good morning. here comes the bride. chelsea clinton gets married in a high society, high security wedding. we've got the first photos and all the highlights from her big day. love is in the air. two newly wed military pilots separated for months by deployment but reunited on one final combat mission. they're back on the ground and in our studio to share their story. shark scare. up and down the east coast authorities shut down beaches amid a series of shark sightings. a look behind the frenzy that has beach goers on alert. today, sunday, august 1st, 2010.

captions paid for by nbc-universal television good morning, everyone. welcome to "today" on a sunday. i'm lester holt. >> and i'm jenna wolfe. after weeks of planning by them and weeks of guessing what they planned by us, chelsea clinton is officially married. >> it's amazing how little we knew going in but a lot of things added up as expected. from what we've seen the event lived up to the hype. it happened under blue skies and a very romantic no-fly zone. chelsea clinton escorted by her father, the former president. in a statement her parents said they watched the wedding with great pride and overwhelming emotion and could not have asked for a more perfect day. let's get down to the nitty-gritty. what they wore is important to a lot of folks. >> here we go. chelsea wore a strapless silver-studded gown by vera wang. her mother, secretary of state hillary clinton, wore a fuchsia dress by oscar de la renta. after weeks of rumors,

speculation and intrigues, who was on the guest list and what was it like inside those tents? we'll find out in just a bit. >> the guys wore black tuxes. we'll talk about the latest from the gulf oil spill this morning. there are new concerns about the amount of chemical dispersant they have been using to fight the spill. it's put in the water to break up the oil into smaller droplets. the downside is it's toxic to marine life. now congressional investigators are asking if the coast guard let bp use too much. let's get back to it, what did you wear last night? >> black pajamas. >> making sure. i figured. but it was awkward that i didn't ask. then a little bit later on, we're going to introduce you to oscar. at first glance he might look like an ordinary cat until you take a closer look at his legs. we're calling them bionic legs. we'll tell you about revolutionary surgery that gave him a new lease on his nine

lives. we'll have more on that next half hour. let's get to the big story. the photos everyone is talking about. the lavish wedding of chelsea clinton. lavish wedding of chelsea clinton. we're in rhinebeck, new york. good morning. >> reporter: after weeks of rumor and fierce speculation, chelsea and marc got married in rhinebeck on saturday. the family has released pictures of the event. people have been anxious to see. chelsea was stunning in this dress designed by vera wang. as the mother of the bride, secretary of state hillary clinton wore a dress by new york designer oscar de la renta. the excitement in and around the town of rhinebeck on saturday was palpable as guests in black tie boarded the bus for the much-anticipated ceremony. many tried to get a peek at some of the dozens of young men and women who made their way to the

secluded and heavily guarded estate. actors ted dan son and mary steen berger, designer vera wang, family friend vernon jordan and madeleine albright were some of the celebrities in attendance. >> i can only imagine they feel like we did when our daughter got married last summer and when our second daughter is getting married this summer. joy. pure joy. >> reporter: after mr. and mrs. mezvinsky tied the knot, the beaming bride's parents, former president clinton and secretary of state hillary clinton, issued this statement saying, we watched with great pride and overwhelming emotion as chelsea and marc wed in a beautiful ceremony at astor courts, surrounded by family and their close friends. overall, details of the wedding remain cloaked in a veil of secrecy, but it created a town abuzz with media and sec taters.

earlier this month hillary clinton told nbc's andrea mitchell the wedding who not be a high-profile wedding. >> chelsea's wedding. >> it is herself, a family wedding. people coming are her friends, people meaningful in her life, as it should be. >> reporter: for weeks the clintons guarded every detail of the wedding with cia-style secrecy, even requiring vendors to sign krft shaconfidentiality agreements. they managed their only daughter's wedding the way they guarded her in the white house. she groew to a poised young women. the clintons also said in a statement, a very special thanks to the people in the town of rhinebeck. the people here have been very welcoming of the wedding party. as one person said to me, lester, even though the folks here weren't invited, the world class buzz this event created has been a lot of fun for the town.

