good morning. secret weapon, the white house announces michelle obama will hit the campaign trail to help democrats keep control of congress. while on the republican side, a brewing battle in alaska where incumbent senator lisa murkowski is being criticized by her own party for starting a write-in campaign. safety risk? the only bir control patch available for women may be linked to blood clots. is ortho evra too dangerous to be sold? and paris hilton denied entry into japan. we'll tell you why that country has sent her pking "today," we'll tell you why that country has sent her pking "today," wednesday, september 22, 2010. captions paid for by nbc-universal television

>> and good morning. welcome to "today" on a wednesday morning. i'm matt lauer. >> and i'm meredith viera. things are heating up for both parties with the midterms fast approaching. >> michelle obama will use her popularity and influence in six state where is democratic candidates are in trouble. this as lisa murkowski is being accused of trying to split up the republican party in alaska by starting a write-in campaign for her senate seat. we're going to have more on all of this coming up in just a couple of minutes. >>talking about controversy, that custody battle between mel gibson and his estranged girlfriend. the actor apologized for his behavior in those intimate phone conversations. so why is so much of their dirty laundry being aired so publicly

and is oksana behind it all? this morning their attorneys speak out in an exclusive live interview. and that british girl who just won the title of america's perfect teen. how do her fellow contestants feel about that? we're going to talk to her when she joining us from wales in a live interview. >> reporter: the president can particularly effective raising money for democrats and he'll do that again "today," but democrats will now pass the popularity ofhe first lady for the first time since the 2008 campaign. it's a season where every issue and every personality comes down to politics. soon adding her voice to midterm politics -- >> thank you! >> reporter: the white house announced tuesday that michelle obama will campaign in six

states, where several senate democrats are in trouble. >> i think she will go out and make a forceful and posive case for what this administration has done. >> reporter: tuesday, senate democrats tried and failed to deliver on two issueshat motivate liberal voters, ending the don't ask, don'tell policy. >> we have got thousands of americans who are patriotic who want to serve and who happen to be gay or lesbian and we're telling th you can't. >> reporter: democrats also tried pass a narrow immigration reform, where children brought her illegally could qualify for green cards by completing education. >> one can only draw the conclusion that this is all about elections. >> reporter: democrats tied both gays in the military and immigration to a big military spending package. but republicans called it a ploy. >> a transparent attempt to show their special interest groups that they haven't forgotten about themhead of the

election. >> reporter: and voted no. >> the motion is not agreed to. >> reporter: disappointed, democrat al franken choked up with emotion, remembering troops he entertained as a comedian. >> and i'll also have this fro doing u.s.o. tours seeing soldiers with their arms around each other and crying. >> reporter: in those u.s.o. tours, franken used humor to protest don't ask don't tell. the same goes politics makes strange bed foal lows, that's al franken in the '90s on the se television show with christine o'donnell. o'donnell appeared on fox news tuesday night saying she would talk issues and try to avoid more controversy. >> i'm not going to do anyre national media because this is my focus, delaware isny focus. >> reporter: that she says, is

advice given to her by sarah palin, who released a new video tribute to the tea party and notably, palin never used the word republican. >> this party that we call the tea party is the future of politics and i am proud to get to be here "today." >> reporter: and former president bill clinton is giving advice to democrats as well telling them not to get caught up in all of the tea party attention and to recognize the anger that those sorts of candidates are tapping into among voters and also "today," vice president biden, he's campaigning too working on behalf of blanch lincoln of arkansas who's one of those democrats considered to be very vulnerable this year. it is 7:05 and here's matt. >> now to a big battle brewing in alaska. incumbent senator lisa murkowski recently lost the republican primary there but she's not going away quietly. she's launche a write-in cam pain and th's infuriated some

of her fellow republicans. nbc's lee cowan is in anchorage with the latest. lee good morning to you. >> reporter: yeah, a lot of senator murkowski's colleagues not only in washington but among the party as a whole including those here in alaska are really frustrated by the fact that she's continuing to push this write in campaign. murkowsk insists thatt was her backer who is wanted her to give this one more shot. it's just before dawn at the local diner in anchorage and just as a fresh pot of coffee is being bred, embattled senator lisa murkowski is brewing a fresh campaign. alaska's senate race was turned on its head when murkowski lost the gop primaries to a lawyer named joe miller, a tea party favorite. miller's victory should have been the nail in murkowski's incumbency, it wasn't. she stunneder vo.

>> they tell me you cannot do it. alaskans can't figure out how to fill in an oval and spell m-u-r-k-o-w-s-k-y. >> a write in candidate who some republican leaders are now characterizi as a sore loser. >> i'm more concerned about what the people of alaska are saying about me as opposed to what they're saying back in washington, d.c. as far as i know, not too many of them back there can actually vote. >> reporter: most agree she's got an uphill battle and then some. >> how do you tell the voters, you made a mistake, you were wrong, you missed it the first time, you got to get ithe second time, and you got to spell my name right or some

semblance of it while you're at it. >> reporter: a staunch republican says he's not worried about murkowski. >> basically we have to make a move toward -- >> reporter: he's a yale and west point grad who campaigned on a platform to phase out medica medicaid. >> it's not just that we're broken fiscally, but it's also this concept that the federal government has gotten far beyond what was intended. >> reporter: he was buoyed by more than $500,000 from the tea party express. the former alaska governor beat murkowski's own father in 1976. >>he tea party coming in, the california-based group setting their sights on me saying i'm not republican enough for them, i do believe that they

influenced the outcome of this primary election in a substantive way. >> reporter: now she says the gles are off, miller says he's ready. now still, matt, there are a lot of people here who say that murkowski does have a shot here, she's got a lot of money, she's only got about six weeks left to spend it and she still has one of the most recognizable names in alaska politics. >> senator lisa murkowski is also in anchorage this morning, senator, thanks for waking up this morni, good morning. >> you bet, thank you, matt. >> when i read the books on politics, the system works like this, candidate loses primary, candidate endorses winner in primary, candidate endorses the other candidate and then candidate rides off into the sunset, you read a different book, apparently. >> we're writing the book at this point in time. i'll tell you, what is gng on here in alaska is about providing -- providing alaskans

a choice in this election. i did not prevail in that primary. but what happened after that primary was absolutely an uprising, from e people of the state of alaska saying, lisa, you cannot end this, please stay in this fight, please give us a choice. it was an outpouring from thousands of alaskans, from all over the state. >> but senator, all candidates have -- >> wha do youdo? >> all candidates have staunch backers, but the people of alaska spoke a couple of weeks ago, you gave them a choice and they made a choice a they went with a political outsider nam joe miller. >> and in fairness, 85% of the alaskan electorate did not have opportunity to participate in that. so what i am doing is responding to their request, please give us a choice, give us a voice to guide alaska into the future.

so this is a tough call, absolutely, it's not been done since john thurmon in 1954. >> right. >> but what i'm doing here, what i'm doing is trying to respond to the people of the state of alaska. >> what you're doing also is raising the anger of a lot of republicans, senator. karlove says this one is, quote, sad and sorry. m demeant says you've put your only personal interests ahead of everything else. and they're proposing to strip you of your leadership role on the energy committee. how do you respond to their words a their actions. >> what i am doing is i am putting my state, the state of alaska before my party. and in today's political world, that's practically unheard of. people can't believe that i would do this, that i would make this effort, make this push, why don't i just fade quietly into the sunset, as you say?

i'm doing it because the people of alaska have asked me to do so. i'm putting everything on the line to do it. >> let me ask you to look beyond alaska for a second. this strategy is tough to succeed with, it's also risky for yourparty. so would you suggest that a me castle in delaware or a tre grayson in kentucky do the same thing? should ty run as write-in candidates a risk splitting their party? >> i don't know what the mindset is in delaware or kentucky amongst the electorate. i can only be responsive to the people that i represent here. when you have -- again, when you have thousands of people stand up and say please give us this opportunity, when you've got 4,000 people sign on to a facebook page in a matterf a week who are saying, please give us this chance, i don't -- i'm not going to advise mike castle or tray grayson, i'm listeni to alaskans and i'm putting alaska first, it's as simple as

that. and it's difficult for the political insiders to understand that. what would motivate somebody like myself who's got a political future out there to put it all on the line for the peop thathe represents? it's really about who i represent and who i am. >> and we'll see how it all shakes out. thanks for getting up earlier, i appreciate it. >> i want to make a special shoutout because we're really proud here in alaska of melissa and jeremy, jeremy is actually stationed here as one of our airmen in airmen. >> senator murkowski, thanks. >> now let's get a check of the the rest of the morning's top stories from tamron hall who's filling in for ann. a new book by bob woodward is outlining deep divisions at the white house over the w in afghanistan with advisors arguing over the war and some doubting if the president's

strategy will work. nbc's chief war correspondent chuck todd joins us, so some big disagreements we're talking about? >> we're hearing about the diplomatic side and the -- the white house is already reacting to the book this morning. senior administration official putting out a fairly lengthy memo about the book, saying these policy divisions were well known at the time, this is the way the president operates, he wants different points of views, he wants a lot of information before he comes to a decision. so in many ways they're downplaying these divisions and saying, nothing to see here. we'll see if there's personnel recriminations down the road. >> another economic advisor is leaving. >> reporter: that'sright, larry summers, chairman of th national economic council, he's now the third member of the president's economic team to announce his departure from the white house in theast 60 days, the budget director has already left, they're trying to get a new one in.

the chief economist, she's already out. the way folks are looki at around here, they're trying to find someone from the corporate world who will also notupset labor unions and they uld also like a little bit of diversity. so if they could find a woman ceo to replace larry summers. mr. sumrs is headed back to harvard. the recent salmonella outbreak linked to two outbreaks in iowa. the heads of those two farms have been called to testify. today the u.n. is announcing global health campaign aimed at saving the lives of 16 million mothers and children worldwide in the next five years. word wide every year, an estimated 8 million children die before their fifth pirt day. . the fed decided to leave intest rates alone. trish reagan is at the new york stock exchange, what are we

watchi ing today. >> watching gold and -- it's all because of what the fed had to say yesterday. basically the fed is saying growth is going to be pretty slow for the foreseeable future. they're even concerned about very low inflation, which of course we all know can lead to deflation where wages and prices go wn, a very hard thing to combat. one of the big questions is what can the fed do right now about the economy? and there's actually very little becae interest rates are effectively zero, but the fed is making large purchases of u.s. trsury bonds which effectively helps toeep interest rates on everything else very, very low right now. >> this morning, paris hilton was kicked out of japan, she was sent packing two days after she pleaded guilty to a drug charge in las vegas, japan has strict immigration laws that bar those convicted of drug offenses. and in cambridge, massachusetts, drivers can get

upset and relaxed at the same time. parking tickets now come with instructions for yoga. it is 7:17, back to matt, meredith and al. that's really going to help. a mild wednesday morning good. morng. i'm meteorologist tom kierein. a live view fromhe sky watcher camera showing a blazing morning sun and a clear sky. it will heat us up to near 90

tod with a southwesterly flow late this afrnoon into the evening. a small chance of a passing summer. a little bit cool over the weekend. saturday into the mid-80s. a chance for a passing shower sunday and monday. highs in the 70s. morning lows in the 5 >> that's your latest weather. there are new details in the tragic death of a police chief's daughter in north carolina. hundreds attended funeral services for 23-year-old valerie hamilton tuesday as the man accused of killing her appeared in a new york statcourtroom. good morning, tom. >> reporter: meredith, good morning to you, that man accused of killing valerie hamilton is expectedo be brought back here to the charlotte area soon. the investigation is focusing on several places including the storag facility where hamilton's body was discovered and now more questions about the cause of death.

meryl hamilton and his family arrived at the funeral for the law man's daughter behind a police escort. joining them at the church were family, friends and hundreds of law enforcement ofcers, passing treats lined with purple ribbons, they came to mourn and remember 2year-old valerie hamilton, the police chief's daughter who wanted to work with children. >> people all over the nation are peop that supported the chief. he's a good chief and we have all just been heart bken for him. >> reporter: after a nationwide manhunt, 34-year-old michael neil harvey was arrested monday charged wi hamilton's murder. we had indications from the county sheriff's office in charlotte, north carolina that the defendan is wanted on charges of murder. >> reporter: the convicted sex offender with a long history of drug abuse said he would not fight extraditionack to north carolina where the investigation of hamilton's murder continues.

hamilton's body showed no signs of what they call traditional physical trauma. according to police witnesses hamilton voluntarily left the bar last week with harvey and went to his house where the two used drugs. witnesses sayomething went wrong and hamilton needed, quote, immediate medical attention but harvey never called for help. instead, investigators say harvey moved hamilton's body and made great efforts to clean up any potential crime scene before he disposed of h body. hamilton's body was found this past weekend in a storage shed. >> i'm telling you what, i you've got kids, you've got daughters, my daughter was perfect and what my daughter did or didn't do or whatever, in these daddies eyes and those mama's eyes my daughter was perfect. >>eporter: amonghe mo mourners -- >> w all work forhe district attorney's office here, we believe in justice, we fight for justice and we know that valerie will get justice in this case.

