with just a few ingredients, you have an easy to make dinner. they're crescents for the other 364. try them tonight. good morning. the hard sell. with just 16 days before the mid term elections both sides bring out the heavy hitters in the bruising battle for control of congress. days after the dramatic rescue the freed miners are describing their ordeal. they sat alongside natalie moerls. what did they say? we'll ask natalie in a moment. america's favorite mom. the passing of a tv icon. barbara billingsley loved and adored as june cleaver. back on her life and legacy with jerry mathers the actor who played her son, joins us live, jerry mathers the actor who played her son, joins us live, october 17th, 2010.

captions paid for by nbc-universal television good morning. welcome to"today" on a sunday morning. >> would it be safe to say june cleaver was the ideal tv mom for generations of americans. >> truly generations. that show has been running continuously since 1957. folks know her as the beaver's mom, but also for her delightful part in "airplane." >> sort of the carol bradley and claire huxtable of the '60s. >> delightful lady. we all feel in this passing. she was a role model in real life. we will talk to jerry mathers who played the beaver and get his memories and recollections.

>> and then our countdown to the mid teterm elections. we will have the latest on that coming up. >> and switching gears, a trial we have been following, the terrifying case of that home invasion and murders in connecticut. the sentencing phase is set to begin. >> steven hays is the ex-con convicted of murdering the mother and two daughter's. now a jury must decide if he should live or die. >> and also my one-on-one conversation with condoleezza rice, a candidclock ticking the bringing out the big guns to make their case. david gregory m moderator of nbs "meet the press" and joins us from washington. good to see you. >> good morning. >> the president has been out there, now the first lady is joining on the campaign trail, is this as far as the white house is concerned right now, a five-alarm type fire all hands on deck. >> it is. because the big issue is democratic turnout. the president, the first lady,

the vice president are going out with a singular message. this election matters. it's high stakes. you can't sit on the sidelines even if you're a democrat who's disappointed with the white house. so these are the top tier obviously going out and saying, african-american voters, younger voters, the pillars of the democratic base, encourage them to get out. there's a lot of races still close across the country and turnout will matter. >> the president was in massachusetts yesterday, he's been in places where democrats are expected to do well and then places where there's a bit of a struggle. what is the strategy right now? is there a sense maybe we'll lose the house, but we have a whole firewall for the senate? >> yes. there's certainly that. for republicans they still have to run the table in order to win the senate. if the wave is big enough it could happen. that's part of the strategy, mitigating the damage in the house. the background is very interesting. where the president's really focusing his time are states that he won, that he carried in

2008. that is what's striking here. the president has really lost more of his appeal to independent voters and his ability to move around the country. you showed a picture of bill clinton the other day. he's going to be campaigning in colorado on monday, not president obama, because it is clinton who, according to people i've talked to in colorado, is the most popular political figure in that state. a big change since two years ago. >> clinton one of the big guns. on the republican side, sarah palin finished up a three day swing in california with michael steele. she got a lot of notoriety for backing tea party candidates in the primaries, but are those candidates now, in some ways, surrogates for her own trial for a run at the presidency? how much does she have personally riding on this? >> i think she has a lot. i think that you have seen some shifting ground here. i think that sarah palin is taking more steps to position herself for a run in 2012.

there's still a big leap to say whether she does it. she can be a king maker in this cycle, a big force within the party, and still have a great platform even if she doesn't run. she's considered a rock star. you're seeing her put in place, a framework to make that run in 2012, and i think there's even signs she's doing some things, substantively to position herself. >> david gregory, thanks very much. >> you bet. >> here's jenna. >> all right. lester, thank you. this morning, new details of life under ground for those rescued chilean miners. several appeared on a talk show to describe their two-month ordeal. natalie was invited to join them on the show to talk about the global impact of the trapped miners. natal natalie, good morning. >> good morning to you, jenna. >> tell me a little bit about the miners and their spirits and their health, how are they doing, how are they feeling since coming out? >> they seemed a little subdued as you would imagine. they were pretty emotional about

their experience at certain points. although they have made a pact not to talk about the details, they kept reminding the host and viewers they have that pact and sticking with it, we did start to hear a lot of the details of the horror they went through over the last few months. so i think it was probably one of the most revealing interviews to date and all of them are doing fairly well in terms ofth& mario gomez, the oldest on the panel said he's d doing fifine.. he s said he's fine. one of the young men on the package also had some teeth pulled out. physical they' i i i i i i i i . they're coping with a lot to get through this. they went through probably the hardest experience that anybody could possibly imagine bededs the thing they wanted to do most, they were having a really rd timime

