His decorated career spanning 59 years and 11 president s. President s come and president s go and john dingell goes on forever. Well remember the political giant known as the dean of the house. All that, plus grief and anger. Hes going to pay for it. Hes going to pay for it. The family of the woman at the center of that greenwich murder mystery calling for justice as police desperately search for the killer. Look out below, a prison escape goes very wrong when an inmate falls through a jail ceiling literally dropping in on the officers below. And heres to you mr. Robinson, tributes pouring in overnight for baseball legend Frank Robinson, a hall of fame player, the major leagues first black manager and a civil rights pioneer, today, friday, february 8th, 2019. Announcer from nbc news, this is today with Savannah Guthrie and hoda kotb live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. Good morning, everybody. Welcome to today. Nice to have you with us on a friday morning. Just when you think youve seen it all. This was a stunner, a real jawdropper to read. It was. Jeff bezos one of the most famous ceos in america comes out with this blog post, what he revealed was a stunner. Hes the worlds richest man. Hes turning the tables on an well start with nbcs peter alexander. Good morning. Hey, savannah. Good morning. Youre right. This is a stunning turn of events pitting the tech titan against the tabloid. Amazon Ceo Jeff Bezos, the worlds wealthiest man calling out the publisher of the National Enquirer david pecker. Bezos accusing them of trying to blackmail him to stop his investigation into how the enquirer got ahold of his private Text Messages and photos with his mistress. Overnight jeff bezos dropping a bombshell. The billionaire boss of amazon accusing the National Enquirer publisher ami of extortion and blackmail. In a personal post on the blog medium bezos says representatives for ami and its owner david pecker reached out to his attorney to stop the investigation into how the enquire obtained intimate Text Messages between him and the woman hes dating, lauren sanchez. Bezos said if he refused the enquirer threatened to publish more intimate texts and photos. Explaining his decision to speak out bezos writes, of course i dont want personal photos published but i also wont participate in blackmail, political favors, political attacks and corruption. I prefer to stand up, roll this log over, and see what crawls out. Despite what he calls the personal cost and embarrassment they threaten, bezos also posts what he says are amis emails, detailing the ten images they are threatening to publish including a, quote, below the belt selfie of bezos and sanchez wearing a twopiece red bikini revealing her cleavage. Ami has declined to comment. The tabloids demand, according to the emails that bezos and his investigators release a Public Statement saying they have no knowledge or basis to suggest the enquirers coverage was politically motivated. Bezos pointing to the publishers past cooperation with President Trump as well as his reported connection to the Saudi Arabian government. Bezos also owns the Washington Post which has extensively reported on the president as well as the murder of its columnist Jamal Khashoggi, a saudi dissident. The escalating feud follows bezos and his wife announcing their divorce last month, that announcement coming before the enquirer published an article alleging bezos was having an affair with sanchez. Shes a former tv host who is also married. The post recently reporting that bezoss longtime private Security Consultant says he was investigating whether sanchezs brother, a supporter of President Trump may be behind the leak. The president s repeatedly attacked bezos, amazon and the post. The Washington Post, thats basically the lobbyist for amazon. He uses that bezos whos got bigger problems than anyone right now. Bezos uses that as his lobbyist. About the enquirer bezos writes if in my position i cant stand up to this kind of extortion, how many people can. Within the last hour ami responded in a statement saying it believes fervently that it act acted lawfully in reporting the jeff bezos story. Ami calls it good faith negotiations to resolve all matters with bezos and says they will promptly investigate the claims and take whatever action is necessary. Hoda, savannah . A lot of moving pieces. Thank you so much. We are joined by the executive editor. Lets covered jeff bezos extensively. You see a bombshell from jeff bezos. Was this a stunner . In a lot of ways it wasnt. Hes like this. Hes been quiet around the trump attacks and has at any time responded much. This was a real response, i think. It was. Is that a fight made in heaven . Have both met their matches . Oh i feel sorry for the National Enquirer. Thats what i have to say about that. This is an astonishing thing for the worlds richest man and a prominent ceo of one of the most valuable companies to do. This is almost a trillion dollars company. Its just an astonishing thing for him to go out on a limb like this and use the internet to communicate something that most ceos wouldnt do. Its quite a bold move on his part. Im trying not to use metaphors here because its such a problematic story on so many levels. Youre talking about, you know, body parts. Right, i know, were trying to keep i thought id never do, i never wanted to take about jeff bezoss nether regions in my life but here i am. We didnt either. Pulitzers, everybody. Exactly. Lets talk about this. Heres the thing. There are a lot of moving pieces. You kind of need a flowchart to understand the conflicting motivations and what might be behind it. The bottom line is according to jeff bezos, the National Enquirer and its Parent Company went to Great Lengths to make sure he didnt find out whoever or whatever was the source of these Text Messages, this embarrassing revelation that hes having an affair, i got to think the enquirer has folks mad at them all day every day. Yeah. What is it . What are we supposed to surmise about the fact that apparently the enquirer really wanted jeff bezos not to find out what the source is . You know, this whole racket has been going on for so long. What jeff said at the end of his post, im going to turn over the log and see whats there is fantastic. This is a complete racket to either hold information or use information for other purposes. I think its really kind of interesting that hes going to just open up the entire thing to scrutiny, and i like the idea of that and i think he does too. He doesnt want to be pushed around. Hes not easily pushed around in his regular life and hes not going to be pushed around here. Do you think, i mean, sometimes these stories come up and its like you know its a leak. You know somebody showed a picture or a text message to the brother and the brother to his cousin and some good Old Fashioned leak or a bad Old Fashioned leak but theres a suggestion this might be the product of a hack. Now were getting into your area, Silicon Valley, tech, a hack or a government agency. I mean, what from the evidence thats out there, what do you surmise about that . I dont know. I thought at first it was someone taking a picture and passing it around. That seems to be the easiest answer but at the same time if it was a hack, its good for i jeff bezos to find out in that case. Its happened before, if you remember when rupert murdoch, the british paper was doing that to a cell phone. If i was jeff bezos i would find out how this happened. Id want to know how it happened personally and professionally. He doesnt want to be subject to people sneaking around in his personal stuff and also his business stuff. I dont think its the craziest thing to investigate this at all in any way. Kara swisher, thank you for joining us today. We appreciate it. Congratulations. Its so hard not to make puns. Thats what twitters for. All eyes on capitol hill where the acting attorney general is preparing to Face Congress after a day of drama over whether he even would appear. Nbc White House Correspondent Kristen Welker with the latest on that. Hey, kristen. Good morning. Reporter good morning. We are getting our first look at what acting attorney general Matthew Whitaker is saying on capitol hill. Theres the live shot there. In his opening remarks he defended his handling of the special counsels russia investigation but said he wont discuss communications with President Trump. You can expect fireworks. This morning the acting attorney general Matthew Whitaker says he will testify on capitol hill after a daylong standoff with House Democrats who backed down after threatening to subpoena him if he didnt answer their questions. That move an attempt by democrats to prevent whitaker from claiming executive privilege and avoid answering their questions about whitakers private conversations with the president. The white house blasting democrats for playing pointless political games. The president weighed in earlier thursday. Should Matthew Whitaker testify tomorrow, mr. President . Hes an outstanding person. I would say if he did testify, hed do very well. Reporter whitaker calling the subpoena threat unprecedented, unnecessary, and premature. The high stakes drama coming as democrats escalate their scrutiny of the president and his administration on a number of other fronts, among them russia, including a renewed look at mr. Trumps potential business dealings there. Three words that really sum it all up, moscow trump tower. Reporter another issue, the president s tax returns, which mr. Trump has refused to release defying years of tradition. At a hearing thursday Congressional Democrats laying the foundation to potentially force the president s hand. We have every reason to use the Authority Given to this committee, the law is on our side. Reporter democrats also scrutinizing the administrations move to separate Migrant Children from their families. I really think that what were talking about is statesponsored child abuse, and i would go as far to say kidnapping of children. The president calling all of it president ial harassment. