good morning, the day after. shoppers making returns and hunting for brand new bargains and it could add up to a banner day for retailers nice wide. fire tears through a connecticut home, killing three young girls and their grandparents, the oldest victim, a 71-year-old man who just fibbished up his dream job as santa claus. and on the mend, prince philip spends his third night in the hospital recovering from emergency heart surgery, as the duchess of cambridge gets high marks for her christmas as a royal. "today," monday, december 26th, 2011. captions paid for by nbc-universal television

good morning, everyone. welcome to "today" on this monday morning. i'm savannah guthrie. >> and i'm carl quintanilla. matt and ann have the morning off. i hope you had a merry christmas and i hope santa was good to you. >> he was. i was out in arizona with friends and family. you said you need to return your christmas presents. it's terrible. >> when you have 2-year-old twins the end of christmas is like a marathon. >> a lot of folks will be heading out to the malls. the macy's and herald square's doors just opened and 57% of americans plan to hit the local mall today, up considerably from last year when december 26th fell on a sunday and if you know where to look you can find some of the hottest items of the season at steep discounts.

we'll have all of the details straight ahead. all this week a closer look at our investigations from 2011 that shocked, startled and surprised you. this morning, the hidden danger that could be lurking at skating rinks that's making children sick. and could you imagine climbing just one of the world's highest mountains? how about scaling the seven highest on all seven continents at the tender age of 15? over the weekend, a california teenager became the youngest ever to accomplish that feat and coming up he'll join us live from antarctica. we begin with the afterchristmas push at malls. ron mott is in herald square in new york city, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning to you, welcome to mega monday. americans have been on a shopping spree since thanksgiving night and after down time yesterday they're ready to go charge the stores and search for more good deals. they shopped and shopped and shopped some more but never quite dropped, though prices

did, 40%, 50%, 60% off and more. >> there's a lot of deals, i'm quite surprised. >> today, their credit cards cooled by a day of rest, shoppers are gearing up to go back into overdrive, steered backed into stores after steals and deals, a projected $469.1 billion in holiday sales, up nearly 4% from a year ago. >> it's gotten really, really crazy over the years. the holiday promotions started very early on in the season and they're continuing through the new year. the name of the game is the promotions, deals, discounts. >> reporter: on friday, hoards of shoppers went to malls for a $180 nike air jordan conkoerd 11 and they weren't used for gift

giving. >> anybody wants a pair? >> stampede, busted stores, reported gunfire near san francisco, the christmas weekend was a-buzz with last-minute bargain hunting and tracking san ta's every move. more than 100,000 calls were fielded by norad, with kids checking in on progress. and wide-eyed smiles of all ages spoke the universal language. >> i also got a wii game which i completely love, which is the 2012 olympic games. >> reporter: fewer smiles in colorado where 50,000 u.s. packages got snowed in, delivery uncertain. >> where is the truck, in timbuktu? >> reporter: anxious customers standing in line wondering if they'd get theirs in time. >> woohoo! package is in the truck. >> reporter: shoppers are already out here. some stores opened as early as

5:00 this morning, a big week for consumers, a possibly bigger week for retailers. experts say this week could account for 10% of all holiday sales. >> it begins all over again, ron mott in new york this morning. thank you, here's carl. to presidential politics after a brief pause for the holiday weekend the gop candidates get back to work with eight days to go until the iowa caucuses, this while the president enjoys a little family time in hawaii. nbc's kristen welker is in honolulu. kristen, good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, carl. president obama had a busy christmas day, but otherwise has nothing on his public schedule, and it is rest he will need, with a tough re-election battle in the new year. with 2012 just around the corner, the first family celebrated christmas with the troops and their families at a local marine corps base, after starting the day with a trip to church. president obama ends the year

with the economy showing signs of improvement and with the legislative victory over republicans in the payroll tax cut debate. former democratic congressman mar martin frost. >> it revived the democratic party, showed they could take on the republicans successfully. >> reporter: they tried to shore up support with the caucuses eight days away. on tuesday, mitt romney and rick perry are launching bus tours through iowa but a setback for the national front-runner, newt gingrich. over the weekend, he and rick perry failed to qualify for the virginia primary because neither candidate had the required 10,000 signatures. it's particularly problematic for gingrich. he lives in virginia. >> one level his failure to get on the ballot in virginia is merely an embarrassment and it reflects a fundamental lack of organization in states across the country. >> reporter: defiant, the gingrich campaign accused

virginia of having a failed system and compared the setback to the attack at pearl harbor. its campaign manager released this statement on gingrich's facebook page. "newt and i agreed that the annal see is december 1941. we have experience an unexpected set-back, but we will re-group and re-focus with increased determination." polls show the former house speaker's popularit iity may be waning. according to a "boston globe" poll of new hampshire voters, 39% support romney, gingrich and paul are tied for second place with 17% each. paul has gained the most ground in new hampshire, up five points since last month. gingrich's support has slowed. he's only up two points. >> now that ron paul has emerged as a factor in the race, not for the nomination, but in iowa and possibly in new hampshire, it really makes it hard for other candidates, conservatives to break through, and that's good

news for mitt romney. >> reporter: now polls show that paul has a slight lead in iowa over romney and gingrich, but of course nationally he is running far behind. a dismal finish in iowa could mean the end of one or two campaigns. carl? >> kris welker, in honolulu, thanks. we turn to veteran reporter howard feinman, senior editor at huffington.com. >> good morning. >> there are three tickets out of iowa. give us the state of the race right now. where are the trend lines? >> the state of the race in iowa is pretty clear. you've got ron paul, who has got his ticket out. you've got mitt romney who has probably got his ticket out and a four-way race for the non-mitt, non-ron paul candidate the conservative, either rick perry or newt gingrich or michele bachmann or santorum. we're looking at a substantially

weakened newt gingrich getting out of iowa. >> let's talk about newt gingrich. some of the polls show him losing some of the momentum he had weeks ago and the issue of him failing to get on the virginia ballot, does that sig somethi say siomething in larger about the campaign, and comparing it to a sneak attack on pearl harbor? >> i guess accusing his fellow republicans of being like imperial japan during the war is probably not a great way to endear himself to his fellow virginians, and that's part of the problem with newt gingrich. he has not only an air of self-confidence but practically a megalomania the way he operates in politics and he's not focused on the ground game. he didn't do it in iowa, as he fades in popularity, he hasn't done it in other states. he has a wave theory of politics that somehow he's the man for a

time. he was the man a few weeks ago but that's not a big enough wave to carry him forward. >> what do you think will happen with ron paul. you named him as a front-runner in iowa. there's no doubt about that. could he be a spoiler in the republican primary and how do you think it helps or hurts the other candidates? >> ron paul is uspeshly organized not only in iowa but elsewhe elsewhere. he has money he gets from the internet, organizing for years. he's run for president many times. he knows what he's doing out there and in the current state of the republican party and the conservative movement, which is divided and fractured and could be fused, somebody like ron paul, who has a consistent libertarian message, he fits better with the tea party mentality probably than any other candidate. now, i think he's going to be able to carry through all the way deep into the primaries, as he showed by organizing in virginia, and i agree with stu rothenberg, that's probably good news for mitt romney. if mitt romney can finish strongly in iowa, and if he can win new hampshire, then he and

ron paul are the two certain candidates to go through the spring with a question of who the third person would then be. >> let's talk about mitt romney. how well does very to do in iowa? he managed to lower expectations there, he barely campaigned there. is there any evidence caucus-goers are finally coming around to romney and accepting him as their choice? >> there isn't that much evidence of it, but as the opponents remain divided, mitt romney winning the 20%, the 25% in iowa, after only a quarter or less than a quarter of the total may be enough to give him a strong finish so that he'll not view iowa in the rear view mirror as a disaster and be able to move on to new hampshire, where he's still quite strong. >> quickly, president obama perceived as the winner in last week's dust-up with congress over the payroll tax cut extension. has his political fortune risen in these last days? >> no question about it, and he can't wait for another fight over the payroll tax with the republicans in the spring.

