Lindseys out, whos in . The u. S. Skiers set to shine in sochi today, wednesday, january 8th, 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, 7 00 a. M. On the west coast. Im matt lauer. And im Natalie Morales along with al roker and willie geist. Thats right. Savannah is on assignment this morning. A stunning update to a story we have been following for several years now. We will fill you in on that in a little while. It will. Meanwhile, did you notice something on the shot as we swept in from outside. Yeah. No trees. Goodbye, old friend. The Rockefeller Christmas tree gone overnight. I saw some guys during the blistering cold yesterday starting to dismantle it. Feel sorry for them. Yeah, the tree, hijacked the car and somewhere down in florida. Exactly. Obviously the cold is our top story again today. The death toll from the weather has climbed to 21 people, 13 in illinois and indiana. More than 11,000 flights have also been canceled nationwide in the past four days. And record lows have been set in at least 50 major cities, including a wide section of the south. Lets start this morning with nbcs dylan dreyer braving the cold once again in minneapolis. Dylan, good morning to you. Reporter good morning, matt. We are here at minnehaha falls, but it is no joke. Look at how they are completely frozen over. Naturally just shut off. Its about 9 degrees below zero here in minneapolis, a little bit warmer than yesterday. But it is still seriously cold from the midwest to the northeast and even down into the south. Its one more brutal morning. Its crazy. Reporter arctic temperatures taking their toll everywhere you look. Its a big sheet of ice out there. Everybodys slipping and sliding. Reporter for drivers, black ice is a big issue. Watch as a minnesota motorist loses control of her suv and plunges off a bridge. Luckily, her injuries were not serious. Once you hit black ice, youre gone. Reporter dangerous highway conditions are posing problems for truckers from indiana to upstate new york. I wish i could see the front of my hood. Any time you get the wind across the road with this fine snow, cuts your Visibility Like that. Its still a nightmare for many air travelers with thousands of cancellations nationwide. Wait and hope i get out of here. Reporter this polar air shattered records in Southern States not accustomed to the cold in georgia and florida, folks brought out their heavy jackets and scarves. Mother nature, thats the only one you can blame. This photograph captures mother natures grip on the city of chicago. Heres hell, michigan, also frozen over. No matter the temperature, work goes on. Neither rain, nor sleet, nor polar vortex can stop this mail carrier in buffalo. Ive never delivered in a storm like this. Reporter were all waiting to catch a break from mother nature. Now, it is going to take a serious spring thaw to get these falls flowing again. But in the meantime, hey, we could get above freezing by the time we get to friday. Natalie . Thanks for highlighting the mail carrier working outside in these conditions. Meanwhile, blinding snow and strong winds have led officials to shut down major highways in western new york and more snow is expected today. We have nbcs katy tur on the banks of lake oswego. Good morning, natalie, were out here on lake ontario and we have good news and bad news. The waves on the sea wall are freezing. You can see how they have frozen over as they have gone over the wall. The good news is it is 12 degrees and the wind chill is negative 5. Winds coming at 20 miles an hour. That is a lot better than yesterday. The bad news is it is up to the north of us in watertown and adams. They are in the heavy bands of lakeeffect snow. Dumping 2 inches is hour there for the past day and a half. You can imagine how much snow they are getting. It will continue throughout the day. They are not able to measure how much snow they are getting because it is too windy. They cannot tell how much accumulation is actually on the ground. We tried to make it up there, unfortunately, we were not able to. The roads are impassible. We hit a whiteout and we were forced to turn around. I have to say, a lot better than it was yesterday. It is a gorgeous day in oswego. Al. Katy, you stop by thes oswe sub shop and get the al roker sub. Really . Yes. Lets see what we have. The wind chill warning and advisory map stretched from the dakotas to new england and florida. It is a lot smaller. The wind chills are finally starting to die down. Cleveland was 15 degrees warmer than yesterday. Tulsa, 33. You move in new york city, we are at 12. That is 7 degrees warmer than it was. It is colder today, in boston, as it was this time yesterday. The good news is the polar vortex is finally retreating. It will head north and drag all the cold air with it. For today, the highs in cleveland, 32. 41 in cincinnati. New york city up to 34. Atlanta, 47. For friday, it is warming up more. 50 in atlanta. Chicago, 34. Cleveland, 39. 43 in new york city. By saturday, we get more of a dip in the jet stream. We have a warmer flow of air. New york city up to 56. 64 in d. C. Are atlanta, 63. Chicago, 36. Cincinnati, a warmer 41 degrees. Guys, coming up, we will explain the polar vortex. It is not something we made up to hype this. We will explain what that means in a little bit. We believe you. The white house is sounding back off the book. We have Andrea Mitchell in a new book. Good morning. Former defense secretary bob gates sounds off the president former security team. In published reports authenticated from nbc news from people who have read the book. I asked secretary robert gates to continue as secretary of defense. And im pleased hes accepted. President obamas decision to keep george bushs defense secretary, a republican has blown back on the white house. In bob gates new memoir duty, the former cia and pentagon chief calls the Obama White House the most centralized and controlling since the nixon years. While gates credits president obamas decisions on afghanistan, he said the president didnt believe in his own strategy. Recalling after one meeting, i thought the president doesnt trust his commander, cant stand karzai, doesnt believe in his own strategy and doesnt consider the war to be his. For him, its all about getting out. A far cry from what gates told matt in 2009 on today. I think were all on the same page. Gates is particularly tough on Vice President biden writing i think hes been wrong on nearly every major Foreign Policy and National Security issue over the past four decades. And gates blasts tom donilon and his team. For aggressive and suspicious and condescending decisions. While gates praises former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, he said he was dismayed to hear she told the president she opposed the surge in 2007 because she was running against mr. Obama. In turn, gates says the president opposed for political reasons. I think some of his comments about obama and about secretary clinton will persist, theyll come back, theyll be used by republicans. But gates gave no hint of his resentment when he left the cabinet two years ago and president obama awarded him the medal of freedom, the nations highest civilian honor. Im deeply honored and moved. Stunned by the criticism, the white house has issued a statement saying the president deeply appreciates bob Gates Service and welcomes differences of view but disagrees with the assessment, especially of biden whom the white house hailed as one of the leading statesmen of his time. All right, Andrea Mitchell, thank you. David axelrod is a former Senior Adviser to president obama. Hes now an msnbc senior political analyst. Hi, david, good morning. Hey, matt. How are you . Im good. Thank you. On the positive side, robert gates says president obamas decision to okay the mission to kill Osama Bin Laden was one of the most courageous decisions hed seen in the white house. But as we just heard, other comments in the book are pretty critical. While you were witnessing secretary gates, did you get a sense he was a guy who was stewing over what he was witnessing . That he was disgruntled in any way . Absolutely not. In fact, i was surprised when i saw the stories yesterday because i always felt they had a good working relationship. He always indicated he had a good working relationship with the president. And the stories themselves are confusing, matt. Because in it, not only did he praise himself for the bin laden raid, he thought he made the right decisions on afghanistan. He was a clear and decisive decision maker. So his big complaint is that he thinks he wasnt sufficiently personally in his heart committed enough to his own strategy. I dont think thats true. That quote on the strategy, he talks about being in a meeting. And he says as i sat there, i thought the president doesnt trust his commander. Doesnt believe in his own strategy and doesnt consider it his war. For him, its all about getting out. You say thats not a Fair Assessment . Well, first, i wasnt in that meeting, but i will tell you this, when we arrived at the white house, there was no afghanistan strategy, it was a mess. And what the president did was focus the mission, limit the mission, focus on al qaeda and dismantling al qaeda, which is why we went to afghanistan in the first place and developing a plan to unwind the war and bring our troops home. He was assiduous about trying to keep the military on that plan. I dont know what transpired at that meeting, but he was very committed to the mission and very appreciative to the great work our young men and women did in executing that mission. I think this story about the iraq surge back in 2007 under damning. Now, im paraphrasing here, but to suggest in this book that both secretary clinton or Hillary Clinton and barack obama oppose that surge purely for political and not strategic reasons, i think is going to upset a lot of people. He says this in the book. To hear the two of them making these admissions and in front of me was as surprising as it was dismaying. I think a lot of americans will be dismayed by that, too, david. Well, they may well be if they accept this. But barack obama opposed the war in iraq from 2002 forward from its inception. He was against it before, it was authorized by the United States senate. And he certainly wasnt going to double down on a strategy that he didnt believe in. I know because i was involved with him at that time. There was never a political discussion about this because his position on it was absolutely clear. And even in the book, based on the quotes that were in the newspapers, secretary gates said he made some vague suggestion that perhaps that was his position. I want to go back. That was not his position. I want to go back to the credibility on these issues. A guy that served both republicans and democrats, a loyal defense secretary, sacrificed for his country. Could you look me in the eye and tell me you thought he would be a guy that would make things up just to sell a book . Look, im not suggesting he made things up to sell a book. But i think the language that he used for example, on that iraq story was vague and it was subjective. And it was there was no declaration on the president s part he made that decision on a political basis. And it wouldnt have been. As i said, he was opposed to the war in iraq from the beginning for all the reasons that bob gates suggests in his book that he opposed the war in iraq because he thought it was a deflection from afghanistan where al qaeda was situated and where we needed to focus our efforts. Im not going to go to his motives. Im not going to impugn him in any way. But im telling you, from my experience, and i was rather close to the president when he was in the United States senate. Right. That was absolutely not the case. All right. David axelrod, important perspective this morning, thank you very much. We want to mention that former defense secretary gates will be here monday on today for his first live interview on this new memoir. Well, meanwhile, willie has the story of a tragic accident out in colorado. This is a sad story, guys. A freestyle skier has been killed in an avalanche. Close could to the colorado resort founded by his grandfather. Its the fifth avalanche related death in the past two weeks. We are devastated because we have lost one of our children. And it could have been any one of our children. The community in vail, colorado is coping with a heartbreaking loss this morning. The death of 24yearold tony seibert killed in an avalanche on tuesday while skiing with Three Friends in the back country regions of the mountains. Tony was a typical kid that grew up in vail. Seibert is a grandson of peter seibert. Is that an avalanche . Reporter two weeks ago, vails back country was the scene of this avalanche. Skiers triggered a wave of snow that swallowed edwin lamair, the 22yearold, burying everything but his head and left arm. He was rescued by his younger brother jack. We were lucky they were able to find me and my head was above before it got dark. Tributes to seibert were posted on social media. Despite the dangers of skiing in areas at risk for avalanches, friends and family say seibert and the others were experienced skiers most at home on the slopes. They love the mountain. They love the life. They love the freedom this lifestyle provides them. Meanwhile, the fight over Unemployment Benefits is on to the next round. The senate voted narrowly on tuesday to move forward on a temporary extension of Unemployment Benefits to over 1 million jobless americans. Six republican senators joined with all democrats present in the 6037 vote. Now the bill cannot be filibustered and formal debate will begin on the legislation. Five people have been arrested in the connection of a murder of miss venezuela monica spear. Spear and her husband were killed on a stretch of highway in venezuela. Their 5yearold daughter surviv survived, but shot in the leg. People turned out in north korea today to watch the basketball game organized by dennis rodman. Rodman called it a Birthday Gift for kim jongun. Before the game, he sang happy birthday to the north korean leader. Features a group of former nba players. Rodman sees the game as a way, he says, to bridge the gap between north korea and the United States. You heard of water pipes bursting in the house when it gets too cold . How about 30,000 feet in the air . That happened on tuesday night on the American Airlines flight. Water from the lavatory burst and soaking passengers. The plane was forced to make an Emergency Landing in arkansas. Florida state seminole football fans celebrating the big win on monday night in the bcs. Hopefully they are not wearing this tshirt. It was on sale on florida sta states web site. It reads, tigers, 34, noles, 31. Giving auburn the victory. Oh, my. The shirt was sold for a brief period on tuesday before they pulled it. If you have one of those, you have a collectors item. That is an ebay sale. A shirt from the parallel universe. I think auburn fans are buying that tshirt. Mr. Roker . Lets look at what is going on for our friends out west and we have a system making its way in to the pacific northwest. Seattle, a little on the wet side as the sun comes up. Showers, rainy, cool, temperatures up into the low 50s as the day progresses. Out west, chillier. They will be looking at light snow in boise, idaho. Salt lake with snow. 63. Warmer in los angeles. 