accused of trying to extort $2 million from david letterman. what prosecutors say made him desperate enough to do it. popular sports reporter secretly videotaped in her hotel room in the nude. police say they've got their man. the latest on how they tracked him down. and the agony of defeat. chicago comes in dead last in its bid to host the olympic games. but while many in the windy city are singing the blues, it's party time in rio. today is saturday, october 3rd, party time in rio. today is saturday, october 3rd, 2009. captions paid for by nbc-universal television good morning, everyone. welcome to "today" on a saturday morning. i'm lester holt. >> i'm amy robach. welcome back from chicago. you were there when that stunning announcement was made. people were speechless and quiet. >> on the plaza, thousands gathered, watching in the

jumbotron, expecting a showdown between rio and chicago and boom, first round, not going to happen. the look on people's faces. they kept waiting, maybe he's going to say something more and what they heard was not what they thought they heard. >> the first-round elimination was shocking. we'll get into what went wrong for chicago and what went right for rio. the latest on the alleged extortion plot against david letterman. prosecutors say the suspect, joe halderman, had a compelling motive for blackmail. they call him, quote, capable of doing anything. he says he's not guilty. his attorneys say this case is far more complicated than what we've all been hearing. much more coming up. and your questions this morning about the flu. with all the attention on the swine, h1n1, this year, the seasonal flu is also upon us, as well so, there's a lot of confusion out there. we'll clear up some of that confusion and ants your questions. i'll be rolling up my sleeve for one of those shots before the segment is over. we want to begin with the

summer games of the xxxi to plimp yad, a long way away, doesn't happen until 2016, but in the u.s., a lot of folks disappointed, including the president and oprah winfrey. >> reporter: after an impassioned pitch to host the first-ever south american olympic games, rio de janeiro's victory was no surprise. >> the city of chicago will not participate in the next round. >> reporter: but the early round loser was. thousands in chicago's daly plaza who wanted to gather to celebrate a victory instead learned chicago had come in last behind rio, madrid, and tokyo, this despite lobbying by oprah winfrey and michelle obama. >> ladies and gentlemen of the international olympic committee. >> reporter: and a trip by president obama, who risked political backlash to pitch for him hometown. he was headed back to washington, d.c., when he got the news. >> one of the things that i

think is most valuable about sports is that you can play a great game and still not win. >> reporter: brazil has a population of 200 million people and an economy that is expected to be the world's fifth largest by the time of the 2016 games. >> translator: our time has come. it's time. tonight, the olympic caldron is lit in a tropical country. >> reporter: sailing by sugarloaf mountain, beach vol y volleyball on the beach, a stunning backdrop for the games. rio promised to spend $14 billion on venues and infrastructure for the games and to offset carbon dioxide emissions by planting 24 million trees. still, as rio prepares for its close-up on the world stage, there are challenges ahead. known for its high crime and murder rate, will the city be safe for the games? and what to do about the poverty and slums that scatter the city? but back on the beach,

celebration and pride. brazil will now be center stage, and south america is now on the olympic map. alan is a columnist for universalsports.com. he joins us from copenhagen, denmark, site of friday's stunning announcement. good morning. it's great to see you. >> how are you, lester? >> i'm well, thank you. i want to talk about rio in a moment, but a lot of folks still trying to understand what happened with chicago. let me begin by playing what you said moments before the picks were announced yesterday. here it is. >> in june i would have told you probably rio. if you asked me three weeks ago, i would have told yoweri owe. today, i would say probably chicago by a nose. >> your hunch in terms of chicago. chicago had a lot of buzz going down the stretch, alan, so what happened? >> you know, lester, i'm reminded that the day i can start making crystal ball predictions is the day i get out

of journalism and start buying lottery tickets. the fact is the first round of any ioc vote is notoriously unpredictable, as volatile as anything, and chicago got caught up in that plain and simple. the buzz says chicago had 30 votes, 3-0 in the first round. didn't happen. the thing about the ioc voting is is a secret. that means there's a lot of blatant disinformation going around. there was a lot of blatant disinformation going around. >> you say disinformation. in fact, chicago only had 18 votes in the first round and madrid, we should note in the first round, was in the lead. so, was there horse-trading, or was it real down and dirty back room dealing going on? >> well, it's sort of tomato or tomato or potato or potato thing going on. it's clear in the first round a lot of members voted for juan antonio, the former ioc, are the president, who made an emotional appeal on behalf of madrid.

that's abundantly clear. what happened after that? did those votes take away from chicago? did the rio people say to tokyo, we'd like to think about you keeping chicago out because if chicago and rio get to the final round, we don't know what's going to happen. all of that is legitimate politics in the ioc. that's the way it is. >> you like the bid, the pitch chicago made. chicago thought they would be benefited by the president of the united states making that last-minute trip. could that have in some ways backfired? was the chicago charm offensive maybe too much? >> no. i think just the opposite, lester, and here's why. what the ioc wants to see is that the federal authorities in a big country are solidly behind the bid. and one of the knocks on the united states is because we are federalist system and so you have a local bid that's naturally in a city, then you have a state, is that the federal government of the united states seems somehow to be more removed. in this instance, you had mayor daly, you had the state government, you had the two

senators from illinois. everybody seemed to be behind the bid. then the president himself was solidly behind the bid, the president and the first lady. the white house olympics office. geez, what more could you want if you're puttinging to an american bid? >> i promised we'd talk about rio. a terrific city. a lot of people think their pitch was wonderful. tell me what you think they had going for them? >> it's elemental, frankly. the other three bids were about how, how are we going to put on the olympics? although chicago came back in the end of the race saying we are the united states and we're reaching out to the world, will you reach back with us. but basically the other three bids were about why, and that was the games have never been to south america. look at the map. isn't that an obvious injustice. isn't it time to correct that. that's a compelling argument. >> all right. alan, great to see you. thanks very much for doing this. >> pleasure, lester. anytime. >> here's amy. lester, thank you. of course america's loss is brazil's gain as lester just

mentioned. the 2016 games will be heading to south america for the first time. nbc nbc's miguel almaguer is in rio. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you. >> tell us what the mood is like there. >> reporter: there was quite the celebration, as you were able to see yesterday on the beach of cocoa cabana. some 100,000 people were estimated to be down there. a wild celebration on the beach that lasted all night, spilled into this morning. rio does have a lot of work to do in the next couple years. they have some $14 billion of infrastructure that they still need to build and to offset some of that they plan on planting 24 million trees to cross cancel that carbon dioxide. there's also a lot of problems here in the city of rio. the slums here are really infamous as you drive along the highways leading from the airports, you can see them on both sides of the streets. the poverty will really be on display here. of course there's some infrastructure. and one of the big knocks on rio is the crime. still last nigh there was a huge

celebration here, and we saw pictures of president da silva and soccer star pele celebrating, hugging and even tears were coming from the president's eyes. such a tremendous win for rio last night. and so much celebration in this city. and of course for this entire continent celebrating its first olympic games here in south america. they are thrilled to literally be on the olympic map, and they say this is really their time, amy. >> all right. miguel almaguer, thanks so much. we appreciate it. here's lester. going to switch gears now, amy. thanks. a newborn bay just 4 days old who was kidnapped from his home in tennessee this week has been found in alabama. a woman is under arrest, accused of taking him. nbc's ron mott has details. ron, good morning. >> reporter: hey, lester. good morning to you. this is an extraordinary conclusion to this case. officials in tennessee were essentially scratching their heads over the past 24 hours, trying to figure out what would motivate someone to attack a mother this way and steal her newborn. nevertheless, they are relieved