>> howard fineman in washington, good to talk to you, thank you. >> good to talk to you, savannah, thanks. now let's get a check of the top stories, jeff rossen in for natalie. >> good morning, happy holidays everyone. a christmas day tragedy in texas left seven people dead, four men and three men were found shot to death inside their home apparently after opening their christmas presents. police believe the victims were all from the same family, cleaning up wrapping paper when the shooting began. investigators say the gunman is among the dead. they're looking for a moefive. baviolence in baghdad. a shooting at a checkpoint and dozens were wounded. a radical muslim sect claimed responsibility for killing 39 worshippers at a church. the group previously targeted police and the military but in recent months has expanded. today parishioners are cleaning

up the church where the bombing took place, ahead of mass, and say they fear another attack. north korea is giving shape to the future of kim jong-un, making him the head of the ruling party, a major post that adds political heft to the military control he already has. the former first lady of south korea and chairman of hyundai crossed the border to pay respects to kim jong-il. some call it lovejoy or star of wonder, look at that beautiful shot. this picture was snapped by the crew aboard the international space station from their perch some 250 miles above the earth. the comet has been shining especially bright in the southern hemisphere, where an observatory in chile captured this video of lovejoy, you can see it going across with the milky way in the background. this next video may maybe you flip out.

so vanna does it all the time, just flips and flips. jamist in or nfl player jerome simpson flying through the air. i hope we get that? slow mo, striking a perfect landing in the end zone, flipping and flopping his qua to one of the most unbelievable touchdowns in nfl history. no surprise they won the game, beating the arizona cardinals 23-16. very nice. i thought it was really good but the french judge only gave him a seven. >> i was going to make that, darn. that is great. really stuck the landing there. mr. roker has the morning off so ms. abrams is here. >> good morning, good to see you guys. let's look at what's happening on the weather maps. our low pressure is just starting to develop here into the south, it's even bringing frozen precipitation into kan s kansas. it's going to crank through the day today. look over the next 24 hours we could see up to two inches of rain locally, otherwise the

country is looking quiet along the east coast exhibits. he is out this morning. happening outside your door. >> stephanie, thanks. it hasn't been a typical holiday for the british royal family. kate was attending her first gathering as duchess while prince philip remains hospitalized after undergoing emergency surgery. stephanie gosk is at buckingham palace with details. >> reporter: good morning, carl.

it's been an incredible year for the royals. they're more popular now than they have in a generation, thanks mostly to william and kate. this should have been a time for celebrations but instead there was a medical emergency. prince philip, who has been married to the queen for 64 years, is still in the hospital. every christmas they come to catch a glimpse of the royal family, but this year the crowd outside mary magdalene church broke a record, 3,000 people. the star attraction, as she has been all year, the duchess of cambridge, simply but elegantly dressed for the day, this was her first christmas as a royal. after the service, kate lingered with the eager crowd taking special time to talk to the children. >> she said she liked your coat, and she wishes us a merry christmas. >> reporter: prince william delighted everyone with a kiss for one of his well wishers. >> oh! >> reporter: but the day was not

all festive. the royal entourage was notably minus one. the queen's husband, prince phil philip, is still in the hospital after emergency treatment for a clogged artery. the duke of eddinborough was air lifted for surgery following chest pains. following christmas lunch, all paid him a visit. pins charles says his father is resilient and determined to make a full recovery. >> prince philip is 90 years old, he has had a heart condition for many, many years and takes medication for it. >> reporter: in her christmas address, recorded days before the duke was rushed to the hospital, the queen emphasized the importance of family, especially during challenging times. >> the importance of family has of course come home to prince philip and me personally this

year, with the marriages of two of our grandchildren. each in their own way, a celebration of the god-given love that binds the family together. >> reporter: traditionally christmas has always been the one time each year that the royal family can gather in its entirety. >> actually it's at christmas where the royals can switch off, just be themselves like any other family on christmas day. >> reporter: any other family who regularly draws a crowd of thousands, that is. today is the day of the annual pheasant hunt, normally prince philip leads that hunt. sadly he can't take part. the palace says he had a good night in the hospital and should be released soon but there's no date for that release >> a lot of well wishers rooting for him nonetheless. stephanie gosk thank you very much. here's savannah. it's being called a holiday miracle. a college student in arizona wakes up from a coma as doctors and his family were trying to

decide if there was anything more they could do to save him. kristen dahlgren has the details. >> good morning. this could have been a very different holiday for sam schmidt's family but for his doctor, holding on to hope, and sam's incredible will to live. with a few tiny steps, sam schmidt might just make you believe in holiday miracles. a few weeks ago that smile was something his family thought they would never see again. the fun-loving 21-year-old arizona state business major was in a devastating five-car pile-up in october. he survived but barely. >> he didn't have any response in a very deep coma. >> reporter: sam had a traumatic brain aneurysm. his odds of survival were slim. his family thought what they would do if they had to take him off life support. >> they didn't talk to us about donating his organs directly, but john and i, knowing sam, he would want to help other people if he was actually not going to be with us.

>> reporter: but his doctor wasn't quite ready to declare sam brain dead. >> i said let's get one more mri scan. >> reporter: based on what he saw, he told the family to give it one more week, that's when sam took matters into his own hands. that very day he responded to a command, holding up two fingers. >> and that's a huge thing, when you think about, it means that you can hear. it means that you can interpret what you're hearing. >> reporter: sam remembers what he saw when he opened his eyes in the hospital. >> it was my mom, john, and my aunt. >> reporter: and he hasn't looked back since. he's in intense therapy, but for one day this weekend, he left the hospital to spend christmas with his family. >> there is no better gift than to have sam back. >> reporter: and this holiday, sam learned not just to believe in miracles, but himself. >> it's been nothing but hard work and pushing through. >> reporter: he's got big goals.

