good morning. nuclear secret. the president accuses iran of hiding a nuclear facility underground and sends a sharp warning. >> they are going to have to come clean, and they are going to have to make a choice. >> and now iran is pushing back. terror plot. the man accused of planning a massive terror attack is now in new york city to face charges. this morning, new details about what the man at the center of it all may have been planning. and pitfall. a mother and daughter each crash their cars into a massive sinkhole, the same one, one right on top of the other. we'll find out how it happened and how they're doing today, saturday, september 26th, 2009. captions paid for by nbc-universal television good morning, everyone. welcome to "today" on a saturday. i'm lester holt.

>> i'm amy robach. coming up this morning, chilling new details from prosecutors about that homegrown terror plot. >> they have learned a lot over the last week. the man at the alleged center of the plot is in custody in new york city, transferred friday from denver. prosecutors are laying out more details of what they believe he was planning. coming up, much more on that, including some video of the suspect that allegedly shows him shopping for what could be bomb-making ingredients. also this morning, a bittersweet ending to a heartbreaking story of two families who were united when a fertility clinic switched embryos. we'll tell you what is next for both families and what is being done to prevent this from ever happening again. >> hard to believe. and the woman everyone is talking about this week, actress mackenzie phillips. she was a child star who led a notoriously troubled offscreen life, but no one could have guessed just how troubled it was

until some shocking allegations surfaced this week. >> she will be live with us this morning to answer those krit criti critics, including some in her own family. iran, a secret underground uranium enrichment plant obama administration officials believe could be used to develop nuclear weapons, one that iranian officials say is only months away from being operational. mike viqueira has more from the white house. >> reporter: good morning. the president and the allies say the intelligence is solid and so is their resolve. united as never before in demanding iran give up its nuclear weapons program or face the consequences. iran caught red-handed, a secret underground nuclear plant. >> the size and operation of this facility is inconsistent with a peaceful program. iran is breaking rules that all

nations must follow. >> reporter: u.s. officials say they have known that iran was building the plan for some time, but it wasn't until early this week, after signs that iran had realized their secret was out, that mr. obama began to huddle with allies. >> to the united nations. >> reporter: both at the united nations and then at the g-20 economic summit in pittsburgh. together, the leaders decided to go public. >> confronted by the serial deception of many years, the international community has no choice today but to draw a line in the sand. >> reporter: u.s. officials say the plant was close to becoming operational and could have produced enough material for one or two bombs a year. but this isn't the first time that iran has been caught in violation of nuclear treaties. and now, despite prior u.n. sanctions and the continued presence of international arms inspectors, the iranian president remains defiant. >> translator: what we did was completely legal, according to the law. we have informed the agency. the agency will come and take a

look and produce a report, and it's nothing new. >> reporter: the revelation comes a week before key powers are scheduled to meet with iran on its nuclear program. and with initial signals that russia and perhaps china will back tougher sanctions this time, the president now says the ball is in iran's court. >> i've always said that we do not rule out any options when it comes to u.s. security interests. but i will also re-emphasize that my preferred course of action is to resolve this in a diplomatic fashion. it's up to the iranians to respond. >> reporter: and, lester, the president says that this whole episode is vindication for his policy of diplomaly towards iran citing unprecedented international unity in facing this crisis. >> mike viqueira, thanks. we turn to cnbc's chief washington correspondent. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, lester. >> i'd like to tee up our conversation by playing a bit of the president's radio internet

address today. here it is. >> iran's leaders must now choose. they can live up to their responsibilities and achieve integration with the community of nations, or they will face increased pressure and isolation and deny opportunity to their own people. >> as you know, the president has talked about the desire to open direct talks with iran. does this make it tougher now? >> reporter: sure it does. and it's a real test for barack obama. you know, lester, we talked in the campaign a lot last year about 3:00 a.m. phone calls where vice president biden during the campaign said during the first year president obama would be tested. that is happening right now, and it's something that president obama is going to face on multiple levels. first of all, how does he engage iran and whether iran can respond in the way that the united states and its allies want, and if they don't, can he really rally that international coalition, russia, china in particular which has held back a little bit from some of the statements that other countries

have made condemning iran. that's a challenge for him to try to see whether he can do something about this program. it's not going to be easy. >> we heard the president say he'd like to use diplomatic means but he says all options are on the table. we know what that speak means in washington. it means military action is a possibility. but is there support for more hawkish support in washington? >> reporter: i think the attitude in washington is much more forward leaning about iran right now, but everyone is cognizant, lester, about the fact that military action only gets you so much. it only slows down a program that already exists in terms of logistics to create a nuclear weapon. so, what can you accomplish with a military strike? that is a big subject of debate. the other question, of course, is does israel, which has indicated a more aggressive posture than the united states over the years, do they try to step up? they certainly feel strengthened by this, which is another challenge to barack obama because he has sort of

confronted israel on the issue of settlements, and israel had a stronger hand today than they did a week ago. >> and i'm sure it's not lost on iran that the u.s. war in afghanistan is losing public support. the country is obviously weary over iraq. so, does that in some way tie the president's hands in terms of options? >> reporter: well, it does. think about the challenges that barack obama has front and center right now compared to the health care debate, for example, that we were talking about before. all of a sudden, afghanistan and iran threaten to sort of take over the end of the year. the health care debate has its own momentum on capitol hill. but how does the president sort of figure out what the way forward is on afghanistan and sustain the public support? because we saw from our nbc/"wall street journal" poll this week the public is getting skeptical about that effort just as they did when the iraq war started going south a few years ago. and now you've got the question of iran which is even a larger threat to the united states security interests and those of our allies. >> before i let you go, your thoughts on the associated press

reporting saying some of the administration saying it will not be possible to close guantanamo bay by january as the president hoped. what's the potential fallout on that? >> reporter: i think the president is in decent shape in the sense when he first took office he indicated hef going to close that facility but he also said it's not going to be easy as a practical matter to resolve that. what do we do with detainees? we've only gotten limited cooperation from our allies. it's difficult to do. he's going to have more time to do this. he's indicated his policy. >> john harwood, always good to see you. thanks very much. here's amy. lester, thank you. a 24-year-old denver man suspected of plotting terror attacks is now in custody in new york city where he will face charges that he planned to build bombs and set them off in new york city. nbc news justice correspondent pete williams now with more. >> reporter: federal marshals brought najibullah zazi to the denver airport under heavy security for the flight to new york where authorities believe he intended to stage attacks.

he arrived late in the day at a suburban new york airfield. arguing against granting him bail, prosecutors called najibullah zazi a continuing danger, a man who tried to mix up a powerful explosive in a room in this denver-area hotel in early september, sending urgent e-mails for more directions after buying gallons of strong chemical ingredients at local beauty suppliers. he's seen here on one store's security camera. the owner says zazi tried to explain why he bought so much. >> the only unusual to comment was, of course, you know, the reason i'm buying this is because i have a lot of girlfriends. >> reporter: but his lawyer says no explosives or chemicals were ever found in his house or car. >> i didn't believe there was reason to keep him detained, but given the high-profile nature of this case, the ruling was not a surprise to anyone. >> reporter: experts say his terrorism case is very different from two others now in the headlines. an illinois man, michael finton, arrested for driving what he thought was a car bomb to a federal building in springfield,

and another man arrested for placing what he thought was a bomb at a 60-story office building. both men were quickly under the watch of undercover agents posing as al qaeda operatives. a former cia agent says they were of little danger. >> these were amateurs. they didn't understand what they were doing. >> reporter: by contrast, zazi appears to have been an actual threat. >> zazi had real training. his notes were handwritten. they weren't downloaded from the internet. >> reporter: prosecutors say zazi traveled to canada twice within the past ten years, another avenue for investigators. fbi agents are questioning other people in the u.s. thought to have been involved. pete william, nbc news, at the justice department. well, it is ten past the hour. time for a check of the rest of the morning's headlines. >> we turn to cnbc's melissa francis at the news desk. good morning, everyone. we begin in pakistan where two separate suicide car bombings have killed at least 16 people. the explosions happened in

