good morning. one-on-one. president obama sits down for an exclusive interview at a key moment in his presidency. his push for health care reform under fire. a u.s. soldier held captive in afghanistan. record profits back on wall street. is morning the commander in chief weighs in on it all. investigation expands. nbc news has learned at least 19 doctors are now being looked at as police try to figure out what caused michael jackson's death. and final moments. ryan o'neal opens up for the first time about farrah

fawcett's last days. >> she just looked at us with a slight smile. it was awful. >> our emotional interview "today," tuesday, july 21st, >> our emotional interview "today," tuesday, july 21st, 2009. captions paid for by nbc-universal television and welcome to "today" on this rainia tuesday morning, i'm meredith vieira. >> and i'm lester holt in for matt lauer this morning. you had a big day yesterday at the white house. >> i did. it was very nice to sit down with the president, especially when he has so much on his plate these days. we hit on all the major issues, including growing doubts about whether his plan to fix health care is even possible and what his administration is going to do to help david goldman, the new jersey father fighting to get his son back from brazil. a story that we have covered quite extensively on "today." >> the presidentad a lot to say about captured u.s. soldier bough bergdahl.

the pentagon is now vowing to do everything to find and rescue him and his family in idaho is overwhelmed with all the report their receiving. we'll speak with their spokesperson. and then they say you are what you eat. so what should you snack on if you want to boost our libido. is there trust to the powers of things like oysters and wine? we'll find out. >> let's begin with our exclusive interviewith president obama. we began by talking about private bergdahl and i asked him what his reaction was when he first saw the video of the 23-year-old in the hands of the taliban? >> it's always heartbreaking. our young men and women who are serving in our armed forces do such an extraordinary job. put themselves in harm's way each and every day, especially those who are deployed in afghanistan and in iraq. and so, things like this, it

makes you think about familiefa. it makes you think about the young man. we are hopeful that it will have a good ending. and we are doing erything we can. i can't talk in detail about -- >> have you spoken to his family? >> i have not spoken to his family at this point simply because we want to make sure that before we do we have something to tell them. and i think that we're at this point evaluating what our options are. but, it is a reminder of what these young men and women are doing on behalf of our safety, and our security, and i'm thankful to them each and every day. >> a little closer to home, let's talk about health care reform. because you have been everywhere recently pushing reform. publicly and behind the scenes, urging both the house and the senate to pass legislation before this august recess. why is that deadline so important to you? why even set a deadline? >> well, because if you don't set a deadline in this senate, nothing happens.

the default in washington is inaction. and inertia. and there's a reason why we haven't had health care reform in 50 years. and the deadline is not being set by me. the deadline is being set by the american people. >> but look at the bills that are floating around out there right now. according to the congressional budget office, those bills would do nothing to take on health care costs. and you say unless we can bring those into line, we won't have real health care reform. and, in fact, they're saying that, again, the authors are saying we're going to have higher costs with those bills and a greater deficit. people look at th, mr. president, people who are paying already high costs for medical care and they think it's a joke. >> we'll, we -- >> they're mpaying a lot of mony and see congress coming up with legislation that will cost them even more. >> i think it's important to not confuse two issues. and that's out-of-pocket costs for individuals, versus the long-term unsustainable cost of health care under medicare and

medicaid and other government programs. here's what's going on. we have a problem of health care inflation generally being out of control. and that's true in the private sector and that's true in the public sector. and so, what we've got to do is we've got to bend the cost curve over the long term. and we've put forward a whole series of proposals to do that. and the congressional budget office and every health care expert have looked at many of ourroposals and they've said, you know, this has a good chance of working. not all of them have been adopted by congress yet. >> but again, not to beat a dead horse here, but again the congressional budget office, looking at those bills that are out there and saying they do not contain costs. any one of those bills, would you sign them based on what you see? >> right now, they're not where they need to be. but i promise you, i just met with the congressional budget office today. so i know exactly what they're saying. and what they're saying is, is that the cost savings that are in those bills right now, some of them may actually work, but they're not enough to offset the

additional costs of bringing in 46 million new people to provide. so they won't work? >> well -- >> in terms of reform. >> what they won't do is offset the fact that if you are adding additional people to the system, that's going to cost more. and we've got to figure out a way to pay for that. now i actually am optimistic that if you look at both the progress that's been made in the house and in the senate, that at the end of the day, we will have a bill that assures that we're driving down costs over the long-term, and in the short-term, people have more security, and we have serious insurance reform. >> let me, say republican senator from south carolina said if we're able to stop obama on this, meaning health care reform, it would be his waterloo, quote, it will break him. funny? >> well, it's typical. but that's -- that answers all the previous questions you asked. that's the answer to it. this is not about, you know, do

we need a little more time to get this right, to be constructive, to talk to the policy analysts? >> yes. >> this is all about politics. at describes exactly an attitude that we've got to overcome. because what folks have in their minds is that somehow this is about me, it's about politics, and the ability to win back the house of representatives. and people are thinking back to 1993, when president clinton wasn't able to get health care, right after that the house republicans won. >> this isbout politics. this is a key issue for you. you have a big stake in this. >> of course i have -- >> if this falls apart that is not good for you. >> you know, meredith, all i can say is that this is absolutely important to me. but, this is not as important to me as it is to the people who don't have health care. i've got health care. this isn't as important to me as the family that's going bankrupt because they got a bunch of medical bills that they thought

the insurance companies would cover, that turned out they weren't covered. so, yes, absolutely. i am deeply invested in getting this thing done. but this isn't washington's sport. this isn't about who's up and who's down. this is about solving an enormous problem for the american people. >> one of the ways to pay for the health care bill is something called a surtax on some of the richest americans, people who make more than $280,000 a year. i've never heard whether you support that or don't support that. would you support a surtax? >> right now, the house has put forward a surtax. the senate finance committee is looking at some other options. what i've said is, and i have stuck to this point, i don't want to see additional tax burdens on people making $250,000 a year or less. and by the way, despite all the hue and cry out there about oh, obama's becoming like a tax and spend democrat, what you hear from therepublicans, the only tax change i've made in the six months since i've been here is to cut people's taxes.

>> b would you support a surtax on those people making more than $280,000 a year to help pay for this health care reform? >> i think that ultimately what we're going to have is a package which will probably include some additional revenue from well-to-do people, including me and you, who can afford to pay a little bit more, so that working families, people who are going to their jobs every single day, can have a little more security on their health care. >> does that mean yes, mr. president? >> it means that that is one option among many. but what levels that's going to be at, where it's pegged at, all those details are still being worked out. >> do you think because health care reform will eventually help everybody, that everybody should have to sacrifice? in other words if you attack the surtax on people making $280,000 or more, isn't that in effect punishing the rich? >> no, it's not punishing the rich. the way i look at it is if i can afford to do a little bit more so that a whole bunch of families out there have a little more security, when i already

have security, that's part of being a community. >> you know, i don't know how much attention he pay to the polls but yesterday there was poll out, "washington post," where his approval rating on health care has dropped below 50%. so i think tomorrow's news conference is important to him, to get the message, again, out to the people that reform is important. >> he's clearly putting himself out there. >> oh, all the ti. >> everywhere you look he's out there talking about health care. clearly didn't want to get pinned down on that last question. looks like everything is on the table. >> i thought he almost said yes, but then -- wasn't exactly sure. we're going to have much more on my discussion with president obama coming up in the next half hour, including his reaction to the return of bonuses on wall street, and also the much talked about jeans that he wore to the all-star game. >> all right, meredith, thanks. now more on that american soldier held hostage by the taliban. the pentagon says troops are sparing no effort to find and rescue private first class bowe bergdahl. we'll speak with the family spokesperson and one of their neighbors in a moment. but first nbc's george lewis has the latest from their hometown

of hailey, idaho. >> reporter: good morning, lister, hailey idaho is now bedecked with yellow ribbons. it's a sign of this community's hopes and prayers that somehow bowe bergdahl will be returned home safely. those ribbons began going up all over town after bergdahl's identity was revealed in that video. tell me why you're doing this? >> because we love bowe. >> reporter: on behalf of bergdahl's family the sheriff read a statement thanking the public. >> we have been overwhelmed with the outpouring of support and concern towards bowe and our family. >> reporter: just after bergdahl's disappearance three weeks ago in afghanistan, but before this jid yo was released, many in hailey knew that he was the soldier captured by the taliban. but they kept quiet about it out of concern for his safety. >> if somebody asks you not to say something, that's what's going to happen. and when somebody says this is what we need, it will happen.

>> reporter: bowe bergdahl is fondly remembered here as a handsome kid who was willing to try all sorts of things, including joining a local ballet company. >> if they needed a man to basically be the lifter, bowe was there. and he was so wonderful. and he's got a nice, just such a nice, easy way about him. >> reporter: and then he really surprised friends last year, by enlisting in the army. >> he's having way more adventure than he bargained on. we just really want him home. >> reporter: so thank you in hailey, they wait, hoping and praying that somehow bowe bergdahl will make it back safely. >> all right, george lewis, thank you. leon ferris lives next door to the bergdahls and blaine county sheriff is speaking on behalf of the bergdahl family. good morning to both of you. thanks so much for joining us. >> good morning. >> sheriff, i know the family has asked you to speak on their behalf to the media for the next few days.

what is it they want the rest of the country to know? >> well, i think what their energy is focused on, certainly, is on bowe and they want to know that, you know -- they want to be careful so that they don't do anything to inflame the situation. they've also said to me that you know, altugh bowe is in, you know, kind of spotlight right now because of this capture, they want everybody to make sure that they're still thinking about the men and women who are in harm's way out there, and protecting our country. >> and i have to ask you about the video. obviously there's been some negative reaction that that video is being used as propagan but has it brohtpropaganda. but has it brought some measure of comfort to the familyo at least see him and know that he's well? >> well, yeah, i mean it's probably comfort to see him. but that video is, you know, i wish that it would stop being shown. because, you know, it's pretty

difficult to watch. >> right. leanne, i know you have known bo since w asseven. in fact your daughter and bowe grew up together. tell us what kind of guy he is. >> well, as a young boy he was very shy and quiet. and he was quite the sportsman. and then as he got older, he just came more out of this -- he came out of his shell more. but he was really good athlete, and he'd work up in ketchum, but he'd ride his bike out from where we lived, which was 18 miles. and then you have 1,000 foot vertical difference. so he was quite the adventurer. >> were you surprised when he made the decision to join the army? >> no. he talked about it a lot. and we -- i mean it just wasn't a surprise. it was something that we kind of always knew that he wanted to do.

>> sheriff and leanne, i know all of you are wrapping your arms around this family and supporting them, and leanne, i see you're wearing the yellow ribbon. sheriff, talk about how the town really sat on this information until it was made public, that you knew, in fact, who this soldier was. >> you know, talk about this community. it's a community of doers, and you know, really, when the information came out, you know, our community just jumped in to, you know, full swing. and if you go down the streets of hailey, you know, you see the yellow ribbons, and you know, at the same time, you know, what we do is, you know, we don't do the gloom and doom, you know. everybody's really positive and upbeat and trying to send that positive, upbeat message, you know, to bowe and the community. and, you know, they're all keeping him in their prayers. >> and we'll all try to emulate that positive feeling. leanne ferris, sheriff walt

fremling, thank you for your time this morning. it was good of you to join us. >> thank you. >> all right. we want to get a check of the rest of the morning's top stories. for that we'll go over to ann curry at the news desk. >> good morning, everybody. also in the news this morning, the pentagon says it needs more troops in afghanistan, because of the worsening violence there. on monday, defense secretary robert gates said he will temporarily increase the size of the army by 22,000 soldiers. and many of them are expected to go to afghanistan, where 68,000 u.s. troops are likely to be serving by the end of this year. militants attacked government buildings in eastern afghanistan today, and 14 taliban militants and security forces were killed. meantime, four more u.s. troops died in afghanistan on monday, raising the number of u.s. deaths to at least 30 so far this month. that makes this the deadliest month for u.s. troops in afghanistan since the war began. in california, there is a deal to close the massive budget deficit.

governor schwarzenegger said that getting an agreement was like quote, a suspense more very. the deal calls for deep cuts in spending, but no new taxes and should permit the state to stop issuing ious to pay its bills >> >> overseas markets are mostly higher this morning, melissa lee is at th new york stock exchange where there's a lot of attention on the fed chairman. >> there is, ann. ben bernanke is set to testify before the senate banking committee today in his semiannual report on the economy. already bernanke has published an op-ed in today's "wall street journal" talking about how the fed can exit the course of flooding the system with money and pushing rates nearly to zero in order to boost the economy. that is a prime concern of economists. meantime, continental airlines is feeling the pinch of a slowdown. it's announcing 1700 additional job cuts and is also raising the fee on checked baggage by another $5 a bag. ann? >> all right, melissa lee this morning. and a washington landmark known as watergate goes on the auction block today. the hotel was made famous, of course, by the 1972 burglary that ultimately led to president

richard nixon's resignation. its previous owner defaulted on a loan. it is now 7:17, let's go back to redith and lester who are waking up with al this morning. >> that's right. >> that luggage story, almost seems like it's cheaper to send your luggage and stay home. >> i think it is, actually. >> my shorts had a great ywcation. ay, let's take a look. here's a party in my pants.lo airport delays -- >> al! >> what, what? we've got airport delays up and down the eastern seaboard. heavy rain. what a mess. also some hvy activity back sylv.iayonwestann pe .u can see up to an inch of rain along the eastern seaboard. then as we move to the west, again, more strong storms firing up, flash flood watches, warnings in parts of southeastern kansas on into southern missouri from wichita down to dallas. rainfall amounts there, we're talking about some areas picking up three to five inches of rain, just to the west of memphis, all the way down to

that's your latest weather. meredith? >> al, thank you. still to come, move are our wide-ranging interview with president obama. including what he has to say to critics of his all-star night jeans. you are married to one of the mo fashionable women in the world. do you want to defend the pants? >> no. >> the answer, but first, this >> no. >> the answer, but first, this is "today" on nbc.

