good morning. medical milestone? for the first time ever, an experimental vaccine has prevented infection with the aids virus. the remarkable findings just announced this morning. how are th? it's been nearly a month since that 18-year-long kidnapping ordeal came to an end for jaycee dugard. this moing, a man whoas recently spent time with jaycee and her two dghters speaks out what their lives are like now. and startling revelations. actress mackenzie phillips'

shockingew memoi -- drugs at age 10, fired from ne day at a time," and the most disturbing claim of all, a decade-long sexual relationship with her own father, the late pop star john philli phlips. she's here to talk about it all in a live interview today, thursday, september 24th, 2009. captions paid for by nbc-universal television and welcome to "today" on this thursday mornin i'm meredith vieira. >> and i'm matt lauer and we're keeping our fingers crossed out of this news out of thailand this morning. researchers carrying out the wod's largest aids vaccine trial are hailing what they call a brkthrough in the fight against aids. >> it's an experental drug that actually cut the risk o becoming infected with hiv by more than 31%. we're going to have much more on at pmising discovery just ahead. also ahead, we're going to lk about a high school hazing

ritual that's going to make a lot of parents very angr freshmen girls targeted by old students at one of e most prestigious schools i the countr and getthis, administrators of that schoolad known aut it for at lst ten years. we're going to tell you more about that story. plus, an emotional day at the extortion trial connected to the death of john travolta and kell prton'sson. travolta, who has stayed out o the public eye since jett death in january, took the witness standwednesday. and what he told t cou brought his wife to tears. we'rgoing to have more on that in just a little while. but let's begin with high security in pittsburgh, where president oba is meeting with g-20 leaders. nbc's savanna guthrie is there. good morning to yo savannah. >> reporter: good morning, meredith. pittsburgh is about to become the center of world politics. later today, world leaders will travel here from new york for the g-20 economic summit, where the global financial csis is expected to be issue number one. pittsburgh readies to receive the world.

thousands of police, some in full riot gear, have taken up strategic positions on almost evy block. greeeace activists rappelled off the west end bridge, sending a clear message to the world leaders who will come here today. it's part two of the president's week on the world stage. on wednesday at the united nations, he lay laid out his foreign polic vision, saying america is ready to engage with the world but won't go it alone. >> those who used to chastise america for acting alone in the world cannot now stand by and wa for america to solve the rld's problems alone. >> reporter: in the audience, e man who represents foreign policy challenge number one for the adnistration, iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad, making a point to show his boredom as mr. obama challenged iran and northorea directly. >> and they must be held accountable. >> reporter: when his turn came, ahmadinejad didn't directly mention the nuclear issue but lashed out at what healled unbridledcapitalism, as the

u.s. delegation walked out. earlier in a rambling, nearly two-hour address t the u.n., his first in 40 years, libyan leader moaar gadhafi blasted the organization, calling its security council a terr council, even tossing a copy of the u.n. charter towd the secuty council president. mewhile, a busy president obama toasted the u.n. >> to the united nations. >> reporter: and sat down with russiapresident dmitry medvedev, looking for cooperation on iran. >> if iran does not respond to serious negotiations, serious additional sanctions remain a possibility. >> reporter: russia appeared t open the door to supporting sanctions but made no promises. but not all the drama in new york was on the world stage. the wife of embattled governor david paterson, who the white house is pushing not to run next year, spoke out. >> i never heard of a president asking a sitting governor not to

run for relection. i thought it was very unusual and very unfair. >> reporter: well, here in pitturgh, world leaders will be phing for new, tougher financial regulations s that a global financial crisis doesn't happen again. some in europe want a c on executive bonuses, something t u.s. is not likely t support, mereth. >> all right, savannah guthrie, thank you very much. let's get the rest of the top stories of the morning now from ann curry over at the news desk, including that big sto coming out of thailand. ann, good morning to you. >> that's right. good morning to you, matt, meredith, and all of you. though much of theorld attentionow is on swine flu, there is an iortant milestone that matt mentioned t tell you about today in the fight against aids officials announced in thailand that f the first ti, an experimental vaccine has prevented infection with the aids virus. e vaccine cut the risk o getting infected with hiv by more than 31%. and the finding is a result of the world's largest aids vaccine trial. top u.s. health officials say they are now cautiously

optimistic about developing an effective vaccine. today, massachusetts governor deval patrick names an interim successor to the late senator ted kennedy, and kennedy's sons want him t pic former democratic national committee chairman paul kirk. federal officials are investigating the death of a census worker in kentucky. they found him hanging from a tree with the word fed scrawled acrossis chest. the census bureau suspended door-to-door interviews until the death of bill sparkman investigation is completed. oil and gas prices. melissa lee is at the new york stock exchange for us again this morning. melissa,hat e yo watching there? >> good morning,ann. investors will contie to digest wt the fed said about the u.s. economy. no change in interest rates, but the fed w a little bit more optimistic about growth prospes here. meanti meantime, if you're a citibank custer, you might want to pay tention tohis story. the "wall street journal" is reporting that citibank is narrowing the focus of its

reil bank branch to six metropolitan areas -- new york, washington, miami,chicago, san francisco and los angeles. so, you might want to find another branch. not in those cities, ann. >> all right, okay. thanks a lot, melissa lee this morning. get a load of this -- a mother in indonesiaas given bih to a -pnd baby boy, who is said to have a very big appetite. he was born cesarean, thank goodness. but as big as he is, he didn't hold the record because a bab born in 1879 actually weighed 3 pounds. more to love. it is now 7:07. nowack to matt, meredith and al. >> the comparison picture, the by on the left was actually 6 years old. >> that's a big baby. >> that's a huge baby. >> with a big mouth. look at that. >> just after that pture was taken, he looked tthe left, said "ooh, burrito." get in my belly! all right, let's take a look, see what's gng on right now,

and the good news is, thankfully, we've got that rain staying away from thesoutheast, mostly from texas all the way up into indiana, illinois. we're lking at some rai stretching down on into kentucky s ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç# another mild and muggy summerlike day underway here in september. right now, low and mid 70s around region. 74 at reagan national. highs should reach the mid 80s. partly sunny and turning less humid this afternoon. pre-dawn shower friday. partly cloudy. cooler with a northeast breeze. cool, saturday morning in the 50s. increasing clouds, saturday, highs, upper 60s and a likelihood of afternoon and evening showers. sunday, partly sunny and warmer. that's your lates weather. meredith? >> , thank you. and now to the latt on jaycee dugard's -year-long kidnappi ordeal. in a moment, we will hea from her family's new spokespers,

who has recently spent time with jaycee and her daugers, but first, new details on the case against dugard's alleged abductors, phillip and nancy garrido. here's nbc's george lewis. >> reporter: police spent a week probing and digging inhe backyard of e garrido hse looking to see ifny bodies might be buried there. so far, they have found nothing significant that would connect phillip rrido to a pair of old cases involving two girls who dippeared under circumstances similar to the abduction of jaycee dugard. and whe there is nhing to implicate garrido at this point, and while the search of his property isfinished, police are notetting him off the hook. >> wwill continue to pursue phillip garrido as a potential suspect and we will walk away from these properties knowing that we left no stone unturned. >> reporter: meanile, a man who claims to jaycee durd's biological father made an emotional plea to meet her. ken sleighton, who ss he was romantically involved with jaycee's mother in 1979, was

flankedy his wife and daughters and his attorney as h read a brief statement. >> we love you, jaycee, and we're ready for your call. >> reporter: representatives of jaycee dugard'samily said that slayton d never been a part of jaee's life before she was abducted and said his so-called plea was a cheap publicity stunt. this as jaycee and her daughters remain in seclusion trying to adjust to their new life. jaycee getting reacquainted with the mother she had bn sepated fr for 18 years. for "today," george lewis, nbc, los angele >> so, what is daily life now like for jaycee and her two daughters? early this morning, ann spoke with the family's new spokesperson and attorney. ann. >> that's right, meredith. s name is mcgregor scott. he's a former u.s. attorney he was approached by jaycee's mother, terry probyn and agreed to work pro bono. we spokend i asked him about jaycee's state of mind.

>> i'vead an opportunity to meet with the family on two occasions for a lengthy period of time on each ocsion, and i can honestly say that i was very pleasaly surprised when i first me with jcee as to her state of mind and her abilities, her competence her functionality. and i was even more so the second time i had the opportunity to spend time with her. very, very reassured and pleasantly surprised by what i saw. >> did she give you any sort of idea, impression abo what she may want to d now with her life as she's making this transition? >> she and her mother and her children and the extended family are very much focused right now on this period of reconciliation and mending. they obviously have bn separated, shend her mother, for 18 years now, well over half of the length of jaycee's life. and so, that really is their primary focus whin the ternal dynamics of the family. consideration of where she wants to be a year fm now or five years from now is reall not an immediate issue that the family

is wrestling with. we really have a very definite list of specific things that we've got to focus on here in the short term. >> a how are you gting through that list? you mention thegirls, ages now 15 and 11, so there's a lot of healing, as you sort of referred to, to be done. are there prossionals who are helping? it would seem to me that the job of fixing this or helping someone cope would be enormous. >> yes. jaycee and the girls and jaycee's mother are all receiving top-notch treatment, both in a physical -- a medical way as well as in a psychological or mental treatment way. so, they are recvi jt the best of care. and in addition to that, we've assembled a team of top-notch lawyers to help them with the multitude of legal issues that they face going forward. >> and so, are they the also havingo make those kinds of decisions as they're trying to heal as well? i mean, is there a clock that's ticking that is forcing them to

make those decisions now? >> well, there's reay no clock, but there really are some things that must be dealt with. for example, we have in recent days formally established a trust so that membersf the public and others can make charitable contributions to jaycee's well-being and those of her daughters going forward. that's a legal matter that we have to wrestlewith. the girls do not have birth certificates, so that's a process that we have now initiated, because so much flows from the possession of a birth certificate here in the unite states. so, there's no real clock, but there are things that must be started, because they take some time. >> meantime, last nit, jaycee mom, terry, released a stement saying that"people shld nevertop looking for their missing children." she said "miracles can happen." know that the family wants to communicate in a way that sti shields them with the public. what do they want to say, sir? >> well, the family really has two primary purposes or missions right now as we speak day.

the first is to continue this mending and healing prosshat they're engaged in, in a private, secure way, and they would respectfully ask the media and the public to really just leave them alone during this period of time so that they can complete that process. the second thing that they really wld like the media, the public and law enforcement to focus on right now in a very constructive, positi way, is those families out there who have also had children abducted and whose children have not come me. >> mcgregor scott, you're a former.s. attorney, and i can hear in your voice this sort of wish for justice for this family why did you accepthis case pro bono, which is to say you're not being paid? >> because is the right thing to . i dedicated nearly two years of my professional career to being a prosecutor here inalifornia at the local and federal levels, and candidly, i feel that the system, the legal system failed jaycee dugard on many levels, and all of us have a responsibility and an

opportunity here to step up and try to help her and her daughters and her extended family to make this right to the best of our ability. >> our interview with mcgregor scott, the spokesperson for jaycee dugard and her family. meredith. >> itever ceases to amaze me, mr. scott talking about how jaycee seems to be doing so well, considering the resilience of people, after 18 years being held captive. >> i think it might be fair to say that, you know, there has been a series of survival skill that she has gained -- >> deloped, yeah >>hat she's become very stro strong. but that doesn't diminish the suffering she is enduring. >> thank you, ann, very much. it is 7:. once again, here's matt. >> ann, tha you. now to john travolta's heartbreaking testiny in a trial connected to the death of his son. he took the standwednday, painfully reliving the final moments of his son's life. michelle kosinski is in the bahamas. good morning to you.

>> reporter: good morning,matt. john travolta's the prosecution's key witness here, and he started his testimony by telling the court that his son was tistic and would have a severe seizure every few days. look acre somber and pale, john travolta returned to the bahamas with wife kelly preston for the firstime since their son jett died at their vacio home here in january. travolta stood in the packed island crtro and me a artling admission -- "my son was autistic. he suffered from a seizure disorder," he said, describing severe seizures every five to ten days, lasting up to a minute, after which jett would sleep for 12 hours. it is the first time the family s acknowledged their son's autism. still, jett tk antiseizure drugs for years until the family said they stopped working and were causinghysical harm. travolta said on the morning his son was found unresponsive, he was suddenly awakened. "the nanny was pounding on the door wre w wer sleeping. i ran at the door. i ran downstairs to help my son with my wife. i saw him.

he was on the bathroom floor." he said another nanny and a hotel employee were already performing cpr on jett andohn himself jumped in to take over mouth-to-mouth breathing. "we continuedcpr. my wife was holding my son's head." officials say at first, travolta considered having the ambulance take jett to the aport so he could be treated in the u.s. to do that, he signed a waiver refusing local treatment that h saide did not read. time was of the essence, he told the court. but travolta changed his min and paramedics took jett to a local hospital. days later, travolta claims, one of the paramedics tried to sell him that waiver to keep it private and that the paramedics' attorney, a former bahamian senator, called travolta's lawyer with an asking price of $25 million. both are now accused of attempted extortion. they say they're innocent. >> this is an embarrassing situation for the bahamas. you've got a former senator who is accused of demanding $25

million from john travolta in exchange f a medical document. >> reporter:travolta, at times emotional, is still grieving the loss of his only son. when asked by the prosecutor if jett was alive after they brought him to the hospital, he replied quietly, "no, he was not ale." travolta would only be able to speak for a few minutes at a time before being interrupted again and again by objections from defense attorneys, arguing for hours over whether his testimony should even be admissible. as a result, he's going to have to take the stand again, possibly toy. matt? >> all right, michelle kosinski in the bahamas this morning. thank you very much. let's bring nbc's chief medical editor in, dr. nancy snyderman. nancy, good morning to you. >> , matt. >> this emotional testimony and we now hear that jett trolta would suffer from seizures every five days or so. they'd last a mite. what jumps out when you read this >> a painful admission how difficult it is for a parent blicly to say my child had problems, which we know has

obviously been a problem since the travoltasadt addressed this earlier, and the fact that a seizure dorder and autismo not necessarily go together, but every evidence tt these parents did everything right. they surrounded himith good caretakers. this was a sad thing. they acted responsibly and this child died way too young. >> i just want to go back to what you said a second ago. so, a child living with autism is not more likely to have this seizure disorder than a child not living with autism? >> that's correct, and als not more likely to live a shorter fe. people with autism can goon, depending on how severe it is, to being, you know, in the workforce, or sometimes in severe cases, being institutionalized, but can have regular lifespans. >> and i don'tnow why this kind of struck me, but this idea that jt travolta was having these seizures so frequely, and then they would last a minute and then he would slp -- >> sleep. >> -- for up to 12 hours. i mean, is that something that's common with a seizure disorder? >> people who have seizures will tell you they're sleepy afterwards. it's called a post-ictal state. and people will usually go to

sleep. the fact that jett's seizures were gettingore and more pronounced, more frequent and he would sleep more afterwards tells you that he was having breakthrough periods, that the medications weren't enou. this is really a worse seizu disorder than theverage person, and there are some people for whom the side effects of the medications areorse than not being on them at all. >> prior tohis testimony, we had been hearing from the travoltas that jett had suffered from kawasaki disease. >> right. >> and now, in almost an off-handed way, ss , this was autism. would the treatment for those two things have been greatly different? >> i was never a believer tt kawasaki disease had much to do with this. that's a viral infection that causes really high fevers and a rash in kids. and the question is, could that have triggered something else most likely, the autism was there from the early, early stagesf jett's development. kawasaki's disease just happened to comelong and the seizure disorder also probablythere. really a constellaon of various problems. >> and i want to chang subject now, because i've got you sitting in the chair and i want to talk abouthis information

coming out of thailand this rning. >> yeah. >> on this effectiveness, it seems, of an aids vaccine. i don't want to get breathless about it, but itounds awfully promising. >> breathle, but not hopeful. this has been a real conundrum. this is a smart virus. it kills slowly, it mutates quickly. we've poed billions of dollars against it. no great vaccine. so, what the researchers did in thailand was combine two vaccines. whathey found was peoe at risk -- sex workers, drug users -- that in fact, they could cut the chance of getting sick about 31 >> that's huge. >> it is a huge door opening, and i think now you'r going to see this research move forward. tony fauchie fm the nih today very, very hopeful. i think all eye are on this study coming out of thailand. big step forward. >> keep our fingers crossed. nancy, as always, thanks so much. 20 minutes aft the hour. just ahead, shocking aegations

from mackenzie phillips, star of "one day at a time." in a new me

just ahead, a disturbing hazing ritual exposed at a prestigious high school. plus, mackenzie phillips, live.

