we're back now with more of "today" on a thursday morning, april 26th, 2012. you know, it's a little chilly here in the northeast, has been for the last couple of days. we have 49 degrees right now. going up to a balmy 55. we'll have to deal with it. anyway, matt lauer along with ann curry, savannah guthrie and mr. al roker. and coming up, we're putting "today's professionals" back to work. >> we are. there's a lot to talk about. remember the story we told you about yesterday, a mom whose daughter had disrespected her in front of her friends, then went on the daughter's facebook page. you saw it there. put that red "x" over her mouth. we'll ask the question, is this creative parenting, creative discipline, or was it wrong to

publicly humiliate her child? a lot of people do business travel by themselves and then end up having dinner alone. would you rather have dinner alone, or would you use an online service that found another person to have dinner with? >> that sounds like that travel thing we talked about. >> yeah. it's actually geared toward females. can you find another female to have dinner with. it's not like an online dating thing. >> there you go. >> that's not what they had in mind. and in "today's relationships," if you actually have somebody to eat dinner with, many married couples, they get the kids to bed, you've got to deal with the housework, all that stuff, but it takes effort to keep the spark going this your marriage. we are going to show you and give you advice on how you do that in spite of busy schedules. also, we have ideas on how to inexpensively to do-yourself home decorating. we've got ideas, for example, stick-on backsplashes for tile to fold-up shelves and also some

wall art. that can save you some money and make wrur house look beautiful. >> great. a lot to get to. natalie's waiting at the news desk with all the headlines. federal officials are telling americans to be vigilant in the one-year anniversary of the death of osama bin laden. it does not cite a specific criminal threat, but it says authorities are concerned that lone wolf terrorists might try to use the may 1st anniversary for an attack. today vice president biden is taking on presumptive republican nominee mitt romney in a foreign policy speech in new york. biden says romney's views on foreign affairs would return the u.s., in his words, to the past we have worked so hard to move beyond. meantime, former rival rick perry is now endorsing mitt romney. perry had backed newt gingrich who plans to suspend his campaign next week. homeland security secretary janet napolitano says the secret service prostitution scandal is inexcusable, but she told a

senate committee the incident appears to have been an isolated case. she said the government is now reviewing training rules for secret service employees. more tough questions today for a former aide at the trial of former presidential candidate john edwards. andrew young was grilled wednesday by edwards' defense attorney about apparent inconsistencies in previous statements and in his book. edwards is accused of conspiring to use secret payments from donors to hide his mistress and cover up his affair during the 2008 campaign. scientists in switzerland have demonstrated for the first time how a paralyzed person can control a robot by thinking. electrodes attached to a person's head send information to a computer which then converts the signals into movement. researchers hope to help people who are paralyzed as they interact with their surroundings. and a rescued polar bear cub is getting used to its new surroundings at a russian zoo. ecologists found the four-month-old cub alone near the arctic circle and took it to

their base camp, used a sled, a snowmobile, finally a plane to take it to its new home. look at that face. isn't that a cute face? back out to al with a check of your weather. >> that was such a punum which would in about six months kill you. >> exactly. >> we have a couple of areas of severe weather to tell you about, chattanooga, memphis, possiblity of strong storms. also the threat of strong storms. through central tennessee, we're looking at severe thunderstorm watches and rough weather going on. and we've got wet weather from seattle down to san diego. not quite as heavy as we've had over the last 24 hours. but we are expecting about a half to a quarter inch of a little heavier amounts in the good morning.centr it will be a cool day today. the average high temperature is

in the upper 60's. off and on rain showers and maybe a thunderstorm. got some nice folks out here. what's your names? >> robert gaines. >> steve kozlowski. >> sue gaines. >> david gaines. >> where are you from? >> connecticut. >> are you the spokesperson? i guess so. happy birthday. all right. let's head inside to savannah. ♪ all right, al, thanks. today we've got a two-for-one special with our "today's professionals." pretty good. back to tackle more hot topics this hour. we've got star jones, donny deutsch and she needs no introduction, rosie o'donnell sitting in for dr. nancy.

