good morning. a possible motive? a fellow lab worker tells nbc news accused murderer ray clark was a control freak whose last message to annie le was about dirty animal cages. this morning, the latest on the case and two of clark's lifelong friends speak out. will he release them? iran's president, mahmoud ahmadinejad, speaks out about those three u.s. hikers detained there since july. this morning, ann is live in tehran with her exclusive interview. and what can $1 billion buy you? check it out. it's what some are calling the

eighth wonder of the world. we're live at the new cowboys stadium today, friday, september 18th, 2009. captions paid for by nbc-universal television with matt lauer live from arlington, texas, and meredith vieira live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. >> and good morning and welcome to a special split edition of "today" on a friday morning. i'm matt lauer from the new home of the dallas cowboys. meredith vieira is holding down the fort in new york. and trust me, meredith, this place puts the big in the big "d." this stadium is an engineering marvel, and it boasts some mind-boggling numbers, meredith. how do these sound? 20,000 tons of steel. 3 million square feet of space.

it can hold more than 100,000 fans. and, of course, a price tag of $1.12 billion. that's a lot of jack, meredith. >> that sure is. and what a big tv set you've got there. talk about a big head, lauer. >> yeah. it's a little scary, isn't it? it is the centerpiece of cowboys stadium. it's the largest high-definition video wall in the entire world. to give you a sense of just how big it is, you probably have one of those 52-inch television sets at home, a flat-screen tv. you could take 2,000 of those to fill one side of this hd monitor. 2,000 on each side. and the screen weighs as much as a 747 jet. and if you notice right under that video display, i hope that thing's secure. al roker has made his way to cowboys stadium as well. al, nice view. >> yeah, it's really amazing up here. we're just about ten feet -- this thing's suspended 90 feet from the floor. so i'm about ten feet underneath

it. and jim, we are safe, right? >> yes, sir. >> okay, jim says we're safe. >> all right. hang in there, al. >> no, i got no choice. >> yeah, i know, pun intended. meredith, a display is just one of the many first-class amenities that fans will get a chance to enjoy when the cowboys christen this building against the giants sunday night right here on nbc. we'll show you all around throughout the morning and talk to the man who built it all, jerry jones. but for now, back to you in new york. >> thanks, matt. we're going to check in with you in just a little bit. but we begin with the arrest of ray clark for the murder of graduate student annie le. nbc's jeff rossen is at the campus this morning. jeff, good morning to you. >> reporter: meredith, good morning to you. it is the big question. if ray clark did it, what was his motive? this morning sources close to the case tell nbc it may all come down to a fight over mice. just one d after the dramatic arrest of ray clark at a connecticut motel, we're

learning more about the man charged with murder. he worked in the basement of the yale research lab assisting with animal experiments alongside the victim, yale grad student annie le. in an e-mail to nbc news, a lab coworker with ties to the case wrote, "ray has always been very controlling over what goes on in the mouse room, often bothering people to the point of damn near harassment." clark's jobs an animal technician was to clean the mouse cages. and the lab worker says he was territorial. "last thing i knew was annie got a message from him saying her cages were dirty." >> investigators are going through several motives, but this is one of them that they are certainly looking into. >> reporter: that he was so upset with the way she was treating the animals that he would kill her? >> right. of course, it sounds outlandish, but that's one of the things they're looking into. we've confirmed that. >> reporter: still the lab coworker described ray clark as a nice guy, normal. "he has always been incredibly

kind and way helpful to me. it's kind of creepy to me that i thought of him as a good guy," the coworker wrote to us. "he knew her so superficially, i would bet he didn't even know she was engaged." >> there was reports about a romantic relationship. none of those are true. >> reporter: police arrested clark after comparing his dna to dna at the crime scene. there are reports police tracked his movements the day of the murder using his electronic yale i.d. card, putting him in the same room as annie when she went missing. >> this is not about urban crime. it's not about university crime. it's not about domestic crime. but an issue of workplace violence. >> what happened here could have happened anywhere. it says more about the dark side of the human soul than it does about anything else. >> you understood those rights? >> yes, sir. >> reporter: wearing khakis and a polo shirt thursday, ray clark's bond was set at $3 million. "the new york daily news" has

interesting reporting today talking about the dna matches. apparently police found blood from annie le on ray clark's boots. they also have a report about a green pan, a special green pen, that everyone here knew that ray clark used. apparently he dropped that green pen at the crime scene. police recovered it. and they say ray clark came here to the research lab the very next day after the crime was committed to try to get it back. but police have recovered it. and they're using that as physical evidence. meanwhile, meredith, we hear annie le's family who was here in new haven at yale's campus has gone into mourning somewhere else. they have left town. >> jeff rossen, thanks so much for your reporting this morning. maurice perry and bobby heslin are lifelong friends of ray clark. good morning to both of you. maurice, you've known ray clark since you were second graders. you played football with him in high school. what was your reaction when you heard that he had been accused of murder? >> it was a complete shock because ray is definitely not the type of person i would know to be a, you know, violent, you

know, just hurt somebody, period. >> how would you describe him? >> friendly. outgoing. funny. he's just, you know, an average guy. >> was there anything in his personality? co--workers reportedly told police that he was a control freak, very controlling. others said he had a short temper. did you ever see those qualities? >> no, i've never seen those qualities in ray, never. >> bobby, what about you? you guys grew up together. you took the school bus together. >> yes. ever since we were 5 years old. >> you last saw him this past summer. >> yes. actually, this past year. >> did he seem any different? had he changed since high school? >> not at all. ray clark has -- he acted upon towards me as same ray clark i've always known. not as the way he's being depicted right now in the news as a suspect. of a murder case. the most, you know, publicized murder in all of television right now. but ray, to me, has been a

long-term friend of mine that i've known forever. and now everybody who have only known him for the past week has now considered him just a cold-blooded killer. and to me, ray's a compassionate person, someone i've known my whole entire life. so i've known who he is and who he has become today. and it's just -- it's so -- it just doesn't feel real to me. it's -- i mean, you turn the television on, and you see your best friend that you've grown up next door your whole entire life. and it's like you don't want to think it's true. and then you wake up every morning, and there's new evidence that comes about. and it's, like, you almost want to think, is that really the person you've known your whole life? please let it be a stunt double. you know, please let it not be ray. >> but there's something about hindsig hindsight. have you, over the past few days, maurice, is there something i missed in this guy? is there something that i overlooked that would help make this make sense? and again, he hasn't been

convicted of anything, and i want that put that out there. >> no. and that's the reason why i'm here is because i just want to let everybody who's been speaking about him negatively, before they even heard about any evidence coming out, he's a good guy. he's a good friend of mine. we haven't kept in contact recently, you know, actually for a couple years, but for the whole time i've known him, he's just always been the most nicest person and outgoing and friendly. he's not the type of person you would ever think would even commit a murder. >> so at this point do you stand by your friend? >> until a judge says he's guilty. >> i believe -- ray -- any person is innocent till proven guilty. but it's just -- it's surreal to take this all in because, i mean, he's being portrayed as a murderer. and that's someone i've never, ever considered to ever become close to in my life. i've known ray to walk down the street, go wait at the bus, you

know, every morning. and then after that hang out in the neighborhood and just talk about normal things. any person that would consider a true friend. >> i'm sure it's shocking to a lot of people who knew him. bobby, we're going to have to leave it at that for now. i greatly appreciate you coming in. maurice as well. >> thank you. >> and we'll talk more about workplace violence in our next half hour with an expert who trains people to spot red flags. but now to an nbc news exclusive. ann curry is in tehran, iran, this morning where she sat down for a wide-ranging interview with iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad, his first since that country's disputed elections. ann, good morning to you. >> reporter: meredith, good morning. and we asked him about his government's crackdown on the protesters after the june election here and about the missing american hikers who have been detained here for more than a month and also about the international atomic energy agency's concerns about iran's nuclear ambitions. mr. president, you are speaking to us at a critical moment.

iran has now agreed to negotiate in what could lea to the first significant talks between iran and the united states in nearly 30 years. what do you want from the united states? >> translator: today a new arrangement should be put in place based on new principles so that the world is directed towards peace and tranquility. we have always believed in talking, in negotiating, and that is our logic. nothing has changed. >> reporter: you are a father. what do you say to the families who accuse this government of brutalities, torture, disappearances, of their sons and daughters? >> translator: well, you are expressing certain claims that, by and large, are being leveled by those who oppose the islamic

republ republic. i'm not in a position to answer or to judge whatever you are claiming. but does your heart really and sincerely go out to the people? are you really -- is that really the truth? >> reporter: i know people, mr. president. >> translator: i don't believe that. >> reporter: i know people, mr. president, who i believe were innocent, who were tortured. >> translator: it's possible. >> reporter: in prisons. >> translator: i don't have such information. people tortured in prisons. maybe you have more specific information. our judiciary, in accordance with the law, will deal with this matter. >> reporter: i must ask you about americans who are in custody here in iran,

specifically the parents of three young hikers, shane bauer, sara shood and joshua fatale. you knew about their case. are asking for compassion. in a letter to you, they are going to be asking for you to bring their children on your plane to the united states as a humanitarian gesture. would you consider this? >> translator: well, i'm not happy that they have been arrested. but these individuals had violated our borders. and in accordance with the laws, they need to be punished. but i ask you, five iranian diplomats for two years now, well, they were -- they were in prison by u.s. troops.

they had not violated the law. they were going about their diplomatic business and life in erbil in iraq. u.s. troops in iraq, without any documentation, arrested them. the u.s. government, is it going to strike a humanitarian posture by releasing them? will it release them? of course. under an equal condition, we are ready to engage in reciprocal action. the family of the u.s. citizens which are in prison here in iran, i sympathize with them. they need to know that these individuals have trampled -- have violated the law. however, i'm going to do my best

for the iranians who are in u.s. prisons to be set free and for these individuals, u.s. citizens here, to be set free as well. i am hoping that this will happen as soon as possible. >> reporter: it is unclear if the five iranian diplomats he was referring to are the same ones who were already released in july. and meredith, in reference to the stability -- or rather the instability of the world today, president ahmadinejad said, quote, if mr. obama seriously is looking to bring about change, we will assist. we are hoping he will succeed. meredith? >> all right, ann, thank you very much. you can read a full transcript of ann's interview on todayshow.com. and you can watch that interview in its entirety this sunday at 1:00 p.m. eastern time on msnbc. and now let's get a check of the rest of the morning's top stories. natalie morales is sitting in at the news desk. >> good morning, everyone.

president obama's decision to revise the u.s. missile defense strategy in europe is drawing both praise and criticism. this morning russian prime minister vladimir putin called the move right and brave. and nato's secretary-general said it was a positive step. on thursday the president announced he is scrapping the bush administration's controversial plan to set up permanent systems in eastern europe opting instead for a more mobile strategy. many republicans are critical of the decision, though, saying the move empowers iran and sends a message of weakness to eastern european allies. and a programming note for you, be sure to watch "meet the press" this sunday. david gregory is one on one with president obama. investigators are returning to the home of phillip and nancy garrido today africa davr dogs indicated they smelled something behind the house. this as we get our first look inside the home. nbc's george lewis has more. >> reporter: the photos were shot by the county building department late last month just before building inspectors declared the garrido house condemned.

unfit for human habitation. the photos were released to the media after a public records request. the inside of the house is in complete disarray with pieces of furniture piled on top of one another and pape strewn on the floor. mounds of dirty pots and dishes in the kitchen. the bedrooms are also a mess. personal belongings strewn everywhere. authorities allege these are the kinds of conditions jaycee dugard and her two daughters lived in during the time they were kept by phillip and nancy garrido who have pled not guilty to all the criminal charges against them. now authorities are mounting a new search at the house to see if the garridos can be tied to a pair of unsolved kidnap cases in northern california. today investigators will begin digging in that area also using ground-penetrating radar in their search. george lewis, nbc news, los angeles. the massachusetts house of representatives has given its preliminary approval to a bill

allowing the governor to name an interim successor for the late ted kennedy. democrats are pushing hard to fill senator kennedy's seat ahead of any vote on health care reform. and a bit of an embarrassing moment for a chief white house correspondent, chuck todd, on thursday. health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius was giving a briefing when chuck sneezed, and he got a lecture on proper sneeze etiquette. >> i think that -- bless you. >> a possible impediment. >> i'm learning. >> i mean, what is that about? sorry. >> bring chuck up to the level. >> who's got some purell? give that to mr. todd right away, a little hand sanitizer. >> chuck promises he did cover his nose with his hand. but as we saw, you're supposed to do that. it is 7:18 right now. let's go back over to matt at cowboys stadium. >> all right, natalie, thank you very much. yeah, good lesson for chuck.

as you saw before, al has come to texas as well. al, this video monitor is scary. a second ago i turned around to look at you. up on the monitor i thought what i saw was a picture of the shiny dome was the back of my head. >> they can see it from the space shuttle. >> the back of my head or the stadium? >> both when the roof is retracted. thanks a lot, matt. i've got jim joining me. how you doing? why don't you get us a little closer to the ground heres we are just about 90 feet above the ground here at cowboys stadium. an amazing sight. and good thing they've got a retractible roof because it has been raining here in the south for the last few days. and it's going to continue over the weekend. this low pressure will not move. that's because the jet stream is way up to the north. and as that jet stream stays up there, there's nothing to push this low pressure out. and so the rain continues to fall. how much rain? well, fromexas all the way to the southeast, we're talking some areas picking up up to three to five inches of rain before this is all over.÷çoóó

good morning. cloudy and damp on this friday morning. the overnight drizzle we have had dissipated. there is the cloud cover over capitol hill. we don't have any precipitation, we did pre-dawn. so of the rhodes are still wet. low and mid 60s around the region. 64, reagan national. sunshine should come back this afternoon. highs, mid and that's your latest weather. matt, this place has its own atmosphere, i think. >> yeah, it's amazinamazing, al. thank you very much. most people around the country probably didn't even know the name of the owner of their nfl team. here in dallas everybody knows jerry jones. he bought this team back in 1989 for about $140 million. and in the time since then he's

become the face of the team and the architect of the team and in many ways the new cowboys stadium is his crowning achievement. jerry, good to see you. >> great to be with you, matt. >> you've been dreaming about this place since the mid-1990s. as we sit here on a friday morning, a couple of days away from the christening of this stadium on sunday night, how are you feeling? >> well, first of all, i'm reminded only 7% of our nfl fans have ever been in an nfl stadium. >> right. >> and so what this stadium is about is certainly about the fans that are here, but it's also about perception. probably could have built this stadium for about two-thirdeds what we spent, but how it's perceived, how you talk about it, how al michaels talks about it, all of that was very meaningful, too. >> you and the team of architects did an enormous amount of research in preparing to build this place. not only did you tour sports venues all rnd the world but the nice airport and the sydney opera house. what were you looking for, what kind ofnspiration from those locations and what did you incoorate here?

