he's 37-year-old, a little person and actor who has been in the harry potter films. he's facing the rest of his life in a wheelchair because he was attacked. he believes he's been a victim of dwarf tossing. >> no. >> yes. he was out for his birthday back in the fall and was picked up and thrown randomly by somebody outside of a bar. when he handed, his back and leg went numb and he's not walked properly since that time. there's more to this story. martin believes this whole thing comes after news was made about mike tindall, a famous rugby player in england. news broke he was at an event where there was dwarf tossing at a bar. martin believes this person was like a fan and trying to emulate him and do dwarf tossing of his own. if you look around on the internet, you go on youtube and look up dwarf tossing or midget tossing and there's all sorts of events, all sorts of people where they are doing this thing. and the little people are willingly doing it, participating in these sort of almost competitions you see all over the place, just throwing these guys around. >> s

and believe me, i'm glad you're done talking about harry potter. we've got a real football game to talk about here, diane. i'm talking about the 49ers defense that had to come up big. but if the same could be said for their offense. boy, did we get a good, good game today. one of the best in the history of nfl playoffs. take a look at vernon davis. he is a star. all your highlights next. >> reporter: welcome back. i'm henry wilford. you don't need a sports fan to tell you what's the hottest ticket in the state. playoff football is back in the bay. 49ers and saints, my goodness. it was definitely worth the price of admission this afternoon. one of the most exciting playoff games in nfl history. both teams came to play for sure. jim harbaugh and alex smith fired up before the game. first quarter it was scoreless. alex smith goes to his key man, vernon davis. keep running until you cross the goal line. 49-yard touchdown, 7-049ers and he dunks the ball over the goal post. later in the first, smith to michael crabtree. another easy six points on the boa

wine country is this potter's muse. whee wheeeeeeeeeeeee! wheeeeeeeeeeee! whee whee wheeeeeeeeeeee-he-he-heeeeee! whee whee wheeeeeeeeeeee! pure adrenaline. whee whee wheeeeeeeeeeee! everything you love about geico, now mobile. download the new geico app today. whee wheeeeeeeeeeee-he-he-heeeeee! a new air freshener so smart, that it detects and overcomes unpleasant odors. odor detect works on more than a thousand odors, to keep your world at its brightest. new odor detect. something in the air wick. welcome back, we're in wine country and i'm mary babbitt. ok, time to give it up, the answer to our pop quiz. our question today , when it comes to winemaking, what is must? is it: a - a mixture of grape juice, skins and pulp b - an additive winemakers use in the barrel or c - the leftover yeast extracted from sparkling wine. well you might think an additive is a must in the winemaking process, but the actual answer here is a -- must is a mixture of grape juice, skins and pulp. must is the name used by winemakers for the unfermented liquid consisting of grape ju

we'll talk about "harry potter" later. did you make a conscious decision to go all the way to the other side? number one it's kind of cool you're playing a dad, number one, and it is a horror film? did you decide you wanted to do something totally different than what you have done? >> i think that's the case. for any actor coming out of a franchise, for any actor, you look for as much diversity and variation as you can. i wanted to do something different that people haven't seen and show another side of me. i look different in this film, a lot older. people haven't seen me in something like this before, so i think, you know, i'm excited for people to see that. >> you were really concerned about the connection of playing a father, about the connection you would have with the actor who played your son. so a little bit of creative maneuvering on your part. >> yes, exactly. i did kind of cheat there and help myself out with that. i was -- i was -- people have seen me in a school boy outfit for ten years so it seems like a litt

deborah potter begins her report in akron, ohio. >> reporter: at first glance the front porch cafe could be any coffee shop. those guys at the grill aren't your typical cooks. >> i was a small felony on my record. i know how hard it was for myself to get a job. >> i've been having real poor jobs. i chose to do street life and street life is nothing but trouble. drugs, jail or both. >> reporter: most of the workers here are ex-offenders. the cafe is run by south street ministries. a fellowship that offers bible study for inmates. a place to live, a job is hard to come by. >> i've been arrested 117 times. i've been convicted 12 times. >> we want fast money. i went to prison for ten years for aggravated robbery. behind the aggravated robbery was drugs. >> reporter: perry clark new runs a construction business. michael starks is a community organizers. both say they went straight after finding faith behind bars but when they were locked up the churches they knew were not on their side. >> the church was of the mind set that he did wrong. he's being punished. they thought if you did wrong and

