dr. nancy snyderman. >> reporter: every year the flu puts as many as 200,000 people in the hospital. that's why the cdc warned today that a strain of the flu virus mutated this year making the current vaccine less effective. >> well, we know that the flu virus can mutate. it's very wily. >> reporter: it's too late to make a new vaccine for this season, so people who think they may be getting the flu should see their doctor right away. >> there are medications to treat the flu. so even if you've been vaccinated, if you get the flu, especially if you're at high risk of severe disease, talk to your doctor about getting treated. >> reporter: the most effective drugs, tamiflu and relenza. they work best in the first 48 hours of getting sick. flu symptoms are much more severe than the common cold, can include fever, muscle aches and usually a cough. those most at risk of getting seriously ill with the flu, children younger than 5 years of age, adults 65 and older, pregnant women, and people with medical conditions like asthma and heart disease. although this year's flu vaccine may not be a

dr. nancy snyderman back here with us with an important story. thank you as always. >>> we are back in a moment with the reigning queen tonight cementing her place in history. cementing her place in history. >>> the grammy nominations are out. and while too numerous to itemize, the list is on our website. suffice to say, it's a big year for women. of the five record of the year nominees, sam smith is the only male artist among the five. and one woman in particular makes history this year. beyonce has now become the most nominated female artist of all-time, passing dolly parton with a record 47 nominations, which have so far by the way yielded 17 trophies. >>> weather and climate making news this season. amidst all the flooding rain in california, a new study there says the drought is the worst in 1,200 years. the state faces quite an uphill fight. san francisco, to name one city, remains two feet below rainfall averages for the year. in 46 years of recordkeeping, more snow covered our hemisphere this fall than at any other time breaking the previ

dr. nancy snyderman, nbc news, new york. >>> dozens of highwater rescues today. days of torrential rain taking a heavy toll. our report tonight from nbc's jacob rascon. >> reporter: it was almost inevitable the days of torrential rain would lead to this, the community of gillman hot springs partially buried in a sea of mud. >> crews are on scene right now cleaning up the mess. look at that white suv. >> reporter: so deep and so thick it took half a day for bulldozers to even reach this car. its driver, like dozens of others nearby had to be rescued. >> there was just this huge like crash and the whole house shook. >> reporter: there were homes smothered by trees, children stuck on a bus who had to be carried away and farm animals left without pasture. this storm system seen from space stretches nearly the entire west coast. it was all a surprise for the new england patriots as they prepared to play the san diego chargers on sunday tweeting, looking more like new england weather than san diego weather today. and in yosemite a milestone in a historic drought, yosem

dr. nancy snyderman back here with us with an important story.s always. >>> we are back in a moment with the reigning queen tonight cementing her place in history. (announcer) are you dealing with hot flashes during menopause? why suffer more than you have to? you can do something different. because the landscape of options has changed. brisdelle is the only fda approved, non-hormonal option proven to reduce moderate to severe hot flashes during menopause. and the bedtime dose provides 24 hour relief. brisdelle is not for everyone. call your doctor if you have changes in mood or behavior, thoughts of suicide, or a high fever, stiff muscles or confusion, signs of a possible life-threatening condition. abnormal bleeding, bone fractures restlessness, vision problems, and impaired judgment and motor skills may occur. don't take brisdelle if you are pregnant, taking maois thioridazine, pimozide, or are allergic to paroxetine. tell your doctor about all your medicines like tamoxifen, triptans, or paroxetine. side effects include nausea, vomiting, tired

dr. nancy snyderman on this new study that will provoke a lot of questions among patients and their doctors. the experts say the reason so many women are getting longer treatment that they don't need is that it can take years for doctors especially to change established medical practices. >>> history was made in oslo, norway today when malala yousufzai accepted the nobel peace prize. at 17 she's the youngest recipient ever. she survived an assassination attempt by the taliban in pakistan. since then she's become a tireless advocate for educating women and girls in her native country and elsewhere. she accepted today alongside her fellow recipient kailash satyarthi who fights to free children from slavery in india. >>> still ahead for us tonight, the hollywood hack attack, far bigger, far more devastating than first known about. big secrets have been revealed. and now some big celebrities have been thrust right into the middle of it. >>> also, above and beyond the call of duty. we will very quietly share with you the story behind an unforgettable visit with santa. >>> the whole world is bein

dr. nancy snyderman. >> reporter: 32-year-old musician and filmmaker max lugavere does not look like someone worried about alzheimer's, but he is. what did you see in your mom that concerned you? >> my mother who is 62, three years ago started having symptoms of memory loss and cognitive difficulty. so i became obsessed with this idea of taking steps in my own life that could potentially ensure that i'll never have anything like dementia. >> the results are fascinating. >> reporter: in hopes of warding off the disease by intervening at a young age -- >> what kind of memories is this testing for? >> reporter: -- he's participating in a unique alzheimer's prevention clinic at presbyterian weill cornell medical center. >> what brings this home for me is my uncle bob. >> reporter: clinic director dr. richard isaacson, who has alzheimer's in his own family -- >> that's my uncle bob. >> reporter: -- designs personalized programs for younger people like max who may be at risk. >> your brain is processing really well. >> i try to use a person's genetic background to help me refine or fine tune the s