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-existing conditions. it's time to act.

and coming up tomorrow on nbc, our worldwide excluve interview with scottish singing sensation susan boyle. are you having a good time? >> having a wonderful time. >> tell me about it. >> it's just been unbelievable. it's indescribable. it's a bit like being popped out of obscurity is a bit like going on a long journey, really. you don't knowhat's going to happen. you don't know how it's going to end. i don't want it to end. it's just incredible. indescribable, really. it's really good. >> you look gorgeous. >> you know, it's interesting because right now she's at a good place. she's writing an album. and everything. but she talks about the pressures that she was under leading up to the finale that eventually ended with her spending some time at the priory, which is a mental health clinic. >> we're going to see a lot more. she'll perform in this country at some point? >> hopefully she'll perform here on "america's got talent." i think that's still being

worked out. she looked great, and better than that, sounded can catch s you can catch susan boyle, "daring to dream" as part of a special edition of "america's got talent" tomorrow at 9:00 p.m., 8:00 central. at'll wehave a preview tomorrow. meanwhile, the number of doctors investigating michael jackson's death has sky rocketed.

good morning. it is tuesday, july 21st, 2009. we're following breaking news right now. a group of local high school students have been quarantined in china. we go to walter johnson high school with a couple of the students attended. good morning. >> reporter: we're told three of the students in china attend high school here at walter johnson. the rest of the 21 students are from various schools in montgomery county. evidently one of the students in the group started displaying swine flu symptoms as the plane landed in beijing china about a week ago. the students were headed over

there for a tour. there are 11 in the hospital. the rest being quarantined in the hotel. they are in constant communication with their parents. back to you in the studio. >> thank you. we'll take a break (announcer) how can a single make summer more fun? start with the rich and creamy melt of kraft singles and get the best cheeseburger of the summer. kraft singles. goodness. squared. of the world's most reved luxury sedan. this is a history of over 50,000 crash-tested cars...

and 889 safety patents. this is the world record for longevity and endurance. and one of the most technologically advanced automobiles on the planet. this is the 9th generation e-class. this is mercedes-benz. >> mostly cloudy this morning. getting showers in kent county. moving to the north. later on at that maybe a passing shower or thundershower. highs in the low 80s. more of the same wednesday into the weekend. how's the traffic? >> a medical emergency. 270 southbound in montgomeriville looks like that is gone. lanes are open. moderate traffic to the split.

395 northbound loaded up across the 14th street bridge. it appears the travel lanes at this hour are open but heavy and slow. >> all right. thank you, jerry. tonight at 5:00, lindsey has lunch with

7:30 now on this tuesday morning, july 21st, 2009. rain is really coming down in this hour. so a big thanks to everyone spending the morning with us out on the plaza. meanwhile, high and dry inside studio 1a i'm meredith vieira alongside lester holt. matt is off this morning. coming up in this half hour, more of our exclusive interview with president obama. we touched on david goldman and his fight to bring his son back from brazil. as well as what should be done with profits now flowing again on wall street, after billions in taxpayer bailouts. >> also ahead this morning, ryan

o'neal talks about the last days he spent with farrah fawcett. we'll hear from him for the first time since her death. >> plus, on a lighter note, we're going to take a rather interesting quiz to find out which foods boost your sex drive. i have no idea. >> i have no idea. i saw the list of things they're going to ask us about. but we'll see how we do. let's begin with new details in the investigation into michael jackson's death. it appears detectives are now looking into more doctors than originally thought. nbc's jeff rossen is in los angeles with the latest. jeff, good morning. >> hi, lester. good morning to you. just a week after michael jackson died, we heard five doctors were under investigation. but this morning, a source close to the case tells nbc news that number has skyrocketed. we've learned officials are now checking into at least 19 doctors. the investigation into michael jackson's death is growing. a dragnet so wide, a source familiar with the criminal case tells nbc news at least 19 doctors are under the

microscope. and it could take months, even years, to take action against any or all of them. right now, officials are waiting for the final toxicology results. that's when prosecutors could make their move, and file the first criminal charges. while murder charges are unlikely, the source says involuntary manslaughter is possible. robin sacks, a former l.a. prosecutor, who worked in the very office handling this case. >> involuntary manslaughter is attractive, because as a doctor they should have known better. which is really the reason why you should have known these medicines could kill you. >> reporter: in the days after his death investigators seized prescription drugs from jackson's home. sie then they've subpoenaed the medical records of his dermatologist dr. arnold klein, who denies any wrongdoing. police have also impounded the car of dr. conrad murray, who was with jackson at the time of his death. detectives interviewed him twice, and collected his medical records, too. his attorney has denied dr. murray did anything wrong. >> well, i'm thinking that it's

foul play. yeah, that's what i'm thinking. >> reporter: michael's father joe jackson, in a new interview on cnn. >> are you implying, then, that the doctor committed foul play? >> something went wrong. something went wrong, larry. because when they try to bring michael ck, he was dead. >> reporter: joe jackson is also playing a role in the custody case. sources involved in the case say debbie rowe doesn't want him raising the kids, because michael accused him of abuse in a documentary. >> i was scared. i was scared. >> what do you say about all these things that have been said over the years, that you harmed michael as a child? >> oh, that's a bunch of bull s. that's a bunch of bull s. >> saighten me out. >> that's not true. >> you never physically harmed him? >> never. >> reporter: his wife katherine has temporary custody, reportedly getting help from michael's sisters, janet and rebbie. "us weekly" reports paris stays in her room most of the time and

writes letters to her dad. prince and blanket watch children's movies, but never the news. >> in a sense the jackson children are living in a bubble. they don't even know who their biological parents are at this point. they do not know that debbie rowe is their mother. >> reporter: prince is 12, paris is 11, blanket is 7. and soon shielding them from everything going on will become impossible. ♪ including their father's final days, now aeg is selling the rights to more footage. taken during michael's last rehearsal. it will be a movie, with big-time hollywood studios already bidding $50 million for the rights. and there is new information this morning on michael jackson's estate. his mother katherine is still deciding whether or not to fight for more control over the estate. in a new statement her lawyer now sayst's only fair, and that katherine's top priority remains the care of her son's three children. busy morning here. >> jeff rossen in los angeles. thank you. we want to get a check of the

weather now. let's go back outside and say hello to al. >> man,n, it is wet out here. unbelievable. this is how -- this crowd is so desperate for us, that this -- look at our cameraman jimmy corrigan. jimmy, give them the wave. that's entertainment. you guys staying dry? >> no. >> no, okay. that's a silly question. let's check your weather, see what's going on. but you look good. let's see, we should all be out west. atse at87, portland, 91. 102 in red bluff, californ. temperatures 6 to 12 degrees above normal. the hot weather continues into southern texas on into southern florida. chillier than usual here in the northeast, with strong storms, heavy rain there. the eastern -- western third of the country is

good morning. sunshine breaking out in washington and points west. points east around the bay and southern maryland there's a few passing showers that are moving off to the north. temperatures are near 70 in washington and near the bay. elsewhere mid to upper 60s. it will climb into the low 80s today with some clouds in and out and a small chance of a passing shower or thundershower this afternoon or early this evening and then tomorrow a repeat of today. more humid. remaining humid thursday into the weekend. each day a chance of a passing shower or thundershower. that's your latest weather. whenever you want weather, go to weather channel on cable, or weather.com onli. meredith? >> al, thank you. now to more of our interview with president obama. in a moment, his resnse to critics picking on the jeans he wore to last week's all-star game. but first we touched on a far more serious topic. a new jersey father's ongoing custody fight to bring his son sean home from brazil.

there is an international treaty which mandates abducted children be returned to their natural parents in the country of their birth. five years later, david goldman still hasn't seen sean. what do you think we suld be doing? if a country is violating the treaty, should we be imposing trade sanctions on brazil? >> well, the encouraging thing is you've seen a brazilian court now rule in favor of mr. goldman. i understand it's now on appeal, and i can only imagine how frustrating this must be for him. we have advised the brazilian government that we want to move this forward expeditiously, and that we want folks to abide by international law. >> but where's the carrot on the stick. where is the stick in this? >> well, to the extent that we think that brazilian courts are not operating in good faith in a timely fashion, obviously we can consider what further options to take. at this point, i don't have an indication from the brazilian government that they are trying

to block progress on this front. and as long as we're making swift progress to get this resolved, then we're going to keep on working those channels. >> as the president walked with me towards the east wing, the conversation turned to the recent record profits on wall street. you know i wanted to ask you about goldman sachs and jpmorgan reporting these big profits in the second quarter. and they're talking about bonuses for their employees. people hear that, taxpayers, and they're very frustrated. because -- you are frustrated by that? >> here's what i think happened. you've got a banking system that, because of the stress, almost dragged down the entire economy. i think it's fair that a lot of the problems we have right now are attributed to misbehavior on wall street. >> but now they're ready to go again? >> and taxpayers, i think, had to intervene to prevent something even worse from happening. and in fairness, these companies have paid the money back.

a couple of them. >> but have ty learned a lesson? >> that's the point. that's the point. what you haven't seen, i think, is a change in culture. a certain humility, where they kind of step back and they say, gosh, you know, we really messed things up. and so maybe we should be more focused on the products that we're providing consumers, let's make sure that we're operating in a more secure, safe fashion. >> should taxpayers get a cut of those bonuses? the reason they are getting that money is because taxpayers bailed them out. >> well, here's what is happening. you know, goldman pays back the united states with interest. so we've actually made, the tax prayers, have actually made money on the investments tt were made to many of these banks, with interest. and that will actually go back to the deficit reduction. that's the positive of this. the other positive of it is we want banks to be solvent. we want them stable. that's part of the sign that the economy is stabilized a little

bit. >> but they're not just stable. these people are doing really well while there's 9.5% unemployment, people looking for jobs, homes being foreclosed on. >> which is why it's going to be important, i think, for us to have the financial regulatory reform. part of what gets me really frustrated is when i hear some of the banks are resisting the idea of a consumer finance protection agency, that we will put forward to make sure that banks can't take advantage of people with pretory loans on their mortgages, or credit cards that are jacked up to exorbitant rates. when i hear se of these banks say we don't need regulations, after what we've just gone through, i'm thinking, well, people have some selective memory there. and this is going to be a major battle on the hill, because a lot of these banks have a lot of influence. >> last question, i promise you, all-star game. you threw out the pitch. >> i did. >> i thought you did very well with that. but then the fashion police went after your jeans.

>> i heard they were ragging on my jeans. >> dad jeans, called the nerd jeans. are you married to one of the most fashional women in the world. do you want to defend the pants? >> no. here's myattitude. michelle, she looks fabulous. i'm a little frumpy. you know. basically, up until a few years ago, i only had four suits. she used to tease me because they'd get really shiny. i hate to shop. those jeans are comfortable. and for those of you who, you know, want your president to, you know, look great in tight jeans, i'm sorry, i'm not the guy. >> no low riders for you? >> sorry. it just doesn't fit me. i'm no 20. >> the image of him in really tight jeans is wrong. wrong for the president. >> can i say as a man of about the same age, it's all about comfort when you get to this point in life. good for him. >> and he looks comfortable. >> you know. >> for sure. that's what it's all about. >> and he's confident in those pants. that's what matters. are you in yours? >> very comfortable, yeah.

very comfortable. >> then put them back on. no, i'm kidding! he's got them on. he's got them on. >> wearing pants, all right? >> all right. up next. is sorry enough? singer chris brown issues his first public apology to rihanna more than five months after the assault of his ex-girlfriend.

we're back at 7:44 with singer chris brown's public apology to his former girlfriend rihanna. in a two-minute video posted on

his website, brown pleads for forgiveness for the shocking assault that took place in february, after a pre-grammy party in los angeles. nbc's lee cowan has details. >> reporter: on the r&b singer's webpage, just below his best-selling romantic sickle "with you" is another chris brown video, decidedly less romantic. >> what i did was unacceptable. 100%. i can only ask and pray that you forgive me. please. >> right here up front, chris brown. >> reporter: it was an apology for what he did shortly after this l.a. party back in february. the girl on his arm, pop star rihanna. who went from looking like this, to this. bleeding, and bruised. on the eve of the grammy awards, the music industry's chart-topping couple got in an argument. according to a police affidavit, brown repeatedly punched rihanna in the face, even choked her. brown eventually pleaded guilty to felony assault.

although he says his attorney advised him not to speak, he said the time had come to address the crime, and rihanna, directly. >> i told rihanna countless times and i'm telling you today that i'm truly, truly sorry and that i wasn't able to handle the situation both differently and better. >> this is more for his fans. buit's also for everyone in the industry. it's everyone that's black-listed him. >> reporter: the viciousness of the assault hit brown's fans hard. and his image as a role model tumbled. which has some domestic violenc experts questioning not only the motives, but the sincerity behind his apology. >> i definitely think that this is an attempt to somehow get back that clean image that he once had. but, in my mind, it makes it worse. because it just shows that he still isn't really getting it. >> reporter: brown claims no excuses. bu he hinted the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. >> i grew up in a home where there was domestic violence. and i saw firsthand what uncontrolled rage could do. i saw it and i'm continuing to seek help to ensure that what

occurred in february can never happen again. >> reporter: brown will likely get probation when he's sentenced next month. for "today," lee cowan, nbc news, los angeles. >> psychiatrist dr. gail saltz is a "today" contributor. toure is an nbc news contributor as well and covers the music industry for "rolling stone" magazine. good morni to both of you. gail, he issues an apology, and now he issues one and we feel the need to dissect it under the circumstances. how do you read it? >> you know, it sounds sinre in the sense that many, many people who do this say, i'm sorry, but, you provoked me. or you did this. there's a sense of in som way. and he's not defensive. he says i'm sorry, i really did this thing, it was tremendously wrong, now i've got to do the work to make sure that it never happens again. >> doesn't erase the crime, but what does an apology do in a case like this. >> it definitely doesn't erase the crime. this is only step one in a many, many step process. it takes a long time to unravel,

especially, you know, if you are -- have grown up in a house with abuse. >> and he mentions that. >> and that's important. because in this country, it is a cycle of abuse. behind closed doors right now, somebody is being abused in their home. in fact, with the recession and economic stresses there's probably an increase going on. certainly there is in teen dating, of which this was an example, of more abuse. because we are still underaware and underprepared. >> when i heard him mention the abuse, i've been waiting for and that's my excuse, he didn't use it as an excuse, he basically said i get it, i've seen it. >> i've seen it, i've done it, and he has to know it's a risk factor. the country has to know if you grew up in abuse, you have a lot of work to do to make sure that you're not going to perpetuate that cycle. i think it was important that he brought that up. i'm glad he did because we need to be having dialogue. >> let me turn to toure. he's been damaged goods in the music industry since all this happened. a lot of folks are saying this is to repair his career. and i say duh, of course, that's got to be part of the

motivation, right? >> well, of course. this all happened in public. we knew as it was going on, right after he hit her, that he was running away from the k07s for a little while. and then he was arrested. we're talking about this on twitter at the grammy awards and all this. and the picture comes up. so this has all been a public moment. >> but remember, some of his fans not only defended him, they blamed rihanna in this case. >> many of his fans have defended him, said what did rihanna do? here's what i love. she's an island girl, you know how they're spicy. what is that? >> where does this stuff come from? >> that's why this has to happen. because he is a role model. he's a role model for kids, for teens. so whether he likes it or not, when you gain that fame and you are that celebrity, you have a responsibility to behave, and send out a message in a certain kind of way. so he needs to keep talking about it, because unfortunately, he's been a role model in the wrong way. >> i was looking at some things, toure, that you had discussed earlier about this apology is not only to these teenage kids who like him, but to their moms and dads. >> well, sure, the big thing in the record business is touring.

