Wit at politicians, the immediate ra and pop culture. Now hes taking on holiday in a very different way. He will tell us why, as he joins us live in our studio today, wednesday, november 12th, 2014. Announcer from nbc news, this is today with matt lauer and savannah guthrie, live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. And good morning. Welcome to today on a wednesday morning. Nice to have jon stewart coming back to the studio after a while. Its been a while. We havent seen him. Thats right. And he has been busy. Remember he took that time off from his show . He took a summer off . Now were going to find out exactly what he was doing in his free time. It wasnt all that free. No, it wasnt. A direct orrial debut for him in a moment. First, our top story, scientists are trying to land a spacecraft on a speeding comet. Keir simmons has the latest on that. Keir, good morning. Savannah, good morning. This comet, 2. 5 miles wide has taken almost a decade to reach and it is tense right now. The lander has attached as we speak, on its way to the comet. Will it land safely . Cheers erupting in the control room at the flawless separation, the first ever attempt to land on the surface of a comet, a thruster and computer glitch briefly threatening the mission but it is on schedule to touch down on the comet in a few hours time. And the purpose . To learn more about the solar system formed over 4 billion years ago. The lander will gather gases, chemicals and other properties from the comet. The spacecraft has been chasing the comets speed ten years, millions of miles from earth. The trickiest part . How do you get the lander to land with little gravity . Without full knowledge of what the inhospitable surface will be like and no idea where the spacecraft will make contact with the ground. If it goes as planned, it will look like this, a daring feat, revealing more secrets of the solar system. It could even explain the origins of life on earth. And were just hearing that the lander has begun to send back signals, but they need to get this right, guys, because it costs 1 billion to build and some of the evidence that it might find might help with that doomsday scenario where a comet is heading directly towards earth. Incredibly ambitious, keir simmons. Isnt it cool what people dream of . This is from our childhood, apollo and all that stuff. And bruce willis is riding that thing. Bringing us down to earth. Meantime if you live on the east coast, you should enjoy todays weather. The polar vortex is sweeping across the country. Dylan dreyer is continuing her frigid road trip. Good morning to you. Reporter good morning, matt. So much for that old wives tale it is too cold to snow. It is really, really cold here and it is snowing. Well see temperatures top out around 5 degrees. The alltime record low temperatulow High Temperature is 9 degrees. You can see the steam rising up off the lake as that warm air rises. This is all part of that huge arctic air mass that has dumped feet of snow in parts of michigan. Its also produced about a foot, foot and a half of snow through montana, parts of wisconsin and its also caused damaging wind gusts back through Washington State and into oregon where downed trees and power lines have knocked out power to tens of thousands of people. Now back here in denver, again, it is going to be about 50 degrees below average. Well start to warm up by friday. Al, thats when this arctic air mass makes its way to your neck of the wood. Weve seen the white parka, red parka and now we see the pink puffer. Are you running out of coats . Im running out of coats, hats, gloves, everything. Well try to get a care package out to you. Dylan dreyer, thank you very much. Sadly, unfortunately, dylan will be on the road for a while. Were not going to see a break in this arctic express. Its going to continue to move in. As you look at these temperatures, 5 in casper. 19 in north platte. And then tomorrow morning, kansas, it will be 19. New orleans, 50. Dallas at 29 degrees. Thats 18 degrees above average. High temperatures not much better anywhere from 20 to 50 degrees below average and early friday morning, it continues. Well look at 29 degrees for a low in atlanta. The high in atlanta only 48. Chicago, 33. Thats 16 degrees below average. Plus coming up in the next half hour well be talking about the lakeeffect snow machine cranking up a foot of snow or more and heading into the great lakes. And another lobe of the Polar Express next week. We have a lot to talk about on rokerthon. Conserve your energy, al. The navy s. E. A. L. Who says he fired the fatal shots at Osama Bin Laden is sharing neverbefore revealed details. 3 1 2 years after bin ladens death and americans are still fascinated about the secret mission that killed him as well as the elite warriors involved in that raid, including rob oneill, his central role in the death of the man behind 9 11. Standing two feet in front of me with his hands on his wife was the faces i had seen thousands of times. My first thought is we got him. We got him. We just ended the war. Reporter speaking out for the first time to fox news, rob oneill, who says he fire d the fatal shot killing the worlds most wanted terrorist, the native who has been traveling the country giving motivational speeches describes the preparation for the raid. The more we trained on it, the more we realized this was going to be a oneway mission. Were going to go and not come back. Were going to die when the house blows up or when he blows up or were going to be there too long and get arrested by the pakistanis and spend the rest of our short lives in a pakistan prison. But its worth it to kill him because he is going to die with us. Reporter the department of justice is investigating former s. E. A. L. Matt bisonette who wrote a book under the pen name mark owen, about shooting bin laden, without