>> well, our cowboys have such visibility and the nfl has such visibility today. and we did wantt to have some architectural significance. the glass. many of the things that are incorporated in airports are incorporated in other stadiums around the world, wembley, for instance. >> right. >> but really, at the end of the day, we wanted to transcend to some degree taking the staff, making the tackle and having it reflect some of the other things, art or architect. >> let's talk about timing. this stadium is opening as we are in the midst of a recession. some say we are coming out of it, others are still hurting. let's face it, you could have done it different ways. you could have refurbished the old texas stadium. you could have built a stadium for $500 million, but you've spent $1.12 billion. and some people say that money should be spent in a different way. how do you respond to that? >> well, first of all, i'm so sensitive and we all are sensitive to the times that we are in. but at the end of the day, the way we're going to get out of this is to sell our way out of it.

the nfl is arguably -- >> so this is a stimulus package in some ways? >> well, in a way. obviously, it brought great economic benefit to this region, just the building of it. but that's small in comparison to the businesses, the services that are going to want people to be aware of them. vertising is what i'm talking about. >> right. >> the nfl is the leading place to do that for the decision-makers. and this stadium says, boy, we believe in the future of the nfl, but we believe in the future of this country, and we believe the way to go get it is to sell our way o of it. >> and real quickly, if the cowboys take to the field here and stink up the joint, that's not going to be good in a brand-new stadium like this, is it? >> you know, this would be a great business if you didn't have to play those football teams. >> exactly right. that's true. jerry, congratulations. thanks for your hospitality. much more ahead from cowboys stadium including a tour of this place from one of the

just ahead from new york, a look at workplace violence and how you can spot signs of trouble. matt? kind of cloudy out there this morning. very cloudy, as a matter of fa. kind of foggy. we will check on the weather with tom kierein coming up. right now, 65 degrees here in washington at 7:26. i'm barbara harrison. in the news, maryland police are looking for a carjacking suspect. it started last night when the police are saying a man car jacked a woman in gainesville, held her at gunpoint and started driving toward the beltway. virginia police caught up with the speeding car and chased it through maryland. the chase ended when the car crashed and the suspect bailed

out at saint barnabas road in prince george's county. metro riders can expect more delays. track maintenance will take place on the red and orange lines. rtd line, single tracking between the medical center and strathmore stations. on the orange line, trains will be single tracking tweep the east falls church and boston stations. riders should adeoye 20 minutes to their trips.

good morning.

cloudy. 60s. highs this mork mid 70s. mostly sunny tomorrow. sunday, partly cloudy. how is the traffic? 66 a bit soupy. the accident has been cleared between 28 and

♪ 7:30 on this friday morning, september 18th, 2009. and these women you see need no introduction, the dallas cowboys cheerleaders. matt and al will catch up with them, i'm sure, a little later as they show us more of this magnificent stadium. i'm meredith vieira back in new york. matt lauer is at cowboys stadium. hey, matt. >> hey, meredith, i am in the inner sanctum. eck it out. this is the cowboys' playe locker room. one of the most impressive places i've ever seen. i mean, it really is. they've done this place from

soup to nuts. the shower room, which is just behind here, is as big as my whole apartment in new york. you've been in a lot of players' locker rooms, meredith. how does this one compare to you? >> oh, you're such a wise guy. it's very impressive, actually, matt. but i have to ask, when i hear all the figures, more than $1 billion, 3 million square feet, how in the world do they get that place ready for a game? >> well, it's not easy, as a matter of fact. you know, this is a huge, huge facility. on a game day, there will be 10,000 people working, working here at cowboys stadium. all the concession people, all the people, the electricians, the security people. 10,000 people on a game day just to get this place up and running, meredith. by the way, where i'm walking right now, this is the exact path -- the players come out of the locker room where i was a second ago, during the game and during halftime, they walk down this hlway when they're taking the field and leaving the field. >> i'm sure you're walking towards the cheerleaders. >> who just happen to be on the field. >> yeah. isn't that a coincidence?

are you aware, matt, as you walk around of just the sheer cost of it all? >> yeah, it's hard to say that you can ignore that. here's a statistic for you, meredith. and listen to this because it's kind of amazing. texas stadium where the cowboys used to play, they played there for 35 years, it cost, when they built it, $35 million. and that seemed like allot lot money at the time. the hd monitor we showed you a second ago cost $42 million. so just the monito here cost more than the old texas stadium to build. and by the way, now i have joined al, and we are in a club, one of these great clubs that is on the field. fans can come in here and can drink, eat. >> they eat. then when it's game time for the game to start, the players actually come through here. people can high five the players. >> hold on a second. >> like that. >> come on. >> yeah! they bring their own atmosphere.

>> is this always like this? >> yeah, it's constant. we have constant fog. it's unbelievable. >> is there a problem here we should know about? >> that's right. >> it's actually pretty impressive. >> they do serve chili here. >> that will clear some of the fog out of here, no question. you knew there would be a chili joke, meredith. anyway, we're going to show you around a little more in a couple minutes. as i mentioned before, legendary player emmitt smith will take me on a tour of this facility coming up. >> all right, guys, we'll see you in a few minutes. we'll begin by talking about a very serious issue here, workplace violence. we'll talk with two experts in just a moment. first, nalie's here with more. natalie? >> meredith, after arresting yale lab tech nation ray clark, police were quick to label this a case of workplace violence. but to some experts that broad termite not do justice to the more personal nature of the crime. >> reporter: the arrest of 24-year-old lab worker ray clark for the killing of annie le highlights the potential danger that women may face from unstable or aggressive coworkers.

>> this is not about urban crime. it's not about university crime. it's not about domestic crime. but an issue of workplace violence. which is becoming a growing concern around the country. >> reporter: to most people, the term "workplace violence" suggests images like these, sudden chaotic events in which a disgruntled employee goes on a shooting spree. but experts say that scenario is relatively rare. more often there's an underlying resentment among coworkers who know each other well. >> it may well be that we find that this offender had some type of a romantic focus on this young lady. >> reporter: the president of yale university said there had been nothing in clark's work history to raise red flags. but john lane, an exper in workplace violence prevention, says that subtle clues were probably there. >> it's pretty safe to say that in all the cases that do transition to violence, when you do a biopsy of those cases,

you'll find that there were a number of warning signs that should have been picked up on and responded to. >> reporter: investigators are looking at e-mails and text messages between clark and le which include his concerns about le's handling of lab mice for which clark was responsible. >> if these e-mails prove to be somewhat heated, that should have been an early indicator and perhaps hindsight being 20/20, that she should have notified someone about. >> and meredith, it doesn't sound like police are going to learn much more from ray clark. he's now hired a new lawyer, and police say at this point neither are talking. meredith? >> natalie, thank you. attorney carolyn wolf specializes in safety issues on school campuses and trains people to identify red flags. pat brown is a criminal profiler. good morning to both of you. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> carolyn, if i can start with you, police are not letting people know what the motive is, t they say this is workplace

violence. how do you define workplace violence, and what are the red flags that can go up that could let someone know they could be in trouble? >> red flags themselves are signs, warning signs, that if you are trained to identify and act , you can take some action with regard to those. it's actually the bigger issue here is really what are organizations doing to train their employees or their staff to identify them, follow up on their feelingsnd then take some action. i mean, i'm amazed, as i travel across the country, consulting on college campuses with fortune 500 companies, how the attitude is it will never happen here. this will never happen to us. and, in fact, there is training and education that needs to go on to help people understand what a potential threat is and to follow up on that. >> but again, how do you identify that threat? you're in this workplace. when do you know this could be a problem? >> i thi the first issue is trust your gut instincts.

you probably know more and feel more than you think you do. if something is uncomfortable, if it doesn't feel right, it's not right. and once you have that feeling, we can actually train people to understand that, to react to it, and then to set up a system where you can take that information to someone in authority who can then act on it. >> you know, pat, i know you're not comfortable where police have said this is an example of workplac violence, and you're not comfortable with that definition here. why is that, pat? >> exactly, meredith. it really upsets me that it's called workplace violence. this was not about mice. this was about women. and this could have happened to annie le anyplace she was at, whether she was in school or living in ray clark's apartment or she she lived next door as his neighbor, he would have had some excuse to go up against her because he was angry against women. we look at his history, and his buddies from high school say oh, we liked ray. he was a great guy. yeah, this kind of guy sucks up to men, sucks up to his friends. but for women we have a charge

in high school that he raped his girlfriend. we have neighbors saying he's very controlling of the girlfriend he has now. his issue was with women. and my take is that he did have a thing for annie le, she didn't give him the time of day, but now she's going to pick some other white guy. which is a club he might have joined, asian culture club, there's asian women there, i can get myself a girlfriend, and they're easier to control than the other american women here. i think he's always had an issue with women, he had an issue with her, and that was his last shot. and that thing he sent about the mice was an excuse. let me get her in here, get angry at her for this and then i have a justification for being angry that she never gave me the time of day. >> pat, carolyn, thank you very much. again, we don't know the motive at this point. police are not sharing that with us if they know it. it's just a warning for people to be careful in the workplace. >> it absolutely is. thank you. >> thanks, meredith. now we go back to cowboys stadium for a check of the

weather with al. >> thanks a lot, meredith. we are still in the outer locker area. and this is jalen. he's from indianapolis. came here for the game. this is how big a fan he is of the cowboys. can you turn this way, jim? take a look at that. wow! that's pretty cool. i can't do that, jalen. you like the cowboys a lot, huh? >> mm-hmm. >> are they going to win against the giants? >> yep. >> all right. you heard it first from jalen. all right. let's check your weather, see what's going on. thank you, young man. and we'll see for today, we're basically looking at your weekend. for saturday, we've got a pretty good day on tap in the northeast, really the plains states. record highs. wet weather inhe pacific northwest. hot in the southwest. the rain continues in the southeast on into the gulf coast. then sunday! a little more mild weather in the northeast. mild conditions in the pacific northwest. ooooooo cloudy, cool, and humid on this friday morning. we have a little fog around the region. no precipitation on radar.

he will have the clouds lingering through the morning. 64, washington. low and mid 60s. should make it into the mid 70s by mid afternoon. 60s through the evening. 50s by dawn. mostly sunny. low humidity with highs reaching mid 70s. partly cloudy in th that's right. and, of course, you know, we're here in dallas. and that can mean only one thing. "sunday night football night in america"! that's right. we're in the house that jerry built as the giants come to town. it's going to be a hot one for them. partly cloudy, warm, temperatures in the mid-80s. they're opening the roof because they're going to blow the roof off on "sunday night, football night in america"!

man! >> couldn't be more dangerous than you have a live audience for that, al. thank you very much. when we come back, future halfle famer emmitt smith's going to take me on a remarkable tour of this facility. we'll see all the bells and whistles. also ahead, jenna bush hager will introduce you to a remarkable young man here in texas. but first, a look at these messages.

♪ we got a new home ♪ it's a one of a kind dome and welcome back to the new cowboys stadium in arlington, texas. originally they estimated the cost of building this place would be about $650 million. but if you've ever built a house, you know that never works out. quickly the price tag ballooned to $1.12 billion, making it one of the most expensive sports venues ever built. >> reporter: as the saying goes, everything is bigger in texas. and for the new cowboys stadium here in arlington, texas, that saying has never been more true. at 3 million square feet, this spectacular new home to the dallas cowboys, one of the most illustrious franchises in sports, has been nicknamed the eighth wonder of the world and at a price tag of $1.12 billion, it has the best and biggest of everything.

>> it's awesome. it's clean. it's big. it's like the neiman marcus of football stadiums. >> we've been to the old stadium before, and it's really, really tiny compared to this one. >> i couldn't even describe it. it's huge. >> reporter: who better to show me around than former dallas cowboys great and future hall of famer, emmitt smith. so emmitt, as a player, one of the greats of the game who spent a lot of years here in dallas, just give me your initial reaction when you walk into this new stadium. >> i'm, like, wow! if you're a player and you cannot get fired up to play at this venue on this stage, you don't deserve to be on the dallas cowboys or the national football league. >> so there are 300 luxury boxes in this stadium. they're in all different levels. i think the ones that are going to get the most attention, emmitt, are these right here. they are right on the eld. from a player's point of view, is that distracting? you're right there. >> it can be a little distracting, but as a player, we've always been taught to ignore everything that's in the stands. >> they're eating steak and

they're having beers in there, and you're getting yelled at by your coach right here. >> hey, it is what it is. >> reporter: and if the field-level suites don't bring you close enough to the action, maybe you should check out the field club where players can actually high-five you as they take the field. players suited up, ready for the game. they come down this tunnel. and emmitt, they walk through crowds of people here. they come right through the middle of the fans to enter the field. >> this is a way for the dallas cowboys to give their fans something unique. >> reporter: also unique, the 2300-inch high-def monitor that hangs just 90 feet above the field. it's the largest in the world and will guarantee that fans will always be able to see highlights of their favorite team. you're a ledge end in pro football, future hall of famer. do you mind if we watch a coupl? >> sure. why not? >> all right, good. roll the highlights. >> this is "today." with matt lauer. and meredith vieira. oh, man. look at that.

