good morn good morning. breaking news. a top al qaeda leader, one of the fbi's most-wanted terrorists, in custody this morning. after u.s. commandos launched dual raids in libya and somalia. we're live at the pentagon. lucky to be alive. a tiger grabbed a zoo worker at the arm as she stuck her arm in the cat's cage. the dramatic effort to save her limb. and saturday night's star. miley cyrus host and musical guest on "saturday night live." the performance that has people talking today, sunday, october 6th, 2013. >> announcer: from nbc news, this is "today," with lester

holt, and erica hill, live, from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. >> welcome to "today" on this morning. >> we've got a lot of news to get to. we want to start with the two u.s. military operations overseas against terror targets. >> forces have libyan al qaeda leader in detention this morning. the pentagon says he's in a secure location outside libya. libya is believed to be behind the 1998 bombing in kenya and tanzania. >> navy s.e.a.l.s engaged in a fire fight in somalia against a group that took responsible for last month's kenya mall attack. >> the latest on our top story. mick, what can you tell us this morning? >> for the u.s., the capture of

abu is a huge get. the operation was something right out of a tom clancy novel. commandos grabbed him off the streets of tripoli. he was a close confidante of osama bin laden, and involved in the bombings in ten yekenya and tanzania. overnight secretary of state john kerry said his capture should serve as a warning to terrorists worldwide. >> we hope that this makes clear that the united states of america will never stop in its effort to hold those accountable who conduct acts of terror, and those numbers of al qaeda and other terrorist organizations literally can run, but they can't hide. >> once abu is grilled by intelligence officials, it's

more than likely he will be brought to the u.s. to stand trial for those embassy bombings. erica? >> and mick, as we also mentioned, the u.s. military launched two attacks on saturday. the second one carried out by navy s.e.a.l.s in somalia. they were looking for the leader of al shabaab. what's the latest on that operation? >> well, erica, there's far less certainty about this operation. it was a pre-dawn raid in which u.s. navy s.e.a.l.s hit the beach and launched an attack against the compound of the al shabaab military organization. al shabaab carried out that horrific bloody terrorist attack against a mall in nairobi two weeks ago. the problem here, however, is sources tell nbc news that raid failed to take out al shabaab's top commander, and so far, u.s. officials have not identified any of the militants who may

have been killed. so it appears in their ongoing bomb battle assessment, these details will have to be worked out. but it appears they fell far short of their goal. tropical storm karen which threatened the gulf coast fizzled out overnight. the weather channel's stephanie abrams is following it. >> lester, this is a look at destin, florida. a pleasant morning overall. we do have some clouds off in the distance, and those clouds, that's karen. it is now a tropical depression. and here's all that cloud cover we were looking at from destin, florida. but you don't see a center of circulation. it's really fallen apart here. there's been a lot of dry air and upper-level winds that have torn this thing apart. here we look 100 miles southwest of morgan city. winds at 30 miles an hour. so it's definitely falling apart

and continues to doso here it is. we've had the upper-level winds, and dry air, which is not good for a development of a tropical storm. it will stay weak and we'll see rainfall out of this. perhaps around two inches around the mobile bay area. but overall, it's not going to be too bad, lester. >> we'll get the forecast for the rest of the country from you in a few minutes. surprising new information in the beating that captured national attention, including who was on the scene when a driver was beaten when he got into a confrontation with bikers in a rally and ran over one of them. steph, good morning. >> good morning, erica. we've been talking to people in the neighborhood and they tell us these motorcycle crews are here all the time creating a menace. they jump the curbs, go through red lights, but that's nothing compared to what they saw on this street corner last sunday. possibly the most dramatic moment in a video that has now

been viewed by millions. a biker takes off his helmet, rushes alex lynn's suv and smashes the driver's side window. his wife and 1-year-old daughter also in the car. that motorcyclist has been charged on multiple counts, including gang assault and criminal mischief. and late saturday night, another biker, robert sims, was arraigned in criminal court. the nypd itself is coming under scrutiny. senior law enforcement officials tell nbc news that one off-duty undercover cop was on the scene when lynn was beaten in front of his family. police sources say the officer did not want to blow his cover. so he did nothing to help. but internal affairs will investigate why it took until wednesday for him to come forward. as many as five off-duty officers may have taken part in the unauthorized bike rally last sunday as well. sergeio lives in the neighborhood and was there when lynn's suv came to a stop.

