good morning. breaking news. jerry sandusky speaks out. >> these allegations are false. i didn't do those things. >> in a four-hour interview with the "new york times," the man accused of sexually abusing eight boys describes in his own words what happened and the real reason he said he retired from penn state. in or out, embattled republican presidential candidate is expected to make a major announcement today about the future of his campaign. will he call it quits in the wake of an alleged extra marital affair? and safe and sound, the son of singer mindy mccready is

taken into custody by u.s. marshals who found him hiding in a closet with his mother. we'll have the details. a closet with his mother. we'll have the details. today is december 3rd, 2011. captions paid for by nbc-universal television good morning, everyone. welcome to "today" on a saturday. i'm lester holt. >> and i'm tamron hall filling in for amy who is off today. jerry sandusky is breaking his silence and claiming the sexual allegations against him are false. >> sandusky told the "new york times" this week that he's not the monster people think he is. he also spoke of the alleged shower incident. we're going to bring you more on this issue and find out how his words might impact the case against him, coming pup. then republican hopeful herman cain said says he'll make a major announcement regarding

his campaign. will he withdraw from the race? we'll have more on that. then later on, he's a major icon behind shows like "the odd couple" and "a pretty woman" now legendary writer gary marshall is giving people a reason to believe again with a new romantic comedy. i sat down with him in our bur bank office. >> did you show him your fonz. i wanted to try on the leather jacket. did you know that consumers spend almost a day trying to figure out what to buy loved ones throughout the holiday seasons? i don't think a day is enough. but many are still paying off last year's holiday shopping bill. before you head out to the mall, with we'll tell you about some of the biggest mistakes, shoppers make and how you can avoid them. let's turn to the story jerry sandusky did with the "new york times." michael isakoff joins us from

state college, pennsylvania, with more. >> reporter: good morning, lester. in the interview, sandusky describes himself as a misunderstood father figure who gave gifts and money to children but never sexually abused them. he also described a crucial moment in 2002 when penn state's then at lethic director tim curley confronts him about an allegation that he was engaged in sexually improper behavior with a young boy in the penn state locker room. let's listen to what he has to say. >> in my mind, it wasn't inappropriate behavior. and i said, if you -- if you want, you could speak to the -- the young person that was involved. >> and then, what, did he take your keys or -- >> no. he didn't take my keys. i still had my keys. i still went in there and worked out. >> reporter: in another revealing moment, sandusky tries to explain his seemingly

hesitant response when nbc boss costas last month asked him if he was sexually attracted to young boys. here is how he explained it. >> i was sitting there saying, what in the world is this question, you know? what is -- you know, am i going to be -- if i say no, i'm not attracted to boys, that's not the truth because i'm attracted to young people, boys, girls -- >> but sexually. >> right. i enjoy -- that's what i was trying to say. i enjoy spending time with young people. i enjoy spending time with people. >> in addition to gifts, sandusky also says in the interview he even opened up bank accounts for children. he says it shows how much he cared about them. but prosecutors say that sandusky's financial favors fits

a apparently as an example of how he sought to gain their trust in order to sexually abuse them. lester. >> michael, thank you. joining us now with more insight is former prosecutor karen desoto. great you have to on. >> hi, lester. >> interesting that he knits some of the things, liking young people, giving them gifts, the same thing the prosecution will use to say he's grooming kids. is this an attempt to muddy the waters to say it's perfectly natural to want to do things with children? >> attempt to muddy the water, absolutely. i think this is an attempt to rally your base. the allegations are so -- lester, there's nine different children that have very specific details. so as you could tell from the interview that he cherry picks certain things and is very specific about what he's saying and what he's not saying. but it's really interesting what he does admit to, which is being in the showers after hours, he

admits to tints happening. at the end of the day, this is why you don't allow your clients to talk because these statements will be used against him because it corroborates that the incidents actually happened which is half of the battle. but at the same time, by coming halfway and saying, listen, i was in the shower and trying to come up with other explanations perhaps that works for the defense on some level. >> no. i don't think it does because when you cherry pick certain facts, then it really corroborates that these incidents actually took place. so they were kind of inappropriate or halfway appropriate? really? will happen lester, let's actually think about it. i prayed high school sports. i never had a coach in the shower with me ever. i can never think of an incident where a coach was actually in the shower. so he does admit to showering with children. that was inappropriate.

now you're going to say it was kind of inappropriate, but not really inappropriate. jurors don't look at facts in that way. they say well, if it's inappropriate on one level, it's going to be inappropriate on another. >> it's fascinating that he says they didn't take the keys away from him in the locker room. he was told not to go in there with children any more. is this going to blow back on the university that they didn't do enough to stop him? >> the blow back on the university is already done. you have two people in their administration that have been brought up on criminal charges. both curley and schultz and third degree misdemeanors under pennsylvania law for not reporting. so i think that the administration already has some very serious issues. >> and then he says joe paterno never talked to him about the allegations. i think a lot of people would find it hard to believe in general that the person you work for would not at least say, what happened here? give me your explanation. that there's no discussion?

>> well web got rid of him, though. in 1999, he got rid of him. which leads to credibility to the allegations coming out in 199837 joe paterno, what does he do? i don't know if my boss would ever talk to me about being a pedophile and showering with boys. i think at that point you would tell your superior, which he did to the athletic director and get rid of him, which is what he did. it blows back both ways. you say he got fired. >> 1999, so they must have all known about it. >> are we leading up to a plea deal here? given the statements that he's made that you say are incriminating, might this be lead to go a deal? >> no. obviously, prosecutors always want to make a deal because they want to save the taxpayers money and resolve the situation. but if somebody is that adamant, and i can tell you in the cases that i've done, i've never had a

defendant that would say okay, with pedophile ya, there's such a stigma attached to it, they will go through the whole way, through the whole trial because they don't want to admit to themselves that they did those things. nobody ever wants to admit to doing that type of disgusting thing to a trial. so we're going to go to a trial. >> difficult subject. >> it certainly is. >> we're going to talk more about this in the coming hour, so stick around. >> absolutely. republican presidential candidate herman cain is expected to announce today whether he's going to continue on with his campaign or withdraw from the race amid scandal and skull harassment allegations that have playinged the candidate for weeks now. peter alexander reports. >> reporter: late friday night, herman cain returned home to face his wife, gloria, for the first time since his campaign became public. >> i am reassessing because of all this media firestorm stuff. why? because my wife and family comes first.