73. It is warmer in los angeles than phoenix. Denver is partly cloudy skies and 76 degrees. The cold air is finally starting to relinquish its grip. Icy conditions making their way from oklahoma on into arkansas. Look for wet weather throughout eastern texas. A gorgeous day through the chilly side. Atlanta today, the high is about 43 degrees. We wil good morning. Happy wednesday. Taking a live look at San Francisco, as al referred to as friscoing they dont like that here. We are going to end up in the 60s. A good looking day shaping up for most of the day bear. It will be colder than yesterday fluz degrees. Youll need your jacket, not just today, for tomorrow as well. Tomorrow morning, showers on the radar. Ill detail that in a few moments. Ts your l weather. All right. Al, thanks very much. Lets go to the orange room and check on carson. Good morning, guys. Was i the only one that woke up today thinking its going to be a little warmer . You were. The cold spells over. Not so much. The cold still dominates the news, social media. Weve been collecting and many of your creative ways of hanging in the cold. Did you see this one . Did you see this one, guys . The trampoline. Right on the trampoline. And there you go. Very cool. There you have it. Jenna bailey wrote in, used food coloring and gave us this frozen rainbow. Heres tonya noticed the fedex guy making deliveries wearing shorts. Thats crazy. You can keep those coming at todaycold. Coming up today, more of our favorites. And Michelle Kosinski, a live shot of michelle somewhere in the world where normally its very cold. Apparently not this morning because shes skinny dipping. Shell have advice for the ice later on. My goodness. Very cool place. Maybe its closed. Youll have to wait and see. Michelle, thank you very much. Coming up, with lindsey vonn not competing, who are the members of team usa . And kraft announces a possible velveeta shortage. A real crisis or cheesy pr stunt . A real crisis or cheesy pr stunt . Bu in touch with the ground im on the hunt, im after you smell like i sound, im lost in a crowd and im hungry like the wolf straddle the line, in discord and rhyme [ female announcer ] only yoplait light and yoplait greek 100 are endorsed by Weight Watchers. It is so good when youre on the hunt for something delicious. Find yoplait original and light yogurt cups on sale now at your local safeway store. Coming up, savannahs going to reveal a very special assignment this morning. 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The most highly recommended bed in america. Now the fun begins introducing the dollar menu more. With new hits, like the 2 bacon mcdouble, plus others, still for a dollar, like the mcchicken. The new dollar menu more. Good wednesday morning to you. 7 26. Im laura garciacannon. Heres a look at todays top stories. Charges could be filinged as early asa ; today against a mano admitted to kidnapping a 7yearold girl in antioch. The suspect, david douglas, spoke to us from inside the county jail. He says the kidnapping was a cry for help, claiming people from the government have been following him for years and told lit. A second person in the bay area has died from the flu. Contra costa Health Official says a 48yearold woman with underlying medical condition died in the last few days. Centers for Disease Control reporting widespread flu activity in 25 states and says it will get worse as we get closer to february. Investigators in los gados are trying to out if a woman was a victim of a disturbing and painful prank known as the knockout game. Its where a person hits someone randomly in the head. Monday afternoon a woman was dropping off her daughter at dance practice at a studio on blossom hill road when a man came up, punched her in the face, nothiew yorking her down he took off. Good morning. Temperatures are not going take off by much. Five to tendegree climb with clouds and cold air moving in. Part of an area of low pressure, painting a pretty sky over San Francisco. 52 degrees, cloudy conditions. You might encounter thick fog, drizzle on your way to work. Look at that backup. Well check on that with mike if a moment. Temperatures today cold. Same deal for tomorrow. We might get isolated showers at the coast as of tonight. A better chance tomorrow morning at 5 00 a. M. As promised, mike. Pointed out that typically slow drive north 280 at 880 17 interchange south bay. Look at bay bridge, atypical for wednesday. Lighter volume of traffic. We have a mild backup from metering lights. Folks trying to get back from vacation. San francisco side, get you oriented here, north 101, a crash. Slow from 280 past the scene. Use 280 extension to get into San Francisco as your alternate. Slow to the bay bridge. Back to you. Thank you. Thank you for joining us as well. Another local news update in a half hour. Its 7 30 now on a wednesday morning. Its the 8th day of january, 2014. Take a look at the blustery morning in buffalo, new york. Temperature there about ten degrees. Now lets switch over a little closer to home outside our window in Rockefeller Center. Its ten degrees here, as well. So you figure it is cold here, it must be even icier in iceland. But no, thats not the case. In reykiavak. Whats the water like, michelle . Reporter it is amazing. Its like a sauna in here, really. Right. Nice. Perfect. Were going to find out why michelle is there and what shes up to in a little bit. Coming up, the advice folks have to deal with the cold. The deep freeze our top story this morning. And some 21 deaths are now blamed on the cold nationwide. At least 50 major cities from midwest to deep south broke record lows on tuesday. Sad story to report, the 24yearold grandson of vail, colorados founder has died in an avalanche. Happened in the back country near vail. Thats east vail. Three others are injured and being treated for injuries this morning. And cue the cuteness alert. The giant panda cub at the zoo busy preparing for her public debut. Now more than 17 pounds of cuteness after weighing less than 5 ounces at birth. Well visit her coming up. Thats about a stick of butter as you hear all the time. 17 pounds is good. Also ahead this morning, what will you put on your nachos now . Theres word of a velveeta shortage. Well investigate. I have my doubts. Lets begin with a federal crackdown on popular weight loss products. Several Major Companies accused of false promises. Jeff rossen has the details. Good morning. Good morning to you. Talk about timing here. So many of us making new years resolutions to lose weight. And buying these products to help out with it. But now the federal government says youve been fooled. Theyre cracking down and taking action against some of the most popular products, saying theres no proof they actually work. Your chance of really losing weight, slim to none. This morning, officials are naming names. Diets are hard, but sensa is easy as shake and lose weight. Have you seen these ads . Theyre everywhere. Eat all the foods you love and watch the pounds come off. Just sprinkle these crystals on your food and shed the pounds. Americans bought it, 364 million in sales. The amazing new clinically proven sensation. But the federal trade Commission Says the science isnt there. Accusing sensa of deceptive advertising with unfounded weight loss claims. All of the studies were wholly inadequate and not conducted in a scientific manner. And one of the studies even included fabricated data according to our evidence. Now sensa has agreed to settle with the government, forking over 26. 5 million in customer refunds. In a statement, the company says we stand behind sensa and have invested millions of dollars to conduct studies to substantiate our claims. Do you want to get rid of this, too . The government also targeting ads from this company. Hcg diet direct. Their drops promise weight loss. Also on the feds list, these socalled slimming creams. All the companies now accused of misleading customers and all settling with the government without admitting any wrong doing. Our message for consumers is be very wary of pills, patches and powders that claim rapid and substantial weight loss without diet or exercise. Those companies are all allowed to stay in business, but they have to stop making those misleading claims. All the companies have agreed to change the way they advertise. By the way, there may be money in this for you. The ftc plans to use that settlement money to refund customers just like you who may have bought the products. Theyre still figuring out, matt and natalie, the best way to do that. But stay tuned, may be money in it. Well put information up on our website so people can check that out. Lets get a check of the weather right now. A lot of folks saying theres no such thing as a polar vortex and its some leftwing media conspiracy. Let me tell you something. First of all, weve never used the phrase Global Warming or Climate Change in conjunction with this. This is from my textbook from college, the glossary of meteorology copyright 1959, okay. And here we go. Take a look right here. Polar vortex. There it is. The largescale cyclonic circulation in the middle specifically two centers. Okay. So for all the doubters out there, stop it yeah. That book also has something on big foot in it, doesnt it . It absolutely does. And of course, im dating myself, too. You still have that book . But anyway, youre looking youve got the storm system coming across, its going to bring rain. But the good news is, temperatures are going to warm up heading into the weekend. Well, 7 36 on a wednesday morning. Were getting a spectacular sunrise over San Francisco. Those clouds will be increasing today. Kind of an overcast day shaping up with shower on the way as of tonight but not lbefore. We hit the upper 50s and 60s today. 61 north bay. 61 east bay. 60 in the south bay. Rain arrives as wea i÷0l head throughout tonight at coast. Temperatures stay cool for the next couple of days and climb back up for the weekend. You can see that in Mountain View. Have a fantastic day. Thats your latest weather. I actually do collect antique meteorology books besides the ones ive started with. I dont have anything from college. I cant remember college. Thats a whole other story. I know, i know. Thank you very much. Lets turn to our countdown to sochi, the winter Olympic Games just 29 days away. And news of Lindsey Vonns withdrawal has made headlines. It doesnt mean the u. S. Team is out of the race. With lindsey vonn out of competition, all eyes on the rest of team usa to see who will rule the mountains in sochi. Make no mistake, the United States ski team won 21 of 37 medals in vancouver and lindsey vonn won two. Where does that leave us . With a lot of talent and even newer talent that will bust out in sochi. Athletes reach speeds of up to 90 miles an hour, competition is always surprising. Julia mancuso who came up in the sport alongside vonn has often been the underdog. Who wins fans with an incredible ability to perform under pressure. And its paid off with gold. Julias not had the best start to this season. That said, no one in the world has proven herself better on the big stage. Youngest american ever to win a world cup yeah, its you. Mykala shiffers rise has been meteoric. Shes a fantastic skiing prodigy. And if she doesnt win gold or at least medal, it would be a huge surprise. Just dont call her the next lindsey vonn. How about im mikaela shiffer and she can be lindsey vonn because she has plenty more races shes going to win. For the men, ted ligety will make his third appearance in sochi. Hes capable of winning pretty much every event. And thats a look of pure joy on the face of bodey miller. He will become the first skier to compete in five Olympic Games. He has come back in a big way. At 36, hes the elder statesman of the group, but not to be counted out. Bodey miller took 2008 off. And now hes back, and theres Nothing Better for ski racing when hes back. Hes so much fun to watch. Awesome. Theres a lot to be excited about. A lot of great contenders there, absolutely. Julia mancuso has lived in Lindsey Vonns shadow a little bit, shes going to shine. Its her time. And mikaela shiffer as well. Sometimes when the big tree falls, it shines light on that underneath. It has that in the textbook. From 1907. There it is. By the way, were going to talk about the state of the u. S. Ski team with bode miller when he joins us live tomorrow on today. And the olympic competition begins on nbc thursday, february 6th with the Opening Ceremony friday, february 7th. Looking forward to bringing it to you. Up next, a possible shortage just in time for the super bowl that could leave you velveetaless. And then on trending, is it the next thigh gap. At farmers, we make you smarter about insurance. Because what you dont know, can hurt you. What if you didnt know that posting your travel plans online may attract burglars . 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Well, good morning, im at the Miamidade CollegeCulinary Institute where they teach young chefs how to cook and sometimes find alternative ingredients. But, there are some folks who say that there are some tastes that cannot be replaced. And one of those is velveeta allegedly. Its a staple when making nachos. Nachos without velveeta is nothing. Reporter connoisseurs say nacho night doesnt work without that creamy, gooey cheeselike product velveeta. Im not so sure this is a real shortage. We might be just spreading rumors, what do you think . This has to be the cheesiest story ever. Reporter there was no big cheese to appear on camera. But kraft issued a statement tuesday. It is possible some consumers may not be able to find some velveeta products on store shelves over the next couple of weeks. The makers of velveeta curd not say if theres a whey to solve the shortage quickly. On twitter katie posted, what, no velveeta, the world is officially over. She had to go to three groceries recently before she found a supply. I lived through it. There could be a shortage. Reporter with the upcoming super bowl, some worry this shortage could spread. But absent explanation from kraft as to why theres a shortage, the great void to some is a story with more holes than swiss cheese. The chances of them actually running out of cheese before the biggest dipping day of the year seems a little farfetched. This has all the hallmarks of a pr stunt. And he is not alone in thinking this whole shortage story, this alleged shortage was crafted by the company that manufactures this. After all, the name of the company is kraft. Yeah. Yeah. The timing of it somewhat suspicious. Meanwhile, we also want to mention, theres going to be a shortage of dont make me stop this car books written by al roker in time for the summer season. Kerry, when people are going out, i guess they ran out of Cracker Barrel cheese. None of that on the shelves, real cheese . Reporter i dont know. This is allegedly a combination of many different types of cheeses and, i dont know. I think matt has never tried velveeta. Get in there, matt. Come on. Give it a try. There is a shortage. Oh, yeah. Thats a big bite. So much for that pr stunt. A ringing endorsement. Thats good cheese. Thats good cheese. It magically disappeared. It goes down so quickly, too. I must say, my mom used to make a great openfaced broiled velveeta coming up on trending, think you have a lot to do, take a look at this photo trending. Its a multitasking dad who will put us to shame. Update from iceland after dealing with brutal cold weather update from iceland after dealing with brutal cold weather here at if yand youre talking toevere rheuyour rheumatologistike me, about trying or adding a biologic. This is humira, adalimumab. This is humira working to help relieve my pain. This is humira helping me through the twists and turns. This is humira helping to protect my joints from further damage. Doctors have been prescribing humira for over ten years. Humira works by targeting and helping to block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to ra symptoms. For many adults, humira is proven to help relieve pain and stop further joint damage. Humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. Serious, sometimes fatal events, such as infections, lymphoma, or other types of cancer, have happened. Blood, liver and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening Heart Failure have occurred. Before starting humira , your doctor should test you for tb. Ask your doctor if you live in or have been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. Tell your doctor if you have had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have symptoms such as fever, fatigue, cough, or sores. You should not start humira if you have any kind of infection. Ask your doctor if humira can work for you. This is humira at work. Makes everything algood even better. Ilk from the bowls of cereal you make. To all the delicious recipes you bake. Because inside every carton is the goodness of blue diamond almonds. Almond breeze. Almondiciously good from the big screen to Small Screens near and far twizzlerize your entertainment every day with twizzlers. The twist you cant resist. [ coughing ] [ crying ] sorry. [ male announcer ] new robitussin dm max nighttime. Fast, powerful cough relief that helps you sleep like a baby. Robitussin nighttime. Dont suffer the coughequences. Getting the right nutrition isnt always easy. First, i want a way to help minimize my blood sugar spikes. Then, a way to support heart health. And lets not forget immune support. But now i have new glucerna advance with three benefits in one. Including carbsteady ultra to help minimize blood sugar spikes. Its the best from glucerna. [ male announcer ] new