good morning. it's the law. president obama signs the historic bill to overhaul health care as a new poll shows more americans now favor than oppose it. so what does that mean for republicans fighting for a repeal? we'll ask senators from both sides of the aisle. bond denied. amy bishop, the fired professor and mother of four accused in that shooting rampage at the university of alabama huntsville appears in court for the first time and her attorney says he plans to argue bishop is insane. and monkey business. a daring fugitive in florida

driving authorities bananas for over a year, he even has his own facebook page "today" wednesday, march 24th, 2010. captions paid for by nbc-universal television and welcome to "today" on this wednesday morning. i'm meredith vieira. now i know where matt went. he's in florida. ouch. >> and i'm ann curry in for matt. >> oh, gosh. welcome back. >> thank you so much. >> a lot of things happening since you were gone. >> no kidding. some major news. >> health care reform. president has signed health care reform and now the senate begins debating a package of fixes to the new law. republican senators have vowed to pull out all the stops to try to derail the process. we'll discuss that with the majority whip of the senate,

illinois's dick durban and republican senator jim demint who's already introduced legislation to repeal the new health care law all together. >> one person who could barely contain his excitement was vice president joe biden, in fact using some very colorful language while he congratulated president obama during the signing ceremony which was picked up by the open microphone. we'll have more on that and other slip-ups that weren't necessarily meant to be heard around the world. an important warning about baby slings. they're being recalled because they could potentially suffocate newborns. but there is a new law of the land when it comes to health care in the u.s. and what republican senators plan to do to block it. nbc's kelly o'donnell is on capitol hill with more. >> reporter: good morning, meredith. step one, more than a dozen republican senators have offered their own bill to repeal the bill that involved democrats' health care reform. now that is a tough thing to do. now republicans, motivated conservatives and democrats are

all trying to figure out the rules of engagement for this phase of the fight. usually when a bill is signed and moved into law, that quiets things down, but nothing has been typical here. even washington veterans wanted a keepsake from a ceremony that may define the obama years. and to victors go the pens. 22 of them. >> i've got to use every pen so it is going to take a long time. >> reporter: the president's signature made health care law and his opponents made their law. >> because those fighting changes are still out there. they'll be making a lot of noise. >> reporter: conservative voices are turning up the volume. >> health care, they control that. >> reporter: popular host glenn beck of fox news tells his audience that freedom has been lost and socialism has gained

ground. >> what happened this week? haven't we just been spanked? haven't most of the country -- doesn't most of the country feel like they've been spanked over health care? you bet. i do. you do. a lot of people do. >> reporter: some of that public anger boiled over last weekend with hateful words aimed at democratic lawmakers. >> and greetings to you, ladies and gentlemen. >> reporter: the provocative platform rush limbaugh commands can add fuel to the fire. >> we need to defeat these bastards. we need to wipe them out. we need to chase them out of town. >> reporter: political columnist and author john avlon. >> i think the extreme spiel empowered the center, the moderate majority of americans feel embattled. the extremes feel like they have powerful television shows and political parties who's got their back. >> in fairness to the president, what was he referring to -- >> reporter: republican john mccain says disagreements over issues like higher taxes, medicare cuts and bigger

government spending is one thing. but behavior is another. >> obviously all of us condemn it, but there is a lot of passion out there and there is a lot of anger because people feel that they are disconnected from the people they send to washington to represent them. >> reporter: and the republicans i talk to, meredith, say that is why they are offering amendments, proposed changes to the legislation that they believe reflect some of the concern that is out there among their base, their voters. and so that went late into the night last night. it will happen again today. and democrats say they feel very strong about their ability to knock down those attempts to change the bill because they think they have enough votes and enough wind at their back to hold firm. >> we'll see. kelly o'donnell, thank you very much. dick durbin of illinois is the senate majority whip and republican senator jim demint of south carolina introduced legislation tuesday to fully repeal the health care law. good morning to both of you. >> good morning. >> senator demint, if i could start with you, back in july you

said, "if we're able to stop obama on this," meaning this health care reform bill, "it would be his waterloo, it will break him." well, the bill is now law and a former speech writer for former president george w. bush says republicans messed up big by adopting the "hell, no" approach to this bill. do you still feel it is the president's waterloo or is it now your party's waterloo? >> well, i think we're going to find out in november. americans are very angry because this comes on the heels of the government taking over general motors and chrysler and our largest insurance company, our largest mortgage company. there is a lot of anger out there and i think this november election is going to be thdo we really want the government running all areas of our lives? >> you talk about the anger but according to the latest "usa today"/gallup poll, margin of 9%, say it is a good thing.

who's out of touch? >> with all the hype and propaganda that we would get above. but i think as people understand just as we're seeing this week, there is not money in this bill to pay doctors to seen our senior citizens and medicare. they're trying to pass a separate bill this week just to make those payments for one more month. so the feel fix of health care is not happened with this bill and that will begin to come out over the next year as we go into this election. i don't think the anger's going to go away. i think you're going to see it continue to build and i believe i owe it to my constituents and americans everywhere to commit to try to repeal this thing over the next year or two. >> senator durbin, when the house sent the reconciliation bill over to the senate, it was for the understanding it would be passed as is. as majority whip, can you tell us this morning, do you have the votes right now do that? >> we have the votes to pass reconciliation but the republicans are going to offer many amendments. we saw some of them last night. now this is a bill about budget deficit reduction and health care reform, and one of the

republican amendments wants a public referendum in the district of columbia on day marriage. another republican amendment wants us to go after the organization a.c.o.r.n. which just announced its bankruptcy. another amendment says no prescription viagra for rapists. i mean when you go through this long list you say, common sense tells you this is a political exercise for too many on the other side of the aisle. >> but how do democrats vote against those amendments without enraging their constituents back home who will be voting in november? >> we're going to tell our people back home that it is time to govern, it is time to lead and address important issues. the other underlying bill, for example, make sure health insurance will be more affordable for people who are working. it also provides for closing the doughnut hole which means for seniors on medicare, there will be help for paying for prescription drugs. let's get down to the real issues in this bill and help families and businesses and people across america with health care issues. >> senator demint, by sorting out these issues, don't republicans be seen as obstructionists or sore losers

here? >> well, senator durbin and the democrats are trying to distract from other issues here. this is another takeover bill. they're taking over the whole student loan program in asking our students through higher interest rates to help fund this health care bill. and it also takes more from social security. so they're talking about a few amendments and hoping that americans don't notice that this is another power grab, it's another tax increase, it's another attack on the entitlements that we owe our seniors from social security and medicare. so we're going to bring these issues up today and tomorrow as long as we can keep this debate going so americans can see what's being done here. that's one of the real frustrations that americans have is that so much of this has been done behind closed doors. people don't know what's in the bill. we're going to do everything we can to make sure people know what they're getting into and they know that we're committed to repeal it. >> yesterday senator mccain said -- or on monday, sorry, he said that he would not cooperate with the administration for the rest of the year because of what

