district court's website. as we have been reporting for sometime now, governor george ryan former governor george ryan's lawyers asking for an early release from the federal correctional center in oxford, is with wills. he has served three years of a six and a half year sentence on corruption charges. primary reasons his lawyers are asking for his early release, the failing health of his wife, laura lynn ryan, 55 years of age. doctors say she has anywhere from 3 to 6 months to live with a very aggressive form of lung cancer. now lawyers have asked judge palmeyer to throw out portions of ryan's 2006 conviction based on a recent u.s. supreme court ruling on honest services laws. the u.s. supreme court took some of the teeth out of those types of laws which had been used to prosecute government officials such as george ryan. and that law was recently tossed out or portions of it tossed out by the highest court. ryan was convicted in 2006 on fraud and racketeering charges, lying to federal agents. he was found by a jury guilty of steering lucrative state government contracts to friends and political insiders in exchange for family vacations, gifts and cash. now federal prosecutors have opposed this request for the early release. one of the arguments that they have raised that the countless prisoners in the federal system in similar predickments have not been able to get out early. now, granting early release to ryan is a form of special treatment. the prosecutors have argued a treatment that hasn't been extended to other prisoners. now, once again, this ruling is being posted on the website at this point in time. the judge rebecca palmeyer has refused to release george ryan early. she has issued that ruling. we don't have any details yet available. of course, we will bring you developments as it becomes available. for now, live at the dirksen federal building, julian crews, wgn news. we are getting late word that ruling has been denied by the judge. we don't -- we have not been able to look at what is in the ruling but as soon as we do, we will get back with you and give you all the details. again, apparently it has been denied. chicago public school officials are investigating the death of a student who had a severe allergic reaction after eating food at the school. grief counselors are helping students at the school. edison search grader kaitlin carlson died last friday to a severe reaction to a food allergy after eating food. she was allergic to peanuts. parents at school tells "chicago tribune" that his daughter has a peanut allergy and she assured him the teacher called the restaurant to make sure that peanuts would not be used in the food. joliet boy is fighting for his life. his father allegedly shot the child in the head. it happened last night in the family's apartment in the 1200 block of cutter avenue. the 12-year-old's mother called police saying her husband had shot the boy. authorities say it appears the shooting was intentional. charges against the father identified as 36-year-old roderick are expected. the boy is listed in grave condition this morning. west side teen is being remembered as police search for leads in his hit-and-run death. 17-year-old jamal richardson was hit at the corner of thomas and ridgeway in humboldt park. family and friends gathered there last night saying they hope the driver will be found. police say the teen was standing on the sidewalk and was hit by a car that lost control. still no sign of the car or the driver. the snow and freezing rain cawlsed a lot of problems for drivers overnight. several accidents along the expressways near 87 and the dan ryan. a few drivers ran across black ice in the northbound lanes. cars slid and crashed into the wall. nobody hurt. and along i-57 and i-80 few drivers swerved off the road and landed in ditches. idot trucks and the city's fleet of snowplows are out this morning. tom skilling is monitoring another possible snow system making -- that might be headed our way for christmas eve. despite the conditions of bears have won of their most dominating performances of the season. >> last home game, going out with style. >> brett favre made a surprising start and led the vikings to an opening drive touchdown hooking up with percy harbin. the bear's offense and got it going when jay cutler fired a perfect 67-yard touchdown pass to johnny knox putting the bears up 10-7. then brett favre's season -- cory wooten sacked favre and his head slammed on to the turf as you see there. the game full of story lines, a record breaking play seems fitting, devin hester was the all time in return touchdowns with 14 after he returned a third quarter punt for a td. bears roll 40-14 win the nfc north division and lock up the playoff spot for the first time since 2006. after the game, they talked about the success of this year's team. >> you know, there is a lot of question marks on the offense. the offensive line. our offense gets rolling. you know, defense showing up during the year. special teams showing up big. it just complete team effort to get to where we are now. >> got a good mix of young guys that are talented that are running around. it's fun. we can't get -- we have to keep getting better and better. >> special group of guys. great leadership. just had guys going to work every day. listen to a lot of the stuff going on around them. they do everything we ask them to do as coaches and we haven't peaked yet. the bears will now