the storm. the police officer who arrested a black scholar at that man's own home speaks out in-depth for the first time. >> i knew that it was going to bring a certain amount of attention. unwanted attention on me. nonetheless, that's how far professor gates pushed it. >> that exclusive interview as president obama defends his remarks that the police acted stupidly. the evidence. nbc news obtains the list of items confiscated during a raid on the office of michael jackson's personal doctor. now the specific target of a manslaughter investigation. this as jackson's mother tells the court she's out of cash and needs financial help to raise michael's three children. and wild wedding. the bridal party getting raves on youtube, after one of the most creative trips to the altar we've ever seen "today," friday, most creative trips to the altar we've ever seen "today," friday, july 24th, 2009. captions paid for by nbc-universal television

and good morning. welcome to "today" on a friday morning. i'm matt lauer. >> and i'm meredith vieira. and this morning we are hearing sargent james crowley's account of what happened on the night that he arrested har verdict professor henry louis gates jr. for the first time. >> he sat down thursday with the nbc station in boston, because he says he is tired of being labeled a racist. sergeant crowley also spoke out about president obama's comment that he acted stupidly. a remark the president is now defending. we're going to have more on this story coming up in just a couple of minutes. >> also ahead, an important milestone on wall street. the dow topped 9,000 on thursday for the first time since january. this as a major investment firm tells clients the recession is over. so is it? we're going to talk about that with dylan ratigen and suze

orman, and suze also has advice on the best place to put your savings. >> did you peek out the window this morning? >> i have. >> we have a massive, massive crowd out on the plaza this morning. these people are here to see one of the biggest names in pop music these days. she is katy perry. we're going to hear from her live in concert in our 8:30 half hour. let us begin this morning with the police sergeant behind the controversial arrest of a black scholar. nbc's ron allen is in cambridge, massachusetts, with more on the story. ron, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, matt. sergeant james crowley said he's speaking out because he's tired of being called a racist and because he said he was offended when president obama said the cambridge police acted stupidly. setting the scene. remember crawly was assigned to a 911 call from a neighbor who thought she saw someone breaking into the home of professor henry louis gates jr. gates and crowley have very different versions of what happened. crowley said he first encountered gates at the front

door. >> i asked him if he could step outside and speak with me. he said, no, i will not again. again, what's this all about? i said i'm sergeant crowley from the cambridge police department. i'm investigating a break-in progress. and he responded, why? because i'm a black man in america? in a very agitated tone. and again, i thought that was a little strange. his appearance did lead me to believe that maybe he isn't your typical breaking and entering type person. however, that response to me was pretty strange, and uncommon in my experience. i then asked him if there was anybody else in the residence, and my reasons for asking that is twofold. first of all, there was reports that there was two individuals. i see one, and it could be him. so where's the second person? or, there's two people in the residence that he doesn't know are there. either way, i wasn't expecting his response which was, that's none of your business. to me, that's a strange response from somebody who has nothing to hide. just trying to cooperate with

the police. >> reporter: crowley told whth 7 news in boston that he warned gates several times that he was acting disorderly and then arrested him. >> i was leaving. as i reached the porch, i could -- i was aware that now he was following me because he was still yelling about racism and black men in america, and that he wasn't somebody to be messing with. >> reporter: his story is at odds with gates' description of the first encounter. >> i said this is my house. i'm a hr vard profess per i said i live her. he said can you prove it? i walked into the kitchen to get my harvard i.d. and massachusetts driver's license. he followed me without my permission. i gave him the two i.d.s and i demanded to know his name and his badge number. he wouldn't say anything. he was very upset. i said why are you not responding to me? are you not responding to me because you're a white police officer and i'm a black man? he turned, walked out, turned his back on me, walked out. i followed him onto my porch, looked like a police convention

there were so many policemen outside. i stepped out on my porch and said i want to know your colleague's name and his badge number, and this officer said, thank you for accommodating my earlier request, you are under arrest. look how tumultuous i am. i'm 5'7", i weigh 150 pounds, and my tumultuous, outrageous action was to demand he give me his name and badge number. >> he was the one that was being provocative. this wasn't a back and forth exchange of banter or arguing. this was one-sided. i was continuously telling him to calm down during this whole exchange because i really didn't want this either. although i didn't know at the time who professor gates was, knowing he was an affiliate of harvard, i really didn't want to have to take such a drastic action, because i knew that it was going to bring a certain amount of attention, unwanted attention on me. nonetheless, that's how far professor gates pushed it and

provoked and just wouldn't stop. >> reporter: with gates leveling angry accusations of racial profiling at sergeant crowley, the charges were dropped tuesday. but then wednesday, president obama, during a press conference about health care reform, answered a question about the incident. saying he understood why gates was angry. while criticizing the police. >> the cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home. >> i was a little surprised and disappointed that the president, who didn't have all the facts by his own admission, then weighed in on the events of that night, and he made a comment that, you know, really offended not just officers in the cambridge police department, but officers around the country. but that being said, i have tremendous amount of respect and support the president of the united states in everything he's trying to do in this day and age. so i think it's disappointing. >> reporter: even though his remarks have been a big

distraction from one of his highest domestic priorities, health care, thursday the president insisted he did not regret what he said. >> you know, i have to say, i'm surprised by the controversy surrounding my statement, because i think it was a pretty straightforward commentary that you probably don't need to handcuff a guy, a middle-aged man who uses a cane, who's in his own home. >> reporter: the president said he respects the difficulty police state, but coolers heads should have prevailed. >> i think that it doesn't make sense, with all the problems that we have out there, to arrest a guy in his own home if he's not causing a serious disturbance. >> the story is over. >> reporter: gates has demanded an apology. crowley insists that will never happen. he only says he regrets the event. >> the amount of negative things that aren't true that he was saying about me at least warranted a response and allow people to see that i'm not a monster, or a bigot or racist that he has portrayed me to be.

this is me. >> reporter: a couple of other items. the cambridge police revealed that there was, in fact, a break-in at gates' home while he was away on vacation. another reason the officer may have been cautious and suspicious. the police also say the sergeants for the past couple of years have been teaching a course to cadets and other officers about how to avoid racial profiling. gates on the other hand is one of the foremost authorities on race relations in this country. the police said they're going to set up an independent panel in the community to review what happened and see what can be learned from all this. >> all right, ron allen in cambridge this morning. thanks very much. let's bring in david gregory, moderator of nbc's "meet the press." good morning to you. >> good morning, matt. >> the president says he doesn't understand all the controversy and attention this is getting. he says he stands by his comments, although he's gotten some negative criticism from a lot of police departments across the country. he said he doesn't regret what he said, but do you get a sense that top advisers in the white house would like a do-over on

this one? >> well, they certainly went out of their way to soften some of that language a little built. and you heard the president in ron's piece saying during an interview he thought cooler heads should have prevailed. look, his reaction was consistent throughout the day yesterday. which is he thought it was stupid that they would handcuff him when they could establish that it was his home and he was inside his own home. and there was a level of irritation that you could sense, both from the president, and his top advisers, about why this had gotten as much attention as it did. perhaps not realizing when the president weighs in like this, it's going to get a great deal of attention. they went out of their way, matt, to soften that language a little bit, to be a little bit more inclusive of the other side by the end of the day. >> frustration also because of the timing of this. here, this comes up and gets all these headlines. even as the president is trying -- he's up to his neck trying to pass this health care reform. so clearly this is not what he wants people to be talking about at this stage. >> absolutely not. and certainly not at the top of the program, as it's been this morning. and that's the difficulty for an

