>> ann curry in haiti for us tonight. thanks for your reporting. >>> now we turn to the battle over taxes. taxes at bush era rates that president obama wants to extend as part of a deal which has riled some fellow democrats. kelly o'donnell following this all day, with us tonight from the capitol. kelly, good evening. >> reporter: hi, brian. and democrats are really in turmoil over this and the white house is turning up the pressure. the vice president was back here today to face angry house democrats who say they will not vote for it, because they believe it gives away too much to high earners and wealthy families planning for estate taxes. the white house says if this doesn't pass, the country could slip into double digit recession. that is a big worry. the white house is using a new pr offensive, using its e-mail list to send out notices today from mayors and governors, people across the country who favor this as a way to turn up the pressure on democrats here who do get to vote. brian? >> kelly o'donnell on the hill t

let's go inside, ann curry is standing by with a -- no we did that already. >> what's coming up?as caught on the couch necking with my boyfriend. >> the shorelines here that have now been oiled. >> taking one for the team, swallowing a bug for breakfast there, mark. ♪ >> that's not funny. here's the billboard. right in front of our hotel. and take a look at that, who'sa liliputian with the parted red hair? that is our own investmeredith ruling cannes. ♪ i don't need anything but you ♪ ♪ we will we will rock you ♪ thank you for being a friend ♪ travel down the road and back again ♪ >> me, a drink with jam and bread ♪ ♪ that will bring us back to doe ♪ >> this will go down as one of the strangest things we have ever done. ♪ ♪ going to go all night ♪ we're going to light it up ♪ like it's dyno mite >> do your co-workers get on your nerves? what are you implying? >> nothing about you, it's matt lauer i'm thinking about. ♪ note ♪ today's going to be a good day ♪ ♪ today's going to be a good good day ♪ listen ♪ >> boy, that was fantastic. >> a lot of good times there. >> we had fun. >>

. >>> and ann curry reports on the travels of actor and humanitarian george clooney to sudan. >>> now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and more. i'm lynn berry. thanks for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. have a good one. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com ah, this is hey guys. what the eightsorry we're late. milk looks warm. finally got the whole gang together. maple brown sugar, strawberry delight, blueberry muffin. yeah, a little family reunion. [ wind rushes ] whoa! whoa! whoa! whoa! we're cereal here! what? just cooling it down. enough said. gotcha. safety first. whoo-hoo! watch the whole grain! [ female announcer ] try kellogg's® frosted mini-wheats® hot. just add warm milk and you've got a hot way to keep your kids full and focused all morning. oops. dude your eight layers are showing. [ female announcer ] mini-wheats® hot. keeps 'em full, keeps 'em focused.

i'm ann curry. for all of us at nbc news, thanks for joining us. >>> right now at 11:00, storms pummel the bay area with a one-two punch of wind and rain. so when will we see a dry day? >>> plus first came the natural gas explosion and now san bruno residents are fighting off another problem, the i.r.s. the news starts right now. >> good evening. i'm diane dwyer. you may be noticing a change of scenery here a little bit. this is our temporary home for nbc bay area news, while our news state-of-the-art set is assembled just a couple were feet away. and let's get right to the story of the weekend, the weather of course, strong winds and tons of rain, in some cases flooding, hit much of the bay area on in sunday, not to mention to thousands of people in the east bay left without power for much of the day and into the night. monte francis is in san francisco with a look at the problems throughout the bay area but first we want to check in with here in theologist with a look at totals so far. hello, nick

i'm ann curry. for all of us here at nbc news, thanks for joining us. >>> and he told me that if i wanted to finish the race, i had to crawl through. >> right now at 11:00, not giving up, a san francisco teenager's determination not to quit guess viral. we'll show you. >>> and we're tracking the storm. when this round heads out, another one is right around the corner. >>> plus a fraud alert. everyone who uses online bank willing want to hear about. how you can keep cybercriminals out of your wallet. the news starts right now. good evening. i'm diane dwyer. the bay area received a blast of winter weather today, complete with powerful winds and rain as well. meteorologist craig herrera is here with a look at the storm. hello, craig. >> hello, diane. yeah, quite impressive rainfall totals and the wind gusts that we had today, i'm going to show those to you. this is what we had left from some of the storm. a lot of the heavy rain just off the coast and through the santa cruz mountains. we have some in t