>> karen's most recent comments come days after atlanta businesswoman ginger white came forward claiming sme and the former godfather pizza ceo had a 13-year affair. >> my wife did not know about it and that was the revelation and the surprise that my wife found out about it when she went public with it. >> the unemployed mother of two claims it was more than that. >> it wasn't a love affair. it was a sexual affair. >> reporter: this latest controversy has heavily damaged cain's standing in the polls. a new des moines register poll shows cain's support is now down to the 8% among likely republican caucus goers, down from 23% one month ago. but his campaign is still pressing forward, launching new ads in iowa, including this one that targets the media. >> it's time for the truth. >> the media won't tell you what one of the foremost lie detector experts in america said about

herman cain. >> reporter: peter alexander, nbc news. david gregory is the moderator of "meet the press." he joins us this morning. one person says cain is staying in. another insider says he's out. what do we know this morning? >> my information is, speaking to the campaign last night that he has not made up his mind, that he was meeting with his wife. and there were mixed signals, too, that they were planning for a december campaign. he's announcing a new campaign headquarters where he'll be making the announcement today. but a source that i talked to who is close to cain has indicated that all indications are that he's decided to withdraw from the race. his concern is all of the impact on his family, his wife, because of these allegations and he simply doesn't want to go through it as much any more, the source telling me he has a lot of work to do at home now. >> now, of course, he was on the campaign trail yesterday, i believe south carolina before heading home here. how much of an influence do we

know that his wife has in this decision? he's spoken of her, but he says she wouldn't ask him to leave the race. >> well, we know that the relationship, whatever it was with ginger white was a surprise to his wife. the fact that he was helping her financially was a surprised to his wife. as i said, the sources i've talked with say this is a real problem and something he has to deal with. even though they insist no decision has been made as of last night, allcations are that he was leaning towards getting out of the race today. we put the caveats in here because here is the reality. among people that i've talked to, there was some dissension in the campaign. there were people pushing for him to keep on. leaning towards getting out. >> but if he stays in the race, we saw the numbers there. he's down 8% in some of the polls and iowa here.

how does he contend at this point? >> i don't know that he does. i think the des moines political poll, that's a real problem. on "meet the press" sunday, we're going to have new polling, our own polling out of iowa and new hampshire that will give the latest indication of where the race is. i think the inability for him to raise money, the inability for him to get back on any type of message and the damage that this is doing to his family at some point is going to have to ask himself whether it's worth it and i think that moment has come. >> let's say he does drop out of the race. people liked his energy. could he go on and maybe be a running mate and give some endorsements that count? >> i don't think. i think when you have things like this, this personal baggage, i don't think somebody wants to take that on. this has been amplified that he has demonstrated that he had some real problems being

prepared to be president, foreign policy gaffes and things like that. i think if he decides to get out today, i don't think how much power he has left. >> so gingerich would be the person who benefits most if he's out? >> we're seeing that so far in the polling, yes. >> i know you have a great show planned sunday. thanks a lot. >> thanks. tamron, thanks. new job numbers out on friday are giving american hope. the unemployment rate has falling down from to 8.6% from 9%. a third of those jobs are in retail, many of them temporary for the holiday season. we get more now from nbc's tom costello. >> from the mall to main street to wall street. today's unemployment numbers seemed to catch the country by surprise. but analysts say you've got to go inside the numbers. >> part of the game comes from people dropping out of the workforce. but another part comes from more jobs and fewer unmroit employed.

>> that's critical. 315,000 fewer people were looking for jobs in november and, therefore, aren't counted as unemployed. the jobs that were created come from the private sector and there were more jobs created in september and october than first reported. government employment shrank by 20,000 jobs. the president today used the numbers to urge congress to extend the payroll tax cuts and renew unemployment benefits. >> now is not the time to slam the brakes on the recovery. right now, it's time to step on the gas. >> so who is hiring? the retail sector added 50,000 jobs, most in clothing and electronics stores. temporary hiring, much of it seasonal, was up big. leisure and hospitality businesses hired 22,000 people. 17,000 jobs came in health care and 2,000 factory jobs, most with the automakers. >> the jobs that we're creating

today are the low cost paying jobs. they're not the manufacturing sectors with good jobs and good benefits that allow one worker to parsupport a family. >> 16% unemployed in black america. in philadelphia, we caught up with mark morio, the president of the urban league. >> it's cost maybe decades of advances in home ownership to be lost. decades of advances in income to be lost with high unemployment. >> good morning to you. we start out west where several cities, including pasadena are in a state of emergency. hurricane force winds hit this week, about 150,000 people in southern california have no power. some no loerpg have homes. powerful santa ana winds, at

times more than 100 miles per hour, toppled about 200 trees, splitting houses in half as they fell. that storm is now moving east. six states are under a winter storm warning. al qaeda claims it was behind the kidnapping of american aid worker warren winstein in pack tan. a gunman took the 17-year-old from his home. they'll release him if the united states stops air strikes in pakistan and afghanistan. thooel they're demanding the release of the 1993 world trade center bombers. some good news this holiday season from american struggling homeowners. fannie mae, freddie mac are not going to foreclose on homes between december 19th and january 2nd according to statements on their websites. among big banks making the same pledge are bank of america, jp morgan chase and wells fargo. there are questions this morning about whether our smartphones are spying on us.

a security researcher raised an alarm when he said a piece of software hiding in millions of cell phones record virtually everything preem do with their cell phones. at least one senator is calling for an investigation and a class action lawsuit has been filed against the company behind that software. honda is recalling more than 300,000 vehicles worldwide for air bags that may inflate with too much pressure in a crash. the recall affecting the accord, pilot, odyssey and other vehicle models manufactured in 2001 and 2002. honda says there have been two deaths linked to those problems. finally this morning, a north dakota zoo is showing off its newest addition. mudjacks are may have been to china, northern russia, mongolia and tibet. at the same time, everyone,

awww. that's news for now. back to lester, tamron and chris. >> is it wrong that i want a mutjack for christmas? i want one. >> he's perfecting the deer in the headlights look. >> oh, look at me. i'm so cute look. >> that's the question. >> 25 pounds. pocket sized. >> you're good to go. chris warren has our first check of the forecast. good to see you. >> good to see both of you. the east coast is going to be relatively quiet. it's right in the middle of the country where we're going to see most of the action. we're going to have rain or snow. that's what we're seeing on radar. we have the threat for heavy rain throughout parts of east texas into arkansas and missouri. it's going to be the plains, particularly the northern plains where we're going to see some of the heaviest snow falling there from parts of new mexico all the way up and aligned to the upper peninsula of michigan is where we have the best chance for seeing some of that snow in wisconsin. could even see a little bit

>> good morning. after a chilly start to the day, we are warming up. 51 for the high in baltimore. fair amount of sunshine in the northeast, as well. that's your weather. now here is tamron. >> chris, thank you. with just three weeks to go before christmas, the post office has been pretty busy sorting out the laerts addressed to santa claus at the north poll. ann thompson now is among people pitching in and making a difference to make people's wishes come true. >> reporter: at six feet tall, pete fontana is not your average elf. >> his workshop is hiding away

in new york city's post office, the headquarters. >> i'm here to help santa open that mail and make sure as many of these families and children get what they need for the holidays. >> these are some of the 2 million letters the new york post office expects to receive this year. they are sorted by zip code and look who sits here. fontana's team of elfs sit right here and then they go through the letters and choose. some were found so heartbreaking, they had to ask. >> my mom works very hard, but we never have enough money to buy gifts. >> so sweet. i want a barbie designable hair extensions and doll. merry christmas. i love you. barbie designable hair extension and doll. >> this is a way to give back and share some of the blessings, you know? >> reporter: the toys are wrapped and brought back to the post office so santa can deliver

them on christmas eve. robert lider has done this for seven years. >> every child should have that magic at this time of year. >> across the country, 75 post offices are helping santa, six times as many as last year, says pete. >> is santa a good boss? >> santa is the greatest boss. he's the funniest person and the most loving person of all. >> he is why teresa is lending a hand this year. >> i can be an elf, santa's helper. >> reporter: and all the elves giving children young and old a reason to believe. ann thompson, nbc news, new york. still to come, kim kardashian files for divorce from kris humphries after 72 days of majorriage, but now he' fighting back. ti

at bank of america, we're lending and investing in the people and communities who call baltimore home. from funding to help a local business

expand their operations... to financing for an organization which provides affordable housing for artists... and partnering with a local hospital to help expand patient care. because the more we do in baltimore, the more we help make opportunity possible. still to come on "today" the

suspect of a missing woman from aruba speaks out. plus, the latest on country krooner mindy mckrooi korcready bilths custody battle. >> good morning, everyone. i'm rob roblin. the time is 7:25. here's a look at some of our top stories this morning.

