with more tuesday morning, 17th of july, 2012. this is a 12-year-old whose talent is helping him burn up the internet. he's in our studio as you can see, and find out how he became a viral rage. i'm matt lauer with savannah guthrie. we're back with more "today," tuesday. >> any parents who will buy a drum set is cool. >> i wanted drums and never had

them. >> he's putting it to good use. we'll meet him in a few minutes. we'll meet someone who turned the phrase, life's a beach, into reality making sand sculptures, turning it into a living. jane pauley is here turning this daydream into a reality for him. the story of a self-made millionaire set out to build the biggest house in america, documented it all but the economic crisis caused it all to fall to pieces. all captured in a documentary getting a lot of buzz. we'll meet the mom who is behind that story coming up in a few minutes. >> a lot to get to. let's go inside. natalie standing by at the news deching. she has a check of all the headlines. hi, natalie. >> good morning, matt and savannah. good morning, everyone. a nightmare aboard four delta flights when passengers find needles in the sandwiches served to them. one passenger was injured by the needles. they are working to investigate how the needles got into

sandwiches prepared by the company's caterer in amsterdam. there's growing speculation about what could be mitt romney's biggest decision before election day, his choice of a vice presidential running mate. reports suggest he could make an announcement as early as this week. but a top romney adviser insists no decision has been made. damaging new evidence for george zimmerman as he awaits her second degree murder trial for shooting death of unarmed teen trayvon martin. among the newly released documents, a witness interview in which a young woman a little he sexually assaulted her for years. zimmerman's attorney said it should have been kept from public view as claims are not relevant to the days case and could jeopardize his client's right to a fair tile. he has pleaded not guilty. a drought covers more than half of the continental united states. the weather channel's eric fisher in washington, d.c. with more. good morning, eric.

>> reporter: good morning natalie, hello, everybody. last year $14 million in disasters, not floods, tornadoes, hurricanes this was expensive, it was the drought. the weather we've seen has serious implications. even though it's hot and humid for many across the country, the rain still refuses to fall. brown fields and dried up lake beds scatter the midwestern landscape. >> it's just devastating. it looks like what i count as desert. >> reporter: 55% of the country is now dealing with drought conditions, the highest reported condition since 1956, hitting farmers especially hard. 26 states have counties that have declared disaster areas. >> the heat has been a big factor, the lack of rainfall combined with that have created a tremendous deficit in moisture. >> reporter: with corn crops diminishing, consumers everywhere can expect to see corn prices rising.

with two weeks left to go, multiple cities from denver to washington, d.c. have recorded all-time high temperatures for july leaving people and pets alike sweltering in the heat and humidity. and state governments have started stepping in to try and help their communities cope. among them illinois governor pat quinn spoke out on monday. >> i want to make sure everyone in illinois agriculture knows that welcome together as a family. we count on our farmers. we're going to help you when you need a helping hand. >> reporter: in neighboring indiana, indianapolis has seen its driest spell on record. those records go back to the 1800s. in terms of the heat we won't find relief for the great lakes and northeast as we head to the weekend but the middle of the country will continue to bake. >> eric fisher in washington, d.c. try to stay cool there. thanks so much, eric. actor charlie sheen is doing some good saluting the u.s. military with one of the largest donations ever to the uso.

sheen has pledged at least $1 million to a uso program that helps wounded and sick soldiers and their families. the donation 1% of the profit from his new sitcom anger management could grow even larger if the show is a hit. after a decade long hiatus, no doubt is getting the band back together. their new song 'n' settle down" is a return to their musical roots. check it out. ♪ >> gwen stefani hasn't settled down since they released the album she's been touring as a solo artist. good to see them back together again. now to al. out in the new kitchen. >> i'm inside. right now we're in "house

beautiful" magazine's kitchen of the year. it's america's dream kitchen. it's a joint feature. this the fifth year they built a fully functioning state-of-the-art kitchen. this is the butler's pantry in here. very nice. they have even got sinks, extra icemakers, all kinds of neat stuff. we'll show you the rest of this kitchen in just a little bit. let's get caught up on what's going on as far as our weather is concerned. air conditioning very important in a kitchen like this. a heat wave, 17 states stretching from the midwest to the northeast and new england for heat advisories, excessive heat warnings as well. heat intensifies, up to 100 degrees in parts of st. louis, onto cincinnati. but the heat advisories and feels like temperature well over 100. last week the jet stream to the north. as you look at it this week, it actually spreads out so that heat is going to extend from the rockies all the way to the