whwhat c can y you t tell us ab of the opportunities that have come their way, some of the the much a about in n thee lasast c days? >> well, they, of course, are getting offers from everywhere to talk and as i said they made this pact that whatever they do, whatever money they make from appearances, they will share amongst the 33. soccer matches around ma dids, manchester united, luxury vacations planned, there are, you know, talks of book deals and movie deals. they're getting lots of offers. going back to what they revealed, you know, to let you know some of the things they were telling us, is that one of the guys said probably the darkest moments for him was when he saw himself dying. he said i saw death. and you know that really kind of said it all. they also said the videos that they submitted to their families from below ground, that they actually didn't show a lot of what they were feeling.

essentially, you know, saying that they put on a good front so that their families wouldn't worry. >> all right. natalie, we thank you so much for your time. we're going to see much more of that interview tomorrow morning on "today." thank you. >> time now to check the morning's other headlines. for that we're going to go over to melissa francis at the news desk. good morning. >> good morning, lester, jenna, everyone. we begin with the latest in the investigation of the american killed in mexico while jet skiing with his wife. on friday mexican authorities interviewed tiffany hartley for a second time. authorities say she's given them helpful new details about the incident. hartley and her husband david were jet skiing on falcon lake when she says mexican pirates shot him in the neck. his body has not been found. the man who operated the drill to reach the trapped miners in chile returned home saturday to colorado. family and friends greeted jeff hart like a hero. drilling water wells for the u.s. army in afghanistan when he got the call to go to chile.

he said this mission was a fairy tale come true. overseas now to central china where rescuers are battling gas build up at a coal mine where 11 miners are trapped. the fear is the miners may have suffocated or been buried by coal dust. in a gold mine in ecuador rescue teams have found the bodies of two miners. two others are still trapped there. it's being called america's greatest technological achievement. the bridge opened to pedestrians on saturday. thousands walked across the mike o'callahan/pat tillman memorial bridge connecting nevada and arizona. it will open to car traffic later this week. finally after 31 years, the liberace museum is shutting its doors today. the museum had been one of las vegas's biggest tourist attractions, but its run into hard times. it contained the costume, pianos and cars owned by the flamboyant

enterta entertainer. back to lester, jenna -- >> there you go. >> absolutely. >> good morning. >> going with a tank top again, but that's another story. >> scott williams is here with a check of the weather. good morning. >> good morning, everyone. fairly quiet conditions across the nation here on this sunday. >> temperatures through the mid and lower mississippi river valleys. and that's your weekend

weather. lester? >> condoleezza rice is one of the most accomplished women of our time, a skilled pianist, educator and the first black woman to become secretary of state. for all that she has her parents to thank. her book "extraordinary ordinary people" does just that. it's a tribute to her parents john and angelina rice who made everything possible. and condoleezza rice is here with us this morning to talk about it all. dr. rice, good morning, and nice to have you back. >> nice to be here. >> when the bush presidency ended, i would have bet you would have ended up running the nfl or maybe running for office. the nfl thing didn't happen. is there a chance for run at office? >> oh, no. i'm a very happy professor. for the nfl life, as i told commissioner goodle that job looks better than tussles with the russians and arians. >> do you monday morning quarterback the headlines? do you pick up the paper and raid it differently than the rest of us? >> of course. i read it with some maybe broder

and deeper understanding of what's there. i know the players. i know the issues quite well. but actually, i read it now and i can say, isn't that interesting. i don't have to do anything about what's in it. in some ways it's a relief because eight years is a long time. i was ready to be done with it. >> as we noted this book really takes us through your life, more or less not just points with the bush administration, you're going to write a book about the recent days later on, but could you write that book without first writing this one about your roots? >> it's interesting. i started the sort of traditional secretary of state memoir and then i thought, i'm going to stop and go back. because people keep asking me how do you become who you are. i always said you had to know john and angelina rice to answer that question. i wanted people to understand that i didn't sort of come full blown from the head of medusa, i was a product of an environment in birmingham, alabama, segregated, but where parents