>> that's beautiful, isn't it? >> oh. whoa, emmitt! this is living. >> any given sunday, baby. >> reporter: on any given sunday, there could be more fans here than in any other nfl stadium in the country. there are about 80,000 seats in this stadium, but they're mounted on sliding rails. if they want, they can take the armrests in between the chairs out, squeeze them closer together and get up to 100,000 seats in here. while filling those seats will be easy, feeding them could be another story. but here, they've covered that, too. dallas fans love their football, and they also ve to eat. so how do you feed them? 824 concession stands. stands that feature everything from kobe burgers to chili dogs and, of course, beer. >> ice cold beer! >> reporter: so the game's exciting, but you've been eating and drinking from all those concession stands, and you've got to go. at the new cowboys stadium, it's not a problem.

1,700 toilets. no waiting. it all fits under a roof soaring 300 feet in the air, supported by two massive arches. it's so high it could actually fit the statue of liberty base to torch. >> welcome to the top. i'm going to allow you the opportunity to ope the roof. >> you're going to let a giant fan open the roof at cowboys stadium? >> reporter: the roof opens at the touch of a button. all right. are you ready? exposing a cut-out that was designed, they say, so that even god has a good view of his favorite team. splitting right in the middle. >> yes, it is. >> reporter: how cool is that? i'm opening the roof at cowboys stadium. with the roof, the field and one of football's greatest wide open, i saw my opportunity and seized it. right over the middle. >> okay. >> reporter: go! >> i'm not going real fast. >> reporter: go, emmitt! he could go all the way! and he will right into the hall of fame. this is one of those luxury

boxes. you want to get it for the season? $200,000. you want to buy it outright? 2 million bucks. we'll show you more around here, and we'll check in with the world-famous cowboy cheerleaders. but first, these messages.

coming up, bill cosby joins us live. >> and jenna bush hager introduces us to an amazingid after your local news.

a foggy morning here in the nation's capital. 65 degrees. 7:56 this friday morng. welcome. i'm barbara harrison. in the news, police in fairfax county need your help finding a group of men who broke into an annandale home and beat a man up inside. four or five men dressed in black utility uniforms and wearing masks, burst in a home in the 3400 block of charleston street yesterday afternoon claiming they were the fbi. inside the home where a woman, her son and his baby. the woman says the intruders tied the three of them up and demanded money. she says they also beat up her son and they took off in a tan or gold cadillac escalade. metro riders can expect more

delays. track maintenance will take place on the red and orange lines. on the red line, single tracking between medical center and strathmore stations. on the orange lines, they will single track between the east falls shuch station an the boston station. riders should add 20 minut

good morning. it's cloudy, cool and damp. temperatures in the low and mid 60s. highs in the mid 70s. mostly sunny tomorrow. mid and upper 70s. sunday, partly cloudy. could get rain starting first part of next week. for friday's traffic, how is it looking? >> folks trying to go north on 270, not easy. an accent to the shoulder is drawing some attention. heads up. other than that, will is son bridge, okay. top side of the beltway, college park around to silver spring, travel lanes remain open. barbara? thank you. tonight on "news 4 at 5:00," cutting into plastic, tricky and can cause serious injury if you don't do it right. learn about the

♪ this is our house ♪ these are my people welcome back, everyone, to the new home of the dallas cowboys in arlington, texas, all 3 million square feet of it. $1.12 billion. obviously state of the art. we showed you the retractable roof, meredith. take a look at what else they have here at each end through the end zones, they have the world's largest sliding glass doors. these things are enormous. they take about eight minutes to open fully. and how's this for a fact, meredith? they've got to open bothnds at the same time because if they don't -- and they only open one

side -- the wind blowing in here could blow the roof off of cowboys stadium. and that would not make jerry jones happy, okay? now, as you walk in here, you're on the second floor platform. this is called a party platform near the concession stands. they can pack people in here. they only pay $29 for a standing-room-only seat. and actually, that's the reason the cowboys feel they can get about 100,000 people in the stadium for a game like sunday night. that's probably what they'll have. meredith? >> yeah, it's such an exciting place. you'd love to be there. i'm sure they'll pack it in every night, at least on the cowboys' end. >> they'll have between 80,000 and 100,000 for just about every home game. by the way, this morning it is not only about football. jenna bush hager will join us with the story of a young man, an 11-year-old guy, who is a celebrity in texas. if you're not one of the half million or so people who have watched dalton sherman on youtu youtube, you'll be blown away,

meredith. also ahead from here in new york, the one and only bill cosby is joining us. he is known for his comedy, but this morning he has an important message he wants to share with parents. we'll talk with him in just a moment. first, it is time to find out "where are we today?" on thursday we showed you this shot of an undisclosed location. and if you guessed the skydeck at willis tower in chicago, you were right. ♪ chicago chicago >> reporter: looming over the chicago river is willis tower, standing proud at 1,353 feet. ♪ chicago >> reporter: formerly called the sears tower, it was the tallest building in the world when it was completed in 1973. from the observation deck on the 103rd floor, you can feel the building sway in the strong winds. the tower is one of the biggest tourist attractions in the windy city. today willis tower is the tallest building in the united states and the fooift tallest freestanding structure in the world. and we'll have another location

for you to guess next week. but for now, ann curry is on assignment, as you know. so natalie morales is standing by at the news desk. >> good morning to you. and police this morning -- connecticut police are focusing on possible motives after a yale animal lab tech nation, raymond clark, was arrested and charged with the murder of annie le. a lab coworker tells us clark was controlling over what went on in the lab, harassing people, and annie received a message from clark saying her cages were dirty. now to the murder trial of american amanda knox. her lawyers are challenging key crime scene evidence. keith miller is in italy. keith, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, natalie. in fact, this murder trial is all about forensics. and this morning the defense attempted to discredit the prosecution's evidence. sitting in judgment is one of the highlights of knox's day. and today the defense called a crime scene investigator to refute claims that bloody footprints found at the crime

scene belonged to the defendants. the prosecution claims that knox, her former boyfriend, rafael, and another man murdered knox's roommate, meredith kercher. they claim they were at his apartment on the night of the crime. today the defense witness testified that the bloody footprints wer not his but matched rudy. the prosecution contradicts their own experts. knox's father in italy to attend the trial said the contradictions are baffling. >> my personal opinion is it's only going to be settled with an independent survey of the dna and the physical evidence because they are so far at two ends of the spectrum. >> reporter: if an independent expert is called, it could take months to file a forensic report. in the meantime, knox remains behind bars. her dad says she is coping well with prison life.

but after 21 months in prison, she is saying she is feeling the loss of her freedom. natalie? >> keith miller in italy, thank you, keith. an anonymous buyer has paid more than the $8.75 million asking price for bernie madoff's long island beach house. proceeds will help repay victims of madoff's massive investment fraud. wall street is hoping to extend a rally after losing some ground thursday. cnbc's trish regan is at the new york stock exchange. trish, what might we expect there today? >> it's certainly been good as of late. a little bit of a pullback yesterday, natalie. so people are watching very carefully to see just exactly how this market ends up today. one little bit of good news here for you, american households saw an increase in their household wealth for the first time since 2007. it actually increased about 3.9% in the months april through june over the previous three months. so a little good news to hang your hat on. natalie. >> we like that, especially as we head into the weekend.

thanks, trish regan. it's 8:05. let's go back to cowboys stadium and al. >> "where are we today" is brought to you by comfort suites and the other fine choice hotels. >> and fans who come here to cowboys stadium are going to get not just great football but a little culture as well. there are 14 contemporary art installations from renouned artists from around the world here spread throughout the stadium. charlotte anderson is a vie presidevice president in the cowboys organization and is the daughter of jerry jones. she is spearheading the effort. >> thanks for having me, al. >> it's interesting. it's not your traditional art that you see in stadiums. this is really big contemporary art. >> absoluty. you know, we really wanted this to be more than just a sports stadium. and we wanted to be able to offer our fans something unique, but we also wanted to entice fans of art and fans of architecture to come out as well.

>> for example, this piece right here, tell me about this. >> this is mel botner's win, and he started with the word "win" and proceeded down to create an ad, colloquialisms you might hear in a ball game. >> kick some butt. you didn't put them in places people might normally expect. you've got it over concession stands and also along the escalator. >> right. we wanted the mt visible spaces. here with gary simmons, it takes up an enormous amount of space and offers a lot of people to be able to see it at one time. >> it's really cool. will this stuff all kind of rotate through? >> no, these are here to stay. as you can tell, gary painted this on directly. >> that's not going anywhere. >> it's not going anywhere,ooooo well, good morning. we have a cloud cover and no precipitation. we did have a little bit of drizzle predawn. that's dissipated. radar not showing rain or drizzle around. we do have some light fog in the

area. low and mid 60s around the region. 65 at reagan national. highs should climb into the mid 70s. we should get some sun back this afternoon. partly cloudy tonight. 60s through the evening. tomorrow, mostly sunny. highs mi and that's your latest weather. matt? >> all right, al, thanks very much. when we continue on a friday morning, the cos, bill cosby will join us speaking out about children and what he wants every parent to know. and as you can see, jenna bush hager joins us as well. >> i'll introduce you to an 11-year-old boy you'll never forget after these messages. my name's lisa.

i'm from fayetteville, north carolina, ...and i smoked for 29 years. the one thing about smoking - is it dominates your life, and it dominated mine. and the sad thing about it is that you can always use an excuse if cigarettes don't kill me, oh well - something else will. but, you can't use that as an excuse. i honestly loved smoking, and i honestly didn't think i would ever quit. it was very interesting that you could smoke on the first week. chantix gave me that extra help that i needed to get through a tough time. (announcer) chantix is a non-nicotine pill. in studies, 44% of chantix users were quit during weeks 9 to 12 of treatment, compared to 18% on sugar pill. it is proven to reduce the urge to smoke.

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she met up with dalton sherman, sixth grader here in dallas with an extraordinary gift for public speaking. >> our special guest today, mr. dalton sherman. >> reporter: so "d," i'm really new at this and i'm kind of nervous. give me some tips. >> say the words clearly so people can understand them. splat. >> splat. hat. sat. >> that gets your tongue, like -- >> moving. >> -- moving. >> so i can pronounce words better? what grade do you give me? >> i give you an "a" plus. >> an "a" plus? amazing. dalton, you're 11, right? >> yes. >> tell me about your first time you ever gave a speech. >> the first, first time i ever gave a speech was when i was in first grade. >> and then what inspired you to get back into giving speeches? >> my fourth grade teacher inspired me, miss redmond. she noticed i was talkative and it was my gift. she said i'm going to put you in

a speech contest. >> instead of punishing him for talking too much,ou encouraged him to go out and become active in these speech competitions. >> when i first met him, he was in first grade, he spoke to me. i was, like, oh, my goodness. this kid has a beautiful voice. we used it to his advantage, and it has worked out perfectly for him. >> you went and gave this huge speech in front of all of the dallas public schoolteachers, right? >> yes. >> i believe in me. do you? believe in me? >> what were you thinking when you were standing on that stage and saw 17,000 teachers below you? >> i was thinking, daddy, this is a lot of people. >> i also heard that after your speech, a teacher came up to you and said, "i was thinking about quitting." >> she said, "dalton, i was thinking about quitting -- quitting teaching this year, but now that you said that speech, i'm going to keep my job." and so that was really meaningful for me. >> so will you go ahead and just tell me the first couple verses?

>> i believe in me. do you believe in me? do you believe that i can stand up here fearless and talk to all of you? thank you. >> that was awesome! >> thank you. >> good job. >> do you believe in my classmates? >> yes. >> reporter: 500,000 people have viewed dalton's speech on youtube including ellen and oprah who each invited him to appear on their shows. even esteemed poet dr. maya angelou took notice. >> the best highlight for me was meeting dr. maya angelou. and she told dalton dr. king was a good friend of hers and his speech really touched her heart. >> it is unbelievable. how do you feel with all the media andhen you knew 500,000 people watched dalton on youtube? >> i'm just proud. i'm totally just amazed by the attention he's gotten and by the

people wanting to hear him. >> reporter: but despite dalton's extraordinary ability in public speaking, his hobbies are as ordinary as your average 11-year-old. >> yeah! >> reporter: dalton's interests include hanging out with friends and playing basketball. so i challenged him to a little one-on-one. i'm going down. told you! good one, "d." tell me a little bit about the message, what you were trying to say in that "believe in me" speech. >> well, the message was to get teachers to believe in their childr and to let them know kids will be kids. >> even though dalton inspired 17,000 teachers, you were a major influence and inspiration in his life. >> oh, i feel very honored. he inspired me to be a better person and a better teacher. >> he's had a lot of great teachers. but we all remember that one teacher in our life, and i think for dalton, it will always be miss redmond. >> dalton, tell me what you did

to prepare for all of these speeches that you've been giving. >> i spend three days a week and hour each day. it was for three weeks straight. and it was a long time. practice and practice and practice and practice makes perfect. >> sometimes i think i'm talking to somebody that's 33 years old. but you're very mature for an 11-year-old. >> thank you. >> what do you want to become when you're older? >> strive for my goal to be a news anchor. >> a news anchor or any other profession? i heard -- >> maybe president, but if that doesn't work out, i'll stick to being news anchor. >> news anchor. so after all of this, it's been hours, right? do you still want to be a news anchor? >> yes, i still want to be a news anchor, and i just have to say it -- say something real quick. >> okay. >> watch out, matt lauer, because i might be taking your job. >> it's very, very possible. i love the fact that a teacher took what could have been a negative and turned it into a positive. >> exactly. miss redmond is a terrific teacher. she's been teaching for 33 years. and she saw the best in him. and you can see, in his speech,

that he really believes, believe in me, because he's had a teacher that's done just that. >> and now he's carrying on the message to other young people. it's fantastic. we're here at cowboys stadium. i can't leave without you finding out a lot of bush family history in texas, houston and dallas. are you a cowboy fan or a texan fan? >> my grandparents are going to kill me, but i'm from dallas so i've got to root for the cowboys. >> i don't know if that's the truth. >> and the ravens. >> jenna, good to have you here. thanks so much. zyrtec® itchy eye drops. now i have new it works fast, with just one drop, to relieve my itchy eyes from allergies for up to 12 hours. no other allergy itchy eye drop works faster or longer. which is good, 'cause there's a lotta paws to shake. with new zyrtec® itchy eye drops i can love the air™. (announcer) find it in the allergy aisle next to other zyrtec® products. dinner's ready! let's eat. (announcer) today, there's i can't believe it's not butter! it has no trans fat, 70% less saturated fat than butter, and less saturated fat than smart balance.