>> being able to coach basketball and play. >> reporter: for now, he's taking small steps with his family at his side. >> got it? >> reporter: a family this year celebrating the incredible gift of life. sam was only allowed out of the hospital for that one day or now but he says he hopes to return to school, savannah, by next year. >> amazing story, kristen dahlgren, thank you. just ahead the 15-year-old who became the youngest person to climb the highest mountains on each of the seven continents. he's going to join us from antarctica, but first this is "today" on nbc.

just ahead, five members of a connecticut family, including three young sisters, killed in a tragic holiday fire. >> we're going to have new details on the investigation, including why it may have happened. that's coming up after your local news and weather. really need to do something with it... i'm just not sure what...

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>> this is a wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore. >> good morning. i am stan stovall. here's a look at one of our top stories. a man dies from injuries after a shooting at cherry hill. police were called to the scene at saturday night, where officers found the victim lying in a grassy area suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. he was rushed to a hospital, where he later died. let's get a check on the morning

commute. i know today is a holiday, but the reds still a little dizzy? >> it boug eight in a -- lot of people are going to be making returns to dead. other than that, the roads look pretty good. 57 on the north side right around the towson region. on the west, 49 miles per hour. five minutes to get you down to fort mchenry from the 895 spread. 11 minutes on southbound 95 from the beltway southwest towards 32. west side at liberty, problem- free at the moment of the entire beltway. it to 95 and 175, northbound and southbound traffic in great shape at this hour. john has a check on your forecast. >> sunshine is out, 39 degrees. humidity is down, barometer is

up. we have some guests into the 20s this morning. a few sprinkles south of baltimore. high pressure is coming in. rain to the south. today, partly cloudy skies. breezy. 45 at to 50 the high. occasional gusts of 25 of possibility. tomorrow, the rain chance, pretty good chance, too.

7:30 now on this monday morning, december 26th, 2011. it is the day after christmas, and there's lots of holiday cheer still ringing in the plaza. inside studio 1a, i'm carl quintanilla alongside savannah guthrie. ann and matt are off today. just ahead a remarkable man. >> we'll go live to antarctica and talk to the 15-year-old from california who became the young toast conquer the tallest peaks on seven continents. he actually did eight peaks, one for good measure. a hidden danger at indoor ice rinks, are toxic fumes that you cannot see or small, are they making children sick? >> we'll have that story.

we begin with a holiday tragedy in connecticut. investigators say it could be several days before they determine the cause of a deadly fire that killed five members of a family including three young cyster its. craig melvin is in connecticut with the latest. good morning to you. >> reporter: savannah, good morning to you. you can see what's left of the house behind me at the end of the street, it hugs the long island sound. we're told at one point the flames were so intense they shot as high as the trees. a 47-year-old mother, her friend, they managed to get out alive but her three children and her two parents do not and it all happened on christmas morning. it's a still smoldering christmas nightmare. just before 5:00 sunday morning flames shot from the five-bedroom house. in minutes it was engulfed, screams woke up neighbors. >> i heard somebody yelling "help, help, help me!" i started sprinting up my driveway. >> reporter: those who rushed to the house were helpless.

>> came up to see if there was anything i could do. there was nothing i could do. >> reporter: five people were dead, three of them are children. >> my heart is broken for the children and the family is tragic. >> reporter: madonna badger and a male friend were able to get out. her daughters killed and also her parents, lomer and paula johnson. lomer spent christmas working at his dream job as santa claus at saks fifth avenue. >> it's never easy. i've been on this job 38 years, and not an easy day. >> badger is a prominent new york city fashion and design executive. she was behind the famous calvin klein ads starry markey mark in the 1990s. in mid 1996 "forbes" named badger one of their 40 under 40. according to property records she bought the house for about $1.7 million in december last

year. she was renovating it. >> it probably has not been a worse christmas day in the city of stamford. >> reporter: so vanna, i talked to the mayor of stanford yesterday. he told me it's probably going to be several days before we know precisely what the cause of the fire is. at this point it looks like it was an awful accident. >> craig melvin in stanford this morning, thank you. incredibly heartbreaking. i don't think anyone can fathom what the family is going through. >> no, no way to fathom. stephanie abrams is in for al today. >> good morning, ava in a, another warm one across much of the country. let's look at what's going to happen throughout the northern plains, the midwest, chicago, detroit, temperatures 15 to almost 25 degrees above average. it will be dry in that area, a little bit of snow throughout northern minnesota but otherwise the bulk of the activity will be inof

>> good morning. we had a couple of sprinkles last night. and looks like a good day today with dry whitting the road...to1 news at five. >> we've got some friends from louisiana. is this cold for you all? >> yes, it's freedzing out here >> meanwhile it's been so warm, if you need to know how to dress, go to weather.com 24 hours a day. carl over to you. to miami, florida, and a couple lucky to be alive today after being run over by a truck as they sun bathed. lilia luciano is there with details. >> reporter: good morning to you, carl.

every year miami beach welcomes an average of 14 million tourists, not to mention the locals who like to enjoy fun in the sun almost year round but what happened to this couple last month would cast a horrible shadow over anyone's idea of a day at the beach. for denise and orlando jiminez it was a perfect sunday for sun bathing, the kind of day that unspired the newlywed couple to pick worry free south beach as their new neighborhood. >> get out of the norm, experience something different. >> reporter: they did experience something different, unexpected and horrifying while laying under the sun. >> i just remember waking up and realizing the gen inwas already over our bodies, over my head, so i just started to panic, that's when i realized oh my god we just got run over. >> reporter: what were you thinking right then and there? >> i was honestly petrified. i was worried he was going to move forward, move backward. i didn't know -- i was just in shock. >> reporter: denise and her

husband were stuck under a fort f-150, its wheels miraculously just missing their bodies. >> first thing i thought she was actually dead. i kept on screaming at her, and she, for a couple of seconds, i mean, what seemed like minutes, at that point in time, she wasn't responding. >> reporter: police say in early november the driver, working for a beach vendor that rents chairs and umbrellas was collecting equipment to close shop when he failed to see the couple. by the time witnesses alerted him reports say the truck was recovering half their bodies. >> we heard some woman screaming that some guy got hit. >> reporter: they were rescued, rushed to the hospital, orlando five stitches in his head, a fracture in his eye socket and required emergency root canal. denise has a gash on her forehead. >> we were where we needed to be. i just think he was being careless. >> reporter: for that the man behind the wheel was charged with careless driving. you don't think that was enough?

>> definitely wasn't enough. you're talking about two lives almost lost. >> reporter: denise and orlando hope their close call will move the city to enforce more stricter regulations. >> putting trash cans as the demarkation line of where motor vehicles are not supposed to cross is not enough. >> reporter: back at the beach for the if he first time since the accident -- >> sort of serene right now, when you think what happened. you start to think of the accident it's not serene any. it's tragic. >> reporter: the couple hayes since filed a $15,000 lawsuit for damages against the driver. we've put in multiple calls to the party and received no response. the city of miami says the city has strict policies to these unfortunate incidents do not occur.

>> lilia luciano, thanks. still ahead can't wait to return the tacky shirt from your aunt or have new gift cards to spend? what you into ed to know before heading to the mall today. up next one of our eye opening investigations of the year, why your local skating rink could be making your child sick. right after this. ♪ ♪ [ female announcer ] take the special k challenge. lose up to six pounds in two weeks. get your free, delicious personalized plan at specialk.com. what will you gain when you lose?