look to lock up a first round bye and host a second round playoff game. the bears players are not looking too far ahead. fans back home can't help but think about another run at the super bowl. >> and why not? wgn's nancy loo live at soldier field with fan reaction. nancy. >> well, allison and steve, there is post season excitement all over town. with hopes that this sunday's game here at soldier field against the jets won't be the last home action for the bears. the bears pro shop is all stocked up with gear ready to outfit fans into the post season. though division championship items won't arrive until tomorrow at the earliest. the decisive win against the vikings last night convinced number of skeptics but some fans admit they are surprised the bears are in the playoffs. regardless, there is holiday comfort and joy moving forward. >> they are going to the super bowl. they are going to the super bowl. definitely. >> super bowl. superbowl. no doubt. all the way. superbowl. i'm a bear's fan all the way. >> good to see the bears back in the playoffs. >> how far do you think they will go in the playoffs. >> i think they will go all wait. i think they will make it to the super bowl and win it. >> now at this point no word on when bears playoff tickets will go on sale. that, of course, depends who they will be playing and where. we are live at soldier field, nancy loo, wgn news. leading up to monday night's game between the bears and minnesota, you know, we were hearing a lot about the change of venue and those terrible icy frozen field conditions. at tcf bank stadium. it was covered with snow and crews worked for hours to clear it away. thanks to time lapse video, you see it all happen in less than a minute. hundreds of volunteers cleared snow from the stadium's bleachers, side lines and field. more than 30,000 cubic feet of snow had to be removed from the stadium. new census data released and not good for illinois' standing in washington. next at midday, how many congressional seats the state will lose. plus, frustration is building as travel throughout europe is snarled for another day because of fierce winter storms. and shipping packages this holiday season, there is a new e-mail scam that may be targeting you. thank you for calling usa pmy name peggy. peggy, yes, i'd like to redeem my reward points for a gift card. tell points please? 250,000. calculating... ooh! answer: five fifty! 550 bucks?! 5 dollar, 50 cents. minus redeeming charge. leaving 50 cents. say what? happy time! what kind of program is this? want better rewards? switch to discover. america's number 1 cash rewards program. it pays to discover. case you are now joining us, the late decision in the past few minutes from federal judge rebecca palmeyer that former governor george ryan must remain in prison. she has turned down his request to remain in prison. >> joining us on the phone is wgn legal analyst terry sullivan. did the decision surprise you and tell us what you think went into the judge's decision. >> i'm surprised. i think that i have no idea because all i heard was the minute order and that's brief. i look forward to reading it. it just came out and i'm not at the courthouse. but i am surprised because she does mention that she is taking into consideration the skilling case which is pretty much a -- something that would signal that he should be released until resentenced. what concerns me is that it looks as if the judge suggesting she doesn't have to resentence him under the honest services act which was something that the u.s. supreme court found unconstitutional. so quite frankly if he did commit a crime under the honest services act, then it's pretty surprising that she didn't at least say, i got to resentence him under that so i will let him out on bail because he has served three years. obviously she did not let him out on humanitarian grounds either-or i should say obviously what i have been able to brief. >> is this the former governor's last chance at getting out to be with his wife? >> well, not really. i'm sure that there will be more hearings. i don't know whether or not she set a hearing on this further or whether or not this is something that will be appealable to the seventh circuit court of appeals there. if it is, i'm sure they will go there right away. >> little background terry. ryan 76 years old and served three years of a six and a half year term, his wife laura lynn has been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. she may have as little as three months to live. his request was to be let out of prison early so he can spend her final months, the two can spend the two final months together as a couple. i might ask you to explain a little more on that honest services law ruling from the u.s. supreme court and why they were going to try to use that as a way to get the governor -- former governor's early release. >> it's simple. when the u.s. supreme court in the skilling case came down and said that honest services was unconstitutional, that basically meant in my eyes that in fact if somebody was convicted under those charges or if a jury heard those charges and considered them, that in fact that -- please stand by. fantastic judge but she obviously rejectd both of them. and we will see where we move. i look forward to reading rest of the opinion. >> terry sullivan, thank you so much. the ruling from the judge is that george ryan will remain in prison. >> for now. >> request