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi firing back. We will not surrender our constitutional responsibility for oversight. That would make us delinquent in our duties. Reporter as for whitaker, his time as head of the department of justice is coming to close. The president s pick for attorney general william barr cleared a critical hurdle on capitol hill on thursday. With republicans in control of that chamber, barrs confirmation is all but assured. Savannah, hoda, back to you. Kristen welker at the white house. Thank you. Craig joins the table, another major headline this morning. Good morning to you as well. The white house facing a deadline set by Congress Today ountable for the death of Jamal Khashoggi, and theres a new report claiming that the kingdoms crown prince made a previous threat against the Washington Post journalist. International correspondent keir simmons is here with more on that. Good morning to you. Good morning, guys. Ever since Jamal Khashoggi was murdered the question has been who was behind it, even who ordered it. Mr. Khashoggi wrote critically about saudi arabia for the Washington Post. Now there are more reports that the killing goes to the top of saudi society. Unknown to him, the journalists life had been threatened a year before he walked into a deadly trap in october. Entering the saudi consulate in turkey where he would be murdered, his fiancee left waiting outside. Thats according to a New York Times report that says in september 2017 saudi arabias leader, the crown prince, told a top aide he would use a bullet if mr. Khashoggi did not return to the saudi kingdom. In another 2017 exchange, the New York Times says the crown prince bitterly complained about mr. Khashoggi and declared he did not like half measures. Just over 12 months later, Jamal Khashoggi was dead. The times report citing current and former american officials cannot be independently confirmed by nbc news. Saudi arabia denying the crown prince was involved in this heinous murder. The saudi aide in the report calling it categorically false. It comes as a u. N. Investigator looking into the murder released her teams preliminary findings, that mr. Khashoggi was the victim of a brutal and premeditated killing planned and perpetrated by the officials of saudi arabia, highlighting that the whereabouts of the remains havent been disclosed. Calling that unconscionable. This morning with a looming congressional deadline to hold saudi arabia accountable, u. S. Senators are threatening sanctions. The secretary of state denying the president wants to look the other way. President trump himself has said repeatedly to the extent we continue to develop facts that implicate others in the terrible act, the terrible murder of Jamal Khashoggi, we will continue to hold all of the people connected to it accountable. Reporter 11 suspects have been indicted. Five face the death penalty, but turkey wants them extradited to face charges there. The saudi prince is close to the president s soninlaw jared kushner. There is a lot at stake. The times reports that u. S. Intelligence continues to trawl through Saudi Communications to get to the truth. Keir, thank you. Breaking overnight, word that john dingell, the longest serving member of congress in u. S. History has died. The 92yearold democrat was a towering figure on capitol hill representing michigan for 59 years before retiring. And he had a surprising second act late in life as a twitter star. Heres nbcs kelly odonnell. Reporter not just a witness to history, john dingell lived history. The michigan democrat served in congress longer than any other lawmaker ever, spanning 11 president s. President s come and president s go, and john dingell goes on forever. Reporter instrumental in the passage of the Civil Rights Act and medicare. He spent decades fighting for health care reform. Entirety of the American People want this change, and we are going to give it to them reporter dingell called the Affordable Care act, which he helped author the highlight of his career, known as a champion for social issues from clean air to workers rights, dingell was also powerful as the congressman for motor city, an imposing figure standing at 63 big john was sometimes considered a bully. It may not embarrass the author of the amendment, but it assuredly embarrasses me. Dingell was among the last of an era world war ii veterans in congress. Well, i learned in the service the value of comradeship. I learned about patriotism. I learned about duty. Reporter in 1955, dingell was elected to the house following his late father who had served since 1933. After a record 29 terms, dingell announced his retirement in 2014. Wife Debbie Dingell won the seat. Awarded the National Medal of freedom in 2014. And his life reminds us that change takes time. It takes courage and persistence. Reporter though stooped by age, dingell never shrank in stature and fully embodied that title he long enjoyed, dean of the house. Kelly odonnell, nbc news. I only met him once years ago. I worked on the hill briefly. He was down right funny. When he came into office, Dwight Eisenhower was president. Elvis presley had just dropped his first record. And that second act kelly mentioned, he was known as the dean of twitter as well. Periodically he would drop some pretty hilarious tweets. I think weve got one of them, and this was one that caught our attention. If we were supposed to talk all the dog gone time, the great god above would have given us two mouths and one ear. I like that. John dingell. Hell be missed. Perfect sentiment for somebody who served in congress. Do like to talk. Exactly. We wish his family the best. Weve got dylan in for al this morning. And shes got the check of our weather. Good morning. We are going to see a little bit of rain in the northeast. Its a pretty strong cold front extending from the northeast down south. The heaviest of the rain is moving through new york state and will continue to move through parts of new england. A little bit of icing, especially up across central maine as well. Now, this cold front will move through, so well lose the rain early today, and then well actually see some increasing sunshine this afternoon, but winds will also increase. That will turn back on the lake effect snow machine. We also have the possibility of seeing wind gusts up to about 25 to 35 miles per hour, and some higher gusts back to the midwest. Were also looking at some very cold temperatures behind this system as well. Wind chill warnings, windchill advisories posted across the upper midwest and northern plains. Your feelslike temperature is down below zero, 30 degree windchills below zero in minneapolis. 19 below in omaha. St. Louis feeling like four below. Thats a look at the weather across the country. Well get to your local forecast in the next 30 seconds. In the n. Who will you make happy today . Le vie est belle. The iconic fragrance. Lancome. Customize your free gift at macys. The beauty destination. Good friday morning. Im meteorologist kari hall. We are in a microclimate weather alert as we track our next storm system moving in. Were starting to see rain moving into the peninsula, so expect more rounds of rain and this becomes more widespread, headed into later this morning into the afternoon, as this storm, we can see it swirling over the pacific. It will be with us throughout the afternoon and also some more rounds of rain in the forecast. There may be a brief break tomorrow morning, but some low elevation snow along with rain possible for sunday and another break on monday. Just ahead, grief. She was just full of life. Everybody loved her. The victims family of that greenwich murder speaking out as that investigation raises more questions about what happened. And much more on this mornings big story, after taking on everyone from john edwards to tiger woods, has the National Enquirer met its match with amazons jeff bezos . First this is today on nbc. Ih with jeff bezo first thiss. I still ahead, our exclusive interview with Lorena Bobbitt, why she is returning to the spotlight 25 years after the incident that made her a household name. We will honor the life of a trail blazing pioneer in sports and civil rights, the legendary Frank Robinson, of course, after your local news. At walgreens, we know how strong you are, but we also know that half of americans dont take their daily medications as prescribed. Thats why were introducing a new way. To refill, prepay and skip the line. Or have your prescriptions delivered. So you never miss a day. Walgreens. Trusted since 1901. Text joinrx to 21525 to stay on track. Wed love some help with laundry. Heres how you do it. Spray and scrub anything with a stain. Soak your nasty jersey. 