northwest pakistan where more than 150 people have been injured. the bomber was detonated outside of a bank and a police station. moammar gadhafi held a meeting this week with relatives of some victims of pan am 103. he pliszed for the loss but did not go into details about the attack. libya has paid billions of dollars to families of the victims. on friday, vice president joe biden pledged the federal government would help georgia recover from the severe weather that's swept through the southeast even as rain and the threat of more flooding is in the forecast for the weekend. biden toured the area by helicopter and saw portions of the city still under water. at least 11 deaths in georgia, alabama, and tennessee were blamed on the storms. firefighters in southern california are finally getting a break from the santa ana winds fuelling a 27-mile wildfire in ventura county. officials say it is now 85%

contained. meanwhile, charges were filed on friday against a 16-year-old boy suspected in more than a dozen arson wildfires dating back to 2006. the teen was arrested wednesday near a fire in east los angeles. and finally, the godfather of fitness celebrated his 95th birthday on friday. we are talking about jack lalanne, who says he was addicted to sugar and junk food as a kid. he obviously changed his life. and at 95 he still exercises twice a day, including a half-hour swim and still, apparently, sports his original hair color, as well. exercise. good for your hair. it's all natural. i have no doubt. just like mine. all natural. back to you guys. >> thanks. all right. nbc meteorologist bill karins has a

that's a look at your weekend forecast. amy? >> bill, thank you. we are learning more this morning about the mysterious case of a census bureau worker found dead this month in rural kentucky. authorities are still piecing together what happened to him while census bureau officials are reinforcing safety measures all across the country. nbc's ron mott has more. >> reporter: the local headline echos with gruesome details leaked about the death of part-time u.s. census worker bill sparkman. hands and feet bound, the word "fed" scrawled or carved into his chest, reports the sentinel. but law enforcement officials have announced few details saying the 51-year-old either died accidentally, by suicide, or was murdered. >> we can confirm the fact he was found with a rope around his neck and that rope was looped over a tree, his feet were on the ground, so he did die of

asphyxiation. we do know that. how that came about we're not sure. >> reporter: friday the census director explained why door to door data collecting is is being suspended in the rural area where sparkman's body was found. >> it isn't clear what happened, but prudence tells us that we should stop for a bit for the protection of our staff. and then we've redoubled efforts on safety, the safety training we give our interviews nationwide. >> reporter: as police continue to investigate his death, people here in laurel county remember bill sparkman, who also worked as a part-time substitute teacher, for overcoming a cancer diagnosis while pursuing his college degree, a journey he started at age 47, hoping to become a full-time teacher. >> everybody loved him. the kids loved him, and the staff loved him, as well. if he got a full-time teaching position, he probably wouldn't be doing census work. >> reporter: at his commencement last year, he encouraged fellow graduates to persevere in face of obstacles.

>> those brick walls will appear from time to time in your career. do not let them stop you. there are no failures, just teaching moments. >> reporter: now, those closest to him are left to wonder what can be learned from his untimely death. for "today," ron mott, nbc news, london, kentucky. and now here's lester. >> now to the latest on the swine flu vaccine. it's expected to become available soon. but now we're hearing that the first doses will come in a form that means some of the people who will need it the most won't be able to take it. here's nbc's chief science correspondent, robert bazell. >> reporter: the centers for disease control is anticipating problems. when the first small amounts of swine flu vaccine become available in the next few weeks. >> it's going to be a little bumpy because in different states there will be different levels of preparedness and readiness and planning. there will undoubtedly be places where people want to get vaccinated and can't. >> reporter: to make matters more challenging, the initial doses of vaccine will only be

flumist, the nasal spray. this is recommended only for healthy people age 2 through 49 and not for pregnant women who are near the top of list of those to be vaccinated. the government is anticipating both intense demand for the vaccine and fears about its safety. officials say they have every reason to believe it will be safe and they will be monitoring it closely, but they expect reports of people having adverse reactions, which may turn out to be nothing more than coincidence. >> misinformation spreads more rapidly even than the flu. so, any rumor has the risk of creating concern, and we need to deal with that as it arises. >> reporter: meanwhile, the latest numbers show the swine flu epidemic in america continues to grow. the virus is still in every state with widespread outbreaks in 26. the american college health association finds that fully 91% of the campuses it surveys now

report cases. >> just like that. >> reporter: visits to doctors and hospitals for flulike illness climbed again last week. it has been more than 50 years since any flu came on so strong so early. for "today," robert bazell, nbc news, new york. coming up later in the broadcast, nbc's chief medical editor, dr. nancy snyderman, will be here to take on some common myths about swine flu. amy? while experts are starting to say the economy is turning a corner, some weaker than expected numbers on durable goods and home sales friday are tempering that opttism. so, is now a good time to invest? and if so, where? cnbc's melissa francis is back with us along with cnbc's personal finance expert carmen ohlrich and barbara corcoran. thanks for being with us. >> good morning. >> carmen, we just mentioned we heard rumblings earlier that the recession may be over and we got some worse than expected news.

yesterday's numbers on u.s. goods and home sales. can we expect a mixed bag from the market from this point on? >> absolutely. listen, this is going to be a very choppy recovery. that's not necessarily a bad thing for investors. i mean, the american consumer still feels this recession because of one thing -- unemployment. as long as unemployment remains so high, consumer spending, which is a huge market mover, is just not going to be there. even when unemployment numbers turn around, listen, the american consumer has learned a lesson. we can't spend too crazily. >> we hope. >> no. we have. the savings numbers continue to go up. i think there's a real generational shift. we can't rely on consumer spending, which is fine because we want a market built on a solid foundation but it doesn't mean just because the ride is going to be bumpy that you shouldn't be on that ride. you need to be in the market. >> and speaking of that, people are looking to potentially invest. questions they should be asking and where, perhaps, is the best place to do that? >> the number-one question is how much cash do i need in case

of an emergency? there are still people being laid off. you never know what's going to happen to your home, you need a roof. you want 20% of your money in cash, but beyond that you can dip maybe 20% into corporate bonds, something that has a return but is still safe. maybe you want to buy another 20% in gold or natural resource, etf or mutual fund. that's a good guard against inflation. then you want to dip back into the stock market. the s&p is up 54% since its march low. hasn't had a big correction. a lot of people are worried. we could see a little bit of retracement there. you want to dip into stocks, especially an international mix, which helps guard against volatility and inflation. >> barbara, want to bring you into this because we had some mixed numbers in real estate this week, as well. new home sales up slightly but still less than expected. existing home sales dipped a bit. at this point, are there any kinds of properties people can consider good investment ls? >> i think everybody out there knows the best investment is a

foreclosed sale because you're buying from a bank. all they want toe do is unload it. that's the best deal. but people think a year from now foreclosures won't be available to be buying, but the truth is two out of three adjustable-rate mortgages reset in the next 18 months and we're going to have having foreclosures at the bottom of the market far long time to come. that deal basis is always there to grab hold of if you're willing to take a little chance on a dumpy house. >> and real estate is always about location. are there areas that are more affordable or better deals to be found? >> certainly. if you look at statistics, certain cities have very cheap houses relative to income. the five leading ones are indianapolis, indiana, $68,000 for a house and they have tremendous job growth. youngstown, ohio, 73,000. just opened a state university. lots of young people moving in. great sign. grand rapids, michigan, 100,000, syracuse, new york, 98,000, jacksonville, florida, 147,000, with one of the highest foreclosure rates in the country and houses trading at 50% of the

value of a year ago. >> very interesting stuff. barbara corcoran, carmen ohlrich and melissa francis, thanks so much. still to come, a fertility clinic mix-up brings emotional turmoil to two families. meet the volkswagen jetta. it gets an epa estimated 32 miles per gallon, and was named an iihs top safety pick. all for just $179 a month. and like all new volkswagens, it comes with 3 years or 36,000 miles of no-charge scheduled carefree maintenance. it's all part of why the jetta is the top-selling german engineered sedan in america.

still to come on "today," my trip back to junior high school and back in time. >> look at that hair. and a mother and daughter crash their cars into the same sinkhole right on top of each other.

