Transcripts For WRC Today 20101222

arand my hand to get the phone out of my arm. >> but lohan says she's theeal victim today,wednesday, novemb victim today,wednesday, novemb november -- december 22, 2010. captions paid for by nbc-universal television and good morning. welce to "today" on a wednesday morning. i'm matt lauer. >> good morning, everyone. i'm savannah guthrie in for meredi this morning. good to be here. we'rehinking the president' going to be headed to haii today, but he's got some businessfirst. so we'll get to at. also the weather, that image of a hou being swept into an overflowing river in arizona, st one example of the devastation brohty six straight days of rain out west. >>t could beore intense today even, forecasters are warng some areas t expect up to two inches of rain per ur. rescue cre are on snd by. evacuatis he already been ordered. also ahead news you can use if you're opping for a c. a newist of the safest vecles o the market. ere are a few surprises. here's a queion for you, how far woul you g to look yo very best on your wedding day? a new rlity show is being blasted by critics because it has bdes to be cpeting to win plastic surgery ahead of their big day. some say it crosses a line, hers say we crossed the line a long time ago. ing my get is just outside of los anles with the latest on all this good morning to you. >> thi area is surrounded by mounins, much of the ground is rock and mud, it'seen soaking rainor da. this is of course the same area that burned during the station fire back i 200 and now county officials want many fos in this area out. state of emergency. si calornia counties battered by ereme weather. in the fthills outside of los angele evacuion orders for hundreds of homeowners, the san gabriel mountains a drenched, these hills can't take much re. mud threate to bury neighborhoodbelow. but many filies ordered out won't leave. >> staying home. keeping an eye out to see if anytng's going to ppen. >> repter: record rain in sohern california will likely make dember the wettest month in history and forecasters say today coul bring several inche of aitional rain. thunrstorms are expected, tornadoes are possible. a storm of historiproportions. this isrobably among the top five rainvents we have seen, even in the el nino ye se storms has claimed lives, at let two fatalities on the road, ather in e water. in norther california, a 62-year-old woman w kille when she drove into the ruian river. tuesday ash flooding triggered a series of rescues, awollen river trappikers in a canyon. >> it's not isolated to one rtion of the cy. >> repter: the damage is in the millions, streets have buckled, trees havetopple >> it's a bd-aid on a major operation. >>eporter: the devastation spreads well beyond california. acrossany weste states, dams are bursting, river raging. back in souther california, ndredsave been ordered out ofhe foothills, butven wi historic rain, many have csen to ride out the storm. >> when the deputies kck on yourdoor, plee leave. this i your lives that we're attempti to protect. >> reporter:t the moment, and we do want to stress at the mome, there is no rain, b foresters say plenty o heavy rain a tornadoes pential are on the way tohis area. course the big concern in thes hills are mudsles and keeping residents out. >> miguel, tha you very much those people need a brea >> they do indeed, a whi christmas isne thing, but a t christmas is something el, especially when so many people are travelintraving. >> we are going to g a break, but we still have t dea with the ra today. look at our satellite pictur but notice th, destr air, it is movin in, today we will s the showers from norther california all the way down to southerncalifornia. here's a cser look, miguel was getting a break, but there is more rain in t forect. let me show you exactly how many we'll see, we a going to see another one to two incheof rain. unfortunately it looks likore shows in the forecast as we head into our weekend. >> we'll get the rest of you forecast in just abit. but first t capitol hill, where president obama is set t sco another key win beforhe heads off to hawaito join the rst family for christmas. >> reporter: you know, cooperation is never easyo find around he, but itppears about a dozen mbe more republicans will join with decrats today to ratifyhe new s.t.a.r.t. treaty wit russia. many sayt's not about polics, it's about national security, bu it sure is a win for e president. >> this would not haveappened without bipartanship. >> reporter: joh kerry eects to close a hard fough deal with more thaenough republicans on board. >> it's a victory to t country. >> reporte but many republicans remain frustrated wanting changes d arguing that the russians c't be trusted. >>ow we all know it'seen widely reportedhat theycheat, they a seria cheaters they cheatein virtually every reement we have had with them. >> reporter: but the break through cameuesday when both conservatives and merate republicans plicly backed the eaty signed by the president in april. >> i will vote to ratify theew s.t.a.r.t. treatyetweenhe united states and rusa becse it leaves our country with enough nuclear warheads to blow any attacker tkingdocome. >> reporter: while democts in congress have been running a hurry up offense before this lame duck session expid. just released census fures start the bat tle to redr district maps. fewer peopleall the northwest and northeast as home. another eight states go down by one. the big gains in the south a west happen to come in more repuican territories. texas picks up four, floda gets two more >> republicansave a bigr seat at the table to reape theseoundaries than they er havead before. >> reporter: it's 308.7 million, that's how manyhere are as of april this year when the tallying w finish. that'sn increase of almost 10% than a dade ago, but it's a slower incree than in decades. >> david bgregory is the moderator of "meet t press," if i had said to you on novber 3, that the shellacking that the president tk that the presiden byhe end of the year would piece together victories on tax cuts, on don't k, don't tell, and the s.t.a.r.t. treaty, most people would have thought i or we were crazy. >> think that's exactly right, matt, and now you have to give thpresident his due, this is a much better lame duck coness than anyone expected. he was able to repea d't ask, don't tell, and get the s.t.a.r.t. treaty. >> hiss approval ratg has been not all that greatnd while that's n essential, it ceainly does helwhen you're leading. does any of this translate in your opinion into better approval ratings? >> phaps thiis a down paymenon a new style for the president and a new approach in shington that the white house will take, particularly with republicans. to steer a more ceus course, to look for a pition that can force the republicans into a position where they have to reond in a different way than they h to before to force republicans out of the mode of opposion andet them to the bargaining tabl the american people wand se actionthey wanted wasngton to work a little bit betr and you look at thisame duck session and you see some real accomplishments. >> there going to go on break, they're goi to come back in januar it's going to be a very different congress. the house republicans, the tea party thrown in there. so whaare his next legislative moves that he'll make in the knew ye? >> it's allbout spending if yo listen to the newongress coming i you've got the debt mmission, you've got the iss of bringing down governmtpending and dealing with unemployment. these areough issues. the good thing for the president is he's got more republicans in a posion ofesponsibility and they're going to be held accountable. but there are bigdeological issues. do y take on taxe you talk about the tea party as well as what democratsre prepared to do. >> let talk about thcensus. kelly o'donne just showed us those graphics, stes like oridaicking up congressional seats. a lot of replican areas will be strengthene by that. how does it change the political landscape over t next decade? >> demrats will say it kind of locks in certain statusquo, but that's not a great one for th. republicans do have more conol in republican areas that's gng to help them in redrawing some these districts. but for democrs, a lot of the fastest growth in the cntry i among hispanics. that is not good for the republan party whichas had a hard time attracting their votes. davidregoryhappy holidays. now let's get a check of the rest of the morning's top stories. carl qntanilla isn for ann at t news desk. president obama alsoigns th repeal of e don't ask, >>good morning. it's cloudy and cold this morning. we're in t low 30s nround the reon. rad showing flurries. western maryland, western virginia, the panhand there maybe in the north, a few flurries trng to reach prince george's cunty and ann arundle. sun back thafternoon. ear 4 clearing tomorr and cold. breezy and cold but sunshine back tomoow. might get som accumulating sow ere saturday night and sunday. >>one of the top accouing firms other thanst and young is -- lisa myers hathe latest. >> reporter: good morning to yo savannah. these civil chaes arehe first chargesf any kind involving the collapse of lehman brotrs. they're aimed not at lman ecutives but it's auditors who allegedly helpedhe company hide billions of dollars in liabily. investors wouldn' know just how weakhe company was. the images are still vivid. september 2008. >> lehman brothers one of e nati's most respected investment banks is nearly history toda >> reporter: lehman's collapse help triggerhe financial meltdown and costed inveors trillions of dollars. now the attorney general has accused hman's audit of helping -- specifically the civil lawsuitharges that he peatedly eageded in trsactions that took $50 miion of debt off the compans balance book. andrew cuomo calledt a house of cards business mod designed to hide billions in liability in the year before lehman collapsed. william black, aank regulor during the savings and loan crisis praised t move. >> sebody finally did something about lehman and about e top tier audit firms that haveiven clean opions to every scamn the modern crisis and gotten awayith it. >> the case was brought by a state attorney general and not the federal government. >> this filing again raises the queson of whether or not this federal gulator, t sec has become an old toothless dog lang in frontf the firlace that has lost its bar and bite. >> reporter: an obvious question, if the auditor is cused of wro doing, what about the executives who conducted or approved the transactions? >> i think it's pretty clear that there will be anction brght probably by the sec agnst some senio executives at hman. >> former lehman ceo dick fol says he did not kno of these transactionsnd has done noing wrong. his wyer did not respond to a question forcomment. fold h kept a low profil but maintaina lavish lifeyle. he still owns an $8 million mansion in greenwich, connecticut and owns a0 acre compound near sun valley idaho. the ceo says that the company followed -- hman's fancial statements clearly portrayed lehman as a highly leveged entity. >> lisa meyers in our washington newsroom this morning. it's 7:18, once again here's ma. good news this morning if you're in the market for new car. the insurance iave has just ven it's highest safetyarks to car trucks and su. tom ctello is in maryland with details on this. people need to jot down this infoation, tom. >> reporter: yeah, that's right d we're he because 00 dhyundai is onef its surise stories. they ilude the sonata as wl as theanta fe, the hyunda genesis is on the list as well ashe tucson. this year every top manufacturer have at least one topafety pick66 in total, compared to a yeaago. after years of csh testing car after car after car, 2011 may go down as the year when rs, mivans and suvs turd the safety corner. with 66 models earning top safe pick awards for protecting passengers in front, side andear crashes and now rollovs. while usinglectronic stality control to keep cars on the road. 40 cars, 25 suvs and one nivan. >> it's packaging 1. if the box doesn't collapse, then the cargonside is better protected. >> reporter: ts year hyundai and it's affiliateia with nine pinners. and audi with ne winners. toyo and lexus had eight winners, last yr they had none. in just one yr the top safy pick gw by nearly 40 vehicles as manufacturersramatically proved roof strength to with stand rollov accidents. experts say it's a sn all automakers arelacing greater emphasis on fety. >> when we raise the baror safety, ty're mating it. they're putting their engineers work. >> reporter:nd cars ar safer than they were even t years ago. firefighrs from montgomery county, marylandust outside of d.c. respond to emergeies on one of theusiest interstates in the country they say cars with -- >> whe the car's traveling65 miles anour, so is the person. so that air bag when it goes off provides tt cushion, that's at area of safety, thatmpact zone. >> the number ofatal accidents has dropped to its lowt level in 50 years to just under 40,000. seat belts, air bags, better construction and an electnic stability control all get the edit. >> vehicles today are much safer than they were just tenears ago and they're going to b sar in the future. >> reporter: here's how they're going to be safer in thefuture. look for lanevoidan systems that warn youhen you're depaing your lane, collion avoidance systems that automatically turn on the brakes. if you don't see somebody in your blind spot, u're warned. and dui systems,f you get in yourar and you hav had t much to drink, the car simply won't work. all th in the coming decade they expect to be in wid use. >> we appreciate all that information, we're goi to pull those p 66 safety picks on our website. check thos out at todayshow.com. ahead lindsay lohan accused of getting drunk and attacking a won in the betty ford center. just ahead, the hunt forhe infamous da bandit who robbedt least a dozen banks. but he may notook like this at all. we'll explain. - od for 23 yard - hey. he went to jed. - that's a peerless diamond, the ideal idl-cut diamond. female announc: jarehas thousands of loose diamonds d hundreds of settings to create ur own one-of-a-kind ring. - you cryi? no. pride. pizzazz. sass! 