with online cash manager, you can do it all. suntrust. live solid. bank solid. the real deal. three members of an alleged terror cell operating in the u.s. due in court today following weekend arrests. this morning, the latest on what federal agents are calling one of the most significant terror plots since 9/11. coming clean. is former senator and presidential hopeful john edwards ready to admit he's the father of this little girl? he's already admitted to an affair with her mom. this mning, what some of his

closest associates are saying. and tall guy. we'll introduce you to the world's tallest man, all 8'1" of him, "today," monday, september world's tallest man, all 8'1" of him, "today," monday, september 21st, 2009. captions paid for by nbc-universal television and good morning. welcome to "today" on a monday morning. i'm matt lauer. >> i'm meredith vieira.ç this morning we are learning more about that ongoing terrorism probe that's already led to arrests in both new york and denver. >> so far, three men are in custody accused of lying to the fbi, but additional charges are expected. so are more arrests. one of the men apparently admitted that he received training from al qaeda. investigators found a laptop that contained a copy of a handwritten note about explosives. we'll have much more on this story in a little while. also ahead, questions surrounding a case out of

baltimore that has a lot of people talking. should a student at johns hopkins university face charges for killing a suspected burglar whom he confronted with a samurai sword in his own backyard? we'll get into that. a strange and sad story for. you a pregnant ohio woman finds out she is actually carrying another couple's baby. her doctors accidentally implanted the wrong embryo during an in-vitro fertilization procedure. this morning, she and her husband will share their heartbreaking story in an exclusive live interview. we're going to begin with the latest on those three men now in custody for lying to fbi agents investigating a potential terror plot. nbc's justice correspondent pete williams has more. good morning to you, pete. >> reporter: meredith, good morning. these are not actually terrorism charges, but officials say they believe that they've disrupted a terror cell involving a man who went to pakistan last year and now admits attending an al qaeda training camp there. in denver, an airport shuttle

bus driver, najibullah zazi faces charges in court today following his arrest over the weekend, along with his father, mohammed zazi, both immigrants from afghanistan. they're charged with lying to investigators about the younger zazi's drive to new york a week and a half ago carrying a laptop computer. the fbi says in court documents that the computer contained instructions on how to make bombs, a recipe says an fbi scientist that would reflect an explosive charge. >> nine pages of handwritten material that refers to fuses or how to put together ignition devices for a larger explosion. >> reporter: the fbi says during three days of questioning in denver, zazi admitted traveling to pakistan last august and receiving lessons in handling weapons and explosives at an al qaeda training camp. >> the fact this emanated from afghanistan and fro known al qaeda training camps is a very significant development and that's why the government's

taking it so seriously. >> reporter: zazi's trip to new york triggered a round of searches a week ago of apartments occupied by people he visited. a man he talk to there was also arrested over the weekend accused of lying to investigators about tipping zazi off to the fbi's interest in him. searches in denver and new york did mott turn up any explosives, and officials say they found nothing to indicate the time or place of any attack, though they believe new york was the target. lawyers for the three men say they've cooperated with the fbi and are not terrorists, but federal officials believe this investigation has derailed one of the most significant terror plots since 9/11. meredith? >> pete williams, thank you very much. 7:04. here's matt. now to an important week for president obama, including his first speech to the u.n. general assembly here in new york city. he kicked things off on sunday with a media blitz. nbc's white house correspondent savannah guthrie has more on that. savannah, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, matt.

the president will be on the world stage this week. his first u.n. general assembly, a chance to turn his global popularity into concrete results. >> we can disagree without being disagreeable. >> reporter: fresh from an unprecedented presidential media blitz -- >> the current path we're on is unsustainable. >> reporter: -- blanketing the airwaves with five sunday talk show appearances. the president heads today to new york for the u.n. general assembly. on the agenda, getting cooperation from world leaders on iran, a three-way meeting with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and palestinian authority president mahmoud abbas. they are first. and, the troubled war in afghanistan. the top gener there is expected to request more troops, but on "meet the press," the president made clear he will take his time with the decision. >> i have to exercise skepticism any time i send a single young man or woman in uniform into

harm's way, because i'm the one who's answerable to their parents if they don't come home. >> reporter: but even as the president deals with world affairs in new york, the white house is also getting involved in state politics there. "the new york times" reported the president sent a request through an intermediary asking new yorkovernor david paterson not to seek re-election out of concern the governor's dismal approval ratings will drag down the party. the white house says aides conveyed concerns but no one ordered paterson not to run. paterson drew the ire of some white house aides for blaming racism for criticism of obama's policies, and for snubbing the president's friend caroline kennedy in her bid to be appointed to replace hillary clinton in the senate. on sunday, the governor was defiant. >> as i said, i am running for office. i'm not going to discuss confidential conversations. >> reporter: republican party chairman michael steele was quick to criticize. >> i found that to be stunning that the white house would send word to 1 of only 2 black

governors in the country not to run for re-election. >> reporter: for the president and the governor, they'll be faceo-face today. the president is giving a speech in upstate new york and the governor is expected to attend. matt? >> savannah guthrie at the white house, thank you very much. david gregory is the moderator of "meet the press." hi, david, good morning to you. >> good morning, matt. >> start where savannah left off. the story in new york city. white house says they aren't pressuring david paterson not to run for re-election but have conveyed their fears about his possibility of winning in an appropriate manner. give me the back story here and is it possible the president has stepped in to something he doesn'tant to be involved in? >> well, this is pretty overtly political and it is not new for a white house to get involved in trying to reshape the political landscape as they go into a high-stakes mid-term year. but this is certainly surprising to some veterans of the new york political establishment who aren't quite certain why the white house would intervene this way. the president himself, i'm told, intervened when it came to paterson's decision about

senator gillibrand conveying some concerns from house speaker nancy pelosi about how that field looked. but in this case the white house has made a determination about the political weakness of governor paterson and perhaps they may want to pave the way for a safer democratic candidate. >> yeah. the "why" is that they're afraid paterson could drag down other democratic candidates and may stand in the way of a more electable democrat for the governor's seat. right? >> absolutely. you've got perhaps a very interesting governor's race in new york if the attorney general andrew cuomo gets in and if normer new york mayor rudy giuliani gets in who is certainly thinking about it right now and will make a decision this fall. >> the issue of race here. you have the first african-american governor of new york state and does the first african-american president of the united states want to be the one telling him he shouldn't run? >> well, look. this is a president who is not going to be swayed by that kind of loyalty just because he's an african-american. he's made that clear in other comments he's made about race. this is not a president who's seen eye to eye with this

governor. either the decision about caroline kennedy not giving her the nod for the senate seat and some concerns about how information was disseminated about that choice, or the fact that governor paterson, as savannah noted, said the opposition to president obama was about race. >> on to afghanistan. we've got an article in the "washington post" this morning where general mcchrystal, who is the top u.s. commander and nato commander overseeing afghanistan, saying, look, we may not be able to have a favorable outcome in this war unless we get more troops into this theater. the president said to you he's going to be cautious, he's going to take his time to make this decision. in the end, though, david, can he really ignore the counsel of his militaryommanders on this subject? >> it's going to be very difficult. the way he can do it is if he shifts the strategy. right now in afghanistan, the united states is engaged in a huge nation-building effort in the name of defeating the taliban and al qaeda. if the president changes direction, he could change the number of troops there, and that's what his military commanders are saying there. if you want to do this mission,

then we've got to have more troops. if not, we can make a different decision. look, matt, the president said to me he does not believe in indefinite occupations of other countries. eight years in afghanistan so far. the soviet union pulled out of afghanistan after ten years. this president also knows that more troops, if he make that decision, will be politically unpopular in his own party. >> real quickly, the president comes to new york city, he's going to deal with the u.n. general assembly. priorities there. what's his top priority? >> i think iran and getting some galvanized support around putting more pressure on iran about nuclear weapons will be right up there. >> david gregory, thank you very much. ten minutes after the hour. here's meredith. the controversy involving john edwards' affair with a former campaign worker may be about to boil over again. according to the "new york times," edwards may be ready to admit he is the father of the woman's 19-month-old daughter. nbc's norah o'donnell has the latest. norah, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, meredith. john edwards has admitted publicly that he had an affair

with reyell hunter but it is not possible he's the father of her 19-month-old child, but that may be about to change. this morning i talked to a spokesperson for john edwards acknowledged there could be a statement on this matter at some point but there is nothing planned for right now. it's been two years since john edwards denied reports of an extramarital affair with a woman hired to produce campaign videos for the then-presidential candidate. >> the story's false. it's completely untrue, ridiculous. >> reporter: fast-forward one year to this admission -- >> in 2006, two years ago, i made a very serious mistake. i would welcome participating in a paternity test. be happy to participate in one. i know that it's not possible that this child could be mine. >> reporter: and now, new details from a former aide to mr. edwards, andrew young, whose book proposal was reviewed by "the new york times." in it, young says he helped set

up private meetings between mr. edwards and miss hunter during the presidential campaign and edwards asked young to claim responsibility for fathering her child. life off the campaign trail has been no less turbulent for john edwards. in may he acknowledged being part of a federal investigation into weather campaign funds were paid illegally to reial hunter, something edwards has denied. last month reial hunter testified before the grand jury, even bringing her child with american elizabeth edwards appeared live on "today" in may and addressed why she chose not to leave her husband after he admitted having an extramarital affair. >> i guesshere are all sorts of reasons, but the big reason is that i promised i was with him for better or for worse. this was a lot worse than i had ever expected, but i thought, you know, that meant something when i said it. >> reporter: john and elizabeth edwards were last seen together publicly at a memorial for

senator ted kennedy in august. coming together to pay their respects, even as so much attention continues to be focused on their personal lives and whether john edwards is in fact the father of reial hunter's child. >> i wish for it to never be at issue, but if it becomes an issue, that's just another thing to deal with but that's not like a further betrayal that i need to deal with. >> reporter: clearly, this is a complicated family matter and for now, john edwards' spokesperson tells me they're not going to comment. it is impoant to note that edwards' attorney is not ruling out a statement and says, "we will see how we feel about it as events unfold." meredith? >> norah o'donnell, thank you very much. let's get a check of the rest of the morning's top stories. ann is back from a trip to tehran and a fascinating interview with president ahmadinejad. >> thank you so much. >> nice to have you home. >> great to see you both this morning. good rning. we begin with a new assessment from the top u.s. commander in afghanistan. according to the "washington

post," general stanley mcchrystal warns in a confidential report that without more troops in the next year, the war in afghanistan will "likely end in failure." the report also says success is achievable if the united states implements a genuine counterinsurgency strategy. the general's recommendations are now being reviewed by the president. today israel said all options remain on the table in response to iran's nuclear program saying that israel has the right to defend itself. russia's president had said earlier that his israeli counterpart had assured him that it would not attack iran. severe flooding is surrounding parts of atlanta after as much as 16 inches of rain over the weekend. some people had been trapped in cars and homes and more rain is expected today. a tense manhunt has ended for an illegally insane killer in washington state who slipped away from the staff of a mental institution thursday while on a field trip to a county fair. phillip paul was captured on sunday more than 180 miles away. state officials are investigating how this happened.

police say they are still gathering physical evidence against a suspect in the murder of the yale grad student annie le. nbc's jeff rossen is on the yale campus this morning in new haven, connecticut with more. hey, jeff, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. police still don't have a confession in this case which means they still don't have a motive for the crime either. but experts say that's okay, not a problem, because of the physical evidence is strong enough, they don't need a motive. sitting in a jail cell this weekend in a high-security prison, ray clark has gone silent. he won't talk to investigators as they pull apart his life from his fiance, to his job in the yale animal lab, to his relationship with the victim, yale grad student annie le. connecticut is a death penalty state. >> that's correct. >> reporter: would this case qualify for that? >> based on what we know right now, i'd say, no. but if there was a kidnapping involved, if there was a sexual assault involved, it could be

something the prosecutor would consider charging. >> reporter: police are exploring one theory that ray clark was angry with annie from their work together in the animal lab. in an e-mail to nbc news, a lab co-worker told me, "last thing i knew was annie got a message from him saying her cages were dirty." but could a fight over mice lead to murder? >> we are still following the evidence. we have a lot of stuff still going to the lab. it could take us someplace else with an additional suspect. or it may not. >> reporter: investigators have gathered 300 pieces of physical evidence, including published reports say, blood and dna matches, and this weekend, annie le's family said they want answers from ray clark himself. >> i hope motive does come out so the family can know why did this happen to their loved one. why would you do this to our annie? the answer to that question plays a role in closure. >> reporter: annie le's body has

been returned to california and her family, we're told, has planned a funeral service that will happen next saturday at eldorado hills, at a church in eldorado hills, california. we're told it will be a private service for family and friends. on a lighter note, nbc's ""30 rock"" was among the big winners last night at the emmy awards winning for the third straight time as best comedy series. alec baldwin won the emmy for the best actor in a comedy. and amc's "madmen" won for the second time as best drama. second t&háhp &h&st drama. dallas cowboys. in front of a regular season record crowd of more than 105,000 people, they lost last night's opener at their new stadium, 33-31 on a last-second field goal by the new york giants. 7:17. let's go back to matt, meredith and al. i just saw mark raise his hand in a field goal. very happy for them. >> we want to thank jerry jones for his hospitality on friday

but we did warn him there was a possibility it wouldn't end up so well. >> you go down there and the dallas cowboys lose. >> we we are two new york giants fans. >> we get out of town quick. >> i never thought of you as a. squeak. but you looked like a little midget. >> in the locker room, i thought it was weird you were in the cowboys locker room doing the horns and fg like that. it was weird. very strange. >> you do what you need to do >> and it worked! >> boom! boom goes the dynamite! let's take a look. unfortunately, our friends in the south are getting slammed. flood warnings, flash flood watches and flood watches from mississippi all the way on up into the carolinas. more heavy rain falls again today. we are talking about anywhere from two to five inches of rain. up in the plains and on into the rockies, we're looking at more heavy rain falling as well from# . no rain around our region this morning. good morning. it's certainly feeling like autumn these final few hours of