administration that wants to control the message, they want to only talk about health care. the president's doing a lot of interviews. he's really out there. but you know, if you think about the press conference the other night, it was a pretty dry affair. it was very clinical, talking about health care. and yet the only moment of some passion and shop candor and some kind of personal interest was the president talking about his friend, henry louis gates, professor gates. so that is going to get attention. he's also very careful about the way he speaks about things normally, and this was a case where he went a little bit farther because he thought, as you could tell, that it was kind of a logical matter, that this should have been a different response. the president, you can also tell, i think is irritated about the ways of the press sometimes. and you could tell that he was genuinely surprised that this would rise to the top of the agenda in the way that it did. >> let me ask you a couple of things on health care specifically. why in the world did the president himself set an august deadline for passing this reform? shouldn't he have left that up to someone like harry reid to handle the scheduling on this

issue, so if it didn't happen, it's a little bit of a hit to harry reid, it doesn't look like a big problem for president obama? >> well, inside the white house, top advisers maintain that the deadline was the right thing to do. they'll take the hit on missing the deadline. they think that putting one in there got a lot of work to be done when it may not have gotten done. so they're lowering their sights a little bit hoping to get the committee work done, in hopes of getting a bigger debate by the fall. >> whatever happened, remember when al franken was seated in the senate and it gave the democrats a 60-seat majority and a filibuster-proof majority, and of course dominant numbers in the house and everybody said well now, the white house can get everything in their agenda they want, and here we are on health care, the first major test, and the president can't rally the democrats. >> well, that's a problem. you've got conservative democrats who don't like all this spending. remember back in 2006, the democrats really did something impressive. they got a lot of democrats from conservative areas to get elected. well, this is the downside of that. that you try to get a health

care bill through with a lot of spending, a lot of controversy, some of those same conservative democrats are going to say, hang on, not so fast. >> you've got a big interview sunday on "meet the press." >> hillary clinton, the secretary of state, our first live sunday morning interview for the full hour. we're going to talk about her trip around the world recently. all that she's done and some of the hot spots like iran and north korea. >> all right. have a good show, david. thanks very much. >> thanks, matt. >> and it is now 12 after the hour. here's meredith. >> matt, thank you. now to encouraging news on wall street. the dow jones industrial average has dopped 9,000 for the first time since january, after climbing nearly 1,000 points in nine trading days. and with 12 straight days of gains, the nasdaq is on its longest winning streak since 1992. cnbc's melissa lee is at the new york stock exchange with good morning. >> good morning to you, meredith. it was a powerful combination of better than expected earnings and good news out of the housing market that sent stocks to their highest close since november. signs of life in corporate

america, sending wall street higher thursday, with the dow crossing 9,000 for the first time since january. internet auction site ebay, auto manufacturer ford, and post-it maker 3m all reporting better than expected quarterly earnings. >> the market started out looking towards goldman sachs to knock the cover off the ball, starting off the earnings season. can the rest of the companies fulfill what goldman did? >> also boosting stocks, evidence that there may be a recovery under way in the housing market. sales of existing homes in june were up 3.6%, to the highest level since october of last year. as first-time home buyers rushed to take advantage of a tax credit expiring in the fall. and traders say the senate's decision not to vote on health care until after the august recess added fuel to the rally. >> it's better to have a product that is one based on quality, and thoughtfulness, rather than trying to jam something through. >> reporter: still, some are

skeptical about the rally's staying power, especially with new signs of weakness from the labor market. the number of workers filing for jobless benefits ticking up last week to 554,000. and thursday after the close, tech bellwether microsoft posted disappointing earnings and that really cast some doubt as to whether the rest of the earnings picture can support the stock market momentum. we've still got about two thirds of the s&p 500 set to post their results. meredith? >> all right, cnbc's melissa lee. thank you very much. dylan ratigen is the host of msnbc's "morning meeting" good morning to you. >> good morning. >> on the surface this all looks gray. merrill lynch telling its clients the recession is over. is it? >> it is and it isn't. it's sort of a good news/bad news situation. remember, last fall we found ourselves on the verge of the financial apocalypse or so they say. that means a complete freezing of all the banking system, mass layoffs, no paychecks, runs on banks. that's the fear. last fall, ben bernanke, the treasury secretary, hank paulson and then tim geithner made the

decision, understandably so, to take all of the debts created in the u.s. banking system, and across this country, away from the banks, and take them for the u.s. taxpayer. that's trillions of dollars. in potential debt that we all owe on our credit cards, our houses, et cetera. so it's like a surgery where basically the government went in and said we're going to take the debt that you guys all owe out and we're going to take it and the taxpayer is going to be responsible for it. >> they solved one problem and potentially created another one. >> that's exactly it. they about it as the cost to open the parachute to save us from the disastrous practices that were being exhibited on wall street. so the good news is, 9,000 on the dow, evidence that, oh, thank goodness, this thing has stabilized. people are going to be able to work. we have a lower functioning economy that is still losing jobs at a lower speed. >> so what does it mean -- >> that's the good news. >> what does it mean long-term? >> long-term it means the american people have to reform

the way our government makes rules for banks. the way our government makes rules for health. and other things. but specifically the banking rules allowed our banks to create trillions of dollars in risk, in order for the people running those banks to pay themselves billions of dollars. the american tax pay iris now responsible for the terrible decisions of those people, but, those decisions of those people created so much risk that the american people and the american government felt it had no choice but to take that risk. >> we also haven't created a system where that won't happen again? >> that's the thing that frustrates me the most. it's as if we just disinflated the air bag in the car that ran into a ditch but no one wants to talk about why the car ran into the ditch. don't confuse the air bag with the solution. the solution is to fix 9 system, the air bag was there to prevent us from being eaten by a bad system. >> and we're still heading down a bad road? >> the number one thing is to create jobs. we've got warren buffett on at 9:00 this morning

exexpoliceately to talk about how to create jobs. if we can create jobs the risks go down. if we can't create jobs for our students, for our children, for people that need work in this country, we're going to have real problems. and that's what obama and the rest of our politicians are trying to wrestle with. >> dylan ratigen, thank you so much. you can catch morning meeting week days from 9:00 to 11:00 eastern time. as dylan said this morning his interview with warren buffett. now let's get the rest of the top stories from ann curry at the news desk. >> good morning, meredith. and good morning, everybody. also in the news this morning, a sobering prediction about swine flu. the world health organization's top flu expert said the pandemic is still in its early stages and while there are now some 130,000 cases worldwide, he predicted as many as 2 billion people could be infected before the pandemic ends. the ntsb is now investigating a deadly helicopter crash during the night in maryland. all four people on board were killed when the commercial helicopter crashed onto a

highway and burst into flames. there was rain and fog at the time, but officials don't know if weather was a factor in the crash. no vehicles on the highway were hit. police in indonesia said today that they found a third bomb in one of the two luxury hotels targeted by terrorists last week. they say they found it on the 18th floor of the marriott, set to explode first. but it failed to go off. two other bombs did explode, killing nine people and wounding more than 50 people. a massive investigation in new york city and new jersey has led to more than 40 arrests, including three mayors, two state assembly men and five rab rabbis. they are accused of laundering money and/or accepting bribes. the federal minimum wage goes up to $7.25 as of today. that means a 07 cent an hour raise for as many as 5 million americans. as water cronkite's funeral in new york city on thursday, he was remembered as a kind and trusted friend, and a caring and thoughtful journalist.

talked about his get it first and get it right motto. his intrinsic goodness and his love of the sea in what turned out to be a celebration of a life well lived. and white sox pitcher mark buerhle is celebrating a perfect game. he didn't allow any hits or walks, retiring all 27 tampa bay batters he faced. and he has some spectacular refencive help from center fielder dwayne wise in the ninth inning to rob tampa bay of a home run and preserve only the 18th perfect game in major league history. it is now 7:19. let's go back to matt and meredith. >> congratulations to mark buehrle. but he should be buying -- ever after that catch. it was an amazing game and an amazing play. >> the crowd is fantastic. >> huge. really huge. >> katy perry coming up in about half an hour.

first a check of t t >> we are going to look at a high of about 84 degrees. slight chance of afternoon showers and storms. you may be running into patchy fog out there could the humidity

will stay with us tomorrow. and that's the latest weather. matt, meredith? >> it's getting loud up here, al. thank you very much. when we come back we'll ask the question -- engaged to his longtime girlfriend kate middleton? we'll try to find out. ú

still ahead, the police find enough evidence to charge michael jackson's daughter with manslaughter? plus why katherine jackson said she needs money to raise her grandchildren. >> and a bridal party's dance down the aisle.

