good morning. double disasters. more than 525 now dead in indonesia as rescuers desperately try to save thousands re trapped under collapsed buildings following two powerful quacks. while in the samoan islands, the death toll from that tsunami climbs to 149. we have reports from both regions. jailhouse letter. phillip garrido, the man accused of kidnapping jaycee dugard 18

years ago sends a bizarre, handwritten note to a local nbc reporter. we'll tell you what he wrote. and dramatic rescue. a new york man races up a fire escape and into a burning building to help firefighters save a young boy's life. his heroic efforts caught on tape today, thursday, october 1st, 2009. captions paid for by nbc-universal television and welcome to "today" on this thursday morning. i'm meredith vieira. >> and i'm matt lauer. this morning, rescue crews are working feverishly in both indonesia and the samoan islands. they're searching for survivors of two powerful earthquakes, and of course, that tsunami in the south pacific. we'll get the latest on both disasters in just a couple of minutes. also ahead, the vocal and heated debate over roman polanski's arrest 32 years after he pled guilty to having sex

with a 13-year-old girl. some want the infamous director immediately released, but there are others who say that polanski is getting exactly what he deserves. also, we've got a story we think a lot of people are going to be talking about after they see it. a mother's controversial decision to give back the adopted baby boy she raised for 18 months. she says she and the boy were not bonding. >> now, if you're a parent, you may be horrified at first, but when you hear the rest of the story, you might change your mind. we're going to talk to that mother in an interview this morning and we'll give you a chance to weigh in with just what you would do if you were faced with the decision. but we begin with the latest on those two natural disasters that have killed hundreds in indonesia and the samoan islands. ian williams has made his way to earthquake-ravaged indonesia and joins us now on the phone. ian, good morning. what can you tell us? >> reporter: good morning, matt. well, the latest figures we're hearing is at least 500 people dead and many hundreds injured,

but that figure almost certainly is going to rise, the reason being, there are so many collapsed buildings here. in the center of town, which is where we now find ourselves, many, many buildings have collapsed. many of the newer buildings. and we just don't know how many people may be trapped inside those buildings. the market was particularly badly hit. very busy yesterday evening when the quake struck. a hospital is down. many shops have been badly hit. we don't know how many people are still trapped in those buildings. this is a city in shock. people expected the worst. they ran onto the streets again today when there was quite a severe aftershock. rumors spread of a possible tsunami coming in. people are not getting information. the power is down. there is no water. now, surprisingly, many buildings in the downtown area have remained standing, but the damage is enormous, and with so many difficulties getting here, with so many difficulties with

the infrastructure, it will be some time before the rescue teams can get properly working on some of the worst affected areas, matt. >> all right. ian williams reporting for us live on the phone this morning from indonesia, where that earthquake struck just several hours ago. ian, thank you very much. it's three minutes aer the hour. here's meredith. >> matt, thank you. now to the samoan islands, where the death toll is rising as well following tuesday's massive tsunami. nbc's lee cowan is on the samoan island of upolu. lee, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, meredith. yeah, e death toll here now stands at at least 115. officials expect that to rise as well. and now police are saying that it could be weeks or even longer before the dead and missing are recovered. as the damage became more apparent, so, too, did the misery. village after village literally wiped off the samoan map. the death toll continues to climb from this week's tsunami that sent a wall of water rushing at streets and villages. even now, days later, searchers continue to find bodies in

what's become a muddy landscape of ruin. many of the victims were tourists, now destined for temporary morgues, because the hospital morgues are full. many more, it's feared, have likely been washed back out to sea. survivors are returning to find their homes often nothing more than a foundation. >> this is the first time i ever seen anything like this, so dangerous. no words to describe. >> reporter: she was able to save her 90-year-old mother, but her house is thick with mud, sand and little else that is salvageable. >> i told her, i ran a no, her feet, you know, they didn't move from the ground. >> reporter: now, it is the middle of the night here, meredith, but as soon as day breaks, officials expect that those relief efforts that have been coming from all corners of the globe will get right back into high gear. meredith? >> lee cowan, thank you very much. it is 7:05. once again, here's matt. >> meredith, thanks. on a much lighter note, we turn now to the star-studded

campaign to bring the 2016 olympic games to chicago. president obama ads to copenhagen, denmark, later today. he will join his wife and some other heavy hitters who are already there pushing for the windy city. "today" national correspondent natalie morales is also in copenhagen. natalie, good morning to you. >> reporter: and good morning to you, matt. you know, it doesn't get any better in terms of pr blitzes than this. the president and first lady tag-teaming here to help boost chicago's chances for that olympic bid, and it looks like it may be working. the red carpet is out in copenhagen, ready to greet the world's power players, a full-on ground invasion to try and gain those crucial votes in the close race between host city hopefuls chicago, rio, tokyo and madrid. first to arrive for chicago, michelle obama. >> chicago is a wonderful host city, great people, great facilities. it knows about sports. and the hospitality is like no other, and it's a city that

works really well. >> reporter: turning on the charm as only she can with the voting members of the international olympic committee. >> i'm going to go talk to some voters. >> reporter: the other "o" in town, oprah. >> i love this city! this city has given -- it really gave birth and life to me. i mean, my greatest successes came from this city. >> barack obama, he's the key partner. >> oh, he's our team captain. >> yes. >> yes. >> reporter: president obama will only be on the ground in copenhagen for all of four hours friday. >> i'll sleep on the plane, i'll land, i'll speak and then i'll fly right back. >> reporter: long enough, though, to make what will be the final campaign speech for chicago. odds-makers in london are betting on chicago as the favorite. >> it looks like a two-horse race as far as we're concerned, and chicago just the favorites at the moment. >> reporter: also vying for top billing, brazil's rio de janeiro, already a major tourist destination. president luis dasilva arriving

to make his case that rio is ready to shine with its booming economy. geography plays in its favor, a point soccer star peele pele is here to make. >> we never had it in south america. >> reporter: madrid and tokyo are also bringing their top guns, spain and the newly elected prime minister of japan, hat hat. but that may still not be enough. what's their secret weapon to beat out the obamas? >> i can't tell you. >> the obama factor is very important in this race. chicago, are they guaranteed to win with obama there? no, definitely not, but the chances are much greater then. >> reporte it will be a one, two, three punch -- michelle, oprah, with president obama hoping to seal the deal. and i can tell you, the first lady has already been very hard at work today meeting with the ioc president as well as voting members, trying to sway their votes, perhaps, but later tonight the glitz will be on once again in full, as she's expected to attend

reception -- a gala reception tonight at the opera house. matt? >> are youoing to stick around, natalie? will we see you there tomorrow? >> reporter: absolutely. i'm hoping get a red carpet ticket today, at least, for that event. >> all right, good luck. we'll check in with you in 24 hours as the world waits to find out this news. >> yeah, it's a real fight there. now let's get a check on the top stories from ann curry at the news desk. good morning. >> good morning, everybody. high-stakes talks are under way in geneva. the u.s. and five other nations hoping they can talk ira into reconsidering its nuclear ambitions. nbc's chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell is there now. andrea, expectations are so low. what's the best that might come out of these talks? >> reporter: well, frankly, the u.s., ann, say they don't know what to expect, but they do say for the first time that they are willing today to sit down and talk separately, one on one with iran for the first time in decades. that is a big deal. and the u.n. atomic energy chief, mohamed elbaradei now says definitively that what iran

has done is illegal, so iran could look for a face-saving way out. they could agree to freeze their program in exchange for buying low-grade enriched uranium from france and russia. that could be a mpromise. so far going in, the u.s. expects iran to bring up a lot of other topics. they, the u.s., want to keep it focused on the nuclear estion. >> interesting story to cover. andrea mitchell, thank you so much. president obama's considering all the options in afghanistan now after a major strategy meeting with his national security team on wednesday. top advisers are said to be divided on the question of whether or not to send additional troops to afghanistan. today, china staged its biggest military parade ever to mark 60 years of communist rule. in new york, the empire state building was illuminated red and yellow in a tribute to china, but critics who cite china's record on human rights call that tribute immoral. overseas markets are mostly higher this morning. cnbc's melissa francis at the new york stock exchange.

melissa, a lot of news yesterday about the road -- at the end of the road for gm saturn. >> yeah, that's absolutely right. gm is, in fact, closing the saturn brand. they tried to make a deal with penske to sell it, but that fell through. gm's going to immediately begin shutting down a plant in michigan that builds those cars. it could also shut 350 dealers and could cost as many as 13,000 jobs. also getting a lot of attention this morning, comcast is denying reports that it has made a deal to buy nbc universal, both nbc universal and ge have no comment on this story. back to you, ann. >> all right, melissa francis, thank you mh for your report. finally now, a good samaritan is being hailed as a hero in new york after helping firefighters rescue a 4-year-old boy from a burning building on wednesday. the man carried the boy down the fire escape, as you see there, and gave onlookers a thumbs up when the child started breathing again. he's in stable condition this morning. at 7:11, it's a nice story to

end with. let's now go back to meredith, matt and al. i was listening to a story this morning that said when he was a young boy in romania, his family was caught in a fire and i think he may have saved a sister. he may have lost a parent in that fire. so this is a man for a second time being involved with this. just had to do what he could. >> a selfless act. >> good story. >> thank goodness that boy's going to be okay. >> absolutely. >> mr. roker. >> it's chilly here. >> it's chilly here, but we have a kbroent storm in the midwest causing a bit of trouble. double-barrel low pressure system. you can see the front very well defined on the radar. we've got winds on the northern part of this system. we've got wind advisories and wind warnings from parts of kansas on into parts of the dakotas. winds over 20 miles per hour. these are sustained winds. and then the southern part of the front, we've got a threat for large hail, strong thunderstorms, isolated tornadoes, rainfall amountss ç## it's the coolest morning since may the 20th. now, just 50 degrees in

washington. we are in the 40s in the suburbs and rural areas. a few locations in central virginia down into the upper 30s. central shenandoah valleys, mid 30s. sunny tomorrow morning near 50. clouding up in the afternoon high near 70. could get showers late friday night into midday saturday. mostly sunny sunday, mys mid 70s. >> that's your latest weather. matt? >> all right, al, thank you very much. now to the california man accused of kidnapping and holding a girl hostage for nearly two decades. phillip garrido has now sent a letter from prison to a local nbc reporter in sacramento. nbc's michael okwu has the details. >> reporter: the letter is handwritten and full of misspellings and musings about how authorities have mistreated jaycee. "she has been repeatedly denied

access to having an attorney present during questioning," the author writes, "her civil rights have been violated. please consider this request to contact her at your earliest possible date." >> he's still affecting people on the outside and telling them what to do and to do it his way. >> reporter: the return address on the envelope is the county jailhere garrido is awaiting trial. just underneath that address, the name faintly visible, phillip garrido. a jail official says the letter appears authentic. a dugard family spokesperson said they have no intention of dignifying a letter from the kidnapper with a response. the letter was sent to nbc affiliate kcra and reporter walt gregg. in a phone interview shortly after his arrest last month, garrido told gray, the years with jaycee and the children he fathered with her were heartwarming. >> those two children, those two girls, they slept in my arms every single night from birth and never did i harm them. i never touched them.

>> i just think he's maybe making some assumptions and maybe continually stirring the pot here. >> reporter: theriter instructs gray to deliver the letter to a private attorney who will look into this matter for her best interests. >> he didn't worry about her rights when he rapedher. he didn't worry about her rights when he kept her imprisoned for all those years. >> reporter: those charges have yet to be settled in court. garrido has pled not guilty. but to criminal profilers, the letter is a means to continue to reach out to the young woman he allegedly kept captive for 18 years. >> he's not crazy. he knows exactly what he's doing. >> reporter: for "today," michael okwu, nbc news, los angeles. it is now 7:15, and once again, here's meredith. >> matt, thank you. now to the latest on the arrest of director roman polanski more than three decades after he fled the u.s. to avoid sentencing on a child sex crime. a number of people have come to his defense, and that has triggered a heated debate. we're going to get thoughts from both sides of that in a moment, but first, nbc's stephanie gosk is in zurich, switzerland, with

the latest. stephanie, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, meredith. swiss officials won't confirm where polanski's being held, b he's widely believed to be in a cell in this building behind me. a local paper says the acclaimed director has few creature comforts -- only a bed, a table and a tv. his wife is allowed to visit, but just once a week. there are signs polanski will be sitting in that cell for a lot longer than many thought. instead of a matter of days or weeks, legal experts say the swiss court may deliberate for months. while the process drags, a cultural debate boils over. it started with outpourgz of support. >> he was not charged with -- i know it wasn't rape rape. >> no? >> it was something else, but i don't believe it was rape rape. >> reporter: glitterattie signed a petition asking for his lease. it's lit up the blogosphere with columns like this one on salon.com. >> you know, we're talking a lot about what a great artist he is and how much time has passed and

all of these other things, and it just seemed like nobody was coming back to the fact that he raped a 13-year-old girl. >> roman polanski. >> reporter: there's a growing concern among many that the oscar award-winning director is getting off easy. >> you know what happens to nosy fellas, huh? >> i think he got a celebrity deal 30-some-odd years ago. if you look at the sentence, that sentence by itself could be looked at as outrageously light. >> reporter: in 1977, polanski admitted to unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl as part of a plea deal, but he had been charged with five other offenses, including rape by use of drugs and sodomy. polanski fled the u.s. on rumors the judge might renege the deal. last week, swiss police finally arrested him. amid the growing backlash, even european officials are reconsidering their position. the french cultural minister initially said the arrest showed a frightening side of the u.s. but in comments yesterday, a government spokesman told the press "roman polanski is neither above nor below the law."

if extradited, polanski will find the u.s. a far less tolerant country than in the '70s. in a recent case, the supreme court narrowly ruled against an effort by conservative states to make child rape a capital offense. meredith? >> stephanie gosk, thank you very much. attorney gloria allred supports the decision to extradite roman polanski. willie brown has known polanski for more than 30 years and believes he should be freed. good morning to both of you. >> good morning. >> good morning, meredith. >> mayor brown, if i can start with you. he admitted, roman polanski, 30 years ago, that he drugged a 13-year-old girl, then had sex with her, sodomized her. he then fled the country when he realized that this sentence might be coming down to 50 years in prison. you now believe he should be set free. why? >> you understand that this is a matter involving a person who pled guilty to a crime. he pled guilty at the time that the prosecutor knew all of the facts, considered all of the

facts and arrived at a conclusion, and an appropriately plea bargain process that we have in the state of california. once that's done, that is the end of the matter if the judge is involved. when a judge is involved and the judge agrees to that sentence, that's what occurs. in this case, mr. polanski was sent off appropriately under the statute for an evaluation. at the time of that evaluation, after 40-plus days, all of the various persons participating in that evaluation came to a conclusion, and that conclusion was reached in a fashion appropriate. the judge had already agreed what the sentence would be. when the judge became concerned as a resul of having to run for election and otherwise, i think, it became clear that the judge was going to go in a different direction. >> so, you believe it was a matter of misconduct. >> let's be clear. the matter now is different. the matter now isr. polanski

is a fugitive. that has to be dealt with in whatever fashion. but more importantly -- >> meredith -- >> -- that was clearly some influence not on the record, ex-party communications by the judge by other persons. all this came from the prosecutor on the case. let him finish that comment -- that becomes the issue of whether or not the judge has done his job. >> i'd like to interrupt you and let gloria respond to that. if there was misconduct, is that reason for him to flee the country, gloria? >> well, first of all, there's no evidence of misconduct. actually, yesterday the deputy district attorney who was not assigned to prosecute the case said he lied about that. having said that, let's talk about the misconduct of roman polanski, because, as you said, as was said earlier in your piece, he was charged with numerous crimes. and i might add, those crimes are still pending against him. they have not been dismissed. he has been charged with rape. he has been charged of sodomy of

a 13-year-old child. he has been charged with lewd and le sivs acts on that child and providing a controlled substance to that child. and let me just say that if anybody reads that grand jury testimony, you will read the testimony of the victim who alleges that she was in fear and she says that not once but numerous times, of mr. polanski, that she said no, that she wanted to go home, that she was crying. and let me say to all those in the hollywood community, meredith, would you let your 13-year-old daughter alone with roman polanski? would you allow him to do what this victim testified to, which is sodomize her, commit acts of oral copulation on her, rape her, provide her with qual yudz and champagne, take nude or topless photos of her? this was a child. this was a man in his 40s. they have to stop excusing him, trying to forgive him, trying to condone this.

