in 25 minutes. >> always get the latest news and weather and updates on the taney game on nbc10.com. good morning. calm not quiet. with missouri state troopers in place, protests over the police shooting of 18-year-old michael brown are peaceful overnight. and nbc news has learned officials will receive the name of the officer who fired the fatal shot today. will that me things better or worse? stunning revelation. robin williams' wife reveals he was suffering from the early stages of parkinson's disease at the time of his death. could that have played a role in his decision to take his own life? two amish sisters are found alive a day after being abducted from their roadside stand. and swim faster.

a young swimmer scrambles for shore chased by a massive crocodile. an onlooker saves the day today. friday, august 15th, 2014. >> announcer: from nbc news this is "today" with matt lauer and savannah guthrie live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. >> good morning. welcome to "today" on a friday morning. i'm matt with natalie, dylan, and craig. savannah continues on maternity leave. she had the baby two days ago. >> and coming up in the next half hour, we're going to talk to the new momma and learn about baby vale. for the first night since the shooting of michael brown in ferguson, missouri, demonstrators rallied peacefully as they called for justice in the case. this after a new security strategy was put into place.

nbc's ron allen has the latest on this. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, matt. yes. the ferguson police chief thomas jackson just told me they will release the name of the officer who fired the fatal shot. that is a key demand of the community here. everybody breathing a huge sigh of relief after a night of no violent confrontation. that after the governor hands security over to the state police and the man in charge happens to be from this very same neighborhood. that's highway patrol captain ronald johnson taking control as dozens of police officers joined a huge march down the same streets where violent crashed had erupted four straight nights. >> we have no police line here. as you can see none of the officers have gas masks around their waist. and i don't have one on either. we're in this together.

>> reporter: a day after battles in this mid western suburbs and even with president obama expressing his concern -- >> i'd like to take a step back and think how we're going to move forward. >> reporter: last night a crowd partied and celebrated as much as they protested. >> the one thing that really touched me the most was the cops that came out. and they were intermingling with the crowd and talking to us and asking how we feel. >> reporter: while demonstrators in at least 90 cities across the country were out in full force yesterday. including thousands in new york city where times square was virtually shut down. the mostly peaceful protests echoing witnesses who claim brown was shot multiple times as he surrendered. however, the painful underlying matter remains. will the officer still unnamed who allegedly shot and killed

18-year-old michael brown be held responsible? police have said brown and a companion physically assaulted the officer first. but as the investigation continues, state police will try to keep the peace with a new top cop now the bridge. >> my family and friends live here. a lot of the people in this crowd are friends of mine. so there's a lot of frustration. >> reporter: one night down, many more to go. and on social media, there's a lot of buzz about a photo that many say best captures the dramatic change of mood here. a picture of the st. louis police chief and a protester taking a selfie. but again, the breaking news here this morning is the ferguson police chief says they will release the name of the officer that fired the fatal shots at michael brown. >> ron allen, thank you very much. earlier this morning we spoke with missouri governor jay nixon. i asked if he would tell us the name of the officer that shot

and killed michael brown. >> there's multiple investigations going on. as i said all along i thought the name was important. especially once they indicated they were going to. i think today's actions to get it out -- like i said, it's an important step. it's not the finish line. it's a hurdle to get over. i'm happy to hear they're going to get that out there. >> clearly there's a huge issue here with the ferguson police department. you've got a largely white police department but yet at the same time in a largely minority community. so what permanent changes will be made there? >> you're seeing demographic shifts in those areas, but the bottom line is in the short run here, the thing we want to say to everyone is with the operational changes we made and on the ground i think captain johnson at least through one afternoon and evening last night is showing great leadership skills getting out in that community. opening up in those streets. that's the kind of beginning step. i wish i could tell you that was one or two things that would take away 10, 20, 30, 40 years

of challenges. i wish i could say there was one sort of magic idea, but the bottom line is this is going to take a lot of hard work. but that is going to start with justice for this family, transparency during the investigation with safety in that community as well as protection from folks that would want to commit other crimes. >> that's missouri governor jay nixon. >> thanks very much. now the stunning revelation from robin williams' wife that he was in the early stages of parkinson's disease when he took his life. erica hill has more on that. >> reporter: good morning. because of williams' history of substance abuse, there had been speculation as to whether drugs played a role in his suicide. his wife's statement addresses that. while raising new questions about what the beloved comedian was going through in his final days. during his long career, williams openly discussed his struggles with addiction and depression. but his parkinson's disease remained a secret according to a statement by his wife susan

schneider. robin's sobriety was intact and he was brave as he struggled with his own battles of depression, anxiety, as well as early stages of parkinson's. it is not a mental health disease but a brain disorder that can affect physical movement. there's no way to know whether parkinson's played a role in williams' suicide. but the combination of depression and parkinson's can be especially devastating. >> it's somewhat of a perfect storm. you have somebody who's had a very long history of depression that he suffered from for many years, then you have the biochemical basis from the parkinson's disease that makes depression much more common and severe. >> reporter: actor michael j. fox was diagnosed with the illness in 1991. williams had supported the resources to combat the disease. fox tweeted, stunned to learn robin had pd. pretty sure his support for our

foundation predated his diagnosis. i wish him peace. for williams' daughter zelda, the revelation to the public came as she faced a different type of battle on social media. hateful posts on twitter and instagram. thursday twitter responded to the attacks with a statement saying it will re-evaluate its policies to protect users from so-called memorial trolls. the 25-year-old eventually said she was leaving the site tweeting to her supporters, i'm sorry. i should've risen above. last thing anyone should have to deal with at this time. williams' suicide had already brought national attention to depression and mental health. now it is raising more questions about parkinson's and whether that could have affected his state of mind in those last days. >> erica, thank you very much. dr. nancy snyderman is nbc's chief medical editor. nancy, good morning to you. >> good morning, matt. >> there are questions and they began to come up immediately after this revelation that robin williams was in the early stages of parkinson's.

we have a neurological disorder in parkinson's and in depression a f ml illness. do they have som inng common? >> sometimes if they crisscross, people with parkinson's are known to have slightly increased risk for depression. but i think it's very, very important that while robin williams' death has allowed us to have a national conversation about depression and mental illness and manic depression and what that means, whether or not he had parkinson's and whether that might have been an add-on factor to other issues going on in his life, i think it gives us a chance to have two conversations. but i really worry that it might be seen as, well, that's the real explanation behind everything. we certainly knew he was battling depression. and we won't know for sure until the toxicology reports are in whether or not there were substances in his blood. alcohol, other drugs. so i think it's time to sort of take a pause, let the autopsy be

completed. but not stop the conversation about mental illness. >> nancy, i think we agree. and by the way, his wife released a statement and said something along those lines. it is our hope that in the wake of robin's tragic passing that others will find the strength to seek the care and support they need to treat whatever battles they are facing so they may feel less afraid. and i think that is all of our hopes. thank you very much. >> you bet, matt. well, craig is here with happy news thankfully on some missing sisters. >> yes. the sisters have been found. an amish community in upstate new york breathing a sigh of relief this morning. the two young sisters abducted from the side of the road on their family's farm have been found alive. but police are still searching for answers this morning. hally jackson has the extraordinary story. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. we learned from officials here the girls were checked out of the hospital but look healthy

and are now reunited with their family. this command center is still active as police try to find whoever abducted these children. after a tense and terrifying 24 hours, relief for people in this close nit community. >> when the news name, there was a lot of high fives and hugs. everybody was relieved. very emotional. >> reporter: a 12-year-old and 6-year-old found safe. police say they were taken from this family farm stand on wednesday prompting a widespread search, but an ordeal that began on a quiet roadside ended on another quiet roadside less than 20 miles away. the officials say the girls were dropped off in a small village and then walked to the closest house they saw. >> the person in the residence knew who they were based on how they were dressed and the immediate attention this had gained. the girls asked them to take them home.

>> reporter: police face an unusual challenge in the search. there are no photographs of the girls since most amish are not allowed to have their pictures taken. >> this isn't really an amish/non-amish story. these are parents who've lost their children to someone bad. >> reporter: now while the investigation continues, a family and a community turn to their faith thankful their prayers have been answered. the girls back where they belong. there's joy here, but still many questions about what happened. the sheriff says that investigators are following up on a number of leads looking for more than one suspect and more than one car as well. we expect to get a little more information this morning from officials at this command center. >> thank you. iraq prime minister al maliki resigned and gave his support to haider al abadi.

al maliki warned of the grave terrorist threat from radical islamic militants. his government alienated sunnis and kurds and lost the support of the united states months ago. general herald greene was laid to rest thursday with full military honors. greene was among high-ranking personnel visiting an afghan training facility this month when the group was ambushed by an afghan soldier. the two-star soldier was buried at arlington national cemetery. his death marks the first time a major general has been killed overseas since the vietnam war. pope francis received a boisterous welcome today from tens of thousands of young asians as he celebrated his first public mass in south korea. the mass was held at the world cup soccer stadium that hosted some matches back in 2002. beforehand, the pope met with some of the families of the victims from the ferry disaster. this is the first papal visit in

a quarter of a century. if you think you're under pressure, check out this young swimmer in mexico. that is a massive crocodile in hot pursuit. you can see the swimmer desperately trying to get to shore. thankfully an onlooker on a bridge hurls an object at the croc stopping it in the nick of time. turns out even the locals in mexico consider those waters too dangerous to swim in, but apparently not that person. >> they learned a tough lesson. they're not going to be swimming there anymore. >> that is a big crocodile. >> huge. good that person tossed that out there. good aim. >> thank you very much. are we going to have a nice weekend? >> most the country actually will. scattered showers in some areas. especially by the time we get to sunday. but there's not really a whole lot going on. we've had so much flooding at the beginning of the week. now we're finally starting to see some improvements.

but we do have a stalled front near florida. that's where most of our severe weather will be today. you can see the storms firing up over the gulf of mexico. those will make their way into florida. we also have a couple of scattered showers and storms making their way into kansas right now. but a closer look shows you we are in red here going to see storms approaching severe levels. and water spouts could be the biggest issue. mariners especially on the eastern coast of florida, keep that in mind as water spouts could develop later today. we also have this disturbance through the plains states that will help fuel some of these storms. these two could also approach severe potential. although the national weather service hasn't said exactly that we're going to see an outbreak here. but hail is possible and also some damaging wind gusts. we'll focus on that area this afternoon. that's a look at the weather across the country. your local forecast coming up in 30 seconds. they're irresistabowl... completely unbelievabowl... totally delectabowl. real silky smooth or creamy broths.

everything she's been waiting for. carefully crafted with real seafood, real veggies, and never any by-products or fillers. wow! being a cat just got more enjoyabowl. fancy feast broths. wow served daily. i'm meteorologist brittney shipp. as we head into today feel more like fall than august. 76 to 79 degrees. cool conditions for us and wind speeds out of the west at 10 miles per hour. going to be a gorgeous day start to your weekend. take a look at saturday. nice conditions, 82. the humidity returns and our temperatures warm as we head into sunday and also a chance of showers, but for the rest of the week, we stay in the mid-80s. >> and that's your latest forecast. >> thanks very much. really happy to report good news this morning relating to

the recovery of olympic swimmer amy van dyken-rouen after she was paralyzed in an accident. she is headed home. amy van dyken-rouen is a profile in courage. out of the hospital this morning looking forward to the rest of her life. >> it's been a lot of work. >> an inspiration to everyone who knows her or knows her story. olympic swimmer, winner of six gold medals. the first american woman to win four golds in a single olympics. then two months ago, tragedy. a devastating accident while riding an atv severing her spine and leaving her paralyzed from the waist down. >> proud paraplegic. absolutely. >> but battling back with the heart of a champion. >> it's been a lot of smiles and a lot of laughs and a lot of woo-hoos. there's been a lot of tears shed, for sure. >> but no tears when i talked to her just three weeks after the

accident that nearly took her life. what if? you don't ask yourself the what if? >> there's no time for that. that's done and over with. >> amy said the hardest time was when she got back in the pool. >> because it was the pool. i'm there to do my work. and they looked at me like this is not what we're doing. that was really, really hard. >> talking about the staff and her fellow patients at craig hospital, amy says she's made life-long friends. >> i've met some amazing people here. and they've really changed the way i think. >> she says she wants to raise awareness about spinal cord injury ies and hopes one day foa cure. but right now she wants to relax. >> i'm going to go somewhere where i don't hear this -- how's your vitals? how's your pain? are you sleeping? not anymore. >> on instagram she shared her last call to the nurse.

