now with more of "today," on a thursday morning, the 29th of march, 2012. we always like to say thank you to the people who stuck around for most of the morning, people on the plaza. great to have them here. and also great to have lisa here from the morning show, our friends from across the street to help us out with this hour because al is on vacation. and ann is on assignment. we're here with savannah guthrie as well. always good to have you. >> always good to see you, mr. lauer, ms. guthrie. >> you guys closely monitoring the ongoing feud between christie brinkley? >> always.

>> more on that with "today's professionals." >> first, matt, you interviewed christie brinkley on our show earlier this week. then we talked to peter cook, and he had his say. so i guess the question is, what effect might this very public battle be having on their kids? the panel will weigh in on that. also, 33 is the most people said they were happiest at. they say 33. we'll check in with star jones, donny deutsch and suze orman. >> how about for you? >> i think 40 is pretty good. >> i'd like to think the best is still ahead. >> no, no. right out of a hallmark card. >> pollyanna, thank you. also ahead, if you are watching your pocketbook, bobbie thomas is going to show us affordable handbags on a budget. plus on "today's money," getting yourself out of some credit card debt. last year, americans rang up

more than $22 billion in penalty fees. that's aside from interest. a lot of families struggling with this. we'll have tips to get yourself out of that trouble. >> thank you, willie. let's go inside. natalie's standing by at the news desk with a look at all the headlines. >> good morning, everyone. the attorney for neighborhood watch volunteer george zimmerman suggests that a new police video of his client is inconclusive, saying the images are very grainy. the video appears to show zimmerman with no visible injuries. four hours after he killed unarmed teen trayvon martin. zimmerman has said he acted in self-defense, and his attorney claims that martin broke his client's nose and left a bloody gash on the back of his head. the captain who suffered a midair meltdown this week on a jetblue flight is now facing federal charges. on wednesday, he was charged with interfering with the flight crew. the flight from new york to las vegas had to be diverted to amarillo, texas, when clayton osbon left the cockpit and went on a rant up and down the cabin

aisle. he was subdued by passengers. a man is being questioned this morning at philadelphia international airport. he was taken into custody after the tsa found fireworks in his carry-on luggage before he could board a flight to san francisco. today president obama is calling on congress to end billions of dollars in tax breaks given to oil companies every year. his comments come before a senate procedural vote on repealing oil tax subsidies. u.s. troops in afghanistan are taking new steps to protect themselves after recent attacks by afghan troops. some of those attacks are believed to have been triggered by the burning of korans at a u.s. base. the new measures include the use of so-called guardian angel troops who guard others as they sleep. the mega millions mega jackpot now the biggest in u.s. history. at least a half a billion dollars. the drawing is tomorrow night. meantime, controversy for a california woman who won $1 million with a lottery ticket in january, then used part of her winnings to give $100 bills to

strangers. she also gave a homeless man a scratch-off ticket that ended up being worth $260,000. well, now she claims she only meant to give the guy cash and hopes to get the winning ticket back. and a circus elephant got loose from its handlers outside a busy shopping center this week in ireland. the elephant named baby ran through the parking lot and along a nearby road after breaking through a barrier. baby was eventually wrangled. and while no one was injured, they've all learned their lesson. nobody puts baby in a corner. to quote "dirty dancing," as we love to do. it is now four minutes past the hour. let's go back outside to maria with a check of your weather. >> "today's weather" is brought to you by chico's. grab life by the accessories. >> all right. we have some spring breakers from the chicago area. and if you're on spring break in the west, dust off the board games because it is a wet one. it has been the last couple days. storminess continues there.

take a look at the tropical moisture connection. see the clouds on the left all the way into the west coast. that's why we're expecting in some areas maybe five to eight inches of rainfall especially to eureka. keep that in mind. mountain snow could top one to two feet. slight risk of severe weather through the midsection. >> good morning. we will see a mixture of sunshine and a few clouds. the wind will be the big story. savannah, back to you. ♪ taking care of business every

day ♪ >> maria, thanks. now to "to the's professionals," our panel of power players weighing in on the hot topics. jar jones, attorney and author, donny deutsch, chairman of deutsche incorporated and suze orman is host of cnbc's "suze orman show" in for dr. nancy this morning. welcome to all of you. welcome, suze. are you ready for this, do you think? >> more than ever. i'm coming after you two. >> let's go. let me give you a topic first. we're going to talk about two people going after each other in public, christie brinkley and peter cook. their very public battle spilled onto our airwaves this week when matt interviewed christie brinkley and then the next day i interviewed peter cook. let's play a portion of that and set it up. >> i'm sorry but i just want peace. and every time i have any joy or any kind of success in anything, he has to try to destroy it. >> there was a moment when she cried.