good morning, everyone. welcome. i'm barbara harrison. the time right now, 7:26. in the news oat this hour, metro's board meets to discuss the general manager's contract. some angry riders are calling for his resignation after june's deadly crash. metro board members say he has their full support. police need your help in finding a missing girl from silver spring. the 14-year-old disappeared from her foster home.

she is 5'6" and weighs about 140 pounds. she is known to hang around langley park, land over and oxen hill.

good morning. live picture. from the city cam. on this thursday morning, mild, humid, low and mid 70s. less humid this afternoon, partly sunny. could have a pre-dawn shower friday. afternoon and evening showers likely saturday. how is the traffic? on the outer loop of the

beltway, no accidents to report. it is starting to improve. leaving college park towards silver springs, 66 east boupd is a mess. to be avoided. after 00, the accident activities move to the shoulder. delays begin at 29 and gainesville to get into the fairfax

7: now on a thursday morning. it's the 24th day of september 2009. ah, meredith, a look at some of your boats parked -- >> ha, ha, ha. >> -- in monte carlo. that's a ne place to be right now, along the mediterranean. that is recession-proof monte cao, b the way, the playground to the rich and famous, and this week, home to 100 yachts worth -- get this -- $3 llion. we'll go there in a moment and find out whyhere is no ch

thing as recession there. not bad to be outside on a sunny morning like that. no, it isn't. plaza's not bad behind us as well. i'm matt lauer along with meredith vieira in studio 1a. coming up, sexually charged zing rituals on the cams of new jersey's top high school. what's even more shocking, school administrators say they've known about this for 10 or 15 years. we're going to have more on that story coming u in just a couple of minutes. also ahead, actress mackenzie phillips is here. she has written a memoir about r life and the details are, frankly, sturbing. she was doing cocaine in her fifth grade class. she was kidnapped, raped, arrested, but the most shockin of all, phills wtes about a long-standing sexual relationship that she says she had with her late father, john phillips, lead singer of the ma'am ys and the papas. we'll talk to her later on. and nancy snyrman will be back to answer youruestions about heart health and heart disease. but we begin with that hazing incident at a new jersey high school.

amrobach has the latest. amy, good morning to you. >> reporter: meredith, good morning. milburne higschool has a bizarre hazing ritual. millbu is wt som people call a dream hool listed among the t 200 schools in the nation by"newsweek." it'sestled in a neighborhood ere the average home price i $1.2 million. but this dream school became a nightmare for a group of incoming freshmen girls. in a yearly, sexually charged hazing ritual, popular senior girls wrote and disibuted what they call a "slut list." >> some girls i think were really, like freaked out and shocked that they were on it. >> rorter: the list names over 20 girls along with lewd, personalized descriptio. >> c it out, katie. it's our burn book. weut out girls' pictures from the yearok and then wrote comments. dawn is a fat virgin. >> reporter: reminiscent of the movie "mean girls," most entries are too explicit to quote.

the list was obtained by the shorthills patch. "i want yo so bad, i'll get you to blank." "keeping up with the family tradition, blank me over and knock me up." along with the list,freshmen girls were reportedly pushed into locrs and had whistles blown in their faces, raising concerns from worried parents. >> socially, morally, ethically, it's an unacceptable behavior. >> reporter: but even with parents up in arms, some students don't see a cause for alarm. >> and the only thing that people would get upset, i they're not on the list for some reason. so, i don't think it can be that bad if people are wanting to be it. >> reporter: school officials fused to tk on camera but did confirm tre was some hazing that first day. in a e-mail sent to students, the superintendt had this to say -- "any so-called ritual which in any way threatens, degrades orakes any youngster feel intimidated or less than whole is a violation of schoo policy and just plain wrong." hazing at millburn high is a tradition that said to be

gog onor over ten years, a tradion that some experts say may be tough to break. >> it's unkelyo stop unless the community and bystanders and the administrators in the school system decide that they're going to make a concerted effort to break the code of silence and to stop hazing. >> school officials are promising to discipline those behind the hazings and they have enuraged anytudent who has either been a victim o a witness to thisype of behavior to come forward. medith. >> all right, amy robach, thank you very much. disturbing story. >> it certainly is. it's 34 after the hour right now. let's get a check of the wther from al. all right, thanks a lot, guys. and what, what, what's ho hopenhagen? >> we believe in a better future and it starts with the united nations climate change conference this december. we're going to lead our leaders toward positive -- >> and how do you get formation? >> hopenhagen.org. >> and nice t-shirts, too. let's check your weather, see

what's going on. show you for today, man, it is hot in the pacific northwest on into the plains. 24 degrees above normal in great falls, medford 12 drees above normal, d as you look at tse temperatures, 104 in palm springs. pasadena, 102. record hig psible around southern california. restf the country, it's toasty also down through the southeast, lf coast. ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç# mostly sunny and humid on this thursday morning. here is the live view looking off toward the eastern horizon over the potomac river. low and mid 70s around washington. the nearby suburbs. shenandoah valley. a bit cooler in the mountains. eastern shore, in the low and mid 70s. another summerlike september day with highs reaching the d >> now, we've got some nice

folks here from theu.p. of michigan. very nice. and r your u.p. of michigan weather all around the country, you can go to the weather channel on cable any time of the day or night or weather.com. now back inside to matt. >> all right, al, thank you very much. now to the obscene amounts of wealth on displayhis week at the mono yacht show. nbc's peter alexander ishere this morning. peter, hello to you. >> reporter: matt, good morning to you from the principality of monaco. this is certainly one place where you would have no idea there is a global recession under way. certainly haven't heard the billionaires here all that much. here at the monaco yacht show, despite turbulent economic seas, the wealth is not just aunted, it is celebrated. ♪ elegance, opulen, excess. monaco is a tropical and tax-free paradis for the world's elite. with moreillionaires in a singlequare milehan anywhere else on the globe, where the rich and the super rich come to

relax and do busess in style. this year's boat show hosts 100 yachts worth nearly $3illion floati in this harbor alone. so the billionaires are back? >> ye they are back and they are richer than ever. >> reporter: for a cool $105 million, the 240-foot "siren" is a pleasure pale at sea, with a helicopter pad, a plush, private cinema and the ultimate personal bar. >> that's a priva bar, and -- reporter: if this doesn't float your boat, nothing will. wow. among its unique amenities -- this is the panic room. >> this is the panic room to get away. >> reporter: so, who can afford this luxury? spencer is investing in exclusive land, but his weakness is toys at sea. the latest yacht to catch his eye, the prized "my ," developed by armani.

the russian tycoon owns the rld's biggest yacht, nearly two football fields in length, loed with its ownissi defense system and labels to prevent the paparazzi from taking photos. i could get used to this. if there is any hint of the troubled economy -- >> it is definitely a buyer's market at the moment. they're looking for a bargn. >> reporter: prices have fallen up to 30%. >> but they're still worth a t. and so, by no means, people should think that there is free yachts for sale. >> reporter: even at lower prices, these yachts have inspired an industry focused not just on extravagance, but excellence. >> i design boats, and it's a beautiful examplef human intelligence. >> okay, this is a submarine -- >> submarine for three. >> for three. >> reporter: and when that beautiful yacht's still not enough- ♪ i'm going down, down, down, down ♪ >> reporter: for $750,000, the

seaquester can take you into another world. anything's attnable when recessios the issue and money's no object. of cour, if buying a boat is not exactly in your budg, you can always rent one. matt this is the "siren," 240 feet long, and it rents for $600,000 a week. but be warned in advance, that does not include fuel -- sounds like we've bee having some of the food or alcoh that don't come with that price, either. suffice say, the "today" show is dked right alongside, ready to take us home. >> and your research? you think it will be complete in the next few weeks there, peter? >> yeah, i think it should be. we were reading up on the "where in the world" 2002. i think you made a similar trip -- >> yeah, peter, yeah. >> i was there for eight hours, peter, eight hours. anyway. that's cool stuff. good to see u, peter. thanks very much. > and coming u next, "one day at a time" star mackenzie phillips comes clean about a lifetime of drugs and the sexual relationship she had wither own famous father. she'll join us live in the studio right after this.

> back now at 7:42 with actress mackenzie phillips' explosive memoir, detailing a life of sex, drugs and rock and ro roll, and the biggest bombshell of all, that she had a long-standg sexual relationship with her own dad. in a moment, we're going to talk to her about it in a live interview. but fit, hooer's nbc's cis jansing. >> reporter: even by hollood tell-all standards, mackenzie

phillips' allegations are shocking. the former child star from "one day at a time" says she had a decade-long sexual relationship with her father, music legend john phillips. >> the revelation that there was an incestuous relationship is a real bombshell and really horrific. >> reporter: in her autobiography "high on arrival," mackenzie ys i started when she was just 19, the night before her fir marriage. ♪ california dreaming >> reporter: john phillips was pop royalty in the '60s, selling 40 million records with the mamas and the papas. mackzie ys he brought her into the world of drugs, sex and rock and roll. >> one othe stories that she tells is that oner 18th birthday, she was propositioned by mick jagger, and he sai to her, "i've been waiting for this since you were 10." >> reporter: the incestuous fair only ende mackeie says, whe she became pregnant and didt know whether the baby was her father's or her husband's. ♪ if you hold onor one more

day ♪ >> reporter: the book has divided the famous family. former pop sta china phillips says she believes her half sister, but step mother michelle phillips don't, telling nbc news, "there is no way to kw ifhe story is true." john phillips died in 2001, a victim of his own drug and alcohol abuse. last year on "today," mackenzie remembered how her own drug use got her fired from "one day at a time." >> it was, and therefore, we don't gloss over it, because it would be untrue to history. ♪ california dreamin' >> reporter: a personal history that included a dark and disturbing secret until now. chris jansing, nbc news, los anges. >> and again, the book is called "high on arrival." mackenzie phillips, good morning to you. >> good morning, meredith. >> i think anybody reading your book will probably conclude, it's a macle that you're alive, given all the drug use, the rape, the kidnapping. how would you describe your childhood? >> well, i mean, it was like a

fantasy world. i mean, it was -- b you know, to me, it wa't, because we experice what we know, and what we know is what we've experienced. >> and what you experienced at 10 years old, it started with these pot brownies. your parents had split when you were 2. >> yeah. >> your dad, john phillips, took up with then 16-year-old michelle phillips -- she became michelle philli. you were going back and forth between the homes. your dad's home was a mansion. it was really a lot about drugs and whatever you want goes, a lot of hedonism, and you wer introduced to pot brownies, i guess, when you were 10. by 11, you were snorting coke in school? >> yeah. i mean, it was a different time, and you know, the kind of parenting that i perienced, althoughy father, i believe, dithe best with what he could with wt he was given as a child, as he grew into a man. he did the best he could, and my mother was integral in keeping me, you know, healthy and well for as long as possible. and my auntrosie, my father's sister, really helped raise me,

too. >> but again, in reading the book, it seems like much of your time, you were really strung out, even as a little kid. i mean, you talk about your dad at some point saying to you, "whatever turns you on." was there any adult iyour life at that point saying this is not right? >>no. there were people who were, you know, around us, but it wasn't necessarily, you know -- it was a very permissive te a a very rock and roll world, and you know, pretty much anything went. but i mean, i he to -- i can't characterize it as being strung ou as a child. >> ah. >> you know, strung out tends to talk about someone who is addicted, and that came later, of course, but certainly, this were set into motion early, but iasn't strung out as a 10 or 11, 12-year-old, no. >> but a lot of experimentation, for sure? >> you know it sort of grew. it's a snowball effect. nobody starts out -- rarely -- as a full-on junkie. that comes over time. >> right. it's also amazing to me, because we all knew you as a little girl, 12 years old, from

"american grfiti," and then a few years later, you're on "one day a time," and playing julie cooper, that everybody loved who watch aid ted the sho. anyet, you're also living this other life on the side. how are you balancing tse two roles? >> well, i didn't manage to balance it well for very long. there's only so long you can pull something like that off, especially when you're at that age. you know, youo your job. i did my job. i had a great work ethic, and you know, that was instilled in me very young. so, i triedo separate the two, and thas been the story of my life is sort of compartmentaling and boxing off different difficult things and trying to onlyake them out and look at these difficult things, you know, when no one else is looking at you. an i was very difficult to balance. 's also very difficult to reconcile what went down with who i am today. it's definitely a difficult thing. >> bause so much happened. i know you sd to me in the break, this is not an incest memoir, but incest is very mh

a part of you life and you write about it very openly in the book at 19 years of age. you and your dad were partyin and next thi you ow, you wake up and you're in his bed and you're having sex. >> yes, yeah. and mercyfully, i slid directly back into a blackout, and you know, and that certainly wasn't a consensual experience by any stretch of the imagination. >> you said at the time, "when i came to the next mornin i saw nothing, i said nothing, i heard nothing, i felt nothin" >> that's correct. this is a universal story, meredith, and since the publication of this book yesterday, the outpouring of support from other incest survivors has been phenenal this is a subject that is so incredibly taboo, ands well it should be, but there needso be a dialogue about it. the covers need to be lled. you can't keepweeping this

under the carpet. this is affecting families all over the world, all over the world. i mean, and you know, you look at the kid next door and y're thinking, what'soing on in that house? you know, you don't know what's happening. and people are ashamed. and through that shame they go on to commit acts against themselves. people cut, people take drugs -- i never did that, but i mean, they take drugs, they act out inappropriately sexually. this goes on everywhere, and it's time fors to bring this tolight. >> but you did approach your family. you mentn that in the book. you say that your father had raped you, and they basical told you to sweep it under t carpet. >>yes, ty did. >> not to talkbout it. >> yes, they did, and that set in motion the inability to face this for so many years. and i need to take a moment to say tt my father was not a bad man. he was a very sick man. and if anyone out there can possibly separate his body of work fro his personal demons, i think that would be the honorable thg to do.