this is outrageous conduct and this is not to be allowed. i'm glad he is being prosecuted. >> gloria, that child is now a grown woman with a family of her own and even she has said that she would like people to move on, that she does not want roman polanski prosecuted. >> and i feel for the victim. i represent numerous rape victims, and that certainly is to be -- is understandable and she said that after a civil settlement with him. but this was a crime against the people of california, and meredith, when he pled guilty to that crime of unlawful sexual intercourse, he said on the record that he understood that she was 13 years old. a man in his 40s admitting that he committed this crime, this felony against a 13-year-old, and this is wrong, and he has to be brought back and pay the consequences of this crime. and by the way, it may not just be unlawful sexual intercourse. he may face yet more felonies, another felony for fleeing

before he was sentenced, ed be he has not yet been sentenced. >> mayor brown, what do you say to the people who are arguing that it was consensual? whoopi gdberg said a few days ago that it "wasn't rape rape." do you think that is a sound argument? >> i don't think any of those arguments have any relevancy to what's occurred today. the victim -- normally in this situation, we pay great credence to whatever the victim says. this victim says this matter should be put behind us, that his plea of guilty satisfies her. ordinarily, we all accept that. we plead and we worry about the victim. and about what you said earlier about mr. polanski should be freed, this is about whether or not the system works. those persons who may say this was conduct, okay, i don't share their view. i'm more concerned about the criminal -- >> mayor, may i say -- >> -- justice system, and the criminal justice system works in

this nation. >> mayor brown, you are an experienced attorney, and you know very well that the sentence is going to be handed down by the judge. the victim does not determine the sentence. we're going to have to give a statement at the victim impact time -- >> gloria, i'm going to have to interrupt you. we're running out of time. this is obviously a debate that's going to go on and on. we will be back in jus

good morning, everyone. i'm barbara harrison. it is 7:26. crews are working to repair a water main break that's causing traffic problems in prince george's county. the 16-inch break is along queens bury road near queens and chapel road. the northbound lanes are closed. at least 17 homes are without water right now. the basement of at least one home has been flooded. well, it is the first of the

month. october 1st. several new driving laws are in effect in maryland. speed cameras will be turned on in highway work zones. it is now illegal to write or send text messages behind the wheel in maryland.

good morning. under a mostly clear skirks it is only in the 50s. a few locations in the 30s. near the bay, mid 60s. near 70 tomorrow with increasing clouds. we will get showers late friday night through mid morning on saturday and then drying out saturday afternoon into sunday.

highs in the 70s. ashley, how is the traffic? 270 is pretty messy. we have accident activity just beyond this camera shot alongside the left side of the roadway. bw parkway is to be avoided southbound. an accident to block the south side with delays at 198. tonight at 5:00, liz

♪ 7:30 now on a thursday morning. it's the 1st of october 2009. you're looking at a crowd, probably a little chilly out there on the plaza, but they're warming up to the music of mariah carey, and that superstar singer will be right there on the plaza for a live concert in our 8:30 half hour tomorrow morning. if you're in the ar, come on down for a great show. inside studio 1a, i'm matt lauer

along with meredith vieira. and coming up in a moment, will an alabama man suspected of killing his new bride during a honeymoon scuba dive in australia eventually face the death penalty here in the united states? the victim's father will join us for an exclusive live interview in just a couple of minutes. also ahead, a lot of people have been sending us questions about the seasonal flu and the swine flu and what vaccines certain age groups can and cannot get. if you are confused by all of it, don't worry. dr. nancy snyderman will join us to clear it all up. plus, a mother's heart-wrenching decision to terminate her adoption of a boy that she had cared for for more than a year and a half. she's going to be here to tell her story and also to respond to some of the reaction her decision is getting, and some of that reaction has not been positive at all. but we're going to begin with elizabeth smart's kidnapping ordeal that made worldwide headlines back in 2002. today for the first time, she testiein court about her terrifying experiences. nbc's chris jansing is at the federal courthouse in salt lake

city, utah. chris, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, meredith. i think a lot of people are surprised to hear that the husband and wife accused of kidnapping elizabeth smart way back in 2002 have never been brought to trial. this case tied up in a complicated series of legal hearings over their mental competency. today at another of those hearings, elizabeth smart for the first time since she was brought home will come face to face with the man accused of pulling her out of her bed in the middle of the night. and her dad told me that even he and elizabeth's mom have never heard most of the details of what happened to her. for the last six years, elizabeth smart has worked to move forward with her life, playing music again, taking french lessons. but today she has to go back to 2002, when she was just 14 and kidnapped at knifepoint from her bedroom, held for nine long months. for the first time ever in public, elizabeth will talk in detail about what happened to

her, horrible stories she's never even told her family. >> and she says, well, you know, this is the last thing on earth i want to talk about. it is the last thing on earth. but elizabeth is very strong, and i have great confidence that she will, that we'll get through this. >> reporter: ed smart, elizabeth's father, sat down with us to talk about the long-delayed hearing to decide if brian david mitchell is competent to stand trial. prosecutors say the homeless street preacher wanted elizabeth as a second wife. are you worried about hearing things that you have never heard before? >> it -- i mean, it hurts to hearhat she's gone through. >> reporter: elizabeth has met with prosecutors preparing her testimony, even as she prepares to go to france on a mission trip for her church. her family and faith, she says, have seen her through the worst. >> no matter what people can

take from you or do to you or harm you, that they can't take that away from you. >> reporter: now 21, elizabeth has become an advocate for other victims, publicly attending the signing of child safety legislation and privately facing what happened to her with unimaginable resolve. >> i remember elizabeth going up into the hills, the place he held her, and saying, you know, "i am no longer captive," you know, "i am conquering." >> reporter: ed smart says elizabeth has forgiven mitchell and his wife but that she still wants justice. >> she also wants to face brian mitchell and just say, you know, you are a scum [ bleep ], and let people know who and what he is and what he did. >> reporter: ed smart believes brian mitchell has been manipulating the system for six years to stay out of prison. his lawyers believe he should

remain in psychiatric hospital. after elizabeth testifies today, the competency hearing will continue next month. meredith? >> all right, chris jansing, thank you very much. and now let's get a check of the weather from al. >> all right, thanks a lot, meredith. and got a lot of pharmacy students out here. i didn't know october was pharmacy month. wow. there you go. they've been a little bit of a pill, though, out here. let's take a look, show you what's going on as far as your weather's concerned. it's a cold morning through the great lakes, on into ohio and west virginia. we've got frost and freeze advisories up. man, that is brisk! some of these temperatures, we are looking at temperatures in the 20s and 30s. they will warm up eventually, but in the meantime, we're looking at temperatures down through southern texas in the 90s, 40s throughout the great lakes and on into the plains, 50s ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç# good morning. the sky is a vast expanse of vivid blue on this thursday morning. live picture from the sky

watcher camera. a little bank of fog over the potomac river at this hour and elsewhere around the region, we are chilly. it is only in the 40s in the suburbs. rural areas, a few locations in central virginia and the shenandoah valley. it is now 50 in washington. highs today, upper 60s with lots of sun. clouding up tomorrow. >> where are you guys from? >> cincinnati, ohio. >> cincinnati! like the chilly three-way, all right. and if you want your weather any time of the day or night, go to the weather channel on cable, weather.com online. matt? >> all right, al, thank you very much. and now to the tragic story of a alabama woman who was killed while scuba diving on her honeymoon in australia. her husband is now serving time for her death. we'll talk exclusively with her father in a moment, but first, "today" national correspondent amy robach has the latest on the story that continues to evolve. amy, good morning to you. >> good morning to you, matt. in jayt, gabe watson pleaded guilty in an australian

courtroom to manslaughter in connection with the drowning death of his newlywed wife tina. his sentence was just extended to a year and a half, but tina's family is outraged and now some are seeking justice here in the u.s. it is a picture of tragedy. married for 11 days in 2003, two young newlyweds from alabama were scuba diving on their honeymoon in australia when something went tragically wrong. >> she was looking up, had both her arms out, you know, reach stretched up, almost like looking at me, reaching her arms up to grab. >> reporter: at first, gabe watson said his wife had panicked, but investigators had a different theory. caught on camera by another american honeymooner, gary stempler, this photo shows tina watson collapsed on the ocean floor and australian police believe gabe had murdered her. in a surprise development, gabe received a plea deal from australian prosecutors and pled guilty to manslaughter. he was sentenced to one year

behind bars. >> we believe that gabe watson murdered our daughter. we'll continue to believe that. this is not justice and this is not over. >> reporter: creating a public outcry from the victim's family, an australian appeals court recently ruled to extend watson's sentence to a year and a half. >> after australia's court decided to just add six months to gabe watson's sentence, attorney general king decided to pursue a charge that will carry more weight here in the states. >> reporter: the state's attorney general says he will now seek capital murder charges. >> his two biggest obstacles are extradition and jurisdiction. number one, getting him back from australia on a capital murder charge, and two, jurisdiction. how does he have the power to prosecute and punish in the u.s. for something that happened in australia? >> reporter: it is a case that some legal analysts say will make for a tough case. >> it's a real stretch, and his theory, i believe, is that if the crime was initially begun in

this country and then concluded in another country, it can therefore be punished here. >> well, we reached out to gabe watson's attorneys for this story. they had no comment. matt, back to you. >> all right, amy, thank you very much. tommy thomas is the father of the victim, tina thomas watson. he's with us exclusively along with alabama's attorney general troy king. good morning to both of you gentlemen. >> good morning. >> attorney general king, let me start with you. >> good morning. >> and you just heard that piece. you said you've got an uphill battle in terms of establishing jurisdiction in this case. the crime took place in australia. that's where tina died. how do you then try for a charge of capital murder here in the united states? >> well, let me start by saying just because something's hard doesn't mean you shouldn't try. we believe that this crime -- we believe the facts are going to show that this crime began in alabama, even if it was completed in australia. so, we believe alabama has jurisdiction in this matter. >> so, you're willing to say this was premeditated. what piece of evidence do you have that proves that this crime was actually planned here before it took place in australia? >> well, there's a fair amount of facts.

i'm not going to go into the specific facts because we have an open, active investigation where we are still gathering evidence, but we clearly are confident that there are going to be facts that are going to show that the series of events that culminated in tina thomas's death in australia began in alabama. >> there might be some people watching right now, attorney general king, who are saying, well, what about double jeopardy? hasn't this man already been tried for this crime in australia? does it present double jeopardy to try him again for the crime here in the united states? >> i think the answer is no. alabama's a separate sovereign state from the country of australia. and just as the federal government can try a case and then the state can try a case again because we are separate sovereigns -- surely, the state of alabama's a separate sovereign from australia. >> also, do you rely on a technicality that he was tried -- or that he was convicted of manslaughter in australia, and it is a different crime to charge him with capital murder? >> well, that could be, but the threshold question is that we believe alabama is a sovereign state with its own laws that have been offended and the ability for alabama to vindicate

those laws with a trial of its own. >> i know you're presenting evidence to a grand jury, so this is -- we're a little bit putting the cart before the horse at this time, but have you been in contact with australian authorities? would they bcooperativ with extradition? >> perhaps not with extradition. >> but you'd wait until the end of his 18-month sentence and then try him? >> well, we will go to a grand jury when we are confident we have the facts sufficient for a grand jury to weigh the facts and make a decision. and of course, as i'm sure you know, australia will not extradite on a capital sentence. there have been a lot of questions that have been posed to me about, well, why would you seek a capital sentence? and the answer to that is simple. we would seek a capital sentence if we believe that's what the facts warrant. because to do otherwise would allow australia to water down alabama's law just like their laws. >> would you seek the death penalty? >> if i bieve it's a capital crime, i will. >> mr. thomas, first of all, thank you again for joining us. and i know your family has been outraged by the leniency shown to this man in australia. how do you feel about the potential of capital murder charges being filed in alabama

once he's returned? >> we're very encouraged, matt, by the attorney general and by troy king's support of our family, and especially of tina. certainly thankful to him, proud to be citizens of the state of alabama and hope to get justice for our daughter in the state where she was a citizen, since we couldn't get it in the country where the crime was committed. >> mr. king is going to attempt to prove that the origins of this crime were here in the united states, that this was a carefully planned and plotted murder. is that what you felt all along? >> the evidence that was gathered, even for the case in australia, there were several things that indicated that it certainly could have been planned in alabama. >> and mr. king, when do you plan to present evidence? when will we find out what the grand jury has decided in this case? >> well, as soon as we complete our investigation and can make that decision.

to not pursue capital murder charges, if we believe that's what's warranted would be to desecrate tina's memory, and i'm simply not going to allow that to happen. >> alabama attorney general troy king and tommy thomas. gentlemen, thank you both for joining us. we appreciate it. and up next, the questions you want answered when it comes to both seasonal and swine flu. dr. nancy will set us straight on botthose things right after this.

♪ somebody call a doctor because i got the flu ♪ >> announcer: "today's health" is brought to you by walgreens. there's a way to stay well. >> back now at 7:46. this morning on "today's health," nbc's chief medical edit editor, dr. nancy snyderman, is here to answer your flu questions or just confuse us more. good morning, dr. nancy. >> good morning, meredith. >> i use the word confusion because -- >> there's a lot of information. >> the new vaccine, the pneumonia vaccine. >> it's been around a long time. here's why it matters. if you get the flu, which is a virus, your chance of getting the pneumonia afterwards, which can kill you, is a concern. this is meant for kids under 5, older than 65, and if you have any chric illnesses. this has been around. safe, wonderful. talk to your doctor. >> okay. >> it's a good one. >> and they can all be taken at the same time? >> absolutely. >> first e-mail, question from brandy in lubbock, texas.

