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good morning, everyone. welcome to "today" on a saturday, i'm lester holt. >> and i'm amy robach. it is exactly one week until christmas. all your shopping done? >> you know, i don't even know. no. >> that means no. >> no. i am in chill mode this christmas. >> really? >> i'm not getting stressed about anything. i think i've got it done. i've got a week. i'm good. if you don't get something it's because i'm in chill-out mode. >> you're going to rub off on me. >> okay. just be calm. we've got a lot to talk about. there's no holiday in washington today. but it's going to be a very busy day there. perhaps an unprecedented one. senators are expected to take a critical vote on the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. they're also going to take up the s.t.a.r.t. nuclear treaty. this all comes a day after president obama signed the tax deal into law. a lot going on. we're going to get a live report from the white house in just a moment. >> and then we're going to talk about the search for a suspected serial killer. the bodies of four women were found on a sandy beach in new york earlier this week. authorities are desperately trying to identify those remains and fear that they all may have been murdered by the same person. we'll have much more on this developing story. >> we're also following the newest revelations involving casey anthony. as we know, she's the florida mom who is accused of killing her young daughter caylee. this morning prosecutors have released new documents and some punctures from the case. coming up we'll get a look at never before seen jailhouse letter es written by casey herself. and then we're going to switch gears to the man known as the flying dutchman. andre reiullet is a global superstar and making classical music sexy, entertaining and managing to sell out concert halls around the world. if you're not a fan yet, you may be after our revealing look. >> dancing in the aisles. always a good thing. first let's talk about that big vote to repeal the military's ban on gays and lesbians serving openly in the military. nbc's mike viqueira is joining us now from the white house with more. mike, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, lester. well, like last-minute shoppers the president and congress have their eye on a lot of big ticket items in the waning days of december. and today, supporters of repeal of that military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy are hoping for a christmas week miracle. for president obama, a much-needed and hard-fought victory. >> here we go. >> reporter: signing tax cuts for all americans into law. after a battle won with the help of republicans. >> there are some elements of this legislation that i don't like. there's some elements that members of my party don't like. there's some elements that republicans here today don't like. that's the nature of compromise. >> reporter: but even with christmas fast approaching, today mr. obama is pressing for more cooperation from republicans on another top priority. the s.t.a.r.t. arms reduction treaty with russia. >> it's time to get this done. it's time to show the same spirit of common purpose on our security that we showed this week on our economy. it's time to remember the old saying that politics stops at the water's edge. >> this treatsy imposes a legally binding limitation on u.s. missile defenses. >> reporter: senate debate on s.t.a.r.t. continues today. but there are yet more key votes this weekend. repealing "don't ask, don't tell," the ban on gays openly serving in the military. many believe there is new life for the measure, which just days ago was left for dead. >> for now i'm confident that we've got more than 60 votes. >> what do we want? >> reporter: less certain is the dream act, offering a pass to citizenship for children brought illegally to this country by their parents. provided they either serve in the military, or further their education. but that measure may not survive today's senate vote. the president was scheduled to leave today for his boyhood home of hawaii but has delayed his family vacation while the senate acts. >> more rapid than eagles, their courses they came and whistled and shouted and called them by name. now dasher -- >> reporter: friday the president read to a group of virginia second graders where one student shared what she had in common with the president's eldest daughter. >> your name's malia, too? give me a high five for that. >> reporter: and more on that repeal vote of "don't ask, don't tell" later today in the senate. supporters are banking all of their hopes on this vote today. if it does not pass with democratic majorities in the house and large democratic majorities in the senate, it's not likely to pass any time soon, months or perhaps even years once republicans have a majority in the house come january. amy? >> all right. mike viqueira, thanks so much. joining us for more on today's senate vote is cnbc chief washington correspondent john harwood. good morning. >> good morning, amy. >> let's begin with the big news story in washington, of course, "don't ask, don't tell." if it's repealed, obviously this will be an historic moment. but perhaps even more importantly, does this show that republicans and democrats can compromise and can actually work together? >> absolutely. and we saw that on the tax cut deal. i think the white house is hoping that that is a credibility-building event with the american people, and also with republicans. you had a difficult deal struck, and republicans held their members, and you got a significant chunk of democrats on "don't ask, don't tell," this is a case where you're only going to get a minority of republicans, a small minority, supporting this. but it does appear, as joe lieberman suggested in mike viqueira's piece, that they do have enough to get over the bar. and when you think about how difficult, amy, 2010 was for president obama in many respects, the month since the election has gone pretty well for him. >> right. and speaking to that, the tax deal, both republicans and president obama are claiming victory on that. if you tack a look at our latest poll, 59% of voters approve of the deal in an unusual moment in washington, is everyone a winner with this one? >> i do think that is the case. you saw in that "journal"/nbc poll that 60% said it was a fair compromise from both sides. and when you ask people did president obama cave in too much? did republican leaders cave in too much? you get some people saying yes but the vast majority say no. that is the definition of a successful