don't let the lack of sleep and being here every morning be an excuse for not showing up. we really love having you here. >> you are very kind and cheer me up. >> i am so glad. by the way, he's also dedicating his entire show on monday to sleep. >> we're almost at a million people. sleep is one of the big episodes. it's on monday. more important, go to dr. oz.com and take advantage of it. it's all yours to make yourself better. >> check your local listings. coming up next the president shows off his singing voice. hum.

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no nonsense. just people sense. has left you nowhere to go. when you've lost interest in everything. when you've had one too many days feeling sad or anxious, aches and pains, fatigue. when it becomes hard to ignore that you need help. that's the day you do something. depression hurts. cymbalta can help with many symptoms of depression. tell your doctor right away if your depression worsens, you have unusual changes in behavior or thoughts of suicide. antidepressants can increase these in children, teens, and young adults. cymbalta is not approved for children under 18. people taking maois or thioridazine or with uncontrolled glaucoma should not take cymbalta. taking it with nsaids, aspirin, or blood thinners may increase bleeding risk. severe liver problems, some fatal, were reported. signs include abdominal pain and yellowing skin or eyes.

tell your doctor about all your medicines, including those for migraine and while on cymbalta, call right away if you have high fever, confusion and stiff muscles or serious allergic skin reactions like blisters, peeling rash, hives, or mouth sores to address possible life-threatening conditions. talk about your alcohol use, liver disease and before you reduce or stop cymbalta. dizziness or fainting may occur upon standing. is today your day? talk to your doctor and go to cymbalta.com for a free trial offer. depression hurts. cymbalta can help. ♪ tell me what you really mean ♪ do you know what you want? ♪ while beating up on yesterday ♪ ♪ rolling on, moving on [ female announcer ] the space of a small suv. and more ways to connect to your world. ♪ do you know what you are? the all-new prius v from toyota. ♪ do you know?

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is -- >> you have to hit that note. he could be on "the voice." >> very good. it makes up for him blocking traffic. >> nice. >> maybe a little bit. >> maybe partially. >> on the eastside it was a mess. goodness. 4:30, 5:00 yesterday afternoon they just shut down the east side of manhattan. >> i got out of my cab and walked. >> exactly. anyway, we decided to get a little creative. >> our editors actually did and they did a little mash up between a little obama, a little al greene. let's take a listen. ♪ i-i -- am so in love with you -- so in love with you ♪ >> come on. help me sing this. ♪ i -- i -- am so in love with you ♪ >> see it's hard when you only have one sentence to work with. >> we obviously had too much time on our hands. we have much more coming up after your local news.

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good morning. time is 7:56. friday, it is the 20th of january. i'm joe krebs. winter weather is moving into our area. meteorologist tom kierein is here to tell us about it. tom? >> not until later tonight. perhaps around mid evening. and before that, just -- partly cloudy day. right now it is cold under a partly cloudy sky. we are right around 30 in the suburbs in rural areas to the mid 30s in washington and by the bay. we have a winter storm watch. all these counties in color. northern shenandoah valley, panhandle of west virginia, western maryland. that's where there could be travel problems overnight into tomorrow morning from snow, sleet and icing to some -- perhaps minimal problems around the metro area. rain tomorrow, joe. >> thanks very much, tom. we will take a break and come back and look

now it is in the right shoulder lane. you are jammed. there is a power-mile backup at this time. hopefully you will see some relief soon. >> thanks very much. anothe

8:00 now on a friday morning. it's the 20th day of january, 2012. we've got temperatures in the upper 20s. that's a perfect condition for a storm that's moving in a little later this morning. going to bring some snow to the northeast and the midwest throughout the day and into tomorrow. i am matt lauer with ann curry and al roker. >> ooh la la. >> like your outfit. >> sure do. >> be careful. >> okay. >> coming up in this half hour new details on a story we've been following for several days now. a medical mystery at one high school in upstate new york. 12 girls there have developed uncontrollable tics.

this morning we'll talk to the doctor who is treating ten of the 12 girls. he says he believes it is a case of mass psychogenic illness and will explain what that is and what causes it hopefully. we also have in the house bill and juliana ransek. she will tell us how she is feeling and they have written a book about marriage and have different ideas about some of the hot topics happening regarding marriage. we'll address them. one question is who gets more stressed out, men or women? >> i think one causes the other to be more stressed. >> there we go. >> very diplomatic. and yips stripes stripes. have you stheen video? a woman gets bit by a zebra. now we'll talk with her in just a little bit.

>> we're labeling that segment things you don't do in the safari park. like keep your window open. >> ouch. >> let us go inside. natalie morales standing by at the news desk with a look at the headlines. good morning. just a day to go until south carolina's pivotal primary and mitt romney was on the spot again last night when newt gingrich asked him during a televised debate if he would release his tax returns. romney answered maybe. gingrich also batted down a question about one of his ex-wives claiming he wanted an open marriage. >> rick santorum challenged the conservative credentials of both gingrich and romney. a new witness is defending the actions of the italian cruise captain accused of abandoning his ship. a ship's hostess and translator claims the captain stayed aboard for nearly three hours after the accident and saved 3,000 lives by maneuvering the ship closer to shore. some residents are being allowed to return home this morning after a wind-driven brush fire forced 10,000 people to evacuate

south of reno, nevada. officials say the fire, which broke out on thursday, is suspected in at least one death and has destroyed more than 20 homes. protesters say they will occupy the areas around federal courthouses in more than 100 cities today. they're marking the second anniversary of a ruling that removed most limits on spending by corporations and unions in federal elections. now to wall street and cnbc's courtney reagan. >> good morning. ongoing talks between greece and private lendors will be in focus today as the two work toward restructuring the country's debt. meantime, disappointing google earnings will likely weigh on tech stocks today despite good results from microsoft, intel, and ibm. and part owner of nbc universal general electric is often seen as an economic bellwether. the company reporting better than expected profit but disappointing revenues. natalie, back to you. >> all right. courtney reagan at the new york stock exchange. thank you.

now for a look at what's trending today. our quick roundup of what has you talking online. open marriage is a top search term on google. that's the claim as you heard by an ex-wife of newt gingrich who says he wanted her permission to keep his mistress. the candidate called the allegations false in last night's debate. well, this video of a close encounter with a zebra is taking off on youtube. you just saw it moments ago. megan sweatman was at a drive the safari park in texas when the zebra poked its head through the open window and bit her. megan is here today to tell us how it felt and why she got so close in the first place. coming up. and volkswagen scored a touchdown last year with its darth vader boy super bowl ad. a preview of this year's version is already going viral on youtube with nearly 3 million hits. that is brilliant. of course you can see the entire

commercial during nbc's super bowl coverage on sunday, february 5th. i love it already. 8:05 right now. let's go back outside to ann and matt. a sure fire hit. >> very creative. >> unbelievable. okay. al, let's go to you now. what's going on with the weather? >> these are not the dogs you're looking for. you can bark about your business. i love this. you guys have been friends since navy boot camp? >> yes. 1974. >> what's your name? >> lynn. >> janice. >> all right. well that's terrific. nice to see you. >> thank you. ic. nice you have that friendship. let's see what's happening, our pick city of the day. amarillo, texas, sunny, wind write, mild. 66 degrees. and another storm coming onshore into the pacific northwest. lot of heavy rain this time. you can see snow getting itself together in the upper midwest. it will be making its way across great lakes and into the northeast later today. rain down into the lower mississippi river valley with heavier showers and thunderstorms.

heavy rain from sent trillion california up into the pacific northwest and may cause flooding. snow exits northern new england later today. that's what's going on around the country. here's what's happening in your neck of the woods. >> good morning. we are in the upper 20s and low and mid 30s now. and we have a few clouds around. we will have a partly cloudy day with highs reaching upper 30s. this evening light snow areas mainly north and west of i-95. changing to sleet and maybe some icing and freezing rain after mid tonight. and until around dawn tomorrow, again, mostly areas west of i-95 for that. then rain on saturday morning through early afternoon. ending during the afternoon tomorrow with a high around 40. cloudy sunday and small chance of afternoon rain, sprinkles. rain and that's your latest weather. ann? >> all right. al, thank you so much. we'll be talking about coming up next the 12 girls who are all from the same school suffering tourette's like symptoms. a doctor who treats ten of them is joining us in our studio. we'll be asking him questions coming up right after this. [ female announcer ] when your child has a fever,

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tourette's syndrome and why they haven't been cured. since october, sarah sanches and at least 11 other girls at le roy high school have been suffering from severe tics and verbal outbursts. now a doctor treating some of the teens says the diagnosis is a rare condition called mass psychogenic illness. >> it's happened before all around the world in different parts of the world. it's a rare phenomena. physicians are intrigued about it. >> reporter: the doctor says the illness is a physiological problem that can happen in groups like female teenagers. >> reporter: sarah sanches had the symptoms for months and says she is missing important moments of her senior year. >> to go out with my friends, do whatever. i used to work. and i used to love going to school every day. now i'm not in school.

i start home tutoring soon. i'm very behind. i feel very behind. now i am. >> reporter: on tuesday sarah told ann she is frustrated by the lack of answers on how she contracted the illness in the first place. >> i want an answer, a straight answer. i've had psychological treatment. they say this is stress induced. all it does is stresses me out more and i get worse. >> reporter: that frustration is shared by her friend katy who also has been suffering from the same type of outbursts. >> i can't explain it. they told us it was traumatic but i really don't think any of us had that traumatic of a life before and that it would happen. >> reporter: the state health department conducted a three-month investigation and ruled out environmental factors or infection as a cause.

the le roy school district did their own private testing and came up with the same conclusion. still, parents want answers. >> we're not getting anywhere. we're not, you know, it's a couple months into this, three months now. and you have no conclusion. they say there is a diagnosis and a cause. we don't know this. is there a treatment plan? is there an end date to this? and the frustration of not having these is too much to bear. >> now the school district says the high school building is safe and that students are not at risk. some of the girls have improved, matt, but not everyone has. >> all right. amy robach thank you very much. we have the vice president of the dent institute in buffalo, new york. ten of the girls of under his care. good morning. some of the girls are improving? >> correct. >> how much improvement have you seen? >> some have gone back to school.

some of the improvement has been significant. some of the individuals are plateaued at this point. >> you were saying that the diagnosis here is these girls are suffering from a mass psychogenic illness. what exactly is that? >> well, it's a disorder that occurs in small groups especially in young girls in schools in small towns. and what happens is that one individual so-called the index case which means one person may have a neurological disorder. >> like a conversion disorder. >> or a conversion disorder. then all of a sudden several other young ladies have similar symptoms. >> what it sounds like to someone who is not well versed in this is that the others are copying the first and thus people say they're faking it. you say that is not at all the case. >> that is definitely not the case. this is a subconscious effect that occurs in patients with -- who may be prone to anxiety or mood disorders but this is definitely real symptoms. >> is it inappropriate to use

the word that it spreads within the group in i mean, that makes it sound like an infectious disease. >> it sounds like an infectious disease but should not be perceived as one. the state health department made a complete review of the air quality, mold, and everything was negative. we do not think this is an infectious cause. >> you're in agreement with that that this is not environmental or infection. >> i am in agreement. >> there have been cases of this in the past though i know this is rare. what have been some of the examples? >> it goes back 600 years. in the last 100 years most of the cases have occurred in either factories, schools, or nunneries. this is in the literature. it's been poorly evaluated because it is very rare. but when it does occur it is very important for us to be knowledgeable in this because, you know, the old term for this is mass hysteria which we don't like to use. i think mass psychogenic illness is more appropriate. >> hysteria has a negative

connotation. >> exactly. the point is these young ladies have real symptoms. they are truly affected. >> but will also get better. >> will get better. >> why is it only affecting girls? >> that's a good question. historically it's been often seen in young ladies but it is seen in men. there have been army barracks with just men involved so it's -- part of it could be hormonal and the fact that young teenage girls are more prone to anxiety. >> if you could give one piece of advice or nugget of information to the many parents who have contacted us and other facilities looking, first of all, worried about this, and looking for more information, what would it be? >> well, i think they're under the care of dr. mcvieg and myself at the dent institute. we have a good relationship with the patients and their families. i like to reassure the community this is not an infectious disease. that it's not contagious. these are real symptoms. these young ladies will get better. we have to give them time and space.

