lester looks amazing. lester looks hot. lester is red carpet ready. watch out nyc fashion week.ooked rather dapper in the suits but lots of love for lester. >> someone is going to photo shop that out and it's going to emerge as i'm running for supreme court or president. my career is toast. thank you, everyone. time to compare plans and costs. you don't have to make changes. but it never hurts to see if you can find better coverage, save money, or both. and check out the preventive benefits you get after the health care law. ♪ open enrollment ends december 7th. so now's the time. visit medicare.gov or call 1-800-medicare. so now's the time. hershey's makes smiles. smiles make more smiles. when the chocolate is hershey's. life is delicious. good thing i packed a yoplait piña colada!" well here's some more afternoon delight, yoplait original is now made with natural colors, flavors and sweeteners. and you thought it couldn't taste any better. yoplait. it is so good. >>> good morning. looking live at a very pretty picture from our san bruno camera. what you can't see is raindrops a

lester, please listen. lester, i'm about to start talking. lester, i finished talking. had i done that, lester would have shown up in time. >> we need to do that in the spring. >> we'll all coordinate our calendars. >> you come in early, want to welcome the new person and this is what you get. >> i told you to come in four hours early. a little early would have been fine. >> i will pay extra close attention to your newscast to y today. thanks to all that, no joke, of course, the weather is not cooperating. what we've been through this part of the country, people without gas, power, patience. >> for the millions who still don't have heat, that is especially tough news. temperatures dipping into the 30s today and, even worse, another storm is coming. a nor'easter that could bring high winds and heavy rain. dylan dreyer will bring us up to speed on that in a moment. >>> the latest from sandy's aftermath. at least 111 deaths in the u.s. are now attributed to the storm, most of them here in the new york and new jersey area. more than 2 million people still without power, mos

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

once again here's lester. >>> thanks.on homes and businesses along the east coast remain without power this morning. that's down from a peak of eight and a half million. while things are slowly returning to normal for many people, for others help can't arrive fast enough. michelle franzen is live with more. >> reporter: staten island was the hardest hit, suffering the highest death toll and the severe damage. some of it you see behind me, these boats tossed around like toys, slammed into homes, and hundreds of people now displaced and living in shelters, upset, they say, that help didn't arrive soon enough. just one of the areas up and down the east coast now trying to cope with sandy's aftermath. desperately needed aid rolled into staten island friday. >> thank you, fema. >> reporter: fema, red cross and the national guard finally on site. it followed days of outrage and pain in new york city's hardest-hit working class community. >> you need to come here and help us. we need assistance. please! >> reporter: homeland sec

lester? >> kristen welker at the white house tonight. thanks. >>> we are four days past the presidential election. tonight the counting is finally over in the state of florida. barack obama has claimed the state's 29 electoral votes, beating mitt romney by about 74,000 votes. giving the president a 332-206 final margin in the electoral college. thankfully, this time the presidency wasn't left hanging in the balance, but a dozen years after bush versus gore, a lot of folks are wondering why florida can't get its act together. nbc's kerry sanders has our report from miami. >> reporter: as if the lines were not long ough, it took florida four days to count the more than 8 million votes. it was a squeaker. if only the ballots cast here had mattered. >> we are an american family and we rise or fall together as one nation and as one people. >> reporter: president obama had already won re-election without this state's prized 29 electoral votes. >> president obama didn't need to carry the state but t

lester?> kerry sanders in miami, thank you. now to the painfully slow recovery in the northeast for families left struggling after the superstorm. tonight tensions are boiling over as hundreds of thousands remain without power, in the dark and the cold nearly two weeks after the storm came ashore. meantime some families got a chance to return home for the first time today. their first look at what was left. nbc's michelle franzen is in toms river, new jersey, tonight with more. michelle, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, lester. this is still the scene for many people. damaged homes like the one behind me. but power is still out in this section. you can hear the hum of generators from block the block. residents here in this section of toms river are considered lucky. they can stay overnight, repair by day. for thousands of others living along the shore and also in sandy's path, the return to home is not yet an option. in seaside heights, new jersey, long lines and a flood of emotions f

