good morning, breaking news -- the nfl set to release a statement about its replacement referees at any moment after a controversial game-ending call. >> the seahawks win in the most bizarre finish you'll ever see. >> as the calls get worse and tempers flare, can the fans and league take much more? one-on-one -- president obama on the battle over how to fix our nation's public schools. >> can you really say that teachers' unions aren't slowing the pace of reform? >> this morning the president's revealing answer. and say it ain't so. what could be devastating news for a lot of people who love bacon. according to industry experts, a world shortage is unavoidable

today, tuesday, september 25th, 2012. captions paid for by nbc-universal television and good morning, welcome to "today," it's 7:00 a.m. on the west coast on a tuesday morning, i'm savannah guthrie. >> and i'm matt lauer, first we had replacement referees in the nfl and now you're telling me a shortage of bacon on the horizon? >> i can't go on. >> i'm only one man here, i can only take so much. i will arm wrestle you for this later. the drought impacted the soy and, the soybean and corn crops, that's what pigs eat, that's why there's a problem in the next year. it's a dire situation for bacon-lovers. >> and in other pigskin news,

i'm repeating the same lame joke from the east coast, big story in football. >> the nfl expected to weigh in on the firestorm using replacement officials following what was an extraordinarily controversial game-ending call in a matchup last night between green bay. the packers leading 12-7. seattle tries a hail mary, it appears the ball is intercepted. but the refs ruled it was a touchdown. then they went and reviewed it and upheld the ruling after a long time. >> well people went where else, to twitter, to voice outrage. one reporter calling it one of the great disgraces in nfl history. we're going to talk to him straight ahead. a story that reveals the highs and lows of high school life. a 16-year-old high schooler elected to the homecoming court has a cruel prank. but now she's turning the tables on her tormenters, saying what they did will only make her stronger. we'll be hearing from her. and later, do you have a favorite child?

and if so, would you admit it? we want you head to our website and let us know what you think. we'll talk about that issue with today's professionals. let us begin with the debacle that's become the referee lockout in the nfl. nbc's stephanie gosk is here with the latest on this. >> this is an unbelievable call, but before this, there was already controversy in the nfl. there was investigation under way for sunday night's game against the coaches of that game for inappropriately touching the refs. and on monday night, another problem in primetime for the nfl. with time left for one play and down by five points, seattle seahawks tossed a hail mary pass into the end zone. there was a fight for the ball. who had it? it was up to the refs to decide. the announcers thought replay showed the packers had intercepted the ball. which would have given green bay the win.

>> upon review, the call on the field stands, touchdown. >> the seahawks win in the most bizarre finish you'll ever see. >> the seahawks were given the win. in the growing firestorm around the nfl replacement officials exploded. >> i don't like the way this game finished. >> nbc's peter king tweeted -- one of the great disgraces in nfl history. the second primetime problem in as many nights. >> and the patriots are saying no. >> the final play of the sunday night football game between the patriots and ravens was a field goal. good. new england loses by one point. coach bill belichick wanted a review, but he couldn't even get a response from the replacement refs. and then belichick did something that's off-limits for every athlete, parent and coach, from youth football to the nfl -- he grabbed the official on national tv. >> oh boy.

well that's a few bucks. >> with the real nfl officials locked out and negotiations over pensions and salaries stalled, the frustration with their less-experienced replacements on the field is growing. >> there are too many occasions where they don't know what to do. they don't know what penalty to call. they don't know how many yards to mark off. they don't know where to put the ball. they don't know what to do next. >> the patriots/ravens game was a mess. multiple fights broke out before penalty flags were thrown. >> conduct, defense on the bench. >> although it wasn't captured on camera, ravens head coach harbaugh is reportedly being investigated for bumping a ref after he tried to get a time-out in the fourth quarter. harbaugh got flagged for unsportsman-like conduct, sparking an angry chant in the stands. >> it's the lavish chant i've ever heard. >> certain types of penalties aren't being called, causing players to get frustrated.

causing coaches to get frustrated. it's an emotional game and it starts to spill over. >> the chaos led the players association to write a letter to the owners. your decision to lock out officials with more than 1500 years of collective nfl experience has led to a deterioration of order, safety and integrity. the nfl says they disagree with the officials' union, over how to improve officiating. but nbc's peter king reports thats nfl is refusing to give refs the $3.3 million more they want for their pensions. something else to consider, last year the nfl football pulled in $9.3 billion. as for belichick and harbaugh, they're still in an investigation awaiting a possible fine. and we're waiting for the statement from the nfl. wondering if they're going to overturn that call. >> stephanie, thanks very much. let us turn to mike lupicka, a sports columnist for "the new york daily news." peter king says, mike, that it's one of the great disgraces in nfl history. what's your take on the ending

of that game last night? >> matt, they had completely compromised the integrity of this sport. they are doing it over peanuts. this is one of the great cash cows in the history of business in this country. not just the sports business. and if they would let their, their, this product become this kind of vaudeville show, at this time, over $3 million when it raked in nearly $10 billion last year? matt, it's a disgrace. we finally got the ending that we have been waiting for last night. and they have influenced games in different ways so far. but you were waiting for the last play of the game, to be bolloxed like they did last night and it happened on "monday night football." >> people are saying, it's one game, what's the big deal? but you move to the end of the season and that one game can decide home field advantage in the playoffs and you think what it means in a town like green bay, to have an extra home game

during the playoffs, it's millions and millions of dollars to an economy. >> matt, you're absolutely right. you know, people lose, we talk about injuries. we talk about people losing jobs. look at the team that won the super bowl last year. the giants were playing for their playoff lives on the last game of the regular season. this could have huge implications for the green bay packers and a ripple effect all over the sport. and for no good reason. there is no reason for these men to be locked out. >> and there's another side of this. you've got the substitute teacher mentality here. when kids see a substitute teacher in school, they push the envelope, they test that person. we're now seeing that in the nfl. with not only players in these replacement refs, but with the coaches. >> it is a complete breakdown of civility. you saw it in the sunday night game. you saw it in spades last night. matt, there is no question in my mind that those two subs were

completely overwhelmed by where they were, where they were making the call and you finally saw one guy signaling touchdown and one guy basically signaling that the game was over. it is, it is become a clown show. >> so, mike, if you're roger goodell, the commissioner of the nfl, do you have to pick up the phone this morning and make some kind of deal with the regular officials? >> matt, he absolutely has, this is not about saving face any more. this is about saving the integrity of his season, three weeks in. only in this case you want to spell week, w-e-a-k. >> mike lupica, columnist for "the new york daily news." and now natalie has a check of the news. natalie, good morning to you. >> good morning, savannah and matt and good morning, everyone. a show of force from iran overnight as a semi official state news agency reports that the country's military has test-fired missiles in the strait of hormuz, capable of sinking a warship. meantime, a top iranian

commander says the country's new missile-carrying drone effectively puts much of the middle east in its firing range, including israel. this, as iran's president, mahmoud ahmadinejad, is stoking anger with inflammatory remarks against israel ahead of his u.n. speech on wednesday. meantime this morning president obama is addressing the the united nations as the campaign spotlight turns to international affairs. both he and republican rival, mitt romney, speak at the clinton global initiative annual meeting also today. in nearly back-to-back speeches. hot topics for both, the u.s. response to anti-american protests across the muslim world. and we'll have more on this coming up. now let's head to wall street and cnbc's courtney reagan is at the new york stock exchange. tell us more about the global bacon shortage on the way. al is very concerned this morning. he can't function. >> as are a number of others. this could be true, if you're a bacon lover, you better start hoarding it now. according to britain's national

pig association, a worldwide shortage of pork and bacon next year is unavoidable. it's a result of the drought that hit much of the country this year. which damaged the crops used to feed the pigs. so the group predicts that the number of slaughtered pigs could fall by 10% in the second half of next year, and that could cause prices to double in some areas. natalie, back to you. >> stocking up now. courtney reagan, thanks. what better way to show a little school spirit than to boogie down. the ohio state university dropped their instruments to do a dance inspired by a megaviral you tube video. ♪ ♪ ohio university of course, matt's alma mater so he'll take all the credit for that performance. >> the most entertaining band in

the land. >> you need to be on the plaza, doing a little gangham style. >> mr. roker, let's do this. >> all right. you heard it. let's -- yes, they are, they will now. let's check out our weather, show you what we've got. we've got a big low pressure area, warm front, that's bringing a lot of rain into the midsection of the country. with a cold front dropping down. clash of those warm air masses, a risk of strong storms from eastern missouri to southern indiana. large hail, damaging winds, a lot of rain, about one to three inches, stretching from just south of cleveland down to independence, missouri. good tuesday morning to you. taking a live look from high atop san bruno mountain looking out toward mt. diablo. lots of cloud cover forced to the sur facsurface. 81 degrees in san jose later today. 70 in san francisco.

right around 72 in santa cruz. oakland, 77 degrees today. we've got hotter days ahead. we'll peak on saturday, up to 97 degrees inland. hope you have a great day. and that's your latest weather, saf dma? >> thanks, president obama and governor romney both in new york city to speak at the the clinton global initiative. governor romney will drob by nbc's education summit. chuck todd is the nbc's political director. you koom with your telestrator today. >> i do. >> let's talk about the state of the union in terms of the battleground map. we know that 270 is the magic number. where do things stand right now? >> we have the president at 243. states adding up to 243 electoral votes, 270 is the magic numb. what we've recently moved was the state of iowa. that put him at 243. what's interesting here, it means he now only needs a couple of states. a couple of the big states, big

three that i talk about all the time. ohio, florida, virginia, a couple of ways and he gets over the finish line. >> we talk about ohio, it's usually a bellweather. you have a couple of scenarios to run through. i think this one shows if president obama takes ohio? >> we do. let me show you what happens when we give him ohio. watch how close he gets to 270. it gets him to 261 here. and now, that means what? there's about four different scenarios, let me clean the map up here a little bit. there's about four different scenarios that gets him to 270. let's give romney the benefit of the doubt and assume that in the order of the other remaining eight states, florida, north carolina, wisconsin, although who knows now with packer fans how they're going to feel and whether they even show up to vote. i'm a little upset this morning. you give them that and it gets him to 264. it leaves us, i had people asking me, what is this year's florida, what is this year's ohio? when you go through any scenario, i come to the state of

virginia virginia in 2008 was the state that most closely matched the national number. it is the state that is sort of right there on the edge. the president has a little bit of a lead, but it seems to match where he is in the national numbers. >> in 2008, virginia's most closely matched where the country added up, right? >> 53-47 obama over mccain. and virginia is interesting, it's a state that economically is doing very well. a lot of government workers in northern virginia. a minority population that might turn out in bigger numbers, more african-american population, but a growing hispanic population and yes it's got some southern roots that should help romney. i think it's the ultimate swing state. this year's florida or ohio. >> but florida still matters. >> florida matters big and if somehow the president wins it, it's checkmate. you go through the scenario, if romney is going to cede ohio. it's the move of ohio. where romney cannot seem to connect with white working-class voters, he's doing this big bus

trip, it's the move of ohio, he's got to win both florida and ohio. if you're romney, you see florida getting in your column before you see virginia. >> 15 minutes after the hour. and here's matt. the head of the international monetary fund is calling for urgent action from lawmakers here in the u.s. and europe to turn around the global economy. nbc's chief foreign affairs correspondent, andrea mitchell recently sat down with her. andrea, good morning to you. >> good morning to you, matt, thank you. and she is arguably the most powerful woman in the world. often called a rock star of international finance. even though in her quiet style, she politely disagrees. >> i'm not a rock star. >> christine lagarde of france is the first woman to lead the international monetary fund. a rainy day account for countries teetserring on the elm of a economic crisis. these days, the crisis is in europe, her own back yard. >> the meltdown that first precipitated all of this? >> i would like to note that for

the first time in the last six years, we have had a better summer and we have had a better september if i may say. so i think we need to keep that momentum. >> lagarde tomorrow over the imf after her predecessor, fellow frenchman, dominique strauss-kahn was forced out over a sex scandal. tall, imposing and chicly feminine in that french way, lagarde is known for her distinctive style, high fashion and functional. landing her in "vogue" magazine. portrayed in the hbo move by about the financial crisis, "too big to fail." >> you allowed it to fail. it was a horrifying mistake. >> behind closed doors, she is known for her straight-talking charm. >> even now with all of your power and prominence, do you find that there are men in finance or in government who treat you in a patronizing way?

>> oh yeah, yeah, of course. >> really? tell us who. >> i don't want to embarrass them. but the best defense when that happens is -- a very good and solid sense of humor. because at the end of the day, they are human beings as well. they have wives, they have daughters. >> born and raised in france, she became a member of her country's also knows america, having come to high school in the u.s. as an exchange student, and rising to the top of a giant u.s. law firm before going home to france to be minister of finance. there's a lot of talk in our country and around the world among women having it all. you've raised two children. you also ran a major american law firm. what is the secret? >> i think can you not have it all at the same time.

i think you can in a way have it all as long as you can afford to be patient and not have it all at the same time. you have to accept that there will be failures. >> reporter: now overseeing the global economy, she says the primary threat to the u.s. recovery is the fiscal cliff, the combination of automatic tax hikes and spending cuts looming in january that could stop the economy cold if congress and the white house failed to act. >> if i was to sort of give a piece of very humble and modest advice, it would be focused on the very dear consequences that could result from the fiscal cliff actually resulting in a 4% deficit reduction. this is something that is very, very serious. >> reporter: she sees her job as more than just euros and dollars lending her considerable cashe to honor democracy activist aung

san suu kyi and she sees herself helping generations to come. >> it's given me a difficult responsibility because i know that a lot of women, younger women, but also sometimes much more senior women, will be at me and say we can do it. she can do it, so we can do it. >> reporter: she has four years left in her term, trying to keep the world safe from default, but already she's being talked about as a future first woman president of france. >> a little pressure on her shoulders, mo question. >> reporter: i'll say. >> thank you very much. still to come, a mean prank that's become a heartwarming story. how one town is rallying around a high schooler named to her homecoming court as a joke, but first

. just ahead, president obama on education and what he was like as a student. >> and "ask away today," your questions answered by savannah.

