back now with more "today" on tuesday morning, 28th day of august, 2012. we've got a happy crowd kicking off their morning on rockefeller plaza. good morning, everyone. i'm savannah guthrie. matt has been covering rnc in tampa. al is in new orleans where he is tracking the storm isaac. it's expected to make landfall west of new orleans, expected to be a category one hurricane at that point. we're going to check in with al in just a couple moments. also ahead we have advice for parents who like to hover. there's new research that suggests it's actually best to let kids make some mistakes. we'll have advice on that. also ways to cut your grocery bill very sharply. some secrets you may not know. later from beyonce's nude lips

to angelina's smoky eyes. some makeup tips but first natalie at the news desk. good morning to you again. >> good morning. isaac zeroing in on the gulf coast. hurricane warnings in effect from louisiana to florida alabama border. president obama has declared a state of emergency for louisiana but officials there are not ordering evacuations in new orleans. by the time the storm is pro projected to hit later today or early wednesday, could be a category one hurricane. meanwhile the storm forced oil rigs in the gulf of mexico to halt production. drivers may soon be feeling pain at the pump. mitt romney formally nominated for president at the republican national convention in tampa. the convention was called to order monday but immediately adjourned because of the storm threat from isaac. romney's wife ann and keynote speaker chris christie are scheduled to deliver their speeches tonight. a student shot at a maryland

high school remains in critical condition today as classes resume at perry hall high school. police have taken a 15-year-old student into custody as the suspected gunman as the boy's father said his son was bullied. meantime witnesses are calling a school guidance counselor a hero for grabbing the shooter and pinning him down. two guests who contracted legionaires disease after staying at a hotel have died from the illness. there have been eight cases from guests who visited jw marriott mid july through august. the disease is usually spread through water sources, air conditioning ducts, showers and pools. health officials believe there is no ongoing threat at the hotel, though. meantime in california a rare disease carried by rodents killed two people who visited yosemite. they are warning visitors to stayed in tent cabins at curry

village to look out for signs of the virus including fever. a tv news helicopter was forced to come down in a parking lot as its engine billowed smoke. both passengers walked away unharmed. the season's pilot is credited for the safe landing. and some new images from mars in full color. these are the first high-resolution images sent by nasa's curiosity rover, a picture postcard. the rover kicking off its two-year mission in style with the song "reach for the stars." ♪ reach for the stars >> if there is any intelligent life out there on the red planet, let's hope they are fans of the black eyed peas.

mega star tom hank proofing he's a regular and spontaneous guy at heart. hanks played a picture with a guy who grabbed the glasses, played drunk, bosom buddy pics. looked like they had fun. al, looking really cloudy out there. >> some first squalls. some rain. our shawn reese, our producer and resident weather vane. what have you got wind wise. >> 30, staying consistent around 20. >> there you go. starting to see this now. this the beginning. this is where it gets started. this the latest right now on isaac. currently about 105 miles south southeast from new orleans. maximum sustained winds 70 miles per hour. it has got forward movement of northwest at 7 miles per hour.

the hurricane warnings now for morgan city, louisiana, to the alabama-florida border. the path of isaac brings it on shore sometime late tonight, early tomorrow. of course as you've heard, if it comes on shore tomorrow night, that's the seventh anniversary of katrina. we're keeping an eye on that. the tropical force winds extend 250 to 290 miles. that counterclockwise flow is what we're really concerned about. it's going to be relentless for about 24 hours. what that's going to mean is a storm surge of anywhere from 6 to 12 feet around the gulf of mississippi, also louisiana, mobile about 4 to 8 feet. we've also got to worry about heavy rains. we are talking about anywhere from 6 to 12 inches of rain, but as much as 20 inches before it's all over over the next 72 hours. that's what going on around the country, h

