good morning. wakeup good morning. wakeup call. immediate change is ordered at more than two dozen airports nationwide after more controllers are caught sleeping in the tower, in one case forcing a plane carrying a seriously ill passenger to land without assistance. we'll tell you what's being done to make sure it doesn't happen again. how could she? new details on why a mother drove her van into the hudson river, killing herself and three of her children and how her oldest son managed to escape, swim to safety, and flag down a driver. >> and he was waving his hands frantically, and his face was

full of fear, and he said, would you please help me, please help me, please help me. >> this morning the mother's family speaks out exclusively. and jurassic prank. so, a dinosaur walks into a school. the screams of terror and delight triggered by that life-like t-rex. today thursday, april 14th, life-like t-rex. today thursday, april 14th, 2011. captions paid for by nbc-universal television "today" with matt lauer and meredith vieira, live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaz a. >> welcome to "today."p and wan thursday morning. i'm meredith vieira. >> and i'm matt lauer. federal officials say a second controller will be added to midnight shifts at 27 airports around the country in the wake of three new cases where controllers were apparently sleeping on the job. >> the latest incident happened on wednesday in reno, nevada,

where a medevac plane carrying a sick patient could not get an answer from the tower. we'll get the latest straight ahead. we're also talking about the bitter showdown over the best wait to reduce the nation's mounting debt. president obama laid out his plan on wednesday, but republicans say what they heard sounded more like the start of the president's re-election campaign. we're going to talk about that with congresswoman debbie wassermann schultz, her first since being nominated as the new head of the democratic national committee. plus new details why actress catherine zeta-jones recently checked herself into a mental health facility. but let us begin with the new immediate changes ordered by the faa after more controllers were caught sleeping in the tower. nbc tom costello covered aviation for us. he is at reagan national airport where a controller was found sleeping on the job just three weeks ago. good morning to you. >> reporter: meredith, good morning. we thought that this would maybe be the last one. it's not. this most recent case involves the medevac plane trying to go from mammoth, california, to

land in reno, nevada, early yesterday morning. the pilot was forced to circle while the controller slept. the pilot's call sign is cheyenne lifeguard. 2:00 a.m. in the skies over reno. >> reno tower, cheyenne. lifeguard. tango. >> reporter: and the pilot with this medevac plane and a seriously ill patient on board urgently needed to land. >> reno tower, cheyenne lifeguard. seriously ill patient needed to land. no answer from the tower. but radar controllers in northern california were listening. >> okay. we're going to call them on the phone lines. >> all right. we'll circle some more. >> reporter: despite phone calls to the reno tower, still no answer. finally the pilot told california controllers he couldn't wait any longer. >> we've got a pretty sick patient. we may have to land. he said they couldn't wait any longer. >> land at your own risk and last reported. >> reporter: the faa now says the controller two years on the

job admits he'd fallen asleep. >> this is outrageous, tom, and we will not tolerate this kind of activity in control towers in america. >> reporter: the problem for the faa. this is hardly the first case of controllers sleeping on the job. on march 23rd, two commercial flights had to land on their own at washington's reagan national airport. the controller was suspended for sleeping. february 19th. the faa says a knoxville controller willfully slept while seven planes landed over a five-hour period without his help and now we've learned of another two cases. march 29, two were suspended for failure to answer radio calls from other controllers about air traffic. and april 11, a controller at boeing field in washington state suspended for sleeping on the job. >> the system is built on a number of layers of redundancy. of safety. and when one falls down, such as somebody nodding off on position on the midnight shift, we have

to see exactly why this is happening. >> reporter: controllers have long argued the faa should never staff towers with lone controllers over night. now the faa has acted. as of last night, every faa tower in america that's open overnight must be staffed by at least two controllers. some of the towers were going with just solo controllers include sacramento, zaerks duluth, fargo, san juan, and many, many more but again that's all changed as of last night. also, the faa and air traffic controllers union will be going to every facility in the country they say reinforcing the notion of professionalism. and finally, meredith, the reno patient who's on the medevac plane, we're told, is okay. back to you. >> that's good news. thank you very much. it is 7:05. here's matt. thank you. now to the budget battling -- battle in at the national det clock that now stands at more than $14 trillion. president obama has now unveiled his plan to reduce the deficit. chuck todd is nbc chief's white

house correspondent. hello, chuck todd. >> hello. he ratcheted up the debate big time on this issue of what to do with the nation's entitlement programs, and he guaranteed the issue is going to become very contentious and front and center in the 2012 campaign. >> today the budget battle moves back to capitol hill where the house is expected to pass that compromised plan to keep the government running for the rest of this year. and now the president has his own vision for 2012 and beyond. >> we don't have to choose between a future of spiralling debt and one where we forfeit our investment and our people and our country. >> the president laid out his plan in four parts. he wants to simplify the tax code and raise taxes on wealthy americans, streamline federal agencies, reform medicare and medicaid in a way that doesn't take away a guaranteed benefit, and cut defense spending. but he spent almost as much time

criticizing house republican budget chairman paul ryan's plan as he did trumpeting his own. >> it's a plan that aims to reduce our deficit by $4 trillion over the next ten years. but the way this plan achieves those goals would lead to a fundamentally different america than the one we've known. >> not surprisingly, ryan and his house colleagues, who sat in the audience, did not like the criticism. >> what we heard today was not fiscal leadership from our commander in chief. what we heard today was a political broadside from our campaigner in chief. >> i believe it paints a vision of our future that is deeply pessimistic. it's a vision that says america can't afford to keep the promise we made to care for our seniors. ronald reagan's own budget director said there is nothing courageous or serious about this plan. >> budget directors saw it as nothing more than a plan for the reelection campaign in 2012. >> this was a speech for the president to attempt to win reelection. >> obama's own supporters

acknowledge it was as much about the 2012 campaign as it was about the debt problem. >> what is very important about this speech is that it really will begin that definition that is so critical to giving the american people a real choice in 2012. >> now, on social security, just like in paul ryan's plan, the president said nothing more than the two parties need to get together. now, the president laid out a path forward. he wants vice president biden to lead a bipartisan group of members of congress, simply another commission, matt, to come up with a plan and a path forward by june. >> chuck todd at the white house this morning. chuck, as always, thank you very much. congresswoman debbie wasserman-schultz has been chosen as the next chairwoman of the committee. good morning, debbie. >> good morning, matt. thank you very much. >> when you listen to the speech that the president gave on wednesday with those republican leaders who came up with their

own budget proposal sitting right in front of him, did he seem like a guy who was looking for cooperation to solve this nation's debt problems or a guy looking for confrontation? >> well, i think that he approached it as a grown-up would, and that's what we all are. we all have to approach the serious problems that our country is facing as grown-ups. we have to recognize, as the president laid out, that we have a dramatic contrast between the way the president envisions trying to address our budget deficit and turn the economy around and focus on job creation and not short-circuit our economic recovery, and the direction that the republicans have proposed, which is to balance all of the sacrifice on the backs of our seniors, on the backs of our frail elderly and people who are struggling in america. that's what he laid out. >> when we talk about medicare, for example, the president flatly rejected the republican plan to privatize it and turn it into a voucher system for people under the age of 55. he says he wants to lower the

cost of medicare by lowering the cost of prescription drugs and eliminating waste. now, i haven't heard a politician in the last two decades say anything but we want to eliminate waste. is it a wish or is it a real, concrete plan? >> well, the president said much more than just those two things. he talked about making sure we can get a handle on the overall cost of health spending, which was not included in the republican plan at all. he wants to make sure that we can reduce medicare spending, make sure that we use the independent payment advisory board that is existing in law from the affordable care act to really get a handle on the overall cost of medicare and slow its growth rate. make sure that we can look at medicaid and get rid of the different match rates. there's 50 different match rates for every state in the country. have one simplified rate. that will bring down administrative costs for the states and make sure we can reduce the overall cost of medicaid. and also engage in revenue cuts

so we can make sure we bring it down to the growth of discretionary spending and even included a debt fail-safe trigger so that if we don't reduce the overall rate of growth according to our gdp that we would have automatic across the board spending cuts. it's a real, comprehensive, detailed cuts spending proposal. >> he said about the republicans plan, there is nothing serious about a plan that claims to reduce the deficit by spending a trillion dollars on tax cuts for millionaires or billionaires. he said he would not renew the tax cuts. here's the president saying cutting those taxes, keeping those taxes on the wealthiest americans low is a non-starter. where do you go on this? >> well, matt, i look at the president's proposal as a mom with three young kids who is really concerned about our looming budget deficit, and i understand, like i said most americans understand, in order

to make the long-term future of our country secure, shared sacrifice is going to be necessary. it's wrong, as the republicans have proposed, to ask 33 seniors each to pay an additional 6$640 in medicare and give $200,000 more in tax breaks to most americans. we are ready for compromise. it's not a commission. the president has asked the leadership to bring republicans and democratic members of congress around the table with the vice president in may when we come back, and sit down and hammer this out. we were able to compromise in the continuing resolution on friday for 2011. everybody, including folks on this show, thought we were at the brink of government shutdown, and the president helped negotiate a rational, reasonable compromise. i'm confident. >> before we go, the campaign for the president kicks off tonight, the 2012 race. there are some reports, and you'll be in charge of raising a lot of this money -- there are some reports, congresswoman, that the president could raise a

billion -- that's with a b -- a billion dollars. given what we're talking about here, cutting spending, everybody cutting back, how do you think the american people are going to feel about a campaign that possibly costs a billion dollars? >> well, president obama, in his 2008 campaign, raised the most amount of money from small donors of any presidential candidate in history. he has been focused on grassroots out reareach, and ths the kind of campaign we're going to run again in 2012. and i thinkoutreach, and that is the kind of campaign that we're going to run again in 2012. this is going to be the most robust participatory campaign that we've ever seen in america. >> all right. congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz. again, congratulations on the new position. >> thank you very much. thank you. it's now 13 after the hour. it's meredith. >> matt, thank you. we are learning more this morning about the mother who drove her family minivan into the hudson river killing herself and three of her children. the woman's family spoke exclusively to nbc news. we have the latest from maria

schiavocampo. maria, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, meredith. we now know that the 10-year-old boy wasn't let out of the van as previously thought. he actually escaped. this is the brother and sister of the mother la shonda armstrong. they say they never imagined she would do the unthinkable. >> we need you right now, lord. heavenly father come into our lives. >> reporter: after losing so much, the family of la shan da armstrong is make sense of the senseless and figure out why the 25-year-old mother would kill herself and three of her young children. >> and i'm like, mom, what happened, calm down, calm down. and she -- that's when and she -- that's when she told me, she said she drove the van into the water, they're gone, they're gone. >> reporter: though armstrong, a student and working single mother of four, was overwhelmed at times, dorice and lenny say she was generally happy and

cheerful. but in the last few weeks she seemed clearly upset about something, even afraid. >> she was talking to me about how she felt like somebody was watching her. she felt like there was pages of her diary missing, the lights in her house were flickering on and off. >> reporter: most disturbing of all, armstrong began repeatedly apologizing to her friends and family, which they now see as a cry for help. >> i apologize if i've ever done anything to you to hurt you. i said, why do you keep apologizing? >> she was calling family saying i'm sorry. it's like, nobody knew why. if. >> reporter: police say tuesday evening, armstrong loaded all four of her children into a minivan before driving down a boat ramp and into the hudson river. killing herself and the bodies discovered in the van under eight feet of water. but the oldest child, 10-year-old lashaun armstrong survived, climbing out of a

window, swimming to shore in 40 degree water and flagging down passing most visit maeve ryan. >> he was frantically waving his hands, face full of fear. and he said, would you please help me, please help me, please help me. the frozen fear on his face was just, i'll never forget it for the rest of my lifetime. >> reporter: once safe, he told wnbc lesean recounted the chilling story of what his mother had done. >> she went to the back seat, held them all together and said if i'm going to die, i'm going to take you all with me. >> i'm so proud of my nephew lesean to have the strength and the courage to get out. >> reporter: officials say the murder/suicide may have happened after a domestic dispute. earlier that evening police got a call from armstrong's family concerned that she was, quote, tussling with the father of her three youngest kids. police say the couple has a history of domestic problems,

but when officers arrived, no one was home. >> darice and lenny say they still can't make sense of what made this young mother snap. >> something got under her and clicked her where she felt that there was nothing left. >> reporter: that 10-year-old boy is now staying with relatives. he reportedly told officials that his mother changed her mind as the van was sinking saying, quote, i made a mistake, a last-minute change of heart that came too late. meredith? >> so sad. thank you very much. we now turn over to the news desk where tamron hall is filling in for ann this morning. tamron, good morning to you. >> good morning, matt and meredith, everyone. a government watchdog issues a report today alleging the treasury department may have overpaid law firms managing the financial bailouts. the report says the treasury did not keep adequate records of $27 million in payments and so put the american taxpayer at risk. the treasury says it's working to implement the report's recommendations.

