the transplant, mikey and the mother created mikey's meals to feed the homeless. he's set to appear in the 2011 donate life rose parade float on new year's day. >>> those nutrition labels you have seen for years on everything from chips to cereal will be on the meat you buy. the usda just announced the labels will be required for 40 types of meat and poultry beginning in january, 2012. bay area's vicky wynn has more. >> a cut above or too fatty. that's what consumers have wondered for years about the meat they're buying. the usda says as of 2012, nutrition labels common on other foods will be required for meat, poultry, pork, and lamb. >> this is a tool that lets them understand what they're putting to meals, fielding their families, what they'll get out of that. >> the new rules will not require every individual label to be labeled. superintendents will have the signs with information. >> it's a missed opportunity. usda could have required clearer labeling on ground meat and poultry products. >> list calories, calories from fat, total fat, saturated fat, and chol

mikey calls it paying it forward. he's also in southern california to appear on the 2011 donate life rose parade float during the new year's day parade. >>> the time now 5:57. we have more news, traffic and weather coming up on "today in the bay" at 6:00. >>> some bay area groups are showing their support for the man accused of g aklemecuinsccnt wkstoeail.ik [ male announcer ] how do you say... welcome to the neighborhood.

give his mom a real big hug and tell her i love her for giving me life and donating his organs. >> mikey is also set to appear on the 2011 donate life rose parade float on new year's day. >>> in new york when hands aren't busy putting a shovel to snow tonight, they're pointing fingers at city officials for what they consider the slow response to the sunday blizzard. many are trying to free their cars or trucks from piles of snow on street curbs in all the boroughs while others wait on mass transit that's slow going at best. meanwhile, michael bloomberg is saying city workers are doing the best they can considering the conditions. >> if your street was plowed, the response was adequate. if your street was not plowed, the response was inadequate. we cannot do everything all the time. and we are doing the best we can. >> well, it's more of the same in new jersey where roads and highways look more like graveyards to abandoned vehicles buried in a thick field of white. >>> in the sierra, the results of the first snow survey of the season are in and they are being described as phenomenal. stat

mikey calls it paying it forward. he is also to appear on the 2011 donate life rose day float. if you see him, you will know his story. >>> coming up, if you are what you eat, then there is no wonder kids are flunking out of school these days. we investigate what's really going on in california cafeteria food and why it's causing kids to fail when it comes to grades and their weight. >>> plus, snow, ice and bitter cold temperatures all across the northeast. see how people are recovering from that holiday blizzard. >>> word is leaking out about the next ipad and there might not just be one version. we'll talk about that. >>> the time now is 4:41. we'll be right back. >>> you're watching "today in the east bay" with scott mcgrew, weather with christina loren, traffic with mike in. >>> welcome back, everybody. 4:44 right now. a live look outside looking back at the city of oakland and lots of lights there. the camera shaking a little bit. we might still see some wind moving through as this storm that we had overnight moves out of the bay area this morning. lots of rain out there.

this was the third time around for 13-year-old mikey carraway's life. >> since he is not there, i decided to give back to the community. >> reporter: and this event, which happens on thanksgiving and other holidays as well, clearly had a positive impact on the west oakland community. >> it really makes your christmas brighter, because i don't have any income at this point. so i'm very thankful for the ones who put this on. >> reporter: across the bay, this is the biggest christmas feed in the area. >> it means a lot of people are down and out. >> reporter: glide memorial church and its annual event bring out hundreds of volunteers. >> everyday there are people desperately in need of food and shelter and assistance and we're so fortunate not at this point to have to worry about that. >> reporter: these diners are among 5,000 people getting a warm meal today. it's about the same as last year, but only because that is as much as glide can handle. >> we became very concerned because we're using up our january resources, you know? >> reporter: in the city of richmond, a clothing, toy and food

mikey calls it paying it forward. he's in southern california to appear on the donate life float which is in the rose parade new year's day. more local news coming up in a half hour. the "today" show returns in a minute. have a great morning. see you back here in a bit. captions paid for by nbc-universal television >>> from nbc news, this is "today" from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. >>> welcome to wines day. last wines day of the year, hoda. >> before the new ar. >> yes. december 29th, and everybody's got big old plans and hope you'll be very safe and don't drink and drive and all that good stuff. >> very good. also around this time of year "time" comes out with the best of. i love the end of the years, because there's great lists. here's "time" azazazaz ththe bebest quoote wasas one n mccain and he was tweeting at snooki. >> look at this. >> you are right i would never tax your tanning bed. president obama's tax/spend policy is quite the situation, but i do rec wearing sunscreen. do you think he wrote that himself