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>> live, local, latebreaking. this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore. >> good morning. i'm jennifer franciotti. here is a look at one of our top stories. interstate 7 has reopened after a helicopter crashed on the eastbound lane, killing four people. it happened around 10:30 last night, 10 mi. east of hagerstown. a witness told state police that they saw the chopper flying low. there was a bright arc of electricity, a pair of the cost from the chopper hitting a power line. why now, it is unclear if income and weather played a factor. the ntsb is expected to release more details this morning. we will have the latest on the investigation today on 11 news at noon. let's get a check on the morning commute with sarah caldwell. >> accident causing delays on

northbound 295. it is blocking two left lanes there and causing heavy delays to 895. another accident on southbound i-95 at eastern. delays on southbound 95 out of the white marsh area. downed pole at cockeysville at warren road and green side. all lanes are closed on warren road. delays are ready. , normal. -- delays around the area, nor will it 10-minute ride on southbound 95. 95 at white marsh, looking pretty good. just below white marsh, backing down towards the beltway. live view of hartford, standard delays towards providence. >> patchy fog out there this morning, still really very humid. torrential downpours last night. today, more of the pop-up a variety showers and thunderstorms. high of 84 in central maryland.

on ocean city, not a bad each day. seven-day forecast shows hot tomorrow. in '91 and mostly sunny. >> we will see back here for another report in 25 minutes.

♪ 7:30 now on this friday morning, july 24th, 2009. rain in the forecast a little later, but things are looking nice and dry for a live concert on the plaza, katy perry coming up in our:30 half hour. inside studio 1a, i'm meredith vieira inside along with matt lauer. we all remember the pain of last summer's record-high gas prices. >> they topped out about $4 a gallon. how would you like to imagine life in this country if gas prices were $8, $10, even $20 per gallon. how would our lives change on a daily basis? we're going to talk to a guy who actually says that that could be one of the greatest things to ever happen to this country. we'll find out more about that. >> really? >> that's what he says. >> hmm. plus, is prince william ready to pop the question? he is now 27. he's dated kate middleton on and off for eight years.

we're going to have the latest on their royal romance. >> and the couple, speaking of romance, behind this bridal party's creative trip to the altar. this video was posted on youtube. now hundreds of thousands of you have logged on to watch it. we're going to talk to the bride and groom who came up with the idea in just a couple of minutes. but first in this half hour, let's begin with new information in the death of michael jackson. nbc news has obtained a list of items confiscated during a police raid on the offices of jackson's personal physician. nbc's jeff rossen is in los angeles with the latest on this. jeff, good morning. >> reporter: hey, matt, good morning to you. all the talk, all the speculation, all comes down to this, really. for the first time, court papers reveal dr. conrad murray is the target of this criminal investigation. we saw detectives storm his office on wednesday. now, this morning, we're learning more about the manslaughter case they're building against him. we watched as federal drug agents rummaged through dr. conrad murray's office in

houston. now, nbc news has obtained the search warrant, and the wording says it all. investigators were looking for evidence of the offense of manslaughter that tend to show that dr. conrad murray committed the said criminal offense. the warrant shows investigators confiscated 21 items, including a rolodex card, e-mails from a yahoo! account, a letter, a forensic image of a business computer and vials of the plugs phentermine. investigators also searched dr. murray's storage unit in houston. there they found incomplete charts, notices from the irs, a suspension notice and two computer hard drives. >> they are looking at dr. murray. they are seriously investigating him for manslaughter and looking for any piece of evidence that will help them put a case together against him. >> reporter: dr. murray's lawyer wouldn't comment on this new information but maintains his client did nothing wrong.

michael jackson's autopsy results could be released next week, and could decide whether or not criminal charges are filed. >> the coroner could decide that it's not a homicide, and the district attorney has the right to make his own independent decision that it was a homicide, and pursue the case as he thinks it's appropriate. >> reporter: and now there are new money problems inside the jackson family. katherine jackson went from grandmother to primary guardian literally overnight. she has temporary custody of michael's kids. paris, prince and blanket. but in new court papers just filed, katherine claims now that michael's gone, so is the cash. other than extremely modest social security benefits, mrs. jackson has no independent means of support, the papers say. there is an urgent need to pay a family allowance for the benefit of the minor children. >> they use the word urgent. they went in for ex parte, which means right then and there, no hearing. and that kind of suggests that the till is dry. >> reporter: but the judge

denied the motion. katherine jackson won't get a dime yet. pending a hearing. >> michael jackson owns a home that his parents lived in. several members of his family have been in his employ over the years, and it's certainly, you know, one would assume that financial relationships between michael and members of his family were pretty deep. >> reporter: to help, the executors of his estate are working on a new publishing deal to reprint jackson's 1988 au autobiography "moon walk." aeg, the concert promoters, are looking to make some money back, too. msnbc.com reports they just sold the rights of michael's final rehearsals, and have scrapped next month's tribute concert in london. as we go into the weekend, here's what you can watch for. the final autopsy results could be released next week, as we mentioned. of course, criminal charges could follow after that pretty fast. and looking further ahead, august 3rd is the big hearing date, matt, for custody and the estate. a lot going on. >> jeff, thank you very much.

jeff rossen in los angeles. >> and now let's get a check of the weather from al. >> thanks, matt and meredith. >> for the most part, it has been a cool summer, too. today, mid-80's, not so bad.

tomorrow, it's easy, hot, and humid. 89 on sunday. 85 years old today? >> yes, sir. >> happy birthday. >> god bless you. >> you, too, as well. 15 years to the smucker's jar. if you want to check your latest weather 24/7 go to the weather channel on cable, weather.com online. matt and meredith? >> al, thank you. thanks to the internet we have seen a wealth of couples performing crazy dance routines at their wedding receptions. well, one couple has taken things a step further, getting down at the ceremony itself. >> that's right the ceremony itself. we're going to speak to the couple behind it all in just a moment. first take a look at their wedding party's wild walk down

the aisle. ♪ ♪ ♪ it's a long way ♪ ♪

snoufrd. 6 ♪ and here are the newlyweds, kevin hines and jill peterson. good morning. >> good morning. >> if that was a ceremony i don't know how you survived the honeymoon. all right, whose idea was it? >> i think it was mine. yeah. i danced grewing up and was a dancer through college and love dance as a way to express yourself, and show joy. it was something that i had always thought about doing. >> but kevin you really got into it, somersaulting, that's quite an entrance. >> yeah, i'm just glad i didn't hurt myself. >> he jumped on board pretty quick. it was the first thing we really decided about our wedding. >> but this involved the entire wedding party. can you talk to me a little bit about the choreography.

