but do you know lester holt's son, stefan holt? he anchors at our sister station in chicago, wmaq. lester was a fixture on our station for 14 years, and since news is in their blood, father and son co-anchored the noon news. >>> and when we come back, thinking outside the box for the perfect gift. as any parent knows, sometimes less is more. . >>> for all of the excitement, the frenzy over black friday, all the spending and all those presents, especially for kids we veteran parents know a lot of kids look forward to and end up playing with something other than the intended gift. our report tonight from nbc's katy tur. >> reporter: don't be fooled by the brown boxy exterior, this is actually a pirate ship, no wait, a hotel, no wait, igloo, this man decided to throw out all the brand name toys and leave the rest to the kids' imagination. not one. not one complained about not having the toys on this black friday as parents by the thousands storm the times square toys "r" us, shelling out some major cash for some major play things, we asked the question, do you kind of want to play wit

with lester holt and erica hill. >> welcome to "today" on a saturday. >> general david petraeus, a four star general, is known for turning around the war in iraq. >> his admission that he had an extramarital affair forcing his resignation at cia director set off shock waves across washington. it was part of an fbi investigation and if t has many wondering if he compromised national security. >> that's not the only big story. president obama and house speaker john boehner appear to be drawing lines in the sand on that looming fiscal cliff. big tax hikes and spending cuts that could take effect at the end of the year if they can't find a compromise. >>> also, it sounds crazy, but apparently it's real. you'll meet some people who are

i'm erica hill. >>> and i'm lester holt. a lot of talk of ceasefire between israel and hamas, but certainly not happening. the two sides going in opposite directions launching a series of strikes at each other. we'll get a live update from gaza in just a moment. >>> and then the question so many have been asking in the wake of this sex scandal involving david petraeus, what about his wife? holly petraeus very accomplished in her own right. she has made a number of sacrifices throughout the years for her husband. coming up, we'll take a closer look at his wife of nearly four decades. >>> also ahead, black friday right around the corner. or black thursday. get this, some people already lined up for big post-thanksgiving sales. we'll see what retailers are doing to get you to open your wallet nice and wide and even stand in line like that. >> on a sunday. >> and we all know, you're always up for a big challenge, jenna. >> indeed. >> this morning, perhaps your biggest one of all as you take on broadway. jenna is performing on st

we're going to start tonight with lester holt who started his journey in the storm down in virginia, looking at where it is the worst. >> reporter: well, brian, when the storm happens, people are excited, shocked, maybe scared. now there is a sense of people looking at what they lost, what they can do, where they can't go. the president looked at the situation, and realized what can't be easily fixed >> reporter: first water, and now fire, blazing homes lighting up the pre-dawn sky over brick township, new jersey, gas leaks, a direct result of hurricane sandy, putting others at risk. two days later, the area is still reeling, especially along the shoreline. today, the president witnessed it firsthand, in a fly-over with jersey's governor, he saw miles of coastline, sea side communities now in ruins, some still under water. >> we are here for you, and we will not forget, we will follow up to make sure that you get all the help that you need until you rebuild. >> reporter: the president was not the only one assessing the damage today. all along the hard-hit coast, locals ventured out i

. >> peter alexander at the end of the campaign, in a blustery mass, and lester holt is here with more, on how the oba campaign was able to stitch together this victory. >> well, the short answer is, they recognized the demographic shift in this country, brian, you can argue the romney campaign was working from a very solid playbook, but it may have been from an out dated book. mitt romney's loss has the conservative reality shrinking from a republican base. since 1992, the percentage of white voters has dropped to 72%, while at the same time the percentage of latino voters who tend to lean democratic, have steadile grown. >> this is a different country, and republicans need to understand that. >> reporter: john mccain got 31% in 2008, and for mitt romney this year, just 27%, in the wake of tuesday, republicans' soul-searching will center around places like orlando. bush won it in 2004, but a growing puerto rico population have now helped to fuel obama's win there, a group not happy with republicans. >> you go out and disrespect the hispanic community like that, you think that we don't

brian williams, lester holt will be here with you this weekend.rse hope to see you right back here on monday night. meanwhile, please have a good weekend. good night. brian williams, lester holt will be here with you this weekend. we of course hope to see you right back here on monday night. meanwhile, please have a good weekend. good night.

