Transcripts For WBAL Today 20101221

for the most expensive production ever. for the most expensive production ever. tuesday, december 21st 2010. captions paid for by nbc-universal television and good morning. welcome to "today" on a tuesday morning. i'm matt lauer. >> and good morning, i'm tamron hall, meredith has the day off. >> just about all sections of california have been affected by the rain, it began falling last friday with barely letup. listen to los angeles, 5.2 inches, 5.8 inches in santa monica and the storm is expected to intensify today and perhaps tomorrow. we're going to have the latest in a live report coming up in just a couple of minutes. a terrifying attack. a man pulled from his kayak and attacked by a massive crocodile. two men watched it happen and they speak out in a live interview. one man is generating quite a bit of controversy, not because they were featured in the new york city times. we're going to share some of the angry comments the article is generating. but pleasant start let's sty morning with the record rains in california. >> reporter: nonstop, that's how many have described the rain here. it has been hammering this area since thursday. and for those residents who live up here in the hills, sandbags and plywood is all they have to keep the mud back and many are bracing for more wild, wet weather. record rain, 12 inches in parts of southern california, it's already been called the storm of the decade, but with another five to ten inches on the way, forecasters say the worst is yet to come. outside of los angeles in the foothills, homes are fortified, thousands of sandbags, the first line of defense. the threat is massive mud slides. in 2009, vegetation in this area burned in this state's largest wildfire. >> we live in a neighborhood that was tagged or named paradise alley when it was built in 1963. now sort of paradise lost is an epic part of their lives. >> reporter: the highway patrol says rain a factor in hundreds of accidents, at least two people have been killed. virtually the entire state of california is affected by wild weather. monday in kern county, thousands were asked to evacuate to high ground. >> it's gotten to the point where we can't get any and out anymore. >> reporter: across the west in colorado, wind gusts topped 80 miles an hour. and in the rockies whiteout conditions. >> reporter: back in california, a 40-year snowfall record was shattered in mammoth, ten feet of snow in just four days. but in the l.a. foothills the worry is mud. we are expecting rain all day, heavier rain this evening and more rain on wednesday. matt, many are wondering how much more these hillsides can take. >> this is a big question, how much longer will it rain out west and what's in store here in the west. the weather channel's stephanie abrams has it all for us. >> advisories are still posted all the way down into southern california and the stream of moisture is going to continue to pump in the rain and also the know. let me show you how much rain we are going to see here over the next couple of days in southern california. yes, we could see another five to seven inches of rain down by san diego. a piece of this system is actually going to break off, travel across the country and then potentially bring us a snowstorm here saturday night into monday throughout the northeast. it's still a little far out to tell whether it will track a little closer to land, or if it will go farther out to sea. >> she's talking about a possible white christmas there. >> it's good to have you was. don't be obvious. white christmas. >> i was going to say, tamron, come on. >> good morning, matt, tamron and good morning, everybody. the pentagon is denying a report that the u.s. wants a bigger military role in pakistan. the u.s. currently relies on unmanned drone aircraft. today's "new york times" report that u.s. military officials believes u.s. special forces are needed. nbc's kelley o'donnell is on capitol hill for us this morning. >> reporter: good morning. the president's got a lot riding on this, he's been making phone calls, so has the secretary of state. the pentagon says it's vital to national security, but only a couple of republicans are publicly saying they will ratify the new s.t.a.r.t. treaty. republican leaders say there are some problems with this saying constraints on u.s. missile defense and will they really be able to know what russia has in the s.t.a.r.t. democrats say there's been enough debate and it could happen today, the critical test vote. exchange students and other americans trying to fly home from europe for the holidays are still being delayed today by the weather. six years ago, pan am flight 106 was blown up over lockerbie scotland, killing 266 people. nbc news investigative correspondent has an advanced copy. >> reporter: the scottish government released megrahi on compassionate grounds because he's believed to have terminal cancer and six months to live. today he's reportedly still alive and living in a luxury village in libya. threatening to cut off bp's $900 billion oil deal with libya. the british spy master repeatedly lobbied the british government for megrahi's release. the scotts were trying to get a $4 billion loan. and finally the prognosis that megrahi had terminal cancer was wrong. the purse used by florida school board member to swat a gunman last week is being auctioned by charity. this morning the bidding has topped $11,000. a stunt double fell 30 feet during a preview and was taken to the hospital as a precaution. the $65 million show's opening has been postponed. >> don't you know people who were not interested in goi inino now want to go? >> the opening has been pushed back 27 days, they're in previews right now. so that's not going well, at the moment. >> not well to say the least. >> into the orchestra pit. >> i'm one of those people who would like to see the show. >> you don't want a white christmas, but you want to see people get hurt on broadway. >> i do have your white christmas forecast coming up a little bit later, but for today, we're going to be seeing white along the midwest and the upper midwest. just a little bit of light snow >> for us, a variably cloudy skies. more sunshine may be in the afternoon. colder than that it will feel like because the winds tamron, over to you. stephanie, thank you. the man who self published a controversial book has now been arrested on on scenity charges. kerry sanders has the latest. >> reporter: this is a how to book for pedophiles. when we first told you about it about a month ago. it had reached into the top 100 on amazon.com. there was an uproar on the internet. amazon no longer sells the book and now deputies say the author in a few hours here will be booked into the polk county jail. florida deputies flew to pueblo, colorado to arrest the man who wrote a how to book for deputies for $50 and then sending it to florida by mail. the bock's title, the pedophile's guide to love and pleasure. he created this book specifically to teach people how to sexually molest and rape children. >> reporter: sheriff grady judge says he targeted grieves using florida's tough anti- obscenity