>> reporter: and investitors are still waiting on toxicology results and also results from a sexual assault examination kit, both will be able to shed more light on what happened to valerie. the volatile custody future against aor mel gibson and his estranged girlfriend oksana.

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goo morning. it's 7:26 on the 22nd day of september. we're still waiting for police to identy the woman found dead in the stairwell of a prince georges county apartment building. this happened in green belt in the middle of the day yesterday. there we tree trimmers working just a few feet away, but it's unclear whether they saw the killer. so far no arrests. we'll c

a return to summer today, tomorrow, and friday. right now we're in the 60s. afternoon highs in the 80s. a small chance of a thunderstorm. over the weekend turning cooler. jerry, how's the traffic now loaded up along 95. had a report of gravle in the roadway. so from dale city on up, pretty tough moing. one more stop, typical. loaded up 270, germantown on down, but be careful traveling the inner loop of the beltway headed over toward i-95. sunshine's going to get you, so be very cautious. got those sunglasses, joe? >> i do indeed. tonht on nbc 4, a new spy drama tells the story of a husband and wife spy couple. catch it here on

7:30 now on this wednesday morning, september 22, 2010. our friends are busy soaking up the last rays of summer, fall officially arrives tonight at 11:09 eastern time. i'm meredith viera alongside matt lauer. and ahead a growing concern over a popular form of birth control. >> nearly 30 million prescriptions have been written for the birth control patch, but does it carry too much risk. we'll hear from mother who believes the patch is to blame for her daughter's death. and we'll hear what experts are saying about this. also ahead theritish teenager at the cenr of that beauty pageant firestorm after she was crowned america's perfect teen. 'll talk to her live. and all next week, nbc news will be taking a hard look at education in this country, we're calling it education nation, we'll kick things off monday on

"today" with an exclusive interview with president obama. he'll share his thoughts on our nation's schools, what's going wrong and what can be done different. and you can submit your questions to the president on "today" show.com. that's a week ng education nati. but we begin ts half hour with a bitter fight between mel gibson and his estranged girlfriend. new e-mail surfaced this week in which oksana seemed to forgive the actor for those recorded rants on the telephone. we're going to talk to the lawyers about that in a live interview. >> reporter: the battle between mel gibson and oksana exploded this summer with the release of those now infamous audiotapes. >> i will make your [ bleep ]

life measurable, already? >> reporter: his ex-girlfriend and mother of his younger child, the o are locked in a bitter custity battle. >> what kind of man is that, hitting aoman when she's holding a child in her hands, breaking her teeth why is in the face, what kind of man is that? >> reporter: showing oksana visiting an orphanage in chernobyl, holding and caring for six children. they also show -- a departure from the summer long drama. >> you have evince on both sides, each side pointing to the other, each side accusinthe other of making criminal acts against one another. >> reporter: gibson's camp has accused oksana's camp of extortion. gibson has tried to keep a low

profile but just last week he had this run in from the paparazzi. >> i'm wondering if you hit oksana, do you think you'll eve make a movie in this town? >> you've g a lot of dialogue, don't you? >> reporter: gibson still has the support of some hollywood heavyweights, jody foster said in the october issue of more magazine, when you lov a friend, you don't abandon them when they are struggling. >> the d.a.'s option is to file charges against one or the other of them, to dismiss the case or to do further investigation. >> martin -- two attorneys

representing the oksana. martin, i know you're new to the legal team, so i'm going to start with you, daniel, you just released these pictures and video of oksana and you're speaking out on her behalf for the first time, why now. >> because she's a domestic violence victim, she was beaten, she was terrorized and all the media seems to focus on whether she torted mel gibson, when in fa it's just about money, this has never been about money, what they claim is extortion truthfully are letters that profs her love and caring for him. and this is what happens to domeic violence victims, they're vilified and we're trying to set the record straight, you have the videos and the pictures that show who she really is. >> did she ever ask for money in exchange for not releasing photos or video. >> anybody who says that is either misinformed or lying just

to hurt her, she is simply a violence victim who is being pigeon holed into a false light so that the truth of her allegations and her situation are ignored. >> if she is a violence victim as you say, why haven't you filed a case against mel gibson at this int? what's taking soong? >> i think at this point, the district attorney's office is really in the driver's seat in tes of these charges. they're very serious charges and to just file a lawsuit and fight about money is not the right thing right now. he has to be brought to justice for what he did. and mr. coolly, the district attorney of los angeles is in charge of that and we defer to him at this point. >> let me go back to this whole matter of extortion, mel gibson's camp from the very beginning claimed that oksana secretly made those tapes in an attempt to extort money from

him. she admits that she made the phone calls and she secretly recorded th. she admits she broke the photo of her teeth, the broken veneers, why wld she do that? >> anybody who's beaten or threatened has the right to document it to show what happened. otherwise mel gibson is going to be one of the most popular love superstars in the world against this woman. she has a right to prove what haened to her, anyone who says she demanded money in exchange for holding these back is a liar and i dare them to come on the show, show their face on this show or any show and take responsibility for that statement because if they do, they'll pay a price for that. >> is she responsible for either selling those conversations to radar online or handing them over, leaking them to radar online? >> no, absolutely not. in fact, those are worth probably a million dollars to

whoever leaked them and she is broke. so it just did not happen, she would not do it. in fact the evidence will show and we will eventuall be able to bring forth proof that she tried to hold back any publicity that would hurt mel gibson because a battered woman will both protecthe abuser even as she's been abused. >> who else would have access to that kind of material, t private phone conversations? >> well, many, many people had access and we have very strong suspicions as to where they were leaked from. along with the letrs and the e-mails, none of which came from our side whatsoever. but we do think we know who leaked them. what we can do about it, i don't know marty garvis is the leading first amendment lawyer in the country, and he's sitting here and i think he knows there's a lot of proction even for the vile act of leaking these materials. >> what do you want the public

to know about oksan at this point? >> i think you should know something about her, she's someone who started playing the piano when she was 3 years old. she's a concert concert pianois given a number of concerts over the past three years trying to raise money for the injured children. so this a woman who has a life of her own, which is not part of the hollywood, which is a part of the life that mel gibson has lived, not someone who's being accurately portrayed as dan pointed out in the media. she's a woman of stature and accomplishment. she's also a songwriter, a composer, which she studied along with piano. so this is a significant woman who is being as dan put it maligned. >> martin garvis, dan horowitz,

thank you for coming on. now let's get a check of the weat a milder pattern beginning

this morning. already now temperatures in the 70s -- rather the 70s in a couple of hours. clear skies. 60s throughout most of the regions. we'll hit the 70s. near 90 by mid afternoon, late afternoon and early this evening. there's a small chance of passing thundershower and then feeling like summer again tomorrow and on friday. over the weekend it should be turning cooler. maybe showers sunday and monday. >> that's your latest weather. and up next, is the birth control patch too dangerous? what "today's" investigation has uncovered right after this. [ female announcer ] there's colete.

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we're back now at 7:43, and this morning "today" investigates a popular form of berth control that some say is too dangerous. >> it's very scary, we're talking about this, it's the birth control patch and there's growing evidence it's far more risky than the pill, causing strokes and blood clots. in fact we have uncovered it's maker johnson & johnson may have known about the problems for years and yet, they're still selling it "today." >> look at this, it's the birth control pack, ortho evra. >> reporter: when it first hit the market in 2002 t birth control patch ortho evra was a big hit. "time" magazine called it one of the best inventio of the year.

doctors have written nearly 40 million prescriptions for. but as sales surged, so did claims of injury and even death. >> she just sort of collapsed in the doorway. and she was gone instantly. >> reporter: aid debrisiana duffy was a student in college and in perfect health. she had a serious boyfriend and told her mom that she wanted to be responsible so their doctor prescribed ortho evra. >> this is a johnson & johnson product, it's the most trusted brand for baby products so why would i question their berth control patch? >> reporter: but one night in her stormro, adrianna fell to the floor, the girl who had been the picture of health was dead. her family said that's when they learned the pch may be to blame. in fact more than 2,400 women claim ortho evra hurt them too

and lawsuits claimed more than two dozen have died many from blood clots, that's exactly what killed adrianna. now r family like others are sues johnson & johnson. >> how many other young women have to die from using this product before it's off the market? >> reporter: some say what makes the patch too dangerous is the high level of estrogen it delivers, 50% more estrogen than others. when you swall the pill, it's a quick hit that quickly dissolves in your system. but when you use the patch, estrogen keeps flowing io your bloodstream for an entire week. >> with the patch, it goes up and just sort of stays up and there's no relief of the body of the woman from getting estrogen. >> reporter: and research shows that can lead to deadly blood cls and strokes. nbc news has obtained private internal documents from johnson & johnson, the maker of the patch that suggests they knew

about the risks years ago. accoing to these patient reports between 2002 and 2004, ortho evra was 12 times more likely to cause strokes and 18 times more lely to cause blood clot than the pill. and there's more, in 2005, this j & j vice president says i have been involve in the safety evaluation of ortho evra since it came on the market. compelling evidence, he says the company ignored, therefore he wrote, it became impossible for me to stay in my position as vp. our "today" investigation also found this lawsuit by another vice president. he's suing johnson & johnson for unlawful termination after he says he blew the whistle on the patch's dangerously high levels of estrogen, on even before it came to market, the company, he

says, disrarded his concerns and launched the product anyway. >> the company knew about much of it if not all of it. they thought correctly that it wouldn't sell as well if you told people how dangerous it was. >> dr. wolf has peated the fda to pull the patch off the market. in the meantime, johnson & johnson continue settling lawsuits quietly. according to bloomberg, the coany has paid out an estimated $68 million to victims, a small number compared to the 1$1.6 billion they have maden sales of the patch. >> they're making a signifint profit on this product, off the backs of people like adrianna. >> reporter: in 2006, j & j did make changes to the package insert. >> j & j would say look, we put all of the risks right there on the warning label and it's up to

yo the consumer to read it. >> there's nothing in that warning that could help me understand that a patch would kill a healthy young 17-year-old woman. >> reporter: still not everyone is against the patch. we spoke with several doctors who continued to prescribe it. after all, they say, it's fda appro approved, yet the health risks are higher than the pill, but they say, they're still relatively small and worth it to protect women fromecoming pregnant. but dr. wolfe says it's not worth it, that ortho evra is not only riskier, but also has a higher dropout rate than the pill and is no better at preventing pregnancy. >> we don't ask -- we think it's quite clear that the risks outweigh the benefits. >> reporter: we wanted to speak with johnson & johnson on camera, but the company declined our request for an terview. in an e-mail the company also declined to answer any of our questions about the match, citing ongoing litigation.

instead j & j says it's regularly disclosed scientific data to the fda, the medical community and the public in a timely manner. and when used according to the fda-approved label, ortho evra is safe and effective. but this mother says the patch killed her daughter and she wants it off the market for good. >> most people that have sued j & j over this have settled with confidential settlement agreements. >> before i take money and know that other young women are going to die from this and other mothers are going to in my situation, i'm going all the way to trial. i want them accountable for allowing this to happen. >> reporter: we askedhe fda why haven't you made a decision yet, two years later, whether to pull this product off the market? spokeswoman told us it's a complited issue that takes time to review. by the way experts say you should never stop using birth

control, including the patch, after everything you saw without talking to your doctor. it's 7:50. ahead on a much lighter note, jenna bush hager goes after my record on a nascar track. ♪ i love my grandma. i love you grandma. grandma just makes me happy. ♪ to kno know, know you grandma is the bestest. the total package. grandpa's coooooooooo way cool.

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♪ i was young d i was stupid ♪ i had just turned 17 ♪ a harmonica and a box guitar ♪ ♪ in a canvas-covered wagon stuffed... ♪ [ male announcer ] while the world's been waiting on the electric car, maybe the whole time, the electric car has been waiting for this... the wattstation from ge. it's going to change the way we get to where we all want go. ♪ i didn't think much of it till i took it apart ♪ just ahead the bridesmaid dresses you picked for your wedding couple. >> also the british girl named america's perfect teen. ♪ d i feel like...