>> i don't know the answer to that, lester. i think there had to be the concern, first of all, on his part that it was not the right thing to do and the honorable thing to do would be to step aside. with the benghazi questions, i think there will be questions whether there were any national security breaches. maybe there's more yet to this that we don't know. those questions would be asked. so at the very least you have a very big distraction and an unfolding scandal right after the election and it was clear both the president and general petraeus wanted to avoid that. >> all this comes as washington is turning its attention to the fiscal cliff. these automatic spending cuts that threatened to send the economy back into a nose dive. what's your sense in washington? are both sides -- do both sides still have an appetite to play brinksmanship or is there a real desire to get this done? >> as i talk to people on capitol hill, lester, and in the administration, there is still wariness on both sides. one for the other. but there is

lester? >> i wish i'd seen this story. i think i now own a 757. thanks very much.me on a sunday edition of "today" general david petraeus is the latest in a long string of powerful men caught cheating on their wichs. the age-old question why do they do it? ♪ [ female announcer ] nature exists on the grandest scale... ♪ ...and in the tiniest details. ♪ and sometimes both. nature valley granola thins pack the big taste of granola and dark chocolate into one perfect square, under 100 calories. nature valley granola thins. nature at its most delicious. >>> we're going to find out more about those christmas tree hats. also still ahead we'll lend a helping hand as so many folks are reaching out trying to help make a difference for those in need after hurricane sandy. >>> plus, the final "twilight" film is set to hit theaters this weekend. the moment when forever begins. kay jewelers presents the ring that lives up to the moment. neil lane bridal -- from hollywood's premier jewelry designer. the setting has to be perfect. it's where the diamond lives. [ female announcer ]

lester? >> jenna, thanks. chilli and her mother are both here. can i call you chilli? is that okay? >> uh-huh. >> tell me about what happened. you were going to get your hair done and your nails done. what do you remember about that day? >> that we had fun. >> you were having fun until the accident, when you got to the hospital. do you remember anything about the accident? what's been the most difficult part? because in the letter that you wrote to this man, you really described all the things that went on in the hospital. tell me about the kind of therapy and the things you're learning to do. >> therapy is an easy school. the hardest was x-rays. >> x-rays every day, you wrote about in the book, right? and you call her your miracle child, because the news was really not good. >> no. when i arrived at the accident, i saw everybody just waiting there. at the hospital, the doctor said it's best for you to call your pastor. they didn't think she was going to make it. >> but she did make it. she's

lester?> kristen welker tonight, thank you. >>> now to the other big story that has consumed washington in the days since the election. the so-called fiscal cliff looming at the end of the year. if democrats and republicans can't come together and agree on a deal to avert it, taxes are going to go up for most americans. we get the latest tonight from nbc's mike viqueira. >> reporter: today top democrats drew a hard line. it's either higher taxes on the wealthy or the nation goes over the fiscal cliff. >> if the republicans will not agree with that, we will reach a point at the end of this year where all the tax cuts expire, and we'll start over next year. >> reporter: this as one influential conservative called on republicans to give ground. >> let's have a serious debate. don't scream and yell where one person says, you know what? really? the republican party's going to fall on its sword? a bunch of millionaires half of whom voted democratic and half of whom live in hollywood. >> reporter: b