he didn't set out to hurt me. he did the best with what he did. i mean, he was a damaged guy. >> but for ten years, you had this relationship, and it only stopped -- go ahead. >> no, no, peoeay for ten years, i had this relaonship. at 18, i was molested. then maybe three years later, i started waking up with my pants down around my ankl. and then maybe two years after that, it became consensual. so, to call it a ten-year affair or a ten-year relionship -- >> is not right. >> --s not correct. anthat is something i really would like to get out there, and this is not something that happens like tha necessarily. this was a warped event that occurred over time, and what it started out as, which was an act of molestation and what it became were two entirely different things. one i believe i have no accountability for, the initial evt. i believe that i have some accountability forhat went down afterwards, ahoh i believe that incest of any kind is a betrayal. it's an abuse of power. and so, to cracterize i as a

ten-year-long incestuous aair is really un -- it's just not informed, and i'm not saying that you're not informed. >> i understand. just to clarify. >> yeah. >> we have so much more toalk to you about, mackenzie, including your family's reaction about this book and why y even choseo bring this up now that your father has passed away. >> absolutely. >> we'll talk to y again next half hour. the book is "high on arrival."

we'll have more wit mackenzie phillips, including why she wrote the book, family reaction. also, she has a son, 20-year-old shane. at their relatnship is like, because this is very revealing about his mom. >> more with mackenzie phillips.

cloudy skies above us but some sunshine getting through. rays of light. you can see them up there. 73 degrees, the current temperature. good morning. i'm barbara harrison. thursday, september 24th. our time right now, 7:55. in the news, police in montgomery county are looking for a busy thief. one man strikes during weekends on macarthur boulevard near the c&o canal. they say this is the suspect. his picture was snapped by a surveillance camera. he only breaks into one car one time looking for credit cards. if you recognize him, you are asked to give police a call. construction underway on the

county connector. we know what it will cost yo to take it. the maryland transportation authority announced it will be 25 to 35 cents per mile during rush-hour. the rest of the time, 20 to 30 cents per mile. the tolls will be electronic. drivers that don't have the easy pass will get a bill plus a $3 service fee. the icc will r 18 miles from montgomery county to prince george's county. we are back with weather and traffic in just a moment. stay with us.

good morning. here ith four-day forecast. on this thursday morning, mostly cloudy here in washington. partly sunny elsewhere. partly sunny, highs in the mid 80s. chance of a pre-dawnshore shower on friday. highs, low 70s. much cooler tomorrow. afternoon and evening showers possible saturday. how is the traffic? things are a mess on 66. as you travel in the eastbound direction, a couple of accidents. all have been cleared. it is jammed from 29 and centerville in toward the beltway. stick with 50 and 29 from centreville to camp washington. barbara, back to you. thank you,

8:00ow on this thursday morning, september 24th, 2009. a loud and energetic crowd with us he in rockefeller plaza. happy, as always, to ha them with us. outside on the plaz you on this relatively nice day, warm. i'm meredith vieira along with matt lauer and al roker. just ahead this half hour re from mackenzie phillips. the reaction of her siblings to

this book she's ready, algations specifilly about her dad. als ahead, have you ever thought of going back to school? >> no. >> no? why? >> because i'm done. >> you're over it? well, aot of adults are considering going back to school. the ecomy one reason for that, but so many options as well -- traditional colleges, online colleges, communitycolleges. we're going to telou what you need to think about before you take this step. >> this job is like going to school every day, because you learn something. >> we have to studyvery night. >> yeah, exactly. >> that's right. but first, it's time for another edion of "where are we today? hmm hmm. let's put on our thinking cap, shall we? once again, we are in an unnamed location. we are asking you to take your best guess. do you recognize it? that's what i think. >> i think that al and i agree. >> you agree? >> we think we know. >> you're not saying, oh. >> because we're not going to blow it for the audience the way someone did a couple weeks ago. >> oh, okay. >> if youe still struggling, as meredith is -- >> it's a soldier of sorts, right?

>> -- here's a clue. >> oh. ♪ >> okay. >> we were wrong. >> my first guess was wrong. >> what were you thinking it was? >> we were thinking the iwo jim memorial. >> oh, man. i knew it wasn't that. please, that's so obvious. you didn't knothe first time, so w do you think you know the second time? >> well, there is no deadline. >> geez! miss negative nellie. >> i have no idea, just for the record, none, none. well, anyway, you c go to todayshow.com and guess where we are, and while y're there, enr at a chance for a $2,000eep >> that's $2,500 sweepstakes. >> it says $2,000. >> i know,ut it's $2,500. >> that's wrong. >> i only read what they right.

>> nice. >> as breakfast with the bickersons continues, let's go inside to ann curry. >> thanks a lot, you ys. > this morning, there i news of a major development in the wod's largest trial of an aids vaccine. government researchers in thailand say a combination of two previously unsuccessful vaccines have been found to cut the risk of being infected with hiv by nearly one-third. this is the first time any vaccine has been shown to prevent the spread of aids. >>this morning, president obama chairs a u.n. secury council meeng on nuclear disarmament in new york, andn his speech o dnesday, the president said the u.s. needs help from the rest of the world to stop north kea and iran from auiring nuclear weapons. meantime, in a 90-minute speech, libyan leader moammar gadhafi accused of u.s. and its allies of treating smaller countries as send-class nations. hmoud ahmadinejad said h supports nuclear disarmament, but when he lashed out against israel at the u.n. on wednesday, delegates from the u.s., france, germany and several other

nations got up and left the room. ahmadinejad accused israel of commitng genocide against the palestinians. latertoday, president obama heads to the g-20 summit in pittsburgh, where demonstrators have already been staging protests. police arrted more than dozen greenpeace protestors on wednesday. hundreds of police officers from neighboring towns have been sworn in to help step up security there. a poignant moment in memphis on wednesday. the dalai lama said a prayer on the balcony of the lorrae hol at the site of martin luther king jr.'s assassination 41 years ago. > three suspects in a possible terror plot have court appearances today in new york and denver. officials say ty fou bomb-making instructions on the laptop, on the computer, raer, of najibullah zaziho along with two others are accused of lying to fbi investigators looking into the alleged plot. more people are now being questioned. and in colorado on wednesday, some ranchers came to the aid of two elk after the animals fought eh other and

then got their antlers stuck in barbed wire. they tied the animals down while they cut away the wire, or most of it, actually. you can see some of i still remas. hopefully, they're n too wired for too long. it is now 8:04. let's get a check of the weather from al. >> announcer: "where are we today" i brought to you by comfort suites and the other fine choice hotels. >> and not oy is it warm out here, but we've also got a little love in the air. yo guys just got engage >> we did. >> and where are you from? >> woodstock, georgia. >> woodstock, georgia. >> that's great, and when's the wedding? >> probably about a year, 10/10/10. >> 10/10/10. >> not to be confused with rein tin tin. anyway, you're too young to know who that . let's show you what' happening. bluefield, west virginia, wvva. we've got some afternoon thunderstorms. mperature about 80 degrees. and as we checkut you weather for toy, sunshine up and down the eastern seaboard. we are looking, though, at wet weather working its way from the

gulf coast on up into tes. i should say, into parts of illinois and indiana. expect that sunshine to continue out west with record-setting heat. and we've got a bunch of ladies from benton benyan orthodontics whç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç# >> senior trip already?

and where are you guys from? >> north carolina. >> all right. it was a stump question. that's okay. nice to see you guys. now let's head back overo mr. lauer. >> nice swing ther al. when we come back, mh more with actress mackenzie phillips, including what her family members are sayin about some of the claims she makes in her new book. but first, theseessages.

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and no to more with actress mackenzie phillips and that mbshell revealed in her memoir "high on arrival" that she had a long-standing sexual relationship with her own father. mackenzie, welcome back. >> thank you >> how d this relationship finally d? >> well, i became pregnant and i was in a relationship with my son's father at the time and my fath father, and i didn't know whose child it was and i was horrified. and it brought m like smack dab into present time, and i was like, t implications of it were just so intensely disturbing to me that i had an abortion and i never let him

touch me again. >> did you confront your dad and tell him that you were pregnant? >> yes. oh, absoluly, but it wasn't a confront thing. i mean, it was consensual at thatpoint. so, it wasn't like you ba- you know. >> right. >> pardon me. but he paid for the abortion. i don'know -- see, the thing is, i don't know, but that lif growingithin me was not meant to be for obvious reasons. and youknow, my dad -- you know, he was a good man. i mean, i have great compaion for the man thate was. >> did you always know, mackenzie? because many people reading this book, the reaction is going to be t hate your father. and i know that's not what you want in this book. >> well, you know, if you think abouit -- i mean, his book, "papa john," is out of print now, but it's available on amazon, and if you can get your hands on that book and read it, it might give you more of an

understanding of how negle as a child can bring you into drug abuse, can bring you into the place where you could actually consider doing something like this. and i would like people tory and give papa the benefit of the doubt. read the book. it takes you on a journey. because here we really don't have the time to disseminate this story properly. it's like, bam, here it is laid out onhe table. the book takes you through a life that's 50 years long and shows you how -- i'm not asking you to understand or say, of course, that's what happened, but i'm asking you to see how it could and howt does and how this is a problem that's going all over the world. >> let me talk about some of the reaction from your family. >> yes, yes. >> first o all, did they know you were wring this book and that it was going tonclude this material about your dad and incest? >> they did know, but not at the inception of this book, because i didn't know at the inception of this book. i decid to include this because i realize that putting out a sanized version of my li wou just be doing a disservice to me and the

thousands of peopl tha i could help. >> well, your sister china, her reaction was -- at least the que that we have here -- there's probably more but "who in their rig mind wouldake such a claim if it wasn't true?" that's what she said. your brother said "the allegations are surprising," but your former step mother, michelle phillips, told u told nbc, "theres nway to know the truth," and she was even harsher about you in other interviews. >> yes. >> what's your reaction about that? >> if you open a textbook on incest and you can see a picture of the phillips family. we are behaving in a typical way. you know, the instinct is to say it's nottrue. the instinct is to deny. the instinct is to brush it under the table. the instinct is to protect the abuser. and i love my family. i've gone out of my way in "high on arrival" to tell my sty. and i say -- and let me say this, that to my knowledge, none of those other sisters of mine

were ever touched by my father in an inappropria way. i have gone out of my w to tell my story. and i say, i am not here to tell anybody else's story but mine my experience --e've all experienced our d in different ways, thankgod, and i love my sisters. i love myothers. i love michelle. i wish that i had all of their support, but i don't, and that's all right. i understand. this is very difficult. and to be revealed on a public level such as this makes i even more diffict, and my heart goes out to them, and i know that, god willing, as a family, we will be stronger when this all dies down. >> you have spoken only in the book about beyond the incest, the drug abuse that we talked about in the firstsegment. >> yes. life, allyyou've taken drs. you had a 15-year period where you didn't, then you went back. yes. >> you were here on this show in 2008, and in the bookou mention it, for a revival, a reunion show on "one day at a time." you say you came to new york with your drugs and your

needles. heroin was the drug at the time. and that's just the way you traveled. when you did our show that day in 2008, were you high? >> yes. s, i was. >> you were. >> yes. >> it is, it was, and therefore, we don't gloss over it, because it would b untrue to history. >> look who you are now. >> right. >> are you clean now? >> oh, absolutely. got a pee cup? i'll pee i it for you. i'veot no problem with that. no problem whatever. i can tell looking atyself the, it's a very different look in my eyes, it's a very different type of composure. it's aery different vibe. >> is it hard to look at yourself? >> yeah, absolutely. not right now, but looking at myself then, absolutely. >> people are going to look at the book mackenzie, some are going believe it. others are going to say, if she really we on drugs as much as evident in the book, her memory may be very inaccurate. >> okay.

let me say something, that yes, drs are one thin but you might be thinking of someone on drugs who does this, you know. and most of my life was spent on cocaine, which doesn't do that, which is, you know, it's a dubious distinction, granted. i was trained from a young age to memorize things. my memory i very sharp, always has been, and you know, i understand the detractors. i understand the people who are disgusted. i understand the people who don't want to look. it's not a difficult -- it's not an easy thing to look at. it's very hard. and i meet their judgment, i meet theirdistance, i meet their disbelief with nothing but love and hopefully the opportunity to be of service to other people. and you know and i wrote this book for me. i need to be free, and if in doing so, i haveffended anybod i am truly sorry for that. >> you write in the end of the book, you asked yourself a question -- "my life on drugs had a built-in purpose, to do more drugs. now i wasrey, but for what?"

have you decided what you're ready for? >> i think the world might decideorme. i don't know. i feel -- i'm beginning to feel morend more tha maybe could just be a voice for this large community of incest survivors that don't know where to go or what to do or how to talk about what's happened inheir lives, and the only way they know how to deal with it is to turn it inward and self-destruct, and i think it's time for that to stop, because there's so much damage beingone to people -- they're doing the damage to themselves because of what they've lived through. mean, addictions, the things,hese things can destroy a person, and i think they mht be slowly eating away at the fabric of oucountry and our youth, and i certainly am an example of both sides of it, and i hope to continue to be well enough to be of service. >> mackenzie phillips, thank y so much. >> thank you, meredith. >> the book is "high on rival," and you'll be back in our next hour as well. we're back right after thi