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's december 22nd on this ednesday. m joe krebs. t death of a man who died outde a cub in d.c. i tober, he allegedly threw a bricthrough a club's window. the store's owner and employe were icially charged with his death but the crges wer dropped. . we'll ta a break good morning. radar showing a few flurries st ofwashinon this rning. prince geor's andanne andel and evenshores. western marylandand the highlands of west virginia. right n low to d-30s. latetoday, up ar40 with sun ck. ashley linder,how's traffic? >> good news until south. the new accident at montgomery finally cleared. th thearlier accident is now gone. back to ou. >> the nation's worst airports for 7:30 now on a wednesday morning, it's the 2d day of december, 2010 the countdown christs in full swing out on the plaza th weather is a little bit better than theast few days. three days to go unt the b day. side studio 1a, i'm mattauer along with savanh guthrie. it's goo to have you here. just ahead, some new problems for ldsay lohan, the actress isow under inveigation for allegedly assaulting a staffer at the betty ford clinic lisay says she was the actual victim. we'lhear from lohan's accuser coming up in just a little while. is this the new face of crime? using movie qualityasks to pull off brazen crimes including california's so-called geezer bandit who's h a dozen banks. andhe bde-to- likes to go gat lengths to look her best on her wedding day. that's ptty normal b a new reality sho is taking that concep to a new level, competing r plastic surgery bere the big day. we'll begin wh the assault alletions against lindsay lon. kristen welker has the latt for us. krten, good morning. >> reporte family members say lindsay lohan has been making real progress,she's been at the betty ford cter now for nearly three months andarned enough priviles that she's lowed to leave for shorteriodsf time. bu but if these latest allations are true, it cou be a devastating blow for the actrs. ndsay lohan is just two weeks shy of freem. e's set to lve rehab on january 3, but now her fute is uncertain, after an altercation with a betty ford center worker th allegedly got physical. the staffer decided to speak t. >> she was very angry and out o control. >>eporter: in a taped intervie dawn holland hold tmz.com that lohan started trouble on december 12 after missing curfew. >> what haened was that lindy and two other paties had snuck out, wt drinking, trying to sneak back in and they got caught. >> reporte lohan the refused a breathalyzer test, b called 91herself eventually handing holland the phone and at's when she say the situation got out ofontrol. >> she grabbedy wrist and snap it down and out of my hds to get the phone out of my ar e swore a few choice wds at . just the fact that somody would cross thaline of getting physical with someone breaks every taboo, breaks every boundary that is set upn the trtmentcenter. >> rorter: but soues close to lohan say sheever touched lland. >> lindsay feels like this is all unfair, that she w target and that she really has beeniven a bum rap. >> reporter: athe investigation gets unrway, lon's attorney declined to comment butreleased a statement sayi it should be notedhat it was ms. lohan who called 911 to request police assistance a the time this incident occurred. at's more, late tuesday night t betty for center said that holland had been fired for eaking out and violating confidentiality guidelin. this latest inciden is a major set backor the 24ear-old actreswho has been i and out of jail and rehab for multiple probation violatio, stemming from a 2007 du arrest. lohan has been at t rancho mira facilitince september. judge ellen fox ordered her t stay through theew year, saying yore an dict, i he you understand that. >> she does not want to have her freedom curtailed. >> reporr: a cminal defse attorney says that i the ce goesack to work, a judge will have to decide if lan violated her obation again. >> if she violated the law the judge is going to impose some sanctions and anybody could sume that judge fox is going to put her back in jail. >> reporter: tmz is reporting overnit that lohan is now saying she was out getti her hair done, and when e came back, holland grabbed her and pushed h so hard it made her cry. poli are still investigating this incident. athis pnt no charges he been filed. nbnews did reach o to hole da holland, she declined to comment. >> a expert psychiatrt and author of "weeke at bellevue." od morning to both of you. we'll get t these medical issues in a minute. but t's start with somef the legal issues here. how serious is this potentially? do you think tt a judge wou voke ms. lohan's probion? >> the interesting things when you're o probation, u're ordered toommit no crimes at all. en jwalking is get you surrendered. but the rlity is, this is a relatively minor offense at most it'sssault and batry. it's not somethi that would bring about a surrender. here's the thing at's going to makell thedifference. w doesrobation feel about this? because they're the onethat have the ahority to file a violatn with the court. >> so probati has the discreti. yes, they do. they don't he to decide to pursue charges, probation could surrendeher even i no formal charges have been brought. >> lindsay lohan is about thr weeks away fro her release. what strik you about this incident. >> one of ththings we see with lindsayohan is there's a certain amount of dramand excitement that surrounds he i think it's past of her personality structure that these things happen to her. it does feelike a sabotage situation where s has to keep her nose can and do her time and there's still things surrounding her. >> is a significant question as tohat really happened here. we're reporting that lindsay lohan is denying that thereas any kind of batte here and now there's the question of the work who wasllegedly attacked talking to tmz. theetty ford worke hurt hersf by dng an interview? >> ablutely. i think at's one of the best developments from lindsay's perspective. the ct that this woman has been fired sugges that she isn'a credle, you know, dignified employee. anmaybe she is mivated by someing like money or me. she knew who sheas dealing wi. why did she kneelkneel --eel compelled to tal to a tloid like tmz. whether s pushed her first or second, they're both sayinghey were each oved. that's something that works to lindsay's advantage. a shoving match in addiction cent, that hapns every day and is not usually something that gets somebody surndered from probation. >> i would like to followup, this ideaf conflict i a health care setting, there are al sorts of things that happen in terms ofower struggles and battles of the will it'stypil. and especially in e sortf addict polation, they don't want to be controlled, they nt to break the rules, so ts kind of thing does hapn all the time. >> peopl think of celebrities like lindsay lohan, and think, oh, they get special treatment. but it does go bot ways. do you think she may be being ngled out for major prosecutioon an issue tt might not behatsignificant? >>absolutely, i think there's very real risk that shs been overpersecuted in this situation. mind yo i this were an issue of dirty drug tt or something like that i think we would all pounce and say, forget out her, throw her in jail for th fifthime she's failed. this reay isn't that problem. so ihink probably the prumpatiprump ati presumption is going toe that since e woman was fired she's not credle. >> good morning. cloudy and cod. picking up a few flurries east of washgton. maybe a few in montgomery. and farter to o west, a ttle light snow in western maryland, panhandle ofwest virginia, and temperatures are generally a little above frezing in most of the gion. later today ar 40ith a little sun bk. reezy and cold tomorrow. satuay night into sunday. >> to t forhe extended period, all you have to do is log on to weather.com 24 hours a day. and coming upnext, it's not wh you think, the higy tailed and realistic maps now being used by criminals. 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'll have detai from buckingh palace right ter this. oonchts. thisseason, make christmas popper us thicker paper for the cylindersnd fill them with snicker's, twix and three muskateers. to learn how to create aweet memory with chocolate ts holiy season, please visit us at celebrates.toyshow.m. if you live for performance, upgre to castrol edge advanced synthetic oil with eight times better wear protection than mobil 1. castrol edge. it's more than justil. it's liquid engineering. back n at 7:50 with word of another royal wedding. ince william' cousin is engaged. stephanie sk is at buckingham palace with the details. stephanie, good morning. >> reporter:ood morning, savannah. wellperhap it's the power or suggestion, or maybe ere's something in the water at the palace. but weavenother royal wedding, they have yeto announce theiredding day, so we can beeasonably sure of one thing, it's not going to be april 29. dara phillips i one of the queen's eight grandchildren, daughter to princess a and 12 in line for the thrown. theiming of her engagement to rugby plar mike tindle on the heels of that other big announcement com as a bit of a surprise. >> we ve waited for a roy wedding for suc a long time, for two to come at on, it a bit of a shock. >> rorter: the coup's engagement photos were significantly less formal than water vapor imery and -- willia. gier and less conservative than t other bride-to-be. d gently critized at times for less than royal bevior. the 29-yeaold is the only granhild with a pierced tongue. zahra staed ring hses when she was 4 and is nown accomplished equestrian winning a gold medal. she and her younger brother peter were not given the tit of prince and princess. >> the queen thought they would live a morordinary life. >> reporter: zahra has h to support herself witht the lp of royal money. zahra's brother peter married his wife autu, a canadian in 20. mously it was when kate middleton met the queen for the first time the wedding caud them scandal when the couple sold pictures of the event to a tabloid. the palace was not pleased. hello magazine is unlikely to getheir hands of the photographs of this wedding. peternd zah wille with their grandmother for christmas. . >> stephaniegosk, thank you. ahead t new reality show that lets bris to be battle iout for plastic surgery. oh! younow shiing is a lot easi withriority mail flat rate boxes. ift fits, it shs anywhere in the country for a low fl rate. plus, youan print and pay for postage online. and i canpick them up for free with package pickup. perfect cause i'm gonna need a lot of those. wow! i knew i should have brought msleigh. prioritmail flat rate shipping tarts at $4.90 only from the ptal service. a simpler wayto ship. ♪ [ keys jingl] drop everything! shop the petsmart christmas holiday countdown sale and save 50% on all petholiday products. plus, save 50% on select dog ds. hurry,ast chance to save. only at petsmart. come on... isn'tt timean autinsurer gave it to you straight? that's why you shou talk state farm. but not yet. first, talk to any one of the 40 milliodrivers who already have state farm. 40 million. yeah, at's more thaneico and progressive combined. a lot. 40 millionrivers. more savings. and discounts up to 40%. here else you nna get discounts like that? call angent at 1-800-state-farm or go online. call angent at 1-800-state-farm vo: 's timfor a phone... to se us from our phones. new windowphone. designed to t you in, and out, and back to life. get yourat at&t. 34 degrees he in the nation's capito 7:56 i our ti right now on this dnesd, the 22nd day of december. good morng. i'm joe krebses. crews are baling a msve barn fire. this is lk from liberty town,en miles northeast of frederick. chopper 4 was over the scene a few minutes ago. we don't know how the fire began or whetherhere we any injuries buthe flames were really gog there. it looked like on one piece of farming apparus on t scene, the time to put out another fi. in other news d.c. police have relead surveillance video after a man who robbed a store in the brooklyn neighbhood over the weekend. wee going to take a breakow and look at the weather forecast and check out the tffic t. good morning. here's the four-day forecast sunned on thursday with blutsry cold. christmas day might get ccumulated snow sar night d on suay withtrong winds. ashley linder, how's traffic? 95 is clearedut toward the beltway. he beltway itself, a bit coested. the outer loop will takthe cake fordelays. coege parkeaded through sier spring and then you're back up to speed. back toyou. lying the busyskies. the airrts with the worst delays and cancellions because 8:00 now on wednesday morning. it's t 22nd day of december, 2010. just abouthree days to go until christmas. not just about, actually three days to go until christmas. and take a look at the people t on the plaza thi mornin most if not all o the people will do hiday shopping here in neyork after thespend time with us. out on the plaza, i'm matt ler welcomg salve vnnah guthriep from the wte house. how ar you dng so far? are you having fun? >> i g to see santa. oming up, we're going to have an ieresting question for you. do some brides go too far gettin ready for their wedng day? >> thers a new reality show where contestants coete for plastic surgery. > also ahead wre going to talk aut some of the dilemmas that parents have during the holiday season. at what age is it oka for you to let your ks stay up and let that ball drop on n year's eve. at what age is it okay for your children to have sip of chpagne to toast the new year. 