. >> reporter: good evening to you lester. president obama campaigns here in must-win ohio tonight with music legend stevy wonder kicking thing off. with this race too close to call, president obama is enlisting his biggest su egest s and supporters to help him close this deal. president obama in the final sprint of this deadlocked race, stopping first in concord, new hampshire today. >> let's go get them, new hampshire. >> and then to hollywood, florida. >> are you fired up? >> reporter: mr. obama will travel several thousand miles, stopping in ohio, colorado, wisconsin. today the president enlisted one of the most high profile democrats to fire up voters. former president bill clinton. president obama even borrowing president clinton's campaign song. president clinton slammed romney. >> he's tying himself into knots saying he didn't oppose what he didn't oppose. >> reporter: and obama -- >> we know what change looks like and he ain't it. >> reporter: and president obama confused the former presidents. that ad th that. >> tha

lester? >> thanks.ng the platform for the inauguration, but in florida, they won't have a tally on the race until today. while the race is too close to call there, for others it's just another election beyond embarrassing. >> reporter: yes, florida has been here before. in 2000, we had the hanging chads. >> today it's a battle over ballots in palm beach county. >> reporter: in 2004, problems with the then new and improved touchscreen system. and this year, the supposedly simpler paper ballot, but each page had to be fed into a scanner. as it turned out, with 9 million plus voters and multiple pages, the equipment couldn't keep up. >> some waited in line for a very long time. >> reporter: even the president noted problems. >> by the way, we have to fix that. >> reporter: from south florida to the state capital, florida voters say they're embarrassed. >> they don't call it flori-da for nothing. >> it's almost as if floor rrid can't count. >> if the rest of the country can do it, why can't we do it. >> it'

lester has the morning off.ne to the mall planning to spend a certain amount of money and you walk out spending twice as much? >> yeah, i do that at target a lot. >> target, anywhere. coming up, we'll reveal what some of your favorite retailers are actually doing to get you to spend more of your crash. some interesting mind games going on. >> obviously, that's their goal. ours is to save some. happy to have those hints coming up. also, we'll switch gears a little bit this morning when we introduce you to a young woman who has really become an inspiration for so many. she's battling cancer, diagnosed at just 22 years old when she was living what she thought was the perfect life. she turned the situation around and she's helping others. >>> a bit later this morning, a legal uproar over a sentencing handed down by a judge in oklahoma who ordered a teenager convicted of causing a deadly car crash not to ten years of prison, but to a decade of church instead. >> interesting legal bats on that front, too. >>> meantime

i'm brian williams, kate snow will be here this week, sitting in for lester holt. we hope to see you back on monday night and we'll leave you with the glitter on the tree out back, all ready to get lit up on wednesday night. have a good weekend, from new york. >>> right now at 6:00, two sisters are killed in a tragic accident here in pal alto that shut down the freeway for hours. that's coming up in a live report. >>> also ahead, let the shopping begin. we'll show you how shoppers faired on black friday. and the latest on a rescue in the bay that also involved several animals. >>> thanks for joining us. two sisters are dead and a family in mourning after a horrific crash on a bay area freeway. 11 hours and the investigation still continues. the crash happened at 7:00 this morning on north bound 101? pal alto after a van slammed into the back of a chp patrol car.

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

lester? >> you bet, andrea canning, thanks. >>> earlier tonight you may have seen the special benefit concert, hurricane sandy, coming together, on the networks of nbc. music artists like bruce springsteen, christina aguilera, jon bon jovi and billy joel joined in to help the red cross and storm relief efforts. you too can still join in to help with a pledge. go to redcross.org or call 1-800-help-now. we'll show the number throughout the broadcast. >>> when we come back, the effort to help those in desperate need before the storm struck. missions of mercy. shorten the distances... ♪ push beyond the possible... ♪ roar past convention... ♪ shift every course... [ hawk cries ] defy the elements... ♪ and bring the world to its knees... ♪ it takes the new 2013 ram 1500, engineered to move heaven and earth. the road doesn't end here. this is only the beginning. ♪ [ male announcer ] guts. glory. ram. [ male announcer ] guts. glory. picture great holiday savings... at the petsmart winter welcome sale

lester? >> that's bear weather. thanks. up next, saving money by making your groceries last longer. [ lisa ] my name's lisa, and chantix helped me quit. i honestly loved smoking, and i honestly didn't think i would ever quit. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix is proven to help people quit smoking. it reduces the urge to smoke. it put me at ease that you could smoke on the first week. [ male announcer ] some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice any of these stop taking chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of depression or other mental health problems, which could get worse while taking chantix. don't take chantix if you've had a serious allergic or skin reaction to it. if you develop these stop taking chantix and see your doctor right away as some can be life-threatening. if you have a history of heart or blood vessel problems, tell your d

