dwight howard calls it quits. one of the best dunks of the season. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. [ female announcer ] experience dual action power with listerine® whitening plus restoring rinse. it's the only listerine® that gets teeth two shades whiter. and makes tooth enamel two times stronger. get dual action listerine® whitening® rinse. building whiter, stronger teeth. get dual action listerine® whitening® rinse. i'm a member of this hotel'sre loyalty program.ce. well, how far away is it? okay, we take a train to a dude ranch, then we canoe to the conference. or we could book with hotels.com and stay closer. [ male announcer ] accumulate 10 nights and get a night free. welcomerewards from hotels.com. >>> welcome back to "first look." i'm lynn berry. here's some of the top stories making news this morning. the white house is planning to release a report tomorrow that is expected to conclude the u.s. military has made enough gains in afghanistan to begin withdrawing troops next july. however, according to the "new york times" bleaker asses

turkoglu to dwight howard. he throws it down. magic win, 123-101. >>> that is your espn news update. i'm don bell. now, back to you in the studio. >>> a royal controversy is raging in britain over the latest wedding memento. the faces on the new coin are supposed to be of those of prince william and his fiancee, kate middleton. >> critics say it doesn't look a thing like them. the mint says the likenesses were approved by both the queen and prince william before the coin was made. >>> and perhaps this michigan couple could be the role models for the newly-engaged. jack and ella esenberg are celebrating 77 years of wedded bliss. that's right. they got married in 1933. and they say it was a love at first sight. >> they say it's still love after all of these years. jack says the secret to staying together is simple. he always says, yes, dear. >> if only all you husbands would learn that. so much more helpful. >>> coming up next, the stories including all that holiday travel and the last-minute christmas shopping. >>> also, the inves

dwight howard now has help. >> tonight at 11, warriors and sharks, and the ncaa title battle. we'll see you at 11:00. >> alan: thank you for sending in more pictures of christmas >> alan: we have more holiday lights to show you. thank you, steve hunter, who sent us this one to you -- ureports. he said the lights moved the music. we would like to see the holiday lights in your neighborhood. you can upload videos or pictures to our report abc7news.com. or kgo tv.com and we could air them on our newscast. that's it for us. thanks for watching. captioned by closed captioning services inc. the following is a paid advertisement

i'm done. [ laughter ] >> dwight howard.laugh tonight. >> that should have been derek's answer. actually it kind of was. >> nice suit by the way. >> thanks. >> that's the news this wednesday night. i'm micah materre. >> is it new? >> it is not. no. >> good night. ring ring. progresso. oh yes hi. can you put my grandma on the phone please? thanks. excuse me a sec. another person calling for her grandmother. she thinks it's her soup huh? i'm told she's in the garden picking herbs. she is so cute. okay i'll hold. she's holding. wha? (announcer) progresso. you gotta taste this soup. this chicken tortilla soup has such a wonderful zesty quality. that's the chipotle and cilantro. it's one of our new mexican soups. it reminds me of guadalajara. a special man. his delicious soups. sheila? [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. verizon 4g lte. rule the air on the most advanced 4g network in the world. oh yes hi. can you put my grandma on the phone please? thanks. excuse me a sec. another person calling for her grand

richardson, and hedo turkoglu, and the suns get a former warrior, and watch out for the magic, center dwight howard now has some help. a huge block bester this time of year. >> alan: amazing. just ahead, santa's helpers rave in the bay area in style to deliver lightning fast. lightning strong. rizon 4g lte. rule the air on the most advanced 4g network in the world. >> alan: coming up in a half hour at 6:00, we have some video coming in from the sierra. as you can see, it is a slushy mess out there. we'll have more on the road to tahoe. plus, rain or shine, this was a day when people just had to shop. the final christmas rush is upon us. john us for abc-7 news at 6:00. >>> finally, a group of local motorcycle riders teamed up with santa claus to spread holiday cheer to kids at san mateo county medical center. members of the golden gate south harley owner's group escorted an ambulance loaded with toys to the hospital's front door. santa himself helped supervise the unloading of the toys. some of his helpers carried them inside. the toys go to kids who receive care and to help