>> and that's your latest weather. natalie. >> al, thank you. this morning on parenting today can hovering over your children be harmful or helpful. in a moment we'll talk to the author of "teach your children well" but first nbc's kristen dahlgren talks to some teens and their parents who admit to holding back the helicopter in

strength. >> reporter: at a time when there's so much pressure on kids to be perfect. >> my mom asking me to take latin. >> do volunteer work and get a job. >> reporter: they are like a lot of teens. >> who feeling overscheduled. >> sometimes. >> yes. >> parents are pretty typical, too. >> whose standards are tougher, yours or your mom's. >> my mom. >> for gabby's mom, being a helicopter mom didn't seem to be working. even now she fights the urges. >> her coach says she's got some natural abilities here. my first thought was, good, i'll get her a coach. no, no. >> jessica's mom tina tries to stop herself from making to do lists for her daughter. >> here are the things i want you to do for today, or here are the things i want you to do for the summer. here are the things i want you to do during the course of

school. >> for ben's mom lisa, letting her son fail is one of the hardest things. >> when it was happening, we're going to have to let our son get hurt here. it was awful. there's nothing worse but you have to do it. >> carol studied child rearing for 40 years agrees. >> we've studied parents overpraising, and we're studying parents overdoing. it makes the child feel they can't do anything without the parent. >> says there is a place for praise but the kids say telling the parents what they need to be tough. >> they need to give us a little bit of room for breather, for us to make our own decisions. >> there's a point when you can be pushed too hard. >> parents say they are trying. >> moving away from parenting that is a huge relief and a huge joy to know you see your kids feel very differently learning about you.

it's a battle all the time. >> reporter: moms and dads learning, too, a little less parenting may get more out of kids. for "today," kristen dahlgren, nbc news, sausalito, california. >> clinical psychologist and educator madeleine levine, author of "teach your children well, parenting for success." good to have you here. >> thank you. >> i think we're all guilty of overparenting. how do you define overparenting, the helicopter overparent. >> there's three components to overparenting. one is doing for your child what they can already do. if you're hovering over their math and they know how to do math. that's overparenting. the tougher one is doing for your child what they can almost do. what's interesting about that, we think we should be helping, right, but i call it a successful failure. your toddler takes a few steps. have you a young child. >> a 3-year-old. >> remember he took -- >> boys.

>> took a few steps, fell down. took a few steps, fell down. come on, get up. you would never think of saying, you're going to be flipping burgers for the rest of your life right as they are falling down. we understood they have to fall down thousands of times. >> pick themselves back up and learn electric that. >> that's right. i think the most toxic part of overparenting is when the boundaries aren't good between parents and children. that is we're applying to stanford, columbia, hofstra. we're not applying. your child is applying. they have enough tasks without worrying about your application as well, your feelings about it. >> that's something that a lot of parents do, which we may sunk we're helping contribute to the success of the child but you say we could actually be hurting them fundamentally. why is that? >> because in life we all need to make mistakes. if you think of child development kind of as a stool with three legs. one part of development is cognitive and academic.

one part is social, one part personal. there's only 24 hours a day. if all the time is on the cognitive grade metrics, we're leaving out social development, how to get along with people, how to contribute to the house, how to be a good citizen, how to have character, all other parts, then the stool gets wobbly. >> sometimes parents guilty of extreme parenting. is there an argument to be made sometimes, though, kids aren't trying hard enough. >> sure. sometimes doesn't try hard enough. i think the secret adults have is we grow up and we do what we're good at. we are kind of average at a bunch of things and not very good at some other things. kids need to know this. nobody is expected to be 100% all the time. >> right. you advise parents need to take it down a notch. >> right. >> you say make sure they are

getting nine hours of sleep, especially teens, preteens. why is that number so important. >> it's what the american academy of pediatrics recommends. we have a boatload on the negative effects of sleep. the next thing parents need a life of their own. kids don't see adulthood of working all week long, being exhausted and then snding every hour on the weekend watching your kid hit a ball. spend some time with your husband or girlfriend or hobby or something that makes adulthood and growing up look attractive to kids. >> good advice. i hope, myself, my husband, we all need to be listening. madeleine, thank you so much. >> thank you. coming up next, secret ways to save big at the supermarket right after this. if you think occasional irregularity is no big deal, think twice. it may be a sign that your digestive system could be working better. listen to this. with occasional irregularity, things your body doesn't use could be lingering in your system, causing discomfort.

