good morning. breaking news. mystery solved. the long-awaited answer. what happened to a navy pilot who disappeared during the first gulf war? inside look at the room where michael jackson died. a british tabloid says it's got the photo of what detectives saw at the scene. and showdown. after an olympic photo finish, michael phelps gets back if the

water for a rematch with a trash-talking rival. we will show you how it all ended, today, sunday, august 2, we will show you how it all ended, today, sunday, august 2, 2009. captions paid for by nbc-universal television good morning, everyone, welcome to today on this sunday morning, i'm lester holt. >> i'm jenna wolf. it has been a mystery for 18 years, what happened to navy pilot scott speicher? >> a long time it was feared he was maybe capture iraqi forces. last heard from while flying a combat mission over iraq in the gulf war. now, the defense department is confirming they have found and identified had his remains coming up. and the latest on three american hikers detained in iraq accused of crossing the border illegally. what will happen to them and where are they? we will get answers in just a few minutes. a showdown at the world swimming championships, michael

phelps against the serbian swimmer who thought he had beaten him in the beijing olympic committees only to find out phelps touched the wall first in .01 of a second. we will show you the finish and get their reaction next. also meet another swimmer also break records and winning gold after suddenly losing the use of her legs. we are going to meet her and hear her inspiring story in just a few minutes. first, that breaking story this morning. the defense department has solved a mystery from the first gulf war. nbc's pentagon correspondent jim miklaszewski is here with the story. mick, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, lester. 18 years after he was shut down on the first day of the first gulf war, the u.s. military has now finally found the remains of a u.s. navy pilot. lieutenant commander scott speicher was shot down in western iraq in his f-18 hornet on january 17, 1991. although he was first declared killed in action, his remains were never found. but last week, some iraqi

civilians led the u.s. marines to a site in an bar province in western iraq where they said bedouins had buried speicher a's body shortly after the crash. and this past week, military forensics experts have positively identified the remains as that of lieutenant commander scott speicher, ending that 18-year mystery. lesser? >> this has taken his family on an emotional roller coaster over the last 18 years. explain the controversy over this case. >> reporter: well, you know, it was on day one of the gulf war, where then-defense secretary dick cheney declared that speicher, even though the remains were not found, was the first casualty of the gulf war there in iraq. and subsequently, there were reports that speicher's, well, flight suit had been found, actually, and that he, himself, been spotted somewhere in iraq in iraqi custody, which then necessitated that the navy change his status to missing.

and when the u.s. invaded iraq in 2003, there was one entire military unit dedicated to the search for his remains, which were not found until last week. >> now it is solved. jim miklaszewski. thank you very much. now here is jenna. lester, thanks. we are learning more this morning about the three american tourists being held in iran for illegally crossing the border. the three were detained after hiking in a mountainous border between iraq and iran. nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engel joins us from istanbul, turkey with the latest. richard, good morning. what do we know so far? >> reporter: good morning, jenna. the americans were actually here first in turkey. and you can see behind me, the bridge that crosses between europe and asia, the bosphorous, they crossed here from turkey, into northern iraq into kyrgyzstan, a mountainous, relatively peaceful part of

iraq. then, after staying a few days in kyrgyzstan in hotels they decided to head for the border with iran and go backpacking. that is where they apparently crossed into iran, a according to irani officials, and were quickly detained by iranian security. now, their names have not been released by the u.s. state department, however, an official helping us investigate this case has identified the three as shane bauer, sarah short and joshua fitale, all described in their 20s or early 30s. jenna? >> you have been to the kyrgyzstan border region where the americans were taken, richard. can you tell us a little bit about the area there? >> reporter: i was actually detained on that border myself. luckily, i was picked up by kergish officials relaxed after a couple hours of questioning and tea and let me go the iranians are much more strict, much more suspicious of foreigners. this area has a unique history which makes the iranians

particularly suspicious of it. right now the last few weeks, iranians are accusing americans and all outsiders of flaming and stoking that arrest that have has been seen since the re-election of mahmoud ahmadinejad and this area has long been used as a smuggling route for militants going in and out of iraq, smuggling drugs and weapons. so it is not clear if the americans hiking in this area knew the sensitivity bus the iranians is certainly would v. >> richard engel in istanbul, thank you very much. once again, here is lester. thanks. david gregory is moderator of "meet the press." good morning to you. >> good morning, lester. >> the u.s. and iran have no formal diplomatic relations. this comes at a very tense time in the relations between u.s. and iran. what happens now? >> this is going to be difficult. we have seen this play out in other ways, other countries like with those two captives, journalists in north korea as well. look for the administration to try to separate the tracts of

