borrow anymore but do we default that same day? >> no, there's some money but we're not sure how much. but by november 1st there's not enough money. >> on november 1st we could default. what effect will have that. a lot will tell you it will be a calamity. >> that's true. i imagine what they'll do is pay the interest on the debt so therefore there's not a real default. but, yes it would be a calamity because almost everything in the world is priced off the treasury. meaning this is the most important single piece of paper in the world and no one knows what will happen. >> to break this down further we owe a certain amount of money, interest on the debt every single month. even if we don't reach the debt ceiling there would still be that money to pay it but the question is what other bills do you pay? is that what has the economic consequence. >> exactly. the government can't pay every deal without getting more debt. >> what do you think you should do if you're a regular citizen

sitting at home watching this unfold in washington? are you in the stock market or bond market or out of it. >> we're a rich country. if you try to get out now and get back in, i think you'll fail. this is not a crisis involving our country being bankrupt. we have the money to pay. it's just political. >> always good to get your perspective. here's matt. new details on how the government shutdown is effecting military families. nbc's andrea mitchell is here with a closer look at that. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, matt. of all the outrage in washington over the government shutdown, this one really hits home. the families of five u.s. troops killed over the weekend in afghanistan got a second call from the government. the government cannot pay their death benefits. the immediate benefits to help with flights and funerals to help because of the government shutdown. far from the furloughs on the front lines jeremiah collins worked saturday one of the most dangerous government jobs there

is. on patrol in afghanistan. the 19-year-old was killed in helmand province. back home in milwaukee, a mother's grief. collins was one of five u.s. service members killed in afghanistan over the weekend. on sunday, four u.s. troops were killed in an attack. they died on the 12th anniversary of a war that claimed more than 2100 members of the u.s. military. but unlike those killed before, these service members families won't receive the $100,000 death gratuity wired to families within 36 hours to help with expenses like the funeral until survivor benefits are paid. no money either to fly the families to delaware for the returned of hair loved ones coffin. >> washington maybe shutdown but it's still asking people to go to war. when people realize they can serve and fight for their country but that their families will get an iou until the shutdown is over, i think

they're just shocked. >> reporter: shannon collins still shocked back in milwaukee can't wait for washington. she's already grieving. officials say the law passed last week to pay civilian members of the military doesn't allow this immediate death benefit to be paid to families of the fallen. the pentagon is hoping for a way to correct it perhaps as early as today. >> what a story. andrea mitchell. thank you very much. meantime, two terror raids were conducted by u.s. forces this weekend. one landed a high profile al qaeda leader but the other mission didn't workout. our chief foreign correspondence has more details on what went wrong and what they'll get out of the other suspect. >> the first suspect, the one that was obtained, al libi. he could be held on a warship for days or weeks as he is being interrogated and we're learning muscles details on the other raid, the one that didn't succeed in somalia according to

account by several military sources. >> reporter: it was a daring assault on this beach used by shark fishermen. but it was dark here on saturday when less than two dozen navy s.e.a.l.s approached in a past boat flanked by three support craft. their target, a compound of al shabaab, the terrorist group that last month took over a shopping mall in kenya and killed over 60 hostages over four long days. but when the navy s.e.a.l.s took up their position on the perimeter of the al shabaab compound, a lone man smoking a cigarette spotted them. he ran in like nothing was wrong but then militants ran out shooting and a gun fight broke out. more gunmen and civilian and children flooded into the zone. they retreated. >> it's tempting to believe that it's a clear and easy solution and it's quick and simple and

clean and the reality is there are risks no matter what options we pick. whether it's drones or special operations. >> reporter: while the al shabaab target from the massacre in nairobi wasn't captured, the pentagon said it demonstrated that the united states can put direct pressure on al shabaab leadership at any time of our choosing. two weekend missions, one resulting in the capture in libya of abu annas al libi. another sending a message, american black ops will come knocking anywhere. >> potentially he could have a wealth of information. >> it depends on how much he is saying and how much he is willing to cooperate. they're not likely using these enhanced interrogation techniques. instead he is being investigated and debriefed by the fbi, the cia, u.s. military intelligence. they can't use sleep

deprivation. they can use good cop, bad cop, what he knows, who he knows, are there any plots but we don't know if he is talking or not. >> richard engle, thank you very much. we'll swing over to natalie. she is here with an advisory about a popular brand of chicken. >> that's right. the department of agriculture issued a public health alert for raw chicken packaged at three foster farms facilities in california. 270 people have been sickened with a salmonella outbreak that spread to 18 states. they blame the infections on people eating chicken either undercooked or improperly handled. california's governor vetoed a bill that would have allowed noncitizens that are legal residents to serve in jury duty in california. it's a responsibility of citizenship. demolition is under way at the jersey shore following last month's fire that destroyed the boardwalk and dozens of

businesses. demolition will take about two months but rebuilding will take a lot longer. ten weeks after he was born prince george is being honored with an official set of royal coins in britain. the coins have his name on the one side and the imagine of his great grandmother queen elizabeth on the other. it commemorates the baby's kr christening which is this month. dario franchitti will need surgery. he suffered multiple injuries. he says he thanks everyone for their well wishes and sends his best to the spectators that were injured as well. new york rangers got lots of help from the opposing team's goalie. he was reaching for the puck only to see it ricochet into his own net turning a routine play into something for his low light reel. rangers ended up winning 3-1.

the gunman that tried to scare a convenience store clerk by firing a warning shot into the wall took off without a penny after the clerk grabbed that machete. police released this video of last month's confrontation to find the gunman that was running as quickly as he could out of the parking lot. police say this is whatnot to do. do not confront a robber in this situation. >> don't bring out my 3 foot knife? >> no. >> he actually pulled the trigger again during the confrontation and the gun jammed. so that could have ended differently. >> i can understand self-defense. it was the chasing across the parking lot that perhaps wasn't the right call. >> yeah. >> thank you very much. >> violent weather in the northeast. >> yeah, we had a big storm move through. we didn't have any lightning with this thing but boy did we have a lot of wind. parts of northern new jersey, tree crashing into this home.

power lines went down. you can see damaging a lot of cars in the process and you can see small fires starting to develop. let's show you what's going on now. we are going to be looking at a little bit of energy left over from our good friend karen. it's going to be developing off the southeastern atlantic coast making it's way up the coast and as it does, it's going to be bringing a lot of heavy wind and rain from the carolinas today into tomorrow and up into the mid-atlantic states and the northeast by thursday. look at some of these rainfall amounts over the next 72 hours. heaviest rain right along the peninsula anywhere from 3 to 5 inches of rain but you can see two to three inches of rain from new england all the way down into norfolk. i just love cherry preserves. is that your favorite? i don't know... i also like strawberry, boysenberry, red raspberry, blackberry, sweet orange marmalade, apple, pineapple, concord grape,

apricot, peach, blueberry... [ male announcer ] tim and richard smucker grew up knowing that with so many delicious varieties, it's tough to choose just one favorite. apricot pineapple... [ male announcer ] for five generations, with a name like smucker's, it has to be good. the weather pattern has changed we expectast 24 hours a mix of clouds and sun. high temperatures in the and that's your latest weather. all right, al, thank you very much. a little more now on the 9-year-old boy that hopped a plane from minneapolis to las vegas without a ticket.