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New johnsons cottontouch™ a wholwash and lotionre for newborns is born made with real cotton and enhances your gentle touch a new soft a new touch a new gentle new johnsons cottontouch™ baby cooing choose gentle seed to the oat, to the o to the honey in each bite Healthy Hearts make life sweeter so you can live it right the good goes around and around and around and around new made for all lip color from maybelline new york. Tested on 50 skin tones. Sensational on all. New made for all. Only from maybelline new york. Celebrate valentines day with hundreds of gifts under 199 and, find great deals on other gifts shell love test. Test test. Test. Test test. I m. A live look at highway 101 in san rafael. It s looking like the start of what may be a wet weekend. Avery good morning to you. 6 26, im laura garcia. A live look at highway 10 in san rafael looking like the start of what may be a wet weekend. Meteorologist kari hall is tracking the conditions for us, and shes got the time line for the next round of rain. Yes, for a lot of people headed out the door, you are still seeing some dry weather, but it is already starting to rain on the peninsula, as storm ranger tracks this incoming storm thats been producing some light to moderate rain for many of our areas along the peninsula, up and down through palo alto, up to south city, and well see it becoming more widespread, going into this afternoon. Also a lot of reds and yellows here indicating some heavier rain and that will impact the evening commutes and may change your friday night plans as well. Well have a brief break for tomorrow morning starting out but there will be more scattered showers moving in throughout the afternoon, and continuing throughout most of the day on sunday. So it will be raining off and on, temperatures barely making it into the low 50s. Well make it up to 53 tomorrow, but 49 on sunday. Monday is looking like a break from the showers, but also still very chilly, and then another storm system moving in from tuesday through at least thursday. Lets get an update on the commute now from mike. Open for business, but fast track lanes are slow. This is headed from richmond over toward san rafael. 580, that bridge reopened last night, its been fine all morning but that rain is coming in that kari is talking about, that may complicate our very nice drive right now. Things are pretty calm. San mateo shows slowing in both directions, around 92. Also a crash in both directions, you can see that. In the south bay looking at a car fire reported for north 17 north of 85. A little bit of slowing there and Silicon Valley commute is looking great as well. Watch there may be patches of wet roadway along the peninsula as kari talked about the rain. Back to you. All right, another local news update in half an hour. Bottom of the first inning, he came to bat for the first time and hit a home run. Check this out, you are looking at a remarkable moment in Frank Robinsons hall of fame career. Just hit a home run there, first at bat in the very first game that he was not just playing in, he happened to be managing for the Cleveland Indians. 1975 there. I would argue that Frank Robinson, one of the most underrated baseball superstars of all time. Were going to have more on him in just a moment. Cool. But not an underrated human in any way, a towering figure. Were going to look back with fondness and a lot of admiration. Lets get to todays headlines. The acting attorney general Matthew Whitaker agreeing to testify before Congress Today following a daylong standoff with House Democrats. They backed down on a threat to subpoena him. Democrats want to grill whitaker about his oversight of the special counsel russia investigation. They also want to know about conversations he had with the white house related to the firing of former attorney general jeff sessions. The Supreme Court has weighed in on its most significant Abortion Case since conservative Brett Kavanaugh joined the court. By a 54 vote the court blocked louisiana from enforcing new restrictions on abortion clinics. The rules require providers to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals. Womens groups say that would leave the state with only one doctor who is allowed to perform abortions. Chief Justice John Roberts joined the courts four liberals in putting the law on hold while it is challenged in a lower court. And an indiana jail inmate didnt stand a chance when he tried to make a break for it. Check this out. He bolted from the guards, climbed into a ceiling, and thought he could crawl to freedom, but falling tiles gave away his location. Deputies were waiting for him with tasers drawn. You see him there. The inmate still refuses to surrender. At one point gravity would take over. Now he faces a felony attempted escape charge in addition to the misdemeanor he was in for. New developments in a murder mystery in one of the nations wealthiest communities. Police in greenwich, connecticut, have identified the young woman whose body was found inside a suitcase on the side of the road. Her distraught family speaking out. Nbcs ron allen joins us for the very latest on this. Good morning. Reporter authorities have identified the victim as valerie reyes. She was 24, a single woman who lived in a very closeknit family in a community about ten miles from here. Now police are trying to determine who killed her and how she ended up here. Overnight, a Community Coming together to comfort the family of valerie reyes. The young murder victims mother had a message for whoever is responsible for her death. Youre going to pay for it. Hes going to pay for it sooner or later he will get caught. I know it. I know it. Reporter reyes, 24 a server at a barnes noble cafe hadnt shown up for work over a week ago. The company saying in a statement, our hearts go out to her family, friends and coworkers. Investigators able to identify reyes after her body was found in a suitcase dumped by the side of the road. Her hands and feet bound. Her home in this closeknit community more than ten miles away. Investigators say they still dont know how or where she died. You have no connection to greenwich at all . Nothing, absolutely not. Reporter her mother says reyes suffered with anxiety and depression. She is haunted by the la call with her daughter just before she disappeared. She was really scared. She feared for her life pretty much. What did she say . She said mommy do you have time. I said yes. She was just really, really emotionally broken and, you know, hysterical. Reporter sanchez thinks her daughter may have been in search of medical care. The family says investigators traced her to new york city and told them money was withdrawn from her bank account at two locations while she was missing. She encountered someone. We dont know. We dont know. I wish i knew. I wish i could tell you, you know, something that can make you also understand we dont even understand. Reporter nor does the community where so many knew reyes. Everybody in this town like pretty much knows each other, like we all know each other. Were all friendly, and like everybody knew she was a good person. She had a good heart. She was amazing. She was amazing. Thats all i can say, a beautiful soul. That is so devastating for the family, ron. Have the police been able to give the family any indication that may let them know what happened . Reporter no, not really. They are especially horrified she ended up so far away from home and dumped by the side of the home. They say police have told them nothing about a possible suspect, person of interest, nor motive. Back to you. Thank you. Such a mystery there. Lets switch gears and get a check of the weather. Dylan dreyer in for al roker. Good morning, we are going to see strong winds in the northeast. We have wind advisories in effect. High Wind Warnings off lake erie and lake ontario. Gusts could be up to 60 miles per hour, especially across upstate new york. That could lead to isolated Power Outages as well. Today its very much above average up and down the east coast, 57 in new york, raleigh 69, jacksonville, 80, but look whats happening behind it, a high of 1 below in minneapolis. Indianapolis 22, and then on saturday the cool air settles into the northeast and down into gainesville with a high of only 66, 51 in wilmington, nashville, 44, and going into sunday, were also going to see those temperatures continue to drop and by the time we get into tuesday, little rock should get up to about 57 degrees. Chicago goes from 29 on sunday over to 35 on tuesday, and in the northeast, down through the midatlantic we should stay in the upper 30s and lower 40s. Good morning. Im meteorologist kari hall. Were starting to see the rain moving into the peninsula. This will be spreading across the bay area, going throughout the day, and as we get a closer look, we can see some of the scattered showers that continue to move through pacifica, san mateo, down to palo alto and a lot more rain where that came from. Cool temperature, breezy winds and by sunday, some low elevation snow down to about 3500 feet. A break on monday and more rain in the forecast for the middle of next week. Forecast. Dylan, thank you. Still ahead, Lorena Bobbitt back in the spotlight and sharing her side of the infamous story that made her a household name 25 years ago. Shes speaking out in an exclusive interview. Also ahead this morning, honoring an icon. Well remember the remarkable life of baseball legend and civil rights pioneer Frank Robinson. Plus, much more of willies candid conversation with Bradley Cooper, why he said he made a star is born out of frustration. More on the battle between jeff bezos and the National Enquirer. Has the most notorious tabloid met its match in amazons ceo right after this. National enquire enquirer. Enquirer. Ha yep. Im doing this. Were really doing this grandma [music] were finally doing this [music] im so doing this were really doing this you could be doing this when you sail with the 1 cruise line in alaska, princess cruises. 7days from fiveninetynine. Visit princess. Com life is measured in moments. Securian financial offers solutions that give you the confidence to enjoy the here and now. Oh, honey. So you can make every moment count. Its easy to lose sight of what we should love and appreciate. Milk is for a lot of things that really matter. 