trevor potter. trevor, thank you so much for joining me tonight. (applause) trevor, trevor, you see these shoes? you see those? pretty good. trevor, here's the problem. i need your help. can i run for president and keep my superpac? don't sugarcoat it. >> no. >> stephen: okay, that's a little less sugar than i was hoping for. why? >> you cannot be a candidate and run a superpac. that would be coordinating with yourself. >> stephen: right. and i would go blind. but here's the thing, i love my superpac. and i love the money. i mean just look here this is how much i have raised. >> that is shocking. >> stephen: isn't it. >> but you can't have the pac. you could have it run by somebody else. >> stephen: wait, what, wait, what? someone else can take it over. >> yes. but someone who you would not be coordinating with in terms of pac ads and strategy. >> stephen: oh, trevor, i wouldn't want to even create the appearance of electoral skulduggery if that is a word i can say on a family show. but i think there might be a guy, jon? jon stewart, everybody. (ch

it's where we begin here tonight with nbc's mark potter in jackson, mississippi. >> reporter: on his last days in office, haley barbour, the powerful and highly-regarded mississippi governor ended up angering and confusing so many constituents. without explanation, he granted pardons or early releases to a long list of more than 200 convicts, including 21 murderers and many others serving time for violent crimes. >> pardon means this individual can grab a school bus, go to law school, move in next to you. >> reporter: among those were five prison trustees, who because of good behavior worked at the governor's mansion in jackson. four were convicted murderers. among them david gatlin sentenced to life plus 30 years for shooting to death his estranged wife tammy as she held her 6-week-old son and shooting her friend who survives. tiffany is tammy's sister and says her family is furious with barbour for releasing gatlin, causing them to live in fear. >> he is a cold, calculated murderer. why wouldn't he finish what he started, you know? being a trustee at the governor's mansion does not

mark potter, jackson, mississippi. >>> perhaps it serves us right for all the reporting we did on all the warm winter weather of late. we knew we would have to pay some day and a lot of folks gne. it's a howler in the chicago area tonight. more like winter in chicago. as usual, weather channel meteorologist mike seidel is right out there in the middle of it. mike, good evening. >> reporter: hey, good evening, brian. in most winters, this would be a blip on the radar, but this season is anything but typical with temperatures averaging in the 50s and only two inches of snow in chicago until today. it's the first snowstorm of the season for the windy city, hitting the chicago area with the white stuff. the city's department of sanitation was ready, putting half of its snow-fighting fleet on the roads before sunrise. for some here, snow is a welcome sight. >> i can do without the cold, but the snow i love. >> reporter: others would prefer the recent warm weather with temperatures as much as 30 degrees above average. >> i don't particularly like the snow. but i'm glad that for this to be t

mark potter, nbc news, miami. >>> that's our broadcast for tonight. thank you for being here. i'm brian williams and of course we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. go >>> the governor lays out his plan, and we'll tell you who it affects most. >> good evening, and thank you for joining us. >> the eighth largest economy is on the mend. that's the message governor jerry brown is sending to california

and -- >> woo. >> as a harry potter fan, this is like sacrilegious? >> for kids, yes, but as a grown-up i find it amusing. i keep thinking at the very end of the movie, of the last movie, he breaks the most powerful willie in the world! >> i didn't think -- >> he throw it is over a cliff. >> when you came to work today, you probably didn't think you were going to say that. >> this is so smack for all wizard kind. >> zach, our tech expert, is probably number two. gayle is going to operate this willie and, i've got the perfect spell for this. >> apeariamos. >> that's a good spell. >> i made it up myself. >> you are a harry potter fan as well. what do you think about replacing "wand" with "willie." >> i think it's funny. >> it seems only yesterday your mother was in here, buying her first willie. >> the willie chooses the wizard. >> right. >> that is true. >>> there's a brand-new mission impossible movie and it's not tom cruise that's starring in it. it's kimbo the bulldog. his impossible mission? is to get to one of his favorite tree houses in the rain

