Transcripts For KNTV Today 20141217

At least 14 passengers injured after severe turbulence rocks a flight from seoul to dallas. Tense moments in the cabin caught on camera. And the winner is Craig Wayne Boyd. The country star from team blake crowned the voice and he flew across the country to celebrate with us today, wednesday, december 17th, 2014. Announcer from nbc news, this is a special edition of today with matt lauer live from studio 1a and Savannah Guthrie live from washington, d. C. Good morning. Welcome to today on a wednesday morning. 7 00 out on the west coast. Weve got a gang here in new york city, savannah is in washington where we expect to hear from the president on the surprise release of alan gross. Good morning to you. Good morning. This is a big story. Cuba has agreed to the 65yearolds release on what it calls humanitarian grounds. Gross was arrested in 2009, and accused of being a spy. Was sentenced to 15 years in prison three years ago. While he is on a plane home right now as we speak, Andrea Mitchell, a lot of moving parts on this. Alan gross on the way home. The president set to announce a softening of relations between cuba and the u. S. And the beginning of steps toward normalization of relations. The opening of embassies down the road in havana. And here in washington. This is a very big step. He has released they say on humanitarian grounds separately they claim, this is the diplomacy, three cuban are on the way back, in prison for 15 years convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage exchanged, this is the deal, for intelligence assets of the United States who had been in prison a long term conviction in havana. You say intelligence asset. A spy. A cuban, a spy who was convicted of spying for the United States, is being sent back here, secondly alan gross is on the way back to washington, humanitarian grounds, three cuban going to havana. The Bigger Picture is the president is going at noon and raul castro in havana announcing steps toward normalization of relations. The embargo will not change in a matter of law until congress does something and with republicans taking over and conservativings its unlikely that will happen. But secretary kerry and barack obama have been moving toward this now for two years. Toward normalizing relations. Alan gross was a big impediment, his imprisonment, the normalization would include loosening what the president could do by executive order. A massive change in the way these countries deal with each other. Thank you. Appreciate it. There are major developments tied to the massive computer hack on Sony Pictures. The group allegedly behind it is making threats against the movie that apparently started it all, and anyone who goesto see it. Joe friar covered this from the start. Good morning to you. Good morning. The new york premier for the movie the interview which was scheduled for tomorrow night has been canceled, sources tell cnbc sony is Going Forward with plans to release the film, but it will support theaters if they decide not to run it. Sources say one major theater main, carmike, plans to pull the film from theaters after theaters were threatened by hackers. The ominous threat from the sony hackers who call themselves guardians of peace says the world will be full of fear remember the 11th of september 2001. The threat is aimed at Movie Theaters planning to show the interview a comedy about the fictional assassination of north Korean Leader kim jongun. The hackers say soon the world will see what an awful movie Sony Picturesantstainment has made. Sony has not commented on the threats. One chain has said it wont carry the film, i believe others will follow and by the time the film is supposed to come out most of the theater chains in america will have said they wont carry the film. The department of Homeland Security says its aware of the threat but at this time there is no credible intelligence to indicate an active plot against Movie Theaters within the United States. L. A. s police chief says his department will take extra precautions at theaters. We have had conversations with theater management and they are having conversations with sony. When there is any chatter or threats we make sure theres strong presence in any places that could, but we feel very safe. The stars of the interview seth rogen and james franco are canceling appearances including one scheduled tonight with jimmy fallon. Investigators say they are closing in on the source of the cyber attack including the part of the world where it came from. Meanwhile, sony is facing two class action lawsuits filed by former employees who feel the company is to blame for stolen private information. The amount of personal information that was stolen makes it pretty likely at least some of the employees somewhere around the world will suffer identity theft. And that will cost them money. So far only the one major theater chain carmike made the decision not to run the film. Some are suggesting this cyber attack could be the most expensive corporate hack in history with estimates ranking between 100 and 300 million. Matt. Joe friar, thank you. John henry served as executive director of the fbi, overseeing cyber terrorism investigations now president of crowd strike which specializes in cyber security. Good to see you. We know this group guardians of peace is credible in terms of ability to get in a corporate system and distribute private information. How do we find out if they are credible in terms of carrying out violence on american soil . Thats what the Homeland Security and fbi doing. They will be looking at signaled intelligence and coordinating with the intelligence community. This is something the fbi and dhs will take seriously. I tread statement they released. It almost sounded too stereotypical, the halting english, the weird grammar. Sounded like the threats north korea against south korea. Is it possible its a diversion meant to draw our attention to a place like north korea when it could be somewhere else . It could be. Its hard to do when you look at attacks on computer systems. Investigators will look for artifacts in the systems to try to link them to culprits. So forensic investigation. Do they have informants in the Hacking Community . They do. They look and use human intelligence but looking for similar to what you do at a crime scene, for dna or finger prints, doing that in the network, malware and the tools that they use. Could this be an inside job . It could be. Any time there is an attack they look at the totality of the circumstances to determine who actually caused it. Now that this organization whoever they are, guardians of peace, upped the ante, do we need to change what is perhaps a stereo typical image of hackers that we have of the guys in the dark room with their nose buried in a computer screen and the fast food containers around . Do we have to change that . I think you are absolutely right. We crossed a rubicon here. Nation states who are potentially using the Cyber Networks as a weapon, to deteriorate and destroy networks. This is a big change. Its not just the data which weve seen but there is a huge change and there has to be policy to address this. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. By the way we want you to weigh in. Head to todd. Com and let us know if the threats were hearing from guardians of peace will affect whether you go to see this film the interview. Right now down to savannah in washington. Matt, thank you. Now to the brutal taliban massacre at a school in pakistan. This morning the death toll is climbing, its at 148. And most of those victims were children. For the first time were also seeing inside the building where this unfolded and the images are disturbing. Nbcs correspondent bill neely has more. Good morning to you. Reporter good morning, savannah. Ive been inside this school, shown around by the army t scene of a mass murder, a horrific scene. The bullets, the books, the blood still lying where so many children died. You know, this city peshar, nothing compared to this. This was a bloodbath like no other in pakistan. A massacre of the innocents, the shoes and glasses scattered. They came to this hall to learn first aid, how to save lives. They lost theirs when seven gun men burst in and began shooting. Dozens of the children were murdered in this hall and its no exaggeration to say that every inch of this floor is covered in or smeared with blood. Its a scene of utter horror. The gun men moved to classrooms hunting down children without mercy, until Army Commandos began to fight back. All seven taliban gun men wearing suicide vests were killed but they murdered more than 140 by then. We are all sickened. I think there is nothing that could happen worse. In the hospitals dazed survivors, more than 100 children injured, medical staff overwhelmed. After the massacre, the mourning. This attack has stunned pakistan, the army and government promise revenge but for now the slaughter of so many children simply left this country numb. The Pakistani Army has now launched fresh air strikes against the taliban, the government has announced three days of National Mourning but it will take a lot longer than three days for the sense of shock and disbelief here to fade. Back to you. Awful story. Thank you so much. At least 14 passengers on a u. S. Bound flight are recovering from injuries after their plane encountered severe turbulence and had to make an Emergency Landing. Nbcs tom costello is with us now. Good morning. This was a very rough flight. Good morning. This was an American Airlines triple 7 on a long flight from seoul to dallas and veteran business passengers have said they have never seen anything like this. Its video not verified by nbc news which seems to show the frightening moments tuesday after an American Airlines flight headed from south korea to dallas with 240 passengers and 15 crew members on board, was forced to make an Emergency Landing in tokyo. Extreme turbulence rocked the aircraft for nearly 40 seconds. Just without warning the plane dropped. Mark stanley started recording video and snapping photos after plates, glasses, a beverage cart, were thrown all over. This plate broke into pieces after hitting a passenger in the head. They asked us to only walk with shoes on because there was so much broken glass and plates all throughout. After an hour and a half the pilot announced he needed to land. Got on and said look, this is were not even going to try. One passenger tweeting landed in tokyo after massive massive turbulence on aa 280. Broken glass et cetera flying inside cabin, some were injured. The airline says five people on the flight were taken to the hospital with nonlife threatening injuries and as many as nine passengers treated at the scene. At least one passenger is reported to have suffered a broken arm, others had bumps and bruises. I talked to American Airlines, they say now the plane has now at least one of two, has landed in dallas and another one will come in later. This plane hit one heck of a storm or clear air turbulence. Were not sure which. By some description they hit a ribbon of wind and air described as typhoon force winds, somebody said in excess of 200 miles per hour. Raises the question dont airlines try to avoid bad weather . They do. They dont always know about it but thats something that American Airlines is going to have to look into. Tom, thanks so much. Well send it back to new york and matt. Thank you very much. Natalie here with important move by the president that came late last night. The president has signed a 1. 1 trillion spending bill tuesday night that keeps most of the government running for the next nine months, but the department of Homeland Security will only receive its money through the end of february. That limit was demanded by Republican Leaders to appease critics of obamas immigration measures. The search is over this morning for a man accused of shooting and killing six people. Investigators found bradley stones body while searching near his home in pennsburg, pennsylvania. Officials say stone died from apparent selfinflicted stab wounds. On monday stone shot and killed his exwife nicole and five of her Family Members. Ebola survivor dr. Rick sack ra is returning to liberia, the country where he contracted the virus. Next month he will resume working as a medical missionary there and plans to spend four weeks at clinic out side of monrovia where he contracted ebola. He says he feels great and that doctors said he is now enecktively immune to ebola. Amazing what he is doing. Neighbors say it sounded like an explosion when part of a building came crashing down in portland. Take a look because the surveillance camera captured it all from across the street. That massive portion of a wall crumbled during a wind storm last week. Firefighters, though, say the rest of the building remains structurally sound. Fortunately no one hurt there. And when two siblings fight who better to step in and break it all up than mom. Thats what happened to two political pundits brad and Dallas Woodhouse arguing during a guest appearance on cspan when they get a call in from North Carolina. Youre right im from down south. God, its mom. Im your mother and i disagree that all families are like ours. I dont know many families that are fighting at thanksgiving is there really your moth center its my mom. Im hoping youll have some of this out of your system when you come here for christmas. Theres a threat. Dallas is the republican, brad a democrat, and their mother apparently tired of all of the bickering there. Wonder what its like around the dinner table during the christmas holiday. Holiday time in the wood shed in that family. Natalie, thanks very much. Whats happening for our friends out west . A lot of heavy rain. Only friday we told you about mudslides. More heavy rain today. There were flash flood warnings and officials going house to house to get people out. Thats lifted. And the rain has moved to the south. In fact, we go to the radar youll see its out of san diego now. So thats good news. San diego starting to see the sunshine come back out. Rain comes to an end. Temperatures in the low 60s. Four parts of Southern California another inch or so until 4 00 p. M. Possible, so for the burn areas we have to keep an eye, thats why there are flash flood watches out. And around the rest of the west coast, were looking at showers in vegas and 51. Sunshine in los angeles, 63. Seattle, some showers and 47 degrees. Weve got your local forecast co earning unlimited cash back on purchases. Thats a win. But imagine earning it twice. Introducing the citi® double cash card. It lets you earn cash back twice, once when you buy and again as you pay. Its cash back. Then cash back again. And thats a cash back winwin. The citi double cash card. The only card that lets you earn cash back twice on every purchase with 1 when you buy and 1 as you pay. With two ways to earn, it makes a lot of other cards seem onesided. 7 17. Good morning to you. Meteorologist christina loren. Youre probably not shocked to see showers on the radar this moring. Getting spotty act test now. This is going to intensify throughout the second half of the day. Right now the biggest cell is pushing over the east foothills. Getting a break from the heavy stuff. In the south bay, its going to return as we head throughout the second half of the day. Temperatures chilly, 50s. Wean 1 00 p. M. And 9 00 p. M. The bulk of the moisture. Tomorrow dry. Another system on friday. And thats your latest weather. Thanks very much. In light of these new threats a lot of people asking would you go see that movie . What are people saying . Thats the question we posed earlier. The effects of the sony hacking scandal moved beyond the Hollywood Studio and into Movie Theaters after its not determined to abcredible threat but a threat has come down regarding people who may want to see the interview. And the theaters playing it. Sony is leaving it up to theaters whether they show the movie. We asked you on today. Com. 60 said no. 33 said yes. And natalie, we were talking about whether or not all of this attention that the film has received if people will go out of curiosity who werent interested before even with the threats, so well see, keeping an eye on what people are saying on today. Com. I dont know. Im hoping it goes straight to demand. If you want to see it you can if they go right to on demand or dvd. Going to a theater, kind of frightening for me. Coming up a startling admission from Steven Collins, this morning his apology in the wake of child molestation allegations. Plus, they exposed locksmith ripoffs. Our team is at it again. Have things gotten better . Well try to find out. [ female announcer ] get your taste of the season, at raleys, bel air, and nob hill. [ female announcer ] get your taste of the season, y veremos a Craig Wayne Boyd well talk about his crowning moment. Thanks. [ male announcer ] fedex® has solutions to enable Global Commerce that can help your company grow steadily and quickly. Great job. mandarin cut it out. See you tomorrow. And for many, its a struggle to keep your a1c down. So imagine, what if there was a new class of medicine that works differently to lower blood sugar . Imagine, loving your numbers. Introducing oncedaily invokana®. Its the first of a new kind of prescription medicine thats used along with diet and exercise to lower blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes. Invokana® is a oncedaily pill that works around the clock to help lower a1c. Heres how the kidneys allow sugar to be absorbed back into the body. Invokana® reduces the amount of sugar allowed back in, and sends some sugar out through the process of urination. And while its not for weight loss, it may help you lose some weight. Invokana® can cause important side effects, including dehydration, which may cause some people to have loss of body water and salt. This may also cause you to feel dizzy, faint, lightheaded, or weak especially when you stand up. Other side effects may include kidney problems, genital yeast infections, urinary tract infections, changes in urination, high potassium in the blood, or increases in cholesterol. Do not take invokana® if you have severe kidney problems or are on dialysis or if allergic to invokana® or its ingredients. Symptoms of allergic reaction may include rash, swelling, difficulty breathing or swallowing. If you experience any of these