[captioning made possible by constellation energy group] >> good morning. it's 7:26 and here's a look at some of our top stories. maryland state police say four people have been found dead. troomt troopers found the bodies late friday evening. police believe if four are members of the same family. the circumstances are being investigated but troopers say it appears to be a murder scene. >> the issue of murder-suicide

is certainly on that list of possibilities that investigators are considering but it is just far too early to make any kind of determination. this is a criminal investigation, a murder investigation, and it's too early to say officially what occurred here. >> according to reports, neighbors say a husband and wife lived in the home with their son and daughter. the bodies will be taken for an autopsy. police are investigating a deadly stabbing. the woman was pronounsed dead at johns hopkins hospital. lawyers for baltimore mayor sheila dixon say prosecutors are still using inadmissible evidence. dixon's attorneys say prosecutor's improperly used

evidence. she is charged with theft related to gift cards intended for needy families. a hearing is set for next week. stay with us when we return. stay with us when we return. we'll get a check on your [house] wow! i feel like a new house

thanks to this quick home energy check-up from bge. feels like i'm at a day spa. [ announcer] learn to speak the language of energy efficiency at bgesmartenergy.com. [sigh] ah... the efficient life is the good life. >> it's 57 degrees. we have clouds overhead so there are thin spots. rain showing up on radar. the air is pretty dry here. this will not have much success in reaching the bay so we'll

hold off on the rain chances for a while. the main part of the storm still west of the mountains will be coming in and pushing more moisture our way. the rain chance doss increase this afternoon. here's what the map looks like this evening. rain chances could be heavy at times overnight tonight. forecast today, cloudy skies. rain developing best chance later in the afternoon. 61 to 65 the high. longer term forecast has the rain ending sunday morning, sunday afternoon looks pretty good. monday may be a quick shower rfpltor thank you, john. we'll have another live update in 25 minutes.

we are back on this saturday morning, the 26th of september twooip. a bit of a nip in the air this morning but that's not stopping these folks from spending some time with us out on the plaza. inside studio 1a, i'm amy robach with lester holt. coming up this morning on "today," mackenzie phillips. >> the reaction to makenzie's detail of her account of her lifetime of sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll has been explosive to say the least. she is back. she'll join us live to tell us how she's dealing with it all as well as some of the strongest reaction and statements coming from her own family. another story making huge headlines this week. two couples united by one devastating mistake. eight months ago a fertility clinic mistakenly implanted the wrong embryo in an ohio woman. on thursday, carolyn savage gave birth to a baby boy and now gave him back to his biological parents. it should have never happened, obviously, but the question a lot of people are asking is could that happen again.

we're going to talk about it in a couple minutes. first, we have an amazing tale out of mississippi. when brenda johnson went to work early friday morning, she drove her car into a massive sinkhole. then when her daughter lacy went to look for her, she met the same fate and trapped her mother's car underneath her own. there's if picture. brenda was rescued and is hospitalized in fair condition. her daughter, lacy, joins us now. and fire department chiefs join us from mississippi. good morning to all of you. thanks for coming on. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> lacy, we understand as we just said your mom is in fair condition. can you tell us what shape she was in when she was pulled out of that hole? >> well, actually, she couldn't move. i tried to get her out. i couldn't get her out. her leg was broken. she was out of it. >> i can imagine. and lacee, you got a call from

your mom's employer and they're asking why hasn't she shown up to work. so, you went to look for her. i take it this must be a very, very lonely road. can you tell us what happened to you when you reached that hole? >> by the time i made it to the hole, all i could see was the taillight and the only thing i could do was -- i stayed on my brakes and couldn't stop because i was so close to her. and i just ran on top of it. that was the most scary thing in my life. >> and you knew immediately it was your mom's car. did she call out to you? how did you get down to her? >> i had to jump out my car where she was because i thought i had crushed her. and once i jumped out, she told me, you know, what to do, everything to do. so, i knew it was her because of the way her taillight was shaped. >> you went to call for help. captain, when you guys go to the scene, how were you able to extricate her? >> fortunately, we were just able to force the driver's side door open and remove victim from the car. we didn't have to cut any metal. >> but you were certainly

worried about the other car shifting, weren't you? >> yes, sir. we checked the stability of the vehicles. they were pretty solid. i don't believe you could have really placed one on top of the other as far as the bottom car buried from one on top. >> and chief williams, when you reached the victim, can you tell us how she was responding to you and what her situation was? >> well, when i first got out there, she was -- she was in the car and in pain. and the captain then went down. >> and when she came out, was she able to explain -- did she have any idea what had happened to her? >> i didn't get a chance to ask her. the paramedic was talking to her. >> well, you guys did a great job getting her out of there. lacee, chief, captain, appreciate you talking to us. glad it worked out as well as it did.

>> thank you. >> 34 past the hour. >> good morning. breaks in the clouds, so the sun is trying to come through. 57 here.

out to the west there's some rain but it's going to a take a while to get here. we'll just cloud up for a while. moving into the that's a look at your saturday forecast. lester? thank you. coming up, the woman who carried another couple's baby after a fertility clinic mix-up gives birth. could this kind of mistake happen again? and a free health clinic in houston expected to attract thousands. a complete multivitamin for women. it has vitamin d which emerging science suggests... supports breast health... and more calcium for bone health. new centrum ultra women's.

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carolyn savage, the ohio woman implanted with the wrong embryo after a fertility clinic mix-up gave birth thursday to a baby boy, but she won't be taking him home. carolyn and her husband, sean, have agreed to give the boy back to his biological parents. i spoke with both couples earlier this week as carolyn prepared to give birth. carolyn and sean savage still have a hard time accepting what happened eight months ago. >> i was sitting in my office and about 4:00 received a call from the physician who performed the transfer.

he let me know at that moment in almost one sentence that carolyn was pregnant but they had transferred another couple's embryos. and i immediately went to how am i going to tell carolyn. >> so, i was upstairs in my bedroom, and he came through the door and he just said i have really bad news. and i kind of sat up. he said you're pregnant but they transferred the wrong embryos. >> reporter: after a series of miscarriages while trying to have a third child, the couple turned to in vitro fertilization, or ivf. it worked. carolyn gave birth to mary kate. as with many ivf cases, there were extra embryo, fertilized eggs that could one day become a child. >> we felt strongly that we needed to give embryo that we created a chance at life, so in that third cycle we had extras and we froze them for future pregnancy attempts. >> reporter: so, in february, they went in to have those

embryos thawed and transferred into carolyn's body, hoping to complete their family with a fourth child. did you think you were using your remaining embryos? >> absolutely. >> of course. >> reporter: she was pregnant. but they soon learned the baby boy was not their own. carolyn had been implanted with another couple's embryo. 14 weeks into the pregnancy, the couples met. >> it was very cordial. we shook hands. >> she started with a thank you. >> she was so grateful for what we had done. >> reporter: carolyn was carrying shannon and paul morell's baby. the morel spent four years trying to conceive naturally. after giving birth to twin girls two years ago, they had their extra embryos frozen for future use. you were hoping for a third child. >> sure. we have two cute girls that were adorable and fun and have blessed us. we always thought about those six embryos. >> reporter: but then the morel received news from their ivf doctor that would change their lives forever.