>> crocodile tears. >> why do you say that? >> because she's not being bullied. every since the separation, she has been on a campaign to smear me. >> suze, i'll let you have the first crack at this. what do you think? >> ridiculous. it's not like they just got divorced. it's not like they're just going through it. why it is still news this far after the divorce is beyond me. the people really to blame, i'm sorry to say, are the people giving them air time. i think it hurts the kids. i think there's no reason to be talking about it. nobody just allow them on the pair. >> she took a shot at nbc, destroying our segment. >> she makes a fair point. we give them a vehicle, but they would find a vehicle. >> look, it's very easy to say oh, look what they're doing to their kids. christie did an interview. i actually felt bad. why is she doing this? by the end, i felt desperate. this guy was screwing around with a 19-year-old?

>> bad. four years ago. >> at some point you do have to let it go. i actually had real choice in the matter when i ended up getting divorced. did i want to do it publicly or privately? and i chose very, very privately. heck, i left the country for three months. i did not want to play it out in the middle of the public. >> there's got to be mutual. sign a pact, do not speak. it's not about money anymore. >> no, it's over. >> and when she came on, when matt was talking to her, she could have simply said i'm not going to talk about this. she could have taken her stance at this point. >> it seems they're not starving the story. they're feeding by continuing to talk about it, name calling on both sides. is there any way for those of us on the outside to know who's in the right? >> it's none of our business. these are two grown people who were in a relationship with just the two of them. pretty much there's blame to go around for both, and now they're destroying their kids who are old enough to know they should know better.

>> she knew if she came on the air that he was going to go on the air. she already knew. >> it's a vicious cycle. let's move on. teachers friending students. some think there are laws saying teachers should not have any private communication on social networking or e-mail or facebook or whatever with students. basically it's not okay in any context because of the conflict for danger. is this a legal matter? is this okay? >> i absolutely agree with this law, with this policy. i have been vehemently against any adult having a relationship with a child outside of their teaching experience. it's inappropriate under all circumstances. just when did you start looking at my 15-year-old daughter? was it really when she was 18 years old, or was it when she was 15? >> you want to be devil's advocate saying there's some reason you want to have communications in our modern era. >> doctors with patients, even a child, it's wrong, it's predatory.

i don't see another side to the story. >> kids always get crushes on their teachers. and when you're in high school, whatever it may be, and now they're infatuated and now their teacher's answering back and then it goes further with the kid. no, no, no. >> or living with the girl at 18 years old. there's an ick factor. savannah, we've got to get to a point -- we've got to get to a point in this country where you tell the truth. if you are having sex with a child, that is child molestation. >> we're talking about even children who are 18, it's still wrong. >> but when did this start? when do you start looking at an 18-year-old, she wasn't just 18 and walk in. >> even a senior in high school, it's still wrong. you are taking advantage of a very personal situation. there's no other side of the story. >> when the genesis of a relationship is teacher/student, i think we all agree. >> doctor/patient. >> go to jail. go to jail. >> our next topic, transgender contestant disqualified from the

miss universe pageant who was disqualified from the competition because she did not, quote, meet the requirements to compete. she is transgender. what's your initial thoughts, suze? >> she's transsexual. the difference is here, she has literally gone through the operation. she felt this way when she was 4. she started taking hormones at 19. she actually had the operation, and legal lie shely she could b married woman. think about that. >> she's also beautiful. >> she is beautiful. if she wanted to get married today to a man, it would be recognized and legal in the united states of america. >> for that reason, does she belong in the pageant? >> yes. by the way, on a separate note, my buddy, donald trump, is no buddy. >> he owns the miss universe. >> he owns it. right now she's disqualified. she'll come back in. it's great press. >> he'll be a hero, he'll bring her back in, and she'll have an opportunity to compete. there's no reason for her not to be able to compete. >> as a sidebar, if somebody said to me, would you go out with someone who went through -- used to be man and now is technically i agree as a woman,