denied. >> we will have more on that story on our news at 5:00 p.m. british prime minister david cameron has offered troops to help clear british airports where winter weather has forced major flight delays and cancellations. half of the flights a london's heathrow airport, the busiest airport are expected to be canceled today. exhausted passengers are struggling for fourth day trying to get home. the weather also causing travel problems and other european airports as well as on euro star trains connecting britain and france and belgium. and on many european highways. numbers are out and the 2010 census shows the nation' population now just under 309 million. that represents the lowest growth rate since the great depression. illinois' population grew by just 3.3% and that means the state will lose one seat in congress because it no longer has enough people to justify 19 congressional seats. michigan was the only state to lose population over the last ten years. illinois' senators are making moves to ensure chicago's drinking water is safe. senator durbin and senator kirk will meet with an environmental protection agency official today to talk about high levels of chromium 6 in chicago's drinking water. and environmental group tested chicago's water along with 30 other cities. that study found levels of chromium 6 as much as three times higher than a safety limit proposed by california. chromium 6 has been linked to stomach cancer and tumors. will he survive -- [ male announcer ] little oliver had a fog horn nose. it shattered his tissue with hurricane blows. no person or place was safe from the spray. but his mom had new puffs ultra soft & strong to save the day. with lotion-free pillows to cushion the force. puffs holds up better than value tissue of course. next time oliver blew his horn, he reached for puffs ultra soft & strong. a nose in need deserves new puffs ultra soft & strong indeed. when you prefer a lotion tissue, try puffs plus lotion. we were joined on the phone by former governor jim thompson who helped lead the effort to get former governor ryan released from prison to be with his dying wife laura lynn. governor thompson, your reaction to the judge's decision, no -- >> very disappointed. i thought that the skilling decision of the supreme court made it clear that you cannot use honest services as a basis for mail fraud conviction. that you must prove bribery or kick back. neither of which was present in the ryan case. and of course if you can't use honest services and that's the basis which he was convicted, then he is in the penitentiary for something that was not a crime under this skilling decision. so i was -- judge would recognize the application for the skilling decision and resentence him and then in the mean time free him on bail. so obviously we are really disappointed with this ruling and we will appeal to the seventh circuit just as quick as we can. >> governor, what are your chances of being successful in the feel? >> i don't know. i guess it depends on which judge is here in the seventh circuit and what they think of my argument. i am convinced that we got a substantial argument given the skilling case. and that when released he ought to be entitled to bail while presenting it to the seventh circuit and so we will ask for that. >> you fought valiantly on behalf of former governor ryan. lent the services of yourla firm pro bono to defend the governor. and to pursue this effort to get him out of prison. explain your passion for this case while you felt strongly in favor of former governor ryan. >> put aside the fact that i known the ryan family for 25 -- no actually for 35 years. watched their kids grow up. i watched that i ever grand kids grow up. theirs grand kids grow up. and he was could be victed and sentenced for convicted and sentenced for mail fraud and it makes it clear he should not have been. put aside all that. we have defended george ryan pro bono because he has nothing. he has no money. he has no possessions. he has nothing. his pension was taken away. his medical care was taken away. everything was taken away. >> so -- he obviously can't afford us so we defended him pro bono as we do for a number of people who cannot afford us. it's not just for ryan. and we don't give up when somebody is in jail for x that were not a crime. >> governor, may i ask you, i talked briefly with homer last week. since they have nothing, who is taking care of laura lynn in her condition? >> well, the kids. the kids are. i mean, george doesn't even get social security because he is in jail. and the government says if you are in jail you don't need your social security. well, you know, if the kids are taking care of her and friends are taking care of her. george ryan did a lot of good things when he was governor. despite the fact that he messed up in this case. he did a lot of good things. >> but mrs. ryan has a lot of support. >> should be recognized for those. >> former governor jim thompson, thank you so much for joining us this afternoon. again, he and his law firm will appeal this decision from federal judge rebecca palmeyer that george ryan will stay in prison. rahm emanuel, is he on or off the mayoral ballot? the bored of elections officer who predieded -- is expected to make his recommendation. muriel clair is live now at board pof elections with the very latest. murial? >> we don't have that answer. for now the ball is in the hearing officer joe morris' court. he has