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this morning on today's consumer, saving at the supermarket. we all have to eat. you can't cut the grocery list out entirely. there are ways to cut the grocery bill with smart shopping tips. lucy mendes, host. good morning. >> good morning. >> grocery store has secrets to help you spend more money. that's no secret at this point. >> lots of secrets to help save money. number one, avoid inner aisles. >> why? >> that's where all the fun things are, things you don't need. stick to perimeter, dairy, produce. shop the list. if you shop the list, you won't have impulse buys. >> do not shop hungry. >> do not shop hungry. you will throw things in your cart. leave kids at home.

if you have kids, it's difficult, they can really rack up a bill. >> the first tip has to do with buying generic products. >> i know everyone is attached to their brands. but if you look at the packaging, compare the ingredients, make sure you're getting the same product. very often the ingredients can match up. you can save a dollar or two. you can see that here. we have generic cereal, save a few dollars buying the generic brand. >> i love to buy my toiletries at the grocery store because it's convenient. >> you pay a price for convenience. whenever possible you want to buy them at the drugstore. you will get a discount by doing that. >> is it a huge difference? >> it depends how much money your time is worth. in the long run if you stock up you can save a few dollars. >> another thing, the prepackaged food. >> again, so much easier to buy them prechopped. it takes three minutes to chop them yourself at home. if that three minutes is worth $3, it can be a big difference.

you don't have to use it at once. much better to buy the whole broccoli. >> rain checks, do stores still honor that? >> absolutely. go to the customer service center. you have something like olive oil that tends to sell out quickly. ask for a rain check. when the product comes back in stock they sell it at the sale price. >> comparison shopping. what is the best way to do the apples to apples comparison. >> there's a sale unit can you look at. i'm not a math person. it helps do the math for you. if you have something like big bags like this, smaller bags. you want to compare what you're charged per unit. >> sometimes the price of the item, then unit price, that's supposed to be ounce per ounce. >> smallest number possible. >> snacks. convenience is spending more money. i see we have some of my

favorites here. >> these are make of my favorites. these are a lot of people's favorites and this is really where you save the money. because if you are willing to make popcorn at home you can save a few dollars. you don't need to make it all at once and you get better popcorn. >> sorry orville. the old-fashioned kind is tasty. >> and takes just a few minutes. >> beans. this is another place to save money if you're willing to cook a little bit and not get canned items. >> can be intimidating, dry beans. you can get a great recipe online, you don't need to make them all at once. you can get multiple meals. even though it sometimes is more money up front for dry beans, ounce per ounce a lot more bang for your buck. >> another thing people say all the time, buy fruit in season. >> right now at the end of summer, at the end of fruit season. get blueberries now while you can, throw them in the freezer, have them through fall. >> i was surprised to read fine

to freeze. >> use them for pancakes and smoothies, whatever. you will save a lot of money. the price will soar as soon as we get to fall. >> last one is a good one. we love our bottled water. >> we do. really this is costing you way too much money. if you live somewhere where you can drink the tap water free, do that. otherwise something like britta filter up front investment can save you about $120 a month. >> thank you so much. coming up, five facts, how to deal with phobias, but first these messages. ♪ ♪ i woke up to a new day ♪ every little thing gonna go my way ♪ ♪ i woke up to a light bulb on ♪ every little thing is possible now ♪ [ female announcer ] kraft singles have no artificial flavors and they're always made with milk so all you taste is something amazing. ♪ life is amazing with the love that i found ♪

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coming up, when kids lie. how to know, what it means. from a detection expert. >> inside scoop from celebrity makeup secrets, from beyonce to angelina, how you can get their look. we'll show you the right products to get their look. ahead. ♪ olive garden's never ending pasta bowl is back.