happened with health care reform. do you agree with that sentiment, and in fact do most republicans agree with that? >> i think so. this breaks i think a lot of protocols in the senate. i mean we look like we're fighting a lot of times but there's a lot that's done in a bipartisan way. i think using all these procedures and kickbacks and everything have broken that and i'm glad to hear senator graham and others saying that they're not going to work with the president on his big agenda to continue to take over areas of our economy and our culture. >> so senator durbin, does this mean that this is the end of bipartisanship and are democrats willing to go it alone? >> for some on the other side of the aisle i'm afraid bipartisanship hadn't started with this president. senator demint said, the goal was to break the president. president obama's reached out to the republican side of the aisle as well as democrats and look at bill that senator demint just spoke about. he's talking about our attempts

to end an $8 billion-a-year subsidy to banks on the backs of students across america. we want to eliminate this government subsidy to banks because it adds to the cost of student loans. from senator demint's point of view that's a government takeover. >> we have to leave it at that, senator durbin. thank you so much. majority whip durbin and senator jim demint, thank you for your time this morning. this debate is far from over. how will the health care law impact your bottom line? six things you need to know in our next half-hour. now let's get a check of the rest of the morning's top stories, natalie morales is in for me at the news desk. good morning, everyone. today in washington high-level talks between the u.s. and pakistan. pakistan wants to be recognized as a nuclear weapons power. before today's meeting with pakistan's foreign minister, secretary of state hillary clinton was in mexico on tuesday. she promised help in curbing growing drug violence along the u.s.-mexican border. israel prime minister benjamin netanyahu met twice

tuesday with president obama amid disputes over israel's settlement plans in east jerusalem. there were no photo-ops or statements afterwards. uniform standards in school lunches are being proposed. in denver, forecasters say the area could get between one and two feet of snow. overseas markets are mostly high they are morning after the dow closed tuesday at an 18-month high. cnbc's trish regan is at the new york stock exchange for us this morning. what's the focus there today, trish? >> good morning, natalie. focus is housing. we did get some numbers this week that suggest housing is under pressure. new data coming out today but the latest numbers are really indicating that existing home sales have fallen for the last three months. now that's an issue because it suggests that inventories are building. if inventory levels are high, then of course buyers have much more to select from but they may be more reluctant to buy overall

in housing has a key part of this economy right now. >> trish regan at the new york stock exchange, thank you. in connecticut, two elderly sisters who haven't spoken to each other in five years faced off in court tuesday over a half a million dollar powerball jackpot. years ago they started buying lottery tickets together and agreed to split any winnings but they had a falling-out in 2004 over a fight over a few hundred dollars. the next year one of them bought a powerball ticket with their brother and won a $500,000 jackpot so now the other sister is suing her. with play resuming tomorrow in the upset-filled ncaa men's basketball tournament, an illinois teen with autism claims perfection in his bracket picks for the first two rounds. now oddsmakers put the chances of that at 1 in 13 million. by the way, you want to know the team he is picking is purdue to win it all. check those brackets to see if that's who you're going for. 7:13 right now.

back over to matt, ann and al. spea >> the weather is nice and quiet here at home on this wednesday morning. the temperatures in the 40's right now. we will push it into the mid 60's later on today.

>> that's your latest weather. ann? >> al, thanks. a popular way for mothers to carry around their newborns but this morning more than a million baby slings are being recalled less than two weeks after a warning was issued about the suffocation danger that these devices may pose to infants. nbc's tom costello is in washington, d.c. with more on this story. tom, good morning. >> reporter: ann, good morning. a lot of moms, a lot of parents think this is a great way to bond with a baby, wearing the sling. but experts say if the baby isn't positioned properly, they can also pose a risk. a baby can't cry, and it can -- in fact some babies have --

suffocated in the fabric. kathleen ross was a happy, smiling 12-week-old when she went with her mom to run errands. but when ann went to take her baby out of the sling she had been wearing, something was terribly wrong. >> there was mucus with blood in it. just coming out of her nose, out of her right nostril. >> reporter: kathleen had suffocated. 1 of 14 such deaths over the past 20 years. in cities across the country, baby slings are as common as pacifiers and play dates. amanda keeps her baby calvin in one. >> it's good for them. it comforts them. it's been shown to lower their blood pressure and calm them down and it's just nice to have them close. >> reporter: but after three children died just last year, the consumer product safety commission says certain slings made by the company infantino are not safe.

now infantino has issued a voluntary recall of a million slings in the u.s. >> the infantino sling creates a deep pouch and children in that pouch have potential of suffocating. >> reporter: in a statement to nbc news, the company says safety is our number one concern and today's announcement of a free replacement program reflects this commitment. with so many baby slings on the market, the cpsc is warning parents about improperly holding babies in any sling. the baby's face should never be covered. the baby should never be too low in the sling. the baby should never be hunched with its chin touching its chest. and the baby's face should never be pressed tight against whoever is wearing the sling. babies should always face up and use caution with babies under 4 months. back in washington state, ann is a busy mom with two new children. but five years later, she can't forget how baby kathleen died in

her arms. babies -- new babies are especially prone to be at risk here because their next muscles of course aren't strong enough to hold up their head. if you have one of these infantino slings, you're asked to cut the label off right here on the sling and mail it in for one of several replacements. and again, they're asking you be very careful with all slings and how your baby is positioned. ann, back to you. >> good information this morning, tom. thank you so much. 7:18. once again, here's meredith. now back to health care. just how big a deal was tuesday's signing ceremony? apparently vice president joe biden was a little too eager to share the answer with president obama. now he's landed in the cursing hall of fame. here's nbc's lee cowan. >> reporter: the thing about historic moments is there are microphones to capture it.

yesterday, on tuesday, the president got an earful. whoa. what? damage control was instant and brief. the white house press secretary simply tweeted, "yes, mr. vice president, you're right." but did the president's face seem to fall as he looked at those two microphones in front of him. no doubt fearing the vice president's "f" bomb had just exploded in ears all across the country. >> thank you. >> reporter: within hours, there were t-shirts being hocked with the vice president's profane phrase emblazoned in black and white. >> we actually had orders for this shirt within three minutes of the shirt being presented on the site. >> reporter: while many made mr. biden's gaffe into a laughable moment, to others though it was more of a teachable one. >> i'm really disappointed. >> reporter: this 17-year-old founder of the "no cussing club" at his high school in south pasadena, california says it cheapened the moment. >> him using that language is

telling kids across the world and adults that you can cuss whenever you want, cussing's fine. >> reporter: it probably was a pressure valve of some sort. in fact it was mark twain who once said that under certain circumstances, prove fafanity actually provides a release even compared to prayer. for some politicians, they seem to take it too literally. president george bush was caught creatively cursing. and a california assemblyman was taped bragging about his extramarital affairs. even ronald reagan, the great communicator, had some not-so-great communicating moments. >> i'm pleased to tell you today that i've signed legislation that will outlaw russia forever. we begin bombing in five minutes. >> reporter: in the end though, the vice president's boss didn't seem to be too mad. after all, the president himself has let a few rip, too.