laws, while publishers said they couldn't do anything because it was protected by free speech. >> there may be nothing that the other 49 states can do but that's something the state of florida can do and that's to make sure that we prosecute phillip grieves for his manifesto. >> grieves says he's not apologet apologetic. he defended not only his right to publish. >> to tell you the truth, i don't think that it's always bad for the child. >> reporter: but also what he believes is acceptable behavior. >> first of all i wanted to provide some guidelines for pedophiles so that they could avoid harming their victims. >> reporter: legal experts say the difficulty in this case is what is protected free speech? for example a book that shows you how to make a bomb is legal. the question is then does grieves guide for pedophiles go one step further? >> in our system one can advocate a lawless, even a despicable philosophy. the key question becomes whether it crosses the line and instead becomes a detailed instructional manual on how to commit horrible crimes. >> what's wrong with a society that thinks we have gotten to the point that we can't arrest child predators and child pornographies for writing a manifesto of how to rape a child. >> reporter: if the author of convicted of these obscenity charges, it's a third-degree felony, he could face up to five years in prison. it is 7:13, once mea here's matt. >> we're learning more about how bernie madoff reacted behind bars after learning of his son's suicide. jeff rossen has details on all this. >> reporter: bernie madoff's secretary did pretty well over the years, prosecutors say too well, making off with $14 million. they claim she's hiding the money and if she doesn't tell them where it is. she could go to jail today. with bernie madoff behind bars, prosecutors have honed in on his secretary, including money she pocketed. she also owns this mansion on long island, valued at $2 million. until recently, according to investigators this secretary drove a bentley and two mercedes. >> she knows where the bones are buried, she could become a major prosecution witness in this case. >> reporter: her lawyer tells nbc news they're willing to disclose her accounts as long as prosecutors don't freeze them. but still in court later today, the judge could order her to jail. >> prosecutors know that when somebody's locked up, they're more willing to cooperate than when they're out and about driving around in bentleys in south florida. >> reporter: prosecutors have also considered criminal charges against bernie madoff's sons, andrew and mark. it was just last week that mark committed suicide inside his luxury manhattan apartment. now new details on how bernie madoff took the news behind bars. the "new york post" spoke with a former inmate in the same prison who says a voice over the intercom crack kled, inmate madoff report to the chapel, where he was told. madoff was crying and he was very distraught. over the next few days, bernie madoff didn't come out of his cell not even to eat. >> he feels totally isolated from the family, especially the fact that his wife ruth has not visited him. and once their son killed himself he blamed bernie for his death. >> reporter: bernie's only remaining son remains the target of lawsuits and investigation. but he tells "the wall street journal" he's focused on moving on. >> andrew has tried to keep busy, he's done things like meet with his piano teacher, a longtime friend of his, just trying to keep some normalcy just like he did after his father's arrest. >> reporter: andrew madoff still lives in an apartment here in new york city. but he can't spend more than $500 at a time without documenting it. sources say federal prosecutors still don't have enough evidence to charge him with anything. >> nbc's jeff rossen, thank you very much. with winter officially beginning later today, it is high season for vacations in the caribbean. but be warned, the region's high rate of crime is spilling over into the tourist areas on many islands. michelle kosinski is in miami. >> reporter: you just think paradise, right? but would you believe that as a region, the caribbean has the highest murder rate in the world. and it says something to the people who brought this to our attention work in the tourism industry. they want people to go down there, but they feel it has reached a level that tourists should know about it. >> reporter: the lure is all too obvious. but many now who race here to soak up the sun are coming face to face with a darker side. high rates of crime throughout the caribbean islands. in january, 29-year-old american was murdered while attending a wedding. same island where an elderly british couple was shot to death in their beds in st. thomas. 14-year-old tourist killed by gang gun fire. all of this just this year. murdered on antigua on their honeymoon. >> there's a deft inite increas. >> reporter: a u.n. put together a report telling how crime is -- this collection of tiny islands tops the world. assaults well above the world average, in the bahamas rape is at a disturbing level. that's where this young woman called julie was pushed into a taxi when she was 17 while on vacation with her parents three years ago. >> i tried to get away and he came after me. >> reporter: driven instead to a secluded squallid apartment and raped. >> this fellow's been robbed more than once. >> reporter: he recently started his own crime reporting system. people call him to make a record of what happens to them. >> a lot of people are putting their houses on the market and leaving the island. >> reporter: because of crime. >> because of crime. >> reporter: there have been efforts to -- officials would not talk to us, would not return calls or e-mails until a pr firm for the islands got involved. >> we have to tell you that it's >> reporter: as wonderful as this island is for most, crime has been hanging around here like a dark and ominous cloud. one big reason experts cite is drug trafficking. we also hear a lot of frustration about how hard it is to get information out of there, how few cases are prosecuted. we know nobody wants to scare anybody. in the last year, more than 10 million people visited the caribbean and it seems the vast majority of crime affects the people who live there. but many feel that tourists should be warned when they leave their cruise ship because their guard is down. there was a school sight in the sky, a total eclipse of the moon. it was the first time that an eclipse occurred on the winter solstice. let's go back to elementary school. what exactly is a lunar ellipse? >> our effort has a shadow in space taughts. there's no occasion to take notice of that until something that's lit by the moon entering it. >> do i live on the basketball or the grapefruit? >> i don't know exactly. we have got the sun and we have got the earth lit up. in the daytime, they're not seeing the eclipse. here's the moon, orbiting around the earth. slowly it enters earth's shadow and darkens. >> and differing from a solar eclipse? >> a solar eclipse, okay -- i've got to be prepared. >> people want know what a tsunami is. >> a solar eclipse, the