as stron om cal summerment down into the 50s all around the region. 50s in washington and near the pper 70 increasing clouds this afternoon and cloudy tonight. cloudy tomorrow, passing showers likely. highs mid 70s. a smaller chance of a passing shower wednesday and warmer. should be mild on >> and that's your latest weather. this morning, investigators returning to the property of that california couple accused of kidnapping and holding jaycee dugard captive for 18 years. as they search for clues to two unsolved child abduction cases. this after an underground sturbance was found in the garrido's backyard. nbc's michael okwu has details. >> reporter: investigators may start digging a specific patch of phillip gaido's backyard today that attracted the attention of cadaver dogs and

where something registered on ground penetrating radar. >> we're not going to say exactly where the hit was because we don't want everybody to try to get to that spot. but we can safely say it was on the garrido property. >> reporter: as crews continued to scour their property, officials also say they've made othe discoveries. at last count, now three fragments of bone. >> we did locate another bone on the exterior of the garrido property, and it's too early to even begin to guess what kind of bone that might be, human or animal. >> reporter: lab analysis will determine that. and whether the bones may be connected to nearby native american burial grounds. in the meantime, phillip and nancy garrido have pled not guilty to all the criminal charges in the jaycee dugard kidnap case. officials have released these photos of the garrido home's interior showing what authorities allege were filthy conditions, jaycee and her two children endured. police are now trying to determine if the garrido might

have been involved in two other unsolved northern california kidnappings from two decades ago. this weekend, well wishers in south lake tahoe staged a concert to raise money for jaycee's recovery. among the attendees, jaycee's stepfather who witnessed her abduction 18 years ago. >> this whole town was behind us. they supported us. every week we had flyers. we did over a million flyers. i'm glad to be back here and support the community. >> repter: recently, jaycee has reportedly been asking about the dozen animals who gave her comfort on the garrido property and that were since taken into protective custody. the young woman, who's recorrected with hrecorrec reconnected with her family would now like to be re-united with her pets. for "today," michael okwu, nbc news, los angeles. just ahead, a student at johns hopkins university confronts and kills a would-be burglar with a samurai sword. will he now be charged in the case? we

still ahead -- sultan kozan from turkey is here, the new tallest man in the world. >> and he is 8'1" tall. >> got you beat, baby. >> by about three feet. we'll talk with him after your local news and weather. how you doing up there?

good morning. happy monday. i'm barbara hair is. it is 7:26. in the news, the man suspected of murdering four people at the home of a longwood university professor will appear in court. the 20-year-old bragged about the thrill of killing and rap songs he performed on the internet. he is charged with killing a presbyterian pastor and suspected in the murders of deb raquelly, her husband and their teenage daughter. installation of track for

the long-delayed street car line has finally began. they are playing tracks on first sterling avenue. the location of several proposed street car stops has not yet been finalized. the district might have part in the anacostia line sometime in 2012

good morning. partly cloudy and cool. as we start off this monday, 60s in washington. 50s elsewhere. passing showers likely on tuesday. highs, mid 70s.

tomorrow, bit warmer wednesday and thursday. ashley, how is the traffic. things are starting to slow, outer loop of the beltway. this is by university boulevard in the heap of the delays headed toward silver spring. big delays along 395 out of springfield. problems when the beltway towards shirlington. barbara, back to you. >> thank you, ashley.

7:30 now on this monday morning, september 21st, 2009. it is officially the last full day of summer. we have a great crowd soaking up their final summer rays with us right here on the plaza. we'll step outside to say hello in just a bit. >> it is supposed to be a beautiful day. >> i think most of the week's going to be nice here. i'm meredith vieira alongside matt lauer. ahead, exciting news for

patients with spinal cord injuries. >> take a look at this. this was rat who was once paralyzed and is now walking. a promising break-through that could one day help humans do the same thing. dr. nancy snyderman is going to join us and talk about what is behind this. >> quite amazing. also ahead, an ohio woman implanted with the wrong embryo during an ivf procedure. now she is just weeks from delivering a baby who is not hers and once that child is born she and her husband will have to give the baby back to their biological parents. they're going to share their story in an exclusive and heartbreaking live interview. >> it is really a sad story. on a much lighter note, we'll have a chat with that man who was just here a second ago, sultan kosen, the world's tallest man. let's begin with a difficult case in baltimore. a student at johns hopkins university using a samurai sword confronts and kills a burglary suspect. now prosecutors have to decide if they will charge the student.

nbc's tom costello is outside the home where it happened. tom, good morning to you. >> reporter: hi, matt, good morning. we're just a few blocks from johns hopkins university. when neighbors called 911 to report they'd heard or seen a suspicious man in the neighborhood, police came by. the student grabbed a samurai sword for protection and with his roommates he went to check out the garage and the backyard. it was in this backyard marked with police evidence cards that a university student armed with a samurai sword suddenly came face to face with career criminal donald rice. it was 1:30 a.m. and the student yelled for his friends to call police. >> at that point, that's when the suspect lunged at the student and he, in a defensive motion, did one swipe of the sword striking him from the upper torso down to the left hand. >> reporter: the sword, nearly severed rice's hand. he bled to death at the scene.

johns hopkins university backs up to one of baltimore's gritty neighborhoods. a city featured in crime dramas like "the wire" and "homicide life on the street. >> i was like, what? a samurai sword? someone dying? i doesn't believe it. >> it was just such a surprise. like just a huge shock. like you don't expect to hear that someone you know has killed a man with a samurai sword. >> reporter: the student, seen here acting in a student play, had grabbed the sword after police came by warning that neighbors had seen a suspicious man near the house. he told police someone had already broken into his house stealing an xbox and a game. after police left, he found rice in his backyard. rice was well known to police, arrested 29 times for burglary and released from jail days earlier for grand theft auto. >> this is not somebody you want to have as your neighbor. is he a career criminal, no stranger to the criminal justice system. >> reporter: rice's family says he shouldn't have been there but

insists he did not pose a threat. >> but his life shouldn't have been taken on. they had the campus police that could have already handled this. >> reporter: police s the student feared for his life and was defending himself when he used the sword. the question now for prosecutors, because it justified. >> if this goes to trial the defense attorney will ask those 12 jurors to put themselves in the position of this young man to ask themselves what they would have done and whether it was reonable for him to do anything other than what he did, which appears to be just swinging the sword once. >> reporter: the state attorney's office says in a typical year they have 6 to 12 justifiable homicide cases here in baltimore. they say it will take months to decide whether they press any charges in this case but they say at this point that seems unlikely. matt, back to you. >> tom, thanks very much. tom costello. dan abrams is nbc's chief legal analyst. dan, good morning to you. >> morning, matt. >> the headline here seems to be "samurai sword." i'm curis, legally speaking,

would it have mattered if this confrontation had taken place using a baseball bat, a knife, a legal handgun -- >> nope. frying pan, anything. the bottom line is that the legal question here is not what was the weapon. authorities have made it clear it is not illegal to have this kind of sword. the question is what were the circumstances. what happened, and where did it happen. >> it happened in a backyard, not inside a home. >> that's right. but the question of course will become for example, people talk about the garage, the fact that it was outside the garage, not in the garage. those are significant factors because we tend to say when someone is in your home, or in your garage you have a greater right to defend yourself and your property. >> also speaking of property, this man, donald rice, was not seen in possession of any stolen property. he was merely suspected of stealing things, or committing a burglary. how does that impact this case legally? >> well, look. if he'd had the items, it would probably have been harder for someone to claim that he was attacking. >> right, exactly.

>> although you could say he was using one of the items, et cetera. but the fact that he didn't have anything in his hands, doesn't change the fact that if someone is there with a sword -- right? that's what's happening, he's now there with a sword, and someone lunges at him right near his home, the authorities, i think, are going to conclude that he could have believed that he was in imminent danger and as a result did what he did. >> it's undeniable that this man, donald rice's past, his background, i had 29 encounters with burglary charges and things like that, is going to emotionally impact this case. does it have any legal beari on what happened that night? >> what has more bearing is the fact that there were other robberies in the neighborhood. and i say that, because then you go into the mind of the student. >> police have already come to the neighborhood saying we've got a suspicious character. >> right. police come to the neighborhood, we want to warn you, we've had some robberies in the neighborhood. their own apartment had been robbed earlier that day. that's really relevant in

determining what was going through his own mind. >> as tom costello said, the jurors, if it ever gets to that, would be asked to put themselves in the shoes of the student and probably they would favor the student's call. but you don't even think it is probably ever -- >> i don't think it is going to get there. the police are making it very clear they don't want him to get charged. they're not saying that but in using terms like "defensive motion," they're making it clear, i think, that they don't want him to get charged. even the prosecutor's office, by saying every year we have 6 to 12 justified homicides a year, i mean they're releasing information which is basically saying prepare for this person not to get charged in this case. >> dan abrams, thanks very much. 7:37. let's get a check of the weather now from al. >> announcer: "today's" weather is brought to you by ihop. official sponsor of the nfl. try the official all-pro lineup today. come hungry, leave happy.

>> cupcakesforacause.org. you got those little minicupcakes. i can't have one right now but thanks so much. it is noon time somewhere. let's see what's happening. afternoon temperatures, oh, man! heat advisories, san francisco bay into tuesday afternoon, from phoenix all the way up to sacramento, temperatures way above normal. as you look at theemperature map for the rest of the country, 90s down in texas. on into florida. 70s in the northeast. back through the central rockies and plains, sunshine up and down the east coast, risk of strong # good morning. its mostly sunny in washington, a few clouds to our west and temperatures are certainly cool on these final few hours of astronomical summer. it is feeling sort of like autumn. the equi knocks arrives tomorrow. high is reaching the 70s. increasing clouds and cloudy tonight. passing showers tomorrow. high is mid 70s. bit warmer on wednesday and thursday.

small chance of a shower on >> and that's your latest weather. matt? >> al, thanks very much. still to come -- a real eye opener on just how fattening some of your kid's favorites meals really are. but next, once-paralyzed rats walking again. dr. nancy snyderman explains what could be a big break-through for people with spinal cord injuries right after this.

back at 7:41 with exciting news for patients with spinal cord injuries. researchers at ucla and the university of zurich has enabled paralyzed lab rats to walk and even r again. nbc's chief medical editor dr. nancy snyderman is here with more. good morning. this is amazing. >> it is a game-changer, i think. >> we've always believed the brain has to communicate with the nerves in order for you to walk but that's not the case here. >> no. what these researchers have found rats, they paralyzed them, severed the spinal cords so the lower limbs didn't work. you're right, we've always believed the computer in our brains had to connect to our lower legs. but what they found was that the

muscles below the injury, muscles of your legs and hips, if they gave a medication that's like a serotonin-like medication and gave low-level electrical shock, they could get these rats walking like this. now they're walking with their own suort. they're locomoting, if you will. they are able to use the muscles and the nerves of their lower body to walk. now it is not the brain connecting to those muscles. it really is the external stimuli of the electricity and medication. >> the combination of that with the drugs -- >> and the training. >> the training. when they first start this the animal cannot walk unassisted. >> can't walk at all. th're sort of dragged along on the treadmill. but they found that this locomotion, really training the muscles combined with the nerve stimulation and the medicine is really the difference. you'd think that the rat is being held up here. it is just rats normally walk on four feet. they're just supporting the upper body. one of the really important things is that they found that

just one week after injury they could get these rats locomoting like this. >> how significant is this in terms of humans? >> let me take it one step further. now assume you've been in an automobile accident and you can't move your lower legs but you're in a wheelchair. but you do have terrific upper body strength. what if i put you in a walker and then with an epidural gave you a little bit of medication and we taught you how to walk on a treadmill and built up your strength and gave you this low-level electrical shock. suddenly you can walk. you can get to the grocery store. you don't have to worry about sores breaking down because you are lying or sitting all the time. you take someone who's wheelchair bound and allow them to locomote on two feet. >> when will we start seeing human trials? >> i think in the next couple of years you'll start to see human trials. there is always a big jump from rats to huma beings. but although we've seen rats in the past b able to move muscles a little, this is the first independent time we've seen an

animal actually be able to move himself on a treadmill, supporting his own weight. so the jump from rats to human beings will be within the next couple of years. i do think this is a game changer. >> you assume ty would fast-track this -- >> i think they're going to fast-track it. what's the downside? these medications are well known. i thinfor a lot of people who are paralyzed or wheelchair bound, they'll say put me in your clinical trial, i want to be one of those people. we know, all the money that christopher reeve has put into this and the attention and the fact that there really is a global network of researers working together. i really think within our lifetime we're going to see this kind of injury revolutionize, treatment is really going to jump ahead. >> would you wear some sort of pack on you that would send a current down? >> you could wear a pack that sends and electrical current from the outside or you may have a little catheter in your back much like you and i had epidurals when we had our babies that puts the medication in there and the electrical current

from the outside. i think increasingly you won't see it very cumbersome. and if you do have the strength of your upper body, you could support yourself with a walker, get the stimulus to your lower body and probably in the near future not have it even be so recognizable. >> it also affects things other than walking, too, and improving other conditions of the body when you're erect. >> bladder control may change. certainly depression, all kinds of breakdown of skin problems. sexual function, bowel control, we don't know. different muscle set but certainly for the muscles that allow you to move, huge break-through. >> when you think that 1 in 50 peop in this country is paralyzed, that's an amazing break-through. >> stunning. >> dr. nancy, thanks so much. up next, we'll meet the world's tallest man, all 8'1" of him. that's right after this.

we're back now with the tallest man in the world, sultan kosen stands a towering 8'1". he's here to help launch the 2010 edition of the guinness book of world records. sultan, good morning to you. we should mention we're also joined by kelly garrett who is going to do some translation for us. right? >> good morning. >> good morning. first of all, just talk immediately about this was a pituitary grand issue that was discovered as a child. how is sultan's health today? >> translator: i'm really well today. >> he feels great? how does he feel about all the

attention that goes along with being a record holder in the "guinness book"? >> translator: i'm really pro and happy that i would manage to get io the "guinness world book of records" bause it's been one of my dreams. >> and be recognized. because i know as a kid he was teased an awful lot. i think people are curious how he gets through the normal day-to-day chores of life, or like a car, how does he drive around. or a bed, for example. >> translator: well, during this

tour, guinness has been able to identify the best kind of travel for me and they've also made sure that the beds have been big enough for me. >> no coach airline seat apparently. we have some items here -- i was struck when i shook his hand earlier, just how big his hands are. so we want to show some items. will you hold this for me? this is a typical ipod. if you look at the size of his hand -- here's a can of coca-cola. >> everything looks so teeny, tiny. and his feet, sultan's feet are a size 22 u.s.? wow! >> they're size 60 european. >> size 60 european. here look. put your foot down nexo that. >> i'll put it in front. wild. >> what does sultan hope -- after this is done what does he dream for? what would he like to have happen in his life?