i'm ann curry. for all of us here at nbc news, thanks for joining us. it's really delicious, mom. it's not too well done? nope. but it is a job well done. what are you reading, sweetie? her diary. when you're done, i'd love some feedback. sure. your mom and i read that thing cover-to-cover. loved it. thanks. would you mind if i cut the lawn this weekend? only if you let me talk to your mother on the phone for hours on end. done. [ male announcer ] u-verse brings peace to the family. at&t u-verse lets you record four shows at once from any room and play them back on any tv. now get up to $300 back in promotion cards. at&t. rethink possible. >>> i don't understand why somebody would do something like that or why they want to hurt a child. >> right now at 11:00, two children are recovering after a brutal attack, and suspect in the case isn't old enough to drive. >>> a cruise ship caught in the storm. hear from the passengers. >> i started screaming, and he put his arms on my shoulders, and that's when i really freaked out. >> followed and robbed in front of her own house. a woman att

the number one was ann curry. u.s.>> she actually said aot of people retweeted that. sometimes just to get the word out, it just causes so much -- >> might have been the first hope people were hearing. now colleg kids will do crazy things. i never did at oral roberts university but i'm sure did you at virginia tech. >> that's what we do. these kidst the univeity of illinois decided to build a snowman in the middle of the street. then they decided to videotape -- they decided to videotape it. if you watch, what happened was cars were going around the snowman and then, here comes a city bus that i guess didn't -- look how the cars go around, slowly, goes around, goes around. okay. now a city bus has had it. >> the city bus is in the right lane so it comes over, swerv over to knock it down. as it should have. the bus driver resigned. >> he's probably crying about it now! watering all over the place. why did itake out the snowman? you know who else is blubbering? the guy, the strengthening coach of the jets? who stuck his

it's comfortable, so much so that -- out on the plaza, i'm matt lauer, along with anne curry becauseith viera is off and al roker. there's a little bit of outrage viewing over a critic's comments about a ballerina. he said this woman, this -- she's in our studios this morning we're going to find out what she had to say about this. this comment set off a firestorm on the internet. >> also ahead, if you've got a book lover on your christmas list this year, and you're worried about what to get that person, coming up, a best selling author is here to share their opinions. >> i like your suggestions. >> and on wednesday, "time" magazine will reveal its personal of the year. right here on "today." just ahead, we're going town veil this year's finalists. >> some interesting names on that list. really, it's diverse. let's go inside, natalie is at the news desk. >>> good morning, everyone, dangerously cold temperatures are gripping the midwest today after a weekend of heavy snow. at least six deaths were blamed on the storm. major highways were closed in several states and blowing snow forced

meanwhile we'll check out the morning's top stories with ann curry. >>> in the news, state records show meeting on tuesday once -- he spray painted a symbol on the wall and waved his gun at board members while complaining about his wife getting fire. duke fired several shots without hitting anyone. he then killed himself after he was wound bid a security guard. >>> forecasters say the record cold that brought record temperatures to florida over the weekend. one michigan couple had to pull over on the way to the hospital and delivered the baby in the car. >>> the senate is voting today on a package of extended tax cuts and unemployment benefits and if it passes, the measure will move to the house. income taxes will go up for most americans next year if a new tax law is not approved. >>> the senate is also to begin debate this week on the nuclear arms treaty that president obama signed with russia. democrats would need at least nine republican votes for ratification. >>> one day before president obama releases his report on the war in afghanistan, several reports say that -- u.s. military

. >>> let us get a check of the rest of the morning's top stories and for that we turn to anne curry at the news desk. >>> last night michael steele made a surprise announcement saying he will seek re-election despite recent reports that he will resign. steele has controversy for spending funds at a strip club and using 19,000 of the committee's money to redecorate his office. >>> another cyber attack report. walgreens are warning that hackers are using customer e-mail accounts to prompt customers for information. security experts suggest that using a different password for each of your own online accounts would make things safer. >>> yahoo is preparing to lay off as many as 5% of its workforce beginning today, cutting as many as 700 employees. >>> now we head over to wall street for a look at what investors are watching today. we have got trish reagan at the new york stock exchange. >> the fed is meeting today for investors will be watching that pretty carefully. no expected changes in terms of the policy. no expected changes in terms of the fed's qv 2 program in which it's quantita