>> yeah, i was wondering if i could get my new meds? >> okay. i'll let your nurse know. >> thank you. >> amy says there's one more thing she needs to check off her list when she gets back home. she wants to get her arizona license. she's already been doing driving in denver. getting that license in arizona, she says, will make her feel like a free bird. >> love her attitude. >> one of the most inspirational people i've ever met. happy for her to be going home. >> we wish her continued recovery. willie's filling in for carson in the orange room. the newest member of our "today" show group is getting a lot of buzz. >> we'll never know what it's like to trend on twitter. baby vale knows what that's like. savannah's baby girl lighting up twitter yesterday. it was trending all day long. tweets and congratulations coming in from across the country including this big one from ellen.

there's a tiny new anchor on the "today" show. congratulations, savannah guthrie and baby vale. ellen tweeted that out to her 30 million followers. now, this is my favorite part of this right here. this is from one of our viewers on twitter. baby son tweets out a picture, vale, will you marry me. now the marriage proposals have come in two days into life for baby vale. let's recap now. this is a few weeks ago. tony bennett, lady gaga upstairs at 30 rock. lady gaga predicted it was a girl. here's the baby pool. all of us made the picks. everybody wrong but carson. good for him. the date, matt was sort of closest to the hole, we're going to call it, on this one. august 14th. he wins on that one. and on the weight, i don't like to call my own number here, but i nailed it.

eight pounds, five ounces. and natalie and dylan claim close too. you can keep your well wishes coming in for savannah, mike, and baby vale. #congratssavannah. >> we're going to check in with the new momma in a bit as well. coming up, in the wake of criticism, an exclusive announcement from the ceo of seaworld about the park's killer whales. and a runner makes a big blunder. how he pulled defeat from the jaws of victory. but first this is "today" on nbc.

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get everything turtles at target. good morning, i'm chris cato. 7:26. let's get your first alert forecast now with meteorologist brittney shipp. a cool start to this friday. >> a cool start. if will feel like fall as we head into the rest of today and this afternoon. plenty of sunshine, low humidity. take a look at that gorgeous shot of cape may. that is the place to be over the next couple days. grab a jacket before you head out the door. 49 degrees in the poconos and 52 in allentown and 51 in philadelphia and temperatures today in the mid to high 70s. >> jillian mele is watching an accident involving a pedestrian. jillian? >> right at the intersection of media road and barren road and

watch for official activity there. heading to worcester township. route 363 and use caution there, as well. 76 westbound heavy volume right near and blue route is about 20 minutes. chris? on to the philadelphia school budget crisis in a couple hours we may know if a lack of funding will delay the start of the school year. we'll also learn if the district will have to lay off teachers or aother personnel. those options are both on the table because of an $81 million budget shortfall. now, superintendent dr. william hite is scheduled to make an announcement at 10:00 a.m. you can count on us for coverage of that. i'm chris cato. we have another update in 20 minutes. you can always get the latest news and weather at nbc10.com. now we go back to "today" show. have a great friday.

we're back now. 7:30 on a friday morning. it's the 15th day of august 2014. neon trees in our studio. actually that's the neon trees fans. we look forward to that. >> yai. always looking forward to them. let's look at what's making headlines. for a fifth straight night, a new round of demonstrations in ferguson, missouri, over the shooting death of 18-year-old michael brown. this time no violent clashes with police with the highway patrol overseeing security. the first national guard troops are now stationed along the mexico/texas border to deal with the ongoing immigration

crisis. several dozen troops are manning observation towers. this is part of the 1,000 called up by texas governor rick perry. and the prosecution is now rested at the trial of bob macdonald and his wife maureen. and we're making a bit of news here at nbc as well. after 20 years with our company, almost 6 years as moderator of "meet the press," david gregory is leaving the network, we're sad to say. he sent out a tweet saying, i leave nbc as i came. humbled and grateful. i love journalism and serving as moderator of "meet the press" was the highest honor there is. and he has done an amazing job. he took over "meet the press" in 2008 after the death of tim russert after serving as nbc's white house correspondent. we'll miss david and we wish him the very, very best. we also would like to wish the best to chuck todd who has been named the next moderator of

"meet the press." a great honor for him and he'll begin his new role on september 7th. >> we wish them well. coming up, backpacks, notebooks are one thing. but tennis balls, ice trays, even coffee filters. why it's going to cost a lot more to send your kid back to school this year. >> all right. plus we had the pleasure of meeting little vale on thursday at least through a photo. and natalie and i were at the hospital which was fun. coming up we'll check in with the new mom when savannah joins us in just a little while. >> doing very well and very much all in love. but first we have a major announcement from seaworld coming today that you'll see only on "today." a move the company hopes will quiet a controversy surrounding its biggest attraction. joe fryer is at seaworld's park in san diego. joe, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, natalie. today seaworld is announcing plans to build larger habitats for its killer whales. behind me a sneak peek at the plans. here in san diego, the new home

will be nearly twice as large as the current home. in the past year captivity of these orcas has been a controversial topic. these massive renders offer a glimpse at seaworld's future. 10 million gallons of water, 50 feet deep with a 40 foot viewing area for visitors. seaworld's ceo spoke exclusively with "today" about the plans. >> we've always connected people with nature in a way that moves and inspires them. but these new habitats is going to take it to a new level. >> reporter: how much of this is in response to the controversy generated late will i? >> people are going to say that. but we're not doing it one bit because of any of that. >> reporter: seaworld is facing backlash after "black fish" the documentary that says captivity is harmful and prompted one whale to kill a trainer in 2010. in response, legislation is now

on hold while it's studied. at san diego's airport, there have been ads asking visitors to avoid seaworld. and this week a bad earnings report hit the company hard. >> the stock is down more than 30% today. alone. >> the american public is speaking with their pocketbook and they're saying we do not want to support this business practice. >> reporter: author david kirby obtained this 2006 video which was used by osha in a court case. it shows a whale dragging the trainer under water. the trainer survived. >> we're talking about a giant cove or bay that is netted off, you couldn't build a pool that big in seaworld. >> reporter: but the company says "black fish" was an unfair representation. >> we make no apologies for what we do and how we do it. >> reporter: seaworld says it has rescued thousands of marine animals over the years and its research is helping understand killer whales better.

here vets perform an ultrasound on a pregnant orca. >> i honestly believe that captivity, living in zoos, living in ocean area, these amazing animals that we have living with us here is not wrong. >> reporter: despite calls to free the orcas, seaworld is now doubling down investing millions in new killer whale homes bottom line right now, what do you think is best for these animals? >> i think the best thing for animals is to have people caring about them. in ways that inspires them to take action to help them, to help them in the wild. >> reporter: seaworld's plan is to build a new habitat here in san diego first. it would likely open in 2018 followed by similar upgrades at its parks in orlando and san antonio. back to you in new york. >> joe fryer in san diego, thanks. what do you say we take a turn now and get a check of the weather from dylan dreyer.

>> announcer: "today's" weather is brought to you by safelite autoglass. call or go online to safelite.com to schedule now. >> and good morning, everyone. it's going to be a fairly quiet day in the northeast today. a couple of spotty showers just north of albany. let's look at boston where we'll see increasing sunshine this afternoon. look at that temperature. 73 degrees. that's more like what you see in september, not the middle of august here. and we've got this cooler air still continuing to pour in from canada. temperatures in binghamton, new york, 69 degrees. these temperatures are about 5 to 10 degrees below average. but we will see some improvement as we go into tomorrow. the cooler air starts to retreat a little bit. we are still looking at low 70s across northern new england. but we'll get back into the 80s in pittsburgh. down to washington, d.c., about 85 degrees. new york city up to 81. temperatures closer to average for that's a look at the w hi, i'm meteorologist

britney eship. as we head into the rest of today, feel like fall versus the middle of august. temperatures range between 76 and 79 degrees. plenty of sunshine, low humidity and cool condition for us. wind speeds out of the west at 10 miles per hour and it's going to be a gorgeous start to your weekend. take a look at saturday, nice conditions. 82, the humidity returns and our temperatures warm as we head into sunday and a chance of showers, but for the rest of the week, we stay in the mid-80s. >> and that's your latest forecast. >> thank you. coming up on "trending," how young is too young to buy your kid a cell phone? what one study is revealing as the perfect age for a child's first age. >> 26. and then out of control. why a lot of parents are complaining about the back to school shopping lists. after this. ♪

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well underway now. and this year you could be one of the parents complaining about what they say are ridiculously long supply lists. janet shamlian has more on that. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning. you used to be able to zip through a walmart like this one and one or two aisles be done with back to school shops. now you may need the whole store. ice cube trays, tennis balls, coffee filters. some parents say it's the schools that have gone mad. with lists of supplies that have never been longer. >> it gets more and more and more expensive. it seems like they're asking for way too much stuff. >> reporter: it's parents like kimberly brown in california buying everything on the list, the tab could be $400. teachers say the lists are just suggestions. >> if someone doesn't bring it, there's nothing said. >> i needed a flash drive,

headphones, pencils, scissors. >> reporter: from scissors to sanitizers to staplers, you could stock an office with some of the lists. this one for fourth grade calls for 120 pencils. tennis balls are not an unusual request. others ask for coffee filters, paper plates, even ice cube trays. >> notebooks. backpacks. >> reporter: add it up and k-12 parents will spend on average more than $100 per student on school supplies. up 12% from last year. at twice is nice consignment shop, parents can buy gently used supplies at a lower cost. two former teachers opened the store after years of spending hundreds of dollars of their own money on supplies. >> i think people take for granted that it magically

appears in the classroom. >> reporter: even kids know that. >> my mom and dad bought the stuff. >> reporter: we know that schools are asking for these items because they are cash crunched and often teachers dig into their own pockets, but the supplies are just the start. once you add in clothes, shoes, electronics, the average of sending a k-12 student back to school is more than $600. i've got five of them to shop for. >> wow. >> all right. thank you very much. >> go to town. coming up, we're going to try and help you out. we'll tell you where to find the best deals this weekend to lower your back to school bill. and next, how's life to the new mom with vale? we're going to talk to the new that new guy is like a donut, tasty.

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with technology that slims and shapes and five-pocket styling. they'll be the star of your wardrobe. chico's so slimming peyton pants. we're famous for our legs. at chico's and chicos.com. we're back now at 7:48 with the cheeks taking social media by storm. we're talking, of course, about vale. savannah and her husband mike's beautiful baby girl. the proud new mom herself is joining us. savannah, good morning. how you doing? >> good morning. good night. good afternoon. what is time? >> have you slept at all? >> actually last night i got a good night's sleep for the first time. vale slept like the angel baby she is. and you guys will laugh. i'm so excited even though i've had one hour of sleep in 48 hours, i couldn't sleep because i was so excited. and they actually had to give me

a little sleeping medicine so i would conk out which is insane. most moms just want to sleep the first chance they get. and i'm just too excited. >> so vale's sleeping better. is mike still up every hour crying? >> you know how fussy he gets. i got to put him down for his nap or he's so cranky. >> savannah, the name vale, a lot of folks have been asking. how'd you come up with that? that's a pretty name. >> thank you so much. it's not that much of a viewer. "today" viewers had convinced me we were having a boy. so i think i really was shocked when they said it's a girl. we looked at each other and had a few names on the girl list but we had not really settled on it at all. so all afternoon we were just trying to think of names. vale had always been on our list as one of the names we liked. we just went for it. we thought it was pretty, unique, but not kooky or weird. i don't want to name names, but

there's some weird names out there. >> we know. >> it's an original name. we love that. >> yeah. >> i know you're just too excited to even sleep right now, but in the short time you've had had vale, how has your life changed? how different do you feel right now? >> i feel so different. i feel like life just started. i mean, honestly, i can't get over the joy that she brings. it's kind of inexpressible. i think it is beyond words. i just -- in the moment she was born, i cried a cry i never heard come out of my own mouth. i didn't recognize it. it was just this joyous explosion. when i look at her, i'm so proud and i just -- i can't stop thanking god. so happy. we're so pleased with her. mike doesn't have hormones to blame, so i don't know what his excuse is. but sometimes we just cry spontaneously because we love her so much and we're so happy.

so i'm a big ball of mush. >> we hear it. >> you can see that picture. that's us calling from the hospital. >> oh, cool. well, we are so happy for you. as you may have heard from the orange room, we started to get marriage proposals for vale. we're going to really do our due diligence. we're going to sort through those and make sure we don't just send her off to the lowest bidder or something like that. >> by the way, any applicant, we've got to get them through the full matt lauer screening process. >> absolutely. >> if she's going for older guys, luke is only five years ahead of her. >> i have so say if it was going to be any older man i would permit, it would have to be little luke. >> it's arranged. >> we're just feasting on these pictures, savannah. she does have the cutest little face. she really does. >> by the way, you guys will really appreciate this. i have to call out our executive

producer. see where the phone is up to her ear. he said, can't you wake her up? i want a live shot. and they started playing that trumpet song so i put it in her ear. >> that's cruel. >> that's not nice. >> i know. >> we apologize for don. >> not going to jump just because you say jump. >> we love you my dearest. you take care of yourself. we got to see little vale yesterday. just precious. >> thank you. >> we're not going to bug you anymore. we'll check in from time to time but we're thinking of you, all right? >> right back at you. i'm thinking of you guys, too, and watching. just love you so much. it's so fun to see you guys. >> all right. coming up, we're going to take a break. when we come back, is denim take a break. when we come back, is denim dead? the ca♪illac summer collection is here.

