good morning. missing -- a yale university student vanishes just days before her wedding. now her des pratt fiance is helping the fbi with the search. >> whodunit? andy warhol portraits of muhammad ali, dorothy hamill, o.j. simpson disappear from a collector's home. a reward is up for grabs. and monster snake. a stunning find in florida. imagine seeing this in your neighbor's back yard. turns out the giant python is a pet and the owner is fighting to get her back. today, saturday, september 12th, 2009. captions paid for by nbc-universal television

and welcome to "today" on this saturday morning. i'm amy robach. >> i'm peter alexander sitting in for lester holt. he's taking some well-deserved time off. at the end of the summer, we said take a weekend. >> good for him and good for us. we're happy to have you. >> thank you. >> quite a day with snakes on the horizon. >> she is 18 feet long, incredibly 400 pounds. she is also a family's pet. her name is delilah. she's been living in the back yard of an orlando, florida, home for years now. apparently she's been known to escape from her cage. that's where the problem begins. coming up, we're going to find out what happened when wildlife official showed up at the house. this has been described as a make-or-break week for president obama's health care reform plan. after his big address to congress and the controversial response from some critics, the president is hitting the road today trying to gain some momentum and rally the faithful. we'll get all the latest on the

president's next steps. also coming up this morning, michael jackson's sister la toya speaking out today about her brother's death. what she says michael's son prince witnessed the morning his father died. we're also going to hear what janet jackson has to say as she prepares for a musical tribute to her broth they are weekend at the radio city music hall. all coming up. first, president obama takes his health care message on the road today with a campaign-style rally. mike has more. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, amy. after a summer of raucous town halls, congressional infighting and sinking poll number, president obama is hoping that after that big wednesday speech the tide has turned on his health care plan. even after some two dozen speeches -- >> the cost of our health care is a threat to our economy. >> reporter: -- town halls and rallies since his summer push for health care reform began, president obama still has little to show for it from congress. then came his wednesday address.

>> -- would not apply to those who are here illegally. >> you lie! >> reporter: heckled by republicans but well received by democrats, the speech has given the reform effort new momentum, and the president now looks to keep the pressure on. beginning this morning in his weekly internet address. >> we have had a long and important debate, but now is the time for action. >> reporter: and continuing this afternoon, when the president travels to minnesota to speak before an expected crowd of 20,000 at a rally. but ooh opponents are also on offense. minnesota republicans will greet the president with this tv ad. >> mr. president, let's slow down and do health care reform the right way. >> reporter: and also today, plans for a different rally, this one in front of the capitol, and sponsored by many of the anti-tax activists and obama opponents who led protests last april and at town halls this summer. >> wait a minute. wait a minute. >> reporter: meanwhile, the fallout over wednesday's outburst by congressman joe wilson continues. in the wake of the controversy,

wilson has a new campaign ad. >>ly not be muzzled. >> reporter: and says he's raised more than $750,000 from sympathetic supporters. but democrats say their candidate has raised more than a million dollars, support fueled by outrage over wilson's comment. now party leaders say they will move the reprimand wilson. >> stunning to hear such a statement made. >> reporter: demanding a formal apology delivered on the floor of the u.s. house and threatening to hold a vote of disapproval as early as monday if wilson refuses. and, amy, one small sign of progress, after struggling with closed-door negotiations all summer long, democrats in the senate say they are going to move forward next week or without republicans. amy? >> mike vick kara, thanks so much. politico's mike allen joins us from washington. >> good morning. >> we've seen the president speak to congress. he is taking his message to minneapolis to the masses to begin. what can we expect from the president in terms of style and substance? >> well, this is going to be the

fired-up, ready to go barack obama that we saw on the campaign trail. they have an expression around the west wing, which is no one ever got rich betting against barack obama and we're starting to see why. if you had just read the words on the page of the president's address to congress yesterday, especially liberals in the house might have said, hey, this is a pretty week for us, but there was an emotional room that has democrats working hard. he'll be at the target center in minneapolis. later this week, he's going to continue his health care tour in this area at college park, home of the university of maryland terps. >> and speaking to what you just said about this new united feeling among democrats when it comes to health care reform, there were very few new details in the president's plan or in his speech at least given to congress on wednesday. and yet you felt as though this inspiration coming from that speech has helped this united front among democrats. should he have given this speech earlier? >> i think that's right. he's acknowledged he let

congress work on it too long. his idea was to not overshadow them, not make them feel pushed into it. but, amy, if you've ever done a barbecue with 535 people trying to flip the burger, that's kind of what was going on. so, he's taking control now here. we're going to see him very involved in the weeks ahead. amy, we're going to see the president with a new message today that's very important. he's going to talk about how anybody can be uninsured. in vic's report, we saw a clip from the president's internet address. he says there, we always think about the uninsured as someone else, but the administration is armed with a new study saying that half of people, 48% of people over ten years will face being uninsured. that's so important because a vast majority of americans, senior citizens, middle class, people who like their coverage, felt that they only had something to lose under health reform, that they only had risk to the downside. so, he's going to convince them that health reform can help them, as well. >> one of the big issues, and this was part of the outburst we

saw on wednesday night, is this notion of illegal immigrants and whether or not they would be a part of this plan. the white house now says that proof of citizenship would be required before someone could be a part of this new health care reform package. for all the flak that representative joe wilson got for speaking out or at least that outburst saying you're a liar on wednesday, did this actually force the white house to address the issue in a way it may not have before? >> well, there may be more clear language about that question, amy, but congressman wilson's outburst was unquestionably unhelpful to republicans and helpful to democrats. again and again, leaders told me this week that that was a key factor in that unification, galvanization of democrats that you were talking about earlier. there's going to be a little drama next week, also. congressman wilson is being told, because this happened on the floor of the house, because it was clearly against house rules, there's very specific rules about what you can say to or about the president, he has a choice. he's going to apologize on the

house floor or house democratic leaders are going to come out with a resolution of disapproval. so, you can see both sides are out raising money on it, but this was very bad for republicans, and it gave democrats the sort of glue that they needed. >> mike, if we see a first draft of this bill next week, how long before it could take to actually get passed? >> things are going pretty quickly. this is a little bit like an nba game. it's fine to tune in in the last two minutes. you'll see exactly what's going to happen. tuesday we'll see the finance committee bill. that's probably the base bill that's going to go ahead. we saw this week vice president biden saying he'd like to see a final bill passed, the president signing it by thanksgiving. that's a little ambitious, so maybe early december. but the white house figures if you tell congress christmas, like they'll be doing it christmas eve. so, the idea of saying thanksgiving is to have some deadline out there and push them ahead. in addition to that question about the illegal immigrants, we're also in the next 48 hours going to see a little nailing

down of language that would limit the payment for abortions under this. so all the movement is in a direction that will help conservatives. the white house democrats maximizing the chance that they'll get a republican or two to help push this ahead. >> mike allen, thanks so much. >> happy weekend, amy. >> same to you. friday morning as the nation remembered the terror attacks of september 11th, what was intended as a routine security exercise instead turned into an hour-long scare. nbc's pete williams has more on exactly what happened. >> reporter: for the crews of the u.s. coast guard's fast patrol boats it was a normal day, a routine training drill like this one on the potomac river between two washington bridges and not far from the pentagon and national airport. as part of the drill, a coast guardsman said on an open marine channel that a suspicious boat refused an order to stop. bang, bang, bang said one of the exercise participants. >> there is other news that we need to get out to you, in fact,