glucerna advance. From the brand doctors recommend most. Advancing nutrition for diabetes. He loves me. He loves me not. He loves me. He loves me not. He loves me thats right. [ mom ] warm and flaky in 15, everyone loves pillsbury grands [ girl ] make dinner pop and were back in the orange room monitoring your creative ways of dealing with the cold. Hannah sent this one. Negative 18 in northern minnesota, kept warm at negative 31 eating a little ice cream. Not wise, be i ty the way. Electric blanket, cold dog milo, you can keep these coming here. Theres Michelle Kosinski. Well talk to her and have a lot more coming up from the orange room in a few seconds. Stay warm. But first, this is today [ female announcer ] dove invited women to test their body washes with paper that reacts like skin. If others can strip this paper, imagine how harsh they can be to your skin. Oh my gosh. [ female announcer ] dove is different. Dove. This is care. Dove. Thiding care. Milk wins protein. On the go. Got protein. To severe plaque psoriasis. The frustration. Covering up. So i talked with my doctor. He prescribed enbrel. Enbrel is clinically proven to provide clearer skin. Many people saw 75 clearance in 3 months. And enbrel helped keep skin clearer at 6 months. [ male announcer ] enbrel may lower your ability to fight infections. Serious, sometimes fatal, events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, nervous system and blood disorders, and allergic reactions have occurred. Before starting enbrel, your doctor should test you for tuberculosis and discuss whether youve been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. You should not start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. Tell your doctor if youre prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for Heart Failure, or if you have symptoms such as persistent fever, bruising, bleeding, or paleness. [ woman ] finally, clearer skin for more than a few days, weeks, or months. Enbrel works for me. Ask your dermatologist if you can have clearer skin with enbrel. [ male announcer ] hurry in and save 10 off all Energy Star Appliances 399 or more at lowes. Very good wednesday morning to you. 7 55. Im laura garciacannon. Oakland police will release new information about a deadly shooting nearly seven months ago. Police expected to release a photo of a car they say was involved in the crash that led to the killing of aya nakaon on the 22yearold shot to death in june. His mother hopes 100,000 reward will lead to an arrest. Police are looking for two men that broke into a belmont home. The suspects broke into the homp on friday. The homeowners told the patch, suspects were only in the house for two to three minutes and took small things they could carry like laptops, iphones and jewelry. Lets check the forecast with christina loren. Cloudy out there. But you can smell the moisture as it moves on shore. Might get rain tonight, slight chance, mostly immediate coast and higher elevation. But were looking good for showers through tomorrow morning. Headed towards the 60s and upper 50s today, cold enough for a jacket all day long. Showers on your futurecast, 11 00 p. M. , front tries to come through the bay area. Its not going to make its way through until tomorrow. Tracking showers at this time when we meet back here. Lets check your drive and say good morning to mike. Big crash going on, it just cleared a company of minutes ago, north 101 jammed into San Francisco. Look at this live shot. Hospital curve approaching the split at the bottom of the screen. Folks heading toward the lower deck, a concern here. Approach backed ujup. Earlier crash cleared from the lanes. Backup for north 101 and daly city. 280 extension a better continuation of the city itself but tied up in both areas. Slower drive as you head over the east bay. South bay, fog, drizzle and slick roads continue in many spots. Be careful out there. [ female announcer ] wherever morning brings you, bring the energy you need. Nature valley softbaked oatmeal squares. Softly baked, made with hearty oatmeal and a drizzle of cinnamon. Theyre Nature Valleys take on a morning classic. Because when you keep going, the morning can bring you to brandnew places. Nature valley. Nature at its most delicious. Its 8 00 on today. And coming up, how many drinks does it take to qualify as a binge drinker . The answer may surprise you. Plus, slimmeddown surprise. Oh, my god meet the young man who shocked his family by showing up for the holidays 130 pounds lighter. Oh, my god im so proud of you because im happy and cue the cuteness. An exclusive visit with the new panda cub at the national zoo today, wednesday, january 8th, 2014. Its cold in new york hi, dad and grandpa back in denver, colorado howdy, texas hi, california its our anniversary and we came to see matt lauer its freezing in new york, but this has been a blast were back now at 8 00 on a wednesday morning, eighth day of january 2014. It is now official, you people are crazy yeah no, you get an aplusplus all around for being the most dedicated fans. Its freezing out here im matt lauer along with Natalie Morales, al roker and carson daly. Savannah guthrie is on assignment. However, she joins us on the phone now. Savannah, we miss you here in the cold. What can you tell us about your big assignment . Good morning to all of you. For one thing, im in a place a lot warmer than where you are right now. Im in tucson, arizona, which you guys know is the place i grew up. This is also the place three years ago today someone walked in and shot Gabby Giffords, the former congresswoman from this area, and 18 other people. And today, Gabby Giffords is going to do something i think is incredibly courageous and inspiring and a little bit surprising. Shes going to skydive here in arizona to commemorate the threeyear anniversary and all of the progress that shes made. Wow. She is an incredibly brave person. Shes someone who used to love to skydive before this shooting took place. She hasnt done it since. So, today shes going to go up in a plane here in arizona. Her husband, mark kelly, will be there, her mom will be there, and shes going to jump with the navy s. E. A. L. That shes really formed a friendship with. This is somebody shes jumped with before, somebody who was later injured in afghanistan, and they are going to take the plunge together today, and we are going to be there to cover all of it, and well have the story for you tomorrow on today. Wow. Wow. Its fantastic. I just want to clarify, are you also taking part in this . Of course you have to. I get to go up in the plane and i will get to watch. This is gabbys moment. Oh, okay, all right. Understandable. Cool, thats a great story. Yeah, it will be really, really neat. Incredible. More courage than all of us. We look forward to seeing Gabby Giffordss leap of faith. Thats tomorrow morning right here on today. Savannah, thank you. My pleasure. Now go back inside. Soon. Not yet. All right, now still to come, weve got a lot, including thin credible story of this young man who lost all this weight, but we want to go inside to willie geist covering the headlines for us this morning. Willie . Good morning, guys. We look forward to congresswoman giffords having a safe jump. Meanwhile, relief arriving slowly for americans who have endured a bitter strip of extreme winter weather, recordlow temperatures climbing back into the double digits and the winds that caused dangerous whiteouts calming down now in many areas. However, buffalo digging out this morning from its first blizzard in two decades. And in tupelo, mississippi, a reminder of just how cold its been, the fountain outside the county courthouse frozen solid. It was so cold in lexington, kentucky, meanwhile, an escaped prison inmate turned himself in just to get warm. Officials say convicted burglar robert vick took shelter in an abandoned farm house after bolting from prison this weekend, but when the windchill dropped to 20 below, he walked to a motel and asked them to call the police. He was treated for hypothermia and frostbite. There is outrage in new york city this morning where more than 100 former police officers, firefighters and other city workers are accused of faking mental disabilities in order to get tens of thousands of dollars in Social Security benefits. Prosecutors say some former workers claimed to have been traumatized by the september 11th attacks and could barely take care of themselves, but they were participating in activities like jetskiing and fishing, and in some cases, even working other jobs. One of the babies at the Smithsonian National zoo in washington is starting to get comfortable in his new surroundings. She is bao bao the panda. The public gets to meet her in ten days, but nbcs tom costello has a preview. Shes a little sleepy. Reporter Early Morning at the national zoo and bao bao is getting a weighin. Lets see how much you weigh. 7. 9. Reporter thats more than 17 pounds. After a few measurements that is like 8 and 9. Hi reporter bao bao, which means precious in mandarin, gets some oneonone time with two of her personal trainers. Hi are you going to play with us . Want to try some sweet potato . So, by using this tactile stimulation, its in essence a reward for her being comfortable being close to me. Reporter bao bao is now 4 1 2 months old. She sleeps about 20 hours a day, then explores her new world slowly and deliberately. With each struggling pull, she finds her way, and like any toddler, she takes a tumble. Ooh. Reporter but despite her name, zookeepers insist shes strong. Shes just really a mini little tank. Reporter this little tank was only about 5 ounces at birth. Just last week introduced to snow in a bucket. In just ten days, shell meet the public. Until then, some extra cuddle time with mom. Tom costello, nbc news, washington. Early look at bao bao there from tom. Thanks, tom. Its good to find your calling in life and Steve Venegas has found his, apparently. The vancouver man dresses like the mannequins in gap stores, then poses with them for pictures. He started five years ago while shopping with his wife. Steve posted his collection online this week and its going viral. He says its funny to dress like a dummy. It is 8 06. Lets get a check on the weather now with al. That is amazing. I love that. All right, so, you guys came all the way from california just to see me . Yes. Wow, what a disappointment that must be for you. No, its awesome no . Oh, go. Are you having a good time . A great time. Motherdaughter trip. Well, thanks so much for coming. We appreciate that. And somebodys not very happy. Oh, my, whos this . This is grady. How olds grady . Hes 18 months. Where are you guys from . Houston, texas. Uhoh, i think a little teething going on. All right, well, thanks for sharing him, huh . What a cutie. Lets show you what we have today. And weve got some clouds over chicago. Were going to be looking at a little light snow there, todayssunrise. Otherwise partly sunny, warming up to 14 degrees yowza thats going to be nice. Pick city of the day chicago. By the time we get to friday, some mixed precipitation and a high of 33 degrees. Rest of the country, afternoon temperatures, they are starting to warm up, believe it or not. Not as bad as theyve been, especially through the plain states. 70s down in florida and southern california. For the day we look for some rain moving into the pacific northwest, wet weather texas, some icy conditions oklahoma on into arkansas. Thats whats going on around the country. Fares whats happening in your lpwell, ill see your wow,. Look at this shot of San Francisco. Isnt itco spectacular that we t to wake up to this beautiful sky droughti] relief coming our way with showers tonight. Were looking at about 60 degrees today. In the south bay, it is 60, east bay, 61. Xd well talk about showersni in a few minutes, hope you have a great day. Weather. All right, al. Thanks very much. Coming up, a little miley cyrus fan with a very big voice. Wait until you hear this. And then a guy who lost 130 pounds while keeping it all a secret from his parents. He surprises them during the holidays. Well show you their priceless reaction. And our first steals and deals of the new year, including a 400 juicer at rock bottom price. But first, these messages. Ooh, la la sing ooh, la la la la come on, yall, ooh, la la [ female announcer ] set your success in motion with the special k challenge. Lose up to six pounds in two weeks. With the cereal you love and so much more. What will you gain when you lose . With the cereal you love and so much more. Makes everything algood even better. Ilk from the bowls of cereal you make. To all the delicious recipes you bake. Because inside every carton is the goodness of blue diamond almonds. Almond breeze. Almondiciously good he actually told me that a lot of the foods that i thought were really healthy for me can do damage to the enamel on my teeth. I am a healthy girl, i love salads, i love fruits, and its not something i want to give up. My dentist recommended that i use pronamel twice a day as my daily toothpaste. Pronamel will help protect the enamel from future erosion. Its just so great because all of those foods that i enjoyed so much, i didnt want to give up, and now i can continue to have them. I didnt want to give up, [ male announcer ] cant take a sick day tomorrow. [ coughs ] [ male announcer ] so he cant let a cold keep him up tonight. Vicks nyquil. Powerful nighttime 6 symptom cold and flu relief. [ male announcer ] if you can clear a crowd but not your nasal congestion, you may be muddling through allergies. Try zyrtecd®. Powerful relief of nasal congestion and other allergy symptoms all in one pill. Zyrtecd®. At the pharmacy counter. And other allergy symptoms all in one pill. coffee being poured into a cup. save your coffee from the artificial stuff. Switch to truvia. Great tasting, zerocalorie sweetness from the stevia leaf. [ chicken caws ] [ male announcer ] when your favorite food starts a fight, fight back fast with tums. Heartburn relief that neutralizes acid on contact and goes to work in seconds. Tum, tum tum tum tums heartburn relief that neutralizes acid on contact [announcer]. If you think the best bed for one of you might be a compromise for the other one. [woman]ask me about our tempurpedic. [announcer] theyre sleeping on the newest tempurpedic bed. The new tempur choice. [man]two people. Two remotes. [announcer] firmness settings for the head,legs,and back. And with tempur on top,that famous tempurpedic comfort comes any way you like it [woman]ask me about the lumbar button. [man]shes got her side. And ive got my side. [announcer] tempurpedic. The most highly recommended bed in america. [woman]dont touch my side [ male announcer ] at some point, everyones been at the corner of new years resolution and maybe i need a new new years resolution. At walgreens, we know that starting healthy routines can be tough. Thats why walgreens makes it easier with realistic and real simple solutions. Everything from great deals on vitamins, supplements and fitness monitors to helpful online tools. At the corner of happy and healthy. When our only job was having fun. Well, its feeling Pretty Simple again thanks to Weight Watchers new simple start. I started losing weight right away. And im having a lot of fun. New simple start. A 2week jumpstart to a whole new beginning. Get motivation at meetings, like i did, or do it entirely online. Join for free. Weight watchers. Your new beginning starts here. Welcome back inside, 8 14, time for whats trending today. And lets start this morning, shall we. I think its kind of a sobering question. Are you a binge drinker . Anybody here . Were not going to own up to that. Line up the shots and go. But you have to figure out what the definition of binge drinking is. Thats changed. Well, you may be surprised by the answer. Here is what the cdc has to say about this. If youre a woman, you are binge drinking when you have at least four alcoholic beverages in one sitting. For men, its simply five drinks. Here, if you were to consume this, you would be Kathie Lee Gifford or hoda. I was going to say, where are kathie lee and hoda . If you were to consume that, you would be a binge drinker. In one sitting. One long dinner . Are you sitting i guess most ofs would be considered. One night a week, what if its a saturday night . That would be binge drinking for that night. The government estimates about 38 million americans drink too much. They say doctors need to do more to help patients avoid the dangers of heavy drinking. Im living with a