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good morning, everyone. i'm chris cato. let's start with our first alert meteorologist brittney shipp. >> a cool start and we're going to stay below average as we head into the afternoon. plenty of sunshine and low humidity makes it feel more like fall versus september versus the middle of august. as we head into the rest of today, by 11:00 a.m., 70 it grees and by lunchtime hour only the mid-70s and by 4:00 p.m., 78. plenty of sunshine for today. let's get a check of traffic now and jillian mele is watching an accident. jillian? >> just got word of an accident at 95 northbound. this is 95 southbound at girard and heavy traffic as you head into center city philadelphia. and heading to bristol, we have an accident, new rodgers road

right near otter street. you can expect to see a delay there. chris? a viewing will be held for the four children who died in that house fire in south philadelphia last month. brothers patrick sanyee and taj jacque and twin sisters. it began in a row home and destroyed several homes. the assistant fire chief said this is a complex investigation and still no time frame to when they will determine the cause of that fire. tonight, services will be held at divine. one more note to pass along to you. at 10:00 a.m. we will carry the news conference line with the superintendent of philadelphia schools discussing how they plan to address the budget gap, whether schools will start on time in the fall. i'm chris cato, we'll have another update in 25 minutes. you can always find us on nbc10.com.

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♪ it's 8:00 on "today." coming up, not so fast. a runner rips off his shirt in joy while cruising to victory. the premature celebration that ended up costing him gold. then, is denim dead? with sales on the decline, will the jeans industry be left singing the blues? ♪ and neon trees. the pop sensations are set to rock our concert stage live today. friday, august 15th, 2014. ♪ >> we love neon trees! >> been a fan for years. love you guys!

>> celebrating our birthdays! >> good morning, canada! >> mother/daughter trip! >> we're back now. 8:00 on a friday morning. it is the 15th day of august 2014. there are nose neon trees fans in our plaza this morning. get ready for a concert coming up in our next half hour. we're all looking forward to that. nice group of guys and they put on a good show. >> really good show. stay tuned for that. meanwhile, hoda showed us last week how to make 50 look fabulous. next week we're celebrating another big milestone birthday as al gets ready to turn 60. i can't believe he's 60. he looks so good. he's going to share the six lessons he's learned in his six decades and prove to everyone why 60 rocks.

>> doesn't seem 60, does he? >> no. he's more vibrant at 60 than he was at 30. >> i think that's probably true. let's go inside. craig melvin has all the headlines. >> good morning, guys. almost a week after the deadly police shooting of an unarmed teenager, the police chief in ferguson, missouri, said he's releasing the name of the officer who opened fire. ron allen is in ferguson for us. >> reporter: good morning to you. the police chief confirmed that to us himself. this is a huge development because this is something the community has been demanding. the protesters out in the street wanting to know who this officer is who fired these fatal shots. the police said he is a six-year veteran who claimed that michael brown and his companion physically assaulted him first before the shooting started. police are trying to keep the tensions down a a peaceful night finally the first time in four nights. following a change of tactics here, the governor jay nixon

gave control of security to the state police taking away the local authorities after so much controversy and complaints about the military-style tactics that were being deployed on the streets. the question now is what will be the reaction to everyone here when they learn the name of the officer who fired the fatal shots? >> ron allen for us in missouri. thank you. the widow of comedian robin williams stunned friends and family members and fans by revealing thursday that her husband was suffering from the early stages of parkinson's disease. the same neurological disease that afflicts actor michael j. fox and boxer muhammad ali. however, she says his sobriety was intact despite his known battles with addiction and depression. the teenage daughter of an american tourist found stuffed in the suitcase in ba lee was was charged with her murder today. they were taken for psychiatric

examinations today. the body of 62-year-old sheila von weise mack was found at a luxury hotel where all three were staying. the attorney says the daughter is innocent. if convicted, the couple could face death by firing squad. a utah woman remained in critical condition overnight after drinking toxic iced tea. she knew something was wrong the moment she took a drink of her sweet tea. her attorney says she spit it out and told her husband i think i just drank acid. the lawyer says he thinks a restaurant worker accidentally mixed powdered degree into the dispenser. and videotapes full of priceless memories will soon be to the family who made them. the buyer of the video camera

found a tape with the family celebrating milestones. his wife urged him to post the images from the videos online. and now the real owners have been tracked down and the tapes will be on their way home. how about that. it is now 8:05. let's get another check on the weather from dylan. >> thanks, craig. good morning, everyone. it's august, but it feels like september out here. and just so you know, september is childhood cancer awareness month. we've got these beautiful girls here. what are you hoping to get done? >> we want to light up the empire state building gold to raise awareness for childhood cancer. so we get, like, more money to get more cures. >> #empire go gold. that's what you're hoping to get trending. okay. so let's get that trending and let's take a look at your forecast. down in florida today we are going to see most of our severe weather. you can see in tampa it is raining pretty heavily right now. a little further south in miami it's good right now. but we will see storms develop

later today. keep an eye on the sky. we could see stronger storms with frequent lightning and hail. also back through kansas and nebraska, we could see stronger storms develop today. in the northeast, it is about 10 to 15 degrees below average. high pressures only in the 60s and 70s. as we head into the weekend, we are going to see a slight risk of strong storms. especially during the afternoon in most of missouri. that's your hail, your damaging wind gusts. also your frequent cloud to ground lightning. it will warm up in the that's a look at the weather across the country. hi, i'm meteorologist brittney shipp. it's going to feel like fall rather than the middle of august. temperatures between 76 and 69 degrees. plenty of sunshine and low humidity and wind speeds out of the west at 10 miles per hour and a gorgeous start to your weekend. take a look at saturday, nice conditions. 82. the humidity returns and our

temperatures warm as we head into sunday and also have a chance of showers. but for the rest of the week, we stay in the mid-80s. >> and that's your latest forecast. >> thank you very much. up next on "trending," can you spot it? the big mistake that's left the makers of "downton abbey" red faced. and neon trees getting ready now to take our summer concert stage in front of a big crowd out here on the plaza. you'll hear from them in just a few minutes. but first these messages. ♪ what are you doing? packing my lunch with the stuff you got at walmart. between school, homework and soccer practice. i'm gonna need all the energy i can get. huh? and who's that one for? you. between taking me to school, helping me with my homework and running me to soccer practice. your gonna need all the energy you can get too. good point. get a smarter start to school with all your lunch favorites. like jif, smucker's and snack pack.

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twizzlerize your summer fun with twizzlers. the twist you can't resist. all right. we're back at 8:13 with "what's trending" today. and we have been talking this morning about kids heading back to school on a lot of kids' wish lists will probably be a smartphone. okay? but how young is too young for a child to get his or her first smartphone? we talked about this before. but now the people at american express have asked parents. most said the right age was -- actually 64% said between the age of 10 and 14 years of age. so go in the middle of that, that makes 12 apparently the perfect age. but about 10% of people responding in that survey said under 10 years old. >> who are they talking to? >> to keep in touch with the kids opposed to kids being old enough for a smartphone? >> i know in my town i think

some parents when they feel their kids are able to walk themselves home from school which my son is at that age now, he's started asking for the phone. he's 10. >> all the discussions about keeping the computer, the family computer in a place where everybody can see it, you don't put it in the child's room. you give them a smartphone, that's like giving them a computer in a private place. you have to be careful. >> absolutely. >> we invite you to weigh in on our facebook page. most of you right now are saying 12 is too young. >> interesting. today we're celebrating a big couple anniversary. the classic movie depicting a struggle between good and evil. >> i have a feeling we're not in kansas anymore. >> the wizard of oz premiered on august 15th, 1939. turning judy garland into an international star and toto as well. in honor of the movie, i've got some trivia. here we go.

>> and it goes for your little dog too. >> okay. first up, who was originally supposed to play dorothy? was it "a," shirley temple, "b" lana turner, "c," grace kelly? >> i'm going with shirley temple. >> lana turner to be different. >> weigh? >> grace kelly. >> all right. matt, you're correct. shirley temple. judy garland said they tried to make her look as much like shirley temple as they could. which film beat out wizard of oz for best picture at the oscars? "a," mr. smith goes to washington," gone with the wind. how much did toto get paid? nothing, $50, $125. >> $50. >> i'd say he got nothing. had a bad agent. >> he got points on the back end of the deal. >> you wish.

actually, he got $125 a week. but get this. >> flying in the movie, by the way. fly, fly, fly. >> what's that voice you're using? >> freaked me out. >> i'm deaf right here. all right. meanwhile, if you want to test your knowledge, go to today.com. we've got more trivia for you. >> from good versus evil to peace and love. believe it or not, woodstock opened 45 years ago today. organizers of the music and arts festival hope to draw 80,000 people. nearly a half million showed up. the state of new york declared a state of emergency. there were epic performances from jimi hendrix with the now legendary festival closing of that rendition of the star spangled banner.

>> i love that. >> i was there. >> you were not there. >> i was there at camp kenny brook just down the road as a 12-year-old camper. >> what's funny is we have a picture of you there. >> peace and love, baby. >> love the fro. it wasn't a good hair day. >> i think that's the 1994 woodstock behind you. natalie, you're a "downton abbey" fan. because of a promotional photo the show release, people are having fun. do you notice anything wrong? how about the plastic water bottle on the mantle on the right? the show is set in the 1920s. people coming up with their own versions of the photo. he's holding a boom box. there's a picture of will and kate over his shoulder. there's a big mouth bass on the wall behind him.

and she's wearing rainbow loom bracelets. >> fabulous. >> good stuff. >> now, we know when publicity fphotos go out how they're scrutinized. you have to think they knew and now we're talking about it. >> it's a publicity photo, not an episode. >> but they have been known to have some episodes to make some slips on certain things that didn't match the time period. >> all right. well, now to a runner who proves why you shouldn't celebrate a victory until you've actually won. this happened during a race in switzerland. the athlete turns around and realizes he's far out in front so he gets the celebration started early stripping off his jersey. even stuffing it into his mouth as he leaps over the hurdles, then blows some kisses. but officials weren't feeling the love. they disqualified him depriving him of what would have been his third straight title. >> for what? >> it was obnoxious for one

thing. >> is that against the rules now? >> i don't know. >> they suspended him and said that goes for your little dog too. >> that sound. >> stop it. >> i'm melting, i'm melting. >> and that's "what's trending" today. coming up next, a fashion staple that has seen better days. why people's love of jeans back now at 8:19 with the denim industry apparently singing the blues.

jeans sales are on the decline. but retailers are banking on shoppers buying into some new trends. here's nbc's hally jackson. >> reporter: this 1980 calvin klein commercial featuring brooke shields made denim sexy. >> you want to know what becomes me and my calvins? nothing. >> reporter: and it made denim a must have. helping turn a work wear staple into part of pop culture. but now the $16 billion denim business is starting to fade. sales are down an estimated 6% in the last year. >> we've had downturns in denim before, but never for such a prolonged period of time. consumers of all ages see something new to buy in active wear and it's leading to weak denim sales. >> reporter: yoga pants and leggings, part of the athletic segment are going from the gym to a night out on the town. >> i call it my incognito chic

look. >> reporter: retail experts say it's not just about comfort. it's also more socially acceptable these days to run errands wearing your athletic gear. a recent survey of teen girls shows the popularity of athleisure away from denim. still fashion niece tas hope it's only a matter of time before a new jean trend scores big. magazine covers are showing people decked out in denim from head to toe. >> fashion has fallen in love with denim for fall. we saw denim at gucci, chanel. no one will ever stop wearing jeans. >> reporter: no closet complete without at least one pair and a few to spare. for "today," hally jackson, nbc news, los angeles. >> you guys still into denim?