this little baby boy, 8 days old now, was found alive in alabama just across the tennessee state line about 80 miles away. yesterday, police released a composite sketch of the woman they were looking for. 39-year-old tammy rene silas of ardmore, alabama, is in custody this morning, and charges are pending. police believe silas rented a car at the national airport tuesday morning. the car was captured on surveillance tape in a walmart parking lot where the mother of this baby had gone shopping. authorities suspected silas followed her home, pretended to be an immigration agent, knocked on her door, then assaulted her and took the baby, lester. >> here's amy. now to the economy and worse than expected news on the jobs front coming on what was already a tough day for president obama. nbc's savannah guthrie has more. >> reporter: back from copenhagen, the president had to fend off more bad news. >> today's job report is a

sobering reminder that progress comes in fits and starts and that we're going to need to grind out this recovery step by step. >> reporter: the number surprised wall street. the unemployment rate now at 9.8%. employers cutting 263,000 jobs last month. losses in construction, manufacturing, retail, even government despite a huge influx of spending from the stimulus plan. more than 15 million americans are now out of a job. not since june of 1983 has it been this bad. >> i think the significance here is that the strength of the recovery, even the recovery itself, is now being called into question. >> reporter: also troubling, long-term unemployment continues to rise. more than 5 million americans now out of a job six months or more, a story clear on the front lines. >> knocking on doors, networking, sitting in, looking at people go to work in the morning wishing you were in the car. >> we will recover. >> reporter: trying to emphasize

the positive, white house says the pace of job losses is slowing, and without the stimulus it would be worse. but republicans were quick to pounce. >> we don't see any evidence whatsoever that the stimulus package is having an impact. >> reporter: the president vowed friday to do more to stop job losses. but white house aides sidestepped talk of a second stimulus. >> the fact is that the first stimulus, as i said, is less than half done, so it's a little premature to have that discussion. >> reporter: aides won't say what additional measures they're looking at. congress is considering extending unemployment benefits yet again. another 1.3 million people set to lose those benefits by the end of the year. for "today," savannah guthrie, nbc news, the white house. for more, we're joined by cn cnbc's trish regan. good morning. >> good morning, amy. >> do experts expect these unemployment numbers to keep rising throughout the year? >> yeah.

unfortunately, the expectation is we'll probably see 10%. we're now at 9.8%, so we're awfully close. >> we have more than 15 million americans out of work. does this new report indicate that the recovery then has stalled? is that a fair point to make? >> well, you know, some people have suggested that, but i do want to point out that it's typical in any kind of recession to see the unemployment rate actually increase, believe it or not, as you're coming out of the recession. the unemployment number is actually a lagging indicator. so, what you're seeing is more and more people are trying to get into the workforce that maybe had given up previously, and so they're now being counted in the data, and that's one reason why it's ticking higher. the other thing is that, you know, companies are the last to hire. they're going to wait until they have a lot of signs that things are improving before they go out and make that investment in employees. >> you mentioned people giving up. the latest numbers are the percentage of people looking for work is at a 23-year low. if you added more job seekers

into the unemployment rate it would top 10%. >> mm-hmm. >> how big of a concern are the people who have given up saying, i can't find a job, forget it. it's a big concern, because for this economy to be productive, you want as many people that want to be in the workforce actually out there working. this is something that economists refer to, quote, unquote, the real unemployment rate, and they're saying it actually is much higher than 10%. >> can the u.s. economy, then, show sustainable growth if we don't see these job numbers pick up? >> well, that's the big debate right now. there's a lot of people questioning whether or not we might see a double-dip recession. the reason is even if you start to get the engines going on the corporate level and corporations start to buy from each other, at some point people have to have jobs in order to go out there and shop. and that's the final demand we're talking about. the consumer is two-thirds of the overall economy. if they shut down, the economy shuts down. so, at some point you've got to get that consumer engine going or else. >> cnbc's trish regan. we'll see you back at the news

december income a few minutes. thanks so much. here's lester. amy, thanks. for more on the political impact of these developments, richard wolf, msnbc political analyst and senior strategist for public strategies, inc. good morning. >> good morning, lester. >> let's go back to the olympics for a moment. the first lady had compared the bid for chicago's olympic bid as like a campaign, a political campaign. if you use that analogy, where did this one come off the rails? >> oh, even more specific, they said it was like iowa in the sense they were trying to go into a small room and win over small group of voters. where it went off the rails was in places like iowa. they didn't show up in december of 2007 just a month before the vote, give a big speech and expecting to know the voters. you have to know a small group like this. in the this case, the white house trusted the judgment of the chicago team, showed up late and didn't really understand. they're sort of minor royals and aging sports stars, and that

pitch wasn't that different from anyone else. that's why they ended up like hillary clinton coming in third, in this case fourth. >> i wonder if there's lasting damage here. this is a president who often in tough times turns to his personal appeal, his personal charm. in this case, it fell flat, it didn't work. so, is he permanently tarnished now? will this follow him? >> i don't know that he's permanently tarnished. i mean, there are lots of other big things going on. we heard about the unemployment rate. obviously, there's health care and talks with iran. but this is the kind of story people understand better than any of those other subjects. the olympics are high profile. this was a big, international stage. and of course he's getting lampooned by folks on the right, the regular critic who is want to bring him down in one wyeway or another. but there is a limit to his personal appeal, and if you don't know the risks you're taking, if the expectations are set way too high, as they were i think the with this olympic speech that he made, then the risks are actually way too great for this kind of event. >> you notice some on the right had been critical of this trip,

he shouldn't have gone, so many pressing matters. he did get some afghanistan business done, a 25-minute meeting on air force one in copenhagen with general mcchrystal. but the real issue of whether to send the additional troops mcchrystal wants hasn't been cleared up. when does it happen and will it happen? >> well, it looks like this process is going on for another several weeks here, and it's not just about the troops. it's about a sort of political judgment of whether you can split the taliban off from al qaeda. that is a judgment about the nature of afghanistan that goes way beyond whether troop deployments work or not. and it's being played out on the front pages of the newspapers. that is quite an extraordinary development in terms of america's national security. >> we appreciate your analysis, richard wolffe. thank you very much. >> thank youp, lester. time for a check of the headlines. we turn to cnbc's trish regan, who is, as promised, at the news desk. good morning. >> good morning again, guys. we begin with the man at the

center of the david letterman extortion case. joe halderman pleaded not guilty in court on friday and is out on bail. prosecutors say he was struggling with debt and tried extorting $2 million from letterman. the "48 hours" producer has been suspended by cbs. we will have much more on the story coming up in our next hour. a second typhoon is battering the philippines. powerful winds and heavy rains are lashing the northern part of the country. it could see as much as 8 to 20 inches of rain. this second storm comes eight days after typhoon ketsana devastated parts of the country. much of the capital of manila was flooded in that storm. and they continue to search through the rubble in indonesia where officials believe nearly 3,000 people could still be trapped after wednesday's earthquake. about 1,000 people were killed. a quake survivor sent a text message friday from a collapsed hotel, but so phares cuers have not found him. more coming up in a live report. in samoa, the death toll is

up to 170 from tuesday's earthquake and tsunami. relief supplies are arriving to help people in decimated villages. some families are burying generations of relatives. we now know film director roman polanski agreed to pay at least $500,000 to the woman he sexually assaulted. court documents show the agreement was made in 1993, 15 years after he fled the u.s. papers don't say if polanski actually made the payment. he is currently in jail in switzerland fighting extradition to the u.s. todd palin has quit his job at an oil company for now. the husband of former republican vice presidential candidate sarah palin is spending more time with his family, and a spokesperson says he hopes to return to his job sometime in the future. the resignation comes as the former alaska governor is about to release her highly anticipated memoir for which she was reportedly paid millions. and finally, you want to live for a century? yes, it is possible. new life expectancy figures show that most babies born after 2000

could live to be at least 100 years old. the study was published in the medical journal the lance et. findings show centenarians tend to share certain traits in how they eat and move and how they deal with stress. that's the news. back to lester and amy and bill. that's good news for you. >> for me, yes. >> expecting kids. congratulations. >> thanks so much, guys. >> thanks, trish. nbc meteorologist bill karins has our first check of the forecast. >> if everyone lived to 100 it would be like the great great great grandparents. let's talk about your first weekend forecast in ok. not a good day for leaf peeping in new england. heavy rain is shifting up from long island into rhode island and around boston today. you are going to get drenched. we are also going to continue to watch what's going on with the heavy rain in other areas. the great lakes are going to see showers on and off today for all those college football games. south texas is going to get wet.