>> thanks. we want to get a check of other top headlines and we'll turn it over to jeff rossen at the news desk. >> good morning, everyone. we begin with the oil disaster in the gulf where a new controversy is brewing this morning. congressional investigators now say the coast guard allowed bp to spread too many toxic chemicals. nbc's michelle franzen live in venice, louisiana. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. that criticism coming from representative edward marky who sent a letter to thad allen, accusing the coast guard of what he calls rubber-stamping bp's use of chemical dispersants on the surface of the water as well as below. that despite a federal directive from the epa calling for it to be used in rare circumstances. now in a washington post interview, allen is defending those actions saying commanders in that area certainly made those decisions on a day-to-day basis and even the environmental

protection agency says that the use of dispersants after its directive and after its peak had dropped by about 72%. in the meantime, all eyes this week will be out on the site of the well. that is because the static kill is set to begin in the next couple of days. that could be the first step in what could be a permanent fix to capping the well for good. jeff? >> nbc's michelle franzen in louisiana for us. thanks. an all-out manhunt is under way in arizona this morning after three convicted murderers escaped from a state prison in golden valley. police warn the three es skaep escapees, pictures on your screen, are considered armed and dangerous. authorities say the men and the woman from the outside helped them. they kidnapped two truck drivers at gunpoint and used the big rig to get away. over seas in pakistan's worst flooding in decades has killed more than 1100 people. rescuers are still struggling to save more than 27,000 others still trapped. thousands of homes have also

been destroyed. a toddler in turkey is lucky to be alive this morning after he fell three stories from his apartment building. as you can see, it was all caught on surveillance tape. luckily, there was a pile of plastic pipes that broke his fall. amazingly, there he is, he only suffered a broken arm and a broken leg. he will be okay. zaza gabor may be leaving the hospital. she will spend the rest of the week in physical therapy. she was hospitalized two weeks ago after she fell and broke her hip. finally, we just told you about it, chelsea clinton's wedding may have been the biggest of the year but one california wedding had the biggest guest. a beverly hills wedding had the groom riding in on that guy, an 8800 pound asian elephant. more than 800 relatives and friends marched with the elephant, down the street, all the way to the ceremony. take that, chelsea.

that's the fews. now back to lester, jenna and chris. >> i'm not seeing an elephant in rhinebeck. >> no, they tried, though. >> couldn't get one in. thanks very much. the weather channel's chris warren is here with a check of the weather. good morning. >> good morning to both of you. once again, we're talking about the heat. it is hot again. taking a look at the south, we are going to see these temperature soar into the 90s. you addadd in that humidity, th going to feel like triple digits. you know it's hot when we have heat watches, advisories and warnings for the south. we're going to hang good sunday morning, patchy low clouds and cool temperatures as we head towards lunch time, we'll see more mild temperatures today. 80s inland, upper 70s san jose. oakland with mild weather through the next seven days into the start of the workweek. north dakota even

around 90 degrees. that's your forecast. now here's lester. >> chris, thanks. now to politics. it was a tough week for house democrats with two of their own under scrutiny for ethics violations. for more of that and the rest of the political landscape we want to turn to david gregory, moderator of "meet the press." good to see you. >> good morning. >> a week ago we were talking about charlie rangel's efforts, ethics violations and the prospects for a fall trial. now maxine waters could face an ethics trial on charges she was helping a bank, that her husband was invested if. these are two long-standing members of the house. are their ties negsly a link to what happens to democrats in the fall? >> not necessarily. you'll see a lot of republicans who will try to use that old comment from nancy pelosi, the speaker, about drawning the swamp in washington against her

and against the democrats. she would counter there are ethics proceedings moving forward, that the process is work. i think the rangel issue at the moment is more pressing. president obama had some comments, which were pretty tepid saying he's at the end of his career and these allegations are troubling. this is not what democrats want. there is concern about rangel, pong those i talked to capitol hill, that he remains pretty steadfast in his view of what the facts are and what he may have done wrong. and as long as he remains, you know, really dug in on those point they're not going to reach a deal. that's the concern, this hangs out there and more and more democrats have to find a way to distance themselves from him. >> in the meanwhile, the president is trying to put the republicans on the defensive. in his radio address he went after republicans for blocking this $30 billion fund for banks to loan money to small businesses. republicans are looking at that