to make a recommendation to the board of election commissioners we know that it's coming sometime today. the big question is, when? those opposed to rahm emanuel's candy had up until yesterday to state their case in writing. at issue is whether emanuel who served as president obama's chief of staff until october 1 meets the legal requirement of being a chicago resident for one year prior to the mayoral election in february at hearings last week both emanuel and his lawyers maintain that he never abandoned chicago or his residence during his time in the white house. he rented out his house but kept his personal items locked up in the basement of his home. that's one indication the mayor hopeful says he intended to return to chicago. disregarding the fact that emanuel's move to washington was at the request of the president of the united states,p bert oddleson, the attorney for the lead objectors says that doesn't matter and he should be tossed off the ballot. we were being joined with jim allen. jim allen is the spokesperson for the board of election commissioners. jim, so what's next? i mean, do you have any idea when the hearing officer is going to hand out that recommendation and how will you receive it? >> we don't know the precise time. it will be sometime this afternoon or sometime this evening. perhaps late in the evening when the hearing officer joseph morris will turn over a recommendation to the board. it's a nonbinding recommendation. that the board will consider along with all of the testimony and the evidence that is introduced at the hearing. and then it will make his decision, the board members will gather on thursday to make their decision and on the case. >> and once they get it, then what? they will -- they will issue i guess a decision. >> once the board makes a decision, it's the fáright of a aggrieved party to go into court. and file an appeal of that decision. and both parties have indicated that they may well do that. >> and even if they go into circuit court, that's not -- that doesn't have to be the end of it. there are other steps. is that right? >> with any case you can appeal it. the circuit court level. go to the appellate court and then take it all the way to the illinois supreme court. >> thank you very much for joining us. and all in the wait and see mode. reporting live from outside the board of election commissioner's office, muriel clair, wgn news. keep us posted. coming up next, how a glass of mill cob help ward off a common illness. >> and we are talking with eddie ol chk about a new book highlights the team's stanley cup winning season. hi, may i help you? yes, i hear progressive has lots of discounts on car insurance. can i get in on that? are you a safe driver? yes. discount! do you own a home? yes. discount! are you going to buy online? yes! discount! isn't getting discounts great? yes! there's no discount for agreeing with me. yeah, i got carried away. happens to me all the time. helping you save money -- now, that's progressive. call or click today. do health issues limit your mobility? is it difficult to get to the bathroom on your own? do you feel like a bother to others due to your lack of mobility? have you fallen in the past 12 months? if you answered yes to any of these questions, you may qualify for a new power chair at little to no cost to you. hi i'm doug harrison. if you're living with limited mobility, call the scooter store today. we're experts at getting you the power chair or scooter you need. i 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[ female announcer ] for a noticeably whiter smile in just two weeks crest 3d white toothpaste. also try crest 3d white rinse. ♪ if it pans out it could be an inexpensive way to prevent diabetes. eat more whole fat dairy foods. milk, cheese, yogurt and butter contain a fatty acid that according to the study in today's annals of internal medicine. people with the highest level of this acid reduce their -- odds of diabetes by 62%. it's a natural substance in dairy products. part that really flies in the face of what we heard before, the results showed higher levels are also associated with healthier levels of cholesterol. there are new e-mail scam might be come to your computer in time for christmas. a hark claims to be federal express and that hacker says a shipment is held up because the company needs your social security number. or other information. and you are asked to click on a link and if you click that link your computer is infect wad virus that lets hacker get your bank account information. remember, fed ex and ups will never ask for your social security number. and neither will tom skilling. he is coming up next with the full forecast. well, good afternoon, everybody. kind of a slushy tuesday san francisco in here in the wake of the biggest snow that we had in the chicago area and almost two weeks here. almost six inches of snow down in parts of the metro area. and you can see the loclouds and the thawing conditions that linger in its wake. temperatures are above freezing today for the first time in two weeks. and the heavy overcast will spit a little drizzle on us perhaps a flurry of snow from time to time today. but there is another system we are watching later in the week that will drag the colder air down. we have something of a respite going in the cold weather that has made this the coldest december opener in almost five years in the chicago area. it is slippery. first 32 