moon moves in front of the sun. turning daytime into night. and this is a very high intense moment and it only lasts a few minutes. this thing what i just showed here took three hours. >> you tweeted about it yesterday and you said it's the longest, slowest most boring of celestial spectacles. >> what i just showed here, that whole then took three hours. so i watched it last nights and it took on a nice, deep amber color. it didn't get red this time, it got grade a, dark amber color last night. i watched maybe the first half of it and then i went to sleep. it's the winter sole tis, the sun is as close as it gets to the earth. >> how far was the sun from the earth last night? >> this had nothing to do with the solstice. we will be closest to the sun on january 1, and it will be 91 million miles close to the sun. 3 million miles closer than we are in july. that's a different show. coming up some fallout over "new york times" decision to celebrate newlyweds who found true love with other people. but first this is "today" on nbc. still ahead, the search for a las vegas show girl who's been missing for more than a week. >> live, local, latebreaking. this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore. >> good morning. i am stan stovall. here is a check on the morning commute with sarah caldwell. >> southbound j.f.x., we have an accident in the past hour. it is blocking the ramp to northern parkway. also have a problem at york road and ridgely. an accident coming in there. harford and manse of new, an accident involving a pedestrian. we also have discretion over hill road involving a pole. that is in the area of catonsville. delays farming and around the area. let's give you a live view. we will switch over to a live view of traffic at baltimore national pike. west side experiencing delays on the outer loop. inner loop delays leading up to the j.f.x. >> slight chance for a snow flurries today. likely only one of two flakes. dealing with cold this morning. teens at the airport and downtown. hills like 14 near the state line at parkton. brisk northwest winds could cost up to about 25 miles per hour. winter officially begins tonight. winter solstice is scheduled for 6:00 at 30 8:00 p.m. -- scott 30 8:00 p.m. -- 6:30 p.m. friday, we like to retry good for christmas day into sunday, good chance for snow. >> we are back in 25 minutes 7:30 now on this tuesday morning, the 21st of december, 2010. four days left to go until christmas. a lot of people out here on the plaza, thank you for stopping by. tamron hall is filling in while meredith is off today. the mysterious disappearance of a show girl missing for two weeks. we're going to talk to her sister coming up. also ahead a kayaking trip of a lifetime comes to a sudden and deadly end when a massive crocodile pulled the guide right out of his boat. coming up two men who were there speak out in an exclusive live interview. also the newlyweds who are facing a backlash online after opening up in an article about their relationship. the reason, when they first met, they were remarkably candid about falling in love while they were married to other people. we're going to have more on that story and tell you a little bit about the reaction they're getting in just a little while. let's begin this half hour for that missing woman in las vegas. we'll talk to that woman's sister in a moment. but kristen welker is in las vegas with the latest. >> reporter: good morning to you. tamr. debby flores is one of the dancers in the luxor hotel on the strip. she was rehearsing for one of the biggest shows of her career when all of a sudden she vanished. for debbie flores, dancing isn't just a career, it's a way of life. born in puerto rico and raised in baltimore, debbie earned college degrees in business and law before leaving the east coast to pursue a dance career in las vegas. >> this is her life, she loves dancing and she left her career to follow her dream and what she loves to do. >> reporter: for her latest gig, debbie was performing in the racy burr lesing show. debbie left at 6:00 p.m. and headed home. according to her sister, she told her roommate she was going to visit her ex-girlfriend jason gi griffin. debbie's sister says griffith confirmed that debbie showed up at his house that night and had a short conversation with him at his doorstep, then told him she was going home. since then, no one had seen or heard from the 31-year-old dancer. >> she was very dedicated to her work and she wouldn't just not show up to her show, a rehearsal and not say anything to anybody. she would never do that. >> reporter: the day after debbie disappeared, her car was abandoned in a vacant lot in a las vegas mobile home park several mimes away from her condo near the strip. >> i'm prepared for the worst because it's definitely out of her character. >> reporter: nbc news has learned that griffith will face a judge in a las vegas courtroom this morning. in the arrest report, debbie says griffith kicked her and pulled her car to keep her from using her iphone. debbie also told the officer that she was pregnant with griffith's child. debbie's friends say they were aware of her troubled relationship with griffith. >> he broke debbie's heart. >> reporter: meanwhile debbie's families are trying to get the word out about her disappearance, passing out fliers on the las vegas strip. griffith's arraignment is scheduled to begin here at the criminal justice center in just a few hours. we want to stress this hearing has nothing to do with debbie's disappearance. he has not been named as a suspect in this case. nbc news spoke briefly with griffith. he declined comment. tamron? >> kristen welker, thank you. good morning, celeste, thank you for joining us. obviously our thoughts are your sister. i imagine you're ee're replayi experiences with her over the last few days. >> our last conversation was on friday, december 12th. i'm sorry, december 10th. and she called to speak to my son about christmas. >> and that was two days before she went missing. you have said that you're confident she's okay, but also it's not her personality to just up and disappear and not contact you or your mother, even her friends. >> no. she would never act like this. she was always in contact with somebody at all times, specifically my mother. >> and your mother received a text message from debbie a couple of days or so earlier in the month before she disappeared and the text message, she said in case there's ever an emergency with me, contact boo griffi griffith. have you been able to discern anything from that text? >> no. i'm disregarding the text because it could mean anything. there's more to that text. and it just doesn't make any sense. it could mean that that's a contact number because we don't live out here. it could mean anything, so i'm just disregarding it. i'm letting the police and the authorities handle that. >> blue is her boyfriend. again not related to her disappearance, he is cooperating with police. do you believe he's telling them everything that happened the day she went to his home? >> i hope that he is. and it's her ex-boyfriend that i hope that he is cooperating. again, you