good morning to all of you. did you have your wheaties? you're ready for round two? we've got an interesting topic to start with, cyber punishment. i'm sure you heard about this. there was a woman who had her daughter disrespect her, and she decided to go on her daughter's facebook page and put a red "x" over the daughter's mouth and tell her friends. ask me about why i'm not allowed on facebook anymore. put it to the panel, rosie, you're new. i'll put you first. do you think this is creative punishment or did this go too far? >> i am never for shaming as punishment. i think it's a horrific thng to do to a kid or to anyone in your life. i don't think it's right. i think you can take away facebook privileges, take away the cell phone as the mother of almost three teens now. that's the only way to control their behavior is you have no access to the internet. i don't think that's the right thing to do. >> i guess the devil's advocate point is you've got to get through to your kids. she's trying to make an impact. >> as the only nonparent here on the panel, i'm thinking to myself, generations past, two generations ago, spanking was the appropriate punishment. then the next generation,

time-outs were the appropriate punishment. so i just question whether or not to keep up with technology, this new form of punishment is a better way to meet kids where they actually are so that it has an impact on them. >> would you do it if you were a mom? >> you know, i don't want to shame my child, but like my kid to understand that if this is where they're going to use their inappropriate behavior, i'm going to use that same forum. >> i have to agree with rosie in that i would never do it. i believe -- now, in this instance, maybe the child, you know, shamed the parents publicly. it's another interesting piece of math of all of a sudden kids online with putting down their parents publicly. >> that's what she did. >> okay, that was the case? star has an interesting point also. it is a new world. having said that, i just would never do it. i'd keep it private. >> take it away from them. just say you have no access to the internet. >> you raise an interesting point. you're saying maybe if it is all fair, an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. is that not parenting?

>> you lower yourself to that standard. >> you're not supposed to discipline kids because you're out of control. you're only supposed to discipline them when your kids are out of control. >> like when they have a play date, one of the girls is acting up, i'll take them in the other room and discipline them. >> tableside racism. there's a new study that found wait staff openly admitting to giving black diners poorer service because they believed they wouldn't get as big of a tip. maybe the poor service is maybe the reason. but does this surprise anybody? >> it didn't surprise me. i won't say i was shocked, but i know that people bring their own biases and prejudices into every single circumstance. and if your only exposure to african-americans is something you see on television, you think when a group of people come in, they're going to be loud, obnoxious, they're not going to tip, if this is what you hear in your community, then you bring that to bear in your work environment. and so although it didn't shock me, it disappointed me that you're not further exposed.

>> i think racism is alive and well in the united states today. i think there's no way to get around that. and did it surprise me? no. >> if anything, the study undercounted it because the people theorized, they don't want to acknowledge their racial biases or maybe aren't even aware of them. >> let me just to shift to the good news. because our generation, no matter how you slice it, there is racism. i look at you and i see black woman, okay? the good news is young kids today, they don't see it that way. they are color-blind. they don't see barack obama as a black president. he's our president. so our generation, it am what it am. it sucks but it is. the great news of the generation coming up, i think we'll have new math. >> when you use the word "black" to describe a person, my kids are offended. they say, why would you say that? the same thing when my grandmother would say "colored." my kids say, "nobody is black, mom." >> when they want to describe

their new friends, i love to hear my nephew go, you know, the one with the glasses and the red hair. that one. he never even thinks to say, the white kid. it's the one with the glasses. >> from the mouths of babes comes with them, we hope. >> don't call me a babe. >> it's never going to happen. >> you're really reaching for that one, donny. >> two days and i've tried to watch him pick up six women. 0 for 6. >> okay. moving on. invite for a bite. this is an interesting idea. a lot of people travel on business. women in particular have said, you know what? i hate that i have to dine alone. it's a little bit embarrassing. so there's this new online service that basically sets women up with other women to sit and have dinner with so you don't have to sit in a restaurant alone. the first question is, do you have any problem sitting alone? >> i'm all for women being set up with other women. >> of course you are. yeah. >> no, i think -- see? why did you go to that? >> because that's where you went, donny. >> exactly. >> shut up.