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i'm joe krebs on this wednesday, the 22 bd day of september. in the "news 4 today" a local moving storage compa tells "news 4" it wi help a d.c. woman who was evicted from her home. she was evicted northwest and all of her belongings have been put out on the street, stretching for blocks. well, this morning we know when d.c.'s school chance sell lore are schedul to meet. the meet willing take place tomorrow at noon. gray has said he will continue to pursue aggssive education reform, and that may or may not include rhee. we'll take a look at traffic and building wind farms and expanding clean energy manufacturing. but in america, gridlock has held us back. renewable electricity standard. it will spur development of clean energy and boost mafacturing in america, creating hundreds of

thousands of new jobs. so we can make our own energy future - not just buy it from china. call your senators and urge them to pass a renewable electricity standard today.

right here in this neighborhood, i grew up learning strong families and hard work means opportunity. and that starts with good schools. it's a tradition here in maryland-- and why in these tough times i've put education fir. we've made record investments in our classrooms... doubled the number of charter schools... and we've frozen college ttion for four years in a row. and it's working. experts say we now have the number one schools in the nation. when it comes to expanding opportunity in every neighborhood, i know that we must do even bter. good morning. temperatures now in the 60s. heading to near 90 today with lots of sunshine. tomorrow, more of the same. small chance of an evening shower today. jerry, how's the traffic? >> tom, unfortunately a big problem on the btway in

virginia now with an accident. outer loop of the beltway near van dorn, they're holding up all traffic for the time being the beltway delays will reach back to springfield. and a quick check through southeast. pennsylvania avenue loaded up. then, again. joe? >> thanks very much. more news, weather, and traffic in 25 minutes. enjoythis tomorrow morning at 4:30 for "news 4 today."

8:00 now on a wednesday morning, it's the 22nd day of september, 2010. so ummer hanging on for the next coup of hours. we're going to get into the 80s "toda today and maybe a little bit warmer tomorrow. outside this morning, along with meredith viera and al roker. coming up we' going to talk about this beauty pageant that's making headlines on both sides of the atlantic. >> she's from wales. some wonderow somebody from wales could be america's perfect teen. but she is. we'll talk to her. also ahead, jenna bush hager is here, she recently jumped behind the wheel in nascar with tony stewart. i understand her only goal was to shatter my record two years

ago, which would not be hard. we're going to find out how she did. and today just ahead, your pick for the bridesmaidsresses and we're going to sample the wedding cake >> tamron hall is filling in while ann is on assignment, she's got the headlines. with his party and his health care rerms under attack by republicans, president obama will mark six months since he signed the patient bill of rights before heading to new york before democratic fund-raisers. on tuesday, the white house announced that the first lady, michelle obama will campaign this fall for senate democrats facing tough election sites. meantime the white house is playing down reports that president obama's national security team is sharply split over the troop surge strategy in afghanistan. according to "the new york times," a new book by b woodward details disagreements by top diplomatic and political

advisors. eight current and former city officials spent the night in jail after being arrested for misappropriates more than $5 million in city funds, nbc's george lewis has details. george, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, it's been an angry summer. now those officials face serious felony charges. city manager robert rizzo busted at his huntington beach home had been pulling down $500,000 in salary, twice what president obama makes. his total benefits came to about $1.5 milli annually. >> the chargesccuse rizzo of being responsible for at least $4.3 million of the city's losses. >> rizzo, o of eight city officials present and former

charged with numerous accounts of misappropriating public funds. when police went after mayor oscar hernandez, they had to brea down the door of his house with a battering ram. >> this was greed and theft accomplished by deceit and secrecy. >> reporter: the district attorney making it clear he's going after anyone connected with this. >> i would charge my mother if i had evidence against my mother. >> i need the respect of everybody. >> reporter: in july, when people found out about the astronomical salaries the city officials were getting, they stormed city council meetings demanding their resignations. and when news came of the arrests on tuesday, some citizens literly jumped for joy. >> we did it! i'm happy. this is what i was waiting for from the very beginning. >> we just love the idea o all the city council going to jail in handcuffs. >> reporter: the california attorney general running for governor is suing the bell city officials trying to recover much the money.

>> when you see it, you can smell it. and this stinks to high heaven. >> reporter: today when former city manager rizzo appears in court, the district attorney will ask the judge to set his bail at $3.2 million. los angele county board of supervise sorriessorries -- the heads of two iowa egg farms are testifying today before congress. investigators have questions about cleanliness at the farms and about evidence of salmonella detected over the past two years. as manas 1,600 people were sickened by the latest outbreak. a rare appearance by mohammed ali, launching a global peace initiative urging kids to knock out hunger by growing need from around the world.

it is 8:05, now let's get another check of the weather from al. >> thank you, tamron.

a delightful wednesday morning under way. good morning. i'm tom kierein. we've got sunshine pouring down on washington. right now, the mperature is 70 degrees at national airport. upper s elsewhere to near 70 near the bay waters as well as the atlantic beaches. highs today near 90. and we have the small chance of a late afteoon, early evening thundershower. tomorrow cloudy again. still feeling like summer on friday. cooler over the weekd. might get a passing shower on sunday and monday. >> and by the way, let's take another look at tamron and her little sister. >> oh, this is wrong, i'm 40s and you're putting me next to a teenager, that's wrong. >> that's right, because she's your little sister. >> thanks al. >> anything i can do to help. >> and when we come back, that young lady was just crowned erica's perfect teen. we'll speak to her about her

controversial win right after these messages. ,000 miles. it was always... [ laughing ] tt seat's not happening without a big miles upcharge. a miles upcharge wasn't part of the deal. was i supposed to go without my wife? [ elevator bell dings ] [ grunting ] haha, that was awkward. so we upgraded to the venture card from capital one. we've had it with the games. [ me announcer ] don't pay miles upcharges. don't play games get the flight you want with the venture card at capitalone.com. what's in your wallet? with the venture card at capitalone.com. words alone aren't enough. my job is to listen to the needs and frustrations of the shrimpers and fishermen, hotel or restaurant workers who lost their jobs to the spill. i'm iris cross. bp has taken full responsibility

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we'll talk to the woman who was crowned america's perfect teen. >> reporter: america's perfect teen lives just across the ocean over there in wales. so what did we have to do to find our shining paragone of teen hood? we're talking about pageants here, so this is very serious stuff. oh, how the american girls tried bringing out all the heavy artillery. the butterfly wings, extraining outside fabrics. >> one young lady brought a live cougar on stage. >> what? >> it's very, very fun and exciting. >> reporter: a le cougar couldn't win this thing? little did they know, a british invasion was underway, and her revolutionary unbig hair didn't frighten and confuse the other

contestants. >> what is your perfect facebook status? >> i don't really have one. . >> reporter: the british accent might have been a sparking red flag, her parents whown a vacation home in florida was about to sweep this thing. >> she had an unusual black cape. >> reporter: even she seemed in disbelief at how easy it was to beat the yank at their own game. >> she came all the from the england a and now she's america's perfect teen. >> director and maste of all things fabulous who can be seen on theable show "little miss perfect" defends her every rain shown and feather. >> when you say that girl had it, she truly did. >> reporter: the british press hasevoured the victory, even dhoe the runner up as graciously

accepted that america's perfect teen is a brit. >> she met the qualifications and she was awarded the title. >> reporter: still it inevitably begs the question. >> what's going to become of this nation. >> reporter: so if you listen to that sparkly megacrown, an nisha has won a scholarship here in the u.s. so you may want to keep an eye on her. ho hopefully she won't inspire fake british accents although for some of them that might be more polite. >> anisha, congratulations. >> thank you very much. good morning, meredith. >> what's been the reaction over

you winning america's perfect teen? >> well, it's been quite mixed, i think i have had a lot of media attention, but personally, wise, i don't tend to mix my private live with my pageant fe so nobody in school really knowuntil well today really, what i've been doing, what's been going on. there's been a lot of talk by some folks who feel -- irregardless of you or your qualifications in this pageant about america's perfect teen than somebody who is not an american would be allowed to participate. >> i think the pageant is a greet student for so many girls all over the world. >> at the time that you were in the pageant, at any time did any of the other contestants raise questions about the fact that you're from wales and not from america? >> all the girls were very

welcoming, at every pageant i do, they always are, they welcome me and they didn't say anything nasty t me whatsoever. i was having t best week of my life to be honest. >> why do you think there's been in reaction by some people? do you think it's sour grapes? i know your mom does. >> i think any competition, if you don't win, you're always going to feel maybe a little bit disheartened and that can sometimes lead to such comments. but i think that after thinking about it and realizing that what happens, happens, it always leads to better thing in my opinion, while it may lead to notwinning, but there's other things around the corner. yes, there were a few comments, but now everyone's welmed me greatly. >> what sets you apart from the other girls besides that accent? >> i think it probably was my accent and i think that every girl has something special whether it's because you're outgoing or whether it's because of your personality and i

personally believe that my accent did he, or maybe it's my hair cut, but i'm sure i'm what the judges were looking for that day and i tried to bring my full personality and my fierceness to the stage. >> and what'sext for you, i know you want among other things this scholarship to study broadcasting in the states, is that something you hope to pursue? >> i'm going to finish my a level in the uk first. >> thank you, anisha. >> thank you very much. and up next, jennifer hager, nascar driver? who was it like to fly around the track at 134 miles an hour? she's going to show us right after this. oh there's tons. french presses, expresso mpers, filters. it can get really complicated. t nearly as complicated as shipping it, though. i mean shipping is a hassle. not with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service. if it fits it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat te. that ieasy. best news i've heard all day! i'm soooo amped!

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for the initial down payment, i'm six mths out from when i get to go in and buy the corolla and get the keys. [ male announcer ] share your toyota story on facebook.com/toyota. we're bk now at 8:20 with the need for speed. jenna bush hager travelled to texas for a driving lesson from nascar driver tony stewart. i have to say someone has been strutting around the studio this morning, jenna, good morning, nice to see you. >> you know, there's nothing as exhilarating or a bit scary as drivin tony stewart's race car. and though it wasn't a race, matt might be amazed by what

he's about to see, the proof is in the video, i definitely put the pedal to the metal. tony stewart is a two-time nascar champn, a legend on the racetrack, while he competes with white knuckle, heart pounding speed, up to 200 miles an ho. which i thought sounded just great. i have a need for speed. so i joined t tony stewart smoke show in dallas, texas, an annual training event meant for kids where participants learn to drive a race car and they learn from the best. the last race at the texas motor speedway was not his best. he led a nine-car pileup coming out of turn four. my first lesson, a reminder of the power of concrete. >> it's basically a yard sale, with a lot of spare parts for cheap. >> that's right, there are crashes in nascar, i forgot about that part.

>> hi, how are you? >> trackside, tony loads io car number 14, ready to show me how it's done. >> what do i have to do to stay alive in this? >> allou have to do is hold onand i'll do the rest. >> you promise? >> yes. >> and he did st that. tony hit 165 miles an hour and i felt every bit of it, taking on deep corners, my head knocking against the window. one last time around the track and there's just one word for it. oh, i can breathe. it was very fun. but now it's my turn to take the wheel. >> just a reminder, do no mess up my ride. >> i'm not going to go as fast as you, but i am going to beat matt lauer. >> oh, there's no doubt, you're going to beat matt lauer. >> tony the tiger? >> yeah. >> will you roar?

i can't believe tony's letting me drive his car. you can't easter? don't mess up that ride. i was ready to go. somehow my sweet ride was not. >> push the clutch in. >> the clutch in? >> the clutch. >> push the clutch. okay, pop it. that's good. >> i feel like a race car champion. and i'm firing on all cylinders. >> we're going to die. >> coming around turn four. attorney has another plan. >> okay, slow down. >> all too soon, the ride ends and i missed the turn from pit

road. >> good job! okay, right there. you're all good. >> i'm sorry missed the southern. not quite the magic finish i imagined, but then came the fantastic news, i clocked in at 134 miles an hour. matt lauer had only gone 123. 134! he's just matt lauer. what part was most frightening? >> the part where i'm tugging on the steering wheel to the right d you're tugging on it to the left. that could have been the most teifying part. >> i managed to terrify tony stewart, but at least i got us back in one piece. >> jenna, bush, hager! >> yeah! >> thanks to tony stewart, it

looks like i might have a bright future as a nascar driver. or maybe not, tony stewart, annual smoke show benefits the children's charities and t tony stewart foundation and this year he raised more than $200,000 for kids. matt? >> i'm not talking to you either. >> i didn't mean to beat u. i didn't mean to, i thought there was no way i could do it. >> that's just an excuse. i had my kids in the back seat en i drove. >> everybody always pulls out the old kids excuse. >> how many times did you stop for directions around that turn? >> well, obviously i missed the turn. but i will say, my mom said i could only go 55 miles an hour, so i apologize, i'm sorry, mom. >> we're back after your local news.

