good morning. breaking news. a french court orders a magazine there to hand over its topless sunbathing photos of the duchess of cambridge within 24 hours as prosecutors announce that they will pursue a criminal case against both the magazine and the photographer who took the pictures. we're live in paris. off the cuff, that's how mitt romney is describing his comments secretly recorded at a fund-raiser critical of millions of president obama's supporters. >> there are 47% who are with him, who are dependent on government works believe that they are victims. >> as nbc news obtains a campaign video featuring donald trump that was cut from the democratic national convention. we'll talk about it with

mr. trump live. air scare. tense moments between a pilot and air traffic control at jfk airport after anonymous threats against a passenger jet. >> okay. we're surrounded by emergency vehicles. there's a reason for this. somebody's got to give us the reason, or we're going to evacuate the aircraft. you've got 60 seconds. >> we'll have the fiery exchange today, tuesday, september 18th, 2012. captions paid for by nbc-universal television this is "today" with matt lauer and savannah guthrie live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza welcome to "today" on a busy tuesday morning. i'm savannah guthrie. >> and i'm matt lauer. big morning in politics here. mitt romney is on defense about the comments secretly recorded at a fund-raiser in florida. we'll have more on that story straight ahead. meantime, following breaking

news from france as the duke and duchess of cambridge fight the pictures. >> the magazine can no longer publish the images and must hand over all digital copies of those photos. we'll get the very latest in a live report straight ahead. also, a significant strategy change for the u.s. military in afghanistan following the killings of four american soldiers there. we're going to go live to richard engel in kabul. then on a lighter note, is there already some trouble brewing between the new judges on "american idol"? ryan seacrest will be here to tell us about that. and then later, a live concert from grammy winner pink. >> i see the umbrellas, but pink said to me she is waterproof. let's begin with the breaking news. the magazine that first published the topless photos of the duchess of cambridge ordered to turn them over immediately and face possible criminal charges. nbc's michelle kosinski is in

paris. michelle, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, matt. this is a very fast, very complete courtroom victory for william and kate against that french magazine called "closer," that last week published the photos of will and kate sunbathing topless in the south of france. they were given everything their lawyers asked them, stopping all publications of the images, stop distribution, they can't resell them and within 24 hours they have to turn over all the original images to the royal family and will be find at least 10,000 euros per day if they do not. in addition, the french prosecutor now will open up a separate criminal investigation into that magazine and the photographer who took those pictures. the only bad news here is remember, those images, were also distributed in other countries, italy, ireland, even some u.s. websites. this decision is great for the royal family, but it only covers the french publication. matt? >> all right, michelle kosinski on this news coming from paris this morning. michelle, thanks very much.

we'll have more on the story a little later, but right now three minute after the hour, here's savannah. here at home there's a major political story in the presidential race. mitt romney defending comments secretly recorded at a private fund-raiser in which he criticized obama supporters as victims who are dependent on government. michael isikoff is nbc's national correspondent. good morning to you. >> good morning, savannah. the newly leaked video was taken from a digital camera concealed in a piece of furniture 20 feet from romney as he spoke at a florida fund-raiser four months ago, and it's now raising tough new questions for his presidential campaign. >> there are 47% of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. >> reporter: the video first obtained by mother jones and later by nbc news shows romney surrounded by donors in may. nbc news has learned it was secretly recorded at a $50,000 a plate fund-raiser at the boca

ra raton, florida home of a private equity leader. >> there are 47% who are with him, dependent on government works believe they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to take care of them, who are entitled to food, to housing, you name it. it's an entitlement and that the government should give it to them, and they will vote for this president no matter what. >> reporter: romney concedes he has little chance of winning these voters over because they can't relate to his message of lower taxes and less government. >> these are people who pay no income tax. 47% of americans pay no income tax, so our message of low taxes doesn't connect. we'll be out there talking about tax cuts for the rich, that's what they sell to you every four years, and so my job is not to worry about those, people who should take personal responsibility and take care of their lives. what i have to convince is the 5% to 10% in the center that are

independent, that are thoughtful, that look at voting one way or the other depending in some cases on emotion, whether they like the guy or not. >> reporter: later asked why he doesn't attack the president more forcefully, romney says this about swing voters he's targeting. >> because they voted for him, they don't want to be told that they were wrong, that he's a bad guy, that he did bad thing, he's corrupt. those people that we have to get, they want to believe they did the right thing but he just wasn't up to the task. they love the phrase that he's over his head >> reporter: obama campaign called romney's comments shocking, romney on monday night responded at a campaign event in california. >> good evening. it's not elegantly stated, let me put it that way. i'm speaking off the cuff in response to a question, and i'm sure i could state it more clearly and in a more effective way than i did in a setting like that. the president believes and what i've described as a government-centered society where government plays a larger and larger role, provides for more and more of the needs of

individuals, and i happen to believe instead in a free enterprise, free individual society where people pursuing their dreams are able to employ one another, build enterprises, build the strongest economy in the world. i happen to believe that my approach is the approach that will put 23 million people back to work again. >> reporter: at one point in the video romney also makes a joke about the background of his famous father who was born of american parents in mexico. >> had he been born of mexican parents, i'd have a better shot of winning this, but he was -- he was an american living in mexico and lived there a number of years. i said that jokingly, but it would be helpful, you know, to be latino. >> reporter: the source who made the secret video insisted to nbc news the original motivation was not political but simple curiosity, to see what romney would say in the unscripted setting but after watching the tape the source decided the

public should hear what romney said and was encouraged to release it after talks with an atlanta political researcher names james carter iv, the grandson of jimmy carter, a president frequently compared to barack obama as an example of a failed president. savannah? >> thank you. former republican congressman joe scarborough and host of "nbc this morning." >> good morning. >> is this a crisis for the romney campaign or a blip and something that will have no impact? >> depends on whether they turn the campaign around. 50 days left. mitt romney will be spending over $150 million in outside ads, outside groups will be spending money. there's three presidential debate. there's no doubt if mitt romney clearly outperforms president obama in all three presidential debates, nobody will be talking about this other than how it helped mitt romney focus and turn things around. here's a problem. this is an absolutely critical

time for the campaign. go back to the convention. start with that video, the high point of mitt romney's campaign was his rnc video which was so moving and made you think, you know what? i think i can relate to this guy, and then we had clint eastwood and then we had the chair, and then over this past week, it's been absolutely remarkable. you combine libya and the press conference which is polling horribly for him, the campaign shakeup yesterday that was in several publications, and then this video, very, very bad news. this is one of the worst weeks for any presidential candidate in a general election that any of us can remember around this table. >> and how dangerous potentially are these remarks? at one point he basically dismisses half the nation as deadbeats saying i'll never convince them that they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives. does this feed into the very narrative that the obama campaign is trying to push on romney. >> feeds into what jeff greenfield called the thurston

howell iii candidate, david brooks is talking about it this morning. 47% of these, quote, victims that mitt romney talked about, were not going to vote for mitt romney anyway, but jeb bush and george w. bush, when they campaigned, they would always start their campaigns in inner cities. they would always go talk to the truly disadvantaged, not because they believed they would get those votes but because they believed they would get swing voters, white suburban moms in philadelphia, i-4 corridor, swing districts that may look at republicans as being too harsh and too uncaring. maybe republicans are the candidates that are going to take care of their tax dollars better, going to run government more wisely, but the hard edge scared them. george w. bush, karl rove, jeb bush, they figured that out. this is dangerous, not because he's going to lose that 47% of the vote but because you're going to start seeing suburban voters, swing voters, storm away from the campaign as quickly as possible unless he fixes it.