clearing the book with the government. A stern letter, i do not advertise the nature of my work nor seek recognition for my actions but bisonette, who didnt want his face shown, said theres inconsistencies with who is allowed to talk and who didnt, noting that the pentagon helped to recreate the raid for zero dark thirty. For his part, oneill says months past until it finally sunk in that he shot Osama Bin Laden. I thought about it every day for a number of years. Im still trying to figure out if its the best thing ive ever done or worse thing ive ever done. Bisonette says he should have had his book reviewed, but a former s. E. A. L. Team six leader says he considers breaking their secrecy dishonorable but others insist that higher ups created this where some are able to speak out and not others. Natalie is here right now with overnight news on the president s trip to asia. Good morning, everyone. President obama and chinas president are downplaying tension between the two. Kristen welker joins us now from beijing, china. Kristen, good morning. Reporter natalie, good morni morning. The two leaders announced a major deal on Climate Change for the first time ever, china vowing to cap its carbon emissions, part of an attempt to show a deeper appreciation between the u. S. And china. Overnight its clear stark differences remain. Its been three days of highly choreographed one on one time between president obama and president xi jinping of china. A fivehour walk, private dinner. During a press conference overnight, a reminder the two world powers still do think very differently. It started with a question from the new york times, the reporter asking why some journalists are still denied visas to work in china. Isnt it time to extend that sort of right to foreign correspondents, who seek to cover your country . Reporter a question president xi seemed to initially dismiss, prompting this knowing look from president obama. Then after answering a question from a chinese reporter, president xi finally addressed the question and seemed to blame the media for any lack of access. Media needs to obey chinas regulations. Reporter one of several unforgettable moments of a threeday summit where earlier russian president putin was accused of being too friendly to president xis wife when he draped a shawl over her shoulders and some called president obama rude for chewing gum at this lavish welcome ceremony. All of this as president obama has gotten some Harsh Criticism in the chinese media, with some questioning his power on the world stage in the wake of the bruising mid term defeats that he suffered. President obama has brushed that criticism aside. His next stop is myanmar. Natalie . Kristen welker in beijing for us. Thanks, kristen. Five global banks have been fined more than 3 billion for trying to manipulate Foreign Exchange markets. Joining us now with the details, cnbcs kayla. Dozens of traders tried to swing Certain Exchange rates in their favor. The value of a dollar when traveling outside the u. S. Is set each day. Authorities found for nearly five years, this group may have had an undo effect. Agreeing to todays deal but more settlements and possible criminal charges from the Justice Department are yet to come. Natalie, back to you. Cnbcs kayla tausche, thank you very much. On tuesday after a city worker in dallas had a medical emergency and drove right into a creek. Two of the mans colleagues and a few other witnesses rushed in to help. You can see one of them using a hammer to try to break through the trucks window so they could get inside the cab. The men didnt even realize they knew the driver inside until the rescue was well under way. As the truck was quickly filling up with water, the men used a rope and eventually pulled the driver to safety. He was taken to the hospital and is expected to be okay. Thank goodness for that. 7 13 now. You guys are uptodate. Natalie, thank you so much. Al, what are you going to do today, the 34hour rokerthon. Yes. How are you going to do it . I start by doing this forecast. Step by step. Windy conditions in the Pacific Northwest. Folks there, recovering from 50,000 people out of power. Theyve got more storms coming in and plenty of sunshine through the central rockies. Although snow is developing again, continuing on into denver. Again, continuing on into denver. Going to get to your give a journey. Give a new perspective. Give a little joy. A book is a gift like no other. And barnes noble is like no other book store in the world. With so many books to discover and the new nook by samsung now a full featured tablet. A book is the gift theyll remember long after the holidays are over. Good morning. Im meteorologist bill henley. Plaeyt of clouds and fog this morning and mild temperatures, and the temperatures will climb once we see sunshine. Its going to be bright this afternoon as the wind kicks the clouds out of here. But 60s today. 30s tomorrow. In the morning well drop down to 39 degrees. Some of the suburbs near freezing. Just 49 in the afternoon. Could see some showers late thursday, then sunny, breezy and cold friday, and a sunny start at Citizens Bank park for the als walk. Clouds are back on sunday, sunday night and monday look for rain. Have a great day. Hats your latest weather. Al, thank you very much. Not often does news about diets make this portion of our show. If you just started a new diet plan, listen up. A new study finds some of the most popular plans come up short when it comes to longterm results. Stephanie gosk is here with the latest on that. Good morning to you. Good morning, matt. Good news and bad news with this study. Four popular diets, atkins, the zone, Weight Watchers and south beach help some people lose weight. Bad news, its probably not going to stay off. Americans spend 66 billion a year trying to beat the bulge. Everyone is searching for the Silver