Transcripts For KTIV Today 20151217

The teen tackled to the ground charges. The opening of star wars the force awakens, just hours from now. The fans already lining up. And one member of our team may be a bit too excited today, thursday, december 17th, 2015. Announcer from nbc news, this is today, with matt lauer and Savannah Guthrie, live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. And good morning, everybody. Welcome to today on this thursday morning. Spoiler alert. E stormtrooper not the stormtrooper we were looking for . No. Welcome back, buddy. Want to take the helmeoff . Really . Hello, everybody. Welcome. I could use a nice, hot cup of coffee. Excited for star wars. Great to be back, guys. Great to have you back. Thank you. Well get to all things star wars in a bit. Used his personal email for workrelated matters, and he was doing that after Hillary Clinton came under fire fofodoing the same thing while she was secrcrary of state. Lets go right to nbcs jim mick miklaszewski miklaszewski at the pentagon. This . Savannah, given the uproar over doing official government business on your own personal email, its difficult to imagine any top Government Official w wld actually do that. The pentagon now admits that defense secretary ash carter did just that. According to the officials, it was shortly after he was sworn in as defense secretary in february that he started using his private email to conduct some official business. Now, according to the officials, there was no classified information, no secrets in any of these emails. But nevertheless, it violated regulations. Carter started doing that, the scandal broke on capitol hill about secretary clintons exclusive use of emails for her business while she was secretary of state. It launched a huge political scandal. Nevertheless, were told despite the scandal, carter continued to use his personal email to do official business for at least two months. Now, again, officials here stress that no secrets, no classified information was contained on any o o those emails. But the fact that he would even do it raises questionsbout his own personal judgment, savannah. A lot of those questions unfolding now. Jim miklaszewski, thank you very much. We have new information this morning tied to the San Bernardino shooting. Federal prosecutors have decided to bring criminal charges against the man who purchased some of the rifles that were actually used in that attack. Correspondent Pete Williams. Pete, tell us more. Matt, good morning. Several federal Law Enforcement rst criminal charges to stem from the San Bernardino mass shtings could be fileds early as today. Officials say the charges will be brought against enrique marquez, a longtime friend and former neighbor of syed farook. Investigators said marquez bought the two assault rifles ss three and four years ago that were used in the shooting. Marquez told them he did this as a favor, so that farook wouldnt be on record as the purchaser or go through a background check. Authorities say marquez has told the fbi that he and farook talked about conducting an attack in 2010 but called it off after unrelated terror arrests in Southern California. James comey said agents found no connection between farook and the people arrested back then. N. Comey also said despite reports to the contrary, investigators have found no social media the months before she came to the u. S. That means the state department and Homeland Security officials who reviewed her background before giving her a fiance visa did not miss any publicly available social media postings. All her statements in support of jihad, comey says, were in private messages or emails. As for marquez, officials said he did agree to be interviewed by the fbi for several days without a lawyer even though its been clear almost from the beginning that he could be charged with a crime at the very least for buying the guns for farook. Matt . Pete williams on the story for us. Thank you very much. President obama will travel to San Bernardino tomorrow to meet with the families of the victims in Southern California on the way to hawaii for the first familys christmas vacation. The department of Homeland Security is adding a third warning level to the terrorism level. The bulletin level will allow terror threats. It includes actions the government is taking and suggestions what the public should do in response. The former system had two levels, elevated and imminent. Officials say the change has been in the planning stages for months and is not in response to any specific or credible threat. Lets turn to politics now. Donald trumps feud with rival jeb bush spilled over on to the campaign trail. During a late night appearance, the republican frontrunner appeared to have a change of heart and a n message for his party. Nbcs National Correspondent Peter Alexander has more. Peter, good morning to you. Good morning. Donald trump is picking up where the debate left off, swatting at jeb bush, insisting he doesnt want bushs endorsement. As trump told nbc news in a statement, bush does not represent strength, power, and stamina, qualities he sayss the country desperately needs. Reporter donald trump marking six months in the race, almost all of them atop the gop field, the same way he spent overnight with jimmy kimmel. I would like to see the Republican Party come together, and ive been a little bit divisive in the sense ive been hitting people pretty hard. A little bit, yeah. Reporter rallying supporters in arizona, trump dismissed critics who said he was a showman. Somebody said, trump is an entertainer. Thats a [ bleep ]. Repepter and bashed jeb bush afafr bush got under trumps skin in tuesdays debate. This is a tough business, to run for president. Oh, i know. Youre a toughuy, jeb. I had jeb come at me, you know, low energy. He said it just the way his pollster told him to say it. Reporter still bush is confident he cracked the trump code. Snoop i dont think hes a serious candidate. I dont know why o oers dont feel compelled to point it out, but i did. Reportete with trump and cruzuz dominatingnghe race, the establishment lane, antitrump, may once again be up for grabs with bush and Chris Christie delivering strong performances and marco rubio bouncing between with hallie jackson, defending accusations from cruz hes too moderate on immigration. Ive always been at the right. Im a consistent conservative that is ted cruzs campaign slogan. I have been more for than just the years in the senate. Reporter cruz questioned on fox news about his support for Immigration Reform in 2013. It doesnt mean that i supported the other aspects of the bill, which was a terrible bill. Reporter insisting his position hasnt changed. I categorically oppose amnesty. My First Priority is securing the borders. The more cruz, rubio, and the others fight amongst themselves, trump moves forward. He seemed to be unscathed. Even he was taken bakby his support. Several thousand people in the crowd in arizona during the day and its beautiful to see. Peter, thank you very much. Big news in the economy. Historic move by the Federal Reserve, raising key Interest Rates for the first time in nearly a decade. Chairwoman janet yellen saying it marked an extraordinary period. The economic recovery has clearly come a long way, although it is not yet complete. But with the economy performing well and e eected to continue to do so, the comomttee judged that a modest increase in the federal funds rate target is now appropriate. Nbcs Olivia Stearns is here to explain what all of it mes. Its the end of an era. Good moving, morning, olivia. Good morning. So what this means is for people at home its going to get a little more expensive to borrow money. The fed raised their interest rate, whicso many loans in our of one percentage point. Theyre doing this because theyre saying the economy is ready to stand on its own two feet after seven years of 0 Interest Rates. Still, rates extremely low and supportive of lending in the economy. One sign that we were actually ready for it, wall street rallied on the back of this news. The dow jones shot up 200 points. Its a signal that even investors think we can cope with slightly higher rates. What happens now . Will we see more rate hikes . All eyes on the feds next News Conference that is coming up in march. The question there is will janet yellen move to raise rates again. She said repeatedly yesterday, shell only continue to raise Interest Rates gradually and only if the economy continues to improve. So if we see some kind of shock, if we see a selloff on wall street, bad jobs reports, shes likely not to move and move gradually throughout the year. On the flip side, if the labor market accelerates, growth accelerates, inflation picks up, shes likely to raise rates at a quicker pace. She said yesterday she expects to raise rates at about 1 over 3 to 5 in the next five years. Thanks so much. Keep an eye on it for us. Thank you so much. Thanks, olivia. In other news, protesters took to the streets of baltimore last night, hours after a mistrial was declared in the freddie gray case. Demonstrators remain peaceful, but at one point, they tried unsuccessfully to block the interstate. On wednesdayhe judge nounced a hung jury in the mamalaughter trial of william porter, the first of six baltimore officers to stand trial in connection with freddie grays death while in police custody. New video shows the Fatal Police Shooting of an axwielding student at a university in north texas. Stephanie gosk has that story. Steph, good morning to you. Hey, good morning, savannah. It happened on sunday. The Texas Rangers released dash cam video of the incident, shortly after University Officials named unit Police Officer stephen bean as the Reporter Police dash cam video released overnight shows an officer with the university of north texas fatally shooting a student on sunday. The shooting happened around 1 30 a. M. , when the officer responded to a call about a man smashing car windows inside a parking garage near the campus. Sophomore Ryan Mcmillen can be seen walking toward the unt officer with a small ax in his hand. The officer stephen bean repeateded telel mcmillan to back away while mcmillan says, shoot me over and over. Nbc news paused the video so it doesnt show the actual shooting. This is the audio of the full confrontation. Hey, hey, back away. Back away. Excuse me. Back away. Back away from me now. Shoot me shoot me [ gunshots ]. Reporter the officer then radios the station. Ive got t white male down with an ax in his hand. Reporter the o oicer has been on the unt police force for four years. Hes been placed on routine leave, as the investigation into the incident gets underway. He turned 21 last saturday. Some students say they dont lieve lethal force was necessary. If youre given a gun, you should be trained to know how to use that gun in a way that youre not just going to kill people without absolute necessity. The medical examiner is still conducting the autopsysy among the questions is whetherer Ryan Mcmillen was under influence of alcohol or drugs when the shooting took place. All right, stephanie. Thank you very much. Weve got some breaking news this morning tied to the pharmaceutical world and the ceo who was making headlines a short time ago. Nbcs justice correspondent Pete Williams back with that. Pete . Matt, good morning. Several reports this morning say martininh shkreli was taken into charges. Its a federal investigation related to his former hedge fund. The fact he was under investigation had been reported earlier. This apparently stems from his time as the manager of a Hedge Fund Called msmb capital management. And the chief executive of Biopharmaceutical Company retrophin incorporated. This is not related to the controversy that got him into hotwater, jacking up a a much as 5000 the cost of a lifesaving aids drug. Pete, thank you very much. Back to that video we showed you at the top of the show. The spanish Prime Minister suckerpunched during a Campaign Stop on wednesday. Take a look. You can see a 17yearold boy hit the Prime Minister directly in the face with his left hand. He was hit so hard, his glasses flew off. He staggered but didnt fall. He had a red mark on his face. His attacker was quickly detained. Scary they got so close to him. Yeah. Christmas, eight days away. The Holiday Travel rush is about to take off. New numbers show u. S. Airlines ever with big profits. But what does that mean for you the next time you fly . Nbcs tom costello is at International Airport with more on this. Hi, tom, good morning. Hey, matt, good morning. You know, all those low prices were paying at the gas pump, theyre helping to pump up the prices and the profits for the best year on record. Even if youre a procrastinator, you can still find a good deal if youre flying home for the holidays. Reporter profits are taking off. For airlines that once flew for peanuts, up 75 in just one year, totaling more than 20 billion. Perpassenger profit soaring almost 60 . Airlines now make more than 20 for each person on the plane. Thats up from 13 last year. Add in 56 million more in bag and change fees this summer for the skys the limit. It seems like its excessive. Hundreds of dollars just to move from a 4 00 flight to a 1 00 flight. Were going really light, but we didnt have any baggage fees. You buy a ticket and then when you get ready to take your seat, theres additional fees. Reporter airlines are passing the buck back to consumers. Fare compare. Com found lastminute deals for christmas. 