new granddaughter, mila, which is a roundabout way of saying we're congratulating jenna and her husband, henry. "today," monday april 15th, 2013. captions paid for by nbc-universal television and good morning, welcome to the special split edition of "today" on a monday morning. i'm matt lauer in new york and savannah is in washington. always nice to start the show with happy news and nice pictures. >> exactly. so excited about little baby mila and just like her mom she's in a hurry, she came about two weeks early. >> when jenna was here on thursday on the show she was over it, ready to go. we congratulate them this morning.

you're in washington, meanwhile, to interview the president. >> we'll sit down with president obama later today at the white house. we'll talk about everything from this crucial gun control vote this week to the economy, north korea, the escalating tension there is and we'll have that exclusive interview for you tomorrow on "today". >> we look forward to that, savannah. we have new information on how the obama administration is handling the latest threats from north korea. nbc's chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell talked to secretary of state john kerry overnight. andrea, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, matt. john kerry wrapped up his six-nation tour with an offer for direct talks with north korea if north korea stops testing nuclear weapons and threatening its neighbors. before leaving tokyo, kerry sat down with us. >> i think there's been so much rhetoric and so much intensity to the missiles and to the confrontation that sometimes the message gets lost so i think it

never hurts to reinforce that a nation is prepared under the right circumstances when conditions are met to have appropriate negotiation. >> reporter: your friend, john mccain, has said every time different administrations negotiate with north korea that they take our money, they take our fuel and then they go ahead and cheat. so why wouldn't that happen again? >> we are determined -- i am determined to try to find if there is a different formula. >> reporte what does it mean if he does launch a missile or do some other provocative act on this day, the anniversary or in the coming days? >> my hope is there won't be, because that would mean perhaps we're turning a corner and there's a possibility of moving in a better direction. >> reporter: could an envoy make a difference? >> not unless they indicate that they're prepared to move in the directions that everybody has made clear they need to move in. we're not going to go through the same cycle here. >> there's no sign that north korea would accept the u.s.

offer but this is a major shift in the administration's thinking about how to defuse the threat of war. matt? >> andrea mitchell this morning, thank you very much. now let's go to savannah. >> matt, thank you. this is a big week in the fight over gun control here in washington, a vote on a proposal to expand background checks is expected and this morning, there are some signs that support for it is growing, its fate not certain. nbc's capitol hill correspondent kelly o'donnell has the details. >> reporter: good morning, savannah. signs of getting support but i've also learned overnight some confusion among senators who aren't sure about many of the details that are in the bill so they have questions and today the top democrat and republican who crafted this compromise will try to answer those questions. today is about selling it to the undecideds. from sign-carrying protesters for and against new gun laws to heartbroken parents taking the president's place in his weekly

national address. >> our younger son, ben, age 6, was murdered in his first grade classroom. >> reporter: political pressure from all sides. maine republican susan collins up for re-election and under attack from gun rights groups. >> susan collins doesn't sound like a mainer or republican. >> reporter: she revealed her decision first to nbc news. she is a rare republican yet. >> we have bipartisan support. >> reporter: pat toomey and joe manchin have top nra ratings and forged the deal on background checks. >> some will say you didn't go far enough and some say you went too far. >> reporter: they will need many more to make this happen because there are a number of democrats especially those from red states up for re-election who are not expected to support this.

savannah? >> kelly o'donnell on the hill, thank you. let's get to chuck todd, good morning, good to see you. >> good morning. >> this is all, it's very uncertain what's going to happen when this finally gets to a vote. this really depends on these red state democrats that kelly was just talking about. >> it does and there's probably going to be around as many as a dozen republicans who could at least be lobbied to potentially vote for it, but i look at this and it might pass. it might not. it's on an ice edge but where does it go from thhere? >> to the house. >> no vote matters unless they get 70 or 75 votes that's when john boehner says i've got enough political cover i can do this with a mix of republicans and democrats and we're never going to get nowhere close to 70 votes in the senate. >> we've seen emotional lobbying

from families of the newtown victims? has that been a game changer? a the gun control opponents are keeping quiet, so in that respect it's changed the conversation a little fbit but, they've got a lot of work to do, to get the house to do everything that's happened this week which will take months and months to convince the house do it, they'll have to live here in washington. >> immigration, this gang of eight compromise on immigration. we saw senator marco rubio out on every sunday show that exists yesterday. is he key to selling this to conservatives? >> it's a gang of one as far as i'm concerned. it's marco rubio and everybody else. everyone else shouldn't be totally overlooked but marco rubio, the issue of 70 votes in the senate, marco rubio's

ability to sell the conservatives to get it to 70 to 75 votes that's how john bainer is able to tell his conservative members i'll do this with a mix of democrats, it's too important to the party nationally. if rubio can't do that in the senate this dies in the house. >> which has a better chance, guns or immigration. >> immigration is going to happen. guns there's no chance, i hate to say it. >> chuck todd thank you very much. guns and immigration are two of the issues i'll be discussing with president obama when i sit down with him later today at the white house and you can see our exclusive interview tomorrow only on "today". we're following a developing story out of iraq. natalie morales is back in new york with more on that. >> good morning to you, and we begin with a highly-coordinated string of bombings across iraq. at least 31 people are dead, just a week before the country's first elections since u.s. troops withdrew back in 2011. some 200 others were wounded.

uncertainty this morning in venezuela after hugo chavez's chosen successor nicolas maduro won the presidential election. his rival is demanding a recount. nbc's mark potter is in caracas with more. >> reporter: nicolas maduro won with 50.66% of the vote. it's unusual because he'd been hand picked by hugo chavez when he died and after winning more than 200,000 votes he went on national tv to claim victory and some of his supporters took to the streets to celebrate although most of the streets in caracas were quiet. h henrique capriles refused to recognize the election and demanded a full recount.

he said maduro was a big loser last night and argued that peace in this country depends on finding the truth about what actually happened in this dramatic election. natalie? >> mark potter in caracas, venezuela, thank you. the faa is ordering special inspections of boeing 737 to replace a possibly defective part on more than 1,000 planes that could cause pilots to lose control of their aircraft. while it is a pressing issue, no planes are being grounded in the roundup. today is april 15th, need i remind you it's the irs fight deadline for individual income tax returns. for more on this and the rest of today's economic news we turn to cnbc's jackie deangelis at the new york stock exchange. >> good morning, natalie. big week on wall street, 30 s&p

companies reporting this week that will set the tone for the market and tax day, it's dreaded by many but some companies like mcdonald's, cinnabon, boston market are trying to ease the pain and playing the hero helps build brand loyalty with customers. >> i guess you can enjoy at least on that front. jackie deangelis, thank you. jenna bush hager gave birth to a baby girl, margaret laura hager, mick named mila, arrived saturday evening weighing in at 6 pounds, 15 ounces and a picture of perfection, there she is with jenna, husband henry and former president george w. bush and wife laura, first-time parents. we're so happy for them. >> congratulations to everyone.

6 pound 15 ounces, just round that to 7 pounds but i think she was really ready for the pregnancy to be over >> she wasn't ready to go. when we saw her thursday i was asking her is your bag packed, car seat, carrier. she's like i don't have any of that done so she was certainly, i hope she packed on friday i hope. >> and as we congratulate savannah the bush family let's congratulate the hager family as well. >> of course. >> this little girl was named for her grandmothers. >> margaret and laura. they're about to dedicate the bush presidential library in a couple of weeks. she wasn't sure her mom would be there in time for the birth but as you see from the pictures, everybody was there and got to meet mila already. good timing, mila. >> we'll talk to her soon. savannah, thanks. mr. roker? >> i predicted it would be a girl. well, it was 50/50.

>> i said boy. >> i said yankee fan. >> i think rangers. we've got first of all a big storm system and look at some of the damage it's caused. unfortunately in washington state, snoqualmie pass, one person dead, one person missing, two injured in two separate avalanches, and then as we move into the dakotas, bismarck, north dakota, picking up over 17 inches of snow, and we've got two major storms today, one over the dakotas, the second one over the rockies and this one over the rockies is going to dump a ton of snow over the next 48 hours, anywhere from a foot to two feet of snow from northern colorado into central wyoming and then as we move along this system, we are going to be looking at another three to six inches, maybe nine inches of snow up through the red river valley and when we come back in the next half hour we're going to explain why that's bad news for flooding. we're going to get to your local forecast but first this message.

