good morning. the plot thickens. a woman, taken into custody in alabama in connection with the murders of that florida couple who were parents to 17 children. what did she do? this as detectives uncover the safe stolen during the home invasion. the accident. frightening never before seen video emerges of the pepsi commercial shoot that some say led to michael jackson's addiction to prescription ugs. and how old is too old? at 66 she was the oldest woman ever to give birth. a single mom. now at 69, she's dead. leaving behind 2-year-old twins, and a lot of ethical questions today, thursday, july 16th,

and a lot of ethical questions today, thursday, july 16th, 2009. captio paid for by nbc-universal television and good morning, everyone. welcome to "today" on a thursday morning. i'm matt lauer. >> and i'm erin burnett. good to be with you. meredith vieira is on assignment this morning. and today an eighth person, this time a woman, is under arrest in connection with that murder investigation in florida. >> that's right. we know her name is pamela longwiggen. she's a married real estate agent. authorities say she rented a home to one of the men charged with murder in this case, the alleged ringleader, and an suv believed to have been used in the deadly home invasion has also been located along with the safe that was taken from melanie and byrd billings' home. sheriff david morgan will give us the latest on this investigation coming up live in just a couple of minutes. >> and also ahead this morning, more on that frightening video of the 1984 pepsi commercial.

we've all seen it from some angles. but this is the commercial that sent michael jackson to the hospital after his hair caught fire. it may have led time down the path of prescription drug addiction. "us weekly" magazine was able to obtain never before seen footage of the accident and we're going to show you much more coming up. >> it's horrible to watch because it's clear he had no idea his hair was on fire for a very long time until everybody rushed to him. later on a much lighters tt can tricks. but have you ever seen a mule that can do just about anything? paint. play basketball. you name it. her name is grace. she's live on the plaza to show us what she can do. >> she can do almost anything. i'm so excited when i found out she'd be here today. >> see, yesterday a beautiful wedding of nick and leigh on the plaza. today a mule that gets the mail. welcome to the world of morning television. strange juxtaposition. >> i think she even has a nice toothy smile she can do on cue. >> we want to begin on a much more serious note.

arrest, another arrest tied to the murder of the parents of those 17 children in florida. nbc'mark potter is in pensacola with the latest. mark, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, matt. it was another busy night here at the sheriff's office, with another arrest and the recovery of some key evidence, as investigators now look at the periphery of the case. authorities arrested 48-year-old pamela longwiggins, a realtor, found wednesday on a 45-foot yacht in an alabama marina. she was charged for alleged activities after the home invasion robbery. in which others are accused of killing byrd and melanie billings, the parents of 17. >> miss wiggins is currently at the escambia county sheriff's office and she will be charged with accessory after the fact for felony murder. >> reporter: investigators say she was the landlord of leonard patrick gonzalez jr. who is charged with murder in the case, along with his father, who was in court wednesday.

>> charged with two counts of homicide. >> reporter: for the last few days court officials have been holding hearings for the seven men who are charged with murder, and for being directly involved in the home invasion that claimed the lives of the billings couple, who had adopted numerous special needs children. >> i thought it was appropriate to establish bond on all the defendants and we have now accomplished that and i'm pleased. >> reporter: investigators say four of the accused men worked at this auto detailing shop in fort walton beach, and that three others worked in landscaping. officials say two of them actually worked for a short time on the billings' property. meanwhile, investigators say they have always wondered why the attackers, who seemed so careful in planning the raid, didn't first turn off the billings' security cameras, which recorded the home invasion, and led to their arrests. >> they entered the compound with the belief that they were not under surveillance. >> reporter: detectives say they now believe someone was supposed to turn off theameras by remote control.

but failed to do so. late wednesday night, authorities recovered two pieces of critical evidence, including the suv, which they say was the second vehicle used in the home invasion robbery. they also recovered the safe, officials say, was stolen from the billings' home. and as investigators continue to piece together this troubling crime, the billings family vows to continue the couple's legacy of adopting special needs children. >> w have lost two people who were truly trying to make the world a better place, one person at a time. >> reporter: and here in pensacola, plans are under way for the billings family funeral tomorrow morning at a local church. matt? >> all right, mark, thank you very much. mark potter in pensacola for us. for more on the investigation now, and the alleged role pamela long wiggins may have played in all this, let's bring in the sheriff of escambia county david morgan. good to see you again. thanks for joining us. >> good morning, sir. >> so we've got pamela long wiggins, arrested in alabama aboard a yacht.

she's said to have possibly rented a property, the alleged ringleader in this case. can you just shed some more light, sir, on what role she may have played? >> well, we know, matt, that she's had a long association both professionally and through mr. gonzalez's family, once again one of our prime suspects. she's been observed transporting his wife and his children to many locations, and she's been alone in a vehicle with him many times. so again, during this investigation, it's almost like concentric circles. we begin to work the circles outward, and we found that she was with him on the day of the murder. and so, again, she beca a person of interest. and that's why we pursued her, trying to find miss wiggins. through tips we found out that she had gone to alabama, and we were concerned because we had not had any contact with her for over 48 hours. we had a tip come in from the media, by the way, you folks helping us out with this case, and that tip went to one of our

hotlines and after the hotline tip, the orange county -- or excuse me orange beach police department arrested her in alabama, detained her for us, and then our folks from escambia county went over and brought her back to our location. we're very sure that -- >> just because she was seen with one of the alleged ringleaders of this case doesn't make her accessory to a crime -- to a felony. so was she found to be in possession of anything that was taken from that home during this time invasion? >> we are releasing this morning at 10:00 a.m., matt, during our press conference with all the members of the media, and at this time i've been asked by the state attorney's office to not speak to that issue. but i will confirm that we have obtained a lot of physical evidence as a result of the arrest of miss wiggins. >> i have a feeling you're not going to answer this, sheriff, and i respect you for it. but, if the safe that was taken from that home has now been recovered, was that safe in the possession or any contents of that safe in the possession of pamela long wiggins?

>> her asiance in this case led to the recovery of evidence in this case. how about that? >> i'll buy thator now. are there more people or persons of interest out there, sheriff morgan? >> we believe so, matt. we are looking into potentially two more persons of interest at this time. interviews hopefully will be conducted within the next couple of days. again, they're at this point persons of interest. we're trying to fill that gap in this investigation with the alarm system and the video surveillance. that's just really gnawing at all of us because in an otherwise perfectly executed crime, if you will, that shouldn't have gone down the way it did. and we are of the belief that someone's off the ball on their team. >> i want to go back to the subject and i've asked you this several times now on several different days, about why this, what was supposed to be appears, a home invasion robby, ended with murder. and i've been trying to avoid rumors, especially with you, sheriff morgan, in this case. bu there has been some talk that perhaps this was more than

a robbery, that there could have been some hit ordered on the billings. and would you comment on that? >> there -- the primary motive, matt, was robbery. i will confirm that for you this morning. that was the primary motive. there are other motives that we know will come out, especially during this prosecutorial phase when you get cover the trial.

natalie, good morning. >> good morning, aaron and matt. good morning to you. a frightening scene outside of trite where a huge explosion of a gasoline tanker shut down part of interstate 75 near detroit after a highway overpass collapsed. last night's explosion sent flames hundreds of feet in the air and injured three drivers. nasa's looking carefully at wednesday's launch of "endeavour" after pieces of foam insulation broke off the fuel tank and hit the shuttle. astronauts will use the robot

arm to look for damage. supreme courtominee sonia sotomayor is back for more testimony as he nears the end of confirmation hearings. nbc's justice correspondent pete williams joins us for more. >> with the questions almost over now, those who support and oppose here will get their turn and among them are firefighters from one of her most controversial court decision hispanic firefighters from new haven, connecticut, will speak against judge sotomayor's confirmation after watching the testimony in the hearing room. she ruled against them when they sued the city for throwing out a promotion exam that failed to qualify african-american firefighters. >> it was wrong and we feel that everybody should know our story. >> reporter: on abortion, judge sotomayor said she never discussed it with president obama. >> i was asked no question by anyone, including the president, about my views on any specific legal issue. >> reporter: and she said an inspiration for her as a young girl was that television lawyer perry mason. >> perry said to the prosecutor,

it must cause you some pain, having expended all that effort in your case, to have the charges dismissed. and the prosecutor looked up and said, no, my job as a prosecutor is to do justice. and justice is served when a guilty man is convicted and when an innocent man is not. >> reporter: one republican senator said she'd be confirmed unless she displayed a meltdown, and there's been nothing like that. natalie? >> all right, pete williams outside the supreme court for us this morning. thanks, pete. officials in iran have recovered the black boxes from wednesday's plane crash that killed all 168 people on board. the cause of the caspian airlines crash is still unknown. three people were killed wednesday near los angel when their plane crashed into a parking lot at the hawthorne municipal airport narrowly missing several buildings.

over seas markets are mostly higher after wednesday's 256-point gain for the dow. cnbc's melissa francis is at the new york stock exchange. melissa, what are you watching there this morning? >> good morning, natalie. we've already seen blockbuster earnings out of jpmorgan this morning. we're waiting for google and ibm coming up after the bell today. so a pretty positive day already. but there could be a pothole in the works. small business lender cit for file for bankruptcy in the next 24 to 48 hours. they keep thousands of small and medium-sized businesses running. and also despite $50 billion in subsidies from the obama administration, foreclosures are on the rise, up 33% in june, compared to this time last year. natalie, back to you. >> all right, melissa francis at the new york stock exchange, thank you. a big change today for the tallest building in the u.s. chicago's sears tower is officially becoming the willis tower after a london-based company got naming rights. and 45 years after he and the rest of the beatles made their u.s. debut at the ed sullivan theater, paul mccourtney put on a show there wednesday on top of the

theater's marquee. a lot of people twisting and shouting out there. he played seven songs, matt and erin, about a half hour's worth. surprised a lot of people outside. >> including the people trying to dve down broadway. >> were you there? >> i wasn't. but i was hearing the traffic reports all afternoon. it was just basically shut down. but anyway, that's a cool site, isn't it? natalie, thanks very much. mr. roker. you look great today. >> thank you very much. >> very summery outfit. >> it's feeling summery out there. let's take a look, show you what's going on. we do have a risk of song storms both in the northeast and parts of north en dewng and also bacgh t ouhr the lce ntra plains. outh central plains into the wess m ispieyipllva.si not looking for tornadoes, although can't rule them out. mostly supercell thunderstorms that have a lot of gusty wind and hail. you can see the activity heavily down through memphis. rest of the country, beautiful in the northwest. temperatures warming up out our warmest morning in ten months.

the warmest morning of the summer, right now in the low and mid 70s around the region and it has turned more humid. it's partly cloudy now and as we get through the day increasing clouds, highs in the upper 80s. it will be rather humid and a small chance of an afternoon thundershower. tomorrow partly sunny, humid in the upper 80s, could get thundershowers friday evening. then saturday maybe a morning shower or afternoon thundershower. less humid and cooler sunday and monday and partly cloudy. and that's your latest weather. erin? >> al, thank you. now to the fight brewing in washington over president obama's plan to revamp our country's health care system. on wednesday, with no republican support, a key senate committee approved a $600 billion reform plan. nbc's chief medical editor dr. nancy synderman sat down with the president on wednesday, talked to him about some of these issues, and good morning. >> hi, erin. he's made health care reform a top priority. asou know, president obama just got back from his overseas trip, and with that, he jumped

in to health care reform re-energized and promising change. he began with a ceremony in the rose garden, and then sat down with me. >> the american people have to recognize that there's no such thing as a free lunch, right? so we can't just provide care to everybody. that has no cost whatsoever. you don't end up having to make any decisions. >> the reality is the average american wants to order a la carte but wants to pay for the blue plate special. we like what we like. >> yes, i think it's true. but partly it's because of a lack of information. >> really? >> self-responsibility is going to be critical. every business out there is going to be looking at their health care bottom line. i was opposed to the idea of an individual mandate, that each person had to get health insurance like car insunce. >> but why? >> i changed my mind on this. because what i was persuaded of was that if we can phase this in so that we know there's affordable insurance out there, and, in fact, a lot of the uninsured are relatively young people who can be in short

fairly cheaply, that that actually will drive down the costs for everybody. >> would you consider changing your mind on taxing health care benefits so that everyone ponies up a little bit? >> i'm very worried about people who are reliant on existing insurance plans suddenly being told, you know what, you are going to have to change your insurance plan. even though you may have negotiated with your employer for that higher benefit. that's an out-of-pocket cost for you. >> and budget neutral. >> i think the best way to do it is to lower the itemized deduions for people who make a lot of money. like me. and if we do that, we can pay for it, and ultimately this will pay for itself. >> mr. president, i know you hate this, but it's the battle of the cigarettes going okay? i'd be remiss as a cancer surgeon not to ask how you're doing. >> i'm doing quite well, thank you. >> he hates that question. the white house is very aware that the clock is ticking.

president obama has asked for legislation to be on his desk by the time of the august recess. that's just three weeks away, and then, erin, as you know, when congress comes back for the fall, i think that's when you're going to start to see the battle over the specific. >> and one crucial question here, howhere going to pay for it. >> right. >> they said they're goi to do that by taxing people who make over $350,000. they're going to pay a tax just for health care. >> 1% up to 5.4% for people who make over a million. >> what do you think about that? >> i have one issue with it. the issue is, i think if we talk about personal responsibility, and we all really have to sort of give somewhere, i think we have to talk about the fact that behavior is change. when we all have a invested interest. i have been, you know, out there saying that taxing health care benefits, to me, is more egalitarian. a lot of people say no. other things still on the table. taxing cigarette higher. taxing sugary drinks. i think these are the specifics now we're going to start to figure out, because the money has to come from somewhere. if the president is really talking about a budget neutral

plan over ten years, the money has to come from somewhere. that's going to be where the battle lines will be drawn. >> someone has to pay for it, and i think we all know it will be a battle. >> you can't have everything for nothing. >> that's right. all right, now here's matt. >> all right, erin, thanks very much. now to president obama's secretary of state, hillary clinton. on wednesday, she delivered a wide-ranging address on foreign policy as political insiders raised questions about her role in the obama administration. nbc's chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell is at the state department with more on that. hi, andrea. >> hi, matt. clinton warned iran, in particular, that there's only so much time for it to accept the diplomatic offer that's on the table. this as part of that wide-ranging foreign policy, just as some observers were asking, where has she been? the secretary of state taking center stage, as her aides try to knock down talk that she's taken a back seat to the president's other foreign policy advisers. >> thank you.

met with our inner agency team about what's happening in the camp. >> reporter: sidelined with the staff, an observer while the president is in the rose garden with foreign leaders. tied up in latin america when the president is cementing his personal relationship with the king of saudi arabia. for the past month, clinton has also been nursing a broken elbow. >> i'll shake with my other hand. >> reporter: enduring painful surgery and rehabilitation. aides say that's why she was missing from the president's big trip to russia. white house and state department officials insist no one has a stronger voice than clinton in white house policy debate. and clinton strengthens her bond with the president by being a team player. still there are moments of obvious irritation with the white house, over the pace of presidential appointments to her team. maddeningly slow. >> the process, the clearance and vetting process is a nightmare. and it takes far longer than any of us would -- would want to

see. it is frustrating beyond words. >> reporter: and sometimes she gets overruled. the president named one of his big fund-raisers, john ruth to be ambassar to japan, instead of her choice of a foreign policy expert. and the white house refused to name longtime clinton confidant sidney blumenthal to a state department post >> in spite of everyone being a team, in that team, people know who is an obama person, who is a clinton person. they're branded with an identity that is hard to shake off. so the loyalty question lingers, and there have been behind-the-scenes battles about is clinton getting all the clinton people? are obama people being foisted on her? >> now we are learning clinton leaves today for india. it will be her first foreign trip in more than a month. and at each stop she will make it very clear that she is carrying the president's foreign policy. not her own. matt? >> all right, andrea, thanks very much. andrea mitchell at the state department for us this morning. still ahead, some

never-before-seen video of michael jackson's pepsi commercial accident that some say led him along the path to prescription drug addiction. but first, this is "today" on nbc.

still ahead, a rash of crank calls are scaring hooelgte.rs >> and the death of the world's oldest newmom. a single woman raising ethical questions about her decision to have children in the first place.

