church. and they're really just trying to help each other right now. >> officials haven't identified the dead which include two -- a husband and wife and one teenager. officials say that those hospitalized, including the one in critical condition are expected to recover. lester. >> john yang this morning, thank you. in new york, a bride-to-be is believed to be dead after a tragic boating accident after he and the best man were both thrown overboard. more on the accident. >> reporter: a tragic ending to what will started as a prewedding celebration. bride-to-be lindsey stewart and her fiance's best man were thrown overboard in a boating accident on the hudson river. >> my sister is getting married two weeks from day. >> reporter: earlier today, the girl's mother and stepdad spoke to the media. her mom said they went on a simple outing just north of

new york city. >> reporter: authorities say the boat collided with construction barges anchored along the tappan zee bridge. last saturday, they charged the driver jojo johns with vehicular manslaughter. he was injured with all the passengers on board and is in the hospital. >> we have cause to believe he operated the boat while intoxicated. >> reporter: lindsey and 30-year-old bond were among the dead. >> there were some people wearing life jackets. >> reporter: on her facebook page, lindsey posted photos of her engagement to brian bond, along with snapshots that her dog that friends say she adored. her stepfather said she was looking forward to marrying her childhood friend. >> they're both -- they're workaholics. you know, i know they were

planning a good future together. >> reporter: for "today," michelle franzen. on this sunday, millions have gathered on the beach in rio de janeiro for pope francis' open air mass. anne thompson is there. >> reporter: good morning, lester. it's an incredible scene here at copacabana beach. 3 million people on the sand, more coming for the pope's final mass and word youth day. the pope just got a bird's-eye view as he flew over by chopper to instead of getting in the popemobile and actually coming here. now, some people were here 24 hours sleeping on the beach. they brought sleeping bags and tarps. many bringing the flags of their nations. there are some 170 countries represent here. in speak to get crowd in last night's vigil the pope called on young people could be athletes of christ.

and he said, jesus offers them something more than the world cup. but the pope's strongest words were directed at the church itself and its leadership. meeting with the bishops, he criticized the church for being too cold and too distant. and asked the very tough question, are we a church that can still warm people's hearts. now, pope francis has been treated like a rock star here. he has accepted all kinds of gifts. kissed every baby he's seen. that's really been remarkable. and because he's reached out to the people, they have reached back. and this morning, i think you could ask anybody on cope qaa pa copacabana beach, if pope francis can warm hearts the answer would be yes. there's new information about that deadly shooting outside of miami that we first told you about yesterday morning. >> jenna is here with more on that. >> hi, guys. police say the victims in the

shootings ranged in age from 17 to 79. the man that killed him, their neighbor. the shooter has been identified as 42-year-old pedro vargas. officials say it all began when vargas set fire to his own apartment and later shot and killed six people including the building's manager. vargas was later killed by s.w.a.t. team members. no word on motive. u.s. secretary of state john kerry is calling for independent inquiries into the violent clashes in egypt. much of the death toll comes after confrontations in cairo between egyptian security forces and supporters of ousted president mohamed morsi. at least 25 others were said to be injured overnight. mean tile secretary kerry's wife has been released from the hospital. teresa heinz kerry had been hospitalized after suffering a seizure earlier this month. doctors for the 74-year-old kerry said she's expected to make a full recovery.

amanda berry, one of the three cleveland woman kidnapped and held captive in over a decade, made a rare appearance saturday. the 27-year-old was on stage with the rapper nelly. she didn't say anything but waved to the crowd. the hearing comes up for airal castro the man said to have kept her locked up for all those years accepted a plea bargain. let's say you're pro, let's say you're in the lead of golf's canadian open. hunter mahan was holding a two-stroke lead in the second round, awesome. then gets a call from his wife -- surprise, i'm going into labor. now, like right now. like now, you're going into labor right this second? yes, i am, honeyy, you need to come here. what did he do? remember, he's the leader. with withdraws from the competition to be by his wife's side as they await the arrival