a baltimore city firefighter spent the night battling a three-alarm apartment fire in north baltimore. fire crews were called to the 6300 block of red cedar place just before 11:00 last night. we are told once there they were met with heavy flames, officials say nearly 100 people were relocated. at this time no word on injuries or what started that fire. >> the state fire marshall and police are investigating a deadly house fire. flames broke out friday afternoon along the 200 block of queen ann drive in stevensville. police say a 47-year-old man was found inside the home. no word on what started the fire. >> detectives hope these photos will help connect the two suspects connected to a murder at a carry out. freddie jones jr. was murdered during a robbery at yao brothers

carry out on october 31. the alleged shooter, mar kefment ll jones was turned over to police by his parents. for a look at the two remaining suspects go to www.wbaltv.com. >> howard county police need your help to find this man, the suspect in a bank robbery in fulton. detectives tell us he robbed the suntrust bank on maple lane boulevard thursday afternoon. police say the man walked in and demanded cash from the teller. then he took a deposit envelope from a customer inside. anyone with information is called to call 410-31-31-stop. trthr is a reward if an arrest

>> good morning. we are definitely off it a chilly start. 41 at the inner harbor. 38 in gaitherburg. the winds are calm. the temperatures sound cold but as long as you have a jacket, it doesn't feel too bad. winds stay calm throughout the day. high pressure in control keeping the sunshine out. 51 for baltimore and 52 for the high temperature today in ocean city. this high pressure a little in control. we'll see a few more clouds. we warm up to 55. 56 on monday. 52 on tuesday. monday night into tuesday, rainy weather into mid-week. temperatures drop down by the end of the week. >> thanks, ava.

thank you for being with us. we'll be back in 25 minutes with another update. in my mind, it wasn't inappropriate behavior. and i said, if you -- if you want, you could speak to the person, the young person that was involved. >> you're listening to former penn state coach jerry sandusky. in the introduce, sandusky says former penn state coach joe paterno never spoke to him about any suspected misconduct and that the charity he founded never suspected him of problems with children until 2008.

meantime, welcome back to "today" on a saturday morning, december 3rd, 2011. i'm lester holt along thyme side tamron hall. still to come, country singer mindy mccready's son is back in protective custody this morning. >> very sad. police found mccready .her son, zander, hiding in her arkansas home. police sea he's safe. we'll talk to mccready's parents on the events that took place this week. then herman cain's major announcement. he returned home to face his wooich, gloria, for the first time since his most recent scandal became public. ginger white claimed she and the former godfather's pizza ceo had an affair. and on another note, it was a marriage that was seen around the world and now the divorce is making headlines. the marriage between kim

kardashian and krim kris humphries lasted just 72 days. now kris humphries filed for an annulment. first, the loan suspect in the disappearance of an american woman who vanished on a vacation in aruba is speaking out for the first time. gary giordano spoke out 24 hours after he left an aruban jail. >> for the first time on television, here is gary giordano's account of his last moments with robyn gardner. >> we drifted out. then i noticed that we were getting in deeper water, so i reached out to grab her leg, pulled her leg to signal going in. as i turned, my shoes had become extremely heavy because we were being pushed out by the wind and some current. now i was struggling. that's the last time i saw her. that's the last image i have of her. >> you at one point told police that the water was rough.

it was -- and i told them that at a certain point i was struggling to get back. so you can determine what rough is. i was strugingel at one point saying, there is a problem here. >> on the security shape showing you after robin disappeared, at a time when you say you're lookinger for help, you're banging on the door there, you don't look frantic. you don't look concerned. were you? >> yes, very much so. >> because it seems more sort of casual that you're banging on the wall there. >> it's hard to pick up on a tape that i was exhausted, scared and shocked that there was nobody there. there was nobody to say, come help me. >> so that's you looking exhausted, scared and shocked. >> yeah. you don't know me. >> he spoke with police several

times. giordano says they cleared him to leave the country and he went to the aruba airport. >> and at some point, you had a conversation with a ticket agent who says, according to police, where is the woman you're traveling with? because they're looking at the trip record and you say, she's taking a later flight when, in fact, you knew she was missing. did that conversation happening? >> i don't recall -- i remembe her saying -- apparently both naimd names came up and i do remember her asking if robin was there. i don't remember the quote, but i certainly didn't want to get into a detailed conversation. i think the more important fact there is that the police reported that i was fleeing the country, i changed flights. i didn't change flights. they told me that the flight that i was scheduled on was canceled. when she mentioned robin, all i know is i communicated to her that she was not coming with me. >> you don't remember saying she'll take a later flight? >> i don't remember the quote, yeah. >> what do you want people to

know about you? >> i want people to know i had nothing to do with anything to harm her or anybody in my life. >> because you know you're being widely portrayed as someone who got away with murder. >> i am well aware of that. >> and i think it's important to reiterate what you said and i heard from the detectives. the only reason why you're here is because of the insurance. so if you take out insurance and something happens to your loved ones, you're a murderer for the rest of the world. i think that's ridiculous. and the holloway thing, truly weighed heavily on that island. >> and with that, the interview was over. investigations in two different countries continue. it's frustrating for the family of robyn gardner. after all this time, they say, the answer, like the woman they have been looking for since that first day, still can't be found. >> joining us now with some

insight is casey jordan, true tv analyst and criminology gist. let's start the conversation. you just watched that interview. body language, what he says, the story, what struck you? >> he's very angry and defiant and trying to convince an audience when, in fact, he owes us nothing. he hasn't been charged with anything. yes, there's a lot of interest in this case, but why does he feel so compelled to be angry and clear his name when, in fact, nobody is accusing him of anything. he doesn't deliver his information in a calm, collected way. it is trying so hard to validate his story. >> they let him go because they don't have enough evidence. they ask your demeanor as you're knocking on the door. you saw some other things in that that the police probably saw, too, about his swimsuit that made you wonder. >> the number one thing is, nobody snorkels in their tennis shoes.

i'm an aindividual snorkeler and scuba diver pup need flippers. it doesn't make sense. there's a lot of question as to did he bring the snorkel equipment with him or rent it? but the one thing i can tell you is you don't try to swim with tennis shoes on. his swimsuit is not against his leg like they're wet. >> the police saw the same stuff. they don't have evidence of a murder, but they see things like nap. >> absolutely. and he keeps saying if i hadn't taking taken any insurance, police wouldn't think this. i don't think that's true at all. most people don't buy that travel policy on a person they barely know. >> he says it was cancellation insurance and the death penalty came along with it. >> not 1.5. and i understand he sent hard

copies and faxed it by the 3rd of july. when the person that you're insuring dies within three days of you getting the insurance, that's suspicious. >> that interview, you have to assume they're carefully watching it to see if the story matches up with what he told them, right? >> yeah. and he's not really telling any details about his story. he keeps saying, i've told it 50 or 60 times. i shouldn't have to tell it to the general public. he side steps all the direct questions because he doesn't want them to have any evidence. but the truth is, unless they come one a body or hard, direct evidence, blood evidence, something from his computer, something written down that shows a murder plot, the truth is, they are going to be very hard pressed to extra diet that back. >> but if they get that, it is possible to brink bring him back? >> absolutely. and jose baez, his attorney, says he will cooperate. if he fights it, he'll be in detentide

dedetention for years. a lot of places will be chilly today, but much of the east coast is not looking too bad. pretty festive here in new york. we're looking at some of the temperatures that we're expecting. afternoon temperatures will be into the 20s in some spots. so you get up into the northern plains, it is going to be very cold. the mild weather happening in the southeast where we're going to find some sunshine. even up into the northeast things are looking pretty good with temperatures into the mid to upper 40s and lower 50s. but it's right in the middle of the country, you see all of that rain. we could have some floot flooding issues from arkansas to missouri. snow on the back side of that front where we'll see those temperatures dive. could see several inches of snow. maybe up to about 8 inches in the highest acould you tell accumulations for parts of >> good morning. definitely a chilly start to the day. much of the area started off below the freezing mark. into the afternoon, warming up to where we should be. 51 for the high. sunshine across the state.