"i am 30 years old with asthma. will i be eligible for the h1n1 flu vaccine because i have asthma?" >> not only because she has asthma, she really should get it. >> because she's a higher risk person? >> people with asthma have more changes in their immune systems, more susceptible to flu and nu moana. so, absolutely, should jump to the top of the list. >> okay, and get all three vaccines. >> yes. >> susan in illinois asks "i got the flu shot yesterday and have the flu today. are they related?" >> no. the flu shot does not cause the flu, plain and simple. she probably was infected beforehand. but at least now she has coverage through the fall. >> okay. questions about allergies from sarah. she says, "what is a person to do if they are allergic to the flu shot?" >> ah, this is important. if you are allergic to eggs or have any egg yolk problems, these vaccines are grown in egg yolk, so make sure you don't get vaccinated and then be diligent about coughing and washing their hands, but people with egg allergies should not get the shots. >> now from joetta, "if you had

a bad reaction from the swine flu shot in 1976, should you get one now?" >> you know, that was a real debacle, and we think it's just a blip, that it doesn't have any relation to anything today. so, if for some reason, you had a swine flu vaccine in the '70s, no relation to today. it's one of the reasons i don't even like calling this the swine flu. it really is h1n1. you're fine to go ahead and should get one. >> no time left, but if you haven't with the swine flu, don't get the shot? >> you probably haven't had the swine flu in most cases, but yes, check with your doctor. if you think you have had the swine flu and have been diagnosed, you have immunity. >> thank you. hopefully, that clarifies questions for some folks. >> and go to cdc.gov. great website. >> all right. still ahead, where are we today? we'll see how many of you can guess our secret location.

up next, a mother who adopted a boy and gave him away 18 months later. >> she'll explain her decision, after your local news.

beautiful morning here in the nation's capital. a little chilly out there. 51 degrees. probably our coolest morning so far, this 1st of october, 2009. time right now, 7:55. i'm barbara harrison. in the news, crews are working to repair a water main break that's causing traffic problems in prince george's counsel tichlt the 16-inch break is along queens bury road in hyattsville. the northbound lanes are closed due to emergency road work. 17 homes are without water right now. the basement of at least one home has been flooded. amtrak will begin it's new daily service between washington and virginia. each morning, a train will leave

lynchburg and make five stops before arriving at union station. those stops include charlottesville, culpepper, manassas and

good morning. clear and chilly. a fog over the potomac river.

all around, lots of sunshine. the chilliest morning since last may. highs reaching near 70 by mid afternoon with lots of sun. increasingly cloudy on friday. near 50 tomorrow morning. 70 in the afternoon. could have showers late friday night. drying out saturday afternoon. sunny on sunday, highs mid 70s. should stay dry monday. how is the traffic, ashley? outer loop at the beltway, still slow. at new hampshire avenue, we have an accident blocking the right lane. slow on the top side as you make your way from greenbelt through college park into silver spring. if you are traveling out of the district, constitution avenue between 7th and pennsylvania is shut down due to an accident. there are significant delays in both directions. barbara, back to you. >> thank you, ashley. tonight at 5:00, liz crenshaw reports on the latest tactics by banks t

♪ 8:00 now on this thursday morning, october 1st, 2009. that song, mariah carey says, "we belong together" and tomorrow she belongs to our plaza crowd because she's going to be here for a live concert. i'm meredith vieira along with matt lauer and al roker, and i'm feeling self-conscious. i'm all dressed one gloves and you guys -- >> i think i'm on the cusp of

coats. >> thinking about it. >> thinking about that time. >> getting little chilly. >> it is chilly. >> coming up this morning -- >> it's hard for them to hear you. >> oh, sorry. coming up, a mother's painful and controversial decision, just to switch gears for a second. >> this is a story i think a lot of people are going to be talking about. anita tedaldi adopted a little boy when he was about a year old. she raised him for 18 months and decided then to terminate the adoption. she says they were not bonding. now, her decision may outrage some people, but wait until you hear anita's story before you make up your mind. and we're going to hear from her in just a little while. plus, it is october 1st. >> yes. >> believe it or not, and october is breast cancer awareness month. just ahead, the most important questions women should ask their doctors about the deadly disease. we have a lot of folks here. >> that's right, from rhode island. >> yes. among other places. and it is time once again to guess "where are we today?" >> ah. >> here's a live look at our

fifth undisclosed location. and here's your video clue. ♪ >> i don't know. >> i don't know. >> i don't either. well, head to our website to make your guess and register for a $25,000 sweepstakes. >> we're in america, i think. >> yeah, okay. let's go inside. ann curry's standing by with the headlines. ann? >> all right, thank a lot. good morning once again, everybody. in the news, a powerful aftershock rocked indonesia again this morning, just as rescue workers are struggling to find survivors from wednesday's 7.6 earthquake. they pulled at least one woman out alive today, but thousands of people are still trapped under the heavy rubble of collapsed buildings. the death toll now at 529 is expected to rise.

and here is a look at the devastation in the samoan islands. all told, four tsunamis struck the islands on wednesday after a strong undersea earthquake. theeath toll there is at 149, but it's rising there, too, as rescuers are now finding bodies in the ocean. this morning, the head of the u.n.'s nuclear agency said that iran's newly revealed underground nuclear facility is illegal. this as rare talks between iran and the u.s. are under way in geneva. the u.s. trying to get iran to reconsider its nuclear ambitions. a senior u.s. official says washington is open to one-on-one talks with iranian diplomats. this morning, the commander of u.s. forces in afghanistan, general stanley mcchrystal, said the insurgency in afghanistan is growing. speaking at a news conference in london, mcchrystal described the situation as serious and said neither success nor failure can be taken for granted. the comments come as the president decides whether to send more troops there. nbc's chief white house correspondent chuck todd has3m6

chuck, the president's top advisers don't all agree on the way forward. >> reporter: they don't, ann, but yesterday at that three-hour marathon session, the president immediately said, look, we're not going to debate troop levels at this point. so, yesterday, 17 different people in that room talked fm secretary clinton to secretary gates to admiral mullen to general mcchrystal, describing what they believe is what's going on right now on the ground from various perspectives. this war council's going to get together next week to talk mostly about the issues with pakistan and what needs to be done in afghanistan to keep pakistan stable. and general jones, the national security adviser, told a group of u.s. senators last night that a decision on troop levels will come in weeks, not months. ann? >> chuck todd this morning. chuck, thanks for all your reporting on this. before the supreme court of the bahamas on wednesday, actor john travolta described the alleged extortion threat made against him, a threat witnesses say that was made just days after the death of his son. nbc's michelle kosinski is in nassau this morning with the

latest on this story. michelle, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, ann. what's been so stunning to people here is that if these allegations are true -- and the defense says they are not -- how could two intelligent people expect a multimillion dollar extortion plot to work? and one of the accused was at the time a senator here. john travolta and his wife made another trip to the country where their son died, and he stood to tell the court what his attorney had relayed, that a paramedic who treated jett had kept a routine medical document, a refusal to transport, signed while travolta was considering flying his son to the u.s. for treatment. it ended up being irrelevant, but t paramedic allegedly threatened to release it unless travolta paid. the demand was for $25 million. if that wer not met, then certain stories would be sold to the press, stories that would imply that the death of my son was intentional, that i was culpable in some way." and representing that medic back

then, the lady named pleasant, then a bahamian senator. heard on tape saying, "we have a deadline." in court, travolta's attorney claimed these were pleasant bridgewater's words during a meeting regarding her client. "he said the document could belong to mr. travolta or to the world" and that the paramedic said it showed "either he wanted his son dead or was negligent in the care of his son." also, he "wanted the price up front, was satisfied that mr. travolta did not want to have his name tarnished" and was already in touch with a long list of media tabloid outlets. okay, so, if these people were caught on tape laying out some kind of plan, what then is their defense? some of those who testified said the senator actually claimed that she had warned her client what he did was wrong and that she was merely transmitting this information to travolta's people to prevent harm from happening. the paramedic's defense says while she was doing all the talking, he didn't make threats directly to travolta's team. it will be interesting to see

who, if anybody here, is found culpable, ann. >> so very tough for the family. michelle kosinski, thank you so much. it is now 8:06. time for a check of the weather with al. >> announcer: "where are we today" is brought to you by comfort suites and the other fine choice hotels. and good morning. and "move over al roker, here i come," what's your name? >> kar >> cameron cruiser. >> where are you from? >> massachusetts. >> you're very energetic this morning and i love your piggie earrings. how old are you? >> 9. >> whoa! where'd you come from? don't sneak up on me that way! like a jack in the box. what's your name, pal? >> keith. >> keith, okay. get back down there. okay, come back up. there you go! all right, let's check your weather, see what's going on. we'll show you -- i thought there was another kid over there. charleston, west virginia, wsaz, nbc 3, sunny, cool, 65 degrees.

and as we take a look at your jet stream band of air 20,000 feet above the earth's surface, you can see it takes a big dip over the great plains and over the great lakes, by saturday bringing that storm track right over the northeast. showers and mountain snows through the northwest. the subtropical jetç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç# good morning. it's the chilliest morning of the autumn season so far. 50, washington. 40s suburbs and rural areas. fog over the potomac valley. live picture from our camera looking toward the west. a lot of sun today. highs, upper 60s. increasing clouds tomorrow. high near 70. could get showers late friday night through mid-morning saturday. saturday afternoon, highs, upper 70s. >> that's your latest weather. meredith? >> al, thank you very much. up next, the mother who

terminated adoption of a baby boy 18 months after she started caring for him. she'll explain why right after this. (announcer) eucerin smoothing essentials.

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sharing, it's what kids do. but every year an average of four million kids get the flu and miss out on sharing. that's why we created goodtoshare.com. here you'll learn how to protect your family from influenza, get fas on the latest vaccination options available from your doctor, and hear what experts have to say on the value of sharing. flu protection has never been more important-- so discover your options at goooshare.com. and, together, we can all be good to share. medimmune. sharing the science of flu protection.

trying to be big like you, dad. you're so good at keeping everyone full and focused with your fiber. but you already are great at doing that. really? sure! you're made with fiber just like me. but best of all, you're the perfect size for smaller kids, and they love your chocolaty taste. kellogg's® frosted mini-wheats little bites cereal. an excellent source of fiber packed in a smaller size... to help keepour little ones full and focused. now where you going? to practice keeping 'em full and focused. i have big shoes to fill. we're back now at 8:12. each year, more than 130,000 childrenre adopted, but what happens if the child does not bond with the family? anita tedaldi recently blogged about her family's heartbreaking experience. we're going to talk to her in a moment but first, "today" national correspondent natalie morales has anita's story. and by the way, anita asked us

to protect the identity of baby d and her husband who serves in the military. >> the first time i considered giving up d, i was lying alone in bed. i ran to d's room, afraid that he was already gone, but he was there, sucking his thumb and breathing evenly. i caress his cheek with two fingers and exhaled. >> tell me about the very first day you got that phone call and told you, we have a child. >> we were just overjoyed. we had pictures, and i remember i would look at the picture with my kids. >> reporter: as with any adoption, anita and her family were thoroughly screened and they went through counseling to help make d a part of their family. >> he had been found by the side of a road, but the doctor estimated he was younger than one year. d lacked strength in his legs and had a completely flat head from lying in a crib so many hours a day, but the physical or

developmental issues weren't the real problem. five or six months after his arval, i knew that d wasn't attaching. i tried very hard, maybe even harder than i would with my biological children to find a connection, and i didn't feel that we were establishing that connection. >> reporter: after 18 months of trying to bond with d, anita came to a heartbreaking realization. >> my thoughts and emotions were disjointed and came in waves. one moment i was determined to keep d because i loved him. an instant later, i realized that i wasn't the parent i knew i could be and that i should place d with a better family, a better mother. >> reporter: she chose to terminate the adoption and she began looking for his new family. >> i explained to him that he'd be joining his new family and that we loved him very much, that he had done nothing wrong. in our last moments together, stared into his eyes and told him that i loved him and that i

tried to do my best. >> do you feel like you failed him? >> i'm not sure that i failed him. i loved him and i tried my best. in that respect, i didn't fail him. he deserves the best life he could possibly have. i wish i could have been the one to give him that life. >> that was nbc's natalie morales. anita tedaldi is with us now along with allen pertman, executive director of the evan b. donaldson adoption institute and lisa belkman, columnist for "the new york times" magazine. good morning to all of you. anita, it's a heartbreaking story. and when you said in that piece that you just weren't connecting with d, can you explain that little more? what were the signs that there was no connection here? >> sure. i think it was both ways, tt the child, d, wasn't connecting with us, and at the same time, while i was seeking help with a therapist, a social worker, while i was trying to establish a connection and did some

attachment therapy, i also realized that on my part, there was a difference. i also had a hard time bonding with him. >> and when you say bonding, though, there was obviously affection. you say that you loved d, even though you weren't bonding with d, and i think some people might need a little explation on that. >> sure. i loved him and i cared deeply for him. i tried to do the exact same thing that i did with my biological children, but over time, it became clear that our family maybe wasn't a good match for him, that we were unable to meet some of his needs. >> and the emotions, you say, came in waves. you thought, well, i should stick this out at one moment, no, we should find a better solution in another. was there one specific incident that kind of turned the corner for you? >> i don't think there was one specific incident. i sought help early on in the process and i spoke with a social worker who was involved with the adoption and then with a therapist. so, i came to this conclusion over time. >> adam -- let me make it clear,

you were not involved in this adoption -- >> no. >> but this is not the happily ever after story that we hope adoptions have. >> right. >> how often does something like this happen, where there isn't a bond? >> mercifully, not very often. this happens in biological family formation. someone, actually, downstairs as i was preparing told me about her sister who took a long time to bond with her biological kid. it happens, and the one message we shouldn't take away from this is that this is, you know, adoption is a rental where you try it out. it's not. it's permanent, it's loving and it's like every other family, but that doesn't always work. >> from the adoption agency point of view, is this the outcome you would rather see? would you favor someone like anita sticking with it for consistency for that child or finding a better match for the long-term betterment of that child? how do you come down on that? >> well, the donaldson institute is a research organization, not an agency, so i don't have to make these decisions. from a practice point of view,

you want what's in the best interests of the child. i can't speak to the intimacies of this one episode because i don't know them well enough. in general, you give it all you've got for as long as you can, and in most cases, people sometimes take years to bond with their kids, especially if they're from tough circumstances, but you cannot know in one case. >> lisa, i know this story generated a lot of comment, and i want to be honest, not a lot of it -- there was a lot of it that was not positive. a l of negative comments directed toward anita. were you surprised by that? >> i was not completely surprised. anita was hesitant about writing this. she had been a blogger on other subjects and this came up in our getting to know each other, and it took months before she wanted to write about it. i spent a lot of time saying, are you sure you want to write about it? because it's a hot topic. and the point was not to say, look, this happens all the time and to frighten people away, but the point was to say, this happens sometimes and knowing about that going in, more

informatios better. >> and anita, to the people who have judged you harshly at times, how do you respond to that? >> you know, i think i would have done the same thing two years ago. in fact, i did do the same thing two years ago -- >> in terms of judging? >> in terms of judging. i wrote a column where i criticized somebody who had done the same thing. and so, i understand where the criticism comes from, because of course, this is not the outcome that anybody would hope for, but ultimately, we had to do what was best for the child, and so, i hoped it would have been us, but working with the support that we had, that was the conclusion we came to. >> real quickly, how is baby d doing? you've checked in. >> he's doing well. he's doing well. >> which i guess is the happy ending in all this. so, each though it seems like a difficult path to get there. anita, thank you very much. adam, thank you. lisa, thank you very much. we appreciate it. we want to know what you think about anita's decision and the story in general. we'd like your comments. logon to our website at todayshow.com to weigh in and we'll be talking about that in a later program. we're right back after this.

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this morning on "breast cancer today," it's the start of breast cancer awareness month. exactly one year ago, we helped people sign up for the army of women, a movement to recruit participants for breast cancer research. today, that army is more than 300,000 strong. dr. susan love is the president of the dr. susan love research foundation. dr. nancy snyderman is back as well. good morning to you both. >>hey, meredith. >> good morning. >> dr. love, let me begin with you. in the past year, have we seen advances? >> well, yes, sort of. breast cancer's gone down a little bit, but mostly in older women. we still have no idea what causes it. >> and that's the key, isn't it?