gave me unconditional love and family and community, believed in the power of education. >> they told you you had to be twice as good. >> right. >> i've heard other, you know, african-americans who tell similar stories. >> yes. >> their parents told them that. what does that mean? >> it means that if you are going to survive in the circumstances of segregated birmingham, going to have a productive life, you have to be twice as good to show them that it's not warranted, you're smarter, tougher, capable of learning and speaking foreign languages and playing mozart. i think it was a way really to challenge us, the kids of birmingham, not to be oppressed by the circumstances, not to feel that we were victims, but to take charge. >> did you ever get past that? you're national security adviser and secretary of state. a part of you that i've got to be better than anyone, twice as good? >> maybe a little bit. i don't think you outgrow that kind of thing. after a while you realize you

are fortunate to have a great foundation, that you're not intimidated by the circumstance. >> let me talk about afghanistan. we're at a point now we're losing soldiers at an incredible rate right now, taken a turn for the worse, there's some talk of wanting the u.s. to get out. would that be a mistake right now? >> i think the united states needs to remain committed to trying to have an afghanistan where the afghans have a decent life and where it's more secure. we have to remember that al qaeda plotted and planned september 11th from right there in afghanistan, they used the territory provided to them by the taliban, that was an afghanistan by the way where girls couldn't go to school, women were being executed in soccer stadiums and where al qaeda buzz in. it's hard. afghanistan was always going to be hard. it's the fifth largest country in the world. david petraeus and the pentagon, admiral mull len, and we're

doing the right thing to try and help create a more stable afghanistan, a more stable pakistan, and that will make up for it. >> always good to have you on. dr. condoleezza rice, thanks so much. >> thank you. pleasure to be with you. >> the book we should let folks know again "extraordinary ordinary people." we'll be right back.

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♪ and now, thanks to the new pharmacy chat from walgreens.com, chris has everything he needs. except milk. expertise -- find it everywhere there's a walgreens and at walgreens.com. steven hayes took the lives of a mother and her two daughters in a home invasion in connecticut. a jury convicted the exkrun of the killings. he'll learn if he'll pay for the crime with his life. peter alexander joins us with more. good morning. >> it's hard to think of any case that's more chilling and more cruel than this one. now the same jury that earlier this month took fewer than five hours to find steven hayes guilty of capital murder will now decide if hayes should go to prison for the rest of his life or if he should die by lethal injection. it's a crime that will haunt dr. william petty. he and his family asleep in the beds when two masked intruders

broke in through their basement. seven hours of terror that ended in murder and mayhem, and finally three years later, a guilty verdict. >> there is some relief, but my family is still gone. it doesn't bring them back. it doesn't bring back the home that we had. >> reporter: steven hayes, a paroled burglar was convicted of torturing and killing dr. petty tight's wife jennifer and their daughter, 17-year-old hailey and 11-year-old ma kayla. prosecutors showed the jury disturbing images, how they say hayes and another man tied him to the pole in the basement and beat him with a baseball bat. they showed the bed post his daughters were tied to upstairs and videos mrs. pettitte's last act at a local bank trying to pay off the suspects. and then, prosecutors say hayes and his accomplice burned the house down, killing this mother and her daughters, still inside. dr. pettitte never missed day of

court. painfully reliving his family's final moments. >> most of you out here are good human beings. i think you all probably would do the same thing for your families if your family was destroyed by evil. >> reporter: now dr. pettitte has to endure another mini trial of sorts. as the jury considers hayes' fate. >> the prosecution is going to talk about the aggravating factors which include the murder was committed while other felonies were being committed, that multiple victims were killed, and that the victims were killed in a particularly cruel and depraved manner. >> reporter: connecticut has only executed one person since 1960. still it may be an uphill fight for hays to avoid the death penalty. legal experts say his lawyers might claim he's unstable and deserves mercy. for dr. pettitte three years after the loss of his family the nightmare seems endless. >> i miss them every day and i think i just start to focus on them and the goodness they had

to try to get through each day. >> reporter: now, the pettittes killer waits to learn from a jury whether his own life will end. so the jury is expected to hear nearly two weeks of evidence during this penalty phase and i korgds to the judge in superior court they could begin deliberations and steven hayes' fate by november 1st. >> terrible story. thank you so much. we'll be>> bigacht bk right acafter these messages. these airline credit cards of that advertise flights for 25,000 miles? but when you call... let me check. oh fudge, nothing without a big miles upcharge. it's either pay their miles upcharges or connect through mooseneck! [ freezing ] i can't feel my feet. we switched to the venture card from capital one -- so no more games. let's go see those grandkids. [ male announcer ] don't pay miles upcharges. don't play games. get the flight you want with the venture card at capitalone.com. [ loving it ] help! what's in your wallet?

just ask jerry brown. he gave california state employees

collective bargaining powers. since then the unions have grown stronger and stronger. now state employees can retire at 55 with much of their salary for life. and taxpayers are on the hook for one hundred billion dollars in unfunded pension liabilities. no wonder those unions are 100% behind jerry brown. he'll just spend, and spend, and spend. still to come on "today" the ultimate sitcom mom. we remember barbara billingsley and her iconic role as june cleaver. >> the secrets of dating. can they be revealed in a person personality test. first these messages. rcise, but basically, i'm a runner.