187 round trip. 257 for d. C. To dallas. Miami to vai garks just 241, but you dont have to wing it. Want a deal . Book now. Airfares for the last three weeks of january and most of februaryre at fiveyear lows. Just avoid warm weather destinations and those threeday weekends. Fly on the cheapest days, tuesday, wednesday, and saturday, and youll always find a decent deal. Reporter giving airlines a falling fuel prices. This year, play paid 45 billion less to gas up those planes. The airlines argue theyre reinventing their profits, just like other big companies, apple or starbucks. Airlines are doing the same thing with new planes, seats, new apps for your phone, making the travel experience better. Listen to this. On an inflation adjusted basis, airfares today are actually 10 lower than they were in 2000. Thats what the Airline Industry says. However, of course, that doesnt include all the extra fees we pay today. Back to you. Tom, thank you very much. Im one of these people who wants airlines to make a profit to reinvest in better planes and better service, if they can do that. And for years they y uldnt make a profit. In terms of economics, i think its good they are making money. Theres new developments in the case of a texas teenager. A child described as too rich to have to pay for his actions. Well, two years ago, ethan couch grabbed national headlines. He killed four people in a drunk driving cash. Instead of time behind bars he after his attorneys coined the infamous term affluenza. Now it seems he has disappeared and natalie picks up the story from there. Thats right. An arrest warrant is issued for ethan couch after he failed to appear for a probation hearing that would have tested him for drugs and alcohol. His absence coinciding with the controversial video that recently surfaced online. Reporter this morning frustrated authorities are on the hunt for ethan couch, the young man infamously known as the affluenza teen. Frustration is a mild word for what most of us feel. Reporter ethans case gained worldwide attention when after killing four people while driving drunk near ft. Worth, his attorney claimed the teen didnt understand thth conseqeqnces of his actions because of his familys affluence. And amid widespread anger, he was given probation. But recently ethan missed a required meeting with his probation officer. Run, possibly with his mother. Sheriff anderson isnt surprised. Hate to say i told you so, but i did. Reporter the crash was horrific. Ethan was 16 years old, driving with a blood alcohol level three times the legal limit. Theres another child in the ditch. Oh, my god. Reporter his affluenza defense dev vated the victims families all over again. Boyle lost two family members. Its difficult to talk about. Reporter Authorities Say theyre investigating this video that was released, appearing to show ethan playing beer pong. Authorities say theyre investigating. Ethans lawyers say theyre awawe probation officers have been unable to make contact with ethan or his m mher and authorities are seeing if he outrage is growing on social media. One posting, rich kids are always exempt from consequences. Another, find ethan couch and lock him up. If hes somewhere in this part of the world, well find him, but ive got a bad feeling that hes gone, and i dont think hes gone a short distance. If authorities find ethan and determine he violated his probation, hee could find himself in jail for u uto ten years, guys. Natalie, thank you very much. Lets get a check of the weather from mr. Roker. Were talking about a christmas coming up that could be the warmest in living memory. I mean it is going to be brutally warm for a lot of the country. In fact, this is the temperature departures. 15, 25, even 30 degrees above average. Overnight christmas lows, record lows, washington, raleigh, charlotte charlotte, also indianapolis, atlanta, were coming very close to those. Northeast, record warm lows. We could see this. For christmas day, well probably see record highs in portland, boston, new york city, philadelphia. And as we make our way from chicago, washington, raleigh, atlanta, a memphis, all most likely seeing record highs for christmas. Thats whats going on. Well get to your local forecast in the next 30 seconds. Its that night of the year you come here. Looking for gifts so there wont be tears. Eleventh hour shopper. Thats you. Its ok because they know you. Theyre loaded up with gear. An xbox for the children. And a mixer for your dear. No need to shop around for present youve missed its all here. Youre off the naughthtlist elelenth hour shopper. Thats you see you nextxtear, buddy get low prices on all your lastminute gifts. Walmart. Today will be cold and breezy with highs near 30, but with the wind it will feel more like the teens and 20s. Im also fairly confident that well see at least a few peeks of sun today, but not to worry, well have plenty of opportunity to see some tomorrow and over the weekend. Now, it will still be cold tomorrow with similar temperatures to todays, but temperatures closer to 40 will arrive this weekend overall dry weather. See graphics. Thats your latest weather. T savannah . Al, thank you so much. Coming up, yahoo Ceo Marissa Mayer under fire again. Should she have thrown a multimillion dollar party for employees as her Company Struggles . Plus, even as al talks about recordhigh temperatures, what do if youre stranded in a winter storm . Jeff rossen on what you can buy for 30 that could be the difference between life and nbc. Announcer a horrific terror attack in paris. Then, a brutal act of terror here at home. Its time for a tested and proven leader who wont try to contain isis. Jeb bush has a plan. To desesoy them. And keep america safe. Should not delay in leading a Global Coalition to take out isis with overwhelming force. Announcer tested and proven leaderters. Jeb bush. Right to rise usa is responsible for the content of this message. Coming coming up, tonights the night. Carson gets us ready for the new star wars. Plus, the good times weve shared in 2015, right here on first, your local news. Just head around the corner to walgreens when youre searching for that Perfect Little something. Walgreens hahagreat gifts like t ts, beauty gift sets,s, and photo gifts, and its all just a hop, skip, and a bark away. This week, save 30 on photo gifts. I decided to tell the story of our life together. Spoiler alert we live happily ever after. At jared, we only sell one piece of jewelry. The pandora bracelet you had created just for her. And its waiting for you. Bernie sanders passed more amendments in a Republican Congress than any other member. Cracked the gridlock with john mccain to strengthen veterans healthcare. Bernie sanders. A consistent, principled, and effective leader. Building a future to believe in. Sanders im Bernie Sanders and i approve this message. Nobody was injured in a firi that damaged an Apartment Building in yankton, south dakota. It happened wednesday afternoon. Deputy fire chief Larry Nickles he estimated the damage at about 45thousand dollars. The red cross is helping one family that was displaced by the fire. Parts of siouxland seeing some snow this morning. Several schools are starting late. Ben, whats the latest . Its been her fight for twenty years. Something is wrong with our Healthcare System and it needs to be fixed. Then, it was about Health Reform and getting eight mimiion kids covered. Now, its about stopping republicans from repealing obamacare, and taking on Insurance Companies to bring down drug prices. Im not going to let any family be deprived of healthcare. Im not going to let the republicans rip up obamacare and throw it away. 7 3030ow on a thursday morning. 1717 day of december, 2015. Big crowd on the plaza. Probably some star wars fans out there. Eagerly awaiting the chance to see the force awakens. Were going to get some rai in the northeast today but hopefully it wont dampen the spirits out there. Were going to go out and say hi in a little while. Lets take a look at stories making news now. Dozens of protesters took to the streets in baltimore following the mistrial in the case against the first of six officers charged in the death of freddie gray. Lawyers were expected to meet with the judge today to discuss dates for a possible retrial. There is a new email contntversy in washington. N. The pentagon is now acknowledging defense secretary ash carter used a personal account to conduct official business. It happened during secretary carters first month on the job, even as Hillary Clinton was under fire for doing the same a pentagon spokesperson said the practice has been stopped and it was a mistake. Parts of the midwest are starting to wind down. The snow and ice leading to several deadly accidents. Nearly twoday closure of a 350 mile stretch of a highway in wyoming and hundreds of cancelled flights. Yahoo yeo is in the hot seat once again this time for an elaborate anniversary bash reportedly cosng millions even as her Company Struggles. Erica hill has the story. Erica, good morning to you. Good morning. During the dotcom boom, lavish parties were the norm. Today those events not only trakt scrutiny, they bring up lots of questions. Reporter its a scene that the highflying 90s, but this is 2015. A toast to yahoo s 20th anniversary. The roaring 20s theme with a speakeasy and costumes out of the great gatsby. Thats Ceo Marissa Mayer posing for photos with employees on a lavish set. Its a company trying to write itself versus having this lavish party, where it looks like you dont have a care in the world and youre spending a lot. Reporter employees thanked her for the party on social media others criticized the spending. In a 99page letter to the shareholders, eric jackson raises concerns about the future of the company saying, quote, a change in ceo must be made now, 10 billion in capital, and pointing to costly perks for employees like 450 million in free food. A source familiar with the party tells nbc news the cost was closer to 2 million. Still, industry watchers say the optics and very public pressure from shareholders are a serious threat to mayers job security. Yahoo reporter yahoo launchededn 1996 as a web portal and search engine, growing to become one of the worlds most visited websites before struggling in recent years, its stock plummeting 34 in the past year alone. Yahoo acquired reporter yahoo hired mayer in 2012 to right the ship. She was six months pregnant with her first child at the time. Her decision to take two weeks of Maternity Leave, sparking a national conversation. Shortly after the party pictures were taken, mayer gave birth to shes now on Maternity Leave. This is the time she has to prove to shareholders s d employees she has what it takes to keep the company going. Yahoo declined to comment on the Holiday Party or the shareholders calls for mayers removal. Mayer did not respond. She isnt expected to be away for long. When announcing her pregnancy earlier this year, mayer indicated shed take a limited Maternity Leave and work throughout the leave. Its important to note during her tenure, yahoo has upped paid leave for 16 weeks for moms and 8 weeks for dad. You have to put all the costs in perspective. But the optics of that and thats a big part of it. Even ift ended up costing 70,000, it certainly didnt look that way. No. Erica, thank you very much. Lets get a check of the weather from mr. Roker. Announcer todays weather is brought to you by walmart. Stop by a store or visit us at walmart. Com to share wonder every day. Were looking at a frontal system thats going to be pushing in showers to the heavier thunderstorms as you get down to the south. Warm, moist air ahead. Colder air behind it. As this makes its way toward us tonight, were going to be looking at a heavier thunderstorm down through atlanta. In fact, airport delays today from atlanta all the way north to boston as the afternoon wears on. Rainfall amounts, thoroughly light, though we could see an inch around new york city all the way back to charlotte. Lighter amounts to the east. Then look what happens. Were also going to see colder air filtering in. Lakeeffect snow setting up. Through sunday, 18 inches of snow between oswego and utica. 