breaking news right now. >> reporter: a few minutes later, cnn, hearing the radio call and seeing coast guard boats maneuvering reported that shots had, in fact, been fired. >> this is pretty incredible, i have to say, as the story is developing here. and i learned that rounds had actually been fired. >> reporter: based strictly on the news reports, the fbi scrambled a response team, and nearby national airport stopped all takeoffs for nearly half an hour, delaying 17 flights. but there was no suspicious boat on the river, no shots were ever fired. it was all a drill. the coast guard said it owed no apology. >> we're charged with seven by 24, 365, all day, every day, all weather security and safety on the maritime interests in the national capital region. we train every day. >> but homeland security secretary janet napolitano, who oversees the coast guard, ordered a complete review, and the coast guard said it would look into conducting such a visible training mission while

president obama was traveling back and forth across the river on the day of the 9/11 anniversary. >> this is very instructive for us, and we're going to back through this. we're going to review our own protocols, our own procedures. >> reporter: but the white house spokesman said the reporting made matters worse. >> i do wish that some of the people that reported that incident might have take an little bit of time to check and see whether what they were reporting was accurate. >> reporter: cnn says it would have been irresponsible not to report what it saw and heard. but the whole episode shows that eight years after the 9/11 attacks this is still a city on edge. for "today, "pete williams, nbc news, washington. >> certainly put a lot of people on edge yesterday. 11 minutes past the hour. time for the rest of this morning's headlines. >> norah o'donnell is at the news desk. >> good morning, amy, peter, good morning, everyone. a multimillion-dollar art heist that sounds like a scene out of a hollywood movie. police in california say a collection of andy warhol portraits were stolen from the

home of a prominent l.a. businessman. a housekeeper at the home, richard weiseman, walked into the dining room and noticed several warhol pieces were missing. portraits of muhammad ali, o.j. simpson, pele, chris everett were among the missing. a $1 million reward is being offered for information leading to the return of those paintings. the fbi is still searching for missing yale grad student who is supposed to get married this morning. annie le, the 24-year-old medical student, was last seen tuesday at a yale lab about a mile from the main campus. the university is now offering a $10,000 reward. in michigan, an anti-abortion activist was shot and killed in front of a high school on friday. police say the accused shooter confessed to another killing and had plans to kill a third. nbc's john yang has more. >> reporter: students from high school were arriving for class when james pouillon, a well-known anti-abortion activist, was gunned down from a passing vehicle.

>> my son actually seen him laying there, and he's kind of emotional about that. >> reporter: witnesses reported the vehicle's license number and police traced it to 33-year-old harlan drake. as they questioned him, drake made a startling statement about another killing that had taken place. >> at the time of his arrest, the suspect made statements that he was involved in another homicide in shiawassee county the same day. >> the second victim was michael fuo fuoss. prosecutors say drake wanted to kill a third person but they caught him before he could carry it out. drake was arraigned and charged with two counts of premeditated murder, one count of felony possession of a firearm and carrying a weapon with unlawful intent. he had grudges against all three targets but none were specifically related to anti- or pro-abortion beliefs. now the students who witnessed the killing in the community who knew these men are left wondering why. for "today," john yang, nbc news, michigan.

a north dakota hospital is reviewing policies and security procedures this morning after a mother was sent home with the wrong baby. staff members at mercy medical center realized the mix-up after an hour and the mother was quickly reunited with her own newborn baby. all right. the space shuttle has finally touched down in california. "discovery" landed friday night after diverting to edwards air force base because of some stormy weather in florida. the landing caps its two-week mission to the international space station where astronauts delivered supplies and some other equipment. finally, put it in the books. team captain derek jeter broke lou gehrig's record of most hits at yankee stadium with 2,722 hits. jeter's single came in the third inning against the baltimore orioles. as soon as jeter got to first base, the whole team ran out to congratulate him. gehrig's record was held for more than 70 years. that's news. now back to amy, peter, and bill. of course the yankees ended up losing the game. >> but the story is the jeter story. >> where's everyone's

pinstripes? i'm wearing mine. >> oh, well. >> not yankees folks up here. >> norah, thank you. aptly put. >> got to lay it out will there. cubs fan. bill carin has a look at the forecast. summer to fall pretty quick in new york. >> and soggy, too. it is really wet. from the northeast with the showers especially down in texas, that's where we're seeing the worst of the weather, we have flood watches in effect from oklahoma through texas including the new orleans area. we're getting a drenching today that's going to continue as we go throughout this weekend. the good news, that's where worst drought is, especially southern texas, so we're getting

that's a look at your weekend forecast. amy? bill, thank you. it has been one year since galveston, texas, took a direct hit from hurricane ike. it was the third most destructive hurricane to ever make landfall in the united states causing more than 100 deaths and nearly $13 billion in damage. and for galveston, it's been a tough year of trying to get back to normal. nbc's janet chambleeian has a progress report. >> reporter: when hurricane ike stormed ston a year ago today, it tore up the town but couldn't break its spirit. >> right now it feels like it's about five years. it just seems like it's been forever to recover. >> reporter: if anyone had reason to give up, it was tom. photographed by "the houston chronicle" outside his restaurant after the storm surge

turned it into a filthy pool. and this week in the same spot, his business born anew. >> it's coming back, and i'm convinced it's going to be better than it was. >> reporter: a philosophy shared by joe and kathleen dinky. they returned to find their home in pieces. as they told al roker shortly after the hurricane hit. >> it's going to take one shovel at a time. most people in this situation realize that you can't do it by yourself. no man is an island. >> reporter: the couple has spent almost every day of the past 12 months turning a house back into a home. >> there's a lot of hills and valleys throughout life, and you've got to overcome these things. >> reporter: amid all the rebuilding and lives started over, the other story of the storm is those who aren't coming back. my some estimates the island has lost an es mated 20% of its population. the island's biggest employer, the university of texas medical branch, laid off a third of its staff after the storm. those who didn't move away for a

job left out of fear. >> part of the reason for me is i can't go through it again. i could never put my heart into a home and see it destroyed like that again. >> reporter: images like these from the nearby peninsula are hard to shake. >> it's gone. it's all gone. >> reporter: damage was catastrophic here. the landscape is desolate. and two dozen people who defied orders to evacuate are still missing. but what galveston's known for, the beaches, are back. a cocktail of crowds and construction mixed with a splash of hope that this season won't be a mean one. for "today," nbc news, galveston. and now once again here's peter. >> amy, thank you. want to live next door to president obama? there is apparently no room on pennsylvania avenue, but the obama family's chicago neighbors are putting their house on the market. what's it worth to live next door to the first family?

cnbc got a look inside. >> reporter: the thing about the white house is no neighbors. but what about the obama's other house in chicago? >> this is the safest place in the western world to live when you think about it. it's wonderful. >> reporter: still, obama next-door neighbor bill grimshaw and his wife, jackie, are putting their uniquely situated home up for sale. >> kids are out of the nest. it costs a lot to maintain a place like this. and then there's the third factor, you might call the obama factor. this place all of a sudden has increased in value. >> reporter: talk about the ultimate gated community. >> it's a historic mansion district, and it's kind of surrounded by a million-plus dollar homes on large lots, so it's a secluded area. but with the secret service protection outside now, i think it's the best protection the united states government can buy. >> reporter: so probably no open houses to start at this house that sits ten feet from the president's. the secret service wouldn't like that. in fact, they didn't like the

fact that the sellers let us bring a camera over. so, out of respect for his security, we agreed to blur the neighbor, mr. obama's house. so, how much for this 6,000-square-foot, 17-room home? well, that's up to all you potential buyers. yes, the realtor and owner are looking for you to a praise the, quote, obama factor. that is, what's it worth or not worth to live next to the most powerful man in america? >> we used to meet each other on the back porch. he'd be sneaking a cigarette. michelle won't let him smoke in the house. >> when he comes, we have to go through body-sniffing dogs. so, it's an advantage not having -- not having him here just because the security increases, you know, tenfold when he's around. but no, i mean, it's challenging. and it really disrupts the neighborhood. >> reporter: the grimshaws say the obamas told them they would move back home after the presidency. until then, the new owner would

have bragging rights and a very quiet neighbor. for "today," diana olic, cnbc. fixer-upper, $300,000, live next to the obamas, priceless. they bout the home for $35,000 back in 1973. we're going to be right back. ♪