any potential negotiations over iran's nuclear program and these detainees at the moment and try to work out separately and this was mostly a misunderstanding, geographic misunderstanding and work this way. >> let's get back to the united states and discuss the economy. the president will be traveling to elkhart, indiana this week. his second trip there why elkhart and what is the message? >> a staggering unemployment rate in elkhart, one of the reasons why manufacturing center, time and time again he has gone back there so many states not just the raw unemployment number but underemployment number when you factor it in, high double-digit nones in terms of jobless rates. this is the point. if the reis session is easing, where are the jobs? that is the message the president has to address. he says the beginning of the end of the recession last week if this is recovery, it certainly doesn't feel like to people both out of work, facing new foreclosures. you read on the front page "the new york times" today that those who are without a job are finding the end of the line for

their unemployment insurance, a lot of difficulties snail this economy. >> he is walking a tight rope. earn certainly, he wants to claim some credit for some of the positive numbers coming out but looking a at high unemployment. where does he draw the line as to what he is selling to the american people? >> in his radio address on saturday, he made very clear that he will not consider any recovery real until people start to get their jobs back. but we know this idea of a lagging indicator, that even if the economy is starting to grow again it may just sort of flatten out a little bit and people are not going to be rehired there are some economic reasons why economists are looking at the fact that the unemployment rate continues to climb, that basically, the economy is more productive with fewer workers, that companies are not hiring them back. so this is an issue that the president has got to communicate clearly at a time -- and we saw it in our recent poll that most people think or an increasing number of people think that the stimulus is not working. >> i want to talk about health care right now. clearly, it hasn't happened on the timetable he originally wanted but he has been

controlling the message to this point. now, congos no recess, the battle starts in home districts. is the president kind of left out of this cover information the next couple of months? >> such an important point, lester that congressmen and women are going to get their ears filled with complaints about how much spending would be involved with the health care plan, whether they are going to lose their benefits so they sort of have to carry the water there is a few different plans still being worked out and the president is really facing a difficult question, is he losing the economic argument, the idea that health care was so necessary right now because it was part of an economic fix? if he is losing that argument, he is still behind and then he comes into the fall significantly weakened at a time when there is big differences to be overcome in his competing plan. >> who do you have on the program this morning? >> somebody who knows a lot about what is being discussed, dr. larry summers, top economic adviser to the president, ask him where the economy is headed and what the administration is going to do. >> see you then. david gregory, thanks very much. >> thanks, lester.

now a check of the rest of the morning's headlines from savannah guthrie with the rest of the headlines at the news desk. good morning, savannah. >> good morning to all of you. three u.s. troops died today in afghanistan after a roadside bomb struck their vehicle and insurgents then open toed fire. it comes after a roadside bombing saturday killed three more u.s. soldiers. the month of july was the single deadliest month for american troops in afghanistan since the war began. a new york judge has ordered a psychiatric evaluation for a man accused of carrying a fake bomb into new york's laguardia airport saturday morning that scare forced the evacuation of thousands of passengers from the airport as well as flight delays and cancellations. the 32-year-old suspect is being held without bail. an olympic-sized rematch saturday between michael phelps and his biggest rival, the swimmer who lost to him in beijing by .01 of a second. this time, there was no doubt about who the winner was. nbc's keith miller reports. >> reporter: it was a swimming

showdown with the overtone of a prize fight, right down to the premeet trash talk. >> you know, i'm gonna come back, i'm gonna beat him. >> he gets it! >> reporter: cavic barely lost to michael phelpss in the 100 meter butterfly in beijing last august by a mere fraction of a second. >> i feel like i was there first. >> reporter: cavic had the best time in the preliminaries and also sported the controversial all-polyurethane swimsuit that has helped break dozens of records here and even offered to buy phelps one to make this a fair match. >> to the wall! >> reporter: phelps didn't need it. >> yes, cavic settles for silver again. unbelievable. >> reporter: he popped out of the water like a man on fire, even tugging on his swimsuit to make a point. the prerace talk, he said, got him swimming. in defeat, cavic was humble. >> he is the comeback kid can.