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thanks for sending us in there with her. it is 7:26. good morning, everybody, i'm jon kelley. uc berkeley police right now asking for your help this morning trying to catch a man wanted in two separate robberies. take a look at this suspect. we don't have the photo actually. police say kody alan smith pretended to sell magazines to two different women just hours apart back on september 10th. there's a picture of him right there. he allegedly threatened both women with violence if they did not withdraw cash from an atm inside the golden bear cafe located on the berkeley campus. we're happy to report neither woman was hurt. police say kody alan smith is 24 years old, 5'11" tall, weighs about 135 pounds. he has blue eyes and short hair. investigators say he also had two accomplices. well, it is fall right now but if you like warmer

temperatures, you'll love this week. christina loren says expect the heat. >> prospect the unexpected. good morning to you. it's actually one of the coolest days of the week. 56 in san francisco where it's 50 to start you out this oakland. not a whole lot of marine air to cool us off today. by 10:00 a.m. most of the marine layer will push back out to sea. 90 in fairfield, 89 in livermore, 70 in san francisco. you'll hit about 77 degrees today in oaktown. now, temperatures are going to ramp up each and every day all the way through saturday when we will max out at 97 degrees. yeah, it's going to be a hot weekend ahead. you can make those beach plans. expect extra company towards the coast. let's find out where the extra company is really setting in. >> look at this right here. it's tough to see because of the sun hitting you in your eyes but i'll show you on the maps. this is north 280. that red strip right across the middle of your screen very slow from 87 downtown all the way up toward saratoga and kurpcuperti.

and let's get a look here 101 jamming toward that accident over at capital. it's on the shoulder but slow from highway 85 and the split likely sending more folks north on highway 85 as well. more slowing in the east bay. jammed all wait down into fremont. same the last couple of days. and slow for highway 24 after the earlier accident, jon. back to you. for the latest traffic and news updates, check us out on nbc bay area on facebook. we're back in one-half hour with another update. our science teacher helped us build it. ♪ now i'm a geologist at chevron, and i get to help science teachers. it has four servo motors and a wireless microcontroller. over the last three years we've put nearly 100 million dollars into american education. that's thousands of kids learning to love science. ♪ isn't that cool? and that's pretty cool. ♪

7:30 now on a tuesday morning, september 25th, 2012. nice morning here in the northeast. meanwhile inside studio 1a time for the old wind machine, but enough about savannah. we have got -- >> oh, you did not! >> we've got day two of "ask away today." that's the wind machine filled with questions. i'm going to jump in there in a couple minutes, pick a couple out and quiz my companions. >> i've got a question for. why are you so mean? >> i'm not mean. >> what's wrong with you? >> the nfl refs have me on the edge. i'm matt lauer along with savannah guthrie. also ahead, your interview with the president. >> we talked about education and the problems facing our nation's schools and also revealed what he was like as a young student and how he compares in the classroom to his own daughters sasha and malia. lots to hear from the president

coming up. >> look forward to that. also ahead, today's professionals. we'll get their takes on the referee situation in the nfl that so many people are talking about. a new list of america's dirtiest cities as well. might want to think for the next half hour which city just claimed that title. >> okay. and meantime, homecoming season, of course, fast approaching at high schools across the country, and in one michigan town it's led to a painful prank on a young girl, but to her surprise the community is now rallying around her. nbc's kevin tibbles is in west branch, michigan with the story this morning. kevin, good morning to you. >> reporter: savannah, high school sophomore whitney kopp says she was surprised when fellow classmates voted her on to the school's homecoming court, but she adds it's what happened afterwards that has broken her heart. 16-year-old whitney kopp has learned firsthand the lows and highs of high school. never considered herself part of the in crowd so she was

surprised students had voted her to the homecoming court. >> never thought i would be part of it because really it's just for like the big popular people. >> reporter: but the sophomore's happiness turned to humiliation when some students told her it was all a cruel joke. >> some kids thought it would be funny to put me in there as a joke to make fun of me. >> reporter: it hurt because whitney says a few years back she was the target of bullies. >> one year some kids decided it would be funny to kick me in my shins with steel-toed boots because i was different. >> reporter: so when this happened, it brought back painful memories. >> you know, i felt like i wasn't worthy, like why even be a part of this community, this world, if -- if i'm just going to be tossed around like basically a piece of trash? >> reporter: whitney's mom told her one way to get back at the bullies was to turn the tables, to persevere and go to the dance. >> it takes a lot of guts, a lot of guts to do that. >> reporter: and she's going to do. >> and she's going to do it. >> reporter: many in this rural northern michigan town agreed,

and they came together. a local hairdresser is doing her hair for free. >> here's this bright young girl, very pretty, you know why? why would anyone pick on her? >> reporter: and her gown has been donated. >> i honestly hope that the kids will take this and kind of learn from it. >> reporter: student jade cameron who attends a different school couldn't believe what whitney has endured. >> it's horrible. it just makes me mad because it's not fair. you don't do that to someone. >> reporter: a facebook page set up to support whitney has gotten thousands of likes with its stop bullying message. >> maybe you're showing the bullies you're better. >> i'm excited to go because i can prove everyone wrong and say, you know, i'm not this joke that you thought i was. you guys doing that made me stronger, and i've got more self-esteem than what i had. >> reporter: an investigation into all of this is under way at the school, and the superintendent says all school

officials are very proud of whitney and all the other members of the homecoming court, and let's just hope whitney has a great time at the dance this weekend. savannah. >> we sure hope so. kevin tibbles in west branch, michigan. thank you. 34 minutes past the hour. here's matt. to the death of the new panda cup at the national zoo in washington, d.c. it lived for only six days, and now zoo officials are trying to figure out why. nbc's an thompson is there. ann, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, matt. behind me you can see the cup's father. that is him showing off eating his breakfast. the lab results will not be back until the end of next week with you the initial examination shed a couple of things. found fluid in the cub's abdomen and found indications of liver problems, all issues that turn joy to sorrow here. this 2-month-old panda born and thriving at the san diego zoo is

what they hoped for at the national zoo when its panda was born last week. >> these bears are so critically endangered that every panda cub is important. >> reporter: but on sunday zookeepers heard the cub's mother cry in distress. the cub, four ounces, the size of a stick of butter, was dead. for years zookeepers have tried to help her conceive. the odds are low and the mortality rate in captivity is high, 18%. >> they are an endangered species so having the captive population is very important for the wild population. >> reporter: today, only 1,600 giant pandas live in the wild in central and southern china, but whether free or in captivity, mating is not easy for these charismatic creatures. they are by nature loners, living on their own, and the females are only able to get

pregnant once a year, in a short fertility window, lasting just 24 to 72 hours. many zoos use artificial insemination. >> very intensive effort because it's such a short window that you have to get the female pregnant, and so it is a very intensive effort. we work long hours during that time, and we monitor hormones and behavior and all of that to try to accomplish a pregnancy. ? in just a week of life the female cub clearly touched many. a short lived symbol of hope for a threatened species. now tian tian as you can see is working on his breakfast, typical behavior, pretty oblivious. don't really have a role other than in the initial conception -- any role in child-rearing. as far as mei jong goes, under 24-hour observation. the keeper says she's begun to

eat and interact with them, and she has been cradling a plastic toy ever since her cub died. matt. >> that's a sad story, matt. >> appreciate that. let's get a check of the weather now with al. >> thanks so much. and as we show you what's happening with today's weather. we've got our "ask away today." guess we're not going to do that. temperature departures. out west. lack at how warm it is. great falls 83, kansas city 84 degrees. am littlea 11 degrees above normal while the rest of the country with cooler than usual temperatures, here into the northeast and new england. 50s in the upper mississippi river valley. awfully toasty in the southwest as well. as far as your sky conditions are concerned, gorgeous day up and down the eastern seaboard. slight risk of strong storms in the mid-mississippi river valley, more seasonal conditions in the pacific northwest and heat conditions through the southwest. a little cooler today in las vegas with the high of only

7:37 now. the fog is the most widespread for the morning at this point. this is the bay bridge toll plaza and there's not a whole lot left which means a warm day. about 5 degrees above average for this time of year. 89 livermore, 75 along the east shore in fremont and 70 degrees, a toasty day ahead in the city by the bay. as we head throughout the next couple days, we keep on climbing all the way through saturday, as a matter of fact, up to 97 degrees. and that's your latest weather. don't forget. get the weather any time you need it. go to the weather channel on cable or weather.com online. matt? >> thank you very much. up next, savannah talks to president obama about the state of our nation's schools and what he was like as a student. that's right after this. flu protection with a 90% smaller needle. a 90% smaller needle. announcing fluzone intradermal vaccine, a 90% smaller needle, wow that's...short.

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back at 7:41. this morning on education nation today, the president's perspective. i sat down with president obama as he campaigned in wisconsin over the weekend, and we began by talking about the recent teachers strike in his hometown of chicago which pits the teachers union against his former chief of staff, chicago mayor rahm emanuel. there was a leading reform

advocate who said this shows it is a new day for democrats. they are no longer kowtowing to the unions. is that how you see it? >> you know, that's not how i see it. what i see is that all across the country people want results. it was very important, i think, for mayor emanuel to say let's step up our game, and it was important for the teachers unions also to say let's make sure we're not just blaming teachers for a lot of big problems out there. let's make sure we've got the resources, so i'm glad it was resolved, but i do think that from the perspective of democrats we can't just sit on the status quo or say that money's the only issue. reform is important also. >> mitt romney said that president obama has chosen his side, sighing with the unions and another time last spring he said he can't talk up reform while indulging in groups that block it. >> well, you know, i think governor romney and a number of folks try to politicized the

issue and do a lot of teacher-bashing. when i meet teachers all across the country, so devoted and dedicated to their kids, and what we've tried to do is actually break through this left-right, conservative -- liberal gridlock. >> can you really say that teachers unions aren't slowing the pace of reform? >> you know, i just really get frustrated when i hear teacher-bashing as evidence of reform. my sister is a former teacher, and i can tell you that they work so hard. they are putting money out of their own pockets in the classroom every single day. they are not doing it for the patients and, you know, what is absolutely true is if we've got a bad teacher, we should be able to train them to get better, and if they can't get better, they should be able to get fired. >> i'm sure you could recite the statistics by heart. american students 25th in math. >> yeah. >> 17th in science. 14th in reading, and yet the u.s. spends just about as much

as any other country per pupil. people are wondering what are we spending our money on then? >> well, you know, part of the problem we've got is we've got a very diverse country compared to some of the smaller countries where all the kids are coming to school pretty well prepared. they are not hungry. they are not poor. in our country, you know, we've got poor kids and some kids who have deep troubles at home, but there's no doubt that we can step up our game, and this is a big argument and a big difference that i've got with governor romney in this election, because they talk a good game about reform, but when you actually look at their budgets, they are talking about slashing our investment in education by 20%, 25%. we've already seen 300,000 teachers that have been fired across the country, and as a consequence class sizes have gone up by 5%. >> let me ask you about no child left behind. the administration has granted waivers to states because congress hasn't amended the law,

allows them to not have as rigorous standards. because of those waivers in some states, states are permitted to have different proficiency standards by race. the bottom line is we have a situation in america in 2012 where you have african-americans expected not to reach the same level of proficiency at whits w. on a gut level, does that bother you? >> the initial premise behind no child left behind is all kids have to learn and because it was underresourced and kids coming into school, a lot of minority kids were coming into school already behind, the schools were not going to be meeting these standards, and so what we've said to schools is you've got to continue to keep the high standards, but we are going to measure growth. we're still going to keep track of what you're doing with each group, and you're not going to have an excuse to do really well with white kids, let's say, and the plaque and hispanic kids aren't doing as well, but you

average it out and meet something. we're still going to disaggregate the information about black, white and hispanic kids to make sure that everybody is moving. >> before i let you go. you got in some hot water at home i heard a while back when you let the world know that malia had gotten a "c" on a science test. that got me thinking. have you ever failed a test? >> oh, yes. >> really? >> absolutely. >> you know, i would say i was a mediocre student until i got to college. i -- i goofed off way too much. malia and sasha are so far ahead of me, basically in all respects. they are just better people than i was at their age, and -- and they are doing wonderfully. you know, i couldn't be prouder of them. i will say that at least at the school they are at, they are getting a lot more homework than i did when i was that age. they seem to be working deep into the night, you know. i didn't study that hard until the night before an exam. >> well, tomorrow, on "today" we'll get governor romney's

perspective on the state of education in america. coming up next, "ask away today." matt enters our booth to grab your questions right after this. improve our schools... o ...what should we invest in? maybe new buildings? what about updated equipment? they can help, but recent research shows... ...nothing transforms schools like investing in advanced teacher education. let's build a strong foundation. let's invest in our teachers so they can inspire our students. let's solve this. in absolute perfect physical condition and i had a heart attack right out of the clear blue... i'm on an aspirin regimen... and i take bayer chewables. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. he's my success story. [ laughs ] natural dog food is the smart choice. let's look at the brand that proves it:

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it's instant points and endless rewards. at the corner of happy and healthy. [ female announcer ] some prescriptions are not eligible to earn points. restrictions apply. see website for details. back now at 7:50. we hope matt isn't claustrophobic. "ask away today." matt is in the machine grabbing questions. >> some of those questions are going places. >> not that one. >> all right. come on down. >> nice. >> i like those glasses. >> trade the safety goggles for my reading glasses here. >> all right. >> ask away. >> from our esteemed viewers, these questions. >> yeah. >> first one, this is for you, al. what were you like when you were a kid in. >> i was a nerd. i was -- i was on the a-v squad

in high school, got to thread the projector, do the film strips. i'm the kid that would sit on the stoop with my friends, who's faster, the flash or superman? >> who won back then? >> superman. >> okay. this one from twitter handle samanthaling, i think. if you could spend the day with or interview one living or past person, who would you pick? >> want to do that one, nat? >> a good miss america question. >> come right to me first. >> i'll just say george clooney, you know. everything george clooney, i like that. >> how deep. >> wow. >> savannah? >> that was natalie's question. >> next one. >> wow. >> do any of the hosts have a current or previous pet that they have loved like a member of their family. >> my dog now, absolutely. >> you just adopted a new dog. >> just got a rescue dog pepper. >> more about pepper coming up in the third hour.

>> savannah. >> yes. >> what is your weirdest craving? >> oh, well, weirdest craving. >> crackers and cheese, that kind of girl. >> crackers and cheese and peanut butter. peanut butter and i broke up in february. i would take one scoop, two or three and hi to break up with peanut butter. i don't know if it's weird. >> machine, the questions sometimes get stuck in your pockets in here. i don't know how that happens. >> this one also for you, savannah. can you lick your elbow? >> i've never tried. >> shall i try it? >> sure. >> be careful. >> let me back to you on that one. >> that guy back there wants to see. >> you know what they do -- >> since we didn't see matt "gangnam style" last friday, does he now how to do it? >> yes. >> we're waiting for the questions.