one of the bikers went for his wife. >> with his two hands, real hard, pulling her out. >> reporter: the crowd stopped the bikers from hurting the mother and her baby, but lynn was still under attack. >> the man was knocked down. he was on the floor. he was getting beat up with a helmet. >> hit in the head with a helmet? >> yes, many times. >> reporter: he jumped in between lynn and the bikers. >> i felt like they wanted to kill this family. >> reporter: saturday police released the photo of a third suspect, and continued to pore over video taken by bystanders, hoping to identify more suspects. even if some may turn out to be cops themselves. that motorcyclist that's in the hospital, he may be paralyzed for life. his family, and lawyers, say that when he gets better, he's going to consider a lawsuit. they say he was just going in there to help when he was run

over by lynn's suv. >> stephanie, thanks. down in washington, the government shutdown has now dragged into its sixth day and congress and president obama say no closer to a solution. kristen welker has the latest for us. >> reporter: defense secretary chuck hagel said he will be calling back more than 300,000 employees tomorrow. the house unanimously approved a bill to restore back pay to all furloughed workers. but the government shutdown continues. painful for americans, and politically perilous for lawmakers. with the government shutdown set to enter its second week, there's no end in sight to the finger pointing. >> speaker boehner has made a decision that he's going to hold out to see if he can get additional concessions from us. >> if the president has an ax to grind with the opposing party,

why he would want to put the american people in the middle of that, and force the pain on them. >> reporter: now, the dysfunction is taking a political toll. a recent poll shows 44% of americans blame the republicans, and 35% blame the president and democrats. and there are cracks in the gop strategy, with the tea party faction insisting any bill delay the president's health care law. >> the democrats want government by crisis. they want shutdowns. this is harry reid shutdown, because he thinks it benefits democrats politically. >> reporter: but a growing number of republican moderates are calling for their party to open up the government with no strings attached, arguing the health care law is a nonstarter with democrats. >> there's one thing you must do, and that is fund the government. >> reporter: the first member of the tea party defected, telling "bloomberg news," we need to move on.

analysts warn the effect on republicans could last well beyond this impact. >> it could hurt them in primaries, make it tougher for them to have a singular message against democrats come fall 2014. >> reporter: but there are also perils for president obama, who insists he won't negotiate right now. >> i think even some democrats think the line of "we won't nosht" is not one he will be able to stay with much longer. >> reporter: according to recent polls, president obama has seen some of his lowest approval ratings in two years. it's likely we won't see much progress until october 17th when the nation runs out of money to pay its bills. lester? >> kristen, thank you. savannah guthrie is standing in for david gregory on "meet the press." >> good morning. >> we keep saying, savannah, that the two sides don't have an agreement right now. but i keep thinking, surely they have an exit strategy in the back of their mind and just waiting to pull the trigger. am i being naive?

>> you're not being naive, i think you're being optimistic. but being on the phone with both parties this weekend, it's clear to me there's no deal being talked about in the back rooms. this seems to be something where we're in it for the long haul. the government remaining closed. we have the other looming deadline, october 17th, the debt ceiling has to be raised, otherwise potentially the u.s. could go into default. something that most economists who look at it say could be calamitous for the economy. the stakes are getting even higher. at the moment there's no solution. >> the other head scratcher here, what happened to majority rules. we're talking 30 to 40 republican headliners holding this up. speaker boehner has the votes if he wants to go forward, doesn't he? >> he does. if he would right now put a clean budget resolution on the floor of the house, there would be enough moderate republicans and democrats, they would

probably get to the 218 votes they need. the fact of the matter is, boehner's not going to do that right now and have to do the same thing in two weeks on the debt ceiling. the republican strategy seems to be to merge the two issues together. if boehner and the republicans have to take a tough vote, they can do it all at the same time. but they want some kind of concession from the white house. this is where president obama is getting on riskier territory. his position has been, i'm not going to negotiate on the debt ceiling and reopening the government. how long can that last. it's really a case of who blinks first. >> tell us what's coming up this morning on "meet the press"? >> we have the treasury secretary who will talk about the consequences to the shutdown and potential default. we'll talk to senator rand paul, who early on said he doesn't want the government shutdown, but of course, one of the most vocal opponents of the government's health care plan. and the two c.a.r.e. operations in africa, and talk about that with mike lighter.