♪ [ male announcer ] it was designed to escape the ordinary. it feels like it can escape gravity. ♪ the 2013 c-class coupe. ♪ starting at $37,800. ♪ >> good morning. some light rain is possible to start the day. it should clear up by the middle of the afternoon. >> and that's your latest

weather. savannah? >> al, thank you. the so-called rich list is out this morning, an annual report of hedge fund managers who made the most money and once again the numbers are staggering. nbc's senior investigative correspondent lisa myers is here with more. >> good morning. we're talking about the mega rich, the biggest, most sophisticated players on wall street. each of the top four managers earned more than $1 billion last year, but by their standards, that's only a pretty good year. today, even for the small investor, wall street is at record levels. the man at the top of the institutional investors rich list david tepper pulled in $2.2 billion by going all in last year. >> first off before you start a couple of things. we weren't up 24, we were up 30%. >> reporter: that's almost twice as much as the stock market rose overall. >> tepper was convinced there

was great opportunity in u.s. equities, he made a big bet and made a lot of money. >> he's long been known as a billionaire with middle class sensibilities. not long ago he bought in $44 million home in the hamptons, tore it down and spent untold millions building a new one. number two, raymond dalio, $1.7 billion. number three, steve cohen, $1.4 billion. >> since he started sac he's returned 30% on average after fees. >> cohen's investors returned half that last year when a criminal investigation swirled around the man many consider the smartest trader on wall street. cohen denies wrongdoing and has never been charged with anything. the legal problems don't appear to have impacted his wallet. he paid $150 million for this picasso last year and another $60 million for this oceanfront home. the fourth man to pull in more

than $1 billion, james simons $1.9 billion. he's been on this list a dozen years bringing home more than $18 billion. since it's tax day we should note these billions are taxed at a lower rate that be most americans pay on their salaries. none of the managers would comment for us but a spokesman points out all give a ton of money to charity. >> lisa myers, thank you very much. let's go back to matt in new york. >> thank you. it was a masters to remember, history was made last evening when adam scott won a thrilling playoff. nbc's kerry sanders is still in augusta this morning. kerry, good morning to you. >> reporter: it was a young 32-year-old adam scott who won the masters. he is the first australian to take a green jacket, so as they say down under, good on ya, adam. it's what happened on the 15th hole with tiger woods that is still all anyone can talk about.

tiger woods hopes to be back next year with this new controversy behind him. >> you have got to be kidding me! >> reporter: when his ball hit the flagpole and bounced into the drink the rules allow him to drop a replacement ball. all was fine until someone watching on television phoned the rules committee to claim he dropped the ball two yards from its original spot. league officials reviewed the tapes and agreed and tiger received a two-shot penalty. >> i was surprised somebody was able to do that. where did they get the number to call in and report something like that. >> reporter: tiger woods even admitted his error on espn. >> i went back to where i was and i should have taken two yards further back and tried to hit my shot another two yards off of what i felt like i hit it. >> reporter: but before and after photos taken by the "augusta chronicle" with

measurements suggest the ball drop may have been just inches from the original spot. still, it all caused a huge uproar with many calling for tiger to withdraw from the tournament. tiger woods, who divorced after admitting marital infidelity is now dating olympic skier lindsey vonn her ex-husband joked on twitter he was the viewer who called the rules committee. no problem, masters tournament, happy to call in and help. you always have to keep an eye on the cheaters. but tiger still has his fans. >> tiger's tiger. can he do what he wants. >> reporter: you might say this was a masters tournament for the ages with 14-year-old tianlang guan for the youngest player to compete and 32-year-old adam scott honoring his country to become the first australian to win the tournament in more than half a century. >> adam scott! >> reporter: if tiger woods had not been assessed the two-stroke penalty he still would not have

won the masters. adam scott with playing with his caddie stevie williams and who did stevie williams previously caddie for, tiger woods. >> six degrees of separation, kerry. thank you. after adam scott had heartbreak at the british open last year, a lot of people were rooting for him but angel cabrera, how could you not root for him. >> the last shot was hanging on the edge. do you think he was in the zone or not, tiger? >> in terms of the drop? >> yes. >> i think it was close but i think his statements that he kind of stepped back on purpose are what's going to have a lot of people talking and whether there was a double standard that he got treatment that another golfer might not have. anyway, it doesn't matter now. it's all over and adam scott is the masters champion. all right, savannah. >> another twitter controversy goes to bed. coming up, why nothing may happen if you text 911 in an emergency and what's being done

to change that. and michael jackson's daughter, paris, opens up about her surprising plans for the future. but first, this is "today" on nbc.

coming up, justin biebe taking some heat this morning for what we to say about anne frank. and how would you like to have al roker spend the morning at your house? careful what you wish for. we'll tell you how it could happen, after your local news. [ agent smith ] i've found software that intrigues me. it appears it's an agent of good. ge has wired their medical hardware with innovative software to be in many places at the same time. using data to connect patients to software, to nurses to the right people and machines. ♪

helping hospitals treat people even better, while dramatically reducing waiting time. now a waiting room is just a room. [ telephone ringing ] [ static warbles ] [ beeping ] red or blue? ♪ just one flea can bite your petblue? 400 times a day! and fleas and ticks don't travel alone. your pets may be under attack... ...if they're not protected by sentry® fiproguard® max fiproguard® max kills fleas and ticks so fast... ...they start dying in just minutes. it even prevents more fleas from biting than frontline® plus or k9 advantix® ii. so pets win the war against fleas and ticks... ...with sentry® fiproguard® max. like frontline® brand products, fiproguard® products contain the active ingredient fipronil. find fiproguard® at these pet specialty retailers. yeah, you betcha, honey. ahh, you think so?

[ female announcer ] some mornings you just can't eat at the table. eggo® wafflers are packed with flavors like brown sugar cinnamon roll, so you don't need syrup. eggo® wafflers. simply delicious™. by the armful? by the barrelful? the carful? how about...by the bowlful? campbell's soups give you nutrition, energy, and can help you keep a healthy weight. campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do. ♪ but i won't do that ♪ or that ♪ or this definitely not this! it hurts but i kind of like it! ♪

>> good morning, everybody. i'm stan stovall. here is a look at one of the top stories. baltimore county fire investigators are still working to determine what start just -- sparked a two alarm blaze in

rosedale that started at 8:00 last night on abigail drive. we are told it took about 100 firefighters an hour to bring it under control and we are told everyone made it out of the building safely. however, six apartments were destroyed. time for a check of your morning commute. here is sarah caldwell. >> good morning, everyone. a few accidents and a lot of delays to go around this monday morning. westbound 32 at 170 five tracking a crash. northbound and southbound delays 295 and also a crash in the city at graceland avenue and dundalk avenue. and then it looks like one at white marsh boulevard and perry hall is clear. but out of white marsh, heavy delays. you can see all the yellow, 26 miles an hour from approaching white marsh all the way to the 895 split. if you want to travel on the west side, this is what it looks like. heavy traffic from 795 all the way down the outer loop. about a 30-minute travel time. 17 minutes on the north side as volume continues to build on the outer loop and eastbound i-70, and him from 29, 29 miles an

hour. back from west friendship all the way to the beltway. that is the very latest. i am a little bit of light rain to contend with to start the day after a nice weekend. not a big deal but just a few sprinkles out there. you could probably get by without your umbrella if you wanted to but it may slow the traffic down a little bit. 52 at the airport, 50 in parkton. 52 degrees in easton over in the. the forecast for today -- variable clouds. we started out this morning with the clouds in the rain showers obviously but by the middle of the afternoon we will probably get sunshine to speak to the cloud deck. high temperatures in the mid sixth the posse which is right around average for this time of year. seven-day forecast, looking pretty good. temperatures in the 70 positive for the most of week. best chance of the rain humming

♪ wake me up before you go, go who has had a dream of waking up with al roker? well, imagine it no more, america. we are going to send al to the house of one lucky viewer. he'll do the weather there, cook you breakfast, whatever you need in the morning. it's coming up 7:30 on this monday morning, the 15th of april, 2013, i'm savannah

guthrie live in washington. al is there on the plaza getting ready to snuggle with some lucky viewer. matt, you're back in studio 1a. >> i am apparently we know al goes to bed fully clothed which is amazing. savannah, also ahead a rare interview with michael jackson's daughter, paris, what her life is like now nearly four years after the death of her father and what she's thinking about doing with his famous neverland ranch. then what would do you if your child was being bullied? coming up one father's simple gesture that's having an impact on other parents across the country. we'll have their story. but we begin this half hour with new details on the tragic death of a california girl who took her own life after she was allegedly assaulted by a group of her peers. natalie is back with that story. >> good morning, savannah. before she died, 15-year-old audrie potts posted about her humiliation on facebook.

