>> good morning. breaking news -- pro gadhafi forces carry out air strikes on the opposition in libya as the obama administration prepares to launch a new investigation into the bombing of pan-am flight 103. did gadhafi order the strike that killed 270 people, including 189 americans? gas prices up 20 cents in the last week alone. there are fears that could put the brakes on the economic recovery. taken away. authorities remove charlie sheen's twin boys from his home overnight? why did they do it and how does he feel about it? charlie sheen speaks out in a

an exclusive live interview today, wednesday, march 2, 2011. captions paid for by nbc-universal television good morning. welcome to "today" on a wednesday morning. i'm matt lauer. >> i'm meredith vieira. this morning the problems facing actor charlie sheen just got more serious and more personal. >> this is a story we have been following and a lot of people have been following over the past several days. well, the los angeles police department sent officers to his los angeles home last night and they took his twin boys. this after their mother, sheen's estranged wife brooke mueller, filed a temporary restraining order. what does charlie sheen have to say about it? is he concerned his comments about his life could cost him his children? we'll ask him in a live interview coming up. also ahead the firing that dominated the news in fashion

week in paris. christian dior dismissed john galliano after video surfaced of him making anti-semitic remarks. details coming up. >> let us begin with breaking news out of libya. what appears to be an escalation in afax by forces loyal to moammar gadhafi. nbc's jim maceda is in tripoli. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, matt. there are fresh reports today of intense fighting in the east with an oil installation changing hands by the hour. that could be the sign of a long protracted conflict. the uprising in tripoli has gone to ground. there have been no protests here for days, not since security forces dispersed a crowd of several hundred with live fire. increasingly, security experts say, it will be on the battlefield where any break in the standoff will come. in the rebel camps, spirits remain high in zawiya after opposition forces who had taken the town over the weekend managed to hold it despite a pro

gadhafi counter attack. >> we feel we are in a good situation. we are ready to attack gadhafi in tripoli. >> reporter: but tripoli is a fortress ringed by several tanks and artillery and at least a dozen fortified checkpoints. today there were signs gadhafi was mount inging a long awaited defensive. reports of gains in the rebel-held east. at least one oil installation was recaptured and libyan bombs were attacking an air base just seen as rebel victories days ago. the regime remains defiant. gadhafi's son brushed off comments that his father was collusional made by susan rice, ambassador to the u.n. >> we have many city leaders, many statesmen, every day. we have no time for them. >> reporter: as the fighting spreads, so does the anxiety. more than 100,000 refugees fled the country and there are thousands more that can't get

out. like these migrant workers, mostly africans, who are living with their families outside tripoli airport. many have waited for day to be evacuated but flights never came. this laborer says conditions are desperate. there is too little food or even water and his family is getting sick. >> we need your aid. going back to our country. we don't know what's going on. we are serious. we need your aid. >> reporter: they fear being abandoned and becoming victims of another african war. with neither the libyan army or rebels capable of striking a knockout blow this humanitarian crisis we are seeing could get much worse. meredith? >> thank you very much. former members of moammar gadhafi's inner circle have come forward with new claims of the libyan leader's direct involvement in the deadly bombing of flight 103. 270 people died including 189

americans. nbc's chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell has more on the obama administration's response. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, meredith. the u.s. and its allies are escalating pressure on moammar gadhafi. the justice department is being asked to open a new investigation into whether the libyan leader personally ordered one of the worst terror attacks in u.s. history. for than two decades after more 270 people, including 19 americans, died in the bombing of pan am flight 103, shocking accusation from defectors, that moammar gadhafi may have himself ordered the terror attack. sparking calls for a new investigation. >> there have been statements made in the last days by what are now former members of the libyan government fingering gadhafi, making it clear that the order came from the very top. i think we need to move expeditiously. >> reporter: this after two administrations -- bush and obama -- dealt with gadhafi. some of the families of the lockerbie victims have written

to president obama and say they are furious, sickened. stephanie's husband, michael, justice department lawyer, was on the flight. >> we had chosen to look the other way because of business interests, because for some reason we thought we could bring gadhafi into the family of civilized nations. we know now how horribly wrong this was. >> reporter: now the u.s. is trying to marshal the world against gadhafi and sending 400 marines to enter the mediterranean for possible rescue and humanitarian missions. the pentagon is resisting talks of military options especially as it already fights two wars. >> if we move additional assets what are the consequences of that for after afghanistan? for the persian gulf? what other allies are prepare ed to work with us in some of these things? >> reporter: military experts say a nato no-fly zone would be hard to implement and wouldn't

stop the killing on the ground. >> it would require an enormous air effort to do so and could easily get the u.s. sucked into a situation where if we have trying to stop them from the air and realize we can't, because it's just too hard, we have to put in ground troops instead. >> reporter: the u.n. general assembly stripped gadhafi's regime of membership. the human rights council. >> this unprecedented action sends another clear warning to mr. gadhafi and those who still stand by him. they must stop the killing. >> reporter: to many, that raises more questions about why libya was in the human rights council in the first place and in fact once chaired the human rights commission. matt? >> andrea mitchell, thank you. kathleen and jack flynn's son j.p. was killed in the pan-am bombing. good morning to both of you. thanks for coming back. >> good morning. >> give me your reaction to the developments here. >> well, it's about time that the united states stood up and

realized that this is a serious thing against gadhafi. we should have done this a long time ago. >> it did not take long for this former justice minister to defect, leave the country and immediately finger moammar gadhafi for directly ordering the terror attack on pan-am flight 103. what level of proof do you need to see? what would be sufficient in your mind, jack, to prove to you that he ordered this bombing? >> kathleen and i went to the trial every day. >> for al magrahi. >> yes. we saw the evidence. it was obviously that al magrahi was down the hall from gadhafi. he took orders from gadhafi and the bomb and everything was made by him and gadhafi's right here. so it was obvious that he was the right-hand man who did this for mr. gadhafi. >> clearly these people are now speaking freely and moammar

gadhafi has his hands full in other areas. he's not paying attention to pan-am 103 now. are you worried there is a small window of opportunity that the people with this information might be silenced by people who are loyal to moammar gadhafi? >> i don't think so. i think it's moved beyond that. i think the world has awakened to the fact that moammar gadhafi is a murderer and killed 270 innocent people as well as people in libya. he has to step down. >> it took ten years, jack, to bring al magrahi to trial. he served 8 1/2 years in prison. he was released on compassionate grounds because it was said he had cancer but from what we understand he's doing well. do you anticipate seeing moammar gadhafi in a courtroom? >> yes. i hope that does happen. i hope that the justice system, because if these people give the evidence against mr. gadhafi that you can bring him into a

courtroom. i don't know what courtroom or where, but all the evidence will come out and hopefully we can take legal action against them. >> could you go through another trial, kathleen? >> yes, i could. to get moammar gadhafi i could go through hoops and do anything to get the man who murdered my son and 270 other innocent people. absolutely. >> the rollercoaster over the past few decades never ends. >> yes. >> we have been fighting for justice for 22 years and we will continue to fight for justice. >> that's what we do for our son. and for other people so that people in america can fly free and don't have to worry about being blown up by some crazy person named moammar gadhafi or the libyan regime. it's got -- someone's got to stand up and take this bull by the horns. >> kathleen and jack flynn, nice

to see you again. thanks for coming by. >> thank you. >> now we head to ann curry at the news desk with the headlines of the morning. ann? >> thanks, matt. good morning. we begin in yemen where the president turned on the united states tuesday, blaming his closest ally for encouraging growing protests against him. the move didn't quell protesters who packed the streets by the hundreds of thousands on tuesday night. pakistan's minority affairs minister was killed this morning in islamabad. gunmen opened fire on his car. he's a member of the christian minority and had recently called for the national law to be changed. the u.s. government will likely stay open for business after the senate votes today on $4 billion in spending cuts. nbc's capitol hill correspondent kelly o'donnell joins us now with more on the story. hey, kelly. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, ann. congress did buy itself more time. another two weeks to keep the government's operations going and bills paid.

the gop-led house passed the extension with the $4 billion in cuts because they came from a list of presidents that he could go along with. so more than a hundred house democrats were on board and that put pressure on the senate. today they say they will pass it quickly and senate democrats say they have to get on board, too. the problem is this is a short-term fix and congress has to figure out a way to come up with a longer-term set of deep cuts. that means a sequel to this budget showdown in a couple of weeks. ann? >> kelly, thank you. wisconsin governor scott walker is forging ahead with the two-year budget proposal to cut more than $1.25 billion in aid to schools and governments. it would strip workers of collective bargaining rights and is at a stalemate amid days of protest. in ohio there is another protest over a bill that heads to a vote today.

thousands protested tuesday and vowed more demonstrations this morning. retail sales were up despite stormy weather and a jump in gas prices. americans increased buying on clothing, furniture and luxury goods. gas prices are skyrocketing p. up 20 cents in the last week alone. we have more from wall street from cnbc's trish regan joins us. >> good morning, ann. because of what we are seeing unfold now in the middle east, the concern is you mentioned retail sales. the concern is the higher gas prices will catch up with consumer spending. they haven't done it so far. we have only seen gas prices start to spike over the last couple of weeks. let's face it. if you're paying $4 at the pump it means less money to spend on everything else. economists say, you know, this is coming at a bad time for the economy because it looks like we were starting to get firmly into growth territory.

this could derail it all. >> trish regan, we leave that topic and move to another story. it took 100 members of the mexican navy to rescue one humpback whale calf that beached himself. the 30-foot long, 13,000-pound whale was discovered in good condition on mexico's pacific coast we was treated for cuts and scrapes. rescuers attached a cable to his tail and towed him back to sea. just a year old. they're hoping he can now get back to his mother. it is now 7:14. back to meredith, matt and al. >> just before he left, he coughed up a little wooden boy. >> it was a heartwarming story until that moment. >> hey, al. what's going on? >> i'm doing okay. life's good. we're talking about more rain in the pacific northwest where they are looking at snow as well. another powerful storm bringing

plenty of heavy rain along the coast and inland. we're going to be looking at snow from portland to san francisco, even los angeles. we will see anywhere from a tenth of an inch to an inch of rain. we're also looking at 1 to 2 feet of snow in the central >> good morning to you. we still have showers streaming on shore but they are becoming a little more spotty in nature. that will be the case as we head throughout day, a few on and off scattered showers. as we head throughout tonight, a little bit more moisture on the way but the heaviest rains have moved through. most likely while you were sleeping. right now we have pretty good showers in richmond and the south bay, a nice stream along the 17, by about noon pockets of rain and breaks of sunshine. that will be the case throughout the day. and that's your latest weather. meredith? >> al, thank you. a north carolina jury convicted a popular former doctor for the drunk driving death of a beautiful young ballerina.

ron mott has followed the case since that accident back in 2009. he's in raleigh this morning for us. good morning. >> reporter: meredith, good morning to you. the ballerina's family didn't get as harsh a verdict or sentence as they were hoping for but are relieved to see the ex-doctor finally going to prison. >> ladies and gentlemen of the jury -- >> reporter: on day three of deliberations, the jury made up its mind. >> guilty of involuntary manslaughter. guilty of felony death by a vehicle and guilty of driving while impaired. >> reporter: former plastic surgeon, raymond cook, guilty. charged in the drunk driving death of 20-year-old ballerina elena shapiro whose car was brought to the courthouse for jurors to see up close. the jury fell two votes shy of convicting cook of murder. >> i believe he should receive the maximum sentence for second degree murder. >> we do not feel like he got a fair sentence at all. >> reporter: instead he got a minimum of three years in prison with a maximum of four and a half years.

>> it was a deliberate act by dr. cook who knew better but chose to get in the lethal weapon and kill our elena. to me that's no different than standing in front of her and shooting her with a gun. >> reporter: a video tribute to elena was played in the courtroom before cook was sentenced. >> we don't get elena back. we don't get any kind of better rest at night because of somebody going to jail for a longer or shorter period of time. >> because of him! >> reporter: prosecutors arguing cook, once the face of a thriving practice, father of twç girls, community leader, got behind the wheel drunk and rocketed his mercedes 88 miles an hour into elena's car. >> he breathed in my face. it was strong. >> reporter: after a day of heavy drinking, first at a golf course with some buddies and then later at a local bar. >> what was the defendant's blood alcohol reading? >> objection. >> overruled. you may answer.

>> 0.24. >> reporter: 0.24, three times the legal limit in north carolina. a reading eventually lowered to 0.20. >> it shows you the extent of damage to the engine compartment. >> reporter: cook's mercedes was left unrecognizable. he was on the way to meet his wife for dinner that night but never made it. >> i'm sorry. i talked to the babysitter. i told her what had been going on, that raymond was in a bad car accident. >> reporter: an accident that claimed the life of a promising young woman. >> this is an egregious case of felony death by vehicle. >> reporter: as well as the lucrative livelihood of a successful doctor. after the accident, raymond cook voluntarily surrendered his license to practice in north carolina and went into rehab. when asked yesterday if he had anything to say before being taken into custody, he declined. meredith? >> ron mott, thank you very much. it's 7:18.

once again, here's matt. christian dior says the firing of john galliano after an online video supporting claims that he made antisemitic remarks and it has sent shock waves through the start of fashion week in paris. abc's anne thompson is there. good morning to you, anne. >> reporter: good morning, matt. it's all anyone is talking about here in paris. john galliano's work has made him famous, dress something of the most glamorous women in the world and his work has been honored by the french president and britain's queen elizabeth. this morning he's out of christian dior, the victim of his own appalling behavior. ♪ >> reporter: john galliano's designs for dior are staples on the red carpet. nicole kidman and sharon stone both in dior at sunday's oscars. on the runway, his over the top shows and outrageous personal style made him a bold-faced name

in fashion, but it's galliano's words caught on tape in a cafe and posted by a british newspaper that were too much for the house of dior. >> i love hitler. people like you would be dead. >> reporter: on tuesday christian dior started firing procedures against its chief designer calling the remarks deeply offensive and in total contradiction to the core values of the fashion house. the taped remarks made last december mirror an incident last week that led to galliano's arrest in paris, accused of making anti-semitic remarks to a couple in a cafe. this woman was an eyewitness. >> john galliano kept insulting this man's girlfriend. and so this man got annoyed and decided to be threatening towards galliano. >> reporter: galliano denies any wrongdoing in this latest incident but this tape of a previous event appears to do serious damage to his credibility.