dr. nancy snyderman. >> reporter: angelina jolie, celebrity superstar, now grounded by a common childhood disease, chickenpox. keeping her from her own premiere. she said in a youtube video released by universal pictures. >> i will be home itching and missing everyone and i can't believe it. >> reporter: meanwhile more than a dozen nhl hockey players have come down with the mumps. >> sidney crosby comes in. >> reporter: pittsburgh's penguins captain sidney crosby was diagnosed yesterday even though he had been vaccinated. the right side of his face is swollen from inflammation of the sal vary glands. >> results came back positive, he's been in isolation. and he has mumps. >> reporter: whooping cough is also making a big comeback. in california it's the worst epidemic in 70 years. at a hospital in brooklyn, new york, er dr. john marshall knows that protection from childhood vaccines can weaken over time. do you think it's reasonable to expect that we may be looking in the near future at a new battery of booster shots for adults? >> i think the concept of additional booster shots for adults

dr. nancy snyderman is back here at work. she found herself in the news after she returned from covering the news of the ebola outbreak in west africa when she ventured out and violated a voluntary quarantine, something which again she apologized for once again this morning on "today". >> i'm very sorry for not only scaring my community and the country, but adding to the confusion of terms i think came as fast and furious as the news about ebola did. good people can make mistakes. and i stepped outside the boundaries of what i promised to do and what the public expected of me. and for that i'm sorry. >> nancy will rejoin this broadcast friday night when she reports on the result of an nbc news medical investigation. >>> our correspondent janet shamlian flagged us to this photo today. it was enough to hop in the suv and drive halfway across the country to save on gas. the on cue drive-thru first on the board with gas under $2 a gallon, at least it's believed to be the first in the state of oklahoma. the trend's heading that wa

dr. nancy snyderman. >> hi! >> hello. >> how are you? >> reporter: at the breast cancer survivors network center near atlanta today, volunteer rebecca single remembers her experience with radiotherapy for early stage breast cancer was grueling. >> you're too tired to do anything after. >> reporter: her experience is typical, but need not be. a new study finds a shorter course of treatment is not being used despite being just as effective. this shorter treatment delivers a higher daily dose but over just three to four weeks. it's more convenient, has no more side effects and is less expensive than the longer course of treatment. at this san antonio breast cancer symposium today, experts say, despite strong evidence doctors have been slow to change how they treat patients. >> we are going to believe longer is better and more is better when it comes to cancer treatment. but the evidence tells us for some women less is actually more. >> reporter: today at nyu's cancer center, 57-year-old arlene shaner is happy to be getting the shorter cours

dr. nancy snyderman returned to the today show this morning. she apologized for violating her quarantined ebola exposure. she said she would stay in her new jersey home till the danger for symptoms of the disease had passed, but she was spotted before that time in a car getting takeout food. >>> an update now on the sinkhole on the george washington parkway. it's all patched up and both lanes are open in the southbound lane -- the southbound lanes. the sinkhole was discovered monday night. cries had to close a section of the parkway overnight. it opened just in time for rush hour this morning. >>> in new york, a teenager who mugged a new mother says he didn't know she was carrying a baby. the attack in the bronx was captured on tape. 18-year-old elon sow brown watched as the victim passed by and ran up behind her and kicked her to the ground. all this time she was carrying her 2-month-old son. brown stole the woman's cell phone. a stranger in a car who witnessed the mugging followed brown and retrieved the cell phone. brown faces numerous charg

dr. nancy snyderman finally apologizes on camera for violencing her ebola quarentine. >>> but first, why didn't they think jonathan gruber's obamacare videos were news worthy? >>> elizabeth lawsuiton made a very bad mistake on facebook. she ripped the president's daughters, sasha and malia for looking bored and can distracted at the annual turkey pardon session. act like being in the white house matters to you, dressed like you deserve respect, not a spot at a bar. a story quickly made all three network news casts, elizabeth lost her job. christine is still with us. obviously, a congressional communications director losing her job for going after the obama daughters is a significant story. but does it deserve that much coverage? >> as you've written, aptly so, that you can ruin your career on social media. this was a twitter ready story because you could tear down in 140 characters. there were pictures of sasha and malia standing in front of their dad, rolling their eyes in their short skirt. it was perfect for social media. that being said, what isn't television ready about the gruber s