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to see light bulbs turn on. i want my students to have something that they could apply the next day at work if thehave to. for my students, they need to kw that i'm there for them; - it's a passion of mine. - for them to y, 'you've helped e develop, uh, ideas, you've helped me grow and become a better person,' those a theeasons why i like to teach. my name is dr. maureen steinwall. - dr. tom schmidt. - dr. jillian skelton and i am a phoenix. >> announc: "back to school again today" is brought to you by university of phoenix, because today best opportunities start with a

quality education. ♪ i've got to go back, back, back to school ♪ >>ack to o special series iback to school again." adults that decide to further their education deal with a unique set ofbstacl and also a lot of optio these days. kim clark is the senior education write for "u.s. news and world report." welcomback. nice to see you. >> thanks, matt. >> if you're an adult, you want to furer your education, go back to school,ou've got traditional colleges, mmunity colleges, you've got online education. how do you figure out what's the right fit for you? >> well, the first and most important thing anybody thinking about going back to school should do is check out and see if the school that they want to go to is accredited by a federally approved agency. it's very easy to do this. you just go to the department of education's website, type in the name and see if it's any good. if it isn't, you might want to renser, because other schools won't take that as transfer credit, employers ally don't consider it, and nobody gives financial aid to unaccreded schools. >> when it comes time t decide whetr you want to goo a

community college -- and most areas have at least one in your neighborhood -- or go online to take courses that way, what are the pros and cons. >> online schools used to have a bad reputation, but they've really broughtp their game and, frankly, it's more convenient. that's the reason why they're growing at double-digit rates. if you have a job, have kids, yodon't have te to drive to a campus, park, go to cls. this way, you can do your homework at 3:00 in the morning or on weekends or when kids are asleep. there's a reason they're growing so quickly. >> and yet, comnity colleges are booming. >> right. >> i mean, the number of ople -- and i guess that's a lot of reason, a lot of people are out of work and they're staying in the neighborhood to go back school. what is the mainhi to know about a mmunity college? >> one of the reasons they're oming ishey are basically the best college bargain out ther in california, you can take a community college course for less than $100 he in new york it's about $300. stilthe cheapest course you're ing to find. >> let's talk about paying for this. i mean, you know, if you are now thinking of going back to school becae you've lost a job, we, then money is more and mor importan and if you're an adult, what's the best way to go about findi out if the school is offering

you a financial advantage? >> well, we'veut togetr list of collegeshat are offering free tuition to people who are unployed. so, that's a great resource >> well, how does a school make money whenhey're doing that? >> well, they're just being nice. it's mostly community colleges and state universities. but also, the department of education has told colleges to be much more flexible, and i know they e, because've been talking to the colleges. if you're unemployed, you call that college and they are much more likely to give you financial aid. >>f you are one of these peopleho went to college 30 years ago, 20 years ago, now you're back in the mket looking for education again, what is the biggest change you're gng to notice? >> well, of course, there's going to be a lot more tattoos. >> on y or on the other students? depends on your life experience, i would imagine. >> but of course, technology has changed courses. even at a bricks and mortar school, they're going to require you to have a laptop. you're going to need to be technologically savvy a you're going to learn about technology, but that's the future anyway. so, it's a good thing that you're learning about that. >> kim clark. kim, thanks.

odo have you back. >> you bet. up next, martha stewart heats things up in the kitchen with her daughter alexis. we'll check in with them, but first, your local news. our time is 8:26. 75 degrees. i'm joe krebs. we have emergency news to tell you about. emergency crews are investigating a suspicious package found near the islamic center och washington in the 2500 block of massachusts avenue. massachusetts avenue is closed in both directions. the package, as you can imagine,

the traffic is a nightmare in that area. we have a crew underway. we will give you nor information. right now, we are going to take a break. we will come back and look

good morning. mild and humid this morning. turning less humid this afternoon and partly sunny. a pre-dawn shower possibly on friday. cool on saturday afternoon and evening showers are likely. now, ashley, how is the traffic? well, as joe mentioned, we do have a problem out of the district. massachusetts avenue, what is blocked due to the suspicion

package is between 24th and cafornia street. very slow and heavy out of college park making your way into bethesda. 66 eastbound, very slow from gainesville headed all the way toward the beltway. joe, back to you. thanks very much, ashley. tonight on "news 4 at 5:00," a helping hand. elderly patients who have to

8:30 now on a thursday morning, 24th day of september 2009. we are hobnobbing with a nice group of people out o t plaza this morning. not a bad place to start the morning, considering is a

really, really prettyday. but al tells us that the warm early fall weather we've been experiencing lately is about to depart us. >> yes, it is. it's going to get a lite cooler, actually, be close to normal. this has been above normal. what were u doing bind ann there? >> okay, we thought we would go past it, but i felt sebody touch my bottom, actually. >> well, ias trying to protect yobecause they were moving, because jimmy was moving -- >> the crowd w quite -- >> they loved that, because you know. okay, let's go ahead. >> awkward! how you can make salt and pepper the stars of any meal. maha stewart and her daughter alexis are here to show us how. >> very cool. >> tre they are right there. we're going to tell you a very unusual story about a fifth grader named sammy. he was an honor udent, and all of a sudden, he started to display odd behaviors, octype behaors. it got so d, he couldn't leave the house, couldn't go to school. wait until you hear what was the cause of that behavior. we're going to meet sammy today

and find out more abo it -- >> wow. >> this is a rllynusual story. >> he is okay now? >> he is okay now. >> oh, okay. also, we' be talking about heart disease. we all know it's t number one killer of n and women, but research shows women are actually more likely to die. one in six womenie from heart disease. >> ooh. >> we'll be talking about this with dr. nancy coming up. what we need t do to me sure we stay clear of that. then on a liger note, do you guys have any strange dreams? >> oh. >> io all the time. >> all the time. >> weird. >> why? >> i had a dream one time that you and i put spand on and did rhythmic gymnastics. >> that was a nightmare. >> we did that. >> we actually did that. >> can we cut to that tape? >> you have to give them a warning about things like that. >> but we digress, because we're going to tl you what your dreams actually meannd what they reveal about your personal life. >> oh, wow. we should all come up with one and figure out what it reveals. >> s. >> that would be really cool

>> we could get really deep in here. anyway, let's move on. >> weather. what about the weathe >> i dreamt i was eating a big march mellow last night and woke up and my pillow was gone. all right, let's show you what's going on as far as your weather's concerned. anfor the weekend, it is going to be mild in the pacific northwest, sizzling in the southwest, hvy rain. unfortunately, part of that's orgia, where they do not need it and rain ming up into the ohio river valley. then on sunday, sunday! rain in new england, mild out in the pacific northwest. the sç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç## here, it's mild and muggy again, another summerlike day in september underway with increasing sunshine. we are in the mid 70s now. rather humid. by this afternoon, should be turning less humid and partly sunny. highs, mid 80s. a slight chance of a pre-dawn shower mainly to the south of washington tomorrow. partly cloudy and much cooler with a northeast breeze. cool on saturday too. likelihood of afternoon and

evening >> that's your latest weather. got some friends from the bahamas back here, and now another friend of ours down in washington, d.c., my favorite, willie scott. how are you, uncle willie? >> i'm youraha mama. >> yeah, you are! >> don't you forget that, either, you old devil. anyway, thank yo for the song. got to play that on the network some day. that's the number one song in the country. happy -- people don't even know what'm talking about. i don't know what i'm talking about. happy birthday from smker's. how swt, as the jam jar of life continues to spin. no, that was nicproduction work there aww, look at that, wanda. i like that nawanda. wanda livingston of winter haven, florida. 100 years old. retired medical teacher. wish her well. worksor theed cross. used to be an ice cream stor winter haven. go an alrod o monsey, new york.

attributes longevity t accepting reality. y, this philosophy is great. attributes her longevity to accepting reality and staying positive. there is sething for you, my friend. clyde everett teal, houston, texas. fifth time he's tried to get on the show. we're not doing any goo for him. 's 105 now. worked until he was 96. happy rthday to you, sir, and it ds pay dividends. paul sheridan sacramento, california, 100. directs bridge gas, how about that, at the senior center. 's got his work cut out for him. wish him well and gladys bockus north platte, nebraska, 100 years old today. created opportunity center for handicped people happy birthday. d finally, ellen roberts, greenville, south carolina, one of the nicest,leanest nuns in the world. 3. happy birthday to you. good faith.

that's what she says, that's her secret. now back to matt. >> all right, willard. and as you talk about birthdays, we've got a bunch o hot chicks here celrang their 40th birthday. happy birthday to you ladies. and when we come back, martha stewart and her daughter alexis heat things up in our kitchen.

>> announcer: "martha on today" is brought to you by macy's. the martha stewart collection is now available only at macy'and on macys.com. this morning on "martha on today," salt and pepper. martha stewart is here with recipes from t octoberssue of "martha stewart living" that takes season to taste to a whole new level. and she's brought along her daughter alexis. and so good to see you. >> great to have you both here.

>> and you're cover girls, on the cover of "body & soul" magazine. >> what's the matter with you? >> nothing, i'm giggling -- >> just because you kicked me in the groin before the last segment. >> i meant too that. i just miss. >> they've been fighting. >> yway, you're on the cover "body & soul," looking beautiful. >> it is a nice piure. nice. >> are you kind of the salt and pepper in each other's lives? >> what would you say? >> really? no. >> i'm streting here. >> it's mother, daughter, and then the article, actually, is about our really close attention that we pay to health and wellbeing and whateeat, how exercise, and is a very, very good article, i think. >> and which is what this segment is about, too, it's healthy living. >> it is. >> involving salt and pepper. and starting off, all the different varieties,martha. >> who knew? >> who knew? >> this is where i am pepper. i like to cook with a lot of pepper and alexis can't eat without a lot of salt, ght? >> i take the topff of the salt and just -- >> pile it? >> on the side.

on the side. >> how is your blood pressure? >> so low, they're like, you're dead. i can have as much salt as i want. >> you're lucky, great. >> and this -- >> why do you nee all this? >> it's for interest and for flavor. every salt tastes a little different. you wet your finger and taste that one -- >>hen don't double dip. >> then taste this one. use another finger. take that one. >> o love that one. >> you'llee a difference. there are big differences. >> i don't know. >> there's pink hawaiian salt, there's this beautiful black cypriot salt. the black comes from like -- >> ash? >> carbon, yeah, like ash. and this comes from the minerals, the iron in the soil. >> we have to move oo the recipe, so- >> this is a whole fish cooked in salt, and the salt mixed with egg white. we're doing a pulled pork. thiss a pork shoulder. we insert garlic cloves throughout. >> okay. >> these 20 garlic cloves, don be shy about the garlic. and crush the pepper.

we just want it crushed. and pat it all over here. >> or you could just kick it meredith, if you'd like. >> just put it all over. you have to use all of it. >> i am, martha, i am. >> and i'm using two bottles of kee yonte. >> two? >> two, yes. >> so cheap wine. >> cheap, but tasty. n't ever buy swill. that's good. >> why do you think i eve would by swill? >> i don't,ut i'm jussaying, don't. so, this goes right into this bowl. cover , leave it overnight. >> do you want to wet the top? >> yeah, take -- yeah. >> that. >> more garl. >> exllent. >> and then the next day, here's your pork. you have to brown it, so take it ouof the liquid, braze it in some olive oil. >> okay. >> and look how beautifully brown that's getting. >> oh, that looks fantastic. >> then, pour the marinade right back in after it's brown. >> okay. >> and this is wha comes out of the oven >> oh, that looks great. >> gorgeous. five hours in the oven, and then

just pull it apart. and this is with crust bread. >> that looks fantastic. >> taste it. tasteit, that's delicious. >> top that, lauer. >> well, i've only got 30 seconds left, but wre going to try. alexis, you're making a simple pasta dish. >> very simple. use whole wheat spaghetti, and then drain it, but not really ll. leave it a little wet. >> pack reno? >> pacerino. >> and this is where the salt comes in. and you can add more salt. >> the cheese is salty, and then you can put on a lot of pepper. >> you want more salt or no? >> um, you know, do that to taste. >> by the way, you're vegetarian, aren't you? >> i am. >> so this is one of your go-to dishes? >>his is delicious. >> she makes the most delious vegetarian food you'v ever tasted. and she can do whole dinner parties based on vegetarian. >> well, why not? >> can i taketaste? because this is as simple as it gets. >> yeah, taste it. exactly. you want to taste it, meredith? >> i'm on your side.

>> watch out. i'm turning away to do this. >> is it all right? >> mm-hmm. mm-hmm. >> good. excellent. >> that is so easy and so good, and i almost swallowed it wrong. >> you're choking. yore choking. >> where's the water? >> it's really good. take it away, meredith. >> tastes so good. >> martha stewart and alexis stewart, thank you very much. salt and pepper or salt. andp

>>we are bac at8:45. this morning on "today's health," a misunderstood and rarely talked about childhood disord that could be caud by a simple fection. nbc's chief medical editor dr. nancy snyderman has the storyf one mother's fight to save her son.

>> reporter: sammy is a talented math student who loves the water and saile through fifth grade with honors. he even hosted the aual fifth grade part >> i'm reallyhappy. >> at the end of the party, one the kids came up to sammy and said, "sammy, you thr a great party." >> but just three weeks later, sammy's life started to go terribly wrong. he was walking around outside with his eyes shut holding his hands in front of him, as if he were blind. that was the first thing i noticed that was odd. >> reporter: a it didn't end there. every day, a new, strange, compulsive behavior popped up. the diagnosis, obsessive compulsive disorder or ocd. >> diaoses just never mad sense to me. i had a noal, healthy boy, and suddenly, i had a child who i didn't even recognize. >> reporter: even with medication, sammy was getting worse. not able to attend school or sleep in h bed.

>> he lived under these cushions. he would just liend the cushions. >> reporter: in a quest to save her son, beth documented his every move. >> there are many things he avoids, including all mats, doors and faucets. he does not shower or bsh his teeth. hugs are out of the question. does not touch light switches. he does not touch his food. >> reporter: a way out of this hell came one year later wit the most unexpected word -- strep. >> i was angry. my son and my entire family had be put through thisorror for an entire year and it could be someing as simple as strep. >> reporter: sammy was diagnosed with pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with strep cockle infections, otherwise known as pandas. doctors believe pandas is brought on when strep antibodies attack the brain. >> here's the chart. i'm done with .