southeast, mid-atlantic states, jet stream stays to the north. the drought is a big problem. as you can see those areas of high pressure ridges right on top of where there's extreme to exceptional drought put the radar into motion, see a little shower activity around those drought regions but nothing that's really going to help. >> looking to be another hot today. we are expected to move into the upper 90 possible later today. not as humid this afternoon. >> and that's your latest weather. savannah. >> all right, al. thanks again. a canadian boy getting a lot of attention on the internet for

incredible drumming skills after his father post add video to him jamming to the foo fighter song "pretender." seven-year-old jackson is with us along with his proud father. good morning. >> good morning. >> jackson, are you ready to rock? >> yes. >> how come you like the drums? >> i don't know. i just feel really good at them. i practice every day. >> yeah, you are really good at it. kevin, i think as a parent, you look at your kid, you think they are multi-talented. how did you become aware he had this musical interest, musical talent. >> from a young age, the age of one, he took spoons on our coffee table and put to my wife's horror, 500 dents in a brand-new coffee table. we thought what's going on here. at the age of two, with tooth brushes every morning. we thought what is going on. it evolved from chop sticks on

the house. we got his first kit when he was 3 years old. he totally taught himself. it's like 100% jackson. i don't know how he did it. watching live concerts of bands i like on tv, watch what they do and now it flows out of him. >> are you guys musical at all? >> i love music. i hear what he hears but i can't put it on a kit. both my teachers were music teachers. my wife is a dancer, so music there, too. >> no formal training whatsoever. have you thought to give him formal training to guide him along? >> for sure. he just turned seven. he's at the age where he might listen to a teacher. before, no way he would listen. >> how about the response. you put it on youtube. >> unreal. >> did you think people would get a kick out of it. >> once or twice a year i put videos on from three up. people responded to it, enjoyed watching him. this is one i put on about five months ago. for about five months it had

2,000 views, then, boom, like 400,000 views in the past week. it really is amazing to me, here is some video of him when he was 3 years old, his very first concert. i think one of the things i wanted to say is that people are going through tough times in life and people have heavy things going on. if for three minutes they see jack and he puts a smile on their face, that's a gift. we can talk about the fact he was born at one pound, okay, and if there are any parents out there that are in the nicu with their kids, it's a long haul. maybe -- there's a pic i took when he was two months old. any parents going through this, there's a beacon of light. >> do you feel like playing some drums? >> yeah. >> go for it. ♪

♪

>> thank you, jackson. we would say drum roll, please. we got the drum roll. you're a cool dad to give the drums. >> somebody will be calling them soon wanting him to join along. >> he'd be cool with that. coming up next jane pauley on a man who gave up the daily grind and found his life calling

at the beach. later we'll throw shrimp on the barbie in dream kitchen but first these messages. ♪ you do

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today's tributer jane pauley has been working with the aarp who produced and sponsored a series of reports for us. today jane is here with the story of an artist who did what a lot of people dream about, give up the grind and head to the beach. >> thank you. found his life calling at the beach. it wasn't the surf or the sun, it was the sand.

there aren't more than 400 professional sand sculptures in the world. curtis one of the best. >> my life, it's crazy. it's really fun. >> who knew sand carving was even a job. and you're making a living at this. >> yes. >> making works of art and building an impressive client list. >> google, facebook, yahoo! took us to cannes. >> behind this is a story. he was a trained artist and cabinetmaker. he had a cabinet shop in oakland. >> i was going through a divorce. i had a depressing job. i needed to sort of destress myself. >> so he went to the beach. >> at a time when i was very depressed. and i built a sand sculpture. and it's like the sun rose on

all the horizons at the same time. >> how do you -- >> i'll show you. >> there was people coming by. they were saying oh, that's cool, man. that's really cool. i knew that the beach was going to take my life. >> but not overnight. you were doing this weekend thing at the beach, right? >> yes. it was therapy. go to the beach and make a sand castle. >> then one day he got an off to make one in italy, but he was jammed at work. >> i had never been to europe. so i'm on the phone and i'm saying i can't go. >> you thought you were handcuffed. >> i gave myself six months to quit my job. >> and he's traveled the world every since. >> now i'm constantly in these beautiful places making art with happy people. it's so intoxicating. i've never had those moments

before in my old life. >> you know what i like is that it has the distinct components where each of your personalities are involved, yet it comes all together as one. >> definitely. you're a natural. >> you did a sculpture, doesn't say tomorrow, next year, doesn't say forever, just say "today." >> ta da! it's here now and it will be gone tomorrow. >> how do you correct a mistake. >> you make mistakes, things fall. things collapse sometimes. this is just like life. sometimes you work hard on something and it collapses and you start over again. >> curt has built a new life in sand. >> did it surprise you that you had to turn 50 before you figured that out. >> i'm kind of bummed by that, you know.