're also going to ask that santa qution, so if younow it, you m want to push your kids into another room. let's get to theews desk and carl qntanilla who's in for n. new census figures are out an they're going to give more political clou to sthern and western stat. texa will gain four additiol seats in the house flida adds two mo. new york and ohio will each lose two seats because of population declines. acrding to the sencensus t u.s. is now home to morehan 8 miion people. enough rublicans will vote with democrats to rify the trea which reduces nuclear stockpil. senate is als expected to take a test vote today on a scaled back $6 blion health care bill for first responds who becameick after working at ground zero. rescue crewsre on alert in soutrn california whe seventh straht day of rai could be t heaviest ye six california counties have declared states ofemergency. mudslid fo slides forced the evn homes. parentsf a rutgers university student whoumped to his death from a bridge aer his roommates allegedly used a webcamo spy on his tryst wh a man is suing the scol. they say the school failed to enforc rules that mht have prevented that tragedy. > a woman who brought a gun to north carolina -- 51-year-old wendy nietus wasistraught over money troubles and held at turned out to be an unload gun to her head. wsoc went off t air for an hour while pice talked the woman to surrendering. the sta of aska is suing the u.s. government over par bear they say washington's decision last mon to declare mostf alaska natural habitat will cost jobs and resource development. it tk police and voluntrs several tries to rescuehe animal which ce away a bit stued buttherwise okay. probably need a drk after that. now it's 8:04. we go totephanie with the weather. "today's" weather is brought to you by advil. make thewitch t advil now. we have two good morning. cloudy startto this wnesday. radar showing a few flurries trying reachthe ground in prince george's andan arundown county. reaching 40 later today. sun back, breezy and ld tomorrow with sun. on friday, less wind, sunny, high, upper 30s. for christs day, could get ail kum lating snow satuay night into sunday. >> matt, over to you. steph, thank y very much. when weome back, there's new reality show that has bris competing for plastic suery. cross a ne? we'll talk abo that right after these messages. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] every day ousands of people are switchg from tylenol® to advil. to learn me and get your special offer, go to teadvil.com. take action. take advil®. pride. pizzazz. sass! [ laughter ] [ woma] i'm feeling that! [ female announr ] thspecial k challenge begins january 1st. fr personalized plans at specialk.com. at will you gn when you lose? fr personalized plans at specialk.com. ah, it's inging a littl bit more than usual! yeah, you'll get used to it. the longer you keep your high milee car, the more it pays you back. get castrol gtx hi mileage. it helpsngines last longer by fighting the ma cause of engine failure. i think a dime went up myose. yeah, it hpens. don't changeour ca change your oil to castrol gtx high milea. its more than just oil. it'liquid engineeng. >>back now at 8:09. ever woman wants to look her best on her weddingay, butow far should they go? a controversial new reaty sho on t e-network lets brides t be compete f pstic surge before their special day and big reveal. it's called bdal plasity. a little bit of nick tuck. but however you thinkf it. the -- network sho -- >> if you're going t rank this show, it's up there wit that one about marrying the little people. it's as low as you go. >> the host says that people shouldn't ta it too seriously. >> i a reaty tv junky and thiss farrom the worst thing out there. we hav about 12 brides that are comping weekly in bridal themed challenges. ey made wish lists of plastic surgeries that ty would personally want. if they win the challenge, ty can pick plast surgery off their wish list. at theend. the last bride standing getti a $1,000 dream celebrity style dding. on my wh list it was a nose job. skin resurfacing, boobob possib. liposuction. melissa hooper got sent he without winning a contest, but says the chanc of the free weddg washe bigger draw than thelasticsurgery. >> is just little tweaks he and there. it's not a t. it's sendingo many dturbing messages, i d't actuall know where to start. >> reporter: some reality sho contain a positive message, bridal pl bridal plasty not so much >> they're drinking champagne and laughing and nding, it completely gram glamorizes -- >> bridal plas isn't that much different from real life. veryommon in plastic surgeon's office for a bride-to-be to come in and wt to take a bump off the no, pin her ears back, make her breasts a lite bit lger for her wedding dress. >> does bridalplasty cross the line? cindy levys editor of bride magane. i know you'reoaded for bear on this one. we have a statent from they said quot many women dream of theirdeal wedding day and how theyill look as a bride. from the some that's teeth itening, removing nosebumps, to breas augmentation and more, bridal plastic takes thatream and makes it a ality. >> you saidhis is the meanest thing that you have seen in a long time. >> it takes thatasic foundg statement on steroids i don't think it necessarily makeit a reality. >> it's interesting, you know, this sw is obviously intended to be controversial. the pducersnew it would . when it s announced the months ago there were headlines like the most depressg show in the history of shows was just announced. and women are so pissed off about it. it's not just about plastic surgery, it sends the mesge that you're going to a happier d more loved bride if you have the little perfect button nosend standard issue c-p brets and loo like you ju came out of e factory. >> i wt t know if thiis just the logal progression o the reality shows that we see. >> it's something everyride wants to do, makin se your hair lks its best. goat your tee whitened something likehat. there's a huge difrencehat and glamorizing massive medal procedures. the areeriousoperations. >> you sd this show is bad medicine, expln. >> any time a patient walks in the ofce, you have to ask what their expectations are, what they want. andt's sort of a psychiatric profile at goes along with th. when you take a population that's sewhat vulnerable becausthey already d't like their bodies, they wan something xed. then you make tm competeor something and then cameras foll them throughhis proces including frankly the recovery room a there's this term that's tossed out called theerfectbride. so me, i think you hav to be in your 40s and 50s whenou look at yr body and say you know what? i'just fine the way i am. i but this chase for perfection, i just look at this andhink it nds a really dangerous message. >> there's sething hea eaking about it, will bng so desperate to be perfect for their men. th's part of what really struck about me about this show. >> all the fnces are couraging women to get this nd of plastic surgery. as women, we all have insecurities about the way we look, if you're in a good relationshipyou count on your boyfriend or your hband toay i know you thi you're having a fat day, but you' crazy. >> i love you, yore perfect now. it will be interesng to see five years from now how many times have dumped these women, how ny guys have walkedaway you're suddenly sculpted for a day and it's a real tr. >> the's a dference between ho these women tnk they look and how they actually look. there' kristen walking around saying i wan ts butt face fixed. if a man said that t a woman, theyould say it's abuse. >> plastic surgery is surgery. there's anesthesia, there's complications, no free ri. an operation is still an opation. >> tell me how you really feel. all right, thank you so much. coming up next, a pare's gue to holiday dilmas with your kidsrom santa claus to staying up to watch the bal drop on new year's eve. 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're back now at 8:19 with a unique set of challenge faced by paren durin the holiday season. we teamed up with parentincom to find out when moms and dads erywhere thinkt's okay for their children to know certain things and to participate in certain holiday activities. parents out there watchi, a litt later in the segment, we're gointo talk about nta. okay? i just want to give people a waing. let's start with question number one. when is it okay to te down the antity of gifts that you give at the holidays? let me tell you wt our spondents say, 19% said 8, 21% said inch 10. a bimajori age 13. >> ihink it's now. because the economy h shrunk. we need to be rlistic and teach o children that plenty equals what you can afford. and when we teachhem that it's fun, holidays,ou want to get gifts, it'sime right now. >> i tnk when they hit those tween years, the start askin for big ticket items. so yousay, hey, that's grt, you might get only a few other things >> if i kee writing bks for livi, my kids might get lights next year. >> how old are your kids? >> 6 yrs old. >> would you s down with a year-old and tell them that times are tough? >> i don't think she really knows exactly what the story is. when is it okay to expect kids to buy gifts on their own for family members. 20% sai age 12, 18% said age 14, 16% said age 16. >> i thinkf they have a job and they'reaking some of they own money, that's perfectly acceptable >>ot a lot of 12-year-olds ing th. >> i think it's sllheir money, i tnk the should be trned early on you take them to the store when they're young,ertain before they're 16. >> my kids know, daddy getsn ipad, th get their fluhots this season. when is it okay toet the kidsight the candles? age 7, % said that, age 10, 32%. age 12, 321%. >> i actually like it young, but they're not by themlves. it's a ritual. so you're standing withhe child. you e right there with the chiland y teach the child how to do it. 7-year-old knows you absolutely ca never do this on your own. >> that, again, it depends on thresponsibilityf your kids. >> when is it okay to let the kids stay up and tch the ball drop? let's talk to you firnd i'll put t respondents sugstions up. >> i thi the first time they can make it. the nt day they're going tbe home, you're jus gng to be relaxing. i thinkost of th resndents said aund 8. >> my daughr will try, i don't think she will make it this year, between 6 and 9. >> i tri thatast year, and it was a disaer, they mades watch scooby-doo >> when ist okay t let your kids hav a toast with champagne? >> the law sayit's 21, whatever. we used to have new yr's eve with mygrandmother. she w a sweet old lady and she would give une sip of champae, and we were little girls. one sip, only one. >> my kids aret going to be ound when they're 16 to hang arou with us on new year's. so i thi this ar. >> 6 and 3. what do you thk, elabeth? >> it would really have tbe up your own fily values i think a sip, a true sip, not swig. >> one more question, before we get to the santa question. when is it okay to stop sending holiday photo cards as a family? tomorrow. >> we ve never done that. >> we send just our daughter, we don't put us on the card. >> it's such a tradition and you love it, why not do it? there's nothing wrongith it. >> and i again, i thi has to do with the particular chil but when it is okay to have the ta about santa claus? careful the way we say ts too. >> we jt explained to our kids what wikilea is so the santa claus uation is right up there. >> my daughter knows i have a meeting th santa every year, e knows that i met with him this year. i think when we start talking differently, we start talking differently. >> kids will sta heari rumors at school, around second third grade. >> how londo youeep the front up? >> as long as the want. >> i haveeard of theolar express ea exists in the eyes of tse who believe or tom hanks, either way. >> thus the polar express reference. all right, tnk you very much. just ahead, hiday music from jimmy buffett after yr cal news. it is a brisk wednesd morning. th's nothing compared to what you could see later in the morning. in the nws today, "news 4 ha learned th kyla henderon is mayor sitent gray's choice f next c. school chancellor. she was inrim chance lore after taking over for michelle rhee en she stepped down in october. ather and trfic are next. the moment you feerun down orchy nip flu-like symptomslin? inhe bud, with oscillococcinum. get oscillo and feel like yourself again. oscillococcinum, niit in the bud. > good moing, cloudy. we might get the sun bk. might haveew flurry this rning. tomorrow, sunny, brezy and col might have some accumulating snow beginning saturday eening and perhapsntounday and into onday. ashley, how's traficnow? >> good morning. 're lightening up all aroun the reon. capital beltway is clearing out. here's th pace onhe beltway. helights through bethesda. along 27 as i mentiede're back up toward speed. a little conjection but no big accidents. back to you. tonight on "news 4 at 5:00," flyg the busy sks. which airports are the 8:30 now o a wedneay morning, the 22nd y of december, 2010. it's a chilly morning here on the pla. niceeople gathered as they listen t this festive holiday music. and a little bit lat in the ow, some holiday music that will wm usp a bit, a one and only holiday performance by jimmy buffett a little bit later. i'm matt lauer along with savanah guthrie who's up from th white house. and carl quintanilla is with us too. >> do you coofor the holidays? >> no. >> nice talking to you. t nothing screams holiday like mark bitman and tod mk is going to show us h to ppare a rackf lamb. >> ift cou be microwaved, i could probab do it. >> you can jusheat. >> ian press 30 secondsnd start. so we're going to talk about something that someeople may be familiar with it. it's a health condition for people that stand outside in the cold. it tns their fgerswhite. this has actually hapned to me. we'll get into all of thi in a bit. and do you guys have any weird addictions? >> i'm n going to adm that to you right heren the plaza. we'reoing to talk about so addictions that are tly strange, inclung a woman who actually sleeps with herlow dryer. a woman who wil not take a full-time job because she has to care for her ventriloquist puppet we'll meet both of those coming up. >>also we're goi to take a look torrowt the year that was innews. all the bistories that w covered. some of the fous peopl and infamous people weterviewed throughout the year. we're going to look back at the year a ltle bit tomorrow. and by the way, our 17th annual holiday toy drive wraps up today. we want to give a big thankou to everyone whoame down here andent online and conibuted to this toy drive. we have gathered nearly28 millio worth of toys for ildren all arod the country. and a big thank you to those who oversee this toy dri. and agn, thank you so much for donating. before we g any further. > we want to get to stephanie abramsho has a check of the weather. >> we are going thead now to see what's happeng outde your door. we have a cloud cov and temperatures arod the region are hilly. we're in the 30s. and by the end ofhe weekend andnto the first part of next week, we could get accumulating snow, so be awareof that. right now we've got a cloudy sky. temperatures arou the region are in the 30s. a few fluies aroundthe region. butwe'llave generally settled weaer betweenow and through chstmas day, but that accumulating snow is saturday nit into sunday possible. >> a it's time to find out what's having airthda during the holidayseason. we're going to hop down to willarscott. >> i love savannah, a i love lanta and albany and all tho great cies. i'm all right and god ess you. peace on eth and good will tords men and women. charlotte, beautiful charloe, ice grove. and ann predick. they are twins and ty are 101 years old. they attribute their longevity to loving ea other seph rizzo, new rk, 107. he kee up with current events. aled, we love ared wagner. evansville, indiana. 