>> translator: up until now, i've really had a difficult life but i'm hoping from now i have it a lot more easier. >> we hope so, too. craig from guinness, you have something to present it. >> congratulations, sultan, making it into this year's guinness book, 2010. a great achievement. >> sultan, nice to have you with us. we're going to have much more ahead on a mon morning. but first, these messages and your local news.

beautiful morning here in the nation's capital. a few clouds. mostly blue. 81 degrees -- no, 61 degrees. it feels more like fall this morning. i'm barbara harrison. the time right now, 7:55. one person was injured after an early morning accident in prince george's county. the driver of this car is now in critical condition after crashing into an suv. it happened in the 8800 block of central avenue in capital heights. police say the car caught on fire after the accident and the driver was trapped inside. the suv's driver was not badly hurt. installation of track for the long delayed an ta cost tee ya street car line in southwest

washington has finally started. they are laying tracks on first sterling avenue, the location of several proposed street car stops have not yet been finalized. the district might have some part in the anacostia line running sometime in 2012. we will be back with weather and

good morning. clear and cool. live view from our sky watcher

camera. showing sunshine up and blue sky. a few clouds to our west. we will move in later on today. temperatures in the 50s. will climb into the 70s by mid afternoon with increasing clouds. cloudy tonight. will be in the low 60s tomorrow morning. might have a passing shower tuesday, cloudy, highs mid 70s. wednesday, high is low 80s and again on thursday. friday on the weekend, looking dry. good morning, ashley, how is the traffic? 95 looks pretty good. 95 corridor slow. 395, slow as you make your way towards the landmark area. around the capital beltway, inner loop very slow because of an accident between 95 and college park. that's just been moved to the shoulder. volume is still a factor. we'll have more news in 25 minutes. a reminder,

8:00 now on aonday morning, the 21st day of september, 2009. tomorrow would be the first full day of fall. so these people you're looking at right now are squeezing the last day of summer out. it is a great day to do it here in the northeast, beautiful blue skies and someoderate temperatures. not too bad. i'm matt lauer, along with meredith vieira and al roker. coming up in this half-hour, on

a very serious note, you've got an incredible story to tell. that's right. this pregnant ohio woman is just weeks away from giving birth to another couple's child after she was accidentally given the wrong embryo during ivf procedure. we'll talk to them about this agonizing situation. also ahead, the startling truth about some of the meals you feed your children. get this -- one very popular kids meal, same amount of calories as two big macs. we'll tell you how to make smarter choices as a parent for your children. speaking of meals, but better meals, you remember as a kid playing the game "kick the can"? >> oh, yeah. >> it's what the giants did to dallas thi weekend. thank you very much. canned goods. just how easy and delicious a meal you can make using them. >> okay. ann's back >> hey, guys. let's turn to the news.

good morning once again. three members of an alleged terror cell are in federal custody this morning as part of an investigation into a potential terror attack against new york. on sunday, agents arrested najibullah zazi of colorado and his father as well as a third man from new york. officials say zazi drove to new york recently with a laptop computer that contained instructions on how to make bombs. the top u.s. commander in afghanistan is warning that without mor troops within the next year, the war in afghanistan "will likely end in failure." general stanley mcchrystal said that there are indications that the overall war effort is deteriorating and called for an urgent need to revise the war strategy. those recommendations are now under review by president obama who said on sunday that he will not let politics govern any decision to increase troops in afghanistan. washington state official say a legally insane killer tricked a friend into helping him elude capture after slipping away from a mental institution

while on a field trip last week. he was captured sunday after an intense manhunt. today overseas markets are mostly lower. cnbc's melissa lee is at the new york stock exchange. news today about computer maker dell. >> dell computers buy iing a she of another company. investors may be cautious ahead of the fed meeting on wednesday. the fed could be given guidance on how to plans to dials back some of the easy money it's pumped into the system to rev l revitalize the u.s. economy. look for investors to be a little on edge. topping the box office over the weekend, "cloudy with a chance of meatballs" took in more than $30 million. "the informant" was second, and "i can do bad all by myself" was third. 8:03. time for the weather an al.

>> announcer: "today's" weather is trout to you by trilipix. >> number one, "cloudy with a chance of meet balls!" are you a husky cowboy -- no, not you. but the fans. >> washington state. >> washington state. well thanks for coming down. we appreciate that. she's looking at me like i'm crazy, and she's right. let's show you what's going on. for today, pick city of the day, baltimore, maryland, nbc 11, partly sunny, warm, very nice. 76 degrees. and as we check your weather, the week ahead, above-normal conditions for the eastern half of the country, much above normal through the great lakes on into the plains. much below normal as you get into the central rockies. wet weather gulf coast, texas, all the way up into the ohio river valley, dry out west, normal in the east, rain along the southeast coast. soon-to-be bride. when's the wedding? >> may 15, 2010. >> soon to ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç## gli najibullah.

>> and that's your latest weather. al, thank you. when we come back, the ohio couple pregnant with someone else's baby. they're going to share their sad and stunning story right after these messages. then you may not be seeing the whole picture. ask your doctor about trilipix. statin to lower bad cholesterol, along with

diet, adding trilipix can lower fatty triglycerides and raise good cholesterol to help improve all three cholesterol numbers. ilipix has not been shown to prevent heart attacks or stroke more than a statin alone. trilipix is not for everyone, including people with liver, gallbladder, or severe kidney disease, or nursing women. tell your doctor about all the medicines you take and if you are pregnant or may become pregnant. blood tests are needed before and during treatment to check for liver problems. contact your doctor if you velop unexplained muscle pain or weakness, as this can be a sign of a rare but serious side effect. this risk may be increased when trilipix is used with a statin. if you cannot afrd your medication, call 1-866-4-trilipix for more information. trilipix. there's more to cholesterol. get the picture.

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chef: we're all kind of exced about it. guy: mmm! i can see why. announcer: campbe's healthy request. m'm! m'm! good! for your heart. shopping online can help save. doing it with bank of america can help save a lot more. up to 20% cash back from over 300 online retailers with our add it up program. just sign up and use your bank of america debit or credit card when you shop online. it's one of the many ways we make saving money in tough times a whole lot easier. over health care reform, aarp has chosen a side-- yours. we're fighting to guarantee that you'll never be denied coverage because of your health or age. to prevent anyone from coming between you and your doctor.

and to make sure patients don't take a backseat to insurance companies. because at aarp, we believe your health is worth fighting for. learn more at aarp.org. 8:08. now to an ohio couple who found out they were pregnant, only to learn moments later that they were carrying someone else's baby. we're going to talk with them exclusively in just a moment, but first "today" national correspondent amy robach has their story. >> reporter: carolyn and sean savage still have a hard time accepting what happened eight months ago. >> i was sitting in my office and about 4:00 received a call from the physician who perform the transfer. he let me know in that moment in almost one sentence caroline was

pregnant but they'd transferred another couple's embryos. i immediately went to how am i going to tell car linline. >> he was upstairs. he came into the bedroom, he said i have really bad news. i sat up. he says you're pregnant but they transferred the wrong embryos. i was actually yelling at you, you're joking! you're joking! you're jobbing! he kept shaking his head no. he was white as a sheet. >> we had been delivered the worst news of our life. >> after a series of miscarriages while trying to have a third child, the couple turned to in-vitro fertilization, or ivf. it worked. 18 months ago, carolyn gave birth to mary-kate after ten months of trying. as with many ivf cases, there were extra embryos, fertilized eggs that could one day become a child. >> we felt we needed to give every embryo we created a chance at life. so in that third cycle we had

extras and we froze them for future pregnancy attempts. >> reporter: so in february they went in to have those embryos thawed and transferred into carolyn's body hoping to complete will family with a fourth child. did you think you were using your remaining embryos? >> of course. >> absolutely. >> reporter: she was pregnant. that's when their lives changed forever. the fertility doctor gave them their difficult choices. >> we had an option to terminate. and he made it clear to us that if we chose to continue the pregnancy that we would have to give the baby back. >> reporter: 14 weeks into the pregnancy they reached out to the couple whose child was growing inside carolyn. then they met. >> so they came into the room and we all kind of stood up. it was very cordial. we shook hands. >> i think she started with a "thank you." >> she was so grateful for what we had done. >> reporter: now in less than two weeks, carolyn will give birth to the baby she desperately wanted but is not hers to keep. this might even be a hard

question to answer, but what has been the hardest part? >> you know, i don't think we've hit the hardest part. the hard part has been the anticipation of what i think we think is going to be the hardest part. and the hardest part is the delivery and, i remember communicating with the mother of this child as to what i was envisioning and hoping for. i said we want a moment to say hello and good-bye. that will be hard. >> carolyn and sean afternoon vaj are with us now both exclusively. good morning to you both. carolyn, i know you are now 35 weeks along. both of you are religious. you decided early on that you would never consider terminating this pregnancy, even though you

knew the baby was not genetically yours. could you describe the journey that the two of you have been on these 35 weeks, every heartbeat, every sonogram? >> it's been hard. we've been rooting for the baby the whole time. i think we moved from a position of shock to then a realization that this was actually going to happen. at that point a lot of planning took place on how we would handle this with our children. we do have three children who are 15, 12 and 1 1/2. and our families and their friends and our friends and our community we needed to communicate that with them. we needed to put the needs of the pregnancy and the child first and i think to

characterize it has just been -- it's been difficult but we feel that we've made the right decisions on how to handle it. >> how have the kids handled it, sean? particularly your teenage boys. your daughter wouldn't understand, she's too little. but the boys certainly can comprehend it. >> yeah. i think they handled it very well. it was very difficult for us to have to share the information with them. but based on their ages of 14 and 12, they are now at that age where they understand where babies come from and so they were able to understand the science behind what happened and they asked some very good questions and they've handled it exceptionally well. we've tried to set a tone inside our house that is conducive to keeping this in a -- in the most positive way as a teaching moment for them on when you face a tough situation in life, how are you going to handle it.

>> carolyn, you've said the worst is still ahead of you, and that is the day you deliver the baby. that could bes early as next week possibly. how have you prepare for that moment, the two of you? how can you prepare? >> you know, we can't control what happens in a delivery room. everybody knows that that's kind of nature takes its course. it is a c-section so we will be -- we've tried to visualize it. we've worked with a mental health professional since we learned of the situation and he's helped us move to -- boy, i think in the beginning we were really scared of that moment. it's still scary. we're trying to mentally frame it in a positive way, trying to look at it as a gift for another family that eight months ago we didn't know, and look at it like that. i think that's the only way

we're going to get through it. >> it will be exceptionally -- it will be exceptionally difficult. it will be exceptionally difficult. but at the same time, as caryn mentioned, we've been preparing for this for months and what we're giving this other family is our focus as best as it can be at this point. >> this other family will be there obviously when the baby is delivered because they will take the baby shortly thereafter. do you hope to have any role in the baby's life going forward? any contact? have you discussed that? >> i have discussed -- we have discussed that with them. what we expressed to them is that we know they did not ask for this. the day of our embryo transfer, they were at home with their family, minding their own business. and we are not going to impress

ourselves into their lives. of course, we will wonder and -- about this child every day for the rest of our lives. we have hopes for him. but they're his parents, and we'll defer to their judgment on when or if they ever tell him what happened and any contact that's afforded us. we just want to know he's happy an healthy. >> i know, carolyn, because of your health conditions, this is the last baby that you can carry. you still have those embryos of yours. what are your plans for them? >> as a result of what happened to us this past february, we have looked into using a jestational carrier for the rest of the our carriers. we have five that are cryo preserved. at the time of this transfer, we were told that that kind of the

number of embryos would afford us maybe one chance at an additional pregnancy. and so we've entered a very unfamiliar world but we've been guided by good family law attorneys and we have signed a contract and found a guestatiesl carrier. >> i know you have not wanted to talk about theegal implications of all of this but your lawyer made it clear that following the delivery of the case, providers will accept -- you're hoping they will accept full responsibility for the consequences of their misconduct. carolyn and sean savage, thank you so much for joining us this morning. i'm sure this is a very difficult time for both of you. >> thanks, meredith. >> we are back right after this. right now weight watchers is offering a whole month free. join and get a month of unlimited meetings and online tools.