>> new signs of japan's troubled nuclear facility as tepco officials say current high temperatures and elevated levels of radiation are signs that it may be time to completely remove the rods. north korea has confirmed that it is holding a u.s. citizen and plans to charge him with an as yet unspecified crime. pyongyang identified the man who is believed to be from california. former pennsylvania senator rick santorum is the latest republican to test the waters for the 2012 run for the white house. he announced wednesday he's opened a presidential fund raising committee, and that's a move that will allow him to explore the bid for a republican nomination. processing delays for the temporary lull in the number of foreclosures earlier this year. but according to foreclosure listing firm realtytracc, those numbers may be rising once again, citing an uptick in

repossessions in february and march. erin burnett is at the new york >> the report is the talk of wall street this morning. the committee in charge of investigating the financial crisis coming out with the toughest indictment of goldman sachs we've seen so far saying they misled customers as the mortgage market was plunging. chairman of the committee senator carl levin wells senator tom coburn presented the bipartisan report and are going to refer this to the s.e.c. and the justice department. one other story on a light note, we are going to be getting a white iphone. there's been lots of delays on this iphone but apparently they have resolved it. by the end of the month, you may be able to get one. >> that means another long line in front of the i thank you very much. it was a real life pre-history lesson for some elementary schoolers. this man in a baby t-rex costume was set loose on the kids. it was all part of a tv show,

and the kids entered a dinosaur race, but the t-rex not happy he was a loser in this one, letting off an angry roar. don't the kids now know he's not real, but the kids screaming. i love that. back to you, matt and meredith. >> the show was in shock over it. >> that explains a lot of things. incredibly realistic, though. is that what they looked like in real life? >> oh, please. >> al is off today. we have stephanie be a ramabram the weather forecast. hey, steph. >> hey, good to see you guys. let's talk about what's on the weather. it's not very active, but this is going to change. there is a threat for severe weather tonight into tomorrow as well. anywhere you see the orange shading and yellow shading on that map.

good morning to you, it's chilly. you will need the jacket in morning. something to peel off in the heat of the day when the temperatures climb to the upper 60s. 67 in livermore. 67 in santa rosa. mild along the peninsula. temperatures around 63 degrees in san francisco today. it gets better as you head into the weekend. temperatures climb into the 70s. they hold on for quite some time. 73 degrees. lots of sunshine for your sunday. >> meredith, over to you. >> stephanie, thank you. and just ahead, a popular teacher in florida gunned down in his own home in cold blood, and no one knows who did it or why. the victim's wife and daughter speak out in an exclusive li li

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good morning, everybody. it's 7:26. i'm bront bront. the antioch teacher accused of molesting an eighth grader is charged. during the investigation, he fled to mexico. he returned to san diego and that's where he was arrested. redmond taught art in park middle school for the past 27 years. is giants are going to dedicate the month of april to bryan stow. the father and paramedic.

the san jose jinlt giants will collect doe nagszs. a special tribute is planned for tonight's homeowner at the municipal stadium in honor of bryan stow. good morning to you. should be a good day for weather later on today. upper 60s. it's cold out there. mostly clear. it looks like as we head throughout the morning hours we continue to see the cloud cover clear out of the area. this weekend, nice temperature. a great weekend to get outdoors. the temps in the 60s. warmer than yesterday in the south bay and east bay where we only broke into the upper 60s. 60 in fremont. 68 degrees in los gatos. here is the seven-day outlook. lots of sunshine, nice sunday on tap. let's check out the drive with

mike inouye. >> we have traffic in the maze. crowded conditions out the bay bridge toll plaza. slowing through hercules and richmond. a lot of motorcycles on the road. watch that additional awareness. as the weather gets better, a lot of people take two wheels out there. loverage, opposite of the commute. the commute direction is bogged down. standard. >> thanks mike. more local news in a half hour. the local news continues.

7:30 now on a thursday morning, 14th of april, 2011. a little warmer today, a little dryer as we check out the view from the top of the rock just above us here at rockefeller center. pretty moment. statue of liberty in the background there, and it should be a nice day for sight-seeing for all our people gathered out on the plaza this morning. we'll get out there and say hi to them in just a little while. >> somebody is giving away free

pork. >> matt lauer alongside meredith vieira. if you've ever been busted by one, you know how aggravating it can be. we're talking about the red light camera being used all across the country. you may not like where the money for the ticket you're paying actually goes. surprising information from actress catherine zeta-jones. you can only imagine the kind of stress she's been under the past year including dealing with her husband's michael douglas's cancer. there's been a lot of stressors for sure. also ahead why british critics are already slamming a made for tv movie about prince william and kate's romance. we're going to begin with serious news. a beloved teacher gunned down in florida. in a moment the victim's wife and daughter will speak out in an exclusive nbc video. first we have the scene from the

crime and the details. >> reporter: good morning, meredith. this peaceful community was shaken to its core two weeks ago when a very popular teacher was tragically murdered in his own home. now his friends and family search for answers to his very shocking death. kenneth ellis was living a full life, a father of six and grandfather to 17, the 61-year-old high school history teacher was also a trained martial arts instructor. >> he changed so many lives, people, students, others. >> just two years ago he married his soulmate ella, but their marriage came to an end when they heard a knock on their door in their florida home at 10:00 at night. >> we opened the door, looked around. he was in front of me. and he closed the door and we stepped back. >> reporter: that's when ell

ellis -- ella said two men pushed the door back and shot ken ikt in execution style. in his final words ellis yelled call 911. that's when ella bolted to the nearest phone. >> i still have this picture of him lying on the floor and grasping for air. and me calling the dispatcher, please come. please come here as fast as possible. please come ba to us. i hoped he would, but he didn't. >> reporter: kenneth was rushed to the hospital bus was pronounced dead on arrival. neighbors saw two men flee in a sedan. police have no suspects but are

investigating 80 leads. >> we don't know if he was targeted, if this was a random act or a case of mistaken identity. >> reporter: according to published reports, police took into evidence more than 50 items from the home including receipt books, empty prescription bottles and a laptop searching for clues in kenneth's rich life that made have led to his untimely death. >> he was a teacher, but he was like a father. >> reporter: at manatee school for the arts where kenneth taught for the past 13 years, students and colleagues mourned the man they knew as master ellis, someone they remember as a gentle soul and great teacher. >> we said the kids have to know that you love him and he made sure that they did. and they did love him very much. . >> reporter: at this point police are still conducting interviews, and they say that everyone from his family to students to friends is a potential suspect, meredith. and as you can imagine, that

makes the healing process for his loved ones so much harder. back to you. >> lilja luciano. thank you very much. his wife and daughter are with us. good morning to both of you and please accept our condolences. ella, what are the police telling you about the state of the investigation at this point. >> at the moment, it's nothing is resolved. it's still a mystery. and we are really worrying. this is not safe. we want closure. we want to know what's behind this insanity, why such a wonderful loving man could be killed in such a horrific situation. it's just uncomprehensible for me. >> your husband was shot and killed on march 29th. the two of you were home watching television, ordinary night. he started nodding off. you went off to the computer room to do some work.

>> yes. >> the doorbell rang. >> yes. >> you both twoent the door? >> yes. >> first he went himself and said this is weird, nobody's there when he opened the door. then i joined him and said let's check it out. we opened the door again and closed door. there was a split seconds and then we watched at each other what's going on, is it a neighbor? and at this moment the door got open and i saw these two masked men wearing black and in split seconds they extended their hand and shot my husband. >> did they both have guns? >> i didn't see that. no words. just execution style. >> at no point pointed a gun at you. you're witnessing all of this. >> yes. i didn't notice. i was so scared i screamed that a neighbor -- neighbors heard that, but i don't remember. and i found myself jumping to

the computer room backward which is close to tentriway and seeing my husband collapse and him saying call the police. >> the police say it's possible that this was a random act but more likely they think he was targeted. had he had any issues with any of his students, maybe a business associate, anybody, a family member? had he talked about anybody with whom he was having problems? >> i'm trying to think and figure out what was behind this because he didn't have enemies. he was loved by everybody. he was walking peace. he was actually hanging efcs helping them with their lives. for me, i cannot understand this at all. maybe some connection with his website, which is supposed to be launch soon was launched partially, but the biggest part which was the business part was going to be launched in the end of april. maybe -- he was the

disciplinarian, but he was a loving person also, so i don't think that any student can target his life. >> i have to ask you. you took a polygraph you told our producer and the police cleared you but yet in that piece we just heard they saider is a suspect here so it seems there's still a cloud of suspicion over you. >> i know. and it's so hard because, you know, i lost my beloved husband, and i was in this horrific incident. i felt -- and i'm a victim in this situation and grieving process is so much harder for me than i, you know, still on the list of suspects even though i did the polygraph test and my computer was checked throughout, all my records were taken from the house which makes my house complica complicated and difficult. i'm suspended, on hold with my

life on top of the fact that i lost my husband. >> debbie, your dad has six children. you're one of them. i can only imagine the pain that you're going through right now. his students apparently loved him very much, students of the school. they put up a wall of letters to him saying just that. i want to read one that was written by a young girl named blossom to your dad who was called master ellis by the kids. i loved being in your class. i never knew how much your wisdom meant to me. the principles you taught us have enriched my life. you will be dearly missed. what do those words mean to you and your siblings? >> when we went and saw the wall we were so touched by the impact he had made. he was a father figure to many of those students as well a father figure to them and he was passionate and happy about that, and so we're grateful as his children that we had a direct relationship with him and that we were able to have that love, but also that he was able to share that with other children who needed that in their lives. >> can you make any sense out of

any of this? >> no. you know, sometimes it feels just completely unrealistic, and other times it's just so horribly real. and, of course, sometimes you just think over it and you try to make sense and you try to figure it out, and you come back to the same square over and over again. >> again, we're so sorry for your life. we appreciate you being here. ella, thank you for being here as well. if you have any information about this kasz please call crime stoppers of sarasota county at 941-366-tips. they've set up a fund where you can do nate to. >> we have to talk about snow in the upper portions of the midwest. there are advisories posted from montana, down through the plains. we could see up to 12 inches locally in some locations. otherwise we are going to see th

good morning to you. yeah, we got clouds overhead this morning. it's going to be a nice second half of the day with temperatures climbing into the upper 60s, making for better conditions than what we saw yesterday. we'll be 10 to 12 degrees warmer on average. clouds overnight. the overnight lows are warmer as well. the temperatures in the 70s for friday. here is a look at the extended outlook. temperatures 72 degrees. by saturday 73 sunday.

good morning. it just turned 7:56. i'm brent cannon. overturning emotions as families see the man police say killed their loved ones decades ago. joseph is accused of killing two bay area women in the mid-70s. and two in the mid-90s. they all had first and last names ending with the same letters. the bodies were found in 1977. her niece talked to us by phone and says she hopes for closure of all the victim's families. >> reporter: she's never been forgotten. none of us ever imagined that

after this amount of years that something like this would come up and that there would be, you know, a chance at closure. >> a special task force is investigating to see if he is responsible for the so-called alphabet murders in the new york area in the 1970s. he lived in the area during this time. we want to check the forecast with christina. >> good morning to you. grab a jacket. it's chilly out there. 39 in navato. later on today, we are going to warm up nicely. by noon, we are talking the upper 50s. between 3:00 and 4:00 when the highs come in, 68 degrees in napa. not too bad. 67 for san jose. the same for the valley. 67 in morgan hills. now the warming trend continues as we head into your weekend. we are looking at 70 degree

weather, 73 by sunday. looks good in the weather department. >> good morning. we will look at the speeds. they are looking good in the 30s and 40s. typical spots for slowing. more activity in the south bay. starting to see the slowdowns in palo alto. there's a chair in the road. watch that north of the 92 interchange. a live look at the san ma thai know shows a smooth amount of traffic. moments ago, the camera was shaking. it's calmed down. the "toods" show returns in less than a half min you are the. as a buyer for t.j.maxx,

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morning, april 14th, 2011. and you are looking at the happy crowd that has lined rockefeller plaza. it's a good day for finally some dry weather for a change here in new york. i'm meredith vieira along with matt lauer. just ahead one of hollywood's biggest stars. >> it's a troubling store. a representative for catherine zeta-jones said the actress spent some time not long ago in a mental health facility being treated for what's being called

bipolar disorder type 2. it's been a very stressful time in their lives with health issues and family issues, although we don't know any of the specifics concerning catherine zeta-jones. we want to talk more about the disorder. >> u i have never heard of bipolar 2. also a scary statistic. 81% of teenage girls feel overwhelmed by life. coming up, teens overcome the pressure of feeling the need to be perfect. what every parent needs to know coming up. actually that need to feel perfect increases with age. so it's important to get it while they're young. also traveler out with its hot list of travels around the world and we'll check in with some of the most affordable places on that list. okay. first we're going to head inside to tamron hall who's filling in for ann at the news desk. good morning, everyone.