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more than 13 million children live in poverty in the united states, taking a toll on their health education and general outlook on life. issues that will be addressed in a special live event featuring bill cosby this sunday on msnbc called "about our children." he is with us now along with the event's moderator, msnbc political analyst michelle bernard. good morning to both of you. >> good morning. >> michelle, if i can start with you, this was really your idea to do this. i mean, you talked to bill and said i'd love for you to get involved. >> yes. >> and he did. but what is behind this? what do you hope people will take away from this? >> sunday night is what i'm hoping is the first day of a nationwide, grass-roots mobilization effort by parents, grandparents and children who will say, you know what? we're going to take the bull by

the horns. this is about our children. we will take an honest look at ourselves and see what we can do to change our lives to make the world a better place for our children. whether it is going to systems that are failing and saying, you know what? give me back my tax dollars because this isn't working. give me back my money and let us figure out how to make the system work and how do we fix the education system so that every child in this country truly has a shot at the american dream. >> why -- you know, you have been talking about this forever -- why hasn't there been an outcry like michelle is trying to get? >> i think because most people who are crying out want something for themselves. this is a nation that -- it appears that they really don't like children. i mean, for instance, let's just think about we have intelligent, stupid. a child is absent from school

for no real reason for 11 days. so the system says, suspend the kid for five days from school. intelligent or stupid? but people let it go. you just had an 11-year-old kid on who spoke and said, "do you believe in me? i believe in me." it's simple. yet people don't go about behaving that way towards their children. the first thing that happened when i was going around, and i had had enough of this. and i kept saying to groups of people, our children are trying to tell us something, and we're not listening. this program -- by the way, she doesn't tell it correctly. >> oh, boy, michelle. >> i sat down at the table. allen was sitting here and she is sitting here. first of all, she's taller than bothf us. so she says, i'm going to do a

town hall. will you be there? would you like to be there? i said yes. alvin said yes. and then she said, well, i'm doing this town hall. will you be there? i said yes. she said really? i mean, this went on for another half hour. >> well, she got you here. let me ask you, michelle, there are three types of panels. first focused on parenting, then health and then education. that order was specific for you. it was by design. why? >> absolutely. education, i believe, firmly is the great equalizer. but until -- we can't even get to education until we can talk about what is effective parenting. what are the health needs of children? one of the things that we're going to talk about on sunday night that i think is really very different and spectacular -- >> and this is live. >> -- and this is live, live studio audience. people wilbe able to ask questions during the program, we're going to talk about depression, particularly in low-income neighborhoods. this affects blacks. it affects whites. it affects hispanic

we don't want anyone tuning in to think this is just about black people which often when you hear poverty, you think black people. poverty affects everyone. we're going to talk about depression, education, parenting. you can't do one without doing the other. >> and offer so getting a live look outside. don't let the clouds intimidate you. it is 65 degrees, 8:26. friday, september 18th. good morning. i'm keith garvin. police in maryland are looking for a carjacking suspect. a man car jacked a woman in gainesville, virginia. he held her at gunpoint and started driving toward the beltway. virginia police caught up with him and chased him into maryland. the chase ended when the car crashed. the suspect ran off at saint

good morning. cloudy, cool, and damp. a little sunshine coming back with highs reaching the mid 70s. tomorrow, mostly sunny. morning lows, upper 50s. afternoon highs, mid 70s. sunday, mid 50s. partly cloudy after a sunny start. starting next week with some rain. how is the traffic? slower spot this morning has been and continues to be i-66 eastbound. an accident outside of centreville has been cleared. that's opened the floodgates

headed toward vienna. okay at th wilson bridge. 270, northbound the accident north of 121 is cleared. keith? tonight on "news 4 at 5:00" p.m., cutting into plasti

bringing the world into sharper focus. >> did you steal this election? >> reporting the news and making headlines. >> racism. how worried are you? >> most watched. most honored. nbc news. 8:30 now on this friday morning, september 18th, 2009, on this special split edition of "today" from new york and the brand-new billion-dollar home of the dallas cowboys. outside on the plaza, i'm meredith vira along with natalie morales. matt and al are at cowboys

stadium. guys, you aren't mentioning much about being from new york, are you, after the cowboys play the giants on sunday night? >> hello? >> hello? >> what, are you nuts? >> are you crazy? >> you don't come to cowboys stadium and say i'm a giants fan too loud. not at all, meredith. we're not dumb, okay? >> stupid, maybe, not dumb. >> exactly. >> they're wearing their t-shirts. >> what do you have coming up? >> hey, you know what? besides football, we've got food to talk about. and lucky for us, we've got some unique tastes. unique brand of food that they've got -- they're serving here at cowboys stadium and some drink, too. can you believe a cowboyrita? >> we'll try that. also, they performed for us a little earlier. we'll go behind the scenes with the world-famous dallas cowboys cheerleaders. we have three of them sitting right here alongside us. they don't look so great in the morning, but that's okay. >> get those shorts on, and boy, they're something. >> we'll introduce them in a second, meredith. >> yeah, tell them to shave their legs. it's just not the right look

otherwise. just ahead from here, you'll meet a pair of college roommates who have turned shared love into a multimillion-dollar business. and you could do the same thing. and also how to give your entire family room a brand-new look for under 500 bucks. we'll slow you how coming up. let's go back to matt and al. >> all right, guys, thanks very much. as we mentioned a couple of times this morning, they're going to officially cut the ribbonn this stadium sunday night with a game between the cowboys and the new york giants. we've got the team that will be broadcasting that game for nbc. we've got bob, al and cris. guys, good morning. nice to see you. just first impressions, what do you think of the stadium? >> it's got that wow factor, no question about it. >> it does. you know, jerry jones always talked about building a stadium unlike any other. and i think to do it at the time he was able to do it, and in every stadium that i've been to in the past few years, you can always tell where they've cut a corner here and there, saved a little bit on the budget. i haven't seen anything like that here. this is unbelievable. >> this is a typical jerry jones

thing where he says, yeah, we could have built it for $815 million, but why cut corners? he went for $1.1 billion. >> in the booth you get the manicures, pedicures, back rubs. >> and monitors. look behind you, you don't even have to check the radar screen anymore. >> it's called the jerrytron. >> should they raise this thing? it's been hit once inn in a preseason game, once in a broadcast. will that be the moment when a kick hits the screen? >> they say they don't have to raise it because the kid at tennessee wound up leaving and going to the jets and now he's someplace else, was trying to hit it. you know, i think what's going to happen is the first time a punt hits the scoreboard and it's a key play in the game, then they'll probably reevaluate. but that's another -- you know, another thing to keep an eye on especially on sunday night. >> technically, it is above the league minimum, but the size of it. you know, if it's just the normal kind of gondola-sized

scoreboard that hangs down, you've got less area potentially to hit. this stretches almost from the 20 to the other 20. so you've got a bigger target. >> you can get 100,000 people into this stadium. >> and they will on sunday. >> does that become a factor for the opposing team or even for the cowboys in a positive? >> yeah, absolutely it is. >> well, i mean, the rams, believe it or not, when they were in los angeles in the late '50s, would draw crowds of 100,000 or more. in fact, 102,378, i think, was the exact number of the biggest crowd ever to watch an nfl game in the united states. oddly enough, when they played that game in mexico between san francisco and arizona a few years ago, that set the record. but the rams would draw 100,000 people during those years. they'll do it again here, but if you're the opposition, cris, what's the difference between 80,000 screaming at you or 100,000? >> i can just tell you this. as an opposing player, there's nothing better than hearing 100,000 people and going, shhh.

they go from crazy -- you can shut them up -- and just think what it would mean to the new yo giants to come in here when they're opening this grand building and knock off their big rival. >> yeah. i said that to jerry jones. he kicked me right out of the golf cart. good luck with the game sunday night, guys. you get to inaugurate the whole thing. >> thanks, matt. >> it should be oooo?>oooooo. here we've got low clouds that continue to linger and are not producing anymore precipitation. we have a little fog around, low and mid 60s. high, mid 70s. a little sun ought to break out this afternoon. mostly sunny tomorrow. cool in the morning. afternoon highs, mild in the mid 70s. sunday, sunny in the morning, mid 50s. a few clouds in the aftern and that's your latest weather.

and, of course, we're coming up on sunday night, and that means "sunday night, football night in america"! here in cowboyland, they're opening the big house, the house that jerry built! the giants come in here taking on the boys. partly cloudy, warm. temperatures in the 80s. it will be about 100 on the field. that's right. on "sunday night, football night in america"! gentlemen. >> i'm sne deaf in this ear. al, thank you very much.

♪ my mamain't that texas

cookin' something ♪ do you think that jerry jones would have built a football stadium like this one and not thought about od? 824 concession stands, and boy, do they sell some interesting items. we're with chef juan garrido, one of the chefs here at cowboys stadium. nice to see you. good morning. >> good morning. >> we love to eat. al and i love to eat. so what have you brought this morning? >> we have some of the top sales items in the suites which is the mac & cheese, the truffle mac & cheese. >> truffle mac & cheese at a football game? >> at a football game, yes, sir. >> what goes into this? >> it's a blend of cheese. brie, white cheese, white cheddar cheese and macaroni, reduced cream and herbs. >> it smells great. i haven't even tasted it and it smells great. as we move down. >> we have caesar with roasted jalapeno caesar dressing which we have corn and cornbread

croutons and parmesan cheese. >> are prices reasonable? >> i think with the quality of food we have, it kind of makes the -- the quality makes the price because we make everything fresh. we make everything in house. we try to not buy anything already made. we probably cook 800 pounds of shrimp for a game, which is -- >> and the dipping sauce kind of special? >> it's special. traditional cocktail horseradish sauce which is homemade, too. >> can i try it? >> got to dip. that's good. what do we have in front here? the same thing, concession items. the top sellers. we have the kobeburger. cowboy burger. a kobe fresh patty. we get it the day before.

it's fresh made. we make it to order. >> and a cheesesteak sandwich? >> cheesesteak sandwi. it's really good. we probably sell 15,000. >> wow! that's a lot of cheesesteak. >> you're going to make something quickly for us here that is going to be one of the signature dishes here at cowboys stadium, braised shortrib. >> braised short rib. >> how do we get started? >> we're going to start with a little bit of oil. then we're going to season the short ribs. >> that's pretty simple seasoning. >> yeah, salt, pepper. salt, pepper. and then you're just going to kind of sear them. >> and you brown those onoth sides? >> yes. and then we're going to start here with our cowboy grits. >> these are cowboy grits? >> yeah. >> ooh. >> a little red pepper. >> red pepper, onions.

a little bit of garlic and chives. >> you like grits, ol? >> i love grits. >> i do, too. >> so it's a lot of savory in there with the garlic, tomato, onion, pepper. >> we try to make it flavorful. it's more rich. >> what we're going to do is we're going to pretend that has been made. and we're going to just say the name of the drink, by the way, also? >> that's a cowboyrita. >> cowboyrita. >> cowboyrita. >> chef juan, thank you too much. you take this. good luck on opening night, all right? great to have you. much more ahead from

back now at 8:44. this morning on "today's

entrepreneurs," create a budding new business even during these tough economic times. a pair of business school roommates turned clothing designers are now shaking things up in the world of men's apparel. "today" national correspondent tiki barber has their story. >> reporter: spend an afternoon at the offices in new york city, and it's hard not to catch the enthusiasm. where 19 employees, all part owners, willingly double as models -- >> i like that. that looks good. >> reporter: and pitch in packing boxes for the afternoon pickup. a dose of humility and a sense of humor required. but all fun aside, it's a serious business. created to fix a real problem. >> you can never find trousers that fit. the designer stuff was too slim and too tight in the leg, and the mass-market stuff was baggy and gave me khaki diaper butt. i was always caught in the middle. >> reporter: athletic guys, i have this problem, have a skinny waist, big thighs, big butts. and so you crunch up your waist to fit pants.