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Has the infamous tabloid met its match. Stephanie gosk has more on that. Good morning, this is a wild one. That is the question. This all stems from bezoss blockbuster divorce from his wife of 25 years, and the enquirers publication of a story exposing his alleged affair with another one. Bezos wanted to find out who leaked texts to the enquirer. He hired an investigator. That personal probe led to an offer he had to refuse. Reporter has americas most notorious tabloid met its match . Amazons Ceo Jeff Bezos accusing the National Enquirer and its Parent Company ami of extortion and blackmail. What you have happening here is extraordinary. You have the founder of amazon, the wealthiest man in the world, effectively exposing the National Enquirer for something that many people have suspected it of doing for a very long time. First reported on by the National Enquirer. Its far from the first time the National Enquirer has tus led with the rich and famous. The tabloid is widely known for its sensational headlines. Over the years it has broken enormous stories about powerful people, and it has helped sink the president ial aspirations of several high profile candidates. Do you think its triggered by this National Enquirer piece that came out yesterday . Its the practice known as catch and kill where newspapers prevent stories from going public, sometimes to protect friends and allies of the editor, that has the publication making headlines. Amis ceo david pecker and mr. Trump have been Close Friends for decades. The enquirer admitting it coordinated with Trumps Campaign to keep potentially damaging information about the then candidate out of the headlines by paying for the rights to stories it had no intention of publishing. Federal investigators revealing the company used the catch and kill tactic to bury a story about Karen Mcdougal, the former playboy model who claims she had a sexual affair with donald trump, which the president has denied. They wanted to squash the story. Youre saying they wanted to protect donald trump. Im assuming so, yeah. The tabloid facing an opponent with the will, the wealth and the power to fight back. Bezos posting in an online blog, if in my position i cant stand up to this kind of extortion, how many people can . We reached out to ami and amazon. Amazon declined to comment, and ami has not gotten back to us. You mentioned catch and kill, but beyond that obviously the National Enquirer has some headlines in its history going after the president s political enemies. Yeah, and not to suggest theres any coordination on these stories between President Trump and the enquirer but you might remember during the campaign made a connection between ted cruzs father and the jfk assassination. That made a lot of headlines, a lot of people talking about that. Candidate trump at the time talked about that on fox, with george stephanopoulos. There was a headline on Hillary Clintons health, a couple of stories on that referring to her health crisis, and suggests that she had alzheimers. Its so fascinating, here they have this immunity deal with regard to whats happening having to do with the Karen Mcdougal payoff and its alleged all of this is happening in the middle of that dealing. The critical question has not been answered, how did the National Enquirer get those Text Messages as First Amendment does protect journalists from revealing those sources. And why are they so concerned about this particular instance . We shall see. Tangled web, stef, thank you. Up next, the overnight tributes pouring in for Frank Robinson, a hall of famer and history maker who changed baseball in this country forever baseball in this country forever co dove intensive repair conditioner proves it can. We treat one brush with dove conditioner. And expose both to heat styling,. To bleaching. And even coloring. The difference is clear. The brush treated with dove is visibly smoother. And protected against damage. Dove intensive repair conditioner. For 100 touchably beautiful hair. Since one conditioner doesnt fit all. Dove ultracare conditioners. Can i have a Peanut Butter sandwich . Can charlie have one, too . Charlie can have one too. One for charlie. gasp look mom charlie took a bite. Feed his imagination, with the fresh roasted peanut taste he loves. Where theres jif, theres love. Cinnamon toast crunch churros. Perfect for breakfast time, snack time, and night time. Introducing new cinnamon toast crunch churros. Churros for breakfast or whenever. Why are we doing this . Why are we doing what . Using my old spice moisturize with shea butter body wash. All i wanted was to use your body wash and all i wanted was to have a body wash. You guys hungry . I was inspired by natures finest ingredients to create a new take on tea. Introducing, naturally caffeine free, pure leaf herbal iced tea. A refreshing combination of juicy, peach, flavor and hibiscus. Crafted just for you. New pure leaf herbals. Iced tea blooming with flavor, and naturally caffeine free. alarm ringing wake up to great tasting flavor. alarm stops belvita breakfast biscuits. Flavors like delicious blueberry or decadent chocolate, gently baked in a tasty biscuit. alarm ringing belvita breakfast biscuits. Its time to taste the day. Were so happy when carson joins us. Baseball le send Frank Robinson lost his battle with cancer yesterday. On the field he was a hall of fame player. In the dugout he made history as the major leagues first africanamerican manager setting a lasting example for anyone who heard his story. And frank rips in to this one. Frank robinson swinging his way into the record books as one of the most feared sluggers in baseball. Known for aggressively sliding into bases and leaning over the plate, just daring pitchers to hit him. He hit 586 home runs. And won the elusive triple crown. Leading the league in batting average home runs and rbis. Robinson remains the only player ever to win mvp in both the national and american leagues. A 14 time allstar on the field, he would become a game changer off the field. A leading voice in the civil rights movement. 56,000 fans greeted Frank Robinson on opening day. Nine 1975 while playing for the Cleveland Indians robinson made history when the team also named him manager. The groundbreaking move making him the first africanamerican to fill that role in baseball history. I know that my every move will be watched and checked. Bottom of the first inning, he came to bat for the first time and hit a home run. Robinson hitting it out of the park on day one of pulling double duty. After retiring as a player in 1976 robinson went on to manage in san francisco, baltimore, montreal and washington. He served as a Major League Baseball consultant and adviser later in his career. Im trying to make it better for the kids that are coming after me. Already they want to be a baseball player, a front office person. Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of fame in 1982. And was presented with the president ial medal of freedom in 2005. A powerhouse and a pioneer who went to bat for so much more than just the game. When he retired in 1976 there were only three players that had more home runs than Frank Robinson. Babe ruth, willie mays and hank aaron. First year 1956 was an allstar again 18 years later in 74. Heck of a career. Wow, what a man. Hell be missed. Were back with a lot more on a friday morning after a check of your local news and weather. Wow, thats an aggressive yellow. Pretty great, huh . If youre a banana. I find it very. Appealing. Kelloggs raisin bran with bananas. Two scoops meet real banana slices. Ive done a good job of raisin ya. Rudy got older and suddenly stopped eating. T, then we found freshpet. Now rudys 13, and going on 3. I thought i was managing my moderate to severe Crohns Disease. Then i realized something was missing. Me. My symptoms were keeping me from being there. So, i talked to my doctor and learned humira is for people who still have symptoms of Crohns Disease after trying other medications. And the majority of people on humira saw significant symptom relief and many achieved remission in as little as 4 weeks. Humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. Serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. Before treatment, get tested for tb. Tell your doctor if youve been to areas where certain fungal infections are common, and if youve had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flulike symptoms or sores. Dont start humira if you have an infection. Be there for you, and them. Ask your gastroenterologist about humira. With humira, remission is possible. Good friday morning. Right now at 7 56, we are in a microclimate weather alert, as we track the next storm system approaching the bay area, it is starting out with some scattered light rain, mostly for the peninsula. It is starting to cross the bay and moving into parts of the south bay. We are going to see this becoming more widespread, going into late morning and early afternoon. Some of the heaviest rain will be here at about 2 00 to 3 00 for much of the south bay, the east bay, and then moving into the north bay as well. We will see scattered showers, rounds of rain throughout tonight. There looks to be a break for tomorrow morning and then the next round of rain gets here by tomorrow afternoon, and continues throughout the day on sunday as well. So our temperatures stay chilly. Highs only reaching into the upper 40s and low 50s. We may see this ending with low elevation snow above about 3500 feet, a break on monday, and then more rain from tuesday through at least next thursday. Lets get an update on the commute now from mike. Kari, looking at slowing, crowding, here north 880 through oakland but this is not as bad as monday through thursday, thats typical of friday. A lighter volume of traffic, so lighter slowing through oakland for 580, 808 and down the east shore freeway, the metering lights are still on at the bay bridge, and full function for the richmond to san rafael bridge. Some wetter roadways on the peninsula as kari has been talking about. The south bay has one crash north 101 at 880. Back to you. Thank you very much. Happening now, we are following Police Activity right now in campbell. We have a live look to show you from the scene right here. Officers have a dennys restaurant surrounded. Police not giving us any