and remember, you can always get your weather on the weather channel on cable or online at weather.com. coming up, the son of country singer mindy mccready is found hiding in a closet with his mom in arkansas. what's next for mccready? find out next when we talk to her parents. first, tis the season of giving and selling. we'll find out if there are more holiday jobs for you out there. oh, not again. [ gps ] dave, do you know where your wife went last week? she went to jared to look at a beautiful diamond necklace. i'm not going to the cleaners anymore, am i? [ gps ] no dave, you're not. [ tires screech ] right turn. [ engine revs ]

[ male announcer ] jared the galleria of jewelry has five times the selection of ordinary jewelry stores, so you'll find the perfect gift every time. how did you know? who knows you like i do? [ horn honks ] [ male announcer ] that's why he went to jared, the galleria of jewelry. [ male announcer ] that's why he went to jared, twizzlers. the twist you can't resist. with thermacare heatwraps. thermacare works differently. it's the only wrap with patented heat cells that penetrate deep to relax, soothe, and unlock tight muscles for up to 16 hours of relief. that's 8 hours while you wear it, plus an additional 8 hours of relief after you take it off. can your patch, wrap, cream or rub say that? so if you've got pain... get up to 16 hours of pain relief with thermacare.

i'm more active, i eat right, of pain relief as i get older, i'm making changes to support my metabolism. and i switched to one a day women's active metabolism, a complete women's multivitamin, plus more for metabolism support. [ female announcer ] look for great savings on all one a day products in this sunday's newspaper. how about making it brighter. more colorful. ♪ and putting all our helpers to work? so we can build on our favorite traditions by adding a few new ones. we've all got garlands and budgets to stretch. and this year, we can keep them both evergreen. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. can you smell those savings? fresh cut christmas trees are arriving weekly. new job numbers out on friday are giving some americans a reason to believe. a third of those new jobs were add in retail, although some were temporary.

this could be good news for those desperately seeking a job. sharon epperson is joining us now. >> good to be here. >> let's talk about this. i understand this is the best time for people to try to get out and put in an application somewhere. >> a new survey came out this week showing that four out of 100 applicants in the retail sector is getting a job. so there is a hiring increase that we've seen. in fact, it's the best that we've seen since the fall of 2008, particularly for the retail sector. >> and when we're looking at that, where are the jobs, retail would be obvious. but restaurants, as well, because you've got more folks going out and eating. >> and it's the second largest industry in america. and a lot of folks want to work in restaurants during this season. of course, this is the time when a lot of people are making those reservations. in the restaurant industry, traditionally, they've had a difficult time retaining those workers. now as the economy is specking up, their sales are improving and they're expecting an

increase into 2012. job creation is happening in small businesses, in medium sized businesses. people with 500 or fewer employees. that's where the real growth is occurring right now. >> and, sharon, we're seeing people land jobs and shipping services in some of those call centers. >> virtual call centers, that's a great opportunity for people who want to stay at home and be employed. arise virtual solutions allows you to be an independent contractor. choose the company you want to work for based on the type of industry, based upon the hours you want to work. you're making like $10 or $14 an hour working from home. >> and this is good news in some respects, but on the other side, a lot of this is temporary. you have to raids your family and pay your bills, so you would hope this would turn into a permanent gig for someone. >> and that's what you would hope. yes, we're seeing an improvement overall in the numbers, but the number of people overall who have left the workforce, that is

at levels that we don't want to see. so what people need to understand is this is an opportunity. it's not probably the perfect job for you, perhaps, but it could become a full-time job developly and a couple of things that you could do to make sure you get hired is you want to make sure that they know first of all that you want that job. >> speak up. >> yeah. >> act like it's a job interview. they've hired you based on an application. now you're going to prove yourself and do every type of job. you may be hired for one position. try to do as many as you can and be flexible about the hours you can work, become indispensable and maybe you'll stay on. if you're not hired full time this time, the next seasonal hire may be you. so the next holiday season, summer job, they'll turn to you first. >> great insight and advice. open the door and kick it in if you can. thanks, sharon. always nice to see pup. up next, kris humphries wants his 72-day marriage to kim kardashian annulled. ♪ have a better day

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>> take you to be my wedded wife. >> fans around the world saw it on tv, read about it for months on end in the tabloids and heard its everidy tail on countless hours of the kardashian reality show. >> we're getting married this summer. >> what? >> but now, kris humphries, better known as kim kardashian's soon to be ex wants a judge to say their marriage never happened by declaring it a fraud. >> he's really gearing up for what could be a fight. >> the basketball star filed for an annulment on thursday, almost exactly a month after his wife filed for divorce. if he can't get the annulment, humphries says he wants a legal separation. >> i think it's gotten to the point where kris humphries is angry and this is his way of saying, you know what? i'm not going to go away quietly. >> in escalating the fight,

humphreys could do even more damage to the kardashian brand. >> kris humphries has attacked the most vulnerable part of the kardashian and that's their image. >> but nullifying the marriage, he could void their pre-nump, and satisfy his religious conscious. but experience say the chance of a judge granting the annulment is not likely. >> he has to go to a very high standard called clear and convincing evidence to show a judge that he entered into this marriage under false pretenses. >> whatever his motives, finances, religion, a truly broken heart, one thing is clear. humphries is giving kardashian a dose of his reality. for "today" nbc news, los angeles. just ahead, we'll switch gears and spend some time with the man behind the fonz and julie martin. first, this is "today" on nbc.

still to come on "today," jerry sandusky speaks out more on that interview he gave to the "new york times" and what it could mean for the case against him. plus, herman cain, will he stay in the presidential race? that coming up. but first, these messages. make. booking a flight by itself is an uh-oh. see if we can "stitch" together a better deal. that's a hint, antoine. ooh! see what anandra did? booking your flight and hotel at the same time gets you prices hotels and airlines won't let expedia show separately. book it. major wow factor! where you book matters. expedia.