binge drinker. I just realized that. Wow. A lot of us. Sure. Sure. It can happen. All right. Well, remember that ridiculous body image trend called the thigh gap . Well, now looks like a crazier trend, or is there . This one is called bikini bridge. It happens when you put a bikini and you lie down i think this is our excuse just to show you these shots. If your stomach sinks below the level of your hipbones, youre said to be in good shape. Thats ridiculous. Shes in good shape. Shes very skinny. The idea is to make your bikini form a bridge over your body. She looks like put that up again. We dont need to hold on a second. Lets con to discuss this, guys. Here you go. Is that a real picture . Is that a real person . No. Its false. The whole thing, by the way is a hoax. Exactly. Started online. People were trying to get the hashtag bikini bridge to go viral. It worked for a while. You dont want to know the man version of the bikini bridge. Not where you want to go. Lets move past that. Who said fathers cannot multitask. One california dad has proven with a touching photo thats winning over the web. He took this photograph of himself styling the hair of one daughter while carrying the other in a baby bjorn. Posted the picture under the headline, i have a dream that people will view a picture like this and not think its a big deal. He said he wants to prove to his wife and the world that dads can be great you confuse that. Oh. The sad part is if you look at that picture, he really let himself go. During this whole thing. Guys do this all the time. Exactly. Dont get enough credit. Way to go. We all heard the song wrecking ball, miley cyrus doing the fist pumping, the body shaking. Okay. Even true for small kids when they hear the song even though theyre strapped into a baby seat. I came in like a wrecking ball okay. Doesnt know the words, but hes got the feeling down pat. Oh, yeah. Or he might have gas. And that is whats trending today. Meantime, weve been showing you nbcs Michelle Kosinski enjoying a swim in usually frigid reykjavik, iceland, while were in the cold. Why are you there . And you must have tips for all of us back here. Shes showing the bikini bridge. Reporter i thought bikini bridge was a condo down in miami. It is exactly zero degrees celsius right now. Which is perfect swimming weather. People have morning meetings in here. You can feel your hair freezing. But americas freeze is news around the world now. Its interesting to hear advice coming from reykjavik and siberia, places where its also vital to be able to find ways to enjoy that kind of weather. Polar vortex is now hitting the uk. The temperature and normally brutal upper scotland, though, 45 degrees. Moscow, 36, greenland 37. Siberia, five above zero, even the north pole eight degrees. Places of the u. S. Have been more like antarctica at negative 13. But seeing those pictures leaves some in these parking lots sheets of ice. You have almost no clothes on. Reporter both feeling for americans and confused. They dont understand why this is so much problem. Plenty of advice. Things like the right boot light candles for coziness. And then you go for walk for two hours. Just relax. Reporter people in the frozen north cannot believe how cold it is in america right now. One woman said she was afraid for americans because looked like their exposed faces were freezing. But people here say for them, most important to getting through a bitterly cold winter is exercise and socializing. One website from finland actually gave the advice to remember to keep smiling. Back to you guys there in frozen new york. But ill tell you, im not getting out of this pool until some time around july. Were hoping. Michelle, whats that box floating behind you. Her isb maybe . Yeah, its a cable going into my ear. Oh. Okay. Thats how they do it. Thank you very much, michelle. Your towel will be there in half an hour. Theres too much testosterone on this set. Clearly. Look what you put on. Now some inspiration. If youve made a new years resolution to lose weight, craig melvin joins us with a remarkable story. Good morning. Good morning to you. Like many, one young man decided he was going to shed some unwanted pounds in 2013. And it was a success. 12 months later, he gave the ultimate Christmas Gift to his parents. Good, how are you . Reporter its the holiday surprise of a lifetime. Hey, how are you . Oh, my god oh, my god this is the lucas his parents were expecting to come home for the holidays, but this is the one who showed up. All of a sudden, down the stairs he came and he looked just fantastic. I was more stunned than anything else. But inside i was just beaming. I was just over the moon. Oh, my god. Im so proud of you. Last year at 300 pounds, he made a resolution, to drop the weight for good. Something i struggled with all my life. So i started december 28th of 2012 and went for a year. For help and support, lucas turned to the internet. Social media was amazing for my weight loss journey. Especially the community, you could post your progress and help with diet and tips and that sort of thing. He followed a strict eating regimen and held himself accountable by keeping a food diary. Wrote down everything he ate for an entire year. I lost 95 of the weight through changing my diet. Only ate 1350 calories a day. I didnt exercise at all until maybe seven or eight months in. And in 12 months, lucas went from 300 to 170 pounds. But to pull off the incredible surprise, shedding the weight was just part of it. To make it special, he had to keep it a secret. I only go home twice a year, once in summer, once in christmas. And i made up an excuse not to go home over the summer so they wouldnt see me. So much planning, determination and hard work all for one unforgettable moment. Buddy, how are you . Oh, my god oh, my god when i saw my parents for the first time, i was really nervous, i was shaking. It was very surreal. I hardly recognized you. You put your mind to it. Just picturing it in my mind again, it brings tears to my eyes again. Im so proud of him. Oh, my god im so proud of you oh, my god yeah. Shes pretty surprised. Dropping 130 pounds is impressive, but lucas says hes not quite done just yet. His goal is to lose about 20 more, then gain that back in muscle. And started weight training with new workout clothes, Christmas Gifts from those proud parents. Wow. So there was skyping with his parents. Didnt they see the weight loss in his face . Apparently not. According to them, it was you know, maybe such a transformation. The take away from this, though, he journaled everything he ate the food diary. Which as you know, a lot of folks say thats the key to success when youre trying to lose weight. Yeah. Social media was so helpful in that, as well. 20 more pounds, he says. Thanks. Coming up, steals and deals, everything from leggings to a language course up to 77 off. Good wednesday morningok to you. Im laura garciacannon. I] police say they need help tracking down a bank robber. Take anr look at theset surveillance photos. Lp the thieb hit five banks in two months. La monday. Theyrei] not sure if the suspe is a woman or a man disguised as a woman. Dangerous. I want to uk ta about the size of the roadway. Look at the wet roadway still on for each direction. Mist and jfdrizzle. The freeway is a little slicker. A smooth drive o[t across the though. It is typical for the 10 o t i3 northbound ok101ok thwart thew3 goingxdnr towards the bay s7br. More traffic flows on to the 28 extension, and the bay bridge slows also through oakland. Lets look at the shot past the coliseum yum, starting toco jamp right here, laura. Thank you for joining us as o well. Well see you in a half an houro its 8 30 on a wednesday morning, 8th day of january, 2014. A big gaping hole where the Rockefeller CenterChristmas Tree was standing for a month or so. You know what hasnt left . What . These temperatures. Anyone need hand warmers . You have no gloves, sir. Oh, okay. There we go. Want to thank people for hanging with us this morning. Thats right. Meantime, we do have more information on sundays Golden Globes and who will be presenting. Were learning that Chris Hemsworth and jonah hill will be presenting. And that movie, by the way, up for several awards, including best picture, musical or comedy. You can catch the excitement sunday 8 00 eastern right here on nbc. Matt, savannah and i will get the Party Started an hour early with our red carpet special. And savannah will hang around. Well have the winners of the fashions and, of course, the latest on the afterparty. Is that what youre wearing to the globes . Who are you wearing . Canada goose. Canada goose. Handing out hand warmers. Its a joke that keeps on giving. Meanwhile, coming up this morning, our friend Marishka Hargitay is here. I hear shes going to show off a hidden talent. Stay tuned for that. I dont know what it is. Were going to kick off also a brand new year of steals and deals in this mornings deal, a special bargain on something to help you pack away the holiday decorations if you havent gotten around to it. Good riddance on that one. Good riddance. All right, al, bring us up to date on the weather. Its cold. Thank you very much, everybody. Lets see what weve got for you. Starting things off for today. Wet weather in the pacific northwest. Snow, rain in texas, southern florida. Lake effect snow still on lake ontario, lake erie, as well. Tomorrow, icy conditions from southern missouri into arkansas, wet weather in the pacific northwest. Rain along the southeast coast on into florida. The sunshine is here in the northeast but it is still going to be cold, but not as cold. I inside along with my gloves. This was an unwise move by me. Was it a surprise to come outside . I wasnt looking at your forecast. All right. Lets head back inside to the guys. All right. Thank you al and willie. Now to our special series shine a light where we shine a light on important issues and try to make it better. Tamron hall and i will focus our efforts over the next 12 months. The truth is that there isnt always a full mealut on my table. You will go into the fridge and therell be nothing there. Im a father. And i wake up every day and eat breakfast with my kids is like a big deal to me. There are millions of kids who wake up and theyre not eating. Certainly not by choice because they cant. Poverty has done something to this country. I think when people think of, oh, starving children, i think they think its a problem an ocean away. But thats not it. Its the kids sitting next to your kids in well to do areas, in middle class areas, in poor areas. I rode across this country once, l. A. To chicago on route 66 and got to weave in and out of middle america. People are hungry not just in the slums of america, not just in the poor parts, and i saw that firsthand. I would love to go into communities, leave communities with a sense of knowledge and awareness. And that idea of, you know, feeding your neighbor could be something that will continue after we leave. I work with victims, survivors, of Domestic Violence for many years now. But for me, that work changed after the death of my sister. For years, my sister had been the victim of Domestic Violence. And i look back at our relationship, our friendship as sisters and i wonder, could i have done something to save her . I want to shine the light on Domestic Violence. How we as a community, as a country can help save a life. When you look at the number of women, in particular, who die at the hands of someone that they thought loved them and they loved, it should give us pause. There are still young girls who are the victims of Domestic Abuse and who still feel they are alone. I want them to know that these hands are reaching out to them and were all going to pull them out of that dark hole and to the light. And well look forward to putting efforts into these causes over the coming years. Its great to have the ability to have a reason for a call to action for us and hopefully for our viewers to get in on this shine a light, too. For us, were all parents here, wed rather starve than have our children eat. That was a big one for me. Statistics are staggering as you said in that piece. 46 million americans are living under the poverty line for a family of four. These kids our kids in schools, too. 1 in 4 kids go to bed hungry. Its unacceptable. And the statistics on Domestic Violence that tamron shared with us. Those statistics are startling, as well. They are, matt. And we know that education is the key with so many issues that we face. But with Domestic Violence, i think theres a sense of loneliness that girls feel, that children who are raised in homes where they witness Domestic Violence. That is a unique issue. And i think it is such an honor to be on a show and be given this platform, as i said to reach a hand out to a young person and show them that were there to pull them out of this dark hole. And it just means so much to me as i said personally. I get a little emotional looking at my sisters photograph thinking i let her down thinking i wasnt there for her. But here today, we have an opportunity to be there for others both girls and boys. So its an honor and its a mission that i dont take lightly. And i look forward to this year and what we can do through empowerment and education. All right. Appreciate that. Great stuff. Yeah, were looking forward to our year of action. And please join us along in your efforts, as well. If you plan to shine a light on your special issue. Remember, you can track our progress, as well, throughout the year on today. Com. Well have updates. Were going to share how viewers are going to do that coming up tomorrow. Were back in a moment, this is today on nbc. In touch with the ground im on the hunt, im after you smell like i sound, im lost in a crowd and im hungry like the wolf straddle the line, in discord and rhyme [ female announcer ] only yoplait light and yoplait greek 100 are endorsed by Weight Watchers. It is so good when youre on the hunt for something delicious. Find yoplait original and light yogurt cups on sale now at your local safeway store. Were now back at 8 40. Tonight marks the winter premiere of law and order special victims unit. Detective benson will be forced to relive the details of her brutal kidnapping. Marishka hargitay has played detective benson since 1999. Good morning. Welcome back. Is it a or a wow, that went quick. Its both in a way. But wow, that went quick, especially on days like today. I was reading about some of the story lines and this particular story line. Im wondering, when you look back to 1999, have the stories changed dramatically . Are they going a little bit more over a line now than they did back then . No, i mean, i think its been a journey. I think the writing changes now. We have new show runners now. It feels to me like a different show now. Which i think is a great thing, right, after 15 years, the show feels so unbelievably fresh. And thats a gift. The stories are gripping, though. This one, in particular, this story, thats kind of the end of a trilogy when it comes to this story line. Its emotionally and physically violent. Yeah. Do you ever get feedback from viewers who say im drawn in, im hooked, but sometimes i cant take it. All the time. I have so many especially moms at school that just say i cant watch the show. And i understand that. And i think people need to be careful and take care to know what their limits are. Because it is traumatizing. This episode was traumatizing for me to shoot it. And i deal with these issues every day. But its about, you know, olivia being a victim that she continually takes care of. And so the tables are turned. Abducted, physically beaten, emotionally tortured, forced to watch things no one should have to watch. If olivia were a guest on the show in reality, i would say, as this case goes to trial, might it bring closure to her character . I know a lot of people hate that term. Do you think in some ways this wraps it up for her . You should watch tonight and see what happens. I have a feeling theres no closure here. I dont know i wish there was. Its not that simple. Its not that simple, i think. Its what she went through. I dont know she can recover from. Shes still it has changed her. Shes still fighting the ptsd. And, you know, once she thought she got him, he got in there again in a deep and very painful way. Let me change subjects. Because in the notes on you coming on this morning, theres a little thing that jumped out at me. You were recently given a star on the hollywood walk of fame. I bring it up