he'll be the focus of a court hearing this morning as authorities are still trying to figure out how that young boy managed to make it through security. john yang is in minneapolis for the latest. hi, john. >> reporter: hey, matt. this morning, local, federal and airline officials are all reviewing their policies here at the airport. all because the 9-year-old got by them all. the young boy apparently skipped through security at the minneapolis airport with no ticket, no boarding pass, and no problems. >> all of this since 9/11 has been to keep us safer and it has but still we have gaping holes and this was a perfect example of it. >> reporter: it happened last week and we still don't know how the stowaway snuck on to the vegas bound delta flight. >> i have an 8-year-old son. that freaked me out. >> reporter: airport officials say the boy made a test run the

day before arriving by light rail wednesday and grabbing a rand random bag off the baggage carousel. he told the waiter he had used the bathroom and was directed to a nearby concourse. the boy never came back leaving behind his lunch bill and the bag. the next time he is spotted that day he's on the light rail back toward minneapolis. >> he had to be pretty smart and in the know. >> reporter: airport official sas the next day the boy returned to the airport by light rail. he was screened by the tsa at one of the checkpoints and made his way to gate g 4 where he talked to a delta agent. while the agent was busy he walked down the jet way and boarded the flight to las vegas. delta airlines is working with authorities to find out what happened. and is reviewing our policies and procedures to make sure something like this does not happen again. sometime after take off a flight attendant became suspicious

because he wasn't on a list of unattended my no, sinors. police met him in vegas. he is not being identified but he is well-known to local authorities. in the past he has stolen a car, snuck into a water park, and been the subject of a child protection investigation, matt. all right. john yang in minneapolis this morning. thank you so much. >> let's check in with tamron hall holding down the fort in the orange room for carson. good morning to you. >> good morning. it's been my job. i have not slept all night looking for what's trending and what people are talk about. we got a good moment this morning from jimmy fallon last night when he spent a little time with one of my favorites, sir paul mccartney. take a look. >> terribly sorry about that mr. mccartney. >> no, problem, jimmy. what just happened?

>> i think we just switched accents. >> this is awful. >> i sound pretty cool. i sound like a beatle. i'm from liverpool. let's drive on the wrong side of the role. sponge bob square pants. >> stop. >> here comes honey boo boo. >> no. >> let me see what you're twerking with. >> i don't even know what that means. >> yolo. >> all right. that's it. >> hey, my voice is back. >> so there you have it. it's infectious. all day i have been saying good day, mate. but i think that's more australian. but he has been a sex symbol for more years than he probably want mess to count, which brings me mr. lauer. >> that was a real transition. you worked for that one. >> but it brings me to mr. lauer. he is trending today after a particular moment with little miss miley cyrus. >> it's not working for me

either. >> that's what i heard -- i don't know. here we go. one finger and one finger. >> that monitor is more than 40 years old. >> okay. here's the deal guys. real quick, we have a poll this morning, after miley cyrus told matt that people over 40 really don't have sex. we're going to pose the question to you at home, are you having less sex if you're over the age of 40. i am 42, wink, wink. but we're going to show it to you and talk about miley's moment with matt that set the internet and even made international news, matt. >> that's great. you keep working on that monitor too. >> you might want to check your finger. >> keep going. >> all right. tamron, thank you. >> coming up, on edge. we'll tell you about the giant killer hornets that are terrorizing parts of china.

it's not funny actually. >> apparently on planes too. and on rossen reports, if you throw away food after the use by date, you maybe throwing away a lot of money. some foods can last weeks and even months past that date. but first, this is "today" on nbc. >> keep going tamron, you can do nbc. >> keep going tamron, you can do pumpkin's back at dunkin'? now you tell me. try the new pumpkin pie donut

or any of our other many pumpkin treats today. america runs on dunkin'.

all right. coming up, what is really in your chicken nuggets? >> don't ask. >> don't ask. >> and marilyn monroe, julie andrews,

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settle in with pumpkin spice latte, something new to love from mccafé. settle in with pumpkin spice latte, ♪ let's face it. everyone has their own way of doing things. at university of phoenix we know learning is no different. so we offer personalized tools and support, that let our students tackle the challenge of going back to school, like they do anything else... their way. let's get to work. >> this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore. >> good morning. i am stan stovall.

baltimore city police say they have arrested a man for allegedly stabbing stu -- stepping two security guards at the baltimore comedy factory. they argued over unpaid bills and when the security guards escorted him out of the club, he pulled out a knife and stabbed them. the guards have been treated and released from an area hospital. here is sarah caldwell and traffic pulse 11. >> southbound accident on 95 out of the northeast past the beltway. it is causing additional delays. wrote,2 and bennett , school busty involved there. route 30, a virgo, watch for closures due to a crash. dean street, motorcycle involved accident.

looking at the north side, heavy delays from 95 towards the towson region. this is what the west side looks like. >> we had heavy rain yesterday. a bit of cloud cover out there. it will not produce any rain. it is about 20 degrees cooler than it was yesterday at this time. but the 60s this afternoon. it will feel cooler considering we have been in a summerlike weather pattern. 66 and 70.s between 36 in the afternoon tomorrow, decent chance for rain.

7:30 now on a tuesday morning. it's the 8th day of october, 2013. that's pretty. that is the sunrise over cape may, new jersey. >> beautiful there. >> i'm matt lauer with savannah guthrie, al roker, and natalie

morales. >> can you believe how beautiful that shot is? someone fabulous took that picture. her name is nancy guthrie in tucson arizona. >> she's my mom. >> we're letting it in. >> we ran it in reverse there. >> exactly. >> thanks mrs. guthrie. let's take a look at what's happening today. there's been no progress on capitol hill in easing the gridlock that's shutdown much of the government. >> u.s. interrogators are hoping to question a terror suspect aboard a warship in the mediterranean. >> and residents are cleaning up after a powerful storm hit the northeast bringing pounding rains and heavy winds. >> when you look in your cabinets and the used by date has passed, do you throw it away? >> based on what's in my fringe, no. >> this morning on rossen reports, what those dates really mean. they could be costing you a lot of money. it's a very interesting story.