>> your mothers, your forefathers would be [ bleep ] gassed and [ bleep ] dead. >> oh, my god. >> reporter: in the world of fashion, galliano is a legend. his client list, a plus. from the late princess diana to actress charlize thereon but onç fan turned on him -- natalie portman, sunday's best actress winner and the public face of galliano's employer, dior. after the video appeared this week, portman, who is jewish, said she was shocked and disgusted by the designer's comments and will not be associated with galliano in any way. in a business where image is everything, fashionistas wonder if galliano can survive this. >> i think it's going to be very difficult for galliano to get back into the industry, certainly in the short term, unless he goes into rehab and the video is completely forgotten. >> reporter: interestingly, none of the women to whom galliano

made the remarks is jewish. still, making antisemitic remarks is a crime in france. if he's charged and convicted, galliano could get up to six months in prison. matt? >> anne, thank you very much. just ahead, why did police remove charlie sheen's twin sons from his home overnight? the actor speaks out in a live interview. first, this is "today" on nbc. introducing a breath of fresh air.

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>> good morning to you. i'm laura garcia-cannon. we're following breaking news in the east bay. we're getting word of a raid at a card club in emeryville. law enforcement officers are being tight-lipped. we know that officers from a variety of different agencies raided oak car club early this morning. oak car club has 40 gaming tables, it's open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, it has been in business since the 1890s. we'll keep you up to date on developments there. also "today in the east bay" city, may snuff out a decade old medical marijuana law. the city of martinez has a law allowing medical marijuana

clinics but the city never approved one. now members of the community and some lawmakers say voters should get to decide if the city should allow medical marijuana clinics. the issue could be put to a vote in the november 2012 election. right now i want to get a check of the forecast. >> good morning to you, laura. we're seeing a lot of clearing right now. a little bit of a drying out pattern, especially along the peninsula. showers will be spotty throughout the day. we'll see on and off activity, it won't be heavy, the heaviest rains have moved through. we still have lingering activity pushing to the coast at the north bay, also the south bay, heavy rainfall coming down over 17 so if you are headed that way, travel with caution. by noon a lot of improvement. in fact, most bay area cities dry at that time. a little bit of shower activity for the first part of tomorrow. clearing by friday. another storm system on the way saturday into sunday. let's check your drive now. >> good morning. this issue for the north bay not necessarily weather related but a problem, a half hour from 37

down to central san rafael exit. two lanes blocked by a big rig that got detached from the tractor-trailer. we should have an update. they expect to have it cleared in the next few minutes. we haven't gotten updates. the bay bridge approach. a live look out there at oakland as you approach from 880. there is an accident at the fifth street off ramp. we'll have slowing through downtown. >> busy morning. we're keeping tabs on it. another update in a half hour. [ female announcer ] it's monday, some people will stick with their old way

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♪ how are you getting 100%? ♪ 7:30 on wednesday morning, march 2, 2011. say hello to our happy crowd gathered outside the window on the world in rockefeller plaza. happy to give them face time. i'm meredith vieira along with matt lauer. just ahead, an exclusive live interview with charlie sheen hours after police removed his twin boys from his home. what happened and how does he feel about it? we get his side of the story straight ahead. >> also ahead, if you have dreamed of living in a mansion but thought you could never afford it, think again. coming up, a new real estate trend that could land you in a

huge home for just a few hundred dollars a month. we'll explain. >> and donald trump is gearing up for a new season of "celebrity apprentice." is he also gearing up for a presidential run? we begin with charlie sheen speaking live about the removal of his twin boys from his home. first, jeff rossen has the latest. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you. charlie sheen called us and said police came to his house in the darkness of night with representatives from brooke mueller's camp, his estranged wife and took his children, max and bob, who turn 2 in a couple of weeks out of the house, removed them. they had been staying with charlie sheen. the lapd confirms for nbc news that did happen without incident. the kids were removed pursuant to a court order that brooke mueller had gotten in an l.a. county courtroom just yesterday claiming that the kids should not be raised in that kind of environment with charlie's

goddesses and what else is going on inside the house. as you mentioned, meredith, charlie sheen is here for a live interview. we'll get his reaction. but first a look behind closed doors. for charlie sheen, this was the perfect place to raise his twin boys, inside his los angeles mansion with the two women he calls his goddesses. >> we run errands, eat, play with the kids. >> we think up fun plans. >> we watch movies. i watch a lot of "two and a half men." >> reporter: do you love his kids? >> are you kidding? i was just up there. bob was like -- i didn't want to put them down. they're like, they're calling you. he's like, bye, saying bye to the -- >> the you say dad's busy he says, okay, dada's busy. he knows. he's fine with it. >> reporter: is this normal, pictures of the kids on the

fridge? >> aside from the days we have the gold palm fronds and fan him. >> they'll run with that. >> i'm joking. >> reporter: do the goddesses raise your kids? >> yeah. if i can't be there, everybody helps out. i don't know. there's nothing broken here. >> reporter: but late tuesday night officers arrived at his home and removed his boys, max and bob, reportedly after sheen's estranged wife brooke mueller, the boys' mother who's also battled drug abuse, filed for a restraining order in court concerned about her children's well-being. >> reporter: you said you want to rededicate yourself to your kids. >> sure. >> reporter: are you embarrassed that your kid wills read about this? >> god, no. talk about an education. this guy's our dad and we can get the answers and the truth? wow, winning.

>> reporter: charlie sheen joins us for a live interview with his lawyer mark gross. >> thank you. >> reporter: what happened at the house last night? you were home. the boys were awake or asleep? >> they were just being put to bed. my secretary informed me the police were on their way down to issue a restraining order. i thought, okay, we can deal with that. i got my lawyer on the phone and it was revealed once i opened the door that they were there to remove bob and max. so, you know, i professed in the last few days to not deal and come from a place of panic, ego, emotion, so i stayed calm and focused. somebody badges you, they win in that moment. it seemed odd. there were others that didn't seem qualified to carry out such an operation. >> reporter: like who? >> a couple of gentlemen who

wouldn't show i.d., wouldn't identify themselves. looked like they were from the rehab facility more than law enforcement. i didn't push it. i'm not into resisting the law. just had to surrender to it knowing that this is now the challenge i claim to be looking for. i'm more than willing to take on this task. if anybody thought my focus was directed in a radical capacity, that's going to seem like child's play. >> reporter: so they went upstairs? who got the children? >> i did and emma and laura, the nannies. we videotaped the whole thing so there was no -- nobody could claim otherwise. you have seen the video. they didn't have car seats so i provided them. i said, i love you, and i said, don't say good-bye.

say "see you later." later is, as we believe, to be very soon. >> reporter: sitting here hours after it happened do you know where your children are? >> i do not. that's a good question. that's a good point. isn't there some legal protection or some law that should inform the father of where his children are being removed and delivered to? >> you or any other father has the right to know where your children are. the silence by brooke's attorneys is conspicuous. >> yeah. >> reporter: did you say to the police officers, a, where are you from and, b, where are you taking my children before i hand them over to you? >> stupidly, i assumed they were going back to the house they have been living in with brooke when they are not with me. i think we got reports last night they were at a hotel in santa monica. at this moment on live television i don't know where my children are, but i am not panicking. this is not about emotion or o

ego. this is about focus and getting in touch with what i have to do to complete the task of bringing these two beautiful young men back to the home that they deserve to be raised in. there is more love, compassion, support, child care and everything else you could possibly want for a child in this lovely home. it's not a house. it's a home right down that hill. >> reporter: according to tmz brooke went to court yesterday and told the judge you threatened her recently and that's why she filed the court order. she said you told her, i will cut your head off, put it in a box and send it to your mom. >> colorful. >> reporter: did you say it? >> no. but you can formulate things and make them sound like it came from my mouth. >> reporter: a lot of people watched the video from "today" yesterday. when we were in the house with the goddesses and said, you know, maybe two young boys

shouldn't be raised in this environment. you know, with women who they are just meeting. how do you respond to that, respond to the critics and your estranged wife? >> i invite anybody to come in and observe. if it's a court-appointed monitor, somebody from the legal team, her, you with a camera. there is nothing to hide. as i said, there is nothing but love and compassion and absolute support for these amazing children. i'm going to go ahead and say that regardless of what people offer in the form of judgment or opinion, based on preconceived whatever, it's 100,000 times better than what will be offered in her house. >> reporter: will you sit here today and say you will go to the negotiating table with brooke mueller? i'm sure your anger is through the roof now. >> i'm calm. had i received a phone call, i would have been willing to play ball and say absolutely, this is

fine. in fact, i was going to call her because she's been requesting a two-hour visit asking lourdes to bring them somewhere. i had rejected it, because i knew that unlike myself that a drug test would not be clean. >> in fact, when we were aware brooke had gone to the police and the police took no action we were concerned because it was charlie's court-ordered time with the children. i attempted to contact brooke's attorneys but no one returned a phone call. >> reporter: is this normal, in your experience? >> it's atypical? >> reporter: police coming to the house at night. >> the issuing of a court of an order, but it is atypical to issue an order with no notice to the other side. often courts will do it in abundance of caution and we have to figure out what to do next. >> reporter: what's next? as charlie's lawyer how will you try to get the children back? >> i don't want to show my hand, but we'll look at the

allegations, figure out not just to get charlie's word against brooke's, but independent witnesses to verify the accuracy or inaccuracy of statements. it rehashes a lot of old stuff. it's unfortunate they chose to go this route instead of communicating. but we are willing to sit down and try to work it out. >> absolutely. >> reporter: is there anything you want to say to brooke? may be your only chance to talk to her considering there is a restraining order. >> i understand. is that violating it? those things get creative these days. >> there is no order preventing you from contacting her. but you never want anything twisted. >> brooke, i'm sorry you felt this had to be done in this way. this does not display any responsible parenting in anything i'm familiar with. i think cooler and smarter, leveler heads can prevail. i urge you to reach out to me immediately if not sooner and tell me where our sons are.

>> reporter: we'll leave it there with the children. i want to move on to your legal battle with cbs. >> oh, that. >> reporter: that other thing happening in your life. you have been out of work a couple of weeks now. >> yeah. >> reporter: obviously the future of the show is in jeopardy at this point. >> sure. >> reporter: cbs and warner brothers haven't said much, only that you lost your job this season because of your conduct, statements and behavior. >> sure. >> reporter: first of all, your lawyer sent a letter demanding that you get paid for all eight episodes cancelled this season. >> sure. >> reporter: and for the first time since this happened, les moonves, the president spoke out. there was audio rolling. let's listen. >> good. >> doing eight less originals saves us money. i'm not saying long term i want this to go on or it's great, but the repeat last night actually was the fourth highest rated show of the night. he's on the air quite a bit these days.

i wish he would have worked this hard to promote himself for an emmy. i hope it's back. we'll see. >> reporter: so less moonves is saying cbs is fine without charlie sheen now. >> i don't know if i would paraphrase it like that. it was an intelligent spin. he's a brilliant businessman. look where he is. look who he got. you have to be nominated first to go out and launch a campaign. that's a little detail, but it was a good joke in good spirits. nothing has changed on this end. i thought getting the crew paid for four was a good direction. >> reporter: warner brothers agreed to pay for four. you want them paid for all eight. >> well, yeah. that's the way it will be completed. the rest of my cast and myself in that order. until that happens there is nothing to talk about. then we can open up a dialogue for the future of season 9 and

the rest of it, you know. >> reporter: are you ready to go back to work? it will be obviously a tense set. you have chuck lorre. can you work with him again? >> it's up to him. i can't even get a phone call returned. i can't get a phone call in a live, open forum. >> reporter: you want chuck to call you? >> well, yeah. something, anything. even if he calls, hears my voice and hangs up quick. >> reporter: why don't you call him? >> i deleted the number from my phone. >> reporter: why? out of anger? >> it was a recommendation from this guy. i don't know. i issued my questions through you. i was even and direct and i have requested some interaction in other live forums. rhymes with cnn. i made it clear where i stand and why i stand here. it's feeling like they are

hiding based on nothing. i'm not trying to insult everybody. i'm as confused as everybody here and all of my beautiful and perfect fans. >> reporter: charlie sheen, mark gross, thanks for joining us. charlie, meredith vieira in new york has a question for you. >> go for it. >> thank you very much. >> is this the million dollar question? >> maybe, if you give me the final answer i'm looking for. charlie, i want to go back to your kids. obviously you are upset about the boys. any message you want to deliver to them? >> bob, max, it's dada. i will see you very soon. you're right hear. >> thank you very much for joining us. >> thank you, sweetie. >> mark, do you plan to go to court today to get this undone, this restraining order? >> we will not be in court today. >> reporter: why not go to court today? >> unlike brooke's attorney,

anything we do will be with notice and so the earliest we could be in court would be tomorrow. we'll weigh our options whether it's tomorrow or friday. >> reporter: what would be your message to the judge about why the children should be returned to charlie and how long were you supposed to have them? >> until thursday -- what time? >> until 10:00. his custody time ended today at 10:00. the message essentially would be there isn't even an allegation that charlie is a danger to the children, harmed or threatened the children, which is why i'm surprised by the issuance of the order. >> reporter: thank you very much. meredith, back to you. >> thank you. our thanks to charlie sheen and mark gross at well. now a check of the weather from al. >> thank you very much, meredith. who's this? she's beautiful. that's a cutie. let's check your weather. we are going to warm up today up to 51 degrees in new york. 45 in boston. 56 in philadelphia.

washington, 60 degrees. the front moves through and tomorrow the roller coaster dips down. look at the temperatures. 20 to 25-degree drop. 30 in new york. 21 in boston and tomorrow around much of the country it will bel chilly from the great lakes into the northeast in new england. 80s and 90s in the southwest. 60s in southern california. 70s in florida. >> they are excited because the rain showers are moving out. they are actually thinning out now. a lot of rain overnight especially in the north bay and in the east bay. not so much in the south bay. we are seeing a lot of improvement. watch out for a heavy cell to the north of antioch. we take you to the south you can see highway 17 getting quite a bit of rainfall so watch for slick conditions there. by noon we're going to see a lot of clearing, spotty showers on and off, hit or miss. showers early. and that's your latest weather. meredith? >> al, thank you. still ahead, how would you like

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we are back with reaction to what charlie sheen had to say in our exclusive live interview. steve adabado is the author of "what were they thinking." good morning. >> good morning. >> you deal with people in crisis, give them advice. charlie sheen is going through a crisis. how did he do? >> it's amazing. i was prepared to say out of

control, ridiculous, get him off the air, it's embarrassing. i wonder about us when we put him on the air but i saw a father in pain, someone who for the first time through this insanity seemed focused, clear and speaking from a genuine human place that i could follow. he seemed clear that the boys are his priority. from a public opinion, perception point of view a lot of people who were thinking the guy is nuts are now saying, but he's a dad and i can understand what he's saying. a lot happened right there. i'm trying to process it, not just from a media point of view but from a human point of view. >> can you separate his response as a dad from the other things he's said in prior interviews that people may see as bizarre, crazy or inappropriate. >> you can't pass that stuff off or the domestic violence situations. his brand is teetering on destruction. i cannot see how he can go back

and function or work. he looks like this today, but tomorrow he could be off the wall saying ridiculous, crazy, dangerous things which isn't just bad for his career. it's terrible for his family and his children. right now what i saw was a very powerful, genuine, focused human communication. i have to tell you, i was stunned that he was able to do that given what i have seen in the past week. >> maybe that event had a sobering effect on him. >> i hope so for his children. >> thank you. we'll be right back after this.