>> you mentioned some of the disarray that's been reported in the campaign, an article in politico saying advisers were sniping at each other in blind quotes. here's what goromry said on telemundo about that story. >> i've got a terrific campaign. my senior campaign people work extraordinarily well together. i work well with them. our campaign is doing well. >> so no changes in your campaign? >> i've got a good team. >> you know, joe, you don't usually see these kinds of stories until late in a campaign when campaign advisers know they are losing. do you think that's what's happening here? >> just a few points of view, a little different than what mitt romney said. he says he has a terrific campaign. actually he doesn't. he says the campaign workers are working well together, well, actually, they are not working well together, and that his campaign is going in the right direction. no, it's not, and this is not being said by liberals who are gleeful about what's happened to mitt romney's campaign over the past couple of weeks. these are conservatives. these are gop strategists. these are people that have

invested in the reagan revolution, invested in the gingrich revolution of '94, invested in george w. bush's campaign. they are so depressed this morning they just can't believe that mitt romney is blowing a race against a president who they believe has mismanaged the economy terribly over the past four years, has sent us $5 trillion deeper into debt, has run trillion dollar deficits per year, the largest stimulus spending bill ever, the largest health care plan ever, and it's not working. unemployment is still 8% plus. the economy is still in tatters, and mitt romney is blowing this race. it is too much for many republicans to handle. >> well, former republican congressman joe scarborough, thank you for your perspective this morning. >> savannah, i'm going to go put a bag over my head now so i'll talk to you soon. >> we'll see you soon. >> where's that bag? >> thanks. it's 12 minutes after the hour. once again, here's matt. >> thank you. another political video obtained by nbc news, this one featuring donald trump.

we're going to talk to him in a moment, but first nbc's peter alexander is with the romney campaign in los angeles. peter, good morning. >> reporter: matt, good morning to you. we'll show you clips of that video in a moment, but before he got wrapped up in damage control late monday, mitt romney had just received his first national security briefing that took place here in los angeles. he had also made another big appeal to a critical demographic, that's latinos. the romney campaign began this week by announcing a reset of sorts, promising to lay out more policy specifics, to try to reinforce its message of the need, not just to fire the president but why people needed to hire romney. meanwhile, nbc news, us a noted, has obtained that video featuring one of romney's most colorful surrogates, donald trump. >> let's see what you've been up to? this is your review. >> reporter: the never-before-seen video shows trump conducting a mock performance review with an actor playing the president. sources say it was produced by the republican national committee and intended to air at the convention.

>> just recently you said. >> the private sector is doing fine. >> the private sector is dying. you had some clear objectives when you took the reins. you promised hope and change. how did you do there? you've run up almost as much debt as every other president combined. i know, i know, it wasn't your fault. it's never anybody's fault. you've inherit it had, right? the fact is the american people want results. president obama, you're fired. >> we reached out to the romney campaign for their thoughts on the video. we did not hear back. sources say that video, matt, was scheduled to air on the convention's first night, monday night. of course, that night never took place because it was canceled due to hurricane isaac, and the video was never shown. >> peter alexander on this. thank you very much. donald trump is joining us now by phone. mr. trump, good to talk to you. >> hello, matt. >> this idea, was it yours, the

rnc? 's who came up with it? >> it was the rnc. they approached me about doing it. they very much wanted to do it. they had a great crew sent over, very professional, top hollywood people, and i think they did a very good job. >> yeah. why didn't they find a way to squeeze it in later in the week? i mean, there was a condensed schedule. monday night was a wash. were you surprised they didn't find a way to put this in tuesday or wednesday night? >> i actually was. came out very well. you showed little excerpts, came out really well, and a lot of people wanted it, but, you know, the problem they have is they are not being tough enough. they are not getting -- i can't say down and dirty, but that's exactly what president obama is doing with them, and they have got to fight fire with fire. the republicans have to get tougher or they are going to lose this campaign >> i watched the whole thing, donald, and one thing that struck me in the entire almost four-minute video, while you criticize president obama for his performance, you never once mentioned mitt romney's name. was that by design, or do you think that was an omission?

>> it really didn't have anything to do in this case with mitt romney, had everything to do with the performance of the president. we weren't discussing mitt romney. we were discussing the performance of president obama. >> i want to ask you about the comment that were secretly recorded of mitt romney at that fund-raiser in florida a couple of months ago and get your response. he said this, among other things. these are people who pay no income tax. 47% of americans who pay no income tax, so our message of low taxes doesn't connect. so my job is not to worry about those people. i'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives. what i have to do is convince the 5% to 10% in the center that are independent and that are thoughtful. that's your reaction? >> the first thing is he has to not apologize because we've seen enough apologizing already, and he cannot apologize. what he said is probably what he means, and he did say inartfully stated. the fact is he cannot apologize. he is going for those independents. he won't get the votes of a lot of people that he's discussing, and if you're not going to get

the votes, let's go on with it. but do not apologize. >> you say this is what he probably thinks. you think he truly feels that 47% of people in this country have no personal responsibility and don't care for their lives? >> well, he's saying that that's not really what he meant, and you'd have to ask him about it, but he's actually saying that's not what he meant, and i'm sure he wished he didn't say it. i'm sure that he wish that had the hidden camera wasn't there, but the fact, is matt, he's really saying that's not what he meant. >> are you sorry you didn't run for president? >> no. i'm having a good time. i mean, i was doing great, having a lot of fun with you and everybody else. i was leading in the polls. i was having a good time, but i'm rlly having a good time doing what i'm doing. >> donald, thanks for joining us this morning. >> thank you very much. >> appreciate it. >> all right. >> let's get a check of the day's other top stories with natalie morales back at the news desk. >> good morning, to you. good morning, everyone. we're beginning with the internet video that has stoked

so much rage in the muslim world and it's changed u.s. policy in afghanistan. nbc correspondent richard engel is live from camp leather neck in afghanistan. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, natalie, u.s. marines on this base and others are on high alert after an increase in violence in kabul and a spate of the insidious insider attack which is changing the way that the u.s. forces have to conduct this war. the suicide bomber appears to have been trolling for any foreigners in kabul for revenge against an internet movie militant groups are now used to go justify their attacks. the bomber's vehicle exploded next to a small bus, killing, according to afghan police, eight russian, south african aviation contractors. the militant greens hizb-i-islami says the car bomb was carried out by a 22-year-old female which would be rare in afghanistan where few women even

drive, let alone carry out attacks. there were riots in kabul on monday, and the tension from the video only adds to a far bigger problem, a spike in insider attacks. afghan forces killing their nato partners. from now on, most u.s. and afghan troops are being kept apart. u.s. commanders said nato forces in afghanistan will no longer partner with afghan troops on small patrols or in small units. that's where most of the training and mentoring takes place. it's not a good sign for the direction of the war which is supposed to wind down in 2014. >> we say in military science the most perilous of all military operations is a withdrawal under pressure. that's what we're doing in afghanistan. >> reporter: analysts expect the taliban and other militant groups will intensify attacks during the ongoing draw-down to show that the 11-year war has been a failure.

in a statement this morning, coalition commanders said they are committed to partnering with afghan forces, that this temporary suspension is only designed for force protection and that american and afghan units can continue to patrol, even in small numbers, but that those patrols will require commander approval and only be approved on a case-by-case basis. natalie. >> richard engel, thanks so much. the fbi is investigating an airline bomb threat on monday that led to a heated exchange an new york's jfk airport. two planes were stopped on the tarmac after an anonymous threat. the pilot of one flight felt he was not getting enough information from the control tower. take a listen to his response. >> okay. we're surrounded by emergency vehicles. there's a reason for this. somebody's got to give us the reason or we're going to evacuate the aircraft. you've got 60 second.