symptoms, stop taking invokana® and call your doctor right away or go to the nearest hospital. Tell your doctor about any medical conditions, medications you are taking, and if you have kidney or liver problems. Using invokana® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may increase risk of low blood sugar. Its time. Lower your blood sugar with invokana®. Imagine loving your numbers. Ask your doctor about invokana®. Youre watching today in the bay. Very good wednesday morning to you. 7 26. Im laura garciacannon. Happening now, arson investigators on the scene of four separate car fires in San Francisco. Noe valley neighborhood. Each of the fires report lid happened between 4 00 and 5 00 a. M. Were told there are four separate crime scenes, 10 to 15 block as part from each other. No one was hurt. Was the second round of fires in the same area. Recall arson investigators responded to a similar incident back in november a number of cars set on fire in the castro a few blocks away from the crime scene. Too soon to tell if incidents are related. Minutes away from high tide. Some in the north bay worry that heavy rain will cause neighborhoods to flood. High water shut down several roads and theres concern more rain will make it even worse. When will we get more rain . Lets check in with our specialist meteorologist christina loren. We just cant get out of the wood when it comes to rain. At this point, spotty, light, you can get outdoors and take care of business before the heavy stuff comes in. We have another round of heavy rain on the way. A good batch of rain over san jose. Starting to dry out for a brief time. By 1 00 to 9 00, another round, heavy and flooding is expected. You want to keep that in mind. You know the usual suspects, though, places prone to flood. You want to avoid those areas especially between 1 00 and 9 00, like i said. Its going to be heavy. Temperatures chilly. You need your jacket. Throughout the next couple of days, trending drier. After friday looking good for sunshine saturday into sunday. Heres mike and your drive. Friends here they are looking at the road, theres a leak. Take an advantage of the break in the rain. Low clouds, fog for 580. Light volume of traffic. Map shows smooth drive through dub len but jammed 680 southbound past the sunol. Past crash vargas cleared a half hour ago. Traffic better now. 880 hayward, free month slow. Bay area, nothing unusual. Lighter flow of traffic. Thank you. Well be back with another local news update in a half hour. See you then. Back in new york, a nice crowd. Lets look at whats making headlines on this wednesday morning. Thursday, new yorks premier of the interview has been canceled. The kegs comes hours after hackers allegedly behind the cyber attack issued threats against theaters planning to show that movie. The manhunt for a former marine accused of killing his exwife and five relatives has come to an end. The body of 35yearold bradley stone was found tuesday near his home in pennsylvania. Police say stone took his life. There is good news tied to falling gas prices. Families expected to spend 550 less on gas in 2015 compared to this year. Prices have fallen for 11 weeks and the National Average stands at about 2. 51 per gallon. Havent seen it that low in forever. Also coming up in an emergency can you trust your locksmith to get you back in your home at a fair price . Jeff rossen revisits one of his recent talked about undercover investigations to see if anything has changed. You think they learned their lesson . Probably not. And then from the ebola crisis to the disappearance of a passenger jet and the passing of icons were going to look back at some of the biggest news stories of the year and how we covered them. This half hour with actor Steven Collins addressing allegations that he molested young girls, in a People Magazine exclusive interview the former seventh heaven star admits to inappropriate behavior. Nbcs Stephanie Gosk is here with more on that. Good morning to you. Good morning. Steven collins calls it inexcusable, five occasions with three different underage girls. In a 1,000word statement the actor describes the incidents but also says he has never done and has never wanted to do anything like it since. Wish i could call the whole thing off. Steven collins used to be known as the pastor and father on seventh heaven. Details of his personal life have taken over head lines and his image, he writes in 1973 he exposed himself twice to a preteen girl and describes a third occasion with the girl in his house. I moved her hand in such a way that caused her to touch me inappropriately. It was a completely impulsive act and its haunted me ever since to think of what i put her through. Collins also admits to exposing himself to teenage girls in 1982 and 1994. That last instance in 1994 was when steven says he hit rock bottom and realized he absolutely had to get help. The actor explains he has been in therapy continuously for over 20 years and has not had an impulse to act out in such a way since. Hi, dad. Collins adds that nothing inappropriate ever happened on the set of seventh heaven. The revelations came to light in an audiotape released by tmz. With a 10yearold. No. She was 11 and then 12 and 13. Collins says the tape was secretly recorded by his now estranged wife during a marriage counseling session in 2012. The couple are now going through divorce proceedings. Grant says she gave the audiotape to the police, but did not leak it to the press. So far there has been no criminal charges against collins, and the victims themselves have not gone public. To the extent he has coverage but civilly and criminally he can say whatever he wants now. The statute of limitation is over so maybe hes going to tell the truth. The statement includes an apology, collins writes, i deeply regret the mistakes i made and any pain i have caused these three women. I admit to, apologize for, and take responsibility for what i did. Since these revelations surfaced his career has come to a standstill. He lost multiple roles. Collins says he made amends with one of the victims but not contacted the other two for fear of in his words, opening old wounds. Stephanie gosk, thank you very much. Lets get a check of the weather from al. As we get set for the big Holiday Travel week ahead this weekend weve got activity. We watch this storm system come up out of the gulf and push across the mid mississippi, ohio river valley and make its way into the southeast. It looks like it stays south but is there enough cold air . Were looking at heavy thunderstorms from Central Texas into the Lower Mississippi river valley and snowfall wise, friday night into saturday, basically about 1 to 3 inches, parts of western virginia could see maybe three to six but the good news is its mostly going to stay down south. On around the country. Heres whats happening in your neck of the wood 7 35. Good wednesday morning. Im meteorologist christina loren. Tracking rain though showers are spotty. Youre going to get outdoors today without dodging rainfall for the first part of the day. Then heavy stuff moves in between 1 00 and 9 00 p. M. Keep that in mind. Temperatures will be chilly for today. Expecting another round of heavy rain. Showers likely subside as we head throughout tonight. Tomorrow morning, spotty activity like were dealing with right now. Friday another round of stead r. Rain. Dry for the weekend. Coming up stories that up toed our hearts in 2014. An extraordinary compilation that will take up most of the next halfhour. And jeff rossen reports. Reporter its rainy, window out, and youre locked out. You call the locksmith to get you if. Do they overcharge you . Do they drill through the lock and charge you even more . Our latest hidden camera investigation you need to see coming up. Cut diamond, unlocking the true beauty of the diamond. For over 90 years. We have continued to perfect this diamond. Now kay jewelers brings you tolkowsky ideal cut diamonds from the family that invented the ideal cut. At kay, the number one Jewelry Store in america. From our family. To the beginning of yours. Yes every kiss begins with kay. I can. Order safety goggles. 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This is your dad in my house, where he had his first christmas. Thanks for making the coffee. Well look whos up. Im really glad youre here, mom. Me too. Look whos here me too. Whi, hows it going . Whatever youre looking for, start by testdriving nearly every make and model all in one place. Carmax. Start here. Acidity was in my diet. Much that it was damaging the enamel. I wanted to fix it right away. My dentist recommended pronamel. He said pronamel can make my teeth stronger. Pronamel is helping me lead the life that i want to live. At Famous Footwear were not just selling the hottest shoes of the holiday season. Were selling here comes your future daughterinlaw confidence this year give exclusive Carlos Santana boots. Only from Famous Footwear. Victory is yours. We are back now at 7 40 with a new rosin report. This morning, we will start a special series called were back. Jeff and his team have been exposing ripoffs for years. This week, they are going back tosome of the most popular stings to see if contractors have learned their lesson. Jeff, of course, todays National Investigative correspondent. Good morning to you. Hey, matt, good morning to you it is the worst feeling in the world, isnt it . Happened to a lot of us. You are locked to out of your house and you need a look smith to get you back in. So in 2011, several years ago, we pulled out our hidden cameras and invited them over. Locksmith after locksmith chargeds hundreds of dollars for a Pretty Simple job. We exposed them right here on National Television on today. So, guess what we just did. Went back to that same area to test locksmiths again. Did they learn from our investigation . This morning, were back. Oh, boy. Here we go again. Why is this man drill nothing our front door . Just drilled right through t charged hear a lot of money. Yeah. Reporter why is this one destroying our lock then running away from our cameras . I guess he doesnt want to talk us to. We cant believe our eyes. After all, it was three years ago i first exposed that locksmith. Renting this home in suburban new york, we hired this licensed locksmith to install simple locks on our door. He says any real locksmith would pick it easily. He showed us in just seconds. He says this job should cost about 100. Theres no damage to the lock, a minimal charge to a cust mannered the proper way to perform that service on a lockout. Im locked out of my house. Reporter then we had our producer call a locksmith, saying she is locked out. This guy didnt pick our lock, he ripped it off with pliers. Then we had to buy a new lock, from him. In fact, back in 2011, our expert says one after another overcharged us, including this guy, who drilled our lock, then demanded hundreds of dollars in cash. Even saying this need to go to the bank or something . Reporter hold on, go with him to the bank . Thats when i jumped in. Just trying to figure out why youre trying to charge a woman more than six times what expert says that job should cost . What do you want me to tell you . [ bleep ]. Whats your name . Jeff rosin. Nbc news. Nice. Nice name. Reporter all right. So now, its 2014 and were back, trying to see if locksmiths learned their lesson. So, we are back in the same area, setting up the same scenario, except this time, our producer, our poor, poor producer, is locked out in the rain. Thank you for coming. Reporter this first guy shows up and drills our lock right away, destroying it. Happy to sell us a new one. Price tag, 170. Can i ask why you drilled right through that lock without trying to pick it first . Emergency. Reporter this next locksmith pulls out the drill, too. Another ruined lock. Price tag, 210. You trying to rip someone off . I cannot pick that lock. Reporter remember, it can be picked. Thank you for coming. Reporter but this guy doesnt even try and bess to drape our Rainy Day Fund with a whopping price tag. He tries to shimmy the door open, but then quickly pulls out his drill. In seconds, were in, but it will cost us, 415. The lady is outside in pouring rain. You think im gonna stand for half an hour trying picking the lock. You think it takes half hour to pick the lock . Yes, to me. We will have our experts show us. Okay. Reporter yes, we had a new expert on site and he spent only five and a half minutes picking it and gets us in, no problem. You dont think you overcharged . You still think you should have drilled through the lock after seeing how fast he can pick it . Yes. Reporter you you have to say that, i guess. In our new batch, nearly every locksmith charged us 200 or more. Whats the bottom line here . Bottom line, consumers are being ripped off, its trouble. Still happening even after we exposed them years ago. Still a nationwide problem, jeff. No one is doing anything about it but you. Reporter we are happy to. Theres a security issue here, too, only one of the locksmiths in this new batch asked us for i. D. To make sure we even live at that house. Specters say they should never open a single door without verifying the address of the house matches your i. D. The best advice, guys, do not wait until you need a locksmith in that emergency. Find a Reputable Company and store it in your phone so you have it when you need it giving us that warm holiday feeling tomorrow . Tomorrow on the were back series, savannah, d. C. , one of her favorite stories ever, you love this. Oh. No dirty underwith a ir . Dirty underwear. Went to several retailers years ago and found when you return underwear, they will put it back on the store shelves and sell it as new. We are going back to some of the biggest chain. What time is that, jeff . I want to plan breakfast before then. This time tomorrow. Are they still doing it . By the way, these are some of the biggest retailers. Wait until you see what we found tomorrow on today. You have been forewarped. Savannah, set your tivo. Dvr. I know. All right, jeff, thanks. Coming up, if you are still struggling with your holiday shopping, books are always a great idea. Brooke shields and andy cope, two bestselling authors, are teaming up to bring you some two bestselling authors, are teaming up to bring you some great ideas. Is a really big deal. U with aches, fever and chills theres no such thing as a little flu. So why treat it like its a little cold . Theres something that works differently than overthecounter remedies. Attack the flu virus at its source with prescription tamiflu. And call your doctor right away. Tamiflu is fda approved to treat the flu in people 2 weeks and older whose flu symptoms started within the last two days. Before taking tamiflu tell your doctor if youre pregnant, nursing, have Serious Health conditions, or take other medicines. 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Tell your doctor if youve been to areas where certain fungal infections are common, and if youve had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flulike symptoms or sores. Dont start humira if you have an infection. Talk to your doctor and visit humira. Com this is humira at work tamrons back in the orange room with something on tv that call the her eye. Tamron . Tied into the holidays. All it took was a mere five seconds for Mindy Kalings show the Mindy Project to create a social media sensation, guys. Take a look at this unw lucky you let you put up this wreath. Reese witherspoon . This is the nicest thing in your apartment. Okay. Yes. That agencies actually what it looks like it is a wreath covered in pictures of Reese Witherspoon and with that, the hashtag, guys, wreath witherspoon was born and social media lit up with pictures of their own creation of the wreath witherspoon. And a few people went even further. Here you have the areit ta franklin. Get it . Ah. Okay. Im going gonna try one more. Keanu wreath. Im struggling here. How about this one here, savannah is in washington walk. The savannah guthwreath. I see it and willie, brought you in early, because, of course, we know theres some history with you and mindy, you guys have this lovefest, this crush fest going on. And guess what she sent in to you . Oh, wow. Dedicated to our own willie geist. By the way, she worked all night on this, this was late last night. Did she really make that or we give that to her . A hot glue because i love you [music continues] [announcer] this is my business. I started it. I believe in it. I know and grow it. I live it and breathe it. I put my heart and soul. Blood,sweat and tears into it. I run on quickbooks. Thats how i own it. When you dont get enough sleep. And your body aches. Youre not yourself. Tylenol ® pm relieves pain and helps you fall fast asleep and stay asleep. We give you a better night. Youre a better you all day. Tylenol® we are about to make more gooddeliveriesverybody. To more places than anybody on earth. We have the speed. We have the technology. And we have the team. We made over 15 billion successful deliveries last year. 15 billion football has a season. Baseball has a season. This is our season. Youre watching today in the bay. Very good morning to you. 7 56 now. Im laura garciacannon. Happening today, soil experts will be out in marin county assessing a mudslide that has blocked several popular hiking trails. The mud slid across Tennessee Valley road. Crews havent been able to clear because they dont know if its safe yet. Experts will examine the soil and figure fought more mud might move. Crews cutting a tree that fell. It happened burbank drive off of lawrence express weiway. More rain on the way . Lets find out with me meteorologist christina loren. All we need, an amazing statistic from the rainfall,. 16, under. 