Transcripts For WBAL Today 20100202 : vimarsana.com

actress in a leading role, the nominees are sandra bullock in the blind side, helen mirren in the last station, carey mulligan in an education, gabourey sidibe in precious and meryl streep in julie & julia. and we re back now with more of today on a tuesday morning. it s the 2nd day of february 2010, groundhog day, and the oscar nominations are now in. one of the nominees for best actress, sandra bullock, for her role in the blind side, is joining us on the phone right now. sandra, good morning, again. good morning. sorry to wake you up in the middle of the night, but i think it s for a good reason, isn t it? i mean, what s nice is just as you guys rolled that clip, this is the first i ve heard it. yeah? so, how did it sound? you know, i don t know. i think this whole process, people ask how do i feel and i just keep responding, i don t know. i don t know. i think it s just so big that maybe when i m about 74, i ll have that moment in the grocery store with my walker and go, oh, my god, this year has been mind-blowingly amazing, and i think i m just really i was just told, too, that blind side was nominated. so, i just that, i think, builds me up a little bit more, because it s for the reason, you know, that we all know i m here because the director did such a beautiful story, you know. i don t know. it s just very overwhelming. sandra, when i got to talk to you after you won the golden globe for this hi, al. hi, sandra! you were so thrilled because the story was so important to you and the people in this story were so important to you. so, this must be this must really feel good. the tuohy family. you know, there s so many great important stories. hearing kathryn bigelow talk to you earlier, the hurt locker was an important story. i hate to say important, because it makes it feel like it s more cerebral than it is emotional, but i just, i love when people do something that no one else agrees with, and they do it in their own way and they ruffle feathers and they do it out of love, and in the end, they persevere. and whether it s what they did along with michael, what michael oher did, it s just inspiring because they do things you re not supposed to technically, and it s exactly what needs to be done on a much bigger level. and i m just so lucky that they still like me. i think the word is love. and you know, i mean, you don t cross the tuohys and i never will, and for a very good reason, very good reason. sandra, natalie here. you have a little more than a month to go until the actual oscars. so, what happens in this time leading up to the actual celebration? i don t know. i ve never done this before, but i do believe some liposuction oh, stop it! hardly. a very strict diet regimen. i require some very light english accent. and i was going to say, i start wearing glasses, but i already wear glasses, so i m already kind of there. you know what s funny, sandra? you said when you just woke up it was too early for sarcasm. it didn t take you long to warm up, did it? got right in there. she had that commercial break to gather. right. again, really, seriously, i m just so thrilled for you. we all are. we all love this movie so much, too. thank you all so much for supporting the film. thank you so much. all i can say is thank you and i m just blown away. come by and see us soon, okay? i will. thanks, guys. go back and get some sleep. see you oscar night. love that movie. it s such a wonderful message. it is. it really is. coming up in this half hour, a lot more in terms of refinancing, something a lot of homeowners are considering these days because the record-low interest rates. but they re not right for everyone. there are fees involved and it sing hait s i getting harder and harder to qualify for financing. what you need to consider so you don t waste time and waste money as well. also, as you saw this morning, we had a special delivery live on the air, one family welcoming their big bundle of joy this morning at a maternity ward in boston. the little one there actually, big one is brody. he weighed in at 10 pounds. and we had the rare opportunity to go inside the o.r. and share that experience with the parents live, and we re going to check back in with them and dr. nancy snyderman in just a bit to see how everybody s holding up. such an intense and emotional experience. wow. i m sure they re all just kind of like, deep breath. that s right, absolutely. also ahead, 25 years later, some of the biggest names in the music industry came together late monday to rerecord we are the world to raise money for the victims of haiti s earthquake. all right, a lot to get to. first, let s go to the news desk. ann s standing by with all the headlines. good morning once again. my first story is about haiti, because ten americans are starting their fourth day behind bars in haiti, accused of trying to take a busload of children out of haiti. haiti s prime minister said in his words they knew what they were doing and it was wrong. diplomats have had limited access to them. members of the group say they were only trying to save abandoned and traumatized children. people held captive in pakistan say they were tortured by police and fbi. the man wrote his allegations on a paper napkin and tossed it from a prison van on the way to court where the judge delayed formal charges for at least two more weeks. this morning a top official with toyota apologized to