♪

♪ why not make this year's holiday one to remember? call 1-800-royal-caribbean today. the nation marked the eighth anniversary of the september 11th attacks friday in a new way by making 9/11 a national day of service. nbc's kevin tibbles has the story. >> reporter: on a damp, somber morning, 100 rays of hope. >> these guys are the best guys that ever happened to this school. >> reporter: "these guys" are members of the 100 black men organization. >> did you do your homework last night? >> reporter: volunteering to mentor boys, some of whom may not have a dad at atlanta's best academy. >> i do this every day because it's needed every day.

we have to make sure it's straight. >> reporter: helping a boy become a man also means teaching him how to dress for success. >> everybody good? >> reporter: it was a day of hustle at the the greater chicago food depository. volunteers gathered by the dozens filling boxes of food. >> we're here to be of service. >> i think we need to remember that we're a united states of america. >> i wish i could fill more than put a can in a box. >> you're doing what you can do. >> i'm doing what i can do. >> reporter: this facility feeds a half million chicagoans every year. their message -- every day is a good day to volunteer. in los angeles, volunteering to strengthen community and self. >> taking an hour or two from your life, it's not going to kill you. it's going to help you, actually. >> reporter: they are members of girls, inc., an organization that encourages young women to succeed. the first national day of service was spent touching up,

cleaning up, and sprucing up their school. >> it's a day we could start looking at as a day of rebirth and renewal. >> reporter: on the anniversary of that awful day, people giving of themselves in different ways with a common goal. ♪ we can make the world a better place for everyone ♪ >> reporter: for "today," kevin tibbles, nbc news, chicago. and still to come on "today," all the latest on swine >> good morning, everyone. it is 7:25. here is a look of some of our top story this morning. baltimore city police are searching for the person who shot and killed a man in broad daylight. they have identified the victim. authorities say he was sitting on a bicycle at an mta bus stop

around yesterday afternoon when he was shot. if you get any information, and you're asked to call, crimestoppers. city police are looking into an early morning shooting in northeast baltimore. it found a man lying on a sidewalk around 2:00 a.m. friday. he had multiple gunshot wounds to the torso. he was transported to johns hopkins hospital where he was later pronounced dead. a guilty plea from the maryland woman accused of killing her two adopted daughters and then storing their bodies in a freezer. a plea to a talipes charge involved a third adopted daughter. that girl was found wandering around the neighborhood after jumping out of it went up. after the child was found, authorities searched her home and found the remains. she could receive up to 25 years in prison. she is facing separate first- degree murder charges in the death of her other daughter is in montgomery county.

the baltimore city police officer is charged with sexually assaulting a young girl and has pled guilty. he entered the plea on thursday before the trial was to begin. it happened in march 2008 after he is admitted he took the girl to was in his care to the basement, pulled down her pants, and fondled her. his sentencing is set for december 7. will take a break. when we come back,

>> take a look at our hd

doppler. no rain around baltimore. there is a rain in pennsylvania. this storm will be in the neighborhood today. it may reach annapolis this evening. we could see a spotty showers. we will see some sunshine trying to break through the clouds later today. we will break out of this eventually. a few showers possible. temperatures warm 70-75 is the high. better weather a around the area. >> they keep. we will see you again for another live update in 25 minutes.

good saturday morning. we're back on this saturday morning, the 12th of september, 2009. you can see some oaf our friends on the plaza. wet morning. appreciate them coming out. hi, guys. how are you? i'm peter alexander filling in for lester holt alongside my friend amy robach. nice to see you. coming up this half hour, michael jackson's sisters are going to speak out. >> that's right. janet jackson is opening up about big brother michael on the eve of her highly anticipated musical tribute, but it's sister la toya who is revealing new details today about what happened in michael jackson's home the day he died and what did michael's oldest son, prince, witness. we're going to have the answer coming up in just a few minutes. also coming up this morning, a frightening story. the search for a missing yale university student, annie le.

fbi agents are heading back into the research lab where she was last seen. coming up, we're going to tell you what's being done to find her on this, the day before she was supposed to be getting married. and later, it's 18 feet long, 400 pounds, and here's the really i think interesting factoid, nearly 30 inches around. we're going to meet delilah, the pet python, who is slithering in a florida back yard. yikes. >> wait till you hear what she eats for breakfast. first, the latest on the battle for swine flu. it's hitting early, and along with seasonal flu it's affecting people already in all 50 states. there is news today about the new swine flu vaccine that is still undergoing tests. nbc's chief science correspondent robert bazell has those details. >> yes, i am ready. >> reporter: health officials are encouraged by the experimental results showing that healthy adults will need only a single dose of the swine flu vaccine when it starts to be available next month. >> it now appears that most of

the folks have a robust immune response in eight to ten days from the date of the first vaccine. >> reporter: but many people will get swine flu before there is any vaccine. after the virus first appeared in late april, visits to doctors and hospitals for flu increased sharply, then stabilized for the summer. but in recent weeks, the numbers have climbed sharply again with no end in sight. the american college health association reports that 72% of colleges and universities it surveys across the country reported flu cases in the week ending september 4th. >> 98% of the viruses that are circulating right now are this new h1n1. the levels of flu activity that we're seeing right now in september are extremely unusual for this time of year. we have flu activity occurring in all 50 states and the district of columbia. >> all right. ready? >> ready. >> reporter: experts say the new

swine flu vaccine should be safe. a 1976 vaccination campaign against a different swine flu threat caused an increase in a rare paralytic condition called guion beret syndrome. >> we'll be monitoring it very, very carefully. this is extremely important, and of course we're very mindful of the experience in 1976 and the importance of being able to assure the public about the safety of vaccine use. >> reporter: a new monitoring system will check electronic medical records of many hospitals and insurance plans for the first signs of any side effects of the vaccine. for "today," robert bazell, nbc news, new york. >> dr. anthony fauci is director of the national institute of allergy and infectious diseases. good morning. thanks for joining us. >> good morning. >> essentially what's going on right now is there's a race between the vaccine and the virus to see which one gets here first. "the new york times" this morning is reporting that even though this vaccine is apparently working much better than expected, there is some

concern that it won't be able to dull this pandemic, that the peak could come as early as next month, earlier than some people expected. do you think we'll be ready in time for that? and what is your primary concern right now? >> well, we already know that there are some places in the country where there are outbreaks, particularly in schools and in colleges, as we've heard. so, if you look at the map of the united states, they're going to be places that will peak, unfortunately, before most of the people who could use and need the virus -- excuse me -- the vaccine will get it. but we're hoping that for most of the people that, as this virus spreads through the country, that we will be able to get vaccine to a pretty good proportion of the people that would help them before they get exposed. so, the model that you were mentioning indicates that the virus is here and we're seeing the outbreaks in school. that's unfortunate. can't do much about that right now except make sure we take good care of the people who get infected and use other nonvaccine ways to prevent the spread of infection. but the vaccine will be available, as you mentioned, in october, and we hope to get that

out as quickly as possible. >> friday's cdc report just out yesterday said the flu activity is already widespread in 11 states, in the southeast, oklahoma, arizona i think. but one of the big headlines is now most people will only need one vaccine shot as opposed to two. how significant is that? and does it mean that more people will be able to get it? >> well, that's very good news. we announced that yesterday here in washington. and what it really means is that when we started making the vaccine, we were unclear, it was unclear whether it would even be able to induce a protective immune response and whether or not we would have the ability to give it in one shot as opposed to two, which would really greatly decrease the supply of vaccine. so, the news yesterday is that not only does it induce a good response that's protective but also it could be done very quickly after a single dose of the vaccine as opposed to two or more doses, which means two things. it'll have a good, positive impact on supply.