>> doctor, thank you very much for your time this morning. i appreciate it. up next, he said/she said. bill and guliana rancic weigh in on pressing issues between the sexes and share the latest on her recovery from breast cancer surgery right after this. ♪ mountain-grown aroma coming through ♪ ♪ a new challenge waits for you ♪ ♪ ♪ jumpin' into something new ♪ you really see all you can do ♪ ♪ ♪ the best part of wakin' up ♪ is folgers in your cup chili's lunch break combos are full of delicious choices, starting at just 6 bucks.

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that are developing this week. number one there is a story in the london papers that for just $8 you can actually hire a guy to break up your relationship for you. you're shaking your head saying yes. what do you say? >> no. >> this is so ridiculous. you need someone to break up your relationship? i mean, to me that is the lowest of the low. if a guy has to hire someone to break up the relationship it's like was your mom not available to do it for you? >> it's a great business model. think about this. supply and demand. this guy is busier than ever. i have a buddy in high school. it took him three years to break up with this girl because he was afraid of her father. he could have paid $8 and this guy would have taken care of it for him. >> that is ridiculous. you need to man up and do it yourself. you have to do your own dirty work. imagine the girl, how she feels. then when she finds out it only costs eight bucks? i mean, you have to feel awful. >> people have a hard time taking no for an answer. when you bring the hit man in they get the picture. >> let's move on. this is kind of ridiculous. let's move on to something a

little more serious. a new survey by the american psychological association shows that women continue to be more stressed out than men. agree or disagree? >> i completely agree with that. >> disagree. >> women are busier than ever. come on, bill. women are busier than ever. we're taking care of the kids and our husband like we always have done but also working longer hours and we're trying to maintain our friendships. we're on facebook. we're shopping online. we just fill our days with more tasks than we ever have before. of course we're stressed. >> that is precisely why men are more stressed. women are taking on more. you're on facebook. we're tending to the kids, car pooling, coaching. gone are the days of father knows best when men would show up and a martini and dinner is waiting. when i show up i have laundry waiting. >> you're saying you're more stressed out than your father was not more than women. what is your argument there? >> men are taking on more than women these days. now it's not just the provider. we are coaching the teams, doing the car pooling, cooking. >> he does have a point. but the reason they're having to do that is because the economy is in the toilet. we're working longer hours.

we're working more than ever having to contribute more financially to the family unit. so it's not a choice where we necessarily want to do. you know, a lot of us would like to be at home. >> women are better at expressing their feelings and men tend to bottle things up. that's why women are more stressed. you can share that easier. >> you're saying they've seen more stress. >> they vocalize it more. >> that is a good point. that's why we tell you communicate. just talk to us. >> okay. >> how do you feel? >> exactly. men don't do that enough. >> it's hard for them. i think for a lot of reasons. >> yes. >> there is a new study that hits close to home because it's out of canada suggesting delaying parenthood can have serious consequences not only for women but also for men as well. >> right. >> you want to take this? >> i know a thing or two about this. we waited until i was 35 and bill was 38 to start trying to have a baby and my doctor told me, hey listen. you're not like you were at 25 years old. so can i look back and kind of

regret the decisions i made in my 20s? should i maybe have frozen my eggs or done something differently? no. at the time i did what was right for me. in my 20s i was busy chasing my career and not chasing guys. that was a decision i made. >> right. >> what about -- >> some of the guys weren't worthy of being chased. >> first of all you haven't seen his ex-girlfriends. >> i think where men and women differ on this is women typically wait for mr. right. they wait for the right man. men wait for the right time. men want to be financially stable before they bring a woman and start a family and i think that's delaying this whole process because things are different now. >> i think the point is, you know, okay. it's a small risk that something is going to happen if you wait later in life but it depends. are you willing to take that risk? i think if you talk to people in their 20s a lot of them are willing to take that risk. >> i noticed just at this moment bill put his arm around you which was very sweet. >> i thought he took off his wedding ring. >> no he did not. >> okay good. i wasn't paying attention. >> last major point, another new

study says women are actually better drivers than men. you want to take this one? >> well i think the numbers are flawed a little bit. >> what? what makes you a scientist? >> men spend more hours behind the wheel. we see more professionals. taxi cab drivers, truck drivers. when we go to dinner i drive more. so of course with more hours behind the wheel i've got a bigger chance of getting a ticket or getting into a car accident. >> come on. all in all women are less emotional than men. we don't suffer from road rage quite like men do. you know, we just want to get from a to b safely whereas men if someone cuts them off, you know, they have a point to prove. >> i've seen a lot of women with a lot of road rage. >> by the way, it's great to see you looking so well. >> thank you. >> thanks so much for joining us this morning. thanks, ann. >> we're back after your local news we think.

. 8:26 is your time now on this friday, january 20, 2012. good morning. i'm eun yang. let's check in with storm 4 meteorologist tom kierein. winter weather heading our way. >> that won't be until tonight and impacts around the metro area will be minor. but farther west and north there could be problems late tonight and into tomorrow morning. right now it is cold. we are in the 20s and low and mid 30s. much of the region, 35 at reagan national. partly cloudy. and there is a winter storm watch. those counties in color, northern shenandoah valley and west virginia and western maryland, that's where the biggest impacts will be from a wintry mix of snow, sleet and icing from freezing rain. there may be a little bit of that lighter amounts closer to the metro area. overnight tonight. rain tomorrow and ending in the

afternoon. >> thanks, tom. we will take a quick break and we will take a quick break and ch like many chefs today, i feel the best approach to food is to keep it whole for better nutrition. and that's what they do with great grains cereal. see the seam on the wheat grain? same as on the flake. because great grains steams and bakes the actual whole grain. now check out the other guy's flake. hello, no seam. because it's more processed. now, which do you suppose

has better nutrition for you? mmm. great grains. the whole whole grain cereal. good morning. i--66, still have the accident

in the eastbound lane. slow as you make your way to route 50. travel speed right now is 29 miles per hour. and i-270, no problems. >> thanks.

8:30 now on a friday morning, january 20, 2012. a nice crowd on the plaza this morning. some of these people huddled together because even since we've been on the air the temperatures have dropped, started a little over 30. we're down to 26 degrees and breezy here in rockefeller plaza. i'm matt lauer with natalie morales and al roker. ann had to leave a little early this morning. she'll be back on monday.

meanwhile coming up in this half hour we're actually going to talk to someone you mentioned in today's trending segment. >> that's right. you saw the video. it's astonishing when you look at it. this is at a texas safari and that happens. a zebra just reaches into the window and bites her and of course she is all shocked there. we'll check in with her in a little bit to see how she's doing. also ahead a lot of families struggle with finding the ability to pay for college education for their children. we have a couple experts in the house this morning. they're going to talk to you about how you can make the most and get the most out of the financial aid system. then from the don't try this at home category we're going to go to the back trails and back ski trails and show you some thrill seeking snowboarders who found a new way to get a big rush. then we'll check out some great homes. >> wow. >> all across the country for $250,000. >> sounds good. before we get to that how about a check on the weather?

>> that would be you. >> that would be uld be me. for the weekend we are looking at rain and a real mess. look for showers and thunderstorms down through the southeast. and icy conditions in the mid atlantic states. snow in new england. and then on sunday, sunday, we are looking for frigid conditions in new england and plenty of sunshine. heavy rain from northern california on into the pacific northwest. looking for more flooding possible, frigid conditions across the plains. plenty of sunshine, warm weather in texas and mild in the southwest. that's what's going on around the country. here's what's happening in your neck of the woods. >> good morning, breezy and cold on this friday morning. i'm tom kierein in storm center 4. temperatures are generally below freezing much of the region. it is in the upper 20s and low and mid 30s. it is 35 at reagan national. milder near the bay. we have a winter storm watch in the counties in color. panhandle of west virginia and maryland. combination of snow, sleet and icing may cause problems later this evening and overnight tonight. closer to the metro area the impact should be miner.

ending during the aftern and got some nice friends here. what are your names? >> nicole. >> allison. >> sarah. >> where are you guys from? >> we're from new york. we all work together at reed smith and we're here to say hi to everyone. >> and you just did. worked out very nicely. everyone is very appreciative and are all saying hi back. don't forget you can always check your weather any time of the day or night by checking the weather channel on cable or weather.com online. did you know that? >> yes i did. >> now you know as well. matt? today's money is brought to you by fidelity investments. turn here. al, thank you very much. on today's money maximizing financial aid. finding the best college at an affordable price is a priority for a lot of families but do you know how to get the most out of the financial aid office? monica inzer is dean of admission and financial aid at

hamilton college and jacques is senior editor of the "new york times" blog "the choice." there is something new this morning. it's a tool. this is called the net price calculator and it's supposed to make it easier to get the kind of information you need to figure out what you might end up getting in financial aid. >> this is basically a federal requirement that every college on its website as of the fall has to have a calculator that families can use to plug in their financial aid information and get a sense of how much money they might be entitled to. but there are some caveats. you know, some are better than others. while they provide information, families need to be very, very careful about how they use that information having said that how do you use that information? >> well, you know, it's a good news/bad news. i think my worry is that families look at this too early in the process and don't give themselves a chance to experience colleges, look at value. families used to look at schools and wait until they got in. wait until they got the financial aid to sit down with the family and say what can we

afford? now if they look at cost up front they may never get to consider value. >> which you don't think is a good idea. even if you don't think it's the right fit financially you should still make the application and then see later. >> i think so. and have a conversation because the calculator isn't always perfect. >> there are a lot of families out there that kind of fall just above the income level that would qualify them for financial aid and yet they really still can't afford to send their children to pricey, private colleges. what's out there for them? >> first of all, everybody should fill out the federal application for financial aid. don't sort yourself out. you may be pleasantly surprised. one of the interesting things is sometimes for some families a private college, even an elite private college can be more affordable than the public university. there are new financial aid programs at several dozen colleges including the ivys where there are no loan policies if your family income is a certain amount and sometimes that income may surprise a family including over $100,000. and also there are caps.

