i'll remind all of you, my colleague, lester holt will be joined tomorrow morning, for a special live edition of the "today" show. matt lauer and savannah guthrie along with lester for that. for our entire team. for my friend lester in new york, my team here on the ground in newtown, connecticut after a awfully dark day across this country. i'm brian

. >> good evening and welcome to a special hour of coverage, lester holt is in our new york studios, and other team is here in what must be tonight the saddest place on earth. newtown, connecticut. it was here in the even smaller hamlet called sandy hook, at the local elementary school grades k through 4, that a young man wearing black, heavily armed, entered the school firing today. he killed 20 small children and six adults before taking his own life. and this is one of two crime scenes in this same town tonight. this small new england town at the northern edge of the new york suburbs and the middle of the connecticut countryside. and all decorated for christmas has just been destroyed. everybody in this country, from the president of the united states on down has the same question tonight. how could someone have done this, and how could someone have killed these kids? tonight, lester holt starts off the broadcast with a look at what has become one of the darkest days in modern american history. >> reporter: the families who live in small newtown, connecticut, 80 miles northeast of

i'm lester holt. >> and i'm erica hill. there is a little bit of a break for folks this morning, but it's not going to last. millions of residents along the west coast will get hit hard later today when a new storm stretching from central california up to washington state pounds the region. already the stormy weather there in recent days has turned deadly. we'll get dylan's forecast in just a minute. >>> also ahead, the president hitting the road trying to do an end around past congress. he's pushing his proposal to stall the dispute over the fiscal cliff. will his newest campaign of taking it to the people work? we're live in washington with the latest. >>> also ahead, two words everyone seems to love. myself included. designer and discount. we'll have a look at what happens when target joins forces with high end retailer neiman marcus. it's a brand-new collection that hits stores. today it's already available online. >> target, neiman marcus, cats and dogs living to the? >> i think it can be done in harmony. >>> plus a fo

but we're all in this together. >> and that was nbc's lester holt reporting from connecticut.g a police briefing at the top of the hour and the continuing search for answers behind this school massacre. also ahead, more on how america is reacting to this horrific attack. you're watching "weekends with alex witt." for those with visions of doing this... ...this... ...and this, dancing in their heads... ...we have these. home depot gift cards. give the gift of doing, in-store or online. [ male announcer ] jill and her mouth have lived a great life. but she has some dental issues she's not happy about. so i introduced jill to crest pro-health for life. selected for people over 50. pro-health for life is a toothpaste that defends against tender, inflamed gums, sensitivity and weak enamel. conditions people over 50 experience. crest pro-health for life. so jill can keep living the good life. crest. life opens up when you do. customer erin swensoniving bought so, i'm happy. today. sales go up... i'm happy. it went out today... i'm happy. what if she's not home? (together) she won't

i'm lester holt reporting from los angeles for all of us at nbc news, good night.

i'm lester holt reporting from los angeles for all of us at nbc news, good night. ♪ ♪ no two people haveals. pnc works with you to understand yours and help plan for your retirement.

. >> i'm cain for lester holt. just when you thought it was safe to go out, another storm is hitting the east coast. >> there won't be as bad as the storm that spun off tornadoes and dumped heavy snow across the northeast and the east this week. it could certainly impact holiday travel. we'll have the latest coming up in a moment. >>> also ahead, in the wake of the sandy hook school tragedy, a new plan from the controversial sheriff in arizona. he wants armed volunteers to patrol the schools there. we'll get into that debate. >>> then, we'll share with you a romance story 20 years in the making. it began with a simple love letter in elementary school. >>> plus, did you get the gift for the holidays that, well, just wasn't you? a record number of returns are expected this year. but did you ever wonder what happens next? we'll take you inside a warehouse where many of these items go and actually wind up getting resold at some pretty deep discounts. >> i like the sound of that, deep discount. we'll go shopping, too. >

i'm lester holt reporting from new york.'ll see you tomorrow morning on "today" and right back here tomorrow evening. we leave you tonight with a look at the rockefeller center christmas tree and a lot of folks enjoying this evening. have a great night, everyone. >>> good evening. i'm diane dwyer. we are tracking another storm headed our way. experts say it could be the strongest of the storms to hit this wokthis week. as you can see the roads are wet. the biggest concern in most areas is flooding. we begin tonight with anthony slaughter in our weather center with a look at when this next storm is supposed to hit. hello, anthony. >> hey, diane. it's been quite a week across the bay area. we are starting to see the impacts of our next storm system make its way across the bay area. from the bay bridge toll plaza there is a bit of water on those lenses. we still have the flash flood watch in effect against the coast. now that flood warning for napa county primarily becauseth

i'm lester holt reporting from new york.ow morning on "today" and right back here tomorrow evening. we leave you with the crowds outside our door step here at rockefeller plaza. good night, everyone.