know, the authorities are doing a great job handling this case right now. they're just following leads, making sure they have taken things slowly and handling it the way it should be. >> we saw debbie's friends gathered out trying to get the information out regarding her disappearance. she sounds like an amazing person, gave up her career in business and followed her dream in vegas as a performer. what is your hope at this point? obviously it's to get your sister back, but what do you want her or anyone else to hear at this point? >> you know, she's a loving, wonderful person. everybody has a brother or sister, a loved one. if you have any information, any whereabouts, if you saw her that day, that night in her car, in the parking lot, at a stoplight, any little detail to please contact the authorities and let us know anything, any clues to that could lead to possible finding her. >> our thoughts are with you and your family and we hope debbie comes home safely. now let's get a check of the weather from stephanie who's in for al this morning. "today's" weather is brought to you by kay jewelers, the number one jewelry store in america. >> we're seeing the active weather right now, that is along the west coast and also into the midwest as well as new england. the forecast for today shows that sun shining anywhere from the mid-atlantic all the way down to the gulf >> winter officially begins at 6:38 p.m. with the winter solstice. variably cloudy, mid-to-upper- thirties. thirties. >> we have quite a spicy crowd today. you guys really love each other, right? >> of course, absolutely. up next, a well known outdoors man was pulled out of his kayak by a crocodile. we're back now at 7:42 with a tragic end to a kayaking expedition in the congo. a tour guide was tragically killed by a crocodile. >> all of the men on this trip were experienced kayaker who is knew the dangers they faced when they set out on a two-month voyage. it was supposed to be the adventure of a lifetime with danger never far behind. ben stoke and chris were part o two-month journey inside the heart of the congo. the two men trusted their abilities, but both americans had great confidence in their south african team member hendrik coetzee. in 2007 coetzee was -- but this journey was not without peril. navigating white waters and preditors who live and feed in those rivers. t >> this area has the highest con ten vegas of hippo s and crocs n earth. >> in early november as the three ki kayaked -- tloor theree three-tone hip coes. despite the clear and present danger, there was one basic rule, nobody panic. but in the end, coetzee would have no panic or even relakt. the men were paddling the river when the crocodile snatched c e from his kayak. >> there's thousands of pounds of pressure per square inch in his jaw. >> reporter: two weeks before he died, coetzee wrote his final blog. he said this is the nature of the beast, risk. >> reporter: this expedition sponsored by eddie bauer was trying to highlight the clean water crisis in central africa and was supposed to wrap up this week. coetzee's body was never found and there will be a memorial in early january. >> gentlemen, good morning to both of you and our condolences on the loss of your friend and your guide. >> good morning. thanks. >> just take me back, obviously you all knew the risks and hendri had talked about this and we heard this on the videotapes, this part of the radio has the highest concentration of crocodiles and hippos anywhere on the planet. so what kind of precautions were you able to take? >> matt, actually that blog post or that podcast was in reference to a section of the nile river. this section of the river was wholly unknown to the outside world. we really didn't know what to expect in terms of wildlife. sure, we anticipated that there might be some crocs and hippos in the river. but that particular blog was talking about the nile river which does in fact have the highest concentration of crocs in the world. >> i understand you were paddling in this close proximity which is the practice? >> you know, we have done it for pretty much the whole river, up until that day. and by all accounts, we thought that it was of course the best way to go and -- >> and the reason for that being that you appear at the large -- >> the thought behind that is that grouping the kayaks that close together, you appear not as one eight-foot long kayak, but a grouping that appears as a larger organ anymore. >> when this happened at the end of a white water section, hendri said don't panic, you really didn't have time to think or panic, i mean this crocodile came out of nowhere? >> it came from behind and we didn't see anything until it was too late. >> and it basically grabbed him and turned him upside down. we're looking at some national geographic footage. but it turned him upside down and took him under water and that's the last you saw him. did he have a chance to say anything, ask for help, anything like that? >> matt, the two of us had different experiences. chris was close enough to him where they were actually marking their paddle strokes so they wouldn't hit their paddles. chris saw the crocodile maybe a split second before it had hendri. my first recognition was hearing hendri say, oh, my god. i turned and i caught sight of it for maybe another split second before the crocodile flipped hendri over. >> did you go back into this section, this area, i mean you're bringing attention to the problems with clean water throughout the world, really. would you go back and do something like this again? >> well, i think at this point we would probably stay off the lakuga river out of respect for hendri. i know we're certainly interested in going back to the african continue innocent, tent bring awareness to the water crisis. >> we thank you for sharing your story with us this morning. >> thanks, matt. we'll be right back after these messages. jufd just ahead, fallout from a couple who fell in love while in love with other people. >> live, local, latebreaking. this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore. >> good morning. i am stan stovall. time for another check on the morning commute. your sarah caldwell -- is sarah caldwell. >> delays from the beltway to northern parkway. 20 power grid getting worse close to the accident scene. -- 20 miles per hour. getting worse close to the accident scene. york and ridgely, accident location to avoid. two accidents and one ball and pedestrians. one at silver spring. watch for accident -- foreclosures and the locations. 32 mi. per hour on the outer loop west side. quick live look at a couple of spots. belair towards the harrisburg expressway, delays in place towards the outer loop. west side, sun glare delays on the elderly. >> wind chill factors in the teens. actual temperature in the upper thirties to low 20s across the board. gusting up to 25 miles per hour. temperature range in the 30's. start of winter is tonight at 6:38 p.m. we will be pretty much right, with a chance of a flurry on thursday. >> there is updated news and traffic information on the bottom of your screen. back in 25 minutes. 8:00 now. we are back on a tuesday morning. 