f faa says it's adding 27 air traffic controllers so they won't be alone on certain shifts. this follows an incident where controllers were accused of napping on the job. the latest happened in reno where the medevac said he had to land without assistance because the controller was asleep. today the house is expected to pass last week's compromise that would keep the budget running for the rest of the year. on wednesday president obama unveiled his long-term plan to reduce the nation's debt with spending cuts higher taxes and medicare and medicate. they say the president did not address the fiscal challenges. secretary of state hillary clinton told nato partners that the u.s. is supporting them. they want them to play a larger role in attacking gadhafi's forces and protecting civilians. meanwhile rebels said a rocket barrage killed at least 23 people in the western city of misrata. baseball's all-time home run

king barry bonds was convicted wednesday of one count of obstructing justice. but the jury was deadlocked on whether bonds intentionally lied while under oath about steroid use. some electrifying news. take a look. they say lightning never strikes twice but here at the big apple lightning strikes three times. spectacular. now back to stephanie with the weather. >> announcer: ail's pick city of the day brought to you by venture card. what's in your wallet. all right. we're with the crowd. i found all the birthdays. you're from southern california, so you're a little chilly out here? >> really cold. >> she says new york city is pretty hectic. it's a city that never sleeps. we're going to take you to another city, san francisco, al's pick city and we'll show you the weather out there. usual san francisco a little damp, a little on the cool side.

let's look at our forecast as we head through the day today. we are going to see the weather. pretty nice there. san francisco's cable cars are america's only moving national historical landmark. that's pretty cool there. partly cloudy and 59 degrees. what about the rest of the country? how is it shaping up? we're showing the satellite/radar bringing weather to the northwest and also the we're the pick city. we're going to be a little warmer than 58. i'm going about 63 in san francisco today. mostly clear conditions to start you out this morning. we've got clouds, but no rain. and that's good news. it makes for an easier drive for you. warmer conditions as we head into this afternoon from what we saw yesterday. temperatures in the upper 60s. 70s tomorrow into your weekend. 64 in san ramone. and up to 72 by saturday. >> now back over to matt and

meredith. >> steph, thank you very much. coming up next, why actressc catherintazehe-jones checked herself into a mental health facility. that's right after this. nd. really? no. it comes with a hat. you see, airline credit cards promise flights for 25,000 miles, but... [ man ] there's never any seats for 25,000 miles. frustrating, isn't it? but that won't happen with the capital one venture card. you can book any airline anytime. hey, i just said that. after all, isn't traveling hard enough? ow. [ male announcer ] to get the flights you want, sign up for a venture card at capitalone.com. what's in your wallet? uh, it's okay. i've played a pilot before. ♪ just love me ♪ oh oh oh ♪ just hold me ♪ oh oh oh ♪ just kiss me ♪ oh oh oh ♪ just want me ♪ l-o-v-e ♪ love, love, love

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with a brief stay at mental health facility for katharine zita jones. she sought treatment for bipolar disorder. nbc's miguel almaguer has details. >> reporter: an academy award winner, katharine zeta jones is one of hollywood's most beautiful, most bankable stars, but on wednesday she shocked fans with offscreen news. her publicist revealed katharine made the decision to check into a mental health clinic to treat bipolar 2 disorder. >> you get these brief orders of highs and lows. 2 is where you have all the lows, which is depression and you have smaller highs. >> that's a movie star and i get to sleep with him every night. >> reporter: zeta jones is

married to oscar winner michael douglas. >> i've about got cancer. found out about it three weeks ago. >> reporter: last august the 66-year-old announced he was diagnosed with stage 4 throat cancer. during treatment he lost 32 poumds as he battled the deceased. >> reporter: married for ten years katherine was by michael throw it all. it made their family stronger. >> being as strong as i always thought he would be, his sense of humor during tough times, and think it just brings your love much, much, much closer. >> life threatening. >> reporter: in january douglas told matt on "today" his cancer was in remission. >> i feel good, relieved. the tumor is gone. >> reporter: but the chemotherapy and radiation had lasted for months, especially hard on the family with two young children. >> i think that they're coping as any family would, which is by

leaning on one another and drawing strength from their relationships. >> we're private, as much as we can be, and we just battle through. but nobody battled through as much as michael. >> reporter: she was there for him. now he'll be there for her. out of treatment at home, zeta jones is said to be doing well. >> it's perfect. >> reporter: ready to go back to work as one of hollywood's brightest stars. for today, miguel almaguer, nbc news, los angeles. >> doctor nancy snyderman is a chief editor and gail saltz. they deserve a certain amount of privacy. >> and we concur with that, yes. >> so let's use this opportunity, though, not to talk about her specific situation because we don't know but talk about bipolar 2 disorder. what exactly is it? >> it's a form of a mood disorder where you have episodes

of major depression, true depression, alternating potentially with what's called hypomania or a low form of a high, and in bipolar 2 unlike bipolar 1, that high could be intense irritability, sleeplessness, or it could be kind of an elation, grand asti. that's why it can be difficult to spot. it can look like a functional person who's super up. >> is this a predispowe something's for getting. is this something that can come out of the blue or -- >> both. you know, a lot of people will have a family predisposition to it and stress can be a trigger for this. a lot of times we see true -- they used to call this manic depressive disorder. we can see bipolar disease in really creative people. i think about your really manic comedians who have really high highs and really low lows. we're not talking about those kinds of extremes here but certainly the stress, if you

look at katharicatherine zeta-j a husband with cancer, an ongoing litigation, small children, turning 41. >> she's had plenty this year. >> this has been a power packed year for that kind of stress. >> stress makes bipolar disorder potentially worse. but i want to be clear. stress doesn't give you bipolar disorder. you're usicly genetically pre disposed or already have the illness. >> checked into a mental health facility for a brief stay to treat her bipolar 2 disorder. i think what catches people is a brief stay. is it an episode? you can have this, go somewhere and in a couple of days -- what is it? >> there are two possibilities. >> you kick start treatment. >> one is the illness has gotten worse and there's an episode going on and it needs intins treatment in order to control it. usually with education and psycho therapy. however, you can go in the

hospital even if you're not to tune up medications because it's not a simple matter. it's a mood-stabilizing drug, sometimes two drugs. sometimes you have to add an  antidepressant if you're in a depressive period. people can sometimes become toxic. >> there's a stigma attached any time you start to describe a mental illness but the indication is this is someone, whether it's contactet rinne zeta-jones or anyone else with this who can live productive very normal lives. >> there's a ridiculous stigma in this country about this. i would say there's less of a stigma about her husband's cancer than her getting bipolar disease and we have to sort of get over it. people get sick. our job as doctors is to get them well. >> that's a problem in the brain. like you had a problem with your stomach. and i'd like to say that i think it's tremendously brave of her to come forward and i'm delighted that she's doing that because there are many people who do lead productive lives or have a new diagnosis and we want them to know that they have

every hope if they get treatment of having wonderfully productive lives. >> and that would be the expectation here. >> i would like to say i like them both very much. >> they've been great friends of this program. >> thank you very much. we appreciate it. up next, the pressure on today's teens to be perfect and the toll that could be taking right after this. ♪ [ male announcer ] our 16 fresh-picked oranges have a new home. tropicana pure premium now comes in a clear bottle so you can see how much goodness is squeezed inside.

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my brain didn't even break a sweat. . this morning on parenting today, teens and the pressure to be perfect. we all know high school can be a prime time for kids, and girls in particular are feeling the heat. here's "today's" national correspondent amy robach. . >> reporter: 18-year-old demi lovato is a rising yom music and tv star. but recently the pressure in the spotlight took its toll and lovato who has admitted to cutting herself checked into rehab last year after struggling for years with an eating disorder. >> there's a ton of pressure to meet impossible standards. if you're going throw a dark period, remember you're not alone. you can get help and you can feel better. >> reporter: lovato is not

alone. millions of teens suffer in private with feeling they can never measure up. >> who are you pleasing? are you pleasing yourself? are you pleasing your parents? >> everyone. you want everyone to love you, and it's going to be impossible. but you want to try your best. >> i feel like when you please everyone, you please yourself. you know, when other people give you their approval, you go, oh, i've done it. >> these fourteens like 84% of young women feel overwhelmed by everyday life with school being the biggest stressor. >> college applications, i thinking about applying to college. >> it's like i don't want to go to school anymore. >> i will stay up until 4:00, 5:00 in the morning doing homework sometimes, and then i have to get up at 6:30 for school. >> reporter: 67% of young adults stress about their weight. >> gosh, my hips are huge. >> oh, please. i hate my calves. >> reporter: leading to unhealthy relationships with

food. >> a few years ago i actually suffered from anorexia. while i got skinnier, at the same time i kind of o got approval. but it didn't make me very happy because i would go home. i would feel hungry. i would feel tired. >> reporter: striving to be cover girl perfect doesn't end there. >> it's important for you to feel pretty. >> i feel like i shouldn't need reassurance. >> it feels good. >> it's nice because maybe you can convince yourself about it. >> reporter: a new "seven teen" magazine poll shows 15% physically hurt themselves on purpose. for those who don't understand the reason why women cut themselves, why was that empowering to you? >> it would give you control when nothing else could be controlled. you can't control how you look, and you can't control like other people, but that was one thing that i could control. >> reporter: and a constant struggle to find balance. >> it's like even if you're relaxing, you're relaxing with things on your mind. i want me time. >> reporter: to hear that you all at the ages you're at,

you're struggling for me time, that seems kind of crazy. >> i remember when i was 3 i wanted to be 16 already. i want to go, can i go back? i don't want to be here anymore. >> reporter: for "today," amy robach, nbc, new york. >> good morning on to you both. >> good morning. >> you surveyed more than a thousand girls asking them about this pressure to be perfect. what did you hear from them? >> you know, stress is nothing new. teenagers are stressed out. but what is new and what's really scary are the self-destructive behaviors, cutting, eating disorder, pills. >> and sex. >> sex is part of that too. it's worse than ever. >> why do you think that is? >> it's not the usual suspects. you would think it's parents or coaches or teachers that are ramping up these expectations, but it all comes from internal. these girls are doing it to themselves.

and every single time that they set impossible goals for themselves, they push the goal further and further away so they can never achieve this ideal of perfection. >> this notion of the girls, the majority of those polls by the magazine feel overwhelmed by life and the pressure that's coming from within, does that surprise you? >> it focuses on outside appearance. on the other hand life is stressful. and so what is happening is our young people are not learn thoug deal with life in the sense of having healthy coping mechanisms and that's where the responsibility is for adults and parents to normalize what they're feeling, let them know they're not alone but teach them to cope with what will be more and more stressful and that's the demands of life. >> what i found in the study is when they feel pressure, they'll go to their friends first and then they go to their mom. a mom is in a position to help their daughter who is struggling. >> moms are the key to solving this problem. the girls say this is the one

relationship they feel most confident in. you know, it really comes down to have a conversation with your daughter not about her apierns or her achievements or what's happening in school but her feelings and her friends and her life and her goals and her dreams and her aspirations rather than sort of ramping up the expectations. >> i have four daughters, and certainly there's that push-pull in add less ends but moms, we need to realize our power and the roles we play for being a sounding board for whatever they want to talk about to help them deal appropriately with what they're feeling and to give them confidence. every now an then there's so much conflict, but give them some praise. i like when you do that. it's wonderful how you clean the house or whatever they've done. >> what are the proper coping mechanisms we should be teaching them that they can utilize? >> number one is to really have perspective. if they have a negative thought about how they look, teach them how to say what's another way to look at that? teach them about regular

exercise and nutrition, getting enough sleep, but also realizing in life you have ups and downs and sometimes you learn the most when you're disappointed, but so often with technology and the fact that our kids aren't speaking as much to each ore and we don't have enough huddle or family time, they really don't learn how to use the tools and get the right feedback to know that everything they're feeling is normal and we can teach them how to successfully manage their teenage years. >> i found it interesting that in terms of stressors school was number one, schools, achievements, and down the list, boys. >> it needs what these girls are fixated on. that's not their focus. they are interested in their weight and their appearance and we really need to help them. >> we need to teach them the value of themselves. >> thank you both so much. really appreciate it. just ahead,he nebusifss o cheatin buness of catingn you t return. that's after your local news.

good morning, everybody. i'm brent cannon. the oakland school district said it will not issue final layoff notices to more than 230 elementary teachers and music teachers. they all got pink slips last month, but they'll be able to keep their jobs. school leaders are still deciding what to do about middle and high schoolteachers as well as counsellors. teachers without proper certification wilff ld o by may 15th. weather and traffic after this.

good morning to you. still chilly out there. you'll still need that jacket. but i'd say another hour, hour and a half you can ditch the jacket. 67 degrees in san jose. 65 for concord. at the immediate coast, the peninsula, 63 degrees in san francisco. a little bit more mild. here's what you can expect as we head throughout the afternoon. tomorrow, 70s. 72 by saturday. here's mike with your drive. >> we have a nice easy drive.