he can do it all. >> reporter: keith miller, nbc news, london. >> phelps will be back in the pool today. all the action from the world swimming championships starts at noon eastern right here on nbc. finally, a building implosion gone wrong. this building in turkey was lined with explosives after worker also spent two weeks preparing the structure for what was supposed to be an implosion. that didn't happen. instead, the tower testimony belled over, thankfully, believe it or not, no one was injured. and that the is the news. now back to lester, jenna and chris. hate to see an implosion go wrong. >> they are like, how did we plan this again?n?

y c1 >> this morning strong thunderstorms in carroll counton moving into york county at this point. this could be severe weather. there is a severe t 2nderstorm warning. here's the forecast for sunday. has been, 85 in seattle today, 88 in portland. l.a. topping off near 86. and now here's lester. >> chris, thanks. up next on "today" the inspiring story of a young swimmer going for gold and breaking records. we will meet her, right after this. two medium cappuccinos,

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from going for the gold. jeff olston of our minneapolis affiliate has the story. >> reporter: at first glance, you may not see the difference that makes mally different from the race. it is not until mallory gets out of the pool her challenge is clear. >> that is almost her best time. >> reporter: mallory can't walk. >> she had the shingles and after shingles went away was left with this other, i will call it a disease, it was called posthip pattic neural gentleman, an inflammation with the nerves. >> reporter: treated with the epidural injection. it would numb up and go away in the course of an hour or two the third time she had it done it numbed up and never unnumbed. >> we spent a lot of time researching. >> reporter: nothing changed. >> at some point, you just have to live your life. >> reporter: mally was done with "why me" and ready for "what now?" the question brought her here to the u of m aquatic center where

paralympic athletes were in training for the beijing games what she saw in the pool made the former high school swimmer wonder, could she be competitive again? what 20-year-old mallory and her twin city team coach jim anderson have done is totally reinvent her swimming technique. >> take your mark. >> reporter: from the way she enters to the water who how mallory makes a turn to when she takes a breath. >> if i can keep my breath and hold it i can just go through the water like this versus when i breathe, i kind of teeter tot. >> reporter: not just winning races, mallory's already setting paralympic records. >> i broke the 100 fly. >> reporter: no longer defined by her challenges, mallery intends to be known for her achievements. >> i want the podium, i want a gold medal. >> reporter: despite what happened to her, limits just aren't mallory's style. doors close and doors open but you have to be willing to listen in the right places. >> mallory wegman joins must studio with her parents, chris

and ann. good morning to all of you. >> good morning. >> mallory, i want to start with you, your records are so impressive, we heard about some of them there you claim the world paralympic records in the 100 fly, 50, 200, 400 free style. you just flew in from a meet in canada. forget what we think, are you surprised with how much you have been able to accomplish so far? >> a i am. i set my goals and i wanted world records eventually but i didn't think it would come this soon. so, i'm very, very happy with this past weekend and still kind of in a little bit of shock. >> a little bit? >> a little bit. >> starting to sinking in slowly? >> slowly. slowly. >> ann, i want to ask you this originally, doctors said that eventually mallory would get feeling back into her legs a day turned into a week which turned into a month. what was the waiting period like for you to wait and see if she would be able to walk again? >> usually every night before i went to bed, i hoped and prayed that in the morning, i would either a go to her or when she

was even in the hospital and find that she was able to move and that it wasn't real. and then at some point, the time goes on and you just start thinking about, okay, where can you go from here? and i want to move forward. >> mallory, after about three months, i understand you're angry, you were feeling sorry for yourself, you decided to join your sister at a paralympic swim meet, there you said, you know what enough of this feeling sorry for myself. i want to get back in the water. what made you come to that decision? >> you know, when i went to the meet, i really had no idea about the paraolympics and i got there kind of expecting to see amputees and or people with disabilities, i wasn't expecting to see a paraplegic swimming. and when i saw that paraplegics could swim, i was just -- i wanted back in the pool. i mean, i went down to meet the coaches and when i got on the pool deck, i just -- i had to get in and race again. i absolutely love it. and when i finally got back on