i'm ann curry. >> and i'm lester holt. it's not a case that meredith and matt couldn't come in because of the snow, although i like that version. >> we're actually standing on a pile of snow that's about to be plowed. did you have trouble getting in this morning? >> i was only about a mile away. i was waiting for a ride that couldn't get through. they have got mounds all over midtown manhattan. you get in okay? >> got in okay. got in behind a truck. thank goodness the driver had a shovel. weeot n sure how many inches from fallen in boston, but we know they're getting hit. at least 18 inches has fallen here in manhattan. there was more than seven inches of snow in raleigh, north carolina. that town had its first white christmas in history. >> we're getting a little break right now, but there are huge drifts up and down the east coast because of the wind, that's causing big problems at the airports. lots and lots of flights have been canceled. many of the airports are closed right now, they say call the airline or check onli

i'm ann curry. good day. does the volunteer for the special olympics.and and say can i help out. >> a lot of people don't realize, just in your neighborhoods there are often things that need to be done. >> if you check out your neighborhood, the local newspaper, just keep your ears open. first of all, kids really are more impacted with empathy on face to face connections. you start with just that hands on charity and it just mobilizes even more so they want to reach out. >> so they can see the impact immediately. there are a lot of things that are being done that excite you, what are some of the projects you have heard about? >> some of the ones i absolutely love, a family in san francisco, they have taken on a local women's shelter and they go and paint together. there's a group of moms with their grandmother, aunts and their daughters, they love to knit, so they taught the daughters to knit and what they did was they knit beanies for servicemen overseas. when my son came back from iraq, he pulled out his suitcase and said here's what kept me warm, tho

i'm lester holt alongside ann curr curry.t and meredith have the day off. >> people would be standing in slush. if you could have butlers and maids on call to meet your every need all the time, including a personal chef, you would dive right in. >> absolutely. >> you wouldn't say no to that. >> i would never say no. >> some people say you marry this guy and you get all this stuff. >> but prince william and kate middleton have decided not to have any help around the house when they get ready. we'll find out why. >>> also when it comes to your favorite restaurant meals, one of the biggest offenders in terms of fat and calories and carbs. we'll run down the list including the noodles which have five times the fat of a large order of french fries. >>> will teaching sports to your children pave the way for success later on? some programs are now training toddlers even newborns, but is it too much too fast? we're going to talking about some of the pros and cons coming up. >>> let's begin with a harsh reality for a young woman featu

anwhile inside studio 1a i'm matt lauer along with ann curry. >> pnce william and kate release theiricial engagement photographs. >>> and also this morning, did you hear this new york critic who called this ballerina's ight into question? boy, this set off a firestorm o the internet. >> i also feel strange to even say this, but jennifer ring sir that young ballerina, she just walked into our studio and you sit there and you say, huh? she's got a beautiful figure. clearly i don't getthis. >>> let's begin this half hour with justice for elizabeth smart after a jury found brian david mitchell guilty of kidnapping the near 14-year-old back in 2002. we're going to talk to ed smart in a moment. kristen welker is in new york city. kristen, good morning. >> reporter: elizabeth smart smiled when that guilty verdict was read. she is calling this moment a victory. and says she is proof there is life after painful past. >> i am so thrilled to be here, i' so thrilled with the verdict. >> reporter: it was the verdict elizabeth smart has waited more than eight years to hear, guilty. >> i'm so thril

. >> back inside studio 1a, i'm matt lauer along with ann curry. >>> the verdict that elizabeth smart had waited eight years to hear, the man who kidnapped her and held her captive for nine months has now been convicted. we'll have her reaction to the verdict and our conversation with her father, ed smart. >>> barbara corcoran is here to answer your real estate questions. >> also if you happen to be among many of us who carry a little bit too much weight in our midsections, you know that it can be unhealthy and even potentially dangerous. we have a doctor coming up who claims he knows how to get rid of belly fat for good. he's got some secrets that involves eating and i'm not sure about exercise. >>> lots to get to, let's go over to the news desk. natalie is standing by with the news. >>> several suspects have been arrested in southern afghanistan in connection with this month's deadliest attack on coalition troops. six u.s. soldiers were killed sunday when a minibus packed with explosives was detonated at the entrance to joint nato afghan base. >>> swedish officials say a man killed