i still wouldn't. so, i mean, it's a weird thing. >> go out with, you know -- >> you took the words out of my mouth. i was going to say how do we transition to donny's dating life? >> of course, she's a woman, but yet as a man, i wouldn't. >> you can date who you want to date. >> that's not what this is about. >> i don't know why i went there. >> i was reading from cnn the other day that it says in the rules that they can't find anywhere, but a spokesperson said you have to be legally born a woman or a female. so change the rules, everybody. what this should be doing is going deeper than can she or can she not change the rules. of course she can. >> the only rules i've seen, are you a canadian citizen? you can't be married or pregnant and be over 18. >> basically silent on this. >> why can't a beauty pageant contestant be pregnant? >> if she can win pregnant, more power to you, right? let's move to our next topic. $500 million jackpot.

boy, everybody's dreaming a little dream this morning. so suze, since we're all going to win, we need to ask you some financial advice. do you take the lump sum, or do you get paid out over a period of years? >> it depends who you are and how old you are. i personally would be advising them -- and i have advised lottery winners -- if you take the lump sum, it will be about $359 million from the $500 million, all right? but if you took it out yearly, it will be $19.2 million for 26 years. believe it or not, i would tell them to take it yearly. why? it is too much money for somebody to handle all at once. they have a good chance of losing it. >> i couldn't handle it. >> i used to do advertising for the publisher's clearinghouse. almost without kpechings they ruin their lives. because they quit their jobs. the interesting thing, suze brings up a good point. it kind of monitors them. that's a very good point. >> but if i had $356 million, couldn't i hire somebody like you or your team? >> that's what i'm saying. you wouldn't have $356 million,

you have to pay taxes that. you'd have $250 million. $250 million -- >> i could work with that. >> would you all keep working if you won the lottery? >> oh, yes. >> that's what happens. they stop working and their lives get ruined. >> i work very hard. >> we know. we know. okay, last topic, the happiest age. this is really a good one. a new survey says that the age of 33 is the happiest age of people's lives. they feel like they have it all together. it's not the 20s anymore, but they're still young enough to enjoy life. thoughts? anyone have an idea what their happiest age is? >> 61 in june. this is the happiest, the most incredible year of my life. and i say that almost every single year. >> i turned 50 on saturday. and i know what i look like at 40. i know what i felt like. i know what i look like now at 50. that day was the happiest day that i could say i had in a long time. >> people, once they get past their 40s, they're actually more relaxed. speaking of which, cracker jack super producer mark victor, his

41st birthday today. >> today. they'd put up the picture but they didn't want to scare anybody. >> your birthday was on monday. >> how great a job? ladies and gentlemen. >> come back anytime. >> one of the nicest people on the planet. >> suze, could we get a girlfriend on the way out? >> you are so approved. >> thank you so much. thanks so much. coming up next in "today's money," a simple plan to help you get out of credit card debt. and then later, the hottest handbags for spring and some cool prices, too. but first, these messages.

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no, you. ahhhhh. [ female announcer ] this easter...bring a tradition... out of its shell. [ cheering ] this morning on "today's money," getting rid of credit card debt. the average american household with credit card debt owes about $16,000. that adds up to an awful lot of wasted money on interest. david bach is author of finishrich.com and author of "debt free for life." he's got a plan to help you pay off your debt as painlessly as possible. good morning. >> great to be here. >> the good news, the number of americans in credit card debt has gone down. >> exactly. >> but the figure, $16,000 per household, that's still a big number. we know a lot of people are transferring balances from credit cards to others that have lower interest. is that a good idea? >> that's a great idea. here's the good news. we've paid off about $200 billion worth of credit card debt. we paid off more in the last few years than really ever before.