18today will be cold and breezy with highs near 30, but with the wind it will feel more like the teens and 20s. Im also fairly confident that well see at least a few peeks of sun today, but not to worry, well have plenty of opportunity to see some tomorrow and over the weekend. Now, it will still be cold tomorrow with similar temperatures to todays, but temperatures closer to 40 will arrive this weekend and stick around next week with overall dry weather. Thats your latest weather. Savannah . Al, thanks. And you have a great story coming up. Paying it forward to someone. Yeah. First, a special rossen reports. Good morning. Im jeff rossen. It happens every winter. A storm hits and drivers get stranded in their cars. How do you survive . Are you supposed to get out of the car and go for help . Do you keep the car on or off . We have all the tips you need to stay alive for 24 to 48 hours in here. Plus, the emergency kit you can buy right now for less than 30. The snow is starting to fall. And all the decorarions are just right. The presents have all been opened. D our loved ones are gathered all around. And make this christmas even more special than the last. Walmart has everything youll need for a christmas meal theyll never forget. Share wonder every day. Walmart. Get to kohls saturday for early bird specials starting at 6am like 49. 99 pendants mens jackets 39. 99 save on throws and kids sleepwear too plus buy more save more take an extra 15 o o20 off with your savings pass this saturday at kohls the flu virus. Its a really big deal. And with fever, aches, and chills, mom knows it needs a big solution an antiviral. Dont kid around with the flu, call your doctor and ask about prescription tamiflu. Attack the flu virus at its source with tamiflu, an antiviral that helps stop it from spreading in the body. Tamiflu u liquid form is fda approved to treat the flu in people two weeks of age 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. Antiflu . Go antiviral with tamiflu. politely wait, wait, wait you cant put it in like that, you have to rinse it first. Thats bakedon alfredo. Bakedon . Its never gonna w wk. Dish issues . Trust your dishwasher with cascade platinum. It powers. Through. Your toughest stuckon food. Cascade. [ laughter ] [ male announcer ] for tim and richard smucker, giving a gift of their familys delicious jam always made the holidays just a little bit sweeter. We forgot to put our names on them richard, i think theyll know who its from. Thank you boys. Youre welcome. Youre welcome. [ male announcer ] happy holidays from our family to yours. The bold nissan rogue, with intuitive allwheel drive. Because winter needs a hero. Now get 0 financing for up to 60 months on the 2015 nissan rogue. Nissan. Innovation that excites. You never know when itll be your moment to shine. So dont trust your smile to any regular toothpaste. Improved crest 3d white brilliance removes 5 times more stains than the red box. 7 41. Time for our jeff rossen series, save a life. Jeff rossen shows you what to do if you become stranded on a winter road trip. Jeff, good morning. Good morning to you. This happens all time. We see it on the news. A snowstorm hits, the cars litter the side of the road, people trapped inside. I think to myself, come on, itd neveve happen to me. It turur out, its happening to people just like youound me, from small towns ss to the biggest cities. What are you supposed to do . This morning, the simple tips to save your life. And, suddenly, youre stranded. It happened just days ago to this family. Their car got stuck in deep snow in the oregon mountains on their way to go sledding. I was, like, trying to stay calm. My anxiety kicked in, and i was thinking the worst. Reporter after nearly 24 hours, a group of snowmobilers found them. Its not just the middle of the mild wilderness. Its happened outside of atlanta. I had one bottle of water, half a tank of gas left. Reporter on i65 in kentucky. I was melting ice and snow to drink. Reporter even in the middle of lake shore drive in chicago. If they dont get me in enough time, my car could be covered completely in snow and i could be barricaded under here. Reporter drivers trapped for days, unprepared, desperate to stay alive. What do you do if youre stranded . To show you how to save your life, weve come to frigid utah. This is cray sitracy christiansen. My instinct is i would stay in the car and get out to get help. Thats one of the biggest mistakes, leaving your car. Stay in the car. Why . Its cold out there. You can die from hypothermia. You say rescuers have a better chance of finding the car than a random person on the road. We will find you in youre in the vehicle. Reporter should you run the engine or save gas . Run your car ten minutes an hour to stay warm. Make sure youre conserving fuel. You could be here for the long haul. It is okay to run your car. Ten minutes every hour. Another tip, always make sure the exhaust pipe is clear and free from snow so you dont suffer from Carbon Monoxide poisoning. Never sleep alone in a running car . Exactly. Its a recipe for disaster. Reporter the life and death you can buy the bare essentials for less than 30. Anywhere. What do we have . Couple things are really important. At least a liter of water, snacks and fruit, batteries, hand warmers. Those are cheap in the store. Theyre great. You have a blanket, which is super important. One of the most important things to have. A little bit of warmth. Wrap this around yourself, keep your core temperature warm like this. Are with with these tips and minimal equipment, you can stay alive for 24 to 48 hours. Yes. And we will find you. Just to give you an idea how dangerous it is to leave your car, in temperatures below freezing. Holly hypothermia can set in within 30 minutes. Tell someone where youre going and how to get there. Years ago, i got stuck on the providence, rhode island, for four hours. It was a long four hours. Did you have a blan etket . No, but you think about your fuel everything. Before cell phones . Back in your day. We know how long ago that was. Thank you. Justtahead, the wedding proposal so grand, it shut down a major interstate. The hot waters that landed the groom to be in. Next, carsons ready. Are you . Are new star wars in theaters tonight. How far some fans are going to keep their friends from spoiling it for them. Savannah has seen it. Tell carson about it. Right when neil lane creates a ring for todays biggest stars. It looks fabulous from every angle. And for kay jewelers. He does the exact. Same. Thing. Yes neil lane bridal vintageinspired rings at kay, the number one Jewelry Store in america. Every kiss begins with kay. Its the kay jewelers save the best for last event . Now is the time to find her the best gift at an incredible price. So hurry in. And save up to 30 at kay. The numberone Jewelry Store in america. If you struggle with type 2 diabetes, youre certainly not alone. Fortunately, many have found a different kind of medicine that lowers blood sugar. Imagine what it would be like to love your numbers. Discover oncedaily invokana. Its the 1 prescribed in the newest class of medicines that work with the kidneys to lower a1c. Invokana is used along with diet and exercise to significantly lower blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes. 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 foweight loss, it may help you lose weight. Invokana can cause important side effects, including dehydration, which may 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. Stop taking and call your dtor right away if you experience symptoms such as rash, swelling, or difficulty breathing or swallowing. 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. Theres only one invokana. Ask your doctor about it by name. music woman ill never remember all the projects, presentations, or meetings i gave up my nights for. musics drums intensify but days like this, ill never forget. Get out there, in the 2016 ford escape. Be unstoppable. This is my fight song take back my life song its that night of the year you come here. Looking for gifts so there wont be tears. Eleventh hour shopper. Thats you. Its ok because they know you. Theyre loaded up with gear. An xbox for the children. And a mixer for your dear. O need to shop around for present youve missed its all here. Youre off the e ughty list Eleventh Hour shopper. Thats you see you next year, buddy get low prices on all your lastminute gifts. In case you havent heard, the new Star Wars Film opens in a few hours. So excited. Fans are ready. Carson is in his costume. Its like the star wars bar over there. Its so much fun. Hold on. There we go. Got stuck there. Lets just talk about what people are doing right now all across the country. This is a really genius idea. Theyre having these marathon screenings, where people are flooding the theaters and theyll watch all seven movies back to back. Theyve got the guy doing the star wars theme on the organ in the theater to create the mood. This is hitting social media, as its rolled out internationally. The opening credits there done in different languages. I would fit into the movie theaear. People are going pressed up. My theory is thats brad pitt in los angeles, the only way he could possibly see this movie. Joining me now, the great chewbacca. Orange room than in real life. Does everybody know who you are, chewy . Want to do a reveal . I have stilettos. Its natalie, everybody. Thats impressive. Were excited. We know everybody else is excited. Hot. Star wars fever. Are you gargling . Can i reveal a secret talent of our audio guy in joe, one more. You have to hear natalies. Now you do it. Joe . Natalie sounds like shes gargling red wine. Like last night. I heard. Thank you. Nderful. First time coughing. Sniffling. And wishing you could stay in bed all day. You need new theraflu expressmax. Theraflu expressmax combines. Maximum strength medicines available without a prescription. To fight your worst cold and flu symptoms. So you can feel better fast and get back to the job at hand. New theraflu expressmax. The power to feel better. Tm lilly. She pretty much lives in her favorite princess dress. But once a week i let her play sheriff so i can wash it. I use tide to get out those week old stains and downy to get it fresh and soft. Tide and downy together. Discover card hey so im looking at my bill and my fico Credit Scores on here. Yeah we give you your fico credit score. For free awesomesauce the e ly person i know that says that is. Lisa . Julie . Weve already given more than 175 million free fico Credit Scores to our cardmembers. Apply today at discover. Com just fifteen minutes and a little imagination are all you need to make holiday magic. microwave ding chexarty mix. Its what the holidays are made of. If you have moderate to severe Rheumatoid Arthritis like me. And youre talking to a rheumatologist about a biologic, this is humira. This is humira helping to relieve my pain and protect my joints from further damage. This is humira helping me reach for more. Doctors have been prescribing humira for more than 10 years. Humira works for many adults. It targets and helps to block a specific source of inflammation that humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. Serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. Before treatment, get tested for tb. 