now her parents are set for a wrongful death suit. online 15-year-old audrie potts lives on, a loving daughter but her family says eight days before committing suicide last september audrie was sexually attacked by three boys from her high school in saratoga, california. >> at least one photograph was taken that was distributed to, in audrie's words, the whole school, showing her in a violated, exposed way. >> her last week of life she posted her anguish on facebook. "i was asleep and people did [ expletive ] to me. the whole school knows. my life is like ruined now." her grieving parent also took to the web. ultimately she had not yet acquired the antibiotics to deal with the challenges present for teens in today's society. on friday police arrested the three boys now facing charges for sexual battery.

lawyers for the boys told nbc news, "some of the statements made concerning this case have been greatly exaggerated." while the saratoga student newspaper reports only a handful of students had seen the photo experts say that is too many. >> i think the young people are desensitized to sexual images of each other so to them it's just entertainment and they don't realize what they've done is take a picture of a crime scene. >> reporter: it's not the first time social media has played a part in teens' sexual abuse and suicide. last month two steubenville, ohio, high school football players were found guilty of rape, a case where dozens of text messages and cell phone pictures provided the evidence. and in 2007, 18-year-old tyler clemente a student at rutgers university, took his life after a roommate used a web cam to spy on him during a date with another man. later this morning, the attorney for audrie's parents say he will

file a wrongful death suit against the three teens who were arrested. >> the acts that they did were so heinous, we believe we'll clearly demonstrate that this is what went aud ri e over the edge. >> and the boys are all considered juveniles. they head to court on tuesday. the same day that audrie's parents launch a campaign for audrie's law and tell us "the current laws are not a deterrent for 16 years old. these are not kids. these are young adults who need to face serious consequences for their behavior or these types of sexual assaults will continue." let's head outside for a check of the weather once again. here's al. >> announcer: today's weather is brought to you by universal orlando resort. it's your vacation. just don't take it, mean it. >> we were talking about snow up through the dakotas and this is bad news for folks in the red river valley where they've had a

lot of flooding going on. over the weekend, bismarck, over 17 inches of snow, fargo picking up six inches, hogan up to 16 inches of snow. the red river will see another three to six inches of snow. what does that mean? it means the flood stage for the red river, flood stage is 18 feet. the flood outlook is calling there for a 50% chance that river is going to exceed the flood stage 38 feet at fargo. they've already got 1 million sandbags ready to go because this could be a top five flood of all-time for fargo. that's what's going on in the country. rere's what's happening in your >> good morning. off and on light rain showers are possible to start the day.

>> and that's your latest weather. matt? >> al, thank you very much. michael jackson's now 15-year-old daughter paris is speaking out in a very revealing interview. andrea canning is here with what she's saying. good morning to you. >> good morning. one thing she said really surprised me so we'll see if we're on the same page about that. paris jackson opens up about growing up with dad michael the current state of neverland ranch and whether she wants to follow in her father's famous footsteps. >> daddy has been the best father you could ever imagine. >> reporter: four years after the world heard paris jackson speak for the first time at her father's memorial she's revealing her desire to rebuild her famous childhood home, neverland ranch. in an interview with "the daily

mail" in sunday's "event" magazine, "i think it should be restored to how it used to be so the children who couldn't have a childhood could have fun there." she says, "we all loved him to death. we that good energy where you just didn't want to leave." >> this is the man who was her father, the only father she ever knew and she's sharing her memories and hoping the world remembers the good side of michael jackson. >> reporter: she sheds light on the bizarre images of her and her brothers covered with masks and scarves when out in public with michael. "he was very protective. he didn't want anyone to see what we looked like, that way he could have what he didn't, which was a normal childhood." though he tried to shield paris from the spotlight he did teach her his craft. "my dad taught me how to dance, and yes he did teach me the moonwalk." on following in her father's famous footsteps she says "i want to be an actress but just throughout high school. then i want to go to med skical

school and be a doctor specializing in heart surgery." for now, paris wants to be a normal teenager, cheerleading with friends, trying out new hairstyles but says it's difficult with constant security. "i'm on a tight leash and i feel if that leash was loosened a little bit i'd have a chance at a normal childhood." >> you hope she keeps on this path where her thoughts are clear, she knows what she wants. >> paris also spoke briefly about rekindling her relationship with her birth mother, debbie rowe, saying they had fun shopping together on her birthday. the article reports paris's grandmother, katherine, was okay a little bit. >> i wonder if the leash loosened by security or would she prefer people stop be curious and leave her alone. >> maybe a little bit of both. i was surprised by the heart surgeon part. >> actress through high school

and wants to go to med school. >> how many people can say they've done that? good for her and good luck. coming up, texting 911, what's being done to give you more options in an emergency? and the unexpected reason why this mom was finally motivated to lose 125 pounds. we'll tell you her story but first, these messages. [ virginia ] i do have a healthy diet... but there are foods that i had no idea had so much acid in them. my dentist said that the acid in fruit, or fruit juice, softens the enamel, so that then it can erode.

once that enamel is gone, it's gone. my dentist recommended pronamel to help harden that enamel so that it's not brushed away. pronamel protects your teeth from the effects of acid erosion. i don't have to cut out the things that i love. i can have the best of both worlds. bring your own lettuce. byol. and we'll dress it up with grilled chicken. crunchy veggies. fruits, dressings and crispy noodles. new lean cuisine salad additions. just byol. find us in frozen. backflips and cartwheels.mile? love, warmth. here, try this. mmmm, ok! ching! i like the fact that there's lots of different tastes going on. mmmm! breakfast

i'm very impressed. this is a great cereal! honey bunches of oats. i hear you crunching. [ blows ] [ poof! ] wooo! hey there! i'm your rav4 genie. got any wishes? i wish my son was safer. well, this rav4 has a blind spot monitor and 8 airbags. whoa! how about when he's not in the car? right. [ snaps fingers ] [ laughter ] oh, no. oh, yeah. wooo! use your knees.

[ male announcer ] the all-new rav4. toyota. let's go places. gorgeous, fresh vegetables and juicy, delicious chicken wrapped up in a warm tortilla. one bite... ♪ ...is like no bite you've ever tasted before. the new premium mcwrap. ...in 3 mind blowing flavors. it's a whole new way to love mcdonald's. ♪ then you'll love lactose-free lactaid® it's 100% real milk that's easy to digest so you can fully enjoy the dairy you love.

lactaid®. for 25 years, easy to digest. easy to love. ♪ female announcer ] nothing gets you going quite like the whole grains in quaker chewy bars. today is going to be epic. quaker up. my name is taho and i'm a fish guy. it's a labor of love. it's a lot of labor and it's a lot of love. i don't need to go to the gym. my job is my workout. you're shoveling ice all day long. it's rough on the back. it's rough on the shoulders. i get muscle aches all over. advil® is great. pain and soreness is just out of the picture. [ male announcer ] make the switch. take action. take advil®. and for sinus congestion, now you can get advil® combined with a proven decongestant. breathe easier with advil® congestion relief. back now at 7:43, americans

now use their cell phones to text more than call but if you're in an emergency, texting may not help. nbc's tom costello is at gallaudet university for the deaf, just across town here in washington. tom, good morning to you. >> hi, savannah. good morning to you. on this campus which is mostly for the deaf students almost everybody texts. it's a vital communication tool and if somebody here texted 911 for help, the chances are the text would go unanswered and it's not just here, across much of the country, if you text 911, the help probably isn't coming. >> stay on the phone here with me, okay? >> reporter: it could be any 911 call center in america. >> okay, are you with the patient now? >> reporter: but this one is different. >> okay, ma'am, are you still on the scene? >> i'm sending the paramedics to help you now. >> reporter: in frederick county, maryland, people who need help can text 911 dispatchers and they can text back. >> there could be any number of

reasons why they can't speak at the moment, could be the medical event, stroke, something like that, that they can still type. >> reporter: hard to believe but in most of the country today texting 911 isn't possible. in the last three months more than 13,000 texts have been transmitted to 911, but most were never received. very few 911 centers are equipped to accept them, but frederick county is also the home of the maryland school for the deaf and the need seemed obvious. >> especially when it comes to an emergency, time is so important and we didn't have that access ever, so this is huge. >> i thought we were going to die. it was really, really scary. >> reporter: in chicago, 15-year-old nathan lane isn't deaf but while his mom and sister at a coffee shop a robber came threatening to kill

everyone. nathan grabbed her phone and texted her dad. >> don't come back, robber in here, call 911. >> reporter: nathan had the presence of mind to delete the text. >> and right after i texted my dad he came in, threatening to kill us for calling 911, in which case we didn't. >> reporter: but nathan's dad got the message. >> because it was spelled out correctly i did not think it was a prank. >> i was afraid my dad would call us. >> reporter: he called 911 and then sent a one-word message, done. by the time he got back to the coffee shop the police were there, everyone okay. >> i'm hungry. >> i know you're hungry. >> reporter: as for nathan you'd think he'd be rewarded with a cell phone upgrade. he had to surrender his phone to his parents. >> even teenage heroes need to still get good grades and have good attitudes. >> reporter: even teenage heroes have to have good grades. we talked about the fact most