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>> this is wbal-tv 11 news in baltimore. >> rain shower activity to start the day will be tapering off. we will see a mixture of clouds and sunshine this afternoon. high temperatures expected in the upper 80s. beautiful weather. temperatures in the low-to-mid- 80's. if

♪ >> she may have come in fourth on the "x factor," the british pop star is topping the chart and will be rocking our plaza with a special thursday concert only on "today." then friday more music, our concert superstar is singer songwriter jason mraz kicking off the labor day weekend. perfect song of the summer there. natalie morales with savannah guthrie, coming up switching gears talking about makeup secrets from the stars. >> from j. lo's glow, we all want that, to angelina's smoky eyes. we're going to show you how to get that perfect red carpet look

at home. also ahead, kids and lying. you know they do it whether it's homework or going out with friends. can you spot a fib and how do you deal with it? some expert advice. we'll have the polygraph out. just kidding. less aggressive techniques to spotlight. from heights to flying, clowns, pfeifer facts about phobias to help you cope. we all have something bordering on phobias. >> yes, we do. now to al who is tracking isaac from new orleans this morning. hi, al. >> hi, guys. we want to take a look at other effects around the country weather wise. isaac will bring a risk of strong storms around the gulf today. we've also got a risk of showers in the northeast. beautiful weather in the pacific northwest today. look for a warm, toasty conditions in the southwest. dry conditions in southern and central california as we move on into tomorrow, that risk of strong storms and tornadoes

makes its way into the lower mississippi river valley as isaac moves up and into the country. look for sunny and warm conditions through the great lakes, into the northeast. clouds and showers move into the pacific northwest, sizzling weather from the plains all the way into the southwest and southern california. that's what going on around th >> and that's your latest weather. savannah. >> al, thanks. how to glow like j. lo and other

hollywood beauties. coming up some makeup secrets right after this. [ male announcer ] sponges take your mark.

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a celebrity makeup artist and creator of mali beauty. she's worked makeup magic on some of hollywood's hottest a-listers. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> let's start with jennifer lopez, every woman would love to look like that, get that glow. you're going to show us that. >> we're going to give her shimmer, shape and glow. >> what's what you call it? >> it's a three-step system to get everything you want. first what you're going to do is take like a soft shimmer powder. okay. what you want to do is take that. i like to take it all over the lid and just around the corner, around the cheekbone.

what you're going to do. this is going to kind of make you look like you have a face-lift. lift everything up, encompass the entire area with luminosity. also make you look like you got a little sleep, which nobody does. i want to you make a fishy face. there you go. back when we used to put our blush on in the '80s. >> contour. >> exactly. contouring like a shaping powder. this makes you look like you've lost five pounds. hello. makes them pop. finally, here comes the glow. this the blush. the thing that kind of makes you look like you had that very romantic evening, if you know what i'm saying. right on the apples of the cheek, blend it in, shimmer, shape and glow. you've got that j. lo glow. >> she looks fantastic. another one of your client. she looks great. beyonce. she has the famously nude lip,

which is a look we'd all love to create but sometimes we can't find the right shade what do you do? >> number one, you want to use a great nude kit. something made for that nude lip. the secret you want it based in color. good catch. you go, girl. you want it to have a little bit of a color base as opposed to a flat brown or beige. this is based in a little bit of a pink or apricot. that's going to give you that perfect, perfect color so you don't look like night of the living dead walking around with nude lips. take nude lip sticks. i love to use a lip liner that matches your lip tone exactly so you can really, really work the shape of the lip. here is a big tip. you want to join the cupid,

gives you that lip stung. getting that high shine. when doing a nude, it's a good idea to make it glossy, so it doesn't look flat. >> that's a good color on you. >> exactly. >> thank you so much. over here, let's talk about the perfect eyebrow. so important, really does frame the face. lucy lu is an example. how do you achieve that look? >> the trick is about choosing the right tone of the brow. just because we have gorgeous brunette hair. my goodness. really dark. you don't want to necessarily match it. that's going to make the brow look groucho marxesque, not a look we're going for. you want a little lighter when you have dark brunette hair like this. >> the grooming of the brow important. >> keep it nice and groomed, nice and clean. sometimes do you that and kind of looking polished and done. another little secret i love, i like to marry a little bit of a