>> this is a perfect segway. speaking of those use by dates, miley cyrus rocked the plaza of course here yesterday. >> and rocked my world too. >> right. because of her conversation with matt and the topic of sex after 40 just rocketed off line. we're going to get you all caught up. >> the use by date. >> the use by date. >> use before 40. >> all right. well, we will switch topics, thankfully, to an entire region. china living in some fear and it's an unlikely suspect, killer giant hornets. dozens of people died and more than 16 have been hurt and local officials are exhausting all of their options to fight them off. ian williams is in beijing this morning with details. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, savannah. we're back in beijing but we brought back a sample here which i'll introduce to you more formally a little bit later. they are really scary and have an entire chinese province on

edge. >> the giant one. >> reporter: this is public enemy number one. the asian giant hornet. the world's biggest. as large as a human thumb. together with a smaller but as lethal species they killed 42 people since july and brought fear to the province. >> the most dangerous. >> they have big nests. the groups are so big. they kill people. >> reporter: at least 1600 people have been injured. the hornet's venom is highly toxic. it can dissolve human tissue. more than five stings can cause renal failure. entire villages are on edge. they're used to hornets but never on this scale which experts blame on hot and dry weather. she now rarely leaves her home after being stung four times on her face and head when she disturbed a hornet's nest while picking chestnuts. everybody is so scared she told me. i've never seen so many flying

around. the authorities struggled to con trot the hornets which can fly at up to 25 miles per hour. hundreds of extermination teams have been mobilized to destroy their nest which is are at their biggest this time of the year. firefighters taking no chance with the aggressive swarms of hornets. >> this is one of more than 4,000 nets destroyed in the last week. each one can contain more than 1,000 hornets. you really don't want to stumble across one of these. the giant hornet is a leading predator. the sharks of the insect world. an expert says that like sharks they only attack if they're disturbed but that comes with little comfort to the villagers here. well, this specimen is now dead but i'm still keeping my distance. it's one of the smaller ones but stings from hornets like this can down a cow and five stings can bring renal failure to

humans. the authorities insist they're now in control and say cold weather will send the hornets into hibernation soon but for now the heat wave continues as does the hornet menace, savannah. >> ian williams, terrifying. >> send them into hibernation until next year. >> yeah and then they're going to be really ticked. >> cranky, right? >> that's scary. >> let's get a check of the weather from mr. roker. >> we have warm weather to talk about. our friends in the midwest will be talking about warm stuff. we have a ridge of high pressure as it's building in. the winds come clockwise around that so that warms things up. so as you can see we're going to be looking attempts today getting up into the 70s. chicago, 75 degrees. st. louis 78. omaha 77, amarillo, texas, a high of 84 degrees. we have another storm system coming into the pacific northwest bringing rain there. windy conditions through the plains. the southern interior states spectacular.

karen getting itself together in the southeast but beautiful weather inr rainter some heavy yesterday, things are nice and quiet. high temperature today in the upper 60's with a mix of clouds and don't forget, get that weather you need any time of the day or night go to the weather channel on cable, weather.com online. >> coming up next on rossen reports, how the use by dates can be costing you big bucks when it comes to your groceries. >> and the tv news anchor under fire for breaking bad on twitter. [ bird chirping ]

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we're back at 7:40. are you throwing away perfectly good food? it turns out the sell by and use by dates may not be what you think and it could be costing you a lot of money. jeff rossen is good on that. >> good morning. we're going to save you some serious money this morning. if you're anything like me, i have a feeling you are, before you eat anything you check the date. if it's passed you chuck it in the garbage but this morning throw out everything you know. there's a new study that says the use by dates on the labels have nothing to do with food safety. in fact, the food may still be good for weeks, months, even years past the date. >> reporter: go to the grocery store and the stamps are on everything. use by, sell by, better if used by, best if used by. what does it all mean.

>> no good. >> reporter: for this mother of two, it means toss anything past the date so her family doesn't get sick. >> i fear what might be seeping into the cans or what kind of bacteria is growing in there. i have no idea. >> reporter: in fact, americans chuck 160 billion pounds of food every year. an average family of four throwing away $1,560. but hang on, a lot of that out of date food is perfectly good. in fact, this new study from harvard and the nrdc finds those sell by dates are confusing and misleading. >> people think these are expiration dates. they think if they eat the food after this date they're going to get sick but it's not true. >> reporter: emily is the lead author of the study. she says food can be totally safe well past the date. from cereal, to salad dressings,

even eggs. >> when i see use by or sell by on a product, what does that mean? >> it has nothing to do with safety at all. it's just a manufacturers best guess of when that food will be the freshest and at the best quality. >> reporter: and how inferrers come up with those dates? it's often ugh regulated and varying from state to state. >> if i eat food past the date i'm not going to get sick. >> there's not a single instance of food bourn illness or poisoning after that date. >> reporter: all of this a game changer for jennifer who says she is going to hold on to her food longer. >> i think it would definitely save me some money. >> that one is still good. >> there are products with expiration dates on them, exp, one is infant formula. that's tightly controlled and we also think a lot about milk and fresh meats. those dates are pretty accurate.

>> we have products here and you'll go through them. dairy, you get into dairy and meat, people basically adhere to those dates. >> yeah, you should. >> eggs, though? >> no, that's the surprising thing. when you buy eggs and see the sell by or use by dates on it, it usually go a couple of days after that. eggs are good to three to five weeks after that. write down the date you bought it. it's good up to five weeks after that. >> cereal, crackers, how long after these? >> nine months to a year they'll stay good if they remain unopened. not only should you not throw this out but if your local grocery store is having a sell, you can put them in your cabinet and save money. >> condiments, mustard, ketchup, salad dressing and mayonnaise. most people probably hold these past the date. >> remind me not to come over to your house for dinner. >> i think they do. >> but mayonnaise too. >> i wouldn't do that. >> it's okay.

it has nothing to do with food safety. these can last and that includes mayonnaise for one and a half years after you buy it if they remain unopened. >> if my house we have never gotten past the expiration date on ketchup. we go through that quickly. same with peanut butter. >> this is the real shocker, if you keep these unopened, three to four years peanut butter will stay good. god knows what's in it. >> once you open it, pay more attention to these dates. it's all about the smell test just like you would do with milk, for any of these products, smell it. if it smells bad you probably shouldn't eat it. if you see active mold on it, you can scrape that off and still taste it. this is about freshness. you can eat it and probably not get sick. >> but it's still keeping your family safe and saving you a lot of money. >> jeff rossen, thank you. up next, we'll check in with tamron in the orange room and we'll talk more about the fall out over our candid conversation with miley cyrus. >> and a little later on, carrie

in the coffee shop. the viral video that had unsuspected customers fearing for their lives right after this. ( telephone rings ) hi, honey. how's the camping trip? well, kids had fun, but i think i slept on a rock. what are you doing? having coffee.

