This is TODAY

Your day starts here. The latest in news, pop culture, wellness and more.

Excitement is at a fever pitch as the U.S. men's soccer team faces Iran today in a game it has to win to advance in the World Cup, and a nonsmoker shares the one symptom that led her to a surprising diagnosis of lung cancer. Plus, Jenna Bush Hager shares the 30-year-old classic she selected as her December book club pick. 

⚽ Amid heightened animosity, U.S. men's soccer team faces Iran in a must-win World Cup game today. 

It's win or go home for the U.S. men's soccer team today when it takes on Iran in the World Cup at 2 p.m. ET in a bid to advance to the tournament's next stage. The game comes after decades of enmity between the two countries and a testy press conference yesterday in which U.S. coaches and players were grilled by Iran's state media. It also comes two days after the U.S. Soccer Federation briefly displayed Iran’s national flag on social media without the emblem of the Islamic Republic in what it said was a move to support protesters in Iran. The controversial gesture prompted Iran officials to call for the U.S. to be kicked out of the World Cup. Here's how to watch the game. 

A nonsmoker shares the one symptom that helped her discover she had stage 1 lung cancer.

Saundra Moore had never smoked, so she was stunned when her doctor informed her she had lung cancer. The former intensive care nurse shared that the road to her diagnosis started when she felt pain in her side that initially went away, but then returned a year later and felt even worse. “I wasn’t symptomatic. I had no difficulty in breathing. I had no coughing, no hoarseness ... which were the typical signs, and I don’t smoke," she tells us. Moore, 64, shared her experiences in recovering from surgery, and her doctor gave us the 2 symptoms of lung cancer that should prompt people to seek medical help if they experience them. 

A cross-country catfishing scam involving an ex-state trooper ended in bloodshed and a police shootout.

An ex-Virginia state trooper traveled to Riverside, California, and allegedly killed the mother and grandparents of a teenage girl he had catfished online, police said. Austin Lee Edwards, 28, was then killed in a shootout with police last Friday after they tracked his vehicle as he was driving with the teen in San Bernardino County. Police said it was believed Edwards had developed an online relationship with the teen and was able to obtain her personal information. The cause and manner of death of the three family members is still pending, and an investigation is ongoing, police said. Follow the latest here. 

📚 Jenna Bush Hager's December book club selection is a favorite she has recommended for 30 years. 

Jenna broke with her usual approach of recommending new books for her Read With Jenna series to instead celebrate a "perfect book" that she has recommended for 30 years. Her December selection is "The Secret History," a 1992 classic by acclaimed author Donna Tartt that tells the story of the events leading to a student's death at a small college in Vermont. Jenna first read it when she was in college after a recommendation by her twin sister, and she still finds it a vibrant read three decades later. "With a book as layered as ‘The Secret History,’ there's going to be new revelations every time you read it," Jenna said. 

Achieve your life goals with easy tips.

While we're on the topic of Jenna's book club ... are you looking to gain a little insight into your life or maybe just have a little superstitious fun? If so, be like Ann Stilwell — the main character in Read With Jenna's November pick, "The Cloisters" — who uses medieval tarot cards to get some answers. The book's author, Katy Hays, says she used them for a creative boost as she wrote it. If you're ready to give tarot a try, we have 17 tarot decks for beginners recommended by professional tarot readers, plus tips from the pros about how to read tarot cards. 

Allow us to do the meal-planning for you.

Don't let cooking a prime rib roast intimidate you if you're considering making it the centerpiece of a holiday meal. With 3 simple tips and an easy prime rib roast recipe from food writer and recipe developer Casey Barber, you'll have people coming back for seconds and won't have to spend too much time on making side dishes. Casey has you covered with pointers on how much prime rib to buy, how to properly season it and detailed instructions on how to cook it.  

A little pick-me-up before you go.

A Florida man got down on one knee to propose to his girlfriend. Then he dove off the side of a boat. Scott Clyne and girlfriend Suzie Tucker had an engagement to remember when the ring box fell out of Clyne's pocket into the Gulf of Mexico when he went to propose on a sunset boat ride ride. Clyne immediately leaped into the water and was able to retrieve the ring box and finish his proposal (while soaking wet). The scene was captured on a video that has more than 8 million views on TikTok. “By the time the ring fell out, she thought I had actually fallen over," Tucker tells us. "She was laughing hysterically, but she didn’t even see the ring drop or anything.”

Thanks for letting us in your inbox!
See you again tomorrow morning.

Written by Scott Stump | Edited by Philip Caulfield

Want to refer a friend? They can subscribe here.