customers for the worries caused by the recall over sticking gas pedals. he also said the company found no evidence of an electronic problem with the pedals. the company has already announced a mechanical fix. they say it s costing the automaker about $155 million a week in lost sales. today, defense secretary robert gates announces that the military will initiate a year-long study on whether gays should be allowed to serve openly in the military. the president wants the military to eliminate its current don t ask, don t tell policy. and, as you ve been hearing all morning, oscar nominations are out today, and this year there are ten nominees for best picture, and, to remind you, avatar, the blind side, district 9, an education, the hurt locker, inglourious basterds, precious, a serious man, up, and up in the air, as you just heard. the awards will be handed out march 7th. a man in connecticut is recovering this morning after he fell through the ice while skating on a pond over the weekend. his rescue was caught on tape. the man spent about 13 minutes in the water, but he is said to be doing well this morning. thank goodness. it is now six minutes past the hour. let s get another check of the weather from al. thanks, ann. and for today, we ve got some snow off the eastern seaboard. that s going to be working its way up some icy mix into the mid-atlantic states. we ve also got rain in the pacific northwest, light snow around the great lakes. underneath the clouds, show you what the surface map looks like. we ve got icy conditions and light snow up into the upper ohio river valley. we re looking at chilly conditions back through the plains with temperatures in the teens. wet weather northern california into the pacific northwest with some mountain snows in the mountains of idaho. look for freezing fog the weather should be pretty quiet this morning, but a couple of snow showers are likely as we head into the afternoon. accumulating snow possible tonight. high-temperature arou brick house now to today s real estate and the abcs of refinancing. although today s record-low interest rates may look tempting, it may not be a good idea for every homeowner. how do you know if it s worth it? today s real estate contributor barbara corcoran is here. good morning, al. a lot of conversation about this, but basically when we re talking refinancing, loan modification, what s the difference? there s a big difference between the two. when you go for a loan modification, you re going back to your existing lender and in effect asking for mercy. you re wanting to get your monthly payment down. and so, they change the terms of your loan. when you go for a refinancing, it s permanent. you re going to replace your loan with a totally new loan and you don t have to go back in a year to reapply. okay, so rates looking good right now. what are the positives of refinancing? so many positives. one is simply bringing down your payment because you get a cheaper rate. if you have 7%, it s now at 5%, you have that savings. another is you can shorten the term of your loan if you want to retire early or want to retire debt-free. and a third, of course, that people use all the time is if you have more than one mortgage, like a home improvement mortgage and a regular mortgage, you can combine them and save money there. how do you know if the house qualifies for refinance? there s a simple rule of thumb people should bear in mind. if the mortgage on your house is only 80% of your home s value, you can typically get refinancing. so, people are looking at their credit scores. how important is the credit score at this point, and is the refinancing process with everything that s happened in the banking industry harder? it s harder because it s lengthier and they re asking for a lot more stuff, but the number to bear in mind for the best loan out there is a credit score of about 720. and so, you basically look on a website, find out what your credit score is, and anything you can do short-term to bring that down? yes. there s a million things you can do short-term, but it s not so short-term. it takes six months, but you can get a free credit report. you ll have to pay for your credit score. now, you say you need to determine if you re going to refinance what the break-even point is. what do you mean by that? it s very easy. figure out all of your closing costs, add it up into one number and then tell or ask yourself how many months is it going to take me to break even, to get that money back? typically, if it takes two to three years and you re going to stay in your home longer it makes great sense to refinance. you also say you should apply for a shorter term or think about that. you know what happens, when people have a 30-year mortgage and they re applying five years later, they typically ask for a 30-year mortgage. you should be asking for a 25-year mortgage, exactly what you have left, because you ll get ripped off on the interest rate if you go backwards. then you say if you re planning to stay two to three years, or at least more than that, is that really one of the main factors you should be looking at? it doesn t always work out, but generally, if you re going to be moving out of your house any sooner than say five years out, chances are good it doesn t pay with the closing cost to refinance. certain things, if you are going to refinance, to watch out for. one of them is a prepayment penalty. the prepayment penalty is