how are your pants different in the design? >> they have a contoured waistband that has a curve that better approximates the waist of an athletically-built guy. but what we found, it's not just for an ex-nfl star like yourself. >> reporter: design novice brian spaley figured out by altering the waist and narrowing the thigh using great fabrics and hip details, he could make awesome-fitting pants for most guys. so who is your client? is it the geek? is it the fashionista? is it the jock? who is it? >> it's anybody w needs pants that fit better. >> reporter: they are betting that today's man not only cares about style, but he hates to shop. >> guys like to wear nice clothes. we've seen a real change in the last, i'd say, five to ten years. >> it's okay to care about how you look now. but you don't necessarily want to spend the weekend doing it. >> so you go online for 15 minutes and you're good. >> we mak it easy for you. >> reporter: in fact, the duo has made internet-only sales and

great customer service two of the hallmarks of their brand. >> we hire intelligent, driven, bright, motivated college-educated folks to come in and talk to our customers and to build a real experience and a loyalty that now has our customer saying we love your pants, but when are you going to make shirts? >> so are you ready for the ultimate challenge? fit me. ♪ >> woo! >> these look great. it flatters your fire. it makes you look like the handsome guy that you are. ♪ don't you like my style ♪ i know that you like my style ♪ ♪ turn you out ♪ everybody in the place get loud ♪ >> holy cow. >> there is little to no chance that i would ever wear these other than right here. and, of course, i'm on national television. >> so you're saying there's a chance. >> i'm saying there's a chance. >> reporter: but do these guys have a chance of breaking into the mainstream fashion industry? do you want to be viewed as a threat? >> we want to be viewed as an alternativ alternative, you know, that there's a different way you can do it, and we think it will work

for a lot of guys. >> and since launching in the fall of 2007, bonobos has sold more than 27,000 pairs of pants and brought in more than $3.5 million. we're going to bring in donny deutsch, chairman of deutsche inc. and the author of "the big idea." >> great to be here. >> you love the flowered pants. let's get that out of the way. >> i'm not going to be able to be an expert because tiki in the flowered pants was working. it's concerning me. >> let's talk about this sort of company. they saw a problem with pants and decided we're going to address that and provide a solution. you're used to the big idea. is that enough of a big idea? >> that is the big idea. it's simple. i say this all the time. if in any part of your day any product or service is not meeting your needs, i'm a guy, why can't i find a pair of pants that fitted me? there are probably 1 million other guy feeling that. that's the beginning of a big idea. >> i think people get intimidated that they have to come up with the newest thing out there. they don't. >> here is the way -- everybody at home, you at home, will find your next big idea in the next week. keep a diary. and basing the next time at any

point in your day you go, wait a second, why are socks always falling down? why can't i get a fruit that does this? that's the big idea. so it's not coming up with the next nasa experiment. it's not coming up with the next genetic breakthrough code. it's civil solutions for eve everyday problems. those are the big ideas. >> people say boy, they went out on a limb, because times are tough. this is not the right time to start a business. >> wrong. there are so many young, hungry people out on the street almost willing to work for nothing. then there's partners. you get people on the cheap. and now is when everybody's looking for new ideas. it's when things are great status quo stays the same. during the gat depression, more new businesses started. and i say what the heck. that's when you go for it. >> this is also a hard time to get a loan. >> if you're sitting at home saying i need $1 million to start a business, wrong. businesses can be started on $1,000 or $5,000. especially they started online. there's no bricks and mortar. so today the internet is -- >> that's what i was going to ask you.

>> -- everybody's barrier. it could cost you $1,000, you're up and running. and young pple are -- they talked about the premise of that business, young people out of college, hungry, none of them had any experience also. i also say sometimes no experience is what makes a great business because you don't know what you don't know and you go for it. >> these guys are being told by friends and people buying from them not just pants now. we want the next thing. is it dangerous to expand? >> no, as long as you stay true to your core competency. they're in the clothing business, better fashion solutions for men. that's one wide swath. i wouldn't start selling blenders the next day, but no, you can go from that. as long as they stay true to their core brand, we have cool new solutions for men who are not kids but don't want to wear daddy trousers which i'm getting to that point now. >> i was going to say, if you're a real man, donny, the next time you're on you'll be wearing those flower pants with pride. >> in fact, i will wear them tonight. >> that is so cable. we're not going there. >> it's just wrong. >> donny deutsche, thank you so

much. >> good to be here. up next, matt and al, two guys who wear flowered pants as well,

♪ god bless texas welcome back to that beautiful building right there. each year hundreds of hopefuls

descend on dallas with a dream of becoming a part of one of the most famous teams in professional sports. >> but not the dallas cowboys. >> the dallas cowboys cheerleaders. ♪ >> reporter: they're america's sweethearts, cheering on america's team. ♪ rockin' them bea >> reporter: the dallas cowboys cheerleaders clad in their trademark blue and white star-spangled uniforms have achieved iconic status alongside the football team they support. ♪ boom boom >> reporter: back in the 1960s, the cowbells and beaus rallied fans in a more collegiate style, but it was the cowboys' legendary general manager text schram who in 1972 recognized what a glamorous squad of accomplished dancers on the sidelines could do for the game and television. the dallas cowboy cheerleaders not only became the darlings of the nfl, they took hollywood by storm.

they sailed on "the love boat," spent a saturday night on live tv. they even starred in their own made-for-tv movie. today they're featured in a reality show on country music television's "dallas cowboys cheerleaders making the team." ♪ distancing with myself >> reporter: when they're not on the stage or on the field, theye performing countless acts of kindness in the dallas area and beyond. their place in dallas cowboy loren sured that they would not be overlooked as the organization moved into a new home. >> this is so awesome. we have lockers larger than my entire body. they have our names on them. they have a picture of us above it. >> reporter: but with an upgrade comes some additional pressures. >> yeah, 65,000 people in the stands at texas stadium. here you have 80,000 to 100,000. and the screen stretches from the 20 yard line to the 20 yard line. so they don't miss anything. so everything has to be perfect.

♪ a good good night ♪ woo hoo >> this was fun watching the piece. you think ooh, ah! >> there's jamie! >> what is it like being in the new stadium? >> it is amazing. it's larger than life here. you should see the difference between our locker from the last stadium and this stadium. here it's just so big. it's so massive. it's just amazing to be able to perform in front of all of these people. that's the biggest difference. >> yeah, what's it going to be like with 100,000 people in here on sunday night? can you even describe that? >> i think it would be absolutely wild. the first two preseason games were amazing, for sure, because we were all, like, wow! this is so new and so huge. but i think with a full, completely packed house, first regular season game against the giants, it's going to be amazing. >> yeah. bh who's going to win? >> we are. >> all right. >> good luck. >> meredith and natalie, we know who they think's going to win. the game is sunday night, and this is some place, folks.

>> it's so nbc? >> it's on nbc. >> do you even want to come the time is 8:55. 65 degrees on friday, september 18th, 2009. in news 4, police are looking for the mas canned men that pulled off a home invasion in annandale. four or five men broke into the home yesterday afternoon. a woman, her atd dult son and his baby were inside. police say the men were dressed in black and claimed they were with the fbi. they tied up the family, demanded money and beat up the woman's son. police say they took off in a tan or gold cadillac escalade. a man was trapped inside his van when it went plunging over a clip in large go. firefighters slowly pulled the van back up. after all was said and done

shall the man had only a minor injury to his leg. weather an traffic are next. stay with us.

temperatures are mitt we will climb to the mid 70s. should make it their this afternoon with a little sunshine. upper 50s in the morning and mid 70s this the afternoon. good weather for the skins and rams. rain starting off next week. jerry, how is the traffic now? over on 270, much improved. everything clearing out nicely. germantown to rockville, down to the split. still backed up for a stretch on the 395. headed for downtown to the 14th street bridge. looks like just volume. couldn't find anything on the roadway. tonight on "news 4 at 5:00," cutting into plastic, not only tricky, it can cause

♪ ♪ we're back now with more of a special split edition of "today" on a friday morning, september 18th, 2009. looking down from the sky at the new cowboys stadium in arlington, texas. $1.12 billion to build this facility. 100,000 seats inside. 800 concession stands. 300 luxury boxes. need i say more? need i say more? >> yeah. >> you're a throwback, aren't you? >> yes, i am. i'm the missing link. you know, speaking of television, of course, this place is the big -- the home of

the biggest hd tv in the galaxy. that's right. the screens stretch from the 20 yard line to the 20 yard line. each side needs about 2,000 52-inch tvs to fill them up. we are ready for our close-up. that's nice. this helmet looks even better. >> 80 feet wide, that's a good look. a lot of stadiums have a souvenir stand. here they call them pro shops. the place right here, if you can look over here, is bigger than >> smells good. >> they've got beautiful stuff. >> look at all these jerseys. all the pro -- oh, wait a minute. >> emmitt smith's number but matt lauer's name. >> al roker, number 12. >> i wonder if we get to keep those? >> i hope so because they can't tell them to a >> natalie and nora o'donnell are in studio 1a. what's happening? >> what are you going to bring us back from the souvenir shop?

>> here's one already for you, nat. >> i'll pass, al. >> your very own al roker jersey. >> love the cowboys but i don't think i can pull off the hat. thanks. i know you guys have been having a great time. they were surrounded by the cheerleaders. they've been on the big jumbotron there. they've been able to throw tosses out on the field. so matt, you get to take off, but al gets to stick around for more fun with us. >> that's right. i'm taking off. i'm catching a plane. and you're not too far behind. >> not really. i've got one more weather and then i'm going to be right there with you. >> we wish we could stay for the big game on sunday night, but we cannot. remember, it's here on nbc. cowboys versus the new york giants as they cut the ribbon on this stadium. ladies? >> all right. matt and al, matt, have a great trip back. and al, we'll see you in a little bit for your forecast. meanwhil coming up from here, we've got an incredible story. a young woman impaled by a 13-inch tree branch while in a car. it'snbelievable. she'll tell us how it happened and how she's doing now. plus she's brought along some of that branch.

that is unbelievable. >> unbelievable story. she's very lucky to be alive. also how one designer gave a family room a face-lift for just $500. not bad. first, natalie, i understand while ann is on assignment in iran, you have a check of the top stories. >> praisi the plan had strained relations between the two nations. president obama says a flexible shield program will be more effective against missiles from iran or rogue nations. republican critics, though, accuse the president of appeasing russia at the expense of european allies. vice presidt joe biden is back in the u.s. after meeting with american troops and government leaders in iraq. biden said the u.s. will respect any decision iraq makes on a timetable for u.s. troop withdrawals. connecticut investigators are focusing on a workplace dispute as a possible motive in the murder of yale grad student annie le. nbc's jeff rossen is once again in new haven, connecticut. jeff, a coworker at the lab

there described clark as controlling, right? >> reporter: exactly, natalie. we talked to one of those coworkers and several of ray clark's friends. they say he was a nice guy but a control freak. as one of them put it. sources now tell nbc news this entire crime, this enre murder may come down to a fight over mice. in an e-mail to nbc news overnight a coworker wrote, "ray has always been very controlling over the mouse room," she wrote, "often bothering people to the point of damn near harassment. last thing i knew annie got a message from him saying her cages were dirty." so the question is did that, the dirty cages, set him off? police are looking into that as a possible motive. also, new published reports in "the new york daily news" that they found blood from annie le who worked in that research lab on ray clark's boots. and they also found ray clark's special green pen, a pen everyone knew he used at the crime scene. they say he accidentally dropped it and police have now recovered it, natalie.

>> jeff rossen in new haven, connecticut, thank you. a north carolina man who had trouble breathing and bouts of pneumonia for two years finally figured out what his problem was. and as nbc's ron mott reports what the doctor found was hard to swallow. >> apparently it was in the food or the drink. i must have swallowed it. >> reporter: or more precisely, inhaled it. john manly of north carolina has no better explanation than eating or drinking too quickly for how this jagged piece of plastic from a wendy's spoon wound up living nearly two years in his left lung. >> you come in and you eat fast and you move on. that's why they call it fast food. >> reporter: now ever since duke university doctors pulled it out last week, he's finally on the mend. >> i couldn't go outside. i couldn't go out in the heat. i just couldn't do anything. so i pretty much got stuck in the house for a long time. >> reporter: after coughing fits and pneumonia and numerous misdiagnoses, manley was at his

wit's end, but a doctor had an idea, stick a camera down his threat. what he found spelled trouble, old-fashioned hamburgers. >> i'm taken out vegetable matters, green pea, blueberry, pen, safety pin, thumbtack, but this has to be one of the strangest objects. >> reporter: a strange object free at last. >> i was so happy, i wanted to hug the guy and kiss him because i could breathe. >> reporter: a man who waited to exhale is breathing easier -- >> a lot of the times i have the lid off. i'm not a straw person. i am now. >> reporter: having learned the benefits of taking it in slowly. ron mott, nbc news, atlanta. >> that's pretty unbelievable. it is now six minutes past the hour. let's go back out to al. crazy story. >> hey. that's a bizarre story. i'll tell you. it's a lesson to us all, eat slowly. look what we've got for our "today" show lockers. they made these up for us. this is great. it will be fun when we're all

changing in the locker room, right, natalie? anyway, let's take a look, show you what's going on as far as your weather's concerned. the weather has been stuck in the southeast. we can't get this low-pressure system to move out. can't get a controlled front down or anything. why? jet stream is way up to the north up in canada. so there's no major steering currents to push this thing on out. so we're going to continue to see the rain. in fact, right through the weekend. next 48 hours, we are looking at anywhere from one to two inches of rain generally, but good morning. veronica johnson here in storm center 4. that system down south will try and push northward not until the beginning of next weeb. out there, looks farrell quiet. there is some patchy fog and areas of drizzle. we will have that around up until about midday. our temperatures right now are in the sixties. 65s, dull let. mon as sas, 64. quantico, 65. temperatures into the mid

that's your latest weather. look, world's biggest bobblehead. i didn't mean to be doing that to tony. i'm sorry. nora? >> love you, al. thanks so much. all right. now to a true nightmare for one woman from idaho. and we should warn you, what you're about to see is a bit graphic. michelle childers was out for a drive in the woods with her husband when a tree branch came through the window of their truck and impaled her in the neck. amazingly, michelle lived to tell the tale, and she's here with her husband, daniel. michelle, daniel, good morning. again, we'll be showing some graphic pictures. i just want to tell our viewers that. but i'm so glad that you're okay, michelle. you guys are out for a drive, just kind of getting away. and then all of a sudden the unimaginable. what happened? >> we were driving down the road. and we had just stopped about five minutes earlier. and walked around and was talking and went down to a creek

and was just hanging out. >> and you're driving back in the car, and then all of a sudden this huge kind of explosion of needles, right? >> yeah. it was like a bomb had went off, you know? >> and you thought a tree had, like, fallen on the car or something. >> yeah, i thought a tree had fell. >> daniel, you look over at your wife, and what do you see? >> i just seen that stick going through her neck. and i noticed that i needed to get help and quick. >> yeah. and michelle, did you realize you had this giant branch in your shoulder? >> no. i felt pressure. >> yeah. >> i had -- it wasn't a lot of pain. it was a lot of pressure. so i wasn't sure if something was laying on my chest. >> mm-hmm. >> or if -- i had no idea what happened. i had to ask. >> and when she asked you what happened, daniel, what did you sa >> i told her that it was in her neck. >> oh, my gosh. at that point how do you keep calm? because you're out in the middle of nowhere. you don't have cell phone service, right?

and you've got to get her help. so what do you do? >> i just went as quickly as i could. it was a very bumpy road, though. >> mire goodness. >> i tried to drive slow, but i was trying to get there quickly, too. >> you drive an hour. where do you end up? >> at the locksaw lodge. >> at the lodge. lo and behold, there's a nurse there. >> a nurse practioner from spokane was there. she took my vitals and tried to get help on the way. and probably 15 minutes later, an rn had pulled in and got air support and ground support on the way. >> the doctor says that it was eight inches into you, this huge branch. it was resting on your jugular. had it been just a fraction of an inch either way, you might not be alive. i know you brought some pieces of that branch with you. >> yeah. >> that was in your neck! >> yes. >> when you look at that now, what do you think? >> i don't know how i'm still alive. >> yeah. >> i don't know. i don't know.