of a baby girl. we just showed you a video of him playing. he actually stopped playing. no word if they had the baby yet. i like that story. >> if you have not heard about that one -- that would have been a play anytime. >> some dangerous flash flooding in north carolina overnight. dylan is here with more on that and a chemical of the forecast as well. >> there were torrential downpours yesterday in charlotte, north carolina. and it did lead to flash flooding. quite a messy scene. take a look at that. some people had to be rescued from their cars when the floods came without warning. that's how hard it was. and it did sweep some of those cars away. now, we did see downpours in the charlotte area yesterday. it's moving eastward. we will see scattered showers and storms today but it shouldn't be as heavies the line of showers yesterday. we are seeing storms because of a cold front moving in the area.

you can see the sheer amount of rain won't be as bad as yesterday. we're also keeping an eye on tropical storm flossie. it's heading there and should make a mess of it monday. the winds and rough surf, monday and that's the latest forecast. erica. >> dylan, thanks. there's word this morning

that the campaign manager for anthony beaner the new york city mayoral candidate involved in theca sal has apparently left the campaign. that is from "the new york times." good morning. >> good morning, erica. >> what will this ultimately do his mayoral bid? is he still going to hang on? >> look. it's obviously internal dissent about this. his campaign manager is leaving. we don't know all the circumstances. you see what's happening in his personal ratings in the race. they're going down. this is difficult for anthony weiner. this is ultimately public trust. he positioned himself as a rehabilitated man after he resigned from congress only to find out these new details and to have them handle it in a way that is at least unmildly uncomfortable. he talked about whether they're 6 or 10 women, and his wife huma abedin standing by her husband.

saying this is a private matter, i don't think people buy that. let's move to to other news at this point. senator john mccain will be becoming more of a regular visitor to the west wing. even saying at one point recently that he really trusts president obama. this is a big change in the relationship between these two men. when did it come about and why is it happening? >> you know, it's interesting. the relationship was strained after the election in 2008. there are area where is they can work together. senator mccain has been an outspoken critic, a vocal critic, of the president on foreign policy. but on some of these other issues in terms of senate rules or immigration, there is room for him to do some business there. i think senator mccain is also at a point in his life and career where he'd like to return to some of that maverick status that he had which includes working with the other side in a way that's constructive, and he's done that at different points. it's interesting the juxtaposition, this may be going

well, you think about benghazi, and how critical mccain was. i don't see him shrinking away from that but he's found ways to work with the white house. >> david, we'll check in later on "meet the press." one of the america's most influential religious leaders has been returned to the pulpit for the first time since his son's suicide pastor rick warren has said his church that they've been sustained by the tragedy. here's mike taibbi. >> reporter: through a wave of cheers, pastor rick warren in his trademark black t-shirt, walked out on the stage with his kind of kay, for the first time in four months to deliver his weekly sermon. >> love you, too. >> reporter: it was back in april when the warrens's

27-year-old son matthew beset with tragedy. the pastor spoke about the tragedy. >> we went over to his house, we couldn't get in and what i feared the most has happened. >> reporter: he talked about how his son's older siblings tried to help him. >> emmy and josh talked him off the ledge time after time. they are my heroes. >> reporter: rick warren's status in many withes as his generation's billy graham was built on a generation who made christianity accessible. a bet seller that sold millions. and when his son died other religious readers predicted that warren would eventually extract the message in his son's tragedy. >> using this opportunity to recognize, hey, we can do the best we can do and still fail. >> reporter: and that's what warren set out to do. >> i was kind of grieving, but i

was also watching my own grief. as i teacher, i was saying, what am i experiencing and how can i share that with others? >> reporter: one lesson that the tragedy of matthew's suicide didn't take the blame. >> my love wasn't enough to overtake the brick wall of mental illness. >> all of matthew's life because of his life he struggled. he wasn'theaven one second, all his problems were answered. >> reporter: mike taibbi, los angeles. we have a lot more as we continue on a sunday morning on "today," an off-season with an nfl worth $2 million. we'll tell lyou about that afte this. [ jen garner ] imagine a makeup so healthy

