good morning. reid's regret. the senate majority leader speaks out for the first te about those controversial comments he made about barack obama. should they cost him his job? this morning, republican senator john mccain weighs in in a live interview. who killed paula? new video of an aspiring model the night she was murdered. will it help police with the investigation? this morning, her brother and niece speak out in an exclusive interview. and so long simon. "american idol's" abrasive judge announces this season will be his last. he apparentl turned down 144 million reasons to stay. what the future holds for him and for "idol" today, tuesday, january 12th, 2010. captions paid for by nbc-iversal television and welcome to "today" on this tuesday morning. i'm meredith vieira. >> and i'm matt lauer. and we want to remember that barack obama was the focus of senator harry reid's comments that some people thought were racially insensitive. now in a new interview, the president says the senate majority leader was only trying to praise him but he used what the president calls inartful language. >> that's right. reid's remarks were revealed in a book called "game change" that also delves a lot into the mccain/palin campaign, including claims that john mccain's aides had serious questions about sarah palin's mental stability and that she was not senator mccain's first choice for a running mate. we're going to talk to the senator about it all in just a moment. also, it is bonus season on wall street, but it seems the only people happy about that are the people receiving those bonuses. take a look at some of these numbers. the average payout for a jpmorgan chase employee, $463,000. goldman sachs, $595,000. both banks, you'll remember, were bailed out by taxpayer money. and again, those are the averages. some executives at these companies are going to get millions and millions of dollars. so, what, if anything, can the government do about all this? we're going to have much more on that, coming up. plus, the latest on the late-night shuffling going on here at nbc. jay leno and conan o'brien had a lot to say about it, all during their shows last night. the highlights, coming up. let us begin this morning, though, over at the news desk for a look at the headlines of the morning. ann's there. ann, good morning. >> hey, matt and meredith, good morning. good morning, everybody. we begin with a deadly bombing this morning in iran that killed a university professor who was recently taking the risk of backing iran's main opposition leader. and adding to the intrigue, the professor is also one of iran's prominent nuclear scientists. nbc nbc's ali arouzi is live with more. what do we know? >> reporter: good morning, ann. he was a prominent professor who threw his weight behind the opposition movement recently. this morning at 7:00 local time, as he was leaving his house, there was a motorbike parked outside his house. he came to close the door of his garage and the motorbike was blown up remotely, killing him instantly and damaging all the cars around him. the iranian news channels have been broadcasting it all morning, saying that this was an israeli and american plot, that the bomb had all the hallmarks of an israeli and u.s. attack on iranian soil, and it was probably conducted by a membe of the mujahadin here in iran. that's the latest out of iran. >> nbc's ali arouzi, thank you for your reporting this morning. today the president and first lady attend the funeral of vice president joe biden's mother in delaware. jean biden, who once told her son joey, "you are not better than anyone else, but nobody's better than you," died friday at the age of 92. walmart is pulling many chinese-made children's jewelry items from its shelves after the "associated press" reported finding that some chinese manufacturers have been using cadmium, which is a known carcinogen, in place of lead in charm bracelets and pendants. the woman who saved ann frank's diaries died on monday in amsterdam. she was the last survivor from the dutch jews who helped her family hide from the nazis in world war ii. she lectured on the evils of intolerance and ant semitism. she was 100 years old. last night, baseball's former home run king, mark mcgwire, admitted using steroids and human growth hormone on and off for a decade, including during the 1998 when he won the 70 home runs and broke roger maris' record. >> i apologize to everybody in major league baseball. my family, the marises, bud selig. today was the hardest day of my life. >> mcgwire side-stepped questions about steroid use in 2005, telling congress, "i'm not here to talk about the past." well, now he is apologizing, saying using steroids was a mistake that has been hard to live with. it is now 7:05. let's turn back to meredith, matt and stephanie. boy, pretty difficult for him to do that. >> but you know, i think that the most surprising thing is if anybody's surprised. >> exactly. >> because i think there was so many indications that this was happening. >> i think he had to do it, obviously, so. al is off. stephanie abrams filling in for him. his partner in crime. >> yes. >> good to see you. >> hi, guys. good to see you as well. >> good morning. >> let's take you to florida where temperatures are on the chilly side as you step out the door. anywhere from the 20s to 30s from northern down to south florida. the good news is, there's a light at the end of the tunnel. look at this. by friday morning, we'll be waking up to the 40s, 50s and the 60s here in the sunshine good morning, sunrise about 20 minutes away and the cloud cover beginning to break up a little bit this morning. it's a milder morning, we're near 30 degrees in washington, the nearby suburbs in the 20s. mid 20s farther west and north, near 30 around the bay. highs reaching the upper 30s this afternoon with increasing sunshine. a small chance of a morning flurryth and tomorrow, a tad warmer, partly cloudy with a high near 40. and milder weather moving in for thursday and friday. in fact, by friday afternoon, highs should reach >> meredith, over to you. >> stephanie, thank you. senate majority leader harry reid said on monday that he is not going to dwell on controversial remarks he made about president obama's race and dialect, but will that close the door on the controversy? we're going to get republican senator john mccain's thoughts in just a moment. but first, nbc's andrea mitchell has the latest. andrea, good morning. >> good morning, meredith. the white house is now rallying behind senate majority leader harry reid, rejecting republican calls that reid step down as majority leader. the issue -- racial comments that reid, an early obama supporter, made about barack obama during the campaign. harry reid's leading supporter, the president. barack obama tried to brush off reid's critics during an interview with roland martin on tv one for a prime time special to air on martin luther king day. >> this is a good man who has always been on the right side of history. for him to have used some inartful language in trying to praise me and for people to try to make hay out of that makes absolutely no sense. >> reporter: reid, critical to passage of the president's health reform, also spoke for the first time. in nevada, where he faced an uphill re-election campaign even before this controversy. >> i apologized to the president. i apologized to everyone that i could have used a different choice of words. >> reporter: his choice of words, in "game change oith, the authors write that reid praised obama's chances, saying he is "light-skinned" "with no negro dialect unless he wanted to have one out." certainly politically incorrect and historically outdated, but experts say accurate. >> was it politic or politically correct for the senate majority leader to say that? no. but the fact is that he was on to something about obama's crossover appeal. >> reporter: "game change" also offers a new portrayal of john and elizabeth edwards. campaign aides told the authors they suspected he was having an affair before he declared for the presidency. even more devastating, the unflattering portrait of elizabeth edwards. until now, a sympathetic figure struggling with breast cancer and a philandering husband, but described in the book as "an abusive, intrusive, paranoid, condescending crazy woman." >> she was quite a different figure behind the scenes, someone that was intimidating and demanding and often abusive not just to the staff, but to her husband. >> thank you so much! >> reporter: sarah palin is described as a last-minute, high-risk, high-reward choice for john mccain, who told mccain aids that her selection was "god's plan." they say mccain initially wanted joe lieberman. pal palin's spokeswoman rejected criticisms of her perrmance during the campaign. in any case, palin has a new position, as a regular political commentator on fox news. matt? >> andrea, thank you very much. andrea mitchell in washington. the man who picked sarah palin to be his running mate, arizona senator john mccain, is on capitol hill after an overseas trip. senator, welcome home. >> thank you, matt. >> a lot to talk about this morning, and i want to start with harry reid. you have worked with him and known him for decades in the senate. you've read the comments he made about barack obama. some democrats are rallying behind him. the president says the book is closed. some republicans are calling for him to resign or at least step aside from his leadership role. what should he do? >> i think that's up to senator reid and the voters of the state of nevada. obviously, his remarks were -- you know, i didn't know those kind of words were still in an american lexicon. and also, by the way, i must comment that it's a stunning double standard as far as the treatment of senator lott, who also made unfortunate and inopportune remarks and the treatment of harry reid by the liberal left. but it's up to harry reid and it's up to the voters of nevada. we've got a lot of things to do in the senate. >> but i mentioned you've known him for a long time. has he ever appeared to you to be someone who is racially insensitive or worse? >> no. no, he is not. >> let me turn to your trip overseas. you've just gotten back from a trip to iraq, afghanistan. in afghanistan, one of the key elements to president obama's plan to begin withdrawing u.s. forces in the summer of 2011 is the training of significant numbers of afghanis for their military. in a report that richard engel, our chief foreign correspondent, released here and reported on here just a week or so ago that was meant for top military officials, the training of those members of the afghan military has been described as disarous. it says that "corruption, nepotism, untrained, unmotivated personnel make success all but impossible." did you ask questions about that when you were on the ground in afghanistan? >> yes, i did, and those same comments were made about iraq when we started the surge and the build-up in iraq, exact same words by the exact same people who said we couldn't succeed. it's tough. i am worried about two things -- not the ability of our military or our leadership. we've got the right strategy, the right leadership and the right resources now, but what i worry about is the effect of president obama's statement about mid-july 2011 withdrawal. that is unsettled a great deal throughout the region. and the other is we don't have concrete plans for the sufficient build-up of the afghan army. but the afghans are good fighters. i was at an operating base outside of kandahar with our troops, and i can tell you, it's going to be very, very tough starting in march and april, but i am confident we can succeed if we have the confidence and the courage to stay the course. >> let me go to this other story making a lot of headlines this week, senator. you've heard about this, this new book called "game change," and you're kind of front and center in a lot of the chapters that seem to be a little inflammatory, so let me get you on the record about some of it. one is that your vetting process for governor palin before choosing her as your running mate was holily inadequate. i'm combining two quotes here. it says "in judging palin was relying vetting so hasty and haphazard, barely merited the name. be in had interviewed her husband, no one had spoken to her enemies, no vetters had descended on alaska." is it a fair assessment? >> i wouldn't know. the fact is, i'm proud of sarah palin, i'm proud of the campaign we waged. she energized our party. she will be a major factor in american politics in the future and i'm proud of our campaign. look, i just spent my time, matt, over where three young americans were just killed in afghanistan -- >> and i respect that. >> and that was over a year ago. >> i respect that, sir -- >> and i'm not going to get into it. i'm not going to get into it. >> b your comment "i wouldn't know" is somewhat surprising to me. you were the presidential candidate. >> look, i wouldn't know what the sources are nor care. i do know that i'm proud of my campaign, i'm proud of sarah palin, i'm proud of the job that we did and i will always be grateful for having her as my running mate and the support we got from millions of americans, okay? i am not going to -- i am not going to spend time looking back over what happened over a year ago when we've got two wars to fight, 10% unemployment in my state and things to do. i'm sorry. you'll have to get others to comment on it. >> but others have commented. >> thas fine. >> i'm just curious, were you disappointed at steve schmidt, your campaign adviser for going on the record on television and saying some of the things he said? >> i'm proud of erybody in my campaign. i'm proud of the campaign we ran. i'm so proud that i had the opportunity to represent my party in the election and i will always look back on that period with pride and with satisfaction. it's tough, but i'm very happy and i'm very happy in my new role in the senate and going back and fighting the good fight. >> senator john mccain. i hope you understand my asking the questions. >> oh, sure, no problem. no problem, matt. >> i appreciate your time this morning. >> thank you. >> it is now 7:14. here's meredith. >> matt, thank you very much. it is boneless season for wall street bankers, and despite last year's tax-funded bailouts, the payouts could be bigger than ever. dylan ratigan is a longtime financial journalist and host of "the dylan ratigan show" on msnbc. good morning to you. >> good morning to you. >> when taxpayers bailed out these banks, no one thought it was with the intention that the banks would go back to business as usual, but now we're hearing about these major bonuses. what kind of numbers are we talking about? >> we're talking, you know, for the most -- here's the big myth with wall street is people don't make hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars on average. people make a lot of money, though. they'll make let's say $500,000, $800,000, $1 million. i think that's the sort of numbers you're going to see flying around on wall street. however, you're going to see numbers that can easily go into the tens or hundreds of millions of dollars for the biggest performers. i think one thing that is critical to understand, because it comes up even just in the way you set it up -- it's not despite the bailouts, it's because of the bailouts. it's not that they're making this money despite the fact that we bailed them out. they're making this money -- >> because we bailed them -- right. >> we gave them money. they're using the money we gave them to then trade the future of whether they think, what the world will be, and they're making a lot of money doing it. >> let me tell you what a board member for goldman sachs said about the bonuses. he compares them to salaries of professional athletes and rock stars, movie stars. he said "if they perform, they should get paid, and if you don't pay them enough," these employees, "you're going to lose them." fair point. >> i couldn't disagree with that more. here's why. most athletes or performers -- let's say athletes -- can do something almost nobody else can do. particularly the higher paid the athlete is and the more celebrated the athlete is -- think about michael jordan, babe ruth, any of the celebrated athletes. i was about to say tiger woods. well, he's a good golfer, anyway. the point is that those people have special capabilities. the only capability that a banker has is the fact that they have free access to the government's money. and so, it's as if this chair makes a lot of money in the banker's case, a dollar's the most spongeable thing in the world, whereas in the athlete's case, no one else can actually do -- doesn't matter who walks onto that court. anyone can walk out with a basketball, but only one person can be michael jordan. whereas whoever's on the court in the banking system, if you have fre access to the fed, the treasury and custody of other people's money, you can make a lot of money. >> the president supposedly wants to attach a fee to these banks, charge them a fee to recoup some of this money. is that likely to happen, do you think, and will that solve part of this problem? >> i don't know what will happen. it definitely won't solve the problem, because until you restructure the financial system and take away the ability to gamble with taxpayer money, which is the underlying problem -- going into a gambler parlor with somebody else's money where you're paying $1,000 a win, every hand you win, you take the money, every time you lose, the taxpayer takeshe down side -- until the government changes that, it doesn't matter. >> what kind of a job do you think tim geithner's doing in all this? >> i think tim geithner needs to show america who he's working for. and until he basically steps forward and demands the disclosure of the e-mail traffic that was going on with aig, which was the backstop to the entire financial system, until he steps forward and says we want the transparency to see how this happened and show america's voters and the american congress and the american people what happened, i think that there's reason for qstion as to who tim geithner -- whose interests tim geithner is serving, the bankers' or america's. >> dylan ratigan, thank you. "the dylan ratigan show" airs at 4:00 p.m. eastern on msnbc. once again, here's matt. >> thank you. > now to the big shake-up in the television world, not the jay leno/conan o'brien shuffle, but simon cowell's decision to leave "american idol." nbc's jeff rossen has details on that. good morning to you. >> hey, matt. good to see you. simon says he was offer "a lot of money" to stay on, but in the end, the money wasn't enough. can't blame him, either. he was only making, what, a reported $36 million a year? so, simon cowell will leave "american idol" after this season, and he already has a new gig lined up. it's the end of an era. >> i really, really, really hated that. sorry. >> reporter: the man with the sharpest tongue in the room will lash it somewhere else. >> well, you should be happy, matt, because we don't like you this week. >> reporter: season nine, starting tonight, will be simon cowell's last. late monday, he spoke with "extra." >> i did feel a little bit emotional when i said it because then it's real and then you remember all the good times you've had. and i have had a good time. >> reporter: hollywood insiders claim simon was bored and wanted more. >> simon cowell is an incredible control freak and likes to be the man in charge of anything that he's involved in. >> everyone thought i was posturing to negotiate more money, et cetera, et cetera, but it actually wasn't the case. i just felt like doing something new. >> reporter: ellen degeneres, "idol's" newest judge, joked about it on her talk show airing later today. >> so, this just happened. simon cowell just announced that he's leaving "idol." this will be his last season, and he announced he's leaving on my first day. i'm trying not to take it personally. >> reporter: fox won't comment on simon's possible replacement, but we know where he's going. simon will launch a new show on fox called "x-factor," another singing competition that's already a big hit in the uk. and yes -- >> i am possibly the most proudest person in the world right now. >> reporter: -- he'll judge on that show, too, when it comes to the u.s. in 2011. simon will also run it as the executive producer. >> and actually getting successful is more fun than being successful sometimes, and i kind of missed