7:26 is your time now. 74 degrees. a little haze in the nation's capital as the humidity returns. tom will have the forecast. i'm eun yang. it's thursday, july 16, 2009. a water main break is making it tough t. main broke on little river turnpike in annandale. there is one westbound lane of little river turnpike open between convel drive and pine crest parkway. crews are expected on the scene for several more hours. metro's red line will be closed from the fort totten station to silver spring from 10 to 3:00 today. the ntsb wants to perform more tests on that section of track.

there will be shuttle buses that will help people get around the closure. b@

our warmest morning since last september. in the low and mid 70s, clouds in and out and a small chance of an afternoon thundershower, humid today and tomorrow. greater chance of showers and thundershowers tomorrow night. how's the traffic? >> along i-270, not bad, below the speeds in a couple of spots. on the beltway south of town it's jammed outer loop with the lane shift, just have van dorn, the right lane breaks off from the other two lanes, that jam

begins in springfield. >> thank you, jerry. tonight on "news 4 at 5:00" kids are giving up swimming, softball and soccer for cooking.

we're back at 7:30 on a thursday morning, july 16th, 2009. you are looking at perhaps one of the most talked about moments in pop culture history. this is michael jackson's pepsi commercial shoot where something went terribly wrong and his hair caught fire. he suffered second and third degree burns to his face and scalp. i'm matt lauer alongside erin burnett, filling in while meredith is on assignment. that incident happened on january 27th, 1984 and a lot of people say that was the day that changed michael jackson's lif forever. the never-before-seen video that you're looking at right now was obtained by "us weekly"

magazine. we're going to have much more on that coming up in just a couple of minutes. it's frightening to watch. >> it is. how he just kept going. also ahead a 66-year-old single woman shocked the world when she gave birth to twins nearly three years ago. now, the world's single -- the world's oldest new mother at the time raised questions about how old was too old to actually become a parent. she did die this weekend but her two young boys, now sadly orphans. so what happens to them? and was she wrong to have children at such an advanced age in the first place? that's a question a lot of people are asking. >> and that debate is going to heat up again because of her early death, no question about it. plus the crank calls that are terrifying hotel guests all across the country, coming in the middle of the night. >> but we want to begin with the video matt was talking about. newly released pictures of michael jackson, burned during a commercial shoot more than 25 years ago. nbc's jeff rossen has more. good morning, jeff. >> hi, erin, good morning to you. this may be the most stunning video ever taken of michael jackson. that infamous pepsi commercial

from 1984. you mentioned we've been talking about it for 25 years. this morning, you'll see for the first time exactly what happened, from the onset explosion to michael jackson's hair on fire. many say it was this accident that sparked an addiction to painkillers. it was michael jackson's final take of the pepsi commercial that changed everything. ♪ the shoot had been going smoothly, until take six. there was a flash onstage. the pyrotechnics exploded too early, and suddenly the king of pop was on fire, in this never-before-seen video you can see the flames shooting from his hair. >> my stark reaction when i saw this video is just the absolute shock. his hair is actually on fire for about eight seconds before anybody steps in to put it out. so he continues dancing, oblivious to the fact that his hair is alight. >> reporter: jackson kept performing for the cameras and the 3,000 fans there to watch.

he was still smoking as people rushed to help. >> when he suddenly realizes that there is a fire, he puts his sequinned white glove on top of his head and tries to put it out and people crowd around him. >> reporter: he looked shock, who wouldn't be, and if you slow the video down you can see his scalp, the hair singed off. it was january, 1984. michael jackson was at the height of his career. but this would become the watershed moment of his life. >> the fact that the pepsi commercial went wrong is almost -- it pinpoints, really, the beginning of the end, when everything started to go wrong. this is when he first became addicted to painkillers. he was prescribed demerol to get over this injury. >> reporter: "us weekly" magazine obtained the video and posted it online. to this day the jackson family blames the pepsi incident for many of michael's problems. jermaine jackson spoke with matt about it at neverland. >> i heard things about the prescription drugs when he had the pepsi burn. >> reporter: 25 years later,

prescription drugs are at the center of his death investigation. jackson's doctors have turned over medical records, including his dermatologist arnold klein and dr. conrad murray, who was with jackson at the time of his death. dr. murray is now in virtual hiding, though his lawyer denies dr. murray did anything wrong. his spokesperson tells nbc news he met with investigators twice. the final interview on june 27th, two days after jackson died, lasted three hours. they say he hasn't been served with subpoenas or search warrants. and that he's turned over all the documents requested. usc law professor jean rosenbluth said prosecutors have an opportunity here to send a message. >> when the whole world is watching, you've got a high profile victim, you get more bang for your buck if you go after the people who are criminally responsible in a situation like that. >> reporter: this morning perhaps a new sign that the criminal case is progressing. i spoke with the los angeles d.a.'s office, and they now

confirm for nbc news prosecutors are in touch with investigators. they're talking. but they say even if there are criminal charges, don't expect anything, erin, until we see the coroner's report. and that could happen by next week. >> all right, thank you very much. you know, everyone who is waiting avidly for the results of that. let's bring back nbs chief medical editor dr. ncy synderman. we're going to show this video again, and what's most striking about it, perhaps, is that he keeps going. he doesn't even appear, and you can see, to actually realize his hair is on fire. >> right. >> you think he would be in a lot of pain. >> he wouldn't know his hair was on fire until it really hits his scalp. that's why you see him put his hand to his head. there's that close-up where you can see the scalp is red. that's the second and third degree burns which means it's gone through the rea outside layer of the derma. >> so how long would it take for a scalp burn like that to heal? >> well, some of it will just heal, what we call by secondary intention. it will just scar in. but we also have reports that he required skin grafts, and some

procedures. and that's where the idea of these medications being introduced comes in. propofol and diprivan, which is the narcotic sedative that's used for outpatient procedures, that's sort of been implicated in some of these issues it is used for outpatient surgical procedures. it's not a pain medication. so he might have been given it at that time just to go through the procedures to take care of the healing. >> what's amazing when you look at that video is his brother jermaine was there and actually didn't realize this was happening either. matt spoke with jermaine at neverland and he said that's incident when he started to quote unquote hear things about prescription pain medications. if you had an injury like this, you would automatically have a pain medication? >> well it hurts like crazy. absolutely, pain management is any kind of burn treatment. and narcotics are still the best pain management. demerol it turns out is not a great medication to use for pain. but it could have been at the time of this, his doctors turned to demerol first. the problem is you have to give

dig-time narcotics, take care of the intense, immediate pain in the first few days, and then back off those medications gradually to pill form and regular old over-the-counter medications. >> are they always addictive? >> narcotics are always addictive. >> okay. >> so you have to look at the patient who's used them, how much they're gobbling them down, and you have to back off. because that window of oh, my gosh, i like this, it feels good, the pain isn't so bad, but now the medicatns are taking care of, you know, the emotional issues of my day, or making me not have to deal with reality. that's the gray area of using narcics. but sometimes, if people we undermedicate them and other times obviously, we let people with money and too much access get too much. but to treat people appropriately with the bigtime medications, and then to dial them back as quickly as possible, that's what good doctors do. >> but, fair in your opinion to say this incident really could have been a turning point for

him in his life? >> absolutely. i mean it is, in fact, this is when narcotics were introduced to mikele jackson. then good doctors had to recognize, perhaps, this is an addictive personality here. prance the narcotics are no longer needed. let's go to simpler, over-the-counter medications. but could this have been a time when the bigger medications were introduced? absolutely. y nkr. nanc y terha v ch y ou bet, in.>> > >>d nowst'etle g> noth er ofchk eche ty'das atda ca r refost. romrm alreal >> "today's weather" is brought to you by new centrum ultrawomen's and ultramen's multivitamins. >> and good morning. and we've got a crowd. what's your name? >> david. >> and what's your name? >> myla. >> where are you from? >> virginia. >> well, i love that haircut. you've got a little mr. t. working there. very nice. let's check your weather, see what's going on. show you that today we're looking at the hot weather out west.

upper level ridge is strengthen tg,nd ahose er tempndateste are sizroing f m fresno, 6,10 vas 0.11 ak11 llte 95. rest of the country, cool around the great lakes. on into northern new england. but the heat continues down through texas. gulf coast, mid-atlantic states, as far as conditions are concerned we're looking at a risk of strong storms, interior new york, down into the northeast. we're also looking at sunshine in the pacific northwest. going to be spectacular there today. more sun and sizzling weather in the southwest. and a risk good morning. live picture from our city camera showing a pearly summer haze. yes, the humidity has returned. it's still not really terribly humid but it's more humid than it has been. and it's the warmest morning this year. it's in the low 70s now around the region, highs today should reach the upper 80s. and there is a small chance of a thundershower.

we've got dueling mr. t. haircuts. what's your name? >> i'm jeremy. >> good to see you, bud. and if you want to check your weather and check your hair weather any time of the day or night go to the weather channel on cable, or weather.com online. mr. lauer? >> all right, mr. roker, thanks very much. now to a story that's raising a lot of questions about how old is too old to become a mom? over the weekend, a 69-year-old woman who at 66 became the world's oldest new mom, died in spain. our national correspondent amy robach has more on this. amy, good morning to you. >> matt, good morning. 2 1/2 years ago, maria busada gave birth to twin boys with the help of fertility treatment. now she has left behind two young orphans, and a lot of questis. maria dell carmen busada became the world's oldest mother after giving birth to twin boys, christian and pao in december

2006 at a hospital in barcelona. she was 67 at the time. to get pregnant, busada flew from spain to los angeles for fertility treatments at the pacific fertility center. she lied, telling doctors she was only 55 years old. the clinic paid for in vitro fertilization. her specialist at the time. >> she came to see me seeking help to have a child. she filled in all the documents and every proof was that she was 55 years old. and i did not know her age until after she gave birth to the twins. >> reporter: her true age, a concern. >> i would not treat single woman at 67 regardless of the conditions. >> reporter: in an interview last year with news of the world, busada explained that like many women, she always wanted to be a mother. saying often circumstances put you between a rock and a hard place, and may things shouldn't have been done in the way they were done. but that was the only way to achieve the thing i had always dreamed of.

busada was counting on a long life with christian and pao. her mother lived to be 101 years old. but it was not to be. she paved the way for two senior moms to push the age limits even further. last year in india, 72-year-old amkara pamwar gave birth to twins and 70-year-old radja deba had a daughter. entering motherhood at a time when most women are grandmothers. begging the question, is there a point when a woman is too old to have a baby? >> i don't think we have a ethics czar to decide what's ethical and what's not about how old someone should or shouldn't be before they have a baby. >> reporter: but many fertility doctors draw the line at age 55. in part because of worries about the children. worries that sadly came true for christian and pao. >> there are a lot of social issues. what about, what if you die, what happens to these babies, and what are your plans? because you need to think about your age as a potential problem. although any woman at any age having a baby, that's a problem

that you can't take away. >> reporter: reports indicate that busada died of stomach cancer and the children are now reportedly with her brother in spain. matt? >> we have to remember, she was 66 at the time, but she told people she was 55. >> 55. >> so a lot of problems there. amy, thank you very much. still ahead, the life-changing surgery, the first person in the u.s. received a double hand transplant. he'll join us live exclusively. but up next, the crank calls that just might tnurgi tra lc se day. a warning for anyone who stays ins helt ot tghriafter th.gh

back now at 7:45. imagine you and your family are on vacation in a hotel room somewhere. suddenly, a call comes in saying you're in danger. as nbc's kerry sanders will tell us, you can't always believe what you hear, and kerry, this is a really frightening story. >> reporter: it is. imagine, now, this is, well the phone is ringing and you're kind of groggy, you're just waking up, calls seem to come right before you wake up, you answer the phone and on the other end it's somebody who claims to be the manager of the hotel and they tell you a story that there's a gas leak in the building and you have to take action. this is where it really turns

ugly. they say get something and begin smashing the window, and so folks are actually smashing the window. and how convincing is this? well, one of the people who fell for this prank was a deputy. that's right. a law enforcement officer who was on vacation with his family. the trail of damage at hotels runs from florida to arkansas to nebraska, to california. victims say the prank calls seemed so believable. >> we have a major gas leak occurring in the hotel. >> the pranksters are so brazen some have posted their calls on the internet. >> you need to break window, ma'am. >> reporter: in this fake emergency call the guest is suspicious the's a gas leak but after someone else joins the call, it all seems so real. >> you're serious about this, right? >> we're serious, ma'am. >> i'm the general manager and we're verifying that it is a serious gas leak, and we do at this time need you to break that window so that you can get some

air in. >> i'm overlooking the pool. you know that? >> that's fine. we're not worried about anything but your safety at this time. >> reporter: as the guest tries to smash the window open with an iron, the callers, who don't sound like teenagers, stay on the line. >> get away lady. you don't want to get hurt. >> she's on a mission. >> front desk told me to do it, get away. >> reporter: police say the ringing phone sm usually comes when a guest is asleep, groggy, when street wits seemingly are not sharp. that was the case with the deputy in orlando. >> there's a guy on the second floor of a hotel. hotels can be pretty high up. he breaks the window, being told to throw the mattress out. imagine if he was on the 10th, 15th, 20th floor and that's the only way out. >> reporter: in another variation of the prank, guests were told to pull fire alarms, or smash sprinklers, setting them off. eleanor brown, also a hotel guest, didn't know what was going on.

>> i just heard the man in the room next to me where it all happened yell. >> reporter:otel managers called police after his hotel was targeted. >> someone called this hotel and convinced one of our guests to bust out the window. >> okay. >> throw the mattresses down stairs. >> we weren't the first hotel targeted. i'm supposedly not going to be the last hotel targeted, you know. >> reporter: police say their biggest fear now is someones going to get hurt. in the case of the deputy who was here with his family. he smashed the windows, he threw the mattresses out the window, and he was getting ready to toss his children outside, erin. >> oh, wow. that is a horrible stor kerry, at least hopefully a lot of people now will be more aware after seeing it. thank you so much. and still ahead, amazing grace. we are finally going to meet the mule who can literally do almost anything. she doesn't appear to be nervous at all about being here. we'll be right back. but first these messages.

so we've come outside to hang out with a real mule. this is grace. and grace is going to wow and amaze you after these messages and your local news.