pencil and a powder. instead of just doing a pencil which can look harsh and a powder too subtle. >> powder softens it up. >> exactly. you can shake your booty in a rain forest. >> great. finally angelina jolie's smoky eye. you have danielle here to get that look. >> the smoky eye gets a bum rap. smoky eye, you look like you got punched in the face. >> i think it looks gorgeous. you are working it, let's be honest. the secret is this. you want to use an eye shadow base always. >> why? what does that do? >> you put that on first, dab it all over the lid. that's going to keep it from getting messy, keeps it professional and polished looking which is what you want when you're doing a smoky eye. make sure you use a base that

makes it not crease, stay where you want to put it. we have actually done a great soft smoky gray here. the trick is also you don't always have to use a dark color. you can do a great smoky eye in a gorgeous green or plum, something like that. >> shades of gray here. >> shades of gray. >> do you ever use an eyeliner. >> absolutely. a quick smoky eye, line with an eyeliner, smudge with q-tip or finger, good to go. >> you look great. mali, thank you as always. coming up next, when kids are pulling the wool over your eyes. you know you've done this. right after this. what's it like? yeah. the kitchen? it's amazing. lots of unexplored surfaces and tough, greasy messes to clean. oh. wow! [ male announcer ] now scrubbing bubbles has fantastik in a heavy duty spray that easily cuts through grease or a foam that lifts and penetrates grime.

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hgotta start the day off right. wardrobe. cute. then new activia breakfast blend. a great way to help start the day. mmm... creamy lowfat yogurt with grains in yummy breakfast flavors, like apple cinnamon. its hearty, with twice the protein of regular lowfat yogurt and helps regulate your digestive system. our morning routines are important, aren't they? new activia breakfast blend. well, whether it's to avoid homework or get attention, children do lie for all kinds of reasons. how can you tell? what's the best strategy for

dealing with it. she has been protecting lives at the department of justice known as deception, protection expert. she's the author of "you can't lie to me" the legendary program, super charger, inner lie detector to get to the truth. good morning. >> good morning. >> short of having you move right in, how can you tell if your child is lying? children do tell lies? >> first of all, 80% of lies are undetected. adults lie one in five social situations, children's, one in three. >> you need these skills. good to know techniques. first you have to know baseline. >> norming, normal behavior. remember this game as kids, head, shoulders, knees and toes. you need to do that with your kids. you're tilting your head slightly to the right. is that your baseline or listening? you need to know their rhythm, tone, pitch, what word choices do they use. do they say i swear to god it's

so hot outside. i swear to god, i won't lie. what's their normal baseline. >> you're going to look for deviations for the baseline. you look for physical and behavioral signs, implosion and explosion. >> these kids, whether toddlers, tweens, teens, even adult kids, when they are lying we're looking for deviation of baseline. imploding is getting small. imploding they pull their legs in, here, they may cover their throat like this and pull their throat down. girls love this one. guys, hot air out of their collar, play with the t-shirt. imploding, bringing it in. literally sometimes will go into the fetal position. when you're talking to them, break eye contact and go down. exploding, superman pose, oversell you. liars try to convince. >> blocking behaviors, what is that? >> body blocking. your teenager comes in with a baseball hat. how was your first day of school? good.