8:26 is your time dmou. it's heating up out there. tom will have your forecast after the news. good morning. i'm eun yang. we have a lot of traffic problems ut there this morning. let's find out at's going on with jerry in the "news 4" traffic network. an accident had been tying up two lanes. there's a lot of relief. on the beltway south of town, there fahha had ben an accident. that was cleared. delays still reaching back springfield all the way around toward the interchange of telegraph road. sunshine not helping things much either, so be very, very alert. another tough commute. we'll keep you updated. all right. jerry. thanks so much. we're gong to take a quick break. stay with us. "know the species, know the stain." lanolin-free coat, i know it's an alpaca. walks in here, looks says "hey look, it's a llama!" cleaning the stain like he would a llama stain. time he's wasting. ♪ call 1-800-steemer

good morning. temperatures now near 70. small chance of a late afternoon, early evening thundershower. feeling like summer again tomorrow and friday. eun? >> all right, tom. thank you. we'll have more local news, weather, and traffic in just 25 minutes and be sure to join us tomorrow morning for "news 4 today." we begin at 4:30. we hope

8:39d -- 8:30 now on this wednesday morning, great day to be up and out this morning. we have a great crowd here rockefeller plaza. we're going to announce the bridesmaid's dsses for melissa and jeremy's wedding. >> mark pittman is in the kitchen right now and he's making some recipes this morning where he's concentrating on dishes that make you use less meat.

there are possibly some things your doctor is not telling you which could aect your results when you go into the office. we'll look at some of those tests and tell you what you should be asking. and "newsweek" recently asked the question, why are his and hers spiking impossiblily good looking? >> the new tv show undercover, 1/2 of that crime fighting couple. i've been reading all the rev w reviews the paper, i don't know if you're looking at them, but they're fantastic. >> and a lot of buzz about the castin >> this is what the world looks like in 2010. and tv and movies traditionally have been slow to embrace what's going on. so hopefully we can inspire

people to make this a regular and normal occurrence. >> but it's about a lot more than casting, there's more to the show. >> absolutely, there's action, drama, comedy. it's like a new millennium show. >> at the end of the day, it's a love story? >> it's between two people, ex-spies who left the game to become regular people and now they're pled back into the cia. >> and it's interesting, earlier today al told me i looked like this ms. perfect teen pageant winner. but i don't know. >> big premier, congratulations. we're pulling for you. >> thanks for having me. >> undercover premis tonight

at 8:00, 7:00 central timeight here on nbc. >> look for al. let's get a check of the weather. >> let's check your it is pleasant now. good morning now. i'm tom kierein. we're warming to the 70s. we'll climb to near 90 by mid afternoon. a chance of a small afternoon or early evening thundershower. and then partly cloudy, feeling like summer again tomorrow as well as on frid.

cooler over the weekend. saturday into the low to mid-80s. sunday and monday, quite a bit of clouds around. higher in the 70s. there's also a chance for a >> and that's your latest weather. eunice kennedy shriver founded the special olympics 42 years ago. this week the family will hold a eunice knedy shriver day, in support of people with intellectual disabilities. eunice kennedy's nephew, good morning to you. how important is this to u? >> it's important to a lot of people. there's 3.5 million athletes around the world who now participate. there's 170 nations that recognize eunice shriverday, there's major league baseball, the pac-10 conference, all of them are participating, we need aches, we need voluntee, we

need people who will come and work. this is lewis lopes, these are three proud special olympians. this is a two-time gold medalist from the 2010 china olympics. in softball and walking. and feel how heavy these are. >> you can see the emotion in your face, what it means to you. >> my 14-year-old daughter volunteered last summer and spent the whole summer working. for me, it was the bes gift i have ever given her, it teaches us values, it teaches about inclusn, about solidarity, unity. we can't go forward leaving our brothers and sisters behind. >> how can someone get involved? >> go to www.ceksday.com.

that's eunice kennedy shriver day. we're going to see the bridesmaid's dresses and then we're going to sample some wedding cakes. that

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staid -- "today's" wedding modern love is brought to you by chevy. every vehicle is backed by a 100,000 mile/5-year power train limited warranty. the big day is next thursday, this morning we are revealing a choice of the bridesmaid's dresses and sampling the wedding take. melissa mcmillan and jeremy gephart are our bride and groom. eight daysway.

>> we're so exted. >> you just got back from afghanistan, is this even sinking in for you yet, jeremy? >> it's starting to, but it's all coming way too fast. >> a lot in a short period of time. we're going to reveal the bridesmaids' dresses if you're ready. this is what the bridesmaids and the flower girl will be wearin i think you recognize this dress. it's being worn by your real maid of honor, alexis longo. are you surprised to see her? >> yes, i'm so excited. i wish i could hug you. >> you can hug her. what do you think of the dresses? >> you lookbsolutely beautiful and abby, you look so nice. >> that dress can be used as a dress with sleeves or a halter. >> i'm so excited, you look great. >> you want to stick around and

taste some cake? that's what we're going to do now, we're bringing in gail simmons from top chef. >> you're the perfect one to do this because you also have a new show top che just desserts. >> i love cake. i brought you four choices "today," all very different. you want to taste some cake? they cater to the stars, they're the best and most extraordinary parties all over the country a around the world. they have madyou the most beautiful cake here. obviously these colors work perfect. >>ut the bridesmaids dresses are beautiful. >> we have four flavors of cake in here. this is a sweet potato with brown sugar. there's plenty to go around. have a taste of that. i know that you didn't -- you weren't such a fan of chocolate so we're giving you some chocolate. have a taste of that, there's

also a vanilla with coffee crunch. >> and each guest will get their own individual cake? >> this beautiful oval cake and 150 individual cakes. so each guest at your wedding will get theirwn individual cake. >> okay the next cake is maddie austin. she just opened her shop just a little while ago. this cake i find to be so feminine, so romantic. >> and she's very hot right now, isn't she? >> she's like the darling of the wedding blogosphere. she made this cake with cinnamon and hazelnut. >> this represents the state of missouri? she made this out of sugar, this is all handmade out of sugar and this incredible molding is also something you should look at because the work here is incredible. >> they really are works of art as much as they arecakes.

>> the time that goes into this is incredible. >> i don't think we're going to turn dowany advice. >> this is margaret vaughn, she's the author of cake walk, she is really an artist, she does incredible hand painting, 24 caret gold leaf on this cake. this is a chocolate cake with carmel crunch. dig in, guys, you can't be shy about this, this is your day. you just see the work on this. it's beautiful, it's really a seasonal cake. it just says autumn. how about that? >> and our last cake. >> this is our last cake, this is anna parsons, she's in chesshire, connecticut. these flowers are all made from hand gum paste. >> wt is gum past

>> it's a product that really helps in making handmade flowers. she has four diffent. there's a vanilla cake with strawberry, one with raspberry. and one with apricot. and if you see, there's a little emblem, a little air force emblem which is a shadow to you, jeremy. lots to choose from, all very different, sort of from the classic all the way to the very modern. they are all really works of art. they're amazing pieces made just for you guys. >> and most importantly, they all taste delicis. >> i'm glad you guys don't have to choose, bause i don't know how i would. >> i don't know either. >> i have this urge to keep my fingers crossed. thank you so much. >> thank you so much. >> get ready, because it's really happening. after this, that's it, right? >> and then you find out your honeymoon, but that's on the day of. all right, guys, perfect.

all right, thank you all, and to vote for your favorite cake, head to our wsite todayshow.com, or our facebook page, facebook.com/todayshow. meanwhile, up next, advice on how to eat less meat and enjoy it. right here ithis neighborhood, i grew up learning strong families and hard work means opportunity. and that starts with good schools. it's a tradition here in maryland-- and why in these tough times i've put education fir. we've made record investments in our classrooms... doubled the number of charter schools... and we've frozen college tuition for four years in a row. and it's working. experts say we now have the number one schools in the nation. when it comes to expanding opportunity

in every neighborhood, i know that we must do even better.

with three freshly baked bagel twists for only $3, like our delicious new tomato basil or sweet chocolatehip, so grab three for 3 today. [ ding! ] this morning on how to cook everything today, eating your way to better health. americans consume more meat than any other food grou and if you're trying to cut back while still enjoying the flavor, mark bitman has some great ideas as always. his book,nfd "the food matters

cookbook." two pronged, you're going to do something for the environment and also good for yourbody. >> that's the idea, matt. it's that we don't want to eat meat, we like it, we love it, but we do eat too much. but you can use meat as a flavoring and really get the pleasure at the same time. >> if you cut out meat comptely, people get bored, so you're not saying that, you're just saying reduce the amount of meat in recipes and this first one is a good example. instead of beef stu with mushrooms, it's mushroom stew with beef chunks. >> we've got -- you put them in warm water andhey soften up and then you can chop them. we have got leaks, carrots and parsnips.

you can use celery, we need a little more garlic. and after these are sauteed a bit. which they will not have by the time i move through the next step, but anyway, after we cook them a little bit, we use that porcini liquid, which has great flavor, great depth. it leaves sometimes little sands at the bottom. some red wine. beef stock. this will cook for an hour, or an hour and a half. >> this is only a half a pound of ef. obviously not not a ton. just let me show you, we're going to use some thyme and bay leaf in here too. when it comes to time to eat it, what you have essentially is a beef stew, just heavy on the vegetables.

>> we'll have a sample in a second. let's take a look at another recipe. this is brown rice and beef burgers. >> i know you're skeptical about this. >> i don't like recipes that make it seem like you're trying to cut meat out of youdiet. so does it taste like a burger? >> we have cooked brown rice and, again, only half a pound of beef here. chopped red onion or shallette. it's really salty, it's really, really rich. it's got a big distinctive flavor. and we have got some c oourksum some oregano and flavor. >> so you cook these in the skillet? >> in the skillet or in the oven, whatever you prefer. >>t looks like you're eating a patty of rice.

>> that's just what it looks like. >> the lauer nower. >> it takes delicious. if think if you're a guy who craves a burger, it may not be that satisfying. >> but the thing is it's delicious. so if your goal -- you're even having another bite. if your goal is to eat a burger that's a half a pound of meat, go right ahead. but if your goal is to eat a burg they're's good for you, here you go. >> what are these? >> these are fajitas, again just hut down on the meat and more and more vegetables. what's beautiful here, is that pineapple with tequila and lime. tremendous flavor. >> the book is "the food matters

cookbook." building wind farms and expanding clean energy manufacturing.

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>> he's back for his 12th season and tonight's season premier, a foster child disappears and then reappears and it'up to sbu's deteives to figure out whether it's foul play. >> you keep a file of child molesters? >> i can't go through this again. i can't. >> again? >> our other daughter was abducted ten years ago. >> was that ever resolved? >> no. >> she's still out there, she's still out there. >> chris maloney plays detective elliott. good morning to you. >> i have chills running up and down my spine. joan cusack is awesome. >> 12 years? >> 12 in the blink of an eye years. >> went by fast? >> until you sit home and maybe

catch a marathon and you catch yourself from the first season and you go, was a young man. who's that skinny good looking one there? in my shoes. >> this went off with a bang, great guest stars and apparently a potential love interest for mariska's character. >> i have no interest in talking. >> come on. >> ian c oourusack from lost. he came on for a two parter this season. that's really interesting. i can't really go into too much detail, but, ye things get a little steamy, a little dangerous, a little heart breaking and all that stuff. >> how doou go 12 years of playing the same character, when you sit down there and look at the next season's scripts, how do you change them up to keep them interesting? i actually had a discussion with our head writer and i think

we all understood, you know, elliott went throu a little bit of a rageaholic phase and it's his expression of trying to deal with these crimes that he meets up with every day. and i think you bang your head against the wall and the wall doesn't fall down, you find a new way of dealing with these traumas, so we're trying to find a new way forlliott to move through thesedays, in a more elegant and mature -- >> he's evolved. >> chris, you're the best. >> you're the best. >> no, you're the best. >> no, no, you. >> 8:00, 9:00 central time. they're both the best. 8:56 is your time now. 56 degrees. the temperature is going to

rise. it's going to feel like summer good. morning. i'm eun yang. you may have to give yourself extra time if you have to get on the road, especially in northern virginia. let's get right to jerry edwards' traffic alert. another bsy day on the road. >> we'll start up on 270 southbound where there had been a couple ofproblems earlier this morning. they're still stling down. the big problems all have been focused in northern virginia. we'll hecht over to the vdot cameras. the flood gatesave opened. the accident we showed you earlier has cleared, so everybody that was held back for that now has moved upstream, so we're now crawling to the 14th street bridge. there's also been a beltway loop crash. that has been cleared, but it will be long morning for folks traveling. eun? >> jerry, thank you. stay with us. we'll be right back with your forecast.