>> you know how to do it. let's go. >> some of these questions. >> there i did it. >> some of these questions were like advice columnists. how can i politely ask my mom to stay in a hotel during her visit. our house is too small and her criticizing is too much? >> change the locks. move. >> coming up, jimmy fallon and the stars of his new comedy creation. >> plus today's professionals after your local news and weather. ♪ keys, keys, keys, keys, keys. ♪ well, he's not very handsome ♪ to look at [ sighs ]

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the time is 7:56. good morning, everybody, i'm jon kelley. self-driving cars could soon find their way to streets around the bay area. governor jerry brown heading to google today to sign a new law legalizing a robot car bill. that law will allow companies to test self-driven cars out on public roads, so heads up. it will also require the dmv in california to come up with rules governing these type of cars. google right now pioneering the robot car technology at its headquarters in mountain view. that bill-signing ceremony will be there at 1:00 this afternoon. looks like a good day outside. christina loren for a nice little drive but i'm going to keep my hands on the steering wheel. >> highly advised, jon kelley. good morning to you. highly advised as well to dress for the summer although we are now in fall. it's going to feel very summer-like, almost hitting highs on par with late august. we have thick fog in gilroy. visibility is creeping up across the board. 11:00 expecting that marine

layer to push right back out to sea an completely clear conditions. stellar sunshine today in the city by the bay. everywhere across the bay area getting at least five hours of straight sun. 75 degrees today as a result in fremont, 81 in san jose and 79 in los gatos. you'll get out out in the extreme east bay. 90 in fairfield and 89 in livermore. temperatures keep on-ramping up all the way through the upcoming weekend. we'll maximum on saturday close to the century mark. 7:57, getting ready for work, here's mike. >> getting more sun than i'm getting sleep. that's crazy. roadways very slow south bay. 280, 880, 85, 87, all dragging on your northbound commute. it's traffic tuesday. very slow south 880 towards fremo fremont. the earlier jam on 24 has rippled back to there. concord very slow for 680 and west 80 very slow out of pinole. we'll end with this map and send it back to you. >> appreciate it. for the latest traffic and news updates, check us out on nbc fay

area facebook. we're back in a half hour with more. [ taste buds ] donuts, donuts, donuts!

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8:00 now on this tuesday morning. it's the 25th of september, 2012. we say hello and good morning to everyone gathered on the plaza on a beautiful fall morning. it is hard to believe. it says that christmas is just three months away. oh, and look. a little baby. al roker is here. who is this little child? >> this is sam mason, paul mason, one of our producers, came over to me and wouldn't go back to his dad. >> oh. >> hey, buddy. >> cute. ce.

>> oh. >> that's nice. a failed wave right off the bat. >> also ahead. today's professionals are in the house. one father has got a lot of people talking. he blogged that he has a favorite child, and then he went further and said, let's face it, if most parents are honest, they will admit that they also have a favorite child. so is it ever okay to admit that? we'll talk to the pros about that and some other subject. >> i've got a new favorite. right here. and we'll also take a look at fall fashions for women that flatter you, no matter what size. you are beautiful. >> this little baby is always in style. >> first a check of the news. natalie morales is over at the news desk. natalie, good morning again. >> good morning again. good morning, everyone. the frustration over replacement referees in the nfl is coming to a head after a controversial call ended last night's game. seattle's quarterback lobbed a hail mary pass towards the end zone, and it looks like green bay's jennings made a game-saving interception, but after much confusion among the refs the play was ruled a

touchdown, and seattle got the victory this. federal a weekend of outrage over bad calls and game delays. meantime, talks between the nfl and referees union remains at an impasse. iran test-fired four missiles today designed to hit warships in the strait of hormuz where the u.s. is currently holding naval maneuvers. meanwhile at the united nations today, president obama is vowing to prevent iran fro

a los angeles judge has ordered a review of singer chris brown's community service restraining orders it make sure he didn't violate his probation for the 2009 beating of his then girlfriend rihanna. oddly rihanna joined the team, tweeting her support, praying for you, baby. my best wishes are with you. the judge gave brown a pass on a failed marijuana test noting that he had a prescription for medical usage and that mandatory drug testing was not part of his sentence. well, this taxi cab fight on the streets of new york is going viral. it's not unusual to see rush hour disputes over who hailed it first, but rarely do they lead to this kind of scuffling. unbelievable. and viewers are flocking to this youtube video. about 80 sheep wandered into a sporting goods store in the austrian alps this weekend. apparently one sheep saw its reflection in a mirror and went inside while the others followed, like a bunch of sheep, and they left a mess big enough

apparently to get lawyers involved before a shepherd was then able to steer them back outside. a little bit confused there. 8:04 right now. let's go back outside to al with a check of your weather. >> yeah, i started counting them. >> oh, dear. >> anyway. hey, it's education nation week, and we happen to have four teachers. you guys say 100 years of experience. >> between the four of us. >> well, you know what? thank god for what you guys do. we appreciate that. >> thank you. >> if you're doing what you are doing, thank your teacher. thanks so much. let's see what we've got as far as your weather today. pick city of the day. huntington, west virginia. wsaz, news channel 3. afternoon showers. temperature about 71 degrees. you can see more wet weather down in florida. miami is at over 30 inches of rain above normal for this year so far. heavy thunderstorms now moving into the mid-mississippi river valley. slight risk of strong storms

there. beautiful day in new england. temperatures in the low 60s. 63 in caribou. 76 in los angeles today, and another spectacular day in seattle with sunshine and 67 degrees. that's what's going on around the country. . 8:05. taking a live look from high atop the mountain and the clouds over the city. they will burn over between 10:00 and 11:00. a warm day. 90 in fairfield. oakland at 77 degrees. 70 in san francisco. meanwhile, 81 in san jose. temperatures ramp up for the next couple of days. we max on saturday close to the century mark. and that's your latest weather. savannah? >> all right, al. thank you. coming up next, today's professionals on the nfl referee deb kashls and a father who admitted he does have a favorite child. we'll talk about that and more right after this. two years ago, the people of bp made a commitment to the gulf. and every day since,

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we're back new at 8:08 with "today's professionals." star jones, donny deutsch and nancy snyderman had here to weigh in on what's happening. >> good morning, matt. >> something that has a lot of people talking in new york city as part of a trial program. 13 new york city schools are offering the morning after contraceptive pill to young ladies as young as 14 without their parent's consent. as i say that, let's remember that schools have been offering condoms for years now. is this the next logical step? nancy? >> parents aren't going to like to hear this, but teenagers are having sex. there are somewhere between 7,000 to 9,000 unwanted pregnancies in new york. people want to be anti-abortion. if you're anti-abortion you should be anti-pregnancy, so you may give parents the wiggies but the reality is it's smashing public policy. >> without the parent's consent. >> donny? >> the parents can opt out. >> there's paperwork. >> you know, to me, this is not

in all the schools. one out of three kids, girls going into ninth grade have had sex already to. me if this stock option unwanted pregnancies, it's a no-brainer, fantastic idea. >> i have problem giving any medication to a child without a parent's specific permission. i know the school systems are not allowed to give out aspirins and tylenol without their parent's permission, so i'm questioning anything that could change the hormonal balance of a child. >> doesn't change the hormonal balance. >> nancy, it does change your hormonal balance. you're the doctor. it changes the balance of a person. >> for 48 hours. the downside is it's not an innocuous drug like you feel lousy for a day. fuel lousy for a couple of days. it is a medical -- >> you would want somebody to be able to do that to your kids. >> i would like to know that my 13-year-old is having sex. the reality is most 13, 14 and 15-year-old are not having conversations with their parent. get real. >> let's move on. as you may have heard, there's some replacement refs working in

the nfl these days. it didn't go so well at end of the seattle/packers game last night. back to sunday, the new england patriots playing the ravens. the game comes down to this field goal attempt on the final play. >> justin tucker for the win. whoa baby, just good, and the patriots are saying no! >> the replacement referees say the kick was good. patriots lose. first of all, you all saw the highlight, was the kick good? >> i didn't think so. >> i didn't think so. >> anything that makes the patriots lose, of course i agree with it. are you kidding me. >> was the kick good? >> it was good. >> wait a second, at the end of the game, after that kick, here we're seeing the kick again, judge for yourself, then i want to see you what bill belichick, the head coach of the patriots did right after that call. >> whoops. >> he grabs the referee. >> what penalty should bill belichick suffer as a result of that move? >> none! >> why? >> because even though i know

he's supposed to get fined, the reality is they have subpar officiating. >> that is getting on my nerves. that is getting on my nerves. you do not put your hands on the referee. that is a violation, period. you don't grab at another person, teach him such poor sportsmanship. >> you feel that because it was a bad call he had a right to put your hands on it. >> can i talk at all? >> a ref can't touch anybody. >> i'm deeply in shock. >> give the brother a hand here, okay. come on, al. >> i'm dying here. >> jimmy, stay here for a second. >> i'm going to say something blasphemous and the boys will come and throw me out of the boys club. so what, refs calling these things a disgrace, so what. we have some screwy refs missing game calls, teacher strikes. give me a break. people think this is the end of the world. >> there's millions and millions of dollars on the line.

not just a game. this is big business. >> so refs are blowing calls, great. i'm a huge football fan. i slept well. >> jimmy, if you let bill belichick get away without a major penalty, doesn't it open the door every time someone disagrees with the ref, they grab the ref? >> it's going to be a jerry springer show, people fighting each other. you shouldn't do that. >> thank you. >> he had a hormonal disruption. >> jimmy, stay still. >> a father getting a lot of attention. he went on his blog, and he blogged, he's a father of two, by the way. he admitted that he has a favorite child, and he went further and he said if parents are honest with themselves, they, too, will admit that they have a favorite child. is he right? >> no! >> but we all do. >> do you? >> no. >> first of all, for that parent to say that publicly, i mean, i hate to judge other parents. >> he should be pilloried. >> we love our children differently, relate to them

differently. you love them all the same. you don't have a favorite. >> you can't love them all the same. >> you love them deeply and you would die for them but you love them differently. >> three children. >> a favorite? >> some days, yes. >> big shock. >> i think you don't bring it up at all until you have a few drinks thanksgiving and you go mom always liked you better. >> my mother definitely liked my sister better than she liked me. but my parents -- would you wait. but my feelings aren't hurt because she liked talking to me more, so we do different things for her. >> you have one sister. do you think you were the favorite, or was your sister the favorite? >> by far the favorite. >> really? >> has tim pacted you. >> she's not here so i have to say that. she would say that i was the favorite. >> my sister would say that i'm the favorite, and she's right. >> let's be real. of course it happens, but you do not write about it.

you don't tell people. an internal thing that you hold because children go through different stages in your lives. you communicate with them different. sorry, guys, fess up. >> i have three kids, and i think it's all based on behavior and the title is still up for grabs on this. my decision at 18 years old. >> that's great. >> you've got to wait a little later. >> vote for which one of matt's kids is the best. >> here's the last one, okay? according to -- this is kind of a dubious honor has just been handed out by the people of "travel & leisure" magazine. they have come up with the dirtiest city in america. i'm talking dirty like based on grit, grime and muck, okay? what's technically the difference between dprim agrime muck? >> grime and muck. >> dirtiest city in america.

>> new york city. >> don't say new york. >> no, it's something else. no, no, no, i'm thinking grime and muck. >> denver, mud season. >> anything about the oil spill? >> no. >> boca raton. >> new york city, number one dirtiest city. >> i'll take it anytime, man. >> followed by new orleans. >> yeah. >> after that mardi gras. that's a tough cleanup. >> baltimore. >> b-more is in there. >> los angeles and number five, atlanta. come on, atlanta, can you do better next year. those are your five dirtiest cities. >> chicago not -- chicago's a great city. a plus for chicago. >> people throw things on the street or miss the things, do you pick it up? >> i watched a guy yesterday pour coffee into the mail container. watched him pour -- >> he almost was a garbage can. what's wrong with people? >> do you pick up -- do you call up somebody that doesn't pick up dog poop? >> you get shot in new york. what's wrong with you people. you all live in a different

place than i do. >> oh, my gosh. >> a couple of pieces of business, first of all, we want to know what you think. guys. >> what? >> first of all, it was a bad idea bringing you. you started it. seriously. >> we want to know what you think about if it's okay to say if you have a favorite child. should you ever admit it. go to the website on it, and we'll tell you the real reason jimmy fallon is here because he's got a brand new comedy out called "guys with kids." >> tonight. >> and we'll talk with jimmy and the stars of the show. oh, we have no more time of that. we're back right after this. buying this juicer online was unbelievable. what a bargain! [ female announcer ] sometimes a good deal turns out to be not such a good deal. but bounty gives you value you can see. in this lab demo, one sheet of bounty leaves this surface cleaner than two sheets of the leading ordinary brand. so you can clean this mess with half as many sheets.

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tables in the bathrooms? >> because this is a bar, and you're not supposed to have children here. >> you know, they have little fake i.d.s if that helps. >> hey, guys. >> hey. how was your date last night? >> oh, man, it was -- >> hey, hey, hey. you went on a date last night i? didn't know about this. >> actually, it was their fourth date. >> really? >> i guess that gary is your best friend now. >> there you go. >> jimmy is here along with the co-stars of the show, anthony anderson, zach cregger and jesse bradford. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> where's the baby slings? >> i don't know. sometimes you wear it because it feels good on their back. >> baby bjorn casual is the look. >> the reason we came up with this idea is because i think i see more guys carrying babies and embracing the role of dad in new york city, one of the filthiest cities in new york city. they are strapped to them, on the back of their bicycles, all over the place so i had this

idea. i said there should be a show called "guys with kids" and the opening shot should be them watching a game at the bar and when the knicks score they all have babies strapped to them. >> one thing that was really important to you was the theme song. >> yes. >> why does this matter? >> i miss the theme song. don't you love theme songs? >> i do actually. what was your favorite? >> so many. "greatest american hero," "cheers." >> "the love boat." ♪ what would you do baby, without us ♪ >> we didn't even plan that. >> oh, come on. >> waiting for it every week. >> come on. crank up the johnny mathis. let's do it. >> basically three guys. you guys all have babies. anthony, you're the only dad in real life. >> only dad, real life dad here. >> you bringing that experience to bear? >> i taught these two how not to hold babies. >> anthony likes to carry babies around by their ankles and wrist. i don't think you're supposed to. >> came on the show a couple of times, he is the best dad to his kid. met his kids, so cute, but you

embarrass them. >> like. >> you embarrass your children. >> there's a cheer that i do. i'm that dad at the game, and i guess i'll have to do it right here. >> oh, boy. >> we didn't practice this so when i say our team, dynamite. >> our time is what? >> dynamite. >> our team is what? >> dynamite. >> our team is tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, boom, dynamite. >> dad, don't come to the game anymore. don't come to the game anymore, dad. >> yeah, yeah, you're mortified. jesse, you are a single dad, right? >> yes. >> you're divorced. how is dating in the dad world for you? >> it's fantastic. >> come on. a lot of people think a baby is an attractive thing. >> it's a thing that a lot of people are going through, a relatable thing, and, you know, i -- that's all i have to say about it. >> yeah. >> a little wing man. >> and zach, you're the happily married dad of the bunch. >> yes. >> jimmy lynn sigler is your

wife? >> jamie-lynn sigler is my wife. >> good west, jamie-lynn sigler and tempestt bledsoe. have necessarya has grown up. >> it's like whistles. >> that's right. >> we could put a bunch of sweaters on. >> kids still in front of a live studio audience. >> you won an emmy the other night. >> very exciting. i freaked out. >> this is your fourth emmy. i guess there will be no living with you now. >> it's all gone to my head, yeah. actually -- first one for me. >> but the show, has gotten three others. >> this for me is like a -- i was getting ready to watch "saturday night live," and they do this emmy thing out in l.a. it's a creative emmy so i wasn't invited to that. didn't go to that. do the show from new york, so when i found out, watching "saturday night live," with my wife, and -- you're not my wife, but --

>> not anymore. >> not after the cheer. but then i started getting phone calls and e-mails and freaked out and talked to lorne at "saturday night live" and they work so hard over there. one of the best shows in the history of television. >> so "guys with kids," must-watch tv. >> wednesdays, tomorrow night at 8:30, wednesday night. >> world wide. >> it's a family show. watch it with your kids. >> the baby-sitting offers will pour in. >> make some money. >> jimmy, anthony, jesse, zach, thank you so much. >> thank you. >> stay tuned. fall fashions for wimp all sizes coming up after your local news. >> i'll stick for that.

good morning. 8:26. i'm laura garcia-cannon. parents at one elementary school in san mateo are upset after broadly rosak abducted a student and assaulted her. after the fourth grader escaped and ran back to school, police arrested rosak later that night after learning he was a suspect in two other san mateo incidents. mike. we have the commute in all spots. we are looking at the bay bridge toll plaza with the back up. the approach on the east shore freeway. look at the west 24 is jammed

up. early accidents have not been the case in the last half hour. we have a heavy volume of traffic. south 880 down through fremont and into the south bay and the south bay itself, 101 and 880 and 280 and 680 around the bend. all dragging into the 20s. back to you. busy morning. thank you, mike. for latest traffic and news updates, you can check out nbc bay area on facebook. another update in half an hour. i'll see you then. happiness located?