a killer. the first thing you want to do is look in your existing mortgage and see if you have one. if you have one, forget it. all bets are off. you shouldn t be refinancing. what about lenders who say no points, no closing costs. it s just not true. they ll bury the costs somewhere in the instrument. what about delays? a lot of times, people get all gung ho about this and then you re going to get these delays in there. yeah. you count on 90 days. that s how long it s taking today. and pmi, as opposed to tmi, pmi, private mortgage insurance. right now it s 1.57%, it s going up in april. it s a really expensive number. watch out for that. barbara corcoran, thank you very much. great advice. want more, go on the website. we ll see you friday with all the homes. okey doke. coming up, the skinny on one diet. will it really work? first, we ll go back inside a boston maternity ward. dr. nancy snyderman is standing by with some exciting new parents and one big baby boy. we like that t-shirt! that s all coming up next here on the today show. we one tribe, y all we are one people let s catch amnesia let s catch amnesia [ male announcer ] what do you care about? introducing the pepsi refresh project. we re giving away millions for ideas that move the world forward. every pepsi refreshes the world. for ideas that move the world forward. ouncer) more dishwasher brands are unanimous in their commitment to brilliant results by recommending finish. the new name for electrasol. the diamond standard. i said, daddy, of course. he said, no, no, no. daddy doesn t count. you know, your valentine is who you want to sit by, who you get in trouble with, who you tell your secrets to, who you play with at recess. i said, well, that s daddy, too. this valentine s day, wouldn t your valentine. like to know how you feel? give them a refreshingly real card from hallmark. ladies, raise your spoons. now there s nothing left standing between you and a satisfying breakfast. introducing special k low-fat granola. with 50% less fat than the leading granola. and 5 grams of fiber per serving, it s a satisfying way to help you manage your weight. special k low-fat granola a taste of freedom. a better body image by setting the table? could placemats help keep your kids off drugs? are your kids more likely to talk when their mouths are full? what can more dinners together do for your family? whoo! [ female announcer ] at stouffer s, we think there s some pretty powerful statistics about the benefits of family dinner and we ve always helped families get easy, wholesome and delicious dinners to the table. to see what more dinners together did for these families visit letsfixdinner.com. this morning, today s going inside the o.r. more than 4 million babies are born in the u.s. every year, and this morning, one was born right in front of our cameras live on the today show. we took you inside the operating room at beth israel deacon s hospital in boston, where carrie johnson gave birth to brody rock johnson. he came in at a whopping 10 pounds and was 20 3/4 inches long. nbc s chief medical editor dr. nancy snyderman was there with the parents to witness it all and welcome the new bundle into the world this morning. how adorable, wearing our today show logo already. nancy, good morning. yes, he is. how is he doing? hey, natalie. they are doing really well. here with daddy josh, all doing well. i want to underscore again that while carrie has been a phenomenal trooper, she was scheduled to have a cesarean section this morning, because in both of their families, babies run big, and she was past her due date, and those are two indications that a cesarean section is a lot safer than having a vaginal delivery, and this little baby was born without a hitch, weighing in at 10 pounds. at this hospital, it s busy most days, and in fact, they have about 5,000 deliveries a year. if you re looking for some peace and quiet, you ve come to the wrong place. here at beth israel deaconess medical center, delivering babies is a full-time job. this is a very busy labor and delivery room. we do about 5,000 deliveries a year, roughly about 12 to 15 deliveries a day, although that s a little bit unpredictable. reporter: it s a 24/7 operation, from the delivery rooms to the postpartum unit, where parents learn basic baby skills from nursing to changing diapers. it s a joy for all of us who work here to every day show moms and dads how to take care of new babies. reporter: amidst the activity, we found new moms and new dads beaming with pride. she arrived at 9:09 a.m. she s been great! it s funny to finally meet her. you carry somebody in your body for nine months and then, all of a sudden, they arrive and your world changes, and all for the better. but it was great. we feel really lucky. it s amazing, scary, awesome, frightening all at the same time, if that makes sense. reporter: and like many boston babies, this new mom has certain expectations. he s going to be a huge red sox fan, for sure. hey, you guys, obviously, we have one set of grandma here, diane, who is josh s mom, but guess what? carrie s parents don t know the sex of this baby yet. they ve just driven up from new york. so, with no further ado, warren, maureen and granny, great grandma, are out in the hallway. we re going to bring them in right now to meet their new baby this is your grandson. oh! come on in! maureen, this is brody. this is brody rock johnson. how sweet! hi, granny. his