just ahead, is donald trump closer to making a decision about a possible presidential run? we'll as ahe nutndew the new season of "celebrity apprenti apprentice". >> after your local news and weather. 9 9ohohohoh 9 z papc

>> good morning to you. breaking news in the east bay. we're getting word of a raid of a card club in emeryville. officers being tight-lipped but we know that officers from a variety of agencies raided oakland's card club this morning. today in the bay's christie smith is live there. she's got the latest details. >> good morning to you. i can tell you there is a lot of police activity still going on in front of the card club here in emeryville. marked cars, unmarked cars blocking the street and some of these cars have left. i spoke with an irs agent briefly. she couldn't confirm a lot of details but the tribune is saying this is believed part of a series of raids involving possible gang and gambling activity. now, the club is a legal club, their website says they expanded to 40 tables of gaming. this morning we can confirm who

is out here, the irs, the fbi, dea, state department of justice, oakland and emeryville police, also involved. oftentimes more about these cases is revealed through the u.s. attorney's office but a spokesperson for the irs is saying they may not even reveal exact details until tomorrow. i asked her if there has been any arrests out here this morning. she said she could not confirm. i can tell you again, quite a bit of activity go withing on this morning. christie smith, "today in the bay." >> thank you. a lot of agencies responding. we'll keep tabs on that. also keeping tabs on the forecast. >> good morning to you. we're seeing a great deal of clearing right now by about noon we're going to see spotty on and off showers the rest of the day. you can see right now our showers are thinning out. highs today close to 60 degrees and we've got more rain on the way for tomorrow. at least the early portion. let's check your traffic, though, rain creating a mess. >> complicating the north bay,

the sigalert for southbound 101 is clear but the traffic has not. below 10 miles per hour approaching north san pedro. wind advisory for the san mateo and the dumbarton bridge and 101 jamming around 92. heavier than we see and rain may play a factor. and in fremont, northbound 880 at mission boulevard there is an accident. it flipped three times but no major injuries. the conditions are pretty tough at times so use caution. back to you. >> very much so. we've seen a couple of spin-outs and overturned vehicles. luckily people have been able to walk away. another up date in a half hour. ♪ ♪ hello sshe ♪s yocan be ♪ove u [ chuckl ]

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we are back now. 8:00 on a wednesday morning, the 2nd day of march 2011. it's a beautiful morning here in new york city. temperature about 36 degrees. [ cheers ] >> nice people here out on the plaza. i'm matt lauer along with meredith vieira and al roker. coming up, a remarkable man, remarkable family. >> absolutely. we ran into him in the hallway. john walsh's son adam was abducted and murdered in 1981. the case went unsolved for 27

years. john and his wife are here with a man who re-examined the case, finally naming adam's killer, 27 years after his body was found. we'll talk to them coming up. >> on a lighter note we are joined by the one and only donald trump. he will be talking about the new season of "celebrity apprentice" which debuts sunday on nbc. if you have been following the headlines a little bit you know donald is also making waves. possible talk of a presidential run. we'll ask mr. trump about that as well. >> and he can finance his own campaign. and skating icon scott hamilton opens up about his latest health scare. the brain tumor that resurfaced. he'll tell us how he's doing and how he keeps his amazing positive attitude. it's infectious. >> it is. ann has a look at the headlines. >> hi, guys. a defiant moammar gadhafi appeared on libyan state

television this morning and declared again that he will not step down despite mounting international pressure. he said he'll fight to the last man and woman and blamed the foreign media and al qaeda for the uprising against him. forces launched a counter offensive for control of a key oil installation and today britain said it is starting an operation to air lift refugees stranded on libya's border with tunisia. two u.s. warships moved closer to libya this morning. defense secretary gates says the ship wills help with humanitarian relief. south korean activists will go ahead with plans to send information about the uprising into north korea by balloon next week. north korea has threatened to retaliate by firing at border towns. dozens of homes are teetering on a mountainside in bolivia after a massive mudslide that'sle still active. more than 400 homes crashed to

the ground completely wiping out seven neighborhoods. the bank hsbc suspended home foreclosures in the united states after a government review found there were problems with the paperwork on some of the earlier foreclosures. the girl scouts will be able to continue selling cookies outside the savannah, georgia, home of the organizer's founder. a complaint was filed this year because the scouts were violating an ordinance against street sales. now that time has turned flower children into grandparents, the hippy favorite the volkswagen minibus has been given a makeover. it features an electric motor and uses an ipad to control the entertainment system. does it have big flowers though? it's 8:03. now outside for a check of the weather with al. didn't you love that minibus, al? >> i always wanted one. now i can get one. thanks, ann. we have nice friends jumping up

and down, having a good time. where are you from? >> oregon. >> all right. ann curry's home state. nice to see you. let's check your weather, see what's happening. we'll show you our pick city near oregon, boise, idaho. news channel 7. periods of rain and 49 degrees. as we take a look along the west we have rain from washington, oregon, all the way down into california. mountain snows in the inland areas. look for snowshowers new england into the eastern great lakes. plenty of sunshine. 28 degrees in chicago. 51 in new york. beautiful along the gulf coast with showers along the . utheastern coast of florida. >> well, we're seeing some improvement if you have to get out that front door and hit the highway right now you'll probably find wet roadways but we're seeing a lot of clearing right now. we don't think that these showers will be that heavy as we head throughout the remainder of your day. just spotty activities anticipated as we head through the next couple hours. by noon a lot of clearing, a

good amount of clearing for your ride home tonight. by 6:00 p.m., we're looking towards clear conditions, 60 for your thursday. another round of showers on tap for the weekend. have a great day. and that's your latest weather. matt? >> al, thank you very much. when we come back, the abduction that changed america. john walsh talks about the nearly 30-year-old murder of his son adam and how finally that case has been solved. he's joined by his wife. we'll talk to them. first, these messages. but then...someone lit the flame. plain rode away on lion's mane. where plain met fruits with strangely names. such wonderful things they did contain. a shot of life to a hungry vein. the captive beast who broke the chain. and there upon that fruited plain is where plain

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back now at 8:08 with the unforgettable murder case of 6-year-old adam walsh. a new book reveals a surprising piece of evidence that helped solve the case. in fact, many pieces of evidence. we'll talk to john and revé walsh, but first how the tragedy unfolded. it was a parent's worst nightmare. >> these people are keeping reée and i going. everyone knows adam's alive and it's just a matter of finding him. >> reporter: 6-year-oldle adam walsh disappeared from a sears department store in 1981 and the case took a horrific turn. two weeks after he was kidnapped, the little boy's head was discovered in a nearby florida canal. >> i don't know who would do this to a 6-year-old child. i can't conceive of it. >> reporter: ottis toole, a serial killer, was the prime suspect. he even confessed to the crime but was never charged with the

murder. adam's parents, john and revé walsh became advocates for children and violent crime victims. john's long-running tv series helped to solve many cases, but adam's case remained wide open. in 2006, the walshs asked joe matthews, a retired homicide detective and family friend, to conduct an independent investigation. evidence was pieced together and police officially closed the case in 2008. ottis toole, who had died in prison years earlier, was named adam walsh's killer. >> in three decades, ottis toole has been the suspect from confession to sightings to witness interviews. it's all there. >> reporter: it was a moment john and revé walsh had long awaited. >> there are no words to tell you how i feel. >> it's about justice. for all the other victims who haven't gotten justice, don't

give up hope. don't give up hope. >> john and revé are with us along with joe matthews, the detective who helped solve the case. co-author of the book "bringing adam home." i remember sitting with you a couple years ago when the case was declared closed. police confirmed that toole killed your son. you said you finally had justice. how have your lives changed since that moment, since 2008? >> well, obviously we can't do anything to bring adam back. but in response to his death and everything that we have been through and everything we learned during that time, we were able to start the national center for missing and exploited children. john, of course, was able to lobby for a lot of laws and have the show, catch a lot of bad people. but there was always that part that was missing -- closure of the case. it was frustrating to watch john solve so many other cases and

not ours. >> so in 2006 you brought joe into this. how did that happen? >> joe was the guy who polygraphed revé and i back in 1981 when adam went missing. he was a well known homicide detective with the miami beach police force. he was critical of the way the hollywood police handled the case over the years. in 1990 he brought me a case of a little boy who was brutally abused and murdered and found unidentified. the case was called baby lollipop. i put it on "america's most wanted." joe said we have to get justice for this boy. it was his mother. joe and i became friends. revé said, john, you have solved so many crimes, caught over a thousand fugitives. we need to give one big last push. do it again on "america's most wanted." i said, revé, i know the guy that can help us. he's a good detective. maybe we can get hollywood to

open the case again and take an outside look. >> you had 10,000 pieces of evidence to look through -- or i guess paperwork. how did you know where to start, joe? >> i was involved, like john said, in 1981. it was a roller coaster over the years. different administrations bringing me back after i had worked for a period of time they changed their mind. i'm one of the few people who have read all 10,000 people and pu i'm one of the few people who t have read all 10,000 people and put it in some kind of order. i started from the beginning, just like any other cold case. >> you found evidence that was overlooked essentially by police at the time. one was this undeveloped film that had pictures taken inside ottis toole's car? what exactly were on those pictures? >> that's florida department of law enforcement took photos processing the vehicle. the vehicle was lost and the carpeting was lost, but the film was there. when i was first told the film didn't exist, i made a request. they said there were 98 photos.

what was surprising to the florida department of law enforcement is they were never developed. i was the first one to see the photos. that was the most compelling evidence. >> what exactly did they show that was so compelling? >> what they do when they process a vehicle, for flood, they illuminate it, and it gives you a blue color. looking at it, you see a blood transfer from adam's face to the carpet. it shows his image. >> and that had never been developed until you demanded it? >> they never knew it existed until i found it. it was so compelling. that wasn't the only evidence. >> right. >> but that was the most compelling evidence. >> they also didn't investigate certain people or question certain people like you did like the security guard at the sears store that day. >> the mistake they made from the very beginning, they took statements and there is a big difference from taking statements and interviewing.

i re-interviewed everyone that was still alive and they led me to other people. eventually i talked to relatives that he admitted killing adam within two months after the homicide. >> when joe came to you and said, it's ottis toole, were you surprised? >> i had always believed that it was ottis toole. it convinced revé that it was ottis toole. but i've got to say chad wagner, the chief of police in hollywood, florida, of all the mistakes made, he was the guy that had the guts to work with joe and said to me face to face, we owe it to you. the way you have changed things in this country, we owe it to you to open this case. i will throw out all the preconceived notions, mistakes that were made, he stood up, manned up, apologized and said, mistakes were made by this police department. if ottis toole was alive, we would indict him. it ended the chapter for us and

gave hope to so many victims. if police made mistakes or your case is cold, don't slam the door. take a look at the old cases. let someone come in like this guy and kelly hancock who helped as a former d.a. these men worked for years to help solve adam's case and chad wagner had the guts to say, we have taken a hard look, we apologize on national television. that has ended a terrible chapter of our lives. >> john and revé walsh, thank you very much for joining us. joe as well. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> we are back right after there. k. my daily meeting with a salty snack and then a 3:15, with my guilt. [ female announcer ] new special k cracker chips. 27 crispy chips. 110 delicious calories. mmmmmmm...good meeting. same time tomorrow? [ female announcer ] find them in the cracker aisle. i see a bag and think... i could have a chip. yeah right. that's why they're called chips? [ female announcer ] new special k cracker chips. 27 crispy chips. 110 delicious calories.

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[ male announcer ] werther's original caramel chocolate. what comfort tastes like. we're back now at 8:19 with donald trump. he's back with a new season of "the celebrity apprentice" and has some familiar faces. >> latoya what's your name? >> asap. >> is that as soon as possible? >> no, no. it means actors, singers, authors and performers with a purpose. >> say it one more time? >> artists. >> so one more -- >> artists -- >> professionals -- >> singers -- >> actors. >> what do you think of the name? >> i think they are already confused and it shows. fame over. we've won. >> donald, good morning. nice to see you. i like the cast. you have dionne warwick, star jones, meatloaf, richard hatch,

latoya jackson. >> gary busey, this brilliant guy who's nuts but wonderful. we have wonderful people, jose canseco. meatloaf turns out really to be a star. he's a wildman. >> he cries a lot. >> he's a 260-pound guy crying and crying. but he's got emotion. >> in the end there is a lot of fighting. you were quoted saying they make amaroso look like milquetoast. >> a sweet, mild-mannered woman. i have never seen anything like this on reality television. >> these guys have had a lot of opportunities to see how it works. they have watched groups before them. are you finding the contestants are tougher and get the game more? >> they are tougher, smarter and well prepared. they are so well prepared it's unbelievable. they have read every book i have written, watched every show. it's tough. the hardest thing for me to do,

they are so well prepared and good, in the first session, firing somebody. nobody wants to be the first off. it's a very hard thing to do. probably the saddest thing i have done in terms of reality television. the first firing this time is really sad. >> all right, man. you can milk it. >> exactly. >> can i switch gears for a second? >> yes. friday i interviewed blair griffith who won miss colorado usa and a few weeks later she and her mom were evicted from their home because mom is ill and they lost health insurance. blair is going to compete in june in miss usa in las vegas. that is your contest. you own it along with nbc. >> yes. >> what's your feeling? >> i hear she's lovely. everybody tells me what a nice person, everything else. i think we are going to try to do something about it. i heard about it yesterday though it's been out there for a while. i told my people, really look at it strongly, see if we can help

out. >> that's great. >> i want to switch gears again. there are rumblings out there -- and you're making them -- about running for president again. i remember sitting down in your office several years ago when you were going through this the last time. you were talking about running for president. there are some who said, you know what you are doing? you're tweaking people because with the speculation you're promoting what you promote best which is donald trump. >> last time i had no interest. a lot of people wanted me to do it. this time i have an interest. i see the country. we are a laughingstock, not a respected country. we are in debt up to our knees. i want to use a different word. we are in trouble. china is taking advantage of us like crazy. they're taking our jobs, making our products. you look at other places. look at opec with the oil. you will be paying $5 or $6 a gallon for gas soon and we have nobody to call up and say, listen, fellows, the oil price

is going down to $40. they wouldn't be there accept f -- except for us. >> you're a good businessman. what about wisconsin with state employees' bargaining rights. are you for that? >> each state is different. he's a tough guy. he wants a balanced budget and wants it quickly. i understand what he's doing. new york would be a different situation which is heavily unionized. what he's doing is right for his state. >> how would you handle the situation in libya? you're a good businessman, but i'm not clear. >> it's the weakness of the country. we have soldiers and ships there and you have a madman shooting people down in the streets. they are protesting rather violently, but he has f-18s shooting bullets into the crowds and killing, i think probably tens of thousands of people. they say 2,000, 3,000. i think it has to be more. >> would you support a no-fly

zone? >> i certainly would, at a minimum. >> even at a risk of committing our military forces on the air or on the ground? >> you can't allow something like this to happen. it's like a holocaust. >> you don't have a long time. >> it should have been done already. he could have saved a lot of lives if this were done. he could have been surgically taken out. he knocked out the pan-am plane. this is not a good, sane man. something should have happened. >> when will you decide if you will run for president? >> right after "celebrity apprentice". >> you will announce it on our air? >> i may do that. >> make a commitment. >> sometime prior to air. >> on our air. you heard it here. >> sunday night, 9:00/8:00 central time. we'll be right back after your local news. .

good morning to you. i'm lara garcia-cannon. new this morning, agents on the scene of a raid at a card club in amriville. we are told several agencies including the fbi, irs, and the state bureau of narcotics enforcement raided oaks card club this morning. investigators not talking about the investigation, but the tribune reports it could be one of a series of raids linked to illegal gang and gambling activity. oaks card club has 40 gaming tables, open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. it's been in business since the 1890s. we'll take a look at traffic and weather after this break.