7:56 is your time. 74 degrees. the sun high in the sky but clouds all around. what will the forecast be like today? tom will have the answer after the news. good morning. it's thursday, july 16, 2009. in the news, metro's red line will be closed from the fort totten station to silver spring from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. it's part of the ongoing investigation into last month's deadly metro crash. the ntsb wants to perform more tests on that section of track. there will be shuttle buses to help people get around the closure. police investigate an assault along a popular trail in vienna that happened yesterday on the bike trail. the 25-year-old jogger told

police a man ran up on a bike, exposed himself and threw her on the ground. we'll take a break and check weather and traffic.

a hazy summer morning, sun is up now in a partly to mostly cloudy sky. we're getting breaks allowing the sun to come through. and temperatures are now in the mid 70s, highs in the upper 80s with clouds in and out. humid today, small chance of an

afternoon thundershower today, a greater chance friday night. over the weekend might have a morning shower saturday or afternoon thundershower. the weekend looks dry otherwise. less humid sunday into monday. how's traffic? >> we had a decent commute on 270 but unfortunately broken down vehicle hanging things up. 270 southbound between montgomery village and i-370. south of town very, very tough with the lanes split outer loop, backup begins in springville to a point past van dorn street. over the wilson bridge, so far so good. >> tonight, kids are giving up swimming, softball and soccer swimming, softball and soccer this summer all for cooking. if we don't act, medical bills will wipe out their savings. if we don't act, she'll be denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition. and he won't get the chemotherapy he needs. if we don't act, health care costs will rise 70%. and he'll have to cut benefits for his employees. but we can act.

the president and congress have a plan to lower your costs and stop denials for pre-isting conditions. it's time to act. we're back now at 8:00 on a thursday morning. it's the 16th day of july, 2009. let's just stop for a second and take a gander at some of the nice people who have joined us on the plaza this morning. a pretty nice day here, although i think it's going to go downhill rather quickly. by the way, these people here stick around for 24 hours, they're in for a great concert tomorrow morning on today. we've got the all-american rejects out in our plaza in the 8:30 half hour putting on a good show. if you're in the area come on down and check it out.

meanwhile on the plaza today i'm matt lauer along with erin burnett. erin is nice enough to fill in while meredith is on assignment. mr. roker joins us, as well. you're about to introduce us to a guy who i think most people are going to find very inspiring. >> truly is. used to talk about liking to hold his wife's hand, his child's hand and then something happened to him. he ended up with a very bad infection. lost his hands and logs his legs. now jeff kepner recently became the first person to get a double hand transplant in the united states. and what's incredible is it's partially because of something that happened here on "today." we're going to be speaking with jeff, his wife and the surgeon in just a couple of moments. >> look forward to that. and also ahead, if you're going to be summering out, don't worry, because, in fact, some people like going out to get the mail on a beautiful day like this, well, don't worry, we've got somebody who can do that for you. >> oh, right, we do. >> somebody? >> someone. a young lady named grace, the mule. >> and a segment right up our alley.

that was the barricade there. we're gadget guys. >> yes, we are. >> we've got some great gadgets for people traveling this summer. we're going to probably own two or three of these things after this segment. >> the disposable instant grill. >> you've got to have two or three of those. before we get to that, ann is also on assignment, natalie is at the news desk. >> good morning, matt, erin and al. an eighth person is now under arrest in the murders of melanie and byrd billings, the florida couple who are parents to 17 children. police say pamela long wiggins is a real estate agent who rented a home to one of the suspects charged in the murders, and this morning on "today," the escambia county sheriff told matt, wiggins helped investigators recover evidence, and they pinned down the main motive. >> the primary motive, matt, was robbery. i will confirm that for you this morning. that was the primary motive. there are other motives that we know will come out, especially during the prosecutorial phase when you get to cover the trial.

again, as with most everything in this case, it's going to be a shock and a surprise to just about anyone that reads this case and follows it. >> and the sheriff also said there are potentially two more persons of interest in this case. at least two house committees are voting today on a $1.5 trillion plan to reform the nation's health care system. president obama touted the legislation at the white house wednesday. the same day a senate health committee gave its approval to a less expensive measure. the president wants congress to pass the bill before the august break. a 35-year-old driver was shot and killed by police outside capitol hill wednesday. police say the man droveaway erratically after a routine traffic stop, and then began firing at police. crews worked through the night to contain a fiery explosion last night on a highway near detroit. a gas tanker exploded on interstate 75 sending flames shooting hundreds of feet into the air. the blast caused part of an overpass to collapse. the tanker driver and two others were injured. and a semi trailer truck

carrying scrap metal overturned on a portland, oregon, bridge wednesday. causing itsoad to come crashing down on the vehicle next to it. police believe the truck driver may have hit a cu.rb amazingly, everyone is okay. .ist i now t 8:04. toyou'e up at d rhtat now. le t's get anotherherfhe ock the we mr omfr r.roke s y'ather"s s i bshtroug to you by astrazeneca, learn more about plaque buildup i arteries, visit athero.com today. >> and good morning, got a lot of folks here from the naacp. 100th anniversary. brohm is addressing you guys today. >> correct. we are celebrating our 100th anniversary and we are launching a new program, 100 remix. >> and where can they find out about that on your website? www.100remix.com. >> great idea. let's check your weather, see what's going on. show you for today, pick city of the day, des moines, iowa. who-tv 13 scattered showers and

thunderstorms. as we look at the rest of the country for the weekend, heavy rain in new england. much of the rest of the country sizeling conditions. record highs in the plabs. and then sunday -- sunday! -- much of the country sunny to mild, sizzling again in the southwest,ot and humid in the northeast, and hit or miss shower a mild july morning, partly sunny now, temperatures hit the mid 70s. here in washington, the 76 degrees, and all around the region we have increased humidity. it will be rather humid but not sweltering humidity. it will be rather humid tonight and tomorrow, too. there is a small chance of an afternoon thundershower as highs reach upper 80s to near 90. tomorrow partly sunny, rather humid. looks like a likelihood friday evening thundershowers and showers. and that's your latest weather. mr. lauer? >> all right, mr. roker.

thank you very much. when we come back, we'll reveal thg' ins choices for the nominations for the 61st annual prime-time emmy awards. but up next, the first man to receive a double hand transplant in the united states. he'll join us exclusively here right after these messages. while i was building my life, my high cholesterol was contributing to plaque buildup in my arteries. that's why my doctor prescribed crestor. she said plaque buildup in arteries is a real reason to lower cholesterol. and that along with diet, crestor does more than lower bad cholesterol, it raises good. crestor is also proven to slow the buildup of plaque in arteries. crestor isn't for everyone, like people with liver disease, or women who are nursing, pregnant, or may become pregnant. simple blood tests will check for liver problems. you should tell your doctor about other medicines you are taking, or if you have muscle pain or weakness. that could be a sign of serious side effects. while you've been building your life, plaque may have been building in yo arteries.

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back now at 10 past the hour. jeff kepner loves life. he played softball, took lessons to become a pastry chef, and was always playing with his young daughter and holding his wife's hand. things that seemed rather simple. but then a serious illness struck, and that's where natalie picks up the story. >> that's right, erin. things took a turn for the worse for jeff when a bacterial infection took hold in his limbs, forcing doctors to amputate both his legs and his hands. prosthetics helped but life was a daily struggle. then earlier this year, jeff became the first person to receive a double hand transplant in 9 united states. for much of the past decade,

jeff kepner lived without hands and feet. his wife valarie helping him with even the simplest everyday tasks. but kepner's fate changed when his wife saw a segment on hand transplants last fall here on today. >> how do you qualify? >> we think that hand transplants can greatly improve or even transform a patients life, it's very important that candidates go through a rigorous screening process. >> reporter: valarie was so excited about the possibility of new hands for her husband, she called university of pittsburgh medical center before even telling jeff what she'd seen. >> the thought of him having independence again, not having to rely on me or to be on my schedule. >> reporter: her husband's greatest hope, that he might be able to touch, to feel again. >> hey, what have i got to lose? if this works, if i get my hands and my feeling. feeling is the biggest part. >> reporter: on may 4th, jeff received a double transtransplant, the first ever in the united states. doctors spent nine hours attaching his bones, tendons, nerves and veins to the new

hands. >> we also expect he would have movement in his hands, to be able to do grip and grasp. >> reporter: the hope now, that the nerves in jeff's hands continue to grow, to give him a little of what he lost. >> this would be great. you know. i'll cook again. you know, i'll take my own shower, won't have to wait for her to get me up. i'd sure like to hold my daughter's hand and wife's hand, and vice versa. >> and eight double hand transplants have been performed abroad. and in a study of some of those recipients in france doctors found the nervous system begins to regenerate nerves at the rate of about one millimeter a day and over a period of months control and sensation returns to the patient and the hands begin to act and feel like their own appendages. erin? >> it seems like a miracle. natalie, thank you. and jeff, his wife valarie and dr. andrew lee, chief of plastic surgery at the university of pittsburgh medical center are with us this morning. good morning to all of you.

a story that is perhaps inspiring many watching just to watch you, jeff, and what you've gone through. what -- how do you feel right now? and can you feel? >> well, i feel a little nervous. but no, i cannot feel just yet. can't feel anything yet. >> can you move your hands at all yet? >> yes, i can wiggle my fingers, if you could see that. with both hands. >> we can see it. >> it's getting there. yes. >> and doctor le how long will it take for jeff to be able to fully move, to be able to feel his wife's hand, or to feel the sensation of temperature? >> well, nerves regenerate at about a rate of an inch per month. we anticipate it will beine to twelve months before jeff will get feelings in his hands, and at least one to two years before he will have all the movement in his hands. >> so, jeff, as you think about

that, what are some of the things that you want to do first? >> well, the first thing i want to do, you've mentioned it, was to hold my wife's hand, hold my daughter's hand, and cook again. it sounds silly, but those are some of the things i'm anxious to get back to. >> i guess you don't realize what you don't have -- or you miss what you have until you miss it. valarie, you were actually the one who got this idea to try to do the hand transplant, and you started to look into it. before you even told jeff, right? >> right, that's correct, i did. i had seen a segment on the "today" show with dr. lee, and had just pulled up the information on the upmc website. so i just gave him a call and tried to find out information about it. >> and what are your hopes, valarie? >> i'm just hoping and praying for just independence for jeff again. as we said before, just not

having to rely on me, and having to be on his own schedule and to do the things that he wants to do, and when he wants to do them, on his own timetable. >> doctor lee, where do we go from here? i mean, this seems like a miracle. the first time this has been done in the united states. first hands, then what is next? i mean, we look at jeff and his situation. i mean, could we have ls for people and feet? what is next? >> well, i think a lot of research is still necessary before we do a leg transplant. but that's clearly a possibility for the future. one of the major obstacles for transplant, whether it's a hand or leg, is the amount of anti-rejection medication the patient has to take, which can cause harmfulide effects. we have a protocol that we're using on jeff that is designed to minimize the amount of anti-rejection medication. in contrast to the typical triple drug regiment for many

transplant recipients, jeff is currently taking just one drug. of course, it's still too early to declare a protocol a success. >> and jeff, what about your daughter? what does she say? >> she's anxious to get her dad back. and she is -- one of the first things she said was, oh, boy, he can cook again. so she'll be anxious. >> cking appears to be a wonderful thing. dr. lee, final word to you. many people want to make a difference and not everyone is an organ donor, as an example, but if somebody wanted in their life, or when their life ends, to make a difference like jeff, what can we do to make sure that some part of us could go to somebody who needs it? >> well, just like organ donation, i think people should think about donation of other body parts such as hand or face, because jeff is a good example of how donation of hand can truly change his life and his family's lives. >> jeff, valarie, dr. andrew lee, thanks so much to all of

you. inspirational story, i know for me and i'm sure for many people watching. for more information on jeff's story logon to resources.todayshow.com. and up next, matt and al's segment. they're very excited about this one. the gadgets you can't afford to leave home when you head off on your next road trip. ud clthing inat disposable grill, and does the dog come, too? but first, these messages. the great taste of cranberries, naturally energizing green tea, and b vitamins. it's a "good for you" kind of energy that helps you get stuff done. and when your days look like this... you need all the help you can... get. hey, your wednesday just oned up. now 40% more cranergy for your money. lo f our bigger bottle in the juice aisle. or the worry my pipes might leak... compromise what i like to do... like hunting for bargains, not always bathrooms.

i take care with vesicare. (announcer) once-daily vesicare can help control your bladder muscle and is proven to reduce frequent, sudden urges and leaks... day and night... if you have certain stomach or glaucoma problems, or trouble emptying your bladder, do not take vesicare. tell your doctor right away if you have a serious allergic reaction, severe abdominal pain, or become constipated for three or more days. vesicare may cause blurred vision, so take care while driving or doing unsafe tasks. common side effects are dry mouth, constipation, and indistio you deserve better than to always be compromised by urges and leaks. ask your doctor today about taking care with vesicare.

( thud, ding, applause ) 100 calorie right bites. make the most of every bite.

"today's" travel on the road is brought to you by goodyear. get there on new fuel max tires. ♪ on the road again >> and this morning on "today's travel on the road" don't leave home without them. we're talking travel gadgets here that are going to make life a lot easier during that next summer road trip. the travel reporter for a travel reporter for "usa today," ben, good to see you. good morning. >> good morning. >> you've gathered some great products here. are you looking for anything in particular, are they unique or

just convenient, what? >> a combination of things that are both convenient and unique this year. our reporters worldwide are joining us for a story in tomorrow's paper and she's are some of the gadgets that are new to the market that can help us for travel road trips. >> except for one product we're going to show at the end these are all fairly affordable. which is also nice. >> the price of most things range from $2 to $75, $80. and they're all pretty easy to pack. >>let's start right off the bat. i can't cook but i can grill. i think a lot of guys feel that way. this is i can't believe somebody hasn't come up with this before. this is everything you need to grill right in this package right here. except the food. >> exactly. and when you're taking a road trip, you don't think to take the grill with you. not something that's easily portable. with this it is. disposable after one-time use. you can set probably about four burgers, two steaks on here. one match to light and will run for about 90 minutes. >> have you guys tested this? does this really work, holds up and things like that? >> it does really work. can be a little messy. make sure you're in a good spot, but it does work.

>> don't put this on a blanket or something else that's not resistant to heat. >> exactly. >> did you mention a price? >> that goes for about $20 for a pack of two. >> okay, pack of two. not bad. >> the next thing is great for kid. this is basically ail picnic in a box. >> exactly. this is great if you're in a car on a road trip. these will help kids, you know, to keep them from getting hungry and grouchy in the car. and they range from $2 to $7 basically. and they're great for people with dietary concerns. >> a variety of them? >> a variety. whether it's gluten free, kosher, peanut free, basically almost any variety you can imagine. >> what's theprice? >> they start at $2.99 and go up to $6.99. >> what would the shelf life -- >> they don't need to be refrigerated. everything is sealed or preserved. so i wouldn't keep them in your car for two or three years but over the course of the summer they should hold up pretty well. >> i like that not refrigerated thing. this little device, this is basically a way to never get lost. it's a gps device.