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which means a better future for our students and our nation. join exxonmobil in supporting the common core state standards. let's solve this. do you know what this thing with miley cyrus reminds me of? that time she told you weren't having sex because you were over 40. >> you mean yesterday? >> tamron is in the orange room and worked out the technical difficulties. >> she put on a memorable performance but the interview still has people talking. >> move on to something else. >> well, i heard when you turn 40 things start to go a little less sexual. >> don't say that. >> probably around 40. i heard that's when people don't have sex anymore. so i guess maybe around then.

>> miley cyrus lit up the internet with her comments about no sex after 40. >> well, she is going to be really pleasantly surprised. >> probably just gets better. >> she's young. i understand her saying that. i might have said that when i was 20. >> but the 20-something singer maybe on to something, a survey from the journal of sexual medicine shows sex does drop at age 40. >> the survey says 71% of male and 64% of family 30 somethings are active and 40 somethings it drops to 61 and 56%. by the 50s, it's down to 44 and 29%. still more than a few people are happy to tell the we can't stop singer that they don't stop. >> no age limit, you know? not at all. you just got to keep going until you drop dead. >> sex after 40 absolutely and matt knows that.

>> all right. >> i have no idea who that is. >> we have a poll we sent out to our viewers as well to get their thoughts on it and, you know, i had a little trouble earlier -- >> oh, wow. >> i brought my miley singer with me. i'm going to own this screen today. here we go guys. john daily, the famous golfer tweeted out love your showing at today show and your music. i do disagree with you i'm over 40 and sex is just as good as it was when i was 20. and he's saying that wearing those pants. our survey, do you think people have less sex after the age of 40. survey says, 39% say yes. 61 say no. i say, listen, when you're 20 you always think that 40 year olds aren't having sex and when you're 40 you think that about 60 but you know what you're doing in your bedroom and that's all that matters. >> i didn't hear a thing after miley said she thought i was 40

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>> this is the wbal tv 11 news today in baltimore. >> good morning. i am mindy basara. here is sarah caldwell. >> busy start year tuesday. the south on 95 in sasso county past 222, getting rid of an

accident. we are ok beyond that. leading up to that, this is what you are looking at. wise avenue and midway avenue in dundalk, watch for a crash. we are tracking when lombard and ehlert street. accident clearing in eldersburg. tiny orchard parkway, accident going on. veterans highway and headquarters road, downed wires to keep an eye on. we are holding onto them on the north and west side could 21 minutes on the north west side. 23 minutes to get the west side stretch. from the can see the j.f.x. is now in yellow from the beltway towards 28th street. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. rain pushing off the

coast, leaving behind high, thin clouds this morning. to get us some rain, but not until the middle and end of the week. temperatures are significantly cooler than yesterday. 47 in sykesville. 55 and rock all. -- 55 in rock all. upper 60s this afternoon. right on average this time of year. a few showers possible late in the afternoon tomorrow. high temperatures only in the low to mid 60s. there could be a fueling rain

it's 8:00 on today, coming up, a child sent home from school with a letter saying she is too heavy. a florida family now fighting back. >> plus after years of debate, is there finally proof marilyn monroe had plastic surgery? >> and spectacular imagines from

national geographics look at the race to save wild rhinos. today, october 8th, 2013. >> kentucky girls love matt and savannah. >> good morning to you. >> i'm from tennessee and i'm turning 30 on "today". >> happy birthday. >> hello there. >> i do want to give a big shout out to our teachers, friends and family, ohio. >> do you you see that sign right there? it said i'm 60. good morning everyone. i'm savannah guthrie along side matt lauer and al roker.

>> coming up, they're always a lot of fun, we have great items in the studio right now including the wedding dress worn by julie andrews in the sound of music. >> cool. >> that is really good. plus rare items from marilyn monroe all the way to captain kirk and princess diana. >> and on education nation, teachers making house calls. is it a good idea in we'll let you know. >> let's head to natalie with the top stories. >> good morning. good morning everyone. the government shutdown is hitting home for some u.s. families that already paid a huge price. as andrea mitchell reported earlier, the families of five u.s. troops killed over the weekend in afghanistan have been told they won't get death penalties to help with funeral or flights to meet their loved ones coffins because of the shutdown. a death gratuity is wired to families within 36 hours of a military death to help with funeral and other expenses.

the pentagon is assessing whether a law last week to pay the military during the shutdown may apply in this case. >> with one crisis still unresolved congress is turning to the debt issue. they're raising the borrowing limit enough to last until next year's election. the white house has not ruld out a short-term extension to prevent an unprecedented default on government obligations. the northeast is cleaning up from a storm that left a trail of downed trees from pennsylvania to massachusetts. thousands of customers spent the night without electricity. no reports of injuries. protestors ran for cover last night when the car they overturned made contact with a bonfire and exploded. the blast threw debris 300 yards in the air. no word on any injuries. the protestors were angry they had not received their government rent allowances. a florida law that requires students to have health

screenings is stirring up controversy. the parents of a young girl in florida spoke out about their family's experience with what they say is a hurtful fat letter. >> 6th grader lily is a star volleyball player. at 5'3", 120 pounds she looks like your average 11-year-old. >> she is athletic and tall. >> but when she started school she was sent home with a letter from the health department. it said she was overweight. they require all public school students to get health screenings at the start of the year. her body mass index puts her at the category of at risk. >> it says that and tells you to go to their website and the at risk turns to lily is overweight. >> reporter: they worry what effect the so-called fat letter will have on their daughter. >> don't send the letter home with the kids. how hard is it to put the letters in the mail. >> reporter: a spokeswoman says

these screenings are meant to alert parents to potential health problems. >> we want parents to realize that it's only a screening tool. >> reporter: but they don't think a hurtful letter is the answer. >> this letter can do no good. if a kid is overweight, they know they're overweight. >> and on a different note, they say don't cry over spilled milk, but this just may leave some people weeping. take a look. two women were shopping for wine and they were not hoda and kathie lee. they were near where a store employee was stocking the shelves and then down the whole thing fell. the wine and expensive booze collapsed creating the massive mess. the video has gone viral and we're crying here over it. it's 8:05. back out side to matt, savannah, and al. >> i hate to see that. >> let's go over to al. he's across the plaza with the weather. >> that's right. all the way down here. who is this young man? >> this is michael.

>> where are you guys from? >> rochester, new york. >> thanks so much. good to see you. let's see what we got for you. we got a lot of wet weather making its way across the southeast. let's head to chicago. a nice day there as you look at wrigley field. temperatures up into the mid 70s. thanks to earth cam for that picture. as you can see we're looking at a beautiful day today in the northeast on into the great lakes. more wet weather making it's way into the pacific northwest. the weather pattern has changed we expectast 24 hours a mix of clouds and sun. high temperatures in the

and happy birthday to grandma peg. 90 years old. where are you from. >> well, i started out in bronxville, new york. >> you made it here. fantastic. another ten years to willard can wish you a happy birthday. back to you. >> thank you so much. happy birthday. she looks beautiful. coming up, why a tweet about breaking bad has a local tv news anchor in a bit of hot water this morning. >> also from the sound of music to marilyn monroe, pieces of some of hollywood's favorite celebrity iconic items. they could be yours. but first -- >> we also have a story about the jungles of napal and the fight to save a rhino. but first, these messages. [ female announcer ] you get sick, you can't breathe through your nose... suddenly you're a mouth breather.