2 to hit an alltime record in san jose that has stood since 1894. What were anticipating throughout the next few hours. Ill keep you out dated. Also watching radar. A sneak peek at that in moments. But first all that rain you can expect a slow drive. Mike . A slick drive here. San mateo bridge, tow truck arrived. Whoa, what happened . They were there, tow truck arrives and took off. Like a doorbell thing going on. They ditched them. Westbound 92, slow toward the peninsula. Slow in both directions for 101 as you travel past 92. Both side of the bay slow between both bridges. What were seeing pattern slower for north bound route through san jose. Lighter than normal overall commute. Recovery for 680 south through pleasanton from a crash that cleared an hour ago. Still slow for 580 out of the fog. Theres fog registering orange on the map there. Thank you for joining us. Another local news update in a half hour. And we let it burn burn burn its 8 00 on today. Coming up, oh what a year. I shook your hand. I will do it again. We look back at the biggest news stories of the past 12 months, from ebola to isis, the olympics to the clooneys. Then still looking for gift ideas for the holidays . Fear not. Our friends, Brooke Shields and andy cohen, are here with some great boxes to add to your wish list. Plus, the voice crowns its winner. Craig wayne boyd you win it and team blakes Craig Wayne Boyd hopped on a red eye to celebrate with us live today, wednesday, december 17th, 2014. Good morning, North Carolina savannah, georgia loves Savannah Guthrie. All i want for my birthday is a today show selfie. Happy christmas from canada. Hi, were back now, 8 00 on a wednesday morning, the 17th day of december, 2014, a nice holiday crowd here in new york. Missing savannah because she is down in washington, d. C. Hey, savannah. Hi. Good morning, guys. We know its that time of the year. A lot of parties this time of the year. Hard to watch your figure sometimes. Guess what . Jenna wolfe and joy bauer, two easy exercises you can do anywhere and creative ways to slim down those calorieladen holiday drinks. I like joys exercise better. Its hard when you have doritos. Those are tostitos. Really . Come on you dont know what a dorito bag looks like . Im going to eat your chips. Okay . The breakfast of champions. Try one. Go ahead. Do you realize, those have been out here all night . We dont even know where those came from. We dont even know who they belong to lets go inside and get a check of the headlines from nat lie. Cubans rerelease gross. A deal that saw the u. S. Release three cubans jailed in the u. S. They say it paved the way for the two countries to start talks on establishing full diplomatic relations. The cyber attack against Sony Pictures is now being followed with threats of Movie Theater violence. Hackers who call themselves the guardians of peace posted a warning online tuesday for theaters that show the interview, a comedy about the fictional assassination of north koreas leader, saying the world will be full of fear, remember the 11th of september, 2001. Sony has canceled thursdays new york city premiere. The department of Homeland Security says at this time, there is no credible threat or credible intelligence to indicate an active plot against Movie Theaters. We are getting our first look inside that school in pakistan where taliban gun men massacred at least 142 people tuesday, most of them children. Walls are scarred with bullet holes and floors show damage caused by explosives. Officials say the gunmen methodically went from room to room, hunting down their young victims without mercy. For the first time in a long time, good news for bill cosby this morning. Just as another Family Member speaks out in his defense. Nbc National Correspondent kate snow is here with more on this. Good morning, natalie. Strong words coming out. In a statement to quicks a is he is hollywood, bill cosbys daughter, evan, says he is the father you thought you knew. The cosby show, she says, was her reality tv. Evan wrote on facebook rape is a serious allegation and it is supposed to be taken very seriously, but so is falsely accusing someone. One someone rapes person they go to prison. That should also happen to the person who has wrongfully accused an innocent victim, she wrote. Some pr expert says it all maybe a little too little too late. His reputation already damaged with more than two dozen women now making allegations. But cosby has never been charged with a crime and the good news for him, on tuesday, the los angeles District Attorney said cosby will not be criminally charged in one case that dates back to 1974, natalie, because of the statute of limitations. Kate snow with the latest on cosbygate. The coast guard is leasing video this morning of the castaway it rescued from a Remote Island in the bahamas on monday. Larry sutterfield from illinois had planned to go camping in the florida keys but his rubber dingy got carried out by the tide. He spent five days on the open seas before reaching the island. The search plane finally spotted his signal fire and tent. It is 8 05 now. Get another check of the weather with mr. Roker. Al . Announcer this portion of today is brought to you by night at the museum secret of the tombs in theaters friday. Got a nice group of people here, brought plenty of toys for our toy drive, these nice folks here, thank you so much. We appreciate that. Lets show what you we have going on right now. We have wet weather in new york. We have rain making its way through Southern California. We have got icy mix in the southwest as well, rain move into the pacific northwest. Afternoon temperatures, it is awfully frosty through the northern plains. 70s in southern texas and florida. Look for 50s and 60s through the southwest into california. We are also looking at heavy snow developing in northern new england, caribou could see up to a foot before its all over. 8 06. Welcome back. We have some rain on the radar. Not a lot, but enough to where you want to give yourself some extra time because we havent had much of a drying out period. This cell is going to slam mountain view, palo alto, then end up in the south bay, san jose specifically, over the course of the next hour. Temperatures today hopefully in the 50s. Cool out there, need your coat and umbrella. You can ditch it tomorrow for a short time. More rain friday, into saturday, but mostly dry by this weekend. And that is your latest weather. All right, al, thanks very much. When we come back, what will you remember most . We are going to take an extensive look back at the most talked about news stories of the past year. Incredible. Plus a man riding high this morning. The new champion of the voice. Craig wayne boyd will be here and speaking of music, grammy, charli xcx performing live, but first, these messages. Come on everybody say. Fa la la la. Philosophy is, reynolds . No. Not exactly. To attain success, one must project success. Thats why we use fedex one rate®. Their flat rate shipping. Exactly. It makes us look topnotch but we know its affordable. garage door opening sighs honey, havent i asked you to please use the. We dont have a reception entrance. Ship a pak via Fedex Express saver® for as low as 7. 50. And quit a lot,ot but ended up nowhere. Now. I use this. The nicoderm cq patch with unique extended release Technology Helps prevent the urge to smoke all day. I want this time to be my last time. Thats why i choose nicoderm cq. Ring ring . 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Toyotathon is on, get low 1. 9 apr financing for 60 months on the bold new 2015 camry. Offer ends january 5th. Plus every new toyota comes with toyotacare, toyotas no cost maintenance plan. I know a great place for a drive. [ applause ] its time to take a look back, world cup fever to calls for justice nationwide it has been a year to research so, heres a look at the moments that shaped your world and ours in 2014. The pentagon now labeling isis an imminent threat that goes beyond anything they have seen. Isis controls a huge part of syria and iraq. President obama acknowledging u. S. Officials underestimated isis. The execution of an american journalist. This san extremely disturbing story. We are learning more about your son and his bravery. Jims courage was an answer to prayer. Isis has murdered yet another american. We will degrade and ultimately destroy isil. The u. S. Is now leading an International Coalition against isis and likely will be for years. Israel striking back at hamas, blaming that group for the death of three teenagers. The israeli response has been swift. Israel is still under rocket attacks from hamas. The approximately people that are feeling the brunt of the ongoing violence. Breaking news, missing jetliner. The flight 370 took a southerly course, likely flying to the southern indian ocean. Theres been no sign of the plane or the 239 people on board. Its been a very emotional day. A mother breaks down, desperate for news. Officials admit they are facing an unprecedented aviation mystery. The crowded ferry sinks off the coast of south korea. More than 300 people, many of them students, died. The plight of hundreds of school girls taken during a mass abduction in nigeria. . An act of pure evil. Now, International Outrage from tweets to the streets. Bring back our girls. Dramatic standoff unfolding in sydney, australia, where a gunman is Holding Hostages inside a cafe. 50yearold suspect, hostages killed as that 16hour standoff came to an end. Haunting new images in from ukraine this morning illustrating the scope of the devastati devastating tragedy of malaysia airlines. Talking about passengers falling from the sky deepening crisis, new trouble in ukraine. Russian forces have invadeded and now have complete control of the countrys crimea region. The centers for Disease Control is closely monitoring the largest Ebola Outbreak in history. This effort to contain ebola is turning into a wide Scale International operation. Its here the major fear, the first person died from ebola in the u. S. A Second Health care worker has been diagnosed with ebola. A nurse, just back from west africa, the rules that landed her in isolation. I remain appalled by these home quarantine policies. Are you worried about a stigma . I havent been until now. I shook your hand. I will again. We are joined by six american survivors. Great to have you all here and also remember those who cared for you so well. America does not stand still and neither will i. Is this a president who has scaled down his ambition . Riding a wave of voter anger across the country, the gop grants full control of congress for the first time in eight years. The new fight over Immigration Reform as the president announces he is using his executive power to make some major changes. Those members of congress who question my authority to make our immigration system work better, pass a bill. He is not acting like one. Firestorm brewing around new jersey governor, chris christie. Eefrnlts mails suggesting a top aide orchestrated a massive traffic jam on the worlds busiest brick. Let down people. New questions this morning about the secret service and its ability to protect the president. The fence jumper made it all the way to the east room before being subdued. Congress summons the secretary of Veterans Affairs to capitol hill amid stunning allegations of neglect and mistreatment of wounded vets. Veterans died. Get us the answers please. Con strollers prisoner swap that secured the reese least of army sergeant, bowe bergdahl. Has the administration now endangered the lives of all americans for the safety of one american . When people ask why are you in russia, i say, please, ask the state department. Well, mr. Secretary what about it . Does he have a point . Mr. Snowden wants to come back to the United States today, we will have him on aly if the today. The fallout over this massive General Motors recall is now growing. Do you think anyone acted in a criminal way in dealing with these ignition switches . In this case, we failed our customers. Another blast of the dangerous cold is heading back to the midwest and northeast. We have been talking about this phrase, the polar vortex. The polar vortex. The polar vortex. Two words we could have gone the rest of this winter without. Guess what, it aint done by a long shot. A massive tornado countries 80mile path of destruction through arkansas. And this is whats left of the Kimberly Church of god. Incredible scene in washington state. The desperate search for survivors and up to 20 feet of mud. Out west, people are still struggling with that historic drought. Imagine knowing when your home was going to be destroyed and all could you do is watch it happen. Ferguson in flames. Angry protesters reacted to a grand jury decision not to indict the Police Officer who shot michael brown, jr. [ bleep ] protesters taken to the streets cries the country. Feel now that justice has been lost to you . We just are gonna keep fighting. I cant breathe. I cant breathe. The officer hopes would you accept his personal condolences. Do you . Not at all. The time to apologize would have been when my husband was screaming he couldnt breathe. The outrage over a suspension handed down by the nfl. New Surveillance Video in that elevator has surfaced. We have not seen any videotape of what occurred in the elevator. Ray rice will not step onto an nfl field this season. What do you think it would take for another owner to say we will take a chance on ray rice . Only thing i can hope for and wish for is a second chance. Yet another troubling case involving an nfl star. Adrian peterson, accused of using a switch on his young son. Donald sterling was allegedly recorded making disparaging comments about africanamericans. Associating with black people. Do you have to . Some of the things he said are very offensive. They are horrible. Arent you angry . Very angry. Mounting allegations of Sexual Misconduct against bill cosby. Now more than 20 women publicly accusing cosby. Now the investigation into that deadly racing accident. Nascars tony stewart temporarily steps away from racial. Emmy nominee tracy morgan critically injured in deadly Chain Reaction accident. How do you plead . Not guilty, my lady. I want to see oscar face to face. Oscar pistorius found guilty of culpable homicide. The jim said he can walk out of court today on bail. The world will be watching brazil today. Go usa. Are you aware how big soccer is in the United States right now . We have been blown away by the response. Talking about ellens super sized selfie. The most retweeted treat ever. Gwyneth paltrow and chris martin what they call consciously uncoupling. The wedding of Kim Kardashian and kanye west. Kimye. Have you seen a different side of kanye after getting married . I have seen more of change in him as a dad. Brad pitt and Angelina Jolie finally walked down the aisle over the weekend. Venice was the place to be as hollywoods most eligible bachelor, george clooney, finally tied the knot. Prince george arrives in new zealand to begin his First Official tour as a roy. William and kate Meeting Court side with jayz and beyonce. This couple gets Willie Wonkas golden ticket. [ trumpets ] let the games begin. The eyes of the world on sochi, russia. Thousands of athletes around the world kick 25u69 2nd olympic winter games. Sage kotsenburg the first to win in sochi. This could be it for anderson gold medalist. Be in the history books. We are still on that high from the hockey game. Score third time in u. S. Winter olympic history americans have swept the podium you want to see how your life is gonna change . How does that feel . That feels incredible. Bode miller has now entered the record books as the oldest alpine skier to medal at the olympic games. Like a built over the final jump. I wanted to come here and make myself proud. Lilt up the ice came in gold medal favorite. You are leaving as gold medal winner. Yeah, definitely disappointed in my performance. Russia put a ribbon on the olympic winter games. Let me say good morning to pippa middleton. Pip park nice to see you, say hi to the folks back in new york. Hi, everyone. Good morning. Wheres the famous dress . Its in my wardrobe at home. We use friend as a verb, i dont know whether to thank you as that or yell at you. Think its good. I got nervous because i had to do this interview with you, tried to prepare myself. What kind of wed doug think it will be . Definitely extravagant. I dont do things small. Ready . Yes. Here we go. I got to go shave immediately. I think it looks great. It suits you. Dont make me go all meet the press on you. Its a shame tough go through something that takes life away to appreciate it more, but it certainly does do it to ya. What does it feel like . I like it a lot. I like it a lot. I think i landed hospital. You landed hot, cause you are hospital. Hey. Thats all it is. And then we are gonna rock n roll. Make it official. Are you rejoining . Yes. The president s not a bad cook. Really . He is very proud of his chili. He did a portrait of you though. Yeah, it still needs some work. What do you say to iraq veterans who are looking now and saying what was that for . We are going to do everything in our power to follow through. Can you just describe that moment . I turned to the right and Osama Bin Laden was standing there and i shot him and i killed him. You wrote this, you said no one knows the pain that the media and unwanted opinions have caused my family. Why does that make you cry right now . Brings back anger. He is the man that i love, everything ripped up. I am mork from ork. Good morning, vietnam mrs. Brady. Its saturday night live. And you know, i just want to thank all our partners for all their love and their support. Mrs. Robinson, youre trying to seduce me. You see before you a happy man. Are you ready to see each other . Who is the dress by . Oscar de la renta. Now, on with the countdown. Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars. Im gonna write a show for us. Do you think i took this job to spite you . On the day thousands of delegates the Democratic Convention poured into miami beach. We have to hold the sword in one hand in order to defend ourself. Comedy is timing. Heres to the ladies who lunch you know how to whistle dont ya, steve . You just put your lips together and blow. And say simply, very simply, with hope, good morning. Always marvel at whats gone on in a 12month period. What a year, right . Really is extraordinary. By the way, a quick thank you to producers, yalor if thebush, kate buckly, mike sidowski, our graphic artist, paulie barocas. Great job. Savannah, hard to imagine all the things weve seen. Its incredible to think about what a consequential year in the news and a look back like that, think just not only the team that put that piece together but everybody who works on this show we all feel like its a real privilege to cover these stories and a huge team that does it. So really interesting to look back. Savannah, we are going to talk to you in a second. Coming up, the voice youre watching today in the bay. A very good morning to you. It is 8 26 right now. Im laura garciacannon. Happening now, glide memorial in San Francisco is passing out 5,000 bags of groceries to the less fortunate. Families here in the bay area. The church does it every year. Dozens of people lined up outside the church just before the sun came up, making sure they got to take advantage of the generosity. Every bag of groceries has fresh fruit, veggies, rice, beans, other turkey or a chicken. Check of the morning commute with mike. We have an inspiring sunrise. I just came through the area, now its kind of shiny and wet. 101 through palo alto, these conditions are going around the bay, drizzle having dampened the roads again. Look at the map, big view of the bay shows you a pretty typical pattern, but lighter than normal volume of traffic. Big backup after the Early Morning crash which has cleared, but 84, thats horrible now because theres a mudslide, rock slide reported on niles just east of mission boulevard and causing all of this jam. Folks are coming back to 680 and eventually go back the route they would have taken anyways. Smoother drive towards the dublin interchange and bay bridge, although 580 and 880 also slow. Back to you. All right. Well be back in half an hour. See you then. Were back. 8 30 on a wednesday morning. Its the 17th of december, 2014. You know who that is right there . Its one of the hottest pop stars in the world right now. The winner of the award from billboard magazine, and she will perform for us in just a little while. She has a brandnew album out. Also, a dream come true as the country rocker won the voice last night. She is here to greet his fans out there on the plaza. We will talk to him about his big win and what is next for him. You already trimmed the tree, and how about trimming fat. Jenna has the news. Brooke shields, and andy cohen, authors, and they have Great Holiday needs. They are suggesting each others books. How about a check of the weather, al . We are looking at wet and snowy weather up in parts of new england and an icy mix in the southwest and rain along the west coast, and heavier showers in parts of western texas, and that will continue to flow into the east alone. Around the eastern great lakes, and were looking at a lot of rain through southern texas on 8 32. Getting a little bit of a break from the heavy downpours. Well have more of that steady rainfall later on today, but not too bad. Keep in mind, though, its been raining overnight. Our highways are still nice and slick and there are areas of puddles and ponding. Temperatures cool today in the 50s and the rain returns between 1 00 and 9 00 p. M. Thats when were expecting the bulk of the moisture. Friday another system comes through, but mostly dry by this weekend, into christmas week. And thats your latest weather. No, look this way. This way. Through go. Now back to matt. This morning on the voice today, we have a winner, and carson shows us how last nights drama unfolded. Announcer the winner of the voice is the Country Singer defied the odds as the only member on team blake, he beat out three of team adams contestants to win the title. Boyd was not the nights only winner. Bla Blake Shelton had a big smile on his face, and he continues his reign as the most winning coach on the voice. He has managed to mess this thing up. It will go down with, you know, missed field goals in the super bowl for the win. It will be three points at the buzzer that bounced off the rim and didnt go in, but its happening to him on live network television. And it makes me so happy. Last nights finale was packed with incredible superstar performances by megan trainer. Jennifer hudson. And bruno mars who brought them uptown funk. But the night belongs to Craig Wayne Boyd who after struggling for ten years after trying to make it in the music industry, finally earned his place in the light. It feels like everything i put into it at this point has been worth it. For today, carson daly, nbc news los angeles and Craig Wayne Boyd is here on the plaza. Thank you so much. Less than 12 hours ago you were on the stage being named the voice, and now you are on the plaza. How does it feel . Wonderful. Wonderful. Sleep, i can do that when i am dead, i guess, right . Any sleep on the way over . A couple hours. Only one was team blake and the rest team adam. Yeah. You just shut it down and blake continues his winning ways. Every week i went out there, my goal was not to be in the competition, and the only competition was with myself and to go out there and do my best, and if i did that i felt like america would get me through. What kind of advice did blake give you . Just be myself and hold on tight, it was going to be a crazy ride. You were originally on team blake and then got stolen by gwen, and did you think that helped you . Yeah, gwen brought a sense of style to me, and she wanted as she said, she wanted to change my look and give me a little makeover. That was fun. I dont mind those things, and that was the coolest part of it because it opened up my mind. You are going to perform for us . Yes. No rest for the weary. Congratulations. Thank you. We will see you. Coming up, jenna and joy in trimming the fat from your favorite holiday drinks. Brooke shields and andy cohen on the best books of the year. First, on a wednesday morning, this is today on nbc. Back now at 8 38. A special series, 60 seconds to surviving the holiday creep. Jenna wolfe is standing by with her tips. We will get to you in 60 serngsd literally, jenna. Begin with joy bauer, today contributor and registered dietitian. Good morning. Good morning. You are slimming down festive beverages shall right . Festive beverages so delicious and special, as you know, natalie, they can be super fat thing. Im going to whip up in 60 seconds flat, we hope, a skinny eggnog and a lightened up person mint hot cocoa. I also have a few bonus cocktails and follow along and jot dont recipes, it will be on the website. 60 soengtsd clock. Go, joy. First, for my skinny eggnog, five cups of low fat milk of your choice, then im gonna put in a nonfat vanilla pudding packet, rum extract, ground nutmeg, whirl it up, put it into a picture, in the fridge for about 20 minutes, gonna firm up. Normal eggnog is gonna be up to 450 calories. My skinny version, oh, yeah 175. Tastes good. Peppermint hot cocoa. So i have steamed lowfat milk in here. Im going to add a combination of peppermint and vanilla extracts a pinch of kosher salt, a dash of some sugar and then half a cup of semisweet dark chocolate chips, warm it up, blend it whisk it, air rated whipped cream, dark shavings. Regularly, north of 300 calories, 175 cal riches all right. Less than 20. A pomegranate spritzer, champagne with pomegranate juice, only 80 calories. My holiday sangria, i cut the calories by dieing through the with flavored seltzer, 160. On the money. Thank you very much. Now up to jenna, workouts that anyone can do anywhere. Lets put 60 seconds on the clock. Take it away, jenna. Hey, nat lake, great way to beat the holiday if youre getting board of your exercise. Start with pushups, dont like doing pushup, pushups respect fun, here is an alternative. I want you to stand near a wall, a steady wall, four feet awake hands together and come close to the wall and push yourself off. Right . Just enough to engage your chest. Youre going to do five pushups there come out a couple inches, do five, five, five, five, five, five times and then youre going to work yourself back in five times. Youll really work the chest for a total of 50 pushups. Next up, we are going down to the there are over here, going to start by doing ten slow mountain climbers much hands are together. Engage the triceps. This is one, this is two engage the core. Everything is working. Then lay down on the mat right here and do supine foot touches, work the owe bleak. One, two, three. Gonna do ten of those. Gonna hop up, gonna give me ten jumping jacks, then do nine, eight, seven, combine this with the pushups, do the whole thing twice, its a fantastic way to good burn this holiday accept a. Natalie . Ding. On the clock, jenna, as always. If you want even more advice, be sure to head to our website, today. Com. Good job, joy and jenna. Cheers. Coming up next, we will have some fun with Brooke Shields and andy cohen. But first, this is today on nbc. vo nourished. Rescued. Protected. Given new hope. During the subaru share the love event, subaru owners feel it, too. Because when you take home a new subaru, we donate 250 dollars to helping those in need. Well have given 50 Million Dollars over seven years. Love. Its what makes a subaru, a subaru. Still hunting for last minute Holiday Gifts . Books can make a perfect presents. We have two familiar face and bestselling authors here to share their recommendation. Brooke shields new book called there was a little girl, the real story of my mother and me and andy cone, host of brave reese is watch what happens lives is the author of the andy cone diaries. Good morning. Good morning. Happy holidays. Hey, matt. Both had time to find a book in the last year. You find a lot of time to read for pleasure . I didnt this year writing the book, but took me nine months to write the book. I always loved reading. Me, too. Even if do you 2030 minutes before you go to bed at night, something calming. Christmas statement perfect time to read. True. You have got selections, right . Divided this into categories. Oh. Lets start with books for your parents. Brooke, you have got a couple of selections. Got this first . So, rules of civility by amore tolls. Fiction . Fiction. It is by amore tolls, who is actually a father at the school that we go to and it is set in the 30s there. It is such a romantic, beautiful, fun tale of a period of time i wish i was living n i loved it i lead it book, too. A classic this is so good, if you havent read it, read it. If you have, read it again. Yeah. All right. You have another one . Also for parents . Parents, the tucci table. You see him sort of a wonderful cook and obviously wonderful actor. He and his wife take you through recipes and actually accessible and easy, not intim dating. I love stanly tucci, one of my idols. Johnny carsons lawyer maybe going to hell for writing this book, he told every secret about Johnny Carson it is a delicious read. All right. Lets move on. These are books for your spouse or significant other. Brooke, what did you pick . Matthew thomas, we are not ourselves. Why that one . I was looking for an epic feeling of a book but i didnt want to go too far in the past. Didnt want it to be gothic. Its a really compelling, heartwarming story poll this family. Exeverybody priv if is how we are attached to our history and love and also our expectation. But its a good, quick read. Youre so specific, Brooke Shields. We asked you to be. I know. Stephen king. Is there a bad steven king book . No this one is a complete page turn. Love it i would give it to my significant other so i could borrow it. Yes. So stephen king, by the way. Books for kids . You both picked the same one. The same one. Djs book, the book with no pictures. Compels you as a rearder to engage. I wrote childrens books and i love the artist. That is a whole other thing, artists themselves but this without this really makes you compelled to be involved. Kids will love this book, it may bug parents to read it, but it is right, but it is a great book. Imagination. Such a great idea. Yes, maam even my 11yearold enjoyed it lets go to boxes for friends, okay . You guys have chosen your own books here. Andy cone diaries. About my mother. Lets start with you. You wrote this book this year, you came out, very personal, very personal. Very personal. Were your friends surprised by some of the stories you included in here . They were. They thought they heard all of them. I went back and reread all my diaries and reread things and stories that were i thought i knew everything about you. Spoiler alert, you know, she dies at the end. Leave them laughing, right . It is very funny. Why you are book, by the way, so nice of to you give it away free for the holidays. My pleasure. I kept a topsecret diary for a year and then i published it. Good idea, maybe. Any fallout . Everything is pretty cool so far. But its really fun and you will laugh your head off. No guests have canceled your show . Everything is good. Although you havent come on i was on there not that long ago. My new book. Trading. Two tell alls. Brooke and andy, happy holidays. Happy holidays. Thanks for sharing. More on these books and their extended list of holiday picks. Check out today. Com and brookes going to be here again in our next half hour. Up next, a live performance, come on downstairs, this is cool, got charli xcx in our studio. But first, to. A wednesday morning, this is today on nbc. Back now at 8 50, with the first ever winner of the billboards women in music hitmaker awards, charli xcx. A pretty good year, two grammy nominations for her collaboration on fantasy and number wit hit with boom clap and the now out with a new album called sucker. Good morning, nice to sigh. Nice to sue, too. When i went through the list of things you have done this year, was it all part of your fiveyear plan . No ive never really had a fiveyear plan, i think it was always just see what happens. The way like to do it i never know whats going to happen next, you know . This album, sucker a very personal one for you. How is it different . Its kind of more raw, more wild than anything ive ever done before, very guitar led, has a punk feel to it i suppose. I cant wait for people to hear it. I was at the billboard luncheon with you the other day and a lot of the Young Artists got up and talked about having someone in their career who really believed in them that they could count on. Did you have somebody like that . Um, yeah, ive worked with a lot of the same people since i was really young, you know . My manager and my record label actually and theres two people in particular, my manager and my record someone at my record label whos always championed me even when everyone else didnt care, definitely those two, you know . I know youre going to be singing break the rules, is there a story behind it . My kids think you wrote it for them . Well that song actually came about in l. A. I was working in west lake studios, which is where quincy jones recorded a lot of the Michael Jackson records. Wrote it in the parking lot while i was outside on my phone and didnt think anything of it and kind of came together. Zhoud that more often. Ladies and gentlemen, charli xcx. Take it away. Electric lights blow my mind but i feel all right and never stop, its how we ride, comin up until we die you catch my eye, girl, you wanna fly im so alive never stop, its how we ride, comin up until we die i dont wanna go to school, i just wanna break the rules boys and girls across the world, putting on our dancing shoes going to the discotheque, getting high and getting wrecked i dont wanna go to school, wanna break the rules i dont wanna go to school, i just wanna break the rules boys and girls across the world, putting on our dancing shoes going to the discotheque, getting high and getting wrecked i dont wanna go to school, i just wanna break the rules im such a star, queen boulevard, blaze through the dark and never stop, its how we ride, come. Up until we die i dont wanna go to school, i just wanna break the rules boys and girls across the world, putting on our dancing shoes going to the discotheque, getting high and getting wrecked i dont wanna go to school, i just wanna break the rules get my guitar, sunglasses on, so light it up and never stop, its how we ride, comin up until we die i dont wanna go to school, i just wanna break the rules boys and girls cries the world, putting on our dancing shoes going to the discotheque, getting high and getting wrecked i dont wanna go to school, i just wanna break the rules nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah [ applause ] yeah, awesome. Charli xcx. So great. Thank you. Good luck with the new album. Thes called sucker and we are back on a wednesday morning. Thats right. More after this, after your local news. Youre watching today in the bay. A very good morning to you. It is 8 56. Im laura garciacannon. Happening now, arson investigators on the scene of four separate car fires in San Francisco. Each of the fires reportedly happened between 4 00 and 5 00 this morning and were told there are four separate crime scenes ten to 15 blocks apart from each other. No one was hurt. It is the second round of fires in the same area. Arson investigators responded to a similar incident back in november. A number of cars were set on fire just a few blocks away from the crime scene. Its too soon to tell if the incidents are related. Another update in about half an hour or so. Hope you enjoy your wednesday morning. [ female announcer ] get your taste of the season, at raleys, bel air, and nob hill. This is a nbc news special report. Heres Brian Williams. Good day from new york. A momentous day, especially for those americans old enough to remember the cold war. The curtain came down between cuba and the United States in january of 1961 and in just a moment diplomatic relations, at least the first steps to which, will be reestablished by the two president s. Raul castro is going to speak to the people of cuba while barack obama speaks to the people of the United States. There he is. The two leaders have spoken by telephone. A u. S. Prisoner held by cubaen if cuba for several years has been released today, alan gross, in exchange for three cuban spies. There is mr. Gross coming back to Andrews Air Force base in washington, d. C. It is a day of momentous change, fastmoving change, and in a moment were going to hear from the president in the cabinet room addressing the American People about the opening of embassies between these two countries. Chris jansing on the white house lawn. Unbelievable. The first connection between these two countries since the revolution. Well hear from the president that this doesnt need to be a relationship frozen in time. Chris jansing at the white house. Sanctions against cuba will continue for now but theres no doubt about it, this is a rapid period of change. Good afternoon. Today the United States of america is changing its relationship with the people of cuba. In the most significant changes in our policy in more than 50 years, we will end an outdated