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. Feel a cold coming on . New zicam cold remedy nasal swabs shorten n lds with a snap, shorten your cold with a snap, with zicam. [ dog barks ] [ bark ] there it is [ gasps ] oh no look, the skys awake that. Was. Good morning and welcome to the morning club quiz. On the phone today, chchssy ellis of kingsley, iowa. The prize today is four sub sandwiches at subway. What is chewbacca . A bear b sasquatch c wookie its 8 00 on today. Coming up, the donald and the doctor. Winners and losers. Here are some i do not like at all. We must kick these frogs out, then build aall rvegts. Then, paying it forward. Al goes to Great Lengths for a remarkable woman who had a huge impact on his family. Three, two, one, go. From singing to dancing, we reminisce about the good times we had together in2015. 2015. 20 years of marriage here at the today show. My wife next to me. Celebrating our 46th anniversary. Merry christmas from michigan. Merry christmas from tyler falls, oregon. Hi, we are from omaha, nebraska. We are trying not to be too corny. Happy holidays. Thank you so much. Good morning, everybody. Its 8 00 on today. Thursday,ecember 17, 2015. What a Beautiful Day on the plaza. Im loving this warm weather, feels so good, everybody is in a great mood, getting ready for the holidays. Matt lauers biggest fan here. Nice of you. Happy holidays. I was swept away by the music in the background. This is savannahs Throwback Thursday song. I believe its dont stop believing by the cast of glee. The cast of glee. I think thats great. Anyway, im glad you like the song. I like it a lot. It was. In more ways than one. An interesting call. You dont get that every day. Natalie will support my choice. Savannah, i do like your choice even though you havent supported me in the past. In the news, the pentagon admit admitting ash carter used his personal email for government business. According to a New York Times report, carter started the chief in february and continues after the scandal with Hillary Clinton using her personal email while being secretary of state. The pentagon says carters occasional use for work related business was a mistake and he did not use it for classified information. Controversial drug companyny was arrested by the fbi this morning in new york. The 32yearold entrepreneur made headlines in september when he boosted the price of a life saving pill from 13. 50 to 750 for one pill. However, his arrest on security fraud charges is not connected to that matter. The case accused him of taking stock from a Biotechnology Firm he started in 2011 to pay off debts from unrelated business dealings. Police released dashcam video of a nebraska sheriffs deputy risking his life to stop a run away truck after a 12mile per suit. Emergency and his truck was rolling toward the norfolk, airport, when it slowed to 255 miles ananhour. An officer dashed across the highway and wasas able to climb insidede and brought the truck to a safe stop, thank goodness. She said yes. The texas man that shut down a highway to propose to his girlfriend was arrested. He was charged with obstructing a highway. He stopped on interstate 45 in houston, got down on one knee and popped the question. Several drivers recorded the risky stunt. He posted 500 bail and defended his actions. He said something love makes dwrou stupid things and i wanted to do something she will always remember. Yeah, they are not going to remember that one anytime soon. With abby wombach played her final game. She helped the u. S. Team win the world cup title this year. She has a pair of olympic golds and inspired a generation of yun women to take up the game she loved. We are going to miss her. An incredible athlete and inspiration to many. Today will be cold and breezy with highs near 30, but with the wind it will feel more like the teens and 20s. Im also fairly confident that well see at least a few peeks of sun today, but not to worry, well have plenty of opportunity to see some tomorrow and over the weekend. Now, it will still be cold tomorrow with similar temperatures to todays, but temperatures closer to 40 will arrive this weekend and stick around next week with overall dry weather. And thats your latest weather. Just ahead, im going to pay it forward in a personal way. Im going to celebrate a woman who means a great dea to our family. Terrific story. Plus, we are taking care of your lastminute Holiday Shopping this morning with our biggest gifts guide ever. But first, singing, dancing and a whole lot of laughter. All the fun weve had over the past 12 months i said i really cant stay baby its cold outside i have to go away baby its cold outside e i r rlly cant stay baby its cold outside what makes thermacare different . Two words it heals. How . With heat. Unlike creams and rubs that mask the pain, thermacare has patented heat cells that penetrate deep to increase circulation and accelerate healing. Lets review heat, plus relief, plus healing, equals thermacare. The proof t heals is you. You know what i love best about your style . You. At jared, we only sell one piece of jewelry. The pandora ring that celebrates her personal style. And its waiting for you. At jared. Nivea inshower body lotion. First i wash. Then i apply it to my wet skin. It moisturizes with no sticky feel. I quickly rinse off. And im ready to go. Dave, im sorry to interrupt. I gotta take a sick day tomorrow. Dads dont take sick days, dads take nyquil severe the nighttime, sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, fever, best sleep with a cold, medicine. With ingredients like roasted hazelnuts and cocoa, theres a whole lot of happy in every jar of nutella. Spread the happy. Stuff your stockings with big savings at lowes. For great winter deals on all of your holiday gifts. Oooh. Now get this dewalt 20volt drill for only 99. vo some call it giving back. We call it share the love. During our share the love event, get a new subaru, and well donate 250 to those in need. Bringing our total donations to over sixtyfive million dollars. And bringing love where its needed most. Love. Its what makes a subaru, a subaru. Feel a cold coming on . Nasal swabs shorten colds with a snap,p, and reduce symptom severity by 45 . Shorten yoururold with a snap, with zicam. Thank you. Thank you, again. Pat yourself upon your back. Your shopping is done. You aint no slack. Rest at ease its all ok. You ordered online and got them in the same day. Navigate the app at will with incredible digital ninja skills. The holidays could not be better. Maybe you have time to knit him a sweater. I dont know maybe a snowman. I could do that. Lets get out of here. Im just thinking. Order giftftonline and pick thth up the same day. Announcer year in review on today is brought to you by mercedes benz. The best or nothing. Oh, my gosh, we have a quorum. Were all year. Time for something we look forward to every year. The cast of glee, really . Come on to look at all the fun weve had in 2015. Hey, thats what i like, i like about you the way you do what you do, how you do, i like about you come on now, hey, thats what i like, i like about you the way you do what you do, how you do, i like about you the gang is all back. It says, were all back, even carson. Hey. Raise your hand if you were in sharknado 3 last night. Carson, were you glued . No, i was not. Honey, im good, but i probably should i got a honey at home, and if i stay, i might not leave alone where do you keep your emmy . One with me right here. Never leaves me. Good morning, coaches. Pharrell, blake, christina hey where am i . Lets trend, guys. Theres someoeo in this studio right now who does not remember anything that happened yesterday. Any guesses . Usually, all of us. I will go to a movie alone. Im happy sitting in a dark theater with popcorn by myself. Not really what we were talking about but heres how it works. The question you pull out, you must answer. What is your porn star name. I check in to hotels under the name, dj warm cookies. Whoa we are in the white house kitchen, where among other ins,thin s gs, you brew beer. Its not good. Seriris . Its not. Nt eat a a of this stuff. You can learn more just say no. Even the germ freak would just to show you. There you go. Im just saying. Thats a waste. On my own, once again now this is the chisel. 2 apparently, im burning the counter. Sorry. Oh, dear. Wow. Having my way with it. Let me have a moment. Come back here with those. Yeah that is unbelievable. Go go left. Your left. Left your left what we should have talked about first was our right from our left. What are we doing in here . I dont know. I just do what im told. This is called hoda or yoda. These are all real quotes. Rejoice for those around you who transform into the force. Yoda. Correct. Next up, i wake up at 4 15, get clickty clock to see what i mimied. Then i go to w wk and im really awake. Yoda. Its hoda i usese to have great legs, then gretat knees and now great ankles. Were busy reading the wall street journal. We start our day with a little research. Im here. Whoo hoo thank Savannah Guthrie for helping me out. Do you know who is cohosting tomorrow . You wanted to today. Matt lauer is going to cohost the fourth hour. I have not prepared, but with hoda, she doesnt anyway. Whats the big deal . I was told matthew m mcconaughey was here, not matt lauer. You have nothing to do . Very little to do. We are going to build a fantastic playground right in this field here. Its really beautiful. I hope everyone takes care of the park. All month long, the men of today, along with guys all their facial hair to raise awareness for mens health. I changed my mind in the middle. Called the twizzler challenge. All the money goes toward programs to help with autism. Riding 230 miles from boston to the big apple, to raise money for rednose day charities. I have a lot of people id put on spandex for at this hour of the morning. Dontstop to party please make it stop. Im going all the way up there. They know how to welcome somebody inn sydney, australia. Guys, its so hot out here, my iphone just shut off. Thats hot. Can you handle rockerthon2 . One weatherman. Paradise. We are in kentucky. 