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top safety pick awards than toyota. so it's okay to be overprotective. we are. toyota has won more total quality awards than any other automaker. - hi, ken. - hi, ken. - y, kenny. - hey, ken. - kenny. - all: kenny! and we could all u a little more quality these days.

this morning on "eat this not that," helping your kids make wiser choices when it comes to meal and snack time. the editorial director of "children's health" magazine is here, david, good morning. we know that kids emulate parents. first you've got to get the parents to make the right choices, but then help their kids do the same. >> we have looked at these children's menus, all these food products. what we found in a lot of cases is that the children's -- menu items for kids in some cases have as many calories or more than the adult fare. >> which is counterintuitive. you'd think kid's menus would be smaller portions, healthier for the kids. that's not the case. >> that's not the case. in a lot ofnstances we're seeing there's a lot of calories but not a lot of nutrients. >> start with children's cereal. this first one is cinnamon toa crunch right here. what's the problem? doesn't sound all that great but what's the problem? >> this is from general mills. general should be court-martialed for this one! what we've got is you've got 168

calories. the problem is it's very little fiber. it's a lot of sugar. it is equivalent of having a scoop of ice cream. >> 14 grams of sugar. >> yeah. kids neat to start their day with protein and with fiber. now if you walk a few steps down the aisle, this other general mills, cheerios, honey nut cheerios, what's great about this, half the fat, fewer calories, three times the fiber and it has half of your day's iron and folic acid which is a b-vitamin, very healthy for new cells. to fast food now, compare the burger king kids double cheeseburger with small fries and a coke. what's problem with this meal? >> the problem here is that you have 1,060 calories. an 8-year-old who's moderately active should get 1,600 calories. unless he's going to eat celery and carrots the rest of the day, this is the equivalent of giving your child two big macs. you wouldn't do that. you're much better off if you're

at burger king going with a whopper jr., no mayo. you get some onion rings with it, it is 440 calories. you're knnow saving 600 calorie. >> which is a real big saving when you start at lunch and still have dinner to go. moving on to pizzas, kids love pizzas. this is from uno. right? >> this is the thing. you would never allow your child to eat a whole pizza. >> this is a nice kid's portion. it looks like it is not a problem. >> it looks like it but it is a deep dish pizza that actually has 1,000 calories. it's got 70 grams of fat. a full day's worth of sodium. i mean it is the equivalent at -- of a pizza hut medium cheese pan pizza. >> stop and digest that, no pun intended. so this kid's pizza is bad in terms of things like calorie and sodium, as this entire pizza. >> yes. because it is a deep dish pizza. it is almost like oil in a bowl. it depends on how it is prepared. it is going to set your child back with all of the saturated

t and all of the calories. >> if you want to stick with the folk at uno's, you can have a healthier alternative. >> if you don't want it to be "oh no," have the mac and cheese, 4780 c80 calories, 16 g of fat. you save 400 calories. >> this is a kid's turkeyburger from ruby tuesday's. >> this has got 873 calories, 46 grams of fat. a lot of saturated fat. almost a day's worth. it's a ton of carbs. in this case, what you're doing is you have again no nutrients. it sounds healthy. it is a turkey burger. >> the equivalent of all those french fries. instead. >> get the chopped steak and mashed potatoes. by eliminating the bun you eliminate most of the carbs. >> the last one is a drink, mott's-plus for kids, health 100% apple grape juice. it can't sound healthier than

that. >> it can't. the marketing department wants you to believe it is but it isn't. not when you can compare it to the moth's for tots apple juice. half the calories, cut the sugar. >> great smart, simple choices. david, thanks very much. we're back after your local news and weather. 8:26 is our time. 61 degrees on this monday, the 121st day of september, 2009. today, more budget cuts are in the works for montgomery county schools. officials will be meeting to figure out how to trim the fat in the middle of the school year. this would be the third straight year with mid-year spending cuts. it was an ugly win but still a within. the redskins beat st. louis rams 9-7 in their home opener at

fedex fields. yesterday, after the game, no celebrating. lock kir ro locker room, a lot of players were not happy with their performances saying they

good morning. lots of sunshine. cool start to this monday. in the 50s to 60 degrees. highs reaching upper 70s with increasing clouds. cloudy tonight and tomorrow. passing showers likely on tuesday. small chance on wednesday. should be dry friday, saturday, and into supd. ashley, how is the traffic?

? >> i major accident just occurred 270 southbound. we have delays back to father hurley. below this, very slow from 28 to capital beltway. slow to silver spring. back to you. we'll be back with more news, weather and traffic in 25 minutes. now,we

morning, september 21st, 2009. absolutely gorgeous start to the day here in the heart of midtown manhattan. we are happy to have so many

fine folks starting the week with us. coming up in this half-hour, the dangers of medical mistakes. >> they happen more often than you care to think about. we'll meet a mom who lost her 18-month-old daughter to a medical mistake. obviously she is heartbroken but she's somehow found a way to turn her grief an her anger into an effort to help others. she's going to share her story with us shortly. it's really marvelous about human beings that we can do that. consistently there is this great, great courage. also coming up -- what else? we've got cooking in a can. do you know anything about that? do you know anything about cooking in a can? >> we're not in the can. it is the food that comes out of it. >> oh, well that helps now. >> i actually did that in college because i didn't have enough pots an pans. cooked in the can. anyway, what else? >> it is actually not cooking in a can. it is cooking using canned ingredients. >> you have prince albert in a

can? let him out! and later, new rules -- thank you -- when it comes to love, money and relationships. okay, you guys. we have a real hero with us. from the hit series "heroes," season premiers tonight. good morning, nice to see you again. new season, bad news for you though, you finds out you've had a terminal illness so you create a bucket list. >> yes. >> what's on it? >> a lot of things. just going back in the past and fixing all the mistakes or what he feels are the mistakes. a lot of it has to do with things he messed up with his family, his friendships, and his love interests as well. >> good news/bad news. sorry about the terminal illness. but the good news is you hook up with an old flame though. >> yeah. that's always a good thing. second chance is always good. >> that's nice. >> you and ando are setting up a business? >> we're setting up a business called"dial a hero." before you die, might as well --

no. here rose philosophy trying to help as many people as he can because his time is limited. he wants to do as much good for the world as he can. >> that's a good thing. there is a whole new clan of characters? >> yes. >> are some evil-doers? >> we don't know if they're evil traveling circus, carnival. we don't know if they're evil or not. you'll have to just watch us. >> i want to know what the media's like when they bring you in and say your character has a terminal illness. does it go through your mind, am i being written off? how does that work? >> it is like an open creative meeting. like hey, to give out this. i did say, no, no. well, you can't treat it as a common cold. we have to give it the weight and depth that it deserves. we haven't decided what's going to happen yet. hopefully whatever creative solution happens, this is "heroes." whatever happens happens. >> you are a hero.

>> you are. >> that is true. >> if not, you set up a bunch of auditions. right? >> exactly. always looking to the bright side. aren't you? >> let's move on. >> "heroes" premiers tonight at 8:00, 7:00 central right here on nbc. >> two hours. >> big. right into the "the jay leno show." we like that. let's check your weather, see what's going on. for today we've got sunshine in the northeast, sunny skies also down through florida. out west, sunny and hot. risk of strong storms texas on up into the plains. tomorrow the rain arts to move into the upper ohio river ç#ç#ç# good morning. it is sunny and cool around the region. we are still only in the upper 50s to around 60 degrees. by late morning, we should warm up rapidly and then by mid afternoon, peak in the mid and upper 70s. a passing shower i likely on tuesday.

cloudy and highs mid 70s. a small chance of a shower wednesday. then, friday, partly cloudy near >> and that's your latest weather. up next, one mother's very personal crusade to prevent a deadly medical mistakes. but first this is "today" on nbc.

this morning on "today's health," talking about medical mistakes. they're responsible for 98,000 deaths every year. eight years ago, 18-month-old josie king was rushed to the hospital with first and second degree burns. for two weeks her family stayed right by her bedside. then just two days before josie was supposed to go home, she was mistakenly given methadone while

being severely dehydrated and she died of cardiac arrest. sorel king is josie's mother. she's written a new book "josie's story, a mother's inspiring crusade to make medical care safe." dr. nancy snyderman is nbc's chief medical editor. good morning to both of you. i'm so sorry for your loss. >> thank you. >> i was reading about you. you were not the kind of parent of a patient who just sat by and trusted everything that a doctor toll you. you were an advocate for your daughter. you asked all the right questions. and still, something like this happened. in addition to the incredible grief, you just must have been so angry. >> yeah. i mean basically those two emotions, anger and grief. after -- we were planning a welcome home celebration. and then two days later we were planning a funeral. so our lives were turned upside down. anger and grief propelled us. >> this was a simple, it seems,

mistake. i know the people at johns hopkins hospital did something that made a difference. as a parent, i almost didn't understand exactly why it made a difference and i hope you can explain it. they came to you, and came to your home and said, "we messed up." why was that so important? >> well, if they had slammed the door in our face, i don't think honestly good would have come of it. at the time when josie died, they did come to our house, they apologized, they told the truth and they promised to fix the problem. and at the time i just assumed that was how allospitals treated a patient when something bad happens. but as i got further into the health care industry i learned that we got maybe it wasn't special treatment but we did get unusual treatment. >> nancy, with 98,000 deaths, that simple apology often does not come. >> when we make mistakes -- and every doctor has -- you are initially horrified that you could have harmed someone.

and then there is this basic instinct of, well, maybe no one will know. but sometimes the mistakes are so horrific that we cost someone his or her life and you have to find that very important moral center asn individual and as an institution to say, we own up to this. i think it sounds so easy but it is not. there's the threat of lawsuit. there's the threat of someone will hate me. there's the threat that this very human fallibility, how could i let this happen. it was a seemingly series of dumb things that turned out to be catastrophic. >> the apology aside, the most important -- we want to get to the point where nobody has to apologize, where these mistakes aren't occurring. why are they happening so often? >> because we're sloppy. because we don't have checks and balances. if you think about what an airplane pilot does to take off, whether he has flown a 747100 times or not, there's a checklist and it's what we need

to do in hospitals more often. take a little bit more of the nuance out of it and make it more step by step. >> you wanted to take this pain and anger and do something positive with it. what are you trying to do? >> my main message, and the message in my book, and my message all along to hospitals and health care people around the country, for eight years i've been doing this, is the communication piece and culture piece. now the joint commission states that over 70% of all sentinel events are due to a breakdown in communication. for me as a mother, a nonhealth care person with no medical background, that's my message. communicate better. doctors an nurses. listen to the patient. listen to the family. nurses, speak up when something's not right. also i try to educate the patient, educate the family. when you're at the bedside, keep track of information. document everything. write everything down. >> when you're patient, you're vulnerable. when you're the sick person you're vulnerable. i always tell someone take your

friend and take your most obnoxious friend because you need someone t be at the bedside with you. >> with all the information and education that doctors and nurses have, parents have a gut instinct about their own children and you clearly had that with josie. you knew something wasn't right and tried to prevent it and it just didn't work in this case. >> i did all the right things. >> she did everything right and things still went wrong. but you know what huge lesson here. because a mother did everything right. the medical establishment didn't. so the message here is, listen to a mother, watch the patient and everyone has to communicate better. >> once again, the book is called "josie's story." sorrel king, thanks so much. doc, good to see you as well. we'll be right back. this is "today" on nbc. ♪

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back at 8:44. this morning on "today's working woman," heading back to work during tough economi times. many moms who opted out of the workforce to raise a family are now focused on re-entering the workforce. allison o-kelly is the ceo and founder of mom corps, lilly is a mother of three and contractor through allison's group, and "today" contributor dr. gail saltz is an associate professor of psychiatry at new york presbyterian hospital. good morning to all of you.o c allison, give me a little bit of background on mom corps. you help connect professional women who have left the workforce with basically flexible jobs or contract work. >> that's right. we are a staffing company but we really focus on moms an focus on finding jobs that work for them and their lives. >> is this a good time of year to be out there looking for those jobs? >> it is a fantastic time. people are done with the summer. both moms who have been busy with their kids and also employers who have been on vacation. we are finding a lot of moms are going back to work now and a lot of employers are looking to bring them back, especially on a

contact basis. >> lilly, you contacted mom corps about a year and half ago, started getting jobs. how hard was it four years out of the workforce four, how hard was it for you getting back in mentally? >> mentally it was very challenging. just getting myself prepared for interviewing, just getting myself ready to get out there. but my husband had lost his job so it was something that we had to do. i had no choice. >> what are women up against when it comes to that? so many feel like how am i ever going to fit back in? >> mental preparation is usually the hardest thing. the fear of the unknown which you can help yourself with by learning more about what you're going to do. reading or talking to people in the industry so that you don't feel like it is a big abyss. it is also transition and change. that's hard for a lot of people. you worry about your family transitioning, your spouse transitioning. so talking to your family a lot about how you're going to create a structure for them and for yourself so that it won't -- so

that you can see what the transition will look like, will help you to feel less anxious. we also tend to ruminate over the negative a lot, so make a list for yourselves of the positives of going back to work. which there are many. being a role model for your children, have interesting thin to discuss with your spouse when you get home. there are real positives to be gained. >> allison, how do you explain to a perspectirospective employ gap in your resume? >> it is difficult. what i recommend people do, if there truly is a gap that they didn't take any leadership roles in their community or anything like that, before they go back they should do some things to get themselves ready. >> like what? >> maybe take a course. they can take maybe a computer skills course if they need that or certain industries you need to update your skills on new regulations or whatever that might be. those are things you can add to your resume. in addition, contract work. go work for a friend. it doesn't need to be a company that you went and applied for a job. but go do something so that you

could show you were ready and able to get back into the workforce. >> even an internship. >> yeah, a lot of women are doing internships these days. >> a lot of volunteer work, also. you use a lot of skill sets in those types of work. >> i understand you never say part-time when you are looking for a job. you say i want flex time. >> we are big on that at mom corps. part-time has this connotation that you're not there and you're not really willing to give all of yourself to an employer, when in fact most moms are willing to work many more hours than what you would think of as a part-time job. but they need the ability to do car pools or just go to the school on occasion when they need to. we talk about flexible time. we also talk to companies about finding out what they really need. is there a meeting on a friday somebody has to be at? is the rest of the week flexible? then matching up people appropriately. >> i would think the pool of people like lily would be huge and finding jobs for them, i'm sure there are many more people out of work than there are jobs for them.