i go on projects seeing young carvers out there living the life thinking, damn, they are lucky. >> but he knows he's lucky, too. >> what a person should do if they are really dissatisfied is just find something that feeds your soul, that gets your excited. don't quit your job. just make that a bigger part of your life, because that's going to give you the balance that you need. >> kirk has another piece of advice. if you go to the beach to build, take a shovel, a real one, and be prepared to move some sand. it's hard physical labor. the reality check, i'll face it, this is a fantasy job. yet he was able to marry his skills as an artist and carpenter in a whole new way. i hope you'll join me for my

internet radio call-in show at 10:00 eastern time at aarp.org/jane. >> i love his metaphor on life, when a mistake happens, a sculpture falls, you get back in there and build it right back. jane pauley, thanks so much. coming up, we head to the plaza for a gourmet meal in a gourmet state-of-the-art kitchen but first these messages. [ female announcer ] looking for a bit of indulgence? look no further than the new chocolate chip frappé from mccafé. bits of chocolate chips in every sip, blended into mocha and caramel,

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>> live, local, latebreaking. this is a wbal-tv 11 news update. >> good morning. high-pressure pushing into the east, this is putting heat and humidity our way. a cold front will come in from the north and that brings relief towards the end of the week. for today, highs in the upper

natalie versus natalie. who wins? >> ready, go. that's it. there you go. get the push. good, good, good. turn. a little closer this time. double. good. >> wait! >> wow. >> she killed me. that's right, natalie versus natalie. i'm trying to keep up with a decorated olympic swimmer heading to her third olympic games in london at the ripe old age of 29. we'll have more of our visit with her as we count down to london tomorrow on "today." i love spending time with her. >> you're in terrific shape for her to dust you like that.

>> she blew me away. her back muscles are like this. they are crazy. i'm natalie morales with al roker. al is going to go check out that cool, beautiful kitchen across the street. >> we have the "house beautiful" dream kitchen, throw some tlimp on the barbie, a great asparagus scallion grilled salad. >> from a dream kitchen to a dream home. a 90,000 square foot palace being built by a billionaire couple who had it all until, like most americans, the recession hit them hard, really hard. we'll have that story coming up. then a little later while you're sweating it out on this heat wave, down right chilly for animals who keep their cool in hottest, driest places on earth. he's giving you the hawkeye. >> the hawk is out tonight. >> a check of the weather for us. you better give a good forecast. >> let's see what we've got for you.

first of all, risk of strong storms, northern new england, northern plains as well as a cooling front. south of that, temperatures well above 90, into the 100s with heat indexes well above 100 degrees. then for tomorrow looking at a risk of strong storms in the northeast as that front sags to the south. sizzling conditions in the midsection of the country, few showers along coastal pacific northwest. heat continues in texas, >> another hot day in store. upper 90's by this afternoon. a very hot outside.

>> and that's your latest weather. >> thank you, al. coming up neck, billionaires building the biggest house in america until the recession hit hard right after this. it's olive garden's 2 for $25. all the salad and breadsticks you want. 2 appetizers made for sharing. then 2 entrées from 6 of our favorites. like new spaghetti with 4 cheese meat sauce & meatballs. 3 courses, 2 people, just $25. at olive garden.

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i was worried about 'em, you know? i mean for instance my mom went to bed tonight before making my dinner. which is fine, i mean i, i know how to make dinner. it just starts to make you wonder. is this what happens when you age? my friends used to say i was the lucky one. i had the fun parents. where's the fun now? night guys! [ sighs ] ♪ [ male announcer ] venza. from toyota. mom! look what i found in the shed! no! no! no! ♪ were you guys just making out in here? what? no! really, cold cuts from a package? yes. [ male announcer ] it's nice to finally say "yes." new oscar mayer selects. it's yes food.

a new documentary is getting rave reviews. it follows a florida couple, david and jackie siegel, who set out to build the biggest house in america inspired by the versailles in france. during the building the recession hit and their opulent style began to crumble.