>> he's a jackass. >> reporter: unfortunate words unfortunately close to a mike. for "today," lee cowan, nbc news, los angeles. >> i don't know. i couldn't handle the spanking one. >> i know! >> get away. >> i know. some are worse than others, no question about it. i think a lot of people identified with it anyway. moving on -- just ahead, the professor and mother of four accused of killing three colleagues at an alabama university makes her first court appearance. the latest on that. but first, this is "today" on

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we're down to nine miles per hour approaching that scene. at a volume on pulaski highway and philadelphia bid. what side, heavy delays there. this accident in the city has been cleared. 18 miles per hour on the west side outer loop. not too bad on i-assembly or 75 southbound. those delays are going to pop up shortly on owings mills. heavy delays in that region from 198 all the way down. 18 minutes on the outer loop northeast side. 11 on the inner loop to get over to 95 on the northeast side. 16-minute ride on the west side outer loop. another one on the east side on the inner loop through the construction zone and quarantine road. here is the big problem --

sought i-95, barely moving approaching white marsh past the beltway. >> at least the weather is not contributing to the traffic problems. nice and quiet on this wednesday morning. you saw the sunshine there on the traffic cameras. 43, randallstown, 45 at the airport, 45 degrees at a rock called on the eastern shore. mostly sunny skies, high to birders after the chilly start will make it into the mid-50's. clouds thickening up tomorrow to a good chance for rain thursday night during the day on friday. >> back in 25 minutes with 7

morning, march 24th, 2010. that's high atop the historic 30 rockefeller plaza. you head down 70 stories or so and have you another enthusiastic crowd. there they are. jammed into rockefeller plaza. i'm meredith vieira alongside ann curry who is filling in for matt this morning. just ahead, what the health care law means for you and your family. we'll tackle six important questions when it comes to your

coverage and cost with the help of dr. nancy snyderman and our financial editor jean chatzky. also, how much exercise should women need every day to fend off flab? according to a comprehensive new research that's just out, a lot. more on that in just a moment. also coming up, in the wake of the sex scandals involving celebrities like tiger woods and jesse james and south carolina governor mark sanford, when does it make sense to give the spouse a second chance? we'll get into that coming up. i don't even have a facebook page. >> get with the program, dear. >> there is an illusive monkey who's evaded capture in florida for more than a year. he has a facebook page and he's given authorities the slip once again. the latest on the search for that furry fugitive just ahead. last month's deadly shooting rampage at an alabama university, the fired professor charged in the case appeared for the first time on tuesday. nbc's michelle kosinski has the latest now. >> reporter: it wasn't long ago, harvard-trained neuro biologist

amy bishop was working on an invention that some said could shape the future of medical research. now, handcuffed, charged with three counts of capital murder. the mother of four spoke not a word. >> she didn't say anything the entire time that she was there, and it was almost as though she was searching the courtroom looking for a set of eyes that she could make contact with. there were moments where she was stoic looking, and then there were moments when she was wiping away tears. >> reporter: it is the first time bishop has been seen since that february day when during a faculty meeting at the university of alabama huntsville, police say the professor stood up, pulled out a gun, and started shooting those around her. three of her colleagues died. three more wounded. >> my thought was she is going to go out and shoot everyone. >> reporter: in court as the case against her now moves to a grand jury, an investigator recounted her odd statements just after her arrest. she said it was no way she was

there, no way it happened. "i wasn't there." she seemed calm. back then, her lawyer said this -- >> she's remorseful for what has happened, but she has no memory of it and i have to take her word on that. >> reporter: investigators say bishop was furious she had been denied tenure. but why would this highly educated scientist resort to violence? bishop has been described by her colleagues as both brilliant and volatile with several strange incidents in her past. starting in 1986, when bishop kill her younger brother with a shotgun. her family called it an accident and police then agreed. police today not so sure. they've opened up a new investigation. in 1993, bishop and her husband were questioned after an unexploded mail bomb turned up at the home of a harvard professor who had reportedly given her a poor review.

in 2002 bishop was charged with assaulting a woman who had taken the last child booster seat at an ihop restaurant in massachusetts. charges were later drop. >> these prior acts actually help her from the standpoint of legal insanity. if this becomes a capital case this can further help her because whether they have to show are mitigating versus aggravating factors. if they're going to show she was legally insane, all these prior outbursts can be mitigating factors that will help spare her life. >> reporter: a novel bishop was writing described a professor's struggle with tenure issues as the female character simultaneously tried to save mankind from biological attack. today there seem few heroic escapes available for the professor and mother accused of a vicious crime. for "today," michelle ckosinski nbc news, miami. >> dan abram is an nbc legal analyst. amy bishop as was denied bond,

it is now headed to a grand jury. her court-appointed attorney is claiming on an insanity defense. does he have a case? >> i think this is his only defense at this point. think about the evidence they have against her already. right? they've got numerous eyewitnesss. they've got the gun. they've got physical evidence in the form of her blood. so he's in a tough spot at this point to figure out what will his defense be. so it sounds like he's pursuing an insanity defense. in alabama, again, one of those states where you have to show that the defendant literally didn't understand right from wrong. meaning she didn't understand that what she did was wrong. very tough standard. so the defense always in a tough spot when you have to pursue the insanity defense. >> a tough standard especially when there is information that the husband has actually suggested that she was angry about not having gotten tenure. does that actually fit with the insanity defense? >> i don't think that helps. the husband's been publicly talking about the fact that he thinks that tenure made have led to this. i don't think that helps the

defense. why? because it suggests a level of rationality. it suggests a level of anger at what has happened. now the defense could say this is what triggered it, this is what set it off, but if prosecutors piece together a case, if this is an insanity defense, they'll say, look at the premeditation, look at the deliberation involved, look at what else was happening in her life, and they're going to say this isn't someone who didn't understand right from wrong. they're going to say this is someone who was angry and as a result, lashed out. >> meantime, under what circumstances could these prior incidents come into play? will they be -- the shooting of her 18-year-old brother, this outburst at a store. are those admissible? >> first of all, i think they're going to actually look into a possible murder charge now with regard to the 1986 case. so it may be beyond just admissible. there could be literally another case. no statute of limitation wlz it comes to murder. i think they'll reopen that case and look at that case again, but look, in the end, if she's

convicted and they're in a death penalty phase, say they do pursue the death penalty, there are factors that could end up helping her. they could look back at her past, her troubled past, et cetera. so i would expect these other incidents will certainly come in this some way, shape or form in this case. >> three people have been killed in the campus shooting alone. could she face the death penalty? yes or no. >> i think so. i think that it is likely that she'll face the death penalty. >> dan abrams, thank you so. now let's get a check of the weather from al. good morning, ann. speaking of ann, the oregon ducks, of course ann curry's alma mater. let's check your weather, see what's happening. first, denver, man it is a mess out there. in the rockies, some areas picking up a foot of snow. roads have been closed. the airport, denver airport, lot of cancellations. better conditions today. only two to four inches of snow, although south of denver we're talking about some heavy snow. look at these temperature

differences out in the rockies. anywhere from 10 to 15 degrees below normal. warmer here in the east and the pacific northwest. actual high temperatures, 60s and 70s in southern california. 80s in the southwest. 70s in the gulf coast and mid-atlantic states, warming up for all the spring breakers there. 30s and 40s in northern new england. the sunshine up and down the eastern seaboard. that's good news. rain finally moving out from ut >> it looks like the weather is going to be nice and quiet this wednesday. a few high, then clouds drifting around but generally sunny skies.