>> there are, but they're starting to become more, especially with the economy the way it is, a lot of companies are rethinking how they're bringing people back in. they like to bring people in for a short-term contract or for seasonal needs that in the past maybe they hadn't done. >> has your confidence grown, lily? >> oh, absolutely. absolutely. just, again, the first step was interviewing. just getting past that and really polishing on that and the more people that i speak to, the better that i get. >> you're sticking with it. your husband has since gotten a new job. >> oh, yeah. yeah. i'm sticking with it for me. i think it is really important for women to have one foot in the door and keep up the resume. definitely. >> has he picked up the slack at home, is he doing some of the chores? that's what i want to know. >> i have an ebullient husband. >> she was not going there! >> it's true that it can really build self-esteem and give you a future. one day kids grow up, they leave the home. >> absolutely. >> it can be a great thing.

i would say never apologize to your kids for working. that's really important. because it implies some guilt like you're doing something wrong. it can be a wonderful thing for you and for them. so when you're going to go start, i would say you don't need to apologize. you need to talk to them about the pluses and the minuses. >> absolutely. gail, lily and allison, thank you so much. mom corps. dinner from a can. how tasty and inexpensive it can

this morning on "today's kitchen," back to basics with canned food. can you save time and money if you've got the right cans in your pantry. jose andreas is from the bizarre and sls hotel in beverly hills. good to see you. we'll use simple canned ingredients. before we talk about these, are there certain vegetables and ingredients you wouldn't want to use out of a can? >> the only thing i can think of is sodas. everything else, it's heaven. it's heaven. >> you are going to make a white asparagus guzpacho. no soda included. >> you don't know how to cook. >> not really. >> you know how to open a can.

open the can. put the white asparagus in. the water off the white asparagus, some olive oil. one, two, three. the soup is ready. >> but the water. you said the juice in the can. a lot of people have been taught to throw away that juice because it has extra sodium in it. you use it? >> the water of the asparagus and salt. i mean -- >> don't drink it like that. >> it is so tasty. >> pour that in. >> no, i just drunk from it. i have it right here finished. >> okay, fine. >> look at it. beautiful and smooth. you get the tips, put them on the plate. if you have fresh asparagus, you put canned ones with the fresh, some tarragon or parsley. you bring it to the table. you pour in front of your customers. a very simple can of asparagus transforming to very delicious, healthy soup. >> couple of other ingredients most people probably have in their pantry. tuna in a can. a lot of people have chickpeas

as well. you'll make a salad with both. >> i love chickpeas. we need to put more of these in our diet. it's quick. you don't need to soak them for 24 hours a day before. chickpeas, some green peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, olive oil, vinegar. it can be any healthier? you toss the whole thing. i mix. then this is ready to go. we put it in this beautiful plate with some grated fresh tomato or even can be a canned tomato. why not. remember that we put things in can when they are at the peak of their flavor. >> you're getting them at their best. >> we need to be eating more fish in america. >> you don't need to take the oil -- >> this oil is so tasty and so healthy. take a look. we have a wonderful salad. my three daughters love this salad. >> i'm just going to take a taste. >> every household should make this salad at least once a week and you keep changing the vegetables. it's okay. >> very good. something a little fancier. for this one you use canned

artichokes. >> i love artichokes but sometimes people when they see a fresh artichoke they are like, how do i do this? well, it's perfect. they are already clean. the only thing you need to do in th case, let's say some shallots, some olive oil, some garlic. you add the artichokes. toss them a little bit. you want to get fancy? clams. shrimp. anything you want. you go, you put it in. you cover. the clams are going to open up. and then we add some spanish ham or prosciutto, parsley. >> you're serving that as the dish entirely. no pasta or -- >> well, could you put that over pasta. then have you a sensational dish. >> hello. >> did you learn anything? >> yes. i learned you can have the right can in your kitchen. >> and today we are celebrating almost 200 years of the invention of canning and the book i have over there is from

is a frenchman tt in 1810 invented can. >> again, the french. >> they had a dance about it, the can-can. >> we got to get to a commercial or we're going 8:55. september the 21st, 61 degrees here in the nation's capital. a final day of astronomical summer. good morning. i'm joe krebs. the 20-year-old california man suspected of killing four people near longwood university. the 20-year-old bragged about the thrill of killing in rap songs he performed on the internet. he is charged with killing presbyterian pastor and suspected in the murders of professor debra kelly, her husband and their teenage daughter, all near richmond. the crime happened at the

professor's home. some are adjusting are to montgomery county schools. they are meeting to determine how to cut the budget. the main idea bei considered is putting a hiring freeze in plays. more on "news 4 midday." we'll take a break and come back an

good morning.

sunshine. clouds will be rolling in by later on this noon. clouds. in the 70s. passing showers. a bit warmer on wednesday and thursday. a small chance of a passi shower on wednesday. friday, partly cloudy. highs near 80. mostly sunny saturday, in the 70s. increasing clouds on sunday. how is the mid-morning traffic? traveling on the outer loop of the capital beltway at university boulevard, we have some problems. slow through college park toward silver spring. elsewhere, a brief delay from the dulles toll road before the american legion. before that point, slow from little river turnpike headed up to 66. joe, back to you. thanks very much. tonight on "news 4 at 5:00," the redskins have had some time to watch the tape from their first

we're back now with more of "today" on a monday morning, 21st day of september, 2009. we've got an enthusiastic group of people spending their morning with us here in rockefeller plaza. as always, we thank them very much for that. out on the plaza, i'm matt lauer, along with natalie morales and al roker. coming up in this half-hour, a serious and controversial subject -- ever since reial

hunter's daughter was born 18 or 19 months ago there had been accusations that that man right there, former senator and presidential candidate, john edwards, was the father of that baby. he has always denied that allegation but now some new allegations have surfaced. might he change his story? we'll have more on that in just a little while. also, it is an important day today. world alzheimer's day. as you know if you have a family member or you yoursel are 03?is f for patients. 'umbers are exploding. we're going to tell you how to recognize the symptoms and also share some coping strategies for families. it actually puts caregivers at high risk for their own psychological and physical problems as well. can be a really difficult disease for the whole family to deal with. a little bit later on, love or money. it is probably the number one stresses in the relationship when you talk about cash, especially when cash is scar, tension can skyrocket. how can you keep your marriage strong, communication honest,

even when your budget is stretched to the limit? we'll have some good advice. you guys watch the emmys last night? >> i was dead asleep. >> dead asleep for a good reason, we should mention. natalie and -- here's the emmys. that's not natalie. but if you come back here for a second, natalie and hoda competed in a triathlon yesterday. >> yes. we survived. we're both here today. >> congratulations. that's fantastic. >> you'll see how we did. hoda coming out of the water with a big smile on her face. >> that's fantastic. that's the reason they didn't see the emmy awards. if you didn't see it, we'll find out how the host kneel patrinea did. ann is inside with a look at headlines. in the news this morning, everybody, good morning once again. three men accused in what's being called one of the most serious terror plots since 9/11 go to court today. an airport shuttle driver in colorado admitted to traveling to pakistan for al qaeda weapons and training and that his computer held bomb making instructions.

his father and a new york city regious leader are also in custody. police officials in afghanistan warn today that sending more u.s. troops to inkree ti increase the perception of americans as an occupying force. a new assessment by the top u.s. e needed within a year or the war "will likely result in failure." today israel said all options remain on the table in response to iran's nuclear progm saying it has the right to defend itself. earlier russia's president said his israeli counterpart assured him that israel would not attack iran. a funeral for the murdered graduate student from yale, annie le, will be held on saturday near sacramento, california. her body was flown home from connecticut er the weekend and the school lab technician charged with her murder has not entered a plea. he returns to court in two weeks. there are new allegations about former u.s. senator and presidential hopeful john edwards and a child some say he

fathered. nbc's norah o'donnell has more on this. >> reporter: it's been two years since john edwards denied extramarital affair reports with reial hunter. >> the story's false. it's completely untrue. ridiculous. >> reporter: fast forward one year to this admission. >> in 2006, two years ago, i made a very serious mistake. i would welcome participating in a paternity test. be happy to participate in one. i know that it's not possible that this child could be mine. >> reporter: and now new details from a former aide to mr. edwards, andrew young, whose book proposal was reviewed by "the new york times." in it, young says he helped set up private meetings between mr. edwards and reial hunter during the presidential campaign and that edwards asked young to claim responsibility for fathering her child. life off the campaign trail has

been no less turbulent for john edwards. in may he acknowledged being part of a federal investigation into whether campaign funds were paid illegally to reial hunter. something edwards has denied. last month reial hunter testified before the grand jury, even bringing her child with her. john and elizabeth edwards were last seen together publicly at a memorial for senator ted kennedy in august. coming together to pay their respects, even as so much attention continues to be focused on their personal lives and whether john edwards is in fact the father of reial hunter's child. clearly this is a complicated family matter. just this morning a spokesperson for john edwards tells nbc news that there could be a statement at some point, but nothing is planned for right now. for "today," norah o'donnell, nbc news, washington. on a much lighter note, for nbc's "30 rock," they claimed the honor for best comedy series for a third straight year. in a surprise, the actress for

best actress in a comedy went to toni colette for her role in showtime's "united states of terror." looks beautiful. five minutes past the hour. let's do the gik pivot to mr. roker for a check of the weather. >> thank you so much. nice airplane hats there. where did you guys come in from? >> rhode island. >> rhode island? >> nevada. >> florida. >> you have kind of a bobblehead. i like that. let's check your weather see what's happening. i'm getting dizzy. southeastern flooding from mississippi, alabama, georgia on into the carolinas, a real mess. look at all that rain coming down. they've gotten soak already, some parts of georgia 16 inches of rain. you can see there, anyone from three to five inches of rain on through northern georgia. out west as you go up into the plains, we've got more heavy rain, rainfall amounts there about one to two inche of rain ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç

good morning. the temperatures have quickly climbed into the 60s at mid-morning. we are at 65 in washington. 60s all around the region. cloudiness in central shenandoah valley to the south and mountains of west virginia. incompetent creasing clouds by late today and into tonight. highs before that should reach the upper 70s and then cloudy tomorrow, passing showers likely. highs, mid 70s. might have a passing shower on >> and that's your latest weather. today is world alzheimer's day. unfortunately, more than 5 million americans have a disease or a former dementia. 35 million worldwide. if that number doesn't scare you, numbers are expected to double every 20 years to more than 115 million by the year 2050. the long-term effects of the disease on families, the health care system and the economy will be enormous.

actor david hyde pierce is on the board of the alzheimer's association. dr. harry john is the president and ceo and dr. nancy snyderman is our chief medical editor. welcome to you all. let's talk about the latest numbers in this report, harry. the report released today reveals there is going to be a large increase in theumbers of cases of those suffering from alzheimer's and dementia by a 10% increase for next year. why is that? >> the reason is primarily because of the aging of the population worldwide. alzheimer's is not normal aging, but it is the largest risk factor for alzheimer's and other dementias. we will see increasing numbers both on a human level and economic level. it is going to cost us $20 trillion in medicare and medicaid alone. >> right now we're worried about the health care reform bill that could cost $1 trillion. you're talking about $20 trillion. >> that's right. in fact, the cost of alzheimer's over the course of the next 40 years will be the equivalent

when we thought the stimulus package for economic change was really huge, it will be the equivalent of 25 of those economic stimulus bills over the next 40 years. but only to pay for the cost, not to actually fix or end the disease. >> nancy, let's make it clear to people what the difference is between alzheimer's and dementia. i think a lot of times it is not very understood. >> dementia is the big word where your brain doesn't function. alzheimer's has more cases really than anything else. these abnormal plaques are on the brain where messaging gets cross-wired. simple things like picking up car keys and not remembering what they go to, losing the day of the week, the simple things, facial relationships, remembering a face. simple things that in isolation you think it is no big deal, daddy's 72. you start to put them together and you see a very complex problem and the concern is that if it's undiagnosed and goes on,

it gets harder and harder to stop the progression. >> it's become more diagnosable, harry, though. it is technology these days and it really is a relatively new disease in the sensehat we're still learning so much about it. right? >> that really is true, natalie. for about 70 years the medical and scientific community didn't realize it was the same disease that alzheimer originally identified in a woman a year younger than me. i'm 52, she was 51. for a long time it wasn't recognized. the research that has been done has made great progress, advanced really positively over the last 20 years or so, but we have to do so much more. in anything given the health care debates right now in america, alzheimer's is the elephant in the room, if you will. it's huge and it's not being dealt with. we've got to deal with it now if we're going to have any kind of significant effect on the boomer population where 10 million of us will have the disease if we don't turn the tables quickly. >> so many of us have a personal connection. we saw most recently, david, of

course, at the funeral for ted kennedy, we saw sergeant shriver there who brian williams made the point he no longer recognizes the faces in that room. you have a familial connection as well. your father had dementia. your grandfather had alzheimer's. my mother-in-law has it. how have you dealt with it? >> well, i think when you're dealing with it you feel such a sense of hopelessness. one of the great tings that i've had, i've been able to work with the alzheimer's association. even though we weren't able to stop the disease in my family, we have a hope that through action, through getting people to be aware, that maybe we can make progress. we've got right now this sing called the alzheimer's break-through act which senator mccullsky and chris bond in the senate, and in the house ed markey and chris smith have sponsored which would actually make a strategic plan for the country to fight alzheimer's, to raise money for funding.

finally we think maybe the word is getting out but we're hoping that america will also -- >> hopefully people watching this segment will take action. call their ngressmen. >> yes. because as these statistics show, it is going to be important to all of us. >> if i could add, natalie, it's so true that adding that funding makes a difference. we've seen the success in cancer funding and heart disease funding but the funding for alzheimer's research is so low. if we can make these changes we can make a difference. >> we always thought this was an old person's problem and there no urgency to it because this is just what happens to you. now we know it is not true. there is a genetic link for some families for alzheimer as early onset. we know the lifestyle you choose can help put off some dementia. but the reality is it's been terribly underfunded and it is going to be our generation's crisis. we expect us to be vibrant and moving and working. >> besides memory loss, other really strong signs of alzheimer's. >> memory loss, forgetting day

of the week, simple tasks that are harder to do. telemarketers prey on people with alzheimer's because it is hard to juggle a checkbook, remember who you gave $10. >> i know this is going to sound crazy, you know it when you see it. you start to look at your parents' eyes and you see missing signals. there's a little bit of a vacant stare. if you're at all worried, the alzheimer's association has an extraordinary website with a list of the ten things to look at. if you look at those and can you check off two or three, it's time to sit down with a parent. frankly, this is one of those times where you should also talk about perhaps not driving. this is one of those times to take away the keys. >> thank you all so much for being here, david hyde pierce, a great champion for the alzheimer's association. we appreciate it. harry johns, dr. nancy snyderman. thanks so much. howo keep the love alive with money is tight and stress is high. then a little bit later, we'll take you on the tour of the ultimate bachelor pad right here in new york city. but first these messages.