only because ive talked to actresses and actors in the past because they think, oh, ill show up, itll be okay. And they get there and find it incredibly emotional. It was incredibly emotional. It was surprisingly one of the most emotional and beautiful days i can remember. My mom got a star. And my brother, you know, all the photos ive seen of her and with my brother and my sister there and then there i was on that day with my brother and my sister was incredibly a bonding moment, and i felt very, very surprisingly close to my mom. I dont know if i have to say this because youve been on so many times, but your mom was jane mansville, thats why she got a star. Im glad to hear you say that because i think people are taken aback by that. I was warned, my friend hilary swank got a star and said, i went there and thought it was a work thing. And she said i cried more than the Academy Awards or any other thing. And i remember going, i get it. Its very emotional. Well, dont forget you can see Marishka Hargitay on the winter premiere of law order svu here tonight on nbc. Up next, steals and deals, including kind of a fancy juicer at an amazing price. Very fancy. But first, this is today on nbc. Turn around every now and then i get a little bit hungry and theres nothing good for me around turn around every now and then i get a little bit tired of craving something that i cant have turn around, barbara forever ive been praying for a snack in my life and now i have a brownie ending all of my strife i finally found the right snack back now at 8 46 with our First Edition of steals and deals in 2014. Jill, good morning. Good morning. Got a lot of great gifts for us once again. Lets start off with what a lot of people are doing these days, and thats juicing. Youve got this great juicer. Tell me about it. New year, new you. Different themes. So this is the juicer, the retail is 399. I cant make toast or eggs, but i can do this. Okay. You put it in and the rinds and peel come out on the side. Perfect. You can put whatever you want in. You made me a little shot. I made you a little shot, added a little for you. Great way to start, joy bauer gave it an a plus as she walked by. 399, the deal, 89, thats 77 off. These can be pricey. Thats a great deal. Next, we have these leggings. Okay. So my next theme is sort of your classics. Yeah. In your closet. Always replace them. Good way to do it, retail 60. Nylon and spandex blend, theyre great to travel in. Theyre one size, go on the website and see where you fit in there to make sure theyre right for you. Four colors, now, theres two different i dont know if you can see the bottom. Theres a lace detail and plain. You can choose. The retail 60, thats 70 off. This is good during the cold weather, as well. Everything in this weather. All right. Over here. Good time also to refresh your towels, right . Okay. You know i love makeovers. This is sort of makeover your room, a great way to do that in the bathroom. Great new towels. Home Source International sixpiece towels, the retail 159. One of the finest cottons in the world. In this set, you get two bath towels, hand towels, two wash cloths, sold in high hch end decor stores nationwide, the retail 159, the deal for the set 39, thats 75 off. And whats included is all of this. Six pieces. And great fine colors. Good quality. Try a fun color in the bathroom to spruce it up. If your new years resolution is to learn a new language. Do you have any languages left to learn . You speak how many . I want to speak russian. Now would be timely. Maybe you can take japanese. This is the living language platinum course. The retail is 179. You can choose from seven languages. Now, you get books, audio, cds, mobile apps, personal tutors, you can set up etutors online. This was developed in 1946 for the u. S. State department to be used by overseas diplomats. That tells you its for real. That goes way back, know it works. Sold at barnes noble, the retail 179, the deal for the set 54. Thats 70 off. Fantastic. And bonjour, natalie. Its working already. This is something i could have used about a week ago when i put everything away, but great for putting your holiday decorations away. A threepiece christmas storage collection set from honey can do. Get organized, sort of for everybody. I love getting organized. The retail 165. Now, in addition to the tree outside, we put away our orange room. You hear them crying in there. So this fits up to a 10foot tree. Okay. This is one situation. And then you get this ornament as you see it right up here. Very easy and everything is sorted and nothing gets broken. Youre actually saving money for next year. I love this one for the gift wrapping. The gift wrap organizer. That could slide under a bed. Thats great. Retail 165, the deal 49, thats 70 off. All right. And you new years resolutions can be taken care of. Thanks again. Products once again are the juicer, leggings from coobie and the storage set from honey can do. If you have questions about the products, head to our website today. Com. Coming up next, from cars that drive themselves to a brand new way to monitor your baby, well show you some of the hottest gadgets at the Consumer Electronics show. But first, this is today on nbc. Its 8 52 now. Back with some of the coolest gadgets and gizmos on display at this years Consumer Electronics show. Jon fortt is there. Good morning to you. Reporter morning, matt. You know, this year at ces, its definitely not about just one piece of hardware. Its more about what some are calling the internet of things. Wirelessly connecting everything in our lives from cars to baby onesies. Reporter its a gear heads paradise. Ces attracts geeks from all over the world all looking to sell or discover the next musthave gadget. Television sets with four times the resolution of current hd screens, wired cars which manufacturers like audi hope will soon be driving you. The digital revolution reaching into every light switch and countertop in your home. You have your smartphone now and all of these different devices that have Wireless Connectivity to come together. And, of course, this years show is exploding with all types of wearables from devices that give performance feedback to fitness buffs to jewelry that tells you how much sunscreen to put on. These days, the push to sync up our whole world now reaches all the way to the cradle. Products like nemo are going past the standard Baby Monitors with censorized onesies. Also audio so mom and dad can get the information live realtime on their phone. Will that really put a parents mind at ease . Or is it just more work with potentially troubling privacy concerns . Were going to flood our world with sensors. Are you personally in your house . Is somebody else . Is your wife . Where are your children . Reporter and once you, your home and your babies are all wired up, whats next . Thats right. New products like voice are after the doggy wearable market. This monitors a dogs vital signs and tracks the overall health. Dogs cant talk and veterinarians struggle on trying to capture Early Warning signs of potential conditions when they only see an animal once a year. They used to say on the internet, nobody knows youre a dog. With this technology, theyll not only know youre a dog, theyll know when you need a tummy rub. Like Everything Else weve seen in the advance of technology over the last 30 years, its going to have great benefits and cool things about it. And its going to have privacy implications. Reporter not exactly sure how that onesie will handle blowouts . As a dad, weve had quite a few, but the internet thing needs a little work. We all get that. I had one of those once. Yeah. A lot of people thought yes, exactly. Dogs cant talk . What do you guys have coming up in the next hour . Will forte, known for snl, but now with a couple more serious movies. That and a whole lot more. Joy bauer wil good morning, its 8 56,e1 m terry mcsweeney. In two hours we find out if barry bonds will make it in the Baseball Hall of fame. Also under consration is jfjt snow and frank thomas. Lets check yourni weather, her is a hallu of famer, herself,c christina loren. Basebnjip r t hahp hc right now San Francisco, temperatures today are going to bexd e1w3comfortable. San jose and San Francisco both showing you a cloudy sky. That will be the case for most of the day. Maybe a few light showers this evening. Your numbers will climb out of the 50s into the 60s. Hope you have a great day. I wish i was made of money. I wish you were too. Chances are, youre not made of money. So dont overpay for motorcycle insurance. Geico motorcycle. See how much you could save. From nbc news, this is todays take with al roker, Natalie Morales and willie geist live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. Welcome to today this wednesday morning, january 8th, 2014. The crowds are a little smaller this week because the temperature. But it is getting a little warmer. Im willie geist along with al roker and Natalie Morales. And it is cold across the country. Oh, yeah. Because of the polar vortex. The polar vortex. Take a look right here. Right here, our social rank in the orange room. Look at that. Number one, and it has been for the last 24 hours. Come on back here, john. I want to show the good folks something. So theyre saying, a some are saying. Some are saying that, a, weve created this phrase to hype it and to create hysteria and that we have made it a political issue by linking it to either Climate Change or Global Warming. Okay. I will give anybody who can prove that i have ever linked this with Global Warming or Climate Change, i will donate 1,000 to your charity. All right . First of all, do that. But secondly, i broke out my college my college textbook, the glossary of meteorology from the american meteorological society. Guys, whats the copyright on that . 1959. When is the second printing . 70. 1970. Okay. Lets take a look here. As we go to the definitions, okay. And right here, polar vortex, also called polar cyclone, polar low, large scale, cyclonic circulation centered generally in the polar regions. So theres there you go. There is no, none, zero making up, creating, fictionalizing, hyping of any of this. And we just dont hear it very often because its so rare. Its rare this comes down. Some have said, we dont know, ive never said that. But the fact is, its very unusual to come down this far south to be this deep and this long. Im just more impressed you have your college meteorological book. I actually do collect antique meteorological texts. But i have held on to this, as well. And you keep it in your card catalog . No, keep it under my pillow. Oddly enough. Polar vortex. Its real. Not made up. We all flip to our textbooks throughout the show. I dont have any books left over from college. I think i sold them back. It paid off, right here. It did. How cold is it . Its so cold that if youre jumping on a trampoline in iowa, this happens. Oh, my god. This is on vine. There we go. Now, come on, thats fun. All right. Good times right there. How cold is it again, guys . Fountains and waterfalls freezing in the american south. Look at that. Thats outside the courthouse in tupelo, mississippi. Deep south. Its always cold there because its two below. Oh. People turn very quickly. They were with me with the polar vortex, but then they left me. You lost us there on that one. Northwest florida, this is outside the church there. Frozen. Another one frozen right there. And did you see dylan dreyer earlier this morning . Shes in minnesota. Check out the waterfall where she is. That is impressive. A moving waterfall freezes like that. Yesterday they were saying hawaii was the only place without temperatures below freezing. But yesterday, the observatory there dropped to 25 degrees. Even in hawaii. All 50 states had some place with temperatures at or below freezing. Incredible. And how this one . Hell literally freezing over. This is hell, michigan. The recorded temperature in hell was minus nine degrees on tuesday morning. Saw the gates of hell there. Seems that hell freezes over in hell quite a bit. This is a chance for us to use that. Meanwhile, the Holiday Season is truly over. You notice, i dont know if you can see behind us, the Rockefeller Christmas tree has been removed for the year. Its gone. The 76foot norway spruce was lit for the first time on wednesday, december 4th. And now its gone. This is some time lapse photography. Unplugged it, put up the crane overnight. The job to wind up on the spool all the christmas oh, and newspaper, too. So you can store it for the summer. I feel bad for those guys working in those conditions yesterday, too. Check it out. All right. One of the l. E. D. Bulbs. One of 50,000 bulbs. How did you get that . Thats theft, but thats okay. Now theyre going to miss that one bulb next year and theyve got to find it. It wont light up when they plug this in. Way to go. You ruined it for next year. Do my uncle fester. Does that work . Have you noticed, by the way, the tree goes down and the crowds just evaporate. Yesterday it was like i am legend out there. Theres nobody out there. It has something to do with the temperatures. Well, the past few days. It was negative actually, you know what happened . The tree got sucked up into the polar vortex. There you go. That would have been a much easier way to get rid of it, right . All conspiracy. So weve all got kids, we all probably used baby talk one time or another when they were little. Do you still talk to your kids like that . No. Thats how our producers talk to us . Willie and al, what do you want to do today . What kind of story . Thats a good actor. Thats a good actor. I think thats dog talk, actually. Thats how i talk to my kids. Maybe thats why my sons been fetching. Where have we gone . Theres a fire hydrant right now. Wow. Wow. Oh, my. Al, youre on fire today. Youre a good willie. Youre a good willie. Thats a good willie. Sorry. Anyway all right. Theres new research out there you going to rub his belly again . Baby talk actually benefits children. Researchers at the university of washington and university of connecticut found it helps young kids pick up language faster. There you go. Yeah. What about adults . It works for us too, right . How are you talking right now . What was that . So in other words, you talk to them in a higher pitch and stretch out the vowels and those kids learn words nearly three times quicker than by the age of 2 than kids who werent talked to that way. Apparently they studied thousands of 30second snippets of verbal exchanges. There are a lot of those, and thats how they came up with the results. Christina was always about just talk to them like theyre people. Really . Not when theyre tiny, tiny. Whats your problem . Are you crying to me . Are you crying to me . But with never said do you want some wawa . We used real words. You change the tone of your voice. I spoke espiranto, too. This is good, a brilliant idea. Shopping centers in china offering special rooms where bored men can wait in peace when theyve had enough of following their partners around. What are they doing for the ladies . You are shopping. If we got to a sporting event, i want a cloak room, too. Thats a great call. There you go. Thats assuming women arent interested in sports, and i think a lot of women are. I think a lot of women are into sporting events. You go into any mall and you see any guy who is with his wife or girlfriend, you know, at the gap or Something Like that and after five minutes, were like i know plenty of guys who like to shop, though. When theyre shopping for themselves. Exactly. But when theyre following come on. A lot joe loves it, doesnt he . He does everything online. A lot of Department Stores have at least a couch and tv where you can sit. Smart. Thats the way to keep them in. You should have a nacho bar. And thats the way they dont notice when the credit card keeps getting pulled out of the purse, the wallet. Its an elaborate scheme. Are you having a good time at the store . Are you enjoying the store . Did you see this . He started a tumblr called the gap management project. He goes into the stores, dresses in the same outfit as the mannequin and takes the photo next to the mannequin. Cool or creepy . He kind of looks like a mannequin in those pictures. Oh, natalie. Not bad. Its kind of creepy. I kind of like it. If i was walking into a gap and saw that, id be freaked out. Its a little weird. Back to the vortex. The good news, if you remember the map, this windchill advisory, windchill warning, matt, yesterday, it went to the south, out to the dakotas, up into new england. It has shrunken down. Thats good news so we only have windchill warnings, windchill advisories from the dakotas into parts of interior new england. And the good news is, its going to retreat. The polar vortex. Goodbye, vortex. Everybody say goodbye, vortex. Bye. It goes up to the north and the good news is, the arctic air goes with it. More of a zonal flow tomorrow. 