Additional Details but we do know that neighboring streets are closed, including south baskham near the Pruneyard Shopping Center east of 17. Well post any developments as soon as we get them to our twitter feed. Gas has been restored to all but 40 pg e customers in san francisco. What ntsb investigators are looking into, now they arrived on the scene, on our home page. The new work week how it ll impact your morning commute. Plus riders beware. Bart is changing its morning start time on monday. Trains will roll out an hour later. We ll checkin with commuters. Join us monday, from 4 30 to 7. Its 8 00 on today. Coming up, amazon crime . Jeff bezos accusing the National Enquirer of extortion. And how the magazine got private messages of him and his mistress. Hes allegation a very prominent ceo of one of the most valuable companies to do. What happens next in the battle of tech titan and the tabloid . Plus, breaking her silence. He hurt me. 25 years after her story captivated the country, Lorena Bobbitt is opening up about that night. Do you regret the action you took . Oh my god. How could you regret something that was not planned . How could you you have to understand i wasnt in my right mindset. What she wants you to know about her side of the story. And parks and wrecked. Are you messing with me . What is this for . What is this . What Tiffany Haddish is revealing about her past with chris pratt. And the hollywood superstar. You all look alike. Do you think im chris acceptan hemsworth . Today, february 8, 2019. Im just a dead man walking tonight were saying hi to our families in ft. Worth, texas. A motherdaughter trip from alabama. So tell berate my birthday from east atlanta middle c l school. Good morning. Im helping raise awareness for womens heart health. From germany, we love our troops. Hi, everybody. Happy friday. No amount of rain is going to dampen anybodys spirits. Were so happy to have you with us. Whether watching at home or out in our plaza. Nice great day. Great crowd outside. Well be out in a bit. We want to get to your news tops. Astonishing new twist in the clash between jeff bezos and the publisher of the notorious tabloid. Peter alexander joins us with the latest on this one. Good morning. Reporter good morning. This is a blockbuster accusation from amazon Ceo Jeff Bezos, the tech titan and the worlds richest man, calling out the publisher of the companys top tabloid who happens to be an ally of President Trump. Bezos accusing the National Enquirer of blackmail. Overnight, dropping a bombshell. The boss of amazon accusing ami of extortion and blackmail. In a post on the blog medium, bezos says representatives such as david pecker reached out to his attorney in an attempt to stop the investigation on how the enquirer obtained Text Messages from the woman hes reportedly dating. Explaining his decision to speak out, he writes, of course, i dont want personal photos published, but i also wont participate in amis wellknown practice of blackmail, political favors, political attacks and corruption. I prefer to stand up, roll this log over and see what crawls out. Despite what he calls the personal cost and embarrassment they threaten, bezos also posts what he says are amis emails detailing the ten images they are threatening to publish. Including a below the belt selfie, and a picture of his girlfriend in a twopiece bikini. Bezos and his investigators released a Public Statement saying they have no knowledge or basis to suggest the coverage was politically motivated. Bezos pointing to the past cooperation with President Trump. The escalating feud follows bezos and his wife mckenzie announcing their divorce last month after 25 years of marriage. That announcement coming before the enquirer alleges bezos was having an affair with sanchez, a former tv host who is also married. He said he was investigating whether sanchezs brother a supporter of President Trump, may be behind the leak. And responding early this morning, ami says it believes it acted lawfully in reporting the bezos story. The negotiations were in, quote, good faith. Still it says, thole investigate and take whatever action is necessary. Savann savannah . All right. See where this heads next, pe peter. Thank you. Former michigan representative john dingell has died. He retired five years ago. He played a key role in landmark legislation calling the passage of the Affordable Care act the highlight of his career. He also championed medicare, the clean water act and the endangered species act. He was one of the last world war ii veterans to serve in congress. Now to massachusetts and a ruling in a case that drew National Attention to cyberbullying. The States Top Court upheld the manslaughter conviction of a woman who used Text Messages to pressure her 18yearold boyfriend to end his own life. Michelle carter will now have to serve 15 months behind bars. Detectives and the victims families are speaking for the first time with dateline. What kind of things was she saying . Things like, you promised me. When are you going to do it. You havent done it . You disappointed me. Ill take care of your family. It was just unbelievable. I just kept thinking, shes holding his head under water. She overpowered him. There is never before seen Police Surveillance video. All new dateline nbc 10 00 eastern. In the meantime, a florida woman was trapped inside her home for several hours when an unwanted visitor camped right outside her door. Check this out. Police arrived to find a 9footlong alligator just a few feet away if her house. They called in a professional trapper, but the gator was so big and aggressive too, the trapper actually had to get extra help to haul it away. The gator probably came from a. Wow. All right. I think its time for a morning boost. All right. Here we go. A couple got the surprise of their lives when their daughter came for a visit and brought them a present. They calmly opened the gift and didnt know what to expect. Well, inside that box there was a blanket and they found out that they would soon become grandparents. Oh oh oh oh my god. I dont know what you were expecting, but how was that . That reaction was everything. Could not contain her excitement. Wait until she meets the baby. That was just the blanket. If you want to hear heartwarming stories over the weekend, send them to my newsletter. On the weekends, there will be a little gift. And your reaction might be like that woman. Just ahead, well be joined with more of that revealing conversation with Bradley Cooper this morning. What made him question his decision to direct a star is born . And Lorena Bobbitt has been the subject of endless fascination. Now shes breaking her silence about that night. Our exclusive interview right after this. Oh, that wasnt in the note. Should have sent a text. 1 stain and odor fighter, 1 trusted. Its got to be tide. 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Does this heart belong to you . Would you like it anyway . [ scatting ] would you like it anyway . Celebrate valentines day with hundreds of gifts under 199 and find other great deals on gifts shell love at prices youll love too with 25 to 50 off everything. Only at kay. This morning on todays talker. A story thats captivated the country for 25 years. You probably remember the name Lorena Bobbitt, and youll understand why we want to give you a warning about the subject matter were going to talk about. Absolutely. Shes back in the spotlight because theres a new documentary. Kristen dahlgren spoke with her exclusively. Good morning. Lorena bobbitt made headlines in the 90s after cutting off her husbands penis. Then she became the punch line of endless jokes. Everybody seemed to focus on what happened instead of why. Now shes hoping a new docuseries with amazon will make people take a second look and maybe in the metoo era see things differently. Reporter it was an act that defined her in the eyes of a generation. 25 years later Lorena Bobbitt, who now goes by lorena gal low is telling what she says is the real story. The real story is about a victim, is about Domestic Violence. One that began june 23rd, 1993. When you think back to that night, what do you remember . I dont remember anything how it happened, but i honestly dont even want to know what happened because i will be traumatized again. Traumatized by what unfolded that night when she says repeated verbal, physical, and sexual abuse at the hand of her then husband john broke her. It hurt me. Reporter leading her to take a knife from their kitchen and cut off his penis. Do you regret the action you took . Oh, my god, how could you regret something that was not planned. I mean, how could you you have to understand. I wasnt in my right mindset. Reporter an act that turned her life into a media circus, devoured by america. Why do you think there was so much attention on what you did rather than why you did it . I think its because just the act, that it was a severe organ, a male organ. That changes the whole perspective of this story. John Wayne Bobbitt who denied the abuse in court was found not guilty of marital sexual assault. John, how do you feel . Good. Reporter lorena was found not guilty by reason of temporary insanity, her story the focus of amazons new series lorena. They kept saying i was a hot blooded latina woman. It hurts my heart. Reporter a fourpart documentary looking at what made her story a punch line across late night. Its not going to be easy for either of them to get a date when this breaks. The endless jokes lorena says were painful, but something she learned to accept in an effort to further her cause of helping Domestic Violence survivors. I believe this is a gift, and if i can help change a life, then my mission is worth it. Reporter a mission that has taken on new meaning in the metoo era. So how much has the Metoo Movement meant to you . A lot because, again, it help us to break that taboo, and