that's where you really make your money. his fan base is mainly 13 to 18. maybe 13 to 16. he's going to need mom or dad to drive the kids, the ticket buyer, to the show. >> that's right. >> so they're going to have to okay going to a chris brown show. >> right. >> and in so many mom's minds he's the new ike turner. got to get rid of that perception. >> and that's going to be a long haul. moms do not want to drive their daughters to see someone -- he's going to have to keep rehabbing himself i think. >> this is a discussion a lot of moms and dads, a lot of fans are going to be happening. thank you two for taking part. dr. gail saltz, toure, always a pleasure to to have you here. still ahead for the first time since farrah fawcett's death, ryan o'neal talks about her final moments and life without her.

still ahead, libido-boosting foods. should you eat a red hot chili pepper to increase your sex drives.

we'll take auiz on the foods to eat and the ones to avoid.

company 7:56 is the time right now. is rain in the forecast? tom will have the answer after the news. good morning. i'm eun ya. in the news this morning, brking news. 21 students from montgomery countyreer u ander quarantine i beijing, china, because of the swine flu. we do not know what schools all of the students attendt they arrived in china a week ago for a culture ak language tour when students developed swine flu symptoms. 18 rest stops in virginia are closed for good as part of a move to close a multimillion dollar budget gap in the

commonwealth. overnight the virginia department of transportation put up orange cones to block the entrance of the closed rest stops like this one in dale city. critics say the plan will make roads more dangerous because drivers won't have a place to stop when they're tired. we'll take a break. we'll check traffic and weather when we come back. (announcer) it's time to raise the bar and replace your old mayo with the full flavor of aft mayo with olive oil.

made with the rich, delicious taste of imported olive oil. kraft mayo with olive oil is the new standard in mayo. good morning. it wl be partly sunny from time to time today. a chance of a shower this afternoon. more of the same wednesday into the weekend with highs in the low to mid-80s. >> beltway south of town quite heavy and slow leaving springfield on the outer loop as

you make the way out through the lane split there in van dorn street. folks are still getting used to that. we'll check things out. accident 301 northbound. police are on thecene dealing with that folks coming out of waldorf heads-up. northbound lanes are open to 11th street bridge. a live look at 14th street bridge. we're packed in very tightly along 395. it's all volume. if there is good news. heavy and slow butravel lanes are open. >> tonight at 5:00, lindsay czarniak has lunch with one of the biggest names in tennis.

8:00 now on this tuesday morning, july 21st, 2009, a cool, wet start to the day here in new york. right around 65 degrees. a scorcher. any guesses on what the lowest temperature would be? >> 100 below? >> that's a good guess. >> 150 degrees below zero. >> it's 129 below zero. happened on this day, 26 years ago, in new york city. >> no. >> no! >> no i didn't. >> antarctica. >> but the humidity was probably minus 125. >> that's right.

with the humidity. >> he will me tell you what's coming up in this half hour. ryan o'neal. we talked with him on monday about losing farrah fawcett. the first time o'neal has spoken out since his death. we're going to have our interview. >> also ahead, are you preparing for a financial crisis in perhaps the wrong way? we're going to meet a new and growing breed of americans who are stockpiling for economic disaster, and find out why they say you should consider doing the same. >> hmm. >> all right and a little bit later on you might want to stockpile certain kinds of foods if you want to get busy a little bit later. foods that boost your sex drive, and the ones that suppress it. >> wow. >> yeah. >> we'll tell you about that. >> but before we get to that we're going to get a check of the top stories with ann curry who is standing by at the news desk. >> good morning once again to all of you this morning. in the news, today president obama makes another push to get health care legislation passed by august. from republicans and members of his own party. he is meetingerat l with house

democrats at the white house, and the president says he is optimistic a final bill will drive down health care costs. meantime, in an exclusive interview with meredith the president spoke about 23-year-old bowe bergdahl, the american soldier being held captive by the taliban. he said he is hopeful it will have a good ending, and that the u.s. is doing everything it can to get bowe back. california's taken the first step toward ending its budget crisis. governor schwarzenegger has and legislative leaders reached an agreement last night to close the $26 billion deficit dollar deficit budget shortfall which would mean no more ious to pay california's bills. gas prices are down to their lowest level in two months according to the government. the average price for a gallon of regular is now $2.46. down 6 1/2 cents in just one week. this morning, the world health organization says 700 people have died worldwide from the h1n1 virus or swine flu since april. this as more than 90 american students and teachers from

oregon and maryland are being quarantined in china for swine flu after one student showed symptoms of the virus. heavy rain has caused massive flooding and mudslides in western japan. leaving at least five people dead. helicopters have been airlifting stranded people to safety. at least eight people are missing, including residents of a nursing home. and two "endeavour" astronauts celebrated the 40th san remembersry of the moon landing on monday by performing spacewalk of their own. they transported spare parts from the shouldle to the international space station, and meantime, the crew inside the outpost successfully fixed a broken toilet. what a relief. it is now time to check for with brian williams for what's coming up on "nbc nightly news." hey, brian. >> ann, thanks. coming up tonight it's the folks who always say they never missed a payment who may be the perfect targets, because the game and the rates are changing. we're going to look at how credit card companies are finding new ways to really pull a fast one on customers. that and more tonight when we

see you for "nightly news." ann for now, back to you. >> okay, brian, thanks so much. now let's go back outside to meredith and lester. >> i want to point out this is emily from ohio. she wants to be a movie star so if anybody from l.a. is watching. any big producers. she's ready to go, right? >> yes! >> meanwhile, where is al roker? >> right over here. right here. it's amazing. >> al!al! >> hi, how are you? >> and you just happened to find a bunch of good-looking sailors. >> yeah. >> very nice. where are you from? >> oklahoma. >> what ship are you in on? >> the mahan. >> so give them a hand. there you go. let's check your weather. she what's going on. our pick city of the day, evansville, indiana. 14 wfie. afternoon thunderstorms, 76 degrees. as we take a look, show you our jet stream band of air 20,000 feet above the earth's surface. big ridge of high pressure in the west. that means sizzling conditions there. wet weather in the east. and pretty much builds out west. so the warm weather stays in the

western two thirds of the good morning. sunshine breaking out to the west of washington but to the east of washington and here in washington it's cloudy. a few light showers along the chesapeake bay shoreline. there's a shower there and right there in northern kent county as well. these are very slowly drifting off to the north and temperatures around the region are in the 60s to near 70. highs in the low 80s. slight chance of a passing shower or thundershower. more of the same tomorrow. more humid. and good news, mom, they got you a fake rolex. what else did you get? >> purses. >> street purses and fake rolexs. that's what new york city is all about, lester. >> al, thank you very much. still to come on "today," ryan o'neal opens up for the first time about his final days with

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lipitor has been extensively studied... with over 16 years of research. lipitor is not for everyone, including people with liver problems... and women who are nursing, pregna, or may become pregnant. you need simple blood tests to check for liver problems. tell your doctor if you are takingther medications, or if you have any muscle pain or weakness. this may be a sign of a rare but serious side effect. i was caught off-guard. but maybe you can learn from my story. have a heart to heart with your doctor... about your risk. and about lipitor. we are back at 8:09. it has been nearly three weeks sie farrah fawcett died and for the first time since that sad day her longtime companion, ryan o'neal is speaking out about her final moments. our exclusive interview just ahead. but first a look back at the actress who will always be remembered as an angel. she rose to fame as one of

"charlie's angels" and her pinup made her a pop culture icon. >> it is seriously time for a miracle. >> reporter: but in perhaps her most memorable role, farrah fawcett didn't play a part. she was hersel sharing her real-life cancer battle with millions of americans in the powerful documentary "farrah's story." >> of all the days i ever hoped for in my life, finding a doctor to surgically remove my anal cancer did not even make the top 1 million on my list. >> reporter: that documentary quickly became her legacy. >> she wanted to share her journey with people and, you know, just sort of give people the message to keep fighting. >> reporter: and that's exactly how family and friends saw her. as a fighter. >> everybody calls you the rock. i get the feeling that maybe she's the rock. >> she's the rock. she taught us all how to cope. she's extraordinary. >> i think it's ryan's birthday. >> reporter: farrah fawcett was

also a mother. her son was in jail for drug use during his mother's final days, but was able to visit her at home one last time in shackles. throughout farrah's life, her love for her son was always evident. she made sure the same was true in her death. >> for redmond, my boy, i will always be there. when you are so very young, i will be there. when one day you wake up, oh, and realize that i'm gone, i will still be there. >> reporter: she died the same day as michael jackson on june 25th, at the age of 62. in the days that followed, friends and family, including redmond o'neal, came together for a private ceremony to honor her life.

fittingly at the cathedral of our lady of angels in los angeles, the city of angels. and ryan o'neal is joining us for his first television interview since farrah's death. ryan, good morning. >> good morning, meredith. >> you know that i'm sending you my heartfelt condolences for your loss. i'm so sorry about farrah's passing. you've said to me awhile back, ryan, you said that she was always the rock in the relationship, the one that taught you how to cope. so how are you coping without her? >> well, i'm the new rock. and i'm using what she taught me to -- to survive, to go on, to care for my son redmond. and i have launched into his massive job of answering the mail that has come in for her over the last few weeks. >> can you tell me a little bit about the kind of mail that you've been getting. >> i would have brought some of

it, except i send it on to redmond, so that he can see what people felt about his mother. and it gives him strength to carry on his fight, too, because he's in a dogfight out there. >> i know he's in a fight. he's in a facility for drug possession. and one of the most touching moments in the documentary, "farrah's story" is when he was released to go visit his mom before she went to the hospital and he went to her moment in shackles. it was extremely moving. when she passed away, he could not be there for her. but he did call her, you said. >> he spoke to her a number of times on the cell phone. and also, he was at the funeral. he came, and ty allowed him to carry her casket with the other pallbearers. although they didn't take his handcuffs off. and he buried his mother. >> in those last calls to his mom, what did he say to her? >> well, i held the phone to her

ear. so i'm not exactly sure. but think it was about regrets, and the horror of not being able to see her again. >> you know, we talked to dr. lawrence piro right after farrah passed. he had been in the hospital with her, along with you and her best friend alana stewart. he said up until the end, she was alert and awake. can you describe the atmosphere in her hospital room? >> it was hard. it was -- he thought that she would live just another couple of hours and she lived a couple of days. and she wouldn't move on. she wouldn't pass. she just -- she just looked at us, with this slight smile, it was awful. and then -- and then all the machines flat-lined.

after about 16 hours. and she was -- she was gone. >> what were the last words that she said to you and the last words that you said to her, ryan? >> i said i'd see her soon. and i see her every day. i write in my journal now to her. >> well, i know, in may when we talked you said that there were times that you wished that she would just go to sleep, because you couldn't imagine that she was happy in the condition that she was in. so in some small way, are you at peace knowing that she is now no longer unhappy? >> yeah. in a sense i am. you know, she never closed her eyes. her es were open for the last three weeks of her life, watching us. she didn't speak much, but she watched us. and then finally, she closed her

eyes. >> what do you think she was saying with those eyes? >> i think she was holding on. i didn't think she wanted to go. she had -- she had things left on her plate to finish. to accomplish. and now, she has an emmy nomination. that's pretty wonderful. >> yeah, let me talk to you about that for a minute. the emmy nominations were announced last week. she recently won posthumously for her role as executive producer for "farrah's story." her documentary. what do you think that emmy would have meant to her? >> oh, boy. she always wanted one, you know. worked very hard to get one. thought she would for "the burning bed" and even had a speech. so it comes a little late, i guess. but, i'm sure she knows. >> her friend and former charlie's angel kate jackson said when she thinks of farrah

she's always going to remember her smile. that's the number one thing. what will you always remember? >> so much, meredith. but her smile wasn't bad. it was beautiful. i'll take that. >> ryan o'neal, thank you so much. and again our condolences. t afr this. - ( women vocalizing ) announcer: it gives the world fewer smog-forming emissions. it gives you a 50 mile per gallon rating. the 3rd generation prius. it's harmony between man, nature and machine.

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your new book. you seem to make the point mos of us have no idea what we're putting into our bodies. >> yes, exactly. the fact is the nutritional information is out there but we don't have a way to get our hands on it. and we don't know the difference between a 2600 calorie milk shake and a 400 calorie milk shake and how that one smart swap that you make can be a day's worth of calories difference. so the book is really about how to see the dramatic calorie differences so that you can lose belly fat in record time. you can improve your cardiovascular health, your sexual health, and just, you know, look and feel better than ever. >> speaking of sexual health, this is going to be like a contest? >> well, there's foods here. quickly before we do this, we're talking about libido foods or just heart health and general health that make you more sexual? >> eating these foods over time will make you healthier. but when it's date night, some of these -- >> you have like an hour before? >> yeah, yeah, an hour, 90

minutes, you know. >> let's get started. >> start with the old banana. >> bananas. hot or not? >> i have to say they're hot. i think they're hot. potassium is good for you. >> i don't know that potassium is good for sex, though. i don't think so. >> meredith, you're right. >> yes! >> more fun than a barrel of monkeys. you've got potassium, which you mentioned. yove got -- >> i've got 90 minutes. here we go. >> you've got -- it's not just the suggestive shape, okay. you've got the "b" vitamins, you've got the potassium which helps to regulate blood pressure. >> thank you. >> helps prevent an ill-timed charley horse. >> so watch it. >> we're trying to decide who would be the designated grown-up. >> i said i would be. >> it's a free for all. >> okay move on. >> oysters. >> hot or not? >> well, they certainly have a reputation as hot. >> i say no. because they have the reputation. >> look, they are packed with two minerals. zing and iodine, which help to

boost body temperature and testosterone. but the problem is, it's a not. it's a not hot because in one sitting you would have to eat 50 of them to get the effect. so, good luck finding love. >> so far i've got my pulse on these foods. >> pumpkin seeds. pumpkin seeds, people. >> pumpkin seeds are filled with zing and pro-tine. like oysters. they're cheap. they're readily availal. they're easy to prepare. toast them up, mix them in with popcorn and forget about the movie. >> chocolate covered strawberries. >> chocolate is supposed to be an after row disyak but i'm going to say no again. >> i'm going to say yes. >> you're right. it is not just -- >> i'm a total loser. >> it is not just a valentine's day gimmick. you have the vitamin "c" in the strawberries which helps boost libido. but in the dark chocolate your body releasing the same chemicals that are released during sex.

it's good, right? >> mm-hmm. >> get ready. >> watch out, meredith. >> so the only thing is you want to make sure that it has at least 75% or 70% cacao. that's the dark seed in the chocolate that they use to make the chocolate and cocoa. >> so milk chocolate would n be good? >> especially not white chocolate. dark. at least 70%. >> i'm totally thrown on this. >> hot peppers. >> i say yeah. >> i think i'm going to say yeah, because this sounds like it's got hot in it, right? >> look, it makes sense that foods that make you hot and bothered would well make you hot and bothered. but there is no research to suggest a direct link. in terms of boosting libido right away. >> so stay away? >> not hot. what you should try to do is get some saffron. this spice is going to mimic the effects, boost your libido.

it's got compounds in the saffron that kind of act as an antidepressant and pain blocker, so you're going to be happy, you're going to feel no pain. >> okay, saffron. is this pomegranate juice? that's good for your heart. antioxidants. >> i'd say yes. >> you're right. it's a boat load of antioxidants and that helps to boost your libido. >> okay. >> all right. >> asparagus. >> it's stinky from asparagus. >> no. >> no. >> you're both wrong. >> really? >> this is hot. asparagus spears, hotter than britney spears. >> oh! >> oh. >> come on. >> easy, guys. easy guys. >> we're talking about asparagus, okay? slow down, guys. >> this is packed with vitamin "e," which is help to boost your libido. >> why does vitamin "e" do that? >> the vitamin "e" is great because it relaxes your blood vessels, gives you sexual ma. >> coconut? no. >> high in saturated fat.