dr. nancy snyderman said she's violating for voluntary ebola exposure. dr. snyderman left her house after medical officials asked her to quarantine herself. an nbc cameraman traveling with her was diagnosed with the virus and has since recovered. dr. snyderman told matt lauer this morning on "today" she failed to fright jee jee jeen - understand how frightened the american public was of the disease. nbc had kept snyderman off the air for about a month and a half after the quarantine incident. >> a company is on the front line for the effort to better dedebt concussions. pittsburgh area company's work is still groundbreaking. we got a firsthand look at what they are doing. >> reporter: you may have heard the saying that the eyes are the windows to the soul. >> we've often grown up that poetic license but there's real science behind that. >> reporter: but they are proving that your eyes could be key in helping doctors better diagnose concussion. >> the eye is essentially telling us what's going on inside the brain. >> let me go this way. >> reporter: we got a

dr. nancy snyderman finally apologizes on camera for violencing her ebola quarentine. >>> but first, whyonathan gruber's obamacare videos were news worthy? mmmmmmm. look out. now there's even more of the amazing cinnamon taste you love on cinnamon toast crunch. crave those crazy squares even more. i'm sure you know what this meeting is about. yes, a raise. i'm letting you go. . . quarters. quarters...yup. then amerivest gives me back their advisory... stocks. fees. fees. fees for those quarters. yeah. so, i'm confident i'm in good hands. for all the confidence you need. td ameritrade. you got this. >>> elizabeth lawsuiton made a very bad mistake on facebook. she ripped the president's daughters, sasha and malia for looking bored and can distracted at the annual turkey pardon session. act like being in the white house matters to you, dressed like you deserve respect, not a spot at a bar. a story quickly made all three network news casts, elizabeth lost her job. christine is still with us. obviously, a congressional communications director losing her job for going after the obama daughters

dr. nancy snyderman violated the involuntary -- you know, on my -- >> quarantine. >> quarantine. >> and laterpologized. >> on my blog 15 seconds, we called it a bone headed move and it was embarrassing for everybody. >> howie, if the purpose of journalism is to give information to people, verified information they need to live better lives, i cannot condemn the media for going full boor on ebola early on. and look it, this is an administration that had given reassurances on other stuff and it wasn't right. we were told the protocols were fine and then we found out they weren't. in a way, maybe media kicked the administration and some of the other folks in the butt and limited some of the damage with this. i agree with fred, at the end, it went crazy. snyderman, that's one of the reason people hate the press. the press doesn't think they have to follow quarantines and things like that. i think when you look back it's easy to say overkill, but essentially it started out doing its job correctly. >> i still think it got out of control. >> >>. >> you believe there was some benefit? >> i agree with

dr. nancy snyderman talked to matt lauer this morning.hey were in liberia about two months ago reporting on the ebola outbreak when a freelance photo journalist tested positive for the virus. the team was supposed to stay in their home for 21 days after returning to the u.s. but dr. snyderman left her home. >> good people can make mistakes. and i stepped outside the boundaries of what i promised do and what the public expected of me. for that, i'm sorry. >> i still like her. the photo journalist has fully recovered. dr. snyderman and her crew never contracted ebola. >>> the white house wants cuba to release an american government contractor who has been in prison for five years. allen gross, the contractor, was detaped in december of 2009 while setting up internet access. cuba believed the programs were illegal attempts to undermine the cuban government. he was sentenced to 15 years in prison. his family has says he threatened to commit suicide if he is not released by his birthday next may. the white house is concerned about his health a

dr. nancy snyderman finally apologizes on camera for violencing her ebola quarentine. >>> but first, why didn't they think jonathan gruber's obamacare videos were news worthy? not to be focusing, again, on my moderate my goal was to finally get in shape. to severe chronic plaque psoriasis. so i finally made a decision to talk to my dermatologist about humira. humira works inside my body to target and help block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to my symptoms. in clinical trials, most adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis saw 75% skin clearance on humira. and the majority of people were clear or almost clear in just 4 months. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common, and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to

dr. nancy snyderman travelled to liberia to cover the ebola crisis there. was there a photojournalist working with her team was diagnosed with the virus. before coming back to the u.s., nancy agreed to a voluntary self quarantine, which she later violated. nancy, good morning. it's good to see you. >> hi, matt. good to be back. >> critics said your behavior is unacceptable. you've had time to digest it, think about it, reflect on it. what's your response? >> i'm very sorry for not only scaring my community and the country, but adding to the confusion of terms, i think, came as fast and furious as the news about ebola did. suddenly we're talking about quarantine, isolation, controlled monitoring, who should be in hospital rooms, who shouldn't be. and so when i came back from liberia with my team, we had already been taking our temperatures four, five, six times a day. and we knew our risks in our heads but didn't really appreciate -- and, frankly, we were not sensitive to how absolutely frightened the americans were. came back, agreed to a voluntary quaranti