that. >> you are ready for the big-time, dog, because you know who you are. >> reporter: with paula gone and simon going, randy will be the only original dog left. the question is, can "idol" survive this loss? >> i don't think we're on the verge of killing "american idol," but the producers are going to have to be hugely careful about who they replace him with, especially with simon crossing over to a competitor. >> like swimming in jell-o, isn't it? >> but he wanted a change and i wish him all the luck in the world hosting "the tonight show," so, that will be -- >> yeah, you know she had to go there. it's been widely reported fox was offering simon $144 million to work on both "idol" and "x-factor" at once, but matt, he turned that down, saying he wants a new challenge. throw a little bit of that my way. >> chump change. thanks very much. of course, simon cowell isn't the only person thinking a lot about s future in tv. >> yeah, conan o'brien still thinking about nbc's offered to move him to a midnight slot. and last night, both conan and jay leno had some fun with the whole situation. take a look. >> welcome to "the jay leno show." as you know, we're not just a show anymore, we are now a collector's item. >> collector's item. >> good evening, everybody. i'm conan o'brien, the new host of "last call with carson daly." >> supposedly, we're moving to 11:30, but even this is not true. see, my pele upset, conan's people upset. hey, nbc said they wand drama at 10:00. now they got it. >> everybody now wants to know what my plans are. everyone's asking me. all i say is i plan to continue putting on a great show every night while stealing as many office supplies as humanly possible. >> i take pride in one thing -- i leave nbc prime time the same way i found it, a complete disaster, so exactly -- >> this is true, nbc announced they expect to lose $200 million on winter olympics next month, yeah. folks, is it just me or is that story hilarious? >> once again, i did not get "the tonight show." >> we interrupt this program so that we may bring you a message from nbc news. nbc has decided to move david letterman back to 12:30. this has been a message from nbc news. >> wait a minute, hey, can they do that? >> in his weekly radio and internet address, president obama said "we are on the verge of guaranteeing americans' health insurance whether they lose their job, change jobs, move or get sick," which means jay, conan and i are going to be just fine. so, don't worry. >> i love that they have a good sense of humor about it all, because behind the scenes, maybe not so much. i don't know. >> a lot of us around here need a good sense of humor. more on jay, conan and simon later. but ahead on a tuesday morning, development in the brutal murder of an aspiring model as a new video surfaced just ahead, we'll reveal a brand new look at the best value colleges in the country. plus, from produce to power. why you'll pay for the arctic blast long after the weather warms up. good morning, overnight we had some scattered flurries and south and east of washington, in anne arundel and st. mary's counties, a dusting of half an inch fell there. increasing sunshine today with highs in the upper 30s. tomorrow, a bit warmer and partly cloudy and then much milder on thursday and friday, into the 40s to near 50 by friday afternoon. ashley, how's the traffic? >> a nasty commute on the capital beltway, out of maryland. the inner loop dealing with an overturned veg on approach to new hampshire avenue. and the two right lanes on the outer loop beyond university boulevard are blocked. this is the pace at colesville, as you can see, nobody is going anywhere fast. the lights on silver spring into bethesda. tonight on news4 at 5:00 p.m. lunch wit 7:30 on a tuesday morning. it's the 12th day of january 2010. at long last, the mercury here in the northeast starting to creep up a little bit, but actually, still below freezing out on the plaza right now. we'll go out there and say hi to these nice people in just a little while. meanwhile, inside studio 1a, i'm matt lauer alongside meredith vieira. and the cold snap may be coming to an end, but it looks like we're going to be paying for it for a long time to come. >> yeah, the demand for heat has pushed the price for gas to its highest level since october of 2008, and an abundance of produce has been destroyed. so, what will you be paying more for and for how long? we're going to talk about that. we'll also find out how to get some financial relief. >>one of the things that always seems to go up is the cost of college. just ahead, we're going to take a look at a new list of the u.s. schools, both public and private, that offer students and their parents the very best values. and some of the names on that list might surprise you. plus, much more on the late-night shuffle here at nbc, as conan o'brien considers whether he's going to stay on as "tonight show" host, or maybe not. let us begin this half hour, though, with new information and a new video tied to the murder of aspiring model paula sladewski. we're going to talk exclusively to her brother and niece in a moment, but first, nbc's kerry sanders has the latest on this. kerry, good morning to you. >> reporter: well, good morning, matt. detectives have now spoken to enough witnesses at the nightclub where paula slawski was last seen that they're able to actually create a sketch of the person she was last seen with. that sketch likely will be completed in the next day or so. she was a model, and at times, an exotic dancer, once featured in a "playboy" video. paula sladewski, the 26-year-old came to miami on vacation for new year's. a celebration that began at the lady gaga concer and one row behind paula and her boyfriend, kevin klym, concert-goer john williams. williams shot this 27-second video on his iphone because he says klym was acting so aggressively, it caught his attention. >> i wanted to know who this was in case the police, you know, needed to identify someone if he hit me. >> reporter: that's paula there, about 60 hours before her body was found burned beyond recognition in a dumpster. >> it just was really chilling to think that, you know, here these people were in front of me, and a week later, she's no longer alive. >> rorter: and there's this video from a surveillance camera at the nightclub where the two were last seen together. the seven-second clip shows paula leavg the club, those two men behind her, police say, are bouncers. klym, who has a history of domestic violence with paula, was escorted out of the club about minutes earlier. investigators say they now believe his story, that he left alone in a cab and went to his hotel. klym maintains he did nothing wrong. witnesses say paula walked out and another man walked up to her. she left with him, and that's the last she was seen alive. >> although we can't say from witnesses' accounts that she walked off with someone, we're not prepared to say the person she walked off with is the murderer in this case. >> reporter: between the two videos, witness accounts, possibly more security camera video from the nightclub, and a soon-to-be completed autopsy, which could reveal how she was murdered, detectives say they're hopeful they'll soon answer the mystery who killed paula sladewski. now, paula sladewski's body was dumped 12 miles away from the club where she was last seen. detectives tell me it suggests to them, because it's such a round-about route to get to that final location, that the person who murdered her is likely from this area. meredith? >> kerry sanders, thank you. thomas is paula sladewski's brother, britney is her niece. good morning to both of you and first, may i express our condolences. >> thank you. >> thank you. good morning, meredith. >> thomas, if i could start with you, i know you have looked over that surveillance video trying to come up with any clues as to what happened to your sister. what do you think happened to paula? on the morning of january 3rd? >> well, i believe paula was abducted. i believe she was stalked. i believe the video shows proof of that. the man that approached her when she got outside the club. there was people standing all around her. you could see the video. you could see people following her out. and if somebody did approach her, they saw it, they know what he looks like, they know what kind of car she got into. there's a lot of information out there that's yet to be disclosed to the police, and i want to plead with anybody from the bottom of my heart, if you have a daughter, if you have a sister, please come forward, tell the police everything you know. the lord will see it and he'll bless you ten fold. and this perpetrator that's responsible for abducting my sister, he could have told her anything, because she was very young and naive and she believed that there was a lot of good in this world, and i told her time and time again that tre'slso a lot of evil, and that's what you've got to watch out for. >> thomas, do you believe that her boyfriend, kevin klym, had anything to do with what happened to her? at this point he is still a person of interest in the minds of the authorities, although they do believe now that he did leave that club and went back to his hotel, as he said he did. >> yes, he did leave -- sure. he's guilty of being a coward. that's what i think. i think that -- my sister paid for his plane ticket down there. she paid for everything, the room, the meals they ate. and he was responsible for her. he was responsible for her safety, her wellbeing. he left her there without a cell phone. so, you tell me, meredith. i mean, what kind of respect can you have for a man like that? he left my little sister there to fend for herself. now, had he waited outside that club -- it was only 20 minutes. 20inutes could have saved her a lifetime. so, yes, i think he's guilty of being a coward. i haven't had a chance to speak to him yet, but i don't want to talk to him just yet, you know? it's beyond control. i wouldn't be responsible for how i would react. so, i've kept my distance from him and i've prayed to god that he gives me the courage to control my emotions, which is at this time what i'm trying to do, is fight the anger that i feel, the betrayal. >> and i understand why you would feel tremendous anger and be very upset at this point. obviously, you've lost your sister. brittany, if i can bring you in here, what about the reports of paula and kevin having issues of domestic violence in their relationship? you saw the video that was taken at that concert. the man took it specifically because he thought that kevin klym was acting aggressively. how would you describe their relationship? >> well -- >> i'm asking -- >> unfortunately for me, i've only met kevin on a couple of occasions. the two occasions that i've seen him on, one of them there were no incidences that took place between him and my little sister. however, there was one at my niece's wedding, who's sitting here to my left. he left her there at that party, too, as well, right after the reception, and i tried talking to paula for a good 30 minutes about her choes in men and that she doesn't have to tolerate abuse and to be neglected by someone like this. she could get anyone she wanted. she was a beautiful -- she just had a freelance personality. she trusted everybody. you tell her you loved her and she believed it. >> but i also understand -- >> she would do anything -- >> i also understand thomas, that she was a pretty tough cookie and pretty strong-willed. berateny, let me ask you, do you think she would have put up a fight if anyone had tried to acost her? >> absolutely. >> oh, absolutely, there's no doubt about it, no doubt in my mind whatsoever. i believe there was a confrontation outside that bar. it would have been very easy for a perpetrator to grab her by her hand, especially if there was a car already in the street waiting for her. i don't believe she walked out willingly with someone after she exited the club. i just -- i'm troubled beyond belief, you know? i lost my little sister, and somewhere out there in miami there's a killer running around, a coward killer. so, my message to the people, watch your daughters, watch your sisters. you've got the super bowl coming down there, you've got spring break right around the corner, and if my little daughter -- i have a step-daughter -- if she come to me and said, "tom, i need money to go down to miami for spring break," i'm telling her to pick another state, because there's a killer still running around. he's eating, he's breathing, he's livg, and it's not fair that my little sister's dead, burned beyond recognition because of some coward, and that's what he is, a coward. >> thomas -- >> and i challenge him to get a hold of me. try throwing me in a dumpster. let's see how well you fair with that. that's how i feel. >> i understand, thomas bussell. i appreciate you being here. brittany pysik as well. thank you both. >> you're welcome. >> and now let's get a check of the weather from stephanie abrams, who is in for al. thank you, meredith. we're going to take you out west where ounext weather-maker is bringing rain and gusty winds right now to the state of washington. winds have gusted there anywhere 50 to 60 miles an hour. hurricane ridge gusting as high as 115 miles an hour. that's wat's where the good morning, we have flurries and snowshowers overnight. but right now, radar not showing any precipitation around the region. but we did get a few reports of some, anywhere from a quarter of an inch to half an inch fell in anne arundel, calvert, charles and st. mary's counts overnight. right now temperatures around the region in the 20s to around 30. a little sun this morning, but more sun this afternoon, highs in the upper 30s. small chance of a morning flurry. tomorrow, a bit warmer, and milder weather for thursday and friday, with s >> and you can check your weather 24 hours a day at weather.com. we have a bunch of smart people on the plaza today. you're from an honor society? >> yeah, from rockford, ohio. >> and have you done a lot of smart things since you've been in new york city? >> we've done a lot of touring, like the statue of liberty and battery park. >> that's smart stuff. all right, well, enjoy your time here. meredith, back to you. >> stephanie, thank you very much. up next, the cost of cold. the weather's impact on the prices of things you use every day and how you can survive without breaking the bank. we are back at 7:44 with the deep freeze's impact on your family's budget. roughly 70% of the country has dealt with below-normal temperatures for the better part of two weeks, and that has prices on everything from home heating oil to your favorite foods on the rise. jean chatzky is "today's" financial editor. good morning. good to see you. you too. >> i have to be honest, as i was watching the reports on the freezing temperatures, i was thinking this is going to make it hard for people on a budget to just heat their home, and the cost of fuel oil is not helping at all. >> it absolutely isn't. the cost of heat oil is up about 50 cents from this time last year. plus, we're looking at increases in the cost of gasoline and the cost of different foods. i mean, the cost to fill your car is about 33% higher than it was, again, this time last year, and prices are still going up. >> and so, the bills for heating your home during these last two weeks haven't even come in yet. >> that's right. >> so, there's going to be a sticker shock for people. >> for people, especially, who aren't taking some action right now to try to bring those bills under control. every degree that you move the thermostat up on your house translates into about a 3% impact on your bill. so, you want to make sure that you're keeping those as level as possible and that you're taking all the right moves to reduce your heat at night by using programmable thermostats and all the other things that are available to you. >> we're talking right now about the impact of all this on a family's budget, but we have to also look at the bigger picture and the impact on the overall economy. this fact i found stunning. the increase of $1 per gallon of gas over this time last year has cost consumers about $100 billion. that's the equivalent of about 1% of consumer spending. >> yeah. it's really incredible. and that 1% sounds small, but you have to realize, when the price of gasoline goes up, it's not just the cost to fill your car. it trickles into everything. every good that gets moved across the country becomes more expensive. and right now, consumers, with the unemployment rate so high, are already feeling the pinch. >> and when you're talking about gooz being moved across the country, you're talking about durable goods. now add to that -- this is the perfect storm, by the way -- add to that the subfreezing temperatures down south and the impact on the crops there. >> not just in the south, but in the plain states, where we're closely watching the cost of wheat as well as orange juice and things like that. orange juice, the price could actually go up $1 a gallon, which is really significant for people who are trying to avoid the flu and are drinking more orange juice than last year. >> all right, so, for people trying to weather this storm -- no pun intended -- you have some tips. the first thing is audit your monthly bills. >> look, we control the things that we can control. we can't conol gas and milk, so let's control the cost of cable, the cost of the internet, the cost of the phone bill. if you haven't made that phone call to your providers and said take my services away, the ones i really don't need, it's time to just do that. >> and brand loyalty is something that if you're having a tough time, you've got to throw out the window -- we like buyi ining "x" brand of ketchup whatever. you've got to go to the cheap. >> what's on sale. and supermarkets have a cycle. things go on sale approximately every five or six weeks. buy them when they're on sale. keep a stock load at home, and when they're not on sale, don't buy. >> do you think it's a good time to examine your interest rates? >> if you haven't examined them, if you haven't refi'ed your mortgage, if you haven't looked at bringing the cost of your car loan down, if you're still getting balance transfers on your credit cards, by all means. this is a big expense for people lding $10,000 on average in household debt. >> and what's tracking? >> just watch every dollar that you spend. write it down. just like the best way to lose weight is to write down what you eat, the best way to save money is to write down everything you spend. i guarantee you'll be surprised. >> you'll look at the piece of paper and there will be glaring ways to save money. >> oh, my goodness. >> jean chatzky, thanks. >> thanks. still ahead, the best value colleges in the country. we'll reveal the top picks. we are counting down to sunday's golden globes here on nbc with some of the award show's most memorable moments. in 1998, when michael j. fox announced christine laddie as winner of best actress in a television series for "chicago hope," she was nowhere to be found and explained why in this belated acceptance speech. >> i was in the bathroom, mom! oh, god. oh, my god. oh, thank you so much. i was just flushing the toilet and someone said, "you won!" and i thought they were joking. >> call of nature, you know? there's nothing you can do about it. >> oh, my lord. >> at least everything came out okay. >> oh! >> no, i didn't -- >> whoa! >> what's the matter with yo >> my words exactly. >> good for her. >> anyway, it will be a big night sunday. >> you can catch the golden globes sunday at 8:00 p.m. on nbc. 30 degrees, another cold start to your work week. but, tom says relief is on the way. warmer temperatures coming up. good morning, everyone, i'm eun yang. in the news this morning, police in northern virginia are cracking down on hov violators. officers are patrolling interstate 66, 95 and 395 right now. if you're caught, expect to pay $125 for your first offense. $250 for your second violation, and $500 for a third. get caught a fourth time and you'll be fined $1,000. voters in northern virginia will be heading to the polls today for a special ection. voters in the state's 37th district are deciding between republican steve hunt and democrat dave marsden for the state senate seat. we'll take a break and have your weather and traf good morning, as we take a look at the radar, it is precipitation-free this morning. but overnight we did have light dusting to anywhere from .2 