>> we'll see you in a bit. thanks much. >> thanks, lester. a zoo employee in oklahoma is lucky to be alive after a tiger attacked her when she stuck her arm in its cage. kerry sanders is at the zoo with an update. >> good morning, erica. that zookeeper here is indeed lucky to be alive. the tiger that attacked her was in a cage like this one here. that tiger's now been removed and is in quarantine. this is what they believe happened here. the zoo owner said that the zookeeper reached through the fencing here like this, and when the tiger came and she tried to pull her arm back, the jacket or maybe a glove got caught, and that is when the tiger attacked. the gw exotic animal park has more than 100 tigers across its 46 acres. a private zoo with so many tigers and lions, not all have names. this is a snapshot of tiger

number seven, the 14-year-old 450-pound male tiger that attacked the big cat supervisor, a woman in her 20s. she was attacked, says the zoo owner, when she reached into the cage with her left arm. >> i feel bad that this has happened. and right now my only concern is that the doctors saved her arm and she'll be able to keep her arm. >> reporter: why did the tiger attack? one theory here is that it could be the smell of goose down from the jacket she was wearing. despite the tiger now tasting human flesh, the zoo owner said he will aggressively defend any suggestion the tiger now needs to be put down. >> you want to use the word mauled. the tiger was in his cage. and she stuck her arm in the cage. so it was an accident. the tiger was just being a

tiger. >> reporter: since 1990, the humane society has documented more than 300 incidents in the united states. often the cause? just as is now believed to be the case in oklahoma, human error. experts say those who work around big cats often drop their guard. >> people have a bad misconception. they tend to associate these animals as some type of do mesz tick pet, some type of companion. these are wild animals. >> reporter: in 2006, the animal rights group peta accused the zoo here of mistreating the animals. but the federal government and the state investigated and found no mistreatment. in fact, the zoo here says that they accept animals, rescue animals that are being mistreated elsewhere. >> kerry sanders, thanks. we want to get caught up with some of the other headlines overnight from craig melvin. >> lester, good morning, erica, good morning to you as well.

fierce winds in southern california, flames broke out in the rural area of camp pendleton. that forced hundreds of people to evacuate a housing area and base hospital. fire officials say about 1,000 acres have burned so far. there are no reports of injuries. power outages and impassable roads are plaguing south dakota this morning. 20 to 30 inches of snow smoth smothered areas in around rapid city. in lead, three and a half feet of snow fell there. customers in the black hills area lost power. the olympic torch is in russia this morning. it was lit in athens exactly seven days ago. and today, a jet carrying the flame landed in moscow. the torch now heads to moscow's red square where the russian president will launch a record-breaking relay. it will travel to 80 regions before arriving in sochi

february 7th. prince harry celebrated the australian navy fleet in sydney, met with the families of fallen soldiers in perth. it marked the prince's first official visit to australia, but it's not the only reason he's making headlines this morning. a london newspaper reports prince harry is now set to marry his girlfriend. the paper says she's finally overcome her fears about marrying into the royal family. >> that's why i said, you know what? i'm just going to stay with my people. >> pack your bags. we may be going back to london. >> i still can't bring a calculator on an airplane, but you can bring a lit torch. >> in russia it's okay. >> different situation. you can still smoke on those planes, too, so now we're really in trouble. stephanie abrams is back with the rest of the national

forecast. >> hey there, guys. good morning to you at home. we have this big front that is crossing the entire united states. a slight risk for some severe weather. ohio is also picking up karen and it will eventually make it . . . good morning, 6:18. anthony slaughter. lots of clear skies. no fog to report no. airport delays. another very warm day. temperatures topping out like yesterday, 82, san francisco, the 90, santa rosa. santa cruz, 84. warm all across the board. we do have showers on the board. more details on "today in the bay" at 7:00. lester, back over to you. >> all right, stephanie, thanks. coming up next, should washington's nfl team change its name? president obama weighs in after this. ♪

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>> i've got to say, if i were the owner of the team, and i knew that there was a name of my team, even if it had a storied history that was offending a sizeable group of people, i would think -- i'd think about changing it. but, you know, i don't want to detract from the wonderful redskins fans that are here. they love their team and rightly so. >> so we put the question to you. we went to today.com, survey question right there on the home page. if a sports team name offends a group of people, should it be changed and an overwhelming number of folks who responded said no. 75% said no, 25% said yes. the conversation continued on twitter. becky saying, absolutely not. this idea of offending people has gotten out of hand. lighten up, people. and christie also chimed in, saying it's more than a group of people. it's a nation of people. the conversation will

undoubtedly continue on social media, as well, lester and erica. >> and continuing else where, too, because the team's attorney responded to the president, including a recent poll from the associated press showing nine out of ten native americans don't think the name should be changed. >> definitely not the last we have heard of that conversation. still to come this morning, miley cyrus taking center stage once again, this time on "saturday night live." and we'll take a look at how it all went in our entertainment wrap-up. but first, these messages.