911 centers can't receive text messages. the fcc ordered by next summer 2014 they have to be able to receive text messages so this should start to improve over the next 12 to 14 months or so. savannah? >> tom costello across the street in washington, thank you very much. still ahead, justin bieber being criticized this morning for what he wrote about anne frank. and next, how you could have al do the weather live from your home. but first, these messages. wait a sec! i found our colors. we've made a decision. great, let's go get you set up... you need brushes... you should check out our workshops... push your color boundaries while staying well within your budget walls. i want to paint something else. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. behr premium plus interior paint, only at the home depot and starting at $23.46 a gallon.

and got this one free. wow! [ tires screech ] buy one 6-inch sub? [ tires screech ] ...and get another one free? before 9am. all april long. [ male announcer ] subway, eat fresh. before 9am. all april long. sometimes all you need is the wow... sometimes all you need is the smooth creamy taste of werther's original caramel to remind you that you're someone very special. now discover caramel apple filled werther's original. christopher columbus sailed the ocean blue... in 14 ndred 92. nice! follow me. the missouri river is this way! lewis and clark expedition of 1804. oh, he'll never get this.

magellan, 1520. awww my 8 layers must've given it away. [ female announcer ] big days call for a breakfast packed with fiber and nearly a day's worth of whole grains. kellogg's frosted mini-wheats cereal. this is one giant leap for mini-kind. [ female announcer ] keeps 'em full. keeps 'em focused. whoo-hoo! [ female announcer ] keeps 'em full. keeps 'em focused. minute maid pure squeezed light has half the... sugar and calories of oj with great taste. i mean, who doesn't want to cut calories and look better naked? you roll around in your birthday suit all day. you're not even wearing a produce sticker. minute maid pure squeezed light. you're always on, so we're always ready. tyson grilled & ready chicken. made with all white meat, 98% fat free, and fully cooked. we'll take care of dinner, you take care of everything else.

living with moderate to semeans living with pain.is it could also mean living with joint damage. humira, adalimumab, can help treat more than just the pain. for many adults, humira is clinically proven to help relieve pain and stop further joint damage. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal events, such as infections, lymphoma, or other types of cancer, have happened. blood, liver and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure have occurred. before starting humira, your doctor should test you for tb. ask your doctor if you live in or have been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. tell your doctor if you have had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections or have symptoms such as fever, fatigue, cough, or sores. you should not start humira if you have any kind of infection. ask your rheumatologist about humira, to help relieve your pain and stop further joint damage.

♪ we're back now, 7:50 and the launch of something we're calling "wake up with al" where you get the chance to have al visit your neck of the woods. >> that's right. all you have to do is head to today.com to enter. who knows? it could happen to you. al, are you ready for this? >> i'm very excited about it. we're going to bring these folks, you got to go to today.com and fill out an essay, 250 words or less essay, and you could submit an optional video, so -- >> that's right. i'm jeanne. >> you've been typing furiously? >> yes, and i have a feeling you're going to be in wisconsin

soon. >> really, all right. >> why would you want to wake up with al? >> oh, i don't know. you tell me, al. >> okay, well, it's an experience. >> what about you? >> i'm jen from minneapolis. >> what are your reasons for wanting to "wake up with al." >> we have a 4-month-old daughter who has a massive poopy blowout every morning and al could be the diaper changer. >> i didn't know that was part of the job. >> laura zanger from illinois. >> you want al at your home, why? >> a great community, he'd be very welcome there. >> good luck to all of you. you can find official rules on our website today.com. if you send a video make it creative. ♪ alright, let's go.

♪ shimmy, shimmy chocolate. ♪ shimmy, shimmy chocolate. ♪ we, we chocolate cross over. ♪ yeah, we chocolate cross over. ♪ [ male announcer ] introducing fiber one 80 calorie chocolate cereal. ♪ chocolate. 80 calorie chocolate cereal. minute maid pure squeezed light has half the... sugar and calories of oj with great taste. i mean, who doesn't want to cut calories and look better naked? you roll around in your birthday suit all day. you're not even wearing a produce sticker. minute maid pure squeezed light. don't let great deals pass you by, at the petsmart spring savings sale. save up to 25% on thousands of items and now, sheba® 3-ounce entrees are only 60 cents each. at petsmart®. happiness in store.™

you may be muddling through allergies. try zyrtec-d®. powerful relief of nasal congestion and other allergy symptoms -- all in one pill. zyrtec-d®. at the pharmacy counter. try our delicious new freshly made lunch pizzas on our house-baked pan crust served with soup or salad and made to order. chili's new $6 lunch break combos. more life happens here. ♪ female announcer ] nothing gets you going quite like the whole grains in quaker chewy bars. today is going to be epic. quaker up. can you start the day the way you want? can orencia (abatacept) help? [ woman ] i wanted to get up when i was ready, not my joints. [ female announcer ] could your "i want" become "i can"? talk to your rheumatologist.

orencia reduces many ra symptoms like pain, morning stiffness and the progression of joint damage. it's helped new ra patients and those not helped enough by other treatments. do not take orencia with another biologic medicine for ra due to an increased risk of serious infection. serious side effects can occur including fatal infections. cases of lymphoma and lung cancer have been reported. tell your doctor if you are prone to or have any infection like an open sore or the flu or a history of copd, a chronic lung disease. orencia may worsen your copd. [ woman ] here's information you need to know. orencia is available in two forms, infusion and also self-injection. talk to your doctor to see if orencia is right for you. and see if you can change "i want" to "oh, yes i can!" and see if you can change "i want" we're pregnant! honey! what? we're pregnant! we're pregnant? yeah! you're going to be a mom! you're going to be a dad! there's a little baby in there? there's a human being growing inside your stomach?

yeah! now what? i don't know? what? introducing huggies mommy answers. the best advice in one place. from the brand new moms trust. >> good morning. i'm jennifer franciotti. time for a check of your morning commute. here is sarah caldwell. what a mess. >> we have a lot going on for this monday. let's get you up to date if you are in the next few minutes. rolling road and route 40, baltimore national pike, an accident. then one on the south side of the city, south hanover. be careful. and here a scene of another

crash bit heavy delays both north and west side him about a half an hour for each trip. 21 miles an hour as you travel south on 95 coming out of the northeast to those delays begin and mountain road all the way to the split. and that is a live picture at white marsh. . a live picture of the west side at 70, outer loop traffic going is and not going anywhere fast there'd unfortunately it will be a wild for the delay filter. i-70, easy down, 90 miles an hour from marysville toward 29 -- eastbound come in 19 miles an hour from marietta built for 29. >> a little bit of rain this morning. more impressive on the radar than it actually is. most of it is slight rain shower and sprinkle activity. temperatures in the 50 pocket currently and make it into the 60's. if the one in easton. 52 in edgewood. the forecast for today -- we will call a variable clouds. a late in the afternoon we will probably get a peek at the

front and a chance of a few light rain showers off and on through this morning and then around 1:00 or 2:00 afternoon. i temperatures between 63-68. seven-day forecast looking better for the rest of the week. 73 on tuesday, 76 on thursday. as we go to the weekend we will watch a strong cold front coming through friday night into saturday morning with a pretty good chance for rain. that front will not the temperatures to the upper 70's back to the 60's by