as another bailout. has this, in fact, been a democratic priority or something they're for you pushing forward because fall elections are in view? >> you're seeing more and more of this, lester. president, who is out at an auto plant on friday in michigan, talking about the success of the government auto bailouts and how that really did keep jobs at the company, even though so many were lost. you're going to see more and more argument from the president that republicans have actually stood in the way of economic recovery. that's how he want to try to frame the message for the fall. and i think this radio address and the point he's making about that fund very much plays into that. >> you have a big program this morning. tell us what's coming up on "meet the press." >> we do. our lead newsmaker interview is admiral mike mull en, who will speak specifically about what is the threat of these secret war document to u.s. soldiers, afghan civilians and the very tough issue of our strategy in afghanistan, what's working and isn't. our economic roundtable with alan greenspan and ed republican

dal about why recovery feels so much like recession. >> we'll be watching "meet the press" later on nbc. thanks very much. >> thanks. up next on "today," summer of sharks. sightings on both coasts have beaches cd d beachgoers on edge. we'll fish out fact versus fiction right after this. by more doctors. only miralax is clinically proven to relieve constipation with no harsh side effects. miralax is the only one. restore your body's natural rhythm with miralax. [ female announcer ] start your morning... hey. what are you doing up? i thought i'd take a drive before work. want to come? [ female announcer ] or make his day. yeah. [ female announcer ] maxwell house gives you a rich, full-flavored cup of coffee, so you can be good to the last drop. [ female announcer ] maxwell house gives you a rich, full-flavored cup of coffee,

have you tried honey bunches of oats with real strawberries? wow. it's seriously strawberry. they're everywhere. it's in the bunches, on the flakes, even real strawberries in the mix. can i have some more? honey bunches of oats with real strawberries. it's delicious. nobody does it quite like us. beaches were closed saturday after five great white sharks were spotted as close as 100 yards from the shore and shark sightings closed beaches in new jersey for a third day in a row causing more curiosity than panic. so how serious are these sightings and what are the myths and facts about these creatures? andy dehart is a marine biologist and shark adviser for the discovery channel. good morning. >> good morning, how are you doing? >> i'm good. after the music that played during that i'm kind of freaked out a little bit. are sharks really the vicious killers that we make them out to be? >> that is the biggest misconception that sharks are mindless eating machines. they're actually fairly intelligent for fish.

probably comparable to a dog or cat and they're not eating machines. there's over 400 specieses and not one of them has human beings on its menu. >> why are they showing up in san diego or jersey or cape cod? >> the amazing thing is they have always been there and we're just having a weird weather year and they're coming closer to shore. it's good we're seeing more great whites off massachusetts. it means their population is making a slow comeback. >> good for them. >> it might make us scared but it's much more dangerous to drive to the beach than swimming at the beach. there's less than 100 attacks per year. >> so tell me a little about sharks. i understand they have an incredible sense of smell. is it true they can smell a droplet of blood in an olympic-size swimming pool? >> that's correct. a shark can smell one drop of blood in an olympic-size swimming pool. they can separate where the smell is coming from to help hone in on where the location is. >> they hear -- when we hear

about shark attacks, are they going after us? do they know the difference between a human and a fish when they approach what looks like a body? >> they are very visual predators but most of these attacks that do happen are cases of mistaken identity where a shark thinks it's going after its normal prey, like a seal or sea turtle and unfortunately we're there. usually when that happens, the shark usually spits us out. >> usually, hopefully. shark week begins tonight on the discovery channel. tell us something that may surprise us about sharks. >> this is our 23rd year. it kicks off at 9:00 eastern with ultimate air jaws. we take super slow motion high def cameras back to south africa getting these 1,000 pound great white sharks leaping out of the water at 25 miles an hour. it's an absolutely fantastic premiere. so tonight, 9:00 eastern. >>s if you have one thing that give us, gosh forbid for find ourselves in the water and a shark is coming our way, what did andy say about what we're supposed to do again, what would you say? >> if you're scuba diving or

snore kelling, put a smile on your face. it's going to be a great encounter. if you think it's going to attack him, whack him, punch him on top of their nose and they'll take off out of the area. >> so mental note, shark comes up to me, i'm going to smile because -- yeah, that's going to happen. andy, thank you so much for joining us. we're looking forward to tonight. still to come on "today," life after simon and ellen as "american idol" enters its tenth season. what does the future hold? we'll take a look. first these messages. today is your tasty lucky day! sure, why not? isn't this the yogurt that, you know... helps regulate your digestive system. ooh, i think i'll pass. no, no, no! trust me. it is beyond tasty. okay! mmm! wow! i can't believe it, i love it! mmm, this is really good! new best tasting activia ever! taste it, love it, or it's free! ♪ activia

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it was a tough week for the hit show "american idol." first comedian ellen degeneres announced she was leaving the show and then rumors swirl that kara wouldn't be back either.