some of the ivys and others will say you only have to use a certain percentage of your income for tuition. >> because the economy is so tough and colleges clearly recognize there are some difficulties out there are they providing more merit-based aid than in years past? >> there are a handful of colleges offering merit scholarships and they can be an incentive. what families should keep in mind is you're not always going to get merit at your top choice college. usually it's a school that would love to have you and they're using it as an incentive to turn your head and get you to consider them. >> you mentioned fafsa and the form you have to fill out. one of the sad facts is a lot of times parents mess up and they make mistakes on that form which can really cost them down the road. where do they find help? >> there are two terrific websites. they are really worth spending time on. there is excellent advice there. i think the ymca also does something called college sunday where they provide free resources almost like a tax preparation. >> monica, let's shift to the

colleges' perspective now. when they're sitting down trying to determine how much financial aid to offer a student how do they determine it? >> well, a lot of it is numbers based. this is about dollars and numbers and income and back on the fafsa the biggest mistake we see on the financial side is families who estimate wrong. so if you fill out your forms before you have your taxes, estimate well because you don't want to be surprised later when we verify. but we're looking to try and help people. i think sometimes people have a misperception that financial aid offices want to gouge families. really we know that financial aid can make a difference for families and we care about it. the colleges care. >> but if i get the offer, if i get the financial aid offer as a student or a parent and i'm not satisfied with it what recourse do i have? >> i think you should call. i don't know that a school can always match other offers but we want to hear. maybe we made a mistake. maybe we missed something. maybe you're experiencing economic hardship that didn't show up in the formulas and we want to have an opportunity to help you. >> when do you think students should start to search for

scholarships? >> i think you can start even before the senior year. it's not too early. there are some scholarships even that are made available in the middle school years and so it's never too early to search but certainly some of these deadlines are coming up. >> go ahead. >> if the net price calculator works, who it will work for is people who look at it early and they will find that colleges may be more affordable than they thought and it will be very reassuring. if they are in that little bubble too rich to be poor and too poor to be rich it'll help them saving early maybe starting to put money in a 529. >> overall are you optimistic about what is out there for students in the upcoming year? >> you have to be really aggressive in doing your research. unfortunately we are getting into a period where i think it will be even more difficult for low income and middle income kids. you have to do your home work. >> thanks very much. we appreciate the information. a lot of people care about this. coming up next the wildest snowboarding event you'll ever see but first this is "today" on nbc. whatcha lookin' for hon?

ah, these new jeans i want. i've been looking everywhere. new blue jeans? oh, don't be crazy, i've got tons of blue jeans. frank! frank! get my jean bin, susie wants my jeans. no she doesn't.

here we go. nice and loose. ohhh. those are loose, but i actually just ordered three pairs of this kind. ooooohhhh. oh. when it's on your mind, it's on ebay.

back at 8:41 with some daring athletes. we kick off 35 hours of breathtaking action sports adventure tomorrow and today national correspondent jenna wolf recently headed to british columbia for a preview of one of the events. good morning, jenna. >> good morning, natalie. travis rice one of the best snowboarders in the world is planning what is called a snowboard lollapalooza deep in canada's mountains. you have to take a helicopter just to get to the top of the mountain to his venue. just endless runs of deep powder and an equally deep commitment to blowing the minds of his guests. all i can say, buckle up. >> reporter: everyone has their idea of paradise. a perfect spot where every dream

comes true. legendary snowboarder travis rice agreed to meet me at his little piece of eden just over the border in canada's british columbia. and that's travis now. last year travis rice set a heart-thumping standard with his film "the art of flight." known as a big mountain rider rice and friends rip up the back country launching themselves off cliffs, outracing death, and constantly pushing the thin edge of what can be done on a snowboard. now he's throwing a high stakes party on a course of his own design. >> travis, what was the goal behind building this? >> basically being able to crown the best, most well rounded snowboard in the world. >> reporter: snowboarding's elite athletes fall into two

groups -- the back country free stylists like rice -- >> there's the setup. >> reporter: and the half pipe and slope style kings like the two-time gold medal olympian shawn white. on rice's hand made course, 18 of the best riders in the world will duke it out for ultimate supremacy. you designed this and then sat down with a bunch of guys and sort of carved it out. do you see yourself as an artist? >> yeah. i mean, sure. an ash terchitect. i was living in a fantasy putting this together, almost a dream state as far as, hum, what would be incredible? >> reporter: a high alpine party planner rice and his team got to work nearly two years ago pe reforming the mountain with over a hundred jumps and features. >> ah! that was great. >> someone can come and do a

slash, drop in, traverse over, air off this, touch that next pillar. >> there has to be a sense of fear before you start a run like this. >> it's just too damn sexy to be scared. >> reporter: at the speeds these guys hit, guts are mandatory. but so is a more surprising quality -- creativity. >> the beauty is that everyone approaches the slope a little different. part of the challenge with this is selecting a line. that's where the kind of creative challenge comes in. >> reporter: though it may have the look of a late night turn on the dance floor, this kind of snowboarding takes precise planning. with serious injury, one wrong turn away, riders are just as pains taking in choosing the routes they'll take as the moves they'll make once in the air. have you had any of the guys call you and ask, what should like out for? what are you excited about? >> i've spoken with a few riders

and, you know, all i can really say is, you'll see. >> reporter: with the course almost ready travis rice's supernatural event is the next chapter in winter's hottest sport. pushed to the edge by the creative genius of a man who is more than just a little crazy. >> wow. that's about all i can say here is this athlete who is wide eyed and crazy and has this little boy in him who had the discipline and business sense to carve out the side of this mountain and put together this amazing event. it was so fun to spend time with him and see both sides of him. >> i notice you're pretty fearless and tough. >> a little bit. >> you could handle it? would you want to give it a whirl? >> that is pure crazy. i'm a little bit crazy. that's 100% crazy. these guys are so good. >> some would say you're a hundred percent crazy too. >> thank you. >> the red bull series kicks off tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. eastern right here on nbc. catch travis rice's supernatural event in march. can't wait for it.

still ahead, the woman who is trending online for getting bitten by a zebra. but first, this is "today" on nbc.

we are constantly hearing about new studies often the best ways to raise children and now as nbc's kevin tibbles reports, there are even ways for prospective grandparents to learn a thing or two about new ways to take care of babies. >> do you want to wake up? come on, sweetie pie. >> reporter: baby sophia is barely a week old and, boy, is ann dearling loving her new role as a first-time grandma. >> i just love to hold her. >> reporter: it's been more than 30 years since ann's own kids were born and just weeks before baby sophia arrived when ann's son mark and his wife denise were still attending prenatal classes at seattle's swedish

medical center and ann decided she might be in need of a refresher. she went to grandparents' school. >> it's right up here. grandparent tips. we know that some of the things we did 30 years ago we can do a little bit better now. >> reporter: the expectant grandparents are taught the new way to swaddle a baby. >> and this is going to come up over the shoulder. >> reporter: and everything from nutrition to nap time. >> when i raise children the only thing we had was a dr. spock book. >> reporter: things have definitely changed. no bumpers in the crib, no toys or mobiles either. and always lay baby on its back. instead of the age old practice of on its stomach. for mark and denise and sophia presumably grandma is already getting an "a." >> just one way for her to kind of participate in the pregnancy. >> she's been waiting for grand kids for a long time. >> reporter: and now time to put her grandparent graduate degree to good use.

>> and then bring this piece up. from the dummie we'd practice with in the class and then have this real live living little beauty. >> reporter: while grandma ann learns the new ways denise's father eric chang now grandpa eric introduces the can us toms of his native taiwan and cooks for the new mom. oh, and he also gets to serenade his new granddaughter. ♪ anything to help the exhausted, overwhelmed, and sleep deprived new parents. >> it was really nice to see them both have time with the baby and enjoy getting to know her. >> now you're not going to be a doting grandmother are you? >> oh, me? >> reporter: of course she is. >> there we go. >> reporter: now she is also up to date on how to do it. for today, kevin tibbles, nbc news, seattle. up next the young woman's close encounter with the hungry zebra caught on tape. we'll talk to her right after this.

>> ow! he

if i could turn back time ♪ >> when you go to a starry park you expect a close view of the animals. one woman got more than she bargained for. check it out. >> kind of like -- ow! he bit my shoulder, oh, my god!

>> megan sweatman is the zebra's victim there. she is with us now. megan, good morning. >> good morning. >> wow. >> that had to hurt. >> yeah, just a little. >> left a mark for quite a while, right? >> yes, ma'am. >> oh, boy. >> so you're holding some food and the window is open. >> yeah. i was trying to get a picture with the zebra before that. he had stuck his head in and got in the bag and so then i thought it was a good idea to get a picture with him. and i turned my back and he was hungry. >> so lesson learned in this is don't turn your back on the zebra. especially if you've got food. >> you're holding it in front of his face. >> i know. so mean. he got me for that. >> what did the people at the safari park say and do about this? >> so we go into the gift shop and i like show -- it's this old man working in there. i was like, look what happened. the zebra bit me. and he goes, oh, no. he didn't bite you. that was his lips.

he said, he was like, the lips are real rough and they just pinched you. he just pinched me apparently. but, no. when you slow it down you can see his teeth like chomping. >> yeah. i can see it there. >> but he gave me some ointment so -- >> that was nice. and another bag of food. >> yeah. >> now get back out there. >> show us something real. did you have to have any medical attention with this? >> no. >> that's good. >> the ointment just fixed me right up. >> and 200,000 people have now gone online to see your misadventure. how do you feel about that? >> crazy. i just posted it originally for like friends and family to see it. we thought it was hilarious. >> megan, we brought the zebra in here. >> don't worry. she actually looked over her shoulder. >> i think the most amazing thing is we didn't have to bleep

any of that tape out. >> my mom was in the car so, you know. >> there you go. >> megan, thanks for being with us today. >> thank you. >> appreciate it. we're back after your local news.

8:56 is your time now on this friday, january 20, 2012. good morning to you. i'm eun yang. let's check in with storm 4 meteorologist tom kierein for a look at the forecast. >> temperatures are beginning to climb a little bit but still a few locations are being below freezing. maryland especially. western maryland, only down into the low 20s right now. it is mid 30s closer to

washington and south and east. we have a winter storm watch. all these counties in color. including western maryland and panhandle of west virginia, shenandoah valley. where they are going to have the bigger impacts from a wintry mix of sleet and freezing rain beginning mid evening this evening and perhaps into saturday morning. around the metro area, though, impacts will be minor. light dusting of snow, changing to icing and rain tomorrow. >> tom, thanks so much. we will

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good morning. traveling 50 westbound to the city, delays start in maryland at riverdale road. continue as you connect to new york avenue. once you pass bladensburg, the lanes open up. back to you. >> thanks. more news, weather and traffic

back now with more of "today" on a friday morning, january 20th already, 2012. sunny but a little bit on the chilly side in new york city. we are preparing for the storm of the century. >> no, no, no. >> i'm kidding. we'll get a little dusting of snow tonight. >> 2 to 4 inches tops. >> a little more north and west of us. >> just a little bit. >> and apparently more on natalie morales. >> i'm matt lauer. >> a camera shot over there. getting creative. >> i'm matt lauer with al roker and tamron hall. ann had to take off a little early. time is running out for rescue crews that are trying to find possible survivors on the cruise ship we've been watching so much off the coast of italy over the last seven or eight days.