and almost a week. two weeks. visibilities are down under a three-quarters of a mile in parts of the area as we run this moist air over the cold snow pack. we do expect the winds to pick up tomorrow and blow this out of here but not until then and then this weekend we will see colder air come in on strong winds that may turn the lake- effect snow machine on. wie said good-bye to one wave. we are watching this latest storm to strike the west coast. got a pineapple express pattern going and these hit in waves. we had reports of winds yesterday around mammoth lakes, california, gusting to 164 miles per hour. that's up at about 9,000 feet and then they had 162 inches of snow there. that's like 12 1/2 feet. and they are measuring snow in feet in the mountains around los angeles. the little system we went through last fight was an off- shot of the system and visibles as low as .2 of a mile in de kalb and 1.2 miles in o'hare as we sit in the soup at above freezing soup at the moment. we may caught couple of flurries we were walking through the next 24 hours. by morning there is a banding of lake-effect snow showers that may come back into our area during the afternoon. but in the interim we could get sprinkles or a little bit of drizzle in our in-house models kicking out about half an inch of snow out of these ó3sthings tomorrow afternoon. we have about 46% of the country under snow pack and this is a plot of that snow on the ground. so about half the country is snow covered at this point. snows in our area were impressive in spots. they came down with thunder and lightning with kendall and la salle and kankakee counties last night. elberon has picked up six inches of snow. rochelle five. dekalb about 4.6. we run down the list. naperville at 3.9. bow valley in 34bg henry county about four inches of snow and same at joliet. we are a country divided between moderate chill here, bitter arctic cold for the moment has pulled back to the north. but it will regroup and come down on us during the weekend. believe me, we had colder arctic air masses before in december. but we were talking about temperatures in the low to mid- 20s on saturday, christmas day and sunday and you can see there is a little cooler in the -- cooling in the wake of the system out to the west. winds are light. southeast at 6 and look at that humidity, 100% now with water temperature at 33. by the way, ice on the lake. that starts affecting the moisture we get into the lake- effect snows. pineapple express named because it comes out of hawaii and tropical posk and runs thousands of miles and when you orient this moisture plume at the mountains and fire it up against those mountains, the upslope produces incredible ams of snow in higher elevation asks rain in the lower elevations. mud slides in progress in california. what's happened is this greenland -- warm dome of air backed up and allowed effects of la nina to take over and that's why the storms are hitting the west coast. look at this ten day computer projection of rainfall and total precipitation. some of this will fall and the snow in the mountains and see how it backs up against the mountain and then the system jumpcap come into our area. if you take all of the collective snow off our models over the negotiation two weeks we have almost 16 inches of snow on the way here in chicago. that would be over two weeks and comes in parcels. that's the estimate from the weather service's gfs model is with i 16 day model that runs four times a day. here is the winter storm warnings with the next weather system already out across the rockies. and here is how things unfold with that system and the current one that is going to produce these clouds today and tonight. and little drizzle and flurries at times then a ridge of high pressure dives in here strengthens the winds a bit from the north. next system jumps the mountains and comes out in the plains and here is the overrunning snow into iowa by 5:30 on thursday. that will start coming into the area. we think on christmas eve day friday. it looks like the heart of storm will pass south of us. but average the forecast from the weather system we still get about five inches of snow between friday and saturday. that's a very early guesstimate and subject to change. but here is where the snow is to lay out on friday and friday night. starting to form out to the west there and accumulate. here is a ten day vx4ñdepiction how the weather will unfold and we will run that through and detail for you and show you the cooler weather expected this weekend. but tonight, this is a first of this afternoon, first above freezing temperature in nine days. overcast, periods of light know and flurries. high temperatures 35. and the winds are on the light side. no windchill. tonight a heavy overcast continues and a bit of freezing drizzle or maybe a flurry at times. low temperature 26. tomorrow, cloudy, flurries in the morning. winds will strengthen a bit in the afternoon and might bring in a snow shower off the lake at times. high temperature of 33. no great accumulations with that. and thursday mostly cloudy. seasonally cold and bridging to the next system with a flurry in the air and high of 31. get out there and enjoy it. this is about as warm as we have been here. >> it does. >> it does bite. it doesn't sting as much when it's in the low to mid-30s. >> thank you. here is your trivia question for today. what does bacala mean in italian? cod? egg plant