>> with simon cowell leaving that leaves idol with one original judge left so can the show survive such a huge change. here's nbc's lee cowan. >> reporter: after nine seasons, "american idol" is having an identity crisis. because for all the talk of the show's contestants, vital judges added the spark. >> it was so horrific, i mean it was as bad as i've ever heard in my life. >> reporter: simon cowell was the ying to ellen degeneres's yang. >> you're becoming a mushy banana. >> reporter: many fans liked her as the kinder, gentler judge. >> she has that fun character and just a person that the general joe that's watching at home. >> reporter: others say they missed the crazy that former judge paula abdul brought to the table and critics say that at times ellen seemed more a fan than a judge. >> that was fantastic!

you sounded so good. >> she had some discomfort with giving honest critiques of these contestants, sometimes pretty awful singing. and i think that really became difficult for her as the season progressed because she does like to usually be nice. >> reporter: so much so that she shockingly announced her departure from the show last week, saying it didn't feel right. it was hard for me to judge people, she wrote, and sometimes hurt their feelings. and with that, she was gone. so what happens to america's most popular show now? cowell, arguably its brand name, already announced he's leaving. and most critics think that kara isn't coming back either. leaving randy jackson, the only original judge left. >> it doesn't really feel like "american idol" anymore. >> reporter: there are rumors galore about high wattage replacements. jennifer lopez, elton john, steven tyler, brett michaels, just to name a few.

>> a lot needs to change in order for the show to really be as fun, fresh and viable as it's been in this last eight years. >> reporter: for a show that celebrates the underdog, few are counting "idol" out, but next season the pop culture sensation is getting a makeover, whether it likes it or not. for "today," lee cowan, nbc news, los angeles. >> you know, i watch the show every week and you sit on your couch and play arm chair quarterback. oh, that guy is terrible, but i could see it, you get up in front of all these people and you have a hard time being that critical of someone. >> a lot of them are amateurs. did you like the list of potential new judges? >> i do, i do. i think there should be a rotating spot for sunday weekend anchors but that's just me. maybe, perhaps. >> i was going to suggest donald trump. >> he'd let everybody go. there would be no one left. the show would be over in two weeks. still to come, meet the cat given a new lease on life after a horrific accident by a new set of bionic legs. martina mcbride and sunny d

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it's 6:26, and you're looking out at a foggy day on the golden gate bridge there. but it's shaping up to be a beautiful sunday morning. thanks so much for joining us. this morning we are morning that a deal between the firefighters union ask the city of san jose could bring jobs back sooner than expected. this week, 49 firefighters were laid off after the city and union could not reach an agreement on salary and benefits concessions. today, the union is expected to announce plans to accept deeper cuts. it's hoping that will be enough to reverse the tide of layoffs and keep four fire companies on the road. it's still unclear how many of

the 49 firefighters' jobs will be restored. police arrested 40 people after busting a cock fighting ring in the north bay. it was near american canyon. deputies from the napa county sheriff's office, along with officers from vallejo and napa found 50 birds at the scene, along with drugs and firearms. for a brief time, chp had to shut down american canyon road because so many spectators were fleeing the scene. >> approximately 65, to maybe 80 gentlemen viewing and participating in an active cock fight in a makeshift arena up on the hill here behind me. >> deputies also recovered two dead birds. they are questioning the owner of that property. jury selection starts this week in the trial of three men accused of a murder for hire plot, targeting a popular los gatos businessman. mark achilles was gunned down in

front of his condo in march of 2008. 29-year-old paul garcia will be tried along the two men he allegedly paid to shoot him. prosecutors say he hired them for $9,500. they say the plot was spurred by a love triangle and garcia wanted acile out of the way. he faces life without parole. san francisco's inmate population is dropping. "the chronicle" says it's down 21% since march when the police department's crime lab scandal broke, which led to the dismissal of hundreds of pending drug cases. authorities say a dip in crime is another reason for the decline. and now here's a quick look at the forecast with nbc bay area meteorologist rob my ata. >> good sunday morning. we're watching patches of low clouds and drizzlel along the coast and peninsula. sunshine in the afternoon, but these mild temperatures will be sticking around for a while, much like we saw yesterday. we'll wake up to low clouds,