>> yeah. the key is -- it's one thing to treat it, but what we really want to do is figure out the cause and stop it. >> so, what is the purpose of the army, then? >> the army is to get a large group of women around the country -- my goal is a million -- that we can study so that we can figure out what the cause is and then stop it altogether. it's good to have a cure, but if the cure means surgery, radiation, chemo, that's a lot, and they all have their own side effects, and it would be better to have a vaccine or a stop ultimately. >> and the interesting thing about surgery, radiation and chemo, it's like having a light switch in the house that's not working, so you bomb the house. >> it's true. >> we have to figure out how not to assault the whole human body just because there's a tumor. >>emove it from the body. >> so susan's idea is get women with breast cancer, women who don't have breast cancer, all ages, and get to the root of it once and for all. >> a lot of women wonder what to ask their doctor, and the number one question -- there are a lot of them, b the first is what is my risk? >> changes over a lifetime. >> you know, this is a hard

question to answer, because it really is different from different people, but i think sometimes we do a disservice with breast cancer awareness month, and everybody thinks they're at high risk. the one out of eight we always talk about is or a whole lifetime and in younger women, it's much lower than that. it's about 1 out of 2,000 in a 20-year-old. >> how do i lower my risk is another question, dr. nancy? >> a lot of it goes back to how well you live your life. smoking is the biggest risk for cancer all over your body, breast cancer included. eat like you're going to protect your heart. that's always good. >> and exercise. >> exercise, for sure. >> exercise has really been shown to decrease breast cancer. and if you have a choice, this is one we never talk about -- you should have your children young. that it's better -- >> makes a difference. >> before 35 is better for breast cancer. >> what about the tests, ca-125 or the baraka test? should all of them get the test? >> ca-125, no. and braca, only if you have a high risk of cancer, multiple

family members and only through a genetic counselor. >> and make sure you have a doctor to talk about your results with, because to do this alone in a silo is dangerous. >> thank you very much. to be part of the army of women, please head to our website. our time is 8:26. we have 51 degrees and sunny skies. we will get the forecast from meteorologist, tom kierein coming up. it is thursday, the 1st day of october. in the news for today, crews continue to work on a water main break that is causing troubles in prince george's county. the 16-inch break is in hyattsville along queens bury road. the left-hand lanes are closed

and at least 17 homes are without water. the basement of one home was flooded. we're going to take a break and will come back

sunny and 53 in washington. we are in the 40s in the suburbs and rural areas. we should climb to near 70 by mid afternoon. loss of sun. increasing clouds on friday. high near 70 again. could get a shower late friday night through mid morning saturday and then dry saturday afternoon with highs, upper 70s. sunny on sunday with highs in the mid 70s. next week, might get rain tuesday into wednesday. how is the traffic? traveling around the capital

beltway, significant delays. the inner loop of the beltway slows from robinson to 66. at seven locks road before river road, that's where we are looking at right now. if you are traveling out of the district, relatively good shape. no big problems on any of the ana cost tee ya bridges. tonight at 5:00, liz

being a woman today means opening your own doors, knowing the world is yours if you're bold enough to take it. exploring america's future. "a woman's nation" with maria shriver. ♪ i'm so used to little kids -- 8:30 now on a thursday morning, first day of october

2009. it is really chilly out on the plaza this morning, but thanks to these people, it's feeling a little warmer. you're wearing gloves. you're wearing a coat. you're wearing everything. you're all -- >> ann's got her coat on, her gloves. >> girls are smart. what's it, women rule, guys drool -- >> that's it. >> at this time tomorrow, we'll be welming mariah carey to the plaza for a great summer concert. if you're in the area, come on by. meanwhile, this morning, come up, one of our favorite segments. >> that's right. fresh new looks for dogs who have a rough go. the amazing transformations just ahead, from bow to wow. >> right. >> that's right. today's the first day of october, and before you know it, halloween is here, so, martha stewart is along to show us what we can do with our pumpkins. >> oh. >> she's always got great ideas. >> that looks just like the pumpkins i made last year. >> talk about glitter. >> and later, we'll talk with a

911 operator who received a call he'll never forget. it was about a house fire, and guess what, the caller gave the operator h own address. so the operator discovered this was happening at his own address. so we'll talk about this coming up. before we get to weather, early this morning we were talking about roman polanski's arrest, and during our story, we aired whoopi goldberg's remark on "the view," in which she said "it was something, but i don't believe that it was rape rape." whoopi called us during the show and she wanted to clarify her comments. she says when she said that, she was only referring to the legal charge against polanski at the time 30 years ago, which was unlawful sex with a minor. she says -- and she wants to make this clear -- that she is not a supporter of roman polanski, and we asked her to jo us to come on and talk more about this, but she politely declined. but she did want to make it very, very clear that she was talking about the charge against him. >> this case has really polarized people. >> absolutely. >> it has. >> and everybody's sensitive to every single word, so. >> all right. all right, al? all righty, let's take a

look, show youhat's going on as far as your weather's concerned. for today, saturday we were talking about wet weather in new england. sunny skies throughout much of the south, although some thunder showers down through southern texas into the southwest. mountain snows in the pacific northwest. then sunday, sunday! rain in new england, rain in the plains, rain under parts of northern texas, showers in the pacific northwesç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç# a sun and blue sky. live picture from the sky watcher camera showing the fog that was over the potomac valley half an hour ago is almost dissipating. it is still quite chilly, only in the 40s and low 50s. 53 in washington. highs today near 70. lots of sun, increasing clouds tomorrow. could get showers late friday night. sun backseat afternoon.

>> and that's your latest weather. now let's head on down to washington, d.c., and say hello to my favorite willie, willie scott. how are you, sir? >> chilly willie this morning here. >> yeah! >> october saw the prettiest month of the year. my favorite. i love october. can't beat it. september and october. let's check on the birthdays, shall we, hmm? yes, let's. ah, the jam jar of life spins around. my little strawberry here. and then jennie diaz of clearwater, florida, 106. good lord. retired cigar factory worker. biggest wish is to take her head and put it on a younger woman's body. mm-mmm. you're pretty enough. don't you worry your pretty little head. you're beautiful and your body's fantastic. hunter jackson, cleveland, ohio, 100 years old today. loves watching boxing on television. keeps up with his garden and attends church weekly. that's good.

catherine jotz of rahway, new jersey, 100 years old. known as a shopaholic. aren't we all? enjoys going out to eat with her friends and visit with her family. good for her. mary -- i love this -- ♪ but it was mary, mary grand old name. mary pinson, greenfield, mass, 109. retired seamstress, traveled to prince edward island. for years that was her favorite place to go. bessie -- i love that name, bessie -- bessie's kind of an odd name. bessie sharpe of washington, d.c. that's right near here. in fact, i think we're in washington, aren't we? i believe so. lives independently, makes quilts for babies whose parents are serving in iraq. now, that's sweet. finally, we have steve and vickie wrubel from holiday, florida. 80 years they've been married. he's 100 and she's 98. secret to marital longevity -- and i love this -- they still go

grocery shopping together. there is a very romantic thing about that. that is a lovely tie-in. don't you like to go grocery shopping, matt? >> willard, thank you very much, sir. it's always good to see you. when we come back, martha stewart is going to help us get ready for halloween.

♪ back at 8:38. this morning on "martha on today," sweet and savory pumpkin recipes. martha stewart is here to share a few that are straight from her special holiday issue. martha, good morning to u. >> how do you like the cover? >> well, you didn't put any makeup on. >> that's my worst -- >> no, just kidding. >> that was my worst -- >> that's yours? >> and it is full of amazing ideas for halloween. >> and the shots were taken out of your home, right? >> oh, that's in my stable, right, the ones with the horse.

>> that is great. >> yeah, it's a very mysterious outfit, by the way. and it's only a cape. there are a lot of great costume ideas, great decorating ideas and delicious food ideas. >> talk to me about the things we have here. >> pumpkin ice cream sandwiches, we have maple roasted pumpkin salad with pine nuts and feta chse and arugula. very delicious. >> is this actually ready to eat? >> yeah, ready to eat. >> let me have a piece while we're talking. >> and we have pumpkin seed nibble, i've been nibbling on that. and these beautiful items, the candelabra and the skeletons -- >> you love your glitter, don't you? >> we do, but this is from our martha stewart selection, and they are a great value. it would take you a long time to fwliter this, and it's all made for you. >> if you glitter a pumpkin now, will it rot by halloween? >> oh, no, these are nice, hard pumpkins. >> excuse me. >> and all these glittered bugs everywhere. >> you have a tart? >> now we have a pumpkin chocolate tart and we have the delicious pumpkin soup and i

thought i'd show you how to make the pumpkin soup. wanto see? >> it's good. >> take like a 2 1/2-pound sugar pumpkin. >> what's a sugar pumpkin? >> well, that's a sugar pumpkin. and you roast it in the oven. >> for how long? >> 50 minutes. >> oh, it comes right off? >> take the kin right off -- >> why does your come off -- >> no, it will come off. then you pure it in the cuisinart, and you're left -- you need two cups of pumpkin pure. >> so one pumpkin will give you two cups? >> it will have a little more, and you can make cake or pie with it. you add your two cups of pure into five tablespoons of butter. >> what are we making now, the broth broth -- >> the soup. >> now, don't throw away the insides of the pumpkins, the seeds and fiber, because this goes into the stock and it adds more flavor. >> oh, okay. >> the stock is seeds, l three cups of chicken stock, three cups of water and -- >> one sprig of thyme, okay.

>> one sprig of thyme. then add into the same pure mixture, we have a parsnip. >> what's that for? >> flavor. >> oh, flavor. >> that was a turnip, and the parsnip. >> and the onion? >> oh, that's shallot. which is of course a member of the oni family. then this gets stirred and cooked -- >> for how long? >> oh, until it's soft. until it's tender. >> okay. >> and don't forget to add little bit of water. >> all right. >> then you'll add all that stock, too, once this cooks a little bit, okay? then it's like this. put it through -- >> so, this is with the stock in it, okay. >> now, this is pureed already. you can pure it in the food processor or through a food mill. you have a food mill at home, don't you? >> no, i am the food mill. that's really about it. you really need a food mill, too? >> definitely. >> this is ridiculous. >> no, it makes it smoother. no, it's not ridiculous. >> you can't do it with the cuisinart?

>> people are really paying attention to all these different -- in this day in age when people are cooking at home, meredith -- >> right. >> -- everybody is really using the tools. >> what happened to these seeds, by the way? you dumped them in there. >> no, no, you cook and then you strain. that's a good question. >> oh, thank you. >> so, there you have your beautiful soup. >> that is gorgeous. >> and then this is the tart. this is the pumpkin tart with the chocolate crust. and to make the beautiful spider welcome back, you use melted chocolate and you can just go on the cake pie like this. >> did you just create this with paper? >> yes, this is just parchment paper. you continue around like ts to make the spiderweb. and it's very pretty, isn't it is. >> yeah, it's gorgeous. >> how long did you cook this thing for? >> oh, that's cooked --ith the pumpkin pure and the cream, that cooks for about 15 minutes. >> let's get to the alcohol. >> all right, look at the labels. >> arsenic, criider mint -- >> we have replaced the labels with our halloween labels.

you can get these at michael's, but i love these labels and they are best sellers. people, really -- now, just make sure, okay you put it on -- >> poison. >> put it on a good bottle of wine. so, here you can have a little sip if you'd like. >> well, i'm not allowed to drink right now, martha. >> why not? >> i told you, i'm on a detox. >> oh, a detox. not for drinking. >> well, yes, for drinking. i'm not drinking right now. can't you tell? i'm much nicer. >> oh. >> haven't you seen that? >> no. but it was -- oh, look at this, mpkin head. >> oh, it's perfect. >> but it's very nice to have you all alone with me and you were very polite. >> well, thank you. cheers to you. >> and actually interested. >> i was interested. it will all change when i'm drinking again, martha. that's all i have to say. thank you so much. and happy halloween to you a little early. >> happy halloween to everybody. get ready. start preparing. >> exactly. up next, deserving dogs go from bow t

♪ ♪ bow, wow, wow this morning on our special series "from bow to wow!" new looks and hopefully some new hopes for some special dogs. our last group, by the way, the dogs we showed you little while ago, they were adopted within an hour of our segment, which is great news. resident animal lover jill rappaport is here this morning with more great news. good morning. >> hi, matt. the great news is we're showing people what wonderful dogs you can find at shelters and today we have three more fabulous pooches that came from very traumatic situations, but nothing that a wonderful home won't cure. >> it's amazing to me how many young, vibrant, healthy dogs are here. >> when people think of shelters, they think that there's things wrong wh the dogs and they're not going to find the dog they're looking for, but shelters across the country have these type of dogs. they just need a good home. >> reporter: starting with betty, a loving lab mix who came

here under truly tragic circumstances. >> her owner passed away and she was in the home with the owner for about three days before they found her. so, you can see that she's a little scared. she was well taken care of. you can tell very, very much loved. i think she really misses her owner. >> reporter: they still have many good years left in them, but they're still in good shape. >> she's in good health, has a good weight on her. >> reporter: oh, you're an angel. now, meet max, a young, energetic golden retriever. he was brought here under very unfortunate circumstances. >> his owner is unfortunately now homeless. his owner's in a shelter. he's in good condition, nice coat, good shine to him. could use a good grooming, but look how nice he's sitting. >> reporter: he's a sweetheart, yes. finally, a little folly from ollie, who is still a puppy. >> a 9-month-old yorkese maltese mix. he's very short, very calm. his situation is unique in that the family got him as a gift and

after a couple months realized they didn't have enough time for him, so they brought him into the shelter. now you know he likes you, gives you kisses. >> reporter: thi smoochie pooch and some others went off for some suds and fun. >> they're all cute, and we're going to bring them out in just a second. we're also joined by richard gentles with animal care and control of new york city. richard, good morning. >> good morning. >> nice to see you again. >> nice to see you, too, as always. >> we have had a good track record here. >> we have. >> every dog shown on this program has been adopted and adopted quickly. are you seeing an increase in adoptions at shelters as well? >> thanks to jill and this segment, our centers and partners coming in, adoptions have increased over the lt year and our euthanasia rate has continued to decrease over last couple years. >> that's great. >> made an impact, not only in new york city, but across the country. >> and the dogs started barking. >> right on cue. i'm taking you home, ollie. >> these dogs didn't need a lot of makeover. >> no. >> really it's their back story as opposed to the condition they were in.

so, let's bring out with meredith a newly groomed max. max, come on out. max is our golden retriever. he is a pure-bred, is that right? >> pure-bred golden retriever. you can see with the makeover, they trimmed him up a little bit and his coat is nice and shiny now, so -- >> he's beautiful. >> he sits on command if you want -- see, here he goes? couldn't do that any better. >> you know the story. >> good energy, so, needs somebody with an active lifestyle, but i think he'll really -- >> and his owner was homeless, so his owner gave up -- so, now he's homeless. hoping to find a wonderful home. >> meredith, you and max make a good combo there. fifth avenue, all right? okay. our next dog is betty, and betty has short air, so she didn't need much of a makeover at all. and let's remind people about betty, okay? kind of a heartbreaking story. >> really heartbreaking story. she's our special needs dog in that she was left in an apartment for three or four days

when her owner had passed away, and she's got a little separation anxiety, so she's going to need somebody that's home a lot, just to kind of keep he company. but you can see the sadness in her eyes. she just needs to get -- >> she's little older. >> middle age. >> but still in really good condition. >> she's in really good condition. she was very well taken care of, but she needs to just feel the security of a loving home again and she'll be fine. but somebody who's around a lot, home a lot. she'll be great. >> but also, she's so affectionate. matt, if you put your face up to her, she'll give you a little kiss. >> thanks for that, jill. right on command, too. >> see? >> just like jill. >> okay. >> okay. >> real quickly, our last dog is ollie. can we bring ollie out, ann? >> he benefited from the makeover the most. cut down his hair little bit. looks a lot, lot better. >> and he's young and very energetic. >> very energetic.