>> well, michelle and daniel childers, i'm so glad you're here. i know you're still recovering, but truly an unbelievable story. and obviously you had great doctors. and the good news doctors say you didn't try and pull it out. you left it there and let the professionals take care of it. nice to see you both. we appreciate it. >> nice to see you. up next, the results of one family's $500 family room makeover. how you can do it, too. then later, how america's favorite dogs have changed over the years and which breed is now the top dog. but first, these messages. whether i'm at the batting cages... down by the lake or... fishing at the shore. i'm breathing better... with spiriva. announcer: spiriva is the only once-daily inhaled maintenance treatment for both forms of copd, which includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. i take it every day. it keeps my airways open... to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announcer: spiriva does not replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms. stop taking spiriva and call your doctor

if your breathing suddenly worsens, your throat or tongue swells, you get hives, or have vision changes or eye pain. tell your doctor if you have glaucoma, problems passing urine or an enlarged prostate, as these may worsen with spiriva. also discuss the medicines you take, even eye drops. side effects may include dry mouth, constipation and trouble passing urine. my doctor said i could be doing more to breathe better and now i am. announcer: ask your doctor about lifestyle changes and once-daily spiriva. you make me another meatloaf ♪ - ♪ no

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this morning on "today's home," a room makeover on a budget. we receny invited hgtv interior decorator angelo surmelis to make over the room of debby feldman. we gave him the tough challenge of doing everything for under $500. let's see how it went. >> hey. you must be debra. >> yes. >> i'm angelo. >> nice to meet you. >> this is actually a really nice room. what i want to hear from you guys what you think the problem is in here. >> the furniture's not really kid friendly. and it's not really friendly enough for storage. >> on a normal day when the kids are in here, how do you use this room? >> this room's sort of the crossroads of the house. >> the kids love to watch tv in here. we have magazines and our laptop in here. this has become our main family room. >> right now it seems like a lot

is happening but the function isn't there. let's talk about the color. >> we like the color. >> this would be a great color as a base to maybe add an additional shade of green on top of this as a stripe. >> that would be cool. >> i think we find a couch that is comfortable for you guys, a little sleeker. so here are some slip cover options. >> i like the blue and the taupe. >> me, too. i think addressing your seating, color on the wall and addressing your storage is going to make the biggest impact. >> huge. ♪ change >> we're looking for paint. you guys have the paint of the wallhat's already in the room. let's look at some color. >> okay. ♪ a change will do you good ♪ will do you good >> wonderful world of color. we're looking for a shade of green, right? >> yes. >> we want to go a little lighter. >> one of these two? >> let's see. i'll give you that. >> i think the wasabi pattern, the lighter one, pops a little more. >> i think i like the wasabi, too. >> wasabi it is.

>> all right. >> let's go. ♪ all right. so here's the deal. we've got to clear out this room. everything goes. ♪ >> my wife moving furniture. this is great. >> here's the game plan next. >> okay. >> i will show you how to do the striping. i think what we want to do probably is give you guys an 18-inch stripe. just enough but not too big and not too small. >> the taping was a little tricky. i think i redid the lines about six times. ♪ >> all right. you ready to see some color? ♪ yeah yeah yeah i have ten of these frames. they're unfinished natural wood. so you need to paint them. >> we just pulled the tape off, and it looks really, really cool. i like it. ♪ >> your work is done. get out of here until reveal time. this is where the magic happens.

♪ >> drapes going floor to ceiling all the way up takes this window and makes it seem ge. but at the same time, takes this very boxy room and makes it feel expansive. ♪ in a small room like this, it's all about vertical storage. step down. perfect. one, two, three. >> whoa! it's great! the room looks fantastic. it's like a completely different room. it's still casual andarm but much more put together. >> very nice. >> i think the room is great. >> it's amazing. >> what a transformation. hgtv's angelo surmelis is here.

good morning. >> good morning. >> so the budget was the big issue. we gave you $500 to spend. >> you made it really tough. >> it's a tough thing to transform a room on that. so let's see how well you did. >> i'm not going to lie to you. i went over by$47. i know, i went over by $47. >> 71 cents, don't forget. >> okay, all right. all right, morales. >> but that said, i mean, you had the issue of the sofa, right? >> yeah. >> was that your item that was the biggest expense there? >> it really was. it took up $300 of the budget including the slip cover. and here's the deal. they needed a sofa. >> there was no salvaging what they had. >> no. they needed one that really functioned as a place for them to land, for everyone to watch tv and something that was comfortable and also a little smaller than what they had because that room was tiny. after i spent 300 bucks on the sofa, i had 200 bucks. >> was that because of the time constraints usually? >> it partially was.

here's a great tip if you're doing this at home. >> yeah. >> take time to really use that time and money to figure out what you want to do designwise. because if you have time, you can probably spend less than $500. but we had about three days total. and so we sourced almost everything from ikea. it was inexpensive. they had what we needed. >> good quality. >> good quality. and on my way, i came across a yard sale in queens. and i'm telling you, i pulled right over and i got two nesting ottomans -- storage ottomans and throw pillows all for $22. >> so if you have that time, look at craigslist. >> absolutely. >> go check out these yard sales in your area. >> websites, sales at stores. check out yard sales. take time and i guarantee you you can do it probably for one-third of what we spent. >> you're going to do the telestrator play by play. >> i am. >> let's talk first about the paint job because that's probably the most striking thing that we see in the room here. they had this darker green on the walls. >> yeah. here's the great thing. this was a color that everybody loved. deb and harris love it had.

i thought it worked great. but what we wanted to do was really find a way to make it a little bit more interesting and cut down on cost. so horizontal lines -- >> many people are afraid of adding stripe, but how does that visually impact a room? >> it instantly gives the room some interest. it takes a very boxy room and makes it feel really full and really interesting. and in this case, for 30 bucks, for a gallon of paint, which was paint and primer in one, we were able to cover the dark color, huge impact, only one gallon of paint. >> so keeps the cost down, which we like. >> exactly. keeps the cost down and really made an impact, as a matter of fact. let's take a look at the after on that. >> there you go. and it also brightens up the room a lot. >> absolutely. this is a way -- and this is something that deb and harris said after the reveal, they said the room looks bigger. they couldn't get over it. and striping was one of the things that did that. >> that's right. now, also the curtains, if we look at them, too, the drapes. >> let's look at the before. >> how does that work with the windows? >> let's look at the before. >> you have short windows but you did the long drapes.

>> we had three walls that all had windows. >> right. >> one had sliding glass doors. the others had windows that were not necessarily the same size. what i did is i took the drapes floor toeiling on all three sides. >> mm-hmm. what does that do? >> instantly it gives a unity to the room, and it makes all the mismatched windows feel like they're exactly the same. >> that's great. yeah. >> so it takes the room and makes it feel bigger and also like it's unified. >> one of the big things you focused with the feldman family, their issues, they have three young children and they need storage. you say you really have to find what the room -- what the need of the room is. right? >> absolutely. let's look at the after on this. with the drapes. >> mm-hmm. >> okay. what you see, floor to ceiling, this whole look right here -- >> right. >> -- instant makes that wall seem so much bigger. >> beautiful. uh-huh. >> speaking of storage, let's take a look at the before on the tv wall. okay. so they have this wall. >> right. >> which is opposite from the sofa. this is where they do all of their tv viewing.

>> and not a lot of place there. >> not a lot of place, but this is where you use vertical storage. they've got all this storage area in through here you can use. plus we wanted to hide these wires because we didn't have time to put them into the wall, bust the wall down. >> let's get to the after. >> let's take a look at the after. >> you really gave them what they needed just by hanging these baskets. >> baskets on the wall, tags on there, tagging what they've got. and these baskets to cover up the cords. >> angelo, we're running out of time, but i've got a big project for you coming up next, okay? $500 the budget, my office. >> are you kidding me? >> that's it. we're going over there in just a little bit. we're going to see if you can take plain white walls and turn them into an inspiring home away from home for me. stay tuned. angelo from hgtv, thank you. great job with our house. coming up, cameras will be r08ing on the red carpet at the emmy awards. we're going to take you behind the scenes. but first, these messages. wouldn't help prevent...

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crunch time, wheat thins. you and your tasty whole grain. this can only end one way. (crunch) wheat thins. toasted. whole grain. crunch. still cloudy out there. a little foggy in some places. no rain, at least we haven't heard of any yet from tom kierein. we will check in with him shortly. 65 degrees in washington at 9:26 on this friday morning. i'm barbara harrison. in the news at this hour, police in marl in maryland are looking for a carjacking suspect. a man car jacked a woman and held her at gunpoint starting to drive toward the beltway. virginia police caught up with him and chased him into maryland. the chase ended when the car crashed at saint bash bus road in prince george's county and he then jumped out of the car and

ran. metro riders can expect more delays. starting tonight, track maintenance will take place on the red an orange lines. on the red line, trains will be single tracking between the medical center and grove ner strathmore stations. on the orange line, single tracked between the east falls church and the boston stations. riders should add 20 minutes to their trips. we are going to check with veronica johnson when we come back in just a moment.

on the radar, not much showing up. areas of drizzle. hanging out until midday. patchy fog. our temperatures in the mid 60s right now. we will be going up to a high this afternoon of 76 degrees. dry and mid 70s this weekend. jerry? good morning. everyone. 270, pretty much cleared out. dry, good news.

no late issues there. headed for downtown, right now, 395 across the 14th street bridge, doing fine as is southbound. barbara? thank you, jerry. tonight on "news 4 at 5:00," cutting into plastic packaging, it is not that easy. we will tell you how

♪ beat it ♪ beat it ♪ no one wants to beat it ♪ show them how funky ♪ it doesn't matter who's gonna fight ♪ ♪ ♪ just beat it michael jackson, of course, was larger than life, a superstar for decades. but in many ways a mystery. now in some never-before-heard interview tapes, the king of pop opens up about his own father, being a father, fame and moments through it all when he felt lonely. we'll have those next week only here on "today." should be interesting. >> yeah, very interesting. >> a fascinating life and learn more and more about him every

time you read something. i'm natalie morales along with nora o'donnell helping us out. the emmy awards will be handed out in hollywood this weekend, but it's the action on the red carpet that can make or break a new designer. we'll see how high the stakeses can be. then do you have a favorite breed of dog? >> i like sheltys. i grew up with a shetland sheepdog. >> i like the german shepherd. >> very smart dogs. >> the american kennel club is celebrating a big milestone. there's a german shepherd right there. they brought along a selection of top dogs. just like in fashion, dog breeds go through fads. we're going to find out who had bragging or barking rights -- >> yeah. she wrote that. she really did. it wasn't in the prompter. >> it is interesting because throughout the years, different dogs are more popular than other dogs. >> now the portuguese water dogs with the obama and senator ted

kennedy had. >> exactly. it will be interesting to break that all down. also in "today's kitchen," if you think serving a heart-healthy meal has to be low on taste, think again. we'll have great recipes coming up. first, let's go back to cowboys stadium for a check of the weather with al. >> thanks, guys. as we look at the weekend ahead, tomorrow we're looking at, again, more of the same here in the southeast. a lot of rain, wet weather from texas all the way back into the southeast. we're also looking at beautiful weather in the northeast. gorgeous day. out west, fantastic weather. record highs. going to be warm there and in the southwest as well. then sunday! we are looking at more sunshine in the northeast. the rain starts to work its way up as that low slowly moves up happy friday. right here, we are still trapped on quite a few clouds across the area. still some drizzle out there this morning. even a little bit of watch why i fog. 66 is the temperature at reagan

national. 66, quantico. 68 degrees to the southeast in pax river. our temperatures today will be going up to a high of 76 degrees. so, mid 70s today. that clearing will be slow to take place. new area of high pressure for the weekend. sunshine and that's your latest weather. back to new york. >> al, thanks. up next, how the red carpet can make or break a new fashion designer. that's right after this. while i was building my life, my high cholesterol was contributing to plaque buildup in my arteries. that's why my doctor prescribed crestor. she said plaque buildup in arteries is a real reason to lower cholesterol. and that along with diet, crestor does more than lower bad cholesterol, it raises good. crestor is also proven to slow the buildup of plaque in arteries. crestor isn't for everyone, like people with liver disease,