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we're back now at 8:30 on a tuesday morning. it's the 25th day of september, 2012, and it's another in a string of beautiful days here in new york city. let's keep our fingers crossed that it's nice where you're waking up as well. out on the plaza, some nice folks gathered. i'm matt lauer along with savannah guthrie, al roker and natalie morales, and coming up, we have got a tour of celebrity homes. everyone from an oscar winner, it a sports superstar, have put their homes on the market recently, and barbara corcoran is here to take us on a tour,

and some of these are a tad on the pricey side. >> not surprised. >> you think? >> exactly. >> not the under $250,000 price tag. >> no. >> this one is different. we'll talk fashion. do you want to wear the hottest trends but you don't have the body of a supermodel? well, we'll show you how you can wear some of the season's best looks in plus sizes. >> and turning something old into something new. schools all over the country are changing the way kids learn. so this is going to help them better prepare for their future careers. >> all right. and then a little bit later on. steals and deals. jill martin is back with deep discounts on everything from luggage to jewelry and more, oh, my. >> i like when she takes her suitcase out for a walk. >> let us get a check of the weather from mr. roker. >> all righty. see if it's good traveling weather for you. starting with today. up and down the east coast, going to be gorgeous. we do have a risk of strong storms in the mid-mississippi river valley.

beautiful in the northwest. tomorrow, expect to see some rain moving into the northeast with a few hit or miss thunderstorms. rain back into the central plains. beautiful, sunny, mild in the pacific northwest. hot from the southwest into texas. nice and warm down through the southeast. however, they are still going to have hit or miss thundershowers down in southern florida where they do not need the rain. meanwhile, we have the contrary. a heat up on the way. temperatures are going to continue to climb toward the century mark as we get closer to the weekend. today, not too shabby. sunol with the sunshine coming in. highs will be warm. 70s in san francisco. 88 in livermore. 90 degrees in fairfield. this is the coolest day of the next seven. we climb all the way through friday. don't forget. can you get that weather any time you need it it. go to the weather channel on cable or weather.com online, and

now let's check in with everybody's favorite uncle. uncle willy. >> good morning, in d.c., the beautiful national cathedral. happy birthday it our buddies. the bishop's garden in the background and you know that's the cathedral. take a will be at our birthday buddies. beautiful, florence clark of the bronx, new york, is 100 years old today. former active in the girl scouts and still works in community affairs. saul rice of pembroke pines, florida, is 100 years old today. loves all kinds of sporting events and was thrilled when his favorite team, the miami heat, did their thing. god love them. jennie depolo, from concord, new hampshire, really nice town. 108 years old today and a reader and gardener, how about that. and arthur grewe from bellview, iowa, is 104 years old today.

secret about longevity, exercising. loves to ride his bicycle all over town. lula gardner from tonasket, washington state. 106 years old today and enjoys watching wrestling on television. she'd like to watch the newsroom wrestle sometimes. they do it all the time for fun. good ole lewis steisguth of normandy beach, new jersey, 100 years old today. a volunteer emt, and at age 93 he saved a man's life with cpr. how about that. always have some good use. that's all. bright shining brightly on our d.c. home. back to new york. >> thank you very much. when we come back, hot fall fashions for women of all shapes and sizes, but first this is "today" on nbc.

back now at 8:36. this morning on "today's style," fall trends for plus-sized

women. want to wear the latest looks but don't know what brand to buy. nicolet mason is the writer for "marie claire" big girl in the skinny column. >> thanks for having me. >> you write this column every month. >> every month in "marie claire." >> what's the message? >> the message is having fashion for everyone. all women regardless of their size wanted the same fashion and trends, but maybe they don't know how to pull it off, so this is about telling women sizes 14 and up, which is most of america. >> and a lot of designers don't have those sizes. >> exactly. so many sizes cut it off at a size 12, and yet most american women are a 14 or higher, so this is telling those women there are options out there, and they look good. you don't have to be frumpy or wear oversized. you can look chic and amazing. >> and we have four looks this morning that really demonstrate that. our first fall trend is the military look. let's bring out our model vanessa. >> vanessa in this incredible sheath dress which is a

plus-sized brand from the limited. they just launched plus sizes last year, and it's $109. we have the leather look, a great full skirt. she's wearing sleeveless which a lot of women think they can't wear, but, in fact, i think this is much more flattering than having a short sleeve that cuts off awkwardly on the arm. >> is it good with the sleeveless to kind of have it in a little bit, like a halter. >> really cute. >> show a little bit of shoulder. >> and has a great real leather bag that's under $100. >> that's great. >> tell us about the shoes. >> the shoes are fabulous. they are inspired by a designer, a lot more expensive. these are $39.99 from show dazzle. love the price of that. >> vanessa, thank you very much. the next look is the metallic trend. >> calling it metallic. definitely sut. not in-your-face metallic and brocade. she's wearing a fantastic metallic pant. it's a bronze metallic pant from

elloqui, $80, great price point and runway trend. gold and silver versions and you can find that online and this is a skinny jean, transition from beaute color full denim from spring and summer and now she's doing it in metallic. >> got the skinny jean. important to wear a heel wearing a skinny jean? >> don't have to wear a heel. great ankle boots from lane bryant. and great if you're looking for a wide fit, but the key to wearing a skinny pant is wear a loser fitting top. tapered tight look on bottom, balance off the proportions a little, and we have this fabulous top. >> like how you have the belt, too. >> still shows her waist and shows her figure, but it's a little bit of a looser fit to balance out the pant. >> all right, diane, you look great. thank you. our next trend is the color purple. >> right. >> big color this season, right? >> it's huge. the way that we've seen the trends of tangerine and orange throughout the summer. this season it's purple. purple is the new black.

a fabulous shade and the great thing is there's a shade of purple flattering on every single skin tone. >> this is a great silhouette that julie has on right here. >> fantastic. >> is it because it kind of hits right below the knee. >> the length is fantastic, but what i love about this, this is especially fantastic on a more bottom-heavy girl, so we have julie. she has great hints, and what's fabulous about this dress is that it's tight in the bodice and loose and flowy and comfortable at her waist, and this is such a fantastic day to night piece where she can go to work and straight out afterwards. >> really pretty. julie, thank you. for the final trend, the peplum, a ruffle around the waist. >> exactly. >> see this everywhere. a lot of people feel i don't know if i can pull this off. >> intimidating to have a piece of fabric around your waist especially, but it's not adding volume, actually really creating a beautiful shape and this peplum top from h & m plus-size,

and it's a great trend. we have it pared with a fabulous leather pant from lane bryant, 59.95 and this blazer that just brings out everything. >> going to do the peplum like that, the skinny pent or pencil skirt or something. >> exactly. >> all balancing the proportions, more volume at top so we'll wear a tapered pant or pencil skirt. another great way to wear this look. >> all right. let's have all our models come out one more time so we can have a good look at you. thanks so much, nicolet mason. thanks so much for the great advice. the column is called "big girl in a skinny world." and you can find it in "marie claire." >> coming up, a look inside celebrity homes on the market, but

we're back now at 8:42 with today's real estate. this morning a peek inside some of the celebrity homes that are for sale right now across the country. barbara corcoran is today's real estate contributor. barbara, nice to see you. >> nice to see you, matt. >> some nice spreads here. again, these are a little pricey. let's start with a property owned by oscar-winning actress reese witherspoon. she's put her home in ohai, california on the market. before we get to the market. tell me about ohai, pretty spectacular. >> an hour northwest of l.a., but what's great about this area, no other celebrities there. she has total privacy. a lot of acreage, and she's away from the hustle and bustle and traffic that everybody hates in downtown l.a. >> do we know the price on this property? >> this is a big price tag. it is $10 million, a nice round number, easy to remember. it's a big country retreat. it was built in 1923, and what's great about this house is she has really left is as pretty as

she found it. she's put some improvements in, but it's a really nice working ranch. >> all right. and the highlights when you look at this, what do you like most? i like most the privacy, the land, the trees, and what's great about it, she has lots of pigs, animals, dogs, chickens on that ranch. >> do they come with the property? >> they come and nobody is going to complain. >> cool. let's move on to the east coast here. a miami home owned by new york yankees third baseman alex rodriguez t.carries a $38 million price tag. what does that buy? >> it buys everything it should, and it is worth it. i don't think i've seen a more spectacular home. it's a few blocks from where he used to play shortstop in high school. imagine being him and coming back and building this mansion right on the water with 275 feet of frontage, with two docks, and saying i did it. i mean this, guy must be living this dream. i can't believe he's even selling it. special amenities like a batting cage. nobody is going to want that, of course, but rip it out. what the heck.

>> turn it into a golf driving range. >> look at the views and look at the glass. that's hurricane-proof glass. no way a hurricane will take this house down. this is every guy's dream. >> he's only owned this house for two years, so he's flipping it kind of quickly. does that hurt the asking price? >> you know what it does, it makes people question the asking price. remember, on this house you get bragging rights that guess who lived here before i did? >> speaking of quick turnarounds. new york city-based couple sarah jessica parker and matthew broderick recently listed their greenwich village townhouse. they have never moved into it. >> no. >> but they kind of fixed it, sort of, and for that they want to be rewarded with a whole $5 million profit. so this house here is 25 feet wide and asking $25 million for. it remains to be seen what will happen with this house. beautiful. nothing you would want to change in this house, and it's on one of the best streets in greenwich village right off fifth avenue. >> people who live in townhouses either love them or they don't because you spend a lot of time

on the stairs. >> keeps you in shape. if you're a celebrity, people can find you, so most celebrities just don't ever buy a townhouse because it's too obvious where they live. >> kelsey grammer and his ex-wife camille grammer, put their former primary residence on the market. this one is in malibu, california. i think once you say the word malibu the price goes up. >> of course. think about this price. 17.9 million. why not call it 18 million. they are divorcing. this was their primary residence, and now this house has everything as well. more than anything what i like about this house is its location. it's surrounded by money taps. have you views of the pacific, and you have a nice easy nine bedrooms to keep your friends there. >> nine bedrooms. what's wrong with nine bedrooms. almost five acres of property. a wolfgang puck-designed kitchen. design that had kitchen himself that. demands a premium, okay, and you have a screening room that seats 12. i guess could you have friends, if you have 12 friends. >> one of those amenities that really brings the price up? screening room people want

those? >> expected in that part of the country. if you're rich you have a screening room. >> and if you have a screening room look at movies made by dreamworks animation ceo jeffrey catsburg, selling his park city utah, home. looks like a log cabin but a big one. >> oh, my gosh, more than a log cabin. like calling queen elizabeth a row boat or something. wait until you see the inside of this house. it's spectacular. first of all, it's 14,000 square feet big, and, remember, it's just a weekend retreat. every single thing in this house has been redone by jeffrey and his wife. they have put every single finishing in place themselves, and it's all included. all american west antiques, worth a lot of money, probably about as much as the house itself. >> so it's all furnished? >> all furnished. you walk into that house, it's your house including the blankets on that bed. what's wrong with that? an indoor swimming room, a spa, and most importantly in this part of the country, direct access to skiing, and who want want to sit on that terrace and look at the universe.

>> again, the price tag on that one is $20.5 million asking price. >> that's a lot of money. >> nice digs. barbara corcoran. thank you very much. appreciate it. still ahead, how to tell if your financial adviser is leading you down the wrong path. but first, this is "today" on nbc.

test. rehema ellis was

at the education nation summit at the new york public library. rehema, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, savannah. we went to massachusetts to visit a school that's redefining itself to meet students' needs, turning something old into something new. 14-year-old damien negron is a high school sophomore in massachusetts, learning all about autobody repair. >> i'm making new threads for the seat, and i just undercoated the body of the car. >> reporter: at first glance the classes such as welding, carpentry and engineering look like traditional vocational training, but this is not your grandfather's trade school. damien says working on cars is just part of his preparation to become a pilot.