inch to .4 of an inch. temperatures are in the upper 20s to near 30 degrees near washington and the cloud cover beginning to break up, a little sunshine in and out this morning. increasing sun this afternoon with hhs in the upper 30s. tomorrow morning, cold near 20, but afternoon highs near 40 and more sun around on thursday and friday, it should be warmer, too. highs thursday, mid 40s. friday afternoon perhaps near 50. starting off out of virginia on the inner loop of the capital beltway after braddock road, there's accident activity along the left side. road. that was pushed to the shoulder. out of springfield, no major tie-ups to report. beyond this camera shot, 395 northbound will be slow as you make your way past king street. no major accidents, just plain heavy. eun, back touxt. tonight on news4 at 5:00, lunch with lindsay, a real daredevil, travis pastrana, the 8:00 now on this tuesday morning, january 12th, 2010. and we are living it up with a hardy bunch who are spending time here in rockefeller plaza. i am meredith vieira along with matt lauer. al is off today. and just ahead, conan, jay, and now simon, some of television's most familiar faces are maybe about to change jobs in the not-so-distant future. coming up, the decision facing conan o'brien and why simon cowell's decided to quit "american idol." all right, also ahead, we're going to talk about college and affording college for your kid. you know, the average cost of a public college or university these days over $15,000? average cost of a private college or university can be $35,000. >> that's a lot of money. >> some go up to $50,000. so, coming up, we're going to give you a brand new list of the colleges that offer the best value. >> okay. plus, quick and easy steps to better health in the new year. we're going to teach you some 90-second health boosters, whether you want to lower your cholesterol or maybe get rid of those headaches that have been bothering you. >> okay, a lot to get to. first, we'll go in to ann with the headlines. >> thanks a lot, matt. good morning once again, everybody. in the news, an iranian scientist who recently risked supporting the opposition in iran, was killed today by a bomb. iran's official media said nuclear physics professor masoud mali hamadine died when a suicide bomb went off outside his home. this is as they meet to discuss sanctions against iran over the nuclear program. nato says a missile fired from one of its unmanned drones killed 13 insurgents today in southern afghanistan. nato said the insurgents were near a safehouse preparing ammunition. broth president obama and senator majority leader harry reid commented on the remark reid made during the 2008 presidential campaign. reid says he could have used a better choice of word when he said obama was light-skinned and didn't speak with a negro dialect. president obama said there was nothing wrong with his unartful use of language. melissa francis is joining us from the new york stock exchange. hey, melissa, good morning. >> good morning, ann. yeah, investors are watching and reacting to shares of alcoa, the aluminum maker and dow component reported earnings after the bell and they came in lighter than expected. the company has lost $2 billion over the past year, has cut more than 21,000 jobs. it's cut spending more thann half, but that wasn't enough, still coming in lighter than what the street was expecting, and that's having an impact on stocks this morning. companies that build buildings, that build planes just aren't ordering that much aluminum. chevron also warning that earnings this quarter will be lighter than expected. and we're also watching crude oil prices, which are slipping little bit so far today, and that's important, because if you notice gas prices up about $1 in the past year or so. back to you. >> all right, melissa francis, thanks so much. a new study from the world health organization is suggesting that women should not have c-sections during labor unless it's a medical necessity because of the risks of serious complications being too high. the study looked at births in nine asian countries. there are also new questions today about airline security after a man boarded a plane in wisconsin and only then realized he had shotgun shells in his carry-on bag. the tsa is now investigating how the ammunition got past security. and in the wake of last year's miracle landing on the hudson, experts think that reports of planes hitting breath in 2009 may have reached or exceeded 10,000 for the first time ever. experts say among the reasons, more diligent reporting among airports and airlines and more birds getting in the way of planes. it is now 8:03. let's now go back outside to matt and meredith. >> all right, ann, thank you very much. >>yes. yes? >> stephanie abrams is filling in for al, who's taking the day off today. >> yes, she is. >> stephanie, it's always nice to have you, even if meredith doesn't say that. >> i know, it says you say that. >> thanks. celebrating your 50th birthday from tennessee. it's very cold up here, but actually warmer than tennessee? >> yes. well, no, no, tennessee -- it was zero the other night. >> the other night. >> yes, it was. >> get out in the bikini! >> exactly. this is a heat wave, girl. >> there you go! let's take you to our pick city, pittsburgh. we're also feeling a heat wave relative to what we've been seeing here. today a high of 29 >> matt, it's all yours. >> all right, stephanie, thank you very much. when we come back, some television talkers. why simon cowell is leaving "american idol" and what the future may hold for "tonight show" host conan o'brien. i knew i had to see my doctor. he told me i had choices in controller medicines. we chose symbicort. symbicort starts to improve my lung function within 15 minutes. that's important to me because i know the two medicines in symbicort are beginning to treat my symptoms and helping me take control of my asthma. and that makes symbicort a good choice for me. symbicort will not replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. and should not be taken more than twice a day. symbicort contains formoterol. medicines like formoterol may increase the chance of asthma-related death. so, it is not for people whose asthma is well controlled on other asthma medicines. see your doctor if your asthma does not improve or gets worse. i know symbicort won't replace a rescue inhaler. within 15 minutes symbicort starts to improve my lung function and begins to treat my symptoms. that makes symbico a good choice for me. you have choices. ask your doctor if symbicort is right for you. 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( water running, gasp ) soap leaves soap scum. you can't see it on your skin, but you can see it here. dove is different. skin is soft, ooth, soap-scum free. a breakthrough gel that transforms into an active foam. it not only protects between teeth... ...it removes three times more bacteria. new aquafresh iso-active whitening. amazing. your bad cholesterol but your good cholesterol and triglycerides are still out of line? then you may not be seeing the whole picture. ask your doctor about trilipix. statin to lower bad cholesterol, along with diet, adding trilipix can lower fatty triglycerides and raise good cholesterol to help improve all three cholesterol numbers. trilipix has not been shown to prevent heart attacks or stroke more than a statin alone. trilipix is not for everyone, including people with liver, gallbladder, or severe kidney disease, or nursing women. tell your doctor about all the medicines you take and if you are pregnant or may become pregnant. blood tests are needed before and during treatment to check for liver problems. contact your doctor if you develop unexplained muscle pain or weakness, as this can be a sign of a rare but serious side effect. this risk may be increased when trilipix is used with a statin. if you cannot afford your medication, call 1-866-4-trilipix for more information. trilipix. there's more to cholesterol. get the picture. back at 8:09 with more on the big news from the world of television. as conan o'brien mulls his decision to stay on as host of nbc's "the tonight show," comes word from simon cowell that he is leaving "american idol" at the end of the season. here's nbc's george lewis. >> reporter: so, will conan o'brien stay at nbc or jump ship? reportedly, hi people have been talking to the folks at fox. >> everybody now wants to know what my plans are. everyone's asking me. all i can say is i plan to continue putting on a great show night after night while stealing as many office supplies as humanly possible. >> reporter: jay leno, who appears headed back to o'brien's time slot, also has plenty of new material at nbc's expense. >> see, nobody knows it. now, supposedly, we're moving to 11:30, but even this is not sure yet. see, my people upset, conan's people upset. hey, nbc said they wanted drama at 10:00. now they got it. >> reporter: and most of the drama revolves around whether o'brien will accept the idea of following leno once again, coming on at 12:05 after a half-hour version of leno's show. >> when you've got personalities of this magnitude saying they're heading elwhere, that means big upheaval. >> reporter: and the big upheaval at fox centers on simon cowell, the "american idol" judge everyone loves to hate. >> it was a little bit overtheatrical. >> oh, quit it! >> reporter: monday, cowell announced he's leaving at the end of this season to start a new fox reality series "the x-factor." the british version of the show, another talent contest, is a mega hit. the big question surrounding "american idol" is whether it will do as well next year without simon. >> he's irreplaceable. we can't replace him. >> right. >> so, we're just hoping to keep it active and energetic. >> reporter: the newest "american idol" judge, ellen degeneres, weighs in on cowell's departure on her show airing later today. >> seriously, i am going to be very, very sad to see him go, because i think he has made the show what it is. but he wanted a change, and i wish him all the luck in the world hosting "the tonight show." >> reporter: for "today," george lewis, nbc news, los angeles. >> janice min is former ed tore of "us weekly." sharon whacksman is with "therap.com. good morning to both of you. >> good morning. >> janice, if i could start with you, so many questions swirling around right now, beginning with what happens to conan. he knows he's losing this slot at 11:35, maybe goes to 12:05, maybe to 12:30. we don't even know yet what it's going to be. >> right. i think he doesn't know. first of all, no one should feel too sorry for conan o'brien. the numbers being thrown around right now are pretty huge that nbc could pay a penalty, up to $45 million, if he walks from the network. fox is possibly courting him. i mean, i think the thing with nais he has to find the right audience for him. to me, i don't think 11:35 is the right audience for him. this is a guy who has really cooky skits on it that are not mainstream. the triumphant insult comic dog, the masturbating bear. these are things that mass america is not ready for. >> maybe not ready for. >> yes. >> sharon, what are conan's options realistically? the late-night landscape is pretty limited. >> yeah, that's exactly right. there's only a few of these jobs. there's a limited number of opportunities. i mean, you sit around and you wait for years and years, as conan has been doing, to get this slot at 11:30, and the reality really is that unless he can get another job offer from fox, he's going to pretty much have to take that 12:00 slot and wait for jay leno to want to retire in a few years. >> what are your sources telling you -- >> i think that's probably what's going to happen. >> what are your sources telling you about this jump to fox possibly? >> there is talk going on, but fox is being very cagey about it. they're being very -- they're negotiating. they're in negotiations. and so, i don't think we're going to know. in fact, there was a lot of noise going on yesterday -- oh, there's going to be an announcement from fox coming out of the television critics press tour, which happens twice a year, and there's all the news coming out. and everybody's saying it's going to be conan. nope, it wasn't conan. that was on the simon cowell news that came out yesterday. so, we're in negotiations, but in fact, if he can't get that offer from fox, his options are going to be extremely limited. >> and there's also -- i want to talk about simon cowell, but there's also a question about jay leno, janice, and whether he can regain the audience he lost when he went to prime time. >> the interesting thing, he was golden, he was sort of untouchable before this switch happened, and now, i mean, it's been a drum beat of negative press for six months, said he's not funny, the show's not good. and really, interestingly, this whole drama has given him the biggest sort of edge that he's had in months. he was funny last night, it was timely. you know, i think the show -- i think the audience will come back to him at 11:35. i think the audience that watches that is much more passive than the audience at 10:00. they just want someone amiable in the room with them. at 10:00, i think the expectation is for real entertainment, something really engrossing that you can really sit down and watch actively. >> one person in on the changes is simon cowell. he wants to develop "x-factor" for fox for next season. he's glad to be leaving "americanidol," it's the right time for him, but what's going to happen to "idol"? who's going to replace -- who >> i think the worse thing fox could do is to cast another funny mean guy. i think that would be a mistake. whoever they cast would pale in comparison. he is the heart of the show. for people who think the show is silly, they like his edge. he's the one all the other judges riff off of. they'll have a hard time. especially with the loss of paula also, they may need to rethink the judge format altogether. >> sharon, do you think paula abdul will end up on "x-factor" with simon cowell? >> i do, i do. simon cowell made a mention of it yesterday, talked about how much he adores paula and hints that they're going to be working together soon and how powerful would that be to launch a show knowing that you've got the simon and paula reunion going on, where they can snipe at each other yet again, you know, on a contest show, because that really was half the fun of "american idol." i would say about one half of the fun was simon cowell insulting the contestants, and the other half of the fun, apart from the singing, was paula and simon insulting one another. so, if you g to see that on another show -- i do think that, however, it's going to be hard for "idol" to recover from that, losing paula and simon, even with the injection of energy of ellen degeneres. she's going to have a big job ahead of her to kind of make that show -- give it her own edge and give it its own -- make herself a real character on that show, because the judges are the characters on the show even more than the contestants. >> well, it all makes for great conversation. janice min and sharon waxman, thank you both so much. >> thank you. >> thank you. and up next, important news for teens and parents. we're going to reveal a list of the country's best value colleges. that's right after this. i do remember sitting down with my boys, and i'm like, "oh, promise mommy you'll never ever pick up a cigarette." and brian looked at me at eight years old and said, "promise me you'll quit." i had to quit. ♪ my doctor gave me a prescription for chantix, a medication i could take and still smoke, while it built up in my system. [ male announcer ] chantix is a non-nicotine pill. in studies, 44% of chantix users were quit during weeks 9 to 12 of treatment, compared to 18% on sugar pill. it's proven to reduce the urge to smoke. seeing how chantix worked, i wasn't so afraid to try quitting again. [ male announcer ] talk to your doctor about chantix and a support plan that's right for you. some people have had changes in behavior, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice agitation, hostility, depression or changes in behavior, thinking or mood that are not typical for you, or if you develop suicidal thoughts or actions, stop taking chantix and call your doctor right away. talk to your doctor about any history of deession or other mental health problems, which can get worse while taking chantix. some people can have allergic or serious skin reactions to chantix, some of which can be life threatening. if you notice swelling of face, mouth, throat or a rash stop taking chantix and see your doctor right away. tell your doctor which medicines you're taking as they may work differently when you quit smoking. chantix dosing may be different if you have kidney problems. the most common side effect is nausea. patients also reported trouble sleeping and vivid, unusual or strange dreams. until you know how chantix may affect you, use caution when driving or operating machinery. chantix should not be taken with other quit-smoking products. ♪ benjamin, he helped me with the countdown. "ben, how many days has it been?" "5 days, mom. 10 days, mom." i think after 30 days he got tired of counting. 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(pointing to tv in the room) my little idea has come to life. i know i shouldn't take all the credit, but... it's my house. hey, feet off the table. i'm a pc and windows 7 was my idea. >> announcer: "simplify your life today" is brought you by windows 7. your pc simplified. go, team. and this morning on "simplify your life today," the best value colleges. financial aid season's kicking off this week as teens and their parents start to fill out those intimidating college applications. to make it easier, princeton review has teamed up with "usa today" to release its list of the top 100 colleges that offer the best value. rob frannick is senior vice president of "princeton review" and publisher of "paying for college without going broke." nice to see you. >> thanks for inviting me, matt. >> you polled potential students and found that 85% of them were going to need some form of financial aid. the recession has taken a real toll. >> it has, without question. and we see those sort of budget reductions overall from lots of college campuses. some are down 5%, 10% of their operating budget. hiring freezes on staff and faculty members. i think the good news is most schools are not channeling resources away from financial aid coffers. >> but again, the schools are hurting, too, so you've got to make sure you do your part to get the financial aid you so greatly need. >> you have it. students have to be active participants. >> can i just say those numbers again? >> of course. >> the average cost of a public school $15,000, of a private school $35,000, some going up to $45,000, $50,000. so, this is real important. these fatsa forms or financial aid forms, a lot of people find them intimidating, but they're crucial. >> the free application for student aid is dreaded, more dreaded than doing your taxes, but they're coachable. and my boong is a good line-by-line walk-through. >> before we get to your list of greatest value schools, thing you want people to remember. number -- always apply for aid. >> yeah, that's a key understandin a lot of parents are intimidated by the fasa form, they make too much money, they're not going to qualify for financial aid. it's a horrible mistake. there's billions of dollars in aid, federal, state, and certainly from the school. >> and another mistake, when you hear it's a high price tag college, don't ignore it because they may offer a lot of aid. >> you got it. one of the biggest mistake students and families are making is crossing an expensive school off of their list of consideration, but it's the wrong mistake -- it's certainly a mistake because they can get great aid from those schools that are expensive. >> be a strategic shopper. what's that mean? >> strategic shopper means focus on your high school gpa, know how powerl your transcript is, and certainly s.a.t. and a.c.t. scores. the combination of gpa qualies them for academic merit. >> and do your homework, which always applies. let's get to your list. let's start with the top three best value public schools, and i'll start with number three. it's new college of florida. why did you like this one? >> new college of. if florida is a public honors college for florida. it's a little less than 800 students. it's a focus on independent study, but it's a love letter for financial aid. students less than $5,000 and quite a deal for out-of-state students. >> and hunter college in new york. why's it a good value? >> hunter college, part of the university of new york system, about $13,000 for out-of-state. a great deal of financial aid for those students and students are shamelessly profiting from internships and so on. >> shouldn't be shameless, by the way. the next one at number one surprised me because it's so hard to get into. that's university of virginia. >> university of virginia, and i'm glad you brought up how difficult it is to get in, but once you're in, the university makes a commitment to make sure that students are not worried about financial aid, because they can meet and do the near impossible meet and need 100%. >> all right. that's great. let's get to the private schools right now. >> yes. >> again, we're talking in the price tags now on average of about $35,000 a year. best value number three, wesleyan college. >> wesleyan college, a small school, a little over 600 students. it's an all-female institution in macon, georgia. 