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i can see the edge of my couch! (balloons popping) we're back now with what's trending today. >> trending from the usa today, check it out. benjamin franklin getting a bit of a facelift. the government shutdown goes on. the federal reserve is out with new $100 bills and today maybe the day you can actually get your hands on these redesigned c notes. lucky for us they're right here. federal security officials brought them to us. >> great security little features on this. there's a band that reveals the phrase 100 usa when you hold the bill up to the light. there is a blue 3-d security

ribbon right down the center. now to the right of that is a color shifting bellow kated in an ink well. >> oh it changes color. >> yes. >> also new an imagine of the quill pen used to sign the declarati declaration of independence. >> very modern. >> i'd like to further study those. >> thank you. trending on reuters, what is in your chicken nuggets? do you want to know the answer for this? this is tough for me. researchers in mississippi say that only half of what is in a chicken nugget is actually chicken. >> yeah. >> the rest is nugget? >> do you want to know what the other half is? fat, blood vessels? kids are you listening? pieces of bone. even so one of the researchers says nuggets are okay to eat occasionally. the chicken industry says nuggets are an excellent source of protein especially for picky eaters like mine. >> mine are at school already.

>> bone? >> everything tastes better fried, as a southerner. >> it still tastes like chicken. >> trending on twitter, breaking bad? a knew anchor with a philadelphia tv station is catching a lot of flak for a story she tied to the hit cable show breaking bad. after a series of shootings she tweeted thought "breaking bad" was hot last sunday. see who is breaking bad in southwest philly leaving six people shot tonight at 10:00. >> so far she is standing by that tweet. she says she was highlighting the very real life drama of the story. >> oh, yeah. >> that's when you write out your tweet, you take a breath, you walk away, you come back and then you decide. >> i need to put a breathalyzer on my blackberry. i'll get a tweet and he's like

don't do it. don't do it. back away. >> before you know it, you're in trouble. >> that explains a lot. >> what is she sending you? >> i don't know. did you see her do meet the press? she was fantastic. trending on youtube, imagine you're out for your morning cup of coffee and then this happens: >> oh my god. >> that sucks, i'm sorry. >> that just got all over my stuff. >> just get away from me. just get away from me. >> wow. this video obviously a set up prank to promote a remake of the horror flick carrie. >> oh my god. >> yeah. our good pals did this and rigged the tables, the books by remote control and those

reactions are all from real people. not actors. >> that's very clever. very clever. at one point she goes like this and all the tables go flying out of the way. very intense. >> off the wall. >> let's wrap it up. yesterday we had tom hanks here, right? talking about his new movie captain phillips. he asked if he could use my dressing room to hang out and get his make up done. so when i went after the show to my dressing room to see what happened. everybody was in good order. we even catered and put fruit and water down for him and then i looked at my computer and i found this note left behind from mr. hanks. matt lauer is a pope. >> i believe it's a d. >> oh, i thought it was a pope. >> no, he signed it tom hanks. >> survey says. >> now i wouldn't have even shown that. >> you know it's funny, tom left me a note too. savannah, you sure are super.

smily face. >> the writing doesn't match. >> and given that it has a smiley face, that's something you wrote. >> do we have a breathalyzer for savannah. >> i wrote it to myself. >> it's a dope. got it. >> and that is what is trending today. coming up, memorabilia from some of the biggest icons from marilyn monroe to william shatner. but first, 120 million people around the world deal with depression and many deal with it alone. willie geist met a young man working to change that. good morning. >> good morning. he is an unlikely advocate for mental health. he's a 20-year-old from canada, popular kid in high school. a basketball star that's an aspiring comic but beneath the laugher there's deep pain. kevin says he was leading a double life. >> i look at the school and i would know in my head that i'm about to walk in there and

smile, laugh, high five people, and put on a total front. >> what did depression feel like at first? how did you know you had it? >> i felt like i couldn't be happy. you're sitting there and you feel like you're on the sidelines and not in the game. >> kevin believes his depression was triggered by two events in his life. the tragic loss of a best friend and, later, his parents divorce. >> i started to hate myself. i couldn't explain why or justify why to anyone so i didn't feel like i could talk about it. >> he used sports as an outlet but he hit his lowest point at what should have been a high. >> we just won a high school basketball championship. i was the leading scorer of the tournament, first team all star. i had everything that i had thought of for four years and i realized that that wasn't going to take away my pain. >> at the age of 17, kevin sat on his bed with a bottle of pills, a pen and a paper and contemplated taking his life.

>> i remember this one moment when i was writing and i got to the end of the page and i realized that i have never once talked about any of these things. never and if someone were to read this, a friend or family member, my coach, my teammates, they would have no idea. and i thought that i can't quit on myself until i try and help myself. and it just broke me open. >> reporter: as part of his recovery kevin began speaking at schools. >> what you really fear the most isn't the suffering inside of you, it's the stigma inside of others. it's the shame, it's the embarrassment. >> reporter: and eventually caught the attention of t.e.d., an organization dedicated to sharing ideas. >> we live in a world where if you break your arm everyone runs over to sign your cast but if you tell people you're depressed, everyone runs the other way. >> reporter: within weeks of the online appearance his video went viral. hitting home for millions who suffer in silence and for those

who love them. >> in my ways i'm grateful for my depression. what do you mean by that? >> life is about doality. there's happiness and sadness and light and dark and hope and hurt. for me, nothing in my life ever helped me understand more about myself, more about others, more about life than dealing with depression. >>. >> reporter: an impressive young man. it went viral because his story is common. he wants to move the conversation forward and end the shame and stigma attached to mental illness. you can see the entire t.e.d. talk by logging on to today.com. it's a good one. >> it's a good conversation starter, too, willie. thank you so much. we'll continue that conversation with gail saltz. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> 1.5 million hits for this 10 minute talk about depression.

are you surprised it struck a cord? >> no. on one hand one out of every ten teens has depression. everyone knows somebody that has depression. everybody can relate to this and to the feeling that you have to fake it and you have to hide and the shame of it. on the other hand, it's very unique. he is to brave to step out and be willing to do this for an adolescent that is extremely unique. >> i also think he's very eloquent. he says real depression isn't being sad when something in your life goes wrong, real depression is being sad when everything in your life is going right. do you agree with that? >> absolutely. depression is a biologic process. it's something that's going on in your brain that causes you to feel sad doesn't have to do necessarily with what's going on around you. it's an illness and it is so important. >> he talks about his personal experience. coming close to trying to commit suicide and i'm reminded that young boys have higher suicide rates than young girls.