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in football there's plenty of pain on the field but also off the field. >> nothing may hurt more than losing out on a lot of money. jenna has more on that story. >> 2ds million to be exact, all because the player missed a couple of off-season practices. he said he didn't needed he needed to at tnd them and found out about his big loss through social media. >> reporter: san francisco corner bakhtiar real brown is used to getting hit on the

field. this week he felt the pain of being hit on his wallet, missing out on a $2 million contract bonus. a tough blow that he actually learned about thanks to twitter. brown read this tweet sunday morning letting him know he lost the sizable chunk of chain for not attending the off-season workout program, a demand wrote into his 2009 contract. >> people want to be making sure players are working out the way they're supposed to. the only way to do that is to get them in the team's facilities working out with the trainers. >> reporter: it's not clear how the blogger knew about the clause. but by not showing up $2 million of his $2.92 million salary is gone, about two-thirds of his total pay. >> nfl players have a short window of time in which they can make most of their money. to lose $2 million over something that was so easily avoided has got to be a tough pill for him to swallow. >> reporter: after reading what's being called the $2 million tweet, brown fired his agent, saying he should have

flagged the costly clause. the agent declined to comment, but brown did saying he's taking care of business. quote, in my opinion, you have to be let go. we all are held accountable for our actions. this is part of the business; a business where a player finds out about losing $2 million in under 140 characters. >> while the $2 million loss is a hit for brown, it could be an even bigger loss for his former agent. al locong with losing the commin for brown, we hear competing agents are going after his other clients as well. >> ouch. >> sting, zap, ouch. >> always checking to make sure i have a job. >> that's where you find out. >> whoops. still to come on a sunday edition of "today," the importance of family dinners even when everyone at the table isn't family. even when everyone at the table isn't family[ woman ] i could see it in their faces. they weren't looking at me. ♪ i can't believe i still have acne at my age.

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still to come on "today," a man who seems to know a little something about almost everything. >> i love that knowledge. plus, how could anyone survive a nail straight through the heart? stay with us to find out. whatcha got there, duke? jay and duke talking action figures. my idea. love it! let's see what i say... roll that beautiful bean footage! [ jay ] bush's country style baked beans are slow cooked according to our secret family recipe with specially cured bacon and extra brown sugar for a thicker sauce and richer taste. the secret family recipe starts with beans and... batteries not included. aw, you're no fun. [ jay ] enjoy bush's baked beans... still made from our secret family recipe.

looking live at the golden gate bridge. wasn't sure it could be more foggy than yesterday, but here we are today. i'm kris sanchez along with rob mieda with a look at the forecast. what are you thinking? cooler today than yesterday? >> about the same, but a change in the golden gate bridge cam. you look closely, there's wetness on the road. we have drizzle and mist around the golden gate bridge. san francisco, 54 degrees. look at the winds in fairfield, 28 miles per hour. the marine air is moving well inland. low clouds across the bay that just like yesterday is going to clear to the coastline for the afternoon, but by 7:00, you're looking at the clouds spilling over to oakland. low to mid-60s for oakland, 70s

in san jose. low 80s inland, and look at the first half of the work week. mild temperatures going to stick around at least through wednesday. >> thank you. we begin with breaking news where a woman is dead and a man is fighting for her life after an horrific head-on crash overnight. fire officials tell us one car veered into oncoming traffic after 2:00 this morning, striking another car head-on. this happened near the intersection of washington and 139th avenue. the female passenger in the car that was hit died at the scene. and the car's driver is in critical condition this morning. the driver of the other car was also hurt but is expected to survive. officials say alcohol may have played a role in this crash. and a developing story in the south bay. san jose police officer is recovering this morning after crashing his patrol car during a police pursuit last night. police say the short chase started around 9:00 last night when the officer spotted a