there were late-night rehearsals? how did you keep it a secret? >> we really only did one rehearsal the thursday before. >> we did it in about an hour and a half. a lot of that people were just sort of making up as they went. people got really into it and went with it. >> free form? >> yeah, we gave them a general layout. >> now when you told your folks because i know they knew. >> they knew. >> what was their reaction? >> they were really excited. >> yeah. i think a little nervous, bought she was on board. >> my parents were definitely apprehensive after they saw it. they knew, you know, that's jill and kevin. >> that's the kind of people you are? >> exactly. >> crazy. >> did anyone perform cpr on the minister? was that person in on this? or was that a shock? >> she was. she's actually a relative of mine. she was in on it and was really excited about it. >> you didn't mean for this to be released unto the public at large, right? >> oh, no. >> you put it on youtube for friends and family. >> right, yeah.

i put it up i think on sunday because her dad had been really harassing me to kind of get it out to some of his other family members, and -- >> and it exploded. >> then it exploded. it's wild. >> well, it's the rage. on the internet. and i think the nicest thing to say about this is if you can have that much fun at the wedding, that much fun will carry over also into your marriage. and that's what a great sign and what a great gift. >> thank you. >> nice to meet you both. >> why can't you do the show like that? >> if anybody wants to see that? kevin and jill, thanks. good luck and congratulations. >> thank you. >> the entire wedding party will be back tomorrow here on "today" to perform that dance routine live. get ready. >> lester. >> just ahead this morning, how to make your money make you money. suze orman will tell us the best places to stash our cash these days. but up next, a reason to welcome paying higher gas prices. we're going to talk to an author who says it could actually make our lives better. that's right after this.

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with a look at the past 24 hours on royal caribbean's liberty of the sea. charles fuller enjoyed his first cup of the day on his morning swim. baby guitierrez and his dad jonathan pumped some iron. merle buckmire hung ten with a little help from a friend. and finally, erwin and edwin serenaded the ladies on deck 12. that's the news. i'm emily hill cruising with royal caribbean, why aren't you? we're back now at 7:43. could higher gas prices be a good thing? this morning the national average for a gallon of regular unleaded is $2.47. that's considerably lower than the record high of $4.11 we were all paying last july. but imagine paying more. a lot more. "forbes" magazine writer

christopher stinar is the offer of $20 per gallon, how the inevitable rise in the price of gasoline will change our lives for the better. christopher, good morning. nice to see you. >> thank you. >> people sitting at home right now saying wait a second, maybe we'll pay $20 a gallon and it's a good thing. what is he smoking? you understand that, right? >> absolutely. >> why do you come up with the fact that this could actually be a good thing for this country? >> well, it's important to understand that $20 per gallon, those types of figures, those are a couple decades away. but, what's important to understand is that we are running out of oil. over the next 30 years you're talking about another 2 billion people entering the globe living american-style lives. right now there's only a billion of those people in the globe. and those people are going to want oil. so our supply is going to slowly go down and demand is going to go up. >> but as we start to go into six, eight, ten, whatever per gallon of gas, if you start to look at this as what then it could bring about positive changes, does it ignore the obvious pain that those prices will at least cause in the short-term? >> in the short-term there's

going to be pain. for sure. there's no doubt about it. i mean people depend on gasoline to get where they're going, to live the lives that they've built with the assumption that they're going to get gas for one or two dollars. >> and they're going to make choices between getting in their car or health care or food or clothing and education for their children, things like that? >> that's true. but i do think most of the pain is going to be in the short-term on the front end of this. >> let's talk about some price points. and you tell me what you see happening in this country at these particular price points and let's start at $6 a gallon. you say it's the death of the suv. crumbling road infrastructure. healthier and safer americans. go ahead. >> there's a professor at the university of north carolina who has linked the price of gasoline to america's obesity rate. for every dollar the price of gas goes up the obesity rate goes down 10% and saves $11 billion in health costs. >> we're riding bikes, walking more, cutting our weight a little bit. $8 a gallon you say that places like las vegas are going to suffer dramatically.

disney world. people are going to start traveling less. >> right. because the airlines, most of them the way we know them now are going to go out of business. they're very unstable organizations as it is. $8 is really going to be the change for paradigm of american travel. >> here's one that is going to get a lot of attention at $14 a gallon, you say it could be the demize of the big box retailers like walmart. explain the reasoning behind that. >> walmart's got 6,000 suppliers, 80% of them are in china. they ship this stuff over, they disseminate it across the country with 7,000 trucks to 4,000 different stores. it's a network built on gasoline. without cheap oil, it doesn't work. >> and so getting back to your original high poll this that some of these things are good for america, how is the demise of a chain like walmart and all the jobs that would go with it good for america? >> it's going to help out local economies. people are going to fill in small towns but they're not going to be captive customers to places like walmart. they're going to move back to main street, shop on main street, walk to work, walk to

buy a gallon of milk. >> when you talk about them moving back to main street you say at $20 per gallon, 90% of americans will live in cities. 70% of americans will never own a car. and nuclear reactors will power everything. >> not everything. but they're certainly going to play a bigger role. >> scale of one to ten, ten being certainty, what is it that we ever reach this $20 a gallon price? >> well, it's hard to say. but what i can say is that the changes in the book that we talk about will have to happen no matter how high gas goes because we have to mitigate how much we use oil. and to do that these are the types of things we have to do. >> the book is $20 per gallon. christopher stein er, thanks very much. interesting stuff. not fun to think about but interesting stuff. coming up next, a lady in waiting. prince william, will he ever pop the question to his longtime love kate middleton? we'll get into that right after this. all prescription nsaid pain relievers, like celebrex, ibuprofen and naproxen, help treat arthritis pain and have some of the same warnings.

but since individual results may vary, having options is important. prescription celebrex has been the option for millions of patients for 10 straight years. just one 200-mg celebrex (once a day,) can provide dependable, 24-hour relief for many with arthritis pain, stiffness and inflammation. based on the available data, the fda stated that for certain patients celebrex's benefits outweigh the risks. if you are worried about stomach upset, you should know, in clinical studies, a lower percentage of patients taking celebrex reported stomach discomfort versus prescription ibuprofen and naproxen. and if you are taking low-dose aspirin for your heart and need an nsaid pain reliever, celebrex can be used because it doesn't interfere with the effects of low-dose aspirin. but when it comes to relieving your arthritis pain, you and your doctor need to balance the benefits with the risks. the fda requires all prescription nsaids, including celebrex, ibuprofen, naproxen and meloxicam, to have the same cardiovascular warning.