100ears old. pls car in a club six days a week and drives to church on sunday. howbout th? miriam ston is 100 years old. known as g.g., gat grandma and e kids are gaga over grandma. and ell bolero. in florida, 102 years old. attribes longevity to exercises on a staon area bike. lot of action, but you don't gonywhere. julia, sweet julia, she's in san marcus, california,she's 100 ars old. crhets hats for newborns and makes rories. and don't you forg, now back toavannah i new york. just ahea we'll show you how easy it is allegedly to turn a rac of lamb into the perfect holiday me. but first, theseessage this is "today" on nbc. the's something wrong about that choe of muc. this morning on "today's" holidakitchen, the perfect rack of la. our good friend mk bitmann says i can be an easy holid entree. he's the author ofow to cook everything. mark, welcome back. happy holidays. it does seem intimidating. >> the thingthat's great, i think it's intimatingecause we're used toetting it in restrants, it's fancy, it's kind of expense, but it's so dead easy to cook. >> the way most peopleee it and serve it, with basically bread crumbs, barley and what else? >> salt andpepper, and you mix those up and you spread them on the outsi face of the lamb, we're going to show you this in aminute. u may cut down between the racks of la. and you just roasit for about 20 minutes. >> that's tritional. >> that's the most traditnal. >> what you'reoing t do is make twist to it. yore going to do a couple of rubs >> smoked paprika, and i mix that with a lite ryereadnd you get this lovely,rumbly crust that. >> y want pple to know that it's okay to tm the fat off of lamb. >> the whole rack as a sort of cap of fat. you want a little of that on there, but you don't want quarter of an inch. you wa to take mt of it off. andost butchers will do that for you. >> why do you me that slice do the rib? what does that do for you? >> like t cut between the ribs, first of a it promotes ev cooking, buthen you get these beautiful crispy bits beeen the ribs. and wh you don't want is what's called frenching, and that's cutti all t ribs off between theibs. be you los this wonderful crispy meat. so you cut mos of the way down, down to that bone there. and then we're going to -- >> y mentioned rye bread, smoked papka and garlic. an you do it in food processor. last time we had aood processor issue here. let's see if you do a little bi beer now. >> cloves of garlic? >> add in some salt, somelive oil. stand ba. >> how long indvance do you put thi on the lamb? >> jus before you cook it. >> it's notike something you let soa in? >> we have contact. >>e're doing betr this time. and you don want this -- you want to puree. in fact this is exactly what you do want, is a nice crumb bread ummy mi and yo just, bk on this side. >> and be generous? >> we use it l. use it all. >> and that will cook for h long? >>bout 20, 2 minutes. >> and you know it'sone how? >> well, i you're really done, you know it' done sight and touch. but i would cook these. an we wouldoast these to about 130 degre on an instant read thermometer to get lamb that looks likethat. >> i want you to be able t show people your nin spice rub. >> you toast together sesame, nutm, et cetera, et cetera, the rest is on t website. you toasthemndut the anner grian herb grier. >> markbitmann, good to see you. comingup, jimmy buffett performs a song right here in r stud. forty years ago, he wasnt orried about retirement. hd yet to hearf mutual funds, iras, or annuities. back then, he had something more portant to do. he wasn't focused on his future t fortunately, somebody else was. at usaa we provide retireme sutions for our military, vetans and their families. from investments... life insuran... to health care options. learn more with our free usaa retement guide. call 877-242-usaa. > become now a 8:44, this morning on "today's" health, a condition triggered by cold weather and stress that triggers numbness in your finge and toes and other areas of your body. doctor, let's jt sta with you, because lot of people may have thi and may not even know they have it. what are the sympto? >> it is an excessive nsitivity to cold temperature. so the doctor will ask a patient w do you feel? and they'll y, i'm more sensitive to cold than mos patients andhey will have experiencecold ssonat -- sensations tt will cause a white pallor and when i recors it turns red >> i actually have this myself. but sometimes i just get one finger turn that way. >> patnt also say ty have a dominant fenger. the hds and feet sometim and nose and the earcan be affeed as ll. >> what cause this? >>t can obviously be set off by cold, it can be set off by stress. there's a coue of different theories about what'soing on in the fingers or in t toes to do it. it's not totally elucidated. >> it's ieresti that stress could be a cause. explain th. >> well, you know, you have to understand the normal respons to cold. it turns out that han beings, we like to kp our core temperature the same. and the brain iseryseish, it likes to keep ielfwarm. it sacrificeshe ski in order to do that. the brain is wir to the skin thugh the nerve us system, i shifts the cd to the center of the body. when you're nervous, the same then happens. my hands are cold right now. >> sorry about th, we'll get you some hand warms. dr. mike snyder, generally, this is a nuisance. but can it be very serious? >> it cane serious when it is a symom of another illness and th's where surgeons comento play. becaus normally this is a med i can treated or proteion treated type of disease. >> what are some of the treatments? >> well, t first thing is what the doctor alws says, don't that. stay away fm the cold. i just saw you outside. e of the fir things we do is telleople to wearloves so i have some nice christmas gloves that you can wr. >> it kind of match my outfit. thank you. are some gloves better than ores? >> they're eve having electric heated gloves that have wires that go up into the fingers. you can always put in one of these little hot pks that you can slip intoour possibility. >> i'm goi to take all o that. >> it' also shifting tempatures like going to the grocery store, i'm sure you would say the worst thing io is gorocery shoppg in th cold area,itting stillith cold breeze blong on you, so workers need a pla wre they can park close to their job. they need to hav a space heater close to them. there' nothing bter than warm temperatures. >> some peopleight think of frosite, but this is fferent? >> mosteople don't end up losing any type of tissue or developing sores, so it's generally a benign contion and a lot of peoples they get older actuly grow out of it. >> i haven't grown out of it yet, but thank y doctors, have a greathoday. and thanks for t presents. oming up next a special holiday performance fromimmy buffett. but first this is "today" on next. >> the toya concert seriesn "today" brought to yoby toyota. jimmy buffett has recorded more than0 albumsnd played sold o shows with the coral reef band. now he's bringing his steel dm sound to his cistmas album called a coral reef for christma sie you're not the star of the show, who's the man? >> lyle greenwich. >> h long have you worked together. 25 years. >> have you ever been home with him? >> i went for carnival. >> youring aifferent sound to christmas sgs now. all christmas songs work with the steel drum sound and things like th? >> there's a few that really work witit. you kn . >> how hardas it toonvince thisuy , i mean,ou know, you guys were aays on his albums. d he work for scale? >> iwn the record company too. >> one hand out, one hand in, right? >> it wa july, so i got out of my stuo and it was kind of hard to saychristmas. i got on the screen, had a little glass of ne, turned the air coitioner down and put a youtube of christmas on and got into the spirit. >>n trinidad can christmas be as muc funn a warm wther location. don't loo at m like that. i used think it had to snow and cold. that's how christmas spirits bo. >> it's just as funown there. we have a good time, everody gets together. goo people's houses. >> they ve ice, it's in drin. umbrella drinks and sd between your toes? >> yeah. >> what e you gng to sing? >> we're doing -- what are we doing? >> winter wonder land. >> take it away guys. ♪ sleigh bells ring are you listening ♪ ♪ snow is glistening ♪ a beautiful sight ♪ we're happy tonht ♪ walking in a winter wondernd ♪ ♪ gone away is the blue bird ♪ her to sta is the new bird ♪ he sings a love song as we go along ♪ ♪ walking in a winter wonderland ♪ ♪ we could build a snowman and then pretend thate is parson brown♪ ♪ he'll say a you married we'll e no man ♪ b you can doing theob when you're in town ♪ ♪ later on we'onspire as we drm by t fire ♪ ♪ to face unafraid the plans we have made ♪ ♪ wking in a winter wonderla ♪ ♪ walng in a winter wonder land ♪ ♪ walking in a winter wonder la ♪ ♪ in the mdow we can build a snowman ♪ ♪ and etend tt he's a carnival clown ♪ ♪e'll have lots of f with mr. snoan ♪ ♪ until the kids a knock him down ♪ ♪ the snow is so thrilling ♪ so you know it gets to chilli ♪ ♪ we'll all play the eskimo way♪ ♪ walking in a winter wonderla ♪ ♪ we'll folwic aehliclic and pl in a winter wonrland ♪ ♪ y can havehristmas in the caribbn ♪ ♪ what's the temperatu ♪ i don't know ♪ i'll be he f christmas ♪ the right way t say merry christmas on a bright sunny day ♪ ♪ feliz navidad >> merry chrisas. >> the album is a coral rf for christmas. robert, te a bow, you too, jimmy. 'll be right backbut first this is "today" on nbc. >>and here's a live look outside of our nation'scapital. a chilly wnesday mornin but all gns show we could be having a white cistmas this weeke. i'm lindsay czarni. in the new day, crews are battng a massive fire in maryland. this is lirty town. it's about ten miles northeast of frederick. chopper 4 was over the ene a w minutes ago. th building is a lumber stoge facility called vintage lumber. one person was injured an taken to the hospital butis expected toe okay. we still don't know how this fire bega in other news pice released new rveillance pictures of a n wanted in connection with a murder of a storeanager in noheast washington. theyilled rob patel while robs good morning. we've got a coud cover now, a little sun back ter. high near 40. no trael problems intomidday, christmas day. christmas evening into sunday sw. how's traffic, ashy? >> we cleared out on the topside of thebeltway. ndsay, back to you. >> thanks,ashley. toni we're back n with more of "today" on wednesday moing. 22nd day odecember, 2010 niceroup opeople outside. how many of you people are finished with your holay shopping? how many of you are slackers? ouon the plaza, i'm matt lauer along with savannah guthrie, meredith and al taking some well deseed time off. coming up in this half hour, grt financial advice. everything from our money experts includin some of the pitfalls and trial and tribulations of returning to work after you have been hom for years raising a family. also i haveot this question in this econo is it bter to buy aew or used car. we'll have that advice coming up in a couple of minutes. we hav heard of people being adepicted to dgs, shopping even alcoholics. imagine having your hair dryer in their bed, or even not able leave home witho their ventriloquist dummies. wee going to talk to people who have really strange and unual addictions. > we'l also have some buty tips, quick beauty tips for some of those holiday parties. et's go inside, ann i off today, cl quintanilla is standing by at the news desk. the senate is psed for a final vote today on the new s.t.a.r.t.treety thathe president signein april. >resident obama signs the repeal of ton't ask don tellolicy into law today ending the ban on gay openly servin in the military. 14,000 service members have been dihargednder the policy. it will likely take several mohs for theepeal to gonto efct. texas will gai four additional seats in e house of representatives. florida will add two. new york and ohio will each lose o seats because of population drops. accordg to the nsus, the u.s. is now home to more th 308 million people. uth kea is launching three days of militar ercises today, tomorrow seoul wl hold what are expecdo be the largest live artillery drills th untry's history. meanwhile south koreans gathered to light a 90-footall christmas te for the first me since 2003. rescue crewsre on ale in southern california a forecasters say a seventh stight day of rn could be the heaviest yet. stay states of emergency have already been declared in six california counties. heavy rainfall was alsoo blame for washing away four homes in western izona. the rate of tn pregnants fell 6% to it's lowt point i 70 years according ta new govement report. perts credit the recession f discouragingould be mothers. and it look likehe rink here in rockefeller center might have some competition in paris. the eiffel tor surprised people by opening a skating rin 200 feet above t city of lights. free skates will be provided for some slippy fun. this conductor had to trade his basketball for a baton. shaquille neal lding the bostonpo e first pro basketball player evero have the honoro close ou the concert with "we are the champions." he says ty'll hear that son again at the endf the cloudy a cold on this wednesday morning. good mning. i'tomkierein. radar showinglurries east of anne arundel county and the panhandle of west virnia. right now in the low and mid-30s exct right now at reagan national, upper 30s. later sun back this afternoon. clearing out tonht andcolder. 