50 states. One week. To bring you the weather from every state in our great nation. Rokerthon rolls on see you in boston rokerthon makes it to new york. Here he is does carson ever mention us when hes att the voice . . Blake sasa, i didnt know carson worked here. Its so good to be up this early. Boogie woogie. I aint going to play more because i charge. Girl got moves. Youre a grandpa . Matt, youre a grandpa . That was hard. I want you to relax, savannah. Relax. Im trying. What line will be remembered for this movie youve just finished . Man, thats a good question. Nothing i can say on this show. Get out of my way. I got news im gonna work, work, work every day this is where my storys going, i just want to share this moment whoa i feel the sky tumbling down you never count your money when youre sitting at the table there will be time enough for counting when the dealer is d de witit your love, nobody can drag me down nobody, nobody i was on vacation. How did you get out of this . Wow, i dont know, but thank the good lord. Down in your pocket, youve got something to give, it goes jingle, jingle today, today, today, today, today is christmas living like, living like, living like every day of the year we want to know, what do you need oh, what do you need now all i need is the rhythm, be in the rhythm yeah, the rhythm, be in the rhythm backseat freedom, rocking and never grow old its going down, hey, hey, hey [ applause ] the naked show tahdah. Next one, fudge brownies. I knew it exposed, hes naked. Lauer overnight, matt lauer put up four billboards. Two second of yours two second of yours of your time. Go somewhere else. Get out of here. Oh, my goodness. What happened . Oh, you son of a gun. You son of a gun i knew you were going too do that. Cueue the alarm. Savannah . Dont panic. Well be right there. What is that . Im neil patrick harris. Were back. Carson on the air. Making my tv program, savannah. Sorry. Leonardo dicaprio. You got the offer to do this by text mail . Text message . The kids are calling it text mail. Text message. Its going potty. Its popping. Let it go, let it go start your engines good job. I just touched street gum i dont know what got into me. Time to get some purreell. The bush ladies know how to raise beautiful little girls, and youre one of them. Wait a minute. W wts up . Whats upup couple years ago in washington, the correspondents dinner, at the mens room, standing next to me at the urinal. Did you highfive him . No, you dont do that at the urinal. Might want to learn that lesson. You two are really obnoxious. Wow. That was quite a show. I wont do it. I wont. For the rest of my life, i i will do whats right stars in the sky, rest of my life yeah, yeah, yeah, the rest of our lives edge of the earth, search in the sky at night, out on the verge on the rest of our lives yeah. [ applause ] nice. That was fun. Really fun. We have to thank an editor somewhere. Many of them. Really well done. Erica levins is the producer. Molly, drew, and paul is the thank you,prompted the evacuation of the high school in newman grove, nebraska. It involved threats of violence posted on facebook made against the School Building and the people inside. Newman grove Police Contacted the Madison County sheriffs Critical Incident response team. That Team Surrounded the school and began investigating. Four juvenile students into custody. The county attorney will decide what charges theyll face and whether theyll be tried as adults. Heres meterologist Ben Dorenbach. Today, today, today, today is christmas we are back now. Its 8 30 on a thursday morning. Its the 17th day of december, 2015. Kind of a dark morning here on the plaza. Rain expected. But were brightening things up with a couple of broadway stars. We have Matthew Broderick and annaleigh ashfofo from the play sylvia, clecting toys for us this morning. Theyre the elves of the day. Were going to chat with them in a couple of minutes. Loobking forward to that. Plus, we have a rare christmas miracle. Thats right, ill be baking. Dont worry. Siri pinter is here and she knows what shes doing. Were making cookies, and we have the cutest helpers. Thats cute. Also ahead, if you didnt do your shopping for christmas back in july, we have our ultimate gift guide, the biggest ever to finish off everyone on your list. And im going to get a chance to pay it forward by doing something for an amazing woman who has really changed my sonic nicks life. Carson, w wll have your buddydy from the voice who was crowned the winner in a second. First, we have Matthew Broderick and annaleigh ashford, stars of sylvia. Pleasure. Matthew, you have to choose between the love of your life and mans best friend. All right. Its a tough one. How does that go . Thats the play, you have to see the play to find out. Annaleigh, you play the best friend. I do. I play a dog. Im looking at the sweet dog. Maybe ill get inspiration for tonight. What a cutie. You dont have a liver treat, he wont look at you. We can get you somethinin oh, hes so cute. Hi. Hello. U want to hes like, nono this isour 12th broadway production, matt, right . Were keeping count here. Really . What brings you back to the stage all the time . Something to do. Just a little something. No, i reallyove doing it. You know, ive been lucky enough to get 12 jobs, i guess, now that youve told me that. Show . Thats what they say. Your wife, Sarah Jessica parker, originated the role. Thats right. Thats correct. Shes looking for liver treats. Somebody lazhas a treat. Im surprised its that many. I thought it was maybe nine. This is your life. Yeah. I know, thats magical. Its good if you lost count. It means youre fabulous. Or senile. Guys, have fun. We want to say for people to go check them out on broadway in sylvia. Thanks for connecting toys this morning. We appreciate it. Mr. Roker,today will be cold and breezy with highs near 30, but with the wind it will feel more like the teens and 20s. Im also fairly confident that well see at least a few peeks of sun today, but not to worry, well have plenty of opportunity to see some tomorrow and over the weekend. Now, it will still be cold tomorrow with similar temperatures to todays, but temperatures closer to 40 will arrive this weekend and stick around next week with overall dry weather. See graphics. And that your latest weather. Now to the voice on today. This morning, we have the champion in the house. Take a look. The winner of the v jordan smith jordan smith is here. Good morning and congratulations. Congratulations. I have to tell you, i have a friend who is a super fan of the voice and told me nine weeks ago, i predict it, jordan smith goes all the way. Thats so kind. Did you feell good o o were you sweating it . This show has been fun and i had a great time working with adam and the other contestants. Its a creative atmosphere. It didnt hit me until i was on the stanlge at the finale. Im in the finale. We were taking it week by week. Gwen stefani said you dont look like your voice. Is that a good thing . I think so. Been proving that. Those things arent really what happens. Last tuesday night, whenever i won the show, it was kind of a big moment for me. I proved to myself, whats on the outside doesnt matter. Its whats in your heart and what you love to do and doing those things. Weve had front runners onn the show before who, you know, were strong all the waydown. Theyve grgrn fatigued. Ititas interesting to watch you in the final weeks, you never got nervous. You were stronger. How did you thrive when the pressure was really on . I think that its kind of the type of person i am. I love that pressure. Thats what makes me stronger and better. I think just keeping a level head through the whole process is super important. I think that those are four really strong contestants, myself and the other three. I was proud to be among them. We were a support for each other to the end. Your parents were the only ones that looked shocked you won. What was it like in your close circle . Theyre so proud and happy. They made so many sacrifices for for them, its a huge payoff and theyre proud. They saw this in me before i saw it in myself. You owe them big time. Congratulatio. Jordan smith, congratulations. Hell be with kathie lee and hoda in a little bit. Also ahead, cookies and cuteness. Siri and i do a little baking with our babies. Checking people off your Holiday Shopping list. You cant miss our biggest gift guide ever. Nbc. Its been her fight for twenty years. Something is wrong with our Healthcare System and it needs to be fixed. Then, it was about Health Reform and getting eight million kids covered. Now, its about stopping republicans from repealing obamacare, and taking on Insurance Companies to bring down drug prices. Im not going to let any family be deprived of healthcare. Im not going to let the republicans rip up obamacare and throw it away. It is now time for todays hassle free holiday and our biggest gift guide ever. We have so many items we cant fit it in one segment. Were streaming it live at today. Com so you can find what we dont get to on the air on our website. Good housekeeping. This gift segment goes from here all the way around the studio. We better get started. Eight days left to shop. Great gift ideas. This is the best of the best. The amazon echo. Its a voiceactivated information teller. Traffic. It will tell you knockknock jokes. It is the gift of the future. 179. This looks like something out 30 at target. What you do is put your smartphone in there and they partnered with Google Cardboard for virtual reality. Its like youre in the wildlife, in space. Its so cool. Vinyls are back. Throwback thursday gift with a modern flair. This is available at bloomingdales. Real cool. How much is that . Great. Im obsessed with thth, as the urban decay smoky naked palette. One is sold every 6 seconds. Are they expensive . 54 and theyll last a long time. Universally flattering shades. Why are these shoes so hot . Dont you love them . Theyre a little sporty, a little cozy. 50 at jc penney. You can wear them with anything. They appeal to all ages. Theyre comfortable. Love that for the winter. These are going to catch a lot of attention because of what theyre made of. Fashion flex. This is the great bag co. Everyone is saying these will be the new itbags. Theyre 120, v vy affordable. Heat resistant, crash resistant, you can clean them easy and they look amazing. Talk to me about the glassware. Matt, Everybody Loves a gift that feels personalized. These have initials on them. These are flown from portugal. Beautiful something to bring to a house, hostess gift. Taught about something special. Star wars opening, have you heard about that . I havent heard. Star wars fans. Indy film. This toaster is available at kohls. It has a light side and dark side for toast. We love that. Also for the little fans withh bigimaginations, the force reallylywakens with leg golegos. You can do anything with the millennial falcon. Fun for the little ones. How cute are these guys . Jackson and juliet. Jackson is on the brilliant buy sickle bicycle. Everybody everybody said this is the best way to learn to ride the bike. No more training wheels. Ill pause for a second and tell you were going to end this on the air right now. Well stream live at today. Com. Coming up next, holiday cookies with the kids. Savannah and siriet adorable help in the kitchen. Plus, siri wiwi share one of her goto cookie recipes. Nbc, as we continue to stream. Were back now. Its 8 44 withmo of our holiday food cookie swap. So i decided to do a little baking. I called friend, we had a couple pint size tasty treats. Peekaboo. Were going to make bud candy canes. To me the holidays are all about family and home. It feels yummy. Oh my gosh. Thth whole thing in the mouth. We lost a lot there. My favorite childhood christmas memory is probably baking withy mom. We would make the same thing every year. Wed give them the same people at the drug store. Im going to take the butter, put it in here with the sugar. Christmas is the only time i remember, we did a swap one yearr with light sabres. It was like aandy glass. Oh, good job. Making makes me feel like i can give something of myself to people. These look amazing. They wouldnt let us put them down. We didnt color coordinate well, this day. Lets make this recipe really easy. This is a vanilla bean sugar cookie. Itsium yummy like you said. It gives it vanilla bean flex and eggs and candy sugar. In this mixer we have butter and sugar. I will g ge it a little more o o a stir. Then w wwill p in an egging. Okay. And some vanvan vanilla. So now over here, we have our dry ingredients, flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Its important to whisk them together so everything gets incorporated. You want to add half of that to the mixer. Yes. Which we couldnt find in her home. If you are as much of aess as i am. You were lookiki in your closet . I know. Oh boy. Now,w, we