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[ male announcer ] the new capital one cash rewards card. the card for people who want 50% more cash. what's in your wallet? sorry i'll clean this up. shouldn't have made it rain. sorry i'll clean this up. ♪ stock up and save big at the petsmart holiday kickoff sale. save up to 30% on select kong® products and save $6 on select iams® cat food. friday through sunday only. at petsmart®. >> good morning. i'm rob roblin. the time is 7:55. here's a look at some of our top stories this morning. the end of a 14-year tradition

for ravens fans as the ravens training camp and mcdaniel college in westminster will not return next year. the team made the announcement yesterday they will move the camp to the team's facility in owings mills. the team spokesperson said the new location is best for the team. they spent about $2 million in westminster every summer. >> baltimore city firefighters spent the night battling a three-alarm apartment fire in north baltimore. crews were called to the 6300 block of cedar place before 11:00 last night. we are toll once there they were met with heavy flames shooting from a four-story building. residents say the fire caught them offguard. >> somebody yelled, i took a chance and opened the door, and i heard the alarm. i was laying in bed, i grabbed my pants, did not put my shirt on, but i did put shoes on and

rushed out. >> officials say nearly 100 people were relocated at this time no word of injuries or what started the fire. >> the state fire marshall and police are investigating a deadly house fire on the eastern shore. flames broke out friday afternoon along the 200 block of queen ann clark drive in stevensville. a 47-year-old man was found inside the home. he was pronounced dead at the scene. no word on what caused the fire. baltimore city forces have join forces to solve a string of molotov cocktail attacks. they are offering a 5,000 reward to anyone who can help them find whoever is responsible for 13 separate attacks in september. most happened throughout northwest baltimore in liberty heights avenue and wabash avenue. 1-888-atf-fire if you have information.

>> good morning. off to a pleasant start despite the temperature. many areas started off below the freezing mark. we have sunshine across the state. looks like a few clouds in the region across garrett county. the forecast today 51 for the high in baltimore. 52 the high temperature in ocean city today. the seven-day forecast, cooler weather by the end of the week, rainy weather tuesday and

wednesday. back to you rob. >> thank you for being with us. back in 25 minutes with another update. welcome back to "today." coming up in this hour, jerry sandusky is breaking his silence again denying the sexual allegations he's facing. >> the former pernl state assistant coach says he's not the monster people think he is. we're going to bring you more on this interview in just a moment and find out what this could mean for his defense. and the latest on mindy mccready's bitter custody battle. what happens next? her mother, the child's grandmother and legal guardian will join us live in just a few moments. and then more on the missing

mother of three. michelle parker, who vanished after an appearance on "the people's court," authorities have widened the search area and her boyfriend is now considered a suspect in her disappearance. and what's your holiday shopping strategy? in and out? >> mostly online. i can't really do the whole store thing. >> the five biggest mistakes shoppers make at the mall. >> we'll find out. a lot to get to this hour. let's start off with the penn state sexual abuse scandal. just hours ago, the "new york times" released an interview they did with jerry sandusky. here with details is nbc news national investigative correspondent michael isakoff. what's the latest? >> good morning, lester. in the interview, san tusk didky describes himself as a misunderstood father figure who gave gifts and monies to children but never sexually abuses them. he also described a crucial

moment in 2002 when tim curley first confronts him about an allegation he was engaged in improper sexual behavior with a young boy in the penn state locker room. let's listen to what he had to say. >> he was coming to me with a concern. he was coming to me with a concern because, you know, i guess in his words, somebody had talked to him about inappropriate behavior in the shower. >> and you told him we were -- >> yeah partnership told him that i -- you know, it didn't happen, there wasn't -- in my mind, there wasn't inappropriate behavior. he didn't want me to bring kids in there and work them out any more. i don't understand could i just work them out?

he said no. >> in another revealing moment, sandusky cries to explain his seemingly hesitant response when he was asked last month by nbc's bos bob costas if he was sexually interested in young boys. here is what he said. >> i was sitting there saying, what in the world is this question? what is -- you know, am i going to be -- if i say no, i'm not attracted to boys, that's not the truth because i'm attracted to young people, boys, girls. >> but sexually because you're -- >> right, i enjoy -- that's what i was trying to say, i enjoy spendeling time with young people. i enjoy spending time with people. >> in addition to gifts, sandusky says he opened up bank

accounts for children. he says it shows how much he cared about them. but prosecutors say sandusky's favors fits a pattern of him trying to develop trust with young kids he later tried to sexually abuse. michael isakoff, thank you. joining us now with more insight is karen. when bob costas asked him the question are you attracted to boys, i thought i say answer was quite shocking. his explanation of that was also shocking. >> this is why you don't let your clients talk. you could hear the attorneys screaming in the background. now if he's going to testify at trial, that would be a great exchange there. but you know that he said something wrong when you hear the attorney screaming. >> help me here. could this possibly be part of a strategy to have him talk? is there something his attorney is thinking he can get out of making these statements? >> what possible strategy other than pr or marketing orallying

your base would be possibly have with your statements or any statement that can be used in court. there's no strategy unless you're trying to publicize him, there really is no sense and that's why attorneys, that's why we tell you to keep your mouth shut, whether you're a prosecutor or you a defendant because if there's a trial coming, you want it to be on point at that time. >> turn this around. assuming he's done damage here, how do you repair the damage? what possible confidence can they mound in this case? >> what possible defense? that's dirveth when you have nine children very specific about the details. you have an uphill battle with the defense. what are you going to say? where there's smoke, there's fire. if you hear somebody is acting inappropriate by taking showers

by being in there with 12-year-olds, then you're going to think that they're inappropriate with everything that they do. there's not too many defenses other than you're lying and that's difficult when you have nine people. >> and the prosecutor saying this is typical, will this play to that? >> in the indictment, it reads every few years there was another victim. so this plays right into the prosecutor's hands and it also corroborates, he actually corroborates that these incidents took place. he's admitting to being in the shower. there's no coach that i know of, that i'm aware of that ever took a shower with anyone in college, in high school, and these are even children that are younger. >> karen, thanks for your insight. appreciate it. >> for more on the morning's top news stories, we turn now to craig melvin. >> good morning to you. there's finally a flicker of hope for america's unemployed.

the labor department said friday the country added 120,000 jobs last month. the unemployment rate fell to 8.6%. some of the change can be attributed to retailers doing seasonal hiring. more than 300,000 people also stopped looking for work. but analysts say that five months of job growth could be signaling a positive trend. it's decision day for republican presidential hopeful herman contain. a big announcement regarding the future of his campaign is expected later today. peter alexandria has the latest on this story. >> reporter: greg, good morning. herman cain is expected to make that major announcement this afternoon at what is scheduled to be the grand opening of his headquarters. in an unpredictable campaign, nothing is final until he says so. while aides deny that he has made up his mind, a source close to the campaign says herman cain wants to protect his family from more fallout from the allegations he's facing. >> late friday night, herman

cain returned home to face his wife, gloria, for the first time since his latest scandal became public. >> i am reassessing because of all of this media firestorm stuff. why? because my wife and family come first. >> cain's most recent comments comes days after atlanta businesswoman ginger white came forward claiming she and she former godfather pizza ceo had a 13-year affair. >> my wife did not know about it and that was the revelation and the surprise that my wife found out about it when she went public with it. >> while cain has described his relationship with white as a long time friendship, the unemployed single mother of two claims it was more than that. >> it wasn't a love affair. it was a sexual affair. >> this latest controversy has heavily damaged cain's standing in the polls. cain's support is now down to 8% among likely republican caucus goers, down from 23% one month ago. but his campaign is still

pressing forward. launching new ads in iowa, including this one, that target tess media. >> it's time for the truth. the media won't tell you what one of the foremost lie detector tests in america says about herman cain. >> he's already canceled a high profile media event sunday nice in new york. former democratic presidential candidate george mcgovern is in the hospital in guarded condition this morning. mcgovern, 89, fell and hit his head on friday. he was getting ready for a live television interview on presidential contenders. and it seemed like facebook likes new york. the social network plans to open an engineering center in the big apple next year. the mayor michael bloomberg and ceo made that announcement friday. that's it for now. back to craig and tamron.

