we're back with more of "today" on thursday morning, july 19th, 2012. i'm matt lauer along with savannah guthrie and al roker. coming up, we asked for it and they delivered in our "quest for the best" series, we wanted to find the best amateur comedian in the country. we have three finalists in our studio this morning. we're going to hear from them. and we have two surprise judges

we'll be checking in with as well. >> and we've all had that experience in life when you kind of ask your "now what," maybe it's dating after a divorce or kids have grown up and you have an empty nest. it's feeling fabulous about some of those moments in life where wh you really wonder what's coming next. >> do you hear that? >> no. >> it's london calling. the olympics only eight days away now and if you are thinking about throwing an olympic party, we are going to show you how to do it. >> we're going to be away for more than two weeks. are you packed? you have done that yet? >> i haven't even thought about packing. but i know you guys are all organized and ready. >> we have to get our products ready. >> the face creams and masks. natalie morales has the headlines. >> good morning. an escalating crisis in syria as

president bashar al assad plans his response to wednesday's bombing that struck the heart of his regime. government forces are said to be shelling neighborhoods around damascus after a bomb killed three members of president assad's inner circle. british prime minister david cameron is calling on assad to step down. the u.n. votes today on non-military sanctions again syria. >> israel is threatening a powerful reaction to a deadly attack wednesday in bulgaria. at least seven were killed when a suicide bomber attacked a bus carrying israeli tourists. dozens were wounded. israel blames iran. the suspected bomber was seen on a surveillance tape about an hour before the attack wearing a back pack. he reportedly carried a fake michigan driver's license. >> today the family of trayvon martin is reacting to comments made by george zimmerman who claimed his shooting of the teen

was "all god's plan." in an interview on "hannity," george zimmerman says he did not regret he had the gun but said he is sorry about the shooting which was in self-defense and says he's sorry martin's family buried their child and said it was all god's plan, something martin's family said was ridiculous today. >> primetime emmy nominations are out this morning. nominated for best comedy, "the big bang theory," curb your enthusiasm, "30 rock" and veep." primetime emmys will be handed out on september 23rd. >> well, there's a new study out on the importance of dads. it finds the way fathers interact with babies as young as

three month s old appearance to influence whether they develop problems later on in life. children who do best had dads who were actively engaged if their lives. the children with the most behavioral problems had fathers that sat back when they were infants. >> and this picture shows beyonce with baby blue. the internet is in a tizzy over a slurpy machine at 7-eleven. it pours out mashed potatoes. >> if your kids are too cool for

school, they'll appreciate this video "teach me how to brushy." ♪ ♪ all i need is to brush, brush, for you ♪ >> no word on where you can actually get the floss on a gold chain necklace just yet. very cool, cute. it's now five minutes past the hour. let's go to al. >> and the secret, teach me how to flossy. the heat continues out west from the mississippi river to the rockies. we've also got cool are air coming in but that's bringing in severe storms from central illinois down into tennessee. we've got also out to the east and parts of west virginia, you can see that line of showers and thunderstorms pushing in already. we're going to be looking at

anywhere from one to three inches of rain from milwaukee just to the north of new york >> clouds and showers. the cold front of the north. we are expecting it to be warm. this morning round two of this morning's "quest for the best." it's all about being funny. we asked you to submit your most hilarious sketches and some of your standup routines and some of these really stood out. among the wig wearing and piano playing antics, we discovered our three finalists here today

to compete for the title of today's best. brad meehan is from kansas city, missouri, ali is from washington, d.c. >> you ready to be funny? >> we'll try. >> we want to introduce to you our surprise celebrity guests, with glasses of wine, kathie lee and hoda. >> is that all we get? we came in an hour early? >> what are you ladies looking for? >> a few laughs and a little bit of wine. that's why we're here. a chuckle or two. that's all we need. the bar's low. >> which is more important? the wine or the laughs? >> we'll drink first. >> brad, let's start off with you. you're a technical architect by day. you actually wanted to be a weatherman. >> i did want to be a weatherman but i didn't have the grades, al. >> neither did i. but it worked out okay.