>> both planes were checked for explosives and cleared to proceed to their thermotermials. olympic snowboarding champion shaun whyte was released after his arrest on charges of public intoxication and vandalism. police say white is accused of pulling a fire alarm and destroying a hotel phone. and here's a fellow you'll be seeing a lot of. he's the mascot for the 2014 world cup soccer tournament in brazil. he's an endangered three-banded armadillo. brazilians will get to select among three name choices. it's 7:21. cute guy. >> translation, please. >> no real -- >> majoubi has to be about being amorous, having friendly feelings, so -- >> not going for that one. >> no. >> broad category there. >> doing it for the kids. >> yes. >> all right. let's see what we've got for you. talking about a really rough day today here in the east, from

charlotte all the way to albany. we're talking about damaging winds, tornadoes possible, airport delays. you look at this rain firing up, and it's just going to get worse. we're talking about a system that will be bringing winds of up to 60 miles per hour. rainfall of anywhere from 2 to 3 inches before it's all over. some areas as much as 4 inches. power lines going down. it is going to be a real mess here in the northeast for the next 24 hours. that's what's going on around >> good morning. the chance for rain will go up today. some severe what the bank is that's your latest weather. matt? >> al, thanks. coming up, much more on this

morning's breaking news, the french magazine that first published the topless sunbathing photos of the duchess of cambridge ordered to turn them over immediately or face criminal charges. we'll show you how a photographer standing half a mile away from a subject can take such intimate shots. but first, this is "today" on th

just ahead, ryan seacrest on the new "american idol" judges. >> and a live concert from pink after your local news. so where you living now, will? will: [ inner voice ] where am i living? the only place i can afford. here it is, just like you left it. will: [ inner voice ] okay, i was smart enough to notice that this totally loaded daily double is now on the mcdonald's extra value menu. only paid a buck 99. so hey, i can handle this. i got this great kind of loft space. no way. cool. [ male announcer ] check out mcdonald's extra value menu and find the big taste of the daily double for just $1.99. just one of the great extra value menu tastes. the simple joy of being smart. ♪ the simple joy of being smart. almay primer

the first step to a beautiful look a swirl of green correcting your color a twirl of lavender "...brightening your glow" together, these two colors create the perfect canvas >> this is wbal-tv 11 news in baltimore. >> good morning. i am stan stovall. the suspect in the assault on high school pleads guilty. a video of the attack went viral in march. monday, he admitted to hitting the 16-year-old student, saying that the student had thrown french fries on his sister and the assault was an act of retaliation. officials determined that the victim -- you see it coming out

right here -- acted in self- defense and as a result will not be charged. when there is rain, there is usually problems. here is sarah caldwell. >> well done, stan. southbound 295 anne arundel mills boulevard, looking at an accident and delays begin in approaching 100 towards 97. miles per hour15 from reisterstown road to the outer loop. southbound 795 stacked on the owings mills area to the beltway. belair road, the scene of a crash. looking at delays towards the beltway northeast. once you get on to the northeast side from miller retorts dulaney valley, watch for a slow go. trimble road, watch for a crash. delays in this there. it will switch quickly to 295.

southbound delays. over to you, tony. >> weather is quiet -- that's sarah. i know you would rather watch her, but you have to watch me. there is a little bit of rain this morning. it will pick up in intensity into the afternoon. moving to the east. there is a chance the severe weather this afternoon. breezy, high near 79. mixture of

tell us what it was like when you first heard justin cry. >> i know this sounds crazy, but he sounded like he was singing. he did. >> that's pretty good. that's justin bieber's mom patty opening up about raising the pop superstar. apparently she knew he was destined to tinge from the very beginning. we'll have kathie lee's exclusive interview with her coming up in our next half hour. meanwhile, inside studio 1a i'm matt lauer alongside savannah guthrie. look who else is here, our good friend ryan seacrest in our green room. >> surprised he's not tweeting. tweeting a lot lately. that's how he revealed the new judges on "american idol," so we'll have him how nicki minaj and keith urban are getting along with mariah carey and

randy jackson. is everyone gelling? >> apparently there's some tension. apparently it got so bad that ryan had to pull a gun and fire a warning shot. is that correct? >> not revealing anything. >> either that or he's in a soundproof booth. big changes coming to twit their will affect the 140 million active users. we'll reveal that here live. >> that's on our twitter pages. maybe we'll get new followers. some of the top offenders when it comes to calories in the favorite restaurant meal, including one, that's the equivalent of eating 15 ho ho cakes. >> you're too young to know a ho ho cake. >> and a french court is ordering a magazine there to hand over all digital copies of the topless sunbathing photos of

the duchess of cambridge. in a moment, we'll show you live just how a photographer gets those kinds of images from so far away. we're talking over a half a mile. but first nbc's michelle kosinski is in paris. michelle, good morning again. >> reporter: hi, matt. this may be the first time ever that everybody is talking about not what kate was wearing but what she wasn't. but now she and william just scored a courtroom victory here in france, the court giving them everything they asked for. the french magazine that published those topless photos must stop all publication and distribution including on the internet. within 24 hours they need to turn over all the originals to the royal family and what's more a criminal investigation into this entire matter is now being open. william and kate are saying good-bye to the south pacific which set out its grandest efforts to comfort them. including flower garlands presented by topless women. tomorrow back to britain and the european uproar of the published

photos of kate sunbathing topless while she and william vacationed at this secluded estate in the south of france. in france, their lawyers are on it slapping the publisher of the french magazine "closer," with photos taken hundreds of yards away and a breach of privacy and they asked the court to stop publication of the pictures, stop any resale of them, remove them from the web and force the publisher to pay up big time if it doesn't comply. they described the photos of intimate scenes stolen by telephoto lens. kate may be a princess, they said, but she suffers over this. in paris, even if you wanted a copy of the magazine treated by some as a collector's item that might be impossible >> translator: the stock has run out. there's no way of getting them at the warehouse. there aren't any more to be had. >> reporter: in italy where the magazine "chi" owned by the same publisher as the french run ran

a 42 photo spread and here readers are unfazed. >> she's just a woman sunbathing. i can't understand the importance >> reporter: royal family is upset and well acquainted with such intrusions. diana had been caught by long lens, in the gym, on a boat, in the '90s charles was snapped in the buff on a balcony while vacationing in france. andrew had his ex-wife sarah published topless. prince harry in vegas, even prince philip inadvertently exposing himself while wearing a kilt. kate, before she married william, sued a photo agency over pictures of her playing tennis. she won. many of these instances long forgotten, and perhaps one day this will be, too. french privacy laws are some of the toughest around. in fact, the first lady or first girlfriend of france just won a judgment against this same magazine for publishing pictures of her wearing a bikini.

the fine was about 2,000 euros. that's the thing. the penalties tend to be very light. hey, william and kate got what they wanted out of this, at least here in france. matt. >> all right, michelle kosinski in france this morning. thanks very much. those pictures of the duchess of cambridge were taken using a very powerful long lens to. give you some insight into how they were shot we've inlisted the help of former paparazzi photographer james ambler at a promenade in brooklyn heights overlooking lower manhattan. his subject is nbc's stephanie gosk. she's across the river more than half a mile away at the south street seaport. good morning to both of you. james, let me start with you. when -- since you used to do this for a living, when you first saw these images of the duchess of cambridge, what was your initial sports? was it, wow, that's out of bounds, or wow, that's the ultimate get? >> a little bit of both, to be honest with you. they are fantastic pictures, but the content of what it is is almost too risky for it to be of

any value. >> she was sunbathing topless at a private residence. the photographer was apparently more than a half a mile away. talk me through the equipment that would be necessary to capture that kind of an image. >> well, she would needed a very long lens. what you've got here is a 600 mill lens, put a doubler on it so it doubled that length to a 1,200 mill lens and a camera body to go with it. the distances are getting larger and larger with the technology growing and the ability to be able to catch people from very far away. >> just to give people an idea at home, how much would that kind of a setup would cost? >> a setup like this is going to start you out at about $20,000. you also need equipment to send the pictures, almost as important as taking the pictures, to get the pictures out very quickly, so, you know, it's not a cheap hobby to have. >> i want to put some animation up on the screen right now, james, as we continue to talk. i mentioned you're at a

promenade in brook lynn. stephanie gosk is about a half a mile, if not a little bit more away at the south street seaport, so as you look through the lens, and we're going to be able to see what you're seeing in your viewfinder live on our screens, let's see how close you can get to her. >> yes, so this is -- this is a shot from where i am, and obviously we've cropped in slightly as well, but can you see that from this distance you can get a really good shot from over half a mile away. >> she's turning around waving. stephanie, can you hear me, by the way? i don't know if stephanie can hear me, but there would be no way, james, that she could see you where you are. if you were taking secret photos of her, there would be absolutely no way she would be able to see you, correct? >> yeah. i mean, she would -- not with the untrained eye. if you had a pair of binoculars or security detail was looking out, they might be able to spot you, but, you know, there's lots of tricks that we have.