>> it's more like a riches to rags story. >> good morning, nice to have you both here. >> hi. >> jackie, let me just take a look at this house. 90,000 square feet. has a bowling alley, two movie theaters, 2,000 square foot closet. why all this space? >> it kind of got a life of its own. we have a big family. and i wanted a bowling alley for the kids. we kept adding on on paper. >> absolutely beautiful from where you see it. i understand it's still unfortunately in production, being developed, the house. >> we are going to finish the house. if anybody wants to buy it for $100 million, they can. >> a small price to pay. >> we're definitely going to -- if we don't sell it, we're going to live there. >> the movie takes place over a two-year period. we really see, as we heard your husband talk about, this was a riches to rags story, how your

life took a turn during the recession. you had it all, then you faced the unforeseen here. and in this case, nearly losing the house, right? >> the house was never in jeopardy. we did have some setbacks that stop construction on the house. my husband had to self-finance the company with his own money since the bank cut back, but the house, we were never going to lose it. >> were you worried about how revealing this film would get? it gets very personal and emotional. >> it does. it gets very personal. i think towards the end of the film, my husband got mad at the cameras following us around all the time, although i loved it. i love being in front of the camera. >> as a filmmaker you probably had a different idea where this would go. for you to land what ends up being a truly all american story during the recession, tell me about that process? >> we actually filmed for a three-year period. it started -- i'm a photographer and i've been working many years

on a project about wealth and consumerism and the american dream. i met jackie in 2007 at a party for versace and she told me about building the biggest house and i was hooked. we started building. i realized david had a bigger dream, he was building the tallest time share building ever built, 52-story tower on the strip and at a cost of $600 million. when this building turned out to be the overreach in the crisis. both vegas and versailles when they went into default and david was looking at foreclosure of both properties, at that point the story became an allegory about the overreaching of america and a story so many of us have seen during the crisis and actually that i photographed all over the world from foreclosure cities in california to the crash in dubai to the real estate debacle in long island. >> that's why so many people relate. in a lot of ways, jackie, what

we see you and your husband go through is to show how you're able to pull through during these times. a lot of us can't relate to the wealth you have but certainly can relate to the struggle. is that what you want viewers to take away from seeing your documentary? >> well, i would like to let them know that we do have a happy ending. we made it through this recession period that all of america went through. people buy and sell real estate all the time. las vegas was one project, one building. we still have 27 resorts. doing great. we're rehiring. that's what we wanted to get out. >> as i said, the documentary is getting rave reviews. you won best director at sundance, so congrats to you. good luck with the project with the filming and the house in versailles. thank you so much. the movie again called "the queen of versailles." up next, heading outside for a gourmet meal whipped up in a state-of-the-art kitchen.

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two, three. we're here at "house beautiful" magazine's kitchen of the year on rockefeller plaza. we have chef mark murphy from the landmark restaurant in new york. good to see you. >> nice to see you. >> we're talking about as simple a recipe as you can possibly get done without spending too much time at the grill. what i found was neat, asparagus and grilled scallion salad. >> keeping the grill thing going. taking a little herbs

deprovence, thyme, rosemary, lavender. >> clean the shrimp. >> absolutely. clean them off, throw in the herb, olive oil, skewer them up. >> you've got bamboo skewers here. you want to soak the skewers, right? >> absolutely. we've got them soaking right here. especially when you're doing this outside. you don't want the skewers catching fire. >> that's bad. >> it imparts a bad flavor to the shrimp is really the problem. >> you pick them up. >> and the skewer is gone. >> the whole idea of the skewer is to have the skewer. >> you can get fancy and put it on a rosemary stick, a little more complicated. >> tried that. >> grill pans here. almost forgot salt and pepper. >> whoa, whoa, whoa. >> can't forget salt and pepper, definitely can't forget that. grilling indoors in this beautiful kitchen which they

have set up out here which is kind of cool. >> if you were to do this outside on a charcoal grill, obviously it's not going to take that long. >> no, probably two or three minutes on either side. i'm also using the grill, i did this before you got here, grilled up some asparagus and scallions here. we're going to make a little salad. we're going to take the salad while they are grilling, chop it quickly. >> want you to get out of there. move on. there you go. this is about as simple as you get scallions and asparagus don't take that long to grill. >> two or three minutes. the great thing about this, can you do it ahead of time. that's one thing, when you invite people over, you probably want to hang out with your friends. >> family not so much but friends. >> depends who you are having offer. sherry shallot vinegarette. you can use whatever vinegarette you want.