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good morning. welcome back. yes, we had rain showers earlier. high pressure building back in and now we're dealing with very foggy conditions across the bay area. we'll see on and off spotty showers for today and temperature right around 57 degrees. winds will subside by about noon. that's when the showers will really start to deteriorate as well. tomorrow a few showers early on. let's check that drive with mike. >> the south bay looking all right. we are starting to build a

little more through the northbound commute. i just wanted to show you the flow, about 40 through most of your major commute spots. through east palo alto. 92 and 101, continues to be heavier than we typically see. getting into the city jammed up 101 and 280. the east bay slow through most spots including the walnut creek interchange and the east shore freeway. the windy conditions for the bay bridge, still a warning. >> take it yees. thank you very much. another local news update in about a half hour. the "today" show returns in less than a minute. have a great wednesday morning.

8:30 on this wednesday morning, march 2, 2011. a great morning in new york. clear skies, not too cold. we are here on the plaza and, matt, coming up, you will be catching up with our good friend. >> a great friend. this guy is the voice of figure skating on nbc, the man behind stars on ice and also a

survivor. i mean it in the best possible way. so many health issues over the years. yet look at the smile. it has always been there. he has such an incredible attitude. >> he does. >> he'll bring us up to date on what he's been dealing with. >> also this morning, you know how oatmeal is a very healthy option. >> yes. >> for a lot of us it's boring. guess what? mark bittman is here. >> not boring. >> he's got five ways to make oatmeal more interesting. >> in addition to just pouring hot boiling water on it. >> put a couple blueberries on it. >> talk about a steal of a deal. we'll show you how you can live in a mansion for just a few hundred dollars a month. >> that sounds good. really? >> crazy. >> a look at the weather, please? >> we'll show you for today we are looking at a beautiful day in the east. a little bit windy, 51 in new

york. only 13 in minnesota. some of the cold air working east. we have rain in the pacific northwest today and tomorrow. sharply colder, mild on the coast. showers in the great lakes and snow in th good morning to you. the showers are turning spotty but we have some fog developing along the peninsula in particular, so you wanto be careful out there. reduced visibilities. our showers on and off throughout the remainder of the morning. the bulk of the moisture has come through and you can already see clearing has started across the bay area. a little cell lingering over 17 making for some dangerous driving conditions. take it easy through there this morning. by noon we'll see a large amount of clearing. in fact, the whole bay area gets a chance to dry out. clearing conditions and then more showers on the way for tomorrow. and we've got somebody from newfoundland. >> yeah! >> you can check your weather any time day or night for newfoundland or all around the country on the weather channel

on cable, weather.com online. meredith? >> al, thank you very much. one in four houses in the u.s. is in some stage of foreclosure. kerry sanders is in florida where millionaires are getting creative to keep the banks at bay. kerry, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, meredith. in lifestyles of the rich & famous, it just isn't what it used to be. champagne wishes and caviar dreams are more peanut butter & jelly. the owner of this mansion is turning his castle into a rooming house to hold off foreclosure. ♪ >> reporter: at 16,000 square feet brian tuttle's mansion was his dream home. onyx from bolivia, hand-painted frescos and an intimate dining room for 16 of his friends. when his fortune evaporated in the housing crisis he said he had to get inventive. he now rents out six of the

eight bedrooms. >> i had to make a decision. either admit weakness, rent out the rooms and recover or give up. i don't give up. so i made the tough decisions you have to make to survive in today's economy. >> reporter: the rooms now belong to six tenants who pay $600 to $800 a month. utilities, swimming pools, everything included. a secretary pays $600 for all of this. an unbelievable deal. her co-workers are jealous. >> they're like, you live there? really? >> reporter: you saw it on craigslist? >> i had four friends read it. i said what does this sound like? they said, i don't know, sounds like a playboy house. i brought my mom. we checked it out and i got lucky. >> reporter: this month's smart money magazine spotlights the quiet trend. from florida to new york to seattle, millionaires turning rooms in the houses into money makers. >> i think the trend is going on a lot more than people realize.

it's not out there prominently because wealthy homeowners don't want people to know they have fallen on hard times. >> these are men and women whose only desire was to get the work that didn't exist. >> reporter: it was the same thing during the great depression. every american city and town had boarding houses. >> no, it's not. >> reporter: in redman, washington, this family manor includes a trout pond, basketball court and a museum. the family of four has been renting out a room in the home for four years. >> with our tenants we never even had a lease. it's always been, if you want to move out, move out whenever you want to. >> reporter: in florida you may have noticed brian tuttle, a divorced father, only rents to women. >> i only rent to girls because i have a 16-year-old daughter. she comes over a lot to spend the night. >> reporter: it makes it easier to choose a movie in the in-home theater. here, chick flicks rule. who's the winner here? >> we are. >> cheers!

>> reporter: brian tuttle's take is about $4,200 a month. when he advertises that he has a room on craigs list he establishes rules, one of which is no dating between the landlord and the tenant. you're probably wondering what about homeowners associations? many have rules about renting out houses, but few have rules about renting out rooms in houses. meredith? >> that's a great idea. kerry sanders, thank you very much. up next, gold medal winner scott hamilton opens up about his health scare and his amazing spirit. first this is "today" on nbc. [ male announcer ] 95% of all americans aren't getting enough whole grain.

but actually, it's easier than you think, because general mills big g line of cereals is america's number one source of whole grain at breakfast. there's whole grain in every box... ♪ ...from chex... to cheerios... to lucky charms. so you can get the whole grain you want with the taste y le. get started on the whole grain you're missing with your favorite big g cereals. make sure to look for the white check. my second diagnosis-- i was told to go home, retire, and enjoy the time i had left. to say it was a shock is just a complete understatement. i mean, i don't think there are words. she had put up a really good fight, but it was her time. you... don't have a choice of getting breast cancer. i had no choice. i wanted to do something bigger than myself. that 3-day gave me that opportunity. and i can actually do something to help. i think it's a very bold thing to do. 60 miles in 3 days-- i can do that. i'm sure if it was 100 miles, we'd still walk it.

it was a big statement for me of... (voice breaks) i'm alive. we can do this. we can do this. we can rid the world of this terrible disease... so that no mother... granddaughter... sister... daughter... mother... go through what my wife had to go through. this is more than just three days. this is a lifetime. (man) register today for the... and receive $25 off your registration fee. because everyone deserves a lifetime. we're back now with our good friend scoot hamilton, the voice of figure skating on nbc. he was out on the rockefeller

ice rink in november of 2009 but recent health concerns slowed him down a bit. good morning. nice to see you. >> nice to see you. >> we'll get into specifics in a second. we talk so much about your positive spirit and attitude. boy, you have needed it. >> and in a way i'm very frustrated. you know, i have worked hard and had some cool moments in my life, you know. >> right. >> all we end up talking about is my health. >> you're right. it shouldn't be that way. we should spend time talking about what you have done for charities and things like that. i know. but i remember sitting, having breakfast next to you and your family in vancouver for the olympics. you looked fine, great. it was a short time after that, just a couple months that after a battle with testicular cancer and a brain tumor several years ago you realized you weren't feeling well again. >> i went back to skating last year.

i was enjoying being in shape and slimming down, feeling good every day. about two weeks after that back flip you just saw, i took a stumble and tore everything in my shoulder. i didn't really realize i had injured myself that badly. so i went to the olympics waiting for the surgery. i had the surgery in april, repaired the shoulder. i was in rehab for that and i realized in may that my peripheral vision was going again. it was one of those -- oh, here we go again. >> you knew immediately it was a tumor? >> i knew immediately. i was on my way to chicago for an appearance. i called my wife and said, tracy, do you mind if i stop in cleveland to get checked out? i was due for scheduled scans anyway. she said, no, please do. she's always like, please, be vigilant. so i went in and got confirmation. dr. barnett, the chairman of the brain tumors said this time it's presenting itself as craniotomyh

the side or up through the nose. i consulted and we came up with a strategy. the irony was the date for the surgery was the exact date that i had my testicular cancer surgery 13 years before. >> they performed the surgery but there were complications. >> they go up through the nose, create a flap and they were able to get to the tumor that way. there is a small percentage chance that -- there are all sorts of blood vessels in there. it's an unpredictable complication, just the way my body is. they slightly nicked an artery. so if i would have been anywhere else the brain tumor wouldn't have come out. but they stayed with the program and got the tumor out. but then they had to figure out what to do with this artery.

it was a summer of trying to figure it out. >> eyesight limited now? do you still have complications? >> i have about 50% in my right eye. i lost it after all this was said and done. it's come back. again, the surgeons and doctors say we've going to work hard to keep your eye. >> for all the talk and as long as i have known you and how much i talk about your positive spirit, are there times you want to just let go a string of profanities and say, why me? >> yeah. not so much the profanity, but you want to have time to mourn things. you know, there are times like i will never be able or possibly not able to do that. you give yourself a chance to like -- [ sighs ] -- but with every situation it's not so much the situation but how you deal with the situation that gives you the quality of life. i have chosen to focus on the

blessings. i have two gorgeous children. i have an amazing wife, friends, friends and more friends. tons of support. i just keep my eye on that and try to be selfish and make that continue. yeah. i have had set-backs. but i'm really trying to keep my eye on the prize. the prize is what god has given me. it's extraordinary. >> before i let you go i want to say congratulations. smuckers stars on ice. 25 years! >> 25 years. >> come back on "today" to talk about the 50th anniversary. >> wouldn't that be great? you'll be doing the interview? >> we'll see. scott, good luck. >> great to see you. >> scott will be back in the fourth hour to talk to hoda and kathie lee. still ahead, affordable spring break vacation ideas for the family. first this is "today" on nbc.

we are back at 8:45. this morning, wounded warriors. with america fighting two wars in iraq and afghanistan there are a lot of vets coming home with visible and invisible scars. many are women. norah o'donnell has details. good morning. >> good morning, meredith. our women warriors are true heroes. we traveled to texas to join 20 of them at a retreat that's giving our soldiers a chance to relax and to heal. in the hills of west texas, sunrise means a new beginning for these wounded warriors. >> i feel more relaxed, comfortable. >> reporter: jonee mcnabb spent a year in iraq. >> before i was down. felt out of place. >> reporter: now she feels home on the range. >> this is my first time. >> reporter: learning a new

lesson in life from horseback riding. >> i was scared. but kind of let me overcome my fears, being able to bond with a horse, learning to saddle the horse and groom the horse. >> reporter: there is a reason they come here to the peaceful and serene setting of the wild cattle ranch but for the past four years they have taken care of wounded warriors. this is the first time they have done it exclusively for women. >> even the words combat veteran, i'm sure had you thinking male. you're thinking a big guy with a uniform on. then you see a girl. she's a combat veteran. >> reporter: lance corp. rag nancy shapiro, a marine was wounded in iraq. she lost her right eye. >> coming home as a 25-year-old female, i felt i had some sort of deformity on my face.

it was hard going through. how was it going to meet a man? it was hard putting makeup on. >> reporter: physically she healed quickly. emotionally she was a wreck. >> i stayed in my bedroom almost three years by myself. >> reporter: then nancy attended a retreat and works for the wounded warrior project as a counselor. she knows how to treat the invisible wouldn'nds of war. post traumatic stress disorder affects nearly 20% of the female veterans. >> i can't tell you how hard it is to get these girls to crack a smile. >> reporter: these women warriors go through activities like canoeing and skeet shooting, help rebuild their self-esteem. >> it was just kind of a confidence-booster to say, hey, i can do that. >> reporter: an extraordinary opportunity to not just forget about the stress of war but also to learn to laugh again.

with other women who know what it's like to sacrifice for their country. >> when you come together with a group of women who have gone through the same thing or are going through the same thing you realize you're not alone. >> reporter: it was great to see how many of the women within hours of just arriving at the ranch felt better. they were so grateful to be part of the wounded warrior project. a group called project odyssey. it's helped hundreds of male and female warriors. our veterans need some of that help. meredith? >> they sure do. norah o'donnell, thank you. up next, mark bittman with five ways to jazz up oatmeal. first this is "today" on nbc. >> there you go. we're ready for that.

♪ this morning, oatmeal five ways. oats are nourishing, inexpensive and easy to cook. mark bittman, new york times columnist and author of "how to cook everything" is here with new ways to make the old favorite. nice to see you. >> good morning, matt. >> i love oatmeal but only when jammed with brown sugar and syrup. >> we can do that. the only thing that bothers me is people who say it's hard to make or you don't have time. >> don't you have to stir it all the time?