will add the sour cream and then the rest of the dry ingredients. Okay. Why does bake having to do things in certain order, why is that . Its very scientific. Its important you follow the directions properly you cant wing it, apparently. The next thing chill it. That solidifies the butter so they dont spread. This will chill at least 30 minutes. Overnight, if you can. The flavors of the cookies, too, use this little scooper. Cute. We coup them out. About two inches apart. Because they will spread a little, overhere, we have our standing sugar. This is the part we thought the babies would do so well. That didnto so well. So we will rolll that in sugar all around. Then we bake them 12to15 these are fudge brownie candy canes made with brown my mix, really delicious. Did you invent brownie mix cookie . In my mind you did. Lets just say you did. It is an easy way to make a fudgy chocolatey cookie. You can get our cookie recipes at today. Com. I put myself in it like theyre our recipes. They are. A great dealor the family. This morning on make your today, it is als turn to pay it forward. Thanks so much. When i was asked to pick someone to honor, i didnt have to think twice. Its a woman who means a lot to me and my wife deborah, because she inspires and helps other extremely special person in my life. My amazing boy,y, nick. Numbers start on this corner. Reporter anyone who knows lori will tell you, she defies description. What do you think . Fancy. Very fancy. You have to experience lori. Lori is an experience. Super strong legs. Those are super strong. Reporter shes an can you get this undone . Reporter like my son. Shes so much more. Sometimes as a parent when as many as is wrong with your child, you can freeze because its overwhelming. To have someone thats not only amazing for your child and to your child, but is an advocatee for your child, is a god send. Use the strong arms. Reporter lori started working with nick when he was 3 years old. Hes 13 now. He didnt talk, couldnt walk. He had very low body core plus musculature musculature. A lot of people were not positive about his, you know, his outlook. You know, there was never any of that with lori. Look at me because im the focus point, okay . Some kids are a 50piece puzzle. Some are 100piece. Some are 150. I think nick was about 150, if i was to look at nick. My heart is so big for him. s my son. These days, but he is my son. Beautiful, nick. Beautiful. Reporter this is her calling. Lori knew she wanted to be an occupational therapist since she was in seventh grade. Their goal was to work in the presence of others with minimal sharing of supplies. Reporter this is a student in the 70s, working with students with autism before there was a diagnosis. She was devoted then and is now, helping children reach their developmental milestones. At 2 years old, my son wasnt meeting the benchmarks a 2yearold should be. This past june, he g his black belt in tie quando. Reporter lori doesnt want recognition. Three, two, one, go. Yes nicely done. I do this because i believe in the kids. I dont do it for recognition. I can honestly say that nick is where he is today because of her help. And for that, i cant thank her enough. Reporter but onnhis day, i wanted to try. I know lori pretty well, and i know she loves two things. Running and tennis. Specifically, Serena Williams. Current Sports Illustrated sports person of the year, byflying you and roy down to miami to run in the Serena Williams foundation 5k to support children coming up in a couple of weeks. Fabulous. For you. Nick has come so far. I know. More to go. More to go. Hi, serena, how are you . How are you . Nice to see you. This is lori. How are you . Nice to meet you. Reporter on n e day of the run, Serena Williams did not disappoint. The water. Hopefully the wind will be behind us. Reporter the Serena William Live Ultimate run in miami raises money for the Serena Williams fund. Serena williams fund, we help send kids to college. We also build schools in africa and help families affected by violence in communities, like my sister was. Its really exciting for me. Reporter and exciting for us to be part of such a special day. Serena williams run, were about to get started. Right now repepter the race was exhilarating. At least for my wife, deborah. And for lori. We did it couple of days later. Reporter for me, might have another word for it. Wasnt it fun . Oh, what a barrel we have a different idea of fun. Reporter but whats a few aches and pains for a woman who worked nonstop for my child and countless other kids . Everybody has a lori in their they could probably make more money doing Something Else, but theyre doing it because they love your chilil like i say, everybody has a lori innheir life. Itit easy to assume they k kw how much they mean to owe, butyou, but this is a great time of year so reacted to the same moment, she knew she wanted to do it since the seventh grade. Amazing. Its a calling for her, and she answers the call every day for so many kids in this area. What a saint. She is. Shes a gift. Incredible. Nick is a really cool kid, too. Now that hes a black belt yeah. He asked for an allowance. Oh, okay. Were back with much more of after your local news. A Christmas Display that might just be visibile from space is mark and Shari Frerichs put up the extravagant and veve bright display of lights and inflatable charactete every year at their home on highway three. Theyve been doing this for more than 20 years and they change it up a bit each year to keep it fresh. So, how many lights are there . How many lights, uh, we dont even know for sure, said mark frerichs. We tried counting but we cant keep track of it. Its just unreal. Mark says it takes about six weeks to set it all up. But he says it seems never ending process because hes constantly replacing bulbs. Heres ben with weather. Cold tomorrow with similar temperatures to todays, but temperatures closer to 40 will arrive this weekend and stick around next week with overall see graphics. T this morning on todays take, star wars mania, the reviews are in, the merchandise is out. The countdown begins until tonights opening. Then a look at the fun we had this year with some of hollywoods biggest stars. Plus, newest Stocking Stuffers from best selling author James Patterson coming up next. From nbc news, this is todays take with al roker, natalie morales, willie geist and tamron hall live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. Its december 17th, 2015, we are smack dab in the middle of the new york holiday season. I am were with willie, tamron and natalie. Come here. Here is my sound effects. Go ahead. Ggggggg. Thats live, may the force be with you. The force is strong with you. Wow. Wow. I have hair in my face now. All right. I love it so much. Star wars fortunately opens in theaters tomorrow, really tonight. They had some earlier screenings in select cities. People won contest, stuff like that. Were finally here, guys. We have been hearing about this movie for years. J. J. Would tweet out a picture, the cast, the table read. Universally, its pretty darn good. Yes, a lot of things going back to this one. This one brings back all the characters. We all went to see it, loved it. You know what was interesting. Minute gift, a lot of peoeoe willet into the whole swargs star wars craze star wars craze, all the craziest things you can buy from star wars. First, a star wars, is that r 2 d 12 shower head. Thats the real deal, r2d2 shower head. You end up in the shower. On the first datete and that was there. The guys shower. My mother watches this show. Sorry. Sorry. If i was married and i went to the guys house after we got married, the shower cam. Its for 13yearolds. I dont know if its 25yearolds. Is he in the Movie Star Wars . If hes in the movie, were cool. After werere marriri i would expect something different. This is on the countertop, the toast pops up, it pops up with the star wars emblem. Thats a problem. You oy have toastn one side. s not really toast. The whole thing is not toasted. Different layers of brown. Its toast. So are my family. That was the most genius thing you ever said inure liech i got this email from george in your life. I got this email, they answer it, its basically asking Georgetown University professor actual science and the things we say, get ready to nerd out, geek out. It is absolutely brilliant. Its on youtube. Georgetown university professor. Theyre like seminar i dont want you to see whats on there, it might be the date that natalie was there. Where were you last night . Georgetown on star wars. You ask the professor anything. They answer. The decoding and they are like nerding out. Its amazing. They are getting the nerd on, thats for sure. Whether you Like Star Wars or not. I think everybody at this point will be a groupie. If you google dearth vader, donald trump, theyve done a mashup, taken darth vaders from all of his speechs. It is brilliant. I think donald trump would love this and speaking of donald trump, he was on jimmy kimmel last night and admitted to maybe causing just a rip him or two within the gop. I would like to see the Republican Party come towing. I have been a little divisive in the sense that i have been hitting people pretty hard. A little bit . Yeah. A little bit divisive. But i love jimmy kimmel thenn went aheadnd read mr. Trump a dr. Seuss inspired childrens book. Its very funny. Here are some frogs, i do not like at all. We must kick these frogs out and then build a wall. Oh, the places youll go on your yacht on your plane, with your suits from milan and your wife from ukraine. Oh the buildings youll build or people around you all kissing your [ bleep ]. There are two kind of people, which one will you be . A loser like them . Would you like to finish . Or a winner like me. Thats good ratings. Very incredible. Good stuff. That is good. What else is good, oh my gosh, this kid, 9yearold grace, she won a School Fundraiser we aired these stories before. Theyre epic. This might be the best of all time. It took place in bloomington, minnesota, bethany academy. She wass nervouou she gavav the baba to mom. Her mom angela, her first try fell short. Then her daughter gave it a shot. Okay. Heres what angela has, here we go. I dont mind thatbeyond that, i am not good at thats the explanation. Underhand, pretty good. Last try. Get there. Get there boom. Oh. Yes, it was a bounce shot into. That counts. That counts. Were taking a trip to minnesota to rally for her. It was a great slam. It was phenomenal. It counted. But thats what the tuition got. Every parent, please come together. Very good. There you go. Falls short. Boom, right online, though. Impressive. She is stunned, or not, stunned. Another g gat moment on the hard court, this time during the ca cavs. There you go. Here hes wouk walking over. He was born with spastic hemophilia. Doctors feared he would never walk or talk. Now he plays basketball at his high school. Apparently, he sinks 3pointers. Look at that face, itss like surreal. He said they were at a timeout in the ga imhe went and surprised the kid. The kid happened to be wearing lebron james shoe, designed for kids that cant tie their shoes, they have one strap and after the game, lebron took off his own shoes from the game and gave them to the kid. He has been great, he has a great heart. He goes over, has fun, no matter what. Food news. Hes a decent actor in train wreck. He was great. A big career off the court, too. All right. Hes a media mogul. There you shaped 50 shades of brown the roker family. A storm coming in, another day, another storm, moving into the Pacific Northwest. We will watch this as the day progresses this afternoon, snows back to the intermountain scades, coast cal gail. Wind gusts upo 60 miles an hour. Some areas pick up along the coast up to 7 inches of rain and snowfall wise again great news for skiers. It will be good news, into the sierras, they will be seeing snow. Thats great news for the snow pack and helping with the drought as we move along into today will