>> he said your embryos were implanted into another woman. and i just went -- and i just fell back in the couch. >> reporter: although they didn't expect to have a child under these circumstances, they are grateful to the savages for bringing him into the world. >> whatever access they want, they have. and hopefully we'll move forward together. >> reporter: this week, as carolyn savage prepared to give birth to the morel' baby boy, she had just one request. >> i said we want a moment to say hello and good-bye. >> the savage family released a statement friday and it reads in part -- so, how could something like this happen? could it happen again? joining us now msnbc senior

legal analyst and program director of the nyu fertility center. it's important to say the doctor's clinic is not the one where this mix-up occurred. good morning. >> good morning. >> doctor, to reiterate, this has never happened at your clinic, and this is an extremely rare case. but a big question i imagine a lot of people might have after seeing this story, how did this happen? >> well, i don't know how this happened because i don't know the details of this particular case. but wherever you have humans involved in doing things you're going to have human error. >> so, i mean, a procedure was in place at most clinics to protect people from this sort of mix-up. >> oh, absolutely. from the earliest stages of doing in vitro fertilization, the biggest nightmare practitioners face is how do we avoid this problem. but a human can make an error and that's what happened here. you know, when embryos are in the lab, we have to keep track of them at every moment, and we have this term called chain of custody so that we know every

time an embryo is taken out of an incubator there's always two people around to make sure that they go back to the right place that they're supposed to go, whether it's eggs or sperm. and that's how we've been able to be 100% accurate in 15,000 tries. you know, in the world, in the united states, there were 130,000 ivf cycles last year and unfortunately this is the one error. but there have been over 3 million babies born from ivf and there's about three or four cases where this has occurred. so, i mean, this is literally the one in a million event. >> right. susan, the tough part for carolyn savage, when she found out she was pregnant, her doctor said either you can terminate this pregnancy or you have to give this baby back if you carry it to full term. were those truly her only two choices? could she have fought for custody? >> i think under the law she could have fought for custody. the question is if she's not carrying her own child how, then, did she have the right to terminate it?

i think possibly the other family could have gone to court and sought an injunction saying please preserve this child for me and that would have been a case of first impression in this country. could a court order a woman not to have an abortion when she herself is carrying someone else's child? that would have been an interesting and novel legal question. it one posed in this case. sefkdly, could the person carrying someone else's child have fought for custody or at least visitation? i think it's beautiful in this case none of these legal battles came that she gave voluntarily the child away. but legally this could have been a hornet's nest of legal issues that could have battled on, waged war amongst families for years. >> and it was beautiful. and they described this as a gift. the legal bat that will may now ensue, though, of course is with these families and this fertility clinic. what are their option at this point? >> there's going to be massive i would imagine legal claims on both sides. i predict they'll be settled out of court and both couples will be handsomely rewarded

financially by the clinic because the error is so incredibly egregious. >> the emotional pain was so evident. >> but the remedy is money. i mean, that's what's going to come out of this. cash. does that ever really right a long? but that's what our legal system is equipped to do. gratefully we don't have a custody battle, probably won't have a visitation battle, but the lawsuit, again, out of court, will be a huge cash settlement. >> doctor, we found out a fertility clinic in new orleans has suspended operations because of a possible mix-up labeling or mixing up embryos. we should mention none of those were implanted in the wrong mothers like this case, but this is still another major problem and cause for concern. is there a way that potential parents can make sure their process is error free? >> well, go to a clinic that has a lot of experience. ask your doctor if these kinds of things have happened in their clinic. if you want to know the specific procedures that are involved, you can get that level of detail. but, you know, practitioners who

do this, these cases are a nightmare for us. i mean, there is no remedy for this for anybody, not the doctor, not the patients, not the babies. this is a situation no one wants to be in and it's something that we think about every day we go to work and we never want this to happen. and we practice zero tolerance. it's unfortunate that there was a human error made, but that happens. >> doctor, susan, thanks so much. we appreciate you both being here. we'll be right back. my parents all smoked. my grandparents smoked. i've been a long-time smoker. you know, discouragement is a big thing in quitting smoking. i'm a guy who had given up quitting. what caused me to be interested was, chantix is not a nicotine product and that intrigued me. the doctor said while you're taking it you can continue to smoke during the first week.

(announcer) chantix is proven to reduce the urge to smoke. in studies, 44% of chantix users were quit during weeks 9 to 12 of treatment, compared to 18% on sugar pill. today i see myself as a jolly old man, (laughing) who doesn't have to smoke. ...who doesn't have to sneak out to take a couple puffs of a cigarette anymore. (announcer) herb quit smoking with chantix and support. talk to your doctor about chantix and a support plan that's right for you. some people have had changes in behavior, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice agitation, hostility, depression or changes in behavior, thinking or mood that are not typical for you, or if you develop suicidal thoughts or actions, stop taking chantix and call your doctor right away. talk to your doctor about any history of depression or other mental health problems, which can get worse while taking chantix.

some people can have allergic or serious skin reactions to chantix, some of which can be life threatening. if you notice swelling of face, mouth, throat or a rash stop taking chantix and see your doctor right away. tell your doctor which medicines you are taking as they may work differently when you quit smoking. chantix dosing may be different if you have kidney problems. the most common side effect is nausea. patients also reported trouble sleeping and vivid, unusual or strange dreams. until you know how chantix may affect you, use caution when driving or operating machinery. chantix should not be taken with other quit smoking products. the urges weren't like they used to be, and that help me quit. (announcer) talk to your doctor to find out if prescription chantix is right for you.

beginning this weekend, our little weekend crew is going back to school again. in the decade since i attended w.e. mitchell junior high in rancho cordova, california, outside sacramento, a lot has changed. as i found out when i went back for a visit this week, as different as the times are, the experience of those early teenage years is still the same. >> reporter: the start of the school day sounds pretty much the same. >> the girls' volleyball teams both lost -- >> except now the morning announcements are ready the student body president. and since i held that title back in 1974, president cody cordova shared the duty. if you had your picture taken but did not receive an i.d. card -- mitchell was a junior high when i attended in the early '70s. back then, a lot of us were military kids from the nearby air force base. today it is a six through eight middle school request a much

more diverse population. >> different culture, different races but we also have socioeconomic diversity so, we have haves and have-nots. >> reporter: the kids may be different. still call this the quad? this area? but surprisingly, the school itself looked to me much as it did then, even the library, at least from the outside. where's the card catalog? >> what's that? >> reporter: what's -- the card catalog. you know, the -- you don't have card catalogs anymore. >> explain to me what that is. >> reporter: never mind. i was surprised to find some familiar faces. i realized walking through here there's no lockers anymore. fellow students from back in the day who now work and teach here. is the level of innocence the same or -- >> oh, no, no, no. they were so more advanced. they know more about worldly things that -- i didn't know about it at that age. >> reporter: below the surface, i found even more fundamental changes, programs i took for

granted now fight for survival. california's budget crisis has been hard on schools. >> all the teachers took a pay cut for us so we could have a music program. >> i spend a lot of my day talking to people how to raise funds to pay far library, pay for sports and clubs. >> reporter: but middle school was never totally carefree. >> welcome home, my friend. >> reporter: former classmate and dear friend ken slade and i reminisced. i remember carol. on how awkward those years were. what do you remember about junior high? >> good times, some rough times like any adolescent. >> reporter: you're so self-conscious. >> about everything. >> reporter: you think you're the only ones that has the problems you have. >> everyone is fighting the same battles. >> reporter: ken's dad, bob, who recently passed away, spent 15 years running an in-house suspension program here for troubled kids. the role he had here i don't know if we would have needed someone to do in-house suspension. >> right. >> reporter: when we were here.