21st day of december, 2010. a lot of people gathered on our plaza this morning. santa claus taking a break in his last minute prep to shake hands on the plaza. and matt lauer along with tamron hall who's in while meredith is taking a little time off this morning. and we have got a nice crowd of people here. >> a lot of them from texas. >> coming up in this half hour, newlyweds announce their marriages in the newspaper all the time. >> common place, but would you do it if you met one another while each of you were still married. this couple decided to tell the world about their love and it has sparked quite a controversy. people are judging, people are giving their opinions. we'll talk about their decision to go public with their love despite the pain for others. we have got jack black in our studio this morning. he's got a brand-new movie out called "gulliver's travels." and we're going to give mr. black a chance to explain for the very first time how in the world he cut meredith out of that movie. >> right, put him on the spot. >> i don't think i have seen meredith more proud about any work she's done than the work she did as a liliputian. and how to prepare easy audible gift audible gifts. good morning to you, matt, good morning everybody. today government -- united nations monitors to independent their nuclear program. richardson is on a diplomatic mission to the region and he says he wants north korea to step back from the brink of confrontation. toyota is being fined for failing to announce recalls quickly enough. the japanese automaker has recalled more than 11 million vehicles in the last year. at least 2,000 people have been evacuated in california as torrential rain and gusting winds pelt that state. tens of thousands of homes were without power. downtown los angeles has receiveded more than a third of its annual precipitation. a wet summer in australia where floods as far as the eye can see left people stranded and needing rescue by helicopter. as we head over to wall street, melissa lee is over at the stock exchange. >> 'tis the season for the holiday bonus and these bank bonuses have been the target of public anger since the financial crisis. regulators may now force the way -- half or more of pay in stock or deferred compensation that is not cash. the thinking here is that that would curb the excessive risk taking that contributed to the financial crisis. a u.s. national guard helicopter with six people on board is reportedly crashed near puerto rico. it was en route to a drug raid when it disappeared in bad weather on monday. the 30 rock star was diagnosed with diabetes in 1996. morgan is said to be doing well, expects to get back to work after the holidays, although he may miss one or two episodes. every year at 100,000 people flock to saint rafael france for an evening of lights and all you can eat christmas goodies. where do we sign up? it is now 8:0 4, let's get to stephanie for the weather. >> we drove all night, we just got in at 6:30, what's the rest of your plans? we're going to see the sights in the city. >> and then drive back home if you can believe that. we're going to take you to our pick city for the day. quincy, illinois, a few rain drops there. sunshine along the east coast, messy in the midwest and also in >> winter officially beginning at 6:38 p.m. tonight. variably cloudy skies today. same deal for the lower eastern shore to flurries in >> two couples just engaged. don't know each other. do you want to have a double wedding? >> i don't think so. >> speaking of weddings, we're going to have some online backlash to some newlyweds who opened up to the "new york times" about falling in love while they were both married to other people. we'll have that story right after this. has left you nowhere to go.esn when you've lost 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[ male announcer ] prevent uncomfortable gas moments with gas-x prevention. just one before meals helps prevent gas before it starts. from gas-x, the gas-xperts. back now at 8:09 and with the newlywed couple here in new york who talks about the start of their relationship to the "new york times" wedding section. that's nothing new, but this couple opened up about meeting while they were married and how they got divorced to be together. they look like the picture of wedded bliss, carol ann and john celebrating their new life together. >> so what better time to get a love letter than now. >> she's a tv news reporter, he's an advertising executive. but now their marriage is causing a storm of controversy. this past weekend, their wedding was featured in the "new york times" vales section. in the paper the bride and groom said they fell in love while they were both married to someone else. they told the "new york times" that first the two couples became friends after meeting at their children's school, but soon they were in love and decided to leave their spouses. she told the times, i will always feel terribly about the pain i caused my ex-husband. he told the paper, i did a terrible thing as honorably as i could. >> my take as a psychologist on it is that they still feel extremely guilty that they left their partners behind, that they met while four of them were friends and in some ways this is their confessional. >> reporter: the article created a an online firestorm. one reader called the couple tawdry, sad and tasteless. another reader said what kind of person putting their own pleasure above the emotional health of their own children? and they found like two of the most selfish egotist kl people on the planet. another one said life is about enjoying life with someone you truly love, sometimes it's messy as in this case. it's a similar story of broken vows for singer shaniya twain. two years ago her marriage made headlines when her husband left her. he was having an affair with twains best friend. now another twist, u.s. weekly magazine is reporting twain is engaged to the ex-husband of her ex-best friend. >> first you have your best friend stealing your ex-husband and then you have that best friend hooking one your ex-husband. >> shaniya is celebrating a new love with questionses whether they should be celebrating their new love on the pages of the "new york times." >> we asked carol ann riddell, i think if we had an indication afterwards of the nerve it struck, we obviously would not have shared our life in any way publicly. let's turn to psychotherapist robbie ludwig. >> this one has really, your mother -- >> she had a lot to say about this. >> she felt they were acting in an adolescents way. when you're in a marriage and you look around and you say, you know what? i think i want something a little bit better. people have a strong reaction to that because we like to think of the vows of marriage as really meaning something. >> this couple argues that they were in unhappy marriages and they fell in love. the woman in this says that i didn't believe in soul mates until i laid eyes on him. >> yeah. >> the question is if falling in love with someone else enough to leave your marriage and leave your children and throw all caution to the wind. >> they say yes. >> but also it's like