approach that, for decades has failed to advance our interests and instead we will begin to normalize relations in our two countries. Instead we will create more opportunities for the american and cuban people and begin a new chapter. Theres a complicated relationship between the United States and cuba. I was born in 1961. Just over two years after fidel castro took power in cuba and just a few months after the bay of pigs invasion which tried to overthrow his regime. Over the next several decades, the relationship between our countries played out against the backdrop of the cold war and americas steadfast opposition to communism. Were separated by just over 90 miles, but year after year an ideological and economic barrier hardened between our two countries. Meanwhile, the Cuban Exile Community in the United States made enormous contributions to our country. In politics and business, culture and sports. Like immigrants before, cubans helped remake america, even as they felt a painful yearning for the land and families they left behind. All of this bound america and cuba in a unique relation shshi at once family and foe. Proudly the United States has supported democracy and human rights and cuba through these five decades. Weve done so primarily through policies that aim to isolate the island, preventing the most basic travel and commerce that americans can enjoy any place else. And though this policy has been rooted in the best of intentions, no other nation joins us in imposing these sanctions and it has had little effect beyond providing the cuban government for a rationale on restrictions of its people. Today the cuban government is still governed by the castros and the communist party that came to power half a century ago. Neither the american nor cuban people are well serve bid a rigid policy rooted in events that took place before most of us were born. Consider that for more than 35 years, weve had relations with china, a far larger country also governed by a communist party. Nearly two decades ago we reestablished relations with vietnam where we fought a war that claimed more americans than any cold war confrontation. Thats why when i came into office i promised to reexamine our cuba policy. As a start, we lifted restrictions for cuban americans to travel and send remittances to their families in cuba. These changes, once controversial, now seem obvious. Cuban americans have been reunited with their families and are the best possible ambassadors for our values. And through these exchanges, a Younger Generation of cuban americans has increasingly questioned an approach that does more to keep cuba closed off from an interconnected world. Well, ive been prepared to take additional steps for some time, a major obstacle stood in our way. The wrongful in prisonment in cuba of a u. S. Citizen and u. S. Aid subcontractor alan gross for five years. Over many months, my administration has held discussions with the cuban government about alans case and other aspects of our relationship. His holiness, pope francis, issued a personal appeal to me and to cubas president raul castro urging us to resolve alans case and to address cubas interest in the release of three cuban agents who have been jailed in the United States for over 15 years. Today alan returned home, reunited with his family at long last. Alan was released by 2 cuban government on humanitarian grounds. Separately, in exchange for the three cuban agents, cuba today released one of the most important intelligence agents that the United States has ever had in cuba and who has been imprisoned for nearly two decades. This man, whose sacrifice has been known only to a few, provided by america with the information that allowed us to arrest the network of cuban agents that included the men transferred to cuba today as well as other spies in the United States. This man is now safely on our shores. Having recovered these two men who sacrificed for our country, im now taking steps to place the interests of the people of both countries at the heart of our policy. First, ive instructed secretary kerry to immediately begin discussions with cuba to reestablish diplomatic relations that have been severed since january of 1961. Going forward, the United States will reestablish an embassy in havana and highranking officials will visit cuba where we can advance shared interests we will on issues like health, migration, counterterrorism, Drug Trafficking and disaster response. Indeed, weve seen the benefits of cooperation between our countries before. It was a cuban, carlos finlay, who discovered that mosquitos carry yellow fever. His work helped walter reed fight it. Cuba has sent hundreds of Health Care Workers to africa to fight ebola. And i believe american and cuban Health Care Workers should work side by side to stop the spread of this deadly disease. Now, where we disagree we will raise those differences directly as we will continue to do on issues related to democracy and human rights in cuba. But i believe that we can do more to support the cuban people and promote our values through engagements. After all, these 50 years have shown that isolation has not worked. Its time for a new approach. Second, ive instructed secretary kerry to review cubas designation as a state sponsor of terrorism. This review will be guided by the facts and the law. Terrorism has changed in the last several decades. At a time when we are focused on threats from al qaeda to isil, a nation that meets our conditions and renounces the use of terrorism should not face this sanction. Third, we are taking steps to increase travel, commerce, and the flow of information to and from cuba. This is fundamentally about freedom and openness and also expresses my belief in the power of peopletopeople engagement. With the changes im announcing today, it will be easier for americans to travel to cuba and americans will be able to use american credit and debit cards on the island. Nobody represents americas values better than the American People and i believe this contact will ultimately do more to empower the cuban people. I also believe more resources should be able to reach the cuban people so were significantly increasing the amount of money that can be sent to cuba and removing limits on remittances that support humanitarian projects, can t cubcu the cuban people and the emerging private sector. I believe american businesses should not be put at a disadvantage and that increased commerce is good for americans and cubans so we will facilitate authorized transaction between the United States and cuba. U. S. Financial institutions will be allowed to open accounts at cuban Financial Institutions and it will be easier for u. S. Exporters to sell goods in cuba. I believe in the free flow of information. Unfortunately, our sanctions on cuba have denied cubans access to technology that has empowered individuals around the globe so ive authorized increased telecommunications connections between the United States and cuba. Businesses will be able to sell goods that enable cubans to communicate with the United States and other countries. These are the steps that i can take as president to change this policy. The embargo thats been imposed for decades is now codified in legislation. As these changes unfold, i look forward to Engaging Congress in an honest and serious debate about lifting the embargo. Yesterday i spoke with raul castro to finalize alan gross release and the exchange of prisoners and to describe how we will move forward. I made clear my strong belief that Cuban Society is constrained by restrictions on its citizens. In addition to the return of alan gross and the release of our intelligence agent, we welcome cubas decision to release a substantial number of prisoners whose cases were directly raised with the cuban government by my team. We welcome cubas decision to provide more access to the internet for its citizens and to continue increasing engagement with International Institutions like the United Nations and the internation nat committee of the red cross that promote universal values. But im under no illusion about the continued barriers to freedom that remain for ordinary cubans. The United States believes that no cuban should face harassment or arrest or beatings simply because theyre exercise ago universal right to have their voices heard. And we will continue to support the Civil Society there. While cuba has made reforms to gradually open up its economy, we continue to believe that cuban workers should be free to form unions just as their citizens should be free to participate in the political process. Moreover, given cubas history, i expect they will continue to pursue foreign policies that will at times be sharply at adds with american interests. I do not expect the changes im announcing to bring about a transformation of Cuban Society overnight. But i am convinced that through a policy of engagement we can more effectively stand up for our values and help the cuban people help themselves as they move into the 21st century. To those who oppose the steps im announcing today, let me say that i respect your passion and share your commitment to liberty and democracy. The question is how we uphold that commitment. I do not believe we can keep doing the same thing for over five decades and expect a different result. Moreover, it does not serve americas interests or the cuban people to try to push cuba towards collapse. Even if that worked and it hasnt for 50 years we know from hardearned experience that countries are more likely to enjoy lasting transformation if their people are not subjected to chaos. We are calling on cuba to unleash the potential of 11 million cubans by ending unnecessary restrictions on their political, social, and economic activities. In that spirit, we should not allow u. S. Sanctions to add to the burden of cuban citizens that we seek to help. To the cuban people, america extends a hand of friendship. Some of you have looked to us as a source of hope and we will continue to shine a light of freedom. Others have seen us as a former colonizer intent on controlling your future. Jose marti once said liberty is the right of every man to be honest. Today im being honest with you. We can never erase the history between us, but we believe that you should be empowered to live with dignity and selfdetermination. Humans have a saying about daily life. No es facile. Its not easy. Today the United States wants to be a partner in making the lives of ordinary cubans a little bit easier, more free, more prosperous. To those who have supported these measures, i thank you for being partners in our efforts. In particular i want to thank his holiness pope francis whose moral example shows us the importance of pursuing the world as it should be rather than simply settling for the world as it is. The government of canada which hosted our discussions with the cuban government. And a Bipartisan Group of congressman whove worked tirelessly for alan gross release and for a new approach to advancing our interests and values in cuba. Finally, our shift in policy towards cuba comes at a moment of renewed leadership in the americas. This april we are prepared to have cuba join the other nations of the hemisphere at the summit of the americas. But we will insist that Civil Society join us. So that citizens not just leaders are shaping our future. And i call on all my fellow leaders to give meaning to the commitment to democracy and human rights at the heart of the interamerican charter. Let us leave behind the legacy of both colonization and communism, the tyranny of drug cartels, dictators and sham elections. A future of greater peace, security, and Democratic Development is possible if we work together. Not to maintain power, not to secure vested interests, but instead to advance the dreams of our citizens. My fellow americans, the city of miami is only 200 miles or so from havana. Countless thousands of cubans have come to miami on planes and makeshift rafts. Some with little but the shirt on their back and hope in their hearts. Today miami is often referred to as the capital of latin america. But it is also a profoundly american city, a place that reminds us that ideals matter more than the color of our skin or the circumstances of our birth, a demonstration of what the cuban people can achieve an the openness of the United States to our family to the south. Change is hard in our own lives and in the lives of nations and change is even harder when we carry the heavyweight of history on our shoulders. But today we are making these changes because it is the right thing to do. Today america chooses to cut loose the shackles of the past, to reach for a Better Future for the cuban people, for the American People, for our entire hemisphere and for the world. Thank you. God bless you and god bless the United States of america. The president from the cabinet room in the white house A Raul Castro simultaneously smoke to the people of cuba. We welcome those viewers watching Andrea Mitchell reports on msnbc as well as the viewers with us on the Nbc Television network and lets bring in our chief Foreign Affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell who, for a good deal of her adult life, especially covering the beat of Foreign Affairs, has covered and dealt with this issue and, andrea, sum up what we have just seen take place in the last half hour. Its extraordinary. Weve heard from both president s, raul castro and president obama. Weve learned that the president and raul castro spoke for 45 minutes yesterday. Weve learned theyre going to normalize relationship for the First Time Since 1961, almost 54 years. Weve learned theyre going to loosen the exchange of remittances, people in miami can send more money home, travel will be easier although the embargo cannot be lifted without lifting the helmsburton law from 1996. That will be very, very difficult. But there will be a lot more freedom. There will be a lot more freedom of exchange. 53 cuban political prisoners, many of whom i know who were in prison in 2003 are being released from cuban prisons in havana. An american spy who has been in a cuban prison for 20 years is being sent home. Three cubans, three men who have been imprisoned here in the United States for 15 years who the cuban have argued were unfairly convicted in the miami court are also being sent home. They were on charges of conspiracy to commit espionage. This is an opening of all of the economic possibilities between the two countries that are permissible other than the formal embargo that came under jfk. So president obama is doing something. John kerry flew into andrews coming back from europe, embraced alan gross im told, got popcorn and a corn beef sandwich on rye with mustard on that plane. He and his family have said its significant that today is the first day of chanukah, a holiday very, very important to them, they are very committed and observant jews and he is coming home after five years. He was accompanied home by pat lahey, dick durban, chris van hollen, senators who have been involved in this very detailed exchange, i should point out. They had been asked not to report the negotiations because of fear the prison door would not open today when the plane lanned from the United States at 8 00 a. M. In havana, the the prison door would not open until they were cleared of the cuban airspac airspace. Andrea mitch who will will return to her own broadcast. Andrea, well see you later tonight on nbc nightly news. Andrea mitchell from washington. Here in washington, the chairman on the council on foreign relations, richard haas. Thank you for coming across town. Whats going through your mind. . I wont call the question on your age. I was two years old when the curtain went up between our two countries. This spans the scope of our adult lives as americans. Absolutely. Its hard to avoid the symbolism. This is one of the last vestiges of the cold war and the taking down, if you will, of the symbolic walls or substantive walls between the United States and cuba marks yet again the end of that era of history. Its also substantively important. What enough some ways with this administration what you might call the winning out of the trojan horse argument. The idea that the best way to bring about change in closed society is not by isolation and pressure but various forms of involvement, get internet in, get travelers in, get a little bit more money in, find ways to cooperate, put plant the seeds of change and over time that will bring you big change. Thats what were seeing being put into place today and this reflects frustration with half a century of isolation and what it wrought. Viewing exporting the american ideal via hyatt regency, via iphone, via Nbc Television and on and on and on . Exactly. Plant seeds. It empower individuals. Over the last few years weve seen multiplication of cell phones in cuba and every person with a cell phone has a ability to community kate. Thats big. Thats something that limits the powers of government to control what goes on within a society. Economic activity. You know have private sect or thats responsible for roughly a fifth of the cuban economy. If you allow people to be free you have no do things economically, sooner or later they will want to do things politically so what i think again were seeing here is the beginning of the end of the old regime in cuba. And this is not simply an american initiative. I think, brian, this also recognizes the sense of the aging castro generation and now the new generation of cubans that cuba also has to join the 21st century. That the socialism and communism that marked and defined cuba for half a century is obsolete. The soviet era, if you will of Cuban Foreign policy is obsolete. They, too, needed a change. So whats coming through here is that cuba met the United States halfway in terms of the exchanges they made, with prisoner releases, well hear the things we did, but i think its important to look at what they did and what it tells us about cuba. Mary murray is also on the telephone with us, our veteran producer in havana who has lived on and off in cuba since 1994 thereabouts. Mary, so many questions. Im thinking about all the americans who or their parents came here came over here with their belongings came with their money sewn in the hemlines of dresses claims, family plot, family pieces of land back in cuba, just one question of many flying through our heads. Well, he did say raul castro, by the way, was having an address in cuba at the same time president obama spoke in the u. S. And he did say that while there are core issues that still must be resolved between the two countries like the trade embargo and differing views he called them, human rights, he did say everything was on the table. So its a matter of time well see whether or not theyre going to negotiate issues are close to the cuban american heart. But he did say he was willing to talk about everything. What happens very interesting brian is that the whole tone was very different. He urged caw boons to respect and appreciate president obamas suggestions. The headlines of cubans here is that the main agents who have been in prison in new york for the past 16 years, he said theyre back on cuban soil. And then right after he said that he told cubans to appreciate obamas gesture. That to me indicate there is may be some hardliners who dont appreciate this opening. Mary, were going to see that in both countries today. Mary murray who will be part of our coverage tonight. This momentous day between these two nations. Something tumbled down that has been in place for half a century. For mary murray, Andrea Mitchell, chairman on Council Foreign relations chairman richard haass, much more tonight on nbc nightly news as we sum up what we have just witnessed today. Im Brian Williams, nbc news, new york. Movie pass for a Pilot Program that lets you see a film a day for a flat monthly fee. Amc theaters in boston and denver will start rolling it out, offering Monthly Subscription packages starting at 45 and 35. And the air can get a little stale when youre cooped up in an airplane, but this firsttime flier stunned a flight crew in china when he opened an emergency exit door while the plane prepared for takeoff. He told ring ring progresso i cant believe im eating bacon and rich creamy cheese before my sisters wedding well its only 100 calories, so youll be ready for that dress uhhuh. You dont love the dress . I love my sister. 