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good morning to you. looking live at just about sunrise over the bay bridge toll plaza. it is nice and clear. that means it is nice and cool to start this morning. thanks for joining us. i'm kris sanchez along with meteorologist, anthony slaughter. is it going to stay this cool the rest of the day? >> no. it is going to get really warm. >> we are talking about a little warmer than yesterday. if you thought yesterday was hot, get ready. another scorcher of a day. temperatures near 80 in san francisco, just like what we saw yesterday. santa rosa up to 90 later today. livermore, 80. santa teresa at 90. gilroy, 91. a very hot day on the way. even though it is a little chilly this morning. that's that fall air in place.

you will notice as we head to the next few days, things will cool off. we have a system we are watching in the pacific. that will slide this way. more cloud, more fog for the morning. eventually, we will see a few showers. happening right now in oakland, crews at o.co coliseum are working at a fevered pace transforming the stadium from a baseball stadium to football for the chargers game tonight. they have been at it since midnight. a couple of hours after the thrilling finish for the a's and their fans. >> into the field, a base hit, ses ped diswill score. the oakland a's walk off with game two of the alts. >> just like that, the a's evened up their five-game series with the tigers at one game a piece. stephen vogt broke a scoreless tie and they win in walkoff

fashion. game three slated for tomorrow morning at 10:00 in detroit. new information in the battle over the gas line in the peninsula. pg&e will comply with a court order and shut down a natural gas pipeline in san carlos as early as this afternoon. that pipeline known as line 147 runs along brittan avenue and highway 101 and i-280. the worry is that if it fails, it could explode. on friday, a superior court judge ordered them to shut did it doup. a pg&e engineer raised questions about safety. quote, are we sitting on another san bruno? there are distributions that can still deliver natural gas so residents won't have to go

without gas a team of santa clara university students are pulling double duty, not only entrenched in school work but showing off a solar home they built for the solar decathlon as teams compete to build the most energy efficient solar-powered homes. of course, they are from here. all the days news coming up at 7:00. right now, back to the "today" show.

♪ >> i'm molly, celebrating my 14th birthday with the "today" show. >> happy birthday, molly! >> hi, i'm susan! >> and i'm brian. and we have come all the way from rodgersville, tennessee to see lester and erica! >> we're celebrating our 13th anniversary with the "today" show! >> we love the "today" show! and we are back on a sunday morning. it's the 6th day of october, 2013. a great crowd here. celebrating sunday morning. not sure what they're celebrating, but let's do it, everybody. thanks for stopping by. if you're ever in the neighborhood, come by at 49th. >> the more the merrier. i'm here, lester holt, along

with erica hill. as we have mentioned, we have talked time and time again about madeleine mccann, a little girl who disappeared on a family vacation in portugal. new developments that may be giving her family more hope. also this morning, he is loud, espnateded and he is a huge success. whether you love him or hate him, one thing is for sure, bill o'reilly is never boring. i caught up with him, and we'll share some of the conversation as he talks about not only his hit tv show -- >> i bet it was an interesting conversation. >> it was. interesting stuff. we'll share that. also coming up, miley cyrus pulled double duty last night on snl. she was not only a host, also the musical guest. and a new baby for 47-year-old actress halle berry. all that and more coming up in our entertainment round-up. >>. yes. howard dean's radio partner, rob robin quivers on her life and

death battle with cancer. a big front continues to move eastbound. the question is, are we talking about autumn or are we talking about summer? because we are feeling the heat in front of this front. we have the southerly flow. so winds go from the south to the north. look at our temperatures there. virginia beach, 11 degrees above average. philadelphia, you are 13 degrees above average. so it is certainly going to be a warm one today. but that's not going to last long. why? you see that front right there, that's going to be your best friend. that's going to wash away all of that heat here along the i-95 corridor. that's where it is today. tomorrow, it gets closer to the east coast. you can see, there are are the showers. anywhere from new england all the way down to florida. now h good morning. 6:32. waking up to clear skies across the bay area this morning. not a whole lot happening here in your weather forecast. another very warm day like what we saw yesterday. you'll notice when you step out the door, a little chill in the air. temperatures in the 40s and 50s.