40% of the students are ethnic minorities, 20% of whom are international, but it's an awesome school. great interaction between students and faculty members and giving it about 95% of aid is met 100% at wesleyan. >> here's another head-turner. number two on this list is harvard. >> harvard. yeah, it's actually been a usual suspect on our best value colleg colleges. >> but a lot of people wouldn't assume that. >> because of the high sticker price, but they're giving out on average $35,000 worth of merit-based aid. so, once admitted, financial aid will not be a concern. >> our executive producer jim bell, harvard class of '89. >> excellent. >> number one best value private school is swarthmore college. that's in pennsylvania. >> it is, and this is its second time on our best value colleges list, and it's a wonderful school. renaissance students with wonderful faculty members, but doing the near impossible, which is making tuition affordable for students. the 100% of need is met for students admitted to swarthmore. >> just a couple honorable mentions, university of virginia you like, arizona state university you like, but most importantly, probably the most important thing we said, hopefully, in this segment is always apply for fancial aid. >> without question. >> rob, thanks, we appreciate it very much. >> thank you. >> by the way, we have the full list of the best value colleges on our website. just ahead, spping bargains you need to take advantage of this month. 8:26 is our time, 30 degrees, it looks like we have some sunshine entitle nation's capital. we'll get the forecast coming up. the case of the infamous white house dinner party crashers will go before a grand jury. now there's someone new involved, the stylist who did mikala salahi's hair before the state dinner will testify this morning. the grand jury will decide whether the couple should be charged with lying to a government official. we'll take a break and come back and look at our weather we have a few breaks in the clouds, temperatures in the upper 20s, climbing to the upper 30s, a small chance of a morning flurry and increasing sun this afternoon. a bit warmer tomorrow, thursday and friday, more sun and milder temperatures up near 50 by friday afternoon. in for jerry edwards this morning is ashley linder, how's the traffic? >> starting off on the outer loop of the capital beltway, it's a disabled vehicle in the second lane from the left causing these delays across the american legion bridge. that's what you'll find. on the inner loop out of the beltway on college park, very heavy, an overturned vehicle on new hampshire avenue, that's still on the right side of the road. delays start on the capital beltway back towards old georgetown road. joe, back to you. tonight on news4 at 5:00, lunch with lindsay and a real daredevil. travis pastrana, the man who 8: now on a tuesday morning. it's the 12th day of january 2010. we've got a few flurries in the forecast for today, then after th, it looks like this cold snap we've been suffering through is going to snap. hopefully, it's snapping for people in other parts of the country, as well, because it's been a long haul. our friends on the plaza could not be happier about some warmer weather is on the way. warmer weather on the way. and now, out on the plaza, i'm matt lauer along with meredith vieira, and that's a hat. >> that's a great hat. >> it's very wa. i bought it for my son, who refused it and i'm grateful, because i like it. >> that's nice. >> i love it. >>coming up, good news if you didn't get everything you wanted to get during the holiday season, in terms of your shopping list. retailers are slashing prices on everything from watches to diamonds to clothing. we're going to tell you where to get the best bargains, coming up. all right, also ahead, every parent knows high school is one of the most stressful times for kids. well, the woman who wrote the book that was the basis of "mean girls" is out with a new novel. she'll be here to discuss that and also your parenting questions. and also, we're going to cooking school. are you ready? >> yeah. >> we're going to basically make the same kind of pasta with different sauces and flavor. i'm in the sure it's a competition, but the three of us -- >> it will be a competition. >> okay. >> it doesn't start as a competition -- >> it always ends as one. >> -- but it usually ends as one. >> as long as it's not a food fight. just putting it out there. >> sauces can get messy. before we begin anything else, the olympics begin one month from today. one of the athletes we expect to see in vancouver is snowboarder louie vito. you've got a good chance of being there after a second place finish at the grand prix this weekend. you have one more event, right? >> yeah, back-to-back contests in park city and then the main event in park city. >> how nerve-racking is it for you, a month away from the games, potentially, and still waiting to find out if you're on the team. >> it's nerve-racking, but it's nice knowing who's riding the best leading up to vafer council. you don't have to decide a year in advance. so if you're on top of it, you're going. >> this will be your first olympics, if you make the team. what will that mean for you? >> it's kind of just a dream come true. i started out snowboarding not really thinking about the olympics, because it wasn't in. but now with the possibility to go, it's crazy to think you're going to be there. you grow up, no matter what sport you do, you look at the olympics and it's cool to know you could have a chance to be there. >> you're known for what you do on the half pipe, specifically the double cork, which sounds just crazy. what is in your head as you're doing these new -- look at this. when you start doing this, what is going on in your head? >> you're just trying to find where you are and spot your landing so you land it on your feet, because if you don't, it's pretty painful, so. >> are you happy? are you fearful? >> you know, i'm happy when i'm landing. i'm fearful when i know something's going wrong, but it's pretty cool. it's a cool feeling. it's hard to imitate it on a tam marine or anything. >> most people forget how dangerous this sport is. matt, you noticed that -- >> what's going on over there some. >> it's funny, because there's a lot of talk good snowboarding and double corks and falling, but this was a nice, normal run in between the contests at mammoth and didn't quite go as planned, and the result -- >> you're a guy who gets injured doing something relatively safe, that's what you're saying. >> yeah. >> well, good luck. >> we hope to see you in vancouver and appreciate you coming by this morning. >> thank you for having me. >> you need to wear a scarf. >> still cold around our region, below freezing this morning. the cloud cover breaking out now. and radar not showing any precipitation. but overnight, to our east and southeast, we did get a dusting to a little less than half an inch from anne arundel to st. charles and st. mary's counties. it's 29 in washington, mid 20s near the blue ridge and shenandoah valley. highs in the upper 30s today with increasing sunshine. partly cloudy, a bit warmer >> and for your weather needs 24 hours a day, all you have to do is logon to your computer and go to weather.com. meredith, matt and ann, back to you. >> steph, thanks. it was splitsville last week for one half of the half-ton twins on nbc's "the biggest loser." couples james crutchfield was sent home from the rest of the contestants and is here with us this morning. good morning. >> good to be here. >> you're very competitive with your brother john, started out one pound apart, right? >> yes. >> you were 485 and your brother was 484. >> right. >> you both lost 21 pounds the first week, but it wasn't enough. >> right. >> they voted you off. >> right. >> big disappointment? >> it was a disappointment, but i did ask them to vote me off at the time because it was the best thing for the brown team, but it was a disappointment at the time, but you know what, i'm doing great at home and i love working out with my trainer, ron, and my wife. >> you've lost over 100 pounds. >> yes. >> so -- >> phenomenal. >> how do you keep that up now? you and your brother are competitive about this -- >> twins. >> he's still on the ranch. >> yes. >> and you're home. can you continue to keep up with him not having the pressure of the ranch? >> see, i don't know what he's doing, so i don't know what his weight is, because they keep it kind of confidential. so, i just have to do the best i can here and hope he kind of is close to where i'm at, so i don't have much room to make up. >> keep it within reach. >> yeah. >> but you have a lot of motivation. you said as this thing was starting that what you really want is you would love to take your wife dancing. >> yes. >> and for long walks. and so, is that something that you see as happening in the future or are you able to start doing that know. >> no, i'm starting now. before, you know, i could bary walk. and we spent a lot of time, seven days a week, in weight training to walk better because of my knee. but last night we came out and walked around new york city for the first time -- >> awesome! >> so, it's great. >> that's great. and i know she's working out with you. a team effort. >> and she's from here, so she was my tour guy. >> keep it up, james. >> nice to see you, a pleasure. >> you, too. >> thank you very much. >> and "the biggest loser" couples airs tonight at 8:00/7:00 central right here on nbc. up next, january bargains. where to find the best deals on a whole host of items for your home. first, this is "today" on nbc. this morning on "today's home," we're talking about january bargains. the holiday shopping frenzy may be over. there are still pleasant of of deals to be had. lifestyle expert robin moreno has the scoop on the discounts all month long. good morning. >> good morning. >> i thought there would be nothing left for the january sales. >> that's the trick. there's still a bit of inventory, so there's still great deals to be had, but not that much inventory. so, if you see something you really want, a name brand or something in your size, jump on it. >> don't wait for later in the month. >> not going to be there. bedding goes on sale in january and it's a great way to stock up on luxurious items. these are cotton towels from bed bath & beyond. usually $15, only $9. >> sheets. >> high thread count, always nice to buy, they last all year long. that's $60 from kohl's, usually $140. >> so more than half off. it's great. this is bed in a bag for $35. that's really cheap. >> so if you've got to outfit a home or kids in clege. pexgt for that. >> absolutely. >> let's get to the kitchen. great deals on cookwear. >> this is the great time of year to keep your resolution, be fi if you're getting into cooking, some cookbooks for christmas. this is from amazon. it's $250. this is a professional set, so really nice. someone that really knows their way around a kitchen. then target is having great sales on all of their appliances, about $20 to $40. again, for the fitness resolution, i want to make my shakes in a blender, do some steaming. pick up on these guys. it's going to be a great deal. >> it's not a bad idea for yourself, but also stock up on these so you can put them away for gifts down the road. >> for $20, nice. >> you mentioned fitness. you found great deals on fitness equipment. >> this is from sears. it's a treadmill. it's been cold, so if you want to stay inside. it's $700, so about $600 off. and this is almost the same as a gym membership. for $700, it's great investment. >> a lot of people are saying they're not joining gyms, but they are working out at home. they like the privacy aspect. >> get up and do it. no excuse. i am loving shopittome.com. you go to the website and put in whatever brand you like, your size. they scour the internet for deals and they send you a personalized message saying hey, tennis shoes are on sale, acetics, whatever, and they are amazing deals. >> what do they get? >> they don't get anything. it's completely free. >> really? >> maybe advertisers buy. in i'm not sure how it works. >> they have to be getting something. >> but you get great deals and it's free. >> all right. so, you've got good deals on those. let's get to jewel raeyt. it's always nice to --well, first of all, this is a good idea to buy now for valentine's day. >> absolutely. a new diamond are -- this is one of the cheapest times ever to buy diamonds because it's not so much in demand. so, we're seeing across the board about 10% less. so, given say bigger discounts at places like say kay's, which is, if you're in the market to give yourself, you know, your wife, i guess an engagement ring, this is only $1,380 -- >> give my wife an engagement ring? little late for that. >> no, if you want to give your beloved an engagement ring. it's usually $2,500, so that's a great deal. and then the diamond studs only $300. so, i'd like to get that from my beloved. >> okay, i got the hint. the consumer electronics show, last week al was out there showing us all the latest gadgets, which means one thing -- last year's gadgets are a good deal. >> absolutely. so, for instance, this cannon camera, which is still a grae great deal, last year's $130, was $300, so completely half off. >> where'd you find that, walmart? >> at walmart. >> this turntable. people still have records? >> yeah, this is from thinkgeek.com only for $60. it digitized your vinyl. so, you plug it into your computer and you can get all that stuff on your computer. >> and flat-screen tvs. you found a great deal. >> huge deal. especially right before the super bowl. this one is $400 from sears, but best buy is having a huge sale starting today on these l.e.d. tvs, which are really in style, really thin. it's only $1,600, usually about $2,500, so $900 off. just in time for the super bowl. >> so, you think super bowl. i think valentine's day again. >> exactly. for your wife. >> exactly. robyn, thank you. >> thank you. >> appreciate it. up next, a teen expert answers your parenting questions when it comes to relationships, drugs and much more. author wiseman wrote "queen bees and wannabees" and now she's taking her expertise in a new direction with her first novel, "boys, girls and other hazardous materials" is geared toward young adults and looks at the ups and downs teens must tackle as they enter high school. rosalind, good to have you. >> thank you for having me. >> you talk about the ups and downs particularly girls have to navigate through high school, but not in fiction form. this was a stretch for you. why did you decide to write a novel? >> oh, it's a huge stretch because i wanted to do something where i took a typical story of a kid in her life, and then i wanted to tell all of the secrets that kids and parents and teachers tell me but i can never really say exactly in the public because i have to maintain confidentiality. and i wanted to be able to weave in their stories and do it in a way that kids could hopefully respond to. so, it looks really typical, but in there are all kinds of secrets. >> and they are true secrets. >> yes. >> things that have been told to you. you actually consulted with teens along the way. they helped you edit the book, essentially. >> they did. i always go to kids, but this time i had the incredible privilege -- i have a friend in college, tim yager, in virginia. i live in d.c. he let me come into his creative writing class for seniors every semester. i would come with m chapter and one kids would say one thing they thought was redeemable, one thing they liked and one thing they discussed. and we did that for the entire semester. >> were they brutally honest? >> they were so brutally honest that i had to remind them that i was a human being who had emotions and it's very vulnerable. i also tell my students all the time they have to take risks and do uncomfortablthings and i needed to walk that walk. >> and you deal also with boys in this book. we think of you as an expert on girls in the high school years, but boys are going through all this stuff as well. >> it's true, and i've always worked with boys in equal numbers to the girls, i'm just known for the queen bee thing more, and i really wanted the boys to come to the floor in this book and i wanted to show that boys are going through really difficult situations like hazing or dealing with girls and having strong friendships with girls, not just having girlfriends. and i think a lot of adults feel like those things just don't happ. hazing doesn't happen in high school, it happens in college. and i think young people know that it does, and i wanted to share in. >> in fact, thanks to the internet, kids are reading this book already and commenting on it. >> yeah. one of the coolest things about being a fiction writer is there are all these incredible young adult bloggers out there with incredible websites, so i get to look at what the kids are writing about about my book. it's an amazing thing to participate in. >> a lot of our audience members had some questions. >> yes. >> i can't let you go without some e-mails. first, alabama mom writes, "i have a 10-year-old daughter and boys are at the top of her list. if it's not one name, it's another. i want to be sensitive to her questions, but i am having trouble having her understand she has plenty of time." what does this mom do? >> i think it's understandable to be anxious about this as a parent, but i think what's also important is what not to say. you don't say, you know what, you're a little too young for this, or you know, it's just puppy love. what i think you need to do is say, well, what do you like about this kid? i know you think he's cute, but what are the characteristics that you like about this person? because it's never too early to start talking to kids about what relationships are about and what you think about it. so, you weave in your feelings and your values instead of saying you are too young, i'm not talking to you about this. >> okay. so, sneak it in, but talk -- >> sneak it in and ask their opinion about what they really like. >> all right, rosalind, thank you so much. the book is "boys, girls and other hazardous materials." up next, "today' >> announcer: "today's cooking school" is brought to you by bertolli. bertolli offers chef-inspired sauces that let you create a restaurant experience at home. >> back now at 8:51 starting something new. "today's cooking school." this morning, we're learning how to make three flavorful pasta dishes. owner of new york's miadona restaurant is here to share her culinary secrets. hi, donna tella. >> good morning, hello. >> can i speak for my own recipe? this is so easy. >> yes, that's the whole point. >> there's only a few ingredients. there's the cavatelli, tomatoes, olive oil and salt and pepper. >> and that's . >> okay. how do we start? >> the trick is, tomato season is almost over, so we want to roast the tomatoes. 