>> well, one of the many questions they will go over as we come out of this, lester holt. thank you. and chuck todd last night in the engine room was watching a lot of this happen in the numbers in realtime as it happened. chuck, you have more proof today? >> reporter: well, i do, and the obama campaign used a no not-so-secret government document, called the 2010 census, and essentially what we saw, they did it not only in the battleground states, but they said okay, we're not going to carry any new counties and care r carry the electorate outside the counties, in fact they carried fewer in florida, but would find white voters. in florida, in 2008, the white vote accounted for 71% of the vote. well, in 2012, yesterday, the white vote fell down to 66%. so all of a sudden, more than a third of voters in florida were non-white. what does it mean going forward, brian? i just want to show you what it means for the electoral map. i think in 2016, you will arizona, texas, possibly in play because that is where the hispanic population has been booming. >> all right, chuck todd, th

i'm lester holt here on our beautiful little location. i call it the studio with a view, democracy plaza. our backdrop for nbc's election coverage. >> and a nice view it is. i'm erica hill. it's good you made it this morning extra early, ready to go. >> i forgot to set my clock. >> you did. >> the good news is i started my newscast an hour ago. thanks for watching and have a great sunday, everybody. >> lester is out of here. we should point out part of our job here at the "today" show and, of course, nbc news is to make sure our viewers are informed which jenna wolfe did a fine job of yesterday. you may have missed this part of the newscast, though. let's take a look. >>> americans will be able to get an extra hour of sleep thanks to the shift back to standard time. officially the change occurs at 2:00 a.m. sunday. but most people will set their clocks back before they go to sleep. >> that was on our show? >> that was on 0 our show. >> really? >> the problem, erica, is that i didn't say this next story is just for lester. lester, please l

with lester holt and erica hill. live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. >> good morning, everyone. welcome to "today" on a saturday morning. i'm lester holt. >> and i'm erica hill. many of you may be in mourning this morning for the twinkie. or the snowball. or the ding dong or the ho-ho. >> you know, they overlook snowball. >> that was your snack of choice? and? >> and, it's good. it's like sugarized rubber. the point is it was fun. >> you haven't had these recently until this morning? >> not since i was 11. the memory was better. >> i didn't realize this was chocolate on the inside, actually. >> the company that made them is going iowa way. >> it is. a lot of people understandably very upset about that. not sure whether all the twinkie jokes will have to go away as well. i think they can stay. >>> later, there's a lot of hard news to cover this morning, including what's happening in the middle east. rockets are flying between gaza and israel, with israel expa expanding its air assaults targeting gaza's infrastru

i'm erica hill along with lester holt. coming up in this half-hour, more on that aftermath of hurricane sandy. >> we've seen all the devastation from this storm. it could potentially change the landscape of the u.s. coastline. that's how much of a beating the coast took. we're going to get more on that in just a few minutes. >>> also, if your home was damaged, we have some tips on rebuilding. and also, we're going to have you take the proper precautions to stay safe when that next storm arrives. >>> a bit later we'll switch gears with a lottery story that's a little tough to believe. a woman that had a winning ticket in her glove compartment didn't even know it. >> she knows it now. >> yes, she does. we all know it. >> it's a great story. >>> let's begin with the road to recovery after sandy. across the country, everyone from electric workers to local charities are rushing to help folks here in the northeast. but few companies are mobilizing quite like the country's largest home improvement chain. gabe gutierrez takes an i