fist! you had no idea coming up here, did you? no. we ve been holding you re stuck in traffic? so, you guys knew that the section was going to take place this morning? yes. and just got in the car and headed up? 4:00 want to take him to granny? sure. come here. aww. there you go. and off to great grandma. can t really bend this is brody. brody. brody! hi, sweetie! oh, sweetheart. you can touch him. i m cold. that s okay. congratulations. oh, unbelievable. beautiful baby! natalie, it just couldn t get much better than this, a healthy baby, loving parents, grandparents, great grandma. right. all and these are the days that are worth celebrating. we re throw it back to you guys in new york. oh, absolutely, nancy. natalie, we ll throw it back to you. great job there, and what a great job you have this morning to be able to be there and be a part of it. thank you. it s been a real treat. dr. nancy snyderman. and thanks to carrie and josh for allowing us to enjoy the moment with them, because it takes us back to a time when our own children were born. we re back after this. did you know go-gurt is specially made to freeze and thaw by lunch time? so kids can have their favorite yogurt in their lunch box go-gurt. freeze it. thaw it. eat it up. announcer: there s an easier way. create your own business site with intuit websites. just choose a style, then customize, publish and get found. sweet. get a 30-day free trial at intuit.com. and added a little fiber? sweet! sweet! (together) sweet! (announcer) now for the first time, a gram of healthy fiber in every packet. sweet! (announcer) splenda® with fiber. (chuckling): are you sure about this? definitely, it s my treat. alright, alright. i ll just have a little something. whatever you want grandpa, as much as you want, please. grandpa (chuckling): ok. grandson: ok? vo: olive garden introduces handmade pansottis. our new pyramid raviolis stuffed with italian cheeses. try them with chicken in a portobello alfredo sauce. or with grilled sausage in tomato alfredo. starting at $10.95 with unlimited salad and breadsticks. thank you. where d you learn to be so generous? i guess it runs in the family. vo: olive garden. when you re here, you re family. not to let your immune system become a statistic. so take every precaution. wash your hands frequently. maintain a well-balanced diet, get plenty of rest. and support your immune system. for a full 24 hours with patented ester-c. taken daily, ester-c gets into your system quickly. and stays all day to provide. up to 24 hours of immune support. now more than ever, trust your immune health. to clinically tested ester-c. the better vitamin c. - uh-huh. - ( rope creaking ) - ( rope snaps ) - ( piano clangs ) - ( crashes ) - glad forceflex trash bags are so strong, one bag is all you need to pick up the pieces from even your biggest disasters. - ( doorbell rings ) - where do you want the piano? for stretchable strength get glad forceflex. mel gibson returns to the big screen this weekend in a new movie called edge of darkness, and our gene shalit says this film needs more edge and less darkness. good morning and welcome to the critic s corner. it s been eight years since mel gibson has starred on screen. in the interval, he s been behind the camera and briefly behind the eight ball. at age 54, braveheart and the four lethal weapons are far behind him. he s no longer the dashing rouser of action pictures. now he walks or he drives. in edge of darkness, he s a broken-hearted, vengeful boston cop out to get whoever murdered his beloved daughter. this is someone armed and dangerous. what do you think i am? i m sure the answer lies somewhere among his supporting cast. so, he confabs with that motley crew one on one. that s classified. weapon. you make them. if we did, it would be classified. you said my daughter was in paris. i didn t, but someone did. some role about elit government illusion, confusion, to give gibson something to hang his act on while the movie snails along. are you on my side? but even a snail finally gets there, and when gibson discovers his daughter s secret life, it s time to quit the gab, grab his gun and start shooting! what s it feel like? another entrance into the hall of mediocrity. not for one listless minute did edge of darkness have me on the edge of my seat, except when i reached for my coat. and that s the critic s corner for today. i m edging out of here. aww. we love mel gibson. yes. anyway, still to come this morning, what u.s. athletes will be wearing at the opening ceremony in vancouver, first look. also, valentine s gifts. (announcer) a cold or flu can start fast. it can go from a scratchy throat in the morning. to a cough. to a full body ache. at night. new tylenol cold rapid release gels day and night work fast too. they release medicine fast to relieve painful coughs, congestion and sore throats. so you can rest, day and night. feel better, tylenol cold. live, local, latebreaking. this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore. good morning. i am mindy basara. gov. martin o malley is expected to widen the focus on jobs during his state of the state address today. he wants to overhaul the system, but his tactics are drawing controversy did many oppose federal dollars that they believe will come with strings attached. you can watch the address in its entirety live at noon on a wbal tv 11, and you could also stream the speech on our website, wbaltv.com. city council