and all of the northern rockies not just rain, but we're going to >> some clouds nt area. a few sprinkles. northeast corner of the state. mostly out over the bay. in our forecast, i don't have any rain icons in our forecast. >> that's a look at your saturday forecast. amy? >> bill, thanks so much. coming up, an arrest in the case of a sports reporter secretly videotaped in her hotel room.

still to come on "today," the latest on the flu outbreak, and we'll answer your questions about how to protect yourself. plus our back-to-school series continues with my trip back to the days of big hair in high school. love that picture.

>> good morning. i'm sarah caldwell. city police need your help to find the person who shot a 17-year-old boy in west baltimore. homicide detectives were called to north pason and west lafayette avenue. police say the teen had been shot in the head. he was rushed to shock drama in critical condition. >> we don't have much to go on. when we got here, there were no witnesses, other than people in the staff. when they heard the gun shot, they were shot down. >> anyone with information is

asked to call city police at 410 -- city police. >> a victim found in a drainage ditch in aberdeen. the victim is an adult male. the coroner is working on the exact cause of death. >> a soda bomb was left on an m.t.a. bus on howard and fay et streets downtown. it exploded and released a strong odor of ammonia. >> family and friends gathered today to mourn the death of a delaney valley high school. 612 second street, 9:30 to 10:30 this morning is the wake. his funeral service will follow. a ch

>> take a look at our live h.d. doppler radar. a lot of clouds from the baltimore area eastward. further west there are breaks in the clouds. a couple sprinkles west of annapolis and up in cecil county now and up in ocean city. that's about it. the front out in ocean city. mostly bright clouds and the significant rains are out over the atlantic ocean. breaks in the clouds once you get near frederick and into western maryland. the main part of the storm is back in the great lakes and will

stay there. this front has gotten itself too far away and it doesn't have a great potential to produce rain. by this evening the front is a slow mover. as long as it is in the neighborhood, there is an outside chance we could see a rain shower, so we have to keep it in the forecast. the further west you go, the better the chance. 73 to 78 the high. southwest winds at 5 to 10 miles an hour. different story tomorrow. a lot more sun and temperatures in the 70's. >> thank you, john. "11 news saturday morning" continues in 25 minutes. we are back on this saturday

morning, october 3rd, 2009. a pretty gray and cloudy day in new york. inside 1a, i'm amy robach along with lester holt. and coming up we're going the let you know everything you ever wanted to know or need to know about the flu and flu shots. >> both flus. in fact, you've been e-mailing us questions, like, do you need shots for both the seasonal and the swine flu? what are the side effects? has the swine flu vaccine been tested enough? we hear that a lot. coming up, we'll try to answer all your questions and calm your fears. plus, we'll continue with our "back to school again" series with this time my trip back to high school. it was an education for me and the kids i met. they tried to teach me what it takes to be fresh and fly these days, and i showed them what was totally rad back in my time, which was so not that hair. those are some of the most embarrassing photos. >> totally what? >> rad. the '80s. totally rad. the '80s? >> i'm the '70s. >> all right. but first we begin this half hour with the overnight arrest

of a suspect now facing federal charges of stalking espn repo reporter erin andrews. rehema ellis has details. good morning. good morning, amy. 40-year-old michael barrett will be in a chicago courtroom today to face charges of interstate stalking. he was arrested friday at chicago's o'hare airport. barrett's accused of secretly shooting video of espn's sideline reporter, as you point out, erin andrews, while she was alone in hotel rooms. he allegedly then posted the video on the internet. so, how did he get the video? authorities say he requested a hotel room next to hers, then he rigged the door peephole. according to the complaint against him, this happened at hotels in nashville, tennessee, last september and began on milwaukee. appearing on "oprah" last month, andrews said she thought her career was over after the videos started circumstance lating over the internet. today, she issues a statement.

>> authorities said they were led to barrett after he tried to sell the videos to tmz. an employee there contacted andrews' attorney, who contacted police, and then they tracked barrett back through the e-mails that he had sent. amy? >> all right. rehema ellis, thanks so much. clint van zandt is a former fbi profiler and joins us from boston. good morning. >> hi, amy. good morning. >> these videos surfaced first back in july. any idea on the timing, why the fbi decided to make the arrest now and at an airport? >> yeah. well, first of all, on the timing i think it just took a while to put this case together. trying to track back this suspect, you know, he used his cell phone, amy. you've got to imagine, here i hold up a pen. this is really thicker than what an actual door is, and what he did is he took the peephole -- he'd go to the room, he'd take the peephole out, cut it in half, put it back in, and when

he had someone in a room, he'd slowly take that peephole up, put a phone camera up to the door and take a picture. then he sent that video from his camera to his home computer, so it took the fbi a while to trace all those numbers, digits, everything back again. once they had it, they had the suspect, they probably had him under surveillance and when the warrant came through, they arrested him at the chicago airport when he landed. >> as far as we know, this man, michael barrett, never did more than videotape or take photos of erin. he never made direct contact with her. but with this type of person, could that have escalated? what was the threat this man posed to her and others, perhaps, for her future? >> i think whether high profile or not so high profile people, you've got stalkers out there, you've got people who want to get close. you probably do, amy, lester does, other who is want to get close to you who, you know, they want your picture, send fan mail. those are okay, but all of a

sudden stalkers sometimes start to write more letters, they have this imagined relationship. and in this case, this guy is taking these videos and trying to sell them to tmj online. the scary thing i think, too, amy, is there were other videos that this suspect allegedly posted of other women that he shot through this peephole other than just erin. so, this guy is a serial stalker who was out trying to harass, surveil, intimidate various women, and erin just took a stand and said it's not going to happen to me. >> cliff, do you think this was about more than just making money? because he was trying to make money with these videos, as you point out. >> yeah, i think it was, too. i think he may have had an infatuation with her. but realize again the fbi believes that the suspect, perhaps this same guy, posted other videos of other women. so, if there was an infatuation with erin, it may have been emotional, it may have been financial, but this is somebody who's out and about. and this is not sophisticated.

this is dumb. this is stupid. but if you're the victim of something like this, you know, it's like somebody goes through your house or anything else and goes through your drawers. this guy has these unique pictures of you. and as far as erin was concerned, her career could have been ruined. as far as other women are concerned, nobody wants to be victimized like this, by a creep like this. >> clint van zandt, thanks so much. we appreciate your time today. >> thank you. and we want another check of the weather from nbc meteorologist bill karins. hey, bill. >> good morning, everyone, on

>> a couple sprinkses in kent island. we could see a few showers. the trend will be to decrease

>> let's talk a little bit about nbc "sunday night football." big game. we're headed to heinz field. pittsburgh, 1-2, look farg win. unfortunately, this one not an easy one. san diego chargers coming into town. the weather looks ideal, 52 to 56. that is football weather. sunday night on nbc. if you want your hour-by-hour forecast throughout your weekend, you can get that at weather.com. inside to amy. thank you. coming up, your questions about the flu and the flu shot answered. but first, these messages. - ( funk music playing ) - let's put a few thousand kilowatts in a vise.