your family is often the butt of your jokes in your routine. how do they feel about it? >> i don't make fun of them but i make fun of the situations they get themselves into. they've been to one of my shows and they're absolutely proud of me. >> you ready? >> yes, sir. >> you have a minute. >> i'm a dad. i love ak dad most of the time. some days i come home that maury povich comes out of the closet with new dna results. it's hard to threaten to turn the car around when you're still facing the house. i told them we were taking them to a boarding school. 13-hour drive, not one time did i hear "are we there yet"? my daughter didn't think that was funny. i asked her what she wanted for her birthday this year she said "how about a step dad"?

ask your mother. >> all right! >> brad, very nice. we'll see how you fare with the ladies. first, let's bring in marie. >> hi, marie. >> so now you don't even know who we are because you don't get up before like noon. >> i don't. i don't have a job so i get up at like 2 on like an early day, maybe 2:30 if i'm feeling comfortable. >> are you feeling comfortable right now. >> well, hi to get up at like 5 to be here. >> take it away. ament on the clock. >> i've never been on national tv before and i wanted to impress everybody. tom cruise might be watching this. hey, tom. so i got this dress, i wore this dress for you guys today. it's dry clean only so you know what that means. it's dirty as hell. don't touch me, al, okay? i like nice things i just can't afford to keep them clean. anyway, speaking of nice, whenever i go out, i always gets

the we' the weirdest compliments. the other day i went out and this guy was like "wow, you have a great chin." i'm like serious? no one has ever complemented me on my chin, to my face. but i know ever compliments it when i leave the room. look at it, it's the greatest chin. that's like somebody coming up to you al saying your baby pinky toenail is amazing, the back of your knee? phenomenal? what does that mean? i don't know. i'm still trying to figure it out. >> and now we've got ali coming on in. this is the first time you've ever appeared in front of an audience? >> are you trying to make me more nervous, sfal? >> so you chose a national tv show to do this. >> i've always had a passion for writing and comedy and i think i'm pretty good at it and i look good on camera.

>> take it away. >> the olympics are coming up on nbc. i predict one day facebooking will be an olympic sport. i'm prepared to represent the usa. every like i've clicked on pictures of girls outside bars posing like this. every status i've updated out of cereal again, how am i going to eat breakfast now? every post on my facebook page, "dooud, is that a picture of your mom, she's hot"? >> commenting on a new puppy album, oh, so cute, i want one. and countries using illegal performance-enhancing drugs, clicking on the finger. and creepy countries would be disqualifies for trying to impress other countries they barely know. >> all right. good effort.

>> can we pow-wow? >> all three were good but we picked one that was better. we like the one in the dirty dress! >> me? >> congratulations. >> i was told there was going to be a crown. is that going to meet me in the car? are you going to mail it? >> that hair is crown enough. >> thank you. hey, tom cruise. >> what did it for you? >> personality. you're a natural. i hope something good cops out of it. >> i hope so, too. >> are you hiring comedians? >> can you sing and dance? you can play a hooker in my new musical. >> i can play a hooker. >> in the next round, we're looking for the best pet tricks

in america. go to today.com to submit a video of your pet's being trick. three finalist will win a chance to compete live. growing older, feeling fabulous and how to get the most out of life when you have a what now moment. and olympic inspired beauty and fashion. tom, call her. >> hi, tom cruise. ch ili' s lunch break combos are a sizzling deal, starting at 6 bucks. try our new lunch-size chicken fajitas,

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this morning, finding yourself during life changing moments. whether you're an empty nester or jumping back into the dating pool later in life, you're left asking yourself now what? good morning to both of you. you've got it all covered. let's talk about these now what now moments in general. there are these transitions we experience in life and it cab little scary just because of the change. >> exactly. and often it's about loss and about adapting to something you may not have expected but then it's really how you discover what this opportunity brings for you, how you can restore yourself, renew yourself and very often the loss lead nooss a change of attitude, which can be positive. >> must be all about the attitude. >> absolutely. we've all faced those situations that come and knock us out of

our footing. and it's certainly, you know, common to say i don't know what to do, now what, to see it as a negative but you also have an opportunity to think of it in a more positive light to turn it around. >> let's run through some scenarios. the obvious one is empty nest. the kids grow up and leave the house. a lot of folks feel empty. >> i think it's different when you're married and when you're single. when you're single, this may be the child who was your whole life and you didn't have somebody else there. so part of it is really preparing, if you can. and understanding that you have to have this evenings in your life that give you meaning, that give you a sense of purpose and that fill your time. that's one of the things you want to be sure to do before the child leaves. after the child leaves be in touch but one of the things i try to caution people about, don't make them feel guilty about the fact that they left. >> because it's ultimately what you wanted them to do. >> exactly.