the pool deck again, i realized how bad i missed it. >> you were a swimmer before this happened. you know the water very well? >> yes, i do. >> and dad, chris, let me turn to you here. when mallory first told you this she wanted to get back in the water, i understand you were nervous? >> yep. >> you thought what if she sinks? what is going to happen? how surprised are you that not only get back in and does well, look what she was able to do. >> in she got back in that water a first time, it was unbelievable to see it. and to this day, i still thoroughly enjoy watching her in the water. >> doesn't make you nervous at all? >> doesn't make me nervous, no. very, very well. >> okay. mallory, i know you dream of being able to walk again one day but you did say you wouldn't change any of that for what's happened in the last year and a half. why do you think that? why do you feel that way? >> you know, i think everything happens for a reason and bad things happen, but at the end of the day, i still do believe that there is a reason for all of it.

and if this wouldn't have happened, i wouldn't be where i am, i wouldn't have -- people i've met. i mean, it's changed me in a lot of ways and, yeah, what happened is -- kind of sucks, you know, sometimes but it is what it is. >> and real quick, your goal is to swim at the 2012 paralympic games in london? >> yeah. >> what would medaling over there mean to you? >> oh, gosh it would mean the world. i want the podium so bad. i want a gold medal. that's what i want and what i am working really hard at trying to get. >> the next two years are anything like the last year and a half has been, i have a lot of confidence in you. thank you all so much for joining us, melry, chris and ann wegman, we appreciate you being with us, very inspirational story. thank you. and we will be back. but first, these messages. introducing listerine® total care. everything you need to strengthen teeth, help prevent cavities, and kill germs. introducing 6 in 1 listene® total care.

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on royal caribbean's liberty of the seas. stingrays in the caymans gave the murrays a honeymoon to remember. ulrich from germany kissed a dolphin, right on the lips. back on the ship, the afternoon bridge action was almost non-stop. and finally, an ice cream cone was rescued... on deck 11. that's the news. i'm julio perez cruising with royal caribbean, why aren't you?

still to come on "today" a new photo that claims to offer a first look inside the room where michael jackson died. we will tell you what the picture might reveal about his death. the compliment guy. two guys traveling around the country and handing out compliments why? we will tell you when we meet them. could someone toss me an eleven sixteenths wrench over here?

here you go. eleven sixteenths... (announcer) from designing some of the world's cleanest and most fuel-efficient jet engines... to building more wind turbines than anyone in the country... the people of ge are working together... creating innovation today for america's tomorrow. thanks! no problem!

>> good morning, everyone. ione rob rgo lin. it is 8:26. here is a look at some of our top stories this morning. homicide det jlttives are investigating a shooting in west baltimore this morning which hg,pened shortly after 4:00 yesterday afternoon. ng.olice re youonded to a call finding a man shot several times in the back. he was rushed to the hospitaterm there is no word on his condition. due to the severity of his wounds ou homicide detectives he been called in. >> police are cremting city watch cameras with helping them capture a 17-year-o. t murder suspect. cameras caught a fight between two groups of boys in the 3as block of north pack -- jlcca street. officers say he -- skinner took out aulnie wi and stabbed the

victim in the chest. he's charged with murdeitt as'm ãm- p andcuarious weapons charges. >> a teenager that admitted taking part in a f onpe omman n will spend the rest of the summer in juvenile detension. ththe western maryland children's ãofenter until amer ustess 0. he must also pay $1 thousand 800 in restitution. the teen aeetitted to the ãa home in june. oul:thorit:00.s 'm y that az ac in retaliation of a teenager, christopher jones.

y c1 >> severe thunderstorm warning about reas to ei one for yor ãofounty. it has already expired for carroll county. the for jltast calls for temperatures only in the 80's. no flood watch in f be wict tod >> tha was for beyng with us. "11 news sunday morning" lt hey guess what we are back on this sunday morning, august 2, 2009. a cheery crowd braving the rain just a little. up for an early sunday morning out on our plaza. we certainly appreciate the company. inside jude yo 1a, i'm jenna wolf with lester holt. still to come, the dramatic new photos taken inside the room