my most heartfelt appreciation go to my wife mikey. when i learned of this appointment, i met her at the door of our home in tallahassee and she was crying. she was not just cryg because she was happy. she was crying because she was worried. we at the time had three small sons, max, taylor and chase, 6, 4, and 2 at tevment and she andi knew something that others didn't know, which is that we were going to have another baby. that baby was born here in washington, our daughter, baby madeleine. throughout all of my travels, she has been an unfailing support for me, and i love her dearly. i am appreciative to her. it has been the privilege of my life to serve here, but i wou not be filling my charge in my final speech if i didn't tell you what weighs on my mind and lays upon my heart about the direction of this country. so what i say to you now is with all due respect, but it is with the candor that it deserves. the single-greatest threat to the future of our republic and the prosperity of our people is this congress's failure to control i

i'm mikey and the nbc bay area is getting into the holiday spirit today and we want you to join us. at the san jose holiday parade. the world series champions the giants. you sergio romo and lucille will be the grand marshal and jessica, and bob are going to be doing the live hosting. brent cannon, lawyer ya garcia cannon scheduled to be there with their triplets and the rest of the morning it team will be joining them. the parade starts at 8:30 near the hp pavilion. watch it right here on nbc bay area and we will stream it on-line as well nbcbayarea.com and in san francisco, the bill graham ma nora festival kicks off at 3:00 in the afternoon in union square. music, arts and crafts and a place kids will light their own menorahs and the 25 foot tall mahogany menorah will be hit at 5:00 as hanukkah continues. you have yourself a merry day. >>> in sacramento, and in washington, our elected officials have been meeting almost around the clock to break through their differences on the economy. is it all for show or are they serious about finding common ground? let's ask nbc bay area polit

judge mikey would not talk to me. he talked to a number of other reporters. for some reason he refused to talk to me. i originally sent him a letter and even include a couple of references including the friend and neighbor who was also a circuit judge and i called his office once and got no response to recalled again and the secretary said you are the fellow writing a book. anyway, he never talked to me, so i want to make that clear. first of all, however, i heard a great deal of judge henry lackey on those recordings. i also obtained his personal journal that the fbi asked him to keep. it's very clear and having said that i should also emphasize judge lackey as a clean an honorable record as a judge. in fact, he is the last person on earth scruggs or anybody connected with scruggs should have approached to do a favor for scruggs because dick had basically a progressive democrat, henry lackey is a very conservative republican and has been. it's clear from the recordings henry lackey didn't think very highly of the trial lawyers. dick is the antithesis of henr

my most heartfelt appreciation go to my wife mikey. when i learned of this appointment, i met her at the door of our home in tallahassee and she was crying. she was not just crying because she was happy. she was crying because she was worried. we at the time had three small sons, max, taylor and chase, 6, 4, and 2 at tevment and she andi knew something that others didn't know, which is that we were going to have another baby. that baby was born here in washington, our daughter, baby madeleine. throughout all of my travels, she has been an unfailing support for me, and i love her dearly. i am appreciative to her. it has been the privilege of my life to serve here, but i would not be filling my charge in my final speech if i didn't tell you what weighs on my mind and lays upon my heart about the direction of this country. so what i say to you now is with all due respect, but it is with the candor that it deserves. the single-greatest threat to the future of our republic and the prosperity of our people is this congress's failure to contr

my most heartfelt appreciation go to my wife mikey. when i learned of this appointment, i met her at the door of our home in tallahassee and she was crying. she was not just crying because she was happy. she was crying because she was worried. we at the time had three small sons, max, taylor and chase, 6, 4, and 2 at tevment and she andi knew something that others didn't know, which is that we were going to have another baby. that baby was born here in washington, our daughter, baby madeleine. throughout all of my travels, she has been an unfailing support for me, and i love her dearly. i am appreciative to her. it has been the privilege of my life to serve here, but i would not be filling my charge in my final speech if i didn't tell you what weighs on my mind and lays upon my heart about the direction of this country. so what i say to you now is with all due respect, but it is with the candor that it deserves. the single-greatest threat to the future of our republic and the prosperity of our people is this congress's failure to contr