president and soon-to-be-mayor stephanie rawlings-blake will be in at annapolis to fight for tougher gun laws. mayor sheila dixon, city police commissioner fred bealefeld, and patricia jessamy are also fighting for changes. be sure to watch 11 news tonight at 5:00 and 6:00 for a live report. snowy winter is heading the government hard in the wallet. baltimore county has spent nearly all of its $6 billion snow removal budget. baltimore city is more comfortable, with $1.2 million remaining, and in harford county, only $330,000 remain. officials at all of these districts say that no matter what, the funds will be found to keep the roads clear. that is good to know, because we could see some snow later on today. tony pann has a check of the forecast. more snow is possible tonight. during the day today, it will mostly be dry, until we get to the middle of the afternoon, then there could be snow showers and flurries developing could the evening commute will be ok on the road. high temperatures in the mid- thirties. tonight, the bulk of the storm comes i think we classify it as light snow, but one to three inches are expected. it will clear up in the afternoon on wednesday, but for another storm comes in at the finish of the week. we will have another update at 9:55. we want our children to eat right not just because it s the right thing to do but because, quite frankly, healthy, good food tastes good. we want them to experience that. and that, of course, first lady michelle obama. well, tomorrow on today, we ll have an exclusive interview with the woman who s become a fashion icon and a leader on healthy eating. we re going to talk to her about raising kids in the white house, her husband s first year in white house and a big announcement coming up next week. that s michelle obama exclusively tomorrow only on today. that s exciting. yeah. also have to wonder, tomorrow or valentine s day, what s the first lady getting? that s interesting that you wondered about that, because you re asking what the president would be buying the first lady. or making for her. maybe doing some crafts. are you thinking about inspiration, what you re thinking about for your wife exactly. and you re channelling that. exactly. because we have this half hour, being sweet to your sweetie on a budget. from romantic cocktails to personalized jewelry, we ve got some unique ideas for under $100. and when you ve got a budget that s just been submitted that goes into the trillions, $100 or less is a good thing. yes, exactly. okay. are you listening, mr. president? absolutely. i m sure she s thinking about that, too. she s thinking about what to get the president as well. also ahead, whether it s a grapefruit a day or the cabbage soup diet, there s so many different kinds of crash diets out there. some of them work, some of them don t. we re going to help you separate the fact from the fiction, coming up. i can tell you, that fried chicken does not work. the fried chicken diet? i haven t heard of that. i ve never heard of that. i think that s one of the other diets, protein. also ahead, a sneak peek at what the u.s. olympic athletes will be wearing this year at the opening ceremonies in vancouver. have you seen these outfits? you ve seen those. red, white and blue spandex i didn t say today show athletes, but let s take a moment and look at this. okay, let s stop. oh, come on. that was too good. i know. apparently, we ll also see more of that in vancouver. that sounds like a lot of fun. i can t believe it s coming up so soon. ten days. i know. anyway, let s get a check of the weather in terms of today. it is cold outside. how about a white castle diet? the slider diet. dream on. dream on. anyway, let s check your weather, see what s happening for this week. we ve got a late-week storm, comes out of the south on thursday, bringing heavy rain to texas, ice up into oklahoma and kansas. then as we head toward thursday into the gulf, it brings icy conditions to the mid-atlantic states. and don t want to say the word nor easter, but you just did! you did! but we could be looking at significant snow for the mid-atlantic states what? yeah, as we the weather should stay pretty quiet this morning. we are expecting a high temperature of around 35 this afternoon, and the could be snow showers and flurries developing. the bulk of the light snow will co ann? okay, thanks a lot, al. coming up next, the hottest gift ideas for valentine s day without breaking the bank. that s coming up after this. is that underwear? oh, dear. i think so. oh, dear. oh, good lord! this new technology activates on contact leaving your skin moisturized. it s clinically proven to fight skin dryness better than any regular men s body wash. leaving your skin feeling comfortable. new dove men+care. be comfortable in your own skin. the comfort of dove. now in a bar. the comfort of dove. now in a bar. still haven t tried activia? listen to this story. i love hosting the holidays. especially for my adorable grandchildren. but after all the rich, heavy food, i was irregular, sluggish. so my friend recommended the activia challenge. activia, with bifidus regularis is clinically proven to help regulate your digestive system. and it worked. i don t know what i like better how it makes me feel. or the great taste. take the activia challenge. it works or it s free. activia! new anti-aging eye roller. reduces puffiness immediately and also helps with lines and wrinkles. not