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more than half of women talk openly about their -- with their partners about this, as do men. so this is a topic that's being discussed at least. right? >> it is being discussed now more than ever. i think when the economy is doing well it's really easy to keep your fears and insecurities about money sort of hidden below the surface. when you're not sure how you're going to pay your bills, not sure what you're going to do about retirement, they just all bubble up and come to the surface. >> men and women are all talking about it but are we on the same page about it? >> we're definitely not on the same page. we come to the topic of money from very different backgrounds and have very different cultural expectations for what men and women are supposed to talk about. money is never about money. it is about love, it's about power, it's about control, it's about tendencies, it's about freedom, it's about happiness and you don't know what your partner's background is necessarily what he or she grew up with and what they were primed to do and talk about money. >> is it about the approach

about how you approach -- talk about it? >> very often it is about the approach. how we bring it up, what we do when someone tells us something we're not thrilled to hear, how we respond to them. there are some guidelines how to do that. >> nicole, your survey found 39% of men confessed to hiding an expensive purchase. how about the women? >> 46%. >> so more women than men. >> even more. >> what are some of the reasons they're not honest? >> i think it is really simple. i think women buy things that men don't think are important, like a new pair of shoes, and men buy things that women don't think are important, like a new set of speakers for the stereo. >> wait a minute. that's trushl! is not going to understand our need for that item. so we hide it because we don't want to deal with the confrontation, the negative response if they find out that we bought it. >> how do you make each other more honest about this? >> i think it isn't how you respond to that person. if every time your partner says, hey, i went out and bought this

thing that you don't think i need, if you have an overwhelmingly negative response, you're basically training them an telling them you can't be honest with me because i'm going to blow up. you have to have a neutral response. say something like, well, i'd rather that spent that money on the groceries, but okay. you can talk it out later. but don't you agree it is the big negatively immediate response that trains somebody that you can't tell them everything. >> very often. we each have financial priorities as you used in the example. mine aren't necessarily yours. but we do need to make it a safe place to have this conversation and you have to have empathy for where your partner is. very often for men, money equals power and control, and that brings them, they feel, respect. but that doesn't help you with intimacy. when you have these kinds of conversations, you're talking about an intimate relationship so you need not to be aggressive, you need not to be punishing. you need not to be diminishing. you need to be accepting and say,hat happens when you do

this, when you don't pay the bills, i feel embarrassed and i feel angry, then we have a problem. >> one of the great problems i see in this survey, couples are saying they're cutting back on things that they do together and that to me, seems to be counterintuitive. >> that is absolutely right. don't cut back on the things you do together because you want to spend time together. you have to keep valuing each other. what happens very often with men, particularly if they're losing their job or getting less pay, they feel their value is also diminished. you do things together in a community, you go out and you do things that are necessarily cheaper but also more fun and you contribute to one another an learn more about each other. >> quickly to that point, your survey says 62% of women are embarrassed their men have become unempled or are in a bad job situation. >> that's right. >> that's got to make the man feel awful. >> oh, it makes them feel terrible. it makes you feel awful as a woman, too. i think the cave woman in all of us wants to brag about what a great provider our guy is and when he isn't we get

embarrassed. as a woman you should continue to brag about your guy and feel proud of him and all the other ways he contributes to the marriage. boost his ego. >> he may be feeling diminishes and he needs you to remind him of the qualities that he has that you adore in him. >> great advice. thank you both so much. still to come, we'll welcome a new member of the "joy fit club" who took a walk and lost almost 200 pounds. that's a long walk. but first these messages. that's why you want the crossaction pro-health from oral-b. unlike an ordinary toothbrush, the oral-b crossaction pro-health combines crisscross bristles, gum stimulators, and even a tongue cleaner. so brush away plaque and odor causing bacteria to get a clean, healthy mouth with the crossaction pro-health from oral-b. discover a light yogurt like no other. activia light! delicious, fat free, and above all...

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we want to congratulate natalie and hoda who competed in a triathlon yesterday. they were swimming and running and biking. hoda surprised herself and natalie came in fifth -- >> fourth. >>fourth! >> oh, my gosh. >> i knocked off the person in front of me. >> hoda, you came in second. >> in the 70 and over crowd. there were only two of us. i did finish. >> hoda did very well. >> did you feel like anybody could do it given your experience? >> i felt bad because i hadn't really trained in the swimming part. the night before they wanted to swim. i said well i'm not going to do it. i just blew my hair out. then i got in the water, andy get a little panicky because i hadn't trained, i hadn't done it. but to cross the finish line. natalie in her last mile, 6:15. that was sick. >> that is sick! >> how much training did you

guys do, natalie. >> i put in six weeks of training. >> by "we," i mean natalie. didn't train enough at all. but it was fun. >> you were incredible. i probably didn't need to train! look, we had a great time. >> it was fun. >> you're going to show us the whole story. highlights. maybe that will inspire the rest of you guys out there. al. >> come on. let's go! >> more after your local news and weather. pomegranate cereal gives you 100% of the daily value of 12 essential vitamins and minerals. plus the bold new taste of blueberries and pomegranate with crispy whole grain flakes and crunchy oat clusters. total, a truly delicious way to get vitamins and minerals. how are you getting 100%? visit totalcereal.com and get a free sample. light & fitalcereal.com has 80 calories versus 100 in the other leading brand and a taste you'll find...

[sluuurrrrpppp!] irresistible. light & fit. great taste, fewer calories. 9:26. 65 degrees. a little bit of a breeze blowing. we will get the forecast from meteorologist, tom kierein. in the news for today, a big step toward the return of street cars to d.c. crews have started laying tracks for the an ta cost ya line in southeast washington. officials want to have

streetcars running through anacostia by the end of this year. the timetable hs been pushed back by the end of 2012.

good morning. the last full day of astronomical summer. live picture from our city camera showing washington basking in this late summer sun. the equinox arrives tomorrow. highs, upper 70s. tomorrow cloudy, passing showers. highs, mid 70s. a chance of passing shower mid wednesday. partly cloudy thursday. up near 80 on friday. over the weekend, increasing clouds sunday. highs in the 70s. steve, how is the traffic? pretty heavy and slow

southbound on 270. we will take a live look at 270 southbound. slowdown to an accident near route 228. over to springfield bridge frk moving well northbound and southbound hov lanes still heading northbound. >> thanks very much. tonight on "news 4 at 5:00," the are skins will have had some time to watch the tape f

aren't they lovely. those are some of the brightest lights on hollywood taking a turn on the emmy red carpet on sunday night in los angeles. we're going to have the scoop on all the fashion hits and misses. >> that was a miss, i'd say. >> also who walked away with the

statues this morning. look at that beautiful red dress! it's such a weird feeling. you've also been on the red carpet, i'm sure. it is weird, you sort of stand there. you feel sometimes sort of uncomfortable because -- look at this, glenn close. is that who that is? look at how beautiful she looks. i could just sit here and watch this -- okay, we won't. >> but we do have another half-hour to go. >> natalie, you got a chance to dream big. that's right. they call it a bachelor pad but really anyone can enjoy this real estate. i real cently checked out the newest ultimate bachelor pad here in nant. two hot tubs, digital pool table and my favorite part, a state of the art recording studio and a little bit of a price tag -- about $20 miion. we'll take you on the tour coming up. if you're at a constant loss for planning dinner, you have no more excuses. the folks at gourmet magazine come out with a cookbook that has 1,000 recipes!

we'll get you started with one of those today. >> looks like a sizzling book. later, musician sean kingston stopping by. >> i love this video. >> look at th. al, you can do that. right? >> which part? >> he can admire the young ladies in the video, that's for sure. >> we can watch this also. but for, we have to get a check of the weather. >> for your week ahead, here's what we've got for you. much below-normal conditions through the central plains and rockies. much above-normal out in the pacific northwest, right on through the great lakes. above normal along the eastern seaboard. snow showers in the rockies, it's dry out west. wet weathe from the gulf coast, west texas, on into the rockies -- i should sayç#ç#ç#ç# good morning.

mostly sunny around washington. off to the west, clouds there. it looks like we will have increasing clouds by this afternoon. right now, sunny and in the 60s. we will reach the 70s later on today with increasing clouds. cloudy tonight, low 60s tomorrow morning. passing shower likely on tuesday, cloudy, highs in the mid 70s. low 80s on wednesday and thursday. >> and that's your latest weather. hey, you like matt damen? >> i love matt damon. >> we're going to be talking about his movie coming up. country's number two movie. - ( dramatic music playing ) - liquid-plumr has combined two mighty forces

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hurry the free month offer is only available for a limited time. weight watchers online. stop dieting. start living. "the informant" debuted this weekend at the number two spot the at the box office. jean sh gene sal lit says dig in. >> reporter: it covers 1992 to 1996 and uncovers and international conspiracy involving wiretapping, a wobbly mole and the fbi. but mostly at the center, there is a global food giant emmeshed in criminal price fix is that affects everyone who eats. >> corn goes in one end, and profit comes out the other. >> weird be right? >> reporter: the villain, archer daniels midland, adm, the food

behemoth. >> things are going on i don't approve of. >> reporter: mark whitaker played in a smash portrayal by matt damon. >> this involves price fixing. >> reporter: he's an adm squealer who blows the whistle in such high-frequency, only fbi watchdogs can hear him. >> it is not just liesing, it's sit trick, glukonate. that guy's out of a job. >> reporter: two agents, scott and joel, show up but they can't tell if whitaker's on the level or is just whistling dixie. >> what is he doing? i told him the camera was in the lamp. >> no. no. >> reporter: the guy's a yo-yo and he may be springing them along. so they conceal a recorder in his briefcase that reveals whether it's adm skulduggery or whitaker's skulduggery.

since this whole case is on the record, even the most outlandish revelations are not hard to swallow, especially when everybody coughs up in this amusing, telling expose' that's larded with foot for thought. >> mark whitaker, secret agent, 0014. >> why 0014? >> i'm twice as smart as 007. >> and that's the "critic's corner," serving up another winner for "today." >> yes! >> waiter! >> looks like fun. coming up next, they bill it as the ultimate bachelor pad. natalie will take you on a tour right after this. if saving money happened as automatically as everything else? at bank of america, it practically does. use the bankamericard power rewards visa credit card and earn rewards like cash back with every purchase. cash you can put into savings. or even use to help pay down your credit card balance. it's one of the ma ways we make saving money in tough times a whole lot easier.

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if can you handle little real estate envy, this someone is for you. our friends at "esquire" magazine have staged the ultimate bachelor's crib for seven years in a row. the new one is downtown in new york city's soho neighborhood. "esquire's" publisher gave me an exclusive sneak peak. >> great to see you. welcome! welcome to "esquire's" ultimate bachelor pad down here in soho at the amazing, amazing soho muse. great spate, lot of outdoor space and a lot of amazing technology. >> let's take a tour.