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good morning to you. couple minutes before 6:30. live at san jose as we wake up dry in san jose, but sprinkles already in the north bay and in the east bay too. i'm chris sanchez with craig herrera. can we expect more of the same sh. >> cloudy day, little raint times, not a washout. we have more of it. in the 50s and a couple 40s. look at this, look at the radar. this is the past three hours. the showers and the rain all scattered in nature. the heaviest rain is closer to the north end of the baynd a then we have some through san ndanfrsco. look at that yellow and orange

anpping po between avauptond pet tu la getting rain. couple sprinkles starting to show up in the south end of the bay in san jose ndvelirmore. this is the satellite and this storm itself is going to sit just off the coast today, so as we go through the morning hours and into the afternoon, we'll get cloudy, cool conditions with a few scattered showers, most of them will be very light. we will have scattered showers today. expect that into tomorrow morning. highs today only 58 in san francisco. mostly 60s around the rest of the bay area. so it's going to be a chilly fall day today. we'll continue with this tomorrow and then clearing out for tuesday and wednesday. crisp for game three and four of the giants. >> i like the playoffs [ inaudible ]. >> new this morning, one less thing on the commute over the sympat san mateo bridge. emergency repairs are done and all lanes are open. a live look of how we wish the commutes would look like every day. the westbound lane is back in business as of 3:19 this morning. the bridge was shut down tuesday

when call transengineers discovered a crack in a steel beam. crews bolted high-strength steel plates over that cracked section of the beam and crews say they will closely monitor those plates over the next few days. toxic manicures and pedicures on the agenda at san francisco's supervisors meeting this week. board president david chew says a trio of toxin found in nail products can be harmful to pregnant women and cause new shah, headaches and asthma. on tuesday he will ask the city's 200 nail salons to use toxin-free products instead. the bill asks that the city create a healthy nail salon recognition program to encourage businesses to do away with those toxic products. this morning an oakland man is clinging to life after shot while using an atm in rock ridge. the shooting happened around 9:15 yesterday morning at a safeway shopping center on broadway and pleasant valley

avenue. investigators say the 28-year-old man was shot at least twice as he used that bank of america atm. he's now in critical condition. it's not clear whether the motive was robbery. police are now offering $5,000 reward for information in this case. coming up at 7:00 on the bay area's sunday, could saving money be killing your pets. a serious health warning for your four-legged family members. that story and the rest of the day's top news coming up at 7:00. we feed your giants fever. right now here's back to the "today" show. li

. and how about that, we're back on this sunday morning, october 17th, 2010. nice crowd outside on the plaza alongside lester holt i'm jenna wolfe. >> another gorgeous fall-like day. i like this. i like putting on the jacket. does that make me a bad guy? >> lester, very few things make you a bad guy. >> that's what i wanted to hear. >> still to come, barbara billingsley played the mother on "leave it to beaver." she died on saturday. she was the quintessential tv mom. jerry mathers who played her son beaver is going to join us in a moment to talk about it. >> also, being hoda, hot da kotb

our colleague opening up about the joys and challenges of her life, and what's what it's really like to work with kathie lee gifford. >> first time reading that book, actually. >> just like -- >> picked it up for the first time. >> what a story. >> i can't put it down. >> we'll talk to her coming up. >> we'll talk about the science of dating. believe it or not it has been reduced to an actual science. what does your personality say about your love life? you're going to take our quiz and find out and yeah, the answer may actually surprise you. so we're going to talk about that. first we want to get another check of the weather. >> scott williams is here with that. hey, scott. >> good morning, lester and jenna, and good morning, everyone. as we talk about the weather across the country here, fairly quiet conditions on this sunday. really watching a jet stream well far to the north. looking at temperatures comfortable as we start as we look at the high today, new york city, 70 degrees, watching for some potential records as we move through the mid and lower mississippi valleys.