you use natural surroundings to hide as well. >> would you then take the images as close as can you get with that lens and the doubler, you would download them. then you could crop them further and even zoom in more than that, is that correct? >> yeah. with these new cameras, the image quality is so good that you can actually take a wide image, zoom in on it, crop in and blow up that image even further, so really now distances are becoming, you know, given the right conditions, they can be, you know, as far away as possible. >> if we can put the last image back up. there's an image of stephanie gosk that you have managed to capture and we've enhanced from more than half a mile away, so the message, james, to the people who are the targets of -- of the paparazzi is what? >> if you don't want to get pictured topless, don't take your top off, you know. there's no real distance. >> james, succinct and well put. james ambler, thanks very much. stephanie, thanks for being the target this morning.

it's amazing. >> i guess that is one lesson. don't take your top off. i don't know. >> half a mile away. >> words to live by, yeah, crazy. let's get a check of the wetter from mr. roker. >> and the weather is not that great. can you imagine how clear that picture would be on a clear day. we've got amazing video to show you from the australian autoback. this is a fire nato, a fire going on and columns of super heated air creates the tornado. look as this, almost like a seen from "dante's inferno," amazing stuff to see video like this. the photographer who shot it said it sounded like a jet engine going off. lock at this, wow. fire to ice. we're talking about frost and freeze warnings in the upper plains from parts of minnesota all the way on to the dakotas. temperatures are near freezing, to the mid to upper 30s today. rest of the country we expect things warming up a little bit.

60s and 70s in the northeast. hundreds through the southwest. thhe >> good morning. the chance for rain will be going up as we head towards the afternoon and evening. it will be a breezy day. and that's your latest weather. matt? >> all right. a thanks very much. up next, a salad that is equal to eating seven bowls of mac and cheese. come to papa. we'll help you make wiser choices when you eat as a restaurant. and later on, a live concert from the one and only pink out on the plaza, but first, these messages. [ engine revving ]

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3% back on [ friends ] road trip!!!!!!!!!!!! [ male announcer ] get 1-2-3 percent cash back. apply online or at a bank of america near you. ♪ back now at 7:44 with "eat this, not that." for five years dave has been enlightening diners on the calorie count of some of our favorite meals. his latest book is "eat this, not that 2013, the new diet weight loss solution." you've been at this for a while. is there any progress? >> every restaurant serves up information. if you can choose, can you lose. mcdonald's is dishing this up now. >> still there's work to do. this is the baja fresh enchilada chicken style nacho breatho. tell me about it. >> 1,180 calories. how do you say kitchen sink in

spanish? this right here has 82 grams of fat. two days worth of saturated fat and three days worth of sodium. it is the equivalent of eating 15 ho hos. >> okay. if you're at baja fresh, go with the steak tacos, 460 calories. you're going to end up saving almost 1,500 calories with that healthier option. that's a half a pound of fat. >> wow. next one from ihop. a salad that is a salad in name only, i guess. >> and you think, hey, i'm doing something great. this is a healthy option. what it turns out to be is worse than any burger on their menu, okay? it has 1,530 calories. it has 111 grams of fat, 30 grams of saturated fat. they said they were going to make it healthier. they cut 70 calories out but quadrupled the trans fat. that is not a good solution. equal to seven mac and cheese polls. get the double blt, 460 calories.

if you make that swap twice a year you'll save 32 pounds. >> what's this delicious thing we're looking at? >> chilies, a warning, do not ever have more than three barnyard animals in your entre, okay. this is 1,730 calories. it's 105 grams of fat, and it's 4,500 milligrams of sodium, again three days worth of sodium, the equivalent of a dozen oscar meyer cheese dogs. >> that's a cheese dog. >> not a vegetable in sight. >> that's a healthier option. >> customize this with two sides, get your broccoli and rice, 500 calories. you're saving 1,200 calories, a third of a pound of body fat with that one meal. >> all right, all right. the bloomin' onion, applebee's, your favorite. >> outback steakhouse, a standard onion that's 60 calories and turned it into 1,900. we have 1,900 unaccounted

calories that we have to try to figure out what happened, to and you've got 161 grams of fat, two and a half days of saturated fat. >> just like these funions, have the healthy shrimp instead. >> shot of the protein. >> how many calories are in your cheesy lime? i live for them. >> thank you. >> still ahead, an exclusive interview with justin bieber's mom patty, but up next, ryan seacrest on "idol"'s new judges. that's after this. ♪

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that's why you always get your flu shot. this year, walgreens will do you one better and check if there are any other immunizations you might need -- absolutely free, no appointment necessary. preparing you for years of unplanned sharing to come. at walgreens and take care clinics, we've got all kinds of ways to arm yourself for flu season, and they're all right here... at the corner of happy and healthy. as you know, in this day and age nothing is actually official until it hits twitter, so on sunday after months of speculation, "american idol" host and "today" special correspondent ryan seacrest tweeted it's official. your new "idol" judges are mariah carey, nicki minaj, keith urban and randy jackson. twitter man ryan seacrest joins us this morning. >> good to see you. >> good to see you again. >> good to be back. >> how much say did you have in hiring this team? >> zero say.

it's really up to the producers and the network. however, they kept me in the loop when they were talking about different ideas, and who would be in the mix, but it was not my decision. >> felt like it came down to the wire, like an hour before something. >> you would think when you're reading this in the press, that this can't be true, that they -- they must have decided on a panel two or three days prior to shooting a new season. well, it did come down just like that. >> really? >> yeah. >> we know that auditions already took place i believe sunday, right, in new york. >> started sunday, right. >> so some reports of squabbling already between nicki minaj and mariah carey. >> not keith and randy? >> well, you tell us. >> those two will not share a meror. >> what about nicki and mariah. >> two very different, strong, powerful, successful women on the panel. there are not too many dull moments between the two of them. but at end of the day we all hug and laugh and get ready for another day. >> can i be just be a cynic here. >> that's a shocker. >> is this a case where some publicist starts putting out

mariah and nicki are not getting along and that's just good for the show. >> not bad for the show if people are talking about the show, but that's not exactly true. >> i'm being cynical. >> they are getting along fine, but they are strong and candid in their opinion. >> we're hearing that randy jackson was going to be relegated to a mentor role, but now he's still a judge. what happened there? >> i guess there was some talk of where he would be depending on who would make up that panel. he's now back on the judges' panel. i can't imagine doing that show without randy jackson. he's been there since day one. >> the dog. >> the dog. early on, it's early but who is the tough judge? >> interestingly, i mean, there's not one that is the tough judge. they are very, very -- they are not so sugar-coated when it comes to what they are saying, but they are saying it with heart, but they are very honest, not putting through as many people as you would think. >> so which judge is most likely to cry, and which judge is most likely to make you cry? >> it may be --

>> he cries for anything. >> i cried on the commercials of the show sometime. but it may be keith who has to sit between nicki and mariah. >> well done. ryan, thank you. >> you going to stick around? >> i hope so. >> can i borrow your rain coat. >> sure. >> can i borrow the short one? >> big change coming to twitter. ryan probably knows about this already. >> and pink live in concert after your local news. ♪ i got it made ♪ i got it made ♪ i got it made fresh at subway ♪ ♪ breakfast made the way i say ♪ i got it made ♪ i got it made ♪ i got it made ♪ i got it made fresh at subway ♪ ♪ breakfast made the way i say [ male announcer ] get breakfast made the way you say, like your very own egg white & cheese topped with that creamy super food, avocado. want jalapenos? red onions? done and done. on toasty flatbread? you so got it made. ♪ at subway