falling in lust, because of course we don't know the other side of the story. but a lot of people got the sense, hey, did you even work on your marriage at all? because after all, listen, if you're married for a long time and you have kids, it's not always fun and it's not always sexy. the question is how do you handle this? they say yes, i say no, work out your marriage, figure out by all means necessary whether or not you can salvage your marriage and repair it. even if they were unhappy. just because they had an unhappy year, doesn't mean they're going to have an unhappy lifetime. >> one viewer wrote it is a time of our lives when spouse and children takes a back seat to selfish, self centered love. why does this hit a nerve in a world where half the marriages end in divorce. >> they seem to be bragging, we found real love, we found happiness, what about you? and i think people are looking and saying, hey, how do you really find happiness in a relationship? we don't have one answer. i think it raises issues for a lot of people in terms of their own relationships. >> carol ann ridel says we are proud of how we handled the situation. there was nothing in the story we were ashamed of. >> denial is not only a river in egypt. >> you think they're in denial? >> they're trying to prove they're going to be okay. injury will have to be repaired from all the trauma they caused. >> i think that 50% of marriages end in divorce, but there are also 50% of marriages that they stay married and so those people are saying, stick it out, work on your marriage and take care of your responsibilities. >> when women give up on the emotional component of a marriage, that's usually when it crumbles. so anyone who's going to be self-reflective is going to be struck by this story and i think men also evaluate whether they're in the right kind of marriage. all unions are imperfect, if you're hearing this story during a certain time in your relationship, it will strike a cord, because the feeling is there's always someone better out there theoretically, what are you going to do about it? isn't that the purpose of the institution of marriage? >> trade up, i don't want this, so tomorrow i'll find someone new? it's really to stick it out and work on the issues. >> there's a feeling that the new york times also betrayed us because they usually write about stories, love stories that are innocent and worthy of printing and all of a sudden it looks like they're going to the dark side of reporting. >> or at least the messy side. that's what someone called this the messy side of love. >> we could talk about this all day. thank you both very much. up next, jack black on his giant new role. we'll catch up with him right after this. 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[ female announcer ] with the #1 doctor recommended ingredient to help bring down children's fever... trust in triaminic. to help bring down children's fever... can give you up to 4 hours of hunger control. our special recipe with protein and fiber delivers big satisfaction without big calories. slim-fast. who has time to slim slowly? we're back now at 8:19. this is a contemporary take on a classic tale as gulliver is transported to a land populated by liliputians. why did you want to go back here? >> i loved the book, it was super funny and i likeded the challenge of updating a classic. >> he works in the mail room, where did gulliver come from, not the mail room? >> yeah, it was just an adventure. but, yeah, we brought it into modern day, working in the mail room, and i have a huge crush on the travel editor. >> but you can't even voice it. you're pretty shy. >> very shy and i finally get an opportunity to impress her by going on a real writing assignment and writing about the bermuda triangle. >> you wake up in this place and you're surrounded by the liliputians, and they don't like you. >> first they don't like me, but i win them over with my giant spirit. >> because they're basically at war with their neighboring enemies. let's take a look at what happens. >> i'm gulliver. listen, they want me to vanquish you guys. but i don't want to vanquis anybody. >> you spent a lot of this movie with the camera like right here. >> it's true. >> super self-confident. >> the closeups really tell the story, every crease. but that's what you show up for when you're making a giant movie, super, super close-ups. >> okay, so meredith. let's get to it. meredith was so proud and pleased when you asked her, when you cast her as one of the liliputians, the kind of trampy liliputian. >> she came to film with us. may i say, brilliant performance. look at that action. she really put her whole self into it. she was brilliant. >> her one line was lame ass which she says under her breath here almost every day. and so then she came back, excited as could be. >> yeah. >> and you called her. >> yeah, i called her with the bad news, that her part had been cut. in fact the whole scene had been cut. >> she said it was the pivotal scene in the movie. >> it was heart breaking. i loved the scene and all i can say is sometimes, for the good of the film, great scenes have to be cut for the flow, the powers that be insisted that we had to cut it and i see what they were saying. i did side for her, though. >> you did? >> and i want her to know, wherever she is, meredith, i will make it up to you. i sing weddings or bat mitzvahs. >> does she get paid for that role? >> i think there's probably no payments in terms of residuares. >> you have a couple of kids, 2 and 4? >> they don't really know that i'm a movie star. they think i'm a clown. but, yeah, we'll show them my movies when the time comes. >> since you have young boys, does it influence the roles you want to do in the future? >> it does. i like to do family films more often now because of it. i want them to be able to see my movies before they're 20 years old. i did some yo gabba gabba. so they can see their dad doing fun stuff. >> what are you doing at christmas? >> i will probably have a delicious feast with the family. >> i'm just going to have a simple meal, but you have a delicious feast. >> what are your new year's resolutions? >> i'm going to drop a couple of l.b.s. >> jack black, "gulliver's travels" opens christmas day. your local news and weather, but ahead a look at some more inspiring images of 2010. >> live, local, latebreaking. this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore. >> good morning. i am mindy basara. let's get a final check on the morning commute with sarah caldwell. >> still dealing with problems on the j.f.x. the accident has been cleared on southbound and northern parkway but still completely jammed top to bottom on 28 street. you may see delays here as well in the lutherville. due to a water main break. we are still dealing with a crash in nottingham and silver spring. another problem in the area of edmondson ave. water main break and an accident as well. plenty to talk about this morning. delays for you. looking a lot better on harford road. delays around providence. live view a traffic at baltimore national pike. holding on to delays on the west side. over to you, sandra. >> we will see a mixture of sunshine and clouds today. we are down in the teens as far as the wind chill factor. wince sustained tend to 15 miles per hour. basically a slight chance of maybe a flake or 2, a slight chance of larry. overnight tonight, start of the winter season. down into the 20s. tomorrow, upper 30's. that will continue through friday before snow on saturday. >> thank you for joining us. we will another update at 8:00 of the five. have anotherwe will update at 8:55. need aeasy holiday recipe everyone will love? 