the hat is hiding their face. sitting at the table like this when you're asking a question. i've got to ask you, is there any reason why -- you fill in the blank. they turn away. that's body blocking. >> bring me to the next, have you to ask open ended questions. this advice is a little controversial. sometimes you might have to tell a lie to fish out the truth from your kids. >> i say you have to lie to catch a liar. what does that mean? what that means if you think your kid is drinking and driving, making poor choices going into high school, driving with kids, skipping classes, smoking. lie to catch a liar. >> what you could say is -- >> you could say is there any reason why your teacher would call me today? keep in mind, cia and fbi, these are cia secrets for moms to keep our kids safe. at the end of the day we say to our kids what? tell them i'm not here right now. we ask our kids to lie on our behalf, sometimes we need to lie

on their behalf. >> casting out the reel and see what you catch? >> you want to protect your family. sometimes you need to do that. you weigh your options. >> you also say it's effective to ask the same question twice. >> this is one of my favorites, savannah. my son angus, he's seven. i said, did you feed the fish this morning? >> well, i went upstairs. >> you asked a closed ended question and they start with well. angus, did you feed the fish. he says yes and shrugs his shoulder. angus, why should i believe you? because i'm telling you the truth. repeat why should i believe you twice. this is a cia secret for moms at home that will get you the truth. why should i believe you? because i told you. why should i believe you. okay. >> i'm getting sweaty. angus better tell the truth.

i could do a whole other segment on this. thank you. five things you need to know about phobias to make coping easier, first this is "today" on fi

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question seven this november. vote for question seven. and help build a better future for maryland. this morning on "today's" five facts, surprising steps about phobias, whether a fear of snakes like mine or a fear of bras like savannah's. anxiety is real and in some cases debilitating. dr. gayle is here, good morning. >> let's talk about phobias and why is it different from a fear? we are borderline. >> first let me say, this is the number one mental health diagnosis. 9.2 million american adults have phobias, which means an irrational fear that goes on for a long period of time, which elifts a panic feeling, anxiety to be around it to the point you try to avoid it.

when we say specific we mean to a thing, an animal or frog or snake or a dog or spiders are very common or a situation like flying, fear of flying, fear of heights, those kinds of things. >> we've all heard of claustrophobia, fear of small spaces, what are some other phobias. there's some unusual ones. >> there are unusual ones. a fact is 15% of people have a fear of clowns. you think they are at parties, so much fun. actually many people are actually tremendously afraid of clowns. >> after reading steven king's "it." >> it's actually when you see a body you expect the face to match it. when the face looks different it's terrifying to people. you can be afraid of anything. bizarre things like long words. you're not going to say that one.

>> clearly you're not having that phobia. common things like germs, close spaces. we're not talking about social phobia right now, social situations but just about anything. the dark, blood, needles, people have all kinds of phobias and they can be really debilitating if you have to avoid it and change your life. >> what causes these fears? is it something that triggers the event? >> another fear, phobias run in families. why? partially it's genetic. these are genetically somewhat passed on. also because in your family, right, your mom may have said don't touch frogs, they carry diseases. >> i remember that when i was a little girl, that's where it came from. >> you had a bad experience, a frog jumped on you and it was scary. >> on the therapist couch. >> runs in family. a fear of snakes.

do you see in your children -- >> i ran into a snake as a child, so yeah. close call. >> getting deep here. >> getting deep in. >> it starts in young kids. so another important fact is the median age of phobia begins at seven, which is really young. younger kids it tends to be creatures, spiders, which is incredibly common or animals. for you with snakes. for instance you were saying oh, don't touch the snake. your child might pick up on that. >> as a parent you don't want to -- >> you don't want to parent in a fearful way. actually things like flying and heights, those are situational phobias that tend to develop more in teen years, adult years. we see people who have difficulty going on business trips and so on because they are really terrified of flying. >> both men and women can get phobias, does it affect one more than the other. >> absolutely. women get phobias twice as often as men, which is really

impressive. partially because women tend to get anxiety orders more often. but men go in for treatment more often than women. >> really? why? >> exactly, important. culturally if you think about it, a woman going oh, a snake, a frog is unfortunately more acceptable than a man going, a spider, and running another way. hence women don't come in as often. get exposure therapy, try out virtual reality therapy or consider medication. >> good fun facts. >> hoda and kathie lee with the man show coming up after your local news and weather.