>> this is great for people with bad sense of direction. it only works outdoors but of course it's summer. when you leave your destination, you set it to remember your destination, program the gps coordinates into the bushnell gps back tracker. go off into the park or hiking or the beach and if you can't remember where you parked your car fm the beach or how to get back from hiking, you reset it. >> it's always taking you back to the place you left. this is not going to help you find the destination you've never been to. >> think of it has a high-tech compass. >> it's like leaving bread crumbs. >> exactly. >> and what was the price on this? >> that goes for about $73. >> okay, great. this looks like a pillow. it's actually this blanket. this is all part of this hotel chain idea where they're actually offering retail products? >> exactly. it's the westin heavenly bed duvet. they roll this out outside the hotel, it was offered in certain flights in first and business class. westin said this has become so popular they decided to market it. >> it's a full-size duvet.

>> believe it or not it folds up into that. there's a little hidden pocket in the back of the blanket. >> so it's a pillow. >> okay, this is boomer down here. hey, boomer, how are you? this is a pet of joey cole one of our producers. here's here to help us show this. >> right. this is the dog carrying case. it is the dog to go chow pal kit. and you have a bowl here. two stainless steel bowls. one for food, one for water. and there is a spill mat. to keep the mess minimum. underneath here, you have a storage kit for two containers of food, and extra water, and it fits in this case. for example you could have all of your food prepackaged in the thing, ready to go on a moment's notice. >> and finally this is a little more elaborate. this is like a flexible flyer on steroids. what is this. >> it's called the shade wagon. when the umbrella is completely up it's just like a big beach umbrella you would see at the beach. it's a very sturdy wagon.

carries 800 pounds. great for cargo, all-terrain tires, go on sand or dirt. holds down, seating for two, and even a speaker in front for your ipod or emmmp3 player. >> school stuff. great idea. you can read more of these products in tomorrow's edition of "usa today." say hi to a guy now who loves to travel, mr. willard scott. willard, good morning. >> good morning, matt. isn't that mice? >> it is nice. >> and he spoke to you and me and we're together. >> we know him. >> we know him. look at our friend over here. >> grace. >> you are so sweet. what's your ratings going to be for next week? >> i think she likes you. >> uh-oh. >> getting a little frisky there. >> all right. >> you stay away from her. >> okay. >> are we ready? >> ll 'solsm re r'thker.ucjas >> ou you x. etrg rgkohlaf o sockjanville ck beach, florida. y10 0ears old. taesht prchool on live viprletesion. le >> howool. >> that was a long time ago back in the '60s.

remember ding dong? >> that'right. she wa ksnown a manatee marge. a se b auec she sauwims like a manatee. dig ngon dscolon was aatre g av o vowshn c.nbow >> wlard haen. pasadena, california. retired insurance broker, loved lawn bowling and golf, a proud award winning photographer. >> i know why thelhe calm t grocers w. ars.llie mae ne >> 10. loves all types of flowers, especially roses. loves to spend t te thwihe family and.rithdsends >> lloyd mostrom. > secret to longevity is savoring the moment. steps to get into t house. we eo'vot t govot mg m re. lyon0 lyseconds. >> okay, tullis hostetter. >> alnyew, nyork, 103. her third try trying to get on. >> and beautiful florence shapiro. >> 101, volunteers at the cancer

institute. hit the dance floor recently. all right, uncle willie, thank you so much. ? ysgu good morning. our time now is 8:26. we have 76 degrees out there. some heavy traffic along the george washington memorial parkway. we'll find out more about that. good morning. i'm joe krebs on this thursday, the 16th of july. in the news today, a water main break is affecting the commute in fairfax county, a 12-inch main broke in annandale. right now there is only one westbound lane of literary turnpike open. crews are expected to be on the scene for several more hours. an alert for metro riders, the red line closed from fort totten to silver spring station from 10:00 to 3:00 p.m. the ntsb wants to perform more tests on that section of track.

there will be shuttle buses to help you get around today. we'll take a break and come back and look at weather and traffic. noooo ! is he alright ? poor guy's in a dead zone... can't update facebook... twitter's timing out... youtube's super-slow. it's so frustrating! i had that... until i switched to verizon. you've got 3g all over.

get america's largest 3g network and run the apps you want, where you want. now get $50 off any blackberry like the blackberry storm. it is a soft summer morning. in the 70s, the upper 80s this afternoon with clouds in and out and a chance of an afternoon thundershower. a greater chance friday night. rather humid through tomorrow. and now how's the traffic, jerry? >> good news. the broken down vehicle on 270 is out of the roadway, 395

northbound still very tough headed for downtown the lanes are reported open. >> thanks. tonight on "news 4 at 5:00" kids are giving up sports for cooking. taking its rightful place

in a long line of amazing performance machines. this is the new e-coupe. this is mercedes-benz. we're back at 8:30 now on a thursday morning. 15th day of july, 2009. a few showers in our forecast later today in new york city. doesn't seem to bother all these nice people, like the ones from michigan state and other places gathered on the plaza. we're happy they're here. i'm matt lauer, erin burnett is here while meredith is on assignment. natalie is here while ann is on assignment. mr. roker -- >> i'm not on assignment. i just love being here.

>> coming up we're going to find out if your favorite stars and shows are on the list. we're talking about the nominations for the61st annual prime-time emmy awards. we're going to have full coverage of this morning's announcement coming up in just a couple of minutes. >> plus she has now donned her painting outfit. >> ooh. >> inspire her. great. >> okay. >> look at this. she's painting. >> good girl. >> oh. >> she's getting the brush on. actually that's the scarf ann was wearing thother day. >> good girl. good girl. >> i like that painting that you all did. >> with more talent. >> grace has more talent? >> uh-huh. >> oh. >> i remember that. >> yes. >> what else is happening? >> also coming up a little bit later we're going to have more on that frightening video that has surfaced now, 25 years later after michael jackson was in the

pepsi commercial. you see the fire there, on top of his scalp. so we're going to talk to us weekly on how they got this video and also what it may shed some light on. >> every time you look at it, it almost seems like a stunt. >> yeah. >> a stunt gone wrong. >> let's get a check of the weather. >> i love the way way he says t weather! enjoy it while it's nice. check it out, see what's going on for today. slkightf ris o strong storm here in the northeast into parts of southern new england. also central plains and lower mississippi river valley. the heat is on in the pacific northwest. central, california. tomorrow, much of the country sizzling, slight risk of strong storms along the carolina coast. also in the central rockies, we're looking at hot weather good morning. it's more humid overnight. we have summer has in the air, high clouds coming through, temperatures in the mid 70s. it's 76 in whington and it will turn rather humid here for today, tonight and tomorrow.

small chance of an afternoon thundershower. tomorrow partly sunny, highs in the upper 80s. looks like thundershowers are likely friday night. then saturday morning, maybe a shower or afternoon thundershower. partly sunny, highs mid 80s. sunday into first part of next week less humid and cooler weather returns. and any time you needour weather 24/7 go to the weather channel on cable or weather.com online. what are you guys doing today? >> we're here for the anniversary. >> from florida? >> from florida. all right, florida. and you've got a graduation present here. what's your name? >> olivia. >> graduated from where? >> westville high school in minnesota. >> where are you going to school >> miami university in ohio. >> congratulations. >> thank you. >> now let's head over to erin. >> all right, al, thank you. a new movie is out called "the hurt locker." it's in select cities. it takes place in war-torn

baghdad and our gene shalit said it is one of the year's best movies. >> good morning and welcome to the critic's corner. memorize this name. "the hurt locker." boldly written, percussively performed and directed with a stark power. "the hurt locker" is a candidate for film of t year. a drama camaraderie, daring, suspense, at the very highest level. >> welcome to camp vic. >> camp victory. >> i thought this was camp liberty. >> oh, no they changed that about a week ago. victory sounds better. >> flee elite soldiers volunteer as a unit to discover, uncover, and disable bombs. some concealed in cars. >> oh, god. >> others shrouded in the lethal streets of baghdad. or bagday. >> oh, boy. >> we're going on a mission and my job is to keep you safe so we can keep going on missions. >> anthony mackey, sergeant,

intelligent, sharp-witted and war wise. >> he's going to get me killed. >> brian garity, special iz, uneasy. >> you're a wild man. >> jeremy renner, hotshot bomb defuser. wildly fearless. >> what's the best way to go about disarming one of these things? >> the way you and i, sir. >> think about what wire to cut, one slip of the snip, and it's a shortcut to eternity. >> that wasn't so bad first time working to the. >> renner is a fusion of daring and bravado in a prodigious performance. >> this locker is full of stuff that almost killed me. >> what about this one? >> my wedding ring. like i said, stuff that alst killed me. >> and this movie is no view from afar. you're attached to these three. you know them. you're beside them. you're often beside yourself with anxiety. either on a treacherous rooftop,

or in the street, or dodging death in the desert. >> got it! >> we're on the same side, guys. >> "the hurt locker" directed by kathryn bigelow and vividly written by mark bohl, who was there, is a superlative movie. a movie i will remember. and remember. >> that was good. >> and that's the critic's corner of "the hurt locker" for today. >> up next, from a great movie to the best on television. the emmy award nominations are next. vo : last year... when companies were laying off hundreds of thousands of workers... walmart was creating 30 thousand new jobs... all right here in america.

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tainment weekly's dave parker. david, good morning. got your cheat sheet in hand. what are the trends? handicap the field for me? >> i think like last year, "mad men" and "30 rock" really dominated the drama and comedy categories respectively. i think it's going to happen again because they both had such great seasons this year. you'll definitely see tina fey and alec baldwin, and because they added a sixth nomination slot to ten of the main races this year i'm curious to see who benefits from that. maybe someone like amy poehler for "parks and recreation." maybe toni collette. some people could get their first nominations because of that extra slot. >> how does it work this year? you know, it used to be that critics would vote. but now everybody gets to vote? >> it used to be panels of academy members that would narrow the field down and then the whole body would vote. this time it was more of a popular vote amongst the tv industry. >> does that make it sound more like the golden globes or something like that? >> i think it makes it sound a

little more democratic actually. hopefully it might have some new faces in there. >> all right. six nominees in some of the major categories. that makes the actual awards show longer, too. >> if they show clips, yes. >> right now to the golden theater located in north hollywood, and we're about to get the nominations, this time prime-time emmys. >> good morning. i'm john chaffer in chairman of the board of the academy of television arts and sciences and it is my pleasure to welcome you to the 61st prime-time emmy awards announcements. joining me this morning to present the nominations are two wonderfully talented actors, chandra wilson who currently stars in the abc series "grey's anatomy" and jim parson who stars in the cbs series "the big bang theory." shand ra, jim, thank you both so mu for joining us.

you know, i understand that both of your careers started in houston, texas. >> yes. that's true. >> but i want to say we're really glad that you're here in hollywood. >> well, thank you. >> thank you. >> continue. >> very good. >> all right, thank you, john. >> and good morning, everybody. >> chandra, dadelies first. >> the nominations in the drama series category are -- "big love," "breaking bad " "damages". "dexter." "house." "lost." and "mad men." >> the nominations foread actress in a drama series are -- sally field, "brothers and sisters." sierra sedgwick "the closer." glenn close "damages." mariska hafrg toy "law and order special victims unit kwthsd. elizabeth moss "mad men" and holly hunter "saving grace." >> the nominees for lead actor in a drama series are -- brian transton "breaking bad."

michael c. hall "dexter." hugh laurie "house." gabriel byrne in "treatment." jan hamm "mad men." and simon baker "the mentalist." >> the made for television movie nominations are -- cocoa chanel. "gray gardens." "into the storm." "prayers for bobby." and "taking chance." >> the nominees for the mini series category are -- "generation kill." "and little dorrit." >> the nominees for lead actress in a mini series or movie are -- shirley mcloin cocoa chanel. drew barrymore gray gardens. jessica lange gray gordons. sigourney weaver prayers for bobby. and chandra wilson, accidental friendship. >> hello! >> that was not on there. that's new. >> okay. going to the party.

nominees for lead actor in a mini series or a movie are -- kevin kline, cyrano de bergerac great performances. brendan gleason, into the storm. sir ian mckellen, king lear, great performances. kevin bacon, taking chance. kiefer sutherland, 24 redemption. and kenneth branagh, wallener, one step behind. >> here are this year's nominees for reality competition program. "the amazing race." "american ol "dancing with the stars," "project runway." and "top chef." >> and here's a category that hasn't been announced on this broadcast before, outstanding variety, music or comedy series. and the nominees are -- "the colbert report." "the daily show with jon stewart." "late show with david letterman." "realtime with bill maher" and "saturday night live." >> the nominees for lead actress

in a comedy series are -- julia louis-dreyfus "the new adventures of old christine." christina apple gate "samantha who." sarah silverman, "the sarah silverman program." tina fey, "30 rock." toni collette, united states of tara. and mary louis parker, weeds. >> for lead actor in a comedy series the nominees are -- jermaine prelim at, flight of the concords. tony shalhoub, "monk." steve carril "the office." alex baldwin, "30 rock." sharely sheen, "two and a half men" and jim parsons "the big bang theory." >> no. >> that was not on there, either. >> they're messing with us. >> this is a trick fest. well, chandra, back to the prompter. let's complete the emmy announcements by bringing back john to announce our final category. >> congratulatis. >> thank you. you're a very tricky man. >> look at our hands, shaking. >> hello again. the nominations in the comedy series category are --

"entourage." "family guy." "flight of the concords." "how i met your mother." "the office." "30 rock." "and weeds." >> chandra, jim, you have been great hosts this morning, and it is completely coincidental that you have both been nominated. chandra i have even more good news for you, you have also been nominated in the supporting actress category for your performance on "grey's anatomy." >> okay. >> so i cannot tell you. i wish i could -- you know, it's inappropriate to say how surprised we were that you were both nominated, but how thrilled we are, too. so thank you very much. >> so much. >> you both deserve that. >> thank you. >> here's a complete list of all the emmy nominees on our website, emmys.com. but be sure to join us on september 20th -- >> that concludes the announcement. first of all, we have like 35

nominees in some of these categories. >> i'm just getting a participation trophy. >> but seven in a couple of the categories. >> i mean understand maybe wanting to add a sixth slotd, but then to add seven, seems like they're pushing it. >> you said you wanted to tal about comedy series. >> the fact that they did seven. four of which have never been nominated before. "flight of the concords." "weeds," "how i met your mother," and "family guy" which becomes the first animated series to be nominated in this category since the flient stones in 19161. >> a couple people surprised you because they were not included. >> kiefer sutherland i was expecting would get nominated for $24." because he's been nominated every single year that the show has been eligible. and he wasn't nominated this year. you know, in favor of some very strong people like gabriel byrne and the newcomer here was simon baker for "the mentalist" which is a big, popular show. >> on your cheat sheet i give you a grade of about a-minus. >> really? that's charitable. >> i appreciate it.