looking for warm temperatures. upper level low will bring clouds and showers through the pacific southwest. as we monitor the northwest, lookin >> good morning to you. happy sunday. craig herrera with some showers on the radar here. and some rain. also snow in the sierra. watch for some of these scattered showers, most of this morning. we'll get a few more of them later this afternoon. highs with the cloud cover and the showers in place, only into the 50s and 60s. now, the rain won't amount to a whole lot, but it will be enough to keep the windshield wipers going at times and keep us on the cool side. seven-day forecast, a few more showers through early tomorrow morning for your morning commute. then we'll dry out on tuesday and wednesday. >> for your weather 24 hours a day, logon to weather.com. we have some folks here from arkansas. you all, unfortunately, the razorbacks lost, but we have football night in america. sunday night football right here

on nbc. the indianapolis colts taking on the washington redskins at fedex field. looking pretty good. clear and cool, look for temperatures in the mid and upper 50s. so not bad football weather. keep it here to nbc. lester? >> scott, thanks very much. as june cleaver, barbara billingsley was the perfect tv mom. she was calm and collected and often in high heels and pearls. the actress died at her moment in california saturday. jerry mathers, who played her son beaver, will join us in just a moment. but first, a look back at her life and career. >> "leave it to beaver." >> reporter: she will always be remembered as america's favorite mom. >> hi, beaver. how was the party? >> reporter: as june cleaver, the kind and caring stay at home mom to a pair of precocious boys on "leave it to beaver," barbara billingsley was a perfect fit. her own two sons said she was pretty much the image of mrs. cleaver in real life. >> well, you lie down now and

take a nap. >> reporter: during "leave it to beaver's" six-year television run beginning in 1957, billingsley's character was always there to gently, but firmly, nurture wally and beaver, through the ups and downs of childhood. billingsley began acting when she herself was just a child and her tv career spanned five decades. >> stewardess, i speak jive. >> reporter: after "leave it to beaver," billingsley resurfaced in 1980 in a cameo as an elderly passenger in the comedy satire "airplane." billingsley, and a "leave it to beaver" cast, reunited numerous times over the years, while her association with that one role, billingsley, admitted made it hard for her to do other things, she once said, as far as i'm concerned, it's been an honor. barbara billingsley, an inspiration both on and off the screen, with us now from burbank, california, jerry mathers, who, of course, played beaver on the classic sitcom.

jerry, good morning. and we do want to extend our condolences. you guys remained close over the years, didn't you? >> yes, we certainly did, lester. she was just a wonderful person. she was as nice as she was on the screen and you think she would be, she was even better than that. she was a mentor to me and i was -- i'm just so sad at her passing. >> you know, she was -- she was your tv mom. i think in many ways she was all of our tv moms. you had your own mother. tell me the relationship that you had -- i think you were 9 or 10 when you came on the set for the first time? >> well, actually, i had met barbara earlier because we actually were the only two cast members that did the pilot, so that was probably in about 1956. and she was just the most gracious, wonderful person. to me, she was like a mentor. she was always very helpful. she always looked out for me. one of her things was, she loved manners and she was always telling me the proper way to eat, the things -- the way to

set up the silverware, put your napkin on your lap, and just little things like that to help a boy that, as i say, had -- was there with her. i had my own mother, my own family, but barbara was just the most wonderful person i ever knew. like your most favorite teacher except i got to be in that same class for six years and know her my whole life. i'm just deeply satnd. sadden saddened. >> the show went on the air in 1957. i'm pretty convince is i could go right now and flip my channel and eventually find "leave it to beaver." it's been running all these years, hasn't it? >> it's the longest running show, scripted show, in television history. it's never been off the air in 52 years. it shows all over the world. it shows in about 40 languages and has shown in i think it's 170 countries. when "leave it to beaver" was on, a lot of people -- television was new. television really only came in in the '50s. people in other countries had an idea that either americans were

cowboys or indians or gangsters because that's what a lot of our tv shows, cops and robbers and westerns. "leave it to beaver" presented the american family to a lot of foreign countries and i think it mate have changed how they thought about how he lived. >> you mentioned that she was a role model to you, but i know you've also known that she was funny. i think a lot of us certainly saw a side of her that you probably knew when we saw her appear in "airplane." we showed the clip in 1980. when you saw her do that, did you say, that's the barbara billingsley i remember? >> yes. she did have a little bit of the devil in her in that she was just so much fun to be around. she always had -- if you were a little down, barbara could always pick you right back up. she had an effer vessens about her that made you feel good to be around her and be with her. >> listen, jerry, we thank you so much for coming on and spending time with us and sharing your memories of your friend barbara billingsley. we're all going to miss her.