350 in the oven, roasted, salt and pepper, basil. >> a little olive oil. >> a little olive oil, and now it's nice and sweet. here we go. let's just take a little olive oil. >> okay. >> we're going to toast some garlic. >> got it. >> and we're using cavatelli today, the same pasta. >> so it's an even playing field. >> this is competition. >> it's cavatelli for all three. >> okay pour this in. >> i don't want this to spill on you. >> aren't they beautiful? >> gorgeous. >> watch what we're going to do with these, ladies. >> do you want to mash? >> just smush them. >> they give you a big fork to mash. >> but you basically just smush these -- >> that's it. >> then you add the cavatelli. >> you add the cavatelli and we're going to toss it -- >> i'll continue to do that while you move on. what do you add? >> salt and pepper and basil, and you're done. okay? >> meanwhile, it's my turn. my turn. lovely. >> okay, cavatelli with shrimp and beans. so, we're going to start with a little olive oi here we go. >> again with the garlic, right? >> there's garlic in everything. do you even have to ask? i'm italian. >> no, i love the garlic! >> pour a little shrimp that's been cleaned and deveined. >> any size shrimp? >> i like medium size. >> medium, okay. >> nice and meaty. >> get that pink? >> then a can of lima beans from a can. they're great. >> dump it all? >> with a little liquid. >> okay. >> and that becomes the sauce. >> lovely. >> and on high heat you toss it. >> and i squish, too, don't i? >> yes, you do. >> don't forget that! >> competition. >> a little mashing. all right. >> i forgot to put a little chili pepper. >> oh, shoot. sorry. throw that in. >> and this is personal preference. depends how hot you like it. what is this? >> you throw your cavatelli. it's all cavatelli, so whoever's is the best it has nothing to do with the pasta. >> you move on to ann. >> and mine involves truffles. >> yes, truffles. >> okay. let's get this started. we get the olive oil. i know that already. and the garlic. you get that down. >> you're getting the trend here. a little garlic. >> oh, a lot of garlic. >> a lot of garlic? >> there we go. >> and then we add in the broccoli, which has been blanched a little bit. >> and we don't want to blanch it too much. we want it nice and green. >> just two minutes ahead of time. >> then we have -- now, wait. >> now it's time to add truffle butter, just to get a little more -- truffles and fat work well together. and if you can't afford black truffles, even though they're affordable, it brings a lot of flavor. >> how easy is it to get truffle butter? >> just go online. it's not that bad. >> and this? >> wooden spoon. my mom used to break these on me in the kitchen. these wooden spoons. >> no, really? >> yeah, if i was a bad girl. ask any italian child. >> we can help. oh, honey, i'm so sorry. moms, don't do that. >> she's going to kill me now. >> she really will, actually. >> let the butter emulsify -- >> melt, right, right. and then? >> that's it. >> then we add the pasta and then that's it. then if you have the money, you can buy a little bit of truffle -- >> a little bit of truffle. >> and you put that with parmesan? >> little parmesan, right on top. this is fantastic. >> want to try the finished product? >> mine looks too good. >> that is pretty good, matt. >> that is fantastic. >> it is a competition. >> i wanted to show everyone. get a close-up. >> isn't that nice? >> all three of my children did a good job today. >> you're not playing favorites. >> not at all. >> thank you. >> and we have to taste it. >> i've been tasting mine. >> and we have wines from naples. i was just in this incredible winery. you have the most expensive wine because we have truffles. >> i have the most expensive wine, uh huh, hello. >> but i can drink mine out of the bottle because it's cheaper. >> yours is a wine fiano for the shrimp and matt i have a lovely red for you as well. >> thank you very much. donatella, this is really fun. >> it's great. >> it's so easy, you make us feel like we can do this. >> we can do it. >> it's all about a few simple ingredients, fresh ingredients, and that's it. >> once you drink the wine, nobody cares anymore. we're back in a ment. our time now is 8:56, 30 degrees, a live picture of the lincoln memorial on this tuesday morning. we'll get the forecast coming up, good morning to you, i'm krebs krebs. in the news for today, police in northern virginia are cracking down on hov violators. officers are patrolling interstate 66, 95 and 395 now. remember that the fines double for every offense. if you're caught, expect to pay $125 first offense, $250 for your second, $500 for a third, get caught a fourth time and you'll be fined $1,000. voters in northern virginia are deciding between republican steve hunt and democrat dave marsden for the state senate, the seat vacated by republican ken kuchinelli, host: could switching to geico really save you 15% or more on car insurance? host: does charlie daniels play a mean fiddle? ♪ fiddle music charlie: vo: geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. good morning, radar not showing any precipitation now. we've had some breaks in the clouds this morning. but overnight we did have some passing snowshowers and flurries. some snowshowers left a dusting to a little less than half an inch in anne arundel, calvert, charles and st. mary's counties. temperatures are approaching 30 degrees around the region, we'll see it reach the mid and upper 30s this afternoon with increasing sunshine. partly cloudy to clear tonight, near 20 tomorrow morning. tomorrow afternoon near 40. and milder with sunshine on thursday and friday. ashley linder, how's the traffic? >> we still have some beltway issues to contend with now. let's look at that as you can see here the inner loop past university boulevard. the inner loop headed away, still slow, accident activity beyond camera view along the shoulder. outer loop pace is improving, but slow along college park, into silver spring and bethesda. >> and news4 we're back now with more of "today" on a tuesday morning, the 12th day of january 2010. you folks win the award. you've been out here a long time. it's cold, although getting warmer here in the northeast after a real cold snap that has been pelting many parts of the country. we're happy for the good news. i'm matt lauer along with natalie morales. al is off today, and we'll get our forecast in just a second. meanwhile, we're going to talk about january being one of the most depressing months of the year. >> oh, my goodness, do you have to go there? >> but i'm serious. a lot of people get the blues in january. >> absolutely. >> it could be the letdown from the holidays. other people get cabin fever from being cooped up in cold weather. whatever the reason is, we're going to try and help you find a brighter side during the month of january. >> all right. from getting happy also to getting healthy in no time flat. what if you could help lower your cholesterol or cut your risk of heart disea in less time than it takes to watch a couple commercials? yep, well, you're probably doing it as we speak, right? we'll show you how you can boost your health in 90 seconds or less. also, staying with the get healthy theme this time of year, joy bauer is back. she's got the skinny on six foods she says will help control your appetite and give you that actual health boost that you need. and don't sacrifice the flavor as well. okay, and also, what about all the news being made in the world of television right now, as we pause for a major fire. [ sirens ] all the news in the world of television. we've got simon cowell announcing that he is leaving "american idol." we've got that man right there, conan o'brien, host of "the tonight show," kind of questioning his future at nbc. we're going to get into that in just a second. this is -- we have some serious sirens here. [ sirens ] >> i think we're all going to be okay. >> right down the street, actually. before we go any further, before we're evacuated, let's go inside. ann's got a check of all the headlines. >> all right. >> wow! >> let's just hope everything out there is okay. thanks a lot, matt and natalie. good morning once again, everybody. in the news, today a leading irian nuclear scientist who recently took the risk of challenging the government of iran, was killed by a bomb on a motorcycle that exploded outside of his home. the scientist has publicly backed the opposition in iran's presidential election, and for its part, iran is blaming the u.s. and israel for the bombing. today, the president and first lady are attending the funeral of vice president joe biden's mother. jean biden, who once said to the vice president, "joey, you are not better than anyone else, but nobody is better than you," died friday at the age of . both president obama and senate majority leader harry reid say that they're ready to put reid's racial remark behind them. on monday, reid publicly apologized for saying during the 2008 campaign that obama was electable because he was light-skinned and did not speak with what reid called a negro dialect. the president brushed it off as being inartful use of language. republicans, however, want reid to step down as majority leader. labor leaders are warning of political consequences if democrats don't drop a proposed tax on high-value health insurance plans. president obama met monday night with the heads of the nation's largest unions and said workers should not be penalized for negotiating strong health benefits. the white house said that the tax might be modified but will not go away. today a landmark trial resumes in san francisco in the first federal challenge to laws against gay marriage. nbc's justice correspondent pete williams has details now. >> reporter: jeff sirillo and jeff catami have been together nine years and say they want to get married for their commitment. >> we have such a reverence for marriage. we do honor the institute of marriage and we would want to be a successful married couple. so you know, it's very important to us. >> reporter: they're helping to bring the first lawsuit ever, claiming that denying marriage to same-sex couples violates the federal constitution. >> vote yes on proposition 8 -- >> reporter: their hopes for marriage were ended by proposition 8, passed by voters last year. >> what this is is the ability of the state and the people collectively to be able to say we're going to define marriage one way, one man and one woman. >> reporter: after conducting a test with courtroom cameras, the judge ruled the trial could be shown on youtube, but that's now on appeal. the court will decide tomorrow whether the youtube plan would go ahead, another first for the federal courts. pete williams, nbc news, washington. walmart is pulling many chinese-made children's jewelry items from its shelves. the move comes after the "associated press" found some chinese manufacturers have been using cadmium, a known carcinogen, in place of lead in children's charm bracelets and pendants. china says it will now look into it. and the recent cold snap across the country has not been just tough on people, it's been rough on animals as well. in texas, 4h students were so concerned about their sheep, they wrapped them in blankets with sleeves, in case their own wool isn't warm enough. it is now four minutes past the hour. let's go back outside to, hopefully, a well-warmed matt, in his coat there. >> it's not so bad out here, ann, today. al did a nice job before he left and turned it over to stephanie abrams, who's here with a look at the forecast. >> and matt, i actually found someone who says it's not bad out here. why is that, joanne? >> not bad at all. this is beautiful. we're from cape cod and new england and we're used to it there's no wind. it's gorgeous today. >> there's no snow. it's a gorgeous day. >> it's beautiful. the sun use out. >> there you go. >> that's important. >> let's see where else the sun will be out today. here's a look at our forecast. this afternoon we are going to see the 30s and 40s through the center of the country. that's where the sun will be shining ining good morning, we're getting sunshine breaking out here after a cloudy night and temperatures around the region near 30 degrees, it's 30 in washington, we'll see i climb into the upper 30s later today with increasing sunshine. a small chance of an additional morning flurry. and then tomorrow morning, cold, near 20 and clear and clouds building on wednesday, highs reaching near 40. and then mostly sunny thursday and milder, finally getting ove the average high this time of year, into the mid 4s. on friday, should be up near 50. >> natalie, over to you. >> announcer: "today's health" is brought to you by cvs pharmacy and minute clinic. don't risk it. h1n1 flu vaccine is here. >> stephanie, thank you. and this morning on "today's health," 90-second health foods. we've all heard the advice an apple a day keeps the doctor away. well, apparently, it's one of several things you can do every day to stave oy disease and improve your health. liz vaccariello is editor in chief of "prevention" magazine. liz, good morning. >> good morning. >> all right, easy things to do, but this does not mean foregoing daily exercise, right? >> we have to get our exercise, we have to get our seven hours of sleep, but what "prevention" does every month is finds ey tips. we went to registered dieticians, heart experts, cancer researchers and found things that take under two minutes that have a little impact. >> during a commercial break, as we said. so, first one is to fight cancer, and actually, there is truth to the whole adage that an apple a day keeps the doctor away, right? when it comes to fighting cancer. >> it does, but the bulk of an apple's benefits lies in its peel. in one lab experiment, they found 12 different compounds in a red delicious apple, all of which slowed the growth of breast, colon and liver cancer cells. >> so, don't unpeel the apple. eat the peel. >> don't unpeel. and if possible, go organic with your apple because apples are one of the most pesticide-laden produce. >> okay, good advice. next is cutting cholesterol. and actually, some persist yais nuts, just a sprinkle, is help lower your cholesterol levels? >> yes, we went to penn state university and they had people have a handful of pistachios on their salad every day and by four weeks, they lowered their cholesterol 6.7%. >> a significant -- >> but it's even more significant, because that level of lowering your total cholesterol can lower your risk of heart disease 14%. >> wow. >> important to keep in mind, though, pistachios are -- >> high in fat, lots of calories. >> yeah, 160 calories for about a handful. so go a little lighter on the salad dressing. >> next, for hot flashes, those who experience them, the way you breathe can actually help. tell me how. >> mm-hmm. deep abdominal,by breathing -- >> the yoga breath, right? yeah. >> has been shown to lower the incidence of hot flashes by half in three separate studies. >> wow. >> it kicks in the body's natural relaxation response. it lowers our heart rate, relaxes our muscles, and it's really easy to do. you just sit in a chair, close your eyes, avoid distractions. in through the nostril, out through the mouth. >> that cleansing, relaxing breath. >> and make sure your body's relaxed so you get it through the whole body. >> no wonder if feels so good in yoga as well. next, whole grain cereals. >> whole grains are a life-saver. at the big and popular iowa women's health study, they tracked 42,000 post-menopsal women for 15 years. those who had just 11 servings of whole grains reduced by a third their inflammatory diseases, which are like asthma, diabetes and heart disease. and whole grains, they're easy in whole grain breads, cereals. >> cereals. >> oatmeal, and my favorite, popcorn. >> wow. okay, so, go for the good stuff. next, protecting yourself from bacteria. and your fridge temperature's actually an easy way to protect yourself. >> right. if your refrigerator is set lower than 40 degrees fahrenheit -- >> right. >> -- your food is in a danger zone. that's the temperature under -- over which bacteria can grow. >> over which, right. >> and 75 million cases of food-borne illnesses a year. this is something to pay attention to. it's really easy, under $10, you buy an appliance thermometer, stick it in there. make sure the temperature is lower than 40 degrees. >> okay, lower than 40 degrees is the key there. and also, finally, how to stop headaches. your posture can make a big difference. >> yeah. >> so, i have to sit really upright today, because i had a headache all day yesterday. >> this was so eye-opening to me. when our heads jut forward -- >> yes. >> -- we have to lift our eyes a little bit in order to see, and this constricts the nerves and muscles at the base of the neck, which can cause headaches. >> and when you're slouched over a computer and keyboard as we all are, that good posture real goes out the window. >> goes out the window. so, there are a couple of tips. you can think of a string attached to the top of your head pulling your towards the ceiling. that will naturally lift your head. or several times throughout the day, take a look at yourself from a profile. make sure that your ear is over your shoulder. >> and do the deep, cleansing breaths in between, and you're all set. >> and eat your apple. >> and your apple peel. liz vaccariello, great "prevention" tips. thank you so much. still coming up on "today," who's working the nightshift? some big changes coming to the small screen from conan o'brien to simon cowell. we're going to take a look at the future of late-night tv. but up last year, my little guy got the flu... and it was bad. there's nothing more important than the ones you love, which is why now is the time to protect them and yourself. the h1n1 flu vaccine is available now at cvs/pharmacy and minuteclinic, the walk-in clinic inside select cvs/pharmacies. it's peak flu season, so don't risk it. get vaccinated for h1n1 flu today. to find a location near you, visit cvs.com, or call... hearing those four little words, "havyou lost weight?" be victorious. lose up to 6 pounds... in 2 weeks by taking the special k challenge. get started at specialk.com. spray 'n wash has always been a trusted ally. now our experte is combined with the power of resolve. spray 'n wash is now called resolve. tough on stains, safe on clothes. trust resolve. forget stains. love to see kids' spirits shine. superstar and mom, martina mcbride and sunnyd shine on sunny taste. sunny spirit. sunny d. it can take so much out of you. i feel like i have to wind myself up just to get out of bed. then... well... i have to keep winding myself up to deal with the sadness, the loss of interest, the trouble concentrating, the lack of energy. if depression is taking so much out of you, ask your doctor about pristiq. (announcer) pristiq is a prescription medicine proven to treat depression. pristiq is thought to work by affecting the levels of two chemicals in the brain, serotonin and norepinephrine. tell your doctor right away if your depression worsens or you have unusual changes in mood, behavior, or thoughts of suicide. antidepressants can increase suicidal thoughts and behaviors in children, ens and young adults. pristiq is not approved for children under 18. do not take pristiq with maois. taking pristiq with nsaid pain relievers, aspirin or blood thinners may increase bleeding risk. tell your doctor about all your medications, including those for migraine, to avoid a potentially life-threatening condition. pristiq may cause or worsen high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or glaucoma. telling your doctor you have heart disease... or before you reduce or stop taking pristiq. side effects may include nausea, dizziness and sweating. 