you raise a child to be independent. when you're married, you want to reconnect. >> it may be another occasion for our next scenario, which is rekindling the flame when you've been married a long time. what do you recommend for couples to spice it up and rediscover each other? >> i always say whatever did you to get them, that's what you have to do to keep them. continue to date, continue to buy flowers for no reason. >> date each other. >> date each other. that's very, very important. but you really have to think about that person and think about the times you didn't have the kids around and when you didn't have all these responsibilities. these are the best years of your life. you should embrace it and enjoy it. >> what if you're divorced or widowed and dating again? >> you want to think of yourself as a person out there, a person who knows yourself well. sometimes we focus on that we don't any longer have. it may have to do with our parents or whatever it is. but i think what we need to do is really focus on what we've

learned. we generally as we get holder feel pretty confident about the things that we've done. i like to say to people in you've gotten through this, can you probably get through anything else but look at dating as an adventure. it's different than it was. we've got the internet. we've got sites for meeting people, not just for dating. >> and 30 seconds for our last category, which is finding yourself. what do we mean by that? trying to find something new about yourself if. >> i think what we mean is making sure if there are things that you've never done for yourself, maybe it's changing the tires, don't know about 401(k)s, iras, asking people for help, making sure that you know how to take care of yourself is i think the first step to happiness in the latter years of your life. >> that feeling of accomplishment is really great. >> dale atkinson, tiffany

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2011, bill is training another dog to play sunny in "annie." i understand she's a shelter dog and you find shelter dogs for the production. >> last 35 years i've been only using shelter dogs for production. they make great stars on broadway and great stars in your

home. >> are there any challenges when you pick a shelter dog? >> well, right now she's telling me about her past life. as i'm training her, i've had her four months. she's telling me she doesn't like men in dark costumes, doesn't like loud noises or dark cars, because she was probably hit by a car. >> what's interesting about the sandy character, she has to act like a normal dog, which might look easy but not in a theater setting. >> she's an actress. she doesn't do tricks. she has to act like a normal dog on stage that annie finds and saves. we start with normal commands like how to sit, how to stay and lie down. >> and deal with loud noise with the audience. >> and orchestra. >> and she has an understudy, too, doesn't she? >> she does. also a rescue dog. >> casey. >> you have a couple of months to train her still? >> we have two more months,

opening night is november 3rd. it's a brand new production. people should come and see it. >> o >> "annie" begins in october. hmm, it says here that cheerios helps lower cholesterol as part of a heart healthy diet.

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>> live, local, late-breaking, this is wbal-tv 11 news -- update. >> morning. clouds. in excess sun and clouds. we are starting off warm. 10 degrees cooler than yesterday. 90's. a little bit on the human side. a chance of scattered showers

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♪ ♪ ♪ there's a party on the edge of the word tonight ♪ ♪ i don't know if i'll make it, watch how good i'll take it ♪ >> who sings this song, al? >> i would say that hot chelle rae. >> it is hot chelle rae. they've been making themselves at home at the top of the charts for a long time now. they're getting ready to rock the plaza where their catchy pop rock hit tomorrow on "today." it's going to be fun. al knows all the words. he'll be singing along. if you're in the area, come on

down and join us. i'm natalie morales along with savannah guthrie and al roker. >> if you have young kids, you hear it -- >> over and over again. >> and coming up our countdown to the olympics is on. if it's kind of put you in the spirit, you do not have to head across the pond to enjoy the games. we'll show you how to root for team usa when a huge bash. it's really fun with food and games. and bobbi tom has has beautiful styles inspired by the olympics. maybe you can wear it to the olympic party. >> and we're cooking with one of the most renowned chefs in the country. >> "america's got talent" began season seven with cross country auditions and now we're just one week away from naming the final