♪ it's 8:00 now on a monday morning. it's also the 15th day of april, 2013. that makes it tax day, i believe. >> yes. >> if you haven't filed your returns, you need to do so today. meanwhile, these people are probably all set with that. they've come down to rockefeller plaza to spend part of their morning with us and we're happy about that. out on the plaza i'm matt lauer along with al roker.

savannah as you can see is living in a small box off to the side, that's actually washington, d.c., and savannah is going to sit down with the president later. >> that's right, matt, our exclusive interview is coming at a key time for the president, too, juggling this increasingly volatile situation in north korea and several big fights on capitol hill, gun control, immigration, his budget. we will talk to president obama about all of it and some politics, too. you can see our conversation starting tomorrow only on "today". guys, i'll be back in new york tomorrow and we can have that awkward group hug i've been planning. i haven't seen you in more than a week. >> it's been a long time. looking forward to the interview. >> savannah in the blue room. also ahead a mom who struggled with her weight for years until she found something that gave her the motivation to finally lose weight and you know what? she lost about 125 pounds. kristen is going to join us in a couple of minutes to talk about what exactly it was that allowed hadder to do that. >> she looks fantastic.

we've got bill and juliana rancik joining us, here to update on how mommy and daddyhood is doing and talk about their brand new dating show here on nbc. >> a lot to get to. natalie has a check of the headlines. good morning again. >> good morning to you, matt and al. good morning, everyone. secretary of state john kerry is wrapping up his six-nation asian tour offering to hold direct talks with north korea if the country stops testing nuclear weapons and making war-like threats. in north korea today the streets of the capital were filled with celebration as the nation marked the 101st anniversary of the birth of its il-sung. key provision of new york state's new gun law take effect today. owners must register guns that had been reclassified as assault weapons and bullet magazines can

now only hold seven rounds except at competitions and firing ranges. an exciting finish sunday as adam scott became the first australian golfer to win the masters tournament in augusta, georgia. the 32-year-old aussie took the green jacket sinking a birdie putt defeating angel cabrera. the popular space mountain and soarin rides are temporarily closed, they were shut down along with the matterhorn bobsleds after getting safety citations from california regulators. disney says the closings were voluntary. there were related to an incident in november involving a contractor. the matterhorn reopened sunday. we have exciting baby news to share with you today. contributing correspondent jenna bush hager gave birth to her

first child, a girl, saturday night in new york. margaret laura hager, nicknamed mila, she is the first grandchild to former president george w. bush and wife laura. for a look at "what's trending today" justin bieber had heads shaking after touring the anne frank house in amsterdam where the jewish girl spent more than two years hiding in the nazis. in the guest book justin bieber, truly inspiring, hopefully she would have been a belieber. "the avengers" won movie of the year and two other prizes. "silver linings playbook" took three trophies. he tried to make off with will farrell's comedic genius.

>> thanks, mtv, but i -- what's happening? are you okay? >> aubrey plaza, perch. >> the stunt was not planned and plaza was given a boot from the show. an exclusive first look at trailer for "the hunger games" catching fire, a sequel due out this november. south korean superstar psy is out with a follow-up to gangnam style. the call is called "gentleman" features civil russ mischief and hopes to inspire another dance craze. ♪ i'm not a gentleman, i'm a, i'm not a gentleman ♪ >> "gentleman" racking up more

than 32 million hits in its first weekend. let's go back outside to al, our gentleman, with a check of the weather. >> announcer: "today's weather" is brought to you by the makers of nondrowsy claritin. experience relief throughout the allergy season, live claritin clear. >> we have a whole new people, go to today.com and write an essay 250 words or less why i should come to your home and help you wake up with al. sarah, you've been talking to the crowd. >> where are you from? >> fargo, inneded in! >> let al in on a secret, what are you going to put him to work doing if he comes to visit you? >> right now, doing some shoveling. >> perfect. >> you guys go the a lot of snow. >> also know how to drive a tractor? >> no. >> i'll bring you to the farm.

>> tractor driver, i like it. go ahead. >> breakfast? >> breakfast, tractor driving and shoveling and chauffeur. this is a busy time. >> maybe a pedicure. >> a pedicure, that's where we draw the line. that's it. but in any event, go to today.com for all the rules and regulations and what you need to do, because i'd love to come and wake up with you! all right. let's get to your weather and see what we've got going on. big boston marathon, 9:00 a.m. the wheelchairs go off, by noon, temperature about 50, partly sunny, 3:00, 53 degrees and light winds t will be a perfect day. pollen looking really rough as you get into the northeast, also in the northern mississippi river valley, southwest really rough pollen throughout much of the country today. we do have snow making its way through the rockies today, big snowstorm dropping up to 18 to 24 inches of snow over the next 48 hours. high surf advisories, windy

conditions, southern california, rain in the pacific northwest, also look for heavier showers and thunderstorms down through much of florida, mid-atlantic states, beautiful day in the northeast, slight risk of strong storms in the mid mississippi river valley. we had a cute baby over there. there, who is that? >> her name's randi from western connecticut. >> what a cutie. >> good morning. some light rain is possible to start the day. it should clear up by the middle of the afternoon. >> and in fact i'm going to bring sarah with me so she'll do

the dance. there you go. that will be great in fargo. >> al, sarah, thank you very much. up next the touching motivation behind one mom's dramatic weight loss, how she managed to drop 125 pounds. bill and juliana rancik. and a dad who helped facebook and his young son stand up to bullies. i've been claritin clear for 12 days ! when your allergies start, doctors recommend taking one clinically-proven claritin every day during your allergy season for continuous relief. 18 days ! 17 days ! i'm still claritin clear ! 22 days of continuous relief. live claritin clear. every day. take the claritin clear challenge: get continuous, non-drowsy allergy relief or your money back. go to claritinchallenge.com for details. new honey bunches of oats greek yohere we go.ole grain. honey cornflakes and chunks of greek yogurt.

i'm tasting both the yogurt and the honey at the same time. i'm like digging this yogurt thing. i feel healthy. new honey bunches of oats greek. bring your own lettuce. byol. and we'll dress it up with grilled chicken. crunchy veggies. fruits, dressings and crispy noodles. new lean cuisine salad additions. just byol. find us in frozen. i'm on expert on softball. and tea parties. i'll have more awkward conversations than i'm equipped for, because i'm raising two girls on my own. i'll worry about the economy more than a few times before they're grown. but it's for them, so i've found a way. who matters most to you says the most about you.

at massmutual we're owned by our policyowners, and they matter most to us. ready to plan for your future? we'll help you get there. get the fresh style you deserve at stunning prices. like printed shorts -- $19. or colored jeans -- $19. joe fresh is now at jcpenney. [ female announcer ] resisting the magical taste of silky smooth dove® chocolate is difficult. but choosing which one is even harder. yeah, you betcha, honey. ahh, you think so? [ female announcer ] some mornings you just can't eat at the table. eggo® wafflers are packed with flavors like brown sugar cinnamon roll, so you don't need syrup. eggo® wafflers. simply delicious™. original recipe. original recipe?

dad, i think you ate the bones. i did what? you ate the bones! i ate the bones? i ate the bones! i ate the bones! [ male announcer ] kfc original recipe, now available without the bone. freshly prepared white or dark meat chicken, boneless and skinless. get 4 delicious, mouth-watering pieces in your next 10 piece mixed bucket for $14.99. today tastes so good. we're back at 8:12 with an inspirational story about a single mother who spent years struggling to lose weight. nbc's tamron hall has details on that. good morning to you. >> hey there, matt. after years of battling the bulge this woman found the secret to success, losing, get this, 125 pounds in little over a year. how and why she did it may surprise you. >> i think look at how far i have come. oh, my goodness.

because everybody struggles with weight loss. if anybody has that extra weight, this he know exactly what i'm talking about, it's a struggle. >> reporter: a struggle kristen was determined to overcome. last year as a divorced single mom from st. joseph, missouri, doing some soul searching, her weight had hit a high of 287 pounds, limiting the kind of mom she wanted to be. >> going to amusement park and trying to ride a roller coast we are my son going, i can't do this or not even be able to fit in the seat at all so my son has to ride the roller coaster by himself and it was heartbreaking for me. >> reporter: but like many, she couldn't stick to her diet. >> i would totally, you know, fall off the wagon. >> reporter: at the same time kristen's friend, stephanie, was diagnosed with hodgkins lymphoma she said hwas a wake-up call to lose weight. >> i said i think i'm going to lose weight and make money for

you. >> reporter: the idea was simple, every pound she shed she asked her facebook friends to donate 50 cents to the fund or their favorite charity. >> i pushed that button, she's like okay, here we go. >> she says going public on facebook made her accountable. >> i knew every month that i had to lose weight because if i didn't lose weight i was not making any money for these charities. >> reporter: stephanie is in remission and xwratfgrateful fo kristen's support. >> i hadn't really thanked you in person. it was all that, so. >> you're welcome. it was my pleasure. >> reporter: kristen lost 70 pounds over seven months and she kept going, losing a total of 125 pounds. her son, gary, embraced the change. >> well, i can actually wrap my arms around her. usually it would be like this and now i can be like this.