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(announcer) ask your doctor about pristiq. studies show that for many people, january can be a depressing month. the days are short, the holiday shopping bills come due, and families are cooped up inside their homes because of a record cold winter, but help is on the way, because this week's "new york" magazine has a list of 50 steps to simple happiness, and sarah bernard is the contributing editor and the author of this article. sarah, good morning. >> good morning! >> so, perhaps it should be no surprise that "new york" magazine would want to do an article about happiness. >> oh, i wonder why you say that. maybe it's because you read the study in "science" magazine that said that new yorkers are actually the least happy people in the nation. can you believe it? >> like 51st. >> we ranked 51 because they counted d.c. as a state. we are the most unhappy place, came in dead last. so, we thought, what can we do about this? and we decided to cast a wide net and look to experts that were not the obvious culprits. we didn't just call shrinks. we talked to hairdressers, color therapy experts, sexperts to see what their advice would be for simple, affordable things you could do. >> that's the thing about it, is i'm looking at this list, and to be honest with you, a lot of the things are pretty basic. i was thinking maybe go on a cruise, but actually, number one -- number two on your list is make your bed. >> that's right. >> now, why would that make a person happy? >> isn't tt funny? this came from gretchen rubin. she has out a new book called "the happiness project," about her quest for personal happiness. >> we had her on last we. >> she's great, and it's true. the most effective piece of advice she gives to people is to make your bed, the theory being that if you have your environment controlled, you feel more calm inside, and also, if you start your day with an accomplishment, it sort of sets the tone and you already feel better about yourself. i think it actually works it makes a lot of sense. >> i'm going to try that, because i'm really bad at that. put a quarter in somebody else's meter, expired meter. now, listen, that's interesting. now, you're talking about doing something to help somebody else will make you happy. >> that's right. that's something we don't think of and is easy to do, help other people. random acts of kindness, we're calling it. >> here's the thing, nobody's going to say, hey, thanks a lot, because they won't know who you are. >> it's not about getting the credit for people. you can help people with stroller up the stairs. we do that a lot in new york in the subway. but also, put money anonymously in somebody else's expired meter, especially if you see the ticket guy coming, and it makes you feel better about yourself, again, sets the tone for the rest of the day. >> when in an elevator, put down your blackberry, and do what? >> and talk to people. this actually came from an nyu professor of communications, and it's true. we spend so much time online, e-mailing, on facebook, and we think that's real connection. you forget that putting down the blackberry, having small talk, reminds you that you're connected to other people, and it lifts your mood. >> they've also done studies to augment that idea, because the more connected we feel to other people, the happier we are. there are actually things to support that. >> you're not alone. >> think like a shark, act like a 5-year-old. what expert said that and what does it mean? >> i love this one. well, obviously, you want your mind to be sharp and sophisticated like an adult, but in the body, we forget as kids, you're constantly moving, you're playing. you're not sitting in place for hours and hours like we do at our desks every day. and we forget that as we get older. it's a simple idea, but move around. get up and walk around in the day. don't sit frozen at the computer and you will improve your circulation, your endorphins. it's a logical thing, but we forget to do it. >> you also talk about the use of color. your color is making me very happy. >> thank you. >> but for example, if the walls of your house are yellow, that would make you happy. >> a color expert said paint your walls a sunny yellow, and that makes sense. it is the color of sunlight, especially in the winter dreary days. it lifts your mood. smell is also incredibly important. a lot of people said the smell of green apples or cucumber also lifts your mood. so, think about that when buying a scented candle or lotions. these are things you can do to help your happiness in a simple way. >> you'll have to put that in a perfume then. >> exactly. >> it's no surprise that sex is on the list of something that makes a lot of people happy. >> that's right. >> everyone happy. >> and we talked to the owner of a very popular sex toy store here in new york. >> well, now, you have widened your experts. >> and she was saying, her advice was say yes to your partner when they want to have sex, buzz a lot of times, we think we can't fit it in, we're too busy. we make everythi else a priority, but if you put that higher on your list, it will help your mood. >> i'm not going to ask you about exfoliate and ebriate simultaneously. i'm not even going to go there with you, but i want to know, since you've written this article, i'm guess you have included some of these things in your day. >> i'm trying. >> have u noticed any change impirikly? >> i have. a lot of it is not expensive. it's really a change in your mood and your attitude will how yoapproach things. i especially like the piece of advice from an integrated medicine doctor who said an ounce of dark chocolate a day also helps your mood. it's a super food. but i have really tried to put this into practice and just learn that you don't have to make a ginormous new year's resolution you're never going to live up to. you can start with these small, little things, and already by the second week in january, i'm feeling better. >> awesome. we'll check in with you to see how you do as you move ahead. >> absolutely. >> happy new year. >> you too. >> and good luck in your effort of making happiness. you've made me happy. for more information on "simple steps to happiness," pick up "new york" magazine. coming up, a guy who makes everybody happy. richard simmons will be stopping by. he's all about the happy thing. he's shaking it up with moves in his new fitness program. ♪ are you ready? he's not talking aut work. ♪ i don't want to work he's not tucking in his shirt. ♪ i want to bang on the drum all day ♪ he's not checking messages every 9 seconds. ♪ i just want to bang on the drum all day ♪ and now this? ♪ i don't want to play ♪ i just want to bang on the drum all day ♪ [ fog horn blows ] still haven't tried activia? listen to this story. i love hosting the holidays... especially for my adorable grandchildren. but after all the rich, heavy food, i was irregular, sluggish. so my friend recommended the activia challenge. activia, with bifidus regularis is clinically proven to help regulate your digestive system. and it worked. i don't know what i like better-- how it makes me feel... or the great taste. take the activia challenge. it works or it's free. ♪ activia! yep! look in your bag, made you something. 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[ clears throat ] you only need these if you forgot to take beano. never again, never again. take beano before, and there will be no gas. 9:26 is the time now, 30 degrees as we take a live look at ronald reagan washington national airport on this tuesday, the 12th of january, good morning to you, i'm joe krebs. this morning, some people in northern virginia are heading to the polls to choose a new state senator. a special election in the state's 37th district. the seat was vacated by the republican elected to attorney general. insiders say the outcome could affect the balance of power in virginia where democrats narrowly outnumber republicans in state senate. a $40 million budget shortfall may force metro to cut more employees than it thoughts. last month they said they would cut 25 employees and 100 vacant positionings. now it said it's looking to lay off 60 employees. metro spokesperson said it will affect administrative workers. and the job cuts are expected to save the agency about $2.2 million this year. we'll take a break and come back and look at weather and traffic. stay with us. good morning, here's your storm center four-day forecast. partly cloudy this afternoon with highs in the upper 30rs. near 40 and partly cloudy tomorrow. thursday, into the mid 40s with sunshine. sunny friday, near 50. how's the traffic? >> we just had an accident reported on the eastbound toll road near route 7 in tyson's corner. watch for police arriving on the scene. on news4 at 5:00, lunch with lindsay, and a real daredevil, the man who shattered the world >> thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for us. we're out of the ground and we're taken. >> that is two-time oscar winner denzel washington in this post-apocalyptic action saga "the book of eli," playing a man on a mission. do not mess with him. we're going to find out more about that when we catch up with denzel tomorrow here on "today." you know, he doesn't love getting up early in the morning, so this is going to be fun. he'll be there with two cups of coffee. coming up -- >> a lot of buzz on that movie, though. >> i know, and the trailer. >> a lot of anticipation. the question this half hour is will he stay or will he go? with nbc moving jay lenoack to 11:35, a lot of eyes are on conan o'brien and whether he will leave "the tonight show." you know, he's too great. we can't have him leave. i'll send an appeal right now, conan, don't go. >> ann very upset. >> and "american idol" fans with the news simon cowell's making this season his last. and paula talking about that this morning -- >> anything else you've got? >> we'll have more on that coming up in this half hour. okay, also ahead, if you hate to diet, this may be just the right thing for you. joy bauer's here. she says there are actually six foods you can incorporate into your diet, full flavor, that are going to help full you up, and therefore, help you drop those unwanted extra pounds. >> and probably none of them are bacon. >> no. >> but when you do lose that extra weight, you may want to splurge on some new clothes. and that's an inspiration. from stripes to polka dots, we'll tell you what's hot and what's not. and these looks, the one we showed you earlier and this one as well as the ones ahead this half hour do not cost a lot of money. you'll be shocked how much you'll spend. >> okay, but bore that, stephanie abrams is here from the weather channel. >> with good news. >> a warm-up? >> bringing warm weather. >> finally, yay! >> let's look at where that is going to happen. unfortunately, across the country, in the midwest. our temperatures will be above average with sunshine through the >> i did notice on that map it looks like as ka's the only place not warming up, 26 below for a high, without windchill. >> okay. >> not expected to warm up. a lot of love to jimmy fallon as well. but coming up next, your favorite shows, on that topic, are changing. simon's leaving "american idol," jay leno's moving back to his old home. so, what will conan be doing? we'll have the latest on all of this, right after this. >> aww. is right for your body. tylenol 8 hour works with your body, with one layer that dissolves quickly... ...one layer that lasts all day ...and no layers that irritate your stomach the way that ibuprofen can. it's tough on your body pain. not on your body. walgreens invites you to stay well this new year. ♪ with the centers for disease control and prevention saying... that vaccination is still your best protection, walgreens and take care clinics... now offer h1n1 flu vaccinations... every day at our more than 7000 locations nationwide... for just $18.00. so stop in today. walgreens. there's a way to stay well. so stop in today. why do women like you love activia light? sometimes i have no choice but to eat on the run... and to eat whatever happens to be around. heavy greasy food that's hard on my diet... and my digestive system. so i eat activia light every day. activia light, with bifidus regularis is clinically proven to help regulate your digestive system. mmmm. the new taste is better than ever. and with only 70 calories activia light helps make it easier to watch my weight. it helps me feel good and look good too! ♪ activia! a hint of calla lily. beautiful moments are born in the shower. a diamond-infused sensation. touch of sparkle cream oil body wash from nivea. touch and be touched. with ragu, your kids get a full serving of veggies they'll actually eat. all natural ragu. feed our kids well. the shake-ups in late-night television has been no laughing tter for network executives. with nbc's decision to push jay leno to a later time slot, conan o'brien is weighing whether he wants to stay as host of "the tonight show." >> all this as word comes from simon cowell that he's leaving "american idol" on fox at the end of this season. nbc's george lewis takes a look. >> reporter: so, will conan o'brien stay at nbc or jump ship? reportedly, his people have been talking to the folks at fox. >> everybody now wants to know what my plans are. everyone's asking me. all i can say is i plan to continue putting on a great show night after night while stealing as many office supplies as humanly possible. >> reporter: jay leno, who appears headed back to o'brien's time slot, also has plenty of new material at nbc's expense. >> see, nobody knows it. and supposeedly, we're moving to 11:30, but even ts is not sure. my people are upset, conan's people are upset. hey, nbc said they wanted drama at 10:00. now they got it. >> reporter: and most of the drama revolves around whether o'brien will accept the idea of following leno once again, coming on at 12:05 after a half-hour version of leno's show. >> when you've gotersonalities of these magnitude saying they're heading elsewhere, that means big upheaval. >> reporter: and the big upheaval at fox centers on simon cowell, the "american idol" judge everyone loves to hate. >> it was a little bit overtheatrical. >> oh, what? >> quit it! >> reporter: monday, cowell announced he's leaving at the end of this season to start a new fox reality series "the x-factor." the british version of the show, another talent contest, is a mega hit. the big questionurrounding "american idol" is whether it will do as well next year without simon. >> he's irreplaceable. we can't replace him, so we're just hoping to keep it active and energetic. >> reporter: the newest american idol judge, ellen degeneres, weighs in on cowell's departure on her show airing later today. >> seriously, i am going to be very, very sad to see him go because i think he has made the show what it is. but he wanted a change and i wish him all the luck in the world hosting "the tonight show." >> reporter: for "today," george lewis, nbc news, los angeles. >> okay, anyway, a lot to talk about. >> lots to talk about. but next, we're going to talk about the skinny on six foods to curb your cravings without sacrificing flavor. doesn't mean hungry gets to be in charge this is your life and in just 45 minutes a week at a weight watchers meeting you can turn it around, and learn a whole new set of life skills, so you can lose weight and keep it off. and with online tools to keep you on track you can have good days even when you're having a bad one. sorry bud. make today a great day. join for free right now. weight watchers. stop dieting. start living. it's my dry skin, and it's deep down uncomfortable. 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[ female announcer ] new moisture wrap body lotion. neutrogena skin care. #1 dermatologist recommended. let's go to last night's highlights. there's mom and dad cleaning up. and there's the meatloaf. yuck. look what sometimes happens with the ordinary bag. it slips, oh, bingo, it falls in. mom was mad. mom should have used glad forceflex with the new stretchable drawstring that grips the can and stays in place. plus, it has the stretchable strength of forceflex. that's all today for glad tv. both: don't get mad-- get glad! love to see kids' spirits shine. superstar and m, martina mcbride and sunnyd that's all today for glad tv. shine on sunny taste. sunny spirit. sunny d. with the special k challenge. you can have the cereal you love and so much more. design your delicious victory plan today... when you visit specialk.com. ♪ make that first step easier, with the nicoderm cq patch. nicoderm steps you down from nicotine gradually. doubling your chance for success. nicoderm cq. three steps, ten weeks and you're free. ♪ it's a new day all over >> announcer: "today's new year new you" is brought you by weight watchers. stop dieting. start living. ♪ this morning on "new year, new you," slimming foods to help you shed those extra holiday pounds. watching what you put in your mouth doesn't mean, though, that you have to forego flavor. "today" contributor and author of "your inner skinny," joy bauer has the six skinny eats to curb your appetite. good morning. >> hi, natalie. >> we're not talking about deprivation. these are foods that are actually going to add to your palate and they taste delicious. >> that's true, and so many people think that losing weight means eating boring, bland cardboard. >> right. >> and in the book, i offer up loads of delicious, strategic foods that are not only low in calories but also possess these weight loss benefits. >> right, and give you that extra helpful boost. >> we could all use it. >> the first skinny food is actually pumpkin pudding. but it's more than a delicious dessert. >> that's right. so, this is my low-cal pumpkin pudding, and basically, what i do is i take a six-ounce container of nonfat vanilla yogurt, any brand, and i'm going to mix it with half a cup of 100% canned pumpkin pure. it is delicious. i put a dash of cinnamon on top. it's only 150 calories, but the best part is, the protein from the yogurt together with the fiber and the bulk from the pumpkin keep you feeling full for hours, so you're not grabbing for munchies 20 minutes later. >> i've got to try this. >> you're going to like this. >> a pumpkin pure. important to point out, not pumpkin pie filling. >> right, because that's loaded with sugar. >> oh, my go, this is so good. >> it is. and whether breakfast or an afternoon snack, it tastes indulge indulgent. >> and you talk about using the ground pure -- >> i ground turkey meat and the pumpkin pure and the seasoning and the kids love it. >> sneak it to the kids. we love it. okay, i like the ideas. next is -- and this is another way to help fill you up. we have a vegetable soup here. before a meal this is a good thing to add. >> exactly. the so, the idea is to start your dinner with a non starchy vegetable-based soup. >> nothing with potatoes or -- >> or beans or starriy pastas. >> right. >> instead, we have carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, green beans, all of the nonstarchy vegetables. the water from the broth together with the fiber from the vegetables expands in your belly and it starts to take the edge off your hunger, so when you get into the main meal at dinner, you're going to eat less, and we have proven this through research. you can slash about 20% of the calories off your dinner by eating more. >> right. i know when i eat a soup before dinner, i'm never hungry for the entre. it's the volumeetrics. >> exactly right. >> now, this looks amazing and this is like a greek salad, the cucumber-tomato salad. cucumbers are the key here, right? >> cucumbers are a top-notch weight loss tool because they're loaded with water. cucumbers at 40 calories are 95% water. so, i tell people to slice up a cucumber, couple it with a sliced tomato, add some white onion and then one teaspoon of olive oil tossed with unlimited amounts of white-wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar. it's 125 calories and it's a very scrumptious add to a salad. >> very good snack, too. >> any time. and you can eat that prior to dinner as well. >> then over here, green tea. you hear a lot about the health benefits of green tea. so, is it true that it can actually help you slim down, too? >> well, definitely. first off, nursing a warm mug of ginger green tea is soothing, relaxing. and let's face it, it's the rfect interference when you want to grab some munchies because you want to emotionally overeat or destress. there is also research that shows you get a slight metabolic advantage from green tea itself. so, listen, we can use whatever help we can get. whether or not you get that metabolic advantage, it's no calories and it prevents you from grabbing something in the fridge. >> hopefully, that works. here we've got a -- >> spicy. >> -- fire salad. why is adding the fire the trick? >> because it's going to ignite your palate and slow down your eating so that you are going to stop when you're comfortably full, versus gobbling and eating past the point of no return. i take a standard chicken salad, whether it's fresh or grilled chicken breast shredded, mixed with reduced-fat mayo, finally chopped celery and onion. you could add bell peppers as well. >> and how much of the fire? >> it depends. i'm a spicy chick, so i could eat a lot. >> no doubt about that. miss hot -- >> whoo-hoo! you are my soul sister. >> okay. >> so, again, the idea is that you slow down your pace. >> okay. okay. let's move on from the fire to our shrimp cocktail. >> shrimp cocktail is the skinniest appetizer on a restaurant menu. first, shrimp is loaded with protein, and we know that