>> chris warren is out on the plaza with a check off your saturday forecast. good to see you, chris. >> it's good to see both of you. before we get to the forecast, there is a "today" exclusive we have from mike and stephanie, some new information for your families. >> yep. we're going to have a boy and a girl coming in march. >> already here, though, we have some cold weather and we have the threat for some winter storms throughout a portion of the plains here. we're going to have heavy rain wherever you look. that's a winter weather advisory, winter storm warning in blue. could see several inches of snow in some area. here sa look at that system. rain to the south from texas up to chicago right now and to the north of that, that's where we have the cold air that will be moving in with highs only in the 20s and 30s from colorado to montana. out ahead of it again, rain could bring flooding conditions.

in the wand want the mild weather, head to the south and southeast. the northeast, not too bad once we get into the afternoon. new york down to washington, d.c. will be in the mid 40s to lower 50s. that's your weather. now here is tamron. up next, the latest on mindy mccready and her bitter custody dispute. mindy's mom will join us in just a few moments. as i get older, i'm making changes to support my metabolism.

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she was once a country music darling, but now mindy mccready has hit a sour note. late last night, authorities took her son into custody. her mother and stepfather are live with us this morning. but first, the details with nbc's michelle franzen. >> safe and sound, nbc news has learned zander mccready, the 5-year-old son of country music singer mindy mccready was taken into custody last night in arkansas in a remote community hours outside of little rock. the boy was apparently found at home hiding in the closet with his mom. mccready fled with her son following a visitation this past week and defied a florida court order to return zander to her mother and legal guardian, gayle hinch. >> i'm obviously excited that zander is coming home, anxious to get him back in school and hug his little neck, but very, very sad for mindy.

>> earlier on friday, she pleaded for zander's safe return and expressed love for her daughter, who is 7-months pregnant with twin peps. >> i would tell her that i love her. i'm a mom. i can't stop loving my daughter. >> reporter: mccready told the associated press she was protecting zander from her abusive mother. allegations hinge denies. >> we actually would love to see him with his mother. >> reporter: over the years, mccready's problems have interfered with custody, drugs, suicide attempts and jail time after an altercation with her mother. last year, mccready was making a comeback after a battle from drug addiction. >> it wag really scary. >> she appeared on celebrity rehab, singing her new song, written, she told access hollywood for zander while she was in jail. >> i might be in the lowest point, you know, from what

you're looking at, but i am still here and don't count me out. >> but mccready's troubles are far from over. setting off an out of stai state search could ruin her chances of getting custody anytime soon. >> the court's view what mindy mccready did as kidnapping because she did not go through a proper system. she took the child without permission. >> michelle franzen, nbc news, new york. joining us now from florida is gayle lynch and her step father, michael lynch. good morning to you both. thank you for joining us. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> gayle, i'll start off with you. zander should be home very soon, safe in your arms. this has been a long ordeal for both you and michael. how do you feel at this point? >> we have mixed feelings. we're extremely emotional. we're emotional because there is

so much conflict concerning mindy. we love her so much and just hated to hear, you know, that they were found in a closet. trying to imagine what zander must have been thinking or why he thought he was in a closet. and i don't know exactly, you know, the family that he's with right now, but we're just excited to see him on monday. >> and michael, to gayle's point, you think about that in your mind and visualize zander hiding in that closet, compare that to those smiling beautiful pictures of this little boy your heart has to be receive knowing the details of what happened last night. >> it's pretty trauma sizing for us to know what he's going through, to have him taken from his mother, not knowing probably what's going on. our heart is with him, our prayers are with him that his mind-set would be stable and our prayers are with mindy, also. gayle, you've had custody of

zander since 2007. i hearered in that piece, you said i'm a mother, i love my daughter and i would like to see her regain custody of zander, but she has a long road ahead of her in wake of what happened here, in wake of her taking her child 37. >> thaesz true. i haven't ever been given custody of zander. the state has custody of zander. we're just guardians over zander. to be honest, i don't think that's part of the problem. i don't think mindy has ever processed the fact that we don't have any rights. we can't make decisions. we're sad because we don't know what the outcome of this is. we know there's been a lenient judge that has given her so much grace sxwb you know, the fact that she's pregnant, we just would plead for mercy. >> did you ever imagine that she would take zander? she's made the allegation that she was worried about his safety with you. she's made the allegation that he was abused.

i want you to respond to that. again, did you ever imagine that she would try to take him? >> i'll respond to the allegation. there was absolutely never any abuse in this home. and we're sad that she made that allegation. she's been here and she's been with him and there's many tapes and videos and there's been a lot of scrutiny as far as dcf workers are here continually. they come by. this case is an open case. he's been going to school since he was 3. my mother has lived with us. there's just a lot. we're sure there's no beauty here. i would have to say database what was the other question? i'm sorry. >> i was just asking about her state of mind. but i want to follow up on something. you said you believe in her. she says don't count her out. she even sang auto song to that effect to zander. what do you think she needs to know about your feelings for her in this situation if she's watching right now?

>> you know, the same thing that we've said to mindy over and over and in this case. if she would just work a plan, then she could get her child back and we've invited her to come here. i'd work the plan with her, whatever it is she needs to do. we were in hopes that she could get her child back. we just wanted to be grandparents. >> gayle and michael, we certainly wish you the best and, obviously, everyone is happy that zander is safe and he'll be back with you, as you pointed out, by monday. thank you both for joining us. we're back, but first, this is "today" on nbc. n

still to come on "today" the king of romantic comedies is having a film surrounding new

year's eve. >> looking forward to that. plus, the rush is on, but is your holiday shopping strategy costing you time and is it costing you money? big questions, but we have the answers after these messages. ♪ have a better day [ male announcer ] only subway has a deal this flat-out delicious -- the $3 flatbread breakfast combo. a toasty flatbread breakfast sandwich and a 16-ounce cup of seattle's best coffee or 21-ounce fountain drink. all for only $3. this was the gulf's best tourism season in years. or 21-ounce fountain drink. all because so many people wanted to visit us...

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love your pandora bracelet. oh, thanks. he went to jared. the ballet slippers? i used to dance. suitcase? anniversary trip. hearts? it's called the red hot love bead... ♪ oh. ...i've said too much. [ female announcer ] celebrate life's unforgettable moments with a fabulous selection of pandora charms and bracelets at jared. telling her life's story with just a turn of the wrist. soccer ball? soccer mom. [ female announcer ] that's why he went to jared, the galleria of jewelry. >> good morning. i'm rob roblin. the time is 8:25. here is a look at our top

stories this morning. firefighters battled a three-alarm apartment fire in baltimore. fire crews were called to red cedar place before 11:00 last night. we are told once they were there they were met with heavy flames shooting from the building. residents say they were caught off guard by the blaze. >> i yelled, who is there? i took a chance and opened it. then i heard the alarm. i grabbed my pants, didn't put shirs and shoes on. >> 100 people were relocated. no word on what caused the fire. flames broke out on stevensville

drive. a 47-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene. no word on what started the blaze. >> detectives hope these photos will help them catch two suspects seen at a murder. freddie jones was caught and killed while leaving yao brothers carry out on october 31 on the 2900 block of greenmont avenue. the alleged shooter, marquel jones, was turned over to police by his parents. for a closer look at the remaining suspects,

>> during the night temperatures dropped down to freezing. now we have sunshine and mostly clear skies. a few clouds making their way into oakland. this is going to be the pattern as we head out through the day. let's look at the forecast. we have highs up to 51 for baltimore today. 49 in the eastern shore. 52 in ocean city. 40's out toward the western mountains. across the area we have sunshine and light winds throughout the north. high of 55. 56 on monday. monday comes our next storm system. rain systems arrive. temperatures up to 62 tuesday. from there they plummet. we're expecting 40's into the end of next week. back to you, rob. >> thanks, ava. thank you for being with us.