16-minute drive to 680 there. 680 itself, we have an accident just before you get to sunol. that's causing a problem, as there's a vehicle in your fast lane, and it sounds like it's leaking fuel there. not as heavy as we typically see on a thursday, still there heading up to the bay bridge toll plaza. nice flow, though, fastrack lanes moving better than we often see. >> thanks a lot, mike. more local news in a half an hour.

morning. it's the 14th day of april, 2011. a couple of days of rain here in new york city have given way to beautiful sunshine as you can see from that shot from the top.

i'm matt lauer along with meredith vieira and tamron hall who's here while ann is taking some time off. >> you know that's not flat stanley. >> who is that? >> it's a woman. >> flat stacy. coming up, tax deadline. monday, right? have you done yours? >> yes. >> if you're watching from home and considering fudging the facts, i think again. we're going to meet won women who lost nearly everything after falling for a tax scheme. we're going to give you words of advice. >> let's feel you have to pay a lot of taxes and you can't take a vacation? wrong, you can take a vacation. we have a new list of the world's most affordable hotels. plus, if you're thinking about remodeling, we're going to

go through some key questions. everything you need to know before you hire a contractor. i think everyone understands. we have great tips so you end up with the project you want. let us say good morning and walk this way to tracy morgan. tracy, of course, a star of "30 rock," and now lending his voice to the new animated movie "rio." nice to see you. >> good morning. >> bulldog. >> tell me about it. >> this is my friend. this is the character i play in "rio." he's funny and helpful and you've got to check it out. >> what do you thing of the concept of a bulldog that slobbers and has a bowl of fruit on his head and they think of tracy morgan immediately. >> i love it. sometimes i slobber. it's accurate, you know. i love what the character is. when you film it, you do it as

if you're animated. they have a camera in the booth when i watch in the movie, his face moves just like mine. >> it is incredible. you say sometimes you slobber, i see a little bit there. >> that's doughnut. >> we have so much in common. >> there's pastries upstairs. >> they show me. i love you as tracy jordan. i think it's my alter ego. >> i get to fly over the cuckoo's northwest every week. >> and you're going on tour, which your fans are very excited about. >> i'm excited. loud nation. jeff mills is the promoter. we look forward to starting that maybe in july. >> so what's your motivation for this tour? >> my motivation? just being funny, being on stage, spreading my love across the country, and doing funny, you know. we need that right now. >> we really do. >> people want to know that you're doing well because you did have a kidney transplant and everyone was rooting for you.

you look great. >> thank you very much. i was given a chance to live live to the fewest again with this new kidney and it feels good and i have a new lease on life. thank you very much. >> we're happy you're doing well and on "30 rock," and congratulations on your role. let's gus get a check of the weather. stephanie abrams filling in for al while he's away. we went from sleepless in seattle to the city that never sleeps. you have a raincoat on. the rain is gone. >> i think the rain is gone. >> it is. you brought it from seattle. let's look at what you're missing in the northwest. that's where the rain will be, into the northwest and also portions of that side of the country, we could have severe good morning to you. well, we've climbed out of the 30s. but it's still cold out there. so you'll probably want to grab a jacket.

41 degrees right now in novato. daytime highs checking in between 3:00 and 4:00 p.m. it's going to get even warmer as we head into tomorrow and the weekend. big weekend ahead. and we've got great weather to look forward to. 67 degrees today in san jose. up to 70 tomorrow. 72 degrees by saturday. and comfortable 73 sunday. > thank you very much. up next, the risky business of cheating on your tax returns, a warning from one couple who learned about it the hard way. but first this is "today" on nbc.

with this year's tax deadline falling on april 18th instead of tomorrow, a lot of americans are going to spend the next couple of days scrambling to finish their returns. according to surveys, 15% of you

admit to cheating on your taxes. cnbc's becky quick takes a look at america's tax cheat in a new documentary airing tonight and how the irs is stepping up its efforts to collect. >> reporter: with more than 140 million tax returns filed every year, the odds of a fraudulent return slipping through the cracks are high. only about .003% of all filers actually face criminal investigations because according to the irs, barely 1% of all returns are audited. but playing the odds is a risky game. just ask shirley cornett and her husband of taylor, arizona. in 2008 their long-time tax preparer talked about a new method normally preserved for the privileged few. got a refund 20 times what they had gotten in years past. the tax preparer accurate consulting took a tax cut. >> their refund for the year was $83,000 and it was astronomical

compared to what we'd ever received before. >> that's right. she and her husband earned $200,000 and got an $83,000 return from the irs. it seemed too good to be true. >> i was like are you sure that's right? she said, believe me, everything we've done is right. and i said is it legal and she said everything we've done is legal. >> reporter: the cornetts cashed their $83 thousand irs check and soon remod oled their home but soon the town started buzzing with rumors. the company was accused of embezzling the government and filing more returns. the clients can't escape the long arm of the irs. their fate was decided by their own hands. >> if you sign the return, you're swearing to the accuracy of the return. if you don't look at it and if

you don't ask questions, you're responsible, you're liable. >> reporter: the cornetts filed an amended return and avoided criminal charges but shirley and her husband still owe the irs $110,000 in taxes, penalties, and fees. their wages have been dar nish and they struggle to make ends meet. >> it's scary. it's frustrating. the irs has put a tax lien on our home. we haven't quit our jobs even though we're not getting a paycheck. we still go to work every day. you have to keep going. what i want to get out there is taxpay taxpayer beware. be careful who you pick to do your taxes. >> cnbc did make several attempts to reach accurate consulting. they were unavailable for comment and becky quick joins us. good morning. >> good morning, matt. >> how can you figure out or assure that the company you're

using is on the level. >> it's a difficult task. it's complicated. the irs is starting to help you out a little bit. they're starting a program where they're registering tax preparers and you can look at this kind of as a good housekeeping seal of approval. about 600,000 tax preparers signed up with them but there are over 900,000 in the united states and there are a lot of people who claim to be things they aren't. >> this couple tried to do it right and got caught up in this mess. the tint rim are going to try to get away with somebody. who is the average american tax cheat. >> it probably wouldn't surprise you. the average tax cheat is a man who's single. >> probably wouldn't surprise me. >> they're under age 45 because they're the guys who like to take risks. as you saw, it can fall on anybody. the irs knows if you're a w-2 wage earnier, it's a little harder to cheat. if you're a contractor, waitress or claiming your own salary,

you're more of a red flag and are more likely to look at you. >> the irs is using high tech. they've got gone to technology to figure out who's cheating. you've got to be careful. if you think you're going to get away with something, there's a chance you won't and the consequences could be huge. it premieres tonight at 9:00 p.m. even and pacific time. that'd ahead on cnbc. still ahead, the royal watching party. first this is "today" on nbc.

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. back now at 8:44. with a community that's united to fix a troubling problem. today's contributor giada de laurentiis is in rockville, south carolina, using an interesting way to feed kids in need. >> whenever my tummy's growling, it growls like a little bit loud

and i can't understand what the teacher is saying. >> reporter: this is the face of hunger. have you gone to school hungry? >> yeah. >> reporter: what's that like? your tummy is like going to blow up because it's growling so much. >> reporter: they are just two of the nearly 600 students in the rock hill, south carolina, district who received subsidized school meals during the week but go with little to no food on the weeken weekends. >> you're lying there sleeping and your baby is lying next to you and their belly will growl and it makes you think about why didn't i get more to eat or how is it i can feed them. >> reporter: their mother struggles to make ends meet. >> if you have to have money for gas or for your electric or your rent or whatever -- >> reporter: you'd rather go for that. >> you have to do that. you have to do that. you have to pay for those other things before you can buy food.

>> reporter: feed your kids. >> yeah. >> reporter: wow. the struggles of this family are shared be many in the community. one out of 17 kids at rock hill are hungry. >> there were children actually wrapping up part of their lunch of friday to take home and get them through the weekend. when you hear those stories, you can't ignore that. you just have to do something about it. >> reporter: so at the start of the 2008 school year, back the pack was formed providing bags filled with snacks for children in need. >> it was a real eye opener that was happened right here in my community, in my own backyard. >> reporter: with the help of students and community volunteers more than 500 bags per week are packed with nonperishable food items. >> does anybody ever cheat and put a little extra something something since i saw you grab a few extra things? >> sometimes. >> reporter: and discreetly distributed to students on

fridays. each bag costs $3 to make, so back the pack, a nonprofit organization relies on grants and donations, including charitable giving from members of the community. >> we have a bus driver who sees these children every day on his bus route, and when he found out that we had a program where he could actually do payroll deduction, he was one of the first people to sign up. >> reporter: but the problem is not isolated in rock hill. in 2007 there were more than 12 million children living in households with limited access to adequate food and the impact this has had on the classroom is detrimental. a recent study shows that hungry children are more likely to receive special education services, engage in aggressive behavior, and have chronic health conditions. educators in rock hill witnessed this first hand until back the pack helped turn some of these kids' lives around. >> these children are vibrant, they have lots more energy,

eager to learn, not getting into as many arguments. >> 80% of these students had improved academically. were seeing 40% less visits to the school nurse. so the statistics have been amazing in a short period of time. >> reporter: but the proof is in the pudding. >> it gives me a piece of mind thinking that if nothing else, i know that we've got that, you know, to tie them over. >> it's a good thing that we've got those bags. >> giada, it is really unbelievable. >> it's heartbreaking. >> it really is. the statistics are so disturbing. besides seeing the kids hoarding the food on friday, what other thing is happening? >> i think what happens is the kids leave the school on friday and between friday and monday morning there's 66 hours where they go with very little food or no food at all, and so the school bus -- you know, the school bus driver, they would ask them for food, their friends for food.

they would fall asleep in class or start acting really weird in class. they can't concentrate because they're so hungry. so that's really why the school district and the teachers started asking the kids questions. because they were little it was easy to tell what was going on. >> have you seen this transferred to other communities. do you know if other districts are doing this? >> i know there is a lot of interest in north and south carolina. i got interested because i thought i could do this for my area where i live in los angeles. so i definitely think it's a program where you can donate if you want to or take a look in your own neighborhoods and see if you can help. >> if it's happening there, it's happening all over. >> for sure. >> thank you so much. up next, the world's hottest new hotels at the world's most affordable prices. first this is "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. this morning on "today's" travel the hottest hotels that have opened their doors when the past year. conde nast is out with their latest list. we have the more affordable options on that list. kate, good morning. >> good morning. >> readers chime in on this or is this just about the editors? >> the editors and correspondents, yes. >> what are the criteria? >> all sorts of criteria. we bounce on the beds, make unreasonable demands of the staff, eat the food, drink the cocktails, but what all these

hotels have in common whether it's a treehouse in spain or a 3,000-room in spain is a sense of place and real style. >> i want to make sure i'm right about this. was reading last night. there are 324 hotels on the list. did you person le stay at 42 of these that didn't make the list? >> i would have to say there are a few that didn't make the list. >> there are wanted posters of you up in the lob byes. these are more affordable. that's what we're concentrating on. the tropical oasis of domica, a country making the list for the first time. >> it's between guadalupe and martiniq martinique. dominica is considered the nature island. this is on a tidal -- turtle nesting beach. they include kayaking on the river. you can't swim in the sea because it's a bit rough. hiking, waterfalls. >> $180 a night, that's a pretty

good price. let ee move across the globe. asia has 24 hotels on the list. a third of those are in china. you have a small called boutique hotel, not a hole. this one is apparently in shanghai. >> it is in shanghai. >> what do you like about it? >> this is in a former army compound. it has just 19 rooms. it's an industrial chic. it had mid-century furniture. it plays on the communal living lifestyle of shanghai. >> and i look the fact you can rent vinnage scooters with side cars. >> and a really good restaurant. >> in greece, popular european getaway. talk about this place. is it the consterna? >> it is. it's in southern greece, a tiny peninsula. it's in a mansion. it's ancient, this mansion. so it's a got a rustic chic

look. they grow their own ol' uives and press their own olive oil and vegetables around there's a really great spa that draws on the ancient system there. >> they've had a turbulent time. is it a good opportunity for americans? >> yeah. >> let's move over to another hot spot in europe. we're talking about spain. this is an affordable hotel not to be confused with the hotel vieira, this is hotel vioraa. >> this is a real female sis on wine, a really good sommelier there. barrels on the ceiling. even though it's nestled in this old village, it's right next to a 17th century church, it really works, i think, the deco really works. >> you like this for couples. you say it's a very romantic place. >> yes, yes. >> let's go south to buenos aries. the hotel is in a great area at

a great price. >> yes. i was there a couple of years ago. great for shopping, really good for restaurants, cute little speak easy restaurants around there and it has great high-tech amenities. if you book a suite, you get your own ipad. >> not to keep. you use it tr the week. >> you have to give it back. newspapers, hotel check-in folders. >> finally let's get a little closer to home. you have a hotel you really like in chicago. $75 a night? >> such a bargain, yeah. >> okay. this is the longman and eagle. >> it's been nation lal renowned. fair, venn sin, wild boar, sloppy joes. the rooms are sort of hipster. exposed brick, tape decks, blast-in showers and you can walk upstairs and slump into bed

after you have dinner. >> you had them when you said located above a pub. we're back after your local news. good morning, everybody. it's 8:56 right now. i'm brent cannon. the commission may decide whether or not to accept a deal to monitor pg&e's natural gas lines. under the deal the california public utilities commission would fine pg&e $3 million for

failing to meet a deadline to hand over safety records. the deal also includes calls on pg&e to make annual safety reports and let state employees moni andck g pg&e gas lines. a check of the forecast coming up after the break.