20 tmorrow mornin breezy and cold on ursday with sunshin incrsing cloudssaturday. could get carl, back to you. this rning on "today's" money 1, advice toelp fix your financial problems. from should you by a new car or a used one, to getting back int the work force after ting time out to raise your kids. jean chatzky is author of "money 911." an author of finish rich.com and author of start over finish rich. evybody, good morning to you. wa to get right to it. with amy in banner elk, north carolina. ining us on skyp amy, good morning, happy holidays. wh's your question? >> i have alwayseen advised t never buy aew carue to the rates of deprection, however as i have staed this proces i have found that many of the w cars, there's bter financing rat on those as posed to the rates that i'm being offed for a used vehicle. so i'm wondeng if that aice to never buy new still holds true >> absolutely, we are in a wed r environment. if you look at edmonds co.com, will see a whole list ofars that are aually cheap te buy, not just finance, but buy new rather than used. cause the cash for clunkers programs took a whole lot o used cars off the market. you have got to have a really good credit score, like above 740 toock into that cheap finaing on the new cars. if you have it, this is the time i would look new. but if you don't have it, go to a credit union and apply for financing. a car loses% the minute you dre it off the lot. >> i you look at cars that are ju twoears old now, they're discountedy 50%. so even if t financing is more, i would still rather buy a car that's 50 percent off. >> unless if it's on that list of carthat you can buy cheer w rather than new. >> if youick one onhat list that's new, and you hav no probms, no-brainer. >> we he got an eail from someon who asks to remain anonymous. i have been stay-at-hommom for over ten years and i'm ready to get back to work. unfortunately, i am unluc to find a job. having thr kidsakes it difficult to work outside the home. with all the scams in the work and home offers, who dyou know which onesre legit? >> you only wan t check any business opptunity with the better business bureau organization. so any busines that you're loing at go checwith the better business bureau. the second thing is, if i was going to wk at home, i would lookt the rect selling asciation. go to dsa.org and look at all the major products that you c sell from home and services. and look at direct marketing sobody who's watching right now atome. something like amazon.com you simply hav an amazon link and if you'rdoing anythin line, and i'm not pmoting amazon, i'm just using the as an example. all businesses across america, they'll pay you a mmission, you have no inventory and the checks hit your bank account. you're not going toake money stuffing envelopes in your underwear on yourcouc so if it sounds too good to be true, it's almt always too go to be true. i wanted to know about mom corpcom. it's a placement agency for ms and they have a lotf jobs that are able to allow you to work on e hours that you want to work. so if you just want to workhen your kids are at school, this is a od place to check out. >> we do have a phone caller, tom in milwaee. tom, good rning. >> caller: good morning. i have a queion, i am a professor and i am seeking unemployment. i currentl have a 403(b) with $30,000 wh the current institution, what should i finish with that money when i finishith ts position. >> tom, how old are gr? >> caller: 37. >> of course youon't want to cash o the 403(b). because of t fees, the penalties, he's going to le half of that. so probabl to have the most flexibily with investments, is to roll that over to an ira. he wts to make sure t ask for a dirt rollover and not get that in his nam >> make sure it's notaid to you,ecause then you'll have to pay that 20% out for taxes and rhaps theees as well. if you want to do aoth ira, you rol it over to a rollover a and work with the tax situation, see if that works for you. it m make sense to put itnto a roth ira so then you can take that moneyut tax free in retirement. perhaps you might like to put it with another emplor. >> a questi, donnish, good morng to you. >> my sisternd her husband have their social security and identities stole they usually checkheir annual credit repo. so r, so go. theyanted to check the credit for thr two kids. but they're unable to because they're ne ors. how do they check their kids' creditreport >> it's a growi problem, kids having their identits stolen. an in this case, bause the kids are nors, you have to go directly to the credi bureau. so you have to actuall write to equifax, expeerian and trance union. you wa to find ohat no credit file ests f these ki. and it's a reallyood tim to just makeure that you don't ve out that information unless you absolutely have to >> okay. okay? >>donnish, thank you for your question, an thanks to a of you guys. happy lidays coming uprom retirement to fami relationships, a new eye opening sury about what by boomers e really thinking. up next, women with some strange addictions, fromleeping with the hair dry on, to ventriloquism. 'll here what their lives are reallyike right after this. ♪ ♪ [ ma announcer ] here's hoping you find something special in your driveway this hoday. ♪ [ saa ] hoo ho! [ male annncer ] t an exceptional offer on thmercedes-benz you've always wand at e winter event going on now. and stay connected wi three years of mbrace service complimentary. you can do this... t the ball. get the ball, girl. hmmm, you cat do that. but you can do this. 's the simple things. scientifically formulated ngay pn relief + massage with penetrating nubgives you e targeted relief of a massage plus thpowerful, longasting pain relief of bengay. bengayain relief + massage. visit bengay.com/relief for a $30 coupon. love e nubs! ♪ [ gas ] this is forou. thanks. ♪ cool. ♪ [ chuckles ] whoa! ♪ [ chuckl ] i love this part. yeah. m too. [ lucy gasps ] [ female announcer ] this year, hallmark has all neways to say it. tlc's new series called my strange addiction. my name is kiesh and i love ea eating toilet paper. love the way toiletaper feels on my toue. when i'm in my r, i keep a roll in my c. eating toit paper isn't rmal, kiesha. >> i am addicted to sleeping with mylowdryer. have a really bad burn incident and ioke up and it was just le the blow dry had just attacked me. >> shel come in a she'll curl up on the blow dryer most of the ti. as long as i'm using it, she's going to be partial to it. it's not something i want for my dahter. >> i'm addicted to ventriloquism. whher i'm going to get coffee athe corner store, whether i'm going to the diner, always ve my puppets with me. >> when i ex-fiance, made me choose either him orhe pupps, it was pretty painful. i'm not huing anybody. >> lori is aicted to sleepin with her blow drr. april is addicted to ventriloquism and mikeowd is an addiction speciist. >> your dummy, may. >> hey, how are you? >>'m great. let's start wh april, because obviously you have peopleho say get over it and don't worry about your life. you're here and you're sharing your story for a reason, why? >> the reason'm sharing my story ishat i have actually ed my strange addiction to my benefit "so youdmit it's a strange addiction. >> iake a career o of my addiction, i actually me my living as a professiona ventriloquist. >> i understd that you codn't hold down a j because all of your attenon is focused may the dummy. >> may and my six other puppets, yes. but the things iave made a career out of my strange addiction so it's served me well. >>o you don't believeou have a problem, if it works out and you make money, it's not a problem, is that what you're saying? >> ablutely. >> you say you have burns on your body. >> multiple. >> do you realize that this is a problem? >> oh, absotely. that's why i did the show. i realid it was a problem. iave been knowing it was a problem. >>ou have had this addiction sleing with your hairryer on since thege of 8. at started this, was this born fromfear? >> my sister, my older sister is acally the one who kind of introducede to the hair dryer. and o night i just had aard time sleeping at nht when i was a kid. >> so it' a comfort for you? >> oh, ablutely. >> so when it stas to burn your skin, one would think, you've got a fight flht, we don't want t feel pain,hy keep doing in it? >> so me, that is insignicant mpared to the comfort that it gives me. >> both of youre sing until. >> i'm currently single. >> is it because of the addictio do you think? >> ye and no. my sange addiction is my career, we -- i spend lot of time on the roadnd stuff. but i do get o a lot. as a matter offact, you know, it shod work in my favor because here's t thing, i can tell the difrence between real and fake. because i'm actually a sange actor. there areeople who i putn the guest lt tha she comes on the condition that she mes. >> laur u're single, does this affect your ability to meet someone or todate? or t even have someone sleep over? >> it has in thpast, yes. >> ithe pa, it's affected it. and it's never been major break. t it's affected it. >> dr. mike,hat is the source re, i talked with lori and she remembers at the age of 8, april re, it's working out for her caer. but these addictions certainly ha detrimental side effects it's hard on your body? >> when you lk awhere started,here w a classical conditioning for lo, and she sort of bonded with sleeping with that hairdryer. when it starts to cau some problems and i prevents you from having a romantic relationship, that's when we stt to say, how do i cultivate some balance and maybe mak some chges? >> i'm looking at april's body nguage and lor april seems to enjoy this. is there a pt of the addtion that says i'm getting attention, people nice me >> absolutely. >> when you g attention, it feels good. it's something that you actually li to , april, right? >> that's the funny thing, i went to a party with her. and i was put on the list for the black and white party. and there was a g talkingo her about his failed relationship a i washere and i knew that this was fake, but he was so drunk that he was acally asking her for romantic advice. i was ther and i guess the advice she givess pretty good. >> i think my advic i pretty good. >> it give ys you a voice. i treat a lotf video game addiction, and literally and figuratively it gives you a voice. >> we'll s where this journey kes both of yo thank you, lori, april, dr. mike, and tlc's new series called my strange aiction premiers on december 29th at 9:00 p.m. cong up 5 million baby boomers will be turning 65 next yearrom their house to their finances. we'lfind out what they're thinking. but first these messages. are you a procrastisan? 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( chirpg ) [ male aouncer ] it's here. the all-w chevy cruze. msn autoscalled it "the class of its class right now." but that's n the only story. it's g turn-by-turn navigation, onstar, an avlable six-spe automatic transmission, remote keyless entry, and 10 r bags. it's a big story for aompact car. the all-new chevrolet cruze. et used to more. very well-qualified lessees can get a low-mileage lease on a 2011 chevrolet cruze ls for around $19 a month. cal for details. we are wrapping up our 17th annu toy drive this year and we want to go t one of our long-time contributors, jacks pacific. >> gat to be here. >> what were you able t donate thisyear? >> this is our 10th year supporting the "today" show toy drive. this is our beautiful princess dog fromhe tangled movie. weave pokemon toys and beautiful dolls, dress up ts and, you kn, we actuay were able to give almos half a million dollars worth of toys to help kidshisyear. >> what's the edback that you get from t recipients? >> we g e-mails and photos and tons of pictures from peoe who are overwheed and we are also able to get to toys for tots and all different kinds of oth ganizations. [ female announcer whsettle for plain bread wn you can haveillsbury grands! flaky layers biscuits? t warm, light delicate layers are like nothg else. a a layer of excitement to your nt meal. ♪ try mini crescent dogs. just unroll thdough, roll up, bake, and present. very impressive! and ry easy. for this reci and more, visit pillsburycrescents.com. a live lookoutse right now on another fstymorning here in thedistrt. we'll see huch good the su will do for us in terms of warng things up. od rning. it 9:26. i'm aaron gilchri. a man attaed outside ad.c. ub in ocber has been ruled a homicide. he allegedly threw a brick through the club windo the club's owner and four employe were originally charged inis death. tho charges wre later dropped. the u.attorney's office will now review the autopsy to determine if new charges will be filed. we'l take a lack at wea good mornin four-day forecast. no travel problemstoday, tomorrow, or friday. incrsing ouds christmas day. there's a possibility of accumulating snow surday night and perhaps on sunday as we as into monday. along with this some strong gusty winds are possible. steve her shorn, how's traffic? >> mu better than usual. it's usually pretty slow right now, but tffic heading toward , outer loop of the beltway movingithout delay. we're going to keep an eye on the southboun side. right now wre lookg good heading down towardnewington. the hov lanes still pointing northbound. aaron? >> tonight on "news 4 at 5:00 flying the busy skies. which airports are e worst when it cmes to delay and cancellatios. cancellatios. that's tonight the moment youeel run down or achy nip flu-like symptoms get oscillo and feel like yourselagain. oscillococcinum, nip it in the d. the first u.s. man to win figure sting gol in 22 years is the olympic champion. >> skating to olympic gold in vancouver earlier this year. just one of the events that brout smis and tears t all watching. just like the rescue of those chilean miners trapped under groundor just two mohs. president obama and george clooney. we're going to lookack at the year that was, 2010. tomorrow o"today." good morning evyone, i savannah guthrie,longith tamron hall and rl quintanilla. one man famouy said don't trust anyo over 30, there turng 65 this year. what they think of work, famil and money now. and today's beauty, 'ti the season to celebratend that means trying to look your bes morning, noon d night and the morning after the big bastoo. this mning we're goi to eck out some new buty breakthrous and pretty impressive things. >>also ahead in "toy's" hoday kitchen, get ready to nilerom real cooks arod the country. i thinkhey're doing fed cheese. >> we're goingo sw you where you could see a white christmas. you guys into a whitechristmas? you like a white christmas? >> all rit, so let's have a look at who will beeeing a white christmas and who h a good chance of seeing it and actually deep down into >> all right, so we were all talking twitter before. maybe people should tell us if they want a white ristmas, they should twier all of us. >> it's a shameless follower grab >>stephanie, thank you. fm their house to their finances to thei relaonships, what are boomers really thinking about ese days? will find out right after this. of gourmet coffee and te to choose from. ♪ keig is the way to brew fresh, elicio coffee in under a minute. wa to brew. female announr ] so with keurig, every cup taes like it's brewed just for you. ♪ because is. choose. brew. enjoy. keurig. ♪ [ gasps his is for you thanks. ♪ cool. ♪ [ chuckles ] whoa! ♪ [ chuckles ] love this part. yea me, too. [ lucy gasps ] [ female announcer ] this year, hallmark has all new ways toay it. ♪ [ fele announcer ] there's a place caed hidden vall where kids t onlyat their vegetables, they can't get enough. ♪ hidden valley ranch. makes vegetables delectabl and now make lettuce a real lad with hidn valley salad kits. everything you need all in one bag, like garlic croutons, lemon pita bites, parmesan cheese, and caar dreing. turnlain lettuce into a hidden valleyalad. comon... isn't it time an auto insurer gave it to youtraight? tt's whyou should talk to state farm. but not yet. first, tk to any one of the 40 million drivers who already have state far 40 million. yeah, that's more than geico and progreive combined. by a lot. 40 million drivers. mo savings. d discounts upo 40%. where else you gonna get dcounts like th? call an agent at 1-800-statfarm or go online. call an agent at 1-800-statfarm ["stirt up" playing] stir up a sme with hershey's syrup. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] evy day thousands of people arswitching from tylenol® to advi. to learn more and get your special offer, go to teadvil.com. take action. take adv®. well, therere more than 76 million baby boomers ithe u.s. and in 2011. 2.5 milli of them will be turning 65. a new report out from aa tells what they are thinking. y track baby boomers? >> well, you know, by boomers ve changed the face of the world really ever since they were bn from the schools wn they were younger on to the workplace et cetera. so w have been tracking them r a long time and we kindf wanted to see, w did a survey about five years ago, we wanted to see wrehey are as they rn 65. >> in some cases theomparin between what they sd five years ago and what the said today is quite striking. the first part of the survey saidhat their current ciumstances, whether they're doing worse, the same or betr than excted. intereing and perha not surprising, buthe highest number where people felt their doing worse is in the area o personal finances,f course so many people, their retirement savingwill really hit with the great ression. >> the stock market has tanked e howing market has plummeted. it would make sense tt tha would be an area of ncern. butespite that, about half are prty muchhere ty thought they would be. they're fairly optimistic, these baby boome and that's a reflecti of what ty lived through and thehangeshey have gone through in their lives. >> how lg they expecto live, i believe your survey sai they most expected to liv an average of 85.2 years. but they wantedo live to 88.7 years. now i don't know what the diffence i it's just a matr of three years. but i gues did you expect people to sa gosh, i wish i would love to be 100? >> they want to live gd long life, they wan to be very active, but is abo the quality of life, not just the quantity of life. they want to be independent, they want to live a long time but they want to make sure that theye still contributing and active durinthat time. >> they want to live a little bit loer. when you aed them what the would most want to improve or the next five years. this make mes lah. work dn there, 1% at 65, you're kin of over the who idea of career ambition. but notsurpsingly, they would like t seeheir physical healthimprove. >> that's notsurprising. t only a third said that. so again, these baby boomers are more healthy andore active than generations before themnd of course they're going to want to maintn their healthecause they do want to live a good long life. the final question, when will you stop working? andere we see a real difference bween when you asked this questio five yrs a lot a when you asked it today. tell us about at. >> this is the most interesting of all. becaus it's totally refining retirement. fi years ago thoht they would retire in the next two years. now they're saying maybe other five years. part ofhats the with the economy. partf it is preference. we find a lot whaby boomer their ceers mn a lot to them. their careers are who they a. >> a lot of peop, it's hard to make that trantion, retirement just to complely sp working and then just be sitting around the use saying what do i do now? >>e need to be prered with phased retement and partime jobs forlder wkers. > >> and whatife changes did they plan. a lot of them were questioned about whether ey wanted to move. >> sples interesting, they want to travel, but they don't want to move. they wanto be active, 54% want to be volunteering in their communities. they want to trel, ty want to expernce the world. they want keep growing, but they want to do it in plac where they e, where their communitiesare. so we need to repared for that as all the baby boomers get into tir later years. >> happy birthday to a those aging ba boomers. >>and comg up, some quick beauty fixes forhe morning after your big holiday bash. that's coming afterhese messages. we've taken all we knowbout reading and put it here. introducing nook color. exrience millionof books like never before. relax with the mazines u love. anytim anywhere share your favorite books wi your vorite people. and watch in amazement asour chilen's stories come to life. books, magazines newspars, and children's books, l at your fingtips. nooklor by barnes and noble. get great last minute gifts is wedsday rough friday asears! save fif to sixty rcent off coats, swters, eece and sleepwear for the family. ...get this twen-two inch r lcd/dvd combo for two twenty-nine, nine-nine. plus, this crafman mechanics ol set is just eighty-nine ninety-nine. sears. i'd get this tightness in my chest. so i went back to my doctor again. we ose symbicort to help control my asta symptoms all day andnight. [ man ] symbirt improves my lung function, starting whin 15 minutes. symbicort will not replace a rescuenhaler for sudn symptoms. it is a combination of two micines and should note taken more often than prescribed. symbicort contains formoterol. medicines ke formoterol crease the ri of death from asthma problems, and children and alescen may have an increased risk of beg hospitalized for asthma problems. symbict is n for people whose asthma is well conolled with a long-term asma control medine like inhaled corticosteroids. once yoursthma is well controlled, your doctor will decide if you can stop symbicort without loss of control, and prescribe a long-term asthma contromedicine. be sure to see your doctor if ur asthma does not improve or gets woe. symbicoris a good choi to help control my asth all d and night. [ inhales ] [ exhales ] ask your doctor isymbicort s a good choice for you. [ male announcer ] if you can't afford your medicati, asrazeneca may be able to help. this morningn "today's" beauty, how toook your best the morning after allhose holiday parties. w do you give your skin a ost in between all the festivities or make that pwout last. les get to it because we have got some gat things. >>ots of great tngs to share. >> what do weo the night before? you've gotomethingancy going on >> you get me, it's late, but this is the one thing to keep by your bedside that's really going to help you the next rn. this is midnight recovery conctrate. >> and what mes this so specl beyond the smell? >> well, the sme is going to lp lull you toleep. so i love that, it's very hydrating, it's got evening primrose, yo just massage this in your skin overnight while ur skin's in the ultimate recovery mode. soouhen you wake up in the morng, everything's a little biteasier. >> it's $42, but it's ver concentrated. >> andhe day of you big party or ent. >> the day o or the next morning, you wan to look bright eyed en if you don't feel it. th is clarion's beauty flash bomb 's the 30th anniversary so they dressed it up a little bit. >> there's a l of buzz around this product. >> there's one sd eve 30 seconds. it sessi caffeine a aboutal. use it under makeup, or pup it on f 15 minutes for mask and wipe it off. >> this is another secret that's supposed to be wondrous. >> this is under $7. it'sintense, it's going to give you a little sting, butt's going to work. it's going to get rid of any redness. one little drop, all the redness is gone. >> and it's at most drugstos? >> drugstores, yes. >> and anoth celebrity favorite? >> celebrities sar by this. but when u put these pencils in the corners of your eyes. you want t find a tone, that's a little bit of a pinkish shimmer. you want to show your es off and enhance them,ust p a little dab makeup forever and it's $15. >> that brightens your lo. you don want a rough pencil. and this is waterpof. >> how doou know what shade baseon your complexion? >> a lot of them will work on any skin tone. but i pick something either ne or a little bit pinky. and something to distct. >> i'm all about distraction. distraction i key. so you go from reall bright left. it literally, it's likear on yourlips. it's not going anywhere. there's brht intense pigment. littleit goes a long way. >>his red is ridulously hot. >> peoe are looking at your lips, not your tired eyes. >> words of wism. >> and what about hair making sure your hr look great? >> the night before you've probly got a lot of product in your fair. it's aust. but touch it. and it turns into a cream. >> oh, it does >> and whatoes this do to your hair >>his will help you to restyle it. so it's ve, very light so. if you already have products in your hair, y don't want to put too much ext in it. it gets rid of e frizzies and gives it some shine. >> it doesn't give your hair a chalk ok. >> and then of course your feet e exhausted. >> feet are killing you, the next morning, put on flats, even if you want to wea high heels. these e from miss si. love them because they hava little bit of cushion on t le. >> detox. >> this is like a little of e hair of the dog in the mt pamping way possle. >> it's not eap. >> a little will go a lo way. >> and there's real saki in it? >> this is le the rning after and evening out. gets rid of a t toxins, rexes your skin. and it will give you engy for the day. >> thankyou, up ne, "today's" holiday kitcn. this morning on oday's" holiday kitchen, an all amecan nibble st. molly o'neil, her new cookbook celebrates american cooks from different cultures today she's got some interesting appetizers that are perfect for thehodays. congratulations on the ok,ou look at it andt has to be a labor of love. >> thiwas a long, long process. but it's a big, bigcountry. >> what inspire you to go across the country and colle theseecipes? >> i went around new york city, walkin all blocks of all size boroughs and i just love talking to people about how they cook. i wand to dot for america, but i couldn't wkamerica. >>e're going to showou how to me fried cheese, right? >> this is an scale version of the typical fried chee from wisconsin. we'reaking this fabulous farmhouse cheddar. cheddar is perfect becauset's nice and hard and is got to nice sharp bite to it. want to add our little -- all of oulittle spicies here. >> do they have to be this g, by the way? >> youan make them ty. >> ay. >> what we're trying to do today is create almt a little nibble fest that in fact can serve as a meal. >> right. >> so the portionsre a little bit biggerhan you might want to do if it were just a cocktail party. >> after you do the bread crumbs, you're going t freeze these? >> because they fry nicer. >> if they're frozen? yeah, first. we sson up our bread crumbs here and contie to dust these in flour. and then -- >>nd the bread crumb mix includes? >> the bread crumb mix has in it some cornstar, and some parsley. and the greatest ingdient of l of course is the piment which is smoked pap puertoico can. -- paprika. it should take abo ten mines because we have aice rapid boil going on there. >> and they'll be in the for how lo? >> two to three minutes maximum. do you want to go on to the sliders? this is a ftastic recipe. >> and you're not jt using any meat that you would nmally find in the store? no. what we're doing here, this is from a young woman in seattle, washinon. and these are lam sliders, we have coated them once again. re's the meat xture. you put nit a little bit of the egg yoke,hese are almonds, season them all up. >> yourocess them? >> ye >> and thenou cook them for how long? >> until they getolden brown. i'm goi to s three minutes on each side. hi. >> it's pay time. >> we have never fried cheese. >> you're the right pla you want to turn tt a make sure it's ay? weat the onalmonds into the litt miure, so we wouldake it here. we wouldet a little egwhites on it. i mean can you do better? >> the book can called "one big table." molly o'neil, thk you so much for this. happy holiys. when we come back -- here's a li look outside ght now. the su and clouds doing ait of a tug-of-war. it's 9:6. i'm ron gilchrit. in the newstoay, a massive fireestroy large barn in maryland. it's a lar lumber storage facility or was. one person was injured and taken to the hospital but is expeed to be okay. we stilloan know how tha fire started. othe news police revealed new surveillance pictur in connection with the man waed for the murder of a store opener northeast washington police say the two men killed rob patel while rbing the store over theweekend. > meteorologist tom kierein with a look at the weaer outside. cloudy and cold. temperatures in theudo upper 30s right now. we mit have afew peak of sun. overallhigh nr 40 the sunack morrow. eezy andold and less win but still cold frida with nshine. increasi clouds chrimas day. could get acmulating sn saturday night and