"11 news saturday morning" starts in 25 minutes. we are back this saturday morning, december 3rd, 2011. we have an exciting holiday crowd joining us this morning on the plaza. our thanks to all these wonderful people for coming out and spending a portion of their morning with us outside on the plaza. i'm tamron hall filling in for amy robach. >> a nice crowd here. this is it. >> yeah. you roll deep. your posse is big. i like it. >> and it's the first day that really feels like winter around here. >> it really does. coming up, it's a question regarding michelle parker. where is she? >> she is the mother of three who vanished on the very same

day that she appeared on an episode of "the people's court." now police are expanding their search on land and water. we'll get the latest, coming up. and then on a lighter. ♪, do you have a shopping strategy? yes, she has one. moments like yeah, everybody else is like, absolutely not. most of us do not have a strategy. we're going to take a look at what you need to do to avoid wasting time and money and, of course, not waiting in those long lines. coming up, the five biggest holiday mistakes we all do and what you can do to avoid them. >> that would indicate i even know who i'm buying for. >> as long as t. hall is on that list, you can't go wrong. >> t. hall, good grief. here is the man behind such tv couples like "the odd couple" now gary marshall is giving us another reason to believe with a new romantic comedy that packs a hollywood power cast. i sat down with him to talk about his new film, new year's

eve and about some of those good old happy days, as well. >> i'm jealous of you for many reasons, but especially because of that. that's pretty cool. i can't wait to see it. but in the meantime, let's get a check on our saturday morning forecast with the weather channel's chris warren. >> we have a little bit of a treat, as well. what's your name and who are you with? >> i'm carly childress and this is the bloom carol chamber singers from carolroll, ohio. >> so we're going to listen to a little music and let's take a look at that forecast where we are going to see a chance for a lot of rain and even some snow in the middle part of the country. it's going to be cool behind it. temperatures in the 20s and 30s. ♪

>> good morning. definitely a chilly start to the day. much of the area started off below the freezing mark. into the afternoon, warming up to where we should be. 51 for the high. sunshine across the state. and, of course, we want to get you ready for some football pp on sunday. it is football night in america. detroit lions add new orleans, it's going to be mostly cloudy and is mild for the tailgaters there at the superdome. inside, much better. outside, temperatures will be into the mid 60s to upper 60s. that's your forecast. now here is lester.

>> chris, dhaung. police in orlando are expanding their search this morning for mother of three michelle parker. parker vanished the same day she appeared on "the people's court" with her ex fiancee who is now a suspect in the investigation. nbc's lily aluciano joins us with more. >> good morning to you, lester. from the moment they noticed her missing, police, along with michelle's family and people who have never met her are tirelessly looking for her. now they're spreading their search to another county. the search for commercial parker is expanding on land and under water. but after more than two weeks, there's still no sign of the missing mom. >> my heart is aching. every day i see her face and she's not with our family, it's killing me. it's absolutely killing me. >> on friday, police divers searched a retention pond near the home of dale smith's father. smith is michelle's ex fiancee. according to police, the only

suspect in her disappearance. he has denied any involvement. >> she's accused of throwing it all away. >> on the day michelle went missing, the two appeared in a taped ed sowed of "the people's court" arguing of the loss of a wedding ring. smith was back in court on wednesday, this time in a custody battle with michelle's family over the 3-year-old twins he fathered with her. >> he has a pattern of engaging in domestic violence with women he's involved with. >> despite his violent history, the judge ruled smith can keep custody of his children. >> i don't see any evidence that he presents any imminent risk of substantial harm to these children. >> when michelle went missing, her friends and family set up a demand post near the area where her cell phone gave off the last signal. now police are moving the focus of their search elsewhere.

>> that will be michelle or any clues as to her whereabouts. >> reporter: so police are now turning their attention to a new location, near the bar where michelle worked as a bartender. friday night, friends and family held a silent auction there to raise funds for michelle's three children and the search efforts to find their mother. that was the second fund-raiser michelle's friends and coworkers held at that same bar in as many days. the one on thursday night raised over $500 and they're still counting the proceeds from last night where some items were worth as much as $6,000. >> lily, thanks so much. up next, ready, set, shop, the top mistakes we all make while shopping during the holiday seasons. le announcer ] how are we going to make this season better than the last? how about making it brighter. more colorful. ♪ and putting all our helpers to work? so we can build on our favorite traditions

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[ knock on door ] cool. you found it. wow. nice place. yeah. [ chuckles ] the family thinks i'm out shipping these. smooth move. you used priority mail flat rate boxes. if it fits, it ships for a low, flat rate. paid for postage online and arranged a free pickup. and i'm gonna track them online, too. nice. between those boxes and this place, i'm totally staying sane this year. do i smell snickerdoodles? maybe. [ timer dings ] got to go. priority mail flat rate shipping at usps.com. a simpler way to ship.

this scone, consumers will spend an estimated $4 billion plus. but when it comes to making that list and checking it twice, holiday shopping can be a daunting dafk. here to help us with some of the mistakes with all make is janet lieberman. >> from underplaning to overspending, i found this year's holiday shoppers have some lessons to learn. the rush, the friendy, the spending, it can only mean one thing. it's holiday shopping season. >> buy everything in front of you and get out of the crowd. >> some of us need a lesson on strategy. >> what's been your biggest mistake made in the past? >> not knowing exactly what to buy my booif. >> big problem. >> and it is a big problem. hunting down those gifts will take an average 19 hours this holiday season. tack on three hours for standing

in line and three hours wrapping presents. >> an efficient shopper plans ahead of time and narrows his or her options. >> i didn't really shopping around because i was tired, it was crowded. >> another mistake? we're spending too much. 14 million americans at 6% are still paying off last year's hop day mrurnlg. >> i overspend. i just spend and spend and spend and then i have too much. >> and for those procrastinatoor procrastinators, a deal will be difficult to find. >> the closer we get to the holidays, it's not a coincidence, prices will get higher. >> for the classic holiday shopping, it's best to be prepared. >> so it takes a lot of time? >> and ralt of coffee. >> that helps. it's to know too far whatever

you need to get through that trip. in that same consumer reports survey, last year, 45% of americans blew their entire shopping budget. not good. >> that's not good. you about it happens. so let's tackle the five big mistakes we all make. the first is wasting too much time and money. 189 hours we spend? if you plan ahead and you do your research on your computer, on your smartphone and you look at shopzilla.com or pricegrabber.com, do your research. find out where the cheapest price is. is it the item you really want? ourselves you're going back and forth. so spend the time at home and then hit the stores. >> and there are a ton of apps out there now. >> yeah. and you're not running around and parking and looking for spots. >> how about the refunds?