protein will slightly rev your metabolism after ingestion. but also, shrimp is only about eight calories per shrimp. so, eve win with that cocktail sauce, it is going to remain one of the best slimming figure-friendly tips you can make in a restaurant. >> and you like to make your your own sauce. >> it is almost embarrassing. >> i make it all the time at home. >> one tablespoon with ketchup mixed with a teaspoon of horse radish. >> and a lemon. >> so, we're spicy chicks, but for those of you who aren't, start with a half teaspoon of horse radish and increase it from there. >> joy bauer, my soul sister. thank you, sweetheart. coming up next, don't throw out that nautical shirt. we'll show you some classic this morning on "today's style," a fresh look for a fresh, new year, but there's no need to spend a fortune. you just need to add a few inexpensive pieces to your wardrobe to keep up with the current trends, so says rachel zalis, who is a contributing editor for "life & style" magazine. rachel, good morning. >> good morning. >> we're going to make you prove it. before we get to these deals, let's talk about the trends. what are they? >> we are seeing so many fun, fresh looks for the new year, whether it's polka dots or stripes or military looking. d what's great is, you know, the holidays are over, the sales are over, the stores are restocking with all new stuff. it's time to show some leg and look really cute for spring. >> so, the time is now. >> yes. >> okay, let's take a look at our first extend, stripes. >> yes. >> this is adorable. >> absolutely. now, this is a real reflection on classic americana. this skirt is $68 from bloomingdale's, and stripes comes back every year. what we're seeing is, you know, a lot of times we see it in t-shirts. we're seeing it in dresses now in skirts. and you know, make it fu you can add to sort of that sailor chic by throwing on this great blazer from express, about $79. i love these shoes. look for fun details in shoes. arden b, about $48, and it just ties the whole look together. throw on a chain necklace. this was seen at chloe's, stella mccartney. this is a huge look we'll be seeing. >> the nautical look and the striped look. >> absolutely. >> you're killing me with these prices. i would guess a lot more money for this look. >> it's amazing what you can get in stores today. on the runways, these things might cost thousands of dollars, and i think the most expensive thing here is $79. most everything is under $50. >> of course, not everybody can wear that striped skirt, but you wear it very well. >> she looks great in it. >> thank you very much. we have another trend. what is this? >> this is utilitarian, which means function a shion. last season we saw a lot of military that was very fancy. this is sort of the more simple, look for big pockets, drawstring at the waist. this is a shirt dress, very figure-flattering, from the gap. it's $59. >> it's cool. >> it's super cool. and the messenger bag. this is going to be a huge trend in purses. >> a trend? i have never stopped using my messenger bag. when did it go away? >> it's hard for women, especially if you're working and you don't want to hurt your shoulder. it's a great way to look super cute. it's nylon, it's really durable. you can throw yo laptop, all your stuff in it, and then dress it up a little about some accessories. i love this necklace and bracelet, h&m sunglasses. >> the wood shoes are awesome. >> they're going to be very popular. >> i had a pair and i fell off of them. be careful that you have ones that hold you in place. >> well, the platform makes it comfortable. >> you look stunning. you look like you're ready to go out for a party. >> she is cool and chic. >> thank you so much. we have another -- this one is inspired by lingerie. so my eyebrows are going up, but this looks very lady-like. >> this was all over dolce & gaban gabanna. this is all over nighttime. there is a trend with celebrities wearing shirts open with their bras -- >> what? >> yeah. so we decided to take a more conservative approach. >> this is a family show, after all. >> this is bb dakota, the blouse, $65. think of shear fabrics mixed with lace, a pair of heels. you could also take this blouse with jeans. so it's very wearable. >> the woman is wearing a black bra underneath a sheer top. what's that about? >> it's inner wear, it's outer wear. it is very sexy but in a sophisticated way. >> you have that on underneath and then you're buttoned up, so there you go. >> and if you keep it long on top, you can wear it shorter on the bottom. >> and you're wearing that beautifully. thank you so much. love the layeredness of that skirt. >> yeah. >> okay, now we're talking about -- this looks comfortable, honey. >> absolutely. >> this looks easy. >> the cropped jacket is going to be one of the biggest trends this season. it's all around oscar de la renta. this is $45 from h&m. we're going to see a lot of black and white, but this is great, and the color really pops, and it's an amazing way to take things, whether jeans or the new slouchy pants and just sort of dress it up or make the pants more casual. >> get with the program. help me get with the program with the new slouchy pants. they're short. >> yeah. >> they're straight at the ankle and they're pleated? >> yeah, they're pleated. they give a little bit more room. you fold them up and it's a super cute look. i think breanna's been wearing them everywhere. >> but you have to be physically fit for that, right? >> no, no, you wear it for your size and it gives you extra room. throw on some great chains just to bring out the booties. these are $59. we're going to see shoes that have cutouts, caged. those are going to be the hot, new look for the new season. >> i think those are adorable. perfect. >> yes. >> young. thank you so much. and now we have one final look, and this is really stunning. >> polka dots! >> oh, look at that. but the polka dots are very small. >> yes. we saw this all over. we'll see polka dots in different sizes. this is forever 21. $27. and if you want to have a little bit more of a slimming look, keep the polka dots a little bit smaller. crystal necklace. we're going to see tons of jewelry in crystal. ruffles are still really big, bag from new york & company. it's fresh and feminine. we love that at "life & style." >> women, come out one more time. thank you so much. rachel, thank you so much. >> thank you. >> wonderful ideas and not breaking the bank. we love that. still to come, richard simmons kicks it up a notch. 9:56 is our time, 30 degrees as we zoom in on the white house, a sunny day, tuesday, the 1th day of january, 2010, good morning, i'm joe krebs? the news4 today, police in montgomery county are trying to figure out who killed a teenager and left his body on the side of the road. a driver spotted the body around 1:00 a.m. near the 49 hurn block of brookeville road, fairly close to olney. police say the victim is 20 years old, but have not released his name. tom, is it going to get warmer today? >> we'll see it climb into the upper 30s right now, just near the freezing mark, we'll have a partly cloudy afternoon and tomorrow, a tad warmer after a cold start. thursday, more sunshine around, morning lows mid 20s. afternoon highs mid 40s. a little above the average high this time of year. friday, it should be mostly sunny with highs near 350. during the weekend, we'll have a storm system passing to our south and we'll have clouds from that. this does track farther north, we could get rain and snow late saturday night into sunday. it appears we'll stay dry into the weekend and the first part of next week. we have a live look at the inner loop of the belt way between connecticut avenue and georgia avenue. you can see the barrels on the let, slow through the work zone. over to springfield, pretty good both ways between springfield. lunch with lindsay. on news4 at captions paid for by nbc-universal television h, everybody, it is tuesday. it's january 12th. we're so happy you're here with us today. >> yes. >> such a big news day about certain personalities, coming, going. >> yes. >> the lord giveth and the lord taketh away. >> yes. we sort of report ed this but now it's official. >> yes. >> simon co well has said he is leaving "idol". >> he said i said i was going to leave at the end of this contract, it's not a negotiation ploy like so many people do. i meant it. >> he made a ton of money, by the way. >> some people could live on $35 or $40 million a year. some could. >> there's a comment he made, which i thought was interesting. let's listen to what simon cowell had to say. >> actually getting successful is more fun than being successful sometimes. and i kind of missed -- miss that. >> i really believe him. >> it's interesting. >> saying that. >> yeah. >> if there was ever a type a personality, it is -- look it up in the dictionary, you'll see a picture of simon cowell. >> right. >> i have enormous respect for him. >> i wonder who is going to take that slot. now you've got ellen -- >> i'm so busy with you, hoda. i would but i'm sort of devoted to you. >> good. i wouldn't want you to go anywhere. people that might be up for it, piers. >> he has to stop wearing women's clothes if he wants to do that. i'm sorry! anyway -- >> jay-z. >> jay-z would be fascinating. i don't think i've ever heard him talk about anything. i've only seen him perform. >> he has been on oprah. >> ellen is feeling funky, this is the comment she made. >> simon cowell just announced that he's leaving "idol." this will be his last season and he announced he's leaving on my first day. i'm trying not to take it personally. >> it's going to be a whole new world. >> people don't realize is that ellen really doesn't start judging, i think, until all the hope ffuls get to hollywood. they use all those interim judges in the meantime like victoria beckham and different people. >> they've been doing these polls on will "idol" still be a juggernaut without simon? you need a simon cowell type. >> you need a engine driving it. >> you do. >> the others made a wonderful contribution, but when you thought of "idol," you itantly did think of simon. >> he is going to a show called "the x factor". >> already a huge show in britain. >> each judge teams up with talent and tries to groom them. smart idea. >> they do that a little bit on "idol," but to really get involved in the process, i think, will be fascinating. we just wish everybody well. even sarah palin, who has just been announced signed a multi-year deal with fox. i think she will be on the o'reilly factor tonight for the first time. i think she's going to -- people talk about her. no matter how you feel about her personally, she is a lightning rod and these days, that's what gets ratings. >> just look at her book sales and watch the people who line up. a lot of people, but especially of the republican party hopefuls, people aren't lining up for pawlenty, romney. they are going in droves to see her. >> yeah. she's lighting a fire under them. >> i wonder what -- people like people sometimes from afar a little bit. i'm curious if you hear her every day if that will make her more or less appealing to people. >> you know what, that's known in this business, hoda. you certainly have them. it's called does she have legs? >> what are you talking about? >> check out hoda's legs. that means can you last long distance in something. are you a marathoner or a sprinter? we will see. >> we'll find out. speaking of someone that made incredible history and there's been questions about him ever since i can remember, mark mcguire finally admitted to using steroids. when he decided to tell the truth, he sure said a whopper. he said ten years. ten years, he did. >> was anybody surprised that he really -- i mean, you saw his body. >> i was surprised he finally admitted it. >> he did it in a tearful way. let's listen to mark. >> i wish it had never came into my life, but we're sitting here, talking about it. i'm so sorry that i have to. i apologize to everybody in major league baseball. my family, doug selig, the marises. today was the hardest day in my life. >> a truly broken man. >> uh-huh. >> i think all we should do is feel compassionate. he's been living with that knowledge and he said he kept quiet to protect his family. who knows what his true motives were. but he's somebody i truly believe now when he says i'm sorry. >> it's heartbreaking to watch him. we've heard so many people, though, who have used steroids or some kind of enhancement. they cried before -- or they were angry before. how dare you say i used it and later they're crying. it does bring up the question about just apologizing for something. when you -- do you apologize when it behooves you, when it's good for you, when it is -- and i don't know all of mark mcguire's reasons. he's always up for a coaching job and things like that. or do you apologize because it's always the right thing to do? what do you think? >> i think -- >> what do people do? >> i think people rarely apologize because they're sorry, unfortunately. i think most people apologize because they're caught and it's cost them something. there's like 40 years of talking to people in this business. i so often would be sitting, interviewing somebody who thought they are on top of the world, they are on top of the world and then next thing you read, they're in a gutter somewhere and there's a scripture that says what does it profit a man or a woman if they gain the whole world and lose their very soul? people don't realize what price they're ultimately going to have to pay. two people sitting on our couch personify that more than any two people i've ever known. >> william shatner. >> get away from me! >> it's time to finally come out and discuss their relationship. they're both going to be with us today. i think you guys are going to feel so much better when it's just out there. >> look at william's face. >> that's a picture. that is a picture. >> see, we've known about it for a long, long time. and we've kept the secret. >> oh, my god! the cameras are on. move over. let's see the sports page, buddy. yeah, look at this. man, oh, man. >> is that how you think straight guys are? >> okay. we'll check in with them in a little while. sorry, richard. >> it's not just boys behaving badly, ladies and gentlemen. finally, the real mrs. robinson. it is an international scandal. >> this is great. equivalent to a congresswoman in ireland. >> she's like the first lady. >> but she's also in -- >> oh, but she also -- that's right. she holds a seat. >> she holds a seat. she sure does. >> this woman -- >> sorry. >> she started having a little ha-ha with a 19-year-old boy, okay? >> we like to call it officially boinking, all right? >> i'm not saying boinking. >> call something what it is, hoda. >> this is the 19-year-old, kirk mccandry. >> the song "mrs. robinson," downloads have gone up 1200% in ireland. >> here is the pathetic part of it. she promised this boy's dying father that she would take care of his son. i guess she took it seriously. i don't know. reportedly, this is all alleged, solicited funds went to help him open, i think, a coffee cafe or something like that. >> they're calling her the celtic cougar. she's a grandmother, by the way. >> some of us are grandmothers, hoda. it doesn't mean you stop living. it doesn't mean you stop looking. and some people don't stop other things as well. >> wait a minute. we have to talk about -- >> big news! speaking of boinking. >> this is the the headline. tammy filler, head honcho of our show, is pregnant. >> yay! >> yes, she is. looks adorable. >> and allegedly the father is her husband. we don't know for sure. you will never know. we've known it for about six weeks now and haven't been able to say a word. >> it's been exhausting. but she's having a girl. >> little girl. >> we're so excited. >> so thrilled for tammy. >> she's been having -- a lot of people have been having to go see "avatar," a first rough trimester but "avatar" is causing people to literally lose their cookies in the movie theaters because it's so real life. >> those glasses, 3-d, and all of it together is causing sickness and headaches. i didn't get anything. did you get anything? >> no. you know what i got? i got amazed. i thought it was one of the most extraordinary experiences. >> i think it's worth getting sick. i would go even i were to get sick. >> we're going to get sick when richard and william shatner come out. hide the children. a big giveaway. >> check this out. five tivo hds. klgandhoda.com, not the facebook page and write "i love today". >> excellent. >> thank you, sweetheart. why celebrities are lining up to see william shatner. not this again. >> later, richard simmons shows us some skin, but first these messages. william shatner became a household name 40 years ago when he took off as captain kirk in "star trek". >> he keeps finding ways into our living room. he will not go away. most recently with shatner's raw nerve, the real shatner. his interview-style show which recently kicked off its second season on the bio channel. they kept you for a second season? >> i am their face. >> you are. >> priceline, too. >> and priceline, too. little broad, blurred face. >> something about that face people love. >> know. so much more to love. >> let's talk about the setup. when you look at the set, it's this sort of s-shaped deal. >> okay. >> what is with that? >> there's rush limbaugh. >> okay. okay, okay, okay, okay. see, we're far apart, okay? we're not too bad. there's nothing in between us. but it's still pretty far. now, lights or no lights. >> turn it around, baby. >> i'll pretend i'm sitting here. now look at this. isn't this much more intimate? >> yeah, considering my leg is -- >> ooh, the leg. >> yeah. >> so it's the distance too. >> it's all for distance? >> it's all for intimacy. >> but do you want to be intimate with rush limbaugh? >> why not? >> or regis? >> a guy who is named rush, don't you want to find out why rush? >> why was it? >> fascinating man. >> it's an ancient name, name had in his family. there's several rushes. >> really? >> yeah. everybody is named rush limbaugh. >> are people revealing with you, william, when they're sitting with you -- they've been interviewed 1,000 times. what makes your show unique? >> i'm not sure what happens, but in talking -- to regis, for example, one of the guests -- i don't know. i'm not -- nobody is accustomed to interviewing. interviewing is such a false way of doing things. >> what? >> but talking to somebody, but interviewing. >> i think it's because it's you. >> i do, too. >> they're expecting the tough questions from the mike wallaces of the world and the matt lauers and katie -- everybody. >> you've come up in age there. >> well, i'm thinking, yeah. >> modernized your -- >> you're somebody that every one of of us has just -- we've grown accustomed to that face and i think people let down their guard perhaps and then you get them. >> but i don't want to get them. >> you don't mean to get them -- >> just punch me in the ribs. >> you love it. >> i did. >> what are you wearing? >> that's muscle. what do you mean, what am i wearing? a bullet-proof vest in case. you never know. don't tell anybody. you punched me in the ribs, but i want to go, tell me about that. >> because you get the best interviews out of people when you do that. you're not trying to have an interview. >> exactly. >> i get that, but that's the ultimate result. >> right. >> who has been your favorite guest? >> i haven't had one. i've had 26. >> come on. >> no, i'm serious. everybody has been delightful. revealed themselves eventually, revealed themselves and a story emerges that's absolutely fascinating that they, themselves, say we've never said that before. >> it probably is -- how long is the interview actually, too? is it a whole hour how? >> no, no, it's a half hour show, but we film for maybe an hour. >> that's the greatest luxury there is. >> exactly. >> we can't imagine what we would get out of you if we had our wawith you for half an hour. >> that's right, and both of you. i might not last a half hour. >> what's going on with richard, by the way? what's the story? >> he loves me. and love is hard -- see. love is hard to come by, no matter where you are. >> when you find love -- >> love is difficult. don't you find that? let me see your -- oh. >> still married. >> no, that was -- uh-uh. >> i ran into you in nantucket, you did the same thing like, are you still married? it's a miracle. >> it is a miracle. >> it is a miracle. >> it is a miracle of