we'll have more doses available. and also, once you get vaccinated, from the time of vaccination to the time you're protected is a very short period of time, eight to ten days, as opposed to several weeks, which is usually the case. >> so, doctor, who do you recommend gets the swine flu vaccine? who's most susceptible? and does that mean that they do or do not need also to get the seasonal flu vaccine? >> they're two separate vaccines and people who need it should get both. so, let me tell you the five target groups that we're trying to make sure get the pandemic or swine flu vaccine. first of all, it's pregnant women. and then it's children 6 months of age to 24 years old. there are the people who take care of children less than 6 months old, health care workers and people who have underlying conditions that would make them for susceptible to the complications. with regard to the seasonal flu, it's very important for elderly individuals to continue as they do each year to get the seasonal flu vaccine, because with the

seasonal flu, elderly individuals are much more susceptible to complications. in fact, 92% of the 36,000 deaths that we see regularly each year with seasonal flu are among elderly individuals. >> and dr. fauci, finally, i know safety is always a big concern when it comes to vaccines. you've been part of the trials for this. are there any concerns about side effects with the swine flu vaccine? >> well, what we're seeing is the standard thing you see whenever you stick a needle into somebody's arm, a little pain and swelling. but there have been no adverse effects that we've seen. thus far, things look quite good as we see each year with seasonal flu vaccine. it's acting very much like seasonal flu vaccine, which has a very good safety record. >> dr. anthony fauci, we appreciate you spending time with us. >> good to be here. let's get a check of the weather from nbc meteorologist bill karins out on the

>> good morning. the storm's center is no philadelphia right now. -- is near philadelphia right now. perhaps some showers. perhaps some showers. we will not be as wet as a

all right. i've been waiting all year for this. it is time for nbc "sunday night football" in america. we are heading, of course, to your first game. green bay packers. aaron rodgers, chicago bears, new quarterback, jay cutler. this should be a great game and we should have great football weather. temperatures in the upper 60s. a game not to miss. peter, i know you'll be watching. back inside. >> just need that music to follow you around today. bill, thank you very much. still to come, janet and la toya jackson speaking out. i felt this deep lingering pain that was a complete mystery to me. my doctor diagnosed it as fibromyalgia muscle pain

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daily moisturizing lotion, beauty costs less at walmart. save money. live better. walmart. and added a little fiber? sweet! sweet! (together) sweet! (announcer) now for the first time, a gram of healthy fiber in every packet. sweet! (announcer) splenda® with fiber. now that their brother has been laid to rest, michael jackson's sisters are opening up about his death and celebrating his life. nbc's courtney haze let has more. >> reporter: michael jackson's life and death all in the public eye. and while his brothers are talking to the press, his sisters are now taking their turn. older sister la toya speaking out about her brother's death, telling "access hollywood's" tony potts that michael's son prince witnessed resuscitation by michael's doctor, conrad

murray. >> did he bring prince into the room? >> yes, he did. yes, he did. as he was trying to resuscitate him knowing michael was no longer there. you don't do this. you don't scar a child that way. you don't do that. that was totally uncalled for. my concern is just there are so many little things that took place that shouldn't have. it makes you wonder. >> reporter: dr. murray maintains his innocence, and the criminal investigation into jackson's death continues. la toya also told "20/20" when michael's daughter paris made her moving remarks at the public memorial in july -- >> paris, i don't think the world knows, has such a love for her father. >> and paris wanted to speak. >> yes, she did. >> at that memorial. >> yes. she absolutely did. she wanted so badly to say something to her father. >> daddy has been the best father you could ever imagine. and i just wanted to say i love him so much.

>> and though buried in private, la toya describes how michael was laid to rest. >> he was dressed in all white pearls, beads going across, draped across, beautiful big, gold belt, like a belt that you win being a boxer. >> reporter: meanwhile, baby sister janet is sharing her raw emotions about her brother monopoly in the latest edition of "harper's bazaar," janet focuses not on michael's death but, instead, on his life. and on sunday, janet will open the video music awards with a musical tribute to her late brother. nbc news. jool toure is an nbc news contributor and harriet cole is the editor of "ebony" magazine. good morning to both of you. >> good morning. >> as we just heard, la toya is bringing up questions about what

really happened to her wrother, michael. she told barbara walters -- why do you think la toya is coming out now and with these types of claims? >> i don't know. we always have to take whala toya says perhaps with a grain of salt. she's the outlier of group, has long been that, and sometimes she's had somewhat, let's say, extrain youls motives for coming forward and bringing the attention to her. the idea of a conspiracy to kill michael, it doesn't wash with me, especially at the moment when he's about to do 50 concerts and the biggest money-making moment of his last several years. so, if you're going to kill him, why then? perhaps maybe -- even if it was a year or two earlier or a year or two later i'd believe it better, but we're right on the lip of making $20 million, $50

million. why now? >> and la toya also gave us a glimpse of what michael jackson's life was perhaps like in the few months leading up to his death. was there a real effort by jackson's family to intervene, to try and help him, given his mental state? >> there are many reports that have said that. i haven't spoke on the family to tell me specifically, but we have heard this. i did speak to ramon bay, his manager up until october of last year, and she said that many people who were part of his inner circle were pushed away in the last months of his life. >> they kept his family away from him. >> no, not just family, but he, he, michael jackson, let go of a lot of people who had been part of his inner circle late last year. so, i think it's interesting. i want to go back to this thing that la toya said, though, for a second. whether it's true, conspiracy, that's not so much the issue to me it is when someone dies tragically in your family, you're always pointing the finger this way.

it has to be somebody else's responsibility. i think that the jackson family will probably spend the rest of their lives looking. i mean, we've heard that it was a homicide. you know, this is what the coroner said. but they're still looking. but who's responsible? and how many people are responsible? it's the right question. she's asking it in one way. i'm sure every family member is asking it in one way or another because that's what people do. >> right. >> that's what they do. >> in grief. >> it has to be somebody else's fault. >> toure, speaking of the family and the dynamics of this family, there has always been historically tension among the group. has michael jackson's death changed that? have they been brought closer together? you mentioned la toya being the outlier. >> one thing is anytime you have a big family there's going to be tension. i don't know any family with six, seven, eight, nine brothers that -- >> or even one brother. >> yeah. a big group. and anytime there's a lot of

money in a family there's going to be tension and division. you put those two things together, of course there's going to be strife and problems. this is not a jackson thing so much as just a human nature sort of thing. has it brought them together? i imagine it has. i haven't talked to the jacksons either so i don't know exactly real details of that. but i imagine it's got to bring them together. >> but they're talking. >> right. yeah. >> they were all together and, you know, just around his death for quite a bit of time, talking and trying to work out the memorial. remember, we heard details of how difficult it was to work through that. i think what's interesting now is the family members are now giving voice to their thoughts and feelings. and because they are a public family, we're learning about what they're feeling, how they're grieving. people grieve in different ways. >> true. >> la toya is angry and upset, pointing her finger. janet is trying to make sure that the legacy of michael jackson goals on. i think that she's bringing dancers from the tour with her to the vma so that his vision

through these young people will live on. so, every family member's probably figuring out how to deal with it. >> that's really important because we've seen several memorials to michael now and none have really focused on the dance aspect. >> huge. >> this is a guy -- fred astaire respected him as a dancer. where is the dancing? i know when i watch b.e.t. i'm like where is the dance aspect? >> they're coming. >> mtv is bringing michael's dancers from his tour to perform. that's going to be excited and righteous. >> and he had all these young people part of the tour. we got a glimpse of that, but michael jackson was always bringing other people along. we get to see what does that mean. >> right. harriet cole and toure, thanks for sharing your thoughts and insights. catch more of access hollywood's interview with la toya jackson on monday. would like it.ou (announcer) it's more than just that great peanut taste, choosing jif is a simple way to show someone how much you care. i love you mom. i love you too. choosey moms, choose jif.