where michael jackson died, much more on that in a few minutes. then going to switch gears n a perfect stranger, a guy on the street comes up to you and says "nice shoes," would you think avenues jeep? >> depends were you are from. new york, you knee him. anywhere else, "thank you very much." >> these grice a couple of college students and known as the compliment guys. this he do just that go around complimenting people, on a multicity tour with a simple mission to find something nice about everyone they meet, even jaded new yorkers. own the plaza. >> we are not jaded. the thing is we are just not used to t no, walking up, the amazing thing, kind of tough. all right. a little jaded. also coming up, the secrets of money-savvy travelers, we are going to get some tips to keep you from wasting your money when you are on vacation. plus, how much do you really know about cholesterol? coming up, surprising answers to common questions, including whether some foods we may be afraid to eat really cause high cholesterol. and then the story of a woman who came up with a simple way to support american troops

overseas, with a lot of little helpers. it is a really good, emotional, hea heart-warming story. we will hear that. >> but first -- >> first that new photo published in a british tabloid, shows the bedroom where michael jackson died just as detectives found it after his death and led to chaotic aftermath of jackson's death as lawyers get ready for a showdown in court tomorrow. here is nbc's jeff rossen. >> reporter: this morning what could be our first peek inside michael jackson's bedroom, painting the picture of the chaotic rescue effort n this photo published in sunday's "news of the world" in london, you can see medical supplies strewn across the bed. the paper claims a family insider took this picture inside jackson's bedroom just a day after he died. nbc news has not independently verified that the photo is authentic. jackson's personal chef, kai chase, was in the house when he died and spoke about it on today. >> dr. murray comes running down

the stairs and into the kitchen, stairwell into the kitchen, he comes into the kitchen screaming, "hurry go get prince, go get security." >> reporter: dr. conrad murray, jackson's personal physician, he is now the focus of a manslaughter investigation. law enforcement sources tell nbc news he administered the powerful anesthetic propofal to jackson on the day he died a drug that may have contributed to jackson's death. dr. murray's lawyer maintained that he didn't prescribe anything that should have killed jackson and will be a while before we know that toxicology results may have been delayed indefinitely. >> may be dr. murray prescribed drugs but not those drugs that were the proximate cause of michael's death. ♪ >> reporter: but monday, the focus turned to michael jackson's money a judge will begin to sort out jackson's estate. also monday, the custody deal is up for approval. in it, michael's mother, katherine, gets the kids and debbie rowe gets visitation.

>> the more you can decide, judges sign it. as long as it is not just way against public policy or obviously is something harmful. >> reporter: the court battles, the criminal case, and now another photo, taking us deep inside the mysterious life and death of michael jackson. jeff rossen, nbc news, los angeles.

>> storms g1 county north of new freedom. york county's thunderstorm warning has been e, ended now until 9:30 and includes lancaster county. whiparound. weather any time of day go to weather.com, of course with the weather channel. the folks still hanging tough with us, thanks very much, folks here on the back end and the

opposite side here. again, not a big morning here on the plaza, thank you so much. all right, let head back inside to lester. >> our soggy summer continues. chris, thanks. now to those college students who are making a name for themselves just by being so darn nice. so the called compliment guys are on a ten-city tour handing out compliments to everyone they meet. and right now, they are working their magic on the streets of new york city. >> really cool sunglasses. >> that is a great smile you have. >> hey, i dig that head band. >> went last time you gave someone a compliment? >> you guys have a good day. >> thanks, guys. >> if you're camera brown and brett westcott, also known as the compliment guys, you do it all the time. >> i really woke up and wanted to go out and do something nice that day. >> the guys began praising people at their school, purdue university and when their compliments became a campus sensation, they took to the road. >> i like the flow pattern on your dress. >> i like your side burns.

>> thank you. >> bringing a handmade sign and a slew of nice comments to total strangers. >> wow, that was kind of random and it is fun that someone complimented me. >> very out of the blue. >> i didn't find it unusual, we are from canada. it was normal. >> people don't normally compliment people anymore. >> very nice. >> the guys say they can always find something nice to say. >> it could be anything from your shoes to your hair to your smile to you know, a bracelet, a necklace. >> a really good compliment can have a powerful and lasting effect and you can feed off it for a week. >> it is nice to, like, walk by someone and have them smile back at you. that is really what we are shooting for. >> the compliment guys, brett westcott and cameron brown are here, do they look great? >> not just great, you guys look amazing. >> smile. >> we could do this for three whole minutes before we get to the heart and soul of this. what is the story behind this, guys? >> well, it all started one average wednesday. i just wanted to go out and do