. >> i'm lester holt and this is "dateline." as they say in hollywood, the plot thickens.cz. >> action. it ranks second only to money as the single most important word in hollywood. and here in l.a. where life and art are often the same thing, there is a real life drama that rivals any action movie with a plot that includes all the elements of classic film noir. >> cut! >> a mystery featuring an assassin, a femme fatale, skpand an actor. let's start with joe peschi, with a name as famous as a cold-blooded killer. his ex-wife, a model and actress, appeared alongside peschi in the gangster film "casino." the supporting cast includes claudia's brother, manny, not an actor but an actual tough guy who did time in prison and who harbors a terrible secret in his past. and finally claudia's second husband, garrett warren, a hollywood stunt man and martial arts expert. a man very familiar with danger. fade in, early evening in the quiet town of westlake village, california outside of l.a. stuntman garrett warren heard a knock on his door and a voice on the other side asking about h

first, in today's office politics, alex has a conversation with lester holt.s him how he became to be an aviation expert for the network and the huge role music plays in his life. we'll talk about two stories of haunting images he'll never forget. >> i traveled to somalia in the '90s. to be thrust in a situation where people are starving to death. you can't be more foreign to the world we know. it was extremely dangerous. it was then and still is a land of anarchy. it was a place that anything could happen and it did. but, you know, those are some of the images i saw. the other is the earthquake in haiti. i have never seen death on quite that scale before. i mean literally arms and limbs poking from rubble. the scene that will forever remain with me there was i can't even call it a mass grave. it was a dumping ground of bodies where they simply pushed bodies in a field. it was just, chilling. it was one of those scenes you look at and, you know, you are not sure what you are looking at. is that a pile of clothes? then you realize it's bodies. that was a kind o

i'm lester holt.ver someone is kidnapped it triggers a race against time as police often joined by the victim's family, begin a frantic search. that's what happened in this story which begins with a young mom abducted at gunpoint, but as you're about to see, though her family and veteran investigators spent desperate days trying to find out where she was, they never could have guessed who had her and why. here's josh mankiewicz. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> this is the sheriff's office. >> my wife made a phone call to me a minute ago to say that she was held by gunpoint. >> businessman reid gray was on the line with the sheriff's office in a panic. he told the 911 operator that his wife had phoned him minutes earlier to say she'd been kidnapped. >> i would say it's not. >> the call would turn out to be just the beginning of an unbelievable saga that would baffle investigators and turn this husband's life upside down. the next few days would bring one setback after another and no one could have predicted how it all

." >>> good evening, i'm lester holt.ld someone agree to spend months behind bars with the criminally insane and come out of prison a freeman? before he could do that, he had a special job to do and that was inside the prison. getting in was the easy part. getting out alive was much harder. two enemies who didn't trust each other faced off across a table. one of them in handcuffs was a clever con named jimmy keane. the other, a hard-charging prosecutor. >> in court he called me the john gardi. >> he suddenly wanted to talk. a top secret meeting no less. what more could he do to jimmy? >> he was the last person i expected to hear from. he was my biggest fear. >> but keane's fears went off the charts when prosecutor larry beaumont slipped an accordion file in his direction. the top document was the photo of a mutilated girl. >> and then there was another photo of another mutilated girl. >> he probably thought you were about to charge him with something else. >> yeah, because they were pretty rough on him in the initial pros

. >>> from nbc news this is "today" with lester holt and erica hill >>> i'm erica hill. >> i'm carl quintanilla>> all eyes on washington. a number of americans wondering this morning why lawmakers have not yet been able to reach a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff. president obama spoke exclusively to nbc's david gregory. we are going to get a preview of what he has to say just ahead. >> it has been just two weeks since the tragedy of sandy hook elementary in connecticut. a teenager in california wrote a poem to express her feelings saying she understood how it could happen and it got her suspended from school. we'll get her reaction coming up >>> we'll also hear from the 29-year-old surfer that used his fists and his board to save his life when a shark kept coming at him again and again. >> scary story. >>> later on, we'll switch gears and look back at the year in pop culture, from the rise of honey boo boo to the unlikely bop lairity of that catchy tune, gang ham style. >> slightly popular, wasn't it? >>> we begin with the race in washington to fist fiscal cliff deadline including a preview of d