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back now at 7:41 as we kick off a week-long look at our most memorable investigations of the year. jeff rossen is here with a story he first brought us in february, exposing a hidden danger at indoor ice rinks. >> huge reaction when we first aired the story earlier this year and it affects hundreds of thousands of kids who play ice hockey and all of us who skate for fun. the danger is in the air at the rinks. toxic fumes you can't see, smell or taste and literally making children sick. >> get back, got to get back, get back! >> at first it was a mystery, who w what was powerful enough to send this 14-year-old boy to the hospital and this former ice capades star into retirement, on a respirator. >> i thought i was going to die.

>> i was just really scared and i didn't know what would happen. >> reporter: for kyler fisher it happened at a game in minnesota, with every breath he was being poisoned by carbon monoxide in the rink. >> it got pretty bad, up to where i felt like i was going to pass out in the locker room. i was laying down and couldn't get up. >> reporter: tyler's parents rushed him to the emergency room. you're sitting in the hospital, your son is getting oxygen. what are you thinking to yourself? >> it was very scary. i didn't know the long-term effects of it and what was going on and you think your kids are safe in a rink and he wasn't. >> reporter: turns out, kyler's entire team was sick and this was no isolated case. earlier outside denver a carbon monoxide leak at a kids' hockey game sent 61 kids to the hospital. in the past three years news reports show more than 250 people have been poisoned at indoor ice rinks. the culprit? those smoke belching resurfacing

machines, run over and over again to clean the ice. their exhaust fumes contain poisons like carbon mondayxide and ultrafine particles, fumes that can become trapped inside the rink. >> they're tight structures, there's no heating system and very little ventilation so whatever toxic materials are in the ice rink stay there. >> reporter: you'd never stand in the garage at home with the car turned on and doors closed. at the local ice rink the air could be just as dangerous. nbc news set up a scientific experiment to find out how dangerous ice rinks can be. we hired certified industrial high inests to test the air at the revolution ice center in pittston, pennsylvania, your typical neighborhood rink. for our test we used their now retired fuel-powered resurfacer, the kind still used at most rinks nationwide, it's the standard. we had them run it for a single sweep around the ice.

along with this machine, the ice edger, also commonly used at skating rinks. >> let it's put the meters at a child's breathing zone. >> reporter: our experts set up meters all over the ice and walked around with hand held monitors, testing for those toxic pollutants. studies show over time they can cause permanent heart, lung, even brain damage. just five minutes into our test, our air quality alarms went off, the carbon monoxide already over the safe limit, according to state guidelines. >> the levels of 20 parts per million and you can see we're up to about 60 right now. >> reporter: when we measured for ultrafine particles even our expert was surprised. >> studies show we see adverse effects at 100,000 particles and in the arena we're at 209,000 particles. >> reporter: we turned the machines off, incredibly even an hour later, it was still so dangerous, our expert had to pull the plug.

>> jeff, we have to call off the test now and go outside and ventilate. >> reporter: the levels are too high? >> levels are too high now. we've hit the evacuation level. >> reporter: believe it or not there are no laws requiring carbon monoxide detectors in rinks so kids can be inhaling the fumes and not know it. >> think about the amount of times practicing, we're here three, four nights a week, that's a lot of exposure. >> reporter: it's the long-term exposure, the damage you can't see that can ruin your child's life later. >> it started small and then it progressed into completely can he debilitating me. >> reporter: linda davis skating since she was 6, former ice capades star. recently she's diagnosed with long-term carbon monoxide poisoning. today this beautiful athlete needs a respirator. >> i have problems with my lungs, i have problems with my memory still, i have problems with neurological issues. >> reporter: a lot of parents are saying my child's played hockey for ten years, never had

a problem. why should i be worried? >> you don't know what your child has been exposed to. >> reporter: three states regulate air in ice rinks, minnesota, massachusetts and rhode island. still the federal government has not required a law with regard to air in ice rinks. >> it makes no sense at all. >> reporter: when we first aired this story in february we wanted to question the epa but the agency declined to go on camera so we called these members of congress, all at the helm of clean air committees. once again, we were turned down, both then and now, all said they're unavailable for interviews. >> are they waiting for something very tragic to happen? because as far as i'm concerned my kid going to the hospital is already tragic enough. >> there is an easy solution

here, electric ice resurfacers that emit no exhaust at all. some rinks like the one we went to in pennsylvania use them exclusively. the epa and the ice rink association told us they're educating rinks and hope new rules for ice machines will cut emissions in half but many say it's just not enough, because in most states, no one is testing the air and that's the number one problem here, parents don't know whether these rinks are safe. >> i was going to say, it's great for the rinks that are having the new resurfacers, but what about all of those who don't? >> go see the rink manager immediately. first of all you can tell because the smoke is going into the air but if they don't use the electric resurfacers you should say why aren't you testing and maybe you should make a judgment call whether your child should stay there. >> jeff rossen, thank you. the teenager who just completed a record-breaking feat he began at the tender age of 11 years old, to scale the highest mountains on all seven the connentscon connents. he's going to join us from

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>> this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore. >> good morning. i am stan stovall. time for a check on your morning commute. here is sarah caldwell and traffic pulse 11. >> it lot less volume than we normally see. harford road closed at four road. if you are traveling in kingsville, we have been reporting this all morning. another closure at guilford road and saratoga road due to police activity. the entire beltway looks pretty good at 56. live give you a quick

looked outside. here is what looks like on j.f.x. at ruxton road. problem-free at the moment. we will switch over to a light the of traffic at 24, in and out of harford county. if you are one of the few that has been traveling, and not too bad for your commute. over to you, john. >> at the airport, temperature bottom out at 39, now back in the 40's. west winds at 7 miles an hour storm system is leaving. more of a weather disturbance. rage are to be in pennsylvania -- rain shower activity in pennsylvania. this is tomorrow's weather. today's is just the dry stuff that we have moving in now. we have a mixture of sunshine and some cloudiness. breezy northwest winds are gusting as high as 25.