>> they tend to use more lethal methods but also boys are even less likely to seek help than girls. they're less likely to talk about their feelings so they don't necessarily get into treatment as ready. >> sometimes parents don't know what warning signs to look for. >> they don't. but the truth is the signs are always there. you have to actually sit down with your kid and ask them how they're feeling. we tend to go through our day, how are you? and we don't really mean that because we don't want to hear that things aren't okay but if you actually sat down and said really, really tell me how you're feeling and if they start to tell you they're having problems you need to ask do you have any thoughts of ending your life or suicide because you can intervene. you can intervene and treat depression but you can't suicide. >> it's an important discussion to have. thank you for being here. now, here's matt. >> thanks. every once in awhile we get to feel like we're in hollywood with the help of the executive director of julian's auctions.

they're getting ready for a special lot in november called icons and idols hollywood. martin is here with a sneak peek at the treasures that will be up for bid. good morning. >> good morning. >> did you hears the ahs when this item came out of the box. this was the wedding grown that julie andrews wore in sound of music. tell me about it. >> it comes from a huge memorabilia collector. 1965 the movie was made. budget of 8 million. grossed 286 million. hugely popular. everybody today still loves the movie. >> i read in the notes there's been some postproduction alab a alterations. >> the studios would use these dresses for different events and weddings. so hence the operation. >> it is the one she wore. >> any idea? >> 30 to 50,000 but that's a

conservative estimate. >> we'll disagree on this one. these are x-rays from marilyn monroe. >> it talks to the fact that she did have plastic surgery in the 1950s. we all thought she had but this speaks to the fact that yes, she had. >> some of the names marilyn miller. she was married to author miller. >> that's a name she would have used. she had a fall in the morning of june 7th, 2:00 a.m. and she was brought into the surgery to protect her. >> people love marilyn. they have a love affair with her. >> beam me up scotty. >> yes. >> captain kirk. >> this is signed by william shatner. >> yes.

this is highly sought after. it's very coelectabllectible. what do you think it will fetch. >> 30 to 50,000 on this. >> wow, okay. i've got to do this. i'm sorry. you tell me what this is. >> i have to say it to you, never do that again, as on tton would say. >> how cool is that? >> yes, the lone ranger from 49 to 5 1 and 54 to 57. this is his favorite he gave up for auction. >> highly collectible and sought after. 40 to 60,000 on this one. >> let's move on here. >> princess diana, items that have any connection to her are still wildly popular. >> similar to marilyn monroe we have the young fresh beauty of princess diana with who would be

a grandmother today. this is designed by catherine walker. >> do you know when this was designed? >> early 90s and princess diana was always doing things for charity and her son william encouraged his mom to sell dresses to raise money for charity. >> but she wore this to a private function. >> she did and then she sold it and it raised money for charity and william encouraged her to do this. >> we just lost the actor who wore this two episodes in the sopranos. this was tony sopranos track suit from episode, i think, in season three and season two. james gandolfini. >> yes. tony soprano and a gentleman as well. he was such a great guy. >> any idea what this might go for? >> 2 to 4,000. we don't know how collectible he has become since he passed away. typically the value soars.

>> thank you so much. >> coming up billy bush heads to the jungle to show us wha >> this is the wbal tv 11 news in baltimore. >> good morning. i am mindy basara. here is sarah caldwell. yet.t quite over with we start on 95 for those of you making the way on fort mchenry.

we have the right lane blocked. the click it is all off to the left shoulder now. then accident is not locking any lanes of travel any longer. another one at security and belmont avenue. headquarters road, watch for down wires. loop extende outer from 95 towards the towson region. when he three minutes to get through that stretch. , 33 mileshe j.f.x. per hour. 17 miles per hour on the inner loop from liberty road with the j.f.x. west side on the outer loop and willing onto those delays eastbound i-70 from west friendship to the beltway. beltway,own to the slow spots. obviously we have changed the airmass today. much cooler on this tuesday. we have some high, thin clouds

of behind from the system that came through yesterday. should be a dry day. we have rain back in the seven- day forecast. 40 in parkton, 46 in jarrettsville. i mixture of sunshine and clouds in the afternoon. chance for rain is going to go up as we head towards the end of the week. a few showers possible late on wednesday and into friday. could be a few showers into saturday morning. >> another update at 8:56.

this tuesday morning, the 8th day of october, 2013. out on the plaza on what looks like a beautiful day. i'm matt lauer with savannah guthrie, natalie morales, al roker, and tamron hall. how about this for an idea. teachers making house calls. >> yeah. >> a good idea or bad idea? we'll take you inside some households to get a closer look. >> also ahead, billy bush like you have never seen him before. he leaves the red carpet and heads to napal for a cause near and dear to him. it's the battle to save an endangered rhino. we know he is afraid of his own shadow. >> i didn't know about that. >> yes and he's a hypochondriac. >> an intense new movie. this is called 12 years based on

the story of a black man from new york state sold into slavery. >> this is overused but people are talk about a possible best actor nomination for him. >> can't wait to see it. >> first, we have bob harper here, of course the long time trainer on the hit show "the biggest loser." good to see you bob. >> hi. >> 15 seasons. >> wow, that's a long time. >> i've been on every one. >> that's incredible. >> i'm tired. i'm a little tired. >> why do you think the show continues to resinate with people? >> i think that people are always looking for some sort of information to stay motivated. that's the one question i get all the time. how do i stay motivated? getting the weight off is the easy part. it's keeping it off. >> i know you changed things up a little bit this season. so the trainers get a hand in some of the casting. did you like that? >> i hated it.

all of these people would come in with stories that were heart break and i was like why can't we take all of them, please? jillian loved it. >> and reuben studdard is making an appearance. you're trying to help him. >> yeah, he is on this season. he is a huge super star in the reality business and great singer and he came in and showed his vulnerable side. it was great to have him on the show. >> meanwhile, to answer how do i stay motivated, people not wanting to get to the gym this morning, what are you saying to them? >> make a right choice at lunch today and those kind of steps will just like transform your whole life. >> bob harper, always good to have you. >> thank you. >> congratulations on a big anniversary. the biggest loser, next tuesday, october 15th, 8:00, 7:00 central on nbc. >> let's get a check of the weather. >> starting off, we have karen off the southeastern coast. that will be bringing rain

there. some of it heavy. rain in the pacific northwest. windy in the northern plains. gorgeous in the northeast. a little on the cooler side. continues tomorrow. the rain makes it's way into the mid-atlantic states. windy conditions. beach erosion possible. rain from central california into the pacific northwest. sunny and warm through central rainter some heavy yesterday, things are nice and quiet. high temperature today in the upper 60's with a mix of clouds and >> any time you need that weather, go to the weather channel on cable or weather.com online. >> al, thank you very much. >> up next, does your kid's

teacher make house calls? more and more are doing that and it's making a difference. >> plus billy bush travels to the jungles to help save the rare rhinos that are disappearing but first this is "today" on nbc. oh, please don't call me "pumpkin." no, white chocolate and pumpkin. oh! pumpkin. ha-ha! pumpkin is back at dunkin' donuts. hurry in for delicious pumpkin coffees and lattes today. america runs on dunkin'.

