my thanks to sam, nancy giles, lizz winstead, writer, and michaela.kends with alex witt." we will not be back tomorrow. it is christmas day. we'll return to our usual times next weekend. join us saturday at 7:00 and we'll talk to general ricardo sanchez, and on sunday at 8:00 we'll have dave weigel live from iowa to preview the iowa caucuses. you can get information at up.msnbc.com. my heartfelt thanks to all the people here behind the scenes to who made it possible for us to get "up." [ female announcer ] we were flattered when regenerist beat a $100 cream. flabbergasted when we creamed a $500 cream. for about $30 regenerist micro-sculpting cream hydrates better than over 20 of america's most expensive luxury creams. fantastic. phenomenal. regenerist. everyone believes in keeping their promises once a year. but we believe in helping people take steps to keep them every single day. that's why every day we help people across the country get into their first homes. prepare for a comfortable retirement and protect the people and things that matter most.

and nancy giles with the skinny on spandex. thick and thin? nancy giles has a nominee. >> reporter: it's the time of year for christmas trees. kwanza traditions, the symbolic hanukkah men or a, a time to eat, drink and be merry. a time to celebrate one of the most brilliant and forgiving inventions of the 20th century. a time for stretch fabrics. think about it. you're eating, drinking and mer reeating christmas cookies as you make them. that's what i do anyway. unless you have a tremendously fast metabolism, your body is probably expanding. so when it's time to dress up and hit those parties, aren't you grateful that you have the option of putting on something with some give? can you imagine life without stretch? yet there was a time when it wasn't readily available. >> a suit with a built-in girdle. >> reporter: after painstaking years of research in 1959 spandex and lycra were introduced to the market. spandex is an and a gram of the word expand. get it? stretch fabrics first saw lights in swim suit and athletic garments and