i think my story, the documentary, will actually push that conversation again on the table and say, look, i mean, yes, it happened 25 years ago, but things are not changing much. Reporter the Series Features key players in the story including john. I think a lot of people would be surprised to hear that hes reached out to you repeatedly. Repeatedly on many occasions, yes. I dont know why, im guessing control. What types of correspondence have you gotten from him . Valentines cards and notes, love notes. Reporter notes from someone she says she wants to leave in the past. Im like look at me, i did this to you. Just leave me alone. Reporter lorena enjoying the next chapter in her life hoping her story can make a difference. What would you tell the younger Lorena Bobbitt going through all that, about how this story turns out . I hope first of all that wouldnt happen to me or anybody. Now i will said that there is hope, what i went through wasnt in vain, that this is a gift to help others. We reached out to john bobbitt who had no comment. As for lorena, shes still l living in virginia with her longtime partner david and 13yearold daughter. Well have her daughters reaction to the story on the third hour of today. All four episodes will be available on amazon prime next friday. And her daughter watched . Her daughter watched it at s sundance with them. So much of us remember what happened. I didnt know the back story until right now. I did not know what she went through. The headlines were all about the action. Not the why like you put it. Kristen, thanks. Good morning, again, guys, we are going to lose the rain this morning with the cold front affecting the east coast. In the northwest we have a big storm system moving in including areas good morning. Im meteorologist kari hall. We are in a microclimate weather alert, as we see a storm approaching, and we are going to continue to track still some scattered showers in time for the morning commute, and then get heavier for later this morning. We are seeing the rain moving up and down the peninsula, now approaching san jose with some light rain. Well see it once again become more widespread, and by 2 00 to 3 00, some widespread, heavy rain, and that could impact the evening commute. We are going to see the rain tapering off for tomorrow, but more rain moving in by tomorrow afternoon. And thats your latest forecast. Dylan, thank you so much. Willies here. Were going to have more of your conversation with Bradley Cooper in a few. Great, yeah. But first pop start. Guys were hanging. Love it. Youll see more of us hanging. First up, Tiffany Haddish and chris pratt. When they were asked about their First Impressions of each other, tiffany reminded chris that not only had they met in an audition but she also was an extra on the tv show the oc with him. All was revealed when chris was remembering this time on the show. Brown was in the episode that i was in, and i worked with rachel billson, and i had an ipod and i was listening to this music. Where were you guys filming at . On rose cranes in the studio down there. Manhattan beach, right . Manhattan beach, thats right. A lot of people around, wasnt there . Thats when it was. We met there, too. I was a background employee. Youre lying. Nope. Mmhmm. I cant tell if youre being serious right now. Im being dead serious. I was one of the worlds best extras of all time. You were an extra on the oc . Yes, i always looked into the camera, too. I was an extra on the oc, also one tree hill. I was an extra on dawsons creek. All the white shows, because they needed one black girl to walk around. [ laughter ] funny, rule number one for extras is like never look at the camera. Do not look at the camera is what they usually yell out. Served her well. Who knew. Chris and tiffany voiced characters in lego movie 2. Up next, Kit Harington, the actor whose new movie is coming outs, how to train your dragon. Harrington sat down with keir simmons and shared his reaction after First Reading the part. Way, way back i read this part for game of thrones, and it said how hes a quiet, sort of brooding grumpy young man, and i thought, okay, well, i can probably try and do that. And that he did for seven seasons. He also opened up about his married life and what to expect from the third installment of how to train your dragon. It hit theaters february 22nd. You can watch that full interview with Kit Harington in the third hour of today, today all day. Finally we have another exclusive reveal, Entertainment Weekly out with their romantic comedy themed issue. Yesterday we brought you the cast reunion of my best friends wedding. Today we have another rom com reunion. Give us a tease. It is the cast of 27 dresses. Katherine heigl, ed burns, james mardsen. The movie was the epitome of the phrase always a brides mamaid nr a bride. Katherine heigl thinks there is room for a sequel. What are their lives like ten years later, do they end up together. I personally think they do. I dont know why. I just think they do end up together, and i think they have like three kids. Wow. Or at least two and shes made jane the god mother every time, so jane has to plan the christenings and baby showers and gender reveals, but then so do all the other bridesmaids make her the god mother, they cant get pregnant. Why are you pointing at me . 0 for 2 on seeing these movies on the rom com. Same here. Youre missing a lot. Im going to pick up the issues, the special rom com issue, follow t. Wouldnt it be funny if you guys did like a weekend Slumber Party where you watch rom comes. I dont call that funny. Youd come back as changed more evolved people. Funny, torture. Will youve got a look at your sunday sitdown. A star is born is maybe the most talked about movie of the year. Its been a years long labor of love for Bradley Cooper. He directs the film and costars with lady gaga. Bradley had to become a musician, and gaga had to become an actor. It worked out well with eight Oscar Nominations and this weekend four grammy nominations too were far from the shallow now i know there are people around who said love that you want to be a director, go for it. But man, dont start with something this ambitious where youre starring, directing. You. I was one of them, crazy. Did you ever listen to those voices and say maybe this isnt the place to start as a director . I certainly listened to them, i took it in. In a way maybe that allowed me to persevere more. There was a bunch of directors that ive always dreamt of working with, and they just werent asking me to do movies with them. Its like im 40. I keep waiting. That was part of what prompted me, i wouldnt say prompted me, encouraged me out of frustration almost, ive got to do it myself. One person who rarely has any doubt about bradley is his mother gloria. What does your mom think about the success of a star is born and whats happening right now . My moms funny. She always thinks everythings going to be a huge hit. Thats what moms do. Im like mom, no, this ones not going to work. Bradley, no, im telling you. Im like mom. Shes like maybe im wrong. Now she does it with caution, which i kind of dig, man. Shes like i dont know. Its tough out there. [ laughter ] shes flipped on you. But shes still yeah, shes definitely like did a total 180. In 2011 just as coopers career was taking off, his beloved father charlie died after a long fight with cancer. Do you think about and i know you do what your dad would think about where you are in your career right now . Yeah. Yeah . Sure. Yeah. What do you think hes thinking . I dont know, man. Yeah, you know, its part of life, yeah. Hes your guy . Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You know, hes talked just this week to oprah interviewed him as well. He was talking about his dad, and he held his dad in his final moments and in his last breath. His dad was his hero and obviously has such an impact on his life. In 2011 when his dad died, the first hangover movie had come out, but before the Silver Linings play book, so his dad i think bradley regrets didnt get to see all that. That moment you didnt say anything but it was like all behind his eyes. You could just see him seeing his father and thinking about that. He talks about that. He says i still see him in my dreams, and thats what i take from it. That was beautiful, willie. It really was. You can see a lot more of that interview on sunday. To listen to the entire unedited conversation with bradley and our library of other sunday sitdowns for free, check out apple podcasts or wherever you get yours. Thank you, willie. Straight ahead, the very funny and very smart hassan minhaj, were goingi m. A live look from nbc bay area and good morning to you. 8 26. Im marcus washington. A live look for us right now from nbc bay area sky ranger, flying over a Police Standoff in campbell. This is happening on south baskham avenue near the pruneyard Highway Center east of highway 17. Officers have the dennys restaurant surrounded. Here is a live look at what were seeing from the ground there, and this has been what its been like since our camera crews arrived there about an hour ago. Police are not giving us details about whats going on or who may be inside the restaurant, but we do know that the neighboring streets remain closed right now, including south baskham and that could cause some traffic concerns. Mike inouye is standing by with a look at our commute. Those familiar with the area know its a busy intersection. You avoid the area, again around that dennys where the activity or the Police Activity. Now we look northbound 101 was almost completely stopped, actually it was completely stopped for a couple of minutes. They may have moved a crash by the first tower exiting san francisco. The problem only two lanes for the morning commute and one of those was blocked for about a half hour. Again, we may be seeing that clearing now. The bay bridge metering lights are on. Mild slowing through oakland and the rest of the bay and the rain coming in so the ray for shows what kari is tracking. Back to you. Well have another local news update coming up in 30 minutes and were always on at nbcbayarea. Com. Welcome back, everybody. 