26 in chicago, 32, cleveland, 34, new york, d. C. , 39. By friday, 43, 44 degrees, but look by saturday, more of a southerly flow, 56 in new york, 64, d. C. , chicago, youre up to 36. Cleveland, 46 degrees. So there you go. Polar vortex, we barely knew meanwhile, our ridge of High Pressure thateq q tjf us unseasonally warm is moving to the midwest and the the we havee1 showers inni the fore. 54 in san jose. Same conditions e1mostly for th whole bay area right now. ghs today are going to end up in the upper 50s to low 60s. I want to show you the trends of where were headede1 via your Mountain View trend forecast. Monday will be even warmer. And thats your latest weather. Thanks a lot. Coming up next, will forte known for being hilarious, hes now become a bona fide movie star in two new films getting a lot of what you wear to bed is your business. So, if youre sleeping in your contact lenses, ask about the air optix® contacts so breathable theyre approved for up to 30 nights of continuous wear. Serious eye problems may occur. Ask your doctor and visit airoptix. Com for Safety Information and a free onemonth trial. The 1 selling pain reliever, in one cold medicine. Advil congestion relief. It delivers a onetwo punch at pain and sinus pressure with the power of advil and a nasal decongestant in a single pill. Advil congestion relief. In a single pill. Olive gardens signature favorites weeknights are for favorites. Now just 10. Including everyones favorite fettuccine alfredo and our classic lasagna. Plus unlimited soup or salad, and warm breadsticks. Signature favorites now just ten dollars, monday through thursday, at olive garden. 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At the corner of happy and healthy. Okay. Okay. What do i do . You point it and you shoot it. Okay. Okay. Here it goes. Oh, i got a barrel. Good call. Good call. Hes come a long way from his days as special agent operations agent macgruber. Will forte has taken a more serious turn now in nebraska and run and jump. And here to tell us all about them. Will, good morning. Thanks for having me. Youre now taking this turn to good taste. Well, we all love it. Exactly. Youve taken this turn now doing drama. Was it a big leap for you to do that . It was pretty scary at first. You know, ive just had no experience, no formal dramatic acting training. So it was hard to not be in my head for a while about it. How does a role, will, like that come up for you . People know you. They put you in this snl box. They know youre hilarious. Was it a director that said i see something in you . There was a woman named steph greene who had this movie called run and jump she was going to direct in ireland, very small budget. And she for some reason thought of me for this part. So i looked at the script, loved it and thought, oh, if she wants to have me be in this, its a great script, i would love to try it. Its so different, but why not . Youre a neuropsychologist who moves in with this irish family. Whats that like . I dont do an irish accent, just so you know. So you didnt try one out . Well, my irish accent is just like the lucky charms. Lets hear your irish. Green clovers. Not good. Give him the oscar. Stick with the american accent. Yes. How about nebraska . This is getting so much buzz. It has been so such an exciting experience getting to share that movie with people. My parents have put up with a lot of stuff. Theyve actually lost friends from sending them to see some stuff ive done like macgruber. So were kind of winning them back with this dramatic more serious role. Yeah. Very exciting to share that with my family. I can think of a couple of scenes in particular that lost your mothers friends. The movies up for lots of nominations. And you just took the National Border review award, as well. Yeah. That was last night. It was exciting. Congratulations. Thank you very much. This must be a very cool time for you. You probably didnt see it coming in your career, right . I would have never expected the last year of my life to happen. Its been really fun. Came out of in where. Nowhere. Thats the best part. Oh, yeah. Now, lets talk about your buddies, jimmy moving up not buddies. Do not like him. Jimmy fallon . How about seth myers . And seth . Even worse . Yeah. Both just no, theyre wonderful. Jimmy already is, you know, has been doing his show. Hes going to be so great with the tonight show. And seth is just going to have the best show, too. Im excited for them. I will not go on their shows, but im excited for them. Okay. Anything they would ever want me to do. I love those guys. And also, over at snl a cool time of transition. They hired the first africanamerican woman to be hired in five years. I just heard that this morning. Thats exciting. Yeah. You know youve been doing movies. Thats right. I dont have time for this stuff. Big movies. Thats exciting. I dont know anything about her. Where did she come from . Ucb. Okay. Very funny, very talented. Awesome. A lot of people excited about her debut on january 18th. Good luck. Thank you very much. Are you going to the Golden Globes this weekend . Yeah. Well see you there. Awesome. Will you talk to me on the red carpet . Of course. Who will you be wearing . As long as its not jimmy or seth. Rokers good. Get ready for the will you be wearing question. Coming up next, were going to get you caught up on the headlines before you head out the door this morning. Plus, why that bowl of eat meal youre having this morning might not be as good for you as you think. 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[ woman ] finally, clearer skin for more than a few days, weeks, or months. Enbrel works for me. Ask your dermatologist if you can have clearer skin with enbrel. We need a new recipe. Let us consult the scroll of infinite deliciousness. Perfect. [ wisest kid ] campbells has the recipes kids love. So good [ wisest kid ] at campbellskitchen. Com. [ gong ] mm mm good makes everything aalgood even better. Ilk from the bowls of cereal you make. To all the delicious recipes you bake. Because inside every carton is the goodness of blue diamond almonds. Almond breeze. Almondiciously good body washes with paper that reacts like skin. If others can strip this paper, imagine how harsh they can be to your skin. Oh my gosh. [ female announcer ] dove is different. Its breakthrough formula changes everything. Dove. This is care. Its breakthrough formula changes everything. Of your most hypnotic lips. New color elixir creamy lip lacquer from maybelline new york. The magic . Our trio of concentrates creates the saturated color and shine of a lacquer the cushiony feel of a balm. New color elixir maybe its maybelline. Youre always on, so were always ready. Tyson grilled ready chicken. Made with 100 all natural ingredients, all white meat, and fully cooked. Well take care of dinner. You take care of Everything Else. With a smartphone from Straight Talk wireless. We replaced sues smartphone shell get the same great nationwide coverage for half the cost. Lets see if she notices. You bet she did. Francois deux ah, o i hes french. She saved almost 950 dollars. Thats enough to hire a french pastry chef for the pta bake sale bon appetit , sue. The world needs more Straight Talk. Same phones. Same networks. Half the cost. Get a Samsung Galaxy s3. Unlimited everything, just 45 a month. Only at walmart. Want to play hide and seek . Yeah 1. 2. 6. 10 [ female announcer ] pina colada yoplait. It is so good when you need a little escape. [ mom ] still counting. Abreva can heal a cold sore in as few as 2 1 2 days when used at the first sign. Without it, the virus spreads from cell to cell. Unlike other treatments, abreva penetrates deep to block the virus, to protect healthy cells so cold sores heal fast. As fast as 2 1 2 days when used at the first sign. Learn more at abreva. Com. Dont tough it out. Knock it out fast. [ female announcer ] only with abreva. Taking a look at headlines. More debate is ahead, but a bill to extend Unemployment Benefits has survived its first test vote. On tuesday, the senate voted 6037 to move ahead with consideration of the bill. Six republicans and all democrats voted to approve it. The vote means the bill cannot be filibustered. Lawmakers are divided, though, on how to pay for it. New figures show most children are getting some exercise, just not enough of it. The u. S. Fitness guidelines call for an hour or more of moderate to vigorous activity every day, an activity achieved by 1 in 12 children under the age of 18. Researchers say there is always room for improvement. Well, if youre tired of getting all those robo calls, a new technology called no more robo launched recently and the developer says its blocking almost 50,000 robo calls every week. Its currently available only to people who have voiceover internet phone services. Some providers including comcast are now offering no more robo as part of their services. Well, you better brace yourself for higher beef prices. According to the wall street journal, u. S. Cattle prices hit a record high last week as ranchers reduced herds because of rising corn prices. That means a tighter supply and no doubt higher prices ahead. The wall street journal expects beef prices to rise as much as 3. 5 this year. Well, Florida State won College FootballsNational Championship on monday, but apparently not everybody got the memo. Take a look at this, this tshirt was actually for sale on Florida States own website. And you can look at the score, 3431, wrong, it shows auburn winning the title game. The shirt was sold for a brief period tuesday. But eventually it was pulled. No word yet on how many people ordered it. Did sell for 19. 99. Coming up, well show you the perfect pair of jeans for your body type. For women and men all under 50. Plus, the lucky charms [ birds chirping, twinkling noises ] youre always after me lucky charms theyre magically delicious you may be muddling through allergies. Try zyrtecd®. Powerful relief of nasal congestion and other allergy symptoms all in one pill. Zyrtecd®. At the pharmacy counter. Im terry mcsweeney. Charges could be filed as early as today for a man that admitted to kidnapping a 7a 5ze girl. David douglas spoke from inside the the county t jail. He says the kidnapping was a cry for help and people from the government have been following him for years and told him to do it. A second person in the area has died from the the xdflu. A 48yearold woman with an underlying medical condition died in the last few e1jfdays. Ei there is widespread flu activity in 27 states. coe1jf investigators in los is trying to find out if a won was anr victim of the knock out game. She was dropping her daughter a man came up and punched her in the face and she fell to the ground. Q welcome back. Now good morning to you, the time is 9 28. Look at the skies are all clouded. Tqne will get showers finally, d some late rain. You will notice temperatures will be cooler for the next couple days only reaching into the upperni 50s to low 60s. Our first chance for rain tonight, and as weco head throughout tomorrow morning measurable precipitation on the peninsula. This is southbound 101. Off ramp and thingsni are reall jammed up between redwood city and conrokpaloma itself. The southboundlp side had a car fire near willowjft and dogs running around in the area asok well. North 85, a crash cleared at saratoga, and also 880 just recovering. Welcome back to today, its wednesday morning, january 8th, 2014. Some heart and souls out on the plaza, with us this morning. Im willie geist along with al roker and Natalie Morales. Real hearty souls. Weve all been eating the props. Joy bauers chips. Shes standing next to a bowl of potato chips. You know thats not a good thing. And its a tough choice. Do you want the kale or the chips . Tough choice. Kale chips are delicious. Are they as good as lays potato chips . Not the original. The original are so good. Joys going to help us through that. Shes going to tell us why the kales better in a minute. Remember that Virgin America video out . The safety video that went viral in october of last year . Well, theres another video that went viral of one Flight Attendant who did the entire dance on an actual flight. Matched them up side by side with the original. Heres what he got. If the cabin pressures changing we wont be leaving you hanging theres no worry oxygen flow application on your mouth and your nose if youre traveling with someone put your mask on first before you offer assistance under your seat theres a life vest oh. The guy in the middle looked like matt. Can we back that up . In the middle there looked like matt lauer. Doing a little work on the side. I want to find out who that guy is. I think its matt. Matt needed a little extra scratch. I want to find out who that guy was. You guys know who he is the Flight Attendant. That guy can move. Ran in here. By the way, i hate to brag. Anthony, can you get a shot of this . Check out these cuff links. All right. Theyre from the Vice President of the United States. Oh. Little Christmas Present maybe . A Little Something from Vice President joe biden. Oh, i thought dick cheney sent them to you. No. And, again, its the new year. Mr. Vice president , were begging you, come on down. Come on up to new york city and cohost this fabulous program, todays take. And well even bring you some of our todays take cuff links. We dont have them, somebody go make them. Second times going to be the charm. Its not the charm, its the cuff links. Little bit every day, maybe. A check of the weather for us. Lets show you what weve got going on right now. And we still have a lot of lake effect snow to talk about. The counterclockwise flow of air around that low pressure system bringing the winds right across lake ontario and lake erie. So weve got a pretty good band right now in watertown between watertown and syracuse. Buffalos going to be looking at light snow. They have been all day today. Theyre going to be seeing snow squalls until about 3 00 in the afternoon then snow showers by 6 00. And look at some of these totals. Watertown, new york, all the way in between there and oswego. Some places could see on top of what theyve already gotten, another foot and a half of snow. The rest of the country, another system making its way into the pacific northwest. Look for snow around the western parts of the upper midwest, i should say the pacific northwest. And some lake effect snow still 9 33. Goods wednesday miranda warning to you. Temperatures this morning mostly in the 40s and 50s. 50s and lower 60s with showers on the the way as of tonight. We stop the clock on midnight, better chance for rain tomorrow morning. Measurablexd precipitation possible. E1 7 00 a. M. We will closejf that chance for showers. Hope you have a great day. Uf cc1 good morning, its 9 56, im terri mcsweeney. Today police are releasing new information about a deadly shooting from nearly seven months ago. It was the killinna of ayat nakano. Reward will helpxd lead toen a arrest. Police arexd looking for two me that broke into a home with afa Crystal Clear security camerae1 and a barking dog. They were only in the homee1 fo two or three minutes. They only took mall small things like laptops, iphones and e1e1i. Youlle1 need a jacket toda temperatures will be able to climb into the upper 50s to low 60s. A good day shaping up. The same trend is expected for the entire bay area. Your graft there ate1 the botto of thee1 green. co it will be cold the next couple days. Lookk÷ ujt forq sand and sunday with showers on the way. Lets check your drive. Had. Areas east of ours look i]o great. F. Unxd moving nicely as well. South of mission ise1 slow. Website 237 is clear now. The northbound rout through the south bay stilllp a little slow. 85 has a Sticking Point and heading towards sunnyvale as well. Its clear excement for the winds. Thank you,e1 ill have anotr 51utjvar half an hour. [ female announcer ] shop at safeway now through january 14th for a smart return to school box tops offer buy ten participating box tops items in a single visit and earn sixty bonus box tops thats six dollars for your school plus, shop at safeway to collect double