mainly on the coast and as we head through the afternoon, we'll see mild weather that will take us into the 70s, probably right around lunch time. notice our highs still way below average for this time of year. mid 80s for livermore for highs, 70s san jose. low 60s in san francisco and oakland. we're going to wrap-up this weekend on a mild note and start off the month of august -- yes, we're in august now, and seeing temperatures in the 70s and 80s inland and lots of 60s near the coast. we'll have all of the day's top stories at 7:00 on "bay area sunday." right now we take you back to the "today" show.

and we're back on this sunday morning. believe it or not, it is the 1st day of august already, 2010. thanks to this lovy crowd for joining us on a nice morning here in new york city. very pleasant morning. i'm jenna wolfe along with lester holt. still to come in this half hour, everything from the dress to the flowers to the rehearsal dinner to the music, everybody is talking about chelsea clinton's wedding. it's no secret anymore. chelsea clinton is officially a married woman. she exchanged vows with long-time beau marc mezvinsky last night. coming up we'll have all the details on what the parents are calling a perfect wedding. then we're going to meet up with a cat that i guess is

definitely giving new meaning to the term "nine lives." and has a new set of legs to prove it. oscar in a terrible accident and given only a 50/50 shot of living until a revolutionary surgery saved his life. we'll show you his bionic legs just ahead. >> did you see that, there were like 12 doctors working on that cat. i wonder if the cat even knows how lucky that cat is to have had such amazing care. >> he gets around really well on them. >> well, it is bionic, after all. plus a storybook midair reunion for newlywed members of our military. two pilots, the husband flies in the navy, the wife flies a refueling tanker for the air force. right after their wedding last year their deployments pulled them apart until one mission brought them together in the skies above pakistan. we all saw the picture and now they're back on land in our studio. they'll share their studio just ahead. >> we just met them in the green room, beautiful, nice newlywed

couple. >> happy too. >> we'll look forward to talking to them shortly. >> first we want to get another check of the weather from chris warren. >> hello to both of you, good morning. it is a much, much more pleasant weekend here in new york city. the humidity not a factor and it's much, much cooler. one spot where it is still on the hot side is to the south, throughout much of the south. we are seeing the sizzling temperatures, but we are talking some brutal conditions. we are going to see these heat indices well into the triple digits here. also that monsoonal moisture will bring some storms, possibly some flooding throughout parts of the southwest. strong storms as well throughout the dakotas and into minnesota. that will shift a little farther to the east for tomorrow. the northeast, we're going to see some spotty storms tomorrow and we'll see some pretty nice conditions here in the northeast and throughout much of the northwest. that's a look at what's going on across the good sunday morning to you. we're seeing patchy low clouds and cool temperatures to get the day started as we head towards lunch time, we'll see more mild

temperatures today. 80s inland, upper 70s san jose. 60s in san francisco and oakland with mild weather through the next seven days into the start of the workweek. and remember, you can always get your weather at weather.com any time. now here's lester. >> all right, chris, thanks very much. as you might have heard by now, there was a pretty big wedding yesterday. former first daughter chelsea clinton got married in a lavish ceremony last night. here with more details on chelsea's big day is bonnie fuller, editor in chief of "holiday life.com. there were so many bits and drabs of what we thought was going to happen. how did it add up to the reality? >> well, it was even better than what we had heard. in some ways it was different.

it wasn't as star-studded as we might have expected based on the early reports. however, it was more personal. it was very beautiful, elegant. chelsea looked gorgeous. she wore a vera wang gown, strapless, silver-studded. what made it was this silver belt that was very ornate and she kept everything very elegant, very grace kelly. her hair was pulled back, long veil, simple diamond earrings. her groom and bill clinton wore dark suits, very classic, very simple. >> the former president lost a lot of weight. he looked good. >> he did. >> the guest list wasn't as star-studded as many suggested. were there awkward moments in terms of who made this list and who didn't? >> i don't think so. i think chelsea wanted to have a very personal wedding and so when you saw the guests, they were mostly busloads of young people in their 20s and 30s in long gowns and suits. >> their friends. >> exactly, their friends. however, there was ted danson