i'm ann curry. when someone goes missing, one of the worst things is not knowing what happened.pe or did something happen? three children arrived home one evening to discover their mother was missing but for them the truth about what real happened may have been the hardest thing of all. here's keith morrison. >> the key was waiting for them under the mat. that evening, in june 2006, outside their mom's house, silence. no one home. where was she? she was always on time to pick them up fom their dad's place. but tonight, he had to drive them. this just wasn't like her. where was she? conr conrad, the eldest, put the key in the lock, opened the door. stopped. what was this? >> once we took a few more steps in then we realized there was something wrong. >> this was the moment, the defining one. nothing the same after this. >> and there was a lot of blood. everywhere. >> then the adrenaline kicked in, instinct took over. >> we just dropped our stuff and split throughou the house. >> panic rising now. conrad was 15 then. his little sisters 14 and savannah 10. three kids trying to make

matt lauer, alongside with ann curry. while meredith takes the day off.wn to next year's royal wedding. >> as prince william and kate release their official engagement photographs. >>> and a "the new york times" critic calls this balanlerina's weight into question. >> jennifer ringer, young ballerina, just walked into our studio and you say huh? she has a beautiful figure. clearly i don't get this. >>> let's begin with justice for elizabeth smart. brian david mitchell was found guilty of kidnapping the then-14-year-old back in 2002. we'll talk to ed smart in a moment. salt lake city. >> reporter: good morning, matt. elizabeth smart is calling this moment a victory and says she is proof there is life after a painful past. >> i am so thrilled to be here. i am so thrilled with the verdict. >> reporter: it was the verdict that elizabeth smart has waited more than eight years to hear. guilty. >> i'm so thrilled to stand before the people of america today and give hope to other victims who have not spoken out about their crimes -- about what's happened to them.

. >> i know you heard about ann curry's interview with a top iranian human rights official who suggested they may be open to the idea that the young men are innocent. that had to buoy your strength. >> absolutely. we were very, very thrilled to hear this very important official from the islamic republic of iran speak about josh and shane. we are thrilled to believe that perhaps in the very near future both josh and shane can be home. 500 days is on monday. >> do you know anything about the evidence against them? >> no. our website, freethehikers.org documents what's been said about the case, but we know it is more than time. any investigations are over and we would be so grateful to have them released at this time. >> laura, thank you so much for coming. our thanks to cindy who wanted to be here as well. weather kept her home. we appreciate the time you have given us. >> oh, absolutely. i know cindy is just praying for shane to get home. the whole family is waiting for the holiday to be the most joyous holiday for us, too. much. >> we'll be right back with more after this. [ sneezes ] [

i'm ann curry. and for all us here at nbc news, thanks for joining us. >>> this sunday, the tax fight. the president gets some powerful support for his deal with republicans but liberal democrats are in revolt, unmoved by the president's rationale follow compromise. >> i think it's tempting not to negotiate with hostag takers unless the hostage gets harmed. then people will question the wisdom of that strategy. in this case, the hostage was the american people. >> will the deal pass congress and what will it do to create jobs? we'll ask our lead news maker guest, the chairman of the white house council of economic advisers, austan goolsbee. and then the politics of the center. if washington is broken is the answer an independent? independent mayor of new york city michael bloomberg joins me exclusively to discuss the economy, the president's leadership and his own political future. finally, our political roundtable on the president's course correction after the midterm. what does the tax deal say ab

ann curry back from being a little under the weather. headlines. >> thanks so much, matt. in the news this morning, wikileaks founder julian assange appeared on this program this morning and called for the rape and document release investigation against him to be conducted in the open. >> something is wrong in the united states that such an investigation against me and, in effect, my organization, and, indeed, now, we see serious calls against "the new york times" as well, that all of that is to be conducted in secret. >> assange is under house arrest after being freed on bail thursday after spending nine days in a british jail. >>> this afternoon, president obama will sign a massive bipartisan tax bill approved by the house overnight. it extends tax cuts and jobless benefits and includes a new cut in social security taxes. >>> meantime, senate democratic leaders walked away last fright from a $1.3 trillion spending plan that includes $8 billion in earmarks. federal officials plan to roll out a new public education campaign with advice o

first the top stories in ann curry. >> let's hope the show survives that.ida school board meeting once served a prison sentence for stalking. he spray painted a symbol on the wall and waved his gun at board members. at one point a woman tried to knock the gun away. he fired several shots without hitting anyone then wounded himself. >>> record low temperatures to florida overnight will not ease up until the weekend further threatening crops. the storm is heading north to east into canada stranding drivers one. one michigan couple had to pull over on the way to the hospital and deliver the baby in the car. >>> the senate is voting today on a package of extended tax cuts and unemployment benefits and if it passes, the $850 billion measure moves onto the house. income tax rates will go up for most americans next year if a new tax law is not approved. >>> the house will consider whether to overturn the pentagon's don't ask, don't tell policy on gay service members. it is to vote this week and that could spur the senate to reconsider its own stalled version of th