>> right. that -- again, that's a sign of the times. >> reporter: as they did when we attended, the school is finding effective ways to adapt to the challenges of the time, including the way kids learn. >> 22. >> reporter: so, what was my most important lesson? this question helped jog the answer. >> while you were here, did you ever one daydream it would lead to being on the "today" show? >> and the answer, did i dream it would lead to the "today" show, not specifically, but i dreamed it was possible. and i think if the school can empower kids to dream big, it's done its job. >> that was nice to see your roots and where you came from and see the kids -- they might be a little more advanced in terms of worldly ways. i think they're all still the same. >> my comment was they looked cleaner cut than we did. they have a stricter dress code. i want to thank the principal and vice principal for letting us come in. >> great story. >> next week it's your turn.

>> i went back to high school. i tried to teach today's kids what was cool in the '80s. they taught me what what's cool now. acid wash jeans.

still to come on "today," take a look at these little fur balls. they were born with a little something extra. we'll explain. consider this... the express route. v8. what's your number?

>> good morning. here's a look at some of our top stories. baltimore city fire crews were called to the scene on a vehicle crash around 2:30 this morning. thigh found a small car on fire after being struck by a tractor-trailer. three victims were trapped inside and had to be rescued, including a child and pregnant woman. the driver of the tractor

trailer reportedly suffered minor injuries. maryland state police say four people have been found dead in mount airy. troopers found the bodies of two adults and two children late friday evening in the 300 block of contour road. police believe the four are members of the same family. the circumstances are being investigated. but they say it appears to be a murder scene. >> the issue of murder-suicide is certainly on that list of possibilities that they are considering but it is far too early to make a determination. this is a criminal investigation, a murder investigation, and it's just too early to say officially what occurred here. >> according to published reports neighbors say a husband and wife lived in the home with their son and daughter. the bodies will be taken to the medical examiner's office for an autopsy. the democratic senate committee has chosen josh cullen to be the new nominee.

the committee made its selection last night. the committee had to choose a new nominee to replace zeena nom near who withdrew after concerns became public just days after the primary. cullen finished second in the primary. >> people know me. i'm a known quantity. i've represented this area for eight years, grew up here, and people are ready for a fresh start with a steady hand at the helm. and that's what i have to offer. >> he will face david cordle and independent dave stocks. he plans to kick off his campaign at noon today at the

>> a quick check shes some thin spots in the clouds here and showers out in west virginia. these aren't going to have much success in making it to the bay, but later today rain chances increase. take a look at the surface map projection. the front gets closer, much more moisture in the atmosphere, so a chance for heavier rains, especially overnight and tomorrow morning are in the forecast. so rain developing today with general cloudy skies. the best rain chances late. 61 to 65 the high. >> thank you. and thank you for joining us.

good morning. showdown -- the president accuses iran of hiding a secret nuclear facility and issues a warning. >> they are going to have to come clean, and they are going to have to make a choice. >> this morning, iran is pushing back. the plot thickens as the man accused of planning a terror attack is moved to new york city. new details this morning about when and where he was allegedly planning to strike. and go, baby, go. a little boy with some big moves. the video sensation that's getting worldwide attention. we'll dance along today saturday, september 26th, 2009. okay. you can't beat a dancing baby or beyonce. i'm lester holt. >> i'm amy robach. also in this half hour, chilling new details about a terror plot that's being called the most

serious since 9/11. >> the suspect is now in custody in new york city. he was transferred here from denver on friday. meanwhile, prosecutors have laid out more details of what they believe he was planning. coming up, a lot more. and we'll show you some video of the suspect doing some shopping. prosecutors say he is shopping for what could be bomb-making ingredients. we'll go live to houston, texas, where how thous are expected this morning for what could be the biggest free health care clinic ever in the united states. and among the hundreds of volunteers providing those medical services will be at least one famous face, dr. oz. we'll be talking with him coming up. >> looking forward to that. actress mackenzie phillips is with us this morning. everyone is talking about her new memoir. the reaction has been explosive. coming up, we'll chat with her about how she's dealing with it all. accounts of a life few can imagine. we'll share some of the e-mails our viewers sent. >> certainly had lots of people talking. we begin this hour with a developing showdown with iran over secret underground plan for

enriching uranium that could be used to make nuclear weapons. president obama and some key allies revealed the plant's existence friday and said iran has some explaining to do. nbc's chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell has more on the intelligence and the pushback from iran's president. >> reporter: the president sharply warned iran against going down a path that could lead to confrontation. if it does not come clean in diplomatic talks starting in geneva next week. >> so, i think iran is on notice that when we meet with them on october 1st they are going to have to come clean and they are going to have to make a choice. >> reporter: in a dramatic display of allied unity, the president accused iran of building an underground plant to produce nuclear fuel not for a power plant but for bombs. >> the size and configuration of this facility is inconsistent with a peaceful program. iran is breaking rules that all nations must follow. >> reporter: the cia told congress the facility is a

series of tunnels built into a mountain 100 miles southwest of iran's holiest city, qom. on a baserun by iran's revolutionary guards. in new york, iran's president ahmadinejad said iran is hiding nothing. >> translator: what we did is completely legal according to the law. we have informed the agency. the agency will come and take a look and produce a report, and it's nothing new. >> reporter: the allies disagree and are demanding immediate access for u.n. inspected or thes. >> confronted by the serial deception of many years, the international community has no choice today but to draw a line in the sand. >> reporter: u.s. officials say they've been watching construction of the plant for years. mr. obama was even briefed about it during the presidential transition. why reveal it now? u.s. officials said they recently saw evidence iran was moving to the next dangerous stage. the plant would soon be operational, able to create one or two bombs a year. still, the u.s. only went public after iran learned it had been

caught red-handed. that set off a diplomatic chain reaction. the president gave russia's president medvedev a heads-up wednesday night in new york. clearly startled and impressed, the russian leader, who until now had blocked action against iran, for the first time signaled he might support sanctions. finally, china, which can also veto u.n. sanctions, was briefed. if diplomacy does not work, the president said the u.s. and its allies will be in a much better position to impose sanctions that bite. for "today," andrea mitchell, nbc news, washington. >> here's amy. now to a recent spate of alleged terror plots all unrelated but all homegrown and all disrupted before anyone got hurt. in springfield, illinois, michael finton was arrested allegedly for driving what he thought was a car bomb to a federal building. in dallas, fbi agents arrested an illegal immigrant from jordan after he allegedly placed what he thought was a bomb at an office building. and then there's the plot that analysts are calling the most serious since 9/11 involving an

afghan immigrant, bomb-making ingredients, and new york city. roger kresse is a terror analyst for nbc and joins us this morning. good morning. >> good morning. >> i want to begin with news out of iran and the iranian nuclear enrichment facility that is under construction and soon would become operational. talk a little bit about what type of threat that would pose to the american public. >> well, it really becomes an existential threat for a couple places. one, of course, is israel, which is why you see prime minister netanyahu being very aggressive in the approach that the israeli government will take against this. the second is our gulf allies. the arab states such as saudi arabia, the united arab emirate, they all view iran as more of a strategic threat than anybody else. it's twofold. how to stop the iranian program, and if they fail, how to ensure there is an international consensus with our western european allies, members of the security council and our allies in the region to confront iran. >> all right, roger. i want to talk more about the

terrorism plot that was disrupted, najibullah zazi arrived in new york yesterday to face terrorism charges. what will investigators be focusing on in the next couple of days to try and piece together what he may have been planning and given his training, his alleged training, how much would he really be willing to talk to investigators? >> amy, that's a key point, because there's a lot that investigators don't know right now. who the are the other co-conspirators, were they people just supporting zazi from a logistics perspective or were they going to conduct the bombings themselves. what were his real targets? we still don't know. we assume transportation target, other what we call soft targets. and who was he talking to in afghanistan? the key point in this investigation is his ties to pakistan and the al qaeda safe haven there. >> roger, authorities are calling this the most serious potential attack since 9/11. do we know how close he was to implementing it? >> well, we do know he was buying the components to assemble a tatp, triacetone,

triperoxide bomb, which was used in the 2005 bombings in london and by richard reid, the shoe bomber. it's a very unstable bomb, but it's the type of thing that is demonstrated to be effective in the past. so, we doe know he was in what i would call the glide phrase, the preoperational, about to do something phase. but until we understand who else was involved, there's more questions than answers right now, and that's what investigators are trying to do. >> and, roger, we mentioned those other arrests in texas, illinois, and north carolina this week, all accused of planning some type of terror attack. is this just coincidenceal, or should there be some cause for concern with all these arrests happening within a relatively short period of time? >> well, it's important not to draw any broad, sweeping conclusions about all these happening at the same time. i think it's more coincidence. zazi is different from all these other ones because of his ties back to the al qaeda safe haven. these other individuals were self-starters. clearly they had intent. they really did not have capability. so, we need to be careful not to group them all together.