be cold and breezy with highs near 30, but with the wind it will feel more like the teens and 20s. Im also fairly confident that well see at least a few peeks of sun today, but not to worry, well have plenty of opportunity to see some tomorrow and over the weekend. Now, it will still be with similar temperatures to todays, but temperatures closer to 40 will arrive this weekend and stick around next week with overall dry weather. See graphics. That is your latest weather. Thank you very much, al. Coming up next, the glitz, the glamour, the madness. All the greaea stars that grarad welllave the snow is starting to fall. And all the decorations are just right. The presents have all been opened. And our loved ones are gathered all around. So share that extra joy in your heart. And make this christmas even more special than the last. Walmart has everything youll need for a christmas meal theyll never forget. Walmart. Glad forceflex. Now Even Stronger to aid rips and tears. Be happy, its glad. Olive gardens allnew flavorfilled pastas, with raviolis so nice we filled them twice. Bursting with indulgent flavors like chicken marsala ravioli, an irresistible twist on an old favorite. Plus unlimited salad and breadsticks. For a limited time. At olive garden. Lips appear to age faster than other skin. No worries. Now, theres newewhapstick total hydration. S 100 natural, age defying formula is clinically proven to provide healthier, more youthful looking lips. Chapstick its always worth remembering. That icing the Cinnamon Rolls is a privivige not a right. Unleash the power of douou. Give it a pop. The flu virus hits big. With aches, chills, and fever, theres no such thing as a little flu. And it needs a big lution an antiviral. So when the flu hits, call your doctor right away and up the ante with antiviral tamiflu. Prescription tamiflu is an antiviral that attacks the flu virus at its source from spreading in the body. Tamiflu is fda approved to treat the flu in people two weeks of age 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 l havior, stop taking tamiflu and ll 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. Antiflu . Go antiviral with tamiflu. Yesterday, we took a personal trip down the memory lane of 2015 and were reminded what hapapns in studio 1 1 definitely d ds not stay in studio 1a. Today, we want to shine the spotlight on our famous guests a very lively 2015. There are days where i look through my phone and all of the celebrity stuff, moments on the phone that weve snapped. Its like, that happened . Thanks for having me on this. This is the cool hour, right . I watch you every morning. Why is there never anyone in my nightclub . Not long ago, tamron was doing her pop fix, and a figure comes out of the shadows. Hes 21 years old, so that makes this legal. I took it for every 16yearold girl out there. Took the kiss. Im down. People that show up, pop up during our weather segments. Thats whats going on around the country. Heres whats happening in which i say Chrissy Teigens world. In youreck of the woods. Put the weather up there. Tsunami. Its going to clear up and al, i need help, please. Take it from here. Most fun set visit ever was playing a zombie on the walking dead. This will be great if it doesnt come off tomorrow. I have nightmares looking at that picture of me. Patty labelle surprise was incredible. Oh, no on my own once again now mystery guest . Come on out. Yes we had to pity them fools, al. This is all worthwhile. The al mind and tamron body. Dont laugh. H. Sit r rht over there. Im an actress,nd im full of crap. Little known fact about gina rodriguez, she also raps. Likely girl lily lily like my girl natalie. We expanded our family to include great folks. You have a slow pan up your legs. Oh, yeah. I let everybody know the real champ is here. John cena is a big guy with a big heart. This is the most important part of the year so far. Who would have thought wed have a wwe wrestling champ . Mr. Roboto cohosting our program. Ellie kemper. Not only did i cohost with ellie kemper, jane krakowski, but tina fey showed up. Natalie, willie, tamron were not there. We dare take a couple days ofof to be with our beloved family. We had to hear about it every you want to replace us with them . Come on. It hurt. It was the best show ever. Ha, ha bam good for you, al. One day, i invited jane to come back. It was just the two of us. Jane krakowski roller skated out on to the set. This is the jane loves willie hour. I think i win that one. Hello, ms. Tamron. Ladies and gentlemen, prince prince, good morning. Good morning, all. All i need is a horse. There we go. Good to see you. Thank you. Great to be seen. Fantastic. Dont i look hot . Hard to do this while im delivering the library book. A lot of families are oh there we go. It makes me like, oh, my gosh, life flies before you. I know. The fun. Im a debbie downer. This is our calling card to get more of these celebs on with us. Come on and have some fun. Were the fun hour. Who is your dream guest . Weve had so many. Im not going to patty labelle. I wasnt here that day. Everybody who shows up. Your dream show is what . We already sawaw that. Bye, al, you dont need us. We haver before there could be a nation, there had to be people willing to fight for it, to take on the worlds greatest challenges, whatever they might be. So, the u. S. Army masters not only tactics and strategy, but also physics and chemistry. We make e ttle plans and create breakthroughs in medicine, science and engineering. Our next mission could be anything. So we prepare for everything. I knew that if i had ice in my water, it would just be so painful and i couldnt even drink it. I would like almost scoot the ice over and try to sip it very slowly so that it wouldnt trigger the pain. My dentist recommended that i use sensodyne. I think that sensodyne has been great in terms of reducing the sensitivity and pain that i was experiencing. Now i can put ice in my water. Sensodyne absolutely works, there you have it. Hey, you forgot the milk thats lactaid. Right. 100 real milk, just without the lactose. So you can drink all you want. Ith no discomfort . Exactly. Y. Ere, try some. Mmm, it is real milk. See . Delicious. Hoof bump oh. Right here girl, boom lactaid. 100 real milk. No discomfort and for a creamy and delicious treat, try lactaid ice cream recently weve noticed some ads created by these two birds, inviting you to stay away from the streak free shine of windex. Well dear windex users these ads are false. Sfx squeaks from Window Cleaning clean glass is better than dirty glass. Use windex. There are eight days until christmas. Your stockings have been hung with care. Now, its time to fill them. Lilliana is here with great Stocking Stuffers, all for under 30. Good morning. Good morning, guys. You did our shopping for us. I did. I think stockings are my favorite part of christmas traditions. Them and not spend a lot of money. One. Sure. I like this, right off the bat. These are great. My son luke would love these. Those are minions headphones. Available at kohls. Com. Inside, i think, are also peanuts headphones. Target. Com. Super affordable. Every kid loves those. Great idea. To the star wars theme somewhere in here. Theres something in there star wars related, and it could be a head lamp. You look adadable. Wow. That turns on at night and your kids with use it as a reading light or to play in the dark. Its like a lego. Its available at amazon. Com. How cute is that . Really cool. Color roll. Ava is showing us this jumbo sized color roll. Its taking coloring books to the next level. Design life kids. Com. I love these. Willie, for your sweetie. Thank you. Lets see whats in there. M i your oh, no. Yes, you are. That took a turn. I love these. These are makeup bags. They have all these fun things right there. Those are from breakup to makeup. Com. If you unzip the bag, youll find Something Else for the star wars fan. Cover girl has done an entire limited Edition Makeup collection. Mascara. So cute. You can find them at any drugstore drugstore. Amazing. Might be the money disney is making. I know. Something else in your stocking. Selfie mirror. For the woman who wants to look good in every photo. Thats from stoptiques. Com. Now for the pets, al. Great. These are from wildlywald. Com. The pet matt. These are dog treats. Not active but you need them to be. A dog lawntreat launcher. Here we go. It went reverse. I shot it at myself. I didnt mean to take it from you. Well figure it out. We also have chew toys. That was at me. All at once. Y y cant forget about the cats. One for you, my friend. This for a coworker. Work through there. Lets see what we found. For you. We shopped for you. Oh, thats so cute, you guys. Thank you. Adorable. Lotions and potions, oh, my. Thank you, guys. Happy holidays. Happy holidays. Thank you. Coming up, we have a pop culture pop quiz. On the ac its that night of the year you come here. Looking for gifts so there wont be tears. Its ok because they know you. Theyre loaded up with gear. An xbox for the children. And a mixer for your dear. No need to shop around for present youve missed its all here. Youre off the naughty list Eleventh Hour shopper. Thats you see you next year, buddy get low prices on all your lastminute gifts. Walmart. Fact you wont findndhe brand pharmacist. Relief doesnt get any better than this. It cleaned all this. Good job, mom. Gr. Ea. Apartment building in yankton, south dakota. It happened wednesday afternoon. Investigators say the blaze started in a laundry area. Damages are estimated at 45thousand dollars. The red cross is helping one family that was displaced by the fire. Four students have been arrested after a threat prompted the evacuation of the high school in newman grove, nebraska. It involved threats of violence posted on facebook made against the School Building and the people inside. Newman grove Police Contacted the Madison County sheriffs office, who then called a Critical Incident response team. Four juveniles were taken into custody. The county attorney will decide what charges theyll face and whether theyll be tried as adults. Cold tomorrow with similar temperatures to todays, but temperatures closer to 40 will arrive this week with overall dry weather. Have your next burger with a side of awesome. The oneofakind, creamy blend of sweet and tangy. Miracle whip and proud of it. At kraft we start with quality ingredients. All expertly blended to make our mayo. So you can take whatever youre making taking a look at the headlines. Disney is instalalng metal detecters at the front of all four theme parks. Its also discontinuing the sale of toy guns and will no longer allow kids over the age of 14 to wear costumes. The detecters are going up ahead of tonights star wars premiere at disney springs, Sea World Orlando and universal orlando will also use metal detecters. The cost of borrowing has gone up. On wednesday, the Federal Reserve raised Interest Rates 4 of one percenen janet yellen said rates would keep rising gradually next year if the economy is strong enough. Its bad for borrowers but good for people saving money. Promise toward a Screening Test for Ovarian Cancer. Researchers studied more than 200,000 women for more than a decade in britain and used a blood test to check for a chemical that sometimes is linked toen a earl an early stage of it took into account a womans age and the degree of change in the chemical over time. They were able to calculate a risk force. The study suggested the screening could cut Ovarian Cancer deaths by 20 . Earlier recall of bean bag chairs is being reissued once again. It involved more than 2 million chairs cold between 1995 and 2013. Twtw children have died, suffocatinggn the foam beads inside. Fewer than 1,000 consumers responded to last yaersears recall, and officials fear many of the chairs are still being used by children. Consumers should contact ace bayou for a free repair kit. Triple ginger brew is being recalled from trader joes, after r rorts of the bottles exploding. If you have the