and mary steenburgen, there was madeleine albright, there was vernon jordan so you saw there were some big names who were friends of the clintons as well, the parents. >> in terms of the ceremony itself, was it in fact an interfaith ceremony? >> it was. and it looked to have been beautifully done. there was a rabbi and a minister in attendance. the couple were married under a beautiful hoopa. they had a traditional jewish marriage certificate which you can see in some of the pictures and the groom wore a traditional prayer shawl and yamica. >> there were questions about how much this whole thing cost. some said in the six figures, some said in the millions. what have you heard about what the cost was? >> there were guesstimates that it was as much as $5 million. i would say it was closer to a million to two million. i think that it was absolutely beautifully done.

apparently they had the top fluorist from the four seasons paris hotel and they spent $500,000 on flowers. i would think that could have happened. the tents were expensive. a lot of the costs went into things that you couldn't see, like security. because they would have had to have had a tremendous amount of security and also a tremendous amount of help to organize this. >> when you look at celebrity weddings, how do they do in terms of managing the security and the secrecy of this entire thing, the privacy of the couple? >> they did an amazing job of keeping it secret. i mean look at just little details have come out. and i believe they may have had confidentiality agreements signed by everybody involved, the guests as well as everybody who provided services. but we do know now that it was catered by the st. regis hotel from here in new york and that there was a gluten-free wedding cake by a bakery in mt. kisco.

>> that was in deference in chel sea. >> yes, she is a vegan so there were vegan foods and an option for beef for dinner. remember this picture? a military couple separated for a year, reunited in midair on a refueling mission. we'll meet them live right after these messages. when i was seventeen i was not good to my skin. long summer days, and not enough sleep. what i wouldn't do for a do-over. [ female announcer ] new neutrogena® clinical skincare. exclusive ion2 complex combined with activating cream helps restore collagen depleted skin. neutrogena clinical skincare is clinically tested to undo the look of a year's worth of skin aging in just 4 weeks. do-overs do exist. [ female announcer ] new clinical skincare. neutrogena. #1 dermatologist recommended brand. but this is warm, fresh-baked strawberry toaster strudel.

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the world can be a far less threatening place. take the scary out of life with travelers insurance... and see the world in a different light. i'm from the gulf coast. my family spends a lot of time here. i have a personal interest in ensuring that we get this job done right. i'm keith seilhan. i'm in charge of bp's clean up on the gulf coast. bp's taken full responsibility for the clean up, and that includes keeping you informed. over 25,000 people are included in the clean up operation. our crews are cleaning the gulf beaches 24/7. we're going to be here as long as it takes to make this right. now to a story we first told you about a few weeks ago. navy lieutenant jeff mclean and christine mclean were married in 2009 but they were deployed to separate places right after the wedding and spent most of their first year of marriage apart. it wasn't until their last mission that they reunited in

midair when by coincidence christine was the pilot sent to refuel jeff's plane. both navy lieutenant jeff mclean and air force captain christine mclean join us this morning to share their story. good morning to both of you. >> good morning. >> we were all captivated by the picture. it was a very cool thing. we should note you were both working in the area of operations in afghanistan and pakistan. you had been trying to make this happen by paperwork, correct? >> yes. we both talked to our schedulers to see if we could make it work but just so many aircraft in the air, it's a tough thing to orchestrate two individuals trying to hook up, you know, for refueling. >> you'd have to refuel on a mission and typically you would refuel many airplanes. >> right. and it changes. there's no set plan. there was a set plan but it changes every day and things change all the time. >> and this is really the last shot. you were over pakistan. you know you have fighters coming up. did you have any idea your husband was one of them? >> well, we had tried to make it work. we had tried to make it work. i was flying the correct configuration to refuel his

plane, and we were flying at the same time, but you never really know until he checked on the radio and it turned out to be him. >> so, jeff, you contacted -- you turned to the right frequency, contacted your tanker. >> right. >> and you hear christine's voice. >> it was amazing. i couldn't stop smiling. we had -- we were working with some troops in the helmand province of afghanistan there. i was flying with a weapons systems officer in the back seat and we switched up with the tanker and i said that's my wife. we just have a chuckle. it was pretty amazing. >> but air refueling is a fairly risky thing so it's got to be all business. was there any social interchange as well? >> initially it was all business. we had to orchestrate the rendezvous and find each other in the dark. it was strictly business. once i pulled up next to her. it was refueling as usual so we got to talk to each other. >> and your wing man took that