8 30 on this friday morning, february 8th, 2019. The rain held up just a little bit so we could hang out with a bunch of people and a birthday girl. Happy friday. Happy birthday. Youve got a crowd moment for us . Ive got a crowd moment. I got a friday morning im looking for molly and jan, molly and jan, hey how are we . Someones having a birthday . We are, we both are. Both having a birthday . Yes. Theres someone who wanted to say happy birthday to you. Tell me if you recognize this baby. You recognize that one . My granddaughter dylan. Dylan . What a great name. Named after dylan. After dylan dreyer. After me . After dylan dreyer. She was. My daughter michelle in chicago loves you, and so when her daughter was born she wants dylan. Oh, my goodness. Thats amazing. How old is she . 15 months. I love it. Thank you. Theres a dylan out there. The world needs more female dylans. I love it. Happy birthday, too. Thank you. Happy birthday. Thats so neat. A future young meteorologist. I know. I love it. Thats so cool. Have you ever been named after somebody before . No, especially a girl so thats even better. I really, really love that. Coming up, greeting cards, theyre the hottest way to express your feelings or the short little animated clips you always text your friends. Were going inside the factory where theyre created and changing the way we communicate. Pretty cool. I didnt even know there was a factory. Also, guys, a rising star whos not only funny and entertaining, hassan minaj is right here in our studio. Had is his first time on the today show. Very cool. Plus, are you guys ready . Its time. Its our first get fit today checkin to see how were doing with our challenges. So sad. Spoiler alert, not well. Not well . Coming up in a few minutes, on the third hour of today, we will be wrapping up doppelganger week. Todays a doozy. Sheinelles clone is with us. There may be a surprise involved in that as well. Ms. Dryer you got a check of the weather. Todays weather is brought to you by kay jewelers, for all the moments, for love, forever. Lets take a look at whats going on across the country as we get closer to the weekend. We are going to see temperatures drop up and down the east coast. It will feel more like average, whereas back through the midwest and the northern plains, it is going to be a cold saturday. Temperatures in the singledigits, even below zero, and then you factor in the windchill on top of that. The messy storm in the northwest will bring snow to even areas like seattle. That will move east on sunday into the rocky mountains. Also, another area of snow through the midwest, light snow moves into the chicago area and around the great lakes. We will see some icing possible in missouri and northwestern arkansas as well. Then we are going to see sunshine up and down the good morning. Im meteorologist kari hall. We are in a microclimate weather alert, to give you the heads up about the incoming storm. It starts out with some light rain, were tracking right now on storm ranger, even some snow on mt. Hamilton. There are a few pockets of heavier downpours approaching 1k0 1 throu 101 through the peninsula pane a lot of our rain headed our way into the rest of the weekend. Off and on rain, highs reaching into the low 50s and this ends with low elevation snow mostly on mt. Hamilton. A break on monday and more rain headed our way for tuesday. Ppin here trying to take selfies. Well get to that in a sec. Back to you. If you check your phone youve probably received a few already today, those little looped videos everybodys texting from your favorite movie, its a gif and it perfectly expresses your feelings. So where do they come from . Nbcs Gadi Schwartz got an inside look at the factory here in new york where apparently theyre cranking them out and learned once and for all how to actually say the word. Reporter from the second you walk in the doors, its clear something is different about this tech company. Hi, welcome to gify. You guys have a coffee bar at the reception desk. Thats right. There we go, america na. All right. Their offices look more like doors, neon lights, video games. This area over here we have a nintendo set up. Reporter people can even bring their dogs. We really just try to make it feel like a big group of friends. Reporter this is the home of gify, you know that Company Behind these little videos that can tell people exactly how you feel. And if a picture is worth a thousand words, gifs are worth 7 billion expressions. Thats how many are shared every single day. You guys are like a dictionary for emotion. Right. For expressions on the face. Yeah, for more complex emotions like trying to describe that youre feeling kind of bored or tired in a meeting doesnt go as far as a jim hallpert gif from the office that makes it so clear i am over this. Proud of your kids . Here you go. Dont know what people are talking about . How about some joey from friends. Tired of fighting with your loved one . Try to stay mad at this. There are gifs for everything. Or are they called jif . Once youre here long enough, you end up saying gif. The companys search bar is already on your phone and almost every social media platform, and behind it all 100 employees serving 500 million daily users who watch 11 million hours of gifs every single day. You guys have built an entire company, an entire empire based on just sharing these little videos. Thats right. How do you make money . We Just Launched our advertising platform this year, and got some major advertisers on board, and were helping them create ads that people actually want to share that are funny, that are cool, that are relevant. Reporter big brands have taken notice filling pages with their own gifs and homework better watch out because some of the most popular gifs are happy birthday and love, and this year the queen of the gif is not beyonce, but cardi b, and it turns out anyone can make them. Were going to walk you through making some gifs today. Its not just about pulling gifs from movies. You guys create gifs here. As much as its nice to have a clip from a movie that we all share, sometimes you want to make something in the moment, something fresh. Just get loose and follow his lead. Back to you. Happy birthday. Digital devices have changed the way we talk, so i see more as were taking it back. Were injecting personality and real people, real emotion back into these otherwise cumbersome devices. Helping us rewrite the art of modern conversation a few seconds at a time. For today nbc new york. So its jif. Gif. It looks fun. Gif. Its fun when i get them. They do sum up so many emotions. My mom texts almost exclusively in gifs now. Its hi lalarious. Im saying jifs. He said opposite of the Peanut Butter. Its not jiffy, its giffy. Truth matters. It was a joke. They changed it. I dont get the joke. From a j to a g. Were not changing. Thank you, carson. Youre welcome. Gif nation right here. Coming up next, patriot act host hasan minhaj is here, his sense of humor, his unique perspective on the world, and his intelligence to the his intelligence to the helines of today. Do you think this is fun for me . You think im having fun . [man on other line] it certainly wasnt much fun to. Do you have eyes on the target . Is it her . [man on other line] i cant tell from this photos. I need better shots. Thank you for flying turkish airlines. Taxi you waiting for someone . No. Just. Looking. Welcome back, hassan ma naush is one of the Fastest Growing names in comedy. Hes the host of the critically acclaimed netflix show patriot act. Its known for deep dives into big issues with a humorous spin. It is returning this sunday, hasan good morning. Thanks for having me. Youre like super huge now. Youre a big deal. Do you feel like a big deal . I dont know, but my parents are watching right now. They are . That is a big deal. The parents are watching. Its tough for my parents to keep up with netflix. When you thought of the concept, youre taking serious subjects and trying to make them funny. Why did you think that was a n concept that would work right now . At the daily show you have to cram so much into a short segment. I was like all right, theres no commercial breaks on netflix. Lets do it. How are you picking your topics . Because i mean, some things are just serious, and theyre really not that funny. You somehow are managing to take things that are complex and important but also finding that kind of humorous take. Theres some things ive always wanted to talk about. Ive wanted to do a deep dive on snaker culture just because. You guys got great kicks. Yeah. Lets do a hot 20 on that. You had a hot one when you were taking the s. A. T. s because you talked about when you had taken them the first time what was your score . 1310. Which i thought was unbelievable. Im bearing my soul right now. According to who . According to most people. According to someone who got like 1050. You had a 1050, why are you airing this out . I dont know. Ive never admitted that before. This is going to be forever. You want me to admit, too . Youre going to be a gif. Its going to be a loop. You want me to admit to . 