>> good to see you. thanks very much. up next a real bell ringer. amazing grace. the mule that does it all. first this is "today" on nbc. wqwúoc

if you think that mules are simple, stubborn animals, you have obviously never met grace. she paints, plays basketball, stars in movies and a lot more. and leave it to our own jill rappaport, a major animal lover, to bring her to us. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> have her give you a little kiss. >> grace? >> how about -- >> here we go. >> give her your hand. >> grace, here. >> come on. >> good girl. >> don't bite the hand that feeds me. okay. anyway, i went deep into the heart of the shand till la

valley to find her and all i can say when i discovered this big gal is, amazing! ♪ amazing grace >> reporter: we've all heard the song. but let me introduce you to a truly amazing grace. >> big smile. yeah, good girl. good girl. that's a good girl. in this competition in north carolina called the american idol for horses. so i called the guy up, said i don't have a horse, i have a mule. >> reporter: and check out the unbelievable things this mule can do. ♪ >> she can ring a bell. she can play basketball. and get mail out of a mailbox. she can paint. >> reporter: one painting auctioned off for charity even went to $1,000. which was music to my free loader ears. yes, i love you. yes. they say that mules are exceptionally intelligent ani l animals to begin with. but what you've taught her is truly amazing. >> when i first laid eyes on

her, i thought there was something special abouther. she got a bond. give me a hug. good job. ♪ baby you are the world >> reporter: and now the world will learn what her owner has always known, that grace is a true star. so, of course, hollywood has come calling. she will soon make her big screen debut, alongside oscar winner robert duvall in an indy film called "get low." >> good girl. give me a kiss. give me a kiss. oh, good girl. good girl. >> reporter: didn't they ever teach your in your career not to work with children or animals, that they'll upstage you? >> but you learn from animals to be more natural. to be more real. >> reporter: you don't mind that she is stealing the movie? >> when you do a western you have to find the right horse. and here we found the right mule. >> reporter: i don't want to say anything. >> oh! >> reporter: she's currently upstaging you right now. >> she did that on cue. and cut! >> reporter: but celebrity aside, grace's owner always has her best interests at heart. especially now, knowing that she could become the next "it" girl. >> her safety and her love is

going to come first. >> reporter: not to say that grace is part of the family is an understatement. don't adjust your tvs. that really is her behind the bar. gracie, i'm a little thirsty. you got any water? >> give it to me. good girl. get the money. get the money. give it to daddy. >> you're a little cheap. a dollar tip, that's it? >> i got it from you. >> reporter: and nothing like a shameful plug for my book. i brought you the perfect book to read. your favorite story, grace. give your co-star a kiss. >> good girl. oh. >> good girl. >> reporter: oh, yes a hug. good girl. give me a hug. give him a hug. >> she's been moving around rather quickly during the piece there. almost took us all out. >> steve, i know you love mules. you've got several of them now.

you spent 20 years, 30 years training them. >> yes. >> could she do something? how old is she? could she tell us? >> how old are you grace? one, two, three, four. that's right. what's two times four. one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. that's right. >> she's fantastic. thank you for bringing grace to the plaza. we really appreciate it. >> you're welcome. >> and beautiful. >> great pedicure. when we come back, scenes from yesterday's wedding.???c?c?]qx

she told me on the way in what she really wants to do is direct. she wantto direct. she's cool. i like grace. >> there's a spot open here, right? >> oh! n dn dii 't say that. scenes from yesterday's wedding after these messages and your local news and weather. di 8:55 is our time. 76 degrees, bright sunshine, nice summer day in the nation's capital.

we'll get the forecast coming up. good morning. i'm joe krebs in the news for today, police are investigating an assault along a popular trail in vienna yesterday on if wnod trail, a 25-year-old jogr told police a man rode up on a bike, exposed himself, threw her to the ground and assaulted her. she managed to break free and alert police. a man has been indicted in mortgage fraud scheme igin eavestoratsa torhe iyd42r-r- diane fredeck oo tta aanfdv ogeoo 100 home buyers. she inflated her clients' income and fixed their credit in order to sell them homes they could not afford. investigators believe she may have fled the country. d'll look at our weather fic.

if we don't act, medical bills will wipe out their savings. if we don't act, she'll be denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition. and he won't t the chemotherapy he needs.

if we don't act, health care costs will rise 70%. and he'll have to cut benefits for his employees. but we can act. the president and congress have a plan to lower your costs and stop denials for pre-existing conditions. it's time to act. good morning. temperatures now climbing into the upper 70s, and we'll hit the upper 80s by this afternoon. it's going to be more humid and there is a small chance of an

afternoon thundershower. looks like likely thundershowers friday night. before that upper 80s, maybe a morning shower saturday or greater chance afternoon thundershowers. how's the traffic? >> terrible morning on the beltway south. this is the outer loop. it is a parking lot from ringeld to a point just past van dorn where we lose the right lane. part of the wilson bridge construction project. p side of the beltway, no late issues into silver spring. >> tonight kids giving up swimming, softball and soccer all for cooking.

we're back now with more of "today" on a thursday morning, the 16th day of july, 2009. what a difference a day makes. yesterday, right out here on the plaza, the place was all decked out for a beautiful wedding for leigh and nick. they got married with that vineyard theme. and here we are, 24 hours later. not as much as a grain of rice left out here. because we had a very hungry crowd yesterday. >> shoveled it up. >> it was a beautiful wedding. >> it really was. >> also had great weather, a really nice time. congratulations to them. they're off on their honeymoon to australia today. meanwhile out on the plaza, i'm

matt lauer along with erin burnett. erin is here while meredith is on assignment. and mr. roker. >> there's a baby over here, as well. >> oh! look at that. >> coming up in this half hour, you probay noticed the video, you probably watched the video back in 1984 when it first happened. remember that pepsi commercial shoot where michael jackson was the star of the shoot, and because of an accident his hair actually caught fire? some people say that is the incident that led him down the road to an addiction to prescription drugs. well, "us weekly" magazine has uncovered brand-new video of that. it's alarming video. you're looking at some of it right now. we're going to talk to janice min about how they obtained that video and what it may tell us about that pop superstar's troubled life. >> and then if you have teenagers, we all know they text all the time. but they also often are doing something called sexting, which is actually texting sexually explicit photos via text or e-mail. parents can only imagine what that might mean. and what can you do to make sure that your child, your teenager

does not become a statistic. we're going to talk about that with dr. ruth peters. >> and we just mentioned about our wedding nick and leigh thaiing the knot. and then of course they went to the fabulous plaza hotel. heck of a party there. if you didn't get to watch all of it we're going to take you inside the historic walls and check out all the festivities that went on. >> okay. including the first bite of wedding cake. before we go any further ann is on assignment. natalie's at the news desk with a look at all the headlines. >> good morning, everyone. an eighth suspect has been arrested in the murders of that florida couple who adopted special needs children. 47-year-old pamela long wiggins was charged as an accessory after the killings. police say they are looking for potentially two more people of interest. the safe taken from the home has been recovered. president obama meets today with two senators who could hold key votes on health care reform. a senate committee voted along party lines wednesday to pass a $615 billion measure. the goal is to make health coverage available to nearly all americans.

a more expensive house bill is facing its first committee votes today. job losses are preventing a turnaround in the housing crisis. home foreclosure notices soared by nearly 15% in the first half of the year, according to the private firm realty track. and a search for clues intensified today at the site of wednesday's plane crash in northwestern iran. the plane's black boxes have been recovered. all 168 people on board the caspian airlines flight to armenia were killed. space shuttle astronauts plan to use a robot arm today to check for any damage from wednesday's launch. pieces of foam insulation broke away from a fuel tank and struck the shuttle's underbelly. a rendezvous with the international space station is scheduled for tomorrow. a fuel tanker explosion near detroit last night shut down a two-mile stretch of the highway. intense heat from the fire caused parts of an overpass to collapse onto interstate 75 in hazel park michigan. amazingly the driver and two other people suffered only minor

injuries. you're up to date now at four minutes past the hour. let's go back outside once again to matt and erin. >> this crazy lady give me those things. >> she can't be offended for calling her crazy. >> i'm watching you, too. let's get a check of the weather. >> all right, here we go. mr. roker? >> okay. that's a good look. i think you ought to wear that down on the floor. of the exchange. that will get some attention. it's shand's 16th -- which one of you is shannon? >> me! >> happy birthday. whe are you from? >> portla, oregon. >> is this part of your posse here? >> yeah. >> h6py 1th. let's check your weather, see what's g.ppinenin for today we basically got some big storms firing down in the mississippi river valley. some of those storms could bring gusty winds and hail. we're also looking at plen if i of sunshine in the pacific northwest. the heat is on from texas right on into the valleys of

california, and interior pacific northwest, as will. risk of strong storms later on today in the northeast. showers and thunderstorms hit or it has turned more humid. we have summer haze in the air with the sun in and out, clouds coming through, temperatures now near 80 degrees. and it's going to be a steamy day with highs reaching upper 80s to near 90. small chance of an afternoon thundershower. partly cloudy tonight, should be good for the cubs and the nats. then tomorrow should be partly sunny, still rather humid, highs in the upper 80s. a likelihood of friday thundershowers. partly sunny sunday. that's your latest weather. natalie? >> al, thank you. now to that stunning video just released showing michael jackson's hair catching on fire while he was filming a tv commercial for pepsi. was it the beginning of his downward spiral? nbc's jeff rossen is following it all for us. jeff, good morning.

>> natalie, good morning to you. you know this became one of the most talked about moments in american pop culture. but we never saw saw it, not like this. for the first time you're going to see what really happened on the set of that 1984 pepsi commercial, from the explosion to michael jackson's hair actually on fire many say it was thisccident that sparked an addiction to painkillers. it was michael jackson's final take of the pepsi commercial that changed everything. ♪ the shoot had been going smoothly, until take six. there was a flash onstage. the pyrotechnics exploded too early, and suddenly the king of pop was on fire, in this never-before-seen video you can see the flames shooting from his hair. >> my stark reaction when i saw this video is just the absolute shock. his hair is actually on fire for about eight seconds before anybody steps in to put it out. so he continues dancing, oblivious to the fact that his hair is alight.

>> reporter: jackson kept performing for the cameras and the 3,000 fans there to watch. he was still smoking as people rushed to help. >> when he sdenly realizes that there is a fire, he puts his sequinned white glove on top of his head and tries to put it out and people crowd around him. >> reporter: he looked shocked. who wouldn't b and if you slow the video down you can see his scalp, the hair singed off. it was january, 1984. michael jackson was at the height of his career. but this would become the watershed moment of his life. >> the fact that the pepsi commercial went wrong is almost -- it pinpoints, really, the beginning of the end, when everything started to go wrong. this is when he first beme addicted to painkillers. he was prescribed demerol to get over this injury. >> reporter: "us weekly" magazine obtained the video and posted it online. to this day the jackson family blames the pepsi incident for many of michael's problems. jermaine jackson spoke with matt about it at neverland. >> i heard things about the

prescription drugs when he had the pepsi burn. >> reporter: 25 years later, prescription drugs are at the center of his death investigation. jackson's doctors haveurned over medical records, including his dermatologist arnold klein and dr. conrad murray, who was with jackson at the time of his death. dr. murray is now in virtual hiding, though his lawyer denies dr. murray did anything wrong. his spokesperson tells nbc news he met with investigators twice. the final interview on june 27th, two days after jackson died, lasted three hours. they say he hasn't been served with subpoenas or search warrants. and that he's turned over all the documents requested. usc law professor jean rosenbluth said prosecutors have an opportunity here to send a message. >> when the whole world is watching, you've got a high profile victim, you get more bang for your buck if you go after the people who are criminally responsible in a situation like that.

>> reporter: i spoke with the los angeles d.a.'s office, and they now confirmed for nbc news prosecutors are in touch with investigators. they're talking. perhaps a new sign that the criminal case is moving forward. but this morning, natalie, it's that video giving us a peek inside jackson's personal battle. really fascinating to watch now, knowing how it all ended. >> absolutely. jeff rossen reporting from los angeles. thank you. and janice min is the editor in chief of "us weekly" magazine. janice, good morning. >> dpoerm. >> the video certainly shocking to see it now, 25 years later. why do you think it has taken so long for it to come out now? >> what's fascinating is, if that video had -- if that accident happened today, you know the video would be online, and youtube in 20 minutes a million people would have come out and given their witness accounts. but even in that time, you could see that this wall of secrecy was around michael jackson. and i'm going to, i think it's safe to assume that michael jackson was the one who dictated the press around that. you know, he is someone who is a -- was a perfectionist. >> why wouldn't he want this video to be out, though?

>> to me it seemed it would show weakness. you know, this is a man who had already anointed himself the king of pop. everything about his look, his performance was heavily orchestrated. to be a victim in his eyes, i think, would be the worst thing possible. so he wanted to portray himself as someone invincible. >> how is the accident, though, a turning point, though, in -- in his possible drug addiction, the -- the addiction as well as the plastic surgery it appears he had? >> remember he's 25 years old at this time. he's at the top of his game. there's simply no bigger celebrity. he -- you can just tell the pain that must have ensued after that, had to have been excruciating. >> the fact that he didn't even really know that his hair was on fire for about eight to ten seconds later. >> absolutely. >> until it penetrated his scalp at that point. >> absolutely. obviously the repair to his scalp, he was meeting wh a plastic surgeon who would later go on to do all the plastic surgery on michael jackson's face.

i -- i am going to -- i think it's safe to assume, also, that the level of medication he was on could haveimpaired his judgment. i don't think it's any coincidence that later that year he was stepping out with emmanuel lewis, carrying him to red carpet events. the next year he acquired beguns. sleeping in a bed with bubbles. >> the strange behavior started to happen after this incident. >> i don't think that medication can make you want little boys to sleep in your bed with you, but i think that it can certainly impair your judgment. >> right. and you know, dr. arnold klein, who was his longtime dermatologist says also been involved in treating jackson said he had skin grafts at the time, as well. but now, "us weekly" is also reporting that he is now claiming to be the biological father of michael jackson's three children. >> he's not claiming to be the father. he just has given very -- >> sperm donor. >> he's given very ambiguous answers about being the father. we've confirmed he's the father of the first two children. we don't know who the parent of blanket. but yesterday, a former lover of

dr. klein's came out and confirmed that he's the father of all three kids. >> do you think that this means that there may be any claim to paternity rights here or is this just something -- new information coming forward? >> it's just new information coming forward. i would be very surprised if dr. klein would be like to be the legal parent of these children. he already worked out a deal long ago. there are documents. it seems that he was doing this as a favor to -- as a favor to michael jackson. >> do they have that close a relationship then? beyond patient, you know, doctor relationship? >> let's remember, michael jackson didn't have true friends in the way that you and i think of friends. many of his friendships were based on professional relationships. he did grow very close to arnold klein and one of the things that bothered him with arnold klein is he was only treating him for the vitiligo. >> that's the skin condition. that allowed for the bleaching of the skin. >> interestingly, even after the accident there's the famous picture of him raising his

gloved hand from the stretcher as he's being taken out and he kept the glove on. dr. klein at that time had started to treat him for vitiligo on his hand and he used to conceal that with the glove. that was the origin of the glove. >> interesting. i wondered about that. we also heard the family believes that the death was a homicide but the lapd said it's not investigating the case as that. but how might this change, as we start to learn more and more information about this, and some of the people involved in his inner circle that surrounded him? >> i mean i think you have to think about anna nicole smith. obviously it took a long time for that case to unfold. with michael jackson, it's still being investigated. i think the police are very reluctant to lane this a homicide until they have all their ducks lined up. if they ever get the ducks lined up. it's very clear that there were unsavory influences around michael jack. . whether or not they were criminal remains to be seen. >> certainly taking advantage of the situation, no doubt. janice min from "us weekly." thank you. you can see more of that video

on "us weekly's" website, as well. coming up next, teens and sexting. a dangerous mix. we're going to tell you how to find out what your child is doing. and then later inexpensive floor coverings that are so beautiful you won't want to ever walk on them. light & fit has 80 calories versus 100 in the other leading brand. and a taste you'll find... [sluuurrrrpppp!] irresistible. now try new watermelon and cantaloupe flavors.