45 to 50 ft. high. seven-day forecast, rain chance is tomorrow. possibly a shower or two that we possibly a shower or two that we could see in the forecast

8:00 now on this monday morning, the 26th of december, 2011, we have a great post holiday crowd enjoying the start of their day right here in rockefeller plaza. nice to have you joining us. good morning, everyone, i'm savannah guthrie along with carl quintanilla. matt and ann are off this morning. just ahead, are you going to join the masses, and there will be masses at the mall today? this is a huge day for returns and of course post-christmas sales, coming up, what you need to know before you head out, including a washing about something called slicing and dicing. that does not sound good. >> i'm not even going to ask. plus a story we followed closely, david goldman fought for years to bring his sean home from brazil. he's been home for two years. how is sean doing?

we'll hear from him exclusively. later on we'll get ideas for turning your christmas leftovers into a tasty new meal. can't all be turkey sandwiches. >> i heard bread pud something o pudding is on the menu. nice. jordan romero reached the peak of mt. vinson in antarctica over the weekend, becoming the youngest person to climb the highest peaks on each of the seven continents. jordan joins us now. congratulations. >> good morning, thanks. i'm calling you live from antarctica, we're apparently waiting on a plane to get us here from base camp hopefully today and back to camp and it will be a couple days until we return back to chile. >> this has been such a massive undertaking. you got the idea when you were a kid in fourth grade. now this you've done it, taken five, six years, walk me through how you're feeling today. >> you know, i'm feeling great.

i'm excited to have completed my goal and this is something i want to pass on to kids, you know, to inspire them they can set any goal and be able to achieve it. >> it's really amazing. i know you began this latest track on wednesday. mt. vinson massif is at 16,000 feet. what was the weather like up there? did you face any challenges other than climbing a really tall mountain? >> yeah, this mountain is in antarctica and definitely freezing cold especially at the top but we had some beautiful days as well, where it's just been about 30 degrees and i don't know how it is over there but like here 30 degrees is actually pretty warm. so yeah, we've been in some pretty good weather so far. >> jordan, as you know, people have said in the past he's a teenager, he should not be doing this, even with his parents' help and even you have said this is not for everybody. is that because the training is so tough and you do have your parents to work with? >> well, you know, yes first

thing is first. it's not my dad or karen's. it's not their idea. it's my dream and something i wanted to do, and yes, it is a lot of hard work and training and it's not like anyone can just wake up this morning and say i'm going to climb a summit. no, it takes lots of hard work and you know, it takes a team to do it, and you know, it's not all -- it's about me and my dad and karen and that's the team. >> safe travels home, congratulations once again. just an amazing, amazing accomplishment. jordan romero thank you for being with us. >> he was stoked when he reached. >> hey, guys -- >> "freakin' cold was how he described the weather. >> freaking cold is the official term. >> meteorological. good morning again. fire officials say it could be a

few days before they figure out the cause of a deadly christmas day fire in stamford, connecticut. the flames ripped through a home killing three children and their two grandparents. the grandfather just returned home from his job as a department store santa claus. >> there probably has not been a worse christmas day in the city of stamford. >> reporter: the homeowner, madonna badger, was able to escape the fire but couldn't save her children. today is one of the busiest days of the year for retailers across the country. in fact they're calling this mega monday. many stores opened this morning at 5:00 a.m., hoping for a flood of people with christmas cash and those gift cards, looking for more good deals. retailers are also bracing for lots of unhappy returns. the national retail federation says 35% of shoppers returned at least one gift last year and online shoppers are getting in a mega monday spirit, too, after christmas sales was the number one search term on yahoo! this morning. holiday sales aren't for

everyone. pope benedict slammed the commercialization of christmas this weekend at the vatican during christmas eve mass. the pope urged the faithful to ignore the glitter of the holiday and today in his post-christmas blessing, the pope denounced sunday's bombing of a nigerian catholic church as absurd. 39 people were killed and there is fear a radical muslim sect may attack even more churches. to politics now and republicans in search of their party's presidential nomination are back on the campaign trail today in iowa. just a week left until iowa's lead-off caucuses and many voters are still undecided. this is the final push ahead of the january 3rd contest. meantime in hawaii, president obama got a christmas day surprise when a baby put his hands in the commander in chief's mouth. i guess we're not going to see it. trust me, it was a good photo. president and first lady were visiting military families at a marine corps in hawaii. now for a look at "what's

trending today" what has you talking online, the mystery about the jetsetting first dog has been solved, thank goodness. despite conspiracy theories that have been bubbling on facebook and political blogs the white house says bo, no, he did not fly back and forth from hawaii, so he could take part in this presidential photo shoot back home in washington. a family in hawaii has apologized to the dog and the first family for saying it saw bo at the obama's vacation retreat. tech blogs are buzzing over apple's reported plans to create new sources of energy for its products. the company has filed patents for a hydrogen fuel cell technology to produce lighter batteries that will last for days or even weeks. love that. and users are flocking to youtube to check out the latest video and what's become a viral year-end tradition, dj earworm matches up the top 25 songs, take a listen to this. ♪

makes one awesome mega song. pretty cool. six minutes past the hour, want to go outside now to carl and savannah. >> that's what the kids are listening to. okay. dj earworm. did i hear that right? >> i think so. >> let's get a check of the weather from stephanie abrams in for al. >> bob with the coast guard, stationed in new orleans, thanks for serving. what is the coldest place you were ever stationed? >> a trip to antarctica. >> how long did you last? >> ten minutes and then i was about ready to come home. >> kansas city, 46, our average high is 38. we'll be in the 40s and 50s all week long, otherwise rain through the lower mississippi river valley and sunshine on the east coast, and majority of t >> good morning. clouds overnight produced a few sprinkles. a mixture of sun and clouds.

>> and now back over to carl right over there. >> loudest place on the plaza right here. coming up, what you into ed to know about returns and finding the best post holiday bargain, right after this. line is absolutely that tool. it was never further away than my pocket. my sidekick! the weight tracker really let me see that my real problem area was when i was traveling. it allowed me to kind of tailor my plan to my lifestyle. i lost 29 pounds with weight watchers online. i am like me times five. i'm like cara intensified. [ female announcer ] join for free today. weight watchers online. finally, losing weight clicks.

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back now at 8:11, and this morning on "tooled's consumer" post christmas returns and sales, this is one of the busiest days of the year for the retail industry and we've got you covered on both fronts. first, janice lieberman is here, consumer correspondent for nbc. good morning. >> good morning. >> we're talking about returns. i read a statistic for every $1 of income retailers get about almost ten cents is returned. >> right, so that's a lot of people who aren't that happy but there's plenty who are which you are one of them, but 35% will return or exchange, so they have to get in line and wait and be patient. >> be patient, number one tip. we'll get to that. >> right. >> in a perfect world we keep the tags on, unopened but it doesn't always happen that way. >> no. so what you need to do is hopefully get a gift receipt, which a lot of people did this year, that makes it really smooth sailing, and keep everything in the box that it

came in, keep the tags on, don't start pulling everything apart. if you can, with electronics and toys, don't open and try things out because there is a restocking fee many times. >> particularly you see this with electronic items, the restocking fee. >> the camcorder, computers, 15%, that's a lot of the purchase price. of course if there's a problem and it needs repairs or defective it's fair game but just because you had it or not sure, you didn't like that model, try to read it on the outside and keep the box intact. >> don't play with it and test it out. >> exactly. >> you don't have to hit the malls today. >> most will give you 90 days, that's three months of shopping time. of course if you want to exchange for a different size and you want the selection, it might not be there, so this week is going to be a very busy week and once you're in the store and you're returning, retailers expect you to buy, buy, buy. i'll talk about later but the sales are enormous.