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here with three ways you and your family will be affected. each have three ways. jean, start with you. good morning. the bill is very big. beginning with the have-nots who will now have since. >> we've got coverage for 32 million people. and essentially these are the poor people in this country, those who earn less than about 133% of the poverty level will be put on medicaid, up to about 400% of the poverty level which is $88,000 a year for a family of four. they'll get some additional money and they'll buy from those exchange. >> those pools. >> yes, exactly. the next thing is we're going to have the vanishing medicare doughnut hole. i can't write! >> that's okay, it's hard. and you're trying to chew gum as well. that's for seniors worried about what's going to happen to their drug costs because they're on

medicare. >> that's exactly right. right now the way it works, you're covered for about $2,800 of your drug costs if you're on medicare. then there's the doughnut hole and you have to eat about $1,700 in costs before coverage kicks back in at $4,500. that's going to start to go away over the next couple of years. >> eventually will be eliminated. >> eventually will be almost gone, not quite eliminated. >> and finally young adults will be allowed to be on their parents' plan for a little longer. >> yes. until age 26 you'll be allowed to be on your parents plan, which is great, because the largest share of uninsured people in this country right now, between 19 and 29. makes a mother completely worried. this is really good. they will be eligible for the same sort of income help to buy their own insurance. >> the cut-off right now is 21? >> coverage varies state by state but it is as young as 18, 19. >> that's a good thing. jean, thank you. throw it over to ann and dr. nancy. >> now to the new health care

law's impact on your medical care. dr. nancy snyderman, good morning. let's first talk about pre-existing conditions. >> here they are. it is the pre-existing conditions, and this is something that even the insurance companies couldn't squawk too much about. this means you had breast cancer, you are cut off forever or you're a 12-year-old, you fracture your leg, they don't want to cover you for your leg anymore. for children, there's no denial anymore. okay? for adults, it will kick in this the year 2014. so a little while. but the pre-existing conditions, consider it -- is i think one of the hallmarks of this entire thi thing. now, prevention. this is where i get on my high horse a little bit. personal responsibility, folks. you can't expect any insurance plan, whether it is from the federal government or your insurance company to take care of you if you don't take care of yourself. expect a couple of things.

screening programs that we know work. mammograms at the right age. colonoscopy at the right age. that kind of prevention is going to kick in. if you decide on a friday afternoon, however, that you want a ct scan because you want to search and destroy every little thing in your body, expect that to be denied, as well it should. the big thing though, watch out for wellness programs. if you don't smoke and you take pretty good care of yourself, your employer may well give you a 30% to 50% decrease in your premiums. this is the big-ticket item. >> meantime, getting to the idea of being able to go to a doctor. >> what i consider primary doctors. a lot of people are saying there aren't going to be enough of them. in massachusetts, 44% of primary doctors say they aren't seeing new patients. this is the paradigm shift. get ready for more nurses, more nurses who will be able to see patients. >> but in the meantime is it going to be difficult to get an appointment? >> well, there might be. because what a lot of people subspecialize because it is a little more lucrative and,

frankly, it is really interesting for a lot of people. also get ready for your local pharmacy to have what i call doc in the boxes. we're going to see a paradigm shift for how we do preventative medicine in this country. why is that important? because we don't want americans being seen in stockyards like they have been, in coliseums like they have been. this is going to be important. a real call to people in this country, grow up. want to be a doctor or nurse and worry about preventative care. >> don't have a lot of time but i want to get to the new study that basically says women on the average age of about 54, 34,000 women studied, found that women need exercise basically an hour of day basically to maintain their weight? >> this is where i get to join vice president biden's club. "give me a break." >> you don't agree with the study? >> i get it. an hour of exercise a day. what more are women in this country supposed to do? i get it. the science may be there. a little realism, folks. aim for a half-hour. skip the elevators.

walk. do smart stuff. but all women need is one more dagger through their hearts right now because there is one more thing to do. i hate studies like this. i don't even care if it comes out of harvard. please give me a break. >> okay, dr. nancy snyderman we're going to take you off microphone. thank you very much. i get it. i think we get it. >> we get that we're supposed to exercise more. but please, stop with the studies. a half-hour is just fine. next -- i've got to move on. thank you so much. the fugitive monkey that meredith was talking about, he has a facebook page driving authorities bananas in florida. right after this.

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childhood is calling. back at 7:50, almost. there is a hunt in florida for a wild fugitive this morning. but as you can see, the chase for this suspect is making a monkey out of authorities. nbc's kerry sanders is just outside of st. petersburg. hey, kerry, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, meredith. this guy behind me, he was captured. a baboon in the slammer, as it were. he apparently didn't get word on how to avoid incarceration. the expert on that, a nameless rogue monkey who is roaming this area and creating havoc. caught on camera. a monkey who's somewhat of a legend in these parts. it's believed he's the offspring of monkeys used in this old tarzan movie shot just north of

here. the hunt's been on since 2008 when the monkey first surfaced in this urban jungle. it's unknown if he was a pet that was released or if he was living in the wild. but it's likely he's been trained. one police officer reports seeing him look both directions before crossing the street. just days ago, rene thought she heard her dog bubba the bulldog outback. turned out it was that fugitive. so you're crazy. >> i'm crazy. >> did you go ape? >> very funny! i could say it was bananas. >> reporter: rene says she suspected some monkey business when they are basket of fruit began to disappear, piece by piece. >> i come out, basket's tipped over and there are no grapefruit in it. at this point i'm like, those have got to be some seriously large citrus rats. >> reporter: vernon yates, animal trapper, says he's tired of being made a monkey by the

monkey. he's tracked this troublemaker for too long, he says. once he tranquilized him with a single shot. the monkey threw -- how should we say -- feces at him, and then retreated to a high branch, took a nap and when he woke up he was back on the run. >> he's kind of made a monkey out of everybody that's tried to catch him. i mean, he's now trouble for three counties, almost four counties that i know of. >> reporter: in the last two years, this monkey on the lam has covered an immense territory, he's been sighted across 50 square miles. but getting from tampa to st. petersburg requires a trick. he either swam or walked the seven miles separating the two cities. or, he's getting help. one clue -- while he may not have a name, he does have a facebook page. the mystery monkey of tampa bay. he writes on his facebook page, "mystery monkey of tampa bay. enjoyed a refreshing swim and some delicious fruit yesterday.

sorry about the screen, rene. another day of freedom. gotta go." >> nice. >> reporter: and the last person to see him had this tip for searchers. >> fled. assailant fled in an easterly direction. >> reporter: so the biggest concern as i report this story is not what meredith and ann have learned and seen in this report, it's if there are any primates watching. because as you know, monkey see, monkey do. >> oh! kerry! >> we'll be right back after in your local news.

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and kills bad breath germs. listerine® whitening vibrant white™. >> live, local, latebreaking. this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore. >> good morning. i am stan stovall. time to get another check on the morning commute with sarah caldwell and traffic pulse 11. >> it has been a busy ride on i- 95. the accident past the beltway, that is gone. the delays are still there. they said all the way back to mountain road down past beltway. 25 miles per hour.

on the outer loop north east side from belair towards dulaney valley, you will find delays. 13 miles per hour on the outer loop, stretching from reisterstown road down to edmondson. new accident for motorists get down to d.c. we had one on southbound to 95 in the area approaching the capital beltway. you can see heavy delays there. they are developing on southbound 95. 22 minutes on the outer loop with east side. it will take a 19 on the outer loop west side. 14 on the inner loop from 795 towards the 83's. east side of quarantine road pretty congested. those are in the loop delays in receiving from hawkins point towards the curtis creek drawbridge. and this is just a mess. plan to leave early this morning. southbound 95 barely moving towards the beltway due to an earlier accident. >> at least the weather is nice

and quiet. we had a little sunshine out there this morning. temperatures in the 40's. 45 in catonsville. 51 at the maryland science center. high temperatures around 65 degrees this afternoon. >> thanks for joining us. back in 25 with another live update.