>> i'm learning and getting technical skills and doing stuff like that. >> reporter: worcester technical high has combined the best 21st century vocational education with advanced college prep courses, from statistics to biotechnology women pressive results. once considered the lowest performing high school in the city, today the school has a 96% graduation rate. math proficiency has soared from 4% to 74%, and 77% of students go on to college. >> they have specific skill sets that industries are looking for, but they also have the transcripts so they can apply to a two-year school or four-year school and continue their education. >> reporter: the school also credits a longtime supporter for its turnaround. businessman ted coughlin. he's raised millions of private dollars for this public school, convincing numerous companies that these kids are worth the investment. >> we couldn't do it without the business community and the

financial wherewithal that's needed to assist with some of the major materials here. >> reporter: at this $90 million school, more than half of the 1,400 students here at worcester technical high are female, all heavily invested in the state of the art program and helping to change the perception of what it means to go to a trade school. ♪ girls, girls, won the world >> why not go to high school and learn something out of the trade instead of doing something people don't think girls would normally do. >> reporter: architecture and printing and even a vet center where students are supervised with doctors of tufts university school of veterinary medicine. >> we get to inact with clients and give the animals vaccines and work with the veterinarian and knowing coming to school,

other people might just be in class and i'm doing this, pretty much like a job. it's awesome and a job that i love, it's awesome. >> this place definitely brings back memories. >> reporter: worcester tech grad a anthony duchimo finished college this year making more money than ever imagined. >> working with the cutting-edge technology, computer-based simulations and algorithms out there. >> reporter: anthony gives a lot of credit to what happened in here, worcester technical high, a school giving kids a competitive edge. nationwide, more than 14 million students are enrolled in schools similar to worcester tech. heard a lot of great examples about schools that are working here during the summit, and it's all part of our continuing education nation coverage online. savannah. >> all right. rehema ellis, thank you. if you want to find more on this story, head to educationnation.com/casestudies, and tomorrow we'll get governor romney's thoughts on our nation's schools. >> we did a little "ask away

today." asking questions sent in by viewers. a few more questions here that i just want to get to because we don't want to let these go to waste. here's a good one. al, why don't you take this. if the "today" show were to be moved to another city in the u.s. away from new york, where would you want to do the show every morning? >> chicago. >> why? >> i just love chicago. >> i do, too. >> fun. >> great town. >> chi-town. >> new orleans, bignets. >> matt, who has the biggest boston et, you or your wife? >> signed your wife. >> not even close. >> oh, please. >> i have a big closet. >> wow. and natalie, how do you stay so fit? >> a lot of running, a lot of cycling, swimming, you name it. >> savannah. >> working out. >> savannah, how come you fall down so much? >> why do you always have bruises on your knees? >> hey, wait a minute that. wasn't one of the questions. >> no, it was. i pencilled it in. >> we have more "ask away"

tomorrow. back in a few minutes after your local news and your weather forecast. good morning. 8:56. i'm laura garcia-cannon. a san jose man will be in court today accused of slowly poisoning his girlfriend. police say 67-year-old robert lockbridge repeatedly brought her bottled water containing chlorine. nurses became suspicious and tested the water themselves before calling police.

let's check the forecast right now with meteorologist christina loren. how are we looking? >> good morning. temperatures are going to be cooler than the rest of the week. it will be hotter than average for this time of year. an indication of what's to come. up to 97 degrees by saturday. keep the summer wardrobe handy. good morning! wow.

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we're back now wit we're back now with more today tuesday morning, the 25th of september, 2012. this is the time of year around here in new york it starts off nice and cool and warms up beautifully for these nice people out on the plaza. we're in the low 70s here today, which is always nice under brilliant sunshine. >> you're pretty good at the weather forecast. >> i learned from the best, by osmosis. >> we have little classes after the show. you should stop by. >> yesterday was pointing this way. tomorrow it's pointing this way. i'm matt lauer with al roker and savannah guthrie. we'll have you spending money and saving money at the same time. jill martin with steals and deals segment.

up to 80% on everything from luggage to jewelry. we'll check in with jill in a few minutes. this is exclusively for our viewers. >> this is like my wife's economics. i saved so much. how much did you save you bought everything. >> screaming deals. how do you like the sound of this, snooki's law. a state legislator want to amend laws. >> so they have more say what shows come and film. >> and hiring more police as may be the need in some cases. we'll talk about that at the top of the hour. also talk about this super model in italy who walked the runway. she's six months pregnant and it's kind of stirring up a little bit of controversy. there she is. we'll talk about that. >> today -- somebody just said she looks good. >> we should all look so good. >> yeah, little miss grumpy pants, you look okay. every dollar counts these

days a bad investment can wipe you out. five tips for avoiding bad economic advice and more importantly, choosing the right economic adviser. >> taking a tip from al's class yesterday, let's go inside to natalie at the news desk. >> thank you, matt, savannah, and al. the nfl is set to address a hotly contested call by a replacement referee that has caused outrage. replays and to show the pass was intercepted. after a lengthy view the officials upheld the game time call. talks between nfl and referee's union remain at an impasse. campaign trail leads to new york city today as commander in chief addresses united nations general sassembly and both candidates address the meeting. presidential candidate mitt romney drops by education nation summit. that's where peter alexander is this morning. peter, good morning.

>> reporter: natalie, good morning to you. at the united nations today president obama will confront unrest in the middle east, in the muslim world specifically, warning about what he would call forces that would drive us apart. the differences between the two candidates on foreign policy are now taking center stage. in the must win battleground of colorado, mitt romney previewed his foreign policy argument against the president. >> he said the developments in the middle east are bumps in the road. yeah, that was my reaction. bumps in the road? we had an ambassador assassinated. these are not bumps in the road. these are human lives. >> the white house called that assault desperate and offensive. romney was attacking the president's comments on "60 minutes" describing recent unrest in the middle east. >> i was pretty certain and continue to be pretty certain there are going to be bumps in the road.

because in a lot of these places, one organizing principle has been islam. >> reporter: romney criticized the president's remarks in more detail. >> includes a muslim brotherhood individual becoming president of egypt, syria in tumult, iran on the cusp of nuclear capability, it includes pakistan being in commotion. there are extraordinary events going on in the middle east. considering those events, either one of them or all of them collectively as bumps in the road shows a person that has a very different perspective about world affairs than the perspective i have. >> reporter: ahead of his speech at the united nations general assembly today, president obama shared a private dinner with heads of state monday. republicans have seized on the fact the president hasn't scheduled a single one-on-one meeting with any world leaders here. but on monday white house spokesman jay carney pushed back. >> he's intensively engaged, as he has been since he took the oath of office, in matters of foreign affairs and national security. >> reporter: while most polls

show romney trailing in california swing states including ohio where he was behind by five points and kicking off a bus tour today, romney told nbc news he remains confident. >> look, we're going to win. there's no question in my mind. we're going to win. polls go up, polls go down. there's some weeks i'm ahead, some weeks i'm behind. >> reporter: as for the president he's not ceding any ground. during a conversation by the first lady president obama hinted at a return to teaching after politics. >> first things first here. we do have an election ahead. the idea of being able to go around in various cities and helping to creatementorships and apprenticeships and giving young people the sense of possibility prosecutor as we noted a little later this afternoon, mitt romney will head to that critical battleground of ohio where he will campaign alongside his running mate paul ryan. natalie, the two of them haven't

been together since september 1st. >> peter alexander outside the new york library. thanks so much. the food company behind a peanut butter recall at trader joe's has recalled 76 kinds of peanut and almond butter sold under a variety of names. sunland incorporated said the butters were manufactured with the same equipment as the trader joe's product suspected in a salmonella outbreak. >> could the pork apocalypse be eminent. a pork shortage is now unavoidable. the reason this summer's drought drove up prices for animal feed and as a result farmers thinned out their pig heard. ham it up while you can. snooki could find her name in the books, the law books. a state politician wants to pass a snooki law that would allow

local cities to set laws. we'll talk about all of this coming up in our take three today. it is now six minutes after the hour. let's go back to al with a check of the weather. >> extra police could arm the borders and make sure people like that don't get in. let's see what we've got as far as your weather today. we've got a big weather system coming in to the midwest, mid mississippi river valley. you can see heavy showers and thunderstorms firing up already. we have a risk of strong storms as cooler air slides in from the north. warm air moves from the south. in between that's where the risk of strong storms are from missouri all the way into southern indiana. one to three inches, some areas good morning. 9:07. we have some deceiving fog on the golden gate bridge bridge. some drizzle coming down as well. let's take you above the clouds. look how clear it is. it will take another hour or hour and a half before the fog burns off. a lot of sunshine in the city by the bay today.

7 0 degrees in san francisco. 72 in san jose. the heat is on through the week. time now for today's "take 3" where al, natalie and i give our take on stories in the news and sitting in today, a guy who is so shy, that i hope we'll be able to draw him out. donny deutsch. >> here for help. this is a therapy session for you guys to pull it out. >> it is. >> speaking of which, we had a very heated "today's professionals." a dad who blogged he has two sons and clearly he admits he has a favorite, and according to a child psychologist, 95% of people are favorite and the other 5 are lying. let's throw it out there as parents. mr. roker. >> can i talk for one second because we asked our viewers what they thought. 85% of our viewers said they would never admit to having a favorite child. >> does it mean they have a favorite?

>> al. >> here's the deal. you love your children. would you do anything for them. i think on any given day you have a give and take with your child, with your different children, but you still love them. i don't think you love one more than the other. one isn't more your favorite than the other. just some days, look, some days courtney is, you know, up at the day and another day laila is. >> so like the stock market. >> wow. >> what's the premise -- i think, by the way, the same thing happens -- >> i was an only child because i'm scarred for life in the belief that my parents had favorites. >> wow. >> i think definitely growing up i think you always feel like they don't love me equally, right? and so i would hate to to pass that on to my children. >> there's my older sister patricia. always patricia, patricia, patricia. >> i'd like to speak out for my mom right now. >> i have a brother and sister, sister and i were really close in age. my mom was so conscientious.

she bent over backwards to make it clear she had no favorites, if i got a lollipop, my sister got a lollipop and whatever it was, she worked hard tat so much so that both of us grew up knowing that they loved us equally. >> the point, the blogger was making, is that -- with his son that he was saying he's favored, now able to play ball with him, maybe at a different age, and i think there's certainly something to be said, you're more relating to that child. >> it's human relationships. >> right, exactly. >> i love all three girls the same, maybe one that's funnier and crazy we relate better. any parent that publicly says that. >> to write about it because your child is going to live with that and read it. >> let's sign up for therapy sessions. >> definitely. let's move on. have you seen this fashion model strutting the runway in milan six months pregnant. i think she looks spectacular. >> i don't like that -- not that bikini. >> the other one, i don't think it's a cute bikini, but she

looks amazing. >> by the way, you see women on the beach pregnant. >> i guess the question that people are saying is it empowerment, or is it more of a publicity stunt? >> yes, yes. >> by the way, how many magazine covers do we have to see before we stop being shocked that women are pregnant. i personally as a guy, not just saying this like a nice guy with women, i think pregnant women are so sexy. >> so beautiful. >> i think it's one of the sexiest times for women. >> donny, are you trying to get a date? >> not with a pregnant woman. >> let's agree on one thing. one problem donny deutsch doesn't have is getting a date. >> set the record straight. >> i really do. i really do, because you guys have sullied my reputation on this show. >> wow. >> and you kind of painted me in this position that every time i try to go out with a girl, we hear you're a player, where everybody knows i'm not, but it's this show, that's matt lauer. all the time. >> he speaks the truth.

>> poor dony. >> just kidding. donny, you're a dreamboat. >> next topic. did you guys hered about the snookiville law. a new jersey state legislator who is offering legislation to give municipalities more say over what happens in their borders when a reality tv show moves into town, including, i guess in the case of "jersey shore," hiring more police. >> yes. >> so that -- we need protection. >> police with other things to do aren't burdened by the extra work. what do you think? >> first of all, these towns -- you have to file permits. there are certain things you have to do, certain bonds you have to put up when you come into a town to film these shows. >> our town said no to snooki and jwoww when they wanted to bring the hoe to hockey ken. >> cities and towns take out ad campaigns to try to get film companies to come and film because of all the tax breaks they get. it's a revenue stream, so i found this very, very strange. there's a reason that we let

people film in new york city. it's good for the city from a revenue point of view. >> they do have to hire a lot of extra people on hand. my town also has "the cake boss," carlos' bakery, the line stretches around the block every day. >> buddy valestro is good for business. >> good for business and good for the town but you want to keep order and peace. >> maybe more appearances than supermodels, this cat, take a look at cat we've got. bonus take. feels very strongly how her owner wears these glasses. >> oh. . >> take them off. >> the cat's making a spectacle of herself. >> that's cute. >> she really does not like the glasses. >> i think you should try that for the "today" show, three hours of youtube pet videos. side by side. >> one more video here of this cute little rescue pooch who just discovered that her -- her chew toy makes a squeaky noise.

that just happens to be my dog. not any rescue pooch. >> you just rescued her from shelter. >> mainline animal rescue down in pennsylvania, and -- >> how did you pick the name pepper? >> because she's kind of pepperish looking, really salt and pepper, but that was too much. >> her full name is salt and pepper. >> okay. >> al is going to be taking youtube videos day and night. >> look at that face. look at that face. >> fantastic. >> donny deutsch, thanks for hanging out. >> a daddy again. >> congratulations. >> my new favorite child. >> who what is this, a banquette. >> a window seat. >> a library. coming up next, deep discounts on everything from clothes to jewelry on "steals and deals." jill's coming up right after this. -[ taste buds ] donuts, donuts! -who are these guys?

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[ female announcer ] we've added a touch of philadelphia cream cheese to our kraft natural cheese to make it creamier so whatever you make isn't just good, it's amazing. ♪ ...is amazing with the love that i found ♪ ♪ this morning on jill's steals and deals, some items 80% off for yourself or to give at gifts. "us weekly" jill martin's is here to take us through the offers. good morning. >> good morning. >> remind us about the process and how is shipping usually included. >> go on to today.com right now. a lot of these items will sell out instantly, so if you want them, really go on now. they will ship within two weeks. >> okay. >> but if you order after they are sold out, it might take a little longer, so just go on and check it out. >> just be clear with the shipping costs and everything. >> first up, the beautiful

scarves from noma, all the beautiful colors. >> $120, hand-dyed peshmina gauze. >> pretty. >> i just knocked them over. >> all eco-friendly dyes, done in l.a., and there are six different color waves. they retail $125. the deal $23. 82% off. >> good deal. >> that is perfect. >> okay. now i love these. these jewelry boxes from j.w. london. >> these will fly. retail at $250. cracked leather, exterior fashioned after a vintage train case. see how pretty these are, and there's a mini travel box inside. the second shelf actually folds up, and then can you take it with you which is great. >> great. >> so the retail -- >> i like how everybody goes $ooh. retails $250 and the deal is 68. >> genuine leather.

these necklaces have unusual messages on them. tell me about that. >> this is really cool and techie. i feel like al is going to get this for his wife, right up his alley. retail from 160 to 195. front of the pendant, take your smartphone, and there's an app and you scan it and there's a message on it. mine says the sky's the limit and on the back it says inspire. a beautiful gift. a little different. the gifty has to have a smartphone when you get it. >> silver or gold-filled, all manufactured in the u.s. two finishes. retail 160-195. the deal 39.99. up to 80% off. >> great. like getting coded message, i like it. okay, next. these great towels from nestin. >> fall, retail for $69, and this is the company's signature world traveler bathroom towel set. you get a wash towel, a hand towel, a bath towel, available in eight colors.

they retail $69. the deal $21. >> beautiful. >> and super soft. what are they made of? >> yeah, and can you feel it. so they are made of bamboo. >> no wonder they are so soft. >> over here luggage from travel pro. >> ready to go on a trip for me? >> these did very well last time. retail $300 to $400. four styles. the 22-inch to take on the plane, and the 24-inch, the 26 inch and 28 inch expand al roller board suiters. nilon, available in black or moss. you see the two colors. stain and abrasion repellant. retail $300 to $4 up. the deal is $69 to $89, up to 78% off. >> fantastic. >> now we just need a trip. >> let's plan one. that's next. >> jill martin, thank you. and, again, let's review our products. we have the scarves from noma, the jewelry boxes from j.w.

