we are back now with more of "today" on a wednesday morning, cinco de mayo, the 5th of may, 2010. actually a picture-perfect day here in the northeast. a lot of people out enjoyin it. i'm matt lauer, along with natalie morales, al roker out on the plaza. we'll have more with the former first lady, laura bush. she's opening up in a brand-new memoir about her life not only in the white house but prior to that time as well. very revealing and candid look at her life and after her interview with ann, a lot of our viewers had questions. they sent them in on e-mails and mrs. bush and her daughter jenna are sticking around. they're going to answer some of

those questions from you coming up in just a couple of minutes. then a little bit later on, on "today's" "money 911," we'll talk about the pitfalls of dipping into your retirement account to pay for your mortgage. plus, where to find out if you qualify for free cash for college. plus in honor of cinco de mayo, what would it be without guacamole? we'll have our first annual guac-off. guacamole. i'm sure some tequila in there, too! >> let's hear it for tequila! >> we made it through the entire open before we got a cheer and it was on tequila. >> tequila! >> let's get the headlines from ann. this morning there are new details about faisal shahzad who vethders say has admitted to building a bomb inside an suv and driving it into times square. nbc's justice correspondent pete williams has more now on this story.

>> reporter: officials say shahzad has been cooperative talking freely and admitting that he planned to set off the times square bomb. he claims, they say, that he acted entirely on his own and so far, officials say there's no reason to believe otherwise. >> this is going to take a while. he is cooperating, he is talking and i think investigators want him to talk at his own pace. >> reporter: prosecutors also say he told the fbi that he received bomb making training during a recent five-month stay in pakistan. in an area where the taliban is dominant. investigators are eager to find out who those trainers were and whether they had any role in directing him to carry out his plan of attack. shahzad was arrested just before midnight monday as he sat on an emirates airlines plane to dubai with the plane still at the gate, he was hauled off by the customs and border protection agents there, having been added only hours before to the no-fly list. the plane then pulled back from the gate but was quickly ordered to go back. >> emirates 202, have you

kennedy tower runway 22 right position. actually i have a message for to you go back to the gate immediately. >> reporter: on tuesday, prosecutors disclosed more evidence that they say shows that the suv found in times square was loaded with bomb components by faisal shahzad and abandoned three nights ago with smoke pouring out. inside the car, investigators say they found keys to his connecticut house, and to another car that he owned. the fbi discovered a prepaid cell phone he used to arrange the purchase of the car just last month. he used that same phone, they say, to call a pennsylvania fireworks dealer. the bomb in the suv contained more than 150 m-88 firecrackers. fertilizer was another component. officials say a search of shahzad's house turned up more fireworks of the type used in the bomb and bags of the same kind of fertilizer. >> if successful, it could have resulted in a lethal terrorist attack causing death and destruction in the heart of new york city. >> reporter: as for how shahzad was able to board that flight to

dubai own though he was on the no-fly list, the government says the airline failed to keep its list current. starting today, all airlines must update their databases within two hours of notice that someone's been added to the no-fly list. pete williams, nbc news in times square. today in greece, a general strike. a massive protest and violence over big cuts in government spending. those cuts were ordered to help greece recover from an economic crisis that is affecting markets around the world. this morning, police used tear gas on some protesters near parliament. at least three people were killed when a building was set on fire. the coast guard says today that british petroleum oil company has capped 1 of 3 oil leaks in the gulf of mexico, but that that action alone will not stop the flow of oil. crews are also hoping today to tow a 100-ton containment dome to the site. officials in tennessee say it will be several days before floodwaters recede enough to allow a full damage assessment. on tuesday, president obama declared major disaster areas in

four counties. in georgia, a close call for hikers who got trapped in a rain swollen river right above a 30-foot waterfall. rescuers were able to pull them to safety. a rescue of a different kind in oxnard, california where a bear roaming a neighborhood got stuck in a tree after the bear was tranquilized. firefight then fitted the bear with a harness and later lowered it to the ground. just waking up to be released back into the wild. five minutes past the hour. time for a check of the weather with al. >> announcer: "today's weather" is brought to you by massage envy. with more than 600 locations nationwide. mother's day is massage day with a gift card from massage envy. and this beautiful day continues. wow, this woman's very open about this. came here to new york just to flirt with me. it was worth it? >> it was well worth it. >> stop it some more! all right, let's check your weather, see what's going on. we've got a storm system working

its way through the great lakes. going to be bringing some strong storms later today into cleveland, parts of ohio and also moving on into the northeast later today. wet weather in the pacific northwest. windy along the northern california coast. some fog along the mid-atlantic and southeastern atlantic coast as well. look for plenty of sunshine through the southeast. and we've got lots of sunshine from the great lakes -- i should say from texas on into the southwest. temperatures will be in the upper 80s to the 90s.80 >> it looks like it's going to be a beautiful wednesday. humidity has gone down significantly. high temperatures will be in the upper seventies and low 80s.

