>>> amanda's appeal. amanda knox is back in court in italy today where she's appealing her murder conviction. could jailhouse letters from a convicted killer set her free? we'll talk to her parents. >>> and the imagination diet. can thinking about eating food instead of actually eating it help you lose weight? a new study says yes. we'll tell you how it works. >>> boy, i actually thought of you when i heard about that study. because i think it makes sense in a way. if you build up foods to a certain extent, they're never going to be as good. once you finally eat them. there's a burger joint you always talk about -- >> shake shack. >> and i think that you talk about a burger so much, it may not be as good when you finally eat it again. >> that may be true. but what i find interesting about the study, it's not as easy as they make it sound. coming up, we'll give you the details on how to use the imagination diet. but it's a little technical. that's coming up in just a little bit. >>> also on this day, of el

this morning, we'll see amanda's reaction when the court ruled in her favor and talk to amanda's parentse coming up. >> we'll switch gears. this is the last shopping weekend for christmas. with the clock running out, we'll give you advice to buy for him and for her. there's my gift right there. >> to who? >> to me. it's a video game. >> it's exercise. are you okay with that? >> as long as it's a video game, yeah. >> and then we've had a really fun year here this year. this has been a good one. some highs and lows. everything from vancouver olympics to our summer camp series. our year was lots of fun. coming up, we'll take a look back and introduce you to the staff who makes us look good weekend in and week out. >> it's hard to believe it all happened in 12 months. let's get another check of the weather. janice huff is standing by with that. >> thanks, lester. the "today" show toy drive continues today. we're joined by a company donating more than $120,000 worth of school supplies. good morning, steve. how are you? you have your wife here with you to help you out. what do you have today f

edda mellas and from seattle is amanda knox's father, curt knox.> good morning. >> good morning. >> edda, i know this is the news that you've both been waiting to hear. we hear it was a very emotional response from amanda when the judge did make that ruling. she wept. and what we'd like to hear is what your view was of the scene in the courtroom, and what was the first thing amanda said to you? >> well, you know, afterward we weren't able to get too close to her. but we were able to look at her. i told her i loved her and told her to hang on, and she nodded and smiled back at me. and, you know, that's really all we were able to do before they whisked her out of the courtroom, but, yes, it was a very emotional day. >> and obviously, curt, this is news you were waiting to hear. how important is this for your ultimate goal of having the verdict dismissed? >> well, it's really the first step and actually gives us, you know, that much more hope that this particular court will really take a rereview of the examination and, you know, find that this is rea

it is crunch time for amanda knox today.llow a full review of the forensic evidence that was used to convict her. now, knox's lawyer today says the case was full of gray areas and a huge miscarriage of justice. walking in court today, amanda knox had her head down and looked subdued, in what is her most important hearing since her conviction. the seattle student is appealing the harsh sentence of 26 years behind bars. so, too, is the prosecution. they want knox to serve a life sentence. knox hasn't seen her mother since the summer. today, edda mellas, is sitting as close as she can behind her. >> yeah, i saw her yesterday. she's okay. it's a very scary time for her. she's afraid in a the truth won't come out. but she's hanging in there. >> reporter: her lawyers are asking for fresh evidence to be submitted, including a jailhouse letter from a convict, giving details of who killed meredith kercher. and a full review of the forensic evidence. knox's lawyers argue that the alleged murder weapon, a kitchen knife, did not have en

convicted murder amanda knox takes the stand in an italian court. >>> you're looking at the aftermath of an explosion that killed one person and injured two others in sweden tonight. another blast occurred about 200 yards away in a busy shopping area, in the center of stockholm. a swedish news agency says it received a warning threatening retaliation for sweden's role in the afghan war. >>> emotions were high in an italian courtroom today as foreign exchange student amanda knox tearfully told the court she did not murder her roommate more than three years ago. knox is appealing her conviction and 26-year sentence. nbc's keith miller now with more from the italian city of perugia. >> reporter: amanda knox entered court today appearing pale and withdrawn. three years in prison, she says, have broken her. in an unexpected plea to the court, knox delivered a tear-filled declaration of innocence. speaking fluent italian, knox said she is the innocent victim of an enormous mistake. knox and her former boyfriend, raffaele sollecito were convicted of the murder and violent sexual assault in 2