the thing is, i don't know why it's so hard for people to eat dinner alone. >> i love it. i really do. >> you bring a book or nowadays people bring their ipad. i would rather do that than eat with a stranger, to tell you the truth. so i don't know. i guess if you're very, very worried about that, that it would be good, but i can't imagine ever wanting that. >> that's the one time that you do have to get in touch with yourself. you just can sit quietly and have a nice dinner alone. >> you're star jones and you're rosie o'donnell, i think you're a little more comfortable. nobody's going to look at you guys and go, oh, you can't find somebody to be with. so i think maybe just for a woman traveling on her own, it might be a different story. >> for some women, they may feel like if they sit there alone, men can think they can come pick up on them. >> where's matt? >> okay. it's an interesting idea. we'll move on to another hot topic, and donny we'll definitely want to get in on this. g-spot discovery. okay? apparently a researcher claims that he has found -- this is a retired gynecologist -- that

he's located the elusive g-spot. he found it on a cadaver. >> that's what he's doing in his retirement? >> i don't know what the question is here, but -- >> i want a few men to find the "h" spot, which is get the heck out of here. >> donny. >> i would like to actually ask the women, is there a g-spot? >> i believe there is. >> is there a g-spot? >> i think there is. >> it's interesting. before i saw my company for all kinds of money, i never found the g-spot, after all that money came in, you found the g-spot. >> what was enkcouraging to me, it was found in an 83-year-old woman, and i just turned 50, this is a good thing. >> all joking aside, it is somewhat controversial. others say it's fiction, others say it's real. >> there are studies that show that there's the same part of the male that is prostitute is present in females, it's underdeveloped, and that's what gets stimulated.

i believe it. i think without getting too personal, i think it's true. >> okay. all right. >> be quiet, donny deutsch. >> and you just sit there. >> i'm done. i'm done. you started. you come out and you're, like, donny, what stupid thing are you going to say today? and then i'm thinking in that direction. >> based on experience. here's a fun one for our final topic, kanye or jay-z, president barack obama, important question, are you team kanye or team jay-z? he said jay-z was his favorite. of course, in the past, the president has called kanye a -- can i say this on tv -- okay, jackass. so where do you guys come down? >> i love kanye west. i think he's genius and brilliant. jay-z is one of the guys he wrote for before he became famous. jay-z is sort of mr. rap world and you've got to hail to the king. i think they're both brilliant artists. >> she referred to jay-z as king, she's offended african-americans. i apologize for rosie. >> a lot of money and no one

wants to date him. >> i'm a fan of anybody that uses lyrics that celebrate. i don't like lyrics that use words that you can't say in front of your grandmother. >> okay. >> i think that's inappropriate. >> i like pat boone. >> did you say pat boone? >> yeah. >> who knew? >> jay-z. jay-z. >> all right. they used to ask boxers or briefs, now kanye or jay-z. >> jay-z said he made changes, once he looked into the eyes of his baby girl, he knew there were words he could no longer say. >> it is true. as a man, you act differently. >> maybe after they have a baby, maybe kanye. >> all right. star jones, donny deutsch and rosie o'donnell, thank you very much. >> very nice to meet you. i'm sorry you have to deal with him every week. >> you get to leave but we're all stuck here. >> we're all going away together, actually. >> to puerto rico. next, the secrets to keeping

the spark alive in your relationship. and later, if you've hit a wall trying to redecorate your home, we've got some easy and inexpensive ideas. but first, these messages. josh and joannie and curtis went to college in one. ♪ kevin and carla grew old in one. chloe was born in one, then learned to drive in one. ♪ veronica said yes in one. anna wept in one; joey lost his first tooth in one; rusty and mr. sprinkles came home in one. there are nearly 7 million camry drivers out there. every one of them has a story. what's yours? [ female announcer ] when you give your kids frosted strawberry pop-tarts baked with real fruit, they'll rise and you'll shine. pop-tarts, made for fun. anti-aging cream undeniably. it creamed unbelievably a $500 cream

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[ female announcer ] it's always better when there's a little more to love. (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 "today's relationships," keeping the spark alive in your marriage. it's so easy to get bogged down in the daily grind and busy family life, but there are things you can do to help bring the romance back.