>> that's your latest weather. ann? >> al, thanks. back now with more of "today" on this wednesday morning, the 5th of may, 2010. we're going to be talking about the first lady, laura bush. she's written a revealing memoir, the tragedy in her past and how she's handled criticism of her husband while in the white house. laura bush is here with 16 her 2 daughters, jenna bush hager who is a contributing correspondent for "today." they graciously stuck around to help answer e-mails because we got a lot of people responding to the e-mail we just did. one of the ways people responded, mrs. bush, is via twitter. >> oh, they did. >> do you tweet? >> yes, i am. >> you are a tweeter? >> i'm on twitter now with my new book. i'm going to twitter during the book tour so i'll be twittering that i was on the "today" show today. >> what's a tweet name? >> we got to find that out. >> laura bush? here's a tweet name.

at photo gal 15. she writes what would people be surprised to know about the former first lady? best dish she cooks, fav fast food, and favorite musician? you want to take this one? >> i'll answer this because i think she'll answer it incorrectly. well, as far as favorite fast food, we weren't allowed to east fast food growing up so i think she wouldn't even know a fast food restaurant. in fact, when we were little we said we want to have our birthday party at old mcdonald's. she said, do you really? okay. she took us and we said where are all the animals. >> they thought it was a big barn! >> favorite musician, she's a r rastafarian. she loves bob marley. she used to rock us to bob marley songs when we were little. she also used to think van morrison would be her second husband. she loves van morrison. >> van morrison!

>> back in the day. >> talk about this music. you have quite a collection. >> i do. i have a very large collection. all my old records, real records, that barbara in fact still has a turntable. >> who else likes bob marley do you think? >> i like a lot of country music as well. i love george jones. i got to introduce george jones when he won the kennedy center honor and that was a thrill to get to meet him. i have a big wide collection. of course willie nelson. i write in the book that when my dad's favorite songs was "london home sick blues." jerry jeff walker and so -- >> the first concert she took us to we were in first grade was paul simon for his grapevine tour. >> bob marley and laura bush. i just can't imagine youby b b beebopping and singing to your girls bob mari. we have a question from hockey

mom. how do you handle the teenage years and all the attitude teenagers gives? i have five boys, i'm told boys are easier than girls. >> well, i don't know about that since i didn't have a boy. but i will tell you, nothing is more intimidating than two 13-year-old girls. >> mom, we didn't give any attitude! what are you talking about? >> what would you say? how do you handle -- i don't know if you want to say this, but there are people who -- >> the way you do handle it is with humor. that helps. it helps that their dad was funny and liked to be funny and he could sort of diffuse the tension when teenage girls were making things tense around the house. >> making things fun around the house. >> does it ever end? >> it never ends, as you can tell. >> i think i better switch over to an e-mail from connie in cleveland. serious question. she's asking, what was the best and worst day in the white house? mrs. bush.

>> well that's a very difficult question. of course the worst day was september 11th. i mean that changed everything. and the whole grief of it. i felt like just i went into a huge mourning over everything that happened and watching it all. then the next day and the day after and the day after meeting the families who lost somebody on september 11th. i don't know what i would say, there were many really great days. for the best day we got to host pope benedict on his birthday at the white house. >> made him a cake. >> and had a cake for him. that was a really beautiful -- 13,000 people showed up on the white house lawn to meet him. then we had so many other great world leaders that came that it was fun to know. but we also had fun family times. we always had george's birthday party on july 4th because his birthday's the 6th of july. so we'd watch the fireworks from

the white house and jenna and barbara would invite all their friends. then all of our best friends would come from around the country. that was fun. >> we've got an e-mail that's anonymous -- what do you miss most about being in the white house? >> well, i miss the people that worked there. i miss the staff. the butler that we know very well and i always joke and say i miss the chef the most. george does, too. i miss all the people. that's who you miss the most when you leave. >> xo kathleen asks on twitter, who is your favorite president, mrs. bush? >> well that's easy. i have two favorite presidents. >> i bet you can guess. >> president bush and president bush. >> yours as well? >> yeah! >> well, i love to read about lincoln. and george and i both looked at lincoln's life a lot while we lived at the white house, because he lived in such a really terrible time for our country when we were fighting and so divided with each other in a war. so many people died on both