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[ female announcer ] at pillsbury.com. 8:30 now on a tuesday morning. we talked a second ago to jack black. our 17th annual toy drive is coming to an end. the last day of our toy drive, if you want to find out how you can donate, go to our website, todayshow.c todayshow.com. >> he's acting like santa, i don't know if he knows he's an elf. >> i'm matt lauer, along with tamron hall and carl quintanilla. >> if you don't want to brave the malls at this time of year. make the gifts. make the gifts you want to give to other people. we're going to join her in the kitchen to find out about some of her ideas. we're reconnecting with the 45 dogs who found loving homes, courtesy of the "today" show. plus you know how hard it is to keep a diet during the weekend. we'll show you what to bring to a party and some low calorie eggnog. we have got a lot to get to, let's get a check of the weather. al's off today. we have got stephanie abrams doing the foirg. >> i found a football crowd. let's talk about the white christmas forecast. santa, pay attention. historically speaking, in new york city, a 10% chance of a white christmas. minneapolis, a 73% chance of a white christmas. and right now new york city is right on the edge of a white christmas. we have a storm system tracking across the country, so it's a little iffy. >> winter officially begins at 6:38 p.m. with the winter solstice. variably cloudy, mid-to-upper- thirties. and it's time to find out who celebrates birthdays. >> it's christmas time and holiday times, beginning to look like it. what a classic. happy birthday from smucker's. emily weil, from cincinnati, ohio. good chili in that town. 111 years old. and we have helen carr of jacksonville, florida. 101, enjoys spending all of her time with her cat holly. we have albert miller, of whiting, new jersey. 100 years old, a retired principal and he's called the prince albert. how about that? and we have clara wortmann, from canton, georgia. and irene hudson, 100, worked at a senior citizen's community post office for many years. and we have bert o'neill from daytona beach, florida. he lives independently and still drives and does laundry. how about that? emily ridgway, acted in several great plays in her area. a great actress and they all love her. happy birthday. that's it, that's all, from washington at this time. >> we have spent way too much out there. we have steals and deals on some terrific items. but first this is "today" on nbc. this morning on education nation today, the subject of a new documentary premiering tonight on nbc. scott cohn is here with a preview. >> where have you heard this story before? easy money offered to people who can't really afford to borrow it, buying something whose price is already soaring. this time it's not a house and it's not a mortgage, it's a college education and a student loan. and increasingly, those loans are going bad. like most people who have gone to college, nick and emily of round lake heights, illinois thought they were making a wise choice. >> we thought it would be worth the investment. when we graduated we would get jobs that would be worthy of this debt. >> reporter: at the time of this interview, both were unemployed with three young children and student loans totaling more than $250,000. what does it foal like? >> it feels like there's no way out. like it will just be there forever. >> we're not going on vacation. we're not fixing the house, we're not -- >> reporter: nick emily married young, and then started a family. but they were determined to continue their education. >> it was like, can we afford this? can we afford for me to stay in school? >> we can't afford not to. >> reporter: eventually nick got his mba and emily got her bachelor's degrees. >> there's subsidized and unsubsidized. >> now they're looking at a payment of $17,067 a month for the next six years. >> we'll have to pay $275,000 in interest. >> reporter: with one of the worst -- student loan defaults have doubled in the last 10 years. kyle mccarthy has a master's degree, $72,000 in student loans and with a $14 an hour job at a bookstore, no way to pay them back. >> i have tried to work out anything for them, you know, i can pay this amount of money, i can give you $50 a month. and it was, no, you need to pay the full amount now. >> reporter: the student loan default rate now rivals that of credit cards and home mortgages and with the cost of a college education, rising as much as three times the rate of inflati inflation, students are borrowing more and more. americans now owe more on their student loans than they do on their credit cards. but a key difference between student loans and credit cards, student loans generally cannot be refinanced or wiped out in bankruptcy. this debt will literally stay with you your entire life and in some cases beyond. america's student debt is more than $870 billion, on pace to hit $1 trillion in 2012. >> we cannot afford not to go to school and it backfires. >> that's the kind of calculus everybody makes, this is the key to success, and yet they're borrowing without jobs out there. >> you can catch the premier, the price of admission, america's college debt crisis. that's tonight at 9:00 p.m. eastern time on cnbc. coming up next, we'll go into the kitchen. but first, this is "today" on nbc. "today's" holiday kitchen is brought to you by hershey kisses. delightfully delicious, one of a kind kisses. >> back at 8:44, and on "today's" holiday kitchen, gifts you can really sink your teeth into. we have some edible ideas and saying you've got connections, santa claus is with us as well. good to see you, santa. >> santa is taking a cooking class. and you have a great idea if you don't have time to go out and buy a gift. or if you just want something that warms your heart, you can go to the kitchen. >> i think that home cooked edible gifts are the best. >> and apparently this is santa's favorites because you need carbs to make it through the night? >> just like any athlete. >> we have got some red onion and garlic. we're going to grab some tuna. >> that's nice. we'll add some tuna and then we'll add some colorful vegetables like tomatoes. >> artichokes? >> i love the color. >> and then some parsley. >> go for it. >> there you go. >> now asaute all of that for a couple of minutes and add the campanelle. santa, this is the final preparation. . >> this is the santa taste. we probably should have -- yes, you bring it, you put the lid on just like this. with a little bow and you give them the little dish. so i buy a new dish. i make the pasta and i bring it over to their house