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trusted to become the foundation of your pet's well-being now available at petsmart. often times it's more than just physical attraction that makes two people connect. so have you ever wondered what your love type is? as you'll see our biology could play a key role. chemistry, some couples have it. some couples don't. so it begs the question -- why do we fall in love with one person and not another? >> everybody wants a guy who's outgoing. >> i would say i'm the planner. i like to do a lot of fun stuff. >> i think it's more fun to be spontaneous. >> definitely within your personality. >> reporter: helen fisher, a biological anthropologist agrees, personality does matter

and so does biology. >> i stumbled on these rules of nature that we are chemically drawn to some people rather than others. >> reporter: after pouring over 40,000 responses to a questionnaire she developed for chemistry.com, fisher believes she's solved the riddle of romantic chemistry and has zeroed in on four different personality types based on chemicals in our brain. >> people who are expressive of the dough ma pa mean system, they are explorers, energetic, curious, creative, and join to people like themselves. another type of person who expresses a lot of serotonin, the builder. they're traditional, conventional, cautious, follow the rules. they tend to be drawn to people like themselves. but the third and the fourth type, the kind that is high testosterone and estrogen they're drop to opposites. i call them the director. they're analytical, logical, decisive, tough minded, good at things like math. they are drawn to the negotiators. they see the big picture.

they've got good people skills, imaginative and intuitive. >> reporter: based on fisher's findings you can have one dominant personality type and a secondary one. >> i measure to one degree you spread all four of these types. >> reporter: christina and charles have been dating two years and are expecting a baby early next year. the couple took the questionnaire and volunteered to get some insight from fisher. >> both of you have a negotiator in you. >> yes. >> you're the director first and she's the negotiator. when i look at your scores, the negotiator and the director are wonderful conversations i figured you would have. >> yes, ma'am. >> also because you have that negotiator in you, that estrogen, you probably can reach deep intimacy. >> absolutely. >> one of the things i like about the director, you know what you've got. >> i have been called bossy in the past and in the present too. >> that's the director. >> the explorer has a great many interests, great deal of energy.

>> you picked a really nice match. >> oh, good! >> and joining us now with more insight is helen fisher author of "why him why her how to find and keep lasting love." good morning, helen. >> good morning. >> chemistry.com, they met. >> they did. >> that's a chemistry baby. that's one of my babies. >> there you go. let's talk about that. you say our personality is based on four separate types. . the explorers are spontaneous, director devicisive and negotiators are the compassionate ones. is it possible to reduce all of us to four personality types? >> there's a great personality is extremely complicated. at least 50% of your personality comes from your upbringing, your experiences in life, your various interests. a good 50% does come from your biology and there's only a couple -- only four broad chemical systems in the brain that code for personality styles and so these are very broad

personalty styles. we are a combination of all of them. >> right. >> but i, for example, am largely the dough ma mean and estrogen. i would call myself an explorer negotiator. >> should you only date explow ploerer negotiators. can you date outside your personality? >> timing plays a role. we're drawn to people of the same intellectual background, education background, socioeconomic background. but within those categories the explorer will be most drawn to another explorer. i looked at 28,000 people. people will say, we had chemistry. they want to know what does that mean. does basic body chemistry, personality style, draw you naturally towards some people rather than others. it is true. >> does this sort of take away from the whole opposites attract? we want to be attracted to someone of our same personality type or someone that's different from us? >> depends on who you are. somebody like brad pitt and angelina jolie they're big-time

explorers and explorers are drawn to each other. they want somebody who's going to get office couch at midnight and go sailing in the sound. they want excitement. they want novelty, they are energetic. >> they like that about each other. >> they want somebody to go with them. but somebody like hillary clinton and bill clinton, are very different. she is the director type. she's the high testosterone, tough minded, direct decisive, he's the high estrogen type, actually. he's the one that cried at chelsea's wedding. she didn't. >> right. >> and he sees the big picture. the whole world knows he can't stop talking. he has good people skills. very compassionate. i found that the director, the tough-minded, goes for that tender hearted and vice versa. this is one of the reasons i think hillary and bill have stayed together in might spite of a lot of problems. they're bringing different talents, biological talents, to the relationship. >> like you said sometimes you mentioned timing can definitely

be a factor. >> absolutely. >> i may be attracted to an explorer back when i'm in my explorer days but may want someone to set mel down more -- >> i think that's the point. you are probably not going to change. >> i'm not going to change. at birth i popped out of the womb and i was exploring. >> where are we and let's go some place. >> absolutely. >> i can even say some of your biolo biology. >> before we go, just from having known me for the last 48 seconds, can you tell me what i may be? >> i'm positive you would be an explorer type. you cannot do the job that you do. to do what you do every day you have to be spontaneous, quick, you have to have a lot of interest, you have to know about a lot of different things, pull it together rapidly. >> wow. ego boost. i love this. >> you also have to be compassionate. you have to have verbal skills and people skills. i would peg you as part of my tribe. >> you can just help me with my resume, that would be great. >> yeah. >> thank you. >> helen fisher, thank you so much for your insight.