surgery. this is our way to do your eyes. new regenerist anti-aging eye roller. love is in the air this morning on jill s fun finds, valentine s day gifts. it s less than two weeks away, and if you re sweating what you re getting your sweetie, you can relax. today and us weekly contributor jill martin has done all the leg work for you. she s got the lowdown on what s hot this valentine s day. jill! yeah. okay! all right. the dance party, done. done. okay, can you still we ve got two weeks can you still get stuff? everything online, everything personalized under $100. we love this. okay, let s start with drinking, now that we re dancing. that s right. this is rose angel. it s infused with hi basis cuss flowers ooh. and these are online. this is great to start off your night with a little drink. so, you can give flowers and get drunk at the same time. and who knows from there. very nice. ann. and this is a great idea. if you reunited with someone say on facebook, it s tigerbow.com. and you don t want to ask them for their address because it s obvious you re going to send them something. sure, right. this company will send an e-mail and say, hey, al, jill would like to send you something and you can either accept it and send them an address, which will be held confidentially, or reject it and not accept the gift. very nice. it s without being overt that you want to send a gift. next. jewelry is great. this is from jennifer miller. they re back, from sex and the city, and this is jewelry by three sisters. these are cufflinks that you can get for your man. oh, very nice. personalized in time for valentine s day. then, if you don t want to give the ring, but you want to give a ring, this is an option. then this, there used to be best friend charms. for $100, you would give one half to one friend, one half to the other. and it s split up. this is jules smith designs. personalized underwear. thank you. okay, personalized underwear. look, deborah, you get the girl s name your wife s name is here. so she s done for valentine s day and you can get them on sexy underwear or men s brief no boxers? these are boxers. uh huh, all right. and then these are from hanky panky and there s a delivery for joe michaels, our director, if you can get a shot here. there s one pair of hanky panky underwear actually, joe s wearing these right now. but if your relationship is with somebody far away, you can send it. look how small this is. nice. this is panty sets from express. i like the pillow. this is great to last throughout the year. this is lisaperrystyle.com. now, if you want to give sweets to your sweet. i can only do toast, so this is great for me. you stamp it with a stamp for $6.50. very nice. now, my family fights over the brownie edges. this is an edge pan, so now everybody gets the piece they want. and crumbs. you can order these online and have them delivered. do you print them out? yeah, they come out of the computer, the red velvet. but these also are great. natalie says the red velvet are hers. she already claimed them. now, this is for a whole family, for mother, daughter, little daughter, for baking in the kitchen. they should do something next year for dads, too. would you wear one? of course! i ll get one made, a male one made. now, these are throughout the year. a lot of mothers want to give gifts that last. so these are from converse, available at target. this is for you. this is a gadget and a keychain that goes into a tri-pod. oh, that s pretty cool! then you can take a picture of you and your sweetheart actually, this would be great for ann because she s a photographer. ann would love this. perfect. she could have a drink and her tri-pod. jill, thank you very much and happy valentine s day. jill, thank you very much and happy valentine s day. happy valentine when it comes to protecting the things you care about. .leave nothing to chance. travelers. insurance for auto, home, and business. with relief from dry, uncomfortable skin. only aveeno skin relief has an active naturals oat formula. to improve all five symptoms. of winter skin in just one day. discover the beauty and comfort of skin relief. only from aveeno. mmm. hot fudge sundae. ooh! frosted blueberry?!? over 25 flavors of kellogg s pop-tarts®. and they re all for fun and fun for all. pop-tarts®. made for fun. i reached my weight goal thanks to you so i am ready to get back out there. alright. that s great. i want to personally thank you for 100 calorie hearty chicken rotini. well, it s not just me. you re so funny. i like you. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. i thought we couldn t afford it, but then i went to walmart and i found the new home trends collection. i started off with rugs and pillows. and i got those for a steal. [ son ] mooom. steal as in a good price, honey. and then, it was on to my bare walls. i even got all the little extras, guilt free. tables, lamps, pillows, candles. and just like that, voila! a room i want to show off. get the new home trends collection at walmart. save money. live better. walmart. take it off this morning on take it off today, fad diets. will a cookie a day keep the cravings away? glassman is the author of the 02 diet. keri, good morning. good morning. it s important to say that some of these diets do have scientific fact to them, right? yes. all of these diets there are variations to all of them, i should say, and they re all based off of a little bit of science. all right. we