box tops on speciallymarked packages. Learn more at twowaystoearn. Com. Heres whats new at safeway from General Mills start the day off right with these delicious big g cereals or try yoplait greek yogurt power up with Nature Valley and fiber one snacks and enjoy tasty progresso heart healthy soups. Find these and other great General Mills products at safeway today this is today with Kathie Lee Gifford and hoda kotb. Live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. So glad youre with us today for wednesday, january 8. You know how cold it is . So cold hell freezed over. It actually did. Theres a place called hell somewhere in the states, in michigan. It froze over. Now you can say when hell freezes over, and it already has. Guess whos here warming things up for us. When you look in the paper on tv, there he is. There he is in all of his hercules hunkitude. We want to see if you can pronounce this. Her name is lets pronounce it. Its marishka. Facebook folks love to show how cold they are. They send lots of pictures. Heres a picture of a frozen bubble. We tried that yesterday. Poor brit. Brittany was chasing the bubbles. In michigan, it was cold and ice was forming inside the house it did that at my house too. Cody was home. He said mom, what was this . He started scratching the windows. Its ice. I think the seals have been broken on windows because its that cold. Tammy put snow to good use. She used it to chill her wine. Thank god someone has thought of something good. All right. This is my favorite story of the whole thing. An escaped inmate from kentucky turned himself in because it was too cold. He escaped. He was wearing khakis from a minimum security facility. He was out there. The temperature dropped to 20 below. He went with his prison pants, khaki pants, and shirt. He went to a hotel and called the jail and said come and get me, im cold. Im sorry i was a bad boy. I want to come back where its warm. He is serving six years for burglary. I guess he hadnt been watching the Weather Channel and said you know what, ill escape next week when its in the 50s. Bad timing. Elle magazine once again having controversy. So everybody will talk about hit and theyll sell more copies. That could be it. This month they have the women in television. They do four separate covers. One is Allison Williams and one is mindy. Amy is the second one . Shes the blond. Wow. All the four photos, three show just about full body shot, at least to the knees and in color. And mindys is from the chest up and black and white. Now i thought she looked great. I think thats like that would be the one if i were to choose among the four i would like to have that. Shes a size eight. A lot smaller than the average woman in america which is i think 14. People thought they singled her out because she was bigger than the other girls. Hers was in black and white than color. I always think black and white is more flattering. What are they saying, about her weight or race . I think they said her size eight figure. Some people are calling it racist. Why . Why is it that . Heres what she said. She said i love my magazine cover. It made me feel glamorous and cool. If anyone wants to see more of my body, go on 13 dates with me. We hadnt met her until she came on our show a couple of months ago. We fell madly in love with her. Shes so real. Were waiting that from her to go on guest. That never happened. Elle also had Milissa Mccarthy in the raincoat. Heres the thing she said im happy with my cover as well. She chose the coat, wrapped it up and felt good. The point is, if theyre not making a stink about it, we shouldnt. If theyre unhappy and want us to join their cause, okay. Theyre thrilled. I thought mindy looked great. Really glamorous in that picture. Im sure she loved it. Heres one of the photos that goes viral. A dad whos wife was heading to work. She said look honey, im late. Take care of a up couple of things. Kids need their hair combed baby needs to be taken care of. This is the dad multitasking. He has the baby strapped to him and doing the 2yearolds hair. The dad is hot. I cant see his head. He looks hot. When the dad said ill take care of it. The mom said, ill believe it when i see it. How did he take the picture . Who took the picture. Date line cynical minds. Hey honey, take it and ill prove to you. He posted with this caption. I have a dream people will view a picture like this and not think its a big deal. I didnt think it was a big deal. I thought it was lovely. Thats why they take them to the park. They know that. Other people think they look hot. Some do. Some bring their dogs. We took that from the daddy doing work blog. We say those things because you wonder why we say random blogs. We get in big trouble if we show a picture and dont tell where it came from. People magazine, a lot of people followed the trials and tribulations and ups and downs of the family. Theyre on the cover. Kate and her two oldest 13yearold twins kara and maddie are speaking out. They gave an interview to people. You know, a lot of people did watch this show and watch these kids grow up. They said people expected them to be damaged. They wanted people to know theyre fine. Kara says i feel ive done a pretty good job handling everything. They were 10 when the parents went through the public divorce. They say things about the divorce. They say one of the difficult things was seeing their father with a string of girlfriends. Mady said maybe that wasnt normal having someone new every week. Why bring them around your children that fast . Youre not in a solid relationship in one week. Go see your children without dividing loyalties number one, and also creating more confusion because theyre already confused at a time like that. I think its a little weird at 13, Kate Gosselin has her children speaking to People Magazine about the divorce and things. You would think youd wanted to protect them. Quite frankly, as they grow up, people are going to recognize them less and less. Kate says during the divorce she and the twins formed an us against the world bond that helped them heal. Thats not necessarily healthy either. You dont want the children to be paranoid. Im at the point i ask my children not to speak to anybody. Its just i dont want them telling anybody the truth, okay. In a fashion show, beautiful fashion show christy, what was the name sherry hill. Beautiful clothes. She and kendall modelling in that. They had press right . So they asked cassidy, describe youre mother. She goes, shes a freak. Lets not do anymore of those interviews, okay. She said shes my freak, and i love her. Shes right. Dont let your children speak. Its not good. All right. Heres something. There was another done. This is interesting. Would host men give up beer and porn for thicker hair . That shows how much men love their hair. They sacrifice beer and porn to have a good hair of head. Almost threefourths of men worry about thinning hair and would give up something to stop it. 8 would give up sex. They would give up thinning hair to go out and have sex . Heres the thing. Ill take a bald guy any day than someone sitting around drinking beer and watching porn. The sexiest bald man on the planet. Its fine. I love my husband. Im going to say it, ed harris. Not that picture. Not fond of that picture. If you showed me that, id say not that guy, ed harris. Here are the two i think is sexy. Jason. I went a little crazy over him. You drooled. And sean connery. Thats bald. Thats on the sides. That doesnt count. The dome. All right. All week long moves of the day. Go back to the gentlemans name so we can say it right. Here it is. Woo hoo. Every week we want you to do an exercise during the commercial break. Whatever hes doing. If you dont have those weights, get cans of campbell suit. Hes working his shoulders and chest. This guy once weighed 325 pounds. Wow. God bless him. Actress marishka going to bring law and order to our set. And twilight is going to bring law and order to our set. A[ male announcer ]ng to this is jim. A man who doesnt stand still. But jim has afib, atrial fibrillation, an irregular heartbeat not caused by a heart valve problem. That puts jim at a greater risk of stroke. For years, jims medicine tied him to a monthly trip to the clinic to get his blood tested. But now, with onceaday xarelto jims on the move. Jims doctor recommended xarelto. Like warfarin, xarelto is proven effective to reduce afibrelated stroke risk. But xarelto is the first and only onceaday prescription blood thinner for patients with afib not caused by a heart valve problem that doesnt require routine blood monitoring. So jims not tied to that monitoring routine. [ gps ] proceed to the designated route. Not today. [ male announcer ] for patients currently well managed on warfarin there is limited information on how xarelto and warfarin compare in reducing the risk of stroke. Xarelto is just one pill a day taken with the evening meal. Plus, with no known dietary restrictions, jim can eat the Healthy Foods he likes. Do not stop taking xarelto, rivaroxaban, without talking to the doctor who prescribes it as this may increase the risk of having a stroke. Get help right away if you develop any symptoms like bleeding, unusual bruising, or tingling. You may have a higher risk of bleeding if you take xarelto with aspirin products, nsaids, or blood thinners. Talk to your doctor before taking xarelto if you have abnormal bleeding. Xarelto can cause bleeding, which can be serious and rarely may lead to death. You are likely to bruise more easily on xarelto and it may take longer for bleeding to stop. Tell your doctors you are taking xarelto before any planned medical or dental procedures. Before starting xarelto, tell your doctor about any conditions such as kidney, liver, or bleeding problems. Xarelto is not for patients with artificial heart valves. Jim changed his routine. Ask your doctor about xarelto. Onceaday xarelto means no regular blood monitoring no known dietary restrictions. For more information and savings options, call 1888xarelto or visit goxarelto. Com. For more information and savings options, rich, chewy caramel rolled up this ones going into overtime. Rolo. Get your smooth on. This is the creamy chicken corn chowder. I mean, look at it. So indulgent. Did i tell you i am on the. [ both ] Chicken Pot Pie diet me too [ male announcer ] so indulgent, youll never believe theyre light. 100calorie progresso light soups. Today show anymore baby. For more than 13 years law and order special victims unit has been one of televisions most popular series. This season has been really more intense than ever. In tonights premiere, marishka comes face to face with the man that held her hostage and forced to relive the horror as he stands trial. I guess it was so tough hi baby. I need a wardrobe change. I want to wear green like you ladies. We like what youre wearing. Tell us what happening. Im doing a little lovou today. A leather sort of sweat pant. What is that called . Feminine and edgey, fedgey. You can bust perfect in that shoe. This really is wrenching this episode. So much so we couldnt find a clip to show in the intro. Its a rough one. When you first read the script, what did you think is this. When i first read the script i couldnt believe how good it was. I thought the writers did such a beautiful job with the premiere episode. When they said they were going to revisit and do a second one, i thought how can they top it . I read this and thought this was one of the best scripts i had ever read. So complicated and painful and after having worked with pablo and my Awesome Group of actors on svu and our new role, i knew what it was going to be. I felt i was scared of it because youve got to go there. The only way out is through. If i was going to do it right, i was going to do there again. It was ex excruciating doing it the first time and again. Its basically smelling an emmy here. Is that what that is . And i should know. But i mean, how difficult is it to shoot things that involv rape and brutally and torture . Then you go home to your happy family. My 42 children. Can you leave it at the studio . You can when you look into the beautiful faces. How old are your kids . I have a 7yearold and two 2yearolds. Thats not a lot of work. You basically go to work to get away from work. Love that. What you do on screen and the work you do, some of that translates to real life. Ive seen you describe how important tackling issues are in real life. Thats why i started the joyful heart foundation. Our mission is to heal, educate and empower victims of sexual assault, Domestic Violence and child abuse. This show changed my life when i learned statistics of whats going on. Its epidemics in this country. One out of four women are raped. And five children die everyday. Do people come up to you everyday. Everyday. Do people come up and speak to you about it . Everyday. Thats what started it. When i started doing the show which is why i was so i gravitated toward it. I thought it was brave to talk about issues. Until svu, they werent on television. The fact of the matter is, if people are talking about it, it means its okay to talk about it. Get rid of stigma too. Thats what its about. If you can talk about it, you get rid of it. Thats how people survive, heal and begin their lives. Shes going to come back and party with us. Im ready ladies. Thank you so much. Wow, this was fun. Law and order svu 9 8 central. Right here on nbc. And muscular kellen tells us about hercules. If you want to get into shape, stick with us. Today well get you its 2014, and time for walmarts big back on track event with low prices on everything to start the new year right they have ladies avia performance athletic shoes to get you moving theyve got activia yogurt on rollback, along with hundreds of your favorite yogurts come to walmarts get back on track event, going on right now [ female announcer ] we lowered her fever, you kept the midnight watch. Infants tylenol® reduces fever and pain while being gentle on the tummy. But for everything we do, we know you do so much more. Infants tylenol®. But for everything we do, we know you do so much more. And these Little Angels build in strength. And that little angel says, weeeeeeeee 60 more sheets than charmin. Everything you want and the value you love. Angel soft. Of course i had no idea what it was. I felt like my feet were going to sleep. It progressed from there to burning. To like 1,000 bees that were just stinging my feet. [ female announcer ] its known that diabetes damages nerves. Lyrica is fda approved to treat diabetic nerve pain. Lyrica is not for everyone. It may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. Tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior. Or swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters, changes in eyesight including blurry vision, muscle pain with fever, tired feeling, or skin sores from diabetes. Common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain and swelling of hands, legs and feet. Dont drink alcohol while taking lyrica. Dont drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. Those who have had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. Having less pain is its a wonderful feeling. [ female announcer ] ask your doctor about lyrica today. Its specific treatment for diabetic nerve pain. All right. We are back with our exercise moves of the day. Do it in your own living room using items from around your house. Todays move was about the sexy shoulders that he has that every woman wants. Here is personal trainer. We love him. Hes the creator of the method with studios in wisconsin, new york. Hes lot a lot of weight. Ive lost a lot. I was 325 and down to around 180. Took you three years . Took me about three years. You look terrific. Yeah. Show us. You can use wine bottles. I dont recommend it. Use soup cans, grapefruit, anything with density. Water bottles would be great. These are two pound weights. The two motions is the bump. Im from hawaii and i love the beach and warm. We want sexy arms. Bring them out. The focus is on up. Bring it up, up, up. In volleyball this is a bump. Thats not easy. Hands together. Modification would be no weight. Do it seated. Do it to your favorite song. Next motion is a set. Bring the hands above your head one inch off. Power through your fingertips straight up. Visualize the ball going above your head. Up and down. Youre going to do eight of these. Kathie lee, do eight of these. Then well switch. At the same time . Up seven, six, five, four, three, two, switch. Up. So now play your favorite