. >>> coming up, could amanda knox go free? a court now orders another look at the crucial dna evidence used to convict her of murdering her roommate. amanda's mother joins us this morning. >>> plus, a look at owning history. we'll have the first look at william and kate's wedding souvenirs hitting stores today. william and kate's wedding souvenirs hitting stores today. [ female announcer ] letting go of your cigarettes can be hard. but the nicoderm cq patch gradually steps you down off of nicotine in just three steps, doubling your chances for success. nicoderm cq. 3 steps, 10 weeks and you're free. . ♪ >>> check it out. there's a lull in the storms today but don't think the worst is over. more is yet to come. but today's dry skies are giving crews a chance to clean up downed trees at scattered sites throughout the bay area. the trees crashed through some buildings but no injuries reported. other crews are out around the rivers to see if flooding will be a concern when the rain starts again. >> good morning. chp has issued a s

. >>> amanda knox is back and forth today. just moments ago she spoke out telling the judge she was innocent. we'll have much more on her emotional statement. we'll speak to her parents about the appeal coming up. >>> plus the fallout continues from this royal attack. student protesters pelted the limo carrying prince charles and his wife camilla. what does it say about the royal security and what impact will it have on the wedding of prince william and kate middleton. we'll take a closer look at that coming up. a lot to get to, but first, we'll start with the big blast from the great lakes down florida. scott williams joins us from minneapol minneapolis. good morning. >> well, good morning, lester. you know, it's not even winter yet and minneapolis is already digging out from its latest winter storm. this time it's a triple threat. it's bringing the snow, it's bringing the wind, it's bringing the bitter cold. it's already brought upwards of sivgs inches of snow. you can see it is falling here, a light snow. but really continu

joining us now amanda knox's mother. edda mellas. ms.g. >> i know you just walked out of the hearing in a break taking place right now. how you would describe what's going on today? >> well, you know, the prosecution in and civil parties again have talked about how they don't want anything reviewed. they think everything needs to stand as it is and they just think it needs to stand. >> how would you assess the way things are going for your daughter? >> you know, it's hard to tell. everybody is listening very attentively. so, you know, we hope that they will choose to really look closer at the lack of evidence in this case so that amanda can come home. >> as you look at your daughter, what goes through your head during these tough times? >> oh, well,s it he' heart breaking to watch her suffer. it's a nightmare. >> kind of put this in perspective for us, what does today's hearing mean, how important is it? >> you know, i think our lawyers are telling it that it's pretty important. that if they open it for review, that that's a good sign. a

joining us from seattle this morning amanda knox's parents. good morning, folks. good morning both you. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> when you hear the stories in his report and to hear your daughter making these overtures to the court can, i just ask you both, i know we've gone through this over the years but what are your thoughts, does it change at all, does it get any tougher or easier. >> it's the ongoing nightmare t. doesn't get any easier. we keep doing what we do because we know amanda's innocent and work to get her out of there. >> curt, you hear your daughter described as dangerous and diabolical. why do you think that image first came to the forefront? >> well, i think it's really the image from the first trial that the prosecution needed in order to try to present the case that they had, which was really nothing. so, they tried to do a character assassination of her and what we've been doing over the years is trying to really portray her who she really is. and she spoke about that in court today and i think she did very well. >> let me ask you b

her family started the amanda network. tonight amanda's mother said the recent spike in teen suicide is more important than ever to raise awareness about bullying. >> we have to change that. and change the way the school and the school administrators and teachers and pretty much everybody treat each other. and, you know, even the kids when they're joking around and say, oh, you're so gay or what a loser or what a retard. you can't say those things any more. you don't know if that's going to be the one thing that you say to that person that's going to send them to their breaking point. >> the group is now walking to christmas in the park. they'll be there until around 6:30, if you'd like to join them. elise kirschner, nbc bay area news. >>> police are asking for the public's help to find a hit and run driver who killed a 41-year-old woman. the woman was hit last night while walking in the crosswalk in antioch. a dark colored minivan hit the woman and fled the scene. it was last scene headed westbound on to highway four. one

amanda's victory. a judge in idly orders key evidence to be re-examined raising the hope she might have the case overturned. we'll teak with her mother early this monday morning, december 20, 2010. >>> december 20th. how about that. only five days now. >> the countdown continues. santa is coming to down. >> this is live west coast edition. >> good morning. >> remember last christmas we woke up to the one terror plot on the plane, the so-called underwear bomber. we remember that here. now this morning we wake up to this terror alert in london. we'll have much more on the arrest of the 12 men coming up. >> first the west coast is waking up to record rains that are shutting down highways and causinging rock and mudslides. forecasters say the worst is yet to come. cbs national correspondent is in flint ridge, california with the latest. good morning, ben. >> reporter: good morning. we're actually getting a bit of a welcome break from the rains. this neighborhood is preparing for the worst. this is a commun