political outcome. and republicans can go to their base and say, look, since the election we've now won an agreement by this white house to extend all of the bush tax rates for two years. from a democratic point of view they can say we've solidified the middle-class tax cuts and also added this payroll tax cut which is going to give every american a shot in their paycheck which they hope will provide some stimulus for the economy, which desperately needs it. >> so we're seeing all of this compromise. but let's look forward. do you think these experiences will have a positive effect on the gop presidential relationship, even when the gop takes over the house? >> yes, lit have a positive effect. but there are limits to that. they're going to fight. there's no doubt about it, in 2011 and 2012. and to some degree, the white house looks at this as giving them some space to draw lines around their priorities. having given on taxes, and the whole country has seen that the president cooperated with republican on taxes, you can expect to see in the president's state of the union address, and his budget, he's going to draw some lines around things like education and energy and say, look, they're important things that we have to do to move the country forward. yes, we can cut spending. we need to cut spending. but we're not going to cut in some of the areas that i consider vital. that's some of the places where you're going to see some fights yet. >> and yet republicans are threatening to pull their support for s.t.a.r.t. the president has made that a very important part of his presidency. the republicans say that the treaty needs more discussion time. what's really at work here? >> well, they don't want to give this president a victory. and there are some people who have substantive objections to the treaty, but when i talk to republican leaders and republican staff members, it does appear that they, in the end, the president is going to get this treaty. again, when you think about the product of this lame duck session, it's turning out to be remarkably productive. if the president can get that before christmas, and the senate leadership aides that i talk to expect that to happen tuesday or wednesday, the president can go to hawaii in a pretty good mood. >> all right. that's always a good thing. john, thank you. and now here's lester. >> all right, amy, thanks. now to holiday travel. this is one of the busiest weeks of the year. but will the weather interfere with your plans? nbc's kevin tibbles is at chicago's busy o'hare airport. kevin, good morning. >> lester, busy, indeed. i'm actually quite surprised how many people are here this early on this saturday morning, considering we've still got a week to go. but as you just mentioned this is going to be the busiest travel week of the year. and this year, like santa claus, everything is up, up, up, and we're talking about air travel up some 3%, car travel up 2.8%. spending is expected to be up 3% this year, as well. so, don't be surprised, lester, should you be going to the airport this year, that you find that you've got a lot of company. and not only here in the terminal building, but also on the planes themselves. the aaa is telling us that you can expect to have seatmates on all of your flights, because most of the flights this year are going to be traveling full. >> and they're going to be traveling full, and then you throw in a couple of major weather systems we've been watching. how might that affect, what is it 92 million people expected to fly? >> very, very scary. and i think a lot of the people are watching what is going on on the east coast, where you are right now, as to whether or not this storm that's slowly moving along is actually going to be hitting into the heavily populated northeast area of the united states, and i must also say to you, on a personal note, lester, i'm hoping one college kid is going to be able to make it out here to chicago from that very part of the world over this weekend. so let's hope the snowflakes stay a little bit offshore. >> let's hope so. i got mine home last week. hope he makes it. kevin, thanks very much. now, let's go to norah o'donnell at the news desk for more of today's top stories. >> good morning, everyone. we begin overseas where tensions are running high on the korean peninsula. bad weather may delay south korea's plans to hold an artillery exercise on the same island where north korean shelling killed four people last month. the north is threatening retaliation if the drill takes place. russia and china are urging south korea to cansicel the exercise. amanda knox is back in court and expected to hear a key decision in her appeals case. the italian court will announce whether they will allow a full, independent review of the forensic evidence that led to her conviction. knox and her italian ex-boyfriend are serving a prison sentence for their convictions in the sexual assault and killing of her british roommate. a wintry mess is causing chaos across the pond. you are now looking at some live pictures of buckingham palace. look at that. snowing there. it's much worse in western britain, northern ireland and scotland, where they are dealing with blizzards. hundreds of departing flights have been canceled out of london's airports. numerous motorists were also sfranded stranded on the icy roads. well, wikileaks founder julian assange is free on bail he is threat being another document dump next week, involving a major bank, widely thought to be bank of america. on friday the bank said they will join other financial institutions and not process payments to wikileaks. assange is fighting extradition to sweden, where he is wanted on alleged sexual crimes. now we've got several car recalls to tell you about this morning. general motors is recalling about 100,000 of the cadillac srx, the chevy equinox, and the gmc terrain. all 2011 models. the problem is the seat belts could fail in a crash. and honda is recalling 35,000 passport suvs to inspect the brakes again. and finally, an "a" for creativity. the university of hawaii marching band really stepped it up at a recent football game. the bond formed a giant stick figure on the field which, of course, in the end, check it out, kicked a human-powered football. mind you they did all this while playing their instruments. that's what you might call team spirit. pretty awesome, huh? love that. that's the news, now back to lester, amy and bill. >> i like that. raising the ball. >> very cool, norah. >> bill karins is here. we're going to look at it again. you'll get a kick out of that. >> now we got to wait for the whole