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vegetables are naturally low in calories. v8 juice gives you 3 of your 5 daily servings. it's a tasty, nutritious way to make this number go up... and help this one go down. v8. what's your number? some of the biggest names in hollywood will make big-time fashion statements on the red carpet at the emmy awards this weekend. but it's not oy about the big names, the clothing, the accessories, all of those things the celebrities choose can make or break the career of up-and-coming designers. nbc's chris jansing has more. ♪ >> reporter: oh, the red carpet on emmy night. >> right here, baby! >> reporter: the stars. the gowns. >> roberto cavalli. >> giorgio armani. >> reporter: fashionistas everywhere will be inspired. very few will ever spend thousands of dollars on an

original versace, badgley mischka or karolina herrera. >> excellent. >> reporter: but when designer christian audigier gave a trucker hat to britney spears, justin timberlake, his business exploded. >> everyone wants it, like it and wear it. sir, how are you? >> reporter: at the biggest fashion marketplace in the world called magic -- >> that is a beautiful piece. look at that. >> reporter: audigier reigns over a fashion empire. we're backstage at christian audigier's fashion show, four different lines being shown spurred by the support of celebrities and turning him into a celebrity himself. ♪ because when i arrive ♪ i'll bring the fire >> reporter: he's living the high-wattage dream of every up-and-coming designer. amy hall displayed some clips from magazines in her booth after a soap star and a reality

tv celebrity were spotted with her handbags. >> it almost directly translates into sales. it's worth a lot. >> the phone starts ringing? >> yeah. really. >> reporter: 40 or 50 bags sold immediately from one mention in a small local magazine. >> the king of fashion. >> reporter: christian audigier is used to seeing his things in major publications. a long way from a pop star. >> i dreamed of coming to america. i was coming over here to make my dream. >> reporter: this sunday a lot of unknown designers will be watching the red carpet, hoping it's the start of their own dream come true. for "today," chris jansing, nbc news, las vegas. >> and coming up next, favorite dogs throughout the decades. but first, these messages. this is one way of getting vitamins and minerals.

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♪ and they call it puppy love this morning on "today's pets," top dogs. the american kennel club is celebrating its 125th anniversary. so to commemorate the milestone, the akc is here with the top breeds of dogs throughout the decades. and gina dinardo is assistant vice president of the american kennel club. gina, good morning. congratulations. happy birthday. >> thank you. celebrating our birthday. >> top dogs through the decades. what's the criteria? >> bed on the club's registration statistics for that decade or that period of time. >> let's start because we've got the 1880s, the english setter. >> at this point in our history, a lot of the dogs are still being imported from europe. and people used dogs primarily for the function they were bred for. a lot of setters, pointers and

sporting breeds were used in the field to accompany hunters looking for birds and food, actually. >> just beautiful. and then we go to the 1920s. and the german shepherd. >> yes. warner brothers' "rin tin tin" made it extremely popular in the 1920s. and we saw the popularity from the time the movie came out through 1928 just soar. it was the number one dog based on akc's statistics. and it's still number three in the country. so the popularity. >> everybody loves german shepherds, of course. and then beagles. aww, they're so cute. 1950s and popularized by snoopy, right? >> snoopy made the beagle the most popular dog in the 1950s. "peanuts" the comic strip we all flow and love. since then it's continued to gain in popularity. it's currently the number five dog and just a great breed for a lot of different families and small, nice size. started out popular and has remained so ever since. >> and then the 1980s. you have got a cocker spaniel

here, the grooming is just fantastic. >> this cocker is in full show coat. it's a show dog. it started its popularity in the 1950s with nixon's checkers and also with the movie "lady & the tramp." through the '80s it became the most popular dog through american kennel club in 1980s. and it stayed that way throughout the entire decade. >> wow. and this is really a special coat, though. >> it's a full show coat, so it takes a lot of work to keep it like this. but you can own the breed and keep it in the short clip and much less maintenance. >> just beautiful. and then 2000. >> 2000. in 1991, the lab bumped the cocker spaniel out of the number one spot. and since then for the last 19 years, the lab has been the number one dog in america. it has become the quintessential dog in american pop culture. you see it in advertising. you see it in the most famous recent movie "marley & me." and you can see all these breeds and learn about them at gat event coming, which is our

up at the center in october called meet the breeds. you can come down and meet these dogs and all the other dogs. >> and these are all well behaved dogs. one more time do a recap of each decade and the dog. >> english setter in the 1880s, german shepherd in the 1920s. beagle in the 1950s, the cocker spaniel in the 1980s. and since 1991, the labrador retriever. >> you think we'll see the portuguese water dog with the obamas? >> i have a feeling it's becoming a little more popular, yes. >> gina dinardo, congratulations. 125 years. and thanks to all of you and what beautiful dogs. we really appreciate it. up next, look at these guys taking a little nap here. >> yeah. they're relaxed. >> up next, a chili recipe for a healthy

"today's heart health" is brought to you by abbott, a promise for life.

>> this morning on "taking your heart to health today," we are cooking a meal that's both beefy and satisfying without feeling guilty. we have a food network host here with a recipe for confetti chili. good morning. we think heart healthy and we think sometimes you're sacrificing flavor, but you don't have to, right? >> you absolutely don't have to. it doesn't mean eating like a bird or a rabbit, you can eat beefy chili. sometimes it's taking your favorite recipes and tweaking them a little. >> adjusting them. for example, starting with the olive oil. >> olive oil is a great heart-healthy choice. so changing the oil that you use is a good step. >> not just olive -- you say extra virgin. >> it has the most antioxidants. just using a tablespoon because all oils and fats have the same number of calories. that's 120 calories per

tablespo tablespoon. once you start glug gluging -- >> exactly. you've got to keep that in mind. i tend to just literally pour, and that's probably not the good thing to do. >> measure at least to get a sense of what a tablespoon is like. >> what about the vegetables you're using? they're heart healthy, too. >> well, the thing is colorful vegetables have the most antioxidants. so in my chili here, i'm using red peppers loaded with vitamin c, using some carrots and, of course, onions. >> the beta carotene. >> exactly. you get all of that nutrition. >> smells good. >> even in the recipe you have, if you amp up the vegetables, you're on a heart-healthy path right there. >> one of the things you do is you focus, too, on spices rather than salt, right? >> exactly. it's important to use some salt. you need salt for flavor. but amp up the flavor with other things and you don't need as much salt. >> what did we put in there? >> cumin and just get that hint of aroma right away. and coriander. and let these soften. then i'm putting in real ground beef. >> but this is heart healthy because it's the lean ground beef. >> always look for 90% lean or

higher. >> right. >> a lot of packages, you know, kind of brag about being 85% lean. that's not actuay lean. so look for 90 or higher. you could, of course, use turkey. >> yeah, we were talking about ground turkey. >> here's the thing, i'm just using one pound of meat. so a typical recipe for this size pot of chili might be two, three pounds of meat, but i'm going to amp it up in healthier ways. >> okay. >> with -- i'll show you in a little bit here. so basically just getting that to brown. >> all right. and then -- >> that's fine because this just needs to cook down a bit. and i have a swap-out here. that's browned now. >> you're going to add --his is tomato paste? >> no, this is tomato, crushed tomatoes. i always get no salt added. hi. >> i had to come in here. >> we're making chili for the giants/cowboys football game on nbc this weekend. can we plug it one more time? >> water and more flavor. i love to add chipotle to this. >> where do you find chipotle?

>> in a can in a regular grocery store. they almost all have it nowadays. >> tends to add to that spiceiness. >> that smoky, fiery taste. or regular goe. >> that's great. >> i get the no-salt-added tomatoes. >> of course, it's not chili unless you have beans, right? and beans are healthy. >> exactly. and that's the thing that really, you have your beef so you don't have to sacrifice that. but you amp it up with extra beans. >> so we have the black beans, kidney beans and you like corn in there. >> good for your heart. >> and here's more colorful vegetables. exactly. >> let's show everybody what it looks like and how you garnish it here before we run out of time. just a little bit of salt. >> it's not like you have to eliminate salt. >> right. but all the other spices make up for it. and we've got our -- yea! i am feeling like a chili kind of day today, right, nora? >> yes. >> basically, you garnish this, then, look how beautiful and colorful. that's why i call it confetti chili. >> elie krieger, thank you so much. we're going to enjoy this bowl of chili, but thank you for

helping us out. and nora, thank you for helping us out. we've had a great time with you here. >> i've had a great time and good luck on your race this weekend.

a lot of clouds still out there to greet you as you step out on this friday morning. the washington monument there. it looks like the 14th street bridge as well. we are told we should expect to see a little sun this week end. meteorologist, tom kierein will have your forecast in a bit. for now, 66 degrees at 9:57 i'm keith garvin. last night, a man car jacked a woman in gainesville. virginia police caught up with him an chased him into maryland. the suspect crashed the car and ran off at saint barnabus road in prince george's county. he is still on the run. metro riders did expect more delays this weekend. starting tonight, track maintenance will take place on the red and orange lines. the red line, trains will be single tracking between the medical center and grosvenor-strathmore stations. on the orange line, they will be single tracking between the east

false church and the boston stations. riders should add 20 minutes to their trips. let's go to meteorologist, tom kierein? >> oh, it is me thimorning, keith. >> oh, veronica. >> still, plenty of clouds. thos are not going to break. we will not clear until late afternoon. we have drizzle still left hanging on to as well as some fog temperatures will arise from the mid 60s where they are right now to the mid 70s by this afternoon. a beautiful weekend ahead. mid 70s, jerry? veronica, let's take a look. traveling downtown, not too bad. southeast southwest freeway,

this is "today" with kathie lee give ford and hoda kotbe. >> we are so happy to have you here with us today. last night we were up cooking. >> yes, we re, we were at the

vh1 awards and paula abdul was the host. >> that was a lot of pain there. >> that was part of the issue. anybody who happened to be around. >> yes. >> and you were singing, remember? >> oh, that's right. any time anybody asked me -- although they didn't ask me to do it on the -- i left. because i was too old for it to begin with. but cindi lauper and leona lewis sang -- listen to this. ♪ in a world fit for where you can make you so ♪ ♪ but i see your true colors

shining through ♪ ♪ i see your true colors and that's why i love you ♪ ♪ don't be afraid -- >> when they sang together t. was incredible. they were terrific. i think what brought down the house, though, was the kelly clarkson and melissa ethridge number. >> that was ♪ ♪ >> you and i do that song every day to get our heart pumping. >> i think the highlight of the whole deal, it was magical, really, for 15 seconds it was

when an award was presented to jordan and martina. >> let's see that. >> show me again, why are we here? you know i go to bed at 9:00 and it's going to take an hour to take off my hour. >> tonight we are celebrating the gorgeous young divas. i'm excited. how about how? >> no. i'm cranky. >> why are you cranky? >> because they are all so young and talented and gorgeous. and did i mention young? >> yes, you did. >> i did the math and i don't like it. miley cyrus is 16 years old, jordin sparks is 19. when you add it up, i'm two mileys and two years to spare. here is jordin sparks. >> please, after that show, it went downhill.

downhill. it peaked forring a second. >> but my days are over for that. i go to bed at 9:00 and when it's 10:30 and -- i just can't do it anymore. >> but not you, hoda. hoda is waiting for stevie wonder. what the heck he wasdoing there -- >> he rocks. he was with jennifer hudson. i love those incredible duos. this morning i woke up early and watched the leonaly wis and cindi lauper duo. >> it's fashion week. >> yes, it is. >> you know those snuggies that you wrap up with on the couch -- they had a star wars thing. >> well, we want you to know that we are totally hip with fashion in studio 1 dlaz a. >> oh, look at sarah.

>> it's her birthday today. >> happy birthday, sara. she's 12 today. >> and look at our wonderful camera -- there we go. love that shot. everybody gets in on it. >> okay. >> all right. big weekend for you. i'm going out to los angeles with my daughter cassidy and you are going to be in the triathlon in new jersey. >> here's the thing. i want everyone to attend my memorial service. it will be on wednesday. >> what are you talking about? the race starts at 7:00 a.m. you're only going to swim a 4k. >> hold on. here's the problem. i swim two laps in your pool and 25 yards in coney island. >> and now you are going to do -- >> now i'm going to do the whole thing. i didn't study for the test and i'm just going.

i'm going to do it. >> we have some t-shirts and all kinds of -- you and natalie -- we've got to get to something. we have such a full show today. >> we have to talk abouthe dallas cowboy kickoff with our football coverage. it's this sunday -- i'm voting for the giants. i'm cheering them on. >> there's a huge screen that's as big as a 747, by the way. it seats 47,000 people. but they actually sell tickets that are 25 or 30 bucks. >> yeah. for people to stand in there. >> look at matt. nobody walks as well as matt. >> nobody. >> nobody can walk and talk as well as matt. >> what we love about this place, usually the box are up high -- >> these are down level. >> so it feels like you're one of the players. >> you know, all of these years

of being married to frank, i still call it int mission -- it's not half time, it's intermission. any way, we have great video of an adorable 2-year-old. his name is zachary. please watch the videotape because zachary knows the names of all nbc personality. again, two years old. let's take a look. >>. >> hoda. >> who is that? >> jen. >> and who is that? kathie lee. >> and who is that? >> lester. >> matt. >> who is that? >> meredith. >> and who is that did? >> he's here with us today. ome on over, zack. hi, zack. did you get all of the presents that i gave you this morning down in the dressing room? >> he wouldn't stop talking, of

course, all the way down there. >> who is that? >> who is this? >> ready? >> look back here. who is this? who is this? >> please don't embarrass us in front of national television. >> who is this? who is this a picture of? >> what's his name? >> maybe this will help. this is matt's. this is a snuggie. zack. >> look at the picture. >> look at the monitor. there at the monitor. >> who is that? >> mommy. >> you've got to trust, he's a brilliant 2-year-old. >> you can get down. >> we saw the proof on the tape.