>> beware of slicing and dicing. this was a number one on me that term. >> we're not talking about what you do with leftovers. we're talking about different stores can have up to 30 different return policies. they might be very slight differences but you really have to read online versus the brick and mortar stores. see what the actual return thing is and where it has to go and how many days you have. 30 days to 90 day, depending on the item. >> different return policies for different kinds of items in the same store. slicing and dicing, beware. also know the laws in your state. >> they can vary. you have to have written either on the receipt or posted prominently what the return policy is and if they say no returns, no cash, just store credit, that's okay as long as you know, but if you have a problem, call your state attorney general's office and find out. >> usually when you return something you bring the credit card you paid for it with if you have it. you also say bring your i.d.

>> right now they're swiping i.d.s, driver's licenses because there are chronic returners. if you're on their bad list they can tell you sorry, you're doing this too often. also another thing if you buy a dress, you can't just wear it that night. >> don't try the leave the tags on routine. >> leave the tags on but don't take it off and come with it attached in some way with a lipstick stain, they're not going to take it back. >> a big new year's no-no. know where to make the return. a lot of times people buy things online and think they have to mail them back. >> sometimes you can take it back to the retailer in a mall. sometimes it must be sent back to an online site which may be different. check the address and know where it goes. >> last tip, be patient. ahhh. do breathing exercises. jani janice, thank you. here's carl. after the returns you'll have more money to take advantage of holiday sales.

matt beam, senior contributing editor of "men's health." >> good morning. >> you think today is the new black friday. >> and cyber monday rolled into one. i saw people lined outside of the h&m and macy's because retailers look for another round of deals. they've got to keep that momentum going into the new year, and so the standard stuff you'd expect to be on sale is on sale like the electronics and outerwear and also things you wouldn't expect like beverages, fine french wines are on sale for example, champagne, baking ingredients because the cookie run from christmas is over, good time to stock up on sugar and flour and electronics, seasonal items, anything red, gold, silver will be flying off the shelves. >> cars as well even. >> that's right, especially at the end of the month, all of the dealers have to make their quota. >> you have a few categories, starting with electronics. >> they're always the big ticket items after thanksgiving but they're still flying off the shelves. we have a couple items here, this one from bestbuy.com, a

gateway computer for just $289, normally $330, and moving along from staples a great deal, a 14 inch laptop from hp, $450, regularly $700 and also at staples we've got a bag here, anything you can fit in the bag except for the computer is 15% off so it's a great time to stock up on software, thousands and thousands of post-its. >> cashmere sweaters swle? a lot of the warm weather inventory got stuck. >> that's right. also this is a gift item, after the holidays so they're trying to move this stuff off the shelves. in the march period they will not move. uniqlo, nordstrom, gilt group have items off. >> outerwear? >> the buying season is before thanksgiving as people get ready for the cold weather so jcpenneys, macy's, bloomingdale's, banana republic,

30% to 70%, and backcountry.com has deals up to 40% as well. >> and you say the consumer has more power because of the apps. >> absolutely. for example we have the nordic track treadmill. if you want to check prices there are a million different apps to do that. this one is at sears, we want to talk about it, "men's health" magazine, $889, a great $1,000 treadmill. lots of apps out there you can use to make sure that you are getting the best price for the money. >> a discount on the person who can run on this for you? see how fast you can take this thing. >> matt, thank you very much, before you hurt yourself and hurt me as well. up next the boy caught in the middle of an international custody dispute, sean goldman speaks out for the first time since being reunited with his father, two years ago, right after this. oh it's clearance time!

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that my real problem area was when i was traveling. it allowed me to kind of tailor my plan to my lifestyle. i lost 29 pounds with weight watchers online. i am like me times five. i'm like cara intensified. [ female announcer ] join for free today. weight watchers online. finally, losing weight clicks. back now at 8:20, with "today's update." this morning catching up with david and sean goldman, the new jersey father and son involved in an international custody case that dragged on for years. sean is now 11 years old and has been back in the u.s. for two years, and natalie morales recently visited with him exclusively. >> wow, whoa! there you go! >> reporter: to look at him now, sean goldman seems like any other 11 years old boy, shooting hoops and hanging out with his dad. >> so any tests today?

>> reporter: but the story behind this all-american moment is one of heart ache, courage and incredible perseverance. in 2004, david goldman's wife, bruna, took their son, sean, then 4 years old, to brazil to visit her family. they never came back. bruna divorced goldman in brazil, remarried, got pregnant, then died during childbirth. david goldman fought for years to get sean back but his ex-wife's family fought, too, and the court battle went on for nearly five years. finally on christmas eve, 2009, david and sean goldman were reunited in brazil. we were there as they flew to new jersey on a jet chartered by nbc news. >> my little boy is five feet away, sound asleep, peaceful. >> reporter: it's great just being around him every day? >> yeah. it is. it fascinates me. >> reporter: two years later i got a chance to catch up with david and sean at home.

what do you remember about two years ago? >> i remember coming home seeing all the snow. >> here's something else. >> to sean. >> reporter: this is sean back in 2009, a lot has changed since then. what's life like for you now? >> i get to wake up and spend time with my dad. i just love hanging out and stuff and playing basketball and baseball. >> reporter: sean took me upstairs to show me his room. this is cool, your room has changed as much as you have. >> yep. >> reporter: tell me, you've grown how much since you got home? >> i'm not sure, i think i was 4'11" when i came here. >> i think so, yeah. >> reporter: you're now about? >> 5'4". >> and a half. stretching. >> reporter: i know you guys just went fishing. i hear you caught something pretty crazy. >> a barracuda or two barracudas. >> reporter: you caught two? were you scared? i would have been freaking out. >> no, but they were really big

and strong. >> reporter: sean's big moment will be featured on an upcoming episode of the show "bass 2 billfish" on the nbc sports network. >> right on, coming up! whoa! woo! >> i'm still processing everything. >> he loves being on the water. he loves anything to do with the ocean, swimming, getting shells, surfing, fishing, so that was a very, very fun memory. >> reporter: a memory david goldman willer chish, after missing so much of sean's childhood. now david continues the work he started on the bring sean home foundation to help other families in similar situations. but he doesn't dwell on the past with sean. does he talk about life in brazil or has he sort of shut out the past? >> he doesn't ask questions about it. once in a while we'll be driving and he'll say, "you know, my mom liked that song."

but that's really it. >> reporter: sean's grandmother in brazil is still fighting to get him back. she's appealing several rulings and hasn't been able to see sean since he left brazil. and you're open to having her come here to visit him. >> oh, yes, yes, i've said that. i didn't want her to walk in my shoes, but she's got to stop the litigation. >> reporter: david says sean is adjusting well to his new life and his new family. david is engaged to his long time girlfriend wendy. they live together along with her two sons, dylan and jesse. just a boy, living a life his father fought so hard to restore. sean even told his dad, "i'm glad you never gave up on me." does he know how lucky he is? >> i hope he feels -- if he doesn't feel lucky, i mean just normal and just a regular, a regular boy. i mean, there's no walls between us. he'll just come up to me and give me a, you know, say "dad,

can i have a hug?" just to hear him say that and to be able to go over and give him that hug. it's just, it's very special. >> we contacted the attorney for sean's grandmother in brazil. in a statement they said "ms. ribeiro is saddened and disappointed that sean has not been permitted to have contact with his brazilian relatives since his return from brazil to new jersey nearly two years ago. she has not been permitted to have any phone or e-mail contact with sean for more than one year. miseriby row has repeatedly offered and remains willing to end her limited application in brazil if mr. goldman would finally allow her to have individualsation with sean in new jersey." we will be back in a moment, but first your local news and weather.