ll get to them now. the banana diet. this is a very popular one. japan, i guess, it made a big splash, right? exactly. a social networking site in japan made it really popular. the premise is very simple eat as many bananas as you want for breakfast as long as you don t stuff yourself. have a sensible lunch and dinner and a sweet in the afternoon. so, what do the bananas do? what is the idea behind the bananas? does that trigger the metabolism in the morning? well, eating breakfast gets your metabolism going. right. for somebody that doesn t eat breakfast, that may be a good benefit. however, the science behind this one is that bananas have resistant starch. that s a type of fiber. fiber, we know, helps keep us full. also, there s been some research that shows resistant starch may hepburn fat. now, maybe that does help little bit, but bananas are no miracle food. they re a healthy food that should be incorporated into a diet, but they re not a miracle weight loss food. and the weird thing is you pair it with luke-warm water. what is that all about? it s supposed to help with the digestion, with the resistant starch. but honestly, bananas, a little bit of fiber, potassium, a great food, but your whole diet shouldn t be based around it. so women s health does not recommend this. no. i didn t think so. next is the cookie diet, also very popular. we know the jersey shore snookie is doing this right now. different brands of cookies as well. what is the premise behind the diet? portion control. eat four to six cookies throughout the day and then a sensible dinner. the cookies equal about 500 calories. so we know calorie control you re going to lose weight. you may lose weight, but who can live on that? what i fear is what happens is you go back to a normal diet of food, which we all should be eating, and you crave cookies and want a cookie after every meal. does this work for some people, though? i guess they claim people who have been on diet lose ten pounds in a week or so? well, for some people you re controlling portions here and there are no choices, and a lot of dieters don t like choices. they want to be told exactly what to do. and we know portion control works, so of course it may work in the short term, but long term, we re not eating real food and we re not learning how to eat real food. right. it s not a lifestyle change. exactly. over here, this is a very popular one, the grapefruit diet. turns out, you can have your chicken and then have the grapefruit, too, right? the grapefruit diet is basically a high-protein, low-carb calorie-restricted plan, and you re supposed to have half a grapefruit or eight ounces of unsweetened grapefruit juice with every meal. similar to a banana, a grapefruit is an excellent food. lots of vitamin c, some fiber. i love grapefruits, but it s not a magical weight loss food. is there any science, though? because the premise of the diet is the grapefruit helps you burn the fat. when eaten in conjunction with a protein, which is why you re supposed to have bacon with every breakfast, which we know isn t very healthy for us. butter, right? you can have as much butter as you want. when you have protein with the meals, you can have as much protein as you want. there was one small study that showed dieters when they ate grapefruit with every meal lost a little more weight than those who didn t, but that could be that they ate less calories at the meal. there s fiber in a grapefruit. and again, eating all of these high-fat foods and not snacking, so you can often slow down your metabolism when you do that and overeat at the next meal, is not a good thing. again, not of a lifestyle. too few calories, unless you re going for all that fried chicken, which isn t good. if you eat a bucket of fried chicken and add the grapefruit, i don t think there s any benefit there. no. not going to burn even one chicken leg. okay. now over here. this is one i remember in the 80s this was extremely popular, the cabbage soup diet. it s been around forever, right? tell me the diet behind this. this diet even says do not do this for the long term, take a break if you ve done it for longer than a week. you re supposed to do it only for a week. calorie-restricted. basically, you can have as much of the cabbage soup as you want, which is a healthy soup. right. and then every day you can eat as much of the foods that are given for that day. for example, one day it s all vegetables. one day it s meat and tomatoes. so, there are very specific foods that you can eat as much of, and for some dieters, that s appealing. stuff yourself on just a few foods. again, not a lifestyle. it also encourages a lot of water. which is a good thing. that s a good thing. that is a good thing. so, if you are trying a diet and want to find something that will work for you, what are your ideas? what are your tips? you want to focus on a plan that encourages all food groups, real food from all food groups, one that also encourages behavioral changes. if you have emotional eating, you need to address that. right. also one that addresses lifestyle changes like exercise and getting adequate sleep and managing stress. in my book, the 02 diet, i have a food journal to track what you eat, but also how much sleep you get and even just how you take care of yourself. all of those things are important for a long-term weight loss, which is what it s all about. exactly, setting a realistic goal for yourself, too. setting