>> yorkshire terrier mix. >> under a year old. >> he's been very good with kids. he's been in a foster home with kids, what not. so, if you have kids who would play with him a lot. >> all available for adoption. also, check out your local shelters and do something good there as well. richard, thank you very mu. >> thank you very much. >> bring the dogs out. jill, thank you very much. and for more information about -- >> oh -- >> let's go back this way. let's walk back this way. >> okay! >> that's a whole other show. >> we'll have some more dogs -- >>kay! >> this is "today" on nbc.

this morning on "leonard's look," mike leonard shows us a place where smiles are infectious and good manners a matter of course. >> reporter: it's the one national problem that could be solved without spending a dime of federal money, the one heavily discussed issue that wouldn't be an issue if people simply followed this man's lead. . less than 200 yards from my winnetka, liis, home stands the grand food center. and at the deli counter in the back -- >> how have you been doing? >> reporter: stands ed embers. >> frank, how are y doing, sir? >> reporter: a married, father of three -- >> have a nice day now. >> reporter: mr. embers has worked this corner of the store -- >> mary, how are you?

>> reporter: for nearly 30 years. his courteous, gracious demeanor a daily reminder that well-mannered people still exist. >> thank you. have a nice day. >> you're welcome. you too, now, thanks. >> and it's infectious. >> thanks, have a nice day. >> everybody say hi, hello, good morning. >> mr. featherstone, how are you? >> this is the most courteous market. >> exactly right. >> got to be all-american. >> reporter: a code of conduct -- >> thank you. >> you, too. >> you're welcome. >> reporter: set not by decree, but by example. >> i think that no matter who you are, if you make another person's day better, it kind of makes you feel better, too. >> hi, how are you? >> they all say hello. and when you haven't been here in a while, they're like, "hey, how are you?" >> good. >> makes my day. that's why i shop here. >> it's not hardo do. >> it's not hard. but i'm a true believer in if you give out love, it comes back. >> reporter: just like how ed comes back to his shift despite

a daunting muse of buses and trains. >> this is the way back home. >> reporter: two hours at night and two hours in the morning. >> there's plenty of other places for him to go to work. >> reporter: but very few places with this kind of atmosphere. >> it's respectful. >> here you go, young lady. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> reporter: an atmosphere he helped to create. >> okay, billy, see you sunday. >> he's the nicest guy in the world. >> he's phenomenal. >> he's the best. >> i mean, you can't put a price on that. >> reporter: i live right across the street. >> nice seeing you. >> good to see you. >> reporter: i come here every day. >> how are you? >> good, how are you doing? >> good. >> reporter: and every day, this is what i see. >> have a goo day, ma'am. >> it doesn't cost you anything to smile or be nice to people. >> reporter: if it canxsv" wor here -- >> good afternoon. >> how are you? >> gary, how are you doing? >> reporter: this microcosm of the world -- >> good to see you. have a good day. >> reporter: of different cultures. where are you from? >> russia. >> haiti. >> reporter: different backgrounds. >> it's not more like the customers are there and we're here. it's all as one. >> reporter: then why couldn't it work everywhere? >> you have to give respect in order to receive respect.

>> have a nice day. >> you, too. >> all right, thanks. see you guys. >> you know, it's just a good thing to do. >> reporter: and a good thing to witness. >> okay, you're welcome. have a nice day now. >> reporter: for "today," mike leonard, nbc news, winnetka, illinois. >> simple le 8:56 is our time right now. 53 degrees out there at ronald reagan national airport where the planes are lining up getting ready to take off into the sunny sky over the nation's capital. we have the forecast coming up on this thursday the 1st day of october. police are looking for a gunman that opened fire on two teenagers, killing one of them. this happened at 11:30 last night on 56 avenue in riverdale heights. a 16-year-old boy was shot to death. a 17-year-old was also hit. he was treated at the hospital and releesd. police have not figured out a motive in this case. a water main break is

causing problems for drivers. crews are working to fix it along queens bury road in hyattsville. a 16-inch main broke flooding the road an leaving more than a dozen homes without water. one northbound lane is closed on queens chapel road while crews continue to work on the repairs. we will take a break and come back and look

sunny and chilly. bright blue skies highs, near 70. tomorrow, increasing clouds, highs near 707. the rest of the weekend looks dry and mild. ashley, how is the traffic? we have delays around town on the inner loop of the beltway, the lineup forms at robinson terminal toward 66. slow from the dulles toll road to the american legion. the inner loop delays, we still have them as you make your way past old georgetown road. joe, back to you. tonight at 5:00, liz crenshaw reports on the latest tactics by banks that some

we're back now with more of "today" on a thursday morning, the 1st of october. welcome to october 2009. we're ushering in the month with chilly temperatures here in the northeast but a nice crowd, so that kind of neutralizes everything. i'm matt lauer along with al roker and amy robach, who's in while natalie's on assignment in

copenhagen. nice to have youp here. >> thank you very much. >> yeah, you're bundled up? >> it's little chilly. i have gloves on this morning. >> that's unusual for you. coming up in this half hour, we're going to have more on the tragic story of jasycee dugard, the young lady that was kidnapped and impregnated, allegedly by that man right there. now he is in jail and he has sent somewhat of a rambling letter to one of the nbc stations, basically expressing his concern for jaycee dugard and wondering whether her civil rights are being now violated. we're going to talk more about that story coming up in just a second. >> all righty. then take a look at this. we all know 911 operators are really trained to be calm under pressure. well, when somebody called in a fire to a massachusetts 911 dispatcher, the call got very personal when he recognized the address. it was his house. we're going to be talking with mike bose a little bit later. just an amazing, harrowing story. >> wow. and on a lighter note, we

all remember helen paige, she made such a splash in "juno." now it is "whip in t," the directorial debut of drew barrymore, who is also in the film and we'll have more with drew just ahead. >> funny to be with you here in the plaza, all those guys whistling at you. you're not tired of that -- >> shut up. >> whoa! >> let's go inside. ann's standing by at the news desk with a check of the headlines. ann? >> all right, thanks a lot. good morning once again, everybody. in the news, two disasters are straining international relief efforts this morning. today a powerful aftershock shook western indonesia one day after an earthquake buried thousands of people under building debris. people are still being pulled out alive and rescuers are now racing the clock. the number of confirmed deaths is 529. it's expected to rise, and the full extent of the devastation is still unknown because communications are cut off and many roads are still impassable. in western and american samoa, officials say it could be weeks before they know how many people were swept away by four

tsunamis, one 20 feet high. at least 150 bodies have been recovered. water, food and medicine are now being air-lifted to the islands aboard military cargo planes. a rare meeting between the u.s. and iran got under way today in geneva. the u.s. and five other world powers are hoping to negotiate with iran about its nuclear ambitions, but even before the talks, iran insisted that topic was off the table. nbc's andrea mitchell isn the scene and she's reporting that u.s. officials are offering to meet on the sidelines one on one with iran, which would be the first in decades. we have a dramatic rescue to tell you about. a navy submarine crew member suffering from an unspecified medical emergency was hoisted from his sub in the middle of the ocean this week off washington state. you can see the dramatic images there. a coast guard helicopter flew him to a hospital for treatment. convicted sex offender john

cooey died wednesday of natural causes in a florida prison. cooey was awaiting execution for the murder of a 9-year-old, jessica lunsford, in a case that led many states to impose tougher restrictions on sex offenders. tonight, president obama flies to copenhagen. first lady michelle obama is already there making a final push for chicago's bid to host the 2016 olympics. chicago is up against rio de janeiro, tokyo and madrid, and decision day is tomorrow. it is now three minutes past the ur. let's go back outside to matt and amy. >> all right, ann, thank you very much. >> all right, mr. roker now joins us with a look at the weather and some special guests. >> that's right. we've got members of citicorp here in these bright red jackets. they all volunteer, kicking off another year of service tomorrow. so, what are you guys doing nationwide? >> we are basically a non-profit, national non-profit that works with tutors and mentors. we go into school and tutor and mentor kids. and the really great thing about our service is that we get to help schools and kids succeed.

>> well, that's great. if people want information, where do they go? >> www.cityyear.org. >> and it kicks off tomorrow. >> and we are the south bronx corps. >> whoa, yeah! south bronx in the house. all right, let's check your weather, see what's happening. got a vigorous storm system, double-barrel low from the dakotas down into the plains and it's bringing a lot of rain, back behind it come snow, windy, too. we've got high wind warnings and advisories from goodland, kansas, all the way up to bismarck. winds right now gusting anywhere from 20 to 25 miles per hour with very strong sustained winds. and then we've also got a risk of strong storms down from texas, louisiana, on up into ç#ç# are ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç#ç# good morning, a bright blue sky and bright sunshine on this first day of october. we have some fog over the potomac valley.

it's 56 in washington and now warming. we should get to upper 60s to mid 70s with lots of sun. increasing clouds friday. could get showers late friday night. maybe a passing >> and that's your latest weather. ann? >> all right, ann, thanks. phillip garrido is back in the headlines this morning. the california man accused of kidnapping and holding jaycee dugard hostage for nearly two decades has sent a letter from prison to a local nbc reporter in sacramento. nbc's michael okwu now has the details. >> reporter: the letter is handwritten and full of misspellings and musings about how authorities have mistreated jaycee. "she's been repeatedly denied access to have an attorney present during questioning," the author writes, "her civil rights have been clearly violated. please consider this request to contact her at your earliest

possible date." >> all psychopaths love power and control. so, by sending out this letter, he's still affecting people on the outside and telling them what to do and to do it his way. >> reporter: the return address on the envelope is the county jail where garrido is awaiting trial. just underneath that address, the name faintly visible, phillip garrido. a jail official says the letter appears thentic. a dugard family spokesperson said they have no intention of dignifying a letter from the kidnapper with a response. the letter was sent to nbc affiliate kcra and reporter walt gray. in a phone interview shortly after his arrest last month, garrido told gray the years with jaycee and the children he fathered with her were heartwarming. >> those two children, those two girls, they slept in my arms every single night from birth and never did i harm them. i never touched them. >> i just think he's maybe making some assumptions and i think he's maybe continually stirring the pot here. >> reporter: the writer instructs gray to deliver the

letter to a private attorney who will look into this matter for her best interests. >> he didn't worry about her rights when he raped her. he didn't worry about her rights when he kept her in prison for all those years. >> reporter: those charges have yet to be seted in court. garrido has pled not guilty. but to criminal profilers, the letter is a means to continue to reach out to the young woman he allegedly kept captive for 18 years. >> he's not crazy. he knows exactly what he's doing. >> reporter: for "today," michael okwu, nbc news, los angeles. >> ernie allen is the head of the national center for missing & exploited children. he's been assisting jaycee's family. ernie, good morning. >> good morning, ann. >> this latest letter's really a distraction from the real issue here, which is why it took so long for jaycee to be found, and basically how she and other kids who are missing, you know, can be helped. so, let's talk about this first. your organization has provided a psychologist -- >> right. >> -- to the family. and i'm just trying to understand, how does one get -- how does one deal with a case like this one? >> you deal with it a day at a

time. you can't erase those 18 years, but the human spirit is resilient. she's young, she's alive, she's getting help. the family's making -- the reports we get is that the family's making great progress. so, there's hope, but it's a life-long process of recovery. >> and initially, the reports are that she had mixed emotions about phillip garrido and his wife. and this sort of is a normal reaction, it would seem, for a young woman in this circumstance. >> she was abducted when she was 11 years old. she was threatened, terrorized, raped. the reality is, she figured out how to survive. she's a hero. >> now, here's the thing. i was reading through the research aut your organization, and i was stunned by this statistic. there are 58,000 abductions by nonfamily members, and most of them -- every year -- and most of them are very short-term, most of them are sexually motivated,ost of them are by people that you know -- they're coaches or family friends.

only about 100 to 120 are actually stranger abductions. what does this tell the rest of us? >> well, it tells us that as parents, we've been concerned about the wrong things. we're telling children the wrong things. the other message that i think comes from jaycee's case is there's hope in these cases. just because a child's been missing for a day or a week or a year or 18 years, more of these children are out there who are alive and the public can help us bring them home. >> you actually were following jaycee dugard's case as part of your database. there are 800, you said, children now on that database. >> we have 800 long-term stranger abduction cases ranging from a matter of months to 30 and 40 years. and what we think is important is that law enforcement never close those files, that we never stop the search until we either bring the child home or know a certainty what happened. >> and that's what terry, the mother of jaycee, is saying.

let all those parents of those 800 children have hope and let's focus then on how to help them and find their kids. in the meantime, as we look at these statistics, the rest of us who don't have a missing child but certainly don't want to have one, you say there's some fundamental things that we need to teach our children. and you have a list here of suggestions. you say talk about teaching your children to say no to a stranger for anything or people they know, which is the most important thing. >> we all want our children to be polite and respectful, but not at the risk of their safety. empower your children. don't frighten them, but teach them that they have the right to say no. if an adult approaches them or asks them to help in some way, say no, get away from it and then tell mom or dad or some trusted adult. >> and you say get away and also tell a family. so, really what you're trying to do is you're trying to teach them then, that if your coach or your cousin or your neighbor, somebody you think is in that circle, the real circle of trust is with your parents and your

connection there. make sure that even with people you know, you've got to make sure you can say no and get away. >> absolutely. and moms and dads need to talk to their kids, need to practice with their kids, role play these scenarios, because children today tend to want to do what adults tell them to do. we think you can empower them, give them that self-esteem, that self-confidence, without scaring them to death. >> ernie allen, protecting our children. thank you so much. >> thank you, ann. >> if you want more information or know anything about a missing child, you should contact the national center for missing & exploited children by calling 1-800-the-lost or going to our website at todayshow.com. and coming up next, we're going to talk to this massachusetts 911 operator who got the most shocking call of his career. then later, the one and only drew barrymore stops by to tell us about her latest experience as a director. but first, these messages. out for breakfast..."

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he answers dozens of emergency calls a day, but for one massachusetts 911 operator, one call hit home because it was his home that was on fire. we will talk with mike bowes in just a minute, but first, nbc's jeff rossen has the tale of the tape. >> what's your emergency? >> there's a fire at hollis. >> reporter: the caller was right. this house in quincy, massachusetts, was on fire all right. witnesses say it looked like an explosion, and the 911 operator -- >> let me get the fire department, stay on the phone. >> reporter: -- realed this was his home. oh, and his parents live here, too. >> it's surreal. it's -- you don't believe. you hear it, and it's not registering. until you see it on the screen and you see it, then all of a sudden, it's like, it's real, it's my house. >> reporter: mike bowes had to do his job, work the case like any other, but what about his family? were they okay? >> the garage and everything is on fire. >> you can't run out. you can't leave everybody else

short-handed. you can't leave the city without help. >> reporter: luckily, mike's sergeant stepped in and took over. suddenly, the 911 dispatcher who helped so many people needed help himself. and so, his co-workers gave mike a police escort to the inferno that was his own home. >> you could actually see the orange glow coming from a distance. and as we got on scene, my main concern was my parents. and as they came around the corner, my father was standing out on the street and my mother was right behind m. >> reporter: everyone in the house escaped. >> nobody died. we can rebuild. >> reporter: what began as the most terrifying call of his career -- >> what's your emergency? >> reporter: -- ended in relief for the man who's trained to keep calm even when he's the victim. jeff rossen, nbc news, new york. >> and mike bowes is with us exclusively this morning. mike, good morning. >> good morning. >> i know you were watching that tape and looking at your house, hearing your mother on the 911 call and you were taking deep breaths again this morning. >> it was stressful. >> you were taught and trained as a 911 operator. you've been doing this 11 years.