>> yeah. >> i wore them into work today. >> i've had the same two pairs for about a decade. >> so no leggings for you. >> most guys i know don't go for the jeggings. >> what about you? >> i don't wear a lot of jeans. let's go over to natalie. earlier we talked about the skyrocketing cost of sending your kids back to school. the average now $650 per child. how can you lower that number? natalie morris is here with where you'll find the best deals. >> good morning. >> let's talk overall trend. where are people spending more? at the stores or online? >> people spend more in the actual brick and mortar stores because they tend to be more organized. according to mint.com, people who spent only online spend 30% to 40% more. they don't have it in a cart where they can see it. good rule of thumb is do resurgeon online, print out coupons and then pound the pavement.

>> is this the time to go to shopping? >> we're in peak time right now through labor day. deals up to a couple of cents for notebooks, a couple of dollars. do the work now. >> let's talk about school supplies. where are the good deals? where can you find the best? >> like i said, we've seen even a few cents for some of these notebooks up to a few dollars. staples has been running a promotion that they'll price match 110%. they'll match the price you give them plus give more. walmart is offering discounts to teachers who sadly have to bring supplies themselves these days. >> let's move to technology. nowadays also means buying technology. >> the kids want the tablets. >> what is the rule of thumb? what should you remember? >> you want something that's kind of speedy. i wouldn't buy a data plan for these kids. then they're going to shoot those up. wi-fi only should be fine. these are both dell tablet. one is running android, one a

windows. which is nice so they can see their school papers if writing on a windows machine. i like this. bigger than a phone, smaller than a tablet. great for watching videos. hopefully educational videos. all of them are running great deals. some as low as $149. >> let's move to the backpacks, lunchboxes. these are the time to stock up as well. how long do these typically last? >> retailers say about two years. i don't know that i ever kept a backpack two years. >> they get fuzzy. >> they're pretty cheap right now. you can find them at kmart as low as $10. and this is a difficult area with parents and kids. kids have ideas of what they want. >> yeah.

they're going to need jeans and shoes. jc pen jcpenney has a sale. so they can choose how they want to express themselves. >> all right. and then let's move over here because a lot of times now more and more teachers are asking to stock up on items like paper towels, tissues, cleansing items. >> budgets are tight. they can't afford this as much and they're asking us to bring it in a little bit more often. you're not going to go wrong at a costco or sam's club. i like to go to amazon and commit to subscribe and save. you commit to a delivery of these type of items and you get more off. >> thank you so much. and for more, just head to today.com. coming

good morning, i'm tracy davidson. cooler than normal temperatures and let's find out what is ahead with meteorologist brittney shipp. >> a cool eer start to your friy morning. going to feel like autumn and august. here's a live look right now at the comcast center, a few clouds in the sky for us. plenty of sunshine as we head into the rest of today. right now reading 61 and atlantic city at 64 degrees and today's high ranging from 76 and 79. >> on the roads right now aan accident in chester county and jillian mele is watching that. where is it, jillia snrx? >> right at the intersection of green hill road and potstown pike. looking decent through there.

little volume on the eastbound side, but not too bad. spring garden street bridge you can see construction is out there and active and been out there for the last two weeks. tracy? now to the philadelphia school budget crisis. at 10:00 we'll learn if schools open on time or if they will be delayed because of a lack of funding. we'll also learn if they'll lay off teachers or other personnel because of that $81 million budget shortfall. superintendent dr. william hite is scheduled to make the announcement at 10:00. you can count on nbc and nbc10.com to have live coverage of that announcement. i'm tracy davidson and we'll have another update in 25 minutes. now back to "today" show. thanks for watching. have a great day.

♪ it's 8:30 on a beautiful friday morning here in new york city. almost fall-like temperatures this morning. nice and cool, but a hot crowd lined up for a hot band neon trees. yeah, they're great. and that band is going to put on a great show as part of our toyota concert series in just a couple of minutes. >> got your dance shoes ready? >> i'm ready to go. >> going to hop around. that's what we do. meanwhile on the plaza we have

more good news. on tuesday we have jennifer hudson that will be here. she does want you to help pick one of her songs. here are your choices. "spotlight," "if this isn't love" or "and i'm telling you i'm not going." let us know what you want to hear on today.com. >> speaking of great music, coming up next friday one week from today, country music sensation hunter hayes will be here. sure to fill up the plaza here. >> all right. got a lot to get to. let's get a check of the weather from dylan. >> a bit chilly. it's a little bit chilly this morning and it is going to stay on the cooler side as we go through today and start off the weekend too. we're only going to be in the upper 70s and low 80s. we are going to see spotty thunderstorms today through florida and also back through the plains states where we could see stronger storms. now, on saturday our best chance

of stronger storms will be down across missouri where we could end up with some hail and damaging wind gusts. that's certainly something to keep an eye out for. then on sunday we're go i think to lose the threat of severe storms, but we could still see in the chicago area isolated storms into sunday afternoon. so you guys here love your grandmas. where are your grandmas right now. >> illinois. >> and they're watching? hello, grandmas! hi, i'm meteorologist brittney shipp. as we head to the rest of today, feel more like than than the beginning of august. temperatures range between 76 and 69 79 degrees. wind speeds out of the west at 10 miles per hour. a gorgeous start to your weekend. look at saturday, nice conditions. temperatures warm as we head into sunday and we also have a chance of showers, but for the rest of the week, we stay in the mid-80s.

>> and to view your weather any time, click over to weather channel or check it online at w weather.com. "today's" jenna wolfe has this story. >> believe it or not, it is now hip to play shuffle board again. the game is gaining in popularity thanks to a new club here in new york city. it's the unofficial game of retirement homes everywhere. but shuffle board, classic and simple in form, is not just your grandparents' game anymore. in the heart of brooklyn wi, ne york, sits the shuffle board club. two bars, one food cart, and a new generation of fans. if i play word association with you and i said shuffle board, nine times out of ten people are going to say grandparents.

>> right. >> reporter: but for you two i say shuffle board, you say -- >> fun. >> reporter: the club's owners, two world ranked shuffle bother players. both barely out of their 30s. >> oh! close. >> reporter: the two learned how to play in florida taught by who else? their respective grandparents. homeown how many stories have you heard since you opened the club have you heard my grandparents played this. >> i'm going to say 2,000. >> what? i'd say 400. >> some people walk in and say did you invent this? it's new to them. >> reporter: what's the age bract? >> i would say mid-20s to late 30s is probably our sweet spot. >> reporter: business here is booming. over 800 people play in the club's weekly shuffle board league. teams like risky business and chairman of the boards to name a few.

what's the draw? you think shuffle board, you think older adults. >> oh, really? okay. well, i mean, for me it's a super fun sport that i can play with a beer in my hand and a tang in my other hand. >> reporter: the tang is the stick. the demographics have changed. >> this is the way i remember shuffle board. grandma, what's for lunch? when do we get to eat? a quick refresher tutorial for us. >> use the form. >> reporter: all right. i'm using the form, the force. everything you taught me. i'm going to put everything you taught me together. what to the what. the owners gambled on an idea that kids from brooklyn would flock to an old game with an old soul and that's what happened. today shuffle board, tomorrow mahjong. cheers. cheers to shelf board.

>> there you go. a nice toast to mahjong. ashley and jonathan are competing in the world shuffle board championship in ontario, canada. this is real stuff. it actually happens. they take it very seriously even though they have the best time doing it. >> i think it's brilliant. do you think some of the interest is because we all started to watch curling in the olympics and there's a similarity there? >> it was a fun game you can do outside and instead of dying it re-energized it. >> i think it looks fun. >> it's easy to have a beer playing. >> it's easy to have a beer when you're doing anything, really. >> you played the barroom version on the table. >> yeah. that's awesome. >> also with beer. up next, neon trees live on our toyota summer concert stage. but first this is "today" on nbc.

>> announcer: the toyota concert series on "today" brought to you by toyota. >> welcome back. we're just moments away from neon trees rocking the plaza, but first the hit band's rise to fame. ♪ >> combining their unique blend of pop, rock, and alternative new wave sound, neon trees is flying high with the release of their third album "pop psychology." which hit number one on the itunes alternative album charts. come bri-- they burst to the sc on 2010. and had everybody talking about this single off their second album.

♪ everybody talks >> including the cast from "glee." and people will be talking about them on our plaza this morning. and here they are, ladies and gentlemen. neon trees. ♪ ♪ all my friends they're different people ♪ ♪ anxious like the ocean in a storm ♪ ♪ when we go out yeah we're electric ♪ ♪ coursing through our bodies

until we're warm ♪ ♪ and why mess up a good thing, baby ♪ ♪ it's a risk to even fall in love ♪ ♪ when you give that love to me i better look back carefully ♪ ♪ because this is trouble yeah this is trouble ♪ ♪ i said ooh ooh ♪ you got me in the mood mood ♪ i'm scared but in my heart everything ooh ooh we're in danger ♪ ♪ sleeping with a friend ♪ sleeping with a friend ♪ all my friends stay up past midnight looking for the thing to fill the void ♪ ♪ i don't go out much like i used to ♪ ♪ something bout the strangers

and the noise ♪ ♪ and why leave when i got you, baby ♪ ♪ it's a risk but babe, i need the thrill ♪ ♪ i never said you'd be easy ♪ but if it was all up to me i'd be no trouble ♪ ♪ hey we're in trouble ♪ i said ooh ooh ♪ you got me in the mood mood ♪ i'm scared but if my heart's going to break before the night will end ♪ ♪ i said ooh ooh we're in danger ♪ ♪ sleeping with a friend ♪ sleeping with a friend ♪ we're both young hot blooded

people ♪ ♪ two become one it could be lethal ♪ ♪ sleeping with a friend how you feeling! ♪ all my friends ♪ all my friends ♪ oh i said ooh ooh ♪ you got me in the mood mood ♪ you got me in the mood ♪ i'm scared but if my heart's going to break before the night will end i said ooh ooh we're in danger ♪ ♪ sleeping with a friend ♪ all my friends ♪ all my friends ♪ if my heart's going to break before the night will end i said ooh ooh we're in danger ♪ ♪ sleeping with a friend ♪

>> neon trees, thanks. we'll be back with more music in a second. this is "today" on nbc. trading-in or selling your car, truck or suv? webuyanycar.com takes the hassle out of selling in just 3 easy steps. one, get your free online valuation. two, book an appointment. and three, pick up a check at your nearest buying center. ♪ find out how much your car is worth ♪ ♪ at webuyanycar.com

we're back now with more music from neon trees. the band's latest album "pop psychological" is a certified hit reaching number one on billboard's top rock albums chart. tyler glen is the group's lead singer. welcome back. good to have you here. you were here not all that long ago. you were talking about the fact that this is a really good, positive time in your lives as people, as a group as well. still? >> yeah, yeah. it's even better. we just got done with a tour and got to see the fruits of our labor and see how stoked people are on the new music. so it was exciting. >> i love the name of this new album "pop psychological."

some of the songs read like an advice column. where'd you come up with that? >> i think going through some therapy and getting kind of well adjusted. i don't want to be fully well adjusted. no one wants that. but i started to celebrate the color in my life. i was 30 and i was excited and i wanted to talk about sort of the growth that i went through and not the dark stuff. that's what the album's about. >> i like when you say the color in your life. nice segue for me. i'm fascinated by the outfits you wear. do you do this yourselves? do you have a stylist? >> ourselves usually. >> matt wants to know where to get this with his picture on them. >> they're cool. they have a long day. they're heading to the uk tonight. but also it's an anniversary today. >> yes. it's my parent's 39th wedding university. i love you guys. >> i had a chance to meet your mom. congratulations to them. what are you going to sing now?

