i had sort of been tracking mary todd all of my life. guess somewhere in my heart i knew that i belonged to her. she somehow belonged to me. there are few roles i have felt that way about -- sybil is one of them. i think it's my size and that i somehow have a roundness to my face that perhaps i could put the two people together, me and mary. and then when you add that it was steven's project, that eventually tony kushner wrote the screenplay and daniel day- lewis was lincoln, how would i not want this project? mary was such a complicated, under-examined, really maligned and unbelievable important female american character, and steven had originally asked me, like in 2005, to be mary, but he didn't have the project, really. it was something he wanted to do. he was developing it. he had a screenplay, but it wasn't going to be right. i was, of course, beyond thrilled. i was overjoyed. then when i got in the car to drive home from that meeting, a little voice inside of me said, "nah, not so quick, field. it'll be a journey, and you may not w

had there not been a mary todd, there would not have been an abraham lincoln. that is simply a fact. she was breathtakingly smart, highly educated, came from a powerful political family in the south and found him as a young lawyer. he was really nothing but a lawyer and she recognized his brilliance and said that's the man i'll marry and he'll be president, and she went about to help him do that. tavis: first of all, before i go any further, the most important question i'll ask, how much fun was it gaining 25 pounds? >> not as much as you think. tavis: just eat whatever you want. >> you know, this is the thing. i was doing it with a purpose because i was beginning to do the research and i was already in this very disciplined place. so like a jerk, i went to a nutritionist and i ate the most repulsive, awful things. i didn't allow myself to eat chocolate cake and french fries and cheeseburgers. no, i had these shakes with stuff called progain that weightlifters -- tavis: come on, sally. you're disappointing me now. >> it was awful. tavis: i'm very disappointed i

mary todd lincoln. she we are the country on her back. >> she did. she did.t she wasn't invited to a lot of parties either. >> stephen: she wasn't. thank you so much for joining me, sally field.

mary todd lincoln was a fascinating woman. she was flirtatious, loved politics, witty, controversial, but she was also high maintenance, chronically depressed. she loses almost all of her male relatives during the war. she lost her mother when she was a child just like lincoln did. a lot of male relatives fight for the confederacy. the north doesn't trust her because her family were pro-south. the south doesn't trust her, she marries lincoln. she loses three of her four sons in her life, her husband's killed next to her in her arms, you know, who wouldn't, right? she was high maintenance. the movie, i think, depicted that. they had a strange marriage. it was almost like abe and mary couldn't live with one another and couldn't live without one another. animal instincts, yet they fought all the time. they were political confidants, and he did value her opinion. he called her mother, she called him father, he sometimes called her molly. at one moment she'd be offering sage advice, the next moment she's embarrassing him in public,

how much did you learn about mary todd lincoln in that whole period? g, some things about mary, from a long time ago. as i told you before, i was always tracking mary. the great julie harris told me when i was in my mid-20s, someday i should play mary todd lincoln. and i had always had it in my mind and always tried to read things about her and keep track of if there was a project happening with her. so, i knew something. but then, when i delved in and really researched her, you know, i will -- she will always be embedded in me somewhere. and i have a strong, strong feeling for her. and honestly, all the women who then, even then and now, are just not allowed to come to the table, who have no place to put their brilliance and their contributions. >> well, we are so happy for you. and so happy for us, that this passion project that you thought about for so long time through. congratulations, sally. >> thanks, george. thank you so much. >> great to hear from sally field. the oscars will be live on abc, sunday, february 24th. >>> just ahead, we'll hear fro

and mama gump and mary todd lincoln. thank you so much. >> she's an actress and a great one at that. meanwhile there was a police chase going on in englewood last night. a guy driving a stolen car ran from police for two hours. this is something i have never seen before. this is what i call an interactive television experience. >> there they are all. he is in the wrong lanes of traffic once again. part of this is a familiar pattern we've gotten to see with this guy. he is making his way back off to the left toward l.a.x. and thankfully for the helicopters -- holy -- >> these 3-d tvs are unbelievable. worth every penny. president obama held the final press conference of his first term in office this morning talking mostly about the debt ceiling. he announced if congress doesn't raise the debt ceiling america will go into default on its loans and we might have to say good bye to florida. an economist named paul krugman is supportive of an idea as a stopgap. he is suggesting that the treasury mint a trillion dollar county a

abraham lincoln saw so much death, losing his mother and three kids and mary todd looked at as bipolarefore bipolar was diagnosed. you see that in the film and how h his life was affected by outside factors and we decided to make the outside factors vampires. >> the movie stretches reality a little bit. you don't actually play abraham lincoln? >> yes, i do, modern technology and cgi, i play bro lincoln. >> you actually play his political consultant. like the james carville. >> i'm the robin to his batman. >> william johnson was actually abraham lincoln's chauffeur. >> he's a real guy. >> he was with abraham lincoln giving the gettysburg address and he died of smallpox and abraham lincoln with his own money had him buried he had wri "william h. johnson, citizen," and i think it was remarkable. he didn't call him caddie or employee, he didn't call him man, he called him citizen -- >> or vampire caddie. >> or vampire slapper in the facer. >> thank you. >> thank you, anthony. [ hudson ] at weight watchers when we look back at what our members have accomplished in the past 50 years, it's pr

[laughter] >> in the movie lincoln was mary todd lincoln portrayed correctly? i think yes. flirtatious, loved politics politics, a witty, a controversial but also chronically depressed depressed, timing and stand loses almost all male relatives during though war. she lost her mother and the north does not trust her and the south does not trust her. she loses three at a four sons and her husband is killed next to her. she was high maintenance the movie depicted that that they had a strange marriage like they had been married and it could not live with each other or without each other. they were political confidante he called her mother sometimes molly but she would offer it advice but then she would embarrass him in public. i and robert watson in the book is "affairs of state" thank you for your attention at. [applause]