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on fridays, i have hockey before school, so i take two eggo homestyle waffles and put peanut butter inside. i add a couple chocolate chips when dad's starting the car. there's only one way to eat an eggo -- your way. l'eggo my eggo. this morning on "today's family," we're talking about sexting, which basically means sending sexually explicit photos or messages electronically.

in case you were wondering, one in five teens is doing this according to the national center for missing and exploited children. "today" contributor ruth peters is a psychologist with some warning signs. ruth, good to see you. >> good morning, al. >> those are scary statistics. >> they're very scary. but they're very, very real. and parents have to realize that their child might actually be doing this. >> now, so what motivates kids to send these photos? >> first of all, ust being a kid. mo of it is peer pressure. a lot of times they're initiating it themselves as a present to a boyfriend or girlfriend, or something. as a present in quote. more often it is being sent to them and they're forwarding on and they don't realize when they're forwarding something, that is pornography. >> right. and what ages are we talking about here? >> kids usually, the statistics we're showing are age 13 and up. and it really kind of hits a peak at about 17, 18. >> 24%? >> and then young adults, can be 30%, 40% that are involved in this. >> what is a parent to do? i mean, i would think you've got to start early. because kids are getting these

cell phones younger and younger. >> first of all, a parent has to get savvy. learn to text yourself, okay? understand what -- how to go on google images, put your kid's name in quotes and you'll find out what images your child is on. learn how to use the technology myself. and also get on facebook. get on myspace. let the kids know in a very transparent way that i'm going, i'm on this too and i'm going to be one of your friends. or you cannot have this site. >> when do you start talking to your kids about this? >> the minute they have that cell phone. and you do it with different ages. first of all, with an 11-year-old, 12-year-old you might not want to be as explicit. so you might want to say if you ever see something that involves body parts that are covered by a bathing suit, that's what i always say, that's inappropriate and showme, tell me about it. with the older kids, the know exactly what sexting is because they may be involved in it and you need to start talking to them and letting them know, this is against the law. it may be child pornography. >> and this goes beyond just cell phones, too. we're talking like myspace, and

facebook. in a sense, we have to let them know that once it's out there, it's out there. >> it's out there. and when parents say, well isn't that snooping if i go onto their myspace. first of all, they're putting it out there for the world, all right? so it is not snooping. it is your right, but it's also your responsibility to be watching and looking and seeing what your child is doing so they don't get themselves in trouble or hurt other people in the process. >> now, also kids do this from home, as well. the home computer. you know, parents have to be aware of that, as well. >> that's why the home computer should be in a public place in the family room, something like that. if you see the kid shutting it down quickly you know something's up or if they're in their bedroom the whole time all night and day and doing the texting, you need to be able to say i'm paying the bills, let me check your messages. >> should you be sing on your kids? >> it's not spying when they're sending it out to the whole world, okay? so absolutely you should have a deal. if i'm giving you this technology, just like i wouldn't give you a car without a driver's course. i'm going to learn about it and i'm going to be watching you do

it. so yes you absolutely should be checking what your kids are texting. >> are there any signs a parent should be looking for? >> yes, if a kid is not coming to dinner, if grades are going down, if they're not spending time with the family. or if they're very depressed, it could be that they are a victim of sexting. very important to know. >> and a lot of people think oh, this is harmless pranks. these can have dire consequences. >> there have been suicides because of it. a lot of depression because of it. it can be a felony in some states. and it's just not -- i think the best thing to say to your child if they're starting to engage in this, how would you feel if somebody did this to you and it was sent to your 100 closest friends and they had a picture of you with another person, and it was very inappropriate or showing those body parts that are covered with a bathing suit, very inappropriate. or saying nasty things. it's cyber bullying. how would you feel about it? >> good advice. thanks so much. >> it's my pleasure. >> good to see you again. >> coming up next, we're going to show you what you may have missed at leigh and nick's big wedding.

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di>> today roedws w," ang years of i dos, brought to you by purina. your pet, our passion. on wednesday, as you know, we threw a glorious wedding for leigh daniel and nick cordes, who met six weeks ago at the start of our wedding series. now they are on their way in australia for their honeymoon. >> but we're not ready to let the fun end just yet. here's a look at the celebration that followed the ceremony, held in the grand ball room of the plaza hotel. >> i now pronounce you man and wife. ♪ >> cheers! >> we've got superstar martina mcbride. ♪ after years of waiting

for a chance to finally shine ♪ ♪ >> i'm nick's brother, i'm also the best man. i have to say, i should be the one to send you on to your beloved. ♪ ♪ ♪ looking crazy right now crazy right now ♪ ♪ looking crazy right now ♪ marvelous

you should care for me ♪ ♪ give your heart and soul to me ♪ ♪ and life will always be la vianne rose ♪ >> okay the honeymoon is getting started. >> that's right. and we gave them flip cameras so they can take some video of the honeymoon. we're going to catch up with nick and leigh when they come owfr dom r.ndeun te that'right. still ahead, a taste of the hawaiian islands courtesy of a top chef. kellogg's has always made...

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good morning. i'm eun yang. in the news this morning, in about 30 minutes metro will close the red line between the fort totten and silver spring stations, part of the investigation into last month's deadly metro crash. the ntsb wants to perform more tests on that section of track. there will be shuttle buses to help people get around the

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♪ i'll teach you my dirty little secret dirty little secret ♪ ♪ don't tell it >> they call themselves the all-american rejects. but doesn't seem like anybody's jeedctthem. edy've turned out some prey bigtshi, two hicds. ethiney'rer c hogom te o tur pla towha k we i wnow fs going to be an amazing concert. that's the all american rejects right here tomorrow on "today." and turned out founding members of the all american rejects got into music because they got a little bit tired of smalltown life. but i think that's over now. >> no smalltown life for them. >> then they're going to be sitting down with hoda and kathie lee a little bit later this morning. they may decide after that to go

back to the country. >> i don't think so. still to come in this half hour we're going to show you some creative ideas to change the look of a room without having to change a stitch of furniture. it's actual a a very economical way to do it. all it takes is inexpensive floor coverings. you can give your home a whole new look for virtually next to nothing. >> and then changing gear going up to our kitchen, when you think of hawaii what comes to mind? >> volcanoes, papayas, food. >> ah, that's right. jack lord, book 'em dano. there's some pretty amazing cuisine to sample, as ll. there's a new food movement going there. a top hawaiian chef will whip up some favorites macadamia crusted mahimah mahimahi. >> and two lucky ladies from our crowd are going to get an ambush makeover. >> first a check of the weatr.no for today -- for the weekend, heavy rain inorthern new england. record highs out through the plains, sizzling in the southwest. much of the country going to be

warm. showers in the southeast. then sunday, sunday! weather in new england, showers and thun it has turned hazy and the humidity has increased. there's a live picture of our sky, you can see the summer haze in the air. temperatures are climbing to around 80 or so. we'll hit near 90 by this afternoon with clouds in and out. there is a small chance of an afternoon thundershower. then partly cloudy tonight, should be good weather for the cubs and the nats at nationals park. tomorrow partly sunny with highs again around 90. could get late afternoon or evening thundershowers. maybe a morning shower saturday or afternoon thundershower, small chance. and that's your latest weather. all right, thank you, al. coming up next the lowdown on what's down low on your floors. right after this. e. it comes from liberty medical. and now, it's not only where i get my diabetes

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home, floor covering ideas that will sweep you off your feet. big, bold patterns, new materials and unusual textures can give a room an entirely new look. for get this, as little as 39 bucks. "today" home and ivillage contributor is here to share her impeccable interior design advice. susannah, good morning. >> good morning, natalie. >> i know you were just at a floor covering show in chicago. >> i came back full of inspiration. there was so much great stuff there. really kind of get you thinking about how easy it is to transform your room with just new floor coverings. >> we're not talking starting from scratch here. this is just something you can do -- >> if you already have a room that you feel like needs some freshening up, just put in a new rug. again, use your imagination and don't be afraid. it's longer about what has to go where. you can really get creative. >> let's take a look at some of the friends. the tiles there. >> this is from accents canagwa. these are just different samples to give you some ideas. color, texture. this is really fun. these are leaves and seashells

that you could choose. it's called rug in a box. you can take some of these, embed it into your floor and accent along a hallway, in your kitchen. think about getting creative and changing a mood of a room simply by either accenting or doing something a lot larger. >> right. >> on a bigger scale. sort of like a backsplash for the kitchen. >> exactly. slate, stone, porcelain, tons of ideas. again, don't be afraid to really get creative. there's just so much here. >> and such bold and almost vintage-looking patterns. >> that's right. it's a trend i really saw with bold, vintage, always egg gant, always practical. >> over here this is amazing. >> this is great for -- >> it looks like wood. >> but this is porcelain. so many of us want that look of a warm wood but for example you were saying in your bathroom you have something like this. >> yes. >> but you don't want to use wood, it's bad when you get it wet. >> exactly. gets dirty. >> this can give you the look and you don't have to worry about it.

>> it really -- >> looks exactly like wood. you have to get close to see that it's porcelain. and again, take your pick, get creative. >> gorgeous. let's take a look at the trends in carpeting. you say the patterns are becoming much bolder now. >> for example this is a perfect example of this from target, traditional sort of florals but a little bit bigger, a little bi bolder. we talk about using the rug as a design touchstone for your room. for example use this, i have this color combination in my own house, brown, orange, white, put this down and then maybe accent it with lamps, tables, patterns. picking up some of these colors. >> i love this. >> this is from target, very reasonable. >> okay, over here, something really fun from urban outfitters, peacock rugs, circular. think about shape, too. something like a circle can look great in a bathroom. also accenting a special piece of furniture that you have. it's only $60. that would also be fun in a dorm room. >> and over here the seagrass rug. >> from home goods.

>> look at the natural elements. >> in summer, high traffic area. we're running in and outdoors a lot. pick up the yucky rag rug that so many of us have on porches or mud rooms and substitute in this great sea grass rug or something with a little more texture that can take a lot of back and forth. >> and they're so neutral, too. >> you can put them anywhere. add so much around it. >> get it in a runner size. that woulde great along a hallway or nice and big and put it right in your entryway. >> okay, great. i know they tend to be very affordable, too. >> that one from home goods is only $60. that's really quite a substantial size. >> and these are just absolutely gorgeous. >> these look like colors -- >> these are both from anthropologie. slightly more exnsive. but if i can't afford a rug and i love the pattern, i get it in the smallest size and i get two of them. >> to the? >> for example i have this in my entry hall at home and i took two and put them together and really it's this luxurious feeling right as you step into the door. i love it. even a bathroom.

makes such a statement. >> again, it's just so beautiful. >> speaking of making a statement here. and color. >> this indo-chin rug, i full in love with this. i thought this would be so fun. you have an attic space and you want to zap it up as a kid's play room. wall-to-wall this. or this could be for a girl or a boy's room. it's just so much fun. it feels so good. >> we've got a lot of others here behind you. again that bold pattern. >> this is an outdoor rug. and i mean you would never think that this could be outside. create an entire look for your porch. >> that looks great. >> again, exotic feel. ikea, look at this, $39. i am crazy about this. >> for a kid's room. >> or even in your kitchen, in the family room. instant life. >> this one here, db2? >> again we talk about that big, gold graphic. wouldn't this be great in a living room if you love the modern furniture look? lots of white. i love the big, bold, black designs. beautiful. instant way to transform any

space. >> susannah, great, great ideas here. thanks so much, appreciate it. >> you're very welcome. >> still to come from decorating ideas, for more, go to our website at todayshow.com. and visit the ivillage community. but up next, break out your lei because we've got a lesson in fine hawaiian cuisine. you are one person, but you can move a nation. you can walk with a purpose to end alzheimer's... by joining us for memory walk. [ man ] you invite three people. [ woman ] and they'll invite three people. and before you know it, you have a team. more than 5 million americans... may not be able to stop the progression of alzheimer's. but we can. step up. move a nation to end alzheimer's. start a team today. go to alz.org. yeah, so? it stinks in here! have you smelled this chair? or these curtains? you've gotta wash this whole room! are you kiddin wash it?! let's wash it with febreze!