love. >> yes, it is. >> and you and i need to talk. >> that's right. >> good luck with the show. >> we're having fun here. >> i know, but we've got to roll. william thurks. >> see, we only have an hour. all the best with raw nerve. >> bio channel. >> bio channel. up next, bobbie thomas. we're back with bobbie's style buzz and what's new for 2010. >> the first on theashion block with perfectly polished nails. bobbie thomas. >> what are we wearing? >> the indoor couture trend. if you spend 2009 under yo slug. >> i what is that? >> if you're really lazy. >> stop it. >> you never have to take it off. >> look at richard, by the way. look. so, this is like -- >> yes. put it this way. the snuggies have now gone mobile. >> it's cozy. >> it is actually cozy. >> it's called the unilazy and they're so hot that stars like fergie, a good friend of mine bought 20 plus for holiday friends and family. this is the big rage. >> she buys them snuggy thi snu with all her money? >> she wanted them to be comfy. >> yes, there are pockets but they're down by my knees. >> fairy tale fever, "alice in wonderland," go and grab this makeup palette by urban mckay. they have cute names. you'll see lots of products, jewelry and lots of things coming out licensed under the "alice in wonderland" name. >> look at that. >> it's like a putty. this spring natural nails so you can leave the dark black and blue behind. >>ever got them. >> this gray putty is called chinchili. >> that's cute. that, i would do more than -- look at this. >> believe it or not, channel put tattoos down the runway and body art in a chic way is in. they have everything from blossoms to birds and pearls. they're iconic symbols. we have a picture of a model from the runway that has this necklace on. you see those bracelets. >> you can't see chanel doing "yo mama. >> there it is. >> it's sort of fantasy like. it's a new twist on body art. >> does it wash off? >> 55 designs in a package. they're coming out this spring, brand new. >> hair, what is this? >> i know you love lady gaga. >> i could not look better than i look right now, but i'll give it a shot. >> it matches your hair. >> it does, right? it's adorable. >> from lady gaga to picture from the runway. >> look at this. >> isn't that funny? >> you look better than her. >> she is a character. >> also a picture of rebecca taylor's runway shot with these bow hair buns in the back. kristen jackson did my hello kitty hair wig, she is doing these for $15. you can slip back the headband with braids. and saltamalacchia does horse hair jewelry. >> horses aren't hurt in the course of this? >> no, not at all. >> you have about a minute left. clogs are back? >> clog. >> they're back. >> they are back, everyone from louis vuitton and chanel. i love these. they're comfortable. >> are they really? >> look cute with jeans and shorts. trust me. >> they're cute. >> they are clunky. >> they're back. i'm just the messenger. >> never. >> never? >> never. >> all right. new year's resolutions, eco chic plates made by fallen palm leaves at whole foods. you get a package of these. >> feel that. >> isn't that sweet? >> very cool. i love that. >> and slimware, portion control. if you're at the gym and reez it's harder than you think, look at what you're eating. they have two new designs. i talked about this last year but i love slimware's plates, carbs, proteins. last, but not least, neuro drinks, kate hudson to cindy crawford are literally filling up with water like neuro trim to help you curb your appetite. >> and keep your digestion. >> exactly, kicking. neuro gasm. >> bobbie, we love you. >> head to klgandhoda.com and check out her column in touch weekly. >> announcer: "today's" relationships is brought to you by hershey's kisses, deghtfully delicious, one-of-a-kind kisses. we're back on this tuesday with "today's" relationships and how to feel the love after 50. >> if you've been married before or never taken the walk, over 50 population is the site's fastest growing group. here to help you fuel some fire is pepper schwartz, aarp's love and relationship expert. welcome back. >> thank you. >> nice to see you. there are a lot of people over 50, some divorced, and they are looking for love the second time around. let's talk about that group initially. they find it's not an easy thing to do. >> it was never an easy thing to do. >> it wasn't easy in junior high school. >> exactly. that's why you should say, okay. we accept that. but it doesn't mean it will be any less rewarding, any less wonderful or any less possible. i mean that. >> how does one go about finding love after 50? >> first thing, you have to expand your network. one of the things about being older, you know everybody you know and you know everybody they know, right? >> you're in a social rut, pretty much, too, right? >> you have to figure out a way to meet people that may be perfect for you, but are in some parallel universe. >> how do you do that, suddenly take up bowling or what? >> the easiest way, of course, is online. i'm actually with perfectmatch.com. as the expert there, i can tell you from personal experience as a user, although now i have a person in my life, or as an expert, then you get out to networks not just in your neighborhood but cross city, cross country if you want. >> that becomes problematic, if you meet some fabulous guy in san francisco and you can't be together. >> but you can be together. a lot of people, after 50 -- and let's t just say 50, 60, 70. i have a woman dating actively at 80 now. never say never. at this point in your life you've often said my career is not the important ing. my kids have grown up. >> you have disposable time. >> yes, you do. >> some people are a little creeped out by the internet because you're not 100% sure what you're going to get. we've heard about scams. people are leery. >> peoplover 70, too. >> you don't age out of it, unfortunately. nonetheless, dating isn't for everyone. i think it's a great option. there's other ys to do it. the thing is to sort of look around, see what your option is. one thing is to sort of join groups. if you feel that online dating is not for you -- believe me, it's safe and it's good. we can go there if you want. but basically you could join wine groups, join a new golf -- learn golf. you could try and go on trips, you know. >> cooking classes would be a good one. >> cooking lasses. it's not that you do all these things, but pick things you haven't done before. if you're doing them now, you would have met that person. if you go there and meet everyone there and there's nobody interesting to you, quit. you're not joining for that. your goal -- keep your eye on the goal, is to meet somebody. >> i know so many people, pepper, who are at that age now, but they feel like they blew it with somebody in their past that was the right person for them and they sort of shied themselves the rest of the lives, if i only realized so-and-so when i had the chance and they never get out of that emotional rut either, still chiding of what they let go as opposed to what could be ahead of them. what do you say to them? >> if you want to be single, that's a really good place to be, because you can live in the past forever. the biggest issue is usually somebody themself, getting them self in order. baggage is when you let something from the past determine your future. you have to stop that. you have to say to yourself, what do i really want? do i want to be alone or do i want to find someone? there are good people out there. of course, you probably overromanticized the person -- >> that's the problem. >> they're probably drinking three bottl of scotch a day now. it's not that necessarily they were the right person. you have to get into your own head and say i'm going to make this a priority. i'm going to make it happen. i don't think it's looks. i don't think it's money. i don't think it's jobs. i swear to you, i believe it's what you want to do and make it happen. >> some people take the sins of their previous relationship and put it on the person they're meeting. in other words, this guy did x to me, so you meet guy y. >> and immediately assume you're going to, too. >> so something that women have to sort through. >> that's called experience south florida so you don't blame the next guy for what the last guy did. >> if you could just not make assumptions, give it a little time, work itself out. if you've already put a frame around this, what other picture can you put in it? i think you're right. people say this guy did that. that guy did this. you're not the same person. you're in a differentection of your life. we're not talking about 25-year-olds. we're talking 60, 70, whatever. surely, we've gained some wisdom, sure we can move on or go get someone who can help us do it. >> where did you finally find that person in your life? >> online. >> did you? >> that was the good years. now i'm really settled and committed and all that. it's not easy. you will have to go through a lot of people that you go why am i here? >> but you keep persevering. >> you keep persevering. >> if you want it badly enough, you have to wait for it. >> pepper, thank you so much. i love her. she's here to change your face with the perfect look. >> that's right. >> so important. quit deforesting your face. time now for "today's" beauty and achieving eyebrow perfection. >> you pluck, you cut, you thread, you wax. whateveratever you do you can't to create the right shape for your face. owner of sonya's brow bar. >> i went just last month. >> did you? >> yes, she's the best. >> because the eyebrows frame the face. >> it's the focal point of the whole face so they've got to be -- >> you found people on the plaza who are just wandering around and decided to fix them, right? first up is olivia. the issue with olivia -- this is her before, is that she overplucked. >> and they're a little light, little too thin and a bit uneven. her left side is a little higher. the ght side looks a little more -- it drags down the eye a bit. >> let's look at the after and see what you did to olivia. >> see what a difference it makes? >> what a difference. >> what do you think when you look at it? >> i like them. >> how did you make the overplucked one not look overplucked? >> what i did, i added a little bit of a pencil right through the area and just kind of add it through here and then gather in a little bit of powder to camouflage and make it look very natural. >> that looks very good. >> go to sonya's bar -- not the bar but brow bar, it takes a few minutes, you're out and you're transformed. >> we're going on to liz. liz had -- let's look at her before picture. liz had the wrong shaped brows. what do you mean by wrong shaped? >> they were overdone. the center was pulled too far apart, the inside was too round. this is a common problem with most women. >> here is the after. >> the arch is at the right spot now. >> how do you change the arch? isn't that weird? >> you kind of lift and take away from here, but add pencil and powder in the right area. that's key. if even if your brows aren't perfect, you can achieve the perfect look by adding in. >> how do you hit the right color? people have the darker -- >> the pencil should be a shade lighter than your brow and the powder should match exactly. that way, it camouflages everything. >> you pencil it first then do the powder thing? >> uh-huh. >> makes such a diffence. >> it really, truly does. the worst thing you could ever do is get one of those multi, multi, multimagnifying -- >> why? >> because you see everything. >> you lose perspective. >> deforest your face, really. >> you found sinead on the plaza. what do you think about waxing? >> this is the thinnest skin in the body. it can stretch the area. you don't want to do it. plus the precision isn't there. wherever the wax is, you pull it off. >> you may take something off you don't want to. >> what was wrong with her before? >> they were too round. >> can we see the before? >> and the center was also overdone. >> this is the before, right? >> they don't look even either. >> let's see the after. >> what a difference! >> yeah. >> what did you do? >> i opened up the arch a little in here, lifted a little bit in here because it was too deep, add a little pencil above and there you go. it's not a lot, but it's enough to make a difference. >> good job. >> that's an awesome one. makes such a difference. >> it really does. >> everything you're doing is with a pencil? >> you fix the problems. i have a scar. that's how i started this whole thing, and i camouflage my own. >> she learned how to do it by fixing herself. >> i'm a firm believer of -- >> yes. >> jessica, tell us the issue again here. >> straight, nothing going on there, center is too far apart. that's probably where she fo focuses most on. with her as well, just kind of clean it up a little bit. >> look at that big difference. >> and open up the eyes. >> isn't that ird how a little thing can make such a difference? what if you overpluck? we talk about that a lot. what can you do? you've already done it. >> you have to give it at least six months without tweezing anything. little bit underneath the corners. it will come back in. it can take even a year, but it's worth it. >> don't people also pluck the wrong direction? they pluck the opposite way than the hair is growing. >> this is the way to pluck. >> let's get a tight shot of this. >> in the direction of the brow. >> okay. and what if they're too long? is that what we're doing next? >> yeah. >> the guys with the crazy male brows. nick had crazy male brows. they don't look too crazy. a little nutty. >> those dimples are crazy. >> what was up with nick's brows? >> they were a little overdone. most guys that have brows like nick's tend to overtweeze, overwax, whatever they do and make them too feminine like. with nick's, i decided to groom them kind of straight where it's very natural looking. >> wow, calvin klein model, baby. >> hello. what does nick's wife think of the new brows? >> i like it. >> you do? >> it doesn't look feminine or anything. >> no. >> and it looks natural, clean and he looks very well groomed. >> do you do anything with your brows normally? >> every now and then. i try to go and get them done. >> oh, you do? >> yeah. i get nervous, though, because my friends always break my chops. >> i know. >> i try to keep them looking as natural as possible. >> i got you. >> can't be too careful around here. >> sonya, thank you. so good to see you, darling. you know what? don't let your daughters do their own at first. take them to somebody like sonya. cass finally got them done, what a difference it makes. >> do you like the threading? >> it's better than the waxing, but also not as precise. >> okay. crazy guy with us, richard simmons. - welcome to glad tv. - thanks, skyler. let's go to last night's highlights. there's mom and dad cleaning up. and there's the meatloaf. yuck. look what sometimes happens with the ordinary bag. it slips, oh, bingo, it falls in. mom was mad. mom should have used glad forceflex with the new stretchable drawstring that grips the can and stays in place. plus, it has the stretchable strength of forceflex. that's all today for glad tv. both: don't get mad-- get glad! but there's one that makes your skin look better even after you take it off. 98% of women who tried neutrogena healthy skin makeup thought so. does your makeup do that? neutrogena cosmetics. wanna go again. bring it. (announcer) family moments cost less at walmart. wii and ea sports active at unbeatable prices. rated e for everyone. save money. live better. walmart. [ female announcer ] yoplait's perfect blend of real fruit and the goodness of dairy is just a peel away. explore all the delicious flavors. yoplait. it is so good. with ragu, you can give your kids veggies they'll actually eat. ragu has more than a full serving of veggies in every half-cup. so give them a good start with all natural ragu. feed our kids well. it is time to get fit today. we're doing it with a guy who should have aold membership to the joy fit club. >> that's right. closing in on almost 300 pounds a long, long, long, long time ago, richard simmons dropped the weight and has been an exercise institution, helping people get healthy for decades, helped so many people. today he's sweatin' for life. good to see you. >> good to see you both. and, william, just a minute! >> he says he just met william shatner for the first time today. >> today. >> which is disturbing. >> and we're going to lunch. i just put out sweating to the oldies 5, my 58 video and tonin' to the olds. i created these new boogie chords. it works on your toning and aerobics at the same time. like cross training. we're doing sweatin' 5 today. i wanted to thank you both. you know, i've been doing your show since the inception. and when i began doing it, i asked everyone to go to richardsimmons.com and help me get p.e. back in schools. >> i remember. >> last time i was here, we had 40 co-sponsors of the fit kids bill and today we have 104. >> in congress? >> in congress. >> whoo! >> and senate, both of them. so the reauthorization of the no child left behind will be voted on this year and hopefully the fit kids bill will be accepted as part of that reauthorization and we can get ourf kids moving. >> we have an obesity epidemic in our country. >> 2009 no one, no kids moved, kids got overweight, lethargic. >> how many schools don't have p.e.? do most of them not have it? >> about 60%ave hardly nothing. some have it one day a week, 15 minutes. >> that's not enough. >> i'm going to work, hopefully, this year with first lady michelle obama, because her big thing is childhood obesity. >> perfect. >> and i want to meet the president. i'm a big fan. i worked very hard to get this bill. i know he wants our kids to be fit. and so, you know, i want everyone who didn't exercise last year, find out how much exercise your kids are getting, or if they're not getting. and if you're a parent you need to start exercising with them. >>hey're sitting in front of the tv. >> or the computer now. >> you're stressed out, you don't feel like eating a salad. you feel like getting a dolr and going to get the cheeseburger. yes, you can in 2010, sweat dwen again in 2010 sbh be a 10 in 2010. >> will you show us the moves? >> yes. i brought today one of my songs from sweatin' to the oldies 5. you can get it on my website or time life. thanks to time life. we'll do a dance version of downtown. >> stop it. >> with the lovely bobbie. >> bobbie's here. >> and the staff and everyone, put a little music on. >> what do we do? >> here we go. you know, when you're alone and life is making you lonely, you can always go downtown. bring it up. ♪ when you're alone >> what is it? what is it? ♪ downtown >> keep going. you keep going. oh, so you didn't want to exercise with me? you didn't want to exercise with me? it's really fun. and roll. push. roll. ♪ how can you lose up. don't forget to sweat. don't forget to tone. ask your kids what p.e. they're doing. and sweep. and side. take it low. take it up. watch your skirt, hoda! and down. good-bye, everybody. >> bye, everybody. we'll be back with more of "today" on nbc! we're so badly ruined our eyebrow zpls sonya is coming down. >> she might come down to help us. >> still sweatin' from the oldies. genie wrote in from north carolina, was wondering if either of of you would ever consider being a judge for "american idol" or one of the other talent shows. >> this one, yes. >> i would love to. >> you would be good at that. >> i did guest judging once on "star search. maybe it was "america's got talent" when it first started. i don't remember. i had a ball. >> that would be good. because you would tell the truth. >> i'm always done at 11:00 here. >> she's free. >> what else, sarah? >> kathy wants to know where you got your earrings, hoda. >> what do i have on? i don't know. >> they're so pretty. >> from the store. i don't know. i have no idea. >> the store.com. >> store.com. i don't know. >> sonya, come on over. >> we have about 30 seconds. >> when you go to sonya's bar. >> this is the eyebrow. >> eyebrow bar, it's tiny but it's lit with candles and smells good and it's all girlie. you didn't bring your tweezers? >> okay. and while she's tweezing, we'll tell you about tomorrow. we're going to help you sweep through your house for the start of the new year, all right? plus we want you looking good and staying warm in the winter without looking like a snowman. so, slimming outfits. >> and actor paul on his controversial new movie. >> is she plucking? >> have an awesome day, everybody.