or broccoli. we were talking about the italian feast of the fishes. the answer still ahead on the midday news. salsa? ♪ [ female announcer ] the cleaner the counter, the smoother the counter. with bounty you can be confident you'll get your counter clean. in this lab test, one sheet of bounty leaves this surface 3x cleaner than the bargain brand. ♪ big mess? bring it. super absorbent, super durable, super clean. bounty. the clean picker upper. and for huge value, try bounty huge roll. good afternoon with your midday winning lottery numbers for tuesday thousand december 21. first game with bengay pain relief plus massage you can do this... get the ball. get the ball, girl. hmmm, you can't do that. but you can do this. it's the simple things. scientifically formulated bengay pain relief + massage with penetrating nubs gives you the targeted relief of a massage plus the powerful, long-lasting pain relief of bengay. bengay pain relief + massage. visit bengay.com/relief for a $3.00 coupon. love the nubs! season that hockey nance the city of chicago will never forget. now that season is immortalized in a coffee table book titled one goal achieved of. inside story of the 2010 family cup champion chicago blackhawk's join us to talk about the book is the black chummest -- columnist. this book, we get a lot of these coffee table books but this one is amazing. way better than a lot of them that i have seen. captures the spirit of the season. >> it does. and i think for anybody who knows what's going on with the blackhawks with the leadership with john mcdonough and jay blung and rocky it's a first class book and chronological look at last year's amazing run from the start of the season all the way through the regular season, the playoffs winning game 6 in philadelphia. the parade and the reaction of all of the players and families but then the banner raising that happened at start of this year. obviously a great holiday gift but it was a first class book and doesn't surprise me. >> lovely book and i love the extras. for example, it has jonathan toews scouting report. >> when he was a young guy. >> right. couple years agos in not a young guy. >> 19 years old or something. you get to see things like that. and the still photographs are terrific. who is responsible for all of those? >> adam and john sandberg of the new immediate yap and publications of the blackhawks did a wonderful job. the photography -- really really is remembers l.a. year and have their own vivid memories of everything that went on with the blackhawks. but the pictures are amazing. if you look close enough in many blackhawk fans traveled well with the blackhawks during the playoffs and the stanley cup finals, might be able to see yourself in these books because the pictures are graphic that you can really see the expression of the players and their families and trainers and coaches and the front office. >> like that right. there i was telling you, still photographs capture things that we don't always see on moving pictures, on video like that right there. >> it's breath taking and blackhawks have dawn wonderful job. and the books have gone fast. and right now with the blackhawks have offered to great fans of chicago of the blackhawks is you can head to the blackhawks store in michigan avenue or head down to the united center and they are giving away gaift cards and able to redeem the books after the holidays, limited edition gift cards and once they come in because they are hot sellers. >> they have sold out. >> there are a few out there. you get some holiday hunters and shoppers could find them but they are tough to come by. get your gift card and when the books come in sometime after the holidays you will be anal to get a great holiday gift. will last a lifetime. >> i love the way you pass that stanley cup. i think everybody in chicago got a chance to hold the stanley cup. >> with the way the world is now with the internet and everybody knowing where everybody is and the stanley cup and that makes the trophy -- trophy so great. it's the people's trophy and became the trophy of the city of chicago for handful of days and nies and team did a wonderful job of celebrating one of the greatest things that happened in the city in a long, long time. and i mentioned those extras. take a shot of the book here. it also has a dvd. with video. accounts of the entire season. >> takes you behind everything that went on. and the behind the scenes look of this team's unbelievable run last year. it has everything that you want. it has a replica ticket stub there in there as well. a lot of neat things ipside a real special book. cover to cover, it's beautiful. >> let's talk about the prospect of this year's blackhawks team. not the same as last year. two superstars. coming back. toews and kane. what are the prospects for this year? >> the last couple of games they played better. and yes, the team is drastically different after losing nine or ten players. this is a team coming quickly. a lot of home cooking here right before the holidays. >> we saw them coming together last year. >> let's have another party like last year and another book! >> one -- the inside story of the 2010 stanley cup champion of the blackhawk's log on to wgntv.com/midday to find out where you can pick up a copy. lunch break is coming up next. thank you for calling usa primyou have problem? is peggy. peggy? ok, i've been waiting for fifteen minutes for someone to pick up. you're