>> elizabeth lombardi, and jeff gardere is a psychologist as well. good morning. good to have you here. >> good to see you both. >> this is something you all see in your practices a lot. the biggest mistake i think a lot of couples are making is they're not prioritizing their marriage. they're prioritizing their lives, their kids, everything else going on, right? >> right. and so you have to take that time to spend some alone time together, alone together. too often we hear the so-called experts like us talking about kids come first, kids come first. kids do come first, but if you don't spend that time together, then it doesn't matter about the kids because there won't be a marriage for the kids to be part of to enjoy. >> and you talk about, a lot of people have this mentality that it's all or nothing. that's really the wrong way to go. >> it absolutely is. you want to be great parents. one of the best ways to be great parents is to be a good, strong couple. be on the same team. be together. you're going to be much more effective as parents. >> all right. so you don't have to spend a lot of money to spend time together.

you don't have to have a big, grand plan, a big date night. you say first things first is start setting some time aside to be together. jeff? >> that's right. and what i like about that is that you can cue into one another and have that adult talk. it's not always talking with the children or taking care of the job and so on. and it lets that person know, your partner know, that you do love them. you are interested in making that marriage work and that intimacy, that emotional intimacy is just as important. though maybe not as fun as the physical intimacy. >> in fact, you also talk, elizabeth, even just the simple thing is via text. >> send a text, say i love you, check in, see how the meeting with, reminisce about a brief encounter you had. let him know you're thinking about him. >> the number one complaint i hear from my patients, the women say the men just don't text enough. and it's just like the men don't talk enough. >> right. >> it is just a very easy thing. three words.

"i love you." "how are you doing?" but do that maybe three, four, five times a day. i think there's a new program out there. you can write the text in the morning and then they release them through the day so guys, try that one. >> get it all done at once. all right. you say you should find time to do fun things together, learn to have fun again. >> if you have fun when you go out, and you should try to go out, have those date nights. you don't have to spend a lot of money. but if you're having fun together, that means more fun in the marriage, the more excited you are. and the thing that i love and i know al is on board with this, work out with your spouse. i mean, we all need to exercise. and that's a great thing because you're doing it as a team. >> we took a swim lesson together yesterday. >> wow. >> you were terrific. oh, you mean you. one of the things i think we overlook because it's human nature, we tend to complain about what we don't like about our spouse, but we need to find

the best in the things that we love about our spouse. >> absolutely. when we're stressed, overwhelmed and exhausted, we tend to focus on the negative. and that makes us feel negatively towards the other person. so i really challenge people to look for the positive things in your spouse. and every day write down at least one thing that you appreciate in your spouse. just one thing. and at the end of the week, share it with them. let them know what you love about them. >> or you can even text it to them. >> exactly. >> strength based and not deficit based where you're looking at all of the bad things. if you begin to look at the positive things and count your blessings as to what your partner does, then all of a sudden, some of the negative things they do don't really matter as much. and you're giving them a lot of positive reinforcement and reward. so they can keep doing the good things. >> keep that line of communication open. keep talking to each other. jeff gardere, elizabeth, great to have you both here. coming up, lucky ladies from

the plaza are going to get ambushed with makeovers. but first, these messages. beth! 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. now you can brew over ice for delicious iced coffee or tea. hot or cold, keurig is the way to brew everyone's favorite cup in under a minute. choose, brew, enjoy. keurig.

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>> live, local, latebreaking. this is a wbal-tv 11 news update. >> what morning this morning. storm system going through, the heaviest rain concentrated to the south of us cloudy skies. it will be tough to warm up, too. 60 to 65 for the high temperature today. sonny tomorrow.

are you on the federal do-not-call list? >> we are on the do-no-call list. >> how's that working? >> not very well. >> complaints about telemarketer calls are skyrocketing even after that do-not-call list went into effect. tomorrow we'll track down one company some consumers say is behind some of those unwanted calls. it's a "rossen reports investigation" only on "today." >> does make people angry. >> especially when you get calls from meat company. >> every day on my cell phone from some certain meat company. >> is the call from a filet or a ribeye? >> i wish it was a filet. >> you're on the do-not-call

list. just ahead, giving your home a face-lift from decorative decals to tiled tattoos for your kitchen or even your bath. bobbie thomas has creative products that will add a little punch of personality to your home. >> i got a prank call from a pork chop the other day. >> what did it say? >> i don't want to get into it. we're adding a bunch of flavor to your strip steak. this one's not calling you. with pineapple and jalapeno salsa. also, bleu cheese burger bites and a no-bake cheesecake for your next backyard barbecue. >> that sounds really good. first you've got a check of the weather. >> i do indeed. let's look at your weekend. starting tomorrow, rain in the pacific northwest, heavy rain in the northern plains. slight risk in the central mississippi river valley. sunny and warm and hot from texas, gulf coast. saturday, nice day in the northeast. a little on the windy side and cool. rain in the mid-atlantic states. wet snow. sunny and mild through the southern-tier states. then sunday, sunday!