nbc's mark potter starts us off from there this evening. >> reporter: authorities say heavy smoke from a wildfire mixed with fog led to the horrific string of accidents which about 20 cars and trucks slammed into each other, some catching fire. the pile-ups occurred in the pitch dark around 4:00 a.m. sunday. terrified callers to 911 describe one crash after the other. >> oh, my god. oh, my god. what is going on? >> we are getting help out there okay? >> oh, my goodness. >> how many vehicles have been involved? >> we cannot see, ma'am. this is the third one already. >> reporter: in the entangled mess, rescue workers had to cut many victims from the wreckage. steven camp survived being hit twice and saw another driver get killed. >> it almost looked like a terrorist attack. you could see the pain, uncertainty and despair everybody had on their face. >> reporter: i-75 was shut down all day sunday causing miles-long traffic jams. today firefighters work to extinguish still-burning hot spots the florida patrol face questions about why the smoky highway was open sunday morning when visibilit

, the lady who writes all the booklets for the school in the harry potter school is madam wiggli. i thought it might be good to contact her to get some additional support for this workshop and then i find there's no need for it because we have tall resources here. you could look at the dutch team and all the professionals here in san francisco to work on the three projects in the next few days, and as you, mr. mayor, i'm looking forward to the results. it's an honor for me to introduce to you hillie talens, who is a great professional in the netherlands about biking, biking infrastructure, the safety of biking. a lot of experience. i would like to give you the floor. hillie! [applause] >> ok, good morning. thank you for the introduction and -- i'll be leading this think bike workshop and for all of you to get an understanding of cycling in the nether land i've prepared a presentation for you all and then we work things out in detail in the three groups i'll introduce to you later. cycling in the nether land, that's what this is all about and i'm not here to you -- we netherlands y

mark potter, nbc news, miami. >>> tonight, millions of americans are dealing with a deep freeze, a blast of arctic air stretching from boston to chicago, temperatures plunging to the teens and 20s after a mild start. winter has roared back with a vengeance and no one is feeling it more than the folks in caribou, maine, where tonight it is a balmy 3 degrees. >>> things are heating up down south in the campaign trail where there is an all-out effort to derail mitt romney in south carolina. well, romney spent the day behind closed doors, his rivals were crisscrossing the state, hoping to stop his momentum before it is too late. nbc's ron mott is on the trail tonight in myrtle beach. ron, good evening. >> reporter: hey, lester. good evening to you. this was a rare day of rest for mitt romney as the rest of the field tried to take advantage, calling on south carolina conservative voters to keep this race from running out of options. >> let us all fight for that -- >> reporter: with republican front-runner mitt romney taking sunday off the campaign trail, his opponents were busy stumping today

mark potter, nbc news, miami. >>> that's our broadcast for tonight. thank you for being here. i'm brian williams and of course we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night.

mark potter, nbc news, miami. >>> that's our broadcast for tonight. thank you for being here. i'm brian williams and of coursi

for that kind of critical reporting that's right it's actually happening we're going to speak to will potter who runs the blog green is the new read about the chilling of free speech we'll have all of that morphy tonight couldn't he does of happy hour but first take a look with the mainstream media has decided to miss. it so today is january nineteenth two thousand and twelve not that really means anything in the mainstream media world to them it's just another day which means just more obsessive political horse race coverage than other seismic shift in the g.o.p. presidential race rick perry expected to drop out two breaking political news stories right here in the newsroom first up rick perry getting ready to tell his supporters that he's out major shakeup in the g.o.p. race for the white house there's a surprise just about every day in this race that in iowa the certified caucus results are in and guess what rick santorum won rick perry is out you gingrich is a way back in and it looks like rick santorum won iowa. just notice a little something missing from the news this morning i don't k