>> all right. roger, as always, thanks so much. >> you bet. let's get more of the morning's headlines with melissa francis. good morning, everyone. we begin with word that guantanamo bay prison may not close in january as president obama had pledged. the white house says the closing may be delayed because of legal and logistical problems like finding a location to house the 220 terror suspects that are still detained. former democratic party chairman paul kirk jr. has been sworn in as the temporary replacement to late senator ted kennedy. the 71-year-old boston attorney will serve until massachusetts voters go to the polls in a january special election. kirk's swearing in now gives democrats a 60-vote filibuster-proof majority. the funeral for murdered yale grad student annie le will take place later today in california. le is the 24-year-old pharmacology student found dead at her yale university lab on her wedding day. lab technician ray clark has been charged with the murder.

and fans of the tonight show with conan o'brien saw something a little unusual last night -- a repeat. conan hit his head during a stunt for the show and production was stopped. conan later joked -- feel better, conan. who knew that job was so dangerous? >> the things he does. >> the competition is fierce. it's deadly. >> we wish him the best. melissa, thankss

>> kind of scattered. rain is out to the west. better chances for rain later this afternoon and tonight. should have highs in t that's your weekend forecast. enjoy. lester? >> bill, thank you. today today in houston, texas, about 1,600 uninsured people are expected to show up for free medical care provided by hundreds of volunteers. among those volunteers, dr. bennett oz, cardiac surgeon and host of "the dr. oz show." good morning and thanks for joining us. >> good morning, lester. you know, we always want to be

part of this national conversation to get americans focused on health, so we help sponsor this free clinic, not realizing the overwhelming cry for help that would come from the citizens of texas. you may not realize this, lester, but this is the largest mobilization of health resources in the city of houston since katrina. and having been in katrina, i can tell you it was painful then because it was a natural disaster, but now we're really facing a national disaster of equivalent proportions where we can't take care of our neediest. >> dr. oz, the whole health care debate has been cast as a political issue, but you're really dealing today with the brass tacks of this. what is the reality? what would you expect to see when people come in who are not insured? what do you expect to see today? >> a story from a man at the front of a line, david, 45 years old, lost his health insurance, hernia protruding into his groin area, which causes him intense pain, hinders his ability to function and work. these are people who, like us, they have real job, they have

families that have always been on the right side of the financial challenge of living life but they've fallen off the bus. and we don't have a safety net to catch americans who need help. we will not have a wealthy country if we're not a healthy country. >> when you look at auto the proposals out there, will any one of them really solve this? when we talk, for example, about a public-run health insurance, do you think that would change this picture? >> i think we've focussed a lot of attention on finance issues and not focused on the care of health. we'll always need free clinics like this. it serves about 4 million people a year already in clinics around the country. we have to celebrate the wonderful physicians, you are ins, and volunteers, there are 700 here today. one of the glorious aspects of being an american is the volunteerism we represent. but we also have to appreciate this is not the best way to deliver care. we have to have a system that allows all to get access to

care. the conversation should be about giving people a hand up, not a hand out. >> we appreciate what you're doing for those folks there. congratulations on the new show, as well. >> thank you very much, lester. all right. still to come, some kittens that aren't just cute. they're special, too. triglycerides are still out of line? then you may not be seeing the whole picture. ask your doctor about trilipix. statin to lower bad cholesterol, along with diet, adding trilipix can lower fatty triglycerides and raise good cholesterol to help improve all three cholesterol numbers. trilipix has not been shown to prevent heart attacks or stroke more than a statin alone. trilipix is not for everyone, including people with liver, gallbladder, or severe kidney disease, or nursing women. tell your doctor about all the medicines you take and if you are pregnant or may become pregnant. blood tests are needed before and during treatment to check for liver problems. contact your doctor if you develop unexplained muscle

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all the farm raised goodness you want, none of the chemical stuff you don't. with ingredients this natural, we want to show the world. select harvest 100% natural soups, from campbell's. now to some unusual kittens born just a couple weeks ago with a little something extra.

and two of those kittens are joining us now from cincinnati along with their proud owner, karen fulton and her son and helper, ricky. karen and ricky, good morning to you. >> good morning. >> all right. we haven't let the cat out of the bag. we haven't said exactly what's different about your two kittens. tell us when you first noticed that something was a little special. >> well, they were a couple days old when my son went to check on them and he came back in the house and he said, mommy, i checked on the kittens this morning, and guess what? one of them's got six toes. well, i didn't believe him, so i made him go out and he brought one in. and sure enough, one had seven toes and the other one had six toes. >> wow. and we should mention, this is funny, because you found out your cat's pregnant, you don't know who the dad is, but it turns out you found out a neighborhood cat in your area has another special trait that might make you think he could be the father.

correct? >> he's definitely the father. apparently he -- apparently he's running around the neighborhood, and i heard he's got six toes on all his paws. >> and we should mention the world record for the most toes on a cat is 28 toes. yes, we found that out. one of your kittens has a total of 26 toes. have you noticed that these cats can do something different or better? are you expecting any special powers with these extra toes? >> well, i guess i'm going to find out. i know that -- i know that she's got a good grip and she can hold onto me pretty tight. and they're pretty much crawling pretty much wherever they want to go right now. >> they might win those cat fights with those extra claws. are you planning on keeping the kittens? do you want to give them away? what are your plans for these guys? >> i really, really think i would like to keep the seven-toed cat because she is so adorable and i'm already attached to her. plus, it's going to be

interesting what she'll be like when she grows up. >> i wonder if she'll feel different or special. we'll have to see how that affects her psychology. we also understand you have a lab that extra toes? are you feeding these cats anything special? these animals? >> no. i guess we're just different family. we have a dog. she's got an extra set of dewclaws. so, all my animals are pretty special. >> ricky, we want to say thank you for helping out. i know that's a lot to take care of those cats. karen and ricky fulton, thanks to you and to your special cats and lab as well. >> thank you. meet the volkswagen jetta. it gets an epa estimated 32 miles per gallon, and was named an iihs top safety pick. all for just $179 a month. and like all new volkswagens, it comes with 3 years or 36,000 miles of no-charge scheduled carefree maintenance.

it's all part of why the jetta is the top-selling german engineered sedan in america.

put on your dancing shoes and maybe your dancing diaper. the latest viral video sweeping the internet stars a baby who loves to dance. this is cody elliott, a little

boy from new zealand. he's just over a year old here, not even walking but he's bebopping along to bee i don't know is say's hit "single lady." . >> he has some of the moves down. i loved when he flipped the hand like that. now nearly 850,000 people from around the world have watched him. look at that leg going. >> let's just watch for a second. look at this. >> so cute. oh, gosh. >> that leg thing. on the knees now. a little james brown here. wow. >> how cute. >> the twist. still to come on "today" -- a lot more. some tease.