>> i can do all these wonderful things that i wanted to do as a mom. it feels absolutely amazing. i couldn't -- i couldn't have dreamed it better. >> wow. kristen never set a specific weight loss goal saying she did not want to focus on the scale but the overall goal of rewarding herself and other people. quite a feel-good story this morning. >> it is tamron, thanks very much. kristen is with us this morning. nice to see you. good morning. >> good morning. >> my fun was watching you watch that story, and looking at the images of yourself before and after, and i can see on the expression of your face it's almost hard for to you believe. >> it's absolutely hard. i was looking at that screen and i just couldn't believe, you know, that was my past. that was me. that was the outside of what i looked like but it didn't represent the inside of the way i feel and so when i look at some of those pictures and some of those memories of my past i

think you know, that was me. >> the reason you started doing this in the first place we don't wish on anyone. you had a friend who was sick and you decided to help raise money for stephanie and we are thrilled to say that stephanie is in remission, we hope she's doing well but this other thing you decided to do as a part of this, to go on facebook and all of the sudden as you say, i pushed that button and you're out there. that's a very difficult decision. >> it was extremely hard, especially for somebody who is kind of hidden behind the scenes, ever since i graduated high school, the weight has slowly come on, and the more that it's come on the more i've kind of hidden away from friends, family, the people that would see me or the people that i worked with. >> but this idea of being accountable to others, not only for the money you raised for charity but the fact they're going to watch you and see if you do or don't make progress. >> yes. the people that would be seeing this page is anybody and everybody that would be

accessible to facebook. it is a public page, and anybody can see it and anybody can watch and see how the progress goes for me so me putting my pictures on there was, you know, put me accountable. i was accountable for myself and for the causes. >> you talked about the fact in the piece that you had on occasion quite a few occasions over the past, fallen off the wagon. did you fall off the wagon at all during this process while you were on facebook and raising money for stephanie? >> during the first few months it was really hard to try to adapt to the new lifestyle that i wanted to live in order to lose weight. >> what was the hardest part? >> i think the hardest was part getting rid of all the caffeine. i was such a caffeine person. i liked to eat chocolate and i liked to drink tea and do a lot of things that most people enjoy doing and so i had to kind of wean myself off of all of that, but once i was able to change that lifestyle i knew it was for the best. >> do you ever worry now about going back?

when you look at the before and after picture? you brought something with us as a little bit of a visual prop you can hold those up if you want. these are a pair -- >> you want me to stand up? >> sure. these are a pair of pants you used to wear. when you look at those, kristen, do you ever worry about falling back? >> you know what? i don't because i know this is the person i want to be. i know this is the person that i want to die this way. i want to be a healthy person. i want to continue to inspire others. i want to be healthy and you know, live this way. i don't want to go back to that old lazy, you know, hidden person. that's not me. that's not my personality. i'm much more out in front than that. >> i can see that and congratulations. it's nice to have you here. what a pleasure and our best to stephanie as well. let's go over to natalie. >> matt, thank you. bill and juliana rancik are adding to their busy schedule co-hosting "ready for love" and

from the looks of things they certainly know how to have fun with it. >> if it makes you feel any better juliana made the first move. >> oh, you wish! he wishes! that ishe biggest bunch of baloney. >> come on, honey, you can fess up. >> i didn't kiss you for three days. you kept trying to lean in. >> on our second date i tried to kiss her and she threw the cheek at me. >> bill and giuliana, who made the first move? >> i tried to make the first move and i was rejected. >> apparently you got the cheek. >> that was bun of my rules no, kiss for at least three dates. i didn't want to be the kiting bandit so that was my big role. >> you played hard to get and worked out. >> thank you, natalie. >> we'll talk about "ready for love" in a bill. giuliana you've been open about the battle with breast cancer, the fertility problems and now a

baby son at home. how are you doing? >> i'm doing great, 16 months post double mastectomy, and did some tests the other day and everything came out looking great. it's always nerve-racking walking in the doctor's office. when i got the call everything was great -- actually bill takes the call to be that honest. >> it's hard. >> it's scary, you never know what you'll ever hear. bill took the call and everything was fine. >> and little duke of course your pride and joy, now 7 months. tell us about him. >> such a cutie pie, looking more and more like this guy every day. >> he loves to eat, i'll tell you. he eats like a horse. >> does he have teeth yet? >> has two teeth and they are sharp as razors. put your finger near his mouth and he'll snap it off. >> don't always put a green mustache but that was st. patrick's day. bill is a baby hog, he's in every picture, i'm in none. >> the kid comes with me

everywhere, grocery store. >> i'm the same way, i take the pictures. >> there are two pictures of me in the house and they're both blurry so that's the way it is. >> tell me about doing the show "ready for love." you guys are so busy. how do you find time? >> we fell in love with the show instantly so we said we'll make time because it was a new concept and it's really revolutionizing the way these dating shows are now run and it's got a lot of drama. we're predicting two of the three guys get married by the end of the show. >> do you really think so? >> absolutely. >> ben, tim and ernesto. there was a surprise drama? >> the pretty brunette carrie she found out he was in the show and she came back to the show, she comes back and fights for him. so the question is you know, he has a certain familiarity with

her, so does he keep her around, does he try to have something with her or does he kind of -- >> find new love. >> try to find new love and abandon that. lot of people go through that so it will be interesting. >> it did not go well with the other girls. the gloves come off tomorrow night. >> that will make it interesting. bill and giuliana, you guys are like family. you'll be back in our fourth hour with hoda and kathie lee. "ready for love" airs 9:00, 8:00 central time on nbc. back over to matt. what would you do if your child became a target of bullies? "i stand behind my son in the fight against bullying. fight and send a message that bullying needs to stop now." more than 900,000 people have seen it, liked and forwarded and matthew bent is here along with his son, shiloh. i have three kids under the age

of 12. i always thought what would i do if i found out one of those kids was being bullied. had you worried about it? >> i had worried about it. i never knew that the day was going to come that he was going to come homeo the dinner table and tell me that but very proud of him for standing up and saying something. >> was it hard to tell your dad that, shiloh, saying i'm having a problem with bullies. >> it was a really hard thing for me to tell my dad because it was like on one side is it really bullying or is it not and i worry about that question and i worry how is it going to end. >> and do you worry if you go out there and your dad does something about it, it's going to make you more of a target for bullying, kids are going to make fun of you. when he came to you and said dad, i know you thought back when i was a kid, meaning you, i got bullied. >> um-hum. >> the advice was turn around and walk away and ignore it. you were determined not to have that happen. >> exactly.