bottles in your home, t tder joes say to handle it with extreme care and dispose they will provide a refund. A nebraska sheriffs deputy jumped to the rescue when a truck driver had a diabetic attack and slumped behind the wheels. Authorities followed the truck for 12 miles. Thats when the sergeget dashed across the road, jumped in and brought the truck to a stop. Lets get a check of the weather from mr. Roker. Nat, were looking at wet weather for today along the eastern sea board. Windy, wet weather along the Pacific North coast, with snow in the interiors. High surf advisories along the californian coast. Icy conditions and snow in the Pacific Northwest. Western new york, upstate new york, looking at lakeeffect snow. Some areas could see 18 inches by sunday of snow. Thats whats going on around thtoday will be cold and breezy with highs near 30, but with the wind confident that well see at least a few peeks of sun today, but not to worry, well have plenty of opportunity to see some tomorrow and over the weekend. Now, it will still be cold tomorrow with similar temperatures to todays, but temperatures closer to 40 will arrive this weekend and stick around next week with overall dry weather. See graphics. Thats your latest weather. Weve got our buzzers. Weve got our podiums. Natalie is making her way down. She has a frightening its game time. Shes stretching, getting ready for this. Everyone working on this show becomes an expert when it comes to pop culture. No one more so than our amazing producers, gavin and kate. Theyve decided, for some reason, they want to go head to head in a showdown. Dylan is here, the only person natalie, were still waiting for natalie. Shes coming. Kate, youre at a slight dischangdis disadvantage. We dont need it. Shes here. Fierce look in her eyes. I always wanted to be a game show host, and i forced myself on to the show. We like to pretend we know a lot about pop culture, but its kate and gavin that know more than us. Youre on the buzzer. You guys are window dressingment. Ill read the question. If you dont win this, youre fired. About right. Go for it. Here we its a music question. Were going to listen to a music clip. Ats the songnd the film . Roll the clip. Flashlight Pitch Perfect tune. Oh, my gosh thats not part of the question. You got it. Im making things more difficult. What film earned the most at the gavin again. Jurassic park. Thats not correct. Its jurassic world. You got this. Up got this. Next question. Who played furiousa in the golden charlese theron. Who stumbled and fell while performing at the britt awards . Madonna. Madonna expert here. Obvious. I would be proud of that. What . Come on. Who played the villain in the krzysztof wall. Is it 22 . Who is cookies exhusband in empire . Lion . No, his real name. Jay power. We get it. Who praised his new wife when he accepted the cecil b. Demille award at t t Golden Globes . George clooney. Can you name don drapers daughter in mad men . Sally. Thats right. Tied up. Tied up. Next one. Whoaide was polite, intention, smart, really in one of the years biggest films, who said he was polite, intense, smart, really intimidating . Thats a line from the movie . No, it was the actress. Oh, i know this. Oh, gosh. I know it because it was i know it. I know this. Think about it. Pass. Dakota johnson. We have time for more . Zoe dechannel and her husband gave their daughter otter. Two names. Otter ah um otter control. Who played reverend gary wayne in john happ. Gavin. Nice working w wh you. Gavin. You and madonna did it. Next. Discover card hey so im looking at my bill and my fico Credit Scores on here. Yeah we give you your fico credit score. For free awesomesauce the only person i know that says that is. Lisa . Lie . Weve already given more than 175 million free fico creditit scores to our cacamembers. Apply today at discover. Com we give you relief from your cold flu. You give them a case of the giggles. Tylenol cold helps relieve your worst cold flu symptoms. You can give them everything youve got. And off you go, and off you go, and off you go, for every step, every stride, every start, begin strong with the Lasting Energy of 100 whole grain quaker oats. And off you go. Its official, i work for ge what . Wow. Yeah okay. Guys, ill be writing a new language for machines so planes, trains, even hospitals can work better. Oh sorry, i was trying to put it away. Got it on the cake. So youre going to work on a train . Not on a train. On trains youre not gonna develop stuff anymore . No i am. With ingngdients like roroted hazelnuts and cocoa, theres a whole lot of happy in every jar of nutella. Spread the happy. Can you believe its already week 14 in our 16 to 16 challenge, and our three participants who couldnt make it today have nearly completed their mission to get healthy by the new year. Tasty treats are at every turn. Joy bauer is here to help with a holiday food faceoff. Good morning. Good to see you all. Lets begin with the weigh in. How is everybody doing . Mary jean lost another pound. Shes down for a total of 33 pounds. Wow ochelle lost another three pounds. Shes down a total of 28 pounds. Oh, my gosh congrats, ladies. Ken is not here. He lost another pound. Hes down for a total of 29 pounds. Collectively, willie, if you can imagine, theyre down 90 pounds. The best part of that is we have donated more than 15,000 meals for people in need. You guys arere incredible. 90pounds. Wow thrilled. Help us through this Holiday Cocktail Party season. Were going to go from station to station, and each one, youre going to take a bell. Youll have a bell. Im going to ask you a question. The first person who thinks they know the answer, ring the bell and youre going to say what you think the answer is. Okay. For the first question, which one has more calories. Topped with cheesese orr is it two sliders, or are they even . Which is more fattening . This is better. Fattening. 260 calories for the sliders. No way about 200 calories for the crackers with the cheese. We were wrong. That was good. Well go over here. Pick up your jingles. Ill jingle myself here. Which has more calories. Four swedish meatballs or four mini vegetable egg rolls . Meatballs. More calories. The egg roll. The meetatballs, 350 calories. Theres a lot of fatty ground beef with this creamy sauce. They look so good until you said that, joy. I would have one of each. Sometimes theyre too good to here we go. Ladies, you look amazing. Now, which has more calories. A quarter cup of regular, traditional spinach art choke dish, or the same amount of cheeee fondue, or are they even . Theyre even. Yes wow. Even though they sound healthy and, by the way, guys, 300 calories for a quarter cup, bread. Just go easy. Pick the one you want. Home run. Yay. Dip with vegetables, okay. Thank you. Coming up next, alex cross is back, with bestselling author James Patterson. He has three books to tell us about after this. Hes a machine. Olay regenerist renews from within, for a dramatic transformation without the need for fillers your concert tee might show your age. Your skikinever will. Olay regenerist. Olay. Ageless. Olive gardens allnew flavorfilled pastas, with raviolis so nice we filled them twice. An irresistible twist on an old favorite. Plus unlimited salad and breadsticks. For a limited time. At olive garden. When we go to the store, i find my box of honey bunches of oats and im checking to see if i packaged it. Best cereal in the world right there. If the last 3 letters were p22, thats me. Innovative sonicare technology with up to 27 more brush movements versus oral b. B. 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Tell your doctor if youve been someplace where fungal infections are common, or if youre prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for heart failure, or if you have persistent fever, bruising, bleeding, or paleness. Dont start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. Joint pain and damage. Can go side by side. Ask how enbrel can help relieve joint pain and help stop joint damage. Enbrel, the number one rheumatologistprescribed biologic. Thank you. Thank you, again. Pat yourself upon your back. Your shopping is done. You aint no slack. You ordered online and got them in the same day. Navigate the app at will with incredible digital ninja skills. The holidays could not be better. Maybe you have time to k kt him a sweater. I dont know maybe a snowman. I could do that. Lets get out of here. Im just thinking. Order gifts online and pick them up the same day. Walmart. James patterson is one of the most popular authors in the world. Hes sold more than 3255 million books globally. He holds the Guinness World record for the most number one New York Times best sellers. His stories have been made into tv and big screen motion pictures, including 1997s kiss the girl starring morgan tyler perryry the new book is called cross justice. New kids out for books, as well. You made it, man. I was worried about you. I was, too. Alex cross, 23rd book in the series. Yeah. And hes maybe going to find his father. Maybe. Wow. Thats the big question. Thats one of the things that drdres him. Its been a big factor in this series. He thought his father was dead, and he gets new information in this book. Well see where it goes. One of the fun things, people watch the tv show, the 26 episodes, blindside or whatever. Here, theres only one episode a year. Thats it. Thats a great thing. If somebody starts from the beginning with a ax cross, they have 23pisodes to readd through. Thats right. One of the things i love about you is that, you know, you are one of the weve done this series, you know, paying it the fact youve been going around giving bonuses to folks at the bookstores. Im trying to draw attention to the fact that we need independent bookstores. We need bookstores and book sellers. We need to honor them. Wherever you are, if youre watching this, go into a bookstore and get books for your family. Get books for your kids, especially. Okay. Now, youre a prolific writer. Youve done so much. You actually have a cameo practically, i do. Alfred hitchcock used to do this, but he was smart and walked in the background. I kind of walk right into the middle. What movie is this . Its middle year, the worst years of my life. Its funny. Ferris bueller meets pixar. Theres a lot i it pattersons acting debut. The manager. Hello. Can we keep it down a lot, if you know, this is not c cck e. Cheese. Good talk. Can i have another root beer . Absolutely not. You had enough sugar. You stole that from lauren graham. I did. I stole it. You immediately took it. Most movies, theyll put the good scenes out. This is the worst scene in the movie. Its very, very funny. They dont usually prorote that way, but its cool they did. Fantastic. Out. I funny tv is out. Well, the book says i funny, it better be funny. With James Patterson, you know it is. Merry christmas. Good to see you. Cross justice . Book well be back i ia mo kinney, author of the wimpy kid series. Hes here to announce a donation to our toy drive. Were excited. The train jumped the track and wont move. Thank you so much for partnering th us. Tell us a litite bit about the donation this jeeryear. Were giving away 10,000 books, including the wimpy kids books. This is something so many people can appreciate. Kids read it through age 7 and usually stop around age 13. Tremendous donation. For one sioux city woman, Christmas Decorations are not about lights, but rather, nutcrackers. Every christmas season, Jacque Goettsch puts up her collection of nutcrackers. Goettsch says she started her collection in 1988 and has been adding to it ever since. Of the 243 nutcrackers in her collection, only three of them are duplicates. She also has 53 nativity scenes and a room dedicated to santa claus. Goettsch says it takes her about a week and a half to set up the decorations. She acknowledges that she is nuts about nutcrackers. But one figurine has eluded her thus far. Goettsch, who is a retired nurse, would really heres meterologist Ben Dorenbach with weather