good morning. temperares climbing into the 70s. should hit90 by the afternoon. still summery thursday and friday. eun? >> tom, thank you. we're going to have more news, weather, and traffic for you in just 25 minutes. see yo

we're back with more of "today" on a wednesday morning, the 22nd of september, 2010. nice crowd still gathered outside our plaza, just enjoying the last day of summer. not even cold out. >> comes at 11:09 tonight. >> we're in the 80s here in new york. hopefully it's nice where you're waking up as ll. inside the studio, just behind that glass window, i'm matt lauer, along wit al roker and msnbc's tamron hall coming up in this half hour, the latest on mel gibson's custody battle. e-mails betweethe es actor and his estranged girlfriend act ok where she appears to forgive him. now her attorneys say she wasn't the one who leaked the recordings. now we're going to hear from his attorneys in an exclusive interview. alsoahead, help with your money emergencieses this morning

our pan has advice on the lowdown on credit counselors and whether they actually hurt your credit. that's on "today's" money 911. > many medical tests are routine at certain ages, like mammograms and colonoscopies. there are things you can do to ve you more accurate information when the results are in. ann is on assignment "today," so you're also handling the news chores as well. a new book by bob wood ward is outlining -- an early copy of obama's wars, top advisors argue over the war and doubt if the president's strategy will work. the white house is downplaying this saying policy divisions were well known at the time. on this first day of fall, summers leaving the white house.

the white house says economic advisor lawrence summers is stepping down at the end of the year to return to rvard, the administration has come under fire for the slow pace of the economic recovery. and eight current and former city officials in bell, california, ar facing charges of bilking taxpayers out of millions of dollars, a prosecutor called the case corrupon on steroids. today the u.n. is announcing a global health care campaign aimed at saving the lives of 16 million mothers and children worldwide over the nt fife years. worldwide every year, an estimated 8 million children die before their fifth birthday. today congress is holding a hearing on the recent salmonella outbreak linked to two farms in iowa. the heads of those two farms are expected to apologize for the outbreak. this morning, paris hilton is thrown out of japan. she was denied entry two days after she pleaded guilty to a drug charge in las vegas.

japan has strict immigration laws that bar those convicted of drug offenses. before leaving, paris tweeted that she's disappointed to be missing her fans. and an uninvited guest -- one of his antlers got stuck. police deced to keep their distance. that's smart and let the moose decide for itself when it was time to leave. now you are up to date. it is 3 past the hour. >> they're huge. >> they are massive, yes. >> you can seehe little squirrel next to him. >> rocky, was that his name? yes. >> oh, don't know my own strength. >> tamron, thank y very much. >> this time for sure. >> where's boris? do the weather

goodorning. here we've got the bright sunshine. here's a live view from the sky watcher camera looking over the northwest neighborhood of nebraska avenue. right there inhe foreground, the japanese embassy off in the distance. you can see montgomery county and a little bit of color showing up in our trees. we're continuing to climb. we'll hit the mid-s, low 90s late afternoon. should be cloudy and summary.

>> and that's your latest weather. now to the bitter custody fight between mel gibson and his estranged girlfriend. new e-mails surfaced this week in which the actor apologized for h behavior in those ranting phone cversations with ox san'a. we'll hear from her attorneys in an exclusive interview in just a moment. but first,ore from nbc's kristen welker. >> the battle between mel gibson and oksana exploded this summer with the relief of those now infamous audiotapes. >> i will make your [ bleep ] miserable, already? >> gibson seems to be berating o sana. >> what kind of a woman is that, hitting a woman when she's holding a child in her hands? breaking her twooet twice in the face. what kind of a man is that? >> reporter: her lawyers are telling her side of the story exclusively releasing these

images of oksana today. holding and caring for six children. they have also released a photo showing the happy couple on cation in 2008. the >> you have evidence on both sides, each side pointing to the other, each side accusing the other of making criminal acts against one another. >> reporter: gibson's camp has accused oksana of extortion. just last week, he had this run with paparazzi? >> you're the guy from the other place? >> uh-huh. >> what's the matter, youot nothing better to do. >> i'm just wondering if you really hit oksana? do you ever think you'll make another movi in this jodieoster

in the october issue of more magazine, when you love a friend, you don't abandon them when they are struggling. i hope i can helpim get through this dark moment. >> reporter: so far there's been no charges filed. >> the da's office will file charges against onor the other of them, dismiss the case or seek further investigation to prove their case. >> reporter: an ongoing fight with a young child caught inhe middle. . >> earlier meredith spoke exclusive with martin and daniel who are representing oksana. >> she was beaten, she was terrorized and yet all the med seems to focus on whether she extorted mel gibson, when in fact, it's just the opposite. this has never been about money, there's no chance in my view of anything even close to extortion, what they claim is

extortion, truthfully are letters that profess her love and caring for him and this is what happens to domestic violence victims. they're vilified and we're trying to set the record straight. you have the videos and the pictures that show who she really is. >> did she ever a for money in exchange for releasing phographs or vids? >> she's a victim who's been pigeon holded into a false light so that the truth of h allegations and her situation are ignored. >> if she is a violence victim, as you say, why haven't you filed a case against mel gibson at this point? what's taking so long? >> i think at this point, the district attorney's office is really in the driver'seat in terms of these charges. th're very serious charges and to just file a lawsuit and fight about money is not the right

thg right now. he has to be brought to justice for what he did. and mr. cooley, the district attorney of los angeles is in arge of that and we defer to hi at this point. >> mel gibson's camp claimed in the beginning that oksana secretly made those tapes to extort him. she admits that she made the phone calls and she secretly recorded them. she admits she took the photos of her teeth, the broken veneers. why would she do that? >> the word admit is the wrong word. anybody who's beaten or reatened has the right to document it and show the world that this is what happened. otherwise it going to be mel gibson, one of the most popular love entsuperstars in the world against a loan woman. anyone who says that she demanded money in exchange for holding these back is aiar and

i dare them to come on this show or any show and take responsibility for that statement because if they do, they'll pay a price for that. it's a lie. >> is she responsible r either selling these conversations to radar online or handing them over, leaking them to radar online? >> absolutely not. in fact those are word probably a million dollars to whoever leaked them and she is broke. so it just did not happen, she would not do it and in fact the evidence will show and we will evtually be able to bring forth proof at she tri to hold back any publicity that would hurt mel gibson because a battered woman will both protect the accuser, even as she'seing abused. >> but who else would have access to that kind of material, the private phone convsations? >> well, many, many people had access, we have very strong suspicions as to where they were leaked from. along with the letters and the

e-mails, none of which came from our side whatsoever. but we do think we know who leaked them, what we can do about it, i don't know. >> let me bring you in here, what do you want the public to know about oksana at this point. >> i think you should know something about he she started playing the piano when she was 3 years old. she's the concert pianist, she studied at the royal academy of music in london. she's given a number of concerts in the past few years trying to ise moneyor the injured children in college nia. this is a woman who has a life of her own, which i not part of hollywood, not a part of the life in which mel gibson has lived. this is not someone who's being accuratelyortrayed in the media. she's a woman of stature and accomplishment. >> coming up next, from saving

on medical bills to seeking advice from a credit counselor, our experts are back for "today's" 911. and we found out the winning bridesmaid dress, and we'll be showing the couple how to add that personal touch to their big day. bufirst these messages. he seems different. ♪ are you ready? he's not talking about work. ♪ i don't want to work he's not tucking in his shirt. ♪ everybody, now! he's not checking messages every 9 second and now this? ♪ i don't want to play ♪ i just want to bang on the drum all day ♪ [ ship horn blows ] so, you can eat them right here... or eat green giant beans at home... ...frozen within 8 hours to lock in nutrients. up to you.

[ green giant ] ho ho ho ♪ green giant. [ green giant ] ho ho ho dannon light & fit gives hope. we are sisters, daughters, wives, mothers. and together, we can help fight breast cancer. go online, enter the code from your light & fit lid, and we'll make a 10 cent donation. give hope with every cup of light &it. if you're using other moisturizing body washes, you might as well be. you see, their moisturizer sits on top of skin, almost as if you're wearing it. only dove deep moisture has nutriummoisture a breakthrough formula with natural moisturizers that can nourish deep dow it's the most effective natural nourishment ever. dove deep moisture th nutriummoisture. superior natural nourishment for your skin. long summer days, and not enough sleep. what i wouldn't do for a do-over. [ female announcer ] neutrogena® clinical skincare, exclusive ion2 complex combined wi activating cream

helps restore collagen depleted skin. neutrogena clinical skinca is clinically tested to undo the look of a year's worth of skin aging in just 4 weeks. do-overso exist. [ female announcer ] clinical skincare. neutrogena. #1 dermatologist recommended brand. ancr: on september 2nd we took over a restaurant just for a day. then we made lunch for the neighbors. thousands of turkey burgers on us. to show people there's a burger

that's as lean as it is delicious. it's really good. he loves the turkey burgers. if i can give her something that's good for her and lean, i'd tally make this for her. ancr: make t switch. look for jennie-o at a store near you. "today's" money 911 where we answer some of your most pressing financial questions. the answer of money 911, david bach is the author of finish rich and we're going to start off with an email. this one cent in from stacy in charleston, south carolina. my husband is $10,000 in credit card debt and 13,000 in student

ans. we are ready for a baby, but don't want to overload yourselves financially. the ct for self-pay renatal care and delivery in our area ranges from 8,000 to 14,000. how should we go about paying for the medical care? >> my parents said if they had to wait until they could afford it, they never would have had me and my brother. i want you to go to the hospital and i want you to go in there and negotiate with them in advance of getting pregnant. the insurance will pay not that $14,000 price tag but somewhere between 6,000 and $8,000 and that's where you want to be able to pay as well. go in there, ask for a payment plan and start paying up front. and the problem she's having is they actually have insurance. but let the hospital know you are a self-pay candidate and

these days theyre very willing to work with you. >> sometimes pregnancies don't always go right, so i'm really concerned that she's not egnant yet, so this is the time she can go and google her state insurance broker and silt with them and see what it would cost to get insurance coverage just in case something goes wrong. >> good advice. >> let's go to skype, we have got kirste from larry my, wyoming. are you in laramie or are you in houston, texas snx. >> we're in laramie. >> what is your question? >> both of us started this relationship with mysterious debt, credit cards, student loans, car payments and it seems like no matter what we can do we just can't get ahead. i think it's time we go see a nonprofit credit counselor. >> but my concern is we both have good credit scores and i

have heard that that can affect your credit scores. >> i love that they're tag teaming. >> and i love tt they're working on this issue together. first of all going to a norofit credit counseling group will not affect your score, it's all depending on your score. you can go to nfcc.org. and you can go to aicctoday.org. these will refer you to a consumer nonprofit counseling group. they're going to meet with you for one hour. in that hour, they're going to go through with you a couple of things, first of all, why are you here? how did you get in so much debt, how much money is coming in and how much money is going out. that first hour is a counseling session and they don't charge for it. they may look at your situation and say you know what? there's actually areas in your budget that you can cut back on and you can pay this set off

without having to do anything that would potentially affect your credit score. what can affect your credit score is deb management plans, they may say you're a great candidate for a debt management plan. if you sign up for a debt management plan, it doe't guarantee that it's going to affect your credit score, i think it's a great idea for you to go to one. >> many people go into these dmps and it actually makes them pay their bills on time where they weren't paying their bills on time so they come out on the other end with a better credit score. >> and less debt. >> we're going to go to the phones, savannah, from houston, texas. savann savannah, what's your question? >> caller: i have two questions really, i'm a recent college grad and i'll soon be facing payment of my student loans. what is the best option on paying my student loans back. i was told you can defer them, is that true? >> savannah, do you have a job

now? do you have income? >> yes, ma'am, i do. >> so even though it's not your dream job, here's the thing, you can negotiate down what you're going to pay every month. you can follow up with an income deferment, not deferment, but income basedrepayment. here's the reason i don't want you to do that just yet because you have income. because if you go with another plan, it changes your loan and you won't be able to file for deferment or forbearance later on when you don't have a job. so what i would love for you to do is talk to your student loan administrato see if this is a federal loan, see if you can negotiate down every month. but don't apply for a deferment or a forbearance,hat you can do because then you don't have the chance to basically change your loans down the line when you don't have income. >> get some more information, okay? >> okay. >> great, all right, thanks a lot. >> now let's go to vickie fro

he hensdale, illinois on skype. >> jean chatzky responded to a question last month about applying for a college loan. i have eight children, the four older ones are through with their undergrad and on to graduate school. the loans were available to them without co-signers, but that's not the case anymore other than for government subsidized and unsubsidized loans. i have two kids in college this ye year. can you tell us any lenders that do not require a co-signer? >> generally it's the federal loans that don't require a co-signer. after your students start paying them back, after about 12 months of repayment, you can get of >> that will probably make you love the kids even more. >> jean chatzky, david bach,

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only from the makers of tylenol. i'd get this tightness in my chest. so i went back to my doctor again. we chose symbicort to help control my asthma symptoms. [ man ] symbicort improves my lung function... starting within 15 minutes. [ woman ] symbicort will not replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. it is a combination of two medicines and should not be taken moe often than prescribed. [ man ] symcort contains formoterol. medicines like formoterol increase the risk of death from asthma problems, and children and adolescents may have an increased risk of being hospitalized for asthma problems. [ woman symbicort is not for people whose asthma is well controlled with a long-term asthma control medicine like inhaled corticosteroids. once your asthma is well controlled, your docr will decide if you can stop symbicort without loss of control, and prescribe a long-term asthma control medicine. be sure to see yr doctor if your asthma does not improve or gets wors symbicort a good choice to help control my asthma all day and night. [ inhales ] [ exhales ] ask your doctor if symbicort is a good choice for you.