dwight howard calls it quits and one of the defendant dunks of this season. you're watching "early today." >>> good morning, and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are some of your top helines this morning. the white house is planning to release a report tomorrow that is expected to conclude the u.s. militaryas made enough gains in afghanistan to begin withdrawaling troops next july. however, according to the "new york times," the leaker assessment from the intelligence community argue that large swabs of the country remain at risk for falling to the taliban and neighboring pakistan is supporting insurgents. >>> sylvia berlusconi will hang on to power after a vote that could have forced his resignation. the outcome provoked some of the most violent protests in rome in yes. >>> new york police say they may be hunting for a serial killer after the remains of four bodies were discoved on a remote long island beach. investigators are trying to identify the remains which appear to have been on the beach for some time. >>> and mexican police are se

and dwight howard, he had 29. orlando wins 123-101. and sitting out with a sore knee. no problem against the suns. getting it done. heat wins big. they will play the lakers tomorrow. >>> penguins and capitals, sidney crosby extending his scoring streak to an astonishing 23 games. the perfect redirection to the net. he also had an assist. this one decided in a shoot-out. dupri scores the game winner in the seventh round. pens prevail 3-2. >>> finally to new york courtesy of the lightning. off the turnover, he fakes the slap shot and passes the puck between his legs and a score. it happened so fast, here it is again. the fake, the pass, and one motion. that's impressive. lightning wins, 3-2. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm mario solis. >>> one actor gets to enjoy a rare moment at the box office this christmas weekend. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. >>> plus, we'll bring you one man helping to keep well over a century of a christmas tradition alive and in tune. you're watching "early today." >>> welcome back. "early t

dwight howard calls it quits and one of the best dunks of this season. you're watching "early today." >>> good morning, and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are some of your top headlines this morning -- the white house is planning to release a report tomorrow that is expected to conclude the u.s. military has made enough gains in afghanistan to begin withdrawaling troops next july. however, according to the "new york times," the leaker assessment from the intelligence community argue that large swabs of the country remain at risk of falling to the taliban and that neighboring pakistan is still supporting insurgents. >>> hundreds of protesters clashed with riot police outside greece's par innocent during a massive protest against the budget reform. police fired tear gas, flash grenades. a general strike in the country has closed factories and disrupted hospitals and transport services. >>> new york police say they may be hunting for a serial killer after the remains of four bodies were discovered on a remote long island beach. investig

check out dwight howard. he swiped the shot away. dot play sparked orlando. the metrics closes out the game. the streak is over. they went 86-78. >>> more and be a fun at the garden. you should just have a blast. how about this? landry fields caught everyone by surprise. he had 14 points. the nba at leading scorer have some new bright yellow kicks for christmas. what do you think of those? he poured in 21 of his season- high 44 in the third quarter and oklahoma city over denver. gimme some of of those yellow sneakers. >> the raiders still have a shot at the postseason. to the most wins they have had in seven years. they have to get past peyton manning past payton manning and the colts tomorrow. manning has not been his normal self. they have had a lot of injuries in offense all season long. they know they are going to have to be themselves. >> the raiders have always had a problem with penalties. just minimize them. go to the game and get 12 penalties, we will kill our own self. if we have five, i think we will be okay. >> you go. the raiders are blacked out,

nba superstar, dwight howard, who joins us this morning from orlando, florida. so glad you're here. you and your foundation. i know you give year-round with philanthropic works. but your foundation took kids to get new coats. tell us about it. >> we took some kids. we took them to burlington coat factory. and we had a blast. i'm a stylist. so, i looked around. and i had all the kids try out some coats. i was showing the guys and the girls, you know, how to dress. you know? so, we got some good coats, man. and the kids had a lot of fun. you know? just to see the smiles on their faces. how i did a great job. i never drop the style. i did good. i'm happy. >> you're a stylist. dwight, who knew? what kinds of tips did you give these kids as they were picking out the coats? that color's not good for you? try a size bigger? >> yeah. i told them that. now, you don't want the real big coats. you want the coats that are fitting. make your body look good. you know, so i did an excellent job at that. all the kids came out happy. if you ever need some help, come see me. super

get it out of there as dwight howard swats that one away from paul pierce. very impressive.ut still had five blocks and 11 rebounds in the ball game. and how about this? this one sparked going the other way. and brandon bats with a team high 21 points. a jumper in the line. that ties it at 77. the magic close out on a 14-1 run. and jameer nelson with the step- back three and takes that one. magic ends boston's streak. and snap the spurs 10-game winning streak. >>> and getting it going. what did he get? i'm sure the glass. knicks sporting the green for the holiday spirit. derrick rose with 25 points. would have been 27 but aplayer stoudamire sends this back to the return window. get that out of there. that happens to hardly to rose. and landry fields caught everybody by surprise. look at that play. very awesome. fields had 14 points and 11 boards. great hustle. knicks over chicago, 103-95. >>> the raiders have won more games this year than they did any of the previous seven seasons. oakland has still a shot at the post season but to stay alive they need to beat peyton manning