>> "everybody talks." >> ladies and gentlemen, the neon trees. ♪ ♪ hey baby won't you look my way ♪ ♪ i can be your new addiction ♪ hey baby what you got to say ♪ all you're giving me is fiction ♪ ♪ i'm a sorry sucker and this happens all the time ♪ ♪ i found out that everybody talks, everybody talks, everybody talks ♪ ♪ it started with a whisper ♪ and that was when i kissed her ♪ ♪ and then she made my lips hurt ♪ ♪ i can't even chitchat ♪ take me to your love shack ♪ mommas always got to back

track ♪ ♪ when everybody talks back ♪ hey honey you could be my drug ♪ ♪ you could be my new prescription ♪ ♪ too much could be an overdose all this trash talk make me itching ♪ ♪ mymymy sh ♪ everybody talks too much ♪ it started with a whisper ♪ and that was when i kissed her ♪ ♪ and then she made my lips hurt ♪ ♪ i can't even chitchat ♪ take me to your love shack ♪ mommas always got to back track ♪ ♪ when everybody talks back ♪ i never thought i'd live to see the day ♪ ♪ when everybody's words got in the way ♪

♪ ai sugar show me all your love ♪ ♪ all you're giving me is fiction ♪ ♪ hey sugar what you got to say ♪ ♪ it started with a whisper ♪ and that was when i kissed her ♪ ♪ and then she made my lips hurt ♪ ♪ i can't even chitchat ♪ take me to your love shack ♪ mommas always got to back track ♪ ♪ when everybody talks back ♪ ♪ everybody talks, everybody talks ♪ ♪ ♪ everybody talks, everybody talks ♪ ♪ everybody talks back ♪ it started with a whisper ♪ and that was when i kissed her ♪ ♪ everybody talks, everybody

talks ♪ ♪ back ♪ >> neon trees. they'll be back with more music, but first this is "today" on nbc.

it's time for willard scott.

>> summertime at the farm. who could ask for me. here we are on the farm. thelma louise wellman. she's from monterey, california. she's 100 years old today. walks two miles every day. last time she was in pasadena moving fast. dora bell coney and she is from georgia. 100 years old today. we wish her a happy birthday. she loves to garden and bakes fantastic cakes. joseph silver. camarillo, california. pretty country. 100 years old today. and he's very active. at his age he still has his driver's license. betty and norman bogart. we'll always have paris. anyway, 75 years they've been married. they're a beautiful couple. yuma, arizona. one of the great cities in america. they have square danced since they were kids and every night before bed a good night kiss. that's it.

that's all. and now back to new york. >> all right, willard. thank you. what do we have coming up in the 9:00? >> more music from these guys. another song from them. also we'll check in with america's favorite baby right now, baby vale. we'll check in with savannah and see how she's doing. >> those pictures are about as cute as they get. >> big cheeks. >> thanks for all your help. >> appreciate it. >> thank you very much. natalie, thank you as well. and willie, we'll see you guys -- thanks for sharing. we'll see you guys in a few minutes on friday morning. but first these messages and local news and weather.

good friday morning. i'm tracy davidson. let's get your first alert forecast from brittney shipp. >> feels like august and autumn temperatures today. staying in the mid to high 70s. plenty of sunshine, low humidity and great combination. make your plans to head out tonight. you're going to enjoy our weather.

62 degrees in allentown and 54 in mt. pocono and 56 in millville. our average 86 and today's high 78 degrees. parents and teachers are holding their breath right now. this morning we'll learn if the philadelphia school district budget woes will delay the start of the school year. we'll also learn if the teach district will lay off teachers and other personnel. the superintendent will make the announcement in just over an hour. because of that $81 million budget gap. governor corbett supports a cigarette tax hike that will help fill that gap, but state lawmakers won't put that to a vote until after schools are slated to open which is april 8th. you can count on nbc and nbc 10 to have live coverage of that announcement that comes up at 10:00 this morning. a viewing will be held for the four children who died in a house fire in southwest philadelphia last month. the two brothers and twin sisters died in a fire that broke out on the night of july 4th that started on the porch of

a row home. it destroyed several homes. there's still no cause determined for the fire. tonight, service will be held at divine mercy parish on chester avenue in southwest philadelphia. another local update in 25 minutes and, remember, you can always get the latest news and weather at nbc10.com. i'm tracy davidson. now back to "today" show. thanks for watching.

>> announcer: from nbc news this is "today's take" with al roker, natalie morales, willie geist, and tamron hall. live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. >> welcome to "today" on a beautiful new york city friday morning. it's august the 15th, 2014. big crowd showing up for neon trees. i'm willie geist along with natalie morales. jenna bush hager back with us. such a great performance, wasn't it? >> he had some amazing dance moves. in that outfit too? i could see you doing that, mixing up the patterns.

>> you should mikts it up. >> what do you want from me? you want me to wear that anchoring the news? >> meanwhile they have another song coming up later on. so we're going to hear that. >> good guys. >> good songs. >> we finally heard from savannah this morning. >> matt and i went to the hospital yesterday and had a visit with her. we talked to her earlier this morning and she shared more photos with us as well. of course savannah and mike welcoming baby vale. >> mike looks different. oh, that's matt. sorry. mike's off to the left there. >> the cheeks have stolen the world. they're amazing. >> beautiful. >> and the softest little cheeks. >> you touched the famous cheeks? >> did it give you a baby wanting? >> any time i see a baby i'm like maybe one more. >> then joe calls and shuts it down. >> no, no. but savannah did say she's not getting much sleep. she got an hour the night before.

she said she was so excited she couldn't get so sleep so the nurse had to give her something. she's so excited and over the moon. here's what she said about how much welcoming little vale into the world, how much it's changed her life. >> i feel so different. i feel like life just started. i mean, honestly, i just can't get over the joy that she brings. it's kind of inexpressible. honestly, i think it is beyond words. i just -- in the moment she was born, i cried a cry i'd never heard come out of my own mouth. i mean, i didn't even recognize it. it was just like this joyous explosion. and when i look at her, i'm so proud and i just -- i can't stop thanking god. i'm so happy. we're so pleased with her. and mike feels the same way. he doesn't have hormones to blame, so i don't know what his excuse is. but sometimes we just cry spontaneously because we love her so much and we're so happy. so i'm a big ball of mush.

>> speaking of a big ball of mush, we've got the water works going over here. >> in the makeup room this morning when we were watching that, the whole makeup room was crying. her voice sounds different. isn't it amazing what having a baby can do? it can change everything. >> it's amazing. as you know, once you hold that baby in your arms, you just automatically just switch into mommy mode and you can just see she's going to be so good at being a mom. she already is. >> i have to say, having guest who is happen to be matt lauer and natalie morales two days after your children are born, you're family, yes, but having matt lauer walk into your room after having a baby? she has some guts. >> i could barely talk to my parents. >> he was very cool. >> that is so great. >> she's just so glad to share this moment with everybody. >> she talked about that explosion of joy. any mother or father knows

exactly what she was talking about. when the baby appears in that room and you can't believe how much you love something you didn't know 30 seconds before. >> doesn't matter how much they cry. >> did you bring her anything? >> yeah. we brought her some food. >> that's the best. somebody brought henry these little mini doughnuts. the man has never eaten so many doughnuts in his entire life. it was my sister, actually, and he literally said the doughnuts got me through. sugar. >> really? was it a particular kind? >> they were a lot of little miniature doughnuts. cinnamon. good call we the food. >> they're having people over all the time. >> i couldn't have the people. antisocial. >> they'll bring her home soon. >> can't wait. >> we're thinking about you guys. big story today. it's on a cover of some of the newspapers about robin williams and what he was struggling with before he took his own life this week. his widow revealed he was in the early stages of parkinson's disease.

robin's sobriety was intact and he was brave as he struggled with depression, anxiety, as well as early stages of parkinson's disease which he was not sharing publicly. this disease struck michael j. fox in 1991 at a very young age. robin williams had supported fox's efforts to raise awareness and resources to combat the disease. yesterday michael j. fox tweeting, stunned to learn robin had pd. pretty sure his support for our foundation predated his diagnosis. i wish him peace. i'm on the board of the michael j. fox foundation as well. my dad has parkinson's. depression does come with it. so we don't know anything about robin williams' specific condition, how long he's had it or if that contributed, but it is something to talk about that with parkinson's comes anxiety

and depression in some cases. >> not wanting to feel like a burden on your family, i would imagine. >> more bradly with parkinson's that is part of the deal. >> you know, i think one of the saddest parts of this is obviously this is playing out so publicly, but also that his daughter had to get off of social media because of all these tweets about addiction, about depression that are also diseases. you know? i think twitter made a comment they're going to try too look into it, but we try to tell our kids that bullying is something we don't believe in. that kindness comes first. when you lose a parent, kindness should be what people are putting out there. so i hope maybe this quiets in some ways. >> there are always one or two people out there no matter what you're going through, they want to add insult to injury. >> it's true. >> it's hard to imagine the kind of person who wants to do that. unfortunately there are some. >> we live in that world. it's a sad, sad world.

>> okay. some happy news for this friday. olympic gold medal swimmer amy van dyken-rouen is headed back home after being paralyzed in an atv accident. she said she was so inspired by people she met in the hospital. let's listen to her. >> i've met some amazing people here. and they've really changed the way i think. >> so amazing. she's so resilient. and she said, obviously, the hardest part was being back in the pool. it's her favorite place. but this time it wasn't to compete. it was for therapy. >> because it was the pool. i mean, i'm there to do my work. i'm there to win another gold medal and they looked at me like this is no what we're doing. that was really, really hard. >> you know, she's already changing so much. she's won a gold medal in my

eyes. matt said she's one of the most inspirational people he's ever spoken to. you can see why. >> such an inspiration for anyone who has gone through terrible times in their lives. she's is positive face on this. i could see her back in that pool competitively some day again. >> she's determined. i think she will. >> she's already got six olympic gold medals. even a month ago when matt talked to her, she still had that spirit, i'm going to be okay. and she's on her way already. this is crazy video. we've got to show you this. an unsuspected swimmer narrowly escaped the jaws of death after he was stalked by a large crocodile at a mexican beach. >> this is apparently an area known for having crocodiles. >> somebody wisely throws an object in the water. >> what is that?

a ham? a large turkey? >> looks delicious. >> exactly why that croc wanted to go over there. >> could you imagine being stalked by that? >> no. but don wants to put natalie -- they're trying to kill us off. >> what now? shark cage? >> possibly. >> or some strange flying fish. so i hope he's not watching, but of course he is because we know don loves a strange animal video. >> what with the flying fish? >> we're going to fly through the flying fish and they're going to fly through our faces. >> we don't know if we're doing this yet. >> i'm like, this isn't breaking news or anything. but i'm just saying they want to kill us. that's the breaking news. >> that's the plot. >> they want us dead. >> you guys picking up on the hints now? >> you would think we would. somehow we're like sure we'll do it. >> as long as dark natalie's there. believe me, when you're alone and a bottle of wine, it's dark

natalie. >> all up here. >> she's dark chocolate at night. >> wow. >> i'm going to think through that one while we go to miss dylan dreyer. >> you are on fire today. i could just listen to you guys talk all day. this is fantastic. i'll talk about the weather. we've got some thunderstorms to talk about. especially down near parts of florida where in central florida today because of this stalled front right in through here, we will see these storms fire up and they could be severe in nature. we also have some heavier thunderstorms moving through kansas and into nebraska. we could see storms approach severe levels, especially this afternoon. hail and also some water spouts are possible. so any mariners on the eastern beaches, keep that in mind. severe weather in kansas through nebraska. chance of hail as well. watch out for the dark skies. in the eastern half of the country, the weather is looking

fantastic. back into parts of the eastern great lakes, upper 60s and low 70s today. that's more like hi, i'm meteorologist brittney shipp. as we head through the rest of today it will feel like fall instead of beginning of august. plenty of sunshine, low humidity and cool conditions for us. wind speeds out of the west at 10 miles per hour and a gorgeous start to your weekend. look at saturday, gorgeous conditions, 82. the humidity returns and our temperatures warm as we head into sunday. we also have a chance of showers, but for the rest of the week we stay in the mid-80s. >> and that's your latest forecast. >> thanks, dylan. see you in a minute. >> i want to clarify i'm not just milk. >> like vanilla, boring? >> she's an eggnog. >> spice. >> during the day you're classy and kind to everybody.

at night, whoo. >> what? what happens at night? >> she just gets wild and dark and i like it. >> i do? >> you know you do. >> do i do this? >> you did do that weird dance move in russia. >> that one time with a wet suit, what happened? >> no. >> she's eggnog right now. >> coming up next, it doesn't get cuter than a baby learning how to feed itself. we'll tell you the story behind this picture and talk more about we'll tell you the story behind this picture and talk more about milk, we'll start looking for an suv... "fire' by firenze" "sir?" start your search online with over 35,000 carmax

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across the country. you got some pictures out of warren, michigan. >> this looks like a river, and it's actually a highway. this is i-696 in warren, michigan. there were more than 5 inches of rain that fell earlier this week. people abandoned their cars. more than a thousand cars were abandoned. and literally police divers had to go out and check the cars to see if anybody was stranded inside. it's like you could reach up and touch the sign the water was so high. >> we saw some of that on the east coast as well. got a foot of rain on long island. another big story this week was the supermoon. >> i loved the supermoon. >> this picture is breathtaking. this is in madrid, spain. the collection of sky sca in spain. this happens when it's closest to earth in its orbit. it looks red because of the earth's atmosphere, but it's like a christmas ornament in the sky. >> why have there been so many supermoons?