>> reporter: dr. katherine nicolitis is a doctor in new jersey. she's treated a handful of pandas patients and agreed to see sammy. >> because of the controversy in the medical profession, it hasn't been well studied, so there are opleho are resistant to treating. >> reporter: for sammy, t right treatment was the antibiotic augmentin, and within weeks, his behaviors and ticks began to diminish. >> you'll notice i'm touching it because now i am. >> he said, "mom, i'm a boy full of hope." >> last time i saw sammy, he was a well-developed, healthy, young man who had absolutely no symptoms. >> and dr. nancy is back with us along with sammy, who is n a freshman at carnegie mellon university and his mother, beth maloney, who writes about their experiens in t new book "saving sammy: cing the boy who caught ocd." good morning to all of you. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> i'm watching you watching that, and i'm trying to think, whato you remember about that? it's been seven years. >> not that much, honestly.

i don't really think about it. and sen years is a long tim when you're only 19, so, like -- >> how do you feel now? >> i feel completely better, like -- >> perfect. no remaining cks, no symptoms at all? >> well, occasionally, i'll like catch strep or something and i'll feel sick or i'll start to feel the symptoms return a little bit, b then i'll go on antibiotics and it will go away completely. >> at the time, you were 1 right? >> yeah. >> so you're old enough to understand the world around you. >> yes. >> did you have an awareness for what was happening in your life? >> i mean, yes, but it didn't really seem weird tome. it seemed like it was something that i should be doing, as messed up as it was. >> so,ou weren't screaming to communicate to the outside world, help me, i'm trapped. >> i was on one level, and on anotr level, i wasn't. like, there's one part, i'm -- in the book, where- or in real life, frankly, where i was getting help from someone with spelling or something like that and i couldn't do any work. i couldn't really accept any of

the help and all i ended up writing was just help me o one piece of paper. the frustration of it. >> yeah. >> and it turns out that it's an infection -- >> yes. >> -- tt in some kid turns out to be a sore throat. >> correct. >> yet, in your son, something very different. >> he never had any symptoms of strep in the trational way. never had a sore throat, had never missed a day of school. and as soon as he started having the behaviors, we were referred to the mental health arm of medicine and there was never a question asked as to whether h might be physicall sick. >> a lot o people said you should institutionalize sammy, and that's whe he would live the rest of his life. >> we were at the point where i thought we might have to find placement for him, because i was no longer able to help him at home. >> nancy, what about that question -- whyn some children does strep result in a sore throat and why in other children does it result in what happened to sammy? >> i will not be the source of all the information day, because this is really, really new, and it breaks open this idea of, pardon me for using the

word mental illness, math geniuses who are really uber smart kids, andhen perhaps these environmental triggers that openp the doors to things like ocd. i think if anything, it says to the medic establiment we don't have a the aners, and this -- >> yeah. >> i mean, look in his eyes. this is a transfoed child. >> yeah, absolutely. you man, i should say. >> and you shared this story, beth, why? >> i didn't want any other family to ever have to le through what we led through. i want anybody whose child may have obsessive compulsive disorder or tourette ndrome to immediately think about whether ere is a strep infection. >> but i think the otheride of this ao is, every child out there with ocd or some other kpuls or tourette a's s is not to be okay tomorrow with medication. >> sammy, good to see you. good lk in school.

thanks. >> nancy, double-hitter for you today. once ain, the book is called "saving sammy: curing t

jennifer aniston stars in a new movie from our sister studio universal pictures. it is called "love happens," and our gene shalit says, ll, it

does. >> good morning, and welcome to the "critic's corner." jennifer aniston own a lovely flower shop and it's in seattle, cky girl. unluckily, her boyfriends have all been trns and weeds, so she throws inhe trowel and stems all interest in men. elsewhere, aaron eckhart wtes a best-selling book for the belie number yeevedho are unable to erco a crushing death, a husband, a wife, a child. on a cross-country tour, he's greeting seminars and promoting his book. when he hits seattle, guess wh? >> would you like to have a cup of coffee? >> he bumps into the ctivating miss aniston. his heart goe rat, tat, tat, but she couldn't give a rat' hat. f she goes to be with her friends while he retains his flock in shock. wait, wait, these two crmer can't separate already. we've still got popcorn left. >> give me a chance. >> so, they remeet and agree to

eat. >> i have never been on a date withomeone who has a cardboard cutout of themselves. >> but their dinner date's a disaster. a disaster! >> y really messed up. >> looks bad for romance, when suddenly, i spot a clue! it's the title, "love happens." that's when i daringly predicted that aaron eckhart and the enchanting jennir anion would finly get together. >> yes. >> right again. >> yeah. >> just call m nostradamus. and i predict that's the "critic's corner" for today. >> wow. not really taking a stand on this one. >> no. >>eaves you guessing. >> judge for yourself. >> i have to show you what happens behind the scenes. here's what happened right before the cking segment with martha stewart. watch whathe does with the foot. >> watch wt you just did. look. >> oh! oh! >> yes, that was -- >> my goodness! that was a provoked -- >> right in the pepper -- >> there was no provocation for

that. nothg. our time right now is 8:55. 75 degrees here in the nation's capital. some hazy sunshine out there as we look at the lincoln memorial. good morning. i'm joe krebs. in the "news 4 today," some breaking news. following in the district, emergency crews are investigating a suspicious package in northwest washington. there, you see it in the middle of the street. was found near the islamic center of washington in the 2500 block of mass avenue. this is a live look at the scene. that's it in the middle of the screen for you. traffic is being diverted around that area right now. massachusetts avenue is currently closed in both directions. in other news, police in montgomery county are looking for a man suspected in a rash of

car break-ins in potomac. he strikes during the weekends on macarthur boulevard near the c&o canal. police say this is the suspect. this picture snapped by a surveillance camera. investigators say he breaks into one car at a time looking for credit cards. if you recognize this man u are asked to give the police a call. we'll take a break and come

good morning. here is the four-day forecast. summerlike. cooler friday and saturday. showers likely saturday afternoon and evening. how is the traffic, ashley? due to the suspicious package, massachusetts avenue remains shut down between 26th and california. police are around there. joe, back to you. thanks, ashley. tonight on "news 4 at 5:00," a helping hand. elderly patients that have to deal with long stays in the hospital are

we're back now with more "today" on a hot and muggy thursday morning, 24 of september 2009. nice day to be in new york city, heart of midtown manhattan. we're glad a lot of nice folks are ining us. also joining us, the fulous tamron hall. >> good to see you. >> nice to see you. >> tnks for havin me back. >> youbet. nalie's on assignment. matt had to sneakut earlier. tually, didn't want to have anything to do with tamron. >> rumor is he didn't want to be out here with me. >> no, he has an aignment to

work. coming up this half hour, john travolta taking the stand in an extortion trial linke to his son jett's tragic death in january. we're going to get those details coming up justahead. plus more with macnzie phillips. a riveting interview with meredith in the last hour. well, the "one day at a time" star's brutall frank new memoir details drug use starting at 11 years old, ha-core addiction by her late teens and a long-standing seal relationship with h father, th mamas and papas'ohn phillips. >> unbelievable what she is revealing about her life. also, women and heart health. ifou can believe this, 37% of women d from heart disease, cardioscular disease. the number is stunning. what's even more snning isn 2005, al, 450,000 women were killed from the disease, and women often ignore the signs -- ring for family members, your spouse, your children. we, wve got some information. hopefully, we're going to change that trend by telling you what they look for. >> that's righ and we al, our fabulous

"today's kid reporter," right, coming up. >> yeah. looking for a kid reporter. "today kid reporter." i think the tape shoulbe about a minute. >> yes. >> do your best. don't report anything that your parentwouldn't wt let out of the house. >> yeah, probably not a good id. >> you want to kee theecrets in the house, but get out there, explore your neighborhood and submit your tape. >> that'sght. you should mail them to "today's kid reporter," 30 rockefeller plaza, new york,ew york, 10112. >> yes. >> official rules are posteon todayshow.com. >> pretty awesome. now let's get a check on the top storiefrom ann curry, who's inside the studio. good morning, ann. >> all right, tamron, thank you so much. d al, good morning once again, everybody, to you. in the news, president obama heads to the meeting of the united nations security council, aiming for a treaty to cb nuclear weapons with pdges of supportro russia and china. on wednesday, he told the u.n. general assembly that world leaders must also cooperate to combatoverty and climate change and also pursue peace in the middle east.

this afternoon, the president flies to pittsburgh, where police are bracing for protesrs who may try to disrupt the g-20 economic summit. there is potential milestone to report in the fight against aids. this morning, goverent researcherin thailand said for the first time an experimental vaccine has been shown to reduce the risk of hiv iecti by more than 30%. the finding is a result of the world's largest aids vaccine trial, and top u.s.ealth officials say they are now cautiously optimistic about developing an eective vaccine. as we heard earlier from al, emotional testimony fro john travolta in the trial of two people who are accused of trying to extort $25 million from him in the days follong his son's death. travolta took the witness stand wednesday for the first time, testying that he franticly performed cpr on his son, jett, after the 16-year-old suffered seizure at their vacation home in the bahamas. it was also the first time travolta said pubcly that his son had autism. one of thoseccused of extortion is a former bahamian

senator. heavy rains have triered flooding and landslides in northeastern turkey. itas caused at least five deaths, but a 3-year-old child was pulled alive from a collapsed house. one day after a dust storm that could be seen from space, sydney, australia, is now cleaning up. machines and musclesre working overtime to clean up tons of reddish-brown grit and car washes are runni nonstop. it is now three minutes past the hour. let's t another check of the weather from al. all right, we've got tamron hall standing by. >> yeah. >> you're very excited. you saw a sig -- >> co, texas, my home state, but not my metown. >> what's your hometown? >> i was born in loing, texas, d this lady said the big city, because there's only out 200 people. but go texas! >> the pde of oling. t's check your weathe see at's happening. we'll show you for today, we're looking at wet weather working its way from the gulf coast all the way up into the upper mississippi river valley.

good news is things stay dry in georgia, where they have just gotten inundated. clouds in the pacific northwest. the heat continues in the unnotarize. and down the ç#ç## summerlike sunshine. we have 77 degrees in washington. mid and upper 70s around the region. still, rather humid. as the day progresses. northerly breeze. turning less humid. highs, mid 80s. turning cloudy tonight. pre-dawn shower south of washington. rtly cloudy. northeast breeze. cool on saturday afternoon and evening. showers likely. >> and where are you nice folks from? >> i'm paul from chicago. >> mandy overton from disappoew,

illinois. >> and you match today. like the color. now let's go back inside to ann. >> annouer: "tod's health" is brought to you by abbott, a promise for life. >> al, thks. this morning on "today's daily dose," taking health to heart. too many women still think of heart disease as a man's disease, but in fact, it is the leading cause of death among wome killing twice as many in the united states of all cancers combined. nbc's chief medical editor dr. nancy snyderman is here with the risk factors and symptoms we need to know. dr. nancy, good morning. >> hi, ann. >> a lot of us think about breast cancer, but not the thing that's most likely to kill . >> cardiovascular disease is the ggest killer in the country. we worry about breast and ovarian cancer, but every wom needs to worry about her heart. >> basically, it kills 1 in0 women. >> right. and one in two women will likely have heart disease. >> so, you know, why - is ther any evidence that it's actually increasing in wome in fact, re than we -- we think of it as something that men have. >> we think of 40 and 50-year-old men.

i think that's part of the problem. so, one, we are seeing an increase in heart disease because othe obesity rise highlood pressure issues. so, yes, it's going up, but also, we're finally paying attention to the fact that heart disease isn't just a guy's disease. and especially for women after menopause, the rates really go up. >> why do they go up after menopause? >> there's probably some hormon protection when we're younger, and, you know, bodies age. so, it's aeries of things, but it's a reason why most women will have problems later in life. >> let's talk about what happens to the heart during heart attack. >> very simply, you know, your heart has its own blood supply, those coronar arteries. and when we have plaque bud-up, at cholesterol from eati bad foods through our lives, it creates sort of this sticky area inside the arry, that plaque. and tn a the blood vessels get through, they just st of nick it, and it's almost like a piece of velcro, boom. a plaque, a clotstar. and when that happens, your

heart has to be harder. and that area you see in purple is, in fact, the areof the heart that now is not getting its own blood supply. it dies. you have the symptoms of a heart attack. >> you have an e-mail question from eileen in pennsylvania. sh asks dr. nancy, "how important is your weight and family history in evaluating your risk factors for heart disease?" >> i think the biggest thing for women to know is know your waist circumference. for women, y cannot have a waist larger than 35 inches. if you do, i that's your genetics, then you'll at least talk to your doctorbout it, because your waist really is a good indication of whether you have that toxic fat underneath that secretes its own hormones and chemicals and can put your body at risk. weight absolutely is a concern. then, of cose, as you know, any time you have diabetes, your risk of heart disease goes up incrementally. >> the other thing, o, is a lot of people, when they have their first hea attack, it's theirast, especially for women. on in six die. >> right. >> so understanding t iningympte

important. >> and the symptoms are not the sames n, whe you think of anlephant sitting in my chest. look at these. overwhelming exhaustion. at woman do you know isn't overwhelmingly exhausted? but if you intuitively say this is different, you go s your doctor. shortness o breat really common. >> and not because you're running or something, just walking around. >> or going up simple steps at home. chest discomfort which may not be t same as a guy with that big, big, big pressure on your chest. and any kind of pain or discomfort that goes to youraw or the back of your back. some women will say it's like eathing in icy cold air. it's almost a pain in your back. so, any of those things put together, especially if you have a family story or if you're a cigatte smoker or have high blood pressu, you have to play it safe. >> also on your list i notice, sweating people going through menopause do swt. so in other words, when you said -- it'she combination of symptoms. >> so if you have one of those, you don't have to worry so much, but the pai down your back --

>> if you're suddenly uber exhausted, short of breath going up steps and breaking out in a fine mist all the time, your heart may in fact be taxed. >> we haveennifer int. myers, florida, with a question. hey, jennifer, what's your question? >> caller: yes, sometimes i get rapid heartbeat when i try to calm down, then it almost feels like my heart stops. i don't knowf it's anxiety. it's not common. it's usually -- the latest time was wasbout to start a new job. >> you know, that's happened to me several times. a lot of times it's after i go to bed and there sort of this cascade through your body and you realize your heart is beating abnormally. happens at different stages in women's liv and can absolutely be relat to stress. so, if with thisew job, you still find that happening t yourself, check with your doctor just to be safe, but it's not uncommon, and stres can absolute do that over a srt time. >> all right, jennifer, thank you for your question. we also have a question from amy in arizona. she asks, "i'm 32 years old and i am fhting high blood pressure. i am pretty active, a i am training for a half marathon. if i am eatingight and

exercising, what is causing my high blood pressure?" >> for some people, it's sheer genetics, and high blood pressure is the silent killer in this country. if there's one thing that every 20-year-old needs to know in this country -- because 20ear-oldshink ty're invincible -- know your waist rcumference, know your blo pressure. a lot of people, especially african-americans, are more predisposed to abnormally high blood pressure, and is like trying to push too much water through a garden hose. something's going to break. if you do thato your heart and your brain, and something's going to burst. so, know your blood pressure. 120 over 80 is to me the absolute highest number. try to keep it lower. and if even through diet and exercise you can't keep it lower, maybe think about medication. >> i'm thinking abou you know, it's so difficul we women have struggled so hard to make sure our waists are smaller and not have to deal with this problem. we've beenearing over and over again about this toxic weight. what is the one thing, if you could just tell women to do one thing that might help tm in this regard? you know, start walking, eat less buer.

wh would be your adce? >> forget the word exercise, because i think we've stigmatized it. if you don't like gyms, don't go to gyms. just walk. our forefathers were not fat. why? they ate what they needed f fuel to get throughhe day and then they burned it off. go walk, breathe, chill. really chill. because it takes a lot out of our lives. >> i'm stresseout. >> and if you're overweight, see what 5% or 10% of you weight looks like. you don'tave to do anything overnight. every three to five pounds you knock off, your heart, your lungs, youbrain all take break. this is an incremental change in life. what we don't want to have happen is more women dying unnecessaril >> dr. ncysnyderman, always trying to take good care of us. thank you very much. >> thanks, ann. still to come today, if you ever wondered what you dres meant, we'll tell you how to find out. but up next, more with child star and newly clean and sober mackenzie phillips, coming up. still out of line? se then you may not be seeing the whole picture.