very interesting information. now here's my other explorer, lester. >> jenna, our next guest is an explorer. she says she's an negotiator. >> a negotiator. >> seasoned journalist with a great sense of humor, fitting description for our own hoda kotb. it's fitting she put her story on paper, the co-host of today's fourth hour, "how i survived cancer and kathie lee." hoda is with us. >> hi, lester. >> is it weird? >> this is a little weird. >> we wanted to make you feel at home with the fourth hour. those that don't watch the fourth hour should know -- we'll toast at the end. >> i think we should toast at the beginning. that's how we do it on my sho show. >> where did this come from, having the booze on the set. >> that was all kathie lee's idea. i didn't want anything to do with it. we decided one day, chelsea came on the show and she was doing it's not vodka, it's me chelsea, we want her to feel at home, brought a couple drink and we thought, this is fun. and then it just became a little

bit of a daily routine for us. >> we wanted to have intervention here, not -- we want to talk to you about your book. and one of the things you deal with in this book, the question you've had all your life, what are you? >> yeah. >> people look at your looks and hair, you're from oklahoma, born of egyptian parents. >> it's funny. ever since i was a little girl and had role call in school, the teacher would look up and go chris kennedy, mark kauffman, who -- is there anyone -- i just wanted to shrink under the desk. how you hate being unique when you're younger, but when you're older you're glad it went that way. >> when i first started working at nbc and had to throw to tape, i would see the name on the prompter, hoda kotb. >> it's an odd one. >> you have -- this has been a huge change for you. how long has the fourth hour been on? >> on with kathie lee a couple years. >> i love the story of how she ended up on the show, two of you. you saw her at lunch.

>> yeah. we were at michael's having lunch. i was with a friend of mine. i go there and i -- we end up seeing her. we ask her to fill in one day. and something just clicked in. i mean, you know, kathie lee is -- >> went up and said do you want to fill in on the show. >> yes. they said we should try her out and see how that would work. she's a trip, lester. she comes in in the morning singing full voice. >> she is. she is exactly what you see. >> yeah. >> what you get. you had made this change because you write about covering war zones and years doing date "dateline," what a varied career you had. what's it like doing this sort of thing? >> it was weird initially. you go from covering all the hard news stories in afghanistan and baghdad and then i'm laughing and scratching with kathie lee. i realize we're all sort of multifaceted. you know what i mean? there are parts of me that wants to read "the new york times" and "wall street journal" and parts like to page through "us weekly" and "people" magazine.

>> you get serious things in your life. at the same period in your life you're dealing with a horrible breakup of your marriage and breast cancer. >> it's funny, this is what i learned from that stuff f you survive a big thing in your life whatever it is, whether it's an illness or divorce or a loss of someone, if you're still standing at the end even if you're teetering you get four words, you get you can't scare me. so no matter what happens after that, you're still standing. i got to tell you, after i got sick and better, i went to my bosses at nbc and asked about this new hour of "today." i was always so intimidated and afraid to go up. it seemed so small to go ask for a promotion after something like that. and with the help of a lot of great friends it ended up working out. it's funny how something so awful can actually turn -- i think if i hadn't gotten sick, i don't think i would be hosting this hour of the "today" show. >> we love you dearly. a toast to your success. congratulations on the book. >> lester, thank you. >> any time.