16 contestants. eight acts were sent home last night including roc star juggler mark price. good morning. >> good morning. >> how are you with juggling while we do this? can you talk and juggle at the same time? >> i can. >> you seem to be able to do it all. unfortunately you dropped one of the pin last night. what happened? >> i don't know. sometimes you're on, sometimes you're not. >> sharon was a little tough on you. >> she's tough but i would have been the same way. i'm a pro so i should have been on my game that night. >> besides pins you do knives, fire? >> knives, fire. i'm known for doing glow stuff and working with lasers. >> let's see a little bit of what you do. >> this is a tricky drafted. let's see if i can redeem

myself. i go from my nose to my chin, my chin to my nose, off my foot and behind my back. if i could have only done that last night, i would not be sitting here, though, with you guys. >> but they were on fire last night. >> they were in fairness on fire. >> good thing you didn't bring the knives, though. >> somebody else is a juggler. >> go ahead, jerry. >> do we want to see jerry do this? >> i'm not that good, no. >> are you kidding me? the pressure. i can't take it! >> season eight, season eight right there! >> do it again. >> the remaining 12 contestants of "america's top talent" compete next tuesday night at 8:00, 7:00 central right here on nbc. >> we're going to get a check of

>> it will not be cool today. 90's for the afternoon. and that's your latest weather. >> fabulous. look at that. >> whoo! >> coming up next,olympic fever is contagious. i don't know, juggling at the olympics? maybe it could happen. we'll help you throw a winning party for all your friends right after this. >> nice! a mattress. a sausage link. mermaid. honey!? driftwood. come on, you gotta help us out here a little. [ male announcer ] febreze eliminates odors and leaves carpets fresh.

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maybe it's the fact that florida's natural oranges are never imported. they're raised right here in florida, and passed with care from our hands to yours. 100% pure. 100% florida. florida's natural. this morning on today's countdown to london, just eight days to go until the olympics opening ceremony, but you don't need to be in london to celebrate. today elizabeth has some really cute ideas to throw an olympic party. the first thing is the invitations. >> i'm a big fan of paperless post. what's amazing about it is they do all the work for you. they're going to monitor your

guest list. when you get the e-mail, it comes in an envelope. you click on the envelope and the invitation pops out. they're just really fun. it's not free, let's say, like a lot of things online. it's about $5 for 25 invitations. you get coins, it's like buying stamps and you send it out. it's great looking. >> let's get to decor. i love the idea about the olympic torch, the tiki torches. >> you can line them up outside and if you want have somebody at your party carry it through. >> i think this is my favorite idea you have, which this is grass runner, a kind of starting or finishing line. i got this at lowe's, it's a little more than $3 a foot for this fake grass. i think you can start your party ter front door and put the

finish line at the bar if you want. you can also paint your grass outside. if you go to a florist shop, you can buy a paint that's chemical free and you spray paint the letters on to your grass so it will disappear in the rain. >> and you've got wall decals. why do you find these? >> he's can be on your wall forever. they go on your wall, they feel off and you can place them in some other place. it peels right off and you put it back on. >> we'll get to some jelly bellies of an olympic theme. like the ring. >> all diwas go to jellybelly.com, order them in bulk. you can take your glass vase, put a smaller vase in the center, put it with water like this, you put jelly bean around

it. >> paper goods. >> these are all from party city. if you buy solid colors, you'll use them throughout the year. this is also a thing to pick up things from 4th of july. >> we're going to eat like the londoners do. >> we're borrowing from our host country. it's all different english cheeses, cold ham, chutney. a great resource is british aisles.com. you can get walker's chips, all of the chutneys. >> of course, you've got to have the british beer. here -- it's half beer, half lemonade. in ghaend it's really more like a sprite or sparkling lemonade. so something a little different. >> it is different. kind of refreshing.

i'd probably just take my beer with beer but it's good. >> for dessert all we did was make money mini cup kings. then when you lay them out, they mim mimic the games, you can do a shot putt, you can do medals and you can get all of these things at party.com. >> thank you. it's very inspiring. >> coming up next, olympic-inspired fashion and beauty tips of the athletes, coming up right after this. work... errands... ♪ ...a greasy bag of deep-fried easy. ♪ but you have hamburger helper on your side.