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her addiction to drugs, and more shockingly, told meredith earlier in the program she had a ng-standing incestuous relationship with her ther. she was a 1976 sitcom phenom starring in "one day at a time" at the same time she was living this dark life. now mackenzie shares the new details in her new memoir "high on arrival." mackenzie phillips, thank you fortaying with us. >> tha you. >> you were born the daughter of susie and john phillips, late singer othe '60s band mamas and the papas, left your mother for a 16-year-old, michelle phillips, when you were 2 years old. you were raised in this kind of crazy lifestyle. at what point did youealize that this isn't normal, this is not the way life isupposed to be? >> well, when you're little like that, i mean, you really, you know, you're kind of affected by your environment, and you know, no matter what situaon you grow up in, that's what you

think everybody ves, and then, you know, once you have some distance on it -- probably when i s, you know, 14? maybe 12 or 13, i realized that, u ow, it wasn't like this for everybody. >> right. were there any adults -- did at any point some adult in your life say, you know, this is wrong, this is not t way a child should be growing up? >> i think that my aunt rosie -- my aunt rosie was in personnel at the pentagon -- my father's sister -- and she moved to los angeles after she retired and sortf moved int my dad's house and said, let's get these kids in shape, you know, and this is wrong and tried to impose some rules, you know. >> but it didn't take. >> she did the best she could, you know. i think the main thing i can say about the people around me when i was growing up is what they had to work with. ey were doing the bes that they could. >> right. you know, earlier in th program, you talked about what many people have really grabbed onto in the book about this incestuous relationship with your dad.

>> yes. >> the night before you're supposed to get married, you wake up in bed with your father, and you say he raped you. >> you know, for want of a better word. i mean, a molestation, a rape, whatever you want to call it. but it certainly was not a consenal act at that point. >> and it develops into what you call a consensual relationship down the road. yes, over ti, yes, over long period of time in the coensual aspect of . the way it's been disminated in the past day is that it was a ten-year consensual incestus relationship, where that's not the case. it started out as a nonconsensual incestuous relationship and then things curred during drug-fueled things where i would wake up disheveled and wonder what the heck happened here. >> right. >> and then maybe for the last two years of this, it was a consensual relationship. i really feel like i need to make thatclearer, because people are saying i had a ten-year aair with my father, which certainly wast the case. >> right. you ended it when you discovered

you we pregnant and you weren't sure whether it was your father's or your husband's. >> that's correct. >> but then you go on, you have a little boy ned shane. >> that's correct. >> a during that time, you say at least f six months of your pregnancy, you were on hero. >> no, i wasn't, i was on cocaine. >> well -- >> well, i was taking -- >> a number of things. >> yes. i didn't use heroin until the last several years. when you were doi that, i mean, in that -- did you worry about shane's health? >> yes, of course. i mean, it was a horrible reality for me to be sitting there pregnant and injecti cocaine. i mean, it was terrle, and the doctors were preparing me once i was, you know, in the hospital and having all these early contractions, they were preparing me for all manner of horrors, and i was given the gift of this beautiful, vibrant, brilliant child who -- >> healthy. >> healthy. he's n 22 years old and he's just -- there he is with his father and me. >> you know, you tell a story in

the ok about taking him when he was a baby with you to a crackhouse. >> yes. >> tell me about that. >> walked in and i looked around, and i went, oh, mgod, i've just brought my son to a crack house, and i turnedround and walked out. >> you know, beforeou wrote -- or once you had written the book --ow that you've written the book, have you prepared shane? did you tell him wt was going to be in the book about his life and his grandfather? >> first of all,et me talk about shane's life. about ten years ago, thereas an "e true hollywood story" that chronicled the drug abuse when i was pregnant, and i've talked to shane about drugs since he was old enough to understand what i was talking about. and i sat down with him about a month ago and i said, we need to prepare, as a family, i need to sit do andrepare you for me hard truths that are going to come out in this book. and i sat down and took him through it and told him everything that isn the book, and he looke a me and he put his head on my shoulder and he said, "poor mama, you'd better

tell dad," you know. >> yeah. >> he's a lovely -- he's an amazing kid, and he's nothing but support and loveor me. >> something like this can split a fami apart. >> yes. >> wn you make these revelations. your stepmom, michelle phlips, said you know, she can't verify this. >> how could she verify ? >> of course not. >> you sister, half sister cha says, you know she has no doubt that you're telling the truth,nd your brother says he doesn'know whether it's happened, but you know, he doesn't doubt you. how do you feel about your family's reaction to this? >> i have great compassion for what my family's going through. this is what any family goes through when this type of thing comes to light. the fact that this is so public makes it twice as difficult for everybody, and i love my brothers a sisters and we all experienced our father in a very different way, thank god. and you know, i just hope that we have an opportunity to heal. we a having, you know, a very

typical reaction to a very horrific reality. >> i'v got to tel you, i can't understand -- i mean, i can't imagine it, and i listened to you during meredith's interview. how do you not feel incredible rage about what this man did? >> anyone who knew my dad will know that he was very charismatic and brilliant and all of these different things and tha for whatever reason for whatever reason, whatever was inside of him, people would forgive him anything, and he drew people to him ande would toss them aside, but you know, he was just onef those people that -- and look, you can't rgive something like this, but you can understand. and actually, i did take an opportunity when he was dying to sit down and talk to him and forgive him, and forgiveness is kind of a beautiful act, and you know, it's not necessarily to

ve the other person ace. it's for urself. it's an opportunityeople nee to take more often, i think. >> mackenzie phillips, best of luck going ahead into the future and dealing with life. here...blackberry pomegranate. i can't find my hand. (announcer) yoplus and new yoplus light. digestive health alternatives from yoplait. (announcer) yoplus and new yoplus light. no addives you can't pronounce. no artificial ingredients of any kind. select harvest from campbell's now has twelve soups th are00% tural. all the farm raised goodness you wt, none of the chemic stuff you don't. with ingreents this natural, we want to show the world.

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it lets you choose what purchases you want to pay in fl to avoid interest...with full pay. and those you split... you decide how to payver time. if having plan matrs. chase what matters. create your own blueprint at chase.com/blueprint. good morning. our time right now, 9:26. it is thursday, september 14th, 2009. i'm barbara harrison. in the news at this hour, we are following breaking news out of northwest washington. that's where the all-clear has been given after earlier authorities found what they were calling a suspicious package. it was a backpack lying on the sidewalk near the islamic center of washington in the 2500 block of massachusetts avenue. right now, massachusetts avenue is still closed and traffic is being difficuverted around the

but again all clear. weather and traffic are next. stay with us. we'll be right back.

good morning. it's a balmy, early morning. we will peak in the mid 80s by mid afternoon. cloudy tonight. we may have a pre-dawn shower friday morning mainly to the south of washington. much cooler tomorrow with a northeast breeze. partly cloudy, low 70s. cool on saturday. incompetent creasing clouds. a likelihood of afternoon and evening showers. highs, upper 60s. warmer on sunday. into the upper 70s. steve is here with our traffic update. we will take a look at

massachusetts avenue where the all-clear has been given for the suspicious package. it is very slow leaving dupont circle. all traffic is being diverted on to 24th street. heading over to maryland right now, we will see very slow traffic heading south on 270 where the earlier accident was. back to you.

all my art. >> that's the voice of the king of pop. apparently, there are some enter information befo heard tapes. and he talks about everything from his family to his celebrity fries and these are now bng made public for t firtime. so, we'll be talking about that a little bit later tomorrow here on "today". feels like this story just ner dies. it just keeps going on and .

>>yeah. >> people are gng to talk more about it. i'm ann curry along with al roker and msnbc's tamron ha, who's in for natalie while she's on assignment thanks for helng us out. >> absolutely. >> and apparently, you're going to talk about dreams this morning? >> yeah, it's reay interesting. you can train yourself to rember your dreams. because how many times he you awaken and you're like, what did i dream that night? we'll tell you the techniques and tell you what dreams mean especially the frequent dream of missing an exam or appointment that you're not even scheduled for and dreams like flying and being chased. see what those things mean, kind ofnalyze our dream. >> that's the least of . >> uh-oh, got something to talk to us about. >> i could talk. meantime, talking to our kids about sex. parent looks forward to that conversation, but we have to do it. so, we're going to get guidance for all of us this morning, lik when to start the talk as well as the correct words to use. d we'll find out which parent should do the talking. >> interesting, wow. also, as everybody's trying to eat heahier these days, one things that's come up on the grocery shelves is whole wheat

pasta, so we're going to go in the kitchen and find out what that cooks up with, i understand, a delicious recipe. but first, a check of the weather. >> i don't think we've ever had hideous recipes. >> none that you would admi >> no, i always am telling the truth. if i don't like it i'm going to say i don't like. it but i don't think people nessarily think that whole wheat pasta is going to be delicious. >> is that a dream -- >> gotta get movings far as your weather is concerned. roll the tape! >> aye-yi-yi! >> there we go. clouds in the pacific nortest, sunshine up and down the eastern seaboard. weteather from the gulf coast into the central mississippi river valley. tomorrow, more of the rain falls there. mild conditions in the pacif ç## good morning. we have sort of a summerlike ha in the air on this early autumn morning. live picture of the monuments in washington at this hour. now, 77 in washington. mid and upper 70s all around the region. still quite humid. this afternoon, gradually

turning less humid. highs into the mid 80s. we might have a pre-dawn shower friday. partly cloudy. highs in the low 70s. saturday, cool. highs in the 60s. likelihood of you can't believe the dream ann just told us about. i'm sorry you just missed it. >> unbelievable. >> it's crazy. okay, we'll talk about that lateon. congp right after this. i'm losing my mind here. whoo, heyyy ! see, the terms require that you keep the bike within this pre-determined space. if you want to take the be out, i'm going to have to arge you a penalty. i can't really ride in this little space. you can't ride very far. even kids know an offer shouldn't come ha, ha, ha... withidicous condions. why don't banks at ally bank our 9-month no penalty cd gives you a great rate with no fees for early withdraw. it's just the ght ing to do.

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well, there's one thing we all have in common -- everyone dreams. and believe it or not, you can dream up to 20 times a night and not even know it. the topic is explored in this month's "ladies' me journal." julie vain is the editor and gail devaney is the president of the iernational association for the studyf dreams. who knew? od morni, ladies. great to have you both here. >> great to be here. >> thank you. >> julie, this is fascinating to see man people, but why did you decide to pick up the story on dreams? >> well, dreams are fascinate 'and t thing is, most people don't y any attentn to them >> really? >> and they have so much to offer. people sometimes say they don't remember, they don't pay attention to them, b they can really reveal alot. >> gail,ou say we can remember our dreams, because so many times, you do wake up and say i had a dream about something but i can't remember. how do you train your mind to remember it the next morning is it.

>> just keep a note pad before your bed -- whenever you wake up, whatever's in your mind, write it down, because you're problem-solving every night in your sleep, looking at relatiships, your relationships, self-esteem and kids are working on issues with their math teacher. so it makes sense to write down whatever's there and look at your dreams. >> why do we dream in t first place, i mean up to 20 times a night? >> we dream for many reasons. we dream to incorporate more lening, we dream to calm down our feelings and upsets, but we also dream to understand our lives better. what are we really likehen we're not so defensive? and ou dreams sho us. look here, you're having a fight with your husband. you're the one who's doing something really stupid. somemeyour dreams will tell you that, a thas more useful information than ever being right with your husband. >> julie, t tha point then, we really should pay close attention to ourdreams, because it may enlighten u o what's down the road or what we're dealing with immediately. >> what people say is that you can train yourself to remember your dreams. u can even train yourselfo go back to them and flow up, you know, and it's all that stuff that's buried in you that

finds ways of bubbling up in your dreams. >> and not only that, you can ask for a problem to be solved in your sleep. >> solved. >> incubate a dream. that was my dissertation work, and 's easy to do. tonight you've got a problem with yr sister. what's reall going on between me and my sister? you write that down and you will have a dream on it that night. >> i write it down to some of the dream scenarios thaare common that people dream about all the time. flyingwhat does that mean? >> lovg flying. i've had flying dreams all my life, and they say it's when you feel exuberant and your lf-esteem is up. >> really? >>ou feel in control. >> a there are oftenreams that lead you to come be free again. remember what it was like to fly when you were a child? have those flying dreams again. >> oh. what about being chased? that can't be a good thing, is it? >> hardly ever, because you're terrified and afraid you're not going to survive. so, you ha to find out who's the aggressor? what do you feel like in your dream? if you feel overelmed, terrified, see aut who is this guy following you? and is there anything in your life that's like that? what are you running away from? >> what if it's someone you

don't recognize? i've had dreams about people have never seen. >> what i've learned abo this is it might be a part of yourself that you're running away from, and is important to look insid and say what is it i'm trying to g away from? >> you're all in my head, ladies. >> and especially if the person chasing you is a different sex, is there some part of yourself that acts like thaterson that u're not aware of, and you're runng away from your own smoking, your o addiction -- >> this is deep. we needo have a long talk, a drink. i'm goin to ask you about the dream of msed exam or msed appointment. a lot of people have that, even when they don't have an appointment or a exam. >> remember, dreams are metap r meph metaphors. you're not actually having an am tomorrow, but something going on in your life, your work pressure it's like i'back in coege taking an ex and i'm not prepared for it. what are you doing in your life that you're so overscheduled that you're not prepared for things? or a you forgetting to prere for sothing that's coming up and yoreutting it off? >> i he thatne with work anxiet deadlinepressure.

>> so it's definitelyork anxiety. last one i want to ask about, the dream being naked. a whole lot of people -- >> you feelexposed, vulnable. >> it seems pretty obvious. >> but relate it to my life. how in life do i feel like that, in my relationship, in work? do i feel like i've said too much? am i vulnable and that's very helpful to know and be aware ofo you don keep making the sam mistakes. >> wow. i need to just relax for a second and meditate on this stuff. all right, julie and gail, thank you both very much. all in our heads today. up next, you want to avoid it, but you need to do it. how to get pt the anxiety, even the embarrassment of talking to your kids about sex wiout sweating, right after this. ♪ so it's okay to be overprotective. we are. toyota has wonore total quality awards - than any other automaker. - hey, ken. - hey, ken. - hey, nny. hey, ken.