we expect sunny and cool weather into the great lakes. morning shower as long the mid-atlantic coast. wet weather in the plains. sunny and hot in the southwest >> good morning. it looks like we will deal with some rain today. scattered light rain showers this morning and they could pick up in intensity this afternoon.

no more steaks! >> what about the other white meat? >> enough about me. coming up, we'll switch gears and show you accents for every room of your homecoming up right after this. eat good fats. avoid bad. don't go over 2000... 1200 calories a day. carbs are bad. carbs are good. the story keeps changing. so i'm not listening... to anyone but myself. i know better nutrition when i see it: great grains. great grains cereal starts whole and stays whole. see the seam? more processed flakes look nothing like natural grains. you can't argue with nutrition you can see. great grains. search great grains and see for yourself. for multi grain flakes that are an excellent source of fiber try great grains banana nut crunch and cranberry almond crunch.

causing dark marks to become visible. dove has the effective solution. new dove clear tone antiperspirant with calendula and sunflower seed extracts. it moisturizes to help accelerate natural skin renewal processes... helping skin to repair itself while still keeping you dry. the result? underarms with visibly reduced dark marks... and an even tone. new dove clear tone. ♪ [ female announcer ] when you give your kids frosted strawberry pop-tarts baked with real fruit, they'll rise and you'll shine. pop-tarts, made for fun.

they'll rise and you'll shine. i brought champagne. oh wow! best in the world. oikos greek yogurt from dannon. so creamy thick and fresh tasting dannon oikos berry flavors beat chobani 2:1 in a national taste test. mmmm... this may be the best in the world. oikos greek yogurt. [ beso, agents, why did i make you wear these costumes? because the new avengers movie is coming out. and what does that have to do with us? we're the superheroes of insurance. [ makes whooshing sound ]

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editor bobbie thomas has affordable accents for your home. >> good morning. >> we're moving into our home line. >> you can express yourself at home. these are really stylish ideas. easy and inexpensive. i love them. >> let's get to them. these decorative decals. you're showing us how you can jazz up a couple of pieces here from ikea. >> specifically ikea is so popular. people really love the furniture. it's affordable and accessible. this company is creative and they call themselves mykea. they've created a bunch of decals that specifically fit pieces of ikea furniture so you can personalize anything from a small table. >> that's cute for a kid's room. >> kids motifs to even these decals for the drawers. i love this chest. it almost looks 3-d, personal and custom and inexpensive. you can do something for the kids, whimsical or even kind of quirky. this is a record player. you could customize a table with, too. lots of ideas. >> what was an ordinary piece of

white furniture more extraordinary. we like that. okay. now over here, we've got some other great ideas for people who like to change up their decor. >> yeah. this is such a personal favorite of mine. wallpaper is something that people kind of, oh, that's a lot of work to put up. >> hard to do. >> you can't take it down. designyourwall.com has solved that problem with wallpaper tiles which are just big stickers. i love this fun -- this is something that i would love to put in my office. >> yeah. >> you can get almost any motif. they'll even custom create something. i did this myself on plywood. >> easy to apply. >> literally they're stickers, and you peel on. you can reposition them. take them off and use them somewhere else. so it's great for renters or somebody who wants just a temporary wallpaper accent. >> yeah, because wallpaper is hard so install. that's easy, great. also fun, quirky doors. >> yes. we have really fun, quirky doors. you could really take this to another level on a child's door in the room to have a giant teddy bear. you could even have the accent of a bathroom if your bathroom's

not as neat, you could have this faux bathroom on your door. >> good idea. that's so funny. >> other designs, you can even do this for your garage. they have really fun garage motifs, too, because if your garage door is something that's just kind of -- >> there you go, i like that one. >> you could have the beach theme. there's so many whimsical ideas. i love this. >> over here if you want to add more texture to your walls, you have great ways to dress up your tile. >> the bathroom and kitchen, when you look into renovations, again, my gooden, it's so expensive. so this is such a great idea from twojane.com. these are decals. you can peel them off and put them on your tiles. and they'll stay and you can take them off so they're not permanent. you can do this for a kid's bathroom so when they get older, you can take the animals off. you can instantly redo the kitchen backsplash. this kitchen even gives you laminates for your windows for a frost design. >> look over here.