i'm lester holt. when someone is murdered and the killer is still free, families never give up hope, and a good detective never gives up looking. this murder case was tougher than most. the trail was as cold as it gets and the killer left behind no physical evidence. it was the kind of evidence no detective likes but one detective lived for. here's keith morrison. >> the game is called mousetrap. the little ball on its track, the tiny mice which unless every lever works in unison will not be caught, and how often things go wrong to allow the mice to get away. so awed that what really happened could so eerily mimic a children's game. these are the people it happened to. the jessee clan of california. they vacationed together, shared birthdays, even got together for a monthly game of ten pin. but what these grainy home videos don't show is what is yet to come. which is murder, conspiracy. one branch of the family against the other. a game so twisted, mice so clever, that crafting a trap to catch them mi

i'm lester holt. many of us have a lot to be thankful for today, but even as the u.s. economy starts to sputter back to life, millions of americans remain unemployed and they're suffering. many find themselves falling out of the middle class and falling into poverty. there are more people living in the suburbs than in cities and we have been following three families as they confronted poverty. they face losing their homes and their future, yet never losing themselves. diane is the kind of do it all mom you often meet in the affluent suburbs of boulder, colorado. >> we're going to get some groceries. pasta, rice. cereal. a gallon of milk possibly and eggs. >> she's an ambitious human resource executive with a master's degree, a husband, three kids. and a comfortable home. so what is diane doing here? >> you're entitled to the government commodity today. can you use rice krispies? >> yeah. >> and a food pantry. >> i never thought we'd be in this predicament so many unknowns. >> they didn't see it coming. three years ago when they moved from michigan to the boulder suburb

i'm lester holt. for all of us at nbc news, good night. >> you are watching wbla tv 11.

i'm lester holt. thanks for joining us.

. >>> and i'm lester holt. today is an important day to honor those who served in our armed forces. you're looking it at the tomb of the unknown at arlington national cemetery. the president will lay a wreath there later on this morning. >>> one of america's most decorated veterans, david petraeus, is behind closed doors today, two days after his stunning resignation of cia director. it began as an investigation into harassing e-mails and ended with him admitting to an extramarital affair. this morning in an nbc news exclusive we'll hear from his former spokesman who talked to the general after all of this broke and says petraeus is very sorry for what he did. >>> and a bit later general petraeus is the latest in a long list of powerful men who have been involved in high-profile cheating scandals so we'll ask why do they do it? our experts will weigh in. >> also ahead, it has been nearly two weeks since hurricane sandy. thousands are still in the dark. meantime, the destruction is inspiring many others to help out -- to lend a helping hand. we'll take you to hard hit coney island. >

i'm lester holt. the winds and floodwaters may be gone, but power outages, ruined homes and impassable roads have triggered a whole new set of problems for the east coast. and new yorkers, not always known for their patience, were more rattled today by gas lines that seemed to go on forever. but today, the reason got a glimmer of hope as the relief efforts started to kick in. harry smith starts us off. >> reporter: it's been four days since hurricane sandy struck the northeast. yesterday there were screams for help in some of the worst hit areas. >> we all need help. i need help desperately. >> reporter: today, some help showed up. homeland security secretary janet napolitano toured devastated staten island. >> we have 3200 fema personnel working this storm in the northeast, and more are on their way. >> reporter: tons of relief supplies were brought into floyd bennett field in brooklyn. national guardsmen and the red cross seemed a lot more visible and fema set up relief centers throughout the storm

this is about a spy who fights terrorists and sleeps with a lester holt of women. critics are calling it well made while david petraeus is calling it relatable. >>> if you're hearing a dull roar, do not adjust your televisions. right now there is an enormous crowd gathered outside our rockefeller plaza studios for british boy band one direction. actually the "today" show said it's the largest crowd they've ever had. fans have been lined up since friday for the band's performance. that performance is this morning on the "today" show. >>> finally today's date may ring a bell for some of our viewers. >> on november 13th felix unger was asked to remove himself from his place of residents. that request came from his wife. >> once a week for five years fell licks unger was kicked out of his house and forced to live with oscar madison, an odd couple as i've seen us. kind of like us here on "early today." >> i have had people say they think we're kind of alike, a brother-sister type thing. >> brother-sister, you giving me a hard time all the tirnlgs yes, that would make se