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>> this is wbal-tv 11 news in baltimore. >> good morning. i am lisa robinson. here is sarah caldwell and traffic pulse 11. >> the finale a busy ride out there. if you are heading out, at 50, a new accident there. cedar lane and route 32, crash in colombia bid southbound 295 stacked to be on 32 due to an accident. westbound 70 and 29, watch for delays. the fear delays in the eastbound direction -- heavier delays in

the eastbound direction. heavy on the northbound and westbound side. 9 malia road and at trimble road, crashed in the clearing stages. stahl from approaching white marsh down to the split. let's switch over to a live view of traffic. tapping the brakes from 195 down towards 197. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. tony, over to you. >> temperatures are in the upper 60s and low 70's. chance for heavier rain except into the late morning and afternoon hours. this is creeping towards baltimore. further we go into the morning and afternoon, the better the chance of thunderstorms and even a slight chance of severe

weather. wednesday, thursday, and friday, a mixture of sunshine and clouds.

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. 8:00 new on this tuesday morning. it's the 18th of september, 2012, and we are amongst a sea of pink fans gearing up for a live concert from the three-time grammy winner. they have got their raincoats on as well. she will take our stage in the next half hour. and good morning again, everyone. i'm savannah guthrie alongside matt lauer and al roker and ryan seacrest is here this morning. >> good morning. >> great to see you. >> this is his coat. fits pretty well. >> thank you very much. appreciate it. >> my pleasure. >> you guys are so adorable. >> oh, thank you. >> anyway, coming up, we're going to talk to the mother of a real superstar, justin bieber. >> she was 18 when she had justin, the same age justin is

right now, so she's going to talk about some of the struggles she went through and how she feels about her son's superstardom which is super, super, superstardom. >> even a superstar on twitter, as is mr. seacrest. even mr. lauer has gotten in on twitter and there's big change coming. >> a big change on twitter, and we'll take you inside the headquarters at twitter so lots of excitement there. >> lots to get to. let's get a check of the day's top stories with natalie morales over at the news desk. good morning to you. >> good morning to you guys. good morning, everyone. mitt romney isn't apologizing for comments he made to wealthy donors at a fund-raiser in florida. the republican presidential hopeful says on a secretly recorded video that 47% of all americans believe they are entitled to help from the government and that it's not his job to worry about them. romney says he answered a question with an off-the-cuff answer, and he didn't know he was being taped. the video was made public by the magazine "mother jones." the fbi's investigating a bomb threat at new york's

kennedy airport on monday. an anonymous caller claimed there were explosives on two arriving jumbo jets. officials say the american airlines and fin air flights were searched and cleared to proceed to their terminals. no explosives were found. a massive search is under way along the stretch of the u.s.-mexico border after more than 130 inmates used a tunnel to escape monday from a high security prison in piedras negras, mexico, across the boarder from eagle pass, texas. now for a look at what is trending today, our quick roundup what have has you talking online. a home video of a young boy being reunited with a favorite toddler toy is going viral. the step monkey named ah ah was last on his family vacation and fast forward three years the mom says she found the blue monkey on ebay and when it arrived it really is the lost toy. >> look it. >> you did that.

>> i know. look at his hair. it's ah ah. >> the mother and son aren't the only ones shedding the tears of joy. so are a lot of people who view that had video. they say every picture tells a story. in this case 22 pictures tell the incredible love story of an iowa woman and her now husband who lost both arms and legs while serving with the navy in afghanistan. can certainly all learn a lesson about love and sacrifice from this amazing couple. and it seems everyone wants to get in on the "gangnam style" craze. now, the u.s. naval academy is also taking on psy's smash hit with their own video. ♪ ♪ . >> got the moves down all right. the cadets have rocked up nearly half a million youtube views in less than two days. very good.

8:03 right now. let's go back outside to savannah, matt and ryan. >> natalie, thank you. ryan and i are just standing here taking turns holding the umbrella over savannah. >> rotate. >> just shouting about how much they wished they had been here to do the gan familiar-style. >> so excited to see you do that, and were you not here that day. very disappointed, matt. >> i had a cramp. >> we can make up for this. >> we could do that. >> it's wet, the encore. >> a check of the weather with mr. roker. >> a surprise, psy, come on out. by the way, we have some friends here from oswego, new york, fans of pink. you brought me a sub. >> roker special. >> many a night were spent at the oswego sub shop. hold on, let's show you what's going on as far as your weather is concerned. we do have the risk of strong storms from charlotte all the way to albany, parts of new england. tornadoes possible. look for airport delays from charlotte all the way into new england and boston.

we rex pecting to see more wet weather making its way up from the southeast. first a warm front and then the cold front brings the stronger weather coming in. as you can see during the day, it's really the eastern third of the country that will be affected by this thing. we are looking for those storms. out west it's going to be a gorgeous day. plenty of sunshine. temperatures in seattle going to get themselves up into the mid to upper 80s. 101 in phoenix. look for that rain to continue all the way down into northern florida. morning showers in northern texas. that's what's going on around >> good morning. the chance for rain will go up today. some severe what the bank is

and that's your latest weather. mr. lauer. >> all right, al. thank you very much. when we come back, justin bieber's mom patty talks about the tough journey from being a teen mom to raising a ten sen say. that's right after these messages. [ man ] launch sequence initiated. [ male announcer ] at kfc we have one mission: [ beep ] 15 seconds and counting. serve the world's best-tasting chicken. t-minus 10... that's why our whole chicken is delivered fresh. 9...8... and prepared fresh by real cooks 7... t-5. all systems go. 4... with kfc's world famous secret recipes. preparation complete... 3... 2...1... taste for yourself why fresh is better. mission accomplished. try our new freshly hand-breaded premium breast meat original recipe bites today. premium breast meat onof chocolate lovers from the thmelting point of chocolate. so when you take hershey's chocolate and add bubbles, it deliciously melts the moment you take a bite.

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mallet. by the time she gave birth to justin at 18 years old she already survived many challenges, and now she's sharing her story in a new book and sat down with kathie lee. kathie lee, good morning to you. >> good morning, yes. before you can appreciate the journey that justin bieber took to get to where he is today, it's very important to look at the journey his mother pattie has been on. i recently spent time with them in los angeles to talk about pattie's new book "nowhere but up, the story of justin bieber's mom." ♪ want to show you all the -- >> pattie mallet is watching her son at work. most babies, fly a little bit go to college, fly a little bit, get a job. yours is one of the biggest pop stars ever. 48 million million facebook fans, a new world tour and he's only 18. >> when you think about the fact

that just season now the exact same age that you were when you had him, does that blow your mind? >> it does. i mean, i can't picture him raising a child right now. >> please, god. >> he is a child. >> but you were, too. >> i didn't feel like i was, but seeing him i -- i clearly was, but, yeah, i -- had to grow up pretty fast. >> by the time pattie mallette gave birth to justin, she had lived a very difficult life. pattie says her troubles date back to her childhood. as early as age 4, pattie says she was sexually abused. >> so many young people that are abused sexually, it just becomes something that they are familiar with and something that they are almost attracted to because their purity is taken at such a young age. >> pattie's life, it turns out, would become even more difficult. by the time she was 14, she says she was into drugs and alcohol. by 15 she says she lost her