they all may increase the chance of heart attack or stroke, which can lead to death. this chance increases if you have heart disease or risk factors for it such as high blood pressure or when nsaids are taken for long periods. all prescription nsaids, including celebrex, also increase the chance of serious skin reactions or stomach and intestine problems, such as bleeding and ulcers, which can occur without warning and may cause death. patients also taking aspirin and the elderly are at increased risk for stomach bleeding and ulcers. do not take celebrex if you're allergic to aspirin or sulfonamides. ask your doctor if you could benefit from celebrex. understand the risks. feel the benefits. kate middleton, longtime love of britain's prince william

is off in the caribbean on a family holiday as the prince toughed it out in helicopter rescue training. but after eight years together is a wedding in the works? nbc's keith miller is at buckingham palace with the latest. good morning to you, keith. >> reporter: good morning, meredith. it's not just kate middleton, but all of england is asking when, and even if, prince william will pop the big question. ♪ some day my prince will come >> reporter: they have been the darling of the tabloids since meeting at university eight years ago. kate middleton, 27, has made all the right moves. she studied up on prince william's hobbies, including polo, even though she's allergic to horses. and she's barely entered a word in public, leading one newspaper to complain that middleton has made a career out of saying nothing. the only example of her upper-crust british accent was revealed in a brief clip on youtube. >> it's something that's going

on. >> reporter: what's not so flattering are the tabloid headlines about a wayward uncle. the middleton family may be middle-class, but the scrutiny has uncovered uncle gary goldsmith, leading a vast life allegedly fueled by drugs and women. >> it has been suggested it might taint kate. but if you look at all of the coverage, she's remained unscathed in the entire thing. >> reporter: it appears that middleton's popularity with the british public is only increasing. an artist recently depicted her as a modern british icon. >> like diana before her, she has star quality. great looks, and ability to keep the public guessing is what really has made kate an icon. >> reporter: and dating a future king for almost seven years clearly requires patience. >> it's a very long time to keep a girl waiting. but they've had at least three breaks in that time. i think if prince william didn't want to spend his future with kate middleton, he's had more

than ample opportunity to end this relationship. >> reporter: meanwhile, william, also 27, is concentrating on his military career. next month he's being shipped out to wales for training as a helicopter search and rescue pilot. >> all the people i speak to believe that -- that his time is right. you have two octogenarians at the helm, in the queen and prince philip, and there's a sense that has to be passing of the baton to future generations. >> reporter: it may all come down to what happens at a royal palace this summer. middleton will be meeting prince william at balmoral which is the queen's castle in scotland. and for the first time, middleton has been invited while the queen is in residence. and meredith, as any englishman can tell you, a lot can happen over a spot of tea and crumpets. >> keith miller, thank you. i think he better put down that board and get off the whatever. can i pour? you can help me pour.

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>> live, local, latebreaking. this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore. >> good morning. i'm jennifer franciotti. let's get a check on the morning commute with sarah caldwell. >> north down 295 is a problem spot, and you can see the end results. heavy delays back to the area of 895. at washington boulevard, another accident coming in. a couple of problem spots south of the city. 795 and eastern, an accident coming in. york road and northern, that will cause delays there. downed pole at warren road and green side.

of foreclosures a long war and road. -- watch for closures along warren road. no. 9295, accident approaching water view. live view of traffic in harford road, normal, volume-related delays. >> mix of sunshine and clouds. we will remain humid, and have a slight chance of showers and storms. we are looking at 70 downtown, 67 at b.w.i. marshall, and much more on the shores of ocean city. we will have a high in the mid- 80's. we will surge about 88 tomorrow, hitting a high of 91 with a hazy, hot, and humid conditions. >> check the bottom of your screen for updated news and traffic information. we will see

♪ 8:00 now on a friday morning. it's the 24th day of july, 2009. you can see the monitors here, because joe michaels can we get a jaw of how big a crowd that has gathered on the plaza here? 49th street to 50th street back behind us all the way to 48th street. most of these people, i would say the vast majority here to see katy perry. one of the hottest stars in the recording industry today. she'll put on a concert in our 8:30 half hour. >> going to be fun. >> and this is a jimmy buffett-size crowd, and these are fun-loving people. >> exactly. >> as opposed to our other crowds? >> in comparison, you're right. well they're blowing off a

little more steam. >> yeah, they are. >> also coming up in this half hour, suze orman is here. she's going to be talking about what you talked about with dylan ratigen, that the stock market seems to be rebounding. some are saying the recession might be over. suze's going to talk about her advice for where to put your money, apparently a katy perry fan also. where to put your money in these specific times. >> she looks great in those. >> plus you all know how it goes. it's summertime, the kids want to play outdoors, and suddenly before you know it they've taken all their clothes off. it is kind of cute. it is very cute having had little kids at one point. but at what age does it stop being cute and start to cross the line? we're going to get into that debate. >> 16. >> oh, stop it. >> i think at what, like 3? >> maybe 4. >> you're trying to make up now. >> i was thinking of going there, but thankfully you did. >> that's why i'm here for you. >> speaking of naked, are you guys packed up yet? >> huh, what? >> for our trip. we're hitting the road. >> yeah, i know.

monday meredith and ann take in the new york adirondacks. matt and i are in the sun and sand in key west. we've got other great destinations, san antonio, and los angeles, nevada. yeah. it's going to be a great trip. road trip next week. >> okay. >> "today" takes a vacation. >> we could use a vacation. >> a working vacation. >> well, whatever. >> let's go inside. ann is standing by with the headlines. >> thanks a lot you guys. in the news, the cambridge police officer who arrested prominent harvard professor henry gates jr. is telling his side of the story for the first time and sergeant james crowley told boston affiliate "w" "h" "t" "h" that he told gates he was investigating a break in and he asked if there was anyone else in the residence. crowley said gates responded that's none of your business in an agitated tone and he also said he warned gates several times that he was acking disorderly. crowley also said he's tired of

being called a racist and he was offended by president obama's comments that the police acted stupidly. president obama will have to wait a little longer to get' health care reform bill passed. on thursday, senate democrats scrapped plans to vote on a bill by next month. the president said that's okay, as long as congress gets it passed before the end of the year. overseas markets are higher this morning. the dow closed above 9,000 thursday for the first time since january. investigators are trying to find out what caused a helicopter to come crashing down on a maryland highway last night. all four people on board were killed. oregon parents charged in the death of their 15-month-old daughter were found not guilty of manslaughter on thursday. carl and rayleen worthington had relied on faith and prayer to treat her daughter's pneumonia before she died of the illness. carl was convicted of criminal mistreatment. courtroom drama in kentucky when the defendant began yelling at the prosecutor, knocking over a table. the deputy used a stun gun on

the defendant, causing him to fall flat on the floor as a shocked judge looked on. and five people were seriously injured on thursday when two swedish passenger ferries collided in heavy fog south of stockholm. the impact ripped a hole in the side of one of the ships. those are the top stories at four minutes past 8:00. it's now time to go back outside to -- okay, okay. nice look, you two. >> i don't know what that's about. >> al, save us from ourselves. >> too late. anyway, big katy perry fab? >> yeah! >> she's got a picture of hello katy perry. very nice. let's check your weather. see what's happening. pick city of the day happens to be flint, michigan. nbc 25. scattered afternoon thunderstorms. high of about 80 degrees. and as we take a look at the weekend, sizzling out west. we'v'v

>> we are going to reach a high of about 84 degrees. slight chance of showers and storms this afternoon. variably cloudy for the most part. and as sky conditions, but it will be hazy, hot, and humid. that's your layest weather. you still feeling that urge, meredith? >> you stop it, al. i'm here with ashley who is a fan of katy perry. like everybody else here. take us to break. >> still to come, secrets for the health of your skin.