nbc's lester holt talked to kids and learned things about st. nick. >> what can we do to help santa have an easier time? >> instead of reindeer pulling the sled, you can do dragons. >> one big dragon and then a lot of reindeer. >> a dragon and a bunch of reindeer. >> a baby dragon. of course. >> he could put a lounge in his place in the north pole. >> what would he do in that lounge? >> get massages. have a bunch of hot tubs. >> i don't think there's anything santa could do differently. his reindeer are very fast. >> faster than a jet plane? >> do you think a jet plane could make it around the world all in one night? answer me that question. >> would you want to go along? >> yes. >> the sleigh goes pretty fast. you wouldn't be afraid? >> no. >> how come? >> because i'm not scared of anything. >> how does he keep track of the names? does he write them down? >> he uses an ipad. he types what house number and then the name appears up on the ipad. >> is there a special santa app that he uses? >> yes. special santa app. >> what would you tell santa a

. >> i'm lester holt. she dropped her "g." seven swams a swimming was her answer. she said seven swans a swimmin'. >> it may be okay from you but apparently not from the judges. >> we are going to hear from renee a little bit later. in solidarity, we will drop our "g"s for the rest of the broadcast. >>> we will talk a little holiday shopping. you told us you hadn't really started yet. your focus is on tomorrow to do all your shopping. i was flipping through the papers. i have good ideas. i am in good shape. >> you are not alone >>> the great holiday getaway continues. lots of people heading out to get home for the holidays. we have a preview of what's in store on the rhodes and at the airports. >> it is going to be a rather quiet christmas we are told for will and kate, the prince and the dutchess have decided to do their own thing this year to break with the decades of royal family tradition. we will tell you how they plan to spend the holiday. >> we are going to show our skills in the kitchen from bonbons to beef wellington. we are making and sharing our favorite

. >>> 37 minutes past the hour in this week's office politics, alex talks with lester holt.tories that come from those places. but alex began by getting an update on the war in afghanistan. >> i've been there twice in the last two years, the second trip was interesting in the fact that everybody now talks about the mission, not going after terrorists per se, but training the afghan forces. that's the -- they all want to tell you how well they are doing, give you numbers and power points and flow charts. how many afghan police and army they have trained up. it's happening, we saw it there. but the reality is, a great fear of what happens after the u.s. leaves, a lot of the u.s. forces don't have the same technical capability. they don't have drones and night vision, don't have a lot of special weapons. >> but with our american forces there, how do they feel about leaving? do they feel they have accomplished what they want to do. do they feel good about leaving things in the afghan hands? >> they feel good that they have a mission that they feel they are accomplishing, and cer

nbc's lester holt spent some time with one such family. >> these children play like they don't have a that's the way it should be when you're 9 and 6 but things are not the way they should be nor necessarily as they appear. how are the kids going? >> they are go. they go through periods. they will be typical kids, you know, being silly or fighting, and then all of a sudden my daughter will get serious. >> reporter: the siblings were among those led to safety from sandy hook elementary after the shooting stopped. >> last night was tough. she was in bed, and she kept saying i can't get it out of my mind when she was leaving the school that she had seen some bodies on the floor. >> ben herstam raced to the scene after he heard the kids' school was on lockdown. >> i passed my daughter on her way out of the school, and i knew he was safe and i knew my son was still in the school at that time. turns out he wasn't. already safe in the firehouse. >> reporter: in the firehouse there were other anxious loved ones. >> in retrospect, looking back at it, the parent that were still there, and they

alex has a conversation with nbc's lester holt. ked him about the recent stint co-anchoring with his son at chicago's nbc station and whether he is still a california boy. but first she asked for lester's take on the nature of capitol hill hills's fiscal cliff discussions. >> i think there's a lot of people who are obviously to the left or the right and they're very certain and the world seems very clear to them. then there's a lot of folks, probably folks like me who are kind of like, you know, i don't even know. i don't know if you raise taxes on the rich if that improves anything or if it hurts the economy. you get to a point, i think a lot of folks to this point do something. don't be paralyzed. find a way to work together. let's just move forward. i think people right now recognize that the country has a lot of problems. they just want to -- let's just move. let's do something. and not be paralyzed. i think there's a growing sense among people i talk to is that the political process is more geared toward winning than it is gove