the operation was delayed yet again. we'll get the latest in a live report from italy coming up. also ahead gop presidential candidate newt gingrich is denying his ex-wife's claim that he asked her to agree to an open marriage when he admitted to having a six-year affair with his now wife calista. what effect will this have on his campaign? we'll get the latest on the republican race. >> he jumped right out of the box tackling that issue. no question. >> just to think, the inaugural is a year from today. >> wow. >> there you go. and later on on "today's real estate" we'll take you on a virtual tour of homes on sale right now for $250,000 or less from a three bedroom home in a great fishing town to an open floor plan in atlanta. we have great homes to show you. we have advice when it comes to your kids. don't wait for the report card. find out how your kids are doing in school. if there are problems, we'll find out how to nip them in the bud. >> let's go back over to natalie at the news desk with the

headlines. good morning, everyone. mitt romney's taxes and newt gingrich's personal life were hot topics during last night's republican debate. the final face-off before tomorrow's pivotal south carolina primary. nbc's peter alexander is in charleston, south carolina with more. good morning. >> reporter: natalie, good morning to you. you'll excuse the people of south carolina if they're waking up this morning asking themselves what just happened? yesterday was a wild, jam packed day unlike any other we've seen this entire political cycle. it began with one candidate, rick perry, dropping out, and ended with another candidate newt gingrich's ex-wife speaking out. she says you asked her sir to enter into an open marriage. would you like to take some time to respond to that? >> no, but i will. >> reporter: straight out of the gate newt gingrich unleashed a fiery assault. >> i think the destructive, vicious, negative nature of much of the news media makes it harder to govern this country,

harder to attract decent people to run for public office, and i am appalled that you would begin a presidential debate with a topic like that. he attacked the media for foc focusing on his second wife's claim that he wanted to continue his affair with his then mistress now wife. >> he was asking to have an open marriage and i refused. >> he wanted an open marriage. >> yeah. that i accept the fact that he has somebody else in his life. >> to take an ex-wife and make it two days before the primary a significant question in a presidential campaign is as close to despicable as anything i can imagine. >> the story is false. every personal friend who knew us in that period says the story is false. i am tired of the elite media protecting barack obama. >> gingrich and santorum now battling to be the conservative alternative to mitt romney

traded attacks on their contrasting styles. >> grandiosity has never been a problem with newt gingrich. he handles it very, very well. >> i think grandiose thoughts. this is a grandiose country of big people doing big things and we need leadership prepared to take on big projects. >> newt's a friend. i love him but at times he just sort of has that, you know, worrisome moment that something is going to pop and we can't afford that in a nominee. >> when will you release your tax returns specifically? >> an hour ago. >> putting pressure on romney to release his taxes, gingrich put his online just before the debate. but romney appeared to stumble again when asked if he would follow his father, who also ran for president and released several years of his tax returns. >> maybe. you know, i don't know how many years i'll release. i'll take a look at what the -- what our documents are. >> at times thursday night's debate got so intense it was even hard for the candidates to

keep track. >> beats me. i don't know. where are we at, john? >> reporter: as for newt gingrich's tax returns they show he and his wife made more than $3 million in 2010 and, natalie, they paid nearly $1 million in federal taxes. >> peter alexander in charleston, south carolina. thanks, peter. now to italy where rescuers are running out of time to find any possible survivors. and overnight the operation was delayed yet again. nbc's michelle kosinski is on giglio island. what's the latest there? >> reporter: hi, natalie. we saw searchers dropping these big sensors i guess you would call them on to the ship. they work. they picked up vibrations that could mean the ship is settling into the reef or slipping toward an edge that drops 300 feet. either way, divers can't work in danger of being trapped themselves. they shared with us some of their incredible views of that ship, determined to find all of the 21 people still missing and then to remove the more than 500,000 gallons of fuel before

it leaks. more video was also posted to youtube showing the chaos of last friday night while police still investigate the captain accused of manslaughter and abandoning ship they want to know why evacuations seem delayed and why when authorities called the ship a crew member said no help was needed. it was just a blackout. natalie? >> michelle kosinski in giglio, italy, thanks. the military is investigating a helicopter crash that killed six u.s. marines in southern afghanistan thursday. officials say there were no signs of enemy fire in the area at the time. meanwhile four french troops were killed this morning in eastern afghanistan prompting france to suspend military operations in the country. a spectacular night time launch at cape canaveral sent a delta rocket into orbit to deliver a half billion dollar military satellite. the air force says the satellite will let the u.s. military and overseas embassies send large volume computer files at ten times the current speed. check out the way some

children are getting to school in indonesia. recent flooding damaged the only bridge that leads to their school so they have to walk across the rickety remains held together by little more than wooden planks and wire. it's pretty scary there. seven minutes past the hour right now. you're up to date. let's go to al with a check of your weather. >> unbelievable video. scary. t's happening weatherwise. what we have for you. first, winter storm warnings. watches and advisories from des moines, iowa, all the way to new england. including new york city. we are expecting a swath of snow that between now and saturday to include three to five inches in milwaukee, four to seven in chicago. three to five in cleveland. pittsburgh, up to five inches of snow. two to four inches in new york city. boston, about 1 to 3. out west, another heavy round of rain, mountain snow and we are looking for flooding, rivers and streams in the northwest. could be more power outages, big problems. anywhere from 1 to 3 inches in the locally 4 inches of rain along the coast.

mountain snows of up to 2 to 3 feet. that's what's going on around the country. here's what's happening in your neck of the woods. >> we could get some snow here around the washington and baltimore metro areas and western northern suburbs in the cities. those areas may be about 25, 30 miles north and west. later tonight into tomorrow morning, an inch of snow with a crust of ice on top of that. and right now, it is cold. we are just still hovering in the low to mid 30s right near washington. in the 20s farther west and north. get out of the winter storm watch where the biggest impacts of the storm will be far north and west of the metro area. then all of thissing over to rain saturday and end time now for "today's real estate." what can you get for under $250,000? we'll show you. "today" contributor barbara corcoran scours the country for great deals and is here now to show us what she found. >> good morning, al. >> we'll go to dallas, texas. a nice three-bedroom home for under $250,000.

way under at $199,900. >> that's code for 200 is a better way of saying it. don't be fooled. this is on a quiet cul de sac street. it has a pool, tennis club, club house all for $28 a month included. >> wow. >> it looks neat and trim and that grass in the front needed a little ferfertilizer. my only critique. a sunny yellow kitchen with vaulted ceilings, blonde floors and i can't picture it without that pretty window. the highlight of that kitchen. a wide open living room with high ceilings, cozy fire place, master bedroom with cathedral ceilings, extra long arches and windows that look out on to the front yard. almost feels like a villa. doesn't feel like you're in dallas, texas. there is a community lake that has green lawns and shade trees surrounding a little bit of the green guacamole on the top. not sure what's going on there. out back there is a deck that's been freshly painted and what a difference a coat of paint makes with plenty of space for a party. one nice house for under 200. >> now we got a nice tudor for you in fond du lac, wisconsin.

it's a three-bedroom house near the -- fond du lac is french for bottom of the lake. >> i didn't know you spoke french. >> i know you like it when i speak french. >> yes. you're turning me on. this house is also in the walleye spear fishing capital of the usa. perfect for you, al. >> yeah. >> an important part to mention here. it is a pretty tudor revival corner lot and looks very expensive to my eye. more than 214. it's got a beautiful kitchen that's a bit dark, just needs to be lightened up a bit. it has a balanced, big window in the formal dining room. i like the baseboard moldings you'll see here that surround the windows, very elegant. again, making it look like an expensive house. the living room is a perfect pottery barn style type of furnishings with windows that flank the fire place and line both walls. you see the right wall and also another set on the left wall and a fenced back yard with a grassy lawn and they trim up the flower beds nice and neat. >> all right. now we'll head to a place i went to school and right near bald winsville, new york just outside

of syracuse. this is a seven-bedroom, three and a half bath home in upstate new york. kind of looks like a little frank lloyd wright. >> it does. especially when you get inside. what is wrong with this house is it needs a real good clipping job. it is beautifully grown but too much. you can't even find the house frankly. inside there is a kitchen that's really square and big. plenty of space but the cabinets are dark. it needs lightening and certainly new hardware. easy fix to make a big difference in that house. there is real wood panel throughout almost the entire house and this wrap-around windows that run the full length of the dining room and the living room connect the space. that gives you that frank lloyd feeling you were just mentioning. the floors are stone quarry from nearby ithica. the living room has floor-to-ceiling windows throughout. there's also a guest room with its own bath and fire place. not unusual. but it comes with its own built-in oven. come on over and stay a while. >> cool. >> and cook under that buck head for a while. but the patio out back has a fish pond surrounded by mature oak and ginkgo trees. one nice house for a very

inexpensive price. >> beautiful. now down to atlanta, georgia where homes are not cheap but you got a nice three-bedroom, two-home we found for 234,750. >> this is a very traditional looking home east of downtown atlanta, a close commute. it looks like a house kind of mom and dad could grow up in and be in happily ever after. i love those hollywood rose bushes out front that look like they have uplifts. don't know how they got that done. inside is a total surprise from the outside. it's very modern with open kitchen, refinished floors, the open dining room, granite counters. looks super modern. you don't expect that looking on the outside. the living room feels pristine with the gleaming hardwood floors. i love that extra tall wainscoting painted clean white. there is another great shot of the living room. the fire place is nice. it comes with a built-in wet bar with a wine rack and out back the flagstone patio looks like an expensive estate because of the furniture with bushes and vines. >> all right. then we'll finish up in tacoma, washington. got a nice, urban modern look

for this house. three bedroom home. right now it's priced at $242,000. totally different from the other houses. you know that tacoma is perched high above the puget sound surrounded by gorgeous mountains. this is ultra modern, an urban style home with no taxes for seven years. how many times do you find a house that has no taxes? this is one of them. the interior is a knockout. it's bright, clean, and airy as you would expect. but look at the views. the kitchen is sleek with granite counters and nice back splash. everything is beautifully done. this is an open living room with views of mount rainier from both windows. and remember, still with no taxes. it's full of light. even in rainy washington which gets so much rain it has glass doors and recessed lighting and perfectly situated windows. there's a bedroom, all the bedrooms are carpeted. and they have the same spectacular mountain views. i could live there for 242. that is a pretty house. >> that looks like a

professionally staged home. >> it does. it looks better than professionally staged. >> thanks so much. gorgeous. great houses. >> my pleasure. coming up next a mid-term exam. it's a good time to check in on your kids' progress at school. we'll give you an idea what to look for. plus going gray with style. we'll show you how to flaunt those silver streaks just like the stars. to walk like one. when you walk 10,000 steps a day, it's the same as walking a professional golf course. humana. proud supporter of health and well-being. the best approach to food is to keep it whole for better nutrition. that's what they do with great grains cereal. they steam and bake the actual whole grain while the other guy's flake is more processed.

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have you tried this yet? save on vicks nature fusion and other innovative products with p&g brandsaver. 10 freshly prepared pieces just 11 bucks. any recipe. any way. only saturday and sunday. so pick up a bucket right now. and make this weekend one to remember. today tastes so good. [ 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.

♪ ♪ eat well, live long ♪ have a good daisy, work out, get strong ♪ [ female announcer ] enjoy the fresh, 100% natural choice in cottage cheese. ♪ have a good daisy ♪ have a good daisy this morning on "parenting today" a mid-term checkup with the second semester now in full swing. don't wait to see your child's report card before assessing their progress in school. how do you identify and resolve perhaps any academic problems? "today's contributor is an

educational psychologist with some important advice for parents. good morning, michelle. >> good morning. >> good time of year. mid point right now. first things first. we have to make sure they're doing okay in school and check on their academic progress. how do we know if there is a problem? >> number one go to the school website and the classroom website. there is almost always posted, not looking for one dip of a grade but for an overall patt n pattern. if you see a problem do not wait for the spring conference. set up a conference immediately with the teacher and say what can we do? if you need a tutor, economic ways to do it, a retired teacher. high school students, many of them have to do with service learning project and check on upcoming projects that are long. the report that's going to take forever, sit down with a calendar with your child and say, let's not dawdle. let's give ourselves enough time and a little effort and it'll help. >> if your school doesn't have a website, i imagine just checking with the teacher periodically. >> check in with the teacher. they appreciate it. do it. >> okay. next thing attendance and tardiness. i think a lot of parents tend to be surprised when they realize wait a minute.

my son was tardy how many times this year? or missed school how many times? >> i sent him to school on time. how could that be? check, check, check. whether or not your child shows up on time eager to learn in that seat makes a huge difference on the task. check the tardys. it's always overlooked. if you see a pattern in the tardies don't be quick to blame your child. make sure you are there on time. if you are always losing the keys get an extra set and put it on the hook by the door. >> it can affect their grades right? >> a huge dip. >> this is one my son complained about just last night. that is activity overload. he has something every night of the week and just wants a little break. how do you know how much is too much? >> you're looking for a pattern, particularly based on from last semester. a little bit more irritable, a little bit more complaining. but i don't have enough energy or time. that means you got to check that calendar. just cut one thing. it can free up the time and put energy into what he is supposed to be doing, which is learning.