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when banks compete, you win. we are back now at 8:10 and this morning on "today's money," making the most out of your cash. the dow rose above 9,000 on thursday. merrill lynch is telling investors the recession is over. so where should you put your savings? suze orman is the host of cnbc's "suze orman show." good morning. nice to see you. can i just ask you about that comment from the analyst at merrill lynch who says the recession is over? you agree with that proclamation? >> listen, i think we're close to end of a recession. but that doesn't mean that we're not going to go back in. i think we're in an economy that we're in recession, we're out of recession. we're in recession, we're out of recession. personally, i'm always suspect that when a firm that can gain because they're selling you stock and investments, they're saying we're out of recession, i'm always suspect of that. but then it's my nature. what can i do? >> because the times have been so hard, a lot of people have taken money out of the stock market. held it on the sidelines. is this the time to get it back into the market? >> i think now you have to be even more careful than you had

to be when we were lower because we've gone up almost 40% in a very short period of time. in fact, i think this is the fastest increase we've ever had, you know, for maybe since 1975. therefore, if you're going in now, you better be going in with small amounts of money, because eventually here we have to have a pullback. that doesn't mean we're not going to go right back up after that pullback. >> couple of scenarios for you. here's the person who doesn't want to jump back into the stock market, they're looking for something to do with their extra money that they have at their disposal. they have no substantial other than a mortgage and you say lock at that mortgage. >> yeah. if -- you know, there's all kinds of things you can do with money. however, let's say you're 45, 50 years of age. you're going to stay in your house for the rest of your life. you have a mortgage payment. i will forever say one of the best things to do with extra money is pay down your mortgage. why? you have to generate that income somehow later on in life to pay off a mortgage. and it's far easier to pay it off now.

>> who is it a bad idea for? >> if you're ever thinking you're going to sell your house do not pay down your mortgage, it makes no sense whatsoever. >> another scenario. there are some risk adverse people out there, okay. for them, you say to look to certificates of deposit, you get a fixed rate over a fixed amount of time, but you want them to do something called laddering. >> well, here's the thing. interest rates obviously have no place to go other than up. i don't know when they're going to start to go up. but when interest rates go up, bonds happen to go down. the value of bond certificates of deposit, especially if they're insured by the fdic have a maturity date. you don't want to look up your money for a long period of time if interest rates are going to go up. if you have $30,000 to invest, buy a one year cd, a two year cd. you're laddering. that way if interest rates go up, when your one-year matures you buy at a higher rate. and no matter what happens you'll be fine. >> you mention bonds. sometimes bonds you get into this whole subject, people hit the snooze button. they think this is boring stuff,

and you say two things. first of all, don't buy bond funds, buy individual bonds, and don't forget, you can lose money here. >> yeah. especially if it's a bond fund. remember, a bond fund is a mutual fund made up of bonds. if interest rates go up, which we saw the other day, what happened with treasury, interest rates went up, the price goes down. when that happens, the value of your bond shares go down. so if you're investing for security, do not buy a long-term bond fund. because when interest rates go up again in the future, the value of your bond fund will go down. so either buy individual bonds if you can, or buy very short-term. no longer than one, two or three-year maturities in bond funds. >> i was looking back at some of the interviews we've done over the past year or so. you are a big fan of municipal bonds. >> still am. >> except you say with a word of caution. >> yes. the caution is there. there are many municipals out there that are in trouble. california, not. california may be pulling itself out. however, in my opinion you never

want to buy a municipal bond unless it's a general obligation bond, which is guaranteed by the taxing authority of that municipality. so if you're going to buy a municipal bond, which if you have it, you would have made a lot of money, that's decide the point. >> you're not one to say i told you so. >> oh, i seriously told you all so. but, again, again, general obligation bonds are the way to go. >> exchange traded funds. can you just -- you talked about this in the past as well. just explain real quickly what that means. >> diversification is here. it's key here. so for people with small amounts of money, in exchange traded fund is like a mutual fund that trades like a stock on the stock market. it usually follows an index. i think it is a wonderful way to go if you want diversification. there are many out there that give you a high dividend yield with diversification. might be something you want to look at. >> 30 seconds left. is there one major difference in a piece of advice you would give today as opposed to what you would have said to people one year ago as we were entering

this slide? >> we are far more towards the end of this. a year ago, i have to tell you, we were like oh, my god are we going to make it or are we not? we're going to make it. things are looking up. that doesn't mean that the market isn't going to pull back. doesn't mean that the economy is going to go through rough spots. but you should all be breathing a lot easier today than a year ago. >> that's nice to hear on a friday. >> ay, yes. >> thanks, suze. >> does that girl really want to kiss a girl? is that what i heard her say? >> we're going to go to commercial here. if you want more finance advice you can catch the "suze orman show" saturdays 9:00 eastern and pacific time. of course, that's an cnbc. up next, innocent or overexposed? the debate over how old is too old to let your kids run around naked. right after this. mystery to me.a complete my doctor diagnosed it as fibromyalgia muscle pain and then he recommended lyrica. fibromyalgia is thought to be the result

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smile. >> when my daughter was young, she was definitely one of those kids who didn't like to wear clothes. i would pick her up at preschool, come home, all the clothes would go off. >> reporter: the family's bay area neighborhood was fairly relaxed, and rachel said mae's toddler and preschool friends were like minded. >> they would come over and i just noticed all the kids, boys and girls, just took their clothes off. >> reporter: but mae's birthday suit didn't suit her grandparents. for them, mae being undressed was unacceptable. >> i could see their faces. they would look uncomfortable. >> reporter: as a blogger, whose website is singingmomsseeking.com, rachel realizes it's not just her folks. a bare babe, however innocent, is tough for some. >> this is just one of those topics that can create a lot of conflict. because i think it brings up a lot of fear for people, when you bring up nudity, naked kids. >> reporter: mae is now 9, and grew more modest at 5 or 6 when she started school. her mom jokes there's been no

apparent harm from time spent au naturel. >> being naked at 2 years old running around the house did not harm her for the rest of her life. no. >> reporter: in the buff. for some and idea that leaves young children overexposed. for "today," janet shamlian, nbc news. >> and "new york times" reporter julie shalpo recently wrote an article on the topic. ellie mandel is a school psychologist and mother of five. ellie, let me start with you as a psychologist. a lot of parents are dealing with this as toddlers. it is cute, but at that point is it no longer appropriate? >> i think that it's very important that the parents take the lead from the child. i mean, certainly a 6 or 7-year-old who is undressed in the front of the house may cause some eyebrows to be raised. but, as a toddler, it's very developmentally appropriate that a child is going to want to take off their clothes. they're exploring their bodies. they're doing some consolidation of their gender identity. >> so it's really about that? there's a psychological

component behind it. >> oh, absolutely. and it's again, the developmental age of the child is something that's very important to keep in mind when we're having this conversation. >> you know, julie, the american academy of pediatrics says quite clearly on their website at over age 4 nudity and sexual play in public are not all right. but in doing your research, did you find that there's a lot of disagreement about that among parents? >> there's a ton of disagreement. the american academy of pediatrics says up until 4 it's absolutely fine for children to be naked. but parents have a lot of different opinions. many of them feel like the body is a natural thing and if it's nice outside and the kids want to be naked, why not. >> it's the other person who has a hang-up. >> sometimes. parents feel modesty is an important lesson and others worry about their kids' safety. they feel if their children are naked it might somehow attract pedophiles or something like that. that's where the conflict is. sometimes it's between a mom and a dad or between parents and grandparents. sometimes parents themselves are confused because they may want

their kids to enjoy being naked and not necessarily feel shame about their bodies. but at the same time, maybe have safety concerns. the parents themselves are sometimes conflicted. >> ellie, you're a psychologist and also a parent. you dealt with this with your kids, and your parents. >> yes. >> and in-laws. tell me about that. >> yes, yes, yes. of my five children, two of them really enjoyed being naked. one of them is older now. she's almost 7, and you know, in her own time, she decided to cover up. but as a 2-year-old, she loved being naked. and we were rather permissive about it. we let it not only in the backyard but also on the front lawn. when she got to a certain age, it definitely generated conversation between my parents and myself, my mother-in-law and myself. they felt they had certainly no problem with her being naked in the house. but on the front lawn was starting to get -- >> where other people could see her. >> was starting to get uncomfortable. >> you know, i spoke with ellie's mother-in-law, and it is

so fascinating, because she said she had been very uncomfortable with it, but other the years, seeing your daughter naked and your other kids, it helped her realize there really was nothing wrong with it. and something she felt her attitude was changed. >> but you got more conservative. >> my attitude changed, as well. i just began to feel that, important as it is to teach children to be comfortable with their bodies and to love their bodies, it's also important to teach children to be respectful of other people's ideas and thoughts and feelings about their nudity. >> so if you're having for example somebody's coming over for dinner and you do have little ones running around, should you set a limit right there and say kids tonight we're going to be dressed? >> the psychologists i spoke to all said it's basically appropriate to teach your kids that there's a difference between how we act at home and in public. and also that it's very considerate to think about your guest's feelings. you don't need to teach your children they need to have any shame about their body, but at the same time you can teach your children that they can be considerate of other people. >> we're going to have to leave it there. thank you so much. >> thank you.