this year right now is the best time to transfer high-interest rate credit card date to low interest rate than ever seen in my entire life. and i'll give you one small example. there's a new credit card that came out by citibank. it's called citibank simplicity. if you transfer high interest rate debt to them, they have 0% interest rate for a year and a half right now. and they have features like no over the limit fee, no annual fee, no catch fees, meaning if you're late, we'll hit you with a $35 fee. they talked to consumers and they said what do you hate about credit cards and then built a new credit card for people. and i found a card on the site called creditcard.com. lots of offer. that's one example. see if you can trafr to a low interest rate because that will help you pay down the debt faster. >> you have a full approved plan called dolp, d-o-l-p. what is it? >> done on last payment. i've taught this system to millions of people and tens of thousands have used it to get out of debt. the key is you've got to rack your debt, stack your debt and

hack your debt. let's go through how you do that. >> let's start with rack. >> rack is the first thing. you need to confront, look at in black and white, what do you owe? i've got this simple little form. you write down, what do i owe? as an example, i've got a discover card. my balance is $350. my interest rate is 19%. my minimum payment's $35. my payment due date is the first of the month. what you want is this little form in black and white on your refrigerator right by where your pay your bills so you can see exactly what you owe. it's like a debt scale. like if you're trying to lose weight, you step on a scale. the first step in getting out of debt is seeing in black and white, not little envelopes but black and white what you owe. once you put it all down on paper like that -- and this takes literally like five minutes to do this. you don't have to use a computer. just old-school piece of paper. once you do that, then you stack it. the key to stacking it is people ask me, david, i don't know what order to pay my credit cards off. and most experts come on these shows, and they say, pay the

highest interest rate credit card first. and they're wrong. what i teach people is you want to get your smallest credit card paid off first because you want to see progress. so what stacking it does is you take your cards, and you try to figure out very quickly, again, in about five minutes which card should be paid off first. let's use visa as an example. $5 a month is the minimum payment. if you divide that number by 500, it will take you ten months to get out of that credit card debt. >> and that becomes your first priority. that's your dolp number right there. >> what you do is make minimum payments on every credit card except for the first priority card, which tends to be the smallest. and you make all extra payments to the smallest card. what this does for you is you start to see progress. so for the person with five credit cards who is overwhelmed, it will quickly take you to three credit cards. much better system. that's my opinion because i often think you can get your

highest interest rate lowered by transferring. >> how do we hack into the credit card debt? >> hacking it, again, is this idea that you make minimum payments on every card. then you find whatever extra money you have, and you throw it at that priority card which is the first dolp ranking. so that person who's got visa, instead of putting $50 on that card, they need to put, let's say, $100. any extra dollar amount, that will get that first priority card paid off fastest. then once that's paid off, they put that in their drawer. don't close it. leave it open so you've got it. that's going to improve your credit score. then go to mastercard. that's your second priority. after mastercard's paid off, you go to the discovery card. >> rack it, stack it and hack it. >> and hack it. >> a pretty easy solution to a difficult problem for a lot of people in this country. david bach, great information. thanks so much. >> great to be here. >> good to see you. coming up, two lovely ladies get swept into hair and makeup for an ambush makeover. view their hot new looks. first, these messages.

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coming up, the mystery of the missing lorax. >> and the hottest trends in handbags for spring. >> plus, great spring recipes featuring cherries. but first, your local news. hi! looking good. you've lost some weight. thanks. you noticed. these clothes are too big, so i'm donating them. how'd you do it? eating right -- whole grain. [ female announcer ] people who choose more whole grain tend to weigh less than those who don't. multi-grain cheerios -- 5 whole grains, 110 calories. creamy, dreamy peanut butter taste in a tempting new cereal. mmm! [ female announcer ] new multi-grain cheerios peanut butter. [ female announcer ] hi! i brought champagne.s wow! the best in the world. ...some chocolates swiss! ah...the best in the world. oikos greek yogurt from dannon. really? wait until you try it. so creamy thick and fresh tasting dannon oikos berry flavors

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>> live, local, latebreaking. this is a wbal-tv 11 news update. >> but cool front has slipped south of the area and taken thunder shower activity associated with it. the forecast is calling for plenty of sunshine. temperatures in the 50's and 60's for highs.

primrose everdeen. >> prim! i volunteer! i volunteer as tribute. >> well, "the hunger games," a huge hit. number one at the box office. the books were best-sellers. it seems like the whole nation is obsessed with peeta and katniss. tomorrow we'll take you to the real-life forest where they shot "the hunger games." >> i'm on the second one. i'm behind. i can't get enough of them. so good. another big hit at the theaters, "the lorax." just as it disappears from the original story, the statue of the character has now disappeared from the home of dr.