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♪ you don't have to be a witch either, it's true ♪ ♪ you just have to love a fun, tasty dinner ♪ ♪ and wearing some of that dinner on you. ♪ ♪ this morning on "today's kitchen," hot chef. james fabian, the executive chef of the four seasons resort, hualali in kona, hawaii, is with us. president obama was resident on the island and seems to have treated him very well. james is here to bring a taste of the tropics to our season. >> aloha. >> now so we're making a

macadamia nut crusted -- >> we're going to do a macadamia nut crusted mahimahi. >> can you use any other kind of fish? >> any white fish would be great. you can also use chicken. it's a very adoptable dish. it's one of those dishes that was really in about ten years ago, and we tried to move on but the guests won't let it go. >> they want their mahimahi with macadamia nuts. >> if you could season the fish with salt and pepper. i'm going to add sam panko bread crumbs but any bread crumbs will do. orange zest, lime zest, fresh garlic, some chives and some fresh basil. you just mix that up a little bit. >> right. >> so, in the crust, the crust can be adjusted in any way, if you're down south and you want to do a pecan crust. >> oh. >> whatever. >> for whatever nuts. >> and the crust itself. so what we're going to do to maintain the integrity of the fish, just put one side into the egg and go right into the crust. we're not breading the whole

thing. >> how come? >> like i said it maintains the integrity of the fish. and enhances the fish rather than overwhelming it in flavor. >> ah. >> so this is a nice way to do it. just push down a little bit. >> push down. >> and always lay the fish away from you so the oil doesn't splashack on you. that's a professional trick. you wonder how we learn that. >> you got burnt a couple of times. >> probably. >> how long will you leave this? until it browns? >> you want to set that crust. you don't want to turn it before the crust sets, probably about two or three minutes. once you turn it then it takes another minute or two. we'll take this fish and go to an often, about 350 degrees, and we'll just put it in there for about two, three minutes. >> right. now should it be cooked completely all the way through, or should there be a little -- >> fish should be moist and slightly underdone. so these fish -- >> it continues cooking after you take it out? >> yes, goes up another seven or

eight degrees. from there it should be good. we're going to put this on there so we don't burn ourselves. >> and you've got a nice little side dish. >> this is papaya salsa. the idea is it's ripe, it's in season, it's fresh. and to that we're going to add some red bell pepper. we use maui onions, but any will do. cilantro and fresh grated ginger. >> a little spice. . >> a little spice and a little aromatics if you don't mind stirring that up. >> all right. anything else go i there? >> we finish with a little rice vinegar here. and of course, we season with some salt and pepper. then the secret is always to taste whatever you're making. >> always to taste. >> you've got to taste it at the end and make sure that it's yummy. and balanced. >> yummy! >> there you go. >> use something else to scoop it out there. >> we have another bowl. >> okay. over here we did a little speed potato puree. we used purple potatoes but orange potatoes will do, even a russetpotato. ear going to take our fish, pat

off a little of the excess oil. put it on here. and then we garnish with the salsa. and then we eat it. >> then we eat it. >> hmm. hang on. that is terrific. thank you so much. thank you so much. >> thank you, al. >> aloha. >> all right. >> book this, dano.

and how about that? >> that gazpacho is unbelievable. >> whoo. hoda and kathie lee are here. >> yes, we are. hanging out. >> you guys look fantastic. >> thank you. >> we have a big show coming up. >> how big? >> it's huge. >> so big we have rejects and

cirque du soliel. >> whoo. >> it's nice about the rejects. >> all american rejects. >> they're nice rejects. >> and we also picked two lucky ladies from the plaza, and they're getting done over. >> even as we speak. >> yes, it's happening right now. >> red hot mama? >> yes, red hot mama. >> and she wants a big kiss from al. >> i did give her a kiss. >> you did? >> yes, i did. >> anyway. that's about all we've got going on for us. >> because she can have this one. >> she could. >> i think you need to go find her and give her a lei. >> thanks so much for that. kathie lee. you're awfully nice. >> thank you. >> all right. and of course, you guys look fantastic during the wedding. we'll be back -- >> it's not over. stay here. >> not over. stay here. >> hey, how about a little bit of hawaii five-o. ♪

>> that's very good. oú

good morning. our time now is 4 minutes until 10:00 in the morning. 9:56, 79 degrees, good day to be sitting on a twig in the river and sort of enjoying life. we'll get the forecast coming up. good morning. i'm joe krebs on this thursday, the 16th of july. in the news, metro will be closing down the red line between its fort totten and silver spring stations part of the ongoing investigation into the metro rail crash. the ntsb wants to perform more tests. there will be shuttle buses to help people get around the closure. a water main break is slowing traffic in fairfax county. the main broke around midnight on little river turnpike in annandale, this has caused a sinkho to open up. right now there is only one westbound lane at little river

turnpike open. crews are still at the scene of this break and working to repair it. police are looking for a man who attacked a jogger along a popular hiking trail in vienna. it happened yesterday at the w and od bike trail. the female jogger told police a man rode up on a bike, exposed himself, threw her to the ground and assaulted her. the woman did manage to break free and call police. let's get a roundup of weather and traffic. tom is up in storm center 4. >> summer he has moved in ovnight. it's in place on this thursday morning. there's the wilson bridge shrouded in summer haze. sunshine through broken clouds here and there. a partly cloudy afternoon, highs reaching low 90s. maybe less humid tonight, humid on friday. looks like late afternoon or evening thundershowers likely, highs around 90. cooler over the weekend. maybe a passing shower mainly

saturday morning now it appears and highs near 80 on sunday. less humid saturday and sunday. >> we have a couple of slow spots. the outer loop over the american legion bridge had an incident. it appears lanes are open but slow as you head down from river road on the outer loop. making the trip top side to silver spring, no lane worries across the wilson bridge. slow springfield to van dorn. >> kids give up swimming

captions paid for by nbc-universal television and good morning, everybody. it's thursday, it's july 16th. we had a nice time at the plaza yesterday. >> we, we did. and we both dressed alike today. >> our honeymoon couple is winging to australia. >> i'm so excited to them. that's a long flight but they're going to have a great time. they seemed kind of worn out by the end of wedding. >> i think they're looking forward to letting somebody else do all the work. that was a very programmed wedding. >> the trains definitely ran on time. >> but this is a bleak day for

me, hoda woman. >> why? >> it is july 16th. >> what is that day? >> you know when you start to realize that you have one left month to be a certain age? that's me. one month left. >> how old are you again. >> 55. one month left to be 55. >> but what's the difference? >> okay, wait, 56 and 5? >> yeah. not happy about it. just warning you, i'm going to be cranky. >> i might throw a hissy fit today. now we're going to tell you a little bit later why it's okay. you can throw a hissy fit. >> i don't know if you saw this video but it's really shocking video. >> i heard about it. >> we heard when michael jackson was 25 years old and filmed that pepsi commercial that his hair caught on fire. and we knew that it was the -- the burns were bad and that kind of thing. us weekly got video of it. what you can see there is he doesn't realize that it's on fire. he's still ncin okay. and when he realizes it there are people all over him. he had horrible burns. >> yeah. >> and i think "us weekly" is reporting and talking about that

this was sort of the start of where he needed to have painkillers. >> yeah. >> and that kind of thing. >> what they call a watershed moment in his life. >> i also don't remember about plasticsurgery before this. but i know, things happened after. i can't even look at that video. it makes me sick to see that. >> yeah. the fact that he doesn't know. >> ooh. >> and you know that he must have quite a bit of product on his hair at that point because they were shooting. >> you can see, look at the burn. >> you can really see it. >> the poor guy. that was something. >> yeah. >> anyway. and i guess jermaine spoke about it when he was talking with matt last week. >> yeah. >> i don't know if we have -- we don't have that. he mentioned, he said i had heard about things about prescription drugs when he had the pep ski burn. >> right. and that would make sense that someone would be on painkillers after that. the question is what happens after. like how -- because that's what happens a lot of times. i've i've had friends with knee problems or back problems. you start on a painkiller and suddenly you start liking it.

you end up staying with it. that happens sometimes naturally and you've got to wean yourself off. >> i was talking to rabbi shmuley about it the other day. i don't think we were on the air. he said the reason that he ultimately stopped spending as much time or any time at all with michael at that point because was michael was trying to get healthy spiritually and every other way, but he was not listening to the advice that his advisers were giving him. and that was part of it. he said you can't help somebody that doest want help. >> absolutely. >> we were in the makeup room talking about this one today, guys. there's this trip adviser survey on pool practices and behaviors. we've all been to the beach o the pool at some point. 32% say people often swrie late some form of beach etiquette. >> 82%. >> what did i say? >> 32. >> i can't read anymore. this is a question for you. do you think, do you think it is okay to urinate in the ocean when there aren't others near you?

do you think it's okay? >> i usually ask the fish next to me if he's doing it. if he is, then you know -- >> have you ever done it? >> i will talk about the done rule. >> you have done it. say you've done it in the ocean. just say it. >> i will tell you this, how far away the ladies room. and people will watch you when you get out -- >> they don't know. >> watch you go to the ladies room. i can swim for hours. >> i have a question. have you? >> have you? >> you cannot answer the question -- >> oh, yes i can. i think i just answered it. >> how? let's hear. i haven't heard the answer. has anyone heard the answer? >> yes. but i was a little girl. good girl. >> not as a grown-up? >> never once did. >> not as a grown-up? >> absolutely not. >> okay 53%, by the way, say it's okay to urinate in the ocean if there aren't other people around you. because there are fish out there doing things, okay? >> and whales. and that's a lot. >> lot.

>> and even fungi and all -- >> oh, lord. >> wait a minute. >> these are all alarm clocks and we just want to show you -- >> and only one works. >> no, this one is going to take off. >> i thought it was 10:05. how do you turn it off? >> oh, whoa. >> wait a minute, wait. >> the pole dancer is going to take off. >> okay this is -- >> give me this. >> throw me some of the -- >> yeah, i got that one. >> okay, this is just, if you have trouble waking up, i don't even get this. >> what is this? >> hello! having a blond wig, i may ask. >> how do you do it? >> the little button. >> although -- >> our viewers are not liking the sounds. >> no. you can turn it off. >> that one is off. >> it's is one that -- >> careful. >> no, i know. >> this one is supposed to go off, i don't think it's working. anyway, and it's a puzzle, as can you see, and it does not

stop until you put the puzzle pieces together. >> so you have to do a task after you're bleary eyed and wake up. that's what the deal is. >> now you use -- >> i have a blackberry but i put it away so i have to get up out of bed and go turn it off. otherwise you hit it and hit it. >> i wake up every morning the exact same time. >> you do? >> inner clock. no alarm. my problem is sometimes going back a little bit. but i do wake up. >> you wake up always. full of energy or sluggish? honestly? >> well -- >> you know what's weird? when i wake up sometimes -- >> looking for an ocean, let's put it that way. >> oh, lord. anyhoo. do you think it is okay, this is another one, do you think it's okay to save a beach or pool chair? example, you get up at 8:00 in the morning, you're up before everyone at the beach or pool. you put your towel -- >> this is a major deal. >> you put your towel and your

flip-flops on the chair and then you go have breakfast. >> and you think you have ownership. >> you do. >> yes. until you come back and somebody has taken -- >> like laura who is our hairdresser who says she takes people's stuff off the chair, and moves it. >> not my christine. she is my christine. but the other one. she knows who she is. >> yes, she does. >> i think early bird catches the worm. you get up and you do it. then you have an altercation with the person when they come back, thinking they saved there -- and who wants stress when you're sitting by the pool. >> 84% of people think -- agree that you should not be allowed to save beach or pool chairs. that's what people in the survey said. >> well then you know what? the people that are controlling the pool, and the beach area should say we do not allow that. >> right. but what -- it seems like to me, if you get up early and put your stuff down and you have other things you can do, you can go back and you want your chair. you don't want someone moving your business. that is not nice. ly find you if you do that.

that's not a good thing. >> it surprised me how rambunctious it got in the dressing room. >> right. you want to hear -- we'll have to tell everybody on your facebook page what you think about that. >> should you be able to smoke at the pool or beach? >> no. >> i don't either. >> 82%. and what about men wearing speedos? is that a though-no? >> men wearing speedos smoking, absolutely not. yesterday, literally walking down the street i saw a guy with waist-length hair, braided. >> of course. >> braided. very skinny, maybe somebody else saw him. if you saw him, let us know, walking down the street. >> what street? >> i think it was -- i was on my way back. >> broadway? >> i think it was like 50th street. coming back to go to lunch, carrying a briefcase in a speedo. >> that was it? just a speedo and the briefce? >> just a spdo and nobody put me looked at him. nobody even flinched. >> isn't that amazing about this city? >> well, you see how many people

walk by the naked cowboy all the time. >> of course, so when is it okay to flow a hissy fit? >> when it's one month away to be a certain age. i think that is -- >> glamour magazine picked a bunch of different times. >> i don't agree with all of them. do you? >> i don't either. they say you're the only one in the group who remembered her wallet. >> well. yeah. >> have you been -- have you ever been at a table for lunch when you're sharing the ticket, you're sharing the tab, and usually what i like to do is if you have four people, you just say let's divide it by four. and then you divide it. and then there's always the one person at the table, or usually the one who is like, who had the -- who had the iced tea? >> you know. one of my blueberries that you owe me. >> i didn't eat the fries. so you guys are sharing the fries. and whatever. does that drive you nuts? >> i would never have lunch with them again, ever. i would pick up the tab at that point and remember to never have lunch with them again.

they're not nice people. >> yes. >> but i can't stand micerliness. drives me crazy. >> yeah, it does. >> if you can't be generous that way, you wonder about the generosity of spirit. now if you can't afford, that is different. >> absolutely. >> right away when you're making your plans, let's you and i go out, i'm running low, then -- >> right. >> but if it's a person that always gets up to go to the ladies room or to the ocean -- >> the ocean! >> and just at the very convenient time, oh, who got lunch? thank you. >> yes. >> we know that. you know who you are. >> yeah. >> and i don't like it when a man expects a woman to, either. they're just waiting and waiting. >> can i tell you? >> that's the last date, as well. >> that's the jugular. >> that's the last date. if you don't have any money then invite me for a picnic, you know. not that i'm going, don't invite me for a picnic, i'm not available. >> well -- >> oh, now. ridiculous. >> let's see if it works. >> one of them fell on the floor. we can't even. >> oh, wait, hold on.

here it is. >> here's the trouble, i can't see! i can't see to do it! >> there you go. good, good. >> oh, crud. >> can you imagine doing this when you're gleerry eyed. >> we did it. see if it stops. >> how does it work? we did it right. >> there's an off button. >> you should have told us that before we did the puzzle. okay you're at the movies and you have to go to the ocean. and you don't know when the right time is to go, because the movie is so good. well, you know they always say -- >> this was happening the other day when we were at the screening of harry potter. >> i wasn't with you. >> and the half-blood prince. >> i can't remember when i'm not there. >> oh, i know, my bangs. i'm telling you, i know -- and i didn't know what was happening. so i picked a moment, and finally went, because it's a long movie, and i'm coming out of the lady's room, or the ocean and there are three people waiting to use it. because i missed the last three

seconds of the movie. >> he no! >> yeah! thiwould have been helpful. >> this is brilliant. you know that commercial there's an ap for that like on your ipod thing? there is an ap that you can have on your ipod called runpee. they give you the time, the scene during the movie where it's the best time to run to the rest room. okay. so you know there's going to be a dead tme so they go, go after the scene of the guy on the bridge jumping and you're like, he jumped an then you go. >> and you have three minutes. >> aiths a 99 cent phone ap. >> but that means more people are using their phones in the theater. >> no. they just have it on so you do it before you go in. you go, i'm going to go see hangover. i might have to go. and then they tell you when. >> you know, i have toys huge problem that we're all spending way too much time like this in front of machines. isn't that the other thing we were talking about? >> a woman who fell into a manhole. >> a 15-year-old girl fell into a manhole because she was tweeting.

she's fine. she's fine. >> it was justish-no, but she's okay. >> everybody's a critic. >> she was walking, dropped in the hole and was -- >> it's not funny. but now, here's the one part, she -- all right it was wrong to leave the manhole open. maybe the guy was off to the men's room or the ocean, i don't know. but now she wasn't really hurt and her parents are suing the city. >> right. >> you know. >> she's fine. >> she's fine. >> but don't text and walk. in london they're actually equipping lamp posts with padding so in taste when you're -- >> why don't we all just pad ourselves as we walk around because these people walk into you constantly, right? what is happening to our world? sara, tell us. you're young and you live in that sweet world. >> that's a twit she won't forget. >> i'm laughing about the twit, like how she -- people always come by and tweet. >> how was your trip? >> it was a twit she won't

forget. never mind. it's so not funny. okay i have to remind everyone about the curtis stone contest it's the last time to sign up on klgandhoda.com. >> if you want curtis to come to your house get on our website right now, klgandhoda.com, tell us why he should pick you and your girlfriends. he'll cook for you. it's such a cool thing. >> and he's eye candy, too, the whole time. he's a lot of fun. >> can we get a shot of our friend mary? >> mary, real quick. that's mary, mary and friends and her son and everybody starts waving to the camera. >> hey! >> all right. so up next, who do we have? >> as we move along, we're going to get a visit from all-american rejects. i met them all downstairs. >> and they're going to be performing tomorrow on the plaza "today." they talk, tomorrow they sing.