again on sunday. strong winds may linger into monday. and steve her shorn, how's trafc? >> still very light arod the beltway. beltway both inner loop and outer loop moving withoutdelay. there's roadwork blocking your lane. it's a little slow heang south. back to you. >> fing the busy sky, wch airpts areorse when it comes [ femalennouncer ] why settle for plain bread wh you can have pillsbury grands! flaky yers biscuits? the warm, light delicate layers are li nothi else. add a layer of excitemen to your xt meal. ♪ with nnabon cinnamon have such a sweet andelicious aroma that my family can't wait to getheir hds on them. eny cinnabon cinnamon... now in all pillsbury cinmon rolls. captions pd for by nbc-universal television eny cinnabon cinnamon... >p from nbc news this "toda"toda witp "today" "t d hoda kotb li fro r 1a 1a in r 1a i rockefeller pl. >>ou are too funny. itrip it's wines day wy everybodeverybody, decembp. >> that'p >> thas what you. >> what's ishereclick it. >> i did go on to say pple are buying the andhey're bing your song. four, four peoe. one of them is my mother i swear. >> they're une clickingthem for 99 cents what you know the numr one song the list is, by the way? >> from my songs? >>ou have a lot of people purchasing it. >> "love never fails." >> s,"love never fails." >> thiseek i've been reminded how i used to sing and how i used to look. nowonder i'm depressed. all righty. over here we have mi uso 2009. er na is heidi marie ferrin and god bless all t troops out there. we don't know why she's here, but apparently she's a big fan. she looks lonely over ere. >> thank you for coming by to ee us. >> all the best all of our troops and all of the families that sacrifice so muh. can you imagine knowing your children are in iaq or afghanistan right now? they're all over the worl south korea. we awoke to some interesting news about lindsaylohan. >> yes, we did. why are we not surprised anymore? >> so tmz had this. theyeported th there was an admintrator at the betty ford clinic who claimshat lindsay lohan graed her arm, twisd it, and did all kinds of thi when this woman was trying to get hero take a breathalyzer test. >> because she said tt she and her roommates were coming back from being out and aboutnd had gone to a r, she says. so she sensed thehad been drinking. >> shealked to tmz there. then today lindsay's people are coming out sayin no, no, that didn' happen. i was gettingy hair done. >> it was the woman o pushed her, and that lisay was the one that called 911 toequest s assistance. >> w find out the truth. those arecorded. >> the way, theoman who rks as the administratoras been fired from betty ford >> they sign a coidentiity agreemen >you're not supposed to talk about people that are in there. >> you're not supposed to. maybe she going to tryto make a little profit off that. you never know. will find out the truth. mabe shwas drinking this. this is the crazies win holder ever. it looks like shouldn't be suspended like at. >> you aed me, ckathie, how is this psiblend you said. >> it's phics. it'sthe way everything ppens. >> it's a rhubarbchristas we. rhubar i have my doubts. we'll try. >> of cours we wl. cheers to you. oh, m god. that's like sugar sweet. you like it? >> actually do. it'slike a dessert ne. at's interesting. 13.99 on mapleriverwnery.com. >> i you wantto g this thing,ut appently if you go on the website peleg.com. >> can i show you this gift diane gave me. it was a big ft. i get inside and it wa a pillow. if luke closelyt's pillow where you can put your ipod in and lten to music. it's the be giftever. i love it you can fall aslee listening to your favorite tunes. >> i think that'sawesome. very, vry awesome. >> i gave her cher cd because she's nu about cher. >> everybo is talking about the n video. i wasn't crazy abo theast video. >> ts is antwan dson. he did this rappy thing abt a guy that broke intois sister's house. >>who else? it's the most downloaded video ver. no, no. that's bieber, isn't it? >> that's differe. >> thanyou, joanne. >>ow he wants to put you in the chrimas spiri so he made a christmas version of the same deal called "chrisas intruder." >> we haveomeone coming to ncoln rk. ♪ he's cliing your chimney ♪ hide the the gifts ♪ hide the tree ♪ hide the eggnog ♪ santa ain the home boy ♪ here's your secr nta ♪ i got a itchblade >> a switchbde. >> yeah, a switchblade. >> anay, he's a gazillionaire. >> god ess him. he gets paid evy time someone downloads. >> i don't thk so. >> yours we pay for. yourself are 99 cents. his are free. keep downloang hers. >> he seems like a great y, and he has your old hair. >> i'mlad tim gaines is o today because those picres are locd away in the vaul >> he should show you in the hairdo. who is direing today. mary ellen. >> she's too nice. we ke r. careful. mary llen, your christmas gift is no longeryos, okay? this is a fun time. >> this one cracks me up. >> there's a woman who is causing quite a stir in her neighborhood bauecause e has 6-footall talking and singing anta a it's extremely loud. the neighbors are like shuthe saa up. it'say too loud. she says the santa has sentimentalvalue. it was given to her b her husband before he passedaway. >> it's t last gt he ve her. th's sa and we're sorryor her. she shod take santa indoors in t spirit of her husba and enjoy him because it's -- nobody wants to listen to that all night log, you know, all day long. i don't know wat i' do. >> she's been cited by t police. but she's saying, it's a sentimental gift, a i wan it ouide. >> put it outside anturn him down, then. be respectful o her neighbors as well. what do you think se should do? >> i can't believe we just showed it. >> i say taser. >> tas. drop her like a bag of dirt. >> i miss the taser thing. >> thie lee thinks old ladies should be tased. >>athie lee isan old lady. i think owed ladies tt misbehave shou be tased. that's the only way t tke them wn. this is very nice ne, actually. >> yu want to rest your back? >> yes. explain tthemhy i'm having a little more sips than i would. >> khie lee has a neck problem. >> a sere herniated disk. it's severe. >> severe herniated disk. >> between my 6 and 7 lumbo. this is an accupressure mat. careful camera4. reful cara 4. careful, careful cama 4. >> you're not sfoechd to have it your head. i justotpiked in the head. >>ow does it feel? >> i could do the rest of the show here, hoda. >>t's 50 bucks at hosamat.com. it's a swedish well nness marp. >> i told dr. mcclain, the man i hated so much, even though i don't te anne because it's notright. i disliked him immensely for out ten days beusei was in agony. then i love him. i think he's the biest genius in the wod because my feet e gorges. they're not anyere as beauful as hoda's but as ar perfect i couldope for. i went to see him about my neck. looking atour mri i woul't blame you if you decide for surgery. but then he said -- i was surprised, because a lot of the medical profession, they te to look down on eastern medicines or dierent kinds options you mighbe availed of. he said, you knowwhat? i think yoshould try acupuncturefter your holiday. let's try some acupuncture on u. ll take this and try it i t a little over t holiday. in the meanti, there are oer things that numb people. >>that? >> no, not that. >> you know who iwith us, by the way? jason siegel. st time he was here, itas fright ning. >> i went to say hello to him this morning, and still frightening. >> he changes the room. look at him. look at him. look, look. i'm s sorry. i don't think jason goes to bed efore he comes to see us. >> we like m. >> i think jason spends all night long outside or doing things inside someplace, and then h comes to see you. lsd he has a big present for you. i don't know at it means. >> okay, allright. ve on. sarah haines, it's christmas, and in the spirit we' givg away hings. >> wee giving away tivs through tomorrow y get the premier box set and o yearubscription so go now. one of our fans wrote in about the singing santa and he said it's louder at night, too and hi dog barks because they thin someone is there. it se the dogs f. >> at least tn it it off at night when people are trying to sleep if dogs hate it as well. >> up ne. >> not my music >> the is that not yo what a shame. look what sta has brought us. a hot, new, young actor. thre he is,jason siegel. all right. oh, my gosh. we'll be back eventually. it'that time of yr. time for campbell's green an casserole. you'll fd the recipe at campbellskitchen.com. campbell's.® it's azing what soup cado.™ you can he ["stir it up" playing] stir up a smile withershey's rup. into a bigr bag... into yet another bag. ♪ she washes the trash before it goes into the trash. ♪ don't give trash the spial treatment. get glad forceflex, the bag that stretches to prevent rs and ars. ♪ d try glad bla bags. now thicker for tough bs. after he made a name fo himself after getting sarah marshal he struck television series luck with "h i met your ther." >> now he'sgettin ready for "gu "g "gulliver's travels." >> he's our own >> it's obvious the sexual tension between the two of you when you're here is palpable. >> i'm not gng to lie. i have a crh on hoda. thre's plenty of me to go around. >> you're 6'4" in a mie about little tiny, itty-bitty people. >> yeah. i was tiy, and i spent a lot of time looking up at tennis balls and we did loot of filmi on green creen. it was a rl blast, and the movie terrific. >> it's no animated? no, live action. as a matter of fact, it's3d. how did u c meredith vieira out of the movie? >> i know. weust tookthe free press and l let her g tt was our plan from the beginning. >> you got more prs about it firing he >> you should next movie. >> your aracter has to woo emily blunt. how does that work? >> in the movie i had to be intimidate by her and fee she was above m station in life, which is perfect because she would nev be aracted to me, ever. i was jst myself. i look rely dashing. >> wre aryou? >> that me >> wd like to see you, if that's possible inin film, sincwe're not interviewing either of the other twoars. >> did a o those -- the wooing waying that you were doing, did that translate int al life? >> no, no. i don't do so well withhe girls. >> real? >> what's your personal life about? >> st making people ppy, hod that's all i want to do i just wan to make pele happy day to ay. >> how do you go about that? >> i don't ow. i don't know. have no idea. but the movie is just fantastic. it great for the family, because it's got a ltle something for everybod chrismastime, that' what you want >> sure. >> there i am. >> where? it's likene second. >> is tt y? >> m the skinny one. >> that' u,he little guy. >> i'm the little y. i spend most othe moe tiny. there i . look at me. >> is this a bigole? >> yeah. >> for little pern, it's a g ro? >>it's ptty big. i have hair extensio and talk withn acct. >> can we hear a little >> no. i'm the only one who really went for it. all the british acto jus used their regular accents. i dithe accent. >> which is? >> itounds like an american oing a bad british accent. but it's perct, st on. >you have a appximate new movie you're working on, the muppet movie. >> i'm filming the muppe right no >>his is because of the frontal nudity thin befo? you're doing just tights. >> kermit is always doing full frtal. is he ever in pas? no, not oe. >> what's the lady gaga connection to this whole deal is that true? >> i'm not allowe to dilose all our azing cameos, but we have geat people onhe film. >> which means ladygaga in it. >> jack black and emily blunt make an appearce, which is really exciting,yeah. >> how does a guy like you get so much work? >very flatterinquestion. you know what? i work superhard, a en you can't tell because you're shooting from here up. i'm like super fit. no, no. don't pan down i can't do an whole interview sucng my gutin. alright. that looks normal. >> that looks good. >> es my face loo formal? >> you lk adorable. are you a happy man, or is there still something you'd like in life? >> wre getting personal. m generally a pretty happy rson. are there things i want in life? sure. >like what? >> hod >> you haveto get in line. here's a longline. >> i've been wabiting for hda for a long time. >>jas, good luck with th movie. >> it's always wonderful to e you. >> we'll see you. thank for cing. >> oh, wow. > we love to tse you. have a great holiy. >> thank you. u, too. >> we'll show you this week photo collection that will mke you say wha > new leans' aar neville stops by to share a little homegrown sic. keep you ake... sleep isere, on the wings of lunesta. and if you wake up often in the mdle of the night... rest is here, on the wings olunesta. lunesta helps you fa asleep anstay asleep, so you can wake up feeling rest. when takinlunesta, don'trive or operate machinery until you el fully awake walking, eating, driving, or engagg in other actities while asleep, without remembering it the next day, have been reported. abnormal behaviors may include aggresveness, agitatn, hallinations or confusion. in depressed pients, worsing of depression, including risk of suide, maoccur. alcohol may crease these rks. allergic reactns, such as tongue or throat swelling occur rarely and may bfatal. side effts may include unpleasant taste, headhe, dizziness and morning owsiness. asyour doctor if lunesta is right for you. get lunesta r a $0 co-pay at lunesta.com. sleep we, on the wings of lunesta. cy up, spread joy. there no story without a cast of chacters, and just like we mix and ngle, so do the delicious tastes d textures in every handful of chex mix. we're made to mix. you can take the heat. 