>> they're not that unusual. they happen once every 13 months. there's been two this summer. there's going to be one more in september. it's not that unusual, but it's always beautiful. >> i love howling at them. >> she does it often. >> i do. now to another natural wonder we do not see that much. a volcano in italy? >> it's beautiful. but you don't want to get that close, right? so mt. etna is awake and she's been spewing ash and lava over z sicily for t.as it's not dangerous yet, but obviously you have to watch it. air traffic can be affected by the ash. >> and that burns. >> it burns if you touch it, yeah. so you want to look at it. nature's light show. >> you think? >> just to confirm. don't touch. >> if it's red and looks like it burns, it's hot. this next photo is pretty cool. it's a martial arts school rehearsing for the opening ceremony in china. it looks like a crazy necklace

or kaleidoscope. these people are prepare frg the opening ceremony for the youth olympics. you want to watch it just to see this performance, right? >> are they -- how are they doing this? >> i don't even know. theyf touchingother eapi on som of a spiral apparatus. it's just an amazing picture. >> unbelievable. >> the opening ceremony of the beijing olympics were an indication, then this would be incredible as well. it wouldn't be a friday if we didn't have an adorable animal. >> you have to have a cute animal pic. this is an orphaned baby elephant. he's having a bottle of milk. this is in nairobi, kenya, at the elephant orphanage. it's taken on world elephant day which shed the spotlight on how these animals are in danger. this adorable picture of this baby elephant is great. >> it's so cute. >> and it's drinking plain milk.

plain milk. >> might be drinking milk with a little eggnog. we don't know. >> possibly. >> thank you. coming up, we have what you need to get started on the weekend. >> and who can call themselves "the last comic ♪

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let's go ahead and take a look at friday headlines. we start with an important recall to tell you about. smoke detecters interlogic brand. the commission says radio frequency interference can cause those detecters to fail to alert consumers of a fire. the alarms were installed from march 2013 to february of this year. a parent's influence on their child's health may start before conception. australian scientists found parental age, diet, obesity, smoking and other factors all affect environmental signals transmitted into the embryo. these can increase the risk of heart disease, diabetes before they're born. making positive changes in the months before conception could have long lasting benefits. and the biological clock that ticks away a woman looks at mother hood may be influenced by the sound of a real clock.

a study had men and women have them fill out a survey about qualities. some were seated near a ticking timer. ladies near the clock wanted mother hood at an earlier age and not picky about mate. and now burger king is pulling the plug on satis-fries. they were not as well received as burger king had hoped. that's the news on this friday morning. oh, we got one more for you. if you think a car payment is dragging you down, wait until you see what this went for. sold at auction for $38 million. that is a new auction record.

one other interesting fact, the ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] give extra. get extra.

good morning, i'm tracy davidson. let's get your first alert forecast for this friday morning with brittney shipp. >> a cool start to the morning woop rel soar see below average temperatures and feel like fall as we head to the rest of today. beautiful shot of cape may. not a cloud in the sky. temperatures in the poconos only mid-50s and 62 in allentown and 6 and pushing into the mid-60s for riand our temperatures toda will range between 76 and 79 degrees. this is decision day in the philadelphia school budget crisis. at 10:00 this morning we'll learn if the lack of funding will delay the start of classes

on december 8th. we'll learn if the district will lay off other personnel because of the budget shortfall. superintendent dr. william ite will make the decision at 10:00 this morning and you can count on nbc 10 and nbc10.com to bring you live coverage of that announcement. officers responded to first avenue in south coatesville around 8:00 a.m. police have not said what led to the violence or if they have made an arrest. today philadelphia's hottest baseball team, the taney dragons play their first game in the little league world series. a prep rally planned this afternoon at philadelphia city hall. they take on south nashville today and tim furlong is in williamsport and you can watch for his reports this afternoon right here on nbc 10 news and, of course, very good about tweeting updates.

another local update in 25 minutes and you can always get the latest news and weather at nbc10.com.

welcome back to "today" on this friday morning. it's august 15th, 2014. it's a great day here in new york city. hope it is where you are. i'm willie along with natalie and miss jenna. al and tamron have the week off. >> look at this. >> on the cover of better homes and gardens. >> natalie. >> natalie, look at you. you look great. >> look at my kids and my dog. >> even cuter. >> my dog is smiling in this photo. >> you should model her. >> it was great. we kind of redid my living room because it was blah. i was suffering from a case of the blah. so they brought come some color to the room. but more importantly look who's on the cover of serendipity

magazine. >> come on now. >> and you are so stylish at this shoot. can i just pointous this inside photo of you sunbathing in a blazer. and look at those pale white legs. >> that's actually how i sunbathe. >> you're holding that foil. >> the thing is your face looks tan but your white man a thighs are still very white. >> i don't like to lay out. >> but you do go in a booth, right? >> spray tan. i've never had a spray tan in my life. >> this is serendipity. >> it's a cool magazine. >> good article in here by the way. >> thank you. let's get to your ice bucket challenge. jill martin iced her yesterday. >> thanks a lot for that. >> i didn't know she was going to challenge jbh and she did. >> i took the challenge this morning. i think we have it. no makeup friday. >> i got nominated for the als

ice bucket challenge. lucky me. thanks to jill martin who had a very handsome man and also a fan. so e found a more handsome man. yes, mr. craig melvin will do the honors. i now nominate -- i'm going to keep ate family affair. laura bush, george w. bush, and my sister barbara. 24 hours. >> are you ready? >> yes. >> that was a big bucket. >> craig got stairs? i didn't have stairs. >> there was a whole ceremony we just put on. craig is a good looking man. no offense. >> you said he's more good looking than me. i don't take offense. it's better than calling someone vanilla milk.

>> you are both good looking. but the question is my mother going to ruin the hair? mom, get ready. tomorrow morning. >> do you think she'll do it? >> she has had this helmet since 1981. >> she has gorgeous hair. >> it's beautiful, but i'm just saying -- >> it's refined in elegance. >> it is. she's beautiful. but will she do it? >> i think she will. i'd like to see a whole family bucket challenge. >> but dad will do it. >> yeah. but the matt said be careful with heart ailments. but clear it with the doctor. >> let's get a check of the weather with dylan. >> good morning, guys. we are looking at a pretty nice weekend across most of the country. woo temperatures in the 80s on the coast. right in the middle of the country that's where we're going to see our stronger storms through missouri. especially through the afternoon on saturday. scattered showers further north through the northern plains and upper midwest. on sunday it shifts a little

further eastward. we could also see in the northern plains a few spotty showers and storms. a strip of rain through texas. the east coast still looks pretty nice. 84 degrees in the east. and out west we should be around 70. but upper 80s possible still in the pacific that's a look at hi, i'm meteorologist brittney shipp as we head into the rest of today, it will feel like fall. temperatures range between 76 and 79. winds out of the west at 10 miles per hour. look at saturday, nice conditions. 82. the humidity returns and our temperatures warm as we head into sunday. we also have a chance of showers, but for the rest of the week, we stay in the mid-80s. >> and that's your latest forecast. >> thank you. after weeks of improv,

sketches, and standup the season of last comic standing has come to the end. >> 100 of the best comedians were to perform in front of celebrity judges. >> and last night the last comic standing was chosen and we can all see why. your man, my man, rodman. >> hey, jenna, i like how you introed me. i ought to take you on the road with me. they would not be prepared for the president's daughter with rodman on the road. i'm a fan already. yes, all right. >> let's see it. >> there it is. >> they tell me the winner of this thing win $250,000 which is a hell of a lot of money. i'm going to have problems right off the bat. i already know. because, yeah, because my mom like money now. it's not going to go well if she sees i got it. i can't say i ain't got it.

she's going to be like i seen you on tv. >> rodman! >> awesome. >> you made it. >> confetti on my head. that's how it happened. i didn't ask for the confetti. i wanted a belt and a big check. i wanted a big check and a belt. like lottery, publisher's clearinghouse. and a hogan belt. >> they taped this a month ago. you were alone in your hotel room. >> alone in a room. just me and me, willie. that's all it was. i did not know. they whisked me away. had to do the tonight show last night. i was in a hotel room by myself. >> high fiving yourself. >> good job, rodman. so yeah. but it was cool, man. lot of phone calls. a lot of people trying to borrow money. they have not cut that check at all. i do not have that check.

>> is it intimidating at all performing in front of comedic greats? >> i mean, i just try to do me, natalie, but you have russell, keenan, and roseanne. that's like my white momma. yeah. that was my white momma so i had to respect that off the top. love keenan. he told me to wear color. that's why i got on red this morning. he said black people need color. so i'm black so i got color. i learned something. comedy is comedy. every day is a learning experience. >> you have a huge future ahead of you. >> amazing. >> take me out on the road. >> i'll take you. yeah. don't talk about your momma's hair. that's her hair. >> i feel like i just won something. >> i feel like i did too. is it over? are we done? what happened? >> jenna's going to be your hype man on the road. you're good. >> coming up next, we've got some more comedy from him. and also from the world of sports.

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mcilroy and preseason football. ♪ >> okay. b on your mark. tom kohler of miami gets set. and -- play ball. how many angels does it take to screw in a light bulb? and the answer is obviously several of them. >> watch this. >> slide, slide. that was nice. >> this in san francisco. we have splash down. oops. in kansas city the hot dog race. the mustard, down goes the pants. lancaster, california, fireworks fight is going well until it

went off here. >> here's the question. can you get a birdie in cricket? apparently you can. then there's umpire joe west umpiring first base. he gets nailed by the line drive. but nobody got hurt. big fan of the month. the batter gets drilled and he doesn't seem to mind. he's okay. but one guy in the stand a offended and he runs out there. our play by play of the month. when the sprinklers go off in korea, how do you say sprinklers in korean? little language lesson. and why would phillies announcer announce from the outfield seat? it's better to catch the home run ball that way. he got it. >> that was planned. >> best moves of the month.

when you're losing to a tall guy and you want to hug him, you have to bring props up to the net. now you can hug it out. you score a goal. then you run over and take a selfie with the fans. they gave him a yellow card for that. but on the plus side, he got a very good picture. here's our key performer of the month. in russia, top this one. sing us a song, you're the piano dog. [ howling ] >> sing us a song. >> thanks for playing along. >> yes, sir. >> match made in heaven right here. >> i'm going do wear red next time. >> you got to wear red. neat color. >> fantastic, you guys. thank you. coming up next is the group everybody talks about. our summer concert stars neon

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[ beeping, whirring ] [ female announcer ] starburst minis. unexplainably juicy. >> announcer: the toyota concert series brought to you by toyota. >> our fans have been having fun this morning dancing to the music of neon trees. >> and so have we. their latest album "pop

psychology" hit number one on the itunes alternative charts. >> one more time, here's neon trees. >> new york city, how you feeling! ♪ i don't believe in a life without consequence ♪ ♪ do you believe when i say that i'm not impressed ♪ ♪ you say i never ever ever want to talk again ♪ ♪ i don't believe that you mean a single word you said ♪ ♪ lines in the sand where we disagree ♪ ♪ i think i want to run away from you you're killing me ♪ ♪ but i know i want to see you in a day or two ♪ ♪ i don't believe that a single word you say is true ♪ ♪ i guess it's love ♪ in the 21st century ♪ whoa oh it's love, broken heart technology ♪ ♪ your kisses taste so sweet

♪ but then you click delete ♪ whoa ♪ love in the 21st century ♪ i'm in the 21st century ♪ i don't believe making out is a dead romance ♪ ♪ i miss the days being kids simply holding hands ♪ ♪ i'm sick of wondering if you would ever call me back ♪ ♪ i check my four different accounts just to end up mad ♪ ♪ wish i could dissect your brain apart ♪ ♪ it takes a vivisection just to understand your heart ♪ ♪ if we could just own up, get wound up, messed up ♪ ♪ i guess it's love in the 21st century ♪ ♪ whoa oh it's love, broken heart technology ♪ ♪ your kisses taste so sweet ♪ but then you click delete ♪ love in the 21st century ♪ i'm in the 21st century

>> oh ♪ oh it gets so critical ♪ we become caught up in the trivial ♪ ♪ my dear we're both a bit too cynical ♪ ♪ come close i'll give you something spiritual ♪ ♪ stand up and deliver me ♪ we're in love in the 21st century ♪ ♪ i guess it's love in the 21st century ♪ ♪ whoa oh it's love, broken heart technology ♪ ♪ your kisses taste so sweet ♪ but then you click delete ♪ whoa, love in the 21st century ♪ ♪ i'm in the 21st century ♪ whoa, whoa, whoa ♪ i'm in the 21st century ♪ whoa, whoa, whoa

♪ i'm in the 21st century ♪ your kisses taste so sweet ♪ but then you click delete ♪ love in the 21st century ♪ i'm in the 21st century >> neon trees, sounding good and looking good. we're back in a moment. thanks, guys. this is "today" on nbc.