>> 11 years. >> you say to stay calm under pressure-filled moments. what was this moment like for you? >> it didn't hit right away. i got the dreaddress, and i'm l, okay, say it again? and she said 99 hollis avenue, and it hit me and i knew it was my house. and my main concern was my parents, making sure they were out of the house. >> you just heard your mom on one of the tapes. you didn't take that call, though, right? >> no, five of us were working. someone else took the call and said, "your mother's on the phone. it is your house." >> how long did you say i have to be there? >> within seconds, i was up and they were like, go, we'll take care of everything here. the police officer standing beside me said i'll drive you and we were there within three minutes. >> from a distance, what did you see? >> a distance, i could see the orange glow over the house. that was the scary part. but the relief was when i turned the corner and saw my parents standing in the street. >> wow. and your family has been in this

house more than 20 years. >> yes. >> do you know what started the fire, how it began in the first place? skrr >> we do not. the arson investigation is investigating several different leads. >> and there is anotheramily connection to this incident, your cousin? what role did he play? >> my cousin, firefighter tom bowes was the first firefighter on scene. >> wow. >> when they left the station, they could see the fire and he knew when he come down the hill it was our house. >> you took the call and he responded to the scene. >> yes. >> now, this house was destroyed, we should mention. >> it is. >> we were just talking, if i knew -- i'm on tv and i'm having to wear the only clothes i have left. >> yes, it was embarrassing. they said i'm going to be on here and i didn't have time to run and get anything. >> your clothes on your back. that's all you have left from your home, but everyone got out. >> yes, but everyone got out. we can rebuild. as long as everyone's safe. that's my main concern. >> i'm sure your parents were glad you were there to quickly respond and certainly you were trained to handle this type of thing. can you imagine anything quite

like this? i assume your career is continuing as a 911 operator. >> yes. >> once you handle this, i assume you can handle anything. >> i hope. >> mike bowes, thank you for joining us. >> thank you. still ahead, drew barrymore tries a first. she's here to tell us all about it. after these messages. >> do it. do it, it's good. hi. [ female announcer ] introducing new tide stain relse. it helps get the toughest stains out the first time. whoa, that's a first. [ female announcer ] that's because new tide stain release is a revolutionary in-wash booster

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- ( crashes ) - glad forceflex trash bags are so strong, one bag is all you need to pick up the pieces from even your biggest disasters. - ( doorbell rings ) - where do you want the piano? for stretchable strength get glad forceflex. we've been telling you about our search for "today's kid reporter," and we've heard from a bunchf young hopefuls. >> thanks, matt. good morning &6' 6a9w the "toda show. i'm isabella o'connor filling in for meredith vieira while she's away on assignment. >> i'm owen and i'm going to show you how video games can help us communicate by using technology. >> i can see we're going to have a hard time choosing between these kids. so, if you are a child -- well, maybe if you are a child or you know a child between the ages of 8 and 12 who has a bright

personality and flair for the spotlight and an interest in journalism, have them send us a tape no longer than a minute. >> next wednesday, october 7th, is the last day we'll take submissions. it should be mailed to today's kid reporter, 30 rockefeller plaza, new york, new york, 10112. the official rules are posted on todayshow.com. still to come this morning, however, we have a very talented actress in the house. drew barrymore is joining us about a movie she's directed. plus, bobbie thomas on how to show off your shape. grandma, take me there. but with my occasional irregularity i wasn't always up to it. until i discovered activia and everything started to change. announcer: activia is clinically proven to help regulate your digestive system in two weeks when eaten every day. now i enjoy every minute. my grandkids are happy, and so am i. ♪ activia - hello! - ha! why don't you try a home cooked meal... with yummy hamburger helper? oh! tada!

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cigarette tax has gone up 50 cents a pack to $2.50. the gags tax has risen 3.5 cents to 23.5 cents a gal. we will take a break and come back with weather

starting off ookt october with the coolest day we have had since last may. a little bit of autumn cover. temperatures in the low to mid 50s. 56 in washington. we will hit the upper 60s to near 70 by mid afternoon. lots of sun. a little sun in the morning. clouding up. high near 70. could get showers late friday night after midnight. perhaps up through mid morning on saturday. drying out saturday afternoon. highs upper 70s. should be mostly sunny sunday and monday. both days, high 70s. another round of showers on tuesday into wednesday next

week. steve hirschshorn, how is the traffic? traffic is squeezing by to the right heading northbound on the right-hand side of your screen over to springfield. heavy and slow approaching the springfield interchange to continue on to 395 northbound. barbara? thank you, steve. tonight at 5:00, liz crenshaw reports on a new tactic by banks that has consumer advocates

♪ ♪ why you so obsessed with me, boy i wanna know, lying that you're sexing me when everybody knows it's plain that you're upset with me ♪ >> the woman, the voice, the mariah carey. she is one of the best-selling artists of all time. tomorrow she will be bringing her voice to our plaza, mariah

singing some of her songs from her brand new album. so, make sure you get down here early, if you're a fan, and bring a jacket or a sweater. that's mariah carey tomorrow on "today." wow. talk about superstars. we've got one here today. >> no kidding. we've got drew barrymore in the house. she's been a celebrity, as we all know, since elementary school, but now she's trying something new in hollywood. she's directed her first movie, and i'm going to tell you, i saw it -- >> there she is. >> at the beginning with my ladies. it's about, i guess roller derby, but what it really is about is mother-daughter relationships. >> she told me it's finding your tribe. >> yeah. >> interesting. >> and i think also being true to who you really are. and i've got to tell you, drew barrymore, your movie made me cry. >> wow. >> we'll be talking to her in a few moments. >> laugh and cry, right? >> thank you. that makes me cry. >> oh, we're aller clement. well, also ahead, we're going to talk about whether or not you're square-cut or

pear-shaped. we're talking about body shape. if you don't quite know what shape you are or how to dress for your form, we have tips for all shapes and sizes. >> actually, i'm prune-shaped. >> prune-shaped, all right. well, remember her from "er"? well, now she is in outer space along with some other familiar faces. stars in a drama called "stargate universe." we'll catch up with her, and lou diamond phillips is also part of this cast. >> i like both of those guys. also, we've got har connick jr. he's back. but firs you. >> me. >> and the weather. >> that's right, what a combo. let's see what's going on. we'll show you for today we're looking at a risk of strong storms texas on into the central plains, showers in the pacific northwest, sunny here in the east, but chilly and santa ana winds blowing in southern california. not good for the firefighters there. for tomorrow, more rain in the pacific northwest, showers move into the upper ohio river lley, back down into the lower mississippi river valley.s ç#ç## it's been the coolest morning of the autumn season so far.

we got down near 50 degrees in washington. many locations elsewhere, we did dip down into the 40s, even upper 30s. we are in the mid 50s around the regions. highs, in the upper 60s. quite a bit of sun. increasing clouds tomorrow with a high of 70. a possibility of showers after midnight friday night through >> and that's your latest weather. >> thanks, al. >> all right, al, thank you very much. coming up, miss drew barrymore. but first, these messages. drop it here, honey. pricd the geo trax easy rail station. it lines up train wheels so he can do it all by himself. i did it ! and only geo trax timber town railway has it. ( chooo-choo ) the remote control is easy to use. it's simple to put together and built to last. the geo trax timber town railway... keeping his imagination running full steam ahead. only from fisher price.

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and more to come. campbell's. actress drew barrymore wowed us at age 6 on "e.t." well, now after nearly 40 films, she's making a directorial debut in "whip it," a story in which she also appears. it's a coming of age film about a teenager who escapes her life with a team of roller derby rebels. >> ma'am, put down the lip gloss and step away from the mirror.

>> what are you all doing here? >> i'm thinking, you know, i'm not so bhered about her playing this roller derby. in fact, i think it's kind of neat. i went on the website. they've got pictures all over it. it looks like they're having a ton of fun. >> we just spent a lot of money on a custom-made gown. >> yeah, sweet. >> looks nice. >> i can take losing the money. i cannot take losing the chance for our kid to be happy. >> drew barrymore, good morning. >> good morning. >> the hollywood reporter writes "with "whip it," her remarkable debut as a director, drew barrymore shows she is just as perky and quirky behind the camera as in front of it." that's not bad. that's a pretty good review for a first time. >> believe me, i've had way worse than that. no, that's a great review and i wanted something i could really put my heart into. and being in my mid-30s now, i really relate to the parents' side, where they just want the

best for their child. and if the child's blueprint is not necessarily what their parents have in mind for them for their future, how do you gain that honesty and acceptance? how do you put your cards on the table? how can you retrain your thinking? and that's a big theme for me and it's a huge theme in the movie and why i'm glad we showed this clip because it's s in the world of roller derby, which is a really unique backdrop. and such an athletic, great, capable sport. and i really related to that personally, too, you know. hollywood wants to like put you in a box andave you look and act and be a certain way, and we use the metaphor of pageants, and there's nothing wrong with pageants -- >> let me interrupt here. you've got marcia gay harden playing the mother, and marcia wants her daughter, played by ellen page, to really be a beauty queen, to rise, but ellen's got her own ideas. >> well, and that's marcia's generation of which she grew up with, and what she thinks is going to be best for her

daughter. and she has no ill intentions. she just really wants her daughter to succeed in life. and her daughter's dream for herself is to not have to look and be and act so perfect. it's to let her more inner, energetic, athletic, capable side out. >> whichs why all of a sudden she goes to this other extreme. she finds this fire that just starts burning in her when she sees these girls racing around the track. >> yeah. >> looks like so much fun. she turns out to be so good at it. but how can she explain this to her mother? how can she let the love she needs so desperately from her mother, that unconditional stuff, happen when she's doing something so off the charts? >> and it was wonderful to do failm about what mothers and daughters go through because i've been through so much with my own mother that i could bring honesty and experience to it. what i didn't want to make was a hollywood version of what families go through. it's rough. you can't sweep things under the carpet. you have to deal with this. you have good days and bad days.

and in my 20s, i used to believe in happy endings, and i still do, but in my 30s, i really love a good day. and what this family wants to achieve is fighting for each other and wanting to love each other and accept each other, and that's not an overnight process. >> and that's why it really running true. >> thank you. >> and that's why it made m cry. >> thank you. >> because there is the nuance in ellen page's performance and the sweetness -- you know, juliette lewis plays the bad girl in this. i mean, when i first started seeing this movie, i thought, oh, no, this is another traditional, predictable movie about girls hating each other and fighting, "mean girl" kind of thing. but in fact, there is a lot of nuance in this that is really uplifting, and while you talk about it not really having this traditional happy ending, it has a lot of happiness in it. >> you know, i lovejoy and i love being happy. and i certainly don't want to go to the movies unless it's an art film and it's really going to be deep and meaningful, i don't want to go to the movies and be

miserable. there's enough misery in life. i don't want to watch fighting and misery and anger. i want to have the celebration of life. i want for two hours to be taken out of my own life and given something that's emotionally resonant and makes me laugh and makes me feel empowered and wan to go out and celebrate afterwards, and i did that but i only think that works when you have heart involved, when your heart is invested in something is where you're able to have the most fun, and i really tried to do that with this. >> and there seems to be a theme, i mean, with "charlie's angels" and other sorts of movies with this. you are create a legacy, a body of work that we want to take our daughters to. we want to sort of create a conversation. i mean, i would love -- i can't wait to take my 16-year-old daughter to this movie and to have her and i talk about it. >> i can't wait for that. >> because it's joyful, it's fun, it's entertainment, but yet, it also makes us think about unconditional love and.

most in life to gain that honesty and acceptance, and when it's slowly achieved or the bonding or the seeing eye to eye, the support. you just want their acceptance so bad, and sometimes it takes a little rebelling or carving your own way, but that really is universal and so true to me and why i was so excited to make a movie about that, and i want to make family films. i want to make films for mothers and daughters. of course, i want to make fun things that guys want to go see and sports and action and irreverence, comedy, i love all that stuff, too, but i really wanted to make this for mothers and daughters. >> well, i want to thank you, because you have turned what your awareness has been as a gift to others. thank you so much for that. there is so much else you're doing, but get over your cold. >> i know, traveling the world for "whip it." >> and "whip it" opens

nationwide tomorrow. coming up next, why lou diamond phillips and robert carlisle have teamed up, coming up after this. the one thing about smoking - is it dominates your life, and it dominated mine. and the sad thing about it is that you can always use an excuse if cigarettes don't kill me, oh well - something else will. but, you can't use that as an excuse. i honestly loved smoking, and i honestly didn't think i would ever quit. it was very interesting that you could smoke on the first week. chantix gave me that extra help that i needed to get through a tough time. (announcer) chantix is a non-nicotine pill. in studies, 44% of chantix users were quit during weeks 9 to 12 of treatment, compared to 18% on sugar pill. it is proven to reduce the urge to smoke. i did have an unopen pack of cigarettes in my purse and then i think i opened my purse and realized it was still there. and i said, "what the heck, i don't need these..."

...i said, you know, "bye, i don't need you anymore, you're not my crutch, i don't need a crutch." (announcer) talk to your doctor about chantix and a support plan that's right for you. some people have had changes in behavior, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice agitation, hostility, depression or changes in behavior, thinking or mood that are not typical for you, or if you develop suicidal thoughts or actions, stop taking chantix and call your doctor right away. talk to your doctor about any history of depression or other mental health problems, which can get worse while taking chantix. some people can have allergic or serious skin reactions to chantix, some of which can be life threatening. if you notice swelling of face, mouth, throat or a rash stop taking chantix and see your doctor right away. tell your doctor which medicines you are taking as they may work differently when you quit smoking. chantix dosing may be different if you have kidney problems. the most common side effect is nausea. patients also reported trouble sleeping and vivid, unusual or strange dreams. until you know how chantix may affect you,

use caution when driving orperating machinery. chantix should not be taken with other quit smoking products. as a non-smoker it's wonderful. the best thing that ever happened. the best thing i have ever done besides my husband, and dogs, and family. with the chantix and with the support system, it worked. it worked for me. (announcer) talk to your doctor to find out if prescription chantix is right for you. sci-fi's new show "stargate universe" follows a band of soldiers, scientists and civilians who must fen for themlves after escaping to a stargate when their hidden base comes under attack. e desperate survivors emerge aboard an ancient ship that's locked on an unknown path and unable to return to earth. this sounds like our show.

the stars, robert carlisle and lou diamond phillips are joining us. >> good morning. >> l lou, let me ask you, there were two previous "stargate" shows. do you have to have been a fan to like this one? >> no, our show is a little darker, a little grittier, a little sexier. >> oh, okay. >> that's what i'm doing here. but i think we're outside the box of what's traditionally the faithful following of "stargate." i think we have a lot that those fans will love, but i think it's going to expand beyond its own universe, if you will. >> robert, there's a power struggle between the scientists, civilians and the military. you represent, in a sense, the scientists. tell us about your character. >> yeah, i play dr. nicholas rush, who is, i guess, the lead scientist in this new "stargate" expedition. he's responsible foraking them through the ninth chevron on to the destiny. so, this guy is probably not to be trusted. >> ah, wow. so we don't trust the scientist.

>> no, we don't. >> now, ming, i like this, your character -- you're the human relations, i have to say, officer. >> yes. >> so, there are hr people in space? >> yes, and i have to, you know, make sure that the aliens as well as the humans get along, that they're qualified for their job, and you know, i've got to keep an eye out on these guys, you know, support the civilians against the military and the scientists. >> and is that one of the things you're not quite sure who's the good guys and who are the bad guys on this? >> it's a bit flawed. >> i think it's because you've got a bunch ofeople that have taken outside of their experience that none of them are prepared for the job. none of them are trained to do that job. so, i think you're dealing with basic human nature here. so, no one's 100% good or bad, but they're in a very, very difficult situation and strange things arise. >> do you have to be a fan -- does it help to be a fan of science fiction or just a fan of good acting? >> i think the bells and whistles are fantastic for a lot

of people. we're seeing sci-fi move into the mainstream now. but this is very much a human drama. i mean, it's an amazing backdrop, but it's very much about the interaction between the characters and what makes these people tick in a life-and-death situation. >> and ming, i understand you've been a fan of sci-fi for a long time. >> yes. i am a sci-fi geek and very proud of it. apparently, it's very hip to be a sci-fi geek now. >> i want to be a sci-fi geek, too! >> yeah, you know, i was like president of my science fiction club in high school, and, well, okay. >> nothing wrong with that. >> nothing more you can say. >> i've got to tell you, i'm looking forward to it. ming na, carlisle, lou diamond phillips. "stargate universe" premieres tomorrow night at 9:00/8:00 central on sci-fi. up northern, how to change your shape. isn't that a trick they do on "stargate"?