london, the necklaces from miriam merenfeld, towels from nestin and luggage from travel pro. if you have questions about the products, head to our website today.com and steals and deals. coming up, the hottest headlines when it comes to your health, but first, these messages. let's say you want to get ahead in your career. how do you get from here... to here? at university of phoenix we're moving career planning forward so you can start figuring that out sooner. in fact, by thinking about where you want your education to lead, while you're still in school, you might find the best route leads somewhere you weren't even looking. let's get to work. oh, it's so good! if this image robbed you of the great taste of untopped triscuit... goat cheese? come on! this is america! ...sorry. [ male announcer ] 100% whole grain

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♪ i woke up to a feeling ♪ every little thing has meaning ♪ ♪ i woke up to a light bulb on ♪ every little thing is possible now ♪ [ female announcer ] we've added a touch of philadelphia cream cheese to our kraft natural cheese to make it creamier so whatever you make isn't just good, it's amazing. ♪ ...is amazing with the love that i found ♪ ♪ on their own are amazing, but press out some biscuit dough, add some sauce and some pepperoni and cheese and monday's dinner is now a grands mini pizza party. pillsbury grands biscuits. let the making begin.

good morning. 9:26. i'm laura garcia-cannon. uc berkeley police want your help. they say kody alan smith pretended to sell magazines to women hours apart. neither woman was hurt. police say kody alan smith is 24 years old and 5'11" tall and has blue eyes and short hair. investigators say he has two accomplices. the giants are trying to make it easier for you to get tickets to the post season. fans must register by noon for a chance to purchase post-season

tickets. the giants say this was the only fair way to distribute tickets to as many fans as possible. to register, go to sfgiants.com/opportunity. we will have a look at the weather and traffic after the break.

welcome back. 9:28. still dealing with a lot of fog in san francisco. you can see the marine layer is thinning out quickly. you can make out the bay bridge in the distance. this is what it will look like in the city by the bay. an hour and a half away from clear skies. temperatures will be warm. 87 in concord. 70 in san francisco today. temperatures get hotter as we head through the week and up into the weekend where we peak on saturday at 97 degrees. the first week of fall could be the hottest weeks of 2012. how do you like that, mike? it is the bay area weather.

we have a slow drive for 280. coming to the left, look at the map. all of this red on the maps down the middle. 17 is clear. 880 is quite the contrary. 85 also slow from 280 to sunnyvale. we have more problems for 101. the volume of traffic. fremont is smoothly. slower southbound as you pass the truck scales. bay bridge with the back up over here. the back up at the toll plaza extending to the curve and 680 with an accident causing slow downs. laura. another update in half an hour.

♪ part of me that's you're never going to take away me ♪ ♪ this is a part of me ♪ that you're never going ever take away from me ♪ >> well, you might call her a one-woman costume party. her name is jessica mooney or dressy jesse. she likes to call herself, and she dresses up as a different character every different day of the week to fit in with her weekly themes. this has been going on for more than three years. she has more than 800 pictures, and we will talk to her tomorrow about her whimsical project. only on "today." wow. >> she's got a lot of time on her hands. >> goodness gracious. a great time for t.halloween. >> wow. >> good morning, everyone. i'm savannah guthrie alongside

al roker and natalie morales. coming up, a new segment called joy's healthy bite. >> joy bauer will chew over the latest knew industries and health news from yogurt's impact on blood pressure to celebrities celebrating their curves. she's got the scoop. >> all right. then we all know about the ponzi scheme pulled off by bernie madoff, and the scams actually happen quite a bit on a smaller scale all the time. so how can you protect your nest eggs from bad advice and advisers? we'll have five tips to protect your money. then in today's kitchen, finger foods for your next get-together, plus a bit of an italian flair. >> is popcorn italian? >> apparently it is. >> it's how you season it. >> look at that. >> the old-fashioned way. >> i like popcorn that way. >> remember jiffy pop? >> yeah, nothing better, on the little silver thing. >> all pop up, delicious. >> i bet you it's going to be better than jiffy pop though. >> i think so. >> let's get a check of the weather. >> here's what we've got for you

for today. gorgeous day along the east coast with a high pressure dominating. risk of strong storms though in the mid-mississippi river valley. wet weather stretches into the ohio river valley and out west gorgeous weather. then for tomorrow that rain stretches from new england, the northeast, all the way back into the central plains, sunny and warm from the southwest into the pacific northwest, and nice and warm through the southeast and the southern part of florida is continually getting rain. more of it tomorrow. right now they have -- they are about 31 inches above inial for the year in miami. that we have a heat wave. we're well in it now. i'm meteorologist christina loren. lots of sunshine anticipated over the bay area today. as a result, high temperatures are warmer than average. 72 in santa cruz. 89 in livermore. 97 degrees for the weekend. we max out on saturday.

and that's your latest weather. >> coming up next, nutrition news you can use, right after this. you won't run into kenmore appliances just anywhere. only sears is celebrating the 100th anniversary of america's number one appliance brand, with up to 25% off all kenmore appliances, plus an extra 15% off all appliance brands with your sears card. this is worth running into. this is sears. oh, it's so good! if this image robbed you of the great taste of untopped triscuit... goat cheese? come on! this is america! ...sorry. [ male announcer ] 100% whole grain woven for an untoppable taste. [ crunch ]

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trends and the next big super food. >> the latest and greatest from the health world. >> that's right. now we've got the latest development and the benefits to eating yogurt. >> right. this is particularly important because 76 million american adults currently have high blood pressure, and last week the american heart association at their blood pressure conference presented this research showing that people who regularly eat yogurt, and regularly, al, is only defined as eating it two to three times per week, were able to significantly reduce the risk for them getting high blood pressure. >> is there a certain kind of yogurt? >> well, you have to be really careful on what yogurt you pick. don't want to pick one that's riddled with the wrong type of fat and sugar, so in the ideal world what you're going to pick is a plain non-fat or low-fat yogurt, any brand, and then you're going to doctor it up yourself with the option of one teaspoon of either sugar, maple syrup, honey, even agave works and add on chopped fruit, even

better, but if you want to buy the flares already mixed in for you, the ones on the market that come in strawberry and blueberry and passion fruit, check the label and just make sure the brand has no more than 20 grams of sugar per serving, and most of the non-fat and 2% low-fat greek yogurts fit the bill. >> greek yogurt is so hot. >> so hot and a lot of protein. we don't know if the blood pressure benefit comes from the calcium or milk proteins, we just know that it's there so for people who like yogurt, carry on. >> this weekend i grilled some figs and put it over greek yogurt and a drizzle of honey. >> call me, al. >> another hot food right now, avocado. i remember as a kid my mother making avocado with a little tuna fish in the middle of it, but it's a big hot food right now. >> it's a big hot food. a really fun article in the "wall street journal" a couple of days ago, and it showed that in 2011 avocado sales spiked by 11%. >> why? >> but this year we have just in

the first half of the year, it's more than 30%, and i think it's a combination. first is that thankfully people are embracing fat. we know that all fat is not evil, and the type of fat in avocados is unsaturated fat so it's really healthy for your heart. it drives down cholesterol levels, but also a lot of national chains like paneras and subway and au bon pain, adding sliced avocados to sandwiches. a lot of people not normally buying avocado are tasting them and falling in love with their creamy deliciousness. >> when you get that kind of demand, will that affect the price at all, do you think? >> i'm going to say i hope not. i really hope not, and i love what you do, because you really can take two tablespoons, mash it up and use it as a healthy alternative to mayo. fortuna salad, for chicken salad, salmon salad, even as a sandwich spread and, of course, guacamole. love guacamole. >> the next headline, interesting. partnership to give people some

financial incentives to be healthier, so tell us about this one. >> this is awesome, and i hope a lot of insurance companies are listening and they follow suit. humana has teamed up with walmart, and what they are doing is offering 1 million wellness members 5% off all healthy food that's offered at walmart. >> wow. >> so walmart has more than 1,000 items, and they have stamped an icon called great for you right on the products. it's the usual suspects. fruits and vegetables, low-fat dairy, protein foods, and starting october 15th, humana members are going to be able to buy them with a 5% discount. could you imagine if other insurance companies, are you listening? >> subsidizing. >> yeah. >> terrific. >> gym memberships and fitness equipment. >> and really quickly, celebrity world, lady gaga. >> right. so everyone has seen the picture of her with the 25 pounds on all over the media, and i'm not here to talk about her weight gain.

i want to talk about her weight loss. she's committed, and i calculated that she burns about 800 calories with each and every performance, so she's on a world tour right now. al, you and i are going to forecast that before thanksgiving, she is going to be back to her tip top shape. she doesn't have to give up pizza and pasta. she can get thin crust, light on the cheese, pile on the vegetables and enjoy pizza, and with pasta, just order it with double the amounts of vegetables in it, you poof up the volume, drive down the carbohydrates, the calories are fine. she's going to be back. >> what's terrific is she's just admitting it and not, you know, going hog wild about i should lose this weight. >> she's out there. >> good for her. >> and hopefully she will inspire other people who are struggling with 20, 30 pounds to knock it off with her. >> and instead of wearing a meat suit, she will wear a vegetable suit. >> i love that. >> veggie suit. >> we'll ask her. >> thanks so much. coming up next, how to avoid getting taken for a ride by a financial adviser, right after

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stop by walmart this saturday. wireless. take a one-minute demo of our new lg optimus zip. for every demo we'll donate one dollar to make-a-wish. up to one million dollars. visit one-minute-one-million-dot-com to find a participating walmart near you. oh, it's so good! if this image robbed you of the great taste of untopped triscuit... goat cheese? come on! this is america! ...sorry. [ male announcer ] 100% whole grain woven for an untoppable taste. [ crunch ]

this single scoop of gain gives more freshness than a whole box of this other stuff... and that much freshness is gonna take some getting used to... [ sniffing ] ahh. mmm! [ male announcer ] 'cause it's a lot... ok...it's a lot of freshness. [ sniffing ] get irresistibly fresh with gain. get even more gain at a new lower price! this morning on "today's money," one of the biggest threats it your financial security is bad advice on investments. cnbc personal finance correspondent sharon epperson has important tips on making the right choice. good morning to you, sharon. >> good morning, natalie. >> so this is a really tough thing to talk about because a lot of people learned the hard way with bernard madoff, but financial advisers taking advantage or scamming their customers. how big a problem is this?

>> it actually is quite a big problem. the cfp bore, the non-profit organization that certifies financial planners, said over half of their planners, people coming to them, particularly older americans, have been victims of some form of financial abuse, either because of the advice that they were given or the investments that they made, and so now they are in another situation on round two or three trying to rectify the situation. >> all right. so let's get to some important advice so they don't become a victim. you say the first thing is you want to hire a financial adviser, be sure to check them out thoroughly. do your home ork. >> one of the basic things, ask and check. want to know what their employment history is like, if they have had disciplinary action taken against them, are they certified, registered financial planners, and places to go to check, if it's a broker or someone selling you investments, go to finra.org, for the broker check. want to feigned out about your financial adviser and all of

these things as well, go to the s.e.c.gov, security and exchange commission and adviserinfosec.gov and cfp net is a place to go to see if they are a certified financial planner. >> there's always a level of risk so it's good to get investment pros and cons and know what level of risk you're willing to take. >> absolutely right. one of the things when checking them out, know how they are compensated and what fees are involved, and also want to know what fees are involved with the investments that they are suggesting and what the pros and cons are of various investments. if they are telling you about a particular investment and only telling you the upside, the potential would turn that it make not how much it costs you in terms of fees or the downside, probably not an investment you want to make, at least not right away. definitely get a second opinion. >> important to create a paper trail. be aware of all your paperwork and payments. document everything you do. >> this is critical, and so many people don't do this. you're working with a financial

adviser. that's great, but the actual statements that you get about your investments probably should not have that adviser's first name and last name and letterhead on them. they should come from securities firm or a brokerage firm where those investments are held. you also want to make sure that any paperwork that you do does not have blanks on it, and if it does, if you sign something and you're waiting for a signature on the other side, then you want to make sure that the paperwork that you receive back says submitted on it that you have everything there filled out. when you make a check out, don't make it out in the adviser's name. make it out to the firm or to a brokerage firm. you're not making it out to the person directly. you don't want them to have control over all your money. >> right. full access to your account. >> exactly. >> also, most people who are seeking financial advice usually are doing so because they have experienced some life-changing moment, unfortunately, which could affect their pockets, so you say avoid making hasty decisions. >> it can be -- >> be careful. >> it could be a great thing, too. just had a baby, and now you're like now i'm going to get my financial life in order and will

put all my money into a college savings plan. have you saved enough for retirement. you want to make sure you don't do or make hasty decisions if you just got divorced or a death in the family or something like that. make sure you take the time and also take the time to find out what the charges and fees are involved, you know, as you wait to make these decisions. >> and the last point, a good one, designate a financial power of attorney for your finances the same way that you have a power of attorney over your health. >> exactly. if you become incapacitated, there's a way that you're unable to make financial decisions for yourself, you want to have a friend, a relative, someone that you trust who is your financial power of attorney to make these decisions for you, another gut check on the financial adviser that you may be working with so that they again do not have full reign over all of your finances, that someone is stepping in to make sure it is right and find a financial power of attorney, get the documented done with answer tate planning attorney. >> sharon epperson, great advice as always. thanks so much, and there's more information, by the way, on our website at today.com.

coming up next, italian-inspired finger food, but first, this is "today" on nbc. [ male announcer ] if you're ready to get more from your tv service, now's a great time to get at&t u-verse tv. make the switch! [ megan ] call now to get at&t u-verse tv for only 29 a month for six months -- with a total home dvr included free for life. plus add hbo and cinemax and get the first three months free. [ male announcer ] with u-verse tv, you can record four shows at once with a total home dvr that lets you play back, pause or rewind your shows