good thursday morning to you. no showers this morning. it's still cool out there so you'll probably need to grab a jacket. 42 degrees in napa. and 46 degrees in san mateo. turning over to the upper 60s, we're going to see a mix of sun and clouds today. it will be mostly cloudy at times. 67 degrees in san jose. and you're looking at about 61 in half moon bay. temperatures climb as we head into the weekend. 72 degrees by saturday. staying nice for your sunday. lots of sunshine, 73.

thank you for joining us. more local news coming up in half an hour. the "today" show continues coming up next. have a great morning.

we're back now with more of "today" on a thursday morning. the sun streaming down in the background there. boy we are happy to see that after a couple days of rain. lenny and his friends enjoying the nicer weather. a lot of people here because we are joined by nora o'donnell. >> we did say something about the sunshine didn't you? >> yeah but i think it is mostly you. so glad to have you. >> spring is almost here. >> coming up we're going to talk

about new changes that are coming for airports in all across the country in the wake of some reports that airport traffic controllers have been falling asleep in the tower. one plane carrying a seriously ill patient forced to land without assistance. they will flip some changes into effect. and we will talk about what is difficult news for katherine zeta jones. she admitted she has spent time in a mental health facility being treated for bipolar type ii disorder. >> and we wish her family well. she can be an inspiration for a lot of people. on another note, if you are in the market for a new bathroom or kitchen, a lot of people want to do renovations. you may be able to negotiate a good price if you do it now. we have really good tips on how

to do it, how to get a good contractor. and you don't want to get scammed. >> most people have had some disaster stories with things like that. >> did you know there is a royal wedding coming up? 15 days, the count down is on. we will show everybody how to throw a viewing party, which is fun. if you want to have a party early in the morning or one the night before, we will have lots of tips and fun ideas. >> i heard one of the hotels in new york having a big to do starting at 5:30 in the morning. >> they should be airing nbc, i hope. >> cameron is standing by at the news desk. >> the federal aviation administration is putting an end to one person overnight shifts in control towers. tom, good morning. >> reporter: this comes after sever controllers were found to be sleeping on the job including here at reagan national airport,

knoxville and wednesday night, actually 2:00 in the morning when a medevac plane unable to pland becau land because the controller had been sleeping and was asleep. finally the pilot decided to put the plane down on his own. the patient is okay. we have learned of more controllers sleeping on the job. so as of last night the faa ordered immediately that every control tower in america operating overnight must have at least two people on staff. air traffic controllers have been calling for that for years. now that is the rule of the land. back to you. >> all right, tom. thank you. today the house and senate are preparing to vote on last week's budget compromise. on wednesday president obama laid out his plan for long term debt reduction. republicans said it was short on

details. a massive search is underway for a tennessee woman apparently kidnapped from her own home. we are in tennessee with the latest. tom, good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you. the 20-year-old holly was last seen wednesday morning being dragged away screaming by a man wearing camoflage. dozens of investigators are preparing to search for her again this morning as relatives and friends pray for her safe return. in the small community in tennessee wednesday night, prayers for the safe return of 20-year-old holly. >> i just pray and hope she is found. >> reporter: holly was leaving her family's home for class wednesday morning when there was a scream. her brother saw a man in camouflage dragging holly.

police set up search teams on the air and ground. they are unsure if the suspect is a stranger or someone who knows holly. >> everything we could get here we have had looking for the young lady. >> holly was wearing a pink shirt and light blue jeans. she is the cousin of up and coming country singer, britney duncan. >> in the small rural area we live in, we would never dream anything like this would happen. we pray for the young lady and her family. it's our hopes and prayers that we find her alive. >> reporter: despite the presence of multiple agencies, there are no leads and very little information on the suspect other than he is a white man wearing camoflage. >> and the white house is up for sale. not that white house.

an exact replica on sale in virginia. the price? $4.5 million. the owners say their children have grown up and they now have important nest syndrome. yours for a price. it is now five minutes past the hour. now back to matt and nora. a new home if you are up for it. >> i like it. would you chip in? >> absolutely. >> al is not with us, but stephanie abrams is with us. >> what's your favorite song to play on the guitar? >> africa. >> they were popular when you were not born yet. >> i listened to them in the womb. >> not great weather across the center of the country. there is the threat for severe weather throughout portions of the plains. that shifts eastbound. we could see strong tornados. the forecast looks like this

today. ample it's cold outside your door this morning. grab a jacket before you head out. 47 degrees in oakland, 76 in san mateo. looks like we're going to see a mild day, it will be warm but not until about 3:00 or 4:00 when we end up in the upper 60s. 63 for san francisco. and 65 degrees up in sonoma. big-time warm-up as we head towards this weekend. we're talking about the 70s. they're going to hang around all the way through sunday. >> tamron, back to you. >> all right, stephanie. thank you. on rb. >> thank you. hiring and working this morning with the right building contractor. before you take on that rebuilding project, we are here to tell you what you need to know before you sign on the dotal line. matt was saying so many people

have a disaster story as opposed to people who say it worked out great. >> this is an industry that tops the list in terms of complaints. but it is nice to see signs of life happening now and you are seeing that for a variety of reasons in this industry. first of all people have put off these projects and now are feeling more confident about the economy. you also have people who are reluctant to trade up. they're not going to sell their home so they make more room. and we do have about 5 million foreclosed homes on the market that need fixing up. the job market continues to stabilize, then, remodelling spending could be up this year. >> another reason is aging population. you have a lot of people who have homes that are available because of that. >> they have different needs. so you are seeing growth in the smaller projects, not in the

massive huge expensive projects. people sprucing things up a bit. new kitchen and bathroom. >> one of the headlines is don't hire the first person who comes along. what else should you look for? >> that's the thing. you want someone who is experienced and has been around for a while. they are registered, they are licensed, they have insurance, they have got a good reputation. this is really important that they have a clean bill of health from the better business bureau and your local consumer protection agency. this is an industry ripe with complaints. everyone knows someone who has a complaint against a contractor. you don't want to get involved with someone who has ongoing disputes. you want someone with a clean bill of health. >> you mention experience but you want to make sure that a person has experience in the type of project you are looking at. if it is a bathroom project, go with that. >> look at the work that they

are doing. see them in progress. go a couple different sites. get a bunch of references. call them up. did they show up on time? did they finish on time? unexpect eed costs. overall were you happy with the end result? >> now it's time to get the bid. traditionally you take the three lowest bids? >> you should get three bids overall. >> three bids. >> in the bids you have the costs from the supplies, labor, everything. i would say toss out the lowball bid because they are probably cutting corners. you are probably inviting trouble. cheap materials, great quote and you know what? complications. >> too good to be true? you want to sort these guys out. >> you want to go with someone you trust, good price, good value and personality is very important. communication skills. do you get along with this

person? do they understand exactly what you want. it has to work both ways. >> i was thinking a lot of times, if you are a woman and you are living alone or you are taking the responsibility of the project, yo you can have someone who talks down to you. what about the contract? >> you need to have everything in writing. a contract for any kind of project regardless of the size. >> right down to the payment schedule. >> even if it is a small project you want to have everything in there. start date, approximate completion date, payment schedule and everything in between. i would suggest in that contract a time frame for fixing defects. if a dispute does arise you are not dealing with this endlessly. >> a lot of people want to upgrade. is it a better idea just to try to renovati know vat -- renovat. >> if you have been putting off the projects and you have the finances to do so, you have got cash?

why not. if it will make you happy. >> it will make me happy is the lowest bid. >> don't do it. >> i'm not going with that. thank you very much for that advi advice. up next, nearly 10% of school-aged children may have a tick disorder. important information on that a and more. >> and kate and biwilliam are making preparations. we will have more on a royal wedding themed party. more after these messages. come on! oh. no! oh... bummer. [children shouting] hoops? yeah. sure. sure. announcer: moms everywhere are finding ways to keep kids active and healthy. works every time. announcer: get ideas. get involved. get going at letsmove.gov.

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today's daily dose is brought to you by miss bury toaster strudel, the one kids want to eat. this morning on today's daily dose understanding tics and tourette syndrome. good morning, nancy, good to see

you. tell us about tics. expla what they are. >> they're pretty common from facial blinking to kids coughing, clearing their throat. you see it oftentimes in preadolescence, especially when kids are under stress, and they usually manifest themselves during a brief time. they don't last long. sometimes weeks to months, and they go away. that can be up to 10% of the population. and then some kids have more. about 1% of the kids will have them. >> is there a difference between a tic disorder and tourette syndrome. >> tourette can have a tic disorder in it. tourette we think of children screaming profanities. that's the rarest of the rarest of the rare. most kids with tourette syndrome will be diagnosed preadd lesseps, they do have tics, and a lot of times you'll see things like obsessive compulsive did

order or adhd. and these kids are usually very smart and very creative and a lot of times have such ocd and if you stop a movie because you have to go some place, they're an nal about it that they have to rewind it to the beginning and have to overcompensate and change interruption of normal activities is not something they adapt well to. >> is it genetic? >> it is genetic. it's more common in boys. it's a dominant gene. the a father has it, there's a # 50% chance the son will have it. in my family -- we have to talk about the de-stigma tieization of depression, tourette, what we talked earlier about what's happening with katharicatherine zeta-jon zeta-jones. all this plan opy, you look at

this. they're also variations -- they're a gradation of your genetic profile. >> i'm so glad you said about destigmatizing it. on american idol, james durbin, everybody loves him. a lot of kids can look at him and say he's doing so well, this is normal, i can deal with this. that's important. what kind of medications can people use? how can they treat it? >> let me go back to durbin. one of the things is music. a lot of people it's bam, bam, bam, bam, rhythm and rock 'n' roll or bouncing or finding music to help take care of those tics. you'll watch adults like him. they'll take those tiks that during adolescence was really a problem and he'll work them into adult gestures so you might not even know. for most kids with tore rhetts, though, it's not a treatment of tore rhetts, it's the adhd.

>> does it affect brain function? >> it can affect brain function and sometimes learning if a teacher isn't cognizant of the fact that these kids can't sit still and they may learn better by walking around the classroom and not sitting down. but for a lot of parents who are struggling with the tics, you watch them. in fact, usually as a patient you're sort of late to figure it out. it's someone else who points it out do you. you figure it out, you watch them get pretty -- they escalate and get a little worse toward adolescen adolescence. kids learn how to manage them and then they disappear. i always warn kids around the ages of 13 to 15 you're going to start ticking more and whether that's eye blinking or coughing or having to tap their finger, there's something they do to compensate for that extra energy, and the best thing you can do as a parent is allow them to do it and give them the coping mechanisms that really help. for us in our family it was a trampoline. it was head phones.

it was adaptation to any kind of music that was fun and it was the recognition that if you start look at father, aunts, uncles, and everyone else, grow, oh, i got a little bit of that person and a little bit of that person, a little bit of that person, and it's really interesting. but, you know, it also leads to these creative avenues that then as you step back as a parent really make you proud. >> absolutely. well, dr. nancy snyderman, it's always great to see you. thank you. you're so smart in sharing all that stuff. we appreciate it. coming up, we've got new details on the shocking revelations of actress catherine zeta-jones. why she checked herself into a mental health facility. we've got more right after these messages. yeah but now i have nothing to eat sure you do. hey! you can have the pop tart! pillsbury toaster strudel. the one kids want to eat than listening to our favorite songs. there's nothing we love more than listening to our favorite songs. but our favorite thing is eating totino's pizza rolls.

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sounds like a mini-wheats day to me! and becka's science fair is on the 8th. she's presenting the solar system. hey, i've got just the wholegrain fiber to keep her full so she can stay focused. um, you rock. she'll be ready to rock. [ female announcer ] make your kids big days, mini-wheats days. packed with 100% whole grain fiber, kellogg's frosted mini-wheats cereal has what it takes to help keep your kids full so they can stay focused on the days that matter most. keeps 'em full. keeps 'em focused. well, it's been a very difficult year for catherine zeta-jones and michael douglas. >> yeah, they've really had a lot of ups and downs this year. you can only imagine the stress, michael douglas's public battle with stage iv throat cancer.