do we have an official cause of death and everything established, amanda? >> well, larry, we know it was late this afternoon. we also know that the cancer had gotten into her vital organs, her liver and presumably that's what caused her death. as you said, we found out yesterday that she was seriously ill. i don't think any of us realized it was going to be this quick that she would pass this quickly. she was hospitalized around thanksgiving for about a week. we understand she came home late last week and was surrounded by her family and friends, including john edwards, including her older daughter kate. she also has two young children, jack and emma claire and her brother and sister. and throughout the weekend, we understand that a lot of family and friends came in and out to basically say good-bye to her. and we learned late this afternoon just a little after 4:30 that she had passed. >> she was quite popular in that community, was she not? >> she was. and i think on the national scene, the -- when you talked about elizabeth edwards you always talked abou

alan pizzey was in the courtroom in the central italian city of perugia. >> reporter: amanda knox used first full day of the appeal to make an emotional plea for herself and her former boyfrie boyfriend. "we are innocent" she said in italian, "and deserve to live our lives free." knox said she and raffaele sollecito were victims of an enormous mistake. and she reached out tearfully to the family of the victim, british student meredith kercher, who was found stabbed and with her throat slashed in a cottage she and knox shared. in a heartfelt article in a british newspaper, kercher's father, john, lamented while his daughter was a victim of horrific violence, knox has been accorded the status of a minor celebrity. but nox told a hushed room that it doesn't do justice to meredith and her loved ones to take our lives from us. and insisted she was not the dangerous, diabolical, jealous, uncaring and violent person portrayed by the prosecution. the base of the legal appeal will be the forensic evidence was tainted, mishandled and insufficient to convict knox and raffaele sollecito. the prose

the amanda network was started last year. amanda's mother says with the recent spike in teen suicides, it's more important than ever for parents to talk to their kids. >> they're not going to come out and tell you that something's going wrong at school. because they're afraid to. they think nothing's going to happen. or if they do tell you, they think it will be worse for them at school. if you do tell them and they go and report it to the school. but that's what we have to change. >> if you would like to be a part of the change, the group behind me will be walking from city hall to christmas in the park at 5:30. for now, we're live in san jose, san jose bay area news. >>> a youth empowerment summit was held in san francisco. it's to show young people they should not put up with bullying. speaker speakers and film screenings were featured. the youth only dance goes until 8:00 tonight. >>> we have another story about a reported kidnapping, a teenager from shasta county who had been missing for a month has reportedly been found

i'm here, i'm here with amanda. i'm going to miss my other daughter, she'll be at home with my family, but i know she's in good hands. it's hard. we've missed everything for the last 3 1/2 years. >> edda mellas, thanks for joining us this morning. my best to you for the holidays. >> thank you, matt. >>> let's get to other stories for the morning. tamron hall is at the news desk. >> tensions ran high for south korea overnight after concluding 90 minutes of live fire military exercises. pyongyang did not retaliate as expected. the drills were staged by pyongyang island. uk officials say the men have been detained for allegedly preparing to carry out an act of terrorism. >>> dozens are dead after thieves caused a massive oil pipeline to explode in central mexico. officials say at least 13 of the dead were children. homes, cars, and trees were incinerated and rivers of flaming oil gushed through the streets. >>> the justice department is looking to prosecute wikileaks founder julian assange here in the u.s. vice preside

. >>> still ahead as "nbc nightly news" continues this saturday, a surprise victory for amanda knox, the american behind bars in italy in a high profile murder case. could this ruling change everything? >>> and later, comeback kid. the man behind the stunning transformation of one american neighborhood. >>> news from italy tonight of what could be a big break for amanda knox, that young american woman tried, convicted and imprisoned along with her ex-boyfriend for sexually assaulting and killing her british roommate. today, an italian court said it would allow a new review of the dna evidence in her case. knox's mother says her daughter is elated. >> she gave us a big smile. i haven't had a chance to talk to her. but at least there's now hope. it's no longer just total despair. there's some hope that they want to find the truth and really look at things carefully. >> among the pieces of evidence that an outside expert will now reexamine, a knife and a bra clasp, both considered crucial to knox's conviction. >>> the los angeles police department is being inundated tonight with phone c

giant's senior vice president and general manager brian sabian and his wife amanda. the wife of our skipper, mrs. kim bocce. former giants managing general partner, peter mcgowan. clubhouse manager mike murphy is here with his wife carol. also with us today, the giants' training and medical staff, the clubhouse staff, the front office staff of giants executives, and the players' families are here as well. i would like to introduce the of the giant broadcast team. tito puentes. dave flemming. mike cruco and dwayne kriker. hall of fame broadcaster jon miller. and finally, two giants living legends, hall of famer mr. willy makati and hall of famer, the greatest mr. willie mays. [applause] how about a big hand for all of our special guests, everyone? [applause] we would like to thank the city and county of san francisco and our community partners, bank of america, caw, levi's, coors and miller, sales force.com, diamond foods, and charles schwab who helped make this possible. we would like to recognize broadcast partners knbr 680, the sports leader, comcast sports net bay