sides. and he still kept a sense of humor. he was funny still and it was -- it's just an inspiration to read about him. >> i imagine your sense of humor kind of keeps you going as you move forward. >> that's right. >> laura bush, such a pleasure. jenna bush, thank you so much for helping us through this. the book is called "spoken from the heart." we'll be right back after this. r on tough pain than tylenol rapid release gels. and not only faster. stronger too. relief doesn't get any better than this. advil.

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in polident toothpaste is abrasive on dentures look, scratches where bacteria can collect and grow and bacteria can cause bad breath that's why i recommend replacing toothpaste with polident only polident is proven to clean without scratching and kills 99.9% of odor causing bacteria don't scratch your dentures clean use polident every day of experts tackle your financial dilemmas, like which type of account is best, how to get free cash for college. "today" financial editor jean chatzky is the author of "money 911." sharon epperson is cnbc's personal finance correspondent, and melissa lee is the host of cnbc's fast money. let's get to it. a video right now, a question from tom who lives in michigan. tom, hit it. >> i had a mortgage reset.

one of the conditions was to pay off my home equity loan. i had to take money out of my you a newt so i requested the amount be from the principle so i wouldn't have to list it as income. when i received the check, they took the interest portion out first. i called and they said they had to do it that way. consequently i'm not showing this as income. my question is, is the irs providing any relief to taxpayers who have to use their retirement save toings to save r mortgages? >> i hate having to be the bearer of bad news. st actually, no, the irs is not providing any relief. the rule is, last money in, first money out which is why they had to take the interest rather than the principle. so i'm sorry, i can't help you out. >> well short and sweet. thank you. now we got a viewer named tracy on the phone. she's from auburn, nebraska. tracy, good morning and what's your question? >> good morning.

i'm a single mother going to college full time. i have two teenage children and i'm working about eight hours a week. the remainder of my income is from ssi death benefits. with times getting tougher and the children growing faster, it seems the money just doesn't go as far as it used to. there are any grant programs out there to help single moms like me? >> first, tracy, i want to commend her on sticking with her educational goals and doing this all through such a tough time. there are grants out there for sickle women, for single parents. the great place to look is singlemomfinancialhelp.com. there are a lot of private foundations and also state assistance programs that you can look into. in your state you might find assistance programs for food and other supplies as well as health care for rental assistance. a lot of different state aid programs are available. the other thing i would say is don't spend any money out of pocket for your educational expenses. there are plenty of scholarships out there for single parents and

fastweb.com is an excellent place to look for scholarships for that. then also consider sitting down with a financial planner or with a credit counselor to look over all of your finances, where you can cut. you've probably cut out a lot already. but debtadvice.org, another great place to look. one of the things that's probably going to be so difficult is how do you put food on the table? angelfoodministries.org is a great place to get low-cost food. that's a good place to start. >> if you didn't get all of that, tracy, we'll have it on our website at todayshow.com. this e-mail is from mary. she writes, currently i have about $20,000 in credit card debt -- i got lost for a second. i can't find it. okay. i've got about $20,000 in credit card debt which i would like to consolidate. i used a debt payment program in the past but they went bankrupt, lost my money and made things worse. what debt program would you recommend that is secure and would consolidate and pay off my debt in the quickest and safest

way? melissa? >> you've seen these. you suffer around the internet and a bubble pops up, debt relief is a click away. all these sorts of promises. in general, if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. that's the case with a lot of these debt consolidation programs. what can you do in terms of taking control of your debt, there are a couple things you can do yourself for free. first of all, pick up the phone and call the credit card company. ask them to reduce your interest rate. you have nothing to lose. these days these credit card companies want you to be able to pay. so it is in their interest to help you out there. the other thing you can do is take an assessment of your debt and the interest rates you are paying on your debt. if your home mortgage you think your rate is too high compared to current market rates, auto loan, refinance. take a little bit more money out, pay off your credit card debt to reduce interest rates there. those interest rates can be 25%. your mortgage rate could be 5% or 6%. you can consolidate your debt that way. but essentially take a look at your interest rates and lower them. >> we want to get one more in