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>> good morning, and here's a look at some of our top stories. new this morning, three people had to be rescued from a burning car that had been struck by a tractor trailer. fire crews were called to the scene around 2:30 this morning. the three victims include a man, a child, and a pregnant woman. they were all rushed to area hospitals. right now there's no word on the conditions. the driver of the tractor

trailer reportedly suffered miner injuries. lawyers for baltimore mayor say prosecutors are still using inadmissible evidence in their attempt to make perjury charges stick. her attorneys argue that prosecutors be properly used evidence. dixon is accused about lying about gifts from her then boyfriend. she is also charged with theft related to gift cards intended for needy families. a hearing is set for next week. the annapolis central committee has chosen josh cullen to be the party's new nominee. the committee made its selection last night. the committee had to choose a new nominee to replace zena peer who won the primary but wits drew on wednesday after various personal financial concerns became public just days after the primary. cullen finished second in the primary. >> people know me. i'm a known quantity. i've representd this area for eight years, grew up here. and people are ready for a

fresh start with a steady hand. and that's what i have to offer. >> he will face republican alderman and independent in the november 3rd race. he plans to kick off his campaign at noon today. and stay with us when we come back we'll check your instant

>> good morning. 59 degrees right now. a few spots in the clouds over baltimore and through the bay. further west, clouds get thicker. a couple sprinkles in northern

virginia. most is going to dry up before it gets to the chesapeake bay. later on, the rain chance increases. take a look at the storm. you can see all this moisture streaming up. so it will catch up with this and this high pressure will slide just far enough away to -- for rain chances to come up. by evening the front will be in west virginia and we'll have heavier rains in the area. so clouds today and a chance for some rain especially in the afternoon and evening. 61 to 65. and a southeast breeze. the rain goes away on sunday morning. >> thanks for joining us.

we are back on this saturday morning, september 26th, 2009, joined by a very happy crowd out on the plaza with us. thanks so much for being here. i'm amy robach along with lester holt. and still to come this half hour, it's a memoir, an explosive memoir that everyone's still talking about. >> it's called "high on arrival." in it, mackenzie phillips tells a frank and amazing story of her offscreen life of drug abuse, sex, and rape. this morning mackenzie joins us to respond thrive the firestorm she set off with her tell-all and how she is dealing with the response she's getting. and plus we'll separate fact from fiction in some of the medical headlines that have made news this week. dr. nancy snyderman will join us with information on swine flu guidelines and the latest on alzheimer's disease. >> read any good books lately? >> i have a few piled up that i haven't quite gotten to. >> we'll add more to the book. our good friend, editor of

cosmopolitan magazine, will be here with the best books of the fall, something for both men and women, fast-paced thrillers, the "it" book for women. >>

>> some breaks in the clouds over baltimore. maybe a couple of sprinkles in virginia. rain chances later today. general cloudy skies. and we're here with four models. are you guys models? oh, you're not?

just look like it? you want to know about the football game sunday night? let's talk about it. you're big football fans, right? we're going to talk about indianapolis colts, kurt warner, arizona, they went to the super bowl, remember? two super bowl mvps playing in this game, too. look at the temperature. it's going to be hot and sweaty in the desert. 103 to 107. maybe they'll cool it off inside the dome. we'll have to see if they shut the roof. back to you, lester. >> bill, thanks very much. mackenzie phillips burst onto the scene in the 1937 movie "american graffiti" and played the rebellious sister julie on "one day at a time." but behind the scenes, she was living in a world filled with sex and drugs is and is now coming clean in her new memoir "high on arrival." mackenzie phillips, good morning and i guess welcome back. >> thank you, lester. >> a lot's happened since earlier in the week. i have to ask you, have the last several weeks been a case where your head has been hurting just thinking about what it's going

to be like when this book comes out? >> it's been -- you know, the anticipation of this reveal has definitely been intense. i honestly -- maybe i'm naive. i really didn't expect it to be quite as explosive as it's been. really didn't expect -- and i don't -- >> come on. you put a lot in here. drugs and sex and rape. >> i know. >> we've got a lot of e-mails since you were on the other day on nbc. some e-mails have been positive. one viewer wrote, "i would like to show my support for her bravery, true maturity." another said, "i was impressed by her love and acceptance." then others, why should i accept anything she has to say with her drug use? i was watching with meredith the other way. that thought came to my mind. how much do you trust your memories? >> look, that's just a -- that's a crazy question to ask someone where my details are so specific. my memory is actually quite good.

i think maybe the misconception is i spent my life walking around in a stupor stumbling around and knocking into wall, and that's absolutely not the case. >> you were functional. >> up to a point, sure. i mean, you know, you can function, but -- you know, weird to have to defend your life and your truth. it's very strange to have to say why would i put myself in this position? >> let me ask you this. did you leave things out? was there a point in writing this book you thought even i can't go there? >> absolutely. >> really? >> oh, my -- i left out detail because it's difficult enough. i left out a great deal. and if i had put everything in, every story that i thought might be relevant, the book would have been 500, 600 pages long, you know? >> let me ask you about valerie bertinelli, played your sister on "one day at a time." she felt regret when she heard about your past and said she had no idea what was going on until now. why wasn't there a more vocal

cry for help among those you considered your family on that show? >> well, what do you do? go, hey, i just thought i'd tell you that, you know, i'm being molested by my father? it's -- let me put hit the way. the groundswell of support that i've received on facebook and different social networking sites and via e-mail, people have said you think that it's your fault, you think that it's so shameful, you can't tell anybody. i've had people come forward and say you have given me strength and hope that i can actually overcome the effects of my past. >> let me turn the question around. should people have known? should they have picked it up, those people who were around you? i mean, were you sending out signals that they should have been more sensitive to? >> well, it's interesting. i mean, the behaviors were put in place long before the sex began, you know, kind of

grooming me to be follower, if you will. my father was definitely a very powerful man. it's interesting. i am learning more and more about incest and incest survivors as my story is being told. i mean, i don't know if you know about the rape and incest ring, the rape and incest hotline and network, their hits on their website have gone up 82%, calls to the hotline have gone up 22%. people are feeling like there's finally a national dialogue, someone actually speaking about surviving something like this. people are beginning to think maybe i can get past this and have a life. and that in itself makes this incredibly meaningful. >> you did not write this to be an incest book and there's a lot more in it. there is the drugs and other sexual things in there. the reaction to the book has been so shocking to you, as you said, but is there -- what's the take-aw take-away? did you want to put a take-away

in this story? >> the take-away is that there is something to live for and there's a reason to fight for it. and if you've lived the kind of life i've lived you quite often think you don't really have a future and the effects of your past will continue to affect your present and future no matter what you do, that you're broken, that you're ashamed and you're alone. and my story is to say that you don't have to remain broken and you can lose the shame and you can be among people and feel like you're not alone. >> did you know what a normal childhood was supposed to look like when you were a kid? >> in hindsight, yes, but not when i was a child. >> you thought everybody d -- >> i mean, if you live in a condo and your dad lives in a mansion in bel air and you're going back and forth between those two lives, you see the dichotomy, the difference of, you know, what's going on, but so you can't really think everyone, you know, lives in a mansion and in a condo. but, you know, i'm a product of my environment. and so, that was what i knew.

that was -- that was -- you know. >> what's this done to relationship, family relationships, your son, your 22-year-old son? >> my 22-year-old son -- >> did you sit down and tell him this story before you wrote it? >> absolutely. and i sat down and prepared him as well as one can for the release of this book. and hess one of my biggest supporters. and his father, my ex-husband, shane fontaine, is one of my biggest supporters and dearest friends. >> other family members may have questioned the truth of this story, but in some way do you think this might bring you closer to those around you? >> my hope is that we can be a stronger family after this. my sister china has come out in support of me and, you know, the people in my family who aren't supporting me and who are saying that my claims are untrue, i understand that, although they have known about this as a fact for a long time. their reaction is not surprising to me. i understand. i love my family. i have great compassion, and i feel terrible for having put

them in this difficult situation. but i think that the tide is beginning to turn. at least that's my hope. >> i want to continue the conversation if we can in a moment. we need to take a break. you've wanted to quit smoking so many times, but those days came and went, and the cigarettes remained. but today's a new day. and a few simple steps can make a real difference in your next quit... things like starting with a plan to quit smoking... getting support... and talking to your doctor about how prescription treatments can help you.