autumn air in place. by this afternoon, summerlike. 82, san francisco, 86, oakland, 87, livermore. 90, santa rosa and 90 in santa teresa. get ready for a hot day. keep the spf handy. rain in the forecast for wednesday. right, guys? always 5:00 somewhere. okay. so we are going to take you now to our top spot, and that is santa rosa, california. and the harvest fair in the backyard of our nbc affiliate in the bay area, nbc 11. now, the world championship grape grape stomp, fun to watch. something always seems to happen with those. it's not only great stomping but also an annual fall celebration. also free wine tasting. yeah, we like that. and food pairing workshops taught by local celebrity chefs. if you're in the area, be sure to head out to wine country. lester, back to you. >> all right, stephanie, thanks. more than six years after she vanished while her family was on vacation, there is still hope today that madeleine mccann

may be found alive. overnight, her parents expressed new opt oh minimum about the case. >> reporter: madeleine mccann was just 3 years old when she disappeared from her parents' vacation apartment in portugal in 2007. they have been fighting ever since, trying to find their little girl. this morning, the mccanns have released a new statement, saying they are greatly encouraged by new information coming to light. they say pieces of the jigsaw are now fitting together. but what are those pieces? scotland yard detectives have revealed they're analyzing cell phone data from the portuguese resort where the mccans were staying. they're trying to track down as many of the people who were in the small town as possible. >> in essence, they know within a few minutes when she disappeared. if they can identify every cell phone that was used in that area, they may identify the person. >> reporter: madeline's parents will once again appear on a british crime show, alongside

detectives, who will reveal some of the new information. in that statement just released, kate and jerry mccann also say, we are really hopeful that the fourth coming on crime watch will take us a step closer to finding madeline and bringing those responsible for her abduction to justice. this week, british tabloids are full of theories of what the new leads could be, from maddie interrupting burglars to a possible international pedophile ring. insiders of scotland yard dismissed the report as speculation. british workers have identified more people they believe might be able to help with their investigation. there are now 41. the hope is one of them can help find a little girl who would now be 10 years old. for "today," duncan golastoni, nbc news, london. >> now here's erica. bill o'reilly is riding high these days, both on tv and as an author. is he the same guy, though,

off-screen as he is on? the short answer? yes. >> caution. you are about to enter the no-spin zone. >> he's one of the country's most well-known tv personalities. outspoken. >> you people should be ashamed. >> you are lying! >> never one to shy away from debate. a formula that has made "the e o'reilly factor" the number one cable news show for more than 13 years. what do you think is that you have that connects with millions of people every night? >> authenticity. i'm genuine. i'm not any different off-camera. you can ask the crew. i'm the same. i think it's rare on tv. >> o'reilly is also the author of 12 -- yes, 12, number-one best-sellers. his latest, "killing jesus." >> why jesus? >> well, i'm trying to bring into focus -- sharp focus the people that i feel have

influenced america and the world in a very profound way. 80% of americans describe themselves as christians. how much do they know about him? >> o'reilly coauthored the book with martin dugard, the same man he partnered with for killing lincoln and killing kennedy. they say this isn't a religious or even theological book. it's a history book. the reviews are mixed. >> they review me, not the book. don't like me, so they'll say nasty things about the book. >> you give criticism, you take criticism. how much of that do you let get to you? >> i used to let it get to me more than i do now. because it used to be more personal than it is now. but, you know, look. as you said, i dish it out, i've got to take it. and i do. >> o'reilly's tv staff is used to his style. he's quick and decisive. >> a little too squishy. i'm a commentator. if i have people writing my own commenta commentary, you know, there is something false about it. >> o'reilly celebrates 18 years

at fox news this weekend. so what's next? what's on your -- >> retirement. >> when does that happen? you don't seem like the kind of guy slowing down any time soon. >> well, i work hard, but, you know, i'm not andy rooney, with all due respect to him. he was brilliant. i don't want to be working when i'm 90. >> that said, o'reilly isn't leaving the no-spin zone just yet. and clearly, there's still demand for his nightly takes. >> i'm most proud that we're honest. we don't stab anybody in the back. we stab them in the front. but not in the back. you know? i mean, we're upfront here. and we've been that way since the very beginning. >> o'reilly told me, he's already working on that next book. he says it will focus on world war ii. but wouldn't get more specific than that. up next, controversial singer miley cyrus poking fun at herself on "saturday night live." we've got the latest in our entertainment roundup, right after this. or ulcerative colitiscrohn's die