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still to come this morning on "today," wildlife officials are calling it the biggest python they have ever seen. we're going to introduce you to the pet snake that was captured inside a florida yard. plus, she is supposed to get married tomorrow, but she is missing. life i live. there's the and the life i want to live. fortunately, there's enbrel. enbrel can help relieve pain, stiffness, fatigue, and stop joint damage. because enbrel suppresses your immune system, serious, sometimes fatal, events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma and nervous system and blood disorders have occurred. before starting enbrel, your doctor should test you for tuberculosis. also ask your doctor if you live in an area don't start enbrel if you have an infection, like the flu.

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he was shot. if you get any information, you're asked to call, crimestoppers. early morning shooting in northeast baltimore. they found a man lying on a sidewalk around 2:00 a.m. friday. he had multiple gunshot wounds to the torso. he was transported to johns later pronounced dead. a guilty plea from the maryland woman accused of killing her two adopted daughters and then storing their bodies in a freezer. she plead guilty to first degree child abuse involving a third adopted daughter. that girl was found wandering around the neighborhood after jumping out of a window. after the child was found, authorities searched her home and found the remains. she could receive up to 25 years in prison. she is facing separate first- degree murder charges in the death of her other daughter in montgomery county. the baltimore city police officer is charged with sexuallyhe entered the plea on

thursday before the trial was to begin. it happened in march 2008 after he admitted he took the girl who was in his care to the basement, pulled down her pants, and fondled her. december 7. when we come

>> after over 4 inches of rain

depending on your location yesterday, we have something different today. all of the rain has moved up into pennsylvania. we still have some clouds down here. the center of the storm is spending over portions of southeast pennsylvania around philadelphia right now. that is expected to move. both storm systems will start to pull away from us. the shower chances will begin to pull of the picture for us. today looks a lot better than yesterday. we are seeing a mix of clouds and sunshine. a high temperature today up 70- 75 degrees. tomorrow closer to 80. we will see more sunshine. >> thank you for joining us. we will see you back here in 25 minutes.

good morning. where is she? a yale student enters a campus building and vanishes. now on the eve of her weddinging day a desperate search for clues. stunning snake. wildlife officials round up a giant from a florida man's back yard. it turns out she's a pet, and now her owner is fighting to get her back. and coming of age. britain's prince harry getting older and a lot richer. now royal watchers are asking what will one of the world's most eligible bachelors do with his new millions? today's saturday, september 12th, 2009.

and welcome back to "today." i'm amy robach. >> i'm peter alexander sitting in today for lester holt. big shoes to fill, which i know because i'm using his office and he left them in the closet. >> nice to have you here, peter. >> appreciate it. >> as always. imagine, though, if you were looking into your neighbor's back yard and you saw this -- an 18-foot, 400-pound pet. animal control was kouled in. they called it a monster, the biggest snake they say they've rounded up in years. and of course that's not all there is to it. we'll bring you all the details in just a few minutes, including what the snake likes to eat. >> may ruin your appetite. plus, if you were hooked by "the davinci code" and tantalized by "angels and demons," dan browne's next blockbuster comes out in just a few days. what is it about dan browne's stories that kaptd vat so many of us? we'll go inside the suspense, the dark conspiracies, all those thrills. we begin with the search for annie le, a medical student at

yale university who was supposed to get married tomorrow. nbc's jeff rossen is on yale's campus in new haven, connecticut. good morning. >> reporter: so bizarre. amy, good morning to you. you said it, this was supposed to be the big wedding weekend but still no sign of the bride, annie le, who's a graduate student here at yale university. just to give you an idea of how big a mystery this has become, there are now more than 100 law enforcement agents between the fbi and police officers working this case. but here we are still four days in since she disappeared, and as the new york "daily news" put it today, police are still clueless about what happened here. fbi agents were back at yale university friday, heading into the research lab where annie le was last seen. that's her walking in on tuesday at 10:00 a.m. this surveillance photo is the last image taken of her with her cell phone, purse, credit cards and cash still sitting in her office, this 24-year-old medical student simply assemblymanished. >> we're going to increase the

security some, but there's always been very good security in this building. >> reporter: after months of planning, annie was set to get married this weekend with a reception to follow here on long island, new york. friends say she was excited. it's all she could talk about. but annie disappeared just days before the ceremony. the couple's registry still online. police have interviewed her fiance, jonathan wa dawe dow ski, but don't believe he's involved in her disappearance. in fact, wa dawe ski has joined the investigation. >> somebody could disappear in the middle of the day. very unsettling. they say we have a lot of security and everything, but do we really feel secure? >> reporter: police are now going through blueprints of the research lab to check every nook. they're also analyzing her computer and e-mail accounts. on campus, it's become a high-stakes guessing game. what really happened? >> a lot of things are up in the air. some people like to, you know, go the happier route that, you know, maybe it was cold feet for a wedding and some people are

more cynical, but you don't know. you just don't know. >> reporter: but even the optimists feared the worse when they saw this -- the fbi on scene so early into the case, sifting through school trash and questioning student students. as each day passes, the mystery grows. >> everyone is working together collaboratively, yale, union police, everyone working together to resolve this as quickly as possible. >> reporter: as more and more time goes by, you talk around the yale university campus, you can sense students are getting more and more nervous. can't blame them. yale university now offering a $10,000 reward for any information leading to annie le. amy? >> jeff rossen, thank you. clint van zandt is a former fbi profiler. thanks for being with us. >> hi, amy. good to be with you. >> we have a missing persons case like this one, especially a woman on the eve of her wedding, obviously the police have to take a lot of potential scenarios into mind. what are they looking at in

terms of possibilities. you have to look at everything, like you say. one is that something happened to her inside that building, either an accident or, you know, she was assaulted, and she was placed someplace and she hasn't been found yet. number two is that she left the building and something happened to her outside. she was kidnapped, she was carried away. and of course number three, as she was getting married, working on her double doctorate. she has more pressure than probably anybody of us could understand, and maybe she's one more runaway bride. she just had to go someplace, sit down, compose herself. and if that's the case, amy, is the challenge is how do you come back now? how do you come back and say i was the runaway bride but everything's okay, let me go back and finish my doctorate and get married? so, one way or the tloer's a tremendous challenge and a tremendous hunt that's going on. >> right. and, clint, there are some interesting details about this because obviously we saw that surveillance video or at least an image of that svlurveillance

video of her walking in. the complication of finding surveillance video of her walking out is there was a fire alarm, correct, pulled later in the afternoon? >> yeah. and most investigators don't like coincidences. she goes in at 10:00. supposedly that was set off by steam in the building, but could someone have done that intentionally or is that an accident? and the challenge, of course, amy is that when everybody in this building, 120,000 square feet of building, left, they all may have had lab coats on to include herself. so, if you've got hundreds of people streaming out of the building, heads down in lab colcolt coats, you may not be able to discern if she left or not. >> annie le left her purse, cash, credit cards, her cell phone in her lab room. she took her college i.d. to get access to the building. as a former fbi profiler, what does your gut tell you at this point? >> as an fbi profiler, as a

father, a grandfather, everything in me wants this to be the runaway bride. but as the days go on and as, of course, the fbi bringing in cadaver dogs and a worst-case scenario, even though most of her friends suggested maybe initially she could have gotten cold feet, as this drags on, i think there is the greater potential for something that happened to her. realize there is a parking garage connected to this building that holds a thousand cars. so, it wouldn't have been very hard either for her, again, of her own volition or for somebody to have taken her from the building to the parking lot and got her off campus. >> clint van zandt, thanks so much. norah o'donnell at the news desk today. good morning. >> good morning, peter. good morning, amy. good morning once again, everybody. we begin with president obama, who is taking his health care reform message on the road today. nbc's mike viqueira is at the white house with more. good morning, mike. >> reporter: good morning, norah. it's been a raucous summer for that health care reform debate.