this morning on education nation, we're talking about house calls. across the country more schools are encouraging teachers to meet parents outside the classroom. >> but does it really make a difference when your teacher comes into your living room. well, erica hill went to st. paul minnesota to find out. >> hi. >> hello. >> reporter: it's not every day your child's teachers come to call. yet across the country, home visits are becoming more common. the goal, stronger relationships and better learning. >> often times we forget that the parents are the first teachers so when you go and build a relationship with

families and they show their children how enthusiastic they are, that transfers into children. >> reporter: in minnesota, the st. paul parent teacher home visit project is now in it's third year. modelled on an initiative started in sacramento 15 years ago, there are now similar projects at more than 200 schools across 14 states and the district of columbia. at each visit, teachers ask parents a simple question. what are your hopes and dreams for your child. >> there's nothing more powerful than for a child to hear a mother say this is what i dreamed for my child. >> reporter: veteran teacher sarah benedict is just weeks into her first year with the program. already she sees the benefits. >> julianna's mom said one of my main concerns is that math homework is so difficult because of the language barrier. i have been able to make adaptations in how i'm presenting the homework. >> your teachers go to all of your houses.

>> yeah. >> yeah? >> reporter: the kids are also inspired. >> i was excited about telling her stuff that i like because i really like to do a lot of stuff in the classroom because i want to learn and i want to like get in college and be a good student. >> reporter: across town, he is in his third year with his teacher. but it wasn't until she started home visits that things clicked. >> that sealed the deal because we're all on the same page. >> a lot of creativity with playing. so it's been enlightening for me. >> reporter: better understanding of home life means a different approach at school and it's paying off. >> she is not just a teacher anymore, you know? she's part of the family. >> reporter: atikis is more comfortable and better about doing his homework. >> you use a lot of your personal time. >> totally worth it. >> reporter: a seemingly small

investment in time with an enormous pay off. for today, erica hill, nbc news, st. paul minnesota. >> it's a great idea but if your teacher doesn't make house calls, we've got information for parents this morning. >> that's right. this is exciting. parents can do a lot to help their children continue to learn outside the classroom. nbc news launched a new website called the parent tool kit. it gives parents guidance on how to do that. it's being rolled out as part of education nation. it's a great resource for parents. >> what's the goal here? >> to allow parents to have an online resource they can go to. standards are changing all the time and it's arranged by grade level. parents can click on the grade and see benchmarks and ensure their children are reaching the academic milestones. >> you talk about the standards and benchmarks they can be confusing. so if i have a first grader, how do i find out if he is hitting the benchmarks? >> you can click on the benchmarks and growth charts.

it tells you these are things your child should be doing. read and write numbers from 20 through 120. quickly read words that appear in text by sight and you want to guide them through the process in learning and it's an additional resource to work along side with what the teachers are teaching in the classroom because your kid's success in school is so dependent on parental involvement. >> also information about if your child needs help outside the classroom? >> exactly. these tips for parents, first grade, they should be counting using items like blocks, pennies, candy, play word games with your kids. read words on road signs. just some examples and it goes through pre-k through 12th grade. >> all part of education nation. natalie, thank you very much. much more about this by the way on today.com. up next, billy bush heads to the jungle to help save some rare and powerful rhinos.

but first, this is "today" on nbc.

billy bush is the anchor of "access hollywood," cohost of access holly wood live. he's also got something called chasing rhinos with billy bush. take a look. >> we've nearly maxed out our capture window when the temperature rises. our 19 elephants surround the rhino. the animal is in our sight. everything is now on the line. >> he's got the gun up. he's aiming.

got him. >> got him. >> billy bush, good morning. >> yeah, it's a frightening piece of video. we got him. we got him. but that's just a dart. that's 3 milligrams of sedative to take down a 15 foot tank. >> i want to talk about the process in a second. could we talk about you for a second, though. >> what are you doing? >> i've known you for a long time and you're not the first guy i would pick to get on an elephant and go chasing down rhinos. you're like a hypochondriac and clumsy also. >> you should have seen me over there. fish out of water. i was the perfect person for this and my great friend is a guy who runs natgeo and he brought the subject to me. it's heartbreaking when you really look at the stats. this is funny right here. this is just taking a break from the intense action. elephants are bathing in the

water. they're playful, big guys and they're great. >> great. >> but i am the fish out of water. it was a perfect way to -- you know, this is a story that needs to be told. i'm a guy that talks to mainstream every day and these kinds of stories don't make it into our run down but they effected my heart then maybe i would have the opportunity to do that. >> tell us what the mission was here because as we saw in the opening sound bite, you were trying to capture a rhino and collar it and rerelease it back into the wild. what was the purpose of that? >> you want to keep the population up. nature is out of balance. other species rely on rhinos and the population is doing fine now but it suffered several years ago. these guys are fabulous. the guys around me, park rangers and military that are working to keep them safe. the collar goal, what we're doing there is putting the collar on and then we can track him and now we have unmanned

drones that we flew above the park so you can keep track of the population that way. >> and there's some moment of danger in this. real danger. first of all is that rhino wakes up from the sedative early that's a moment of danger but also there's poachers there and you could find yourself in between a poacher and a rhino. >> absolutely. but think about it. you're a poacher -- let's say you're a farmer in napal and you make 10 cents a week trying to feed four kids and a guy that runs a poaching ring comes to you and says we get $35,000 for a rhino horn, get me one horn. >> that's a situation right there and if you got poor kids you have to consider that. >> this is dramatic. it culminates with the capture of the rhino. you took part in that. what was your job, billy. >> i actually had -- >> you know i asked. >> they surprised me at the end. they're on the ground and we

have a 15 minute window to get our work done and the head doctor says okay billy bush take the temperature and i said okay and i run around to the front and i said just open his mouth and they gave me a digital thermometer and said not the front. around we go to the back and for a powerful beast like this, he would not budge. it was impossible to take the temperature. finally it was 97.7. >> i would have guessed. >> oh, yeah. >> doing fine from my end. >> he's at 98. >> i'm going to guess you don't have to do that on the red carpet too often. >> no, i should probably, but no. >> great idea. >> thank you. >> chasing rhinos with billy bush airs sunday night, 9:00, 8:00 central time on nat geo wild. if you'd like more information on how to help the rhinos, head to today.com. >> up next, the star of 12 years a slave. but first, this is "today" on nbc.