seuss's widow. apparently someone stole the statue over the weekend, and now the search is on. we'll have much more on that story coming up. >> dr. seuss mystery. >> who steals the lorax? don't do that. and the bold and the beautiful when it comes to handbags for spring. bobbie thomas is here with the hottest trends and colors at affordable prices. >> i think there's one for you there, willie. >> i've got my eye on a couple of those over there. >> willie's always shopping when he comes over here. then, of course, one of the signatures of spring is the cherry blossoms. nowhere do they bloom more beautifully than washington, d.c. that's where our chef is from. he's bringing cherry. infused recipes inspired by the season. first let's get a check of the weather. maria larosa is here for al. >> the pacific northwest continues to get slammed unfortunately. we're finding snow into the cascades. through the midsection from kansas city, st. louis, looking at severe weather risk including hail, damaging winds, maybe tornadoes and a few scattered thunderstorms in parts of the

southeast. tomorrow that severe weather risk shifts into the ohio valley including columbus and cincinnati into louisville. still rain, still more snow in the pacific northwest. that's a look at the weather across the >> good morning. we will see plenty of sunshine. the wind will be close to 30 miles per hour by the afternoon. back to you. >> maria, thank you. coming up next, we're taking it to the street. we'll show you how to brighten your everyday look up with the hot colors of spring. coming up right after this. i'm here with carol, flo, and karen for a girls night out talking about activia.

i tried it and my body felt so right, for a change. and then there's you... why should i try it? my system gets out of sorts but that comes with age, right? wouldn't you like to feel great? just because we're in that over 50... what does that mean? are we done? activia helps regulate your digestive system when eaten daily. these could be our best years yet. activia wanna see what's in it? yeah! whoagasp! whoagasp! whoagasp! you put it in here? yeah. and then you wanna take this... are you making them for the easter bunny? no, you. ahhhhh. [ female announcer ] this easter...bring a tradition... out of its shell. [ cheering ]

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only on mcdonald's new extra value menu. we're as passionate about cheese as you are. so we've created three new parmesan dishes. new grilled chicken parmesan, chicken fresh off the grill as well as grilled shrimp or grilled steak. all with a parmesan crust. passion for parmesan for a limited time, only at olive garden. (belhi.ings) good morning. big news. we're spreading the word about new honey bunches of oats fruit blends and their unique taste combinations. like peach/raspberry... and banana/blueberry. we're telling everyone. with one flavor in the granola bunch and one on the flake. try some.

mmm! two flavors. in harmony. yummy. four nutritious grains and two big fruit flavors to make your day bunches better. ♪ this morning on "bobbie's style buzz," handbags off the runway, and we found some affordable options in the store.

"today's" bobbie thomas is here with her picks of the season. bobbie, good morning. >> good morning. >> i love this every year but this year more so than any other year because look at the colors and patterns on the table. this is unbelievable. >> you can't afford color in the stores. and the designers really pushed the envelope and went to the - extre extreme. >> what you're seeing in clothing, you're seeing the same trends in handbags. >> some of the bright neons, for example. chanel has put forth. this is kind of a first look at these bags. these are nylon bags from chanel, and they're neon. >> bright. >> an iconic shape and really bright statement. of course, jimmy choo, python bag in electric blue. and bergdorf goodman. this jason wu all on trend with just a little bit of the trend. you can get something that doesn't have to scream but just a touch. >> the bold and sporty look, too, we're also seeing and more affordable options now that you scouted out for us. >> i love this. this is a fantastic bag. we actually have a picture of this bag on somebody that i pulled off the street. lynn, i met her in union square.

>> there you go. >> i just wanted to show how a bag like this can be wearable. >> to make an outfit. >> at any age to really make an outfit. >> this was the before. >> this was the before. >> you see how that totally vamped up the look. >> exactly. if you don't want to go neon, you can still find sporty options. and color comes back about this time every year. what's new is really the sporty factor. this is only $19.95 at old navy. >> a great tote. >> it's a great tote with the double color combination on the colorblock trend. some affordable options with the orange trim and the blue at h&m, very affordable. and joe fresh, a fun bag with stripes. and rachel roy at macy's, another one of my favorite picks, a great tote. >> when you're wearing a bag like this, you can get away still with wearing -- >> anything. >> -- colorblocking outfits as well. >> anything. you can wear neutrals like yourself, plaque and white like me. even if you're wearing color, some of these with the