wanted suspect near 11th and east santa clara streets downtown. not far from san jose state's campus. at some point, police say both cars jumped the curb. the patrol car slammed into a palm tree and the officer was taken to the hospital. police say the suspect took off on foot and is still on the run this morning. >> happening in berkeley, dozens of people continue to camp out on the steps of the city's main post office, protesting the sale of the historic building. the demonstrators pitched tents yesterday afternoon at the building saying that they will stay until the u.s. postal service reverses its decision to sell. the u.s. postal service blamed the closure on the down economy and a steady decline in mail. protesters argue it just doesn't make sense to sell the 52,000 square foot building just to pay rent nearby. >> we're saying that this is public space and how dare they try to sell it off for private

profit? this is a public service that's been around for 238 years. >> part of the demonstration included teach-ins on the privatization of public services as well. the u.s. postal service said its debt could reece $235 billion if congress doesn't pass legislation. >> coming up at 7:00, the deadline is looming. now just one week between us and another b.a.r.t. strike. the latest on the negotiations. plus new information about b.a.r.t. worker wages coming up. >> all the day's news coming up at 7:00. we'll see you in a half hour.

♪ ♪ oh i swear to you i'll be there for you this is not a drive by ♪ we're back on a sunday morning, july 28th, 2013. it's on the cloudy side on the plaids z plaza. we want to say good morning. still to come, when you see this, it's pretty hard to believe anyone could survivor. a very serious situation, for a 12-year-old boy, that x-ray shows a nail that went through his heart. we'll tell you how it happened. and more importantly how he was able to survivor and now thrive after all of that. >> yeah, absolutely. and when their dad was deployed overseas, one military family decided to instead focus

on the empty chair at the table, they would fill that chair. with friends and a u.s. senator. a smile that changed the smiley family that they never imagined. you'll learn what they learned in the half hour. and how much does the human headway? don't answer. how many seconds before a situation becomes awkward? is bad driving genetic? all things i'm sure you're dying to know. >> exactly. >> it's one uber fact that we talked about, the twitter handle uber fact s to see if random is information all that it's supposed to be. dylan helps us put one of those big facts to the test. >> i'm such an uber fact fan. i rattle off five to friends and family every day. >> sure >> it's great conversation. >> exactly. >> and we are, also, of course,

looking at new apps. and this one actually helps you with streaming all your favorite tv shows. it's one-stop shopping here in the tech roundup. but first, the weather for us. >> and stripes in the forecast. >> you've got stripes. and polka dots. >> yeah. that's different. we are going to see a lot of rain today and also a lot of cold air. we're actually going to see temperatures stuck in the 50s in parts of northern michigan. that area of low pressure dipping down the jet stream and dragging down some well-below average temperatures by as much as 15 to more than 20 degrees below average. 55 degrees in marquette today. we're looking at 68 in chicago. only 73 in indianapolis. much more september/october feeling, all because of this cold front that will bring a lot of rain. especially up and down the east coast. stalled front down through the gulf coast will also bring showers out that way, heavy thunderstorms likely with an

area of low pressure in the western plains that will slowly spread eastward tomorrow. late-day thunderstorms and showers still possible across new england on monday as well. the southeast will finally dry and what do you do for your sweet 16? you get new york street art. how long did you have to sit is there for that? >> this was about 20 minutes. >> 20 minutes, not bad. >> 16th birthday.

from maryland. >> happy birthday. >> thank you. also heading out to california to gilroy, california, for the gilroy garlic festival. you can smell the garlic in the air. the annual garlic festival. the three-day competition, with garlic ice cream. head down to gilroy for a california tradition. that promises to be fun. and just a little smell. lester? >> smells good. we want to turn now to this remarkable story of a young boy who survived a nail going right through his heart. >> is it a remarkable, amazing story. it happened after that nail was shot out from under a lawnmower. the 12-year-old was taken to the hospital. and his best chance of survival meant everything. i mean everything had to go just right. >> reporter: the image is staggering.