infighting in congress, sinking poll numbers for president. but after that wednesday speech, democrats have taken heart. they find it to be very encouraging. notwithstanding divisions that still remain within the party on that government option, a public option, a government-run entity that would give consumers a plan to choose from that's run by the government, of course. republicans almost unified in opposition to that. now the question is will the president be able to talk those on the left of his party into going along to get things passed through congress. meanwhile, the president keeping the public relations on. his internet address this morning spoke to health care once again. and this afternoon he travels to minneapolis, minnesota, where he will address a rally of some 20,000 strong at the target cent center. and then later next week going to nearby college park, maryland, and having a similar rally in favor of health care reform at the university of maryland. meanwhile, in congress, some indications that democrats are coming off the mark. you know that democrats and republicans have been behind closed doors now for weeks,

trying to negotiate, trying to hash out some kind of compromise. now democrats say by next week they're going to go and move forward with health care reform with republicans or without them, norah. >> wow. feels like the campaign all over again. >> reporter: absolutely. >> mike viqueira, thank you so much. aides to congressman joe wilson say he will decide this weekend whether he will formally apologize on the house floor after heckling the president earlier this week. remember, wilson shouted "you lie" at president obama during a speech to a joint session of congress. house leaders say they will introduce a resolution of disapproval if he doesn't apologize. wilson has already apologized to the president, just not on the floor of the house. all right. a new exhibit in new york city is giving people a never-before-seen look inside the us airways plane that landed in the hudson river. the photos show seats stripped of flotation devices, a waterlogged tray, a shot in the cockpit at the controls that

captain sully sullenberger used to land the plane on the hudson back in january. michael jordan was inducted into the basketball hall of fame last night. jordan was teary eyed as he talked about being cut from his high school's varsity team. and michael jordan's legendary career, of course, included six championships, five mvps, and ten scoring titles. congratulations to him. that's the news. back to amy and peter. >> all right, norah. thanks. my favorite part of that newscast was how you really just, i don't know, channeled the congressman. you lie! >> you lie! >> that was great. you lie! >> thanks, norah. nbc meteorologist bill

>> the low pressure center is near philadelphia. everything is spinning out of that. we have had some cloud cover this morning. we should see s very cool.

>> no ice. >> oh, no ice. >> best lemonade i've ever had. thanks, ladies. back to you. still to come, a stunner in florida. a snake so big it caught wildlife officials by surprise. fancy feast appetizers. simple high quality ingredients like wild alaskan salmon, white meat chicken, or seabass and shrimp in a delicate broth, prepared without by-products or fillers. new fancy feast appetizers. celebrate the moment.

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new aches and pains, ...and new questions about which pain reliever is right for your body. tylenol 8 hour works with your body, with one layer that dissolves quickly... ...one layer that lasts all day ...and no layers that irritate your stomach the way that ibuprofen can. it's tough on your body pain. not on your body. now to a dispute between neighbors over a gigantic pet. in this case, this one is huge. an 18-footer, 400-pound python named delilah. how sweet. it was kept in the back yard in orlando, florida. and lieutenant rick brown of florida's fish and wildlife conservation commission was called in to investigate. he is joining us now. lieutenant brown, good morning to you. nice to visit with you. >> good morning, sir.

how are you? >> give us a sense. you got to this house, and florida is known for its pet pythons. around the state it's become a big issue. but when you get there and see this one is 18 feet long, 400 pounds and 30 inches around its waist, if you will, give us a sense, how does it compare to the pythons you've seen? >> i've been involved with regulating the wildlife here in central florida for the last 11 years. this is probably the largest snake that i've seen either in private ownership or at some of our more popular exhibits. >> you called it a goliath, as you describe. i mean, when you show up, you've seen big snake, but what happens when you walk up to this thing? what's going through your head? >> first and foremost, the first thing we want to make sure is that the caging for the animal is suitable and appropriate. and in this instance, that didn't prove to be the case, which is why we took the action we took today -- or yesterday. >> the snake's name as i read was, sweetly, delilah. can you give us a sense of what kind of condition delilah was in? i heard melvin, the man caring

for her, said he fed her seven rabbits yesterday morning, seven rabbits for breakfast. what kind of condition was this snake in? >> actually, the snake was in really good condition. it was clearly evident it's been well cared for. there weren't any signs of exterior injuries, no signs of mites or other pests. for us the principal issues were the lack of suitable caging and also some of the administrative issues that we have to address, permit and recordkeeping and things of that nature. >> in florida there have been a lot of issues about pet pythons across the state. a mother and her boyfriend were charged with third down murder after their pet python got out and stlang led to death a little 2-year-old girl, shocking and devastating not just to that family but to the community. how do families get away with continuing to keep snakes this size too often without a permit, $100 for a permit, without the necessary license, without the microchip? what's your thought on that? >> if you recall, prior to january 2008, these species of

snakes were regulated in the sense of a sale transaction, a pet shop selling the snake. but ownership, private ownership of these species and the other five reptiles of concerned species, were not regulated at the ownership level. so, there were -- there's a number of snakes that have become pets for a number of years, and only in january of 2008, when the regulations changed, permitting issues were required now and caging regulations were installed as well as some of the recordkeeping. some of those owners may still yet not know the regulations have changed for them. >> and lieutenant brown, this snake, as we said, weighs 400 pounds. so, how many people does it take to carry a snake that weighs 400 pounds and put her in a cage and help take her away? >> there were a large number of people needed to manipulate the snake into the cage itself. basically, these pythons were one very long muscle. however, once the an small in the cage, it takes four men to pick it up and put it in a truck. >> four adult men.

you can see them trying to pull out the measuring tape to see how long delilah was. do you have pets? >> at the moment the only pet in my house is a hampster. >> i suspect she'd be a good breakfast if you let the snake near her. we appreciate it. 400 pounds. heck of a snake. >> appreciate it. >> still ahead, what prince harry is getting for his birthday. (employee 1) subject: urgent!! bob!! i need the baker file stat!! reply!! still making changes. circle back later!! what's with the yelling? oh, our internet slows down during peak hours so sending e-mails and large files just takes forever. so, we just yell. ben!!! thanks for the flowers!!! i thought you hated me!!! lol!!! semi-colon! right parenthesis! winky emoticon! (announcer) switch to verizon and get a dedicated high speed internet connection from our office to your small business so you won't be slowed down even if your neighbors are online.