i love these ideas. >> this is about texture. this is something that when you go into a modern hotel, again, thousands of dollars for an architect to build a wall out of wood. these are fantastic from inhabit living. these are called wall flats. they're really lightweight. they feel like air. you can cut them and customize them to any wall. and you can paint over them. so you can make them match your wall so it will look like they don't go away. >> then you've got these little wall flowers. >> this is just a canvas. i painted it in half myself to show you can do this on a piece of art or on your wall. these are wall flowers, no pun intended. they give you something different. it's all these kind of interesting effects you see in a restaurant or hotel that make it look so stylish and cool and new. >> it looks line sententencilli. >> it's like filigree. these come six to a pack. and you can hook them together to create a hanging wall divider, to separate an office space from your bedroom. this is a really great way to add a little shimmer without

overpowering a room. the pictures online at breaux cade.com are fantastic. you have to see how they really add this elegant sort of curtain to a room that's melmellalic met that time metallic. >> this can be a planter or anything. >> this is a first look. this is so brand new that i got the artist to send us his rivelli artwork. this is artwork that transforms into a shelf. you could put glasses on here, a vase, you could even put books and you can customize after your put up the base bracket, these are just magnetic pieces of art that you could, for $25, switch up the art. >> you can do whatever you want. >> or make your own art. >> real quickly because we're running out of time. >> these are woolly pockets. if you don't have enough space for a garden, can you put the garden on your wall. they come small. >> even kids' toys. >> and another fantastic idea are flower toppers. if you don't want to fill a

whole giant vase with foil and water. >> great idea. >> a couple dollars, you can do the top. >> brilliant. bobbie thomas, thank you so much. for more about any of these products, you can always find "bobbie's buzz" on today.com. we we love the water. a new book that is making a splash. while you'll love this steak, the perfect recipe for your backyard recipe. [ cellphone rings ] hey honey! mom, we're dying. no you're not, you're just hungry. make some totino's pizza rolls.

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closing in, swimming pools and beach bumming may be on the top of your mind, so we thought it was a good time to look at the pleasures and the history of swimming. former television correspondent and now author lynn sherr has a new book titled "swim why we love the water." you're dressed in watery blue. >> i couldn't help it. >> you're color coordinated. >> i am. >> you have such a fascinating repertoire. you have written books about giraffes, about the song "america the beautiful," and now swimming. is there a common thread here? >> the common thread is me. these are all things i am passionate about, and i need to find out everything i need -- i know to know about a subject. i love to swim. it makes me feel good. it's magical and transports me, and i wanted to know why. what i've discovered is swimmers also love swimming and want to know these things. >> and you learn a lot in this book. one thing i noticed is that dolphins swim at a 60% efficiency rate, humans only 10% to 12%.

one could make the argument that humans aren't meant to swim. >> i do agree with that. we are meant to be land animals. we have lungs, we have legs, we walk and yet we are fascinateded by water. there's a draw, a magnetism, there's a magic about it. and when you're in the water, i think it's the best full-body massage available. i think it's the cheapest antidepressant you can ever get. and you are emerge from the water smiling. i always come out of the pool or the lake or the ocean with a huge smile on my face. and most people do. >> and we talked about in terms of a form of exercise, it's so much easier on your body especially as we age. >> as you get o-l-d-e-r, no joints pounding on the pavement. no knees. no arms. you just feel better. and psychologically, it's also a boost. and there's also some evidence that the fountain of youth may indeed be chlorinated. that, in fact, doing that swim may keep you younger. >> we're all for that. let's talk about this historic body of water between europe and

asia. you swam it. and it's really the bedrock of your story. tell us about it. >> the narrative goes through the book. and i decided i needed an adventure, a challenge. and this is the hellespont, the body of water dividing europe from asia in western turkey just as it gets to the agean. i swam with swimmers all over the world. i trained for it. savannah, i was a lap swimmer, a lazy lap swimmer. i thought, i've got to do something. and i trained. i worked out. i got my endurance up, and i did it. >> wow! >> i did it. i swam the hellespont like lord byron did it in 1810. >> you're a pool swimmer. it must be very intimidating to get in a body of water like that. >> i was very scared about the current and the jellyfish. and the current that day blessedly were reasonably mild. i still fought quite a bit of current. and the only jellyfish i encountered were nonstingers.