finish off with chopped parsley. once again, let's not forget our salt and pepper. if you don't season your food, it's not going to taste good. this is a simple recipe. get the shrimp out of there. >> when people do kebabs, what's the secret. you have the vegetable, protein on there, they don't get done at the same time. how do you do that? >> that's why they pay us a lot of money as chefs to time everything correctly. now the shrimp are ready. this is a grill pan that works well even on the induction stoves. of course very simple. see that? >> that is fantastic. >> there you go. you can serve these up. wait. i forgot the lemons. i grilled them ahead of time. grill them off. the heat bursts open pods of flavor, juice in there. so when you squeeze your lemon a lot easier and juice comes out.

i grill lemons all the time. serve them with chicken, lamb, everything. really, really good. pretty simple. >> fantastic. >> these other ones are cooking. they will be ready later. the crew can have them later. >> love it. good to see you. landmark restaurant. >> thank you very much. coming up, great animals that know how to stay cool in the heat. but first, "today" on nbc. [ male announcer ] now at your neighborhood subway: the new santa fe steak melts. get extra grande flavor with the santa fe steak & bacon melt. juicy steak, crispy bacon, and melted cheese with creamy santa fe caesar. or try adding egg for a santa fe steak, bacon & egg melt -- a favorito for breakfast but muy bueno any time of day. get to your local subway and claim your steak today -- with new santa fe steak melts. subway. eat fresh.

this morning on "today's" call of the wild, animals that can beat the heat. david from the national wildlife federation has creatures that can survive in the hottest, driest places on the planet. governing. >> absolutely. i have animals. sorry. >> i'm sorry. >> all the animals today -- here we go. these are all adapted to survive in the heat. we've been having a heat wave

this summer. in fact, sort of the warmest year on record. they adapt. camels can live without water for weeks, sometimes even months at a time and they don't store water in their hump by the way. that's the first question. you want to hold the bottle? >> what's the hump? >> the hump is fat to survive the harsh environment. you check out nose and eyes, long eye lashes, shut nostrils which helps keep sand out in a desert environment. they can lose up to four times as much water in their bodies than human beings. their body temperatures are higher than ours. it takes them longer to start sweating which helps them conserve water. >> what about spitting. >> camels have personalities like people. >> hold it up higher like that. you want to give it a go? >> sure. >> sometimes when they are not happy they will spit on you. >> this is a species

semidomesticated originally found in africa, middle east. these are the pack animals in those areas because they can survive extreme hit. >> what's the difference between one lump or two. >> different species. this is a dromedary camel. the two is a different species camel. >> so our next animal i'm going to come behind you here. we have a lizard. this is a spiny tailed lizard. i think it's beautiful. i know not everybody likes reptiles. look at that gorgeous coloration. they are known, they live in africa, for basking in temperatures up to 120 degrees. they love heat. i will tell you, these animals are adapted for this. even species like this are not going to be able to survive. climate change is already happening. lots of animals losing their habitat and not able to survive in the changes we're seeing in the temperatures. >> camo on his shell. >> if you want to touch him. >> how do they get water?

>> mostly through the food they eat. they are vegetarians. the plants have their liquid. >> amazing. we have a bamboo. >> bamboo. >> this is a hawk that lives in the desert southwest. >> natalie wants to hold the hawk. >> i'm staying far from the hawk. >> check out the talons. they use those to catch prey. the prey are not very dense there. this species has learned to adapt to hunt in packs. they are kind of like -- think of like "jurassic park," these are the modern version. they are smart. by working together they have a better chance of catching prey. >> all kinds of small animals. >> lizards. >> they would eat that guy. jack rabbit, something like that that lives in the desert. over here we've got another reptile. i'm going to give him a turn here. this is an african tortoise. these guys, as the name

suggests, live in africa. a lot of people know tortoise can live without water. one of their adaptation, they don't urinate. >> kind of like our director. >> they actually -- their body weight in a solid pellet form. if they do drink they will urinate. an interesting way to survive the heat in africa. >> amazing the shell, too. now the bamboo. >> let's step back. >> let's step back a little bit. >> this is a baboon. the baboon species that lives in the most arid conditions. let minimum grab his grapes. i'm going to give him a banana. most live in the southern parts of africa. these guys live in yemen, places like that that are really dry. they are evolved to find water holes and hang out there. >> he's happy.

>> very happy. >> baboons. >> they are happy. >> coming up, just in time, kathie lee and hoda. now for your local news and weather. #f#f#f#f#f#f#f#f#f#f#f#f