>> and after a report that katharicatherine zeta-jones che for a brief stay for bipolar type ii. obviously fans are thinking about them and their beautiful children. but it's raised a lot of questions about what is bipolar type ii and how is it treated. and obviously this family has bun under an incredible alt of stress. dr. nancy snyderman was saying in many cases it may be her ed tear. we don't know her circumstances but any time you see this as a parent especially you think about kids. >> stress can trigger all these things. her husband had throat cancer, she has two young children. she's an amazing actress, and there's a lot of really creative people who have bipolar disorder. and i like what dr. nancy said about destigmatizing these things. we have a lot of people in our families who have mental health issues and she's getting help. >> she's one of the classiest people. >> she's one of my favorite

actresses of all time. we wish her well. still to come on "today" from that only interesting conversation. no invitation, no worries. how to throw a royal wedding am theme party at your own home after your local news and weather. almost 300 horsepower, infinity surround sound, seating for seven. wait. this is a minivan? makes you almost want to have kids. [ child screams ] almost. the new 2011 dodge grand caravan. 2011 grand caravan starting at $24,830. plus, current owners get an additional $1,000 bonus cash. to have their close-ups taken by a fashion photographer. then we asked them to try new dove visible care. a revolutionary new line of body wash with the highest concentration of nutrium moisture. visible care makes skin visibly more beautiful in just 1 week. ♪

when they saw how much more beautiful and radiant their skin looked with new dove visible care... there was only one question. new dove visible care creme body wash. good morning once again, everybody. it's 9:26 right now. i'm brent cannon. b.a.r.t. is looking for a new leader. dorothy dugger turned in her resignation yesterday. she worked for b.a.r.t. for 19 years and spent the last four years as general manager. the b.a.r.t. bout ousted her earlier this year but that meeting was deemed illegal. so then dugger eventually worked out the $1 million severance package. they'll name an interim manager while they search for a new replacement. her last day will be april 22nd. people who live near fremont want to voice their opinions at

a meeting tonight. they want to widen the niles canyon highway. they say the $80 million project threatens natural habitats and is a waste of public money. but cal trans said it will improve safety for drivers. san francisco leaders want to hear the public's thoughts on the state of the city. mayor ed lee and other department heads will hold another town hall meeting tonight. this time it will be in district 8 at mission high school at 6:30. you can hear about the budget process and ask questions and offer suggestions as well. we will check your forecast coming up after the break. bit

chilly out there. but our temperatures have climbed out of the 30s and now we're talking about the 40s. still cool enough for the jackets. warmer this afternoon than we saw yesterday. a mix of sun and clouds. by this weekend we'll be in the 70s. really nice days ahead. 50 degrees in san jose.

turning over to the upper 60s in some cities. 67 degrees today in morgan hill. 72 degrees by saturday. up to 73 by sunday. >> take you back up to the maze where we have a nice flow of traffic. a live look at the toll plaza. no major issues. just standard backup back to about west grand avenue. even those fas track lanes moving pretty well over there. the peninsula, things cleared up except for southbound 101. by the time we get to hillsdale, a nice smooth drive. northbound 101, still slow past the highway 87 as you're coming past that area. good deal. thanks a lot. more local news in half an hour. thanks a lot. more local news in half an hour. "today" show coming up. people start immediately supporting me. i walk with my sister. our relationship has gone

to a whole new level because of training together. you meet the most wonderful, inspiring people. when you accomplish those 60 miles, it's truly life-changing. (man) register today for the... because everyone deserves a lifetime. in 15 days prince william and kate middleton will tie the knot with all the pomp. we'll be there live start sagt 4:00 a.m. set your clocks and be with "today" to witness the historic event on april 29th. i cannot wait. i'll be watching with the rest of you. meanwhile coming up in the next half hour if you're not on the guest list and you want to get in on the fun, nora has

great ideas. >> if you're not on the list, throw your own party. from photos to hats to giving your guests the royal treatment, we're going to have some fun and inexpensive and party ideas for your own royal wedding bash. i love this. >> these are tea bags that has little kates and wills on top. also ahead, a navy seal who served in afghanistan and iraq. he started up leadership programs in his community. ite e one of the most inspiring books i read and his story is incredible. >> we love our vets. and, of course, on a much lighter note, salads are the new entree. >> no way. we're texans. we like to eat. >> patricia wells is here to show you light and delicious

salads. other things, we need to check in on the weather with stephanie abrams. >> hey, there, guys. we're seeing nice weather up and down the east coast. unfortunately there's severe weather in the wl, if you haven't been outside yet, it's cold out there. we're going to end up closer to 70 degrees in some cities, mid-60s otherwise. 64 in san ramone. 65 in concord, and 61 degrees in half moon bay. beautiful weekend shaping up across the bay area with temperatures climbing into the mid-70s. 73 degrees by sunday. lots of sunshine. great weekend. all right. so i finally actually have that idea, but i'm going to give it away. i think you should be able to put your own family members on the tea bags so they can hang. >> or for like a kid's birthday

party. >> i love the way you do that though. that's pretty awesome. . >> we'll take your picture and put it on one -- just don't do it again. thank you very much. up next the royal wedding viewing party planning guide even with, you know, tea, of course. we were talking about the brits. right after these messages. [ sneezes ] allergies?

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this morning on royal countdown to the wedding, 15 days to go. if you're not winging your way to london to attend the wedding you may put together your own royal themed party and watch prince william and kate say their "i do's" on tv. good morning, elizabeth. this is so incredibly awesome. i love all of this. let's start first with what you've done with these adorable

invitations. >> it's not too late. you've got two weeks. we've designed the formal invitation for you. we've done all the work. you fill in the name, date, and time. we say it's an event steeped in tradition. we take tea bags. we created a label you tape on your tea bag. cut it out. it's so fun. >> i love that you can get it online. you can encourage people to do things at the event like wearing hats. >> you want to wear hats. you can make your own or you can have crowns and things that people can wear. you want to get in the spirit. there you go. you look like kate. you have the blue dress. >> i'll have to bring this home for my daut sneghter. >> you want to do the photo ops. you have people hold them in front of their faces and take a

picture with the boy la road. it's super cute. you can do it in front of this wall decal which is from this company called design a to z. it will not do anything to your wall so you can hang it up and take it arch. >> i love this. >> if you don't have a garden bench, and if you do, bring it inside. we decorate it with all kinds of pillows. make your own with a white pillowcase like we did or order it from bliss and living. >> this is traditional pims. >> served courtside at wimbledon. it's pims with lemonade and a little soda water and garnish it with a cucumber slice. how is it? >> refreshing. >> on amazon daim you can get all kinds of fun, classic english treats like walker's

crisps which are potato chips. have beer on hand. >> what could be more fun, especially at 4:00 in the morning. >> then you want to go to the reception. there's been a lot of talks about the groom's cake. our food director came up with a recipe. that's absolutely delicious. >> what does that mean, a groom's cake? >> the traditional wedding cake is a fruitcake. we know how we feel about that. the groom's cake has chocolate in there. it's another dessert. it's a dense chocolate with tea biscuits in there. it's incredible. you can get the recipe at womansday.com. the tablecloth, you can take a sheet or white tablecloth and all you do is use painter's tape and fabric tachlt get your union jack pattern.

the tea bags, they're kate tea and william. >> this is what stephanie want sthoos they just hang out on your tea bag. they're just -- the good thing about this wedding like all of these royal weddings, they're so much on the market. so many novelties. there's so many websites. plum.com, tuesdaymorning.com. we can get all this stuff because we have time to do it. >> what about tea sandwiches of course. everybody knows tea and tea sandwiches are a great combination. >> cucumber sandwiches, curry and chicken, they're niece to have. scones and cookies and things like that. as a parting gift to go go away, union jack. some of these cooks aren't as good as they look but they're from debbiebakery.com. i encourage you to take that home to your daughter with the crown as well so she can partake in the wedding too.

>> this is a great way to celebrate. you showed how you can make a party with all these great themes, things you can print out on line and serve great food and get people into the great mood. >> this is even if you're not watching it live and you're taping it later, you can turn the whole tea into a cocktail party as we said with the middle table. >> you're so creative. >> i'm so glad you wore that. >> my blue. >> it's kate's. >> exactly. where's my crown. where's my crown? still to come on "today," turning chicken salad into a scrumptious meal. but first these messages. hi. i'm suzanne with sponsors for the sweet makers. for to celebrate springtime use

m&ms and dove chocolate. it's an ray planchment that will please the eye and the taste buds. this makes easter taste best. to learn how to create a sweet memory this holiday season please visit us at celebrates.today.com.

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♪ today is saturday ♪ salad on saturday ♪ fruit on friday ♪ throw a ball thursday ♪ water, water wednesday ♪ touch your toes tuesday ♪ ♪ let's move monday ♪ swap a snack sunday announcer: 60 minutes of physical activity a day and eating well can help get your child healthy. so keep them active and eating well every day. get ideas. get involved. get going at letsmove.gov. that's letsmove.gov. eric agree tense is a road scholar. his work took him across the

globe photographing those who gat caught up in war and genocide and he survived deployments to both afghanistan and iraq. his truck was hit by a suicide bomb. he's escaped with minor injuries and has a new mission. "the heart and the fist" is his book. good morning. >> good morning. >> it is so great to see you and meet you and thank you for your service to this country. >> you are very welcome. >> fantastic. i'm so interested in the heart and the fist concept. you're referring to compassion. how did you eleven to put those together in your life? >> "the heart and the fist" is about service on the front lines. combat deployments abroad and now work in our communities here at home and what i've learned in all of that work is that everybody has a front line in their life and the front line is a place where your hope's for your life and your hopes for the people that you love come up right against the reality that the world presents to you.

>> i love that you put it that way. everyone has a front line. it's not obviously at war but it is in your community, it's in your family every day. >> every person has a front line in their life. and in order to be successful on those front lines what i learned is that people need both the heart and the fist. they need strength and compassion in order to be successful on those front lines. >> and a lot of this you learned before your deployments in afghanistan and iraq. you learned from earl. you were a boxer. >> yes. >> let me move back a little bit. you were a boxer and he taught you the discipline of power and mind and compassion. >> yes. earl was an incredibly demanding boxing trainer, but he always taught us to use our strength to protect other people. >> and that's something you say is relatable to women in that a lot of women have responded to your book saying this is really how they view men in a sense, not to be stereotypical, but it's resonated. >> absolutely. one of the things that's been really nice is so many women have told us this is a book they

want to share with their brothers and their husbands and their sons because they want them to see that strength can be used to good purpose. but they've also said in their own lives that they find meaning in using their strength to care. >> you know, you were a navy s.e.a.l. as i mentioned and you wrote s.e.a.l.s are frequently misunder. it's true they're capable of great violence but that's not what makes s.e.a.l.s special. we can be thoughtful and disciplined in our use of force. you use this concept in "the heart and fist." how did you incorporate there into your life? >> there was one operation. we were on a raid and we blew through a door. there was a target and at the same time you have to be able to protect those who really need protection. >> all right. it takes my breath away, that

story. and you've used also your heart to help wounded warriors who are back and oftentimes, too often, file so alone. >> yes. and we take a heart and a fist approach to working with wounded disabled veterans. as the mission continues we say it's not charity, it's a challenge. what we challenge them to do is find new ways to serve in their communities here at home. this is work that started when i was hit by the suicide truck bob in fallujah and i saw that my friends were struggling to rebuild purpose in their lives and we helped them by continuing serve in their communities. >> you have many fans including tom brokaw on the front of your book. >> he was. >> the book is "the heart and the fist." eric, again, thank you. up next, we'll show you how to make salad work as your main course. pretty cool. first this is "today" on nbc.

this morning in "today's

kitch kitchen," salad as a meal, as easy as 1-2-3. who doesn't enjoy that. culinary legend patricia wells with her recipes and tips for beautiful salads. >> her new book called adequate salad as a meal." patricia, good morning. >> thank you. >> good to see you. the salad is not the side dish, anymore, right? >> it's the whole meal. we're talking about meals with lean protein. what they all have in common is a very light dressing, nothing heavy. and the basic idea -- you think of the dressing as the glue that holds the stuff together, but it should be lightly coated and not drowning in dressing. >> you have the crab salad. i'll help you out on this one. >> you can shake the dressing. >> shake the dressing. i heard that. >> that's because you can't cook. you can shake the dressing. >> this is light cream and lemmon juice and a little bit of chives.

so what we want to do, we want to coat each of these separately. not too much. so you can toss that. >> toss the crab here. >> and then we have cilantro and a little bit of celery and orange pepper. >> the whole idea of this is so that we don't have to -- the dressing is evenly distributed. >> you don't want too much dressing. >> no. >> you add the crab to this. >> add the crab. >> home made -- salts are very hot today. this is called red-hot salt. we're going to use this as a garnish. >> is this spicy? >> it's a spice. do not move. >> i'm frozen in fear. >> now we're going to -- we're going to dress this. >> okay. >> on the plate. this is the way you serve it. and the avocado. >> which is very healthy. >> and beautiful. the idea here is we've got a lot of crunch. we've got a lot of color.