40 flavors. 100 calories or less. Youre watching today in the bay. Good morning to you on this wednesday morning. Its 9 26. Im sam brock. New within the last half hour, crews have cleaned up a mud and rock slide on state route 84. That road was shut down from main street in sunol to mission in fremont. Its back open now, but a traffic mess remains. Cars and trucks were backed up for at least a mile. It was so bad at points, some people got tired of waiting and just made uturns. The chp issued a sigalert for a short time, but that, too, has been cancelled. Again, road back open, but traffic is still backed up. Happening now, arson investigators are on scene of four separate car fires in a San Francisco neighborhood. This is video of one of the scenes. Each fire reportedly happened between 4 00 and 5 00 this morning. All of it within a 15block radius. Nobody was hurt. This is actually the second round of tires in the same area. Youll recall arson investigators responded to a very similar incident back in november. A number of cars were set on fire in the castro just a few blocks away from this crime scene. Too soon to tell at this point if the incidents are related, but something thats being looked at. Well also have a look at your weather and traffic after this break. Welcome back now. Well, were starting it to get a little bit more 5 00 at this time on your radar right now, but the heavy steady stuff is still a few hours away. Were not expecting that until about 12 00 to 9 00 p. M. , and then were going to get another round of potential flooding in places like marin county. Just hasnt had a chance to dry out. And up in santa rosa, weve actually accumulated threequarters of an inch of rain. Every single day so far this december. So were looking at some record numbers. Heres mike and your drive. All right, christina. Fremont still a slow drive down here, but look at the stretch here for 880, as well as across the dunbarton bridge. Thats the worst of it for your morning commute. Southbound lightening up and as sam told you, we have reopened for highway 84 between sunol and fremo fremont. We had a mudslide and 680 still recovering, as well. Bay bridge approach smoothly, but recovering out of the maze. Back to you. Yeah, those 84 images, mike, just incredible. Glad things are back up and running. See you again in 25 minutes. Welcome back to today it is wednesday morning, december 17, 2014. Im willie along with al, natalie and tamron. Tam rochbl yes, tamron. Apparently though, i am the medium for the love between willie and mindy kaling. Windy calling. Im like Whoopi Goldberg in ghost. Okay, whos dead . No one. Not exact, al. Pottery wheels. Who is making a pot . Mindy kalings love you getting dread locks . All things willie geist continues. Here is the backstory. So on mindys show, she revealed what is affectionately called the wreath witherspoon. It is a wreath, it is amazing, made of pictures of Reese Witherspoon. And that blew up online. Blow up online, everyone did my personal favorite, the aretha franklin. Keanu wreath. Savannah savannah savannah. Savanny guthrie. Overnight, late word, breaking news, big development, mindy stayed up all night long to dedicate a breathe to her one true love. Come on. Stop it too much now. Willie willie wreath your name is it does. Guise wreath. How much she loves him, his name doesnt fit in the wreath part. Go it with it tamron. Im a huge mindy kaling fan. I have made no secret of that over the years much she is smart. She is cool. She is beautiful. She is fun. I like me some mindy kaling as well. Would you hang that wreath in your home . I dont think my wife would go for that as much. Your wife. But the one from mindy so in honor im honored, mindy. We are asking you, would you hang a willie wreath in your home . Oh, my gosh. A wreath of willy . I dont know if i would do that. Why . Would you, tamron . Put a wreath of you up next to the shrine i already have. Good answer. Good answer. A whole bunch of different willis, like willie mays . Willie wonka . A whole bunch of willie cities in want to put a wreath of willis on your door. It could be a whole new thing. Maybe you do it for festive. Have you you never know. Look for wet weather along the west coast. High surf advisories, Southern California. An icy mix in the midmississippi river valley, more rain you there texas. Sunshine here in the east, although rain and snow as you get into new england. Tomorrow, snow along the great lakes, northern new england, an icy mix stretching from nebraska all the way into parts of kentucky. A lot of wet weather down you there texas on into the southwest and more rain moving oh, in our neck of the willy, weve got some showers coming in, but the heavy stuff isnt going to move in until we hit the second half of today, then weve got a lot of rain. Another round of heavy rainfall moving through the bay area. Temps in the 50s. Its going to be cool, overcast, then between 1 00 and 9 00, that heavy stuff moves through. Were going to dry out. Youre going to have an opportunity to get outdoors without carrying the umbrella. Tomorrow another round returns, saturday and sunday, mostly dry for the upcoming weekend. And thats your latest weather. She is quickly becoming one of hollywoods it girls, talking about brie larson, you may know best from showtimes United States of tara or her turn as molly, jonah hills Love Interest in the film 21 jump street. So good. Now she costars along Mark Wahlberg in the gambler. Wahlberg Place College professor with a gambling addiction. One of his students played by brie suggests having a an affair it feels like a pretty safe bet. Take a look. Hey. Hey. If i have to pull you into an inappropriate relationship to get you out of your job, im ready to go. Its on. We like that clip. So this is a great role for you, female empowerment role which i know you love to play. You plate student, he is the professor gambler but you seem to have all the answers when it comes to to the relationship, right . Yeah, kind of got a nice play on the sort of teacher student role. Just because we watch mark play this literary professor who he knows so many words so incredibly well spoken, you watch him do these, like, 15page monologues, tend of the day he is learning from her, from the stillness, from she uses very few words in the movie but those words are meaningful. Mark paid you a really nice compliment. He did an interview, he said after the your audition, there was nobody else possible. It was you and nobody else. Thats very nice. Did you it feel that way during the audition . I felt that way for him we should get him for this movie. I see. You are confident. I really thinks got something. Breaking news, you chose him for this movie, not the other way around. Ly i do people know. How it was like working with mark on set . Oh, my gosh, he is amazing. I think any field that youre in, just being around someone who is just a master what the it is they do is a pivotal point. Who are some of the women, obviously, this character has a lot of confidence, who inspired you . What role models did you have to play a person like this . Well, i mean, of course my mom was the beginning of all of it. I started acting real young. I was about i think 7 or 8. So she drove me around for many, many years and weve been a team for so long. And then getting tara and working with tony collette, my absolute hero, it was a game changer for me. Yeah. Talk about your mom in hollywood but music, people dont realize, age 16, you dabbled in music, even went on tour. Just took a deep breath when i said it like i said a fear word. Is music behind you . What is it . Oh, no, not at all. It blows my mind when people stay because it feels like just like a different i cant believe it oh, there i go. I love that. Worked with jesse mccartney. Seems like a dream i went on tour. That happened. Yeah, that happened. Im still playing music. I love it very much. Yeah. Yeah. You can always do both. Yeah. Why not . Brie larson, thank you so much. The gambler opens christmas day. Thank you. Good luck. Not that you need it play us out. Coming up next, Britney Spears flaunts a gorgeous bod on a new magazine cover but was it photo shopped . We all want to know. Photo shopped . We all want to know. Thats coming up if youre happy and you know it, eat a snack. Photo shopped . We all want to know. Thats coming up if youre happy and you know it, eat a snack. When youre sad and you know it, then you face will surely show it, if youre sad and you know it, eat a snack. If youre bored and you know it, eat a snack. If youre lonely and you know it, eat a snack. If youre sleepy if youre guilty if youre stressed or if youre mad, if youre human eat your feelings, eat a snack. How their holiday glscent made me feel,ing which inspired this song. Feel the air with joyful noise ring the bell and raise your voice let there be peace on earth let there be peace on earth lift your light and let it shine. Sc johnson, a family company. Then boom. What happened . Stress, fun, bad habits kids, now what . Lets build a new, smarter bed using the dualair chambers to sense your movement, heartbeat, breathing. Introducing the sleep number bed with sleepiq™ technology. It tracks your sleep and tells you how to adjust for a good, better and an awesome night. The difference . Try adjusting up or down. Youll know cuz sleep iq™ tells you. Give the gift of amazing sleep, only at a sleep number store. Find our best buy rated c2 Queen Mattress with sleepiq. Know better sleep with sleep number. Some people think vegetables are boring. But with green giants delicious seasonings and blends, we just may change their minds. Ho ho ho green giant ok. Then we will do it all together. Treats teets. Teets. Teets. Yeah, look at this it seems like the best family traditions. Always start in the kitchen. Happy holidays from rice krispies. Three decadent tastes new non one plate. Of italy discover velvety slopes of fettuccine alfredo overlooking rich chicken lombardy and hills of asiago tortelloni plus salad and breadsticks. Now available for a limited time. At olive garden. The holidays are full of surprises. Thats why, whenever the need arises. Walgreens is always right around the corner, so you can get in and out in no time. Most walgreens are even open til midnight, to help keep the magic in your holidays. At the corner of happy and healthy. With the skin of then i will live the life of now olay total effects vitaminenriched. To fight the 7 signs of aging. In 4 weeks, skin looks up to 10 years younger. 7 in 1 from the worlds 1 olay. Your best beautiful dont disguise bad odors. Continuously neutralize them with glad with febreze. When you dont get enough sleep. And your body aches. Youre not yourself. Tylenol ® pm relieves pain and helps you fall fast asleep and stay asleep. We give you a better night. Youre a better you all day. Tylenol® its pop fix time. Okay. Keeping things kicking things off is Britney Spears. According to our buddy Ryan Seacrest iggy revealed that the jingle ball concert she and spears recorded, spears new album due out. Speaking of look at her unbelievable body on the cover of the new Womens Health magazine. Wow. Id say wow. She was abtastic. Sparking debate whether she was photo shopped. Come on. Look. This is the video behind the scenes. Womens Health Fitness is for people to judge for themselves. You cant photo shop video. You can but thats a lot of work. No. Thats her body. She looks amazing. Really good. Works hard. Its her job to look hot and shes doing a good job. Opening up about dating younger men. The 45yearold has always been private about her relationships except for in the book she wrote telling us about it. But in the new issue of self magazine she takes on critics who say i date add younger guy once, possibly referring to her ex who was almost 20 years her junior. She says all of theed old cliches about women. Enough already. Were in the other position now, were desirable older women and we can date younger guys. Amen. Its not a big taboo. Men have been doing this for year. The dance party is going on here next to me. Its like hip restaurant in 1998. The question is are you cool with women dating 20yearold boys younger. Im all good. Were good. This one will get your attention. I have to struggle to keep these guys in line. Ready . Okay. Kim kardashian drama. The queen of selfies getting slammed for posting this photo on instagram. What is wrong with this . I see half a baby. A quarter of a baby face. Cropped out baby north. After the backlash she responded saying her eyes were closed and i was feeling my look. Can i live . By the way, she didnt want to show her baby, thats all right. Thats all good. Were not just taking another picture. People all up in arms about. People get up in arms about banana being yellow. Get over yourself. Arms up. Come on, natalie. Willie. Come on. Goodness gracious, that is your pop fix with the remix. How will the Cookie Crumble . What a transition of music. The finalist, a winner in our holiday Cookie Contest right after this. What the club music cant go with cookies . With my android from tracfone, i can. Order safety goggles. Play music for seedlings. Post science fair projects. Schedule guinea pig feedings. Video chemical reactions. Take pics of mr. Bones. Time the next launch. Calm down principal jones. I can do all that with my android from tracfone. 90day plans start as low as 20. Unbeatable nationwide coverage. No contract. For a limited time save 20 on the new unimax maxpatriot. Now just 49. 99. Tracfone. Do everything for less. And quit a lot,ot but ended up nowhere. Now. I use this. 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Up to 27 more brush movements. Patented Sonic Technology with get healthier gums in two weeks. Innovation and you Philips Sonicare save when you give Philips Sonicare this holiday season. Okay buddy, whats your favorite kind of cheerios . Honey nut. But. Chocolate is my other favorite. But Apple Cinnamon is my favorite too. And fruity. Oh yeah, and frosted okay, but. Whats youre most favorite of all . Hmm. The kind i have with you. Me too. All this month, asking for the best recipes for the Cookie Contest. Time is here. We flew three top bakers here to compete for the tightle of best holiday cookie in the usa. Here are our finalists. Karen hair from san jose, whitney here mariucci. Es and our judges, natalie, tamron, will wlachl are they playing for . You dont know. Cookie cutters, baking mats and rolling pin. And classes at any sur la table. Karen what do you call your cookie . I call it whats under santas hat. Love. When you lift up the lid, you can see the chocolate heart. Cute. So how does this come about . This is a spicy honey recipe i got from my neighbor, mrs. Worely, bringing them to my house my whole childhood. Shrinks and i used to fit over them. Now my daughter and i fight over them. What you do is cut out four different parts, circumstance a circle, a scallop circle, hat top and tip of the. What ice them the right color, pipe out a chocolate heart and then you dip the tip of the hat in icing like royal ice . Confessioner sugar, lemon glaze icing. Tasty cook kim okay. Thank you and dip it in sugar and place it on. Terrific. Nice. All right. Now whitney, you call them simply snowflakes . Yeah, they are gingerbread snowflakes. Yeah. All right. So i use royal icing to get the white on white affect and then i use a plastic bag and my hair ties and i just since your hair is now no ponytail today. Then he just go like this, oh, my hands are shaking. And i pipe them like that. I got to tell thursday design here is one of the most intricate i have ever seen. Then sprinkle them on. What kind of cookies are they . Gingerbread. Very nice. Soft and chewy. Whitney, this is good. Those are good. Now, julianna, you have got a very nice you got a lot of stuff. You like it . Make you want to bite it . The whole idea, cause theres a secret inside, al. A very big secret. Really . Shhh. Im gonna share it with the world. What do you call this . I call it my outrageous holiday cookie. Of course you do. cause everything i do is outrageous. What do you have here . Basically a dark and semisweet Chocolate Cookie dough but inside is one of the holiday sandwich cookies baked right into, covered with a ganache. A cookie within a cookie . Absolutely and i did it because my daughters adore chocolate. So you have to have an overload of chocolate. All right. Let me go to the judges. What do you say . What say you . A quick hidel. Huddle. Is it karen, is it whitney, is it julianna . We like. Really hard. Really hard. But we do all love an overload of chocolate. Right . And we love how outrageous you are. And so i think whitney. Not whitney. Julianna. L congratulations. Congrats. I do get to kiss you . Oh. Al. Wow. Yay talk about your overload of chocolate. Karen, whitney. Thank you so much. Thanks to sur la table for this great prize. You like to try these recipes at home, yes, today. Com. We are back in a momentship. Today on nbc. Congratulations. Our 21st annual toy drive is heading into the hope stretch. Today, earlier, our celebrity elf, charli xcx made the rounds on the plaza, collecting donation. Joined by another corporate contribute exsarah from tyson food. Sarah, good to have you with us. Back again this year. Thanks for having us here. Tell us what you brought this year. We are making a 200,000 donation of jimmy dean frozen breakfast, hill shire brand sausage and ballpark fraction, a lot of other prod during 55,000 meals to help the toy drive. Good four. Especially during the holiday, food is so important. So, how can you be in the food guess best and not try to help hungry people, right . But it is tough at the holidays. More americans experiencing hunger than ever before. We want to encourage others, other companies, other people to get involved in their communities and help out this holiday season. Thank you. Amen. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you to tyson. Dont forget you have until friday to doughdonate. Willing to hang a willie wreath in your home . Sarah what say you . Yeah 75 said yes. Only 25. Start selling them. Good morning, everyone, 9 56. Im scott mcgrew. Happening today, soil experts will be out in marin county. They are going to look at a mudslide thats been blocking several popular hiking trails. It slid across Tennessee Valley road yesterday. They havent been able to clear it because they dont know it its safe to do so. Today experts will try to figure out if more mud will be on the move. And crews are cutting up a tall tree in santa clara this morning. Happened on burbank drive just off lawrence expressway. The recent downpours likely loosened the dirt around the roots and that caused the tree to tumble. Well, lets check, weve got more rain on the way, christina joins us. We just cant get rid of it, scott. It is relentless. We need it, so theres a good side to the story, as you know, but take a look at this. In santa rosa so far this month, december 17th, 17th day of this month, im tired, these storms have been hitting me, as well. We picked up over threequarters an inch of rain every day from december 1st through the 17th in santa rosa and additional inch on the way between now and friday. Were going to continue to see the showers roll through the bay area. Well get a break next week, but not today, tomorrow a little bit better. 56 degrees for the south bay. 55 on the peninsula, and 55 degrees in San Francisco. If youre trying to get outdoors, were going to give you a complete timeline for the upcoming showers at 11 00. See you then. First, mike and your drive. Heading over to the highrise, slow coming into foster city. See that slowdown on the map, see a slower drive, as well. Theyve cleared the incident from the bridge. Pretty typical for the southbound sigh, but a number of crashes for 280. Lighter volume of traffic around the bay, south slow through fremont, still the compression continues and the dunbarton recovers. Back to you. Okay, mike, thank you much. Another local news update in half an hour. Well see you then. Wow something sounds sweet in here need a little honey in the bowl. Yeah badabopbopbopa no . Must be the honey from nbc news, this is today with Kathie Lee Gifford and hoda kotb live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. Hey, everybody. Its wines day wednesday, december 17. We are so happy that youre with us today. You know who is with us . This is unbelievable. Tony Award Winning actress and singer bernadette peerts. Who by the way, hoda, we were commenting when she walked in, has never looked better she is in our studio right now. Somewhere. We thought we would be taking a shot, but maybe not. There she is. Stop it. Stop it. Shes never in the sun. Her skin is flawless. She would have been the Carnival Cruise line lady, she gets sea sick and never goes in the sun. Thank you, bernadette. Can i Say Something else were not supposed to talk about . That dress. I am the official Salvation Army red kettle woman. Look at this dress. First of all, its a cape. Who makes that dress . Adrian adrianna papell. Adrianna papell. Isnt it cute . It falls on the arms. Its not sleeveless. If youre having a hot flash, you can go by the way, gorgeous. Adrianna, one of my favorite designers. These earrings i got as a Christmas Present jennifer miller. Beautiful. When she was picking out her gift, i said what are you going to get. She said i know exactly. A big day today after we interview bernadette. Im going to radio city where they ask people to read childrens stories to the kids before the Christmas Spectacular which is so much fun. Its going to read twas the night before christmas. I wonder if i need glasses. Time for words of wisdom. Shall we . I think we like to complicate things when it comes to when its really quite simple start again, please. Okay. I think we like to complicate things when its really quite simple. Find out what it is that makes you happy and who it is that makes you happy, and youre all set. Promise. Is that a none . I dont know. Found it on google. Lets do good news. Theres so much bad news. Here we are the good news people. We are the Good News Network at this time of the day we are. Earlier this week there was a woman who went into toys r us and paid off 150 layaway accounts adding up to 20,000. There are now what we call layaway angels. A man walked into a walmart in pennsylvania and covered 50,000 worth of layaway accounts. He paid off 100 accounts. Imagine youve been saving and saving and saving to pay off your account. Gao to the counter and somebody has said its all done. Do you know who is nervous right now that im going to ask him to do it im not going to. Jonathan tisch. Jonathan, im not going to say it. Hes one of the most philanthropic people in the whole world. The owner of the giants. Half owner with the mara family. Isnt that lovely . So this charity, i didnt really we thought people were doing this individually. Its called pay away the layaway. Paid off the account of nine families in a walmart in south carolina. Theres more. Look what it means to people. Its just awesome. There was a man out there who just walked into a random coffee shop and hands out 100 to the employees. He did it in massachusetts. He said merry christmas, printed in red on the front of each envelope. The employees didnt know the guy. Its not like he came in every day or anything. I guess the moral is pay it forward. Yes. These are all people who have been blessed. And to whom much is given, much is required, the good word says. Some people on the other side of the coin are having trouble with kmart layaways. Some people are showing up to pick up and finding out their goods are not there, theyre gone. When you think youre paying it off, you think theyre holding it for you. They put it away for your layaway payment plan. Our local affiliate in kansas city reported the story. They said when they came up to pay off their layaway, they were told their items were no longer in stock. Some were told there money would not be refunded for ten days or more. If youre on that kind of a budget, you dont have the money to go and get Something Else in the meantime. I guess on kmarts facebook page, a lot of customers posted those exact stories, layaway problems. The store does have a layaway policy. It says as long as the payments are made on time the merchandise will be held for you. Why wasnt it is the question. Of course, we reached out and the one time we get a response, which is about this long. Go ahead. We deeply apologize to our customers affected by this online layaway issue. Some of our online layaway customers received inadvertent cancellation notices. We are in the process of contacting those customers who are affected and are working with them to solve the issue. We are working hard to deliver those items to customers before the holidays, including expedited and Free Shipping the longer statement is on our website. Anyway, what a bummer. If youve done all that. So back to good news again. The voice finale. You remember how it was. Blake had one person in the finals, adam had three and gwenn and pharrell had none. Blake had a oneinfour chance of winning. Blake can do anything. Yes, he can. His name is craig wayne, hes a country star. Lets take a look at the winning moment. The winner of the voice is Craig Wayne Boyd. [ cheers and applause ] that was kind of like a gloating laughter. A little bit of bravado there. Congratulations to him. What a nice, and by the way, this is a guy who had a rough kind of go of it. I think blake picked him up first and dumped him. Then gwenn picked him up and he got cut. Blake picked him up again. Bruno mars did your Favorite Song in the whole world, he did it with a bit of an edge. He did. Its called uptown funk. Lets watch. The reason hes wearing curlers, by the way, is not unusual. Going out later tonight. If you watch the video, hes under a drier sitting with other people in the salon and thats his look. It is such a Fun Dance Party workout song. Remember elaine, she showed up once to a luncheon when she was being honored in curlers. She had to do a show that night. I like that. Jennifer hudson wore basically very little at all. Lets take a look at her performance. Whoa wow. By the way, do you remember, she was on weight watchers, lost all that weight. Looks fantastic. I cant believe it. She looks fantastic. One of the greatest singers on the planet, too. She is. Also, the voice decided to have fun with blake. Turned him into a rapper. Cant touch this my music hits me so hard, make me say oh, my lord thank you for blessing me this is the beat you cant touch i told you home boy cant touch this cant touch this like the Brian Williams thing. Just cant get enough of him, can you . Do we have anymore blake information . Blake didnt win. Craig won. But blakes team won. Were happy for him. Shes a new york native and the youngest person ever to be inducted into the theater hall of fame. What is she doing now . Well have fun with tony and globe winner bernadette pe its gonna tempt your tummy, with the taste of nuts and honey. Its a honey of an o. Its honey nut cheerios. Check out one of the hottest gift idebeats pill xltmas now available with special financing when you use your walmart credit card. Theyre bluetooth enabled. So you can stream a song to one beats pill. And pair it with another beats pill for huge stereo sound. Woah dance off. Whut . Whoa what . Nothing. Wooh, is the room spinning . No, just you. And now get special financing when you use your walmart credit card. More ways to christmas joy. Walmart. Im hhey. Dinner of all the things that happen on your wooden surfaces, disinfecting has to be one of them. Clorox disinfecting wipes. Is a really big deal. U with aches, fever and chills theres no such thing as a little flu. So why treat it like its a little cold . Theres something that works differently than overthecounter remedies. Attack the flu virus at its source with prescription tamiflu. And call your doctor right away. Tamiflu is fda approved to treat the flu in people 2 weeks and older whose flu symptoms started within the last two days. Before taking tamiflu tell your doctor if youre pregnant, nursing, have Serious Health conditions, or take other medicines. If you develop an allergic reaction, a severe rash, or signs of unusual behavior, stop taking tamiflu and call your doctor immediately. Children and adolescents in particular may be at an increased risk of seizures, confusion or abnormal behavior. The most common side effects are mild to moderate nausea and vomiting. Ask your doctor about tamiflu and attack the flu virus at its source. Critically acclaimed stars of stage and screen. Bernadette peters has received countless awards from tonys to golden globe and a star on the hollywood walk of fame. Now the singer and actress and author stars in mozart. Bernadette plays the chairman of the new york symphony and theres a new hot shot conductor shes brought in. Take a look. Been courted by boston, los angeles, San Francisco, munich and we got him. Your new conductor and musical director rodrigo. I like it already. We love it. A great chance for you to be a diva and wear those great outfits. Great jewelry, great outfits, great cast. Do you get steamy with him . No. But its only the first season. Thats right. When they came to you it was on amazon, what was appealing about it to you . What was really appealing, you get to see the pilot and then you dont know hopefully it gets picked up. Thats a year ago. Yeah. Then you dont know what is the writing going to be. The writing is the wife of Roman Coppola and jason schwartzman, a great actor. And the writing, the comedy is very unexpected. Thats what i love about it. Its not anything expected. The show is poetic at the same time. A world weve never seen except for phantom of the opera or something. But thats completely different. Matthew madell plays the conductor. Bernadette, do you sing in this . I havent yet. There was a number a little girl sang. Who knows in the future . It has to come naturally. And be dependent upon how many people love it, right . Yes. It always comes down to that. Its really good. How do people find snit how do you see it and where can you see it . Well, first of all, its streaming. Its on the computer at amazon. Then if you have a smart tv which i dont, i have a stupid tv. So i have to get that little box that you can attach to it. It can go through the tv, at the am store. I have apple tv. You click on amazon. The first month is free. So get you hooked. Start watching december you are known for a lot of reasons, but your curly hair. Other women or men with curly hair. Were calling the game curly who. Who is that . Beethoven. No. The correct answer is share. I thought it was weird al jankovic. Next one, please. Curly who . Oh, my god. Not god. I dont know who. That is justin timberlake. A gazillion years ago. Next curly. Curly who . Rhymes with curly. Shirley temple. And curly who . I think its carrot top. No. It is diana ross. I thought it was oprah. This is fun. Last one . Oh, beethoven again. No. It is weird al oh, my gosh, it is weird al. You dont know your curlys. You know what would have been funny, if we had one of bernadette and she got that wrong, too. We love you. Have an awesome holiday. You, too. Youre gorgeous. I watch you every day. Give our smooches your wine is terrific. You can find all the ep soerds of mozart in the jungle starting december 23rd. Dont let a pile of wrinkled starting december 23rd. Dont let a pile of wrinkled clothe and the winner starting december 23rd. Dont let a pile of wrinkled clof this years superstar. coughs coughing can really be disruptive. With a record breaking fifty million votes, your superstar is. Thats why theres delsym. Delsym helps silence coughs for a full 12 hours with an advanced time release formula for all day or all night relief. Up to twice as long as other cough liquids. So the only sounds youll hear are the ones you want to hear. Bianca cheering delsym. Silence is relief. And now for a limited time try delsym for free, with mail in rebate. And check out these creative ideasa walmart gift card, from walmarts pinterest board. For fun ways to present them. Got you a gift. Now this is fun give exactly what they want with a walmart gift card. And head to pinterest. Com walmart for creative ways to present them. Walmart. Its cookie time. Cookie time . Its cookie time. Get your betty on. Show em what you got. Ahhh you can do this. This Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix. Your head start to homemade. Get your betty on oh and could you turn on air conditioning im starting to sweat. Ill just do it myself. Useless. Thats nice. Sets the mood. Have your entire house within reach, even when your devices arent. Introducing relay by wink its like a robot butler, but not as awkward. I can. Order safety goggles. Play music for seedlings. Post science fair projects. Schedule guinea pig feedings. Video chemical reactions. Take pics of mr. Bones. Time the next launch. Calm down principal jones. I can do all that with my android from tracfone. 90day plans start as low as 20. Unbeatable nationwide coverage. No contract. For a limited time save 20 on the new unimax maxpatriot. Now just 49. 99. Tracfone. Do everything for less. Alright, listen up. Out on that field today, you will be ready for anything. And i want you to always remember, this is the greatest team you will ever be part of. Theres a team that makes a real difference in the world. Join the team that makes a difference. Doesnt it seem like every time you go on a trip no matter how carefully fold your clothes, severing a wrinkled mess by the time you arrive. Fret no more here with the tips and tricks you need, marie claire senior fashion editor Zanna Roberts rassi. How are you . Very good, thank you. This is going to be fun. Lets minimize. When we pack, whats the right way to pack to try to minimize wrinkles . Theres a few really great tips. Rolling is better than folding, and space saving. Also an interesting tip, wash your clothes in white vinegar before. Its actually a wrinkle releaser. What . Yes. It doesnt smell at all. White vinegar. Also this. Dry cleaning, you know the pesky plastic you throw away. Keep this and stash your clothes in it and lay your clothes that works, putting it in a dry cleaning bag. It does. Mostly its the fabric. Isnt it . You get a wrinkly kind of fabric. Linen is going to be a problem. Luckily its winter and we can do knit, wool. Youre going to dress these women. First we have ari. How are you . Jeans, obviously, very hard working. This shirt is literally what is it . Nylon with a metallic weave in it. Its like a mattress, literally springs back. Put that on. Thats adorable. Its not even wrinkly what else . Well elevate the look. On a trip, you want to wear a little jacket out for lunch, elevate it with this tweed number. Tweed never wrinkles. Exactly. Oh, my gosh. Dot the i. Awesome. And then . Do you roll up a jacket thats that thick . Yes. I folded this one. When its bulky, never roll it. Fold it. Thank you very much, ari. Sarah is up next. Sarah, sarah, sarah wrinkle releasant. It can often look a little fake and a little cheap, but this zara skirt tapestry. Obviously the triangle skirt, ware liking that right now. Wearing this with a simple easy knit. This is very tight to the skin. Are you guys embarrassed walking out here in a tshirt . No. I paid them very well to do this. Youre doing great. We owe you a glass of wine. Thats like a 30 top. I love that top. Its interesting enough that its not plain. When its tight, youre right, you dont see the wrinkles. Excellent. Next up. Hi this shirt. This feels like chiffon silk. Its actually 100 polyester. Throw it over your head. I dont think enough room. By the way, thats an awesome material. Thats pretty. The print, youre never going to see a wrinkle in there at all. So wear prints. Thats true. Never do a leather pant. Faux leather, not only cheaper, but less likely to wrinkle because it contains polyester. Which, obviously, is a better up against each other. While orabelle is getting dressed, well bring out brittany. Sorry to interrupt you. These are zara pants, 9. 