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good morning. in today's kitchen finger food on the menu. >> hey, it's football season. great time to impress your family and friends with small plates that pack big flavor. chef mike isabella is the author of "crazy good italian." good to see you. >> thank you, thank you. tailgating type of foods, don't think italian. >> you don't. think more american, simple. do things like wings, burger and dogs and things like that. >> you'll show us how to make it a little italian style. >> today we're making some roasted chicken rings with pepperoni sauce. >> pepperoni sauce. >> you really don't think pepperoni, think of eating it just like this. >> sure. >> or like that. >> so what we're going to do, onions and garlic sweating in here. throw that pepperoni in. throw that right in here. >> how much is this? >> that's about, you know, a little less than a quarter of a

pound. >> want to sweat it a little bit, let it come down. let all the flavors come out. there's a lot of fats inside of -- >> really. >> inside of pepperoni. >> i did not know that. >> so that's kind of sweating down. i have some fennel seed and a little bit of chili flake that i'll toast up now. those are two main spices that are inside pepperoni. so when i make a sauce, don't want to dilute it so i have a little spice. >> pop it up a little. >> toast that up and throw it in here and toss that tomato sauce in here. >> all righty. >> and then a little bit of chicken broth. >> all of it? >> put it all in there. we'll threat cook, and this is going to cook for about 45 minutes, let it simmer until it gets nice and -- the pepperoni gets soft and loosened up, and then we're going to puree that sauce up a little bit. >> put it in a food processor. >> right in a blender. put in right in a blender, let it go for a couple of minutes.

chicken wings, cleaned them up, tips off and the wings and we're basically going to marin ate these. throw that rosemary, lemon and garlic in here. >> mm-hmm. >> how long do you let this marin ate here? >> back into the refrigerator for about two and a half hours. you want to kind of threat get -- >> leave it in overnight if you want to? >> won't hurt it at all. fresh rosemary and fresh lemon and garlic. break up the rosemary, too, fresh flavors in there. i'm just trying to build these italian flavors. rosemary, pepperoni, and then i'm going to take them out of the fridge, put them on to a roasting pan and pop them into the oven and roast them. ost them for about 30 minutes, 30, 35 minutes, until cooked through and then we have our -- our infamous pepperoni sauce. i have a little red wine vinegar to bring it out. eat pope rony a little times, sometimes you teeth with pickled vegetables and mustard, put a little vinegar to pop the flavor. >> and slather this on. >> slather it on.

they look like buffalo wings. >> let's stick this in the back. >> do look like buffalo wings. >> a couple of other finger foods for us. >> popcorn. >> got some nice spiced popcorn here. basically what i did is i took flavors that my sister would eat as a kid. pasta with garlic, butter, parmesan cheese, a little oregano. >> and red pepper flakes. >> i like that. >> like a pizza popcorn. >> hazel nut and chocolate nut cookies right there. >> very nice. >> oh, good. >> that's awesome. >> that's delish. >> little garlic powder, butter, can't go wrong with butter. >> did you know there's fat in pep rone? >> mike isabella, thank you so much. >> coming up,

the time is 9:56. good morning. i'm jon kelley. the east bay dirty cop case will be sentenced this afternoon. he pleaded guilty earlier this afternoon to seven felony charges, including drug

possession. butler admits to robbing prostitutes and setting up a massage parlor that included sexual services. how about a microphone? let's get a check on the weather with christina loren. good morning. temperatures are going to be really warm today by late september. this is the first week of fall. feeling more like late august. 89 degrees in places like livermore. we have not hit our hottest point of the week yet. that doesn't come in until saturday. it will be a hot one. 97 degrees on saturday. 93 on sunday. we stay hot for the first part of next week. what is interesting, mike, we will have showers next week late. we will keep track of that. what are you tracking on the roads? i'm trying to track the rain and the fall and the heat.

this is the now. 280 northbound. look at the red coming toward us. we will twist it around to the north at the top. there is north 280 off the 680 interchange. north 880. the triangle is slow. starting to thin out here for the south bay. 85 through cupertino is slow. west 580 is slow through livermore. both directions as you approach the double interchange. we have a sigalert south with an accident and debris in the lanes at 242 to the walnut creek interchange. there is the toll plaza. you nailed. it see you back in a half hour with more.

from nbc news, this is "today" with kathie lee gifford and hoda kotb live from studio "today" with kathie lee gifford and hoda kotb live from studio 1-a in rockefeller plaza. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hey, everybody, it's september 25th, and we're just happy to be here today, aren't we, hoda woman? >> i want to thank my mom. my mom does this thing where she finds dresses and throws them in the mail. >> what did i say to you the minute i saw you step out in that? >> it's adorable. >> i think it's adorable, hoda. >> it's awesome. i love it. there's a lot of football controversy. i know we're not a sports program, but you need to know

this information, it's important for all of us. the nfl is having a news conference in the next few minutes or so. here's the story, last night the seahawks were playing the packers. the seahawks were losing by five. it's one of the hail marys that they throw the last few seconds. seahawks threw the pass into the end zone, then it was up for grabs. here it comes. okay, watch closely. >> okay, that's hard to tell on that. looks kind of like the green bay guy had it. >> one guy's saying touchdown, one guy's saying another call that we don't understand. look, who's got it? looks like green bay. we don't know what happened right in there. looks like green bay has it. that's the crux of the issue, replacement refs. it took them ten minutes to watch the replay over and over and over and over. >> seattle fans must have been going crazy. >> after ten minutes they came out and ruled it a touchdown for

seattle, game over. everyone went crazy because the replacement refs are getting a lot of heat because they are probably not as good as the regular refs. >> you think? imagine that. >> it's some kind of a lockout thing with money. someone said in a report that the dispute is over about $3 million. >> $3.3, i understand. >> thank you for reading. but the nfl makes kazillions. >> as in about $8 billion. >> so i don't know anything about this dispute, but i say pay the $3 million and get the guys back on the field. >> would you pay $3 million? >> if i had $10 kazillion i'd give $3 million of my $8 billion. we're going to give you the latest details when we understand what's going on. here's the interesting thing too. belichick, the coach of the patriots was upset about a call.

watch what he does when he's upset about a call. okay, it was about whether it was good or not. now watch. he wanted to talk to the ref, he claims and couldn't get a response. what does he do? hey, hey, you. i'm talking to you. the guy runs past him. he says he just wanted to have a conversation. >> yeah, a nasty one. >> anyway, looks like bad sportsmanship all the way around. >> i know tensions are high. look at us around here with what goes on, but you have to treat one another with dignity and respect, hoda, no matter what. how many times have i told you? >> it is a crummy message, kids are crazy about football, watching coaches go after each other. >> they see parents behaving badly at little league, adults behaving badly on the sidelines and wonder why we get angry with them while they behave badly. >> this is unbelievable. if you ever want to flag a taxi in new york, it is a contact

sport sometimes, you need the cab, raining, shift change. >> maybe waiting for a half hour for one. >> you want that cab. this could be the equivalent if you live in the suburbs when you see a parking spot, hold on, waiting for it, someone pulls in. look at these two guys on the street. they are physically fighting. he headlock. >> bigger one got it. >> oh, oh, i'm getting in. >> let me tell you something -- >> shouldn't laugh. >> punched him kind of in the head and sent him on his way with a nice little slam of the door. >> have a nice day! >> it's frustrating when you're standing on a street corner. here's the deal, you're flagging a cab and somebody sees you and walks a block ahead of you so they get the cab before you make a cab. >> after making eye contact with you. >> they know that you know. the weirdest thing i got into a cab and i didn't realize there was a cab strike, okay, but there were a few cabs going

around anyway making lots of money. so i get in the cab and all of a sudden the guy stops up to pick somebody else. you can only have one passenger. i said what are you doing? he throws the newspaper back at me on my lap and says cab strike and is screaming are you stupid over and over again. >> and what was your answer? >> you know what -- >> what did you tell him? >> and i said, who's stupid, you're the one who's picking up all the fares while your friends are out on strike! i thought that was a good one. wasn't that great. i didn't know what to say. i was upset, didn't know there was a strike, i'm yelling at the guy. >> hoda, oh, hoda, you kill me every day. >> any way. apparently, something nice is happening in the world, carrie

underwood was doing a concert and apparently this kid was holding up a sign, 12-year-old boy, would you be my first kiss, so she stops. this is what ensued. >> invited him up on the stage. >> what's your name? >> chase. >> very nice to meet you, chase, how old are you? >> 12. >> 12 years old. >> i was 14 when i had my very first kiss. just so you know, my husband is somewhere in this building back stage. he might be looking for ya later. how are we going to do this. >> lips to lips. >> oh! close your eyes. >> the rest of his life, carrie underwood gave him his first kiss. how sweet is she? >> all the shows i did in vegas, tahoe, reno, you know how many times i gave somebody their last

kiss? i mean -- i would go out and find the oldest baldest guys i could find and try to give them a little thrill before it's all over. hey, we all do what we can do to make the world a better place for people. >> aren't you sweet and caring? all right, did you watch "the voice" last night? michelle brooks thompson belted out "proud mary," and it caused everyone to turn their chairs except blake, take a look. ♪ might have been you know the bigger wheels keep on turning ♪ ♪ and keep on burning ♪ rolling >> i know it! >> i told you, come on. ♪ rolling on the river

>> she was fantastic. >> she picked adam, she's on team adam. then there was a girl at the end of the show who caused three people to turn their chairs around. her name was theresa griffin. >> okay. >> let's listen. ♪ >> oh, my god, are you kidding me? ♪ found someone like you ♪ i wish you nothing but the best ♪ ♪ for you too ♪ don't forget me i swear i remember you said sometimes it hurts in love ♪ ♪ but sometimes it hurts instead ♪ >> she ended up going with team blake. >> are you sure?

you might want to check your local -- yeah. >> you might want to check back. the best place to live for suburbanites. >> wolf trap, virginia. >> englewood cliffs, new jersey. right on the hudson, right? right there? yes. >> yes, it is. don't get me into geography. haworth, new jersey. >> or haworth? >> haworth. >> i was right, there. go on with clyde hill. >> clyde hill. >> number two is clyde hill, washington. that's a beautiful suburb of seattle. number one, cherry hills village, colorado. ten miles south of denver. >> if you were wondering the dirtiest cities, this is by travel and leisure magazine. these are my favorite cities in the country. >> i know. >> five is atlanta.

>> four is los angeles. >> three is baltimore. and my top two cities in the country are number two and number one, baby, new orleans, louisiana. >> and new york city. what they all have in common, something hoda can't live without, a strong night life. for somebody who gets up at 4:00 in the morning, what are you doing out on the town? >> i like the grittiness, i like the smell, i like the feeling. >> you like the smell? >> yes, neat cities, clean, that's not my kind of city. i like cities with dirt under their nails. >> like you like your men. >> yes. all right. should we go to the best things? >> yes, we're going to come up with a segment by "redbook" magazine, they tested the best bras, shape wear, and underwear. should be like who gives a rip, but that's very, very important. >> we really, really care about this. we have a big show coming up. do you know who's with us? >> i believe we have mr. jimmy fallon himself and the three gentlemen who played the dads in

his new sitcom. where's the jimmy? not going to happen at this particular moment. >> we're going to be back with all of them right after this. >> think we can find jimmy fallon? >> yeah. side the v8 taste lab. tomato, obviously. haha. there's more than that though, there's a kick to it. there's a pop. wahlalalalallala! pepper, but not pepper, i'm getting like, pep-pepper. it's kind of like drinking a food that's a drink, or a drink that's a food, zip zip zip zip zip! i'm literally getting zinged by the flavor. smooth, but crisp. velvety. kind of makes me feel like a dah zing yah woooooh! [ male announcer ] taste it and describe the indescribable. could've had a v8. woooo! these are sandra's "homemade" yummy, scrumptious bars. hmm? i just wanted you to eat more fiber. chewy, oatie, gooeyness... and fraudulence. i'm in deep, babe. you certainly are. [ male announcer ] fiber one.

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all right, there is not a woman in the world who doesn't have trouble spots they'd like to hide, whether it's a muffin top over your jeans -- >> not pretty. >> or back rolls bulging over your bra. >> saw that on the subway this morning. >> me. so which undergarments are best to tuck and suck? the folks at "redbook" magazine tested every panty, bra, and shaper on the market and released their world's best underthings. fashion director here with the results. >> okay, we've been waiting for this one. this is a good one, right? >> we tested everything on the market. we had our editors out in these pieces all day long. >> what do you mean, running around, running the streets? >> wearing them, under clothes,

of course. >> okay, let's start with the bra. >> this is kubi seamless bra, this is the most comfortable, most supportive, feels like nothing bra. >> is it really supportive? >> it is. there are removable pads here that will give you support. it fits size a to d. if you're bigger, you might have to go up to something more supportive. >> hi. >> it is so comfortable. >> we want to point out what's happening here. say hello to our friend joe who's feverishly back here trying to help an audio problem. >> we like to reveal what's happening. >> hanky-panky, by the way. they are my favorite. >> they are the best things ever. stretch lace never shows. >> sexy. >> sexy. good. stay with us. >> i'm wearing it. >> thank you, joe. >> will you hold that? >> yes. okay. >> all right, back to hanky-panky. stretch lace feels like nothing. women buy these by the dozen. they are just so comfortable and

they disappear under clothes. >> disappear some place else too, but that's a different story. okay. i'll go with ya. >> this is the best t-shirt bra that we tested. it's contour underwire. >> hoda did a photo session yesterday and we wore these undergarments and they were amazing. >> they are amazing. seamless cups, doesn't have too much padding or push, so it's really going to disappear under a t-shirt. >> are these pricey, these bras? >> $58, it's an investment, but worth it. >> what about these? >> calvin kline invisible brief. elastic is the enemy when it comes to pants. this will not do that. >> let's get of back fat, shall we? >> this is soma's vanishing-back bra. >> this is that soma, right? i love their stuff too. >> beautiful pieces. the seamless, closure is not here, wide pand so it's going to

cover your flesh instead of dig into it. >> you know, i got to say the front of it is so beautiful too. gorgeous bra. >> take us to over here. >> okay, this is rachel zoe's must have. this is a cami that has compression only where you want it, so sucks in your middle. >> i love that. >> you can wear your bra under this. there's no compression where you don't want it. >> you need one. >> what's going on here with these? >> this is assets. we love sarah blakely, she's the inventor of spanx. >> that's another story. to be determined in a court of law. >> we appreciate it. >> this is midsection compression, this waist band won't roll down. >> it's pretty. >> smooth, beautiful. from the waist down. >> thank you, sweetie. so sorry for our technical

difficulties. jimmy fallon is trying to get a ride here and our sara gets taken for a ride. >> that is right after this. ♪

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time terror sara in the city. our sara haines found out what it's like to get around on one wheel. >> so sara, did you fall for uni cycling or what? >> it's not just for the circus, hundreds came out where professionals and amateurs proved less wheels equals more fun. ♪ >> this is the third year of the new york uni cycle festival, basketball, hockey, bmx or skateboarding but on one wheel. >> also at the festival, kip

jones, a member of the famous king charles troop, sort of the dream team of the uni cycle community. >> they dribble, they shoot, they dunk, we jump rope. anything imaginable you might see the harlem globetrotters do, we do it on uni cycles. >> any tips? >> lock your legs and move your hips. >> i get more advice from two riders a little closer from my skill level. what do you think i should do to learn? >> straight and your hands all the way up to the sky. so you can balance on your uni cycle and you don't fall off. >> anything else? >> no. >> then it's time for my lesson. >> we invented uni cycle training wheel to give people the ability to find out what it's like to ride a uni cycle without having the balance. this seat needs to turn, wind up

in one direction, twist your shoulder, and follow up with the core to twist that seat. that's it, she just got her license, everybody. one foot. way to go. >> feeling confident, i decide to take off the training wheel. oh, my god, i'm doing it. >> looking straight ahead, we never look down. >> never. >> all our weight on the seat, hands on the rail, pull yourself forward. good. immediately, get out of that position. >> whoa! >> yeah! >> after a few stumbles -- >> left foot comes up. bring your body forward with you now. >> okay, still on. i did not fall. i did not fall. >> absolutely. >> i am on a roll. >> one hand. that's it. that's it. >> kind of. with a hand from my teacher, it's time to really ride. determined to succeed, i try, try, try, and try again until

finally -- >> that's it. way to go! that right there is huge. >> wow. >> i am not good at it. don nash, our senior producer, who we might have a clip of. >> i've seen him on that, really good. doesn't have even have a helmet on. >> or training wheels, which i need right now. i never got air by myself and i fell a ton, but it was so much fun. >> joe is having a heck of a day. >> show them how we ride. bring along your favorite friend next time. >> all right. >> jimmy fallon's making his way to our studio. >> he's got explaining to do. >> he certainly does. >> all the other guys with kids are going to be with us. why real housewife nene leaks is getting off to a rocky start in her acting career after your local news.