♪ this morning on "bobbie's style buzz," ever get dressed and think something doesn't quite look right on you? well, "today's style" editor bobbie thomas is her to break down the do's and dont's of dressing for yr body type. bobbie, good morning. >> good morning. i love the intro today. >> i love the animation, the music. you're just the star, right? let's start with the first body type. >> yes. >> it's the hourglass figure, krengt? >> right, and we have a picture of me and marie up here. sometimeyou put clothes on and you're like, why doesn't this look good on me? well, it's because she's getting lost in this loose dress. she is actually an hourglass, which is the most flattering body type you can aspire to, because it's all about that x-factor. >> yet, you can't really see that shape. >> yes, because you're losing her stomach. if we bring her out, you'll see the correction. >> mia marie, come out. oh, wow! >> this is such a fantastic

option. you really want to take advantage of your waistline. cinch in your waist, the belt trend. you have so many great belts. what i love about this dress from czar is the shoulder pads, really exaggerating the nice x, the x-factor. >> i love the shape of that dress. looks fantastic. >> ladies, please remember, it is not about size, it's about shape. it's all about balance of proportion. >> very good point. well, you look fantastic. all right, our next body shape is the triangle. >> yes. >> women who tend to be petite on top and bigger on the bottom. >> yes, you'll see she has a small shoulder line in comparison to the widest point, so that's typically this triangle. so what we want to do is add more volume up top to balae. it's all about stylish symmetry. let's bring her out here. >> look at that. >> we brought the focus up with statement necklaces. these are affordable, banana republic. the blazer is really nice. >> shoulder pads. >> yeah. shoulder pads are back. so take advantage of them. >> look at that. >> create a broader shoulderline

and the button creates the perfect x on her. >> so you're shifting the focus up instead of down. >> and keeping it simple on the bottom. >> jennifer, you look fantastic. thank you. the next is the inverted triangle. >> which is the opposite of jen. and this is melissa. you'll see how her neckline is broader -- she has teeny hips. >> not that that's a bad thing. >> no, it's great. you really want to show off your assets. we really want to bring the hip line up a bit and minimize what's going on up here. so, if we bring melissa out -- >> okay, so, this is something we want to see her body elongated. >> yes. >> and y can take advantage of scarfs. don't wrap a scarf around your neck because it will add more bulk. >> okay. >> keep it long, add a long necklace and i've shortened the bottom, opened it up so you can see her fabulous legs. and play with footwear. >> okay. >> there's so many funky shoes out there, boots, big ankle straps, shoes that normally somebody with the opposite body shape can't wear, she can have fun with. >> how did she tie the scarf down? >> it's part of the sweater and i love the sweater. it's on the website, but it's

$100 and you can do a lot with that. >> i love it. great. melissa, thanks so much, looks fantastic. this is also something people think, oh, poor rectangle, the tall athletic type, but you still have to be careful about what you wear. >> exactly. space is gorgeous, but sometimes -- look at how she looks boxy with this outfit. >> yep, she does. >> what she also needs to do is create the x factor. so, she needs to add curve, increase femininity. >> okay. >> so, if faith comes on out, you'll see that we put her -- >> and they look like different people with these outfits. it's incredible the difference. >> this is the secret about styling, the balance and proportion. e hem line on the shirt, you'll notice, isn't horizontal. it dips little and the ruffles add softness. >> cinched at the waist. >> exactly. the shoes bring your eye line up from her blond hair down to the red shoes. she's gorgeous and she really needs to kind of add that curve to give her that more feminine appeal. >> are these different -- like, we should bring everybody out when we're looking at these, but i feel there's common things, the shoulder pads, cinched waist. you're trying to create an hourglass figure pretty much for

all of these women. >> whenever you think about it it's the x factor. come on in. >> and look at these lovely models here. >> perfect examples. you just want to find your center point and think about the balance. >> think about the balance here? >> yeah. >> cinching at the waist all the time. >> al, get with the program on the balance. >> it's great for guys because shoulders, you can have a small head and really broad shoulders. >> especially if they got to do this. >> thank you very much. you can check out bobbie's column "the buzz" in "in touch weekly aid and on our website.

9:56 is the time. four minutes till 10:00. 56 degrees. beautiful day here in the nation's capital. we begin october, the first day of october, on a thursday. good morning. i'm joe krebs. in the news for today, one teenager is dead, another wou wounded after being shot late last night in the 5300 block of 56th avenue in riverdale heights. they say, 16-year-old marcos medina was struck by bullets and later died. a 17-year-old was shot and treated and released. investigators are still trying to determine what led to the shooting. they are asking for your help if you know anything about the case. let's get a quick check on

our wet tler frather from tom k. >> we had our coolest start since may the 20th. temperatures around the region dipped in the upper 30s, low and mid 40s. 50 in washington. we will hit near 70 by mid afternoon. near 70 tomorrow with increasing clouds. might have a late evening, perhaps after midnight shower, friday night into mid-morning saturday. the weekend looks dry and mild. steve, how is the traffic? slow and heavy on southbound 270. germantown, heavy. stay to the left. the right lane is blocked over there. quick look at springfield, everything moving pretty well. road work back blocking the right lane north and southbound. tonht at 5:00, liz

from nbc news, this is "today" with kathie lee gifford and hoda cot bee. live from studio 1-a in rockefeller plaza. >> hey, everybody. so glad you're with us today. whether you want it to be or not, it's first day of october. >> you feel in it new york. today was first day -- because it was in the 40s this morning >> did you hear yesterday it is

a weak el nino year. a horrendous winter here. but happy fall. >> i never understand el nino. they're always talking about it and blaming everything on it. we don't really understand what that is. >> how are you today, darling? >> i'm good. >> we have a strange situation today. october is also, of course, breast cancer awareness month. >> yes. >> but it's also cookie month. >> yes. >> so we're drawing awareness to both today. we want to thank the cookie -- somebody who sent us -- who sent us the cookie, guys? >> american cookie. >> american cookie. >> there goes the american cookie. >> thank you for that. >> we're wearing our little rings. >> they're called forward rings. so that if you have breast cancer, you think about moving forward. so when i was going through it, i wrote in my journal at the bottom of every entry the word "forward," then a friend of mine wear these rings. i wear it all the time. then someviewer said, how can i get the ring.

we're selling in it the nbc store for five buck, two will go to the susan g. komen and the rest go to shipping and handling, whatever. >> this is from be positive. this goes to the dana farber cancer research. a darling necklace that has on this side, a be positive. she had leukemia, then her husband needed stem cell research or something. but i thought that was quite gorgeous. >> thank you. >> we have that business out of the way. >> now time for our chat. >> yesterday -- >> wait? what about our chat. >> we have to officially start it. because you guys liked it yesterday. >> in case you missed our chat tune, we want you to hear it again. so far we're getting positive response. we want to know for sure. >> we don't have the budget for rehearsal yet. ♪ it's the talk of the day ♪ so much to say ♪ it's hip ♪ it's where it's at ♪ with kathie lee and hoda ♪ grab a wine, grab a soda

♪ and settle in for the chat ♪ yakity yak ♪ i like it. >> now, listen to the other versions. >> listen to the excitement going on in the studio. >> back to the drawing board. >> we want harry connick jr. to record it. he's thinking about it. >> it will be on his next album being produced with david foster. no, no. >> we want angela to come up with a rappy version and r&b. >> and a country twang. >> and country. >> we officially yesterday started our wednesday matinees again. >> yes, we did. >> because there's lots of new stuff coming to broadway. very exciting time. next week we have as a guest -- i hope we can talk her into staying for the entire show the way we once did with gary when he was here. one of the funnest ladies on the planet. we went to see her show based on her best selling book carrie fisher called "wishful drinki " drinking." >> the cool thing about carrie

fisher, she's so interactive with the crowd. >> right. >> because usually broadway they're on the stage and u watch them from your chairs. she comes down to you. >> yes. >> we don't want to give away what she does, but if you're in the front few rows, get ready. she takes care of you. >> yeah, she's so at home on the stage. of course she's very much at home talking about her, shall we say, dysfunctional family. >> she was very open, wasn't she? >> and her addictions and marriages. when she goes with the chalkboard and starts talking about, what's it called, hollywood disfings 101. hollywood inbreeding 101. >> harry, please don't fall asleep while we're doing our host chat. >> that's just not polite. >> no, we're nice enough to have him on. he's there nodding off. >> look at that. >> sort of what i did when i listened to your first record, thank you. >> i'm up now! >> that woke him up. >> what sometimes happens in broadway, if you've ever been there, if somebody's cell phone

rings at the inappropriate time. harry has done "the pajama game." >> and scored another great show "thou shalt not." >> but when that phone rins everyone giving them the evil eye. this actually happened with hugh jackman. >> called "a steady rain." >> let's listen. >> all the time he's pacing. you want to get that? you want to get it? i don't care. go ahead. grab your phone. doesn't matter. >> daniel craig went on -- he stayed in character. but it is -- when you are so in the zone as a performer and something like that happens, you know, it is rough. >> you know what's funny? i forget i make a call just before. and you think you turned it off because you remember turning it off -- how many times have you been on a plane and your phone, you don't realize that you lift vibrate.

throughout while you're flying, the phone is on distracting all -- i think sometimes we just forget. >> can it do that much trouble if it's vibrating and not -- >> same thing. has your phone ever gone off at an inappropriate place? [ phone rings ] [ laughter ] >> i was at my daughter's field hockey game yesterday. and i went to see -- i'm just walking through her field. she's at a new school. i'm talking to a friend, the game hasn't started. this woman is yelling, yelling at somebody. i look around to see who she's yelling at. it was me. i was walking, talking on a cell phone going through the field. i don't know. i felt like a little kid in kindergarten again. just bad, girl, bad. >> bad. there's this topic we were discussing about when is it okay or is it ever okay for parents to lie to their children? >> you and i have an ongoing disagreement on this subject. do you think there's ever a time --

>> yes. not santa claus. but if my daughter is 5 years old and she's trying to do a cartwheel. it's not great. it's her first try. i'm going to say, that was great becae she'll try again and get better. >> then why don't you say, that was good. let's do better. >> maybe it wasn't even good. >> good for you for trying now -- >> but if she's 13 and can't play the clarinet properly and she keeps blowing on that horn. >> take up the tuba. >> maybe this isn't for you. but when you're little, you should yes. that's a beautiful picture. it may not be beautiful. it's just a circle. >> it's an interesting one. >> they don't even know what interesting is. >> yes, they do. they learn a new word. don't lie to your kids! >> that's not lying. >> they won't trust you later. >> harry? >> okay, i'll get in the middle. i'll get in the middle of it. >> with your daughters, they do something that you think is average, but you want to encourage them. i'm loading the question. >> i think the key is not to lie to your children, but to lie to

your wife. >> thank you, harry. yeah, baby. all right. hope she's watching this morning. we've been going through that with cass now because she's doing lot of auditions. i could lie to her and say that's fabulous. cass, that was okay. and here's where you can do better. sometimes it creates stress. but if i know in my heart that she could do better, as a parent, i have to encourage her to do better. >> i do agree with that when you're 16, 15. >> no, ever since. >> but if she ever drew a picture of a square did you ever say that's pretty when it was just a square. >> that part's really good, but look right here. i'm sorry. >> that is too much. that's a lot to put on a kid, i think. >> oh, yeah? >> i think it's a lot. >> let's ask them if it's been too much. shall we? shall we check in with the kiddies? >> the facebook people always tell us the truth. they always do. >> there's a creative way to

tell your child to encourage them. to tell them the truth. >> i agree with you, hoda. >> then where are you working tomorrow? just kidding. little joke. >> but some of that, you're also raising your children to have an imagination and to believe in things. there are things in life that they won't be able to see and no one is able to prove that they can believe in. vicky wrote, we raised four happy well adjusted kids and i'm sure we told a lie or two. >> okay. i'm not going to tell other people what to do. i just asked my personal opinion. >> i'll tell vicky that you're telling me -- >> you almost fired sara. >> i can't fire sara. i'll be fired before sara. are you kidding me? we have harry connick jr. we love him that's after these messages.

he really needs no introduction at all but we're going to do it anyway. this does give us a chance to tell you how harry connick jr. has sold more than 25 -- is it million! -- albums worldwide. >> it's just 25 album, more than 25 albums. >> you're way ahead of me, buddy. >> now he's got another one for you to unwrap. it's called "your songs." with the legendary clive davis. >> it was neat. because he calledp my manager and said, i'd really like to work with harry. >> which is a great compliment. >> it was a great compliment. i just didn't know what that meant because i never worked with a producer in that way.

like clive has a -- he's legendary for working with people and bringing things out of them. i've never done that before. >> you do your thing innately, naturally. >> what did he bring for you that you didn't already have out there. >> he's very specific on things. >> praising. >> he went na the studio with me. prior to the studio, we met for six months, every week i'd go to his office. let's do great songs that everybody knows and sing them very simply. i sang "mona lisa" on the cd. i would make a little demo for him and sing it to him. he goes, it needs to be faster. i was like clie! ♪ mona lisa mona lisa >> it should be 98 beats her minute. >> which makes a huge difference emotionally. but he would know that. >> for me, even though there's a technique to it. it's very organic. with him, it was much more specific. i was really blown away by the level of detail. >> when he made suggestions, did

you ever thing, boy, i've been doing this for a long time. i kind of know what i'm doing. >> sometimes i would get upset. and i would go home and say, he's got this opinion. i've got my opinion. my wife put it the best. she goes, he called you to offer his help and you accepted it. and you should go down in path with him till the very end graciously and see what happens. and the albumcame out differently than had i done it alone but i love -- >> the result. >> i love the result. it's a result of making different decisions. >> you didn't want to do it initially. that's what the note said. not work with clive but -- >> like for example, he said, i think you should sing that song "close to you" by the carpenters. my first reaction was that's a great song for the carpenters but i can't imagine myself singing it. he said, why don't you go home and arrange it and orchestrate it. it started to grow on it. now jill, my wife, i love that. >> that song evokes so many

memories for so many people. but it is a classic. you got to be careful when you cover a classic like that. >> how was sinng with carla bruni. >> bruni. >> the first lady of france. >> she's so beutiful. >> she's no jill. >> she's pretty gorgeous. we were going to do that song "and i love her" by the beatles, a french version and an italian version. we sang it in french and italian together. it was great because where you are, aim here and we sang it live. we were there for a half hour. >> that's when you started lying to your wife? >> that's when all the lies started. i was singing with gerard depardieu. and he's great. >> i couldn't stop looking at his nose! >> how is everybody back home? >> everybody is great. >> they were great before today. >> right. there will be breaking news tomorrow. >> look at that picture. what a family. >> that was this summer on the

beach. >> where did you go? >> that was in cape cod. >> looks like nantucket. >> that's allmy girls, my four girls. >> wha a family. >> what's it like being surrounded by all girls? >> that's georgia. that's a few years ago. she's 13 now. >> who sang the last time? >> kate. she's so much bigger now. the one with the brown hair in the white. >> we can't afford a new picture of you, i'm sorry. >> yeah, these are old, man. >> is she still singin the little one? >> yeah, she's really into it. >> she had so much fun that day. >> it's in her dna. >> kathie and i were talking about that before. you can't really teach that kind of thing. either you have it or you don't. you can work on the skill. >> you can finesse it. >> we wish you luck. >> are you done with me? >> i hate that. >> unless you want to stay for the whole show. >> i'm right in the middle of talking and "we wish you good luck." >> bye! >> unless you want to stay the

whole show. >> i wish i could. >> you're too big for us. up next, how to nag the one you love without lying.