>> exactly. the other big problem is lack of sleep. >> yes. >> i think a lot of kids kind of got into this pattern over the holidays where they weren't on schedule, like my kids. and they're not going to sleep when they should. how do you break the habit? >> a lot of the kids are on jet lag mode on beijing time and not u.s. time when they walk into that first period class. what you're looking for is how refreshed are they when they wake up in the morning? then you rewind the clock. number one, a routine sleep schedule is probably the number one thing. number two, though, please make sure you're turning off computers and tv 30 minutes before your child goes to sleep. those flickering images rob the sleep patterns. also, collect the kids' cell phones. 62% say they're still texting, tapping, and talking after lights out. >> really. >> that's the teens. they admit it to us not the parents. >> and then starting off with a good breakfast every morning. so key. >> we know our mothers told us. it really refuels the brain.

but look. busy xe yy schedules are tough particularly in the morning. if that is a reoccurring problem you know your kid needs the energy source. look for quick alternatives even a quick orange juice to go or healthy granola bar. you can find it. make sure there is something in your child's backpack. >> okay. then a problem that can be overlooked quite often. we hear so much about it. bullying comes in many different ways now whether cyber bullying or physical bullying. what are some tell tale signs? >> first of all 162,000 kids a day are skipping school because of it. they're not going to be tuning into their lessons as a result. so here are some things. a lot of times they don't tell. look for signs that are different from last semester. your child's more irritable. he's clingy, avoiding school or he can't sleep. hot spots are key. if he's running home to use the bathroom, we're looking at 43% of kids afraid to use the school restroom. is that a problem? mean girls scene is starting a lot earlier. have your kid draw a map of the

cafeteria. where does he sit? where do the other kids sit? if there's nobody around your child it could be bullying. google your child's name. you'll see an online presence go off in terms of cyber bullying. watch how he responds to an e-mail or a text. if it's jittery or he cuts it up it could be a problem. >> great advice. really good pointers. thanks again, michelle. coming up this morning, we'll hear more about the mystery illness that seems to be affecting 12 girls at the same high school. affecting 12 girls at the same high school. but first, these messages. and p unloading a puddle of water. female voice: turn right ahead. so i make sure i have the right guidance to get me exactly where i need to be. it's the same with taxes. turbotax has a unique gps feature that guides me step by step, and if i have any questions, i can even ask a tax expert by phone or chat, for free, which helps me know it's done right and get my maximum refund, guaranteed. man: get free, one-on-one, expert tax advice. go to turbotax.com.

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still to come this morning making the most of gray hair without hair dye. >> plus health foods from around the world. >> after your local news and weather. while melting into those creamy mashed potatoes... bringing a rich, warm tenderness to your peas. ohhh! it's i can't believe it's not butter! fresh butter taste with 70% less saturated fat than butter go ahead. cheat on butter. you naughty thing. 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. 9:26 is your time this friday, january 20, 2012. good morning to you. i'm eun yang. let's check in with storm 4 meteorologist tom kierein. changes in the weather, tom? >> yeah. high clouds continuing to move in. obscuring the sun now after sunshine earlier this morning. it is still cold and just a little bit above freezing in washington. points south and east, warmer. west and north, still at or below freezing, down to the low 20s fartherest and and north. cold morning. snow and sleet and changing to ice. especially areas 40 miles north ask west of washington. that will begin later this evening and end by around dawn saturday. changing to rain for a brief time and then that will end saturday afternoon. >> all right, tom. thanks so much.

good morning. if you are heading out house hitting the roadways look really good in our area. taking a look at the district. new york avenue had traffic here at bladensburg. it is now gone. smooth sailing for you. taking the beltway in maryland. here's a view at route 1. if you are traveling towards greenbelt issue an accident-free. outer loop of the beltway through montgomery county, i'm not seeing any problems. no delays at all. beltway in virginia looks nice. this is a view at van dorn. inner loop speed 58 miles per hour. not bad. again, not seeing any accidents or incidents to report on the

beltway in virginia at this time. it is a great day on the roadways. back to you. >> sure is. thank you. more news, weather and traffic for you in just 25 minutes. but for now, back to the "today" show after this short break.

and the golden globe goes to "the artist." >> "the artist!" >> yes, it was "the artist" one of the big win aerts the golden globes this year. does that mean it'll sweep the oscar nominations? we'll get some of the other strong films getting votes and have the oscar nominations for you live right here next week on "today." meanwhile coming up in this half hour seize the grave! you don't automatically have to run for the hair dye the minute you get a few gray hairs. we'll show you how to sport your silver strands with class and style. >> kelly osbourne is dying her hair gray. she is only in her 20s.

it's almost like a lavendar gray. got this purplish hue to it. >> my grandma. that's my grandmother. >> you used to call that blue rinse. >> exactly. >> anyway, health food from around the world from danish herring to indian curry powder the foods that are good for you from all corners of the globe. good and tasty. >> then also ahead new details on the mysterious illness that affected 12 girls at the same high school in upstate new york all developing severe tics and uncontrollable verbal outbursts. we'll hear from the doctor who is treating 10 of the 12 teens. first we want to check in with lester holt and jenna wolfe with a preview of "weekend today." >> good to see you guys. coming up tomorrow of course the south carolina primary with only four gop contenders left. we'll see who walks away with the victory in the first southern contest. recent polls show newt gingrich gaining ground on front-runner mitt romney so the drama is building there. then we'll talk cruise ship

safety. the disaster onboard the costa concordia raises questions about how safe cruise ships really are. we'll get some answers for you on that. and then we'll line it up a little bit. what is it really like to be mayor toyed the mob? a real life mafia insider will share her story. equally as serious, i dive into synchronized swimming. that is a one piece and i wore it proudly. it's a sport for just about every age. this was the 75 to 90-year-olds that invited me to come hang out with them. classy. as always. as everything i do. believe me, it is not as easy as it looks. we had a blast. so all that and some other news this weekend on "today." >> looks impressive. >> doesn't look easy. >> i'm nothing if not graceful you guys. >> in the water. >> sorry. in the water. >> all righty. now let's check our weather from mr. roker. we're looking forward to a little bit of snow here. >> that's right. like winter finound here. let's check it out for you. the weekend ahead. saturday, we have rain and wind, big problems continuing central

california and pacific northwest. snow in the mountains there. rain ask along the mid atlantic and southeastern coast. icy conditions in the northeast. sunday, sunday, sunny and cold in the northeast with plenty of sunshine. rain continues in the pacific northwest. dealing with problems there again. look for more wet weather in the mid atlantic states and the mid mississippi river valley. we expect frigid conditions, arctic cold to move into the plains. that's what's going around the country. here's what's happening in your neck of the woods. >> good morning. still cold. temperatures only in the mid 30s around washington to the 20s farther west and north. this is what may be happening tonight. this will be between 9:00 tonight and until dawn saturday. could get a combination of some snow changing to sleet and then icing on top of that. areas west and north of i-95 mainly. impacts around the metro areas will be minimal. and then some light rain after this all -- wintry precipitation ends tomorrow morning. light rain during the afternoon hours. it should end saturday.

what is the perfume you're wearing? everybody is sniffing you. >> we're on the air guys. >> i know. >> went like that. >> natalie you saboteur. >> she has a great scent on this morning. >> coming up how do we brace your gray hair? the right cut makes all the difference. right after this. but with advair, i'm breathing better so now i can take the lead on a science adventure. advair is clinically proven to help significantly improve lung function. unlike most copd medications, advair contains both an anti-inflammatory and a long-acting bronchodilator, working together to help improve your lung function all day. advair won't replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than twice a day. people with copd taking advair may have a higher chance of pneumonia.

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♪ i'm going to see beauty >> this morning on "today's beauty" seize the gray from jamey lee curtis's pixie cut to emmy lou harris's long locks the days of hiding your gray hair long gone. here are tips for silver strands as "prevention" magazine's beauty director jennifer joins . great to see you. >> good to be here. >> i love this a lot of celebrities are rocking it even if they don't have naturally gray hair like kelly osbourne. >> we saw at the golden globes this past weekend she dyes her hair gray prematurely. that's how cool it can look. we did a study at prevention.com and found 71% of people think women with gray hair can be sexy. that is only a few percentage points behind the number of people who think men with gray hair can be sexy. >> right. we often hear of a man with salt and pepper hair but for women -- >> yes. i think people have a hesitation to do it. now you can see you can make it look really gorgeous. if someone in their 20s is doing it then it can look great. >> let's talk about the source of gray hair. you hear people especially moms

say you're giving me gray hair. is that possible? >> a lot of people think stress can cause gray hair and they are studying that but so far there is no proven link. what we do know is that as we age there is a decrease in melanin and that's how you get gray hair. >> let's look at how you make it work for you. first up is pamela. let's look at pamela's short hair off the top there. what did you do? >> well, pamela had a -- was growing in her gray hair but her cut is what we want to talk about. a lot of women think when they have gray hair they have to go short. what you don't want to do is get a really feathery or layered cut. you want something sharp and modern. look how great she looks now. you can ask your stylist not to use a razor because a razor frays the end of your hair and that can have that fly away quality. >> it can look dry. >> untidy and dry. >> yes. >> another good tip is if you have a hair cut like this or any hair cut with gray hair use a blue tinted shampoo once a month. >> blue tinted. >> you don't want to use it every day.

>> does it give you blue hair? >> you won't look like marge simpson. once a month. this is clairol shimmer lights. it counteracts any yellow from the gray hair. >> i want to touch it. it looks so soft. >> shiny, beautiful. modern and cool. >> please don't be offended that i am rubbing your hair. really gorgeous. next up maureen. she has longer hair. again, a little bit of the frizziness. how did you improve the look? >> when you have gray hair it is important to style it correctly. and maureen air dried i think in this picture and what you need to know with gray hair is it can look dryer like we said. >> why is that? >> it grows in more coarse and is more porous than pigmented hair. it is important to use shine products and it's important to try and get that smooth, polished finish stow doo it doe look wiry and crazy. >> so this is solely with shine products. >> this is ultra shiny silver spray from sally beauty. you don't want to use anything that has alcohol which can be drying. you don't want to use anything too heavy because it can coat the hair and make it look sort

of dusty. >> now with maureen and pamela their hair, the gray seems so perfectly placed. you can't control that. >> you can't control where you're going to get the gray hairs unfortunately. >> it looks gorgeous. >> it seems that when people's gray hair grows in it looks great whatever shade it is. silver gray, white. >> both of them have dark hair. is it harder if you're a blonde going gray? >> either way. there is a study that shows gray goes faster. if you want to grow in your gray hair it's going to grow a lot faster than it does when it's pigmented. it's not that hard. >> we have judy. let's take a look at the before picture. she looks absolutely lovely. i think the only thing that is missing, lip stick or something? >> exactly. you have to change your makeup a little bit when you do go gray. >> why? >> you tend to look washed out because the white or the gray around your face sort of gives you that washed outlook. so it's really important to do your makeup correctly. one of the key things is brows. usually when your hair is growing gray your brows are going gray also. >> right. >> you want to pencil them in. don't make them dark brown or really severe. >> do you make them the color of

your natural color hair? >> usually a taupe color half way between gray and brown looks good on anybody. we used sonia taupe brow pencil and then if you see here we have a selection of makeup products. you don't want beiges and browns and taupes. >> corals there. >> you want coral, apricot, rose, those kind of colors that bring life back to the skin and add rosiness. >> does it matter if you are as fair as she is or dark as i am? >> she might wear a lighter pink or you might use a fuschia. you don't want mauve or beige. it would look washed out. >> absolutely beautiful. let's go out. it's friday night. all right? still to come, health foods from around the world. they are quick and easy to prepare. after these messages. laces? really? slip-on's the way to go. more people do that, security would be like -- there's no charge for the bag. thanks. i know a quiet little place where we can get some work done. there's a three-prong plug. i have club passes.