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he was a matted messiley in a small cage. ng day. so that was our first task, was getting him to wellness. without angie's list, i don't know if we could have found all the services we needed for our riley. from contractors and doctors to dog sitters and landscapers, you can find it all on angie's list. we found riley at the shelter, and found everything he needed at angie's list. join today at angieslist.com ♪ ♪ >> that's miley cyrus having fun on last night's saturday night

lives. a new baby for halle berry. >> here to go through all of that with us, good morning. >> good morning. >> we have to start with mile yea cyrus. you watched the whole thing? >> sacrificed for the team. >> she did great. dare i say it? she was really good. she did an acoustic performance of "can't stop," sang "wrecking ball." she started off with this monologue, addressing her performance and got to it. >> what kind of impact could this potentially have on her reputation going forward? she needed a little something. >> she needed a good impact. she first hosted "snl" in 2011. miley can act and actually sing and not all about showing your body parts, it's about talent that she has. >> a lot of online buzz about her performance last night. a lot of expectations whether they should be outrageous. craig? >> lester, most folks out there on the internet expressed the

same sentiment as alicia. this is one of our twitters. you can see the adjectives, amazing, hilarious, great, perfect, and twerk also mentioned as well. conversation continued on twitter. would love to be over twerking already, but every skit so far has implied it. enough already. who are we to judge? liked her before, and still do. i think she's handling the criticism well. but again, the overwhelming response? pretty positive, lester, erica. >> she's getting a lot of buzz. which is what being a celebrity is all about. i saw this movie "gravity." the audience, when i saw it, applauded at the end. i liked it a lot. >> then we saw interviews with them earlier this work. i said, george, you've been friends for so long. you're single, she's single. why is this not happening?

he said because they've been friends for 20 years. can't do that. but they're hilarious. this movie is getting oscar buzz. >> and they've got a good friendship. >> he's pretty handsome. >> hold on a second. >> i'm happily married. he's gorgeous. i'm just saying, if you have a good friendship, not worth messing it up. also, good news. very exciting news. congratulations in order for halle berry. >> we broke the story on e. she got married earlier this summer. she has a 5-year-old daughter, and she said she was praying for a sibling. now has a little boy. >> so exciting. >> very happy for her. thank you for coming by. >> my pleasure. erica, go see "gravity." >> it's on my list. and the glasses aren't as dirty as they used to be.

they're much more comfortable. just so you know. all right. you can watch "e news" week nights. no tweety glasses required. up next, howard stearn's right-hand woman on her triumphant return to the studio after a cancer battle and how she says a healthy diet helped save her life right after this. ♪

[ telephone rings ] how's the camping trip? well, the kids had fun, but i think i slept on a rock. ♪ the best part of wakin' up what are you doing? having coffee. ohh. ♪ is folgers in your cup

robin quivers is best known as howard dean's partners in crime on the radio. it's a position she has held for more than 30 years. >> after a 17-month absence from the radio studio while she battled cancer, robin made her triumphant return this week. it was a day howard worried might never come. >> there was a time i really did think i was going to lose you permanently. and i'll tell you what, this is a pretty remarkable day. that you are here triumphant and cured. i mean, i never would have predicted this. >> robin describes her health struggles, past and present, in her new book, the vegucation of robin. >> i've got to change the name

of the book. because -- it's the veg-cation of robin. >> sorry. you're here to correct us. >> it's okay. i have to tell everyone the name of the book. >> more reason to keep promoting it then. think of it that way. we just saw a clip of your first day back in the studio after seven months. you're feeling great. >> yeah. >> what an emotional day that must have been for you. >> well, we have had a lot of emotional days over this 17 months. it's not an easy thing to put your friends and loved ones through, when you're going through something like this. they worry more about you than you worry about yourself. and they struggle more, because they feel helpless. and there's really nothing they can do but stand by. >> let's turn the clock back. it was spring of 2012. you just finished writing the book. >> yeah. >> doctors find this mass -- >> in my pelvis. >> turned out to be endometrial cancer and a very difficult road ahead. what was your attitude at that point? >> well, things happened so