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announcer: the super grain nutrition of quaker oats. power yourself with the limitless possibilities of instant quaker oatmeal. good morning. on "today's" health, the flu, flu season is in full swing and both the seasonal flu shot and a vaccine for the swine flu are adding a lot of confusion and uncertainty for everyone. here to answer your questions about the flu, both the seasonal and swine, is dr. steven lamb of nyu medical center. it's very confusing right now.

should you get both of these shots? how important is one over the other? >> well, i think they're both important. right now, you can get the seasonal flu vaccine, which is a virus that will start to circulate in december, january, february. the swine flu, the h1n1 vaccine, is going to be available very soon. cdc sending these vaccines out to local health officials and practitioners. if you can get them both, i'd get them both. but it's interesting. the older individual really needs the seasonal flu, and the younger individual is at greater risk for that h1n1 virus. >> let's first talk about the seasonal flu. every year you come on and we talk about this, and the interesting thing is that we never quite know -- doctors never quite know what the strain is, so this vaccine is really kind of an educated guess, isn't it? >> well, you know, it's more than an educated guess. they have plucked out this virus from someplace in asharks and then they start to produce it in june. they're pretty much on target. i mean, they'll have about a 60% to 80% protection from the seasonal flu with vaccine. there are three different

viruses they predict will be the problem. and you've got a pretty good chance of being protected. >> i'm going to roll up my sleeve because you're going to give me this seasonal flu shot. but while you're doing that, i want to ask those who are concerned about getting either of these, what do you say to them? >> i wouldn't worry about. i'm a little tethered to this chair but it' okay. >> i'm going to say what i say every year when you do this -- ouch. >> the new vaccine is produced in the same laboratories that the traditional vaccines are, and that the vaccines are really very safe. >> we have a lot of e-mail about this. let me talk about the swine flu. here's a woman who says she's pregnant, i'm planning on getting my regular flu shot this week, but i'm very he says assistant. >> number one, the vaccine is produced in the same laboratories that we've produced the traditional vaccine so,

there's no reason to believe that this h1n1 will carry any more risk. and in addition, we know that pregnant women have additional risk for complications from this h1n1, so the answer is i really would take it. protection to the newborn. >> a lot of questions, also, about the nasal spray versus the shot. again, for the h1n1. what should you know about that? >> right. the nasal spray is more of a live but weakened virus, and the injection is a dead virus. if you're otherwise healthy and less than 49 years of age, you can get the live nasal one, all right? but they're both quite good. they're both very effective. and depending on your age group, you can get either one. >> a really good question from someone who's had swine flu. she said i had swine flu in may of this year. will i be immune or should i get the vaccine? >> if she really had the swine flu, unless it was documented, unless you have antibodies, unless you cultured it, you may have had a typical virus and you

still would be susceptible. you'd have to really know for certain you had it. >> is there a chance now for h1n1 -- >> yeah. you can culture it out and tell right away. >> a lot of confusion as to whether people can get both the regular flu vaccine, which i just got, and h1n1 in the same season. >> you can get it on the same day. but i wouldn't get both the live h1 and the live seasonal at the same time. otherwise, you can definitely put them both together. the same day, the next week, any time. >> amy shouted over a question. she has a cold. you're going to give her a shot in the commercial. >> absolutely. unless you're seriously ill with a high fever, you can get the vaccine. it's a dead vaccine. you won't get ill from it. people say i get the flu every time i get the vaccine. it's impossible. it's a dead vaccine. >> doctor, good to have you on. thanks very much. >> my pleasure. >> thanks for the shot. up next, amy's trip back in time to high school. as i get older, i'm making changes to support my metabolism.

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now to our series "back to school again." last week, lester took a trip back in time to his old junior high, jenna to her old college campus. my turn. i set the way back machine to high school. yes, that's me in high school. let's just get the embarrassment out of the way now. in my defense, big hair was cool back then. 18 years later, my first stop was a place that didn't exist when i was here. >> good morning. i'm danielle barker, your morning anchor. >> reporter: the school's tv studio. >> amy robach, 1991 graduate. we're excited to have you with us today. >> thank you. you said 1991. that's the year i graduated. what year were you born? >> 1992. >> reporter: that hurts. lester, i think i have some competition. in economics class-a familiar face, my old classmate, craig, now the teacher. he showed me a new tool called an instant response system.

he asks questions, students type the answer on a device called the aeg. you don't have to raise your hand anymore? >> you don't have to. >> we asked them to send us a message. new technology, same high school humor. students are fans. what about me? >> that means he's fresh, dope. i mean, if there was a person who was the freshest, it's the coach. >> reporter: is fresh good? >> fresh is good. >> reporter: new lingo, new learning tools, new classes. like bioengineering, where we were extracking dna and the kids showed me their blocks. do you write? cursive anymore or type everything? >> i'm not sure what cursive is. >> reporter: but there were things that were exactly the same, too, like the smell of the cafeteria. still smells like baked potato and bacon bits. students still use lockers and take notes. and my favorite subject, drama

and english, were a welcome walk down memory lane. how are you? mrs. collins is still teaching ap english and they're reading joseph conrad's "heart of darkness," just like i did. have the students changed? >> no. the students don't change. >> reporter: my aunt patty and uncle tim still run the theater department. this year's show, "thoroughly modern millie." mine were ""evita"" and "frankenstein." >> she was very draw mattic. i remember her saying she wanted to be on the soap opera. she had the best hair. it was huge. she talked too much. i remember having to tell her to be quiet. >> reporter: now i get to talk for a living, aunt patty. my last stop, student government. i brought a backpack filled with necessities from my high school days, and they made one for me. >> well, every cool person's got

to love the jonas brothers. >> reporter: if you wanted to smell good for school, you would show we are jeanate. while they couldn't imagine my precell phone, prefacebook existence here at brookwood, i could see where the students were the one constant. they were smart, funny, made sure i left with a sense of hope and the latest style. i mean, really? people actually walk around like this? really? >> yeah. >> we wanted you to be in style, too. i guess it gives you a little shade. more importantly, you just look cool. >> totally don't get it. totally don't get it. >> i'm sure they don't get my hair from the '80s. oh, i did not want the pictures. stop. >> four-year wonderful education and that's what you're remembered for. >> just one of those things.

my mom gave me those picture, too, by the way. i tried to hide them.

still to come on "today," the latest on the letterman extortion plot. will the late-night host suffer any long-term damage as his career seems to be peaking? we'll find out. and a 40-year-old gorilla getting a new look at the world today. her name is josephine. you've worked all your life. as the decades have past, the promise of medicare has always been there. and aarp has fought to guarantee none of the benefits you earned were ever taken away. today we're continuing that fight by protecting your freedom to choose the doctors and treatments you need. and to have your tax dollars go towards your care-- not insurance company subsidies. you've done your work. and we'll keep doing ours.

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>> authorities are trying to identify a body found in harford county. the victim was found in a drainage ditch off the exit ramp of route 17 in polsaki highway. the medical examiner is working to determine an exact cause of death. police are working to find the person responsible for placing a bomb on an m.t.a. bus. >> family and friends gather to remember quest logan. a celebration of his life will be held at the mount zion at 612 2nd street. the wake will be held from 9:30 to 10:30 this morning.

stay tuned.