multicolors will work better than -- >> than others. >> than a brown or black bag. >> why not? >> absolutely. >> on the other end of the spectrum from the color to bright white which we love. we've got great styles and the trends we're talking about. great designers. >> this is valentino, givenchy. it's that crisp white. every neutral is in right now. but if you really want to do something that's going to instantly update your look, a white bag can work. a big question i get often, though, is can you keep it clean, you know. >> we get that all the time. especially with kids. >> there's so much texture available right now. this is a great tote that's inexpensive. that's crackled leather that won't really show scuffs. but one of my favorite bags, sondra roberts is so smart when she makes her bags. she has the option of keeping it in the shape that you see here or unzipping it so it can pop out to a bigger tote. >> good travel bag. >> and this is nylon.

and it's washable. you can take this out in the rain. >> wipe it down with a cloth. >> wipe it down if you're using it with the kids. top shop's got something great. and then this bag -- >> this little clutch. >> from buddha, great for summer evenings. it has the chains so you don't have to hold it. >> saying how much it looks like a bottega voneta. you updated kelly's style. >> i loveder hair and her green jacket. >> this is before. >> this is before. she had this great basic brown bag and the white bag really helps it pop. it updates it and makes it spring. >> makes it much more modern. this is a trend i just love. we're seeing it all over the place. not just on the runways but also in handbags. >> everywhere. this is such a great season to get a bag that says who you are. so don't be afraid of a statement bag. it actually is your signature. i love this harper connect bag from diane von furstenberg. it's leopard print hair. but on the back, you can see that there is a hidden ipad

carrier. >> wow, that's cool. >> she makes it in the leopard but also basic colors like tan and black. also fendi, this colorful studded bag. it's such a hit on the runway. >> that's fun. >> it's been in so many magazines. >> really cute. >> rebecca minkoff. i'm a huge fan of her trends in neon. it's a textured tote bag. >> some silk. >> and vince komuta. it's $150 but you get the clutch out of it and it can be a great shoulder bag. >> that's beautiful. >> you can use it during the day or at night. every singlene of these, this nine west and all of these are on the website. i have listed every single one. i've done the homework for you. >> also, you found a woman, whitney, and you updated her style with a patterned handbag. let's see how she looked before. sort of a gray outfit, wintry. >> i wanted to give her that instant pop with a signature bag. so fun. again, all the bags aside from the designer ones on the runway are under $100.

you really can find something that you like. >> you did our shopping for us this morning. thank you so much. for more information on the handbags, you can also find it on bobbie's buzz on today.com. the grinch stole christmas, but who stole the lorax? he's missing. yes, indeed. there's lines that go there right after this. ooh! hey, neighbor. hi. hi. that looks good. yeah, it's the new quaker cookie. oh, quaker's finally making cookies? yeah, this one has chocolate chips, almonds, and, of course, whole-grain oats. uh-huh. so -- mmm. mmm. you just... took a bite of my cookie. what? me? yeah. come on, now. [ male announcer ] yes, quaker's finally making cookies. they're delicious, and made with the whole-grain goodness of quaker oats.

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peanut butter paul. a legend is born. ♪ peanut butter jelly with a baseball bat ♪ back now with a real mystery, a missing lorax of dr. seuss history. >> his statue was nabbed from a california estate. to see how it ends, we'll just have to wait. >> who would steal a beloved character of lore? nbc's mike taibbi has more. >> reporter: the lorax was never the best known of dr. seuss's characters, but the environmental hero of his 1971 children's fable is now a blockbuster animated movie voiced by stars including zac efron, taylor swift and danny devito as the lorax. >> you have been warned. >> reporter: in the first two weeks after its opening, the film took in $122 million in ticket sales. into the very zenith of the nimr's popularity, someone stole into the garden behind the home of dr. seuss's 90-year-old widow shown here ten years ago and

remove the the lorax statue from its base. audrey's daughter, lark, had created two of the statues, one for the seuss memorial in springfield, massachusetts, and the other for this private perch overlooking the pacific. >> it seemed like the perfect spot to put the lorax when i made it for my mother to have it out there in the middle of the garden on the point underneath a beautiful tree. >> reporter: a perfect spot, too, because in the story, the lorax speaks for the trees, tries to save them, and when he fails as lark read from the book, he disappears. >> and deep in the grickel grass, some people say, if you look deep enough, you can still see today where the lorax once stood just as long as it could before somebody lifted the lorax away. >> reporter: police say foot prints were found in the ground around the statue that had been softened by weekend rains. and while gallery owners questioned while a thief could ever sell so iconic a piece, they know limited edition replicas are selling for big money. >> there's a monument size piece