something nice, you know, cheer people up. so i went out there all by my lonesome and just gave out some free compliments at a first one day. later that night, i talked to cameron about it and he was pretty much like, i'm doing this with you. >> yeah, accident invite me to do it, i told him. >> on campus? >> on campus, every wednesday outside our chemistry building, a heavily populated walkway and a lot of people go by. it is a good spot. >> i decided to give out free compliments, he is going to charge later but in the beginning they are free. what is the reaction like, not here in new york, we will get to new york afterward bus everywhere else? >> it has been amazing, very version positive it. especially on purdue's campus, how many people will compliments before we can compliment them. it is spreading on. >> how do avoid crossing that line of a forced compliment? because, you know, we all know, a compliment doesn't mean anything unless you feel it is genuine? >> we are always sincere about our compliments that is our main thing we wouldn't be out there

every wednesday for two, two and a half hours in the rain or the snow or whatever, you know, whatever it may be unless we were sincere about it we want to cheer people up and put smiles on people's faces. >> anybody ever hit you? i know you walked the new york city's streets, anyone look at you wrong, cross-identify? >> no anybody who walks by who doesn't say anything that is the reason we are out there. we want to give them a compliment. we want them to smile. and kodak has given us an amazing opportunity to travel to these ten cities we never thought imaginable. we used to joke about coming to times square and giving compliments. >> can't it be a little creepy, an encounter with a woman, a couple of gays complimenting about a woman's appearance? >> we don't necessarily always comment somebody on their appearance it could be a backpack, a smile. and it is not always women. you know, we conlimit everybody equally. >> i would say we compliment more guys than we do girl at purdue. >> how many girl numbers did you get? how many? >> zero. >> zero? all right. >> i thought they would have done better. >> sorry to disappoint.

>> junior in college and -- all right. all right. >> we will let you compliment us offcamera. before we go off, see if we can find anything. >> thanks for joining us. enjoy your time. >> no nice to talk to you guys. simple ways to save big when you travel, right after these messages. i could use some of this information. increased my chance of a heart attack. i should've done something. now, i trust my heart to lipitor. when diet and exercise are not enough, adding lipitor may help. unlike some other cholesterol lowering medications, lipitor is fda approved to reduce the risk... of heart attack, stroke, and certain kinds of heart surgeries... in patients with several common risk factors... or heart disease. lipitor has been extensively studied... with over 16 years of research. lipitor is not for everyone, including people with liver problems... and women who are nursing, pregnant, or may become pregnant. you need simple blood tests to check for liver problems. tell your doctor if you are taking other medications, or if you have any muscle pain or weakness. this may be a sign of a rare but serious side effect.

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talk with your doctor about your medicines, including those for migraine, or if you have high fever, confusion and stiff muscles, to address a possible life-threatening condition. tell your doctor about alcohol use, liver disease, and before you reduce or stop taking cymbalta. dizziness or fainting may occur upon standing. side effects include nausea, dry mouth and constipation. ask your doctor about cymbalta. depression hurts. cymbalta can help. we need a soundtrack. this morning's travel, saving money. when you are on vacation, all those little extra costs can add up. wouldn't you rather spend your money on fun in here with tips to saving travel and dollars is "travel & leisure's" mark oral. let's dive right in. say if you are going to to do

that, save money, book your trip backwards. what do you mean by that? >> sounds weird. instead of choosing a destination, looking for the best airfare, how about this, go onto a website like airfare watchdog.com, kayak.com or airfare.com, type in your home airport and hook and see what airfares are available to you right now. it might be a cheap airfare to paris, might be a great airfare to the west coast. there is going to be airfares all over. >> and book your trip around that. >> a great destination with a great airfare. >> as far as hotels go, like this look online for the cheapest rate and call the hotel and see if they will match do they do that? >> they will do that, because they don't have to pay a commission if you are booking directly with them. go to an aggregator site like hotels combined.com or we go.com they search the internet with the best price, call the hotel, and might get the personalized service, might want a higher floor, an early check in or late check-out, you can't do that as easily online as by calling them, you get a great price and