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this morning on "today's family," talng to your kids abt sex. for most parent the sex tal is a dreaded and painful conversation, but it's definitely a nessary one. laura berman, a sex educator and therapist and mom of three has written "talking to your kids about sex: turning the talk into a conversation for li." laura, good to see you again. >> thanks. >>efore we get started on this, you were watchg the mackenzie phillips terview, and what were your thoughts on that, because they are kind of interesting. >> well, i think where people get confused is they assume- she's an adult. and whene say consensual relationip in a situation like that, it' not consensual as an adult like you or i would have a consensual relationship. this was along-standing relationship of abuse, a very

warped relationship. so, it wasn't consensual in the way we think of it. >> because he had power over here. >> he had significant emotional and in fact physical power. he was her father, an authority figure. they had a long-standing abusive relationship. so, we can't thi of it as, oh, she was an adult, she could have said no. >> well, let's get started with this, because this does tie into it. when is it appropriate, what age is it appropriate to have this talk about sex? >>he whole principle is it's not all one talk, and i think that's the mistak parents have. it's an ongoing conversation at every stage of developme. so, it starts very early in life, teaching your children about the correct terms for their body parts, to feel comfortable with theirbodies, to know genitals a their private parts and they shouldn't be talking anyone's private parts and they shouldn't ta anyone else's. and they should know at any age they can come to you with questions. you're going to be non judgmental. you y not like a the decisis they make, but you'll

accept them no matter what. >> and you shouldn't wait for them to come to you. >> absolutely. >> becausedds are, they'll be hearing it on the bus or in the schoolya schoolyard. >> a the scary statistics one inive kidsre havgex by the te they're 15, that 50% of kids are engaging in oral sex in school. i mean, this is serious business, and it's something that parents sort of put the head in the sand, oh, it's n my child. >> because we're uncomfortable out this. >> right. >> how d we as parents get over the unmfortability factor? >> that's one of the focuses of the book. that's why i wrote the book for parents raer than ki, because we havto get cle on our own lues. we have to get clear on what our messages were that we grew up around sex, because that's what we're internalizing and it's okay to be embarrassed. >> in that embarrassment, we ma up pet nes like the woo-woo and the pee-pee. should you use biogically correct terms? >> exactly. just like this is your bow, this is your chin, that's your ear, this isour penis. >> and who should have the sex talk, mom, dad, both? >> either. whoever the child is most

comfortable with, and in an ideal world, both o them. you're both people who, you know, your child can come to. the irony is, here im a sex educator, but my kids oftensk my husband the questions. >> that's good to know. >> as often as me, yeah. >> so, when w get to this ta, therare two parts of it, acally. thers the scitific part and then there's the intimacy part. >> yes, and it's in stag. so, like at around 8, you want start preparing them for the ysical changes that happen with adolescence, you know, for menstruation and thing like that. at around age 11, youe really stting to talk to tm about the mechanics of sex andow baes are made, and they're hearing that in a very mechanical, objective way. they're not hearing it in the way an adult would hear it. >> right. and then around age 13, 14, you're starting to get into more of the spefics of what a relationship is abt,he give and take, trouble-shooting, safer sex issues, negotiating for condom use in your relationship. >> and in fact, you bring up an intesting point, the safe sex part of it. that is more important than ever, isn't it? >> absolutely, std are hugely

on the rise. in fact, one inhree girls in this country are getting prnant by the age of 20. so, it's not just sexually transmitted diseases, which can affect your fertility, much ls your life and mortality, you know. some of them c kill you, especily hiv and even hpv, which accounts for --ou know, human papilloma virus, which accounts for 90% of cervical cancers. so, 's not only that, but ceainly pregnancy that's a risk. >> all right. laura berman, thanks s much. again, the book is "talking to your kids about sex," and laura, ank you so much. a lot of great information that we need to deal with. still ahead, laura is having a live online cha at 10:15 eastern time. logon to todayshow.com. up next, i

this morning in oday's kitchen," hot chef cat cora's here to share a haeyth, hardy fettuccine dish that's full of flavor. she is the executive chef of "bon appetit" magazine. good morning to you. >> goomorning. >> and congratulationss well, because you've extend your family. you've got two more kids in your family? >> exactly. we've got four boys. >> oh, my god! so, fantastic. >> it's been a blast and i'm glad to be here. i'm in new york here for the "bon appet" supper club and cafe and'm here with you today to show you how we can p some healthy pasta on the table. >> which, if you've got kids, you definitely want to do, because they like the pasta. >> right. >> you're making something that's made out of chicken sausage. >> right. >> and you call it rave. >> tomato, tomato, i don't think it matters either way. and this is such a great alternative to broccoli, although with kids, you can also use broccoli in this dish as well. >> so, you've sauteed, chopped up this. >> right. >> you've sauteed is in olive oil, n you're adding garlic.

a littleit of fresh garlic in her >> a lot of it. that's good. >> i love garlic. a lot of nice garlic in here going in, giving a lot of flavor to this sausage. and again, we're lightening it up with turkey or chicken sausage. and i'm going to add the rave into it d start sauteing that. let's turn up t heat ltle bit and get it going. you want to a the milk in. >> when do you add it in, right now? >> add i right in, because we're going to reduce the milk. this is an alternative toream sauce. so using a whole milk or 2% milk, reduce it some, get it ni and sauteed here. >> so without all the fat. then you're using -- >> whole wheat pasta, so -- >> now listen, talk to me about this, because you were saying earlier, eatinghole wheat sta is like eating wholeheat bread in terms of how good it is for you as compared to other pastas like eating white bread. is that what you're saying some. >> the difference beten enriched white rice versus brown rice. so you're not getting -- with thwhole wheat pasta, you're

getting lotsf fiber, you're getting lots of vitamins in there. and it also don't taste any different. so you don't have to be afrai of it. it tastes no different than a whitepasta. so, i'm going to add this right in. i'm just draining that. and you can take aittle of the pasta water with you. so i'll put that right in. >> are you doing it el donte like any regular pasta? you don't cook it differently? >> no differently. it takes tee minutes to cook, four minutes to cook and doesn't taste any differently and you d ok it el dente. >> oh, look at the olives. >> got a lot of olives. >> and some rbs. >> we've got a little thyme here we're going to add right in, a little bit more yme. >> we all need more thyme. and this sav time, which is fantastic. >> this saves a lot of time. a little chili flake, optional for kids, obviously, but i like the spice. you get this together, toss it quick, quick, quick. this is a simp, easy, quick, healthy alternative to dinner. >> and what's really cool about this is it's one-stop shopping. you've got the greens, you've got the meat, the sta. you don't have to make a bunch

of differe things. >> you've got everything in here. one-pot wonder. how are you? >> l's get some pasta here. and coming up on "today," brooke shields is going to be stopping by. >> wow, that's cool. >> plus, more from ma keckenzie phlips on h memoir. >> after your lol news.

9:56 is our time. good morning. i'm joe krebs on this thursday, the 24th of september. police in montgomery county are looking for this man suspected in a rash of car break-ins. he strikes during weekends. investigators say he only breaks into one car each time looking for credit cards. construction is well underway on the intercounty connector. we know what it will cost. it will cost 25 to 35 cents per mile during rush-hour. the rest of the time, 20 to 30 cents per mile. the tolls will be electronic. drivers that don't have an easy pass will get a bill in the mail plus a $3 service fee. the itc will run 18 miles from montgomery county to prince

george's county. let's get a check on our weather. here is tom kierein. we have some summerlike humidity in the air. temperatures in the upper 70s to near 80. mid and upper 80s by mid afternoon. lower humidity moving in. cldy tonight. pre-dawn shower possible friday. much cooler tomorrow, highs, low 70s. upper 60s for highs on saturday with increasing clouds. a front coming through will likely trigger afternoon and evening showers. some returns warmer on sunday. steve, how is the traffic? we are starting to wind down that investigation in massachusetts avenue northwest. the roads are reopening. still heavy and slow through that area. back to you.

captions paid for by nbc-universal television and hello everybody. this thursday, september 24th, 09. i'm hoda kotb alongde, mr. deutch. we liked you so much last time, we need a little more doie. >> there was a 68" guy named

tony. >> before the show donnie asked if we had a seven-second dela >> only loving,kindss and weetness. >> today we have a great, great guest. you guys know heras mackenzie phillips. she has a new book "high on arrival." watching how open and honest she is about it and how painful to tell that story. i find thatretty incredible. >> the barn burner in the book she talks about how her father raped her when she was 18 and then continued for a sexual relationship for ten years. i don't want to push her on this, she has go out oaf her way to say my dad is a od guy,

he was tortured. you inject your daughter with cocaine at 16, you're not a good guy. i don't want to overstep my boundaries here, but how do we -- i think sometimes we don't hold people accountable. >> i think what's interesting, too, her relationsh with her dad is reallnique and what's weird is when itart reading the book, i wasn't sure if i could get into because a lot of drugs and stuff i would be cringing. once you start reading it, it is adictive and it starts making sense. she said this in the early interview, someone says, oh, my gosh, my and my dad had a relationship, it sounds horrific. if you read it in its entirety in its context you ve a window of understanding. something she said here at was so weird. she and her brother was at her house in alifornia, her dad was supposed to go away for

weekend and never came home again. that was the end. they started knocking on the door for ren money. they're trying to find food and things like that. cometel again, she's talking about when there's drugs involved, you forget every responsility and everything. >> there she is. hey, mackenzie, looking forward to it. consensual incest. how mh that exists in this country. clearly the kids are prey. we have to stop blaming things on drugs and alcohol and we're reallyooki forward to . you're a brave girl, you really are. >> she talked about, you know the hear no evil, see no evil, speak evil, there is another sort of monkey, feel no evil. that is what she had to take with her. if you are going through the meat grinder of life and going through horrific thins, you

have turn it off. how you shut it down? how do you put it in a box? >> compartmentalizes and otherwise you can't live, how do you live with that. we're looking forward to that. >> now, there is a warning that we heard about people who rive, usually if i'm wiped out and i have to drive somewhere i will dri coffee and other things. new study out saying motorists who try to stay awake by consuming caffeinated energy drinks are risking their lives because simir effects of alcohol. you lose your reaction time. >> when you're pumping coffee, you are up but you lose focus. if you're tired, don't drive. it's that simple. if you go into a meeting or taking care of your kids and juiced on nine cups of coffee, you may be revved, but do you have the same cognitive ability to make decisions? i don't think so. just don't drive. >> i had some mtings

yesterday, i was meeting -- >> because you have so much going on, hoda. >> i'm in theom and i had an ocean of coffee. everywhe i went i was meeting people and i sat in that room at that table, first of all, you know when all of a sudden it ts you. >> you crash. >> i didn't know what i was talking about. that is what it felt like and they're looking me. what's the thing? when you do not bring it, i felt totally and completely out of it. you're a coffee drinker. >> thr big ice coffees in the morning, get going and then i'm kind of rest of the day -- >> what do you put in your coffee? >> two sweet & lows and -- where we are going with our next segmentbout average amount of times people hve had sex. >> donnie only wants to get to the sex tak. that is number ten on the list. >> well, the average,

basically -- >> all right, so here it is. how many eople, do you think the average man or the average woman has slept with. these are the stats that came from, i think it's britain. everying is britain these days. basically men have slept with an arage of nine people in their lifetime and women have slept with an average of six people -- >> which makes three lonely women, of course. if you dothe math and you mtiply some weird thing, basically it says that we have 2.8 million sex people because of all the people your people had sexith. >> we were talking back stage with the producers, theaverage man only slept with nine women. >> i find that hardo believe. >> i think that's true. particularly -- okay, off camera she cado this. guys in the audience, raise your hands if you slept with more thn nine women. see, exactly. nobody. >> i see other pele worrying.

wait, we know their wives swive that's the trole. we know thewives. >> i think we get into this stereo typical image and a lot of guys get marriedyoun we lost the entire crew. unless you've been single for an extended period of time -- >> yes, like you. >> i have been single chunks of my life, been married, also. i'm above the average there. here's the oth thing, also, i think women want men, if you are going to meet a guy, do you want a guy that has slept with three women but on some level it shows that maybe you're attractive. >> no, that's no good. >> we a trying to do a show here. and i think the woman number is about right. >> do you know how we count?

>> no, what? >> soetimes when you meet a woman and you get into a discussion about how many partners they had and it's okay if they can cou it on hands and toes okay. >> you don't want a girl who slept with like ten guys, do you? >> ten is okay. if she's been a women. >> whats too many for you? what is too many >> when she calls out somebody else's name, too many. >> anyway. were also going to talk. talks about why women are attracted to men and vice versa that are taken. >> it makes sense, they're obviously more apealing and they're tested because they're in a comtted affect. itsws, wow, this person, there is an appeal versus somebody who is single that is avaable on the surface and maybe what we want that we d't have and alsoproven, it'sest driven, in effect. >> we want t show you a picture

of this and-new baby, cute little thing. look at that baby. okay, that baby, i think weave a second baby comparing it to a reular sizehild. that baby weig 19.2 ponds. it was just born to a 4year-old indonesiawoma the baby was born by c-section. look at that baby. ooke, look at that baby. >> that's a big baby. >> it's a c-section. that baby -- >> how are yourkids, by the way? >> you have your first grader went off to school. >> i tried, she didn't. >> she was okay. >> it's totally fine. but she didn't need me and cry and ing. >> that's what you need. >> that's what you wan as painful as it is, that's what you want. >> we'll talk to brooke about a

lot of things, her kids, her new movie and talk about mackenzie phillips in a litt bit and do we have time to go to miss sara for a sec. >> i disagree with the sex thing. don't you want a guy -- we want the emotional stuff. >> and youguys, wll show you what this is. we'll show it tomorrow. we're not going to reveal . we'll be back with more.

ewoo are back with today's entertainment brooke shields and ow this woman started her modeling care atust 11 months old and hasnot stopped working since. went from cover girl to movie star -- nice hair -- 12 years old and on to a tv career and evenworking in a education in inceton and collecting a bunch of awards along the way. >> wife and mother of two and broo still managed to get here today. >> managed. barely. >> thank you. >> how we're going toalk to mackenzie phillips later in the show and she talkng about that child star world which very few of us have a perspective on at all.