realistic goals. anything that promises a crazy amount of weight loss real fast. in a week, it s all water, coming right back. kerri glassman, thank you very much. great information. you re so welcome! coming up next, the big announcer: today s countdown to vancouver is brought to you by walmart. save money. live better. walmart. this morning on today s countdown to vancouver, the debut of the u.s. olympic outfits for the opening ceremony in just ten days, all eyes will be on the america s olympic athletes, and as they join athletes from 97 other nations at the opening ceremonies in vancouver. and the honor of designing the clothes for the team usa went to polo ralph lauren, and david lauren is the veinor vice president. good morning, david, nice to have you here. good morning, thank you. so, the moment you heard that your company had gotten the contract to sort of do this, what went through you, given i mean, we all grow up thinking of the olympics, the emotions that entails. what was your reaction? oh, just amazing. just to be selected as a company that represents america means so much, and to get the call saying we always think of you as america and we want a brand to really show this team as ambassadors to the world, it was just like butterflies. butterflies. yes. so, you set your team of designers on the job, and my sense is that that must have been difficult to figure out how to choose except, perhaps, the colors, red, white and blue. take us through the design process. ralph lauren designs all the clothes and he worked closely with the usoc, the united states olympic committee, which is actually made up of many former athletes. so they really know what they re looking for and what the other athletes want to wear. but they said ralph lauren has a history of celebrating america, so they look to us to define what it should be and then sort of checked what they liked most. it was a really proud feeling to take them through our archives and reinvented and brought new influences into the future. we have two models, nick baumgartner, who is going to be making his olympic debut in snowcross and also alpine skier kaylin richardson. they re modeling you re seeing it now for the first time, the opening ceremonies outfits. hey, models, how are you doing? excellent. yeah? and while we have you here, nick, i mean, this is really a first time for you. you re going to be going to the olympics, right, for the first time? my first time. describe the feeling you re having. unbelievable. i mean, to be able to wear the colors and represent not only the country, where i come from, my small town, unbelievable. and your small town, by the way forgive me for mentioning this, but your nickname is bummy? bummy, yes. is there a particular reason for that? i have three other brothers and that seemed to be the nickname passed down through all of us. not because of your bum. there you go. kaylin, you ve been to this before. describe what it s like to be in the opening ceremonies. it s amazing. such an experience to walk in. even in italy, i would see the red, white and blue flags, but vancouver s right in our backyard. i had friends and family who couldn t go to italy and to wear polo ralph lauren, the quintessential american brand, is amazing and i m very, very proud. and also, i think we ll be the envy of all the other nations at opening ceremonies. i think you look great. drink it in. he looks amazing. you both look terrific. david, congratulations. thank you so much. appreciate it. live, local, latebreaking. this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore. good morning. i am mindy basara. gov. martin o malley is expected to focus on jobs during his state of the state address today. the unemployment rate is 7.5%, directly impacting the funds for unemployment benefits. he wants to overhaul the system, but tactics are drawing controversy. many oppose accepting federal dollars that they believed would ings attached. you can watch the state of the state address life at noon on tv 11. we will also stream the address we will also stream the address live on our website, the verizon fios days to save event is here. a limited time opportunity to save $20 a month, when you sign up for fios tv, internet and phone for the great low price of $89.99 a month for one year with a two-year agreement. with 100% true fiber optics, you ll get an amazing hd picture, blazing fast internet, plus, crystal-clear phone. all for just $89.99 a month for one year. discover a whole new entertainment experience that goes beyond cable. thousands of your favorite shows and movies available at the touch of a button. forget the title? no problem, it s easy to search for shows by keyword or actor. it s no wonder fios tv has three times more very satisfied customers as comcast. get three amazing services for only $89.99 a month for one year with a two-year agreement. don t wait. jump on this limited time offer and save big now. call 1.866.680.fios. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800-974-6006 tty/v. this is beyond cable. this is fios. the weather should stay pretty quiet here during the day today, we expect accumulating snow and i did mostly cloudy is our forecast predicted snow showers or flurries. the evening commute is going to be ok. high temperatures around 35. the bulk of the storm will come in tonight. we expect one to three inches of accumulation by early wednesday morning, with temperatures in the 20 s.