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10 freshly prepared pieces just 11 bucks. any recipe. any way. only saturday and sunday. so pick up a bucket right now. and make this weekend one to remember. today tastes so good. the bestd make this weekend approach to foodremember. is to keep it whole for better nutrition. that's what they do with great grains cereal. they steam and bake the actual whole grain while the other guy's flake is more processed. mmm. great grains. the whole whole grain cereal. it's good. honey, i love you... oh my gosh, oh my gosh.. look at these big pieces of potato. ♪ what's that? big piece of potato. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. new details now on that mystery illness that's affected 12 girls at one high school in upstate new york. today national correspondent amy

robach has the latest. amy? >> reporter: well, since we first reported this story on monday we've been overwhelmed with phone calls and e-mails from concerned viewers all wondering what has caused these girls to have severe tics almost like tourette's syndrome and why they haven't been cured. since october, sarah sanches and at least 11 other girls at le roy high school have been suffering from severe tics and verbal outbursts. now a doctor treating some of the teens says the diagnosis is a rare condition called mass psychogenic illness. >> it's happened before all around the world in different parts of the world. it's a rare phenomena. physicians are intrigued about it. >> reporter: the doctor says the illness is a physiological problem that can happen in groups like female teenagers. sarah sanches has had the symptoms for months and says she's missing out on important moments of her senior year. >> go out with my friends, do

whatever. i used to work and i used to love going to school every day. now i am not in school. i start home tutoring soon. i'm very behind. i feel very behind. now i am. >> reporter: on tuesday sarah told ann she is frustrated by the lack of answers on how she contracted the illness in the first place. >> i want an answer, a straight answer. i've had psychological treatment. they say this is stress induced. my psychological treatment stresses me out more and i get worse thanc worse. >> that frustration is shared by her friend katy who also suffers from the same type of outbursts. >> i can't explain it. they told us it was traumatic but i really don't think any of

us have that traumatic of a life and that it would randomly happen. >> the state health department conducted a three-month investigation and ruled out environmental factors or infection as a cause. the le roy school district did their own private testing and came up with the same conclusion. still, parents want answers. >> we're not getting anywhere. we're not, you know, it's a couple months into this, three months now. and you have no conclusion. they say there's a diagnosis and a cause. we don't know this. is there a treatment plan? is there an end date to this? and the frustration of not having these is too much to bear. the school district says the building at risk. coming up next health foods from around the world but first this coming up next health foods from around the world but first this is "today" on nbc.

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today's daily dose is brought to you by progresso. you've got to taste this soup. this morning on today's daily dose when it comes to foods wit the greatest health benefits time to think out of the box. better yet out of the country. cultures from around the world seem to be offering healthy options easy to prepare. we have our diet nutrition editor with a great selection. nice to see you. first we'll start in denmark. >> one of the best health foods is going to be herring. you might be a little surprised by this. this has got three times your daily amount of omega iii fats and vitamin d and is also loaded with protein. just this serving. three ounces is going to be one-third of your protein for

the whole day. it's power packed. >> i like herring. >> it's good, too. >> cabbage. one of those vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower. it has a cancer fighting compound and if you eat this regularly it seems to reduce your risk and is also loaded with fiber. remember to just eat it raw or cook it lightly because people boil cabbage to death and all the nutrients go into the water. >> what about like kinchi from korea? >> that or bok choy. any of those and try different colors. oatmeal, oats are the perfect carbohydrate, rich in fiber, especially soluble fiber the one that helps lower cholesterol. it can help your blood sugar be stable and can help with weight control because it is very satisfying. it is a starch you want to turn to. >> now we move to africa. >> africa, chick peas are such a winner. number one they are a vegetable protein full of nutrients, plain protein, really good for you and loaded with fiber. one cup of chick peas has half your fiber for the day. a lot of people say well start

with the raw ones. they're really small and narly. the ones in the can are fine. dump them in soup, salad, mush them up and make humus. perfect. >> let's head to russia. >> who doesn't like beets? >> especially when you roast them. >> you can get fresh beets and people say, yikes. i can't do this. hack off the stems. cook them. or the best things that have been discovered now are the ones in supermarkets. they're vacuum wrapped. just open them up. they're ready to eat and you can put them in a salad. eat them out of hand. eat them with goat's cheese. roasting is certainly number one. >> now we move to india. >> the use of curry. curry is a mixture of spices. turmeric has the greatest health promoting potential. it's called the spice of life in india. it's used to fight inflammation. there is some evidence it is a cancer fighter with long-term use but the jury is still out. it's really a winner. >> the best way to add it to food? >> while you're cooking to any kind of vegetables, meats, chicken use any kind of curry

flavor and get some indian recipes. they're easy to follow. >> let's head to the middle east. >> middle east one of the best things is mint. mint is used in cooking. it's used in teas. and fresh mint is great for digestion, nausea, anything related to digestive health. it's easy to make. use tea bags but you can just take a bunch of fresh mint and dump it in some water and some natural breath freshener. >> and speaking of helping you digest, we head for ginger as we move into china. >> ginger -- >> i love ginger. >> ginger for centuries has been used for all kinds of digestive health, especially an anti-gas compound. >> look who walked in. >> gas compound. perfect timing. >> here we go. >> all right. >> as we speak. >> actually with the mint. >> that's right. >> we end up in thailand. >> with hot chili peppers good for a lot of things, heart health, keeps your blood vessels open. can be good for weight control, nerve pain. you can eat it. good for what ails you.

you can make it into a paste. >> get global. >> thank you so much. great tips. still to come, the lucky ladies from the crowd getting an instant makeover. >> we'll show you the results after your local news and weather.

9:57 is your time now on this friday, january 20, 2012. good morning. i'm eun yang. >> let's check in with storm 4 meteorologist tom kierein for a look at your forecast and what's ahead for this evening. something interesting, tom? >> yes, wintry weather of all things in january unlike the way it has been acting the last couple months. it is looking like a wintry mix here these areas in blue could get up to an inch to two inches of snow. then icing on top of that. maybe a tenth of an inch as much as a quarter of an inch of

icing. north and west of the washington metro area. right near a washington, light coating on some grassy areas, snow this evening. then maybe a little bit of ice on top of that. all ending around dawn on saturday. changing over to light rain after that. ending during the afternoon. now how's traffic? >> we have a crash, this one nursery road near wilson road. police are on the scene of that accident. i-95, you are in the green in both directions, virginia not seeing issues for you. prince william parkway, clear as you make your way to the interchange and connector 395. no delays at this time. 56 miles per hour. back to you. >> danella, thank you. coming up on "news4

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that's verizon.com/greatprice. at 800-974-6006 tty/v. fios. a network ahead. captions paid for by nbc-universal television a little bit of a new look around here. we do makeovers once in a while. >> nice graphic look. >> tri day friday, january 20th, the 82nd birthday of joan nancy cattel epstein, who survived yesterday and so did i. happy birthday, mom. all right. did you -- a lot of people like touch, gentle touch. >> yes. >> when people do not like to be touched is when they're, like,

in stores or stuff and people are just a little too -- >> yeah. they did another study that -- >> yet another. >> yes. now, here it is. when relatively attractive people brush against shoppers. >> yes. >> okay. they say that most people, they had an unsatisfying shopping experience. but here's the thing. you're looking at dresses on the racks like normal and someone says excuse me, and steps behind you and touches you. nothing unusual about that. >> right. >> i don't hate that. i don't like being bumped and someone not saying i'm sorry. >> when you're there alone, i don't like when you're on the rack. >> you've been there, so to speak. >> and there's, you know, somebody comes up, right in your space and starts looking at the same -- like looks at the same thing you're looking at. you just kind of go -- >> i'm standing right here. >> do you not see me? you know. personal space. i mean, everybody -- the other day, when i was coming home from arizona, i was anxious to get home. >> sure. >> you know, you're tired at the

end of a long weekend and you're traveling. i was on a zoom, right, to get back -- walking down to the baggage claim. with purpose, you know, with my carry-on and all that. and one lady tried to catch up with another lady and she finally catches up with her and literally, i am this close, and she doesn't see me. she goes, i've been trying to get you! i'm going, well, you got her. can i come around you people? >> they call it -- in basketball they call it court awareness. how about when someone gets off an escalator and dead stop? and everybody piles up. it's like you have to realize there are people behind you, people in front of you. you're not the only person alive. >> you're not the only person on the planet. that's right. that's the problem with our world in general. >> i think people don't notice everybody else or they're on phone so loudly and you're right next to them and you think oh my gosh -- one guy was screaming so loudly at his wife on the phone, like you listen to me! it was this horrible -- you're

standing there thinking -- >> i'm glad i'm not married to you. and people don't know how ugly it makes them look. >> when i'm around tension, i catch it. i'm an osmosis person. >> easily influenced. >> yes. i don't like to hear it. i was on plane a couple days ago, there was a woman in the seat and another woman said that's my seat, no, i was here first. i thought that wasn't nice. where's your boarding pass? i lost mine. where's the flight attendant? i had to put my ipod on because i get anxiety through other people's yelling. >> you can counteract that by you can compliment total strangers and absolutely change the complete complexion of the moment, of the day, of maybe someone's future. >> makefrisky.com, a great website, says there are seven reasons you should compliment strangers. first of all, if you're walking down the street and someone says i love that dress, it makes you feel good. >> of course. >> i like your shoes or

something. you're in a great mood or whatever. >> it's funny. the other parts of the country, people are much more open about if you get on an elevator, you're in a hotel in, say, st. louis, most people say good morning. you know, where are you going? checking out? something. in new york, it's kind of -- everyone is -- >> yeah. i do it to drive people crazy. >> whoa, hot in here, huh? or i'll go -- i'll say something just to get people talking to one another just because it breaks the ice but it's also fun. >> but you have to get a thick skin i think a little bit. >> they're like relieved. like -- >> they want to talk. >> they want to acknowledge. >> they say if you compliment a stranger while the person is walking by you, it has a snowball effect. there's a great commercial where one person does a good deed and pay it forward. >> mm-hmm. >> it's the same kind of idea. >> call it a golden rule and it's been around a long time. >> makes you feel good.