an x-ray of a nail piercing a young boy's heart. how could he survive and how it did happen? 12-year-old abe tullis was looking forward to mowing the lawn. he'd seen his dad doing it many times but in early june, he got his first chance, almost immediately, something went wrong. >> i just heard the lawnmower stop. and i heard him shout out. >> reporter: the lawnmower hit a 2 1/2-inch nail and flung it straight into abe's chest. >> it it felt kind of like dinging, but kind of like a bruised ding nick. >> i pulled the shirt up and watched him breathe, as the chest expanded, the nail pulled in and looked like it could be deep. >> is this what it felt like to be shot. >> reporter: but abe was lucky. he is head of a trauma unit, he knew not to pull the nail out. he called for his wife. >> his eyes rolled back and he was having a hard time

breathing. the hospital x-rays show how grave the condition was. the nail penetrated deep in abe's heart. he was rushed to surgery. more good luck, it turns out that the nail was long enough to keep the hole in abe's heart plugged. any shorter, it could have killed him. roughout the ordeal, abe had one brief moment of doubt. >> that was for like five seconds. >> even like a couple days later he was like dancing in the hall in the hospital. he was trying to do the running man. >> reporter: seven weeks after surgery, abe's just a regular 12-year-old, but one with a nasty scar to remind him of his brush with death. and as for the nail -- >> put it on my shelf. >> well, he's okay. we understand the family is now using a lawn service. for mowing. are you hear about these stories occasionally. people have that things that go through their head and they survive. i guess we're tougher than we look sometimes. >> that's not the first x-ray we've seen with something piercing through. >> no.

>> that's what's so terrifying for that. >> you got to be careful. that's why i never mow the lawn. >> is that? >> that, and i live in a new york city apartment. >> kind of another detail. up next, a cautionary tale in this week's tech roundup. what does that mean? and the twitter feed that jenna has as you you obsessed with on weekend "today." thank you, jenna. it's amazing as she talks uber facts. >> just the facts, malm. back pain. to take action. to take the next step. today, you will know you did something for your pain. cymbalta can help. cymbalta is a pain reliever fda-approved to manage chronic musculoskeletal pain. one non-narcotic pill a day, every day, can help reduce this pain. tell your doctor right away if your mood worsens, you have unusual changes in mood or behavior or thoughts of suicide.

anti-depressants can increase these in children, teens, and young adults. cymbalta is not for children under 18. people taking maois, linezolid or thioridazine or with uncontrolled glaucoma should not take cymbalta. taking it with nsaid pain relievers, aspirin, or blood thinners may increase bleeding risk. severe liver problems, some fatal, were reported. signs include abdominal pain and yellowing skin or eyes. tell your doctor about all your medicines, including those for migraine and while on cymbalta, call right away if you have high fever, confusion and stiff muscles or serious allergic skin reactions like blisters, peeling rash, hives, or mouth sores to address possible life-threatening conditions. talk about your alcohol use, liver disease and before you reduce or stop cymbalta. dizziness or fainting may occur upon standing. take the next step. talk to your doctor. cymbalta can help. pure chocolate goodness that brings people together. when the chocolate is hershey's life is delicious.

she just graduated and got a freelance gig. it's not going very well. so she's coming to the new samsung experience shop at best buy to find all the galaxy devices she needs. and get personalized demos. which means less of this... ow! you shocked me! ...and more of this. well done, anne. the samsung experience shop. the place to find the latest galaxy devices and get hands-on help. only at best buy stores nationwide.

this morning, the latest tech trends you need to know about including a quick way to find and stream your favorite shows. today's digital live style contributor mario armstrong is here. >> before we talk gadgets, let's get this on the table. we've seen unhealthy, texting, tweeting type things. geraldo rivera, he showed a picture saying how he feels about being 70. a bit revealing. >> a bit revealing. >> we know about anthony

weiner's troubles here in new york. this stuff lives forever, doesn't it? >> it does live forever. a lot of people aren't really understanding, one in five u.s. adults actually do this. this isn't something that's rare or something that only a few people are doing. a lot of people are doing it. the images are out there forever. and so it's one thing to do it between couples. but it's another thing when you start to share that beyond -- >> you lose contract -- sexting, you can lose control of those images. >> absolutely. those images can be used against them later. >> a cautionary tale. let's talk about cool gadgets. i read about this preparing for this interview segment, a way to find where you can find a movie. >> or a favorite tv show. it's called yidio. it's an apple app. as you saw, you can also watch it on the web. what this does, lester, it ag gates content through all these