here. this is a skype from lauren in new jersey. lauren, good morning. what's your question? >> hi, good morning. thank you for taking my call. ill abgraduating from medical school this june and starting residency soon after. i will be graduating with a debt of approximately $200,000 and i've done some research about a couple options of paying this debt back. some include income-based repayment and public service loan forgiveness. i was wondering, do you truly get 100% debt forgiveness and how long do you have to pay the minimum payments back in order to get this debt loan forgiveness? also, what institutions do you have to work for in order to qualify for the debt forgiveness? >> we only have a little bit of time. >> okay. in essence, what you're talking about is something called income-based repayment. you come out of school, you're going to make $55,000 a year. that actually can cap the amount that you have to pay on those loans to $500, $600 a month. it will be a big help to you and

after 15 years your debt will be wiped away. so absolutely look at that. sharon recommended going to thinaid.org. go there as well. >> thank you very much. good luck with that, lauren. jean, sharon and melissa, thank you so much. as a reminder, also, watch melissa on fast money weekdays, 5:00 p.m. eastern on cnbc. hey, you know she had to be here for a reason. still to come, singer shelly wright reveals a very personal secret that could shock the country music world. we'll talk to her about it in a few minutes. but first, these messages. ♪ she can not set up a music stand... oh, they know that she always forgets where she puts her "magic wand"... but when she finds it, she makes magic happen. ♪ [ kim ] people know a lot of things about me, but no one needs to know about my condition. and thanks to depend®, they don't. [ female announcer ] now the best protection also comes in new prints and lors.

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go to lubriderm.com for $2 savings. >> live, local, latebreaking. this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore. >> good morning. i am mindy basara. 3 baltimore city police officers turned themselves in for reportedly abusing their authority in dealing with teenagers. 32-year-old milton smith, 29- year-old tyrone francis 30-year- old gregory hellen a kiss of picking a teenager is in may 2009. -- are accused of picking up teenagers in may 2009. one was released in the city and other was allegedly taken a howard county. >> i think it is a good thing,

because we have not seen that many cases where officers have been charged with excessive force or police misconduct in baltimore city. >> the three officers have been suspended about hatred they face numerous charges, including kidnapping -- suspended without pay. they face numerous charges, including kidnapping and assault. 22-year-old george huguely has said that it was a fit of rage that led him to take and the door of ex-girlfriend yeardley love's room and that during the fight between the students, he reportedly shock love, slamming her against the wall. now let's look at the forecast with tony pann. >> things will be smooth sailing as we go through the day today. humidity is in the comfortable range. mosely sunday as the protest.

may be a few high, thin clouds this afternoon. we will be in the low 80s on thursday and friday. slight chance for thunderstorms both days. best chance for rain on saturday. mother's day will be dry get a little cool with a high near 64. >> another update at 9:55.

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today is a great day. josie's coming home. right now i'm going down here for the last time. over 4 months old. what a dave celebration. >> the duggar family is finally bringing josie home after being premature. that makes 19 for the family. look at her! so cute. maybe we'll get a close-up look at her maybe tomorrow. meanwhile in this half-hour, natalie, you'll be speaking to country music star shelly wright. >> that's right. you probably know her music. of course she shot to number one on the country music charts in

1999 with the hit song "single white female." today something you may not know about her. for the first time she'll reveal a very personal secret that may come as a surprise to the country music world. she's going to be here to talk with me in just a little bit. also ahead, it's the avocado battle. that's right. in "today's kitchen, the battle of avocados. we're throwing avocados around. what better way to celebrate cinco de mayo with our first-ever guac-off. two chefs, two bowls of dip, one winner. that's right. before we get to all of that, we want it catch up with you. starring on the sci-fi network, our sister station. you're here on a perfect morning for our guac-off. >> quite a celebration. cinco de mayo, food. >> you're in this show which i think is perfect. you were the president of your science club. >> science fiction club. i'm not smart for science but

really good with science fiction. don't talk to me about physics but talk to me about aliens and pretending to be in outer space and i'm there. >> a lot of us know you from "e."e "e.r." what's it like being stuck on a ship in a totally different universe? >> it's harder. " "er" is like real. but being trapped in a spaceship, it's a lot of imagination and pretending that i'm battling aliens. >> you're not really there? >> no. i get to be like a 5-year-old kid and stargate universe has these amazing special effects. in this scene i'm challenged to play a quadriplegic. as an actress, this show offers me so many really challenging moments. >> but from the moment you started in this work you showed