>> get water boiling. you can use all water or water with milk. use a pinch of salt, the right amount of oatmeal. the recipe is on your website, we hope. >> okay. >> stir that, turn it down. >> how long does it simmer? >> five or ten minutes. >> you're looking for consistency. once the liquid is absorbed it's done. >> this has been about five minutes. >> once the boiling subsides, this one maybe needs a little bit longer. >> couple of minutes. >> probably not the best thing in the world to load it with syrup or brown sugar. you have other things that are healthier? >> to me a tablespoon of syrup goes a long way. >> i'm talking a lot. >> like half a cup? bananas, peanut butter, maybe honey. that's how we do this one. if it were done. but i will show you some interesting things you can do.

i just think it's important that the basic thing -- >> is not frightening. >> it's so easy you can do what you want. here is what you may call oatmeal pilaf. we take oil or butter, heated in a pan. >> these are steel cuts? >> there are rolled, too. steel cuts are just chopped oats. you can't eat whole oats. they take forever to cook. but steel cuts are chopped and crunchier. we put them in oil. a little bit of ginger in this case. we're going for a kind of savory sweet flavor profile. toast it for, say, a minute. then water and in this case -- >> is that cream? >> coconut milk which is really delicious. >> for flavor or -- >> it's really delicious.

just cook this open for 10, 15 minutes. that will soften up and you get this. you can cook it with raisins or -- wait. >> what was that? >> more coconut. >> i'm not a fan. >> i ruined it for you. >> not bad except for coconut. >> no, it's good. >> we actually take the oats and soak them in the reridfrigerato overnight. >> this is the european way called muesli. >> no cooking at all. >> you get this admittedly thick but very, very rich, mixed with nuts, raisins, dates, seeds, whatever. >> and greek yogurt in there: and finally -- >> no, two more. rolled oats in milk or water for ten, 15 minutes, maple syrup and

you're done. with these, leftover oats made into patties dipped into soy sauce. >> some of the members of the crew said you sold them on these. >> that's saple syrup. but the soy sauce -- >> how do you make them stick together? >> they're oats. it's glue. >> just make a patty? >> and fry them up. it's just oatmeal. >> the coconut thing sounds good to me. >> they're good. >> i wouldn't want to eat six of them, but they're okay. they taste like popcorn. >> right. >> it's weird. all right. oatmeal five ways. just ahead, where to start to set up a college fund for your kids. >> first your local news and weather. [ asst mgr ] what are you doing?

fixing the name. it's fiber none. looks like one. well, i know. i put an "n" there. ah! fiber one honey clusters cereal! that's really good! it tastes good, so there can't be fiber in it! it's actually got about half a day's worth of fiber. [ asst mgr ] it says so right on the box. [ fiber seeker ] really? try it. [ mr. mehta ] honey, touch of brown sugar, crunchy clusters -- any cardboard? cardboard no, delicious yes. so where's the fiber? maybe it's in the honey clusters. [ male announcer ] fiber one. cardboard no, delicious yes. developing news, we have a raid still going on at the oaks card club here in emeryville where agents are going in and out the front door. has a big closed sign on it. we have new information, though, this morning. we spoke with a man who was playing cards here. he says when agents stormed in, it was about 4:00 this morning,

the oaks card club is a legal establishment. he said it was very busy at the time and agents questioned him about whether he had been offered a loan or seen drug activity inside the club. he says no, but as a regular player here this was not his lucky day. >> almost 4:00 in the morning, i'm playing 21 black jack. next thing i know, several, several fbi agents come in with machine guns, guns drawn on out, told us to put our hands on the table and what not. everybody put their hands on the table. they individually searched everybody one by one. >> reporter: now he says he got his chips back but he's still down $700. i can tell you they've got unmarked cars out here. they've been out here for several hours now. the irs not saying much, but they say the dea, fbi, oakland and emeryville police are all involved. we'll be back after the break. os in the bud, with oscillococcinum. get oscillo and feel like yourself again.

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showers continue across the bay area. we'll have more for you.

we're back with more of "today" on a wednesday morning, the 2nd day of march, 2011. breezy morning here in new york city. it's in the 30s now. we're talking about getting up near 50 by the end of today which is good news for the people here in the plaza. >> it gets knocked back into the 30s tomorrow. >> that's not good. >> what can i tell you? >> out on the plaza, matt lauer along with natalie morales and al roker. coming up, more on the whole situation involving charlie sheen. here's the latest development. his twin sons, max and bob, were

taken from his home last night by los angeles police following a court order that was inspired, i guess you could say, by his estranged wife brooke. where are the boys now, how does charlie feel about that? we'll hear from charlie in an exclusive interview coming up. >> and a little bit later on in today's money 911 it's all about the savings. >> that's right. >> whether you are looking for the best investment for your kid's college or you want to build up cash for a good down payment on a house, our panel of experts has advice for your money emergency. >> if you have saved up for a family getaway and you are looking at a national park, the beach or hiking trails, travel & leisure magazine has five great trips perfect for spring vacation with the kids. check them out. >> before we go further let's go to ann curry with the headlines. ann? >> thanks so much. good morning, everybody. in the news, libyan leader

moammar gadhafi warned today that thousands of libyans will die in the u.s. or nato intervene in his country. overnight his forces launched a counter offensive against forces who control a key oil installation. today, britain said it has started an operation to airlift refugees stranded on the border with tunisia. meantime the u.s. navy has sent two ships through the suez canal on the way to libya's mediterranean coast to offer humanitarian relief. the u.s. government will likely stay open for business as the house has approved $4 billion in spending cuts to keep the government from shutting down when current funding expires. the bill advances to the senate for a vote today. california's attorney general has asked a federal appeals court on tuesday to let same-sex marriages resume immediately in her state while the courts decide if california's proposition 8 which bans gay marriages is unconstitutional. six months ago a federal district judge ordered a halt to

the marriages while the case is on ale peel. a new study is raising concerns about the use of heart devices in women, pointing out that many are approved without enough research on how they will affect women and women have different levels of risk for certain heart treatments than men and have unique responses to surgery and im implantation. finally, some tiny pups are headed to the big apple for homes. about a dozen are being thrown no san francisco to new york city. they are expected to find new, loving homes. how can you say no? it's three minutes past the hour. now back outside to matt. >> all right, ann. thank you very much. i'm going to walk this way past the other matt to mr. roker. >> going to walk this way. >> just seeing if jimmy was awake. >> and he is. in focus, too. unbelievable. let's check your weather.

we have another big storm making its way to the west coast. seattle, portland, san francisco, l.a., looking at rain and talking about mountain snows. first of all, the rainfall stretching all the way from oregon to santa maria, california. anywhere from a tenth of an inch to an inch of rain. snowfall, the central sierra may see up to two feet of snow. mount shasta looking at heavy snowfall as well. good morning to you. a lot of that moisture has cleared the bay area. you can see we just have some spotty activity and that will be on and off throughout the day, kind of an overcast day with windy conditions for the first part of the day, turning breezy later on. take a look, we do have just one cell pushing towards richmond and pretty good showers coming down the 80 in fairfield. now by noon, we're going to see a lot of clearing across the bay area. temperatures today will end up right around 60 degrees. little bit more rain on the way for tomorrow and another storm on sunday.

>> and that's your latest weather. natalie? >> al, thank you. new drama for charlie sheen as you have heard this morning. his two boys bob and max were taken away by the lapd. how did it all play out and how is charlie reacting? nbc's jeff rossen has details. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you. let me explain what happened last night just as charlie sheen was putting his twin boys to bed. police officers showed up at his door to remove the children from his home. acting on a court order from brooke mueller who says sheen threatened her and that her children shouldn't be raised in his home where charlie lives with his new girlfriends, his goddesses. i sat down with charlie and his attorney for an exclusive live interview here on "today." i began by asking what happens when police took the boys from his home. >> they were just being put to bed.

my secretary informed me the police were on their way down to issue a restraining order. i thought, okay, we can deal with that. i got my lawyer on the phone and it was revealed once i opened the door that they were there to remove bob and max. so, you know, i professed in the last few days to not deal and come from a place of panic, ego, emotion, so i stayed calm and focused. somebody badges you, they win in that moment. >> reporter: who went and got the children? >> i did and emma and laura, the nannies. we videotaped the whole thing so there was no -- nobody could claim otherwise. you have seen the video. they didn't have car seats so i provided them. i said, i love you, and i said, don't say good-bye. say "see you later." later is, as we believe, to be very soon. >> reporter: sitting here hours after it happened do you know where your children are? >> i do not. that's a good question.

that's a good point. isn't there some legal protection or some law that should inform the father of where his children are being removed and delivered to? >> you or any other father has the right to know where your children are. the silence by brooke's attorneys is conspicuous. >> yeah. >> reporter: did you say to the police officers, a, where are you from and, b, where are you taking my children before i hand them over to you? >> stupidly, i assumed they were going back to the house they have been living in with brooke when they are not with me. i think we got reports last night they were at a hotel in santa monica. at this moment on live television i don't know where my children are, but i am not panicking. this is not about emotion or ego. this is about focus and getting in touch with what i have to do to complete the task of bringing these two beautiful young men back to the home that they

deserve to be raised in. there is more love, compassion, support, child care and everything else you could possibly want for a child in this lovely home. it's not a house. it's a home right down that hill. >> reporter: according to tmz and they posted this overnight, brooke went to court yesterday and told the judge you threatened her recently and that's why she filed the court order. she said you told her, i will cut your head off, put it in a box and send it to your mom. >> colorful. >> reporter: did you say it? >> no. but that's a good one, i guess. i guess if you spend enough time around me you can formulate things and then you can make them sound like it came from my mouth. but you can do that watching reruns. >> reporter: a lot of people watched the video from "today" yesterday. when we were in the house with the goddesses and said, you know, maybe two young boys shouldn't be raised in this environment. you know, with women who they are just meeting. how do you respond to that, respond to the critics and your estranged wife? >> i invite anybody to come in

and observe. if it's a court-appointed monitor, somebody from the legal team, her, you with a camera. there is nothing to hide. as i said, there is nothing but love and compassion and absolute support for these amazing children. i'm going to go ahead and say that regardless of what people offer in the form of judgment or opinion, based on preconceived whatever, it's 100,000 times better than what will be offered in her house. >> reporter: will you sit here today and say you will go to the negotiating table with brooke mueller? i'm sure your anger is through the roof now. >> i'm calm. >> would you sit down and do this for the children? >> absolutely. had i received a phone call, i would have been willing to play ball and say absolutely, this is fine. in fact, i was going to call her because she's been requesting a two-hour visit asking lourdes to bring them somewhere. i had rejected it, because i knew that unlike myself that a

drug test would not be clean. >> reporter: is there anything you want to say to brooke? may be your only chance to talk to her. >> brooke, i'm sorry you felt this had to be done in this way. this does not display any responsible parenting in anything i'm familiar with. i think cooler and smarter, leveler heads can prevail. want to move on to your legal battle with cbs. >> oh, that. uh >> reporter: that other thing happening in your life. you have been out of work a couple of weeks now. >> yeah. >> reporter: obviously the future of the show is in jeopardy at this point. >> sure. >> reporter: cbs and warner brothers haven't said much, only that you lost your job this season because of your conduct, statements and behavior. >> sure. >> reporter: first of all, your lawyer sent a letter demanding that you get paid for all eight episodes cancelled this season. >> sure. >> reporter: and for the first time since this happened, les

moonves, the president and ceo of cbs spoke out. there was audio rolling. let's listen. >> good. >> doing eight less originals saves us quite a bit of money. i'm not saying long term i want this to go on or it's great, but the repeat last night actually was the fourth highest rated show of the night. he's on the air quite a bit these days. i wish he would have worked this hard to promote himself for an emmy. i hope it's back. we'll see. >> reporter: so les moonves is basically saying that cbs is fine without charlie sheen right now, in the short term at least. >> i don't know if i would paraphrase it like that. it was an intelligent spin. he's a brilliant businessman. look where he is. look who he got. you have to be nominated first to go out and launch a campaign. that's a little detail, but it was a good joke in good spirits.

>> reporter: meredith vieira in new york has a question for you. >> go for it. >> thank you very much. >> is this the million dollar question? >> maybe, if you give me the final answer i'm looking for. charlie, i want to go back to your kids. obviously you are upset about the boys. u're right hear.y soon. deliver >> reporter: sheen says they are working to get the kids back and will appear as court as early as tomorrow. charlie said he's more driven than ever to win on all fronts. both the legal battle and to get his children back, natalie. when i saw him this morning and he came out he had this new calm about him we had not seen in previous interviews. >> jeff, i didn't notice a lot of the tiger blood that he ranted and raved about in your

earlier interviews with him. does he seem more focused now on legal battles? is he going to tone it down a little bit? he indicated yesterday he's now addicted to all the attention. g he a he's replaced the drug addiction with the new addiction to fame and the attention. >> reporter: it's an interesting point. i think it was sobering for him last night. the kids have been in the house for a while. every time we have been there since sunday we saw the children. they spend a lot of time with the nannies. he has a weekend nanny and a weekday nanny. i think the children being taken refocused him. he said this is a new challenge for me and he wants to put his full weight behind that. he understands that to show he's a good dad, to understand the house isn't what everybody beliefs it is he needs to back

off on that kind of language. when you speak with him off camera, that's more of the charlie sheen, the one we saw today, that i normally see in the many hours i spent with him. >> perhaps he has to stop going on howard stern and talking about how he has two beds that they exchange beds every night. so things like that which people will say, well, it is deserved that his kids were taken away. >> reporter: he think it is house he's raising the children in is great. he says one of the goddesses, one a former model and one a former porn star, he says they love the children, take care of the children with professional nannies and he sees nothing wrong with it. >> a lot of people find it hard to take. jeff, thanks so much. up next, from saving for college to saving if or new home we have advice in our money 911. then a little bit later on, spring break travel for the whole family from a sunny beach to a city getaway. we'll check out great deals for you and the family after these

messages. happy birthday to you. happy birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday to you. happy birthday.

and then a 3:15, with my guilt. [ female announcer ] new special k cracker chips. 27 crispy chips. 110 delicious calories. mmmmmmm...good meeting. same time tomorrow? [ female announcer ] find them in the cracker aisle. i see a bag and think... i could have a chip. yeah right. that's why they're called chips? [ female announcer ] new special k cracker chips. 27 crispy chips. 110 delicious calories. another cracker chip? don't mind if i do! [ female announcer ] find them in the cracker aisle. don't mind if i do!