'til turns into heartburn, you've got what itakes: zantac. it's strong, fast sting relief. so lethem turn up the heat. you can stop that heartburn cold (sssssss!!!) zant. >> time for the neweries called "what the what?" >> we show you the photos you sent us that ecited the response what thewhat? >> w have from carol from michigan, itsays, the mayor told me to change t sign so i did, but no onectually kno who changed the sign. think this mor is still the mayor and his friendsare a bunch of charters. they said they n't know if the maor knows who did t. >> how big is ionia? >> isn't it a cute sign? way to be creative with na this is from joellestaples. his is how she prefers to stu in the library. leon number one and lesson number two. >> what's thepoints. >> s said she's in grad school an walked in and all t balt rooms have that. what'that for? >> writi the bathroom wall so you can erase it. >> naets kind of ute. >> from tiffany huffman from springfiel ringfield, misuri. i go to the branch on the st side. they live ten miles away, and almost drove off the road when they saw the sign. it says onhe ttomover 175. >> do we know -- what do they sell tre? >> no one had the guts to go in. would ou? it's not ectly welcoming. >> i would knock o theoor and sa whatoes this stand for? >> i wouldn't want to touch the ndle. >> next up, thiis really fuy. is is from ashley from portland, oregon. lookt the lock on there. -oh. she and her friend we to the zoo and lookedat pictures later and notied e lock was undone. >> oh, my gosh. >> no, no, no. >> okay. we'llave it for next time. >> all right. thank y. still to come, saa isn't he only one coming to town. aan nell vvile is here to preh a little gospel. ooh, a brainteaser. how n expea now save me even more on my hotel? well, hote know they can't fill every room everday. like this one. and this one. anoops, my bad. so, they give expedia ginormous discous withhese: unpublished rates. which meani get an even more rockin' hotel, foless. my brain didn't even break a swe. where you book matters. expedia. to stay fit, you might also wt to t lifting one othese. a unique sea st added to over 40 campbe's condensed soups. it helps ureduce sodium, but not flavor. so do a few lifts. campbell's.® 's amazing what soup can do.™ [ femalannouncer ] keurig has over 200 varieties of gourmet coffee and tea to choose fr. ♪ keurig is the way to brew frh, delicus coffee in under a minute. y to brew. [ female annocer ] so with keurig, every cup tastes le 's brewed just for you. ♪ because it is. choose. brew. enjoy. it is official. coming up on "news 4 midday what the president says abo implementing that new lieu. go morning. i'm kimberly suiters. connting wh so-called friends onne may become dgerous for youteen. well sit down with joshu well sit down with joshu wner for your. the next, you start one feelg bit off.fine. e moment you feel run down or achy, nip flu-li symptoms in the bud, with oscillococcinum. get cillo and feel like yourself again. >> we're back ready to play "who knew?" kathie lee is at the c.com digital fe playing helper and giving 100 bucksto those who ansr correctly to whose who don't, tey get the cd. >> thats right. >> it' a miracle on9th street. santa strolled over from mac's to help me out. thank you for coming by to see us. >>t's my pleasure, hoda. >> you're a big y. >> my. >> let's go across the street to ka thie. >> these lovely folks are fr wiscoin. finish the following line from he poem "twas the night before christm christmas when out on the lawthey'r arose such a clater, sprang from my do see what was the matter. it as painfully ear they have no idea. >> ihave no idea. >> sprang from my feet to see what was e matte >> no, no. no. >> at least y made an attempt. enjoy thi lull by album. >> santa,elp us out here. the correct answer? >> awayo the window i flew like a flash, i tore open the window and throughp the sash. did you ow that c. clemnt moore the author of that po was not aredited as the author and he as the first person that mtioned my lly le a bowlful of jell >> ba acros to kath. >> this lovel family is from arona. i feel sorry for you ll. how many ples in the united states areamed north pole? zero, one, two three, or four? how many do you think? one. >> no. i' going to switch with you guys, beuse you might need a lullaby album. he you go. >> she was ki of right. there is only on real north pole. >> but in north america there are ur, onen alaska, lahoma, idaho and of course there's one he in new york. >> the is? >> ay. back across to kathie lee. >> lovely famil visiting from brish olumbia. how many lights are the rockefeller christmas tree tis ear? 10,000, ,000,30,0, or 50,000? >> 50,000. >> no. >>on't feel sorry. she ts a great record. he you go, love. re you go. >> she lks like she's crying. >>ow man lights out there? >> there are 30,000 ligh, which is fire mile of wire. eugh to go fromne en of mahattan to the other end. >> they're l.e.d. lights. >> that's right. th're green. >>hese folks are from txas and have litt animals on their heads. om the story "christs c carol" the character has a first name. whais it? >> ebenezer. >> go for you. >> you got it. ebenezer skrocroog he wrote the novel in 1843. an tiny tim's original ne was fred, it was named after chaes' brother. >> why did they change it to tiny tim? >> the was a bit of family ama, to be quite honest with you. it's true. th's beside thepoint. >> back across. lovely couple fro arlotte, nortcarolina. which of the following is another name for santa claus? >> all of the above. >> you've t a lot of nes, santa, don't you >> i do, ure. there's many names, ha. so any. >> okay. like you. back across. >> th is another hard one, hoda. theseovely folks are om new orleans, where you love erybody there. no name all of santa's reindeer. >> dancer, prancer, vixen, comet, kupd,donner, blitzen, roux doc rudolph. >> i'm impress. she didn't have to sing the song. >> ey're commonly misrepresented the reindeer all have antlers because male reindeer lose their antlers in t wier. >> thank you for swinging by to see us i know you're busy. >> kathie lee wl cme across the street, too. air neville celebrates 50 years of music, and we're ging to help him out right afterhis. mom. ♪ wake up, it's christmas! ♪ome sethe tree ♪ there's prents unrneath it ♪ ♪ and i know there's some for me ♪ ♪ get moving moand dad ♪ wake up already please! ♪ how can you still beleepin♪ ♪ when it's six a.m. at least? ♪ come with me downstairs and ma it fast... ♪ ♪ i've waited weeks ♪ i've waited mons ♪ now christmas morning's here at last!♪ [ kid ] wake up. it's christmas. ♪ with cinnabon cinnamo have such a sweet and delicious aroma that my family can't wt get their hands on them. enjoy cinnabon cinnamon... now in all pillsbury cinnan roll im-fast gives you proven weightoss, not celebrities. so try the slim-fast 3-2-1 plan. the inically proveway to lose weight now. slim-fast. who has time to slim owly? it makes you jus want to close your eyes. >> it's unstakable. >> he's singii know i've been changed. >> aaron childho in new orleans ge him plenty of acess to goodmusic. now besis being anewlywed, he's celebrating 50ears in the businessith this third gospel cd cled "i kn i've ben changed." >> yr life has taken so many changes. when i read the news about your engagement and your maiage just last mon, i was so thrilled. >> thank a lot. it's gre. >> you're in love again huh? >> yeah. >> you were married t your first wife fo 48 years, andhe passed ay i kn. >> ah. >> tell us how you met. we know, but tell everyone else how you met this beautiful lady in yr life. >> she cameo new orleans to photograph after katrina for "people" magazine. >> don't you lovethis. helo? >> yes, ido. i got her number from my management, and we fe in love. >> that is so great. >> i'm happy. >> you look it. you look really hapy. >> that's awesome. >> yu've dne a couple other gospel records, t this is your first once since kaina. why is that meaningful you? >> liga l of the songs you can eel us talking about the katrina incident. like "i know i've en changed." it was special cd, especially being working wi alan again aft -- >> after s many years. >> he's one of the incredible musicians of our time. >> oh yaesh,yeah. you workedith him early on. >>e recorded my first record in 1960. i as about this high. >> you're about to celebrate a pretty substantial birthday, wodn't you say? >> oh, yeah. i'll be 70. >> nbelievable. >> at is so tonishing. >> why do you like the same as when i metyou 40 years ago? it's true. >> you kw, i look at itike this. in t bible they lived 0 900 years. i feel like i'm still a baby. >> your gospel roots have really formed you, han't they, as a man? >> yeah. when i was a kid, my grandmother put me on her lap and i listened to the gospel and brotheroe mays and t blin boys. >> what's t first song you rememberearing and being moved ? do you know? ♪ like a tree snding by the ver ♪ i sha not be moved♪ >> that stuck i myhead. you can keep going if you want. i knowou get paid for it usally, but we'll sit here a day. >>ou have a son called "you got to move." we can play that in the background. it puts you in a good mood. tell us about in so. >>when iirst heard it, it didn't go like this alan t his spin o it it and it put me in the groove. like what he did with it. >>e want to hear you sing a lile bit, what about the ng "meeting at the building"? >> shaarah took a shot at this thibodeaux building ♪ meeting at the building ♪ soon be ov on be over ♪ ♪ eting at the building will soone over ♪ ♪ll over the world ♪ all over this world m lover ♪ll over this worl ♪ all over this worldmy lover ♪ all over thisorld >> every y, all day long. >> thank yo >> it's a beautiful newcd. >> we love u. >> you have a beautifulew life and beautif new year. god bless you. >> tnk you. >> now you're -- she'sbusy, too. >> she's doi a gorgeous job. d bless your whole family. >> anks a lot. up next, the traditnal italian fsh dinner for christmasve. we've got the cash right aft is. 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[ male announcer ] .at e winter event going on now. and stay connected with three ars of mbrace service complimenry. tincs. time for her for today's hiday kitchen. this is thet of seven fishes. it's seven different fh courses to commemorate the birth of the bab sus. >> jason is gong to give us a modernake on an old traditional feast. >> first off w get startedff with something -- >> haeb birthday to the lord, yes. >> there we go. >> what did you say? >> happy birthday. that's at christmas is, you know. >> this is base odd a clasc southern italian feast. t's done on christs eve, and what we've done is try to get loc fish d kind of our interpretation of it. so it's seven courses. we have a lot of local things. i'goingo be making the saltecod for you guys. >> that looks delicious. >> th is done th -- we take e salted cod that you uld get, and you sically rehydrate t with the water and then you steam it t. then thiis going to make th sauce with milk and potatoes, and then it's gng to be cooke down and pureed. >> this is sal cod. so basicalthe bakala looks like this, in the old days before refrigerati they salted . we take this an p potato in there. >> that's already good. >> this is what we're ing, reinforcing the potatoes with the salt co a ltle bit of cream, a it will make the base for this. >> okay. >> let me just tke a little bit of this. >> do you need olive oil in there? >> a ttle bit of olive oil, yep. >> cook it, hoda. cook it. >> ten we put the lid on this. >> all right, put the lid it. >> bacally we puree it. will finishup and look like this. justlike real ceamy texture done with the salted cod. let me put tis in here first. this is going to be the bas for the fish that is the salt cod potatoes. >> this goes right on top? >> yea >> let's carry tha over there. come on. >> i want that right now. >> come on, now. >> cp, chop jason. >> come on jason. >> here go. >> are we ing to try it? >> let's try it. >> is that oked? >> es, it's cooked. >>a looks delicious. really good. so basically this is the final course of the seven courses. >> there's some scallop loyal oysti -- loca sters. >> here, take it off the top. off thtop. >> all right! >> oysters, mackerel and farfalle pasta. th isseafood done witha little bit oflemon mayonnaise. >> this is what? >> this is basically tomatoes cooked down, a little bit of broth tomatoes. >> the flavors are incredible. >> try this before we go. try this. you're going todie >> ican't. >> shawna sergeant was working hard on these. >>o ahead. we'lbe back with more of "today" on nbc. jason, this is teific. thank you. y ready? because of one word imaginion and reality have merged. because of one word, a new generation-- a fth generation ofighterircraft has been born. because of one word, erica air dinance for the next forty years is assured. that e word... is how. ye.ok, 'lli [ female aouer made fresh, ight. thiss . that is not half. guys i have more. with cinnabon cnamon have such a sweet elicious aro that my familyan wait ir hands on them. enjoy cinnab cinnamon... ow in all pillsbury cinnamon roll that my familyan wait ir hands on them. >> it's the last day ofur annual toy dve and we put $28 llion worth goodies in the handof very derving children. women saved a special contributor for the fal doe tags of the ason. a rock 'n roll hall of famer. >> absolutely. run-d.m.c sold more th 30 million alms, and dmc darrell mcdniels himself is here to make a dotion on behalf of hard rock. >>hotshot. aaron nelle and you. >> it's a od day at the "today" show. >> it's a go day for rock 'n rol and christmas and kids >> what are you giving away? >> we're givin 0,000 worth of hard rock mehandise. >> that's terrific. why is it important to doit this time of year? >> if you think about the significance of what rock 'n roll is about,t succeeds what politics and religion fails. my idols are john nnon and john to gerty. >> tank you. we relly, really appreciate it. >> have agreat holiday. before we saygood-bye, we have a little bit sad news to report. pastor henry covgton, with just on monday with mitch album, he passed away monday evening. it's ha to believ >> it's hrd to believe. he was jushere with us. the 53-year-old past forf pilgrim chch from detit was her with mih. he's survived by his beautiful winnette and his fo children. he had a ve troubled past on the streets, and tell us what happened. >> he went through terrible time,drugs and all sorts of issues. he was strg outnd had a gun in h hand and these gys remember cmingto get him to money. he said to god, look, if y save me. i'll giv my life to you. that night no one came toet him and hchanged his life a became a pastor andrew his tiny chur in froit into this wonderful, wonderfulchurch. the pilgrim church. i swear, wh i heard this was so ocked, but h did a lot of great wo. >> i said to you, hoda, when you called me last night about it it. this is aime for himo revoice. he has his reward in herch which i belve. he believed it. that's the most important thing, and our praers go out to his betiful famil have anwesome day, erybod god bless verybody. >> take care. god bless verybody. >> take care. bye. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.m