8:00 now on this wednesday morning, the 24th of march, 2010. welcome to our rolling spring break crowd. nice to see all of you. i'm meredith vieira, along with ann curry making her way over here, she's filling in for matt today. along with al roker. coming up, a mysterious question -- would you give your spouse a second chance if he or

she cheated on you? that's a question being asked by a lot of people. >> it's really in the news right now. talking about the tiger woods case and also rumors of infidelity by sandra bullock's husband. we'll talk to a noted relationship therapist about this question and maybe it might help people watching at home. >> these folks got very quiet all of a sudden. >> ooh! you ben stiller has a more serious role on the big screen. we'll talk to mr. stiller in a moment. there he is. before we get to all that -- >> question for you -- do you keep your tomatoes in the fridge or on the counter? >> fridge. >> fridge. but i wondered about that. >> how long do you keep your potatoes in and where do you keep them? >> i keep them in the sink. >> well, mark bicman has answers

to those questions and so many more. yes, it's safe, mark. mark will be along to answer all of these questions and so many more. >> so many more. all right, before we get to that and all the rest, natalie morales is in for ann. good morning to you. one day after signing historic health care legislation, president obama today signs an executive order re-affirming existing prestrixs ining restrl abortion funding. meanwhile, republican senators are trying to amend the package of changes to the health care law so it has to go back to the house for another vote. a comprehensive new study nearly triples the current federal exercise guidelines for women who want to avoid weight gain as they grow older. researchers found that women on a normal diet need a full hour of moderate exercise such as

walking each day. the study in the journal of the american medical association looked at 34,000 american women who were at least 45 years old. see sethe c-section rated r% in the decade ending in 2007 with about 1 in 3 babies born that way. the highest c-section rates were for pre-term babies and older mothers. a light rail crash that split a truck in two has investigators back on the scene today near baltimore. police say the truck driver may have disobeyed a signal when he turned into the path of the train on tuesday. it took rescuers a half-hour to free the injured train operator. the truck driver was not hurt. here's what the operator of an amtrak train saw just moments before colliding with a fire truck earlier this month in detroit. investigators released the tape showing the fire truck had stopped on the tracks while helping with an earlier traffic accident. a police cruiser backed out of the way just in time.

fortunately, there were no serious injuries. now here's brian williams with a look at what's coming up tonight on "nbc nightly news." brian. >> coming up tonight on "nightly news," we'll look at turning around the unemployment rate. what will it really take to create jobs that the politicians say get folks back to work? some of the challenges and solutions out there. all of it tonight on "nightly news." natalie, for now, back to you. >> thank you, brian. 8:04 right now. let's go back outside to meredith and ann. >> some university of oregon ducks. >> this is interesting. you missed ben stiller? where was he that you missed him? >> the david letterman show. >> you see? you get to see him here. look at that. all right. look at how thrilled ben is. he's excited! he's thrilled! all right, let's check your weather, see what's going on. pick store today, astoria,

oregon. news channel 8. partly sunny, mild, temperatures in the low 60s. they have another storm system coming in but not too bad. look at the gulf coast. things look pretty good there, nice and mild, sunny skies. that big storm system coming out of the rockies. ahead of it a risk of strong storms, and sunshine along the gulf coast. got nice folks here from armani. >> it's worldwide water week and we're supporting the unicef cap project. basically every bottle that you buy we're donating $1. >> they can get more information right here. all righ >> looks like it is going to be a beautiful wednesday. mostly sunny skies. we will make it into the mid 60's.

>> got the birthday girl right here. let's go to meredith for the block. >> he just said "hi, ann." he loves all the ladies, i guess. al, thank you. up next, should cheating spouses ever deserve a second chance? what our experts have to say right after this. [ rewinding ] at hellmann's, we search for the best sources to make our mayonnaise. we use eggs, vinegar and oil rich in omega 3. ♪ for the quality that could only be hellmann's. hellmann's.

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on "today's relationships." second chances. both tiger woods and sandra bullock's husband jesse james have issued very public apologies to their wives, but when is an apology enough? nbc's peter alexander has more now. >> good morning, ann. these latest apologies seem all too familiar but of course they aren't unique to celebrities and politicians. a recent survey reports 10% of spouses admit to cheating at some point during their marriage. the question this morning is why do some spouses accept an apology while others decide to walk away? it's the latest celebrity scandal. allegations of infidelity and deceit.

america's beloved girl next door, sandra bullock, fresh off her oscar win. instead of celebrating, reportedly in seclusion and canceling appearances to promote her movie overseas. all this following reports that her husband of 4 1/2 years, jesse james, carried on an 11-month relationship with the colorful model michelle mcgee while bullock was filming "the blind side." >> because her career's on the up and up like it is, everybody felt so much worse on her behalf when this news broke. if it had broken six months from now, sure, people would be upset but it wouldn't have the same effect. >> reporter: this is a nation of second chances. even tiger woods, after the parade of alleged mistresses, and scandalous text messages, says he and his wife elin are trying to repair their marriage. >> how do you reconcile your behavior with your view of marriage? >> that's living a life on the mends. that's us working at it each and

every day. >> reporter: it wouldn't be the first time cheating has no boundaries, from the hardwood. >> i'm so sorry. >> reporter: -- to the highest corridors of power. >> indeed i did have a relationship with miss lewinsky that was not appropriate. in fact, it was wrong. >> reporter: some relationships survive. >> i apologize first, and most importantly, to my family. >> i've been unfaithful to my wife. >> reporter: others don't. dealing with deceit means surviving the painful emotions that come with it, like anger and sadness. but navigating what comes next can be just as difficult. >> it's not like there is a map that somebody can say, here, use this map and at the end of the road you'll be okay. it's an ongoing process where the couple needs to rediscover one another and decide what kind of marriage do they want to have? and work towards that goal. >> reporter: now there is new information this morning that tiger woods scandal -- a 16th woman has now come forward claiming she has phone and text messages that are evidence of her relationship, she claims,

with the golfer. now there is some other reports that are saying tiger's wife elin is going to skip her husband's return to golf that's scheduled for the masters next month. ann? >> peter alexander, thanks. let's bring in relationship therapist r.g. allen, also the director of clinical training at the couple and family therapy departmented a drexler university, and jeannine pirro. this kind of phenomenon faces a lot of families across america. do you think that this kind of problem, infidelity, is survival? can a marriage survive? >> yeah, of course it can survive. any marriage can survive but restoration and recovery takes a long time and it requires repair, hard work, a willingness to really do the work that's necessary. >> you're finding more and more couples are now interested in doing this. >> they are. but the bottom line is, elizabeth edwards said it best. she did not want the affair to be the sum and total of the

