captions paid for by nbc-universal television welcome to today on this friday morning. i m ann curry, good morning, everybody. and good morning, ann. i m natalie morales in for matt this morning. we ve step outside to be right near the gorge russ rockefeller christmas tree as the countdown is in fever pitch, two days to go before christmas, this is as quiet as you re going to see it. this is the eve of the eve. all eyes are on the roo and we had pretty big downpours in the northeast overnight. in fact there was actually a storm in parts of georgia. it was a very powerful storm and so the question this morning is, what does mother nature have in store for us today and the rest of the holiday weekend? we re going to get the forecast coming up straight ahead. and in these economic times i think we all need a holiday feel-good story and we ve got one for you, anonymous angels picking up the layaway tabs for families in need all across the country. we ll have much more on
captions paid for by nbc-universal television from nbc news, this is today, with matt lauer and ann curry. live, from studio 1-a in rockefeller plaza. and welcome to today on this wednesday morning, i m ann curry. and i m carl quintanilla, matt has the morning off. and time is quickly running out for congress to extend the payroll tax cut. that s right, house speaker john boehner is demanding senators return to washington after a two-month extension was rejected. but he was saying it s the only way to avoid a tax hike january 1st. we re expecting a lot of americans. absolutely. also, a florida doctor who has come to the unlikely defense of accused murderer bjorn van der sloot, sending him packages, even pays his legal bills. this morning, van der sloot calls his guardian angel speaks about about their help. and a minnesota family s extreme christmas card tradition. take a look at this. from christmas bulbs to ginger bread men. they really outdid themselves thi
i love the shot coming up. it is great. no question about it. good morning, everyone. a whole lot to get to this morning. another new twist in the presidential race just 12 days before the first votes in iowa. could this be the new front-runner in iowa? ron paul, he s been dismissed by the gop establishment. but many believe he could win in iowa and shake up the race. we ll take a closer look. when you and diane were at the debates a couple weeks ago, he was so well received. huge cheers every time he spoke. you just said his name. and he got a huge cheer. also the latest on two cases we re tracking. new details on that 19-year-old missing college student in kansas. and that toddler, who vanished in maine. her father speaking out for the first time. nancy grace going to be weighing in. going to have a little fun, too. a look back at 2011. look at that. josh he s feeding sam doritos there. just one of the great moments we had. we have a megayear-ender that we c
we re guessing that guy might just have made his last delivery for them, today, wednesday, december 21st, 2011. captions paid for by nbc-universal television from nbc news, this is today, with matt lauer and ann curry. live, from studio 1-a in rockefeller plaza. and welcome to today on this wednesday morning, i m ann curry. and i m carl quintanilla, matt has the morning off. and time is quickly running out for congress to extend the payroll tax cut. that s right, house speaker john boehner is demanding senators return to washington after a two-month extension was rejected. but he was saying it s the only way to avoid a tax hike january 1st. we re expecting a lot of americans. absolutely. also, a florida doctor who has come to the unlikely defense of accused murderer bjorn van der sloot, sending him packages, even pays his legal bills. this morning, van der sloot calls his guardian angel speaks about about their help. and a minnesota family s extreme christma
president obama s vacation home. hello, everyone. happy christmas eve. robin s celebrating with her family. great to have elizabeth here again. what a week for the secret service. i m wondering if president clinton should be on alert. president bush got somebody on his front line. and now, president obama. this was not connected, they think, to the president at all. lots of holiday travel this weekend. it s going to be a busy weekend. the airports will be crowded. a lot of people paying higher prices at the airports and at the gas pump, as well. for the first time during a holiday season, gas is topping $3 a gallon. it usually goes down at christmastime. not just topping it. but topping it by a lot. also, we re going to have a wonderful christmas story about a marine who is serving in afghanistan and found a way to be present for the birth of his first child. there s his wife in labor. there he is. you see him on the computer screen. technology is unbelievable.