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the lovely, the gorgeous erica hill has a preview of what's coming up on weekend "today." >> i should come by more often. i love you guys even more. i'm always excited about weekend "today," but this story especially. i was really interested and so excited to do it. in atlanta which has a strong restaurant community, a young man there who is a rising chef who passed away in january got a

lot of attention when he was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. at that moment the entire community mobilized and got around ryan and his wife jen. they wanted to raise money so they didn't have to worry about anything. that fund raiser morphed into the giving kitchen. it is a nonprofit in atlanta that awards hardship grants to people working in the restaurant community. it doesn't pay for medical costs. it pays for rent and utilities so they can focus on getting better. and ryan's late wife is going forward with their plans to open a restaurant called staple house which opens this fall. all the proceeds from that go to the giving kitchen. great story. >> oh, my gosh. >> something to look forward to. >> good news. >> you are lovely and talented. you just confirmed it

good morning, i'm tracy davidson. let's get your first alert forecast from meteorologist brittney shipp. >> right now a mild start to the morning, mainly in the 60s as we head into the afternoon we'll push into the 70s. temperatures in redding at 67 degrees. philadelphia at 69 degrees. take a look at your seven-day forecast. 82 your high tomorrow and more humid on sunday with a chance of

storms by sunday afternoon. parents, teachers and students are all waiting to hear in a matter of minutes we expect to learn if the philadelphia school district will delay the start of the school year. superintendent dr. william hite will give the budget update at 10:00 and also learn if the district will lay off any teachers or personnel or be forced to have a shortened school year. all options are on the table to deal with that $81 million budget gap. governor corbett supports a cigarette tax hike that will help fill that gap but state lawmakers won't put it to a vote until after schools are slated to open. you can watch the superintendents update live at 10:00 a.m. and on our website at nbc10.com. philadelphia engine company 56 will return to its home station after spending months away because of potentially dangerous fumes. the roxborough station willow open in a few minutes. tests found chemicals and fumes.

recent tests show everything is fine. i'm tracy davidson. we'll have another update in 25 minutes. you can always get the latest news and weather at nbc10.com.

from nbc news this is "today" with kathie lee gifford and hoda kotb from studio 1-a in rockefeller plaza. >> hello everybody and by that we mean who? everybody. >> friday, august 15. >> guess what is happening here. >> we did my birthday. we want to remind that there is another big birthday coming up tomorrow but we are celebrating today. kathie lee is turning -- >> 24. >> she was born in 1953, 61.

it is a great year. it is great -- >> because i'm still alive. >> hulk hogan was born in your year. pierce brosnan. >> like fine wine. >> kim basinger. >> michael bolten. meredith viera. >> how does it feel to be 61? >> surreal. when you turn 28 and that is your mindset that is what you feel. was that death mail? >> that is someone counting. >> you know what? the truth is and you know this the most. if you have your health and you are surrounded by people you love and you are very much one

of those as is everyone we work with, a couple, most of the people we work with when you are blessed you are blessed. all you can pray for is that you give a few more years to be blessed. that is the way i feel. i want to thank everybody. i hope weird people don't show up today. >> cue the cardboard cutout. we are going to play a game called over and under? >> over or under 60. >> the first up is curt russell. >> older. but just a little bit. >> let's see if you are right. >> you know how i know that? i had the hugest crush on him when i was a little girl. he was two years older than i

am. >> whoopi goldberg. >> older. >> she is younger. >> i didn't know how old she is. >> how about gina davis? >> older. >> she is 58, too. >> sigourney. >> you are getting me in trouble. >> stop saying older. >> i'm going to go under. >> she is 64. >> this is very important. michael keaton. is he over or under your age? >> he lost a lot of hair since the last time i saw him. >> i'm going under. >> older. >> he is 62.

>> kevin costner is about a year and a half younger than i am. his birthday is in january and he is going to be 59 this coming january. i am in love with kevin costner and always have been. i love him as a person, too. we have a couple of surprises in the prompter. kevin costner is not here. >> is regis? >> not even regis. >> that's sad when you we are following breaking news on if fi phil school funding crisis. there's an announcement on whether schools will open on time. >> thanks for being here this morning. today, three weeks from school opening, we once again find ourselves having to make unbelievably tough decisions.

as we announce more than a month ago we have a $81 million shortfall in the current-year budget which must be closed through additional revenues or cost reductions. for the sake of minimizing disruptions for families and for the sake of educating children, we've made the decision to make a series of additional difficult and hopefully temporary cuts in order to open schools on time. in reaching this decision, we focus primarily on the hardship that not opening schools on time would create for students and their families. most importantly, the loss of classroom time for our young people. as a school district, our priority is maximizing the opportunity for student learning. to delay school opening during which time we would be required to continue paying employees, make our charter school payments and meet other contractual obligations all while students

are not being educated, punishes students for the failures of adults. we also took into account the fact that delaying school opening until we have more certainty about additional revenue potentially could further exacerbate our deficit if, for example, additional students exited our schools to charter schools. finally, we considered a set of public assurances. we have received from the governor and the house majority leader that they will do everything they can to ensure that cigarette tax authorizing legislation is passed when the general assembly returns next month. we appreciate the ongoing support and the leadership of the philadelphia delegation, the mayor and the counsel president in this effort. weighing all of these factors, we determined that opening on time with these further cuts was the least harmful decision for students and families.

accordingly, we are implementing the follow service reductions. high school students who live within two miles of school will not receive transportation support. as a result, approximately 7,500 students at district, charter and non-public schools will no longer receive transportation support. approximately 300 students will be impacted by reduced services in the multiple pathways to graduations program which will result in fewer high quality options for students. elimination of preparation and professional development before school opening for teachers at some of our most challenged schools, the promise academies. elimination of schools will be cleaned less frequently and have access to fewer cleaning supplies, repairs at schools, could also be delayed. the school district will leave school police officer vacancies unfilled reducing overall number

of officers available to support school climate and safety. addition departmental staffing reductions will result in reduced direct support for schools and for families. details regarding these reductions will be announced as we work through a process with our staff. i want to reiterate, we are hopeful that these are temporary reductions that could be restored if in fact our funding is realized. we're also assuming and these are high risk assumptions that we will be able to negotiate lower pricing with key vendors, realize significant revenues from additional building sales and keep our charter school payments manageable through state payments solely for authorized enrollment levels. as we cut so deeply into the core functions, we again implore our funders and several labor unions to help prevent further harm to our schools and our

students' educational experience. we implore our state legislators to quickly enact the philadelphia only cigarette tax which is expected to generate $49 million this year if implemented by october 1st. each month of delay in authorizing the tax results in a los of millions of dollars in revenue. we implore the philadelphia federation of teachers, the pft, to make concessions in lines with those already made by principals, blue collar workers and non-represented staff. we are no longer seeking across the board wage reductions from the pft. but rather, benefits changes that would enable us to restore essential services to schools. if the state and the pft do not find a way to close what remains of a $81 million gap after the cuts announced today, we will be

forced in mid-october to cut into school budgets which can only mean dire consequences for our schools and our students. to be clear, filling our $81 million gap will only allow the district to return to the inadequate and insufficient resource levels schools had last year. to make investments in the schools we need both new, recuring revenues including a fair funding formula at the state level and responsible cost restructuring and overdue reforms to our employees' benefits structure. adults have the power to make right the wrong being done to our students an ento our schools, providing all children with a rich,ig quality education is not only a basic right but a moral obligation. i am hopeful that all philadelphians will join us,

join with us the district in pursuing what's best for our students. at this time, i would like to call to the podium matt stanskid to walk us through a brief presentation about the budget adjustments and then followed by the chair of the src, mr. bill green. >> thank you. good morning. i have a brief presentation for you to outline a little more detail the updates that were alluded to just now. just to remind folks, we started with a $216 million gap just to reach our status quo service level which, again, we all believe is wholly inadequate. the total ask is $440 million in new revenues. through a series of changes and adoptions of the city budget, the state budget and the src budget that was the school district budget approved on june 30th, including the $120 million sales tax extension, and

one-time revenues, additional revenues from the city of $30 million and once the legislature passed the budget additional $12 million in revenue coming to the district, the district still finds itself with a $81 million gap just to get to the insufficient status quo service level for the upcoming school year and we are going to walk through how we're going to approach at least for now closing that gap and, unfortunately, as was alluded to, temporary measures or cuts and can hopefully be restored with the help of the state government and the pft. our assumptions around cigarette tax, the estimates have ranging as low as $38 million to $68 million assuming in october 1st implementation date. we are working with the city health department and the state revenue commissioner to nail

down a revenue assumption so but for however we are essentially assuming $49 million which is half -- which is the middle -- midpoint of the $38 million to $60 million range. it could go up or down depending on once the tax, if the tax is implemented, when it's implemented and so but for now we're assuming $49 million from the cigarette tax. that does leave us $32 million to fill the $81 million gap. as was alluded to, we'll walk briefly through the changes as of now that wproping. n, students who now live two miles or less or two miles or less away from their school, both traditional public, charter and -- >> we are getting into deeper detail about the budget cuts to make to make up for the budget of $81 million. to recap, philadelphia school superintendent just announced that the city public schools will open on time. not cause disruption for students and families.

but there will be a series of cuts including you're starting to hear him talk about that, high school students less than two miles from a school will not get transportation support. schools will be cleaned less frequently. the doctor said that police officer vacancies in the schools will go unfilled. staffing reductions to impact direct support, among other cut that is we are getting details on right now. he reiterated the request to state lawmakers to approve the cigarette tax hike returning to harrisburg mid-september and continues to ask for concessions from the teachers' union. we'll have much more on this including reaction at 11:00 this morning. for now, i'm tracy davidson. appeared on the big screen. >> "the expendables" with a lot of testosterone and barney played by sylvestor stallone and regular man played by jason statham.

>> guess who is here to tell us all about it? jason statham. ♪ happy birthday to you >> happybirtayyo that is so nice. thank you so much. >> what a nice gentleman you are. >> either those or naked jerry butler bursting out of a cake. >> you got one of those? >> couldn't afford it. >> i had no idea you were discovered -- did you know that? spraying perfume outside of paris. >> costume jewelry and misrepresented. >> you were lying through your teeth? >> there was a few moments where we said things we might not have

should have said. >> were you most surprised of all when you were discovered? >> many, many years of experience in that area so that is what he was looking for. small little film called "lock stock". >> you are in the expendables with a bunch of testosterone filled guys. sly stallone. >> mel gibson. >> what is it like acting along that bunch of guys? >> it is a strange day because i grew up watching these icons in careers and seeing sly and arnold and mel gibson there. you see harrison ford all in one place at the same time. it's a little surreal. >> you and sly have a great

chemistry on screen. >> how is it on screen? >> it's all scripted. >> how much -- what is the box office power of all of the men put together? billions and billions of dollars. 18 billion. how about that? that is fire power. >> do you do a lot of your own stunts? when you watch some of the scenes they are crazy. do you have background in martial arts? >> i have done a lot of sports. my dad was a good boxer and gymnast. it sort of handed down to me. i was a high diver for ten years. i did a lot of stuff that would help me get around some of the stunts that we have to do in

front of the camera. >> you literally went over an open cliff. >> i went over the edge. the brakes failed. >> don't they test that stuff? >> it happens. >> i had my suspicions. i think i have been complaining too much on set. >> good thing is i lift. i have done a lot of free diving with a very famous cuban guy. >> i love him. >> i like his name. >> it doesn't teach you how to breathe under water. i came close to drowning. >> we love having you here. thank you for coming. thank you for the flowers. >> "expendables 3" opens today.

if you have back trouble call matthew huffy. >> be good to your girlfriend. bobbie's got gifts for your bff. all about klg. so, duke, what do you think of our new bush's baked beans video game?