photograph. >> yeah, he said this is kind of a cool thing, i want to try to get a picture if it. >> did you invite jeff to fly alongside? you're up front and he's refueling back there. >> well, he can pull up to the wing. he actually came up to the wing and i turned on the lights of my aircraft and i gave him a big wave because our cockpits are pretty -- it's pretty -- we can turn off the lights in ours. i'm not sure he can do that in his. >> i understand jeff did a little hot dogging after a while. >> yeah, a little afterburner shot which is -- hope fully looked pretty cool. >> it was cool. we could feel it and hear it inside of the cockpit. >> now, you're stationed in england. are you still there? >> actually i just moved to north carolina to the 911th associate unit. >> and you're based down in virginia beach. >> virginia beach with the the jolly rogers. >> typically air force and navy bases aren't colocated so this is going to be an issue. >> we're three hours away but it's better than the ocean, so

we're closer than we've ever been. >> you guys are cute newlyweds. i bet when navy is playing air force, it's not so cozy. >> we started dating at a navy-air force football game. that was the first time navy beat air force and we haven't lost since. i probably just got myself in trouble. >> stop here, let's stop here. jeff and christine mclean, really fun talking to you. great story. thanks for what you both do. we appreciate it. now here's jenna. lester, thanks. now to the story of oscar, the cat. earlier this year oscar nearly died when a combine harvester ran over him and severed both of his hind legs. miraculously he survived and is on the road to recovery thanks to revolutionary surgery. here's his tale. >> reporter: he looks like an ordinary cat, but oscar is anything but ordinary. he's a bionic cat. his hind legs were severed by a combine harvester as a nearby

field last year, so those aren't white paws you see, they're bionic legs. >> i felt he was a fighter. and i felt he wanted to live. he dragged himself all the way home. >> reporter: noel using a vet practice with state-of-the-art equipment. when oscar arrived, his chances were 50/50. >> the real key was to design a foot, a blade that would not only allow oscar to run but would also break before the metal inside his body broke. >> reporter: the design saved oscar and helped him to fight back. >> it's very much like a professional football player coming back into the game. he wants to play the game, he needs to play the game, we need to give him the tools with which to play the game. >> reporter: but be aware, high-tech treatment doesn't mean a high-tech pet. >> bionic is not about making stronger, faster, quicker. bionic is about restoring life. >> reporter: and that's just what science has given oscar, another life. one down, eight to go.

>> wow! and joining us this morning are oscar's owners, mike nolan and kate allen along with oscar himself. good morning to you guys. >> good morning. >> mike, let me start with you. can you take us back to the afternoon of the accident and tell us briefly what actually happened to oscar? >> sure. oscar had been out in the field opposite our house and they were harvesting the corn that was in the field. and i thought oscar would probably have heard the combine and run away, but obviously he must have gotten caught up and hit by the combine harvester. a passerby luckily saw oscar trying to limp home and covered in blood. she started knocking on a few doors and came out and found him in the hedge row of the field

covered in blood. it wasn't very pretty at all. >> i'm sure you're very lucky to have had a very good neighbor there. kate, let me ask you this, when you brought oscar to the vet and they told you about oscar's chances, i understand you were mildly concerned. a cat can live without one leg but can't really survive without two? >> we really didn't think there was any way to be able to survive with only two front paws. we thought we were taking him to the vet for the final time that afternoon. and the vet in jersey bandaged him, made him comfortable and so on. but we really were just expecting to get a call any time saying this is the end for oscar, which was a really, really terrible night for us last september. >> so now you hear about this revolutionary surgery. was it an easy decision for you right away? did you say, okay, let's do it? or were there some concerns there? >> we had to think about what was best for oscar at the end of the day. we did a lot of soul searching.