us that you were able to deal with so many different challenges. how great to have the versatility of that. on top of that, you get to shoot it in vancouver. what a great city. >> i love vancouver. the people there are so nice. not as nice as new yorkers, but -- >> no! >> but really, really wonderful people. >> any hints about what's happening with your character coming up? >> well, i get to play camile ray. she is a pretty strong-willed powerful woman. i do a sort of mutiny thing that prevails. she's fighting for the rights of the citizens, which is very poignant these days. >> fans are crazy about the show. >> yeah. yeah. so much so, like this necklace is actually made by one of my twitter fans. >> wow! >> she sent it to me. it is a stargate. i didn't realize it. i feel like i'm so stargate out

between all the circles. >> very nice. >> but these are really die-hard fans and there's nothing like science fiction fans. >> i am one myself. thanks so much. >> thanks so much. you can tune in to "sgu stargate" coming up on sci-fi, coming up on fridays, 9:00, 8:00 central. how about a check of the weather? >> let's see what's happening as far as your weather's concerned. looking ahead to the weekend, rain in the northeast. some showers in the pacific northwest. sunshine and hot through the southwest. then on sunday -- sunday -- we're looking at more rain throughout the great lakes and into new england. showers in pacific >> we are off to a fine start on this wednesday. it is going to be a beautiful afternoon. mostly sunny skies. temperatures up around 80 degrees.

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singer shelly wright had her first hit on the country music charts back in 1997 with the sing the "shut up and drive." now after a successful career, shelly is opening up about the more personal side of her life with a revelation that may shock the country music world. it's all in a new autobiography "like me." it hits stores today. a documentary "wish me away" will be released this fall. we'll talk to shelly live in just a moment. but first, more of her story. ♪ your heart has a way of making me stay ♪ >> reporter: in 1995 the academy of country music named her the top new female vocalist of the year. ♪ single white female >> people recognize me more and more and is certainly is a nice pat on the back from the industry. ♪ >> reporter: by 1999, her song "single white female" topped the country music charts.

and made her a rising star. in 2003, she traveled to iraq to entertain the troops and her song "bumper on my suv" became a patriotic an them in support of our men and women overseas. ♪ add a sticker for the u.s. marines on the bumper of my suv ♪ >> reporter: she has now released seven albums, but in all of her success, she was hiding a secret and is now ready to open up to the world. >> i conditioned media and press and radio just don't ask me about my personal life. now i'm handing it over to them. ♪ >> reporter: >> i was hiding. i'm day and didn't want anyone to know that i was.i was hiding. i'm day and didn't want anyone to know that i was.

country music is described as being about man and god and country. for some reason people think you can't be gay and have this belief. that's why i have to be the one to step forward. >> shelly's book is "like me, confessions of a heartland country singer." shelly, good morning. does that feel good? >> it feels incredible. >> do you feel just a whole weight lifted off your shoulders now? >> i do. i feel as if it's my birthday. >> you can finally be who you've wanted to be since you were a little girl. >> yeah. u >> you used to say a prayer every night since third grade, please, god, please, don't let me be gay. i promise to be a good person. you've been secretly living a gay life since you were in your 20s. but living this secret life, not until now are you coming out. why? >> well, country music has never

had a country music artist in its history acknowledge his or her homosexuality. and country music was my dream from age 4. i declared back in my small town in kansas that i want to be a country music singer. and believe me, that's the only kind of music i wanted to sing. i was a fan of loretta lynn and buck owens and those traditional country music artists. i knew that i needed to hide this to achieve my goals. >> why though? what were you so afraid of? were you afraid of fans and the reaction or is it just -- >> there had never been an openly gay country music artist and country music is typically nobo known to be conservative. our fan base is conservative. pretty much our industry, the people who run it have conservative beliefs. and it's widely known to be about god and country and family and for some reason, people don't think that that can

co-exist with being a homosexual. >> yeah, i don't know why that is. >> i don't either. >> you say it is a lot like the military, don't ask, don't tell. >> yeah. yeah. >> and when you heard rumors -- because there had been rumors out there. in fact, john rich from big and rich, the group, warned you about the rumors, pulled you aside. when you heard that this was out there, did you not think then, well maybe it's time, time to let go of this and just be who i am? >> well, john rich's declaration to me that there was a rumor out there was not the first i had heard the rumor. but john's telling me that, hey, you got to hit this gay thing head-on. you're not gay, are you? that was the first time i lied about it. i had put myself in a spot to where i'd never answered -- had never been asked the question, natalie. i'd been so detached to the point of i think people thought i was snotty or cold or hard to get to know. but that's the way i had to live my life in the closet. and john finally asked me