i'm lester holt. it stumped police for years, the case of a young missing college who went missing. they finally get their big break from a very small thing. take a look at this photo. there's a key clue here, a single detail spotted by an eagle eye detective. that's what helped him turn this nine-year mystery into a slam-dunk case. watch now and see exactly how he did it. here's josh mankiewicz. >> sometimes the facts are as clear as the southern california sky, but other times you have to know where to look to see the truth. this man has made a career of noticing what others do not. >> what's his reputation? >> meticulous investigator. just pores over the volume of evidence and found what others did not find. >> the evidence whisperer? >> correct. >> at night i went out dancing. >> does this man act guilty? does he know more than he's saying. >> i didn't know anything was going on, all right? >> what about this man? can you believe the story he's telling? >> i was supposed to pick her up twice and s

i'm lester holt. you think you get wild on the weekend? you're about to see some of the most amazing moments of athletic adventure ever caught on tape. they're more than extreme. they are white knuckle life and death situations. danger is just the start of it. you'll watch this but still you won't believe these guys escaped alive. like the b.a.s.e. jumper who leaps from bridges and buildings and everything else. he decided to try a new trick off a sheer ledge turned out to be one crazy cliff-hanger. >> ready, set, let's go. >> my name is ted davenport. i'm a professional skier and b.a.s.e. jumper. i've jumped all over the world. i've b.a.s.e. jumped in united states, noourp, new zealand. the thrill of it is hard to describe. you're falling towards the earth. it's that surreal of not being in control but being in control. there's kind of a balance. you're really close to possibly not living, but you are living. sports that involve a high amount of risk usually have a high payoff. they're usually incred

representative holt, representative harris. so if you could just all come on up here, we'll go in that order. now, i've given you each two minutes, but i will have a very soft gavel til you reach three. so if you're -- so, you know, as someone who spent ten years in the house, i learned to speak in one minute, remember? i remember those days. when i got to the senate, people -- the press came up to me one day and said, you've changed, you're so calm. i said, well, in the house i had to get to the end of my speech and just have one minute to express myself. here i can work my way up to the ending. so i know it's a great skill, but you're all really good at it. so we'll start off with representative pallone. >> thank you, chairman, and thanks for having this hearing and inviting us from the house. my district was very hard hit by the storm, and i really wanted to just focus on a number of critical issues that have come to light that i think that we must address as we move forward. i'm not going to talk so much about what happened

i'm erica hill with lester holt. in the next half hour, internet addiction. we've all gone through fazes where you can't get enough of your phone or laptop, but is being obsessed with technology a real addiction. >>> plus, saving money on groceries doesn't end at the checkout lines. with food prices on the lines, we'll show you ways to make your staples last longer. >>> bond is back. critics and fans are raving over the new james bond film. it comes just months after his famous cameo with the queen of england. >>> let's begin with internet addictions. when you think of addictive behave, food, alcohol, and drugs come to mind, but experts say that internet can also cause addiction. >> i went into this as a concept tick, but boy, after i learned more about this, things like sex, shopping, hoarding, they were considered addictions. and these days can you add an internet addiction on top of that list? >> 911? >> i need you guys to send officers to my house. >> this is the voice of a desperate mother. >> technology was removed today, a few hours ago, and he is cryi

i'm lester holt.eration of air traffic control that could lead to the next generation of cyber terrorism. ionist susan, who sees that she's due for a mammogram. mary has one that day. that's when she finds out she has a tumor. she has a successful surgery and because her health provider has an amazing connected system, she has her life. i don't know what you have but i have kaiser permanente.

i'm lester holt reporting from democracy plaza here in new york.r all of us here at nbc news, good night.