one of the stars of the movie that's attracting a lot of attention leading up to award season. this is called "12 years a slave." it's based on the true story of a free man kidnapped into slavery in the 19th century. take a look. >> my family, and my home.

now you tell me all is lost? that's the way to survive. well, i don't want to survive: i want to live. >> good morning. nice to see you. >> morning. >> wow, that's the first word that comes to mind. they gave me a screener of this last night. i watched most of it. i haven't seen the end yet. at times i couldn't watch and most times i couldn't turn away. do you understand what i mean by that? >> i do. i mean, i was always -- when i read the script and i read the book, i was just devastated by it, actually and there was so many times when i was reading it that i had to put it down for a second and breathe a little and take a moment. so yeah, i think it's such a beautiful story. i always thought it was an amazingly -- it's not pretty, it's just beautiful, you know,

in a way. >> let's just give the history here. he is a free black man living in upstate new york. living well. he has a wife and children. he's a talented musician and he basically gets abducted into slavery. >> it happened, a lot, as soon as slavery was made illegal in terms of getting slaves from africa it started to happen that people would be kidnapped off the streets in new york, a lot of children as well and sold into slavery in the south. this is the only account that we have from somebody that went through the experience and survived it and was able to tell their story. >> and this is a treasure trove because he did write a memoir about it. what did you learn? >> the whole process was t try to get as close to him as possible in away and understand this remarkable person and his life and to have that

first-person historical narrative was invaluable to me as an actor and amazing thing to look at and draw from tnch. >> there are whippings, there are hangings, as difficult as it is for a viewer, what was it like as an actor to shoot scenes like that? >> it's always interesting because to me it was a privilege. i wanted to tell the story and i wanted to be inside of the experience and to tell the story of solomon's life and even the moments that are hard or complex were sort of, i just felt connected to what he went through. >> i want to mention brad pitt has a small role in this. also producer on the movie. and i read something you said in an interview, that you don't see him as purely a bad guy. that he's dealing with some pain of his own. can you explain that? >> i think it's that thing about people if you're trying to tell

stories about people, real people, you have to look at them as three dimensional characters. they're not two dimensional and that's the thing with michael's character who is essentially this horrific guy. but there's a human being there and that's what is really engaging an that's what is engageli engaging about the book and the story is you're dealing with real people. >> here we are in october. we're moving into award season and i know you heard this but you are already placed on a very short list for best actor at the academy awards. and you're just staring at me. >> what. >> what does it mean? >> it's amazing, you know? i suppose i'm deeply proud of this film and i'm really excited to get it out there and for people to see it and to get their reactions to it and it's something that i think working with steve mcqueen who is an

extraordinary film maker who has been the most amazing experience of my life in terms of an actor and beyond that. so i'm thrilled to be in this moment. >> i think we're going to be hearing your name a lot over the next several months. congratulations on this. >> thank you. >> by the way, 12 years a slave hits theaters on october 18th. we'll be back

>> this is the wbal tv 11 news in baltimore. >> good morning. i am mindy basara. facingl bus driver is robbery charges after anne arundel county police say she robbed a bank in glen burnie twice this month. officers arrested jamese queen after an attempted bank robbery in severance where her car was spotted could she confessed to using

>> a lot cooler today. we had a cold front with all the rain. high, thin clouds, and are forecast in the afternoon, mixture of sunshine and clouds and high temperature around 69. a few showers late in the afternoon. >> back with when our little girl was born,

we got a subaru. it's where she said her first word. (little girl) no! saw her first day of school. (little girl) bye bye! made a best friend forever. the back seat of my subaru is where she grew up. what? (announcer) the two-thousand-fourteen subaru forester. (girl) what? (announcer) built to be there for your family. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru.

>> announcer: from nbc news, this is today's take with al roker, natalie morales, and willie geist, live from studio 1-a in rockefeller plaza. >> welcome to today on this tuesday morning, october 8th, 2013. i'm willie geist along with al roker and natalie morales. good morning to everybody.

>> good morning. >> we talk about the crykrypton. >> my al roker kryptonite. >> that's cool. >> thanks. >> it's incredible. >> exactly. >> so yesterday, we thought this was awe one time situation, the olympic flame went out, the guy runs out with the zippo lighter. here's the situation. this is an unusual ceremony. getting the sochi olympics kicked off. it goes out but as he starts looking around. got a light? who's got a light? a little help here. >> here we go. >> guy runs out with a zippo lighter. >> it happens again, right? >> a torch barrier on monday afternoon jogging along the embankment on the other side of the river when his also extinguished. >> this is starting to be bad luck, right? >> now does the zippo guy travel

with him? >> there's the back up flame. >> the back up torch to light the other torch. >> they're taking it out of one and putting it in the other. >> that was too official. >> i thought olympic flames, it's always going. >> it's the internal flame. >> it's the eternal flame but not so much. >> we're sure they're going to workout the kinks and these will be a wonderful winter olympic games. >> i hope this isn't the precursor because putin isn't going to be happy. those two guys never been seen again. >> don't do that in putin's russia. >> they were taken off the streets. >> things are going to get better. february 7th, here on nbc. >> the networks. >> the family of networks. how deep do we want to go here. so we talked before about the fat letters. there's a state law in a few states that require students to

have health screenings and weight checks including florida. one family is upset there. the parent of an 11-year-old girl speaking out about their family's experience with a hurtful fat letter. >> she's very athletic and 5'3", weighs 127 pounds. this letter, apparently the florida health department, the way they measure a child's dispossession or if they're on their way to being overweight is they take a look at their body mass index which is your height according to your weight. >> yeah. >> and she looks perfectly healthy to anyone else. she comes athletic. >> according to the orlando sentinel her height was off by two inches, but whether it is or not why would they put the letter in the backpack of the child. mail it to the people's homes. what a bone headed move. >> right. because then it gives the child -- you know, she is going to feel like this fat letter is in my backpack.

how embarrassing is that. >> she's not fat. she looks good. she's athletic. >> it says at risk and tells you to go to their website and when you do that it turns to lily is overweight. don't send the letter home with the kids. how hard is it to put these letters in the mail? this letter can do no good. if a kid is overweight, they know they're overweight. >> the term fat letter is used by opponents of the letters but the health department says their screenings are meant to alert parents to potential health problems for kids that really do have a problem. >> i suppose so but it could not go into the kid's backpack or given to the kid. it should be mailed to the parent's home. >> a agree. it's all about sensitivity and children at that age, she is only 11 years old and there's so many children with eating disorders at that age. the last thing you want to do is put that in a child's head. >> bone head move. >> for o