different network channels. whether it's on cable tv or the internet or itunes or netflix, you can get any show basically to come right to your phone, be able to see that show or that movie. and then once you open the show, you'll be able to find out, do i need to pay for it or can i watch it online somewhere for free. >> might be on netflix or apple tv, but tells you where to find that. i love that. very cool. you also have not just ear phones, but an mp3 player. >> sony has a walk man mp3 player. the player and the headphones are all in one device. this is it. you're not carrying another device. you drag and drop files onto this, connect it to your computer. you put it over your head like so. wrong side. you put it over your head this way. it fits right into your ears, great for jogging, but also waterproof. it can go into water up to six feet down.

>> in theory, you could jam in the shower. >> in theory. i have tested it in the shower. i haven't gone swimming with it too much. >> tmi. i don't want to see any texts of you and your walkman in the shower. here's erica. >> if you ever want to know something about basically anything, chances are there's a guy out there who can tell you or tweet you, and jenna found it. >> i did indeed. hig his name is chris sanchez. sanchez has racked up nearly 5 million twitter followers in two years meaning there's just something about the useless tidbits that has people intrigued, including all of us. >> did you know troy aikman in six years passed for 16,303 yards. >> you know bees and dogs can smell fear. >> reporter: if jerry mcguire thought that little guy was full of random knowledge, he would have been blown away by chris sanchez. >> you're like one of the

smartest, random fact guys i've ever >> oh, stop it. >> in 2011 chris started uberfacts, a twitter feed filled with useless, yet fascinating facts. among his followers, kim kardashian, miley cyrus and thousands of others. >> if the average man never shaved his beard, it would go to up to 30 feet long. >> there's something exciting to look at your phone and see a new fact you never knew before. >> for example, a squirrel finds less than half the nuts it hides. did you know in japan, you can buy a square watermelon? because you can't always believe everything on twitter, i did a little investigative reporting with my father. like is bad driving genetic. >> they say that driving -- well, they say bad driving, but driving is inherited. so i in some way would like to think that i got my driving skills from you. >> you have to exert your

authorities on the road. you can't let people just push you around. >> dad, i could not agree with you more. >> reporter: okay. so that probably goes in the fact column or it takes four seconds for silence to become awkward. >> you know how i love the twitter uberfacts -- >> i do to. and? >> reporter: that's about right. did you know our 43rd president, george w. bush was a cheerleader or the bible is the most shoplifted book of all time? the best fact of all, even though i've done this and this and this, the ocean at night, terrifying. >> thalassophobia, fear of the motion at night. >> and that's a fact. >> i own it. i own thalasso phobia.

terrified. there's almost a new tweet every hour. it's fascinating. >> i just started following during your report. >> me or uberfacts? >> are you on twitter, too? >> i notice when i wake up in the morning there's a whole slew. >> he actually created this neat system where it's on a feed. he'll plug in 50 a day and every two hours they send it out. >> one of my favorites was the reason that pirates wear an eye patch was because so one eye is adjusted for below decks and one eye is add dusted for above decks. blew my mind. >> i love that. >> you will tell a friend today. >> which will take care of any awkward silence. >> oh, my gosh. did you see what was on dylan's computer? what was she looking at? >> maps. >> weather maps or regular maps? >> just the word maps. >> anyway, thank you. >> thank you.

lessons learned when dad is deployed and family dinners get a makeover. how one family's decision to fill his empty seat at the table ended up changing the community. but first, these messages.