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we're back now with more of mackenzie phillips, who's written the book "high on arrival." thanks for sticking around. >> sure. >> just to update people, it was john phillips, your father, who was in this book and this is the headline of this book, had raped you at a very young age and there was a long -- i hate to use the term "relationship" but an incestuous -- i don't know what word you want to use. >> well, it's interesting. when i was writing this book, i kept thinking consensual doesn't feel right to me. the word itself. >> but yao accepted it at some point. >> yes. i'm not an expert on incest or surviving incest or any of that stuff. i didn't do research on statistics or any of that stuff

because i wanted my story to be organic and my truth. but now that i'm getting this huge amount of information from the internet and people contacting me, what i'm finding out is people are saying regardless of your age, incest is never consensual. it can be cooperative. you can participate. but because of the power that a parent just inherently has over a child -- not like -- i'm not talking about power or force or that type of thing. it can lend itself to this cooperation and not consent. >> you know, you write in the book you forgave your father before he died. >> absolutely, yeah, i did. >> but here's the problem. as the reader or as the person watching this interview right now, i can't forgive him because i'm hearing the story for the first time and i'm feeling this disgust to a man that would do this to his child. so, how do you reconcile that? >> and i've been thinking about that in this very difficult week that i've been through. and i realized that this has

been my truth for so many years, so many, many years and my father's been dead almost a decade that -- and -- and that's difficult enough -- that i've had time to come to terms with this much more so than the people who are experiencing this story for the first time. so, like my sister china said on tv yesterday, you know, he was our dad. and i've gotten so many letters from people saying the fact that you were able to forgive is such a beautiful thing. and as i say in the book, forgiveness isn't to give the other person peace. forgiveness is for yourself so that you can move forward. >> and you mention china. i want to talk about your family because at one point they weren't as accepting of what had happened. when you finally seek out -- you write in the book when you finally seek out your family for help, they decide the best course of action is essentially to keep it secret. why? >> why? be -- well, because incest is taboo. you know, you sweep it under the

carpet. you tell the person that's the victim, you be quiet. >> but they confronted him, did they not? >> they didn't confront him. >> they didn't confront him? >> no. they said to me, you can't do this to your father, although what he did to me was way more traumatic than doing -- you know, outing him as a -- you know. >> right. >> so, people -- it's just a textbook reaction. be quiet, don't say anything, sweep it under the carpet, protect the abuser. i mean, that's what happens. it's textbook. and my family's reactions are so -- what one might expect. >> we've got to end the conversation. >> yes. >> you talk about it. you've certainly opened up quite a conversation. and we thank you for being so candid and sharing your story with us. >> thank you, lest. thank you. >> we'll take a break.

fall means longer nights and

cooler days, the perfect season to curl up with a good book. this is the editor for "cosmopolitan" magazine and the author of "strange but true." good morning. >> nice to see you. >> nice to see you. your first three picks are highly anticipated authors who have done well in the past. >> big flups. >> "gate at the stairs." >> it's her first 11 years and people won't be disappointed, funny read set in the midwest. the second, "her fearful similar metry" about twin girls who receive a letter their aunt has passed away and they're receiving her apartment. it's on a cemetery in england. >> supernatural is something that is a common theme. >> exactly. >> third one, "half broke hor horses."

>> a followup. she talks about breaking in horses. it's a great book club pick because she lived a fascinating life. >> the next one you call a literary thrill ride with a shocking twist ending. >> i love this book. it's a real jigsaw puzzle. it's about three different characters. as you're reading it and it flips back and forth between them, you try to figure out how it comes together and it's a real surprise. >> that's a thrill ride. the next two are thrillers. >> actual thrillers. >> "evil at heart." >> i gave the first two in the series to my mom and she said they were like really good episodes of "csi." a female serial killer, a great twist. >> "top producer." >> vonnegut, a distant cousin to kirk vonnegut, a corporate thriller from a why gai who lived in that world for many years so he knows what he's talking about. >> you have nonfiction picks. for people who loved "blink" and "the tipping point," this is

"what the dog saw." comes from cesar milan, the famous dog whisperer. cooky, smart essays. i think people will like them. >> and "born round" is next, supposed to be very funny. >> if you look at the title and the pick picture, you can tell this is a guy with food and weight issues. he was the restaurant critic for "the new york times" until recently, which is a blessing and a curse if you love food but have weight issues and your job is to eat out. they have great mystique about them. >> the next two, for young adults, a new series, "catching fire" and "the hunger games." >> not for the faint of heart. survivor meets gladiator. they're catching on with adults. sort of a "twilight" cut on them. >> and of course my favorite category of book, chick let. >> this is a story about four young moms in the course of a summer in brooklyn. i think of all the books here this will be the one you'll like

the best. >> a fun page-turner. >> the chick book of the season. >> thank you very much, john. i appreciate it. we'll be right back. ♪ mmm... hot fudge sundae. ♪ ooh! frosted blueberry?!? ♪ over 25 flavors of kellogg's pop-tarts®. and they're all for fun and fun for all. pop-tarts®. made for fun. and they're all for fun and fun for all. [heavy rock music plays]

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♪ yeah. ♪ our natural sweetener is born from the leaves of the stevia plant. it's sparkly and sweet with zero calories and zero grains of doubt. truvia. honestly sweet. find it at your grocery store. that's going to do it for us on this saturday morning. our thanks to melissa francis and bill karins. tomorrow on "today," why michael jackson fans are lining up once again. >> and behind the scenes on "parks and remember ration."

>> good morning, and welcome to saturday morning. we're going to check on the forecast in just a minute, but some of our top stories. a shocking discovery in frederick county. four bodies found dead. troopers found the two adults and two children early this morning. police believe the four are part of the sam fayly. circumstances are being investigators but troopers say

it appears to be a murder scene. lawyers for baltimore mayor say prosecutors are still using inadmissible evidence in their attempt to make perjury charges stick. arguing that prosecutors used evidence, lying about gifts from her then boy friend on financial disclosure forms. she is also charged with theft intend of gift cards intended for needy families. work continues to repair the water main. it's been a over a week. but you can madge tn cleanup is massive. back over that scene, residents affected will get help today from county leaders who set up a center. >> it would be nice if the rain would hold off for those repairs. good morning, john. >> we have kind of a leadup to rain. we broke out of the rain

yesterday morning, and we have some sun this morning. here ts cloud picture. to the west of us you see the clouds getting heavier. they're kind of drifting in this direction. brighter, whiter clouds have a lot of rain. take a look at the radar imagery from last evening until now. you can see all that rain there in kentucky and tennessee. eastern kentucky now getting quite a bit of rain. as far east as baltimore, the potomac river, a couple of sprinkles. here's what the map will look like this evening. the system will be west but all the moisture coming in. that's when the rain chances are at their highest. the forecast does include rain. we'll have details coming up. >> that's next on our news. here to answer your pet questions and more on our top stories. >> and a chance to come face to face with your favorite author. >> up next your chances to win big.

>> plus weather and sports when we continue. stay with us. $5 for the sub, huh?

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