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rich." we start with gary in new jersey. i became a first time uncle and i want to start a college fund more for my niece. >> what an awesome uncle. the 529 is for you. especially if you're a grandparent or uncle or aunt, a 529 lets you grow the money for college tax-free. you have to shop around. go to savingforcollege.com. because there are a lot of ways to invest. but uncle gary, keep it out of her name. it will work against her when it comes to applying for financial aid. should she not go to college you can gift it to another family member. >> all right. very nice. again, congratulations. now to our phone lines. we have jennifer on the line from maryland. good morning. what's your question? >> caller: good morning. my question is that my fiance and i have $64,000 in savings.

we have a student loan debt of $49,000 and we are paying minimum payments. the other debt we have is a car loan of $11,000 and a rental property which is currently being leased out. we are thinking of buying a home for ourselves in the next year and would like to put down a good down payment. we have a single income of $83,000 and good credit of about 725 plus. what should we do with the savings? pay off debt, use it for the home down payment or both? >> what do you think? >> it's great news, al. you ever in good financial shape. you have savings. you're on top of the student loans and saving to buy a home. you're doing everything right and you have a great credit score. some people would say, pay down the loans right now. what i recommend you do is pay down the loan faster. go to finaid.org/calculator. the best website that i have seen to calculate your student

loans. i looked at your loans before the show and you have one large loan. the largest student loan is with sal may. i think it was $25,000. i ran a calculation. if you double your minimum payment on the student loan you will pay that one student loan off eight years faster and save $10,000 in interest payments. i only ran one calculation. go run the calculations on all three loans. double down on one loan. i recommend on the largest loan. just doing that, you will shrink down the student loan debt and be in great shape to buy your first home. >> what a great wedding gift. now on skype we have mariette from new york, new york. good morning. >> good morning. after reading "smart women finish rich" by the amazing david bach, i have since paid off almostle all my debt resulting in great credit scores but it doesn't look like they

have reviewed the scores in a while because they haven't moved. how often do they assign a score or do i need to call them and ask them to review to get it updated? >> first of all, bravo. your credit score above 776 is excellent. thanks to david for helping her. to answer your question, the way credit scoring typically works is the lend, creditors inform the credit reporting agencies once every billing cycle. that could take up to 45 days. any updates made in your credit accounts. once the changes are made to your credit reports, your score should change automatically. a question for you, what debt have you been paying down? credit card debt? >> yeah. i have paid off almost all my credit cards and i just have a school loan left. >> pull your credit reports and make sure the information on there is up to date. go to annualcreditreport.com. it's free once a year. you can get one from each of the credit reporting agencies. see that the information is up

to date. if there is anything missing call the lenders and say, wake up, put the information on my credit report so my score can boost. but 776, girlfriend, you're fine. you are worried for nothing. >> great shape. >> okay. >> thanks so much. >> thank you. >> for those of you on the east coast, we'll have a live web chat on todayshow.com. coming up, whether you want to play or pamper, jill martin has fun finds for a lazy day at home. operation! first, these messages. calling dr. martin. they're smart. they can outsmart their humans. and their canines. that's why they deserve the smartest choice in litter. so we make fresh step scoopable litter with carbon, which is more effective at absorbing odors than baking soda. fresh step. your cat deserves the best.

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what was i thinking? but i was still skating on thin ice with my cholesterol. anyone with high cholesterol may be at increased risk of heart attack. diet and exercise weren't enough for me. i stopped kidding myself. i've been eating healthier, exercising more and now i'm also taking lipitor. if you've been kidding yourself about high cholesterol, stop. lipitor is a cholesterol-lowering medication, fda approved to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke in patients who have heart disease or risk factors for heart disease. lipitor is backed by over 18 years of research. [ female announcer ] lipitor is not for everyone, including people with liver problems and women who are nursing, pregnant, or may become pregnant. you need simple blood tests to check for liver problems. tell your doctor if you are taking other medications or if you have any muscle pain or weakness. this may be a sign of a rare but serious side effect. let's go! [ laughs ] if you have high cholesterol you may be at increased risk of heart attack and stroke. don't kid yourself. talk to your doctor about your risk

and about lipitor. still to come, some amazing italian recipes. >> and affordable getaways throughout the u.s. >> after your local news and weather. i want someone to bring the make-up counter to me. i want to be the first to discover the latest. and get a little advice from my avon representative whenever i ask. this is beauty that delivers from avon. see how avon can deliver extra income for you. go to avon.com or call 800 for avon to become a representative. oh! [ both slurping ] ♪ [ female announcer ] the irresistible taste of cinnamon toast crunch. crave those crazy squares. ♪

if you want to feed them right, wear them out, or clean them up, you can save up to 25% on thousands of items during the petsmart everything spring sale. like $5 off select nutro natural choice dog food with 10% more free! good morning, everybody. time now is 9:26. i'm brent cannon. we are keeping an eye on an east bay card club where federal agents are still on the scene of an early morning raid. it's happening at the oaks card club in emeryville. several agencies including the fbi, the irs, and the state bureau of narcotics enforcement took part in this raid. investigators are not giving many details about what led to the raid or who or what they're looking for, but witnesses who were inside at the time of the raid, say that agents asked them about loan sharking and drugs and cheating. we'll keep you posted as we get more information. a fifth grade girl who got sick from eating cookies laced

with marijuana is talking about her ordeal this morning. erika davis attended grace patterson elementary school. she says she and several of her classmates got sick after eating auntie's edible ginger snaps. the cookies contain cannabis. police say a clerk gave the cookies to an 11-year-old not knowing they contained marijuana. >> they asked me if i wanted to try it and then i tried it and then it tasted nasty. >> yeah. >> i kept on drinking my chocolate milk. >> three other students say they felt dizzy after eating those cookies. they were all treated at nearby hospitals. we'll have a quick update on your wednesday morning forecast coming up in just a minute.

good morning to you. showers are really starting to subside. now you can see the clearing over the bay area. they're all pushing off to the east and that will be the trend as we head throughout the day today. a few on and off spotty showers.

right now the bulk of the moisture is well to the east of the east bay. so that's good news. in fact, by noon, we're looking at a mostly clear bay area. that trend will last into tonight and more showers move onshore tomorrow morning. let's check your drive with mike. >> the east bay doing all right. we'll look at the peninsula, slow approaching san mateo from both directions of 101, 280 southbound jammed but northbound an accident in the backup approaching -- getting into the city basically. san mateo bridge, wind advisory, the done barton and bay bridge. brent gives you a clue as to how gusty it can be at times. >> more local news in a half hour. the "today" show returns in less than a minute. half a great morning.

♪ in case you have lost count shall we remind you once again only 58 days left until the much anticipated wedding of kate middleton and prince william. >> are they fans of this music? >> it's the fergie -- the other fergie set for friday, april 29, the day that's already been declared a holiday in great britain. if you would like to receive the royal treatment we want to send you there. one lucky viewer and a guest will be headed to england, all expenses paid during the week of the nuptials. >> the trip includes two first class tickets to london. get out your camera, create a

video no more than two minutes long telling us why london is calling you. details head to todayshow.com. >> meantime, coming up on spring break and a lot of us want to get out of dodge and travel somewhere. if you want to go some place a little closer to home we've got some affordable ideas, getaways from san antonio to san diego to chicago. trips that are good for kids, for families. also if your idea of a vacation is to sit back and spend lazy days at home with a staycation, jill martin has finds that will make it fun. >> the world's largest crossword puzzle. >> and other ideas. that's really pretty in the wide shot. >> it becomes a mosaic. and a legendary aitalian restaurant in new york is run by the two franks, frank, sr., and

frank, jr. we'll get some of their recipes. >> one in particular is major comfort food. >> amazing. first a check of the weather. >> let's see what's going on. a lot of rain moving into the pacific northwest with mountain snows. bitterly cold weather where high pressure builds in in the plains states. temperatures teens and 20s. beautiful through the gulf coast. tomorrow the temperatures turn colder here in the northeast with snow in the upper great lakes. wet weather from central california oh the pacific northwest. nice and warm in texas. mild with a few clouds from the gulf coast to florida. well, our neck of the woods is looking a little bit clearer. we do have some fog developing so watch out for some reduced visibility, especially along the peninsula. on and off spotty showers, that will be the story for this afternoon. the bulk of the moisture has come through. by noon you can see from your future cast we're not expecting

a lot of activity, just some spotty showers. a few showers tomorrow morning, clearing friday into saturday and then our next storm arrives late saturday into sunday. have a fantastic wednesday, bay area. that's your latest weather. >> coming up next, good d spring break springreak getaways for the family. that's right after this. discover relief from dry, uncomfortable skin with skin relief moisturizing lotion. only aveeno has an active naturals triple oat and shea butter formula that soothes, nourishes and restores moisture. women saw improvement in all five symptoms of winter skin in just one day. beauty you can see and feel. that's being comfortable in your own skin. aveeno skin relief. and now get dermatologist recommended relief from severely dry skin with eczema therapy. new from aveeno. discover the power of active naturals

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getaways for sebripring break. time for kids to get off school and there is enough time to book a fun affordable vacation. we have the features director for travel & leisure magazine. good morning. >> good morning, ann. >> i thought it would be too late. >> it's the perfect time to think about where to go with your brood and not having a headache, just easy peasy. >> you say away from snow and you will go for things in this country so e eel save money. >> save money, easy access. fly in and out, have some fun. >> number one, resort getaway. you found one in san antonio. >> we love the marriott in san antonio in hill country about 20 minutes outside san antonio. it's a new property, a year old. it has everything you would want on property especially with tons of activities specifically for the spring break period for children. if you want your kids booked from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. you can do that. there are fun things with your kids like family yoga and fun

activity including smoers at the fire pit and a water park on property. >> that sounds good. there is a drop-off as well if you want to go to dinner. >> that's important when planning a family getaway. you need time for mom and dad, too. >> okay. national park get away. of course yosemite. >> it's gorgeous any time of year. spring is the perfect time to go and if you're feeling adventurous, curry village is a tented camp. >> curry, hmm. >> i like that. maybe your ancestors. >> i don't think so. they're asian. >> in 1899 was the first tented camp right on the valley floor. for only $100 a night you can be so close to nature and march through may is great. you can see the waterfalls which go away for summer. >> that's valuable information and that's why you're here. a dude ranch option in tucson. >> we lo the dude ranch idea.

this is a great one. in fact, today launches the first ever ipad family act. this is something free on the ipad. download it. tons of hassle-free ideas. the reason it's great is because it's all inclusive. your activities and your room are all included as well as food. >> if the kids say i don't want to do horseback riding. >> they can, but there are tons of activities. if they want to hike, go fishing, hiking. tons of stuff. there is no shortage of activity. and there is dinner with dinner bell included. >> if you're going the opposite direction to a city you're talking chicago. why? >> the windham chicago has a cute program for i think little girls and moms. if your little girl is into american girl this is an american girl hooray for hair package. you get the american girl doll's bed of its own with turn down service. >> oh, my gosh. >> it's cute.

a little girl who's into this and you're three blocks from the american girl shop where you can spend the day, have lunch and the package is reasonably priced around $200 a night. >> supports the fantasy. now to the beach in san diego. >> who doesn't love san diego? there is a great property there. the sheraton is on the bay. request a high floor. you will get great views of the city and the bay. also, there is so much to be done in san diego proper. i'm crazy about the zoo. kids love the pandas and i'm a kid at heart. i'm crazy about them, too. >> we have known you to be a great kid at heart. that makes it fun. you help us see the world. thank you. coming up next, if you would rather stay put than get away, we'll give you a plan for the lazy weekend in jill's fun finds after this.

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>> williams sonoma? >> right. >> i don't cook, but there is an insert to make perfect poached eggs. >> great idea. >> st. patrick's day is coming up. >> kids love snoopy. >> right. green hot chocolate. >> if you want to be more productive you suggest spending the day converting old pictures or negatives you may have into slides or into a digital picture. >> so many of us have boxing of slides. >> negatives, yeah. >> we have nothing to do with them. this will transfer them onto a usb so you have them. >> great. >> this is a great way to spend a sunday. we love our memories but it's hard to see on a slide. $125, an investment but for memories.

hammacher.com. >> my parents have lots. if you want to organize your jewelry you call it the berken bag of jewelry. >> so many of us have jewelry in a clump. this is great because you can travel with it as well. it's $50 and waterproof. >> you can buy the inserts? >> it comes with three pages but you can buy additional ones. >> it's a book for your jewelry. and i love this. a towel warm, pajama warmer. >> we should all have this. especiallile with the weather like it's been. this is $59.95 from brookstone. you can put in towels, pajamas and you feel it now. we put it on five minutes ago. >> okay. of course you want to laze around in pajamas all day so we have great pajamas for kids. >> little miss mismatch. it's fun because nothing matches and the kids look adorable. for adults, this is his and

hers. i love men's shirts on women. >> we have one here on the mannequin. >> and then if you're pampering with your daughter and you want to have a little bit of fun, these silk satin robe and look at the fun eye masks. while you do that you can paint each other's nails because you have to have a mani-pedi as well. >> paintednails.com. huge celebrity favorite. >> let's talk about playing. we want game day, fun on the weekends. we have the old classic operation but this is the updated version. >> they have new ones. look! [ buzzer ] >> i love this game. this is an upgraded version, fun for the whole family. you can really learn to concentrate. takes work. [ buzzer ] >> oh, yeah! he's dead. >> take mess a week to do the new york times crossword puzzle.

this is the world's largest puzzle. 91,000 squares. it fits on a 7 by 7-foot wall. they say it takes up to a year to do. >> it's pretty wallpaper. >> if you don't have the wall space you can put it on the floor. fun for the whole family. >> over here for the pets you want them pampered on the weekend. this is hysterical. >> lazy bones.com. it's pricey, but especially if you have two little pets that want to relax together. >> they will fight over the top bunk. you know it. >> it's a bunk bed. >> then the wii has a new game coming out. >> okay. >> michael jackson fans will be excited. >> this is the nintendo wii. do we have the music? >> you have to follow the glove? >> follow the glove. natalie was telling me that. so just follow the glove and

shake the controller. show everyone the moonwalk. you were bragging during the break. >> i can't. i have heels on. >> this is out now $49.99. just a fun game to play on a sunday. as you said, your lazy days. and you get a little workout. >> oh, gosh. the moonwalk. jill, thanks. you have an app, by the way. >> now on itunes. >> there is an app for that. >> it's interactive. you can find all the fun finds. it's exciting. >> great and free. >> it's great. >> jill martin, thank you. there's an app for jill. up next, great cooking, frankly speaking. a father-son team is sharing fabulous italian recipes. first this is "today" on nbc.