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now to a milestone for britain's prince harry. he's about to get a little older and a lot richer. nbc's stephanie gosk is live in london with details for us. stephanie, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, amy. what remained of princess diana's estate after taxes between her two sons is an estimated $22 million. that money was invested and has

increased to $30 million today. tuesday, harry inherits his share. so harry is now considered old enough to handle the added responsibility. >> hey, harry! >> reporter: nearly 25 years old and the public still can't nail him down. on the cusp of inheriting his half of diana's fortune, an estimated $14 million, prince harry seems determined to ditch the party boy persona. >> his popularity has never been better. >> reporter: an image makeover made possible in the military. early last year, harry fought for ten weeks on the front line in afghanistan. this summer he passed the first stage of an intense helicopter pilot course. by march, he could get his wings. >> by going into the military, he really proved himself, because not only just through going to afghanistan and being on the front line but just in general throwing himself into his military training. >> reporter: there are signs that harry, third in line to the

throne, just might be pulliling out from under his big brother's shadow. on a trip to new york in may, the young prince looked confident and mature. >> he was in a way a continue wanls of the princess diana-type image where he was more fun loving, free, and able to conduct himself in an appropriate way. >> and because my mother loved this city, it makes this occasion all the more poignant for me. >> reporter: later in the week, prince harry spoke to matt lauer about his visit to ground zero. >> very, very moving. sort of couple of hours i spent down there, great to meet all the firefighters, as well, and the families, truly inspirational the way they pulled themselves forward from-in the last few years. >> reporter: as harry's public appearances increase, so does the scrutiny of his private life. the british media have even been accused of hacking into his cell phone. the latest reports are that harry is getting back together with his former girlfriend, chelsea davey, but there is little proof, and his mind seems to be elsewhere. >> he's single, he's training to

become a helicopter pilot, and he wants to go back to the front line to serve his country. >> reporter: tabloids hoping for splashy headlines will just have to wait. it's unlikely the money will change harry's life in any real way. the princes are hardly struggling financially. they'll be sensitive about appearances. in tough economic times, it wouldn't send a good message to be throwing money around. i have asthma. and when my symptoms-the coughing, wheezing, tightness in my chest came back- i knew i had to see my doctor. he told me i had choices in controller medicines. we chose symbicort. symbicort starts to improve my lung function within 15 minutes. that's important to me because i know the two medicines in symbicort are beginning to treat my symptoms and helping me take control of my asthma. and that makes symbicort a good choice for me.

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♪ the best part of wakin' up... ♪ ♪ is folgers in your cup >> good morning. here's a look at some of the store is recovering for you today. daylight. they have identified the victim. authorities say he was sitting on a bicycle at an mta bus stop

around yesterday afternoon when he was shot. if you get any information, you're asked to call,city police are looking into an early morning shooting in northeast baltimore. they found a man lying on a sidewalk around 2:00 a.m. friday. he had multiple gunshot wounds to the torso. he was transported to johns hopkins hospital where he was later pronounced dead. a guilty plea from the maryland woman accused of killing her two adopted daughters and then freezer. she plead guilty to first degree child abuse involving a thirdthat girl was found wandering around the neighborhood after jumping out of a window. authorities searched her home and found the remains. she could receive up to 25 years in prison. she is facing separate first- degree murder charges in the death of her other daughter in

the baltimore city police officer is charged with sexually pled guilty. he entered the plea on thursday before the trial was to begin. it happened in march 2008 after he admitted he took the girl who was in his care to the basement, fondled her. his sentencing is set for december 7. stay with us. we will t

>> quite a difference 24 hours can make. yesterday it was raining and rather cool. today there is a break in the clouds. it is warmer. the storm center is in

philadelphia. it is there by which means we will have some clouds during the day today. by evening, the storm center should move off the coast and pull away from us. as long as it is nearby, we may see a shower. there will definitely be some clouds. the weather today is a different flavor than yesterday. a mix of clouds and sunshine. a few showers are possible but not as much as yesterday. most of the day should be free of rain. a high of 70-75 degrees. the storm will finally pull out of the picture tomorrow. around 80 degrees tomorrow. ranges could return next week. >> thank you for joining us. we will be back in 25 minutes.

we are back on this saturday, september 12th, 2009. plenty of people out here enjoying what started as a wet one in new york. clearing up a little bit now. i'm peter alexander in today. lester holt has the weekend off. alongside amy robach. >> nice to see you. still to come this half hour, we'll talk about help for millions of home owners who are facing some big increases in their mortgage payments. if your payments are about to change and skyrocket, listen up for some advice that could save you some big money. >> also this morning, we're going to go behind the buzz of that hugely anticipated new book by dan browne. it's expected to come out in just a couple of days. of course he wrote "the davinci code" and "angels and demons." thiz new book is called "the lost symbol," already a bestseller. what can you expect?

we'll give you a heads-up. as the weather starts to cool, everyone thinks football season. what's football season without chips and salsa? whether you like it spicy hot or full of exotic flavors, there is great salsa out there and the chip to go with it. tiff unfortunate task of tasting the best of the best of chips and salsa. speaking of football, tiki barber joining us as we get ready for "sunday night football." "today" show national correspondent, analyst sunday night. bears and packers, like an ancient rivalry heading into a new season. >> this rivalry goes back as long as football has been played. what's going to be interesting this year is the league has changed a little bit, especially the nfc north when they're playing, used to be a heavy running conference, but now they have some big quarterbacks, brett favre for minnesota. >> jay cutler. >> jay cutler, aaron rodgers. the exciting thing about this football season, we're going to have a whole bunch of stories across the nfl and we'll get to

cover them all on "sunday night football." >> and tony dungy will be helping you guys out, ex-coach. >> yes. >> what perspective does he bring? >> we have two new guys in our studio, rodney harrison, super bowl champion, former new england patriot, and coach tony dungy, a wealth of experience dealing with players and also the issues of the league. we'll get a great cross section of football experience to talk about sunday night. it will be fun. >> one of the big headlines is michael vick and what he's going do with the eagles. if you watched him this preseason, he was playing pretty well, on fire, i'd like to say. >> he looks like he hasn't lost a step. philadelphia was the best place for him to go because if he does well, keeps his nose clean, they'll adopt him and he'll be a good asset for that football team. for defensive coordinators to prepare for him, they're wishing he wasn't going into the nfc east, especially new york giants. play them twice this year. >> a lot of teams wish he wasn't in their division right now. >> exactly. >> tiki barber, thanks. we appreciate it. big night tonight. the game.

>> tomorrow night. college football on saturday. >> clearly i'm the big sports fan. you keep your day job and i'll keep mine. >> his night job. >> good to see you. >> good to see >> a different flavor today with the weather. we may see a shower today. more cloudiness.

a little sunshine coming now, let's amy out. packers, bears. who's going to win? >> packers. >> packers. >> sunday night. right? >> that's right. >> back inside to you. packers. ♪ would i lie to you bill, thank you. this morning on "today's real estate," help for home owners. the mortgage crisis is by no means over and, in fact, millions who took out so-called exotic mortgages are now waiting for the worst. "today" real estate contributor barbara corcoran has important advice. good morning. >> good morning, amy. >> let's talk about exactly what an exotic mortgage is. >> well, it's a made-up name

that's become popular, but what it really includes is any kind of mortgage that's hard to understand, that has a long label on it, that has a lot of moving parts. but in essence, all these mortgages share one thing in common. they want to give you a very cheap introductory rate, and they want to raise that rate and make sure you don't pay off your mortgage ever. that's what's wrong with these mortgages. they're whacked out. >> there are specific areas geographically speaking that have some of the biggest problems with some of these exotic mortgages. which areas are we talking snabt. >> any area that had a high run-up in values more than any other state. the leader in the pack was california, where 60% of their product are very unusual mortgages. people signed up for these. the other states that are on the list are arizona, florida, nevada, and new jersey. >> and how often do these interest rates get reset? how quickly do they reset? >> well, it depends on what you sign up for, but typically either one year, three years or five years. but the kicker is once they do reset, they continue to reset every single year. and to give you a very good example of how it would affect a

typical home owner, if you had a $300,000 mortgage five years ago and you signed up for a 2% teaser rate, which was very popular then, right now your mortgage would be moving from $1,100 to $1,700 a month. that's an enormous one-month increase. >> that is significant. what steps should people take now preemptively before rates reset? >> most people wait till they hear from the bank. the bank only has to give you 25 days' notice to let you know your mortgage is about to reset. you can't in 25 days shop the market or even renegotiate with your bank so you're kind of stuck with your back against the wall. you have to move early, 90 days before. start with your first bank. the first stop is your first bank because you avoid closing costs if you can renegotiate there. the last thing is make sure you call in the right people at the right bank. people tell me i can't get my call returned, and the problem is they're calling the wrong people. the only people at the bank who can make the decision are people in the workout department. >> i imagine your credit score

affects all of this as you're shopping around and trying to get competitive rates. >> the credit score affects everybody. the difference between a 650 credit score and 750 on a $300,000 mortgage gives you a difference of maybe $300 a month each and every month. >> wow. we have a viewer e-mail from tammy in foster, rhode island. this is probably a situation a lot of people are facing where their home is valued less than what they owe. >> let me tell you, 1 in 5 home owners in america right now are in amy's situation, and it's a problem because the options are very limited. but what amy should know and other people in that same situation is you can get help from the new program at the federal government. it's called, just to make sure i say it right, makinghomeaffordable.gov is the website. click on, answer five easy questions and you immediately know if you qualify. the great majority of us qual y

qualify. the other great website out there is homenow.org. and that's a very easy-to-use website where counselors coach dwl you throughthrough the p the pr. >> barbara corcoran. stains surrender to the power of all. our powerful stainlifters fight stains and leave clothes whiter and brighter. win the battle for clean clothes while saving over 25% versus the leading brand. for coupons, go to all-laundrytv.com the lotion with a unique formula - effective 24 hours a day lightweight and fast absorbing. turn dry skin into skin that feels great all day. with smoothing essentials. only from eucerin.