[ male announcer ] if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. what if something bad happens? so what happens if someone gets my credit or debit cd and buys a ton of stuff? that would be... really, really bad. [ male announcer ] with bank of america's zero liability guarantee, you're not responsible for any fraulent charges on your card. guaranteed. bank of america says they'll credit any fraulent charges back to my account as soon as the next day. the next day! that makes me feel better about using these cards. they've got my back. they've got my back. [ male announcer ] the oppounity to worry less about fraud with the zero liability guarantee from bank of america. ming up, how to get the most out of your nt medical test. the secrets your doctor may not be sharing with you. and in "day's" kitchen, pork chops and applesauce, but we're giving it a snappy new flavor. da-da, da, da, da-da ♪ ♪ da-da, da, da, da ♪ da, da, da-da-da, da, da-da-da, dada-da ♪

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good morning i'm eun yang on this september 22, 2010. in the news this morning i want to go straight to some breaking news out of lorton, virgia. that's where firefighters are on the scene of a town home fire. they believe one adult and two children may be trapped inside. these are live pictur from chopper 4 right now. the two-alarm fire is on hagel circle. they're working to find out if the adult and two children are indeed inside tis home. stay tuned to "news 4" for the very latest on this news. again, firefighters are on the scene of a firen lorton on hagel. an adult and two children are believed to be trapped. we're going to take a quick break now. le

good morning. sunny in the 70s now. later today we ought to hit near 90 by mid afternoon. a small chance of a passing shower late afternoon. tomorrow and friday still feeling like suer and cooler for the weekend. now, jerry, how's the traffic? >> we're dealing with some delays, but it is looking better. 95 nohbound, no cidents. one more stop, we'll head on over and check the outer loop of the beltway. still loaded up to the american legion bridge. eun? >> we'll bring you an update on the

wou you rather have to start every sentence for the rest of your life with erkel ears cat phrase, did i do that? or sharon stone for a year, did i do that? >> a very hard working and very funny tress, ms. tina fey, she's brought her brand of humor from 30 rock over here to our studio. she's got her alarm set right there. and coming up in this half hour, how to make the most of your next trip to the doctor. >> there are some standard tests that many of us get on a regular basis, whether it's a mammogram or a simple blood pressure reading and there are things you can do before the test and when scheduling tm to make sure you get accurate results. we're going to tell you what those are. >> like fasting before you have a blood test. >> which i didn't know until you told me. and wre going to step into the

kitchen and get a lesson on giving your classic pork chops and applesauce a mexican flare. i looked overhis recipe and it looks spectacular. in just over a week, our wedding couple will tie the knot in front of millions of viewers. if you're planning on a big wedding, we have brought in wedding experts who have some simple gift ideas to have a very personal touch for the big day. very nice, but first al, you've got another check of the

a mi late secht morning under way. good morning. we've got sunshine. right now temperatures warming into the 70s. the sky watch cameras looking to the northwest in northwest washington. right now it's low to mid-70s throughout most of the region and it should clear to mid-90 by the afternoon. there's a small chance of a thunderstorm by late afternoon, early evening. cooler weather for the weekend. might get a show sunday or monday. >> and that's your latest weather. coming up, getting the most out of your routine medical screenings right afterhis. when i had my heart attack, i coun't believe it. it was a real shock. i remember being at the hospital thinking, "i should have done more to take care of myself." you should've. that's why i'm exercising more now. eating healthier. and i also trust my heart to lipitor. [ male announcer ] when diet and exercise are not enough,

adding lipitor may help. lipitor is a cholesterol-lowering medication that is fda approved to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke in patients who have heart disease or risk factors for heart disease. lipitor is backed by over 18 years of reseah. pitor is not for everyone, including ople with liver problems and women who are nursing, pregnant, or may become pregnant. you need simple blood tests to check for liver problems. tell your doctor if you ar taking other medications, or if you have any muscle pain or weakness. this may be a sign of a rare but serious side effect. dean will never forget what he went through. don't take your health for granted. [ male announcer ] have a heart to heart with your doctor about your risk. and about lipitor. from our winter luxury edition. with essential oils infusing luxurious ribbons, new air wick candles wrap the whole room with ribbon after ribbon of dulgent scent...

like apple and sheer cinnamon. winter luxury by air wick. also available in scented oils. to finish what you started today. for the aches and sleeplessness in between, there's new motrin pm. no other medicine, not even advil pm, is more effective for pain and sleeplessness. new motrin pm. every day, you get so hooked on the fsh feeling, you'll want to pass it on to a friend. ♪ just go to getfreshwithafriend.com. tell a friend about fresh and you'll both get a free tub... that now comes with a cottonelle easy reach hanger -- so it's always right where you need i so go on, get fresh with a friend! so, you want me to be super amazing right from the aucet,

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go online, enter the code from your light & fit lid, and we'll make a 10 cent donation. give hope with every cup of light & fit. this morning on "today's" health getting the most out of health screening. if you're preparing for a colonoscopy or a mammogram, there are little tricks that doctors sometimes don't tell you about. lawrence gelman is here for the inside scoop. high are these such a secret? >> they're not a secret and it's not that doctors don't want you to know this information, but we know how busy their offices are, we're lucky if we get ten minutes with them and there's just not time to go over all these little details. >> and you talked to doctors and they were very forthcoming with these tips? >> they're tips to help you get

more accurate and more comfortable test results. >> blood pressure, you cannot have symptoms but still have a problem. >> one thing that everybody needs to do is make sure u're relaxed, you want to chill out for three to five minutes before hand. if you're stressed out, it can raise your blood pressure as much as 20 minutes. and as well know, we're rushing to t doctor during our lunch breaks, so make sure you can sit, take some deep breaths and look through a magane and calm down. and also a good idea not to go for coffee right before hand because caffeine can temporarily elevate your blood pressure. >> the next test, mammograms, i'm going to have my first mammogram and no one mentioned this tip to me. >> and the first one is you want to make sure you book your appointment at a facility that specializes in mammography. and other thing to keep many mind, go all natural, kip your

deodor raned dodorant and your da and if you're premenopausal, it's a good idea to boo your mammogram the week after your period. >> let talk about skin cancer, one in five americans will develop skin cancer and there's something you can do to get accurate results. >> this is a surprising test, a lot of people don't think to do this. yowant to remove your nail polish before you go to the dermatologist. there's one kind of melanomas and it commonly occurs under your finger and toenails. so if you're sporting opaque polish, your doctor is not going to spot something that can sig fight a problem. >> and cholesterol, you say there are things we should do stays before, not just when you're in the office.

>> a lot of us know about fasting the night befor a cholesterol test, or your doctor should tell us to fast. but the foods that you're eating, to the three or four days before hand can also affect your reading. avoid high fat, high starchy meals which can raise your t triglycerid triglycerides. >> and coffee can affect. >> lots of things can affect. also exercising, you want to try when you exercise, that can be a factor too. >> all right, so a fewhings there. and also finally colonoscopy, we know the benefits, but what should we d to make sure we get our test results accurate? >> book your colonoscopy first thing in the morning. you can get more accurate cancer detection in the morning and one reason why i that doctors are less fatigued first thing in the morning so they're more likely to spot abnormalities. and another thing is that your colon is likely to be clearer

first thing in the morning because of the bowel prep work and you have had overnight for it to set. >> are there quick things we should ask your doctor? >>efore your health test, you always want to make sure why you're getting it, is there anything i should or shouldn't do before then, are there any risks? especially with ct scans, and lastly always ask when you can expect to get results. especially with cancer screenings, it can be very nerve-racking while you're waiting and knowinghe help alleviate a lot of that stress. up next, personalizing your wedding with a celebrity plner. can start with healthy hands. the last thing they need to touch is a germy pump. that's why we created the lysol no-touch hand soap system. it senses hands automatically and gives the perfect amount of soap to kill 99.9% of bacteria.

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"today's" wedding modern love isrought to you by chevy. evy model is backed by a 100,000 mile, 5-yearimited power train warranty. >> personalizing your wedding, but with so many folks involved in your wedding, sometimes the bride and groom's personalities get lost in the mix. some ideas on how you and our wedding couple jeremy and melissa can add a personal touch to the celebration. go to see everybody. >> good morning. >> guys a week to go, how are you holding up? >> we're so excited. we can't wait to see how everything turns out. >> jeremy is just like vibrating. >> okay, you're going to show us "today" thr today three items that can really help personalize the wedding. >> it's important to think about the comfort of the guests because this is your first joint statement as spouses.

so you want to make em as comfortable as possible. >> it's fun to provide the ladies with one of these wraps. you can put embroidly on the bottom. so it's about $12 apiece. >> that's all? >> what about the menu? >> i love the idea of personalizing the menus by putting your name on the top. it makes you feel welcome. >> this replaces the postcard and this does allow you to balancthe images a the table. we have smoked salmon and then moved on to some truffled scrambled eggs. moving on to sliced mango and

wedding cape. >>his would be a good keep shake, maybe make a shadow box out of it or something like that. and this is a great ritual. >> instead of having a sign i book, each person getting to give a wish to the bride and groom. if you hit a bump along the way, you can always go back and read the wishes of your family, friends and loved one. >> i love ritual, because ritual pulls us together and gets us all on the same page at the same time. >> as they get ready, what advice would you give em? >> we have made all the arrangements for them, they need to sit back and enjoy the ride. and make sure everyone has a wonderful time. >> and don't forget to eat. >> now to vote on your favorite gift for melissa and jeremy's wedding, go to todayshow.com, you can also go to facebo

facebook.com/todayshow. or you can text your vote to 622639, text five for the embroidered awl. six for personalized menus for the reception, and 7 for the wish box. next we have a new take on pork chops and applesauce. [ music thrghout ] [ male announcer ] looking for a complete picture of your money?

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this morning on "today's" kitchen, pork chops and applesauce. hot chef ivey stark here in new york city brings a mexan flare to this classic combination. why do we love pork chops and apples together? >> i think it's a natural combination. i think that one of the things pigs like to eat is apples. so i think -- >> so their demise is they like the apples.

>> so ales naturally complement the pork flavor. >> so this starts with a marinade? >> yes, it does, thiis a simple rub. i have some c oourksumin and gr coreander and i would marinade that for 15 minutes in the refrigerator, you can do it an hour, tw hours, if you wanted to do it more ahead of time. and you can take a little bit of the paste and i'm going to rub it right on the rk. >> get it on e both sides? >> get it on both sides and then get that started on the grill. i'm going to flip it. now i just started at a -- >> that's a pretty thick pork chop, so how long would you grill that on eac side? >> i would say eight to ten minutes on each side, for medium and medium well.