. >>> in orlando, dwight howard of the magic had 24 points against the knicks.-point lead and held off a new york rally. the a magic over the knicks. 112-103. >>> the nfl fined the new york jets $100,000, the punishment for the assistant coach sal alosi tripping nolan carroll on the sideline during a punt return in a game earlier this month. you may remember this. he had already been suspended. for telling some of miss players to form a wall on the sideline forcing miami's kick coverage to run around them. >>> we'll take a quick break. when we come back, another look at this morning's top stories and the big boom. baby boomers start turning 65 tomorrow in droves. so, how will we pay for medicare? and she's obviously never dieted, or ever eaten anything. [ laughs ] and she says to me, "where would you like to be in six months?" six months? i need to be in a pink bridesmaid's dress in one month. i just want to be able to zip it up! [ female announcer ] sound familiar? then try the slim-fast 3-2-1 plan. 3 snacks, 2 shakes or meal bars, and 1 balanced meal. clinical

dwight howard on cleanup duty. 23 points, 26 rebounds for superman.yson chandler, ooh. a bizarre moment for superman. chandler, shaken up after the play. but he would stay in the game. jason terry, knocks down a big shot from the wing. the mavs old off the magic, 105-99. >>> derrick rose and the bulls taking on the sixers. philly would plead no contest. ronnie brewer, the steal. leaves for luol deng. 22 for the swing man. bulls up 85-50 at that point. and then, carlos boozer, the steal. ronnie brewer, flip it, reverse it. the bulls win, 121-76. >>> that does it for this sports update. back to you in new york. >>> a 9-year-old boy in california has proven that he has all the right moves. >> samuel sevian has just been crowned the youngest chess master in the u.s. samuel, who turned 10 on sunday, was 11 days younger than the previous record holder. and it's not his first record, either. he was also the youngest person to reach the chess level of expert when he was just 8 years old. >> i'm not even good at checkers. well -- >>> up next, we'll update our

check out dwight howard. kwroárpbgs. he swats paul peer's shot away. take a look.other unbelievable shot. five blocks and 11 rebounds. very impressive. that play sparked orlando. brandon scored a team high 21 points. this jump ner the lane tied it up at 77. and jameer nelson with the step- back three. and he names that one. and magic close out the game in a 14-1 run. the streak is over. magic win, 86-78. more nba fun. this guy is having fun. >> oh, yeah. >> that's what it is all about. having a blast. i think he probably got those shades for christmas. how about this? knicks sporting the holiday green. what did you say they were? >> giant elves. >> they look like giant elves. swatting this one away. stoudamire says not going to happen right here. stoudamire blocks six in the game. stanford standout landry fields caught everyone by surprise. great play right there. fields finished with 14 points and 11 boards unbelievable. and great hustle. and knicks beat the bulls with the green elves suits, 103-95. >>> and the raiders still have a shot at the post season. they ha

while we get paul pierce, dwight howard and others sometimes we forget just how good kobe bryant is. of course, he has won five nba titles, led the nba in scoring twice and this year averaging 27 points a game he may very well do it again. and after several years of playing second fiddle. begging the question, if they couldn't stop him before, what makes us think the wizards will stop kobe tonight? >> unfortunately we don't have john who had 25-14 against him. so we have an adjustment. it is more personnel difference than anything else. >> still going to do our same thing. just be a little bit more physical. hit people earlier. to get to them early then move them from the bottom. >> unfortunately as flip saunders mentioned we will not get to see the great match up between kobe and wall tonight. wall will miss his eighth game of the year tonight with a combination of a foot and knee injury. he had that big game 22-14 against the lakers last week in l.a. so they will have to make due without john and without andray blatche. i'm not sure i would like to play the lakers without those two