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it's been six years since "the davinci code" captivated millions of readers with its potent mixture of conspiracy, mystery, religion, also power. tuesday, fans will finally get their hands on dan brown's next page-turner called "the lost symbol." first, paris. >> where the secret gatherings. >> reporter: then rome. >> evacuate st. petersburg square and tell the world the truth. >> reporter: and now to the nation's capital, washington, d.c. few authors have captured readers' imaginations like dan brown. his novels, "the davinci code" and "angels and demons," have sold 121 million copies worldwide. their film versions raking in more than $1.2 billion worldwide. they've inspired special davinci code tours.

>> this church is in the story when somebody tries to scatter the ashes. >> reporter: eve an lecture series at universities nationwide on the science behind "angels and demons." >> there were kids there who were 10 or 11 years old, and there were people there that were 70, 80 years old. and basically i had to be dragged away because there were -- people were still asking questions about it. >> reporter: but aside from the fascination with the sights and the science of dan brown lies a deeper allure of clues, conspiracy, and a discovery of the unknown. >> i think there's an enormous appetite for conspiracy theories. anytime a popular writer like dan brown comes along and sort of taps into our own curiosity about these mysterious institutions, it has a way of feeding on itself. >> reporter: and now, six years since brown's last temptation, "the lost symbol" hits bookstores tuesday. 5 million copies in its first print, a record for publisher double day. >> expectations are through the roof that this will connect with

readers in the way that "the davinci code" did. >> reporter: and while its plot remains a closely guarded mystery -- >> i don't have any employees that have read it. >> reporter: -- it's no secret that brown has cracked the code to success. >> i liked the music in that piece. >> have you read his books? >> "angels and demons" and "the davinci code." the movies -- >> not so much. so driven by dan brown. long lines across the country when the book comes out. "the lost symbol" comes out next symbol. dan brown is going to sit down with "today" that morning for what will be a rare, exclusive interview. >> and the music's going to be playing underneath the entire time to make it even more sinister. >> i hear you. up next, some favorite chips and salsa to the test.

this morning on "today's"

tae test, chips and salsa. here with the best chips for dipping and the spiciest salsa, phil lampert. good morning. >> good morning. >> we were talking the economy and everyone's trying to find ways to save. you can make your own salsa and or the key teeth ya chips very inexpensively and easily. >> exactly. we did a survey for conagra foods and we found even fourth of july, people were looking to save money. what we're working on is getting people to understand how easy it is. >> right. >> for example, with hunt's, get some diced tomatoes, about $1.20 a can. >> yep. >> they're flash steamed so that every piece of tomato tastes great just like you grew it in your back yard. rotel has peppers. rosarita, a new product, not just great for salsa but you can use it for a topping to put over

fish or -- >> the condiment that continues. >> eve an burger. >> take your own tortillas and some pam and fry them up. i take a pizza cutter and pay it in eighths. also the difference is that this has about one gram of fat for eight chips versus other chips which are between five and ten grams of fat. >> big difference. toes titos is the brand we think of when we think of -- >> exactly. >> you can get the scoop of salsa. >> exactly. and i want you to try this. >> i am going to. >> this is clint's. this is a new product that's come out. it was one of the winners of the fiery foods association. >> good. >> nice and clean. and also what you want to do is always read the ingredients. make sure they're not loading it up with high-fructose corn syrup or adding oils to it. the first ingredient should be tomatoes. >> one would hope that would be the case. >> you would hope. versus tomato paste. >> you have some lime chips with some hot salsa. >> exactly. >> why that pairing? >> try the wholly salsa -- well,

what i like about these is the touch of lime is really very delicate. >> mm-hmm good. >> it's a nice flavor, crispy and it has whole grains in it. so, you can have health and taste at the same time. >> lime go with the heat? >> no. tequila helps with the heat. >> didn't bring that this time. >> no. >> okay. next pairing, organic chips. how does the organic fit into all this? does it affect the flavor? >> no. it doesn't affect the flavor. keep in mind, there's a lot of controversy right now about organic, whether or not it's healthier. >> right. >> it's the same nutritionally, but if you are concerned about preservative ls or additives, that's where to go. it's a little more expensive, but it's a nice clean flavor. again, what you want to do for football season is give people a variety. >> true. >> i don't like just one type of salsa or one type of chips. let people have some fun. >> if you're trying to lose weight, reduced-fat chips but you lose a little with the flavor. >> you do. again, if you bake your own

chips, 100 degrees for ten minutes. >> is this no-fat salsa? >> it is not. >> all salsa is fairly low fat, though, isn't it? >> it should be. read the labels carefully, but it should be not a lot of oil added to it. >> this salsa tastes different. >> that's chuma. and the fruit salsa, one of my favorites -- >> i want to taste some of this stuff. >> of course. one of my favorites is goldwater. that's barry goldwater's granddaughters who developed it. >> really? okay. >> with their mom about 1990 it first came out. and they really changed the world when it came to fruit salsa. very authentic recipe. and it's just a lot of different flavors going on. >> what kind of fruits are in there? >> i think this one is the pineapple. >> okay. definitely some nice tastes. >> got something. >> something for everyone. fill lampery, thanks very much. i get congested. my eyes itch.

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that does it for us this saturday morning. norah o'donnell, nice to see you. bill karins, thanks for being here. tomorrow, big sunday of football. it begins with football. we'll help you pick out the best pizza with the folks from bon

appetit magazine. >> and jay leno getting ready for his prime-time debut. i'll see you for "nbc nightly news." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >> good morning and welcome to 11 news saturday morning. we will check the forecast in a moment. let's get to our top stories first. assaulting a young girl and has -- crimestoppers.

northeast baltimore. they found a man lying on a sidewalk around 2:00 a.m. friday. he had multiple gunshot wounds to the torso. he was transported to johns later pronounced dead. adopted daughters and then fd then freezer. she plead guilty to first degree child abuse involving a third adopted daughter. that girl was found wandering around the neighborhood after jumping out of a window. montgomery county. nile musket a check on the forecast. >> the weather is a little better this morning.

it is warmer. take a look at a summary of our radar imagery's from last night until this morning. the storm has drifted near the north. the storm center is still nearby. it will be around the area today and eventually pushing off this evening. we still stand a chance of some unsettled weather today but not like yesterday. mostly cloudy perhaps a few showers and the temperatures will be in the low 70's. it will be warmer than yesterday. we will have more coming up. >> up next, an actor is here in our studio. we will tell you where you can hear him soon in baltimore. >> an investigation and criminal charges could occur after a fallout from a video at acorn. >> and a funding for the family can help others. we will have sports when we

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[captioning made possible by constellation energy group] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org--