we had a lot of faith in our vet in jersey. and he referred us to noel. and we had lots of conversations that happened between our vet in jersey and here in england. we had to do a lot of soul searching thinking is this the right thing to do for oscar. the surgery would be a long, slow process. no one knows it's going to work, it's never been done before. but he was such a little fighter we thought, this could be his only -- well, it was his only chance, no question. >> mike, it's important to note here that you did not want oscar to be some sort of experimental surgery. you didn't want him to be a guinea pig there. can you tell us how he's doing? i understand bionic legs doesn't mean he's jumping off buildings or jumping through things or whatnot, but what is his prognosis? how is he right now? >> he is -- as you can see, he's absolutely fine. he's loving life. he's put on weight actually

since his accident. he's loving every second as far as we can see. it was never about the experimentation it was always about getting oscar the quality of life that he was capable of having. >> and will he have the same life that he had before now with his new legs? >> the only thing that's going to change is he's going to be an indoor cat rather than an outdoor cat. >> well, an indoor cat means having a life that he's got right there, you guys, i think he's going to be okay. mike, kate and oscar, thank you guys so much for joining us. >> thank you very much. >> and we're back right after this.

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zac efron became an instant teen idol as the star of "high school musical," now he's starring in a new movie "charlie zt cloud" as a young man overcome with grief over the death of his younger brother. zac joins us this morning. this is a very serious movie, much different from the other movies you've done. when you saw the script and it landed in your lap, did you know this is what i want to do and why did it appeal to you so much? >> there was something about the material. i read it. it was a story about brothers. i have a little brother myself, who's 18 now. we were very close always growing up. we shared a room together. so i couldn't help but just really feel for this journey that they go on. and, you know, the movie is a bit romantic. it's kind of dark and twisted. there's some cool fantasy elements and i do see ghosts in the movie, so it just seemed fun. a little bit of everything in it. >> it starts off in a serious way.

you get into a car accident. you barely survive, your younger brother, sam, is killed. the movie turns into this bond between you and your brother in the movie. tell me a little bit about that relationship. >> basically i can see his ghost. after he passes away, i keep him alive. so you don't really know whether it's in my mind or if this ghost is really there. regardless, we still play catch every evening at sunset in this place that we call the glade. and, you know, some of the funnier scenes in the movie, it's not as dark as it's perceived to be. it's actually very sort of funny and uplifting. >> you being able to see your brother is sort of a curse and a blessing at the same time to your character? >> yeah, yeah. basically i -- charlie starts to -- he's not aspiring to anything any longer. he's really, you know, he can't move on. >> right. >> he's just stuck, you know, with his brother and the guilt is sort of driving him crazy. he starts to fall in love with

this beautiful tess played by amanda crew and her love is finally able to allow him to feel free to move on. so yeah, it's cool. it's a love story. >> you mentioned your younger brother and said that sort of weighed in on you a little bit. did you think about him often? was it harder or easier because you have this brother that you probably didn't get to see too often while you were filming the movie. >> after "high school musical" took off, i left at 17 and never looked back. >> rebel! >> rebel. you know, it was just -- i didn't get to see my brother as much anymore. you don't really realize it's happening. i was so swept up in the traveling all over the world and that whole whirlwind which was so exciting. my brother was just in high school, so i mean i read the script, you know, it just made me realize how much i missed him. >> you're not going to cry, are you? >> no. not this time. i have before.

>> you've come a long way since "high school musical." not just the hair but everything. do you feel like you've matured not only on screen but off screen as well? >> definitely. there's a lot that i'm learning. i've got to tell you, making movies is one of the most interesting kind of, just inspirational but also educational places to be. you're working with the most creative people in the world. they're all artists. very sort of free-spirited individuals. and i just -- you know, i'm a sponge on these sets. i'm just kind of like soaking up all this information from these guys. >> zac efron, we thank you so much. the movie is called "charlie st. cloud." it's in movie theaters right now and we'll be right back.

let's go back down to washington and check in with david gregory to find out what's coming up on "meet the press." >> good morning. coming up, afghanistan, july is now the deadliest month for u.s. troops in the war. with us the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, admiral mike mullen. then the economic outlook, if this is recovery summer, why does it still feel like recession? plus our round table weighs in on the president's top political challenges and more on the chelsea clinton wedding as well. it's all coming up on "meet the press." >> david, thanks much. >> our thanks again to chris warren and jeff rossen. coming up next week we'll meet the ze dog. it's hard pressing news. that's what that is. >> and we'll break down the truth about salt. have a great rest of your sunday. thanks for being here, everyone. -- captio by nsc -- www.vitac.com