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this picture is the same lip color but it changed four times. >> you smudge the dark or light. >> it is amazing. >> here is the question. why don't you put on the color you like to begin with? >> you only have to keep the one shade. >> only one to have. >> i promise you i will get a manicure. my nails, don't look at them now. >> wow, bob. >> i wanted you to see this. i may not be able to splurge on the shoes for you but this is a girlfriend gift. >> it is like the heels. >> this is sold out everywhere. it is nail polish. the iconic color. this is a sexy girlfriend gift. you like the red? >> no. >> on the bottom of my shoes.

the secret sweater comes packed like this. it is a fantastic little cardigan. >> that is adorable. >> it's like a little -- it comes in a pouch. you can wear this under your blazer. you can have it for the movie. >> last but not least this one i think hoda is going to feel really -- >> what is it? >> i love it. the wallet wand. you can take your wallet and buy the wallet wand. it turns any wallet into a purse. this is such a great idea. >> thank you, b.t. >> we will have answers to your relationship questions after your local news. i grew up with three brothers,

so i figured hey, i get it, kids get stains. but we have these three beautiful little girls, and they make us look like amateurs. so i'm living in a world of tiny sweaters and dolphins and weird greasy mystery stains. i'm gonna get you. but this new tide ultra stain release has a crazy amount of cleaning power and a pre-treat zap! cap that helps me get out pretty much any stain. can i help? aww. just kidding. she got me. [ female announcer ] now with new tide ultra stain release you can help remove 99% of everyday stains. they have more time to travel back in time. try new children's zyrtec® dissolve tabs. children's zyrtec® is clinically proven to relieve kids' allergy symptoms for a full 24 hours. new children's zyrtec® dissolve tabs.

that's why there's a listerine® product for every mouth. one to clean your whole mouth. one for those hard to reach places. one to protect kids mouths from cavities. even one to freshen breath on-the-go. with over 100 years of innovation in oral care... there's a listerine® product for every mouth in your house. for cleaner, healthier mouths go beyond brushing alone. listerine®. power to your mouth ™. good morning. i'm tracy davidson. first alert forecast, cooler than usual. >> and it's going to stay that way today heading into tomorrow and we'll warm back up to

average pushing into sunday. beautiful day on this friday. plenty of sunshine. just a few high, thin clouds and the temperatures range between 76 and 79 degrees. low humidity, cool conditions and then winds out of the west at 10 miles per hour. tracy? the verdict is in. philadelphia public schools will open on time on september 8th. the superintendent said he didn't want to delay the opening of the schools and made that announcement minutes ago, no disruption for students and families and announced a series of cuts including high school students within less than two miles will not get transportation support, schools cleaned less frequently, also, police officer vacancies in the schools unfill. he also reiterated the request for state lawmakers to approve the cigarette tax hike to fund the schools when they return to harrisburg in mid-september. also asking for concessions from the teachers' union. we'll have much more and reaction coming up at 11:00 this

morning. be sure to stay with nbc 10 and nbc10.com for continuing coverage of the school budget crisis for philadelphia public schools. join us for a full hour of news in 30 minutes and get the latest news and weather at nbc10.com. i'm tracy davidson. thanks for watching v. a great day.

we are back with more of "today" on this special try day friday. >> we have a couple of surprises ahead. >> for now the best present is matthew hudson, the host of i heart radio's "love life." he is here to answer probing questions. >> are you sick of the congratulations already? >> i barely am surviving hoda's. i have just gotten over it. >> we have all of our questions on tape. here is a look at our first. >> i'm from shelton, connecticut. my question is why do men have to always try to solve the

problem? why can't they just listen and let the woman talk? >> a little bit of anger there. >> she should take a little more positive tone. guys don't listen because they are impatient a lot of the time. or they weren't taught right or because they are trying to solve the problem. most guys don't understand the concept of discussing without a purpose? >> is it part of the dna of being a man? >> the provider and protector instinct of how do i solve this and fix this? if you didn't grow up in a household with sisters you don't understand the concept is she is telling you just to exchange with you. women do it all the time. if guys would watch women more they would discuss feelings. they are not trying to reach an end. >> is the answer to tell your boyfriend or husband -- >> men need to realize that listening is like a form of

foreplay for a relationship. even literally. guys need to be taught that listening is cool and masculine. the next time he listens for a couple of minutes you say it is so hot with you listen to me because i feel safe and protected. >> you have to. >> i'm going to try that tonight. >> if he feels like -- he is not interested. if he is like you spoke to me because you value me as a man he wants to listen. i guarantee if the next bond movie showed 007 listening to a woman's problem and at the end of it she said you are such a beautiful man and sophisticated every man would turn listening into an art form. we don't see that. >> i am 23 years old. >> i'm jamie lee. i'm 23 years old. we are both from long island,

new york. >> do you feel it is important for people to live together before taking the relationship to the next level? >> of course, i think it is madness not to do that. why would you ever want to take that risk? why would you be in a relationship with someone before you dated them? >> maybe you have spiritual reasons for that that is very important to you. >> that may be. even if you have spiritual reasons you are taking a risk. i wouldn't want to take the risk of committing my life with someone who i couldn't stay three days with in a house. to me going on holiday would help. >> more and more people are doing that and the divorce rate is sky high. what does that tell us? >> i don't put it down to people having more time together before the marriage. people rushing into it, we don't

treat any other area of our lives like that. no smart businessman gives up 50% of his company to say we never worked together. i don't know what it is like to be around you all the time but i'm going to give up my company to you. >> so romantic. >> you know what is romantic? being married for a long time. >> being happily married. >> the chances of being happily married to someone you haven't road tested. >> rarely disagree with him so much but i still love him to pieces. how do i look so good? >> i was supposed to say that. >> it is pilates and a lot of kale. >> maybe a little help from a secret somebody. >> her name is dr. pat weksler. you have to love your dermatologist. (announcer) are you dealing with hot flashes during menopause? why suffer more than you have to? you can do something different.

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this is just exhausting for me. people are constantly asking how i look so great. of course, i exercise, eat right, do pilates, i'm lying about everything. >> she gets a little bit of help from her dermatologist. >> i get tons of help from her. with you i'm not going to need one. >> we are here with a new member of dr. wexler's team. what is happening here? >> she is having an ultrasound facelift. >> she looks like she is enjoying it. >> is it painful. >> it is very powerful. >> that helps. >> it is actually if you have ever done -- it is ultrasound

energy done at two levels of a facelift. the first is at the level of a muscle giving a deep heat that is causing generation of new collagen. >> are you feeling heat? >> slightly. >> no pain? >> no pain. >> she wasn't numbed. >> nothing. >> over the course of three to five months she will see progressive tightening and lifting of the jaw. >> it gets better as you go. >> cheeks, jaw line and brows and then the second layer is done on the skin. if you tighten the muscle you want to tighten the skin over it. >> how expensive is the procedure? >> about $4,500. >> one time? >> i can't believe that. >> what about the thing under your chin? >> she doesn't have that. >> i'm talking about for mine. you did something on me the other day that i was -- i listen

to you all the time and you have never proven me wrong. >> it's a variation of juvederm. it is a game changer. it is much more dense and treated the upper third of the face. when you do it you get a lift at the upper -- the small area. >> kathie lee walked in that day i kept saying you rested all weekend. it makes you look rested and not like you have done something. >> you proved me right -- >> less bruising and pain. >> i didn't numb for it. >> and lasts twice as long as least. >> let's go, birthday girl. >> are you giving me something? >> another treatment? we have products for the face.

we have olay regenrist. improves the texture and tone and pigmentation. roc has retinol. >> all drugstore stuff. >> but you should be watching the sun. >> i want to tell her i love you. >> she is worried about you not using sun screen. >> by the way, more fatal cancers with people with dark skin because they think they are protected. >> happy birthday to you! >> we are going to drop dead any minute. >> we have just a tidbit. bb cream which bb creams have everything in the kitchen. they have peptides. they have products that have improve pigmentation and caffeine to make puffiness go away. >> we have less than a minute.

>> this is for the hands. we have pigmentation. you have loreal which is essential oil. and i love when you are spraying the hands and chest great. it is wonderful. >> last 20 seconds. you have this is the hand peel which is amazing. any color skin. and one day of peeling and you have therapy which is for really sensitive skin. eucerin and you have goop. >> it will all be on our website. hand cream that is water resistant and got great stuff in it. >> thank you! coming up kathie lee is putting a blind fold on for her next surprise. we will reveal her mystery guest

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remember last week how kathie lee blind folded me? >> am i getting christian grey with a whip? >> your turn. we are going to walk slowly. there is a cable as i remember. >> no cable yet. step over. take a step. good. take another step. good. now you come right here. ♪ ♪ love will keep us together ♪ think of these days whenever. >> i love you! i'm so glad it is somebody i love. it is awkward if it isn't. >> how does it feel to be 39? >> as long as i have friends

like you like i have had forever. we are fermenting like fine wine. >> neil has a song. happy birthday sweet 16. special lyrics for your day. i hope remember it. ♪ happy birthday, kathie lee ♪ today is the day we have waited for ♪ ♪ because you're not a baby anymore ♪ ♪ you turned into the biggest star on tv ♪ ♪ happy birthday, kathie lee ♪ when we first met some years ago ♪ ♪ i sang and played on the kathie and regis show ♪ ♪ it was a mutual love between you and me ♪ ♪ happy birthday, kathie lee

♪ and i remember when excited to my soul ♪ ♪ when frank invited us to the super bowl ♪ ♪ and all the wine we drank ♪ let's make a toast to you on this special day ♪ ♪ i know there's been laughter and tears ♪ ♪ and cody and cassidy love you through the years ♪ ♪ and you and hoda continue your loving spree ♪ ♪ happy birthday, kathie lee [ cheers and applause ] >> my darling, thank you. i love everything about you. >> that was awesome. >> thank you! >> that was great. >> it was so much easier to rhyme kathie lee than hoda or

hoda kotb. >> what are some of the songs you love with neil? >> my favorite in the whole world, you know -- ♪ girl we made it to the top ♪ we went so highnd ♪ we climbed a ladder leading us nowhere ♪ ♪ building castles in the air ♪ we spun so fast and couldn't tell ♪ ♪ how could we know the ride would turn out bad ♪ ♪ everything we wanted was everything we had ♪ ♪ i miss the hungry years ♪ the once upon a times, lovely long ago we didn't have a dime ♪

♪ it was days of me and you ♪ we lost along the way ♪ ♪ how could i be so blind not to see the door closing on the world ♪ ♪ i now hunger for looking through my tears ♪ ♪ i miss the hungry years ♪ i miss the hungry years [ cheers and applause ] >> lovely. >> big thank you. >> do not go away. we are going to be back but first this is "today" on nbc. >> that's a song, hoda.

♪ happy birthday to you

♪ i hear laughter in the rain ♪ walking hand in hand with the one i love ♪ ♪ how i love a rainy day and the happy way i feel inside ♪ >> one more surprise. how you feel? >> old. i feel like 63 now. >> we have a little celebration, a little cake and drink to come out and a bunch of your friends want to come out and hug and kiss you. >> you know what? >> thank you. meredith viera. >> everybody come and get the cake.

>> everybody must watch "the meredith viera" show. >> the cake is lit. i'm lit. we all love you. >> everybody get champagne, though. >> thank you, everyone. thanks so much. >> thank you. >> we love you. >> many more. >> cheers, everyone. >> cheers! >> thank you, everybody. god bless. have a great weekend. >> happy birthday. ♪ happy birthday to you have

right now at 11:00, breaking news, philadelphia public school students will go back to school on time next month. the superintendent dr. hite made the announcement in the past hour and comes news of new cuts affecting students. ni is live i center city. what can you tell us about the cuts and the plan? >> reporter: tracy, about two dozen students, teachers and school activists for public schools protesting outside school disproduct headquarters. inside as you mentions, dr. hite an the budget director laying out the plan for the 2014-2015 school year. now, the city school chief says that the district is short of $81 million but classes will resume on time.