here is lester holt with more. >> reporter: devon and avin play like they don't have care in the world, that's the way it should be on a saturday when you're 9 and 6. but things are not the way they should be nor necessarily as they appear. >> how are the kids doing? >> they're good. they go through periods. first they'll be typical kids, being silly, fighting. then all of a sudden they'll -- my daughter will get serious. >> reporter: the siblings were among the children led to safety from sandy hook elementary after the shooting stopped. >> last night was tough. she was in bed, she kept saying i can't get it out of my head. she was saying she couldn't get it out of her mind. >> reporter: ben raced to the scene after receiving a text informing him that the kids school was on lockdown. >> i passed my daughter weith hr class on the way out of the school, so i knew she was safe. i was told my son was in the school at the time. he wasn't. he was safe at the firehouse. >> reporter: at the firehouse there were other anxious loved ones. >> in retrospect, looking at it, those parents still the

let's begin this half hour with lester holt, covering the tragedy and all the developments. of his own children's events, a dance event, before making his way here to meet with families of the lost, as well as the first responders. he then delivered a speech in a way that many people might not have expected. for a while there were words of comfort, he also laid down something of a political gauntlet. for the fourth time since take ing office, president obama stood before a community shattered by mass murder, to offer words of comfort. >> i can only hope it helps for you to know that you're not alone in your grief. >> reporter: the president called last friday the worst day of his presidency. this time he came with more than words of consolatioconsolation, the outlines of what amounted to a policy statement on gun violence. >> can we honestly say we're doing enough to keep our children, all of them, safe from harm? i've been reflecting on this the last few days and if we're honest with ourselves, the answer is no. in the coming weeks i'll use whatever power this office holds

>> no, actually, all we know is that it came in response to a question from lester holt about e-mails or writings that adam lanza may have been left around or had been found by investigators and in response to that, lieutenant van, the spokesman for the state police, said there is a lot of good evidence that we've been able to collect. so we can infer that this might involve some writings or things that he's posted, somewhere online, but we don't know that for sure yet. >> michael isikoff, there are still so many, many, many questions that have yet to be answered here. so hopefully we get a little bit more information from police tomorrow. thank you, sir. do appreciate your work, as always, mike. >> okay. >> i want to go ahead and bring in nbc news white house correspondent, kristen welker, who's standing by at pennsylvania avenue. kristen, at this point, any indication of whether the president might be heading at some point to connecticut? >> well, craig, i think it's likely, whenever there is a national tragedy like the one that we have just seen in connecticut, he does go to the sc

i'm lester holt. thanks for joining us. >> announcer: from nbc news in washington, the world's longest running television program, this is "meet the press" with david gregory. >> good sunday morning. it's been nine days since the tragic shooting at sandy hook elementary in newtown, connecticut and the debate over gun control has been revived. here with us exclusively this morning, the man at the ten ter of that debate, the ceo and executive vice president of the nra, wayne lapierre. i want to get right to it. >> the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. >> you proposed armed guards in school. we'll talk about that in some detail in a moment. you confronted the news media, you blamed hollywood and the gaming industry but never once did you concede that guns could actually be part of the problem. is that meaningful contribution, mr. lapierre, or a dodge? >> david, i said what i honestly thought and what hundreds of millions of people all over this country will believe will

lester holt, my colleague on nbc, was doing the same.roducers have shown the same kind of emotional reaction. let's talk about the kids today. i want to get ahead of this story tonight. these kids have parents, their parents are worried. what should they do with their kids who have survived. >> the kids who have survived -- >> from this school? >> i think they need to talk to them about empg that the child brings up. you want to ask them every detail, every question, you do still want to be able to provide some reassurance. you do not want to be judgmental in any way. any emotion yaur child is experiencing is an acceptable emotion. you want to show them how much you love them. you want to talk to them about how this is such a rare event and that this is not going to happen again to them, that they need to be able to eventually go back to school. this is going to take a wile for them to feel better. that they can expect that for a little while, a week, several days, the kids are going to have some difficulties potentially. things like fee

i'm lester holt. thanks for joining us. >>> this morning on "meet the press," time is running out to avoid the fiscal cliff. is a deal closer than most think? >>> in public, the lines are drawn. but behind the scenes, the give and take over taxes and entitlement cuts point toward a deal by christmas. what is standing in the way? this morning, the debate is right here. the house speaker's top lieutenant, congressman kevin mccarthy, and top white house ally, the assistant senate majority leader, dick durbin. mccarthy and durbin square off. >>> then, what is the political endgame for both republicans and democrats? who wins and who loses as this fight drags on? >>> plus, the future of the republican party is a hot topic as both sides start plotting the 2016 campaign. our political roundtable features two former capitol hill insiders, newt gingrich and lawrence o'donnell. plus, three journalists on the story. >>> the looming fiscal cliff 22 days away. we'll go inside the negotiations with two top leaders