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good morning. 10:26. i'm laura garcia-cannon. self-driving cars could find their way to area streets. the governor is going to come to the bay area today to sign a law

to test self-driven cars. it will require the dmv to govern rules. google is pioneering the technology in the mountain view location. the signing ceremony will be at 1:00 this afternoon. we will have a look at weather and traffic after this break.

welcome back. a live look over the shark tank at the hp pavilion. we have haze out there.

air quality suffering in the east bay. we have good air quality in the east bay today. feel free to open the windows as temperatures reach 90 in fairfield. we will have the full forecast in just a half hour today at 11:00. first, let's check the drive. good morning, christina. you are talking about the gray bleeding out of the area at the toll plaza. still hanging above the roadway. not a problem for drivers. smooth driving at the toll plaza. we do have a sigalert before you get to valejo. smoldering box truck. you have to get around either side at westbound 880. there is a stall blocking two lanes there. it is slow off 242. it is east 580 with the sweepers in through dublin. look at that, laura. back to you. thank you. thank you for joining us. we will have more of the top

stories in a half hour at 11:00. join me then. we are cranking the tunes in here on this tuesday. we're here on this booze day tuesday. hot off his emmy win, jimmy fallon is always making us laugh. boy, do we love him. even if we're sometimes the butt of his jokes. >> ready, go. >> just saying. >> checking out a company in sweden has a purse that holds a box of wine, or as kathie lee calls that, a purse. >> when he's right, he's right. >> now jimmy is trying his hand at producing as the creator of the new sitcom "guys with kids," take a look. >> i was wondering if before i go, i could get a photograph of you pretending to dunk my son. >> sure.

>> that's a cool idea. do mine too. >> no, no one's dunking any babies. >> why? >> because it's a bad idea. >> how is it a bad idea? it's awesome. >> i said no. >> you can't say no without having a good reason. >> i do have a good reason, grew inside me. >> i'm ernie's dad and i know what i'm doing. kareem abdul jabar, dunk my baby. >> did you prove your point? >> yeah, yeah, as a matter of fact, i did. ernie's totally fine, just like he always is with me. sheila, raising a kid is hard enough and then being divorced on top of that. we have to start working together for ernie's sake. >> i'm liking it. >> show the whole episode. that was a long clip. the show is much shorter. the show is much shorter.

yeah. it's much shorter. >> anthony anderson one of the three talented guys, one of the co-stars with "guys with kids." his cohorts, jesse bradford, zach cregger, of course, the show's e.p., executive producer. >> you're wearing baby bjorns. >> booze day tuesday. we brought you a present, came bearing gifts. >> we know what you ladies like. >> keeps it warm in these baby bjorns. that's what i sound like after i start drinking, baby bjorn. >> if anybody needs proof, i'm really drinking a beer right now. >> aren't you busy enough, by the way? congratulations on the latest emmy. >> very excited. thank you so much. got an emmy for "saturday night live." a dream of mine to go on that show, let alone host it. >> then to win an emmy on top. almost said an enema. emmy. >> i got an enema as well. got an enema last week as well. congratulations to me on that as

well. i'm regular and i'm very happy. a lot of different things that i'm doing now. >> how about jon stewart at the emmys, you were dragging him down. >> i didn't know he was sitting right behind me, behind him, steven colbert. we got to do something. i'm going to tackle him if he wins. so i said, jon, i'm going to hug you if you win. yeah, i know you're going to do it a bit. colbert said i'm in. we went over, so steven grabbed him, i grabbed him and i just pulled him down. i didn't want him to get up on stage, i wanted to go with him. colbert is trying to pull his shoes off. yeah. then he was winded. he was clearly winded when he got on. >> obviously, obviously. >> it was fun, it's loose and fun. >> hoda and i can't figure out how you have time on top of everything else to hang out with these three guys and executive produce a whole new show. >> it's a show, called "guys

with kids." i wanted to be involved with a tv show that was a sitcom, classic, when you grew up, the whole family can watch it, multi-camera, living room with the couch in the middle, you have a theme song. >> yes. look at anthony. >> anthony, you can cannot be drinking this now. anthony is going right to the bottle. no glasses. >> anthony, tell us about your role in this. >> well, i'm a stay at home dad and this is what i do. i got four kids all under the age of eight, a set of twins and a 6-month-old, 6-year-old, and a 7-year-old. hey, "guys with kids." >> you're the only real dad in the group, correct? >> only real dad in the group. i taught these guys how to hold a baby. >> how not to hold a baby. >> you used to hold them by the back of the neck and he used to hold them by the ankles. you can't do that. >> set babies, cabbage patch dolls. >> no babies are hurt in the process of making this.

>> not all babies are hurt. they come in triplets, so when we break one, we get a fresh one in. that's what we do. >> always a fresh baby when you see it. jesse's character is the single dad on the show, newly divorced. he's dating and he uses his baby like a wing man. >> how's that working, by the way? >> babies are the new puppies. there it is. kills every time. >> women flock. >> that's what it is. >> babies again, we have to drink. >> no, don't do this! too early. but anyway, it's a fun idea. it's a fun show. >> i hear a baby crying! >> that doesn't count. sound effects, but it is fun. we got to -- we saw this pilot, didn't know where it was going to go from there, didn't know if the chemistry was going to be good with these guys, but it's fun. tempestt bledsoe and jamie-lynn

sigler from the cosby show on our show. so it's really fun, it's cool. >> you are like a little boy having more fun in the playground than anybody i've seen. >> how fun is this, right? get me to the sand box, let's go, let's do it. it's good, it's great. >> wish you guys great luck with this show. >> thank you, thank you. >> capital one little girl. >> that's my other baby. >> oh, my god! >> this is ridiculous. >> catch the premier of "guys with kids." babies! >> hoda! >> the show is five minutes long, i hope you enjoy it. up next, real housewife ni ni lea -- nene leakes. >> nene! i drank a quarter of a bottle. and i honestly didn't think i would ever quit. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix is proven to help people quit smoking. it reduces the urge to smoke. it put me at ease that you could smoke on the first week.

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we're back with a no-nonsense break-out star from the real housewives of atlanta nene leakes. this reality vixen can act. she appears as a character named rocky on the much talked about new sitcom called "the new normal." hey, girl. >> united nations in session this week. traffic is insane here. >> trying to get from here to there. >> run from one place to the next. >> happy to have you. >> you guys look great this morning. >> thank you. we've been here a very, very, very long time. >> we heard a rumor you did not have to audition for this part. somebody said, you know what, i got the right person for this.

>> the producer of "glee." >> that's the truth. ryan murphy saw me on celebrity apprentice and real housewives. he's like can you be coach on "glee" for me, sure, he asked if i'd play rocky on "the new normal." >> he's a very smart guy. >> ryan murphy has a great eye for talent. he's created things like "american horror story," "glee," "nip/tuck," "the new normal." >> suddenly you became this permanent character. >> when i did "glee," they asked if i would come here once or twice and they kept bringing me back and back and back. and they said you'd just reoccur, then they shot the pilot, no, you need to be a regular. >> how are you going to continue to do housewives and this? >> very busy. >> i'm not sure, but i've been shooting them both at the same time. >> one of them's in atlanta,

pardon me, but i think the other is in los angeles. >> the crew has been coming to los angeles with me and shooting stuff there. then i fly out when i'm not working on "the new normal" to atlanta. >> helps the housewives franchise as well. made for unbelievable jealousy. >> i got to say -- >> nobody's happy for you, and you know it. >> it's hard for people to be happy for your success, that's very hard, but i would have to give this to the girls of the housewives of atlanta, they definitely have all said to me they are proud of me. happy for me. whether they really mean it or not, i don't know, but at least they have the guts to say it. >> real friends and real loved ones will be extremely happy for you. >> they will be. >> we're happy for you. >> we're happy for you. >> thank you so much. i really appreciate that. i feel very blessed to step out in the acting world and ryan murphy believed in me. i appreciate you guys having me here today. i really do.

>> thank you, nene. what's next? >> new trend in shopping, buy one and get one after this. >> very good idea. >> yeah. begin. tomato, obviously. haha. there more than that though, there's a kick to it. wahlalalalallala! smooth, but crisp. it's kind of like drinking a food that's a drink, or a drink that's a food, woooooh! [ male announcer ] taste it and describe the indescribable. could've had a v8.

before you go outside. never! it's a new fiber one chewy bar. chocolatey and delicious. mmm. [ male announcer ] new fiber one chewy bars. great taste kids love plus calcium and fiber kids need. for a strong bag thate grips the can... get glad forceflex. small change, big difference.

you see the signs in the stores offering buy one get one free deals, but merchants are taking it a step further. >> they sure are. they rolling out a new kind of bogo deal, buy one, get one. we have some ideas how your purchases could provide for somebody else other than just yourself. there's a concept, love your neighbor as you love yourself, kathleen. >> buy one, give one. it's one of the hottest trends right now, but it's really important that you seek out vetted companies, companies that are doing what they say that they are doing. today we have a lot of products and great companies all giving back to really worthy causes. >> who do you have today? >> ruse.com. these are aviator, hot, kind of

wayfair trendy. >> they are cute. >> for every pair they sell, they give away to two people life-changing surgeries to the blind, also glasses to people in need. >> that's awesome. >> and everybody on the table, 25% off and free shipping. they have different deals, but different ones are that. >> online? >> absolutely. regular places are like 65 right now. lstn, roozt.com is the website. these are made of wood, they are fabulous. instruments are made of wood. these guys have mobile units that go out and fit children in need with hearing aids on the spot. >> that's great. >> what a great idea for holiday shopping ahead of time too. >> if you're not, you know, able to purchase right now, you're still really struggling, if you goo to roozt.com, they are launching a one member one meal. they are going to give away, i think, 1 million meals over the next 12 months.

>> what an amazing company. >> this is happy everything, a 7-year-old boy had a sibling that was sick and wanted to make the other kids in the hospital happy, so he came up with this idea and it turned into a company for his parents. they have beautiful onesie. >> darling. >> roma boots started by a man living in a tiny village in roman romania, somebody gave him a pair of boots, changed his life, these are buy one give one rain boats. these are 25% off and free shipping. >> how much do these run if you are going to buy one? >> $50, $60. every deal is on the website. >> every time you put them on, you're reminded somebody else is being helped. it's awesome. >> they are doing what they say they are doing. then we have bogo dog food. buy one for the dog you love and they give away a bag to a dog in

need. they are working with charities across the country, which is really important. then we have izod. these guys, this is their movement, izod apparel, and they have outlets in jc pennies right now, they are launching 600 outlets. they give away mammograms. >> that's terrific. >> love it. >> kathleen, you're awesome. we don't care what anyone says, you're a wonderful, wonderful woman. great to see you, sweetie. see you soon. healthy sandwich ideas for your kids' lunchbox. first, this is "today" on nbc.

back now in today's kitchen and we're getting kids to eat healthy with delicious sandwiches for their lunchbox. >> your kids will eat more than peanut butter and jelly every day. we love her, contributing chef

for "prevention" magazine. >> not only for kids, but if you're taking your lunch to work or even at home. so we're going to start off with a roasted veg sandwich. i'm going to ask you to remove the -- >> what kind of a roll is that? >> this is a buille. you can use a french baguette. >> hollowing it right out. >> how many calories you're going to save and taste what's in the sandwich. >> you can do that with bagels too, hollow them out. >> a little non-stick spray, brush a little olive oil on these, our garlic. if you want to sprinkle a little rosemary on there for me, and, of course, salt and pepper very important. little garlic. use a spoon or a spatula, sorry. in the oven about 400 degrees for about 30 to 40 minutes. nice and roasted like we have over here. already done. >> good job, hoda.

>> thank you. >> i have some plastic wrap already down, because what we're going to do is wrap it up at the end and put it in the frej for 30 minutes to settle in. what we're going to do it -- actually, i'm jumping a step. >> what are you doing? >> jumping a step. yogurt, yogurt, saving the calories of using mayo. still, nice tanginess, creaminess. >> regular? you can use low fat. >> uh-huh. >> anything. >> then we have our vegetables. we're going to just lay them on our roasted onions and this is just -- the thing about eggplant, high in potassium. we're talking more potassium than a banana, all right? >> i like the way you say banana. >> top it with some spinach and some parmesan cheese. also our spinach. >> sprinkle our cheese on,

parmesan. all right. >> all right. >> great. then we just wrap it up nicely. wrap, wrap. >> wrap, wrap. >> then put it in the fridge, let it settle in. >> look how beautiful. >> you're going to taste all these wonderful vegetables, your eggplant, tomatoes, peppers, vitamins, nutrients, about 320 calories for one nice wedge. let's go back here. lettuce wraps. little twist on your wraps. >> i do it a lot. >> these are great. these are great. you're going to save so much -- >> calorie intake. >> and sodium. so we're just going to do a little ham. >> little turkey. >> little turkey. tomato, then we have avocado, we squeezed a little lime on there just so it doesn't oxidize. and this is, like you said, in place of like a mayonnaise. >> yeah. >> then we're just going to -- >> wrap that bad boy up.

>> any condiments at all? >> a little ranch. i'm jumping the gun. this is a little ranch dressing. you can use italian. >> arugula. that looks good. >> there we go. >> stick a little thing in it. >> stick a little thingy. >> toothpick in there. coming up tomorrow, actor justin kirk from the new nbc show called "animal practice." plus, how to be rich and famous and take great trips. >> have a great booze day tuesday, everybody.