virginity, by 17 pattie had reached her breaking point. >> i was full of shame. i've learned it's normal and natural for anybody who has been through sexual abuse to carry that shame and blame and feel like there's something wrong with you, so i definitely carried that. >> you carried that to the extent that you hurled yourself into an oncoming truck to kill yourself. >> it was a combination of -- built up over the years of the abuse and the pain and, you know, at the time i was messed up with all the drugs and the alcohol, i was in a depression. >> during that time pattie says with the help of a friend she found god and after leaving the hospital felt like a new person, at least for six months. >> and then -- >> and then i started hanging out with some of my old friends and doing the old stuff, you know. next thing you know it i'm pregnant. >> jeremy bieber and pattie

mallette had had an on again, off again relationship. >> both of us came from broken homes so we just did the best that we could with our relationship, but it was definitely very rocky. >> you couldn't believe it, you said, when the doctor said that you were pregnant. >> no. >> you made the nurse give you a second test. >> i did. i didn't believe it. >> and a lot of people encouraged you to abort baby. >> i just knew i couldn't. i just knew i couldn't. i knew i had to keep him. >> on march 1st, 1994, pattie gave birth to a 7 pound, 14 ounce baby boy and while she called the baby jesse throughout the pregnancy, once he was born she named him justin. >> tell us what it was like when you first heard justin cry. >> oh, i know this sounds crazy but it sounded like he was singing. he did. >> what was it? was it my music? what was he singing? >> a-ha, a-ha, so precious and amazing.

i just wanted to squeeze him. >> what happened when jeremy came to see him? >> jeremy couldn't stop staring at him. he would stare hours and hours and fell in love right away. >> they never married and ended their relationship for good but pattie says jeremy is a different person today. >> we're friends. we get along, and i love the dad that he is to justin today. >> young justin showed his musical talents at an early age and before long was performing on the streets of his native canada and when he was 12 he entered a local singing competitioncalitied stratford and pretty soon pattie started posting pictures on youtube. >> and that's where it all began. >> scooter braun had seen the

videos on youtube and was relentless trying to get in touch with pattie. even though when he did though, pattie was still hesitant >> you hear all these horror stories in the industry and the teenagers and how crazy they can go. i just had to come to terms with the fact whether he's in high school or at home or the industry there's the same fears. i know who is around him and i know who his security guards are and i know who his manage hadn't are. i know that everybody is very protective of him and very careful. >> as busy and demanding as his schedule may be, justin still finds time for his mom. he even contributed to her new memoir. >> you wrote the forward for her book. >> yes. >> saying she's the strongest woman you have ever known. >> what else is she? >> she's been a friend, someone i can talk to and a good role model, and i want to grow up and have just a heart that my mom has because she has such a big heart. >> it seems justin also has a big heart. for pattie's birthday this year, just be wrote his mom a song and

later released it for mother's day. can you sing like one little line of it for us ♪ when you're lost and you're tired ♪ ♪ when you're broken in two ♪ let my love take you higher and i still turn to you ♪ >> beautiful. >> thank you, sweetiey. >> pattie has a lot to be proud of and so does justin. he says he thinks his mom's book will change thousands of lives. >> do you hear that? >> they have a very sweet relationship. >> he's a momma's boy. >> he is. >> can you imagine if his name is jesse bieber, would he be as successful as jesse bieber? >> i think so. >> once youtube videos hit he would be pretty successful, no

matter what. >> hoyy bieber. >> thank you. it was a pleasure. >> a lot more with pattie mallette tomorrow. live on today so we'll catch to catch up with her and meet her in person. >> you'll like her a lot. coming up next, a big change coming to twitter. we'll unveil it live right after this. 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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big changes coming to twitter. the company's ceo will explain those in just a couple of minutes, but first jason kennedy gives us a look inside the company headquarters in san francisco. jason, good morning. >> reporter: hey there, matt, good morning. twitter is just six years old and with its growing number of active users around the world, get this, the company is now estimated to be worth a whopping $8 billion. now, that's definitely something for them to tweet about. ♪ tweet, tweet, tweet ♪ rockin' robin >> reporter: more than 140 million people around the world do it approximately 340 million times a day, tweeting on twitter has become such a part of everyday life that the website is one of the top ten most visited since it first went online six years ago. >> started with the kernel of an idea of how do you let people stay in touch using text messages? ♪ let's go ♪ >> reporter: so now when justin bieber wants to connect with his

nearly 28 million followers he messages them on twitter, president obama and mitt romney also use the social network to stay in touch with their followers. >> it's hard to even imagine what it was like before we had sort of the ability to talk directly to the candidates. >> reporter: these days you don't have to be a pop star or presidential candidate to reach millions of people on twitter. anyone can do it in 140 characters or less. >> the person who treated the photo of the plane going down in the hudson river had something like 150 followers at the time of that, and that was the photo that really defined the event. that photo spread all over the world. >> reporter: a washington university study cited the power of twitter and other social media for their crucial role in the so-called arab spring movement that helped change the governments in tunisia and egypt. >> our users can basically pull out their phone, connect to twitter, find out what's going on in the world in realtime as it's happening. >> reporter: keeping all the worldwide tweets flowing smoothly are 900 young tech-savvy employees at twitter headquarters in san francisco. >> i've been here about three

years, and it's just always been a really exciting company. it grows, just like the user base has grown. >> a number of other places, big companies and small companies. it's certainly the most communicative, and everyone here is really smart and engaged and engaging. >> and as ad revenues increase, so do the perks. gourmet food to suit all tastes. lots of snacks and beverages of all kind are provided daily. free of charge to all twitter employees. >> we have great snacks. >> it's not the draw. the draw is actually working on something that matters. everybody here takes it really seriously. >> reporter: plenty of perks, indeed. guys, we're all ready to hear about the big changes coming to twitter. let's do this. >> jason, we'll make people wait and reveal those in just a second, by thank you. the ceo of twitter joins us. good to see you. >> thanks for having me. >> the company is exploding, no question about it. everywhere you go people are tweeting or talking about tweeting. i like something you said when

you got the job a couple years ago. you said this. quote, i'm currently trying to define what's twitter's purpose in the long term. now you've had two years. what is its purpose? >> twitter brings you closer. i mean, we see this over and over again from our users. it brings them closer to the action. it brings them closer to their heros. ryan's got 8 million followers on twitter. it's because he pulls them into everything he's doing and brings them closer to everything he's doing. >> and those 8 million can be immediately honest and candid with me. >> you would concur. >> what types of tweets do you get? >> in a global conversation you get global feedback, and sometimes that global feedback is positive, and sometimes it's biting but sinister. so we pay attention to it. >> what's the biggest complaint you get? >> we get complaints about languages we don't support. we get complaints about when is this feature going to be available in our country? all sorts of things like that. so what we have to do is pay attention to our users, listen

to what they are saying, acknowledge their feedback and prioritize the work you. >> said this is going to be the twitter election, and we see both candidates in the presidential election use twitter, advisers, everybody is doing it. can you make an argument that it's generating not just heat but light? >> i think the beauty of twitter in this election is it's made this a realtime campaign. we no longer have to go to the pundit in the back room with, you know, i've talked to these four people. you now get feedback immediately from across the country about how exactly everyone thinks about what you just said. >> let's get some feedback to your changes right now. put them up on the screen here. we're going to take a look at some differences. explain what the big difference is. >> that's the old one. >> that's the old one. >> and now the new look to twitter. >> what we've heard over and over again from our useers is they want to bring more of their personality to their profile pages so today's changes are all about bringing that personality forward, more media forward, more photos forward, so it's much easier to see the media experiences and flip through

them. we've also announced today a complete overhaul of the ipad design. and that ipad design is all about letting people flip through photos and video more easily. >> people will be checking this out tomorrow. is that when they can do it? >> all available right >> this is wbal-tv 11 news in baltimore. >> good morning. i am lisa robinson. let's get a check on your morning commute with sarah caldwell. >> not the best morning to be out on the roads. heavy delays around the area. we have an accident on the outer loop at the j.f.x. delayed in both directions. southbound just a mess due to accident in the northbound direction. if you are going to have a factory road, watch for a crash at there in bel air. we have an accident clearing

with heavy delays in the eastbound direction. west side filling up quickly from reisterstown road all the way down. cedar lane and route 32 in columbia, watch for an accident. delays are not, unfortunately. here is a live view of traffic. a bit i-95 on the northeast. -- update on 95 in the northeast. you can see from the beltway all the way into town, southbound delays. but down jammed from prior to northern parkway -- northbound jammed from prior to northern parkway. >> we have had a light rain around the area and that will continue for the next couple of hours. heavier rain to our west in the mountains, with a stronger

storms from hagerstown. further we go into the morning, the better the chance that every rain will catch up to us. >> we are back with another update. update. and i've got my pumpkin k-cup packs for at home. now i can have my pumpkin coffee any time i want it. pumpkin's perfect. it's dunkin' with the press of a button. new pumpkin k-cup packs, only at dunkin' restaurants. america runs on dunkin' coffee.