. >>> ann curry is standing by with all the headlines of the morning. >> good morning, everybody, i wish i had some good news to start with. in fact, it's not good news, because just as the holidays arrive unemployment benefits start expiring today for two million long-term jobless americans. there are currently no plan to reinstate the benefits as republicans and democrats in congress are concerned about the national debt. >>> men and women serving in the military favor allowing gays to serve openly. jim miklaszewski is here with more on this story. >> reporter: the pentagon report found that integrating openly gay service members into the u.s. armed services can be done. but it also shows it won't be easy. >> this past february -- >> reporter: defense secretary robert gates says the time has come to repeal don't ask don't tell. >> this can be done and should be done without posing a serious risk to military readiness. >> reporter: a pentagon study says 70% of service members have little or no problems serving with gays and lesbians. the answer is dramatically different from american fo

. >> narrator: from nbc >>> and welcome to "today" on this tuesday morning, i'm ann curry. >> and i'll lester holt. matt and meredith are off. easier getting in today. >> no snowshoes required today. >> a little popping under your feet. when all is said and done, 80 million americans it's estimated will have been impacted in some way from this blizzard. >> it was a monster storm in every sense of the word. there's all that snow to get out of the way now. and a big backlog at the airport. stranded travellers received a bit of good news when all three major airports that serve new york city reopened. but it could be the weekend before things are actually all back on track. we're going to get the latest about that. >>> plus it's scary enough to be at home with a newborn during a storm. so imagine how you would feel if your family became trapped on a highway for more than eight hours during the peak of the storm? one family is here, they're going to share their agonizing story with us. >> and there actually is a hero involved in that story. >>> but first let's get right to the aftermath of

ann curry is standing by at the news desk. she has all the headlines. the transport safety bureau says that lufthansa and singapore airlines that use the same trenton 900 engine should now recheck them. >>> sweden's supreme court is upholding an order to bring julian assange for questioning and denies the accusations made by two swedish women who work for him. assange has sparked international outrage by posting secret documents about america's diplomatic relations and the wars in afghanistan and çiraq. >>> the house is expected to vote in favor of censure for new york congressman charles rangel. earlier this month the house ethices committee suggested that censure as punishment for his violation. it is the ultimate punishment for wrong doing under house rules. the 40-year veteran congressman made a last ditch attempt to sway the decision e-mailing 20,000 supporters requesting they contact their congressman to vote against censure. >>> a man at the center of the investigation into the slaying of hollywood publicist ronnie chaisson has died of self-infli

ann curry's alma mater.disney allowed one of their characters to be licensed by a school. the oregon ducks. you look very angry today donald. no? okay. i love my job. let's check your weather, see what's going on. we've got some rain in the pacific northwest on saturday. frigid through the plains. cold in the northeast. rain in the mid mississippi river valley with snow through the western great lakes. sunday, sunday! we're looking at more rain in the eastern seaboard, southeast rain will turn to snow. cool weather in the southeast and into the gulf coast, mild through the southwest. the frigid continue s conditio through the plains. here's what's happen through your duck of the woods. >> sound like eugene outside. fog over san francisco. south bay, you're seeing some showers moving through the santa clara valley. you see it right there, south san jose through morgan hill. still some drizzle. showers across the east bay. today's highs, upper 50s to low 60s. showers starting tomorrow should aim in on the nort

. >> i have to tell everybody that ann curry is a little under the weather this morning and she's watching. ann, we hope you feel much, much better. we have natalie standing by at the news desk and natalie has all the headlines of the morning. good morning. >> wishing ann well. good morning to you guys, and good morning everyone. >>> a hotly anticipated white house review of the war in afghanistan has just been released this morning. nbc's jim miklaszewski is at the pentagon for us. good morning, mick, and what does the report say? >> reporter:t does the report say? >> reporter: good morning, natalie. the president's review says the afghanistan strategy is pretty much on course, that in many parts of the country, taliban momentum has either been stopped or even reverse bud it also warns that any progress is still fragile and reversible. still, big concerns about receipt liability of the afghanistan government and those taliban safe havens across the board terror in pakistan. but when i was in afghanistan last week with secretary of state gates, i never have seen him or the u.s. military co