>> up ahead, katy perry. i think she has clothes on. after your local news. >> live, local, latebreaking. this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore.

>> good morning. i am mindy basara. interstate 70 has reopened after a helicopter crashed on the eastbound lane, killing four people. it happened around 10:30 last night. a witness told state police that they saw the chopper flying low and there was a bright light of electricity -- bright arc of electors the apparently caused by the chopper hitting a power line. the ntsb is expected to release more details this morning. we will have the latest at noon. we will get a final check of the morning commute with sarah caldwell. >> in phoenix, we have some lanes closed along paper mill road. this is to fire department activity. delays in that area. warren road and greenside, all lanes are closed. also, the good news on the accident on in a live at washington boulevard.

still looking at the accident northbound to under 95 approaching waterview. there are heavy delays. if you are heading out i-95 and at 305, power spider friend is still there keeping an eye on conditions on the road. it is looking pretty good. live view of traffic on the beltway at i-97. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. >> we are dealing with some fog out there in the area this morning. care rental downpours we saw last night. your forecast for today, fog burned off. we will see a mix of sunshine and clouds this afternoon scattered showers and thunderstorms. typical for july. tomorrow, dry and mostly sunny, but will surge to 91 degrees. get used to the hazy, hot, and

humid conditions. >> we will have another update at 8:55.

♪ 8:30 now on a friday morning, july 24th, 2009. katy perry is waking up in vegas, and katy is waking up in new york this morning to put on a live concert right here on the plaza. and you know what, guys? we have had absolutely amazing concerts all summer long. it's been a great summer. >> no question about it. next friday, still to come this summer, natasha bedding field and mariah carey. you know sometimes you look out at a sign and it catches your eye. can i just see this sign for a

second? >> oh, no. >> i don't remember that. >> oh, my goodness. >> i do not remember that. >> every man's nightmare. >> hit him up for support. that's all i have to say. call your lawyer. >> did you guys just see tommy hilfiger up there, by the way? >> go, tommy. go tommy. >> okay. >> okay. >> okay. that's enough. >> all righty. >> it's road trip season. i don't know about you, everyone's growing up and fighting in the back seat. bickering. we're going to show you some ways you can kind of tamp that down and have a perfect road trip without all that fighting in the back.

>> >> we are going to see a high between 83 and 86 today. slight chance of showers and storms. fog out there this morning. tonight, a slight chance of showers and storms. tomorrow, down white hot, high and that's your latest weather. >> all right, al, thank you very much. when we come back, katy perry live in concert on the plaza. but, tommy hogan rocking and rolling. this is "today" on nbc. ÷@;pa

we have three members of the new york yankees here on the plaza on monday to kick off their hope week. nbc's peter alexander is here to tell us how things have gone. >> reporter: meredith, good morning to you. nice to see you, as well. this is a side of pro athletes that you do not always see. five special visits in five consecutive days. it's part of an unprecedented effort by one of sports' most famous franchises to make a difference for fans and ultimately, they hope, to help create a movement of goodwill on and off the field. for the kids from camp sundown in upstate, new york, this was one memorable road trip. they all have a rare genetic disease, where it's dangerous, even deadly, to be in the sun. making this nighttime visit to one of baseball's shrines unforgettable. after the game, yankee stadium was transformed into a carnival. food, music, and memories that won't fade.

>> it means the world to me. >> reporter: the yankees called it hope week. and by hope, they mean helping others persevere and excel. >> how are you? >> reporter: like these new york city teenagers, who needed mentors to keep them off the streets and on top of their schoolwork. >> let's think about it for a second, right? >> reporter: marco and jennifer filled that void, hosting a unique leadership program at their small apartment. this past monday, some of their heroes stopped by with a surprise. >> stick together. really do it. stick together, because it will make you stronger. >> it's not just all about winning, right? it's coming to the. and whether winning or losing, you gave it all that you can have. >> reporter: the next day the yankees met another special lineup, red by little leaguer todd. on his home field. >> how are you doing? >> reporter: cerebral palsy has confined this sixth grader to a wheelchair. but his teammates, the grenive village a's still go to him,

mvp. >> fired up. >> words can't describe all the joy that he's bringing. ♪ swing batter swing ♪ >> reporter: every team gets flooded with requests for tickets and autographs and as often as they can they oblige. but this season jason zeileo, the yankees director of up. histy, wanted to do something more, getting every player involved. >> it's the coming to the of people when you break it down. it's people just giving and caring and showing love for each other. >> reporter: that includes george murray. at 38, this former army paratrooper, and yankees fanatic from near cooperstown, of all places, has lou gehrig's disease or als and just a few more years to live. >> we want to balance it with a lot of strength. very proud. >> reporter: jason read the letter from george's wife.

>> my husband is a great man who was dealt a difficult hand in life. i would love to see him have a day where he can laugh, smile and simply enjoy himself. >> reporter: smile and enjoy. on wednesday, with his wife kim and 4-year-old son tracen by his side, he did. is there any way to put this day into some perspective? 3rks now i'm living. i'm not dying. i'm living free. >> reporter: complete with a guided tour and a private trip into the clubhouse. >> to put a smile on their faces, even if it's just for one day. their stories are remarkable and we're all happy that we're a part of it. >> reporter: now you see why they call them the boys of summer. >> the laundry card in the clubhouse is the trick. you get bored, put them in the laundry cart and run them around.

they have the time of their lives. >> reporter: the special visit was punctuated by a yankees win, and waiting outside the dugout, a man, his son, and a shared sense of hope. ♪ time of my life ♪ time of my life >> reporter: george murray is one special guy. the yankees are already getting ready for 2010. they're hoping the rest of baseball will follow their lead. they were inspired by president obama's united we serve volunteer program and today several yankees will pay a surprise visit to two developmentally disabled men at their office and invite them back to the game. >> thanks for introducing us. peter alexander. up next, katy perry live in concert. but first, this is "today" on nbc.

they have alzheimer's and heart disease, diabetes and cancer, and they've heard that biomedical research offers hope -- that it could control, maybe even cure, their disease.

senator barbara mikulski understands the importance of innovative biomedical research for patients, their families, and our economy here in maryland. call senator mikulski today. tell her thanks for protecting the promise of biomedical research and the maryland jobs it provides. it's not just the future. it's life.