mark potter has more. >> reporter: authorities say heavy smoke from a wildfire mixed wi mixed with fog led to a horrific string of accidents in which several cars struck fire. terrified callers to 911 described one crash after the other. >> oh, my god. oh! oh, my god, what is going on? >> okay, we are getting help out there, okay. >> oh, my goodness. >> how many vehicles have been involved that you've seen so far? >> we cannot see, ma'am. this is the third one already. >> a few minutes later the same car described many more crashes as cars and trucks began to stack up on the highway. >> how many vehicles? >> was that another one? >> yes, ma'am. >> how many vehicles now? >> 16. >> okay. >> do you see any fire? do you see anything like that? >> no fire. we can't see. >> we can hardly see hazards. >> rescue workers had to cut many of the victims from the wreckage. steven camp survived being hit twice and says he saw another driver get killed. >> it almost looked like a terrorist attack, you see the pain and uncertainty and despair on everyone's face. >> it's impossible to see. the haze is

." >> or the nbc hit show, actress monica potter. she's so pretty. more after these messages. >>> nbc's hit show "parenthood" follows the ups and downs of a family and this season christina, played by monica potter, has been on a parenting roller coaster. >> she gave bitter to an unexpected third child while coping with a son with asbergers. take a look. she's worked so hard in high school. she's been so supportive with max. >> we have a great school. >> she's a great kid. that's not her dream school. bergly is not her dream school. >> i'm sorry she's going disappointed but she can get out of school without any debt. she can have a part time job. >> this is killing me. >> that's so real. that is so real. congratulations. >> thank you. it's real but i sounded a little whiney. >> a little. >> just a tad. >> it's not about me it's about hatty. >> that's a nice clip. it is real. a lot of parents are going through that. i know my parents did and with four kids it's tough. >> dreams for your children often clash with the reality of your circumstances. >> a

. >> harry potter. >> the final harry potter film exploded into theaters, conjuring up more than $380 million in ticket sales according to box office mojo. >> it was kind of sweet. it was a nice movie. >> putting an exclamation point on one of the most successful literary and cinematic series of all time. >> it's mr. whosiwitsit and they're riding on their turducken and i need a guide book. great movies this year? trying to think what my choices are. ♪ >> my three favorite movies will tell you a lot about me. number three, "panda 2." number two "winnie the pooh." and number one "puss and boots." worst movie of the year for me "hangover 2." >> cheers. >> it was the same movie! >> you're going to freak out but it's going to be okay. >> how do -- okay, how are you going to make the same movie twice? >> check your pockets. there might be clues. >> come on! >> you're going to freak out but it's going to be okay. >> you know, come up with a new plot. it was still at a wedding. >> i want to interview you about what it's like to work as a maid. >> "the help" turned heads "brides maids" turn

harry potter won four times the stars of the movie were not there either. morgan freeman was on hand to accept a big honor he became the first ever person to be crowned america's favorite movie icon . hank you very much represent something here is what i hope it is. for all of you kind enough to vote for me i hope i represent a working actor who is so incredibly proud to be in this business, humbled and honored to be mentioned in the same company as my fellow nominees, and forever grateful, for this honor. thank you so much. >>> that is a great honor for him but, not one but two biggest winnersover the night don't show up to the awards show you want to reevaluate the awards show. >> who could expect katy perry would be going through a difficult and public divorce. >> she could be comforted by friends. >> she wants time for herself i am not sure what happened to harry potter and his deathly hallows people. >> hollywood needs more awards shows. >>> i think at least two or three a week would be good. >> i enjoy them. >> do you? is >> i do though i did not see

>> harry potter over here. i think one thing you hear so much that the gop establishment -- or the gop elites isn't really behind mitt romney. but when we hear this talk about someone else beating mitt romney, we saw john mccain a couple of days ago endorsing mitt romney, so many folks in that elite are behind mitt romney now. for somebody else to kind of gain in on the ground mitt romney's occupied a the this point, it's hard to conceive that happening. >> patrick gavin, a weekend from hell. >> no, let's focus on the weekend. >> focus on the weekend. >> patrick, thanks so much. >>> still ahead, david gregory who is preparing for sunday's republican debate on "meet the press." >>> also, penn state moves on, a couple of months after the allegations that led to the firing of joe paterno. the litany lie yours are looking at a new head coach. sports is next. >>> time for a little sports. >> oh, good. >> get some predictions around the table. >> get it over with. >> this weekend, we've got the lions playing -- >> th