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

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 reporting from new york, for all of us here at nbc news, 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

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.

lester, good morning, fill us in. >> good morning, willie.king thanks giving, i said, yeah, if somebody needs, you know, to take the day off i'm happy to fill in and that led to a discussion where basically i invited myself to co-anchor the noon news on channel 5. >> and invited himself to thanksgiving dinner, didn't actually invite him. >> did you ask to see his resume tape. >> i did and carefully scrutinized that tape and looked at every live shot and stand-up and anchor clip and i said, you know what, i guess it will do and i let him be my co-anchor. >> talks like an anchor man. >> lester, how does this feel as a dad, graduations and weddings and now, i don't know what category you put this in because it might be a television first. >> i don't know. stef and i really enjoy each other and at the heart he's really a -- i say that incredulously. has a real passion for news and it's fun. always kind of shared that thing. used to like to come out on stories with me and used to hang out on the "today" show during high school and would come in on

lester, thank you so much for joining us today. i greatly appreciate it.re talking about this youth question. you are going to give up your seat to a young person. we have -- remember, when they entered the white house, they were little girls. now, they are going to leave at teens. we want to talk about the impact of sasha and malia obama next. >>> when the president first vowed to bring change, few of us would imagine how applicable that would be for the two young ladies that would join them in the white house. they have been one of the most visible remindsers of the four years that have passed. we have watched them grow from chubby-cheek little girls to poised stat uesque young ladies who are giving their mother a run for the money. by the time the president leaves office, malia obama will be old enough to cast a vote for his successor. joining our panel as a member of that generation and one of our nerdland people, 18-year-old emily carpenter, a youth organizer for girls for gender equity. nice to see you agn, emily. >> nice to see you too. >> it was re

>> let's say hello to lester and erica and find out what's coming up on "weekend today." >> rushing toe it. >> i already saw it. >> the latest on general petraeus as he deals with the fallout from his affair. the former cia chief testifying on capitol hill today about the attack on the u.s. compound in benghazi. does he hold all the answers to what really happened there? we're going to find out. also, following a bizarre story out of belize where the millionaire founder of mcafee software is wanted for questioning in the death of his neighbor. he's in hiding changing locations every few hours and talking to reporters. >> such a story. also ahead this weekend. cheerleading may not be recognize the as an official sport but comes with just as many dangers and injuries, so should there be tighter regulation? and new ways retailers are trying to get you into their stores for black friday. did you know that's just around the corner? all that and more this weekend on "today." i feel like it kind of started in this october at this point. >> it did, absolutely. thanks, guys. >> a check of the w

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. thanks for joining us.

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

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

. >>> 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

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.

(laughter) >> lester, you have heard anything about getting two legos and putting ice cream between those things and just-- (laughter) so the narc is clearly not brian williams. or maybe it is, we won't know until we see his competition. >> what do we say to the parents and kids and that is a whole other debate. >> what is to keep somebody from getting potted up on weed and getting behind the wheel? (laughter) >> jon: i believe we have our narc. come on, steve, be cool, it's weeded up on pot. i just imagine him, what are you-- are you gifs potting ! (laughter) the most amazing thing about this story is how much just talking about a marijuana story gives news anchors the giggles. >> colorado is about to give new meaning to the term rockie mountain high. >> a good night for pot smokers. there were several-- there were several initiatives on the ballot. >> what states have gone to pot there, williams. >> high times in colorado. >> they are getting high rockie mountain style. >> chief and chong rejoice, dowd where's my pot. >> the kids have the two bong hit lunch. whatever a bong is. >> they