1030. I was a high school slacker. I didnt know the s. A. T. Was the next day. We didnt realize. Heres the thing, you decided to retake yours to do better. Yes. I loved a lot of stuff about this. One was you had your dad totally in the middle of it. My dad woke me, he flew from california to new york. He woke me up. He packed my lunch, he took me to the princeton review, and they administered a test. I took it again. For real . Raw horsepower, everything up here, i just took it. And bhad ywhatd you get . I got a 1030. Boom, high five right here. Its not good. We didnt get good scores. I know, but its over. You know what i dont mean to be a dunce, but obviously i am, but a 1330 is a good score. It was a 1310. My sister got a 1,500, and shes doing great. My parents will never let that go. We should let people know 1,600 is the max. I think this moment thats happening right now, the three of us being in this chair as everyone behind us watches and shakes their head, and theyre like how did they get to where they got to is a testament that anything is possible. I think thats right. Tenacity and hard work. Any dope like us can just make it in this country. So did you think you would ever see yourself in this kind of a position when you were a little kid . Did you dream of being on stage . I had three options, engineer, disappointment, but it worked out. I think things are going good. You got this show. You have this new baby, almost a year old. Shes 11 months. How have you taken to fatherhood . Im loving it. Shes adorable. Shes super cute. Whats her name . Its a secret. But shes adorable. Pretty by any name. Were looking at her picture. She is a real sweetheart. Shes a scene stealer. Whats next for you . You got this thing going on netflix. Where do you see yourself if you were to look down the road five years or something . Im just trying to make the show really good. This always happens. Youll be doing hoda, whats next . What do you got coming up . And youre like. Its like when youre dating someone. Its like when are you going to get married and when are you engaged and when is the wedding date, and when are you going to have a baby . I checked the box, ive got a show, were still on the air, weve got new episodes coming up, and were going to hopefully not piss off more grown princes. The saudi kingdom did ask netflix to remove one of your episodes. Im a cyber criminal, im an internet bad boy. Not only do you have a great s. A. T. Score, youre dangerous. The legend grows. Thank you. We appreciate you. The first time on the today show. You want to say hi to mom and dad . Hi mom and dad, hi seema, hi everyone at the v. A. In sacramento. Patriot act returns this sunday. Were going to update you on our get fit challenge. Whos been busy biking, dancing, and planking, and who has not . Youre going to find out. First this is today on nbc. You killed it. And we are back with our special series get fit today, and to start the year off right, weve divided our teams into multiple teams here. There they are. Theyre going to be tackling their fitness goals. This morning, how about a progress report, see how were doing . Joined by our trainers, editors in chief of mens health and womens health. Good morning to you both. Good to have you here. Lets start with team hoda. Al is not here, but hoda is. Their goal is to bike 1,000 miles in ten weeks. We followed them to a spin class at flywheel. Oh, right. Lets see how they do. Get fit today im ready. Yay here we go. [ laughter ] im going to give you a range on torque and your speed or your rpms. Just try to stay in or around it, and the biggest thing is, have a little bit of fun, all right . Yeah. All right come on im already sucking air. Nobody else is . Okay, good. Go you rock yes youre killing it all right. Its killing me. Ow lets go, al al, nobodys sweating but us. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. There we go. You guys crushed it yes and that was the fiveminute course. Pretty good. How many miles have you biked so far . Since we started, i think about 160. Wow. How hard was that . You doubled up al. Al did 80 . Hes always biking. If you follow him on instagram, hes up at like 5 00 in the morning on his bike. What we realized i did some classes, some 45minute ones just to knock them out. Because we had to do a 30minute class every single day to make so, are you going to make it . No. You could theres still time. Its going to be hard. Its like cramming for a test. How are they doing . Are they on pace . I have to say, you guys set a very lofty goal. Like forrest gump or something. Thats great. You aim for the stars. Even if you hit the moon, thats a positive. Its important to remember that not all the miles are the same. Sometimes youve got the torque or resistance turned all the way up and its like hills. Its really hard. Sometimes its a flat road and youre going fast really far. Thats the key to making it fun is mixing it up from day to day. Reach for the candles. Now, mastering steps through dance. They met up with celebrity trainer tracy anderson. Have a look. We really love to dance, but we are not that good at it. And we do think we can get here. Okay. Its just going to take some practice. Five, six, seven, eight. Step ball change, step ball change, step ball change. Reach, touch, clap, turn to the back. Yeah, im not doing it right. Drop clap, two quick i went the wrong way here we go, girls. Here we go five, six, seven, eight. Step, ball, change. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Good job you got that one. Step, clap, turn to the back. Whoo good job i love this i love that one huh . That was cute. Im looking at savannah because i just said we cant do the whole dance yet. And she goes, i can. I can do it backwards and forwards. She took dancing without me i said this, weve worked out together a lot, but when savannah has a goal, shes like, you get here right now and we do this until its complete im like, all right, mom. Im like, its at 3 00. And then im like, its 3 04, where are you . She was late. This is your number of classes . I dont think youve done one more than me. I never said how many i did to anybody, but i think you did, though. Because you went a couple times without me. I went a couple times with my sister. Hows the fitness aspect for the dancing, liz . Well, im curious to hear, are you guys feeling like youre more proficient at it . Because as you start to learn the routine and get your head out of the game, thats when the magic happens when you get in the physical flow and you can put forth more effort and burn lots more calories. Ive been traveling this week, so. Finally, to craig and dylan. Their goal is to increase their core strength that is our goal. We than the to touch their toes. They flexed their muscles recently at flex pilates studio. Have a look. Can you do this. No. But im going to try. Lets try. Lets try. Here we go. Go team. Arms reach. And slide out to your first plank. Bend your knees and come all the way back to standing. Are we going to do several of those . Oh, yeah. Dude, that is hard. Ow it really hurts one more. One more. You have it. You have it. So far, this is my favorite exercise. I can almost touch my toes. Yeah, look at you really, really good. Dont lie, but thank you. You guys might be winning the challenge. If you doubled your plank i really want to call you out on this. No, its not about me. Its about the studio. I think i could probably hold it for about a minute and 20 seconds. You look pretty good. Dylan, 1 42 . Im better than craig i love it im also very competitive. Girls world im not going to win this, be very clear. Im very competitive. Thank you so much and good luck with you. Good luck, guys. Youve got this. Well be checking back in. Were checking back in again . This is today on nbc. Dont forget to check today. Com allday for more stories you love. Today ina gartens secret for a romantic valentines day. Were talking about her musical play list. Sheinelle, what do you have on . Are you taking your clothes off while i talk . No, im not. Ive been doing this series on education. Tomorrow a major problem facing schools all over the country, a teacher short aageshortage, wha anything can be done about it. Before all that, sheinelles about to meet her doppelganger. I know, im so nervous. A littlegood morning, it s. I m. A look from nbc bay area good morning. 8 56. Im marcus washington. A look from nbc bay area sky ranger, a few moments ago, flying over the Police Standoff in campbell on south baskham avenue near the Pruneyard Shopping Center east of highway 17. Officers have a dennys, as you see right there, surrounded. Now the last few Minutes Police gave us an update, and they were called about 5 30 this morning, about a man with a gun in the parking lot. He was inside that restaurant when officers arrived. No one has been injured, and police say that all the workers and customers that were inside made it out safely, leaving that man inside the restaurant alone. Nearby streets are closed right now, including south baskham. We have a crew there on the ground at the scene. Well have an update at midday. Check out our twitter feed for the updates. Also the latest on the investigation into wednesdays gas explosion in san franciscos richmond district. Investigators arrived overnight. The gas has been restored to all about 40 pg e customers. Go to our home page for information. Albert finney has died at the age of 82. Finney received five Oscar Nominations over his career, some of his biggest films annie more rain in the fore the new work week how it ll impact your morning commute. Plus riders beware. Bart is changing its morning start time on monday. Trains will roll out an hour later. We ll checkin with commuters. Join us monday, from 4 30 to 7. Announcer from nbc news this is today live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. A good friday morning to you, welcome, craig melvin here along with sheinelle jones, dylan dreyer and look who stopped by, keir simmons. Theres not an ocean in between us. Its a good day for you to be here. We are talking about something that you know well from across the pond, tabloids, in case you have not heard, the richest man in the world is taking on the National Enquirer, amazons Ceo Jeff Bezos went public accusing the tabloid of trying to blackmail him. Were going to talk about it in a moment. But first, heres nbcs peter alexander. Overnight,