. >>> welcome to "dateline" i'm lester holt.s the kind of accident people don't usually survive, but lauren scruggs did. you probably remember when it happened. lauren, a young fashion writer, stepped off a small airplane and right into the blades of a spinning propeller. miraculously, less than a year later, here she is, in her first prime time interview, a "dateline" exclusive. lauren and her family take us back to that terrible night and through her incredible recovery. here is natalie morales. >> reporter: just a year ago, lauren scruggs' future was bright. the beautiful girl her friends called "lolo" had big plans and even bigger dreams, as she pursued a career in fashion. >> i am lauren scruggs with "lolo" mag. >> at 23, she started "lolo" magazine, a website covering beauty, fitness and fashion around the world. >> hi, i'm lauren scruggs and we're excited to be here today at new york fashion week. >> reporter: lauren grew up in dallas, texas. her parents divorced when she was young, but would later remarry after seven yea

thank you for joining us, i'm brian williams, lester holt will be here with you this weekend. of course hope to see you right back here on monday night. meanwhile, please have a good weekend. good night. >>> right now at 6:00 -- cooling down. light dusting of snow. jeff ranieri has your weekend forecast ahead. >> fund raising program for local schools takes a hit when some advertising is stolen. live in redwood city. i will have details on this coming up. >> just into our newsroom, new details on a possible suspect in a south bay homicide. >>> good evening, thank you for joining us on this friday. i'm raj mathai. >> i'm jessica aguirre. we ago win with the weather. in the same week, record heat across the bay area to snow. mount hamilton got its first snowfall of the season today.

i'm lester holt reporting from new york. i'll see you tomorrow on "today" and right back here tomorrow evening. good night, everyone. >>> good evening, i'm diane dwyer. a memorial is scheduled for tonight for a 15-year-old boy who was killed two years ago. his parents found him dead in their back yard, and they want his two classmates who were arrested in the case to face a jury. nbc bay area's kimberly tere has more

i'm lester holt reporting from new york, for all of us here at nbc news, good night.car horn) paying with your smartphone instead of cash... (phone rings) that's a step forward. with chase quickpay, you can send money directly to anyone's checking account. i guess he's a kicker... again, again! oh, no you don't! take a step forward and chase what matters.

i'm lester holt. >> and i'm erica hill. general david petraeus was one of the most revered figures in washington. a four-star general known for turning around the war in iraq. >> he was even considered a potential presidential candidate, so his admission that he had an extramarital affair, forcing his resignation as cia director, has set off shockwaves around washington. it was discovered as part of an fbi investigation, and it's got many wondering did he compromise national security, and is there more to this story? we're going to have much more just ahead. >> and that is not the only big story in our nation's capital. president obama and house speaker john boehner appear to be drawing lines in the sand over that looming fiscal cliff. big tax hikes and spending cuts that could take effect at the end of the year. if washington can't find a compromise. that could have a big impact on your bottom line. we'll get you more on that in just a moment. >> also it sounds a bit crazy but apparently it's real. you'll meet some people

. >> holte hostess will workers will learn if they have a job. they will announce whether they will file for bankruptcy employees went on strike because the pay was being cut by 8% next year. >> parents hope to get the nine fendo wi. can he expect a flight. analyst predict it will fly off the shelf and there will be a shortage because they started production late. >>> cold weather is here and before we know it we will see snow. mayor stephanie rawlings-blake is meeting with represent sighs from the -- representatives from the snow team to talk about how they are preparing for the upcoming winter season. >> see the video. i know we had a mild winter last year. a little snow two years ago. but nome geton a couple years -- snow geton a couple years before that. >> we will be above average this year but most definitely more snow in the mix than last season yesterday right last season. let's talk about what's going on right now. no type of snow across the area. no. no. we do see rain down to the south this will begin to diminish as well going througho

i'm lester hou eer holt reporti new york. for all of us here at nbc news, good night.