we're going to add this red-hot salt. i never throw away the zest of the lemmon. we're going to throw that on. >> i'll go ahead and try this. >> save one for me. >> i can't make any promises. >> there's plenty for the whole crew. >> you've got chicken salad, which is one of my favorites. >> this is tahini, which is sesame paste. we have light yogurt in here. to make this, you need to put the tahini in here or sesame paste. you can buy it just about anywhere. >> is it easy to find? >> absolutely. lemon juice and wonderful chopped garlic. and you mix that up. and voila, we have some made. again, you want to add some of this to the dressing, and we'lls to this all together. >> it's like a thicker paste

consistency? >> right, right. >> nora, your husband's a chef. >> this is embarrassing. >> i can do this. >> i'm the noncook. come on. >> i can do it. i can do it. >> i once told the french i made you chicken salad. i said i thought you don't cook. >> she said. i do, but i don't heat. >> this are all no heat. you can make it easy on yourself by making a roast chicken and cutting it up. >> and the spice you've got in here? >> the dressing and a little bit of salt. >> and the herb you have in here? >> again, cilantro. if you didn't like cilantro, you could use chives or any green. >> nice. >> we've dressed it up here. >> very pretty. >> this is a classic cobb salad invented in the 1930s. >> and it's as good as it was in 1930. coming up, decadent diartnn

from gianna.

good morning to you. it is 9:56 right now. i'm laura garcia-cannon.

stanford police released a new description of a man charged with assaulting a student over the weekend. dark-skinned, possibly 30 years old, 5'6", with a chubby build, and a rounded nose. the victim told police he had a scent similar to apples. the assault happened saturday night at the escondido village. east bay teenager is pleading not guilty to charges of killing a man outside a concord burger king over the weekend. jash wa cardone stabbed a man to death sunday afternoon. his lawyer says it's possible the teenager stabbed the man in self-defense. he's held on $1.3 million bail. good morning to you at home. it's a mild day, shaping up for us. not quite as warm as we'd like it to be. but still, temperatures are going to end up in the 60s today.

we'll be even warmer tomorrow, even more so towards the weekend. 67 degrees in san jose. little warm-up for the south bay today. meanwhile, pretty stationary from what we saw yesterday when it comes to the north bay temperatures. they'll be very similar to what we saw yesterday. 70 degrees on friday. 72 degrees by saturday. and then 73, lots of sunshine, light breeze, a beautiful day on sunday. let's check your drive right now with mike inouye. a new accident reported westbound at hacienda. right there around the dublin interchange. a new accident, the last one cleared just south of bernal. a new one around 680. it sounds like there was a spinout and hit that other car and turned sideways. a live look at the bay bridge toll plaza. the fasttrack strang still a great advantage for you. consider getting a transponder

if you have not. thanks so much, mike. we'll have another local news update in about a half an hour.

captions paid for by nbc-universal television hey, everybody. so glad you're with us for this thirsty thursday, april 14th. a big day for me. i don't know but. >> it's a big day for you. it's a big day for me. >> thank you, baby. i've been in rehearsals for the past month for a musical i've been writing a long time called "saving amy." today is our first presentation.

ten minutes before i came up, christy told me the man who is supposed to play the father has no voice at all. completely lost his voice. michael, send my love to you. i was literally on the phone one minute ago to one of our other actors and say, hey, guys, you're in for dr. samuels and you're in for james kennedy. guys, hopefully you're not watching me, you're looking at your scripts. that's the craziness of show business. hoda is going to come to it. >> i'm excited to see this. we are going to see it acted out with most of the performers. >> who is this woman you spent ten years of your life writing about. >> should we sing the song? >>. ♪ hooray to hollywood from shirley temple to amy semple ♪ that's the one.

we are going to change that. you're going to hear about her. that's what's going on in my world. there is a survey that says if you drink alcohol, it remembers you remember. >> okay. this is finally -- >> not me. university of texas or something said that. this is the one i like. >> you hate all of them except this one. it does something to part of your brain that makes you remember and learn better. don't ask why. >> ethanol exposure. >> when we drink our alcohol subconscious is stimulated and you learn to be creative. >> there are benefits, but you should not abuse it. >> we have an announcement on this plam. there was an apology. >> about time. >> tori spelling came on our show. when asked a direct, straight-forward question.

>> hard-hitting news question i asked. >> which was? >> are you pregnant? >> and she said this. >> everybody would be very delighted, very thrilled if you're expecting another mcdermott. >> we hope currently, but we are not expecting. >> you wanted me to ask. >> i never brought it up. >> that was clearly an untruth. we are thrilled for her and the baby, but it's kind of about us. >> they're fun. >> yesterday it was so funny. we got a flower delivery from tori and dean. it's in the shape of a dog. she said they were in the dog house. here is the card. >> she is a very sweet girl. >> dear kathie lee. >> spelled my name wrong. >> i'm sorry, i know i'm in the doghouse. please understand when i was on your show i was not yet three months and had not had my first

trimeser screaming. don't be made. i'll make sure you're in the know for the fourth. love you both, tori. >> very sweet. we wish them all the best. tori was one of those people, it's easy if you just believe what you read about somebody that you would, you know, you would form an opinion just based on that. your opinion would end up being completely wrong. she is an absolute doll. i like her so much. >> and she is real. >> yeah. she is not in the dog house. that looks a lot like bambino. if i take it home bambiono will growl at it and try to hump it. there he is. >> you're right. don't he look like him? >> that almost needs a split screen. of course there is one. i don't know if this ever happened to you, have you ever been at some important moment, efrnt, whatever in your life and you're sitting there and you

can't keep your eyes open? your head bobs? >> you fight it and can't help it. >> that happens if you're a regular person, but if you're joe biden, the vice president, it's not great. especially if the president is giving a speech. 25 seconds he was like that. the lady behind him was nodding off, too. looks like a real -- >> not one of president obama's most rousing speech. >> and the woman on the left. they're dropping like flies. it's 25 seconds. >> maybe he is praying. maybe he is praying for our economy. >> that has happened to the best of us. >> that's happened to me at matinees. >> me, too. you know when i did it? the frank sinatra one. >> "come fly away." >> i was out. i felt like i missed a lot of it. >> come snooze with me. >> it felt good to get a little nap in. >> please do not snooze this

afternoon. >> this is a hot ticket this. one is a hot ticket. >> it's today and tomorrow. i think we only have a certain amount of seats. they are completely filled up. the last seat has been taken by the fire marshall. he will not allow another person in. i was going to give a reception today and afterwards. they won't let me serve wine. >> should we have it somewhere else? >> they won't let me serve wine. i know, i know. the worst thing, this is a fabulous facility where we are doing it. there is one bathroom for 116 people. one stall. >> for boys and girls? >> yes. do not drink anything at lunch before you come to this. in fact, get rid of that. take hoda's drink away. why are restaurants getting kids drunk? >> this happened twice we know of. one, we heard about before there

was a young toddler. this is the toddler drinking out of a sippy cup at applebee's. in the cup was margarita. the parents were like what's up with our little boy? he's waving at everybody. they came to find out this child was served a margarita. fast forward to another child -- >> march 31st, i think it happened. >> this child was served sangria in a sippy cup. >> at olive garden. >> this kids' eyes were dilated. he had to go to the hospital to get an iv fluid thing put in. olive garden said they take the situation seriously. they are no longer going to prepare containers of sangria in advance. >> that's smart. you can't put our kids at risk. >> you can't. all right. this is a fun debatable question. we want to know what people at home think about this. some of you guys keep journals or save old love letters.

should you hang on to that stuff? you don't know who is going to find them. in one particular case a woman passed away and in the journal they read she thought her kids were spoiled, a pain. >> go ahead, cody, write it. go ahead. >> i keep journals so i have them. i often wondered. i write when i'm in a funk. my journal reads like someone is a crazy depressed person and i'm not. it's only when i wrichlt i think it's not a good slice of my life. it's a slice of my depressed life. >> thank goodness it's the only thing you keep track of. you know where that is at all times. if it was in your purse, forget about it. >> i lose everything. those i am like crazy. >> you do it to get rid of all that stuff that's in you. your anxious. it's like a colonic for you. it's a detox thing, right? >> it's good to read back to see

where you've been and where you are now. >> suicidal at times. >> i always write a grateful, like a grateful note and then a lesson. lessons learned. then you remember, oh, yeah, that guy did say that to me on the street that day. sometimes it's good. >> i don't do that. as a little girl i kept a diary, but love letters, that is a whole other thing. if you found your spouse or your lover's old love letters, would you read them? do you think it's right to read somebody else's private correspondence. >> you would. you would read frank's letters from old girlfriends? >> while he's living? i would feel bad about that. >> would you? >> yeah. >> i think it would make me feel sick to my stomach to read the intimacy of somebody else and him. >> we like to think somebody had no life at all until we came

onto their lives and made everything write. >> yesterday was our six month. i didn't know. he brought a card that said happy six months. i go, today is six months. been six months since i first met him. he knows i don't remember. he's good. he likes me for just me. forgetful. >> speaking of jay, is it okay to propose in public? >> kathie lee says you better be sure of the answer. >> hoda said sure it's okay if the answer is yes. for once you and i agree on this. >> yes, we do agree. you have to know. >> frank didn't propose publically at all. we were public people already. you don't want that. i guess some people well known do that for extra publicity. >> we didn't sell any pictures. >> you ready? >> good way to make a bunch of

dough now. anybody wants to pay me for pictures of my kids, i'm open to it now. >> they're almost 20. >> i know. >> here is the fun part of the show. >> i thought we talked our way through it. >> this is a song that again will take you back a little bit. if you want to rock out in the gym, it's an oldie but goody, from 1984 called "freak show." >> uh-oh. ♪ ♪ freak show ♪ baby baby ♪ on the dance floor ♪ do the freak show ♪ freak show ♪ baby baby ♪ on the dance floor ♪ here we go ♪ people ♪ they come from miles around ♪ wearing mini skirts ♪ tight leather pants ♪ or nothing at all

♪ you'll be dancing ♪ face to face ♪ or cheek to cheek ♪ on the floor ♪ freak show baby baby ♪ on the dance floor ♪ there's a freak show >> that's a freak show, baby. now, here is a little something you might have come across in "the new york times." kathie lee mentioned it in various newspapers and she was mentioned in "the new york times." here's why. you all right? >> yeah. >> the book of mormon came out with an ad. they decided it was good to use a quote kathie lee made on this show. "this is not a family show." >> yes. >> "dear god, how do i get

tickets." >> i did say none of the reviews are saying what is the truth which is it is not a family show. tee were very clever to do it. >> coming up next as we countdown to the wedding, vacations that will make you feel like a dween. [ female announcer ] love the look of freshly colored hair? now you don't have to wait 6 weeks to get it. introducing natural instincts with our first color refresher. get healthy looking, ammonia-free color, then let the new refresher boost your healthy look 2 weeks in. it helps restore color pigments, so you can get a freshly colored look once again. natural instincts. it's all good. now get all the healthy looking color of natural instincts in our new vibrant shades.

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time for today's travel and give-aways. >> you don't have to be prince william or kate middleton to enjoy the finer things in life. we love when you come to see us. >> you're always so well prepared. >> to be clear, this is not about people physically going to the wedding. this can be about if you want to feel like you're enjoying that kind of life. >> if you want to feel like the next king and queen, i have so many get-aways. the first is in central london, 51 buckingham gate, 2 1/2 minutes walk from the church of england and buckingham palace. you can stay there in one of 86 residential style rooms. they are done in beautiful muted colors and royal purple accent. it's a taj hotel. this is where the royal visiting dignitaries, ambassadors are going to stay. >> is it expensive? >> it is. it's a splurge.

it's $7:11 per night for four nights. they are doing a royal package where they will take new a horse and carriage along the royal route, complimentary breakfast and cocktails so you feel like a king and queen. >> if you want to do less expensive, what is the option there? >> "travel and leisure" covered our favorite affordable picks. this was in our april issue. hotel indigo london tower. it's the second hotel in london by intercontinental sexy boutique brand. here rates start at $243 in late april. you'll see vibrant colors. aveda skin care products. you'll be in tower hill off from the central london part of town, but only about three miles from buckingham palace. >> are people going to london just to be in the area.

>> people want to watch the cavalcade go by. >> if you want to be treated like royalty, what are the plans? >> if if you want to stay in a castle, ambeley castle in west essex. 12 acres next to 60-foot medieval walls. four poster beds, arched doorways and windows. special deal for wedding weekend, three nights for the price of four. $375 a night. afternoon tea, hot air balloon rides, clay pigeon shooting. continental breakfast of scrambled eggs and strawberries, they have it all. there you go. you'll stay in a castle like a queen. >> what about a tighter budget? >> you don't have to cross the pond. castle on the hudson in hudson new york, 40 minutes north of manhattan. stay in a grand family residence in the style of fortification in wales, scotland. you'll have use of manhattan, the hudson river.

>> it's beautiful up there. >> rates are $225 a night. >> wow. what if you want romance, heat it up, girl? >> where can hoda and jay go? >> fairmont st. andrews is where kate winslet and prince william met. rooms are in late gray and green reminiscent of the two golf courses on the grounds. you can dine in the squire restaurant. that is where prince william is said to have dined. 60 minute complimentary spa treatment. you can golf, tour the charming town of st. andrews. >> it is so beautiful there. >> so much fun. you can have perhaps a royal romance. >> i was there the weekend he and kate graduated from school. it was craziness it. was there for my friend sam's 50th birthday party. >> you have the same type of feeling. you can say in scotland at the

kiro tree house. it is an undiscovered charming, quiet historic town. you can stay in springtime with blooming tulips and primroses. >> a couple of choices in the u.s. >> splurge is trump international hotel in tower new york, $1,000. 5:00 a.m. breakfast, screen set up so you can watch the royal wedding. >> we're going to be there. >> or go to the drake in chicago and they throw in finger sandwiches and scones and watch the wedding there. >> thank you so much. up next. >> a video you cannot pass over. my name is mike, and i quit smoking. i knew for years before i quit that i needed to quit, and i went online to find a way. ♪ chantix -- it's a non-nicotine pill. i didn't want nicotine to give up nicotine. while you're taking the medication, for the first week, you can go ahead and smoke.