>> people think you have to cook it so dry. >> it's a lot more jcy that way. >> i have some blanched tomatillos here, you would take off the muhusk, wash them and tn blanch them in boiling water. so i have in the food processor some cilantro and i'm going to add the blanched tomatillos to that. i have a little bit of cumin. you can use any sort of chili pepper that you like or none at all if you don't le spice. >> are those cli's particularly spicy? >> they're spicy and they're smoked jalapenos so they have a smoky flavor. >> what are you adding there? >> there is fresh lime juice. i'm going to add a little bit of honey. this will add a little bit of

complexity in the sweet against the spicy. >> and you have your chopped apples? >> these are granny smith apples. this is aittle apple juice. >> does it tter which apples? >> use whatever apples you like, the granny smith are kind of tart. i'm going to blend this a little bit to get it combined. >> i'm just going to add tha simple. and look how simple this sauce is to make? >> it's beautiful. >> and it's pretty too. >> so you're done with that and what is the final step here? >> the fin step is to eat. everybody's favorite part. so i have the pork chops. i'm going to just put that on a plate with some of the sauce. >> you jt kind of pour the sauce over it and let it soak into the meat? >> absolutely. >> i'll try this and i know you

have a few other dishes to complement. >> oh, love that. >> and cornbread, some chili cornbread goes with that. >> the pork op. >> i have to put some muscle in this. this is delicious oking, awesome. >> very nice. >> it is very nice. would you like to try one? >> oh, my gosh, that's absolutely delicious. >> the salsa is amazing. ivey, this is absolutely amazing. i can't stop eating. thank you, ivey. >> coming up, with hoda and kathy lee, getting your picky kids to eat healthy foods by sneaking it into their meals. >> like a big old pork chop. but first, we have got your local news and wther. don't go away.

right here in this neiborhood, i grew up learning strong families and hard work means opportunity. and that starts with good schools. it's a tradition here in maryland-- and why in these tough times i've put education first. we've made record in our class. doubled the number of charter schools... and we've frozen college tuition for four years in a row. and it's working. experts say we now have in the nion. when it comes to expanding oppornity in every neighborhood, i kn that must do even better. breaking news for youow in fairfax county. this is now a deadly fire. we have learned that one adult and two children have passed away because of the fire at this home.

this is a live look from chopper 4. again, one adult, two children have died as a result of this fire. the two-ala fire is on hagel circle in lorton. stay with "news 4" for the latest on this adly fire. now let's check in with tom. >> it should be heating up. feels like summertime. right now climbing into the 70s. should hit near 90 by mid afternoon. then by late afternoon, some clouds building. we may get a passing shower late afternoon or early evening. otherwise just a few clouds coming through. and then tomorrow, a summer-like day with highs near 90 and upper 80s and low 90s wh wllots of sunshine. end of the weekend, first part of next week looking a bit unsettled. jerry, how's traffic? >> this morning's rus hour will not let go. 66 inside the beltway unusually

heavy. toward the roosevelt bridge, couldn't find anything blocking there in th two-lane stretch. just a lot of volume. the outer loop of the beltway headed toward the american legion bridge. >> can't believe it. >> thank you. the latest on the town home fire. now back t

from nbc news, this is "today" with kathie lee gifford and hoda kotb live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. you have officially made it to the 22nd day of september also known as wine day around here, but sad day for some of us. official last day of summer. >> today's the day. >> around 11:00 or something i think thisevening, east coast time. >> the beauty of this week in new york city at least, it's going to be in the 80s. >> younow where we're spendsing the day toda we're going to elementary school. >> we're going back to fourth grade. >> to prove weren't smarter than a fourth grader. >> i'm going to be embarrassed. there are things i know i don't know. i probably didn't learn them the first time. >> i told my daughter the day she was born, don't expect me to help you with math.

i can't help you with math. >> what are we doing? >> we're doing katie lee and hoda makes fools of themselves. you had a busy night. >> hold on. i had a prensent for you. i couldn't find a bag. anyway. >> hoda, i love you. >> that's all whad. >> ho, ho, ho. merry christmas. open it. >> oh, my gosh! do we have a drum roll in the booth? forget it. look what i've got here, baby. t off the presses, hoda's new book. there it is. oh, my gosh. hoda, it's beautiful. how i survived war zones, bad hair, cancer and kathie lee. in that order. hoda, i love it. you wore this dress to match your -- >> i did not. >> when you go to the book signgs wear that dress. >> the page you need to go to if you're interested in buying it,

there's an entire kathie lee section in here. >> just one? >> we have multiple chapters. >> i'm on the cover? >> you start at chapt ster 18, page 212. the beginning is just before you, which wasn't much raem. we have some pictures. i hope you like the ones i choose. >> when's it come officially? >> october 12th. >> we're so proud of you, sweetie. >> thank you. >> since you wrote it at my house in florida -- >> i did. >> i'll put it in the bag. >> the santa bag. >> i expect some commission. >> yes. >> so you were busygain last night. that's one thing living in connecticut, you can say no to things because it's heart to come back and forth. >> remember, we had the women doing good on our show. i just emceed their event, and it was beautiful. they were allressedo the nines. lucy danzinger was there.

it was a great event. the people are terrific. we melt people yesterday. >> they were all doing good things for other people. it wasn't about their own courage and stuff, it was their inspiration to make a difference in the world. >> it was fun for those guys who give to everybody, and on one day it's their day. zoont o >> not one expected to be rewaed for it, because the doing of the work was the reward in itself. >> you're right. >> that's exact right. >> i say "glee" last night. >> i missed it. >> i saw "glee." it's outrageous and over the top and so much fun you can't stand it. now there's a new bad person. >> not sharcharice, is it? >> . a formidable woman who plays the beast who is the nemesis of sue sylvester and mr. chu.

it's just fun. you know you're with good friends when you feel this is okay to d we had a dinner party for friends, our friends emily and craig fromichigan and two of their friends and their son chip. they came over for dinner, and they didn't leaive? 8:00 came, and it was time for "glee." >> they stayed? >> they're suchreat friends, i said guess what? you still have food on your face from dinner and you're watching "glee." >> you didn't watch "dancing with thestars"? >> i'm afraid to watch "dancing with the stars" because i'll get hooked. >> for those of you who watched david hasselhoff got the boot. he danced the cha-cha. he didn't seem surprised. >> na guy was in the final, too? he wasn't in the lowest. okay. he was from "that's so raven." >> yes.

>> i thought he looked familiar yesterday cassidy and i did an episode of "that's so raven." he's adorable. >> there he is dancing. >> he's not on the beat. he's off-beat, yeah. so the sex bb bombed? >> it bombed big-time. >> i wsh him the best. he's had a lot of problems, he's a nice guy, david hasselhoff. people have their issues, hoda. >> i'm surprised. he's so well-known. i didn't tnk he'd be the first voted off no matter who danced. >> who did you think it would be margaret cho. >> i thought she was okay. i thought "the situation." >> would you do it if they asked you? >> no. i'm uncoordinated. i can only dan to music i like. like the cha-cha, i don get that. i like other kinds of music.

>> i know. you do. another guy that dances to his own drum is our friend mel gibson, and i do -- i happen to have met mel sxi personally do like mel a i'm so sorry all this stuff happening. it puts -- ufrnfortunate is not the best word. it's pathetic on so many levels. apparently jodie foster is standing by herman. >> that's the first person we've heard who has come out publicly and said -- >> they're close, close friends. >> she said this to "more" gazine. whether y when you lo a friend, you do not abandon them when they're struggling. i hope i can get him through this dark moment. she said he's the eiest and nicest person she's worked with. the second she met him she said i'll love him for the rest of my life she met him doing "maverick."

you haven't heard anybody say mel is a good guy. >> he's not a popular guy and hasn't been since directed "the passion of the christ." of all of them, i wonder if hollywood will give hi a second act. i wonder. they're usually for giving. you can be a child molester and rapist and murderer, we kwom you back because you're an artist. i don't know if they'll do that mel. >> i think there was somethi weird about hearing mel gibson's voice, if that was his voice, hearin it. that's really what -- i don't know. it was psetting. >> you know what makes me happy when you hear it? these new little things. i have to get to them now, but wewant to have fun with these. these are called thingamajigs. they're t newest, hottest things. if you press them alone, it goes. if you press two, harmony. if you do four.

>> how adorable. >> it's like theillion dollar quart quartet. >> what happens if you push the hand? push the hand. >> oh. >> i don't know what they're doing. >> they're very cute. they're 12.99 each at toys-r-us. >> how do you open the mouth? >> hit the tummy. look at this. look at this. later. you can stick your finger in his mouth, and he's got teeth. >> i love these all day long. >> i'm going to take one home to bambino and he's going to have his way with. he's a kinky teacup multi-poop. when he finds out that this little mouth opens. >> stop it! who are you? who are you? that's what i need to know right now.

okay, the batteries are dying. thank you for putting the crawl up. continue. one is getting a lot of use. the next - >> see you later. >> they keep talking. >> you know why i'm hoarse again? i went offhe wagon. i have to be honest. last night i -- last night i had cheese. yes, i did. broke down. i had some -- >> what kind? >> chicken parmesan. >> that's a good way to break it. can i tell you. the hoarseness again today. that reminds me of that favorite story, you know the one. victoria principal, when i went to do a four-parter with her and i show up in an outfit, work outout fit. she's miss perfect andhe looks at me and says kathie, you have

a beautiful body, but you love cheese, don't you? i went, yes. most women have a little problem with dairy. if you just stop eating cheese, that will go away. >> that was -- >> she couldn't have been nicer about it, and what she said was true. i cannot look at a piece of cheese without thinking of victoria principal. >> when someone tells you something honestly, do you -- >> back then i'd y thank you. now i'm say what the -- >> i like that you better. >> hi, sarah. >> a lot of fans are asking about your book. we will gi a handful away when it comes out. >> yes. then the rest of you have to purchase it, please. >> it's beautiful. praise for hoda. what did brian williams say? this is the hoda i know. she's written this book the way she ves. out loud and you want front. she's written about the stuff of all our lives, love, loss and

what she wore. that's the best brian williams could come up with? i thought he was a genius or something. oh, please. and what she wore? brian. god, the man is letting me down. all right. up next -- >> i love it. >> paula deen and meredith and me and joan rivers and adrian. >> we'll be right back. first day in our new house! does it feel like home, yet? we'll take care of th. ♪ feels like home [ dad ] good morning. [ male announcer ] grands! biscuits. now we're home. [ male announcer ] it's just not home without 'em. and these are the ones you'll love on a tuesday. pillsbury crescendogs, with just a few ingredients, you have an easy to make dinner. they're crescents for the other 364.

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not that it always has to. but we lost today. no, we didn't... ♪ we're the kids in amica ♪ oh, oh, oh

♪ we're the kids in america ♪ oh, oh, oh irchlt irchltsz. >> what do you get when you combine a hot guy and hot guy? >> you get undercovers about a husband who comes out of retirement to rejoin the cia alongith his wife. take a look. >> despite your tone, i will help you fine leon nash, but

only under specific conditions and the most important is my wife can never know about my involvement, ever. you understand? hey, honey. >> i love it. >> cojo is here. >> did you play steven bloom? >> yes. this is getting great reviews. we we reading it this morning. >> we've been working hard for eight months, and finally the world gets to see it. wre excited about it. >> if i have us the cliff note version of what we'll see? >> samantha and steven bloom are a married couple of ex-spies who decide they want to retire and live a normal life. after five years of doing that, catering, they get pulled back into the cia. >> that always happens. >> all the time. it's so annoying. >> why won't they let you spy alone. >> we travel the world and go through crazy adventures and martial arts and speaking different languages. >> which you do? you were born in vienna.

>> yeah, a grew up in germany. >> you speak german? >> a little spanish and english as well. >> i don' detect any accent at all. were you raised in nern? >> no. i was raised in germany. >> you're married with a nice family, right? >> beautiful nicole parker and two kids, sophie and nicholas, five and three. >> you're een more impossibly gorgeous than the woman that plays your -- it's really repulsive. it's unbelievable. >> i lucked out. >> you did. >> there's a foundation that you have for one of your children. tell us about it. >> my daughter was born with spina bifida which is a birth detect, and 60 million women in this country are at risk. nicole and myself started the foundation to advocate for folic acid, which is a very important

vitamin b, and everybody should be on that vitamin b. >> i'm sure your wife was. >> she was. there's obviously genetic issues as well as. eight kids are born wi it every day, and it could be three if everybody was on folic acid all the time. >> how is she doing now. >> she's doing great in kindergarten and doing h-hop dancing. >> how do they feel about daddy being a tv star? >> they have no idea. they think the computer examine laptop and the tv is the same thing. we pull up pictures ofthem, and they don't know the difference. >> how old is the other child? >> nicholas is three and he scored three goals on saturday in his soccer game. >> we could keep you here for a millennium. all the best. good luck with that. it premier tonight at 8:00 p.m. right here on nbc. let's make it work. >> up next, something special

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$2.4 million this past janua for cancer research. she's here with us today. she just got out of the hospital yesterday, her sixth surgery and starting a new chemo this friday. ou got up an said i'm going to ha out with kathie lee sxhoed da. >> it's a lot more fun than stigt in the hospital. >> what motivates you to keep going when you have the right to sit there and take care of yourself? >> i'm doing it for all the millions of patients like me who don't know a lot about their cancers and are looking for more options. when you're diagnosed with cancer, it's devastating enough, but not to have an answer and not to know what the plan is so scary. with these rare cancers like the one i have, we just don't have as much knowledge or treatment options. >> had you heard of the word sarcoma before someone told you you had it? >> i had no idea what it was. it's scary. there's more broad forms of cancers and there's more options. the more to get awareness about rare cancers an to raise money,

i want to help people. >> i lo what you do, too. she does cycle for survival, which is so genius. i love you on the buy bikes. you have your dew rags on and raing money. >> absolutely. somedays i can do it for minutes or an hour. it's me against the bike. it's my battle against cance >> you're anot alone in this fight. we have prized. >> he's a very cute surprise. come on out. >> uh-h. >> where is he? he's supposed to be right around the corner? >> sd we have him, jerry? is he coming? >> cal r kin jr. is in the house. >> hello. how are you? >> he's here for a reason, jen. you want to tell us cal. >> on behalf of energizer you're going to be the next inductee into the energizer keep going hall of fame.

energizer started the keep going hall of fame to bring tribute to ordinary people that do extraordinary things. let me be the first to y congratulations. >> she keps going and going and going. y picked right with this one. >> absolutely. >> you're amazing. how do you find -- i don't know -- the time and motivationed motivation ed ed to the thing you're doing, jen? >> this gives energy and hope. a hospital can be a depressing place or inspiring place. each has their own amazing stories about how to get through. it inspire mess to keep giving back. the more people we can help, it just makes me feel very fulfilled. >> you don't wake up and say, gee, i'm get an ward today. i'm such a wonderful person. this is because you are doing so much for so many people that need help. >> thank you. >> how about you, cal? you doing well?