exactly. i wanted him to remember that i was always standing behind him and that i had his back at all times and i was going to make sure if things weren't going to happen the way i thought they would with the administration and police, that we stood up and did something. >> so you posted this picture and it's symbolic. it is not only are you saying it, you are standing right behind your son, and you started to get response pretty quickly, didn't you? >> amazing response. the facebook page has been unbelievable. i've heard from people around the world some amazing stories on the good with people from all around the country, teachers in florida and businesspeople in massachusetts to coaches in oregon and you hear the heartbreaking stories, tens of thousands of e-mails that have poured in, of it happening to their kids, that it's going on everywhere, and as we sit here today there's kids that are in school right this minute that

are dealing with this. >> shiloh what was the response at school? what did your friends say when they heard you and your dad had taken the picture? >> well the first day, what really happened was i went to school, i got into class, people said, "hey, why did your dad put that post up" and some of the people that actually saw it started to explain it and now it's all over my school. >> so are things better for you now? has it lessened the bullying? >> it's lessened the bullying in my school. the only two things that i really have to say is, one, it always will get better, no matter how bad it will get better for sure, and i just have to throw a big shout out to my friends and say thank you because they really helped me get through it. >> i think that's the best way to end it. shiloh, good luck to you all right. >> and parents, parents please tell your kids that it's okay to

come and talk to them. you.od morning to i'm sarah caldwell. let's get a final check of your morning commute. it is pretty -- pretty busy. outer loop@140, an accident off to the side but causing delays. those delays stretch all the way toward edmonton. 16 miles an hour on average on the west side. earthbound 83 at warren road, a crash. and one further south,

southbound 29 at 216. traveling on the north side, 30 minutes just to get over toward 83 from 95 and 35 minus on the west side. 95 southbound out of white marsh area, still in yellow, 19 miles an hour and there is a live picture of the pace of things to the split. west side outer loop it will be a wild before these delay filter out at i-70. lots going on 70, eastbound from marriottsville road way to the beltway, delays in place. that is the very latest. now 20 has a check of your forecast forecast. >> and little bit of light rain to start today. it looks more impressive on the radar than it actually is. just hit and miss light rain showers. you could probably sneak by without your umbrella if you wanted to. it would taper off as we go to the afternoon. the further into the day, the better whether we could get. 49 in parkton and 52 in westminster. the forecast for today, i will call a variable clouds with a chance for a few rain showers

mostly this morning. high temperatures between 63-68, near average for this time of year. devon-day forecast looking pretty good for the rest of the week. 73 tomorrow, 70 six on thursday, best chance for rain this week will come in friday night and saturday morning at a cold front as we go to the weekend and after that highs will be back into the 60's. have a great monday.

we're back now, 8:30 on a monday morning, it's the 15th day of april, 2013, got a nice crowd on the plaza, it's a little breezy, a little cool for

this time of year, but that's all right, because we have a wonderful guest in the plaza with us this morning, i'm matt lauer along with al roker, natalie morales and a familiar face, mr. bryant gumbel. >> good to see you! mwah! always great to see you. >> he's got an amazing story tomorrow night on hbo that combines the worlds of sports and politics in a great way. >> we have a story of how the continuing revolution is being driven by of all things rabid soccer fans. it's the new thing and they're paying the price for it. 72 of them died in incidents with the police just a year ago so it's fascinating. >> we're going to do that and talk about that and also going to get your take on the masters this weekend, and then you might want to -- >> you're going to be a part of this brain game here. >> what am i going to play with?

>> there is a guy who last time he was here, you'll want to watch out of your possessions, make sure you have your wallet someplace safe. last time he took willie's watch right behind him, didn't even know. >> really? >> he's really good. >> is that why i got drafted? >> because you have a bigger wallet than we do. >> he's not picking pockets this time. >> i don't have a wallet, i'm a rubber band guy. that's it. >> that's good. >> i don't have a wallet. >> we'll explain about the gentleman thief in a little while. a start of the battle rounds tonight on "the voice." that's right, coming up tomorrow here on "today," my visit to the set and our chat is the coaches a dam, blake, shakira and usher. >> a lot to get to but first, mr. roker, a check of the weather? >> absolutely. let's show what you we've got starting with today, this week,

we are looking at below normal temperatures throughout a good rtion of the country, heavy snow in the central rockies, above normal temperatures through the south and then the mid part of the week, above normal temperatures in the east, risk of strong storms in the lower mississippi river valley, more snow in the plains, all the way down into the southwest, and then the latter part of the week, wet weather in the eastern third of the country especially the ohio and mississippi river valley, more rain in the pacific northwest, above normal temperatures, along the east coast. i should say the southwestern coast. that's what's going on in the >> good morning. off and on light rain showers are possible to start the day.

>> and we got a great contest going, go to today.com, submit an essay of 250 words or less and a video if you'd like to find out how to wake up with al. i will come to your home and broadcast from your home and your neighborhood, i don't know if you think that's a good idea or not but you have it. go to today.com like these folks are doing right now and by the way, "wake up with al" happens to be the name of my program on the weather channel weekdays at 5:30 a.m. on the weather channel. let's go to the original weatherman himself, mr. willard scott. >> i'll tell you, we're in florida, and we love florida, but i'll tell you, nothing like arizona. what a spot! and mildred johnson, sun city west, she is 100 years old.

the secret to being happy and living a long life is cats. happy birthday william monagan and he is 100 years old today. he is a great redskins fan and he watches nbc where we know how to spend your money. we have isadore, i love that name, isadore rainey from kennett, missouri, she is 104 years old today and we wish her the happiest birthday in the world and she loves community activities and affairs. she contributes an awful lot. this is alfred pellegrino, makes a great soft drink, is 100 years old today, and he is from edison, new jersey, named after you know who, thomas edison. he was an air force serviceman, and we wish him well, great service to this country, world war ii. this is gigi gitelson, i love

that name, 100 years old today, she's crazy about being around kids. she has kids with her, she's a happy lady. great name, great lady, roberta aker, she is 100 years old, brooklyn, new york, new york, and her favorite thing in life is dunkin' donuts, my kind of woman, put some peanut but thor from smucker's and you've got it made. that's all from sunny florida. >> willard, thanks very much. haven't had a chance to say this in a while but up next bryant gumbel. first this is "today" on nbc.

8:38 with a good friend, bryant gumbel. he sat in the anchor chair here for 15 years. since 1995 he's been the host of

"real sports with bryant gumbel" kicking off its 19th season just got a peabody award. >> i'm very proud of it, the first sports broadcast to ever be so honored. we have a good bunch of guys. we got a great staff and wonderful group of correspondents, very proud of it. >> you start this season with the story i think marries a lot of your real interest in sports and politics, this group of soccer fans we talked about it outside a second ago, the ultras, so are they soccer fans, political activists, revolutionaries, what are they in. >> a little bit of all concerned. i'll give you the brief version. for years in egyptian society egyptians were not allowed to congregate. the only place they could is soccer games. the ultras became used to working in an organized fashion and number two is combating the police, and so when events went down as you know well in tahrir square the people leading the charge were the ultraand the

revolution is ongoing. >> you brought us a clip from tomorrow night's segment. does it need setup? >> i don't think so. i think we have a journalist, sharif tadus who talks about the role of the ultras and we'll talk with one of the ultras who keeps his identity hidden for obvious reasons. >> this bridge behind us leads directly into the heart of tahrir, and this was the site of one of the fiercest and largest battles on january 28th, 2011, against the police. the ultras and soccer fans were key to that battle because they were on the front lines, they were very organized. the police literally retreated off the streets of cairo. were taking off their uniforms, putting on civilian clothing and hiding. >> the streets around tahrir square was battlefield everywhere. the people were watching us, dealing with the police. >> so they were learning by example? >> exactly.

>> you were teaching by example. >> we broke this rule that the police are the most strong thing in egypt and you cannot mess with them. we broke this rule and this is how the people saw us doing this. >> you mentioned the role in tahrir square at the end of the mubarak regime's days. what are their goals now? >> that's a tough question. they want -- the police remains the oppressive force in egypt, almost 2 million strong and despite the fact mubarak is gone and morsi is in, the police remain pretty much unchanged and unchecked and the police kind of got their revenge against the ultras a year ago, they went to the soccer game in port sayeed and reports came out they locked the exits and after the game, 72 of them were beaten to death, and so the ultras, it's become a blood war now the cops in egypt and revolution is ongoing. >> as an american journalist did you feel safe? i remember when you went over -- >> they all think it's fine,

they think i'm egyptian until i open my mouth. boom, it's gone. >> we talked about adam scott the new masters champion, first aussie to have that title. should tiger woods have been disqualified? or withdrawn? >> absolutely not. if he had, everyone would say he gutted a good rule. number one he shouldn't have decued himself but you could sit at home on your couch and say i saw a violation and impact the competition? >> i'm not sure golf will get away with that. it seems to be here to stay. >> can you imagine a guy watching a basketball game hey he traveled. get on the phone? no. that's not going to happen. >> you agreed to subject yourself to something else. >> i didn't agree. you strongarmed me. >> not exactly. we have a segment come up, a brand new series on "national geographic" called "brain games." the gentleman thief who has been on our show before and he'll have fun with us in a couple of minutes and have some fun with

you as well so if you're game we'll give it a shot in a couple of minutes. >> if i'm not? >> we're going to give it a shot anyway. bryant, thanks very much. coming up next, playing some tricks on your minds, but first this is "today" on nbc. a can of del monte green beans?