do you understand the world she's talking about? >> i do. i was one of the few in the beginning. imanaged somehow to stay out of a lot of it. attribute it to family or whatever. how my world was created. i stayed in new york, i never went to california. i always went to a regular school. so, who knows. just different circumstances. but you see a lot of kids really sort of, it wres havoc. wreaks havoc on me as an adult. >> speaking of an adult and before we geet the eyelashes. you are rectly posed for "curve" magazine. we talked about this last time on the show women in their 40s are se and more beautiful than women in their 20s. you look gorgeous on this. do we have the pictures? good for you because you look so gorgeous and somehow our society gets sold a bill of goods that

women in their late teens, 20s and 30s. god bless you. >> i think women you come io your own and i feel the confidencereally, really helped. my husband was so jalous of the guy in those phos. wha are y doing? isn't that a good thing? >> we're going to get a picture and throw it up. hello. look at you. >> it's amazing. yo were probably more comfoable doing this today than ifyou were in your 20s. >> you're more comfortable in your n skin now? >> yeah. >> we have to talk about your eyelashes because they're almost hitting us. i don't know how tight you can get. we wear fake eyelashalize the time, but she has a whole bunch of lashes that are all authentic. what happened? >> i started to work with a coany and was part this trial period and it's a escription. it's an amazing eyelash growth

product. you have to consult your doctor and see if it's right for you and you can logon to latise.com. >> you're paid by them, are we clear? >> i'm a spokesperson. you want to be proud of that and i'm proud of the fact that they'reworking with the make a wish foundation, which is a great image >> a lot of companies, today, that's price of entry. doing business with consumers, give something back. >> our go is $750,000. a little liner, you put it on. >> i was leery of something th makes something happen immediately. what are the side effects? what are they saying? >> they have all the si fects that they say are possible and they are noteen in the clinical studies. they have to say it because of the fda. the only one that is fda approved. >> we kow that longer eyelashes, no, it's not stupid.

longer eyelashes areore beautiful. i wouldn notice whether you guys had long eyelashes. >> you would notice without. >> there's like a vacancy. >> if i left i would nev s who had longer eyelashes. >> mine are fake. look at mine, phony. glued on. and yours real. >> mine used t have to be glued on. >> how do wenow they're real? >> you can pull them. my daughter, she always goes, are you in there? are you in there? now, i swear to god because she sleeps with me a lot her little finger, there's more to pull now, it's easier. it's sier. >> do we have a picture of the kids before we say good-bye? >> think i put the new one in. >> brooke, thank y so much. good luck with everything. we know you have a movie out. good luck with everythingith the kids. up next, are you more attracted to the opposite sexf you're hitched?

today's relationships. if you repeated that old saying, all the good ones are taken. this segment is for you. >> sara haines hit the streets to find out why people in relationships are more attractive than the single ones. >> let's take a look. >> people arettracted to other people that are already attached and spoken for. why do you think that is? >> wen you're young, you want what you can't have. >> something you can'thave. >> i want what i can't have.

i would agree with that. >> if i gothim, i don't need anybody else. >> do you think you're more attracted to people because you're married? >> no. i think -- i would like a relationship like that because they're still together after all thse years. >> it's wanting something you clearly know how to do. >> if somebody is spoken for then you think they're not worth it because if they were great they would have a girlfriend. >> a letter of recommendation standing right next to you, tt's what it is all about, i think. reallythe more women i have around me, the more letters of recommendation i have. >> like a social resume. >> your partner isour social resume. >> you're married. has anyone been attracted to you? because i'm sure that's the case. the girls that flirt with you. >> all the time, every day. >> you're probably a great guy anyway. this woman thinks so. >> actually, that's my wife.

>> have you ever been attracted to him? >> what are we doing? >> she went south fast. >> that was wild. we are here with relationship therapist and author of dsi and the authorof "love lessons from bad breakups." hi, guys. >> hey. >> a lot of people say the forbidden is wt they're after. >> i think it is the excitement and the thrill and alsohe married pers is a safe choice. a lot of sine people who have been burned in theast that had bad relationships and commit phobic and they see a married person as a legitimate target. maybe this media world we live in where you watch tevision 30 years ago and almost commonplace and 50% of people have affairs. have we given people permission andthat's part of the reason? >> we are a schedule a date society at this point and you

want to get over it andthen go on andsay, oh, yeah, i survived this and now i'm not good out it. a lot of it, too, a self-esteem issue which you started hinting at. if a married person ends up rejecting you and going back to his spouse. he is married, has kids, if you put yourself out there for someone who is available and doesn't work out, you have to look at yourself. >> there are those women, i think, that go for rried men. i did a whole series on it and i found it unbelievable. i don't get it. no, that's just what i seem to be attracted to. >> intimacy issues and it's safe for them. >> but they're being inimate with thearried people. >> thrill seekers and crave the drama. it's tab and dangerous and you can get caught an that increases brain neurochemistry that really, really feeds into that sense of excitement and arousal. >> guys, what's the rules on flirting? if you're married and somebody else is married, a lot of people

say that's a safe thing to do and throw a fish, not do anything about it, but is that crossing the line? >> guys that flrt and they put themselves in siations where they sort of make themselves avaible and they're the guys and women who end up cheating and having the affairs and people who are marred who have a boundy. they can talk to somebody and it's not flirting. >> do you think flirting's okay if you're married >> if youse it and bring it home to your spouse. that's sexual energy building up. >> if you were married and your friend was flirting with a friend. i would find that disrespectful and i wouldn't stan for that, but a difference between harmless flirting if you don' know -- >> but the lines- >> very different discussion. one other question as far as extra marital affairs. historically it's always be more men, but are w seeing a shift it's more and more women? >> absolutely.

female infidelity is really on the rise and i think it has a lot to do with women whore educated, attractive, successful, confident, competitive. >> meeting guy for a chardonnay in the afternoon, is that an affair? >> it can become an affair. >> witut sex. >> we got to go. >> thanks, gs. thanks. fun discussion.

serious traffic issues because of a suspicious package. good morning. i'm barbara harris. people making the choice to lose their homes to foreclosure. home owner are hoping to make a better deal in a new house. "news 4 midday" begins at 11:00 a.m.

we're back on this thursday. ckenzie phillips besides being a celebrity in her own right mackenzie is the daughter of the mamasand the papas john phillips. >> she has written a shocking new tell-all called "high on arrival." >> welcome. i got this book a couple days ago and we usually page through them and this is a book you n't put down. when i'm watching you grab

little pieces out of it, you talk abo how it's frustrating sometimes to see it in context, it sort ofakes sense, b when you pull out bits and pieces, it's frustrating. >> when you bull out the sound bites or just little phrases that are in newspapers and stuff like that, no matter how you look at it, 's shockg, but, yes, taken out of context without the journey you go on thrgh the first page through the end ofhe knowledgments. >> one of the headlines is that your dad when you were 19 on your wedding night raped you and then a relationship contind sort of off and on throughout a ten-year period. through that n-year perd, mackenz, what was going thugh yo head when that sort of thing happened? >> well, let me say that the initial event, the molestation, rape, whever you want to call it, occurred and then three or four yars went by befor i started noticing that i would wake up in a drug state with my pants around my ankles and that

went on n every y, not every night, not every ek and a couple years later. it wasn't like, i mean, the sound bite has been a ten-year long romantic affa. that is the wrong way to characterize this and i know you didn't say that, but i'm trying to make it more clear for people. the book maps out how and why and takes you on a journey and understand how this sort of thingight happen. what was i thinking? i was thinking, what does this say aboutme? who am i? where i fit in inhis world if this i what's happening. i was watching the earlier segment how the expert says incest in any form is never consensual and i find that an teresting thing to think about because i have taken so much accountability on myself for this because i'm not an expert. all i know is how i feel and i'm thinking, wow, an interesting way to look at it. i'm learning from you guys.

>> i'm a dad and i have three daughters and, please, excuse e. you're such a brave woman and the outcome of this book is more of this consensual incest will come to the surface. inother interviews going out of your way to say, you know, my dad was a good man, he wasn't a badman. he had his demons. let me b a dad for a second. ur dad raped you and continued having sex with y, he shot you with cocaine at 16, that's not a good man. please, excuse me. >> no, it's l right. i'm talking to you as if you were my next door neighbor. that's not a good man. >> i get it, i get it. but if you read the book, it might help you understand. >> i understand and i did read it. at the e of the day. and you've, obviously, done a lot of work on yourself and wherever you put this is where you put this and who am i to even question it, i have to tell you as a dad, i was reading it and i just was liv ud. >> it's heartbreaking. it is going to make people

angry, but in order, i have to le my truth and my truth is tt i know he didn't set out to harm me. i know that justwa't in him. he was, maybe he was sort of harming himself. you know -- i can't get into his min >> but as a dad, that's still no excuse. we didn't set out, but he did. his primal responsibility is to care for you. >> you're a different kind of dad. this was the '70s, this was a rock star. you guys are talking, piers was saying so many celebrity kids had these horrific upbringings and you're such a god dad for saying that. >> i hope i'm not out of place, but maybe this will happen less if there's no that, you know, heid the drugs, he did the this, you're still a victim. you weren't part ofthis. you were a victim. >> i get that, but i would really hope that people wouldn't vilify my father and separate

his body of work from his actions. >> i'm not talking about his music. >> the drug use, mackenzimacken throughout, is astonishing. the one time your dad got mad at you when you swallowed the pplpill. that was spial pill and he grounded you. the level of dscipline only came in such sort of weird circumstances. >> weird circumstances. then you become a parent and you want to do everything right. you know. bed time, my son set his beime at 9:37 p.m. okayyou have to go to bed 9:37. >> do you worry about your son? >> shane is a very unique individual. he's a lovely young man and he doesn't seem to be showing the gene, if you will, for addict n addiction. >> do you worry about him doing drugs or anything? >> he doesn't seem to be showing the gene. >> i have to say, just to wra up, the book is absolutely fascinating.

i read a bunch of memoirs. i can't put them down. whether youagree or disage, if you read it, you will understand something different. >> it's not an incest memoir. >> like a few pages. >> stay strong, kid,ll rig. >> pleasure. >> again, the book is called "high on arrival."

we're back with today's kitchen and getting saucy with the owner of blue ginger and

ming is also the spokesperson for fan, the food lergy and an fulantic network. >> 3 million of the 12 million america who haveood allergys are kids and ming's son is one of them. >> good to see you. what's cool of these recipes, they're safe for your son -- >> it's an aergen friendly recipe. my kid was born with allergys to peanuts, eggs and soy. >> where do allergies come from? every kid is allergic to peanuts. >> no one knows, overprescription antibiotics is one of the big ones and kids aren't as health as theused to b no one grows up on a farm. >> what makes this? >> i make these chicken potstickers. ground chick, i use organic when i can and in this process

is some cabbage. cabba is for moisture. we blend that all up and we end up with this. >> do you nt us to blend anythi? >> what we hve is, this is not wheat, this is a wheat dumpling. this is a whole wheat wrapper and there's no soy in this. >> he is allergic to eight different things. >> he had a lot of work done and he is only allergic to nuts and in the last week he ate peanut butter. usually the kids have eczema and do a blood test and the brick test it's irritating and n as accurate. >> what you've done, you put a little water on there. >> little water on t whole wheat dumpling. you have seen me cook this. >> how long do you sear those for? >> two minutes and get a nice color like that. >> gorous.

>> and you place these up. is this healthier in general? >> these are still healthy for you. >> turkey or chicken, better. >> do we get to eat those? >here you go. orgic soy suce and wine rice vinegar. to try to go. they're hot. >> you are a baby. come on. >> seriously. kathie lee would have been all over that. >> here, use my nain. >> that's ally good. >> what wee done here, the same dumpling filling and if you're allergic to wheat, we make lettuce cups. we tke the same fillng and put them in the lettuce. this is soy colete because i use a naturally bwed rice vinegar with dipping sauce.

>> you use a little wheat wrap. >> there is nuts anywhere at all. and another thing that all kids love is fried rice. >> sure. >> easy for the home mom and dad. take smoked turkey, the deli meat and make afried rice and you can't tell, but i mix 50% brown and white rice. acal very healthy for you. 100% brown rice kids are like, too nutty for me. so simple. >> what did you cut out o normal fried rice. >> no soy sauce and no egg. they add flavor. >> what are the three biggest allergiekids have? >> soy, wheat, dairy. >> lime cookie. kids love cookies, cream, ice cream. this is de from hemp. hemp seed ice cream. you have to try this, so delicious. >> not dairy? >> ose cookies are wheat free and the milk we drink is a rice milk. >> what is in that that is not

mill snk. >> hemp seed. that's great. that is better. ming, thank you. this is all great advice and thanks for cooking, too. up next, finding out new outfits in your closet, rit ter this.

we're back with today's style and here's the idea. a lot of people don't have the time or money to get a wholeew wardrobe every time the season change. >> joann is the market direct and she's going t show you how to shop in your own close basically, times are tough, you can reinvent your own wardrobe in your own closet. >>absolutely. "elle" has coined the term, make better. i can tell you why it's better. don't get r of everything and

start completely over. it hel you save money and by shopping in your own closet you can reinvent things your own way and keep your own personal staple. >> we all own a sun dress. this is a loo at our model. cory wearing the summer look, typical. you'll show us a way to make it fl look. let's see what you've done to the sun dress. tell us what happened here. >>what we di. we took perhaps this is your favorite sun dres. you don't have to banish it to the back of your closet and we layered it with theweater and put also a faux little leather jacket from h&m which i under $50 under it and bohemian chic look. this is not somethg we'd see kate moss. >> perspectivemen love sun dresses. >> you can barely see it. >> doesn't matter. i'm just telling you, men love sun dresses.

tell the women what menike. >> you're all about us. thank you, cory. next, a pencil skirt. all of us have one of these in our closet. re we have sasha. all right, sasha, let's see what we did to make it look like the fall. >> here we left the hem down and even if it's just an inch or two and it could change the proportions of the look and really update it and added on this little blazer which gives the fitted look to it and contrasts with the ruffles at the top and -- >> i like little shorter can we still go shorter? >> you can always go shorter. that's the great thing about letting the hem down. you can always bring it down ain. men don't like those clunky shoes that are in fashion. >> what? are you sure? >> men do not like that. we like a more classic, traditional thing. don't shoot the messenger. >>h&m. >> we just have to let him have his say.

okay, tracy's got the skiny jeans. you can wear the skinny jeans year roun let's see what we'veone here with tracy to pull it up. oh, i love it. >> th is actually a men's look, what we did was take a clssic littlewhite tank and je jeans and cindy crawford in the commercials and what we did is put a boyfriend sweater ove it and thi i acally great, its a ltle bit more fitted by mosimo for target and 19.t$95. you say youdon't like clunky. >> tat is a great look. hat gs will like about that, also, it's sexy but caal at the same time. >> we can shop your closet, as well. boyfriends husbands are not immune to hang their csets shoppe. >> thank you. so, we've all got a little blk

dress in our closet and ithe summ we would go sleeveless, some of us go that way for the fall and let's see how we made it look like fall for kayla. >> so many renditions of the little black dress and maybe you bought this for the summer to wear it to a wedding or what hav you, but you can take it in the fall by layering turtle neck under it and put tits with it. you don