whole entire relationship and that's not how she wanted to go out. people are investing in a different way because they have so much investment on the front end, they don't want to give it up on the back end. >> judge, you were saying of course adultery is a reason for a divorce. >> by the way, you need a strong amount of evidence? >> no. the truth is that adultery has always been the deal breaker. it is the reason that most states grant an automatic divorce and it is almost as though the law says there's zero tolerance. but the truth is, there are couples willing to work through it. what's scary about today is that women now know when their husbands are having affairs. you've got text messages, e-mails, then you've got these women out there saying "i slept with him," "i slept with him," "i slept with him," so there is a lot more knowledge out there before. but most states don't require adultery. they mostly say if you want a

divorce, say inreconcilable differences or undurable insanity. i like that one. but there are some states that say we'll make you wait six months or a year, then some of the women get over the anger. >> it is interesting to note 1 in 3 people say they would forgive a spouse. the question is when do you stay and when do you go. >> i think it is a case by case basis. i think that people don't really know what they will do until they're faced with it. and so the conversation that they have with themselves in terms of whether or not they're willing, whether or not they're anl and whether or not their spouse, quite frankly, is willing to do the necessary work to finally rebuild the trust in the relationship which i got to tell you takes a really, really long time. >> can you really stay though if your husband is in love with someone else? >> you see, that's really the end of it. if the guy's had an affair and he says, look, i'm sorry, it's over and you believe it's over, then you have something to work with. but he's got to be ready to deal

with your anger, with your frustration. sandra bullock has been h humiliated. look at this thing he was having an affair with. i mean in the end of the day she knows that everyone knows that he was sleeping with this woman. and you take someone like tiger woods, the women are coming out saying "he likes sex like this," "he likes sex like that." how does a wife live with that as opposed to just saying he had an affair. >> humiliation is one factor. so what helps a woman overcome that factor? >> the women have to deal with themselves in terms of forgiveness. i don't know any couple, any woman that can get past this and grow through it without doing the necessary forgiveness work. i got to tell you, it takes a long time for the emotions to catch up with the words. you can say, i forgive you, but it doesn't happen overnight. >> is it fair that the woman who baen humiliated, who's gone through all this has to do the work? >> no, the couple has to do the work but the woman has to do the

individual work because the bottom line is they'll try to make the person pay for the rest of their lives if they stay. and that isn't a marriage. >> i wonder if some of the men can really appreciate the harm that's occurred. for men it may be just a sexual act, they say they're wired differently. but i don't know that they realize the devastation, the insecurity that a woman feels when her husband has cheated on her, maybe with a younger woman, maybe with the kind of woman that she would never be. she's always wondering is he looking at her? it's tough. >> but you're saying that it is possible. >> it absolute sli possible. >> takes a long time. >> just takes a long time, a lot of hard work. >> don't give up. thank you both so much this morning with some good advice. next, we'll catch up with the fantastically talented ben stiller who's out with a new movie. first these messages. articles. worksheets. tips. strategies. they got tools. tools? [ male announcer ] one website to help you... save a little money. make a plan. stay on budget. put some money in the bank. this will help me... get your act together.

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ben, nice to see you. >> what a nice family-friendly clip. >> before i talk about "greenberg" and your character, what about this monkey in florida? you have your theory about the monkey. >> i have two theories. one, he might have found out his mate was sexting with an orangutan. or maybe he's just upset about the health care vote because it is a polarizing issue. >> he's been doing this for some time prior to the health care vote. >> is he still throwing feces? >> i don't know. i haven't got than close to him. but he does have a facebook page, as to you. but first, roger greenberg, normally i like your characters, they're funny. this guy is hard to get to like at least. he has issues. right? >> yeah. i think he's a guy who sort of criticized everybody else. he seize what's wrong with the world but it is hard tofor him see what's wrong with himself.

20 years ago he was in a band. the band had a chance to sign a record deal and he was sort of idealistic and got everybody in the band not to do it. 20 years later he's sort of found himself with not that much options with life and not a lot of friends and he's trying to -- i guess he's sort of coming to terms with where he is at in his life. and then he meets this young girl who's -- works for his brother. he comes out to the house to visit his brother in los angeles and it is a unlikely romance between of two. >> he's in his 40s. you're in your 40s. >> i am, yes. >> he's a new yorker who goes to l.a., you're a new yorker who goes to l.a. you get a sense of where i'm going here. any of that "been there, done that" in that character? >> sure. yeah, i identify a lot with him. first of all, los angeles is an interesting place because it can be lonely and it's quiet and you're sort of faced with yourself a lot of the time. which i don't think is a bad thing. i think when you get into your 40s you kind of have to look at

your life and sort of like it or not, you see, well, i'm in a place where maybe there's less ahead than behind me and where am i, what do i want to be doing. for greenberg, he's a guy who has sort of been in denial a little bit. i think what's beautiful about the movie that noah found an empathy for these characters, noah bombeck, the writer/director. but he sees the good in people and their struggle just to get through life one day at a time. >> you talk about looking ahead in your life instead of saying there is less ahead than behind, have you reached that point in your life? have you come up with a bucket list of things to do? >> i think when i turned 40, which is already a few years ago, i had a moment of looking at what i had in my life, being grateful and also thinking about what i want to do and where i want to go, just trying to be more present in the moment i think. because i think as you get older, life starts to go by a lot quicker.

>> i didn't realize, are you a tweeter or -- >> a tweet man. i like that. i'm a tweet man. i started tweeting a little bit. it is just an interesting thing. >> you don't seem to me like you'd be a tweet man. >> you know what's cool about it? you can reach a lot of people. there's something that you're interested in or if somebody has a message about something you want to get out to other people, can you retweet it. during what's been going on in haiti, it was good to be able to retweet messages from people on the ground in haiti as things were happening there. we've been working with a group called artists for peace and justice to try to build temporary schools down in haiti which is what we're working on now. >> that was prior to the earthquake. you got involved in haiti before this earthquake. >> yeah, i went down there last july with save the children and we started raising money for a school. when this happened we got involved in this. we just did a tweet event called night of a 140 tweets where people got up and read their favorite tweet live and then we were selling it on itunes and

amazon mobile. ashton kutcher, saggett showed up. look, stamos. >> we wish you the best of luck with that. tweet about thi >> live, local, latebreaking. this is wbal-tv 11 news in baltimore. >> good morning. i am mindy basara it time for a final check of the morning commute with sarah caldwell. >> dealing with delays and several incidents. the latest on the outer loop topside approaching harford road. that is causing additional delays. a lot of this is due to an earlier accident.

it appears that we have another problem in that area. 28 miles per hour on the inner loop toward liberty. you will find slow spots on coldspring lane. eastbound 50 just past davidsonville road, accident reports there. 27 minutes is your drive time on the outer loop north side. 18 on the outer loop west side. we will see what is going on on putty hill ave. this delay from belair road towards dulaney valley and the outer loop. we will switch to a live view of 95 and white marsh. maybe a fender bender on the left shoulder. tony has to check the forecast. >> the weather is nice and quiet on this wednesday. temperatures in the upper 40's and 50's right now. we will wind up in the 60's. 41 in parkton.

the forecast for today is mostly sunny skies. high temperatures this afternoon in the mid-60's. average high of 67. clouds will thicken up tomorrow and a good chance for rain on thursday night and during the day on friday. high temperatures will fall back into the fifties by the beginning of the weekend. >> another update at 8:55.