>> good morning. take a look at our live h.d. doppler radar. still a couple sprinkles showing up over the eastern shore. from baltimore westward beginning to see some breaks in the clouds. some blue sky breaking through. some dense fog. parts of carroll county, parts of montgomery county. take a look quickly at the satellite picture. you can see more significant clouds are out over the ocean. clouds break right in harford county a little bit except for

the fog. a system moving off the eastern shore. as long as it is nearby, there is an outside chance we could see a shower or a few sprinkles. the trend is to get partly cloudy skies. the best chance ever rain is in the morning. 73 to 78 the high. southwest winds at five to 10 miles an hour. and the sunday more cast, 73 tomorrow, sunny skies. morning starts out around 50. monday 46 for the morning low. 70 for the high with plenty of sunshine. >> thank you, john. thank you so ever for joining us. another live update in 25 minutes. good morning. the plot thickens. new details this morning about the man accused of blackmailing

david letterman. why prosecutors call him desperate. the agony of defeat. chicago loses its chance to host the olympic games, while rio de janeiro celebrates a historic win. and monkey see, a gorilla who's been living in darkness for years gets a second chance at sight, and her world is looking brighter. today, saturday, october 3rd, 2009. good morning and welcome back, everyone to "today." i'm lester holt. >> i'm amy robach. coming up in this half hour, new developments in the extortion case. >> the man accused of trying to blackmail david letterman is out on bail this morning after pleading not guilty. but prosecutors called joe halderman desperate and capable of doing anything. we'll bring you details on that and what letterman's production company is saying now about one of the women at the center of the controversy. plus, the desperate search

for survivors in indonesia including one man who apparently sent a text message from underneath the collapsed rubbish of his hotel. thousands of others are still believed to be buried. we'll have more in a live report. bewe begin with disappointment for chicago. the windy city losing its bid to host the 2016 olympic games in spite of some high-profile help. >> rio de janeiro. >> reporter: after an impassioned pitch to host the first-ever south american olympic games, rio de janeiro's victory was far from a shock. but the early round loser was. >> the city of chicago, having obtained the least number of votes, will not participate in the next round. >> reporter: a collective gasp was heard on chicago's daly plaza as thousands who would who had assumed they'd be celebrating a victory instead learned chicago had come in last, behind rio, madrid, and tokyo. >> for it to be over that quickly, that stunningly fast, it's just -- it's heartbreaking.

>> i am surprised, and i'm very disappointed. >> going to bring a lot of work, a lot of construction and a lot of jobs. >> i just don't feel good about it. >> reporter: president obama, who risked political backlash at home to make a last-minute trip to copenhagen to pitch chicago, was in the air when he got word of the loss. >> one of the things that i think is most valuable about spoerts is that you can play a great game and still not win. >> reporter: chicago's celebrity-backed presentation of its vision of a lake-front olympics had been given high mashes. but some longtime olympic observers believe its rejection may not have been over merit but instead from bad blood between the u.s. and international olympic committees. >> chicago is really collateral damage. the fight here is between the international olympic committee and the united states olympic committee, and they are enmeshed in a very complex series of disputes over money.

>> reporter: those deeply familiar with rio de janeiro's proposal said it had more than public excitement and geography on its side. >> they're very passionate layout of their plan, rio carried the day with the emotional story which they told very, very well. >> as rio's beach party is just beginning, chicagoans are talking about the party that never was. here's amy. lester, thank you. now to the city that won the bid, rio de janeiro, and nbc's miguel almaguer, who was there as the party started, no doubt went late into the night. miguel, have you slept? >> reporter: amy, i tried to get a few hour last night. you're right, though. that party did certainly go all day and into the night. in fact, this morning, many people in rio are barely starting to wake up at this hour. said simply, this city did make history. >> the games of the xxxi olympiad are awarded to the city of rio de janeiro.

>> reporter: with that, rio erupts. is the sands at cocoa cabana beach shook with excitement. the frenzy of yellow and green brazilian flags along with bikinis. >> an opportunity to show the world what south america is to the world. >> reporter: in copenhagen, brazil soccer legend pele celebrated with hugs and cheers. and the country's president cried when he heard rio won. luis lula da silva made an impassioned case that the olympics should belong to all people and all continents. >> translator: our time has come. it's time. tonight, the olympic caldron is lit in a tropical country. >> reporter: to make its case, brazil reminded the ioc the olympics have been held 30 times in europe, knife asia, twice in australia, and 12 times in north america. brazil, with 200 million people, most who speak portuguese, is the powerhouse of south america.

its vibrant economy is expected to be the world's fifth largest by the time of the 2016 games. what rio also has going for it is its stunning backdrop, the promise of all sports held within the cities, sailing by sugarloaf mountain and beach volleyball on cocoa cabana. and rio promised to spends $14 billion on venues and infrastructure for the games and go green by planting 24 million trees to offset carbon dioxide emissions. still, as rio prepares for its close-up on the world stage, there are challenges ahead. known for its -- yes. rio has lost four of its previous bids and today, amy, the president here says not only this country but this city is ready to host the world. >> all right, miguel almaguer. thanks so much. we want a check of the rest of the morning's headlines. hello to trish regan at the news desk. good morning again, guys.

we begin in indonesia where the frantic search continues for possible survivors trapped since wednesday's earthquake. nbc's ian williams is live with more. good morning, ian. >> reporter: good morning, trish. well, frantic efforts here to reach any survivors buried under the rubble. the government, don't forget, saying that as many as 3,000 people may still be trapped, reports coming out just a short while ago of several villages buried under rubble, under a landslide outside this city. now, behind me you can see the hotel which has become a focus of much of the rescue activity. rescue workers here say they've heard the sounds of life there beneath the rubble. several people could still be alive, and they're looking to find a way to get to them. also from that rubble, a remarkable sms message was sent from a mobile phone, pleading for help and also warning the rescue workers to be cautious with heavy lifting equipment. that person is still there.

they're trying to reach them. rescue workers have been greatly encouraged by yesterday's rescue of two young women from a school near here which had collapsed. that really has given them fresh hope. today also we've seen the arrival of many international teams here, teams from 14 different countries coming with dogs, with sophisticated equipment, with generators, all joining this desperate search for survivors in the hope, the desperate hope, that some can still be found alive, trish. >> nbc's ian williams, thank you so much. a newborn baby kidnapped in tennessee has been found safe in alabama. now a week old, he was found last night in good condition. police have an arrested an alabama woman, 39-year-old tammy silas. the baby's mother told investigators that a woman posing as an immigration agent attacked her with a knife in her home and then snatched the infant. there are new developments in the bernie madoff case. the court-appointed trustee has

filed a lawsuit against madoff's brother, his two sons and his niece. the prosecutors are demanding the four family members return almost $200 billion that financed their lavish lifestyle. madoff is serving a 150-year prison sentence for his multibillion-dollar ponzi scheme. as the swine flu continues to spread around the country, almost half of all american adults say they will get the vaccine. the h1n1 shots are still days from becoming available. the survey by the harvard school of public health also found 75% of parents will get the shot for their children. and finally, the nba basketball season hasn't even started yet, but we are already sea seeing jaw-dropping baskets like this one. take a peek. chris paul made this incredible off the ceiling trick shot as part of the youtube competition. certainly some pretty impressive stuff, i guess, for this preseason. that's the news. now back to you.