the "toyota concert series on today," brought to you by toyota. toyota, moving forward. >> it's time for a little music. she says her songs were taken 100% from experiences in her own life. don't laugh at me. ladies and gentlemen, katy perry. >> come on! ♪ you change your mind like a girl changes clothes ♪ yeah you i would know ♪ ♪ and you are the thing cryptically ♪ ♪ i should know that you're no good for me ♪ ♪ because you're hot and your

cold you're yes or your no ♪ ♪ you're in and you're out you're up and your down ♪ ♪ it's black and it's white ♪ we fight we break up we kiss we make up ♪ ♪ you don't really want to stay no you but you don't really want to go ♪ ♪ you're hot then you're cold you're yes then you're no ♪ ♪ you're in and our out ♪ you're up and you're down hi. ♪ we used to be just like twins so in sync ♪ ♪ the same energy now a dead battery ♪ ♪ used to laugh about nothing ♪ ♪ now you're plain boring i should know ♪ ♪ that you're not gonna change ♪

come on, sing with me! ♪ cause you're hot then you're cold ♪ ♪ you're yes then you're no ♪ you're in then you're out ♪ you're up and you're down ♪ you're wrong when it's right it's black and it's white ♪ ♪ we fight we break up we kiss, we make up ♪ ♪ you, you don't really want to stay no ♪ ♪ you, but you don't really want to go oh, ♪ ♪ you're hot then you're cold you're yes then you're no ♪ ♪ you're in then you're out ♪ you're up and you're down ♪ ♪ someone call the doctor got a case of a love bipolar ♪ ♪ stuck on a roller coaster can't get off this ride ♪

ready? ♪ ♪ you change your mind like a girl changes clothes ♪ ♪ you're hot then you're cold you're yes then you're no ♪ ♪ you're in then you're out you're up and you're down ♪ ♪ you're wrong when it's right it's black and it's white ♪ ♪ we fight, we break up we kiss, we make up ♪ ♪ cause you're hot then you're cold you're yes then you're no ♪ ♪ you're in then you're out you're up and you're down ♪ ♪ you're wrong when it's right it's black and it's white ♪ ♪ we fight, we break up we kiss, we make up ♪ ♪ you, you don't really want to stay no ♪ ♪ but you don't really want to go oh, ♪ ♪ you're hot then you're cold you're yes then you're no ♪ ♪ you're in then you're out you're up and you're down ♪

♪ down thank you! >> katy perry's back with more music on a friday morning. but first, this is "today" on nbc. the distance from the field to your table just got shorter. because at safeway, there's always... freshly picked local produce at great prices. it's 100% guaranteed to be fresh and ripe, every time.

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katy perry burst on the scene last year. she has not slowed down or stopped one bit. she's fresh off a world tour. actually she says she is still touring. >> i wouldn't say fresh. >> slightly fresh off a world tour? heading back out next month. her debut album, "one of the boys" i just want to mention, celebrating a year anniversary of going platinum, ladies and gentlemen, katy perry. welcome back. >> thank you. it's always lovely. i only get up in the morning for you. >> i appreciate that. and what have you warn today? >> well, i wanted to be a lucky dice today. >> yeah. >> i have a song called waking up in vegas that i love singing. i'm a sucker for a theme. every day is halloween for me. >> you look the part.

by the way, what's with the fruit? last time you were here it was all about watermelon on stage. we've got huge strawberries today. i've seen giant bananas. >> yes. >> what is the zeal? >> i don't know. it's just fun. it's just cute. it's really hard to explain sometimes to guys especially. but i think girls understand that strawberries are just like -- >> girls get it? >> they're sweet and cute and delicious and bananas, that's a whole other story. we can't talk about that on tv. >> it's a morning show, lady. >> i'm talking about potassium. what are you talking about? >> if you weren't doing what you're doing right now, what would you be doing? >> i would probably be a stylist. because i enjoy so much creating just something that will make someone smile when they see me walk by, i guess. you can say so much without saying anything at all. >> it's true. you make a statement. you were on the cover of cosmo? >> yes, sir. >> the hot issue? >> oh, yes. >> and in reading the little interview you did for that magazine, you said you had set a goal for yourself that by 25 you would make it or stop. so you're 24. you've made it. have you set a goal for 30?

>> whoo, 30. i don't know. i mean, i just really want to keep continuing to make great music that makes me happy and make y'all happy. and i'm going in to the studio to make my second record come october. and i have so much to say. i feel a bit like a bubbling volcano. i know that this next record is going to be more honest, and make people move more. >> and no nerves about that whole sophomore album thing? >> no. because, i mean, i'm just -- i love writing songs. it's kind of like a, you know, the therapy that i need to do to get whatever is, you know, troubling or upsetting or something unhappy about, to get it out of me. so that's kind of how i work through issues or, you know, talk about experiences is writing better songs. >> you asked the audience a second ago who's taking a nap after this. are you taking a nap after getting up this early? >> sweetheart, i just put on eye cream. i have to work. >> you look great. i'm a working girl. >> i'm going to sing this little

song called "waking up in vegas." >> ladies and gentlemen, katy perry. ♪ you gotta help me out it's all a blur last night ♪ ♪ we need a taxi 'cause you're hung over and i'm broke ♪ ♪ i lost my fake i.d. but you lost the motel key ♪ ♪ spare me your freaking dirty looks now don't blame me ♪ come on! ♪ want to cash out and get the hell out of town ♪ ♪ don't be a baby remember what you told me ♪ ♪ shut up and put your money where your mouth is ♪ ♪ that's what you get for waking up in vegas ♪ ♪ get up and shake the glitter

off your clothes now ♪ ♪ that's what you get for waking up in vegas ♪ ♪ why these lights so bright oh, did we get hitched last night ♪ ♪ dressed up like elvis why am i wearing your class ring ♪ ♪ don't call your mother 'cause now we're partners in crime ♪ ♪ don't be a baby remember what you told me ♪ ♪ shut up and put your money where your mouth is ♪ ♪ that's what you get for waking up in vegas ♪ ♪ get up and shake the glitter off your clothes now ♪ ♪ that's what you get for waking up in vegas ♪ ♪ you got me into this information overload situation lost control ♪ ♪ send out an sos

and get some cash out ♪ ♪ we're gonna tear the town ♪ don't be a baby remember what you told me ♪ ♪ remember what you told me remember what you told me ♪ ♪ you told me you told me ♪ ♪ shut up and put your money where your mouth is ♪ ♪ that's what you get for waking up in vegas ♪ ♪ get up and shake the glitter off your clothes now ♪ ♪ that's what you get for waking up in vegas ♪ ♪ vegas ♪ oh, whoa ♪ shake the glitter shake shake shake the glitter ♪ ♪ get me some cash out baby

get me some cash out baby ♪ ♪ whoa yeah thank you! >> katy, thank you. we're going to have one more song from katy perry a little later on.

>> live, local, latebreaking. this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore. >> good morning. i am mindy basara. baltimore city police are searching for the man they say tried to rape a woman walking to work. police are searching for two men who tried to rape a 24-year- old woman about 6:00 to the saturday morning. the suspects approached the woman who works downtown and tried to raise her on a piece of

construction equipment. awareness interrupted the crime and the men fled police are analyzing camera footage for images of the suspects. police are searching for suspects who they said tried to rob an off-duty police officer. police say he was approached by the suspect on cherry hill road. when one of the suspect showed a gun, the officer, who was not in uniform, shot him. the person was taken the hospital and a second suspect was arrested. the third remains on a lamp.

>> let's look at the forecast with sandra shaw. >> we would get up to 84 degrees. it will be humid out there. slight chance of pop-of showers and storms in the afternoon. we will see more of the

southerly winds today at a 10 to 15 miles per hour. it will surge to 91 degrees tomorrow, and we will stay in the upper 80s to near 90 for the future >> we will have another update at 9:25.

what you would do if ♪ ♪ you