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we do lots of community service projects to help those in need. that's extraordinary. >> even though our soccer field is new, we have some of the best soccer players in the world.

wednesday, march 24th, 2010. that was from san miguel school in tulsa, oklahoma. entering our wizarding school of harry potter at universal orlando resort. head to todayshow.com for details on that. >> we're going to be go down there. >> we are. we are. just ahead, if you watch the show "parenthood," you know the child has asberger's syndrome. >> we have curt schilling and his wife's child was diagnosed at the age of 7. they are here this morning to share their experience. they wrote a very honest, beautiful book actually i think that will inspire a lot of families. >> that's terrific. coming up a little bit later on a different note, you can

look in refrigerator, half the vegetables have gone bad. our good friend, mr. mark bittman, will actually help us keep those vegetables from going bad and how to keep them fresh and tasty. >> save us money. and then also, we're going to have a little bit more on that study that you all talked about with dr. nancy snyderman earlier that is now recommending that women in order to maintain their weight are going to have to start doing an hour of moderate exercise every day. >> that's crazy! >> seven days a week. >> they are saying that for women of a certain age. >> beyond the age of 45. >> bring the men into it. why do women have to do that? >> don't be a baby. come on. >> the thin man, al roker.

doesn't have to worry about that. let's check your weather, see what's going on. we are looking at some snow showers in northern new england, rain late in the day in the pacific northwest. strong storms possible from texas on into oklahoma. sunny skies in the great lakes. then for tomorrow, mild weather in the southeast. that severe area moves into the lower mississippi river valley. more rain and snow in the pacific northwest. warm in the southwest. mild through texas. mild in the >> it looks like the weather is going to be nice and quiet this wednesday. a few high, then clouds drifting around but generally sunny skies.

>> and that's your latest weather. now let's head on down to ft. meyers, florida and say hello to mr. willie scott. >> i wish you were here. it's beautiful and sunny and nice. did somebody tell me denver's 27 degrees below zero? >> no, mott 27 w, not 27 below in the 20s and they're getting two to four more inches of snow. >> they can handle that, they're tough out there. happy birthday from smucker's. that woulde a good morning out in denver, lots of biscuits and some smucker's. robert banks, warren, ohio. that's our favorite state for smucker's. 100 years old. loves baseball. he played as a pitcher in one of the first african-american little league teams in the '20s. god bless you, sir. jenny hughes, new castle,

pennsylvania. 100 years old. started taking tai chi classes at 98. all over china you see them in the morning. that's older people. really fabulous exercise. proud member of her church for 94 years. pressley walker. 100 years old from st. augustine, florida. never smoked and having a happy life with his beautiful wife. been married 70 years. lorna haase, vernon, vermont. 100 years old. leader of the aerobics class at the senior center. the secret to longevity is taking a little bite of chocolate every day. god bless you for that. ann schorr from los angeles, california. 100 years old. retired bookkeeper. enjoys playing bridge with her friends and will never, ever turn down a french fry or some

popcorn. we can get together, too. get this one gertrude zane, warrick, new york. 100 years old. lives independently. came to the u.s. from poland by herself when she was 8 years old. l loves shopping with family and friends. now that took some courage. that's all. back to the queen of new york city, meredith. >> willard, thank you very much. up next, former red sox pitcher curt schilling and his wife raise a it's definitely expensive having a growing family and it's something that you think about. we try to be conscious of that and plan out our meals so that we can feed everyone on a budget. at giant, we know saving money is important. every time you shop with your card, you can enjoy thousands of real deal savings and weekly specials, like top round london broil, $1.99 a pound, and healthy choice entrees, 5 for $10. this week only.

it makes me feel good because we're saving money, and that works for me. only with your giant card.

back now at 8:38. 2007 should have been a banner year for curt shilling and his wife. he was pitching for the boston

red sox. she stayed home with their four beautiful children but that same year their son, grant, was diagnosed with asperger's syndrome, a form of autism. a new book called ""the best kid of different our family's journey with asperger's syndrome." shonda and curt, good morning to you both. let's start by finding out how you knew with grant. >> i think i knew because there is a point when your kids do stuff that's cute when they're babies, and then they outgrow it and it starts to not be cute anymore. that was starting to happen with me with grant when he was 5 years old. then i had a son who's younger and i just noticed that the younger son was more responsive to my parenting and he wasn't and it just became almost like a discipline problem. >> curt, you write that you were often, before this, insanely upset that a kid could be standing in front of me looking in my general direction, hearing

a specific set of orders, turn around, not act on a single one of those orders. it was maddening, stupifying and at the very least totally confusing. it affected your relationship with him. >> it still does. grant and i are still at a an early stage from a relation standpoint because i've been gone. all of those formative years, especially for a child of asperger's who is hypersensitive, i was out of the house for years. one thing kids with asperger's love is routine, repetition, consistency and i screwed that all up by retiring and coming home. >> i'm sure he's grateful and your wife is grateful for that. but listening to the two of you, you suddenly feeling how much this must hurt to know that you didn't know for all of those years. that you were yelling at him to do stuff and not realizing what he had. >> and for grant, and because they don't read social cues, the madder i got and louder -- which is a natural parental thing to

do, was making him actually shut down. for him he would nervously giggle nap would unfewerate me even more. to think that i ever yelled or screamed at him and lost my patience with him -- we say it all the time -- for something that his brain was telling him was perfectly normal is very hard to think about and deal with. >> are you angry it took so long for him to be diagnosed? is it that difficult to diagnose the syndrome? >> i don't think in hindsight it is difficult at all. it is one of those things when someone says it, all those pieces fall into place. when she told me and we started to get educated on it, my first thought was back to when i was young and growing up, all the kids that i went to school with, their actions all made sense to me now. i grew up with people that had asperger's. it just didn't have a name then. i think a lot of people in our lives are like that. >> what's the key symptom? >> it is like anything. if you've met one asperger child, you've only met one. some kids can look you in the face. some kids don't read social cues. he stands too close to you.

he's very sensitive to touch and feel and sounds. >> so now that you know, now that you know, and before i even get to that, i should probably interrupt myself. you were at this time going through a lot of difficulties. you were angry at curt for not being close enough to grant. there is a lot going on in your lives. how has now knowing transformed your family? >> i think it's taken a lot of work, but really look inside ourselves and realize that we aren't the kind of people that we wanted to be and we changed and we started with our relationship, because the best medicine in any family if you are either a single parent or if you're a couple is you have to take care of yourself. we had to learn to communicate. when we learned to communicate, the pieces started to fall into place and the parenting become one and the techniques and things that helped us all worked together after that. >> it is a sign of a good marriage when the worst happens

or feels like it is the worst -- you describe hearing this diagnosis being one of the worst days of your life, you can find some path back to each other. >> i can only speak for myself, it's because of how much i love her and how much i love our family and how much i love the fact that what i have is far more than i ever dreamed i could have from a family perspective. >> why is it the best kind of different? >> well, the purpose of the book really is just to give a face and a name to asperger's. but these people -- people and adults with asperger's -- you're probably trying to go somewhere. >> it is like opening a jack in the box every day. you just never know what's going to pop out. but with grant, it's a pure core that is just gold. he's -- his emotional awareness, his emotional abilities are far beyond his years. that goes to love and to anger and when you see that every day -- you've seen some of the

videos -- he is so emotionally aware and mature for a 10-year-old that it's a gift. it's not a gift you want every day, but it's a gift you're going to get every day. at the end of the day he's so in love with life and people. >> and he gets to live it the way he wants to live it. he doesn't live it with any filters. if he wants to sit and play with sharks, he can play with sharks. he's much happier i think than we are. but writing the book is also -- the feeling i had, of feeling alone, it's for any family that's going through a crisis, that it is okay to grieve, it is okay to feel sad, it is okay to feel alone but also to reach out and also give kids and adults with asperger's a voice and to be heard and understood because that's really what they deserve. >> you've gone from being in that terrible tunnel to now being on the other side. >> i'm happier than i've ever been in life, happier with myself, happier with my family. >> hey, i'm married to her. if she's happy, i'm happy! >> well, congratulations for all

that you're doing and sending out a message. i think this book is going to give a lot of families hope and encouragement and also a way to celebrate their children who are very special. thank you. the book is called "the best kind of different." we're back in just a moment. this is "today" on nbc.