>> the opposite is true. somebody can say one crappy thing and set your whole day in a different direction. >> i don't like that at all. so compliment strangers. try to do that today. you'll feel better. what? >> when i got off the plane last week, there was -- flight attendants. they were stewardesses when i first started flying. old habit to break. anyway, i juls said as i was leaving, i said you have the most beautiful smile, you know. and she smiled bigger. she had a beautiful smile. she'll remember those kinds of things forever. >> here's the other thing, and the opposite is true, too. i remember waiting in line to get a subway card and this woman was talking to me in the line. she goes, what's this line, it's so long, the machines weren't working or something. a long, long line. we finally get up to the point and she's talking pleasantly to me. hey, she says to the person in the booth, and there's one woman

filing her nails and the other woman. >> always one. >> no, i want to talk to her. i want to talk to her, the one filing the nails. i could feel my heart pounding and i thought, i hate this. she's yelling at the nail filing lady, the woman is yelling back at her. when it's over, she gets the subway card and goes, hey, have a great day, see you later, like, so happy. this happened years ago and i'm still talking about it. >> a time you did that and the woman said, "i'm on a break." >> people are on break sometimes. but i feel it and remember it lat later. how do you feel about your body? >> depends on what somebody just said to me about it. >> all right. katrina will say to me, are you going to wear that? >> i think i'm looking okay and she'll say, you're going to wear that? >> i was getting ready to go to the "today" show holiday party, the 60th birthday party, and i was already dressed. i love marilyn more than anyone, our maik-up woman. she goes, what are you going to

wear? i said i'm wearing it. this is it. she goes, looks good. >> too late now. it looks fine. she thought you were going to wear something a little more dressy. really wasn't appropriate. but you looked nice. >> i'm not changing. i changed. >> you were clean. let's put it that way. >> anyway, how do you feel about your body? that's the big question. so what is it "fitness" magazine did a study, they say slightly mar than half of us think that we look fat naked. only slightly more than half? i thought it would be a lot higher. >> with all the obesity in our country, i'm surprised it's not more. >> what's the body part you hate most? think of your own. they say the number one hated body part for women is our thighs. >> it used to be my thighs. >> now what is it? >> my stomach. ever since the two cesareans and -- life. >> guys have an issue with one body part and that's their thighs also. >> i don't believe that. got to be their gults.

come on. look around. >> i agree. well, guys -- it's weird -- >> guys have the biggest guts. >> they're unaware. that's what i find fascinating. they're like waltzing around. it's out. >> yes. >> i mean, i don't care about it but -- >> they don't care. >> the say the two we like to flaunt the most are our cleavage -- >> not anymore, honey. >> and our trunk. >> i've got nice ankles. that's all i've got. great legs. but no thanks. >> all right. they say more men than women like to walk around their apartment naked. >> the same guys that have the big guts, too. it's just wrong. >> a lot of guys do that. >> and more men have sex ted than women. >> i find that odd. and all of it's disgusting.

this is something we've all known forever, though. >> you guys will finally learn it. >> women are better drivers than men. so there. was that a crashing sound? >> that's my mother. >> the study shows we're just more aware of things. we're more -- >> yeah, because you're sexting. >> they say guys are more apt to cause accidents because they don't wear their seat belts as often, they speed more and break the law more than we do. so there. >> so there. okay. all right. >> you know what it's time for? >> oh, friday -- >> no, before that. >> i don't know. >> bobbie. >> oh, bobbie! >> come on, bobbie thomas. >> i'm so embarrassed about last week when i was hula hooping and you never even had a chance for "bobbie's buzz." >> oh, no, it's fine. >> i love you. >> this week i'm really buzzing. this is all about products that are out on the market now.

electrically stimulates your skin. >> electrically. >> the way professionals do at salons. which can cost a lot of money. it's all about sort of the facial toning. >> yeah. >> rejuvenating. i've seen people in the spas have half their face done and it really does work. now there are at-home devices. new face has come out with this one. >> what do you do with that? >> i'm being very careful today. that one is the roller. it claims to create low-level electrical currents when you roll it over your body and face to help stimulate all kinds of things. wow. and there are also skin care products. this is an amazing celebrity favorite. they condition get enough. it's a one-two process. the powder when combined with the liquid creates the low-level microcurrent you spread on your face. great when you sleep. and you can find it at the

drugstore. [ buzzer ] >> here's the the trouble. in a null nutd shell, there's so much great new stuff but we still only have 24 hours in the day. have you noticed? >> yeah. >> if you wanted to take advantage of all the great new stuff, you'd never leave your house. you'd be buzzing. you'd be taking off every piece of hair you've got everywhere. >> right. >> at some point we have to start loving ourselves. >> loving ourselves. >> but i do love that people are able to access these now. >> time for kathie lee's "friday funny." >> these have not been working lately. think of texting ak r ining acr omg, which is oh, my god. we realized we have problems communicating with our teenagers. their texting language is completely different from ours. they say lol, laughing out loud.

when we say lol, it means living on lipitor. the crowd. i'm killing it. all right. they say ttyl, meaning talk to you later. we say it and it means talk to you louder. hysterical. they say bff, best friends forever. we say it, best friend fainted. lmao, laughing my thing off, and we say it and mean laughing my dentures out. and always cgu for can't get up. that's it. it's now gone from friday. only the dirty ones are funny. >> you know what, i now, you're right. only the dirty ones. >> help me out, everybody. you want this stinking thing to continue, you have to help me. >> start sending in -- >> send stuff in. my poor friend the general only has so much time. >> really. >> yeah. >> all right, you guys. here's to friday. i don't know. >> yeah. >> we have a lot of great segments coming up. one about them is knowing your

worth as an employee and being able to ask for a raise when you feel you deserve it. a lot of women have difficulty doing that. we'll hopefully give you some abcs on how to get your money. >> you have to go through a life-threatening situation before you -- >> yeah. i think guys are much more -- they have an easier time asking for money. >> because they feel entitled to it. >> why? >> because they don't know that they've got the gut, because they don't know that they're sexting. because they're guys. >> they're guys. >> and we love them. >> we have a big, big show for everybody. what is this? >> chocolate. >> wine. >> chocolate wine sauce. here he is. i can't believe he survived making this movie. dermott mulronemulroney. you... colorful...

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comedies like "my best friend's wedding," "the wedding date." >> a lot of weddings. >> he is taking on a much more difficult and difficult row in the thriller "the grey" starring opposite liam neeson as survivors of a plane crash who soon realize that surviving the wreck was one thing but surviving the alaskan wilderness might prove to be even more challenging. >> hey, what is that? >> go, go! [ screaming ] >> don't stop! >> oh, my gosh. >> you know, this movie is so unbelievable because it's so real. and you realize late they're it's so real. by the way, welcome, and i mean

that -- >> good morning. >> there could have been a chance of you not surviving the shoot it was that tough. >> it was that tough. we were in dangerous, extreme weather conditions and loving every minute of it, believe it or not. >> why? >> well, you know, i've done a number of movies, some that you've mentioned and most of them are in somebody's living room or around a dining room table or something like that. it's a rare opportunity you actually get to go out and have an adventure. >> did you know going in it would be as gruelling? what were the temperatures? >> listen to this. you won't believe it. >> the lowest temperature we encountered was 37 degrees below zero. northern british columbia, 65-mile-an-hour winds. >> and you have to shoot. >> we're shooting. >> only six hours of light a day. >> that's right. so we're rushing and eating on the fly and staying warm, all geared up properly. >> what did you say, i'm calling my agent, i'm out of here? >> never. nobody did. we all loved it. joe directed and wrote this movie and he's a gung ho guy and hired guys with those same qualities that just wanted to be there. we knew what he was going to ask

of us. >> and you bonded, i'm sure weather the other actors. >> yeah. >> you need one another out there. >> tell us about your role in this movie. >> thanks. i play really a no-name guy in the movie. this is a random group of oil rig workers who go down in a plane wreck and just a handful of them survive. as you said, they have to fight the elements and this pack of rogue wolves. my character only slowly comes out of his shell, kind of, and then before you know it, you know, it's the end of the line. >> you knew going in there was not going to be any green screen, no cg, none of that stuff. your trek or the told you right away this is how you're doing this? >> he uses a brilliant combination. there is some cg in that shot you just saw. i'm 20 feet off the ground, not 200. >> 20 is good enough. >> yeah. >> towards the end of the movie, not to give anything away, a pack of these wovms do have their way with a person person. >> yeah. >> and that of course could not

be helped. >> i will tell you that guy's okay because he's sitting right there. >> you're not supposed to give it away! >> but the guy that was wearing my clothes not so much. that shot that you're describing is actually real wolves pulling at a dummy that they stuffed meat inside of my clothing. so. >> i use that on a date once and it worked. >> does it? >> so is this a thriller, an action movie? >> they're two. all of the above. >> psycholodgical and all of that. >> it has a deeper meaning. these guys know their life is on the last thread and they begin to open up and share. so it's actually they're really heart-warming, dramatic moments. so it appeals to a broader audience than gung-ho guys. and liam is the lead and he drives it straight through from beginning to end, a beautiful performance. >> in addition to this movie,

you're going back to tv, too. something there. >> yeah. >> an award for surviving this. >> exactly. >> it's a good thing. >> that's right. i get to do a couple of episodes of "the new girl" with zoe. >> adorable. >> yeah. it's a great show. >> i was happy to get the call. >> what was the first thing you wanted to eat when you came back from that show? >> we ate really well. >> what else did you want? >> i wanted to shave. >> thank you for coming back. >> i'll be back soon. thanks. >> still ahead, they're almost ready for their close-ups. >> the amazing results of our makeovers. my name's jeff. i'm a dad, coach... and i quit smoking with chantix. knowing that i could smoke during the first week was really important to me. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix is proven to help people quit smoking. chantix reduced my urge to smoke -- and personally that's what i knew i needed. [ male announcer ] some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation,

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♪ it's your thing >> we are back on from try day friday with another installment of "today's ambush makeovers." we chose two ladies from the plaza and showed them a new look. >> contributor and style tois the stars, louis licari la, la, la, la. and filling in for miss martin, our style editor bobbie thomas. it was chilly to say the least. >> yes, and people are covered so we actually have to ask them to disrobe a bit. take a peek. >> you like that. >> yeah. >> what we did to our first lucky lately, ann hagman, she's had the exact same look for as

long as she can remember. she was so excited for the opportunity to get a brand-new look. let's take a listen. >> tell me why ann deserves the mickover. >> ann is a very selfless, giving person, a lot of fun to be around and we're just happy for her that she has a chance for a makeover. >> awesome. you want her to play with some makeup, right? >> she's a naturalist. she never wears makeup and i think probably no one ever taught her how. >> fantastic. we'll glam you up, okay? >> okay. >> she doesn't look so sure. >> but with her posse, dineen, tammy and patsy. please keep your blindfolds on till we give you the green light. here is ann hagman before. let's see the new ann! oh my gosh! all right, girls. are you ready? take off your blindfolds and look at your girl. yes, take them off. >> oh my god! >> okay. ann, ann, hold on.