point-blank, you're not gay. if you are, people won't have it. it's sick, it's deviant, it's unacceptable to country music fans. he said you're not, are you? and i lied. and i knew that i have gone from not talking about it to now i'm a liar. >> are you afraid now knowing what john rich told you and the reaction that you could face out there, what this announcement may do? >> i am. i'm not afraid but i'm not ashamed. and i hit my rock bottom and it's why i started my book 2 1/2 years -- 3 years ago now. why i started writing my memoir, "like me." because i hit rock bottom. i had a nine millimeter gun in my mouth. i was taking inventory of my life and i realized i had these pieces of my life that i just couldn't get to intersect. i was living a secret life and i was very much a country music

celebrity and i saw no way to get those to co-exist and i gave up hope and i was ready to take my own life. >> what turned it around for you? when you hit that moment and you realized, you opened your eyes, as you said you had that nine millimeter in your mouth, you were crying. >> i finally cried. that's what broke the dam for me. i came back in touch with my emotions and i started to cry and put the gun down for that night, as i detail in the book. went upstairs. the next morning when i awakened, i was afraid to go downstairs because i was afraid of that gun. and rather than going downstairs, i got on my knees. much like i prayed that prayer when i was a kid? i got on my knees and i spoke outloud to god and i stopped praying for what i'd always prayed for, which was help me find a way to figure out a way to still have my career and everything. i changed my prayer and my prayer was, god, give me a moment's peace. and what -- and i got up off my

knees. i said amen, got up off my knees and i got that moment's peace and i got the understanding. i didn't hear god's voice, i didn't see a guy in a robe, but i heard god say what he had's been whispering in my ear all along. i expect one thing of you and that is to tell the truth. >> well good for you. i know now you'll have your moment's peace. >> i have it. >> good. >> i have it. >> and i hope people embrace you for all that you are because it is really brave and courageous thing that you're doing. >> thank you. >> thanks so much. the book is "like me, confessions after heartland country singer." shell ry wright. we'll be right back after this. nice! follow me, the missouri river is this way! lewis and clark expedition of 1804. oh, he'll never get this. magellan, 1520. awww, my 8 layers must've given it away. help keep your kid full and focused with 8 filling layers... of whole grain fiber found in kellogg's frosted mini-wheats cereal. this is one giant leap for mini-kind.

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this morning in "today's kitchen," it is siesta time in honor of cinco de mayo. first up, host of the food network, ingrid hoffman is here. not to be outdone by healthy lifestyle expert, chef lala. ingrid, what's in your guac? >> biggest secret for great guac. love, and now, mangos. cinco de mango. very smile. don't bite into too sweet or too

tart. to balance that off, tomatillas. mix cilantro and mint. why mint? the mint helps beat the sweet and the tart, increase it. then a little bit of cilantro. i can't live without cilantro. instead of lime, lemon. because we already have a lot of acidity in there. if we were to use lime it is going to be too acidic. do me the honors, ann. wait, we're still missing a little bit of salt. >> i'm moving over here to lala. >> team mexico versus team puerto rico. >> you cube your afternoon ka goes. i like everything squares. i want a lot of things going on. we have avocado, shrimp, we have

some tomato, we're getting all these antioxidants in. some cilantro. jalape jalapeno. >> somebody got some music? bring up the music! >> some lime juice. >> what does the water do? >> just blends everything together. a little bit of salt. >> let's get a little taste there. >> little salt. you ready? >> needs a little bit more mint. >> we got our beauties there ready for you guys. >> come over here. >> then we have some cold beer here and some tequila, a must for singe cinco de mayo. >> there's our trophy.

our first guac-off -- it's a tie! ingrid, we'll be back in a moment. this is "today" on nbc!

still to come from our >> live, local, latebreaking. this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore. >> good morning. i am mindy basara. a woman remains in stable condition this morning after being shot in the head during a robbery. police say the shots were fired just before 11:00 yesterday morning when the suspect was caught breaking into a beauty salon at belair road. despite being shot, police said the victim was alert and able to provide the basic description of the suspect.

anyone with information shou

>> we are off to a nice, quiet start on this wednesday. beautiful weather on top as we head into the afternoon. mostly sunny skies, comfortable humidity. high temperatures in the upper 70's and low 80s. a slight chance for a couple

thunderstorms on tuesday and friday. the chance for rain on saturday. mother's day looks dry and cool. >> see you back here for 11 news at noon.