it's just beautiful. again no details spared, no expense spared to make things right. totally wired for everything from home security to your

media, i mean you can walk in and just plug things in. they've thought of everything and there's no expense. the quality of the -- all the furnishings and the construction and appliances they put in, is really amazing. >> we feel that we've gotten more bang for our buck than we would have anywhere else in the bay area. just looking around, knowing what you will get for your investment, is top dollar. no expenses were spared in building this development and it's something that i would encourage you to come out and take a look for yourself and form your own opinions. >> you really have to experience this firsthand to appreciate how gorgeous it really is. and you can afford it with prices starting in the upper 200s. it's well worth an easy drive to vallejo to check it out. for more information go to --

this morning, step by step inside the legendary italian restaurant in new york run by frank pellegrino senior and junior. these recipes will be focused on may 5 at caesar's palace in las vegas at the food & wine festival. >> we have frank, frank and my partner ron. >> he's not here though. >> i have to tell you, your recipes are legendary. very secret. nobody's allowed in the kitchen. are these the exact recipes you serve -- >> exact. >> no changes? >> no changes. if you buy the book you will see they're exact. >> all right. the first one is jim bell's favorite, our executive producer. >> i browned pieces of chicken, sausage in garlic and oil. when the chicken is cooked

through we add some bell peppers, some onion, hot and sweet cherry peppers. and then we add a little bit of the brian tne the peppers are pd in which gives it a nice kick. a little vinegar which is great. then we go a little white wine. we do a little chicken stock. >> yep. >> we do a little salt, a little pepper. thank you, son. >> welcome, father. >> this is how i work. my son in my nose. >> at least you got top billing. >> exactly. he's the boss.

then you let it all cook together. you let the liquids reduce and then you wind up with something like this. >> very nice. all right. >> ultimately, voila. >> what are you making, frank jr.? >> something simple. zucchini with spaghetti, oil and garlic. put the olive oil in a pan. four cloves of garlic. place the zucchini in here. let it cook. we'll boost up the flame a little bit. add some salt. little bit of pepper. then some red pepper. let it simmer until the zucchini becomes transparent. take your pasta which is already cooked and strained. place it in there. you want the pasta coated with olive oil. let it cook and the pasta will

absorb the flavors. once it's coated evenly, take it out, plate it in the dish and put the sauce on top. voila. >> that looks so good, so yum any and simple. >> great all year long. great in the summer with squash. >> thank you. >> thank you so much. >> thank you, al. >> coming up, hoda and kathie lee.

good morning. time now is 9:56. i'm brent cannon. we are getting more information about an early morning federal raid at an east bay card club. several agencies including the

fbi, irs, and state bur rf narcotics enforcement raided the oaks card club in emeryville. investigators aren't saying much about why they were there, but we did speak to people who were inside when agents burst into the club this morning with guns drawn. >> almost 4:00 in the morning. i'm playing 21 black jack. next thing i know several, several fbi agents come in with machine guns, guns drawn on out, told us to put our hands on the table and what not. everybody put their hands on the table. they individually searched everybody one by one. >> witnesses say agents asked about loan sharking, possible drug activity and cheating. we're keeping an eye on that. in the meantime the latest on your forecast with christina. >> good morning. showers continue to clear out of the bay area. we're left with a little spotty activity and that will be the case throughout the day. on and off spotty showers, overcast conditions. breaks of sunshine throughout the day. you can see fairfield getting the bulk of the moisture left

over by about noon, we're going going to see a lot of clearing and later today 57 degrees with your forecasted high. a few showers push onshore tomorrow morning. we'll see a clear second half of the day, 57 degrees, clearing completely on friday. check the drive with mike. >> you showed the rain through fairfield, another part of the north bay haven't recovered from the sig alert. southbound 101 approaching 37, na votto jamming down below. still getting a little better through san rafael. we'll show you the windy conditions approaching the bay bridge toll plaza. looking pretty good, still a little slow down the east shore freeway made worse by a new accident. the shot of the golden gate bridge, you're contending with mist and low clouds around the area. we continue to see shifting conditions. watch it on the roadways and use the headlights. >> thanks a lot, mike. more local news coming up in a half hour and the "today" show returns in about a minute. see you back here in a bit.

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from nbc news, this is "today" with kathie lee gifford and hoda kotb. live from studio 1a inn rockefeller ppaza. >> hey, everybody. so glad you're here. mid-week with us, it's winesday, wednesday, march 2nd. >> yes, it is. >> regis sends his love to you. i was with reg and joy last night. their 41st anniversary. o cf1 o >> how is he doing as the end comes near. >> he's good. he wants everybody to realize he's not retiring.

he's just starting a new chapter. by the way, he said to say hello to koda. >> he's never going to get it right! happy birthday to karen. it's her birthday today. >> your friend karen. she's down in new orleans now. just in time for mardi gras. >> whooping it up. happy birthdayyto karen. >> she's a sweetheart. i sent her flowers. >> she loved them. &->> they were? they weren't supposed to be. >> people took those flowers to an oscar party they were so big to decorate. >> did you send your friend some flowers? >> of course i did. >> how do you get to be a part of this party? how do you get to be on this she's changed her name. back to her real name, i guess. >> rachel. >> the story today is that charlie sheen's kids were taken from him in the wee hours of the morning. >> why did they do it then? >> apparently, his -- well, his

ex-wife, brooke, called the police because she says that charlie sheen threatened her byy saying something like he was going to put her head in a box and send it to her mother. so she said that was a threat. so she called the police. the police came to the house and took the two young kids. i think that was the question a lot of people had. those two kids are living in that house. >> apparently it was his time for custody, though, according to his attorney. >> i think what was surprising was seeing that the girls, the two women that are his girlfriends -- >> goddesses, hoda. >> -- porn stars were babysitting the children, too. >> a lot of people have that question. is that appropriate. are ttey capable of taking care of children. they probably are capable, but are they? >> jeff rosen had another interview with charlie. he was talking about the kids. let's listen to this. >> they were just being put to bed. and they informed me the police

were on their way down to issue a restraining order. i thought, okay. i can deal with that. i got you on the phone, got my lawyer on the phone. it waa revealed once i opened the door that they were there to remove bob and max. so, you know, i've professed in these last few weeks to -- last few days, rather, to not deal and come from a place of panic, ego, emotion, any of that. so i stayed very calm and focused. if somebody badgers you, they win in that mooent. this happened do you know where your chiidren are? i do not.ot. really good question. really good point. stupidly, this is on me, i assumed they were going back to the house they've been living in with brooke when they're not with me. i think we got reports last night they were at a hotel in santa monica somewhere. at this moment on live television i do not know where my children are. but i'm not panicking. this issnot about emotion. it's not about ego. it's about getting very focused and getting very much in touch with what i have to do to complete the task of bringing

these two beautiful young men back to the ome that they deserve to be raised inn there's nothing -- there's moreo love, compassion, support, child care and everything else you oo could possibly want for child in this lovely home. not a house, it's a home right down that hill. >> so brooke actually has primary custody of the kids. and he pays -- i think it's $55,000 er month in child support for the children. so that's kind of the arrangement they have worked out. she gets primary custody, he sees the children, i guess, periodically. who knows what's going to happen now. and she had her own issues. >> she had her oww addiction issues. she was in rehab as well. >> her mom called it -- she didn't call it rehab. she said she was in a wellness center. semantics. >> in the meannime, rachel's mother. >> if you care which one, the one with the -- >> the one that looks so young, doesn't she?

>> she does. >> when she's not all glammed up for those porn kind of shots, she looks like she's a teenager. she's fresh faced, looks like anybody's kid. she isssomebody's kid. her mom said she had no idea she was living with sheen. she's 24. she said she had the tv on and heard this thing about the goddesses, she went and she was stunned that it was her daughter. i guess she calls every week and says everything's fine, momm there's quite a big article in today's "new york post" about their iving arrangements. you wonder if that's a healthy thing for these two children. i don't wonder. i think it isn't. i think adults really do have their righttto live their lives the way they want to. i think when you bring children into the equation you got to give up some of your rights. >> when you're 2, i just know from my niece, she'll run into her parents' bedroom. that's just what happens. if you go bounding into your parents' bedroom, god knows what's happening in there.

>> according to the goddesses, a lot. all right. lindsay lohan, she, too, was in public. kwl as on "extra. >> she does say she wants to get backkinto movies. she wants to focus on her great work and doesn't want all the attention to be paid to her hair and face like that. >> well, i'm sure she does. the trouble is she's got a lot of work to do to make herself -- >> marketable. >> more than that. -ppalatable to a producer who's willing to pay for the insurance it's going to take on her. i think a lot of people are still pulling like we did for britney spears. we all remember her from that sweet kid that was in "parent trap." i remember meeting her when she was, like, 12 when she did that movie. just the cutest, freckled face little -- >> and a great actor. >> teerific actress. she's 43 days now i think sober and clean. one day at a time. >> it's interesting.

seems like we've been watching this congo line of celebs who are falling. >> hearts gone wild. >> christinaing agulaira. john galliano. i think the thing is, the question is, have people always behaved badly and now we have more ways to peek into it with watching and seeing everything, twitter and facebook? >> everybody's got a phone. everybody's phone has that ability to take pictures and take video. apparently he was having these outbursts when he was drunk. just the way mel gibson basically did. that begs the qqestion, is that what you really think when all of the restrictions are basically taken away from you? all of the things that restrain you in real life, in sober life. >> i think if you were to chug a bottle of wine right now, and --

or if i were to, i don't think any of the -- i can't imagine any of that stuff coming -- no matter how blown away i was, i would never say the kind of stuff you're reading here. so you wonder what's inside you, anyway. i think you have to have it in you in order -- i think it's in you. >> what is it drew pinsky called it, dr. drew? hypomania. >> hypomania. >> do we have a description of that? hypomania is what he says he has. >> some kinn of a grandiose -- yyu have all these feelings of being better than everyone. >> sounds like narcississ to me. >> narcissism plus, yeah. if you want to live a long life, we have a prescription for you. that's what chuck lorre was saying. if he doesn't llve longer than -- >> yeah. >> he's going to be very, very upset. need to do if you want to live longer according to studies. two things only. you need to not retire and you need to be active. >> and eat broccoli.

>> but those two things are the most important. they say if you have a sunny disposition and you're happy, that doesn't neccssarily mean a -plonger life. thee say neurotics live longer than people who are happy. that's what this thing says. i don't agree with that. >> i don't either. i think it's nice in the morning to wake up and have a purpose. that's important. >> yeah. >> but if your purpose is to have a great round of golf with your friends and you've worked all your life to get to that point, i think you need joy in o your life. unfortunately, our culture defines success in erms that are, i think, false. i look at a charlie sheen. people think he's so successful. yes, he has a lot of money and lives in a big mansion. i see success as an inner thing where you live your life with integrity and you have love for people, not this violent hatred he's talking about. that's success. when you can have joy in your life, walk humbly with god and that's success. >> mm-hmm. o cf1 o >> sorry, hoda, but that's what

it is. >> all right. let's drink to that. cheers. >> i love it when she has a good ideaa only doing this because it's winesday. hoda, there's another way to get your wine now. >> how? >> right here! >> oh, god. you do not need another way to get it. >> this is the thing n red wine that's so good for you. antioxidant resveratrol. >> we practiced. >> you look good in this color. you're not putting it in? >> apparently each lipstick delivers antioxidants of five glasses of wine. if you're putting it on all day long the way we do -- looks nice. >> you like it? >> five glasses of wine. and not all the other stuff that comes with it. available at sephora and sephora.com. pretty cool. >> if you are about to make a big, big decision in your life and you want to make the rightt

decision, according to this study, you should have a lot of liquids. so that your bladder is completely fuul. they say we make better choices and decisions in life when your bladder is full and we don't have time to think. you just go with your gut instinct because you have to go. that's what they say. >> christine who everybody knows here -- >> she'll die. >> the smartest human being on the planet. >> she's genius! >> best decisions ever. i've nevvr een a person's leg shake ss much in my life. she waits forever! >> the otter thing, too, is they were saying -- >> one of the smartest human beings you'll ever meet in your life. ever. >> ever. we have harry conic jr. coming up. >> this is not what it sounds like. this is the no poo movement. >> people deciiing not to shampoo their hair as often because they think it'll look better, number one, if you just

time. >> they say it takes four weeks, if you shampoo regularly, it takes four weeks of not shampooing your hair to get it -pback to its healthiest state d shiniest. >> come on! >> who's going to want to be in a room with you, you know? >> who's in he control room? >> somebody you love. >> okay. thank you. steve, i like steve. steve needs to be in there more. okay? i'm voting or steve lucas to be our permanent director. hey! you guys know that jim has been mean to me every day. >> i love jim daves. >> jim daves has wrestled me to the ground and won. again. all right. >> oh, hoda, give it up, baby. >> coming up next, we have harry conick jr. in the house. >> look at him. he's got big moves on he broadway front, too.

later, scottie stops by for a special celebration. first hese messages.

♪ ♪ won't you please arrange it, 'ccuse i love you, just the way you look tonight ♪ >> that's the unmistakable sound of the all-around talented grammy and emmy winning harry connick jr. >> he recently took his big band sound to broadway for a two-week sold out run. lucky for us the concert will be live on both -- what is -- if you could see this. harry connick jr. in concert on

broadway. hi, harry! what a cool project, by the way. >> so fun. >> a lot of people can't make it to those kind of venues. how great to be able to pop it feel. >> it's pretty cool. just being on broadway, you know, is pretty -- >> there's nothing like it.. >> there's really nothing like it. even though i wasn't doing a broadway show, it's just a concert that we filmed. >> it's the real estate, baby. you wereeon broadway. it was the last two nights of the run. you were real comfortable there by then. >> it was great, you know. >> he looks comfortable anyway. >> you have a smooth thing happening. >> i've never really been the nervous type. i always thought of it like, you know, i feel so lucky to be up there. even though i may not be better or worse than other people, it's me. i feel like -- i feel very comfortable in my skin. >> that's what comes through. >> you can tell. was it difficult to select the songs that were going to make it on this cd? >> not really. i think had the cameras been

there any other night, you know, we kind of mix songs up. i don't like to get too stuck in one thing. because it kind of feels constricting to me. >> the joy goes out the window if you can't play a little bit. >> i think so. it wasn't hard. i know people have responded to when i sang standard. they seemed to like that. there's some new orleans stuff on there, original, a little bit of everything. >> who is this lucian? he's wonderful. >> lucian barber. very hard to find somebody who -pmaintains a lifetime of stayi true to exactly what they do. he's a brilliant performer. >> you're going to be on broadway again soon. >> we are. ♪ on a clear day >> it's a very new take on this. >> i'm very excited about it. in the original show and in the movie that barbra streisand did,

the character that i play is a psychiatrist that's very interested in hypnosis back in o the '60s. there's a girl played by barbra streisand who's kind of a little bit of a boring character. not boring, but she just kind of goes through life kind of humdrum. the psychiatrist starts to o co hypnotize her. and she channels another person. psychiatrist falls in love with. >> but this is a different twist. this is about a man. >> in this case it's a young man as opposed to a young woman. and he channels a woman from 20 yearssago that i fall in love with. so the only way to get to her is to hypnotize him. >> it's a switch. ssme music, though? >> same music, yes. it's the same great songs and there's some other songs that they took from the trunk. i'm really excited. it's a great -- >> when can we expect that? >> in the fall. >> we love you, harry. >> come back and talk to us about that. >> i'd love to. up next, if you need a

laugh, have we got something for you. "what the what?" >> that's after this.