thing. >> do the weather. all right. make sure the ball gets kicked. anyway, bill -- >> kind of the weather earlier, the east coast storm, swing and a miss. this is not a storm anyone has to worry about. going to be safely offshore and everyone from maine to boston all the way down to d.c. and newark, everyone will be able to get in their weekend activities without any issues. the problem spot s on the west coast. our friends out here in california are going to get drenched. there's a chance of rain five days in a row in los angeles. could pick up two to three inches of rain, which is rare for l.a. san francisco, the same for you. check out the rain fall amounts. areas in red there up to three to five inches in southern california. one of the bigger rain events we've had in a long time. we're going to get a lot of heavy know with the high elevations. the middle of the country okay but still kind of cold. minneapolis still only 13 for a high today and in chicago, all we can do for you is 21 degrees. good saturday morning. i'm chief meteorologist, jeff reyn nearry. look for periods of wind and rain. temperatures in the upper 50s. we will follow the possibility of thunderstorms as we head into sunday with breezy periods as well. keeping the chance of rain in the forecast, monday, tuesday, and wednesday, looks like we may get a little bit of a break as we head into the christmas holiday for next week. that's a look at your weekend forecast. >> all right, bill, thanks. nearly 100,000 u.s. troops are spending the holidays on the front lines in afghanistan. i traveled to the war zone last month and this morning i want to show you a very different side of the country. it's about a tv show there that's watched by millions of afghans. the series may have been inspired by one here at home. and as you'll see, the themes reflect what life is like over there. it may be the last place you'd expect art to imitate life. kabul, where insurgent attacks remain a constant threat. and yet that real-life drama, suicide bombers and all, has made for a hit tv series in afghanistan. the actors may not look familiar to american viers but the plot lines may remind you of, say -- >> i don't know his name. he's russian or something. >> not good enough. >> i think you think of "24." >> reporter: like it's american counterpart the show is about an elite police unit tracking down terrorists and kidnappers. and yes, here, too, the good guys always prevail. do you have an afghan jack bauer on the show? >> yes, we do. he's got a very big mustache. >> reporter: they don't ever use the word taliban on "eagle 4." just insurgents. who, by the way, on the show at least can be repentant. "eagle 4" is not just entertainment, it is a show with a message. one being sent not only to the people of afghanistan, but to the police. the u.s. government is helping fund the series, which according to producer trudy tearny, is meant to depict afghan police as trustworthy and above reproach. neither of which is how they're seen in real life. >> they're not greatly respected in this country. and so it's just to promote the police force, give them a good, honest, secure face, and to allow people to gain respect for them. >> reporter: in fact, "eagle 4" may be raising the bar uncomfortably high for some. >> one of the actors in the series has been the local policeman were saying just stop the series. you guys are too good. you're making us look really bad. >> reporter: sean lynch directs the shooting on the streets of kabul. look how challenging it is for you and i to do an interview. how do you shoot, the traffic and the crowds and the potholes? >> i know, it's like guerrilla filmmaking at its best. wherever you want to shoot from, right there, and you just shoot fast. >> reporter: but the australian-led production team has learned that not everything goes here. >> they love action here. you can't show a woman's arm, all of that. gun fighting and violence, those are a hit. >> reporter: but the real big interesting thing there is you have people out with guns and it's led to real misunderstandings. even though they're shooting a tv show. >> people might think it is something going on when they're filming a tv show. >> reporter: they don't do permits like you would here on the streets of new york and l.a. they just go out and shoot. but it's really, really popular. they watch "24," by the way, there, too. >> they have jack bauer. >> and kamron was his name. we're going to take a break. first, this is "today" on nbc. po this holiday season, chevy's giving you more. like a 100,000 mile/5-year powertrain warranty. that's 40,000 miles more than ford. and now we're giving you our best offer of the year. 0% apr financing... plus $1,500 holiday allowance... plus no monthly payments until spring. on most chevy models. but hurry, because your chance to get our best offer of the season ends soon. see your local chevy dealer now. leftover desserts, bodroo now. and hurry beforehe interns getere. thanks but i already have some yummy black fort cake black forest cake? ♪ so? 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[ female anc ] with 3licious flavors aroundoriech. plait. it is so good. come on... isn't it time an auto insurer gave it to you straight? that's why you should talk to state farm. but not yet. first, talk to any one of the 40 million drivers who already have state farm. 40 million. yeah, that's more than geico and progressive combined. by a lot. 40 million drivers. more savings. and discounts up to 40%. where else you gonna get discounts like that? call an agent at 1-800-state-farm or go online. this morning, a story tailor-made for the holidays. a man known for being frugal had a surprise in store for everyone in his grateful community. boyd hoop ert from our minneapolis affiliate kare-tv has more. >> reporter: there are people in big cities who would consider this harsh, unwelcoming country. people who wouldn't give a nickel to live in leroy, minnesota. who wouldn't pay the quarter they charge for coffee at the leroy senior citizen center. >> and if they take a cookie, that's another quarter. >> reporter: people who need to pull up a chair and listen. >> my god we never had this kind of money. >> reporter: as eileen evans tells the story of small-town values and a check. >> we didn't know what to do. $20,000. >> reporter: the envelope arrived from the estate of 94-year-old lawrence rupert. a retired farmer who had seen his share of sadness. having lost his first wife. then his second. having last his only child, a teenage son, to cancer. but long before he passed away last year, lawrence gained a rep