>> i know you drink in here. >> we should make this -- >> so much better than the other way. >> would it be tacky to do sunday television. >> i don't think so. sunday brunch. >> just ahead, getting lost. jenna versus a corn maze. >> oh, my gosh. >> she found her way back because she's here. she will tell us about it after these messages. hard to breathe.. it makes it hard to do a lot of things. and i'm a guy who likes to go exploring ... get my hands dirty... and try new things. so i asked my doctor if spiriva could help me breathe better. spiriva is the only once-daily inhaled maintenance treatment for both forms of copd... which includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. spiriva keeps my airways open... to help me breathe better for a full 24 hours. and it's not a steroid. spiriva does not replace fast acting inhalers for sudden symptoms. stop taking spiriva and call your doctor right away if your breathing suddenly worsens, your throat or tongue swells, you get hives, have vision changes or eye pain... or have problems passing urine. tell your doctor if you have glaucoma,

problems passing urine or an enlarged prostate... as these may worsen with spiriva. also discuss the medicines you take... even eye drops. side effects include dry mouth, constipation and trouble passing urine. i'm glad i'm taking spiriva everyday because breathing better is just better. ask your doctor if once-daily spiriva is right for you.

♪ the thing i like about you ♪ how you speak your mind >> this morning generally speaking, a fall tradition that has me confused. we live in this world of never getting lost, map quest and google maps and gps. we walk around with those little gps devices. every fall, people turn out in droves to actually pay money to get lost on purpose.

in a corn maze. i don't quite understand it. generally speaking, i don't get it. i headed out to the queens county museum to try out a corn maze for myself. ♪ let's plant that corn let's get planting that corn ♪ >> what is the concept of a maze? you're asking people to come in and do what? >> you're basically asking people to come in and get lost. >> you can take ten minutes to get out if you make every right decision. you can take up to an hour, hour and a half. >> there are a bunch of rules. >> you have this flag so we can find you in the maze. no smoking. no running. no cutting through the corn. and no gps. >> this is it. >> 11:16 is your starting time. >> that's my starting time. >> ready. >> yes. >> set. >> yes. >> get lost. awesome. corn, corn, corn. like a maze in here. it all looks the same.

♪ >> yes. i hate this corn maize. >> gps. enter destination. search. >> corn maize. >> make a left turn. make a right turn. >> right? >> make a left turn. >> left. >> next corn stalk. recalculating route. >> what? >> make a left turn. >> it's a dead end. look. dead end. >> it is not a dead end. >> oh. >> you have arrived. >> i am exhausted. >> don't listen to it. all right. laurie, i did it. how did i do? six hours?

that's got to be a mistake. >> wait until they get the overtime bill for the crew. >> i sprang for it. don't worry. webacks. ♪ [ indistinct shouting ] ♪ another day ♪ another dollar ♪ daylight comes [ dogs barking ] ♪ i'm on my way ♪ another day ♪ another dollar ♪ working my whole life away ♪ another day ♪ another dollar man: everybody knows you should save for retirement, but what happens when you're about to retire? woman: how do you go from saving to spending? fidelity helped us get to this point, and now we're talking about what comes next. man: we worked together to create a plan to help our money last. woman: so we can have the kind of retirement we want. now, you know how this works. just stay on the line. oh, yeah.

fidelity investments. turn here. just ask jerry brown. he gave california state employees collective bargaining powers. since then the unions have grown stronger and stronger. now state employees can retire at 55 with much of their salary for life. and taxpayers are on the hook for one hundred billion dollars in unfunded pension liabilities. no wonder those unions are 100% behind jerry brown. he'll just spend, and spend, and spend. she's against banning assault weapons...

and that's reckless and dangerous. she's for risky new oil drilling that could threaten our jobs. fiorina's plan would mean slashing social security and medicare, which would devastate seniors. and she'd make abortion a crime. no wonder fiorina is endorsed by sarah palin. carly fiorina. just too extreme for california. [ boxer ] i'm barbara boxer and i approve this message. let's go back to washington and check in with david gregory to find out what's coming up on "meet the press." >> coming up the president ramps up the campaign fight. is he helping the democrats on the campaign trail and how will the administration respond should there be big republican gains on election day. with us white house press secretary robert gibbs. our senate debate series continues. our focus colorado, michael bennett will square off with the republican ken buck coming up on "meet the press." >> thanks. we'll see you in a bit.

>> that's going to do it for us on this sunday morning. scott williams and melissa francis. and you? >> i will be back tonight for "nightly news." >> that's what you do, work.ngo. "nightly news." >> that's what you do, work.ngo. >> so long. you know it's bad when the press asks if you'd take a lie detector test. meg whitman didn't tell the truth about not voting or about how long she lived in california. she got caught in insider deals at goldman sachs. she changed her story about physically abusing an employee. she campaigned as tough as nails on immigration knowing her housekeeper of 9 years was undocumented. her tv ads have been condemned as false and misleading. and even her hometown newspaper said meg whitman has demonstrated "a loose relationship with the truth" ♪