8:30 now on a tuesday morning. it's september 18, 2012. rainy morning here in the northeast, but you know what? we've got a huge crowd out on the plaza. most of these people packing in to check out pink in concert in this half hour, and we will not make them wait much longer. out on the plaza i'm matt lauer along with savannah guthrie, al

roker and ryan seacrest. ryan sticking around to help us out on a rather drizzly morning. >> yeah. >> they told us it wasn't raining. >> be careful. it's slippery. >> first album in about four years. pink is here to preview that. all the excitement in just a few minutes. >> all right. >> and also ahead, one of the biggest names. how many hours did we watch "pretty in pink?" andrew mccarty is here. he's had a great day, actually an award winning travel writer. we'll talk to him in just a few minutes. >> also, everything from jeans to must-have gadgets for your kitchen. we'll have the top products for women to get it all done. it's pouring now. >> al. >> tomorrow on "today," giuliana rancic will be here to talk about her life since she's

become a first-time mom after very public battles with infertility and breast cancer. >> can we first say good morning, and please be careful. >> don't slip. >> made a name for herself as a writer and actor on the "office" and now is branching out with a brand new show. good morning. >> good morning. >> good to see you. >> this is a big step, and i'm not talking about the one getting up on the platform, but this show all about you. are you nervous about it. >> >> i'm nervous and excited. more excited than nervous. >> getting huge buzz. everyone says it's clever and smart. no surprise to you, because one thing we know about you, you know you're pretty good at this. >> that's so nights of you guys to say that, thank you. this is so cool to be here, like i'm here for the first time. very clever even though it's raining. >> you play an ob-gyn and the relationships are up and down what. will women connect with on this show? >> i think the character is really, really relatable.

she has a lot of flaws. drinks a little bit too much. she, you know, kind of doesn't date as much as she wants to and like works a little bit too much. i don't know. i think it's a funny relationship. >> comparisons to "bridget jones diary". >> that was a great movie and a great book, too. >> ladies love it. >> yes, they do. >> you're our new woman of color not only starring in a show and running it as well. >> i would agree with that. >> we're full of compliments. >> i know. >> you can stand here all day. >> so nice. >> we'll see you on the season premiere of "the office." a lot of our viewers know you from "the office." >> i'll be back for the premiere. >> "the mindy project". >> thanks for having me. a >> good morning.

the chance for rain will be going up as we head towards the afternoon and evening. it will be a breezy day. that's your latest weather. mr. roker, thanks. andrew mccarthy on his brat pack days and how he settled down and also pink on the plaza and yes, she's

back now at 8:36 with actor and writer andrew mccarthy. if you were a girl growing up in the '80s there's a good chance you had his poster on your

bedroom wall. >> kevin. >> what do you want to hear in. >> just tell me. >> what in. >> you're ashamed to be seen with me. >> no, i'm not. >> you're ashamed to go out with me. >> he may have broken molly ring wohlied heart in "pretty in pink" but andrew mccarthy had many more teenage hearts aflutter in the 1980s. >> didn't believe in me. >> as a member of the infamous brat pack mccarthy was a click of young actors that included rob lowe, emilio estevez and demi moore. >> like girls. >> enjoy being afraid of russia. >> all of whom had a great deal of success in coming-of-age films like "st. elmo's fire." >> because i am desperately completely in love with you. >> from comedies like "mannequin" co-starring kim cattrall. >> oh, right. you two haven't met. roxie, this is emmy. emmy, roxie.

>> to the cult favorite "weekend at bernie's" which co-starred, well, a corpse. andrew mccarthy was on every movie-maker's short list. in addition to his acting career, mccarthy is also an award-winning travel writer. his new memoir is called "the longest way home, one man's quest for the courage to settle down." andrew mccarthy, good morning. >> good morning. >> nice to meet you. first question, did you get my letter in 1986, and why haven't you responded? >> i did. you didn't get that? >> no, no, no. >> the mail. >> yes. >> in all seriousness, there's a generation of women who probably still come up to you with or without their copy of "tiger beat" and feel that they know you and have something to say to you. >> now they introduce their kids to me. >> yeah. just interviewed molly ringwola few weeks ago and there's a brat pack phenomenon. some actors were a part of it or resisted it and had to come to terms with it.

do you deal with that? >> i felt like i resisted it and now it's become an iconic affectionate term in a period of time in a bunch of movies that mean a lot to people. it's fantastic now. >> you are part of this cultural phenomenon. >> so weird. i never thought of myself this way, and i am embedded in this cultural moment in time, yeah. >> here you are sort of part of this pack. one of the things you write about in your book you is feel like you're kind of a loner. >> well, yeah. always one of the ironies to me that i was in this brat pack and always sort of separate and i lived here and never hung out. that an odd experience for me. >> the memoir is really about two journeys, the literal journeys around the world and also your figurative journey to settle down and finally find love in a real way. i mean, why was that a good device for you? >> well, like you said, i became this travel writer in the last ten years, and i found travel a real way to sort of get in touch with who i am. i sort of found myself when i was on the road, and as i was leaving to go on one of my

trips, my now wife and i had just decided to get married, and i was really sad to be leaving. i was sitting in the back of the cab all kind of weepy to be going, and in the same instant i was thrilled to be leaving and i couldn't reconcile the two parts of me, one that wants to be with you and the other part that needs to go be me so i thought there was a nugget for a book there to try to wrangle and wrestle with that theme of intimacy and commitment and how does a guy do that? >> some people kind of called it the eat, pray, love for men. >> do you like that? >> falling in love was great, but it's an internal emotional journey that plays out over the executive locations and stuff so that's the comparison i would welcome. i thought that was a terrific book. >> you're pretty blunt. talked about a struggle you went through, a struggle with alcohol. you wrote there was one time you woke up in amsterdam, fell asleep in berlin or vice versa. >> i don't really remember it very well. it was the '80s. part of this is the stew that makes up who i've become, so it

all goes in there. you know, i talk about the movies and some of the drinking stuff, but it's more about that sort of emotional coming to terms, coming of age, you know. >> you've done all this travel. you write about the places you've visited. what's a place you would definitely go back to and a place you would never return to? >> i loved patagonia. i'd go back to patagonia in a heartbeat, and i found luxembourg quite boring. >> sorry, luxembourg. >> finally, most importantly, don't you feel in some ways that ducky was the better man than blaine? >> this is an outrageous theory that you people entertain all of these years, and i'm sorry for you is all i can think of. >> blaine was better looking but ducky had the heart. >> but what are you going to do with ducky? that wears thin, doesn't it? >> can you tell me to get a life. that's fine. the book is "the longest way home." andrew mccarthy, great to have you here. >> great to be here. >> coming up next, a live concert from pink. but first, this is "today" on nbc.

i'm drinking dunkin'. i'm just in love with the flavor. i get mine black. i don't want to take away from that pure taste. so smooth, no bitterness. it's awesome. there's no other taste like it. america runs on dunkin' coffee.