this morning on "how to cook everything today," how to make your food last longer. a lot of things you buy end up being wasted. well no more. mark bittman over here, "new york times" columnist and author of "how to cook everything," has solutions for keeping food fresher longer. hi, mark. okay, so we bring home all this stuff from the store and we stick it in the fridge and inevitably a lot of it goes bad. >> first of all, the thing to do, you buy it fresh, why not

eat it fresh? that's number one. that's not always the practicality. the first thing is, how to store things and also how to think about this. lettuce, the best way to store lettuce is in a salad spinner. tear it up, wash it. spin it dry. this is a very cute salad spinner because the top locks down. this can be stored with a little water in the bottom in the fridge. then it is ready. >> so you wash it? i always thought you would not wash it. >> if you get things ready you're more likely to eat them. but if you don't have time to do that, because everybody is at home saying "i don't have time." >> or you don't have a salad spinner. whatever. >> right. lettuce keeps well wrapped twice. keep it in your bag leehere. first in, first out. >> why did you buy that if you have all that? >> if you forgot you had it. or as happens in my house, your wife buys some and you buy some.

>> sorry. if you got that lettuce, let's move over to other veggies here. tomatoes. we were talking about that before. should you leave them in that container? >> this container is fine. it has air. there's no reason to watch them when you bring them home. i don't refrigerate tomatoes. they don't get better. they only get worse. >> they get worse in the fridge? >> well, they don't improve in the fridge. they don't spoil that fast on the counter and you want to eat them at room temperature anyway. >> but those you do not wash the way you did the lettuce. >> no, those are fine. carrots, celery and stuff like that, you have to prep them at some point. why not prep them early, prep them when you get home or when you get a chance, then you store them in a little water and you will eat them if they're like this. right? >> good point. but this you stick in the fridge. >> this you keep in the fridge. another way to keep carrots, celery, asparagus is in a damp towel in a plastic bag. and this will keep -- i you do this with asparagus, carrots,

celery, they'll keep for two weeks and they'll keep well for two weeks. >> what about berries? within like two days i feel like they're rotting. >> berries are fragile. i don't even refrigerate them. i try to buy them and eat them. but if you're going to try to keep them for a couple days you have to refrigerate them. but they're fragile. they're going to go bad very shortly. very short. >> another bring broccoli in the water. you say cook your broccoli even if you aren't going to eat it until wednesday. >> it's so beautiful like this. you cook it, you shock it and you trim it -- i'm being sarcastic. you trim it, you cook it, you might shock it, that is dump it in cold water so that it stops the cooking. >> why are you cooking it? >> it will keep like this for a week. it's ready to eat. you can reheat it in two seconds. again, you're going to eat it if it is like this. if it is sitting there in a plastic bag, you're going to be, "i don't have time for this." if it is like this, you take

this for lunch, you're going to eat it. >> moving on from veggies to cheese to eggs. >> these are long-keeping items. parmesan keeps for months. eggs don't go bad. it is a miracle, they don't go bad. >> i always thought you'd get salmonella. >> but the date is two to three months in advance. if you can't eat a dozen eggs in two to three months, why do you buy them? >> both of these go in the fridge. >> yes, definitely in the fridge. these can go in the fridge for longer keeping, root vegetables, but they can stay out also. this i happen to know has been in the studio here all winter and it's fine. it's been sitting over here all winter. >> this is a piece of squash. >> a butternut squash. you're getting there, meredith. we're going to put on your tombstone "i store my potatoes over the sink." >> i store them in the sink. but not wet. >> anyway, so again, these will keep for weeks, if not months. but why? you know? >> eat them is your point. >> yeah.

>> moving on to -- this isn't condiment -- >> well, things you keep forever. use your nose. if it smells okay, it is okay. this is -- this stuff never goes bad. >> well, this would go bad. >> to be safe, i'd get rid of stuff by the sell-by date but most people really keep it longer and there is not a problem. >> leftovers? >> smell them. but my opinion is every day they're going to get worse. it's not that it's going to kill you or it will get sick, but every day it is going to favorite worse and worse. either eat them, put them in the freezer or get rid of them. that's my attitude. >> mark bittman, thank you very much. even though you picked on my potatoes. sorry, whatever. ahead, sneak peek at the new national park. do women need to exercise an hour a day just to maintain their weight?

so you want to be on the lookout for very new coins coming out. after a decade of coins honoring the 50 states, the america the beautiful quarterers are being unveil dad in washington. these are commemorating our parks and other sites. >> they do five a year? >> yes. there are 56 sites that will be

honored. >> hot springs national park. >> it was the first national park. >> yellowstone? >> is another one. yosemite and grand canyon. and mt. hood national forest. >> yosemite one actually has yosemite sam on it. >> shouldn't they have yogi and boo-boo? >> that's jellystone. where's ranger smith when you need him. >> did you guys ever collect quarters? >> no. >> there was a series out, for every state. that was really fun. >> your family did that? >> yeah. >> did you get every state? >> no. >> so then did you spend them all and forget about the map? >> i think we just had it for a while. >> do you guys collect anything? >> yeah. animation cells. joe michaels, our director, just

yawned in my ear. >> anybody? we got five seconds. how about you? >> nothing. your local news is now. >> live, local, latebreaking. this is wbal-tv 11 is today in baltimore. >> good morning. i am mindy basara. almost 24 hours after it yesterday posted light rail crash, service continues to be -- what a's light rail crash, service continues to be disturbed. the crash occurred when a train struck a tractor-trailer trying to make a right turn into the mccormick facility. seven people were on board the train. the driver of the trailer is a cake, but the train operator was rushed to shock trauma but -- driver of the trailer is ok, but the track operator was

>> good morning. things are pretty quiet on this wednesday. temperatures this afternoon are going to climb into the mid- 60's. mostly sunny skies. 22 minutes after 7:00. seven-day forecast takes us into the weekend. clouds thickening again on thursday. good chance for rain thursday night and during the day on friday. high temperatures fall into the fifties on friday and stayed there for most the weekend. next chance for rain until sunday night. >> another update at 9:25.

how about over here? n-- let's go back to the left. waffling is back at dunkin' donuts. for a short time only, enjoy the return of the delicious oven-toasted waffle breakfast sandwich. america runs on dunkin'.