that's five feet tall and it's $45,000. >> did you chop down this tree? >> reporter: what other questions would the lorax expound, would he ask that his statue be hunted by hounds? what if they did sell it for scrap. why who would be next? the cat in the hat? i'm flustered, he'd say. it's such a big mess. i'm meant to be here forever, unless, unless -- >> i'm sure this fellow came with a friend and under cover of darkness and a good stormy night, they snuck in the back way and dragged him off. and the little guy didn't make any kind of sound at all. >> who's to blame? >> bring him in for questioning, both of them. >> grickel grass. that was nbc's mike taibbi. no rhyme. coming up, in your kitchen. first, this is "today" on nbc.

to you by kraft lunchables with fruit. >> in "today's kitchen," springtime is on the menu, and the season is in full bloom in washington, d.c. >> you know, actually, this year marks the 100th year anniversary of the cherry blossom festival. there's no better celebrate than with a cherry blossom-inspired menu. >> we've got sweet and savory dishes created by joe, the chef at west end bistro in the nation's capital. joe, good morning. >> absolutely. thanks for having me. >> life's a bowl of cherries, but they're frozen cherries. >> while we are celebrating the blossoming, the actual fruit doesn't come till the end of june or july. >> you can use frozen. >> definitely. which you're more likely to find on supermarket shelves and you eat out of hand. we like to use sour cherries because it gives you more to work with in terms of acidity. >> we're making a cherry salsa?

>> we are. we're going to show you pickled cherries first and then as a sauce and as a dessert. pickled cherries. >> start with the pickling. >> all righty. pickling is very simple. we've got sugar, red wine vinegar, coriander seed and pickled mustard seed. >> okay. >> we're going to dump essentially all this stuff in here. >> okay. >> no more -- >> sugar. >> no more magic than that. put it on the heat, bring it up to a boil. after that, we're going to pour it over the frozen cherries. while this is still hot, we're going to take a little bit of a leaf which you can find in asian market, maybe whole foods depending whether or not they're carrying it at the moment. >> if you can't find it? >> a little grated lime zest. >> make something else. >> just make it up. >> you can throw anything -- any other sort of thing in there. what we're going to do, to prevent that herb from cooking, to prevent it from losing all the nice fresh floralness that

we want, we're going to ice it down. we're going to cool it down while those start to steep. >> how long do you let it sit there and pickle? >> until it's cool. five minutes, you're good to go. >> okay. >> we've got that finished product here in the bowl. we have some corn here which you can do this. you can do this in the middle of july. absolutely. we've got the corn here. if you want to throw that in there for me. >> thanks. sure. >> throw that in there. we've got lime juice, salt and habanero peppers. we've got a little bit of salt as well because salt makes everything good. exactly. anything too sweet and especially with the sweetness of the corn and the richness of the steak that we're going to put this on top of, it's not going to go well for you. >> that looks delicious. we've got this ribeye. >> i'm observing. waiting for the food. >> if you get away with it, good for you. god bless. >> so this is a great ribeye here. >> a cowboy-cut ribeye, looking

at about 18 ounces. we've got our salsa. this is literally the entirety of what we're doing. you've got your salsa on top of your fresh ribeye there. we've got the ones we had cut up earlier. this is obviously a great dish you could do for a group of people. >> great. >> so easy. that was not hard at all. >> not at all. >> let's get to dessert. what we've done here is we've taken profiterales. you can buy them in the store. use anything you'd normally use for like a strawberry shortcake. >> are these candied cherries? >> the same as over here. pickled cherries. >> still savory. >> sweet components, vanilla ice cream, peach jam. >> that begs the question, is it profiteral without chocolate on it? >> i would argue it is. absolutely. you can dump whatever you want on to there. >> the tartness of the cherries. >> absolutely. that's actually a bourbon peach.

bourbon and peach. >> we like that. >> how long are we talking here preparing this meal? >> 20 minutes. >> 20 minutes. >> thank you. coming up, "ambush makeovers" for lucky ladies out on the plaza right after your local news and weather. >ç/0/0í8