>> live, local, latebreaking. this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore. >> good morning. i am stan stovall. time for a check on the morning commute. . >> good morning, everyone. it has been fairly light of morning. a lot of folks still off from work. possible accident, reports of one on the outer loop of reisterstown road. guilford road, saratoga road, police activity in the city. harford road reopened at 4 road. southbound 895 from the harbor

tunnel. five-minute ride i-95 south. ruxton road, moving smoothly. live view of reisterstown road at the northwest corner. reported accident is not there. >> temperature, plenty of sunshine, 40 degrees. west winds at 7. some of the guests have been in the 20's. the storm system is pulling away from us. around the baltimore oriole, further north, a few scattered showers. this will be moving in for tomorrow's weather. scattered clouds here and there. northwest winds averaging about 10 to 15. maybe if you stronger gusts.

45 to 50 degrees. temperatures remain above average for the season. at the end of the week, another weather disturbance and maybe some rain. some rain. >> our

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let's not put that to the test. we have ideas on how to transform your main course into a delicious brunch. >> also do you make new year's resolution? >> not really. i break them. >> coming up for those of you who make new year's resolutions, what you can do to make 2012 a little better and try to keep them, unlike her. >> also the good, bad and the ugly. some of the lighter moments of the year. >> the frogs. >> here on "today," yes, there's another, chock-full. >> on and on and on. >> this was almost crazy and that's coming up. first a check -- nice serve there, right? no, stephanie abrams from the weather channel. >> we have two kids who say the weather is better in cape charles, virginia. why is that? >> because it's sunny and warmer. >> much warmer. >> much warmer but the interesting thing about the kids, where is mom and dad, y'all? >> at the hotel room. >> and how old are you? >> 13 and 11. >> 11. >> mom and dad, i'm not so sure about this, but they made is so

hopefully you guy also get home okay. home alone, let's have a look at our forecast through the day today. it is going to be sunny into the afternoon hours so at least you got that going for you. otherwise rain in the lower mississippi river valley as we head into tomorrow, it all heads to the east coast, going to be a soggy one here, east of the mississippi river valley. >> good morning. we had a couple of sprinkles last night. and looks like a good day today with dry w >> those two kids think they're pros, debbie you'll make sure they get home. >> i will, i'll take care of

them. >> find out the weather 24 hours a day at weather.com, home alone or not. carl? still ahead, gourmet ideas for the holiday leftovers. but first this is "today" on nbc.

back now at 8:35, this morning on "today's health" understanding alopecia. you tip cle associate hair loss with older men but it can impact women of all ages as well. here's one teen inlg ear's emotional story. like many young girls her age, caitlin bishop hated her hair. >> it was really big and frizzy kind of, so it was just a big poof. >> reporter: everything changed when at 11 years old, caitlin realized her hair was falling out. >> my mom was combing out my hair, i was taking a shower and she noticed a couple of bald spots. we were freaked out. >> another bald spot, another

bald spot and i didn't understand. >> reporter: concerned, caitlin's parents rushed her to the doctor. >> we called the doctor and we scheduled tons of appointments and it took us a while until they finally diagnosed me as alopecia. >> the diagnosis led to more questions. >> being a girl i was wondering what people would think. >> the biggest fear i had was the unknown. when she would ask me questions i was completely honest. i don't know. am i going to lose it all? i don't know. will it grow back? i don't know. >> reporter: while researching alopecia online, caitlin's mother, wendy, found an organization called the hairclub for kids. >> i came up all the brick walls in trying to do my research, and all of the sudden this voice was on the phone. >> hair club for kids is a fabulous program. it's free, free hair and services to any child between the age of 6 and 17, who suffers from hair loss for any medical

condition. >> reporter: caitlin and her family traveled to seattle earlier this year for a procedure called a hair restoration. >> i'm a little nervous, but excited. >> reporter: the treatment calls a biomatrix system will enable caitlin to have a full head of human hair. >> how does it feel? >> feels good. i don't want to wear wigs anymore and i'll basically have my hair back and be able to swim and curl and straighten it and do everything that a regular kid can do with their hair. >> reporter: the process took less than two hours. >> the moment of truth. >> oh, gosh! looks awesome. oh, gosh, i love it. >> reporter: but for caitlin, those two hours were life-changing. >> it will make life better in a lot of ways, mostly feeling kind of normal and just being like a regular kid. >> reporter: and as far as hating her hair -- >> i love the wave of it and the

curl and -- gosh, yeah. >> don't you think it looks like your old hair? >> it does, well it looks better than my old hair. >> i like to see a happy ending. dr. rashini ranlj, good morningo you. >> good morning. >> what is alopecia, how much does it effect? >> it's a condition that affects many people at one point in their lives, sudden hair loss, patches of the scalp, sometimes the entire scalp or other parts of your body that have hair on them but usually it resolves on its own. it is considered an auto immune condition which means your body's own immune system is attack the hair follicles. >> generally speaking most who have alopecia will see hair grow back eventually?

>> 50% of the sufferers have full hair growth within the year. for some people it takes longer. >> we saw caitlin experiencing hair loss at 11 years old. does it tend to affect younger kids more often than adults? >> yes t could occur at any age but usually it starts at childhood. >> we don't really know what causes it. >> right. >> is there anything that's genetic about it in. >> most scientists believe there is some genetic component so if someone in your family has this condition you are at slightly increased risk. many people who don't have family members who will develop it. >> a lot of us brush our hair and find hair, maybe in the shower. how do you tell the difference whether it's normal hair loss that everyone experiences versus something serious like olapecia? >> it is totally normal to see hairs in the brush. the hairs on our head are in different stages of growth and some of them are ready to fall out every day. it is normal to see a few hairs. in this condition a dramatic, sudden loss of patches of hair so you'll see round circles on

the scalp that are bare surrounded by short, broken hairs on the edges. that's a hallmark of this condition. >> we saw caitlin get the amazing transformation with the hair replacement essentially. what other treatment options available? >> because it's an auto immune condition we start with an oral store 'roid or topical steroid cream can help. for some people waiting out but often there is a psychological component to this. >> i was going to ask you about that. especially for youngsters but really for anyone to lose hairdo you have any tips on how people can cope and deal with it? >> one thing is for everyone around that person and the person themselves to understand this can be psychologically devastating, whether you're a man or a woman and no matter what age. so really being understanding about that and doing things like wearing hair pieces or twoigz ma wigs to make you feel more confident. >> doctor, thank you so much. appreciate it. we know you'll be back for the next hour so she's got great ways to feel good in 2012.

coming up next, turning your christmas leftovers into a fabulous brunch. we'll show you how you can do it. first this is "today" on nbc.