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♪ born in the usa." >> back now with bobbie's style

buzz. i love that you found some unusual beauty routines from the u.s. synchronized swimming team. they use jello in their hair? >> when this comes to the pool, in order to keep their hair in place, they use jello essentially. >> not the red jello. >> the unflavored gelatin by knox. adding water, it can become a paste. it's nourishing. many swimmers use chapstick or vaseline on their skin as a face primer to stop the chlorine from drying out their skin. they call it fool face. that's an interesting trick. >> if you don't want pool face and don't want to put vaseline on your face, you found a london

primer. >> "that gal" is a popular primer and just for the summer it's a london edition. >> does it give you that shiny quality? >> makes your skin look fresh and nice and keep your make-up on. >> and they also have a londinnium fragrance, right? >> it has a wonderful fragrance, it's pressure. >> it smells great. i put it on me. i love it. >> a lot of groups are getting into the act. butter london came out with these adorable sets. these are their heavy metal collections. metallic nail polish is so on trend this summer. not only can you get into the spirit -- >> gold, silver, bronze, all your medals.

they had usa, usa smart gold. it's all about this red, white and blue sparkle you could add. nail art is such a big trend it, might be an excuse to get you in on something with the kids. these stickers are very easy to apply. it's as easy as sticking it on, filing the end off. >> and tell me about the jewelry. >> i'm a big fan of alex and annie, they produce here in the u.s. they're an official licensee of the olympics. their olympic collection, a lot of fun. >> a lot of charms. >> they also have a gods and goddesses collection and of course bunny's sunnies are all over the run way. can you look through those lenses or inspired by our own flag. >> represent team usa.

>> and you can do it in more fashion here. >> wear your pride. a guy in the studio was having a couple questions of where can i get those? guys are into their colored footwear. >> new balance i love. >> la cost? >> they're offering up 15 different countries. my mom is from portugal, my stepfather is for greece. >> and then over here -- from the gap they've done this vintage throwback idea for their limited edition. and they have the old olympics. i just bought my kid that t-shirt. >> you can go to old navy, 4d for flip-flops. last but not least, feel this,

natalie. this is so soft. this is from alternative apparel. >> bobbie tom, a great finds for us. >> next,

this morning on "today's kitchen," what's for dinner? how about flank steak and salad? when you put it in the hands of our chef, good things happen. flank steak, skirt steak, interchangeable? >> they're very similar in texture. it's not like fillet mignon.

i will show you how to make it more tender. you start on the grill, put pepper. >> how long are we cooking this on each side? >> you should do it medium. too rare it will be too tough and too well i don't like it. >> now potato salad, you cut them up but you don't peel them. >> i cook them with the skin so you keep all the flavor of the potato. >> yukon gold? >> yes. >> sometimes when i buy potatoes, they are a little green. what does that mean? >> they harvested them too soon so they won't get the best flavor. >> so they're not ripe?

>> they're not ripe. in the store you can't tell. >> so you boil these? >> when the potato stays in the water, it means they are cooked. for the potato salad, i'm using mustard. >> a spicy brown mustard? >> yes, i like mr. spicy or something like that. some mayonnaise. i diluted it with water. >> it looks kind of thin. >> that way it's easy to fix. oh, good, al. good call. i'm putting some chiefs, of course some salt. >> a little pepper. >> and then we mix the potatoes like that. can you do that like an hour before you use them. the herbs, you cut them at the last minute as well. >> you don't put them in a food processor? >> no, i hate to use food processor for the herbs because

it bruises them, they become black and smell like when you cut the grass. you did a very good knife, very sharp. we have some chiefs. the movement is starting from the point of the knife and going like that. then you grab the chives with your hand. you have to be very focused. >> very nice. >> then we're going to make the chimichuri. garlic, vinegar, gives you something light. >> just show really quickly how you slice. >> i'm going to show you. >> when you slice, you slice very thinly and you go against the grain of the meat. and then you have it.

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