>> all right, let's. ♪ >> so natali let me take knew this very open kitchen. all the materials are either used from recycled materials or recyclable in and of themselves. >> very james bondish. >> it is. very sleek. very minimalist. really taken the whole theme of the modern digital home to the next level. let's have a go at this state of the art, one-of-a-kind digital pool table. digital projection comes down and when you break, that beam forms images on the pool table we're in the soho muse building. brand-new. this apartment is actually two penthouses joined together. all in, it's 11 rooms, nine

bathrooms, two fireplaces, two spas out on the amazing terrace. 9,200 square feet. >> i'll take it! >> sold. >> boom. >> sold. this room is killer. we are in the diesel framer's home recording studio. are you standing behind a state of the art mixing board. not just a mixing board. recording, mixing, and broadcasting. you could pick up one of those beautiful gibson guitars over there and actually start doing some record iing. ooh, is this the master bedroom? >> you are in one of the master bedrooms in the ultimate bachelor pad. very spacious, as you can see. then when we look out, we get that quintessential soho roof scene. downtown view. >> wow. how can you top that view? >> then when you look north, there she is. empire state building. one of new york's great icons. >> amazing. >> so here we are looking north.

and wouldn't you love to sink into this bathtub? >> view of the empire state building again. >> natalie, come on into the second apartment that forms both of our top penthouses here. it's all really open, lofty, open-airspace. that's what you get when you are in this great room in our second penthouse. >> i can see a lot of great parties right here. >> here we are looking at the views. we've got the empire state building to the north. the other thing that's really great, natalie, as you're standing out here with me on this really expansive tear race is you really get that downtown vibe down here. don't you? >> yes. >> this is really rooted in philanthropy. once we create this beautiful venue, it is used for charity events. over the course of the last seven years, we have raised over

$7 million for our charities. >> it is quite an amazing place. the apartment will play host to a series of exclusive parties through the end of october and select charities will use the designer space to hold fund-raising events without paying a dime. the first official gala at "esquire's" soho premiers the new york film festival. a tasty new recipe for dinner tonight. but first, this is "today" on nbc.

this morning on "today's kitchen," our hot shet is going four gay. since 1941 the fks at "gourmet" magazine have been treating readers to rare recipes, culinary advice and kitchen inspiration. now they have a new cookbook called "gourmet today," more than 1,000 all-new recipes for

the contrary kitchen. the magazine's executive editor is here. good morning. this is a very interesting idea. i guess it would really probably reveal how cooking's changed. >> absolutely. the reason we did this book is because we think cooking's changed tremendously in america the last four, five years. we want to bring everybody up to date. products that used to be exotic and rare are in the supermarket. there are a lot more veg tear yans. cocktails have become big. we have a whole cocktail chapter. a whole grilling chapter. five dessert chapters. a lot more international dishes because our palate has become much light nert last four years. >> does your cookbook include things from the past? >> we do he some frft past. most of these are from today and the way we'll be cooking in the next few years. but one other thing we all have less time. >> yes, that's true pft. >> of the 1,000 recipes, 500 can be made in 30 minutes or less. including the one we're making today. spicy chicken. this could not be more simple but it's got great flavor. it is really a great recipe.

we're going to do a little spice mix. we've got some chili powder, cumin, coriander, cinnamon to give it a little aroma. >> like an indian mix. >> yeah. >> look at the colors. wonderful. >> a little salt. >> i used these spices for soup last night and it came out really well. there is something really lovely about this mix. >> we'll just make this into a little paste. little olive oil. the great thing about this also, all these spices are already in the pantry. you don't have to do any shopping. once you get that into a little paste -- >> i think we underuse spices. i think people are really discovering them me and more these days. >> i think people are using more and more spices. >> if you use spices, you useless fat. >> this particular spice rub puts a lot of flavor on to the chicken and you don't have to think about it in advance like you do with marinading. >> so we don't have to marinate this? >> you do not. just brush it on and put it

right in the pan. >> it is going to stay on the chicken? >> it will. you'll brown it. it is born to brown chicken or anything because it adds a ton of flavor. >> little olive oil in a very hot pan. that's going to take four, five minutes. >> oh, the smell! those spices are filling the kitchen! >> once it's brown, which takes five minutes, then also make sure you use an oven-proof skillet. once it's browned you'll put it in the oven at 450, high heat for like 15 minutes. it will come out perfectly beautifully browned, very tender because of the oven cooking. >> the whole recipe then takes maybe under 30? >> start to finish, i think this takes me 22 minutes. amazing. >> then you've got all this -- you're doing something else. >> you've got all of this great flavor in there. when you brown things it creates this great flavor. just put a little water in there, cook that down a little bit. >> take a facial while you're doing it. nice, nice sglp another added benefit.

then you've got a little sauce can you pour over the chicken at the table. >> you don't have to pour wine or anything? >> no. very simple. we have a platter of finished chicken. >> you're going to serve it up for us. look at this! collard greens here? >> this is tuscan kale. this is an ingredient you used to never see and it is now in the supermarket. it is really rich and almost meaty. cook it up with caramelized onion and pancetta. kale is so good for you and it tastes great. >> people are a little nervous about it because it looks a little bit chunky. >> it does. this particular one is called dinosaur kale because it is huge. when people go to the store an see this, we want them to say, oh, yeah, i saw a recipe for that in "gour nai mmet today." >> that's the sauce we just made. that makes it really pretty and yummy. >> always good to have a little sauce. >> you want some spicy chicken, al and natalie?

>> timing is good. what's for dessert? >> this is an apple bread pudding but we used kroo sanity. >> pierce morgan, we're so excited to have you. >> this is such an honor to be here. >> is it? >> are you going to be judging us? >> i will be, yeah. >> he's judging us. >> that tie has to go. it's an "x." >> we also are going to talk a little bit more about the triathlon. we'll talk with sean kingston who you were schmoozing with downstairs. >> that song, "fire burning on the dance floor," that's hot. >> i love the video. >> i could listen to you talk all day. >> luckily you're going to have to. >> the best part is we can turn

you off. just kidding! it's a joke. >> don't start too early now. >> it was the tie comment. these two are coming up in just a few minutes after your local news.

our time right now is 9:56. we have 65 degrees. beautifulay here in the nation's capital on this monday, the 21st day of september 2009. good morning. i'm joe krebs. an early morning accident in prince george's county has left a person in critical condition. this happened in the 8800 block of central avenue and capital heights. a car caught on fire after crushing into an suv. the driver was trapped inside and later rushed to the hospital. the driver is in critical condition. the suv's driver was not seriously injured. the race for governor of virginia may be tightening up. republican, bob mcdonnell still leads creigh deeds.

mcdonnell leads 51% to 47% amongst voters. he led by 15 points last month. deeds has made up ground by winning over voters in northern virginia. now, let's get a check on our weather from meteorologist, tom kierein. tom? good morning. we have had quite a bit of sunshine around. afternoon, increasing clouds. reaching mid and upper 70s. passing shower tomorrow. small chance of a passing shower wednesday. partly sunny, highs, low 80s. low 80s again on thursday. friday and weekend, should stay dry. perhaps late on sunday, some showers. steve, how is the traffic? we will take a look at the wilson bridge. before

from nbc news, this is "today" with kathie lee gifford and hoda kotb. >> hello, everybody. it's monday, september 21st. kathie lee gifford is enjoying time off and joining me is mr. piers morgan.

you know him from america's got talent and from apprentice. how did donald trump describe you after you won it. >> you're eiffel and obsession noxious and you're my apprentice. >> your show, and i have to say this isn't meant for cross promotion, but it's been on fire. you had 20 million on the last -- >> something crazy for the final. it was big this year. part was the whole susan boyle phenomenon from the moment she came on the british show and the whole world went crazy. more people auditioned and we got better talent. it was the end of an amazing stroer. to watch her kill the final of "america's got talent." >> i noticed that she and another -- the other -- i can't remember the older woman on the show. the comedian. >> grandma lee. >> they're all flirting with you. what is going on? >> suzanne boyle was not happy

about grandma lee. she said i hear you have a love rival. we had to call security. susan, get back in your dressing room and take it the decent way. >> how is she? she seemed very strong on the show. >> i think people don't understand what susan is like. she's a 48-year-old lady from a tiny village in scotland. i think americans -- it's hard to imagine how small this place is. she's only there with her cat and sings ithe church and stuff. she's funny, she's feisty, and i went to see her backstage before the performance, and i saw the scenes at the airport. it was like beatle mania. she was laughing and gets the joke. her friends are having a little dig at her. i really love susan. i think she represents the underdog. >> i like that. >> in these times of recession in particular, the reason that america in particular has fallen

in love with her is she gives everybody a bit of inspiration. you feel better. >> i was looking in one of the papers or blogs or something, tz was reporting that david hasselhoff was at his house, and his daughter -- this was yesterday and the day before -- called 911 and said he was really drinking a lot. what's the story with david? >> he's one of my good friends, david, and i was very sorry to hear this. i don't know what's really going on. if he's watching this, i'm sure he's fine now. he's got a problem. he'll admit that. i think it's very sad for him. he's a really good guy and brave guy. a lot of people -- this is not funny. he has a tough time. and i think that he tries his best to deal with it. he's been brilliant on the show this year and was fabulous in the finale. i wish him the best. he's a good guy with a great heart. >> we had dinner last night with melissa. >> extremely delightful. >> i couldn't believe how spritely you were at your

triathlon. >> can you say something about that? i want to say oh, my gosh. i can't believe first of all that i finished the thing, which made me feel good. it's weird. i hadn't been training for this thing like i should have at all. i was getting into the water to swim during the swim part, and i was out in the water swimming, and a woman who had already passed me started hyper ventilating a little bit. so i'm a people through osmosis if i hear it, i start panicking. people are telling her to calm down, and i was looking at her and thinking like focus ahead, focus ahead. your heart starts really thumping and pounding. >> people literally are dying all around you. why would you do such a mad thing? >> you know what? here's the thing. originally kathie lee and i were going to do it with "self" as fun. then kathie lee didn't do it. natalie said i'll do it, and natalie is a marathoner and she's a real athlete. >> when you're in the ocean don't you get unspeakable things

coming at you? >> yes, yes. the night before -- >> i'm not talking about your trainer. don't think i haven't noticed what's going on there, by the way. anything you want to say about that? >> on the beach -- >> you're blushing. >> stop it. >> is hot rob here today? >> hot rob is here. he's somewhere. >> he's exciting. >> i don't know if i like you anymore. so along the beach we were counting jellyfish and there were 17 or 20 the night before and natalie swam in it as a practice swim. i wasn't going in because i just had my hair blown out. who wants to get in the water. the jellies were clear the next day, so it was fine. we'll show a piece. we'll have hot rob on and the rest of it. you saw the emmys last night? what did you think? >> the trouble is i used to be a newspaper editor and i love when it goes horribly wrong. i watched it last night, it's so boring and good. the host was good, the dresses weren't bad, everyone made nice speeches. i like it when in the middle of

a decent award show can yea west charges on stage and makes a total jack of himself. to me it was a boring evening, which means it was a good show. i would have liked more action. >> i'm curious to see how it does. it did terribly last year. i think the reason is because a lot of shows, although they're popular with critics and stuff like that, a lot of people don't see them. when "mad men" wins, a lot of people don't know or the one about the vampires or whatever. >> i find it incredible someone like simon cowell never has won an emmy. >> are you pals? >> we're friends. it drives him mad. on that level i enjoy it very much. i saw another year gone silent. the most popular show on american tv, and i was thinking last night, emmys, "america's got talent" 20 million viewers. where's my piece of the pie. i thought the best supporting

actress should be heidi klum. if you're pregnant buy that dress. best supporting actress is heidi's dress. >> we'll have a segment and talk about the clothes and stuff. guess wos with us today all blinged out? shawn kingston? there's a great song he does. hi, sean. >> what's up. what's up. >> i like your whole outfit. can i see your necklace. >> you can. >> that watch is blinding me. look. >> let'ssee. sean, sean, you're on fire. you know that. this is your year. >> i'm just trying to make great music. that's what i'm trying to do. i'm not trying to do anything else. trying to provide great music for my fans, so make sure you pick this up. this is actually the biggest show, so while i'm on here pick it up. >> put it down. >> we'll talk to you in a little bit. we just wanted to say hi.

this isn't your real interview. >> we have a for piers. he's so honest on the show. are you like that in your own life? >> i had to say to hoda last night, i said you look absolutely hot tonight. that's me being honest, right, hoda? >> i'm loving him again. rob is out by the way. >> boxers or briefs? >> is this for me? boxers, but they are brief. >> sean, what about for you? >> boxers. >> all right. up next we talk to mr. sean kingston right after this.

impl implts. he's just 19 years old and he's going to burn fire plaz sxwla. >> it's off his new album, and it's called "tomorrow." >> we're glad to have you. >> thank you for having me. it's a pleasure. >> this iyour year, don't you

think? >> yes. >> things are popping for you. >> it's been a blessing. a lot of artists don't get to make it to their second album, so i'm glad to be here to make music for fans worldwide. i've been everywhere in the past two years, and just happy, man. it's great to be on my second album. i've put together an amazing album. >> the fans will love it. >> never mind the music. what about the chase. >> i missed the beautiful girl it is. that's the least right now, though. there's girls everywhere right now, you know what i'm saying. >> tell me what you do to pick the gir you like? how do you do that? >> i have a little -- i don't want to give away my strategy. >> what's your strategy? he makes songs about how his heart has been broken. >> exactly. they feel sorry for me, and i say can i have a date and i'll be happy again. >> what age women hit on you? >> oh, man. >> i'm curious. i want to know.

>> you both know what you're doing here. >> from 19 to 35. >> what's on your wrist, on that right one? i'm sorry. >> sean kingston custom watch. >> that thing is huge and fierce. >> you like it? >> i have it? >> yeah. >> how is this record different than the previous one? >> to be honest with you musically it's on a whole another level, the songs and melodies. it's a party vibe. and that's what sean kingston is triing to bring back is positive music. i don't use profanity in the music. >> i like that, too. your mom just came out of jail recently? >> she came out of jail and got married in jamaica. >> what does she think of what happened for you? >> she's excited. she's like every day i can't

believe this is my son. i've been trying to do this since i was 7 years old. >> a lot of people do put profanity and go to the edges in their music. why did you make make the conscious decision not to go there? >> i'm trying to make music for everybody. i wa i don't want it to be like, you know, i don't want to hear this music in my house. i was raised a certain type of way. my mom raise med going to church every sunday. i got a christian family, so i wouldn't curse like that even in real life. >> you have this really cool thing on the new album. how does work? >> it's amazing. right here in the booklet we have like a certain thing. it's like you have to have a webcam, but the fans can use the webcam and shot it out on a booklet and have little sean jump on the booklet. he can sing every kind of song. here's the website right here. >> it pops you up. they get to be little sean? >> virtual sean. >> look at that. that's sean.

you are adorable in virtual land. who's your music for, sean? is it for young? who is it for? everybody? >> it's for everybody. i have a lot of young fans, though. >> you do. >> i don't mind it, though, the young fans are crazy and have a lot of energy. >> i like what you didwith natasha. are you planning on doing other duets coming up? >> yes. i have a lot of futur i'm working on right now. >> you can't rio veal? >> we're going to keep it exclusive. >> come on. >> really what i'm focusing on is "tomorrow. ". >> we wish you the best of luck. coming up next we'll bring you highlights of yesterday triathlons. >> low lights. >>hat's not pretty at all.

just over 24 hours ago natalie and i competed in our very first triathlon, and look at this? we have t-shirts to prove that

we actually did it. it was called wort of shore, it was in long branch, new jersey. we're now try athletes. take a look. >> wait. i'm sorry, what? i'm sorry? >> it is race day. it is freezing. it must be like 45 degrees out. >> we're preparing to get into the water, okay? into the water. >> did we mention jellyfish? i got in the water yesterday, two of them. i almost had a full facial. >> in preparation i brought a swim cap, too. >> right there. >> again, i'm going to try to keep my hair dry. if i keep it dry, i feel like i've succeeded and won, really. >> i will say i think i've worked hard. unlike hoda. >> all i want to do is get to

the end without being visited by an emt. if that happens, victory. >> we're going to get hoda in her wet suit for only the second time. it's still very foreign to her, so it will be interesting if she knows how to get it on. come on. >> i'm hoping the wet suit also acts as a floaty. >> she's ready. >> all right. >> it's freezing! ♪ seems like everywhere i go the more i see the more i know ♪

♪ i love you ♪ i love you >> i look like such a professional. ♪ >> i'm beat. when is this over? >> who are you cheering for? >> my mom. ♪ your love is lifting me higher ♪ ♪ than i've ever been lifted before ♪ ♪ keep it up ♪ i'lle at your side forevermore ♪ ♪ you know your love is lifting

me higher ♪ ♪ higher and higher >> they're screaming your name. you can't stop. it would be humiliating. i can't believe i made it. >> it was great. it was good. i'm ready to kick back and rax for a little bit. >> is natalie eating breakfast already? >> awesome. okay, the hairidn't survive, i'm sad to tell you, but the rest of you did. you did amazing! i can't believe you did it. >> we did it? are you hooked? did you know i signed you up for another one right away? >> what? >> this is team "today." cheers! >> a good job. congratulations. >> we had a great cheering section. >> we couldn't thank all the fans enough for showing up yesterday. it really kept us going the extra mile. >> what was the most horrific moment for both you.