. >> congratulations on the nominee playing mary todd lincoln. i red something about you earlier and it said at the age of 65 you decided that you were going to rewrite the chapters of your life. >> no, i never said that. >> no, i'm not going to rewrite the chapters of my life. no. i wouldn't rewrite anything. my life has been what my life is, and that's who -- that's what informs me as to who i am today. no, i mean, i would want to be able to have other chapters and to continue to have chapters in my life, but i would never want to rewrite any of the chapters of my life. >> tell me this, what does it mean to you when you are honored by the other people in your field, the people you work side by side with every day and who know kind of what it means to have those long hours on the set and all of that? >> well, i have always been so proud to be a member of this tribe, an actor, and i will never not be somewhere inside me sort of tickled every time i get to say, oh, well, i'm an actor. what do you do? i'm an actor. really? what's your profession? i

gradually recovered from his depression and eventually summoned the courage to remove his commitment to mary todd. as it turned out the fear that marriage would hinder his ambition proved unfounded it on the contrary in the years that followed bhatia he was able to for the first time enjoy the security and warmth of a family without having to sacrifice the long hours that he devoted to reading, studying, traveling and the leader in the political vineyards while the marriage was challenging and tumultuous it provided him with a harbor for which he could come and go as he pleased while continuing his lifelong quest to be an educated man. in many ways the adjustment to married life is harder for her who never had to do the chores in the house that she was compelled to do have an grumet in the mansion attended by slaves but gene baker has already told us so well what is more most historians would agree that far more troubling to the marriage than to the and just one of the hardship for the intervals he spent trillions on the circuit in the political and years three weeks to come out of weeks there, t

inauguration and is hired by mary todd lincoln to be her personal seamstress.something about the way this woman, from what i had read, in a short amount i had read about her, her incredible fortitude and strength and the way she was able to survive extraordinary things that really i felt connected to emotionally. >> that was gloria reuben talking about elizabeth keckley. talk about elizabeth keckley to talk about in the book, clarence lusane, in "the black history of the white house." >> what was disturbing to me about "lincoln" is that elizabeth keckley, the butler and the woman associated with bette stephens, their histories were really not there. in some ways, it was the story -- many people who i've spoken to that watched the film came out of the film believing that elizabeth keckley was a maid in the white house. gloria reuben points out, she was an independent businesswoman who had a very clients relationship with me mary lincoln. what is really missing that is important is that elizabeth keckley was also an activist. when the civil war started, people be

sally field is mary todd lincoln.elen hunt for the sessions, jacki weaver from "silver linings playbook," and anne hathaway, who might be getting the most early oscar buzz for "les mis." >> not just affleck, but catherine biglow and tom hooper shut out the oscars, natalie, will be given out on february 25th. >> thanks. >>> chief correspondent, dave, that is the biggest headline right there. >> ben affleck not getting in for "argo." that movie had so much buzz leading up to this. >> people outraged? >> all over the twitter sphere, but one thing i'm happy for, this actress who's 85, she's been acting for 50 years. the oscars take place on her 86 birthday. it will be a great, special celebration for her. >> dave, thank you. >>> coming up, much more on the oscars. this is "today" on nbc these sweet honey clustery things have fiber? fiber one. almost tastes like one of jack's cereals. uh, forgot jack's cereal. [ jack ] what's for breakfast? uh, try the number one! i've never heard of that. [ wife ] it's great. it's a sweet

todd, back to you. >> fantastic. wall street compensation in the spotlight. let's look at morgan stanley shares up a quarter. mary thompson here with the fallout. what's going on, mary? >> well, this is going to impact morgan stanley's top earners. all employees both cash and stock will be deferred. if their total compensation is more than $350,000 and the portion of that boy news pay exceeds 50,000 dollar. the exception the managers who work for the brokerage been. business. it has nothing do with the sentiments presented by the hedge fund. while it expressed confidence in management it said it was concerned about pay levels. another 25% in 2014 and the last part in december of 2015. but the equity portion, the remaining 50% in 2015. overall wall street bonuses seen up modestly this year, though increasingly mormon is going to be going to the far performers with the troops getting smaller payouts. >> that's right. it depends if you're a top earning. the troop levels, rank and file is going see their pay cut somewhere. >> all right, mary. thank you very much. good to see you. >>> all right. some conflicting repor

mary thompson at the new york stock exchange. thank you. >>> one of television's favorite fathers has died. conrad bain played phillip drummond on "different strokes," the adopted father of two african-american brothers, played by todd bridges and gary coleman a veteran stage actor, bain rose to fame in middle age with the long-.-running family sitcom. conrad bain was 89 years old. a big hit here on nbc. 7:19 now. back to matt, savannah and al. >> must see tv. >> definitely. >> thanks, matt. >> thanks very much. mr. roker is here. >> a big storm is down south. let's go live now to pearl, mississippi, you can see the snow is already on the ground. they have got more on the way. as we take a look and show you what's happening, here is the latest. we have got winter storm warning, winter weather advisories stretching all the way from jackson, mississippi, just into southern new jersey. storm system's a fast mover but it is going to dump a ton snow east. it will dump a lot of rain. look at some of these snowfall amounts. some areas picking up 6 to 12 inches of snow and rainfall to the south of it and anywhere from 3 to 5 inches of rain! that's your latest weather. we'll get your local forecarighr this. >>> right now get