. >> amanda diseñ visutería con semillas andinas. >> tenemos un planeta, hay que cuidar a las personasla gente quiere comprar más. >> están creciendo 20 a 30 % al año. es uno de los crecimientos más explosivos dentro de la econimia. >> las mujer juegan un papel fundamental como compradoras y cradoras. >> el comportamiento de los consumidores han cambiado. >> hantes era precio-calidad, hoy los valores del servicio. >> los negocios económicos se han defendido bien a pesar de la resecion. >> vamos a una pausa y volvemos con el aumento de la cifra de muertos por las lluvias de colombia. >> llegaron las lluvias, hasta cuando? el pronostico del fin de semana al regresar. >> ♪ ♪. ciente. ♪ ♪ supermamá, supermamá ♪ lo hace todo y mucho más. ♪ mi mamá es supermamá por navidad. ♪ con el compromiso de darle miles de precios bajos nuevos todosr mucha allos días.u mesa... y especiales de la tarjeta club. ahora el lomo de puerco entero está a $2.99 la libra. para que su mesa esté llena de sonrisas... lleve lo que quire, cuando lo necesite, al precio que le conviene. esa es nuestra promesa. así le da

amanda thorne's father was killed. survived but would spend nearly two weeks adrift at sea. >>> when should women start getting annual mammograms? there is no research adding to the confusion felt by millions of women on the heels of another study that suggested women should wait until the age of 50. >>> plus a live interview with kate gosselin, what is fact and what is fiction when it comes to her love life, her show being canceled and her kids being expelled from school. she'll join us and talk about that in a little while. >>> and we'll meet the kate middleton clone who's turning heads everywhere she goes. >>> let's begin with a father and daughter's fateful sea voyage. nbc's michelle kosinski har her story. >> reporter: anyone who know it is water knows there are times you can skirt trouble and other times you're completely at its mercy. well amanda thorn set out on her dream trip with her father, sailing down to the tropics. it was their first voyage together and their last together. for amanda thorn, it was going

teniendo un actompactounivisionr >>>mpacto panisioprh@univisionp años fue atacado por su mejor amigo, y amanda ventana. >>y qué les dijiste? >>> eso no me gusta, les voy a decir a mis padres. >>> pero conversar con los padres y maestros resulta mpacto difícil. >>> la florida es elunivispr cu estaprimh@univisionprimer impaci de violencia. >>> que a pesar de contar con personal, se le escapa de las manos. >>> un policía tiene dominio de tres escuelas. >>> y la instalación de detectores de armas, muchos dicen que esa no es la solusión. >>> el departamento de educación sigue con un plan ante la violencia, en la florida, existe una organización que también trabaja para prevenir y hablar antes. >>> está bien reportar un problema, o un arma o un cuchillo, quee lo digan a alguien. >>> por más de 25 años este grupo conecta al maestro, e estudiante y l policía. >>> ese muchacho necesi llegar a lapolicía, no puede no tener confianza en la maestr y l univmás ionunivprimportante que@ univisioimer impactoivisioprer . >>> el control se logrará cuando s partesh@ trajen jtas por un mismo imer itovo. >>>univis

you can post a comment under amanda's photo.is to have 10,000 fans by the end of the year. we need 300 more to meet that goal. >>> how about winning money for the holidays? >> "gulliver's travels" starring jack black is helping you win $1,000. you can go to myfoxdc.com for a chance to win the jack-pot. [ laughter ] >> you must be a resident of maryland, washington d.c. or virginia. the winner will be picked on december 20th. check out myfoxdc.com for more information. >>> i have been giving you a hard time over sunday. i want to show you the face you will be disappointing. sydney is turning 10 years old. >> can you believe it? >> that is mark on the top. happy birthday. 10 years old. that is a big milestone. >> she is wonderful. >> mark is in the picture. >> you are having a birthday party for her on sunday. >> i need to know what we are getting. >> here is what we are getting. i don't know. i don't know what we are getting. if i knew, i would tell you. the potential is there that we could see snow on sunday. it is possible to b