>> i gave this kid 20 things downstairs z 20 things. >> he's over you. over you. over you. >> all right. let's see what is going on. >> he looked at me and he's like, kathie lee. >> that kid is too cute. i'm way older and can't remember everyone i've watched. >> so adorable. >> okay. birthday girl, we will happy you later. up next, the song writer behind the favorite performers, keri hilson ♪ sometimes love comes around

and it knocks you down, just get back up when it knocks you down ♪ ♪ sometimes love that is keri hilson singing "sometimes love knocks you

down". >> she spent most of her career writing songs for britney spears and mary j.blijebut this year she released her own cd and it's number one on the hip pop chart. >> you must be pinching yourself a little bit. >> i am. ism definitely living the dream since i was a little girl. >> it's nice to see your face because when we know your work and finally you decided to step oit, what made you decide. >> and it is: what made you decide to step out like that? >> you know, i felt like the artist thing would fall into my lap like it d i did grow upper forming. that was my very first love. i was in a girl group and i ended up as a songwriter writing the songs that we performed. and after a while i became in-house songwriter for

evolution. >> yes. and i got content behind the board and directing traffic for other artists. >> so what happened? what made a change? >> i was content but a little unfulfilled and that's what led me to the point, you know what, i do want to be in front of the camera and i want to be on stage. >> were you surprised at how well your first debut album -- >> the thing we do in studio, we please ourselves in the -- we know and myself, we sit down and say, we like this. we hope the world feels the same. >> now the world knows who you are. do you like the new life of being known and -- >> yes. >> and you don't have to worry about -- you get great tables and restaurants. >> yes.

>> they are definitely peks and the things i try to stay focused on is, i'll take it, you know, because i'm living my dream. it could be a lot worst. >> the video where you collaborated with neo and kanye -- and then we were working on a whole other video called "make love," like a trailer video for my album, and the night before my album was being turned in and he said, during the interview, you know, yeah, it was great working with you. the only thing left to do now is to work on music. i said, dang, i wish that could have happened. and he said, why couldn't it? and i said because it's due tomorrow. >> so what happened?

>> he said, if i do something tonight, if i get on your album tonight, can i make it by morning? >> and i said, book the session before he changes his mind. >> yeah. >> and that song, it made it terrific. >> you wrote 200 songs and recorded 200 and then you got it down to the final 14. >> it's true. it's true. >> well, good, all of the hard work -- >> we wish you such great luck. >> keri, good luck. up next, we're going to have a preview of my worthy movies.

and the emmy goes to -- >> the primetime emmy awards is the start of the official award season. here are the picks and predictions. and i predict that i got your name right this time. >> you always do. >> okay. neil patrick harris is going to be hosting. >> i think he's really good.

>> he's really broken out big time. >> i'm really excited about this. he hosted the tony's. he went up about 20%. he's funny, likeable -- >> and he's self deprecating. >> yes. and they are hoping that he's going to be helping the rating for the shows. 12 million people watched it last year. >> oh, really? >> and the daytime emmy's was way down. >> yes. and they are hoping to get a real buzz. >> you know, the problem is that there seems to be a diskeblth between what the public loves and critics love. 30 rock wins everything but still can't get that huge following. >> right. it has 7 or 8 million viewers. >> and mad men has way less. >> 3 million. >> 30 rock has 22 nominations.

>> and how many do you think they will win? >> maybe 11. >> the best actor category, that's always a tough one. >> it's really hard. there's six nominees. i think hugh laurie has a great chance. he's never won, nominated four times. >> who wins that all the time? >> who keeps winning? >> the guy from breaking bad, cranston. >> that was a big upset. >> we were there. that seems like a million years ago. >> we were there? >> yes. >> >> i think it's between him and hugh laurie. >> drew barry moore and jessica lange are being nominated for

the same -- >> grey garden. >> i finally saw that recent zee and what did you think? >> i was blown away from it? >> i think the best performance from drew barry moore. >> who do you think is going to get the short end of the stick? >> you know, looking at the nominees this year, i think they've snubbed the bigger names, true blood, katherine heigl, and she had a great year on grey's anatomy. on screen she was great. the show wasn't as good but she was really good. america didn't get nominated. >> she didn't? >> she didn't. >> who's going to win -- tina fey? >> i think she will.

she played many personalities. >> a lot of things that people haven't seen, like -- >> emmy voters will watch them. they get dvds, watch the em soed of the person that they are in a consideration for and then they really do judge. >> i feel like there's someuzz but not tons about the emmy's. >> most people don't even know that it's sunday. >> that's the problem, number one. >> i think that they are nominated -- >> and then last night, for whatever reason, that's everywhere. >> thank you so much. >> yes. >> you've announced it twice and now you're just showing off. >> ah. >> the biggest upsets, let's have a prediction. >> best actress in a a comedy, parsons for best actor in a comedy. >> i want alec baldwin to win so bad. >> i know. >> but come on -- >> and for best comedy?

>> best comedy, "30 rock" has it in the back". >> in the bag? >> in the bag. i'm sure. >> a lot of he people are saying christina applegate. >> her show was canceled. coming up next, we're going to tell you about our ambush makeover. >> they are back on fridays, so great garage jets. . . great garage jets. . . . greensboro .

the first lady trying to put a friendly face on the health care debate. she is set to speak in the next hour. also coming up, we will get you ready for the weekend, to take a look at what's new at the movies. matt damon shows off his funny side. "news 4 midday" begins at 11:00 a.m.

we're back this friday with the highly anticipated results of today's ambush makeover. >> as always, lewis and jill martin search the area for two lucky ladies. >> and, guess what, we found them. >> and how was it? >> we found a policeman's wife, number one. >> really? >> well, they are funny because

her daughter thinks that is unbearable. >> and november good lady from the west coast, so excited to be made over. >> let's start with miss pat. she's 50 years old and she's from port o are rford, oregon. >> she's devoted her life to a nonprofit which dbenefits disabled children. >> she's never colored her hair since and she's in complete shock and she's been freaking out ever since she's been picked. so let's take a listen. >> well, i'm really glad you wore your climbing shoes today because we do a lot of climbing here at the "today" show. you are so gorgeous. why don't you ever give your self a makeover? >> well, my work, i'm a special needs worker for children.

>> we are going to pamper you for three hours, are you ready? >> you know t i'm so psyched. this is so great. >> what a lovely lady. >> pam is here, we've blindfolded her mom, her sister-in-law, and her niece. >> keep your blindfolds on. >> we've blindfolded them. they are insane. >> here is a "before" picture of pat. let's see the new you. >> take off your blindfolds now. >> oh my gosh. >> wait. come here, honey. >> look behind you. >> oh, my gosh. >> what took you so long, huh?

>> you look hot. that is you. >> it's me? >> tell us about the hair z obviouy a great looking girl before. a beautiful woman after. she used sun-in or something like that. she needed more color so i gave her a more definite color. i gave her a beautiful eyes that came alive. >> tell us what you think. >> i'm speechless. >> wow. >> mom, what do you think? >> absolutely awesome. >> she deserves it. >> look at how hot these boots are. these are from nine west. >> yeah. >> and the jewelry -- >> big hand for pat. >> beautiful. >> go over there to your family. the second lady is 39 from new york and she was raised in the

dominican republic. when she turned 30, she moved to new york looking for the american dream. she married her husband tony while on police patrol. they have four children. she let herself go after the four kids. she is ambh's biggest fan. so she was absolutely desperate to get picked. let's listen to her story. >> so you're turning 40 and you want to look hot for your husband? >> i'm turning the big 40 and i want to look very, very hot for my husband and -- and nice for my kids. >> okay. we are going to make you look hot, hot, hot. >> thank you. alrighty. >> her husband is off fighting crime in new york. we're very grateful for that. >> so he couldn't be here. >> we've got the new louise. >> oh!

>> wow. >> louise, step over re a little bit. do you want to see yourself? >> yes. >> spin around. >> oh, my goodness. what? oh, my gosh. >> look at you. look at you right here. >> the highlights on her hair, i love highlights but they were too red for her skin color. i made her hair lighter than the natural color but browner. look what cme alive. the haircut, you look beautiful. >> thank you. >> this is the little black dress from ann taylor.

>> thank you, you guys. >> these are products for you. you guys look adorable. >> thank you. >> great job, you guys.

and we are back with today's pets and gifts and gadgets that are so cool that even if you don't have a pet, you're going to want one. >> good to have you back, steve. >> welcome back, steve. okay. doggie treadmill. >> this will go -- it's like a grown up treadmill. it's got a safety gadget on it. you clip this on the dog's ear

so yu can check his heart rate and calories that he's burning. >> so this is like if you live in new york and can't go outside -- >> right. >> and actually, the owner is a well exercised dog is a well behaved dog. >> how much is that? >> about $600. >> so this is a doggie stroller? >> a doggie stroller. this is for rabbits, birds -- >> why are you walking your dog in a stroller? >> this is a like a foul weather. >> or fowl, for a bird. >> and then this is filtering the water and holds 2 1/2 gallons of water and it's good

all day long. >> that is a smart pet door bell. you put this on the dog's color and when he's 15 feet away from the door, this actually causes this to ring. >> oh, so -- >> this way he's not scratching the door when he gets near the door bell rings and -- >> so if he's in the vicinity, the door bell starts ringing? >> exactly. >> they didn't think that one through? >> no, th one wasn't thought through. >> if the dog was going in the car with you and they want water on a long trip, and it's designed for when it moves in the car it doesn't spill as opposed to this which will make a mess. so it's mobile. >> this is a locator to see where your dog is at on the

internet or it will send you a message, saying, out of the zone. >> and this is a pup light. when you're walking your dog at night -- >> my dogs can do anything in the dark. >> these are both winners. >> we'll be the judge of that. >> this is taking feed back from consumers. this is the number one dog toy and the number one cat toy. this is the con dog toy. you put some peanut butter or yogurt or treats in there and the dog plays with it. it's dishwasher safe. >> but wouldn't it drive them crazy? >> uh-oh. >> you know your -- >> i know cody right here. >> this is bailey. >> this is the number one cat toy. >> he's not even playing with

it. >> he doesn't know it's the number one toy. >> so the number one cat toy is this one? >> this one right here. >> okay. what do you do with that? >> if hu a cyou had a cat -- >> okay. we'll do the cats another time. this is a talk to me meet ball and this is weird in that you record a message. you hear the voice. >> what do you think of that? >> actually, i hate to admit when i get home i talk -- that i think is -- >> this is the bubble buddy. >> okay. >> it shoots out bubbles but they are not just any bubbles. these are bacon, barbecued chicken and this is peanut butter and jelly. >> is that soap? >> yes.

>> okay. now we've come to cody. >> look at that. cody is terrified. >> he says, don't mess up my hair. >> what is going on with cody? anything? >> and last but not least, over here, we've got go dog go. and this is -- if you don't want to play fetch, this will play fetch for you. everybody clear away, because it's a great way to get hurt. it's a great outdoor product. >> okay. >> we hit it and it will. >> okay. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> we want to thank the american kennel club and for bringing out these wonderful dogs.

we're back with david who is maki breakfast for us and for him. >> yes, we are. >> we're in the middle of it. >> let's do an omelet. let's crack the eggs up. i love to do this at home. this is a fun late night or early morning and it needs two or three eggs and you have to use a little butter there's salt and pepper and i like just a little bit of a black pepper

over white. let's put the eggs in first. the beauty of this is it's a classic beautiful recipe. >> just a little bit. >> yes. and i lik to swirl it around and before it sets up -- it starts to cook it nice and even. you see the little circle there? >> uh-huh. >> and it cooks along the outside and inside. it makes it nice and even. before this sets up, i like to use really simple tomato, ham, and some cheese. you can use any cheese you want. >> and when did you start adding those other ingredients? >> let's start to add it right now and let it set up just a little bit. >> i like a lot of cheese. >> i like a lot of cheese, too. i'm going to add some more tomato on this one. >> that is great. >> hey, go for it. add it on in there.

>> just a little bit we're going to start to see it firm up on the edges. that make it is easier to do the flip. >> yes. >> so you can see along the side here it starts to get set up and you pull it back from the pan just a little bit and thank god we have this butter. so it's starting to -- it's nice and easy to move. you have great cheese on that one. this is beautiful. >> relax. >> can i do it? >> turn it up. >> how do you do it? >> start on this side and very gently start to fold it over like this.

very gently keep folding it over and you've got this side right here that needs a little more -- >> this happens sometimes every morning. >> pull that off. pull that off. >> it's too hot. >> sometimes this happens at home and you've got to roll with it. >> we've got to go. >> we've got to run. >> thank you so much. >> we'll be

all right. before we go, the most savvy person in america, we would want to you tell us why you are. go to our website at

klgandhoda.com. >> and, by the way, miss sarah -- >> it's her birthday. >> and we have a little something something. >> that is a gorgeous, gorgeous birthday cake. >> come on, everybody. >> she's 32 today. >> i can't believe you're 32. you look gorgeous. >> everybody get a glass. >> here. >> cheers to sarah. >> cheers. >> yea! >> that is it for us today. >> if you get a chance, send her birthd wishes on facebook. she loves a lot of those, and pictures. >> we really love you.

happy birthday. >> we are going to get a look back to the week that was. we'll see you next week. >> and good luck in your triathlon. >> swim, baby, swim. >> happy birthday! >> we are always eating and drinking. >> that is so cute. >> who is cuter? >> now you're just showing off. >> kanye -- gosh, it's killing me. >> oh, do not look at that. >> you've got the hots. >> we're running. >> look at that. look at that.

>> that was part of the issue. >> we got so psyched. >> oh, whoa, whoa. >> we should do itike