the what?" >> miss sara is here with a few of the photos that stopped us in our tracks and made you say, what? >> from indianapolis, indiana, it's called baby deli. clearly this was a take your baby to work. if you look closely the gentleman has a baby bjorn with a bybeuy baby in it. the next one entitled drive-through grandma was sent it from west palm beach. the weather is nice. why not just go straight through the drive-through. beep, beep. >> that is adorable! withha hoveround. >> if you're hungry. >> the next one was sent from paul frommtempleton, california. it's entitled free espresso and don't leave children unintended

unless you want them to take home a free espresso and a puppy. this was a sign in a deli in like youure going to jack that child up with espresso and give them a free puppy. it's every parent's dream. >> yeah. >> up next, from dublin, ohio. called boy toys. we are currently out of boy toys. sorry for the convenience. that's the only reason i ordered the happy meal. what? do we have time for one more. from elgin, texas, it's entitled. double shot. who needs a doubll shot of espresso when you can go to this drive-through and get liquor and guns. >> all right.he two do notgethe > all right. be right back.

good morning. time is 10:26. i'm brent cannon. we are getting new information about an early morning federal raid at an east bay card club. several agencies including the fbi, irs and state bureau of narcotics raided the oaks card club in emeryville. investigators are not saying much about the raid or investigation but we spoke with people who were inside when agents burst in with guns drawn. >> almost 4:00 in the morning, i'm playing 21 black jack. next thing i know, several, several fbi agents come in with machine guns, guns drawn on out, told us to put our hands on the table and what not. everybody put their hands on the

table. they individually searched everybody one by one. >> witnesses say that agents asked them about lone sharking, possible drug activity and cheating. new this morning apple's ceo steve jobs took the stage in san francisco a few moments ago. brand new video to our newsroom. jobs walking on to the stage to introduce the ipad 2. he said we've been working on this for a long time and i didn't want to miss it. he got a big round of applause as he took the stage. as you know he's been on medical leave for what most assume is cancer treatment leaving apple executive tim cook in charge. however, the lure of the spotlight, perhaps easing some shareholder concerns, and wanting to be part of some new announcements, perhaps too big for him to miss today.r an athe tr d traffic coming up in a minute. stay tuned. ra

good morning to you. well, we are seeing a lot of clearing now, rush hour is over, so if you have anywhere to be right now you'll be happy to know on and off spotty showers are all we're expecting for the remainder of the day. a little lingering activity mostly in the east bay right knew. by noon a lot of the shower activity clears the bay area. we'll be left with temperatures in the upper 50s, 60 degrees for tomorrow, a few showers in the morning. let's check your drive with mike. >> correction, rush hour over except in the north bay except very slow because of the sig alert. speeds down below 20 in spots. 22 minute drive off of 37 towards 580. the golden gate bridge dealing with that out of the north bay as well.

the san mateo bridge shows you the wind advisory in effect for most of the bay area bridges. >> thank you for joining us this morning. the "today" show continues coming up next and see you back here again tomorrow morning. have a great day. we're back on this winesdayo with more of today. we're ready to play "who knew?" since today is dr. seuss's birthday, fun facts about his books. kathie lee is across the street at the nbc.com digital cafe. she's ready to hand out 100 bucks to those who get it right, to those who don't they get her beautiful music. here with me, chip gibson. i didn't realize e was that old. 100 years. >> a lovely group of teachers and students from alabama. all right. which of the following was dr.

seuss's first children's book? green eggs and ham, the cat ii the hat, and to think that i saw it on mulberry street, or the lorax. >> to think that i saw it on mulberry street. >> wow. >> no hesitation. >> that's a smart kid. >> that was a first one. tell us about it. >> actually, it was the first dr. seuss book and nearly the last. 30 publishers rejected this thing. dr. seuss told the story he was walking back after his last rejection heading home to burn the manuscript and start his new career as a dry cleaner. he ran into an old pal that had just tarted his new career as a publisher. jackpot. >> what is dr. seuss's real name? george ggisel or none of the &

above. >> theodore geisel. >> how do they know all this stuff? >> i bet that that clever person didn't know that the original name was dr. theofastus seuss, hard to say even though i've been practicing since 7:00 in the morning. doctor is completely made up. but it beats mr. seuss. >> back across to kath. >> this family is from atlanta. so far this guy has known everything. a real know it all. how many different words did dr. seuss use to write green eggg 50. >> what's goong on? kathie lee, i need to ask kathie lee, what's going on out there? how is it that everyone's getting every one right. she doesn't ccre. >> you know what -- >> tell us the story. >> 50 words. seuss's original publisher, bennett surf, a gambler, bet dr.

seuss he cculdn't write a book using only 50 words. you try it this afternoon. it is nearly impossible. he did it brilliantly. he sold 13 million copies of the book. >> great story. back across to kath. >> this is a strange combination. wisconsin and switserland. we're not going to even ask questions. finish this rhyme from "the cat in the hat." i know it is wet, and the sun is >> fun -- >> it's only an hour show. >> all right. i don't know. >> they ddn't know it! they're going to get a great cd. >> the correct answer there is "lots of good fun that is funny." >> another challenge. back in the early '50s there was a crisis in reading in america. there were all these dreadful -- you're too young.

i grew up with readers like "run, jane, run." "see dick run." nobody looked them. phey weren't interesting. literacy was going down. seuss was challenggd to write a book that was fun. "cat in the hat" came out. he revolutionized everything. >> what color was the original grinch in "how the grinch stole christmas?" yellow? >> what do you think? red and green. ♪ everyone has a story >> she loves giving those cdss. >> the correct answer, black and white with pink eyes. >> i thought green. morning. down the book this black and white with pink eyes. it wasn't until the classic 1966 tv special with chuck jones that he became green. he's been pretty much green in my eyes ever since. >> back across to kath.

>> one quick one. the following quote is from which dr. seuss's book. "con frajlations! today is your day. you're off to great places! you'reeoff and away! >> the places you'll see? >> thht's close. >> he eeds the money. "oh, the places you'll go!" >> he needs my cd more, hoda. >> all right. >> he's going tooget both of them! >> i like it. >> i think it's the single greatest graduation and life gift you can ever give. 1991, it was published. editor's office, delivered thii she knew she had a hit when a few months later at her daughter nicole's college graduation, the valedictorian got up, read the book, closed it to a tanding ovation. it's been a huge hit ever since. coming up next, olympic champion scott hamilton lands on ec special th asp l ia

celebration. we love our scott. we're going to talk to him right after this.

after scott hamilton won the gold medal in figures stating at the 1984 winter olympics he decided to start a small ice show whhch debuted in front of 300 people. & >> 25 years later "stars on ice" is a great success with some of the world's best figure staters performing in front of sold out crowds all over the country. congratulations and happy anniversary! >> these kids just don't know what they've got. >> did you ever think it would blossom into that? >> no! it's insane. i thought if we can kind of force maybe six years, maybe get, you know, thhough the next olympic cycle, oh, wouldn't that be great? off of a sudden kristy yam aguci

wants to come to us. whatever i did in '84, whenever it got to '92, i was skating way better in '92 than '84. >> what did you guys do? >> it was a real true company. it was a lot of skaters thaa had a lot in common. it was purely put on them. it wasn't a big production show. we had fun. laughed at ourselves. did a lot of crazy, silly things. loved each other and support each other like family. when it came to all these shows and all the champions thht have come through it, it just was so exciting that the next group comes in, the ext group comes in. i was really happy to be doing a lot of this. >> look at you now! >> nobody's better at that than you. everybody loves scottie hamilton. >> you are lit from inside. you've been going through some health issues. the great thing about you is that, right there. ps that kind of how you deal with what you're going through? >> you know, each one, you've got to focus.

each one. i had childhood illness. i got through that. i had cancer n '97. chemotherapy ann all that stuff. then i was like, this is really inconvenient. i don't want to have cancer and chemotherapy. i want to get back on the ice. phen there was that one. then in 2004 i'd just gotten married and started a family. and brain tumor. completely unrelated. i was like, really? come on! radiation. then in may i noticed that things were a little ffzzy again. oh, i guess my brain tumor's baak. so surgery and a few other surgeries. i got through summer. so it was like this 2010, we're done with that. 2010. >> now we're in 2011 and -- >> how you feeling now? you look great. is your eyesight okay now? >> it's getting better. they didn't anticipate it getting better, but it's getting better. i'm jjst so blessed.

i've got an incredible wife, tracy, our two boys, aiden and max. it's a wild ride. >> nashville is a great place to raiie a family, isn't it? >> it is. i love that community. we've made dear friends. i just pinch myself every day. i'm going to have chhllenges, but it's kind of how you deal with those challenges that and, man, it's been -- t's een incredible. >> what about skating again, scott? is that something you'll be able >> good question! >> might be on your mind a bit. >> a man who i look up to like no other, sam miller in cleveland, ohio, you know, he's approaching -- he's in his 80s. he looks at me and goes, you going to skate again? i said, i don't know, sam, never say never. he goes, are you going to do all those umps and spins? i said, i don't know, sam, never say never. he said, let me tell you something. don't tug on god's beard. i think aaout that all the time. i got to get off one of the medications first.

that happens next week. then hopefully get back on the ice. get my -- >> you look amazing. i went to hug him and he's like a rock. here's the thing. pe were alking earlier about success. -p>> i work out. >> it's so great to finally get on the show with you guys! now the coffee -- >> thanks, scottie. coming up next, the kitchen toys that actually make you look forward to making dinner. >> i don't believe it. >> after this.

no matter how old we get, our appreciation for toys never goes away. it changes a little bit. >> now we like the toys hat make life easier. so we ask chris kimable, founder and editor of "cooks illustrated" to bring six aff d affordable and fun kitchen

gadgets. >> who says old? this is about 17 bucks. three in one. put it around your neck, which is niie. use it in the test kitchen all the time. counts up, counts down. has a clock. works. >> that's good. it works. >> the est part is, it works. >> i like it. >> move to the coffee department. >> this is like a combination of french press and malita. clever coffee maker. you pour the water in but it sits in here like a french press and steams. >> how long? >> about six minutes or so. you put it on top. look at that. see? little action. >> i like that. >> you can actually time it. sii minutes is the right time. >> that's a long time to wait for a cup of coffee. >> ix minutes? >> now you have the one -- >> when you ask someone to bring you a cup and you wait six minutes. >> he's on to you, hodd. did you say how much that costs? >> this one costs about 15 bucks.

>> how about this thing? >> this is called -- this thing, this green thing -- >> hoda hasn'' been here for, like, the last two months. >> this is 20 bucks. it pops down like this. so e actually tested it making bacon and et cetera, right by the stove. didn't get any grease inside. pops up. we're going to get stuck on this. this is called the steamer. 18 bucks. you put this right on rice, for example, when you're heating ii up. excess sttam comes out. >> out of the nose! >> you can put this on your bathroom mirror in the morring. >> what does that mean? >> you see a pig. sizes? >> it comes in that size. but you can put it right on the food, too. >> okay. >> this is the -- pro. >> that's oil, right? >> mixer. we tested a bunch of them. this one actually worked.

it's about 15 bucks. >> it works. >> most of the stuff doesn't work. you know that. come on! you know that. >> you think it's going to work, and it doesn't. >> yeah. this is a swing away. put it like that. put it down. turn it like that. >> oh, that's a great idea! >> let me try. because i don't know. >> here you go. >> how do you do it? >> hand on top. slide it in. >> these are such great pickles. >> hold on. >> there's trainingg there you go. you got it. >> it actually works! >> it actually works. >> i like it! thank you. thank you so much. up next, the race car driver too young to drive in some states wants to steer your kids to success. "today" on nbc. california should be proud.

we were the first to ban smoking on airplanes. the first to have smoke-free bars and restaurants. all while saving over $86 billion in health care costs...

and over a million lives. we've done a good job. but even if you were born today, you'd still grow up in a world where tobacco kills more people... than aids, drugs, alcohol, murder and car crashes... combined. we have a lot more work to do.

the youngest licensed auto

sport race car driver in the country. he just won a race that is a steppingstone o the indy 500 and nominated for "sports illustrated" sports kid yyar of the year. he's just 16. >> he can also add author to his pame with his first ook "99 phings teens wish they knew before turning 16." too late for my kids. maybe just in time for yours. your guide to stays on track to success. first of all, congratulations. >> thank you. means a lot. >> you're 16 and you're driving. right? >> right. >> hhw is that allowed? >> i actually have a special license. basicallyy it's a driver's license for race cars. we go through certain tests and it's basically like getting your real license. >> your dad is here today. he obviously got you behind the wheel when it was completely illegal. >> i'm out innthe ccuntry. >> yeah. >> ever since you were little, this was what you knew you o co wanted to do. >> ever since i can remember i was playing with my hot wheels,

pretending i was in the indy 500. at the time my dad was a national champion with truck and tractor pulling. >> it came in your dna. >> the neat thing about this, it actually helped you with your book. activity wasn't a cool thing in school, i imagine. you ere probably pushed around a little bit. >> i think the racing has made other 16-year-olds.faster than there's a couple issues that i learned from. >> the bullying thing. >> right. that's what helped us out with the book the most. >> your book, you're actually talking to young kids and you're trying to just give them some advice and help them out, right? >> three things i always try to say, always follow your dreams, always work hard and always learn from your mistakes. >> you put these kids in schools, then we tell them to learn all this stuff. we don't tell them the most important thing which is follow your passioo. >> right. >> you know? that's what you're doing. what do you think is the single biggest mistake kids are making by the time they're 16? >> a lot of the bullies, they try to get kids to be something they're not and try to fit in. i don't agree with that.

that's why i was bullied, i wanted to stand out. bullies? that's a hard thing for >> really just doept take it personally. don't tryyto get evenge. that's never the answer. like i said, always keep working hard and following your dream. don't let anybody stop you. >> i was asking before about his parents. he was saying his dad, of course, loves all this. but your mom's a nurse. >> right. >> so she would have some huge concerns as i would for my son. >> she's always worrying.& >> what do you tell her? how do you ease that? >> i tell her the cars are really safe. which they are. and everything's going to be all right. >> look at you. do helmets come in your size? >> yes. >> this indy 500 thing could -phappen? >> that's the goal. that's always been my dream. >> you'd be the youngest ver, obviously. we wish you all the best. you're a lovely, lovely young man. >> thank you. >> thanks, hon. >> cody would have killed me if i called him a lovely young man. >> macho, is what she means.

tomorrow, meredith baxter is going to be with us. >> plus, we're going to have wine pairings. everything you could ever want p> what? >> ha.n everydy. try our new, fresh salmon at sizzler.

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