>> wine, yes or no? >> yes to a point. don't have a half carafe. >> that's it. 8:26 is the time. hazy sunshine out there this morning. it will feelike a summer day. we'll talk to tom kierein coming up. i'm joe krebs. it is tuesday, the 21st day of july. in the news for today, we're following a developing story. 21 students from montgomery county are under quarantine right now in beijing china because of swine flu fears. we knowartu seedents are from wa s ndonw dno ktha wer we don't know what schools the utivrr i china about a weekahi a rfoo a a cultural and language tour when some students developed swine flu symptoms. d.c.'s famous watergate hotel is going up on the auction block today.

they will accept bids for the hotel this morning. the hotel was purchased by d.c. based monument realty in 2004. the whole building closed in 2007. the hotel is one of several buildings in the watergate complex plead famous by the burglary that led to president nixon's resignation. we'll take a break and comback and ñwr

good morning. around the region we have few sprinkles in southern maryland on rar east of culvert county. warming to mid 80s today. how is traffic? >> loaded up on 66. >> loaded up on 66. lanes are open. announcer: during the autobahn for all event, you can get great lease deals. i love it! i just want to know it's the right move. me? thirteen days in the future. you get a deal on the car you always wanted. scheduled maintenance is included, it's all good. what's the future like? you love your new jetta. and the suit? you like it? no...i love it!

8:30 now on this tuesday morning, july 21st, 2009. got a few raindrops here in the heart of midtown manhattan. but following a long stretch of beautiful weather in the northeast. these fine folks don't seem to mind too much. and just ahead in this half hour we're going to talk about suburban survival. >> i know. >> come on over here. >> we're talking about a growing number of people who are stockpiling food and

nonperishables preparing for a disaster a lot of us might not have thought about. and we'll explain why it could be time for your family to consider joining them. >> also coming up this morning, who wants to eat pasta? >> yeah. >> okay. who wants to eat pasta made by the scottos? >> yeah. >> they're here this morning. they're going to show us a recipe that apparently is pretty quick and easy. who wants to do that? >> and then a little bitater on, as a tribute to michael jackson, are the remaining jackson four planning a tribute concert? we're going to get some details on that a little bit later on. >> i may not be a meteorologist al, but i can tell it's raining. >> yes, you can. you can eat a banana. >> yes, i can. >> let's check your weather, see what's hapning and we'll show you for today, we've got a risk of strong storms. heavy rain working its way into the northeast. also a risk of strong storms down through texas. sunny skies up and down the west coast. and then for tomorrow, we're looking for more rain in new

england. wet weather through t partly sunny in washington. and pointswest. live picture from our sky watcher camera and off to the east we have quite a bit of cloudiness on radar getting a shower that's been persistent along the chesapeake bay. temperatures around the region around 70 degrees. low 80s today. chance of a passing shower or thundershower. more chance tomorrow and turning more humid and remaining steamy with a chance of a passing shower or thun and that's your latest weather. who is this cutie? >> this is marley brooke and she is 1 years old. >> happy birthday. and she's a born broadcaster, going for the mike. she's 1 and 99 years she's on a smucker's jar, being announced by willard scott. that's not so bad. >> i'd put her on a smucker's

jar as cute as she is right now. how did the new show go, "wake up with willard"? >> featuring al and stephanie. we had a great time. they actually let us come back today. i think we're going to do it again tomorrow on the weather channel. >> uh-oh. that's a long-term contract. i saw our promo. ♪ happy birthday to you look at our smucker's gang today. what a handsome group we have, indeed. the rly slowsl spins ar.ndouar.d low of elryow of ntket,ke fo kent ket, 100. retired pediatric nurse. ice skated until she was 93 and dheedoplpel aevnsid aiatio yht lpitin vetioung to help young re clementine mi,ll erll harf fmve m haverford, pennsylvania. attributes her longevity to good health, common sense, and curiosity. own for her gift of gab.

d gnaoo old lena, good olden trofi, providence, rhode island. d.s olar0 st d.an10 mmcod. ireohhe jsn legeinr,in legeino 0 010 rseaold., vr o oethefne tdw survivors of the u.s. drexel." believe it or not i remember that. o's his longevity to eating dandelions. dandelions.el wheeler, eeca elr,wheele aiken, sth ea yna, 100 old. ou old. proud to have lived through segregation and voting for the first time. attends church ek.ly ourse she is a mister.of w t abho10itou0., le ouerr sterour tees lrsttees peabody ,ss ss101.of the patriarch ofhe t family furniture business, started in 1899. and kept the business going through world war ii all through the depression. that's it. the other hardest working man

besides al in show business is lester, and here's lester. >> willard, thanks very much. still to come this morning and today, how some families are bracing for financial fallout. wait until you see what and how they're doing it. ♪ (announcer) it's right here. it's easy. p♪ tel it'she money you could be saving with geico. r♪ for fresh deli taste, ( scanner beeping, music ) why pay for the whole deli? ♪ ( laughs, beeping )

price check on deli man. oscar mayer deli fresh shaved meats. great, fresh-from-the-deli taste... without the deli counter price. sliced, packed, and sealed at the peak of freshness. oscar mayer deli fresh. for the love of a great sandwich. 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-existing conditions. it's time to act. the pontiac summer closeout is here; hurry to get the pontiac you want before they're gone. the price on the tag is the price you pay. get a 2009 pontiac vibe for $13,708 after all offers. or get 0% apr for 60 months on most 2009 pontiac models!

all are bacd with the best coverage in america, including a 5 year/100,000 mile powertrain warranty. get some excitement while you still can, during the pontiac summer closeout. visit pontiacdealer.com and now to more of our exclusive interview with president obama. when you talk with him, one thing becomes clear, the president is passionate. especially when it comes to health care and his plans for sweeping reform. here's more from our conversation. >> i think what happens is, is that people know the system isn't working right now. but i also think that it's very easy to scare people that it's going to get even worse. and they think, well, maybe the devil i know is better than the devil i don't. what i've got to remind people of is that doing nothing doesn't

mean you just keep what you have. doing nothing means that you're going to lose what you have. because, on the current projectry, your premiums are going to double again over the next five to ten years. your out-of-pocket costs are going to increase some more. you're more likely to see your employer drop coverage. we've already seen a significant increase in the number of people who just have no coverage at all. so, so, you know, without trying to sound the alarm here, what i've got to, i think, communicate with the american people is, that we can change this thing for the better. that there's no reason that we americans should be paying 50% more than every other advanced nation on earth and we're not any healthier. it doesn't make any sense. >> but even members of your own party, mr. president, are beginning to question the size and scope of the legislation, the need to raise taxes in order

to pay for it, the fact that right now it is not bipartisan at all, and many of them are saying to you, starting to say to you, you know what, we've got to slow down on this, because we're heading for a disaster. you se to be steamrolling it. and they're askingou to back off a little bit. >> meredith, look, washington -- >> are you listening to them? do you hear them? >> i meet them all the time. and you know what i'm also listening to? i'm listening to the mother who writes to me and can't get health insurance for her grown child who's got cancer, because they don't have health insurance. and i'm listening to the small business owner who sends me a letter and says my premiums have just gone up 30% so i've got a choice of dropping health coverage for all my employees or firing a couple of employees. and i've also got a message that i'm looking at from my budget director that says if we don't get control of health care costs, then there is no way we can ever control the deficit or the death. so, i'm listening to a whole

bunch of voices here. what i'm not going to do, and i don't think the american people should do and i don't think congress should do, is stand pat and say we're going to have another 40 years of a system that doesn't work. and nobody can defend the existing system. nobody. i haven't heard a single person out there say, you know what, we've got a great -- we've got a health care system that's really working and we can just do nothing and it's going to be fine. and if that's the case, then, it's my job to make the case that we should have enough courage and fortitude and determination to make the change. and i am determined to make that case to the american people. >> but one of the key players on the democratic side, in the senate, and that's baucus, chairman of the senate finance committee said on thursday, quote, the president isn't helping to reach a bipartisan compromise. are you worried that members of your own party are beginning to question your leadership when it comes to health care? >> meredith, let's be very specific about what that was

about. i think you should provide the coext for it. he was responding to the fact that i've been opposed to -- >> health care -- >> taxing- >> right exactly. >> taxing people's health care benefits. so there are a whole bunch of republicans on the committee who think that that is the best way to accomplish health care reform. and senator baucus has looked at that as an option. i continue to believe that it is not the best way for us to fund it. that we have a whole range of other options. >> so you haven't, even though he said you're not helping him out here? >> i think actually what you're announcing are a bunch of significant discussions that are taking place in the finance committee where they're explo exploring a whole range of options. but, you know, there's a constant sense of hand wringing in this town when it comes to getting anything done. >> president obama. and still ahead we will step into the kitchen with the

scottos. up next, best-selling author daniel silver. fiber one. i'm looking for some fiber. this bar is an excellent source of fiber. there's no fiber in this. tastes too good. there is fiber. [ chuckle ] no. i can't taste the fiber in this chocolate. they have 35% of your daily value. hmm. oh, samples. hmm. autobahn. wackenschdol. fiber one chewy bars. cardboard no. delicious yes.

this morning on "today's hot summer reads," the return of gabriel alan, the master israeli spy and assassin created by daniel silva. the latest escapade is called "the defector." and once again the battle with the ruthless russian arms dealer. we should note daniel is married to our national correspondent jamie gangel. good morning, congratulations on yet another book. >> thank you so much. >> this is the 12th? >> this is my 12th novel. the ninth featuring gabriel alon. it's my 12th novel overall. i can't believe i've written that many. >> i think a lot of people were surprised to see you write a sequel. when you were writing "moscow rules" did you have in mind

there would be a follow-up book? >> i walk around with a list of books that i want to get to. and i must confess that after i finished the book, my first impulse was to do something else. and i found that within a matter of days, the character and the scenario that i had created in "moscow rules," the story just wouldn't leave me alone and i wanted to go back to russia and i wanted the story to continue. i felt that it was a book that actually i had to write. >> as an outsider i would think that doing a sequel would be a little simpler. is that the case? >> no. >> harder? >> harder. and one thing that i made certain that i did with this book is that i made absolutely certain that it stood on its own. and this is a book that, if you did not read "moscow rules" you can pick up this book. you will feel right at home. >> it's a challenge to do that? >> absolutely. i think it is. and i wanted to make sure that i created a new story that stood up on its own and then brought the conclusion of "moscow rules" into it. >> and then when you growth the

gabriel character nine books ago did you have the intent this would be a series or was he supposed to be a one-time character? >> he was supposed to be what we call in the business a one-off character. and my fans just are stunned by that. but when i created him so long ago in a book called "the kill artist" he was supposed to come and go and ride off into the sunset. and i actually had to be tked in to writing another book. and it wasn't until about the third or fourth book that i realized that i had a hit series on my hand and i should keep writing him. >> if you've never read one of your books, if you go back and read this character throughout nine books, does he grow, does he change? does he become a different person? >> i think that all continuing characters must grow, and mine certainly does. when he started in those first couple of books, he was extremely reclusive person, who suffered from really a severe case of melancholy to be honest with you. and he has now become a

full-fledged, full-blooded character. he has a group of characters around him. >> right. >> that the stories flow through. and i think that's what the fans really like. >> dan, you also take in these books a very sharp, dim view of modern-day russia. that's a personal opinion that is reflected in the books? >> i actually -- i love the time that i spent in russia. i am endlessly fascinated by russia. but i do think that there are some things going on in contemporary russia that are -- give me cause for concern. >> corruption? >> i'm talking about corruption. i am talking about the fact that russia no longer really even pretends to be a democracy. and we saw again in the last week that there's a very dangerous side to life in russia, especially for those who dare to criticize the kremlin. human rights worker was murdered in chechnya, natalia seremova,

six months ago a colleague of hers was shot to death in broad daylight on a moscow street. there are just a long list of kremlin critics who end up like this. >> and these last two books reflect that view of russia. >> that is a theme of the novel. that, you know, unfortunately, those who dare to criticize the kremlin right now find themselves with a target on their back. >> you have introduced some le interests in this book. and you've got some strong female characters. was that a conscious decision? >> i, you know -- >> or did they just kind of develop? >> i love writing female characters. unlike a lot of boy writers, as we are known, i like my female characters to be fully drawn, and to play critical roles in the novel. and i do have a number of very, very powerful women in this book. and you know, i'm surrounded by powerful women. >> jamie wouldn't have it any

other way, would she? >> we have the one who works here. her mother is a judge. and i have a 14-year-old daughter who, you know, shows me the way, as well. >> listen, congratulations. >> thank you. >> continued success. the book is called "the defector." daniel silva, always good to have you on. we'll be back. this is "tod" on nbc. n x

this morning's "american story" with bob dotson. a park ranger who forever ranged the way americans deal with disability. and it became 20 years ago when mark wellman, a man with a broken back, climbed the tallest cliff on earth. ♪ >> reporter: it was a moment few figured would ever happen. a man with withered legs, frying for the summit of the highest cliff on earth. 20 climbers with good legs had died on el capitan. mark wellman had just two hands, two arms, to tug him to the top. six inches at a time. >> i was fighting for inches as i was doing pull-ups up this