personalized service. >> frustrating for me all the time, looking for a hotel that has wifi, people working when they are away, they charge by the day. is there a way to get around that? >> hotels are increasingly offering free wifi hot spots in their public areas like their lob business or their coffee shop or what have you. you don't want to get up to your room and pay 18, 22 or 22 bucks to use the internet for 24 hours in they have it free downstairs. check out a site called wifi hot spot listen com. you can find wifi hot spots all over the country, in fact, all over the world. >> instead, you and 50 guests can sit in a small tiny little hot spot and be on your -- >> unless you want to pay the 22 bucks up in your room. >> and then the other thing is atm fees, i'm sure you can wrack that up with different hotels. >> $6 for a single withdrawal? especially if you're going overseas, is a hard. ask your bank if they have member banks around the world where you can use their atm

machines for free. bank of america has a global alliance lets you use the partner machine, all over europe, australia, hsbc, premiere atm card holder use their hsbc machines all over the world, not pay an extra fee. check with your bank. >> another tip you say, take a train, take a train where you can sleep overnight on the train, you get to your destination and you're wide awake, there you are. >> i love this idea. instead of spending the night at an expensive hotel and getting up in the morning, buying an expensive airfare to go from paris to berlin and missing part of your travel because you are in the air, spend your night taking a train. some these inner city express trains are comfortable you don't need a sleeper car, save hundreds over paying for the hotel and airfare plus a chance to meet local people on these trains you wouldn't have a chance to do otherwise. >> like when the griswolds did it, sure it was equally fun and productive. thank you so much, appreciate your tips. now, here's lester. yen nah, thanks.

on today's health, questions about cholesterol. chances are your doctor has calculated your cholesterol number. do you really know what it means? here to make sense of cholesterol is dr. louis arolen, author of "the skinny." thanks for being here. >> morning, lester. >> we hear cholesterol, it is bad for us. some is good. we will talk about that in a moment what is cholesterol? >> it is a waxy substance that plays a critical role in the normal functioning of the body, actually very important for many normal functions of your body. >> but when we talk about clogged arteries is it cholesterol that clogs our articlely? >> cholesterol gets deposited inside cells in the walls of the arteries and that along with inflammation causes heart attacks and strokes. >> all right. let's talk good/bad cholesterol there is ldl, which us just learned l should stand for lousy. that is the bad stuff. >> that is right. >> hdl, happy, the good stuff. >> hdl cholesterol is the particle that takes cholesterol,

the walls of the arteries it brings it back to your liver. ldl puts it on the arteries it is bad cholesterol, lousy for you. >> i have had physicals and give me a triglyceride number. what is that? >> triglycerides is the way your body brings fat from your intestines to your liver f that builds up that can also cause a buildup of plaque in the arteries. >> who is more at risk of of cholesterol, men, women, older, younger? >> the older you are, the greater the risk. men are generally at greater risk but when women go through menopause their risk increases dramatically. women after menopause are at actually higher risk than men. >> talk numbers and about what a healthy amount of cholesterol is in your blood and what is an unhealthy amount. >> sure. so here we see the total cholesterol, less than 200 is a very good target, that is what we are shooting for. >> combination of the ldl and hdl? >> right. ldl less than 100 is another target. an ldl greater than 130 is a

risk factor. the hdl we definitely don't want to be lower than 140. if the hdl or good chest vol greater than 60 that is a positive risk factor, mean it is protects you from having heart disease. >> a doctor a lot of questions, some by e-mail, people confused about cholesterol. one from gene from pennsylvania, i don't eat fried foods, i limit red meat he is. what can i eat without becoming a vegetarian to keep my bad cholesterol down? it is all very confusing. so what does our diet have to do with cholesterol? >> it has a lot to do with it but a lot of people get confused and make changes that don't do the right thing. so in other words, they will cut out fatty foods but eat all sugar and starchy foods. what we want to do is reduce the am of faulty meats, eat lean, healthy meats as our protein source but don't want to eat a lot of sugar and starch instead, we want to eat vegetables as

source of carbohydrates. >> if a food has a lot of crest roll, shrimp has cholesterol. >> that is a great question. shrimp has cholesterol but very little saturated fat t gets turned into cholesterol. if you eat shrimp, even though your cholesterol goes up, you get more good cholesterol than bad cholesterol. >> bottom line, avoid the fatty stuff? >> avoid the fatty stuff, sugar and starch, lots of vegetables, eat those first, helps you to feel full, you will wind up losing weight. >> doctor, thank you for being here. good to have you on. ahead, one woman's plan to help troops overseas rest a built easier. first, these messages. introducing quilted northern ultra plush ®