00. Brittany and phyllis. Theyre both here. How exciting i love those. So cute. So fresh, 19. You cant go wrong. Knits are great. Knits are such a big trend, michael kors. Shake it out what about phyllis who is patiently waiting my favorite. Oh, my gosh i want to see. Also, this is crazy. We love this top. Ill tell you why. You told me about it. It doesnt wrinkle at all. Its fantastic. Look how classy looking it. Look how it comes off the shoulder. Look at that. Thats a dress . Thats a dress. You are awesome. Thank you very much hersheys miniatures. Choosing is half the fun. Because theres a Little Something delicious. For everyone. Hersheys miniatures, choose your own delicious. We never plan on a full house. It just. Happens. Like my ranch dip. Two cups of sour cream, a little this, a little that, and a packet of Hidden Valley original ranch. Ranch dip. Hidden valley it. Did you get chips for the party . Nope. ding cheese plate . Cheese plate. No, i made something better. You used the oven . Boom. Pillsbury crescents. Make the holidays pop. Whos been using walmart savings catcher, now is the time to redeem your savings on holiday stocking stuffers. So you can use that to get this . Yup. Or this . Yes. Or this . Yeah or that, or this or this or this or that. Redeem your savings catcher savings on last minute gifts at walmart. Youre watching today in the bay. Good morning, 10 26, im scott mcgrew. Happening right now, glide memorial in San Francisco passing out 5,000 bags of groceries to less fortunate families in the bay area. The church does this every year, and hundreds of people line up outside the church, even before the sun comes up, to make sure they can take advantage of that sweet generosity. Every bag of groceries has fresh fruits, veggies, bread, pasta, rice, beans, and either turkey or chicken. A look at weather and traffic coming up after the break. 10 28. Welcome back. Not going to get a break from the rain today. You may be looking for one. We are going to get one tomorrow, but today more heavy rainfall on the way, expecting to get slammed between 1 00 and 9 00 across the entire bay area. Im going to show you today at 11 00 what we are expecting, how much rain where you live, plus well bring you up to date with how much weve received so far this month, record breaking numbers to tell you about. Keep the umbrella handy for today. By tomorrow, looking nice and dry, friday we get another round, looking good saturday into sunday. Well have your christmas forecast today at 11 00, as well. First heres mike and your drive. All right, christina. Backup at the bay bridge toll plaza, fast track lanes thinning out. This isnt bad, a lighter volume of traffic around the bay. Looking towards your maps, a smooth flow of traffic, but the green overlaying the entire upper east bay, still looking at wet slick roadways in many spots. Be careful out there. North bay smoother drive and through oakland, as well. 880 with a little slowing across the coliseum. Recovering for the san mateo and dunbarton bridges, that compression through fremont and up past the airport, the last of your commuter. Look at the live shot of fremont, smooth drive, flag gently flapping. Back to you. Thank you much. Join us for the big newscast coming up at 11 00. Well see you then. Were back with more of today on this wines day wednesday, ready to play who knew. Today is december 17, write brothers day celebrating the anniversary of their First Successful power flight. Well have fun with trivia. Ka thi went across to industry. Shes ready to hand out 100 bucks to those who get it right. If they dont, they get one of her fantastic cds. Here to help me is mark ellwood. Hello, mark. How adorable is mark. Lets play, kathy. How are you, gidget . How long did the very first Wright Brothers flight last . 12 seconds, 59 seconds or three minutes . Can i get some help. Do you have someone with you . I do. Its eight. Im going to go with him. How did you know that . How did he know it was 12 seconds . He was right. Just 12 seconds. Can you imagine, these two men didnt even go to college, neither of the Wright Brothers went to college. Yet they managed to get a plane off the ground for 12 seconds. Shows college may be overrated. Back to you. Lovely lady from lakeland, florida, super sonic means, faster than the speed of light, faster than the speed of sound or faster than a speeding bullet. B. Indeed. Faster than the speed of sound. Actually the first super sonic flight was in 1947 in the air force. I miss concord, i dont know about you. How long have they been out of business . Decommissioned in 2003. Its a decade too late. I never got to ride it. A lovely gentleman from toron toronto, canada. Who among these actors is the tallest. John lithgow, jeff gold blume or joe manganiello. I would say jeff gold bloom. Hes awfully tall. Hell love this just in time for christm christmas. The correct answer. Joe manganiello. How close . Im 510. Next to them i would look like a tiny person. Its within an inch. Lithgow is 64, jeff gold bloom 6. 4 half and manganiello 65. Manganiello has more hair. Not that hoda noticed. According to the faa, how many aircraft are flying above the United States at any given time, 7,000, 15,000 or 23,000 aircraft. Im going to go with b. No. But thats okay. Because you get good night angel. I love that cd. Correct answer, 7,000. A lot. Which is still a lot of planes when you think about it. Aviation, it takes gives us 11 Million People and 15,000 air Traffic Control people. Didnt know. Back across to ka thi. From rochester, putting you to work. Finish this hear reek. 1967 classic by jackie wilson, your love keeps lifting me. Higher and higher your love keeps lifting me higher you got it. That was awesome. Better than i would be. I think that song was 248th in Rolling Stones list of the 500 greatest songs of all time. Mark, thank you so much. Appreciate you coming to see us. Still stuck on what gifts to get your kids . We have fun toys and games to keep them off electronics. You wont believe this young lady. Shes 15 years old, already my budget used to be hard on me. Especially around the holidays. I was pinchin more than pennies but thanks to fingerhut. Com, now we can shop over 150,000 items from brands like samsung, keurig, fisher price. Happy holidays to me. All you gotta do is click on over to fingerhut. Com and get the credit you deserve to get all kinds of great stuff. [ doorbell rings ] oh, i hope its the microfiber recliner [ laughs ] ahhh. [ laughs ] ahhh. We givecold symptoms. Om your 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® s something earned not given. Dedication means pursuing your passion. Every day. Healing is something we do. Together. And together, we put veterans first. Search va careers to find out how. Looking for one of these . Yoplait. Smooth, creamy, and craved by the whole family. Enjoy your break thanks. I love being on stage. But when i get time off, i take advantage of it. I have postmenopausal osteoporosis and a high risk for fracture. And i know the best way to enjoy a break. Is to help reduce my risk of having one. Thats why i take prolia®. Its different. Its two shots a year. Prolia is proven to help make bones stronger. And help increase bone density. Do not take prolia® if you have low blood calcium, are pregnant, are allergic to it, or take xgeva®. Get medical help right away for a serious allergic reaction causing low blood pressure; trouble breathing; throat tightness, fa, lip, or tongue swelling; rash, itching or hives as they have happened to people taking prolia®. Tell your doctor about dental problems, as severe jaw bone problems may happen, or new or unusual pain in your hip, groin or thigh, as unusual thigh bone fractures have occurred. Prolia® can cause serious side effects, including low blood calcium, serious infections, which could require hospitalization; skin problems; and severe bone, joint, or muscle pain. Remember, the best breaks are the ones we have out there. Not in here. Take action. And talk to your doctor about prolia®. Am i forgetting something . No holidays complete without campbells green bean casserole. Wish you were here. [ doorbell ] [ gasps ] [ gong ] [ wisest kid ] mm mm good very excited, were back with elvis durants artist of the month. Introducing us to the next big name in music. Today hes chosen 15yearold bea miller, selftaught singer and songwriter who rose to the top on the x factor. Now with her first ep titled youngblood. Elvis, youve never steered us wrong. A jersey girl who lives in l. A. Out on the rode with our friend demi lovato. Shes beautiful, brilliant. You talk a lot about different artists. The thing you seem to say about her thats different, how smart she is. Really . I love youre saying good things about me behind my back. If youre talking behind my back, its good. Who taught you . Your mom, was she part of it or just you . I think naturally people who become performers later on are born doing to do it. I see toddlers singing along, it never ended from there. It just kept going. How old were you when you wrote your first song . My 13th birthday. I got my first acoustic guitar. I went upstairs and wrote a horrible song. As soon as i finished, i said look, mom look what i did. What are you going to zee sing for us today, bea . My single youngblood. Who is this on the guitar. Hanan. Bea miller. We were making history, breaking rules and breaking free questioning the writing on the wall coming from the underground, laughing as were falling down, soaking in the glory of it all but at nighttime when we close our eyes its a nightmare, its a nightmare when the sun dont shine, we lose our minds, but i swear we can get there weve got youngblood, can destroy us, we make our own luck in this world weve got young blood, no one shows us, we make our own love in this world and the voices will get loud, if you dont shut them out if youre lost, you can be found put em up, put em up now were never backing down, oh weve got youngblood, can destroy us, we make our own luck in this world weve got young blood, no one shows us we make our own love in this world [ cheers and applause ] wow. Thank you. Good job, bea. Hit it out of the park, didnt she . Yes. Like a young adele, hoda. You were awesome, too. You are so believable. We believe thats coming from your soul. Its awesome. Congratulations. Come back when youre a major superstar. I hope so. Theyve made their own list, checked them twice. Were going to show you what checked them twice. Were going to show you what kids real wellllll. Earlyfit latefit risefit fallfit ballfit wallfit pingfit pongfit pingfit pongfit rowfit throwfit slowfit olliefit oopsfit otisfit thiswayfit thatwayfit daddyfit pappyfit datefit weightfit goalfit gooooooalfit stepfit stairfit smartfit heartfit spinfit bikefit hikefit yikesfit wheeeeefit wowfit whoafit findyourfit its all fitbit to make your signature christmas dish. Rt has everything you need mine is mouthwatering mashed potatoes. I mix my russets with milk, butter, and cream cheese to make them super creamy. Mmmm. And yours . Sockittome spiral cut ham whoa you made this . Yep. I just take a sams choice Super Premium spiral cut ham from walmart, bake it flat side down, tent the foils so all the juices can mingle. Who are you . Ham man walmart has everything you need for christmas dinner at unbeatable prices, guaranteed by savings catcher. Walmart. Its the curly hair you tried to fight it. Hide it. Change it. Not anymore. Professional strength frizz ease. Our powerful spray gives you smooth, frizzfree curls that are ready for anything. Frizz ease. Only from john frieda. Alright, listen up. Out on that field today, you will be ready for anything. And i want you to always remember, this is the greatest team you will ever be part of. Theres a team that makes a real difference in the world. Join the team that makes a difference. Mmmmmmm. Look out. Now theres even more of the amazing cinnamon taste you love on cinnamon toast crunch. Crave those crazy squares even more. Hate to tell you, but there are only eight days left before christmas. If theres one thing kids have on their wish list every year, its toys. They want them and weve got them, thanks to our toy insider man lori shack. Well talk about what the kids want. What do they want . They like a place all to their own to play. Pacific play tents makes these tents, a twoinone, Grocery Store on one side and puppet theater on the other. Are devon and grace inside . They are. Easy to build. Its huge. Lots of kids can have tons of imaginative play. Since we have a puppet theater, lets talk pep pets. Fis moneys makes the most beautiful puppets. Theyre great. Parents can tell stories to their kids. As they get older look at my oumette, very shy. On national tv you know. The dog looks real. Look how some of our kids are dressed. You know dressup isnt just how did i know that would happen. Dressup isnt just about halloween anymore. Kids want to get dressed 365 dais year. Theres a new line called imagine. Kids can be superheroes, princesses, villains. The prices are great, start at 9. 99. What is mckenzie wear . Well get to that. We lost blake. He was going to be playing there you are. I want my cape back we have a basketball hoop. No, not yours. Hes busy. We have our basketball hoop. We have our soccer net. We have lights, we have sound. Ef every time kids make a basket or score a goal, the l. E. D. Comes on and encourages them to keep wearing. Whats mackenzie wearing . Everything frozen is so hot. This is our cool toons boom box. Kids sing with the real mic. Do you want to sing along mackenzie . Mackenzie says let it go, let go, cant hold it back anymore with the movement. Good job mackenzie. Lets start right here. This is big these days, this is the leap pad. Its a virtual pen inside. But they have to do physical challenges so they can take care of the pets, wiggle like a worm or hop like a kangaroo. They get points and can take care of their pets. Legos. Jack and ryder are here. We have something for the kids in the middle, legos junior. What age . 4 to 7. This is our fire set. The kids are building. Its 123 piece, they build the trucks, the station. Off they go to make sure theres no fires anymore. Whats crayola doing. Theyve taken creativity to a whole new level. This is our pro design set. We have fashion, we have cars. Look how beautiful. I would have loved that. When its done coloring, they bring it to life. Scan it into your smart device. You can have a Virtual Fashion show. Are you kidding . Your custom car goes on a track. Its amazing. Unbelievable what they can do. I got to get this for my niece. Tony hawk fans creating the ultimate skate park. These are circuit boards. We have our ramps, our decks, our stairs and our skate boards. You can play with your fingers. Look at collin, he has a remote control. What is mia doing . We know kids love looking for treasure. Whether the beach, the back yard or for me it was grandpa, get off the coach, this is our treasure tracker. She is looking for treasure, and i think she found it. Whats under there . Money. Merry christmas and happy hanukkah, kids. Were in the final days of our 21st annual toy drive. Weve sent out more than 17 million worth of toys and gifts across the country. Here with a very generous donation, ann marie grill, Vice President from jacks pacific incorporated. For the eighth year. Thank you for having us again this year. What may be the hottest toy one of our hottest toys this holiday season, a snow glow elsa. She says phrases from the movie and she also sings let it go. Oh, my gosh. Shes hot. Its important. You guys always are so generous. We try to. We love working with the toy drive. This year were giving over 7,000 toys to multiple organizations. Thank you so, so much. We want to put it right here in our little thank you so much. Our toy drive ends this friday. If youre in new york, bring a toy to the plaza or to the nbc experience store or donate online at amazon. Com today slooet show. So impressed with the singing of angela hill in rochester, new york, we want her to sing a Little Something for us. Take it away. You make me happy you make me whole you take the pain away, im so in love with you you make ring ring . Progresso its ok that your soup tastes like my homemade. Its our slow simmered vegetables and tender white meat chicken. Apology accepted. Im watching you soup people. Make it progresso or make it yourself some people think vegetables are boring. But with green giants delicious seasonings and blends, we just may change their minds. Ho ho ho green giant announcer this is an nbc news special report. Heres Brian Williams. Greetings again from nbc news headquarters. Greetings from nb headquarters. We will take you to washington. A press statement that has just gotten under way. That is alan gross, freed today after five years in prison in cuba. Part of this momentous change in policy announced today, between the u. S. And cuba as he begins to talk. We have been warned he has losty because of deteriorating health. But he is back home and safe with his life. Lets listen in to alan gross. My endless gratitude, l