last people you d expect to be drawn into a controversy. barry petersen will report our cover story. reporter: there s a battle going on between catholic and catholic much of it going on inside the church itself. these were some of my students. what are they messing with the nuns for? reporter: tell me, what are they messing with the nuns for? tradition versus change later on sunday morning. an accomplished actress is back at the movies this holiday season with a role that many fans might see as a bit of a surprise which prompted some questions. she was the beauty who played the beast. charlize theron s newest role has her playing a monster of a different kind. on screen, she s as busy as ever. and off? are you dating anybody now? not that i m coming on to you. our conversation with charlize theron later. harry belafonte has so many firsts to his credit that it s hard to keep track of them all. this morning russ mitchell will give it a try. reporter: he was the firs
long-time senior administrator at the hospital. when the local bishop, thomas olmstead, heard about this, he excommunicated mcbride. on tuesday, bishop olmstead went a step further, stripping st. joseph s of its affiliation with the catholic church. instead of treating the disease, st. joseph s medical staff and ethics committee decided that the healthy 11-week-old baby should be directly killed. reporter: but the hospital ceo said that is not true. our first priority is to save both patients. if that is not possible, we always save the life we can save. reporter: we heard from people in the anti-abortion community who applauded bishop olmstead. that was a courageous, moral decision by bishop olmstead. reporter: but we also heard from critics of the bishop, including some catholics, as well as a slew of doctors who use words like frustrating,
south korea is conducting its largest-ever wintertime military drills today. just about 20 miles from its border with the north. today s maneuvers involve 800 south korean troops along with tanks and even some jet fighters. they are all in direct response to last month s bombardment of a south korean island by the north. last night in seoul, hundreds gathered for a candlelight vigil honoring the four people killed in that attack. tension between north and south korea will top the agenda when the chinese president visits washington next month. the white house announced hu jintao s official state visit will be january 19th. the two leaders met last year when president obama visited china. the president and mrs. obama will also host a state dinner in president hu s honor. and the president is joining his family in hawaii for the christmas holiday is but he is leaving washington on a high note. nearly all the top presidential priorities ended up being approved by congress.
tonight on world news, wild waters. california walloped by rain. homes no match for the fore reshouse floods. the storm is now heading east. . how the christmas season became the season of progress. critical medications, lifelines for chemopatients. dr. richard besser reports. and, christmas choir. the surprising song birds, their mission put a smile on your face as you face the stress of holiday travel. good evening. a year s worth of rain in one week. that s what parts of california are dealing with tonight, and after five separate storms, this is what san diego week. that s what parts of california are dealing with tonight, and after five separate storms, this is what san diego looks like. a watery, muddy mess. a hotel under water. qu qualcomm stadium looks more like a massive swimming pool. the worst of the storm hit today, a state o today, a state of emergency declared in six counties. so, we start in california tonight with david right in orter: goodh. u can venin
and welcome to today on this tuesday morning. i m meredith vieira. i m matt lauer. the death of said al masri is arguably the biggest blow to al qaeda since the u.s. campaign against that terror network began. that s a big deal. he was apparently killed in recent days by a u.s. predator drone strike in pakistan. this was the man who led the group s day-to-day operations, and according to intelligence sources, managed the secret bank accounts that were used to help finance the 9/11 attacks. we ll have much more on al masri s death in a moment, including why it could be more important than capturing or killing osama bin laden. also ahead, some new details on the brutal murder of a wife and mother at a popular resort down in can dunn, mexico. an arrest warrant has now been issued for that woman s husband, the former survivor producer. we ll get the latest on that story in just a couple of minutes. we begin with the breaking news, al qaeda s number three official, sai