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not a lot of activity. you read the news. and yet, some people need to sell and other people want to buy. this is a moment of challenge and opportunity. fortunately, re/max agents have the experience to help you meet the one and recognize the other. thanks. because the future's counting on us. nobody sells more real estate than re/max. for many women serving in the military overseas, little things that remind them of home

can mean very much. joseph is a father of two and served a as pie hot in iraq balancing the demands of war with the weight of leaving his family back home. then one act of kindness brought home a little closer to him. it was an early morning in baghdad, spring of 2005. chief warrant officer joseph ran was in the rec room shortly after getting his orders for the day. meanwhile, at the same time, 6,000 miles away in midland park, new jersey, virginia faucet was giving her students their orders for the day. >> after you finish, go in here. >> reporter: little did they know at that time just how big a role they would come to play in each other's lives. shortly after the war in iraq broke out, mrs. faucet came up with an idea. >> when i found that the soldiers didn't have pillows to sleep on, they had to fold their clothes to sleep on, i cried. >> reporter: so she gave the kids an assignment, sew one

pillow for yourself and one for a soldier in iraq. how come you are making pillows for the soldiers? >> because they don't have any pillows. >> reporter: kids here start as young as 4 years old, their little head filled with instructions and their little pille lows feel with heart. >> i feel your hand in there. tell me what you're making. >> a pillow forth soldiers. >> soldiers overseas, right? >> mm-hmm. ment test out and see if this pillow is good. why don't you take a little snap. [ snoring ] >> is it good? >> yeah. >> that one is a goner? we can put it up here now? >> reporter: week after week, mrs. faucet would pact pillows and ship them out, never knowing if they would reach the soldiers, but one box did reach a soldier one morning. >> the day i wasn't scheduled to fly and so then i would go use the phone to call my wife and right there was a box of pillow. i thought about it i just spent

last nate without a pillow, so i grabbed one of these pillows. >> reporter: as a token of his gratitude, he sent the kids at the school a letter and a picture of himself in a sand storm with his new pillow that made him feel closer to his own kids back home. after finishing his tour in iraq, joe came home, with his pillow, which his kids now sleep with every night. >> my daddy got it from iraq and it is a special one. >> reporter: joe's letter of appreciation earned a special place on mrs. face it's wall. have you ever met any of the soldiers? >> no i haven't, i just have my treasures up on the wall there that i got from the soldiers. >> i'm looking at this framed letter and picture from chief warrant officer joe ran. >> the thing that mean a lot to me is that he is holding a yellow pillow. if you notice, none of these pillows are sand color. >> can i ask you if you would read the letter to me? >>" i am a pilot in the alaskan

army national guard. i want to thank you for the pillows. i use." >> on my bunk. and when i need -- >> my back when i fly. more importantly, i want to thank you for the thought and consideration. >> i would like you to meet chief warrant officer joe ran. >> oh, how wonderful. how wonderful is this? oh, my goodness. gracious me. you have been on my wall for all these years. >> that is what they tell me. >> oh, my god. this is the most exciting day of my life. remember this picture on the wall? >> yeah. >> this is joe. >> these pillows mean that somebody cares back home, you know? that's all it meant to a soldier. one little pillow. that's all it took. come on, give me some hugs, you guys, this is awesome. >> sweet, sweet story. . great story to tell. he was wonderful, his kids understood what the pillows meant, brought them back and the kids at mrs. face it's school. >> all connects.

wonderful. >> we will be back right after these messages. can i pour? you can help me pour. good. ( laughs ) ( gasps ) do you hear that sound? they're popping! - really?! listen. - ( laughs ) ahhhhh... mmm. where'd the sound go? even when they've stopped popping, is it in your tummy? they haven't stopped working. now, every box of kellogg's® rice krispies® cereal... has antioxidants and nutrients... that help support your child's immune system. ( laughter continues )

>> congressman elijah cummings joins us for our "q & a" setment. >> severe weather is off to an early start to this sunday