i got lucky that day, but it was a challenge. but i loved doing it. >> you cover all aspects of swimming. of course, bathing suit season is right around the corner. while we may all complain about our bathing suit choices, they really had it bad a few years ago. you kind of get into that. >> well, we went from bloomers to bikinis in a little over a century. it's quite extraordinary we used to have to swim in suits that went down to our ankles, not an inch of flesh was allowed to show. there's an image of a policeman on a beach measuring a woman's skirt. you could only have eight inches of flesh showing above your knee. >> can i just say, i'm ready to go back to those days. i think some of us would be relieved. real quickly, the celebrities of the time, esther williams, swimming was the thing. >> it was. we paid money to go to the theater to watch movie stars swim. she was my hero. i wanted to be esther williams. i wanted to be gorgeous, have that smile, be that athletic, and i wanted my hair not to move in the water.

>> she was quite inspiring, as are you. lynn sherr, thank you so much. >> thanks, savannah. >> the book is called "swim, why we love the water." next, firing up the grill this summer for delicious bleu cheese burger bites. first, this is "today" on nbc. [ female announcer ] with xfinity, you can always expect more. like more on demand shows and movies than ever. and more ways to discover them too. plus more speed from america's fastest internet provider.

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this morning on "today's kitchen," we're grillin' and chillin' with a strip steak. and pineapple jalapeno salsa. rory is the owner and chef of the boothill saloon and grill in vegas, texas. and rory, you've got an interesting decor at your restaurant. >> i do. it's set up like the late 1800s. all the girls are dressed up like dance hall girls. i'm being politically correct right now. >> thank you very much. not how you described it earlier. we're making a grilled strip steak. why do you like strip steak? >> because it's in between the

line, if you like fillway, r ribeye, you've got strip right in the middle. how do you like your meat? >> cooked like you're going to do it right now. a little salt and pepper? >> a little salt and pepper. what we're going to do -- i'll let you do. >> any olive oil on this? >> we've already got it on. go for it. >> how long we going to cook this? >> medium rare. probably four minutes on each side. >> you are going to top it with a pineapple jalapeno. >> pineapple jalapeno salsa. women need to get into meat. therefore we're going to make it a little girly. add some color. >> a little girly. >> look how easy it is. you're going to make this. >> chopped up pineapple. >> chopped up pineapple, add bell peppers, red onions and tomatoes and give it a little spice, jalapeno. and then to really kick it up a notch, some cajun seasoning. you want that sweetness. then we're going to add pineapple juice. you let that sit for probably 30 minutes to really get those flavors -- you could make it overnight.

>> could you leave this in the fridge overnight? >> absolutely. one thing i didn't talk about is your meat resting. do you let your meat rest, al? >> every chance i get. >> that's the way to do it, al. >> otherwise the juices flow. >> i also let it rest before i even put it on the grill. >> in other words, let it get to room temperature? >> yeah, it makes it more tender. we've let it rest. we're going to cut it on the bias which just means on a slant. look at this. look at how perfect that is. >> that is lovely. >> all right. and then we just plate it up real quick. >> mm-hmm. >> fan it out. and then we add our pineapple jalapeno salsa. >> on top there. >> right on top. look at that. beautiful. and then, now, if you're not into the steak, we're going to move over to the burgers. >> this is an interesting burger because it's a bleu cheese burger. >> it's special. >> but you've got the bleu cheese on the inside. >> on the inside. >> how come? >> because you want to surprise people. you have guests over. you want to surprise them. look at this. well, you can't really tell. >> because it's melted in. >> it's melted in. >> you don't want it to

overpower. >> you don't want it to overpower. use any type of cheese you want. hi, ladies. >> hello. >> that's the one thing i love. what are your favorite toppings? >> bacon and the cheese if we had it, but that's okay. >> the cheese is in the center so you don't need it. and then this is an awesome banana blueberry pie with cream cheese. you could stick it in the freezer. these are all great ideas for summertime. >> rory, thank you so much. we love you. >> we can eat now, right? just ahead, instant ambush makeovers. plus, how to look and feel 20 years younger. first your local news. have a great day. we believe keeping kids healthy can start with healthy hands.

with the lysol no-touch hand soap system healthy hands can be automatic. for healthy tips and more, visit lysol.com/missionforhealth.