and so they're getting food and a dish. >> that beautiful pound cake too makes a lovely dish. >> santa, are you doing all right? >> i just wanted to finish this. >> we have got some carmel and you melt it down, and then santa is going to drizzle this in year. >> and does that give it a marble effect? >> it's a peanut butter carmel cake. so what you do is go in there, with a little bit of carmel. >> don't be shy, santa. swirl it into the dough just like that. this is really fun for kids to make. in fact my daughter loves this. and then you top it with the remaining dough. so you split the dough in half. >> and a little more drizzle? >> you can smell the peanut butter. it smells amazing. >> and very festive. >> and when you bring it to your guests, i just put a little topping around it and i hand them the whole thing. >> it's really, really nice. >> i'll take this now, i got a lot of families that would really love this. >> i like to even drizzle the top, you can bring some carmel if you want and finish it off with a little more carmel. >> this is great for holiday lunch, or with coffee. >> the last idea is this, that you buy a cookbook, whatever cookbook you want. you buy your favorite cookbook and then you bake something out of it. these happen to be my favorite, lemon and almonds, dipped in white chocolate. santa, you want to help me out? and then there's some white chocolate chips and then i take this and i dip them in there. >> in the meantime, you want to take a bite of that? good stuff? go for it. and this is an adorable gift. >> and this would be great for the workplace. >> you can buy any cookbook and take out a recipe. >> thank you so much, thank you santa for your help as well. >> thank you so much. >> up next, this is our bow to wow dogs and their new loving parents. [ female announcer ] safeway talks the main course. mmm. you smell that? yeah, wait. what is that? love. smells like ham. [ female announcer ] serve a main course brimming with comfort and joy. safeway. ingredients for life. i love eggnog, i love gingerbread, i love pumpkin pie. i love everything but those blinking lights. oh yeah, right in my eye. [ female announcer ] if it tastes like the holidays, we've got it. safeway. ingredients for life. back now with your special series from bow to wow where we clean up shelter dogs, find them loving homes and we teach them how to bark wildly. our animal advocate joe rapaport is here with us as well. >> it's another year and another perfect record. not only did every one of our dogs get adopted. but as you see, it's the owners who feel they got the gift of a lifetime. 2010 was another stellar year for all of our canines we featured and thanks in part to the segment, adoption animal care and control in new york city was up 17% during a very difficult year. whether large or small, young or old, injured or spry. each of our doggies ended up in the most loving homes all over the country. >> if you're looking for a can dad to be a therapy dog, he would be a perfect dog. >> and that's what wally is doing, paying the good will forward and acting as a therapy dog in georgia. our playful lab puppy, he's certainly living the life of leisure, enjoying an ocean view from his own raft, with his new sister and new best friend by his side. and remember this hot dog? who had a pin in her hip after getting hit by a car, she's now a california girl, healthy, happy and cozy at home with her new wonderful owners. how about 6-year-old autumn, who was a victim of the recession. >> she's really cute. >> at home with a new brother in pennsylvania. even our favorite dog walkers walked away with one of our rescues. >> i may take her home myself. >> and olympic gold medalist steve holcomb who took home bailey giving herr the life of a champion in california. it's been a wonderful year and now just in time for the holidays, it's a wonderful life. for all of our shelter dogs. >> and here are many of our bow to wow families and their dogs. good morning, everybody, happy holidays, nice to see you. relationships going well? everybody's happy? we have steve over here, our gold medalist from vancouver, the four-man bobsled. and bailey, how has that transition been? >> fantastic, she's an incredible dog and i think she's a little more clever than i ever expected. she's been a lot of fun. this is the first time i have seen her since early september. >> how's her life in colorado? >> it's interesting. when i first brought her into denver, i got her out of the cage and i think it's the first time she has ever seen a squirrel. she didn't know what to do, she was just frozen, looking at me like what's happening? she's pretty happy out there, there's all sorts of room to run around. >> christine, you've got -- by the way, you used to take care of dogs before they were adopt, you fostered dogs which is lovely that you would do that. and you have adopted jackson? >> yes. >> tell me how jackson's doing. >> jackson is amazing. i get stopped all the time. >> you could have ended up with satchel over here. we'll talk about that in a second. kim, you actually adopted seth and renamed seth charlie. how's charlie doing? >> he has a little stage fright today. but he's great. >> he's usnot used to being arod other dogs? one of our stage managers, his wife lisa is down here and they adopted satchel. you had just lost your dog. and so satchel came into your life at a good time. he does a great trick, you actually put the newspaper in satchel's mouth? >> satchel as got a thing. by the way, satchel did this great thing recently. mark told us that he's walking satchel so he missed the giants football clash the other day. so would you do it again. >> oh, yes. >> and steve what would you tell other people who are watching the bow to wow segment? >> these are dogs that have been through some hardships themselves and they're getting a second opportunity. >> and christine, all you have to do is be able to open up your heart as you have done so many times in the past. forget what it does for the dog, what it does for you. >> absolutely. all the other dogs i fostered went to the most amazing homes. he's the one that got my heart and i have never regretted it. >> it's good to see all of these partnerships working so well. happy holidays, everybody, and thank you for taking part in bow to wow, we appreciate it. we'll be right back after these messages and your local news and weather. >> live, local, latebreaking. this is wbal-tv 11 is today in baltimore. >> good morning. i am mindy basara. baltimore city school teacher was arrested on charges of having inappropriate contact with a 15-year-old boy. the 25-year-old teacher is at an elementary school in south west baltimore he has admitted to committing sex acts with the boy could he faces third and fourth degree offenses. >> let's look at the forecast with sandra shaw. >> slight chance we could see a flurry. there are disturbances rotating over as the vicinity. but somewhat dry. variably cloudy. winter officially begins at 6:38 p.m. tonight. for the weekend, possibly a white christmas. an area of low pressure could mean a winter storm this weekend. >> we will have another update at 9:25.