tenacious like bull. i like. please hold. no, no, no...pe- (phones ringing) so pretty. want 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[ male ato london startsis chawith arthritis pain...ght and a choice. take tylenol now, and maybe up to 8 in a day. or...choose aleve and 2 pills for a day free of pain. enjoy the flight. [ male announcer ] twenty-four hour stuck-on food can be a huge project. but not for cascade complete pacs. with 70% more tough food cleaning ingredients, it's cascade's ultimate power tool for day old stuck-on food. ♪ [ jackhammer rattles ] [ male announcer ] cascade complete pacs. beyond your wildest clean. is it time for a lunch break and chef david joins me today. and your restaurant is going to be carrying on an italian christmas eve tradition and then you can explain the tradition of the seven dishes. >> the seven dish -- i grew up italian on both sides. the seven fish was something we did. we didn't know all the time why we were eating fish. but we always did it and it was a tradition that was carried on the whole time i grew up. i carried it on. >> is it religious? >> it is. >> catholic? >> some say it represents the seven churches of roam or seven sacraments. some people do different amount of courses including the 11 apostles so 11 courses. so a lot of different traditions. >> there is a reason that italians eat fish. >> yes. kind of like a fasting. >> i didn't know. i had no idea that there was a good reason. i am glad you are here to explain. what kind of fish is that? >> this is a cod. you are right. bacala is a traditional one that we will do it. it's stems from the south lake sicily. so we will do a little bacala. >> are your people from sicily? >> no. in campenna. little south. sicily is farther south, deeper. >> so that is in the pan? >> i heat up in the pan and get heat and season the cod and i put a little pepper and then i get a good sear on one side. people always talking about cooking fish. i think cooking fish you cook it on one side really well so you get a nice deep crust. and then when you turn it, threat rest a little bit so it's a delicate cooking when you finish. more moist. >> finish it on the other side exactly. >> chef, what's in the pan? >> is that little potato, mashed potatoes i made today. and also i'm going to do a sauce for the cod. it's with slivered garlic. a little bit of chili flake and broccoli rabe. so you have all of the tillian things today. broccoli rabe is bitter greens. in the turnip family but nice this time of year. in season this time of year. delicious. >> now, the other part -- these are other parts of the seven fish. >> i brought a couple of things for you to see. this is all part of it. we will do multiple fish in different courses. but this is a smoked salmon ricotta bruceicatea. sea food salad which include shrimp and calamari. potato and octopus salad. so those are the ones to see. it typically comes from the place where you are. when i grew up in rhode island. a feast was always on the table and fried smelt and those kind of things. this fish is looking good. so i think what we will do is give it a little turn and get a nice -- >> that's beautiful. >> and what you do is just a little bit -- just a little bit of butter to baste the fish. that will finish cooking just like that. so you get a nice delicate finish. to the fish. >> so that we shut it off and will let that the city there for a minute. we have some garlic and olive oil as you can see. you want to toast that garlic to get that nice perfume of the garlic. and then a little bit of chili flake which we have here. a pinch. so the garlic, i start in cold oil so you don't have -- you won't burn it. so that's toasted. i put the chili flake, broccoli rabe. so the broccoli rabe i cooked ahead of time in salted boiling water. kind of get a little bit of that bitterness out. you have a nice, nutty flavor from all of the ingredients there and i will put a little bit of broth in here that [ male announcer ] this is charlie whose morning flight to london starts with arthritis pain... and a choice. take tylenol now, and maybe up to 8 in a day. or...choose aleve and 2 pills for a day free of pain. enjoy the flight. heartburn that keeps coming back ? then you're ready for zegerid otc. zegerid otc is the first 24-hour treatment ever with two active ingredients: prescription-strength medicine plus a protective ingredient that shields the medicine from stomach acid so it's effectively absorbed. just one zegerid otc capsule a day can relieve your heartburn all day and all night. if you have frequent heartburn, try dual-ingredient zegerid otc. heartburn solved. there is the answer to our trivia question. i kept giving you clue ches answer is cod. a that's what the chef cooked today. check out their restaurant web page for more information because they will have a special evening of the 7 fishes meal. >> very cool. >> little bit of a warm up here. we were at 30 degrees right now in chicago. and the temperatures will stay fairly moderate this week. 33 tomorrow. 31 thursday and 29 friday. could see some light snow or sprinkles tonight and some flurries that might build to a snow shower in the lake in spots. thursday flurries and then snow or snow showers friday and saturday. that's christmas eve, christmas day, we will have more on that at 5:00 and 9:00. thank you so much. and thank you for joining us today. have a great afternoon. we were back at 5:00 and 9:00.