♪ when you see my face ♪ when you walk my way >> if you listen to the radio, or anything really, chances are you've heard this song a few times a day. >> it's a catchy little tune called gives you hell and it's the first single off the all-american rejects' third album called when the world comes down. they make up the all-american rejects and they're going to be performing actually tomorrow. >> all day tomorrow during -- >> hello. >> and we grabbed them first. we got them today. welcome guys.

>> you are hot. >> are you looking forward to it? >> yeah, yeah. >> come on. you know, the "today" show, the plaza. >> all-american rejects and you guys sort of have accepted and embraced us. >> well, that song, by the way, we're just talking about that song, 40 weeks it has been on billboard charts. >> didn't it surprise you that that song hit so hard with people? >> it was -- i think it was valentine's day when i realized that it was happening. this is great. i've gotten so many tweets or something like that. this is my song today. because i hate my boyfriend. something. >> is anybody in a happy relationship out there, do you think? >> well, if anything we're giving them a good little anthem to put the middle finger to. >> who writes the lyrics in >> i write lyrics. >> who mights music? >> we all kind of. >> you two, you guys were friends since you were just little kids. you were 14 years old when you two teamed up? >> in oklahoma. >> i met this guy at a party. i was being the bouncer at the time.

it was like- >> he was the door man. >> that just doesn't get geekier. >> no. it's great. >> and where did the title come from? the name of the group? >> all-american rejects. we're from oklahoma. >> oklahoma has some fabulous people. >> i was born in oklahoma. >> what? >> come on. >> i'm wearing a white t-shirt and you guys are wearing white. >> and you have red shoes. >> and that is kind of like kansas. >> let me ask you about your shoes for one second. >> oh, yeah, please. >> what's up with those shoes? >> they take me back to kansas any time i want. >> they are very, very cool. so how do the folks in oklahoma feel about just your success? >> they, you know, our families, and everybody back home is really proud. you know, i actually went to the oklahoma history center recely. my parents took me. but they have a display and there's actually a big all-american rejects wall.

>> uh-huh. >> oklahoma gives us love. it's really nice. >> only it says it gives you hell topped at number three. because i think they put it up a little premature. but we did actually make our first number one with that one. >> wow. >> these two guys on the end. i like them a lot. >> yeah. these two. >> we're waiting for you. >> tell me about those two. >> your mom and dad still alive and they're with you and they're happy and good? >> yeah, totally, yeah. >> so just the nose thing. >> and the ears. >> i'm only after them because is oklahoma we're talking about. what was their reaction? >> my dad, he was kind of used to me at that point. >> uh-huh. >> you know. >> and your mom? >> she was oh, yeah, she's okay with it. they're fine with it as long as i have a steady job and i'm not, you know -- >> does it hurt? the chicks must dig it. >> yeah, totally. >> you guys all have matching

tattoos. >> i'm going to pull. >> yeah. >> oh, dear. >> handle bars for a love machine. >> oh, yeah. >> whoo! >> whoo! >> you guys all have matching tattoos? >> yeah, we do. >> you have them. you want to see them? >> yeah, please. >> there's one. >> all-american rejects. >> come on, show your stuff. >> okay. here you have to. >> i can stretch my shirt. >> awesome. >> you guys, have fun tomorrow on the plaza. >> it will be a lot of fun. >> you guys have a good time, all right? >> take care. >> all right. and you can come down to the plaza and be a pardon of it, too. >> yes, you can. it will be a lot of fun. coming up in just a few minutes we have picked two lucky ladies from the plaza. we have found them. giving them the once-over.

all right still to come we're going to have the results of our ambush makeovers on the plaza. stick around for that. >> plus unbelievable cirque du soliel. she's also going to teach us a few tricks. that's a whole other story. after your local news and your weather.

major headaches for metro riders. what's happening that could help riding the rails more than a little tricky today. good morning. i'm joe krebs. also ahead, the most talked about video of micha jkson is released. see it and find why it could be a key into figuring out how and why he died. we'll tell you what about five things to buy for a bargain right now. 1x1x

we're back on this thursday with more of "today." and we have the results of today's "ambush makeover." as always ivillage contributor and stylist to the stars louis licari and fashion expert and "us weekly" contributor jill martin got up very early this morning to pluck two great ladies from the plaza for instant makeovers. now it's time to reveal the results. >> are you ready? >> i'm ready. >> okay. >> we're also color coordinated just out of the blue. >> there was a memo today. >> there was a memo? >> louis, jill, wear the colors. >> please. >> okay. we have some good picks today? >> we did. the best part was these ladies didn't have a clue they were going to be picked. >> they didn't know? >> usually we have women

screaming and yelling. we found women that just didn't have a clue and we said you're the ones. >> woman number one is pam figgeroa. she has two kids, three grand kids. she's been married for 14 years. she spends her days imagining the finances at her local country club. in her spare time, she sings backup and plays percussion in her husband's band. she's a part of the red hot mamas. we'll hear about her right now. >> the red hot mamas collectively have lost 200 pounds, sandy last 20. you're ready for a whole new look now, right? >> yes, i am. >> tell us about that. >> well, it's hard to learn how to dress after you've lost weight because you're afraid to show your body. so it's difficult to learn thank you buy clothes and what to wear. >> all right. well look at this body now. are you guys ready to see a whole new pam? >> yeah! >> yeah! >> all right. it's that time we have the red hot mamas along with her husband

ray. they've all got blind folds on. don't take them off until you give you the go ahead. let's take a look at pam before. all right, pam, let's see the new you. come on out. whoo! >> oh, wow! >> okay. >> okay. >> you're going to die. >> red hot mamas, you ready? take off your blindfolds. >> this is a red hot momma. >> oh, my gosh! >> oh, my goodness. >> all right. pam are you ready to see yourself? >> pam likes it. >> all right, turn around right here. >> wow! >> wow, wow. >> oh, my gosh. >> what do you think? >> who is that? >> that's a red hot mama. that's who that is. >> right there, let's see. louis, her hair looks awesome. look at you. oh, my word. hello! >> pam, you know, pam is an example of a woman who grew her hair long for no other reason than she didn't know what to do. we give it instant style.

great job, shorter in the back. i added a little bit of depth which made her blue eyes bluer. >> look at her beautiful eyes. >> a little crease to accent the eyes. >> look at lay. ray isn't breathing, by the way. ray! >> you got something to say? >> i'm a lucky man. >> jill her dress is smokin'. that is so cute. >> she lost all this weight but now doesn't have a little black dress which every woman should have in her wardrobe. now she has a bulous one from ann taylor. >> red hot mamas, what do you think? >> oh, beautiful. >> all right, big hand. >> all right. >> go over there, honey. our second lady is geneva williams. she's 72, she has four children, five grandchildren, one great grandchi grandchild. she has been heard to her husband for 52 years. they're retired and live on a beautiful lake in missouri. the only time she pampers herself is when her doctors take her on the annual vacation trips. so many people who do not take

time for themselves. she's feathered her hair since the '70s and is finally embracing the new millennium. let's hear about her. >> girls gone wild. i know it's your big weekend. why do you want your mom to have a makeover? >> well, she's a lovely lady and she's just a wonderful mop. but she needs a new look. she's had thisook since the '70s, and she's got natural curl in her hair, which i didn't get. but she just needs a makeover. >> okay. and i want to start with, go down here, what's with the socks and the shoes. are you ready to trade them in for some heels? >> they're comfortable. if you're walking across new york you have to be comfortable. >> hoda and kathie lee, get ready, because we a going to give you a whole new look. are you ready to go? >> sure, why not! >> you know when you're 72 you can wear anything you want, right? >> she doesn't look 72 at all. >> she's here with her two daughters. okay. they've got blindfolds. come on, cate lee.

let's take a look at geneva before. and -- >> whoo! >> geneva now. hello darling. >> hello geneva. >> all right. daughters are you redid? >> yes. >> oh! >> and now take a gander at yourself geneva. >> oh, my gosh! wow! >> she doesn't look 72, does she, irls? >> you look awesome. awesome. >> come here by me. look right there. look at you. >> louis. the hair. >> what i wanted to do with geneva was to create the illusion of thicker hair. very common problem as time goes by is your hair becomes thinner. i added depth to the hair color. makes your hair look thicker. then lena gave her long layers. if you notice the part, it's not even a part, gives the illusion of more fullness on part. >> look at the daughters. i'm sorry.

what do you say? >> oh, she's beautiful. >> i can't believe it. you had such long hair for so long. >> oh, awesome. >> what shoes did you put on her? let me see. are they comfortable? >> yes, they are comfortable. kind of. >> yes, but girls night out on the town. she can't be wearing those crazy socks with the shoes. >> we go to the -- >> nine to five. >> oh, fun, fun. >> these can go to nine to five. those other shoes can be around the house. >> all right, come on. >> do you recognize her? >> okay, great. come on out, everybody. >> we have some parting gifts for you and we are grateful to louis and jill, as usual. always do an amazing job. >> thank you. >> thank you so much. >> up next, performance by cirque du soliel. and if i can get my mouth working, first these messages.

cirque du soliel premiered in 1994. more than 10 million people have gotten to see the incredible acrobatics of cirque du soliel al chlt egria. >> now they're taking the cast on the road for the tour. maria will speak to us in a minute. but first they're going to perform a show called manipulation. take it away. ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪

♪ >> wow! >> oh, my gosh! wow. wow. >> thank you so much, ladies. >> maria, do you need to catch your breath for a second? that was amazing. >> thank you. i was a bit nervous. >> when she was doing it downstairs earlier, everybody was just standing around going, unbelievable. we all played with hula hoops when we were little. since 5 years old you've been doing this? >> from 6 years old. >> how much daily training do you have to do to get too this kind of shape to be able to do this? >> 24 hours. >> really? around the clock? >> yes. >> wow, that's -- i can't believe you can perform for that period of time and do it so precisely without a single mistrach. >> i asked somebody on the side

who's from cirque du soliel, does she have an understudy? they go, no. she's the only one who can do this. >> can you show us, kind of -- >> i blame it already on my back. >> i can't do this. >> i can only do it. >> there you go. >> thanks. i'm not good at this. >> she really isn't. >> once, okay. >> got to get rid of this. >> you can put it around the neck. >> on your neck? and you can spin it to the left. oh, my go. give her a hand. oh! that was good. show me, kath. >> wait, how do you do the neck? >> i love it. >> go, go. >> thank you, guys. >> we love it so much. >> thank you so much. >> i'm doing this to astounld

you. we'll be back after this. fios guy! where ya headed?

ah, just installed fios in the whole building. now everyone has the fastest upload speeds. and we're giving them a mini netbook. well, i'm sticking with cable. so's ted. (voice) no i'm not! he's just goofing.

(voice) no i'm not! (sighing) ted has betrayed me. (announcer) unlike cable, fios brings 100% fiber optics straight to your home and when you switch now, you can get a free compaq mini netbook. just pay shipping, handling and taxes. with fios, you'll get razor-sharp tv, blazing fast internet and crystal-clear phone service all for just... sign up today. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800.974.6006 tty/v, and for a limited time, get an incredible compaq mini, to get the most out of your fios intert. get it all together with a great deal on fios tv, internet and phone plus get a free compaq mini netbook. just pay shipping, handling and taxes. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800.974.6006 tty/v before time runs out on this astonishing offer. he has said that he fell in love with the theater when he

was 9 years old. but for 50 years he followed his love. >> his body of work impressive and he is only one of eight actors to win a tony and an oscar for the same role, playing the emcee in cabaret. but there is another side to him you may not know. ♪ welcome >> joel grey is probably best known for his role as emcee in the show cabaret. his role not only earned him a tony in 1966, but also an oscar in 1972, when the classic hit the big screen. he's gone on to star in such broadway hits as george m., chicago, and wicked. but this star has another side to him. photographer. he's released two books of moments and things he's noticed throughout his years traveling and experiencing life. and he's not stopping. his latest book, 1.3 are all photos taken with his cell

phone. >> joel grey, welcome to "today." >> thank you. >> good to see you. >> with your cell phone? >> yes, ma'am. >> that's a unique -- look at you. you have it handy? >> of course. >> you just didn't happen to have your camera with you on one day? >> i was on a business trip and i forgot my big nikon. i see something interesting and i shoot. and i brought this home, with about 25 shots on it. and i showed it to the guy who takes care of my books. this genius. designer. and he said it's your next book. >> now were you a photographer? you had the big camera. so were you a schooled photographer? >> i shoot everything with a nikon. >> i've trd to take cell phone pictures and they look nothing like anything in your book. what is it that makes your photography unique with the phone? >> i really don't know. i mean -- >> look at them. >> i think the whole notion is to be in the moment. >> yeah. >> you always have this with you. so if i'm walking down the street, and i see something

interesting or something confusing or something horrifying. >> uh-huh. >> i shoot it. and it goes like that. >> now the opposite is true, because in my dressing room today, somebody said tome, you can't take pictures -- you know, do you take pictures with your thumb? of course not. i have a phone and that's all it does is talk to people. and they look at me and they go, no, it is a camera. and you can take a picture. >> is it easy? >> so i said prove it. so there's me in the dressing room on my phone. >> with your book! >> with your book! >> joel, i had no idea. so people have a phone and don't know they have a camera. >> i was so disdainful of people who took pictures with a cell phone until i found it myself and i found i could get -- i could get something that was -- that also blew up. nobody believes -- >> how does it go from your phone to this? >> but in your book you keep the images small. >> yes, i do. but nobody believes that they

can be printed big. >> that is -- yeah, wow. look at that. >> and that's what i don't understand. that's why i don't understand how it's so crisp and clear and beautiful. because -- >> holds it steady. >> it's the light and the photographer. >> that's exactly right. >> lighting is everything. >> light. light. >> why is it 1.3. i don't understand? >> mega pixels. which is very low. >> uh-huh. >> is it? >> mega pixels. >> okay, i get it. >> what is wrong with you? >> most of the new phones are 3 or 4. >> okay. >> and they don't do any better. >> wow. >> so is that it with the nikon? or are you going to just hang with this baby? >> no, the book is out now. i'm going to go back to -- maybe i'll even shoot some digital. >> wow, whoa. live on the edge there. party animal. and people can still see you in concerts all around the country? >> yeah, i'm around. >> a song in nantucket last year with the boston pops. it was terrific. lovely, lovely show. where are you coming to a

theater next for people to see you, anywhere? >> i don't know, actually. i don't think i want to do a broadway show again. >> not broadway, the one i saw. your live -- >> oh, i do that. i go out and do that. >> pparently preferably. >> joel, thank you. >> there's nothing to plug. >> thank you. >> so good to see you. >> and you can see more of joel's photography in his new book .3: images from my phone."

what's up miss sara sage h >> you've got signed cds from the all-american rejects. so if you post on our wall all-american rejects and where you're from we'll pick at random from the end. >> i really liked them. >> they were sweet, sweet guys. >> they frightened me a little at first. but i really liked them.

>> comg up tomorrow, ll cool j is going to stop by to talk to us. >> plus the best cocktails to sip by the pool. or the sea. >> bye. ñgñgñgo?ñwñsñqñqñsssñsñ;ú;úyñ