♪ ♪ ♪ grown in america. picked and packed at the peak of ripeness. the same essential nutrients as fresh. del monte. bursting with life.

seeing is not always believing, at least that is the case on national geographic channel's new series called "brain games." each week the show will trick, sharpen and boggle your mind using an intricate string of con games, optical illusions, brain teasers and hard science. take a look. >> you'll notice there are two blinking dots. question, are the dots alternating or blinking together at the same time? could you have your answer? if you said you're alternating you're like most people and like most people, you're wrong.

surprise, we're actually blinking together. >> jason silva -- we're not going to do well. jason silva is the host of brain games and paul robbins is known as the gentleman thief. good to see you. >> i was on a treadmill the other day. it's like a baseball game. i was on a treadmill and started to see the protos and i got sucked in, i really did because you find yourself believing one thing when something else is true. >> absolutely. the show is really what you see is not always what you get. it's a pop science theory making brain science accessible. the idea is to main stream the brain science. on the one hand the brain is the most complicated object in the universe and it has its built in shortcomings and these brain scientists great the interactive experiments so people at home can play along. >> can you trick it by bypassing the obvious? >> pretty much. >> taking advantage of the obvious. >> right. in other words once you ask a question with the dots we kind of guess okay, they are in sync. >> there's a lot of experiments

like that. we all think we live in a world that we experience as three-dimensional but we take in low resolution 2d images through our eyes and our brain fills it in and creates a 3d reality so we receive incomplete information and our brain fills it in and he exploits that brilliantly in the show. >> boy does he exploit it. let's give us a warmup. you have a riddle. he's one of the smartest guys i've ever met. >> oh, you haven't met many people. >> this shows how your brain wants to fill and complete patterns. so the question is, mary's mother had four daughters, april, may, june and -- >> july. >> wrong. because what happens is your brain is month, mary's mother had four daughters, april, may, june and -- >> don't be so fast. he thinks quickly.

what do we call these tricks, illusions, what are they in. >> they trick the mind because they take advantage of shortcuts, like that one your brain took a shortc. sometimes you can jump ahead or sometimes you want to stop you from doing the shortcut. the old shell game which is a hustle, if you're watching here, place this as a bet. this is a 100 chip. you can see where the shell is and the pea it. when i love it almost where the pea goes. it's not what you think it would be. >> do this one more time. one more time. we'll be a team. >> don't watch the shells, watch right here and you almost see when it comes to if you see it go across if you're watching where would you say it is. >> is that what you're saying? >> 50/50. >> bryant says this. >> you became overconfident and that motion is what drew you in,

when actually it's over here. >> because you told to us look at that space. >> i didn't tell you. you watched the pea go in between and you assume it's where you saw it. >> you understand how the brain works and exploit it. you've got another one. >> sure. >> this is called follow the ace. >> yes, you can use that with cards or things like that. would you mind coming around the side so you can see closer? you had your wall net your back left pocket? >> i'll get you a wallet, i can afford it. i found a couple back stage. if you're watching something like the cards, card tricks traditionally when magicians do them, they take advantage of a card. push one of those out. in this case instead of it being a card trick, track that card. you put a four here and watching where that is and you can see it's about here. right now your brain starts to make an assumption, somehow that assumption is wrong and the four is over here. for this one you want to pan back so you can see your face as

well. come closer, you see where the four goes. are you right-handed? is this the card on top or is it on the back of that one? >> no. >> jason was mentioned your resolution, it's amazing when you see the cameras you get the answer. >> yes, sort of like liar's poker. >> the secret is velcro. >> again, the series on national geographic, the idea here is you're going to wow people with these stunts and illusions but if they pay attention they're going to learn something about how their brain operates. >> absolutely. we call it lean-in programming. we designed the experiments and the star of the show is really your brain at home. if you play, lean in the show, you have that visceral appreciation of the wow and you're like how does that happen. then it becomes explained so one of the experts will come on board, i'll come on the screen, he comes on the screen and tells you this is because of intentional blindness or lateral prefrontal cortex goes

crisscross. >> that's why i can't putt. >> sounds fascinating. i was hooked from the first promo so way to go. nice to see you.. >> thank you. >> watch, everything's intact. >> the premiere of "brain games" is next monday night on the national geographic channel and up next we're mapping out your work week menu, four budget friendly recipes. first this is "today" on nbc.

back now at 8:52 with your mapped out weekly meals and the recipes are courtesy of stephanie, the chef from chicago's famed girl and the goat restaurant. stephanie, good morning. >> good morning. >> we'll start with the basic grilled chicken, this is with blueberries and snap peas so kind of a healthy sal lat at the end of a nice long day. >> you can use any meat that you picked up at the store. we're used grilled chicken because everybody has grilled chicken around. this is for monday, today. >> while the chicken is grilling we'll make the salad, snap peas. >> i wanted to celebrate spring because back in chicago it's almost spring. we have snap peas, rad ishz, a little bit of pineapple. you want to think about texture and the blueberries, so a lot of people forget to put blueberries in their savory dishes, simple vinaigrette, lemon juice, shallots and spice. >> easy to make yourself. >> all we're going to do is place a little chicken breast.

>> you let it rest and sit a little bit. >> exactly, get some flavor from the grill but you could bake it as well, slice it up and put a salad on top. >> how great that looks, perfect. wonderful. let's move on to tuesday's meal, now we're making burgers, although these are a little bit different. >> they are. >> they're served with a s chilaquiles. >> we call it our marinara with quotes because it's a play on marinara. >> fennel and onions that have been in there and browning for a while. >> you want to let them let the juices out. we add miso which is salty and different and this is garr rick that's been simmered in a little bit of oil and has that yummy sweetness from the garlic. >> your mother's sauce. >> we use it and finish it with all sorts of things at the

restaurant. you make this at the beginning of the week and keep adding to it. >> you add the tomatoes when that simmers down. >> exactl now we have a little bit of sauce finished, cooked for about an hour. we'll add in some a little bit of butter, keeping it healthy. we want to add extra flavor and then going to add in tortilla chips. back at the restaurant we make our own. >> that's what makes the chilaquiles. i knew i was going to splatter that on you. >> you did good. once the tortilla starts to soften we get the cheeses. >> that's the burger you cooked up the regular way. >> i thought of it getting warm out and wanted to grill everything. >> the sauce. >> a little bit of the tortilla mix and to add spice. i'm a spice whiz so we added on chilies. >> looks delicious.

over here extra meals, using that same mother sauce, you're now going to make, what is this? >> this has a little bit of ocra and eggplant we mixed in with cashews, putting a little asian flair and i have you taste this before we have chicken and leek soup with fried macaroni to crisp it up. >> chicken left over from earlier. >> with two things we have four meals. >> this is really good. i like your take, stephanie, fantastic. >> you want to try tried macaroni? >> it's really healthy. stephanie, thank you so much. >> thank you. >> by the way you can print out all of these recipes and a complete shopping list on our website today.com. we're back with today's take three but first a look at your local news and your local weather forecasts. looks >> good morning. i'm sarah caldwell. here is a look at one of our top tories this morning.

open heart city police are investigating six different shootings that happened since friday -- baltimore city police are investigating six different shootings. police say someone shot a 16- year-old in the face and hit yesterday afternoon in west baltimore. the victim was transported to the hospital, where he is hey, what are you drinkin'? i'm drinkin' dunkin'. definitely dunkin'. you know, i need to get that jolt in the morning, but i want something good to do that. i love the aroma, i love the taste. you can't mistake the flavor. i run on dunkin'! america runs on dunkin' coffee.

>> welcome back. after a beautiful weekend, a little bit of light rain to contend with to start the day. it will be off and on. it should taper off as we go to the afternoon. might even get sunshine late in the day. high temperatures in the mid- escape's, right around average for the time of year. >> thanks for joining us. back with another weather

♪ welcome to "today" on this monday morning, april 15th, 2013. it is tax day, if you didn't know that yet, you are in some deep trouble. >> oh, boy. >> it's 9:00 on tax day, time to get moving. inside -- >> we're going to have carmen wong-ulrich to guide us through taxes if you're a