>> is that skill or luck? >> i think skill. he was trying to do that. he's probably done it before. >> impressive. thanks, trish. nbc meteorologist bill

>> here in baltimore the sun is beginning to poke through the clouds. fog around frederick or so. a few sprinkles from the bay eastward. our forecast, generally decreasing clouds. who's the pre-k teachers? all of these are pre-k teachers. you're not with them but pre-k anyway so we threw them all together. back inside to amy. >> bill, thanks so much.

still to come, the extortion plot against david letterman. what we're learning about the suspect and what the scandal might mean for letterman. having to go in the middle of a ballgame and then not being able to go once i got there. and going at night. i thought i had a going problem. my doctor said i had a growing problem. it wasn't my bladder. my prostate was growing. i had an enlarging prostate that was causing my urinary symptoms. my doctor prescribed avodart. (announcer) over time, avodart actually shrinks the prostate and improves urinary symptoms so i can go more easily when i need to go and go less often. (announcer) avodart is for men only. women should not take or handle avodart due to risk of a specific birth defect. do not donate blood until 6 months after stopping avodart. tell your doctor if you have liver disease. rarely sexual side effects, swelling or tenderness of the breasts can occur. only your health care provider can tell if symptoms are from an enlarged prostate and not a more serious condition like prostate cancer. so have regular exams.

call your doctor today. avodart. help take care of your growing problem. now to the latest in the extortion plot against david letterman and what may have motivated the suspect in the case. peter alexander is following the story for us. peter, good morning. >> reporter: lester, good morning to you. there is new information this morning, and it may help explain the alleged $2 million extortion plot against david letterman by a veteran cbs news producer. "the new york times" is reporting that an executive from letterman's production company told them that stephanie burkett, one of letterman's assistants and a person who at one time had lived with the suspect, did have a past sexual relationship with letterman. this morning, 51-year-old robert joe halderman is free on bail. but today, new details are emerging about the bizarre tale of sex, crime, and money that

first unfolded when letterman stunned his late-night audience with a confession thursday. >> -- that i have had sex with women who work for me on this show. >> reporter: letterman told viewers he found a package and a letter last month in the back seat of his car. >> it says that, "i know that you do some terrible, terrible things." >> reporter: prosecutors say in that letter halderman demanded a large chunk of money, describing that letterman's world is going to collapse around him unless he paid up to keep his sexual relationships with women he worked with secret. >> new york will not tolerate the coercion or extortion of anyone, victim, rich or poor, famous or anonymous. >> reporter: last month, prosecutors say letterman's lawyer met privately with halderman three times at this manhattan hotel, twice wearing a wire to secretly record their conversations, before finally giving halderman a fake $2 million check that the suspect

tried to deposit thursday. halderman's lawyer says his client's innocent. >> there is another side to the story. it's not the open and shut case that you just heard about. >> reporter: connecticut voter registration records from 2008 show haflderman was living with stephanie burkett, one of letterman's longtime assistants. letterman did not name any of his co-workers when he addressed his relationships thursday. >> would it be embarrassing if it were made public? perhaps it would. perhaps it would. especially for the women. >> reporter: and while the audience laughed uncomfortably, some may not consider it to be a laughing matter. so, were these newly revealed relationships appropriate? letterman's production company, worldwide pants, issued a statement friday. letterman told his audience he wouldn't say much more about the topic. and friday night's show was pretaped. but for now the extortion case and the comedian sex scandal

have quieted the laughter. any relationship with burkett ended before letterman got married last march. also in court friday, prosecutors describe halderman as a man who was, quote, in debt and desperate and capable of doing anything. lester? >> thanks, peter. we're joined by susan filan as well as columnist for "the new york post," linda stacey. good morning. >> good morning. >> the attorney says this is not the open-and-shut case it appears to be, susan. is it? >> i think for an extortion case, certainly it is. you have damaging information to try to ruin someone's reputation, say give me the money and i won't. you arrange to give money. the money is actually exchanged. yeah, ohm and shut for extortion. >> is it not possible their attorney may say, look, he was trying to sell a screenplay, maybe there's a misunderstanding over the language?

>> it was in the back of letterman's car. he arranged for the $2 million to be delivered. it was exchanged. the defendant went to the bank to try to cash the phony check. where is the misunderstanding? don't see it. >> we'll have to see how that goes in trial. lin linda, this news didn't come out in a headline. it came from letterman himself. he tells the story on tv. he got ahead of it. good thing, bad thing? >> great thing. every sleepy politician should learn from this. you get ahead of the story. you don't chase your tail. and once you're ahead of the story -- and he did it like a monologue almost. people were laughing, and you know what, you're kidding, consenting adults have relationships at work? i can't believe it! >> the fact he's a comedian, he's not a politician. >> exactly. >> does that already give him a pretty deep reservoir of good will here? >> i think it gives him a deep reservoir of good will simply because he's been doing this since jesus was in swadling pampers. i mean, he's been on television

forever. there's never been a complaint. people have been fired that worked for him. people have quit. you've never heard anybody say i felt uncomfortable, i was harassed, whatever. >> but a comedian, going after sarah palin, everybody has an issue in their life that is stock and trade. >> but what was good is that he made it somewhat amusing so he was laughing at himself. but i think that if it was deeper, we would have heard this a long time ago from some disgruntled employee along the way and we never have. >> well, it was inevitable, jay leno weighs in on his show last night and in the opening monologue said if you came here tonight for sex with a talk show host, you've got the wrong studio. is this the beginning? he now becomes fotder for his competiti competition. >> sure. and that's good. as you said, he's a comedian. he's not representing himself as, you know, a religious, moral -- he's not a clergyman

who's preaching against this and not a politician who's anti-gay and is rubbing feet in a men's room. he's a comedian, and he can take it. comedians come up by being harassed in the audience. they know what it is. he's going to take it. it's not -- what he did is not so terrible. you've worked in a newsroom. >> well, let me -- you say it's not so terrible but i'm wondering, susan, does he open himself up potentially for lawsuits now? >> you bet. sass, hostile workplace. what about the co-worker that sat next to the woman who's allegedly having these consensual relations? >> even though he said there was no violation of company policy, that doesn't exonerate him. >> when it comes to bonus time and she knows her co-worker's having sex with him, is she thinking, who's going to get the bigger bonus, who's going to get the bigger assignment, favoritism at the workplace? she may now say i was never comfortable with this.

this was a hostile workplace. i was starting to think i may have to have a relationship with him to get the better job. we don't know what will come for letterman or cbs -- >> all on the table now. >> here's the difficulty, i think, for letterman. let's say halderman says i don't want to take any deal that's on the table. i want my day in court. i want a trial. this thing doesn't get shut down like in a civil case. cbs says, oh, we just don't want any more grief, we'll write a check and have a settlement agreement where nobody can talk. in a criminal case, if the defendant wants to stay in court, he wants a trial, this will go to trial. >> we'll talk about this another time as this case continues. we have to end right there. lin is a, susan, thanks very much. good to have you both on. thanks so much. >> you bet. >> we'll be right back.

still to come on "today," a gorilla great getes a brand-new

view of the world courtesy of some helpful humans. we'll meet josephine. we'll show you the best places all around the country for those beautiful fall colors. north carolina, , ...and i smoked for 29 years. the one thing about smoking - is it dominates your life, and it dominated mine. and the sad thing about it is that you can always use an excuse if cigarettes don't kill me, oh well - something else will. but, you can't use that as an excuse. i honestly loved smoking, and i honestly didn't think i would ever quit. it was very interesting that you could smoke on the first week. chantix gave me that extra help that i needed to get through a tough time. (announcer) chantix is a non-nicotine pill. in studies, 44% of chantix users were quit during weeks 9 to 12 of treatment, compared to 18% on sugar pill. it is proven to reduce the urge to smoke.