fast. from the diagnosis to surgery was about ten days. and in that ten days, there's lots of tests being done and you are finding out various things and maybe not much of anything at all. and you don't know what to think. and then when you go into surgery, they say just hope for a long surgery, because we really don't know how this is going to turn out. so -- >> comforting. >> yeah, so i was sort of in the middle of it all, and you know, howard and others were actually aware that it was such a serious and dire situation. >> he really -- i mean, you two are very close, as we know. >> yeah. >> work together for more than 30 years. >> he really in many ways was your rock. >> oh, my goodness. the first person i called was howard after i got home and i needed a doctor, i was looking for a recommendation from beth, maybe. and he then said, "oh, my goodness, robin, what reing with going to do?" and he helped me put together my medical team. he was -- they were there after every appointment saying, what

happened, what do we do next, what do we need now. and then at a certain point he just took over and said i'm getting you the best. you're going to have everything you need. and i just sat there for the first time in my life and let people take care of me. and he was the first among them. >> and it's not uncommon for people in the public light to live their illness as publicly. you kept it secret. and you were kind of calling into the show. >> well, i was on an isd line at home. they set up a special line for me so i could do the show from home. >> and you never explained why you weren't in the studio. >> not really. because we do a comedy show and you don't want to be sitting there thinking is she going to be all right while trying to make you laugh. so we decided we don't know how the story is going to turn out. i want to get on the air for four hours every day. >> two days -- >> two-and-a-half three days. >> that long of a period. >> you have some sick leave coming to you. >> lester is going to make sure you get it. you credit a lot of what

happened the way your body was able to handle this and fight it to the fact that you're a vegan. >> yes. i had a lot of problems before this. you know, right around the time of 9/11, i wasn't feeling very well at all. i didn't have a lot of strength or stamina or energy. all i did was work and sleep. and i thought, if i h been in that building that day, i wouldn't have been able to make it out on my own. and i thought, that's a terrible way to live. that's no way to go out in life. and so i went on this journey to find out what was going on. and i eventually discovered how i felt had something to do with the way i was eating. and i eventually discovered the best way for me to eat was to be vegan. and all of those things that i was struggling with went away. i went from not being able to walk a block to running a marathon. so it was a wonderful transformation. >> right. >> and because i was so strong, i think it helped me through the surgery, the treatment,

everything. >> and you read about all of that in the book. it's nice to have you with us this morning. glad to see you feeling so well. robin quivers, thanks. >> okay. >> we're back after these messages. >> we're back after these messages. ♪ to improour schools... ... 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. [ male announcer ] make fall fantastic with store-wide deals like 4 mums for $10 at lowe's. ♪ when your allergies start, doctors recommend taking

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and a big week for us here at nbc. education nation, our initiative, gets into full swing here in new york. you know, there are 60 million americans age 55 and older. and so we start off this week talking about a program and a school that's showing older folks, it's never too late to go back to class. here's rehema ellis. >> see what she is doing. >> reporter: she is 69 years old and retired. but four days a week, phyllis pricer goes back to school to teach young children. >> here, baby cake.

>> reporter: pricer is part of the senior corps foster grandparent program in washington, d.c. >> we experienced a great deal, and we can teach others. >> reporter: she is one of a group of 30,000 volunteers age 55 and older who mentor more than 100,000 children a year nationwide. and the instruction goes beyond the abcs of colors and construction paper. does grandma help you learn how to be nice to each other? >> yeah. >> yes? >> reporter: 104-year-old virginia mcforest is a foster grandparent too. and she says it's not just academic. kids need to learn social graces in school, as well. you're also teaching them respect. >> yes. you've got to do that sometime in education. ♪ old mcdonald >> reporter: research shows this style of teaching is also having a big impact on test scores. >> the data tells us that children who are touched by

foster grandparents have a higher education achievement level. >> reporter: in fact, one study administered by the corporation for national and community service show that 92% of mentored children in southern kentucky improved their math and reading comprehension in a single year. and it's not just the kids who benefit. older americans who volunteer report lower levels of depression. increased brain activity and lower mortality rates. and it's true for 59-year-old tony woods, a retired construction worker. >> sure, i know something, but i'm the one that's learning from them. >> it gives me a feeling of a generation. it's sometimes hard to explain. ♪ >> reporter: children and grandparents moving together that learning never gets old. for "today," rehema ellis, nbc news, washington. >> that's a great program. that's going to do it for us on this sunday morning.

thanks for being with us. >> check in