song. Four, three, two, switch. Hook. Its okay. I love it. So now do you feel this yet . I do. Now the double up. You could literally put two weights in one side. Underhand serve. These are easy to remember too. Underhand serve. Weve got bump. Now i can feel it. Its four pounds. Thats a wine bottle. Weve got to go. [ female announcer ] it figures. On your busiest day, you see the gray. Try root touch up by nice n easy. Just brush our permanent color matching creme right where you need it. Then rinse. In 10 minutes, zap those grays and get on with your day. Nice n easy root touch up. Every now and then i get a little bit tempted by the chocolate all around turn around brian this bar has protein oh yeah [ female announcer ] fiber one. Good morning, its 10 26, im terri mcsweeney. Charges could be filed today against david douglas. He says he kidnapped a girl and it was a cry for help. People from the government have been following him for years and told him to do it. A second person in the bay area has died from the flu. A 48yearold woman with an underlying medical condition died in the last few days. They say the spread will likely get worse as we get closer to february. Im on the hunt, im after you smell like i sound, im lost in a crowd and im hungry like the wolf straddle the line, in discord and rhyme [ female announcer ] only yoplait light and yoplait greek 100 are endorsed by Weight Watchers. It is so good when youre on the hunt for something delicious. Find yoplait original and light yogurt cups on sale now at your local safeway store. Find yoplait original and light yogurt cups covered california is howt californians can take advantage of the Affordable Care act. We can help you get Quality Health insurance right now. To sign up, call 8007879159 or go to coveredca. Com. You can also use our website to find local, inperson help. One of the biggest questions we get here is, does covered california offer Financial Assistance . Yes. Covered california is the only place that gives you financial help with your coverage. Millions of californians will qualify. Find out if you do. All plans include free preventive care. Now, you might have a question about what that means. It means free mammograms, immunizations, cancer screenings, and more. Its a big list, and its all free. So dont wait. Without insurance, even a small medical issue can cost you big. Call 8007879159, or go to coveredca. Com, and get covered. Welcome back, good wednesday morning to you. You probably noticed the clouds by now. We have a chance for light rain tonight. Temperatures will hit the 60s with that storm system coming into the area. Maybe an isolated shower at the immediate coast and now we have a better chance to wake up and meet back here tomorrow morning. Right now the the south bay peninsula looking good for a few light rain drops tomorrow. Better chance this weekend, your sevenday tells that story at the bottom of your screen. Lets say hi to mike. We had drizzle and mist and that caused folks to need wipers in many spots of the bay. Well watch that, so far the bay bridge toll plaza shaping up well. Meters lights should be turned off shortly. The northbound to oakland has cleared up. Sweepers may kick in in the next hour. And here is the san mateo bridge. Middle slows. Back to you terry. Thanks. More news in half an hour. We are back on this wednesday. We are here to do this trivia game. We thought wed test your knowledge of the number eight. Kathie lee is ready to hand out 100 to anyone that gets questions right. For those that dont, they get a kathie lee cd. How lucky are they. Here to help me out, alicia. We asked this question before the break, how do 8s add up to a thousand. I was though the a math major. You have to put the plus signs in the proper plus. You are a math major. I can read the prompter. My friend from colorado knew that didnt you . Yes, i did. Liar liar. The introduction of what technology coincided with the demise of the 8track tape . Record player, compact disk, walkman or mp3 player . D. Not so much. You said you wanted the cd. There you go, doll. Well good for you. The correct answer is compact disk. The 8track was popular to 65 to late 70s. Then the cd came along. Thats vintage. Its all about mp3. All right. Back to kat. Shes from california. I love california. The 2002 hit film 8 mile won an oscar for what song . B, eight mile . Good day for me. Sad day for m m. Correct answer is lose yourself. This is my jam my junior year of college. This was on my play list to work out too. You dont know this song . You know who used to listen to this . Matt. Back across to kat. Back to a lady from california. Which of the follow as good not an answer offered on the fortune telling eight ball . Im going to say of course not. Yes. Oh well she gets the money. By the way, these were so fun. I still have one on my desk. Should we play it. The person kathie lee talks to next will get it right . Mine says try again. Yours says dont count on it. Back to kat. New jersey guy counting on it. The 2007 show jon and kate plus 8 featured the gosselin family who have a set of twins and sex up t up the lets. How many are girls . That was right. The twins are now 13 years old. The other kids are nine years old. Do you know their names . I dont. Mandy, kara, alexis, colin, joel, ian. Its interesting people still put them on the cover. People love them. Michael phelps won eight gold mad medal at the 2008 olympics . True. You didnt even pause. That was rivetting. Eight is actually a lucky number in the chinese culture. Get this. He set eight records there, eight olympic records, Opening Ceremony on 8 8 08 and started at 8 00. Is that true . Yes. Finish the lyrics to the theme from the 1977 hit show eighth is enough. Listen to it ch. I could name all eight kids though. Thats so sad. I dont know. Guess what . You get this. And the lyrics are fill our lives with love. From the fifth season, he was on the show as david bradford. Wow. Great. All fun. Thanks. Have a lucky day. Thanks for coming to see us. Eight clever tricks to get you and your home organized for the new year. Of all tdisinfecting should n be one of them. Ladies. Kitchen counselor. Its likely your detergent. Cascade platinums triple cleaning formula delivers brilliant shine finish gel cant beat. It even helps keep your dishwasher sparkling. Cascade platinum is cascades best. Kevin toaster strudel, yah . Warm, flaky, toaster strudel. [ female announcer ] now get two bonus box tops for your school. Chose prego traditional over ragu traditional. Prego . but i buy ragu. [ thinking ] i wonder what other questionable choices ive made. [ pop muzak plays ] [ sigh of relief ] [ male announcer ] choose taste. Choose prego. [ sigh of relief ] wto do that we had to find theo find ybest orange growers. We tasted a lot of fruit, so that here youll find the best oranges weve ever had. Backed by our 100 freshness guarantee try them for yourself at a walmart near you. And these Little Angels build in strength. And that little angel says, weeeeeeeee 60 more sheets than charmin. Everything you want and the value you love. Angel soft. Hey, buddy . Oh, hey, flo. You want to see something cool . Snapshot, from progressive. My Insurance Company told me not to talk to people like you. You always do what they tell you . No. Try it, and see what your good driving can save you. You dont even have to switch. Unless youre scared. Im not scared, its. You know we can still see you. No, you cant. Pretty sure we can. Try snapshot today no pressure. I dont want to defend him. It says actor and all around hollywood hunk. So offended. He wants to be known for his look. Now hes into a new role he gets to show off the a famous abs and arms again. He play pace god hercules. You may not want to mess around with the son. May want to. How are you . Doing fabulous. Last time you were here it was a while back and it was for the one of the twilight movies. Youve moved on. Yes, i have. Hows the transition been . Amazing. Ive been traveling quite a bit. I brought the hercules storm for you guys. Stay warm. We heard, and you tell us, you got this role and had nine days to get in the shape we see in the movie. You couldnt have been in bad shape . I live quite an active lifestyle. Not indoors a lot. I like the gym and playing basketball, different sports. What did you do to get in the the shape . Lifting and what the trainers told me, riding horses. You live in california. You didnt know how to ride a horse . I was born in north dakota. In iowa we had horses. Doing your own stunt, was that difficult during that movie . I love them. I grew up with five brothers in the house. Everyday was live action movie at the house. I love stunts. I wanted to do as many as i could. When did you know you wanted to be an actor . When i came from la to arizona to pursue at chapman university, i got the itch to act like everyone in la. Today we were talking you open page six and theres a picture of you and miley cyrus. Youre dating and in love. First of all, are you . Thats a new twerking. Why would you assume somebody is dating. Miley and i are friends. Shes looking thisway. Its comical for me. Im a public figure. Shes a public figure. Ive been friends with her six years. Were in the same circle. When two people are single, theyll crop out pictures. I saw one me and michelle rodriguez. They cropped us out and put us together. You better check that out. Shes not being faithful to you, michelle. Im dating everyone. You might as well admit it. Its out about you and hoda. That i thought we were going to keep a secret. He has a kinky thing for older women. Its a fun movie. Its got the stuff you want. Theres romance, a lot of action. And a lot of skin. Its good. Thanks for coming to see us. The legend of her c before you settle for another ordinary mattress, isnt it time you discovered the sleep number bed . The bed clinically proven to relieve back pain and improve sleep quality. And right now, its our lowest prices of the season. Save 300 to 800 on our newest innovations. Plus, 18month special financing on all sleep number beds. Only at a sleep number store, where queen mattresses start at just 699. 99. Sleep number. Comfort individualized. Can help your kids school get extra stuff. Theyre the only cereals with box tops for education. You can raise money for your kids school. Look for this logo. Only on big g cereals. You can make a difference. Every cereal box counts. You give them the giggles. Tylenol cold® helps relieve your worst cold and flu symptoms. But for everything we do, we know you do so much more. Tylenol cold®. But for everything we do, we know you do so much more. Ladies, we need to talk. About haircolor. Its Garnier Nutrisse nourishing color creme. Rich, radiant. Ravishing color nutrisse nourishes while it colors. Plus it has avocado, olive, and shea oils. Garnier nutrisse. Nourished hair, better color all right. If youve spent half a morning trying to find the back of one earring or 20 minutes to thread a needle, this segment is for you. Were kicking off a four week series where we reveal tricks by the blog. To help you with annoying problems like guru Lauren Sidney is here to share with us. Hey. You are both glam. We all have these in common. These are pesky problems. Solutions are easy. Those of us mortals that dont have makeup done every single day, you know who im talking about, were putting on the eye liner with brushes. We all have brushes lying around. Stick the brushes vertically in rice. You can see them instantly and grab the brush. If you drop your iphone in the toilet, you have rice close nearby. I didnt think of that. You have rice. Perfect. You can do beans. So pretty and it works. This is a good one. We all have orphan earrings. What they say are universale backs are not. They dont fit every one. An eraser from a pencil. It sticks to anything. They come right out. Look at me. I am too. There you go. This works. By the way, a little tux, it works for studs or cuff links. Anything with backs. Good idea. Moving on. Nobody has pencils anymore. Thats true. Everything is cheap and inexpensive. Bobby pin is always at the bottom of your purse. You can never find it. Now you can. Everybody has an empty box. Now you can have good breath and this. Gener genius. Put a magnet. It is going to stick. So easy and going to work for everything. No matter how neat you are. I know how neat some of you are. In your linen closet theres always something missing. Youre never going to be without the set. What do you surround it with . One out of the laundry. Thats very smart. Hoda is going to do that right now. I only have two sets of sheets. I trade them out. This is how you make over a hanger. Each take a hanger. A fancy velvet hanger so your clothes are not going to slip off. All you do is take an inexpensive rubber band. Take your thumb and twist it twice. Nothing is going to fall off. Fantastic. For scarves. You have shower clips. Then youre done. And to get your thread erect, excuse the expression. Spray the edge with hair spray. Then you can thread the needle. That is glamorous. We never got to wine. Hurry. This is for people that have a lot of wine in their life. Hello. You dont want an avalanche in your fridge. All you have to do is take clippy things. Were making a wine avalanche. Make a pyramid. Announcement from the latest golf world. Were going to take a swing. First this is today on nbc. [ female announcer ] shop at safeway now through january 14th for a smart return to school box tops offer buy ten participating box tops items in a single visit and earn sixty bonus box tops thats six dollars for your school plus, shop at safeway to collect double box tops on speciallymarked packages. Learn more at twowaystoearn. Com. Heres whats new at safeway from General Mills start the day off right with these delicious big g cereals or try yoplait greek yogurt power up with Nature Valley and fiber one snacks and enjoy tasty progresso heart healthy soups. Find these and other great General Mills products at safeway today all right. Golf is up. Its a mans sport but more and more women are getting in the game. These women are hoping to get more ladies on the green. Brittany and lexi thompson. I told you they were professional players here to share exciting news. Were excited. They are too. First of all, please tell us what the exciting news is. We are busting. What is it . Cme is one of my sponsors. Theyre hosting an event at the end of the year. Were doing a point system. Each player can earn points on every event. Were going to try to get as many as possible for the end of the year tournament. The top 72 players with the most amount of points play in that event. If you win the point system, you win a million. Free and clear . Yes. Then obviously if you win the tournament, first place prize is half a million. Okay. This is a growing sport now for women . Yeah. Its going to be great for fans, give them something to look forward to all year like the men have fedex cup and system. What about you missy. What are you going to show us . Whos your sponsor . Im sponsored by cobra, rolex and red bull. Youre sponsored by the cme group. Yes and pure silk. Were not sponsored by anybody. Show us the right way to do it then kathie lee will do it. Might be hard in heels. No, no, its easier. You just overlap finger there is. Go ahead. You played golf before is this. I have, but im terrible at it. Get in there. There you go. All right. Then youre going to shes got it. Go, go. What just happened . Im going to try. Pressure is on. I dont know how to do it. You look fantastic though. It all matters if you look good. Dang it. So sad. What was i doing wrong . Everything. Okay. Always blame it on equipment. Blame it on the putter. By the way, you started playing when you were nine . I started when i was five. Is that when most young girls start . Now days its probably two. Everybody wants to know what you did to your leg . I wiped out on the ice. I was walking my dog, spread eagle. Ladies, were excited. Have an awesome tour. The tour kicks off january 23 at the pure silk bahamas, poor ladies, on the golf channel. Tomorrow ahead of the right now at 11 00. Could it be a break in a sevenmonth investigation . A mother randomly punched in the the face while she dropped her daughter off at dance class. And baseballs newest hall of famers were just announced. Did barry bonds make it . Good morning, thank you for joining us. We begin this morning with breaking news. One crewman has died following a Navy Helicopter crash in the atlantic. The search is on for one more aboard that chopper