>> i'm doing well. >> you go around as an ambassador of comfort and hope, huh? >> i was called the energizer bunny when i played. you're in it for all the right reasons doing wonderful, wonderful work. your story should be todld. it is very, very inspiring. >> thank you. still to come, tim to play a little game, buzzhat's what we do after this. congratulations. [ female announcer ] it's never been easier to bring the family together on sunday mornings

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a home ges up in flames and now we're learning that three people have died, including two children. we'll have the latest coming up in a live report. i'm kimberly suiters. also at "news 4" on midday, an outpouring of support after a d.c. woman is ee vigted from her home. her belongings are on the street and many of our

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and we're back on this wines day with more of "today." it's time to play "who knew?" since ougautumn begins tonight,d kathie lee will hand out $100 to the lucky people that answer the questions correctly. okay. here to help me out is humphries executive of "real simple" magazine. let's see how people do. >> two adorable girls vising from jacksonville, florida looking for guys. anyway. the change in leaves nm is i phenomenon that affects what kind of trees? >> aren't we smart plus pretty. there you go, baby. >> the desid yus. >> desid yus. the combination of cooler days and bright sunlight will stimulate the pigment in the leave that is changes the color. it's the drier ason, like a

drier late summer and earl fall. you get better color traditionally because of less rain and more sunlight. >> i think we'll do okay. >> back across to kathie. >> the world series is typically played in october. what is another nickname for it? >> let's go with c. >> oh. baseball's not your thing? >> not really. >> i guess not. you are going to adore this "eryone has a story" cd. reall >> i'm sure he will. the correct answer is b, the fall classic. >> it started in 1903 and sports writers nicknamed it the fall classic. >> it goes on and on and on. >> it does if it's a good series. >> back across. >> they're from georgia. in the northern hemisphere, where you live, autumn begins in september. when does it beg in the southern hemisphere.

july, december, mah or june? >> marc >> that means you won. share it with your mother. >> wow, i think that may have been a very lucky gues >> it's a good answer, and it makes sense. it falls halfway through the year. when the sun is turning towards us on this side o the planet, it turns away from the other side of the planet. >> back across to kathie. >> oktoberfest is a 16-dame event that originated in what country. russia, ireland, germany or canada? >> jaerm agermany. >> that seemed easy. october fest started in 1810, so this is the 200th anniversary. i' not sure if you're planning on attending. maybe you should go there on the road. it's the 200th anniversary. it started in 1810.

over 6 million people come. if you go, beware of the people that drink too much beer, they're lled beer licken, beer corpses. back across to kathie. i went to one of those once. true or false, pumpkins can grow to be over 1,000 pounds? >> true. >> there you go from wisconsin. >> so smart. 1,000-pound pumpkin. >> christy grew a pumpkin 725 pounds, the circumference was over 16 feet. >> can you imagine carving and cleaning the guck out of that thing? >> there's an intense technique that not everybody can do. >> ba across to kath. >> a full moon in the fall is commonly referred to as what? blue moon, harvest moon, waxing

mo or waning moon? >> harvest moon. >> yep. called the harvest money. >> we just had one miss so far. >> harvestoon is the full moon that comes closest to the eqinox and september 23rd. it looks bigger and brighter than a regular moon because it helped farmers bring in the crops. >> i didn't know that's why. back across. >> where are you from? >> mississippi? >> let'sake a little room here. which of the following is not considered a fall seasonal fruit vegetable, leeks, bananas, apples or dates? >> i'm going to see leek. > isn't that a nasty sound. you're wrong, but this is one of my favorites. enjoy. >> so the correct answer is bananas. >> bananas, yu can get them all year-roundhen they're in peak season. >> we have time for another one.

>> from colorado here, true or false. in the northern hemisphere during the fall we move our clock forwardne hour due to daylight savings time? >> no, we fall back. >> there you go, baby girl. >> hopefully you don't make that mistake when you set your alarm. november 7th is daytime savings time this year. >> thank you so much. in keeping with theall theme, the accidental housewife shares tips to prep your house for this season. that's ritd after this. ♪ i love my grandma. i love you grandma. grandma just makes me happy. ♪ to know, know, know you grandma is the bestes the total package. grandpa's cooooooooool. way cool. ♪ grandpa spoils me rotten. ♪ to know, know, know you ♪ is to love... some people call us frick and frack. we do finger painting. thiss how grandpa and i roll.

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you can spring clean, but there's something about the fall that makes you want to feather near nest and prepare for the cold. >> julie he haddenman will share her household tips. welcome again. >> are you ready to wake up and smell some coffee? this is simple tips to clean o the fireplaces. the ashes can be allergy-causing. what you do is take some dampened coffee grinds and just puthem on the ashes, because that will help you clean them out wth a little shovel or spoon if you want to. >> it gives more to clea out? >> it makes it easier to get rid of it. to get rid of the ashes in the bottom, ladies. >> all right, julie. >> another way to -- you're making fun of me already. we have minutes. the glass on the front of the firepla fireplace. great using vinegar and water.

>> vinegar is great for everything. >> here's the trick. use some of the ashes if you di the ashes, those dip a little bit of the water and the vinegar olution in the ash, it acts as an abrasive d will clean off -- >> doesn't it leave streaks of ash? >> no, no. go over it with some of this. add a little salt to your fire, and it will help clean the soot in your chimney. >> how about tequila and lime and have a drink? >> i'm trying to make more work for you. this is a good idea. a lot of times your doors, there's air looking out or windows and you get cold and can't figure out why. this is where julie comes in. >> you have at least half a mile of perhaps gas leaks in your house, and now you take aim. see that little green perhaps. you hold this down, and what this will do is you have a reference temperature. if it's hotter, it will show

ready, so in the summertime if you lose -- >> that will locate your leak for you? >>you got it. >> what do you when you know you have a leak? >> you call somebody. >> until the whole thing is replaced. >> you can get door snakes, which are wonderful, or you make your own -- you know allhose socks you lost in the dryer, fill them with rice, sand or cat litter and put them as wass to insulate your windows. gethe weatherizing for dummies. i love thes guys. it comes with everything you need for doors forbes windows and one thing you don't think about are your sockets and your switches. you can lose up to 10% energy loss in your home. >> what com out of there? air? >> closer to the outdoors and all. who knew? the tip here is when you put these on, don't accidentally

electricity could you te elect krs rokute yourself. it's under 20 bucks at lowe's. the dettors at lowe's are terrific. this is the luge gutter cleaner. instead of worrying about falling off thatgutter this is great. this is a remote control. it looks like a little army tank. i've taken this off because we n't have a gulter. it will move up and down your gutter. this is on now. >> it's like a -- >> it does it for you. >> and then this -- >> that's on the end whipping around in a circle. it will get rid of all the debris in there. so you know it won't get stuck, you can download on irobot.com a

template as well. this is one of my favorites, i love playing mary pop pins and you love to sing and dance. you don't want all that yuck when you clean with ceiling fans down below. take an umbrella, and attach it and if you feel like taping it s great, hang it there so when you yourself handy dandy blow drier -- >> that's how you clean that? >> i'm a little short here today. just blow it down. and for the crevices in here you can't get -- it's a big word like delicatessen. >> why don't you use a swiffer thing? >> this is very easy. it also works on chandeliers. by the way, as rob said, if you're out in the rain this is a great wa to dry your umbrella. thank you. >>hy do we wear gloves every time you're here?

>> we're maintaining our -- >> that's the question. thank you, julie. cong up next, how to sneak some good in your kitchen. i can do a little cash... 50 on this cd, maybe do... or you can use kmart layaway - with just $5,

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time for "teeoday's kitchen" we're with miss chase opine. >> it's important to help your child develop healthy habits now. missy is the aut author of "the sneaky chef." hey, missy. >> sometimes you have to do it. >> sneaking will get your kids eating inach and broccoli tonight at dinner without a fight. you can't argue with na. they're easier to teach good, healthy habits. >> especially breakfast is a top one. >> the name alone gets kids out

of bed on the cold winter morning. we're naking breakfast ice cre. >> wow? >> we have frozen strawberries and avocado. that's good fat. >> uh-huh. >> it' full of fiber. >> kds don't like anything that's green unless it's a popsic popsicle. >> this is great yogurt with calcium pro biotics. some great protein. it's half the sugar of a normal breakfast cereal. you can pop it in your blender. ten seconds or 30 seconds. it will come out like this. >> do you need the cream in there? > we didn't this case. if you need it to go, put a little bit in. make your own breakfast ice cream sundae. you can put toppings on it. hold hoda, this is your day. get involved. throw in mor granola and blueberries. >> is tha yummy? >> it's good. kind of sweet. >> that's how i got samantha out

of bed in the morning. 's great for you. comes out like that. put it in a parfa aparfait glas make it fun. >> these are breakfast cookies. you koent get them to eat a bowl of cottage cheese a whole grains. i'm not getting samantha and emily to eat that. put it in a cookie, and you have a little bit of cinnamon keeps the blood sugar stable, whole grains, cottage cheese or ricotta cheese. less than half the sugar of any kids's breakfast cereal. >> for a kid to think they're having a cookie in the morning? >> hav them make them on the weekend and throw them in the freezer. >> i bet it's good with that. >> you can crumble that right on top. it's a mini-meal right here. >> you wouldn't taste any of those items. >> and this is breakfast sushi.

>> i like this. it's a lot of fun. you want to roll out my little piece of whole wheat bread there. i cut the crust off for fun. >> oh, my gosh. hoda's cooking. alert the media. >> you're good. >> i know. >> that's the way she ros. >> this is carrots and sweet potat potato. i want you to try it. >> this is like baby. >> this is thanksgiving in a bowl right here. >> delicious. >> put if your kitchen. macaroni and cheese. put it in there. you put a little bit on here. they'll never know. you can make grilled cheese with it. >> they'll know. >> turkey bacon, a little bit of low fat cheese. >> you roll it up in sushi. >> you roll it up and cut it sushi style. you pop it in the toaster oven

ve minutes and you're good. >> nice ideas. thanks for coming up. >> thanks so much. >> we'll be back with more of "today" on nbc. [ male aouncer ] aryou watching cable? here's what you should be watching: your cable bill. because you could be paying way too much. stop spending more for second best. upgrade to verizon fios and get tv, internet and phone for just $99.99 a month for a year.

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all righty. the time has arrived. it's time to see my sarah d see what's going on. >>we have people asking what they will learn will kathie lee in the book. >> you will find out secrets. >> you would have found them if you'd read my own book which hoda hasn't read yet. >> you have to read the acknowledgments in our book. >> i'll readyour whole book, hoda, because that's the way i roll. >> yes, indeed. >> there was a cute comment from patricia saying can we learn more about her? she tells her own -- >> there are things you're going to learn, i think.

>> more importantly, it's about you. what are we going to learn about miss hoda woman? >> you're going to have to get the book. it's one of those -- you just see -- you'll just see when you -- >> is it the story of your life, hoda? >> are you trying to embarrass me? >> are we learn being your parents coming from egypt and everything? >> yeah, there's some about my parents. >> i think a lot of people are curious about that. >> there is some stuff on that. it takes you through t life and people i've met along the way, being in war zones, a lot of horrible hair capped off on this show. it didn't used to feel tha bad until here. >> yes. it's bad. hu stayed in "dateline," hoda, it would still be a secret. you're happy hour hoda. >> so much better. >> have a great day, everybody. tomorrowhakira is going to be here. >> also how to save money on almost everything. >> we're off on fourth grade. almost everything. >> we're off on fourth grade. >> bye.

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