thing. day after day after day. >> reporter: 7,000 pull-ups. it was a fall from a mountain that put wellman in a wheelchair. he was on his way down 27 years ago when he slipped on some gravel and plummeted into a crevasse. he dangled at 13,000 feet, stuck in a crack with a broken back, for 30 hours. >> i'm feeling like my life is sort of slipping away from me. >> reporter: but the man who lost his legs in a fall from a mountain discovered he had not dropped his courage. temperatures reflecting off el capitan reached 120 degrees. >> it's hot today. >> reporter: mark and his climbing partner mike corbett lived in this harsh, tilted world for eight days. hanging one hand-hold away from the abyss. nbc cameraman craig white dangled above them the whole way. >> the hardest part of this climb, i think, was just

swinging around like a spider on the end of a web. >> you holding up all right there? >> yeah, i'm holding up all right. >> no one had done this before. so we kind of felt like we were almost like astronauts. >> i smell summit. >> reporter: the world pulled for the park ranger with the fractured spine to make it to the top. finally, after a week and a day, he had only sky left to climb. >> yeah! whoo! >> reporter: down below the story outgrew their lives. how long did it take it to sink in, that you've done the impossible? >> probably when we were sitting in the oval office with president bush, talking about fishing. >> we'd like to present this to you, mr. president. >> reporter: wellman became the jackie robinson of disability. showing us that life for the disabled need have no limits. over the years, he has helped

eight other climbers with broken backs make it to the top of el capit capitan. >> almost like 7,000 pull-ups. >> it is. >> reporter: a car accident put steve mousse in a wheelchair. doctors told him he would never leave it. >> it took awhile for it to sink in. but when it did, man i cried every day for four months. >> reporter: until he met mark. >> he was the first guy that really made me think that maybe i could do it. >> reporter: you're more severely injured than mark. >> i can move from here up, and i can't move my body around like he can. >> reporter: so wellman designed a special pulley that would allow mousse to lift just half his weight. >> if you're not tugging on this, you can just push this up with your fingers. >> i can feel it. >> nice! >> reporter: mark wellman's amazing feat showed us the possibilities, rather than the disabilities in our lives. helped cim victory over chance and trouble. >> getting up there. >> reporter: he has lifted a

generation from their wheelchairs. and inspired them to soar. >> hi! >> reporter: what's it like up there? >> free. no wheelchair, no nothing. just hanging there in god's country. >> reporter: with only sky beneath your feet. >> hi! >> reporter: for "today," bob dotson, nbc news, with "an american story" in yosemite national park. >> he has the right last name, wellman. >> yeah. >> beautiful story. beautiful pictures. >> amazing. >> we'll be back with more in just a moment.

72 degrees at ronald reagan. a lot of activity going on. we'll check the forecast coming up. on the news for today we're following a developing story. 21 students from montgomery county are under quarantined in beijing,nahi c because of swine flu fears. three students are fromr wtealn johnson. we d't kwnot whaw school the aat.ndtheyedrr week ago for a culture and language tour when the students developed swine flu symptoms. eight rest stops in virginia are closed. overnight the virginia department of transportation put up orange cones to block the entrance of closed rest stops like this one in dale city. critics say the plan will make the roads more dangerous because drivers won't have a place to stop when they're tired. we'll take areak now. we'll look at our weather forecast and check out the traffic. traffic.

anncr: hot fudge brownie meets cool, creamy ice cream ready from your microwave in less than a minute. new edwards singles a la modes. share one with someone you love. or not.

it is partly sunny now. it temperatures climbing into the low to mid 70s on radar. one lonely shower here in southern culvert county drifting across the bay. temperatures later on should reach the low 80s to mid-80s and a chance of a passing shower or thundershower this afternoon and early this evening. more of the sam tomorrow but getting more humid. humid on thursday and friday a chance of passing showers and

thundershowers mainly in the afternoon. and over the weekend remaining humid and a bit hotter. highs upper 80s. perhaps passing afternoon thundershowers each day. jerry, how's traffic? >> time to look at how we're doing here heading toward 9:00 in the morning. inner loop of the beltway looking good. outer loop moderate traffic looking decent all in all around silver spring. 395 sorry to say packed in tightly. haven't had any incidents. just volume as you head to and across the inbound 14th street bridge. joe? >> thanks. tonight at 5:00, lindsay czarniak lunches with anna kournikova. stay with us

back now with more of "today" on this tuesday morning, the 21st day of july, 2009. dreary day here in new york city. but it hasn't dampened the spirits of the crowd, smiling between the rain drops here in rockefelr center. we thank them for sticking around. we thank daniel silva for sticking around. he's signing books for our crew right now. the defector. look at that line. all right. >> they don't have to work. >> hging out there. we like it. the great thing is they're all free. so this doesn't call for sales. but somehow i think it's going

to be -- it's already on "the new york times" best-seller list. i'm al roker along with lester holt and amy robach. of course matt is off and natalie morales on assignment. coming up, remembering michael jackson. there are rumors about a tribute concert on what would have been his 51st birthday. we're going to get the latest on that and the controversy over where his kids will end up. >> also in the world of music, r&b star chris brown made a public apology to rihanna and his fans on monday, a month after he pled guilty to assaulting his one-time girlfriend. will it help rebuild his image? >> we also have meredith's exclusive interview with the heart broken ryan o'neal. the actor still grieving the loss of the actress. he talks about her final days and what life is like without her. then on a much lighter note when the stock market crashed some people stocked up, hoording food and water in case of a financial disaster.

is it a smart thing for you to do? plus we have some great hair styles. >> from hoarding to hairstyles. >> you never know who's around. >> you hoard shop pooh and hair products. before we get to all of that, let's get a check of the top stories from ann curry over at the news desk. >> good morning once again, everybody. in the news, the pentagon says it is sparing no effort to find army private first class bowe bergdahl kidnapped by the taliban in afghanistan three weeks ago today. president obama is also weighing in on the kidnap and smoke with meredith on monday about his reaction to seeing the videotape released by bergdahl's captors. >> it's always heartbreaking. our young men and women who are serving inned armed forces do such an extraordinary job. put themselves in harm's way each and every day. pecially those who are depl deployed infghanistan and in iraq.

and so, things like this, it makes you think about families. it makes you think about the young man. we are hopeful that it will have a good ending. the president also said he is holding to his august deadline for congress to pass a health care reform bill. a deadline critics have called too ambitious. he meets with house democrats on health care reform today. continental airlines is cutting jobs and raising fees. the airline posted a staggering $213 million loss for its second quarter. continental said that it will eliminate 1,700 jobs and increase by $5 the fees for checking a first bag or booking a flight over the telephone. three americans who made history in space were honored on monday by another who made history in the white house. president obama welcomed the crew of apollo 11 on the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing. and the president said watching the moon mission as a 7-year-old is what inspired him to set such high goals.

the cleanup begins around denver this morning, after a powerful storm pummeled homes and cars with hail and strong winds last night. there are reports of at least one tornado touching down, snapping trees in half and knocking out power to more than 50,000 homes. it is now three minutes past the hour. let's go back to lester, amy and ital wh more. >> all right. thanksanks a lot, ann. >> and now a check of the weather. >> absolutely. as we see what's going on. and we don't need to tell you, we've got a lot of rain here in the northeast. airport delays, we're talking tropical amounts as far as al rainfall. so icas aki p ung tpwo toso three inches of rain. and then as we move to the,stwet toinhe southern plains, you can see heavy rain moving in there. the heavy thunderstorms, flash flood watches, warnings, parts of southeastern kansas into southern missouri. rainfall amounts already working their way up to up to five inches of it is partly sunny now and on radar we do have one lonely shower in southern calvert county that's been slowly

dissipating as it heads off toward the northeast. sunshine is break out. temperatures climbing into the low 70s. 73 at washington. highs today should reach the low 80s with clouds in and out and a small chance of a passing afternoon or even thundershower and then tomorrow more of the same but turning more humid and warmer and a greater chance on thursday of passing showers and thundershowers mainly in the afternoon. that's your latest weather. amy? >> al, thank you. there are rumors swirling that there may be a tribute concert for the king of pop on what would have been michael jackson's 51st birthday late next month. and if it happens, there is now speculation that the other jacksons may perform. msnbc's courtney hazlett has the latest michael jackson news and chris brown's video apology. good morning. >> good morning. >> let's start with the latest developments surrounding michael jackson. what did you learn about the number of memorials of michael jackson's concerts that could take place in london later this summer? >> we've been hearing, first of all, that there will be

something. wh we learned is there's probably going to be two shows. that's what's on the schedule right now. the first on what would have been his 51st birthday august 29th. and the second on august 30th. the reason behind it, first of all, a lot of performers want to take part in this. a lot of celebrity performers want to sing the songs that michael jackson intended to sing. then also we're hearing that jackson's brothers, the tomaining members of the jackson five, will perfm, as well. >> d ko abnowewhouw ostht e celebrities may be? >> hearing a lot that justin timberlake might want to take part and i think you can probably bet on seeing janet jackson there, as well. >> all right. these are the concerts being put on by the same promoter who was going to be putting on michael jackson's concert that you just alluded to. the final 50 concerts that were to be held in london. two concerts can't make up for the 50 that were going to happen. any word on how the promoter is going to handle ticket sales? >> that's such a great point. that's part of the rson you're not hearing the promoter aeg say yes, we're definitely doing these shows right now. the second you announce it, you're going to have people who bought tickets for 50 show's

worth of concerts saying i want to go to that show. people don't want a refund, they want the experience. right now there's no way you can guarantee all these people can share in this experience. so you see it on tv or the big screen. >> there's a lot of other news surrounding michael jackson that has nothing to do with the concert. katherine jackson, his mother, her attorney released a statement on monday saying either she nor her attorneys contested michael jackson's will. why would they release this statement? what's the purpose? >> it's very important to them to release this statement, because michael jackson's will has a no contest part in this will, saying that if you contest this will, then you can effectively be disowned. and that's not in anyone's interest. however, what katherine jackson has been saying is, i want to be one of the administrators of the will. i want to be alongside these longtime partners of michael jackson's to have some sort of say in how this image is dea with, how the money gets handled. and at the end of the day, who gets to really control his t. arit.

then there's the big issue of custody. and apparently janet and her sister rebbie have emerged as possible guardians for the kids now, because, of course, katherine is nearly 80. no jackson family member is commenting on this possibility. so what might the motive be for the family in suggesting this arrangement or at least releasing this type of information? >> it's a very smart thing to suggest. because, at the end of the day, you want to make sure that family members are the ones looking after michael jackson's three kids. his mother, while she has had a huge part in raising them up until this point, she's getting old. and if something happens to her, they don't want to have to deal again with debbie rowe coming into the picture, or some other person and having been as hands on and involved. they need another backstop in place. >> want to get to chris brown's video apology. it was released late monday afternoon. what's the sense? is this a sincere apology or a pr stunt? >> my sense is that it falls definitely more in the category of pr stunt. the more you try to control your

apology, the less genuine it seems. this was well edited. well lit. it was released to tmz before he put it on his own website. and if he really wanted to seem very genuine, he would have gone on to say, live television. and answered difficult questions. >> why not put himself out there and say i made a mistake, mea culpa, ask me anything you want, i need to be held responsible for this. so for most people you think did any help for him or will people see through this? >> i think most people see through it. if nothing else we've gotten to the point where we sort of forgot about this. which i don't think is right, either. talking about really serious issue of domestic violence here. but he sort of just picked a scab in a sense. he reminded us what we kind of moved past already. by bringing it up, bringing it up now, and doing it in a way that just seemed really shallow and disingenuous. >> all right, courtney hazlett. very interesting stuff. thanks so much for joining us. >> thank you. >> coming up next, ryan o'neal speaks out for the first time since farrah's death.

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in 14 days... call 1-800-for-avon to find a representative. nearly a month ago one-time charlie's angel farrah fawcett lost her hard-fought battle with cancer. she carefully documented the

brutal fight against her disease and by her side each step of the way was her longtime love ryan o'neal. meredith spoke with him on monday, his first interview since her death. she asked ryan just how he's coping without the love of his life. >> well, i'm the new rock. i'm using what she taught me to survive, to go on, to care for my son, redmond. and i have launched into this massive job of answering the mail that has come in for her over the last few weeks. >> can you tell me a little bit about the kind of mail that you've been getting. >> i would have brought some of it, except i send it on to redmond, so that he can see what people felt about his mother. and it gives him strength to carry on his fight, too, because he's in a dogfight out there. >> i know he's in a fight. he's in a facility for drug possession. and one of the most touching

moments in the documentary, "farrah's story" is when he was released to go visit his mom before she entered the hospital and he went to her moment in shackles. it was extremely moving. when she passed away, he could not be there for her. but he did call her, you said. >> he spoke to her a number of times on the cell phone. and also, he was at the funeral. he came, and they allowed him to carry her casket with the other pallbearers. although they didn't take his handcuffs off. and he buried his mother. >> in those last calls to his mom, what did he say to her? >> well, i held the phone to her ear. so i'm not exactly sure. but i think it was about regrets, and the horror of not being able to see her again. >> you know, we talked to dr. lawrence piro right after farrah passed.

he had been in the hospital with her, along with you and her best friend alana stewart. he said up until the end, she was alert and awake. can you describe the atmosphere in her hospital room? >> it was hard. it was -- he thought that she would live just another couple of hours and she lived a couple of days. and she wouldn't move on. she wouldn't pass. she just -- she just looked at us, with this slight smile, it was awful. and then -- and then all the machines flat-lined. after about 16 hours. and she was -- she was gone. >> what were the last words that she said to you and the last words that you said to her,

ryan? >> i said i'd see her soon. and i see her every day. i write in my journal now to her. >> well, i know, in may when we talked you said that there were times that you wished that she would just go to sleep, because you couldn't imagine that she was happy in the condition that she was in. so in some small way, are you at peace knowing that she is now no longer unhappy? >> yeah. in a sense i am. you know, she never closed her eyes. her eyes were open for the last three weeks of her life, watching us. she didn't speak much, but she watched us. and then finally, she closed her eyes. >> what do you think she was saying with those eyes? >> i think she was holding on. i didn't think she wanted to go. she had -- she had things left on her plate to finish. to accomplish.

and now, she has an emmy nomination. that's pretty wonderful. >> yeah, let me talk to you about that for a minute. the emmy nominations were announced last week. she recently won posthumously for her role as executive producer for "farrah's story." her documentary. what do you think that emmy would have meant to her? >> oh, boy. she always wanted one, you know. worked very hard to get one. thought she would for "the burning bed" and even had a speech. so it comes a little late, i guess. but, i'm sure she knows. >> her friend and former charlie's angel kate jackson said when she thinks of farrah she's always going to remember her smile. that's the number one thing. what will you always remember? >> so much, meredith. but her smile wasn't bad. it was beautiful. i'll take that. >> ryan o'neal, thank you so much. and again our condolences.