♪ oh baby you're a nag ♪ nag naggety na >> the art of nagging. >> let's face it. the last thing any woman wants to be called by her guy, but what constitutes a real nag? let's take a look. >> just picks on the same thing over and over and over, when they know you're not going to change. >> nagging is when you ask something that is probably maybe not that important to everyone but maybe it's important to you. >> she nags me all the time. >> a perfect marriage. 50 years. >> my girlfriend watches though show. no comment. >> my boyfriend accused me of nagging when i asked him who he was hanging out with, where he was, who he was with.

>> she nags me about not doing the laundry. >> i think women tend to nag a bit more than guys, yeah. >> i think it's because women tend to find fault with everything. >> women do tend to be perceived as the naggers. i'm not quite sure that i know of any male naggers, but i think again more so because women tend to like easing the issues or solving the problems so that they can kind of go on with the relationship. >> she nags me, but i nag her back. mutual nagging society. >> and we are here with relationship expert mac titus who is the co-author of "why hasn't he called" and an article of "cosmopolitan" magazine where kate white is the editor in chief. >> it is already a derogatory term because it is talking about a horse. >> and reminds with hag. >> and bag. >> three women, this is not good

for me. i'm very afraid. >> i think women nag because men don't hear us. >> they hear but they don't listen. >> there's an 80/20 rule that we talk about. men only hear 20% of what women are saying. i think you guys say 9,000 words a day, a week. we say 2,000. we don't have the capacity. no matter how much we love you, we just can't hear anything. >> we are wired differently. >> it's not that they don't hear, but they they don't ask what you ask them to do. women need to be heard. we ratchet it up. >> they're not our children, they're our partner. they don't feel like you have the right to tell them what to could, right? >> that's a very good point. because when you do start that, it brings us back to being dependent upon our mothers, a woman. when we're in a mature relationship, we don't want to feel that. >> it's thursday, trash day, the trash man is coming. >> for the fifth or sixth time. every thursday same time. and your husband's sitting there in front of the tv. tell me what you do, the right way to let him know that it's

thursday again? >> you do it right in front of him, it emasculates him. it shows him that you do not need him. >> but what should you do? >> you mean, you go do it yourself? >> no. do it in front of him. >> that silent nagging. >> it's passive. a very strong message. >> what about a nice little note. sweetheart, it's garbage day. please remember to? >> silent happy messages. you know what, let the trash pile up. let him do it. >> then you have your neighbor taking it out. >> you really approach it positive. it's so great when you help out. it means so much to me. it would be terrific if -- >> it makes your hustles bulge. >> and i love these muscles. it turns me on. >> should you put a compliment in there? honey, you're so brilliant when you help out. >> women want things done sort of right then and there. men, they think we have so much time. you know, our time periods that

we think about in our minds with men and women differ significantly. >> i think that's true. you got to be aware that when he comes home from work, he may need to defuse for a while. >> women come home from work as well and need to defuse and the trash is still sitting there, and that happens to be his job. maybe these things need to be decided on before. like, you know, we're going to live together, we're going to be married or something -- then there's an understanding. that's your thing. and i'll do this. maybe because it's never been spoken. >> i think it is hard when you say, been can you please pick up the milk and you come home and there's no milk. honey, did you remember the milk? >> oh, i was busy. >> notes, i think. because guys, because they hate nagging, if you can make it sort of a nonverbal thing. >> lists are great but there have to be repercussions. >> again. treat them like kid, like children. thank you so all so much.

a water main break in maryland is causing problems for the roads, for businesses and homeowners this morning. we'll have the latest on repair efforts. coming up on "news 4 midday," results of a surprising medical survey, it links young candy eat terse and

"today's health" is brought to you by kellogg's rice krispies cereal. we're back with "today's health" on this thursday, the first day of breast cancer awareness month. >> we're kicking off a four-part series looking for everything from a search for the cause to the emotional impact on your family and life after cancer. today we ask, breast cancer, where are we now? we've invited a pioneer in the world of breast cancer research.

dr. susan love. welcome. >> thank you. great to be back. >> remember back in the '70s, it was the war on cancer. it seemed like everybody -- >> that we're still fighting. >> doctor are times that i do feel frustrated. my gosh, we're in 2009. it's been more than 20, 30 years and still we're doing similar things. we're sh ripging it, trying to pull it out but we don't know how it starts. >> this is the problem. we do a lot of research on the molecular biology and how the cancer cell works and isn't that neat. but we don't know what causes breast cancer and we don't know how to totally prevent it. you think about cancer of the cervix. we have a vaccine now. between when i was a resident, if you had an abnormal pap smear, you had a hysterectomy. we didn't know what we were doing. 30 years later we have a vaccine. >> you started this, this army -- >> you were always about prevention. >> you got it. >> tell us what the results are of that? >> we have 310,000 women have

signed up for the army of women. 80% are healthy, never had breast cancer, but want to see the end of the disease. we've launched 14 studies. we put 14,000 women into t research process. we're moving on to try to encourage more research at determining the cause, particularly in young women. so anybody can sign up and be part of the army of women. >> is there a more evidence of breast cancer in younger women all the time? is it becoming younger and younger? >> it's not becoming younger but the problem is we're making much more progress in the older wen, the postmenopausal women, understanding that hormone replacement had to do with it, mammograms work better in older women. so we're doing btter in older women and in younger women, not so good. we still don't know really how to do it. >> should we lower the age that women should get mammograms? >> no, because mammograms don't work well in young woman. the problem is the breast tissue is dense and cancer is dense. like looking for a polar bear in the snow.

once you go through menopause and your baes tissue turns to fat, i hate to say it. >> tell me about it. >> so they work better in older women and the radiation risk is lower in older women. >> are we learning -- i know research takes a lot of time. i know that can be frustrating for especially someone like you. but are we learning anything new from all these women in this research project you've been doing? >> not yet. but we're about to launch into another phase where we're going to start asking questions. we're going to follow women over the next 20 year, all these healthy women and see if we can start to pinpoint what the cause might be. >> when you go into the doctor and you have breast cancer, like me, the only thing they ask you is if you've been on birth control. beyond that, not a question about -- >> nothing. >> just two things. you wish there were more questions. >> yeah, exactly. 80% of women who get breast cancer did everything right. they don't have the risk factors. >> they don't smoke, they don't

drink. >> that means w really don't know what the answer is. >> they should be asking. >> we should be asking wide questions everything from where you -- the environmental things you were exposed to, to, you know, what you ate as a kid. to all kinds of things. it could be a virus. we don't know. >> i'm just asking the question because you all are experts in this and i am not. i keep hearing things about young girls have much larger breasts and are developing sooner because of so much hormone, different animal hormones in the foods that we eat. there's got to be some sort of relationship there. >> that's a hypothesis, but we really don't know. in the love army of women we can start to track this. instead of having these hypothesis, you've heard everything from deodorant to underwire bras, if you read the internet. we can ask those questions and answer them. so it's time for women to be part of the research and to say, we'll find out once and for all

what's real and what isn't. >> we're so lucky you're leading this fight. >> good to see you. >> for more information on breast cancer including how you can volunteer for the army of women, go to klgandhoda.com.

we're back with "today's style" and the hottest boots to step out in this fall. >> it is time to put the strappy sandals back in their boxes.

contributor editor to "people's style watch" is here again. >> hello, lori. >> love this time of the year when the new boots come out. >> about the only good thing about the weather changing. >> a little chilly out today. the perfect time to be talking about boots. >> tell us, baby. >> the wardrobe workhorse. don't feel guilty about spending a little bit because you'll get a lot of cost per wear. >> these you can dress up or dress down. >> this is the cool classic look. think of somebody like a katie holmes will be wearing these. you want a little bit of a higher heel. >> these are high. >> and a rounded toe. you're getting that classic but blending it. >> and that's much more comfortable. >> only $63 from michael antonio. target, got to love it, right? $39. >> what would you wear these boots with, a skirt? >> yeah. >> the key here is that you really want them to be the statement. so tuck things into them. leggings, jeans. >> i love is. >> this is adorable.

banana republic, right? >> these are riding boots. a preppy, polished look. you're taking the cue from the equestrian. they're $98. they're rain boot, ladies. >> now, that one is from the king of the equestrian look himself, ralph lauren. those are $198. >> for ralph that's -- >> that's leather and suede. >> oh. >> these are the boots that go all the way up over the knee. who are these for? >> this is very trendy. >> sarah jessica. >> the kardashian sisters wear these really well. >> of course they do. >> i know. so this is a little bit more for the fashion expert. they're fro bakers. they're over the knee. the key is making sure that they are making the statement. don't try to put your pants over this. tuck them in. it does look ridiculous. if that's a little too sexy for you, these are $199, but they're flats. so they're comfortable.

you can ease into it by folding them down or wearing them up. >> it gives you an option. >> i like a heel. >> and that heel is manageable. >> when you're getting ready in the morning. >> cowboy boots. >> this is the western look. so what we love about these, they've got a modern update. you want to remember not to go head to toe full throttle cowgirl. it shouldn't be costumy. >> people wear these in san antonio. we love them. >> when you take it out of context, you want to be cool, casual, laid back vibe. these are $100. everybody has been obsessed with this, from restricted footwear. >> what is restricted footwear. >> that's the name of the company. >> then if you want something a little more playful, a little edgier, these are both under $100, american eagle. >> you found great bargains. i thought boots were much pricier. >> we tried to mix it up for you. >> this is the trend. the soft sweater stuff. i love it. >> this is what i was going to say, too, this is a look that

moms and daughters -- i'm sure your daughter loves this, too. >> you can see they're bo out of the idea of a moccasin. this is from minnetonka, $39. these are from j. crew. >> good to see that on there. >> mix it up. you can wear these with jeans, with leggings, have fun with it. >> mix one of these with one of these. only kidding. >> these are wardrobe workhorses. you'll get a lot of use out of them. go to town. >> lori, thank you so muchp. >> they're all so cute. >> next, we'll meet a wonderful man behind some of the greatest voices -- >> he's not that great. >> -- voices ever.

he's been nominated for an unprecedented 45 grammy awards over his four decade lo career and has taken home double digit trophies. >> now david foster, the

mastermind, who has written and produced songs for barbra streisand, celine dion and josh groban, just to name a few, is hitting the road for a tour with some of his friends he found along the way. and has time to record his own collection called "hit man." >> you have more friends in this business than anybody. >> i'm so comfortable here. i have six sister, five daughter, three ex-wives. what could be a better place than with the two of you. >> you're not presently married. >> no, but i have a great girlfriend. >> that might not work out. >> she's adorable. >> she's the man. >> she's the man. and the woman. >> i love one of the thins you're doing is it willing the road looking for the next great talent. >> i've been in the studio for like 40 years. you know, kathie. they slide food under he door, you slide music out. no windows. i wanted to see who was listening to my music. i started this tour as a result of the "hit man" thing and we're

holding a contest in every city so someby can come up and join us in every city. >> this came from the pbs special that you did. which i loved. and that darling sharisse. how unbelievable is that woman? >> that day that you were on oprah with her, i rewatched this ping. she made you cry. she was unbelievable. >> me telling celine 20 years ago that she would meet and sing with streisand. then telling sharisse that she would meet and sing with celine. >> that means you're getting old. >> i don't know. for me, i love great voices. kathie and i have talked about this before. i'm attracted to great voices. >> not just great voices. the kind of thing that you know instantly is so unique, so rare. how many great voices of that come along in a generation? >> on a hand. in my world. yeah. >> so how is it putting your own

cool cd out? how was that? >> it was kind of interesting. behind the scenes for so long. now to be kind of up front is cool. we're going to hit like ten cities. >> how can people be involved? >> we're going to hit ten cities, new york, atlanta, chicago, we're starting in chicago. in every city we're going to hold a contest. you enter namedrop.com. i'll listen to the final 25 entries and the winner gets to become part of the show with ruben studdard and debra cox and phillip bailey. >> and charisse will be along? >> charisse is closing. the 17-year-old is closing the show. >> is she a real witch now since all this happened. >> i want to slap her shoulder for not being able to do that. >> are you going to be in new york? i'd love to come. >> october 23rd. you should get up and sing a song. >> my parents weekend at college that weekend. move it around. >> can't help you. love this show, love you guys. >> love you, david. you want to stick around for soup and a sandwich? >> grilled cheese.

♪ >> we're here with "today's kitchen." we're getting soupy with patrick connelly. >> he's the executive chef of new york's bobo restaurant. this is my favorite. grilled cheese is my favorite. >> amazing. >> let's go. >> grilled cheese and tomato soup, a classic combination. but a little bit of a take. we have here some shabbat ta bread. you can really use anything. open it like a hinge. with a little mushroom. use your knife there. >> do you do mine, too, or do i have to do -- >> you can do your own. >> i don't like mushroom. do i have to put it on there? >> no. >> i learned.

>> with mushroom. now we start with the cheeses. we have gruyere and a little bit of chev. >> that's two. >> yeah. >> looks like the same cheese to me. >> it does. you have to sell to tell the difference. >> that' goat cheese. you don't do that either. >> so after you have your chosen cheeses, a little bit of pickled shallot. >> hate pickles. go ahead. >> me, too. >> that's my favorite. >> i'm ruining your set. >> you will just have soup and water. that's it. pickled shallots, then arugula. arugula is so offensive. >> i see no need for arugula. but i'll put it in anyway. >> close it up. put it on to our little plates here. then we're going to transfer everything. >> i'm watching. >> you'll cook over here. >> i've ruined this segment already. >> you're going to be in the skilt, david. >> there's a couple ways to do

this. we have a panini press here. you can use a tabletop grill. hoda, first brush this with butter. >> i'll do that for you. >> kathie lee, we're going to do yours in the skillet. >> david's do g the cooking. >> i'm sorry. i've been calling you kathie lee all day. >> this i can relate to. this i've done before. >> you got to. >> right in the butter, he's saying. >> i kind of hurt my arm the other dayp i need some muscle to put it on. >> that's why david's here. >> i he a sprained wrist. >> smash it. >> put this on that and that's it. >> i am actually cooking. >> which is a shock to everyone who knows you. >> the same thing here. give it a couple of minutes. there's one that's con. >> then is this all done. don't do this at home. but my hands are total -- i have no feeling. >> you cheat on shows. they come out done. >> this is hot.

see, that's good to go. >> you want to cut that? let me get a knife for you. we have nothing. >> this is a lot of pressure. >> here's our soups. we have a couple of soups. butternut squash, toasted marshmallows on it. very fall flavor. then tomatoes we're still digging up. we'll do like a blt take. tomato soup, a little bit of bacon, caraway croutons. can you put a dollop of creme fraiche on there? >> do you want that? >> you don't have to eat it. that's beautiful. amazing. >> it is supposed to go in the middle. >> a little bit of lettuce. why not? >> so we have our blt -- >> i want to taste it. >> let's cut it. >> where is the knife. >> that's not a knife. >> it cuts. >> aren't you sorry they invit me to be in this segment. >> we'll be hearing about this. >> you know the versatility of a sandwich. you can leave out anything you want. >> your sandwich that you made. >> it's still cooking.

>> what's happening with my sandwich. >> yours is burning. >> it's on fire just like you. >> good. >> you are going tofind the next brilliant person out there. you think they're out there? >> without a shadow of a doubt, there's talent in every nook and cranny. >> patrick would like to be included in this segment if you get time. >> that's fine. >> that is really good. >> thank you very much. >> i love you, david. >> thanks, patrick. tomorrow seven signs your body is trying to tell you something.