♪ rockin' around the christmas tree at the christmas party hop ♪ back at 8:43 on "today's holiday kitchen" we turn your leftovers into a christmas meal. it's your first christmas this year as a mom. >> yes. >> your son alessandro is 3 months old. he's on the right. >> yes, on the right. >> he's too young to work in the kitchen. >> exactly. >> what are we doing today with the leftovers? >> something easy. most people have ham and mushrooms at christmastime, i

wanted to make a fritatata souffle. i separated the egg yolks and the whites, i like to create quality whipping it. the ingredients, parmesan, milk, puree and egg yolk. mix it up. >> what makes it a souffle is? >> the air, the egg whites, you're incorporating the air in it and gives your fritatta a fluffy, light feeling. >> you're talking about stiff peaks which sounds naughty but really isn't. >> yes, look, so it's almost ready now. okay. and now you're going to fold it and you need to take a spatula, remove the whisk, fold in the egg whites for a mixture and you want the air to stay in. it's okay to make a mess. it's the day after christmas. we got a fire on the "today" show. >> popcorn turkey over there. >> once this is folded in we

pour in the mixture, and this is really easy. i think the day after christmas as a host you're tired but there are always leftover guests lingering. >> the product is familiar, a souffle element. >> it's the souffle that makes it special for your guests. >> you're lifting the eggs around the edges. >> we left the edges this way t cooks and you'll cook it seven to eight minutes, put it in the oven for 350 and that's when it's going to rise. it's been deflated a little bit but the texture is much lighter as opposed to a very heavy frittata and it's beautiful. so just lift the edges and that's done. >> okay, beautiful. >> you can have a bite. you can have a bite. >> oh, i will. >> another classic with a lot of american families have turkey for christmas. i've made a turkey pot pie. this is error proof. you buy your store bought cut pastry and potato, turkey, onions, peas. >> as many vegetables as you

like. >> whatever vegetables you had, dump it, put it in the oven, let it cook and you're good. >> the ultimate comfort food. the turkey pot pie. >> now we're going to make -- i'm italian. you ever see the pomatoni in the stores? >> bread and raisins. >> exactly. we're going to make bread pudding. we'll whisk the eggs. i'm going to get your hands dirty. come to my left, put light cream in here, some brown sugar. >> how long does the bread stay in? >> you can do it the night before, let it soak overnight or at least four hours. can you put the bread in? >> all the way in, everything? >> yes, put it all in, get your hands dirty, you want it to soak. go ahead, get in there. >> submerged, right? >> i don't want to ruin my ring. >> what do you think i'm wearing? >> you're a guy. it's different. i got the rock. >> do we have any single people

in here? okay, so the bread is wet. >> overnight your hands are wet, here is the damp cloth, and you can put it in a big casserole, let it bake for about 45 minutes at 325 or individual ramikens, dot it with sugar and butter on top, let it bake and it's so good. >> how many families have leftover panapanatone? >> if you don't have leftovers, buy a box. >> donatella, fantastic stuff, it's delicious. merry christmas and congratulations. >> merry christmas, thank you. still ahead the small changes you can make in the years to come. my ring is still messy. first this is "today" on nbc.

♪ back now at 8:50, with a one-of-a-kind school offering hope through education. here's "today's" contributing correspondent jenna bush hager. >> reporter: open the doors to the monarch school and you'll hear the sounds of laughter and learning. ♪ >> reporter: typical of a good school. but what makes this san diego public school unique is that all of its students are homeless.

open year round it serves kind garden through 12th graders and strives to end the cycle of homelessness. >> i'll give you three wishes. >> reporter: 14-year-old noelle has been homeless for two years. what's the hardest part do you think about being homeless? >> the stress basically, because like stress with food, whether to live, clothes, money, what people might think of you. >> reporter: noelle, along with her grandmeter, sister and baby brother live in this one-bedroom motel room. >> every day we ask the question of how did this happen to us? it's depressing to wake up and not know where is home going to be tomorrow, do we have to call the school and say where we are and it's not easy. >> reporter: noelli and sister jamie spend over two hours getting to and from monarch each day. how important is it to you that your granddaughters get an excellent education? >> it's my life. i want them to have every opportunity that they can have.

>> reporter: monarch strives to create a stable environment, one that combines education with counseling, friendship and support. >> education is the great equalizer. what we're trying to do is give the kids a sense of hope that anything they want to achieve they can. >> they know that they have an identity here as a student and as someone who can be successful and having that stability there is key to their success. >> reporter: academically, most students enter monarch three years behind but within six months they progress a year. in the 18 months since noelle has been in monarch, her reading has improved five grade levels. >> i had no friends, i didn't study and now i'm going and they're helping me, i feel better about myself. >> reporter: with the stigma of homelessness torn down, the students form friendships that resemble family. >> people don't judge you. we're all in the same situation so kind of like it's kind of like a bond, just makes us stronger. >> reporter: the monarch project is the foundation associated

with this school, it provides extra services to the kids and their families. in addition to academic support, each student gets to shop for free clothes, toiletries and school supplies once a month. >> what we try to do which is unique is provide a whole myriad of services beyond the scope of what a traditional school can do. >> reporter: doors open at 6:00 a.m. as soon as the first shelter closes. parents run a coffee cart each morning and twice a week the school hosts dinner for the families. >> we try to make this campus a real place for families to engage, and i think that that is such a hook. >> they really want us to learn and be somebody when we're older. >> i know i'm in a situation but all the school work and the teachers and the friends and the good positive vibes i get from everybody, i kind of feel like i'm in a normal life like everybody else. >> reporter: tell me about this school. is it fun? >> yeah. >> reporter: how come? >> because you get to play and

you get to do art projects and you get to read. you get to do math. >> reporter: and do you feel safe here at school? more than a school, monarch has the warmth and comfort of home. >> i don't want my kids to go through what i went through because i know how it feels. >> reporter: for "today," jenna bush hager, san diego, california. >> i love that story in part because everybody knows it's the early childhood development that's key, sets them for the rest of their lives. >> even with the little boy we interviewed, so articulate and excited about school. great to have a place to go to. still ahead we'll look back at the good times, the bad times and the ugly times, we share it all together here in 2011. there's matt. >> if i was a viewer i would think those people just dance every day. >> it's true. when you were watching commercials we're dancing, there it is, some of the patented moves. >> that's the stuff we can run. >> exactly.

so we just hope you'll walk down memory lane with us and come to the conclusion that we all have, which is we are insane, for sure. >> you got that right. in addition to all the big news stories of the year. before that we'll get you your local news and weather and share some of the most striking images of the past year. ♪ ♪

>> live, local, latebreaking. this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore. >> good morning. i am stan stovall. you might want to check lottery tickets. one person is $125 million richer this morning. that person is the lucky winner who bought a powerball ticket in cecil county. the winner has not come forward

yet, nor

>> sun is out. during the day, we will see mostly sunny skies. winds may be gusting to 25. 45 to 54 the high. >> we are back with weather and traffic update at