? >> getting hit in the head by people in the water. >> i was way behind. my thing was i got a little freaked out in the water. if i didn't see rob next to me, i started getting freaked. >> you were fine. we just had to get her started. she got in the water and was fine. natalie was out there. >> she wants you next to her. on behalf of hoda, let's ask the really important question. >> are you single? >> yeah. >> we've been through this. >> people realize this is more than just triathlon. >> i just wanted to thank them and congratulation them on such an amazing performance. >> we couldn't thank you enough. >> people don't realize with their schedules how tough it is to get through the day, and being a mother and on national tv and a correspondent, i was going to tell natalie you can consider possibly leaving your day job.

>> she did really well. >> she did fantastic. she was 17th out of 170 total women. >> wow. >> best in her age group. >> she was running sub 7s. what i want to tell hoda if you ever decide to train for a triathlon. >> what are my numbers? >> you did great, actually. hoda did fantastic. >> uh-huh. okay. i was second in the 70s and over crowd. >> i have a little gift coming out for you guys. >> what is this? >> these are the -- i promised this to you. these are the biggest trophies u will ever receive in the triathlons. >> wow. wow. >> you got the bronze goggles and little bobbleheads. >> we want to thank "self" magazine. ali berger, get in here. get here in there. awesome. we'll be back after this.

some programs could be cut. good morning. i'm joe krebs. also, coming up on "news 4 midday," the best and worst cities to raise a family in the new list released by children's health magazine.

we're back on this monday with more on "today" and an emmy award recap. >> as you know, who wore what is almost as important as who won what. >> for a look at last night's show from both pspectives is hal ruben steen and in los angeles andy cohen. hi, andy. >> good morning. >> andy, let's start with you. what would you sa say -- piers thought the whole thing was kind of dull.

>> just boring. >> he's a really tough critic, though. >> what did you think overall, andy? >> well, i was there, and it actually flowed better in the room than it has in the last few years. i thought it moved really well. i thought neil patrick harris was a great host, and i thought it was a pretty good show, actually. >> i thought he was pretty flawless in that. >> i don't know much about this guy, he's not big in britain. watching him last night, i thought he had it all. he's a performer, and he was dry, and he was sort of pretend arrogant. i liked him. i think he has a good style about him. >> i loved the speech that kristen chenoweth gave, her speech. >> that was a big upset. i thought it was a huge speech. i was bummed she beat amy poehler and kristen wiig so i was a little testy during that moment, but i did think she was

good. she really was. there was a lot of upsets last night. toni collette, there were quite a few. >> i was surprised about toni co colette. >> i was funning tina fey didn't way. i think if my shom was canceled and i won an emmy, i'd cry, too. >> she was like i love mad men and 24. she's looking for a job. >somebody hire me. >> let's talk about the clothes. nothing struck me as oh, my gosh, what is she wearing? >> people are too smart at this point. they have a stylist and know where to go and they know the sources. nobody wants to wind up on anybody's worst in the dailies and all over the internet the next morning. so people -- i wouldn't say people play it safe, but they play it smart. >> who did you live? >> blake lively. i thought she looked sensatiol. i also -- i thought that julia

louise dreyfus looked great in ve ver ra wang. january jones was also in versace. >> i like drew berrymore. it's crazy and individual. i liked it. >> the dress was played down. a lot of people are going to what's on the runway as well. i think it might have been less spectacular to look at, but for the viewer at home a lot of women relate better to the clothes they saw and say, i like that dress. i would like to wear that. >> piers was an editor of a newspaper, and he said red is always the color. >> the women always wear black because they think it makes them look slimmer. you won't get on the front page in black. no magazine or nspaper goes with black. you have to wear red. >> red is the dominant color in "in style." when we did the anniversary cover, everything is black, white and red.

red stands out. >> that's a lovely dress. >> the grade in the back is really cool. >> what about the woman that was pregnantheed deklum. >> she's a beautiful woman. >> what did you think about that? >> she popped out two babies and she's on her third, and she's proud of it. the thing is she had a black dress that went to every single movement in that trimester. >> it was stunny. >> i can't remember who the earrings are. i think she looked sensational. in the last couple of years sint na nixon and kacate blanchett. i think that whole mode of disappearing or not trying too hard when you're pregnant is over. when you look at women like heidi klum and cate blanchett, it's like okay. >> andy, thank you for getting up early for us. >> thanks, hoda. >> coming up next you can call him a hero. you know him. check him out.

we'll talk to him.

nbc's drama "heroes" is back for a fourth new season with a whole new plot and characters. >> take a look. >> this is where we start. how i became the master of time and space. if i interfere i will never become a hero. i won't see the cheerleader, and new york will explode. >> welcome. how are you? >> i'm fine. thank you for having me. >> i was sad to hear about your character's illness basically, so you kind of came up with a bucket list, things you want to take care of? >> he's going through a terminal illness, so all the things he's done in the past, right the

wrongs. >> okay. >> the best thing i heard aout you recently is you get the "heroes" script writers toot chat-up lines for you? pickup lines? >> i've never been good with them. in season one i had them write a couple of stuff. >> what ones worked? >> one i used was like how would you like me to bend your time and space continuum. >> that did not work. >> if they knew the show, it worked. if they didn't -- >> i could use that on "america's got talent." i have good news and bad news. the bad news is you're going home. the good news is, it's with me. that works. that works. >> you want to try that one. >> i'll be your wingman. >> you go to the next round. >> how is that part of your

life? the social part? >> it's great, because you get to meet a lot more people if i wasn't doing something else. i could never meet all the fans and all the great actors, all the artists. >> you have a love interest in the show. >> it's charlie from season one. she plays with us again for one episode, and it's great to get reunited with her. >> have you ever had moments when you wish you could disappear in real sflif. >> there's always times like that, you know. i don't have the real power of like freezing time, but when you tell a bad joke, you kind of like want out. it really freezes time there. >> "heroes" is terrific and a great pronlt, but what else do you have cooking? >> i'm doing things on the future side and a couple reality shows. rightnow we had something picked up by dream works. >> so you're writing?

>> i love acting but i have respect for behind the scenes. >> you're quite dangerous. you're a weird black belt in something? >> kendo, but without the sword i'm nothing. it's like the art of swort fid t fighting. >> you have a black belt in that? >> yeah. the problem is if we fight, you'll beat the crap out of me because i don't have a sword. very useless without a sword. with a sword i can be deadly. >> we wish you the best of luck with the series here. thanks again. "heroes" returns tonight at 8:00/7:00 central on nbc. up next we have the newest member of our joy fit club. he lost over 200 pounds. we'll meet him right after. this. this.

today

we're back with look at me now the joy fit club and our newest member. >> rust lane lost a total of 187 pounds and his heaviest weight was 350. >> we'll met russ in a minute. first let's look at his story. >> my name is russ lane and at my heaviest i wayed 350 pounds. of course, i remember the hurtful comments from schoolmates. naturally, i'd think back to the happy facts i had conjured when needed. now i mostly recall the silence. i worked as a music critic in college. and there was the quiet disapproval of the pizza delivery guy stating the price and large pepperoni and extra cheese at 3:30 a.m., the transparent chatter of co-workers who wrote me off, and my mom's hushed frustration on drives back from the big and tall shop. i set aside music reviews and forced myself to talk with actual people learning to tell their stories. i even exercised at different

points but didn't stick with it or curtail the emotional eating. i was miserable. i wasn't ready to change my body or life back then, but that was then, and this is most certainly now. >> and we are here today along with joy. he dropped a lot of weight. >> it's a phenomenal story because russ lost the majority of his weight eating and reviewing fattening fare. he's a food critic. that's his profession. he was a stickler with portions and when he wasn't reviewing food, he went out of his way you better assume to eat balanced, localeary meals. >> let's look at one more time at russ before. all right. russ, come join the joy fit club. >> wait. i have to touch him. where's russ? where is russ? you are kidding me? >> it's me. >> how long did it take to drop

all that weight? >> about three years. >> did it? did it come off quickly initially? is that what happened? >> it started off quickly, and then after a while you focus more on how to build muscle and toning, and that's a different thing than weight loss. >> what was the tipping point for you? what's the moment when you suddenly woke up and thought, i can't go on the way i'm living my life? >> there's a lot of buildup, but really it wasn't so much for me about, you know, i really want to lose roughly about 200 pounds. it was, i wanted to make my life how i wanted it to be. i think that's really the key. like compared to that goal, losing that much weight is actually kind of -- it's not as difficult. >> there's so many things you couldn't do, i bet. what kind of things were you restricted from doing because of weight? >> all sorts of things. wearing boots and on top of all the mental things i thought i couldn't do. a lot of the writing i do now looks at the mental aspects of weight loss. that required a challenge i

never thought i was capable of doing. >> the exercise portion had to play. you're not just thin but fit. what did you do to tone up? >> i originally worked with trainers. now i do my workouts on my own. when i'm not lifting i'm running or make a point to walk instead of taking the subway. >> at your worst, russ, what are you eating in a day? >> i'd go without food all day and have a large pizza and two ounces of coke at the end of the day. >> you know what's funny? a lot of people do that, joy, miss all the meals and eat a big one and gain weight even though if you total up calories it shouldn't work that way. >> you're so ralf nus you eat the house. these are a few things that russ now does that obviously keeps the weight off. he examines menus. he looks through the menus and asks a lot of questions about how the food is prepared. when the appetizer look interesting, he skips the entrees and he'll couple twor or

three appear tiesers together. this is an interesting salad and sauteed shrink and seaweed salad and dumplings. he uses ingredients in his cooking tha add big flavor for low calorie. he crushed toasted almonds and the panko bred cruad crumbs. he lost 187 grounds and because his main vice was pepperoni pizzas. sl 178 pounds worth of pepperoni pizza. >> russ, you look so, so terrific. congratulations. good for you. >> cheers. >> and if you think you know someone who should be consider frd the for a spot, logon to our website. up next the best place to

it's monday and it's time for the minimoney makeover on monday. we're talking about safely investing your savings. >> today jean has been working with lisa price who is a good saver but afraid to put her money into anything but a savings account. >> your issue was you had 50 grand, and you wanted to keep it in a savings account because why? >> i'm a single working woman in new york city. it took a long time to save shgts and i wanted to keep it safe and be able to see it. in this economy i was scared to do anything. >> you can understand that, jean, because when you look at the stock markets, you watch things just plummet. >> the first thing i said to lisa is what is this money for? she said it's my cushion. it's my cushion in case i lose my job or buy an apartment. this is the down payment. what she was saying was i don't want to lose a dime of this money. >> also, dangerous to leave

everything in one place. we've seen some biginancial institutions going down. i had money in one that was crushed. >> by the way, not at that level. fdic protection on savings is up to $250,000 per deposit per institution. however, what she was doing by not moving that money to someplace where she could earn extra on that cash was saying, hey, i'm losing money after taxes inflation. >> let's talk about what you were doing before. look at it graphic. before you had $50,000 in your savings account. okay. now, this is after jean got involved. jean, you're keeping her safe like lisa wants to be, but you're basically letting her into more money. >> we're doing a couple of things. we're keeping her fairly liquid. we're looking at interest rates right now, and interest rates are lower than they've ever been. they have nowhere to go but up. one of the things we wanted to do was make sure she had the ability to grab the interest

rates as they start to rise in the future. what we did is take the money out of savings, out of that where it's earning .2%. that's $100 a year on that $50,000. she left 20,000 in regular savings but at a higher interest rate? >> did you feel comfortable with that, lisa. >> yeah, i could see it and touch it. >> at her local bank, by the way. >> risk-free as well. >> no risk to this money. >> you're increasing any risk at all. >> exactly by shopping around. we put $15 thousand to you into a six-month cd, $15,000 into a one-year cd. as interest rates roll, she can roll those into it. >> so before she get 100 bucks which is nada. >> after? >> she got 811, which is a significant improvement. there are going to be people out

there, that's not enough. shouldn't she make money? you could move i into bonds, but you have to take risks. not on her program. >> good advice. we love having you on. lisa, good luck to you, too. tomorrow we have miss mandy moore joining us. we've got something on happiness and the special performance. >> and most importantly you have me again. >> i like it. have a good day. >> i like it. have a good day. bye, everybody. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com