Bullet. Doctors compared existing research on four of the most popular diet plans, atkins, the zone, Weight Watchers and south beach. Finding all four modestly successful in the first year, but these benefits are not sustained long term. Among the four diets, there was insufficient proof that one plan was better than another. And the impact on Heart Disease and risk factors like high cholesterol is unclear. It basically says all of the claims about one diet versus another diet and everybody says theyre the best, theres just no theres no data to back that up. Reporter nutritionist for atkins says diet does work. The key is to find a diet that an an individual can sustain, echoed by dr. Seriars, who cread the zone. You need to pick a plan and stick to it. Weight watchers maintains it is a Proven Program back bid decades of research. Where does all of this leave the Silver Bullet . Just as elusive as ever. As a culture, we need to grow up about weight and health and recognize theyre like everything else. If you want to get there from here, it actually involves time, patience, and effort. In the end, the authors of the study say the real solution may be found in broad overall lifestyle changes, exactly those changes that are the most difficult to make. Wa, wa, wa. The changes that people have been talking about for years that you have to be willing to make. Taylor swift, of course, we know riding high thanks to sales of her new album this, as her feud with the streaming service, spotify, is reaching new height this is morning. Willie geist is here with all of this. Willie, good morning. Good morning, savannah. A week after taylor swift pulled her entire catalog from spotify, the companys ceo is firing back at her and other critics who claim that the site is giving away music for free. Taylor swift is known for singing about her breakups. We are never ever ever getting back together reporter this time, the one she dumped is speaking out. A week after swift ended her relationship with spotify, the ceo of the music streaming service, daniel eck, is responding on the Company Website saying all the talk swirling around lately about how spotify is making money on the backs of artists upsets me big time. Refuting claim that is spotify is giving music away, eck says spotify has paid more than 2 billion to labels, publishers and collecting societies for distribution of songwriters and artists. If people dont get it on spotify, they might be taking it for free. Is 2 billion better than nothing . And, of course, it is. Reporter swift has said she doesnt want her name attached to what she calls a grand experiment, telling yahoo i just dont agree with perpetuating the perception that music has no value and should be free. Eck says spotify has 50 million users, 12. 5 million of those paying subscribers. With music sales down and the use of streaming on the rise, this all boils down to a highprofile debate about the fate of the music business. These people are both concerned about the future of music, the future of the Music Industry and artists getting paid but they do have different viewpoints on it. Yes, two very different sides of the same story. For a little context, taylor swift sold 1. 3 million albums last week, the most since the 2002 eminem album. Shes doing okay. But theres a lot of artists that this is a concern for which is why its bigger than taylor swift. Youre not going to say thoughts and prayers . Telethon. Exactly. As we said al will begin his quest to set a world record tonight. Tamron, people are already talking about it and he hasnt even started yet . Hash tag rokerthon. Hash tag rokerthon. There you go. I heard you at home. Were going to watch al set a guinness book world record forecasting for hours straight, keeping a very close eye on mr. Roker. Viewers can send in early predictions for the number of times they think well hear him say your neck of the woods, how many selfies al will take in 34 hours. I think one a minute is good and just how many ginger root drinks that al will have during that time. For those of you who do not know, al roker walks around with a little pitcher actually its really big. You might want to avoid that when you dont get very many bathroom breaks. There it is. His famous ginger drink. Pretty helpful tips for mr. Roker. When it doubt, quote ghostbusters. Al, whats your favorite ghostbusters quote . She barks, she drools, she sleeps above the covers, four feet above the covers. Dont forget about that image of matt lauer. That will keep you awake. Actually him as j. Lo. Last word with Lawrence Odonnell. And today. Com. Today. Com, streaming live. Good luck. Tamron, thank you very much. Coming up, a starting new report after the death of Robin Williams. Was his suicide triggered by a form of dementia that causes people to see things that arent really there . Jon stewart tastes his first visit to studio 1a in 15 years. Youll need a bigger chair. Hows the coffee . First this is today on nbc. Coming up, what happens in your hotel room when youre not there . Meet the did you know enamel is your teeths first line of defense . 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Only abreva can heal it in as few as two and a half days when used at the first sign. It penetrates deep and starts to work immediately to block the virus and protect healthy cells. Dont tough it out, knock it out, fast. Abreva. Good morning. Im vai sikahema. Its going to be a nice day. Weve just got to get through the low clouds and fog. Lets get right to meteorologist bill henley and his forecast. We will see them clear. Fog is even in the pocono mountains. This is the view from shawnee, right along the delaware. Clouds will clear out. The thickest fog, though, has spread inland. Philadelphia international, northeast philadelphia, trenton, all reporting 1 4mile visibility and zero visibility for parts of new jerse