>> j. crew, if you go and buy something from your store, you have 30 days. if you buy it online, you have 60 days. that's a big difference. some stores are giving you a lot of time, like january 24th. read the fine print. keep your gift receipts, keep your regular receipts organized. afterwards, if somebody wants to return or exchange, they're going to get a fraction of what you paid for it. >> another thing, keeping an eye on shipping. >> sometimes but sometimes not. the same coffeemaker can cost you $50 in the store or $58 if you want to pay $8 in shipping for june item. or you go buy it online and go to the store and pay $50. there's a great website we found called free shipping.org and they'll tell you when the different retailers are offering free shipping. a lot of them, december 16th. >> i have to be honest, if they're not sfree shipping, i don't participate. >> if you want to spend your gift cards, do it now. a lot of times they expire.

great website, manilla.com will alert you to when your gift cards are expiring. >> and you don't want to forget people on the list. >> have a lot of stuff onhand so you're not running around like a crazy person. chocolate, wine, you can always recycle. someone invites you to a party last minute and you're not recycling. >> having chocolate and wine on hand and you can eat it or drink it, too. >> you might need that after nine hours. up next, lester's one-on-one with gary marshall. but first, this is "today" on nbc.

his words have made us laugh. his vision has given us hope. his characters have left an indelible place in our hearts. now gary marshall is romancing us once again and giving us a few more happy days.

>> listen, i want to tell you something. i'm very sorry i'm knot not getting into late, but my date is such a slow driver. she stops for the red lights. >> my mother taught me a sense of humor. my father taught me how to boss a boss. >> that accepts of plumer made gary marshall some of hollywood's best sitcom writers and brought to life some of tv's most memorable characters. "happy days" but not at happy as 1974. ♪ thursday, friday, happy days >> it was the first thing i'd written by myself, so it worked out very well. it was a turning point for me. >> everybody was terrific. it was like a family. >> and then, of course, we all remember the fonz. he wasn't intended to be the star. ♪ you ain't nothing by a hound dog ♪ >> henry was a date player. i was trying to maim hick a cool

guy. he emotionally did gutteral sounds. he was so good at it, the audience loved him and we built him up into quite a guy. >> the audience loved the show so much, it spun off the another hit for marshall. >> happy days was the easiest show to do. the hardest show i ever did was "laverne and shirley." a sister, you can't say, well, i'm going home now. they come to your house. >> there was "morning and mandy" which launched an unknown comic named robin williams. gary marshall's next frontier was the big screen and he was in good company. >> rob ryan and jim brooks, my sister, penny, ron howard and we me, we all came from tv and said, we'll help each other. they hate us. >> they didn't exactly hate his first film, young doctors in love, but it wasn't a hit, either. >> is there a hit movie that surprised you, that you didn't

think was going to hit as well as it did? >> a couple of mine i thought would be hits weren't, but i would say truly, "pretty woman" was a surprise. we had this girl and i said, she is very good, this one. but nobody ever knew who she was particularly. >> julia roberts? >> yeah. >> this girl, you're saying. >> well, you know, that was a surprise how big a hit that was. >> marshall has become a master of the romantic and charming comedy and his latest may pack the most star power yet. >> who is the star of this film? >> there is never a star in this kind of employ very. >> new year's eve revolves around the story of several people gathered for the times square ball drop. and i have it on good authority, a lot of these stars are in this because your name was attached. >> i make it a fun time. they don't come, well, i'm a star, i'll just do a cameo.

they come to act. >> you know, i'm 15, mom. this is not a training bra and this is not girls gone wild. >> the film's biggest star is times square itself. >> but you came all the way here to bring me my rubber bracelet? >> sort of. and to say happy new year. >> they let us shoot the actual bar in new year's eve. nobody else was on that roof. who knew it was freezing on that roof? >> you were actually on the roof? >> on the roof. >> the pictures marshall creates on his camera ultimately end up here on the shelves of his burbank office. >> that's jack clendon. >> they didn't talk at first because one was allergic to smoke. >> scripts line one bookshelf. >> i see a script up here, laverne and shirley movie. there was no movie, weight it? >> no. we wrote it, but they wanted to do it very cheap.

>> along with plenty of happy memories. >> there's the six people, we made a few dollars. we had some fun. >> and "pretty women". >> julia roberts in "pretty women". >> anl hathaway. >> there's a pretty girl. >> marshall's passion still revolves around this desk, a pad and pen and stories that make us smile. >> so many of your films are romantic, romantic come dis. are you a romantic at heart? >> i am. i'm scorpio, i'm italian, i grew up with sisters, i have daughters. i like romance. >> and he's thinking about offering ideas for tv. he's not opposed to doing more tv scripts. but you know what i learned that's most important? there was something called morning and mindy pants, jeans? >> morning and mindy jeans and i had them in like the third

grade. and i was obsessed with laverne & shirley so i would drink milk and pepsi. and i wanted to be lester tuscadero's sister. i'm sorry, mom. gary marshall was my baby-sitter. >> you were going to do the story, but he was going to put out a restraining order against you. >> i was still there. >> new year's eve opens in theaters nationwide on friday. we're back in a moment. ring ] ♪ thank you. for what? when things were tough, you kept believing in me... you helped make this happen. thank you. [ jane ] behind every open heart is a story. tell yours with my open heart collection at kay jewelers, the number one jewelry store in america. there are millions of reasons to give one, but the message is always the same. keep your heart open... and love will always find its way in. you did it daddy. we did it. ♪ every kiss begins with kay ♪ i'll stop ♪the ♪world and melt with you ♪ it. ♪ i'll stop the world ♪ ♪ i will stop the world ♪

♪ you've seen the difference ♪ ♪ and it's getting better all the time ♪ ♪ i will stop the world ♪ ♪ i'll stop the world and melt with you ♪ ♪ i'll stop the world ♪ ♪ i'll stop the world, i'll melt with you ♪ i took some steep risks in my teens. i'd never ride without one now. and since my doctor prescribed lipitor, i won't go without it for my high cholesterol and my risk of heart attack. why kid myself? diet and exercise weren't lowering my cholesterol enough. now i'm eating healthier, exercising more, taking lipitor. numbers don't lie. my cholesterol's stayed down. lipitor is fda approved to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke in patients who have heart disease or risk factors for heart disease. it's backed by over 19 years of research. [ female announcer ] lipitor is not for everyone, including people with liver problems and women who are nursing, pregnant or may become pregnant. you need simple blood tests to check for liver problems. tell your doctor if you are taking other medications, or if you have any muscle pain or weakness. this may be a sign of a rare but serious side effect. [ man ] still love that wind in my face! talk to your doctor. don't kid yourself about the risk of heart attack and stroke.

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that does it for this saturday morning, thanks to bill and chris. >> come on, do it. >> i dared her. she loves that. she really was laverne and shirley. anyways, tomorrow on today, holiday etiquette, the dos and don'ts. we'll see you then. i'll be back tonight with nbc nightly news. until then.

>> live, local, late-breaking - this wbal-tv 11 news in baltimore. >> good morning and welcome to 11 news saturday morning. >> here is a look at some of our top stories -- there is no word this morning on what started a three-alarm apartment fire in baltimore. it started last night before 11:00 on red cedar place. the fire quickly escalated to three alarms. in harford county, route 1 is reopened after a serious car accident happened near smith road in arlington after 4:00 friday afternoon.

firefighters were responding to two car crashes involved in that accident. medivac helicopters rushed three people to shock trauma and there is no word on their combat -- condition. take a look at these surveillance pictures. howard county need your help to find this man who is a suspect in a bank robbery in faulted. he robbed a suntrust bank on thursday afternoon. police say he walked in and demanded cash and the teller and took a deposit envelope from my customer insight. anyone with information is asked to call police. there is reward money. >> up next, dr. kim hammond has answers to your pet questions . plus, what to get the man in your life. >> i need to listen to that.

we're looking forward to the weather today. we have mostly dry conditions and temperatures are beginning

>> live, local, late-breaking - this wbal-tv 11 news in baltimore. morning. >> morning and welcome. lisa has the weekend off. >> let's take a look outside with ava marie.