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so just how much extra food and gear should you keep around your house? for some stocking up has taken a whole new meeting. nbc's peter alexander is now joining us for more on this. peter, good morning. >> good morning, ann. nice to see you. the economy has taken a lot of families by storm, forced them to take extreme measures these days. stocking up the same way you would for an earthquake or a hurricane. but they're not worried about a natural disaster. they fear a financial one. bill cole is a dad and a doctor. he owns a suck sersful

chiropractic clintoning outside pittsburgh. but follow him to his suburban family home and you'll find a modern-day hunter and gatherer. you've got enough here to last you how long? >> two years for me and my immediate family. >> two years? >> yes. >> reporter: you'll find peaches, pancake mix, peas and plenty of peanut butter. 24 peanut butters? >> yes. it will last forever and it's nutritious. >> reporter: need sardines? >> 17. >> reporter: 17 sardines? tomato sauce? he's got nearly 150 pounds of it. while the computer scare a decade ago known as y t2k may he launched fears, the economy has intensified. >> if you're going to buy auto insurance in case you die, auto insurance in case you wreck, it maybes sense to have security in terms of food in case you don't have access to it. >> reporter: food and drink. he's stored pounds of powdered

milk. and 1,000 bottles of water. and if all else fails, the cole family has a last resort. the swimming pool. they've got enough water purifying tablets for a year. the coles are among a new breed of what are called suburban survivalists. >> this is where we store more of the staples. >> reporter: in massachusetts, kathy harrison worries about an economic collapse. >> this isn't bunker mentality. this isn't about stockpiling weapons. this is about how do i prepare my family for a crisis. >> reporter: in upstate new york, kathy roe is preparing, too. >> i think there's a possibility that there might not be food in the stores. i want to grow all my own food. >> reporter: websites devoted to survivalists have seen an online explosion. >> we've got your mylar blankets. >> reporter: and companies that sell survival gear are getting flooded. >> i'm seeing a 500% to 700% increase from one year ago today.

>> reporter: it's a trend experts say is caused by deep anxiety. >> people who engage in this survivalist lifestyle are exhibiting what i would call an extreme reaction. they revert to behaviors designed to ensure their security. >> reporter: bill cole's bought in with a stockpile that now spills over. is it possible that you went a little bit over the top here? >> most everything i do is over the top. but i feel like it's better to be more prepared than less prepared. >> okay so an entire basement full may be a bit much. but the government recommends americans have at least three day's worth of food, water and first aid gear in case a real disaster does strike. the coles wanted us to share a little taste test with you. this is the freeze dried poppy seed cake that will stay for about 20 years. it's good until 2024. >> i think you're going to take a bite. >> oh, i've tried it. >> and you would say what? >> you need some water to flush

it but other than that it's okay. >> it is sucking all the moisture out of my mouth. >> your head is starting to shrink. >> you know what? all right. it has wonderful flavor. yeah. >> yeah. >> very crumbly, however. but can i tell you something? >> like eating lemon chalk. >> that is exactly what i was going to say. >> the bottom l is you don't need to overstock but maybe do have a few things around the house. okay. >> we'll be back after your local news and weather. s too go. there is fiber. (chuckle) no. i can't taste the fiber. just chocolate. they have 35% of your daily value. hmm. oh samples. hmm. autobahn. wackenschdol. fiber one chewy bars. cardboard no. delicious yes. ...is to create it. [ female announcer ] discover the power

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we could get some rain. good morning. i'm eun yang. it's tuesday, july, 21st, 2009. let's get a check on that forecast with meteorologist tom kierein in storm center 4. >> all morning long there have been passing showers through southern maryland on the eastern shore and there's one lingering shower way down here in southern culvert county and up here in kent county. otherwise it is a dry morning. temperatures are now climbing into t a a pasassingng s showew this afternoon into this evening and again tomorrow. more humid on wednesday. highs mid-80s. friday partly cloudy. a small chance of a passing shower or thundershower. humid and hot over the weekend. small chance of showers and thundershowers mainly in the afternoon. >> we'll take brkeano w. ñhal traffic when we come ha

good morning. still backed up about a mile getting to the beltway. no late issues. south of town to the wilson bridge we're okay. 270 looking good. >> thank you, jerry. >> tonight at

you look gorgeous. >> thank you very much. >> i'm loving the hair. it's a little bit different. you have a little bit of slight little makeover? >> a slight one, you know. i brush up quite well. >> you do brush up. >> that's meredith with her worldwide exclusive. actually it's galaxywide. an interview with singing sensation susan boyle. the unassuming scottish woman who rocketed to stardom on "britain's got talent." we'll hear so much more from susan tomorrow on "today" and in prime-time tomorrow night. meanwhile coming up in this half hour, something i'm not going to be worried about too much. what to do with your hair in the

summer. >> that's right. if you want to look like a hollywood star with a great swept-up hairdo, or if y just want to get it off your face, we've got some salon secrets to help you create those updoes at home. and we're told that they're very, very easy. >> i guess the plunging neckline helps to look like a hollywood star. >> also the scottos are here. our favorite italian cooking family is back. we have a new generation joining the ranks. three grandsons are here to help make pasta. >> oh, my goodness. >> and look, look -- >> unbelievable. >> the nephew actually -- >> just the thinker. >> they're trying not to laugh. >> did you say thinker or stinker? >> they're making pasta. >> oh, look at that. >> it's always fun to cook with them. before we get to that. how about the weather. is it going to clear up around

here? >> yes, in about a week. but in the meantime, let's see what's going on. we've got some showers. it's name that tune. i think that was why i am. yeah, there you go.go.go anyway, we've got sunshine in the pacific northwest. and hot weather. sunny in the southwest, as well. risk of some strong storms as you get down into the southern plains. tomorrow, rain from the great lakes down into the mississippi river valley. sizzling weather continues in the wester good morning. partly cloudyd around our regio. there's a live picture. temperatures around the region have climbed in the low to mid-70s and it will climb into the low to mid-80s by later this afternoon. a small chance of a passing shower or thundershower later today and tonight. tomorrow more of the same except more humid. and then maybe a greater chance of a passing shower or thundershower on thursday and a small chance friday, saturday, sunday and monday. each day very humid with highs

in the mid to upper 80s. and that's your latest weather. >> okay, al, thank you. up next, updoes that will help you look like a glamorous hollywood star. ti nobody ever asks me what i want to be when i grow up. maybe it's your name. richard? no, smucker. (laughs) (announcer) when your last name is smucker and you live in orrville, everyone knows what you'll do when you grow up. you're gonna make the world's best jam. i love jam. (announcer) for five generations, with a name like smucker's, it has to be good.

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ponytail, we've got some ideas for you this morning that might make you look like you walked out of the salon. louis licari is here to help us out this morning. hey, louis. great to see you. >> good morning, ann. >> so you're saying we can actually do these ourselves? they're that simple? >> i think updoes, especially today's updos because they're so casual, anyone could do them themselves. they shouldn't look too perfect because they're too formal. >> it's more fun if it's a bit messy. we need a few tools like not only bobby pins, but what else? >> bobby pins, a little bit of hairspray to texturize the hair. updos are often better than the second day. the first day it's too fresh, it's too fluffy and falls out. that's when your hair looks the best. when you need to lift your hair off your face a little bit, that's the day. >> they're tough to do. we've got leigh over here. before we get to her we've got some videotape where you actually showed her how to put her hair up. >> that's right.

this is actually one of our top stylists showing leigh how to put her hair in. this is called hidden braids. and basically what she's doing, she's taking the top of her hair and just clipping it away, then taking two braids and just weaving them on either side of her head and she fastens the braids together. you can do this with a clip or an elastic. then you take the crown and simply replace it and let it cascade over the rest of the hair. watch leigh just finish the release. >> so she's doing this all by herself? >> she just did it seconds ago. it's pretty. >> what did he do in >> it's really easy. >> two braids on two sides, and then you clip those and pour the crown of the air back over it. >> it gives it a little bit of height. again it should not look perfect. >> look at that. it looks kind of a -- well --

>> i like that. >> i will do that. >> yeah, you would. >> yeah, it's simple. >> that is simple. >> and you don't have to think about it. the whole trick is don't overthink any of these up dos. these are two, two, three. >> this is not so much of an updo as a way of wearing your hair up. >> a way of wearing your hair off your face. >> you can do this even if it's shorter. leigh's got beautiful long hair. but you can do it if your hair is shorter. >> sleaze a gifted girl. she has gorgeous hair. >>owlet's talk about stella. stla's got what's called a braided bun. it's a real serious updo. her hair in the salon, you showed her how to do this one, as well. >> again, again we started with the side part and she braided all the way around for two mini braids on each side. she put the hair together and continued the braid and just put it in aow bun. looks complicated but it's very simple. >> what's great about that is if you've got the bangs are a little bit shorter than the back

end you can sort of control those bangs. >> or leave a few of the bangs out. stella is accessorizing this. >> you didn't help her about this. >> i'm a colorist, ann. >> nobody helped her with this. >> if i did it, it would be a whole different show. >> but that's nice. >> yes. >> i like it. she's putting a little flower in. >> and this is actually a flower accessory. but the great thing is it's summer. if you have a fresh flower. flowers are very in. pick one from the garden. put it in your hair. >> i love fresh flowers in your hair. let's go back over this. she braided the two sides, stella, she braided the two sides her, for the shorter maybe bangs can be controlled that way. >> controlled >> and then braided a ponytail and wove it into a bun. >> was it hard? did you do it like five times? >> not at all. it was very simple. as long as you're braiding the braids equally and nicely, the

rest is really simple. >> okay. that's good. >> i'll do that, as well. that's the biggest problem is th bangs. >> i find that as girls' hair grows longer they become more and more adept with their hair. >> we've got one more style. this is with carolina and she's wearing the twist and tuck and you showed her how to do this. >> the twist and tuck. the first section if you notice is behd her ears. it's behind her ears. then you just simply twist, tuck and keep adding hair until you get to the other side of the ear. when you're at the other side of the ear you just twist it and clip it up. and there's lena clipping it up for her. then you just fan the hair out. it looks beautiful like this or you can add a flower. >> i love this one. because it's sort of messy and fun. >> this is so basic, anyone can do it. >> hi. >> so was it hard for you? you do this all yourself? >> yes. >> and she has it so that the twist is actually going down. you can even accessorize this. let me go over here.

with a little clip if you would choose, and not to use the flower. by just adding little clips. >> i'm going to step away. >> isn't that beautiful? >> i think that when you say when you're taking the front end and you twist them around like this on both sides you've got to make sure that this all looks good, then you put it on the side and you just -- >> you twist it. >> and then you mack it into a bun. >> so it's a ponytail on the side. >> and you can wear it down it's a ponytail. >> the variation. have fun with this. and if it falls, she lks beautiful like that, as well. where she would look beautiful with a paper bag on her head. >> for all of you. thank you so much all of you. these are fun summer styles. >> and no brainers. >> i know. we can even do them. >> all right. >> louis licari, thank you so much this morning. coming up next, the scotto family. the new generation here with everything pasta. that's right. they are going to be onup the "today" show for decades to come. that's right after this.

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everyone's nervous going back to school. ♪ a hallmark card. it's the biggest little thing you can do. >> i love this bugs bunny bit. this morning in "today's kitchen," cooking everything pasta with the scotto family and making it a family affair. marion, john, anthony, elena of new york's restaurant by scotto. we nowave three of marianne's

grandsons. >> this is my grandson l.j. anthony the third, and danny. >> all right. >> and they all love to be in the kitchen, and work with their grandmom and their parents. right? >> l.j., what's it like working with your uncles? >> well. it's very exciting. >> but let me ask you a question, answer it honestly, don't you think he has a good face for radio? >> i like this kid. i like this individual. i like this kid! oh! all right, marion let's start it off. >> okay. today we're doing everything pasta. >> mm-hmm. >> and you know, the weather is warmer now. there's nothing like these great pastas that are so delicious. >> okay. >> now i'm turning it over to l.j. and john. >> uh-oh. that's trouble. okay. >> but we're doing artichoke linguine with wild mushrooms and goat cheese. >> ooh. >> we've got a couple o scotto

granddaughters in there. >> giving a little chorus. give me another ooh. >> ooh. >> very nice. okay. you were saying? >> okay. so first we are going to add the mushrooms. >> up 4u78. >> and basically what you want to do is you want to saute them until they're soft. >> right. >> then after that, you add the tomatoes. >> yeah. >> nice heirloom cherry tomatoes there. >> yes, mm-hmm. >> some artichoke. >> yeah. you've got peas? >> of course. >> the peas. >> try to do it so we don't fall asleep. >> wow. >> all right. >> already cooked linguine. >> all right. >> and some butter. >> what's also special about this dish? >> this weekend at yankee stadium this is a special tsa

tt pasta. >> okay. spinach. and it ends up looking like that. >> all righty. >> next. >> moving on to anthony and anthony ii. penne with pesto sauce? >> that's right. onions and garlic, or shallots. and a little olive oil. and what's next? >> you go to yukon gold potatoes. >> and these have been blanched already. >> what's blanching? >> partially cooked. >> oh, okay. >> then we add the string beans. >> string beans. and salt and pepper, please. salt and pepper to taste. what's great about this dish? >> it's very quick to make. and also, it's good for summer day because it doesn't involve too much cooking. >> keeps you out of kitchen in terms of the heat. >> penne. >> and you cook and blend this together. all of this has been cooked already. we just want to get a taste of

this. take this off the heat and anthony. >> cook to add the pesto sauce. >> want the pesto to stay room temperature. and finally. >> the parmesan cheese. >> the most important part. >> it should look exactly like this. >> yummy. all right. >> love that. >> now moving on to dessert. and we've got they're making fried nutle la raf knollly with mascarpone? >> yes. >> and oh, my gosh. >> well, first you put -- >> mix it up. >> then you take the nutella and just put it right in the middle. >> yep. >> and then, you take the egg yolk. >> uh-huh. >> and just brush it all along the side. >> on two sides or all of the sides? and you fold it over just like that. >> right. well done. >> and push here. >> so they get all cinched in.

and then you're going to do some frying? >> yep. >> so, ann, canola oil, three -- >> right on the money. >> so, 350 degrees for the oil. need it nice and hot. we take the ravioli, we put it in. it takes about 45 seconds to come up, you see it cooks very quickly. >> you don't want to do it any longer because it will get oily. >> and you don't want to crowd the pan, because otherwise the ravioli will stick together. >> look at this thing at the end with powdered sugar. >> every pasta needs a sauce. we do it with mascarpone, hazel nut and a little bit of vanilla extract. >> you can just dip it in there? >> dip it right in. >> and who's better than you? >> what do you think, mary? >> the grandson. let's hear it for the grandson. all right, still ahead we've got kathie lee and tori spelling. but first, this is "today" on nbc. fios guy! where ya headed?