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>> good morning, everybody. i'm kate amara. it is 8:25. this is a look at some of the stories we're foming this morning for you. baltimore city police say they need your help to find the body -- person responsible for the murder of a boy in west baltimore. police say the teen had been shot in the head and was rushed to shock trauma in critical condition. >> at this point i don't have much to go on. when we got here, there were no witnesses other than a few people on the steps.

>> anyone with information is asked to call city police at 410-396-2100. >> authorities are trying to identify a body found in harford county. the victim was found in a drainage ditch just off the -- drainage ditch. the authorities say the victim is a man. >> police are looking for the suspects who left a soda bomb on an m.t.a. bus after 2:00 in the afternoon friday. the bus was on howard and fayet tesm street downtown. it exploded and released a strong odor. the bus had to be evacuated but no one was injured. >> family and friends were injured to remember quest logan the 17-year-old delaney high school student. his celebration will be held at 612 second street from 9:30 to 10:00 this morning.

funeral services will follow immediately after. >> a programming note, the secretary of health and mental hygiene will be our guest in our 9:00 hour. the secretary will be here to answer questions about the h1n1 flu virus and the seasonal flu. e-mail your questions to sundayquestions to wbaltv.com.

>> an approaching cool front is just west of the city now. breaks extend westward.

around frederick, parts of carroll county. ahead of the front, a few showers have cropped up for parts of p.g. county and anne arundel county. this front will meef east during the day today -- will move east during the day today. mostly east of town. by evening the front will start to move off shore and drier air will start to filter in. our forecast, the trend will be to become cloudy. morning showers in the afternoon, mostly east of us. spotty. 73 to 78 the highs. most of the day improving weather. >> thank you john. thank you for joining us. "11 news saturday morning" continues in 25 minutes. we'll see you then. we are back on this saturday

morning, october 3rd, 2009. and the folks on our plaza getting a real taste of fall this first weekend in october. i'm amy robach along with lester holt. still to come this half hour, speaking of fall, gorgeous fall color is just starting to show across much of the country. lots of leaf peerps out there. >> it's all about timing, knowing where to go and when to go. we'll talk about the best ways to see some brilliant reds and oranges and all those great colors. >> plus, we'll be doing a taste test. do you know about this? >> yes. >> frozen tv dinners. not what you used to remember. frozen foods have come a long way since the early days. this morning we're going to show you guys all the latest frozen food from omelets, pasta, even salmon. >> and he's chowing it down. i used to like the tv dinners and in the end you had this little -- >> the apple cobbler. >> that was the thing i loved. we've also got the story of a gorilla in a miami zoo that

has undergone a state-of-the-art surgery, at least for gorillas. it's a procedure a lot of humans get regularly but rare for gorillas. we'll introduce you to josephine and tell you why she need this operation and why she's seeing more clearly. meteorologist bill karins is on the plaza with us. good morning.

>> we have a mix of sun and clouds. more sun and clouds. almost totally overcast. few sprinkles and clouds in anne arundel and p.g. county. ahead of our forecast today, working on becoming cloudy.

well, it is fall, and of course that means football, "sunday night football," that is. we're talking steelers/chargers at heinz field. this is going to be a very good game. the steelers need this one. they're 1-2. remember, one of the best teams in the afc. san diego, they want that label. weather conditions should be just fine. should be really nice for fall football. speaking of fall, you get credit for the best sign today. the fall colors, leaves. thanks. let's go inside to lester. bill, thanks. now to a 42-year-old gorilla named josephine who's getting a new look at world today after nearly going blind from cataracts. nbc's mark potter has her story. >> reporter: for the past ten years, zoo keepers in miami have been worrying about josephine. the aging female gorilla was suffering from cataracts, which gradually became so severe she was nearly blind. the once social and active primate was now fearful and

withdrawn. >> she didn't move around as much as the other gorillas did as the cataracts, i think, got worse. she probably stayed a little bit closer to her home areas. >> reporter: in considering corrective surgery for josephine, zookeepers and volunteer surgeons were most concerned about her age. at 42, she is old for a gorilla. but concerns about whether she could survive anesthesia as her cataracts were removed were outweighed about the desire to vastly improve her quality of life. >> i think it will be a light switch difference. like waking up, putting the light on and the world is suddenly there again. >> reporter: so, in a darkened operating theater, dr. frank specter, who until now had only operated on human, went to work on a much different patient. >> no, i don't generally have patients that smell that bad. >> reporter: using a tool similar to a small jackhammer, he was able to pulverize the cataracts in each eye, remove the damaged lenses and replace

them with clear ones. >> went very well. no complications at all. the cataract came out as it should and the implants are in good position. >> reporter: for josephine, the progress know sisz is excellent. >> he'll wake up, feel a little bit groggy and wonder what she did last night and realize that she can see now. >> reporter: from darkness to light in a brand-new world. for "today," mark potter, nbc news, miami. ron magill joins us from the gorilla enclosure at the miami metro zoo where josephine is recovering from her surgery. ron, good morning. >> good morning, lester. >> she is still recovering. how is she doing? >> i tell you, she's suffering from the biggest hangover of her life right now. she's had the access to come out but she's had her eyes dilated. and because we can't tell a gorilla to put on sunglasses, she's staying in because the light is very sensitive to her. and a serious hangover from the anesthesia. >> is it too early to know if

she's seeing better and if she's react toing to that? >> it's probably true to know how much better she's seeing but she's seeing better. just to take that massive white cataract out and she opened her eyes this morning thinking she's probably in some kind of fantasy land, thinking whoa, what's going on, it's a whole new world. >> humans have this operation all the time, no big deal, but this is a pretty old gorilla and i know there was some general surgery risk. how bad was her situation in terms of how she was getting around and interacting with the other apes? >> well, she'd become quite introverted. you'd see her kind of always leaning up against a wall, kind of avoiding the animals. when animals came up to her, she'd become startled, doesn't see them clearly. she'd become quite reclusive and introverted and not a great quality of life. this should change that, hopefully. >> i understand you brought in a doctor that works on humans into this. why? >> exactly. the irony is that the gorilla

eye is almost identical to the human eye. the doctor was amazed himself. the cataract was a little more dense, but the eye itself is identical to the human eye. all these doctors, a veterinary ophthalmologist also helped him out, they all volunteered their services, they were almost amazed how identical to the human eye it was. they used the same type of lens implanted into her eye that they use on humans. >> i have to ask. i mean, this is a big gorilla, and i saw that picture of her laying there with the team around her. how difficult is it to sedate an animal this size and get her ready for surgery? >> well, that was the biggest challenge, lester. we were more concerned about the anesthesia than anything else. being 42 years old, gorillas in the wild, 35 to 40, rarely pass 50 in captivity. she's a senior citizen. that was our biggest challenge, the anesthesia. when she woke up from that, everybody -- a collective sigh of relief. she made it through the anesthesia, our biggest concern. >> we hope her days going

forward will be much brighter. ron magill, thanks for talking to us this morning. >> thank you, lester. take care. up next, if you want to see gorgeous fall color, you don't have to travel far from home. now yourard comes with a way to plan for what matters to you. introducing blueprint. blueprint is free and only for chase customers. it lets you choose what purchases you want to pay and those you split... interest...with full pay.