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♪ welcome to town house. where good times reside. we are back with webtasktic. >> passover begins monday evening. jewish people will sit down to a meal called a seder. >> ch video you want to share. this is a parody of "party in the usa" titled "best seder in the usa." ♪ i'm going to a seder for the first time ♪ i'm hosting my first seder ♪ please don't be a hater ♪ so hard with comments around me ♪ it's not an easter party ♪ my tummy is turning ♪ so much pressure i'm

schfitzing ♪ and the hagadia song was on ♪ i'm got my yarmulke on ♪ they are playing my song ♪ butterflies flying away sfe sfend ♪ >> the main singer was brian gollick but created by the jewish outreach program. saying it doesn't have to be your grandfather's passover seder. it doesn't have to be f efgefil fish and herring. >> thank you, sara. packing for your next vacation may be easy.

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good morning to you. 10:26 right now. santa cruz county is getting a charge of the new electric car service. they'll unveil three of new eight charging stations downtown today. similar stations will also be built in capital and monterey. they're using funds from a federal green energy program. fremont police officers will be wearing aprons over their uniforms today to help raise money for the special olympics. the officers will be serving food and working for tips at claim jumper restaurant tonight.

a sfespecial award will be awarded to a boy who helped his mother during an emergency. his mother complained of chest pain. he and three dispatchers will be honored at the yard house restaurant at santana row in san jose, 11:00 this morning. good for them. and you have a chance to see rod stewart and stevie nicks in concert. look for the details. live nation is helping us get out the free tickets. all the details are on our facebook page at nbcbayareamorningnews. right now, want to take a quick break. d

but you-know-who just showed up with nachos. (taco #2) what? oh. what does she have that i don't have?. nothing really. just some cilantro. a bigger plate. ohhh looks like some fresh guacamole. i can do guacamole. but you didn't. [crying] shhh. your salsa is running. ancr: tacos love tillamook. voted the world's best medium cheddar cheese.

good morning to you. our temperatures have climbed into the low 50s. we're going to end up in the upper 60s in some cities across the bay area. and tomorrow, even warmer, more sunshine on tap. 68 in los gatos. 65 in san rafael. a little mild along the peninsula. we're looking towards 63 degrees in san francisco. and about 61 in half moon bay. up to 72, though, by saturday. let's see how your drive is shaping up. >> a little surprise for us. we see northbound 101 slows quite a bit up towards hillsdale. we just got a report of basically repair work going on northbound 101. there may be pothole repair

work. but we're getting the details. the backup still past the 880 overcrossing. >> looks like they have cleaning to do. thanks so much. thank you for joining us. the "today" show continues next. we're back on this thursday. hoda are very excited. an amazing alison krous will be singing for us. and it could cost you a lot more than your ticket. shape magazine's jackie stafford is here with style tips. when you are getting ready to pack, it's not an easy thing.

>> we had questions that we have to answer. >> this question is, i am invited on a weekend away and i need to look slim. who doesn't want this? are there any special tricks that don't involve the diet or gym. >> slimming in your swimsuit. that's the problem because everybody every woman wants to look pounds slimmer in her spit suit. this is a great example of how you want to whittle away or waist. >> you would not think stripes would work, but they do. >> yes, and then you don't have to spend a lot of money. we have another option of spanx. >> spanxs makes a bathing suit? >> of course. >> and there is jc penney, and

it's all about the rushing. >> and this is about packing. i am going away for a week but can only bring one carry-on. what are some fashion solutions that can take me from day to night? you don't want to over pack. >> this is a great carry on for starters. and it's limited edition by tomby. this is where we found it, at walmart, a thousand different ways. >> you are knock talking about the red thing? >> no, the blacktop. the skirt is a reversible skirt. >> that looks like a dress. >> you can wear it different ways. this is a top, and this is a skirt. you can wear it different ways. yummy tummy. and then if you are looking for a bag that does have double duty, you can use it as a purse for the evening. >> and what is the next question, hoda woman?

>> this is an important one. if i wear a size 11 shoe and want a pair of sexy sandals, is there a style that can minimize -- so the shoes look nice? >> there are so many stiles of summer sandals out right now. all different stuff. and it's a great resource, and so many web sites do a larger size shoe. a lot of women feel they need to minimize the size of the show and they cannot hair a heel. you can wear a heel -- >> don't wear gladiator shoes if you are size 11. stop it! >> a beautiful model here has a floral print. do you think floral prints go for everybody? >> and the question is if i am full figured can i wear a floral print? and of course you can. you don't want to look like you are wearing a table cloth, and you want to see the floor

pattern is the same size at the palm of your hand. you make sure the principle the will not overwhelm you. >> and the shoes don't cut you off. >> a long gait. >> yeah, that's the big trend. >> so what is the biggest mistake everybody makes when packing? >> pack way too much. over pack. pack it and then take half of it out. >> you don't know what the weather is going to be like, and it's hard. >> you have wraps, and you can take them off. >> you do that. >> yeah, i do. >> thank you very much. >> genius. thank you, girl. >> up next, the with crumb crust. enough said. can't wait. again, alison krous and union station.

we're all out of toilet paper. can you toss me a roll? too rough. we're out of toilet paper. can you toss me a roll? too soft. can you toss me a roll? that's better. angel soft. an ideal balance of softness and strength.

♪ we are in the kitchen cooking with giada. we are not cooking, she's cooking. >> oh, no, you're cooking. >> she is about to show us a couple of refreshing spring desserts and show us a decadent one. >> moving from angel to the devil. angel food cake, lemon-flaired made from scratch. egg whites, flour, lemon juice. we'll make a topping to go with it. if you wanted to buy this, you could do something special for easter. yogurt. you want me to do it? >> sure. >> plain yogurt. >> this is honey? >> a little bit of honey, a

little bit of lemon juice. mix it all together until it becomes sort of creamy. then dollop it with berries. if you like to garnish, do mint. you serve it alongside of this so it moistens the cake. makes it extra special. it's light and pretty. >> this looks delicious to me. >> this is a citrus crostada. orange segments and juice and cook it down. you make a homemade crust but you can buy any pie crust. put in a baking sheet, fold over the sides and top with mascarpone. you can top it and make a jeweled look.

spread it and i top it. that's it. >> that looks good. >> let me put jam on it. >> not with the jam. >> bite that. that's amazing. >> you're missing the jam. you can't eat it half done. >> give her the jam. see how pretty? moving on to the devil part. >> you're right. it's better with the jam. >> no, it's not. >> it's good. >> now the little devil dessert. this is a brownie pie made with biscotti crust. it's like a graham cracker crust. you can take out your aggression with biscotti. >> her aggression days are over. >> i like to use plain ones. >> you grind it up. we'll pretend we did it.

>> okay. fine. >> whir. >> put it in the baking dish and press it down. bake it at 350 for 15 minutes. then make the filling. unsweetened chocolate and butter. dump 1 1/4 cups of brown sugar, walnuts, flour. those are for garnish. >> salt? >> give me my eggs. >> you put salt in something so sweet, why is that? >> you've got to balance out the sugar. >> that doesn't make sense to me. i believe you, but i don't understand. >> people love mcdonald's fries because of the perfect balance of sugar and salt. >> sugar? they put in -- sugar in the fries? >> yes, they do. >> they didn't tell me. >> we have to taste it because we have to go. >> bake 30 minutes. >> here you go. you waited and you get rewarded. >> thank you. >> nobody is better.

>> the best party in the usa. starting from scratch and alison krauss patients how to take insulin. but i've learned a lot from patients who use flexpen. flexpen comes pre-filled with the insulin i take and i can dial the exact dose of insulin i need. i live my life on the go and need an on-the-go insulin. i don't need to carry a cooler with flexpen. novolog is a fast-acting, man-made insulin used to control high blood sugar in adults and children with diabetes. do not inject novolog if you do not plan to eat within 5 to 10 minutes after injection to avoid low blood sugar. tell your healthcare provider about all medicines you take and all of your medical conditions, including if you are pregnant or breastfeeding. the most common side effect of novolog is low blood sugar. other possible side effects include reactions at the injection site. get medical help right away if you experience serious allergic reactions, body rash, trouble with breathing, fast heartbeat or sweating. ask your healthcare provider about novolog flexpen today.

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no question entertaining at home can be intimidating. >> once you get it down, it becomes second nature and a ton of fun. here to take you to your comfort level is event designer and entertainment expert tara wilson. >> thanks for having me back. >> i like that you lay out the a, b, cs. you say it's important to keep your pantry stocked. >> want to think about stocking your party pantry. it's not about having food but other essential items. decorative appetizer plates, great napkin rings, trays, cocktail napkins. >> so it's not last minute. >> right. >> i bet hoda is not good at

planning ahead. >> i don't have a pantry. >> you can use a checklist and mark it off as you use it. >> that is not going to happen to her, but thank you. >> planning a menu you wonder, should i do it the week before? >> start thinking about it three weeks out. pull your recipes so you know what you're preparing. that's one of the biggest mistakes first-time entertainers make. they don't allow enough time to prepare. they worry about running out of food at the party. do a soup or salad. if you do meat or fish, think about having six ounces of that. and your sides and dessert. >> should you have extra? >> it's okay to prepare extra and you can send your guests home with leftovers. >> isn't it good to start out with a small party? >> right. start with about 12 people. >> that many? >> i would have a couple first. >> on to the bar. >> about time now.

>> i know. let's get you guys going. >> no medication today. all righty. >> two weeks out prior to the event, start thinking about stocking your bar. first-time entertainers think they have to have something for everyone. create a sheet that says this is what i've got to offer. do a special cocktail like the champagne cocktail. >> a week before you want to think about the wow factor, that unexpected element. this is a pocket fold. start with the top. fold down to the center. crease it. >> i don't have room. >> we'll scoop over here. flip over. take your top one and in your case hoda, flip it and fold it down. bring the right and left edgers to center to meet in the middle. you're so good at this, kathie lee. >> close it like a book. >> tuck your flower inside.

>> that is very sweet. i'm going to test you. look at hoda's. >> i like it. >> just do that. i love it. >> when you're looking at your table, you want to think about things that will wow your guests. i love placecards. bring that napkin over here. >> come on, hoda. >> we've got to roll. >> placecards to keep the conversation going. >> thank you very much. thank you for putting up with us. next, key to the best parties around, music. allison krause. [ 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.

cringe when we say this, but she is the most decorated female recording artist selling over 12 million albums receiving an astounding 26 grammy awards in her 26-year career. >> that's one a year and makes me crazy. you deserved every one of them. her collaboration with union station contributed heavily to that success. her new album is fantastic "paper airplane." welcome, everybody. i love this acoustic sound you have. it takes you right where you want to go. these are all great songs. >> how was it getting back together with each other? >> it was great. we haven't been apart for seven years. it's just been seven years since we recorded a whole new album. it was great to get back together. i know if i'm remembered at all it will be with these guys. >> you collaborated with so many other people, as well. just the minute we hear alison's

voice, it's closure eyes music. >> to appreciate your gift. it's extraordinary. >> what are you going to perform? >> a song called "paper airplane." >> the title song of the cd. we are excited. >> thank you. ♪ ♪ i put it all behind me ♪ nothing left to do or doubt ♪ some may say ♪ but every silver lining ♪ always seems to have a cloud ♪ that comes my way

♪ anticipated pleasure ♪ or unexpected pain ♪ no choice i fear ♪ and love is hard to measure ♪ hidden in the rain ♪ that's why you'll find me ♪ here all alone ♪ and still wondering why ♪ waiting inside ♪ for the cold to get colder ♪ and here where it's clear ♪ that i've wasting my time ♪ hoping to fly ♪ cause it's almost over ♪ no

♪ ♪ people come together ♪ people go their own way ♪ love conquers few ♪ and i'll do whatever ♪ i'll say what i need to say ♪ just not for you ♪ how many days ♪ should i smile ♪ with a frown ♪ cause you're not around ♪ with the sun on your shoulders ♪ and how many nights ♪ must i wake up alone

♪ and know in my soul ♪ that it's almost over now ♪ our love is like a paper airplane ♪ flying in the folded wind ♪ riding high ♪ dipping low ♪ innocence is fair game ♪ i'm hoping i can hold it in ♪ our love will die i know >> that's a song, hoda. that is awesome, you guys. >> i'm so glad. >> the whole cd is like that,

full of every great show after another. another grammy right here. bye. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com