i'm lester holt. thanks for joining us. >>> from nbc news in washington, the world's longest-running television program, this is "meet the press," with david gregory. >> good sunday morning, time is nearly up before we go over the so-called fiscal cliff. senate leaders spent the weekend working on a last-ditch deal and the house comes back today for a rare sunday night session. yesterday afternoon, in an exclusive interview, president obama sat down with me in the blue room of the white house. to discuss the way forward and his priorities for a second term. >> mr. president, welcome back to "meet the press." >> great to be here, thank you. >> the obvious question -- are we going over the fiscal cliff? >> well, i think we're going to find out in the next 48 hours what congress decides to do. but i think it's important for the american people to understand exactly what this fiscal cliff is. because it's actually not that complicated. the tax cuts that were introduced in 2001, 2003, 2010, those were exte

also in today's office politics, alex is talking to lester holt with his fascination of aviation andesting people he rocked out with. all of that coming up shortly. get back to the bubbly now. >> i hope i still get to do this next week. >> you'll be back. >> thanks for sitting in today. >> no problem. >>> up next, nerdland is revealed in the form of cartoon "avatar"s. [ male announcer ] with over 50 delicious choices of green giant vegetables it's easy to eat like a giant... ♪ and feel like a green giant. ♪ ho ho ho ♪ green giant >>> the name of this show is melissa harris perry. do not be fooled, i don't create this show by myself. what you see is the result of the brilliant insight, commitment and hard work of a whole team of people. the last show of the year seems like the right time to say thank you. to introduce you to the many nerds who bring you nerdland every week, have a safe and happy new year celebration. we'll see you in 2013. roll it. droid dna augmentation initiated. vision expanding to a 5-inch 1080p hd display and camera. touch acquiring nfc. hearing evolving with bea

and you will get some alex witt this weekend, because she talked to lester holt about what he got draggedhanksgiving vacation. and also a lot of people ringing in the new year, and there are going to be issues with snow. s causing issues with people returning back home after the holidays. get ready. we'll have all that. so yes, melissa, good to see you this weekend. >> thanks, t.j. as t.j. might say, don't sleep on our legendary foot soldier who still inspires us all. by t? by the barrelful? the carful? how about...by the bowlful? campbell's soups give you nutrition, energy, and can help you keep a healthy weight. campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do. your doctor will say get smart about your weight. that's why there's glucerna hunger smart shakes. they have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly to help minimize blood sugar spikes. [ male announcer ] glucerna hunger smart. a smart way to help manage hunger and diabetes. >>> some good news this week for a man we consider one of the world's ultimate foot soldiers. former south african president nelson mandela was released from the

well, actually probably the most interesting breakthrough in terms of motive is the response to lester holt'sion is any writings or e-mails found from the suspect adam lanza that would explain why he did this, and going into the question of motive, and as you heard the police spokesman, lieutenant vance did say that there was evidence that they have collected, and he would not detail it or describe it, that would shed light on that question. suggesting they have found either at home or in the school some writing or something that would shed light on why lanza would have done this horrific thing. a couple of things that we are lea learning this morning, my colleague anna rapparoy had spoken to the mother of nancy lanza saying that she was worried about her son's mental health and that there was a lot she was worried about, and she had expressed the concerns about the mental stability. we don't have a lot of specificity, but it is confirmation that this is cle clearly a very troubled youngst youngster. and another aspect of this that is interesting is that the mother owned the guns and register

. >> next weekend, my interview with nbc's lester holt, a man who wears many hats here in the nbc newso number four on our first five web stories. william and kate, the duke and duchess breaking with tradition. normally the entire royal family gathers at the queen's country estate, but this year because of kate's pregnancy, the royal couple will be celebrating with the middletons in her hometown. [ loud party sounds ] hi, i'm ensure clear... clear, huh? i'm not juice or fancy water. i've got nine grams of protein. that's three times more than me! [ female announcer ] ensure clear. nine grams protein. zero fat. in blueberry/pomegranate and peach. wears off. [ female announcer ] stop searching and start repairing. eucerin professional repair moisturizes while actually repairing very dry skin. the end of trial and error has arrived. try a free sample at eucerinus.com. you know how painful heartburn can be. for fast, long lasting relief, use doctor recommended gaviscon®. only gaviscon® forms a protective barrier that helps block stomach acid from splashing up- relieving the pain quickly. t