she has been a star for more than a decade. she's got brand new music coming out today, and we are thrilled to have her back on the plaza. ladies and gentlemen, pink. [ cheers and applause ] >> come on, y'all. it stopped raining. ♪ na, na, na, na, na, na, na na, na, na, na, na, na ♪ ♪ na, na, na, na, na, na, na na, na, na, na, na, na ♪ ♪ i guess i just lost my husband i don't know where he went ♪ ♪ so i'm gonna drink my money i'm not gonna pay his rent ♪ ♪ i got a brand new attitude and i'm gonna wear it tonight i wanna get in trouble i wanna start a fight ♪ ♪ na, na, na, na, na, na, na ♪ na, na, na, na, na, na, na i wanna start a fight ♪

♪ so, so what? i'm still a rock star i got my rock moves ♪ ♪ and i don't need you and guess what i'm having more fun ♪ ♪ and now that we're done i'm gonna show you tonight i'm all right ♪ ♪ i'm just fine and you're a tool so so what? ♪ ♪ i am a rock star i got my rock moves and i don't want you tonight ♪ ♪ uh, check my flow, uh the waiter just took my table and gave to jessica simp ♪ ♪ i guess i'll go sit with drum boy at least he'll know how to hit ♪ ♪ what if this song's on the radio then somebody's gonna die ♪ ♪ i'm gonna get in trouble my ex will start a fight ♪ ♪ na, na, na, na, na, na, na he's gonna start a fight ♪ ♪ na, na, na, na, na, na, na we're all gonna get in a fight! ♪ ♪ so, so what? i'm still a rock star

i got my rock moves ♪ ♪ and i don't need you and guess what i'm having more fun ♪ ♪ and now that we're done i'm gonna show you tonight i'm all right ♪ ♪ i'm just fine and you're a tool so so what? ♪ ♪ i am a rock star i got my rock moves and i don't want you tonight ♪ ♪ you weren't there you never were you want it all but that's not fair ♪ ♪ i gave you life i gave my all you weren't there you let me fall ♪ ♪ so, so what? i'm still a rock star i got my rock moves ♪ ♪ and i don't need you and guess what

i'm having more fun ♪ ♪ and now that we're done i'm gonna show you tonight i'm all right ♪ ♪ i'm just fine and you're a tool so so what? ♪ ♪ i am a rock star i got my rock moves and i don't want you tonight ♪ ♪ no, no no, no ♪ ♪ i don't want you tonight you weren't there ♪ ♪ i'm gonna show you tonight i'm all right i'm just fine ♪ ♪ and you're a tool so so what? i am a rock star ♪ ♪ i got my rock moves and i don't want you tonight ba, da, da, da, da, da ♪ ♪

>> we'll have more music from pink in a moment, but first this is "today" on nbc.

now sink your teeth into that big n' toasted if you're ready to soar. good. exits are here, here, and here. a big day calls for the big n' toasted breakfast sandwich. grab yours at dunkin' donuts. >> well, pink is just back from a whirlwind tour in europe and celebrating the release of her sixth album, "the truth about love." appears here in rockefeller plaza. so good to see you.

>> thank you. >> a lot has happened since your last album four years ago. >> yes. >> rekindled a romance, have a new baby girl. >> yes. >> how has that affected you? we're used to this kind of rebellious, hard-edged pink. >> i'm still crazy, but i'm just goofier. it's a goofy side of crazy. i'm very happy. it's been the most beautiful couple of years. >> did i read that you were looking at your old lyrics and seeing all the curse words and thinking about little willow listening to those. >> sorry. >> "blow me one last kiss" is a smash hit on the radio. going to be a number one record. when you first got back in the studio, what did it feel like this time? >> it was a lot more sober, but it was just the same. i go into every record thinking like, wow, i hope i can still sing, hope i have something to say. what if i don't? i might actually be useless, and

then 40 songs later i'm wrapping up and hoping that someone else is moved by it. >> you like that process of being in the studio? is that a good creative outlet, or is this where you get the creative outlet? >> i get different from both, but i love creating with my friends, and having my daughter bang on the bells. i love seeing everybody. love seeing everybody. >> can i ask you what is i think a really important question. were you upset when miley cyrus stole your haircut because i was upset when ryan stole my hair-do. was it a compliment? >> i think she's beautiful. rocks it way harder than i do. everyone has long brown hairs. when two girls get fearless and shave their heads, it's a big deal. i just think we're maybe a little more daring. i love miley, you can't talk about miley around me. >> i'll give you some of mine. >> yeah, of course. >> what are you going to sing? >> i'm going to sing "blow me

one last kiss." >> this is a great song. >> take it away. >> pink. >> you already ready to dance? >> dance party. ♪ ♪ white knuckles and sweaty palms from hanging on too tight ♪ ♪ clench your jaw ♪ i've got another headache again tonight ♪ ♪ eyes on fire, eyes on fire ♪ and they burn from all the tears ♪ ♪ i've been crying, i've been crying ♪ ♪ i've been dying over you ♪ tie a knot in the rope ♪ trying to hold, trying to hold ♪ ♪ but there's nothing to grab so i let go ♪ ♪ i think i've finally had enough ♪ ♪ i think i maybe think too much ♪ ♪ i think this might be it for

us ♪ blow me one last kiss ♪ ♪ you think i'm just too serious ♪ ♪ i think you're full of and my head is spinning so blow me one last kiss ♪ ♪ just when it can't get worse ♪ i've had a day you've had a day ♪ we've had a day ♪ i think that life's too short for this ♪ ♪ want back my ignorance and bliss ♪ ♪ i think i've had enough of this ♪ ♪ blow me one last kiss ♪ i won't miss all the fighting that we ahles always did ♪ ♪ take it in ♪ i mean what i say when i say there is nothing left ♪ ♪ no mo sick whiskey ♪ no more battles from me ♪ you'll be calling a trick cause you no longer sleep ♪

♪ i'll dress nice, i'll look good ♪ ♪ i'll go dancing alone ♪ i will laugh, i'll get drunk ♪ i'll take somebody home ♪ i think i've finally had enough ♪ i think maybe i think too much ♪ ♪ i think this might be it for us ♪ ♪ blow me one last kiss ♪ you think i'm just too serious ♪ ♪ i think you're full of -- ♪ my head is spinning so blow me one last kiss ♪ ♪ i think that life's too short for us ♪ et? want back my ignorance and bliss ♪ ♪ i think i've had enough of this ♪ ♪ blow me one last kiss ♪ blow me one last kiss ♪ blow me one last kiss ♪ i will do what i please ♪ anything that i want

♪ i will breathe, i will breathe ♪ ♪ i won't worry at all ♪ you will pay for your sins ♪ you'll be sorry, my dear ♪ all the lies, all the lies ♪ will be crystal clear ♪ i think i've finally had enough ♪ ♪ i think i maybe think too much ♪ ♪ i think this might be it for us ♪ ♪ whether me one last kiss ♪ you think i'm just too serious ♪ et? i think you're full of it ♪ ♪ my head is spinning so ♪ blow me one last kiss ♪ just when it can't get worse ♪ i've had a day ♪ i think that life's too short for this ♪ ♪ want back my ignorance and bliss ♪ ♪ i think i've had enough of this ♪

♪ blow me one last kiss ♪ blow me one last kiss ♪ just when it can't get worse ♪ i've had a day ♪ you've had a day we've had a day ♪ ♪ i think life's too short for us ♪ ♪ want back my ignorance and bliss ♪ ♪ i think i've had enough of this ♪ ♪ blow me one last kiss >> pink, thanks. the album is callelb >> this is wbal-tv 11 news in baltimore. >> good morning. i am lisa robinson. homicide detectives are handling a deadly night and shooting in northeast baltimore this morning. police found the 51-year-old victim with multiple gunshot wounds inside a car at

chesterfield avenue around 10:30 last night. he was taken to johns hopkins ho

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