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...you can even add chocolate! so make any occasion special. ordering is easy, visit a location, call or go to edible arrangements.com this morning on "today's travel," the fall color. leaves are turning but there's plenty of time to see them before they pass their peak. here are some of the best places, mark, good morning. >> good morning, amy. how are you? >> look at that. beautiful fall leaves falling before the camera. is this a particularly good season to see the leaves? >> in many places it's the best, and other times it will be a little dampened down. but if you want to see leaves this autumn you're going to be able to get to some beautiful foliage. check weather.com.

they have weather maps about peak foliage. check the state and regional websites. travelandleisure.com. >> or the "today" show. >> you'll have lots of information at your fingertips. there's great foliage right now. >> when people think of fall foliage, they think of new england, and that's where everyone tends go-to go and the highways get crowded. you suggest maybe a less thought of area. new york state. >> it's crowded. yeah. new york state, like most of the northeast, is blessed with a lot of these broad-leaf deciduous trees. you'll get an explosion of color specifically, talking about the hudson river valley, just north of new york city, lots of quaint little towns, a lot known for antiquing, hudson up in the north, terrytown in the south. what i like and recommend, they have a lot of old railway rights of way where you can go biking and get into the back country and see those beautiful deciduous trees. >> not backing up the new york thruway for the next two months. the east coast, great

destinations. as far as the carolinas, north carolina. >> north carolina. yes. wherp chatting about this just before we went on air. the great smoky mountains. you know, you can go apple picking up there. you can take the blue ridge parkway. i love that. a lazy two-lane road around the spine of the mountain. the great smoky mountain railway, they'll take you into the colorful mountain valleys. it's a wonderful part of country to visit in the pall. >> in the midwest, door county, wisconsin. >> if you're not familiar with this area, imagine your left hand is wisconsin and your thumb is door county sticking out into lake michigan. it has more miles of shoreline, state parks, lighthouses, than any other county in the country. right now it's harvest time so there's harvest festival, there's roadside stands for fresh produce, farmer's markets. you can see this by car, by horse-drawn wagon, even by flight planes. a wonderful way to see the

beautiful part of wisconsin. >> to the west, the colorado rockies. where do you suggest? >> from denver, i-70 to vale and on to aspen. very easy to get there. one of the most beautiful parts of the rockies. head over to maroon belt, one of the most photogenic parts of the rockies. if you want to get out away from the crowd, rent a horse. there's dozens of stables out there. you go viding into the country. >> beautiful. and the northwest, most people associate washington state with evergreens, but you say there are a lot of opportunities. >> three-quarters are actually deciduous trees so you'll see the yellows, the ochres. go to the gorge, the cascades around leavenworth, and puget sound, by seattle, lots of great places in washington to see the leaves change color. >> gorgeous. mark orwell, thanks for being with us. >> my pleasure. up next, the latest taste in frozen meals. 

this morning on "today's taste test," frozen meals. days of tinfoil meals and rock hard salisbury steak, remember that? >> phil has the latest technologies and freshest taste in meals. good morning. >> good morning. >> you found the old one. banquet? >> exactly. i called up my friends at conagra and said do you have any old packaging? just remember, the foiled trays -- >> so, it's empty. wow. >> but really it's evolved terrifically. in fact, most of the technology is probably in the past two year so, we've gotten away from the foil trays and preservatives, high sodium, lots of fat. and actually now there's new

technologies like these steaming trays. i love this. i wish i owned the patent on this because when you cook something in a microwave, what happens is there's hotspots and the microwaves go to where there are sugar concentrations and fat, which is why sometimes a pukt product can be hot or cold. >> yeah. >> you don't have those that with these because on the bottom you have the sauce. it cooks together and you pour it in there. >> how does it taste? >> great. >> that's the bigger question. >> i love the healthy choice cafe steamers. i'm trying to get more people to head to the frozen food case these days because they can save money and there's lots of great innovation there. >> all right. >> also, brand-new from marie kallcalende calender's. their pasta al dente is terrific, same steaming tray. like bread, when you put it in the microwave, it gets hard and mushy, not with this. >> steaming tray. >> all white meat chicken. there's a whole line from marie

callendser's. this is indulgent, terrific. >> very, very good. >> egg white omelets from cedar lane. >> that's what you were eating. >> i was suspicious about an omelet in the microwave. really? >> try this. >> all right. i like omelets, too. pretty good. >> isn't that great? >> mm-hmm. >> again, ill's all because of the technology, the packaging and, again, getting rid of these a lot of these preservatives and additives. now, digiorno, for pizza, they have this us is accept or the. >> a what? >> it's foil. >> oh. >> but you see those little creases in there. on the back, this grid actually microwaves it so it comes out crispy. >> crispy? >> not soggy. >> this has been sitting out there, but if you look at the back of it, you know, it -- >> it is crispy. >> it's crunchy. that's very good. all right. cool. >> so far we're doing okay in the frozen food aisle. >> salmon in the microwave.

it smells up the whole entire -- >> i know. not this one. again, this is a steaming pouch, so the salmon and the sauce is right in there. it steams -- >> microwave it in there. >> exactly. and you might want to try some salmon. >> you're not a big seafood person. >> i'm not. you take that one. >> we'll watch lester eat. nice and juicy. >> it is. >> i can smell it. i will say that much. >> that's surprisingly good. >> isn't it? >> it really is. >> the contents were always a big concern for the parents, frozen foods tend to be higher in sodium. correct? >> they used to be. now what they're doing is a lot more spices, lot better formulations, lowering the fat. for example, if you look at the cafe steamers, only 3 1/2 grams of fat for that whole healthy choice meal. we also have pitter-patters for kids, for vegans, also ravioli that can steam in the bag without the sauce, or you can get wit the sauce and also obviously vegetables being steamed, as well. >> and the best news in this

studio, you can keep things frozen because -- >> exactly. >> like fingers. thanks very much. we'll be right back.

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a man's gotta eat. he just wants to eat better. campbell's chunky. and that does it for us on this saturday morning. our thanks to bill karins. >> tomorrow on "today," we'll talk about speed dating. how much can you really learn about somebody in three minutes or less? and a little boy who bagged a big alligator. that's coming up. we'll check you later. have a good weekend, everybody. >> oh, come on!

>> good morning. welcome to "11 news saturday morning." i'm sarah caldwell. >> and i'm kate amara. we'll update you on some of the stories we are following for you. police are looking for the suspect who left a soda bomb on howard and fayette-street bus friday. it released a strong odor of ammonia. no one was injured. >> detectives are searching for answers after the decomposing

body of a woman was discovered in a manhole. it was happened around 10:30 friday morning. a verizon technician found the body floating in six inches of water. it was in the 500 block of benninghouse road. an autopsy will determine how the victim died. >> authorities are trying to identify a body in harford county. the victim was found in a drainage ditch just off the exit ramp in aberdeen. authorities say the victim is an adult male. medical examiner is working out an exact cause of death. >> if you are wondering how your weekend will shape up, let's check on the forecast with john collins. >> good morning. if you have been outside, and you are in the city or any point west and you have been outside, you notice some breaks in the cloud. east aof town the clouds are still pretty dominant. here you see the satellite image. there is a cool front moving

eastward. just east of the front a few showers have moven out over the bay. any shower chances are moving east. the front will still be moving off the eastern shore at that time. again, as long as this thing is in the neighborhood. we do have a chance for a sprinkle or shower. on the eastern shore there may be a thunderbolt or two. high temperatures should make it into the 70's for highs, especially where the sun has a good chance of dominating the situation. western maryland only around 60 for the high today. >> thanks, john. up next, your 11 news saturday morning and answers to your questions. >> plus, a -- firefighters are putting on a thrill show. and a treat for all you fashionistas. the project runway winner is an annapolis native and is in maryland this weekend. >> and sports and weather t

>> hello, everyone. welcome to "11 news saturday morning." i'm sarah caldwell. >> and i'm kate amara. let's take a look outside with john collins. >> the sun is trying to breakthrough the clouds here. the further east you go, the clouds are a little thicker. the sun is doing a much better