for a lot of families, dinnertime is a chance to catch up on the day. what happens when one member can't come to dinner because he's deployed overseas. >> instead of dwelling on who they were missing, one navy family decided to fill the seat at the table with a different guest each week. discovering one pan of lasagna at a time very important life lessons that they're now sharing with families everywhere. >> lord, thank you for watching

over this family. >> reporter: family dinners are about as homespun as it gets. yet for millions of families, they've become a rare treat, especially military families like the smileys. dad dustin is a relun nant in the navy who returned to a year-long deployment to africa last december to reclaim his seat at the family table, a spot some 250 guests helped to keep warm over the course of that year as part of a project that became known as "dinner with the smileys." >> i'm not a super great entertainer. i wondered how we would find 52 guests. >> reporter: the idea started small, invite someone to share a meal with sarah and her sons to help make them less awkward. >> dylan would take them to the seat and say this is my dad's

chair. i'm sitting here at the family asking about the kid's day at school, something he wishes he could do and can't. >> reporter: it was a year full of lessons. up first, maine senator susan collins, happy to join the smileys after receiving a personal letter from 11-year-old ford. >> did you meet r2d2? >> nod nod. >> what was r2d2 like? >> he was big. >> bigger than you thought he would be? >> this is susan, our guest. >> reporter: sarah is quick to note the dinners were not about china or fancy food. they were true family meals, complete with wrestling matches, barking dogs and that empty seat. >> if you haven't lived through your dad being on deployment, you probably don't know what it's like. >> what do you think the hardest part is? >> knowing he's not there, knowing he can't play catch with you. knowing when you wake up he's not upstairs, stuff like that.

>> the dinners were a nice way to kind of meet new people as well as kind of forget that he's gone for the meantime. >> reporter: it didn't take long pour the smileys to inspire other families. fellow navy wives theresa jones and stacy morrissey first heard about it on facebook. sarah's inbox, full of stories ab about the impact of sharing a meal and the comfort it can bring. >> what was it like for you to watch continuing this new chapter in your family's life happening while you were halfway across the globe? >> it kind of kept me going. i was very happy to see them dealing with it in a positive way. >> reporter: while the dinners have stopped for now, the lessons have not. one of the most important goes back to that empty seat.

>> it's not just military family missing someone at the dinner table, there's people all through our community and neighborhoods who eat alone every night. >> reporter: though for some, that's starting to change, one meal at a time. >> and sarah's book "dinner with the smileys" is available now. they were so welcoming. the boys were great. such a great couple. really wonderful stories in the book. >> what a great idea. great idea. >> those kids seemed so grounded, so in touch with what's happening, where there father s why their father is away. it was such a great story. >> they were great. one thing sarah said, these are really family dinners. i gave people paper towels at napkins. they ate a lot of lasagna because that's one of the things she makes. the boys would be wrestling on the floor, yelling at the kids, the dog is barking. it was really like your place for dinner. this is what we do. >> really good story. we'll be back in a moment

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in our "we almost forgot" segment, do you know what july 20th was? it was the anniversary of the moon landing, but it was also erica hill's birthday. you were on vacation. >> oh, thanks. >> we wanted to celebrate. >> oh, my gosh. seriously. >> wait. it's a little old. we baked it on your wirth day and we've been keeping it outside and it's warm. >> we had saran wrap on it. >> that's so sweet. i was hungry. >> here we go. >> thank you, guys. >> dig in and enjoy. >> big old happy birthday. >> can i tell you something, too? i didn't get any birthday cake. my husband gave me ice cream with a candle. thank you, dave. >> we brought you a cake. we're going to go to washington. david gregory will tell us what's coming up on "meet the press." >> good morning, lester. coming up on the program, i'll

talk with treasury secretary jack lew, plus the continuing debate over the government's surveillance program, plus michigan republican mike rogers is here, plus our political roundtable all coming up on "meet the press." >> are you a big birthday person, do you go out -- >> i hire a plane and i do a banner. >> understated. >> just like me, subtle understated. >> we hope you had a good birthday. >> thank you, guys. >> thank you all for coming out. i'll see you for

right now on today in the bay, breaking news. a head-on crash in the east bay that killed one woman and leaves a man clinging to life. what investigators say one man did moments before this horrific crash. >> and a san jose police officer recovering after crashing his patrol car into a tree in a chase. the latest on the search for the suspect who got away. >> plus a camp-out in front of a bay area post office. while dozens of people pitched tents and why they plan to stay awhile. today in the bay starts right now. good morning to you. looking live at our south bay camera there. you can see almost in the

distance the