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as usual everybody ends up in the kitchen. kathie lee and tori spelling, what do you guys got coming up? >> al, because of you, we're going to have a whole segment on how to deal with difficult people. >> really? >> and mommy bloggers and also the world's greatest pickup lines. you have a pickup line? what works for you? >> gentlemjamaicaen me crazy. >> oh! going ethnic. we like it. >> you need to stay for our segment. >> it's going to be a lot of one. >> they did an awesome job yester ♪

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is better on tough mud stains than tide total care. wisk®. powerfully clean. perfectly priced. our time is 9:356. beautiful high clouds. we'll find out whether we'll get more clouds and perhaps rain later today from tom kierein coming up. good morning. i'm joe krebs on this tuesday the 21st day of july, 2009. in the news for today, we're following a developing story. 21 students from montgomery county are under quarantined in beijing, china, right now ofca e us swine flu fears. khrnoe tweestu tntde are from walter johnson high .schoolnt we do not know other studentshohe other students attend. edweey ediv in china abo a go a aekor f language tou some stude wnt soms developed swines flu symptoms. in just a matter of minutes, d.c.'s famous watergate hotel is going up on the auction block.

they will acct bids for the old howitel. it was purchased by monumen realty back in 2004. since then plans to convert the building into condos or redevelop it as a luxury hotel have fallen through and it closed in 2007. the hotel is one of several buildings in the watergate complex made famous by the burglary that led to president nixon's resignation. 18 rest stops in virginia are now closed for good. this is all part of a move to close a multimillion dolr budget gap in the commonwealth. overnight the virginia department of transportation put up orange cones to block the entrance of the closed rest stops. critics say the plan will make the roads more dangerous because drivers won't have place to stop when they're tired. let's see how the roads are doing right now. jerry edwards is with us. >> good morning to you. good morning everyone. rush hour wound down on schedule. very good news for those of you planning on heading out. here at the american legion

bridge off the 270 to tyson corner looking good. inner loop same story. no hangups to report. looks like we're okay through northeast. tom, how about today's forecast? >> climbing into the 70s. a chance of a passing afternoon shower or thundershower today, tomorrow, thursday, friday and into the weekend and getting more humid tomorrow and that humidity will linger into the weekend with highs in the 80s to near 90s saturday, sunday and again on monday. >> thanks very much. tonight at 5:00, lindsay czarniak lunches with one of the biggest names in tennis, anna kournikova. now back to "today" show after we take a short break. qo (;

captions paid for by nbc-universal television and hello, everybody. it is tuesday, july 21st. we're so glad you're joining us today. >> good morning. >> tori spelling was such a hit yesterday. she's back again today. >> i survived. >> you more than survived. you ca, you saw, you conquered. you got great reviews from everybody around here. >> thank you. it was fun. >> yes? >> i might never leave. >> it's addictive, isn't it? it's called power. >> hoda can stay on vacation. i'm here. >> hoda is in dubai visiting her

sister. that's one of the things i really -- what happened? oh, there is a bug here. that's a rat! >> i think it's a small rat. >> anyway, she'll be back next week. but in the meantime i've got the lovely tori. good reviews from the people who matter in your life. whose opinion matters to you? >> my husband. >> what did he have to say? >> he loved it. he thought you looked hot. >> i love him. >> what about me? >> that's so cute. he's home with the kids? they miss mama? now they can talk to you on the phone? >> yes, i talked to my son on the phone last night and for the first time, usually he can't really talk back or he'll whisper the words, he can't understand i can't hear him. last night, hi momma. i said remember momma's going to be away until wednesday, i'm coming home. he said right, m&ms. he remembers when i left, i said don't cry baby, i will bring you back m&ms. >> so you're one of those kinds of mothers? >> yeah, i am. >> oh. did they ever do binkies? >> you know what? >> this i wish we'd had when i was a mother.

i'm still a mother. that's not necessary to come in that close, anthony. >> i was like, why is he peering down your shirt? >> i know the prisoners appreciate it, but nobody else does, anthony. really. >> cover them up with this. >> what are these called? >> i don't know if you're madonna or the next big thing in baby things. the wee wee tepee. the first time under the diaper and unleashed the pee because it just fires up at you. >> and you quickly stick this on thinking it won't fire up and it just gets pelleted at you. >> it just wouldn't fit anybody in my family. no, no, no. this is the cutest thing. this is a nky. how many times does your binky fall on the floor. this is unbelievable. i don't know if you can. here's a binky that's in full binky mode. right.

>> is that inappropriate? >> don't mess up the lip gloss. okay. we drop it. and i don't know if you could see, because -- >> because of the wee wee. >> it closes automatically on impact. so it keeps the binky clean. see? >> it's fantastic. i'm with the five second rule, though. you've got to be. especially with the second child. >> not that we learned from yesterday. fecal. just say one word and it's the "f" word. fecal. so we had fun yesterday. >> we had a good time. >> we had so much fun yesterday. i said why don't you and your assistant lovely girl named dana come up to my house for lunch. >> and we came. >> and that was an important thing to do. that's how hoda and i became the team we are. we had a great lunch together. and we realized if we could have that much fun and be that real with each other at lunch, if we could do that in front of cameras, you know, then we would have a successful relationship on air. and we had fun. >> we had the best time. you have the most spectacular house.

>> well, thank you. >> your daughter was amazing. your husband was amazing. i had a great time. and the wine was good. >> the wine is always good. but i got to tell you, frank, we're all -- we're all around, all of us girls, pulling up chairs and kathie lee and her girlfriend and there's like six of us and you're in the middle 6 a story and it's like right at the punch line. what happens? frank gifford comes outside. >> intense girl moment. >> he is so funny, right off the bat he looks at me and goes -- and backs off, completely backs off. that's a man who's well trained. >> he came in and in one second, he says uh-oh, girl territory, back out. and he did. >> he did. >> and he even took away with him the melting biscotti that was in the sun. >> i tell you, what a guy. >> that's a man. >> speaking of a man, chris brown. >> yes. >> the news today. we all know about the really, really unfortunate episode with rihanna, the night before the gram mas. i've been to that party before. i'm sure, that great one that clive davis has at the beverly hills hotel.

apparently after that they got into an altercation. and he has remained very silent about the incident, even calling it the incident, and now he's saying it was because his lawyer advised him not to speak. you think that was a good idea or a bad idea? >> well, he says that, you know, he had apologized to her over and over again, but just not publicly. you know, it is something that is a private matter. but, in the line, i'm sure all his fans are thinking why hasn't he apologized, what's the reason? now you know it's because the lawyers said keep quiet. i'm glad he's finally saying something for people to try to find some resolution, not that it makes it right. >> the other thing he did that i think is very, very rare today, he said, i guess i did it. and he said, i'm guilty. so good bless him. that's awesome. >> a huge step. >> so congratulations to him and everybody deserves a second chance in life. speaking of a second, a third chance, girl's night out with curtis stone. you've got to be with us sometime when he does this. curtis isan awesome chef who is

awfully awesome and we love him. and we have awinner of the ladies who are going to be the next ones where he comes to visit them and on the phone right now i believe we have jennifer devito from miami, florida. jennifer -- >> hi! >> hi, jennifer. >> hi! >> you are 34. you're a federal agent down in miami, right? >> yes, i am. i'm standing outside the federal courthouse as we speak. >> because you're a witness in a trial right now. so we wanted to get this good news to you very quickly. you're also married to a federal agent, right? >> yes. >> now, we understand this is going to be a little problematic because you're a pescatrian. >> actually one of my best friends that will be here is. >> which means you're vegetarian but does eat seafood? >> yes. she eats -- yeah, she'll eat fish. but not red meat or chicken bically. >> okay. that's interesting. i'd love to know why but we don't have time. all right. so your friends are kelly

kennedy, carlean and deborah. and they're also in law enforcement? >> yes. >> what do you want him to make? >> are we all on? >> ye you're on. talk to us. >> hi! >> whoo! yea. >> all you need is tori spelling at that party, ladies. i think you should all get your handcuffs out and have your way with curtis. >> oh, my goodness. >> now that's an idea. >> now that's saucy. >> just an idea. make -- don't do it until he's already cooked your fabulous meal. >> right. >> because he needs his hands for that. >> he'll be dessert, actually, right? >> so we're going to set it all up. curtis will be coming to you very, very soon. we'll videotape it and show it on our show. >> thank you so much. we'd love for you to join us because we are going to have a blast. >> you are. you have no idea. that's great you ladies. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> bad news for new york city, milan has now been named the most fashionable city in the world. i've never been to milan except

to fly out of the airport. >> i've always wanted to go to fashion week there. but new york is fashion week. >> i think if the economy turns around -- >> i feel a little slighted. but we always are. >> but everybody knows that many, many fashion trends come from there. what, darling? >> l.a. is sixth. >> okay, so we're -- >> but i wonder if we could talk to big jim and see if we could go to milan this year for fashion week. >> can i come with you? >> oh, it starts already. all right. let's go to miss sara haines who is very fashionable this week. you look like rebecca of sunnybrook farm today. >> i think that's good. i've got a question for tori. doreen wanted to know would you want your children to get into entertainment or prefer they stay out of the industry? >> you know what? i want my children to do whatever it is they're passionate about. and if it is entertainment industry because that's what they grew up in and that's what they see my husband and i doing, then i'll just want them to be educated on it. so whatever they want to go in

to, as long as they're educated in it and they really have a passion forate, then i'm all for it. >> yep, yep. if they treat it like the craft id should be. >> exactly. not just oh, i want to be on tv. a lot of people think oh, it's just glamorous. that's the wrong reason. >> unfortunately way too much in this business thinking that. we've got so much coming up. we've got moms who have the power of the internet at their fingertips. they're going to be us. we've got pickup lines. we've got how to dial with difficult people. >> undergarments. how to keep these things up. >> we've got so much. we're going to need an extra hour for that. after these messages.

with 34 million moms online, they're taking the social networks by storm. and some savvy women are becoming marketing powerhouses via their websites. >> they're call mommy bloggers and they're giving all kinds of parent advice and product tips. let's me three mommy bloggers. first one is laura fortner from cafe mom. alic bradley created fin slippy.com and melissa garcia's site is called consumer queen. and good to have all of you here today. >> thank you. >> all right, so you're different from the other two ladies. explain to us how, laura. >> sure, i'm with coffee mom. we're the largest community of moms online who are a social network for moms and moms-to-be. >> i read you online. >> you do. >> so you're not blogging per se. you are networking all these other ladies.

>> right. and there are plenty of conversaons but a lot of those happen in groups where moms are connecting. we're just one particular blog site that they'll go to and comment on. a little bit different format. >> and tell us aut yours, please. >> my blog is called fin slippy. >> which means? >> a word i made up. i had a dream that i had to rename dalton and i came up with the word finslippy years before the blog started. so my husband said you should use that word because if you google finslippy. >> and we you taking something? >> i would have taken something. it was not clear. >> and how many children do you have? >> one child. >> and how about you? >> my blog is consumer queen dotcom. it started as a ministry for saving money for women and it just turned into all kinds of consumer products and consumer retail. and it's just really grown over the last few years. >> how many mommy bloggers would you say there are out there? >> cumulatively? >> well, cafe mom did a study on digital moms. we found there are over 30

million moms online. and of those about half of them were already on social networks. about a quarter of them are using blogs. tens of millions of moms here in involved in either of those. >> it has changed my life, literally. i had books up the wazoo, and they just felt outdated. like i didn't trust any of them. but i trust other moms. and they tell you their experience. what's worked and what hasn't. i rarely go on line for everything. that's where i get all my advice. >> what's a common theme you hear throughout? are most women -- would you say most women are happy being moms? they're loving it? or do you hear more the frustration side of things? >> i think there's a very realistic picture of motherhood. they're very realistic and open with one another. >> they share the joy. >> you can laugh at it at the same time. >> i'm at such disadvantage, ladies, because first of all my children are grown and i do not know how to turn on the computer. i might be the last person on the earth who doesn't. but i kind of like my life like that. what would you say to a mother starting out today who is not

computer savvy, why they should be. most women are at this point. but for women like me, why would i want to be on one of those? >> the advice, the ability to reach so many different moms at any given moment, given any challenge. think about the mom with a newborn who is colicky in the middle of the night, doesn't know what to do. she wants to talk to somebody who is in that situation or been there before. she can jump on her computer at any hour of the day, connect with hundreds of other moms and they're talking to her right then and there. >> i've gone in the middle of the night, and i literally go to the computer, you feel supported. you feel like you have an instant community built in. some of us don't have family members that are local. they can stay withs. >> not you, tori. you want to go into that? >> shut up gifford. >> that's another time. >> all kinds of blogging out there. >> so what would you say is the common -- most common question that women ask on the blogs? >> is this okay? >> i think that's the most

common question. >> is what i'm feeling right now, i wrote a post, am i the worst parent in the world for today? like i didn't even say what i did. i feel like i'm the worst mother, give me some proof that i'm not. and i got this tremendous response of people saying here's the worst thing i did. i can top that one. it's this amazing sense of rspective you got like that. you know, it's okay. our kids are okay and we can laugh about it and that perspective saves a lot of women. >> it seems from the surface a wonderful thing. because for so long our culture was basically saying if you're staying home and you're staying home with children, you're not really part of what's happening in the world. and nothing for me could be further than the truth. >> oh, yeah. >> that is the hardest job in the world, raising great kids, healthy kids, and thank you ladies for sharing whatever it is you do. >> you're obviously doing it well. >> i'll teach you how to blog. >> okay. >> thanks so much. >> next up, what to wear under those white pants andes.i we'ng gresumer tee we're going to help you find the

right undergarments. now that's something i understand.

this morning on "today's

style," the foundation for looking good starts with the right underwear. >> an outfit can look completely all wrong if you don't start off with the proper undergarments. so "us weekly" contributor and our good pal jill martin is here to get us into tip top shape, which is not always easy, depending on how much equipment you got. you know? >> and that's true. you had an example this morning of the proper undergarment. >> they're heavy. i couldn't keep them up with this shirt. >> no, no, no. i got help this morning and it starts right here. >> look at this little piece of plastic. >> i use this all the time. this is nancy's problem. because she told us that she doesn't know what to do, she had a regular bra but wore a racerback tank and she didn't know how to fix it. who wants to invest in so many bras? it takes the regular bra and then you see this little plastic. >> it's so easy. >> it's plastic. i used to use a safety pin and that felt weird. this is great. >> and it costs very little. >> $10. and it's called a hollywood hookup. that sounds like fun, also.