ann, you have to look for yourself. you ready? >> oh, my gosh. >> you look fabulous. >> take a look in that camera. tell us about the hair, louis. >> who knew they were such fun girls? number one -- [ screaming ] excuse me. excuse me. her highlights were so white that they made her look like she had gray hair instead of blond hair so i made her hair deeper golden, light brown, brown color. and anged around her face. she has a thin face and added fullness, which takes years off your face. you look beautiful. >> can we just make a comment right now? the friends and bobbie are all crying. love this. what do you guys think, you guys? >> beautiful. >> she's the nicest person in the world. nicest person you would ever

meet in the world. >> fairy godmother. what can i say? >> bobbie, tell us about the outfit. >> i've been hearing about ann all morning. she never -- she doesn't put any makeup on for herself. she never takes time for herself. so this was an honor to be able to put you in something that shows off how beautiful you are. >> thank you. >> ann, you're a knockout. this is a rachel by rachel roy dress. i wanted to show what color could do. you have the most fantastic body. >> whooo! >> ann. go join your friends. >> thank you. >> who's next? >> go ahead. >> got it. our next lady, our next lady is brenda downing. she's 42 from west lafayette, indiana. when asked about her daily beauty routine, she asked, are you kidding me? i ride my bike to work. she was thrilled to get a glam new look. let's see her. >> elizabeth, tell me why you

want your mom to have this makeover. >> well, for a while she says she's wanted to do something new with her hair and i think -- and do something different, so i think this will be a great opportunity for mer. >> i'm so excited. you actually changed your flight so you could do this makeover, right? >> of course. i had to cancel a hair appointment a few weeks back, and had i gotten around to it, getting my hair finished. what an opportunity. >> you're in our hands and we can't wait. >> and she's already beautiful and she's here with her daughter, elizabeth, who's celebrating her 13th birthday. hay pi birthday, girl. one last look at brenda before. and now let's bring her out. ♪ simply irresistible >> wow, gorgeous. glam. >> all right, elizabeth. take a look at mom. >> oh, my goodness. >> she wants to give a hug. >> all right, mom. do you want to see yourself? brenda, turn around, sweetheart.

you look beautiful. >> oh, my goodness. look at that. beautiful. >> oh, my gosh. >> come stand over here by bobb bobbie. okay? stand right by bobbie. she looks gorgeous. >> brenda, anytime you want to look away from yourself. look over here. >> sorry. >> louis, what's going on? >> brenda had naturally blond hair, she kept it for years. she wanted a little surprise so i just warmed it up a bit. if you choose to go back to highlights, she can. again, we gave her that haircut to make her share shaped around the face. the longest layers, beveled in back to add fullness. >> tell us about the sparkle. >> i love it. inc from mays, affordable, accessible. sequins, she was, like, i'm not sure. but you can even wear that

jacket with a t-shirt and jeans. >> let's bring ann back out. what do you think, you love your mom? >> yes. >> great job. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> coming up next, how to ask for the paycheck you rightfully deserve. right after this. [ drew ] what's the latest in eye couture? intense shadowblast from covergirl. the news? it's eye shadow with primer built-in so it lasts! rich color that's fadeproof, waterproof, totally ignore-proof! oh yes! with intense shadowblast eye couture is ready to wear for hours! and here's a tip: to make an even bigger statement wear with lashblast fusion mascara lashblast and intense shadowblast from easy, breezy, beautiful covergirl.

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is clinically proven to relieve dry, itchy skin, with 92% of people reporting improved overall skin condition over time. eucerin calming creme. and the gentle cleansing formula of calming body wash. calm, healthy skin starts with eucerin. okay. we've all heard the statistic. women on average make 77 cents for every dollar a man in the same job earns. and that's just not fair. >> it is not. here with some advice on how to know your own worth and be compensated accordingly are meg megan murphy from self-magazine and our own jean chatzky. i can't believe it's still this way. i know we say this every time. >> came up a little, from 71 cents. >> it's taking too long. >> and we're part of the problem is what you want to tell us, right? >> well, not you, kathie. >> no. we're part of the problem,

females. >> absolutely. >> we are. because we don't ask for money. it's been that way for as long as i can remember, probably as long as you can remember. study after study after study shows that men coming out of college negotiate that first salary and every other salary keys off of that salary. women just don't. >> because -- why is it, megan? do we not think we're worth as much? are we afraid of ask? what is it? >> there's a lot of factors. part is we're afraid to hear no so we don't negotiate. men are four times more likely to negotiate. we don't want to hear the word no. we keep our mouths shut, thank. to have a job, don't want to rock the boat. >> and those things are nice. a lot of people are thankful to have a job. >> sometimes you need to let your bosses know, you work hard, you turn in your stuff, everything is good, and the guy who duds half the work next to you always schmoozing and brown nosing gets the raise. >> i had a male boss explain this to me at one point. he said i can't give you a raise

until you go out and show me you are worth more money by getting another offer. now, i know that that requires you to be willing to leave the job. right? you have to come to the table willing to leave the job, which a lot of people are not willing to do. >> fear of losing it. right. >> but it means going out and doing some research and going on the internet and knowing what you're worth and knowing that if you've been in a job for the last five years when raises have not been coming anybody's way, you are underpaid. >> what's the right way go in and ask for something? i think people don't even know how to approach. they know they've worked hard and everyone is saying the recession and we can't. what's the right way to ask? >> i think the money conversation is incredibly scary. and for women, we aren't going to ask, but i think there's other things you can even ask for. i'd like more vacation time, more flexibility. pay for some of my classes. >> it's a matter of financial, can we barter for something else. >> start with getting some more money. let's start with getting --

>> say they -- say there's a freeze. >> if we don't ask, the answer is always no. a lot of women never get to that point. so figure out what you're worth and go in and don't just say i'd like more money. think of a specific number and go in with a list of the contributions that you have made to the bottom line of this company, how have i made you money or saved you money. >> what if there's a hiring freeze? those kind of things -- >> not a hiring freeze, a salary freeze. >> absolutely. >> if you're afraid to toot your own horn, sit down with someone you request love, your husband, a best friend, a co-worker and say help me make a list of my attributes. >> people walk in and say i know it's a bad time, they kill it before they start. >> you apologize before -- >> no apologies. >> the other thing with women is we volunteer. i'll edit your paper for free. i will give you free personal training. instead of putting a price tag on our services and valuing our skills. >> yeah.

okay. all right. >> back to the first profession. >> you know what i'm saying? we lose it along the way. >> coming up next, beautiful, bold brows are in. we're going to show you how to get them right after this. ♪ have a good daisy ♪ eat well, live long ♪ have a good daisy, work out, get strong ♪ ♪ when you need a lift, just sing a song ♪ ♪ and have a good daisy ♪ have a good daisy with a natural treat ♪ ♪ have a good daisy, healthy foods to eat ♪ ♪ when you want some joy, dance to the beat ♪ ♪ and have a good daisy [ female announcer ] enjoy the fresh, 100% natural choice in cottage cheese. ♪ have a good daisy ♪ have a good daisy

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because everyone deserves a lifetime. jo and we are back with "today." beauty trends come and go but there is none bigger than the bold brow right now. >> from red carpets, everyone is letting them grow. >> a bold brow is something makeup artists talk about a lot. it looks natural but carefully groomed. bold brows are the latest trend. they're big in fashion runways and we're seeing them now with celebrities. madonna has almost always had a full eyebrow. she and her daughter have them. kim kardashian has backed off

the plucking and her brows are looking stronger and bolder. brooke shields has always had a great eyebrow. jennifer connolly. and some of the younger actresses like emma watson has great strong eyebrows. there are brow experts in hollywood that people fight over. more and more women are requesting bolder, thicker eyebrows. >> mostly the actresses are the ones that we all want to look like. so they are an inspiration for women. jennifer lopez has that bold-look eyebrow. she's such a trendsetter. penelope cruz always thicker eyebrows. victoria beckham, loves thicker, bolder eyebrows. >> when women see this on celebrities, they want to personalize. >> megan fox has great eyebrows. >> sometimes it's hard to identify what about the celebrity that is different because brows are something people don't really examine, but they're really important for the look of a woman's face. >> i love anne hathaway's brows.

they're beautiful. >> hoda and i personally totally give ourselves over to sonya, who is i think a genius. the owner of sonja's brow bar in new york city on 20th, is it? 20th street. >> hello. how you doing? >> thank you so much. >> we've done a before and half. let's start with ann's before picture to know what we're talking about. what's wrong with ann's brows? >> she has three big problems. she's trimmed around the points of the brow. >> let's see the after. >> i'm going to pencil them in. >> it's not done yet. okay. >> what i did is just sweep a little bit underneath and just kind of lift the heavy parts. you want bold but you don't want heavy. >> if they're plucked so thin, how do you -- >> it's unbelievable what she does. >> just trim a little bit to create that feathery look, then take the brow pencil. >> while you're growing them in. you definitely want a growth

program. >> how do you know what color pencil to use? >> use the darkest shade on your hair. i feel like that's the best -- >> you don't want to make them too thick, do you, when you're drawing them? >> the more you blend, the softer it gets. >> don't blink. >> you want to lessen the arch area. you can never go long when you lift there because you're krae creating the shape. >> like a little squared-off thing at the end like that. >> that does look good. >> and you lift and add underneath. >> okay. >> look at the difference. >> and you blend in. >> look at the difference. unbelievable. >> let's go down to ann. right? thank you. >> thank you. >> all right. so now we have debra. let's look at debra's before. tell us what was wrong with the before picture. >> she hasn't tweezed in years and i'm thinking it's like lotioning her brows too much, slathering it in so the brows won't grow back in. >> what did you do? >> i really tweezed minimal because i don't want to take i away any more than she has.

but with her it's more filling in as she's going to stop lotioning and seeing what results we can get. >> when you put your moisturizer on, avoid your eyebrows. >> why? >> they get clogged. >> the hair follicles. you wouldn't do it to your hair. don't do it to your brow. >> don't put lotion on your eyebrows. >> you can use products and make sure it's a clean brow. >> right. >> if that doesn't work, you can definitely use that. >> thank you, sweetie. >> look how much prettier. you guys all look great. >> thank you. >> cooped up with your kids in the cold? fun indoor activities to do with them.

if the winter stormy weather

has the kids cooped up and you're tired of hearing "i'm bored." >> amy goodwin has solutions to keep the family not only sane but happy. >> how are ya? >> let's get started. >> when it's cold outside, you have to use the resources you have inside. here is a beauty bar we make for the little ones. the thing is to compartmentalize everything here. we have our makeup section and then that's also avon. you can use the makeup you have. a hair section, cute things from goodie. this is a nail bar to appeal to the teens and the tweens. wet and wild from disney. but the key is at the end of the day take off the makeup off, celebrate natural beauty. these are vaseline minis. >> look how cute. >> you give it to your kid and says mom loves you just the way you are. ic make facial scrubs i found at natural facial recipes dot home stock dotcom.

natural skin care. >> this is a game. >> this is called the polar express. >> what do you do? >> north and south pole. you basically take your tape, mark up your kitchen table or floor and use the air. ready, set, go. straight. >> excellent. >> i recently did it for a kids' party. they loved it. they went crazy. >> easy. >> and boys and girls. i loved my matchbox cars when i was a kit. >> and we get to make some cupcakes. >> let's make some cupcakes. >> still love to do this. >> i mean, who doesn't love cupcakes? first you do an arts and crafts project for cards with cupcakes, construction paper, any kind of little arts and crafts supplies you had. my daughter and i did this over an hour and a half and could have done it longer. you say hey, we'll take a break and make cupcakes. you go ahead and decorate. i use this out of -- you know, a cake box.

you save them and make homemade buttercream frost. this is from magnolia's bakery. you can find it online. it has four ingredients. you put it on beautifully. then we have the toppings bar. when you give kids choices, we always tell them put this shirt on, get out the door, hurry up. you know, that's one way to do it. >> hoda. >> i was going to say -- >> one is done and one is in the process of being perfect. >> exactly. >> i wanted to say, you know, if you want to do a low-sugar treat, you can do the cupcakes without the frosting, fresh fruit, mini hot chocolate. >> thank you, honey. >> thank you. >> next week, katherine high el, richard perry. >> have a great weekend, everybody. thanks for spending so much time with us.