>> ba-dum-bump. >> i was waiting for you to do that. >> jilly's problem was -- >> essentially i would wear this dress, and you -- i couldn't find a proper undergarment so it would either be too bulky underneath, and then you can see the sides, as well. >> so jill gave me the great suggestion of putting a cami underneath and that way i don't have to worry about the girls showing. >> and it has a built-in underwear. >> it is nice. >> underneath it for support. >> so this is shapefx.com. and it also holds you in. >> i always have to double up, bulky with the bra straps, the cami straps. >> you have so many problems. >> i know. >> for me. it's hard to be me. >> okay. >> kate works with us, fabulous. >> fabulous kate. >> this is from spanks and this is a whole situation because it holds you in. it has support, and then i can't

believe i'm drawing attention to this, but there's a hole at the bottom. >> oh. >> which is great. >> for strategic purposes. >> strategic purposes. because otherwise you're screwed, basically. >> you're out. you have to -- get this thing off. >> enough side. >> absolutely. >> okay. >> thank you. >> hello. how are you? >> this is for rita and she has this fabulous dress bought didn't know what to do. this is called the low down. >> look at this. >> you look it up and then it hooks around the front so it lowers it. it's her own bra just with this attachment $9.99. >> see guys try to do that with onehand. you always know guys say i can undo a bra with one hand. that with that one. >> the woman is starting to concern me. you're awfully comfortable now, aren't you? all right let's see this one. >> hello. >> this is megan. she's a rockette so she knows

all about dressing the right way. >> oh, yeah. >> she's hiding the legs. >> how many times have you seen a woman in white jeans with the wrong undergarment. ist the worst. >> yes. >> i hear leslie. ooh. so this is -- >> excuse me i saw your underwear last week, okay? >> and she's wearing spanks right now she showed us. >> spanks are just great. >> so these are commandos. look at this. they have seamless for $20. you could wear these under everything. no lines. can't see it at all. >> they're great. they are perfect. >> that's it, right? >> that's it. >> every problem has been solved. terrific. >> that's fantastic. because you can't go without underwear. >> right. >> well -- >> it's also comfy. >> okay. still to come, how to put difficult people in their place. you have any problems with some difficult people? >> just you. >> and a few bad pickup lines, too. right, miss spelling?

was that an earthquake or did you just drop my world? >> oh, really? did you just bark, you blew me away?

coming upt a midday -- is inthsewrn mo this morning. g. students from our area quarantined in cna because of swine flu. we'll hear from one of the students. also ahead, could our area come home to another baseball team? a pitch to bring minor league baseball to virginia. and who will be the new owner of watergate?

like it or not at times we all have to deal with difficult ople, whether they be loud, too pushy, too nosy or trying to take over your show. but -- just kidding. >> here's what some folks told us about the difficult people in their lives. hmm. >> your life is difficult to deal with? >> definitely. >> who isn't difficult? >> my mom. >> i'm a physician, and so i get to deal with some patients who don't know good manners in a doctor's office. >> a lot of people. my little brother, sometimes my mom she pressures me. >> don't hold back. >> my boss. >> my boss.

>> sister is looking to get into the concession stand business so he asked me to research in every county in new jersey. >> i'm difficult to deal with when i'm very hungry. and then i'm cranky. >> are you ever difficult to deal with? >> no. i'm the nicest guy in the world. >> are you guys ever difficult to deal with in the relationship? >> i don't find my wife difficult to deal with, no. >> that's sweet. isn't that sweet? >> all right. well that's good. >> he's nice. >> jeff and robin, come on you guys. robin abrams. they have some tricks for dealing with these people. he's a clinical psychologist and she's the offer of "misconduct: mind over manners" and it's great to have you both here today. >> thank you. >> we're sort of teasing about the difficult thing. but in real life people really do have an issue with their mother, issue with their -- but interestingly, we don't have an issue at all, right? but i say i can't stand her husband. which is not true. or her -- or somebody else, you want the relationship with the

one individual, but you get the other one, as well. how do we deal with that one, jeff? >> well, first of all, it's important to your friend that you get along with their partner, their spouse, husban whatever the case may be. so i would go to that friend and say, listen, i really love hanging out with you, but i'm having some issues withyour significant other. give me some advice, give me some thinking as to what it is that you think may be going on between the two of us, and then the three of you should sit down, powwow, put it in the peace pipe and talk about how we could all get along. >> is that going to happen, though? in the real world, jeff? >> i think -- >> wait. >> you could try. i would be going to a lot of girl time. oh, let's go out for a girl's night out. and then you only -- >> -- because if it becomes, you know, obviously the partner then all of a suden, you know, sometimes -- >> bigger -- >> then she's in the middle. >> and she doesn't want to be in the middle. >> but you're in the middle anyways, you have a powwow. >> then you have larger parties and you invite the couple as a

couple. and you sort of dilute them a little bit. >> -- strong flavor -- >> i agree with you. but you do get some insight, tori. we get insight from you as to what may be going on with your husband, and why she may not get along with you. >> right. >> so you give that kind of information, and then it helps you work it out. it really is about communication at the end of the day. >> -- feelings at this point. >> -- talk about how much is too much information. >> you two are not getting along. and that's typical. >> we do get along. i love her. >> this is -- >> very good question. >> no idea. >> -- believe in. do you depend on people to tell you you are difficult and here's the reason? >> what people don't tell you when you're difficult so you have to figure it out for yourself. if you're finding a pattern of relationships where you can't go frompoint "a" to point "b." you can't agree on certain things, you can't get along. >> if you can't do that, then

ances are that you may be difficult. i'll tell you what my secret is. because i'm a new yorker. i have a lot of secrets. but the secret for -- the secret for -- now we've got part "b" going on here. part "a," part "b." the secret is, i don't see anyone as being difficult. i love everyone for who they are. we're just talking about someone whose name that we won't mention. >> right. >> a lot of people said that that person, this celebrity is a difficult person. i find her to be a dear friend and i admire that at times, that she can be a little bit of -- >> yeah, exactly. >> and so when you have that attitude, no one is difficult. as a matter of fat, i love dealing with people who other people find to be difficult, because i feel -- >> that is a great professional skill. if you're good at dealing with difficult people, that is -- >> but most people are not professionals. >> but in any workplace. you can be a cashier at walmart. if you're good with dealing with difficult people, people in your workplace will notice that. you will really be able to start to feel a lot of capital. >> it only takes so much.

>> people will know -- >> that's true. you can only take so much. >> but the thing here is you don't own it. that may be somebody else's issue, not yours. so you don't want anyone sucking the life out of you, giving you a hard time. because it just makes your life more difficult. >> time for this topic, because this has been really god. thank you all very, very much. we've got to continue another time. >> thank you. >> next up we're going to make like a fabricwgo toreing sggteu we'go ling to snuggle. .

this morning on "today's relationships," pickup lines. tori i have a quick one for you. are you from tennessee? because you are the only ten i

see. >> wow. >> see that one would not work. >> how about this one, if you were a booger, i'd pick you first. oh, yeah. >> that is disgusting. >> sara ines hit the single scene here in new york city. but were people picking up what she was laying down? >> whether fun, easy or just plain sleazy -- >> how much does a pomegranate way? enough to break the ice, i'm glen. >> pickup lines are still being served up on the singles beat. >> i heard that if you hug a girl for 30 seconds, she falls in love with you automatically. >> i'm always up for meeting new people. but before i tried out my best lines, i asked for some advice from a few bar hoppers in the know. if i came up and used a really line like oh, my god, i know you from somewhere. >> all right. in that case, sometimes that

works. sometimes it will work. where you pretend like oh, where do i know you from. that will work. but, what is that? made in heaven? that's not going to work. >> with that in mind, i put my game face on and headed to another watering hole to try my luck. this is a place for me. are you a parking ticket? you've got fine written all over you. >> that's the best birthday gift you. >> you an astronaut? your booty looks out of this world. if i ask you for your number. would you give it to me? >> no. my girl might [ bleep ]. >> oh, my gosh. are you a parking ticket? because you've got fine written all over you. >> oh, that's so sweet. >> did it work? >> well, if i was straight, it might.

really -- >> are you with the "today" show? >> yeah. >> what would it take for me to be your tomorrow? >> oh, know that an ee question distant from here to here as it is from here to here? >> i know now. that was pretty smooth. >> feeling exhausted, and somewhat encouraged, i found myself with a few new prospects. and plenty of new pickup lines. >> you seen any razors? how about a date. >> people are really hard. now where to go from here. >> oh, where doe our sara go ? d vanessa mitchell is an essence magazine relationship columnist and author of the book, your girlfriends only know so much. >> she co-wrote the uber popular dating manual he's just not that into you and her most recent book is "how to be single." >> how was sara doing, guys? >> i think she was doing great because she was having a sense of humor about it. i think that's key.

>> you have to. pickup lines to me sound so cheesy no matter how good they are. >> but if you make a person smile or laugh that's half the battle. >> that's true. >> so a lot of times, and i know what you're about to say, but a lot of times it really is based on how a guy looks or how a woman looks and to me they can say anything. >> what are you about to say? >> i don't know. you're already about to say -- >> what i was going to say is somebody who comes up to you in a bar that looks like sara to begin with, does it really matter what sara's going to say? because sara is adorable and she's so hot. >> yeah. >> i mean she could say hello and she'd pretty much be okay. >> it definitely helps if you're something to look at. you can use the same pickup line, but if you're not attractive, women automatically say, security! >> or embrace the cheesiness. if you're going to go for the bad line, embrace that you are going for a bad line and you know it is and you're just going to have fun with it. >> is it just as acceptable for a wom to give a pickup line as a plan? >> no, you're a slut then. >> it feels a little walkward.

>> because a little love around here, people. all right? >> i love it when a woman, you know, gives a pickup line. >> what's the best pickup line a woman ever said to you? >> she said finesse, do you cake karate? i said no, why? and she said because your body is kicking. i was like, all right. >> wait a minute. how did she know your name was finesse, anyway? >> because i'm just popular like that. >> it makes it very convenient for him. >> i've been single -- i mean i have not been single for so long that i can't even imagine what it would be like to go into ail bar and start saying things like this to people. does it really still happen? >> or hear people say it to you. >> in aar you can say things like, you can do reverse. you can try to get a reaction out of them or just start a conversation. sometimes it works. you can go up to a girl and say, so, you going to buy me a drink and if she says, you're supposed to buy me the drink. >> i thought you'd never ask. >> and you just start a

conversation. again it helps if you look like something. >> like finesse. >> i mean i think that was really funny. but i wouldn't date you if you said that to me. >> that's because you're already rich. i'm talking about people -- >> youknow how many pickup lines i heard back in the day? about zip code. why don't you just come up and say hey, i'd like to buy you a drink. >> that's considered a pickup line, isn't it? >> yes, but it's real. i mean i feel like the other one, you said that to a million girls. why special? >> my special one is i say listen, i've been watching you, i can't think of anything clever to say, but i do want to tell you you're beautiful. so i want to start there. hi, i'm finesse. >> all right. had me at hello. isn't that the best, liz? >> yeah. >> it's fake sincere which kind of actually works. >> i really don't know what to say. >> good, good. >> all right.

thanks, you guys so much. always fun when you're here. to see more of sara's pickup line adventure head to a.odm.g up next, what's coming up, cookie? >> on the grill. do you grill? >> do i grill? i don't grill, my husband grills. a.

okay. spending hundreds of dollars every summer on expensive grilling tools can add up. what if you could save money by using items you may already have all around your house? >> lifestyle guru lauren sidney is here to show us how to be the ultimate grill goddess. i need that. without spending a lot of loot. good morning. >> good morning. >> good morning, everybody. >> tori with an "i," welcome. first and foremost a grill goddess knows that the accident of barbecue is an aphrodisiac. that's why you love frank's lamb chops. >> and i love the way after hs been cooking. >> so i don't actually have to grill? i could slother it on? >> you've got it going, girl. but the way to have everything smelling good around you without spending money is to have just spray a little newspaper. >> with water >> with water, very easy. put in your fridge overnight.

you're not going to get any funky marinade. i see kathie lee going like this. but i promise her. overnight, this will make your fridge fresh as a daisy. >> water and newspaper. >> water and newspaper. it's the carbon in the print that absorbs all those funky odors. >> now that's -- >> you just taught me something. i had no idea. >> let's keep going. nobody wants an old piece of dried-out meat. >> i'm not looking at you. >> tell me about it. >> the key is marinade, marinade. you don't want to spend money on one of these brushes. you can never clean it. so we just take herbs. >> i love that. >> stick it in the marinade. >> tie it up. >> tie it up and use it as the marinade brush. you also don't want to ever drown the marinade because your dried old meat is going to burn. this is the perfect way to get the perfect amount. >> this is to primal. >> i know. you can actually grow your own herbs. and if you don't have a garden you can grow in your window sill. >> exactly. and you can freeze it. so right now, it hardly costs any money. put it in for your winter, then

take it out. >> no cat fights girls, we're going on to the chicken. please put on your gloves. it's very important. i know you are a champagne girl. you are a famous winnow, kathie lee. >> nobody more wine kw than me. >> today we're going to do chicken on a can. we're saving you tons of money. no fancy-schmancy rotisserie cools needed. >> chicken on a can? >> it's going to sit on it? >> once you get the gloves on i want you girls to balance. you have taken half the beer is gone. and it's going to just go and just moisten that chicken, you put the little lemon on so that all of your good juices don't go up. >> what are you doing now? taking your chicken. use all your proktology skills that you were taught and stick it on top. >> sturdy. >> and if you need a little lubrication, just -- >> i'm going to lube up my chicken first. >> oh, you're good, tori. >> yeah. >> get it in there. >> and then just balance it?

>> it's a little uncomfortable for her. >> okay. >> my chicken is right there. >> lemon. just so she won't scream. >> for 45 minutes. you save money. you're dancing. >> okay. oh! >> all right. >> all right. >> i at an "aplus." >> we don't have one minute, darling. >> a grill goddess does not wear an apron because it hides hull her work from pilates. take an apron into your built and you can wipe. grill goddess does not spend money on a fish pan. tak lemon and lime site russ juices and put a platter on your grirl. that forms a pan. >> all the wonderful juices go right into the fish. >> now to the ght. certainly no nail breakage from a grill goddess. after the meal you have that yucky grate. >> it takes forever to get the

stuff out. >> have you ever cleaned a grill? >> yes. scout's honor. >> all you have to do is a shortcut. not to break it down. spray any kind of oven cleaner and then put it in a dark plastic bag for a couple of hours. steel it. >> and then when you take it all, all the grill goddess has to do is take a little sponge. anyone like to try it? >> no, thank you. >> i'll try it. >> good girl, tori. >> it's okay, kath. >> you scrub away. >> i better check my bracelet. >> there you go. >> very, very good tips. thank you so much, sweetheard. >> this is just to make sure you put the grill on for about one minute to take

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tori was such a bad, naughty girl today that she's coming back tomorrow. i can't wait. tonight your show is n.o s, 0: 100 p.m. on oxygen, "tori and dean: home sweet hollywood." >> have a great day, everybody. xxxxxxxxxñxxxxxx

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